Genealogy Chat

Wendy, thanks for the tip. I think back then, that the marriages typically took place near the bride's home town - I've tried searching the online Scots records without much success. I believe that as Australia was a colony of England at that time, all "at Sea" records had to be registered in England. There is something a little weird about this one. There is a record of Thomas & Jane Easton disembarking at Melbourne with 2 daughters around that time, but no mention of an infant son - I have copies of his marriage and death certificates- I feel that there probably could not have been 2 sets of Thomas and Jane Eastons arriving around 1853 in Melbourne as the local directories only list a couple of Eastons at that time. I guess I'm looking for the definitive link between George and the Thomas and Jane (nee Purvi/e/s) whose records are available.

On the scottish records site there is a help page and also scottishpeople too. Are there any ship's records you can check? Babies used to be christened very quickly in those days, didn't they? I think that if you were born at sea or in a different country, when one or both of your parents was from home you could register the baby in the home country as well. They have old Parish records on scottishpeople which are from 1500s to 1854. You might strike lucky for some info on there.

My gr-gr-grandfather, George Easton, was apparently "Born at Sea" - presumably on the way to Australia. It would have been circa 1853 - the available (on line and on CD) records I've been able to locate start from 1854. His parents were Thomas Easton and Jane Purvis (or Purves) from MidLothian and Northumberlandshire? (respectively). His marriage and death certificates both say "born at sea", but I'm not sure where to start researching the pre 1854 records. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Strangely, I cannot find any record of their emigration to Australia.