Genealogy Chat

I have been reading Anthony Hulls tips for researching in Australia which is very good. But I woundered if any one in Australia thought that my quest to find my grandfathers brother is a no starter. I have been looking for years but I have not much information to go on. This is what I have, Grandfather & his brothers were in the Workhouse in England. Two of them were taken out and sent to Australia. Presumably as Home Children. One brother sent my Grandfather a photograph of himself in a Bush Uniform during the first world war. The trouble is I don't know which brother sent the Photo. They were James Phillips b 1887 & John Phillips b 1892. My Grandfather who was younger was in ww1 and was presumed dead and wasn't married at the time had no relatives in England. He came back from the war in 1925 but never heard from either of his brothers again. Have I any hope of tracing them? Barbara

> a photograph of himself in a Bush Uniform I'm not sure what you mean by a 'Bush Uniform', but if either brother served in the AIF during WW-1, you should be able to find details through the Australian National Archives.... http://www.naa.gov.au/the_collection/defence/conflicts/ww1/ww1.html Cheers, Bill Sydney, Australia

You might find reference to their enlistment records at the site that Bill mentioned above: www.naa.gov.au . Go to 'search as a guest'. Whereabouts in England were they born, and roughly what year? With common names like that you'll need to supply more info in order to narrow down the search results. If you do find them at the above site, you can apply online to have the rceords digitised & put online. These may contain more info such as residential address, next of kin, etc which will help in your search. Richard

Hi Barbara. Do you know the name of these boys parents, as this may help narrow down a search for a death. On most Australian death entries, it was mandatory to supply parents names ( if known ). The Surname PHILLIPS was a very popular surname in Oz. Between 1925 and 1945 in the state of N.S.W alone there were 24 James PHILLIPS and 75 John PHILLIPS death entries. Between 1925 and 1985 in the state of Victoria, there were 111 James PHILLIPS and 200 John PHILLIPS death entries. One could narrow this down, by the birth dates you supplied, but it could be narrowed down considerable if parents names are supplied. Cheers. Tony Oz

Here's another AIF site to search for the army connection... http://www.aif.adfa.edu.au:8080/index.html There are numerous Jame PHILLIPS and John PHILLIPS matches there. Cheers, Bill Sydney, Australia

Hi All, Thank you for replying I will try all the sites you have mentioned. The brothers were Illigitimate. Their mothers name was Sarah Phillips, they were born in Egremont Cumberland England. I don't know what the uniform looked like my Dad (now deceased) said it was an Australian Bush Uniform, What ever that might mean. Regards Barbara.

Hi All, I've been on the Anzec web site you mentioned and may have a link I found a James b1888 who had listed his next of kin as a friend which could be mine I've converted the cost of Australian dollars it cost to get more information and it works out at around £16. I will probably have another look at the Australian Archives site first as I kept getting Web site not responding the other night before ordering the information they have. Thankyou all for your help. Regards Barbara.