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This is a photo of my maternal grandparents (the couple in the middle), my grandfather’s parents (couple on the right) and his brothers (on the left and in the car). They were married in about 1935 and had their first child in December 1937 so the photo is earlier than 1937.

I’d be very grateful if someone could help with an approximate date, looking at the car and at their clothes. It would have been taken around Tumut or possibly Goulburn in country New South Wales.

Many thanks,
Felicity

Good evening everyone. The image I've included looks very small. I hope you can view a bigger version somehow?

This is a record of employment for a relative of mine, Carrie Merrin. She was a school teacher in a tiny school on the goldfields in NSW in the 1880s, though she was not a trained teacher.

I've been able to decipher most of the record but the second line has me stumped.

The first line reads: "Instructed to take temporary charge of Beryl P. 28th November 1882". This refers to Beryl Public School which was near Gulgong.

I'm not sure whether the line under that begins with the word "Tried" but in any event cannot work out the rest of it. The next two lines seem to contain only ditto marks.

In case it helps, this is what I have for the lines after that:

Line 5: "Cautioned as to neglect of lesson documents."
Line 6: "Removed from Beryl to Avisford P S."
Line 7: "Failed to obtain promotion at examination of 15th June 1885."

Obviously she was not a very good teacher!

Any and all assistance will be gratefully received.

Felicity

Good evening.

I am in Australia and am trying to find a burial record for Father Ernest Eugene Laws who was my great-great-uncle.

Father Laws was Australian and served as a Catholic Chaplain in England and France during WWI. He stayed on in the UK after the war and I'm not sure he ever returned to Australia.

My research suggests Father Laws died in England in 1982 and that he was buried in Bullingdon, Oxfordshire. I gather Bullingdon no longer exists and is now part of South Oxfordshire.

I thought that the Catholic archdiocese in Birmingham may have a record of the burials of Catholic priests but it seems they don't. Their archivist was very helpful though and sent me this:

" ... we do hold some of the records for various churches in Oxford and specifically the area which incorporates the historic area of Bullingdon; however, of those records we have, none of them are burials for the period you are looking at. This is not uncommon, most churches do not have their own cemeteries and those which did in this area where full by 1840.

Three municipal cemeteries were opened though - Osney, St Sepulchre, and Holywell, all of which had sections dedicated to Catholic Burial. I would imagine that Fr Laws is most likely buried in one of these. The problem with locating burials is that whilst the death has to be registered, the location of burial does not. It is very difficult to locate individuals without knowledge of which church a service took place at and which cemetery was most likely being used at the time."

Would anyone know what the best way would be of looking for this burial record? Should I try to buy the death certificate? I'm happy to do that but not sure if the burial details would be on it. Does anyone have access to death records which might be able to shed some light on this for me please?

Many thanks for any help you may be able to offer.

Felicity

I guess I'm looking for someone who knows about the history of Arkansas, how/whether births were registered back in the 1820s and how/where to search for birth records.

I am in Australia and have a William Wilson (born about 1828) who came to New South Wales in about 1852 as a result of the gold rush here. He subsequently married my great-great-grandmother and never returned to America.

On one of his children's birth certificates, William gives his birthplace as "Prescott, Nevada, Arkansas". This is interesting as my research indicates that neither Nevada County nor the city of Prescott were established until after William left. I guess he had contact with his family and so, when his daughter was born, knew that the place where his family lived was, by then, called "Prescott, Nevada".

Anyhow, the 1850 Census shows a William Wilson of the correct age living with dad, step-mum and siblings in Red Land. After extensive searching, I've decided this is probably my William Wilson. His father is Thomas Wilson, born about 1801 in Pennsylvania.

I have two questions:
First, does anyone have any knowledge of/connection to this family?
Second, I would like a birth certificate for William however it seems that there was no public registration of births at that time in this area. So we are left with the churches. Being in Australia, I haven't been able to find how I might be able to find a church record of William's birth and/or baptism. Is this possible or is it likely the birth wasn't registered? I think there was at least one church in the area in 1828 but have no idea how to go about looking for records.

Any and all assistance will be gratefully received.

Many thanks,
Felicity