NSW Government Gazette

[Oakum Picker]

Can anyone tell what the lists in the above are for?

My 4xggf Joshua HAILEY was transported in 1832. He was sent first to Campbelltown & on his ToL of 1841 he was allowed to remain in Yass District. His CP of 1849 doesn't mention anywhere.

I now find in the above for 1863 amongst several lists:
2 HAILEY Joshua, Forbes

I feel it can only refer to him as I'm pretty sure there are no other Joshua HAILEYs in Australia but I don't know what it means.

It's here:
http://search.findmypast.co.uk/record?id=gould%2fau2100-1863_nsw_gov_gazette_1863%2f1309&parentid=gould%2fau2100-1863_nsw_gov_gazette_1863%2f1309&highlights=%22%22

Thanks.

[Oakum Picker]

I'm even more confused now as they appear to be unclaimed letters!!

[kiterunner]

There were certainly lots of lists of unclaimed letters printed in the NSW Government Gazette. The 2 is probably number of letters. I can't view the image to check.

[marquette]

I imagine a lot of people coming to the colony had no way of knowing what address they might have, especially during the "goldrush" so you told someone to write care of the post office. If you did not claim your letters within a certain time, they were returned to the central GPO and they published a list in the Gazette, in the hope that you would see it and go and get it. The lists of unclaimed letters were also sometimes published in the newspapers, who republished a lot of the Gazette for the general population. However, one never knows, now, if the letters were ever collected.

Joshua Hailey's letters must have been held at Forbes PO, but he did not go to the post office there in the alloted time, maybe he had moved on to another district

Forbes was a big gold mining district - in 1862, Frank Gardener and Ben Hall (bushrangers) held up the police-escorted Mail coach at "Escort Rock" between Forbes and Orange and absconded with over 2700 ounces of gold and 3700 pounds in cash - a large fortune in those times.

[Oakum Picker]

Thanks both.

I was just surprised as I wouldn't have expected him to be in contact with home assuming that's what 'Ship Letters' mean.

I have never been able to find his death. The closest I've come is for a John with possibly a different surname spelling (it's been 10 years) but the cert. had no other details although it was in Yass District. It occurred some time in 1863 which I was thinking might explain the non-collection of a letter that year.

Straw grasping!!

[marquette]

Although the death indexes don't show any details other than age, (ie no parents) there may well be some other details on the actual certificate - it might say how long he had been in the colony, and may even give the arrival ship, if the informant knew.

I found some old posts through google, which may be your earlier attempts to find him, which said he left wife and family behind when transported, which may be why there were few personal details for him - although that did not always stop anyone. But if he did not have a close relationship like a wife, who was there to tell about the family left behind ?

There was also a post which said death certificate showed Cause of death Drowning and no other details. Was this you ? Does it say exactly where he drowned ? "Yass" covered a very big area at that time. I am also surprised I cannot find a coroners inquest easily (like in Trove), but will keep looking. Ancestry have some inquests indexes online, but I don't know much about them Dates etc).

[Oakum Picker]

Thanks for your continued interest. Yes, the posts are mine, I'm the only one doing original research on this family as far as I'm aware.

I don't have the death cert. to hand, I was hoping it was on the laptop 2 back in my bedroom but it's likely to be on the desktop 3 back sitting in the summer house. If it's before that I no longer have it. I have a cousin who probably does, I'll ask for a copy.

I keep coming back to him when some possible info. crops up but as you saw from the earlier enquiry nothing pans out.

[marquette]

Convict records vary greatly in the spelling - especially those for convicts with no close family in the colony, away from Sydney, just a name and no details, spelling not at all what it was in other records. It makes them difficult to trace, and to me John Haley seems a reasonable prospect for Joshua's death, given lack of anything else.

If you can find the death cert, or get a copy, or details, we might be able to track down where it happened and look for other records.

I want to look at another inquest indexed in the ancestry records, so I can look for John Haley at the same time. Will also look for Joshua Hailey, as not all inquests had a separate death registration, an anomaly of the times.

The index and I think the records are on microfilm in the NSW ARK (Archives Resources Kit) which is a large batch of microfilms distributed to local studies libraries in the days before the internet. It is still useful for stuff not yet digitised. But it will take me a couple of weeks to have a free day to go to the library.

Di

[marquette]

Thanks for your continued interest.

I just solved a mystery that has bugged me for several years, finding the death of Thomas Milham alias Sheather, who no-one else had discovered was not called Thomas Williams.

So I am feeling in a detective mood at the moment and ready to hunt down those elusive ancestors !

[Oakum Picker]

Hi Marquette,

I've found the death cert.

http://i730.photobucket.com/albums/ww304/Kiegsien/HAILEYJohn.jpeg (http://s730.photobucket.com/user/Kiegsien/media/HAILEYJohn.jpeg.html)

[marquette]

By searching Trove for "gap drowning" and limiting to April 1863 I found the following piece in the Maitland Mercury of 16 April 1863, reporting an item in the Yass Courier (I don't think the Yass Courier is in Trove, yet, so that the item was picked up by the MM is a piece of luck)

So I think he is the right man and the death certificate is incorrect - note that he is called Joshua Healey

" Drowning -On Monday last an inquest was held at the Commerical Hotel, before the district coroner, I M. Blake Esq, on view of the body of Joshua Healey, who had been found drowned. It appeared from the evidence offered that deceased, who was a very old man, some seventy years of age, had been in the service of Mr. Thomas Weller, of the Gap, as a shepherd. On Friday morning he went out with his flock apparently in perfect health, and on the following day he was found drowned in the Chain of Ponds, there was no evidence to show the cause of drowning and in absence of that the jury returned a verdict of found drowned It was stated at the inquest that deceased was a very steady man, and was possessed of some property -Yass Courier, April 8."

[Oakum Picker]

Wow, that's fantastic Marquette, proof enough that my 'gut feeling' was correct. My HAILEYs are often written as HEALEY when they leave Hertfordshire. In fact it took a while to find Joshua's ToL as he was recorded as HARLEY.

Can you tell me, was that cert.written out when it was requested & is it possible that it was miscopied? I know the index also says John!

Another question, is there any way I can find out more about his property & what his connection is with Forbes which seems a little way from Yass.

Thank you so much. I can finally kill Joshua off after 14 years.

[Oakum Picker]

I've just realised it's my birthday now & that's the best present I'll get. I managed to find it myself & have snipped the article. It says text last corrected today by dicole. Is that you from FTF?

If you ever want anything looked up in Suffolk, Norfolk or Bucks, let me know.

[marquette]

Hi Glen,

It is nice to "kill them off".

The certificate looks like it is an image copy of the original register printed on the modern certificate paper. The original register went horizontally over a double page and it has been split into two sections. The writing looks like the same through-out except for one signature. The Registrar probably mistook the abbreviation "Josh" for John

I have been looking for more information on his "property" but might need to consult the Yass Courier. The deceased estates indexes online at State Records don't start until 1880, but I think they are on microfilm in the ARK, or at State Records - a good excuse for a visit !

Forbes and Yass were both gold mining areas, so he may have been in the area as a prospector, but took employment as a shepherd as he got older. I am trying to think where I saw mining records.

[marquette]

I've just realised it's my birthday now & that's the best present I'll get. I managed to find it myself & have snipped the article. It says text last corrected today by dicole. Is that you from FTF?

If you ever want anything looked up in Suffolk, Norfolk or Bucks, let me know.

Happy Birthday, mine was last week - I am glad I could give you such a good present ! (Yes, dicole is me, I just decided to have a change of name when I joined GF)

I have been looking a bit for The Gap - I think its just east of Yass, now in or near Mundoonen Nature Reserve, where part of the Old Gap Road still exists. It was 132 miles from Yass to Forbes, a fair hike in the 1850s and 1860s. But the settlers and the prospectors (and bushrangers) seemed to have regularly covered quite vast distances, on foot or with horse. About two hours by car, nowdays.

Di

[Oakum Picker]

Hi Di,

I'm still on cloud 9. I really am very grateful for what you have already found & I'm ashamed to say I never thought of searching Trove with anything other than a name. I'm usually good at thinking 'out of the box'!! If you do find anything in the future that'll be a lovely bonus.

My husband was most upset to the reference of the very old man of 70, an age he'll reach next year. LOL.

I'll be interested to see if this info. reaches the trees on Ancestry where many have his death in Hitchin c. 1871 even though I've pointed out why that wasn't possible especially as there is no registration near that date.

Thanks once again.