LONG POST, several sub-topics ….
So looking at Sydney addresses on the Transcriptions….
1867 23 April 1867 Goulburn St
3 year old Samuel BROWN sadly succumbed. His parents William BROWNLOW, painter, and Matilda WATSON. The informant was William Brown, father. (Yes, that is what the Transcription reads …. Brownlow v Brown )
1871 3 July 1871, 39 Dixon St
Nathaniel BROWN born at 39 Dixon St., His father, William BROWN a painter was the informant, and he gave Matilda Watson as Nathaniel’s mum.
1874 …… 13 November 1874, Dixon St
28 year old John BROWN, succumbed. His father, William BROWN, a painter was the informant, and he gave Matilda Watson as John’s mum. William was of Dixon St.
1876 …. 11 March 1876, 59 Goulburn St
6 year old Samuel BROWN sadly succumbed. His father, William BROWN, a painter was the informant, and he gave Matilda Watson as wee Samuel’s mum. The family were at 59 Goulburn St.
…………
May I ask about the two marriages that I mentioned earlier …. 4 Nov 1843 and 4 Dec 1843 ….. Do you have transcriptions of these please…. And if so, which one matches up to which date …. It is entirely possible that there were TWO couples rather than the one…. And I am hoping to sort out if there was just the ONE couple.
I am suspecting that these Early Church Records for William BROWN had, by 1912 when they were finally bound up, or by 1930ish when the index was finally attempted (by volunteers) that so many different people had thumbed through these BROWN records, that they had deteriorated quicker than most other pages…. that is, simply because of the surname BROWN, these pages were physically in poor condition because of the need to be constantly inspected whenever anyone asked for info about a William BROWN … It is likely to be in the top TEN of popular names in NSW historic records. .
So, in a practical sense, it is important to consider that the records are actually written in ink, in longhand, and so these ink records are subject to ‘bleeding’ nib markings, fading at different rates due to the variations in the flow and amount of ink, and of course, poorly formed numbers (eg 1848 v 1843) or 32 (age for Nathaniel’s mum when he was born). So these records themselves, they were indexed by teams of volunteers in the 1930s (they were of course all very familiar with 19thC longhand, as that is their own hand too, and it was still taught in NSW primary schools well into the 1950s) …. That index is the basis of the index that NSW BDM uses even today. And the originals of Early Church Records (the ones pre civil registration commencing March 1856) are NOT accessed by either NSW BDM staff or by official transcribers. They access the 1930s film of those records.
I guess that what I am trying to convey is that it is unlikely the informant’s provided false information about themselves, rather that the NSW BDM records are less than perfect, and therefore I am suggesting you try to find other ways to obtain those official records…. Hence my suggestions re the family search option.
Cheers, JM
