In addition to the relatives of the Chambers family who emigrated to Canada, one branch also found their way to New Zealand. This is the Hodgkinson family, related to Jessie and her siblings, through their grandmother Elizabeth Hodgkinson, who married Jonathon Chambers in 1850.
In 1842, German George Hodgkinson (b.1803) who was uncle to Elizabeth & brother of Jessie's great grandfather, Edmund , arrived in Nelson on the ship 'Thomas Harrison' and became one of the first settlers. The ship set sail from Gravesend on 26th May 1842 arriving in New Zealand on 25th October 1842 with 355 settlers. Two children had died during the voyage.
German was accompanied by his wife Mary Ann, son George aged 8 and daughters Lydia aged 4 and Emma aged 1. On the ship's passenger list, German's employment is listed as Agricultural Worker and his age is shown as 31 years which doesn't tally with the age given at death. Could it be that he 'adjusted' his age by 10 years for emigration purposes?
In response to a query from her brother David for some information about pits in the Eastwood area, May suggested in a letter dated November 28th 1949, that he should contact their father's cousin, George Henry Hodgkinson, (1872-1965) via Willie Hopkin, who would know his address. She also mentions that one of the Hodgkinson forefathers was "an aggresive supporter of the non- conformist movement and placed a scythe blade across the chimney down which a 'King's Officer' was climbing to arrest those at service in the chapel, beside which he lived at Hill Top."
George Henry Hodgkinson married Elizabeth Mellor in 1897. Her sisters, Mabel and Maud are immortalised in DH Lawrence's story 'You Touched Me.' Following Elizabeth's death in 1906, George married Florence Cullen in 1915. The Cullen family owned a drapery shop in Eastwood and are depicted in Lawrence's novel, 'The Lost Girl.'
Carol Mills