The Granddaughters

After doing the layout showing the similarities between Ellen Hardy and Jane Thompson Middlebrook, I decided it might be a great idea to display the photos of all  of this generation – As there are 43 1st cousins I decided to split it into 2 layouts – One for the Granddaughters and one for the Grandsons

Here is the page for Granddaughters.

As you can see we are only missing a few photos – those of the daughters of Benjamin and the first two of Jane’s daughters, along with the three girls who died in childhood, of whom conceivably no photos may ever have been taken.  There are similarities amongst many of the girls – the square chin, that seems to have passed down several generations, is evident on many of the girls, along with dark hair in most .

If anyone has better photos of Eleanor, Mary Ann Harriet and Olive I would love to include them in this layout, but all in all I think we are quite lucky to have photos of so many of this generation.

Look out for the Men’s photos tomorrow!

A Family Likeness

The Middlebrook Family photos show some remarkable likenesses between siblings, but not only relationships as close as that, as these photos show. Jane Thompson Middlebrook, eldest daughter of John and Mary Ann Middlebrook, ( not to be confused with her Aunt of the same name) on the left, and on the right, Ellen Hardy , 2nd daughter of Elizabeth and George Douglas Hardy were first cousins but as shown in these photos could almost be mistaken for the same woman. Jane ( known as Cis) was born in 1876 in Auckland and Ellen was born two years earlier in 1874 also in Auckland.  We know the Middlebrook families connected with each other frequently despite geographical distance between them - I wonder how often Jane and Ellen's paths crossed and if they too remarked on their likeness.

The Stewart Connection

 

It seems that the stories of the Stewarts and the Middlebrooks are very intertwined. Each family had a massive effect on the other.  The tangled web begin in 1873 when George Vesey Stewart, arrived in New Zealand on a search to find land in which to accomplish a protestant Irish Settlement. The Survey Department put at his disposal Samuel Middlebrook, who lead him through the Bay of Plenty where Stewart chose an area now known as Katikati as the perfect area for his settlement and he was granted 10,000 acres for the purpose.  The first party of settlers arrived on the Carisbrook Castle in 1875 and amongst them was Stewart Rea and his family. Rea had worked for Stewart on one of his Irish Estates.
Stewart Rea’s eldest daughter was Mary Jane,  and in 1883 she went on to marry  Samuel Middlebrook

The connection with the Middlebrook family did not end there though, In the early 1890s a young Ellen Hardy, daughter of Samuel’s sister Elizabeth was living in Katikati with her Grandmother. It is assumed it was at this time she met John Rowley Miller Stewart, 4th child of George and his wife Margaret.
Their paths were to cross later as John, despite his marriage and 7 children with Ellen Furness, he maintained a second home with Ellen Hardy and their 3 children, John Rowley, Ethel Muriel and Douglas Stewart.  Despite his promises to the contrary, on the death of his wife, John Rowley Stewart did not marry Ellen Hardy, but married yet another woman.  A  heart broken Ellen was taken under the wing of John Rowley Stewarts mother, Margaret , who had recently separated from her husband George Vesey Stewart . It was on her suggestion that Ellen took on the surname Miller which had been Margaret’s maiden name.

The, actions of their father, in effect disowning them had a life long effect on the three children.   The children suffered emotionally and eventually John and Douglas were to legally change their surname to Miller.  Ethel spent much time in her childhood in Katikati with her “Aunt” Minnie, the 6th child of Margaret and George Vesey Stewart - and in  the process became good friends with her Middlebrook cousins, the children  of Samuel Middlebrook

James Thompson Middlebrook–A Timeline

 

 

Here’s a simple timeline for the life of James Thompson Middlebrook.  I’m sure there are many gaps in this which I will fill in as I find more information about his life but I like this format for easily getting a snapshot of someone’s life

BIRTH – Millbridge Yorkshire 7 march 1858
BAPTISM – St Barnabas Hightown Yorkshire 4th July 1860
DEPARTURE – In August from Liverpool onboard “Shalimar”
ARRIVAL -  Into Auckland In December 1862
SHOT -   In the arm while “Placing the Butts” age 13 years – Tararu Creek Thames
RESIDENCE – Matakohe, Occupation  Carpenter 1880 Electoral Roll
MINING CLAIM – Lucky Strike Gold Mine Te Aroha January 1881
RESIDENCE – Katikati 1882 Freeholders Roll
RESIDENCE – OIiphant Street Auckland 1883 Valuation Roll
PURCHASE – “Cains Hotel” TeWharau Loading Grounds 1884
OCCUPATION – Begins working for NZ Railways as Carpenter 1885
MARRIAGE – To Elizabeth Edgar Murray 1886
RESIDENCE - Opua Bay of Islands 1890
RESIDENCE – Opua Bay of Islands 1900
DIVORCE – Application for divorce from Elizabeth Edgar Murray 1902 on grounds of Desertion August 1902, Absolute November 1902
MARRIAGE -  to Julia Bartle Sullivan 7 December 1902
BIRTH – Son Farrar Middlebrook 28th November1903
BIRTH – of Twins Eva Rhys and Nelson Bartle 26 January 1905
RESIDENCE – Opua Bay of Islands 1905
BIRTH – Son Charles Russel Middlebrook 7 April 1908
RESIDENCE – Ward Tce Kingsland 1911
RESIDENCE – Mamie St Remuera  1914
DEATH – of Stepson Frank Arnold Sullivan at the Dardanelles  1915
RESIDENCE – “Ngapuhi” Manukau Rd Epsom 1919
RESIDENCE – 13 Burch Street Mt Albert OCCUPATION Retired 1928
DEATH – November 29th 1930
BURIAL – Purewa Cemetery

Sam Middlebrook in the Waihi Peace Parade 1919

 

When I was gifted several boxes of photos that had belonged to Bess Middlebrook, one of the Strangest was a small photo of a Maori Warrior and a Scottish Piper. It was in terrible condition and very very dark but I enhanced it in photoshop  ( I havent repaired it at all just bought out some of the detail hidden in the dark depths of it – anyway I  realised very quickly this Maori Warrior was in fact Samuel Middlebrook.

 

I wondered what on earth this photo was all about – until I found this large print  of a Parade Float and spied Samuel there – again beside the Scottish Piper.

What an interesting photo this is. Check out the Clown with the Gun!!

 

I suspected this was some kind of Peace Parade and I was right – Another photo of the same event was in the Auckland Weekly News in their spread on the local Peace Celebrations 7 August 1919 p042 which can be found here.

 

I felt these photos deserved a layout so here it is

A Wedding of Note

 

 

After looking at the various places in New Zealand that the Middlebrook family purchased land, there seemed to be a definite trend to areas that held a Wesleyan Mission. This could well have been cooincidence, the family may have bought land there because they were areas of known settlement, but at least one story has John Middlebrook leaving the UK because of his staunch Wesleyan views . The truth of this may never be known but I feel its worth more research and so I shall be visiting the Methodist Church archives very soon in order to see if they hold any clues for us.

 

Journalling on this layout reads:
At first glance the wedding of Elizabeth Middlebrook and George Douglas Hardy seems to be a rather insignificant affair, held as it was at the home of Elizabeth’s mother Ellen Middlebrook, in Duke Street Auckland, however on closer reflection it appears to be a far more impressive occasion and gives us an insight into the religions background of the Middlebrook family.  
Historically the family had been Anglican for hundreds of years, but  in the  early 19th century with the formation of the non-conformist Wesleyan church in Yorkshire , the family appears to move to Methodism . While there was a “foot  in both camps ” approach in the latter years of their time in Yorkshire, one theory is that John Middlebrooks staunch Wesleyan views were  the crux of his decision to move his family to a new land.
James Wallis, the Officiating Minister at Elizabeth’s wedding was no mere local parish representative.
He had been one of the earliest missionaries to New Zealand , leaving the UK in 1834 to join the Wesleyan missionaries here who numbered just two! He set up missions at Waiangaroa, and Kawhia and spent much time in the Hokianga area ( quite possibly near where the Middlebrooks had purchased land after their arrival in New Zealand.
He moved to Auckland in the 1860s and retired from the Ministry Circuit but remained preaching part time and it was at this time he was called upon to officiate at the marriage of the young Elizabeth Middlebrook in her marriage to George Douglas Hardy.

NOT JUST A CLOWN

 

“A while back I posted  here  about Russell Middlebrook who was quite a famous clown in New Zealand and Australia.

I’ve recently discovered there was so much more to Russell than his performances as a clown. He was in fact a master at sculpture and modelling. Like others in his branch of the family, he was a great artist ( his sister Eva was a commercial artist and his brother Farrer was also involved in architecture and modelling, apparently being responsible for much of the Roman lettering on the Auckland Museum.

Russell’s sculptures graced such places as the Civic Theatre and the Tea Rooms at the Farmers Trading Company . With subjects as diverse as church alters, gothic gargoyles, fountains, and bunnies he was a master at creating them all.

 

 

 

 

Charles “Russell” Middlebrook was born in 1908, youngest child of James and Julia Middlebrook, Russell is best known as a clown. His talents went way beyond this though. As a child he learned acrobatics, and when his deafness meant he could not serve during WW2 he joined the Arcadian Troupe who entertained the troops in Auckland Camp Shows. After the war he went to Australia and joined circuses such as Whirling Brothers and Robinson Brothers. A great crowd pleaser in his many clown persona, he was best known for his feats of balance. He would balance on his hands on a stack of chairs, with the chairs balancing on beer bottles.
By trade though Russell was talented in other art forms. He had as a teenager attended Elam Art School where he excelled in the art of sculpture and modelling. He worked on parts of the Civic Theatre and the Auckland War Memorial Museum. His sculptures were seen in the Farmers Trading Company and in churches around Auckland. He also dabbled in photography, a collection of his photographs of the Piha region is now held in Auckland Library Heritage Images Collection. Russell spent his lifetime entertaining and was still performing and riding a bicycle at eighty-seven, and was still performing with Robinson's Family Circus well into his eighties. He was presented with a Benny Award ( the highest honour that can be awarded to a New Zealand variety performer) in 1983, and passed away in 1999 aged 91.