Army,
Navy, Airforce…I don’t have a lot of military folk in my tree. I recently wrote
about a soldier for my Families at War unit and my diploma, but I posted that
already on ANZAC Day.
So I
am going way outside the box with this one and writing about someone who joined
a different Army.
My
great great grandparents Julius Fuller & Maria Ann Horskins married in Newington,
Surrey on Boxing Day 1859.[1]
Less than two months later, they boarded the Gananoque at Gravesend and sailed
for New Zealand.[2]
I’m
not sure my great great grandfather was too worried about leaving his family
behind. He has buried his tracks pretty well and from all accounts never spoke
about family. My great great grandmother has been a little easier to research
and left three brothers and two sisters in England as well as numerous cousins.
Whether they stayed in touch is hard to know, I hope they did at least until
her death in 1878.[3]
They
must have been missed by her family though, shortly after their departure Maria’s
youngest brother named two of his children for them. This is where the Army
comes in.
As a
twelve year old, Julius Horskins began attending Salvation Army meetings near
his home in Notting Hill, London in the mid 1870’s.[4] On
Sundays he would rise at 4am to be ensure he arrived on time for knee-drill,
even when he had often not finished work as a Grocer’s assistant until
midnight.[5] He
devoted his life to the Army. His sisters Maria and Annie also joined, though I
am unsure whether his parents and elder brother did.[6]
Julius,
already a member of his local Notting Hill Corps, became one of the first
“soldiers” and dedicated his life to God and the Army in about 1881.[7] After
an initial training period in London he went, as Lieutenant, to Birmingham and
then on to Leith, Heckmondwike and Leeds.[8]
While in Leeds he was promoted to Captain, and moved on to Beverley and
Bradford.[9] When
he married Selina Fenton in 1884, both he and she were Captains stationed in
Bradford, Yorkshire.[10] I
was surprised to see a report of their marriage in the Clare Valley Argus – in
South Australia.[11]
I wonder why. Was there a relative there who I am yet to discover ? Perhaps John
Gore and Edward Saunders the commissioned officers recently arrived in South
Australia from England were friends of the happy couple.[12]
After
their marriage Julius and Selina went to Halifax and Bristol followed by
Camberwell, Hull and Castleford where he
was promoted again to Staff-Captain.[13] In
late 1887 they received orders to proceed to South Africa as acting chief
secretaries.[14]
Their eldest son was born there about 1888.[15]
By December
1889 though, Julius had been promoted to Major and they are documented in
newspapers in Ballarat and Bendigo, Victoria as having arrived from Africa.[16]
In
January 1890 they had relocated to Bathurst, New South Wales where their second
son was born in August.[17]
Nothing is forever though, the work of the Army just marches on. In September
and October 1891 they are again in Ballarat, but by January 1892 they are
established in Newtown, New South Wales.[18]
Their third son is born there the following year, but shortly afterward they
relocated yet again, this time to Adelaide, South Australia.[19]
Both
Selina and Julius travel about the State attending meetings, including chaperoning
a tour group from New Zealand throughout their stay there.[20]
Their only daughter is born in Adelaide in 1896.[21] In
1897 they moved to Geelong and then to Melbourne.[22]
In
December of 1897 Julius was appointed Field Secretary.[23] In
May 1898 they arrived in Queensland where, as Brigadier, Julius was installed
as Commandant of Toowoomba and Brisbane.[24]
By 1901 they have returned to Melbourne when their two youngest sons are born
in 1901 and 1905.[25]
They
travelled back and forth to London between 1901 and 1909 spending time in
Australia in Fremantle, Albany, Melbourne and Sydney as well as a number of visits
to New Zealand.[26]
Julius’ elder sister Maria, herself an officer with the Salvation Army, spent
some time in Western Australia as well before returning to London.[27]
In
1910 they travelled from Fremantle to Colombo, Sri Lanka (then known as
Ceylon).[28]
By 1911 he held the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel.[29]
They had travelled back to Britain at some point after this as passenger lists
record them leaving Liverpool for Montreal, Canada in July 1914.[30]
They travelled across Canada and arrived back in Sydney after sailing from
Vancouver in September 1914.[31]
They
seem to have been fairly settled throughout the war or perhaps I just haven’t
found all the newspaper articles and shipping records. In 1919 they are
recorded in the Who’s Who in Jamaica.[32] Julius
and Selina attended a service in Wellington in 1920 en route to Jamaica.[33] They
can be found on passenger lists travelling back and forth between Limon, Costa
Rica, Kingston, Jamaica, New Orleans, USA and Bristol, England in 1920 and
1921.[34]
They
departed from Glasgow, Scotland in October 1921 for Mumbai, India (then known
as Bombay).[35]
Newspaper reports 1929 regarding the plans for the Annual Congress of the
Salvation Army, which was to be held in Wellington, New Zealand Julius was described
as “lately in command of the Army’s operations in Western India.”[36]
In an interview near the time of the Congress, his rank now Commissioner, he
remarked that India had been his favourite mission and that he hoped to return
for three or four years before he retired.[37]
I
wonder if Julius knew he had cousins living in New Zealand and whether he met
with them on any of his visits ?
Selina
died unexpectedly in 1931 in Melbourne and Julius in 1949.[38]
Their children settled in Victoria and South Australia.
His
life was certainly one much travelled.
[1]
Marriage Certificate of Julius Fuller and Maria Ann Horskins, married 26
December 1859, General Register Office, United Kingdom.
[2]
‘Shipping News’, Lyttelton Times, 12
May 1860, p.4.
[3]
Death Certificate of Maria Ann Fuller, died 19 March 1878, Registrar of Births
Deaths and Marriages, New Zealand.
[4]
John Larsen, Spiritual Breakthrough, The
Holy Spirit and Ourselves, London, The General of the Salvation Army, 1983,
p.44.
[5]
Larsen, Spiritual Breakthrough, The Holy
Spirit and Ourselves, p.44.
[6]
Carole Powell to Claire Becker, email, 10 February 2009, original in author’s
possession.
[7]
Larsen, Spiritual Breakthrough, The Holy Spirit and Ourselves.; The Salvation
Army, Brisbane Courier, 28 April 1898,
p.3.
[8]
‘The Salvation Army’, Brisbane Courier,
p.3.
[9]
‘The Salvation Army’, Brisbane Courier,
p.3.
[10]
‘A Salvation Army Wedding’, Northern
Argus, 2 December 1884, p.4.
[11]
‘A Salvation Army Wedding’, Northern
Argus, p.4.
[12]
Kingsley Sampson, “Opening Fire: A brief analysis of the Salvation Army’s first decade in New Zealand”, The Australasian Journal of Salvation Army
History, Volume 1, Issue 2, 2016, p.132.
[13] ‘The Salvation
Army’, Brisbane Courier, p.3.
[14] ‘The Salvation
Army’, Brisbane Courier, p.3.
[15] Betty Horskins
to Les Davys, letter, 16 March 1996, original in author’s possession.
[16] ‘Sermons, Lectures,
&c.’, Bendigo Advertiser, 14
December 1889, p.6.
[17] ‘Government
Gazette’, Evening News, 8 January
1890, p.7., Birth Certificate for Victor Bramwell Horskins, born 2 August 1890,
NSW Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, 6438/1890.
[18] ‘Ballarat City
Council’, Ballarat Star, 15 September
1891, p.4.; ‘The Visit of General Booth to Ballarat’, Ballarat Star, 3 October 1891, p.2.; ‘Registrar General’s Office’, Government Gazette, 18 January 1892,
p.435.
[19] ‘The Marriage
Acts’, South Australia Register, 23
February 1894, p.3.
[20] ‘Maori Salvation
Meeting’, Narracoorte Herald, 25
February 1896, p.2.
[21] Horskins to Davys,
letter, 16 March 1996.
[22] ‘The Salvation
Army’, Advertiser, 20 April 1897,
p.6.; ‘Salvation Army Rescue Demonstration’, Geelong Advertiser, 21 Jun 1897, p.3.
[23] ‘Salvation Army’,
Sydney Morning Herald, 18 December
1897, p.7.
[24] ‘The Salvation
Army’, Brisbane Courier, p.3.
[25] Horskins to Davys,
letter, 16 March 1996
[26] Ancestry,
Passenger list Julius Horskins, ‘Inward
passenger manifests for ships and aircraft arriving at Fremantle, Perth Airport
and Western Australian outports from 1897-1963’, Series Number: K 269; Reel Number: 62.,
National Archives of Australia; Queen Victoria Terrace, Parkes ACT 2600.
Accessed 8 June 2018.; Ancestry, Passenger list Julius Horskins, ‘Western
Australia, Australia, Crew and Passenger Lists, 1852-1930’, SRO of Western Australia; Albany Inwards from Freemantle 1873 -1929;
Accession: 108; Item: 7;
Roll: 93. Accessed 8 June 2018.; ‘The
Salvation Army’, Otago Daily Times, 17 January 1903, p.8., ‘Commissioner
M’Kie’s Visit’, Wanganui Chronicle, 3 April 1906, p.2.; ‘The
Salvation Army’, New Zealand Herald, 5 March 1908, p.6.
[27] Horskins to Davys,
letter, 16 March 1996.
[28] Ancestry,
Passenger list for Julius Horskins, ‘Western
Australia, Australia, Crew and Passenger Lists, 1852-1930’, SRO of Western Australia; Freemantle
Outwards Sep 1900 - Dec 1915; Accession: 457; Item: 43; Roll: 148. Accessed 8 June 2018.
[29] ‘Salvation Army
Congress’, Express and Telegraph, 23 March
1911, p.3.
[30] Ancestry,
Passenger list for Julius Horskins.
[31] Ancestry,
Passenger list for Julius Horskins.
[32] Who’s Who in
Jamaica 1919, ‘Additional Careers’, http://www.jamaicanfamilysearch.com/Members/w/who19_10.htm,
Accessed 8 June 2018.
[33] ‘Salvation Army’,
Evening Post, 31 January 1920, p.7.
[34] Ancestry, Passenger list for Julius Horskins, ‘UK,
Outward Passenger Lists, 1890-1960’, Board of Trade: Commercial and
Statistical Department and successors: Outwards Passenger Lists. BT27. Records
of the Commercial, Companies, Labour, Railways and Statistics Departments.
Records of the Board of Trade and of successor and related bodies. The National
Archives, Kew, Richmond, Surrey, England. Accessed 8 June 2018.; Ancestry,
Passenger list for Julius Horskins, ‘UK, Incoming Passenger Lists, 1878-1960’,
Board of Trade: Commercial and
Statistical Department and successors: Inwards Passenger Lists.
Class: BT26; Piece: 687. The National Archives of the UK,
Kew, Surrey, England; Accessed 8 June 2018.; Ancestry, Passenger list Julius
Horskins, ‘New Orleans, Passenger Lists, 1813-1963’,Washington,
D.C.; Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at New Orleans, Louisiana,
1903-1945; NAI Number: 4492741;
Record Group Title: Records of the Immigration and Naturalization
Service; Record Group Number: 85,
The National Archives at Washington, D.C. Accessed 8 June 2018.
[35] Ancestry,
Passenger list for Julius Horskins.
[36] ‘Salvation Army’,
Evening Post, 11 January 1929, p.3.; Salvation
Army’, Evening Post, 15 April 1929, p.5.
[37] ‘A Salvation
Army Veteran’, Press, 22 April 1929,
p.2.
[38]
‘Obituary’, Weekly Times, 3 October
1931, p.8.; ‘Obituary’, Argus, 19 May
1949, p.5.
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