http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/225856596 NSW Govt Gazette 18 Dec 1866.
Stonefield
In the will of Finlay McDonald, late of Stonefield, Davis’s Creek, in the colony of NSW, deceased… probate of the will …. Granted to Catherine McDonald, Executrix named in the said will ….
As I mentioned in my post #125 it is likely that Stonefield was the THEN farm name of the rural property where Finlay and Catherine McDonald had established their home and workplace. I continue to note that I do not find it disappointing that the NSW dc for Finlay includes that his burial was recorded as Rouchel (Stonefield), or that the witnesses include a Thomas SPENCER. Thomas is recorded on several LPI parish maps, with various holdings on Davis Creek. There are others with surname SPENCER with property on or nearby Davis Creek in that same era.
Offline research of title deeds for MCDONALD may well give exact LPI references for Finlay’s Stonefield which likely was transferred from his name AFTER the reforms to NSW Land Title Deeds of the early 1860s. Once that detail has been confirmed, then perhaps contact could be made by our OP with the current land-owner regarding current knowledge about Finlay’s gravesite.
May I mention that the time between our OP’s opening post and reply # 23 was less than two full days (I think perhaps about 40 hours
)……. And that her reply #23 was likely giving additional information to her reply #22 which concludes with her remarks :
...I would like to know where they are all buried. (#22)
and led into
Also, I have been told that Finlay and Catherine were buried in a roadside grave, possibly the reason why I cannot find mention of their burial anywhere. Further, I can't find a newspaper article that mentions either their death or their burial(#23)
So that I understood this to mean now that various RChatters had posted details about sightings for Finlay and Catherine and their offspring in New South Wales, that our OP was sensibly asking further questions as part of her original quest.
Ros, after re-reading this thread several times as a consequence of your reply #126, and after discussing with some of my older rellies (including retired NSW BDM senior officer), I see no value in any RChatter hectoring either myself or any other RChatter, and so I will leave it to you to follow up with the offline searching for Stonefield.
I cannot see any post where I suggested obtaining Finlay's dc for any purpose other than establishing his burial details. The official transcript clearly gives his burial details. It is simply a matter of interpreting their 1866 meaning by our 21st eyes, and within the context of who provided it, and what it represents. So, the Undertaker was Henry SMITH. He would have lodged the paperwork that ended up being recorded by the Registrar General's department. To me, there is nothing to be disappointed about in the information he provided. Clearly from the NSW Govt Gazette cutting I posted above, Henry SMITH was not the only one who referred to Stonefield.
So, while I cannot say for certain that there WILL BE further official NSW records to show that Stonefield was the name for Finlay’s property at Rouchel, I can certainly confirm that from my own research into my own family in that era and in that district that my Scottish ancestors did name their NSW property holdings, and frequently included ‘field’ as the suffix. It may well be that Finlay McDONALD also followed similar practices when naming his property. The official transcript certainly confirms that Finlay was buried at Rouchel Brook (Stonefield).
Our OP has not been online at RChat since 11 August, so it seems that there's been offline exchanges between Ros and our OP of family history information including the various NSW State Archives files and now the passing over to Ros of the official transcription of Finlay's 1866 dc.
I have changed my mind, (see reply # 125) and I will not follow up on the details of the burial ... I will leave it up to Ros to consider examining the close details needed from the various title deeds to find Stonefield and the exact location for that 1866 burial and for Ros to share that info directly with our OP.
JM
