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  1. #1
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    Default Royal Artillery - Samuel Moreton

    Hello,

    I am searching for evidence of a Samuel Moreton who was the father of New Zealand Immigrant Samuel Horatio Moreton. Samuel H. was a well known painter who by his word was said to have studied under Professor Sybley and Aaron Pennelly at the Sybley Academy, Addiscombe. At one time there were many documents from old letters that were given to a family friend who was in the process of writing an autobiography, but he died and apparently many were lost or thrown out. Some of these letters were to and from family in London including one mentioning a discussion with his mother about some property held in Chancery that belonged to his mother's family "Ann Spence of Groundsbrig, Woodbridge, Suffolk, England" which Samuel didn't bother with "I and here, the property is there and we shall never meet again".

    In Samuel H.'s assumed words, his father was in the Royal Artillery citing in his 1862 marriage certificate his father as Samuel Moreton a Captain in the Royal Artillery and that Samuel H. was born c. 1840 in Nova Scotia (England or Canada town it is unknown which). The mother's name is also given as Ann Spence corroborating with the letter.

    I have searched high and low for any information and cannot in any form find any shred of information for Samuel H.'s birth, nor any evidence for his parents Samuel Moreton and Ann Spence in the UK and UK occupied territories.

    I have to note (as people will keep bringing this up) one records has come close, a 1851 Census St George in the East, Middlesex that many online attribute to Samuel Moreton born 1845 living with parents Samuel and Ann Moreton. However that census is disproven because it relates to a birth registered in the same district with the mother's name as Ann Peeble confirming both are linked by the father's occupation as a "Horse Clipper".

    Samuel H.'s second marriage in a newspaper clipping in 1909 gives his father as "Samuel Horatio Moreton, youngest son of Samuel Moreton, Essex". But I cannot find any suitable Samuel Moreton living in Essex let alone a Chelsea Pensioner which would be in line with a former Captain in the Royal Artillery.

    This has been a bit of an enigma as such a well documented and well educated man to have no known record of his parents in England. His mother came to New Zealand and her death certificate in 1901 notes her father as "Captain Samuel Spence" another record not verified. Samuel's newspaper obituary in 1921 names his "late brother Sir John Moreton", but gives no further details and cannot confirm if the "Sir" is a real Knighthood or a mere form of modern gentry.

    I suspect that the family may have moved a lot due to the father's military occupation and could be an explanation of why they are not found in the Census'. I have searched Ancestry.com and Findmypast.co.uk and none of the military records seem to fit or any of the military Samuel's who married different Ann's (i.e. not Spence).

    There may have been something I have missed or overlooked and any help would be greatly appreciated.

    Samuel Horatio Moreton can been googled and some of his paintings seen online. He sold paintings to people all around the world including a gift to the Prince of Wales and many people of English gentry from his connections.

  2. #2

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    A warm welcome to Brit-gen.
    "Groundbrig" in Woodbridge, Suffolk, would appear to be Grundisburgh? And there are Spences associated with that place, but a much earlier generation.
    Just to confirm - his 1921 Obit. is in The Star? (born Essex, Westminster choirboy, present at the fall of Port Arthur (1894?) etc.?)
    "dyfal donc a dyr y garreg"

  3. #3
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    Thank you for the quick reply.

    Correct with Grundisburgh is what I have thought also, although I am unable yet to link to any of the Spences of that area in the 1850s. I don't hold much accuracy to Ann's father given as Samuel Spence in her death certificate as it would have been given by her daughter-in-law or grandchild and may have been confused with her husband Captain Samuel Moreton. If her father was in the military, he may have only been stationed in a Garrison nearby.

    The 1921 obituary is correct, choirboy is not yet corroborated and the fall of Port Arthur would have to be in the 1850/60s to be valid as he married in 1862 in Australia before immediately moving to Invercargill, New Zealand and settling down as a Painter. Many online links put his birth c. 1845, but his marriage certificate I consider the most reliable puts his age at 1840. This with a ship list on board the 'Oithona' England to Melbourne in Jan 1862 noted born c. 1838. The Ships Captain was William Holmes who Samuel H. kept in contact.

    Samuel H. may have been in the Navy as he mentioned to his friends he apparently skipped town after trying out as a surgeon, but couldn't handle blood. I cannot find a record of any service of his in Hong Kong, but he ended up working on Captain Holmes' ship of which he met his wife in 1862 with an incident he was on lookout, but got caught chatting up a passenger. I suspect could have been his future wife Rosa Clara Wilson.

    The obituary info would have been given by his second wife and friends who accompanied him on his many treks into the wilderness to paint scenery. He relayed similar information to other friends about his upbringing and is recorded in diaries which have been captured in the book 'Samuel H. Moreton', but none of the information has yet been corroborated back in England and only seems to be hearsay from the man himself.

    Sorry if my reply is wordy, there is so much information from his life in NZ documenting what he said, but nothing seems to add up back in England.

  4. #4
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    but his marriage certificate I consider the most reliable puts his age at 1840.

    Don't consider the marriage certificate as the most reliable. My father said he was 27 on his marriage certificate to my mom in 1949. That calculated he was born in 1922. In fact he was born in 1912! Didn't want to appear too old for mom!

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    The only records I can find for the Oithona list him as Samuel Martin aged 22 (1838) arriving Melbourne, Victoria Dec 1861 from Southampton, then departing Victoria for Otago Jan 1862, aged 24.

    A Rosa Wilson was aboard the Oithona, but didn't travel on to NZ.

    If you don't have them already you should be able to obtain copies of the crew list etc from here, which may give you some more information: https://www.rmg.co.uk/collections/ar...search/Oithona

    There are also departures from Victoria to Otago in Sep 1861 for a Sam Martin aged 28 (c1833), and an S Martin in Feb 1863 aged 24, but possibly not connected.

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by suemalings View Post
    but his marriage certificate I consider the most reliable puts his age at 1840.

    Don't consider the marriage certificate as the most reliable. My father said he was 27 on his marriage certificate to my mom in 1949. That calculated he was born in 1922. In fact he was born in 1912! Didn't want to appear too old for mom!
    Thank you for the reply, this is a tricky one as usually I would agree (humans are in general a very bad at giving information), however in this instance Samuel H.'s death age is based on his age given for his second marriage in 1909 to a lady who was almost 30 years younger. Compounded by fact the death age was given by second-hand sources whereas his age for first marriage would have been given by himself. From my research I have found men are far more likely to have lied about age for their second younger wives than their first. I still entertain the plausibility his age of 1838/1840 could have been exaggerated from c. 1844/5 in order to leave home and get a job.

    Unfortunately I have yet to find a Census or Birth/Baptism to help corroborate his age and I have to give the benefit of the doubt to the shipping list and his first marriage certificate as the earliest known documents.

  7. #7
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    Thank you for the reply, the 1861 info you mention is in line with my research. I have a copy of the ship Oithona passenger list from UK To Aus with "Rosa C. Wilson" listed and Samuel H.'s discharge paper 20th Dec 1861. His name in the discharge is "Samuel Moreton" the same name spelling corroborated by the Log entry reprimanding him for talking to a passenger while on watch. No age is given.

    My original statement was a little confused and not correct, that "Samuel Martin" born c. 1838 was not listed in the UK to Aus passenger list. He was only documented as crew in the Captain's Log that a family member had photographed a copy in person as it is not yet online. That "Samuel Martin" is only a possibility as he would have to return in September to marry. It is not heard of as many men are documented to have travelled to NZ from Aus before their families followed.

    The other mentioned departures may or may not be correct, passenger lists between Australia and New Zealand were not overly detailed and normally only listed the men and no record of who they travelled with. We know from his diary accounts Samuel H. went to NZ after their marriage in Sept 1862 by himself, then was shortly joined by Rosa. Rosa is corroborated in NZ by the births of her children noting her born in London and her death confirms the marriage in Melbourne.

    I have successfully traced Rosa back to London no issues, but struggling to locate Samuel H. back in London along with his parents Samuel Moreton, Captain Royal Artillery and Ann Spence.

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    Are the copy discharge & the log entry from the documents I linked to?

    I've only looked at Liverpool crew agreements before, but these generally include birth place, age and home address, which is why I suggested obtaining them might produce more information.

  9. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jomot1 View Post
    Are the copy discharge & the log entry from the documents I linked to?

    I've only looked at Liverpool crew agreements before, but these generally include birth place, age and home address, which is why I suggested obtaining them might produce more information.
    The copy documents are from a family member visiting a shipping register possibly in Australia in the past few years, but I want to double check in case they missed something as you said it may have more info.

    Thank you for the link, I am looking through it now. What is the next step in obtaining access to the original? Do they have a digital copy? I am in NZ, so limited to what they have available online.

  10. #10
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    Sorry, I've never ordered them before so I don't know if they're provided digitally, but if you click on the item there's another link to request the item.

    Also, can I ask another question? You mentioned that Samuel's mother died in NZ 1901, what surname is that indexed under as I can't find it?

    EDIT: Is it Ann MORTON 1903?

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