Exploring the past

When my mother Margaret Terry (1918 – 2014) was growing up she was aware of three Campbell relatives: her father Frank Terry’s mother Christina, who was deceased; her Uncle Will, who sometimes visited; and her Aunty Clara, who also sometimes visited.

As an adult she obtained a copy of Christina’s birth certificate and found that she had been born Christina Kate Campbell at McCallum’s Creek, Victoria on 26 July 1858. Her parents were John Thomas Campbell, born in Caithness, Scotland, the informant when her birth was registered, and Jane Martin (later referred to as Mary Jane Martin) born in Birkenhead, Cheshire, England.

In due course she discovered that John Campbell and Jane Martin had arrived in Adelaide in 1855 as assisted immigrants and had married in Adelaide on 10 March 1856.

In addition to Christina’s birth record she found birth records for the following children:

John Thomas Campbell, born on 27 March 1857 at Chinaman’s Flat, Victoria.

Katharina Campbell, born on 25 April 1864 at Yandoit, Victoria.

She found death records, but no birth records, for the following children:

Henry Arthur Campbell, died on 13 April 1866 at Yandoit, Victoria, aged 5.

Francis John Campbell, died on 17 Jan 1869 at Specimen Hill, Victoria, aged 4.

She could not find a birth record for a William or a Clara. However they were named as ‘issue of the deceased’ on the death certificates of John Thomas Campbell and Mary Jane Martin. William James Campbell was also the applicant for a grant of administration of his father’s estate in 1902 and Mary Jane Martin, William Campbell and Clara J Terry were named the persons having an interest in his estate. Will died in 1934 and on his death record he was identified as a child of John Thomas Campbell and Jane Martin. Clara died in 1936 and on her death record was named Clara Jane Terry and identified as the child of John Thomas Campbell and a mother whose name the informant (her daughter-in-law) did not know.

Based on this evidence John Campbell and Mary Jane Martin had the following children:

But is this correct? There is compelling evidence that John Thomas Campbell and William James Campbell were the same child, and some evidence that Katharina Campbell and Clara Campbell were the same child.

Researching Will

There are no records which refer to Will’s exact date of birth, but the following primary records refer to his age and in one case to his place of birth.

Birth registration of Katharina Campbell, born 25 April 1864 at Yandoit, Victoria, Registry of Births, Deaths & Marriages, Victoria, 7444/1834.

Katharina’s birth was registered on 9 May 1864. The document supplied by Births, Deaths and Marriages, Victoria is a copy of the original handwritten record, not a transcription. Five births are recorded on the sheet supplied and Katharina’s is the third.  

The informant was John Thomas Campbell, the father, and under the heading ‘Issue living and deceased’ is written ‘William, 7, Christina, 5 ½, Henry Arthur, 3 ½.’

This would put William’s birth in 1857 if he was born in March of that year. It also establishes that in 1864 there was no living child named John Thomas, and that there was probably no dead child of that name either. In two of the other records on the sheet the names of deceased children are included under this heading, suggesting that the Deputy Registrar sought this information.

Death registration of John Thomas Campbell, died 19 January 1902, Echuca, Victoria, Registry of Births, Deaths & Marriages, Victoria, 1478/1902

John’s death was registered at Echuca on the day he died. The document supplied by Births, Deaths and Marriages, Victoria is a copy of the original handwritten record, not a transcription. Five deaths are recorded on the sheet and John’s is the third.

The informant was C.C Henderson, Friend, Authorized Agent. John is said to be 67 years old. Under the heading ‘Issue, in order of Birth, their Names and Ages’ is written ‘William James, 43 years; Christina Catherine, dead; Arthur Henry, dead; Clara Jane, dead; Francis John, dead. [Clara was not in fact dead in 1902]

This would put William’s birth in about 1858. It does not leave room for a deceased child named John Thomas but the informant was a family friend so the information is not necessarily reliable.

Death Certificate of Mary Jane Campbell, died 8 November 1907, Albury, New South Wales, Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, New South Wales, 12537/1907.

Mary Jane’s death was registered the day after she died. The document supplied by Births, Deaths and Marriage New South Wales is a single certificate containing hand written entries, certified to be a true copy of the particulars recorded in the register.

The informant is ‘W.J. Campbell, son, Newmarket, Hay’. Under the heading ‘Children of the Marriage’ is written ‘Living, William J, 50; Clara J, 44, 2 Males and 2 Females dead’.

William is the informant and the information he gives about his age is likely to be correct insofar as he was in a position to know it. It would put his birth in 1857 if he was born in March of that year. It does not leave room for a deceased son named John Thomas, although William cannot be treated as an unimpeachable source about this.

Death Certificate of William James Campbell, died 21 July 1934, Northmead, Sydney, New South Wales, Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, New South Wales, 17487/1934.

William’s death was registered on 23 July 1934. The document supplied by Births, Deaths and Marriage New South Wales is a single certificate containing hand written entries and certified to be a true copy of the particulars recorded in the register.

The informant was Will’s widow, M.E. Campbell. Will’s age is given as 77 and his place of birth as Daylesford, Victoria. This would place is birth in 1857 if he was born in March of that year.

Discussion

The obvious answer to the absence of a birth record for a child called William James Campbell is either that his birth was not registered or that it was registered and the record was subsequently lost. Failure to register seems unlikely, but loss of the record is a real possibility. There are no birth records for Henry Arthur or Francis John either.

In her privately published family history Reaching Out my mother assumed that this must be the case. To fit together all the information available to her she assumed William, consistently named as the eldest child, must have been born in 1856, before the birth of John Thomas in 1857 and that John Thomas had died young and that the absence of a death record for him was yet another example of a missing document.

An analysis of the evidence suggests that while this is possible it is highly improbable.

Jane Martin arrived in Adelaide on the Northern Light in April 1855 but John Campbell did not arrive until 12 August 1855 on the Aliquis. Even if they met almost immediately after John arrived, and Jane fell pregnant almost immediately after they met and was pregnant when they married on 10 March 1856, she could not have given birth to a full term baby until mid-May 1856 and the likelihood that William was born significantly prematurely and survived is remote given the medical facilities and knowledge at the time. Another issue is that if this theory is correct William and John Thomas were born a little over a year apart. That does sometimes happen but it is uncommon. Another improbability in this version of events is that John and Jane would have waited until Jane was seven months pregnant to marry.

The alternative possibility is that John Thomas and William James were one and the same child.

In support of this there is a strong piece of primary evidence in the form of Katharina’s birth record. The informant was John Thomas Campbell, the father; the age he gives for William is consistent with him being born in March 1857; William is named as the eldest child; and no deceased child is mentioned although other entries on the same sheet do refer to deceased children.

The information about Will’s age in the death records of both of his parents and on his Death Certificate is also consistent with this, as is the fact that only two deceased male children are identified on both of his parents death records. This is all secondary evidence (although contained in primary records) but importantly it does not contradict the primary evidence provided by his father.

The fact that Francis, born in about 1865, was given the middle name John also suggests that the name of John Thomas Campbell born in 1857 had been changed.

The only discordant note is the belief by Will’s widow Madge (and therefore presumably by Will) that he was born in Daylesford, Victoria. I do not know know how that belief arose but Daylesford, like Chinaman’s Flat, the birthplace given for John Thomas, is within the Victorian Goldfields region. Chinaman’s Flat was a bustling tent city near Maryborough in March 1857 but by the time the child’s birth was registered six months later the family were living at White Hills near Bendigo and by the time Will was an adult it was merely an empty location where Chinese miners had once panned or dug for gold.

Will’s sister Christina was similarly mistaken about her birth place. According to her birth record she was born at McCallum’s Creek, where a rush took place around the time of her birth. It never became a town and on her Death Certificate her place of birth is given as Maryborough, many miles away. She also somewhat changed her name. On her birth record she is Christina Kate Campbell; on her Death Certificate she is Christina Catherine Terry.

I don’t know why John Thomas Campbell and Mary Jane Martin would have changed the name of their son John Thomas Campbell but it would have been easy enough to do in days when people did not rely on identity documents in the way we do today. Perhaps on reflection they decided that having a son with exactly the same name as his father would be too confusing; perhaps the baby was called by a nickname at home and John did not put much thought into the name when he went to register the birth when the child was six months old; perhaps he belatedly realised that he should have called his son William after his father, in accordance with Scottish naming tradition; or perhaps it was something else again, but I am comfortably satisfied that William James Campbell was born on 27 March 1857 at Chinaman’s Flat, Victoria and that there was no separate child called John Thomas Campbell.

Researching Clara

The following primary records provide evidence about Clara Jane Campbell’s age and in two cases her place of birth:

Death Certificate of Mary Jane Campbell, died 8 November 1907, Albury, New South Wales, Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, New South Wales, 12537/1907.

Will reported that his sister Clara was 44 at the time of their mother’s death. Based on this information she was most likely born in 1863.

Birth Certificate of Thomas Rupert Campbell Terry, born 28 June 1889, Norwood, near Hillston, New South Wales, Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, New South Wales, 128603/1889.

Clara married Henry Terry at Epsom Downs, Rudd’s Point, near Carrathool on 5 May 1887 and Thomas was her second child. The document supplied by Births, Deaths and Marriage New South Wales is a copy of a single certificate containing hand written entries and certified to be a true copy of the particulars recorded in the register.

The informant was Henry Terry. He reported that the child’s mother was Clara Jane Campbell, 26, born in Castlemaine Victoria. Once again this would most likely put her birthdate in 1863.

Death Certificate of Clara Jane Terry, died 24 March 1936, Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, New South Wales, 08538/1936.

This document is a transcription provided by a Transcription Agent, not a certified copy from Births, Deaths and Marriages. The Transcription was done by a Transcription Agent.

The informant is Mary Terry, Clara’s daughter in law, of 211 Gurwood Street Wagga Wagga. She reported that Clara was 72 and had been born in Castlemaine, Victoria.

Katharina Campbell, born in April 1864, would still have been 71 in March 1863 but due to turn 72 weeks later.

Obituary for Clara Jane Campbell, Daily Advertiser, Wagga Wagga, 25 March 1936.

The obituary does not mention Clara’s age but says that she was born in Castlemaine, Victoria. There is no indication who provided the information.

Discussion

Are Clara Jane Campbell and Katharina Campbell one and the same, or was Clara born in about 1863, after Henry, who was born in about 1861 but before Katharina, who was born in April 1864?

The issue is less clearcut than in the case of Will. There is no primary evidence of Clara’s age and the secondary evidence raises the possibility that she was born in 1863 rather than 1864.

There is no primary evidence about where Clara was born but the secondary evidence all says that she was born in Castlemaine, not Yandoit, the place of birth given by her father when he registered Katharina’s birth. Yandoit and Castlemaine are both in the Victorian Goldfields area but are about fouteen miles apart.

Another complication is that according to Mary Jane Martin’s Death Certificate as well as having two living children she had given birth to two male and two female children who were deceased. If this is correct, and not an error made by the Registrar or Will, it means that another female child besides Christina and Clara had died, and the only other known female child is Katharina.

There are arguments which can be made in favour of Clara being Katharina, but some of the evidence in support of them is equivocal or speculative.

If Clara was born in 1863 Katharina would have been born very soon after her, perhaps even twelve months or so after, and while this is possible it is unusual. On the other hand the death record of Francis John suggests that he was born in 1865, quite close to the birthdate of Katharina, so the possibility that Katharina and Clara were born close together cannot be completely discounted.

However the evidence about Clara’s age is all secondary evidence and on each occasion that her age is given it is very close to the age Katharina would have been at that time. It is possible that at some point in Clara’s life an error about her age crept in, and that she was said to be the age she was about to turn rather than her age at her last birthday and the error persisted. I am aware of other instances among my ancestors where that happened.

Finally, when Christina’s birth was registered she was given the name Christina Kate Campbell but as an adult she called herself Christina Catherine Campbell. Christina was almost six in April 1864 and would have been well aware that she had a new sibling. Would she have adopted the name Catherine as an adult if she knew that she had once had a sister called Katharina? Perhaps she might, in some weird memorial to a dead sister, but would the name Katharina have persisted with as a choice of name if John Campbell and Jane Martin already had a child named Christina Kate?

The difference in the place of birth is not necessarily signficant. When Katharina was born Yandoit was a thriving goldfields town but once the gold ran out the town declined to the point where today it contains only a few houses. Both Will Campbell and Christina Campbell stated that they were born in a well known towns rather than the locations where a rush had once occurred, and it is possible that Clara did the same.

The one piece of evidence which would put the issue beyond reasonable doubt (although not beyond any doubt at all as children are sometimes born on the same day of the year in different years) would be evidence of Clara Jane’s actual birthday. She had eight children who lived to adulthood, all but one of whom had families. Some of her descendants may have this information, although it does not appear on any of the Ancestry trees at present.

Conclusion

On the assumption that John Thomas Campbell became William James Campbell and that it is likely that Katharina Campbell became Clara Jane Campbell, John Thomas Campbell and Mary Jane Martin had the following children:

This will however need to be revisited if further evidence about Katharina and/or Clara’s births come to light.