Ancestor #4 – Henry Edenborough

Henry Edenborough, fifth child of Samuel & Sarah Edenborough (née Bolton) was born on 14 May 1812 at Bruce Grove, Tottenham, Middlesex. At the age of 15 he was employed by the Honourable East India Company in the Mercantile Marine Branch as a midshipman, per Lord Lowther (1827-28), and Abercrombie Robinson (1829-30).
  By late 1833, Henry had left the employ of the HEIC and had made at least one voyage to Sydney as captain of the schooner Emma. Then in 1834, he took up the position of master of a newly-built 380-ton barque part-owned by his father Samuel.  This first voyage as the newly installed master of the Augusta Jessie was to Tasmania, arriving 22 Jan 1835 with a cargo of 210 male convicts.
  Several more voyages to Australia followed before Henry married Margaret Stedman in London in 1836. They eventually travelled to Australia, on board the Elphinstone in 1840, to take up residence at Wollogorang in the Goulburn district of New South Wales. It is believed that the impressive homestead that still stands today was built by Henry in 1846.

Wollogorang Homestead as it appeared in 2008

The first of Henry and Margaret’s six children, Henry Bolton, was baptised in Sydney shortly after his parents arrival in the colony in 1840; the remaining five children though – Charles Allen (1842), Bishop Reynold (1843), Margaret Annie (1845), Edith Jane (1846) and Spencer Neville(1848) – were all born at Wollogorang.
 The 1841 census of New South Wales shows that Wollogorang supported four ticket-of-leave men, five shepherds, eight gardeners and stockmen, and four domestic servants.
 As if running a large sheep and cattle station wasn’t enough, Henry also involved himself in the local community; gave an acre of land for an Anglican church as well as a further acre for a cemetery and became a Justice of the Peace before being appointed a Magistrate of the Territory in 1844. Henry is often quoted as being a colourful figure who owned a racehorse but this statement is incorrect and it was in fact Henry’s younger brother, Horatio who spent some time in New South Wales, who was the racehorse owner.
  The Goulburn Herald of 17 Jan 1849 stated that Governor Fitzroy, Deas Thompson (the Colonial Secretary) and party “partook of luncheon” at Wollogorang and “were much gratified at the off-handed and unpretending hospitality of Mr Edenborough, for which the gentlemen of the district know him to be so remarkable”.
  In 1854, Henry sold Wollogorang and all stock to his neighbour, J W Chisholm, and with his entire family returned to England arriving there at the end of 1854.
  Henry died at Chesham Lodge, Surrey, on 6 Feb 1855, aged 43 years. Margaret survived her husband by 14 years dying at Sheffield Gardens, Kensington on 26 Oct 1869.
  In 1992, Henry was honoured for his participation in the development of Australia by having his name affixed to a plaque located near the Overseas Shipping Terminal on Sydney Harbour.

 

 

 

Ancestor #3 – William Edenborough

The following obituary appeared in the Morning Post of 21 November 1865:

DEATH OF A VETERAN SURGEON – On the 15th inst., Mr William Edenborough, formerly of Coleman-street, departed this life at his residence, Upper Holloway, after much suffering, in his 86th year. Mr Edenborough was one of the oldest, if not the oldest, as he was also (up to his retirement from active life, 10 years ago) one of the most respected and best known City medical practitioners. The deceased, a native of Nottingham, was articled to Mr Hunt of Loughborough, a man of much eminence in his day. So far back as the commencement of the present century, Mr Edenborough entered St Thomas’s and Guy’s, where he made the acquaintance of the eminent surgeon, Mr Cline, and also that of Sir Astley Cooper, who was then commencing his distinguished career. Mr Edenborough had a large and successful practice for nearly half a century, and included amongst his patients many of the first bankers and merchants and other celebrities of the City. He was a man of great decision and indomitable energy, and, as a consequence, rarely failed in accomplishing any object of benevolence on which he once set his heart. His extensive practice – ranging over so lengthened a period – naturally presented numerous cases of distress to his notice, to which he ever lent a ready ear, and generally afforded effective aid. The deceased has left a widow to mourn his loss.

74 Coleman Street, London - surgery premises of William Edenborough

Ancestor #2 – Fanny Elizabeth Edenborough

Until the early 20th century, a man's promise of engagement to marry a woman was considered a legally binding contract. If the man was to then change his mind, he would be said to be in "breach" of this promise and could be taken to court for damages.

The following case was reported in the Evening Express on 4 May 1895.

JILTED BY HER JOURNALIST LOVER

His Love-Letters Were Many and Sweet and He Burst Into Poetry Once

Mrs Fanny Elizabeth Edenborough, a widow, living at Cadogan Lodge, Cadogan-road, Surbiton, brought an action on Friday before the Sheriffs of Surrey against Mr Lionel Rupert Brocklebank, a journalist, living at Christ Church Vicarage, Chesham, for damages for breach of promise of marriage.

 Mr Wildey Wright appeared for the plaintiff, a pre-possessing young widow of ladylike appearance.

 The plaintiff, said Mr Wright, was not yet 27 years of age. She was married when she was seventeen or eighteen, and her husband, who occupied a very good position in the City, died early in 1892, leaving her with two young children, and with an income of £150 to £200 a year.

 In July, 1894, she went to a little village near Polruan, in Cornwall, to stay with some friends, and while there she met the defendant. Defendant was very attentive to her, and took her for boating and driving excursions.

 On September 26 defendant came from Polruan to the house of his brother-in-law, now Vicar of Christchurch, Chesham. The following day he visited Mrs Edenborough at Surbiton, and then and there made a formal proposal of marriage.

 A few days after the engagement he wrote to her, addressing her as “My own darling Ponte,” a name he had given her after a river in Cornwall, and telling her that he was writing a short tale in “Tit-Bits”. He concluded, “With all my love and kisses, my own dearest darling, loved little girl, from your ever loving Rupert.” (Laughter.) In another letter which he wrote soon afterwards he asked her to “kiss the kiddies for me, my darling,” and concluded in the same endearing language.

 In the next letter, after writing to her in similar language, he said: “My brother-in-law has just gone out to marry a couple. How I wish it were you and I! I will get him to do the job for us soon. What do you think?” (Laughter.) In another letter he said his sister had “pumped” all the news of his engagement out of him, and signed himself as “Your own loving boy.”

 Other letters began in the same way as the former ones, and ended, “My own dearest, truest, darling, loved, treasured, precious pet, from your ever-loving Rupert.” (Laughter.)

 On October 28 the defendant wrote the following letter: “My very own dearest Ponte – Your darling letter arrived, which I was very pleased to receive, dear heart. I am glad you agree with my sister in thinking I will make a good husband. Dearest, I will try, and if I don’t succeed it won’t be my fault. Yesterday I had a good day’s writing. I wrote an article on – what do you think, dear – 'How to Propose'. (Laughter.) I hope 'Answers' will take it. I am sure it’s amusing enough, if not instructive. I have let out all the secrets of the trade, darling. (Laughter.) In another letter he said: I would rather spend one evening with you, my darling little sweetheart, than attend all the balls and amusements I could cram into a month.

  On November 29 he broke out into poetry:
I cannot work, I cannot play,
There’s nothing left worthwhile to say,
The hours are long, the days are dear,
Oh, how I wish my love were near –
My love’s away.
The time will come, also the day,
When I shall go down Kingston way,
To see my darling once again,
And join the links of an unbroken chain –
With love away.
(Laughter.)
  Towards the end of December the defendant’s letters got cooler. Before this, however, defendant had told plaintiff that he had previously been engaged to another lady, the daughter of a wealthy lady in Manchester. Owing to the parent’s objection, the match was broken off. The defendant also bought plaintiff two rings, which the other lady had returned to him, but she indignantly refused to accept such second-hand goods, and he apologised for offering them to her. When plaintiff wrote asking the reason of his coolness, he replied on New Year’s Day that he was afraid he had made a mistake in engaging himself to her, and his thoughts were constantly reverting to the other young lady at Manchester.
  The jury awarded the plaintiff £250 damages.
  Judgment accordingly.

 

Ancestor #1 – Arthur Edenborough

Arthur was the ninth child of Samuel and Sarah Edenborough and was born 19 Dec 1820 at 37 Milk Street, London. He was baptised the following month on 19 Jan 1821 in the parish church of the united parishes of St Lawrence Jewry and St Mary Magdalene, London. Also baptised that day was an elder brother, Leopold.

Ancestry.co.uk – London Metropolitan Archives, St Lawrence Jewry,
Register of Baptism, Guildhall: DL/T, Item Ms 10442A

 

Arthur travelled to Sydney, Australia in 1840 per Elphinstone, in the company of his elder married brother, Henry and sister-in-law, Margaret. Henry had travelled to Australia to assist further brothers, Samuel and Bishop, in the emerging Australian wool market. Continuing on with his travels we next find Arthur in Valparaiso, Chile, where in 1844, he married Jane Griffin, daughter of George Griffin, master mariner.

While Arthur and Jane’s first child Emily was born back in London in 1845, shortly after, Arthur, Jane and the infant Emily travelled to Australia, where their next three children, Claude Dudley, Augusta Jessie and Edwin, were born.

In January 1851, while in the employ of the Customs Department in Sydney as a tidewaiter, Arthur was placed at a moment’s notice on board the Emerald Isle, an American ship anchored in Sydney Harbour, in an attempt to stop the ship from leaving the port until necessary repairs had been undertaken. Instead, Arthur was “carried off in a piratical manner by the captain”.

Expecting to have only been a few hours on board the Emerald Isle, he had taken “neither bed or extra clothing of any kind with him, and was therefore obliged to sleep on the bare planks of the damp cuddy”.

Arthur was eventually put ashore in Honolulu where he obtained the assistance of the British Consul General to obtain return passage to Sydney, via New Zealand, arriving home in June of 1851.

The ordeal left Arthur in a weakened state and within a few short years he was no longer able to continue employment and was suffering extreme poverty and abject dependence due to the deprivations he experienced from the clandestine departure of the Emerald Isle.

He died in 1869 aged 48 years.

52 Ancestors

I have just heard about the 52 Ancestors in a Year Challenge and although it began last month I’m taking up the challenge to help me blog more about the Edenborough ONS. Obviously, I will have to input some ancestors quickly to catch up!