Australian research

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Meredith

New Member
Hello again,

I've recently come across a family member who was transported to Australia, and I'm not sure what is the best way to make certain that I have the correct results when looking for children born to her. For UK research, you have the mother's maiden name and the GRO to confirm research, but I'm not sure the best way to do it for Australian family. It has certainly been very interesting researching her.

My 3x great grandmother spirited a shawl (and half of the haberdashery section of a shop) and was convicted and transported in 1832. She was pregnant at the time, and after giving birth, she left that child and my 2x great grandmother behind and arrived in Sydney in 1833.

She was born Sarah Hales in 1805 in Lincolnshire, married a William Kennington in 1830, so she was transported as Sarah Kennington. After her seven years, she did not return to England, but married a John Smith on 23 June 1839 in Parramatta, NSW Australia.

The seems to have been more than one John Smith with a wife Sarah in the parish records at the time, so this is where I'm battling to be certain that these children are related. I'd appreciate any advice or tips.

Best regards
Meredith
 
Hi Meredith, I'm just on the way out, but what records in Australia have you seen which relate to her. Are there burial records which may give areal look at her birth year & place? or Parents?
Might she have used names of children in her family or same as her first children? A little straw gathering here.
Archies Mum, when she pops i may have some clues to help. Sorry holding my eyes open here. Good hunting.
 
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She's popped in but :eek: John and Sarah Smith :eek:
There are loads of birth registrations with parents of those names and mmn is not online. Purchasing a registration transcription may do the trick but you would have to be fairly sure you have the correct children otherwise it would cost a small fortune. Maybe their or some of their children weren't even registered.
A death registration of a child may give more clues but not necessarily.
So far we are up the creek without a paddle.........what a shame she married SMITH. She hasn't made it easy.
If you have surnames of their married daughters then their death may reveal mothers maiden or former name. Or it may not. Sorry
 
Ma-dotcom said:
Hi Meredith, I'm just on the way out, but what records in Australia have you seen which relate to her. Are there burial records which may give areal look at her birth year & place? or Parents?
Might she have used names of children in her family or same as her first children? A little straw gathering here.
Archies Mum, when she pops i may have some clues to help. Sorry holding my eyes open here. Good hunting.
Click to expand...

Hi, thanks for those tips. The only record I have (other than the transportation ones) is her marriage certificate, as thereafter she's a Smith. Do Australian birth certificates state the mother's maiden name? They're not cheap, but is that the only way? Many thanks, Meredith.
 
Try this Meredith :mailto:[email protected] for information on various certificates.
I had a look on NSW Historical index site but no Mother's name listed. Trove may be a good place to check to see if any family names come up.

Don't forget there are transcription services also. I have used one, 'Marilyn' the names are listed on https://www.bdm.nsw.gov.au/Pages/family-history/family-history.aspx . Much cheaper than a regular certificate.

I did notice their marriage doesn't give a place.
 
I just remembered...
Do you have her death information? It should tell you on her death certificate or cheaper option, transcription, names of all children, if known by the informant.
A transcription is far cheaper and can be purchased through 3 agents registered in NSW, even if she died interstate they will do it for you. I haven’t ordered one for ages but a full transcription should be around $25, don’t take that as gospel though. There are three levels of information you can have on the form and all are priced accordingly, full being the most expensive.
Agents are listed on the internet. I usually use the one from Mortdale NSW.
 
Thanks Sue, it was just a quick look to see if there were any other names mentioned. I'm not familiar with NSW coding & didn't stop to check the site for such.
 
When I first started this caper my sister said to print out the BMD codes.....I did. :). I have found it’s always best to do as big sister asks. ;)
 
Hi all,

I unfortunately don't know when she dies, there are quite a few - some I can eliminate due to age, but some death certificates don't have parents names. There are a few people in Sydney who've done their Ancestry DNA and match mine, but they don't have subscriptions so no help there either. It doesn't help she married a John Smith and didn't have a middle name. She would only have had Australian kids up until age 40-45 ie. up to 1850. I'll keep hunting!
 
Don’t throw in the towel just yet.....how’s this?
Sarah Kennington’s native place was Navenby. There is a baptism of Sarah Hales 22/12/1805 birth 21/12/1805 Navenby, father Richard mother Mary Lister. Is this your Sarah?
Sarah Hales marries William Kennington 1830 Nettleham.
Sarah then marries John Smith in Parramatta in 1839.
In 1862, registration 4334 there is a death of a Sarah Smith at West Maitland father Richard, mother Mary A.
Do you think this might need some more investigation?
 
One of the major problems with tracing convict families in Australia, Meredith, is that if they served their term and became "good citizens" nothing more was heard of them unless they did something worthy of note. If they became land owners or successful business "persons" there would be the normal publicity re land/stock purchases/sales but otherwise...........

If they continued on the road to perdition ( :) ) there would have been lots of records kept simply because of their background.

I have 5 convicts in my mother's family, all sentenced to 7 years' transportation. Three of them became ordinary working, law abiding family men whose movements once they'd served their sentences and been granted certificates of freedom weren't even noticed. The other 2 "married" and had quite a large family. Some of their children became land owners and others went on to help open up the country around Cooma and the Snowy Mountains in NSW. Their doings were recorded in newspapers etc., so after I pinned them down as 'mine' I was able to go further.

I wish you the best of luck. It can be a hard slog particularly with common names, but sometimes you can be lucky enough to stumble across something obscure that piques your interest and then takes you that one step further (and so it goes on).

My O'Brien convict was a case in point. I knew about his son's movements and subsequently tracked him down to my mother, but the father? So hard. I was looking for a burial as a last resort and found mention of a man who had transcribed burial details from a now defunct cemetery and O'Brien was one of the names. After many phone calls to complete strangers I found one who had a copy of the transcription - and there was my Michael, with his wife too. It was sheer fluke that I called, but it paid off.

Stick with it girl, and do let us know how you get on, won't you?

:)
 
Archie's Mum said:
Don’t throw in the towel just yet.....how’s this?
Sarah Kennington’s native place was Navenby. There is a baptism of Sarah Hales 22/12/1805 birth 21/12/1805 Navenby, father Richard mother Mary Lister. Is this your Sarah?
Sarah Hales marries William Kennington 1830 Nettleham.
Sarah then marries John Smith in Parramatta in 1839.
In 1862, registration 4334 there is a death of a Sarah Smith at West Maitland father Richard, mother Mary A.
Do you think this might need some more investigation?
Click to expand...
Hi, that's my Sarah. The death in 1862 was for a Sarah A, mother Mary A, and father Richard; but that seems to be for a young Sarah A who was born in 1861 in Maitland NSW. I will keep looking.
 

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