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  • Immigration records

    Hi

    I was wondering where online it's best to look for immigration records to the UK - incoming passenger lists.

    I have someone who came to the UK between the census years of 1901 and 1911. Born in South Africa. I've looked on ancestry and there's a few tentative matches - but only tentative because both are ships that set out from Canada. Still nothing to say that the man I'm looking for didn't make a diversion via Canada. I had one great-great grandmother who emigrated to Oz twice in the 19th Century.

    So, besides ancestry, where else might be helpful?

    Many thanks
    felix

  • #2
    Have you looked at our own page in the Reference Library to see if there may be other sources?

    Caroline
    Caroline's Family History Pages
    Meddle not in the affairs of Dragons, for you are crunchy and good with ketchup.

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    • #3
      Yes, thanks I have had a browse through. But can't see anything that can help specifically.

      Comment


      • #4
        I'm not sure this is actually immigration - remember that many parts of S Africa were still British at the turn of the 1900s. However, if you are sure it is immigration and not just someone returning to the motherland, perhaps you might look for naturalisation records. (TNA).

        Another clue would be what this man did during WW1.

        OC

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        • #5
          Yes, I think you could be right. On the 1911 census he's described as a British subject by birth. Did people born in other parts of the British empire have to be naturalised? That's not something I actually know much about.

          He didn't serve in WW1. He worked as a collier in Wales.

          I wish I knew when he might have gotten to England. But no real clues so far.

          Thanks so much for your help

          Comment


          • #6
            No, as he was a BS by birth, he wasn't considered an immigrant so there won't be a naturalisation.

            As he worked as a collier, that suggests he had mining experience in SA, although I don';t know how that would help your search, lol.

            Do you know who his parents were? His father must have been British, so I wonder if HE went to SA as a miner - many thousands of men did so in the 1800s. If the name isn't too common then you might be able to spot the father on earlier census.

            OC

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            • #7
              Hi, thanks for this

              I don't know who the parents were for sure. The surname is a pretty common one too. I do have his marriage certificate from 1912 where he gives his father's name and describes him as a farmer, deceased. But the father could indeed have been a miner and turned to farming later. People tended to pick out the poshest occupations they could muster for family members on marriage certificates didn't they! Farmer would have sounded better than miner to them.

              I have chased down the father's name on census records for several months now and it's been fun, but ultimately I couldn't confirm anything yet. I was told that the family originated in Cheshire where the surname is very common, but I think that might be a red herring. I thought I had the father in Norfolk and was highly excited but that turned out to be a red herring too!

              The closest I've come for an immigration record is a guy with the same first name and last name and middle initial as the guy I'm looking for landing in Liverpool in Dec 1910. Port of Departure - St John's Brunswick Canada. He seems to be accompanied by a brother or at least someone else with the same last name. Then again they might not be related and the passenger list gives no ages. It's possible - my guy first shows up on the 1911 census living as a boarder and working as a collier in Wales. That gives him till the 2nd of April to travel about 3 hours distance in modern terms and get there for the night of the census. Given that he had to go by horse and cart, I think that still gives him plenty of time to make it, lol. If of course it is him, which I can't be sure.

              The one other clue that may not be a clue at all is the occupation he gives on the passenger list. He says he's a clerk. Certainly he was a miner all this life in Wales -once he got there he never left and he was buried there. On his own marriage cert he gives his occupation as collier. But on his youngest daughter's marriage cert in 1936 he gave his occupation as clerk. I wonder if he did that on those of his other children - they're still coming so not sure.

              I'm having a nice time at the moment seeing if I can track down any other people who share his surname on the 1911 census and give Africa as a birth place - just wondering if maybe his dad went out to Africa with some other family members. And chasing down any possible lead.

              You never know when a red herring just might turn into a lovely Qld barramundi!

              Thanks for sharing the joys of family research with me. Much appreciated.

              Comment


              • #8
                Do you only want immigration records? Have you found Baptismal/Birth records?
                Familysearch has started indexing some South Africa records and I know there are members who know where to look for other South Africa BMD

                Discover your family history. Explore the world’s largest collection of free family trees, genealogy records and resources.


                sarah
                Last edited by PhotoFamily; 26-08-13, 04:57.

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                • #9
                  Thanks. Will take a look shortly.

                  And look further into the South African BDM :o

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                  • #10
                    But on his youngest daughter's marriage cert in 1936 he gave his occupation as clerk.
                    Surely it would have been his daughter who gave the occupation, not him? If so, it's however she wants to portray her father, which might or might not be a true reflection of the situation!

                    scuda
                    Pitman / Pittman in North Glos (Didbrook, Prestbury, Longhope, Tewkesbury, Stow, Cirencester, etc), London & Australia

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                    • #11
                      That's true. And it could have been his wife and her mum who was a witness who gave the occupation. They lived in Wales and the daughter was working/married in London and so we don't know if the dad was there. We also think it was a rushed wedding because a baby was possibly on the way.

                      That is a good thought. The daughter and her mum might well have been trying to be a little impressive on the day. Country folk impressing the city folk.

                      Thanks:o

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