Royal Artillery - Samuel Moreton

[LordVader]

Cheers, I found their incredibly small hidden link and I need to register and visit in person. I will email to see if there is another way. The Oithona is there for that year.

Samuel's mother is a trick search, she is recorded in the NZ BDM as "Marlton", but it is meant to be Moreton. She is noted a Widower, Pensioner, age 90, daughter of Captain Samuel Spence, but missing sections for her birth, years in NZ and marriage person/place. Info was likely given by her daughter-in-law Rosa as Samuel H. left his wife and was living in Christchurch, with the family still in Invercargill.

The story goes that Samuel H. brought his mother from England c. 1872 as his daughter Florence Louisa Beatrice Moreton born 1872 was a sickly child and sent to his mother's farm to fatten her up. It is unknown if Samuel Sr. was still alive. The letter aforementioned corroborates his mother was still alive in 1880.

[Jomot1]

Good luck in obtaining the crew agreement, it could be significant.

I'll be honest, I'm somewhat sceptical about Samuel H's back-story, but I'd love to be proved wrong!

[LordVader]

It's an interesting subject (giving me a headache at times), he has been incredibly well researched and documented for his time in NZ with a 166 page book on his many expeditions and famous paintings. Only all accounts of his past are essentially from his mouth with documents unfortunately lost by the very friend who tried to preserve his legacy.

I do wonder if the old Artist made it all up as he was quite the outspoken man, but there are too many corroborated clues that are hard to ignore.

There is a Samuel Moreton I am looking at who was in the 38th Foot, married an Ann Miller in India 1834, was in Halifax in 1851, and had a daughter Annie born 1847 in Jamaica corroborating to the father's stint in Jamaica in about 1848 according to his Military record. Her marriage notes father as Samuel Moreton, a Chelsea Pensioner. This is proof of overseas military children records that are hard or impossible to find. It certainly could explain why Samuel H. thought he was born in Nova Scotia for his first marriage, he may have remembered growing up there for a few years. However the mother's surname is always the setback.

[Jomot1]

Funny, I was just looking at that man too.

I have to log off now, but Samuel H is certainly an intriguing man!