Zephyr and Zenith
Reference to the murder of the crew of the Zephyr is found in the Colonial Office records.
Offices: Admiralty, 1875 (File 7. AJCP Reel No: 2207
Subjects include: Blackbirding; kidnapping; labour traffic; measles; HMS Dido; Reservation of site for Naval service; attack on HMS Pearl; Plantations visited by and attacks on HMS Sandfly; theft by crew of Jessie Kelly (ship); murder of crews of Zephyr and Lalia; HMS Rosario; criminal acts of William Henry 'Bully' Hayes of the Leonora (brig).
Zenith appears in a report written to the Royal Astronomical Society.
Zeroing in on Rowland Childers
The papers of the Childers family leave me wondering if Rowland Childers was sent away as a son needing to make his own way in the world. He arrived in South Australia on the Garonne in September 1878 and his extensive letters home to his father start a day after his arrival.
However, after a trip to Melbourne there is a 1879 claim for a bill he had not paid sent to his father, even though in the letters he mentions the 200 pounds per year allowance his father has provided.
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| https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-2507699960/ |
Dec 2nd 1879For: Rt Hon H ChildersAgent Generals OfficeWestminsterLondonSirI have taken the liberty of sending you theenclosed a/c and ask you to hand it to the gentleman whoobtained the goods from me if he is in London.He was staying at the Melbourne Club and I was givento understand that he was your son. He left Melbourneshortly after getting the articles charged to him and Ihave not been able to trace him since.........D Carson
In 1878 his father writes to give his son one more chance and refers to some profligacy at Oxford presumably before his departure. His father threatens to warn his friends in the colonies about his son's irresponsible behaviour and says he will not honour his bills if the irresponsible behaviour continues.
One hopes Rowland reformed his ways, there are plenty of letters to read about his life in Australia. In this 1880 one below to his cousin Emily, he expresses regret.
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| https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-2507692913/view |
"As I have told you in the multiplicity of my indebtednessI overlooked some when I left homewhich is much to be regretted. Godknows I am trying to live cheaply nowand I shudder to think ofthe money that was not mine whichI chucked in the gutter"
Did he reform, read on? Papers of Rowland Childers, son of Hugh Childers
If you research family history I hope this series has helped you to zoom in or zero in to some of your families' ancestors.
Why did your ancestors arrive in the lands downunder?
Wishing you research success within the AJCP. Thanks to all those who have visited and commented along the way.
Download the document - includes all 26 posts Discover the AJCP 2021
Previous posts in this series
A - About the AJCP | B -Browsing the Board of Trade | C - County Record Offices | D - Downloading Documents | E - Emigration everywhere | F - Finding Aids | G - Genealogical Gems | H - Hulks and the Home Office | I - Irish Records | J - Journals and Jottings | K - Kent Archives | L - Love those Libraries | M - Mining the Records of the Missions | N - Near Neighbour New Zealand | O - Opportunities out there | P - Photographs | Q - Queensland | R -Records of the Royal Societies | S - Searching for females | T - Tracks and Turning pages | U - Upon reflection | V - Vickers and Voyages | W - Wandering through West Yorkshire | X - Extra tips | Y - Yesteryears felons in York
Your series wins my prize as the most informative, interesting, unique and useful collection of posts I have followed in the 2021 #AtoZChallenge. Congratulations and many thanks Carmel.
ReplyDeleteI think if I read through all your posts again I might get back into family research. Thanks for all those informative posts.
ReplyDeleteThis letter is fascinating Carmel. I had a quick look at the link to the papers of Rowland Childers. Interesting reading there for later. I will definitely be coming back to each post in this series very soon. It’s been a fabulous series with so much to learn about the AJC that I was ignorant about until you brought it to my attention. Thanks so much Carmel
ReplyDeleteWhen I recover from this challenge I look forward to exploring the AJCP more with your prompts to urge me on. Thank you for an interesting exploration.
ReplyDeleteOops - pressed enter before I had finished. I meant to add that right to the very end you continue to amaze me and I want to shamelessly copy everything you have done e.g. the handy A-Z link list at the bottom of each post and that downloadable document at the end! You have thought of everything. Luckily for you I fear I will be too lazy to copy your inventions, so you will continue to remain incomparable. A fine effort :)
ReplyDeleteThank you all for the kind comments, it was an interesting exercise!
ReplyDeleteCongratulations Carmel, a very informative series. I'll know where to go should I ever find myself researching in the AJCP.
ReplyDeleteWhat an amazing contribution you (and AJCP and Trove) nave made to our research, by making it clear what’s on offer and now beat yo access it. Thanks a million.
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