Joiner Family

[yobna17]

Hi. I am a new member from Australia.
I am looking for information on my ancestor Abner Joiner. First record in Australia is in 1873 with the birth of first child. On marriage certificate 26 April 1879 he listed his age 30 and parents Thomas and Margaret Joiner nee Whannel. Birth place Arbroath. I cannot find any record of birth, census and emigration records in Scotland.
Census for 1851, 1861, 1871 lists Thomas & Margaret with children but no Abner.
The Abner Joiner born 16 March 1852 in St Vigeans to Abner and Isobel Joiner appears not to be my relative.
Any help would be appreciated

Alan

[AndrewP]

Hi Alan,



I would expect that the birth that you found in Arbroath will be a cousin of some sort. St Vigeans parish was a much larger parish than Arbroath, almost surrounding it on the landward sides. Arbroath parish had the coastal town of Arbroath and a small rural area. St Vigeans was a rural parish with a number of small villages in it.

Both parishes appear to have continuous OPRs across the period you are looking at. Assuming your Abner was born there, there are a number of posibilities; (1) that a record was never made, (2) that the record has been lost over the years, (3) that his there but has been mis-indexed (for example if the writing in the register was illegible), or (4) that his parents were not members of the Established Church of Scotland who kept these records.

In 1843 there was "The Disruption" which was a major split in the Established Church of Scotland. Many parishioners left the Established Church and started up a Free Church. The records for Free Churches may exist, but are not so readily found.

An IGI parent search is shown at the following link: click here. This shows a younger brother's birth (which you should be able to find on ScotlandsPeople), and three entries in user submitted trees (which look like they are based on the records you already have).

All the best,

AndrewP

[nelmit]

Unfortunately it looks like the only child who appears to be registered, George in 1857, died before the 1861 census.

Could your Abner be the Ebenezer who is with the family in 1851 & 1861 but not 1871? Hopefully somebody will come up with a passenger list.

Regards,
Annette

[nelmit]

Did he marry Louisa Taylor?

According to a story at Ancestry that Abner Joiner was a deserter from the Royal Navy and a story appears in the Portland Guardian.
An avenue definitely worth exploring.

Regards,
Annette

[Currie]

Yes Annette, looks promising.

Portland Guardian and Normanby General Advertiser, Thursday, 12 December, 1867.
http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article ... rchLimits=

In list of deserters from H.M.S. Galatea at Port Adelaide. Abner Joiner, ordinary seaman, age twenty, 5 feet 5 inches height, sandy hair, blue eyes, native of Arbroath, Scotland.

Alan

[yobna17]

Thankyou all. Great information which helps explain a lot. We did consider that Abner may be Ebenezer. Our Abner did seem to follow the gold in Victoria and the desertion does fit. It was apparently common during the gold rush. Yes he did marry Louisa Taylor (after their fourth child was born).

Alan