When did she come from Australia to England?

[Gwebb1]

Hi all.
I wonder if anyone could help with this puzzle?

Margaret Bridge (born 1871) left Liverpool with her father to go to Australia where her older sisters were already living. She went from London to Sydney on the 'Lusitania' in August 1891 - I have the Outward Passenger List from Ancestry.
Less than 6 months later, on 6th Feb 1892, she had a baby whom she called Charles - I have the birth certificate but the father's details are left blank.
On 8th October 1893 she married Charles Maddox in Liverpool - again, I have the marriage certificate - but I cannot find when she and baby Charles came back to the UK even though it is quite a small window to work on.
Family stories suggested that Margaret and Charles Maddox went to visit friends in Australia and then returned with a baby but obviously the dates do not support that although it is likely that Charles was the child's father, given the baby's name and the fact that addresses on the censuses before Margaret went to Australia would suggest the couple knew each other prior to her leaving. Subsequent censuses all give Australia as baby Charles's place of birth so there was no attempt to cover things up.

I have traced Margaret and Charles Maddox from their births to their deaths so please do not spend time looking for them on the various censuses - it is just the Australia/England journey where I have the gaps - did Charles Maddox ever go to Australia and when did Margaret and her baby return?

Thanks in advance for anything the 'forum clan' can come up with.

Regards,
Glen

[Bertieone]

Hi Glen,

I can't find a return journey, however, a line through their names on the outward ships manifest may suggest they never travelled.

Added,
I think they boarded the ship the following day.

[Gwebb1]

Hi Bert.
I had assumed the line through their names was similar to the various markings you sometimes find on the censuses.

Margaret Bridge must have gone to Australia at some point because her baby was born at Sheep Station Creek, Charters Towers, Queensland on 6th Feb 1892. Mother's details are given as 'Margaret Bridge, 21 years old; born Liverpool, Lancashire, England'. She is down as the informant and her address is given as Wellington Road, Charters Towers.

I did wonder if she had returned via America - I noticed a manifest saying a Miss M. Bridge came to Liverpool from Philadelphia on 21st August 1892 but did not know how likely it would be that she would have taken such a route.
What do you think? Feasible or not? But surely I would then find a record of baby Charles coming to England some time before 1901, which was the first UK census he appeared on.

Regards,
Glen

[Bertieone]

Hi Glen,

I added to my first post, found more travel info,

The line through their names were for departing from London, 14 August, Lusitania.

They departed from Plymouth, 15 August, Lusitania.

I'll look at the USA records.

[Gwebb1]

I keep posting the same time you are - sorry!

G.

[Bertieone]

Miss M Bridge travelling alone from Philadelphia doesn't seem to fit, I feel sure if you ever do find her, Charles will be with her. Even if not named, recorded as infant.

Nothing more on Anc I can see, perhaps more luck elsewhere.

[Gwebb1]

Thanks, Bert - seems as though it could be a transcription error since it seems odd I can't track her down when I have those strict time limits. My only other idea was that Margaret returned on her own and then the baby was brought back by one of her sisters but that would be a long-shot.

Seems like another one of those brick walls!
Regards,
Glen

[louis]

Hi Glen

She went from London to Sydney on the 'Lusitania' in August 1891 - I have the Outward Passenger List from Ancestry.

There is no incoming manifest record of John and Margaret Bridge arriving in Sydney on the Lusitania, October, 1891 departing London/Plymouth August, 1891.

The record that Bert found departing Plymouth has two pages, on one page they are listed as passengers and on the other page there is an x against their names, suggesting they did not embark.

I've searched all the incoming passenger records of ships departing London to Sydney for July, August, September 1891 and have not been able to find them. Will search some more lists later.

Do you know where her older sisters were living in Australia?

Louis

[louis]

Hi Glen

An update, no luck so far. There is no record of them arriving in Sydney from London in 1891 for April, May, June, October, November, December and January, February 1892.

Louis

[Gwebb1]

Hi Louis
How intriguing! I didn't expect an issue about Margaret's arrival in Australia, given the birth of baby Charles. I did wonder whether the crosses on the manifest of the 15th were of any significance, given Bertie's comments about the names being crossed out on the manifest of the 14th.

This is what I know about Margaret's family: Her older sister, Martha, went out first, settled in Charters Towers and married Jesse Bright. She seems to have helped another sister, Annie (b. 1868 according to the UK censuses), who is supposed to have arrived in Brisbane 28th June 1889 and subsequently married Alexander Smyth. A descendent of Annie gave me these details - she lives in Australia and I got in touch with her via Ancestry.
I wonder if Margaret could have arrived in Brisbane. What do you think?

Thanks for helping.
Glen

[louis]

Hi Glen

It's possible that she could have arrived in Brisbane, or perhaps Townsville, which is the nearest port to Charters Towers.

Is this Margaret on the 1891 Census?
RG12; Piece: 2982; Folio: 11; Page: 16

At this point I have not searched the outward passenger lists from Australia, just trying to confirm the date of arrival.

Louis

[Alison C]

This index lists Margaret's arrival in Victoria in September 1981
http://prov.vic.gov.au/index_search?searchid=23

Alison

[Gwebb1]

Hi Alison and Louis.

Yes, Louis - the census record you refer to is for the Margaret Bridge in question.

Well done to you, Alison, for finding that index record - I still can't find it on Ancestry so I don't know what you are doing that I'm not! However, when I went into the Victoria site you gave the link, for I found Margaret's father, John, on the same page so he did travel out with her. I tried searching for Charles Maddox (whom Margaret married in England in 1893 and the baby Charles born in Australia was always subsequently referred to as 'Charles Maddox') but without any success.

I am assuming that the Lusitania left London, went to Plymouth (presumably Margaret and her father must have boarded there despite the crosses by their names?) and on to Australia but why would the departure details for 15th August have Brisbane as the destination and yet the arrival documents record it as 'Victoria'?

Any ideas would be very much appreciated!

Many thanks.
Glen