Recently I decided to cauterise my research into a spindly branch of the family tree. Despite emanating from a well-documented ancestor (i.e., a convict transported to Australia), the spindliness was due to his name. John Jones. It gave a sense of relief that here was one branch which had grown over a brick wall so high it was never to be scaled.
As part of the decision to set aside the research, one last attempt was to be made to correct the metadata distributed globally by British, American and Australian genealogical services. In particular, to excise the occurrence of the unsubstantiated addition of the name Michael.
When first investigating John Jones and his family, the occasional occurrence of his name as Michael John Jones or even John Michael Jones in other people's anecdotes or self-documented research did not trouble me much. The trial, hulk and transportation records; his marriage and death certificates and gravestone all clearly labelled my great-great-great-grandfather as John Jones.
And then, a few years ago while delving into the 1840s history of a small town in New South Wales, I found this gem:
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PIONEER HISTORY (1925, July 22). Northern Star (Lismore, NSW : 1876 - 1954), p. 7. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article93528050 |
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Seventy-Five Years on the Richmond. (1922, September 2). Casino and Kyogle Courier and North Coast Advertiser (NSW : 1904 - 1932), p. 3. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article234043933 |
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PERSONAL. (1915, August 20). Daily Examiner (Grafton, NSW : 1915 - 1954), p. 4. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article194802986 |
[1] John Jones' transportable offence, described in the Convict Indent as Assisting in rescue of a prisoner, seems quite unusual. Not the same as the original indictment, Stealing from a dwelling house 112 yards of worsted cloth. The dwelling house was a storehouse for a materials trader. This crime seems to have been instigated by the other young man, and the event could be interpreted different ways. Perhaps this was why Jones' Certificate of Freedom was issued after seven years from the original 10 of "incarceration" imposed ?