Liverpool & South West Lancashire FHS - Forum

Hi
I am hoping our Genies from Oz can help me. After searching for many years for a paternal Great Uncle I have discovered that he died in Sydney. He was a fireman in the Merchant Navy according to the 1911 census although his 1914/1918 medal card states he medals were sent to 187 Kent Street Sydney in 1921. I have also found a four line newspaper article - " Evans (William) deceased aged 77 parents John and Esther Evans (formally Baker). Would next of kin contact the Public Trustee 19 O'Connell Street Sydney Australia re his estate." He was born 27/7/1880 in Canning Town Essex. Is it possible to find a death certificate and purchase same from England. Your help will be greatly appreciated.

Hi Yappie

You can purchase a Death Certificate for deaths registered in NSW here - http://www.bdm.nsw.gov.au

There will also be a Probate File held at State Records - http://www.records.nsw.gov.au
The best way to locate the Probate File is to go to Archives Investigator (from the home page) and use the Simple Search function and type "William Evans death" which will give a result of seven pages. If you can identify the right William Evans there are two options - either order a copy of the Probate Packet (which may have a copy of the DC) or order the DC online as above. Use the Family History Search to find the Registration Number (cost $31) without ($44).

The 1921 Sands Directory of Sydney has Mrs Mary Courtney at 187 Kent Street Sydney.

Which newspaper had the article on William Evans? and did he have a middle name? May narrow the search a little.

Hope this helps
Louis

Thank you so much for your help Louis - you are a star. I will follow up on the web sites. I found the newspaper article on Ancestry. William had no middle name unfortunately.

Hello Louis - From the information you gave me I have managed to trace William's death. He is actually buried in Liverpool Cemetery (Sydney not Lancs and I have a photograph of his grave. Since he passed away age 71 I will leave the certificate but am saving my pennies to get his Will. A lot more expensive than English Wills. Once again thank you so much for your help. yappi

Hi Yappie

Great to hear you had a positive result, always very satisfying when you find an elusive ancestor. Glad to help from this end. Let me know if you need anything further on William.

Louis