Above: Photo of Francis Charles Holworthy as identified by his great-grandson Warwick Holworthy.
• FRANCIS CHARLES HOLWORTHY: born 29 July, 1837, Marylebone, the fourth of five children born to Charles Wilmot Holworthy and Mary Margaret Townsend. He was baptised on August 26, 1837, Old Church, St. Pancras, London.
The 1841 census return has three year old Francis living at Grove Terrace, Marylebone, London, with his three older siblings Arthur, Caroline and Wilmot, and his parents. His father Charles Wilmot Holworthy worked as an assistant clerk in the Inland and Foreign Office in London.
In 1851, young Francis Holworthy was twelve years old, and living in the house that would be the Holworthy home for several decades. Located in Finchley Rd, Marylebone, their neighbours included a Scottish schoolmaster and a ‘British manufacturer’ who employed 67 persons. All five Holworthy children were still living at home with their parents, with 19 year old Arthur employed as a clerk to a merchant.
The 1861 census return shows that Francis Charles Holworthy was employed with the P & O Steam ‘Service’. The Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company, which is usually known as P&O, was a British shipping and logistics company which dated from the early 19th century.
In 1851 the Admiralty called for tenders for the mail service by sea and subsequently awarded P&O the contract to open an Australian mail service to operate twice monthly from Singapore to Sydney via Batavia, King George's Sound, Melbourne and return via the same ports. The sailings were organised to connect with the long haul Suez-Hong Kong-Suez service, and was inaugurated by the 699-ton iron screw steamer CHUSAN which made an historic passage from Southampton and arrived in Sydney on 3 August 1852, departing on the first service to Singapore on 31 August 1852.
Source: http://www.pocruises.com.au/html/carrying-royal-mail.cfm
In 1863, Francis Holworthy boarded the ship ‘Alfred’ and set sail for Melbourne, Australia. He landed at Melbourne in October of 1863, but almost immediately sailed on the same ship for Sydney.
The next trace I found of Francis was two unclaimed letters that had been addressed to him at Gladstone, Queensland, in 1865.
A snippet reference, written in French, was frustratingly incomplete on Google Books, but made mention that “In 1866 the English colonist Holworthy introduced cotton seedlings to Noumea”.
The next 15 or so years are a mystery at the moment, but since Francis married in Noumea in 1881, he presumably spent the time from 1866 to 1881 in New Caledonia building his property and assets.
NOTE: New information to hand has provided crucial information as to Francis Holworthy's dealings during the late-1860s-early 1870s. Max Williamson of the specialist auction firm Leski Auctions was kind enough to contact me with the details of a special auction to be conducted mid-2012. This will be an auction of an amazing archive of articles concerning bushranger and con-man Andrew George Scott, aka Captain Moonlight. We already knew of Allan Hughan's association with this man, as they sailed to Fiji together in September of 1869 on Allan's schooner 'Pilot'. The catalogue of the upcoming auction details several letters that are of immense interest to the Hughan family story, and I am forever indebted to Max Williamson for being generous to share the details of them. The correspondence is as follows:
1869 (Sept 4th) letter (with envelope) from James Elijah Crook in Bacchus Marsh, giving reference re A.G.Scott to E.W.Lomberg in Fiji, as Scott intends to try his fortune in Fiji.
1869 (13th Oct) letter from D.J.Minnett in Levuka, Fiji, introducing Mr.A.G.Scott. A passenger named 'Mr. Minute' travelled from Melbourne to Fiji on the Pilot with Andrew Scott.
1869 (7 Dec) letter from Francis Holworthy in New Caledonia to Alfred Hilder in Sydney (with envelope, carried by hand), stating George Scott is his partner, and they are starting a cotton plantation in New Caledonia
1869 (9th Dec) bill from M.J.Marshall in Noumea to Mr Scott for November & December board & lodgings, $250.50
1869 (10th Dec) letter from Francis Holworthy in Tongouin (New Caledonia) to A.G.Scott with further requests for items to start the cotton plantation, including seed & cotton gin.
Statement of George Scott’s A/C with Union Bank of Australia, from Dec 31 1869 (Credit of £503 – exact amount paid by Sydney mint for the stolen gold) to June 11 1870.
1870 (Feb.10) letter from A.B.Weyall, Head-Master of the Sydney Grammar School, certifying Mr.Scott to be a partner with his friend Mr.Holworthy in a Cotton Plantation in New Caledonia
1870 (Feb.11) letter from A.B.Weyall, Head-Master of the Sydney Grammar School, stating he has known Mr.Holworthy for the last six years and he is quite sure he is thoroughly honourable.
1870 (24th May) 6-page letter from Allan Hughan in Lipton (New Caledonia) to Mr Scott, noting seizure of his goods to pay a claim of £16; the sale of his 17 shooter for £20; Holworthy losing all he had put in; - “you are going to the devil headlong.”
In the latter part of 1870 Andrew Scott was arrested for passing bad cheques. On December 20, 1870, he was brought before the Sydney Quarter Sessions charged with obtaining goods by means of false pretences. He was found guilty and was sentenced to twelve months in Maitland Gaol.
It seems as though Francis Holworthy displayed a huge lapse in judgement of character when it came to his choice of business partner, as promises made by Scott never came into fruition and Francis was forced to look elsewhere for finances.
Francis Charles Holworthy was married to 20 year old Ruth Madeline Hughan on 9 July, 1881, at the British Consulate in Noumea. Francis was almost 24 years older than Ruth...in fact, he was less than one month older than Ruth’s father, photographer Allan Ramsay Cunningham Hughan. The Hughans had been resident in Noumea since Allan’s schooner the ‘Pilot’ had been shipwrecked near New Caledonia in 1870.
It is certain that the two men were friends, and that Francis’s relationship with Ruth started via his friendship with her father.
The year 1883 proved to be a tumultuous one for Francis Holworthy. He would have been thrilled with the birth of his and Ruth’s first child, a son named Wilmot Francis Holworthy, then plunged into despair just twelve days later with the death of his 22 year old wife from complications of childbirth.
Wilmot Holworthy was born at Noumea on May 1, 1883. His mother Ruth died on May 12, 1883.
Just six months later Ruth’s father, Allan Ramsay Cunningham Hughan, died at the Holworthy residence, ‘Tembea’, New Caledonia. He died on November 16, 1883, leaving behind a widow, Phoebe Hughan, daughters Minnie and Aline and one small grandchild, Wilmot Holworthy.
Francis Holworthy's business interests in Noumea took a definite turn for the worse after the death of his young wife. He appeared in the Insolvency Court in Sydney in December 1886, and the following notice was published in the Sydney Morning Herald: "Surrenders: Francis Charles Holworthy, Sydney, late of Noumea, Mr. L.T Lloyd, official assignee. Liabilities: 10, 703 pounds 19 shillings 10 pence. Assets: 10 pounds."
He again appeared in the Insolvency Court in May 1887, then in September 1887 the following appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald: "Insolvency Court. Certificate of conformity was granted to Francis Charles Holworthy(a grazier who had followed his avocation in New Caledonia).
Francis Holworthy turned away from his former business interests and headed to Young in country NSW, where he went into partnership with John George Gough, an established builder. Born in Melbourne in 1848, John's mother died when he was an infant, and soon after he and his father moved to the Lambing Flats diggings (Young). John was orphaned at the age of 13 in 1861, but through perseverance and his own abilities established himself as a very successful builder, being responsible for the construction of the Young and Cowra court houses and railway stations, amongst many other projects. After John Gough and Francis Holworthy became business partners in 1887, they erected a large steam saw mill and joinery works and a brick factory in Young.
In 1894, Francis C. Holworthy was named Government Registrar for the Young District.
Above: Article from the Burrowa News, 11 November, 1898
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