Elizabeth (Hodson) Pritchard (abt. 1788 - 1819)

Born about 1788 in Saint Helena

Ancestors

Wife of Henry Huff Pritchard — married 9 Nov 1808 (to 1819) in Saint Helena

Descendants

Died 5 Apr 1819 at about age 31 in Saint Helena

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Biography

Elizabeth was born about 1788 on Saint Helena. She was baptised 18 May 1788 at St James, daughter of Lieutenant Hodson.

9 Nov 1808 - Bachelor, Henry Huff Pritchard married Spinster, Elizabeth Hodson at St James

Elizabeth passed away 5 Apr 1819 and was buried in St James churchyard on 2 May 1819. A memorial tablet in the garden of St James Church reads:

"Sacred to the Memory of Major H.H. PRITCHARD of this estment who departed this life 11th Jan 1828 aged 44 years. Also his first wife Elizabeth died April the 5th 1819 aged 51 years and two of their infant children."

Life Sketch

The Pritchards can be traced back to Stephen (known as James) Pritchard, who emigrated to St Helena after the Great Fire of London, 1666.

His descendant Maj. Henry Huff Pritchard was adjutant to Lt Col. Sir Hudson Lowe, governor of St Helena, when Napoleon was exiled there in 1815, and was expected to report to the governor on the activities of the ex-emperor and his staff. Henry Huff Pritchard died on 11 January 1828, on the day that his promotion to Colonel was gazetted.

Charles the youngest son of Henry Huff and Elizabeth Ann Eleanor Pritchard was born c. 1814. At about 18 he was commissioned an ensign in the service of the English East India Company on 11 March 1833. On the dissolution of the Company is 1836, Charles was pensioned and emigrated to the Cape, settling in Beaufort West.

Short of funds Charles set off to Cape Town on horseback in order to attempt to commute his annual pension of 120 to a lump sum of 300. On the way he fell ill and was nursed back to health by a farmer's daughter, whom he married in 1840.

Charles Pritchard * St Helena, died Simonstown 1905; arrived SA 1836; farmed Langeberg; one of the pioneers of Beaufort West; Member of the Legislative Assembly by 1874; for 25 years a member of the Cape Parliament married Durbanville 12-5-1840 Johanna Hermina DE VILLIERS, * 5-11-1822, + Three Anchor Bay 16-9-1909; both buried in DRC cemetery, Beaufort West She was the eighth child of David de Villiers (born 5-10-1787; lived on farm where Durbanville laid out; moved 1836 to Beaufort West; died BW 22-4-1860) and Anna Susanna RETIEF (12-1-1788 - 27-3-1845; cousin of Voortrekker leader Pieter Retief

They had 13 children. [Malherbe, Juna & Malherbe, Alet. Genealogy of the De Villiers Family in South Africa, 2 vols.. Franschhoek: De Villiers Publication Fund, 1997] Added by Christine (Wolhuter) Schwarz 21 Oct 2021

Sources

• Anglican Church of Southern Africa (ACSA). The Diocese of St Helena Parish Registers and Indices held at University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa. Historical Papers Research Archive series AB2073:
  • Saint Helena Baptism Registration St James 18 May 1788 [1]
  • Saint Helena Marriage Register St James 9 Nov 1808 [2]
  • Saint Helena Burial Register St James 2 May 1819 [3]
  • Saint Helena Gravestones and Memorials [4]

Footnotes

Acknowledgments