jaybelnz Scavenger Hunt...Everyone Welcome To Join In

[jaybelnz]

Omigosh!  That's fantastic! Thank you! That is such good new! Are you Merlin the Magician??
I think you must be!  I would love to have that!  I'll PM you my email address.

Can you fit these up your magic sleeve?... 💐💐💐💐💐💐💐💐💐

Oh boy!  😄😄😄

Jeanne

[jaybelnz]

UPDATE:-

According to The Victoria Gazette, (Aust) 1864 (must have been an Annual Government Publication), John Gibbons Mathews died at sea on 5th March, 1873, aged 55.

And Thanks to MERLIN:-  and his magic bit of wizardry:-   John's Official Death Entry in the Register of Marine Deaths at Sea, states the following:

Date of death:     1st March 1873. 

Cause of death:    Inflammation of the brain - Sunstroke - Duration 6 Hours. ....Welsh, Surgeon of the ship, attended him the whole 6 hours. Burial was the same day at 6pm.        The service was read by the Rev. H Otter, Church of England".

........

Thoughts:  1. Could Rev. H. Otter actually have been another Potter family member? I believe that the Potter's were in Melbourne by then?  A lot of clerics in the Potter family! Perhaps he's another of them?

                 2. John is stated to be a Widower on the Death Entry.  (Age was a bit hard to decipher, on the Passenger List, could be either 30 or 50. Writing a bit twirly!) he  would have been closer to 55 as he was born c1818.  if they didn't know his age, then 50 would probably have been a reasonable assumption. 55 is his age stated in the Victoria Gazette Notice.

Being stated to be a Widower also puzzles me, as his wife Mary Jane  Mathews presumably died 6th December,  1877,  Ashton Under Lyne,  Lancashire. I am still awaiting a copy of that entry, no email on this one, has to come through the Postal Service. Until I receive that, I won't really know if I have the correct Mary Jane Mathews' record, although it was the only one that came up in the initial searches for her death, plus the area and the timing match.

So thanks yet again Merlin for your great contribution!

Cheers
jeanne😄

[jaybelnz]

Ok! I have just received the death record referred to above for Mary Jane Mathews from GRO. Unfortunately, she's not my Mary Jane!   But is has solved a mystery anyway!

On her husband John's death in 1873 he is shown as a widow, and I have them both living in London, living with their son and his family,  on 1871 census.  So therefore if my maths are correct, Mary Jane must have died sometime between that 1871 census and 1873, when Husband John's death entry cites him as a Widow! 

I just need to look for another England death record between 1871 and 1873 for Mary Jane now!  She may well have been staying with another family member in England by then, as by 1880 census of USA the son HENRY and his family plus a brother that she had been living with in London 1871, had moved to Boston, and by 1881 were in Montreal!  I still don't know when they left England, but after 1873, when their 3rd child was born in Balham, London,  different address than 1871 census, which was Lambeth, London.

This family had very itchy feet!!

MODIFIED  -  to add I have just found the following indexed entry on FREE BDM

Surname     Given Name     Age     District     Volume     Page     Transcriber 
Deaths Sep 1871
Mathews   Mary Jane   0   W. Derby   8b   457   64528   

West Derby is a distinct possibility, as a good number of her grandchildren and their families lived there in later years (-and others after returning from Canada).  So a possible family (at that time) connection. So depending when the 1871 census was taken - I may find them in West Derby or possibly with one of her children that didn't go to Canada.

MODIFIED AGAIN TO ADD:-

I've just managed to find the indexed image for this death - didn't take that zero in before!  But may be another child of Henry and Jane, so will probably order it anyway, as it's in West Derby .I already have another son for them who died at an early age, aged about 5 months in London.

Off I go again!   This is so confusing now, sorry!

Jeanne 😄

Jeanne 😄

[willsy]

Still looking around John Potter Probate registry

https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JV31-JZ7

[jaybelnz]

Thanks Yet again, Willsy. 🌸

Jeanne

[jaybelnz]

Hi guys,

Just a quick update.  I put out a request today on another Rootschat board, for help with a death record for Mary Jane Mathews, seeing that the one I bought wasn't the right person.  Just keeping you up with the play!   Had an interesting reply!

http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=720363.new#new

Thanks.

Jeanne 😄

Jeanne

[jaybelnz]

My goodness, what a day this has been, a possible clue for Mary Jane's death, and now although it's almost 3am here in NZ right now, I just have to show you this email that i just received from the Derby Museum about 5 minutes ago.

Lots of confirmations, lots of new details - gives a different birthplace for him, (Moate, Westmeath, not Newry) his description ... Even a different name.....Etc.  Anyway - do read on!
.........
Dear Jeanne,

Thank you for your enquiry regarding the service of your great great grandfather 674 Troop Sergeant J G Matthews, 12th Royal Lancers.
 
The 9th/12th Royal Lancers Museum does not hold the service papers of soldiers who served in the Army. The records of soldiers who served before 1920 are held at The National Archive, Kew, Surrey, TW9 4DU, and the service papers of soldiers who served after 1920 are held at the Army Personnel Centre, Historic Disclosures, Mailpoint 400, Kentigern House, 65 Brown Street, Glasgow, G2 8EX. However, the 9th/12th Lancers Museum holds an extensive but incomplete collection of regimental archives, including nominal rolls, medal rolls, marriage registers and diaries some of which give information on the service of individual soldiers.
 
According to the 12th Lancers Services of NCOs and Men 1809-1865, John Gibbons Matthews enlisted into the 12th Lancers on 7 October 1840 at Dublin. He was born at a place called Moate in West Meath (Ireland). He was 21 years and 2 months on enlistment and was 5 foot 10 and a half inches. He is described as having a fresh complexion, grey eyes, and dark brown hair. His trade on enlistment is given as `clerk’.
 
John served with A Troop and was a capable soldier who was quickly promoted; he was made corporal on 5 August 1842; promoted to troop-sergeant on 1 October 1844; and he married on 9 July 1845. He was discharged on payment of £20 on 9 March 1848. His character on discharge was recorded as `very good’. (Please note that in this archive he is recorded as `Jonathan G Matthews’ and not John Gibbons Mathews).
 
His marriage and the birth of his two children while serving with the Regiment are also recorded in the 12th  Lancers register of marriages and baptisms 1815-1880. He married Mary Jane Flemming, who was a spinster at St Mary’s in Donnybrook, Dublin on 9 July 1845. The date of the birth of their son, Henry Maxwell David Matthews is given as 4 November 1846 and his baptism took place at Hounslow on 7 January 1848. Their daughter Mary Grace’s baptism is recorded as occurring on 18 May 1848 at Hounslow."
-----------
So there you have it!  I'm really thrilled to have this record which came from the Derby Museum, about the 257th place I have tried!  (Only kidding, but certainly feels like it!). My only disappointment is still not having his mother's name, YET... but perhaps one day!!  This new birth place and name of Jonathan, may perhaps yield some secrets! 

Now all I have to do is try to get some sleep before its time to get up!

Thanks all
Jeanne! 😄