Henry James HARPER
Henry James HARPER was born around 1812 in Bere Alton, Devon, England and christened on 6 Sept 1812 in Calstock, Cornwall, England.
Henry was married to Harriet FLOYD in Buckland, Devon, England on 24 Mar 1834. They had at three children born in England William, Charlotte and Mary Ann, and one, Sarah who was born in New Zealand.
On 19 Nov 1840, the William Bryan set sail from Plymouth harbour bound for New Zealand. Henry and his family were aboard. The majority of the migrants on board the William Bryan were Cornish miners and farm labourers[1].
The voyage of the William Bryan was relatively uneventful, with it reaching landfall in New Plymouth with only one death, that of a pre-mature infant. This was a very good record for such long voyages at the time. The William Bryan was the first of the four immigrant ships bound for New Plymouth the make landfall on 31 March 1841. It was at sea the entire time, not making any port calls between England and New Zealand.
There is some information available on the voyage via the diary of the ships surgeon, Henry Weekes. Of interest to those studying the Harper family is the following entry from 5th Jan 1841: ‘5th. Stopped Harper’s rations for insolence to Mr. Nairn’[2]. Mr Nairn was another passenger on the voyage. Not sure why insolence to him would be worth punishing!
Four years after their arrival in New Zealand, Harriet died. She died on 7 June 1845, two days after giving birth to Sarah, who died on 9 June 1845. It is after the death of his wife and daughter, that Henry, with his surviving children then migrate to Australia. Before leaving New Zealand, it appears that a number of Henry’s brothers and sisters also migrated to the country.
The exact date of his move is unknown. They appear to have entered Australia via Adelaide. It is here on 17 Jan 1848 that he married Ellen BRAY at Holy Trinity Church in Adelaide, SA, Australia.
The family remained in Adelaide for at least three years bu then moved to Castlemaine. Around 1852, the family lived in the mining settlement of Berlin, Vic, Australia for some period (now called Rheola). He died on 17 Jan 1877 in Bendigo.
He was a miner. On his death certificate, his father is listed as Stephen HARPER, a miner and his mother as Mary MARKS. However, after extensive research, both these facts seem to be incorrect. His father’s name was Samuel HARPER and his mother was Mary TESTICK. The death of Henry was registered by his wife, Ellen. On the death certificate she only makes her mark (meaning she was unable to read or write), rather than signing her name. It is likely that the information she provided about her husbands parents is incorrect. However, for definitive proof, birth records need to be obtained.
Researching this branch of my family has proved somewhat difficult, due to the distance from the local Cornish records and also because of the common names involved. Not original problems, but they do tend to slow the process down.
Things I’d like to know:
- When did Henry and his family arrive in Australia?
- Did they arrive via Adelaide? If yes, when and on what ship?
- Further research avenues
As always, I’d love to hear from anyone connected to this family or who has information that I might like to know!
[1] R. G Wood, From Plymouth to New Plymouth (Wellington, New Zealand: A.H & A. W Reed, 1959).p. 30
[2] The Establishment of New Plymouth Settlement in New Zeland: 1841-1843, ed. J and Skinner Rutherford, W. H (New Plymouth, New Zealand: Thomas Avery & Sons Ltd, 1940). p. 25
