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From:
Subject: Re: [GEELONG] AUS-VIC-GEELONG-DISTRICT Digest, Vol 5, Issue 50
Date: Sun, 04 Apr 2010 07:00:57 +1000
References: <mailman.425.1270278061.2380.aus-vic-geelong-district@rootsweb.com><017401cad33e$bdde8370$399b8a50$@com>
In-Reply-To: <017401cad33e$bdde8370$399b8a50$@com>


Hi, Chuck
Have you tried ships crew lists?
I had one ancestor come from a whaling ship from New Bedford, Mass', USA, another from
Cornwell,his family were shipwrights and shipbuilders.
Cheers Glen


On Sun, Apr 4th, 2010 at 1:02 AM, Chuck May <> wrote:

> Not unless you can figure out where my Thomas MAY came from and
> how/why they
> went to New York. This has had me seriously stumped for decades now,
> and I
> suspect I am seriously hampered by the distance from Massachusetts
> to
> Melbourne <g>.
>
> Here's the short story on him:
>
> Thomas MAY was born about 1806 somewhere in the British Empire.
> Though I
> can't find him in any convict or assisted immigrant lists, in 1843 he
> was in
> Melbourne, and married Sarah Ann CLUBB (an assisted immigrant about
> whom I
> have a relatively good picture) in St James Church. In 1845 he was a
> baker
> in Geelong and in 1849 the family probably lived at Marabool Street.
> There
> were three children: Thomas Melbourne MAY (1845 in Melbourne), Sarah
> Ann MAY
> (probably about 1849 in Geelong), and Robert MAY (1846 in Geelong,
> died 1850
> at sea). The marriage was at least somewhat troubled, as "Wild and
> Wondrous
> Women" indicates that the couple appeared on Geelong police blotters
> with
> complaints of mutual abuse and drunkenness.
>
> In December 1850 the entire family (less Robert, who died that
> April)
> arrived in New York on a ship from London (since Robert died April
> 14th "at
> sea", I assume the departure from Australia was before the middle of
> April
> 1850). Some time between then and 1861 Thomas dropped from sight
> under
> circumstances which prompted the family (as shown in Thomas Melbourne
> MAY's
> letters from 1861) to concoct a story of him having been lost at sea
> (obviously false, since he shows in the passenger list of
> "Devonshire" in
> 1850).
>
> Sarah Ann (CLUBB) MAY re-married in New York before 1866. Sarah Ann
> MAY
> eventually married, possibly to someone named Linford. Thomas
> Melbourne MAY
> became my Great-Great-Grandfather.
>
> The obvious questions are:
> Where did Thomas come from?
> When and how did he arrive in Australia?
> Why did the family leave Geelong just at the height of the gold
> rush?
> How did they get the resources to make the journey? (Sarah's family
> in
> London would not have had the resources to help).
> Why did they choose New York as a destination?
> What happened to Thomas between 1850 and 1861?
>
> Sorry to take up so much bandwidth, but this has been a real stumper
> for me
> for a long time.
> Thanks.
>
> Chuck May
> Pittsfield, Massachusetts, USA
>
> http://www.may-engineering.com
>
> > Date: Sat, 3 Apr 2010 14:31:26 +1000
> > From: "ROSALYN SMAILL" <>
> >
> > Hi Chuck,
> > What a pity. Is there anything else I can do to help?
>
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