Born Overseas

[Kane856]

Really hit a brick wall on a relatives birth - we've tracked his father (UK national) to his death in Arizona where he was a copper miner - we can see his mother travelling to the US with her first child - on the ships manifest - his date of birth is during her stay in the US ...

My question is where would such a birth be registered? Normal online searches have proved fruitless in tracking the birth although we do have records later in life for work, marriage and death - the death certificate does point to Pinal County in Arizona but searches of on-line resources haven't brought anything up ....

Any advice would be a massive help

[ShaunJ]

Have you tried the Arizona Department of Health Services database? http://genealogy.az.gov/

[Kane856]

Yep - not a sausage

His fathers death comes up but nothing for this mystery man - I suppose it's possible that he was born on the ship either to or from the US but again where would it be registered

[ShaunJ]

Can you give us a name, parents names, and a birth year?

[Kane856]

Ernest James Rowden
Born 1910
Father Henry Rowden
Mother Martha Rowden (Spark)

We've found him on a number of merchant ship crew lists listed as English as well as his Royal Navy Reserve records which list him as born in Ray, Arizona ...

[Lisa in California]

You most likely already know that at Henry's time of death, he had been living in (Kelvin?), Pinal, Arizona for 35 days (according to his death certificate).

You also probably have seen this site, which shows a photo of an unknown grave - which gives one an idea of how some of the graves looked ten years ago.
http://arizonagravestones.org/view.php?id=48017

Perhaps you already tried searching the following, but after a quick glance I didn't see a birth for a Rowden baby "around" 11 July 1910 (which, according to a pay site and the UK naval index, that may have been Ernest's date of birth):
http://www.rootschat.com/links/01ke5/

Have you found Martha's return to England (I have not yet found it)?  I'm guessing no, as her two children should have accompanied her back to England.   

Do you have her first son's exact date of birth, please (so that Ernest's birth could be roughly figured out)?

Again, you may have tried this resource; I didn't find anything for the Rowden's in Arizona   
http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/#tab=tab_advanced_search

[Mabel Bagshawe]

Martha arrives in New York with just one child on 8 May, heading for Ray, Arizona

[Lisa in California]

Perhaps the 1910 census enumerator wrote down the incorrect date, but...   

The S.S. Baltic sailed from Liverpool on April 30 and arrived 8 May, 1910.

The 1910 census return that shows the Rowdens was dated May 5, 1910.  No date of immigration was shown for Martha nor little William.  The previous page has a date of May 4, and the page before that has May 3 which leads me to believe that he was keeping track of the dates that he wrote down information.

I would think that Martha would have arrived in Arizona before Ernest's birth in July (if the July date is correct), but the above date issue is odd.

[Lisa in California]

I am still trying to find the family after Henry's passing, hoping to find Ernest's birthplace.

Again, you may already know this, but
Sailing on board the Cedric, arriving 6 November 1910, was
Joseph Spark, age 24, Boilermaker?, last permanent residence Sth Shields, final destination Phoenix, Ariz.  Born Sth Shields
Going to Father, John Spark, Ray Central? Copper? Mining Co, Ray, Arizona

Sailing on board the California, arriving 26 September 1910, was
John J Spark, age 53, Engineman?, last permanent residence Sth Shields, final destination Ray, Ariz.  Born Newcastle
Going to "Visit?" Son in law, Henry Rowden, Ray Central Copper Mine Co., Ray Ariz

Update:  A bit about the Copper Mine:
http://tucson.com/news/local/mine-tales-ray-mining-district-has-history-of-more-than/article_5560fe20-f4c4-559f-8298-1c8be0b75c77.html
There are images of the area online