Philip John Howlett and Ambrosine Adelia Worden

Philip John Howlett was the son of Michael Howlett and Mary Ann McNamara, who were both Irish by birth, and were married in Ebbw Vale, Wales, on 31/8/1872. His birth certificate gives the family surname as "Hulet", and says that the birth occurred on 25/4/1874 in Newtown, Ebbw Vale (in the subdistrict of Aberystruth, district of Bedwellty (sic), county of Monmouth). The birth was registered on 20/5/1874, the informant being "Mary Hulet, Mother, Newtown Ebbw Vale". It is possible that the birth date was not accurately reported, since his age was recorded as 3 when the family left the United Kingdom (28/7/1876), and as 26 at his marriage (14/4/1900). Since fines for failing to register births were introduced in 1874, it is conceivable that the parents decided that registering the birth late was better than not registering it at all. On the other hand, the other records could very easily be inaccurate; for example, on the birth certificate of his son (6/9/1916) the age of Philip John Howlett is given as 41 (and his birthplace as "Wales, England"). It should also be noted that the second name "John" does not appear on the birth certificate.

Since his parents were married in the Roman Catholic Church at Ebbw Vale, it seems quite possible that a Catholic baptism record for Philip John may exist somewhere.

Ambrosine Adelia Worden (known as "Amy") was born in Williamstown, South Australia, in 1878. Her parents were Thomas Worden and Ann Eva, who were both Cornish by birth.

Philip John Howlett and Amy Worden were married on 14/4/1900 at the Manse, Glenelg. The federal electoral roll for 1905 lists them as living at Willaston.

Phil and Amy Howlett with daughter Eva

The photo above was in an old box at my mother's place, and writing on the back identified the people in it. The two photos below, sent to me by two different relatives, show two women who bear some resemblance to Amy; I am guessing that they are sisters of Amy. The distinctive chair that appears in both photos no doubt indicates that the photos were taken in the studio that P. J. Marchant opened in Gawler in 1895: see the "MARCHANT, Ebenezer Tasman" web page from artgallery.sa.gov.au, and observe that the picture of Ebb Marchant on that page shows him standing next to the same chair. I am conjecturing that the photos both date from about 1900 to 1905.

The photo on the right is labelled "Grandma's sister Alice?", where "Grandma" refers to Amy's sister Edith Adeline Buckley. It probably is indeed Alice (who turned 40 in 1903). A process of elimination – see the Thomas Worden and Ann Eva page for the details – suggests that the couple in the other photo are probably James William Gower and Elizabeth Cordelia Blanche Gower (née Worden), who were about 43 and 32 in 1903.

Children of Phil and Amy

The first child of Philip and Amy Howlett lived only seven hours (died 22/10/1900). She was named Marie, and is buried at Willaston. The only two children to survive infancy were Ann Eva Howlett (born 4/2/1904) and Philip Thomas Michael Howlett (born 6/9/1916). It is believed that there were some miscarriages or still-births.

Ann Eva Howlett was known by the name Eva. She married Norman Veale; there were no children. She died on 1/9/1968.

Eva	Phil and unknown girl

I presume that the girl on the rocking-horse in the above photo is some relative, but I do not know who it is. Young Phil did have a first cousin named Edith Enid Hammat who was born on 29/6/1917, making her about ten months younger than Phil, but to me the girl in the photo looks older than Phil. All of his other first cousins – at least those that I know of – were much older than he was. He had several first cousins once removed, including four girls that I know of whose ages were roughly similar to Phil's. These were Joan Ailsa Wilson (born in 1914), Olive Adelaide Pellew (born in 1915), Verna Merle Wilson (born in 1917) and Ivy Doreen Buckley (born in 1918). Of these, Olive looks like the best candidate for the rocking horse girl.

The story goes that when Philip Thomas Michael Howlett was born, a Catholic priest was hastily obtained to perform a baptism, since it was feared that the baby would not live long. Although I do not really know anything about Philip John Howlett, I would not have expected him to be particularly concerned about such matters. Perhaps it was his sister Nell who called in the priest. (Note that Philip John Howlett's parents were both dead by this time, and Amy Howlett's parents were not Catholic.)

The letter shown above was written by Eva Howlett (aged 12) to her cousin Leila Wilson (aged 34) on the day of Phil's birth. I do not know who "dear little Biddy" was, but probably she was too old to be the rocking-horse girl.

Religion may have well have been a source of friction between Philip and Amy, and this may explain why their son learned nothing at all about religion from his parents. Whether or not this was really the reason, young Phil had not even heard of Christmas before he started school. When the children sang "Away in a manger" young Phil had no idea what it was about, although he concealed his ignorance skilfully! Phil remained an agnostic all his life, but ensured that his own children learned enough about christianity to not go through the same traumatic experience that he had undergone.

Amy Howlett with son Phil

Eva and Phil

Phil and pets

Phil and Eva

We believe that the household of Philip and Amy was often not a particularly happy place, and that young Phil blamed his father for this. Nevertheless, he did respect his father for always, on payday, handing over his unopened pay packet to his wife.

The family lived at Willaston until the mid 1920's, no doubt in in the house that had belonged to Philip John's parents. The electoral roll for 1925 lists Philip John Howlett and Ambrosine Adelia Howlett at Bright Street, Willaston. They then moved to Marino, a place that is now a southern suburb of Adelaide. While at living at Marino, Philip John worked at the Brighton cement works.

In the 1930's the family lived at Longwood for a few years before returning to Marino.

During their time at Longwood Phil junior attended Adelaide High School, travelling from Longwood by train. The railway line passes through Belair, then makes a wide loop before passing through Torrens Park, about two kilometres from Belair, down the hill. Phil and his school friends would get off the train at Belair, leaving all their things on the train, run to Torrens Park and catch the same train. This amazed the conductor when he discovered that they were doing it. They abandoned the practice after one of the girls twisted her ankle and almost didn't make it to Torrens Park in time.

Philip John Howlett died on 10/3/1947, Ambrosine Adelia Howlett died on 1/10/1951. Their last place of residence was Marino.

The Advertiser 12/3/1947

The Advertiser 4/10/1951