William Henry Batson and Emily Sarah Crooks married on
26 August, 1889 in the Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Dunedin. They stated they were living at Bluff at the time of their marriage.
William Henry Batson (an experienced diver) and a team of six men including Mr Sherwin and Mr John Sutherland tried to salvage the silver coins on the wreck of the ss "Tararua" off Waipapa Point from around October 1889 to March 1891 when William Batson retired from actively participating in the work and Mr Elliott bought in to this salvage operation. The salvage operation was being conducted from Fortrose.
This information was found in Papers Past newspaper cuttings from the Southland Times and and the Nelson Evening Mail.
"The wreck attracted several salvage attempts as it apparently went down with a cargo of silver" - documented in New Zealand Historic Places Trust. Author Joan Macintosh wrote a book called "The Wreck of the Tararua" and I am wondering if there is any mention made of the men who were involved in the salvage operation in her book. She was upset that unauthorised divers boarded the wreck and removed items none of which should be held in private collections she maintained - she in fact bought the wreck from the Union Steamship Company, researched it and wrote its tragic history.
My interest is in William Henry Batson and his new wife Emily Sarah Crooks who is my paternal grandmother.
I am trying to find any information I can about them while William was involved in the salvage operation.
William had in fact married my grandmother bigamously.
In February 1891 his wife Emily Lucy Julia (Hicks) Batson arrived in New Zealand from England. This was at the same time Batson withdrew from actively participating in the salvage operation.
From 1889 to 1894 I have no further information on what happened to my grandmother Emily Crooks. I am seeking information on her and hope that some small fragment may come to life by posting this message.
William Batson went on to own The Prince of Wales Hotel in Tapanui among other exploits including growing flax on the banks of the Pomahaka river each side of the mill site he owned with Mr Dodd.
By December 1892 William Henry Batson was declared bankrupt in the Supreme Court of Bankruptcy Dunedin stating he arrived in NZ with 1,000 pounds free of liability. He expended all his money in his endeavour to recover the bullion. Here I will add that Emily Sarah Crooks had inherited 500 pounds from her late employer Dame Mary Jane Flower of 24 Lowndes Square, Chelsea, London in early 1889 just before her marriage to Batson and I wonder whether this was his reason to marry her bigamously??????
Further research has revealed that Emily Sarah Crooks and Emily Lucy Julia (Hicks) Batson were listed as inmates at the same workhouse the Hanwell School in London in 1871.
For now any little thread of information will be gratefully received.
Thanks.
Sue

Hi Sue

I wonder if you have made any progress with your inquiry? See the Post was last September sometime ago and you haven't had a reply yet.

If you wanted to get back to me I might be able to assist !!
Have found some death records and a Bankruptcy and Probate files.


Cheers

Alex G

"If you wanted to get back to me I might be able to assist !!
Have found some death records and a Bankruptcy and Probate files."

Why don't you just share what you know here, Alex? Or post where the information is to be found if there may be any sensitivities around living people.

The boards are here to share with everyone who comes across them. By asking people to contact you privately, instead of just saying what you know, you raise suspicions that you're a professional who is going to ask for a fee, which is against the rules on a Rootsweb message board.

Kind Regards,
Wendy

Good Evening Wendy

Really sorry you should think like this. With the best of intentions I offered to assist Sue when no one else including yourself had offered previously.

It is not my intention to charge or cause suspicion of being a professional or charging a fee. I am only too happy to assist others and return the many favours that so many right across the world have extended to myself.

The information took little time to locate even from amongst the tussocks and turnips in Southland. I am certain you could have located as well !!

My humble apologies.

Kind regards

Alex

Hi Alex,
I have found information in the books written by Joan MacIntosh on Willism Henry Batson and one reference to "his wife" who would be my grandmother Emily. The books are "The Wreck of the Tararua" and "A History of Fortrose- Toe Toes Riding the Toi Tois". William boarded with Duncan Campbell (a carpenter and funeral director) and his family at their home in Fortrose. There is quite a lot of information in these books which helps build up the details of the times. I spoke to Mrs MacIntosh's daughter in law from Invercargill and then made contact with our State Library in Queensland and was able to order the books in and photocopy the relevant sections. Thank you Joan for writing these histories with such detail.
I did know that William was a bankrupt and I have the bankruptcy file (Dunedin) and his probate file (Wellington).
Any information that you can add to this is gratefully received of course.
I am trying to find out as much as I can about my grandmother Emily Sarah Crooks who married Batson. From 1889 to March 1891 when Batson gave up his search for silver on the shipwreck. Was she with him when he bought the hotel in Tapanui for instance? I am sure there is more information that is just waiting to be discovered but it feels like looking for a needle in a haystack.
Regards,
Sue

Greetings Sue

You already the Bankruptcy and probate Files that I found. Will see what else I can locate and get back to you.

Cheers

Alex

Hi Alex,
You mentioned death records. I have always wondered if Emily had a pregnancy while she and William were together.
I do have William's death notice and Emily died in Tweed Heads, NSW on 26 January 1946. I have pictures of her gravesite.
I really appreciate your help.
Thank you.
Regards,
Sue

Greetings Sue

Yes I found William's death notice as well. Buried at Kumara on the West Coast. I have found no children to William Batson and Emily Sarah Crooks (thus far).

Much of the information I am now finding you have already on 3 separate posts on William Batson and Emily Sarah Crooks.

Much of this information can also be found in Papers Past.

Previously I have told you that you already have the Bankruptcy and Probate Files I located.

I note that the University of Canterbury have a photograph of William Henry Batson and his dog that can be found on line. Not certain I can post on here without breaching cipyright !! I searched for photographs of William Henry Batson and the Prince of Wales Hotel Tapanui.

You could also try the Alexander Turnbull Library and the Te Papa Collection.

There is also a Museum and Historian at Tapanui who maybe able to assist. Not forgetting Museums on the West Coast.

Hope this assists

Alex G

Hi Alex,

"With the best of intentions I offered to assist Sue when no one else including yourself had offered previously."

I don't have a problem with that. I wasn't as clear as I could have been before; as well as the concern I expressed (which was not my personal opinion but how it could be interpreted) sharing the information on the board where the request was made gets the information out for all to see.

Others can learn from what you share. There are always new people coming along who know nothing, and even those who are highly experienced can discover something new.

You might make an innocent mistake or assumption, and someone else may be able to pick this up and correct it - which wouldn't happen if you corresponded directly with the original poster.

There are a whole host of reasons for keeping the conversation on the board where it started, this is just some of it.

I didn't post before because I had nothing to share on the subject.

I'm the board admin, but that does not make me the world expert on the region nor is there any expectation that I have to answer every query.

Please keep sharing here, Alex. You know stuff that others don't (even if you don't think so) and can make a contribution that helps others. That's what the boards are for. :-)

Kind Regards,
Wendy
(Northland)