Australian help please

[Velma Dinkley]

I'm wondering if someone can help please.

My great grandmother's brother was killed in WW1 and it appears that his widow, Rebecca Guilford, emigrated to Australia after the war. Her address on the the CWGC's website is given as -

Kentville, Park Avenue, Westmead, NSW, Australia

I have asked about her before on here and she can't be found on a search of the marriages and deaths records on the NSW bmd site.

However, a new contact has found her on a passenger list travelling from Southampton to Sydney in 1946, so I now know that she was still alive and not remarried by this date.

Please can someone advise me how I can trace her further.

Thank you for your help.

Velma

[Mary from Italy]

This is the passenger list information:

Passenger FAMILY NAME, Given names Title : GUILFORD, Rebecca
Alternative FAMILY NAME, Given names
Ship/aircraft name: Asturius
Port of embarkation: Southampton
Port of disembarkation: Sydney
Date of arrival: 11 Nov 1946

RecordSearch - National Archives of Australia

Can you post her year of birth and parents' names?

[Mary from Italy]

Do you know much about her? My mum travelled from Southampton to Sydney the same year (on a different ship) as a war bride. I wonder if she was going out to marry a serviceman she'd met during the war? Maybe a bit too old for that, though

[Christine in Herts]

The Ryerson Index has five people with that surname (no Rebeccas)
THE RYERSON INDEX

Surname Given Names Notice Type Date Type Age Other Details
GUILFORD Elsie Rose Death notice 01AUG1981 Death 76 at Gosford, late of Artarmon
GUILFORD Lorna Barbara Allan Death notice 18DEC1981 Death at Glen Innes
GUILFORD Reginald Louis (Max) Death notice 08JAN1978 Death at Glen Innes
GUILFORD Stella Death notice 01FEB2008 Death 87 at Griffith, late of Yanco, formerly of Ivanhoe
GUILFORD William John Death notice 19FEB1973 Death 60 late of Punchbowl

Christine

[Mary from Italy]

If you click on "View item details" on the NAA passenger list result, you can apply for a copy of the full entry. No idea how much information it'll contain - I've only ordered one, much older passenger list, and it named the person the emigrant was going out to join, as well as giving their name, age, occupation and parents' names.

Can't see a marriage or death for her on the NSW BMD site, as you said. Marriages go up to 1957, and deaths to 1977. She may have remained unmarried and died after 1977, but she's not in the Ryerson index (NSW death notices from about 1970). No death in Victoria either (online deaths up to 1985).

I should think she either went back to England or moved to a State that doesn't have recent BMDs online.

Your best bet is going to be electoral rolls. There are no recent ones online, but each State has an "Ask a Librarian Service" which you can find by googling, and they'll usually do a look-up for you.

[Velma Dinkley]

Thanks Mary - she was born in 1890 and her parents were Richard & Katherine Fawcett.

She appears to have first sailed to Australia after WW1, so the 1946 trip would have been presumably a return visit to the UK.

[Mary from Italy]

The 1946 trip was from the UK to Aus, so she must have been back for a visit.

Got her now - she's on the electoral roll in Wentworth, NSW, in 1930 and 1936:

Australian Electoral Rolls, 1901-1936 - Ancestry.co.uk

I can't give you the full details (address and occupation) because you need a World or Australian Heritage sub for that.

[Velma Dinkley]

Thank you Mary

I'm searching the passenger list at the moment but it's on the go slow!

Presumably there is a charge for the "Ask a Librarian Service" service

[Mary from Italy]

Have a look at the Australian phone book:

whitepages.com.au - Search for an Australian Business, Government or Person

There's a J Guilford at an address in Wentworthville, which is very close to Westmead. Maybe a relation?

Google Maps - Wentworthville

[Mary from Italy]

Presumably there is a charge for the "Ask a Librarian Service" service

No, it's free.

[Velma Dinkley]

That's brilliant thanks Mary, I didn't think to look on Ancestry

So, she moved further inland..... I wonder what her occupation was....

Hopefully someone with world membership can help

[Velma Dinkley]

If they are related then it can either be her and husband's child or a child which took her name.....

That's good news that it is a free service

[Velma Dinkley]

Sorry Christine I missed your post, thank you

[Mary from Italy]

There are no children on FreeBMD with surname Guilford and MMN Fawcett.

If she'd travelled out with a child/ren it would have shown up on the passenger list.
I haven't found her first emigration on the usual Australian sites yet, and there's no other Guilford travelling with her in 1946.

Found these entries on Findmypast; it might be worth your while buying a few credits to get the full details:

Last name / First name / Year of birth / Sex / Departure year / Port / Destination country / Destination port

GUILFORD R 1890 F 1920 London Australia Sydney
GUILFORD R 1891 F 1924 London Australia Sydney
GUILFORD R 1890 F 1940 Southampton Australia Sydney
GUILFORD Rebecca 1891 F 1946 Southampton Australia Sydney

No other Guilford travelling with her.

[Harrys mum]

There are 2 Rebecca Guilfords in the 1930 electoral roll.

831 New South Head Rd, Rose Bay (occ home duties)

and

3 Balfour Rd, Bellevue Hill same occ.

Both are in the district of Wentworth and there are no other Rebecca Guilfords (or Guildford) in Australian 1930.

Could be two different people, but I wonder if it's the same person counted twice. Bit odd though as it's not like the census where they counted people at an address.

If you find any of them are the Glen Innes lot, I'll go and take headstone photos. Any excuse to go there....

[Mary from Italy]

Thanks, Libby. I assumed those entries were one each for 1930 and 1936. Isn't she listed in 1936?

I've found people listed twice in the same year at two different addresses in some of the earlier electoral rolls, especially in WA.

[Harrys mum]

Can't find her in 1936, although Ancestry is doing some odd things.


Did find 3 Inmans at various places though......
Ronald b 1926
Hutchen b 1900
Gordon b 1934


Sorry Velma......hijacking your thread.

[Mary from Italy]

She doesn't seem to have an entry in Sands Directories, which go up to 1933 online.

[Mary from Italy]

Never heard of Ronald and Gordon - I'll check them out. I don't think there's actually a Hutchen Inman - were you looking at a tombstone? If you look carefully, it says Alma Hutchen Inman (Alma Hutchen married one of my Inmans).

[Mary from Italy]

I wonder where she was getting the money to go to and from Australia 4 times (assuming it's her on FMP, which I think it is, in view of the birthdate) if she was just a housewife?