Thanks everyone.
Estevan snr was the Stephen aged 36. His son was John aged 3, who became known as Stephen in NZ. The family here in NZ have had a DNA test done with one of Stephen's male descendants and another male descendant of Estevan from his marriage to Emily, and the match was 99.99%. The Stephen aged 21 we are almost certain was actually MRS Stephen. Fairly common way of putting down the wife's name in those days. Also errors in the sex of passengers was common as well.
A recent programme on forensic science of handwriting showed definitively that old ‘Nether German’ handwriting wrote the “V” as a near “O”, in which the circle was 96% complete, with only a minor gap at the top. If the ship’s master ‘or recorder’ had been trained in writing Nether German, which was used frequently at the time, even among the English, then “Bellve” would appear in the ship’s log as “Belloe”.
The BELLVE family had no connection with the CONSTABLE family in England or on the Swiftsure, probably meeting for the first time on the voyage. The father of Emily's baby born on the boat was a soldier named Thomas CHILDS or KILDO from the Chatham Barracks. The registration is a bit hard to read hence both being a possibility.
As I said in my first post Emily did not hook up with Estevan until late 1863 early 1864 in Dunedin. The Victorian goldfields were petering out by then and gold had been discovered in Otago, and the place was flooded with miners and hangers on from Victoria as well as other parts of NZ.
As mentioned earlier also the family have a photo of a woman on a bed surrounded by flowers and rosary beads. Since posting the other day have been told she looks about 30, and that the flowers are Australian native that come out in the spring, which would be November or thereabouts. This age would fit with Stephen starting school in NZ in 1872 and his mother being 21 in 1862.
Other names that are connected are SOLE, later anglicised to SOLER in NZ, as that is how it was pronounced, as well as FORT. There was another Spaniard on board as well, but can't remember what his name was. The SOLER family in NZ had a painting of Estevan's mother, so there must have been some relationship there. Another name that could be connected is RIUS, also Spanish. Estevan and Emily are buried in the same plot at the Feilding Cemetery. Also in that plot is a Joseph RIUS, who originated from Barcelona, and who had boarded with Estevan for a number of years. The name could also be spelt as RUIS.
Christopher and Robert CONSTABLE stayed in Victoria. Robert never married, and Christopher married Margaret Burns. Am in touch with one of their grand-daughters.
Ian C
