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Originally posted by Kåarto

The Bowler/Foss family in Australia by Anthony Bowler link
Kåre

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Originally posted by jkmarler



1.I'm unfamiliar with costs in Australia for such things but it might be worthwhile to get an actual copy of the birth records for each of the children in case there was some issue with the rendering of the name and that there might be some further designation of his birth place and birth date in Norway. There were only two boys named in the family each called James William.

It costs $20 for each certificate so it is a bit prohibitive to get them all. I have just downloaded Louisa's birth certificate. She is my great-grandmother. Father's name is recorded as Johan Fossi aged 41 (in 1865) a shoemaker and born in Norway. Married in Castlemaine in 1857 to Agnes Emma Bowler who was aged 29 in 1865. The father was the informant

It might be just a coincidence but one of the aspects of the traditional naming practices in Europe (and Norway) was to name the either the first child born in the 2nd marriage after the deceased spouse or the first child born in the 2nd marriage after the first same sex child born in the 2nd marriage as the sex of the deceased spouse.

Generally, when the traditional patterns are followed in Norway the first children are named after the grandparents, sometimes following a specific order --husband's parents first, wife's parents second or some other order combination. Following these practices are not universal nor are they required.

2. Regards the marriage, how many Agnes Emma Bowler are there in 1850s in Australia? Are they any censuses taken in Australia which might be helpful to establish the numbers & locations?

Given her name I am confident that the Agnes Emma Bowler that married William Davidson in Adelaide is the one that hooked up with John Foss. There is a record here http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/38460429?searchTerm=Jesse%20Bowler&searchLimits=l-decade=185|||l-state=South+Australia|||l-year=1852 that places her father, Jess Bowler in Adelaide at that time.

So it might be possible that Agnes was married twice (if the record does indeed show him as William Edward Davidson born some other place than Norway) Perhaps there'll be a death of a William Edward Davidson between 1852-1856 recorded some place.

I can find no record of a death of William Edward Davidson
As to the no find of the marriage record, if John Foss was a sailor, perhaps they were married by a sea captain rather than a minister or judge?
They consistently state that they were married in Castlemaine. This is in inland Victoria at the height of the gold rush.

When I looked in the Trove, there were a number of mentions of John Foss'. One was a sailor who was killed falling off his boat, and several mentions of one involved in legal tussles. You might want to study them and see if any relate to your guy.

There appears to more than one John Foss who were sailors

Did your John ever become a citizen in Australia?
I don't know.

Who was the informant on John's death certificate?
The informant was the policeman that attended the inquest

Does the cemetery where he and Agnes lay maintain records about the interments?
I'm not sure what records they would have. I can't see them having details that aren't on the death certificate

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Originally posted by lyndal40

Poster mentioned this marriage of a Agnes Emma Bowler. Maybe her first marriage?

Australia Marriage Index, 1788-1950
Name: Agnes Emma Bowler
Spouse Name: William Edward Davidson
Marriage Date: 19 Jan 1852
Marriage Place: Adelaide
Registration Place: Adelaide, South Australia
Page Number: 219
Volume Number: 9

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Originally posted by jkmarler

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Originally posted by Kåarto

The Bowler/Foss family in Australia by Anthony Bowler link
Kåre

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Well, if that bit a database is accurate it would really change the structure of the family. But I doubt that it is correct to ascribe all those children to William Davidson and Agnes when the transcripts of the records in Ancestry have already been posted by Anton and show numbers of those children born to John Foss and Agnes.

On the other hand there is a son named John Davidson in the family which if his actual name is John Foss, that might explain a family which appears in the Australia Easy records at familysearch as father of two daughters baptized on the same day 3 June 1894 in Ballan, Victoria, a Hilda b. 1 Jan 1894 and a Gertrude May b. 13 Dec 1889.

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Originally posted by rickeyherb

Thank you for this jkmarler. I appreciate the effort you are going to. I wonder whether we are placing too much emphasis on the second name of Olsen given that it only appears on his death certificate and they are notoriously unreliable. I know there is not much more to go on.
Rickey

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Originally posted by rickeyherb

I tried contacting the owner of the page but the email bounced back. Details on the page are obviously incorrect but I will continue to see if I can find a contact.

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