Find Ancestors

Can anyone help me find the voyage my ancestors made when they emigrated to New Zealand? I’d like to find out when they went, what the ship was called, and where they lived upon arrival.
William Blackey 1808-1891 and his wife Frances ( nee Dimelow) 1811-1885 emigrated from Liverpool with their children, including Thomas, Joseph, Frances and Hannah.
I think they left after his father died in 1854 but he’s on the 1858 electoral roll in New Zealand so he had settled in by then.
Any information would be appreciated.
Glyn

You might need to search on below...

Chris :)

New Zealand, Archives New Zealand, Passenger Lists, 1839-1973

(FamilySearch)


https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers

(anything in above, sometimes has arrivals)


(1858 Electoral, Horokiwi Valley, Wellington. Carpenter, as below)

https://www.sooty.nz/1860wellingtonmilitiadraw.html


(his Death 1891 (aged 84) described as an old settler of Horokiwi Valley)


(Death 1885, Horokiwi Valley, Frances Blackey, wife of W. Blackey, aged 75 years.)


New Zealand Archives (Archway) can also be useful, when maintenance not taking place!...

(Scheduled Service Maintenance - Archway 24 March
March 22, 2018
Archives New Zealand will be undertaking scheduled maintenance of Archway over the weekend of the 24th and 25th of March. Archway may be unavailable during this time period.)


(still at Bell Street 1853, and below)

09 January 1855 - Liverpool Mercury - Liverpool, Merseyside, England

Advertisements & Notices
...dwelling houses is occupied by the said William Blackey as a licensed public house, and the other by William J. Hill as a grocer's shop; together with the Piece of LAND on the north side of and fronting Bell-street,


1851 (Find My Past)
William Blackey Head Married Male 43 1808 Publican Liverpool, Lancashire, England
Frances Blackey Wife Married Female 40 1811 - Wales
Joseph Blackey Son - Male 10 1841 - Liverpool, Lancashire, England
Sarah Blackey Daughter - Female 8 1843 - Liverpool, Lancashire, England
Hannah Blackey Daughter - Female 6 1845 - Liverpool, Lancashire, England
Hannah Lowe Servant - Female 21 1830 House Servant Bolton, Somerset, England
Bell Street, Toxteth Park Extra Parochial, West Derby, Lancashire,


https://tinyurl.com/y7aofp6w

(might be him above, 1857)

Yes he’s on 1851 census but in NZ electoral roll by 1858. I saw his name from the sootynz list but I can’t find him or Frances on a passenger list. I would like to pinpoint the year and ship if possible, but thanks for your help Chris

(you need below)

Chris :)

New Zealand, Archives New Zealand, Passenger Lists, 1839-1973

(FamilySearch)

Yes I’ve searched that under Blackey, Blackie, Black and Blakey.....no sign of the family.
This is a mystery......no other family tree on Ancestry has located their ship and passenger list for them so anyone want to take up the challenge?????

It must be a mid spelling of their surname but what that is I can’t discover so I’m throwing it open to anyone else with ingenuity.......
HELP!!!!!!

Thanks
Glyn

???

France Blackey
in the Victoria, Australia, Assisted and Unassisted Passenger Lists, 1839-1923
Name: France [Frances on image ] Blackey
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1811
Age: 44
Arrival date: May 1855
Arrival Port: Melbourne, Australia
Departure Port: Liverpool
Ship: Salem
Nationality: English

She's listed as a widow, which would seem to rule this record out, if William's on 1858 NZ ER, and died 1891, but other factors seem pretty close, although ages are a bit out :-

travelling with Thomas, 24, mariner;
Joseph, 12, son;
Sarah, 10, daughter;
Anna, 9, daughter

It sounds like her but going to Australia and not NZ?????
And William was still alive but would a widow get free passage and a married couple would not????

Maybe they went to NZ via Australia.

Yes, I wondered about possible financial advantage of being a widow!

I've never yet found a passenger list for one of my relatives entering New Zealand. I even tried looking at records in New Zealand itself. without success.His burial record states how long he had been in the country and I know he was in Dunedin by 1862, when he married.He too was in 1851 census in England.

When I posted on this boards about my quest, our late Kiwi member Huia said that she hadn't found a record of her relatives even though the original travel ticket had been handed down through generations of the family, so they knew which ship to check.

I do hope you have better luck.............

That sounds likely Gwyn
Thanks for the information everyone....if anyone can find out more I’d be very pleased, but it may be an impossible task which is a shame

Glyn

Gwyn .............


did you take in what Chris posted above??

- - - - - - -
(still at Bell Street 1853, and below)

09 January 1855 - Liverpool Mercury - Liverpool, Merseyside, England

Advertisements & Notices
...dwelling houses is occupied by the said William Blackey as a licensed public house, and the other by William J. Hill as a grocer's shop; together with the Piece of LAND on the north side of and fronting Bell-street,

- -- - - - - - - --

so he was still apparently in Liverpool in January 1855!

Perhaps this is a different William Blackey ? (Not Bell Street)

Possibly this is his commercial premises, while Bell St is his home address.

William Blackey
in the UK, City and County Directories, 1766 - 1946
Name: William Blackey
Publication Year: 1853
Address: 15, Harrington street, Toxteth park
Residence Place: Liverpool, Lancashire, England
Occupation: Victualler

Yes that article is very interesting. Thanks Chris.
So to summarise as I see it...
Williams father Thomas died in 1854.
He then sold by auction the business premises and land and houses.
As he had 3 sisters presumably they had some of the proceeds. That was in January 1855. By May 1855 Frances and the family are on a ship bound for New Zealand via Australia.
So it’s possible William left Liverpool after Jan 1855 and before May 1855. He went ahead of the family and paid for himself but the others went free on an assisted passage. That way they would have more of the inheritance to spend in NZ

What does anyone think about that?

This is the ER applicable to any elections held "between the last day of November 1854 and the first day of December 1855".

It would, of course have been compiled before 30 Nov 1854.


William Blackey
in the Liverpool, England, Electoral Registers, 1832-1970
Name: William Blackey
Residence Year: 1854-1855
Street address: Bell street
Residence Place: Lancashire, England


I don't see him on later ERs.

Your theory sounds reasonable, Glyn!

Here they are, going from Victoria, Australia to Wellington, NZ:

Wm Mr Blakey
in the Web: Victoria, Australia, Outward Passenger Index, 1852-1915
Name: Wm Mr Blakey
Age: 47
Birth Year: abt 1808
Departure Date: Oct 1855
Departure Place: Victoria, Australia
Destination: WELLINGTON
Ship: VIBILIA
Ship's Master: SCOONES G


Travelling with:

Anna Blakey, 10
Sarah Blakey, 12
Joseph Blakey, 13
Mrs Francis Blakey, 37

Just a long shot - maybe William making a trip back to visit family in 1872 ???
Travelling alone.


William Blackey
in the Web: Victoria, Australia, Outward Passenger Index, 1852-1915
Name: William Blackey
Age: 64
Birth Year: abt 1808
Departure Date: Oct 1872
Departure Place: Victoria, Australia
Destination: LIVERPOOL
Ship: GREAT BRITAIN
Ship's Master: GRAY JOHN

Thank you Argyll Gran that’s great. I’ll try to investigate this information
Glyn

When Frances and the children went from the UK to Australia, their passages were unassisted, per www.prov.vic.gov.au .

So maybe just a cheaper passage as a widow ??

I don't see any record of William going to Australia.
Nor of Thomas going from Australia to NZ