Hanson-Allen Family

George Frederic Allen & Caroline Frances Allen (nee Hanson), of Wanganui, New Zealand

The Allen family of Wanganui, August 1889. Back Row (from left): Fred and Charlie or (more probably) Charlie and Fred, Frank. Front Row: Maude, George Frederic, Carrie, Ralph.

George Frederic Allen was born at 69 Tooley Street, London Bridge, on 15 February 1837, the eldest son of George Allen and his wife Marie, nee Day. George Frederic later wrote: "My father, George Allen, was the second son of a private gentleman of Brentford, Middlesex. His elder brother was named Charles, his younger brother was named William - there was one sister." Unfortunately he did not think to tell us her name - or that of his father.

He continued: "My father was articled to Mr Sames, (an) architect, and succeeded to his business, which was also at 69 Tooley Street. He was District Surveyor of Rotherhithe and Halcham; Surveyor to the United Parishes of St. Olave, St., Thomas and St. John; and Surveyor to the Honorary Company of Haberdashers."

The firm, called Allen, Snooke & Stock, designed many of the principle warehouses on the Thames Embankment and amongst the works attributed to George Allen senior were the facades at each end of the London Bridge, which had been rebuilt in the 1820s. It is not known if his work was included in the bridge parts which were taken to Arizona in the 1960s. George senior died on 28 June 1848, leaving his wife and a young family of six children, then aged between one and eleven years

In October 1853, sixteen-year-old George junior left his family home in Brighton to board in London, where he studied architecture and surveying in his late father's business. He was a pupil of Henry Stock, one of the partners. In 1856, the family moved to 'Sydenham Cottage' in Epsom, where the household consisted of George, his mother, two brothers, three sisters, and their two servants, Susan and Harriet.

Friends of the Allens' by this time included the family of the Reverend George Loudon Hanson and his wife, Frances Jane, nee Surridge. Reverend Hanson was the vicar of Great Burstead, Essex. His mother, in turn, was Elizabeth Browne, from the lineage of the Viscounts' Montague. Elizabeth's brother, John Browne, had declined to become the tenth Viscount Montague and therefore this title had lapsed.

The Hanson family was apparently quite well-off. They had servants, a coachman, gardeners and all the trappings of middle-class Victorian affluence. The teenage children from the Allen and Hanson families spent a lot of time together. Tom Hanson was a particularly close friend to George, who had clearly also taken notice of Tom's sister, Caroline Frances. Caroline, who was known as 'Carrie,' had been born at Felstead, Essex, on 31 August 1840.

It had been arranged that George would be taken into his late father's firm as a junior partner when he completed his articles. However, he had a friend, Captain Young, who had visited New Zealand, and who suggested they both go there and start a sawmill to mill kauri for sale in Auckland. As such, while still in England, he had accepted the position of engineer to the 'Great Barrier Island Kauri Timber & Copper Mining Company.' Accordingly, George arrived in Auckland on the Egmont in July 1860.

In reminiscences he wrote for a St. Andrews Kilwinning meeting, he stated that he: "then went to Great Barrier Island ... where I worked for eighteen months, spent £145 on my work, and came back to Auckland owing £20 and having £5 in the Bank." They had purchased all the necessary sawmilling equipment for the operation and employed both Maori and European labour. They had also built a dam in a stream on the island that was said at the time to be the largest dam in New Zealand.

During this eighteen month period, there was insufficient rain to fill the dam, however, they continued felling kauri trees and rolling the logs into the stream-bed. Then the rain came - and kept coming! The dam overflowed and collapsed, and all the kauri logs headed for the sea in one wild rush. They also broke the boom that had been constructed to catch them and were washed into the sea. Very few were salvaged.

With most of their capital gone, they paid off their men and headed back to Auckland. George eventually obtained work for a few months as an assistant in the Church of England Grammar School, until an opening came up for him to return to his own profession. In conjunction with his new partner, James Orme Barnard, he won £20 in a competition to design the first St. Matthews Church in Auckland.

In winter 1862, "Mr Barnard and I were offered appointments in the Province of Wellington, as District Surveyors, by the Prime Minister, Mr William Fox. We had worked 16 hours a day and had earned, in the six months of our partnership, £350. We were loath to leave Auckland, but the certain salary of £300 each, decided us to accept. In (November) 1862 ... I was sent to Whanganui (sic) for the summer months - and have been here practically ever since" (ref: Kilwinning).

"I took my luggage to the hotel (at Wanganui), where I stayed for a week at the moderate cost of thirty shillings for myself and my Newfoundland dog. Then I found (accommodation) with Mr and Mrs Pick. Mrs Pick was a dear old lady, her only fault was that she would not allow me to invite the cat into my sitting room. One day she (chased) the cat and she escaped up the chimney - the cat I mean, not Mrs Pick" (Wanganui Chronicle 5/4/1924)

While George made himself at home at Wanganui, Carrie, his fiancée, was sailing for New Zealand aboard the Ganges. She arrived in Auckland on 12 October 1863. The couple were married in Auckland nine days later, in the newly-built St. Matthews Church, which George had designed. George had asked his employers for three months off for a honeymoon. When they refused and would only permit him one month's holiday, he rather unwisely resigned. He then took up private surveying. All went well for a while, the second of the New Zealand Wars occurred and all surveying ceased.

The couple made their home in Wanganui, where, in addition to George's professional activities, the couple were also involved with the town's social scene. In June 1863, George had taken over the "more knowledgeable" portion of the 86 people who arrived for the first practice of the new Wanganui Choral Society. Carrie sang the second verse of the hymn 'Brightest and Best' (by Bishop Heber, to Mendelssohn's 'Lieder ohne worte') at the group's first concert in January 1864. George sang the third verse.

Carrie, who is recalled as "a typical English gentlewoman," soon had other diversions though. The couple's first child, Frederick Hanson Allen, was born in October 1864. With his birth started the trend of giving each child the second name 'Hanson,' after Carrie's rather distinguished family. This trend continued into the subsequent generation, but for sons only.

In 1866, Charles was born, followed in 1868 by Barnard, who died as an infant. Then in 1870 came Arnold, who died as a five year old in 1875. Francis (Frank) was born in about 1873, followed by Maude, their only daughter, in 1875. Then finally Ralph was born in 1879. Surprisingly, most of the children's births were either not registered - which was against the law - or the documentation has not made it to the Registrar of Births, Deaths & Marriages in Wellington, which seems unlikely. This glitch is rather unexpected and is presently unexplainable.

In the winter of 1865, when the New Zealand Wars were raging in the vicinity of Wanganui, Major Brassey and his troops found themselves trapped at Pipiriki, on the Whanganui River, with little ammunition and food - and NO tobacco! Brassey wrote notes in Latin - because some of the Hauhau could read English! - placed the notes in bottles and sent them down the Whanganui River. It fell to George to have the honour of finding one of the bottles, and he quickly conveyed the message to the Militia office. Military matters dominated Wanganui for some years and amongst the visitors to the Allen home in St. Hill Street, was Major von Tempsky, shortly before his death in battle in 1868.

George is remembered as sometimes being a slightly eccentric and impractical man, if obviously talented in other respects. He would work for long periods in the backblocks on surveying jobs. Then, when he returned home for a break, instead of assisting his wife with her workload, he would pack up his gear and go on exploring expeditions with his 'gentlemanly' companions - and enjoy a little holiday.

With her unthinking husband and their limited means, Carrie, the refined and pedigreed 'lady' had little choice but to become her own servant! During one of George's excursions a Maori attack upon Wanganui seemed imminent. Carrie had to gather up her small children and, along with the other town-folk, had to seek refuge in the Rutland Stockade in the town.

Furthermore, although his family may have been in dire financial straits, George though nothing of designing a building for a friend for free. While his impoverished and attention-starved wife was probably stranded at home with her children, George continued to take a keen interest in social, cultural and religious events in Wanganui. He was and enthusiastic musician and choir-master. He was described as cheerful, with a strong, forceful personality. His wife, and certainly his descendants, could politely add one or two other comments.

George had always suffered badly from headaches. His diary as a youth in 1856 records these - and the homeopathic remedied he used in an attempt to combat them. He was well known for the lengthy periods he spent in bed while so afflicted - being waited on by his long-suffering wife. Clearly though, these impacted upon his life. The detailed work involved with his job, in poor lighting, combined maybe with some eyesight difficulty, probably accounted for much of this problem. Both tendencies  (headaches and corrective lenses) are well known to those who carry his genes!! One grandson, however, suggested that probably Carrie should have "broken a batten over his head and made him get up - the lazy sod!"

Wanganui once had many buildings that had sprung from George's hand. Probably few are still standing. Two that do remain, though, are very noteworthy, while one, 'Oneida,' usually appears with prominence in many modern architectural publications.

In 1870, the three-storied 'Carpenter Gothic' house, named 'Oneida,' was built to his design on the outskirts of the little rural town of Fordell. Built as the Burnett family's country home, this house has an historic Places Trust classification and has a strong resemblance to the well-known Auckland house, 'Highwic.' The actual designer of 'Highwic' is unknown, but the family notes that it dates from the short period George worked in Auckland. At the least, it seems reasonable that 'Highwic' at least had some influence on 'Oneida.'

The second surviving building, the stunning St. Stephen's Anglican Church in Marton, in the Rangitikei district, was consecrated in late 1870. It has the same towering presence and similar general appearance of 'Oneida,' and also has an Historic Places Trust classification. The buildings with now survive were apparently his most notable works.

George was also a competent artist, in line with his occupation. Some of his works adorn the pages of Willis's Guide Book, a tourist guide he wrote that was published in 1894, and reprinted in a revised form in 1902. Another, a panorama of Mount Ruapehu and Mount Ngaruahoe dated 1894, has the honour of adorning the cover of Kairuri: The Measurer of the Land, a book published in 1988 to mark the centenary of the New Zealand Institute of Surveyors. He had been told by the Maori of the area that Mt. Ngaruahoe's name was in fact 'Auruahoe,' and so accordingly he continued to use that version with determination (Willis, 1902: 25). Similarly, HIS Wanganui was always spelt with and 'h' (Whanganui), a practice that that has only recently been granted back to the official name of the Whanganui River.

In 1892, the aging couple's two eldest sons built them a little ponga and daub cottage on land they had been ballotted at Te Pohue, in the bush-covered Mangamahu Valley. Access to the nearest road was by way of seven miles of bridle track. The only similarity between this new home and George's two architectural masterpieces, was the vertical placement of the ponga logs that formed its walls. What a cruel twist of fate for poor Carrie, if not necessarily for her husband! Of course, we do not know her feelings on the relocation. She may have viewed it as a way to keep her husband home. Certainly it was likely to have meant she was closer to her sons.

In late 1902, Carrie developed heart problems and, after a busy Christmas family gathering at her home, she took ill again. She was taken to 'Oneida' to stay with the Burnetts', who were family friends. From there she was taken - in wet weather - to visit the doctor in Wanganui, and this trip was thought to have done more harm than good.

Carrie died in George's arms at 1:00 a.m. on 10 January 1903. Yet it is ironic and somehow satisfying to think that she should end her difficult days at 'Oneida', the monument to her husband. Her obituary described her as "one of the best and most unselfish mothers who ever lived." The writer omitted to include the word "wife" from this description.

Carrie was buried at the front end of the Matarawa Church, in the tiny Matawara Cemetery, just down the road from 'Oneida'. Her grave is now unmarked, but is locatable in the church's records. After the funeral, George was taken to the resort town of Rotorua to recuperate.

By April 1904, he was working as Inspector of the Upper Turakina Bridge, and was based at Hunterville. He only worked odd days as received 12 shillings per day for the days he worked. As the bridge was only about a mile from his son Charlie's home at Pukeroa, he used that as his postal address. At the same time he was also working on a new cottage for Frank, which was not too far from the bridge work.

At some time in the years after Carrie's death, George lived at 7 Kent Terrace, Wellington, according to his note in his copy of the 1902 edition of Willis's Guide Book. He was not alone for too long though. On 11 February 1907, he was married, at St. Peter's Church, Caverham, Dunedin, to London-born widow, Sarah Alice Thomas, formerly Nickless, nee Edmeades. She was known as 'Nellie.'

George's obituary states that the new Mrs Allen was the widow of Mr Nicklas, a former teacher at the Whakaiahuwaka Native School, on the Whanganui River. The records show that Henry William Nickless had died on 15 July 1892, aged 49 years. He is buried at Riverton Cemetery. Sarah Alice Nickless had then married Richard Thomas in 1897, but he in turn had died in 1905, in the Invercargill area.

The couple subsequently moved to 2 Latham Street, Napier, where they were living around 1920. By 1929, they were living in Opaki Road, Masterton. The distance from the Allen children, in Manawatu, Waikato and Wanganui, probably made contact difficult. However, they seem to have sent him money from time to time.

George died at Masterton, aged 92, on 28 February 1929. He also is buried in an unmarked, but locatable, grave at Masterton Cemetery. Sarah, who was aged 85 at the time of her husband's death, died in 1931 at Masterton, her death being registered during the April-June quarter. There is no headstone recorded for her at Masterton Cemetery either.

While Carrie and George found poverty in New Zealand, their brothers and sisters had fared rather better. Theirs was not the only Allen-Hanson union. George's sister Julia had married Carrie's brother William, a homeopathic doctor. The couple had eventually settled in Fort Myers, Florida, where some of their descendants still live. Described in her extensive and highly impressive obituary as the "Most Beloved Woman in Florida" and the "Mother of all Women's Clubs," she, with her husband, had made good use of their opportunity in their new land.

George's brother Charles had become a journalist and newspaper editor in Canada. He visited New Zealand in 1924 for a reunion with the brother he had not seen in 65 years. Unfortunately, he apparently died near the end of the journey back to Canada.

The Allen boys followed their father into surveying, although they did not have the opportunities to qualify. George had taken them from school as soon as he could - to help with the survey parties. Although they gained all the practical training necessary, they had no qualifications. They had to get their work signed off by their father in order to satisfy the Land Transfer Office. Despite these setbacks, the eldest, Frederick, performed a number of public roles, including a period as a Wanganui Borough Councillor. The second son, Charles, had a similar public career, including twice being Mayor of Frankton. The youngest son Ralph, gained some benefit from his father's training in that for many years he worked for the Government as a Rural Land Valuer.

Male descendants of George Frederic and Carrie seem to have an inherent fascination with the New Zealand wilderness, especially that in the Whanganui River area - and clumping around endlessly in the bush! Female descendants and the spouses of the above, however, feel for this poor gentlewoman who came to New Zealand with such high hopes - and ended her days living in the back country in a ponga shack!

Compiled by Val Burr (their great granddaughter)

Bibliography

Published Sources

Allen, Elizabeth, A Farm on the Wanganui River (Wanganui, 1980): 63-70.

Allen, George Frederic, Willis's Guide Book of New Routes for Tourists (Wanganui, 1902)

Allen, George Frederic, Wanganui in the '60s, an article published in the Wanganui Chronicle on 5 April 1924.

Bovey, Des, & Kathleen McDonald, Wanganui Buildings of Historical Interest (Dunedin, 1979): 44-5.

Easdale, Nola, Kairuri: The Measurer of the Land (Petone, 1988).

Fort Myers News Press. Obituary of Julia Allen Hanson, nee Allen, dated 30 November 1934.

Kirk, Athol L., 'George Frederic Allen, 1837-1929' in The Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, Vol. Two (Wellington, 1993)

Shaw, Peter, & Robin Morrison, New Zealand Architecture (Auckland, 1991): 40-1.

Wanganui Herald. Obituary of George Frederic Allen, 1 March 1929

Unknown Wanganui newspaper c10/1/1903. Caroline Frances Allen's obituary.

Unknown newspaper clippings relating to Charles William Allen's visit to New Zealand in the winter and spring of 1924.

Unpublished Sources

Allen, Chas. E.H., 80 Years in New Zealand, an unpublished manuscript c1944. - Copies held by Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, and Warwick Allen, Palmerston North.

Allen, George Frederic, 1856 Diary, London - Held by Warwick Allen, Palmerston North.

Allen, George Frederic, Reminiscences of George Frederic Allen (1837-1929). Notes "Prepared for a meeting of St. Andrews Kilwinning, but not used."

Allen-Hanson Photo Album: George Frederic Allen and Caroline Frances Allen, nee Hanson's photo album, given to Carrie by her parents on 25 December 1862. This includes photos of their parents, grandparents and siblings. GFA has subsequently written a considerable amount of information about each subject on the backs of the photos - Held by Aroha Allen, Foxton.

George Frederic Allen's letters to: [a] Fred & Ethel Allen, dated April 1904; [b] Ralph Allen, Palmerston North, dated 13 October 1920.

Charles William Allen's letter to Ida Allen, Palmerston North, dated 21 July 1924. 

Genealogical records, including the marriage certificate of George Frederic Allen and Sarah Alice Thomas (1907/435), his death certificate, and their death registration details (1929/435 and 1931/1489 respectively). Also his marriage registration with Caroline (1863/190)

Assorted records relating to 'Oneida' and St. Stephen's Anglican Church, Marton, and either obtained from them or from easily accessed publications about them.

Biographical Index Cards held at Whanganui Regional Museum.

Assorted family diaries, photos and documents held by Aroha Allen, Foxton.