John & Eliza Miller of Weston Underwood

(p.s. Article #100 of this year!)
I have featured my gg-grandfather John Miller (1849-1922) recently in a photograph showing him in charge of a carriage, probably parked in the Nag's Head Yard, Derby. The following two cartes de visite, images of which were kindly sent to me by my Canadian cousin Lynne Tedder, show John and his wife Eliza Sheales née Newman (1844-1919).


I have already provided some biographical notes about John Miller in my previous article. Eliza was born on 29 July 1844 at Winterton-on-Sea, Norfolk, daughter of farmer William Salmon Newman (1819-1895) and Elizabeth Knights Sheals (1816-1894). At the age of 16, Eliza was working as a pupil teacher, the family having moved to Heath Farm, Great Rollright, Oxfordshire. On 21 December 1869 Eliza married John Miller at All Saints Church, Mugginton, Derbyshire, and their first child, a daughter Hannah "Minnie/Min" Mary Elizabeth Miller (1870-1956), was born in late 1870 at Weston Underwood. In April 1871, Eliza was working as a school mistress, presumably at the National School in the nearby village of Mugginton. Wright's 1874 Directory of South Derbyshire again shows "Mrs. Eliza Miller" as mistress of the national school, built in 1840 for 20 boys, while Herbert Shaw was master. Her husband John was described in the same census as a brickmaker and member of the yeomanry cavalry.

Ten years later, the 1881 Census describes him as a brick and pipe manufacturer, while Eliza is still working as a school mistress. It was shortly after this date that they opened a grocery and post office in the village of Weston Underwood, and presumably Eliza stopped teaching. The 1887 edition of Kelly's trade directory, presumably compiled late the previous year, does not list Eliza as a teacher. Early the following year, Eliza had their eleventh child (and sixth son), a fifth daughter having died young in 1884. By 1891, the three eldest daughters had all left home, and were working as domestic servants in Derby.

According to notes attached to the image of Eliza by my cousin, she is wearing furs sent from Canada by her sons Fred and Archie. John and Eliza had ten children who survived to adulthood, including sons Frederick Newman Miller (1885-1958) and Bertram Archibald Miller (1886-1979), who emigrated to Saskatchewan, Canada. According to a record in the 1911 Census for Battlefield, Saskatchewan, taken on 1 June, Fred arrived there in 1906 (presumably arriving after 24 June, as he does not appear in the census of that date), and it is likely that Archie followed him shortly after 1911. The style of dress and hat worn by Eliza Miller is appropriate for the 1900s, and I estimate that it was taken between 1906 and 1910. This is a fairly late date for the use of the carte de visite format, but not unheard of, and the corners are square, which became common for both cdvs and cabinet cards after the very late 1890s.

The card mounts bear the photographer's name and address, Levi Yeomans of 119 Crewe Street, Derby. Levi Yeomans was born in Derby in 1865, son of a railway labourer John Yeomans (1820-1872) and his wife Mary née Wildgoose (1823-1899), who was a midwife. After his father's death in 1872, he lived with his mother on Canal Street, and worked as a railway clerk. He married Emma Crispin at Derby in early 1894, and in 1898 they moved to a house on 119 Crewe Street in New Normanton. The 1901 Census still shows him working as a railway clerk, and the 1912 edition of Kelly's trade directory doesn't list him at all, so it is not clear exactly when and for how long he was taking photographs. I suspect that it was only for a short period in the late 1900s and early 1910s. If any reader has photographs taken by Yeomans, which might help to expand on the information that I currently have for this photographer, please get in touch. [Email]

It is interesting to note that John & Eliza Miller's second daughter (and my great-grandparents) Edith "Edie" Newman Miller (1872-1956) and her husband Frederick "Fred" Montague Brown (1870-1960) moved to a house at 121 Crewe Street - next door to Levi Yeomans - between the census in March 1901 and August 1904, when their fourth child was born. The Browns lived in Crewe Street until they moved in with the daughter and son-in-law, my grandparents, at the latter's house in Glenwood Road, Chellaston in the 1950s. It seems very likely that John and Eliza sat for their portraits while on visit to the Brown residence, perhaps even in their daughter's house, and then, since the photographs are now in the possession of Fred's grand-daughter Lynne, sent the cartes de visite to their son Fred in Canada.

What happened to Patience?

This cabinet card by the Wellington (New Zealand) studio of Connolly and Herrmann shows a young woman, perhaps looking slightly unhappy, in a typical late 1880s dress with high collar, tight boddice, rounded shoulders and bustle.


The studio set up is fairly rudimentary, showing a two-panel backdrop crudely painted with wood panelling, ornamented column and an open window, showing some vaguely tropical plants outisde. The centrepiece is an extraordinary home-made contraption, looking like something between a tree trunk and a bird's nest, the latter acting as a receptacle for a fern of some kind. To complete the furnishings, two rectangular fur rugs - one looks like sheepskin, while the other may be possum fur - have been placed on an unpatterned floor.

James Connolly and Richard Hermann (also spelled Herrmann) both worked as photographers in Wellington in the 1880s. Connolly was in partnership with Pierce Mott Casneau on Lambton Quay from c.1882 until 1885. He then collaborated with Richard Hermann, the studio being referred to as either Connolly & Co. or Connolly & Herrmann, until that partnership was dissolved in 1889. Wise's New Zealand Directory for 1890/1891 lists the firm of Connolly, Beauchamp and Price with a studio on Lambton Quay, but this was probably also fairly short-lived, since it was reported to have been taken over by William Henry Scott Kinsey in 1892. Richard Hermann and his wife Louisa arrived in New Zealand (from Birmingham, England) in 1880. After 1889, they established their own studio in Cuba Street. Richard died in 1892; his widow Louisa M. Hermann took over and continued to run the business until at least 1902.


The reverse of the card mount is a fairly typical mid-1880s design, with diagonal "signature," coat of arms, the use of several fonts and ornate scrollwork. An inscription in ink pen on the reverse, apparently contemporary with the photograph itself, identifies the subject as, "Patience Amanda Pinhey" and states that the portrait was "taken in N.Z. aged 22 yrs 1889."

I eventually managed to track down Patience Amanda Pinhey through the indexed census records at Ancestry. She was born in late 1867 in the village of Loddiswell, South Hams, Devon, England, the eighth of ten children of farmer William Henry Pinhey (or Pinhay) and his wife Susan. In 1881, the census shows Patience working as a domestic servant in the household of farmer Richard Pinhey and his wife Betsey, presumably relations of some sort, in the nearby village of South Brent. Her parents had moved to Middle Bradleigh Farm, where her father was working as an agricultural labourer.

Some time between April 1881 and 1891, the family appear to have emigrated, as I can find no evidence of them on the UK Census. From information provided by Graeme Ardern, who is distantly related to the family, it appears that Patience's eldest brother Nelson Albert Pinhey (1858-1926) was married at Ippleton in Devonshire and emigrated shortly after, arriving in Wellington on board the early steamship SS Aorangi on 15 September 1884, after a journey of six and a half weeks. After a few weeks "they settled on a farm called Fernridge, at Wangaehu, Masterton."

I presume that the remainder of the family also went to New Zealand at about this time, from the existence of this portrait, taken in Wellington. It seems quite possible that Patience was married not long after the date of the portrait, and her surname would have changed, but what happened to the rest of the Pinheys? It was a big family, so there must be some sign of them somewhere.

William Henry (or John) PINHEY b. c.1825 Diptford DEV m: Susan (surname unknown) b. c.1830 Stockingham DEV
- Nelson Albert PINHEY b. 1857 Diptford DEV
- Dora Anne/Anna PINHEY b. 1859 Diptford DEV
- Alice PINHEY b. 1860 Loddisham DEV
- Valentine PINHEY b. 1862 Loddisham DEV
- John Southwood PINHEY b. 1863 Loddisham DEV
- Stanley & William Oscar PINHEY (twins) b. 1865 Loddisham DEV
- Patience Amanda PINHEY b. 1867 Loddisham DEV
- Reginald PINHEY b. 1869 Loddisham DEV
- Susan Southwood PINHEY b. 1871 Loddisham DEV
- Matilda PINHEY b. 1873 Loddisham DEV

It is possible that the parents later returned to England, as I found some potential death index entries on FreeBMD, as follows:
Deaths Dec 1900 - Pinhey William Henry, aged 74, Kingsbridge R.D., Vol 5b Fol 127
Deaths Mar 1908 - PINHEY Susan, aged 77, Totnes R.D., Vol 5b Fol 131

If any readers out there are able to find this family after 1881, I would be most grateful to hear from you (Email).

References

Auckland City Libraries Photographers Database
Knight, Hardwicke (1971) Photography in New Zealand, A Social and Technical History, John McIndoe, Dunedin
Knight, Hardwicke (1981) New Zealand Photographers, A Selection, Allied Press Ltd., Auckland.
Roger Vaughan's Date an old UK Photograph
Transcribed Indexes to the GRO Birth, Marriage & Death Records from FreeBMD
Indexed 1841-1901 Census Records & Images from Ancestry

Another portrait from the Cape Town studio of W. Lawrence

Having come across my previous article featuring a colourised carte de visite from the studio of Lawrence Brothers of Cape Town (South Africa), Joanne Savile recently sent me another portrait from this studio.


Joanne asked:

I have a photo with "W. Lawrence, Photographer, Caledon Street Cape Town" on the back which looks pretty early too. I think it is my gg-grandmother Mary Black who emigrated there in 1858 and married in Capetown January 1860. She left South Africa 1869/70 and died in 1884. I'm guessing this might be an engagement /pre-wedding photo. What do you reckon? If I'm correct she would have been 18/19 yrs old at the time.

Unfortunately dating photos is rarely as cut and dried as we might wish. The hair style, with just the lobes of her ears showing, is typical of the early to mid-1860s, perhaps between 1860 and 1865. You can just see the outline of a hair net which, although commonly worn by women, often doesn't show up well in photographs of the period. The clothing is also characteristic of this time, with rounded shoulders, the sleeves widening considerably downwards from just above the elbows, a lace collar, and a cameo brooch at her neck.

However, there are a number of things which lead me to think that this particular photographic print was perhaps produced slightly later. As cartes de visite were only introduced by studio photographers in 1860/1861, it seems rather unlikely that this particular example could have been taken on or before your gg-grandmother's marriage in January 1860. Also the style of the CDV, i.e. a vignetted cameo half-length portrait, would be a little unusual for the early 1860s, and I think it more likely to have been produced in the late 1860s. The design on the reverse of the card mount suggests it was not much later than the late 1860s.

This disparity between the apparent date of the portrait and the date of the photographic print suggests, at least to me, that it may have been a later copy of a photographic portrait taken in the early 1860s, perhaps even on or around the date of your gg-grandmother's marriage. The vignetting, i.e. the fading at the edges, could also have been done at the time of making the copy. If this is the case, then it is a good copy - many copies, particularly from that era, show a marked loss of definition and contrast compared with the original. Also it is worthwhile noting that the original may well have been an ambrotype photograph, rather than a CDV, particularly in light of your view that it may have been taken c. 1860.

Joane subsequently sent me some more information about her gg-grandmother, as well as a scan of another photograph of her, taken some time later after she had returned to live in England.


"Mary was born on 14 September 1841 at Corrie Common, Hutton & Corrie, Dumfriesshire, Scotland, the eldest child of Peter Black and Catherine. She emigrated with her family to South Africa in 1858 where she worked as domestic servant to Rev Mr Douglas in Cape Town. She married a fellow Scot, John Cramond on 3 January 1860 at the Scottish Church in Cape Town. Mary and John had four children in South Africa: John (1863), Catherine (1866) Mary (1867) and Janet (1869). Her father and sister died in 1866 and were buried in St. John's Cemetery, Wynberg, Cape Town, along with Mary's younger sister, Isabella."

"Most of the family left South Africa for Cleator, Cumberland, England around 1870. They probably chose Cleator as John Black (Mary's brother) was settled there already, working as an engineman at the local iron ore mines. Mary's other two brothers and husband all found work at the iron ore mines as engine fitters/mechanical engineers. Mary had her fifth child Alexander at Leconsfield Street, Cleator on the 19 January 1871. She went on to have another eight children, all in Cleator, before dying at the birth of her 13th child Robert in August 1884, aged 42. Her children generally fared well and most of them kept in touch with each other. One went back to South Africa, six emigrated to New York, two to Australia, two remained in Cleator, Cumberland, one daughter died in childbirth in Scotland, and a son died aged 8, three years after Mary."

The photographer Joseph Warwick was originally a coal miner who moved from Lambly in Northumberland to Carlisle around 1882. He operated a studio at 46 Sheffield Street until at least the early 1890s, although he was also a book deliverer (1891) and life assurance agent (1901). The later portrait shown above was probably taken shortly before Mary died, between 1882 and 1884.

Thomas Frost, photographer of St Peter's Street, Derby

David Lamb recently sent me this portrait of the family of Reuben and Ellen Holmes of Derby, taken at the studio of Thomas Frost of 26½ St Peter's Street, Derby.


Standing at the back are: John William (1879-1948) and Ernest Reuben Holmes (1881-1967). Seated are: John's wife Selina Holmes née Bull (1876-1937), who is holding their daughter Florence May, born at Derby on 22 May 1900 (d. 1956). Next are Reuben Holmes (1855-1929) and his wife, Ellen Holmes née Alton (1856-1937). Seated at the extreme right is Ethel Holmes (1887-1975), and at the front is Arthur Holmes (1891-1948). This entire family left Derby c. 1903 and moved to Toronto.

The 1901 Census, enumerated on 31 March that year, shows Reuben and Ellen Holmes living at 57 Bridge Street, Derby, with their three younger children Ernest, Ethel and Arthur, aged nineteen, thirteen and ten, respectively. Their eldest son John William Holmes, by then aged 21, was living with his wife Selina and their ten month-old daughter Florence May at 25 Milton Street, Derby. Neither are very far from the centre of Derby, where Frost's St Peter's Street studio was located, but they may well have taken a tram to get there, so as to avoid getting their clothes dirty. The baby looks to me to be about nine or ten months old and I estimate, therefore, that the Holmes family visited the studio in about March 1901, at almost exactly the time the census was done. If the family emigrated to Canada not long after this date, then the photograph may even have been taken in preparation for that event. I have come across quite a few instances of this, presumably done in order to leave some sort of permanent, and personal, mementoes or keepsakes with family that they were leaving behind.

According to Maxwell Craven (in Keene's Derby, published in 1993 by Breedon Books, Derby, pp. 200-202, ISBN 1 873626 60 6, courtesy of Sonia Addis-Smith), Thomas Frost trained with photographers Gervase Gibson & Son (of Derby & Nottingham) before setting up his own studio at 26½ St. Peter's St. These premises had previously been occupied by William B. Pearson until shortly before his death in 1885, but Frost only appears to have taken them over in 1899 or 1900. Gibson & Son's studio premises in Derby were situated at 30 St Peter's Street; the studio was certainly operating by 1895 (Source: Professional Photographers in Derbyshire 1843-1914, by Keith I.P. Adamson, publ. as Supplement No. 118 to The PhotoHistorian, September 1997), and possibly as early as 1893.


The Gibson & Son carte de visite above, of that approximate date, shows the addresses "8 Peck Lane, Nottingham" - which closed in 1895 - and "30 St Peter's Street, Derby," making it clear that the Derby studio had opened prior to the closure of the Peck Lane premises. Derby Electoral Registers (obtained on microfilm through the LDS church FHC network) for the years 1898-1900 show John Gibson - one of Gervase Gibson's three sons - with a studio in St. Peter's Street, while he lived first at Colyear Street, then in Drury Lane, suggesting that he was probably running the studio.

Thomas Frost was originally from Nottingham, but he arrived in Derby around 1896, after a brief sojourn in the United States. He was certainly living in Derby in the late 1890s (Source: Birth registrations of three children between late 1897 and early 1901, FreeBMD), but is not listed in Kelly's 1899 trade directory (Historical Directories), so was probably working for Gibson & Son at the time of the directory's compilation, c. late 1898. Adamson (1997) states that the studio of "Gibson & Son" at number 30 closed in 1900. The directory, and Adamson (1997), show that photographer William Milton was at 26½ St Peter's Street from 1898 until 1900.


It is around this time that we find the first mention of Thomas Frost working on his own behalf. On 28 February 1900 an article in The Derby Mercury (Courtesy of the British Library & Gale CENGAGE Database) mentions Thomas Frost, photographer of St. Peter's Street, as the "master" of a "traveller on commission." Then, on 31 March the following year, the census shows Frost living at 1 Sacheverel Street, Derby, and describes himself as a "portrait photographer (employer)." His younger brother, Robert Ernest Frost, who was living at 60 Randolph Rd, Normanton, described himself as a "photographers agent," and it seems likely that he was employed by Thomas at this time, perhaps as a replacement for the unreliable agent, Charles Bridge.


Frost probably worked from these premises until 1902, but in 1903 he appears to have moved to another studio at number 92 St. Peter's Street, where is listed by Adamson (1997). However, it is known that Frederick Beeston, who had previously worked as a photographic assistant in Nottingham, probably also for Gibson & Son, had the studio briefly around 1903, using some of Frost's card mounts with his name pasted on, as in the cabinet card shown above. "Gibson & Sons" then took over number 92 St. Peter's Street, and operated it from 1903 until at least 1907.

"Portraits enlarged up to life size" (2)

W.N. Statham of Matlock Bridge also offered a copying and enlargement service, as shown by the wording on the reverse of cabinet card mounts used in the 1890s and early 1900s:


Marilyn and Mike McMillan recently contacted me about images of two photographs - a cabinet card and a cdv - included in my profile of this photographer.

My husband and I were looking at this site and noticed that we can identify the people in two of your unidentified photographs ... The first photograph is of two unidentifed young girls seated in white dresses. The second photo underneath is of an unidentified middle aged couple. He is seated with his arm resting on a table and he has a large beard. His wife is standing.

This middle aged couple are my great grandparents. An enlargement of this photo hangs in my home. They are Henry Statham and his wife Ann Jane (Wass) Statham, both born in 1853. Henry and William Nathan Statham were first cousins. Henry Statham's father, Isaac Statham (m. Sarah Carline), and William N. Statham's father, Abanathan, were brothers. The two young girls in the previous photo are Henry and Ann Jane Statham's daughters - Gertrude (on the left, born April 4, 1882) and Lilian (on the right, born Feb 16, 1886). This family along with two sons, Henry (my grandfather) and Isaac emigrated to Ontario, Canada in 1903.

I am the only child of Walter Statham who was the only child of Henry Statham, the son of the Henry in the picture. So I basically have everything worth saving that belonged to my grandparents. The oval enlargement, and also an oval enlargement of my father's maternal grandparents, Walter and Sarah Barrett, were in a large envelope unframed. These pictures must have come to Canada in the early 1900's. My husband and I had them framed a few years ago so they must have sat in the envelope unframed for most of the 20th century. They were in very good condition.

This is really interesting. Putting pictures on a website like yours proves that it is possible to identify people in photos.

Marilyn kindly sent me some photographs of Henry and Ann Jane Statham later in life, after they had settled in Canada, including these two.


She also provided two images of cartes de visite by the Derby branch of A. & G. Taylor's countrywide chain of studios, showing Gertrude and Lilian Statham, which must have been taken shortly before their departure for Canada in 1903.

A question of identity - comparing family photos

I recently received an email from a reader in Australia with an interesting enquiry. She sent me images of two different photographs. The first of these had been clearly identified as being a known family member and immigrant who arrived in Australia in early 1842, aged about 23 years old, the photo being taken some time later.


The second image, shown below, is of more uncertain origin and identity.


The suggestion had been that the man in the second photo was the same person as that shown in the first, photographed with his wife. However, there was some disagreement in the family as to whether this was a correct identification of the couple in the second image. My correspondent merely wanted my opinion on whether the two photos could be of the same person.

First, I looked at the age of the images. I believe that both photographs were probably originally taken in the 1870s. The lack of studio details and paucity of furniture, as well as the indistinctness of the woman's clothing, makes them difficult to date with any further accuracy. However, from the similarity of the poses and the mens' clothing, I believe that they could have been taken at around the same time.


The face of the man in the second photo is unfortunately very faded. I've tried some digital editing and have attached a composite image showing the faces of both men. While they are both bearded and have roughly similar hair styles, I don't believe they are likely to be the same person. Note, in particular, the vertical distance between the bottom of the nose and the top of the upper lip. I would estimate the age of the first man as around 50 to 55. The second man appears to me to be somewhat younger - perhaps in his late 30s or early 40s - although I can't be sure of this, and he could be as young as late 20s or early 30s. Also it appears that their eyes and nose are a rather different shape.

The woman's pose, with her hand resting on the seated man's shoulder, would have been carefully arranged by the photographer. She doesn't look entirely comfortable, but this was often the case with studio photographs of the era. However, the pose suggests - at least to me - that she was his wife. I would estimate that she is in her mid- to late 30s, possibly suggesting a similar age for her husband, If this is correct, then both are likely to have been born c. 1830-1845, and are unlikely to have arrived in Australia as a couple in their early 20s by ship in 1842.

On the other hand the "older" man, photographed seated on his own, possibly in the early to mid-1870s, if he is as I suggest, aged 50-55, could have been born around 1820. This makes him a likely candidate for the immigrant who was about 23 when he arrived in Tasmania in March 1842 with his wife, and therefore born around 1818-1819.

I decided to do a more quanititative examination of the facial characteristics on the men in the two photos.


I measured three distances on the portraits as follows:
- distance between the eyes (x)
- vertical distance between the line through both eyes and the tip of the nose (y)
- vertical distance between the tip of the nose and the centre of the mouth (z)
and then compared the two using the following ratios:
- x/y (distance from eyes to nose divided by distance between eyes)
- z/y (distance from mouth to nose divided by distance from eyes to nose)

If one arbitrarily takes the y distance as standard, then it is possible to equate the values of two ratios as a visual expression of the distance between the eyes (x/y) and the height of the upper lip (z/y)

The ratios were as follows:

Single portrait:
x/y = 0.741 & z/y = 0.615

Couple portrait:
x/y = 0.739 & z/y = 0.500

A simple comparison of the ratios shows clearly that, in relation to the distance between eyes and nose, the two mens' eyes are practically the same distance apart, but the man in the double portrait does indeed have a much narrower upper lip (ratio of 0.500 compared with 0.615).

The figures bear out my visual analysis, and I feel even more confident that the two men in the photos are not the same person.

The ROCHE and HERRIES familes of Te Aroha, New Zealand - Part 2

About six weeks ago, in mid-December, I received an email from Barbara Moules in Australia, saying that she was a direct descendant of Edward Francis Roche (1828-1903), and that a letter would follow in the post. The letter arrived a few days later, together with a copy of William & Catherine's marriage certificate and an explanation of Barbara's interest. Her great-grandmother Frances Roche was a sister of Catherine, and Barbara had been researching the Roche family for some years. She had learnt, via the Alexander Turnbull Library (who had presumably found my two year old Rootsweb Mailing List post, of my interest and was intrigued to hear of the photographs in my possession.

Barbara provided the following interesting background information:

"Edward Francis Roche, his wife Dorothea and their children Mary Elizabeth, Henry, Catherine, Dorothea, John & Francis James, came from Ireland to New Zealand in 1880 ... My great grandmother, their second child Frances, had in 1878 been sent to New South Wales [with her husband Bartholomew Murphy] in disgrace because she not only became pregnant to the stable boy, but he was also a Catholic ... By the time Catherine married, her parents would have been 61 (Edward) and 63 (Dorothea)."

as well as an extract of Catherine's will:

"I give ... all moneys ... to pay the net annual income arising therefrom to my sister Frances Murphy of Sydney in the State of New South Wales, widow ..."

I forwarded images of the photos by email, while in a subsequent letter Barbara sent me a photocopy of a copied photo of Catherine's mother Dorothea from her own family collection. It was obviously the same portrait as the one I had purchased on eBay a couple of years earlier.


In the mean time, I also contacted my friend Peter Koninsky in the United States, and asked if he would consider parting with the photos, in exchange for some other old New Zealand photos that I hoped to find for him in due course. Peter had no hesitation whatsoever, putting them in the post within a day or two, and they are already in Barbara's hands. She was, of course very excited:

"I will wait for the original photographs to travel through your hands again and come to rest, in a welcoming home here with me, for good ... Having the two photos will give my research a solid base and somehow place Frances and descendants firmly back with the family."
"How marvellous! The photos are on the way! Will be great to receive ... Some family member must have disposed of the family photos for them to find their way onto the open market. Glad you found them."
"Thank you once again and I look forward to your story. It should give a lot of researchers hope."

Barbara also sent me some of her and fellow descendant Graham Brady's Roche research material, including the following obituary for Mr. Roche from the New Zealand Herald (29 September 1903):

MR. EDWARD FRANCIS ROCHE"Yesterday, at 'The Croft,' Otahuhu, Mr. Edward Francis Roche died at the ripe old age of 75 years. The deceased, who came out to the colony nearly 30 years ago from Ireland, was well known in agricultural and pastoral circles, and resided for many years in the Waikato district. On the sale of his estate in the Waikato, Mr. Roche went to live at Tauranga, where he remained for some years. Among his numerous acquaintances the deceased was highly respected as a man of sterling integrity. He leaves a grown up family, the eldest son being in the employ of the Auckland Education Board ... One of the daughters of the late Mr. Roche is the wife of Mr. W.H. Herries, member of Parliament for the Bay of Plenty electorate. The interment will be private."

Edward & Dorothea's children were as follows:

- Mary "Minnie" Elizabeth Roche (1853-1937) m. William Percy Gage-Brown
- Edward Francis Roche b. 1855 d. in Burma, while a judge in the Indian Civil Service
- Frances Roche (1854-1930) m. Bartholomew Murphy
- Henry Roche (1857-1950) a civil engineer who worked on the Auckland-Rotorua railway line and for the Waihi Gold Mining Co. m. Charlotte Amy Purchas, daughter of medical missionary Rev. Arthur Guyon Purchas
- Catherine Louise Roche (1859-1912) m. Sir William Herbert Herries (1859-1923)
- Dorothea Roche (1860-1932) m. George Frederick Bendall, farmer of Otahuhu (NZ) & Lindisfarne, Hobart (Tasmania)
- John Longfield Roche, a farmer in the Waikato, m. Isobel Constance Marshall
- Francis James Roche b. 1865, also an engineer, m. Kathleen Clara Stock

The moral of the story, if there is one, is that when doing family and local history research, it always pays to leave a paper trail, or an internet presence of some sort. In other words, make postings on mailing lists and online forums with details of your interests or questions. It is also wise to leave some means for a potential reader to contact you at some stage in the future, although one should take care not to reveal too many personal details. Nothing may happen for years, or it may never result in anything, but it could, as in this case, have a very happy ending.

The ROCHE and HERRIES familes of Te Aroha, New Zealand - Part 1

Several years ago I purchased these two cabinet card portraits on eBay, taken in the studio of John Robert Hanna at 134 Queen Street, Auckland, New Zealand. They were of an elderly man and woman, and were inscribed on the reverse, in what appears to be a contemporary hand, "Mrs Herries, Shaftesbury, Te Aroha, Auckland, New Zealand." This interested me, because the town of Te Aroha, nestled at the foot of the Kaimai Range on the eastern edge of the Waikato farming district, is not far from where I live. In fact, I can just see Mount Te Aroha (952 metres), with its TV mast, on the skyline from my front lawn.


My initial research centred on the Herries family. Sir William Herbert Herries (1859-1923) of the small settlement of Shaftesbury, near Te Aroha, was a farmer, race horse breeder and politician. The entry for him in the online version of the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography shows that he was born in London, England into a wealthy middle-class family, went to Eton College and, because of an early interest in fossils and geology, studied for a natural science degree at Trinity College, Cambridge. After graduating in 1881, he emigrated to New Zealand and settled on a 900 acre property at Shaftesbury, where he farmed and "dedicat[ed] his leisure to what became a lifelong passion for horse-racing and bloodstock lines." In the 1890s he entered local, and then national politics, serving as a Member of Parliament in opposition from 1896 until 1921, with several years as a cabinet minister after Massey's party took power in 1912. He gained a well earned reputation as an inveterate purchaser of Maori lands.

Herries married Catherine Louise Roche of Ohineroa, a neighbour's daughter, on 4 December 1889. She died in 1912 on board ship returning home from a trip to England and they had no children. "In his latter years, unhindered by the demands of farm and family, [he] was left to pursue his addiction to politics, horse-racing and alcohol." Cambridge University Alumni 1261-1900 shows that he was the eldest son and heir of a barrister Herbert Crompton Herries (1829-1870) and his wife Leonora Emma Wickham of Frimley Park, Surrey, and grandson of Major General Sir William Lewis Herries, CB, KCH, (1785-1857) of the 68th (Durham) Regiment of Foot. His younger brother Robert Stansfield Herries, F.R.G.S. (186-1941) of St Julian's, Kent, followed his father to the bar, was a Director of Spottiswoode's, Ltd. and President of the Geologists' Association from 1906 to 1908.


The photographs of Sir William Herries included in his DNZB biography (see above) taken in the late 1890s and in 1916, respectively, don't show many similarities with the portrait by Hannah. The very full sleeves worn by the elderly woman in the Hanna portrait suggest that it was taken in the 1890s, probably between 1892 and 1897. Auckland City Libraries' Photographers Database shows that Hannah operated a studio at this address from 1885 to 1895, after which he moved to 196 Queen Street. Although card mounts are of slightly different design, it seems likely that they were both taken at around the same time, and almost certainly between 1892 and 1895.

Since they obviously weren't of Sir William Herries and his wife - they would have been in their mid- to late thirties at the time these portraits were taken - who were they? There was no evidence that Sir William's parents had ever come out to New Zealand - besides, his father died in 1870. It occurred to me that they might be of Catherine's parents, and to this end in February 2006 I posted a query on the Rootsweb New Zealand Mailing List asking for any information about the Roche family of Ohineroa. While I didn't receive anything directly relevant, one list member suggested I check the local newspapers of the period, which of course I should have done previously. I then browsed the appropriate sections of Te Aroha & Ohinemuri News & Upper Thames Advocate on Papers Past, a collection of more than one million pages of digitised New Zealand newspapers and periodicals from the years 1840 to 1915, hosted by the National Library of New Zealand, and found the following article in the issue dated Saturday, 7 December 1889 (page 2):

"On Wednesday last Mr. W.H. Herries (who recently bought out his partner's interest in that valuable farm at Shaftesbury, until then the property of Messrs Thompson and Herries), was married to Miss Roche, daughter of Mr E.F. Roche, J.P., of Ohineroa, Shaftesbury. The wedding took place at the residence of the bride's father, Rev. F.G. Evans officiating. The event was celebrated in the quietest manner possible, as, beyond Mr Roche's family, Mis Purchas (bridesmaid), and Mr E.C. Meysey Thompson (best man), only a very few intimate friends were invited. The happy couple in the afternoon drove direct to their future home, the residence of Mr. W.H. Herries; which has been recently greatly enlarged and newly furnished in preparation for the wedding. We join with many others in wishing the newly married couple long life and much happiness and prosperity."

This didn't tell me a great deal beyond what I already knew. It was possible that the elderly couple in the photos were Catherine Roche's parents, but there was no way to be sure. In the mean time, I exchanged the two original cabinet card photographs with fellow collector of old photographs, Peter Koninsky, who had located and previously sent me several cartes de visite by Derbyshire photographers, my main area of interest. He was very grateful:

"The Brisbane CDV and the two Auckland, N.Z. cabinet cards survived the journey unscathed. Thank you!! These are my first New Zealand cards, and are appreciated as much because they offer a slight glimpse into the past in a distant and interesting location, as they are because they seem to be so scarce and difficult to obtain."

That was almost two years ago. Go to Part 2.

References

Belgrave, Michael. 'Herries, William Herbert 1859 - 1923'. Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, updated 22 June 2007

Cambridge University Alumni, 1261-1900. Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 1999. Original data: Venn, J. A., comp.. Alumni Cantabrigienses. London, England: Cambridge University Press, 1922-1954.

Database of New Zealand Photographers, from Auckland City Libraries.

Te Aroha & Ohinemuri News & Upper Thames Advocate, Saturday 7 December 1889, page 2, on Papers Past, National Library of New Zealand.

Coming to America

Photographs are often used to tell a story. Good examples of this may be found in some of the photographs sent by emigrants to their kin back home in the old country. They wanted not only to be remembered by and keep in touch with their families, but also to share their new lives with their parents, siblings, cousins etc. Perhaps they were even trying to convince them of the good life, and persuade them to join them in their adventure.


Kimberly Carlton sent me this photo by Seaman & Sons of Chesterfield and asked: "I purchased this photo at a garage sale in the Kansas City, Missouri area, so I don't know the subjects. The back has some faint pencil writing that I think says "Frank Wood". It looks to be around the turn of the century, but not sure. Did this photographer ever work in the USA or is this pic from the UK? And why wouldn't these people be standing next to each other, I thought that was strange how spread out they were?"

I believe, by comparing the style of the mount with others produced by this studio, that the photograph was produced at around the turn of the century, as Kim has suggested. The shape of the house looks to me to be more suited to North America than late Victorian Derbyshire. I have no evidence that any members of the extensive Seaman family spent any time in North America, and have seen no other examples of photographs taken by them outside England. I wonder if perhaps the photograph was originally taken somewhere in North America, sent to relatives back home in Derbyshire, and subsequently copied by Seaman & Sons? From the shape of the sleeves of the dresses worn by the women, I think it likely that the photograph was originally taken in the 1890s.

The more I think about it, the less I can imagine this building being in Derbyshire, England, and the more convinced I am that it is located somewhere in North America, perhaps not far from Kansas City, Missouri where Kim rescued it from a garage sale. The style of photo, with the people spread out like that, although not as common as more formal studio portraits, could, I believe, have been intended by the photographer to give more of an impression of the lifestyle of the recently arrived immigrant family to their kinfolk back home in England.

Although the subjects are nominally the four people, in the usual stiff, unsmiling poses common to both indoor studio portraits and outdoor poses of the era, the photographic artist, as he would no doubt have styled himself, is trying to convey a much "bigger picture". The saw and horse, pile of freshly sawn logs, wagon or cart pulled by pair of large horses harnessed to a wagon, waiting in the yard, the rough wooden fences in the background, perhaps enclosing the yard or an orchard, and last but not least the large, solid, two-storey house, are perhaps employed to tell a story to their relatives at home - one of hard work and just reward for their efforts, and a picture of their new life in a new land.

Judging by the lack of leaves on the trees I guess this is late autumn or winter. Is that a smudge towards the top of the photo, or perhaps smoke coming out of the chimney? A fire in the hearth would not be out of place at that time of the year. I note that there are no young children shown in the photo. The man with a beard, wearing strong shoes, a wide-brimmed hat and long coat, marked above and below with two Xs, is obviously the primary subject, and presumably man of the house. The woman with a long dress standing behind him, and slightly to his right, is probably his wife The female at the extreme left appears to be a young woman - her dress is shorter, which suggests to me that she is perhaps in her teens. Perhaps she is a daughter. The younger man with a smaller hat and shorter jacket, holding the reins may be part of the family, but he could well be an employee on the farm.

This brings to mind the story of my own gg-grandfather, Henry Payne (1842-1907), who took his wife Henrietta and children to start a new life in America in 1880. First Henry and his 13-year-old eldest son Charles Vincent (my great-grandfather) sailed from Liverpool to Philadelphia on board the S.S. British Crown, arriving on American soil on 2 March [see my transcript of the Passenger List].


The S.S. British Crown of the American Line in 1881, by Antonio Jacobsen (1850 - 1921)


Passenger List for the S.S. British Crown of the American Line, arriving at the Port of Philadelphia on 2 March 1880
According to my gg-uncle Hallam, they "took up" a farm at Bladensburg, about four miles north-west of Washington D.C. They must have moved fast to find the farm and get the crops planted by late April or early May, although the census on 7 June shows a farm labourer Thomas Cash boarding with them, and he may well have helped, driving the wagon just as the man in Kim's photo.


1880 Census entry for Henry & Charles V. Payne at Columbia Road (Bladensburg), Washington D.C.
Henrietta had given birth to their fourth son Fred at St. James' Road in Normanton (Derbyshire, England) in December the previous year, and probably waited in Derby for Fred to get a little older, and for word from Henry, before setting out to join them. They left Liverpool in late June, they arrived at the Port of Baltimore - via Norfolk and Halifax - on 7 July aboard the SS Hibernian [see my transcript of the Passenger List], and must have joined Henry and Charlie at the farm shortly after.


The S.S. Hibernian of the Allan Line


Passenger List for the S.S. Hibernian of the Allan Line, arriving at the Port of Baltimore on 7 July 1880 (NB. "Allan" written incorrectly for "Hallam")
Even after the rigours of an Atlantic crossing, they do not seem to have had much time for rest and recuperation. Only two days after their arrival, Hallam fell out of "the buggy" and broke his right arm, resulting in a "four or five week stay in hospital in Washington." In the meantime, Charlie was attacked by two "niggers" (Hallam's words, not mine) on his way back from Washington. Of far greater importance, however, was the fact that the climate did not agree with Henrietta's health. They returned to England soon after Hallam's recovery, "leaving all the crops in the fields", and the UK census shows them again running the family grocery at 38 St. James' Road in Normanton by 3 April 1881.


April 1880 Census entry for Henry & Henrietta C. Payne and family at 38 St James' Road, Normanton, Derby
The trip seems to have been a disaster, and Henry apparently gave up any ideas of leaving England again. It did not, however, put off their children. Hallam, Charles Vincent and Frank, together with CV's young bride Amy, made short-lived forays to Chicago in the early 1890s [1890-1892: Chicago, Pullman & the World's Fair]. My grandfather Leslie Payne was born during this stay in Chicago, and himself returned to North America when he was a young man, spending a few years before and after the First World War in Saskatchewan and Manitoba.


Henry & Henrietta Payne in Derbyshire, England, 1898
To get back to Kim's photo, it is evocative of the experiences of many thousands of English families, and of course those from all over Europe, who arrived in America in great numbers in the latter part of the nineteeth century and built new lives for themselves. Since we only have Uncle Hallam's brief words and the rather impersonal and matter-of-fact census & passenger list entries to hint of their experiences, we must resort to our imaginations to fill in the gaps and flesh out the story a little. I can pretend for a moment or two, perhaps, that this is my own family making their way in a new land ...