Stone Family in Tasmania

Charles Alexander Hope (1842-1922) was the son of James Hope and Emma Stone and after winning a “Tasmanian Scholarship” went to St John’s College, Cambridge where he graduated B.A. in 1867. He was then ordained Deacon and served as a curate in the parish of Roehampton, Surrey. After being ordained Priest in 1868 he moved to Hellesdon St Mary in Norfolk in 1870 and in the same year married Louisa Chambers Roe (1846-1906). In 1892 he became Rector of nearby St Edmund’s, Taverham where he died in 1922.

Charles and Louisa had one son and seven daughters who were all born while they were living at Hellesdon. They were: Charles Leslie Hope (1872-1876), Mary Louisa Hope (1873-1958), Grace Agnes Hope (1875-1876), Alice Dorothy Hope (1876-1947), Edith Muriel Hope (1878- ), Margaret Somerville Hope (1880-1956), Emma Beatrice Hope (1883-1973), Frances Mildred Hope (1885-1954).

Two of the children died while they were still very young: Charles Leslie Hope and Grace Agnes Hope.

In the 1901 Census we find that two of the girls were employed at the Cheddleton Lunatic Asylum in Staffordshire: Mary Louisa Hope (aged 27) in the kitchen and Margaret Somerville Hope (aged 20) as a Nurse.

Construction of the Cheddleton Asylum commenced in 1895 and was unusual in that it was a self-contained and self-sufficient village with farms and workshops, generating its own electricity and with its own water supply including a water tower 41 m tall.

Ten years later the 1911 Census shows that Mary Louisa was still involved with cooking but was now a Confectioner and Restaurateur (sic) at 14 Queen Victoria Street, Reading, Berkshire in partnership with Helen Philippa Jeffery. They also employed a young woman (Emily Beatrice Holloway, aged 18) as the cook in the Restaurant and another (Louisa Ann Hall, aged 22) as a Housemaid and Waitress.

Mary Louisa Hope did not marry but Margaret Somerville Hope married Albert Frederick Gillbee in 1910, Frances Mildred Hope had already married Herbert Sydney Erskine Austin in 1906 and Edith Muriel Hope would marry Percy Jump in 1913. (see below)

Alice Dorothy Hope followed in the Hope family’s tradition of scholarship. She was a student at Cheltenham Ladies’ College, where she was a boarder in Cambray House, and passed the London University Matriculation examination in June 1895.

Then in the 1911 Census records we find that Alice Dorothy Hope is an Assistant Teacher at the Princess Helena College in Ealing. This school had been founded in 1820 in London for the daughters of officers who had served in the Napoleonic Wars and the daughters of Anglican clergy. Princess Helena, the third daughter of Queen Victoria became President of the College in 1874 and was named in her honour in 1879.

The College moved to new buildings in Ealing in 1882 which were officially officially opened by Princess Helena. In 1935 the College moved to Temple Dinsley in Hertfordshire and is now becoming co-educational, having accepted boys since September 2019.

Alice Dorothy Hope died on 7 January 1947 in the Anglo American Hospital in San Isidro, Lima Peru but I don’t know what was the reason for her being there.

Frances Mildred Hope m Herbert Sydney Erskine Austin

Although the youngest of the daughters Frances Mildred was the first to get married. She was twenty-one at the time and her husband was nearly thirty-seven and an electrical engineer. Their wedding was in 1906 in the St Faith’s Registration District in Norfolk which at that time included Taverham so it is likely that her father was the celebrant.

Frances and Herbert had two children: Bertha Frances Mary Austin was born 1 Aug 1907 and Charles Herbert Austin on 3 Nov 1910, both in St Faith’s, Norfolk.

Frances Mildred died on 19 June 1954 and Herbert Sydney Erskine on 17 March 1955 both in North Walsham, Norfolk.

Bertha Frances Mary Austin was a Practising Midwife and did not marry. She died in Folkstone, Kent on 29 October 1981.

Charles Herbert Austin was a Chartered Accountant and married Pauline M. Lindley-Jones in 1940 at Bromley, Kent. Pauline was born in Bromley 23 September 1915. Charles Herbert died in Chislehurst, Kent on 20 October 1990.

Margaret Somerville Hope m Alfred Frederick Gillbee

Margaret Somerville Hope also married an older man. At the time of their wedding she was thirty and Alfred Frederick Gillbee was a forty-year-old assistant bank manager. Again the wedding was in St Faith’s Registration District so was probably held at Taverham.

Albert Frederick died in 1952 and Margaret Somerville on 29 Jan 1956 both in Devonshire. As far as I know they had no family.

Edith Muriel Hope m Percy Jump

Edith Muriel Hope was thirty-five when she married Percy Jump in 1913 and the wedding was in the St Faith’s Registration District. Percy was twenty-six, having been born in Sheffield, 29 April 1887.

They had two children: Peter Alexander Edward Jump, born 25 July 1015 in Warwickshire and Phyllis Mary Muriel Jump, born 14 December 1919.

Peter Alexander Edward Jump married Sheila Maureen Watson at Wylam, Northumberland, England on 30 March 1940. Sheila was born at Wylam, Northumberland on 30 April 1917 and died at Hull on 17 June 1973. They had three children and in 1954 were living at Glass House Green, Wentworth, South Yorkshire.

Peter A. E. Jump married Winifred R. Alford in 1975 and died on 12 August 1991 in Bedford. Winifred died in 2006.

If anyone can help me to fill out this account I would be delighted to hear from them.

Claude Septimus Hope was born in New Town, Hobart on 11 September 1884, the seventh son of John Thomas Hope and his wife Lucy Elizabeth (nee Smith).

On 11 July 1908 he married Wilhelmina Clara May White, although they already had a son, Cecil Bingley White who was born in Launceston in 1902. By this time they were apparently living in New Town, a suburb of Hobart.

On Wednesday 4 November 1908 he attended a meeting of the metropolitan committee of the A.N.A. Friendly Society as a delegate from the New Town Branch and was appointed assistant secretary to the committee.

It would appear that they had three daughters, one born in 1911 and twins born in 1913 before Claude Septimus left for New South Wales in 1914.

During the next ten years he visited the family only once for three weeks and gradually stopped exchanging letters with them. As a result Wilhelmina in 1927 petitioned for the dissolution of their marriage.

What was Claude Septimus doing in New South Wales? There is one newspaper account of him being taken to court in 1920 for an alleged breach of contract where he is described as “Claude Septimus Hope, of Military Road, Neutral Bay, manufacturer”. However after that date nothing is known–perhaps with one exception.

The following news item appeared in the “Sydney Morning Herald” on Tuesday 23 January 1923.

As reported in the “Albury Banner and Wodonga Express” on Friday 9 February 1923, an inquest was held on the 1 February 1923 and evidence was given that the fire had started in the bootshop and that next morning when Sergeant Kersley was examining the building he retrieved some partly burnt papers which related to a man called Claude Septimus Hope.

The owner of the shop, Thomas Edward Balfe claimed that there was no such person but that “he had conducted a saw business at Courabyra, in the name of Claude Septimus Hope, which name he took because the business was a new venture… Was in financial difficulties at Courabyra a little over 12 months ago. Had an account in the Bank of Commerce at Tumbarumba and had an overdraft unsettled of about £39, as near as he could remember.”

He then stated that what Sergeant Kersley had found was a letter he had received from the manager of the Bank in November 1921.

“The only reason for telling Sergeant Kersley that the papers he had picked up were those of a friend was because he, witness, was trying to make good so that he could discharge the liability he left behind at Tumbarumba.”

The coroner concluded that the fire had been caused maliciously but could not say by whom. He also thought the Balfe’s evidence “was somewhat unreliable” and should be drawn to the attention of the authorities.

Note: Do you think that he might have changed his name when he left Courabyra rather than when he went there?

From about 1863 James and Emma Hope and their large family lived at 16 Elboden Street, South Hobart which previously had been the residence of the American Consul, E. Hathaway Esq. When the property was advertised for sale in 1846 it was described as “that well-finished Dwelling-House in the occupation of the American Consul; it consists of eight rooms besides out-offices, sheds, &c., a yard well enclosed with fence and gates 7 feet high, and a large garden stocked with the choicest fruit trees.” (Courier, Wednesday 6 May, 1846, page 1)

If you are wondering about the name of the street it was named after the Portuguese village of El Bodon which in September 1811 was the site of a battle during the Peninsula War between part of Napoleon’s army and some of the British and Portuguese forces led by the Duke of Wellington.

Neil Curnow is remembered with gratitude in the Adelaide theatrical community as a generous benefactor who has made it possible for promising actors and directors to pursue further studies.

“The Neil Curnow Award is available to final-year students and graduates under the age of 30 who have studied theatre at Flinders University or TAFE SA’s Adelaide College of the Arts. The purpose of the award is to support an emerging artist to undertake further study or career development in acting/theatre performance or direction.

“The award is made possible through the generous bequest of the late Neil Curnow, an extraordinary man of the theatre based in Adelaide. Following his impressive career as an actor, director, teacher and voice coach, Neil made a bequest through the Independent Arts Foundation to support emerging South Australian theatre people through this prestigious award. Valued at up to $7,000 for interstate study and $10,000 for overseas study, the award supports the recipient to undertake further study or an internship at a recognised institution. The award is facilitated by the Helpmann Academy on behalf of the Independent Arts Foundation.” https://www.helpmannacademy.com.au/awards/neil-curnow-award/

The award has been given each year since 2005 and here is what one of the recipients had to say:
“I am so humbled and grateful to be given this incredible opportunity. I am determined to make the most of it and bring back a wealth of knowledge to launch my career forward in South Australia.”
Abbie Johnstone, 2016 Neil Curnow Award winner

Background

Neil Alfred Curnow was born on 2 March 1925 in Ultima, Victoria to Alfred Ernest Curnow and his wife Christina Margaret (née Alford) and as a result was descended from two branches of the Stone family. His father’s mother Mary May was the daughter of Alfred Stone the son of Thomas and Ann Stone. His mother’s mother was Margaret the daughter Joseph Stone who was also the son of Thomas and Ann.

Neil Curnow served in the Royal Australian Air Force as a Flying Officer from June 1943 to October 1945.

In 1949 he was a student resident at Queen’s College in the University of Melbourne and by 1963, according to the Electoral Roll he was living at Flat 7, 210 Albert Street, East Melbourne (just near the north end of the Fitzroy Gardens) and his occupation was given as actor.

In 1962 he starred in a live television drama produced by the ABC called “The Hobby Horse”, the story of rediscovered love in a grazing property in northern NSW. Over the years he has had parts in a variety of TV productions, including “Homicide” in 1965 and “Chuck Finn” in 2000.

Clifford Amandus Burmester was a great-grandson of Thomas and Ann Stone and the grandson of Lucy Susannah Stone who married William Richard Field in 1869. The following biographical note is part of the description attached to the record of his papers which are lodged in the National Library of Australia in Canberra.

They include biographical papers and memoirs. “The memoirs which were written in about 1977 and are 167 pages in length, cover his childhood and education in Western Australia, as well as his long service in the Parliamentary Library and National Library. The other papers comprise a copy of his unsuccessful application to join the Parliamentary Library in 1934 and his brief outline of the history of his forebears, including his great grandfather Thomas Stone, who emigrated to Van Diemen’s Land in 1819, and his father Henry Peter Burmester, the son of an immigrant from Germany. “

Clifford Amandus Burmester was born on 16 June 1910 in Boulder City, Western Australia, the son of Henry and Ethel Burmester. His father was an engine-driver in the Water Supply Department and his early years were spent in small towns on the goldfields. In 1922 the family moved to Perth and he attended the Claremont Central School and later Perth Modern School. He was appointed a trainee teacher in the Education Department and in 1933 graduated as a Bachelor of Arts with Honours at the University of Western Australia. For a time he was a correspondence tutor in the Department of History.

In 1934 Burmester applied for a position in the Commonwealth Parliamentary Library, but the job was given to L.F. Fitzhardinge. He was successful the following year, being appointed a Legislative Research Clerk. He enlisted in the AIF in 1941, serving mostly in the Northern Territory. He returned to the Library after the War and in 1947 was appointed the second Liaison Officer in London. Among his many achievements in this post were the successful negotiations to secure the Nan Kivell Collection, the purchase of the Kashnor Collection, and the inauguration of the Australian Joint Copying Project.

Burmester’s first marriage to Winifred Lamb ended in divorce. He married Ruth Southcott in London on 1 January 1948. They had three sons. Burmester died in Canberra on 18 August 1991.

On his return to Canberra in 1951, Burmester was appointed Chief Reference Officer and held this position for 15 years, initially in the Commonwealth Parliamentary Library and after 1960 in the National Library of Australia. As well as being responsible for reading room and reference services, he played a major role in book selection and had oversight of the Australian Section, headed by Pauline Fanning. In the 1960s he was heavily involved in the planning of the new building. He formulated the Library’s acquisition policies at a time of enormous growth of the collections and in 1966 became Principal Librarian, Development Services. Following the sudden death of Athol Johnson in 1967, Burmester became Assistant National Librarian, serving under Harold White and briefly under Allan Fleming. He was a key figure in organising the move into the new building in 1968. He retired in January 1971. He was awarded the Imperial Service Order in 1970.

In his retirement, Burmester undertook a number of bibliographical and scholarly projects. The most important was National Library of Australia: guide to the collections, published in four volumes between 1974 and 1982, which drew on his enormous knowledge of both the formed and the general collections of the Library.

https://trove.nla.gov.au/version/29454498

Among the letters which were received by my Great-Grandfather, Alfred Stone from family members in Tasmania were two which have not previously been alluded to as far as I know. The first was written by his nephew, John Thomas Hope in 1866 and the second by the latter’s mother, Emma Hope (née Stone) a few years later.

Unlike his brothers, James Somerville Hope and Charles Alexander Hope who had proceeded to tertiary studies in Edinburgh and Cambridge respectively, John Thomas had learnt a trade. He was a currier.

According to Wikipedia “A currier is a specialist in the leather processing industry. After the tanning process, the currier applies techniques of dressing, finishing and colouring to the tanned hide to make it strong, flexible and waterproof.

“The leather is stretched and burnished to produce a uniform thickness and suppleness, and dyeing and other chemical finishes give the leather its desired colour.

“After currying, the leather is then ready to pass to the fashioning trades such as saddlery, bridlery, shoemaking and glovemaking.”

John Thomas had then travelled to Victoria in the hope of obtaining employment in his trade as well as visiting his relatives in Laanecoorie. As we can see he could not get suitable employment so returned to Hobart Town.

The letter is addressed from the family home at Elboden Place, Hobart Town and dated 31 August 1866.

Dear Uncle,

I am sorry I could not write you before but you must know what it is to be unsettled.

I was no use whatever in Victoria for I could not obtain work at my trade nor at anything else but as a waiter & I took that.

I wrote home & told them what I was doing so they advised me to return to H.T. so I did & I am doing well now, as well as ever I did.

I have plenty of work & constant with an advance of wages every few months for I am very much out of practice. When I landed in H.T. it was very wet for 3 or 4 days so I did not venture out, but the first day I went out I obtained this engagement…

With his prospects greatly improved he married Lucy Elizabeth Smith on 31 December 1868 and in 1873 his mother is able to give a good account of his life in her letter to his uncle, dated 30 July 1873.

After referring back to the time she visited Laanecoorie and some comments about different churches Emma continues:

John is living next the W. Chapel at New Town in a nice cottage working at his trade. He has three children. He and his are attendants but do not think members but in a fair way of becoming so—

The three children were: James Somerville Hope (1869-1952), Douglas Campbell Hope (1871-1962) and Edith Rebecca Madeline Hope 1872-1958).

Alex. Stone

I have always believed that Anne Stone’s husband John Rose was a ship’s captain and wondered why I could not find more details about him. Natalie Rose from Victoria has recently been in touch with me, asking some questions about the information concerning him in my family tree. This has resulted in my looking again for information about this elusive character.

In particular I have been searching the New Zealand website for digitized newspapers https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/ and found a number of interesting references which I have included in a new page on the website.

Hairdresser or Musician?

In January 1864 John Rose gave evidence in a court case relating to members of the Wellington Rifle Volunteer Company and identified himself as the bugler to the Company. It was therefore interesting to find that when his daughter Oceana Ellen was married to Henry Barker Lyon at Eddington, Victoria on 8 September 1869 the profession of her deceased father was given as “Musician”. On the other hand in the record of his death his profession is given as “Hairdresser”, and he did conduct such a business in Wellington for a number of years.

Do you have any information about where he was born or the details of his early life? If you do I would be pleased to hear from you.

Alex

Have you ever wondered what the Stone’s business premises might have looked like? I have recently been comparing maps and pictures and think that I have come up with the answer.

We start with portion of the Ashmead map of Bristol from 1828.

If you click on this you will see that some of the blocks are numbered: 2, 3, 4, 5, and 7. Next look at this old postcard of the same area of Old Market Street.

Number 3 is clearly marked and the building with the large clock should be number 5. Now look when we get closer to the clock.

Number 6 will have to be the building with the awning over the footpath.

Looking from the other direction gives a better view. Also the Empire Theatre was number 9 so that checks out too.

Any comments?

Alex.

Thomas Stone followed his father, James Stone in conducting a pawnbroker’s business at 6 Old Market Street, Bristol.

It has been assumed that he is the Thomas Stone whose parents were James and Hannah Stone and according to the records of the Church of the United Brethren (the Moravian Church) was born on the 27 July 1753 and was baptised at the Moravian Meeting Hall, Bristol on the 29 July 1753 by Brother John Cennick, who was his mother’s brother.

I also believed that he died on the 21 May 1831, aged 77. However a recently downloaded record, while adding some useful information such as that he was interred on the 27 May 1831 in the Baptist Burial Ground, Redcross Street, Bristol, does raise some difficult questions by stating that his age was 61 years.The Baptist Burial Ground in Redcross  Street was not far from the Stone’s premises at 6 Old Market Street (see the map below) and was also where James Stone was buried in 1798.Is this difference in given age the result of the delay of six months in registering the burial details or are we being faced with having to look again at our identification of Thomas Stone? Let me know if you can help.

Alex.

I have been delighted to make contact with a number of family members in recent weeks, some of whom are interested in the events being organized by Errol Stone to celebrate our  two hundredth anniversary next year. I am always interested in learning new things about our family and hope to hear from many more of you as time goes on.

Alex.