William Stickland Milverton from England to New Zealand

There are times when some family in the past lead exciting and interesting lives, where the information collected over the years increases as many become available at hand. Putting that information together does provide an insight into people’s lives and you do have to remember that life was very different to that of the world today. I have worked on William on and off from when I first started tracing my family tree. Much of the information, I have gathered on him have been between 2000 and 2019. That is around as long as I have been researching the family tree. Much of the information has appeared online, but there is always a few records that can be viewed at their source. I have written about William’s mother before and will include links to previous blogs about her life. The connection between William Stickland Milverton is as follows, he is my 3^rd great grandfather on my mother’s side of the family.

William Stickland Milverton was born in the Dorset town of Beaminster on the 24^th of August 1847 to Wilhelmina Milverton and the equally mysterious William Stickland, a farmer from Corscombe. This last bit of information was crossed out in the original record that I viewed in 2009 while I was doing some research at the Dorset Record office in Dorchester. The same is recorded on the OPC website as well.[1] I do not know if there is a bastardry record for them as I have not come across one. However in 2015, I did come across a news article in 1861 about a court case between Wilhelmina Milverton and William Stickland about marriage promises and the young William Milverton.[2] William appears in the 1851 census with his grandparents, John and Anne Milverton who ran the Swann Inn within Beaminster. Wilhelmina was listed at the same address being unmarried.

William does vanish from the official records between 1851 and 1867. He hasn’t appeared in the 1861 census, so his whereabouts is unknown at this period of time and he could appear within a census, but the writing might be unreadable. William turns up in Middlesex in 1867 getting married to Caroline Brake whose parents are Frederick and Amelia Brake of Crewkerne. William lists his father’s name as William Stickland and occupation as farmer. I do not know if there is a relationship between the two men, but it is interesting that he had listed his father on the marriage certificate. I do not know if he was present at the wedding, but an uncle of William’s was present signing his name, Joseph Milverton. Joseph Milverton and family would immigrate to New Zealand in 1873 where they would end up in Palmerston North near Wellington in New Zealand’s North Island. The family would have known each other in the city of London. They did live around 3 miles from each other according to Google Maps. The address listed on the marriage certificate was 44 Goodge street, London and Joseph lived at 3 Cirencester Street, Paddington occupation was painter.[3] The Vicar to marry them was James Moorhouse who from what I have figured was living at St. John’s Church in what could be Fitzroy Square a short walk from Goodge Street. The church no longer seems to exist. James Moorhouse would later go to Melbourne in 1877 to the St James’s Cathedral.[4] William was at the time of marriage a cabinet maker, but I do not know any more information about his occupation or if he was part of some company or even independent.[5]

I don’t know much about cabinet makers of the time that William Milverton lived especially during the 1860s. They were apparently highly skilled people. I should do some research of the trade and London might have had an over supply of the trade. I will include some sources that I will look at later on down the track. There are questions that I will eventually have answered as to why William entered this trade and if certain addresses the family resided were significant for the cabinet making trade as I have come across a brother of Caroline Milverton’s nee Brake living at the same location at the same time and several years down the track as he too was a cabinet Maker. The occupation would mean they would make tables, chairs. I have included a thesis that I came across that would come in handy for this blog.

William and Caroline would have eight children between 1871 and 1887. Their children were, Frederick William, Rosena, Percival Amos, Amelia, Amy, Herbert Charles, Frank Joseph and Dorcas. Amy would pass away in 1882 around 12 months of age. Over that time period, I was able to trace where they lived through the city directories located in the London metro archives that are available on Ancestry. They did live in the London locality,

1871, 197 Stanhope street London.

1878, 4 Hargrave-place London

1881, 3 Landseer Rd Islington

1885, 100 Wynford road, London

By 1886, William and family were on a ship bound for New Zealand with the exception of Frederick Milverton their eldest son, who stayed behind for some reason. He would eventually make his way to the United States around the 1890s. That is another blog about his life overseas. I don’t know if part of the reason for them to be leaving London was due to the poverty and for a whole new life that would be vastly different to that of England. Maybe Joseph had written to them letting the family know about the opportunities in the new country. The departure of the Milverton family with six members was not easy to find for some strange reason and the entry was found within the New Zealand newspapers. They had left on the 22^nd of April 1886 from London on the S.S. Doric under the command of Captain J.W Jennings and headed for New Zealand direct through the company Shaw, Savill and Albion Steamship Company. The ship was due at Part Chalmers near Dunedin in the 7^th of June.[6]

William and family made their way to Palmerston, where William’s uncle Joseph and family lived. Joseph was a prominent member of Palmerston North and an early settler to the town. He was known for his business Milverton and Sons. William was still a cabinet maker and he is recorded in 1890 in the electoral roll as living in Palmerston North. He was still living in Palmerston North in 1891 in the Post office directory. In 1896 the family had moved from Palmerston North to the nearby Pohangina. Pohangina is to the north of Palmerston North and Feilding with the Ponhangina River running through the town towards Ashurst, where it branched off towards Palmerston North. The Pohangina County Council was established in 1895 and disestablished in 1989 where it would merge with the Manawatu District Council. Around December 1895, William was listed in the local newspaper as having purchased land in Pohangina. I don’t know if this meant in the future he would be stretched thin or not.[7] By 1896 William was now listed as a shopkeeper in the Pohangina area. At the same time William was on the school committee as it seemed many people ended up doing that. It could mean that he was a serious businessperson.[8] William applied for a hotel license in Pohangina in June 1896, but the judge refused as there was already a licensed house nearby.[9]

By December in 1896, William Stickland Milverton was declared bankrupt and the local official from Palmerston North, G.J. Scott summoned a meeting of creditors on the 10^th of December, 1896. Two years later William Milverton passes away in the Palmerston North hospital in December 22^nd, 1898. William’s cause of death was Morbis Cordis in other words heart failure and gangrene of lung for two months would be something along the line of a lung infection.[10] At the time of death, William’s wife, Caroline was apparently upriver in Pohangina. It does sound like there were no roads constructed or the river was used as a highway of sorts.[11] William died at the age of 51, but his wife, Caroline would outlive him by 45 years. The one very strange part about the death of William Stickland Milverton was on the 14^th of November 1899 there were proceedings about Bankruptcy cases. They were before the audit office and William’s name was mentioned in the list of people to be heard in December. It was like they did not know William had passed away nearly a year before in 1898. William was buried in the Terrace End Cemetery in Palmerston North.

Sources

Unknown, ‘Pohangina Notes’, Feilding Star, 3 September 1896, https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/FS18960903.2.22, accessed 08/10/2019.

Unknown, ‘Shipping, Evening Star, 22 May 1886, https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/ESD18860522.2.21, accessed 08/10/2019.

Unknown, ‘Manawatu Daily Times’, Manawatu Times, 23 December 1898, https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/MT18981223.2.4, accessed 08/10/2019.

Unknown, ‘Pohangina County Council’, Feilding Star, 16 December 1895, https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/FS18951216.2.23, accessed 08/10/2019.

New Zealand Bankruptcy Notices, Extracted from the New Zealand Gazette. Available Ancestry website.

New Zealand Electoral Rolls, 1853–1981, available Ancestry website.

Petersen, G.C. Palmerston North A Centennial History, AH&AW Reed, Wellington, 1973.

William Milverton and Caroline Brake 1867 Marriage Certificate, COL463102.

William Stickland Milverton Death certificate 1898, Registration 1899000913.

Cabinet making and wood carving, https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/middx/vol2/pp139-141, accessed 08/10/2019.

Kirkham, Patricia Anne Furniture-making in London c. 1700-1870: craft, design, business and labour., PHD Thesis, https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/8f86/2e2ec9b316b01ba9fe6d92a72f0f1f9590ec.pdf,, accessed 08/10/2019.

James Moorhouse, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Moorhouse, accessed 08/10/2019.

Finding Wilhelmina, 2011 blog, https://tangaroa81.blogspot.com/2011/02/finding-wilhelmina.html

Mystery newspaper article explaining Wilhelmina Milverton's past, 2015 blog, https://tangaroa81.blogspot.com/2015/01/mystery-newspaper-article-explaining.html

Beaminster baptisms 1841 -1850 from Dorset, http://www.opcdorset.org/BeaminsterFiles/BeaminsterBaps1841-1850.htm, accessed 08/10/2019.

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[1] Beaminster baptisms 1841 -1850 from Dorset, http://www.opcdorset.org/BeaminsterFiles/BeaminsterBaps1841-1850.htm

[2] Mystery newspaper article explaining Wilhelmina Milverton's past, 2015 blog, https://tangaroa81.blogspot.com/2015/01/mystery-newspaper-article-explaining.html

[3] 1867 William Milverton and Caroline Brake Marriage Certificate; joseph milverton directory

[4] James Moorhouse, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Moorhouse, accessed 08/10/2019.

[5] Cabinet making and wood carving, https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/middx/vol2/pp139-141, accessed 08/10/2019.

[6] Unknown, ‘Shipping’, Evening Star, 22 May 1886, https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/ESD18860522.2.21, accessed 08/10/2019.

[7] Unknown, ‘Pohangina County Council’, Feilding Star, 16 December 1895, https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/FS18951216.2.23, accessed 08/10/2019.

[8] Unknown, ‘Pohangina Notes’, Feilding Star, 3 September 1896, https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/FS18960903.2.22, accessed 08/10/2019.

[9] Unknown, ‘Palmerston licensing Committee’, Feilding Star, 3 June 1896, https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/FS18960603.2.24, accessed 08/10/2019.

[10] William Stickland Milverton Death certificate 1898, Registration 1899000913.

[11] Unknown, ‘Manawatu Daily Times’, Manawatu Times, 23 December 1898, https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/MT18981223.2.4, accessed 08/10/2019.