Finding James Hardy - Part 1

3 weeks shy of 3 years ago I knew a lot about my Great Great Grandfather James Hardy. I saved a file about him and then I got side tracked with some other branch of the tree. James was always hard work and so was his son John as they both lived in an area with someone of the same name and some other similar details that made it hard to determine which was my James and which was their James.

This is what I saved for James Hardy:

Born: Ireland 1828
Immigrated: 1851 on the "Cornwall"
Married: Jane Cadman: Unknown details
Lived: 89 Marriott Street, Westbury, Tasmania

Occupation: Retired Military Soldier from the 66th or 77th Regiment

Died Deloraine, Tasmania, 1881

Some other facts I remember but didn't save information for included James was given a retirement fund as a soldier that included some land, a pear tree and a well. James was not the convict James Hardy Vaux and there was another James Hardy in Westbury at the same time. His regiment was a foot regiment from memory.

For some reason I have James as being born 1828 but the death records show he would have been born 1810 as he was 71 years old.

Family trees in Ansestry.com just prove how impossible it is to get the facts right. I'm certain some people just take the green leaves as gospel. There are at least 4 different versions of James Hardy, husband of Jane Cadman. Some have had a lot of research with 5 or more sources. But they have James as a convict and I am certain I already had proof that he was indeed NOT a convict. So here I am ... wondering where to start my search again. I never add anything to my tree unless I have 2 proofs (or I at least add TBC to their name).

So here I am, 3 years later wondering which of that information is correct, and which was false leads.

I have to say that I'm back to the drawing board. So this post will be a continuing one. It will be about my search for James Hardy.....I hope that my search will show you how I go about doing my research and hopefully help you with your own.

HINT: LOOK AT OTHER RELATIVES RECORDS

So to start my search again I'm going right back .. to a copy of a wedding registration paper that was given to me by my aunt. It is of my Great Grandfather John's marriage to Edith Morgan (nee Scott). I've found that death certificates and birth certificates can give me a lot of information about other family members, residences and occupations. I have even ordered a certificate when I've had a "hunch" and been exited to have my hunch confirmed and to then find the name of other relatives I never knew existed.

Back to James........ John's marriage certificate lists his father's name and occupation. Like most other records we also have an idea if someone is deceased or not. From the marriage registration certificate we are able to confirm:

James Hardy was a soldier by occupation who in July 1900 was already deceased. His country was listed as Tasmania and his wife was Jane Cadman who was still living. John was born in Westbury, Tasmania and was 38.

So that leaves us with some questions to solve or confirm:

Where and when did James and Jane marry?
What military records are there for James?
Where did James and Jane live?

On top of that we have information to still confirm about Marriott Street, Westbury and also James' migration information (if infact he did migrate).

HINT: TIMELINE INFORMATION

When I'm a little confused by details I often make a timeline and slot in details I do know. I use Timeglider which is a handy online app.

For example, I know James & Jane had a daughter Isabella born in April 1851 so in searching for marriage records I'll start looking for a date before then. Also, if James & Jane came to Australia in 1851 then there is a possibility that Isabella may have even been born onboard and registered when they hit Australia.

But before I go any further I need to confirm ... was James actually born overseas? I have a death as 1881 which gives me a birth year as 1810 yet I seem to have 1828 as a birth year (was that just a guestimate from Isabella's age?) Was the 1881 death that of the "other" James Hardy? When did Jane die?

HINT: TROVE

Trove is an online archive of newspapers. It probably got its name from being a trove of information .. for me it is definitely a Treasure Trove! I like to start my searches narrow. Search for exact names by putting quotation marks around them, put in a year worth of dates and limit myself to family notices or town names.

BINGO .. after searching "James Hardy" Westbury and limiting the year to 1881 I found a notice for the sale of land having belonged to James Hardy of Pensioner Row, Westbury. There are a number of the ads over a few months, the first being 25 May, 1881.

I realise that sometimes the language of old newspapers can confuse me, but words like estate and caveat tell me that James is deceased, and more than likely recently. It also gives us an address!

So, is this my James? And again I have a few more questions... Is "Real Property Act Notice" anything that will help me? Does Pensioner Row have any significance to James being a soldier?