I have traced my BARNES family origins back to 1730 (in Cornwall), from where they moved to Dorset c 1873, and then onwards to Hampshire after the 1891 census, where they stayed until at least 1937.
My ggfather Wallis John Harold BARNES was born in Dorchester, Dorset on 30/9/1877. He lived with his parents and siblings in Dorchester at the time of the 1891 UK census. The 1901 UK census recorded his family in Portsmouth, Hampshire. However Wallis John Harold does not appear anywhere in the 1901 census (neither is his death recorded in the UK post-1891).
In February 1907 Wallis John Harold BARNES got married in South Africa. I have verified that this is the same person who "disappeared" in the UK after 1891, and have managed to trace his descendants in South Africa from 1907 until the present day.
My challenge for the past few years has been to find documentary proof of his entry into South Africa between 1891 and 1907 (perhaps this can be narrowed down to 1891 to 1901 as he was not in the UK during the 1901 census). I could not find any evidence that he served in the Anglo-Boer War, but found three passenger lists to Cape Town that could possibly have included him. These are:
a) "Mexican" departed from Southampton Port on 18 August 1894; includes "W.J. Barnes".
b) "German" departed from Southampton Port on 3 February 1900; includes "W. Barnes".
c) "Doune Castle" departed from ? port on 30 January 1901; includes "W. Barnes" aged 21 (but he would have been 23 at the time) and shows profession as "C.M.R.".
My hunch is with a) or b) above, but I do not know how to get closer to the answer right now. Can SKS please help me to unplug this bottleneck?
Thanks and best regards
Springtide
