The Hunt Begins
*Note* I've seen unreliable sources to say John II is the son of John Sr but I haven't seen them myself. I haven't seen anything to suggest John II is the son of anyone else either.
John Henry's Father was also a John Batis. We have birth, marriage and death dates for this John Batis. He was born in 1846. But what of his parents? The family's word of mouth tradition says that he was also a John Batis.
Parents of a child born in 1846 would likely be not much younger than 20, so let's say their birth dates were around 1826. That was ten years before colonisation, so no surprise they weren't registered in South Australia. Were they both immigrants? Well, there were three ways for non-indigenous people to arrive in South Australia: either as "official" colonists, or as crew of the immigrant ships, or a very few came from other British colonies such as Van Diemen's Land, New South Wales or Melbourne.
Tasks: Search for records of colonists named Batis or Comer/Corner:
2: Search 1841 SA Census for the name Batis and/or Commer (State Library visit) No Batis, no Battis, Bates James and Bates Mary Ann (separate listings), no Commer, no Comer, one Corner, Jas (James? Jason?). That's all.
3: Check genealogySA full records for mention of parents in John II's marriage registration.
4: Search The Ships List for arrivals.
Familyhistorysa.info:
Only the birth entries which show John and Elizabeth as parents of Joseph, Diana and George. No Birth or marriage data for the parents.
Looking on Rootsweb, I've found that the problem with the origins of this couple is universal. Either they admit they don't know where they came from or they make absurd proposals. One claims that John was born in the West Indies in 1921, but without immigration data this is meaningless. Another claims Elizabeth was the daughter of a couple who would have had to be 14 and 9 when she was born, plus she's not listed in their children on the relevant passenger list.
Men who did move very freely between New South Wales, Hobart Town, Kangaroo Island and King George Sound were the crew of whaling and sealing vessels, such as George Fireball Bates.They carried women and children with them. Some of the children were fathered by the Straitsmen.
John Henry's Father was also a John Batis. We have birth, marriage and death dates for this John Batis. He was born in 1846. But what of his parents? The family's word of mouth tradition says that he was also a John Batis.
Parents of a child born in 1846 would likely be not much younger than 20, so let's say their birth dates were around 1826. That was ten years before colonisation, so no surprise they weren't registered in South Australia. Were they both immigrants? Well, there were three ways for non-indigenous people to arrive in South Australia: either as "official" colonists, or as crew of the immigrant ships, or a very few came from other British colonies such as Van Diemen's Land, New South Wales or Melbourne.
Tasks: Search for records of colonists named Batis or Comer/Corner:
2: Search 1841 SA Census for the name Batis and/or Commer (State Library visit) No Batis, no Battis, Bates James and Bates Mary Ann (separate listings), no Commer, no Comer, one Corner, Jas (James? Jason?). That's all.
3: Check genealogySA full records for mention of parents in John II's marriage registration.
4: Search The Ships List for arrivals.
Familyhistorysa.info:
- Two CORNERS arrived in South Australia in 1839, one aboard the Asia, one aboard the Dumfries. No given names. To me, that suggests males. No other arrivals of Corners match Elizabeth.
- COMER Robert, wife, dau arrived 1839-06-07 on Sir Charles Forbes from Liverpool. Possible the daughter was Elizabeth. If she was around 10, she'd be old enough to have a child in 1846
- No arrivals of BATES, except to say that John Bates and Elizabeth Commer arrived by 1845. No ship; no date; it's just saying they were present in the colony.
Only the birth entries which show John and Elizabeth as parents of Joseph, Diana and George. No Birth or marriage data for the parents.
Looking on Rootsweb, I've found that the problem with the origins of this couple is universal. Either they admit they don't know where they came from or they make absurd proposals. One claims that John was born in the West Indies in 1921, but without immigration data this is meaningless. Another claims Elizabeth was the daughter of a couple who would have had to be 14 and 9 when she was born, plus she's not listed in their children on the relevant passenger list.
Men who did move very freely between New South Wales, Hobart Town, Kangaroo Island and King George Sound were the crew of whaling and sealing vessels, such as George Fireball Bates.They carried women and children with them. Some of the children were fathered by the Straitsmen.
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