Henry Read Haigh - was he Henry Harvey Reid, adopted in Sydney circa 1843

[SamandMe]

Hi all. This man is my great-great-grandfather, and I have not been able to get a copy of a Sydney Australia birth certificate for him. I had started at Henry Reid, but got the wrong person. I have been told that he may have been born as Henry Read Haigh and that he was adopted by a Dr Reid. I have written to the state archive library in Sydney, Australia, and had a bit of info, but I need to see this or request a copy of it. I need to find out from where can I check this, and can I do it by email or do I have to go to Sydney for a look at it? This man came from Australia to New Zealand circa 1861, married Margaret Jones in Auckland, and had a few children, including my great-grandfather Henry James Reid. I have the death certificate for Henry Harvey Reid in New Zealand.
Thank you! Louise

[shanreagh]

Welcome to Roots Chat!

Who was it who told you that he may have been adopted? 

Who was the informant on his death certificate?  Was it the Dr?  (NB you have got a transcribed copy.) For genealogical purposes it is usually better to get a photocopy of the actual entry.

Haigh may also be spelt Haig (ie without the h)
Have you got a copy of his marriage certificate and does it have his father's name on it? What is this name? Was he stated as being alive on the marriage certificate 
Have you tracked his immigration to NZ?  Where did he land?  What name was used on his  emigration? 

Is this the certificate you are trying to obtain?
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XTDP-8B3

I can think that an informal adoption may have taken place if say the mother or father had died shortly after the birth of a child. Have you tracked this family down to find out when Samuel Haigh or Anne Kaye died?  I can see a tree on FS but no dates of death are given for Samuel or Anne Kaye Haigh. 

It might be a good idea to track down (via BDM)  the family members of this Haigh family. 

If he emigrated to NZ and got married, registered his children  and died under the name Henry Harvey Read then it would be a good idea to draw up a family tree using these details.  This will help you test the assumption that he was born under a different name. 

http://www.rootschat.com/links/01rue/


http://www.rootschat.com/links/01ruf/

PS there is this record of a birth to a Samuel Haigh and Mrs Samuel Haugh in the Hunter Valley in 1859 and this blows out the idea that a parent may made an informal adoption if one or other parent had died soon after the birth. 
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XTHP-R9Z

PPS There is this birth notice for a child Henry Reid born 1844 to James Reid and Mary Barker Reid. 
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XTDP-JYM
ETA this child may have died in 1910
https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/sources/K2NY-54M

[shanreagh]

Carrying on

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/231928515/henry-harvey-read
This person dies in 1859. 

[Dundee]

Civil registration started in 1856 in NSW so you will not get a birth certificate.  If he was baptised you might find it recorded in the online indexes of church records.

https://familyhistory.bdm.nsw.gov.au/lifelink/familyhistory/search

I have written to the state archive library in Sydney, Australia, and had a bit of info, but I need to see this or request a copy of it.

What is the record exactly?  It might be available somewhere online.

In that era, if he was orphaned or neglected and somebody in the family didn't take him then he would have gone into the government system and apprenticed out when he was old enough.

https://www.records.nsw.gov.au/archives/collections-and-research/guides-and-indexes/child-care-and-protection/indexes

It doesn't look like he actually married Margaret, or at least not in NZ.

Debra 

[Dundee]

I see that they didn't register the births of any children either.

Debra 

[shanreagh]

I can see a couple, I think........,

1885/1657   Reid   William   Margaret   Henry   
1886/19642   Reid   Maudie   Margaret   Henry

Maudie Reid marries Charles Herdman and

Death of one, possibly.

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/232585876/william-barton-reid

There are some children to the couple who married in Auckland on this tree......notable  in this tree is that one of the sons (Henry James Reid) marries his mother (Margaret Jones)
https://www.familysearch.org/tree/pedigree/landscape/GMZQ-46G

[SamandMe]

Hi Shanreagh. Thanks for all your work!! I have been a member of MyHeritage for two years and have been building my family tree. I traced Fell family (my grandmother) back to the 10th century in England and stopped there. I haven't been able to trace the Reid family (grandfather) further than the great-grandfather (Henry James Reid) and great-great-grandfather (Henry Harvey Reid) who both lived in NZ and died there. I had not been able to find any birth certificates for either of them.

Henry Harvey Reid came to NZ from Australia in 1861 (I have details of the ship he came on) and started in Otago mining gold.  His first wife was Agnes, she died early in 1900 and he married Margaret Jones in Auckland. I found out from a cousin of ours that Maudie Herdman (born Reid, father Henry Harvey and mother Margaret Jones) was a relative of ours (and a sister to Henry James), but they couldn't help me with any info about Henry Harvey Reid. It was the Herdman relative who told me that the believed Henry Harvey had been adopted in Sydney circa 1843 when he was born.

I had been to the NSW state archive building and found another Henry Reid, who, it turned out, was not my GGGF. That Henry died in Sydney, not New Zealand.

Henry James Reid certainly did not marry his mother! He was my GGF, my grandfather's father, and I know who the mother of my GF was - Mary, who had previously been married to Andrew Barry (six children) and divorced him circa 1902. My grandfather was born to both of Henry and Mary - in 1905, but I have not been able to find any marriage certificates in Marton or thereabout.

I currently have birth and death certificates for Lewis Henry Reid (my GF), but only death certificates for Mary and Henry James Reid (GGF) and death certificate for Henry Harvey Reid (GGGF). The sic children who went to the hospital for his death included Maudie (his daughter) and Henry James (his son). Note that he was REID, not READ.

The certificate you sent of Henry Read Haigh's birth is one I need - Dr Reid was allegedly his godfather at his baptising, but I need to know (and I don't think I can find it from the shoddy paperwork back then) if Dr Reid did adopt him.

Louise

[SamandMe]

Hi Debra. Thanks for your response. I need to go to NSW again unless I can get info from the church. I have been told that the certificate (church or state) was # 4276-1843-47 for him in 1843 but I don't know if that's true. He certainly was in NZ after he was around aged 17-18, and he definitely married Margaret Jones - I have the list and birth certificates from NZ of their children which includes my great-grandfather, Henry James Reid b. 1874, William Reid b. 1885, and Maudie Reid b. 1886, who were at the hospital when Henry Harvey Reid died.

Louise

[Dundee]

I can see a couple, I think........,

1885/1657   Reid   William   Margaret   Henry   
1886/19642   Reid   Maudie   Margaret   Henry

I must be blind     According to Henry's death cert there were at least four children born before them.

.....notable  in this tree is that one of the sons (Henry James Reid) marries his mother (Margaret Jones)

I saw one yesterday where someone married themself.  At least you would know that you would get along 

Debra