MCLAREN MARGARET

[JAP1]

...
We are obviously also very interested in tracing Charles and Maria's family; Nehemiah's siblings are available in the above database, but we have not as yet found Charles and Maria's Marriage nor their upbringing. ...

On the following thread:
https://www.british-genealogy.com/for...ad.php?t=25915
the following marriage is listed:
Groom: Charles Jenkins
Bride: Maria Hallett
Married on 16th Nov 1823
At Parish West Monkton

[JAP1]

On the 1851 census, Maria's birthplace is recorded as Monkton.

By 1861 Charles is a widower.

[Tornado]

Hello JAP1

Thank you for your interest. You certainly have been busy.

Most of the information is directly related to our family tree investigations. In some of the early posts of the various threads, as well as in other web offerings in Australia, some facts relating to Nehemiah JENKINS are incorrect as discussed below.

To date most of our investigations have been limited to non-subscription sources; that has not necessarily been a problem so far as we have been using free search facilities at the Public Record Office Victoria (PROV), The State Library of Victoria (which amongst other things has the muster records on film for British Regiments in Australia), and our local Municipal Library has the Library Edition of Ancestry.com. We have only purchased one certificate at this stage; the Marriage Certificate for William McLaren JENKINS marriage to Mary Jane SPIKIN which might be summarised as:

Marriage Record: 12 Jun 1884; William JENKINS age 26 (born ~1858) (Parents: Henry JENKINS Margaret McLAREN) and Mary Jane SPIKIN age 23 (born ~1861) (Parents: John George SPIKIN Hannah HARLAND) (nominated birthplaces: William, Warrnambool, Victoria Mary, Portland, Victoria)
Observation: William's father is nominated as Henry, not Nehemiah.

Our interest has mostly been with the descendants of Nehemiah (some have suggested Nehemiah JENKINS aka Henry SHEARS?), his wife Margaret (nee McLAREN) and her son William McLAREN (aka William McLaren Cody JENKINS) whose birth was registered in 1857 at Warrnambool, Victoria with father: Unknown. Obviously now we are starting to look back to their respective UK roots.

A brief Australian summary:

Official British Army Records indicate that Nehemiah sailed on the WINSOR for Melbourne on 8 Jun 1855 as a Private (Reg. #3500) in the 40th - 2nd Somersetshire Regiment (enlisted in Bristol District, England - 7 Nov 1854) and was garrisoned in Melbourne from Oct 1855 to Apr 1858 (no mention of being detached to Ballaarat, Geelong, Hobart, Sydney, Adelaide, Warrnambool, ...). He departed Melbourne for Adelaide on the HAVILAH II on 6 Apr 1858 and was garrisoned there from 10 Apr 1858 until 14 Nov 1859 when he deserted and was classified in the Victorian Police Gazette as still at large in 1861. Note: The Regiment left Australia in 1860 to fight in the Maori Wars in New Zealand.

It is also interesting, given the mention of Nehemiah - aka Henry Shears above, that a Henry Shears (native of Broomfield, Somerset) enlisted in England - 20 May 1850 with the 40th - 2nd Somersetshire Regiment and deserted from Ballaarat on 19 Jan 1855, soon after the Eureka stockade Rebellion in late 1854. Some have suggested that Nehemiah was garrisoned at Ballarat during the Eureka Rebellion (however, Nehemiah did not arrive in Australia until late 1855).

William McLaren (Margaret's son) was registed as being born at Warrnambool in 1857, in 1858 Nehemiah and Margaret's (second?) son Charles JENKINS was registered as being born in Wangoom (Warrnambool District) to Nehemiah JENKINS and Margaret McLAREN, in 1861 their first daughter, Harriet JENKINS, was registered as being born at Russells Creek near Warrnambool, followed by John McLaren JENKINS in 1862, Henry JENKINS in 1864, Charles JENKINS in 1865, Alice Annie JENKINS in 1866, Edwin McLaren JENKINS in 1869, David McLaren JENKINS in 1873, George McLaren JENKINS in in 1874 and Albert JENKINS in 1876.

It has also been suggested that Nehemiah and Margaret married in 1858 in Warrnambool, but that the Church and its Records were lost to fire (we have not been able to find a PROV Marriage record nor any details of a church fire in Warrnambool).

With the assistance of the Warrnambool Family History Group volunteers at Flagstaff Hill, we also discovered that an N. JENKINS and a Nehemiah JENKINS were mentioned in the Warrnambool Examiner Newspaper in Mar 1858 and between Feb 1862 and Aug 1872. After viewing the Newspaper snippets recently, we would believe that N. JENKINS and Nehemiah JENKINS were one and the same person. The 1858 entry reads:

Warrnambool Examiner 30 Mar 1858, page 2 col. 2
Michael KANE and Timothy MAHONY were charged by N. JENKINS with being found in his dwelling tent without lawful excuse, on the night of 17th instant. Case dismissed for want of legal proof.

The whole timing of Nehemiah and Margaret's early days in Australia are interesting to say the least; Margaret (18) arrives at Melbourne on 14 Jul 1855, Nehemiah (~21) arrives at Melbourne on 26 Oct 1855, William born to Margaret in Warrnambool 1857, Nehemiah may have been in Warrnambool 17 Mar 1858 ??, Nehemiah may have married Margaret during this visit ?? and just before he is transferred to Adelaide, Charles born to Margaret and Nehemiah at Warrnambool 1858, Nehemiah deserts in Adelaide just prior to the Regiment going to New Zealand, Harriet born to Margaret and Nehemiah at Warrnambool 1861, Nehemiah (a deserter from H.M. Service) regularly mentioned in local Warrnambool Paper between 1862 and 1872 (mainly in relation to legal matters with the Police, Court and Shire). The proposition that Margaret's father (David?) came to Australia with her would potentially offer the support that one may imagine that she would be in need of, but the PROV Tornado records do not support the proposition at this stage. I think that we also need to look to McLAREN's already established in the Warrnambool area as the reason Margaret gravitated to Warrnambool (260 km from Melbourne) to have her family including her first born William. Are their registers of Scottish Emigration Assistance back in the 1850's which could identify Margaret's origins?

Nehemiah's PROV death record simply lists his father as Shear and mother as unknown; in fact we have found via the Muster Records that he was born in Goathurst, Somerset, England. The parish records mentioned in my previous post indicate that his father was Charles JENKINS (Mason by Trade) and his mother Maria nee HALLETT, where their second child was baptised William Hallett JENKINS. With regard to Charles and Maria's Marriage, I have not been able to find any Monkton Parish databases which would cover this or to help trace Maria. Would the Marriage information previously posted come direct from the Somerset Archives Office?

Cheers
Tornado

[JAP1]

Hello Tornado,

What an interesting exposition!

To address a few points (not in order of importance):

1. You haven't mentioned INGLESWALL. ChristineR found it on the Vic indexes as, it seems, an alternative record for Margaret's son William McLAREN. Perhaps it is just another alias of the deserter Nehemiah? If so, I wonder how he/she/they dreamt that name up! And when and why the amendment was made (presumably the certificate would show this).

2. I can't answer your question re the source of the West Monkton JENKINS-HALLETT marriage. Normally I would suggest asking the person who posted it but it seems that 'Wobbley' is no longer on B-G (I don't know the significance of 'Guest'). And if it is not possible to contact the poster, it might be worth contacting the Somerset Records/Archives Office? Or, perhaps first, you might wish to post on the Somerset board on this forum (with a cross-link to this thread) asking if anyone has access to West Monkton parish registers.

3. Have you found Margaret's death record on the Victorian indexes? Any parental information?

4. Have you found a death for a David McLAREN of an appropriate age in the Victorian records?

5. Have you looked at the actual fiche for the 'Tornado' voyage on which Margaret came? My own, and my children's paternal, forebears all came to Victoria from about 1841 onwards - and I have found some very helpful information on the actual shipping fiche. Incidentally, as far as I'm aware (I could well be wrong) there wouldn't be any records from the Scottish end - which is why I stress the fiche.

6. Sometimes certificates do help. Re your suggestion that Margaret might have had McLAREN relatives in Warrnambool, it would certainly be interesting if any of the birth certs of her children (but perhaps especially the first child, William) had someone other than Margaret herself or Nehemiah as the informant - especially if it were a McLAREN!!

7. And finally, any gravestones/memorial inscriptions for Nehemiah, Margaret, or any of their children?

Sorry that all I've done is to pose questions! But they seem to need answers before we might be able to proceed ...

It's certainly an interesting family!

Very best regards,

JAP

[Tornado]

Hello JAP

Your questions pretty much mirrored our thinking.

1. Yes we have the Ingleswall entry; both entries are referenced R (in this case 15711R) which I interpret as both being possible, rather than one was proven incorrect. It is months ago that we found them and I assumed at the time that there had been a transcription error from an adjacent entry, but I think I looked for Ingleswall on PROV and nothing else came up. In retrospect we might have to revisit this. In the last few days we have made contact with a V. COFFEY who is credited as the source of information from Nehemiah down in the Pioneers' Register - Warrnambool Township and Shire 1839-1900. Someone must have raised the matter with PROV for their to be a revision 'R' issued, so this is something to raise with V. COFFEY (they may already have the Birth Certificate which may have prompted the revision).

2. We will have a look at this.

3. Death Record: Margt JENKINS died aged 56 (born ~ 1837) at Portland, father: David McLAREN mother: Unknown
(PROV Federation Index 1889-1901, Ref. No. 11551)

Of course David may not be correct or may be a second name; anything is possible.

4. McLaren's of Warrnambool is already on the to do list.

5. Looking at fiche at PROV North Melbourne is also on the to do list. We have a number of ships to look at, not just for the JENKINS. Not sure when we will get to the PROV.

6. We will first follow through with 1. and 4. above.

7. We have not as yet identified where they are buried. Again V. COFFEY may be able to shed some light on this.

My wife's leg of the JENKINS family have no written documentation or photos from these times, we are hoping that others may be better placed.

We will post again when we have some progress.

Cheers
Tornado

[Wirral]

We are obviously also very interested in tracing Charles and Maria's family; Nehemiah's siblings are available in the above database, but we have not as yet found Charles and Maria's Marriage nor their upbringing.

Likely family members for Charles are these ones also living on Goathurst Street, Goathurst, Somerset in 1851:

n.b. Charles, Maria & family are at schedule 2

HO107/1924 f102 p5 schedule 27
Edward JENKINS, head, Mar, 81, Pauper mason, Goathurst, Somerset [father?]
Mary ", wife, Mar, 81, Pauper wife, Hunshill, Somerset [mother?]
Maria ", dau, Un, 50, Retired servant, Goathurst, Somerset

next door schedule 28
Isaac JENKINS, head, Mar, 40, Cordwiner, Goathurst
Charlotte ", wife, Mar, 34, Goathurst
+3 children

Schedule 25
John JENNINGS, Head, Mar, 56, Cordwainer, Goathurst
+ wife Elzabeth +6 children

Schedule 19
Elizabeth JENKINS, head, Un, 75, Retired servant,Goathurst

Schedule 17
William JENKINS, head, Mar, 45, Carpenter, Goathurst
+ wife Ann + 8 children


There is also another probable relative living in Lincoln with his daughter & her family:
Isaac JENKINS, head, widr, 87, Pauper formerly lime burner, Somerset, Goathurst
Elizabeth GRAVES, dau, Mar, 48, Pauper, Lincoln
+ 4 children age 1 - 15.

[JAP1]

Hi Wirral,

That's a very interesting post!
It hadn't occurred to me to do that.

I've just had a look and I suspect that John JENNINGS is a JENNINGS (the JENNINGS name occurs in Goathurst) - not a JENKINS.

And there's one person to add:
Edward JENKINS, a Bootmaker in Bedminster, Somerset in 1861, b Goathurst ca 1801 (I haven't found him in 1851)
There's also an Elizabeth JENKINS, a servant in Marylebone in 1851, b Goathurst ca 1805 - not sure where to place her.

Edward JENKINS - your 81yo <1770> Mason in 1851 - was still alive in 1861 aged 91 but seems to have died in that same year.

So that seems to have Edward <1770> having (at least) Charles <1796>, Maria <1801>, Edward <1801>, William <1806> and Isaac <1811>.

Going to the Parish Register site mentioned by Tornado bears this out.
There are several JENKINS couples in the baptisms including Edward/Mary and Isaac/Ann (Isaac/Ann being of Patcombe).

Baptisms for Isaac/Ann include Richard 1802, Elizabeth and Mary Ann 1805, Charles 1807, Maria 1808.

Baptisms/deaths for Edward/Mary include Mary d (infant) 1795, Maria & Charles 1798, Ann 1800, Edward 1804, William 1806, Isaac 1811

And even earlier there are another Edward/Mary, a William/Mary and a Richard/Elizabeth.

The earlier Edward/Mary has a twist i.e. surname of TAYLOR@JENKINS:
Edward TAYLOR@JENKINS, Labourer, married Mary HOBBS 1762
Children seem to include Susanna TAYLOR@JENKINS 1764, then - just as JENKINS - Sarah 1766 d 1769, Isaac 1768, Edward 1770, Charles 1772, Elizabeth 1777.

[JAP1]

Hello Tornado,

Well, I guess we'll just have to wait for more information from you before trying to explore the puzzle of Margaret McLAREN any further. Especially if there's anything on the shipping fiche and if actual certificates reveal anything useful.

Hello mjkisxo,

Well, no progress on Margaret McLAREN.
A pity!

Regards to all,

JAP
PS: Incidentally, re the 'R' certificate. I've come across them with various explanations. Sometimes because the parents weren't married initially but later married and had the name amended. I also had one strange one where a birth was registered under names X (the mother's maiden name) and Y (the name of the person the mother had married) but not under Z (the name of the father). The mother and Mr Z had lived together for several years and had had several children registered under the name Z. But this Registrar was obviously much more probing and fussy. So he annotated the birth certificate to say that the mother had said she hadn't lived with the husband (Mr Y) for '9 years past' - but he wouldn't allow Mr Z's name to appear anywhere. So it is indexed under X and Y but not Z.

[Tornado]

Hi Jap and Wirral

You are both pretty much on the ball with your research. As you were researching, I was down the local Library pulling a lot of Goathurst Census images off Ancestry.com. I have spent the last few days working through the Goathurst Parish registers, Free BDM and the Census 1841 through 1901. I will have to go back for more Census images and also look, as you did, beyond Goathurst.

Jap could you please give me your source for the marriage of Edward TAYLOR@JENKINS to Mary HOBBS.

No progress on the Margaret McLAREN as yet, but I have a few ideas to follow up at the Library next time I get there..

It will be interesting when Mjkisxo comes back on-line so we can follow up on Margaret's father coming to Australia, the suggestion of an adoption, and the Kincardine connection.

Cheers for now
Tornado

[JAP1]

Hi Tornado,

Just a quick reply.

The source for Edward TAYLOR@JENKINS was the source you posted i.e.:
https://www.wsom.org.uk/Parreg.html

Specifically, from that site, Goathurst marriages 1682-1812 and Goathurst baptisms 1749-1812.

All the best,

JAP