RootsChat.Com
Research in Other Countries => Australia => Topic started by: johnbarr on Sunday 02 September 18 01:01 BST (UK)
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Greetings,
I am trying to track the origins of this man shown on many trees at Ancestry as born 1880 in Masterton, New Zealand, the son of Peter* Stephan and Maud Hunter. NZ BDM have no record of this birth. It's possible there has been an error in transcription but they have no other Hunter births with mother's name Maud so it seems unlikely.
George died 7 Dec 1946 and is buried at Gardens Road Cemetery, Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia.
George had a colourful life with a marriage to Thalma Ellen Dargie/Bantz in 1922 and then five children. There are many newspaper accounts of Thalma's adventurous life and George as a buffalo hunter and as a pastoralist on Woolner Station. I have been told the reference to his birth in Masterton, 1880 and parents Peter and Maud comes from his marriage cert but I have not seen this myself.
I have a close DNA match with a descendant of George and a Gt grandmother with surname Hunter so I am trying to find a link between this George Hunter and my Hunters from Old Machar in Scotland but so far I have not been able to confirm any facts regarding his birth or parents.
I would be very grateful for any comments or suggestions which might help to sort out this mystery.
Thanks.
* Moderator edit: name of subject's father corrected as per Reply#9. Spades
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I wonder why Masterton NZ as place of birth ? Not a familiar place name to me, anyway. Do NZ birth indexes give rego area name ?
No George HUNTER son of Peter & Maud in Ancestrys AUS births
This can be an expensive hobby some times . NT BDMs charge $46 and no indexes Are some NT BDM indexes in Findmypast but too early
Look like you might have to spend $46
Bye
Emilypos
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Emily, Masterton is on the North Island, NZ.
Jamjar
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NZ electoral rolls
Peter HUNTER, baker, at Masterton in 1890, 1896, 1900, 1905-6. NO MENTION of Maud.
JM
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NZ electoral rolls
Earliest I find a George HUNTER at Masterton ... 1905-6 :)
George resides Colombo Rd, and is a railway labourer.
JM
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This won't be much help to you, but just a couple of thoughts .... just because several trees say he was born in Masterton does not necessarily mean it is true. The trees may have just been copied from one incorrect tree. Of course this may be correct but if none of them have sources I would be a bit suspicious. I recently found what seemed like an accurate tree online related to a family I am researching - someone is said to have died in Newcastle, Ireland. Rubbish of course. Looking further into the family I found a couple more inaccuracies, one of which would have led to tracing completely the wrong lines further back.
I think you need to see both his marriage and death certificates, though the information on both of those can also be wrong (intentionally or accidentally). I have seen many incorrect mother's names on Australian d/cs.
Maybe you could try contacting the tree owner/s to see if they can supply you with sources or copies of certificates. :-\
Added: NZ was a bit of a magnet for Scottish immigrants. :) Have you checked any shipping records for George's parents? Or at least for his father?
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Housefire, Masterton:
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZTIM18891023.2.7?items_per_page=100&page=2&phrase=2&query=Peter+hunter&sort_by=byDA
Jamjar
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Have you sought the assistance of those on the NZ board?
Jamjar
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Found online submitted tree for this George
:) George Born 1885 in Brisbane, Qld, #B35031
:) Sister to George, Maud Winifred HUNTER born Masterton, 1887
:) George’s mum died 17 January 1897, Maude HUNTER, Wellington NZ
:) 1914-1918 George worked Vestys Meat Works, Bullocky Pt, Darwin, NT
:) 1918 George worked Darwin NT as Railway employee
:) 1920, George owned his own taxi in Darwin
:) 1921 – 1946 George at Woolner Station as Lessee. (note the spelling)
:) 1922 George married Darwin 4 Jan 1922 “Northern Standard Friday 06 Jan 1922 Mr Geo, Hunter and Miss Thelma Dargie were married on Wednesday last’.
.............
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/48004086 .... no mention of his origins
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/48007372 escapes from wounded buffalo
trove : https://trove.nla.gov.au/
RChat NT resources board : http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=369988.0
Qld bdm : online search for that submitted tree ref no. has :
1885, B35031 matches the ref no. George but his father as William Hunter and mum as Jane Ellis
https://www.bdm.qld.gov.au/IndexSearch/queryEntry.m?type=births
:)
JM
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Thanks to everyone for your replies and suggestions.
I have to confess to a bad mistake in my original post - quoting George's parents from his marriage cert as PETER and Maude Hunter when it should have read STEPHAN and Maude Hunter. My humble apologies :-[
The Peter Hunter a baker in Masterton mentioned by majm is my 2x gt uncle. He married Alice Mary Sutton in 1881 and they had nine children - but no George. One of their children was the Maud Winifred Hunter b. 1887 Masterton mentioned in reply#9 from majm.
The George Hunter at Masterton 1905-6 I cannot place but from the ER it looks as though he could be married to a Mary Hunter, married, also residing at Colombo Rd.
Re the online tree mentioned by majm in reply#9.
Many Thanks for that, but it seems to be a good example of the problem with online trees mentioned by Ruskie.
Re George's Mum. The only Maude Hunter death in NZ between 1880 and 1910 was a Maude Lillian Hunter who died aged 6 months!
The birth in Brisbane 1885 is more interesting because I have a 1st cousin 3x removed a William Hunter who I believe died 20 Jan 1922 Melbourne, Victoria. I cannot find any marriage to a Jane Ellis for him though, but if he was the father of George the buffalo hunter it would explain the DNA result.
Other details from that tree seem to agree with what I've been told, so thanks to majm for that confirmation and links.
I'll add a link to this thread on the NZ board - thanks for the suggestion Jamjar.
John B
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On http://www.coraweb.com.au under Northern Territory listings there is a new Probate Index. It gives a George Hunter probate granted 1948 Administrator David Edgar Hunter.
Not sure if this helps much unless you know that DEH was related.
Stephanie from Australia
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Hi Stephanie ,
Yes David Edgar Hunter b. 1926 is listed as the third of this George Hunter's children so thanks for the link.
However I'm not sure that a Probate would include any details of deceased's parents or birthplace.
Can anyone advise on that?
Thanks
John B
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I am not sure about the Northern Territory's rules in 1948 ... or now, BUT ... in NSW, you need proof of death before they will commence to consider making a grant for Probate. If the person died in NSW, a certified copy of the NSW BDM death cert is sufficient (for the probate file, usually it remains in the archived file). NSW BDM death certs include headings showing the informant's knowledge re the deceased's parents names (including if known the nee name for mum) and the deceased's place of birth, and details of any marriage/s, and the children of those marriages....
But I don't have any detailed knowledge of NT certs. ... they may be as scant as say South Australia's death certs or as detailed as NSW ones... as in administrative aspects NT has been part of both those jurisdictions....
I will phone a rellie to see if I can add to that knowledge.
JM
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By the way, do you already know that the person born 1926 is no longer living? it is a No No to name living persons at RChat. You can modify your post for the first 24 hours.
Named also in Stephanie's post.
(so replies #10 and #11 )
:)
JM
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http://www.jaunay.com/bdm.html
detailed info on NT death certs commenced in 1949 .... :-X :-X
JM
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By the way, do you already know that the person born 1926 is no longer living? it is a No No to name living persons at RChat. You can modify your post for the first 24 hours.
Named also in Stephanie's post. (so replies #10 and #11 )
:) JM
Thanks for reminder and all else JM.
Northern Territory, Australia, Probate Index, 1911-1994 shows a Probate for him with Death Age: 65 and death date "abt 1991"
John B
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http://www.jaunay.com/bdm.html
detailed info on NT death certs commenced in 1949 .... :-X :-X
JM
Oh darn !! I see parents details not shown prior to 1949.
John B
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So don't bother ordering the NT death cert .... but I wonder if the probate file may have statements from various beneficiaries etc giving family history clues about George ....
I have no experience of NT probate researching, sorry. I phoned a rellie, and they are as uninformed as me, sorry. :-[
JM
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Not any particular help to his origins, but here's a picture!
https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-151540278/view
He can't be the 1885 birth in QLD - George Hunter son of William Hunter and Jane Ellis d. 1953 also in QLD
http://search.nt.gov.au/Coveo/Search.aspx?sktl=oralhistory
https://dtc.nt.gov.au/arts-and-museums/northern-territory-archives-service/help-searching-oral-histories
- There is a recorded oral history from Thelma Anderson which mentions her first husband George Hunter, but it looks like you would have to go to them or order a copy to find out if she mentioned anything about his origins/family.
Is "Masterton" mentioned on his marriage certificate, or does this come from later records? Is an occupation given for his father?
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I know it was awhile ago, but this is my Great-Grandfather. And it was Thelma Dargie that he married. I have some family tree details somewhere but I can find what his parents names were. Would be interesting if we were related :)
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Hello,
I came across this thread researching Mark A. Hunter's song "Legend" which is about George Hunter wrestling a buffalo bull in the Northern Territory. If you didn't know about this song, it would be worth having a listen, it's on youtube.
Thought I'd share!