The family of Allan Hughan-1. daughter Ruth Madeleine

Ruth Madeleine Hughan was the first born child of Allan Hughan and his wife Pheobe Berry Hall. Unfortunately, her birth certificate has never been found, but all information suggests that she was born in Victoria some time during 1860.
The photo above was taken at the studio of Van Berckelaer, High Street Junction, St. Kilda. The State Library of Victoria states that Van Berckelaer, father and son, operated from this address 1865-1867, which puts Ruth at the age of six or seven when the photo was taken.She looks older, but it is very difficult to tell, particularly when dealing with only a head and shoulders portrait.
The Hughan family were living in High Street St. Kilda at this time,and their second child was born there.
Ruth was five years old when her sister Marion arrived on October 30, 1865, and seven when Marion died in 1867. The family had moved to Inkerman Street, St. Kilda, and the scenario that unfolded during the 24 hours of February 11 must have been incredibly traumatic for a seven year old girl. Her little sister had been ill for a month, and her mother Phoebe was in the last stages of pregnancy with her third child.
The day itself - a Monday- was stifling...the Herald newspaper of the following day reported "Yesterday the heat was intense, and the bush fires raging in the ranges around Melbourne rendered the air very heavy."
In this oppressive environment 15 month old Marion was getting progressively more ill, and her mother's labour would have been increasing in intensity. The family doctor, Dr. Arnold, would have been well and truly earning his fees as he moved from one patient to the other.
Ruth would have been most likely terrified...one hopes that she may have been looked after by one of her aunts. Her aunt Marion Hughan Edmiston was in New Zealand at the time, and her aunt Jessie Hughan McCallum had died in 1865. That left aunts Laura Hughan Murrell and Bertha Hughan Bishop who were living at Geelong and Ballarat respectively.Ruth may have been sent to one of them when her sister fell sick and her mother came close to the end of her pregnancy-children were seen to be underfoot in those situations in those times.
Whatever the case, poor Ruth at some time had to face the reality that her beloved baby sister had died, and in her place was a new baby who carried the same name. She was baptised 'Marion Ellen', but was always known as 'Minnie'.
Shortly after Allan Hughan sailed to Western Australia on business, but the following year, after purchasing the schooner 'Pilot', he also took his wife and two daughters with him. Minnie was only 21 months old, but eight year old Ruth would have provided an extra pair of eyes and hands to help her mother keep the toddler from falling overboard.
Their voyage on the Pilot lasted for almost nine months, and during that time they sailed the far west coast of Australia looking for pearl shells.Upon their return to Melbourne in late June of 1869, the Pilot was sent to New Zealand without the Hughans, but Allan set out for Fiji in September, leaving his family behind.
Ruth, her mother and sister Minnie must have made their way to NSW some time the following year, as in May 1870, they arrived with Allan and the Pilot at Noumea after sailing from Wollongong. Minnie wasn't mentioned on the passenger list that I consulted, but not all very small children were named on these voyages.
The sad demise of the Pilot when wrecked on a reef near New Caledonia happened in August 1870.As mentioned previously in Allan Hughan's story, I am not sure whether Phoebe and the girls were on board, or whether he had left them in Noumea awaiting his return.One letter written by Allan mentions his family and suggests that they were with him , whilst another does not mention them at all.
Whatever the case, from 1870-71, Noumea became the home for Ruth Hughan and her family, and all of her formative years were spent in the Island of New Caledonia where her father was appointed Government Photographer.
Accounts of life in Noumea during the decade 1870-1880 recall the involvement of Ruth and her mother, and later sisters Minnie and Aline, with musical evenings and concerts. Phoebe was a music teacher, and taught her daughters very well, with all being very proficient on the piano.
The Hughan girls attended a Catholic school, despite their parents, and mother in particular, being strict Presbyterian. The other daughters of European settlers also attended the St. Joseph of Cluny School at Noumea, including two of the daughters of the Governor.
On July 9, 1881, when aged 21 years, Ruth Madeleine Hughan married Englishman Francis Charles Holworthy. He was more than double her age...born in 1837, Francis was exactly the same age as her father, and was 44 years old when he married Ruth.
Francis Holworthy was the son of Charles Wilmot Holworthy ( 1792-1869) and his wife Mary Margaret( 1804-1879), and brother of Arthur, Caroline, Wilmot and Matthew.The family lived for many years at 2 Finchley Rd, Hampstead, London. Wilmot Holworthy was attached to the Military Store Class, and before his murder in 1869 was the deputy assistance Superintendent of Stores. A report of his death read:
"Mr Wilmot Holworthy, deputy-assistant-superintendent of Stores, was brutally murdered on the 24th day of January, in a gully leading to The Gap at Hong Kong. He was celebrated for his pedestrian feats and athletic exercises, and it is presumed that he was attacked from behind, as his body was discovered with a wound on the back of his head which must have caused instantaneous death."- Manchester Times, march 20, 1869.
When I first started to investigate Francis Charles Holworthy and discovered his age, I initially thought that I must be mistaken, and that perhaps he was the child of this Francis or one of his brothers. Further investigation ruled out this possibility, and the truth remains that one of Allan Hughan's friends married his eldest daughter. As unusual as it seems today, it was by no means an uncommon occurrence in that time period for extremely large age differences to exist between brides and their grooms.
Ruth and Francis remained married for only 22 months...on May 12, 1883, 23 year old Ruth Hughan passed away. There is no record I can find to indicate how she died- complications or pregnancy or childbirth perhaps? We may never know, just as I may never know what became of her husband after her death. When Allan Hughan died just six months later, a newspaper report stated that he died at the home of Francis Holworthy, Tembea, New Caledonia.

UPDATE: Not long after writing the above blog, I was absolutely thrilled and amazed to be contacted by a descendant of Allan and Phoebe Hughan. How can this be, you may ask, when none of his daughters had issue? Well, my hunch about Ruth Hughan Holworthy dying in childbirth proved to be correct, and the resulting child, a little boy named Wilmot Holworthy, survived and went on to marry and have his own son in New Zealand. Named Allan Holworthy, it was a son of his who was kind enough to contact me and fill me in on his grandfather's fascinating life story.
I will start a new blog entry with Wilmot Holworthy's information- it will be out of context,being added to the end of this blog after the stories of his cousins the Bishops, but will be easier found by researchers returning to this blog to check if anything new has been added.