Christopher Robert Tatham of Sydney

[Deb D]

My grandmother (she who hoarded some strange and eclectic things - including, we thought, wild stories about her family) used to say that her father, Christopher Robert Tatham, had something to do with one of the early pharmacies in Sydney.

She also had a portrait of him in Masonic garb, hung on the lounge room wall; - this portrait has since disappeared, but I remember she used to insist the outfit was that of a Grand Master.  This would have been sometime between the family's arrival in Sydney from Melbourne (around 1898) and his death in 1928.  Since, to my embarrassment, it's turned out that Grandma wasn't just a dotty little old lady, and since it was actually a portrait, I'd like to think what she told us was "kosher".

I've tried contacting a couple of Masonic Lodges, but none of them replied claiming any knowledge of C R Tatham. 

So my question/s is/are ... where can I look, in hopes of finding some reference to the early pharmacy/chemist's shop ... and is there some less slapdash way of finding Masonic records than the one I've been using? (lol)

Cheers
Deb

[Deb D]

ps .. is there an "embarrassment" emoticon, here?  i think i need one!

[ennael]

Have you tried contacting their archives?

http://www.mof.org.au/pages/archives.htm

Leanne

[Deb D]

Hi Leanne

Yes, I had contacted the Masons, some time ago.  Despite finding a 'G R Tatham' and a H T Tatham (would have been his son) on their list of past Grand Masters ... they said they could find no record of either.  However, ... on looking at the link you gave me, I find it's quite different to the one I found initially, so I've now contacted them, and you never know, I may hear something back.

Thanks for the link ... fingers crossed! 

[jorose]

http://www.ihr.com.au/documents.html
 - this site seems to have some of the Sands directories online (not free to access).

http://www.records.nsw.gov.au/guides/short_guide_10_pharmacists_and_physiotherapists_10076.asp
 - this is what the NSW records offices has on pharmacists.

Probably trying to find his obituary would be a good idea, too.

[Deb D]

Oooooh!  Thank you for that!  Looks like a trip to the Records repository at Kingswood is on the cards.

Incidentally, I have just found (having had it "tidied up" by a certain OC family member - now I'll have to file it properly again  ) a photocopy of the Funeral Notices that appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald of 24/12/1928.  Interestingly, there are five Notices: - one from his family, then one inviting "Comrades of the United Imperial Navy and Army Veterans' Associations of NSW" ...  also one inviting  Masonic Lodge LeichhardtNo. 379, UGL of NSW ... another invites Masonic Lodge Shaw-Stewart No. 1?3 UGL of NSW, ... and yet another invites Masonic Moriah R.A. Chapter No. 355 S.C. Leichhardt.  In these, he is sequentially referred to as "their late Comrade", "our late Member, Wor. Bro. ...", "the late Wor. Bro. ..." and "our late Most Ex. Companion".

I know I've tried before to find the United Imperial Navy & Army Veterans Assns ... without much success.  If anyone knows where else I can search, I'd be very grateful for the info.  And as I said earlier ... didn't have any luck with the Masonic Lodges in years gone by ... will keep the fingers crossed for something, this time.

Again, copious thanks! 

[jorose]

UGL of NSW = United Grand Lodge of New South Wales:
http://www.uglnsw.freemasonry.org.au/

Am I right in think his father was Robert Gordon Tatham, who was a surgeon in London? (in Poplar in 1871 census). So it's not unlikely that he was involved somehow in a pharmacy.

http://www.records.nsw.gov.au/indexes/searchform.aspx?id=48 - you can search here to see a number of firms listed as Pharmacist or Pharmaceutical Chemist or Chemist or Druggist, etc. registered in NSW - no Tathams but maybe you'll spot a relative's name?

http://www.rsl.org.au/ might know something about the United Imperial Navy etc?

http://www.gazettes-online.co.uk/ has a couple of hits for Christopher Robert Tatham around 1880/1 - in the 3rd Cambridgeshire Corps (Rifle Volunteers) he became a lieutenant in 1880, then a captain at the end of the year, then in 1881 (listed as Captain Christopher Robert Tatham of the 2nd Cambridgeshire (Cambridge University) Corps) resigned his commission.

[Deb D]

Hello again ... yes, that's him.  I had found him as a student, reading Mathematics at Cambridge ... and then it appears he "dropped out" in 1880 ... and I lost track of him until he married, in Carlton, VIC, in 1887.  Interesting, that he seems to have stayed with the Cambridgeshire Corps, after his name was "taken off College books without further explanation after Easter Term 1880".  Still have yet to find a definite arrival in Australia ... there are a few possibilities, but then, I have no idea exactly what he did up until he met and married gt-grandma.

Thanks for those links ... sending myself into burnout, looking at them lol

[xena100bc]

Hi Debra, My great grandfather was also Christopher Robert Tatham. My grandfather was his son Archibald Frederick Tatham. I also have the picture of Christopher in regalia and uniform. My mother told me he was a member of the Oddfellows and not the Masonic Lodge so maybe that is why you can't find him. All the best Kerrie