John Hewat 1836 Edinburgh - 1906 Bairnsdale

The following commentary, as well as other material on John, was provided by Victoria Dunlop, g.g.grandaughter of John. Some of it she had from Jack McKenzie, g.grandson of John, while Dianne Kelly supplied the copy of William's letter to John's brother Andrew.

"William Hewat (1800-1874) took up employment with the Provincial Bank of Ireland in Dublin in 1838. His cousin, Thomas Hewat (1806-1876), who was to become the bank's secretary (chief officer) during the 1840s, was probably already settled there. I have a copy of a letter Sarah Duxbury Hewat wrote to William in August 1838 re. arrangements for joining him there. She left the boys - our John and his brother, Thomas Duxbury Hewat - in Edinburgh with her parents. They were to spend at least the next 4 years in the care of their grandparents. (The 1841 census shows them living at 5 Buccleuch St., Edinburgh.) Thomas Duxbury disappears from Edinburgh Directories in 1843, but I've not yet established whether he died or moved to Ireland. Clearly Jane Duxbury (Grandmama) was still alive when John left Ireland in 1852. (His other grandmother, Elizabeth Hogg Hewat, died in 1846.)"

"John arrived in Melbourne 6/7 February 1853 aboard "Lorena" from Dublin. He was one of 251 passengers and is listed as "John Hewett, 20, Clerk" We know how he spent his first 2 months in Australia, but Easter 1853 to February 1855 - when he married Margaret Hickey (1836-1898) - is blank. Margaret's details may provide a clue: she arrived, together with her sister, Mary, 29 Apr 1854 aboard "Merchantman" from Plymouth. Both girls were engaged for 3 months by R.H. McFarland, William St., Melbourne - probably as domestic servants (Margaret's will shows that she was illiterate). According to Melbourne Directories, R.H. McFarland was a Collins St. solicitor. Perhaps John spent some time working in Melbourne after his adventures on the gold fields."

"Although no marriage certificate has survived and birth certificates of various children give conflicting information, it seems likely that John and Margaret married at Tarraville 13 February 1855. The ensuing 10 years are tricky. There are no records of birth for 3 of the first 4 children - John, c1856; Thomas, c1857; and William, c1861. They were probably in the Sale-Heyfield area for at least some of this time. The Victorian Electoral Roll for 1856 shows a John Hewitt, Sale, Freehold (voting qualification). This could be him...... I would love to know more about these early years - did he try his hand at setting up a store in a small way? The Gippsland Times which was, I think, established during the 1840s, may hold some answers, but I don't know who would search it for us."

"By the time my gt grandfather, Andrew, was born in 1863, the family was living in Bairnsdale (the birth certificate does not, unfortunately, give a more specific address) and John's occupation was "Labourer". I have some firmer information for the years from 1865 compliments of Jack McKenzie (he's a gem!) The Victorian Government Gazette, 13 Oct 1865 and 6 Nov 1868, show John first leasing, then purchasing, allotments 227 and 228 - 90 acres, 3 roods, 3 perches, [Moormurng?] in the parish of Bairnsdale. Purchase price - £91. Jack found references to 2 letters from John in the Dept. of Lands & Survey Inward Correspondence Register (at PROV, Laverton), but the file was not in the box where it should have been! Jack did, however, send me a copy of John's application for lease on a further 2 allotments at Forge Creek - 237 & 238 - dated 26 June 1875."

"I've already mentioned John's contracting work and unpaid bills; and I sent you the newspaper item regarding his library job. The only other items I have are a page from the 'Statement of Assets and Liabilities' that accompanied his will and one photograph. His real estate assets at the time of his death were valued at £660 - land and 8-roomed weatherboard house in Nicholson St., Bairnsdale, a vacant allotment in Day St., Bairnsdale and a 52 acre "fenced paddock" in the parish of Moormurng. My mother found this for me and neglected to get the will itself (she did note, however, that the sole beneficiary was Elizabeth McKenzie, John's widowed daughter, who had looked after him in his latter years.) The photograph is of John with his grandson, William Douglas McKenzie (1896-1962) - Jack McKenzie's father."

"I have some other interesting material which sheds light on character and family relationships (while raising a great many questions): a copy of a letter William (1800-1874) wrote to John's brother Andrew (1839-1909) in 1868 reveals a great deal about his expectations and values ("30 years in Dublin and never in a public house, once at the theatre and never took a car for myself ......"); and his will is similarly curious and enlightening ("I give back, assign and bequeath unto him (my son John Hewat) the property at Forge Creek, Gippsland, Australia, where he resides, and which property he conveyed to me without value received or any reasonable cause ...."). As we have allotment numbers for the Forge Creek property, it should be possible to trace its ownership through the land registry/ title deeds. Perhaps someone in Oz will take up this task one day ... I would dearly love to read both John's later letters home - and his father's replies. I imagine that William would not have approved of John's activities - his gallivanting around the countryside when he presumably had the skills and letters of introduction with which to obtain white collar employment, his early marriage etc. Perhaps John bought property in his father's name to prove a point."

"The other early Hewat immigrants to Australia are interesting. John's second cousins, Richard Alexander Hewat (1830-1910) and Thomas Douglas Hewat (1823-1900) arrived in Victoria during the early 1850s and both appear on the 1856 Electoral Roll for Picaninny Gully (miner's rights). RAH, the son of Richard Hewat (c1792-1848) and Ann Tuckey, was from Warwickshire; TDH, the son of Richard Hewat (1790-1861), Regimental Surgeon, and Agnes Douglas, was from Earlston, Berwickshire. I am constantly amazed at the way in which the various branches of the family kept in touch with one another. I wonder whether John met up with them on his travels? RAH settled in Ballarat and had a large family; TDH had 2 children, lost his wife and son, and returned to Scotland during the 1870s. His daughter, Agnes Douglas Hewat (1868-1932), married a cousin, Henry Hewat Collett, in Sydney, 1902."