Thomas Hutchens and Elizabeth James
Thomas Hutchens was born at Treen, Cornwall, on 12/5/1826. His parents were John Hutchens and Sarah Rowe. He came to South Australia in 1848 on board the Santipore, describing himself as a Shoe Maker and Farmer.
After his arrival Thomas lived on Hindley Street, Adelaide, for about a year. At that time his uncle, William Hutchens, who came to South Australia on the Waterloo in 1840 with his wife Mary Ann and children William, Mary Ann and John, was a storekeeper on Hindley Street. After Hindley Street Thomas went to Woodside, conducting a boot and shoe business there from 1849 to 1852. But he later abandoned this occupation in favour of farming.
In 1851 Thomas was appointed Treasurer and one of the Trustees of the Woodside Wesleyan Church, a position he held until shortly before his death.
Elizabeth James was the daughter of Richard James and Sarah Harvey, born in Sancreed on 9/7/1826, according to her gravestone, and baptized on that same day, according to the IGI. (The Cornwall OPC record of her baptism has the date as 4/7/1826, evidently due to a transcription error.) She came to South Australia in 1847 with her father (by then a widower) and six siblings, on board the Phoebe.
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Grave
of Thomas and Elizabeth |
Thomas Hutchens and Elizabeth James were married at the Church of St John in Adelaide on 20/8/1850. Thomas described himself as a shoemaker living at Mount Barker; Elizabeth described herself as a dressmaker living on Grenfell Street Adelaide. The witnesses were Richard James and Sarah James. The witness Sarah was Elizabeth's sister, also known as Sally, who was almost exactly 22 years old; the witness Richard was presumably Elizabeth's father, since her brother Richard was only 16 at the time.
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Marriage
Certificate |
Thomas and Sarah had three children:
- John, b. 23/7/1851;
- Sarah Ann, b. 29/6/1853;
- Richard James, b. 5/10/1855.
Thomas visited the Victorian goldfields in late 1852 and 1853, giving up his boot and shoe business. It is clear that this move did not result in the acquisition of enormous wealth!
At the time of the birth of his third child, Thomas described himself as a farmer. In 1871 he was appointed Clerk and Overseer of Works to the District Council of Onkaparinga. From about 1874 he was an auctioneer and land agent.
Elizabeth died on 4/8/1883, and is buried in the Wesleyan Methodist (now Uniting) Church Cemetery at Woodside. The inscription on her gravestone reads as follows:
and a sincere friend.
Afflictions sore long time she bore.
Physicians were in vain;
She found no ease till God did please
To free her from her pain.
Thomas married Christian Uren on 6/9/1884; she was a 43 year old spinster, he was 58. They eventually separated, some 13 years after their marriage. Grantley Hutchens says that according to stories passed down through the Hutchens family, Thomas married Christian for love, but the love was for her money. Christian died on 24/9/1910; Thomas died on 27/12/1914 and is buried with Elizabeth.
Grantley Hutchens has gathered a substantial amount of information about the descendants of Thomas and Elizabeth in The Family History of Thomas Hutchens. Here we shall content ourselves with a small part of this.
John
Thomas and Elizabeth's son John married Jessie Georgina Fenton, daughter of
John Fenton and Georgina Walters,
on 17/2/1876, at John Fenton's residence in Woodside. They had 16 children:
Richard (20/7/1876–7/7/1952, married Hannah Watt),
Thomas (28/10/1877–19/3/1918, married Selina Teague),
John Fenton (20/1/1879–29/9/1953, married Helen Henrietta Kirk),
Frank (26/3/1880–28/5/1962, married Rose Lydia McKenzie),
Florence Elizabeth (1/7/1881–13/3/1965, married Samuel Hotchon Hillam),
Jessie Francis (24/9/1882–12/6/1970, married Albert John McKenzie),
Harriet Fenton (17/10/1883–2/1/1979, married James William Floyd),
William (28/10/1884–4/7/1952, married Florence Mary Samwell),
Elizabeth (10/1/1886–31/5/1954, married Herbert Duncan McKenzie),
Sarah Olive (12/9/1887–11/6/1888),
Arthur Earnest (19/2/1890–7/6/1977, married Myrtle Ada Cook),
Mabel Mary (27/5/1891–22/10/1958),
Myrtle May (23/10/1892–9/8/1951, married Murray Clyde Rose),
Edmund (11/1/1894–23/6/1957, married Pretoria Ceclia May Rollbusch),
Reginald (7/9/1896–21/4/1965, married Gwendoline Irene Elizabeth Helen
Rosa Harrison, née Purdie),
Clarence Mark (7/9/1896–26/3/1897).
Reginald and Gwendoline are buried at Woodside in the Uniting Church Cemetery; their grave is shown above.
At first John and Jessie settled on a farm near Morchard, but he later returned to his father's farm at Woodside, and another farm at One Tree Hill. John died on 15/3/1926, Jessie died on 1/10/1943.
 The Advertiser, 6/4/1917
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 The Advertiser, 19/3/1919
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 The Advertiser, 6/4/1917
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 The Advertiser, 5/3/1913
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 The Advertiser, 12/3/1914
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 The Advertiser, 24/10/1916
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 The Advertiser, 17/5/1918
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John and Jessie are buried in the Woodside Uniting Church Cemetery; the stone marking their grave is shown above. The inscription reads as follows:
In loving remembrance of JOHN HUTCHENS died March 15 1926 aged 74 beloved husband of J. Hutchens also JESSIE dearly beloved wife of the above died Oct. 1st 1948 aged 89 years |
Sarah
Thomas and Elizabeth's daughter Sarah Ann married George Laurence Hughes; they are discussed on another page.
Richard
Thomas and Elizabeth's son Richard James married Emily Alma Bartlett, daughter of George Bartlett and Ann Chandler, on 1/9/1882. She was born in Chippenham, Wiltshire, on 29/12/1854. They had 11 children: Laura Ann (9/7/1883–12/10/1959, married Albert Arthur), Percy George (21/4/1884–14/4/1986), Alma Bessie (14/5/1885–11/12/1907), Harold Richard (7/8/1886–8/1/1971, married Lucy Mabel Jamieson), Cornelius George (28/10/1887–8/1/1971, married Bessie Power and Rye Elsie Nankervis), Sarah Amy (4/2/1889–27/10/1970), Thomas Roy (23/11/1890–23/4/1909), John McDougall (13/12/1891–26/5/1961, married Ettie Louisa Smith and Sylvia Alexandra Ross), Mabel Lucy (15/6/1893–2/11/1982, married Alexander McDonald Ness and John Rodney Lukes), Emily Mollie (23/2/1896–13/2/1940, married Horace David Smith and Jack Vincent Drage), Ruth Bartlett (2/4/1898–11/1954, married Donald Claude McDonald).
Emily Alma Hutchens died the day after the birth of her last child, Ruth Bartlett. The baby was adopted out, acquiring her foster parents' surname "Bungey". Mollie, the second youngest child, was brought up by Richard's sister Sarah and brother-in-law George Hughes.
 The Advertiser, 11/5/1904
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 The Advertiser, 2/2/1909
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 The Advertiser, 23/2/1911
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 The Advertiser, 30/9/1910
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Richard and Emily had a farm at Orroroo. Richard was a Councillor, and he was District Clerk for Orroroo from 1896 to 1902. Emily died in 1898; she is buried at Orroroo. Richard subsequently gave up farming, lived in Mount Gambier for a time, and then in Adelaide. He married Mabel Winifred Taylor at Mount Gambier on 3/9/1904. Richard committed suicide on 5/7/1916.
