Hi Carren, There is at least 80 or 100 kms between the Murrumbidgee River and the Murray River, so I don't think we have an identity crisis at all! The Bowna area is part of the Murray River system, which was inundated by the Hume Reservoir in the 1930s. This is a huge dam, by any world standards, and had an enormous impact on the Murray Valley when completed. I'm sure that your country also has the usual ten different versions of the native names of places? Where I live, the native name of the place is Yackandandah, which means (depending on your heritage, or level of gullibility!) "two rocks on top of one another", or "hilly country", or anything else that the first settlers pretended they understood! What I'm saying is that "Bowna" could mean "Bonat", but coud equally have been an approximation of the reply to a settler's question of a local aborigine... "what name this place?". Aborigine replies "Bowna", meaning "What the hell are you talking about?". Personally, I think the "coincidence" is far too strong to ignore, and that there is a sensible connection between the names "Bonat" and "Bowna", if only we can find it. Has anyone explained the "Bowna (Div) Army" to you in any way? One thing I've learned from this little exercise is that in fact apart from knowing the general area & topography, I know almost nothing of its history and I've grown up within 15 kms of the area. But I'm determined to find out! Watch this space. Peter ----- Original Message ----- From: "Carren Kaston" <ckaston@starpower.net> To: <aus-vic-ne@rootsweb.com> Sent: Sunday, February 18, 2007 7:13 PM Subject: Re: [AVNE] AUS-VIC-NE Digest, Vol 2, Issue 32 > 2/18-07 > Dear Peter, > > I have not had any replies yet. However, one person with whom I have > had email contact off this list told me that he thought the name Bowna > was aboriginal, meaning "big water," a reference to the Murumbigee > River. If that is true, then there is no connection at all, I would > imagine, between Bonat and Bowna, except pure coincidence of sound. > > Thank you very much for inquiring of a long-term resident of Bowna. I > would greatly appreciate knowing if you hear anything. > > Best, > Carren (Kaston) > > > aus-vic-ne-request@rootsweb.com wrote: > >>Today's Topics: >> >> 1. Re: Mr. Bonat from the Bowna (Sub)Division in New South >> Wales, Albury District (Peter Ross) >> >>---------------------------------------------------------------------- >>Message: 1 >>Date: Wed, 14 Feb 2007 08:01:28 +1100 >>From: "Peter Ross" <rossof@ozemail.com.au> >>Subject: Re: [AVNE] Mr. Bonat from the Bowna (Sub)Division in New >> South Wales, Albury District >>To: <aus-vic-ne@rootsweb.com> >>Message-ID: <004801c74fb2$32d6cf20$0401a8c0@acerb13d74b0ac> >>Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="iso-8859-1"; >> reply-type=original >> >>Hi Carren, >> >>Have you had any replies yet ? I've been in touch with a long-term >>resident >>of Bowna who has not heard of Mr Bonat but who is fascinated and is doing >>some serious enquiring. >> >>The connection to Bowna seems entirely logical, assuming the French name >>Bonat was Anglicised to Bowna whilst he was here (IF he was here). >> >>Please let me know if you already have an answer to your query. >> >>Peter Ross >> >> >>----- Original Message ----- >>From: "Carren Kaston" <ckaston@starpower.net> >>To: <AUS-VIC-NE@rootsweb.com> >>Sent: Sunday, February 11, 2007 5:24 PM >>Subject: [AVNE] Mr. Bonat from the Bowna (Sub)Division in New South Wales, >>Albury District >> >> >> >> >>>I am a museum researcher in the United States, trying to find someone >>>named Mr. Bonat, who is described in a family diary as "Bowna Div. >>>Army man." We only recently learned that Bowna Div. is or was a place >>>in New South Wales, a land-holding. >>> >>>Mr. Bonat married a woman from Quebec named Marie-Louise LeBel >>>(born 1876), who migrated with her family to Michigan, in the United >>>States, around 1885. We think the marriage took place in the 1890s, >>>or a bit later, but not after 1905, since Mr. Bonat was dead by then. >>> >>>I am very sorry to say that we don't have Mr. Bonat's first name, nor >>>the date or place of his birth, nor the precise date or place of the >>>marriage, nor his place of death. (We do know a fair amount about >>>Marie-Louise LeBel Bonat, who traveled a great deal. By 1905, she was >>>living in Philadelphia and listing herself in the city directory as a >>>"widow," thus giving us an approximate date for Mr. Bonat's death. She >>>lived mostly in the US, with occasional periods in Paris, and died in >>>Middletown, Rhode Island, in 1936.) >>> >>>I have several questions relating to Mr. Bonat that I hope listserv >>>members can help me with. >>> >>>(1) Was the village of Bowna (flooded now, I understand, by >>>construction of a dam), or the Bowna (sub)Division, named for a family >>>whose surname was Bowna? If so, does anyone have information about this >>>family? -- what did they do for a living? where did they came from (if >>>originally from some place other than Australia), and when did they come? >>>Are there any descendants, or is there a way to track them, to see >>>whether >>>one of their ancestors did in fact marry in French-Canadian woman named >>>Marie-Louise LeBel? >>> >>>(2) How can I find out if a man, or a family, named Bonat lived in the >>>Bowna (sub)Division, and get more information about him? The name Bonat >>>is quite unusual, so that even though we don't have his first name, I >>>think he would show up on military or parish lists, census records, etc. >>> >>>Maybe Bowna or Albury parish records -- do those exist anywhere? >>>Or census records for perhaps the 1880s or 1890s -- I would search for >>>both Bonat and Bowna. >>> >>>Note: Before we found out that Bowna is a place name, we thought it >>>might be a misspelling of "Bonat," since both words would be pronounced >>>the same, if Bonat is a French name. It is also possible that >>>Marie-Louise, who was very fond of all things French, "Frenchified" the >>>name Bowna so that it came out Bonat. That's why it might make sense to >>>search for the name Bowna as well. >>> >>>Thank you very much for your assistance. >>> >>>Sincerely, >>>Carren Kaston >>> >>>------------------------------- >>>To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to >>>AUS-VIC-NE-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the >>>quotes in the subject and the body of the message >>> >>> >> >> >>------------------------------ >> >>To contact the AUS-VIC-NE list administrator, send an email to >>AUS-VIC-NE-admin@rootsweb.com. >> >>To post a message to the AUS-VIC-NE mailing list, send an email to >>AUS-VIC-NE@rootsweb.com. >> >>__________________________________________________________ >>To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to >>AUS-VIC-NE-request@rootsweb.com >>with the word "unsubscribe" without the quotes in the subject and the body >>of the >>email with no additional text. >> >> >>End of AUS-VIC-NE Digest, Vol 2, Issue 32 >>***************************************** >> >> >> > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > AUS-VIC-NE-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I am using the free version of SPAMfighter for private users. 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