William Holman (1842 - 1900)

Born 24 Dec 1842 in Rochester, Kent, England, United Kingdom

Ancestors

Husband of Mary Ann (Bent) Holman — married 28 Sep 1863 (to 1866) in Milton-next-Gravesend, Kent, England, United Kingdom

Husband of Elizabeth Ann (Abbott) Holman — married 25 Mar 1877 in Swanscombe, Kent, England, United Kingdom

Descendants

Died 16 Apr 1900 at age 57 in Townsville, Colony of Queensland.

Problems/Questions Profile manager: David Urquhart [send private message]

Genealogically Defined

Biography

This profile is part of the Ravenswood, Queensland, Australia One Place Study.

William Holman was born in Kent, England.

William Holman has English ancestors.

William Holman migrated from Kent to Australia.

William Holman came free to the Colony of Queensland (1859-1900)

William Holman was an Assisted Immigrant to Queensland.

William Holman came into this world on the 24th of December, Christmas Eve of 1842, in the parish of Saint Nicholas, Rochester, Kent, England,^[1] the son of Sarah Holman, an unmarried mother.^[2] and baptised the following year, on the 7th of February 1843, at St. Mary's, Chatham, Kent, England.^[3]

William is here with his mother, in 1851 at the British Queen, Bow Street, Northfleet, North Aylesford, Kent, England.^[4]

William Pitt Head Married Male 31 1820 Beer Shop & Lodging House Keeper Rochester, Kent, England

Sarah Pitt Wife Married Female 31 1820 - Rochester, Kent, England

William Homan Wife Son - Male 8 1843 - Rochester, Kent, England

William's mother, Sarah Holman married William Pitt on the 21st of January 1852 in Gravesend, Kent, England.

When he was old enough, William decided to broaden his horizons, and plying his trade as a Smith, found work in London, as he can be found visiting Hammersmith in London at the time the census was recorded, on the 7th April 1861, and calling himself William Pitt.^[5]

William Rawlings Head Male 66 Newton, Salop

Eliza Rawlings Wife Female 46 Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire

William Pitt Visitor Male 19 Rochester, Kent^[6]

William Holman was in Milton-next-Gravesend, Kent, England, a short time later, as he first married Mary Ann Bent on the 28th of September 1863.^[7]

After Mary Ann Holman passed away in September of 1866, William travelled around for a few years, until, on the 25th of March 1877, while he was in Swanscombe, Kent, England, United Kingdom, he met, and married Betsy Ann Abbott.^[8]

William and Betsy Holman 1877.

Scottish Hero.

Five months after their marriage, William Holman and Betsy (Ann) Abbott, boarded the barque S. S. SCOTTISH HERO as assisted immigrants. They reached Rockhampton in the Colony of Queensland on Wednesday the 12th of December 1877, where their four children were born.

William Holman helped with the installation of the first machinery at the Morgan Brothers Mine at Mt. Morgan in the Colony of Queensland.

The Holman Family then moved to Ravenswood in the Colony of Queensland while the Gold Rush was happening there. William must have always had itchy feet as he can be found finding work on the Victoria Swing Bridge^[9] in Townsville in the Colony of Queensland in 1890, working as caretaker for thirteen days before resigning.^[10]

William Holman was on the dredge 'Dugong at the Jetty in Townsville Harbour in the Colony of Queensland, on the 16th April 1900,^[11] when he fell overboard and drowned. His remains were transported back to Ravenswood in the Colony of Queensland, where he was laid to rest on the 19th of April 1900. ^[12][11][13]

Obituary

William's death is recorded in the following article published on Tuesday 17 April 1900 in the newspaper THE CHARTERS TOWERS MINING STANDARD :-
Fatal Accident.
A FATAL accident occurred in the harbor yesterday afternoon (say's to-days BULLETIN). It appears that a man named Wm. Hollmann (sic), who had been employed on the dredge Dugong for some time, returned to his vessel between 3 and 4 o'clock in the afternoon, and shortly afterwards was noticed by a boy, who was fishing on the breakwater, to fall overboard. The unfortunate man apparently struck against a boat in his fall, and disappeared at once. The boy immediately gave the alarm, and the dredge hands, assisted by the police, proceeded at once to drag for the body, which was eventually found about 6 o'clock and conveyed to the morgue. The deceased leaves a wife and grown-up family at Ravenswood, wither he had been on a short visit, returning yesterday."

Dugong Wrecked
HOPPER BARGE WRECKED. LOSS OF THE DUGONG. MARYBOROUGH, September 27 The lighthouse keeper at Inskip Point has advised the harbour-master (Captain E. J. Boult) of the total wreck of the hopper barge Dugong, which, during its tow by the steamer Adonis, broke adrift, and now lies on the outer edge of the Wide Bay bar, and about a quarter of a mile north of Hook Point leads. It is understood that the Dugong was the pro- perty of the Townsville Harbour Board, and had previously been in tow of the steamer Porpoise, which, however, was unable to take it over the bar. The Por- poise proceeded to Brisbane, and the Adonis subsequently arrived to carry out the task.^[14]

Research Notes

• There are no William Pitt's found in a search, born in a five year period around 1842, in Kent, England.

William Holman has been an almost constant source of anguish. In first trying to find his birth and then on the english census. On his Australian death certificate it says he passed away aged 60 years in 1900 and his fathers name was William Holman, publican. The same on his marriages. With the advent of the internet and records being added to it, I was finally able to search every William Holman in Kent, their births, their marriages, their children..none were the son of a publican. I finally found him under an illegitimate birth, mothers name Sarah. Then I went to the census and was unable to find him, as engineer, caulker, nothing. I was sitting here working on the rest of his family and had a thought to look under Pitt. And, success, I have found him in the 1861 census in the household of William Rawlings in London. I am still unable to find him on the 1871 census.Urquhart-93 09:00, 16 September 2018 (UTC)

Sources

1. ↑ England, Kent - Birth Certificate "Research Your Family History Using The General Register Office". 2019. GOV.UK. Accessed September 29 2019. UK GRO > Date: 24 Dec 1842; Name: William Holman; Place: High Street, St. Nicholas, Rochester, Kent; Registration District: Medway; General Register Office, England; Downloaded pdf copy purchased from GRO in the personal files of David Urquhart
2. ↑ England, Kent - GRO Birth Indexes England & Wales GRO Online Index - Births > Date: Mar Qtr 1842; Name: Holman; Registration District: Swanscombe; Ref: Vol No. 06B; Pg No. 425; Mother's Maiden Surname: Holman.
3. ↑ FamilySearch > "Familysearch". 2019. Familysearch.Org. Accessed October 2 2019. "England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:J9LS-Q29 : 10 February 2018, William Holman, ); citing yrs 1837-1855 p 336, index based upon data collected by the Genealogical Society of Utah, Salt Lake City; FHL microfilm 1,473,649.
4. ↑ Citing this Record "England and Wales Census, 1851," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:SGLM-4G6 : 9 November 2019), William Homan in household of William Pitt, Northfleet, Kent, England; citing Northfleet, Kent, England, p. 2, from "1851 England, Scotland and Wales census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing PRO HO 107, The National Archives of the UK, Kew, Surrey.
5. ↑ "England and Wales Census, 1861," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M7KL-8BW : 1 August 2020), William Pitt in household of William Rawlings, Hammersmith, London, England, United Kingdom; from "1861 England, Scotland and Wales census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing PRO RG 9, The National Archives, Kew, Surrey.
6. ↑ FamilySearch > "Familysearch". 2019. Familysearch.Org. Accessed October 2 2019. [1]"England and Wales Census, 1861," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M7KL-8BQ : 10 December 2017), William Rawlings, Hammersmith, London, Middlesex, England; from "1861 England, Scotland and Wales census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing PRO RG 9, The National Archives, Kew, Surrey.
7. ↑ FamilySearch >"Familysearch". 2019. Familysearch.Org. Accessed October 2 2019. [2]"England, Kent, Parish Registers, 1538-1911," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QJD2-SY55 : 8 December 2017), William Holman and Mary Ann Bent, 28 Sep 1863; citing Marriage, Holy Trinity, Milton-next-Gravesend, Kent, England, Kent Archives Office, Maidstone; FHL microfilm 992,514.
8. ↑ England, Kent - Marriage Certificate > Date: 25 Mar 1877; Place: The Parish Church, Swanscombe, Kent; Name: William Holman & Betsy Ann Abbott > Reg No: ; Registration District: Dartford; General Register Office, England; Certified copy in the personal files of David Urquhart
9. ↑ Wikipedia contributors, "Victoria Bridge, Townsville," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Victoria_Bridge,_Townsville&oldid=906420445 (accessed October 2, 2019).
10. ↑ Townsville City Library refer Images tab on this profile
11. ↑ ^{11.0 11.1} Australia, Queensland - Queensland Death Index > "Search Historical Records | Queensland Government". 2019. Bdm.Qld.Gov.Au. Accessed September 28 2019. Australia, Qld Deaths Index > Year: 1900; Ref: 92043; William Holman s/o William Holman, Publican & -?-.
12. ↑ Australia, Queensland - Death Certificate > Date: 16 Apr 1900; Name: William Holman; District: Townsville ; Place: Townsville Jetty, Townsville; Ref: 92043 ; General Registry Office, Brisbane. Personal Certified copy in the files of David Urquhart.
13. ↑ Ravenswood Burial Register. 1875-1987; w. Index. > "Scanned Copy of register in the personal files of David Urquhart." Ref: Pg 14; Entry: No 465. Name: Holman, William. Adult, 60 years. Buried, 19 Apr 1900. C of E.
14. ↑ HOPPER BARGE WRECKED. - LOSS OF THE DUGONG. MARYBOROUGH, September 27. - The Brisbane Courier (Qld. : 1864 - 1933) - 28 Sep 1914 "HOPPER BARGE WRECKED. - LOSS OF THE DUGONG. MARYBOROUGH, September 27. - The Brisbane Courier (Qld. : 1864 - 1933) - 28 Sep 1914". 2019. Trove. Accessed October 2 2019. Dugong Wrecked

See Also:

• Find A Grave, database and images : accessed 18 September 2019), memorial page for William Holman (24 Dec 1842–16 Apr 1900), Find A Grave: Memorial #187702724, citing Ravenswood Cemetery, Ravenswood, Charters Towers Region, Queensland, Australia ; Maintained by Richie Wright (contributor 48346415) .
• Wikimedia Commons, Scottish Hero.
• Mount Morgan Mine
• Dicovery of Mount Morgan Mine.
• Victoria Swing Bridge
• Victoria Swing Bridge historical nomination.
• JCU Research Online, Thesis by Menghetti, Diane, 1984.
• Sign up today | findmypast.com.au>"Sign Up Today | Findmypast.Com.Au". 2019. Search.Findmypast.Com.Au. Accessed October 2 2019. William Holman 1892 Electoral Roll
• Details of William's Father were not recorded on his birth registration.
• Voyage and Arrival in Rockhampton of the Scottish Hero are able to be viewed under the Images tab on this profile.
• There is a family tradition which holds that he was an excessive whisky drinker and that he was under the influence of the drink when he fell overboard off the DUGONG and drowned.
• At the time of William's death in 1900 his wife (Betsy Ann Abbott) and children were living in James Street, Ravenswood in the Colony of Queensland.
• Information of the address of Betsy Ann Abbott and the children at the time of William's death was provided from his death certificate.
• Details of William's life are mentioned in obituaries of Betsy Ann Abbott.
• This was the same SCOTTISH HERO which, nine years later, brought William Milburn and Margaret Marie Theresa (Maggie) O'Connor to Australia.
• There are no details known about brothers or sisters of William Holman.
• So far as is known, no copies of THE TOWNSVILLE DAILY BULLETIN issue mentioned above remain in existence.
• (sic) - that is correct (appended in brackets after a quoted passage to indicate that the passage is quoted exactly even though its incorrectness or absurdity would suggest that it was not quoted exactly)

Acknowledgements

Thanks to Lisa Molloy for sending me Betsy Holman's headstone photo, the file from the Townsville historical Matthew Index re William at the Victoria Bridge and the file on the journey of the Scottish hero to Rockhampton. (refer Images tab on this profile).Urquhart-93 10:39, 16 September 2018 (UTC)

Written or verbal correspondence between Peter James Mayoh and May Elizabeth (Bess) Mayoh.

Written or verbal correspondence between Peter James Mayoh and Robert Edmund Mayoh.

Wikimedia Commons contributors, "File:StateLibQld 1 231273 Castle Hill viewed above the Townsville township, ca. 1955.jpg," Wikimedia Commons, the free media repository, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:StateLibQld_1_231273_Castle_Hill_viewed_above_the_Townsville_township,_ca._1955.jpg&oldid=249944111 (accessed September 9, 2019).