Cleghorn Family Tree

The 1869-70 Electoral Roll lists Thomas Cleghorn as living in Switzers (now know as Waikaia - about 50kms from Lumsden) in a wooden house on Carnies Hill. He must have owned the house because to get on the electoral roll you had to own property of some sort.

St Paul's Church, Arrowtown. New Zealand

Officiating Minister: Rev Jackson Smith

Witnesses: Annie Poppleton, Servant, of Arrowtown Charles R. Kennedy, a Mason, of Arrowtown.

From the New Zealand Gazette “Thomas Cleghorn, Saddler, Arrowtown bought ten shares in the “Sons of Fortune" old Mining Co. 16 Oct 1874 at the cost of £1 each. The mine was at Arrow River Falls, Otago, and managed by Albert Evans.”

The Wises Directory 1878 lists: Cleghorn, T. Waikouaiti, Saddler.

The Jubilee Home. The Wanganui Jubilee Home is most pleasantly situated on the banks of the Wanganui River, at a distance of some four miles above the bridge. Like many of the Wanganui institutions, it has a history of its own and by no means uninteresting. It was erected by Mr. Henry Churton for the purpose of a college for Maori girls. No expense was spared in its construction, and during Mr. Churton's lifetime it was by him liberally endowed, but the death of its founder in 1887, and the losses sustained by his estate, which, if accountable, were at least unsuspected, deprived the college of its support. Mr. Churton's philanthropic work finding no successor to carry it on, the inmates of the college were obliged to return to their homes, and the building became unoccupied, and gradually got out of repair. In 1892 the need for a home for the aged needy was urgently felt in Wanganui; indeed, some efforts had been made in this direction prior to that time, and a fund of some £220 was lying at interest, having been collected by the ladies of Wanganui for the purposes of a home. The old college was offered at that time for sale, and the officers of the Benevolent Board seeing its suitability for their requirements, made strenuous efforts to become possessed of it. Mrs. Treadwell, the treasurer of the ladies' fund, was appealed to, with the result that that sum was handed to the board, and application was also made to the trustees of the Fox memorial fund, which resulted in the handing over to the board the sum of £70. Thus nearly £300 was raised, which entitled the board to a bonus from the Government equal to twenty-four shillings in the pound. The negotiations with the executors in the estate of the late Mr. Churton had in the meantime resulted in the transfer of the college to the board for the sum of £555. This sum was paid over for its purchase, the balance of the money being devoted to the furnishing of the home. It is a beautiful home, standing in the midst of about three acres of grounds, the whole of which are used for lawns, flower-beds, and vegetable-gardens. It was erected at a cost of £2500, and, with the grounds, is worth at least £3000. Both the Wanganui people and the Board itself are to be congratulated upon its possession. The inmates number about thirty, and all do what they can to beautify their grounds, and to keep the building in a thoroughly healthy condition.

WANGANUI CHRONICLE, VOLUME LXVI, ISSUE 17219, 21 FEBRUARY 1918

JUBILEE HOME - REPORT BY PRINCIPAL

MATTER FOR SERIOUS CONSIDERATION.

The following report was received from the principal of the Jubilee Horme (Mr. J. Stewart) at the meeting of the Hospital Board yesterday : I would respectfully suggest that both a sanitary system, and also up-to-date lighting for the Jubilee Home, receive your most serious consideration".

At the present time, and also during tho past month, a number of the inmates had been very much subject to bad attacks of diarrhoea, and according to present arrangements inmates have to go down a long outside stair and then walk nearly 100 yards to the nearest closet, but as it is quite impossible for all men to even get down stairs under such circumstances, therefore a great deal of very disagreeable work has to be done in consequence, through,,there being no proper convenience or sanitary arrangements inside the building. In an institution such as this, part of the duties are always more or less disagreeable, which we take as a portion of the general routine without complaint, but at present the position is aggravated for want of up-to-date appliances and modern sanitary arrangements, and when to this is added the difficulty of getting suitable help to carry on the work under such circumstances the position of those in charge is anything but a sinecure. The present system of lighting, besides being dangerous, is also insufficient and very expensive. During the month of December there were 2 inmates discharged and 1 admitted to the Home, leaving 36 in the institution at 1st Jan, 1918. In conclusion, we wish to sincerely thank all those ladies and gentlemen who contributed so generously towards the comforts, good cheer and amusements of the inmates during tho festive season and throughout the year. The matter was referred to the executive to report on.

Eliza Jane Charleton arrived in Lyttelton, New Zealand on June 8th, 1869, aged 18 years as a general servant on board the ship ‘Caroline Coventry’. In the book “White Wings” by Sir Henry Brett, the following information is given of this voyage. ‘Caroline Coventry’, 1869, 880 tons, Captain Ollery, sailed 25th February, arrived 8th June, after a stormy passage of 129 days. Passengers 68. Total cost of passage:£15. Signed Promissory Note (No. 9) for £15 on the understanding that the notes are not to be collected if the immigrants remain in the province three years from the date of their arrival there. When researching Eliza and Thomas I originally had them having three children, then quite by accident I stumbled upon another child by the name of Ethel Mary Perry Cleghorn, born 18-Dec-1894 at Dunedin and registered at North East Valley by Eliza. I thought this is great, nobody knows about this child and we all knew Thomas had taken off and left Eliza and children. Was this child born before he left or after? I thought it best to start with the Birth Certificate, which when it arrived from the Registrar General, I thought, now nobody can say, “Oh you must have made a mistake, that’s not right at all”. Well it was not long in coming. I swapped information with Karen Cleghorn and I sent her a copy of the certificate. She immediately wrote back saying I had it wrong, that it was Sarah Jane’s baby (Eliza’s eldest child). I did not believe this as I was told that the only certificate that you can rely on as being factual is the birth certificate, as the information supplied when registering a birth is then checked with the Doctor. At this time I was trying to find Sarah’s marriage date with little success, I knew she had married a Harry or Henry Graves. Ross rang me from Dunedin to say that a Tip Top man called Jack Graves had left some information at Eric Andrew’s shop at Karitane. From this we have been able to prove that Sarah was the mother, and at age nineteen and probably unmarried, I can only assume that Eliza was trying to protect her daughter from disgrace.

It seems probable that Thomas Cleghorn left Eliza about 1887 but at this stage there is nothing to prove it. I did get his Death Certificate hoping that it may shed some light on the matter, but no Eliza Jane (Granny Cleghorn). He may have had someone in Wanganui although it appears not, as he was buried in a pauper's grave. Apparently nobody claimed his body. His grave has no headstone. The family would have to buy the plot before a headstone could be erected.