The Kidd Family A Family History
Chapter One · Stephen & Sarah Robens

Kanimbla, Milford Street

Elizabeth Malvina Robens

1842–1909

Nine children raised from Surry Hills to Randwick, and a husband who spent fifty-two years in the Government Printing Office, printing the colony’s railway tickets. He outlived her by six months.

Elizabeth Malvina Robens, from a family photograph
Born
January 1842 · Sydney
Died
1 November 1909 · Randwick
Married
James Stevens Huthnance (1840–1910)
Lived
67 years

The second daughter, born in January 1842 and baptised at St James, Sydney, where the register enters her parents as “Stephen Robbins” and “Sarah”.12 On 10 February 1862 she married James Stevens Huthnance — a marriage register that records him, oddly, as “Jamie Steven Huthnance”.3

He had come out as a child. The immigration list of the Thomas Arbuthnot, inspected by the Immigration Board on 18 January 1849, carries the whole Huthnance family: John, forty-one, a turner and fitter of Gwinear in Cornwall; Ann, forty, a dressmaker of Phillack; and seven children ranging from Henry and Jane at twenty-one down to the infant Eleanor. James is the eight-year-old, and his native place is given as Bristol.4 His father produced a certificate to show he had been fitting machinery for a Bristol shipbuilder before they sailed.

The next generation

Children

  • Ada Sarah Ann (1862–1875) — died at twelve
  • Alice Elizabeth (1864–1911) — married Fletcher
  • Edith Mary (1866–1955) — married Granger
  • Hedley Henry (1869–1924) — salesman
  • Cecil James (1871–1954) — commercial traveller
  • Percy John Stevens (1874–1963) — went to New Zealand
  • Ira Robert William (1876–1944) — Sheriff’s Officer, Glen Innes
  • Lottie Sophia (1879–1957) — named for her aunt Sophia
  • Frank Thomas (1882–1955) — clerk
1858–1898

The Railway Ticket Printing Branch

James spent his whole working life in the New South Wales public service. The Public Service List of 1898 has him as Foreman of the Railway Ticket Printing Branch at the Government Printing Office, first appointed to the service on 1 January 1858 and to that foremanship on 1 July 1893, at £312 a year.5

Forty years in one department, and every railway ticket in the colony passing under his branch. On the same page of the same list stands Thomas Joseph Granger, Turner in the Mechanical Branch — who was by then his son-in-law, having married his daughter Edith Mary ten years before.5

One other trace of him survives from the gold years: in October 1872 he held ten shares in The Alarm Gold Mining Company, at Ironbarks.6 An earlier account of this family credited him with 3,044 shares and more than fifteen per cent of the company. That block belonged to George Garton, listed on the same page. The two entries appear to have been read as one.6

By 1898

“Kanimbla”

The first children were born in the inner city — Surry Hills, Chippendale, Redfern. By the end of the century the family had crossed to the eastern suburbs and a house called “Kanimbla” on Milford Street, Randwick, confirmed there independently by a Police Gazette entry of 30 November 1898.7

The rolls of 1903–04 and 1913 show the house still full of grown children: a stovefitter, a salesman, a clerk, and a daughter at domestic duties, all at the same address as their parents.89 Lottie Sophia — whose middle name is said to honour her aunt, Sophia Robens — never married and was still there in 1913.10

Their son Cecil James Huthnance with his own sons — captioned in the family’s hand, “Cecil James with sons Ralph & Ben”
1875–1924

Two Graves at Rookwood

Two of the nine lie in one plot at Rookwood, Section 2A, Row 4, in the Old Wesleyan ground — the same denomination as their grandparents. Ada Sarah Ann died on 9 April 1875 at twelve years old, her headstone reading “eldest dau of J. S. & E. M. Huthnance”.11 Hedley Henry, who never married and lived at Milford Street into his forties, was buried in the same plot in 1924, inscribed “their eldest son”.12

Hedley’s estate was administered by the Public Trustee rather than by any member of his family, and the grant did not come until more than a year after his death.13

1906

The Motor Car at Lapstone Hill

Edith Mary’s husband, Thomas Joseph Granger, was born in Berlin in 1859, came to New South Wales by way of Victoria aboard the Overland in 1881, and was naturalised in 1897.14 He worked as a turner at the Government Printing Office alongside his father-in-law.5

On 15 December 1906 he was killed near Lapstone Hill. The coroner sat at the Nepean Cottage Hospital, Penrith, and returned a verdict of accidental injury: the motor car he was driving had overturned.15 It is one of the earliest motor fatalities in this history — the year the family still travelled to Rookwood by train.

Edith lived on almost fifty years a widow, latterly with her daughter Mabel, a milliner, at 5 Ethne Avenue, Randwick. She died in 1955 at South Curl Curl and was buried at Randwick with her parents.16

1909–1910

Six Months Apart

Elizabeth died on 1 November 1909 at Randwick; her registration names her parents as Stephen and Sarah.17 James survived her by six months and a fortnight, dying on 15 May 1910, also at Randwick, his own parents named as John and Anna.18 They were buried together at Randwick General Cemetery.

The nine children scattered wide. Percy John Stevens went to New Zealand and spent his life as an accountant on Old Military Road, Lower Hutt, dying at Lower Hutt in 1963 and buried at Karori.19 Ira Robert William left the stovefitting trade for the public service and served from 1908 as Sheriff’s Officer and Court Keeper at Glen Innes, with the additional titles of District Court Bailiff and Warden’s Bailiff, holding the post until at least 1932.20 Cecil James travelled for a living and ended at Chatswood; his son Cecil Ben enlisted in the AIF in March 1917 at nineteen and a half, a clerk, giving his mother at “Eloura”, Lane Cove Road, Turramurra.2122

Alice Elizabeth stayed unmarried in her parents’ house until she was thirty-seven, married Arthur Polglase Fletcher in 1901, and died suddenly on the last day of 1911 with no children.23 Frank Thomas married at Waverley in 1908 — the same district as the Waverley Methodist Church, where his father had directed the choir for years.24 Beyond these, a further set of descendants is named in an earlier account or written on the backs of photographs and has not yet been matched to any registration; they are listed but not asserted.25

The Record

Sources & References

  1. 1

    Elizabeth’s birth and family

    Compiled family record, Elizabeth Malvina Robens/Huthnance (1842–1909), with spouse and children. Born January 1842, the second daughter.

  2. 2

    Baptism

    St James, Sydney (FHL film 993954) — Elizabeth Malvina Robbins, parents Stephen Robbins and Sarah. One of the many spellings the surname attracts in this generation.

  3. 3

    Marriage, 1862

    NSW BDM marriage index — James Stevens Huthnance, recorded as “Jamie Steven Huthnance”, and Elizabeth Malvina Robens, 10 February 1862, Sydney, reg. no. 121/1862.

  4. 4

    The Thomas Arbuthnot, 1849

    Immigration list, ship Thomas Arbuthnot, inspected by the Immigration Board 18 January 1849 — John Huthnance, 41, turner and fitter of Gwinear, Cornwall; Ann, 40, dressmaker of Phillack; Henry 21, Jane 21, Mary 18, Esther A. 13, James 8 (native of Bristol), Samuel 4 (Greenwich), and the infant Eleanor (St Ives). An earlier account named the ship the “James Arbuthnot”; both the passenger list and an independent index give Thomas.

  5. 5

    Public Service List, 1898

    NSW Public Service List, Colonial Treasurer’s Department, Government Printing Office — James Stevens Huthnance, Foreman, Railway Ticket Printing Branch, first appointed 1 January 1858, appointed foreman 1 July 1893, salary £312; Thomas Joseph Granger, Turner, Mechanical Branch, on the same page.

  6. 6

    The Alarm Gold Mining Company, 1872

    NSW Government Gazette, October 1872 — shareholder list, Ironbarks (manager John James Wood): James Huthnance, Sydney, 10 shares. George Garton of Ironbarks holds 3,044 shares on the same page; an earlier account attributed that holding to James.

  7. 7

    “Kanimbla”, Milford Street

    NSW Police Gazette, 30 November 1898 — residence “Kanimbla”, Milford Street, Randwick, independently confirming the household there.

  8. 8

    Randwick roll, 1903–04

    Electoral roll, Randwick — Frank Thomas, Hedley Henry, Ira Robert William and James Stevens Huthnance at Milford Street and Wood Street.

  9. 9

    Randwick roll, 1913

    Electoral roll, Randwick — Hedley Henry and Lottie Sophia Huthnance, Milford Street.

  10. 10

    Lottie Sophia

    NSW BDM birth index reg. no. 1774/1879, parents James Stevens and Elizabeth M. Huthnance; born 1 May 1879. Died 4 March 1957, North Sydney; buried Randwick General Cemetery with her parents. Her middle name is said in the family to honour her aunt Sophia Robens.

  11. 11

    Ada Sarah Ann

    NSW BDM birth index 1862, Chippendale, reg. no. 3004 (born 7 May 1862 at Surry Hills); death index reg. no. 970/1875. Buried Rookwood, Section 2A, Row 4, Old Wesleyan, inscription “eldest dau of J. S. & E. M. Huthnance”. An earlier account gave her birth as early 1863 at Chippendale; the registration and compiled record agree on May 1862.

  12. 12

    Hedley Henry

    NSW BDM birth index 1869, Redfern, reg. no. 4028; death index reg. no. 11804/1924, Balmain South (a compiled record gives Balmain East). Buried Rookwood, Section 2A, Row 4, Old Wesleyan, inscription “their eldest son”.

  13. 13

    Hedley’s probate

    Probate index card — Hedley H. Huthnance, Randwick; administrator the Public Trustee; grant 9 November 1925, more than a year after his death.

  14. 14

    Thomas Joseph Granger

    Certificate of Naturalization no. 370, 10 November 1897 — native of Berlin, Prussia, mechanical engineer, arrived per the ship Overland from Victoria, 1881. An earlier account named the ship the “Orkney”. Married Edith M. Huthnance 1888, Sydney, reg. no. 742.

  15. 15

    The Lapstone Hill inquest, 1906

    NSW Coroner’s Inquest Register, 1906 — Thomas Granger, inquest at the Nepean Cottage Hospital, Penrith, before A. Judges; verdict of accidental injury from the overturning of a motor car at Lapstone Hill, 15 December 1906.

  16. 16

    Edith Mary and Mabel

    1930 electoral roll, Randwick North — Edith Mary and Mabel Granger both at 5 Ethne Avenue (an earlier account had them at separate adjacent addresses). Mabel’s birth reg. no. 30381/1892. Edith died 26 May 1955, South Curl Curl; probate file B131644; buried Randwick General Cemetery.

  17. 17

    Elizabeth’s death

    NSW BDM death index — Elizabeth M. Huthnance, 1909, Randwick, reg. no. 14878, parents Stephen and Sarah.

  18. 18

    James’s death

    NSW BDM death index — James S. Huthnance, 1910, Randwick, reg. no. 6841, parents John and Anna. Buried with Elizabeth at Randwick General Cemetery, South Coogee.

  19. 19

    Percy in New Zealand

    NSW BDM marriage index, Percy J. S. Huthnance and Eva A. Phillips, 1898, Kogarah, reg. no. 7963 (an earlier account cited 8060). New Zealand Gazette and electoral roll: accountant, Old Military Road, Lower Hutt. Died 10 December 1963, Lower Hutt; buried Karori Cemetery, Wellington. His occupation is given variously as architect in one undated directory and “Rtd Merchant” on probate; two independent sources agree on accountant, which is followed. His middle name appears as both Stevens and Stephen, unresolved.

  20. 20

    Ira at Glen Innes

    NSW public service employment record — Ira Robert William Huthnance, born 5 December 1876; Sheriff’s Officer and Court Keeper, Glen Innes, also District Court Bailiff and Warden’s Bailiff, from 20 June 1908 to at least 1 August 1932. Married Grace Adelaide East, Kiama, 1907 (indexed “Huthnanor”). Died 1944, Glen Innes; buried Glen Innes General Cemetery.

  21. 21

    Cecil James

    NSW BDM birth index 1871, Newtown, reg. no. 3526, indexed “Hutchnance”; married Annie Hamilton of Murrurundi, Randwick, 1896. Died 17 April 1954, Chatswood, retired commercial traveller; buried Macquarie Park Cemetery. Six children are confirmed, including Ralph H., a son previously unrecorded, identified from his birth registration and from the labelled family photograph reproduced above.

  22. 22

    Cecil Ben’s attestation

    AIF attestation paper, Cecil Ben Huthnance, service no. 3424, enlisted 12 March 1917 aged nineteen and a half, trade clerk, next of kin his mother Annie Huthnance of “Eloura”, Lane Cove Road, Turramurra. Died 5 February 1962 at Lugarno; the Sutherland parish burial register notes “leaves widow & 3 sons, R.S.L.”

  23. 23

    Alice Elizabeth

    NSW BDM birth index 1864, Redfern, reg. no. 3284; marriage to Arthur Polglase Fletcher, Randwick, 1901, reg. no. 9987; death reg. no. 3298/1912, at St Leonards on 31 December 1911; buried Gore Hill Cemetery. Fletcher had been a Junior Clerk at the Sydney Branch of the Royal Mint in 1879; he remarried, retired to “Dalmeny”, The Mall, Leura, and died at Katoomba in 1940 a retired accountant.

  24. 24

    Frank Thomas

    NSW BDM marriage index — Frank T. Huthnance and Eunice M. Jones, 1908, Waverley, reg. no. 3098. Two daughters: Annie Elizabeth (1909–1986) and Eunice Alice (1911–1994), the latter dying at Carey Bay on Lake Macquarie, the district where her cousin Ira’s family had also settled.

  25. 25

    Unconfirmed descendants

    Several individuals remain provisional, named in an earlier account or on the reverse of family photographs but not yet matched to a registration: Percy Huthnance junior’s dates and his brother Walter Hedley’s New Zealand military service; Grace Elizabeth Huthnance’s parentage and her Furner descendants; and members of the Macarthur, Miller and Neklin families named on a 1940s group photograph.