I have been tracing the descendants of Henry CHOAT and Caroline CHOAT (nee TURNER).

At http://familyhistorysa.info/shipping/passengerlists.html is "CHOAT Henry, Caroline nee TURNER, Joseph, child arrived 1846-07-31 on Canton from London 1846-04-27 v Plymouth"

The child is a mystery. There was a Joseph born to Henry and Caroline on 31 May 1865 in Goodwood - their youngest. There is no record of an earlier Joseph dying.

One of the problems in tracing the descendants of Henry and Caroline is the existence of at least one other group of CHOATs in SA headed by another patriarch by the coincidental name of Henry CHOAT and married to an Ann JARVIS who I think arrived in 1855. There is also a CHOAT family centred on Whyalla.

The 8 children of Henery and Caroline CHOAT I know of are

Eliza 1848 d. 1921
Elizabeth Ann 1849 (strange name given the 1st born) d.1940
William 1851 d.1858
Ellen 1853 d.1853
Frederick 1855 d. 1937
Fanny 1858 d. 1936
Emily Ruth 1862 d. 1863
Joseph 1865 d. 1933

Eliza married Elijah PASFIELD and had Alice, Joseph, Alfred Thomas, Emma Jane, Emily and Hebert.

Elizabeth Ann married William GALE and had Helen, Agnas, Isabella, William, Eva Fred and May.

Frederick married Martha/Marsha Ann MILLER and had Frederick Herbert Ray, Ethel Jane, James Henry, Bertha Sophia, Mary Milton Quamba Stokes, Olive Mabel, Frank Clifford and Percy Roy.

Fanny married John William YOUNG and had Rose Ethel, John, Charles Henry, May Adelaide, Albert Frederick, Lillian Grace Victoria and Alfred James.

Joseph married Alice Mary BROADBENT and had Raymond Hadden, Wesley Paul, Archibald Percy, Harley Maxwell, Henry Ambrose, Mervin Wilbur and Ian Elwin.

A few are worth mentioning a little further. Elizabeth Ann is my ancestor. She had a difficult life bringing up grandchildren after her daughter and son-in-law died tragically just 6 weeks apart with 6 boys at a young age. The executor of either her will or her husband's will stole a substantial amount. I need to look further into this.

Frederick's 3rd son Frank Clifford was involved in a WW2 drama at sea. He did not returned home after WW1 but stayed on in England and made a life for himself. He was crossing the Atlantic on the SS City of Benares with his family when a German sub struck the ship 17 Sept 1940. He died Sept. 18 but wife Silva GILBERTON, and children Rachel, Peter and Russell survived. See Hobart Mercury Tue 24 Sept 1940 p1 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article30590231

3 of Joseph's sons served in WW1 but 2 did not come home. The 3rd one Wesley Paul escaped a German Prisoner of War camp and made it back to England where he was decorated. Raymond Hadden and Archibald Percy both died 20 July 1916 in France.

Another son of Joseph, Harley Maxwell (Max) started up the Choat Bus Company servicing the Hills area of Adelaide. It was continued by Max's son Ron until it was acquired by the Government in the 1970s.

Fanny was unlucky to lose 5 of her 7 children in before 21. Ethel making it to 20 and the other 4 dying in the first year.

Any further info would be welcome but I would like to resolve the mystery of the first Joseph.