Wednesday 4 June 2014

52 Ancestors: Week 21: Samuel Fairbairn (1849..) did he go to New Zealand?

James Fairbairn/Fairburn was born on 24 Aug 1825 in Smethwick, Staffordshire, England as the first child of Robert Fairbairn and Mary Parish. He had three known siblings, namely: Eleanor, Robert, and Mary Ann. He died on 14 Jan 1891 in Smethwick, Staffordshire, England. 

When he was 20, he had married Hannah Bowater (daughter of Samuel Bowater) on 24 Aug 1845 in St Mary, Handsworth. 

James Fairbairn and Hannah Bowater had the following known children: 

James Fairbairn was born in 1848 
Samuel Fairbairn was born in 1849 
Joseph Fairbairn was born in 1854 
Mary Fairbairn was born in 1856 

According to an Ancestry tree a Samuel Fairbairn, son of James Fairbairn and Hannah Bowater, arrived in New Zealand in 1874 on board the Strathnaver and in 1881 married Martha Dean. He is shown as having died in 1896 in Kumara, Westland, New Zealand. However, I have not been able to find any evidence yet - there are no records linked to the Ancestry Tree. I can find Samuel in the census up to 1871 at home with the rest of the family but I can't find him in 1881 so maybe he did make a trip to New Zealand. This is yet another work in progress.

UPDATE (@ 13:29):

Just had a quick search on google for strathnaver list 1874 new zealand family search and found the following.
Family Search - New Zealand, Archives New Zealand, Passenger Lists, 1839-1973

'My' Samuel was a blacksmith from Smethwick in Staffordshire.

Just gone back to the page and you can see a copy of the original document. I hadn't realised you could do that on Family Search now. Samuel is shown as 25 in 1874 making his birth the same as 'my' Samuel - 1849. 

The citation is 
"New Zealand, Archives New Zealand, Passenger Lists, 1839-1973," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/FSTL-P2V : accessed 04 Jun 2014), Saml Fairbairn, 31 Aug 1874; citing Strathnaver Ship, Arrival Port Wellington, National Archives, Wellington; FHL microfilm 004412287.

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