His Ros,
We seem to have relatives in common.
"I am trying to find some information regarding Thomas Hope and Janet Turnbull, they are my great great grandparents. They immigrated to Australia arriving in Adelaide South Australia (my hometown) on the ship the "Northern Light" in 1855. On the ship's passenger list Thomas is 26 yrs old and Janet is 31 yrs old, they were travelling with a son John 3 yrs old, also it is recorded they were from Roxburgh. I do know that Thomas and Janet both died in South Australia."
What you may not know is that they had a child on the voyage, whom they appear to have named after the Captain of the 'Northern Light', Captain H. W. Plain, so there is a Henry William Plain Hope who is one of their children. I'm just getting started on this, but I can tell you I am the grandson of Thomas Alfred Hope, who is one of their grandchildren. He moved to Victoria, enlisted in the Army (his serial no was 207) at the beginning of WW1, was in the Gallipolli landing, survived, but was wounded after a few days and medevaced, ultimately going to England, then serving in France before returning to Australia. He married a Gretta Maude Christopherson (the spelling varies, living members are known as Christopher - and mostly live in and around Melbourne) She was the daughter of Gustav Kristofferson, of Oslo Norway, in Melbourne and had two children, Lorna and Betty (my mother). Post WW2, they moved to Port Pirie, in South Australia following Lorna, who while serving as a WAAF, met her husband Doug Pettman when he was in the Air force and moved to Pirie where he was in a family business (Pettman's Menswear - now long gone) She later moved with Doug to Saltwater River and both died there some years apart, they had no children. Alf and Gretta remained in Port Pirie the rest of their lives, Alf died in 1968 and Gretta in about 1976. They were cremated and are in the Centennial Park cemetery (Alf as a returned WW1 serviceman is in the military section). I still live in Port Pirie. I'd only just recently discovered the connection to Jedburgh via Thomas and Janet, as I'd been led to believe they came from England rather than the Scottish Borders, but like you found the reference to the 'Northern Light' through a relative, Margaret Christopher, who was once married to Gretta's brother. It also appears likely Janet is related to the same Turnbulls as former PM Malcolm Turnbull as his ancestors seem to have come from a town only a few miles from Jedburgh. Haven't tracked this down precisely but given the proximity it's unlikely to be a mere coincidence. I hadn't known my Hope ancestors came into Australia via Adelaide, I'd assumed they'd gone to Melbourne like the Kristoffersons and Thorssons and Roberts families, so since discovering this I'd wondered if I had relatives in S.A. as all the ones I know of are in Victoria. Would love to hear from you so we can compare notes.
Regards
Geoff Roberts
