Who was William Albert Holmes? (52 ancestors in 52 weeks)

William Holmes and Edith Thomas

William Albert Holmes (1882?-1972) was my mother in law's grandfather, he's also the biggest question mark in our family tree. William was a successful business shop owner in Sydney until the depression and trained as a an optometrist later in life. According to his marriage and death certificates, he was born in Hull in about 1882. He had one adopted sister, Louisa (Lulu) and, when his father Frederick died in 1911, William recorded himself as the only child of their marriage (Frederick recorded both children on their mother's death certificate). He also gave some useful info, such as his parents' marriage in London when his father was 19.

Meanwhile, his parents actually got married in Townsville, Queensland, on the 27th of April, 1888, with a quiet ceremony at the Congregational Church minister's home (which wasn't reported in the papers, as far as I can find). Sometime soon afterwards they moved to Sydney where Frederick worked as a hotel porter.

From their marriage certificate, Frederick Holmes (abt. 1866-1911) was born in London, and Catherine Tomlinson (abt. 1863-1904) was born in Manchester. I haven't located their arrival in Australia yet, so it's uncertain whether either of them brought William with them on the ship or if they came together. In Catherine's death certificate, filled out by her husband, it says that she lived for 8 years in Queensland and 17 in New South Wales - that doesn't really agree with the date of their marriage in Townsville but would make it unlikely that she was giving birth in Hull in the early 1880s. Her death certificate records her father as William Tomlinson, a singer, but also says that she was born in Lincolnshire.

William would have been about 5 or 6 when his parents married, so it seems odd to me that he didn't remember anything about his parents' or his own change of circumstances. He seems to have been hung up on his sister being adopted (he called her 'my adopted sister' when he talked about her) so if he was adopted he probably wasn't told about it.

Written for the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge.

What is: The Ryerson Index

The Ryerson Index to death notices and obituaries in Australian newspapers is pretty much what it says on the tin. It was started in 1998 by members of the Sydney Dead Persons Association so it is most complete for the Sydney and NSW papers, but they have volunteers working in other regions too.

This index will give you full name (as shown in the newspaper), age, date, type of notice, newspaper name and date, and other details which may include the location of death and/or where the person was from. It doesn't include the name of the person who inserted the notice or other family names so you'll need to go to the original notice for that.

Death of Alderman Davis.

Nowra Leader, 15th March 1918

Death has claimed another of the hardy pioneers who assisted to blaze the track, in the person of Alderman James Davis of South Shoalhaven. Early in December last, the deceased entered Lewisham Hospital for treatment, but an operation disclosed the fact that his complaint was beyond medical skill. Though he fully realised that he was fast, approaching the end of life's journey, he went about putting his worldly affairs in order with the same spirit that characterised the deceased through life. This work accomplished, and his vitality still further sapped by the malady from which he suffered, he was obliged to take to his bed some five weeks ago. Retaining his mental faculties, he gradually weakened and passed peacefully away on Sunday evening last, surrounded by the members of his family, at his residence, "Riverview," Numba.

Fun with census records

I love the English census records, except when I don't. :-)

Here are a couple of ways the census data can muck you about:

John Suffolk, the case of the man who didn't age

John Suffolk died on the 18th of November 1852 'aged 65' from natural causes related to intemperance, which would make his year of birth somewhere around 1787. (1) But was he actually 69? John Suffolk was illiterate and seems to have lost track of time for the period between his conviction and his marriage in Australia to fellow convict Elizabeth Cockshall.

Joseph Suffolk - Richard Reynolds 1836

Joseph Suffolk arrived in Port Jackson on the 1st of March 1836. He and his wife Jane were unassisted immigrants (posh, compared to all the assisted immigrants and criminals in my family tree) travelling in steerage (less posh) of a barque laden with merchandise and one other passenger.

Podcast: It's About Time

Ancestry.com has commissioned a genealogy podcast narrated by the very marvellous Sir Tony Robinson, available free on iTunes and Google Play. It's About Time is a combination of anecdotes about people and specials on particular things in genealogy (e.g. DNA research). It's a little heavy on the Ancestry advertising, which shouldn't be a major surprise, but the podcasts I've listened to so far are quite interesting AND it's Tony-freaking-Robinson who could make a shopping list sound like the most interesting thing in the world.




Episode 5: A Story of Identity revealed that Peter and I are both genetically much more British than the average resident of England. (I'm spot on for the average English native at 60%.)