G'day All, I have an occupation 'straitsman'. Does anybody know what it is exactly. A sealer or boat person?? Cheers Lyn VIC

Hi I think it can mean either or both. Maybe share who it is incase anyone knows him/the name(?) Julie On Sat, 16 Jun 2018 at 8:52 pm, Lyn Carruthers <[email protected]> wrote: > G'day All, I have an occupation 'straitsman'. Does anybody know what it is > exactly. A sealer or boat person?? > Cheers > Lyn > VIC > > > _______________________________________________ > AUS-Tasmania Mailing List Website http://www.rootsweb.com/~austashs/ > Contact Admin [email protected] > _______________________________________________ > Email preferences: http://bit.ly/rootswebpref > > Unsubscribe > https://lists.rootsweb.ancestry.com/postorius/lists/[email protected]/ > > Archives: > https://lists.rootsweb.ancestry.com/hyperkitty/list/[email protected]/ > > Privacy Statement: https://ancstry.me/2JWBOdY Terms and Conditions: > https://ancstry.me/2HDBym9 > > RootsWeb is funded and supported by Ancestry.com and our loyal RootsWeb > community > -- Sent from phone

Thanks Julie. MAYNARDs of Cape Barren Island.

Hi Lyn Yes I think Straitsmen - in this instance refers to men who had been in Bass Strait for an extended period, and was linked to / suggests an earlier sealing phase, however depending on their arrival date they may or may not have been involved in sealing, seal numbers declined quickly, and Straitsmen refers to a more complex and multifaceted existence/subsistence in the Straits than just or even sealing - hence I think men who had been termed 'sealers' did later become known as 'straitsmen' once seals declined, but that might also have taken a generation in a family to change this terminology. You could also read *Grease and Ochre * by Patsy Cameron which focuses on this terminology. Julie On 16 June 2018 at 21:11, Lyn Carruthers <[email protected]> wrote: > Thanks Julie. MAYNARDs of Cape Barren Island. > > > > _______________________________________________ > AUS-Tasmania Mailing List Website http://www.rootsweb.com/~austashs/ > Contact Admin [email protected] > _______________________________________________ > Email preferences: http://bit.ly/rootswebpref > > Unsubscribe https://lists.rootsweb.ancestry.com/postorius/lists/ > [email protected]/ > > Archives: https://lists.rootsweb.ancestry.com/hyperkitty/list/ > [email protected]/ > > Privacy Statement: https://ancstry.me/2JWBOdY Terms and Conditions: > https://ancstry.me/2HDBym9 > > RootsWeb is funded and supported by Ancestry.com and our loyal RootsWeb > community >

Thank you for your reply Julie. It sounds spot on as some of the men were sealers and straitsmen. I thought more towards boatmen, didn't think of the decline of the seals. Cheers Lyn

I have a vague recollection of the term also being used to describe descendants of the European sealers and their aboriginal women partners, who continued to live on the islands and in some cases still do. Straitsman was  the name chosen for the small roll-on roll-off vessel that traded in Bass Strait in the 1960s onward and which famously capsized coming into port in Melbourne after some crew member opened the rear "door" while ship was still underway, letting the wake in and flooding the vehicle deck, as I recall. On 16/06/2018 9:25 PM, Lyn Carruthers wrote: > Thank you for your reply Julie. It sounds spot on as some of the men were > sealers and straitsmen. I thought more towards boatmen, didn't think of the > decline of the seals. > Cheers > Lyn > > > > _______________________________________________ > AUS-Tasmania Mailing List Website http://www.rootsweb.com/~austashs/ > Contact Admin [email protected] > _______________________________________________ > Email preferences: http://bit.ly/rootswebpref > > Unsubscribe https://lists.rootsweb.ancestry.com/postorius/lists/[email protected]/ > > Archives: https://lists.rootsweb.ancestry.com/hyperkitty/list/[email protected]/ > > Privacy Statement: https://ancstry.me/2JWBOdY Terms and Conditions: https://ancstry.me/2HDBym9 > > RootsWeb is funded and supported by Ancestry.com and our loyal RootsWeb community >

Thank you for your reply Bill. Cheers Lyn VIC