Gordon Blair - Mystery? or Not!

[Ruskie]

I did the Blair errands today at the Qld State Archives but I don't think there is much of interest in the documents, sadly no revelations or clues to a former life.  There is a lot of repetition as expected with legal documents.
(I have not read them thoroughly though).

A brief rundown of some of the details found in the Ecclesiastical Files for Gordon and Julia:

Gordon Blair:
Will dated 13 Oct 1877
Left everything to wife Julia, the sole executrix and guardian of his children
Gordon died 23 Aug 1900, age 66 years 11 months 4 days (I think we already have this information?)
Buried 24 August, Ipswich Cemetery
Occupation – Customs Officer
A few details from his death certificate: born Glasgow, Lanark, 40 years in Queensland, children - Isabella Dun 36, Henry Gordon 34, James William 30 – one dead female
Signature on will

Julia Blair:
Died intestate 20 Sept 1906, aged 67 years, buried 22 Sept 1906, Ipswich Cemetery
Her father is Henry a farmer, her mother is Eliza Lowe (?)
She was born Westmeath Ireland, about 52 years in Queensland

Gordon’s land purchase in Ipswich:
His signature appears twice

I expected all of the documents to be paper copies however unfortunately the Ecclesiastical files were on microfilm and I did not think to take a USB with me  , so instead I had to resort to photographing each page from the screen using the scanner on my phone. I think it is all readable but if the quality is not good enough I can re-do.

Both files contained the death certificates – they were very wide so unfortunately I had to photograph them in sections.

I have yet to extract the documents from my phone and put them in order, remove duplicate pages etc. There are many pages, so I need to sort it all out before I can forward copies to anyone who wants them.

I will attempt to attach the signatures here, but am likely to mess it up.
Added: yes, I did mess up - having problems which I will try to sort out .... 

[sparrett]

Quite a big undertaking for you Ruskie.
If nothing new comes to light from your work, at least we can say "no stone left unturned"
Sue

[majm]

Well done Ruskie,  and yes, Sue is spot on,  - no stone left unturned.   

I am not familiar with Qld Archives, but I have had plenty of experience looking up archived files at NSW Archives and it is not a two minute task, particularly if the Supreme Court seals are still in place, and you are the first person to have sought access since the files were archived.   

Thank you Ruskie.

So no mention of an earlier family back in Scotland.   


JM 

[Ruskie]

No mentions of a Scottish family JM, though I have not thoroughly read all of the paperwork.

I haven't had a chance today to try to sort through the images, but hope to try to do that soon.

In the meantime, if you have any questions please ask.   

[MonicaL]

Hi All

Just adding the image of Gordon Blair's signatures for Ruskie here below.
 
The first signature is taken from a screen – it’s taken from Gordon’s will. The second and third are from Gordon’s land purchase.



 

[Ruskie]

You hero Monica. Thank you so much! 

Added: Just to note that the first signature is 1877 and the other two are from 1863 - quite a difference I think. 

I find it a little odd that Gordon didn't write a new will in the 23 years between 1877 and 1900.

[carolineasb]

The land purchases may be his "business" signature and his Will, his "personal" signature?

Many people have to have 2 signatures.

[MonicaL]

I see some strong similarities in the 3 signatures.

For Gordon, the letter 'd' is similar and does not rise (I am not familiar with describing letters! Feel like saying for the 'd' there is not an upper stick  ).

For all 3 signatures, for the word Blair, all three have very similar '..air'. The dot of the 'i' over the 'r'. The flourish of the last 'r' looks the same on all 3.

Monica

[Ruskie]

You may well be right Caroline, but I would think a will, being an official document, would require his best signature. I know I have various signatures for different applications.   

The signatures are written in the same hand, but I just thought that the differences were quite marked.