Antonio de Travers 1852-1931

[mum mum]

Mum Mum - we don't know if familytrees are right
but this tree says Antonio Victor De Travers
born 5th July 1852
Canton Prison
Switzerland
.................................................
copied and pasted
Born 5 July 1852 - Canton Prison, Switzerland
Deceased 23 November 1931 - Tallangatta, Victoria, Australia, aged 79 years old
 
Spouses
Married 20 September 1909, Victoria, to Maria Macklin 1854-1938

the tree owner is a Gaye Cairns
do you want the link to this tree ??

Thanks but I don't need the link to that, there are a few trees on Ancestry that include him but they don't seem to have any more info than I do at this stage.

[jorose]

https://archive.org/details/schweizerischesg42lend/page/n337/mode/2up?q=%22Viktor+Travers%22

Anton Viktor Travers v. Ortenstein, b. 1852 and went to Australia, is listed here, son of Johann Rudolph Anton Travers and his wife Maria Christine Schaber.  Looks like quite a few generations back are listed.

My German is definiately not good enough to translate the whole thing.

[maddys52]

There are quite a few articles on trove that mention Antonio including the one you have posted which was from the  Kilmore Free Press, Thu 29 Dec 1910. None give much more detail. Although an obituary does say that his Uncle was an officer of the Papal Guard in Rome.
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/254232353

For interest, his job "formerly in the service of shire council" appears to have been as a nightsoil contractor ("dunny man" as they were called).

[pb_devon]

Something doesn’t seem right to me.
He has ‘de’ in his surname, which is French for ‘of’ or ‘from’, but he is from a german speaking part of Switzerland.
Graübunden, and Switzerland, at the start of the 20th C was very poor and many emigrated to seek a better life (my ancestors included).
He turns up in a remote part of Australia claiming to be related to all sorts of notables.
Hmmnn!
The item Jorose linked is intriguing but I cannot work out the context of it.
However now we have more vital facts there’s much to build on.

[maddys52]

I'm not sure that he was claiming to be related to notables - the consulate contacted him.

Another article says he was "a Switzer, hailing from a French canton, but the family is of Austrian descent."
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/69555508

[Karen McDonald]

Hi,

In case it hepls, the Schweizerisches Geschlechterbuch in jorose's link is basically a Swiss genealogical almanac.

I can't find anything for the Swiss version, but here is a link (the page is in English) explaining the German equivalent:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deutsches_Geschlechterbuch

The entry for Anton(io) refers to him (obviously  ), giving his DOB and stating that he works on a farm in Oz, to his parents (incl. DOB, DOD, marriage date) and to (2 of) his children.

It says that according to the Swiss consulate, he is a widow. Documentary evidence of his marriage(s) and the births of children has not been obtainable to date. Son John Rudolf's birth is given as an approximate date, and for son Anton there is no info. 

[pb_devon]

I don't know if you've got him on the immigration lists arriving on the Northern Monarch from Plymouth on 12 June 1876 at Adelaide. Listed on the South Australia Assisted Passage Lists, age 24.

See this newspaper article about the ships arrival where he is named:  https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/31969855

Both have him as Anton Travers.

I remain of the view that he later embellished aspects of his back story!

[mum mum]

I don't know if you've got him on the immigration lists arriving on the Northern Monarch from Plymouth on 12 June 1876 at Adelaide. Listed on the South Australia Assisted Passage Lists, age 24.

See this newspaper article about the ships arrival where he is named:  https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/31969855

Both have him as Anton Travers.

I remain of the view that he later embellished aspects of his back story!

Thanks for that link, I had found the arrival but not the article. I too am rather inclined to think that he may not have been all that he claimed to be. After all, we haven't seen the letter, only that he said he had received a letter.
mum mum