Lyn,  If you know which state he went to and who he married it would help

I have checked the bounty immigrants index and there are a few William HARRIS but none with those parents names c. 1838

 

The indexes for NSW, victoria & queensland are online and I can check south australia if needed

 

Liz

 

 

 

Lyn,  Are you sure about his birth date c. 1820?

He would have been 39 when he married and then he had a huge family

I have come across a listing on Rootsweb world connect for this family but they have a different birth date for him.  Not sure if you have seen this record by it was posted by someone called Shane

I also came across a message from you requesting a lookup in Bombala cemetery

If you still need that I have a contact you can check that out for you on another site

Sometimes info on death certificates can be incorrect so the 60 years in the colony may be a guess and it may be incorrect.

Have you checked any immigration records for NSW?

I know it is difficult with a common name like William HARRIS as there can be a few.

He is not listed as a convict marrying Ellen REEDY but he would not have required permission if his sentence had expired or he got a pardon

There are so many William HARRIS who came here as convicts but a lot were too early

There are a few around the date 1838 & of course one of them may be him but we have no way of knowing if he didn't need to get permission to marry

Have you seen the Cooma Monaro pioneers site?

Fantastic site for people living in that area in the early days and you can post messages on there as well for further help and also post your family info with a contact e mail if you want anyone to contact you regarding your family tree

Have you got a copy of his marriage cert. in 1859 to Ellen REEDY?

Not sure how much info it would contain in those days - probably not much

 

Liz

Lyn,  Not sure if this will help or confuse the issue but here are the details from the posting I mentioned in the previous message

 

William HARRIS b. 1834  d. 1922

 

father Henry HARRIS

mother Mary STAINES

William HARRIS married Ellen REEDY 12.4.1859 Cooma NSW

there are 16 children listed on this posting

you can view it online on Rootsweb World Connect site

This info is obviously quite different to what you posted so will need to be checked for accuracy

There is an e mail address for the person who posted by not known if it is up to date

Hope I havn't put a spanner in the works

Liz

Lyn,  I got a friend to check the Bombala cemetery for the William HARRIS death you had listed but unfortunately there was no record

Usually only burials with headstones are listed on this index so possibly if he is buried there he is without a headstone

I was trying to see if I could find more info on a headstone to make sure it was the correct William

 

Liz

Hi Liz

I'm not positive about his birth date of 1820, but all the info on his death certificate points to it. it states that he was in fact 38 years old when he married Ellen Reedy/Reidy, but she was only 18, so i guess that's how they were able to have such a large family. i have a copy of their marriage certificate but it states his age, his parents, and his place of birth as 'unknown'.

i've check on the state records for immigration etc but couldn't find any information that fit a William Harris with the dates i'm looking at. if it is true that he was in the colony for 60 years and his birth date is correct, the he would have been about 18 when he arrived.

i have just across some information from the old bailey criminal court regarding a William Harris aged about 17 who was convicted and sentenced to transportation in about 1836/37 so that could fit in with him. then i found record of a certificate of freedom for a William Harris who arrived in Australia in 1838 on the Lord Lyndoch. if the certificate of freedom was granted in 1848, and he was married in 1859 would he still need permission to marry?? if not then i might follow that lead and hope that's it!

i had found the info previously on rootsweb regarding the William Harris b. 1834 d.1922 and at first i though it was the right one, but after receiving his death certificate i discounted the information.

thank you so much for your time and your help with this. it is much appreciated!

Lyn

 

Lyn,  The William HARRIS who came on Lord Lyndoch was aged 15 - 7 year sentence.  Tried in Worcester 1837

There are so many William Harris who came as convicts but a lot of them were much earlier

If he got a pardon or a certificate of freedom he would not have required permission to marry if he was a convict

Liz

Hi Liz

 

Do you think the William Harris from the Lord Lyndoch could have been him? Is there any records I can get to try and verify it or not?

At this point in time, he seems the only likely candidate....

 

Thanks

 

Lyn

lyn im not sure if this will help,i checked some listings of the 2nd and 3rd fleets that arrived in oz.There were 4 William Harris

 

HARRIS, William, Wiltshire  - - - - - - - - 7
HARRIS, William, Surrey - - - - - - - - - - 7  3rd fleet

HARRIS, William, Dorset  - - - - - - - -  Life
HARRIS, William, Warwick - - - - - - - -  Life 2nd fleet

 

Mike

If any of the 4 Williams that Arrived the Nearest is the Warwick one,Stafford is about 25 Miles away.The Site ref Only give where the Trial took place.So if he was born in Stafford then that one is the most Likely

 

Mike

Lyn,  The convict records are available at the state archives and some of them are now online on ancestry.com but you need to be a member to view the whole records

Some convict records are online on the state archives NSW site

As convict ages are often incorrect it is sometimes very difficult to know if you are tracing the correct person especially with a common name

Liz

Thanks for your help Mike, however the William Harris who arrived on the second fleet is too early to be my William Harris. My William Harris wasn't born until about 1820, and the second fleet arrived in Australia about 1790...

 

Thanks anyway though. Any info is good whether it comes to fruition or not :)

 

Lyn

Thanks Liz

I've ordered some records from the NSW State archives and will hopefully receive them soon.

It may not lead to anything, as i have no idea what kind of information will be included in the record, but it's worth a go.

thanks for your help.

Lyn