JALimestone Plains wrote:Eric, agree that finding out who else is buried in the grave may help. Also was there an address for the C Clark who bought the plot?
No, unfortunately not. The information I got came from different records. The names of who is buried, dates, etc are in their general database which can be looked up online or at the cemetery. The places where they came from is on a different record, don't quite now what or why. And then the names of the grave owners are listed on a plan, which barely allows enough space for the name.
Between us we will find Olive somewhere! Not sure where to go next though ...................yet
Thanks for your optimism and keenness - and so much help. here's the steps I'm going to try now (good for my own mind to make a plan):
1. Follow up what Clark family members were in Melbourne around that time. JJD's parents came from Scotland and Ireland, but siblings may have come out with them. JJD was born in Melbourne (St Kilda) but grew up in Sale Victoria, where his parents died. Perhaps some siblings also moved back to Melbourne. See if any C Clarks among them, or any possible parents of Olive.
2. Follow up Charlotte's Niece, Maud Holmes, to see what family she reveals, and whether any of them could have been Olive's parent.
3. Follow up Jane Knight to see who she was - was she a Clark??? This will be interesting, but perhaps not helpful as obviously she couldn't have been Olive's real mother, though perhaps one of her children (if any) could have been.
4. Try again to find wills for JJD & Charlotte. I don't think there are any, but worth another look.
5. Find our who Albert Redolphus and Seth Adolphus were, and whether any relation to "our" Clarks.
6. Check if any of our Clarks in Brunswick, where the stillborn twins came from.
7. Tony gave me a list of all Olive Blanches born about that time. One was born to an Emma Jane Smith in Richmond, so I should check her out a little.
8. Tony also gave me a list of all Clark births, deaths & marriages up to 1888, so I will check through them again to see if anything pops out.
9. I will keep looking for other records - census, electoral rolls, medical records, court records, etc, to see if something turns up.
10. I'll try to find current descendants of the family (the Ranton-George tree is owned by one) and see if any have any oral history about this matter. So far, none.
So that's my to-do list for my grandmother - I also need to prepare a similarly long and unlikely list for my grandfather!
Thanks again. Can you think of anything else that might help - e.g. anything on the Canberra library???