Ellen Elizabeth Freestone / Hocking / Hilton (1880 - 1919)

Some relatives’ lives are defined by particular events. Generally this occurred when they did things that were unexpected – especially for the time.  Ellen was one such woman. 

Ellen was born on 10 October 1880 at Stoney Creek, about 40 kilometres south of Wellington, New South Wales.  She was the fourth child of Agnes (nee Crowe) and Edmund William Freestone.  After her birth, the family relocated to Windsor near Sydney for a number of years before moving to Orange and then returning to Stoney Creek, which was then known as Farnham. Stoney Creek / Farnham no longer exist. They serviced the gold mines that still dot the area, but are almost completely exhausted.

On 18 May 1898 seventeen year old Ellen married Francis Edward Hocking at Farnham.  Seventeen is too young to get married! The marriage was not successful. Ellen appears to have NOT been a person that just puts up with a bad situation. I’ll never discover what Francis thought of her!  Fortunately the couple had no children together. 

By mid 1902 Ellen was pregnant – just not with Francis Hocking’s child. 

In early September 1902, The Sydney Morning Herald reported that Francis was seeking a “dissolution of his marriage” to Ellen on the grounds of her misconduct with William Couldwell and Frederick Hilton, who were both joined as co-respondents in the suit. It was noted that Ellen, and the co-respondents did not appear at the hearing. Presumably because of Ellen’s pregnancy, the final decree for the divorce was set for 3 months, instead of the normal 12 months. This meant that the divorce was granted on 10 December 1902. Divorce was not common at that time, and was not easy to obtain or looked upon favourably. Nor was it considered good form to be married to one man and having a child to another. Presumably the judge decided to allow a quick divorce in order to ‘right the wrong’! On the same day her divorce was granted, Ellen married Frederick Warner Hilton, who was eighteen years old and one of the co-respondents at her divorce hearing, at the Presbyterian Church at 31 Bent Street in Sydney. I wonder what her relationship was with William Couldwell…

Ellen and Frederick’s first child, Frederick Kenneth, was born three weeks after their wedding, on 31 December 1902. A second son, Stanley Melville was born in January 1905 in Hurstville, Sydney. In April 1906 Ellen visited her parents, who still lived at Farnham. Young Stanley contracted pneumonia and, despite seeing the local doctor, died on 28 April 1906. Stanley was buried on 30 April in Omigal Cemetery (this has now been renamed the Stuart Town Cemetery). A third son Mervyn Leslie was born in Hurstville on 6 August 1907.

Sadly Ellen Elizabeth Hilton died on 17 June 1919 at her home at Oxford Street, Mortdale.  She was 38 and the death certificate indicates that she died from toxaemia, which could have been from pregnancy. 

Fred and Merv had very fond memories of their mother.  She was obviously quite a lively woman and very likeable!

She was buried on 19 June at Woronora Cemetery, Sydney.  She was the first of her ten siblings to die. She also left behind 17 year old Frederick and 12 year old Mervyn – both of whom missed her and perhaps never quite recovered.

[Relationship to SNR = Great-great grandmother]

Frederick Hibberd (1835 - 1908)

Frederick Hibberd was born on 13 July 1836 in Salisbury, Wiltshire, England; the son of Mary Pavy and Elijah Hibberd.  He was baptised on 31 July 1836 in the Salisbury Parish Church – he was actually baptised as ‘Frederic’.  He was the couple’s second youngest of eight children.  Elijah Hibberd died in 1840 and Mary in 1841 – so Frederick was an orphan at the age of five.  It appears that the older siblings raised the younger children, including Frederick.  In the 1851 and 1861 Census he was living with his brother, Elijah – firstly in Salisbury and then in Winchester.  Elijah was an umbrella maker and it appears that, for at least some time, Frederick joined his brother in this occupation.  In 1857 Frederick commenced lay preaching and recalled that his first sermon “lies buried in forgetfulness”.  In the 1861 Census his occupations was listed as a shoemaker / lay preacher. He was student number 33 at Spurgeons College (then Pastor's College), London - one of the very first people to have trained with Reverend Charles Spurgeon for the Baptist Ministry.  Frederick attended the College in 1862 and 1863 until Rev. Spurgeon sent him to Australia to help supplement the meagre number of Baptist Ministers in the Colony.  Generally the training was a little longer than two years unless Spurgeon had a particular ‘assignment’ for the student.  Obviously Spurgeon did in Frederick Hibberd’s case.  Spurgeon heavily influenced Frederick’s style.

Frederick Hibberd arrived in Sydney on the brig ‘La Hogue’ on 29 October 1863 – the journey had taken 90 days from Plymouth. The Baptist Church was in its infancy and no doubt Baptists in Sydney would have been thrilled to have a new Minister in the Colony.  Upon his arrival a tea and public meeting was held to welcome him to Sydney.  According to the Sydney Morning Herald’s report of the meeting, about 300 people attended the tea and a much larger number attended the meeting.  Captain Williams, of the La Hogue spoke and talked about Frederick’s exemplary activities while on the La Hogue – Frederick had conducted all services and performed other ministry activities.  Rev Kent also spoke about how important it was to get a gentleman who was endorsed by Rev Spurgeon.  He said Ministers were like warriors in the field of battle who were delighted to receive reinforcements.   Frederick said that he trusted there would be a good bond between himself and his church.  He said that a Minister should have the freedom to work wherever he could do good work and should be hampered by poor conditions.  He said that he needed the support of his Church.  He finished by quoting some lines by Wesley describing the Christian’s future blessedness. 

The Sydney Morning Herald reported on sermons to be preached by Frederick in 1864, although there is no record about what the sermons were actually about:

10 January – The Mischievous Penknife

17 January – A Question for the Times

24 January – An Eye to Business

31 January – Spiritual Anatomy

7 February – The Four Portraits

14 February – Which of the Two

21 February  - How are you

28 February – Travail and Triumph

6 March – Black but Beautiful

13 March – World’s Contemplated Condition

20 March – Crossing the Line

5 June – Here is the form, but where is the force?

12 June – What do you preach?

19 June – Good cheer for the famishing

26 June – Do you remember?

3 July – Will you come?

10 July – Too late!  Too late!

On 11 January 1866 Frederick married Isabella Dixson at 198 York Street in Sydney.  It was Isabella’s 21^st Birthday.  Isabella and Frederick had eight children; of which only one was male.  The sixth child died as an infant.

After marriage, Frederick continued to work in Sydney, but increasingly had issues with two deacons of the Church. In 1867 he decided to accept a ministry at Launceston, Tasmania. When Frederick, Isabella and one year old Helen were moving to Launceston, the steamer they were on collided with another ship and sank in Hobson Bay, near Williamstown. Fortunately, due to the proximity of other ships in the Bay, there was no loss of life – except for some of the sheep – and the Hibberd’s possessions happened to be on a different ship. It must have still been quite a shock to Isabella and Frederick!

They didn’t stay in Launceston for a long time.  Frederick resigned in July 1867 in protest of “impurity and corruption in the church”. The young family then went to Sandhurst, Victoria. He resigned from this position to recover from injuries received in a serious carriage accident.  He was riding along the street that the hospital was located on (that was handy) when his horse stumbled and he fell into an area that had been excavated.  He suffered severe concussion.  The family returned to Sydney.

Frederick Hibberd appears to be quite ‘accident prone’!  Besides the sinking in Hobson Bay, he was also lucky to escape the sinking of the Jason in 1875 when he spent a year travelling to England – a trip which was undertaken in part to have a rest after nearly dying in the above carriage accident in Sandhurst! There were at least two other reported carriage accidents that Frederick was in – one with his infant granddaughter.

Upon his return to Australia in 1875, he went to Bourke Street Baptist Church in Woolloomooloo; before moving to Ashfield in 1880.  The family lived in Holden Street – near the newly built Ashfield Baptist Church, and Frederick worked free of charge in the new church. The family were supported by Hugh Dixson, Frederick's brother-in-law.

Frederick Hibberd was highly respected as a minister and preacher.  He was involved in the NSW Baptist Union for over 45 years, specifically: the president four times; editor of The Baptist for nine years; and the secretary of the Baptist Foreign Missionary Society for 23 years.  Besides assisting in the establishment of the Ashfield and Goulburn Baptist Churches, Frederick also started new work at Bourke Street, Sydney and at Parramatta. After finishing his work at Ashfield, Frederick worked extensively for the Baptist Church in NSW, including preaching wherever invited. He was also involved with the establishment of the East Carlingford Presbyterian Church (now Epping). It was unusual that a Baptist Minister would be involved in the Presbyterian Church.

On 27 October 1908 Frederick Hibberd died suddenly at his home “Sarum” in Carlingford in Sydney.  He was 73. It was reported that he woke in the morning and didn’t feel particularly well.  He decided to go back to his bed, he asked his wife Isabella to get him “a glass of brandy” (as reported in The Baptist edition of 2 November 1908) before he fell back on the bed and died.  Presumably the brandy was considered medicinal as Frederick had lectured on the importance of abstaining from alcohol!

The funeral was held on 28 October. Arthur Waldock organised the funeral arrangements and conducted a short service at Frederick Hibberd’s home with relatives.  Rev W.M. Cartwright, president of the Baptist Union, conducted the service at Rookwood and Thomas Porter delivered the eulogy. Arthur Waldock also assisted in the service along with other ministers. The service included the singing of one of Frederick Hibberd’s favourite hymns, “Rock of Ages” (This hymn was also a favourite of Prince Albert, who had it played to him on his deathbed).

When Rev Arthur Waldock was establishing the Canberra Baptist Church he ensured that a stained glass window was included in Frederick Hibberd's honour.  A plaque was also put in the Bathurst Street Baptist Church in recognition of his work.

Relationship to SNR = Great-great-great grandfather

Mary Jane Robinson / White (1849 - 1934)

Mary Jane Robinson was born on 21 October 1849, at Stalybridge, Lancastershire, England.  She was the eldest child of John Robinson and Elizabeth White who had married in Ashton, Lancashire in 1846. Elizabeth, John and their families had recently moved to Lancashire from Leitrim, Ireland: a fairly common occurrence at this time.  John worked at one of the many Cotton Factories and the Robinson family lived at a number of different residences in the Stalybridge / Ashton-under-Lynne area: 1 Peason House; Bond Street; and Spring Bank. Mary Jane had a number of younger siblings.

On Monday 30 December 1872, when Mary Jane was 23, she married her (slightly younger) cousin, Robert White at St James, Millbrook, Chestershire. Mary and Robert would have known each other well, as they were double cousins: Mary’s father was a brother of Robert’s mother, and Mary’s mother was a sister of Robert’s father (four shared grandparents, which is why some people would argue that marriage between double cousins is effectively the same as marrying a sibling).  In modern western society, marrying your cousin is not well accepted and marrying a double cousin would be considered ‘creepy’.  Up until the mid-19^th Century, first cousins commonly married.  A good example was Charles Darwin, who married his first cousin Emma Wedgwood.  Such marriages fell out of fashion but were never legislated against in the UK, possibly because a number of the aristocracy and royalty engaged in the practice.  Interestingly, many states in the USA have never allowed marriage between first cousins.  Research into genetic abnormalities indicates that a child born of cousins is up to two times more likely to have genetic disorders, but the risk is still very low (the child has about the same risk of genetic abnormality as that of a child born to a woman over 40 years). It is not known whether Mary and Robert’s family were happy or otherwise with the union.

Mary’s first child was born in 1875, a daughter, Elizabeth Ellen. In 1878 Robert left England bound for Brisbane, Australia.  Presumably they had discussed going to Australia as a family!  Mary was pregnant at the time, so perhaps she wanted to delay her move until the birth of her second child.  Mary’s son, John William, was born on 17 June 1878 at Heyrod: one month after Robert had arrived in Brisbane.  Early in 1879 Mary left England with her two children and cousin (and sister-in-law) Ann Jane White. They arrived in Moreton Bay, Queensland on Friday 20 June 1879. By this stage Robert had obtained a job with the NSW Railway, so Mary Jane, Elizabeth, John and Ann Jane travelled onto Sydney.  Ann Jane had met a young man called William (Elwood) White – no relation – on the trip to Australia and he possibly accompanied them to Sydney.  Ann Jane and William married in October 1879 and the two couples kept in touch with each other.  Mary Jane and Robert settled in Burwood, near Strathfield.

Mary Jane had her third child, Robert Charles, in October 1880. Sadly, baby Robert contracted Pneumonia and died in January 1881.

On 30 July 1881 Mary Jane took her two children into the city with Ann.  It was the day before Elizabeth's 6th birthday.  The four were walking along George Street and needed to cross the street.  Mary was holding John, and Ann was with Elizabeth.  Elizabeth saw her mother crossing the street ahead of her and she ran to her.  George Street has always been busy, and this day was no exception.  A horse drawn omnibus was coming down the street and was unable to stop in time. Elizabeth was trampled by one of the horses and was killed instantly.  It must have been a horrible shock for Mary Jane. I know were expectations that not all children would survive: and, just like today, the roads can be dangerous.

Ann Jane’s first child was born later in 1881. Mary Jane fell pregnant again quickly and in 1882 Jane Clegg White was born.  Two years later Robert Henry was born, but he died in 1885.  Mary Jane’s last child, James Julian, was born in 1887 when John William was 9 and Jane Clegg was 5. Mary Jane remained in Sydney, and she and Robert lived separate lives.  Robert left the railway and travelled around NSW working as a Phreuologist, with a female assistant.

The only known photo of Mary Jane...

In 1903 Jane Clegg married John James Kegg (becoming Jane Clegg Kegg), and John William returned to Stalybridge and married Harriet Dyson in 1906.  Mary Jane became a grandmother in 1906 with the birth of Jane’s daughter, Eileen Gwendoline, and John’s daughter Irene.  Jane had a son, Cyril James, and John returned to Australia and had a further 4 children.  James Julian married Isabel Sargent in 1914 and had a son. 

Notwithstanding their separation, when Robert White died on 29 April 1917 in Parkes, New South Wales, Mary Jane insert a funeral notice in the paper inviting “relatives and friends to attend the Funeral of her dearly beloved husband”. It is possible that their separation was amicable! 

Mary Jane died at 14 Darcy Avenue, Lidcombe on 12 July 1934, she was 84. 

Relationship to SNR = Great-great-great grandmother

Sophia Kensey / Hollebone / Dowswell (1849 - 1929)

When I first looked at Sophia Kensey’s life, I thought that she had a sad life. But then again, who knows what she was like other than the bare facts. And I have no idea about the type of person that Sophia was.  I’ve decided that I like to focus on the positives in her life, and I hope that she did as well.

Sophia Kensey (or Kensie) was born in 1849 in Albury, Hertford, England and baptised in the parish church on 4 November 1849.  Her parents were James and Ann.  At some point during her teenage years, Sophia came to Australia with her family. 

In 1871 she married Henry Walpole Hollebone in Sydney, NSW. They were both 22 years old.  The following year her first son was born, Albert Henry, but he died soon after birth.  In November 1873 her second son was born, George James.  By this time Henry was ill and he died on 26 November at their house in Gippe Street, off Elizabeth Street, in Sydney. It can’t have been particularly easy for Sophia at this point.  I’d like to think that both her own family, and Henry’s family helped Sophia. I don’t know much about Sophia’s family, but Henry had an older brother and five sisters, who were all close.  Two years after Henry’s death, his sister Charlotte, named her newborn child Henry.

For the next seven years Sophia raised her son in Sydney.  She married for the second time on Saturday 9 November 1878 at St Mary’s, Balmain, Sydney when she was 29. A notice of the wedding was placed in the newspaper. The groom was John Dowswell. A 36 year old widower with five children aged from seven to 16, one can understand why he was keen to marry. The ‘hows and whys’ of their union is not known, but it is possible that some within their family may have been bemused, as John’s first wife was Charlotte, the older sister of Henry Hollebone.  This meant that Sophia’s son and John’s children were cousins. I would like to think that Sophia and Charlotte had become friends and that she knew the children well: that it was a good arrangement.

Three years after their marriage, Sophia had another son, named Ernest Walpole, whose birth was registered in Canterbury, Sydney, NSW, Australia. 

On Tuesday 8 July 1890 Sophia’s elder son George James Hollebone died.  He had suffered from ‘fits’ for the previous ten years, which can’t have been easy for him, or for Sophia.  The funeral notice in the Sydney ‘Evening News’ perhaps shows the extent of family support (well, I’d like to think it does):

“The Friends of Mr John Dowswell are respectfully invited to attend the Funeral of his late beloved Step-son, George James Hollebone, aged 16 years; to move from the residence of his grandfather, Mr James Kensey, No. 1, Adolphus Lane, Balmain, tomorrow (Thursday) afternoon, at 3 o’clock, for Balmain Cemetery.”

By this stage, the first of John’s children had married, and over the following two decades sixteen grandchildren were born (including two daughters of Ernest).  Sadly, John’s youngest daughter died in 1894 when she was 23 years old: she was unmarried.  Then on 20 February 1909 John’s eldest son died aged 47: he was married with two adult sons and a fourteen year old daughter.

John Dowswell died at their home in Concord, Sydney on Friday 20 June 1913 age 77.  A year later, Sophia inserted a notice in the Sydney Morning Herald:

"DOWSWELL – In loving memory of my dear husband John Dowswell, who died June 20 1913.Your kindly face and your vacant chairIs the lonely widow’s only share.Inserted by his loving wife and little Violet"

Little Violet was one of John’s great grandchildren and it is not known why she was specifically mentioned. I like to think that she was a good mother, grandmother and great grandmother to her step family.

Sophia died in 1929 and is buried with John Dowswell at the St Thomas’ Church Cemetery, Enfield, Sydney.  She was 79 years old.

Relationship to SNR – Great, great, great grandfather’s sister-in-law