Tristram Bath
| First name | Tristram |
|---|---|
| Last name | Bath |
| Country of Origin | Cornwall, England |
| Date of Birth | c.1802 |
| Year of Arrival in Australia | 1840 |
| Submitted by | Richard Engel |
Story
Tristram Bath was born in Stithians, a village near Truro, Cornwall. His baptism was on 7 Jan 1802. He was the 9th child of James and Jenny Bath. In 1804 both parents, his eldest brother, and another brother all died. He was brought up by his uncle William Bath and is mentioned in his uncle’s will of 1827, when he appears to have been the only survivor of the nine children, perhaps victims of a typhoid epidemic.
His migration record shows him to be an agricultural labourer and potter, but in Truro after his marriage to Susanna Jennings he was a grocer in Fairmantle Street. A building venture made him bankrupt and shortly they gained free passage to South Australia in a wave of Cornish migration, largely miners, bound for the copper mines. They arived in Adelaide in 1840 on the ship MORLEY with twins sons Henry and William b. 1838, and daughter Jane b.1836. A son John was born in Adelaide in 1842. Tristram became a mine agent, but was described as a labourer on his death in 1867.
William died at age 14 from epilepsy. The family tradition is that his twin,Henry, saved him from drowning. Henry became a Wesleyan Minister and after some pioneering work in SA moved to Victoria where he rose to be president of the Methodist Church. Descendents of Henry and John are in Victoria, NSW, New Zealand and South Australia.
A family history written by Richard Engel is entitled “A Child of Cornwall ” and is in the Victorian and SA State Libraries.