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Hi Althea

Thanks for the electoral roll reference .

Yes I have trolled through Papers Past.  There's some very interesting information there, including a couple of references to our Miguel Garcia.

If there are no New Zealand records of Miguel's death or burial, perhaps he did die overseas.  I think I'll try a post on the Emigrants to Australia thread.

Regards

Shadwell

Many relatives have been looking through various records over the years for the death and burial place of my great-grandfather, Miguel Paschal Garcia - most likely around Thames between 1889 and 1908.  He was born in London about 1835, married in Dunedin 1868, lived in Melbourne in the 1870/80s and moved back to NZ in about 1888.  He appears to have been also known as Michael Garcia or John Garcia. 

His wife Mary Jane Garcia died in 1908 and is buried at Shortland Cemetery, Thames, but no sign of Miguel.  John Garcia (aka Miguel Garcia?), Totara Point, Thames, is listed in 1889 as a guardian of James Garcia (my grandfather) in the Thames High School Register of Pupils.

Any help or suggestions would be gratefully appreciated.

Hi Sue

The informant for Mary Jane Garcia's certified copy of entry of death is not shown, but they did not know where she was married, nor at what age married, nor the first name of to whom married, - so I would say the informant was not very reliable or not very informed.  I doubt it was her son James as she died when he was a few hundred miles away.

I'm not sure who the relative was who told me 13 January 1878.  I've been looking into this part-time and spasmodically for thirty years and in the early days did not know the importance of keeping files and references.

I agree there could have been valid reasons such as the ones you suggest for returning the child Jane to the orphanage, but it all sounds a bit sad .  Mary Jane's mother-in-law died the year Jane was returned to the orphanage and her husband seems to have died or diappeared about that time, so perhaps circumstances became too difficult.

As to whether the children are connected?  James must have been close to the adopted Stanley as he named one of his sons Stanley, but he referred to Stanley as adopted but not himself.  You may well be right, but we have no evidence as yet. 

Thank you Sue for helping me narrow down the search.  Genni found Stanley , now surely we could find James and end a longstanding puzzle.  Just relaised Genni has been searching at SLV, which I understand is State Library of Victoria, so perhaps there is more there.

Cheers and thanks for your ongoing help .

Shadwell       

Thanks Genni, Sue and Cando

I appreciate you sticking with me on this one.  I have a number of relatives in New Zealand and one in London now following this quest and I'm just hoping to crack through this brickwall before the family reunion in January.

There is no James in prior family history - parents Miguel and Mary Jane had fathers Miguel and Francis (Francois) - so what Cando says makes sense to me.  So I'm looking for a James born 1875 to 1878 in Melbourne (probably Richmond, close to Charlotte St or perhaps family known through the Methodist Church) to an unmarried mother, father unknown.   

I have revisited what I know about James "Garcia's" date of birth and it appears he could have been born between 1875 and 1878.  Cyclopaedia of New Zealand would make it 1877 in Richmond, Victoria, marriage details indicate 1877/78 in Richmond, Victoria, and James’s death certificate indicates born between 18 July 1876 and 17 July 1877, but his mother Mary Jane Garcia’s death certificate in 1908 indicates it could be 1875 or even 1882 - two male issue aged 33 years (1875) and 26 (1882).  Place of birth on James’s death certificate is stated as Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.  Taranaki Daily News of 19 July 1943 stated that he was born at Melbourne. A relative once told me that James’s birthday was 13 January 1878.  In Thames High School's (NZ) register of pupils, James was born on 13 January 1876.

I also can't help wondering why Mary Jane Garcia would return a young girl to the orphanage yet keep my grandfather who was around the same age.

I know this all sounds very confusing, but any further help would be gratefully appreciated.

Cando, thanks for the "James" names. Genni, thanks for the library research - which library was that and I wonder if there is a James for my dates in the Boys book?

Kind regards

Shadwell