Addendum to Harriet Lewis and Isaac CASTLE

As a follow-up to my previous entry, I've established a little more about Isaac CASTLE's time-line, and am still looking for Harriet CASTLE's (nee Lewis) death. I've tried every permutation of spelling in the NSW BDM, and have not found her death, or even a potential alternative marriage.

I've joined another site called IHR (www.ihr.com.au) that hold image of a lot of NSW records, and while not searchable, a little prior knowledge allows one to extract information from electoral rolls.

Using electoral rolls, birth certificates, the NSW BDM data, and what I already knew, here is a time-line of Isaac CASTLE:

1831 - Birth of Isaac CASTLE to William CASTLE and Amy ROBERTS, Berkshire, England
1841 - Census, Isaac, 11, living at West Hendred, Berkshire, England with parents William (agricultural labourer) and Amy and siblings Emma, 5 and Jacob, 2.
1851 - Census, Isaac, 21, agricultural labourer, living at West Hendred, Berkshire, England with parents William and Amelia, and siblings Emma, Jacob and Martha.
5 Feb 1855 - Married to Harriet LEWIS at St Giles Church, Reading, England
24 Feb 1856 - First child Alice Ann christened at East Hendred, Berkshire, England
2 Dec 1856 - Embarked from Southampton, England on the 'Beejapore' with family, and brother James CASTLE and family
1957 - Daughter Mary Ann died on voyage
14 Mar 1857 - Arrived in Sydney, NSW
25 May 1857 - Birth of daughter Alice Ann in Enmore, Lewisham, Sydney, NSW. Isaac's occupation is labourer. (ref: Alice Ann CASTLE birth certificate)
1859 - Birth of son William Charles CASTLE, Bathurst NSW
1860 - Birth of daughter Leah Ann CASTLE, Bathurst NSW
1862 - Birth and death of son Jacob CASTLE at Dennis Island, NSW (ref: Bathurst Lonely Graves register)
1 Jul 1864 - Birth of daughter Amy CASTLE at Black Rock, Bathurst, NSW. Isaac's occupation is farmer. (ref: Birth Certificate)
1866 - Birth of Jacob CASTLE at Cowra NSW.
1871 - Residence: George's Plains (ref: 1871 NSW Electoral Roll, West Macquarie)
Apr, May 1872 - Birth and death of twin sons Isaac and Abraham on separate days in May, died at Apsley, buried at George's Plains NSW. (ref: Bathurst Lonely Graves register)
1878 - Residence: Milton (ref: 1878 NSW Electoral Roll, West Macquarie)
30 Oct 1884 - Isaac, a laborer, registers as insolvent at George's Plains near Bathurst (ref: State Archives insolvency index)
1903 - Residence: Walaroos, Harriet not present (women were eligible to vote from 1902 onwards) (ref: 1903 NSW Electoral Roll, Cowra)
9 Aug 1911 - Death, Cowra Hospital. Residence: Wallaroos, near Cowra (ref: Death Certificate)
1911 - Buried Cowra Church of England cemetery

This is a fairly complete time-line, and allows me to track Isaac and his family.

There's much more to do. What I can say is that Harriet does not appear on the 1903 electoral roll with Isaac when women were allowed to vote – amazingly the give CASTLE members at Wallaroos on that roll have two spellings – Isaac and son Jacob have gone with CASSELL, while daughter Alice, Jacob’s wife Florence, and an Emily Ada are spelt CASTLE. The fact that other women from the property are on the electoral roll reinforces to me that Harriet was either no longer alive, or not there.

Complicating matters is that a John LEWIS owned the property Milton that Isaac and family reside at in 1878, though it doesn't seem at this stage that John LEWIS is a direct relative. The Lewis family in Australia will be the subject of my next post.

I also have to write to the Cowra and Bathurst family history group to ask about obituaries published for Isaac that may give a clue to Harriet's fate.