Elizabeth Ann Oates

[pwberrett]

Hi everyone


I am trying to trace back from an ancestor of mine called Elizabeth Ann Oates who was born in Penzance, Cornwall.

Here's what I know. She married George Bristow on 26 Sep 1863 in London England. They emigrated to Australia and lived in Albany in Western Australia. Elizabeth died in 1913.

According to her death certificate she died on 1st June 1913 and was 72 years old. That would mean she was born in 1841. The death certificate says her fathers name was John and he was  builder. Mothers details are unknown.  

On her son, Joseph's birth certificate dated 3 Sep 1887 she gave her age as 45 years which gives a birth year of 1842.

Her daughter Winifred was born on 29 Sep 1885 and on this birth certificate Elizabeth gave her age as 38 years which in turn means a birth year of 1847?

I am keen to trace back Elizabeth's family as far as possible. I have read that the Oates in Penzance originally came from Denmark. So they must be wild Oates (pun)

cheers Peter

[Cornish Terrier]

Do you have any idea of when George and Elizabeth came to Australia and where they arrived? There seems to be a rather large gap from the 1863 marriage to the first Australian birth that I can find which is in Adelaide in 1879!

I have been unable to find the family in England in the 1871 Census and can find no children born in England and I have also been unable to find Elizabeth in 1861 or before.

The marriage must have occurred in the Registry Office or perhaps one of the non-conformist chapels in London as I also cannot find that record. In fact from all the UK/London marriage records and indexes I have available I can find NO RECORD of any such marriage either in 1863 or any other time!

I have found some information in the Ancestry online family trees but much of it seems to reflect what you have already told us. All say the marriage took place in London yet the GRO Index and the London marriage records which are available on Ancestry indicate that no such marriage ever took place in England!

In another record I have found it seems that the details of marriage came from the birth certificate of their daughter Winifred. It would appear that those details are either false or, at best, misleading.

CT

[pwberrett]

Her death certificate says that she had been in Australia 27 years and that her marriage took place at Port Adelaide. As her eldest child, William Henry, was 36 years old I doubt this information was correct.

Her daughter winifreds birth certificate says the marriage took place 26 Sep 1963 in London England.

Strangely George's death certificate says he had been in Australia 30 years and was married in Port Adelaide.

Their son Joseph's birth certificate (1887) says that they were married in London England on 17 July 1866.

cheers Peter

[Cornish Terrier]

I can find no record of the marriage in South Australia or Victoria (using the Pioneer Indexes) and there is no sign of an Australian marriage in the Australian BMDs on Ancestry. George was a mariner and seems to have got around quite a bit with some information on Ancestry suggesting some time spent in New Zealand as well as having been in NSW, South Australia, Victoria and then Western Australia.

And there is still that rather large gap between the stated marriage (1863) and the first known child in 1879. And the subject of children does pose an interesting question regarding the marriage. I've just checked the indexes again and found the following probable births:-

South Australia
William Henry BRISTOW born 1879 Port Adelaide - parents George and Elizabeth (OATES)
Charles Robert BRISTOW born 1880 Athelstone - parents George Robert Read and Elizabeth
Beatrice Louisa BRISTOW born 1881 Port Adelaide - parents George and Elizabeth (OATES)

Victoria
Winnifred Victoria BRISTOW born 1885 Fitzroy - parents George and Elizabeth Ann (OATES)
Joseph Bannister BRISTOW born 1887 Fitzroy - parents George and Elizabeth A (OATES)

New South Wales
John George BRISTOW born 1883 Redfern - parents George and Elizabeth
Lizzie BRISTOW born 1885 Sydney - parents George and Lizzie
Richard A BRISTOW born 1892 Sydney - parents George and Elizabeth A

It will make it a little easier to follow if I put them all in chronological order:-

1879 - William Henry born Port Adelaide, SA
1880 - Charles Robert born Athelstone, SA
1881 - Beatrice Louisa born Port Adelaide, SA
1883 - John George born Redfern, NSW
1885 - Lizzie born Sydney, NSW
1885 - Winnifred Victoria born Fitzroy, Vic
1887 - Joseph Bannister born Fitzroy, Vic
1892 - Richard A born 1892 Sydney, NSW

Assuming that all children do indeed belong to the same family I would deduce that Elizabeth was probably born no earlier than 1843/4 given she would have been age 48 or 49 when Richard was born in 1892. Women were certainly having children up to age 48 during the 19th Century but I don't think I have ever seen an instance where the age exceeded 49.
That suggests a marriage in 1863 would certainly be in order but I have to comment again on that 16-year gap before there is any evidence of children.

After checking the Ancestry family trees again and then checking the South Australian records it does appear there could be one more child:-

Mary BRISTOW died 25th July 1880 Glanville, SA age 2 - daughter of George Bristow

No birth record can be found for Mary in Australia and no children were born in New Zealand.

Not quite sure where to look next on this one.

CT