Matilda Walpole

Brighton, Sussex is a lovely beach town on the southern coast of England.  Until the mid 18th Century Brighthelmston was a fishing village, but development of Georgian terraces along the beachfront and the patronage of the Prince Regent after his first visit to the town in 1783, the village because known at the fashionable resort of Brighton.   It was in the bustling town that Matilda Walpole was born in 1819. It is the very fact that it was a growing town that makes further investigation into exactly who Matilda was so difficult (there were so many churches!).  

On 11 January 1836, at the tender age of 18, she married Augustus Richard Hollebone - who had a rather impressive name and was twelve years her senior!  Eighteen months later, she and Augustus Richard left Plymouth, England on board the Andromache bound for Sydney, Australia.  

The Andromache was 468 tons (old measure), 35 metres long and about 10 metres wide at her broadest point. In Greek mythology, Andromache is portrayed by Homer as the epitome of the perfect wife.  I suspect that Matilda was also being a perfect wife by agreeing to the journey at this particular time!  She was seven months pregnant with her first child when the vessel departed.  Now, various members of my family tend to get seasick - including myself - and I cannot even begin to imagine how hard it must have been to get into the boat with over 200 other people KNOWING that you were going to give birth for the first time before you left the boat!  And for that alone, Matilda has my profound respect!

As third class passengers, Matilda and Augustus do not have their names recorded in the basic information about this trip, but, interestingly, the Rev Joseph Walpole and his wife were also passengers.  I have tried to determine if there is a connection, but with no success (both have a father called John?).

Matilda's first child, Augustus John Hollebone, was born almost exactly halfway into the trip - on 17 August 1837.  I just hope it wasn't a rough sea that day!

The Andromache arrived in Sydney, Australia on 31 October 1837.  Augustus, Sarah and baby Augustus were the first of my ancestors to set foot in Australia.  (If only they had sailed a few months earlier, Augustus may have been the first to be born in Australia - but that "honour" went to young Augustus' son-in-law!)

Matilda and Augustus 'settled' in Sydney and had a further six children: Eliza (1840), Charlotte Elizabeth (1843), Mary Ann Matilda (1845), Henry (1849), Elizabeth Catherine (1852) and Isabella Frances (1855).  The fact that three of these names had Eliza/Elizabeth in them (and all but Mary survived childhood) leads me to think that perhaps Matilda's mother had been called Elizabeth.  Something to discover one day!

Augustus was a tinsmith, but he tried a number of other positions as well.  One of Augustus's more interesting jobs, was as the first postmaster of the new Balmain Post Office!   Someone sent me a newspaper article about it!

On 26 January 1866 at William Street, Redfern, Matilda died.  She was 47 years old and the memory of her good nature has been passed down from generation to generation.  The younger children were cared for by their older siblings.  For unknown reasons Augustus Richard was estranged from the family by the time he died - just over ten years later.

Matilda means 'mighty in battle', and many would say that life for most women in the 1800s was a battle.  I think she did pretty well!

In 2004, members of the Hollebone family decided to honour our 'first Australian family' by putting the Hollebone name onto the Immigration Wall at Darling Harbour.  There was some discussion about what name to put.  We finally agreed to simply put 'Hollebone Family'.   

Relationship to SNR = Great, great, great, great grandmother