Author Topic: HELP!! me find great-grandfather John Robert Davis-emigrated to Australia 1800s  (Read 4847 times)

Offline Maiden Stone

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If the age of Dennis on his father's death certificate was correct, and, if he was, like his father, born in County Clare, and if the family was R.C. this baptism is very likely his.
Catholic Registers at National Library of Ireland.
   Doonass & Truagh Parish, Diocese of Killaloe, County Clare
   1852 August 29th Dennis Davis, parents John Davis & Judy Hogan. Their residence begins with C (I
   think). Sponsors (godparents) John & Jane Murphy. Another column also has heading "Residence" (I
   think). It may be for residence/s of sponsors. The place looks like Clontara.
 https://registers.nli.ie/registers/vtls000634681#page/7/mode/1up

 

Residence of the sponsors was probably Clonlara, a village and R.C. parish.
Parish of Clonlara (Doonas and Truagh), Diocese of Killaloe
https://www.killaloediocese.ie/parish/clonlara-doonas-and-truagh/

Doonas & Truagh R.C. parish covers the civil parish of Kiltenanlea + lowers parts of O'Briensbridge civil parish + townlands in southern part of Kilselly civil parish.
A website for Clare County Libraries with comments about the Catholic registers.
www.ourlibrary.ca/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?t=5840&view=previous
Civil parishes in Ireland were administrative areas. Each civil parish contained several townlands. A townland is the smallest land division in Ireland, although some townlands contained sub-townlands. A civil parish may also contain a town or towns and/or a village or villages.

Griffith Valuation was a survey of land holdings in mid-19th century Ireland. The survey and compilation of findings took years to complete. Database can be searched by a person's name.
https://www.askaboutireland.ie/griffith-valuation/index.xml?action=nameSearch
3 results for John Davis in County Clare.
1 John Davis was in Coollisteige townland in Kiltenanlea civil parish. He rented a house and 2 acres of land. He may have been the John Davis who went to Australia, or his father, or another relative, or no relation.
Patrick Hogan occupied property in Coollisteige townland. (Wife of John Davis & mother of Denis Davis was Judy/Joanna Hogan.) There were other Hogan holdings in Kiltenanlea parish.
 Cloonlara Village and Cloonlara townland are in Kiltenanlea civil parish.  3 holdings in Cloonlara Village were held by 1 or more men named John Murphy. (Godfather of Denis Davis was a John Murphy of Clonlara.)

Kilseily civil parish. A Richard and Geo. Davis + 2 other men were immediate lessors (landlords or "middlemen" letting or sub-letting property and collecting rents from occupiers).
OBriensbridge civil parish. There were Davis occupiers and Davis immediate lessors.
Cowban

Offline Maiden Stone

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Griffith Valuation was a survey of land holdings in mid-19th century Ireland. The survey and compilation of findings took years to complete. Database can be searched by a person's name.
https://www.askaboutireland.ie/griffith-valuation/index.xml?action=nameSearch
3 results for John Davis in County Clare.
1 John Davis was in Coollisteige townland in Kiltenanlea civil parish. He rented a house and 2 acres of land. He may have been the John Davis who went to Australia, or his father, or another relative, or no relation.


Information which probably relates to one of the other men named John Davis in Clare on Griffith Valuation.
 https://irelandxo.com/ireland/clare/ballyvaughan-clare/message-board/davis-family
Ireland XO, also called Ireland Reaching Out is a family history website for the Irish diaspora.
There are many informative articles on the website. They are in the "News" section. (Go to Home then scroll down Home page to News.)
A new article is "10 Facts about land ownership in Ireland" by County Clare genealogist Jane O'Halloran Ryan. The article contains a link to List of Freeholders (including landlords and tenants) in County Clare 1821 which is on County Clare Libraries website.
Another article on IrelandXO is "8 FAQs about Irish Freehold Lists". This explains the ways people held land in 19th-century Ireland.
Cowban

Offline katorama

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The name is Bridget, age 24 (not Margaret?)
Sue, in case you missed it, the death cert has been posted on reply#48. (Easily missed, 'cos attachment was added long after post was finished) :)

My apologies for that - I was originally going to post it as a jpeg, but ended up sending the pdf.  It took me a few minutes.  I'm new here and am just beginning to figure out how this forum works.


Offline katorama

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I refer to Ernest’s immigration record from 1908, where he records his nearest relative or friend as H. L. GILL.
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C9B2-GS6X-V?cc=3477656&personaUrl=%2Fark%3A%2F61903%2F1%3A1%3ACDCV-TPPZ

Henry Lawrence GILL was a carpenter and an early pioneer in Innisfail.
•   Born in Jamaica, & grew up in England
•   Arrived in north Qld in early 1880s
•   He built Tom See Poy’s first store about 1884
•   Moved to Cooktown by late 1880s and married (R.C.) there in 1889 to Irish woman Kate MAHON.
•   Moved back to Innisfail by 1890s when he built the pilots cottage.
•   By 1895 Henry Gill started working as a shipping agent for Howard Smith and Sons (a QLD shipping and customs agent).
•   Henry took a leading part in the banana trade which made Innisfail famous in the 1890s.
•   Part owner in the steamer Arakoon, engaged in the banana trade between Geraldton (Innisfail) and Townsville.
•   Henry took an interest in the sugar industry, and owned a sugar cane farm on Liverpool Creek, 30km south of Innisfail.
•   By 1906 Mr H L Gill, was manager of Howard Smith and Sons Steamship Co, Innisfail
•   Henry was instrumental in inducing Howard Smith Co. to obtain a large interest in Mourilyan Syndicate Ltd when it purchased the Mourilyan Sugar Estate, in 1907.
•   By 1910 Mr. H. L. Gill, was general manager of the Mourilyan syndicate.
•   There is documented evidence that he had numerous good relations with the Chinese community in Innisfail.

Newspaper death notice for Henry Gill
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/16905799?searchTerm=%22mr%20H%20L%20Gill%22

Well-researched detail about Henry Gill here
https://jeanffrench.wordpress.com/2022/05/01/henry-l-gill-north-queensland-pioneer/amp/
It might be worth contacting the author to see if there is any documentation of Ernest in her research.

Also note my previous recommendation to contact the Innisfail and District Historical Society

Also of interest to you: “Hurricane Lamps and Blue Umbrellas” by Dorothy Jones, 1973 
https://books.google.com.au/books/about/Hurricane_Lamps_and_Blue_Umbrellas.html?id=wnQcAAAAMAAJ&redir_esc=y

This information is great.  We knew a little bit about him; Ernest at one point used an address from an apt in Melbourne that may or may not have been on a ship of some sort.  This is some great stuff, and helpful in piecing together Ernest's movements around Australia.  It also shows some links to Melbourne and of course the ones in Innisfail. 

I'm still trying to figure out how to link John/John Robert to Ernest.  It may be impossible but I'm going to sure as hell try.

Right now I'm working on a huge spreadsheet in which I am placing all of the John Davis/Davies' in Victoria that meet the basic known facts.  I'm also taking the data from 23andMe and merging it; sorting it according to known factual data.  Every little thing you are finding is helpful. 

Thank you so very much.


Offline katorama

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Griffith Valuation was a survey of land holdings in mid-19th century Ireland. The survey and compilation of findings took years to complete. Database can be searched by a person's name.
https://www.askaboutireland.ie/griffith-valuation/index.xml?action=nameSearch
3 results for John Davis in County Clare.
1 John Davis was in Coollisteige townland in Kiltenanlea civil parish. He rented a house and 2 acres of land. He may have been the John Davis who went to Australia, or his father, or another relative, or no relation.


Information which probably relates to one of the other men named John Davis in Clare on Griffith Valuation.
 https://irelandxo.com/ireland/clare/ballyvaughan-clare/message-board/davis-family
Ireland XO, also called Ireland Reaching Out is a family history website for the Irish diaspora.
There are many informative articles on the website. They are in the "News" section. (Go to Home then scroll down Home page to News.)
A new article is "10 Facts about land ownership in Ireland" by County Clare genealogist Jane O'Halloran Ryan. The article contains a link to List of Freeholders (including landlords and tenants) in County Clare 1821 which is on County Clare Libraries website.
Another article on IrelandXO is "8 FAQs about Irish Freehold Lists". This explains the ways people held land in 19th-century Ireland.

Thank you - this is fantastic! 

Offline Neale1961

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As we do not have access to the information on the "immigration interviews" it is not possible to know if there are leads there that could be followed, or assist further.
It seems you have quite a lot more information than you have posted.
Can you post here the documents relating to the naturalization application.

Katorama and Kroberts, you may not be aware that a number of people in Australia have tried to assist you on this board.
Up to this point you have been asked a number of times, by various rootschatters, to post all the information you have.
You have not done so. Therefore, without complete information, there is little more we can do to help. We are now at the point of just wasting our time.


Further suggestion: please use the REPLY button to respond. Reposting (in quote) lengthy passages from others makes this thread very cumbersome to follow.
Milligan - Jardine – Glencross – Dinwoodie - Brown: (Dumfriesshire & Kirkcudbrightshire)
Clark – Faulds – Cuthbertson – Bryson – Wilson: (Ayrshire & Renfrewshire)
Neale – Cater – Kinder - Harrison: (Warwickshire & Queensland)
Roberts - Spry: (Cornwall, Middlesex & Queensland)
Munster: (Schleswig-Holstein & Queensland) and Plate: (Braunschweig, Neubruck & Queensland & New York)

Offline katorama

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I have posted a link to my grandfather's marriage certificate and and the death certificate of John Davis, which you suggested I obtain. 

I have immigration paperwork for Ernest and his 3 sons. I haven't posted it because the real focus of this entire thread has been trying to establish a link between John Davis and Ernest Davis.  I have read through them dozens of times (about 200 pages).  There is nothing that gives any more information than I have already mentioned. 

I appreciate your efforts but if you feel it is a waste of time for you I can't change how you view the search for my family member. 

I would be happy to share the immigration documents but there are about 150 pages.  If you feel they would be valuable, I'm happy to do it.  I have to scan them all into a pdf.


Offline sparrett

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Hi  kroberts236/katorama
So what is known about Bridget? Was she a listed child on the DC of Johanna (nee HOGAN)
Sue
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Offline Annbee

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Quote
So what is known about Bridget?

Hi sparret, I think she married Nicholas Clemens and here is her grave or her husband's grave at least: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/189248532/nicholas-clemens

And another obituary for Johanna adds yet more detail: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/200529202 (telling us where Johanna lived after John died and how Johanna had lived there since 1869 - which all fits). And the husband of Bridget, Nicholas Clemens, was a witness or executor (I forget which) in one of the Davis brother wills/administrations in PROV. Which BTW, talking of PROV to answer your question - I'd ignore my 'R' as James's middle name. I cannot recall where I saw it, possibly I incorrectly picked it up in the PROV index list.

I will add I am not at all sure this research is connected to Ernest Davis. But it might help anyone else researching the Davis family of Beechworth and Harrietville area.
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