Hello to all on the list , am new here so thought i would list my interests and queries . The identity of my wifes great grandfather Robert WALKER who was born 1830 Greenock Renfrewshire Scotland and died at South Melbourne 1919 , was a mariner according to various birth , death and marriage records attaining to him , but he was also known as Robert WALLACE and even registered the births of some of his children as WALLACE Just recently on the LDS site it has come to my attention that there was a similiar person who was in the Merchant Navy , now i have always wondered how Robert arrived in Melbourne circa 1848 according to his death certificate as there are no definite proof of how he arrived in Melbourne . Did he jump ship ?? So this next question has probably been done to death but would like some advice please on how to access the appropriate records ??? Next query is concerns another mariner ancestor on my fathers side , he was Edward James ROBERTS born circa 1811 either Stoke Damerel Devon England or Dover Kent England . Have seen similiar person (s ) on Ancestry but cant be sure its him , but received info that he died at sea in the Settlement Straits near Singapore circa 1898 Sks found his burial details for me ( Singapore ) but still dont know where i can obtain his death certificate as he may have still been a British subject ?? Tried going into the Kew site but that was like a mine field . Some advice needed please Kind regards Brian Johnson West Australia

Brian Can you contact me off line. I am in Highgate 6003. I have a similar ancestor George Castle who we have all the information we need following his arrival in Melbourne, but like Robert Walker no evidence how he arrived. From family stories and his occupation given as a ship's carpenter on his children's death certificates we have deduced that he came on a whaling ship in about 1848, deserted his employer and made his way across the Australian Alps and down the Melbourne Sydney Road via Wangaratta before marrying and settling in Melbourne in 1849 and shortly afterwards becoming a farmer in Rutherglen, Vic. There are mariners' records on Findmypast for English sailors not sure about those from Scotland. The records at Kew are for individual voyages using his mariner's ticket numbers but this requires a visit to Kew and several days work. And complicated. John Webster -----Original Message----- From: Brian Johnson Sent: Thursday, August 15, 2013 11:21 AM To: [email protected] Subject: [MAR] Robert WALKER ( or WALLACE ) and Edward James ROBERTS Hello to all on the list , am new here so thought i would list my interests and queries . The identity of my wifes great grandfather Robert WALKER who was born 1830 Greenock Renfrewshire Scotland and died at South Melbourne 1919 , was a mariner according to various birth , death and marriage records attaining to him , but he was also known as Robert WALLACE and even registered the births of some of his children as WALLACE Just recently on the LDS site it has come to my attention that there was a similiar person who was in the Merchant Navy , now i have always wondered how Robert arrived in Melbourne circa 1848 according to his death certificate as there are no definite proof of how he arrived in Melbourne . Did he jump ship ?? So this next question has probably been done to death but would like some advice please on how to access the appropriate records ??? Next query is concerns another mariner ancestor on my fathers side , he was Edward James ROBERTS born circa 1811 either Stoke Damerel Devon England or Dover Kent England . Have seen similiar person (s ) on Ancestry but cant be sure its him , but received info that he died at sea in the Settlement Straits near Singapore circa 1898 Sks found his burial details for me ( Singapore ) but still dont know where i can obtain his death certificate as he may have still been a British subject ?? Tried going into the Kew site but that was like a mine field . Some advice needed please Kind regards Brian Johnson West Australia ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message