The brick wall has come tumbling down around our ears, all thanks to a marvellous New Zealand researcher by the name of Jeni Palmer who has located when and where our Anthony Edward Corvan died. It is so wonderful to be able to complete his story with a definite ending, but there are still so many gaps to fill in his tale that I'm sure this particular ancestor will keep us busy for years!
Getting down to business...Anthony Edward Corvan died in Auckland on February 15, 1896, at the age of 77 years. Because my last sighting of him was in an 1879 newspaper, stating that he wasn't in a particularly healthy mental state, I am amazed that he lived for another 17 years beyond that point.
The reason for me not being able to find Anthony myself in the New Zealand death index became clear when Jeni explained the following:
"I found his death registered in 1896 aged 77 years. It is written as CORVIN on the microfiche but as CORRIN in the online registers."
'Corrin' is one of the many Corvan variations that I usually search under-in this instance I must have neglected to use it. Unfortunately, the NZ index search requires you to use a surname, so I couldn't search for any Anthonys who had died post 1879. Using this method has allowed me to pick up Anthony Corvan in other index searches as it is not a particularly common name.
Jeni Palmer also checked records from the Auckland Hospital, and more treasures were to found here. It seems as though Anthony was admitted to the Auckland hospital at least seven times between 1872 and 1892, for conditions ranging from rheumatism to a fractured neck of his femur.
In 1894 Anthony appears in the records of the Costley Home, which was a home for the aged poor in Auckland.He was still there in January of 1895, and then died the following year. I have applied for his death certificate, which should arrive next week, hopefully containing more precious information.
No comments:
Post a Comment