Isabella Ogle Creek 1867-1930

From the Clifford Family Album

 

Isabella Ogle Creek was born on 19 Jan 1867 in Ballyconnell, Co Cavan, Ireland, the daughter of The Venerable Rev’d William Creek and Emilia Templeton Clifford – here we have the first intimation that we have a Clifford family connection! So far I haven’t found the Ogle name in her ancestors but I’m sure there must be one somewhere, otherwise why would you give a girl such an unfeminine name?

Her father was the Archdeacon of Kilmore and living in the Kildallon Rectory, Co Cavan when he died on the 14 Sep 1899 aged 62.

On the 18 Sep 1888 she married Lowry Cliffe Loftus Tottenham and they had 8 children, 7 of them still living on 2 Apr 1911. The first six were sons:- Harry Leslie William 1889-1970; Armar Cecil 1891-1891; Reginald Loftus 1893-1961; Edward Lowry 1894-1916; Arthur Henry 1896-1916; James Loftus 1897-1922; and the two youngest daughters Isabel Joice 1900-1926 and Eileen Etta 1903-1981 <-- and here we have a New Zealand connection. Eileen Etta met & married Stewart Bates Merrylees, who had been the commanding officer of her brother James Loftus during the war.

Eileen & Stewart emigrated to Auckland, New Zealand in 1953 where they lived until their deaths, Stewart in 1966 and Eileen in 1981, they are buried in the Waikumete Cemetery in Glen Eden, Auckland. According to the Tottenham/Lowry family tree on The Tottenham Family website they did have children. On the same website you’ll find photos of most of Isabella’s children, including Eileen Etta, and also one of her husband, none of Isabella though.

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Dawn Scotting
pandora[at]kc.net.nz

Dr David Morton Jack 1853-1890

From the Clifford Family Album

Case Study: Dr & Mrs D M Jack

David Morton Jack was born on 11 Nov 1853 and baptised on 9 Dec in the Girthon Kirk, Kirkcudbrightshire in Scotland, the son of the Rev’d Hugh Morton Jack and Martha Sharpe neé Forrester. By the age of 17 he was already a medical student and within the next few years had joined the Army and was in India where he married Dora Fanny O’Flahertie on the 10 Sep 1879. David & Dora had two sons, Hugh born in India and William born in England. Over the years David worked his way up to Surgeon General before sadly he died on 13 Sep 1890, at the young age of 36, in Sitapur India where he is buried in the British Cemetery in the Parish of Roti Godam. The probate of his will said he was ‘late of Farncombe Lodge in Godalming, Surrey’.

Dora Fanny O’Flahertie was born on 1 Aug and baptised on 2 Nov 1856 at St John the Baptist Church in Capel, Surrey where her father, Theobald Richard O’Flahertie, was the vicar for many years, her mother was Mary Anne neé Scott.

Her parents had a large family of 10 daughters & 4 sons and there is an excellent article on them and a small photo of the family including Dora on this website here - Oughterard Heritage. Unfortunately the photo was quite pixelated so not very clear, I’ve superimposed Dora on the photo I have of her, she does look to be the same woman so I feel sure I’ve found the right couple to go with these photographs. Dora passed away on the 29 Apr 1930 in Dulwich, Surrey and is buried in the churchyard where she was baptised 73 years before, St John the Baptist Churchyard, Capel.

I see from Dora’s burial record that she was known as Dora Fanny Morton Jack so perhaps Morton-Jack was a hyphenated surname?

Do please contact me if you have an interest in these two photographs.

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Dawn Scotting
pandora[at]kc.net.nz

Charlotte Christina Agnes & Eliza Hersey Wauchope

From the Clifford Family Album

Case Study: The Wauchope Sisters

These two delightful young girls are sisters Charlotte, nearly 12, and Hissey, nearly 11, Hissey/Hessey I’m guessing is a nickname for Eliza Hersey who was one year younger than her sister Charlotte Christina Agnes. They were the daughters of Robert Adam Wauchope and Amelia Henrietta neé Norman, both born in Rawul Pindee, Bengal, India, Charlotte on 3 Aug 1866 and Eliza on 10 Aug 1867.

Robert Adam Wauchope is much documented on the Internet so no need for me to go into too much detail, he was born Edinburgh in 1836 and seems to have served in the Army in India for most of his adult life, retiring as Major General at the age of 49, he died in Brighton, Sussex in 1885 aged 62. He & wife Amelia (Amy) had seven children, two of whom died as babies. Charlotte & Eliza were the two eldest.

Charlotte married civil engineer Edmund Batten Forbes in 1885 in Kent, England and they had at least six children born in various countries around the world including Chile & Mexico. They must have finally settled in London where Edmund died in 1924 and Charlotte in 1958.

Eliza married Joseph Francis Studholme in 1902 in Chelsea London:-

Joseph is listed as a New Zealand Sheep Farmer as well as his father John Studholme. I found this baptism for Joseph in the Knottingley parish records but I’m not sure whether it says he was born in New Zealand or Yorkshire! His parents abode is given as ‘Christchurch, New Zealand’ but he was born on 10 Mar 1866 and baptised on 22 Apr 1866 which doesn’t compute if you consider the sea voyage from NZ to England in those days would take at least three months! So I’m guessing (again) that his parents had been living in NZ and had journeyed to England for his birth before returning home again:-

Joseph & Eliza don’t seem to have had any children, I don’t think they had time as they did a lot of travelling around the world on various ships over the years. Joseph died in London in 1930 and Eliza in Masterton, NZ in 1948.

Ellen Home Husband 1847-1936

From the Francis Hayter Album

Case Study: Ellen Home Husband

What do you think, is this the same woman? She looks like it to me, the same nose, the eyes & ears might be slightly different but she is wearing the same earrings and what looks like the same dark ribbon around her neck.

Written on the back of each photo is a different given name written in different handwriting, or is it:-

Here we have Nellie H Husband and what looks like Emma Husband, although the ‘Emma’ could be almost anything, all the letters flow into each other! I suppose it could be ‘Ellen’ but it certainly looks like an ‘a’ at the end. I also found these two unnamed photos in the album, both look to be either the same woman or at the very least sisters of the above:-

The third woman has the same wave in her hair as the photo named Nellie, she is also wearing the black ribbon with the same trinket hanging on it. The fourth photo was taken in England not Sydney (Australia) like the other three. As Nellie was only 5 years old when she emigrated to Australia it’s not a younger her, she later moved back to England when she was in her 30’s.

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Ellen Home Husband was born in Bayswater, London and baptised on 27 Oct 1847 at the Holy Trinity Church in Paddington, daughter of James Husband and Caroline Jane neé Home. James & Caroline’s other children were:- Thomas 1831-32; Caroline Frances 1832; Cordelia Jane 1835; James Home 1836; Frances Home 1838; Herbert George 1840-41; Emma Jane 1844 and Emily Herbert Matilda 1850.

James Husband originated from Devonshire and their first six children were born in Stoke Damerel, Devon before they moved to London, the three youngest were all born in Bayswater.

On the 24 Dec 1852 Mrs Husband, her five daughters and son James, arrived in Port Jackson in NSW, Australia on the General Hewitt. I don’t know when husband James arrived but he was also living in Sydney until his death in 1878.

The photographer of the third photo is Mr Freeman who had by this time taken over Oswald Allen’s studio, in it the woman is wearing rings on her wedding finger so it may not be Nellie because she never married, however, they may just be dress rings.

Nellie was in Australia up until the 1881 census when she is now living back in England, visiting the White family in London, over the next few census she is listed as visiting various people in London & Dorset. On the 19 Apr 1936 she passed away at 18 Campbell Rd, Boscombe, Bournemouth, Dorset. The probate of her will went to the Westminster Bank so she may not have had any family left.

What connection, if any, the Husband family have to the Hayter family I have absolutely no idea! Although I’ve been told that the White family (who Nellie was visiting) are connected to the Hayter family, time will tell.

Harold Selwyn Smith 1828-1891

From the Francis Hayter Album

Case Study: Harold Selwyn Smith

There doesn’t seem to be a family connection between the album owner, Francis Hayter, and Harold Selwyn Smith, however, I did find a connection between Harold’s second wife and the Fetherstonhaugh Album, see further in this article.

Harold Selwyn Smith was the son of the Reverend John Jennings Smith & his wife Anne neé Timberlake, born in Kingsholm, Gloucestershire and baptised in the St Michael’s Church in Gloucester on the 7 Oct 1828.

Some say the Rev’d John was the illegitimate son of King George IV, although there doesn’t seem to be any proof of that it’s an interesting theory which you can read about in the excellent article on this website here.

On the 11 Jun 1839 John Jennings & Anne Smith, along with 8 of their 11 children, boarded the vessel ‘Amelia Thompson’ in London bound for Australia, they arrived in Port Jackson on the 28 Sep 1839. Amongst their children was 4th son Harold Selwyn Smith who later in various sources is listed as a ‘merchant of Melbourne’.

On 8 Oct 1853 Harold married Camilla Rosa Hart, they had four children:- Fanny Anne Lloyd 1854-1923; William Hamilton 1855-1857; Montague Selwyn 1857-1932 and George Charles 1858-1922 before Camilla passed away in 1860 aged 25, probably in childbirth as there as an unnamed Smith birth registration, with Camilla listed as the mother, in 1860.

Harold remarried on the 18 Feb 1864 to Madeleine Elizabeth Kelly (whose mother was Hannah Fetherstonhaugh & sister of this William Fetherstonhaugh of Grouse Lodge in Ireland, her father was also related to Robert Vandeleur Kelly, both of whom you’ll find in my Fetherstonhaugh Album). Harold and Madeleine had a further six children:- Hubert Selwyn 1864-1881; Alice Caroline 1867-1940; Cecil Selwyn 1869-?; Edward Selwyn born 1871 in Ireland; Emily Florence 1875-? and Madeleine Ethel 1877-1964.

Harold Selwyn Smith was a man of many talents, this is just a short timeline of his achievements:-

1839 - arrived at Port Jackson on the 'Amelia Thompson'
1860 - land & estate agent, accountant & arbitrator at 54 Queen St, Melbourne
1866 - director of The Southern Insurance Co at 31 Queen St, Melbourne
1867 - owner of the vessel 'The Torque' that was lost off North Cape, NZ on 7 Jun 1867
1871 - in Kingstown, Dublin, Ireland where son Edward was born (maybe visiting Madeleine's family)
1875 - arrived in NZ with wife Madeleine (& presumably their children) on the 'Alhambra'
1875 - appointed General Manager of the NZ Shipping Co at a salary of £1500 per annum
1876 - elected a member of the Philosophical Institute in Auckland (where his photograph was taken)
1876 - appointed clergyman's churchwarden at St Mary's Church, Merivale, Christchurch (where a  magnitude-6.3 earthquake struck on 22 Feb 2011 killing 182 people)
1877 - daughter Madeleine Ethel born in NZ
1877 - fined 40 shillings for having two unregistered dogs
1878 - marriage of eldest daughter Fanny Anne Lloyd Smith (her mother Camilla) in NZ
1879 - gave notice of his willingness to act as director (of NZ Shipping Co) if elected at the AM on 13 Aug 1879, still general manager at that stage
1879 - being considered for a select committee of the Diocesan Synod in aid of Church Day Schools
1879 - ceased as manager of NZ Shipping Co, no reason at present
1880 - donated a bust of Bishop Broughton, first bishop of Australasia, to the Canterbury Museum
1880 - bankrupt and left NZ suddenly
1881 - Justice of the Peace in Merivale, Ashfield near Sydney
1888 - member of the Social Purity Society (Australia)
1890 - accountant & arbitrator in Sydney

It seems he may have left NZ under somewhat of a cloud, he tried to explain in his own words "I venture to trouble you with a brief epitome of my introduction to your service, and the manner of my leaving it", in these letters from the NZTEC archives here (be prepared for a long read!). In the many newspaper articles I read about Harold there was nothing more after 1880 so he was obviously not charged with any wrongdoing although I did come across this sentence that leaves me wondering:-

Selwyn Smith proved himself worthy of his detractors' vituperation. He was found to have used the Company's funds to ease his private engagements and was placed in bankruptcy in 1880, owing also a considerable debt to the Loan Company.

Harold died on 14 Mar 1891 and is buried in St John's Anglican Church Cemetery, Ashfield, NSW and Madeleine on 6 Jul 1924 at South Yarra, Melbourne.

References: ancestry.com.au; NZETC; Paterson River History; FindMyPast; PapersPast; Trove; NZBMD Online; Christchurch Libraries.

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St Mary’s Church, Merivale, built 1866, photos taken in 1916 and just after the 2011 earthquake.
© Christchurch City Libraries: IMG0046.