there is mystery re thomas james messenger, born 11/8/1831 [my ancestor].
s.aust. records show that he arrived in 1839 on 'the resource', from aylesbury, buckinghamshire, aged 8.
a mrs. james [perhaps elizabeth] messenger was on the same ship, as was little amy mills [& family]-- he later married amy in 1851.
i have found no record of his parentage from s. aust library records.
old family info i have been given by relatives indicate that he is my ancestor, & not the thomas messenger who arrived on the 'william malcolm' in 1848.
who was mrs. james messenger? a mother, or maybe relative?
investigation this week at the state library in s. aust. found no record of her since the 1839 arrival. what was her maiden name, nothing shows re her death, or on thomas's marriage records, or on census info.
in july, i travelled to the u.k. 'ancestor hunting' [again!], & spent 3 days at the centre for buckinghamshire studies at aylesbury--my second visit there ,to look for thomas & co. history.
after searching, with much staff assistance, no record was found of thomas james, or a mrs. james messenger, or a link with a william messenger/mary henley, suggested by others possibly as his parents, or anyone else who may have been linked by dates.
certainly, there is evidence of messengers in the various aylesbury parish records, & in the 'posse commitatus of 1798' records, with earliest messenger listing in approx.1610.
incidentally, i visited a new aylesbury suburb with 'messenger close' as an area there.
before travelling to the u.k this year, i wrote to about 2 dozen messengers listed in the aylesbury & surrounds phone books seeking info on thomas or his parents, or family histories that may interlock, & had several responses---but with no actual interlock.
i know much of thomas's & amy's family history since his arrival in 1839 [co-incidentally, the same year that my ancestors on my mother's side arrived, so both within about the first 6000 colonists in s.aust!] ---but nothing of his british ancestory.
i am interested to know if he was able to take up land holdings here. if so, where did the money come from?--or was he share-farming, or labouring? needs more research.
the bucks centre suggested that there may be records in adjoining oxfordshire of thomas, because messengers were prominent there as early auctioneers. perhaps he was born near oxford & then moved to aylesbury. i haven 't researched this possibility.
it is surprising that i haven't been able to link his history or that of likely parents by date, etc. somewhere---but of course there were not complete records back then---only parish marriages, baptisms & deaths, & no censuses until later.
can anyone add information please?
