Settled at Paterson's River, Stewart Island.
several references to James living with two wives. RR
present on Ruapuke Island at marriage of John KELLY and Hine etc by Bishop SELWYN RKE
1832 was a passenger on the Bee which travelled from Bunn's whaling station in the Foveaux Straits to Sydney. RMCN
"I am a descendant of James Joss and Iririana (Juliann or Julia) Kurukuru > Elizabeth (Betzey) bn 1840
Fortunately I had worked in the Southland District Council Library before retiring and took the opportunity to hunt for all the material I could.
I have attached the extract from the book Foveaux Yarns which you refer to.
After many years of procrastination I am finally trying to assemble what information I have - what a can of worms. I am realising that because a 'fact' is published in a book it is not necessarily correct.
My whakapapa accepted by Ngai Tahu has James Joss living at the neck with Julia above who also had another daughter Mary Ann bn 1845 and Kuikai (Caroline) Puwaitaha. She had Walter Douglas (1842 - 1922) and William Timaru (1844 - 1895).
I'll attach a copy of a baptism certificate which shows James Bruce Joss whose mother was Mary Robinson of Sydney. James appears to have left a son David in Banff. He was probably only eight or nine when James came to Australia.
My major mystery at the moment is the supposed existence of a John Wallace Joss mentioned in James' will (and who was with James on the voyage to Tahiti in 1845)
Hope some of this is helpful and happy to provide anything else I may have.
I'll also include a basic timeline which I compiled in trying get a sense of thia man's life." FSW
"There will be no date of death for James Joss as he and his two sons James Bruce (bn Sydney) and John Wallace (bn unknown) sailed from Auckland July 1845 and weren't heard of again.
The ship was reported missing in 1852 and his will executed in 1872. My guess is they died late 1845 into 1846." FSW
email 13 oct 2021
I discovered your Joss research on the nzearlyhistory.com site and became really interested as I too am a descendent of Betzy Joss who married John Wilson, a Swedish whaler when she was only 15. Later she married Thomas Devonshire in Orepuki and on her marriage certificate listed her maiden name as Hunter. My guess is that after James Joss disappeared she was bought up by the Hunter family.
I suspect that James Joss found his way to the Californian Goldfields which is where the crew on John Howell's Amazon caught up with him. In the Californian Census of 1850 I found a Captain Joss, aged 50, supposedly born in Hawaii, living in Placerville. Maybe Him?
He did leave a son David whose mother's name was Ann Allardyce in Scotland. He is mentioned in the will James made before he sailed off into the Pacific. The will is legit but has loopholes and its outcome is suspect as the lawyer involved was anxious to share in the proceeds as it involved land at Tiwai Point.
Incidentally, I don't think that James did marry any of the mothers of his children. There must be hundreds of descendants! There's a story there and I do wonder what became of James Bruce Joss. JUCL
REGBAPRuapuke has "20 may 1850 at The Neck, family of Jas JOSS deceased, Elizabeth 9 years, Margaret 5 years, Walter 7 years, William 5 Years. all christened by WHOLER as also the mothers of them, The SQUEAKER, named Caroline: the other Jane. James (Capt) Joss was a Mate for Anglem, Preservation Inlet between 1829 and 032.
5 He was a captain of Bee in 1832.
5 He was a captain of Sydney Packet between 1832 and 034.
5 He was a manager of a whaling station at New River owned by John JONES. in 1839.
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