A quick search at NRO's online catalogue (http://nrocat.norfolk.gov.uk/DServe/public/searches/nroprobate.htm) shows several wills and admons for people surnamed Bortis in Great Yarmouth in the late 17th to mid 18th centuries, including a Samuel in 1709. Clearly this is not the Samuel you mention but could perhaps be an earlier namesake. If the family were non-conformist (as suggested by an earlier post) then it may be you will not find any surviving record of Samuel's birth or baptism but it may be worth following up the will of Benjamin Bortis, mariner, 1760, to see if your Samuel is mentioned in it. Pauline On 14/03/2014 12:30, Our Mail wrote: > Thank you. Benjamin seems to be a family name Elizabeth, it appears in > several generations after the Samuel I'm seeking. I've searched > Ancestry, Findmypast and Family Search and although there are a number > of Bortis references the bpt of my Samuel is nowhere to be seen. I have > the Will you mention, but that only served to confirm that I had > identified Benjamin's descendants correctly. The search continues! > > John > > On 14/03/2014 10:28 PM, elizabeth howard wrote: >> Hi, Ancestry has a baptism of a Benjamin Bortis son of >> Mr Benjamin Bortis , mariner, and Elizabeth his wife baptised Sept 26th >> about a week old. This is an entry in the Yarmouth , Gaol St, Old Meeting >> , Presbyterian , 1706-1820 register. And there is a Benjamin Bortis listed >> in the 1734 Norfolk Poll book for Yarmouth. The National Archives has a >> will for Samuel dated 1807 of Longbenton Colliery , mariner. However unless >> the surname is spelled very differently , there seems to be no other record >> of the family. >> >> >> >> >> life is hard . soften it with a cat \\\=^..^=/// >> ----- Original Message ----- >> From: "Our Mail" <[email protected]> >> To: <[email protected]> >> Sent: Friday, March 14, 2014 4:08 AM >> Subject: [NFK] BORTIS family of Yarmouth >> >> >>> I am looking for information on the Bortis family. Samuel Bortis >>> married Ann Cowley by licence in Tynemouth, Northumberland on 13 Dec >>> 1744. On the marriage bond Samuel was described as being 22 years old >>> and a mariner from Yarmouth Norfolk. I have searched the Archdeacon's >>> transcripts on-line but found no trace of Samuel, or any other Bortis. >>> Does anyone have knowledge of the family? >>> >>> John, in NSW