Some Australian help please.

[HarrysMum]

This could be a tricky one, and it’s not that important. It’s also probably impossible to sort due to privacy rules.

John Bowler, son of Patrick and Hannah, was born in Patea, NZ in 1883. He came to Australia at some stage as an adult or at least late teen. Haven’t found that.

He married a Maggie in NSW and lived around Sydney. He was known as Jack. I have met Jack and Maggie when I was a baby. I also have photos.

They had one son, also known as Jack or Jacky, presume John.

I know they were all alive in 1955.

In 1970, my grandfather, who was John senior’s brother received an inheritance from the estate of John Bowler. His other living siblings in NZ also received some money.

So.......all I can find is John Bowler marrying Margaret Berryman in 1921 in Gosford.
No birth for any children as it’s not 100 years yet.

I have a death for John Bowler, father Patrick in 1957 in Sydney.

Two deaths for Margaret Bowlers in 1963 and 1968. No idea which is mine.

Then I found a newspaper article for a John William Bowler, who died aged 58 at Mascot, Sydney in 1969. Intestate and administration granted 21st April 1970.

I’m presuming that is the son, and as his aunts and uncles were granted the money, he had no wife or children.

I know I can buy a swag of certs, but they are awfully expensive.

If anyone is bored and wants to check this, I might then swing for a couple of cert.

There is a death for John William Bowler in 1969, but it has no parents listed, so presuming nobody knew, so another sign he wasn’t attached to anyone.

[kiterunner]

NSW BDM has a birth for a John W Bowler 1913 Newtown, parents John and Hannah E.

[kiterunner]

John Bowler married Hannah E Stitt 1913 Gulgong. Then there is a Hannah Elizabeth Bowler death in 1944 at Boorowa, parents Josiah and Mary Ellen, or Hannah Bowler death in 1915 at Gulgong, parents George and Ellen. Hannah E Stitt was born 1891 at Gulgong, parents George and Ellen, so it looks as though the 1915 death is the right one for John's wife, and they just missed her middle name off the death registration (or at least the index).

So it could be that John William was a son by John's first marriage and Margaret was his second wife.

[kiterunner]

The 1963 Margaret Bowler death has parents John and Ellen, and there is a Margaret J Berryman birth in 1888 at Carcoar with parents of those names. But also a Margaret Berryman birth in 1874 at Mudgee with parents John and Eleanor. I can't see a marriage or death in the name of Margaret J Berryman, so it could be another case where her middle initial was left out.

[kiterunner]

Here is Hannah's death notice (1915):

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/156860512?searchTerm=hannah%20bowler

[kiterunner]

This is their marriage notice, and it says that John Bowler was from New Zealand:

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/157717804?searchTerm=bowler%20stitt

[HarrysMum]

Well, I did wonder about Maggie not being John’s mother, but that makes the John who died aged 58 in 1969 not mine. The story goes that John junior was ‘ a bit odd’ according to my grandparents and didn’t get on with his parents. Maybe I do need the certs.

The only things I know for certain is that John senior came from NZ and his wife in 1955 was Maggie and his son was Jacky. John senior was always known as Jack.

Thank you for all that........I think.

[HarrysMum]

I’m now sure you are correct, however it doesn’t fit with the inheritance, although as nobody knew the dead John’s parents, maybe his age is not correct as well.

There is a story that John junior had a bad accident with his leg and either had a limp or artificial leg. Trove has the story of John William aged 10 in 1924 having an accident that crushed his foot.

I so wish Gran was still alive.

[marquette]

In the Ancestry electoral Rolls, in 1954, for the electorate of Grayndler

Bowler, John, 2 Ney St Mascot, plumber
Bowler, John Willliam 2 Ney St Mascot, labourer
Bowler, Margaret, 2 Ney St Mascot, Home Duties.


None of the other Margaret Bowlers listed in the same year, live with a John or John William.

There's another John William Bowler living in Wooloomooloo, but he is on his own.

NSW BDMs seem to be down at the moment. But the Ryerson Index shows a death for John Bowler, age 73, at Royal South Sydney Hospital, late of Mascot, on 29 Aug 1957. If John William was 10 in 1924, then that fits with John William Bowler who died 12 Jul 1979, (makng him born about 1913) 66years late of Greenacre.

Sunday - now the NSW BDM index is back up, the 1969 death for John William Bowler at Mascot, aged 58 also fits with a birth about 1913.

In the Electorall Rolls of 1958 and 1963 , Margaret and John William Bowler are still living at Ney St Mascot, but no John - which fits if he died in 1957. In 1968, John William Bowler is on his own at Ney St, a labourer. If he had a lasting physical injury, that maybe why he always lived with his parents, and had only a labourer's job. (My grandfather was early on, a marine engineer, but after a mental illness, he only held jobs as a labourer)

I cannot find John William after that, that is, in the 1972 or 1980 rolls, which I think are the next ones, so maybe the 1969 death is the right one. Perhaps more likely than him moving to Greenacre, several miles away.


The Ryerson Index gives "of Stanwell Park" for the 1968 death of Margaret Bowler, registered at Helensburgh, so the 1963 death at Sydney might be more likely.

Hope this helps some.

Di

[HarrysMum]

1977 is too late for my John William’s death as my grandfather, his uncle, got money from his estate in 1970. I’ve ordered the records, plus the divorce record of JWB and Lorna. Not 100% sure he is mine but the papers will show that.