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Hi, My 3xGreat Grandfather Arthur Nicholls arrived in Australia around 1886 aged 30 and was an Engineer on steamships that used to travel up and down the east coast of Australia. I have no idea as to his arrival here in Australia as I just cant find it. My question is would he have had to have done an apprenticeship in the UK? and if so where would one find such records? His parents are listed on his marriage and death certificates as being Joseph Nicholls - boiler maker and Elizabeth Tonkin. He was born in London,Middlesex around 1861 if I go by his death/marriage certificates. The only family I have located at the time of his birth is in the 1861 census and they are living on the East India Docks, so I am assuming that is where his father worked as a boiler maker.. This is the only Joseph Nicholls i have found as a boiler maker aswell, but I cant be sure this is the family.I cant find anything in 1871 1881 census either and then he arrives in Australia.. Family rumour was that the family spent time in India..but have not found any travel records to suggest this is true..Any help much appreciated on this one..its doing my head in.. Sonya

Hello,

thanks for your reply, I too went through all of the death,marriage records of the siblings and came up with nothing, I have not found them to leave Ireland either, Mary settled in Brisbane,Queensland, she arried on the Eastminster, via Plymouth, I had wondered if the whole family migrated to England but again cam up with nothing, I am really at a dead end. I have been searching for awhile, and I am due to take off on a ancestry hunt overseas, to England,Germany & Ireland and I was hoping to pinpoint if the family had stayed in Ireland or exact location as I would like to visit.

Thanks for your help.

Sonya

Hi Peonie, I have looked at this website and found it quite good for information aswell.

I have been using ddd.dk.de website, I have found it to be the most helpful as it goes back to 1803

I also did have Hans-Peter Voss do some research on my Rohweder family from Rendsburg in S-H..which ended up being $340AUS..i nearly choked,but it would have helped if my ancestor had not been married 3 times, hence fees being 30EUR per document and I had 12..A costly first time experience for me.. but anxious to know more, I will have to save some more money and get him to do some more digging!

Thanks for the tip
Sonya

Hi Justin, Yes, definitely a dutch...so and so..The year that he was born in 1864 was when S-H was part of Denmark, so I thought that is why the records might be in the Dansk Census..I find it quite funny that she would call him something like that but probably back then was a touchy subject. When they did settle in Australia they claimed to be Dutch because of the fighting that had been going on and kept to themselves so they were not recognised as Germans. Johann is my Great great grandfather, so it was my grandmother that told me that story yesterday as I have been pumping her for some information. I found Johann on a list of passengers from S-H and it named his parents which confirms with his parents on the registry of birth,death and marriage in Queensland,Australia. I have been trying to figure out the names of Johann's siblings by using his and his father Heinrich's names but this is stretching it I think. 
My only concern was getting someone to look for me and paying them and then we have been looking in the wrong place, definitely S-H could be Rendsburgh though..another stab in the dark..

Thanks again.
Sonya

Hello, I am finding it very difficult to locate my ancestors that are from Schleswig-Holstein. My ancestor is Johann Wilhelm Carl Rohweder (a carpenter)..born 9 September 1864 is Schleswig-Holstein,Germany he left Germany to come to Australia in 1883 and married a Catharina Maria Zinn...and they settled in Esk,Queensland. I have found his father as Heinrich Marius(or Marcus) Reinhold Rohweder (a tailor by trade) and Marie Caroline Christina Lueth(or Luth), which is from Johann's death record in Queensland, but to go beyond the time of 1864 in S-H is causing me some grief...total brickwall. I did email somebody with help on this matter (and their last name was Rohweder) and they sent me back a list of fees...which i thought..thanks a bunch but i still dont have an answer to my question. I do realise that at the time of his birth this part of Germany was in fact Denmark, but again to no avail...nothing! I have been on most of the websites and nothing again. I do not know of any siblings except for one of Johanns which went to America...but as they did not speak of their families back then we dont know if he was older or younger or even what his name was.  I have emailed another lady from Schleswig Holstein with the details and she has still come back saying i need more than a birthdate and place...not sure how to go forward from here...any suggestions,lookups,websites etc are welcomed.
Sonya