Hi List In my never-ending search for my great grandfather Charles Coles' origins, I've come across a man (and a photo) in the New Norfolk, Tasmania Police files whose details are as follows: Name: Charles Coles Born: 1869 Place: Yorkshire His description is given as; Height: 5' 5 1/2", dark complexion, brown hair, brown eyes, prominent nose, dimpled chin, Jewish He had tattoos: Right Bicep female bust with hat & feather. Wreath underneath. Small brown mole right forearm, small scar right hand (back). British & American flags with shield & crown left Bicep. Small scar under left kneecap. Scar in left eyebrow. Vertical scar left temple. Small brown mole left cheek bone. ..slightly inclined to right. I've put all this down in case the tattoos and/or the Jewish religion strikes a chord with someone. On the docs I have about my grt grandfather, after 1900, he always listed his parents as Ellen Cohan & Charles Coles and his father's occupation as a woollen weaver and said he was from Stockton-On-Tees. I have no idea how or when he got to Australia and any searching I've done using his information has got me absolutely nowhere. When I came across this particular Charles who was Jewish I thought it might be the Charles I'm looking for (even if he was a crim)! My grt grandmother (his partner/wife) is also a mystery prior to 1900. The same story applies. So, no Birth or Marriage Certs, only death and they provide no clues whatsoever. They both travelled the east coast of Australia and down into Tasmania as he was a Showman so they led a fairly nomadic and rough life I'd say. I thought perhaps he may have been a mariner at one stage because of the tattoos which I don't think were the usual for the man in the street. The only photo we had of him was destroyed by my mother for some obscure reason...perhaps to conceal something...I don't know, but now there's no-one alive to ask. Can someone suggest something or somewhere - I'm at my wits end. Cheers, Marcelle

If his mother was Ellen COHEN rather than COHAN, that was a Jewish name, so he would have been Jewish by birth from her. Have you tried searching for his birth among Jewish records? Tattoos were also more common among show folk than among the general population. If he 'ran away to the circus' might explain why he escaped the usual census/ life event recordings. HTH Anne On 4 Oct 2012, at 14:05, mvs wrote: > Hi List > > In my never-ending search for my great grandfather Charles Coles' origins, > I've come across a man (and a photo) in the New Norfolk, Tasmania Police > files whose details are as follows: > > Name: Charles Coles > Born: 1869 > Place: Yorkshire > > His description is given as; Height: 5' 5 1/2", dark complexion, brown > hair, brown eyes, prominent nose, dimpled chin, Jewish > > He had tattoos: Right Bicep female bust with hat & feather. Wreath > underneath. Small brown mole right forearm, small scar right hand (back). > British & American flags with shield & crown left Bicep. Small scar under > left kneecap. Scar in left eyebrow. Vertical scar left temple. Small brown > mole left cheek bone. ..slightly inclined to right. > > I've put all this down in case the tattoos and/or the Jewish religion > strikes a chord with someone. > > On the docs I have about my grt grandfather, after 1900, he always listed > his parents as Ellen Cohan & Charles Coles and his father's occupation as a > woollen weaver and said he was from Stockton-On-Tees. I have no idea how or > when he got to Australia and any searching I've done using his information > has got me absolutely nowhere. When I came across this particular Charles > who was Jewish I thought it might be the Charles I'm looking for (even if he > was a crim)! My grt grandmother (his partner/wife) is also a mystery prior > to 1900. The same story applies. So, no Birth or Marriage Certs, only death > and they provide no clues whatsoever. They both travelled the east coast of > Australia and down into Tasmania as he was a Showman so they led a fairly > nomadic and rough life I'd say. > > I thought perhaps he may have been a mariner at one stage because of the > tattoos which I don't think were the usual for the man in the street. The > only photo we had of him was destroyed by my mother for some obscure > reason...perhaps to conceal something...I don't know, but now there's no-one > alive to ask. > > Can someone suggest something or somewhere - I'm at my wits end. > > Cheers, Marcelle >

A Charles Coles, parents Charles and Ellen, died Culcairn NSW 1928. Bill -----Original Message----- From: yorksgen-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:yorksgen-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of mvs Sent: Thursday, 4 October 2012 11:05 PM To: YORKSHIRE ROOTSWEB Subject: [YORKSGEN] COLES Charles Hi List In my never-ending search for my great grandfather Charles Coles' origins, I've come across a man (and a photo) in the New Norfolk, Tasmania Police files whose details are as follows: Name: Charles Coles Born: 1869 Place: Yorkshire His description is given as; Height: 5' 5 1/2", dark complexion, brown hair, brown eyes, prominent nose, dimpled chin, Jewish He had tattoos: Right Bicep female bust with hat & feather. Wreath underneath. Small brown mole right forearm, small scar right hand (back). British & American flags with shield & crown left Bicep. Small scar under left kneecap. Scar in left eyebrow. Vertical scar left temple. Small brown mole left cheek bone. ..slightly inclined to right. I've put all this down in case the tattoos and/or the Jewish religion strikes a chord with someone. On the docs I have about my grt grandfather, after 1900, he always listed his parents as Ellen Cohan & Charles Coles and his father's occupation as a woollen weaver and said he was from Stockton-On-Tees. I have no idea how or when he got to Australia and any searching I've done using his information has got me absolutely nowhere. When I came across this particular Charles who was Jewish I thought it might be the Charles I'm looking for (even if he was a crim)! My grt grandmother (his partner/wife) is also a mystery prior to 1900. The same story applies. So, no Birth or Marriage Certs, only death and they provide no clues whatsoever. They both travelled the east coast of Australia and down into Tasmania as he was a Showman so they led a fairly nomadic and rough life I'd say. I thought perhaps he may have been a mariner at one stage because of the tattoos which I don't think were the usual for the man in the street. The only photo we had of him was destroyed by my mother for some obscure reason...perhaps to conceal something...I don't know, but now there's no-one alive to ask. Can someone suggest something or somewhere - I'm at my wits end. Cheers, Marcelle ..... Ancestors in Yorkshire? http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/YKS/index.html; www.ryedalefamilyhistory.org; www.wharfedalefhg.org.uk; www.yorkshireparishregisters.com; www.yorkshireroots.org.uk; ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to YORKSGEN-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message