More on Hubert Carl Hughan...

The name of Lillian Elizabeth Cahill's child has provoked much thought and interest as I have continued to research him. His mother named him for her elder brother, Hubert Austin Stanley Cahill. I wonder if his second name, 'Carl', was given because phoenetically it is pronounced the same as 'Cahill'...if the child was going to be raised as a Hughan, at least his middle name would serve as a reminder of his heritage (The Irish surname 'Cahill' can be pronounced two ways..."Kay-hill" or "Karl")
Hubert was known as 'Carl Hughan'- in newpaper articles regarding the deaths of family members he is always referred to as 'Carl Hughan'.
When enlisted for WW1, he was referred to as 'Herbert Hughan' instead of 'Hubert Hughan', although some forms referred to him as 'Hubert'.
What is very interesting is that although his wife and children went by the name of 'Cahill', it appears that Carl kept his Hughan name. His death certificate refers to him as "Hubert Carl Cahill(known as Hughan)", and when he enlisted for World War 2, he did so under the name of Hubert Hughan, with his next of kin named as his wife Ethel Cahill.

Hubert Carl Cahill Hughan's war

The family of Hubert Carl Cahill Hughan.

What little I know about Hubert Cahill Hughan is quite impersonal, taken solely from various indexes and certificates.
I imagine that he lived from birth with the Hughans..he was born in their home at 9 Vincent Street Balmain on February 19, 1900, and his single mother, Lillian Cahill, married later the same year. There is no evidence that I can find that Hubert ever lived with his biological mother.
In about 1906-07, Oscar Hughan, his wife Frances and whomever of their children still lived at home, moved to a new home in Wentworth Falls, in the Blue Mountains region of NSW. Hubert's schooling would have been conducted in the Blue Mountains, and after his education was completed he took up employment as a telephonist.
Aged only 14 when World War 1 started, Hubert was too young to initially enlist. His father, Oscar Hughan, died in November of 1915, and in March of 1917, his mother Frances Hughan helped Hubert enlist in the A.I.F by giving her signed permission, and going along with the incorrect date of birth that was given. Hubert was still only 17 years and 2 months old when he enlisted on March 19, 1917, but he gave his age as 18 years and one month.
He was accepted, and embarked with his unit,the 13th Battalion, 25th Reinforcement, for overseas duty from Sydney on May 10, 1917, on board HMAT A74 Marathon. Hubert was only a smallish boy...five feet three inches in height, with blue eyes, fair hair and complexion.
Hubert saw active service in France after his arrival in England. By January 1918 he was sent to France as part of a reinforcement for the 34th battalion. In February he was with the Australian Infantry Base Depot in France.
The AIF had the AIBD (Australian Infantry Base depot) which was at a number of areas during the war but mostly at Estaples in France. Soldiers would be posted from the UK after training to this unit where they were held until they could be allocated to a unit (mostly Infantry Battalions) .This depot also held soldiers returning from wounds or sickness until they could be sent to their units.Base depots also provided training, especially in the latest tactics, and ensured that each soldier was properly equipped, including that his gasmask was functional.
On March 5th, Hubert was transferred from the 34th Battalion AIF to the 1st Australian General Hospital. On March 22, he went from the 1st AGH to the ACCS(Australian Casualty Clearing Station)
Hubert Hughan found himself attached to the 1st Australian Clearing Station in France. I've done some reading on what went on at these clearing stations, and it really was the stuff of nightmares, especially for a 17 year old boy. For example, the following excerpt comes from the recollections of a Doctor who was stationed at one of these Clearing stations in France:
"
I was appointed early in July as a surgeon to a casualty clearing station at Crouay, near Amiens.A greater contrast to a Base hospital could hardly be imagined. All military discipline, red tape, and formality were reduced to a minimum. Within the camp, officers donned flannels or shorts, and the mess, a dozen altogether, formed a family party; there were a small number of highly trained sisters, and forty or fifty orderlies.

The essential parts of a C.C.S. were: (1) A large reception marquee. (2) A resuscitation tent, where severely shocked or apparently dying cases were warmed up in heated beds, or transfused before operation. (3) A pre-operation tent, where stretcher cases were prepared for operation. (4) A large operating tent with complete equipment for six tables. (5) An evacuation tent, where the cases were sent after operation, to await the hospital train for the Base. (6) Award tent for cases requiring watching for twenty-four hours, or too bad for evacuation.

On that evening the attack began, with a continuous roar of heavy guns, while the horizon was brilliantly lit with the flashes of exploding dumps, Verey lights, and star shells. The camp was quietly resting, and I was left with a few orderlies in the dimly lit reception tent.

About 1 a.m. the ambulances began to arrive. It is impossible to convey an adequate picture of the scene. Into the tent are borne on stretchers, or come wearily stumbling, figures in khaki, wrapped in blankets or coats, bandaged or splinted. All of them stiff with mud, or caked with blood and dust, and salt sweat, and with labels of their injuries attached.

They come in such numbers that the tent is soon filled, and what can be done? I can't cope with them all! Many are white and cold, and lie still and make no response, and those who do are laconic, or point to their label. I have had no instructions how to dispose of such numbers, or the method of procedure, but realize that they must be examined briefly and sorted, and sent to one or other of our hospital tents.

But my non-com. orderly was at my side with whispered suggestions, and soon we had the stretchers on one side and the standing cases on the other, and, leaving the slighter cases to be dressed, I gradually sorted out the bad ones for the "resuss," "pre-op," or "evacuation" tents.

It was extraordinary that in this charnel tent of pain and misery there was silence, and no outward expression of moans or groans or complaints. The badly shocked had passed beyond it; others appeared numbed, or too tired to complain, or so exhausted that they slept as they stood.

"Resuss" was a dreadful place. Here were sent the shocked and collapsed and dying cases, not able to stand as yet an operation, but which might be possible after the warming-up under cradles in heated beds or transfusion of blood. The effect of transfusion was in some cases miraculous. I have seen men already like corpses, blanched and collapsed, pulseless and with just perceptible breathing, within two hours of transfusion sitting up in bed smoking, and exchanging jokes before they went to the operating table.

The orderly in the "Resuss" was a wonderful lad. A boy of twenty, he had served without relief for months in this tent, attending to the worst cases and the dying. He had all the patience, tenderness, and devotion of a woman, the gentle hands and skill of a nurse, and an enduring fortitude.

He was recommended for the D.S.M., but his best reward must be the memory of many a farewell message home, many a silent grasp of hand, and the last look of grateful eyes.
It seemed hardly real at the time. It is fast becoming a dream, and, though I had many other experiences, as our C.C.S. followed the advance, at Albert and Brie and Peronne, Roiselle, and Bellenglise, none remain in my memory like those of my first "blooding" at Cronay and Amiens, where I came so near to collapse and disaster." - John A. Hayward. M.D., F.R.C.S. 1914-1915. Assistant-Surgeon (rank. Captain) British Red Cross Hospital, Netley. 1915-1917, Medical Officer, Queen Alexandra Hospital, Roehampton. April to November 1918, Temporary Captain R.A.M.C., B.E.F.
I imagine that Hubert Hughan was one of the orderlies mentioned in the account by John Hayward, as prior to his enlistment he had no medical training.
On November 11 1918 Hubert himself was admitted to hospital with influenza, but seven days later he was discharged to duty.
Just after March 1918, it was noted in his records that his actual date of birth was 19th February, 1900, and on November 30, 1918, after the war had officially ended, a note was made re. asking for 'R to A (return to Australia), underage.'
Hubert Hughan, still aged only 18, returned to Australia on the ship 'City Of Exeter', sailing from England on January 15, 1919,and arriving in Sydney March 6, 1919. He was discharged from the AIF on March 29, 1919, after two years' service.
Hubert had not been home long before his 72 year old mother, Frances Elizabeth Smith Hughan, died...she passed away from heart disease and dropsy, 4 months duration, on July 7, 1919.The duration of her illness reveals that she fell ill around the same time that her youngest son returned from the War.

At this time of his life, Hubert Hughan was 19 years old. Both adoptive parents had died, as had a brother, Allan, in 1913. His other adoptive siblings were a 47 year old spinster sister, Myrtle Hughan, and two brothers, Oscar, 42, and Wilfred, 36.
His biological mother, Lillian Cahill Shipp, was living in Oxford Street, Paddington, with her husband Henry and Hubert's half-brother,14 year old Stanley.

There is a gap of seven years now, for my next mention of Hubert comes with his marriage to Ethel Grace Burnett in 1926.I have ordered a transcript of this marriage certificate, so when it arrives in two weeks time, I will share what it has to say about Hubert's parentage.

Lillian Elizabeth Cahill's life after Hubert's birth.

In 1900, the same year that Lillian Cahill gave birth to her son Hubert, she married a man named Henry William Shipp. The question must be asked- if one of the three Hughan boys was the father of Lillian's child, why did he not marry her? None of them were married, and the excuse of not being in love just did not come into consideration in those days...many a marriage was hurriedly arranged and based on the arrival of a child rather than the wish to spend the rest of one's life with one's soulmate!
Eldest son Oscar Milward Hughan moved to Western Australia in the early 1900s...perhaps he was doing a long distance scarper to avoid his obligations to a pregnant Lillian? Oscar married a W.A girl in 1910, and his brother Wilfred married Alice Ryan in 1923. Other surviving brother, Allan, never married and died in his thirties.

Of course, a Hughan may not have fathered Hubert...Frances and Oscar may have raised him as their own out of the goodness of their hearts, just as they obviously took in Lillian when she was pregnant.
I wonder if Hubert ever knew his biological mother? When she married Henry Shipp, Lillian had a further two sons...Henry H. in 1902, and Stanley William in 1905. Henry died in the same year that he was born, so the Shipp family consisted of Henry and Lillian and their surviving son Stanley.

When Hubert died in 1959, his daughter Margaret Dean registered the death, and she recorded her father's parents as being "Not known". You would think that if Hubert had a relationship with Lillian during his life, his own children would have been able to record their grandmother's name on their father's death certificate.

At the time of his marriage,Henry Shipp was a tobacconist who had a shop at 359 Oxford Street, Paddington.The birth of their first child was recorded in the SMH on April 3, 1902:
"BIRTH: SHIPP- March 29, at her residence, 359 Oxford Street, Paddington, the wife of Henry William Shipp- a son."

Electoral Rolls allow us to follow the Shipp family in the 1930s:
1930: 5 Rawson Avenue, West Kogarah.
Henry William Shipp, hairdresser
Lillian Elizabeth Shipp, home duties.
Stanley William Shipp, assistant sales manager.

1933: As above, without Stanley.

Lillian's husband, Henry Shipp, died in 1935...
:SHIPP- Relatives and friends of Mrs L.E Shipp and of Mr. Stanley W. Shipp of Rawson Avenue, Bexley, are invited to attend the funeral of her dearly loved HUSBAND and his loving FATHER, HENRY WILLIAM SHIPP which will leave our private chapel, Seven Ways, Rockdale,tomorrow at 10 a.m for the Presbyterian Cemetery, Woronora." -SMH, May 27, 1935.
The NSW death index records Henry's parents as being John R and Jessie Shipp.
Investigation shows that Henry William Shipp was born in 1864 at Mudgee, the third son born to John Shipp and Jessie Cameron, who had married in Mudgee in 1864. John was the landlord of the Mudgee Hotel, and with his wife had four sons and a daughter- John (1867-1932); Alexander Cameron(1868-1937); Henry William (1870-1935); James Walter (1871-1872); and Sarah Jane (1873-1954).
John Shipp Senior died at the young age of 40 years: "On Saturday, Mr. John Shipp, landlord of the Mudgee Hotel, and a very old and well-known resident, died, at the comparatively early age of 40 years.The funeral was largely attended." - SMH, June 8, 1878.

From the time of their marriage in 1900 until about 1924, the Shipps lived at Oxford Street, Paddington. From 1926, the Shipps were living at 3 Rawson Avenue, West Kogarah, and it was here that Henry Shipp died in 1935, aged 65 years.

Lillian Elizabeth Cahill Shipp by the following year was living in Queensland...
1936 Electoral Roll for Enoggera: Mourilyan, Oleander Drive, Ashgrove.
Lillian Elizabeth Shipp, home duties.
Stanley William Shipp, manager.

1937: As above

1943: "Riversdale", Aaron Avenue, Hawthorne, Qld.
Lillian Elizabeth Shipp, home duties.
Stanley William Shipp, manager.
Ferol Malvina Sophie Shipp, secretary.

1949: "Riversdale", Aaron Ave, Hawthorne, Qld.
Lillian Elziabeth Shipp, home duties.
Stanley William Shipp, manager
Ferol Malvina Sophie, secretary.

1954: As above



Stanley Shipp had moved to Queensland before his father's death in 1935...
Electoral Roll for 1934: Evers's, Oxlade Drive, New Farm, QLD.
Stanley William Shipp, manager.

Ferol Malvina Sophie Shipp must have been Stanley's wife, as prior to the 1943 electoral roll,she was known as Ferol Melvina Sophie Taylor. Marriages in the Queensland records end in 1934, and so Ferol and Stanley's nuptials do not appear.
Ferol Malvina Sophie Taylor was born in 1902 to parents Henry Taylor and Emily Ellen Trout.She also had a sister, Ellen Hazel, who was born in 1909. Henry Taylor had married Emily Trout, the daughter of Richard Trout and Sophia Ann Newman, in 1901.Richard Trout was a very successful Brisbane butcher, and he and wife Sophie had a large family of children- Walter John (1872-1939);Victoria Caroline b 1874;Richard Phillip (1875-1954); Emily Ellen(1877-1951); Harriott Maud(1879-1885); Frederick Leon b 1881; Lillian Azuba b 1883; Irene Amelia b 1886; Ruby Adele (1888-19190; Leslie Gordon b 1890; Newman Ralph b 1893;Cyril Mento (1899-1899).
The newspaper report of the wedding of Ferol Taylor's parents read as follows:
" Taylor-Trout: On the 6th February, at Ashgrove, Harry, eldest son of Mr. Taylor, Park Road, Kelvin Grove, to Emily Ellen (Nellie), second daughter of Mr Richard Trout of Red Hill and Ashgrove." - 9 February, 1901.

I cannot find whether any children were born to Stanley Shipp and his wife Ferol...if there was issue from this marriage, there is an excellent chance that they would still be alive today-fingers crossed that they may decide to delve into their family history and stumble upon this blog during their Googling.
Stanley Shipp, half brother of Hubert Hughan Cahill and son of Lillian Elizabeth Cahill, died in 1963 in Queensland.
I can find no trace of the deaths of his mother, Lillian Cahill Shipp, or his wife, Ferol Taylor Shipp.

James Sylvester Cahill, Hubert Carl Hughan's grandfather.

I have been trying to trace a little of the life of James Sylvester Cahill in an attempt for me to gain a better understanding of his daughter, Lillian Elizabeth. Thanks to the wonderful National Library of Australia newspapers site, I have been able to locate several articles that fill in important details of the Cahill family and their movements.
James Cahill was born in Sydney in 1846, and at the age of 24 he married Jessie Isabella Nash in Orange in 1870.The Granville Postal Directory of 1872 has the following entry:
"James Cahill, compositor, Anson Street, Orange."
James worked in the newspaper business, both as a compositor and a journalist. He was associated with the 'Western Examiner', the 'Life' and the 'Town and Country' newspapers. It was noted that his brother was the one-time proprietor of the Western Examiner.This discovery gave me a possible link between the Hughans ans the Cahills, as Oscar Hughan also had connections with the 'Town and Country' and acted as a journalist whilst living at Bourke. This would have put him in the same circles as James Cahill, and the two men may have possibly been friends, or at least acquaintances.

Further investigation shows that a Michael Francis Cahill was associated with the Western Examiner.I could not find records of the birth of a Michael Cahill to parents William Cahill and Mary Ann Byrnes, but that may be explained by a shipping record from 1838.
In 1838 a family named Cahill emigrated to Sydney from Cork on board the ship 'Magistrate'. They consisted of father, William Cahill, a 31 year old joiner and carpenter from Cork City; his 29 year old wife Margaret; and their four children Michael, aged 10; Mary aged 9; Margaret aged 3 and William aged 12 months.
William Augustine Cahill, father of James Cahill, was also born in Cork City, in the same year as the William who emigrated on the 'Magistrate'. He married Mary Ann Byrnes in 1845...the NSW death index has a death of Margaret Cahill, aged 37, in 1845.On the shipping record, Margaret Cahill, William's wife, was noted as being of a "Delicate" state of bodily health and strength...I believe that the William who arrived on the 'Magistrate' was William Augustine Cahill, and that when he married Mary Ann Byrne in 1845, it was his second marriage following the death of his first wife Margaret.
After their arrival in Sydney, William and Margaret had three more children:- Elizabeth Cahill born 1840; Elizabeth born 1842 and John H. Cahill born 1844.
William then went on to have at least a further ten children between 1846 and 1867 with his second wife, Mary Ann Byrnes.

Despite being the editor of a large country newspaper, I can find no other details regarding the life of Michael Francis Cahill, but fortunately his brother James Cahill is easier to track.
On Friday, November 15, 1878, the Sydney Morning Herald published a report on a "Forgery and Uttering" trial, and James Sylvester Cahill was the main witness in the trail.Two men named Alfred George Hyman and Louis Lyons were charged, on the 21st July, 1877, with forging a warrant or order for the sum of 109 pounds, 12 shillings and 6 pence with intent to defraud. From the report:-
" James Sylvester Cahill, who was the chief witness for the Crown, newspaper reporter on the 'Life', served his time as a compositor on the 'Western Examiner', of which his brother was at one time proprietor; he was subsequently on the 'Town and Country."
An earlier hearing had been held in September 1878, and the Maitland Mercury had reported:
"James S. Cahill deposed that he was a constable in the NSW police force, stationed at Burrowa. He was well acquainted with the prisoners, Alfred C. Hyman and Lewis Lyons, and also a man named William Robertson, who was frequently in their company; he had known Hyman for about seven years, and Lyons for about 12 months, and he had always been on friendly terms with both prisoners, as well as with Robertson. Some time back he rented a printing office from Hyman, who occupied a store adjoining it. He (Witness) was then a printer, editor and reporter, also publisher and compositor; whilst working at the printing office he used to see the prisoners daily, and Robertson frequently."
Also from the report: " Witness (Cahill) cautioned Hyman, but he was threatened by Hyman that if he informed "he would get him(witness) into it for perjury"; witness subsequently told Stokes the detective the whole story; at the time he told Stokes he was himself in the Police force at Burrowa; witness had known Hyman intimately at Inverell, and slept in the same room with him; they were living together for nearly 12 months; as far as the forgeries were concerned, witness had nothing whatever to do with them; he was paid nothing.
Mr Cooper severely cross-examined this witness, who admitted that, prior to giving this information, he had a quarrel with Hyman respecting the latter trying to kiss his wife."

"... When Mr Stokes came to him (Cahill) and asked him to give certain information about these forgeries, he told him that he had the choice between the witness box and the dock; witness at that time was a trooper,but it had since been suggested to him that he should resign; he was getting nothing from the banks for giving this information."
The end result of the trial was the Jury taking five minutes to decide that Hyman was guilty and Lyons innocent, and the Judge sentenced Hyman to seven years on the roads or other public works.
From this information and other sources, we can construct a timeline for James Sylvester Cahill in the 1870s:-
1870: Married Jessie Isabella Nash in Orange.
1871: Unnamed first child born in Orange.Could be Hubert Austin Stanley Cahill, whose birth has not been located in the index, but who died in 1951, the son of James Sylvester and Jessie Isabella Cahill.
1872: Greville's Directory- James Cahill, compositor, Anson Street, Orange.
1872: August 1872: New Insolvents; James Sylvester Cahill of Palmer Street, Woolloomooloo, compositor. Liabilities of 79 pounds, 4 shillings and 11 pence. Assets: 4 pounds.Late of Nicholson Street. Printer out of business.
1874: Daughter Lillian born in Parramatta.
1877: Re-established printing business in Queens Place, Sydney.
1878: Joined the NSW Police Force. Registers of Police: James Sylvester Cahill, No. 3128. Born 1848. Native of NSW. Appointed 2 January, 1878.
NSW Police Gazette: Probationary Constables: Cahill, James S. No:3135. January 15, 1878.
NSW Police Gazette: Ordinary Constables: Cahill, James S. No: 3128. June 1st, 1878.
Stationed in Burrowa,NSW.
NSW Police Gazette: Resignations: James Sylvester Cahill, ordinary constable, number 3072. September 2, 1878.
1878: September and November, witness in forgery case.
1879: Daughter Ada Amelia born, Sydney.
1880: Ada Amelia Cahill died, Sydney.
1883: Sands Directory- James S. Cahill, Fisher Street, Petersham.
1884: James Cahill, 233 Walker Street, Redfern
1886: Sands Directory- James Cahill, compositor, 233 Walker Street, Redfern
1888: James Cahill, Swanson Street, Macdonaldtown.
1889: James Cahill, compositor, Swanson Street, Macdonaldtown.
Wife of James Cahill, Jessie Isabella Nash Cahill, died.
1890: James Cahill, compositor, 3 Park Cottages, Swanson Street, Macdonaldtown.
1891: Death of James Sylvester Cahill, Picton, aged 45 years.

HUBERT AUSTIN STANLEY CAHILL:I have only just discovered the existence of this Hubert, Lillian Cahill's brother. It was through finding his death in the NSW death index in 1951 that I was alerted to his presence, as his birth is not in the NSW Birth index. That is, unless he was the "un-named child" who was registered in Orange in 1871, and who I had assumed had died at birth or soon after.
This Hubert, the namesake of his sister Lillian's illegitimate son, married in 1900:
"MARRIAGE: CAHILL-FERRIER. On January 31, by the Reverend F.M. Dalrymple, Hubert Austin Stanley Cahill, to Blanche Ferrier."

This marriage took place just under three weeks before Lillian gave birth to Hubert Carl.It looks as though "Uncle Hubert" lived his married life at 19 Royalist Street, Mossman. A Sands Directory for 1901 has him living at this address, as do further directories and electoral rolls right up to 1949, two years before his death.
Electoral rolls give Hubert's occupation as 'civil servant' for the years 1930, 1933, 1936 and 1937. For the years 1943 and 1949, it was stated he had "no occupation". His wife Blanche was always 'home duties'.
Blanche Ferrier Cahill died in 1943. It was noted in the death index that she was the daughter of Frederick and Margaret Rachel. Consulting the birth index, we find the birth in 1876 of Blanche Ferrier, daughter of Frederick and Rachel Ferrier, in Sydney.
The marriage index has a marriage in 1861 of Frederick Ferrier to Rachel Lanff. The Sydney Morning Herald has references to Frederick Ferrier in the 1880s and 1890s re. issuing of billiard licenses and him being the proprietor of the Freemason's Hotel in York Street, Sydney.
I can find only one child belonging to Hubert Austin Stanley Cahill and Blanche Ferrier- a daughter named Yvonne, who in 1934 married Henry J. Farrell in Sydney.
Hubert died in October 1951:
"DEATHS: CAHILL-Hubert Austin Stanley (Joe), October 14, loving father of Yvonne, father-in-law of Harry, and grandfather of John, Colin and Chris. Privately cremated, October 16, 1951." -SMH, Saturday, October 20, 1951.

The mystery of Hubert Carl Hughan.

The mystery of the youngest child of Oscar and Frances Hughan, Hubert Carl Hughan, is one which I am sure will never be solved without input from Hubert's actual descendants. I am hoping that by putting what scant details I know about him in this blog,a family member might one day stumble across this entry and be kind enough to contact me and put me out of my misery!

As mentioned in Oscar Hughan's blog entry, Hubert was not actually their biological child, but was raised as such.He appeared as their son in newspaper articles referring to his parents' deaths, and in his enlistment records for WW1 his parents were named as Frances Elizabeth Hughan and his father, Oscar, as being deceased.
I tried for some time to locate his birth entry in the NSW birth index, but was not successful.I then recalled the case of my maternal great-grandmother, Charlotte Willett,who was born in 1884 and raised as the youngest child of Semer and Ellen Willett. I couldn't understand why she was 'forgotten' and not named as a child of either parent on their death certificates. Then a phone call from a distant relative solved the mystery...Charlotte was in fact an illegitimate child of one of her elder 'sisters', but had been registered as the child of her grandparents and raised as their daughter.

Could this have been the case with Hubert Carl Hughan? I searched for his birth using only his first names, and found an entry for "Hubert Carl Cahill", no father given, mother Lillian E Cahill, born Balmain. Oscar Hughan and his family were living in Balmain at this time, so I applied for this certificate and kept my fingers crossed.
Bingo! When the certificate arrived, the most exciting piece of information it contained was the name of the witness to the birth- "Mrs Hughan". The informant was Lillian Elizabeth Cahill, mother, of 9 Vincent Street, Balmain North.
A check of Sands Sydney Directories from the period 1888-1907 revealed that the home of Oscar Hughan and family during this time was 9 Vincent Street.
The details on Hubert's birth certificate were as follows:
Hubert Carl Cahill- illegitimate.
Born 19 February, 1900
Place: 9 Vincent Street, Balmain North.
Father: not listed
Mother: Lillian Elizabeth Cahill, spinster. 26 years old, born Parramatta.
Informant: Lillian Elizabeth Cahill, Mother, 9 Vincent Street, Balmain North.
Date registered: 3 March, 1900.
Accoucheur, nurse and/or witness: Mrs Hughan.

So...we have an unmarried 26 year old woman giving birth to her child in the Hughan household. At this time the Hughan family consisted of parents Oscar,aged 73, and his 52 year old wife Frances; and their children Myrtle aged 26; Oscar aged 22; Allan aged 20 and Wilfred aged 17 or 18.

I had originally wondered if unmarried Myrtle Hughan may have been Hubert's mother, but the discovery of his birth certificate and real birth mother scuttled that idea. With the mother's identity discovered, attention now turns to the virtually 'unprovable'...who was Hubert's father.
The facts that he was born at the Hughan home, and was raised by the Hughan family, and went by their name, all point to one of the Hughan men being the father of baby Hubert. Oscar, Allan and Wilfred were all of a prime age to be involved in a dalliance, and even Oscar Senior's advanced age is not enough to rule him out (although I very much doubt it was him- his personality seems to preclude him from such behaviour, and one can't imagine a wife welcoming the illegitimate child of a husband into her home in the same way that she would a grandchild)

Let us pause here a moment and look into the one certainty of Hubert's parentage...his mother. According to information given on her son's birth certificate, Lillian Elizabeth Cahill was born at Parramatta in c. 1874. Consulting the NSW birth index, we find only one contender...Lillian Elizabeth Cahill, born at Parramatta, 1874, the daughter of James Sylvester and Jessie Isabella Cahill.

By looking further back into Lillian's parentage and family circumstances, perhaps we can determine whether Lillian's station in life in 1899-1900 may have seen her in service as a housekeeper or such to Frances Hughan...in 1882, Frances Hughan had placed an advertisement in the Sydney Morning Herald for a "Respectable, middle-aged woman to assist in household duties; small family", so it is certainly possible that in the late 1890s she was still enjoying household assistance by a girl or woman in her service.

Lillian Cahill's parents had married in Orange, NSW, in 1870...James Cahill married Jessie Isabella Nash. A notice in the Sydney Morning Herald on April 20, 1870,stated:
" MARRIAGES: CAHILL-NASH. On March 20, at Orange, by the Reverend H.A. Langley, James Sylvester, fourth son of W.A Cahill Esq, principal foreman of the Fitz Roy Dry Docks works, Cockatoo Island, to Jessie Isabella, eldest daughter of R. Nash Esq of Balmain."
There are two other births attributed to this couple- an unnamed child was born in Orange in 1871, and a daughter named Ada Amelia was born in Sydney in 1879, sadly dying the following year.I had assumed that the child born in 1871 had died at birth or soon after bcause of its unnamed status, but I have just located the death of a Hubert Austin Stanley Cahill who died in 1951, the son of James Sylvester and Jessie Isabella Cahill.I can't find his entry in the NSW birth index, so this unnamed child in 1871 may be him.
I can find no other children belonging to James and Jessie Cahill. Jessie died in 1889, aged in her late thirties.She had been born in 1851 to parents Robert Nash and Elizabeth E. Buddivent. The Sydney Morning Herald of September 20, 1850, had the following notice:
"MARRIAGE: At St. Phillip's Church, on the 16th instant, by the Rev. Mr King, Robert, eldest son of Mr David Nash, of the Customs, to Elizabeth Emily, third daughter of Mr. George Buddivant, both of Sydney."

George Buddivant/Buddivent was a shipwright from Lincolnshire, and with his wife Amelia Nash raised their family in Sydney after they emigrated on the ship 'Arundel' in 1832.George's age was given as 39 and Amelia 31 and they had 3 boys and 3 girls with them, including Elizabeth Emily. Two more girls were born to George and Amelia after their arrival in Australia. His occupation was given as shipwright and he was a bounty immigrant.
He ran into financial difficulties in 1846:
"Insolvency Proceedings. New Insolvent: George Buddivant of Sussex Street, Sydney, ship builder.
Debts: 98 pounds, 6 shillings and 6 pence.
Assets: Landed property: six pounds. Personal property: five pounds.
Outstanding debts: Ten pounds, 18 shillings 4 1/2 pence.
balance deficiency: 76 pounds 8 shillings 8 1/2 pence.

This insolvent attributes his insolvency to debts contracted 3 years ago, and to the depreciation of his property, and by the loss of two hundred pounds in the "James And Amelia', cutter, which was built by him."

In June of 1840, George had bought "good- sized" waterfront land at Balmain. A boatyard was built and by October 1843 he had erected an "excellent cottage of four rooms with kitchen attached. He borrowed heavily on the land to build more cottages. A total of six stone cottages [sadly, now demolished], some with attics, were squeezed on to the land in an attempt to get the maximum rent income for the minimum outlay of money. There were no planning controls and an owner could build what and where he wanted. In the oversupplied market of the 1840s good rents were hard to come by, and after attempting to sell the cottages during the depression then raging,George Buddivent lost all in 1849.
When George's cottages came on the market they were acquired in April 1850 by John Little, a well established Sydney grocer. Little saw them as a good buy and the houses were soon known as "Little's cottages".
Coincidence steps in here, as from 1883-1887,Oscar Hughan and his family lived in Littles Lane, Balmain, and when Frances Hughan was advertising for a woman to help her around the house in 1882, she gave her address as "Mrs Oscar Hughan, Little's Cottages, Balmain".

Back to Hubert Hughan's great-great grandparents, the Buddivents...Amelia Nash Buddivent predeceased her husband on June 3, 1865. She died at Mitchell Street, Glebe and on her death certificate her place of birth was given as "Amboyna" and her father was James "Dash", a Captain, and her mother Eliza James. (Other certificates state her name as Nash). Their marriage took place in London in 1821 and and she had been in the colony for 33 years.
The actual entry in the parish register of St. George In The East, stated:
" George Buddivent, of this parish,a widower, and Amelia Nash, of this parish, spinster, were married in this church by banns on the 20th day of August, 1821. Witnessed by S.H. Jeffreys and Mary Hunter." Both parties were able to sign their own names on the register.
George died on June 14,1867. Both husband and wife are buried at Camperdown Cemetery, now St Stephen's Churchyard, Newtown. A headstone on their grave says that George was a "Shipbuilder from Blackwall". From a Gazeteer of England: Blackwall, on the Thames. A hamlet parish, Stepney, Middlesex.

George's actual death certificate declares his birthplace to be Boston, Lincolnshire, England and his father to be Peter Buddivent, a schoolmaster.

George and Amelia Buddivent's children were James Henry, Elizabeth Emily, Caroline Mary, George Frederick, Peter, Maria Isabella, Amelia Mary and Ada Frances. The first six children were born in England,and Amelia & Ada were born in Sydney in 1833 and 1837 respectively.
Caroline Mary Buddivent was born on December 10, 1828, at Limehouse, London.She was baptised at ST. Annes, Limehouse, on July 26, 1829. Caroline married Charles May in Sydney in 1845 when she was only 17 years old. She died in only her 20th year, in 1849, at her home in Kent Street North, Sydney. It was noted in the Sydney Morning Herald that she had suffered a 'long and painful illness'
Elizabeth Emily Buddivent was baptised on April 15, 1832, at Stepney. Her parents were noted as being George Buddivent, ship wright, and Amelia, of Limehouse. It was also noted in the parish register that she was a twin( of Maria Isabella). Elizabeth married Robert Nash and their daughter Jessie Isabella married James Cahill to become Hubert Hughan's grandmother.
Elizabeth's twin was Maria Isabella Buddivent, and with her sister she was baptised on April 15, 1832. On October 11, 1853, she married James Pate in Sydney.

George Frederick Buddivent was born on July 5, 1822, in Limehouse, London. He was baptised at St. Anne's, Limehouse, on October 27, 1822, and his parents were noted as being George Buddivent, shipwright, and Amelia. He married Harriett Marion James on September 24, 1866, in Sydney.

James Henry Buddivent died in 1878 in Balmain.

Ada Frances Buddivent married David Little M.D. in Sydney in October of 1857.

As yet I have no information at all re. siblings Peter and Ameilia Buddivent.

Hubert Carl Hughan's great-grandfather was Robert Nash (1829-1910), the son of David Francis Nash and Isabella Barnett.Their first child, a daughter named Rebecca, was born and died in 1828, and Robert was born the following year on September 16, 1829, in Sydney.Other children were William (1832-1875); Ann Jane (1835-1897); and David (1837-1897).
Anne Jane Nash, known as Annie, married publican William Baldock in 1854: "Married: By special license, at St Andrews Cathedral, on Tuesday the 30th May, by the Rev. G. King, William Baldock, to Ann Jane, only daughter of Mr. David Nash, Her Majesty's Customs, Sydney."
Annie and William had a large family of three sons and six daughters: George 1857-1858; Louisa b 1860; Flora b September 14, 1862; Amy b July 31, 1864; Bertha b June 21,1866; Herbert William Stanley b November 23, 1868; Maride b March 2, 1871; Orswald Heden b May 14, 1874; Beatrice Violetta b 1876, died April 29, 1877, aged 7 months.
From Flora's birth in 1862 until Beatrice's birth in 1876, all of the Baldcock babies were born at their father's hotel,The Clarence and Richmond Hotel, 353 Kent Street (between King and Market Streets), Sydney.
William Baldcock died on January 25, 1976, aged 43 years. His wife Annie was pregnant at the time, and gave birth to final child Beatrice Violetta later that year.
"FUNERAL: the friends of the deceased Mr William Baldcock are respectfully invited to his funeral; to move from his late residence, the Clarence & Richmond Hotel, 353 Kent Street, tomorrow afternoon to Camperdown Cemetery." -SMH, Wednesday, January 26, 1876.
Sadly, baby Beatrice died aged only seven months..." Deaths-Baldcock- April 29, Sydney, Beatrice Violetta, infant daughter of the late Mr. William Baldcock, aged 7 months." - SMH, May 4, 1877.
Annie Jane Nash Baldcock died in December, 1897..."DEATHS: Baldcock. At her residence, 66 Glenmore Rd, Mrs Annie Jane Baldcock, aged 63 years.
FUNERAL: The friends of the late Mrs Annie Jane Baldcock are invited to attend her funeral to move from her late residence, 66 Glenmore Rd, Paddington, tomorrow to Newtown Cemetery." SMH, December 28, 1897.

Of Robert Nash's other siblings, the following brief information is known:
William Nash died in Balmain in 1875, aged 42. "DEATH: Nash- September 3, at his residence, Balmain, William, second eldest son of Mr David Nash, late of H.M Customs, aged 42. Many years compositor at the Government Printing Office."- SMH, September 4, 1875.

David Nash married Mary Ann Andrews: "Marriage: On the 9th instant by the Rev. Dr. Fullerton, David, youngest son of Mr David Nash, late of H.M Customs, to Mary Ann, eldest daughter of Mr, Isaac Andrews of Phillip Street, Sydney" - SMH, 17 January, 1860. Their children were Louisa b 1863-1864; David E 1865-1913; Isaac 1869-1914; Bertha Kate b 1871; William b 1873; Louisa Edith 1875-1922; Amy b 1878; Reginald Ernest b 1880; Charles b 1884.

Hubert Carl Hughan's great-great grandmother, Isabella Barnett Nash, died on August 10, 1837, aged only 27, leaving a a baby in his infancy and three small children. Surprisingly, her husband David did not quickly remarry to provide his children with a new mother...when he did take another wife, it was 22 years after the death of his first. In 1859, David Francis Nash married Ann Richards, a widow:
"Marriage: On Monday the 6th instant,by the Reverend Dr. Lang, at the Scots Church, by special license, Mr David Francis Nash, a retired officer of the Customs,to Mrs Ann Richards, both of Union Street,Sydney."
David Francis Nash died on February 25, 1878, aged 74 years.

Eldest son, Robert Nash, who married Elizabeth Emily Buddivent in 1850, was a storekeeper at Campbell's Wharf in Sydney.Of their four children, three survived to adulthood- Jessie Isabella( b 1851); Emily Ada( b 1853) and Percival Little (1858-1901. Died of pneumonia aged 44). Another son, Walter Nash, was born on April 16, 1856, and died the same year.
Emily Ada Nash married William Richard Child: "Marriage: CHILD-NASH. At St. Barnabas's by the Rev. J. Barnier,William Richard, third son of the late Henry George Child, to Emily Ada, second daughter of Robert Nash of Marulan." -SMH, 9 February, 1877.Their children were Maude b 1877; Ethel(1879-1884); Oswald Wiliam (1882-1964); Arley b 1885; Cecil b 1887; Ernest Henry (1891-1960) and Isabel b 1896.
Emily Ada Nash Child died in 1938 in Sydney.

Percival Little Nash, Jessie's youngest sibling, married Sophia Jane Scadden on March 30, 1887. They had four children- Alma b 1889; Walter b 1893; Edith b 1896 and Maude b 1900- before Percy's untimely death of pneumonia on October 12, 1901, aged only 44.

This brings us to Hubert Hughan's actual Cahill line. His grandmother, Jessie Isabella Nash, married James Sylvester Cahill in 1870:
"Marriage: CAHILL-NASH: March 26, at Orange,by the Reverend H.A Langley, James Sylvester, fourth son of W.A Cahill Esq, principal foreman of the Fitz Roy Dock Works, Cockatoo island, to Jessie Isabella, eldest daughter of R. Nash Esq of Balmain." -SMH- April 20, 1870.
It is interesting that the marriage notice states that James is the fourth son of William and Mary Ann Cahill, when the NSW birth index shows him as being born in 1846, the year after their marriage and therefore the eldest son.

Included amongst their other children were Ann b 1849; Eliza Marguerite Theresa; William born 1858; Augustus b 1860, Isabella b 1863, Henry b 1865 and Annie Agnes born 1867.
Annie Cahill married John Jospeh Skelton in Balmain in 1868: "MARRAIGE: SKELTON-CAHILL: On April 13, at St. Augustine's, Balmain, by the Rev. G.F Dillon, John Joseph, eldest son of Mr. James Skelton, City Waterford, Ireland, to Annie Agnes, third daughter of Mr. William Augustine Cahill, City of Cork, Ireland." -SMH, 22 April, 1868.
Annie had three daughters before dying on April 24, 1878...Mary b 1871; Catherine b 1873 and Elizabeth b 1875."DEATH: SKELTON. April 24, at her residence, No. 4 Keeshan's Terrace, Dowling Street, Woolloomooloo, of rapid consumption, Annie Agnes, the dearly beloved wife of John J. Skelton, and daughter of the late William A. Cahill, architect, of this city, aged 26, leaving an affectionate husband and three children to morn their loss." -SMH, April 25, 1878.

Eliza Cahill married Augustus Brinkmann in 1873: "MARRIAGE: BRINKMANN-CAHILL. On July 15, by special license, at the sacred Heart Church, by the Rev. J.A. Byrne, Augustus, only son of Albert Brinkmann, to Eliza Marguerite Theresa, second daughter of the late William Augustine Cahill, architect, West Street, Darlinghurst." - SMH, August 9, 1873. They had four daughters- Maud Mary b 1874; Theresa b 1877; Wilhelmina Jessie b 1880 and Louisa b 1882.

William Augustine was born in 1858, and in 1871 married Henrietta Lahiff:
"MARRIAGE: CAHILL-LAHIFF. On July 8, by special license, at St. Augustines, Balmain, by the Reverend Patrick Birch, William, second son of W.A Cahill, late Chief Foreman of Works, Fitzroy Dock, to Henrietta, eldest daughter of Mr. B. Lahiff, Bourke Street." -SMH, September 6, 1871.
The only children I can find belonging to this couple are Olive Theresa Cahill, born 1874, and an unnamed child born 1876.
William Cahill died in 1886- "The friends of the late Mr. William Cahill of H.M Customs are respectfully invited to attend his funeral, to move from his late residence Burwood Cottage, Darling Road, for Balmain Cemetery." -SMH, 18 June 1886.

Getting back to Lillian Elizabeth Cahill's parents...her mother, Jessie Isabella Nash Cahill, died in Newtown in 1889, aged 38. Lillian was aged 14 or 15 at the time, and as far as I can tell, had only one sibling- a brother named Hubert Austin Stanley Cahill. Lillian's father, James Sylvester Cahill, died in Picton in 1891, aged about 45 years. At the age of 16 or 17, Lillian found herself with no parents and a slightly older brother.She had maternal relations- her mother's sister and family, the Childs's; and her mother's brother, Percy Nash, lived as a blacksmith in Balmain with his wife and small children.She also had cousins, aunts and uncles on her Cahill side.
Lillian may have lived with her uncle, Percy Nash, and family, as they lived in Balmain at the same time as the Hughans. Rather than Lillian work for Frances Hughan, she may have formed a friendship with the Hughan family through their only daughter, Myrtle, who was the same age as Lillian.
Whatever the situation, what is certain is that between April and June (most likely May) of 1899, 25 year old Lillian Cahill fell pregnant, and nine months later gave birth to a son whilst living in the Hughan household.