Gordon Family History

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Mary Salmon - Name Analysis

Mary Salmon has certainly been an interesting person to trace, it has taken many years to sort through the fact from the fiction. Part of the problem in finding details about Mary has been trying to determine what her maiden name actually was. And the addition of "Jemima" to her name certainly didn't help.

According to her death certificate, her father's name was Alfred Austin. This appears to be one of the many "stories" that have been perpetuated about Mary. Her death certificate also states that she spent some time in Queensland and Tasmania. Whilst I have found evidence of her being in Queensland (her daughter Lillian was born there about 1869), I have not found any evidence of her having lived in Tasmania.

Mary's maiden name provided on the birth certificates of her Elliott children was variations on Salmon/Solomon/Sillilome. Her maiden name on the birth certificates of her Watson children was Austin. This appeared to be supported by Thomas Elliott's death certificate, on which Mary's maiden name was given as Mary Jemima Austin Salamay. Evidence has now been found that when Mary married Jonathan, Edward Elliott was still alive. It appears that Mary may have changed some details about her past when she married Jonathan, to hide the fact that she was still legally married. Mary was the informant on Jonathan Watson's death certificate, she gave her maiden name as Salmone. The table below details analysis of Mary's names.