Hi, Lyn, Always pleased to try and help someone in Australia as I received immense help from the Goldfields Listers.
First, let me address the idea that most of the passengers on that ship were related. This is only my humble opinion because I happen to know that my husband's great great grandfather, Antonio Jose de Lima was on that ship with his brother in law, and Antonio's 2 sons (who later became my husbands great grandfathers. So, that little family were related. I came to the conclusion that many of these people could be related because when you think about what it cost to go over there from the Azores, the excitement and planning that must have occured before they actually got on that ship to sail to Australia and all the hub bub and excitement that occurred in their little towns, it makes sense to me that there would be many familial connections. Lyn, I cannot prove it, though. So I am sorry to give you just my opinion. I wish I had newspapers from the town in those days to see what was the topic of the day. It is interesting that the ship, Water Lily that our ancestors were on left with many Portuguese people on it. I also know that in the case of the father, Antonio, he returned to the Azores because he left a large family there, as I suppose, so did his brother in law. I found that he named his two sons after that brother in law, so I suppose they were very close. The brother in law was older than Antonio and I deduced that he had a big influence on his life. I found that the 2 sons were listed in the Creswick and Clunes Advertiser and Register. From those articles which I sent for from the Public Records Office Victoria, I learned a lot about the 2 sons and their sluicing company there. One of them married a Charlotte Staley from England who died within the first year of thir marriage. I got that info from someone on the List through your Pioneer Index. Also the fact that she had been married before, name of her first husband and the name of their child, who died age 8. Eventually I received a photo of the gravestone with a beautiful poem that indicated she was religious and educated person. She was buried in the same space where her little son was buried. Her husband, the gr gr father of my husband, returned to the Azores where he married his first cousin and sired a son. The gr gr father then died within 3 mos of his wedding date. (Is this getting too long?) The other brother also married a first cousin. The 2 brothers married their cousins who were also sisters. Yikes! So, both of them returned back to the Sao Miguel, where your relative was also from. Most of the people on that ship, I think were from Sao Miguel. Most of the above info has been obtained through lots of digging. You will be successful if you are willing to invest the time and I would love to help if possible. Okay, on to your family: 1. You state 2 facts: your ancestor (great great grandfather)married an immigrant who was on the Water Lily. (same time frame as Paul's, my husband's). 2. Maria Julia age was 20 and we assume she was from Sao Miguel.(they also lied about ages I found out, but only within a few years.) Question 1 based on her age, we can surmise her birth year about 20 years earlier? Say 1833-ish (?) Did Maria julia marry the great great grandfather? Is she your great great grandmother? * a. What's his name?* b. *What source do you have giving his name and hers?* If they were married, can you find them on the Pioneer Index data. Most Listers will help you find them if you post. c. Once you find them on the Pioneer Index, I believe you might be able to get their marriage certificate. Let's start communicating and see if we can open some doors. I'm going to also post this on the List because you never know if other people are researching the same name or refer to the archives and years later we make a connection. Okay? So glad to meet you, I just have such a warm feeling in my heart for Australia now that I've made the connection and ponder about those immigrants that went there, their hopes and the struggles they endured to find a better life. Warm regards, Maria Elena On Wed, Oct 14, 2009 at 1:05 AM, Lyn & Michael <[email protected]>wrote: > Hello Maria, > > I am hoping you might be able to help me in my family tree researching > > I found your site surfing the net after finding that my Gr Gr Grandfather > married an immigrant who was on the Waterlily which arrived Geelong > 14/11/1853 > > Your article suggests that most of the persons arriving by this ship were > related in some way. > > I am interested in Maria Julia, age 20 from Santa Michael (Sao Miguel). I > have no other information about her and it appears she was travelling on her > own. > > Any further info/background on this ship or person would be gratefully > received. > > Hope to hear from you soon > Lyn > -- regards, Maria Elena --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. Follow the confirmation directions when they arrive. For more options, such as changing to List, Digest, Abridged, or No Mail (vacation) mode, log into your Google account and visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/Azores. Click in the blue area on the right that says "Join this group" and it will take you to "Edit my membership." -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
