Community Contributed
Samuel Howan
Kete Horowhenua2020-03-23T16:52:08+00:00In his lifetime Samuel did many things. Having started his working life as a sailor he turned his hand to farming, butchering, sailing boats carrying flax up and down the river. He seemed to be involved in the local town affairs and was one of the men involved in the setting up of the Foxton Racing Club.
| Date of birth | Febrauay 1837 |
| Date of death | 15/09/1924 |
The early life of Samuel Howan is somewhat of a mystery and will probably remain that way. After many years of searching records we have only recently discovered that he was born John Hambleton in England - possibly London - in February, 1837. There are few stories about his pre-New Zealand days and they are, of course, impossible to verify. One such story has it that his parents were well off and frequently travelled abroad. On one such occasion while they were away John and his elder brother raided the cellar eating the cheeses that were stored there and sampling the wine - topping it up with water to conceal their “crime”. You can imagine the parents’ embarrassment when, soon after, they had a large gathering in their home and went to serve up the cheese and watered down wine. The story goes that John and Henry were put into the Navy as punishment. The punishment seems very severe and I suspect that their misdemeanor was another in a long line of such antics. I doubt we’ll ever know the truth of the story or much else of John’s early days. It seems he had one older brother, Henry, and at least two younger brothers and a younger sister.
In 1860-1861 John was serving on the Royal Naval vessel H.M.S. “Fawn” when it visited New Zealand. I understand this was not the first time he had visited the country. He and a young friend deserted from the ship - a common occurrence in those days but nevertheless a very serious offence. The following is an extract taken from “The White Ensign in New Zealand” by J. Ross: “Desertion was probably the problem that exercised the minds of the commanding officers more than any other. The attractions of the free and easy life of a newly developing colony were too obvious to the sailors.” One ship, the “Fawn”, reported that in a three and a half year commission she had lost no less than 105 men to desertion, including two officers. One captain referred to “the utter inefficiency of the Auckland Police in their apprehension” while another went further and claimed that “agents are employed in many parts of the province of Auckland to visit the port and induce sailors to employment on the land.” One story has it that the two young men were chased to the Manawatu River across which they swam under fire from their pursuers. They were, however, followed no further and settled for some time to live in a local Maori village. With the fear of apprehension for desertion hanging over them the young men adopted new names. John’s friend took the name of Brown and eventually married one of the local Maori women. John Hambleton became Samuel Howan. We do not know where he got the name “Howan” from as we have been unable to find the name anywhere else and all of the Howans in New Zealand are descendants of Samuel. It has been suggested that it may be an invented name - a composition of perhaps “Cowan” with the C replaced by the H from Hambleton. At a later time Samuel was visited by his brother Henry but we do not know if he had any other contact with his family back in England
Samuel apparently cleared land for a farm and lived in a simple raupo whare. Two years after his arrival in New Zealand - on 6th February, 1863, he married 19 year old Ellen Jane Oakley. They were married by Rev. James Duncan in the home of Mr. Alexander Gray. Mr. Gray and his wife Louisa Anne were the witnesses. Samuel put his occupation on the marriage certificate as “labourer”. Ellen Jane, whose father Captain Sam Oakley was eventually lost at sea, was born and brought up in Wellington. Perhaps Samuel and Ellen Jane had met before he deserted. Perhaps they were introduced by her seafaring father. Perhaps John adopted the name “Samuel” after his future father-in-law. A lot of perhapses - we’ll never know.
Samuel took his wife back to live in the raupo whare on his 110 acre farm where he grew food and raised cattle. Of the fourteen children they were to have, the first three were born in that raupo shelter. I have been told that Ellen Jane was a very strong character, both mentally and physically - I guess she had to be in those early days. During the land wars when the settlers were warned of impending trouble and fled to the township, Ellen Jane took her children - at that stage only two daughters - in to the bush and kept them there until the danger had passed.
In his lifetime Samuel did many things. Having started his working life as a sailor he turned his hand to farming, butchering, sailing boats carrying flax up and down the river and, in later life, he was the caretaker of a Wellington school. He also apparently took some of the first settlers up to Palmerston North and had great stories to tell of their long and difficult passage with a bullock cart over sand hills, through swamp and bush. Later he brought equipment through to help in the construction of the fledgling town. He seemed to be involved in the local town affairs and was one of the men involved in the setting up of the Foxton Racing Club.
Samuel was an extremely kind and tolerant man. He was a dedicated Christian and very sincere. He was one of the early lay preachers and a trustee of the local Methodist church in Foxton. He also helped the Presbyterian minister Reverend Duncan. He loved to help people and often used to wait outside the court to give released people money and help them to find a job. He frequently let them stay in a shed on his farm. He was apparently a very precise and careful man and always very patient.
In the 1880s and 1890s Samuel worked on a boat which was used for towing the punts loaded with flax down the Manawatu River. He apparently started in partnership with Mr Jonson.
Esther 7.12.1875 died just before 20th birthday
Un-named child
William Charles 5.3.1879 married Edith Wright
Margaret Emma 27. 8.1880 married Francis S. Birch
Francis Harrison 23.10.1882 died aged 7 months
Ethel Alice 6.4.1884 married Neil Irvine
Ernest Harrison 6.12.1885 married Mary Mudford
Constance Grace 16. 3.1890 drowned Forest Lake, Hamilton aged 26
When Samuel retired he shifted to Wellington where he helped his two sons in their butcher shop in Rintoul Street. He was also caretaker of the Wellington South School for a while. The children thought he was marvellous - he always carried a pocketful of blackballs! Later on when he gave up to position of caretaker he used to just “potter” about his son’s shop (now in Taranaki Street). From Wellington Ellen and Samuel moved to Hamilton to live with their daughter Mary in a small house on Mary and husband John Walsh’s property at Forest Lake. Samuel became a well known figure sitting in the rose garden in Garden Place in the centre of the city, always keen to chat, give blackballs to the children and feed the birds which flocked to him and fed out of his hands. Everyone I have spoken to who knew him remember him as a kind and tolerant old man. He must have been - he used to let his grandchildren plait his long white beard into two plaits putting a blue ribbon on one side and a red one on the other.
Ellen Jane died in Hamilton on 9th November, 1917 and Samuel followed her seven years later on 15th September, 1924. Right up to the time he died he was afraid the authorities would trace him in connection with his desertion so many years before.
The newspapers carried complimentary obituaries (including the “Manawatu Herald”). It was stated that he served in Lady Bowen’s Light Horse during the Maori Wars. (Foxton Historical Society has some faded photos of this unit).
Samuel Howan or John Hambleton was a man of mystery and his secrets died with him and his children respected his rights of privacy and were always reluctant to impart any facts about his life and family prior to his arrival in New Zealand.
Compiled by Great Granddaughter, Mrs M. Honore.
In 1860-1861 John was serving on the Royal Naval vessel H.M.S. “Fawn” when it visited New Zealand. I understand this was not the first time he had visited the country. He and a young friend deserted from the ship - a common occurrence in those days but nevertheless a very serious offence. The following is an extract taken from “The White Ensign in New Zealand” by J. Ross: “Desertion was probably the problem that exercised the minds of the commanding officers more than any other. The attractions of the free and easy life of a newly developing colony were too obvious to the sailors.” One ship, the “Fawn”, reported that in a three and a half year commission she had lost no less than 105 men to desertion, including two officers. One captain referred to “the utter inefficiency of the Auckland Police in their apprehension” while another went further and claimed that “agents are employed in many parts of the province of Auckland to visit the port and induce sailors to employment on the land.” One story has it that the two young men were chased to the Manawatu River across which they swam under fire from their pursuers. They were, however, followed no further and settled for some time to live in a local Maori village. With the fear of apprehension for desertion hanging over them the young men adopted new names. John’s friend took the name of Brown and eventually married one of the local Maori women. John Hambleton became Samuel Howan. We do not know where he got the name “Howan” from as we have been unable to find the name anywhere else and all of the Howans in New Zealand are descendants of Samuel. It has been suggested that it may be an invented name - a composition of perhaps “Cowan” with the C replaced by the H from Hambleton. At a later time Samuel was visited by his brother Henry but we do not know if he had any other contact with his family back in England
Samuel apparently cleared land for a farm and lived in a simple raupo whare. Two years after his arrival in New Zealand - on 6th February, 1863, he married 19 year old Ellen Jane Oakley. They were married by Rev. James Duncan in the home of Mr. Alexander Gray. Mr. Gray and his wife Louisa Anne were the witnesses. Samuel put his occupation on the marriage certificate as “labourer”. Ellen Jane, whose father Captain Sam Oakley was eventually lost at sea, was born and brought up in Wellington. Perhaps Samuel and Ellen Jane had met before he deserted. Perhaps they were introduced by her seafaring father. Perhaps John adopted the name “Samuel” after his future father-in-law. A lot of perhapses - we’ll never know.
Samuel took his wife back to live in the raupo whare on his 110 acre farm where he grew food and raised cattle. Of the fourteen children they were to have, the first three were born in that raupo shelter. I have been told that Ellen Jane was a very strong character, both mentally and physically - I guess she had to be in those early days. During the land wars when the settlers were warned of impending trouble and fled to the township, Ellen Jane took her children - at that stage only two daughters - in to the bush and kept them there until the danger had passed.
In his lifetime Samuel did many things. Having started his working life as a sailor he turned his hand to farming, butchering, sailing boats carrying flax up and down the river and, in later life, he was the caretaker of a Wellington school. He also apparently took some of the first settlers up to Palmerston North and had great stories to tell of their long and difficult passage with a bullock cart over sand hills, through swamp and bush. Later he brought equipment through to help in the construction of the fledgling town. He seemed to be involved in the local town affairs and was one of the men involved in the setting up of the Foxton Racing Club.
Samuel was an extremely kind and tolerant man. He was a dedicated Christian and very sincere. He was one of the early lay preachers and a trustee of the local Methodist church in Foxton. He also helped the Presbyterian minister Reverend Duncan. He loved to help people and often used to wait outside the court to give released people money and help them to find a job. He frequently let them stay in a shed on his farm. He was apparently a very precise and careful man and always very patient.
In the 1880s and 1890s Samuel worked on a boat which was used for towing the punts loaded with flax down the Manawatu River. He apparently started in partnership with Mr Jonson.
Esther 7.12.1875 died just before 20th birthday
Un-named child
William Charles 5.3.1879 married Edith Wright
Margaret Emma 27. 8.1880 married Francis S. Birch
Francis Harrison 23.10.1882 died aged 7 months
Ethel Alice 6.4.1884 married Neil Irvine
Ernest Harrison 6.12.1885 married Mary Mudford
Constance Grace 16. 3.1890 drowned Forest Lake, Hamilton aged 26
When Samuel retired he shifted to Wellington where he helped his two sons in their butcher shop in Rintoul Street. He was also caretaker of the Wellington South School for a while. The children thought he was marvellous - he always carried a pocketful of blackballs! Later on when he gave up to position of caretaker he used to just “potter” about his son’s shop (now in Taranaki Street). From Wellington Ellen and Samuel moved to Hamilton to live with their daughter Mary in a small house on Mary and husband John Walsh’s property at Forest Lake. Samuel became a well known figure sitting in the rose garden in Garden Place in the centre of the city, always keen to chat, give blackballs to the children and feed the birds which flocked to him and fed out of his hands. Everyone I have spoken to who knew him remember him as a kind and tolerant old man. He must have been - he used to let his grandchildren plait his long white beard into two plaits putting a blue ribbon on one side and a red one on the other.
Ellen Jane died in Hamilton on 9th November, 1917 and Samuel followed her seven years later on 15th September, 1924. Right up to the time he died he was afraid the authorities would trace him in connection with his desertion so many years before.
The newspapers carried complimentary obituaries (including the “Manawatu Herald”). It was stated that he served in Lady Bowen’s Light Horse during the Maori Wars. (Foxton Historical Society has some faded photos of this unit).
Samuel Howan or John Hambleton was a man of mystery and his secrets died with him and his children respected his rights of privacy and were always reluctant to impart any facts about his life and family prior to his arrival in New Zealand.
Compiled by Great Granddaughter, Mrs M. Honore.