Joseph Finch story

Here is a rather sad story of one of our South Australia pioneer colonists, who was eventually shunned and in 1895 died in Adelaide in penury. And we don’t really know why.

Joseph Finch arrived 11 Sep 1836 on the Cygnet. He was a labourer, emigration application 0168, embark 70, age 18 (b.~1818), or maybe 22 (b.~1814), address on application Puryford. (This might be the old name for Pyrford, a village in the borough of Woking, Surrey.) The birth year is questionable (his death notice suggests 1814), but there were many questions raised in this research.

He nearly died soon after arrival, by getting lost at Rapid Bay, and nearly missing the boat.

The only matter of importance that occurred was the at first assumed loss of one of our men, Joseph Finch, who is, however, now still alive. He had gone away shooting about three days before camp breaking, and up to the dispatch of the last of our plant on board all the search parties, Cooper, natives, and others, had been unsuccessful in finding him. He was supposed to have perished in the bush. Such, however, was not to be his fate; for at the last moment, when all were on board, anchor hove short ready for tripping, and topsails ready for swinging, signs from the shore were made by the natives, a boat was lowered, and lying on the beach we found our lost Joe. Poor fellow! His first days out shooting ended disastrously. He lost himself, and in his endeavors to kindle a fire shook his powder-flask over a spark from his matches. The consequence was a sad blowing-up. He was brought on board in due course. WITH COLONEL LIGHT. (1886, December 27). The South Australian Advertiser (Adelaide, SA : 1858 - 1889), p. 5. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article37164792.

Joseph FINCH (of Twyford, Hampshire – which is adjacent to Surrey) married Frances COMBE/COOMBE (of St Pancras, Middlesex) 8th Dec 1838 at Holy Trinity, Adelaide. Frances used several names in her colourful life, as we shall learn. She was probably born about 1815 or as late as 1820 and arrived on the John Renwick in 1837. Her embarkation address posed the possibility that she was from St Pancras Fledgling Home (there is a baptism there for 20 May 1815), which means she probably wouldn’t have known her parents.

The couple proceeded to have at least four children in Adelaide: Frances (1839-1932), Mary (1841-1916), James John (1843-1895) and John (1846-1859). Possible a fifth, Louis (1848-1848).

Joseph and his wife Frances were "imprudent" according to an Adelaide court case in 1844 about a stolen cheque. In abandoning the case, the judge also reprimanded Joseph for the ill-treatment of his wife (for not providing for her).

It seems not long afterwards, Joseph, like so many South Australians at the time, packed up his young family and went off to the Victorian goldfields to seek his fortune. It was there they had at least two more children Jane (1855-1855) and Louisa (1858-1859). Frances nee COMBE now referred to herself as Fanny nee JACKSON. She at times referred to herself as Fanny Cecilia FINCH nee JACKSON.

Of the children, their only surviving son James John FINCH (b 8 Jul 1843 Adelaide) married Margaret Ann Constance HOYLE in 1865 Daylesford, Victoria. They then had seven children in towns about the goldfields between 1868 and 1871, and an eight back in Adelaide in 1884, when James John (also known as John James) for some reason decided to leave his family.

James John Finch was charged with leaving his wife and four children without adequate means of support. Ordered to contribute 20s. per week. POLICE COURTS. (1884, May 6). South Australian Register(Adelaide, SA : 1839 - 1900), p. 3. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article43655447

This was just before their last child (James Harrold 1884-1885) was born in Adelaide. Poor Margaret! James John died in Broken Hill in 1895. The oldest child, Percy, probably followed his father to Broken Hill, where he got married, and died in Kurri Kurri (a mining town in NSW). The other three children of James and Margaret (Robert, Ethel, Arthur) remained in Adelaide where they married (1915, -, 1920) and died (1920, 1969, 1959), as did Margaret who died in 1930 aged 84. Note that Margaret and three of her four children would have been probably been in Adelaide in the time leading up to Joseph’s death (1895). We’ll come back to James John, as we shall learn that he was instrumental in his father’s fate.

First married though, was Joseph and Fanny’s second daughter, Mary FINCH who married 21 Mar 1860 in Melbourne, an Oliver Warren COLLINS and proceeded to have ten children in Victoria. Their marriage notice contained a curious statement: “... to Mary, second daughter of the late Joseph Finch, of Hampshire.”

Then on 3 May 1866 Joseph and Fanny’s eldest daughter Frances/ Fanny/ Fanny Cecilia FINCH married a James GRENVILLE and also proceeded to have ten children in St Arnaud, Victoria. Again the marriage notice contained a similarly curious statement: “... to Fanny, eldest daughter of the late Joseph Finch, Esq., of Hampshire, and granddaughter of the late Captain Sir Francis Jackson, R.N” . Note the respectful “Esq.”

But as Joseph died in Adelaide some 34 years later, why were the family announcing from as early as 1860 that he was dead? After all, he and Fanny were still having children as late as 1858 and Mary and Fanny would surely have known that he was alive and well at that time. So we presume that Joseph decamped back to Adelaide after 1858, and the family may have “disowned” him. Why, we do not know.

Or Fanny (Joseph’s wife) may have invented his death for the benefit of everybody around her, to explain his absence. Just as she might have invented her parentage (see below).

Fanny stayed in Victoria where she died of inflammation of the lungs and was buried in Castlemaine in 1863. Her death notice is riddled with inconsistencies. Notably she persisted that her parents were Captain Sir Francis JACKSON, R.N, and Cecilia HOTHAM, for which we have no trace. It is suggested that someone from a fledgling home would be most tempted to disguise such a background, and invent the names. (Further research has now identified her parents: Lydia Holloway, servant who fell pregnant to a fellow servant, a footman named "John Cain" at the age of 23 or 28 (illegible) - Kacey Sinclair)

According to a book called “The right to vote; the right to stand – The involvement of women in local government in Victoria” by Helen D. Harris OAM, Fanny FINCH had the dubious honour of being one of the first women to vote in a council election in Victoria (Castlemaine) – she opened a Boarding and Lodging House in Castlemaine and as a property owner she was eligible to vote. “However, it was perhaps her appearance in the Police Court on sly grog charges that told against her (The Argus newspaper): if so it was a moral judgement that apparently wasn’t levied at male electors. Fanny was a ratepayer until 1863 – and then she disappears.” (p.3). There is a Voting Card still in existence that Fanny filled in and signed from 1856 – it is housed in the Castlemaine Art Gallery. One of our researchers found out the reason why she disappeared in 1863 – she was able to find the death certificate!

The next we know about Joseph was that he was back in Adelaide, and he had been leaning on the Old Colonists’ Association for support, and in 1883 was hopeful of a property, in Gilbert Street.

It seems he had been “absent from the colony” for a period before then which allowed others to claim the title. Essentially he was a squatter in what he believed was his own property. After a convoluted court case, he was evicted in 1886.

In granting the writ a week's time would be allowed the defendant to clear out of the cottage. Finch—I haven't anywhere to go your honor. The Chief Justice—There are plenty of empty houses. Finch—But I have no money to dwell in them. The court decided that a writ of attachment should be issued against the defendant in a week's time. "LAW COURTS." The South Australian Advertiser (Adelaide, SA : 1858 - 1889) 18 Aug 1886: 7. Web. 10 Dec 2014 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article36334537.

Now you remember Joseph’s son James John? Well, he provided assistance to his father in a limited way, by representing him, although it seems that for most of the court case Joseph was unrepresented.

Claim to City Property. — Mr. James Finch, who is acting on behalf of his father, Mr. Joseph Finch, the claimant to the ownership of Acre 608, Gilbert-street, has called on us to contradict the statement made by us yesterday that his case had been taken up by a solicitor con amore. He says that he retained the legal gentleman in the ordinary way of business, also that his father arrived here in the Cygnet, and not the Rapid. THE CHANNEL TUNNEL. (1882, March 25). South Australian Register (Adelaide, SA : 1839 - 1900), p. 4. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article47102228

After having lost the case, he had to resort to begging, and people were genuinely concerned for him:

"ln your issue of June 22 you give a sketch of the history of South Australia and of its pioneers, to whom all honor is due, for the hardships that in the early days of the colony they had to endure were very severe. There is one matter to which I wish to draw your attention, and that is that an old pioneer, Joseph Finch by name, has lately had to go about with a card in front of him soliciting the assistance of the charitably disposed, as he is greatly in want of the common necessaries of life, and is too old to work for his livelihood, having spent the best part of his life in the South Australian bush. I believe that a pioneer fund was started some time ago, and that some respectable sums were contributed to keep these poor old men comfortable for the rest of their days. I for one should like to see this carried out. Now what will visitors from the other colonies think when they hear of that old man starving in our midst?'' TO CORRESPONDENTS. (1887, June 25). The South Australian Advertiser (Adelaide, SA : 1858 - 1889), p. 4. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article37175531

But by 1894, the public had less pity :

"Poor old Joseph Finch has come to the surface again, with the same old story regarding his connection with Colonel Light's first survey, in which he, as a lad of seventeen, was a chainbearer in 1836-1837, and about his right and title to a block of land in Gilbert-street, which he says he bought at the very first Government land sale held in South Australia. A home such as the Home for Incurables or the Destitute Asylum would be to him an asylum indeed. Could not some of our wealthy colonists do something for the old fellow, seeing, as he says; that; he is the oldest living inhabitant in this province, barring none?” CORRESPONDENCE. (1894, March 29). South Australian Register (Adelaide, SA : 1839 - 1900), p. 4. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article53636147

He was present at the Commemoration Day 1886 with a placard in front of him:

One old colonist took the opportunity of reminding the pleasure seekers that some of those who were present at the foundation of the province have not grown in prosperity in its growth. This was an old man seated on the steps of the Esplanade with a board in front of him, on which it was stated that he was Joseph Finch, "who took a part in the original survey under Colonel Light," and who was now in need of help. COMMEMORATION DAY. (1886, December 29). The South Australian Advertiser (Adelaide, SA : 1858 - 1889), p. 6. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article37164924

However, in 1887 he must have “scrubbed up” to attend a grand social function at the Town Hall (“a spectacle perhaps never equalled in its history”) held in honour of the old colonists. THE EVENING IN THE TOWN HALL. (1887, January 1). Adelaide Observer (SA : 1843 - 1904), p. 43. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article160755136.

The destitute Joseph was certainly on skid row in 1889, six years before his death.

Joseph Finch was dismissed with a caution for unlawfully sleeping on certain premises, and for being idle and disorderly. POLICE COURT. (1889, January 24). South Australian Register (Adelaide, SA : 1839 - 1900), p. 7. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article47054609

Joseph FINCH died 19 Dec 1895 in Adelaide at the age of 81, and was buried the next day in West Terrace Cemetery, possibly in a pauper’s grave.

It is difficult to understand why he apparently did not seek assistance from his large family, and why apparently the family did not help him in his last years.

For contact information, more details and comprehensive sources, see http://dukeofyork.tribalpages.com/family-tree/dukeofyork/31126/1247/Joseph-FINCH-Family

Acknowledgement:

Many thanks to the team of six people who collaborated on the internet and were able to solve the puzzle (well most of it, anyway): David Coombe, Alan Finch, Sue Finch, Chris Ward and Jenny Hibbens.

David Wilson

13 Dec 2014

last updated 13 Dec 2014