Searching for early records of James Robertson

[judb]

These (all the same) seem to be James ROBERTSON's death notice, May, 1862, despite the burial register giving his forename as "John" (sorry, not sure if already posted  )
http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/8806830
http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/41453230
http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/8807174

Gives his age as 61 so born abt 1801

Re the Scots forenames for women, I have a great aunt who was from Scotland and is named on various documents and records as Jean, Jane, Jeanie, Jennie but known to the family inexplicably as Aunty Bet.  I'm 99% sure it's all the one person.  No-one left to ask now 

Judith

[KennyD]

Marriage of a James Alexander ROBERTSON gives his age as 21 in 1864 and he is the son of the late James ROBERTSON, Engineer.

Thank you, Debra.
 
I'm almost completely certain James Alexander Robertson (born on 22 January 1843) and his sister Margaret Robertson (born on 29th May 1847) are not connected to 'my' James Robertson.
 
'My' James Robertson was never referred to as an engineer on any documentation - though his son David did become an engineer later in his life after his time as a millwright when he was married to Anne Hyndes and as a storekeeper with Anne when my great-grandfather William Erin Robertson was born in Honeywood in 1868.

{Edit}
Oops, eat my words!  James Robertson's burial notice (with him listed as John Robertson) lists him as an 'engineer'.      /Removes foot from mouth

Did 'my' James Robertson have two distinct families?  One with two children in New Norfolk and one with two children on Melville Street in Hobart?

It is quite possible that James did not move to Honeywood/Geeveston until later in life to be with his son David, so that would leave as much as 27 years from Elizabeth's birth in New Norfolk until James died in 1862 in Honeywood to locate him.

I note that the witnesses at David's marriage to Anne Hyndes (when she was expecting Alice Jean Robertson in the next few months) were David's sister Elizabeth and a James McKenna, not David's father James Robertson. I don't yet know if that means James Robertson was not present for the marriage...

(I have learned that David Robertson was a Honeywood District landowner rated at 15 pounds and upwards in a notice in The Mercury of 19 December 1864).

The search continues...

Kind regards, Ken.

[KennyD]

These (all the same) seem to be James ROBERTSON's death notice, May, 1862, despite the burial register giving his forename as "John" (sorry, not sure if already posted  )

Thank you, Judith.  Yes, these are 'my' James Robertson and I have copies of these notices.

I think their proximity means any reference to Hospital Bay can also be considered to be Honeywood/Geeveston (being just a short horse-ride apart)...

My attention has been drawn to Hyndes Road in Geeveston!  It is a very uncommon street name in Australia - was it named after my great-great-grandmother's family?

I saw a "Glenys Cunningham" was also looking for 'my' James Robertson back in 2008 but I have not been able to contact her to see if she had any success in her quest...

The search continues...

Kind regards, Ken.

[matthewj64]

There appears to be a few other Robertsons who were millwrights, including another James (from Easby & Robertson Millwrights and Engineers)

There's a bit in this on the Robertsons from this company that may help to sort out who is who

http://www.maritimetas.org/sites/all/files/maritime/maritimetimes_issue_50_autumn_2015.pdf

M

[KennyD]

Thanks, Matthew...

I have a copy of that document and it has helped me to eliminate a number of leads to James Robertsons by comparing the potential lead to the information in that document.

None of these documented Robertsons are 'my' Robertson family.  <Sigh>

Kind regards, Ken.

[matthewj64]

Thanks, Matthew...

I have a copy of that document and it has helped me to eliminate a number of leads to James Robertsons by comparing the potential lead to the information in that document.

None of these documented Robertsons are 'my' Robertson family.  <Sigh>

Kind regards, Ken.

Note that when the above-mentioned Robertson family (which included a  James senior and James junior) arrived on the Minerva in 1832, there was yet another James Robertson on board...

SHIP NEWS. (1832, October 5). The Colonist and Van Diemen's Land Commercial and Agricultural Advertiser (Hobart Town, Tas. : 1832 - 1834), p. 2. Retrieved February 17, 2017, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article201158208

...and that the Minerva's passengers were mostly "good mechanics or practical agriculturalists", so a chance that this James was also an engineer/millwright.

http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article201158496

The Minerva's passenger list is here  https://stors.tas.gov.au/CUS30-1-1$init=CUS30-1-1p088

Your David was born Sept 4 1832 and was baptised Oct 14. The Minerva arrived on Sept 30, so there is the slim possibility of this being your James and David was born on board, but I can't see Jane.

M

[KennyD]

Thanks, Matthew.  You, kind sir, are a marvel...

I had totally overlooked this additional James Robertson!  Very interesting!

I'm now going looking for details of the voyage of the Minerva and will search that for any details of a birth on board the ship...

Kind regards,
Ken.

[matthewj64]

... his daughter Elizabeth Robertson was born on 3 April 1835....

Death of Elizabeth in 1908, cemetery index shows her burial and Queenborough cemetery aged 75

Family Notices (1908, December 2). The Mercury (Hobart, Tas. : 1860 - 1954), p. 1. Retrieved February 19, 2017, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article12664793

[KennyD]

And yet again, thank you Matthew...

118 Brisbane Street in Hobart has now disappeared and is a Mitre 10 store...

And proving we are sometimes living in a very 'small world', my great-grandfather on Dad's side had both a bakery (at 212 Elizabeth Street) and a coffee shop (61 Melville Street) just a short walk from where my great-grand-aunt Elizabeth Robertson on Mum's side lived - though my Dad's and Mum's families didn't unite by marriage until two generations later, they almost certainly had already met!

My quest to pin down James Robertson continues...

Kind regards, Ken.