Thomas Worden and Ann Eva

Thomas Worden was born in Plymouth (Devon) on 27/6/1835, the son of Thomas Worden and Jane Huntington. Note that his mother's maiden name is deduced from circumstantial evidence: the details are given on the page referred to above. His birth date is given in an obituary (see below), but the obituary is apparently wrong about his birthplace. We can deduce the year of his birth from the fact that he was aged 19 at his marriage on 19/12/1854. The 1841 census (taken on June 6th) gives his age as 5 and the 1851 census (taken on March 30th) gives his age as 15; these ages are all consistent with the above birth date. His father, brother (Isaac) and sister (Elizabeth) were all born in Endellion, Cornwall, and his mother in St Germans, Cornwall. It is unclear why Thomas was born in Plymouth, but I think that his mother's father may have not been Cornish, and thus it is not inconceivable that Thomas's mother's parents were living in Plymouth in 1835.

Ann Eva was born in Wendron, Cornwall, in 1835, the daughter of Samuel Eva and Elizabeth Caddy. Her mother's maiden name is deduced from circumstantial evidence. Her birth year is fixed by the fact that, like her husband, she was aged 19 at their marriage. The censuses of 1841 and 1851 each list two Ann Evas of roughly the right age, but the one that married Thomas Worden was definitely the daughter of a Samuel Eva, and the 1841 census information then identifies her uniquely. The other Ann Eva was aged 6 at the 1841 census. At the time of the 1851 census both Ann Evas had left home and were working as house servants, one at Gweek and one at Higher Scarsick. Their ages are given as 16 and 15 respectively, meaning that the latter is ours. Both Ann Evas were born in Wendron, as were all other members of our Ann Eva's family, with the exception her youngest brother (Richard Caddy Eva). He was born in Altarnun in about 1846, and the family (without Ann) was living in Altarnun in 1851.

The marriage of Thomas Worden and Ann Eva took place in Linkinhorne on 19/12/1954. The couple left England for South Australia two weeks later on the ship Hooghly (see the passenger list), which sailed from Plymouth on 3/1/1855 and arrived at Port Adelaide on 19/4/1855. Why they chose to be married in Linkinhorne is a mystery to me. Perhaps they had to search for a church that could marry them before their ship was due to sail.

The following obituary of Thomas Worden appeared in a Gawler local newspaper in 1920:
"The late Mr Thomas Worden, who died on August 9, was an old and highly respected resident of Williamstown, having lived in the district since August 1956. He was born in the Parish of Indellion, Bristol Channel, Cornwall, on June 27 1835. He was married on 19th Dec 1854 and arrived in Australia in the ship named "Hooghly" on April 15 1855. Mr Worden, whose wife predeceased him, 35 years ago, leaves four sons, Messrs T. S. H. and E. J. Worden, Williamstown, I. J. E. and A. E. A. Worden, Victoria, and seven daughters, Mesdames G. Wilson, Williamstown, P. Howlett, Willaston, W. Gower, S. Hammatt, W. Kennewell, all of Williamstown, and J. Buckley, Mannum. There are 45 grandchildren and 19 greatgrandchildren."
Either the newspaper couldn't count, or the person who transcribed this missed one of the daughters!

Searching South Australian marriage records and Victorian death records has yielded further information on the descendants of Thomas and Ann.

• The T. S. H. Worden mentioned above is surely Thomas Samuel Huntington Worden, who married Harriet Lewis Coombe Pope on 25/1/1894 at St George Church Gawler. The groom was 37 and the bride 26. They are both buried in the Williamstown Public Cemetery. (Thomas, Harriet.) Presumably the Annie Harriet Coombe Worden who is buried in the same cemetery was their daughter. On 7/11/1914 a 20 year old Alfred Huxley Worden, son of Thomas Worden, married Clementina Eliza Wyatt (aged 19) at the residence (near Salisbury) of her father, George Wyatt. I also came across a record of a a marriage of Samuel Thomas Pope Worden and Ellen Kathleen Williams, but I neglected to record the date and their ages.
• The I. J. E. Worden mentioned above is surely Isaac Josiah Eva Worden, who died in Mansfield, Victoria, in 1937, aged 79.
• The A. E. A. Worden mentioned above is probably Albert Edward Augustus Worden, who died in Ancona, Victoria, in 1932, aged 72.
• The Mrs G. Wilson above was Eva Jane Amelia Worden, who married George Wilson (son of James) on 18/10/1881 at Holy Trinity Church Lyndoch. The bride was 20 and the groom 22. Eva Jane Amelia Wilson is buried in the Williamstown Public Cemetery.
• Alice Anna Worden (not mentioned above!), daughter of Thomas Worden, married Robert Johnson, son of William Johnson, on 1/10/1884 at St George Church Gawler. The bride was 21 and the groom 23. Alice Anna Johnson is buried at Williamstown,
• Richard Warwick Worden, not mentioned above but a son of Thomas Worden, married Emma Ellen Gower (daughter of James) on 3/4/1889 at Lyndoch Church. The groom was 24 and the bride 25. Perhaps Richard Warwick Worden predeceased his father.
• The E. J. Worden mentioned above is undoubtedly the Ernest Joseph Worden who appears on the Rice Family History website, and who is buried in the Williamstown Public Cemetery. His wife, Edith Charlotte, is buried alongside him. The Rice family website gives her name as Charlotte Edith Rice rather than Edith Charlotte Rice, and the marriage record gives it as Edie Charlotte Rice. This marriage was held in St Peter's Church Williamstown on 13/12/1906; the groom was aged 39.
• The Mrs J. Buckley above was Edith Adeline Worden, who married Franz Joseph Buckley (also called Joseph Frank Buckley) on 12/5/1891 at St Peter's Church Williamstown. The bride was 22 and the groom 28. For more information see the Edith Adeline Worden page of the Barlow family website.
• The Mrs W. Gower above was Elizabeth Cordelia Blanche Worden, who married James William Gower (son of James) on 11/6/1891 at PM Manse, Gawler. The bride was 21 and the groom 30. Apparently this James William Gower was the brother of the Emma Ellen Gower who married Richard Warwick Worden (see above). Elizabeth Cordelia Blanche Gower is buried in the Williamstown Public Cemetery.
• The Mrs S. Hammatt above was Laura Gwendoline Worden, who married John Stuart Hammat (sic) (son of William) on 25/4/1899 at the residence of Rev. J. J. Darwin. The bride was 22 and the groom 29.
• The Mrs P. Howlett above was Ambrosine Adelia Worden.
• The Mrs W. Kennewell above was Geraldine Mildred Worden, who married William Thomas Kennewell (son of William Henry) at St Peter's Church Williamstown on 10/1/1905. The bride was 24 and the groom 30.

There are several Wordens buried at Willaston, who are probably related, and the burial records held by the South Australian Genealogy and Heraldry Society also include many Wordens. In particular, the Eva Worden buried in 1895 must surely be some relation.