Hi,

I'm one of those people who goes around cemeteries and takes photos of the headstones for people who request it on Find a Grave.

A few years ago I got a request for a grave in Christchurch, turns out it was an unmarked plot however there was a bigger problem: the name listed on FindaGrave and on the Council database doesn't show up anywhere else, therefore I believe an error was made somewhere along the lines and the person in the plot has a different name. Any ideas how I go about IDing them? I want to sort this out so that his relatives know he's here.

BDM Death Index requires a surname, although this one is incorrect as I suspect.

This is what I have so far:

Joseph Gilbourne
Died and buried 27 Aug 1885
Age 37
Addington Cemetery, plot 1333

Thanks in advance for the help.

smoth_007 - 2019-04-28 22:17:00

According to
http://librarydata.christchurch.org.nz/Cemeteries/
that plot is shared with several others

Burnham William Date of death: Friday, 25 September 1885 Age: 57 years
McCormick David Date of death: Thursday, 25 January 1894 Age: 60 years
McCormick Elizabeth Date of death: Monday, 29 May 1916 Age: 72 years
Shaw Henry James Date of death: Tuesday, 14 December 1920 Age: 68 years
Shaw Alice Mary Date of burial: Wednesday, 17 January 1894 Age: 43 years

stock - 2019-04-28 22:44:00

www.bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz
1885/3802 Calbourn Joseph 37Y (25/8/1885)

stock - 2019-04-29 11:26:00

OP - Stock looks to have found the person you were looking for, with the alternative spelling of CALBOURN for their surname. I was curious to see if he had family in the area at the time but could find no trace of anyone named Calbourn or Gilbourne.

There is this passenger named Mr KOHLBURN who'd arrived in NZ two years earlier.

New Zealand, Archives New Zealand, Passenger Lists
Name Kohlburn
Event Type Immigration
Event Date 1883
Event Place Auckland (inwards), New Zealand
Gender Male
Ship Name multiple ships
Arrival Place Auckland (inwards)
Citing this Record

"New Zealand, Archives New Zealand, Passenger Lists, 1839-1973," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:-
/61903/1:1:FS15-NML : 10 August 2017), Kohlburn, 1883; citing ship multiple ships, Archives New Zealand, Wellington; FHL microfilm 4,412,815.

Canterbury electoral rolls from 1890 also show there was a mason named Mark KILBURN living in Opawa, and a James KILBURN farming in Lincoln. They might be relatives of the man buried in Addington Cemetery, and Opawa's relatively close by.

Edited by ed65 at 12:04 pm, Mon 29 Apr

ed65 - 2019-04-29 12:04:00

stock wrote:

www.bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz
1885/3802 Calbourn Joseph 37Y (25/8/1885)

Thanks - that's it surely

smoth_007 - 2019-04-29 12:52:00

ed65 wrote:

OP - Stock looks to have found the person you were looking for, with the alternative spelling of CALBOURN for their surname. I was curious to see if he had family in the area at the time but could find no trace of anyone named Calbourn or Gilbourne.

There is this passenger named Mr KOHLBURN who'd arrived in NZ two years earlier.

New Zealand, Archives New Zealand, Passenger Lists
Name Kohlburn
Event Type Immigration
Event Date 1883
Event Place Auckland (inwards), New Zealand
Gender Male
Ship Name multiple ships
Arrival Place Auckland (inwards)
Citing this Record

"New Zealand, Archives New Zealand, Passenger Lists, 1839-1973," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:-
/61903/1:1:FS15-NML : 10 August 2017), Kohlburn, 1883; citing ship multiple ships, Archives New Zealand, Wellington; FHL microfilm 4,412,815.

Canterbury electoral rolls from 1890 also show there was a mason named Mark KILBURN living in Opawa, and a James KILBURN farming in Lincoln. They might be relatives of the man buried in Addington Cemetery, and Opawa's relatively close by.

Thanks - both Mark and James are buried in Christchurch along with another 6 Kilburns. None are in the same cemetery.

Last burial in 2009.

So we are saying that he changed his surname upon arrival?

smoth_007 - 2019-04-29 12:58:00

If he spoke with a strong accent it could be the way the name was written as heard and not a name change.A lot were illiterate and relied on others to write down their details.

carbs51 - 2019-04-29 14:30:00