Find Ancestors

Goodness, what a lot of information to log into this morning. Many thanks to everyone for their help.

Yes, it is Naauwpoort, that is also what it says on my father's birth certificate. Grandfather did work for the railways, the story I was told was that he went out there to drive British Troops to the Boer War, then stayed on after the war ended, moving to South America c1908 to work for a company there. What a journey it must have been with 2 small children!

I don't know whether grandmother + 3 small children and another on the way returned from South America with or without grandfather, certainly he was still there in 1914, as I have a school photograph/postcard of my father in that year, which he had sent to his father in South America. Its just my luck that they returned to England in 1911 but after the census date, which is why I was trying to find their travel details.

Thanks again for all the replies, I will be very busy for a little while now trying to get more information from those links.

Jan

Well done with these ArgyllGran - your skills are great.

I like this one: St Agnes Anglican Church Noupoort, Northern Cape, it gives a contact name.
Jan will be busy on this now.
Ru

I sent an email to St Agnes Church, it is now a museum and they do not have any of the parish records.

I managed to track down my cousin whose mother was also born in South Africa, she is under the impression that grandfather worked his passage on the ship between South Africa and South America.

Jan

Now to trace shipping companies who did those routes which should be easy. Just use google and see what comes up. Mind you nothing is easy, but it is a starter for the elimination process.

For starters there is the Harrison Rennie Line which makes interesting reading. Think they carried fruit, vegetables and wheat.

Have a look at this online: merchant navy crew lists online

Ru

How about this one??

C A HOWE

Vessel:
ROYAL TRANSPORT
Birthplace:
LONDON
Age:
36
Rank:
FOURTH ENGINEER
Previous vessel:
FIRST

Valid dates for this crew list:
06/09/1914 - 14/03/1915


http://1915crewlists.rmg.co.uk/document/207425

He joined the ship in Buenos Aires, and gives address 62 Hartland Road, West Ham.
It's his first ship. He joined the ship on 6/2/1915 (or maybe it's 6/3/1915 - hard to read.)

Well done again ArgyllGran. You have made a start and now Jan can have a look to see if there is a connection. Sounds (seems) good to me.
Have fun Jan
Ru

Yes, there he is last but one on last page. Good team work; good thinking all round will get you your information Jan.

Good luck
Ru

Argyll Gran, thank you so much for that - the age is virtually correct for my grandfather in 1915 (and we all know a year or two didn't seem to matter to them back then), I don't have any means of checking that address, but I do know that in 1914 my father was at school in Stratford, which is virtually next door to West Ham, and that his father was working in Buenos Aires at that time.

You are so clever to have found this. Thank you again, and to everyone else who has replied.

Jan

PS A check on Google Earth shows that Water Lane, which is where my father attended school in 1914, is within walking distance of Hartland Road.

It's a good thing your cousin mentioned the possibility of working his passage - we'd probably never have thought of that otherwise.


In 1911, a family called Strickland were at 62 Hartland Road.

I don't see 1914-15 ER for West Ham on Ancestry - only 1964-5.
A search for Hartland Road for those years only brings up a Hartland Road in St Pancras West, Camden.

It was thanks to FreeBMD that I was able to make contact with my cousin, as we had lost touch years ago. I only knew her maiden name, and her husband's first name. A search for their marriage gave me her new surname, a search for births gave me her chlldren's names, and a Google search for her son gave me a contact telephone number for him. He passed on my message for her to contact me, and I now have her telephone number too. Thank goodness the names were fairly unusual ones.

Jan

Well there you go Jan. Just goes to show snippets are the best to get where you want to be.

Lots of members have the expertise to find things out and that gives them pleasure.

Well done; sounds like you are well on your way to finding out what you seek and even more.

Good luck
Ru ;-) ;-)

Deviating slightly here, but I have found this:



Passenger Lists leaving UK 1890-1960
First Name C A
Last Name Howe
Title MR
Age Transcribed
Departure Year 1926
Departure Month 11
Departure Day 12
Ship Name Rawalpindi
Ship Departure Port London
Destination Port Bombay
State
Country India
Destination Place BOMBAY
Destination Place Country INDIA
Gender Male
Marital Status
Occupation
Birth Year
Birth Month
Birth Day
Country Of Birth
Last Residence Country
UK Address
Ship Official Number 147827
Ship Master's First Name C M
Ship Master's Surname REDHEAD
Ship Master's Title
Shipping line PENINSULAR & ORIENTAL STEAM NAVIGATION CO.
Departure Port LONDON
Ship Destination Port BOMBAY
Ship Destination Country INDIA
Ship Square Feet
Ship Registered Tonnage 9416.23
Number Of Passengers 347
Category Travel & migration
Record set Passenger Lists Leaving Uk 1890-1960
Collections from Great Britain, England

Now there were two, but the first one indicated Capt. Army and I see we have discounted that, but this one is MR and on the Passenger List his is listed as Government. But... like the first I noticed, the passenger list then has a cross through all members travelling under a Government title. Interesting!!

The year is 1926 - any connection?

Ru

Unfortunately there seem to have been a large number of C A Howes. I don't think he went abroad again after returning from South America, and I'm pretty sure he didn't go to India. He was a railway engine driver. I was told he went to South Africa to drive English troops to the front during the Boer War.

His father was one of many who moved from being Ag. Lab in Cambridgeshire to working on the railways in London, sadly in 1880, just before his 2nd son was born, Charles Snr was killed in an accident on the railway, crushed between 2 coal wagons in the marshalling yard. I have a newspaper clipping reporting the accident. My grandfather was 3 at the time. His mother was offered a job as a cleaner employed by the railway company, I wonder if that was the only compensation she received. My grandfather was 3 at the time of his father's death, but it obviously didn't deter him from working for the railways too.

Jan