rest around 1910

deb

Hi Deb,

Why don't you have a look, if you haven't already done so, at any relevant Probates-Wills - his parents, particularly, or an unmarried sibling - and see if any statements made as to his whereabouts, and whether the story is as your grandmother remembered it, and handed down. In the instance of a disappearance in a related family, his relatives had to make statements about the last time he was seen or heard from, so that the estate could be settled in his continued absence.

If you haven't already done so, you should ensure that you check the possibility that he died in Britain by checking the rest index, and not just for 1910, but buttume that he'd gone off elsewhere with a girlfriend and lived happily ever after for some decades.

Have a look at the rest notices for his relatives to see if he is mentioned. A brother or sister might have known where he was.

A review of the results you have from searches in Australian State Indexes Not NSW up to 1918 (but a James Downham in 1949) Not Vic up to 1920 Not SA up to 1915 Not Qld up to 1914 Nothing in WA or SA (years not given) No report from TAS

If he died on board ship his rest would have been registered at the next port of call - and I think Britain has a Marine rests Index that could be checked.

The reference to the children born to a James Downham in 1914 on board the ship TSS Themistocles was interesting. Could TSS be a typo for Sea Transport Service (STS?) Themistocles made 7 trooping voyages during WW1, the first one in 1914. (Ref: Marilyn Kenny's book "Trooping to the Middle East, 1916: the trooping journals of Colonel JOhn Evans: Themistocles, Argyllshire, Aeneas & Port Sydney", 2005)

Good luck,

Lenore Frost Essendon, Vic