I had a very frustrating day today. Everything that I was looking for to expand Edwin’s story escaped me. Eventually I decided to go back and see if I could find Maria Bakers immigration records which had been eluding me. I couldn’t. But on trying to get a grip on why I could not find them I got out her death certificate and a few things struck me.

Firstly, for years I had thought that Edwin had married in England before he came to Australia. Not so, it was Maria who married someone else in England before coming to Australia. So I can stop looking for another marriage for Edwin but I will need to see what I can chase up for Maria.

This of course leads to another question. On her death certificate her fathers name is George Baker, but is that correct? Normally a woman would not go back to her maiden name between marriages. Was Baker her maiden name or her married name? I do not seem to have the marriage certificate for Maria and Edwin, so I will need to get this to see if I can confirm Maria’s maiden name, or marriage name. If her details are properly entered on the marriage certificate I may be able to find out what Maria’s maiden name or married name is. This may be why I am unable to find her entering NSW. She may have travelled under another name.

On further looking at her death certificate, I also noticed that there were details of her fathers profession- soldier. This may possibly also give me some avenues to explore. So now looking for George Baker, occupation Soldier from Surrey UK.

Maria was born around 1823 making her 32 when she was married to Edwin. Her first marriage could well have been more than 10 years earlier. So this may well be the next challenge for this particular story.