Biography contributed by Wendy Napier-Walker.
Also signed as 232 Mrs E. A. Johns
Mrs E. A. T. Johns was born Elizabeth Ann Thomas Hosking to John Hosking and his wife Jane Hosking (see 232 Mrs Jane Hosking) nee Thomas c 1857 in Illogan, Cornwall, England.
On 28 June 1875 Elizabeth Hosking married Frederick Johns in the Illogan church, Cornwall, England. They both lived in Paynters Lane End, Illogan, Cornwall.
Shortly after their marriage, on 1 July 1875 they departed Plymouth, England on the ship Merope and arrived in Timaru on 24 September 1875. Also on the same ship was Elizabeth’s widowed Mother, Jane Hosking and her sister Emily Hosking. After arriving in Timaru, the immigrants were conveyed to shore in surf boats as “landing at Timaru was precarious in those days”.
Shortly after arriving, Elizabeth and Frederick Johns moved to Waimate and travelled by bullock wagon. Mr Johns went to work on the Douglas Estate [purchased by John Douglas on 12 December 1878] at Waihao Downs. Around 1896 the family moved from Waimate to Ashburton. By 1922 they had moved again, this time to Christchurch.
They made two attempts to move to Sydney, however “the first was frustrated by the Cholera epidemic” and the “second was prevented by the bolting of the carrier’s horse, the whole of their belongings being tipped into the Avon River”.
Elizabeth and Frederick had six sons and two daughters; Emily Jessica Hosking Johns born 1876; Lillian Jane Johns born 1877; Frederick Henry Johns born 1879; John Hosking Johns born 1882; Harry Lester Johns born 1883; Newman Johns born 1885; Graham Johns born 1889 and Harvey Johns born 1892.
Elizabeth and Frederick Johns celebrated their Golden Wedding Anniversary in June 1925.
In Mrs Frederick John’s Obituary she is described as being of “a quiet disposition and was loved wherever she went. She took a keen interest in church and social work”.
Elizabeth Johns died on 19 October 1933 in Christchurch age 76 years and Frederick Johns died late October 1940. His occupation was Gardener. Both are buried in the Ashburton cemetery, Wesleyan section, area 60, Plot 30 and Plot 28 respectively.
Sources:
Ancestry Family Trees
Ancestry – New Zealand Electoral Rolls
Greenwood, William, Te Waimatemate – History of Waimate County and Borough, Timaru Herald Company Limited, Page 74
Golden Wedding, Ashburton Guardian, 29 June 1925, Page 1
Death Notice, Elizabeth Johns, Ashburton Guardian, 20 October 1933
Obituary – Mrs Frederick Johns, Ashburton Guardian, 30 October 1933, Page 5
Funeral Notice, Frederick Johns, Ashburton Guardian, 1 November 1940, Page 1
Ashburton District Council cemeteries database