Biography

Richard John Coath was born in St Peter Port, Guernsey. In 1851 he was living with his parents and elder siblings in St Peter Port and was working as a sail maker.

In 1854 Richard emigrated to Australia as a crew member on the Guernsey built Wild Wave.

Selina Elizabeth WHICKER and Richard John COATH (incorrectly listed as COATT) were married on 3 Mar 1857 at the Wesleyan Chapel, Adelaide, South Australia.^[1] Their children included:</div>

He passed away in 1886 in Sandhurst, Victoria.

Research Notes

Some of the Coaths were boat builders and stonemasons back in Guernsey, Channel Islands. It had been part of the Coath family folklore that Richard and Thomas, along with other family members built a fishing boat to sail to the Australian colonies in the late 1840s, their destination being South Australia. This story had been passed down to the descendents belonging to the Coath family. The same story about the Coaths was told to me by the late Albert Richardson who was quite an authority on the history of mining and mining machinery of the Bendigo mines. According to the myth, when gold was discovered at Bendigo, Richard and Thomas Coath, like many Celts or Cornish who were mining copper in South Australia, abandoned their employment and headed towards this new Eldorado.

Richard was a sailmaker’s apprentice but he left Guernsey before his indenture was completed, as a crew member on the Wild Wave, according to a crew list dated 9 October 1854.

Sources

1. ↑ 1857 'Family Notices', South Australian Register (Adelaide, SA : 1839 - 1900), 5 March, p. 2. , viewed 23 Nov 2023, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article49770319
   On the 3rd inst., at the Wesleyan Chapel, Pirie-street, by the Rev. T. Gardner, Mr. Richard John Coath, of Bendigo, to Miss Selina Elizabeth Whicker, youngest daughter of Mr. James Whicker, of this city.</li></ol>

• "England and Wales Census, 1851," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:SG8P-QL5 : 24 July 2016), Richard Coath in household of William Coath, St Peter Port, Guernsey And Adjacent Islands, Channel Islands; citing St Peter Port, Guernsey And Adjacent Islands, Channel Islands, p. 7, from "1851 England, Scotland and Wales census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing PRO HO 107, The National Archives of the UK, Kew, Surrey.
• FTDNA Match Private Research, Gedmatch Kit Number A842813.

• Marriage to Selina Elizabeth WHICKER

Genealogy South Australia: Marriage. COATT, Richard John; WHICKER. Selina Elizabeth; 03-Mar-1857; William COATT; James WHICKER; Adelaide; 29/148. https://www.genealogysa.org.au/

• Death

Birth, Deaths and Marriages, Victoria Online Registry. Event: deaths; Registration number 3565 / 1886; Family name: COATH; Given name(s) Richard John; Place of event: SANDHURST, Australia; Mother's name Mary Ann STUART; Father's Name: William. https://my.rio.bdm.vic.gov.au/efamily-history/

• Burial

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/211276436/richard-john-coath