Philipp ADAMI 1816-?
The 200 tonne vessel “Iserbrook” sailed into Port Phillip on 7th October 1856 after a cramped journey for her 120 passengers. One of these was 40-year-old Philipp Adami, who stated that he was born in Nieder-Weisel.
The only surviving Philipp Adami born within ten years of 1816 in Nieder-Weisel was a son of the daily-paid labourer Johannes Adami (1784 – 1859) and his wife, Christina nee Seip (1782 – 1855). Johannes and Christina were married on 6th September 1809, and had five sons (of whom Philipp was the third), and three daughters; a boy and a girl died in childhood. Of the six children who reached adulthood only Philipp did not marry. The only record of Philipp in the church archives after 1816 is the entry of his first communion on Whitmonday 1829 – with special dispensation as he had not turned fourteen.
Philipp seems to have been a loner; there were no companions from Nieder-Weisel or other neighbouring villages on Iserbrook with him. This makes it difficult to get a lead on his movements after he arrived in the colony. He did not marry whilst he was in Victoria nor, it seems, did he die in that colony. One explanation is that he went either to New Zealand or to another State as many miners did after spending a few years on the Victorian goldfields. From the records available (up till 1860) it cannot be determined if Philipp Adami returned to his village.