How did he get to Australia?

[LizzieL]

My late father's second cousin (Josiah Eltham born 1887) is listed on 1891, 1901 and 1911 censuses then he disappears - no death certificate. I have recently found a migration record dated 8 October 1960 for Josiah leaving UK for Australia, so I assumed he emigrated then (although over 70) and must have died in Australia.
On looking more closely at the record, I see he's already an Australian citizen and he's not emigrating but returning home after a visit to the UK.
I cannot find any earlier record of him leaving the UK, sometime after 1911, so my question is are there gaps in the FindMyPast migration records which he might have fallen through? Can anyone suggest any other means by which he left the UK which wouldn't show up on a passenger list. I think if he was a convict it would have been known about in the family.

[jorose]

http://www.naa.gov.au/collection/recordsearch/index.aspx
 shows a 1940 record for Josiah Edwin Eltham (of Adelaide), to do with registering copyright to a song.

I see that in 1911 his residence is listed as "overseas military", so that probably has a lot to do with why he doesn't appear on records. If he left the UK on a military ship and then went from there to Australia, for example. Also crew normally don't turn up on those records, I think.

http://www.saghs.org.au/graves.htm
 - his death is given here in 1974 (Gov Gazettes).

Australian papers have a "Joe Eltham", described as an English banjo player, advertised in the 1920s.

[LizzieL]

Thanks very much, that sounds like him. Edwin was his middle name after maternal grandfather.
He was in the Royal Garrison Artillery stationed in Malta in 1911. When his younger brother emigrated to Canada in 1913 and joined the Canadian army in 1914, he put Josiah down as next of kin, address as RGA, Newcastle, England on his attestation papers. So I suspect he served for the duration of WW1 then went to Australia straight after the war, possibly still as a soldier.  So looks like he became a professional musician. Curiously my father played the Banjo in a ship's band while in the Royal Navy in WW2. Although they were second cousins, there was about a generation between them.

[amazon510]

Did you have any other relatives that moved to Australia?  There is an E. Eltham, age 34, of London, working as a "Saloon Waiter" on the ship the Orient in Australian waters in 1909.   There was also another E. Eltham, age 24, on the Mamora (London to Australia), same year.  General Servant.  See the following link:

http://mariners.records.nsw.gov.au/

Sadly there is very little data for ships after 1909, but it's a work in progress.  If you keep checking back, maybe Josiah will pop up as a crew member.  The Orient even has four crew members listed as "general servant and Bandmaster/bandman" - perhaps he worked his way down with his banjo!

J.

[LizzieL]

Josiah's older brother (Harold William Eltham) emigrated to Brisbane on 31 May 1907, but must have died shortly after reaching there because he appears on Queensland death index for 1907.

There is an Enoch Andrew Eltham (born Eynsham, nr Witney) who I beleive emigrated to Australia and would fit the 24 year old E. Eltham. The 34 year old one might be Ernest from Hackney - not my line so I don't know any more than name and birth year.

My Eltham line come from nr Wantage, Berks (now Oxon), but I have tentatively linked them to a line in Bampton, Oxon which may also link to the Witney family.

[Eccles9.0]

Hi LizzieL

Not sure if I can fill in many of the blanks, but I can give you a hand.

Josiah Edwin Eltham was, biologically speaking, my maternal great grandfather. Legally however, he was my grandfather as he and his wife Alice (nee Oldham) adopted my mother who was Josiah's granddaughter. (Yeah, it took me years to get my head around that concept and I lived it!)

My mother (Josephine Ellen Bodin) was born in June of 1941 to Eric Bodin and Florence Bodin (nee Eltham, daughter of Josiah and Alice). Florence, alas, died three weeks later and Josiah and Alice adopted my mother upon which she was given the Eltham surname. (She married my father Denis Bland in 1961 and that was her final surname) For her entire life, she considered Josiah to be her father.

I do not know the exact circumstances of Josiah's arrival (alas my own mother died in 1995) but he was obviously resident here when my mother was born. I do know that prior to WWII he regularly traveled between England and Australia playing banjo on ships of the P&O line so shipping records would likely have him appearing regularly.

As a child, I spent many hours sitting at his feet listening to him play, and remember him a a tall smiling man of great humour, bearing and gentle nature.

Josiah died 15 August 1974 here in Adelaide, Australia; (Alice had died 7 September 1956) and Josiah, Alice and Florence share a grave in the Cheltenham cemetery here.

Josiah and Alice also had a son Joseph (my mother's uncle/brother), another professional musician (banjo again!), who died in '96 from memory. With Josiah, Joseph and Josephine, there was no shortage of 'Joe Eltham' in my life!

Not sure what more I can dredge up from the depths of memory, but I hope that adds another piece to your puzzle.

Cheers

David

[LizzieL]

Hello, thank you for all the information, I thought that maybe all the Australian part of the family had died out. My father (Robert Eltham) was in the Royal Navy during WW2. As he was in the regular service rather than conscripted for the duration of the war he didn't leave until 1948. On his last posting he was in Australia and visited some relatives while he had some shore leave. He said they were Eltham cousins but I don't recall any Christian names. Sadly he passed away a few years ago, so I'll never know. Josiah Edwin would have been my father's second cousin, although Josiah would have been a similar age to my grandfather. Earlier I thought Enoch Andrew Eltham went to Australia, but I have recently found one of his descendants in UK, so it must have been one of his brothers.
Going back to the "Joe" Elthams, Josiah Edwin had an uncle called Josiah and his grandfather was also Josiah. And he had a great grand uncle called Joseph - so plenty of Joe's left behind here.

[Eccles9.0]

What thrifty ancestors we share, a good solid name like 'Joe'; you don't want to give that away because it will wear out over the generations! 

[eagle]

My late father's second cousin (Josiah Eltham born 1887) is listed on 1891, 1901 and 1911 censuses then he disappears - no death certificate. I have recently found a migration record dated 8 October 1960 for Josiah leaving UK for Australia, so I assumed he emigrated then (although over 70) and must have died in Australia.
On looking more closely at the record, I see he's already an Australian citizen and he's not emigrating but returning home after a visit to the UK.
I cannot find any earlier record of him leaving the UK, sometime after 1911, so my question is are there gaps in the FindMyPast migration records which he might have fallen through? Can anyone suggest any other means by which he left the UK which wouldn't show up on a passenger list. I think if he was a convict it would have been known about in the family.