G2G: Descendants of Lemuel Burns b.1827 Lunenburg, NS;d.1887 NSW, Australia

Question

I'm requesting help from WikiTree members who are familiar with Australian sources. Lemuel Burns moved from Nova Scotia to NSW, Australia in 1852-53 to the Bendigo-Ballarat region during the gold rush. There are sources showing him at Hill End/Tambaroora/Golden Gully.

There, he married Jane Thompson (aka Lee) and I have a list of their children in their profiles. Most of the information I have on Lemuel and Jane was provided by Gloria Wheatly, also a descendant of Lemuel and Jane. I have her correspondence (from my uncle) but no contact information for her, although I have tried to find her.

I have looked at sources in Ancestry but they are mostly indexes or from newspapers.  Without fully upgrading my Ancestry account, I'm having a hard time finding decent sources for their descendants. I've also searched on Trove, several NSW Museum sites and prowled the internet at length, adding what I've found to Lemuel and Jane's profiles.

I could create profiles for their children but an index listing is a weak source for a start.  I'd appreciate some help here. Thank you!

Comments

Hi Morgan. Bendigo and Ballarat are in Victoria, not New South Wales. Have you tried searching at the following site?

https://www.bdm.vic.gov.au/research-and-family-history/search-your-family-history

For Hill End, which is in NSW, try

https://familyhistory.bdm.nsw.gov.au/

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This may also help:

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Space:Australia%2C_Sources_and_Citation_Examples

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For example, here's a birth reference for son George:

<ref>[https://familyhistory.bdm.nsw.gov.au/ New South Wales Births, Deaths and Marriages] birth registration number 12693/1859. Name: George Burns; father: Lemuel; mother: Jane; district: Tambaroora. Accessed 14 December 2023.</ref>

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Hello Jim and thank you for your responses. An older family member had some (possibly questionable) information that Lemuel had also attempted gold mining in the Victoria area (so I added that) but am not yet convinced that this was the case.

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Many thanks Jim!  You have provided a wealth of information that will go a long way toward creating profiles and following this branch of my family.  The WikiTree NSW Sources and Citations page is a big help in the formatting of information.

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I'm glad this was helpful, Morgan. Good luck in your research!

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Given Ballarat and Bendigo are in Victoria seems possible...

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A quick search shows nothing in Victoria, but there is a 5th child, Frederick, born 05 Aug 1873 in Tambaroora, NSW - birth registration No: 18786/1873.

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John C Burns birth is registered at Tambaroora, NSW on 06 Apr 1872 - Registration No. 17766/1872 (Father is named as Samuel)

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Thank you for your comment Sue; after a few days of digging, it appears that Lemuel did not ever mine in the Victoria area - but I found other family members who did!

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Victoria didn't exist as a separate colony before 1851.  Before then, it was known as the "Port Phillip District " of New South Wales.   I  believe that the very first building was a hotel.   Naturally, it took some time for Victoria to start its own BD&M registers.  Details are at the link in Jim's reply.

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Thank you Doug; I'll definitely check into the link. Being from the Vancouver, B.C. area, I have a great deal to learn about my Australian family connections and the history of the areas they settled.

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My wife had ancestors at Hill End.  They published a regular newsletter.  If you consider it relevant, the community seemed fairly active.

Answer 1

Searching more broadly (Family Name = Burns & District = Tambaroora) gives 7 results, but his given name varies. All have Jane as mother.

Comments

Mark, thank you for looking into Lemuel and Jane's descendants. It is likely that Lemuel's name was recorded in error as "Samuel", since I've found two children (names, DOB) in the same database.  For further details it will come down to whether or not I want to upgrade my Ancestry account to include Australia & New Zealand OR pay for purchase of the birth records.  I'll finish creating the profiles and hope one of the descendants can help flesh them out with a photo and more info.

Thank you again!

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Unless you want to trace them though electoral rolls etc, there won't be a lot more Ancestry can give you that you can't get from NSW BDM, Trove & NSW State Archives free of charge.

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Mark, I appreciate your insight on this and will take the Trove, NSW BMD & Archives route.