Hi everyone,
I'm trying to see if I can link a James Greenland that arrived in Hobart Town, Van Diemen's Land on 28th Nov 1842 on the 'Sir Charles Napier' to the James Greenland (c. 1825-1895) that married Bridget McNamara in Deniliquin, NSW on 26th Jan 1863 and died there on 5th April 1895 aged 70 years.
James Greenland is mentioned in the Deniliquin Gaol Description and Entrance Books in Dec 1881 (60yo) as having arrived on the 'Sir C Napier' in 1851. But I cannot seem to find a voyage of the 'Sir Charles Napier' arriving in Australia in 1851. I have a feeling the date is wrong in this record.
If these are all the same vessel I'm not sure if there was time for an England to Australia voyage:
- In late Jan 1851 the ship arrived in Mobile from Liverpool
- In Feb 1851 the ship was off Cape Horn
- In Jun 1851 the bark left Liverpool for Quebec
- In Nov 1851 the barque seems to be on a voyage from Santiago de Cuba to Swansea starting in Sep
I could also find arrivals for a 'Sir Charles Napier' in Apr 1855 in Geelong and also Feb 1858 in Port Phillip Bay but I couldn't find a James Greenland on the passenger lists.
So I'm thinking that possibly James arrived in Australia a lot earlier than he said he did.
On the 'Immigrants under the Bounty and General System List' from Feb 1843 it lists the immigrants who arrived in 1842 on the 'Sir Charles Napier'. James Greenland from Bradford, Wiltshire is on there with his wife. A bit more investigating and I believe his wife was Ruth Wilkins. This couple appears to have married on 11th Jul 1842 in Bradford-on-Avon shortly before the ship left London at the end of July for Hobart.
However a few things are making me doubt this could be the correct James Greenland:
- discrepancy in arrival dates 1842 vs. 1851
- The 1842 marriage certificate lists James' father as William Greenland, while the 1895 death certificate lists the father as James Greenland (his wife Bridget was the informant)
- The 1895 death certificate states that he was from Bristol with unknown years in the colony. Bristol and Bradford-on-Avon are fairly close though.
- The 1895 death certificate lists no other children/marriages before Bridget
According to the 1842 marriage certificate to Ruth Wilkins he would have been born around 1822, which does seem to make him roughly the right age.
No age, birthplace or parents are listed on the 1863 marriage certificate to Bridget McNamara.
His parents are listed as James Greenland and Jane Rochard on his 1895 death certificate (his wife Bridget was the informant).
I'm waiting on James and Bridget's children's birth certificates to see if they offer any further clues.
I cannot find what happened to James and Ruth Greenland after the birth of a still born daughter in Aug 1844 in Hobart. I haven't been able to find deaths for either in Tasmania, Victoria or NSW yet.
There is a James Greenland that left for Port Philip in Jul 1846 aboard the 'David' which might be him. Perhaps Ruth died in-between that time and he made his way to Deniliquin, or he might have left her and she might have remarried (James and Bridget were separated for a time in their marriage).
A slight complicating factor in the search is there is another convict James Greenland that arrived in Hobart on the 'Moffatt' in 1842 who seems to have ended up in the Liverpool Asylum for the Infirm and Destitute in in NSW by 1859.
If anyone could please help me find out what happened to James and Ruth Greenland, it would be great to rule them out as an option. But then I need to find another James Greenland on a ship called 'Sir Charles Napier'.
Any help would be greatly appreciated
