George Robert Hughes and Charlotte Isabella Prentice

My original information about this couple and their descendants was found at two websites: Ancestry World Tree: Hughes Family Tree and RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: Schipp Family Tree.

George Robert Hughes and Charlotte Isabella Prentice were married on 15/5/1826 at St Peters in Leeds.

According to the Hughes Family Tree and Schipp Family Tree websites, George Robert Hughes was born in London on or about 17/2/1799. An alternative theory (given in a record submitted to the IGI) says that George was born at Leeds on 6/8/1800, his parents being James Hughes and Mary Colshaw, who were married on 17/10/1798. This marriage is recorded in the parish register for St Peter's, Leeds. Also recorded are the baptisms of three children of James Hughes: Sarah (10/2/1799), George (28/9/1800) and Harriet (11/4/1803). Of course there is no guarantee that it was the same James Hughes on each occasion; moreover, the mother's name was not recorded.

I have not been able to discover anything about Harriet Hughes, but I have perhaps discovered something about Sarah. This is presented at the bottom of this page.

The web pages referrred to above say that Charlotte Isabella Prentice was born in Leeds on or about 13/12/1805. However, it may be that the baptism of Charlotte occurred in 1806 rather than 1805, because according to another web page, namely Prentices of Bilton Ainsty, Braham, Thorp Acres, Walsall and Thorp Arch, England and Hobart, Australia, there was a Charlotte Prentis, daughter of Joseph and Isabella Prentis of Thorp Arch, Yorkshire, baptized on 13/12/1806. Joseph Prentis, who was a carpenter, was born on 22/3/1766 and died on 21/11/1819; he married Isabella Wilson (1770–3/3/1860) on 6/5/1800.

Baptism records exist for five of the first six children of George and Charlotte Hughes, and show that three of them (Jane, Elizabeth and John) were baptized at Leeds, while two (William and Joseph) were baptized at Boston Spa. This seems to me to support the conjecture that Charlotte Isabella Hughes was the daughter of Joseph and Isabella Prentis, since Thorp Arch and Boston Spa are effectively a single village. (See Google's map of the area.)

George and Charlotte had the following children:

The Hughes Family Tree and Schipp Family Tree websites both list another child, John Francis, baptized 12/1/1834 at St. Peters, Leeds. This baptism is listed in the IGI, transcribed from the parish register. However, it may be easy to mistake "Prentis" for "Francis", and I suspect that it was actually John Prentice who was baptized on 12/1/1834. The dates given for the two John's are too close together for there to be two separate children, unless they were twins, in which case we would surely see baptism records for them both. It is also possible, I suppose, that the child was baptized John Francis, but came to be known as John Prentice. In any event, there is no doubt that John Prentice existed, travelled to Australia with his parents, married Elizabeth Jane Hillman in 1855, raised a large family, and died at Willowie in 1904. But there is no record of John Francis after the baptism.

Unfortunately, the IGI appears not to include a transcription of a parish register listing the baptism of George Robert Hughes junior. The two websites I have referred to both say that he was born in about 1838 in Boston, Lincolnshire; however, it seems to me much more likely likely that the event took place in Boston Spa, Yorkshire. Moreover, there is a civil registration record of the birth of a George Robert Hughes in the December quarter of 1837 in the Tadcaster registration district. This district included Thorp Arch (though not Boston Spa). I notice also that an IGI batch numbers website suggests that the IGI does not include the 1838 baptisms from St Peters, Leeds.

George and Charlotte Hughes and came to South Australia in 1840 on the Diadem; see the passenger list. In this list, William Frederick's name is enclosed in parentheses, but there is no indication of what this notation is supposed to mean. My best guess is that the name was actually not on the original list, but the transcriber knew by some independent means that William Frederick was indeed one of the passengers. Notice that the name of George Robert junior is also missing.

According to family legend, George was a tailor by profession. Hughes memorabilia inherited by my cousin Peter Hughes (in accordance with the "eldest male heir" custom) includes his great great great grandfather's "tailor scissors", bearing the inscription "G. R. Hughes, Diadem, 1840".

The tailor's scissors

The Family History of Thomas Hutchens says that George worked in Adelaide for some time and then moved to Nairne, where the three youngest children of George and Charlotte were born. Another family source says that George, Charlotte and family went to Murrundi, the settlement on the River Murray founded by Edward John Eyre as a base for his work as Protector of Aborigines, before moving to Nairne; however, I think that this story can refer to nothing more than a brief visit to Murrundi. It is unclear when George and Charlotte moved to North Adelaide, where their deaths occurred.

According to his death certificate George's profession was Commission Agent, his usual residence was at Tynte Street North Adelaide, and his death occurred at Tynte Street on 29/12/1872, the cause of death being diarrhœa. Charlotte's usual residence at the time of her death on 29/9/1884 was Archer Street, North Adelaide, her death occurred there, and her death certificate states that the cause of death was "Old Age, Apoplexy, Paralysis". I suppose that if one thing doesn't get get you then another will!

My information concerning the descendants of the children of George and Charlotte is quite incomplete. I do not know anything about the children (if any) of Elizabeth Isabella and Mary Ann, and even for the families I do have information about there could easily be extra children I do not know about. That which I do know follows herewith.

Children of George and Charlotte

William Frederick Hughes married Mary Stodart; there is more information about them on their page.

John Prentice Hughes married Elizabeth Jane Hillman on 1/8/1855; they had the following children:

All of these but Walter Stephen are buried in the Willowie Cemetery, and photos of their gravestones are online.

George Robert Hughes (junior) married Mary Fisher on 28/2/1874; they had the following children: Florence Lilian, George Robert, Mabel Stephenson, Gertrude Mabel, Ethel Mary, Mabel Fisher, Hilda Amelia, Muriel Elizabeth, Katie Ermentrude Octavia, Vera Irene Gwendolyn and Harold Gilmore.

Joseph Prentice James Hughes married Mary Ryder on 10/7/1861; they had the following children:

Joseph then married Alice Ann Rowe, and this marriage produced the following children: William James, Dorothy Charlotte Augusta and Kathleen Alice.

Elizabeth Isabella Hughes married Samuel Morgan.

Charlotte Jane Hughes married Thomas Stodart, son of Laurence and Mary Stodart, and brother of the Mary Stodart who married William Frederick, Charlotte Jane's brother. Charlotte and Thomas were married on 31/3/1862. They had the following children.

(Note that the Hughes Family Tree and Schipp Family Tree websites have the wrong date for Charlotte Jane's death, apparently confusing her with her niece, the daughter of John Prentice Hughes named Charlotte Jane.)

Mary Ann Hughes married John Bartleet Hopkins on 12/6/1868. He was the son of Edwin Carter Hopkins and Hannah Bartleet, who were married on or about 25/8/1840 at Saint Bartholomew, Tardebigg, Worcester. John Bartleet Hopkins was born on 13/9/1841 in Warwickshire.

William and Florence McBride

William and Florence McBride had the following children: Cyril Stodart Martin (6/11/1885, Burra), May Bessie Hughes (1/4/1887, near Redruth), Sydney William Hamilton (13/7/1889, near Kooringa), Vera Irene Jessie (14/3/1891, Burra), Lindsay Disher (23/5/1895, Burra), Robert James (6/2/1898, Graham Town, Burra), Eileen Florence (5/10/1902, Redruth).

Cyril Stodart Martin McBride married Vlvienne Gabrielle Craig on 21/3/1921. They had no children.

May Bessie Hughes McBride married Frederick John Jude on 5/2/1916. They had one adopted daughter, Dawn McBride Jude.

Sydney William Hamilton McBride married Evelyn Tennant Scott in 1911. They had five children: Richard Campbell McBride (b. 24/6/1813), Donald Hamilton McBride (b. 7/6/1916), Alec Scott McBride (b. 26/8/I918), Nancy Hamilton McBride (b. 2/12/1920), Joan Tennant McBride (b. 2/12/1920).

Vera Irene Jessie McBride married Joseph Leonard Hogan circa 1913. They had ten children: Elizabeth Maureen Hogan (b. 27/6/1914), William Leonard Hogan (b. 22/5/1915), John Hogan (b. 12/6/1916), Robert Alexander Hogan (b. 14/7/1917), Donald Jude Hogan (b. 28/1/1919), Justin Scott Hogan (b. 1/4/1921), Pauline Vera Hogan (b. 7/3/1922), Cyril David Hogan (b. 27/7/1924), Josephine Mary Hogan (b. 11/4/1927), Helen Catherine Hogan (b. 6/8/1931).

Robert and Laura McBride

Robert and Laura McBride had the following children: Elsie Isabel (13/7/1886, Kooringa), Royal Thomas (10/11/1889), Melva Iris (13/12/1891, Redruth), Laura Doris (26/9/1898, Redruth), Joyce Stodart (21/8/1905, Redruth).

Royal Thomas McBride married Elsie Liversidge. They had three children: Melva Ivy McBride (b. 18/1/1921), Peter Thomas McBride (b. 29/6/1923), Patricia Joyce McBride (b. 14/6/1928).

Elsie Isabel McBride married John Lloyd Price. They had two children: Thomas McBride Price (b. 14/11/1915), Joan Isabel Price (b. 31/3/1917).

Melva Iris McBride married Oscar Sturt Symon. They had two children: Robert Josiah Symon (b. 21/12/1922), David Sturt Symon (b. 15/6/1925).

Sarah, sister of George Robert Hughes

A Sarah Hughes married James Hartley Mann on 4/7/1819 at Saint Peter's, Leeds. Whether this Sarah was really George Robert's sister I do not know; however, she was about the right age. James and Sarah had sons named William Mann and George Hartley Mann who were baptized at St Peter's on 28/8/1820 and 8/5/1825 respectively. They also had a daughter named Keziah Mann born on 17/7/1828 and baptized at Knaresborough on 11/1/1829, and a daughter named Christiana born at Knaresborough in the December quarter of 1839.

The Mann family can be found in the 1841 census living on High Street Knaresborough. Conveniently, the census enumerator has not rounded the ages down to multiples of 5, and Sarah's age is given as 41. This is not quite consistent with the baptism date of 10/2/1799 for Sarah Hughes; she should have been 42. Still, such slight inaccuracies are common enough in the census records. Moreover, the death of a 67 year old Sarah Mann was registered at Leeds in the March quarter of 1866. This is consistent with Sarah Hughes' baptism date and not with Sarah Mann's census age. I am inclined to think that I have got the right person.

At the 1841 census James' age was given as 46, while the ages of William, George, Kezia and Christiana were given as 21, 16, 12 and 1 respectively. This is all consistent with the birth or baptism information for the children. The census records that James was a hairdresser in 1841. In fact his establishment on High Street Knaresborough is listed in Pigot's Directory of 1834 and White's Directory of 1837. Evidently his son William followed in James' footsteps, since at the 1881 census we find a 60 year old hairdresser named William H Mann, a widower, living at 10 Stamford Street Leeds. William's 18 year old son George, who was born at Knaresborough, is also a hairdresser.

William Hughes Mann married in Knaresborough in the June quarter of 1842. We can be reasonably confident that his wife was named Elizabeth, since three of the four women who were married in Knaresborough in that quarter had that name. A 58 year old Elizabeth Mann died in Leeds in the March quarter of 1879. Perhaps William was the William Mann who died in Hunslet in 1894 aged 74.

George Hartley Mann married in Knaresborough in the September quarter of 1848. He died in West Derby in the June quarter of 1896, aged 71. Unfortunately I could not find him in the 1881 census.

It is clear that William and George had several offspring, because there were quite a few Mann children born in Knaresborough in the 1840's, 50's and 60's.

A Kezia Mann married James Tann in Walsingham in the December quarter of 1854 and emigrated to Canada. This Kezia died in Mindemoya, Ontario, on 15/1/1919; moreover, the obituaries of two of her sons are available online, transcribed from the Gore Bay Recorder. But this is was not our Kezia Mann! In fact our Kezia died unmarried in Knaresborough in the June quarter of 1901. I do not know if the other Kezia was some kind of relative.

I could not find the Knaresborough Kezia Mann in the 1881 census.

Christiana Mann married John Ball in the September quarter of 1857. At the 1861 census she is to be found in her parents' household, now back in Leeds at 10 Neville Street Mill Hill. She has a 3 year old daughter named Eliza. Her husband is not there, but apparently not dead since Christiana is listed as married rather than widowed. Her parents are the only other people in the household. James' occupation is given as “hairdresser and curator”; his age is 66. The others have no occupations listed. Sarah's age is 62, Christiana's 21.

James Hartley Mann died in Leeds in the June quarter of 1869, his age recorded as 73.

If you have any corrections, complaints, criticisms, suggestions or additional information, please email bobhow@tpg.com.au.