MAY 2005

EDITOR’S NOTES.

Last month I mentioned how Chad Heyborn in Utah was put in touch with Tony Heybourn regarding his Heyborn ancestry.  Tony has travelled far and wide in search of Heybourn history, including visits to the L.D.S. Family History Library in Salt Lake City.  Chad has e-mailed to say he has arranged to meet Tony on his next visit to Salt Lake City. It appears that the Library is only 20 minutes from Chad’s home. He admits he is embarrassed to say that he has never visited this world renowned collection, but plans to spend a day there in the near future. Good luck with your research Chad!

As I write this my granddaughters Frances and Emma are preparing to return from a holiday in Barbados with their cousin Joan (Williams). On the first leg of their journey, they were met at the airport by a taxi driver holding a placard saying HEPPORN.  “That’s another one for Grandpa’s name collection” remarked Emma! Sorry Emma, but we already have two Hepporn baptisms on the database. The moral of this story is that if you are a Hebborn you will invariably be asked to spell your name. If you have a cold use a phonetic alphabet even if sounds like Hotel-Echo-Pravo-Pravo-Oscar-Womeo-November!

It is always nice to hear from our good friend Jenny Hebborn. Her sister-in-law had noticed an omission on Chart F010. It was all my fault, as Jenny had provided me with the correct information long ago. My apologies, and a revised edition should be on line fairly soon. If you find any errors or omissions in the Resources section, please let me know. Likewise, any follow up to any of the monthly articles is always welcome.

Audrey’s sister Rosemary Pilbeam nee Hebborn has just undergone some delicate surgery. I understand all appears to have gone well. We wish her a good recovery and relief from the pain that she has endured recently.

JOHN HEBBORN.


GEORGE PHILIP CASTLE otherwise HEBBORN (1889-1915)

Television coverage of a recent ceremony commemorating those who died in the Gallipoli campaign ninety years ago brought back memories of my childhood. As a small boy, I was fascinated by a group of photographs that hung on my bedroom wall.  They were in a typical 1920’s style photo frame with three oval cut-outs for the pictures. The first photo I recognised as my father Frederick John Hebborn [J024]. He looked so young and smart in his army uniform. I believe he must have been an army cadet. The next was of a young man in naval uniform. He was easily recognised as my much admired Uncle Bill (William Henry Hebborn [J023]).  The last photo was of a young man I did not recognise. He was in the uniform of an Australian soldier.

My father referred to the Australian as “my brother George”, but said very little about him. When Dad thought I was old enough to understand, he told me that George had served with the ANZACs and had been killed at Gallipoli. Later still I discovered he was my father’s half brother.

It was only in recent years that I decided that my obsession with Hebborn ancestors meant I had neglected my descent through my two grandmothers. I did not see a lot of my Hebborn grandmother, and knew very little about her. A copy of the marriage certificate of my Hebborn grandparents revealed that they were married at St Mary’s Paddington on 6th December 1894. My grandmother was Annie Elizabeth Castle, aged 26, a widow. She was living at 159 Harrow Road, close to where Harry Hebborn was stationed at Harrow Road Police Station. Her father is given as Edward Turner (deceased) a surveyor.

I now had enough information to look for her previous marriage. I found that Ann Elizabeth Turner married George William Castle on 17th January 1889 at St Paul, Bow Common. George William was aged 26, a fireman stationed at The Fire Station, Commercial Road. A search revealed that their son George Philip Castle was registered at Kensington in December Quarter 1889.  Ann(ie) Elizabeth Castle was to become a widow after only four years of marriage. The death of George William Castle, age 31, is recorded in the Kensington District in June Quarter 1893.

I decided to look at the 1901 Census to see if I could locate young George Philip Castle.  I knew from my father’s birth certificate, that my grandparents were living in Chippenham Road, Paddington in 1900. With this information it proved a simple matter to locate the family on the online 1901 Census.  The detail proved interesting in addition to my grandparents, my father and Uncle Bill, the schedule lists “George Hebborn” as a “stepson in law”.  It would be interesting to see how he appears in the 1911 Census, but there is another six or seven years to wait for that. My next reference to George is in 1914 when he arrives at Newcastle, N.S.W.

A visit to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website confirmed that George Philip Castle was a Private in the 2nd Battalion of the Australian Infantry. He died between the 6th and 9th August 1915 and is commemorated at Lone Pine Cemetery, Anzac, Turkey. Additional information confirms that he was the son of Annie Hebborn formerly Castle and the late George William Castle.

Does the lack of a precise date of his death suggest that he was one of thousands of dead that were unidentified or whose bodies were never found? What a terrible end to a short and tragic life.  Poor George was fatherless before he was four years old. He then had to adjust to a new family, which can be quite a problem for a small child. He eventually arrives in Australia in 1914, no doubt full of hope of a new life in a land of opportunity.  The following year all those hopes were dashed to pieces in the bloodbath of the Gallipoli campaign.

Although George Philip was not born a Hebborn, I make no excuses for including him on this site. The 1901 Census suggests that his stepfather wanted him to be accepted as a Hebborn. No doubt the immigration and army authorities insisted he used his birth certificate name in their records. His untimely death obviously had a profound effect on my father. He found it hard to talk about the man he always referred to as “my brother George”. The mother my father shared with George Philip must have been distraught at losing her first born son. I did not see a lot of my grandmother Hebborn. I remember her as a rather stern lady with whom it was difficult to communicate. From what I have discovered from public records, I can begin to see that life dealt her some hard blows. She can be forgiven for not being a bundle of joy.

I now know more about her than I ever did during her lifetime, but she is still an enigma. I cannot identify her in the 1881 Census. Neither can I positively identify her in the GRO Birth index. The problem is that Turners are very numerous and is she Ann Elizabeth or Annie Elizabeth?   I have to admit that doing a one name study of a family with a rare surname is easier than trying to unravel the Turners.

JOHN HEBBORN

Update – from News , June 2005.

There has been a very strange and moving follow up to last month’s history article. On the 10th May a message was received from Shirley MacKenzie-Thurley who had been at Gallipoli on Anzac Day. Shirley attended the dawn service on Anzac Beach before ascending the hill to another commemoration. At a third service overlooking a cemetery, the full impact of the carnage was brought home by the hundreds of graves of young men. On leaving a young Turkish boy with a basket of large poppies handed one to Shirley.  By now she was tired and overwhelmed by the events of the day. She put the poppy in her bag and returned to her hotel. When she unpacked her bag she discovered the poppy bore a tag bearing the inscription: George Philip Castle, 2nd Battalion Australian Infantry. Who was this poor young man who had died in this disastrous campaign that lasted nine months and achieved nothing?
On returning to England, Shirley e-mailed her son in Australia asking him if he could find out anything about George Castle. In a very short time he replied with a download of the HFH&N article of 1st May 2005. 

I am so pleased that Shirley took the trouble to contact us, and that we were able to give her an insight into the life of George. It nearly did not happen. I abandoned my planned article for May due to problems with the research. I quickly rustled up the piece on George as a stop-gap.  I have promised Shirley a copy of the photograph of George that had haunted me as a child. While sorting out old pictures a couple of years ago, I decided it was so precious that it had to be put in a particularly safe place. It was so safe, I can’t find it.  Shirley will get her photo eventually, either the amnesia will be cured, or the continuing search through John’s Archive will prove fruitful.