Help .......... Please

[smitg]

In researching my family I have hit a brick wall. 
My G/G Grandfather THOMAS SMITH is listed on the birth certificate of his son as "birthplace China" and from calculations the date would be circa 1843.  My G/G Grandmother (MARY BOOTH LEYLAND)  is shown on the same birth certificate as "birth place New Zealand" her birthdate circa 1850. Therre is no Chineese features in the family to date.

Thomas was supposed to have been shipwrecked on the coast of New Zealand date unknown. I believe that he came to Sydney on a ship "Wanganue" in June 1868

The cpl listed above married in Dubbo NSW December 1869 and had 3 children from the marriage. Apart from my G/ Grandfather (Thomas Leyland Smith) I have been unable to further identify Thomas, Mary or the other 2 children of the family. I have copies of the birth certificates of George Albert Edward and Ann, the other 2 children

Family legend states that my G/Grandfather left Dubbo to work in Queensland  circa 1886 and returned to Dubbo in 1891 to be informed that Thomas and Mary Smith had died during his absence

Any assistance or advice in further identifying THOMAS SMITH and MARY SMITH nee BOOTH LEYLAND would be greatly appreciated

[judb]

Are there any clues on their marriage certificate?  If you don't have it using a transcription agent is cheaper and quicker -

http://www.bdm.nsw.gov.au/familyHistory/howToTraceYouFamTree.htm#TranscriptionAgent

Any parent names would help.

Judith

[smitg]

Judith

Thanks for your reply

I have a copy of the marriage certificate and it does not assit with further information. It simply shows "parents not listed"


Smitg

[Beg Clonrode...]

Hello all...

Absolute novice at researching in Australia but somehow I've ended up helping with a Dubbo related enquiry over on the NZ board.

If you're interested, here's the thread
http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,524896.0.html

One obvious thing I need to do is to check the index for the Old Dubbo Cemetery. However, no matter what I try I always end up at the homepage of the Dubbo Family History society and I think I'm expected to purchase a CD.

Do researchers in Australia have access to a centralised burial register, similar to the "National Burial Index of England and Wales" or the "Burial Locator CD" or BDM fiches of the NZSG. Possibly at a local library or such.

Or is it the norm to deal directly with local family history groups.

I appreciate that Aus is waaaay bigger than NZ. And I fully appreciate the importance of local family history groups. I'm just curious (as a good newbie should be) as to how to make best use of my time and someone else's money.

Apologies if it's an oft asked question. I checked the resources page but nothing jumped out at me.

Kind regards
Beg

PS - Feel free to jump into the Dubbo thread :-)

[judb]

Unfortunately no National Register and finding burials is very hit and miss.

This site has some MIs from Dubbo Pioneer cemetery but can't see anyone for you (only had a quick look, though) - only lists graves with MIs.

http://austcemindex.com/cemetery-inscriptions.php?id=234

Some cemeteries have their own on-line search facility; some cemeteries will answer enquiries; some burials are on CDs which have  often been produced by FHS's such as the one you have been invited to buy; sometimes there are notices in the newspapers which can be found on TROVE or by looking up a local paper.  The Ryerson index lists more recent death notices, mainly from large Metropolitan newspapers. My understanding is that this Austcemindex site which lists Dubbo Pioneer MIs is kindly provided privately. 

Googling is probably the best way to begin. 

Here is another site with a comprehensive list of cemeteries including advice on finding information.

http://www.australiancemeteries.com/

Judith

[Billyblue]

Hi Beg
Can you give us a name and approx. date of death?

I'll be going to QFHS library on Saturday and we have a few Dubbo area cemeteries.
The main Dubbo cemetery transcripts were done in 1987 though (book) so if it's after that we might have a problem.
Are you sure it is Dubbo cemetery?  There are others in the area, e.g. Gilgandra, Cumnock, Curra Creek, Baldry, Coonabarabran and lots of others in the broad area.

Plus a Pioneer Register 1820-1880

Dawn M

[Dundee]

Hi smitg,

Just mentioning a few points that were brought up on the NZ board.  The reason there are two entries on the marriage indexes for the marriage of Thomas and Mary is because of her two names.  They generally always index under both names where someone has a middle name which is normally seen as a surname, in this case BOOTH and LEYLAND.  I have lots of these sort of names in my family and often they were hyphenated in records when they shouldn't have been.

The "Mary Booth formerly LEYLAND" is the normal way of entering the mother's name.  If her name was Mary Elizabeth it would say "Mary Elizabeth formerly LEYLAND".  If she had been previously married it should say "Mary formerley BOOTH, late LEYLAND".  Of course there are exceptions to every rule and it would totally depend on the information given at the time of registration.

Regarding the parents' names being missing from the marriage certificate, it is likely that this information was not transcribed from the church records to the registry.  This explanation is from the NSW registry's website:

The Registry took this opportunity to request access to the 1856 to 1895 church marriages registers. Some Registry marriage records from these years recorded only the details pertaining to the parties to the marriage. Details of the parents had been left blank although they appeared in the Church registers. These registrations were amended and a notation made in the margin to record the circumstances of the amendment.

The task of reconciling the Early Church Records and amending the marriage registrations was never finalised. The Registry's records from these years are not complete and it can be worthwhile for genealogists to contact the relevant church to find details missing from a marriage certificate or in the case of a birth, a baptism record where there is no corresponding civil registration.

In this case where you have few leads on Thomas and Mary's origins you really need to access the church records to see if their parents are named.  Thomas' father may have been involved with the British East India Company.

Debra 

[smitg]

Thanks Debra..

I will be in Dubbo in a few weeks and will contact the church direct. 

I have been informed however that there may be little of the records left as there was major flooding in that area in the early 1950's and a great deal of that material was lost.  Here's hoping

Thanks again
Garry

[Beg Clonrode...]

Hello Judith...

Thanks very much for the info. I guess not having a national burial register adds to the challenge. It must make for a greater sense of satisfaction when you find someone.


Hello Dawn...

Thanks for the offer.

In a nutshell, both Thomas SMITH and his wife Mary Booth SMITH formerly LEYLAND may possibly have died in Dubbo, possibly between 1886 and 1891.

Sorry for the 2 x "possibly" :-)

Original thread on NZ board
http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,524896.0.html

Follow-up thread started on Australian board at our suggestion
http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,524895.0.html

Regards
Beg