Robert Findley

[kasden]

I am new to Rootschat...what I brilliant site ..I
have a 'brickwall' ancestor named Robert Findley who married in Australia(Qld) in 1873 the marriage certificate states he was from Forfarshire but I doubt it as I cannot locate him there..his parents were Robert Findley(a 'sailor") and Jane Hale/s.It is thought that he was sent to Australia as a 'remittance man' by his family and while I can trace his time here until his death in 1888 I know nothing of his scottish heritage or family...I susupect that his family may have lived around Oxfordshire as his wife,Florence Orpwood,was 'sent out to marry him' by arrangement of their fathers and she came from Oxfordshire.
I think that Roberts birth was between 1840 to 1850-ish..he has been a bit 'flexible' with his ages on his various childrens birth certificates...so, you can see my dilemma..any advice would bet appreciated and hopefully I will end years of frustration in searching for his history.
Thanks you lovely people. !

[bleckie]

Hi kasden

From www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk

 11/06/1843 FINDLAY ROBERT JAMES FINDLAY/MARY WEST  CRAIG /ANGUS 280/00 0030 0118   

 11/06/1839 FINLAY ROBERT ROBERT FINLAY/ANN STRONER FR938 M ST VIGEANS /ANGUS 319/00 0040 0248

Yours Aye
BruceL

[Forfarian]

The IGI has an 'extracted' record of Robert Hale, no father, mother Jane Hale, baptised 6 January 1839 at Astley Abbotts, Shropshire, England. Is it conceivable that a clerk could have misheard 'Shropshire' as 'Forfarshire', I wonder?

There are also 47 listings of Robert Findlay/Findley, born 1835-1855, father Robert.

IGI means International Genealogical Index, and you find it at http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Search/frameset_search.asp?PAGE=igi/search_IGI.asp&clear_form=true

[Gali]

Sorry to be ignorant but what do you mean by 'remittance man'?! 

Do you know when/where he arrived into Aus?  If so it might be worth checking who else was on his passenger list, there could be clues there; friends from same town, folks with the same surname etc. 

Any clues from the names of his children? Any other info on his marriage/death certs? 

There is a member submitted entry on IGI that lists his birthplace as Dundee and has some details from local (Parramatta) newspapers about his death.  So there must be more people trying to track him down ... unless it's you that's made that entry?!

[kasden]

..Remittance men were men ,who due to being something of an 'embarrassment' to their families were sent away and paid a 'remittance' to stay away..Robert Findey apparently had a bit of a drinking problem and was sent to Australia to sort himself out....I have all his detail here in Australia..marriage ..kids ..death ect...and yes it was me that made enquiries in the Parramatta papers ect...I don't have his family history before he arrived here,nor do I have his arrival date...he is very difficult to track back to his U.K roots.

[Gali]

So does one of the certs say he was born in Dundee?  (as per your entry on IGI) 

Have you looked for him in ships lists under Finlay/Findlay/Finley/Findley ... some of those immigration officers weren't up to much on the spelling!  I suppose if he was reputedly sent away because of a drink problem one could take a punt that he was in his teens/20s when he was shipped and therefore must be on the 1851 census if not the 1861 ...

Have you seen on Trove, SMH dated Wed 31 Oct 1888 a missing persons ad for a 'Robert Finlay' asking anyone who knows of his whereabouts to contact P Finlay, Addiewell, West Calder... might be worth investigating ...

[kasden]

His marriage certificate states he was born in Forfarshire,Dundee but checks on church registers shows no Findleys born/married/died there in the time frame of his birth or his parents possible marriage.
As he states that his father was a 'sailor' I thought perhaps that his dad sailed out of an English port and as his parents apparently knew the parents of his (future) wife who came from Oxfordshire and was English I sort of thought the Findley's,while Scottish in origin, may have resided in England...there was some mentuion through our family about the House of Tasker..I have tried to research this but have found nothing to link it to my ancestors...will check out the Trove site...thanks for the tip.