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  1. #1
    cam15a
    Guest

    Default Name tattooed on a seaman's arm

    Hi everyone,
    My gg grandfather was a seaman from Montreal, Canada who first appeared in South Australia in 1861 when he gave his name as William George Watson. At the registration of the birth of his children he gave his name as William George Bowden Watson, the precise name he gave to his eldest son.
    I have been unable to locate either birth (in Canada) or death (in Australian or NZ) records under the name of William George Watson.
    The family broke up in 1873 and he spent three months in gaol so we have a detailed physical description of him which lists the following tattoos - Man, woman, flag and anchor on right arm; G Bowden on left arm; Star and anchor on back of left hand.
    I have found details of a man admitted to hospital in the Ballarat area who appears most probably to be him going by the name of William Bowden or William George Bowden.
    I am most interested in the G Bowden tattoo - is this likely to be his real name? Why would a seaman have a name (his or someone else's) tattooed on his arm?
    Many thanks,
    Anne

  2. #2
    Super Moderator - Completely bonkers and will never change.
    Join Date
    Oct 2004
    Location
    England
    Posts
    9,620

    Default

    The most obvious theory to me is in case he drowned. He could then be buried with a name (even if it wasn't his own) though obviously not applicable if it was a woman's name. )

    I'm sure other people have better ideas.

    Pam
    Vulcan XH558 - “Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened.”

  3. #3
    cam15a
    Guest

    Default

    Thank you Pam, that makes sense. In looking for a death record, I have suspected that I should be looking for a Bowden rather than a Watson.

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