Finding arrival of Jurgen Heinrich (Harry) Burmeister between 1835 and 1875

[GeoffTurner]

Hi all,
You have been a lot of help in the past (for which many thanks) and I'm hoping you might be able to help with this as well. A cousin's ancestor Jurgen Heinrich (Harry) Burmeister was born in Lübeck Hansestadt, Lubeck, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany in 1835 and emigrated to Australia. We know he married a young Englishwoman, Agnes Amelia Paterson (1849-1823), at Alexandra in Victoria in 1875. Harry died at Urana NSW in 1896 and I presume he is buried there, although we have not been able to confirm that. Agnes remarried and died in Albury NSW in 1923. Other branches of the family sailed from Bremen to Port Adelaide and then spread into Victoria and NSW, and it is  possible, that Harry did likewise. Can anyone suggest the best place to start when trying to find Harry's arrival in Australia, and hopefully the name of his ship? I realise we are at a disadvantage not knowing exactly when he arrived but I am hoping someone might have an idea of how best to approach our puzzle.
Thanks to all,
Geoff Turner.   

[majm]

The NSW bdm death registration has headings that give responses to "how long in the colonies" and gives the Cemetery,  cause of death, marriage/s, naming children of the marriage/s, and many other family history details.

An official transcription is cheaper, has already transcribed the registration and is recognised by family history groups.


JM

[manukarik]

Most of the Burmeisters I can see emigrated to the US. The only vaguely similar entry I can see is:

Name: Johan Heinrich Burmeister
Birth: Circa 1846
Age: 29
Registration: Apr 24 1875, Copenhagen, Denmark
Former residence:  Schleswig, Germany
Destination: New Zealand
Contract: #70500
Occupation: Tyende (m/k land)

Tyende = Servant

The date of birth is wrong though as is the first name and it would have been a quick turnaround from arriving to getting married!

I'll keep looking....

[TreeSpirit]

We know he married a young Englishwoman, Agnes Amelia Paterson (1849-1823), at Alexandra in Victoria in 1875.

I'd love to know where you found this marriage ...

[GeoffTurner]

I have ordered the death cert for Harry Burmeister, which should help clear a few things up. There is an Agnes A Patterson (not Paterson) arriving in Melbourne as a child on  the "Herald of the Morning" from Liverpool in 1857. If that is her, as I suspect may be the case, she is listed with her mother and two brothers as Irish and aged 5. I think this is more likely than the girl from Barnet, Hertfordshire, who we assumed was her. so we are now looking for a marriage for Harry and Agnes Amelia Patterson (1852-1923) We know that when she remarried she was listed as Agnes Amelia Burmeister, so it seems there was a marriage. Their son Samuel, who is of most interest to us, was born near Urana in 1885 and the birth was registered in Albury (father's name listed as Henry). So presumably the marriage was before then. The 1875 marriage at Alexandra comes from family but I can find no evidence of it in Vic BDM, even using BURM* (Samuel's birth was registered as Burmiester, not Burmeister). In fact, they apparently had 10 children between 1877 and 1892, which would also fit with an 1875 marriage. I have looked in SA and NSW BDM as well for the marriage, without success. 

[majm]

NSW BDM birth registrations are informative too.  If you have the youngest child's birth cert, (or offical transcription) then on that actual record  you learn the informant's knowledge on names and then age of the older living siblings, when and where their parents married, and other family history info.   Similarly, VIC BDM registrations are usually considered as having even greater depth of detailed info.   Victoria's certs are, in my view, at least as detailed as Scotland's.   NSW certs are not quite as detailed, but are far far more detailed than say GRO ones for England and Wales.

JM

[Neale1961]

A large number of people emigrated from Schleswig-Holstein in the late 1860s and early 1870s as a result of Germany taking control of Schleswig-Holstein from Denmark. Sometimes males escaped German military service by leaving very quickly (secretly) without permission - and therefore it is difficult to trace where they went.
The other difficulty is with German/ Danish names, and knowing which of their 3 or 4 forenames they used for emigration. Sometimes knowing their parents names or their occupation can help in tracing their emigration.
Can I recommend you have a look at this site under the list of surnames starting wth "B" to see if anything is familiar. As you will see, most of them went to USA.
https://www.rootdigger.de/Emi.htm
For example, I note there is a Heinrich Burmeister born about 1830. He emigrated to Australia in 1858. Cabinetmaker by trade. Port of destination : Melbourne.

[GeoffTurner]

What a can of worms! And of course it was much more than an intellectual exercise for the poor people involved. There is a baptism (which I can't access) for Jürgen Hinrich Burmeister at Lauenburg, Schleswig-Holstein, Deutschland. Çan't access the date. But I am told the parents are another Jurgen Heinrich Burmeister and his wife Caroline. An 1857 Lübeck Census has Caroline living at Poggensee, Landwehr-Bezirk Ritzerau. Born Krummesse, Herzogtum Lauenburg, Schleswig-Holstein about 1800 (i.e. 57yo).
I'm not aware of Harry being a cabinetmaker in Australia but I'll ask around the family. Of course, he may have just take what work was available -- farm labouring -- if he couldn't get work in his chosen trade. It would not surprise me if he emigrated as Heinrich rather than Jurgen. He called himself Henry and Harry in Australia.
What port is he likely to have sailed from?

[Neale1961]

What port is he likely to have sailed from?

Lübeck and Hamburg would have been the closest ports I think.