Joseph Hopwood

  General Notes:

Hopwood Family Celebretes Century

[newspaper article 13-10-1979]

Descendants of Joseph Hopwood who came to New Zealand in October 1879 and worked on John Grigg's Longbeach Estate, gathered in Ashburton today to mark the centenary of his arrival.

It is believed that his prime object in coming to New Zealand was to locate and work a goldmine which had been owned by his brother, Thomas.

Thomas was unfortunately killed in the Collingwood mine when the workings fell in on him. No gold was ever found in it and Joseph Hopwood turned to farm work for a living.

He appears to have been a working man of some enterprise. He initially left England in July 1879 on the ship Lizzie Bell, arriving in October.

He worked in various areas of the country for two and a half years before returning to the United Kingdom to fetch his family. [They settled in 1883]

He put his New Zealand experience to good use, writing a booklet "A voyage to New Zealand by a working man" which cost 7d, postage included.

A copy survives and written with an eye to the market, it gives details of wages working men could then expect to find in New Zealand.

Faced with the expense of bringing his family to New Zealand he turned to journalism for some extra money. A descendant, Mr Malcolm Hopwood is the present editor of the Guardian.

Joseph and his wife, Sarah, had a family of 12 children, five of whom died in infancy.

Only one child, Arthur, was born in New Zealand. Joseph Hopwood died in June 1893 while working at Longbeach.

Joe Hopwood has traced the family back 14 generations to one Henry Hopwood who lived from 1610 to 1672.

Many of the early Hopwoods were pigin (also spelt piggin) makers. A piggin was a small wooden dipper. Today it would be called a bucket.

----------------------------

Born in Broseley, Shropshire in September 1832 and baptised on September 29th 1832. Died of natural causes on June 13th 1893 while working at "Longbeach" for Mr John Grigg, and is buried at Ashburton.

Joseph was married on July 15 1861 at the Parish Church of Astley Abbots, Shropshire to Sarah Ann Meredith. Sarah was born in Wolverhampton, Staffordshire on April 28 1839 and died on August 7 1888 at Ashburton.

She was the only child of Thomas Meredith, Shoemaker of Enville, Staffordshire. Her mothers maiden name was Mercier and she died at Sarah's birth.

Sarah was brought up by her Grandmother, Sophia Meredith, who died on July 29 1870.

In England Joseph was noted in some records as being a carrier, but others note him as a labourer. In the 1851 census Joseph and his father were described as being farm labourers. There was no industry in the area where they lived so most males were employed in farming.

Joseph left England aboard the "Lizzie Bell" for New Zealand on July 10 1879.

The "Lizzie Bell" was of 1035 tons and her Master was Captain Moginard. The ship carried 40 passengers on this sailing and arrived in Dunedin, New Zealand on October 16 1879.

He boarded a steamer and arrived in Wellington on 18th October. His first job in New Zealand was breaking stones to put on a new street in Wellington, afterwards he spent a month on the railways at six shillings per day. Within two months he was on his way to Collingwood by steamer at a cost of two pound eight shillings. Here he worked for a sawmill also at six shillings per day.

Joseph spent almost a year around the Nelson area before coming to Ashburton, and again was employed in various jobs until he left Lyttelton on April 18 1882 for England. While in England to collect his family Joseph had printed a booklet entitled "A Voyage to New Zealand". In this he described the journey on the sailing ship and the various jobs he did during his two and a half years in New Zealand. The cost of the booklet was sixpence (6 cents) or seven pence posted. 1 have a copy of this booklet which is included later in this record.

Joseph and Sarah had twelve children, but five died in infancy. Only one child was born in New Zealand, that being Arthur who was born about three weeks after their arrival in this country. On May 17th 1883 Joseph, Sarah and their children arrived in New Zealand aboard the "Waipa".

Joseph only lived for 10 years in New Zealand. He died on June 13 1893 while working at Longbeach for Mr John Grigg. His son Harry was working with him at the time of his death while digging drains. Harry took his father home, a distance of twelve miles.

  Noted events in his life were:

• Immigration, 15 Oct 1879, Port Chalmers. Arrived aboard "Lizzie Bell" (1035 tonnes) Captain Moignard. During the journey Joseph kept a diary and on his return to England to collect his family he printed his booklet. This is reproduced in full in the Hopwood Family booklet.

Joseph married Sarah Ann Meredith, daughter of Thomas Meredith and Mercier, on 15 Jul 1861 in Parish Church of Astley Abbots, Shropshire. (Sarah Ann Meredith was born on 28 Apr 1839 in Wolverhampton, Staffordshire and died on 7 Aug 1888 in Ashburton, NZ.)