Hi Everyone,
Thanks to all who have posted. I will add all the info I have incld the newspaper article, which also can be seen onlne, by typing Smithyman NZ into a search engine.
I have found a probable record of arrival for Smithyman to ENG- NZ.
PASSENGER LIST
William Watson
Barque: 430 tons
Captain: C Macfarlane
Sailed London October 21st 1858 - arrived Auckland February 6th 1859
Single men or Women-SMITHYMAN-JB
SOURCE:
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~ourstuff/WilliamWatson.htmlThe New Zealander Saturday 16th July 1859
PUBLIC NOTIFICATION
BY JOHN WILLIAMSON ESQ
SUPERINTENDENT OF THE PROVINCE OF AUCLAND
PERSONS representing that they are willing to be specially rated on their properties having a frontage to the south side of Shortland-street, between Queen-street and Princes-street for the purpose of forming a footpath with a stone kerb along the south side of the said street ….the rate to be paid to Edmund Mahony on the 10th August next.
Name RITCHIE, Thomas & SMITHYMAN, John Bailey
Amount of frontage In feet :18 ½
Amount of Rate :£2.6.3
SOURCE:
http://www.ozlists.com/genies/residents/resid001.htmMr John Bailey Smithyman, who had a wholesale ironmongers business where the New Zealand Insurance Company stands now in Queen Street, Auckland, NZ
MARRIAGE
SMITHYMAN - MERRILL
On 10th March 1860 at the residence of Mr Ohlson, Hobson-street,
by Rev George Brown, John Bailey Smithyman, Merchant, only
son of Mr Smithyman Esq, of Shorebridge, Wolverhampton, to
Frances Brown Merrill, second daughter of William Merrill Esq,
Farmer, Howick. [NZ'er 14 March 1860]
Frances Merrill was born 1841 Canturbury Kent, ENG. ( I have also posted in regard to this family)
But as stated above they were married in NZ. Perhaps her birthdate may give a rough ?? timeframe for his birth.
BACKGROUND
With a veiw to commencing plantation activities and trading, Mr Smithyman sailed from Auckland to Fiji by Schooner in 1860. Fiji was then under the rule of King Thakomba, or Gakoban, who ceded the islands to Britian. Mrs Smythman followed her husband to the Islands in the 16 ton cutter, Aquila, the voyage lasting 16 days, and she met her husband at Levuka. They then went to a coton plantationin the island of Nukulau, but after a year they moved to Duba Bay.
Mr and Mrs Smithyman later lived at Rewa, Viti Levu, but their longest stay in any particular part of fiji was a period of 10 years on Makogai Island, the present leper station. Their work was that of cotton planting, an activity that was often menaced by hurricanes.
Mr Smithyman next managed stores on Vanua Levu and at Levuka, where he died in 1880, but the name of the family is still well known in Fiji.
JB Smithyman is listed in the new publication Kaivalagi ni Viti, Census of Europeans Resident in Fiji 1874-75. He appears in the returns for Lomai-Viti [mainly Levuka residents] : JB SMITHYMAN Storeman
Here is some info on the birth of one of the children/isssue of John Bailey Smithyman.
NAME: SMITHYMAN, John Bailey
EVENT: Birth
LOCATION: Wolverhampton, Region not specified, England
DETAILS: Frederick Charles SMITHYMAN, first born white male in the Fijis, 19 Jan 1863. Son of the late John Bailey SMITHYMAN of Wolverhampton, England.
SOURCE: Cyclopaedia of Fiji, first published Sydney 1907, printed by McCarron, Stewart & Co., 44 Pitt St, Sydney. Reprinted by the Fiji Museum, Suva, 1984, 1988, page 287. Copy held in NZSG Library. Not specified, Region not specified, Fiji
As i said I dont have too much info to go on, perhaps his birth was around the time of his wifes, I dont know how much age difference there was if any, also Smithyman left ENG in 1858, so perhaps this will offer some type of time frame.
I have been lucky enough with my research so far that I havent had to purchase alot of certificates etc, as they are quite expensive here in NZ. I am unsure if that will even give Smithymans year of birth. I guess that will be my next step if I have no further luck.
Could any one tell me how Stourbridge is pronounced, perhaps this could be the correct area ?
Cheers
Del
