What was GGrandpa doing in Victoria?

[acookey]

My Great Grandfather Robert Pasley migrated to Australia from Ireland, believed to be on the Duchess of Northumberland in 1849 as an Assisted Immigrant. 

He was about 14 or 15 years old.  The records show that he worked as assistant cook on the voyage receiving 3 pounds gratuity at the end.

His death certificate states he was in Victoria for 20 years and NSW for 28.  He did not marry until he was 48, and living in the Forbes NSW area.

We have no idea of what he was doing, or where he went in Victoria.  I have some records of NSW prior to his marriage, but nothing of Victoria.  There was another Robert Pasley who married in Victoria in that time slot but he was was Scotland.

Does anyone have any ideas of where to  start trying to track him down in Victoria.

Thanks

acookey

[sparrett]

Hi acookey

Do you have his NSW marriage certificate which states he was a batchelor upon his marrige at 48 years?

Does the 'record' you refer to show an entry into Victoria, 1849?

Sue

[acookey]

Hi Sue

Yes to both.  He was married in 1883 to Esther Matilda Hodges, and was described as a Bachelor.  He shows up on records of the Duchess of Northumberland 1849 on "List of Immigrants employed during the Voyage".

I am still trying to find his birth record in Ireland (Ireland is hair tearing out stuff).  His father was a Church of Ireland clergyman, and their records are everywhere.   I finally tracked down his parents marriage in 1820 to Tintern church now closed, the records were held by a parishioner.

He would have been a reasonably well educated man, and family lore says "he preferred reading Homer to farming".

acookey

[trish251]

I looked at the 1856 Vic electoral roll - it has a Capt Charles Pasley and a John in Victoria. If he was in NSW prior to his marriage, presumably the death certificate would indicate what his wife or children  had been told - which may/may not be true.

Perhaps if you browse the records from PROV you may get some ideas
- mining licenses
- land records

Trish

[MarieC]

Hi acookey,

You do have some difficult ones in your tree, don't you?

My immediate thought was that he may have been on the Victorian goldfields, and I think Trish's suggestion is an excellent one.

Finally, don't necessarily believe what you see on a death cert regarding where a person has been.  The info for my ggrandfather's death cert was given by one of his daughters.  There was a supposed period of time in South Australia for which I can find no evidence at all, and ten years in Java, after arriving in Australia, which wasn't accounted for at all.  For whatever reason, my great-aunt seems not to have been entirely truthful!

MarieC

[sparrett]

'There was another Robert Pasley who married in Victoria in that time slot but he was was Scotland.'

Have you seen the certificate for this marriage and therefore know the parents,as well as the place of birth is incorrect?

Sue

[acookey]

Hi All

Yes Sparrett I downloaded the Scottish Robert Pasley certificate and there was enough information on it to be sure he was not mine.

I have checked Prov records but will do it again, never know what you missed first time.   He seemed in NSW to be drifing around a bit.  I found some unclaimed letters addressed to him at Booligal, then  he was on a electroral roll for an area where family stories say he was living on a station in a little house looking out for sheep thieves before his marriage.

I suppose what interests me is that he was so young when he arrived, was there no help in finding jobs, or being assigned when you were a Assisted Immigrant?

Acookey