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| The grave of Alfred Holloway Waikumete Cemetery. Photo by Cathy Currie |
A sturdy wooden cross stands in the first row of Waikumete Cemetery’s Anglican Division C on plot 24, its weathered, mossy appearance and its anonymity have intrigued many who have noticed it.
Records reveal that the cross marks the grave of Albert Holloway who passed away in Auckland Hospital on April 27th 1894 as a result of diabetic gangrene after undergoing a month of treatment in ward 1, he was aged 56. [1]
Auckland Hospital admissions show that he was a cook and was residing on the HMS Tauranga, however naval records indicate that he was serving on the HMS Rapid prior to his death. [2] [3]
The HMS Tauranga arrived in Auckland from Wellington 3 days before
Albert was admitted to hospital, yet the Rapid did not arrive from Sydney until
4 days prior to his death. [4] [5] This was well after his hospital treatment
had begun so it does not seem possible that he was physically aboard the HMS
Rapid although he may have been assigned to the ship in his final days.
Both ships were part of the Australasian
Auxiliary Squadron which arrived in Sydney in 1891 where they were to be stationed.
New Zealand was part of a defence scheme in which approximately 20,000 pounds
was paid by our country each year to help cover the interest on a loan required
to build new cruisers and torpedo boats. Australia was also part of this
scheme. Our payment would ensure that 2 British cruisers would be maintained in
New Zealand waters by the Royal Navy during peacetime. [6]
Albert had served with the Royal
Navy from 1873 as an admiral’s cook and captain’s cook on 15 different vessels [3]
Born in October 1838 in Plymouth, Devon, England and a baker by trade, he was
considered to be of very good to excellent character and described as being
short in stature – 5.3/5.4, having black/dark hair, dark blue eyes, a fresh
tallow complexion and was marked slightly with smallpox scars. Albert is found
to be affiliated with the Royal Navy as early as 1861, when he is listed on the
1861 census of Royal Navy Vessels in Esquimalt Harbour, Vancouver Island, British
Columbia at the age of 23 a single man, aboard the 3,915 tons wooden 51 gun screw
frigate HMS Topaze, [7] as a wardroom cook he cooked for the officers. [8] Esquimalt
was the location of the British Royal Navy’s Pacific Station, and the only
Royal Navy base in western North America. The base complete with a dockyard for large
ships was operated here by the British from 1842 until 1905 when the Canadian
government took over its operation. [9]
 |
The British screw-frigate HMS Topaze, launched in 1858
Photo created between 1858 and 1884.
by Unknown,
Public Domain,
|
On The 2nd of February
1866 Albert married Emma Williams at the parish church of St Andrews Plymouth,
Devon. [10] [11] They lived in Richmond St, Park St and Catherine St,
in Plymouth, Devon and in Monument St Devonport, Devon prior to 1883. The
couple had 3 children together a son Albert Thomas Henry who was born 27th
October 1866 and baptised in November [12]. A daughter Emma born during May 1873
and another daughter Alice born 22nd of May 1878.
The nature of Albert’s occupation required him to spend long periods of time away from home and one can only
imagine the stresses this would place on family life. On the 5th June 1879 he was
drafted for service in the Pacific Station on the HMS Thetis and did not return
home until June 1883. After he left, Emma went to London by train, she was
picked up at Paddington station by a man named Samuel George Williams whom she
moved in with. They lived as husband and wife in a number of places in Upper Holloway
and Lower Holloway, Middlesex, and in 1881 Emma gave birth to a daughter at Enkle
St, Seven Sisters Rd, Lower Holloway.
Albert's ½ pay of 30 shillings a
month was paid directly to Emma through the admiralty and a further 1 pound per
week had been forwarded to her up until October 1882 when captain Curtis of the
HMS Thetis officially informed Albert that the ½ pay allowance had been stopped
as his wife had a child to another man.
When Albert returned home, Emma met
him at Devonport. and upon being confronted she acknowledged her adultery and
expressed her sorrow asking for his forgiveness. Albert petitioned for divorce
stating that during 1880, 1881, 1882, and 1883 Samuel George Williams had committed
adultery with his wife. [10] Albert was back at sea in August spending prolonged
periods away from home once again. [3] It appears the divorce process took quite
some time with a second affidavit having to be served on a relative of the co respondent
Mr Williams which was not filed until October 1884 and an affidavit of the
solicitor filed at the end of March 1885. There is no decree nisi nor final
decree date noted on the court minutes to indicate that this divorce between
the couple was ever finalised. [10]
Although it appears that Emma with
Albert's daughters, may have moved in with another man by 1891 and was using the
surname Walsh, I can not be certain about the continued journey and fate of Alberts
marriage. [13] He did leave a will which was probated after his death and the
administration was granted to widow Emma Holloway. His effects totalling 153 pounds
1s 1d. [14]
Albert’s son and daughter-in- law
Annie had their first child in 1887 a daughter, followed by their first son the
year after who was named Albert. By the time Albert senior passed away he had
become a grandfather to at least 5 grandchildren all born in St Pancras, London.
[15]
Albert Holloway was laid to his
final rest on April 28th 1894 the day following his passing, and was
afforded the traditions of a military funeral. [16] There is little doubt that
with Albert’s long Naval service and the period of time he had sailed with the Australasian
Auxiliary Squadron that he would have known many of the crew aboard the HMS Rapid
who attended his funeral and formed the firing party at his grave side to send
their ship mate across the bar. [3] [16]
“Sunset and evening star,
And one clear call
for me!
And may there be no moaning of the bar,
When I put out to
sea…”
-Alfred, Lord Tennyson
Compiled by Cathy Currie using
the following sources:
[1] Auckland hospital admissions Archives New Zealand ref
ZAAP 15288/3a pg33, pg36
[2] UK, British Army and Navy Birth, Marriage and Death
Records, 1730-1960
ADM 104: Service Registers and Registers of Deaths and
Injuries
Piece 109: Registers of Reports of Deaths: Ships
(1893-1909)
[3] UK, Royal Navy Registers of Seamen's Services,
1848-1939
The National Archives of the UK; Kew, Surrey, England;
Royal Navy Registers of Seamen's Services; Class: ADM 188; Piece: 43
[4] H.M.S. Tauranga, Auckland Star, Volume XXV, Issue 71,
24 March 1894
[5] H.M.S. Rapid, Auckland Star, Volume XXV, Issue 96, 23
April 1894
[6] The Royal New Zealand Navy 'Origins', URL:
https://nzhistory.govt.nz/war/royal-new-zealand-navy/origins, (Ministry for
Culture and Heritage), updated 20-Dec-2012
[8] Census Returns of England and Wales, 1861. Kew,
Surrey, England: The National Archives of the UK (TNA): Public Record Office
(PRO), 1861. Data imaged from The National Archives, London, England.Class: RG
9; Piece: 4436; Folio: 129; Page: 14; GSU roll: 543283
Ancestry.com. 1861 England Census. Provo, UT, USA:
Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005.
[10] "England, Devon, Parish Registers,
1538-1912," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KC92-NZ2
:), Albert Holloway and Emma Williams, 1866, Marriage; from "Church of
England parish registers 1538-1911
[11] England &; Wales, Civil Divorce Records,
1858-1916 Ancestry.com
[12] "England, Devon Bishop's Transcripts,
1558-1887," database with images, FamilySearch
(https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q2MS-1D4R : 16 February 2016), Emma Holloway
in household of Albert Thomas Henry Holloway, Plymouth, Devon, England; citing
Baptism, The Devon Record Office, Exeter.
[13] Class: RG12; Piece: 1722; Folio: 116; Page: 12; GSU
roll: 6096832
1891 England Census. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com
Operations Inc, 2005.
Original data: Census Returns of England and Wales, 1891.
Kew, Surrey, England: The National Archives of the UK (TNA): Public Record
Office (PRO), 1891.
[14] Ancestry.com.
England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and
Administrations), 1858-1966, 1973-1995 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com
Operations, Inc., 2010.
Principal Probate Registry. Calendar of the Grants of
Probate and Letters of Administration made in the Probate Registries of the
High Court of Justice in England. London, England.
[15] 1901 England Census St Pancras London Online
publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005.Original data -
Census Returns of England and Wales, 1901. Kew, Surrey, England: The National
Archives, 1901. Data imaged from the National Archives, London, England. The
National Archives.
[16] Burial book New Zealand, Auckland, Waikumete
Cemetery Records, 1886-1948, database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C9P1-Y9QJ-P?cc=2365063&wc=QZ5T-N26%3A1589462305
), Church of England burials > image 32 of 106; Waikumete Cemetery, Glen
Eden.
Image The British screw-frigate HMS Topaze: https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=35049317
Image Grave of Alfred Holloway: Cathy Currie
Image The British screw-frigate HMS Topaze: https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=35049317
Image Grave of Alfred Holloway: Cathy Currie
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