Bertha Hughan was born on Saturday, January 26, 1839, at 3 Goldsmiths Row, Haggerstone, London. Her mother Hannah Hughan, formerly Oakley, registered her birth on February 28, and gave the information that Bertha's father was Robert Hughan, a grocer.
Bertha was the last of nine children, and surprisingly for that time, none were lost in infancy or childhood.Bertha was the only child to be born in London-her eldest three sisters were born in Ipswich, Suffolk, and the other five siblings at Colchester, Essex. It was her father's lack of business sense that made him leave failed ventures as a tea dealer and grocer behind him in a series of bankruptcies and head with his family to London to seek work.
The form completed by Robert to request admission for his son Allan into the Royal Caledonian School in 1844 stated that the family had been in London since 1838.
The 1841 census has Robert and Hannah Hughan living in Blacklands Street, Chelsea.Six of their eight children were living with them- Laura, 18( is written as 'Sarah'); Marion 16, Robert 12; Jessy 8; Allan 4 and Bertha 2. Eldest child Malvina, was living away from home in Bethnal Green and employed as a teacher; Fergus was living at the Royal Caledonia School as a student and Oscar was a servant for a young woman in St. Marylebone.
In September of 1844,( his death certificate says September 23, his grave stone September 22!) when Bertha was only five and a half years old,her father Robert died in their home at 96 Westbourne Street, Belgrave, of "chronic meningitis with effusions; plexus choroides granulated right with cyst."
Despite the grief involved with losing a husband and father,I can't imagine that the family income would have suffered much, as for several years the only income coming in was that made by Hannah and her daughters through taking in needlework. They remained at the same address for a time- 96 Westbourne Street- which was a very good address in a wealthy part of London.
When Bertha was eight years old, in 1847,an event took place which would change her life forever. On the evening of Friday, June 11, 1847, her 19 year old brother Robert showed a severe lapse in judgement and stole a watch, guard chain and two seals from his employer, Noah Stanford. Robert had been employed by Stanford for a month, as a servant at the latter's newly established eating house in Queen Street, Pimlico.He was tried on June 14, and sentenced to ten years transportation.
Despite their recent poverty, the Hughans considered themselves to have come from very good Scottish stock, and Robert's convict status would have devastated them.He wasn't transported immediately- for two years after his conviction he spent time at four different English prisons. Initially he was at Newbank Prison in London, then was sent to Millbank, another London prison.From there he was sent to Northampton House of Corrections, then finally in 1849 back to Millbank briefly followed by a week in Portland Prison , Dorset, from where he embarked for Queensland on June 4, 1849.
The Hughan family had been fragmented even more by the marriage in Beirut, Lebanon, of eldest daughter, Malvina Hughan,a missionary,to John Lord,and by the departure of eldest son Oscar to Canada and the U.S.
Hannah desperately wanted to immigrate to Australia with her remaining family, but financially was unable to do so. A saving grace appeared in her life in the form of Sir Sidney Herbert,a generous and charitable promoter of emigration.
The 'Fund For Promoting Female Emigration' was organized and run by Sidney Herbert and Lord Ashley, largely in response to a series of articles on London's poor that were written by Henry Mayhew and published in London newspapers in 1849. Needleworkers and dressmakers were considered to be most morally endangered by their extreme poverty, so when Herbert and Ashley set up their emigration scheme it received good support and press for almost four years while it lasted.
One of the most novel ideas of Herbert's emigration scheme was the leasing of a 'Home' in Hatton Gardens where the prospective emigrants would lodge for some weeks prior to their departure. Not only were they taught what were considered essential domestic skills for their prospective employment in Australia, but they were very keenly watched for any flaws in character. This 'weeding-out' process allowed the Scheme committee to send the very best girls and women that they could, although Sidney Herbert himself admitted that sometimes the most careful selection processes could not prevent some morally corrupted women from obtaining free passage.
Somehow Hannah Hughan and several of her daughters became involved with this scheme at its inception. The very first ship carrying needle workers for the Female Emigration Fund left England for Victoria in March of 1850, and Hannah and her girls were on board.
In 1849, two Hughans had already left for Australia, arriving within days of each other but on opposite sides of the country.
Twenty one year old Robert had sailed on the Mount Stewart Elphinstone on June 4th 1849, bound for Moreton Bay, Queensland after diverting to Ireland to pick up some political exiles.The ship arrived on October 31, 1849. His sister Laura Hughan,26, sailed on the ship 'Tasman' on June 18,1849 and arrived in Port Phillip, Victoria,on October 28, 1849.
With brother Oscar in Canada and America, and eldest sister Malvina overseas or perhaps dead( I can't pinpoint her death beyond being between 1849-50),by early 1850 11 year old Bertha was living in London with her mother and sisters Jessie, 16, and Marion, 25. I have no idea where to locate Fergus and Allan at this time. Aged 19 and 13, either or both could have been working away from home, although I believe that Allan was at the Royal Caledonian School as Fergus had been before him.
A newspaper article published in London in 1850 gave some insight as to Hannah Hughan's selection as Matron to the first shipment of girls for Sidney Herbert's scheme:
" The immediate charge of the emigrants has been entrusted to a matron strongly recommended to the committee by the British Ladies' Emigration Society. This person, the widow of a tradesman, was in very distressed circumstances,and having failed in the attempt to support herself and her daughters by needlework, was desirous of emigrating, but was totally without means to defray the expense of the passage.
The committee, therefore, assigned a passage to her daughters,and employed her services as matron, her own passage-money being provided through the intervention of some charitable persons interested in her case.She appears from her age and disposition to be most competent for the task she has undertaken. She will receive a small gratuity at the end of the voyage, in the event of her duties being properly performed."
I was so excited to discover this article- I thought I had found every newspaper reference to the Culloden and her passengers there was to be found online, but thankfully I was wrong.
And so we leave Bertha for the moment...about to embark on a voyage across the seas to her new life in the Colonies.
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