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Hi,

My grandfather's 1st cousin, Arthur James Walter DENING, son of Charles Edward Davy DENING and Annie SMITH, was born 28 January 1905 at Naracoorte SA.  He went to Western Australia, and while living there he listed in the army at Claremont WA during WWII.  His sister Daisy told me that he visited his family in SA after WWII, and as he was leaving he said he would write, but never did.
 
I have hunted but cannot find anything beyond that — it seems that he just vanished off the face of the earth.  I now fear that he might have changed his name or been lost in the bush.  In the hope that is not the case, I wonder it anyone can help me with this, please?

Cheers,
Jestina

I have been beating my head against a brick wall, and I feel as if the brick wall is winning.

William Wade appears on the 1841 UK census at Church Street, Stoke Newington, Middlesex.  His age is shown as 40 (so, if correct, having turned 40  but not yet turned 45), and he is a tailor.  Also at the address are his wife Mary, also "40", and children Elizabeth, 15, Sarah, 13, Charlotte, 11, and William, 4.  The census shows that all the children were born in Middlesex, but neither of the parents were.

The family migrated to South Australia, sailing from Southampton on 19 Sept 1848 aboard the William Money and arriving in SA on 3 Jan 1849.  Those who migrated were: William, 48; Mary 46; Elizabeth, 23; Charlotte, 17; William, 10; Mary E, 7; George, 4; and Constance, 1.  The second daughter, Sarah, who would have been about 21, has disappeared – married, died, couldn't afford the passage – I have not been able to find out.  Charlotte seems to have suddenly lost a couple of years, as well.

William (the elder) died on 26 August 1865 at Truro in South Australia.  His death and burial records both show him with a middle name – William Plummer Wade.  The younger William gave one of his sons the same name. 

However, a John O'Brien Wade gave one of his sons the same name as well.  John O'Brien Wade was born in about 1850 but there is no birth record for him in South Australia, NSW, Qld, WA or NZ (Vic is offline at the moment).  According to a tree on Ancestry, he is the son of John Plummer Wade and Mary O'Brien who were married in SA in 1847.  I have found a baptism on FamilySearch.org for "John Plummer Wade Or Weed", bapt 22 Sept 1822 at Shenley, Hertford, England, son of "Wm. Wade of Weed" and Mary.  Could this be an eldest son of the couple who later lived in Stoke Newington and then later  again in South Australia? 

Another child of this couple, "Elizth Plummer Wead or Wade" was also baptised at Shenley on 23 April 1826 (about the right time to be the Elizabeth who appears above, although not, as per the 1841 census, born in Middlesex).  FamilySearch also has a marriage of William Wade and Mary Peacock at Shenley on 18 December 1821.     

So, could Plummer be William's mother's maiden name?  I have been able to find only one marriage of a couple with the right surnames:

Groom: Robert WADE
Groom's marital status: soldier
Groom's parish -
Bride: Rachel PLUMMER
Bride's marital status: -
Bride's parish: -
Marriage place: Shepton Mallet, Somerset, England
Marriage date: 14 February 1780
source: find my past, Somerset Marriages (post-1754) Transcription — http://search.findmypast.co.uk/record?id=gbprs%2fm%2f295168507%2f1

Neither bride not groom were OTP, and groom was a soldier, which suggests they moved around.  Also, neither first name appears amongst William & Mary's children.  But this is useless unless I can find William's birth or baptism.

I know this is ridiculously long, and I apologise for that, but I wanted to be clear, and to save people tracking over the same ground again. 

Can anyone help with the elder William's birth or baptism, please?

Cheers,
Jestina

Hi,

I am researching the family of John Williams who left Wrotham in Kent in late 1851 and arrived in South Australia in February 1852.

He migrated with most of his large family -- his second wife, Sarah, nee Waitman/Waiteman/Wakeman, their six children, Charles, Emma, Eliza, Jabez, Bertha, and Mercy (aged 12 down to one year), three sons from his first marriage, John Jnr (17), Thomas (16), and William (24), as well as William's wife, Matilda (nee Herrion, AKA Mary Matilda, 21) and their infant son John. 

According to oral history another son, James, born in about 1829, stayed behind in Kent when his family migrated, but migrated two years later with his bride, Mary Ann Chapman.

Also according to oral history, there were also two daughters from the first marriage, but their names are not known.  It has been suggested that they were cared for outside the family after their mother died.

Because John and Sarah were married in 1837 I have found their marriage and the births of all six children on the BDM indexes.  I have also found the family on the 1841 and 51 censuses, but I have been struggling for details prior to when civil registrations began in 1837.  I have found the baptisms for John Jnr and Thomas on FamilySearch.com (which gave me their mother's name, Elizabeth Bennett) but nothing else.

Would someone kindly be able to look up the WROTHAM Parish registers for:

the baptisms of:

• John Williams, born c.1807;
  Elizabeth Bennett;
  Sarah Waitman, born c.1812;
  William Williams, born c.1826;
  James Williams, born c.1829;
  the alleged daughters of John and Elizabeth

;

Also the marriage (c.1825) of John Williams & Elizabeth Bennett; and

the burial of Elizabeth William (nee Bennett).

Cheers,
Jestina

Hi,

My ancestor James WHITE consistently gave Stanton Harcourt as his place of birth on censuses.  When he was born is a little less clear -- it appears that he was born sometime around 1789-1791.

I have received unconfirmed and unverified information that his parents were "Benj" and "Eliz" (mother's maiden name MORRIS).  My source indicates that Benj & Eliz were married at Stanton Harcourt in 1784, but does not give an exact date or a source for this information.

Could some kind person please check the parish registers for Stanton Harcourt for these two events (and, if possible, any others pertaining to this family)?

Cheers,
Jestina

Susannah (Clark according to marriage register) was married at Clanfield on 19 October 1814 to James White.  I cannot find any record of Susannah's baptism.  Another researcher says she was baptised at Clanfield in 1793, but they do not quote their sources, and I cannot find any parish registers from Clanfield that early.

To add to my confusion two girls named (according to baptismal records) Shusana Clack were baptised at Black Bourton, Oxfordshshire – only a mile from Clanfield.  One, the daughter of John Clack and his wife Hanah, was baptised on 20 June 1790, and the other, the daughter of Philip Clack and his wife Faney, was baptised on 10 April 1791.  I can't work out if she is one of these, and if she is I have no idea how I might figure out which one.

A further problem with Susannah is that she appears to have died before the 1841 census -- my non-source quoting fellow researcher say she died, aged 40, and was buried at Clanfield on 25 March 1833.  Certainly her youngest child, Richard White, was baptised on 13 September 1829 at Clanfield, so it appears she was alive around 1829, but her husband, James, seems to have another wife, Ann, by the 1841 census (but of course I can't find a record of that marriage, either).

I would be most grateful for any help or advice that might guide me through this fog of confusion.

Cheers,
Jestina