Lilian's Tree

I'm going to do several of the children in one post as I don't have heaps of information on them. These will be, James b 1842, William  b 1846 and Susan b 1854.   James Donald was the second child of George Donald and Jane/Jean Galbraith to be born in the Colony of New South Wales. Or was he? With Agnes being born in 1837 there is a a good five year gap until James arrives in 1842 and another six children follow. So is there a couple of 'missing' children? I don't know. In 1877 at Yass, James married Isabella Cowden and it is sometime after this that they move to the Blue Mountains as their seven children are registered in either Lithgow, Hartley or Wickham. Children of the marriage; Agnes J DONALD #14275/1878, Hartley George Patterson DONALD #15938/1880, Lithgow Minnie Isabel DONALD #17391/1881, Hartley Vernon G DONALD # 21248/1884, Lithgow James L DONALD # 22624/1886, Lithgow Stanley G DONALD # 19357/1890, Lithgow Eleanor G DONALD # 37267/1894, Wickham. James died...

 Emigrating from Scotland, they started the voyage, with Jane pregnant, and with Thomas and George, having left John behind, (that would have been heart-breaking, too) and arriving with Thomas, only, as George had died on the voyage, Agnes' arrival would have been bitter sweet for them. Agnes Donald  was born 10 October 1837 and baptised in St Andrew's Scotts Church, Sydney, she hasn't caused me any stress in searching for her. In 1859 she married James Cole in Yass. They would have four children, Alexander 1860, Emily 1861, Agnes 1862 and James 1864. I find no references to her in Trove, nothing to tell me about her life. Agnes died on 25 March 1906.  Agnes is buried beside her parents in the Yass Cemetery.

 Back to Jane, for a bit. While looking through Trove for the death of George, I found an article in the Yass Courier, Friday 23 November 1894, page 2,   it was relating to the death of  Mrs George Donald Senr. It is a lovely article but again thrown up the question of 'How many children?' Almost at the end it mentions, " The deceased leaves behind four sons and one daughter..."   The death certificate says seven living, four boys and three girls. Got to love the conflict of children! What a merry dance, chasing them! Don't you just love the way, even in death she is still listed as his wife? So to wrap-up Jane and George in a neat, (messy) bow, here are their facts; George born 26 December 1807, to Thomas Donald and Jane Miller. Jane born 1811, to John Galbraith and Agnes McNish. Married 11 June 1830. Four sons born between 1831 and 1836. One would die, one was left behind, two emigrated in 1837. One died on the voyage. The family arrived in NSW in 1837, w...

 I've written about the problems that this Donald Family are causing me, regarding the number of children the family, could, should  or does have. My thought was to get George Donald's 1870 death certificate and see how many were listed on that. Well... Searching the New South Wales Birth, Death and Marriages Index, I found that there wasn't an entry for him. (Here we go again!) Thought outside the box by using wildcards in my searches, nothing, left out the name George and narrowed the year, nothing. Now you are thinking, 'how does she know it is 1870?' Fare question, 1) I have stood at his gravesite, 2) there are death notices in various newspapers, both in NSW and England, 3) Several articles about the inquest, in different newspapers and 4) the actual entry in the Registers of Coroner's Inquests and Magisterial Inquiries-1834-1942,  found on Ancestry. He is dead and buried. I contacted my transcription agent, Joy Murrin and she couldn't find it either. I...

 When last I posted I had ordered Susan's birth certificate and John's death certificate.  They arrived and I eagerly read the birth certificate, only to realise, the civil registration didn't start until 1855. Susan was born in 1854, hence it is only a baptismal records and no siblings are shown. It was good to check. John's death certificate was good, with all the details filled out, all the dates work out but there is no mention of the ship he arrived on even though it is on his admission entry. More searching to be done. What was interesting was the note at the bottom I certify that this body was removed to medical school 14 May 1914 (statement was crossed out.)    I had seen other references to his body going to Sydney University but it must have been given back as there is a burial date of 22 August 1914, for John on the certificate. While the certificates gave some answers, there are still questions that need answers, so the search continues. Thomas was the ne...

 My previous post had me searching for the remaining children, as I had 11 not 14. Well... John 62, Agnes 57, George 53, Jane 51, James 49, William 47 Susan 40, Living. 4 males, 3 females Deceased.  The four deceased males is my starting point. Well we know that there were two Thomas', one died in Scotland and the second arrived, with his parents in 1837, and isn't listed with the living. Searching the NSW Birth, Death & Marriage Indexes I find that the second Thomas died in 1885. Two down, two to go. George died on the voyage. Three down and one to go. My working theory, at this stage is that they had two Williams, just a hunch but one I will explore more. Three deceased females. Janet, born 1844, isn't on her mother's death certificate. I checked her marriage and in 1858 she married a John Patterson. Searching the NSW Indexes for her death yielded none, so I searched the Queensland Indexes and there she was, Janet Patterson, died 1890. One down, two to go. And her...

 I have started using the program WeAre.xyz, on line to do my One-Place Study and now my Galbraith Family line. I have done Samuel Galbraith, my direct line and have now decided to add his sister Jean Galbraith and what a merry path she has lead me on! Jean Galbraith born 27 April 1811 in Dalrymple, Scotland to John Galbraith and his wife Agnes McNish. Married George Donald on 11 June 1830 in Ayr, Scotland.  And the search for children began. My Brother's Keeper program has listed, Thomas 1835, George 1836, Agnes 1837, James 1842, Janet 1844, George 1846, William 1849, Jean 1851, and Susan 1854. Yes, two Georges' but the first little George died on the voyage from Scotland in 1837 and Jean and George reused the name. (Something the Galbraith family does very well.)   Searching the Scotland's People website for any births etc. I found John 1831 and two Thomas', one born 1833 and the second 1835. Yes, the first one died.  Now this is the conundrum WHERE IS JOHN? O...

 Back in July I wrote about viewing my great-grandmother's baptism record at St Philip's, Church Hill, Sydney.  You can read about it here  St Philip's I then made an interesting discovery about her sister  Rachel  and a possible link to a neighbour. The story continues... Last Monday 31 August, I went back to St Philip's to search through the baptism records to try an find the remaining baptismal records, of the other nine children. I was privileged to be allowed to search the original books. Of the 10 children, including Isabella, I found another five records. They were for Elizabeth, 1841. William, 1845, Louisa, 1850, John, 1854 and Catherine, 1856.  The one I wanted, Rachel's wasn't there. I had hoped to find godparents listed, to prove my theory. I have another church to enquire with, to see if they hold their original records and also the Society of Australian Genealogists. While it would be great to find the remaining four records, the books don't me...