In looking for my elusive ancestor Jane MURRAY from either Rosscommon or Londonderry Ireland (sources differ) who was in Geelong April 1842 (marriage) I recently accessed the Index to assisted immigration on the PROV website. Bingo...Jane MURRAY 26 on Regulus Feb 1842. I duly checked out NSW Archive film 2144 for the "Regulus". There was on board an Anne MURRAY 26 from Londonderry....but no Jane (although a Thomas 19 from Roscommon) My query is this merely an indexing error from the PROV or is their index derived from another source??? I have found that searching NSW archive index & PROV index will give results that differ on other searches. Any help appreciated! Judy Qld

Hello Judy, The number of times I have said "Thank goodness" that the NSW fiche/films are different from the Vic (Port Phillip) ones!!!!!!! Sometimes that one little word that is illegible on one might be legible on the other. It's highly likely that the error is a transcription one and you need to check the different copies of these passenger lists to satisfy yourself whether it is Jane or Anne - and even then you may not be able to be 100% certain either way. That's what indexes are about - a guide to help us find the primary source - never every make a decision based on an index - always check the original where possible. As Thomas and Anne are on different pages, then you've obviously checked both unmarried males and unmarried females etc. And another good way to check is to look at ALL passengers for the ship in question - sometimes transcription errors can jump out at you when you can see "the bigger picture"! Hope that helps ........ Susie Z ----- Original Message ----- From: "Judy Meibusch" <raigmore@cnnet.com.au> To: <AUS-VIC-GEELONG-DISTRICT-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Wednesday, March 03, 2004 8:12 AM Subject: [GEELONG] Assisted Immigration records > In looking for my elusive ancestor Jane MURRAY from either Rosscommon or Londonderry Ireland (sources differ) who was in Geelong April 1842 (marriage) I recently accessed the Index to assisted immigration on the PROV website. > Bingo...Jane MURRAY 26 on Regulus Feb 1842. > > I duly checked out NSW Archive film 2144 for the "Regulus". There was on board an Anne MURRAY 26 from Londonderry....but no Jane (although a Thomas 19 from Roscommon) > > My query is this merely an indexing error from the PROV or is their index derived from another source??? > > I have found that searching NSW archive index & PROV index will give results that differ on other searches. > > Any help appreciated! > Judy > Qld

Sorry - just another bit I forgot ........ Having searched for many years for MURRAYs arriving in NSW - sometimes successfully, sometimes not - make sure you check ..... MURRY and MURPHY and other variations!!!!!!!!! Also remember that for the period you're talking about, a HUGE number of "immigrants" were from Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania) and consequently won't appear on the assisted or unassisted immigrants from British (or Foreign) Ports! Regards ...... Susie Z ----- Original Message ----- From: "Judy Meibusch" <raigmore@cnnet.com.au> To: <AUS-VIC-GEELONG-DISTRICT-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Wednesday, March 03, 2004 8:12 AM Subject: [GEELONG] Assisted Immigration records > In looking for my elusive ancestor Jane MURRAY from either Rosscommon or Londonderry Ireland (sources differ) who was in Geelong April 1842 (marriage) I recently accessed the Index to assisted immigration on the PROV website. > Bingo...Jane MURRAY 26 on Regulus Feb 1842. > > I duly checked out NSW Archive film 2144 for the "Regulus". There was on board an Anne MURRAY 26 from Londonderry....but no Jane (although a Thomas 19 from Roscommon) > > My query is this merely an indexing error from the PROV or is their index derived from another source??? > > I have found that searching NSW archive index & PROV index will give results that differ on other searches. > > Any help appreciated! > Judy > Qld > > > ==== AUS-VIC-GEELONG-DISTRICT Mailing List ==== > Geelong & District Research Centres & Museums : > http://www.zades.com.au/geelong/gdresc.htm > >

Hello Judyand listers This is not a criticism of Judy, but a background to help others, and perhaps reveal to Judy how these things can happen. Lists were copied by several scribes for several departments for various reasons. Each scribe added their own handwriting idiosyncrasies, their own interpretation of the previous scribe's handwriting peculiarites and added their own carelessness, being human! On the odd occasion when two copies (by different scribes) of a shipping list have survived in the Victorian records, both passenger lists had to be filmed and transcribed for the index, because of the obvious differences in each list, and we had no way of knowing which (if either) was the careful (!) original. So if one was sent to NSW, as it had to be in the days when NSW was the responsible government for Port Phillip, it is not without surprise that Anne could become Jane, or the reverse. This, of course may be applied equally to surnames. The wonder is that, with all these vagaries (including our present day volunteers trying to transcribe these latter day horrors ) so many people find their rellies with ease! Having worked on the lists for ten years, knowing all the vagaries, I admit to being just a tad amused that searchers take the listings as "gospel" or blame the modern transcribers for the errors and vagaries of the past, quickly accusing us of altering the spelling of their dear ancestor's name, or worse, being incompetent. But please, don't send me your complaints for Inward Foreign 1852-1924, Inward British 1852 -1924 or Inward from NZ 1852-1924 on which I worked with other volunteers over the ten years I gave to help researchers coming after me. We did our best, so listers can find their rellies in minutes on the internet. They don't appear there by magic! Regards Ada At 07:12 03-03-04 +1000, you wrote: >In looking for my elusive ancestor Jane MURRAY from either Rosscommon or >Londonderry Ireland (sources differ) who was in Geelong April 1842 >(marriage) I recently accessed the Index to assisted immigration on the >PROV website. >Bingo...Jane MURRAY 26 on Regulus Feb 1842. > >I duly checked out NSW Archive film 2144 for the "Regulus". There was on >board an Anne MURRAY 26 from Londonderry....but no Jane (although a Thomas >19 from Roscommon) > >My query is this merely an indexing error from the PROV or is their index >derived from another source??? > >I have found that searching NSW archive index & PROV index will give >results that differ on other searches. > >Any help appreciated! >Judy >Qld > > >==== AUS-VIC-GEELONG-DISTRICT Mailing List ==== >Geelong & District Research Centres & Museums : >http://www.zades.com.au/geelong/gdresc.htm regards, Ada Ackerly, Melbourne, Australia formerly Ackerly DocuSearch