William Forsyth and Marion Grant of Edinburgh

[Malcolm33]

From his Australian voters rolls' entries:

1925 Cook, Thylungra, Thargomindah, Maranoa*
1930-37 Barcaldine Reserve, Cook, Barcaldine Kennedy
1943 Reserve, Roma, Maranoa
1949 Pensioners Reserve, Gladstone, Capricornia
Monica

   Thargomindah is a very small town due west of Brisbane and due south of Longreach.
   Barcaldine is at a junction 108 kms due east of Long Reach at the northern end of the Langsborough Highway.
   Roma is two thirds of the way from Brisbane to Charleville.   I have an idea of the countryside there as I've driven up the Leichardt Hwy which is 146 kms east of Roma.    Fairly flat but long dry grass with few small trees and billions of Roos - their eyes peeping at you through the grass.

[Malcolm33]

Thylungra Station on Trove - http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/36908639?q&c=picture&versionId=47920101     Picture of a Joey relaxing with the station just visible in the background.
Bullock Team at Thylungra Station - http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/153923747?q&l-decade=416&c=picture&versionId=167829433   Click on pics to enlarge then you can see houses in the background.
Several pictures of Thylungra here - http://trove.nla.gov.au/result?q=thylungra.   Mentions a Mrs Brown but not John
These are dated 1924 so it could be he in the two people in the garden picture - Wouldn't the cook on a station be looking for tucker in the garden?

[Malcolm33]

From his Australian voters rolls' entries:

1925 Cook, Thylungra,
*Just in case connected, in 1925 next to John's entry is one for a Frank Holbert Forsyth, a labourer, Eromanga Post Office. 
Monica

    Still leaning towards this being a coincidence.   Sometimes next door neighbours here in OZ are many miles away.   In this case there is a road of sorts today from Thylungra south to Kyabra - 39 kilometres and then there is only a track for another 45 kms south to Eromanga.   So the two were 84 kms from each other.

[Malcolm33]

If this is the same John Grant Forsyth, then he must have been at Thylungra for more than a decade:

The Brisbane Courier    Monday 27th March, 1911.

Pastoral Matters
Charleville, March 25.
Three hundred high-class rams from Belltrees arrived by  train, and leave there tomorrow for Thylungra station.    Forsyth, Philip and Munro owners, Walter Martin in charge.
54 fat bullocks from Augathela will be trucked to Brisbane on  Monday.

[Malcolm33]

   Not the same Forsyth:

"James Forsyth was managing director of Burns, Philp and Co., Ltd. in Queensland. In 1899, he entered Parliament as the member for Carpentaria, and held the seat until 1918 when he retired. His pastoral interests were considerable, and included Thylungra, Bulgroo and Kyabra stations. His philanthropic legacies included provision for a Chair of Agriculture to be maintained at the University of Queensland. "   From Libraries of Australia.

   The three properties were sold off in April 1933 - see http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/76388423

   However, for John Grant Forsyth to be a Cook at Thylungra, I wonder then if James was a relative?

    No, he wasn't.   He was born in Stirling, Scotland in 1852, so this is another Forsyth coincidence.

[Malcolm33]

   This is absolutely fascinating.   I recommend everyone to read these memoirs which not only mention James Forsyth a few times but give a wonderful description of what it was like to leave England for the Colonies on a sailing ship in the early 1860's - http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks/n00002.html

[MonicaL]

Enjoying the links and the reading the material, Malcolm.

Hopefully someone can confirm William 1837's birth and parents details from his marriage to Marion Grant. This will let you all make the definite connections.

Going back to the beginning, I would agree with Ev that very likely William's parents' were William and Jane https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/XTRX-894 Lots of children show for them https://familysearch.org/search. Mother Jane's surname with a number of variants such as Ainsley/Emslie/Emsley etc.

1851 census here - all the children born in Canongate:

William Forsyth 47 labourer b. Ardersier, Invernesshire
Jane Forsyth 34 b. Aberdeen
Ann M Forsyth 17
William Forsyth 14
John Forsyth 11
Jane Forsyth 8
Alexander Forsyth 6
Eliza Forsyth 4
Andrew Forsyth 3
Mary Forsyth 1

Address: Abbey Court, Edinburgh Canongate

Edinburgh Parish Register records are some of the best in that pre 1855 era and the start of official registration. Parish Register entries mostly have very little info, pretty much no more than just names. However, for William and Jane's marriage, the entry includes Jane's father too https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/XT1G-W7C

With my guessing hat  , wonder if John Grant F's twin, Alexander may have been called after maternal grandfather and the 'A' middle name might be a variant of Ainsley? Scottish naming pattern, if used and it often was, can be a useful guide (see here for example www.halmyre.abel.co.uk/docs/Family/naming.htm).

Monica

[MonicaL]

1861 here:

William Forsyth 57 miller b. Nairnshire
Jane Forsyth 47 b. Aberdeen
Alexander Forsyth 17
Andrew Forsyth 13
Mary Forsyth 11
James Forsyth 9

Address: Mallochs Close, Edinburgh Canongate

Now that I see Miller for occupation for William Snr. I am more confident that this is likely the right family. I saw entries over the weekend for a John Forsyth (who I thought might be this one https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/XTRX-FG6) who married in the London area in 1861 to a  Charlotte Christina Salveson www.uk.mundia.com/gb/Person/21767501/1261078027 and lived for a time in Bermondsey (where we had your William and Marion). On his London parish marriage entry, this John gave his father as William Forsyth, a miller by occupation.

Monica

[Malcolm33]

  This is all just wonderful, Monica.   What great discoveries.    I gave so much thought last night to what that 'A' after Alexander might have stood for, and it looks like you've cracked it.   I can only think that at least in their early days the twins would have remained close to each other, so I'll have another search for Alexander in Australia.

   Just a thought, re my Draffan family, we came to a brick wall decades ago when the researcher I paid for in Edinburgh found that the vital Lesmahagow Parish Register pages were Must Wasted at the end of the 18th century.   Did they have something like Bishop's Transcipts in Scotland?