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Post by poppy on May 4, 2011 19:06:02 GMT -5
Has anyone any idea's on finding more information, or his death please? William Trembath Eddy born 27th October, 1875 in Pendeen, to Richard Eddy and Sarah nee Trembath. I have just come across some new records on Cornwall OPC for the Railway Pioneer Regiment in South Africa and think I have found him. His middle name isn't recorded, but he says his mother is Sarah Eddy of St Just 10/12/1900- 8/6/1901 Lower Pendeen, leaves because his time has expired. From 19/7/1901-3/3/1902, his mother is Sarah Eddy of Pendeen Villa, Pendeen, he leaves again because his time has expired. I cannot find another Sarah living there in 1901 except my 3xgrandmother. Mentioned on one record is that he was in the Duke of Cornwalls Arty Vols.... Artillery Volunteers? for 36 months and reason for leaving is that he was leaving home, I assume Pendeen, to go to SA...is there a way of finding these records? He is recorded as a Miner. I Googled the Railway Pioneer Regiment and found more Eddy's recorded on this site,although not the ones I am looking for at the moment. Great site for finding Cornish men in SA in the 1900's. The family Bible has no record of him marrying. Unlike two others, his name hasn't been added to the list ready for insertion of marriage date...so did he die? His mother Sarah Eddy died in 26/10/1907 and her Obituary records William as being in South Africa with his brother Jas and Thomas at the time Their sister Sarah Jane added names and marriage dates to the Bible after her mothers death in 1907, still no mention of William marrying up to the last entry in 1911. If you are reading this CT, thanks to you putting me in touch with my cousins in SA, they are coming to stay with me this September poppy.
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Post by Cornish Terrier on May 5, 2011 7:17:10 GMT -5
Yes Poppy - I am reading! That is very good news and I am very pleased to have been able to help you track them down and get in touch. I am sure you will have a lot to talk about when you meet but if you have a spare second please say 'G'day' from me. It might be worth you having a check of DocumentsOnline to see if any reference might be found for William. Given you now have some Regimental information you might be able to track down some Military Records for him. Not sure that you would find information on his death but it is worth a try. CT
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Post by RobOats on May 5, 2011 8:15:23 GMT -5
Poppy had a quick scan 1911 - 60 of some of the common Provincial records in the RSA to see if there is a death or probate record for William but found nothing. Electronic search of National Archives can be done via; www.national.archsrch.gov.za/sm300cv/smws/sm300dr?2011050515100995192406You may find this generally useful. My family also from Pendeen went out during the Diamond rush. Regards Rob
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Post by poppy on May 5, 2011 8:26:18 GMT -5
Hi CT Lol, we haven't stopped talking ever since you put us in touch, hopefully we will not run out of conversation when they stay with me ;D I am the first Eddy relation for her to become aware of in the UK, although I have since been able to put her in touch with another one...she is aware of the help you gave us and is very grateful to you for making this meeting possible. William appears to have dropped the Trembath middle name, making him hard to spot on Passenger Lists etc amongst the other ones I will try Doc's Online. Regards, Poppy
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Post by poppy on May 5, 2011 8:50:42 GMT -5
Hi RobOats, I have the feeling that we have had contact before via another site and you forwarded a GedCom to me. Many thanks for the Link, I will have a look around. William T appears to be alive and kicking in 1907 and with his brothers Thomas and Jas in SA.. I suspect that they might be working their fathers (Richard Eddy), and his brother James, Diamond Mine in SA. Richard retired early due to ill health and died in 1896, until this time James his brother was supposed to have worked both their Diamond mines, splitting the proceeds. I have not been unable to trace James seniors death, which should be in Cornwall or Wills for either of them. An Admin turns up for Richard Eddy in 1920 sixteen years after his death. I suspect this has to do with the mine in SA, but cannot prove that until I find his brothers James death or Will. My experience regarding SA records is zilch, same regarding the Boer War. I am lost as to the length of service for William, six months and then nine months, both reasons for leaving time expired...so was it a voluntary thing? Poppy
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Post by RobOats on May 6, 2011 4:56:03 GMT -5
Okay some background on South African history that may help (not). The Diamond mines; discovered Klipfontein about 1868. Main Kimberlite diamond bearing rock found in Kimberley. This Kimberlite seam exploited by hundreds of miners from all over the World in a small area which formed the "Big Hole". Cecil Rhodes, Barny Barnatto, Beit Brothers started buying many of these claims and by 1891 had almost total control of the mining area except for another St Juster, Francis OATS who was the manager of Victoria Mine at du Toitspan (another part of Kimberley). Francis OATS was bought over and promised a place on the Board of the new de Beers Consolidated Mine. He later became its Chairman in 1908 until his death in 1919. The acquisition of the diamond mining rights largely funded by Barclays Bank in loans to Cecil Rhodes meant that individual miners (Cornishmen as they preferred working as "adventurers") moved off into areas around Kimberley or moved to the gold fields in the Transvaal which took off in the early 1880's. My gr-grandfather did this. The greed of British business was behind the Anglo/Boer War. The Transvaal/Orange Free State governments were happy to grant mining licenses to work the gold mines for which they collected taxes. As largely agrarian society they weren't interested in mining. However they did not want the foreign workers settling in their territory. They set a franchise qualification period of 20 years continuous residency for them. Rhodes, then Prime Minister of the Cape Colony (and his British financial backers) eager to get their hands on the wealth of the gold fields used this franchise period as an excuse to start an uprising and the Anglo/Boer War (A/B War). This was actually triggered by the Jameson Raid led by Rhodes' own personal army from Southern Rhodesia. The first of the so-called "liberation" wars about to beset the region over the next century. Bear in mind that South Africa did not exist prior to 1910 when the Union of South Africa was formed. Prior to this you had the British Colonies of the Cape and Natal and the Boer Republics of Transvaal and Orange Free State. The latter 2 being defeated in the A/B War and becoming British occupied territories. Many of the local military units raised during the A/B War were local volunteer militia. Many used their own horses and equipment during this era. However many of these went on to become formal Regiments when the 1st World War broke out and continued through to WW2. Sadly most of the records relating to the period prior to WW1 were destroyed during WW1 because of chronic paper shortage in South Africa. Records were pulped and re-cycled again. I had a great uncle killed with the Natal Carbineers at the Battle of Isandlwana 22 Jan 1879 (prior to Rorke's Drift featured in the film Zulu). Although press reports are available none of the official military records of local units still exist for this reason. The archive material available through the link above are quite good. They have death and probate records and reference numbers. However getting access for copies is not that easy in the "new" South Africa. It's best if you know someone who can visit the archive and get them. Else you have to employ a researcher to do this. The record on the archive gives the reference numbers. I did this a few years ago in Natal. I took the reference numbers and requested the files and it was easy enough. Baptism and marriage records are being transcribed privately all the time and much of this can be found through the rootsweb mail lists eg; archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/index/SOUTH-AFRICA-IMMIGRANTS-BRITISH/2003-11I found quite a bit through this excellent resource. If you do a search using the find option on your browser (edit -> find) you can trawl these lists quite easily. Time consuming but it does work. I found my gr-grandfather's marriage details last year after many years searching. Shipping records to South Africa during that period are very poor. Hope this helps. Rob
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Post by RobOats on May 6, 2011 5:30:34 GMT -5
Have this in the Transvaal records;
DEPOT TAB SOURCE MHG TYPE LEER VOLUME_NO 0 SYSTEM 01 REFERENCE 54234 PART 1 DESCRIPTION EDDY, JAMES. STARTING 19240000 ENDING 19240000 REMARKS SURVIVING SPOUSE ELIZABETH JANE EDDY (BORN OATES).
Rob
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Post by Cornish Terrier on May 6, 2011 6:29:40 GMT -5
Rob - Many thanks for posting this information which is extremely interesting. I am sure it will be of help to many of our members and it is certainly going to be of use to myself. Looks like another few hours of this weekend is about to be chewed up! CT
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Post by poppy on May 6, 2011 7:08:50 GMT -5
I second CT comments ...thank you for taking the time to explain all this to me. It's interesting that you have a James Eddy married to an Elizabeth Jane Oats, and quote a File for him. I haven't found a marriage for him. My James Eddy was born 1846, he appears on all census returns in the UK as single man. His niece (Sarah Jane Eddy) Journal refers to him being married at one time, and says his wife ran off with another man...so I have conflicting evidence Poppy
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Post by Cornish Terrier on May 6, 2011 7:50:03 GMT -5
Poppy - FreeBMD has a record for the marriage of James EDDY and Elizabeth Jane OATES in the June Qtr 1898. I would think that is the one but at the moment I have no further details.
CT
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Post by poppy on May 7, 2011 12:17:25 GMT -5
I have found a Will for a James Eddy died in SA 1924 Johannesburg, and granted to a Solicitor in London. Attorney of Elizabeth Jane Eddy £166.30 It's a possible, as I don't know his age
I have searched all deaths for a James born 1846, so can rule out the 1908,1910, 1918 and 1927 in the UK ,all being of the wrong age..
This leaves a 1915 death, that can be matched with 1915 Admin of a James Eddy 33, Boscaswell Village, retired Miner; Admin granted to Sarah Jane Eddy, Widow £2006 5s 4p. I can't match her up on the 1911 census though, if he is mine, and they were living apart. Hopefully the Will does mean HIS widow, as the money was expected to be left to a Sarah Jane Eddy his s-i-l , a Widow.....nee Trembath
In 1911 there is a James Eddy living at no 1 Lower Trewellard as a Lodger, he states he is married, 22 years, and no children born to the marriage ...so where is his wife?. Can't find a marriage either??? He lives with Elizabeth A Prisk and family family, her mother is Margaret Oats but the daughter is Elzabeth A (nee Trembath) from her first marraige...no children born to her Oats marriage.
Ordering the Admin won't give me anymore information than I already have. The death certificate will give me very little more if he is only Lodging with people .
Poppy
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Post by Cornish Terrier on May 8, 2011 4:08:30 GMT -5
Poppy - It looks like James may actually have died in South Africa. There are records there for a James Eddy died 1924 Pretoria but I cannot find any expanded information. Perhaps Sarch might be able to offer a little help on this. I have looked at South African records a little but I always get confused with them so someone a little closer to the source would be of more help. The last couple of nights I have been looking at transcripts of Wesleyan Registers that can be found in the Rootsweb Archives via the link supplied by RobOats but we don't really know exactly where James was. With a bit of luck there may be some Estate Files deposited in the NAAIRS system so Sarch might be able to point us towards them. CT
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Post by poppy on May 8, 2011 5:46:21 GMT -5
Hi CT Many thanks for you thoughts. I have been double checking all available information in the UK in case I have missed something. Richard Eddy 1842, (James Eddy's brother) died in 1896 and the family fell on hard times. In 1916 an Administration turns up for him granted to his daughter Sarah Jane Parish/late Hocking/late Bottrell (nee Eddy). Maybe a co-incidence that a James Eddy died 11/01/1915 and the above Admin appears 01/05/1916 for my 3xgrandfather Richard Eddy, twenty years after his death.. I will send for the death certificate for this James Eddy, in the hope of recognising the Informant. From notes made from a relatives Journal Richard Eddy 1842 and brother James Eddy 1846 had Diamond Mines next to each other in Kimberley SA. James accompanied Richard home because of an injury he had and it was agreed that James would carry on working both the mines as he intended to stay in SA and Richard didn't want to go back there. He was married and had a home there, on his return his wife had left him. Richard Eddy 1842 is said to be a champion Cornish wrestler, possibly in Kimberely. The conflicting evidence is that James Eddy 1846, is noted on every UK census as a single man, latterly as Living on own means. In 1901 he was living with his s-i-l Sarah Eddy (Trembath) , surely if he was married she would know I am starting to read through the Rootsweb information now.....lets hope Sarch is reading this and has some idea's Poppy
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Post by Cornish Terrier on May 8, 2011 12:17:38 GMT -5
Poppy - this is a little confusing. But I think that rather than purchasing the 1915 Death Certificate which is obviously going to be 'dicey' in regards to information you would be much better off spending the money on the Marriage Certificate for James EDDY and Elizabeth Jane OATES. At least with the Marriage Certificate you should get the names of the father of Bride and Groom plus, potentially, some useful witness names. CT
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Post by poppy on May 8, 2011 13:54:53 GMT -5
Curiosity got the better of me , I ordered the death certificate this afternoon. I will order the marriage certificate after receiving the death cert, if need be. As you say confusing, but that's what is written in the Journal. Poppy
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