Fergus Hughan continued...

The year 1873 found Fergus Hughan in his mid-forties, unmarried and still drifting between jobs. Finally, on November 3, 1873, he was accepted for an appointment as a clerk with the Victorian Public Service, a position he was to hold for the next thirteen years. At the time of his death in 1887, Fergus was on a respectable wage of two hundred and forty pounds per year, and his clerical duty as detailed in the Victorian Government Gazette of 1887 was " writes letters'.
Almost a year later, on August 24, 1874, Fergus McIvor Hughan ended his bachelor days at the age of 45 years( although he took several years off his age on the marriage certificate and stated he was 42). At Pine Hill, Caulfield, in a ceremony conducted according to the rites of the Baptist Church,Fergus McIvor Hughan, of Colchester England, a civil service clerk, married 28 year old Mary Jane Lennox.
Mary Jane Lennox had been born in Sunderland, Durham, in 1846, the second child and first daughter of John Gordon Lennox and his wife Jane Rymer.Mary Jane also had a brother, William Rymer Lennox ( born 1844) and two sisters, both named Agnes, who both died in early infancy. Mary Jane came out to Australia with her mother, Jane Rymer Lennox, per the ship 'Bucephalus' in 1860. According to the Melbourne newspaper 'The Herald', the Bucephalus arrived in Hobson's Bay on May 3, 1860, after leaving Liverpool on February 1.There were five cabin passengers and 22 in steerage, Jane Lennox and her daughter being amongst the latter.
There is no sign of Mary Jane's father John Lennox- I cannot find the family in any census return in England, nor can I find the marriage of John Lennox and Jane Rymer.
Mary Jane's brother William Rymer Lennox also made his way out to Victoria, because in 1870 he married Alice Ann Webb. They were married at Caulfield on August 6, 1870, aged 25 and 23 respectively. William's occupation was 'bookkeeper', and his usual address 'Northcote'. Mary Jane Lennox, William's only living sibling, signed the marriage certificate as a witness.
The marriage notice appeared in the Argus on Saturday, August 13, 1870:
"LENNOX-WEBB: On the 6th inst., at the residence of the bride's father, Caulfield, by the Reverend James Ballantyne, William Lennox to Alice Ann, fourth daughter of Mr. James Henning Webb."
William and Alice had a son the following year, also named William Rymer Lennox. His birth was announced in the Argus of Tuesday, May 23, 1871:
"BIRTHS: LENNOX- On the 21st inst., at Northcote, Mrs William Lennox of a son."

In 1872 William Senior died at the young age of 27 years. William Senior's death certificate reveals that he died at Bay Street, Sandridge, at 6 a.m on the morning of May 7, 1872. His occupation was 'clerk', and his cause of death "injuries of the spine-abscess- 4 years". Parental details were given as "Father: John Gordon Lennox, merchant. Mother: Jane Rymer". He had been in the Colonies for 13 years, including one year in New Zealand and 12 in Victoria. This puts his year of arrival in Victoria as c. 1860, the same time as his mother and sister.

William's death notice appeared in the Argus newspaper on Wednesday, May 8, 1872:
"DEATHS: LENNOX- On the 7th inst., at Sandridge, William Rymer Lennox, late of Northcote, aged 27 years."

His funeral announcement appeared in the Argus the following day:
"The friends of the late Mr. William R. Lennox, late of Northcote, are informed that his remains will be interred in the Melbourne General Cemetery. The funeral will move from No. 83 Collins Street East on Friday, the 10th inst, at 12 o'clock punctually. Alfred Augustus Sleight,Undertaker, No. 83 Collins Street east, and High Street, St. Kilda."

His widow Alice remarried two years later. In 1874 she wed Lucius Warren Bowden, son of Alfred and Grace Elizabeth Bowden, who had arrived in the Colony of Victoria c. 1859.

"MARRIAGE: BOWDEN-WEBB: On the 3rd inst. at Christ Church, South Yarra, by the Rev. W. N. Guiness, Lucius Warren Bowden, second son of Dr. Alfred Bowden, to Alice Ann Lidmore, fourth daughter of J.H. Webb, Esquire." - Argus, February 5, 1874.

A reference has been found in the Victorian prisoners index c.1850-1900 (males) to Lucius Warren Bowden, but there are no details pertaining to his crime. The only information given from the Victorian Society of Genealogists database is as follows:
"Born: 1845
Birth Place: DEVONSHIRE.
Place: Victoria
Comment: PER LANSDOWNS TO VIC 1859, WIFE ALICE WEBBER ."

The Argus newspaper reported the crime of Lucius Bowden in October of 1877. While working as a clerk for the Victorian Mutual Building and Investment Society, Lucius had tried to forge a cheque for four hundred pounds. He was tried and found guilty, and sentenced to three years' hard labour.
Lucius and Alice had two children whilst living at Northcote....daughters Alice Grace Deacon Bowden ( b 1875) and Florence Ethel Bowden (b 1877).They moved to Hobart, Tasmania, and had another six children- Beatrice Fanny b 1881, Port Sorrell; Alfred James b 1883, Hobart; George Frederick b 1884, Hobart; Millicent Baskerville b 1887, Hobart; Henry Neville b 1890, Hobart, and Cyril Flemming b 1893, Hobart. The Australian electoral roles of 1914 and 1919 have Lucius and Alice Bowden living in Hobart North, and Alice Ann is still there in 1928.

Jane Rymer Lennox, the mother of Mary Jane and William Rymer, died in 1869:
"DEATH: LENNOX- On the 30th ult., at her residence, Urquhart Street, Northcote, Jane, wife of John Lennox, aged 45 years." -Argus, Monday, February 1, 1869.
"FUNERAL: LENNOX- Friends are respectfully invited to attend the funeral of the late Mrs John Lennox, to move from her late residence, Urquhart Street, Northcote, this day(Monday) the first of February, to the place of interrment in the Melbourne Cemetery, John Sleight, Undertaker, 83 Collins Street east."- Argus, February 1, 1869.

It seemed to me that if Jane's husband, John Lennox, had predeceased her, then she would have been referred to as "widow of John Lennox", not "wife", and there would have been mention that he was deceased.

I located a possibility for John Lennox, the husband of Jane Rymer and father of Mary Jane and William Lennox:

"DEATH: LENNOX- On the 12th inst., John Lennox, of Sunderland, Durham, England." - Argus, March 14, 1870.

"DEATH: LENNOX- On the 11th inst., at Melbourne, John Lennox, late of Sunderland, County Durham, aged 69 years." - Argus, March 29, 1870.

"INQUEST: An inquest was held on the body of John Lennox, aged 65 years, by city coroner Dr. Youl. Deceased was in the public service and had been in tolerable health, although he had had a fit about 12 months ago. Deceased had a fit while on the wharf on Friday, the 11th inst., and was taken to the hospital, where he died the same day, never recovering from the fit.
A post mortem examination showed the cause of death to have been sanguineous apoplexy, and a verdict was returned accordingly."- Argus, Wednesday, March 16, 1870.

Both Jane Rymer Lennox and her children were born in Sunderland, Durham, so this John Lennox seemed a distinct possibility. Finding a probate record for a John Lennox who died on March 11, 1870, proved beyond doubt that he was the husband of Jane Rymer. Probate was granted to his only son, William Lennox, book keeper, who along with his sister, Mary Jane Lennox, was the only person eligible to inherit any of his estate.

Now...back to Fergus and Mary Jane after a little diversion on Mary Jane's family....the research on the Lennox family has at least allowed me to solve the mystery of the second of the two witnesses on Fergus's marriage certificate. One was Bertha Bishop, the youngest sister of Fergus, and the other Alice Ann Bowden, previously unknown. We can now state that she was Mary Jane's sister-in-law, the recently remarried widow of Mary Jane's brother, William Rymer Lennox.
The newly married Hughans moved to 24 King William Street, Fitzroy, where their first child, Beryl Mary Hughan , was born on June 24, 1875. Her father registered the birth, again understating his age by saying that he was 43, and giving his profession as 'civil servant'.
Their second child, a son with the unusual name of 'Esca Oakleigh Hughan' was born the following year, but died of bronchitis a year later on September 11, 1878. The family was at this time living in Hoddle Street, Richmond. They were still at Richmond in 1879 when son Harold Rymer Hughan was born, but by the time their last child was born in 1882, Fergus and his family were living at Belmont Cottage, Roden Street, West Melbourne.
Fergus McIvor Hughan died on February 23, 1887, in his home at Chapman Street, Hotham. His employment at the time of his death was 'clerk', and although his age was given as 53 he was in fact almost 58 years old. The cause of his death was "pneumonia and diarrhoea" of 21 days duration, and he was buried in the Melbourne General Cemetery the following day. His time in Victoria was given as thirty years, which is incorrect as that would place his year of arrival as c. 1857, and we know that he was already in the colony as early as 1850.
Fergus's children at the time of his death were aged 11 ( Beryl Mary), 7 (Harold Rymer) and 4 (Hannah Jane). Mary Jane, his wife, did remarry, but not for ten years...on December 31, 1897, she married widower Thomas George Griffiths at Korumburra. Thomas was a Welshman who had had a family of six children with his first wife, Margaret Allan. She had died in Pateena, Tasmania, in 1896.
Mary Jane had seventeen years with her second husband before her death in 1914. She died on March 28, 1914, in Melbourne Hospital, of senility, debility, myocarditis and pulmonary oedema, and she was buried in the Melbourne Cemetery on March 30.