WEST brickwall.......

[deeiluka]

Edwin Peter West is a long standing brickwall. According to both his death certificate and his WW1 records, he was born in Inverell, New South Wales, although whoever filled out his enlistment form had no idea of how to spell Inverell (Imbereele).

From both his enlistment form and the age given on his marriage certificate it appears that he was born around 1892. At some stage Edwin Peter moved to South Australia, where he married and later died. His South Australian marriage certificate gives his father as Arthur Frederick West.

The brickwall is that we have been unable to find any record of Edwin Peter’s birth or any trace of his father.

I’m hoping…..but with no real confidence……that someone else might be able to find something about one of them.

......dee

[MarieC]

Dee

Aren't these ancestors maddening, the ones whose vital records you can't find?

I'm just wildlly speculating here.  Is it possible that he was illegitimate, and was registered under his mother's surname?  He could have taken his father's name later.  I'm not sure if it's possible to search the NSW indexes by Christian names only.

This doesn't help with finding his father, of course.  Do you know anything about his mother?

MarieC

[deeiluka]

Totally frustrating, Marie. Until the NAA WW1 records came online, we thought maybe that the Inverell on the death certificate may have meant Inverell, Scotland, not NSW as stated.

We know absolutely nothing about the family except what I have put until Edwin's marriage.

Even more annoying is that Edwin's son is still alive, and would never talk about his father at all. And now he has dementia!

I have searched NSW BDM just using given names, just using father's given names....in fact every which way!   

.......dee

[tropicalj]

Hello  there De

I  guess  you  would  have seen  about four births in  that time frame  for WEST in  inverell  in NSW,  perhaps his birth wasn't registered?
Had  the same  thoughts too regarding illegitimate, but searched  for  the shirstian name  with a wildcard surname but nothing showing up.

kind regards Jenn

[deeiluka]

Sure have, Jenn....so I know there were Wests in Inverell around the right time.
There were also Wests born to the same parents at Warialda which is about 60 ks west of Inverell.

An unregistered birth seems to be what it must have been .....even if illegitimate.

Can't find the death of an Arthur Frederick or a Frederick Arthur either......

And there was supposed to be an Uncle called Lancelot Douglas West.......no sign of him either.

We have also considered that Edwin may have been a mixed race baby.......only because of the physical appearance of his son. Edwin's own description in his WW1 record doesn't suggest that though.    

......dee

[trish251]

Hi Dee

His mother (Mrs F West!!) is listed as living Osbourne Place Fullerton Estate Glen Osmond SA - at the end of the war service record. Can you find her on an electoral roll or death record?

Trish

[deeiluka]

That mention of Edwin's mother is the only one we can find, Trish. Until the WW1 records became available online, we didn't even have that. An earlier application to get Edwin's service records received the answer that he was not enrolled!!!    Can you imagine our surprise and delight when I found his records online?   

Now we are just hoping for something else to turn up like that..... 


.....dee

[deeiluka]

The question of Mrs F. West? Was it Mrs Frederick West? Or did her name begin with F?

South Australian Deaths Index doesn't help. To make matters more complicated, Edwin's son, a West, married a West in South Australia.....a totally unrelated family as far as we can see. (But a much easier one to trace).     

......dee

[cando]

Hi Dee

Now just tring to help

There is no address Osbourne Place, Fullarton Estate, Glen Osmond, SA today.  As a matter of interest - no Osbourne anything in Adelaide.

From SA Placenames Online
Fullarton Estate
    private subdivision of sections 252/3, 265/6 & 270/1. name approved a a subdivision name by the nomenclature committee on 24/7/1925 & 22/1/1926. now included in the suburbs of Fullarton, Parkside, Frewville, Glenunga and Myrtle Bank.
 
 I am wondering if the address could be Osmond Tce - a small street between Wattle and Fisher Streets.
http://maps.google.com.au/maps?f=q&output=html&hl=en&q=osmond+tce+fullarton&zoom=2
I lived in an nearby suburb to Fullarton for 22 years and am a walker

I checked  the Manning Index of place names but it really isn't all that helpful with this one.  I am not sure which council area - Unley or Burnside - the suburb of Fullarton falls into.  I have checked the Burnside Council's database of street name changes - nothing relevant.

I think it is going to be difficult to follow up on an Electoral Roll search if Edwin's mother's name is not known and the street name may be incorrect.  It may involve further searching to see if there once was an Osbourne Place in Fullarton or adjacent suburbs. 

Cheers
cando