John Holdaway

GEDCOM Note (from John's page on Wikitree. Formatting makes sense there)

Category: Will Watch, sailed 2 May 1841 Category: New Zealand Colonists Category: Whitby, sailed 27 April 1841

Biography

John was born in 1804. He passed away in 1888.
John Holdaway was one of the earliest immigrants to NZ, aboard the Will Watch in 1841.While the ships of the expedition were lying at anchor off Astrolabe, a boat crew was chosen to row the Beal? boat round the head of Tasman Bay to enable Captain Wakefield and the ship's pilot Mr Cross to find a harbour with suitable land behind and within reasonable distance to make a town and country settlement. This was in October 1841 and John Holdaway was one of the oarsmen, as he told his son Henry, who in turn, told his children. One hundred years later, on the spot at which they landed, we two of these children, saw a memorial unveiled, and afterwards walked up the hill to where they made their first camp, and alsoraised the British flag.
A few days later, the "Will Watch" (and other ships "Whitby", "Arrow" and ___) lay outside waiting for the tide to be suitable for entering the haven. The haven was entered on November 1st and then the Expedition men set about preparing for the arrival of their wives and children. The first ship to arrive was the "Fifeshire" on February 1st, and then the "Mary Ann" came on February 4th and anchored just out from thestreet which was once called Mary Ann, but for forty years or so has been known as Richardson. Mary Holdaway was aboard with John's four children. Also among the passengers on the "Mary Ann" were the Eyles family, their daughter Amelia, Mrs Thomas Cresswell and her children. Amelia learned on her arrival that she was a widow, Thomas Cresswell having died aboard the Whitby. in 1842 Mary, John Holdaway's wife died (in childbirth), and now therewere then seven children with only one parent each. John wanted Amelia to be his housekeeper, but she refused, and then consented to marry him in August. They commenced with seven children. During the nine years the home was up the Maitai, three daughters and three sons were born to them. Also they lost one, a Cresswell , by drowning. John's occupations during this time included building the home at Richmond with the help of his two older sons William and George, clearing the land, and he also went out with Mr Budge's survey party. Amelia told my motherof going to Takaka with them, and an earthquake coming, and how James, then about nine, came running to the camp calling out 'Mother, Mother. The lakes gone all ………." NOTE:- Henry who was born in 1851 while they lived at Almond Tree Flatbought the home on the property in 1914, which Mr Budge sold in 1860,and we still live there. In 1851, the families shifted to Richmond. In the meantime, the Methodists had obtained land for their church and parsonage, and John Holdaway and John Saywell were the Trustees. The settlers faced very hard times, so somewhere about the 1850's the company financed the digging ofthe Company's "ditch", and William and George, were among the men whotramped from Waimea over the hills to the Moutere to dig the "ditch' which is a stream cutting the length of the Moutere on the Eastern side, to the sea. It was in 1856 that their eldest daughter, Ann, died aged 15, and in 1861, two died with diphtheria - Daniel and Ada, aged 6 and 2. They hada doctor when these children were ill, but Amelia, who was a great believer in herbs as medicine, then treated the other ones when they contracted the disease and they all recovered. John Holdaway. (Colonist, Volume XXXI, Issue 5311, 5 September 1888, Page 3)Another highly esteemed old settler ended his life on Sunday last. MrJohn Holdaway was one of the "Expedition man," and arrived-in Nelson forty seven years ago. He came to these shores in the good ship Will Watch. The vessel having made Aitrolabe roads the adjacent coast line was explored for a suitable place of settlement, and Sir Holdaway was in the boat with the late Captain Cross when Nelson Haven was discovered. A number of his comrades lost their lives at the Wairau massacre, and indeed, he barely escaped being one of the party sent on that ill-fated expedition. At the same time the survey party was sent to the Wairau,-another party was sent to the Takaka district, and he was selected to accompany the latter. On returning to Nelson from Golden Bay he made a home in Maitai Valley, though shortly after that he want to Richmond, where he had a nice farm on which he lived till the time of his death, honored and respected. The deceased, who was in his 82nd year, leaves ninety-six descendants—8 sons, 4 daughters, 63 grand children, and 21 great grand children

Sources

<references />

• The Big Holdaway Book, Holdaway Publishers, Chicago, 1914.
• http://www.theycametheystayed.com/p225.htm
• John Holdaway
• https://www.bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/search/search?path=%2F... (NZ death registration 1888/3141)

Acknowledgments

Thank you to Cyril Walker for starting This profile through the import of cyrilsfamilys.ged on Jun 28, 2013. Supported by David Schwass through the import of Schwass Tree (1).ged on Apr 17, 2014.