Did William Syme make it to New Zealand?

[kiwihalfpint]

Thanks for that  , must look into it, as my Ancestors were on the Resolute.


Cheers
KHP

[firefly74]

I love ship diaries!

[Forfarian]

It looks like there is a surviving ship diary.

Thank you, firefly74! I cannot see from the catalogue entry which branch of the library it is held in, but I have e-mailed the library to ask about that.

[Forfarian]

This might help find William snr arrival

Certainly should, thank you, Giblet.

It really constrains the date of his arrival in NZ. It was Catherine who registered the births of the twins in 1863, so he could have been in NZ before they were born. However he must have been in Scotland in autumn 1862, so he could not have arrived in NZ earlier than the beginning of 1863. He was in Taranaki in July 1864. His obituary says that he was first in Otago, prospecting for gold at Gabriel's Gully.

[kiwihalfpint]

Thank you, firefly74! I cannot see from the catalogue entry which branch of the library it is held in, but I have e-mailed the library to ask about that.

Have made enquiries through my library and hope to hear back sometime today or tomorrow re National Archives.   There is another place it is held at,  but library was not quite sure if I would be able to borrow it, and might have to browse it there and that will be my back up.

Cheers
KHP

[Forfarian]

I should have replied sooner, with my thanks to kiwihalfpint, who found and looked at the ship's diary. I now have the information I was seeking. Thanks to everyone who helped.

[Danny Syme]

Hi Forfarian,

I've come across this forum while searching for info on William Neilson Syme - whom is my 3rd Great Grandfather. I still carry his surname.
I wonder, are you related to William and, therefore, are we related!? If so, that's awesome

I'm really keen to find out more about his parents - do you anything about them?

Regards.

[Forfarian]

I've come across this forum while searching for info on William Neilson Syme - whom is my 3rd Great Grandfather. I still carry his surname.
I wonder, are you related to William and, therefore, are we related!? If so, that's awesome
I'm really keen to find out more about his parents - do you anything about them?

Hi Danny, welcome to RootsChat and yes, as you are a descendant of William Neilson Syme, then you and I are related

William Neilson Syme's parents were Andrew Syme (1807-1837) and Margaret Sturrock (1810-1872). Andrew's parents were William Sime and Jean Ballantyne, and Margaret's were William Sturrock (1780-1821) and Isabel Binny (1782-1819), whose great-niece Margaret Sang Binny (1887-1983) was my grandmother. I have quite a lot of information about Binnys. William Sturrock's parents were William Sturrock and Janet Don. All of them came from Forfar.

I know that William Neilson Syme had two sons and four daughters, and that one son, William, died young. The other son, Stanley Vincent Syme, had two sons and two daughters. One son was Edmond Neilson Syme (1893-1972) and the other was Stanley Alan Syme (1896-1976). Both married, and I have the names of their wives, but I have no information about any descendants.

You need to make two more posts to this forum in order for us to be able to get in touch direct, and you are not allowed to post details on anyone who may still be living. I look forward to exchanging information with you.

[Danny Syme]

Kia Ora,

Apologies on the late reply here. (notification email ended up in junk).

Thanks so much for this extra information about William's parents. My family tree now looks a lot fuller