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Peter Horsman Wood and family at Yarranung near Bega

The following photo was supplied by Cheryl Moore [chezem.cm-at-gmail.com] 2.04.12

Dear Barbara/Peter,

I am writing to you because Peter Horsman Wood was the brother of my 2g-grandfather, John Clavering Wood.

I have just been alerted to your fine efforts on this webpage </wood-ph.htm> by Sue Horsman in Leeds <sue.horsman@tiscali.co.uk> who is doing a one name study on Horsman and who has sent me some useful background on the Horsman connection with the Wood family.

In turn, I offered her the attached material which I have been working on for over a year, greatly assisted by the decades of work accomplished by Phyllis Leek (Wood) in New Plymouth, New Zealand, who is a descendant of another brother of PH Wood, namely William Rigby Wood.

In short, it seems that another genealogical coincidence has occurred! Since I have just written an article about this for the Central Queensland Family History Association, I am attaching it, because it also explains a little of what I have learned about the Wood family.

Also attached are some photos sent recently by Phyllis (including one of PH Wood and his wife), and she writes by way of explanation:
 

My brother Richard finally sent this photo of the family crest and shield, after I had remembered that his wife, Pat, had obtained, I think from Scotland, a magnificent embroidered version, which hangs in pride of place in their Melbourne home. Otherwise, there was no version of it, except as written by the College of Arms in 1979, to me.

Because it is virtually empty – no quartering, etc., I would assume that it lapsed, a long time ago.

Also enclosed is a complete family group of your gt-gt-gt-grandfather’s family (John Clavering, Peter Horsman, Emily and William Rigby Wood), found in a photograph album in the possession of my brother William which I had access to, quite recently. I am trusting that the pencilled naming by an unknown person, below each photo, is correct, as they were positioned in sequence in the album. It was an exciting find, for me.

The genes supplied by Emilia Horsman Wood, have come down through the ages, very strongly, in that Dad’s eldest sister, Millie, her daughter Ethel, and a living niece of Ethel, and grand-daughter of Millie, Janet Allan, all closely resemble her, at various stages of their lives. As to the Wood genes, I cannot connect them with anyone!

The lovely photo of the gathered family, is of Dad’s immediate family: William Rigby, Mary Ann Molde, Mary Amelia 1877-1936, John Clavering (centre) 1882-1971, William Horsman (front) 1884-1973, Laura Elizabeth (on knee) 1886-1985. I feel that it was taken just prior to their leaving England to return (?) to New Zealand after settling the Marche Hall estate. They sailed on the “Ormuz” in June 1891. I have a passenger list of this sailing.
 

Though it is a poor photo, Peter Horsman Wood is seen with members of his family at Yarranung at Bega. Also enclosed is a Register Report for William Wood’s family. I fit into the jigsaw by virtue of Charles Henry Monk being my grandfather.

My original aim in accumulating this material was to commit the saga to booklet form to distribute around the family here – but with the recent influx of new information, it is definitely a work in progress.

I trust that this material may be as useful to your research, as have been the accuracy of names and dates on your Peter Horsman Wood webpage. I would be happy to assist further if requested.

Kindest regards, Gerard Benjamin – Brisbane

Just when you think you have hit a solid genealogical brick wall, coincidences often help to find a way through…

Tracking Down
John Clavering Wood

Tne photo in particular caught my attention as my mother’s 85 year old cousin named Norman Logie flicked through the pile of old snaps inherited from his mother, in a drawer of his wardrobe.

It was of a boy – with a remarkable resemblance to Harry Potter – and mercifully, some thoughtful person had inscribed it, “Jackie Wood, 8 and a half years, 1936”. The photographer’s blind-embossed mark read, “Brandon Haughton, Artist, Hawera”.

The name “Wood” rang a bell because this was the maiden name of Norman’s grandmother, Mary Elizabeth Monk. In fact, her father – John Clavering Wood – who married Kate Elizabeth Dunne in 1865 in Central Queensland, was proving an elusive character to track down, despite the distinguished name.

“I’m sorry,” said Norman, “but I can’t help you with this one…”

Only later did I discover that Hawera was in New Zealand, and I recalled the family folklore that there was possibly a Kiwi connection with the Woods.

“I vaguely remember hearing that John Clavering Wood came from New Zealand,” my 79 year old mother (nee Monk) volunteered.

Someone else restated the yarn that one of the Monks from Rockhampton, who had enlisted in the AIF to go to World War I, was tapped on the shoulder by a New Zealander after roll-call who said, “I think we’re related…”

There was nothing for it but to ‘google’ “Hawera” and “genealogy”, and sure enough, up came an e-mail address for a genealogist in Hawera on New Zealand’s North Island. Full of optimism, I composed an e-mail, stating these few facts and attaching the photo, with fingers crossed that the trail had not gone completely cold on “Jackie Wood”, whoever he was…

A week passed with no reply, then another… After almost a month and much to my excitement, two letters arrived from across the Tasman in quick succession.

One was from Audrey Kensington, the research officer from the Hawera Genealogical Group, joyfully announcing that Jackie Wood was indeed alive. In fact, she explained that she had just visited him since he lived within walking distance of her home. His full name was John Clavering Wood – the same name as my great-great-grandfather – and yes, he was related.

If I was excited at this discovery, I could imagine his amazement at learning that his boyhood photo had mysteriously appeared from across the sea after 70 years! Audrey enclosed valuable information about the family, including a marriage certificate dated 1876 from Shropshire, England.

The other letter from New Zealand was even more remarkable, being from 76 year old Phyllis Leek (Wood) the sister of the lad pictured. Amazingly, she knew a lot about the family in Queensland from letters that had been sent from Rockhampton by Mary Elizabeth Monk (Wood) to Phyllis’ mother in New Zealand. Phyllis had even learnt something that no-one in our family in Queensland seems to have known – that Mary Elizabeth had been blind in one eye since childhood!

In my wildest dreams, I could not have imagined that a modest boyhood photo could provide the key to opening a Pandora’s Box on the Wood connection – but even more wonderment was to follow!

In the course of many letters, Phyllis gradually pieced together for me, the Wood saga. Indeed, it went right back to an officer in the army of the British East India Company in the 18th century. William Wood began as a Cadet in 1769, and eventually gained the rank of Captain, serving as aide-de-camp to Lt-General Sir John Clavering, Commander-in-Chief of India.

Such a position enabled him to witness at close hand the tangled political intrigues at the heart of administering such a vast country – and this is probably why Captain Wood, my 5g-grandfather, was apparently called to give evidence in the Houses of Parliament in London when Warren Hastings, the former Governor-General of India, was impeached in 1787.

When the (then) Lieutenant Wood’s first son was born in Bengal in 1778, he was named “John Clavering Wood”, in honour of his commanding officer who had died the year before – and this tradition was continued in successive generations of the family.

Around 1800 – when Jane Austen was planning her famous novels about English country life – the Woods had returned to England and were living in a manor house in Shropshire named Marche Hall. Here, several generations of Woods grew up.

By 1859, of the four children of the current John Wood, Lord of the manor, two were feeling restive. The second eldest, Peter Horsman Wood, set sail for New Zealand, followed several months later by his elder brother John Clavering Wood. They seem to have decided that New Zealand was not for them, and headed instead to southern New South Wales where Peter became a respected and successful landowner and local identity, residing with his family in the oldest home in Bega named “Yarranung”.

As Phyllis explained in one of her letters, she had visited this home and noted, “The house cellar still has rungs on the walls to which ticket of leave prisoners were chained at night. They were there to build the cheese factory…”

For reasons not yet understood, Peter Wood’s brother, John Clavering Wood, headed north to central Queensland, and it is here that he married Kate Elizabeth Dunne in 1865, and they had two daughters Emily Nandourie (1866) and Mary Elizabeth (1868).

Emily’s unusual middle name (sometimes spelt Nandoury) may have some connection with the fact that there was a property/locality west of Springsure named “Nandowrie”. At any rate, by 1885 when Mary Elizabeth Wood married Henry Monk (of St. Helen’s Station, near Anakie) in Rockhampton, her father’s occupation was given as “Drover”. John Clavering Wood died in 1910 in Melbourne, and I am yet to learn about his intervening years.

It is clear that Mary Elizabeth Monk (nee Wood) kept up contact with her New Zealand cousins while she was living at Anakie and later at 62 Denham Street, Rockhampton. One of her eight children, Fred Wood Monk, preserved her maiden name, whereas her sister Emily, who became Mrs. Alsbury and lived in Mount Morgan, named her son James Clavering Wood Alsbury. He became known in the family as “Clavie”.

What about the encounter between the two soldiers? We think that another of Mary Elizabeth’s sons, Percy Monk, who enlisted from Rockhampton in 1916, was the one who met his New Zealand cousin, another John Clavering Wood, who was a trooper in the Wellington Mounted Rifles and served in Egypt in 1917-1918. This JC Wood was none other than the father of Phyllis, the contemporary correspondent from New Zealand.

Phyllis was able to fill in much more of the Wood family history. In 1889, when the then John Wood, Lord of the manor, died, Marche Hall in Shropshire was sold and his remaining children – an unmarried daughter Emily, and son William with his wife and four children – moved to New Zealand.

One of those four children was named John Clavering Wood, and when he in turn married, the tradition continued with his firstborn son. Hence, when Phyllis was born in 1929, the name JC Wood was shared by both her father and elder brother.

*   *   *

My correspondence with Phyllis Leek (Wood) has continued for the past year, and in her latest letter, she enclosed some recently-discovered photos, one of them of my great-great-grandparents, John Clavering Wood and his wife Kate Elizabeth (Dunne). But for Phyllis’ prodigious efforts in tending the roots of the Wood family tree, I would never have known what they looked like…

As Phyllis recently explained:

I find that unless people are really interested in their forebears, and family history, one is regarded almost as a nuisance, or a bit light-headed!

That is why it has been such a thrill to me, that you have put in an appearance, on a very frail link, and I now have someone to share information with.

My regret is, that you have appeared just when years are catching up with me, and that my eyesight is not so great. Nevertheless, I am really grateful that you have brought us together.

If ever there was a moral to this story, it is not to be disheartened when confronted with a brick wall in your genealogical endeavours. Somewhere out there is possibly a kindred spirit on a parallel research path, just waiting for that magic moment when Coincidences, Chance or Serendipity, will put you together…. 

Postscript – Help Requested:

Can anyone assist with information about Kate Elizabeth Wood (Dunne), whose birth, emigration and death details are unknown, or her daughter Emily Alsbury (Wood) who lived in Mount Morgan?

If so, please contact Gerard Benjamin, gloria-at-bigpond.net.au

Descendants of John Wood
  
Barbara Adams <dad95624-at-bigpond.net.au> 31.07.06 
Gerard Benjamin <gloria-at-bigpond.net.au>  22.11.06
Recompiled from the new Monaro Pioneers database: 6.10.08

Descendants Report