http://wellsfamilyarchives.blogspot.com.au
"My Grandmother,
Elizabeth”
By Enid M.Dennis
A Centenary Tribute in ”This
Australia” 1987/1988
(I have added photos to illustrate the story)
(I have added photos to illustrate the story)
On an English summer day, 18 August 1887, a young girl set
sail alone from the Port of London to make a voyage to developing, Utopian
Australia. Matrimony was to be the goal
upon arrival.
On this day Elizabeth Saunders was twenty six years of age, a
gentle very mature girl. She was the
eldest of a family of six girls and one son, people accustomed to farm
life. The mother was a fine homemaker;
the father, a shepherd to a wealthy land owner near the village of Simpson in
Buckinghamshire.
Elizabeth had considerable rapport with her father and, in
childhood, had often accompanied him to the market towns of Bow Brickhill,
Fenny Stratford and Banbury. One day as they walked the lanes together the
father swept an arm in a wide arc towards the green fields and exclaimed “See
there Lizzie, all that was once Saunders owned; it was lost in bad times”. This was a life time regret. The little girl remembered it also and in
later years recollections kept coming to the fore.
Elizabeth went to the Anglican Church School until she was
twelve and became proficient in reading, writing, arithmetic and lace
making. The vicar was also schoolmaster;
his pupils were expected to set an example of good manners and
truthfulness. Elizabeth loved to
sing. She loved to attend the village
Church. Many Saunders nameplates were
attached to the walls of the quaint little Simpson Church, also at Polsgrove
nearby. Some bore names dating back to
1600 when the Tudor English language was written in strange lettering.
In her thirteenth year it was arranged that Elizabeth should
live on week days with the family of a nearby farm. Mr. and Mrs. Garrett had three almost grown
sons and a daughter had recently died.
Elizabeth was good company for Mrs. Garrett. Here she learned the art of cooking and
keeping house, of milking and the management of a large dairy. Butter, cream and cheese was churned every
day. There was poultry and game to dress,
pickles and jams to set, bacon to be cured, hop beer and parsnip wine to brew
and seal in black bottles, the corks securely tied down with strong twine. Elizabeth shared the many tasks. She observed and remembered and enjoyed her
work.
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| "Caldecotte" Garrett's farm house at Bow Brickhill where Elizabeth Saunders worked from 13 - 19 years |
Gradually, over four years, a different love came into her
life. The rosy glow of young friendship
and fun with Jim Garrett, the youngest son, grew into a full mature
adoration. Secretly they promised
marriage, one with the other, when Elizabeth reached her eighteenth year. But youthful ardour is difficult to
conceal. Mrs. Garrett had plans of her
own for all three of her fine boys. Her design for Jim did not include the
quiet little girl from the village.
Elizabeth was sent home to her family.
Broken hearted she begged her parents to permit her to work elsewhere.
From this experience and its acquired capabilities she went
into service in several magnificent old mansions over the next eight years,
each resulting in advancement of ability and status. She secured a choice position as cook to Lord
and Lady Duncombe of Great Brickhill Manor, once again near home. The names of
Duncombe and Saunders appear entwined in marriage and business ventures through
the centuries. A coincidence? It was not but that is another story.
Yet another promotion took her to Oxendon in
Northamptonshire, the adjoining county and a meeting with Harry Edward
Wells. Harry was enamoured with this
slip of a girl from the “Big House”, who came also to the village Church. His introduction was a gift of red
roses. Harry was twenty none and had
spent all his adult life in the service of the British Railways. He also
enjoyed his work but he dreamt too, idealistically, of faraway places. Letters came to his home from cousins in
Melbourne, Australia.
One day Harry broached the subject of marriage, laced also
with an exciting adventure. He had
accepted his distant cousin’s proposal to enter their Melbourne millinery
factory as a third partner. It meant a
sever year term overseas and could only bring success financially. Elizabeth accepted, at first with some
trepidation, then to a marriage in Australia when her enthusiastic suitor
settled into new employment and accommodation.
One Saunders girl had married and had gone to South Africa; now another
was to leave for the antipodes.
Elizabeth followed six months after the departure of her man,
travelling in the new steamship “Liguria”, incredibly small by present day
standards, and house in its very bowels so it seemed. The voyage took two months through Suez and
the jollity of calm shipboard life walked hand in hand with violent storms and
days spent in the agony of seasickness.
The following are two extracts from her diary:
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| Elizabeth Saunders sailed on SS "Liguria" from England to Australia in 1887. |
The following are two extracts from her diary:
(Quote) 24 September 1887.
We first saw the land of Australia at Cape Leewin like rocks dimly seen
in the far distance of the port side.
25 September 1887. I
could have enjoyed another week or two on board for I have this week felt
well. I had more than four weeks of
seasickness like many more. We had just
got the better of it. After an enjoyable
concert in the first class saloon we went on deck. The moon was shining brightly, the air very
cold. I walked down the deck several
times then went to bed looking forward to a letter from Harry in the morning”
(Unquote).
Adelaide was the first port of call following the long Indian
Ocean span. Here a letter was delivered to her by the Purser and Elizabeth read
it with incredulity. The prosperous
millinery firm it seemed was little more than a myth and the business faced insolvency. In desperation Harry had sought and found
employment elsewhere within a field which he knew so well. The Tasmanian Railways were being developed
through the Emu Bay Company to the north and west from Launceston along the
Bass Strait coastline.
“It could be hard, dear Lizzie” Harry wrote “Nothing of it
will be like the comforts we knew back home, but I will never fail you. Sometime, when things get easier for us
again, we will return. I promise that if
it is your wish. I am a signalman at a
place called Formby (now Devonport).
It’s very small but beautiful. I
have rooms with a pleasant landlady who will help you I know. We will live very close to the Mersey River
and I cross it every day by rowboat to reach the Railway yards. I am sorry that you must wait three weeks in
Melbourne, for there is an epidemic of small pox in North Tasmania. My cousin, Mary, will meet you at the Port of
Williamstown and you must stay with her until I send for you”.
The young love which had bought these two people together across
the world and now somewhat in adversity culminated in their marriage at
St.John’s Anglican Church, Launceston, on 8th November 1887. That afternoon Harry took his bride proudly
back to Formby. Theirs was a true
affection which grew stronger with the years. It weathered many hardships in
strange places. Challenge is the essence
of good workmanship in whatever field it is found; it was wide open for the
young Wells couple.
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| St.John's Church Launceston where Harry Wells and Elizabeth Saunders married on 8 November 1887. |
Elizabeth cooked and kept house as nearly as she had been
accustomed to doing but with the rude implements at hand, an open hob-fire,
camp oven, kerosene cans, oil lamps and candles. Later, as two little girls joined the family
she sewed and mended with all the joy of motherhood, using a Wertheim hand
machine which had accompanied her on the voyage. In their nineth year of marriage a son was
born. There had already been three
moves, to Leith, Campbell Town and St.Marys, each a promotion. Harry was now Station Master at this
North-East mountain township of St.Marys, with a railway house provided. The Station-house was somewhat isolated from
the rest of the homes. Quite often
swagmen and women also, of gypsy lifestyle, would free ride on the country
goods trains, only to be discovered at this terminius. Harry frequently sent these rejects of
humanity to the Station-house for a meal before hustling them on their
way. The two little girls would watch in
wide-eyed wonderment from the safety of the kitchen doorway.
There was no longer talk of the seven year promise. Both husband and wife were far too aware of the precious security of employment. They were a happy unit, an Australian family.
There was no longer talk of the seven year promise. Both husband and wife were far too aware of the precious security of employment. They were a happy unit, an Australian family.
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| Beatrice, Winifred and Gladstone Wells in St Marys, Tasmania in 1898 |
As noisy rejoicing and fireworks heralded the Boer War’s
relief of Mafeking in May 1900, the Wells family were busy moving again, this
time to the Bass Strait seaside town of Ulverstone; another home, another
school and friends, another Church in which to worship. Every year, at Christmas, there were special
treats, something extra to care for and treasure all the coming year. Every Christmas season also, gifts of money
were sent to the ageing Grandparents at Simpson and Oxendon to share their
bounty and to show that God had seen fit to prosper the family well. Over the
years many hundreds of letters were exchanged.
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| Wells family at Ulverstone, Tasmania 1904 |
In 1905 Harry Wells was appointed Station Master at Zeehan,
the third largest town in the island and at the height of the great mining boom
of the West Coast. The area was rich in
silver, lead and tin; the town of 10,000 inhabitants was entirely involved in
some way with the prosperity of the mines or supporting those who did. With vast deposits of gold and copper also at
Queenstown there was continuous movement of rolling stock, passengers and
freighters to and from the many mines in the mountains. Zeehan Station-house stood on a rise
overlooking Peasoup Creek with a wide vista of the town and valley. It is still there today, in good condition,
weathering the lashings of rain forest storms.
The busy mother taught her now grown daughters to cook and sew as she
had done. They had lessons in piano,
violin and painting. The boy was
progressing well at school.
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| Harry Wells with Gladstone at the Station Master's house Zeehan in 1906 |
A final move came in 1912 with promotion to the top, Station
Master at Hobart. This included a lovely
attic style house in an old world garden; promise of a lengthy stay,
superannuation, and maybe, on retirement, a holiday overseas to meet once again
the loved ones who, for almost forty years, had been linked only by sea mail.
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| Harry Wells appointed Station Master at Hobart, Tasmania 1912 until retirement in 1924 |
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Harry and Elizabeth Wells (seated) on their 25th wedding anniversary 8 November 1912. Standing are Beatrice & Leslie Macdougall, Gladstone Wells, Arthur & Winifred Tregear. |
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| Elizabeth Wells 55 years taken 20 July 1917 |
With their family married, Elizabeth and Harry turned to
extensive reading, lectures at the nearby University and their beloved
gardening. Harry’s retirement came in
1924 at sixty five years. He and
Elizabeth had purchased two new travel bags, suitable clothing, and every
weekend they visited the great ships in the port, in a search for good value
travel-wise. At last a choice was made; it would be the next trip around. Then Elizabeth, wise in the ways of home
economy, began to doubt. It would mean
returning to a rented house and possible illness in old age. Was this right when a small freehold home
could be purchased immediately, owning their very own portion of Australia?
Also the loved parents in England had all died.
Once again security and its privileges won and the holiday voyage was
cancelled.
On the outskirts of the city at Glenorchy, with fine views of
the magnificent mountains and Derwent River, the couple bought a neat bungalow
home with sufficient depth of land to start the market garden they both lived
to love and enjoy.
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| Macdougall family visit Harry and Elizabeth Wells 1926 in their retirement home at 8 Grove Road, Glenorchy, Tasmania |
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| Harry and Elizabeth Wells at home in retirement |
“See there, Chum” Harry exclaimed one morning from the rear
verandah and just as his father-in-law had done so very long ago, “That’s OUR
field, but it’s all to your credit.
Without your careful thinking and work it could never have been”.
It proved to be a clear and prudent choice. By the late 1920’s and early 1930’s vast
changes were springing into life. There
was continuous talk of frightening price rises, rumours of economic failures
and unemployment, a depressant gloom unknown before in our good, green
land. It was even more so in Britain,
Europe and America.
Strictly honest and generous Harry Wells lived to reach his
seventy sixth year. Elizabeth, still
shy, still clinging all her life to the sombre black gowns and white high-laced
collars of the past, went to live with her younger daughter also in Hobart
until her own gentle death in 1950 at the age of eighty eight years. Before Glaucoma claimed her eyesight, she
returned to a fascinating interest of her girlhood. She sent to England a request for a set of
wooden bobbins, patterns and cottons and made herself a hard straw-stuffed
pillow. On this she wove many many yards
(metres) of fine handkerchief lace, gifts now held by her descendants with
pride.
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| Elizabeth Wells doing her ribbon lace work 12 February 1940 |
Elizabeth Wells was not one of the many Australians who will
go down in history as a memorable public figure, a Caroline Chisholm, Mary
Reibey, Daisy Bates or Lady Cilento. She
was a very private, upright, gently woman who stayed to play her fine Christian
part in our Australian heritage and who loved this great land and became one of
us.
This is the article as it actually appeared in "This Australia" Summer 1987/1988.
The magazine won the 1987 Australian Heritage Award.
Extracts of history and life of
Elizabeth Saunders and Harry Edward
Wells
By their daughter, Enid Dennis, nee
Tregear
Harry Edward Wells was a
signalman on the British Railways at Northampton when he responded to a plea
from cousins in Australia to partner them in their hat-blocking factory, Yeoman
Bros of Melbourne.
Harry then planned to stay seven
years, make his fortune and return. He
was engaged to marry Elizabeth Saunders, who had happily agreed to follow him
six months later when he had found accommodation and settled employment. When the S.S.Liguria reached Adelaide,
Elizabeth received a letter from Harry with startling news. The Yeoman cousins and the hat factory had
become insolvent and closed down. Harry,
in desperation, sought employment elsewhere.
Because of his experience with
the British Rail system he was welcomed into the Emu Bay Rail Co. which was
opening up the north west of Tasmania.
He was offered the job of Station Master in the small township of Formby,
now Devonport. Harry arranged for
Elizabeth to be met in Melbourne by Mary Johns, another cousin, at whose home
in fashionable Collingwood she was welcomed for three weeks. Finally Elizabeth reached Launceston where
she and Harry were married at St John’s Anglican Church and then on to a
riverside cottage at Formby.
Three children were born in
Tasmania to Harry and Elizabeth Wells – a daughter Beatrice to Formby, Winifred
Alice at Leith and Gladstone at St Marys.
The latter was a very lovely
little township and isolated terminus of the rail link between midland Conara
Junction and the very mountainous North-Eastern tiers district. Here the family spent ten years and were next
to move to Ulverstone on the North Tasmanian Rail route as the new century,
1900, dawned. It was a progressive,
pleasant and relaxed experience with many local interests, schooling, Church
and many friendships, the latter also to Burnie for holidays.
The next promotion for Harry
Wells was as Station Master at the extremely busy West Coast town of Zeehan, mining
silver, lead and tin. Queenstown nearby,
was the terminus at the height of this industrious period. The two daughters, Beatrice and Winifred were
both married within the Station Master’s home, then following on South to New
Norfolk and Hobart respectively. A
further final and highly successful appointment for Harry came with the top
promotion of Station Master at Hobart until his retirement. The adjoining home was a delightful spacious
attic style abode in an arborous setting close by the Queen’s Domain and
Derwent River.
The now aging couple made plans
to tour and visit their beloved England, but decided finally to reserve this
wish and purchased a retirement home at Glenorchy with a spacious garden to
employ energy and interest.
Harry died on 22 November 1935
and Elizabeth transferred to live for the following fifteen years with her
younger daughter, Winifred at “Penrhyn” in New Town. During this period several
trips were made to visit Melbourne and the Macdougall family at Coburg,
Williamstown and Brighton, these via sea voyage across Bass Strait and one
accompanied by grand daughter Enid, direct per S.S Orcades from Hobart to
Melbourne. Gladstone and Dorothy Wells,
residents of Rabaul and later Madang, New Guinea, also spent holiday visits to
“Penrhyn” and the Tregear family.
Special pleasures of this period were the sharing of the wedding of Wal
and Enid Dennis, association of many friends and the sampling of the luscious
seafoods of the Tasmanian waterways, lobsters, cod and salmon.
Elizabeth Wells interests were
knitting, reading, lacemaking and many visits to and from local friends. She was an extremely reserved, austere lady
much loved and respected.
Always the Sabbath was a day of
strict observance – certainly only menial tasks were entered into. One day Winifred noticed her mother knitting
and she said “Have you forgotten that today is Sunday Mother dear?”, to which
the reply came “No, I know it is Sunday, but times are changing aren’t they?”
They certainly were and have
followed on this pattern through to the 21st century.
By Enid Tregear.
Enid Dennis was the daughter of Winifred and Arthur Tregear, therefore grandaughter of Elizabeth Wells.
I am the grandaughter of Beatrice and Leslie Macdougall and great grandaughter of Elizabeth Wells.
If you have any comments or correction please email the author Joy Olney at joyolney@gmail.com
If you have enjoyed reading my blog you might like to go to my other family history blogs at -
- macdougalldiaries.blogspot.com.au
- beatricemacdougalldiaries.blogspot.com.au
- macdougallfamilyarchives.blogspot.com.au
- saundersfamilyarchives.blogspot.com.au
- wellsfamilyarchives.blogspot.com.au
In 2005, 2006 & 2008 Joy and Peter Olney visited Tasmania, and in 2007 they went to England trying to find homes, tombstones, churches etc about the family in Simpson and Great Oxendon. If you read on you will find some modern day photos relating to "My Grandmother, Elizabeth".
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| St Thomas the Apostle Church at Simpson, Buckinghamshire, England |
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| Interior St Thomas the Apostle at Simpson, England |
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| Baptismal font where many Saunders babies were christened |
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| A Saunders tombstone in St Thomas the Apostle graveyard at Simpson, England |
In 1958 Beatrice and Winifred went to England to meet their brother Gladstone who had lived in England since 1956. They were also able to meet up with lots of relatives that their Mother had talked about and kept up with by letter writing. Bill Bowler remembered meeting them. Saunders family members are still living in the area.
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| Home of Bill Bowler in Simpson, England - a Saunders descendant |
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| "Wayside Cottage" in Simpson, England - an old Saunders home |
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| Simpson, England - an old Saunders home 16th century or earlier |
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| "Orchard Cottage" in Simpson, England - an old Saunders home |
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| "White Cottage" in Simpson, England - an old Saunders home |
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| "Freedom Cottage" in Simpson where Elizabeth's parents lived 1894-1916 |
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| Fenny Stratford Station near Simpson, England |
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| House (LHS) where Elizabeth waved goodbye to Harry when he left for Tasmania 1887 |
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| Joy Olney met Eleanor Andrews - grandaughter of Elizabeth Wells' sister Kate Saunders |
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| St Helen's Church at Great Oxendon, Northamptonshire, England where Harry Wells lived before going to Tasmania |
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| John & Harriet Wells tombstone in St.Helen's graveyard |
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| 12th century interior St.Helen's Church at Great Oxendon, Northamptonshire, England |
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| Harry Wells rang the bells at St.Helen's Church |
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| Baptismal font where many Wells babies were christened |
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| "Plum Cottage" a Wells family home built 1712 |
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| The "Big House" or "Oxendon Hall" where Elizabeth worked before going to Tasmania |
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| Joy & Peter Olney met John Wells from Market Harborough near Great Oxendon - a Wells descendant |
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| Station Master's home in Zeehan, Tasmania 2005 - now a private home |
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| Harry & Elizabeth Wells' retirement home 8 Grove Road, Glenorchy, Tasmania in 2005 |
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| Arthur & Winifred Tregear's home 66 Montagu Street, New Town, Tasmania in 2005 |
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| Hobart Railway Station, now A.B.C.Offices |
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| St Marys Railway Station, Tasmania 2005 - to be restored as a Museum |
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| St John's Church, Launceston 2005 where Elizabeth and Harry married in 1887 |
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Harry Edward Wells 25 November 1858 - 22 November 1935 and Elizabeth Wells 16 June 1862 - 19 October 1950 Cornelian Bay Cemetery, Hobart, Tasmania. |
Elizabeth Frances Johns (1895-1982)
Photo taken February 1941
ID Number 006025 Australian War Memorial
During my childhood the name Fran Johns was fondly spoken of, but unfortunately the older generations have passed away and I have often wondered where and how she fitted into the family.
My memories of her was that she was a Nursing sister, marched in the Anzac Day marches in Melbourne and was particularly close to Dorothea Macdougall who was also a Nurse. They both worked at Royal Melbourne Hospital. Fran in the late 1920s to 1937 and Dorothea in the late 1940s.
That has not given me much to work on!
In the article written by Enid Dennis "My Grandmother, Elizabeth" above there are a few snippets of interest .......... Harry had accepted his distant cousin's proposal to enter their Melbourne millinery factory as a third partner .......... the prosperous millinery it seems was little more than a myth and the business faced incolvency. Harry sought employment with the Tasmanian Railways through the Emu Bay Company. Harry gave instructions to Elizabeth that when she arrives in Melbourne. ........... my cousin, Mary, will meet you at the Port of Williamstown and you must stay with her until I send for you.
In the article written by Enid Dennis "Extracts of history and the life of Elizabeth Saunders and Harry Edward Wells" above, there are more snippets of interest about the Johns family ............ Harry responded to a plea from cousins in Australia to partner them in their hat-blocking factory, Yeoman Bros of Melbourne ............ the Yeoman cousins and the hat factory had become insolvent and closed down ............. Harry arranged for Elizabeth to be met in Melbourne by Mary Johns, another cousin, at whose home in fashionable Collingwood she was welcomed for three weeks.
Elizabeth Frances Johns was born in Collingwood/Abbotsford on 24 November 1895. She married John Mitchell Shippen on 21 February 1953 at the age of 58 in Caulfield according to Beatrice Macdougall's diary, but Ancestry says 28 February 1953. Fran was Matron at Eye & Ear Hospital in Melbourne at the time.
John Shippen died 8 months later on 4 November 1953. He was a Grazier from New South Wales. Probate 22 April 1954.
Fran died on 3 June 1982 in East Brighton at 87 years.
Siblings: Jessie Robertson Johns and Lillias Jessie Robertson Johns (1893 - 1970).
Father was William Yeomans John Johns born 17 April 1859 in Spring Creek, Beechworth, Victoria, Australia and died 9 August 1934. William is buried at Melbourne Cemetery Church of England Compartment MM No.1401. (Also in his grave is Clifford Henry Downie died 8 March 1961 at 77 years and Persis Stella Downie died 9 February 1974). William's parents were (William?) Jas Johns and Persis Nucky (1860-1934), married 15 April 1855 in Burra Burra, South Australia.
Mother was Jessie McKinley Taylor, born 1861 in Collingwood. Her parents were Hugh Duff McQueen Taylor and Jessie Robertson McKinley. Jessie's sibling was Lillias Taylor born 1871 and died 1942.
by the Governor-General at Government House in Melbourne on 10 May 1945
while Matron at the Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital in East Melbourne.
Miss Elizabeth Frances Johns (VX47779).
B883: Army, 2nd A.I.F.
Matron in Australian Army Nursing Service during World War 11.
It was Gazetted on 18 February 1943 in London that she be awarded the Royal Red Cross medal on 13 March 1943.
Regiment: Australian Army Nursing Service.
Theater of Combat: Middle East (Eygpy and Libya).
Matron Frances Johns.
Photo taken February 1941
ID Number 006032 Australian War Memorial
I asked Andrew Wells if he knew of the Johns & Yeoman families before they came to Australia. Here is his answer. Also refer to John Wells and Jane Blog in Wells Family Archives Blog.
"Thanks also for sharing the mystery about the Yeoman Bros in Collingwood. As always with family history, one question sparks a dozen more, but I think I've got to the bottom of the immediate connection, and it all stems from William and Ann Wells (nee York). In a nutshell, the Yeomans and Johns families were second cousins of Harry because Ann (nee York) Wells' sister, Elizabeth York, married William Yeomans in Rothwell, Northamptonshire".
Here's a rough commentary, says Andrew:
"The tree, as far as I've been able to reconstruct it, shows the connection between the York, Wells, Yeomans, and Johns families. As you can see, Oliver Roberts Johns (1819-58) was married to Eliza Yeomans (1826-97) in England in 1845 (apparently not in an Anglican church or in a nonconformist chapel with accessible records, so we'd have to order the marriage certificate from the General Register Office for England to get further details). But he died in Australia after the family had emigrated, and Eliza was remarried in 1861 to James Gee Hyde (who, incidentally, was listed as a hatter in a passenger list of 1855). Their daughter, Mary Jane, was probably the Mary Johns with whom Elizabeth Saunders spent time in Collingwood in 1887, unless another of the children of Oliver and Eliza had a daughter named Mary. (It does seem unusual that Mary Jane Hyde would go by the name Mary Johns, but perhaps Elizabeth Saunders just presumed this was her surname? ) I have not been able to find any records of the actual emigration of the Johns and Yeomans families, but it's clear that they both emigrated to Victoria before 1858 (as both Oliver Roberts Johns and his father-in-law, William Yeomans, died in that year). There is evidence that the Johns emigrated from England between 1852 and 1855 (Oliver Roberts Johns, b.1850, d.1851, was buried on 31 Dec. 1851 in London and John Johns was born in Victoria in 1855".
Family Tree shows William Yeomans 1800-1858 married Elizabeth York 1798-1871 in 1819.
Their daughter Eliza Yeomans 1826-1897 married Oliver Roberts Johns 1819-1858 in 1845.
Eliza's 2nd marriage produced Mary Jane Hyde 1866-1934, the cousin who met Elizabeth Saunders.
William Wells 1792-1875 married Ann York 1793-1870.
Their son Thomas Wells 1830-1908 married Eliza Ann Bootheway 1832-1910 in 1853.
Their son Harry Edward Wells 1858-1935 married Elizabeth Saunders 1861-1950.
Andrew continues "I should note that, although they got married in an Anglican church, William Yeomans and Elizabeth York then proceeded to have their children baptised in the Independent (Presbyterian) Chapel in Rothwell. There are *a lot* of children baptised to 'William and Elizabeth Yeomans' in the 1820s and 1830s, so many, in fact, that it's highly unlikely they are all from the same parents. Amongst those listed are: Isaac (1822–), Charles (1823–), Eliza (1826–97), Elizabeth Sarah (1832–9), William (1830–), Malaha (1825), Richard (1820–21), Richard William (1828–), Alfred (1835–), and Silas John (1837–). In addition, registered births (i.e., those after 1837) to *our* William and Elizabeth include Sarah Ann (1842–4), Mary Ann (1844–), and Emily Jane (1848–).
*I (Joy) note that some of these dates differ slightly to the family tree above.
The 1851 Census for St Leonard's, Shoreditch, shows the Yeomans and Johns families living at the same address in London, immediately prior to their emigration. Just a couple of things to note here: first, William Yeomans and his two sons, William and Alfred, are listed as working in the hat industry. Perhaps William Jr (William Richard) and Alfred are the Yeoman Brothers to which you refer? (But a bit more on that below.) Second, The Yeomans family and Eliza Johns are all listed as being born in Rothwell, which is what made me think of a link to the York family.
The marriage register of Rothwell in 1819 lists the marriage of William Yeomans (1800-58) and Elizabeth York (1798-1871). It's concrete proof of the family connection because the wedding was witnessed by none other than William Wells and Ann York, four years before their own marriage (and it's therefore interesting proof that they had a long courtship).
So far, so good. But there's a few details that remain a bit unclear, above all how Elizabeth Frances Johns fits into the picture. I've found the birth register entry for her father, William John Johns (b. 17 Apr. 1859 in Spring Creek, Beechworth, Victoria), and added this on page 4 of the PDF. It shows that James Johns and Perseis Knucky married on 15 Apr. 1855 in Burra Burra, Adelaide, South Australia, and at the time of William John Johns's birth they also had a daughter, Mary Jane. A quick search of the indexes reveals that Perseis probably emigrated aboard the William Money in 1848-9 (dep. Plymouth 19 Sep. 1848, arr. Adelaide 3 Jan. 1849).
But I've not yet been able to connect this Johns family to the one that was linked in marriage to the Yeomans, York, and Wells families. It's not helped by the fact that both Perseis and James come from Cornwall, and the name 'Johns' is very common in the South-West of England, making it almost impossible to trace any specific individual, especially if they are named 'John Johns' or something similar. I tried to find possible siblings of Oliver Roberts Johns (1819-58) by looking in the same parish where he was baptised (Stoke Damerel in Devon), but I've not yet had any success.
Another couple of questions that arise relate to the address at which Elizabeth Saunders stayed in Melbourne ('Campbell Terrace', according to her letters/diary), and the specific company to which Harry was invited to join. I looked at the Victoria Gazette for notices of insolvencies, and it seems that William Richard Yeomans (1831-1909) was fairly frequently creating and dissolving partnerships. In 1871 he was in partnership with Thomas Richards and they even submitted a patent on 30 June "for an invention of 'Improvement in Hats'". But by August 1872, they decided to dissolve the partnership, which had been trading under "Richards and Yeomans"; they were based in Bourke St E., La Trobe St (both Melbourne), and Chapel St, Prahan. Richards was to continue the retail business and Yeomans the wholesale. By the following March (1873), Yeomans's estate had been sequestrated for insolvency proceedings. The same fate awaited his brother, Silas John Yeomans, as his partnership with William Ellingworth fell apart in 1875. By 1882, William Richard Yeomans was back in business, this time in partnership with Edwin Geach. Under the name "Geach and Yeomans" they had been trading in Judd St. (the factory of "Yeomans & Co., hatters' was listed at this address in the 1885 Directory for Melbourne; it had disappeared by the time of the 1890 edition). But this too was dissolved in March 1882. He continued under the name "W. R. Yeomans and Co." until, in May 1883, the decision was made to wind this company up as well. So perhaps the "Yeomans Bros" was simply the latest iteration of Yeomans's attempt to run a viable hat-making business? A look at the 1887 Directory for Melbourne would give us a clue.
Finally, the whereabouts of 'Campbell Terrace': as far as I can see from maps of Melbourne in the 1880s and the 1885 and 1890 directories, there was no Campbell Terrace in Collingwood. There was a Campbell St., but nobody by the name of Johns (or Hyde) was listed there. Instead, there is a Mrs Eliza Johns listed as living on the north side of Gipps St. (between Rokeby and Campbell St.) and an Oliver Johns listed as living almost opposite (Gipps St., south side, between Cromwell and Islington St.). The house Mrs Johns lived at (nowadays 52-58 Gipps St.: see here https://goo.gl/maps/
A very final note on documents I've not included here for the sake of space and clarity. I've come across, and downloaded, the World War One service records of William Yeomans Johns (1890-1925), a coroner's inquest on Elizabeth Yeomans (née York, 1798-1871), and the Will and Probate details of William Robert Yeomans (1831-1909): after his hat-making businesses, he seems to have become a farmer and retired elsewhere in Victoria, leaving property valued at less than £1000 to his two sons in 1909. I can send these records along if you like".
Thank you Andrew Wells for all that detective work. You have solved the mystery of how the Yeomans, Johns, York and Wells families were related. One day we will solve just how Matron Frances Johns and her family are related to the Johns and Yeomans families.
I suggest you take a look at my other posts relating to the Wells Family Archives, the Saunders Family Archives and the Macdougall Family Archives.
If you have any corrections or comments to make please email the author Joy Olney by email: joyolney@gmail.com
