census, birth, death - Jessie & Marian HAMILTON (of Illabo)

[alli_burnie]

Thanks Cando - I didnt know about the cemetary book - that may well come in handy!

I'm going to look for these publications in a library near me - I'm hoping to look at the them soon.

My 'family source' is about as sure about Hamilton history as me - not sure at all!  But she does have some idea that these Australian Hamilton's were a 'renegade' group from the Irish ones I think.

[alli_burnie]

Hi everyone,

I’ve made some real progress in finding Marion Hamilton, and her daughter Jessie Hamilton.

Marion’s parents were Matthew Hamilton and Margaret (nee Hastie).  They migrated from Glasgow to Sydney, Australia (apparently in 1855, but I can find no evidence) with 2 children Thomas and Catherine.  They had a third child in Sydney, named Margaret.

In 1856 or 1857, Margaret and Matthew moved to Adelong in the search of gold, where they had the following children:

Mary A. (or Marion, b.1858), John (1860), Alison (birth rego not found), Isabella (1864), James (b. 1866, d. 1940), Jane (b. 1868, d. 1899), Elizabeth (b. 1870, d. 1894) and Robert (birth rego not found).  All found births were registered either in Gundagai or Tumut. 

The information so far was all found in NSW BDMs or a publication about the history of Illabo (and mentioned by Judith above).  There is a lot of information in the publication for which I have not been able to find documentary evidence.

According to Jessie’s marriage certificate, Jessie was born in 1876 to Marion Hamilton, then aged 18.

Marion Hamilton then married Walter William Jones in 1879 in Cootamundra (when Jessie was 3 years old).  This is the second piece of evidence of Mary A’s name change and her marriage was found after investigation sparked by the fairly off-hand note found in the following family tree online:  http://www.turnbullclan.com/tca_genealogy/tca_all2-o/p257.htm#i21723

“Note*: Mary Ann Hamilton Marion Hamilton married Jones or Boxsell.”

According to NSW BDMs, Marion and Walter had the following children:

Walter Henry Jones (b. 1880, Cootamundra)
Alice Jones (b. 1886, Cowra)

I haven’t been able to find any death registrations for these children.

As we know, Jessie married Arthur Claydon Boxsell in 1887 in Illabo. 

Jessie died in 1964 in St Leonards, Sydney, and her parents were noted as Matthew and Margaret Hamilton.  Jessie’s children all believed this to be the case until very late in their lives.

I’m almost satisfied of the link between Marion and Jessie – although it is still very weak I feel.  I would love to find Marion Jones’ death certificate, as I hope it will list her children, including Jessie.  To this point, I have no success finding the death registrations for Marion or her husband, Walter.  Is anyone able to spot anything that might be it?

[judb]

Hmmm - given that the family seems to have kept a secret all those years I would not be too hopeful that Marion's death certificate will actually tell you whether Jessie is her child.  She may have chosen to keep it from her husband or the informant for the details on the certificate may not know of Jessie's real parentage, or may have chosen not to put it on the death certificate.

In my opinion a mention of Jessie as the child of Marion on Marion's death certificate would be 'proof'.  If there is no mention then I would think it still very possible that Jessie is Marion's child. 

I would be wondering about this birth also.
1885 Edith JONES, parents Walter W and Mary A  reg GOULBURN  #12857

Do you have an actual date for the marriage and/or the birth of Walter Henry - the Cootamundra paper has lots of "Personal" entries and may well carry information.

Like you I can't see any deaths or marriages for any of this family.  I wonder if they moved interstate?

Thanks for getting back to us on this.  It's great when one gets some follow-up. 

Judith

[alli_burnie]

Judith - Unfortunately I dont have an exact date for Marion's marriage to Walter.  I havnt obtained their wedding certificate as I felt it was unlikely to hold information that I needed (I was going to purchase her mother, Margaret's, death certificate, for some further proof of that relationship).

And I havnt been able to identify a birth registration for Walter William either.  There are a few possibilities, but Jones is a pretty common name!  I've had a look for their deaths in QLD and Victoria, with no obvious results.  There are some possibilities in Victoria, especially if Marion's parents were listed as 'unknown' (there's a few of them).

I had also found the birth registration for Edith too - and was wondering about it!  Walter and Marion were definately on the move when she was having his children.

As for whether or not Walter knew of Jessie, its hard to know.  I'm sure he knew of her - he married Marion so close to the family home and he would have visited her parents home and wondered about the 3 year old running around.  Unless they passed Jessie off as Margaret's child - but the whole community would have known that Marion had been pregnant, or that Margaret had not been.  Did the whole Illabo community keep the secret?   

Its likely that Marion's later children might not have known of Jessie though.  Marion and Walter seemed to take off after they married, evidence by each of their children's birth registrations in a different place (then maybe disappearing from the state altogether).  Meanwhile, Jessie states on her marriage certificate that she was still residing in Illabo.  It seems she was brought up by Margaret and Matthew for a few years at least?

By the way, Margaret Hamilton's death is reported in the newspapers (NLA).  She died in 1882 - her death is a real glimpse into some of the terrors of life out there at that time.  Jessie would have been 6 at the time.

Many thanks as always,  Alli