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Archiver > AUS-VIC-NE > 2007-02 > 1171786419


From: Carren Kaston <>
Subject: Re: [AVNE] AUS-VIC-NE Digest, Vol 2, Issue 32
Date: Sun, 18 Feb 2007 03:13:39 -0500
References: <mailman.217.1171440021.22615.aus-vic-ne@rootsweb.com>
In-Reply-To: <mailman.217.1171440021.22615.aus-vic-ne@rootsweb.com>


2/18-07
Dear Peter,

I have not had any replies yet. However, one person with whom I have
had email contact off this list told me that he thought the name Bowna
was aboriginal, meaning "big water," a reference to the Murumbigee
River. If that is true, then there is no connection at all, I would
imagine, between Bonat and Bowna, except pure coincidence of sound.

Thank you very much for inquiring of a long-term resident of Bowna. I
would greatly appreciate knowing if you hear anything.

Best,
Carren (Kaston)


wrote:

>Today's Topics:
>
> 1. Re: Mr. Bonat from the Bowna (Sub)Division in New South
> Wales, Albury District (Peter Ross)
>
>----------------------------------------------------------------------
>Message: 1
>Date: Wed, 14 Feb 2007 08:01:28 +1100
>From: "Peter Ross" <>
>Subject: Re: [AVNE] Mr. Bonat from the Bowna (Sub)Division in New
>SouthWales, Albury District
>To: <>
>Message-ID: <004801c74fb2$32d6cf20$>
>Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="iso-8859-1";
>reply-type=original
>
>Hi Carren,
>
>Have you had any replies yet ? I've been in touch with a long-term resident
>of Bowna who has not heard of Mr Bonat but who is fascinated and is doing
>some serious enquiring.
>
>The connection to Bowna seems entirely logical, assuming the French name
>Bonat was Anglicised to Bowna whilst he was here (IF he was here).
>
>Please let me know if you already have an answer to your query.
>
>Peter Ross
>
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Carren Kaston" <>
>To: <>
>Sent: Sunday, February 11, 2007 5:24 PM
>Subject: [AVNE] Mr. Bonat from the Bowna (Sub)Division in New South Wales,
>Albury District
>
>
>
>
>>I am a museum researcher in the United States, trying to find someone
>>named Mr. Bonat, who is described in a family diary as "Bowna Div.
>>Army man." We only recently learned that Bowna Div. is or was a place
>>in New South Wales, a land-holding.
>>
>>Mr. Bonat married a woman from Quebec named Marie-Louise LeBel
>>(born 1876), who migrated with her family to Michigan, in the United
>>States, around 1885. We think the marriage took place in the 1890s,
>>or a bit later, but not after 1905, since Mr. Bonat was dead by then.
>>
>>I am very sorry to say that we don't have Mr. Bonat's first name, nor
>>the date or place of his birth, nor the precise date or place of the
>>marriage, nor his place of death. (We do know a fair amount about
>>Marie-Louise LeBel Bonat, who traveled a great deal. By 1905, she was
>>living in Philadelphia and listing herself in the city directory as a
>>"widow," thus giving us an approximate date for Mr. Bonat's death. She
>>lived mostly in the US, with occasional periods in Paris, and died in
>>Middletown, Rhode Island, in 1936.)
>>
>>I have several questions relating to Mr. Bonat that I hope listserv
>>members can help me with.
>>
>>(1) Was the village of Bowna (flooded now, I understand, by
>>construction of a dam), or the Bowna (sub)Division, named for a family
>>whose surname was Bowna? If so, does anyone have information about this
>>family? -- what did they do for a living? where did they came from (if
>>originally from some place other than Australia), and when did they come?
>>Are there any descendants, or is there a way to track them, to see whether
>>one of their ancestors did in fact marry in French-Canadian woman named
>>Marie-Louise LeBel?
>>
>>(2) How can I find out if a man, or a family, named Bonat lived in the
>>Bowna (sub)Division, and get more information about him? The name Bonat
>>is quite unusual, so that even though we don't have his first name, I
>>think he would show up on military or parish lists, census records, etc.
>>
>>Maybe Bowna or Albury parish records -- do those exist anywhere?
>>Or census records for perhaps the 1880s or 1890s -- I would search for
>>both Bonat and Bowna.
>>
>>Note: Before we found out that Bowna is a place name, we thought it
>>might be a misspelling of "Bonat," since both words would be pronounced
>>the same, if Bonat is a French name. It is also possible that
>>Marie-Louise, who was very fond of all things French, "Frenchified" the
>>name Bowna so that it came out Bonat. That's why it might make sense to
>>search for the name Bowna as well.
>>
>>Thank you very much for your assistance.
>>
>>Sincerely,
>>Carren Kaston
>>
>>-------------------------------
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>>
>>
>
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>End of AUS-VIC-NE Digest, Vol 2, Issue 32
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