Wilmot Francis Holworthy

The fantastic photo above is of baby Wilmot Charles Holworthy, taken in Noumea by his grandfather Allan Hughan. He was obviously very young when the photograph was taken- I would say not that long after the death of his mother Ruth. Wilmot himself carried this photograph with him throughout his life with a handful of other family documents and a few photos in an old cigar box which is till treasured by his descendants today.
One of these descendants, Warwick Holworthy, and his wife Trish, have supplied all of my information about Wilmot Holworthy- there was no record of his birth, or of his existence at all, amongst other members of the Hughan family...all that was passed down was the knowledge of the death of Ruth Hughan Holworthy, not of the birth of her little son.
According to present day Holworthys, their great-grandfather Wilmot spent the first seven years of his life (c. 1883-c.1890) being raised in the central NSW town of Young. Through research they discovered that Francis Holworthy had formed a business partnership with prominent Young builder/businessman John Gough in this period- 1885 to be precise- and together they had built a steam saw mill, a Joinery works, and a brick works at Young and ran them as a partnership.
It is not known as yet who looked after Wilmot during his formative early years in Young. Perhaps he was placed in the Gough family? Hopefully more research will add to what little is known about the period 1883-1890.
It appears that Wilmot’s father Francis came and went from Young. He appears in the NSW Insolvency Index of 1886: Francis Charles Holworthy of Macquarie Street, North Sydney, sequestration 17/12/1886. Certificate issued 20/09/1887.
In August of 1886 Francis Holworthy was arriving in Sydney from Noumea on board the ship ‘Caledonian’, and again in May of 1887 per the ship ‘Dupleix’. He again arrived back in Sydney from Noumea later in the year in November on board the ‘Caledonian’.
Inscriptions in books belonging to Wilmot Holworthy have placed the Holworthy name in Young as late 1897. One says “Wilmot Holworthy with his father’s love, Young N.S Wales 1st May, 1897”...this was obviously a gift for Wilmot’s 14th birthday, but he was supposedly back in Noumea by this time, so the ‘Young N.S Wales’ must have been referring to the location of his father at that time.
Wilmot was sent back to Noumea c. 1890 for his schooling, and as a result grew up with French as his preferred language. Wilmot still had family back in Noumea...his maternal aunts Minnie and Aline Hughan were still in residence there, although his grandmother Phoebe Berry Hall Hughan permanently relocated to Sydney in 1889 as her health was not the best.
While Wilmot was back in Noumea receiving his education, his father was courting a woman in view to making her his wife. In 1894, at the age of 57 years, Francis Charles Holworthy married Tasmanian-born Williamina Norwood, 33, at Kiama, NSW. Just briefly, Williamina’s family history was as follows:
Williamina Norwood born March 4, 1861, Launceston, twin daughter of William John and Eliza Norwood. Her twin brother William died infancy. Other siblings:
Francis Edward b March 31, 1851, Launceston. Married Eleanor White, 1876, Hobart. Died 1938, Burwood.
Kate Norwood born May 17, 1853, Launceston. Married Edward H. Mutton, 1879, Orange NSW.
Isabel Norwood born July 24, 1855, Launceston.
Annette Norwood born June 19, 1858, Launceston. Married Frederick Strachan, 1880, Bathurst.
Henrietta Norwood born March 18, 1863, Launceston. Spinster. Died Neutral Bay 1948, aged 86.
Arthur Norwood born May 26, 1866, Launceston. Died North Sydney, 1945.
There is a William John Norwood who died in Bathurst in 1889 aged 72, son of John Norwood- this is probably Williamina's father. Williamina’s father, William John Norwood, owned land and real estate in Tasmania, and at one stage was manager of the Union Quartz Crushing and Mining Company based in Launceston.
I don't know what happened to Williamina's sister Isabella- the following NSW Police Gazette report of 13 September 1899 stated:
" Kiama: On the 19th ult, Isabella Norwood left the residence of Mr. Frederick Strachan, City Bank, Kiama, and has not been since seen or heard of. She is described as about 35 years of age, medium height, slight build, pale complexion, brown hair, dressed in a black skirt, navy blue blouse, straw hat and slippers. Her hat and hankerchief were subsequently found on the rocks near the Blow Hole, and as her mind had been somewhat deranged of late, it is surmised that she committed suicide by throwing herself into the sea."
The West Australian paper of 22 August, 1899, reported:
"Sydney, August 21: Isabella Norwood, who was on a visit to Kiama from Orange, disappeared on Saturday afternoon. Search was made, and her handkerchief was discovered on the rocks near the Blow Hole. No other traces of the girl were seen. She had been suffering from insomnia."

Williamina's eldest brother, Francis Edward Norwood, also found himself in a bit of strife which landed him in goal for two years. He was the auditor for Anglo-Australian Bank in Melbourne and together with the three directors and manager, found himself on trial for “unlawfully concurring in making a certain written statement, well knowing it to be false, with intent to defraud the creditors of the Anglo-Australian Bank”.
This happened in 1892-1893. There is a fabulous sketch showing the five of them -including Francis Norwood- on trial on the Picture Australia site, which is replicated on the following page.

Francis Holworthy and his new wife did not give Wilmot any siblings as their marriage was childless. Letters in Wilmot’s cigar box from Williamina reveal that she loved him as her own son, signing the letters “ Your ever affectionate mother”.
It is not known how long Francis and Williamina remained in Australia after their marriage, but there are shipping records which show that in 1905 the couple set sail from Sydney to Southampton in England on the ship ‘Bremen’.
By then Wilmot was aged 22, and for a period after finishing school he worked in a Sydney bank. According to Holworthy family stories, Wilmot spoke mainly French, and actually struggled a little with the English language. He did not remain in Sydney for long, and found himself in New Zealand.
The shipping records of 1905 throw confusion over the whereabouts of Francis Holworthy and his wife Williamina. In March there is an entry for F. Holworthy and Mrs Holworthy arriving in Sydney from Auckland on the ‘Zealandia’. There is another one in late May for the ‘Warrimoo’ arriving back in Sydney from Wellington with two Holworthys on board.
Finally, there is the passenger reference already mentioned previously....on April 25, 1905, the shipping index shows the arrival in Southampton, England, of Mr F. & Mrs Holworthy from Sydney per the ‘Bremen’.
Their son Wilmot must have enjoyed life in New Zealand, because there he remained for the rest of his life. He married into a very artistic family when he wed Madeline Esther Watkins in New Zealand in 1913. She was the daughter of very well-known artist Charles Henry Kennett Watkins who, from 1879 to 1890, was principal of the Auckland Free School of Art.
Wilmot Holworthy set himself up as a sheep farmer with an advance on his expectations from England- he knew he was to receive bequests in the wills of several relatives.
His son Allan Charles Holworthy was born in New Zealand in 1915, and like his father before him he grew up as an only child.
Tragedy was the cause of Wilmot’s not remaining as a farmer...a neighbouring farmer was burning off and the fire got away, burning out Wilmot entirely. He lost everything and had to walk off his property, but- thankfully for his descendants today-he still had his Cigar Box and its precious genealogical treasures.

Two of those treasures that Wilmot kept included two of the letters written to him by his stepmother Williamina Holworthy after the death of Francis Holworthy. One is replicated as follows:

___ford Park,
Ilfracombe,
North Devon.
7th October, 1923.

My Dear Wilmot,
This is but a few lines to tell you I am leaving England for Rome on the 15th of this month, and I go to London for a day or so at the end of this week.
I wrote to you in April last to tell you I had arrived from Rome, but there has been no answer from you. I also wrote before leaving Rome- I have been in North Devon for six months, four months here in Ilfracombe and two in Woolacombe, which is a little place quite near.
Now the Winter is coming on, and I must return to Rome and shall be very glad to get there. These six months have gone by, but as you can understand, with much sadness for me, for I miss your father even more than ever. And it has been dreadfully lonely for me, if it had not been for my reading I do not know how I could have got through so long a time, but it is such a great resource! I find I have read and studied 8 plays of Shakespeare since I have been in the country.
When the weather was warm one could take a book and sit out of doors a good deal. But this last month there has been nothing but rain and wind, and sometimes such a gale blowing that I could not go out for fear of being blown down. North Devon and Ilfracombe in particular is all open to the Atlantic so the storms are sometimes very great, though it is protected by some high Tors and the coast is quite beautiful and quite rugged, rocks everywhere.
The “stone” is finished and placed over your dear Father’s grave, where he lies in the little cemetery over the hills there, which I see from my window. I went there yesterday and put in three pieces of rosemary, you know “there’s Rosemary for Remembrance”. One piece I put for you , and one for myself, and the other for my dear friends in Rome who loved him so much.
The stone is very simple, just what I wished it to be, and it is a beautiful boulder of Cornish granite and glistens like rough marble and stands four feet high and about 1 ½ feet thick, and then at the foot there is the Rosemary and nothing more. I am so thankful to have been able to do this out of my own savings and it is what I came to England for.
I will enclose you a photograph I have had done of it. It looks better than the photo. The Cemetery is on the side of a high hill called the ‘Cairn’ and it is the quietest and most peaceful spot you can imagine. Not a house to be seen from it, and below it there is a rushing brook.
I have written a longer letter than I intended when I commenced, so I will close now. I have been living quite alone here in Ilfracombe. I took a room next to Mrs Pope’s with a private family that is in Number 8 where I still ____. Number 7 is a boarding house and it was all full for the season soon after I came to Ilfracombe so that is the reason I moved.
I shall hope to hear from you soon, and that you are all well and that your prospects are looking brighter than they were when you wrote.
With my love to you all,
Your most affectionate Mother,
W.Holworthy.”

Francis Charles Holworthy had died in Devon in 1922, aged 84, and his widow’s description of his grave stone and the ‘Rosemary for Remembrance’ is very touching. Williamina Holworthy lived as a widow for another twenty years after her husband’s death. She died on September 5, 1942, and a notice in the London Gazette gave her address as “Late of the Mount Hotel, Ilfracombe’.