Ann Phillis Knight

1813 - 1896  (83 years)

• Name	Ann Phillis Knight
  Born	11 Mar 1813	Broadstairs, Kent, England
  Gender	Female
  Census	7 Apr 1861	Buttress St, Stepney, London, England
  age 42
  Migration/Travel	2 Sep 1873	Brisbane, QLD, Australia   [1]
  Ship "Great Queensland" - date of arrival - name spelt Houghman
  Migration/Travel	2 Dec 1876	Brisbane, QLD, Australia   [1]
  Ship "British Nation" - date of arrival
  Died	4 Sep 1896	Bulimba, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
  Buried	Bulimba, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
  	Bulimba cemetery
  Notes	played and grew up with Charles Dickens In 1872 she left her loved native land and sailed for Australia. Charles Dickens had died two years before. Many of his books were on shelves in the new home. There is a story of a picture of a ship. It was in an Australian reading book - primer 2 and belonged to Marian Hurley Pratt in 1885-6. The grandma missed the sea and ships so much. Years later when MHP became possessor of the family bible there was the picture being used as a book mark, and now it is being placed - not as a brass tablet in a grand Cathedral but as a lasting memorial to a good woman, loved by all who knew her. One thing, when people leave their homes for a foreign unknown place they carry a few mementos with them, memories of loved ones and places. Ann Phillis (Knight) Hougham took a photo of her parish church with her parents stone marked. This picture is 12 x 14 inches [305 x 356 mm], was framed and wherever she lived it was hung on her living room wall. It was taken from England to Australia, back to England and back to Australia, then to the USA and many times back and forth from Utah to California, and like the names on the old tombstones fading with age - MHP MHP (her granddaughter) also writes :- " Have you ever stood on the deck of a ship seeing your native land with everyone and everything dear to you gradually fading away in the distance? My own experience recalled in my mind a poem in my school reading book - one verse in particular - "The Emigrant Ship" All on deck together, young and old they stand, husbands wives and children, clasping hand in hand. On each face is sorrow that they'll see no more when thay wake tomorrow - their own native shore" Now let us follow the ship Great Queenslander and meet new people. Those days ships depended entirely on wind and sails. Today (1958) a trip of that distance can be covered by a steamship, a floating city of palaces of the latest conveniences, i in 2 to 3 weeks - which took a sailing ship upwards of 3 to 5 months, often the meals curtailed to a dry sea biscuit like a soda cracker but about 3 square inches [20 sq cm] in size and one half an inch [38 mm] thick, so hard even a hammer would not break them; one would last for hours, a little piece of corn beef (sometimes green with age) and that was your meal. Today the same trip can be covered by a plane practically in a few hours. Why did Ann P (K) Hougham go to Australia in 1872 as soon as her husband passed away, and take her two unmarried daughters? They were comfortably fixed and had no lack of friends, the girls in their teens in life's fullest activities. Only a mother could understand the answer. Out of her family of 9, 3 sons had died infants [William George, presumably William John and ??], her eldest son [Henry] was married and had to go to Canada, her eldest daughter [Elizabeth Ann] had married and with her husband and first four children moved to the USA. Her second daughter was married but had an invalid husband withTB, she would remain in London and trust in the future. There was still one son who had been gone 12 years .... yes you guessssed. He was in Australia, he had kept in touch with his mother. He was spirited away when 15 or 16 of age by the families own minister who said his own boy was wild and determined to emigrate, so he offered to pay young Fred Hougham's passage to go with his son, etc and when Fred insisted he should go and ask his folkes permission and get clothes etc the minister assured Fred that everything would be alright, proved, and he would immediately go to parents and explain all. A person who could do such a despicable trick, could do more - he did not go immediately, he let Fred's folk worry and seek until the ship was well out to sea. So almost a year went by before the first letter and the true story reached the folks at home in England. So the mother decided to go to her boy. The place was as beautiful as he had described - but - it was far from cities or towns, on a small mining claim, no stores or post office, just a few young people 2 or 3 of them married, no church, just in the midst of God’s own handiwork, nature itself, flowers, birds, butterflies even the insects and reptiles in brilliant colours, a clear stream of cold clear water, plenty of wild fruit and berries.Perfection, but nothing to do. The two sisters from the great city of London grew listtless, the mother agreed all should return to England, their busy lives and friends and Fred ought to come along. They moved 430 miles [692 km] to Bulimba, a small village on the outskirts of the City of Brisbane, to await the coming of a sailing ship and find something to occupy time. During the waiting period a friend of Fred's had taken a liking for the youngest sister and when the ship was due begged her to remain and be his wife. She would not remain. "The Darling Downs" was lifting anchor, tie ropes all untied, sailors unfurling sails, getting a foot or so from her moorings, when a young man with suitcase in hand leaped aboard. John William Hurley joined the Hougham family on their return trip around Cape Colony. So Africa to England. The return trips were not emigrants, very few passengers. There is nothing prettier or more stately than a ship in full white sail leaving or entering port unless a graceful white swan gliding along admiring its reflection in the water. The group aboard the ship were happy. Arriving "home" safely in due time was a disappointment, things had changed in those few short years. Old friends gone, some moved and some died, young folks married and got their home cares now. Most of all they had forgotten the constant fogs and drizzling rain of London and longed for the sunshine and cloudless skies of Queensland. Fred and John William were feeling the effects of the damp. Decisions had to be made. They all agreed that the sunny days in Australia would be good for Sarah's invalid husband, again they pack up, not only suitcases but household goods etc and soon were on their return journey to Australia going by way of South America round Cape Horn on the "British Nation" with 600 emigrants aboard. This trip was rough, crowded full of thrills and excitement - they were all glad when it ended. Volumes could be written about this one journey alone, Suffice to say it ended safely and this story continues with the lives of each individual . The mother had her family, John William Hurley gained his prize - Mary Ann Hougham became his bride and wife. It is after this marriage that MHP enters the scene. For more information about her ancestors see http://hougham.royroyes.net/pedigree.php?personID=I1226&tree=hougham [2]
  Person ID	I4184	Roy~Royes | Hougham
  Last Modified	4 Nov 2008

  
  

  Family	Henry Hougham,   b. 1 Feb 1818,   d. 20 Aug 1872  (Age 54 years)
  Married	31 Mar 1841	Stepney, London, England
  Children	1. Living   2. William George Hougham,   b. 1844, Islington, London, England ,   d. 1844  (Age 0 years)   3. Living   4. Living + 5. Sarah Elizabeth Hougham,   b. 13 Nov 1848, Islington, London, England ,   d. 13 Jan 1906, Ipswich, QLD, Australia  (Age 57 years)   6. Edward John Hougham,   b. 20 Mar 1851, St George in the East, Tower Hamlets, London, England ,   d. 1852  (Age 0 years)   7. Living   8. William George Hougham,   b. 10 Feb 1854, St George in the East, Tower Hamlets, London, England ,   d. Bef 27 Jul 1854, St George in the East, Tower Hamlets, London, England  (Age 0 years) + 9. Living
  Last Modified	28 Mar 2014
  Family ID	F1479	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Event Map		Born - 11 Mar 1813 - Broadstairs, Kent, England Married - 31 Mar 1841 - Stepney, London, England Census - age 42 - 7 Apr 1861 - Buttress St, Stepney, London, England Migration/Travel - 2 Sep 1873 - Brisbane, QLD, Australia Migration/Travel - 2 Dec 1876 - Brisbane, QLD, Australia Died - 4 Sep 1896 - Bulimba, Brisbane, QLD, Australia Buried - - Bulimba, Brisbane, QLD, Australia  = Link to Google Earth
  Pin Legend	: Address       : Location       : City/Town       : County/Shire       : State/Province       : Country       : Not Set

  
  

• Sources

  [S129] QLD State Archives- immigration. [S19] Hougham - The Book of Houghams, Marion Hurley Pratt, ((Arizona, after 1958)).