Cobram and the Man with Two Names Part Two

Me at the gates of Cobram cemetery - January 2016.

Cobram and the man with two names

While searching for the siblings of my gg grandmother Louisa Clarke, I finally lucked onto the burial of her brother JOHN in Cobram, Victoria in 1931. 

I have had some success in finding Louisa's brother Robert and his descendants who moved to Queensland from Victoria. As the eldest of five children, Robert must have been a father-figure for his younger siblings. I have found Robert mentioned as parent a few times, including on Louisa's marriage certificate.

The youngest of the five siblings, JOHN was born in Chewton, Victoria in 1875.  John's birth details list Elizabeth Armstrong as his mother. John was named after his maternal grandfather, who is the John Armstrong I wrote about in my recent blog; the black African man who came to Adelaide in the late 1840's. 

During their lifetimes, all of the siblings of this family changed their surnames to some form of either Armstrong or Salter (both being their mother Elizabeth's maiden names.  Armstrong is her birth name and Salter is her step-father's name. Elizabeth used the surname Salter primarily until the day she died.)

 

John's death details lists his mother as Elizabeth Salter (still correctly) and his father as Robert Armstrong (actually his brother who moved to Queensland.) John's age is listed as 54 but he would have been nearer 56. The Death Place was Cobram in 1931. The name as shown is JOHN ARMSTRONG.

Cobram Cemetery gates

JOHN's burial in 1931 at Cobram Cemetery was under two names, John Armstrong and George Saulter. Both names are listed under the same burial registration. Until we found this burial record we had no idea that John also used the name George Salter. 

Unfortunately there is no record of exactly where JOHN aka George is buried within the Cobram Cemetery. The plot is unknown, the section is unknown and there is no headstone.

This is all the information I have for John.  He was born in Chewton and died and was buried in Cobram.  What happened in between? 

Somewhere around here, John Armstrong aka George Salter is buried.

Cobram Cemetery.

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