Jules F Anseline, Mauritius, gold & slaves

[majm]

 

Great find re those baptisms 

In the 1970s, the NSW BDM was re-organised, and the local civil registers (large ledger books) were recalled to Sydney, so there's nothing to be gained by contacting any Court House to seek access.  I see the Roman Catholic Church at Forbes is part of the Bathurst Diocese, so it would be up to you to determine if you want to contact them direct.   My elderly rellie is still checking with his network of Old Boys if there's any further ideas to offer re finding the births for the children or original signatures on a marriage record. 

I think the fee that the Archivist may seek would be a nominal fee  and is likely to be far more productive as the Archivist would be far more familiar with their own records than if you or I were to travel to Bathurst to inspect the records. 

Still pulling down cap, but almost stretching it beyond its limits. 

JM

[Gold prospector]

Dear JM,

Thanks for that....I'll write to the Archivist again and see if he can be of any further assistance

P.

[brothers-searcher]

Paul,
I remind you of a post I put on the Fate of Everest Anseline after time on 'The Vernon' on 4 Nov 2018 where I mentioned my email to St Vincent's Hospital Archives. Your response was basically not to hold my breath for anything at all.

This was my query to them:
           I am wondering if there are any records held from 1875. I have a reference to a
           Inland Letters from the NSW Government Gazette dated 14 September 1875 for
           Monsieur Jules Anseline addressed to St Vincent's Hospital.
           His death record shows he died at the Sydney Infirmary of PARAPLEGIA and had
           been in the hospital for 4 days on the 5 April 1876.

I got a reply on 7th November:
           The Hospital has an Admission Book 1862-1882. I have checked the entries from
           July 1875-April 1876, but have found no record of Mr Anseline, so he probably
           wasn’t a patient at the Hospital. We have no other records for the period.

I went back to the archivist with:
           I wonder if it is possible for you to check the admissions back as far as 1873 for Jules.
           We know he had a son born in 1874 so going back to 1873 should cover all possibilities.
           I am aware it is a long shot but I need to be sure.

Today I got an amazing reply:
           To my amazement I have found Jules Anseline in the St Vincent’s Hospital Admission
           Book 1862- 1882

           He is listed as patient 223 in 1874.

           He was admitted 20th September and discharged 14th December – relieved
           (there were 3 discharge categories – cured, relieved and died).

           Other details from the Register;

           Age 38; Town – Parke (Parkes?); Profession – Miner; Religion – Catholic;
           In the Colony - 20 years; Country of Origin – France;

           Doctor admitting – Dr Laure;

           The diagnosis column has been left empty – a block of about 20 are not filled in
           – so not specific to Mr Anseline.

           Dr Laure’s medical degree was from Paris, which may provide a link between St
           Vincent’s and Mr Anseline.

           He was a fee-paying patient and is twice listed in the Annual Report as having paid
           2 guineas (4 guineas in total) . The 1874 Annual Report lists the fees for those able
           to pay as 2 guineas on admission which covered 3 weeks and 14 shillings per week
           thereafter – so the fees paid would not seem to cover the length of his stay. 
           Unfortunately there are no other records from this period.

Needless to say I was pleasantly surprised to receive the information and have thanked her for the wonderful information she so quickly provided. Unfortunately I have no idea where he went between December 1874 and his death in April 1876.
I just had to share

Regards
Lorraine

[majm]

Outstanding...3rdly. To find the book  2ndly.  For them to read the handwriting and first and foremost ...To have asked the question and known to ask again. 

Congrats,  Well Done and  thanks for sharing.

JM

[Gold prospector]

Hi Lorraine,

Let me add my congratulations to your success at St Vincents Hospital! 
(I guess my diffidence initially stemmed from my enquiries with Sydney Hospital a few years ago....my enquiry, then, about the possibility of there being records from the 1870's was met with polite laughter!)

However, given your 'coup', I rang Sydney Hospital again this morning and it seems they now have a Museum which houses records back to the 19th century.  Unfortunately, the Curator is only there Tues-Thurs, 9-3:00pm, so I have an 'impatient' wait till then  but will keep you posted.

When I originally saw that he died of paraplegia, after a short illness in 1876, I thought he may have had some kind of bad mining injury, however, I'm starting to wonder if he may have had some kind of chronic condition from which he eventually died....

Paul

[brothers-searcher]

Paul,

That was indeed my assumption, In view of the fact that he was admitted in 1874, I have extended the time period I was searching on Trove to try to find some sort of report of a mining accident.
While there are many mining accident reports I have not located that one. He could also have been in Sydney for some reason and met with an accident here, but I haven't found it yet. (I am still wondering why he was moved from Parkes - way out west for the time - to Sydney for treatment)

The other thing I have noticed is that the OCR text that is used for the Search on Trove is not all that good for this time and for the more regional newspapers.
It may require a systematic look through the newspaper pages to find some reference - or there may not be one.

It is a pitty the "Diagnosis" column was not filled in, that would have helped in identifying the health issue he had at the time. As you say he may have had some infection or desease that led to developing paraplegia - we may never know.

With reference to the Archives at St Vincent's, it may be a relatively recent development for the Archives and the assistance they are now able to give. Many places have only, in the recent past, realised the necessity to Archives their material. Thank goodness they are there and that they were so helpful.

Lorraine

[Gold prospector]

Hi Lorraine,
This is just a brief note to say that Eleanor, the Curator of the Sydney Hospital Archives, was unable to assist with any information on Jules Francois Anseline, as the records there don't go back to 1876.
It took quite some time to reach her as she had been unable to go to work at the end of last year because of flooding from the Sydney storms and then, of course, there has been the holiday season...
Meanwhile, she did suggest that a letter sent to a person C/- a hospital might mean that they were 1)a patient or alternatively, 2)an employee (but there is more than enough evidence you uncovered that he was a patient and not a hospital employee at St Vincents).
Paul.

[brothers-searcher]

Paul,
A pity but not unexpected. At least every avenue has been tried and we know probably as much as we are going to, unless someone in the family finds a box filled with treasures that fills in the gaps - I can dream!!!!

Thanks for passing on the info,

Lorraine

[majm]

Yes,  very thorough searchings,  and yes,  trove OCR is a headache at times,  best to view the image,  and also to be selective with keywords and timeframe ... and have a huge dose of patience along with  quiet time and clean specs...

Well Done, 

Fingers crossed the elusive secret box of treasured family history is found in the attic or under the floorboards ... tomorrow ...

JM