Above: Actual entries for Bourke/Burke on the passenger list for the Duchess of Northumberland as taken from Ancestry .com.au, NSW Assisted Immigrant Passengers Index.
There are several shipping indexes concerning the passengers on board the 'Duchess of Northumberland' when she arrived in Port Phillip Bay in June of 1841,and depending on which one you consult there are small variances in the number of immigrants named Bourke/Burke who arrived that day.
For example, there are two indexes on Ancestry.com.au that have passenger lists for the Duchess of Northumberland...the NSW Assisted Immigrant Passenger Lists, and the Victoria, Australia, Assisted and Unassisted Passenger Lists, 1839–1923.
The first has the following Bourkes/Burkes on board:
Name: John Burke Estimated birth year: abt 1807 Age: 34
Name: John Burke Estimated birth year: abt 1811 Age: 30
Name: Lawrence Burke Estimated birth year: abt 1815 Age: 26
Name: John Burke Estimated birth year: abt 1817 Age: 24
Name: Johanna Burke Estimated birth year: abt 1818 Age: 23
Name: Ellen Burke Estimated birth year: abt 1821 Age: 20
Name: Patrick Burke Estimated birth year: abt 1821 Age: 20
Name: Biddy Burke Estimated birth year: abt 1823 Age: 18
Name: Patrick Burke Estimated birth year: abt 1823 Age: 18
Name: Mary Burke Estimated birth year: abt 1826 Age: 15
Name: Edward Burke Estimated birth year: abt 1834 Age: 7
Name: William Burke Estimated birth year: abt 1834 Age: 7
Taken from: Victoria, Australia, Assisted and Unassisted Passenger Lists, 1839–1923
“Burke”
John Burke abt 1768 3 Jun 1841 Port Phillip Bay, Australia
John Burke abt 1807 3 Jun 1841 Port Phillip Bay, Australia Irish
Lawrence Burke abt 1815 3 Jun 1841 Port Phillip Bay, Australia Irish
Pattr Burke abt 1815 3 Jun 1841 Port Phillip Bay, Australia Irish
Judith Burke abt 1816 3 Jun 1841 Port Phillip Bay, Australia
John Burke abt 1817 3 Jun 1841 Port Phillip Bay, Australia Irish
Johanna Burke abt 1818 3 Jun 1841 Port Phillip Bay, Australia Irish
Bridget Burke abt 1823 3 Jun 1841 Port Phillip Bay, Australia Irish
Patrick Burke abt 1823 3 Jun 1841 Port Phillip Bay, Australia Irish
Mary Burke abt 1826 3 Jun 1841 Port Phillip Bay, Australia Irish
William Burke abt 1834 3 Jun 1841 Port Phillip Bay, Australia
Wm Burke abt 1834 3 Jun 1841 Port Phillip Bay, Australia Irish
“Bourke”
John Bourke abt 1803 3 Jun 1841 Port Phillip Bay, Australia
Ellen Bourke abt 1815 3 Jun 1841 Port Phillip Bay, Australia
Rat Bourke abt 1815 3 Jun 1841 Port Phillip Bay, Australia
Patk Bourke abt 1823 3 Jun 1841 Port Phillip Bay, Australia
Mary Bourke abt 1825 3 Jun 1841 Port Phillip Bay, Australia
Biddy Bourke abt 1827 3 Jun 1841 Port Phillip Bay, Australia
Edmond Bourke abt 1834 3 Jun 1841 Port Phillip Bay, Australia
Then we have the Public Record Office of Victoria Assisted Shipping Index:
BURKE:
Bridget aged 18
Edmd aged 7
Ellen aged 26
Johanna aged 23
John aged 30
John aged 23
John aged 24
John aged 34
Judith aged 25
Lawrence aged 26
Mary aged 15
Patrick aged 26
Patrick aged 18
William aged 7
and from the same index:
BOURKE
Biddy 19
Edmond 7
Ellen 26
John 38
Mary 16
Patrick 26
Patrick 18.
Some of these entries are obviously doubles, with individuals being indexed as both Bourke and Burke. But other entries are a mystery...for example, the appearance of 'Judith Burke' in two of the lists but not in the others.
Judith, of course, is my great-great-great grandmother who emigrated on the Duchess with her husband John. She was at times referred to as 'Johanna' on the baptismal certificates of her children, so it has been assumed that the 'Johanna Burke' who was named in a family group with John and child William was in fact 'our' Judith. Checking the actual image of the record on Ancestry shows that there is no sign of a 'Judith Burke'.
The images of Bourke/Burke entries as reproduced above show that 12 people by this surname were on board the Duchess of NOrthumberland..so where did the extras come from that appear in some indexes???? Did the Public Record Office of Victoria use another list to compile their index-one in which Judith Bourke is correctly named?The ages of some individuals also vary between the different indexes.
The reference numbers are different for the Johanna Burke and the Judith Burke on the D.O.N...I have just emailed a researcher in Victoria in the hope of employing him to make copies of the relevant entries for Burkes/Bourkes on the D.O.N using the references given in the PROV index...hopefully we will get a positive response!
Update as of Feb 15, 2010: Did not hear a thing back from the researcher, so will have to try another one...if anyone knows a good researcher in Melbourne who can retrieve copies of shipping records, please email me!!!
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