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PICKHILLS shipping records

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  • PICKHILLS shipping records

    Hi again guys
    The hunt continues, and info is still filtering through. However, I am having trouble trying to find any shipping information for the family both sailing from England, and arriving in Australia. I have a record for the unassisted immigration of THOMAS PICKHILLS, as crew on the "Liguria" in 1880 from London to Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney (he could have disembarked at any of these, but to date no further record of him). Also local records for GEORGE RICKINSON SWAN PICKHILLS travelling as crew on the "Tasmania" from Hobart Town (Tasmania) to Sydney in 1858, and him travelling from Melbourne to Port Adelaide (South Australia) on the "Coorong II" in 1863. I also know that ELIZABETH PICKHILLS (Mrs E Pickhills) emigrated back to England on the "Massilia" in 1892, including a notification of a stop-over at Brindisi in Italy. But that is all I have been able to find. In total, 5 members of the family have either emigrated or travelled to Australia in the mid to late 1800s, and i can't find a record for any of the leaving England. Living in Yorkshire and Lancashire, i sort of made a supposition that they may have left from Liverpool, though could have travelled to London as Thomas did. the people I am trying to track coming out here are;

    GEORGE RICKINSON SWAN PICKHILLS - would have travelled here (possibly emigrated) around the 1850s

    FREDERICK WILLIAM PICKHILLS - the above's brother, would have travelled here (possibly emigrated) around 1870s/1880s - I know he got his Mates certificate here in 1883, and that he married here in 1886.

    CLARA PICKHILLS - the above's sister, we know got married in Launceston, Tasmania in 1891, though whether she emigrated to Tasmania or otherwise there is no indication to date.

    CHARLES EDWARD PICKHILLS - the above's brother was visiting his brothers here in 1869 when he fell overboard from a steamer on the Murray River and drowned

    ELIZABETH PICKHILLS - the above's mother emigrated out here sometime after her husbands death in 1862. We know that she was arrested for using indecent language in a public place in Goolwa, South Australia in 1887, and that she emigrated back to England (as stated earlier) in 1892.

    If anyone can help me find the record for any or all of these leaving England, or tell me where best to search it would be appreciated. All my searches to date have come up with nothing.

    Tim

  • #2
    As far as I know, there are no departing passenger records for England (at least, available on-line) until 1890 (findmypast.co.uk), so you won't find anything definitive there. If the Pickhills were crew rather than assisted migrants, you will only pick them up on lists as they become available - the most extensive passenger and crew lists I know of are those arriving into Sydney (www.ozmariners.com.au). Crew are always much more difficult to find. SOuth Australia is notoriously the slowest at putting their records on line, shipping, passengers and bdms.
    Diane
    Sydney Australia
    Avatar: Reuben Edward Page and Lilly Mary Anne Dawson

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    • #3
      The book I'm currently reading is all about the Black Ball Line of Liverpool, which was the largest carrier of emigrants from England to Australia in the 1850s and 1860s. The highest volume of passengers was to Melbourne (gold rush in full swing) with smaller numbers to Sydney and a trickle to Queensland. As far as I can tell there was little or no direct traffic to South Australia until much later, so any sailings would be domestic Australian sailings by tiny shipping companies, probably with rudimentary records. Most of these will have been destroyed by damp or termites.
      Uncle John - Passed away March 2020

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      • #4
        Thanks for the info Diane - may just be a waiting game from the looks of it. I know what you mean about SA (though some other States aren't a lot better) being slow, and even worse at giving online access to records. They are also slow to release records - I have been trying to get a copy of my GG Grandmothers court records for the 'indecent language' charge, and despite the record being 123 years old, it is still restricted. Hoping to get a copy through FOI, and just awaiting notification from the Magistrate's Court about how to go about it from another State ( i'm in NSW). I have to say that the Alexandrina Library in Goolwa SA have been exceptional in the amount of help they have given me in tracing records from that region.
        Tim

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        • #5
          Thanks Uncle John - you know, despite living here I never stopped to think about the gold rush happening and the influx of people it bought here. I don't think (though I could be wrong) that the family came here in dribs and drabs for the gold fields, as they all ended up in South Australia or Bourke in NSW (two steamers masters in the family on the Murray & Darling Rivers), though they did all come out here at fairly young ages. From what I can glean from what info I have, life was tough for them in England, and they came out as there were more opportunities (and it was probably easier to breathe). The one constant in the family is a maritime history, both through the navy, and through boith the daughters in England marrying into martime families. I'll see what I can find on the Black ball Line - you just never know.

          Tim

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          • #6
            Hi - anything in here http://trove.nla.gov.au/ or http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast (sometimes you'll find Aussie stuff in the NZ papers)

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            • #7
              Just to say, the book was written in 1978 by the then keeper of maritime history at Liverpool Museum. I believe that Liverpool Maritime Museum has amassed even more information in the 30 years since it was published.
              Uncle John - Passed away March 2020

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              • #8
                Thanks for that - it has crossed my mind, but haven't got around to checking - I'll make sure I do. Thr family here in the 1800s was heavily tied into the steamers, so there is a distinct possibility of travel to NZ. The fact that I can find nothing further on Thomas Pickhills here could mean he moved on - there is a plethora of info on all the other family members.

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                • #9
                  Thanks once again - I'll check it out. i already know that info comes from the most surprising places so I never overlook anything anymore.
                  Tim

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                  • #10
                    Hi - don't laugh, but have you looked under Pickles and the variants? Sounds quite similar to Pickhills..

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                    • #11
                      Not laughing at that suggestion - though I did smile. The occasional Pickles has turned up, one was a bum steer (where IGI transcribed a name as Pickhills, and it turned out to be a Pickles when I investigated it), and the other - to date- has been for Rickinson's death certificate. Having such an unusual Christian name meant that it was highly likely to be him. And the name is the problem - Pickhills is unique, Pickles is not. If you do a search for William Pickles, you get dozens of results even for specific areas ( a bit like searching for an Appleyard - my GG Grandmothers mauden name - in Yorkshire - they are prolific). Unfortunately, apart from Rickinson all others in the family have Christian names that were fashionable when they were born, so it is difficult. I've adopted a system of first searching out all the Pickhills or Pickhill info that I can, then when that is exhausted I'll dig further afield. I'm actually surprised at how often the actual spelling of Pickhills goes back - I've found them as far back as the 1500s. Not looking forward to tackling the Pickles clan to try to fill gaps, I can assure you.
                      Tim

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                      • #12
                        How did you get on?

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                        • #13
                          Nothing at this time - I'm sure something will pop up sooner or later.
                          I've even checked New Zealand records and nothing there either, though it was a long shot.

                          However, a couple of other certificates have arrived, and got some other interesting info. The Rickinson Pickles death certificate was definitely my GG Grandfather - the same Parkfield Rd address, and his son Charles (who died in Australia) was present at his death. But the really interesting info for me came from the death certificate of Clara Pickhills, who I'm fairly sure was Rickinson's Grandmother. She died in Northowram, which, from my internet research, is a fairly tiny village near Halifax (it has cropped up a couple of times with my family). Now, Rickinson married Elizabeth Appleyard (my GG Grandmother) in 1840 in Halifax, and her father was William Appleyard. A William Appleyard (I'm assuming the same) was present at Clara's death in Northowram in 1838 (noted on her death certificate). I was then looking through some other certificates matching some data up for entry in my family tree software and discovered that a John Appleyard (possibly William's son?) was present at the death of 8-month-old Jane Pickhills in 1844 in Northowram. I think this has made me realise just how small these villages really were, and how the families were closely connected to one another. To be present at the death of another families members is very intimate. I have left messages on some Appleyard forums hoping to get more info, but I don't think they check them very often. I have had no contact from them to date.

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                          • #14
                            Hi - it's interesting isn't it...maybe the library there can give some suggestions..perhaps to where they are buried etc
                            http://www.calderdale.gov.uk/leisure...orthowram.html It sounds like both sides were in Northowram for some time. Also http://www.cfhsweb.co.uk/ Calderdale Family History Society and http://www.calderdale.gov.uk/leisure...y/further.html
                            Last edited by naomiatt; 06-07-10, 06:55.

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                            • #15
                              Thanks again. I have sent off some emails, so will wait and see. I actually joined the Calderdale FHS, seeing as my early family seem to be so tied into that area. My interests have been listed with them.

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                              • #16
                                Not a prob - how about the newspaper sites? Any luck with them?

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                                • #17
                                  You can sometimes find surprising nuggets of info in the Australian newspapers http://newspapers.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/home
                                  Uncle John - Passed away March 2020

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                                  • #18
                                    There are 61 hits for Pickhills on the Aus newspaper site that Uncle John and Naomi linked to, most of which relate to Capt. Pickhills. One relates to the death of Charles Edward Pickhills, which you mentioned.

                                    There are probably more hits if you do some creative searching, because the newspapers have been OCR'd, and the quality is fairly poor.

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                                    • #20
                                      There are also 6 hits for the surname Pickhills on FindmyPast's new Australian site, all from the SA police gazette or trade directories:

                                      Trace your ancestry and build a family tree by researching extensive birth records, census data, obituaries and more - over 5 billion records - start today!


                                      I don't have a sub to the site, so I can't find out any more, but it might be worth your while buying a few credits.

                                      I've drawn a complete blank with passenger lists so far, apart from the ones you already have. Pity the SA passenger lists site isn't name searchable.

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