Hmmmm
Couldn't resist so I downloaded the death certificate for Julia CURTIS, died 1917, and it still doesn't completely rule her out!
Transcription:
Deaths
Date and place of death - 29 March, 1917. 19 Willis St Hampton, Victoria
Name and surname - Julia Curtis
Occupation of the deceased - household duties
Sex and age - female 81 years
Cause of death - Senile decay, heart failure
Duration of illness - not recorded
Medical attendant by whom certified and when he last saw deceased; W R Atkinson, 28 March 1917
Name and surname of parents (if known) including mother's maiden surname, with occupation - not known is written 4 times in this column.
Signature, description and address of the person who gave the information - G C Cooley, authorised agent, Burnley St, Burnley
Signature of deputy registrar, date and where registered - Frederick William Francis, 29 March 1917, Sandringham
[i
]When and where buried, undertaker whom certified[/i] - 30 March, 1917, St Kilda, Roy Sleight
Name and religion of Minister, or names of witnesses of burial; E Thomas, James Lee
Place of birth of the deceased and how long he or she resided in the Australian colonies or states (stating which) - Leicestershire, England, 55 years in Victoria
If married - Where, and at what age and to whom - Scotland, 25, Thomas Curtis,
Names and ages of children of the deceased - Julia Laura 56, Ernest Edwin dec'd, Alfred Ernest dec'd, Constance Gertrude ? years, Herbert Henry 45 years
So - some thoughts............
Place of birth is correct, but only gives the county.
Age: 81 at 1917 gives a DoB of abt 1836; as this lady is quite some age it's possible that the informant may not have known her actual age. The UK census entries give ages for a DoB of 1831 in which case she would have been 86 at her death.
Informant is an authorised agent - possibly an employee of the undertaker or a solicitor. The information given would have been given to him by a family member.
Time in Victoria is out by some 5 years - again the informant may not have known exactly when she arrived.
Marriage - the information gives her age as 25 when she married Thomas CURTIS in Scotland. This would be a marriage date between 1855 and 1861 depending on her DoB (1831 -1836). Arrival in 1857 has obvious implications for a marriage date. Seems possible that her maiden name may have been CURTIS also.
I still think this
may be her although there are some inconsistencies - possibly these could be explained by poor information from the informant keeping in mind that the events were before the informant's birth.
It seems that Thomas has been gone for some time at the time of this Julia's death as he is not mentioned in the death notices, although not listed on the record as deceased. Seems odd that there seems to be no birth records for the children. A birth certificate would have been very useful!
Just a small part of me wonders if this marriage actually took place.
I haven't time to hunt up a marriage in Scotland just at present.
Judith
