I just love your last bog entry Ross I agree with you that every branch of my family were poor, poor, poor, as for gypsy well who knows, at least it may explain why I have such olive skin especially during the summer time. Mind you I do not think my mother would be pleased if she knew she came from Gypsy hee hee, but keep the good work up.

 

However, I have found a possible link to try to find out where Edward Atkins came from in Gloucestershire. I have found on Anestry.com a Henry Atkins he died in Clare 2/3//1887 aged 52 He had a son called George Atkins. George had 3 daughters all born in Clare. Could this be a relation of Edward Atkins? How many Atkins were there living in Clare Valley in the early to mid 1800s? Dear old Edward may have had some of his own family members living in South Australia like a brother. If we can find a shipping record for Henry Atkins and if he came from Gloucestershire with a name of a town or village then it may be a link as to where Edward Atkins came from in Gloucestershire. There is also another person called William Atkins which I have found on Ancestry.com. He married a Sophia Staples. William lists his father as Joseph Atkins could this be a possible brother for Edward Atkins?

 

I have heard back again from the Clare Historical Group. There was nothing in the email which we do not know already. I do not think they would have anything more which would be useful to us.

 

I also think I have found some extra grandchildren for Edward Atkins. There were no birth certificates for then, just death certificates. I am still looking into it and have not done a finial count as yet, but will let you both know when I have done it.

Hi Luke,

Yes, it would be a good idea to track Henry Atkins although the age difference of 26 years is a bit of a stretch, however, not impossible for the times.

And people did tend to gravitate toward family which is another reason why there might be a link with the Atkins's in NSW who had family in South Australia. Then again, Atkins is a common enough name so we may just have more than one Edward Atkins in SA,.

I sent a note to Sherrielee on FB enquiring as to her post regarding Edward Atkins and Emily Puddy but have had no answer.

I think what I will do at this point is get in touch with the Gloucestershire researcher and ask him to check on the Joseph Atkins who married Ann Haynes... or Haines... worth a try and best place to start I think.

Dear Jeremy,

I feel I have a place to begin at last.  I have come across some information which I have written up for my bloghttp://roslyn-ross.blogspot.com/ and think it is worth a focus since we have no idea from where Edward Atkins came in Gloucestershire.

One of the things we have been tracking is the surname Haynes because Edward and Elizabeth, my great-great-grandparents gave their only son the name James Haynes Atkins and he gave his first-born son the name Haynes Mashford Atkins, suggesting that the name Haynes meant something.

I do not know enough about the children from Edward's first marriage to know if a son carried this as a middle name but I do know that none of Elizabeth Mashford's children from her first marriage to Peter Lewis had this as a middle name. This leads me to suspect the name is connected to Edward Atkins.

While researching I came across the following:

Joseph Atkins  married Ann Hai(y)nes in Cirencester, Gloucestershire on August 14, 1809.

Depending upon which age is correct, that posted at his death or the age he put on his marriage register to Elizabeth Mashford, Edward Atkins was born somewhere between 1807 and 1813.

We have the name Joseph recorded as Edward's father on his marriage certificate.

The other possibility of a link is the fact that I came across a William Atkins listed as a Hawker on the Romany/Gypsy website. He was aged 25 and listed in the 1841 Census as born in Gloucestershire, no address, Lamb Street, Clifton.

The name Haynes is also listed on the Romany Website in their list of Hawkers in Gloucestershire from census records.

It has long seemed that the name Haynes could be a useful link and with the Gloucestershire connection it seemed as good a place to start as any.

What do you think?

Regards,
Ros