Immigration, Australia-South Africa 1870-80s?

[lizdc]

Hi there, I've just found out that my great great grandfather probably died in South Africa. He had immigrated to Australia from England as a boy in 1851 so I'm wondering what possible reasons there might have been for him to decide to go to South Africa in approximately the 1870-80s?

He had married in Australia in 1867 and had two sons, the last in 1870. He then disappeared without a trace although his wife remained and entered into another relationship and had more children. It's only through the intestacy records of his sister that I've found mention of the fact he had died in South Africa (although this is specifically unsubstantiated) before 1922.

I realise from my brief research into South African genealogy that it is a complicated affair and although I'd love to find records of William there, for the moment I would be content with simply knowing why he went to South Africa and what the appeal would have been? For instance, many people immigrated to Australia in the 1850s due to the gold rush - was there anything happening in the 1870-80s in South Africa that increased immigration?

Thanks for taking the time to read this.
Kind regards,
Liz.

[3sillydogs]

Hi Liz

I don't see a mention of your  gg grandfather's surname, so couldn't do a search of our archives or other related websites.

In 1873 gold was discovered at Pilgrim's Rest in South Africa and in 1886 the discovery of the largest deposit of gold in the world was made on the Witwatersrand in the then Transvaal and this triggered a gold rush as well and was one of the underlying reasons for the start of the Second Boer War.

It is possible that he came here for one or both of these.  Good luck with your searching

Sue

[Les de B]

Hi there, I've just found out that my great great grandfather probably died in South Africa. He had immigrated to Australia from England as a boy in 1851 so I'm wondering what possible reasons there might have been for him to decide to go to South Africa in approximately the 1870-80s?

Liz.

Hi Liz, not a direct answer to your question, but may help you find one?

I had a similar situation just after the Boer War in South Africa in the very early 1900's. My great grand father and one of his sons sailed from Australia to South Africa but returned about 12 months later. They were both stonemasons.

I checked advertisements and news articles from newspapers of the day, and found there was a large demand for stonemasons and other tradesmen in South Africa. About 12 months later the news articles and advertisements of the day "did a full circle" warning (in particular) stonemasons that there was now no work in South Africa for Australian tradesmen.

If you feel like checking for something on a similar line around your ancestor's time you might like to try the old Australian newspapers site at Trove - its free and you can find some interesting articles even if not related to your search.

http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper?q=

Les

[lizdc]

Thanks for your replies.

I should have said, William was known as William Reed but was born Jonathan William Scrimshaw being the illegitimate son of Ann Scrimshaw and the stepson of Cornelius Cooke Reed.

I didn't know if/when there was a gold rush in South Africa so that's certainly a possibility for the reason he went as it's quite soon after his last known child was born.

William was a draper's assistant so I'm not sure of the demand for that occupation! I use Trove quite a bit but it's hard to know what search terms to use sometimes. Will keep at it though!

Thanks again, it's all really interesting.

Liz.

[rutti tutti]

Hi there,
I did post a reply but it disappeared in cyber space! There was a big influx in the late 1860's -1870's as diamonds were discovered. This was shortly before the gold rush.
Hope that helps
Ruth

[pampoen]

Hi I found 2 documents in this archive when I typed in the name. Try this link. http://www.national.archsrch.gov.za/sm300cv/smws/sm200gi.

Then click on the RSA repository box, when it opens type in scrimshaw and enter. A list of documents will appear, just click on Result Summary. The Genealogical Society of South Africa has a "pay to use" service which will enable you to obtain pictures of documents held in the National Archives.

Go to http://www.eggsa.org and select Content --> On Line Shop --> order Archive documents.  Once you have selected the currency, select "Enter the Shop" and then select "Archive photos" (in yellow on the blue band) and follow the instructions.

Much quicker than trying to get the Archives to reply to your e-mail requests!!  Good luck Derek.