I hope I'm not
'pushing the envelope' too far, but I would really like to resurrect an unsolved mystery from my family research.
About 5-6 years back, with a lot of Rootschatters' generous help, I spent some considerable time researching the background of my G-G-grandparents Margaret Walsh and Samuel White, but with no certain outcome. Margaret (b. c1831) married Samuel White (b. c1829) in Holy Trinity Church Adelaide on 25 Aug 1851. Margaret died in Adelaide 25Nov1870 as a widow - I have no certain record of Samuel's death. Beyond those facts, the pair of them remain a mystery.
I believe Margaret Walsh arrived in Adelaide from Ireland via Plymouth on the barque Inconstant on 7 June 1849 as part of the Earl Grey Scheme. The Inconstant was one of the more notorious ships carrying Irish Orphan girls to Australia and their reception in Adelaide was characterised by hostile press reports about the character of the young women and alleged improprieties between the matron and the ship's officers during the voyage. The story has been researched by Mark Staniforth of Flinders University and is published at
http://www.academia.edu/1266659/The_Inconstant_Girls - it is well worth reading.
Samuel White was dead before Margaret, but I have no date of his death. I believe they had 3 children, but I can locate records for 2 only, Mary Ann Elizabeth b. 1853 and Joel b. 1854. Mary Ann's life is well researched, but there is no record of Joel beyond his birth entry.
The 3rd child was my G-Grandfather Joseph Frederick White, b. c1856 and d. 1927 - Joseph's marriage and death are well recorded, but there is no record of his birth. His obituary records that "He was the son of the late Mr Samuel White and was born at the Bay Rd, Plympton." (Samuel was a butcher at Bay Rd Plympton).
I really appreciate all the work that has been done for me previously - eternally optimistic, I am just hoping that something new might have entered the record books since that time. My family tree has grown considerably over the years and it is a great frustration that the branch about which I know the least, is my father's line - and ergo the history of the folk that passed me down my surname.
The previous threads are at
(2009) .....
http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,409343.10.html(2012) ..... and at
http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=574939.msg4272330#msg4272330Please tell me to bugger off if you think I'm asking too much. As well as being eternally optimistic, I'm also quite thick-skinned.
Thanks all .... and a belated happy new year too!!
Whitey