Chapter 2: Wills story

James Fabian Wills was born in Portsmouth, on the south coast of England, in 1813. To place it in time, just eight years before, in 1805, Admiral Nelson left Portsmouth to command the fleet which defeated France and Spain at the Battle of Trafalgar.

His father, James Wills, was originally from a village called St Mary Bourne further inland. James senior was born in 1777 and met his wife, Ann Fabian, in Portsmouth. He is listed as a grocer on marriage certificates and census returns.

Ann had been born in the separate settlement of Portsea Island in about 1788 to Thomas Fabian and Mary Foord [Ford]. Portsmouth expanded to encompass Portsea Island at the beginning of the 19th century. 

Hampshire, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1536-1812 for Ann Fabian - Bishops´ Transcripts - Portsea: St Mary - 1780-1811

Ann and James married at St Thomas on 24th May, 1812 and just over a year later James Fabian arrived.

The family remained in Portsmouth and had a further three children. At this time, Portsmouth was the largest industrial site in the world; it had a workforce of 8,000. James was attending Portsmouth Academy in 1824 when he was 10. 

James Fabian entered work on the docks, rising to become a wharfinger as evidenced by the 1841 census record. 

Wharfinger (pronounced wor-fin-jer) is an archaic term for a person who is the keeper or owner of a wharf. The wharfinger takes custody of and is responsible for goods delivered to the wharf, typically has an office on the wharf or dock, and is responsible for day-to-day activities including slipways, keeping tide tables and resolving disputes.

The term is rarely used; today a wharfinger is usually called a "harbourmaster".1

James married Martha Hicks in 1838 who died just three years later in 1841, having had one child Elizabeth Hicks Wills. He then married Ellen Grant in 1844 at the Unitarian Chapel in High Street. This church was destroyed during World War II.

Ellen Grant was born in 1826 according to her baptism record and baptised in the Parish of Portsea in 1832. Her father was William James Grant, who listed his profession as shipwright, and her mother was Jane Breaks. 

       

James Fabian Wills was investigated as wharfinger of Camber Docks after 5 years in the role for the mishandling of harbour dues. 

There was little supervision and irregularities were suspected. Even the wharfinger himself admitted he could pay in what he liked and eventually he resigned before further action could be taken. Later it was revealed there had been no audit for 5 years.2

Whether this was through negligence or willful misconduct isn’t clear. James spoke for himself quite plainly as follows:

“I have been Wharfinger now five years. I consider it my duty to devote all my time to my employment. I pay in money to the Treasurer every week, not stated sums, but as I receive it. The monies I pay in are entered by the Treasurer in a book. I get no receipt from the Treasurer. In case I were not to pay in all the money collected by me, no detection could take place.”

The fact is he was declared bankrupt in 1848 and publicly accused of being “deficient in his monies belonging to his employers” in the newspapers and council meetings.

In 1849 the Mayor, George Scale, summarised the conclusion of the Finance Committee investigation that “the deficiency has not arisen from any dishonesty of purpose or fraudulent appropriation of the monies entrusted to him, but has resulted from a system that has enabled him to hold considerable sums from time to time in his hands.”

Whether all of this played a part in the decision to emigrate, we can’t be sure. But, in 1850 the family emigrated to NZ as steerage passengers aboard the Phoebe Dunbar on her maiden voyage from London. James was 37, his second wife Ellen was 25 and they had four daughters aged 5 and under.

“Writing of the conditions in steerage, one cabin passenger commented, ‘Poor creatures, it is a horrible place between decks, so many people in so small a space, I wonder how they live’. Four steerage passengers slept in tiers of bunks. They were provided with mattresses, but not bedding. Bunk space was cramped, and tables and forms occupied the spaces between tiers. The headroom between decks could be as little as 1.8 metres.”3

Henry Des Forges emigrated aboard the same ship as a cabin passenger. He made a journal of the entire 13 week journey and posted a copy back to family in England.4

“My dear Father, Mother and Sisters,

I take the first opportunity to let you know of my safe arrival at New Zealand; and also that we have had a splendid run, not having one single storm; and we have made the quickest passage from the Cape of Good Hope ever known.”

Des Forges noted sightings of flying fish, porpoises, the births of two babies and the death of a child. The crew caught dolphins and sharks for passengers to eat and encountered many other ships during their voyage.

The family disembarked in Wellington. James’ first job was as accountant to the firm Bethune and Hunter, wine and spirit merchants. Bethune and Hunter's wooden building was constructed in the early 1840s on the waterfront (Bond Street) and was first used as the Custom House.

James saw an opportunity and started his own business as a lighterman. Lightermen carry goods - they lighten (that is, unload) a ship and transfer her cargo to another vessel, or to shore.

He operated from a private wharf that had had various owners such as Ridgway, Hickson and  Houghton. It was known as Wills’ Wharf for a period and James had an office thereabouts. This wharf was well situated right opposite the old Customhouse on the corner of Old Customhouse Street and Farish Street.5

Could the wharf pictured below have been the wharf James operated from? This is a picture by Robert Park, a surveyor for the New Zealand Company, completed sometime between 1842 and 1850. The description says, “Shows waterfront (now Wakefield St and Victoria, formerly Lombard St) with Ridgway and Guytons Wharf and store (centre) with a large set of scales alongside.”

The building of Bethune and Hunter, James’ first employer is also evident in the picture behind the Exchange Building with a Grecian frontage. A photo of the building is below - it was demolished in 1958 to make way for a parking building.

Originally ships were ‘lightened’ while moored in the harbour and passengers and goods were brought to the beach. From around 1841 wharves and landing stages began to spring up and were privately owned.

An article by Mr. Elsdon Best, published in the Harbour Board's Year Books in 1919 states:

“The chief lightermen of the early days were:—Messrs. Richard and William Haybittle, George Houghton, F. Wills, Tandy and Pressman.”

Larger vessels with cargoes of greater volume and value were coming into Wellington. It was thought the lightering system was falling behind the times and that the private wharves weren’t up to standard. 

“The era of the private wharf seems to have prevailed until about 1858 when there began to grow up a general feeling that these slender structures had outlived their usefulness.”6

In 1862 work was completed on a public timber wharf - the Queen’s Wharf. 

GROWTH OF A GREAT PORT, Dominion, Volume 23, Issue 91, 11 January 1930, Page 11

1878

Ellen and James had a further 6 children once they were living in New Zealand. George arrived in 1851 followed by Frank, Constance, William (our ancestor), Louise and Bernard.

By the time their youngest sibling was born the girls who had travelled on the Phoebe Dunbar were aged between 15 and 19 and had begun marrying. James found matches for them among the businessmen of Wellington.

Ellen married John Rees who dealt in flax, Kathleen married John Blundell, whose father started the Evening Post in 1865, Edith married Constantino ‘Tino’ Zohrab who was an up and coming merchant and Blanche married Charles Plimmer whose father was John Plimmer, a prominent businessman and commonly referred to as ‘the father of Wellington’.

With his position in Wellington society seemingly secure, James unfortunately ran into financial problems around 1866. He was declared bankrupt in April and was confined to the debtors' jail while his affairs were being sorted out. 

Here is a description of Wellington Gaol written by a journalist at almost the exact time that James was incarcerated.

On the summit of one of the least precipitous spurs of the range of hills among which the City of Wellington lies snugly embedded, stands a substantial building partly stone, partly brick, and partly galvanised iron, which erected as it were on a pedestal, frowns down on Te Aro Flat, and the waters of Lambton Harbor. This building is the Wellington Gaol, one of the most strongly secured, and best conducted houses of correction in New Zealand.

We heard the grating noise of locking and unlocking heavy gates, and then the massive door in front was partially opened and closed after us. We now stood within the vestibule of the gaol. The debtors' ward is to the right of the entrance hall.

The first thing that strikes strangers on entering the gaol is the stillness and scrupulous cleanness of the whole building. The boards are white as snow, and the lofty walls and ceilings painfully bright with white wash, not a spot, scratch, or mark of any description marring their surface or sullying their purity. The entrance hall contained a desk, on which rested an open book wherein visitors inscribe their names ; beside it stood a measuring standard, and to the right a door led to the room set apart for debtors. Into this room we went. 

It bore the appearance of cleanliness and comfort, and contained several forms, a table in the centre on which were strewn the daily papers, and a shelf of books. The window alone gives the room the appearance of a prison. It is heavily barred, and looks out over the enclosure and Te Aro flat. We only took a very cursory glance at this portion of the prison, first, because our time was limited, and secondly, being unwilling to intrude on the privacy of three unfortunate gentlemen, who appeared ill at ease at being discovered in such a locality.7

In May of 1866 the Wellington Independent paper records that the Supreme Court discharged James Wills. This discharge released him from the obligation to pay his remaining debts and provided a fresh start.

William Wills would have been 10 at the time and the family were still at the house in Hopper Street, where William had been born. His father finished out his career giving his services to some firms as an accountant. 

WILLIAM WILLS AND EMILY ALICE MURPHY

William got into the business of ironmongery. That is sales of items for the house and garden such as pans, tools and nails. 

In 1880 he was still in Wellington and had met and married Emily Alice Murphy. They were married on the 28th of April at St Paul’s Church.

Emily Alice’s parents were James Bennett Murphy and Emily Ann Murphy (nee Roberts) who married in Oxfordshire in 1861. Emily Alice had travelled from England to New Zealand in around 1863 as a very small child with her parents. 

After they arrived, James and Emily had a further 10 children in New Zealand. 

After the marriage of their daughter, James Bennett and Emily Ann seem to have relocated to Australia. Only four years after his daughter married, James Bennett died in Melbourne in his late 40s. His wife, Emily Ann lived until the age of 62 and also died in Australia.

In 1881 Alice and William were listed in the census as living in Cuba St in Wellington, not far from Hopper Street where William grew up. There is also some mention of them living in Webb Street and/or Hankey Street.

They welcomed their first child, Ivan Bennett Wills in 1881 and William Albert was born next, on the 25th of August in 1882. 

Sadly in March 1883, Ivan died at just under 2 years old and was buried in Bolton Street Cemetery. His death certificate lists the cause of death as diarrhea and vomiting which could have been symptoms of one of the many diseases sweeping the country like scarlet fever, typhoid or diphtheria. 

Later that same year, Emily Alice placed a number of ads in the paper seeking a strong, useful girl to help around the house. 

The next baby was named for his brother. Noel Ivan was born in 1884. After Noel’s birth it seems William Wills made a move to Blenheim to begin a new business. 

It is likely that Emily stayed behind in Wellington with the children until William had set himself up. In October 1885 the following article was published in the Marlborough Daily Times.

The timing coincided with the death of Emily Alice’s father - could he have left her something in his will that helped them set up a business? 

William and Emily’s final child was Bernard Horace born in Wairau in 1886. Business was good in Blenheim and William and his family were welcomed into the community.

William became the local distributor for Harden Star hand fire grenades. These devices were an early fire fighting tool. William even put on a demonstration in Seymour Square to show their effectiveness.

Priced at 45 shillings per dozen the grenade was designed to be thrown into the centre of the base of the fire. The glass would shatter on impact, putting out the fire and saving the home or business. 

William would write letters to the editor following a fire to extol the virtues of these devices and promote their use.

In February 1888 a notice was published in the Marlborough Express stating William’s intention to close his business and leave the district after only three years. In May the following was published:

It seems the auction went well and preparations were in place to clear out of the premises when a fire broke out at midnight on 7th of May in 1888. The paper reported that the building was gutted, but minimal stock and possessions were destroyed. The family had moved out a few days earlier and only the piano and other furniture were left. The piano was rescued from the fire. 

Fortunately the night was still and the fire was discovered before it took hold. It caused extensive damage to adjoining buildings in the block. 

There was certainly some suspicion cast against William, the timing thought to benefit him. An enquiry was held and the jury were instructed to “disabuse themselves of the various reports on the origin of the fire that had been circulating”. William was called to give his account along with other witnesses.  The coroner stated:

“There were some very suspicious circumstances in connection with the affair, but there was not one particle of evidence to show that Mr Wills or anyone else had wilfully set fire to the building.”

The jury returned that there was no evidence to show how the fire originated.

When William’s insurance company refused to pay out, he took them to court and won on 28th July 1888. He was awarded £292 plus £84 in out of pocket expenses.

This closed their time in Blenheim and the family returned to Wellington. They travelled from the Port of Wairau on the Kanieri on the 13th of August 1888. William Albert had turned 6 earlier that month and would have been excited on the journey by sea. 

Back in Wellington William Wills began a long association with Wilkins and Field, an ironmonger. The business had started out in the early 1860s in Westport on the West Coast during the gold rush era under the ownership of Thomas Field.8

William joined just as the business opened its New Zealand headquarters in Manners Street, Wellington. 

The Wilkins & Field premises on Manners Street actually occupied the whole block bounded by the then named Manners, Farish, St Hill, and Customhouse streets, with a retail shop on the Manners street frontage and wholesale and manufacturing premises behind it. Some 50-60 employees were on the payroll in the mid 1890s.

The retail showroom premises were originally built to serve as an arcade but were modified by Wilkins & Field to provide some 20,000 square feet of retail space. The layout of the interior is shown below.9 

This was where William would have been helping customers and making sales. He also travelled to A & P shows to demonstrate a new milk separator and other agricultural implements on behalf of Wilkins and Field.

In 1892, when her eldest was 10 and her youngest 6, Emily Alice Wills signed the Women’s Suffrage Petition. 

The main suffrage petition was submitted to Parliament on 28 July 1893. It contains the names and addresses of about 24,000 women aged 21 years or older. The original petition comprised more than 500 individual sheets, which were signed in various parts of the country. These were glued together to form a single roll that stretched more than 270m.

It’s likely Emily Alice had a suffragette knock on her door in Bidwill Street (then commonly known as Bidwell Street) and she agreed to sign along with another Mrs Wills, possibly her sister-in-law, and around 20 other women in the street.

All in all, around a quarter of all voting age women signed the petition. It was presented to parliament and on 8 September 1893, the bill was passed by 20 votes to 18.

Finally, on 19 September, Lord Glasgow signed the bill into law. All women who were 'British subjects' and aged 21 and over, including Māori, were now eligible to vote (the nationhood requirement excluded some groups, such as Chinese women).10

The patriarch of the family, James Fabian, passed away on 5th April in 1894. 

When William Albert was just 19 his mother, Emily Alice, died of what is believed to be an embolism and pneumonia. She was only 40 years old and left William a widower at the age of 55 with three young men to guide as they began their working lives. 

Later that year William senior’s long-time employer Wilkins and Field sold their Manners St property due to Mr Thomas Field’s retirement. 

It seems William Wills then found work with ironmonger George Winder, whose store was on the corner of Cuba and Manners streets in Wellington. 

Around the time that William may have been working in the store Wellington writer and journalist, Pat Lawlor, visited George’s store as a young lad and remembered the experience like this:

“...I can never forget Winder’s wonderful shop. It was situated at James Smith’s corner, and was of vast extent. You could buy anything from a tack to a tram rail. Everything was displayed in colossal bins. He had enough picks and spades and shovels to excavate a Suez Canal. The place rang with the clash of metal as bolts and bars were planked on the ponderous weighing machines. He had French and Italian bedsteads of finely wrought iron with ornate brass ornaments on the top of each corner. He had elaborate fenders embellished with many brass knobs; brass pokers of beautiful workmanship. . . . . Presiding over this vast aggregation of metal was the sad, large-eyed, little man named George Winder.”11

There was also the following story reported in the newspaper in 1909 which specifically mentions William Wills as a senior member of staff:

“The top floor of Mr Geo Winder’s fine new building at the corner of Manners and Cuba streets was the scene of an exceedingly pleasant gathering last night, when Mr and Mrs Winder entertained the business staff and a large number of friends. A progressive euchre tournament excited considerable interest. The prize for ladies was won by Mrs J R Gibbons. Mr. John Kerslake, jun, carried off the gentleman’s prize, and the booby prize was awarded to Mr A A Bonthorne. At the conclusion of the tournament dancing was started and was kept up until after midnight. The music was supplied by Vitetta’s string band. The ball room was beautifully decorated, and the ante rooms were artistically fitted up. During an interval Mr Wm Wills, one of the senior members of the staff, who acted as director of ceremonies, returned thanks to Mr and Mrs Winder for their hospitality. He referred to Mr Winder’s successful business qualities, and also spoke of the very pleasant relations which existed between master and employees. He assured Mr Winder of the employee’s great respect, and at his initiation cheers were given for that gentleman, “for he’s a jolly good fellow” also being sung. More cheers for Mrs Winder followed.”

WILLIAM ALBERT WILLS AND ALMA CHARLOTTE JOHNSON

Meanwhile in August 1903, just shy of his 21st birthday and less than two years after his mother’s death, William Albert had met and married Alma Charlotte Johnson at the residence of Reverend William Albert Evans in Mount Victoria.

Alma Charlotte was born on the 8th of March 1881 in Gisborne. Her parents had arrived from Grebbestad, Sweden in 1873 on board the Scimitar. 

Both Isaac Johnson and Albertina Semilia Carlsdotter were born in Grebbestad. A coastal village in Sweden’s Bohuslän region, Grebbstad was a small, tight-knit community focused on fishing. Residents relied on local fish and shellfish for their livelihood and used boats for both transport and trade. 

Industries such as trading, shipping, canning and fishing contributed to the development of the city during the 1800s. In 1858 there were seven cargo ships in Grebbestad, with mainly timber and grain shipped out.12

Panorama of Grebbestad, 1890 https://kgg.kulturhotell.se/exhibits/show/gamla-grebbestad-i-v--ra-hj--r/panorama

The town is where the Greby grave field is situated. When the site was investigated in 1873 it was found the Iron Age graves date back to around 400-500 AD.13

Albertina was the second-eldest of four children and born on December 3 1856 into a poor fishing family. Her father was the captain of a fishing boat and the family may have been what was classed as ‘Strandsittare’ which translates to ‘beachsitters’. These were landless people who had been given permission to dwell on someone else’s property in rough housing to eke out a life. 

Sadly in 1861 Albertina’s father, Carl Hansson, was lost at sea off the Norwegian coast near Drammen. Albertina was only 5 years old. The following newspaper article states that he became tangled in a cable when the boat capsized and that his wife was present onboard too.

14 Gothenburg's trade and shipping newspaper (1832) 1861-04-27, Page 2, Edition

Albertina’s mother, Hedvig Hedda Charlotta Johannesdotter, went on to remarry in 1863 and had one further child.

Isaac Johansson, Albertina’s future husband, was born on December 9 1844 and was 12 years older than Albertina. He was also her half uncle. Albertina’s father who drowned was Isaac’s older half brother. Their mother, Brita Helena Pettersdotter, had remarried after her first husband died and had four further children. Isaac was her youngest.

He listed his occupation as fisherman when he emigrated, but we don’t know much else about his life or situation before he left for New Zealand.

During the 1870s hundreds of immigrants set sail from England and Northern Europe to Aotearoa. Colonial treasurer Julius Vogel’s ambitious vision of assisted immigration recruited thousands of workers.

Initially, there was little interest, until October 1873 when the Free Passage scheme was introduced and the adult fare was waived. An immigrant, once resident in New Zealand, could also nominate friends and relatives to come and settle.15

Selection criteria was based on the following. New Zealand wanted men from the labouring classes who, ‘...must be sober, industrious, of good moral character, of sound mind, free from bodily deformity, in good health, and must go to the Colony intending to work for wages and must not be in the receipt of habitual parochial aid.’

‘There were restrictions like a maximum age of 45 and no more than three children if married. Single women were also in demand as domestic servants, milkmaids, seamstresses and as future spouses.’16

How Albertina, a 17-year-old, and her half-uncle Isaac, then 29, ended up preparing for a 3 month journey to the other end of the Earth together we can’t be sure. They likely travelled to Plymouth together, unmarried, and were listed on the ship’s manifest as:

Single man - Isaac Johansen, 29, Sweden, Fisherman

Single woman - Colonial Nominated - Albertina Carlson, 17, Sweden, Servant

Albertina was only one of two women listed as colonial nominated. This indicates she knew someone already in New Zealand - possibly in Greymouth given the comment alongside her name?

They stayed in separate sections of the Emigration Depot at Plymouth waiting for the delayed Scimitar to arrive so they could begin their journey.

On 24 December 1873 they began their voyage. There were strict rules about unmarried women mingling with men so the women were kept segregated from the families and single men while on board. This means there would have been few opportunities for Albertina and Isaac to see each other for almost 10 weeks.

Clipper Scimitar/Rangitiki quarantined in 1874 for Measles and Scarlet fever (State Library of Victoria)

Within four days of leaving Plymouth the first signs of scarlet fever emerged in a young child on board. James Fox, the captain of the ship, and Dr William Henry Hosking, the ship’s surgeon-superintendent, began trying to manage the spread of the disease as best they could given the close quarters of the ‘tween deck where the 430 emigrants were living and sleeping.

The captain kept a diary in addition to his official log and it gives a picture of life on an immigration sailing ship. He documents the weather, the food distributed, activities that take place, troublemakers and, sadly, deaths.  

On January 5th Captain Fox wrote, “Mr Winder the Chief Officer called me to report the death of the little boy Brown in the fever hospital that has been suffering with Scarlet fever and measles combined. He expired at 3:00am and we buried him at 8:00am. The hospital being full and the Measles spreading rapidly on board. We have another single girl down making four in hospital and some other children. Every precaution is being taken by Doctor Hoskings assisted by myself to stop the disease spreading.”17

Soon more children began to die one by one. In total 25 young children and one young woman died during the voyage and were buried at sea.

When the ship arrived in Port Chalmers on the 6th of March 1874, it was flying a yellow flag indicating disease onboard and was directed to disembark passengers at the Quarantine station.

Isaac and Albertina had to spend a further two weeks in quarantine before finally being allowed to mingle with the general population and start their new lives in New Zealand.

Immediately there were questions and accusations about how the death toll on the ship had been so high and whether the right preventative measures and precautions had been taken before setting sail. There was a lot of media around the ship that was labelled ‘a floating pesthouse’.

It is believed Isaac married Albertina in the first year after they arrived. It would have been easy to hide the fact that they were related given their surnames were different. No record of this marriage has been located.

They settled into New Zealand life making a living from fishing. They had their first child, Clara Louisa, in 1875 and their second Frederick Albin in 1876. 

A small notice in the Press in December 1877 tells us Isaac was living in Taumutu, a tiny town at the southern end of Lake Ellesmere or Te Waihora. 

By 1879 Issac and Albertina had another little girl, Hilda Eugenie. 

Clara, Frederick and Hilda

An advertisement in the paper for an auction shows Isaac was now selling his boats and fishing gear. This seems a clear indication the family intended to leave the area.

Sure enough, we see Issac listed in Gisborne in the 1880 electoral roll as a boatman. The following year Alma Charlotte was born.

There is a mention of Isaac Johnson in a newspaper article about an incident of animal cruelty. He is cited working as a boatman for the Harbour Department and had been in the Pilot Station when the incident occurred. 

The family remained in Gisborne until at least 1890, possibly as late as 1895. Then they moved again, this time to Wellington. Two more boys were born in Wellington - Charles Victor in 1885 and Aaron Oscar Alexander in 1888.

Johnson Family Back Row: Fred, Clara, Hilda,  Front Row: Albertina, Alma, Oscar, Victor, Isaac

Alma and William Albert, or Bert as he was known, seem to have moved from Wellington to Palmerston North in time for their only son to be born. Perhaps the business Bert was working for was opening a premises in Palmerston North? Gordon William Fabian Wills was born on 15 August 1904 with the location of his birth listed as Main Street, Palmerston North. 

Bert’s occupation was ‘agent’ and he was managing a bicycle shop, Yerex, Barker and Finlay on The Square. His name is signed at the bottom of a series of advertisements for the Columbia chainless two-speed bicycle between September 1904 and July 1905.

In June 1905 an advertisement appeared in the Manawatū Times for the sale of Bert’s furniture. It stated that the furniture was all nearly new but must be sold as he was leaving the district. The advert gives the impression things have not gone according to plan. We see their belongings listed out - Alma and Bert’s bicycles, their bed, an eight piece leather suite of Morocco and English and oak and Gordon’s bassinet. There is a desperation in the phrase, “must be sold regardless of cost”.

On 29th of August Alma died from what her death notice described as a “short but painful illness” at the age of 24 leaving Bert with their one year-old baby to care for. Her death certificate states she had had a miscarriage and died seven days later from peritonitis, which is a life-threatening infection of the peritoneum, the tissue that lines the abdomen.

Bert took Gordon back to Wellington so Alma’s parents could help out with the baby. 

In a written statement drafted later in life Gordon states he went to live with Albertina and Isaac. Possibly this was at 8 Watson Street near Aro Valley.

Sales photo of 8 Watson Street where Isaac Johnson was living when he died in 1917.

Perhaps Bert stayed with them too or with his father, William in Bidwill Street. It’s likely at this time Bert was beginning, or already, suffering the effects of contracting tuberculosis. 

Gordon’s young uncles, Victor and Oscar, were 20 and 17 respectively, when Gordon came to live with the Johnsons, and presumably had left home. Albertina was 49 and Isaac was 61 when they took charge of the baby. It would have been a tiring task, but there was no alternative with Bert’s father William, a widower living alone.

Bert had begun playing rugby for Athletic Football Club in Wellington before he married Alma and was listed as the secretary in 1903. It seems an old injury was causing him trouble. 

In August 1905 Bert’s foot was amputated in Wellington Hospital.

In 1907 papers were filed to complete the adoption of Gordon by his grandparents, with his name legally changing to Wills Johnson. This indicates Bert’s illness was only getting worse with no prospect of recovery.

The following year, just over two years after his operation, Bert died at the age of 26 after a “lingering illness”. The newspaper noted that the flags on the Wellington Steam Ferry Company’s ships were at half mast to mark his passing due to the fact that his cousin, Mr Zohrab, was manager of the company.  

After a decade being raised by his grandparents, Gordon’s grandfather Isaac, died when the boy was just 13. 

Isaac left his belongings to Albertina and in her letter of attestation it states Isaac was a citizen of the United States through naturalisation. She too was a US citizen through marriage.

It must have been that Isaac had first emigrated to the United States when Albertina was just a girl. He needed to have lived there for 5 years to qualify for citizenship. Our best guess is that he went from Gothenburg, around 150 kilometres south of Grebbestad, to somewhere like New York. 

What brought him back to Sweden we don’t know, but Albertina’s sister Eugenia lived out her days in California. The only Swedish family member we’ve found yet to emigrate to the US.

About two years later, near the end of 1919, we see documents at Archives NZ showing Albertina applied for, and was granted, a certificate of naturalisation as a New Zealand citizen.

An oath of allegiance and acknowledgement of receipt completed by Albertina Johnson in 1919/20

GORDON WILLIAM FABIAN WILLS JOHNSON AND AOTEA LANDON POWELL-PHELPS

Somehow Gordon came to be in Hamilton and seemingly ran a weekly dance at the Liberty Hall as described by this 1923 article.

This may be where he met Aotea Landon Powell-Phelps. She had been attending Technical School in Hamilton a few years prior. Judging by the occupation on her marriage certificate she must have qualified as a typist. Gordon was working a day job as a confectioner and dairyman. Perhaps he was working at a shop that sold ice cream and sweets. 

Gordon and Aotea were just 19 when they were married at St Paul’s Methodist Church in Hamilton on 21 May 1924. The local paper described ‘a very pretty wedding’ with the bride in white satin, a beautiful veil of silver lace and a garland of orange blossoms atop her head. She carried a bouquet of chrysanthemums and maidenhair fern. 

“After the ceremony the party adjourned to Liberty Hall for the wedding breakfast, where a very merry time was spent. The hall was prettily decorated with red, white and blue streamers. The friends of the bride and groom held a dance in the evening where a storm of confetti met the bridal couple, who called to say good-bye on their way to catch the south-bound train.”18

Aotea was born in Kaikoura on 29 April 1905 to Theophilus Phelps and Ellen Landon-Lane. 

Theophilus’ family was from Ilkley in Northern England. His father was a Church of England minister there and his mother was Margaret Nicol. They decided to take their family to Australia to live near Adelaide. Though Theophilus’ marriage certificate says he was born in Ilkley, there may be evidence he was actually born in Australia.

Theophilus made the move to NZ and first headed for the gold fields in Westland.

Interestingly, someone called Thomas Theophilus Phelps was involved with a photography studio in Reefton between and married Barbara Davidson 1894. Though Theophilus’ obituary doesn’t mention anything about being a photographer, the marriage certificate for his union with Ellen lists his occupation as photographer.

There is the distinct possibility that Theophilus led a kind of double life whereby he abandoned Barbara and began a new family with Ellen. Much later a Thomas Phelps is arrested in Hamilton for failing to maintain his wife. A newspaper article describes the two not having seen each other for 28 years. It’s not certain it is the same man, but it seems likely.19

Ellen Landon-Lane was born in Tasman in 1874 to Susan Jane Jones and George Landon-Lane. Her parents had come to Nelson from England in 1858 aboard the Cresswell. 

The story goes that George’s father was a gentleman of nobility called Thomas Silvanus Landon with land in Herefordshire and that he had an affair with one of his staff which produced a number of children, including George on 8 April 1821. After Thomas was widowed he married George’s mother Ann Lane.

George joined the Hereford Militia and rose in the ranks. During this time he met and began a liaison with Susan Jane Jones. One source has her as the daughter of the gardener at George’s father’s house. One thing seems certain, she was of a lower class and George’s father and the Militia may not have approved. Perhaps this was a motivating factor in their decision to emigrate as a couple.

They were married in July 1857 with Susan’s father present, but not George’s. 

Susan’s father’s occupation on the wedding certificate says farmer. Susan’s father was born in Radnorshire, Wales near the border with England. Her mother Margaret was an Englishwoman born three years before her husband in 1794.

George kept a diary during the voyage to New Zealand in 1857/58 and said that they were coming out with Susan’s brother and four children, though they aren’t listed in the arrivals notice.20 They travelled in steerage and the Cresswell was becalmed for 7 weeks in the English Channel in the hottest summer in some time, they were not allowed to go back to England even though they stayed in sight of it.21

George also apparently got into a fight with the Purser ten days out from Nelson. The argument was over pain relief for his heavily pregnant wife. The argument got so heated that George struck the purser and was sent to the brig. This meant that he arrived in Nelson as a prisoner. He is also said to have complained a great deal about others on board. The surgeon was no more than an “amateur butcher” that is, according to him.22

Upon their arrival in New Zealand George and Susan stayed in Nelson and three months later their first child, Jane, was born. 

George took over the lease on a hotel in Picton. They lived there and ran that in the early days. He and Susan had a further 8 children. Their second daughter, Catherine, died as an infant.  

The family moved around a great deal from Marlborough to the Tasman and around to Nelson. Motupiko was the main residence and it was there, on the morning of the 25th of March, 1883, that they lost their son Thomas.23 The newspaper report reads:

"Fatal Gun Accident. "On Sunday, March 25th, just before nine o'clock, Langdon Lane, aged thirteen years, left his father's house, which is a couple of miles from the Motupiko Hotel, along with a younger brother, and they took with them a fowling-piece to go shooting. Shortly after, Mr G- L. Lane, the father, reached the Motupiko Hotel and informed Mr Fogden that his son was shot. Mrs Fogden, her sister, and the servant woman at once hastened to Mr Lane's and rendered all the assistance they could, it is supposed that the deceased was about to leap over a log, when the butt of the gun struck the ground and it went off, and the full charge went in just below deceased's right ear, and passing through his head entered his brains, which were scattered, and finally carried away a piece of the skull about the size of half-a-crown. There is not the least doubt that death was instantaneous. Deceased is spoken of as being a sharp, active, polite boy, and he was extremely [helpful] to his father, who used to speak of him as being his right-hand man. At the inquest a verdict of Accidental death was returned."24

Only three years later their eldest boy, Whittington, was also shot and killed in a hunting-related accident. 

A source from a dedicated Facebook page say, “old family yarns tell of Mizpah [a name or nickname George acquired somehow] travelling all around the South Island, fossicking for gold, begging and feeding on what ever he could find in our bushland…the aged man had many yarns to tell around the pubs and accommodation houses but to his wife and children, they knew a father who was absent and unkind.”

Another account says that, “To get by Susan washed clothes for neighbours and made sure the children were fed to the best of her ability. Though in later years hard, her children felt indebted to their mother who despite all reared the founding of our ever growing family.”

We can’t double check these statements are true, so need to take them with a grain of salt.

Eventually, Susan and George settled in Dashwood Street, Blenheim. George's obituary says he was planning on getting to 100 and very much looking forward to that day.

“It is not many weeks ago that he was walking into town and chatting merrily with his friends”.25 

George grew to a very old age of 96 and passed away in Blenheim. Susan died at the age of 85 in 1917 and both are buried together in Omaka Cemetery.

Ellen was their youngest daughter and had endured her brothers’ deaths at an impressionable age. She was likely cared for mostly by her elder siblings, Jane and George. 

Before she was married, Ellen had two children. Mabel Landon Lane in 1894 and Kathleen Landon Lane in 1900. 

She married Theophilus in Thames in 1902 though it’s not clear how they came to be there. 

Their first child after marriage, Hinemoa, was born the following year in Hamilton. For some reason Aotea was born in Kaikoura, according to her birth certificate, in 1905. Perhaps Ellen had gone back to Blenheim to be near her mother? The remaining children were born in Hamilton - Wilfred, Leonie, Venice, Victor and Arthur. Many of them were given the middle name, Landon.

Theophilus’ obituary says the family moved to Auckland where he worked as a gardener for many years. In 1912 the family moved to Hamilton where Theophilus worked for the council until he died in 1936.

Ellen is listed as dying in Wakefield so must have moved back down there. Or maybe she was just buried there. She lived until 1960.

Aotea and Gordon had three children. Gordon Landon was born on the 1st May 1925 in Claudelands, Hamilton. In a letter to a family member, Gordon Landon remembers the family living in Christchurch for a period, during which his younger brother Keith was born.

Aotea holding Keith.

Aotea holding Keith.

They travelled to Wellington aboard the Rangatira in 1929 and lived in Hataitai and then Miramar. Yvonne was born in 1930 and the children attended Miramar Central School and Lyall Bay School after another move to Kilbirnie. Gordon Landon attended Rongotai College.

We know that Gordon senior was a skilled dancer and ran dances, it seems he also taught dance. We can't find any further detail about this apart from this photo.

Gordon's letter says his mum and dad ran a sewing machine agency cum pet shop at 35 Bay Road in Kilbirnie. Sadly Aotea died of cancer in 1939 at the age of 34. Gordon Landon would have been 14 at the time. He left home that same year. Did he choose to leave or was he forced out? Perhaps it was a little of both. Either way, he had left college behind and had to earn a living.

He started work as a farmhand earning 15 shillings a week just outside Dannevirke, but heard more money was to be made working in a sawmill. 

He enlisted and was posted to the Chatham Islands to watch out for invading forces during World War II. After this he returned to the sawmill, but also had a range of other jobs including building, driving and finally writing. 

He married Nancy Branthwaite in 1947.

If you have any feedback including anything to add or correct please contact us at whanauhistoryproject@gmail.com.

1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wharfinger
2 https://historyinportsmouth.co.uk/people/mayors/george-scale.htm
3 https://teara.govt.nz/en/the-voyage-out/page-3
4 https://collection.pukeariki.com/objects/34940/des-forges-henry
5 Article by Mr. Elsdon Best, published in the Harbour Board's Year Books, 1919: https://ndhadeliver.natlib.govt.nz/webarchive/20210104000423/http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-WarEarl-t1-body-d21-d12-d5.html
6 https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/DOM19300111.2.87
7 https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/WI18660320.2.18#text-tab
8 https://thenewzealandjournal.blogspot.com/2009/04/wilkins-and-field-ironmongers-manners.html
9 https://thenewzealandjournal.blogspot.com/2009/04/wilkins-and-field-ironmongers-manners.html
10 https://nzhistory.govt.nz/politics/womens-suffrage/brief-history
11 https://mtvictoria.history.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Draft-District-Plan-2021.pdf
12 https://www.vastsverige.com/en/tanum/produkter/grebbestad/
13 https://www.vastsverige.com/en/tanum/produkter/greby-ancient-burial-ground-grebbestad/
14 Gothenburg's trade and shipping newspaper (1832) 1861-04-27, Page 2, Edition
15 https://www.nzherald.co.nz/hawkes-bay-today/news/from-the-mtg-book-a-goldmine-for-researchers/WI4FJ7DUIFBLXGMR7OJKFX3LPY/#:~:text=These%20records%2C%20which%20contain%20a,Bebington%20Immigration%20records%2C%201874
16 No Grave Stones in the Ocean, The emigrant ship Scimitar 1873-1874 by Michael A. Beith
17 No Grave Stones in the Ocean, The emigrant ship Scimitar 1873-1874 by Michael A. Beith
18 https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/WT19240614.2.89.16?end_date=24-12-1925&items_per_page=10&query=%22wills-johnson%22&snippet=true&sort_by=byDA&start_date=01-06-1900
19 https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZTR19251114.2.12
20 https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/TC18580209.2.3?end_date=31-12-1860&items_per_page=50&query=Cresswell+Lane&snippet=true&sort_by=byDA&start_date=01-01-1839 21 Facebook - Descendants Of Mizpah George And Susan Landon-Lane
22 https://www.theprow.org.nz/yourstory/george-and-susan-landon-lane/
23 https://www.theprow.org.nz/yourstory/whittington-landon-lane/
24 https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/TC18830327.2.7?end_date=31-12-1883&items_per_page=10&phrase=2&query=%22Fatal+gun+accident%22&snippet=true&sort_by=byDA&start_date=01-01-1883
25 https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/MEX19150807.2.15?end_date=31-12-1985&items_per_page=50&page=8&query=landon+lane&snippet=true&sort_by=byDA&start_date=01-01-1839