Hi Listers back again in search of help re my brick wall. My great grandfather Gaspar REUBENICHT (RUBINIC?) apparently jumped ship in Port Adelaide South Australia 1859. His surname obviously anglicized. He was born December 27 Fiume in Austria now Rijeka, Croatia today. He named three of his four sons Robert, this name preceding the names they were known as. Was that the practice of Croatians around that time and where did the name Robert come from? Would it have been his father's name as he named his father as John (what would John be known as anyway in Croatia?) on his marriage certificate. Hope I've explained my problem clearly enough, any suggestions appreciated. Gaspar's naturalisation papers do not enlighten me as to how he arrived in this country. Many thanks in advance Margaret South Australia

RUBENICHT sounds more like it was Germanized than Anglicized! What do you mean "he jumped ship"... was he a member of the ship's crew? Or do you mean he was a stowaway? Most often these stories are not true. I find people are too quick to accept this and in fact have found nearly all those whose family lore said they stowed away. More often what occured was "the sharing of passports"... an immigrant would arrive in the new country and send a passport back home for others to use. Where did Robert come from? Most likely his new home country... Robert is not found in Croatia until recent years. John could be Ivan, Ivo, Ivica, Janko or in areas of Italian influence it may have been Giovanni. By the way in Croatia middle names were not and are not common. Robert Jerin Margaret Travers <mtravers@ozemail.com.au> wrote: Hi Listers back again in search of help re my brick wall. My great grandfather Gaspar REUBENICHT (RUBINIC?) apparently jumped ship in Port Adelaide South Australia 1859. His surname obviously anglicized. He was born December 27 Fiume in Austria now Rijeka, Croatia today. He named three of his four sons Robert, this name preceding the names they were known as. Was that the practice of Croatians around that time and where did the name Robert come from? Would it have been his father's name as he named his father as John (what would John be known as anyway in Croatia?) on his marriage certificate. Hope I've explained my problem clearly enough, any suggestions appreciated. Gaspar's naturalisation papers do not enlighten me as to how he arrived in this country. Many thanks in advance Margaret South Australia ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to CROATIA-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message