 |
| East Meon Parish Church |
On 27 April 1874 the Euterpe sailed from London, England to Wellington, New Zealand arriving on 30 August 1874. The voyage took 124 days, a very slow voyage even by the standards of the day. The arrival in New Zealand was recorded in the local paper, The Evening Post, on 31 August 1874
“The ship Euterpe, 1,105 tons, Captain Phillips, which has been expected hourly during the last six weeks, at length arrived in this harbour last night after a long passage of 124 days. The delay partly has been caused by an accident to the condenser, which compelled her to put in to the Cape of Good Hope for water. She brings 410 immigrants, all in good health; two infants died during the voyage, and six births occurred. A seaman was washed overboard last week; no other serious mishap took place. Immediately on the ship being signalled, the agents, Messrs Turnbull and Co. at once, although it was Sunday, procured an ample supply of fresh meat and vegetables, collected the crew of the S.S. Stormbird, and sent her out to the Euterpe, which she towed safely in by 9 p.m. Messrs Turnbull and Co. deserve great praise for the thoughtfulness and promptitude with which they acted, which we have no doubt will be, duly appreciated both by the immigrants and the Government. The immigrants will not be landed until Wednesday. Sixty will be conveyed to Wanganui by the Stormbird this evening.”
In 1874
thousands of assisted migrants arrived in New Zealand, half coming with
government assistance. The Eutrepe spent
a quarter of a century hauling emigrants to New Zealand before she was sold in
1893 and renamed The Star of India. She is now preserved in the San Diego
Maritime Museum. A picture of this
magnificent ship can be found at the following link https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_of_India_(ship)#/media/File:Starofindia.jpg
The 409
passengers recorded in the passenger list showed 142 males, 125 females, 66
boys, 59 girls and 17 infants. Among the
passengers are listed
James Tetheridge aged
34
Eliza Tetheridge aged
33
Eliza Tetheridge aged
18
Fanny Tetheridge aged
16
Robert Tetheridge
aged 12
William Tetheridge
aged 7
James Tetheridge aged
5
Frank Tetheridge aged
3
Harry Tetheridge aged
16 months
At the
side is written Total Cost of Passage to the Government £101.10.
Also at
the end of the passenger list are three miscellaneous entries under the heading
“For advances outfit”. One reads:-
James
Tetheridge April 1874 £5 balance outfit money
I cannot imagine what it must have been like for James
and Eliza aboard ship for over 4 months with seven children, four of them under
8 and Eliza must have been pregnant with her son who was born in December of
that year.
So what
do we know about James and Eliza Titheridge who left England for a better life
on the other side of the world?
James
came originally from the village of East Meon in Hampshire. James’ grandfather
was Thomas Titheridge (1774-1846).
Thomas married Jane Tee in East Meon where they settled and had six children
including William Titheridge, James’ father (1805 -1866). William married Elizabeth Lee in 1827 and
they had fifteen children including James Titheridge born in 1840 in East Meon.
Through
the census we can follow James’ life. On
the 1841 census James was 6 months old and living with his parents William and
Elizabeth in East Meon, one of six children. By the 1851 census James was 10 years old and again living with his parents in Frogmore,
East Meon, one of 7 children living at home. On the 1861 census James had left home and was
lodging at a cottage in Wymering Farm Yard. Over the next few years James’ occupations are
recorded as agricultural labourer, carter or labourer.
In 1865
James married Eliza Harfield, a widow, in Catherington. Eliza’s maiden name was Rossey, she had previously
been married to Thomas Harfield. Thomas
died in 1863 leaving her with three children Eliza, Fanny and Robert. The 1871
census shows James married to Eliza and they are living in Waterloo, Hampshire with their eldest three
children plus two of Eliza’s children from her first marriage, .
James
and Eliza had six children, only the eldest four were born in England and the
last two were born in New Zealand. The first
four children were
William born 1866 in
Waterloo Hampshire died 1895 in New Zealand
James Augustus born
1867 in Waterloo, Hampshire died 1951 in New
Zealand
Frank born 1870 in
Catherington, Hampshire died 1942 in New Zealand
Henry born 1872 in Catherington, Hampshire died 1952 in New Zealand
In 1874
James and Eliza sailed to New Zealand where
two more children were born.
Edward born December 1874
in Featherston, New Zealand died 1946. (His birth was registered as Edwin
but he was married and died as Edward)
Louisa born 1877 in Geraldine,
New Zealand died in 1907
The six
Titheridge children all settled and married in New Zealand producing generations
of Titheridges.
William, a labourer, married
Rosetta Rowe in 1893 at Belfield, Orari and they had two girls.
James, a farmer, married
Mary Ann Davidson in 1898 in Christchurch and had 2 boys and one girl.
Frank, a groom and
gardener, married Ann Hill in 1904.
Henry, a farmer,
married Nellie Matilda Johnson in 1902 and they had one boy one girl.
Edward, a labourer
and farmer, married Isabella MacDonald in 1897 and they had two boys
and two girls.
Louisa married
William McDonald in 1902 and they had two girls.
Eliza
and James enjoyed a good long life in their new country. Eliza died in New Zealand in 1909 aged 72 and
is buried in Geraldine Cemetery, while James lived until the age of 83 dying on 23
April 1923.
You may
have noticed on the passenger list of the Euterpe the spelling of the surname
is TETHERIDGE. I do not know how many of
the family kept this incorrect spelling and how many reverted back to
TITHERIDGE. The majority of descendants
have definitely spelt the surname correctly but there were at least 8 births registered
in the surname Tetheridge between 1901 and 1911. Frank and Ann’s death and burial are recorded
in the surname Tetheridge as is James and Mary’s wedding in 1900. Searching the Internet I can only find one
living individual with a surname of Tetheridge.
Also on the passenger list the three step children are called Tetheridge
although their legal surname was Harfield.
I believe once in New Zealand they resumed the use of their legal name
of Harfield.
I know
there are many Titheridge descendants in New Zealand, many with a keen interest
in genealogy. If anyone would like to
the add to the story by telling how their ancestors faired in this new world,
or are able to clarify the surname used please add a comment below or send me an email.
3 comments:
Hey, hey, hey, Ann, you have done it again....good stuff I shall up- date my records by linking to your blog...
Although the Harfield children were listed as Titherige on the passenger manifest, this was the only place I have found it, previously in Hampshire and subsequently in NZ they used their own surname, although comments made later in life by their families say that James was a far better father to them, and they were very close to him.
I believe that in the case of the Tetheridge children born in NZ 1895-1911, this is most likely a mis-reading of the name on the original printout by the typists when these were put online. (We don't tell the RG about many of these, as they have a distressing habit of pulling the original documents and replacing them with newly typed copies in a ridiculous format when we order one). It is easy to see how the error can be made with written 'i's.
Mispelling of the surname and using the wrong surname certainly provides challenges for genealogists trying to piece together a family tree.
Post a Comment