Saturday, 24 April 2021

Upon reflection - AJCP

Family papers

In examining many collections of family papers throughout this series of posts I have been pleasantly surprised about the variety of materials within them. Some have family trees and many of the finding aids for the individual families provide potted biographical and historical information about that family. Land deeds, photographs, diaries and journals as well as letters to friends and family make up the rich resources.

Many filled the long days of their journey southwards to Australia or New Zealand by writing diaries. These often detailed embarkation and departure, reflections about all on board and descriptive passages of ports visited along the way and the final arrival.

It is well worth searching for those surnames on the far branches of your own family tree.

The Upton Family papers 1865 -1930

The Upton family papers which were filmed at the private residence of Mrs Francesca Upton. Shropshire, England are no exception. There is a shipboard diary and early letters back home. There is also an extensive letter collection dealing with family matters and the daily exploits of the children and their educational progress.

Images from this collection

1885 School report http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-944536760



http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-944537606
Photographs of Corporal Robert H.B. Upton



http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-743398936 
Corporal Robert Henry Bramley Upton (1874-1900) died of illness at Johannesburg,
South Africa on 13 June 1900 whilst serving in the Second Boer War (1899-1902)
with the 3rd Contingent, No. 5 Company, New Zealand Mounted Rifles.

University collections

Many of these collections hold family papers. Here in the Glasgow University Archives and Business Record Centre there are journals, photographs, diaries of voyages, appointments to positions, business papers, conferences, newspaper cuttings and more.

T.G.B. Osborn includes photographs of his boys in a November 1916 Christmas/ New Year letter
https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-2757318832/view


U - Unless one searches or browses these comprehensive collections one may never know the treasures within.


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Friday, 23 April 2021

Tracks and Turning pages - AJCP


Tracking and citing

Keeping track of your found documents ensure that you and other researchers may follow the path to view the original. Each Finding Aid in the AJCP contains this paragraph of advice.
Preferred Citation
Acknowledgement of use of this material should refer to the location of the original material and to the Australian Joint Copying Project.

Items from this collection should include references to the location of the original material and to the AJCP nla.obj number, which serves as the online identifier for the digital copy.

Example: M Series: Journal of Capt. James Cook, 18 February 1770, British Library Add. MS 27885 (AJCP ref: http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-1234)

Throughout this series I have added the direct link to all sources used within the AJCP. The Cite button on the left of every image has the direct link to that particular image.

Turning some pages in T

The Colonial Office records relating to Malay Straits Settlement are found listed in the M series under the letter T where they are listed as The National Archives (UK) Malay Straits Settlement. The collection contains a series of Government Gazettes. 
If you had an ancestor working in the settlement in this period they may well be found in these government gazettes. 

The General Index for each year provides an alphabetical list of appointments.
1895 http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-2711059881


Here in 1892 the Government printer names and reports on the working habits of his staff.

http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-2711012884
extract from Selangor Government Gazette 1892

Towle Family

Diaries and journals of Edward Towle includes account of trip to Australia in 1852 aboard the Great Britain S.S., accounts of life in the goldfields of Creswick and Ballarat and death of his brother Ben.

Tyne and Wear Archives

Below are some pages from a pamphlet advocating for emigration from the Records of Guardians of the Poor, Newcastle upon Tyne Union

http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-2388058136 
cover of a pamphlet




http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-2388058519

Try some T's  - Tea party, Tea plantation, Trading company, and then some names Timothy, Thomas, Tait or Thornton to name but a few.


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Thursday, 22 April 2021

Searching for the females - AJCP



Many women were prolific letter writers and scattered throughout the AJCP collections are hundreds of letters written to those "back home." They can be found in County Record offices and archives, family papers and missionary files. 

In many of the named family files such as Hassall, Hayward or Hearnshaw to name a few from the M Series, collections of personal correspondence may include letters to and from related women and sometimes include named photos. 

British Women's Emigration Association

An excellent collection comes from The Female Middle Class Emigration Society which was established in London in 1862.

The aim of the Society was to help 'educated women of a respectable character' to find work as teachers or governesses in the colonies and help them in securing passages, purchasing cabin fittings and making loans, which were to be repaid within two years.

This guide from the British Women's Emigration Association contains two letter books in which we find correspondence from the governesses who had emigrated to the colonies through the auspices of the Society. Thanks to the authors of this guide all the names are listed so if you search for an Eliza Walpole, you would be directed to these letter books.

The meticulously kept Index provides an indication of where to find the letters within the microfilm. Under W we see that Eliza wrote 4 letters. These letters were obviously rewritten into the book as the script is the same throughout, so unfortunately no signatures of your ancestors.

https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-1130696381/view
page 4-5 of the index from Letter book 1862 - 1876

From the guide:
Among the subject matter of the letters were the voyage, conditions on the ships, relations with other emigrants, their first impressions on their arrival at their destination, relations with colonial clergy and other settlers, their employment as governesses and teachers, wages, the management of children, changes of employment, marriages, decisions to return to England, prospects for governesses in the colonies, wages of domestic workers, bush life, colonial society and the financial position of the colonies.

Each image is a double page spread. The title and the index are the first four images so to find Eliza's first letter on page 80, use Browse this collection to efficiently get to Set 41 - 60.

Women's work

The letters were written to the secretary, financial secretary and foreign secretary of the Women's Mission Association and are found in the records of the United Society for the Propagation of the Gospel. 

Search by first name

Another effective method to locate women within these collections is to search by first name. A search from the portal page for Annie reveals 120 records across a wide range of collections. I used a first name search to eliminate the need for deciding whether to use a birth or marriage surname.

This strategy is not so effective for Alice, although it does find many female Alices it will also find the place name, Alice Springs.

search for Emily finds 69 records includes records about the ship 'Emily'


The Biographical / Historical details in many guides are excellent background reading. This one Mathilde Deane has a condensed biography of her life and work.

Find a female, her role was important.


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