Genealogy Chat

Wow, I have found him and he is one of the Stamford Tatams, although he was born in Rutland. I also posted on Genealogy message boards and last night a kind lady on there found him in Stamford in the 1851 census and was able to give me even more information than that! From what she said, I now have another 2 generations!!! I am just so excited to have found him, all I really had to go on was a number of stories that my mother had remembered her grandmother (the daughter of Charles) telling her, surprisingly much of it fitted perfectly. Which, if you knew my mother, is the biggest surprise! I will also check out the Timaru papers as well, you never know what extra that might turn up!! Many thanks Christine

Hi Christine, Check the Pleasant thing - I believe there's a Pleaant Point in Timaru, and there's one here in Chch too, and I actually live in Mt. Pleasant, but i don't think this was named that at the time. If it is Timaru, the Timaru Herald is one thaT HAS OLD ARCHIVED COPIES AVAILABLE ONLINE, BUT YOU HAVE TO READ THEM THROUGH ONE BY ONE. gOOD LUCK! sUE.

Thanks for the suggestions. I have tried searching the archives site for possible wills, but they all seem to be earlier than the 1870s. Does anyone know if there is a searchable site for later wills? I have tried FreeBDM for the death of Henry Tatam, but nothing there either, so at the moment I can't find out when he died. Newspapers are a possible that I had not thought about, thanks Sue. I will have to try and convince my husband that a trip south is a good idea! The family lived in Christchurch and then Pleasant Valley, I think that they were probably in Pleasant Valley at that time. Would that be a Timaru paper do you think? I suspect that this is another hunt that is going to take time and patience! Christine in Makotuku

Hi Christine, Just wondering if there's any chance of finding him mentioned in any of the NZ newspapers of the time? Especially if there was an inheritance? And you never know, it might just give the clue you need. I'm in Chch and the library here has genealogical cards & fiches about the local papers...same at the museum archives, I think. I found an article about my husband's ancestor in the Lyttelton Times that way. At one stage I found an online newspaper source too, but can't recall the site now - try Googling 'Lyttelton Times' or 'Papers Past NZ' or something. If you have an idea of the dates, you might find something useful. Lots of 'flesh' to build up a picture of their lives, anyway! Good luck. Sue (in NZ)

Christine I think you may have to investigate some of the Stamford TATAMs in the hope that something will come to light to show whether or not Charles Henry is linked to them. Can you find the Will of the member of the family who died c. 1876 incase this names him? The family search site has a Rutland marriage of a TATAM to Mary PEACH. Later in Stamford there is a child baptised with PEACH as a middle name, suggesting a link between families in these areas. Would Charles Henry have needed a passport to come in and out of either country?... Is there an application record with an address perhaps?

I am trying to find my gg grandfather Charles Henry Tatam who was born about 1833. What I do know was that he emigrated to New Zealand in 1852 and the shipping list has him coming from Rutland. I have his marriage certificate which gives neither his place of birth nor his parents names. Whoever filled in his death certificate managed to fill in his name and age and then answered 'don't know' to the rest of the questions. (Must have been having a really bad day!) The only other info that I have is that he went back to England in 1876 to 'claim his inheritance' and that one of his brothers or nephews was a high ranking officer in the Boer War. There is one family of Tatam's that look possible, they are from Stamford. There is a Henry Tatam who was 71 on the 1871 census and was gone by the 1881, so that would fit the dates to possibly be his father. The IGI have a number of children of Henry, none are Charles Henry, but a couple of the names fit with names of Charles's children. Mind you from what I can see, most Tatam males anywhere were called Charles or Henry, but Alfred was a son of Henry on the IGI and Charles also had a son called Alfred. Anyone have any idea of what I can try next to try and fit my Charles Henry into a Tatam family? Christine in New Zealand