Memories ... February 6

Anniversary of a Birthday:   

(For my 'Family Anniversaries' page)

Today is the anniversary of the birthday of my Great Great Grandfather, Henry Johnson Brown.

I have written a longer, more detailed post about Henry previously (those who are interested, please follow this link: The Story of Henry Johnson Brown  )  ...

but for this 'Memories' post, I will shorten his story considerably to just include the more important events in his life.

Whitehaven, by the sea, in England

• Henry was born in 1820 in Whitehaven, Cumbria, England.

• His parents were Henry Johnson Brown and Eleanor Gowan.

• When Henry was born his father Henry was aged 38, and his mother Eleanor was 30.

• Henry was the third of five children born to Henry (Snr.) and Eleanor.

Assisted Immigrant List

• At the age of 20 Henry emigrated to Australia.  He and his younger sister Sarah came as bounty immigrants aboard The Royal Consort in 1840.

• Back in England, Henry had worked as a printer but on arrival in Australia, he found employment with Clark Irving on Ellengowan Station in 1841.

• Henry then went on to obtain work as a cook on Ward Stephen's Runnymede Station. 

• He met Caroline Browning, an English immigrant, while working at Runnymede and they were married in 1846.

• There was a considerable age difference between the spouses ... Henry was 25 and Caroline was 15.

• They went on to have 12 children over a twenty-year period.

• In early 1849, Henry and Caroline left Runnymede Station and found work at neighbouring Lismore Station with William Wilson for a little while.  

• They did not stay long at Lismore Station however.  Between the end of 1849 and the end of 1850, Henry and Caroline had moved to several areas including Stanthorpe (which as the time was part of New South Wales) where Henry worked on Maryland Station as a watchman.  He was also working as a part-time hawker.

• By the end of 1850 they had returned to the Richmond River area and Henry began work at Bald Hill (later known as Bexhill) as a timber cutter and dealer.

• Timber cutting was notoriously hard, dangerous work and the lifestyle associated with this work was also difficult.  Henry and his family, like others at the Bald Hill camp, had to live in huts or tents without basic amenities.

• Henry lost interest in this life and became interested in becoming a timber dealer.  He had taken his family back to the Lismore area by 1852 and had set up a saw pit on the river back, engaging men to work with him.

• He purchased logs, milled them and then sold the timber locally as well as out of the district.

• Henry built a home for his family and a few years later, around 1854, extended it into Lismore's first hotel named the Cedar Squarers' Arms.

• He obtained a liquor licence but continued working as a timber merchant.

• Henry became the proud owner of several more blocks of land in the town of Lismore, before debt problems raised their ugly head in 1867.

• Tragically, Henry died quite suddenly in 1868, aged 48, before his insolvency case could be settled.

• Most of the land Henry had bought was lost to creditors, and his family was left in rather dire circumstances.

Memories ... February 4

Anniversary of two Birthdays :   

(For my 'Family Anniversaries' page)

Today is the anniversary of the birth dates of two very special people in my family ... my paternal Grandmother, Grave Olive Connors nee Brown, and my paternal Aunt, Betty Patricia Hodgins nee Connors ... mother and daughter.

I have written about my paternal grandmother before and for anyone interested here's the link to her story:  The Story of Grace Olive Brown 

I have not yet written about my aunt, so today seems a fitting moment in time to tell some of her story.

• Betty Patricia Connors was born in 1929 in the town of Beaudesert in Queensland.

• She was the youngest of eleven children born to George Thomas Connors and Grace Olive Brown, although by the time she came into the world two of her siblings had sadly passed away.

• At the time of her birth, her father George was 48 years old and her mother Grace was 44.  Of course, Grace would have been celebrating her own birthday on the day she was giving birth to her youngest daughter. 

Betty (centre front row) holding the hands of her twin brothers Reggie and Bede
while her older brother Tommy and oldest sister Beryl look on.
Photo likely taken around 1933 when Betty was aged 4.
(Photo shared by my cousin Keith Connors) 

• Betty attended the Gympie Convent School until she was in Year 8.  She then left school and started working for a tailor.  She would have been around 14 or 15 years old at this time.  This was however not a career path she would go on to follow.

Betty at her Debutante Ball 1947, aged 18
(Photos shared by my cousin Keith Connors)

• At the age of 18, Betty made her 'debut' and attended her Debutante Ball.  This was a very important social event in the life of a young lady.  Attending a deb ball was regarded as the moment you were officially launched into society and could start your social life.  From then on, a young lady could attend various dances, balls, dinners and other social events with eligible young men!

Betty standing in the middle of the photo, dressed in her nurses' uniform.
Her nieces Pat and Ann are standing to the left, and her parents, Grace and George to the right.
Photo likely taken in 1948 when Betty was 19 years old.
(Photo from my father's collection) 

• Betty began her nursing training around the age of 17 or 18 at the Glandore Hospital in Gympie.  Nursing turned out to be a passion of hers during her lifetime.

Photos taken around 1946-1947
 

John Frederick Hodgins
known as Bunny

• When she was 20 years old, Betty married John Frederick Hodgins, known as 'Bunny' Hodgins.  He was a working musician, a music teacher and an absolute "wizard with the banjo".   Bunny and Betty shared a great love of music throughout their married life.

• They were married for 45 years, until the passing of Bunny in 1994.  They had one daughter together.

• Betty passed away in 2022 at the age of 93.  She was laid to rest with her dear husband Bunny at the cemetery in Gympie.

• Often when the cousins start reminiscing about our Aunty Betty, the first thing that comes to mind was her great love of singing and music.  She also had a fantastic sense of humour, a great love of family and a rather quiet, dignified and graceful presence.

Sharing some other photos of our beloved Betty:

My Aunt Betty holding me ... on the front steps of my grandmother's house in Gympie
1960 ... Betty  would have been 31 years old

My Aunt Betty, far left, standing with her daughter while her mother Grace (my grandmother) holds me
1960

Aunty Betty with some of her siblings and her beloved husband
L-R: Betty, her brother Bede, her husband Bunny, her sister Olga, her sister Chris, and her sister Beryl.
Photo taken in 1986 when Betty was 57 years old
(photo from my own collection)

Betty with some of her siblings in 1999, when she was aged 70.
L-R:  her sister Chris, her brother Reggie, her sister Olga, her sister Beryl and Betty

Betty celebrating her 90th birthday in 2019
(photo shared by my cousin Carmel)

My Aunt Betty at her 90th birthday celebration
surrounded by her daughter, her son-in-law, her grandchildren and partners, and her great grandchildren
(photo shared by my cousin Carmel)

The Story of Adolphus Crittenden Hukins / Memories ... January 26

This post tells the story of my paternal Great Grand Uncle, Adolphus Crittenden Hukins  (1849 - 1897).

Our Common Ancestors are:  Adolphus Hukins and Mary Ann Farley.

I'm publishing this post on the anniversary of his birth.

 Anniversary of a Birthday :   

(For my 'Family Anniversaries' page)

Today is the anniversary of the birth of my paternal Great Grand uncle, Adolphus Crittenden Hukins.  Even though he was born so very long ago and obviously I never got to meet him, he holds a special place in my heart as he was born on the day we know as 'Australia Day'.

Australia Day is the official national day of our country, although this day wasn't adopted as Australia Day until 1935 so my great grand uncle would never have known about it.

• Adolphus Crittenden Hukins was born on January 26th in 1849.

"What a fabulous name!" I hear you say.  My thoughts exactly!

'Adolphus' was his father's first name and yet despite extensive research, I have not been able to find evidence of any other Adolphus in the previous four generations of that family!  I'm at a loss to know why he was named so.

The Hukins family had been living in the the county of Kent in England since at least 1700 (I haven't been able to get any further back) and the stock standard Christian names in the family had been John, James or Richard.  Where on earth 'Adolphus' came from will likely remain a mystery.

'Crittenden', on the other hand, was the first name of his father's brother (who tragically died soon after the family's arrival in Australia), and the surname of his father's grandmother, Elizabeth Crittenden.  The Crittenden family had been living in Kent since at least the early 1600s so there was a long family history of the name as a surname.  In Adolphus's case however, it had become his middle name.

• Adolphus Crittenden Hukins was the son of Adolphus Hukins (an English immigrant) and Mary Ann Farley (an Irish immigrant).

• He was born in Sydney, New South Wales.

• I have not been able to find a birth record for Adolphus Crittenden, but I have however been reliably informed by distant cousins that he was indeed born on this date.      

• I was able to track down a transcript of his baptism record.  That gives the date of his baptism as March 4, 1849, just over a week after his birth.

• The transcript of the baptism record also shows that Adolphus Crittenden was baptised in the parish of St. Lawrence, one of the four parishes that existed at that time in Sydney, located in the southern portion of Sydney.

• Adolphus was the first of 13 children born to Adolphus and Mary. 

• The first of his siblings was born in 1850 when Adolphus was one year old, and the last of his siblings was born in 1869 when Adolphus was 20.

• By the time Adolphus Crittenden had turned 1 year old, the family had moved from Sydney to the small township of Jamberoo, outside Kiama, on the southern coast of New South Wales.  It was there that his father bought land and established a farm.

• The very early years of Adolphus's childhood would have been spent living and working on his father's farm, and probably helping out on the farms of his grandfather and two of his uncles, which were close by.

• Adolphus Crittenden's father (I'll refer to him as Adolphus Senior from now on) also became an inn-keeper, following in the footsteps of quite a number of family members from previous generations back in England.  By 1855 he was running a pub named 'Four In Hand' in the town of Kiama, which was about 11 kilometres away from the family farm.  

• It seems that Adolphus Senior had kept the farm, but the family had moved to Kiama to live.  Adolphus Crittenden would have been 6 years old when the family moved into town.

• Unfortunately, Adolphus Senior did not experience great success as a publican, and financial troubles raised their ugly head quite early on.  In 1858 insolvency proceedings were bought against Adolphus Senior and he lost the pub.  Adolphus Crittenden would have been 9 years old when all this was happening.

• By the time Adolphus Crittenden was in his early teens, his father was in trouble with the law, mostly because of public drunkenness.  Then, by 1873, Adolphus Senior lost the family farm following a damages claim bought against him.  Adolphus Crittenden was 24 at this time, but it's likely he had already left home and had begun his own life. 

• By 1877 Adolphus Crittenden was living in Albion Park, north-west of Kiama, and working as a horse-breaker.

• He was no longer known by his full Christian name, Adolphus Crittenden.  He was now known as Crit or Chris.

• Adolphus Crittenden (Crit / Chris) Hukins became quite well-known across the Illawarra Region as a steeplechase rider.  He was apparently quite a familiar contestant at jumping events in all the metropolitan and country shows across the region and beyond.

• In 1892 Adolphus Crittenden paid quite a hefty price for a horse with a good track record in jumping hurdles.   £200 would have been a very large sum of money in those times, but obviously Adolphus Crittenden was confident he investing wisely.

• Adolphus Crittenden became quite the successful show jumper / steeplechase rider, winning first place many times riding his horse named 'Mingoola'.  The following newspaper item shows the Grand Jumping Contest results from the Bowral Show in March of 1897 and A.C. Hukins is listed as the winner of that event.

• Tragically, he died quite unexpectedly just a few months later, on the 20th of October, 1897.

• Death notices appeared in quite a number of newspapers across the Illawarra region and in the city of Sydney.

• The following short notice appeared in several newspapers including  The Maitland Weekly Mercury (30 Oct 1897 p12), The Wagga Wagga Express (23 Oct 1897), The Sydney Morning Herald (21 Oct 1897 p6), and The Sydney Mail & New South Wales Advertiser (4 dec 1897 p1164). 

• This appeared in The Freeman's Journal (30 Oct 1897 p20).

• This notice appeared in the Bowral Free Press & Berrima District Intelligencer, but this time Adolphus was named as Mr. A. C. Hukins

• This notice appeared in The Sydney Mail & New South Wales Advertiser (4 Dec 1897 p1164), giving some insight into how he was thought of in the general community.

•  An obituary was published in both the Bowral Free Press & Berrima District Intelligencer (30 Oct 1897 p2) and  The Kiama Independent & Shoalhaven Advertiser (23 Oct 1897 p2).  His name was recorded as Mr. Crit Hukins in the Bowral Free Press article and as Mr. Chris Hukins in the Kiama Independent.

• As the obituary states, Adolphus Crittenden suffered quite a lot towards the end.  Such a terrible way to go and all because a splinter got lodged under one of his fingernails!

• His death certificate states he suffered from "traumatic tetanus" for 3 days.

• Adolphus Crittenden Hukins was buried at the Church of England Cemetery in Albion, New South Wales.  I have not yet been able to find the exact location of his last resting place.

• As an aside note:  For those who might be wondering what happened to Mingoola after his owner's death ... well the poor horse died the following year!  The following newspaper item states that he "dropped dead .... while exercising"!  

Memories ... January 13

  Anniversary of a Birthday :   

(For my 'Family Anniversaries' page)

Today is the anniversary of the birth of the wife of my paternal granduncle, and this post is part of my Family Anniversaries / Memories page.

I don't often include spouses of my relatives in these 'Memory' posts, but I'm making an exception in this case because of a very special photo in my family tree photo collection.  It is one of my favourites!

This is the only photo I have of Vera Coleman and it is in fact a photographic postcard:

Vera Agnes Connors nee Coleman

Henry James Coleman
Vera's brother

This photo was put on a postcard which was sent to her brother Henry (known as Harry) James whilst he was away serving in World War 1.  

It's a particularly poignant shot I think, as it seems to depict a young lady deep in thought ... possibly concerned about the fate of her younger brother and wondering if she will ever see him again.  

• Vera was born on the 13th of January 1897 in the town of Ballina in New South Wales.

• She was the eldest of 10 children born to James Coleman and his wife Catherine Finn.

Cyril Ernest Connors
Vera's husband

• At the age of 25, Vera married my granduncle Cyril Ernest Connors in Murwillumbah, New South Wales in 1922.  Cyril had also served in WW1 with the 6th Australian Light Horse Regiment and the Camel Corps.  He had seen action at Gallipoli and then in Egypt, and had been wounded many times.  Cyril had returned home safely in 1918 and had been working in the Murwillumbah area. 

• They went on to have six children.

          - Thomas James was born in December of 1922.

          - Moya Delene was born in February of 1925.  Sadly, she died a mere 8 months later.

          - Claire Catherine came along in 1926.

          - Cyril Joseph was born in 1929.

          - Bruce Bernard was born in 1930.

          - John Linus came along in 1934.

          - Margaret Mary came along in 1936.  By this time, Vera was aged 39.

• According to Census data from 1930 to 1936, Vera and Cyril began their married life living in the Alstonville / Wollongbar area of New South Wales where Cyril worked as a dairy foreman.  By 1937 however, they had moved to Camden Park Estate, near Menangle in New South Wales, where Cyril worked at the Macarthur-Onslow property as a Studmaster.

• Tragically, Vera's husband died of a heart attack in 1942 when Vera was 45 years old.  He had just re-enlisted for service in WW11 and was attached to the Camp Staff at Raymond Terrace in New South Wales.

• Vera was left widowed with children ranging in ages from 20 to 6.  I'm not sure how Vera managed to support herself and her youngest children, but I would think she received much needed support from members of her own family.

Thomas James Connors,
eldest son of Vera & Cyril

• At the time her eldest son was serving in WW2, so that would have been an added anxiety.  Thomas James Connors had enlisted just months before the death of his father and served in Borneo and New Guinea, before being discharged in May of 1946.

• According to the 1943 Census, she was living with her eldest son Thomas James Connors on Esmonde Street in East Lismore.  This information doesn't paint the whole picture however.

• In 1943, when Vera moved into the house on Esmonde Street, her eldest son Thomas was the only child of voting age and was therefore the only child included in the census (as he was serving however, he would have rarely been home that year).  Of course, he was not the only child of Vera's living in the house.

          - Claire Catherine would have been 17

          - Cyril Joseph would have been 14 years old

          - Bruce Bernard would have been 12

          - John Linus would have been 9 years old

          - and Margaret Mary would have been 6.

• The 1943 to 1949 census documents show that Vera continued living on Esmonde Street in East Lismore with her children.

• By 1954 however, Vera had moved from Lismore to Lidcombe.  By this time, it appears that only Vera's eldest son and daughter had moved out, while the other four still lived with Vera in Lidcombe.

• Vera continued living in Lidcombe and passed away in 1985, aged 88.  She was survived by 5 of her children as not only her daughter Moya had passed at the age of 8 months, but her son Bruce died in 1973.

• Vera was buried at the Rookwood cemetery alongside her son Bruce.

Memories ... November 24

 Anniversary of a Birthday :   

(For my 'Family Anniversaries' page)

Today is the anniversary of the birth of my maternal Great Grand Uncle, Edward Muckian  1894 - 1914.

*Our common ancestors are:  Patrick Muckian and Sarah McCann.

• Edward (known as Ned) was born in November of 1854.  Church records show he was baptised on the 24th of November in 1854, so it's likely he was born either a day or two before that.

• He was born in the small townland of Ballintemple, in the Civil Parish of Killevy (and the Catholic Parish of Lower Killeavy) in County Armagh, Northern Ireland.

• Edward was the first of five children born to Patrick Muckian (sometimes spelt as Muckean / Muchian) and Sarah McCann.

• After the birth of Edward came the births of Mary Elizabeth in 1856, Owen (my great grandfather) in 1859, John in 1863 and Anne (known as Nancy) in 1864.

• Edward grew up in a small community of mostly tenant farmers.  In 1865, when Edward was 11 years old the  Northern Ireland Valuation Record showed that the number of tenant farmers, including Edward's father, living and working in Ballintemple was 59.  It would have been a close, tightly-knit population.

• It appears that Edward and his siblings lived on the farm tenanted by their father until they reached their early to late teenage years.  By that time however, the farm would have been too small to continue supporting them all and the house itself would have become very cramped as it only had two rooms.  

• It's very likely that all of Edward's siblings left home and went out to work when they were quite young, around the age of 14 to 15.   The usual practice at the time was for children to start working in service at a nearby estate or perhaps go further afield and find labouring jobs, in the case of the boys.

• Mary Elizabeth married in 1880 at the age of 23.  John married in 1887 at the age of 24.  He had been working as a servant at the time, but emigrated to the U.S. the year after he married.   Owen had moved to England in search of work when he was around the age of 20, and then emigrated to Australia in 1888 when he was 29.  Anne (known as Nancy) married in 1891 when she was 26.

• Edward however was the one sibling who remained on the farm for his entire lifetime.  He took over the working of the farm after the death of his father in 1887 and remained living on the farm until his death.

Photo showing Edward Muckian and his mother Sarah on Edward's wedding day in 1892.
(Photo shared by my 3rd cousin Brian Rafferty)

• Edward married Mary Anne Mallon in January of 1892 when he was 37 years old.  They went on to have eight children over the following eighteen years:

          - Sarah Anne born 1892

          - Patrick born 1895

          - Owen born 1896

          - Susan born 1898

          - Mary born 1900 

          - Daniel born 1903

          - Lizzie born 1910 and

          - Rosaleen (known as Rose) born 1911

1901 Census

• The Census of Ireland for 1901 shows Edward, aged 40, living with his mother Sarah (listed as the head of the household), his wife Mary and five children.

• They were living in a small Class 3 house in Ballintemple, as recorded on the house & building return section of the census.  The house had 2 rooms, walls made of perishable material such as mud or wood, a roof of thatch or wood, and two windows at the front.  It would have been a tight fit for a family of eight! 

• The Northern Ireland Valuation Revision Book for the Civil Parish of Killevy 1901-1911 indicates that Edward did not remain a tenant farmer however.  He became a landholder when he purchased the block of land he had grown up on, as well as several other blocks around it.  He did this in 1907, after the death of his mother.  He was 52 years old at the time.

• The 1911 Census of Ireland shows Edward, now aged 58, living on the farm in Ballintemple with his wife Mary Ann, his eldest son Patrick, aged 17, his daughter Susan, aged 13 and his youngest child, Lizzie, aged 1.  

• The eldest daughter Sarah Anne had married earlier that year and left home.  Son Owen, aged 14, had likely left home and gone into service (although I have not yet found evidence of this). Son Daniel John was aged 7, but I have no idea where he was at this time!  There was also another baby on the way as Edward's wife Mary Anne was pregnant at the time.

• Tragically, Edward's wife Mary Anne, aged 45, passed away the following year in 1912.  The baby she had given birth to just a little over a year before, named Rosaleen, was taken in by Edward's and Mary Ann's eldest daughter, Sarah Anne and was raised in her home.  

• Edward himself passed away not long after the death of his wife.  He died in 1914, aged 59.  The cause of death listed on his death certificate was:  malignant disease of the bladder. 

• Edward died at home on the farm and it was his 15 year old daughter Susan who was present at the time of his death and gave some of the details needed for her father's death certificate.  

• He was the first of all his siblings to pass away and he was survived by five of his children.