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To Debra, Sue and the other people who made contributions to this subject.

Thank you for your efforts to resolve this question.

Unfortunately there is no evidence to date to verify the parents listed on the marriage certificate for Samuel Watkins.

I will not be taking this matter any further for the immediate future.

John

Hi Debra
There is another scenario to that suggested in your post of 13 May re the mother of Samuel Watkins.
Sue brought to my attention a David Watkins who had served time in Tasmania as a convict .  He was released in 1852 and was put on a ship which was to land in Melbourne.  As the gold rush around Ballarat was underway it is feasible that he may have headed for Buninyong.

At that  time Mary Ann Hutchinson was aged 21 and unmarried until 1855.  As mentioned in my opening brief there is no BDM records for Samuel'a birth.  However, on his marriage to Annie Smith (Mottram) in 1877 (see attached file) he stated his age  was 22 (DOB 1855) born in Buninyong to David Watkins and Mary Ann Hutchinson.
It is possible that David ex Tas had a brief relationship with Mary Ann and she became pregnant with Samuel.
It assumes Thomas Lane accepted the situation and Samuel was brought up as part of the Lane family.

However, I note a Samuel was born to Mary Ann and Thomas in 1860 (ref 19609) which detracts somewhat from the above scenario.

John

Hi Sue

Thanks for the lead about David Watkins a convict held in Tasmania until his discharge in 1852.

It is feasible that he could have moved from Melbourne to the gold fields around Ballarat at this  time and could be Samuel's father.  According to Samules marriage certificate he claims he was born in 1857.

I also note that there was a Mary Ann Hutchinson in Tasmania who also was a convict. It appears she stayed in Tasmania and died there.

John

I have attached a PDF file containing the Marriage Certificate of Annie Watkins and John McFarlane

Regards

John

Request to Roots Chat for assistance to locate the birth place of my 2nd great grandfather David WATKINS

Background:

My paternal grandmother was Annie Watkins, born in Box Hill Victoria in 1887. She married my paternal grandfather John McFarlane at Albury, NSW in 1904 and subsequently emigrated to Dunedin, NZ around 1910.

 Her father Samuel Watkins had also emigrated to NZ and died there in 1915.  According to his death certificate it states his parents were David Watkins and a Mary Ann Hutchinson. and that he was born in Victoria. However, there are no Victorian BDM records for this birth.  David Watkins is thought to have been a miner who emigrated to Australia from Wales to take part in the gold rush in the 1850s at Buninyong near Ballarat, Victoria.  However, there is no conclusive evidence to verify this.  The  outcome of research to date is outlined in an attachment.