Tracing Thomas Halberts Ancestry

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Hi All

One of my ancestors was named Thomas Halbert. He claimed to have been from Newcastle upon Tyne and was born about 1806. He landed in New Zealand aboard a whaling ship in 1832. I have a trove of information about his time in New Zealand but wanted to find more about his life and family in the United Kingdom. The problem has been that in New Zealand one source of information has been used by subsequent researchers as "fact" for books and no one has made any attempts to verify any of it. I believe the research which was done prior to the internet made linkages which are not correct. There is little to substantiate those claims. A summary of those family linkages can be found here:

http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/biographies/1h4/halbert-thomas

There is mention of a brother of Thomas named James and also mentions of Thomas parents, however, more recent research seems to indicate these are not family linkages.

Recently, I employed a very good UK based researcher to examine these linkages and to try and provide me with some more accurate information about Thomas Halbert.

The summary of the report to me about Thomas is below. Are you able to look through the information and see something I have overlooked? Are there any other linkages you think I should explore?

The report is as follows:

All searches undertaken were for ‘Halbert’ and surname variants, ie ‘Hulbert’, etc.   

1.       Thomas HALBERT
I believe Thomas Halbert was baptised on 25 Dec 1814 at St Mary’s, Gateshead, England (literally just opposite Newcastle upon Tyne on the banks of the River Tyne).  Copy of baptism entry attached
The baptism entry shows he was born on 8 July 1806 (sadly, no place of birth is given)
The baptism entry shows that his parents were Thomas & Sarah Halbert of Gateshead.  Thomas (snr)’s occupation is shown as ‘tailor’

2.       Using the above-mentioned parents, I have searched English and Scottish records for possible siblings of Thomas Halbert, sadly without success.

3.       I have also searched English and Scottish records for the possible marriage of a Thomas Halbert to a ‘Sarah’ between 1750 and 1820, again without success.  Similarly, I have not, as yet, located a death/burial in respect of either parent.

Note:

Also baptised on the same day as Thomas Halbert was a Sarah Halbert who had been born on 6 Oct 1814.  Her parents were John (a cork cutter) and Dorothy Halbert of Gateshead.

I wondered whether it was just a coincidence that there were 2 Halbert baptisms on the same day but as Thomas had been born some years earlier, I wondered whether the two sets of parents were related (perhaps both fathers – Thomas and John were brothers) and had decided both of the children should be baptised together.  I kept this in mind during the course of my research.

* * *
Looking further at your initial notes, I undertook searches for possible parents of Thomas Halbert with the names Robert and Mary. 

I searched for a Thomas Halbert born about the same time period but whose parents were Robert & Mary.  Sadly, there were no relevant results.  The nearest I found were a Robert & Janet (nee Brown) Halbert who had a son, Thomas, born in 1825 in Scotland (too late to be yours).  A copy of my findings is attached (which shows other children born to this couple, including a James and a Janet).  The couple married on 27 May 1809 in Ayr, Scotland.  I believe their son, James, born in 1821 arrived in Australia in 1838, aged 18 years (copy attached for info).

There was also a Thomas & Mary (nee Hart) Halbert who had children by the names of Thomas and Janet, born in 1816 and 1812 respectively in Ayr, Scotland.  There was, however, no son by the name of James (a copy of my findings is attached).

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Other searches in Scotland located a James & Joan (nee Wilson) Halbert who had children by the names of Janet and James however they were not born until 1842 and 1854 respectively (copy attached for info).

Searches for possible travel to Australia/New Zealand again drew a blank.

Now at a loss as to what to do next, I decided to look in general for Halbert individuals born/baptised or buried in either Northumberland (which covered Newcastle upon Tyne) or Durham (which covered Gateshead), England.  A copy of my findings is attached in ‘Word’ format.  A lot of the baptisms appear to have taken place in Non-Conformist Chapels in Newcastle upon Tyne.  This may indicate the family or their ancestors were of Scottish Descent.  One name which I found appeared in several results was that of John Potts HALBERT.

The name John Potts Halbert appears to have been a name carried down the generations.  One particular John Potts Halbert (born abt 1794 to John Potts Halbert and his wife, Ann Nixon/ Hickson) had a son by the name of Thomas and I wonder whether this particular John Potts Halbert (who I believe died in April 1854 in Gateshead) may perhaps have been related to your own Thomas Halbert.

As I had still not located any of the required information, I then turned my searches to the possible sister of Thomas & James who I believe was mentioned in our previous correspondence as a Mary CARRETT/CARROTT (married name) living in London at the time her brothers emigrated.

I found a Mary Halbert married a David CARROTT on 22 Aug 1836 at St John’s, Gateshead Fell, Durham, England.  Sadly, this was just a year too early for it to have been part of the Civil Registration of Births, Marriages & Deaths so there is no marriage certificate available.  However, from the various census schedules, Mary appears to have been born abt 1816/18 in Gateshead.  I found she and her husband, David Carrott, had several children: Eleanor (born abt 1838), Dorothy (born abt 1842), David (born abt 1846) and Barbara (born abt 1850).  All the children were born in Gateshead.  I have not found any trace of Mary CARROTT having lived in London.

Further research located the possible birth of the above Mary Carrott (nee Halbert) in Gateshead on 7 July 1816 and her baptism on 11 April 1819 (3 years later).  Her parents were John & Dorothy (nee Gibson) Halbert who married at Gateshead on 13 Jan 1814.  A search for other children born to this couple located a Sarah Halbert born 6 Oct 1814 and baptised 25 Dec 1814.  THIS IS THE SARAH WHO WAS BAPTISED THE SAME DAY AS THE PERSON I BELIEVE TO BE YOUR THOMAS HALBERT!  Whilst the above does not help with the items I was trying to locate for you, I definitely believe that the two families were related in some way.

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Misc items located during the course of your research

During the course of your research, I also found a George Halbert who was born in Aberdeen, Scotland, abt 1831.  In 1881 he was living in Gateshead.  He was a tailor (as was the father of Thomas Halbert, the subject of your research).  Perhaps a family tradition?  With this in mind, I searched the Apprenticeship Registers for Great Britain, (available for the years 1770 to 1774), however no relevant ‘Halbert’ results were located.
   
I also located in the 1841 census a Thomas Halbert, born abt 1806 in Lanarkshire, Scotland.  He, his wife Agnes and their daughter Joanna were living in Biggar, Scotland.  Thomas was a tailor!  Sadly, you know that your Thomas was overseas by this time so he cannot be yours.  I also located a James Halbert born abt 1811 in Biggar who was in the Army Deserters List, 1828-1840.  His parents appear to have been called James & Ann.

Searches of Merchant Navy Seamen Registers, 1835-1941 located a James Halbert born in Newcastle upon Tyne; sadly no birth year was shown.  They also showed a George Halbert born in Newcastle upon Tyne in 1799 and a Frederick Halbert, again born in Newcastle upon Tyne but no birth date shown.

A search of British Army Service Records, 1760-1915 located a Thomas Halbert, trumpeter in the 3rd Dragoon Guards however it showed he was discharged from the Army in 1897 (therefore far too late – and in the wrong country - to be yours).

Returning to the John Potts Halbert mentioned towards the beginning of this message, I found the death of a John Potts Halbert on 16 Aug 1925 in Eagleshaw, Victoria.  He was born abt 1852.  His father was also called John Potts Halbert.

I also located the Will of an Elizabeth Halbert (wife of John Potts Halbert, a Chemist & Druggist) who died on 1 Sep 1844 in Annan, Scotland.  In 1834, a John Halbert, Chemist & Druggist of North Shields, Durham, is listed in Pigot’s Northumberland Directory of 1832.  It is possible these two John Halberts were one and the same person.

[barryd]

"Have you tried "Durham Records Online". The Gateshead filter starts off with Alice Potts Halbert. Searching the whole county brings up pages of them. I personally had never come across the name before.

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Hi

My researcher mentioned an Alice Halbert. She speculated it may have been Thomas daughter. I wasnt too sure whether to follow that lead or not. Im assuming it was Thomas Halbert Senior daughter and potentially a sister to Thomas Halbert Junior

I found this online - they have linked Alice to another Halbert family

http://genealogy.links.org/links-cgi/readged?/home/ben/camilla-genealogy/current+c-halbert98995+2-2-0-1-0

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I think thats where we found Thomas baptism. I found it unusual to see Thomas baptised many years after his birth

Is that normal?

[taffie01]

I think thats where we found Thomas baptism. I found it unusual to see Thomas baptised many years after his birth

Is that normal?

Yes it was fairly common practice , although most children were baptised as babies many families waited till they had a few children. They would then have  them all baptised together. Perhaps cost was a major factor!
For that reason it is always a good idea to check for a baptism some years after a presumed date of birth.

[davidft]

The NEI site lists two wills

http://familyrecords.dur.ac.uk/nei/data/download.php

You may be aware of Alice's administration document but you do not mention about William's will. As William was a woollen draper and died in 1804 in Newcastle it may be worth getting the will to see if it contains any genealogical information. (The link above explains how to order copies)

Halbert, Alice Gateshead Fell, D spinster 3/1851/A94 ren adm
Halbert, William Newcastle upon Tyne, N woollen-draper 1/1804/H2 w

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Hi Taffie01

Than you for the information. I thought it might throw doubt about this being the right Thomas but as my genealogist pointed out the two Halberts from different families being baptised on the same day is more than coincidence.

Do we know how much baptisms cost back in those days?