The Riley Family- our Irish ancestry

I am very pleased that my ancestry means that I possess Irish as well as English genes. I always think of my Irish ancestry as a source of my love of music. It also adds some further maritime heritage through the Riley love of sailing. Both of these are also strongly represented within my Austen english ancestry. In fact the two families were represented together on the stage when Annie's son Cyril Hardy (my great uncle) appeared on the same billing as my grandfather Arthur Austen.

The lady in the above photo is my great grandmother Jane Anne Riley ("Annie"), the mother of my grandfather Merv Hardy. My mother always referred to her in very fond terms. This blog tells the story of Annie's family. I have touched on the Riley family in some other blogs. In this blog I go a bit further into part this family's story.

The information in this blog is very largely sourced from the work of my cousin Joy Carter. Joy is descended from Annie's brother Oliver ("Ollie"). Joy did substantial work some years ago to compile an excellent history of the Riley family. Joy who lives in Warkworth has kindly shared this with me and has enabled me to meet some of the Riley family members who live near to me. It is totally by coincidence that the area north of Warkworth where Juliana and I moved to for our retirement years happens to be near where a branch of the Riley family decided to live many years ago. Sometimes I find it downright spooky how by chance we can end up crossing paths with someone who shares our ancestry. The world really is just a small village at times.

Below is the Riley Family Tree from Joy's "Life of Riley" book. As you will see Annie was one of 10 children of James and Charlotte Riley.

James Riley

The Irish connection comes through James Riley Senior who was born in Dublin in 1810. He married Eliza Bradbent and they had a son they also named James. James Senior was a Sargeant in Her Majesty's service. James Junior was born in Dublin on 16 December 1831 in St Michael's Parish in the heart of Dublin city. The Rileys were protestant.

An 1851 Census tells us that James Junior age 21 was at that time living at the Little Warley Barracks as a member of the East India Company Depot and was employed as a Gunner in the Horse Artillery. The East India Company had developed the Warley Barracks to train recruits who they sent to India. The Barracks could accommodate around 10 officers, 306 men and 222 horses. It was situated close to the Brentwood Militia Training area.

James subsequently went to work as a ships crew and had worked his way to Sydney Australia by the end of 1862. It was in Australia that he met and married Charlotte Dix, from England. They married on 15th December 1862 in Elizabeth St, Sydney. James was age 30 and Charlotte age 24.

Charlotte Dix

Charlotte was born 18 November 1838 in the village of New Houghton, Norfolk England. Her parents were Richard and Ann Dix. Charlotte and her family lived in Village St next to more Dix relations. She was the fifth of twelve children. Her father Richard and his older brothers all worked on the estate of Houghton Hall, the stately residence of the Walpole family.

Below is the census for 1841 that shows Richard and Ann living at Village St. Charlotte is shown as age 3.

In the 1851 Census below Charlotte is shown as a scholar age 11. It should show her age as 13. Also note that Dix was spelt Dicks.

The children of workers employed on the Houghton Hall estate generally also became employed on the estate when they became adults. Charlotte became employed as a nursery maid looking after the lord's children.

Houghton Hall

Houghton Hall was built in the 1720s by Sir Robert Walpole who was England's first Prime Minister. On 6th February 1742 he was created Baron of Houghton, Viscount Walpole and Earl of Orford.His son was the famous man of literature Horace Walpole.

Today Houghton Hall is the residence of the 7th Marquess of Cholmondeley, who is a direct descendant of Sir Robert Walpole. You can see this astonishing estate by clicking on the link below.

https://www.houghtonhall.com/

Here is a photo of what is called "the embroidered bed chamber". This is a good example of the spectacular standard of this stately home.

Here is the green velvet bedchamber that is intended to be the guests bedroom. It is dedicated to Venus the god of love and sleep.

This room is called the Common Parlour. It was the family dining room in the time of Sir Robert.

Houghton Hall and working for its its lordly owners did not have a good outcome for Charlotte. At age 17 she was raped by a member of the nobility. It is not known who this was but he must have had a connection to Houghton Hall.

I have looked at the possibilities based on the history of the family living at Houghton Hall. The main occupant of the Hall in the period when Charlotte became pregnant was the 3rd Marquess William Henry Hugh Cholomondeley. He was born 31 March 1800 and died at Houghton Hall 16 December 1884.

William had eight children by his wife Marcia Emma Georgiana. Two were sons, namely Charles George born 9 July 1829 and Henry Vere born 4 October 1834. They would have respectively been aged 26 and 21 at the time Charlotte became pregnant. It seems more likely that one of them may have been responsible rather than their father who would have been age 55.

It was arranged that Charlotte be sent to Australia. Her fares were paid and some ongoing financial support was provided. Apparently her mother told her it was for a holiday. However she never saw her family again.

Charlotte's baby was a son and he was named Arthur. He was born on 7th July 1856 at Pitt St, Redfern, Sydney. There was no father named on the birth certificate. Charlotte raised him by herself until he was 6 years old and she met James Riley. Charlotte and James were married on 15 December 1862 in Elizabeth St, Sydney. The following year James and Charlotte had a son James Richard born on 5 July 1863 at the same place as Arthur.

The Riley family's move to New Zealand was the result of the recruitment of James Riley by Captain William Steele who sought men, either single or married to join the Fourth Militia and travel to New Zealand to assist in the settlement of the Waikato and Bay of Plenty. Land was being confiscated from the Waikato Maori and a militia was needed to assist in the process of initiating European settlement. The cost of passage to New Zealand and related expenses would be met at the sum of six pound per soldier. Each soldier was issued with a pair of blue blankets, a tin plate, spoon, knife, fork and tin pannikin. In addition they each s would receive a free land grant.

James enlisted in Sydney on 16th February 1864 and with his family sailed for New Zealand on the ship The Alice Cameron that day. They arrived in Auckland on 4th March 1864.

Charlotte and the children remained in Auckland initially at the Howick Militia Barracks. There she gave birth to another son William Thomas on 4 October 1864.

Meanwhile on the 22nd August 1964 James and his fellow soldiers had set out for Hamilton, firstly by marching to a landing on the banks of the Waikato River at Mercer and then by paddle steamer to Hamilton. They arrived in Hamilton of 24 August 1864. This is the date on which the founding of Hamilton is celebrated.

James served in the Waikato Militia until 15th May 1865 at which time the militia was being disbanded. James was then given possession of his allotment of land being a Crown Grant at Lot 6, Galloway St, East Hamilton. The map below shows Galloway St and a very approximate location for this section.

Joy Carter's book contains the images below that help clarify the location of the Land Grant.

The image below shows the area of the Grantham St Landing in 1866. This is labelled in the above map. The land above the landing is now the site of the Waikato Museum. The museum is also labelled in the current day map above.

After leaving the militia James went to work as a Steward for the Waikato Steam Navigation Company. Steam boats were commonly used as transport on the Waikato and other rivers at this time. They provided an essential means of transport for the european soldiers during the Maori Land Wars and then became an ongoing means of civilian transportation. The painting shown below captures what was a common site in the mid 1880s.

Charlotte gave birth to George Edward Riley on 27th June 1866. The family then moved to Auckland for a time. A daughter Charlotte Elizabeth was born at Freemans Bay, Auckland on 8th May 1868. James was now working as a boot maker. The next Riley child, my great grandmother Jane Anne, was born in Thames. James had decided to seek his fortune in the goldfields of Thames. However this did not work out for them and soon the Rileys were back in Auckland. Another child followed with the birth of Oliver Nathaniel on 23rd October 1871. The family was living in Newton initially and then settled into a house at 1 Wallace St, Herne Bay.

Sadly there are no current photos showing the house at 1 Wallace St. At some point a brick block of flats has been erected on the site. The Riley house was at the back of a the section and a grocery shop that was joined to the house was at the street frontage. The Rileys purchased the shop which Charlotte then ran. James worked as a storeman and then a gumsorter.

Charlotte and James had a total of ten children. Those that followed Oliver's birth were Frederick Charles born 1873, Lydia Mary born 1875, Alfred Henry born 1876 and Sydney Austin born 1878.

James Riley died on 21 September 1892 at age 61. He was given a full military service funeral as a result of his membership of the Engineer Voluntary Corps.

Joy mentions in her book that James was always very proud of his brief stint in the militia and would often go to the local pub wearing what was left of his uniform including his New Zealand War medal.

At the time of Jame's death Charlotte was age 54. She continued to live in Wallace Street and to run the store. Two of her daughters had married earlier in 1892. Annie married my great grandfather Charles Lingham Hardy at her parents' house in Wallace St on 6 January 1892. As reported below the wedding in Herne Bay on 6 January was followed on the evening of 11th January by a large gathering at the Hardy home in Dairy Flat. They enjoyed a "bountiful repast" including a two tiered wedding cake provided by Alice Hardy. Following the dinner there was "an abundance of excellent music and singing" with the party continuing until midnight.

The Riley Family of Furniture Makers

When working through the stories of the Riley family members it became apparent that a number of James and Charlotte's sons had at various times worked in furniture factories in either Sydney or Ponsonby, Auckland. Looking into this developed into another fascinating story.

The elder two sons of James and Charlotte, namely James Richard (Jim) born in Pitt St, Redfern, Sydney on 5 July 1863 and William Thomas (Bill) born at the Howick Barracks, Auckland on 4 October 1864 established a furniture making business in Sydney.

I was able to find a newspaper article dated 24 March 1902 that reported on an annual picnic of the employees of W Riley and Co. There is reference in this article to progress made by the firm over the previous 8 years. This implies they started in business around 1894. The number of employees and "friends" said to be attending the picnic was "upwards of 200".

In his speech to the group Bill referred to his 14 years practical experience working in America which I take to mean he had been in that country prior to settling in Australia. If he had 14 years in America before starting the business in Sydney he had gone to America in 1880 at age 16. The article also includes reference to Jim being about to visit Europe and America.

The record below shows that in 1901 Bill obtained a patent for the invention of an improvement to "... wire woven mattresses and related structures". This suggest he was making beds as part of his furniture making enterprise.

Joy's information indicates that Jim had married in 1899 in New South Wales Australia to Caroline Sadler. He had returned to New Zealand in 1905 and was living at Wallace St where he gave his occupation as a furniture manufacturer. By 1911 he and Caroline were living in Onehunga and Jim was working as a french polisher. Jim died 30 May 1918 age 54.

Whether Jim had his intended trip to Europe and America is not known. The address of W Riley & Co changed around 1906 from George St, Sydney to Botany St Redfern. Apparently there had been a fire at the George St address. I have not been able to find a record of the fire at the time of writing this blog. However I did find a record of a fire that destroyed the premises at Redfern in 1928. See below.

Furniture factories are a very high fire hazard undertaking. Having worked in the insurance industry I can attest to the fact insurers are not at all keen on this category of business.

My friendly AI helper provided the little summary below of the period during which W Riley & Co was in business.

Bill married Agnes Hardiman in Sydney in 1904. I have not found any evidence of children from this marriage. Bill was age 40 when he and Agnes married. I have not been able to find any information about Agnes.

Bill died 9 September 1934 aged 69. He died at his home address of 74 Hewlett St Bronte.

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Below is a current photo of Bill's home. The beach is a short walk down the road and Bondi Beach is the next bay around to the north.

Andrew Parkinson Furniture Maker

Jim and Bill's sister, Charlotte Elizabeth ("Lottie") born at Freemans Bay Auckland on 8 May 1868, had joined her brothers in venturing to Australia. Lottie married Andrew Parkinson at St Barnabas Church, Sydney on 6 January 1892. This is the same date that her sister Annie married Charles Lingham Hardy. I have not found any information establishing whether Andrew and Lottie met in New Zealand or Australia. It seems logical to assume they met in New Zealand. Andrew subsequently joined Jim and Bill in their furniture business.

In about 1904 Andrew and Lottie returned to New Zealand and Andrew established his own very successful furniture business in Ponsonby. It is not clear whether this was related to the closure of the George St business of Jim and Bill. However it does seem that there was some disruption to the George St business given Jim and Andrew returned to New Zealand in a similar time frame.

Andrew's business was located on Ponsonby Rd at the intersection with Brown St. Below is a present day map. The label Ponsonby Central indicates the significant sized building occupying this part of Ponsonby Rd. This was an industrial building prior to its recent alterations forming what is now a large collection of shops and places to eat and drink.

Andrew and Lottie lived in Rose Rd only a short walk away from their factory. The red flag in the map above sits over their address of 23 Rose Rd. Below are two photos of the Parkinson house, current and in earlier days. The young lady standing on the front veranda in the early photo is Andrew and Lottie's daughter Hilda.

In 1922 Charles and Annie Hardy lived just across the road at 14 Rose Rd. As Charles was operating a carting business it would not surprise me if he was delivering some of Andrew's furniture to local customers.

Andrew and Lottie had three children born in Australia. These were their sons Norman Andrew born 22 October 1894, William Bruce born 9 December 1896 and their daughter Hilda Helen born 6 March 1901. Another son Selwyn Charles was born 14 June 1904 in Auckland.

Andrew's business seems to have been quite successful over the period from 1904 through to the 1930s. However it was possibly badly affected by the widespread economic depression of the 1930s as the business assets were put up for auction in 1939.

In June of 1931 daughter Hilda married Leslie Frank Ramsey. Leslie was a woodwork machinist. My assumption is that he worked for Andrew in his factory.

I note that in Hilda's wedding party amongst the flower girls is Joyce Chapman. Joyce was a cousin and very good friend of my mother. She was a daughter of Lydia Hardy, sister of my grandfather Merv Hardy.

Hilda was a very talented young woman who ran a business from her parents house offering music, elocution and drama coaching. Below are some photos of Hilda that were available from another Ancestry tree.

Below is an example of the advertisements that Hilda placed on a regular basis. Below that is a report on a concert provided at a local hospital by Hilda using the entertainment skills of her pupils.

It seems that the marriage between Hilda and Leslie Ramsey only lasted until the mid 1940s. Hilda seems to have stayed at 23 Rose Rd with her son Darrell Leslie and former husband Leslie is living with members of his family at the Ramsey family home in Gordon Rd in the mid 1940s. He subsequently remarried around 1963 to Daphne Evelyn Amelia. Leslie retired to Ti Point near Leigh in the 1970s and died there in 1994. This is an interesting coincidence given members of the Riley family then lived in the same area.

Darrell became an industrial chemist. His job seems to have taken him to Wellington in the 1970s and Hilda moved down and lived with him in her latter years.

Below is an example of an effort by Andrew to diversify his business in 1936. Quite a departure from building furniture.

Sadly the diversification into boats did not save the business from financial problems around the time of the 1930s depression. Ultimately the business assets were put up for sale by the National Creditmen's Association.

Andrew died 21 March 1942 at age 73. Lottie died 29 September 1947 at age 79.

There are many more Riley family stories to be told. I will include them in some future blogs. I am also republishing alongside this blog an earlier blog that relates the families involvement in sailing, which I hope will be of interest to those who may not have previously seen it.