Family History Notes - Curtis

BARQUE LALLA ROOKH - 11 cabin, 15 intermediate, 92 steerage passengers from London, England 9/8/1840

KENNY, Captain Henry

*CURTIS, William (4/9/1814-16/8/1884) Born Westminster, London, Middlesex, England. Died Gawler SA. Farmer; Starball Farm Lyndoch Valley. Anglican. Perhaps married twice m (1) no details - likely took place in England and he emigrated as a widower m (2) 6/5/1848 St George’s Gawler, Eliza nee Adams. W Curtis was a cabin passenger.

BARQUE RESOURCE - c211 passengers from London, England 23/1/1839

BOYLE, Captain William

!ADAMS, John (//c1805-//) Labourer from Gravesend, Kent, England. Not yet identified. This family went free steerage per courtesy of the SA Commissioners.

!ADAMS, Mrs John (//c1806-//) Not yet identified.

!ADAMS, Eliza Mary (31/8/1822-5/4/1892) Born Kent, England. Died SA (date not registered). Servant from 15 Star St, Gravesend, Kent, England. m 6/5/1848 St George’s Gawler, William Curtis.

!ADAMS, Emma Sarah (8/8/1825-19/5/1917) Born Gravesend, Kent, England. Died Prospect SA, at home Kent House Milner St. Obit Observer 26/5/1917 p184b. m 8/8/1844 Adelaide, William Carman.

!ADAMS, son (//c1831-//) Not yet identified.

!ADAMS, daughter (//c1835-//) Not yet identified.

Letter 6 October 2003

Dear Jenny and Milton

Please find enclosed the family information for William and Eliza Curtis as far as I am able to take the task to date. I can see that the John Adams parents must have lowered their age to take advantage of the SA Commissioners’ free passage to SA, because there was an upper age limit to be eligible. Perhaps John and his phantom wife were so in love that they started their family as soon as they could - anything is possible before the definite evidence turns up. You can expect a discrepancy of perhaps up to 10-15 years in trying to work out the identities - so do not be surprised at what happens.

Lo and behold, a few days after we last spoke on the phone, I suddenly came across the second daughter of your John Adams family. I have duly inserted her details in the correct place and also enclose an excellent biography of Mrs William Carman. It greatly heartened me to read that she ‘left an exceptionally large number of descendants’ and so you could make contact with some of these perhaps without too much difficulty and find out who has Adams records to help push your quest along.

So now - only four of the original family are left to find. I only thought after we spoke, Jenny, that you should also get a copy of the original marriage certificate and discover who witnessed the ceremony. That could give a clue or two about the identity of some of those Adamses - with perhaps the name of the son who would have been 17 when his eldest sister married in 1848. The surname is so common, unfortunately, that it is likely to prove a lengthy task, unless some wonderfully informative clues turn up. Keep fingers crossed.

Let me know what you discover. I will keep a weather eye out as I unearth further facts in my Adelaide endeavours.

Happy hunting (hee! hee!), my dears.

Cheers

Perhaps George Adams m 10/8/1858 Holy Trinity Adelaide, Margaret James (//c1836-//) Father; Richard.

George Adams Farmer; Barunga. d 23/5/1903 Adelaide Hospital (of Barunga), aged 66.

Margaret Adams d 30/9/1910 Hundred of Barunga, aged 74. Lived at Glenelg shortly before her death.