Auswanderung nach Australien, ca. 1870

[doktor]

Hallo,

Ich möchte Sie fragen, bitte, wenn jemand könnte mir helfen, einen Vorfahren in Deutschland zu finden.

Er kam in Australien irgendwann vor 1874.
Auf seiner Heiratsurkunde (1874) erklärte er seinen Namen und seine Herkunft (in Englisch) als "Henry Christopher Adolphus Macks" aus "Hanover".
Auf der Geburtsurkunde seines Sohnes (1875) sagt er, er war 32 Jahre alt, und dass er aus Deutschland war. Nichts mehr.

Erstens, ich frage mich, ob der Name war ursprünglich Max vielleicht?

Wenn er angegeben Hanover als seinen Geburtsort (immer mit einzelnen "n" geschrieben), was wäre das eigentlich? Einer Stadt oder eines Landkreises / Landes?

Auch ich bin nicht sehr vertraut mit nicht-britischen Schiffen transportiert Migranten von Deutschland nach Australien in diesem Zeitraum.
Gibt es Aufzeichnungen über die in deutschen Archiven?

Es tut mir leid für die schlecht Deutsch (Ich beschuldige Google Translate)

Vielen Dank.

[gki]

Hello doktor,

welcome to the forum.

Hanover was a kingdom within the German Federation (Deutscher Bund) until it was annexed by Prussia in 1866.

"Macks" as a family name is rather rare, can you supply a copy of the marriage certificate?

It could have been "Marcks" as that seems to be used north of Hanover:

http://www.verwandt.de/karten/relativ/marcks.html

Keep in mind that the spelling of surnames was not fixed at that time and thus the spelling could have been "Marx" as well.

That spelling however seems to be used a bit more to the south and west.

http://www.verwandt.de/karten/relativ/marx.html

Unfortunately, I am not aware of documents in Germany about emigration to Australia, other members of the forum might.

[Rieke]

Hello doktor,

Welcome to our Forum
If you find it easier to communicate in English feel free to do so; there are a lot of people here who can help in this language too.

Perhaps you can let us see the original marriage and birth record if it is on hand?
There might be a transcription error as regards to the surname.

Is Macks the name of the family to this day?


Liebe Gruesse
Rieke

[doktor]

Hello and thank you everyone.

I have attached the birth certificate of Adolphus.

His surname is written as Macks. I also have some other documents (birth certificate of his son, police records, court records... he was a colorful character ) and in all of them his surname is written as Macks.

The marriage certificate also shows that his father was a carpenter and his father's name was Henry August Macks. There is no mention of his mother.

It is quite possible that upon his arrival to Australia he changed the spelling of his surname. Macks seems to be more English than German? I would also think that Henry was in fact Heinrich or such in German.

I am not familiar with German naming traditions of that period, but it seems a bit strange to me that a carpenter would give his son 3 names - "Henry Christopher Adolphus".

Because Adolphus was no stranger to prison, I am thinking that maybe he was in trouble with the law back in Germany as well.

The question still remains, how to find this person's birth details?
I tried some variations of the surname on FamilySearch.org and Ancestry.com but I found no trace of this family in Germany.
I am guessing that similar to Australia, there are better places for research than the two sites above. Am I correct?

Yes, Macks is the family name to this day.

Thanks again.

[gki]

Hello doktor!

I have attached the birth certificate of Adolphus.

Thank you.

His surname is written as Macks.

Agreed, it is best visible at his own signature.

I also have some other documents (birth certificate of his son, police records, court records... he was a colorful character ) and in all of them his surname is written as Macks.

The marriage certificate also shows that his father was a carpenter and his father's name was Henry August Macks. There is no mention of his mother.

Well, at least you got the father's name.

It is quite possible that upon his arrival to Australia he changed the spelling of his surname. Macks seems to be more English than German?

The spelling may have been change in Australia, but also the spelling wasn't fixed in Germany at that time. So it is possible that any relatives spelled the name differently, for example "Max" of which there seems to be a cluster near Hanover:

http://www.verwandt.de/karten/relativ/max.html

Another possibility is that he anglicized his name a bit and it was originally Macke:

http://www.verwandt.de/karten/relativ/macke.html

I would also think that Henry was in fact Heinrich or such in German.

Of course.

I am not familiar with German naming traditions of that period, but it seems a bit strange to me that a carpenter would give his son 3 names - "Henry Christopher Adolphus".

In my main area of research it would have been very strange indeed, but in others it was common to give more than one name.

Because Adolphus was no stranger to prison, I am thinking that maybe he was in trouble with the law back in Germany as well.

If he was, the records survived, and you find them this may help you to fix his place of birth. It is also possible that he skipped his mandatory military service and thus was listed in newspapers as a refugee. He may also have fought in the wars of 1866 and/or 1870/71. But I am only aware of lists of injured or killed soldiers, often only officers.

I've searched the list of losses for world war one and there are two soldiers named "Macks". One was from Berlin, the other from "Kreuz", wherever that is. There are many more named "Max" from a variety of places, some probably within the former Kingdom of Hanover.

He also may have left Germany without permission (people had to be formally released from being a subject!) and thus may also have been in the newspaper. Or he obtained permission and this was recorded somewhere.

For all of that it matters when he left as the rules for Hanover presumably changed after 1866 and may have changed again after 1870.

The question still remains, how to find this person's birth details?

Indeed. Can you rule out that you can find any other documents in Australia that can give a better time estimate for when he got there? I've found an index to passenger lists here:

https://srwww.records.nsw.gov.au/indexes/searchform.aspx?id=9&new=1

but no luck.

There's a list of sources here:

http://coraweb.com.au/shipindex.htm

I suggest that you try to find out more information in Australia first.

I tried some variations of the surname on FamilySearch.org and Ancestry.com but I found no trace of this family in Germany.
I am guessing that similar to Australia, there are better places for research than the two sites above. Am I correct?

There is no register of people in Germany. The public register was only introduced in 1876 and even for that, you need to know the exact place as they aren't connected in any way.

There are some lists of people leaving on ships from Hamburg or Bremen, but they are incomplete and may not cover the time your ancestor left Germany.

[focke13]

nachname mack hannover

http://adressbuecher.genealogy.net/addressbook/entry/54747cfa1e6272f5d1b930e2

[focke13]

vater?

http://online-ofb.de/famreport.php?ofb=friedberg&ID=I8110&nachname=MACK&lang=de

[focke13]

mack

http://www.myheritage.de/site-family-tree-277377851/mack

[gki]

Das ist ja wohl nicht sehr hilfreich...

[focke13]

was birthday 7.3?

Birthday 7.3.1843?

[doktor]

Unfortunately I do not know the date of birth.
But his son was born in 1875 and he stated his age to be 32 years.
So I am guessing Adolphus was born around 1843?

Where did you get 7.3.1843?

I followed all links above and I can see that it is very likely that he changed his surname when he arrived to Australia. Possibly even his first names.

This is quite a detective work!

[gki]

Unfortunately I do not know the date of birth.
But his son was born in 1875 and he stated his age to be 32 years.
So I am guessing Adolphus was born around 1843?

"around" can have a wide margin.

I followed all links above and I can see that it is very likely that he changed his surname when he arrived to Australia. Possibly even his first names.

You shouldn't let the links confuse you.

They are just taken from a collection of family books that some people have created for some places.

There's no guarantee that such a book exists for the place where your ancestor was born.

Since you only have rather vague information: Even if you'd find somebody who seems to be matching, you probably should check the rest of Hanover to make sure he's not just a duplicate.

This is quite a detective work!

Yes, that's the fun.

However, I think you should try to get more information on your side of the globe first. Anything that you get there will make identification over here much easier.

[Rieke]

Hello doktor,

I am afraid your search for your ancestor has by default the characteristics of a wild goose chase because you have so very little hard evidence of his real identity.
All I can come up with is speculation but that does not help.

I notice from his marriage record that he was working as a 'gold miner' and he and his wife lived in Sidney in 1874.
Have you already tried to find his and or his wife's name in a Sidney address book from that time?
Were tenants in those days in some form recorded by the municipal authorities?
Were work permits issued to immigrants?
Can you find any records of the existing gold mining companies and their records in the area?

I assume you have already trawled through the NSW records?

I really think your best hope to find anything about your ancestor's true identity is in your country. This search should also include his father Henry August Macks because he could have been the original immigrant and 'Henry Christopher" came over while still an infant.

Wishing you good luck in your quest

Liebe Gruesse
Rieke