Genealogy Forum UK

I was tracing one of my wifes family lines, the Bonneys, and had a real hard time finding when they came into Australia.

I knew they came from Sussex and I had found them in the 1841 Census but not the 1851 census.

Since I found them in the Australian 1856 electorial role I knew they had to have arrived between 1841 and 1856.

I had no luck finding them in any of the various shipping records.

Our National Library keeps millions of web sites that no longer exists in a "Historic Web".

I jumped into that and found a query from a Bonney on a web site that vanished in 2001!

That gave me the name of the ship they came on in 1852.

They were called Boniface on the shipping records.

Went back to the English 1851 census and there they were as Boniface.

Checked IGI and all their Church records are via the Ebenzer Idependent Church in Alfrinston, Sussex.

So, christened as Boniface, registered as Bonney in the 1841 census, registered as Boniface in the 1851 census and 1852 shipping records, and back to Bonney after they leave the ship.

No further mention of Boniface in any of the marriage or death records in Australia.

Was there much discrimination against the Baptists?

Would there have been a good reason to change their name?

I dont have an answer to your query but thought I'd mention a good web site, Internet archive, the way back machine. It helps to look back on old web sites.
http://www.archive.org/web/web.php
Saying that you do have to know the old address.
Jo:)

Gee I am up late chasing this one...

It appears that in Sussex, and seemingly only in Sussex, the use of Boniface and Bonney was interchageable.

In terms of concentration, Sussex has by far the largest Boniface population.

Speculation is that the influx of Huguenots included a lot of Boniface families and Sussex was their chosen destination.

As happens with a lot of surnames, they get anglicised.

Since there were already Bonneys in Sussex, not related to the Boniface line, some families adopted that as their anglicised name.

When they applied to come to Australia as assisted immigrants, they used their birth name, Boniface.

Therefore the entire trip had to be done under that name.

Once in Australia they again found it easier to use the anglicised version.

Is this completed Mark?
Jo