Captain Hedditch and his Family

Elijah Charlton Vowell Hedditch and Florence Gertrude Frith

Summary:

Elijah Charlton Vowell Hedditch, (1840 Hobart Tas.- 1923, Whanganui, NZ).

·      Married 1869, Ulverstone, Tas.

Florence Gertrude Frith, (1852, Swansea, Wales - 1943, Kawakawa, NZ)

NB: Elijah was commonly known as Charles and sometimes at Pembroke, as Captain.

Charles’ Grandparents

Samuel Hedditch (1784 UK? - 1869 Vic.) and Sarah Charlton (1780 UK – 1828 Tas.).

Samuel Hedditch married Sarah Charlton in 1807 in Dorset, UK. They had five children prior to Samuel being given a life sentence and transported on the Hibernia to Tasmania in 1818. His wife and children emigrated a few years later and their sixth child was born in Tasmania in 1826. Sarah Hedditch died in 1828. Samuel Hedditch was given a pardon in 1835 and he then went to live in Portsmouth, Vic. in 1850 where he died at 85 years of age.

Charles’ Parents

Elijah Charlton Hedditch (1815 UK – 1896 Vic.) and Sophia Vowell Fitch (1820 UK?-1859Tas.).

Elijah Charlton Hedditch (EC Hedditch), the fifth child of Samuel and Sarah Hedditch, married Sophia Vowell Fitch in Tasmania in 1838. In the following 20 years, EC Hedditch was involved in businesses including general stores, sawmilling, inns, and real estate. He was declared insolvent in 1858. Nine children were born to the family before Sophia died in 1859. EC Hedditch then married Sarah Flexmore (1823 Tas.–1909 Tas.) in 1861, with whom he had an additional child. By that time his assets, including a 40-ton barge the Lady Franklin, had been sold by the courts.

Elijah Charlton Vowell Hedditch (1840 - 1923) and Florence Gertrude Frith (1852 - 1943)

Arrival in the Otago region

Elijah Charlton Vowell Hedditch (Charles), the eldest child of EC Hedditch, was born in Hobart, Tasmania in 1840. When the Lady Franklin was put up for sale, it had the description that it “could be despatched to sea at an hour’s notice to Otago”. It is possible that Hedditch travelled on the Lady Franklin as the schooner arrived in the Dunedin dock in August 1862, which was around the time that he was known to have arrived in NZ.

Charles worked on the paddle steamer PS Geelong which was based at Port Chalmers in 1861-2, and used to drop off thousands of gold diggers in Waikouaiti Bay. He may have been one of those diggers, as in the early1860s, Hedditch met up with Theodore Russell. The two men had a chief interest in a Cardrona gold claim, the Gin and Raspberry. Shareholders of this claim, yielded £3000- £5000 over a 12 month period. In 1865, £3000 pound was worth about half a million dollars in today’s money.

Pembroke

A sister of Charles, Celia, married Theodore Russell in 1867. Theodore Russell, in partnership with Charles, built the first Wānaka Hotel which was advertising for custom by November 1868. Their partnership was dissolved in January 1869, and Hedditch travelled to Tasmania where on 29 April 1869 he married Florence Frith in Port Sorell. Florence had immigrated to Australia with her parents John and Ann Frith. The newly married couple returned to live in New Zealand where their 12 children were born: Florence Amy (1870), Edith Marie (1872), Mabel Isabel (1874), Charlton Arthur (1876), Gertrude Maude (1878), NR (1880), Walter Ernest (1882), Ethel Ida Blanch (1884), Hilda Maude (1886), Lionel John Robert (1888), Cyril Herbert Gordon (1890) and Ivan (1891).

A major occupation of Charles over the 30 years he lived in Pembroke, involved sailing boats on Lake Wānaka, both for pleasure and for business. The boats were generally owned by Theodore Russell, including the rebuilt Isabella and the clipper Eureka and as early as 1876 Hedditch was more commonly known as Captain Hedditch. At the time of his death in 1877, Theodore Russell was in the planning stages to build a paddle steamer. The project was carried on by Asher Smith and Charles, as joint owners. The vessel, 26.5m in length and having a beam of 4.9m, was named the Theodore, and launched on 9 March 1881. Charles captained the boat, transporting cargo, stock and passengers to various stations around Lake Wānaka. The boat was also engaged for private events and public excursion trips.  Charles was regularly applauded for his sailing expertise and for his “courteous and obliging nature both in favourable and unfavourable circumstances”.

By October 1886 weekend patronage by tourists had declined despite the inclusion of music and dancing onboard. One reason for the lack of tourist trade may have been due to days of poor weather making it difficult to travel to the Pembroke region and unsafe to venture out on the lake. However, weekday usage showed continued demand for carrying general cargo, agricultural produce, and workers. Charles also gained contracts to deliver mail to Pembroke and Makarora via steamer. Financial troubles appeared to occur and in September 1891 Hedditch travelled to Tasmania to seek out possible ventures there. However, he returned to Pembroke in mid-1893, to command the Theodore once again for a new owner. The steamer Makarora, owned by William Allan, commenced commercial activities in late 1900, and with Charles as Captain, took on its first voyage with passengers in late 1900.

PS “Theodore” on Lake Wānaka

Charles had also been involved in rafting timber in the Upper Clutha region from the mid-1860’s until 1899.  The majority of these activities relate to the period following the death of Theodore Russell, when Hedditch was involved in the supply of timber in partnership with his sister Celia Russell and others. Charles and Joseph B. Ewing were involved in the actual rafting of the timbers. Joseph was the brother-in-law of Charles, having married his sister Emily Thirza Hedditch. The rafts were comprised of about 2,000 logs of sawn timber, tied together with flax. On arrival at the likes of Bendigo, Cromwell, and sometimes Dunstan (Clyde), the rafts were unpacked and the timber was stacked.

Charles again became involved in prospecting, on Ram Island (now known as Motu Tapu), around Cardrona and along the Clutha River. There is no indication that these activities were successful.

Whilst living in Pembroke, Charles was involved with the Cemetery Trust, committees of the Presbyterian Church, local school and library, and the cricket club. His wife, Florence, supported the local library and played the piano at community social events in Pembroke. She was an organist at the Anglican Church in Pembroke for 25 years. Charles and his wife lived much of their married life in Pembroke in a cottage located just behind where the ANZ Bank is currently located in Ardmore Street. Their home was stated to be the oldest residence in Pembroke, but in 1901 it was destroyed by fire whilst they were attending Church. Charles also owned land in Beach Street (now called Lakeside Drive) at some time, on the approximate location of the Lakeshore Springs Apartments.

Post Pembroke

In 1902 the Hedditch family left the Pembroke area to live in Whanganui working in the dairying industry. In 1906 Charles with his eldest son Charleton, rafted down the Taumarunui River to assess the viability to use it to transport timber in the region. Despite the viability of the venture, it had to be abandoned owing to the potential of endangering the works of the River Trust. Elijah Charlton Vowell Hedditch died on the 24h November 1923 at the age of 84 years, in Gonville, Whanganui, NZ. Four years after the death of her husband, Florence went to live in Tasmania but returned to NZ in 1933, to live at Wellington, and then in 1939 moved to Kerikeri where she died on the 1 January 1943 at Kawakawa.

Addendum: This article has an extensive longer version, including reference sources, which is available for research purposes from the Society.