Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Trove Tuesday: In which James Taylor's death is reported


Ovens and Murray Advertiser (Beechworth, Victoria), 12 Jan 1916
I'm confused.

Yesterday I found this notice, in a newspaper at Trove, announcing the death of my ancestor James Taylor. He died at Eldorado in Victoria where he'd been goldmining for many years.

I have his death certificate that has proved to be accurate about his birthplace, parents, occupation and marriage details. As I had expected the death certificate doesn't mention his illegitimate son, Henry (my great-grandfather). And it doesn't mention that the mother of said son (Emily) was the sister of his wife (Annie), but I know all of that is true because James provided the information on the birth certificate and acknowledged paternity. Annie was present at the birth. You might need to read that paragraph again to sort it out in your head, or read the rundown below instead.

1 James TAYLOR b: Abt. 1831 in Durham, Durham, England, d: 02 Jan 1916 in Eldorado, Victoria, Australia

... marr. Hepzibah Anne (Annie) CHAUNDY b: 09 Nov 1839 in St Aldate, Oxford, Oxford, England, m: 09 Apr 1864 in Beaufort, Victoria, Australia, d: 1920 in Ferntree Gully, Victoria, Australia

... partner Emily Rachel CHAUNDY b: 03 Sep 1843 in St Aldate, Oxford, Oxford, England, d: 28 Mar 1928 in The Rock, New South Wales, Australia



........2 Henry TAYLOR b: 27 Jun 1869 in Eldorado, Victoria, Australia, d: 25 Jun 1950 in Echuca, Victoria,   Australia

Emily married someone else but Annie never did and when she died at Ferntree Gully (where her brother lived) she was still calling herself Taylor. Annie and James never had any children.

Now for the confusing part. I had assumed (silly me!) that Annie didn't stay with James although I've never found a divorce. But now I'm thinking that maybe she did stay because the newspaper notice states James 'leaves a wife, who is also well advanced in years'. Is it Annie or is it someone else living as James' wife. I wish the newspaper had given her a name.

[Update: I have now checked the Electoral Rolls and found Annie and James together at Eldorado. I'm wondering why I hadn't thought to check the rolls earlier! But my excuse is that now they're on Ancestry it's so much easier.]

1 comment:

  1. Oh my gosh, this was a delightful trip through all your photos. Lena does stand out the most for me, and it would be so interesting to know the entire story there!

    ReplyDelete

I love to read your comments. Thankyou for your interest.

Lorraine

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