What's in a name?

If you haven't already gathered by now, my genealogical passion centres around the puzzle of one particular branch of my mother's family tree.

My great great great grandmother was born Elizabeth Armstrong in Adelaide, South Australia in 1842.  When Elizabeth was about 8, her father John Armstrong (a black African man) died. A year later, her mother Janet (a Scotswoman) married James Salter (an Englishman) and so Elizabeth's new surname was SALTER.

The new blended family moved to Chewton, Victoria shortly after the wedding, in early response to the goldrush in the Forest Creek area.

Elizabeth Salter grew up and married a miner, named Sims CUMIS.  Sims' birthplace is listed as the Cape of Good Hope, Sth. Africa, so he is also potentially dark skinned.  The couple married in 1864 in Chewton and over a period of ten years had five children; Robert, Louisa, Ellen, James and John.

All five children were given the surname of their father, (spelled either COMES or CUMMIS as per their birth certificates). The last child was born in 1875 with that name. But as the children grew, they rejected the CUMIS name and adopted different surnames, either Armstrong or Salter, their mother's maiden surnames. And despite their marriage and five children, Elizabeth was primarily known as Salter, not her married name of Cumis until the day she died.

In fact, at her death inquest in 1896 it is noted by witness Henry Matthews that:

                      I have seen the body now lying dead and identify it as that of Elizabeth Cummis otherwise known as Elizabeth Salter.  I have known her between 5 and 6 years.

Chewton policeman Constable Luke swears:

                    That at 2.21 pm today Elizibeth Comas, otherwise known as Elizibeth Salter, aged 50 years died in her hut at Chewton.

Her death is also reported in the local newspaper, the Mount Alexander Mail:

                     An old identity of Chewton, named Elizabeth Cumas, but better known as Elizabeth Salter, died suddenly at her hut on Sunday afternoon at 2.30 o'clock.

I have written previously about Elizabeth's different surnames in the article "Elizabeth gives me a headache."

Their children all reject the CUMIS name they were born with too.

Robert Armstrong Comes dismissed the Comes and became Robert Armstrong.  He married in Chewton, moved to Charlton in Victoria, and eventually moved his family to Queensland.

Louisa used the name Louisa Salter when she married in Geelong and one of her descendants is me. Her nickname was Blossom because of her dark skin.  Her married name was Louisa Clarke.

Ellen -we are still investigating and have no definite clues as to her  (see my previous blog on this search.) At this stage we theorise that she married and changed her name. Louisa's daughter was called Ellen.

James became James Salter Armstrong, moved to Kerang and served at Gallipoli and the Western Front in World War 1.  His nickname was "Snowy" in that ironical Australian way because of his dark skin. One of Robert's sons, named James after his uncle, sadly died at the Western Front.

John used the name Armstrong but his burial details in Cobram state: also known as George Saulter. Trying to find more details in Cobram.

 No-one knows what happened to Sims after the birth of his last child in 1875. We do know he also used the name William instead of Sims. We have no death certificate for him. Nothing. The puzzle is this: WHY did the wife and children of Sims Cummis reject his name?

Historically Yours,
Valerius Copernicus

Citations:

Article identifier
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article199612211
Page identifier
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-page21955428
APA citation
ITEMS OF NEWS. (1896, June 2). Mount Alexander Mail (Vic. : 1854 - 1917), p. 2. Retrieved October 10, 2015, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article199612211
MLA citation
"ITEMS OF NEWS." Mount Alexander Mail (Vic. : 1854 - 1917) 2 Jun 1896: 2. Web. 10 Oct 2015 <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article199612211>.
Harvard/Australian citation
1896 'ITEMS OF NEWS.', Mount Alexander Mail (Vic. : 1854 - 1917), 2 June, p. 2, viewed 10 October, 2015, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article199612211
Wikipedia citation
{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article199612211 |title=ITEMS OF NEWS. |newspaper=[[Mount Alexander Mail |Mount Alexander Mail (Vic. : 1854 - 1917)]] |location=Vic. |date=2 June 1896 |accessdate=10 October 2015 |page=2 |publisher=National Library of Australia}}

Cobram and the man with two names

If you've been following my blog, you will know of my search for my great great grandmother's siblings.

To our knowledge there are five children in the family altogether.  Reading their mother's inquest papers though throws that in doubt - a close friend testifies that she had seven children.  Could we have missed two whole children somehow?

One of the people we are looking for is John, and you will note I recently found a hospital record in Castlemaine when he was a child.  He was using his mother's surname, as all the children of that family did.  They all used their mother's maiden name, Armstrong, or her stepfather's surname that she adopted until the end of her days, Salter.

I was using the Genealogical Index of Names via the GSV website, looking at the Cobram Cemetery Burials when I found a John Armstrong, being buried in Cobram in 1931.  We knew John's death record showed he died in Cobram in 1931.  Then I read the rest -  "Also known as George Saulter".

George Saulter! So John is now also known as George!  Another clue to chase up.
The Cobram Historical Society is the real hero in this research. Volunteers spend time transcribing records just so people like me can discover the information they glean from dusty papers.  Whoever did so; whoever went to the extra trouble of putting the extra detail  of George Salter AND cross referencing it...thank you. Thank you so much.

Historically yours,
Valerius Copernicus

Sweet success - John Armstrong

Hi everyone,
Today I started using the member's section of the Genealogical Society of Victoria's website.  And Bingo!

We have been looking for my great great grandmother's brother John for a long time, and had only found his birth and death records.

The trouble with researching this family all along has been their multiple use of surnames.  They were born with the surname CUMMIS, but for some reason unknown to us, all the children adopted the use of their mother's birth name, ARMSTRONG or her step-father's surname, SALTER.  She used her step-father's surname of Salter until the day she died.  Even in the newspaper upon her death she is referred to Elizabeth CUMMIS better known as Elizabeth SALTER.

My great great grandmother Louisa was born CUMMIS but married as Louisa SALTER.  Her brother was born James CUMMIS but was known later as James Salter ARMSTRONG.  Another brother Robert was born Robert Armstrong COMES, but later in life dropped the Comes and became Robert Armstrong.  His descendants are all ARMSTRONG.

In looking for brother JOHN, I presumed he would adopt the name Armstrong as his two elder brothers did, and that was correct.  His death records do show up as John Armstrong.  However, it hadn't occurred to me to search under the name SALTER for John, and when I did, there he was.

John SALTER was admitted to Castlemaine Mt. Alexander Hospital on 4 Jan 1886 when he was 10 years old.  He was there for about 10 days and was discharged cured.  We will have to research more to find his diagnosis.  He was recommended to the hospital by a Mr. Carbarns, who, five years later, also recommended John's mother Elizabeth be admitted to the same hospital for Rheumatic fever.  We will have to research who Mr. Carbarns is.

I know it is just a hospital record.  I know it is not a huge event in John's life.  But the thrill of discovery and that electric realization that you've found a piece of that puzzle is one that all family historians live for.

Historically yours,
Valerius Copernicus.