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The Hollow Log, Issue 46 Page 1
INS I DE TH I S IS S U E
Hollow Spotting I am always looking for any reference to a Hollow, birth death or marriage or any other mention in the media. Unfortunately the custom of announcing of births, marriages is declining so we find few of them.
Page 2
St Ives to South Australia This story came with images from
Graham Witt and David Quinn,
who I thank sincerely, but when I
was putting it together it was
hijacked by a Murray River Paddle
Steamer. When you get close to the
end of the story you will
understand what I am talking
about.
Page 4
The PS Decoy The connection with the Hollow
family is only short but this ship
had a great history.
Page 8
Correcting the record This is a correction to a story in Hollow Log 41. It is probably the longest correction you will ever see but hopefully this family story is more complete now.
Page 9
The Hollow name - Update My theory of the origin of the
Name Hollow resulted in good and
bad news. Hollow experts agree it
derived from Holla. What is not
agreed is where the name Holla
came from.
Page 12
THE HOLLOW LOG Issue 46, June 2015 The Hollow Family Researchers’ Newsletter ISSN 1445-8772
Vale Robert
Hollow,
Towednack
farmer Robert was featured in the last Issue of
The Hollow Log when he and his
family were visited by their distant
relative another Robert Hollow. Sadly
Robert passed away in May. Here is a
young farmer Robert with one of his
farm dogs. Robert and his twin brother
Gus spent lived at Amalveor farm at
Towednack from 1928, they were one
year old.After going to school at Nan
Cledra they worked on the farm for their father and eventually took over running the farm
themselves. The photo was part of an short piece Robert’s grandson Chris wrote about
him. Chris’s piece and other photos are on page 3.
St Ives to South Australia This story traces the journey to Australia by a brother and sister who made their way to
South Australia via Queensland. The two young men below are two of the first Australian
born members of that family, William John Hollow on the left and Robert Archie Hollow
on the right. I have say the photo shows a quickly learned Aussie nonchalence. They are
dressed in their best suits but relaxed in the moment. Their family’s story is on page 4.
The Hollow Log, Issue 46 Page 2
Hollow Spotting High distinction icing on cake for Emily
Emmanuel Catholic
College’s Emily
Hollow, Dux of the
school in 2014, was
the best performing
student with the
WACE examinations.
She achieved an
ATAR of 96.5
placing her in the top
3.5% of the state. She
was awarded a
Certificate of
Distinction for
Design for being in
the top 0.5 per cent
of students in the
subject.
Emily said she was overwhelmed after claiming the award.
“Many see design as an easy subject when compared to
chemistry and maths, but having studied all three, I know that
this really isn’t the case,” she said.
“While you do not have to remember difficult formulas and
work out equations, it is extremely time consuming and
challenging trying to come up with new and innovative ideas
that look original and stand out from all of the other student’s
designs.
Emily is also a recipient of an Excellence Scholarship from
Curtin University and hopes to study laboratory medicine at
Curtin University next year, while her long term goal is to
become an emergency physician.
13/Jan/2015 from the Cockburn Gazette and the Emmanuel
Catholic College Newsletter.
Obituaries
HOLLOW, James Frederick Clement. "Jimmy “Passed away
peacefully on September 15, 2013 Aged 62 years son of Allan
(deceased) and Hazel, brother and brother-in-law of John and
Annette, Kim and Maeve, Mark, Peter and Karen, Anne and
David, Robert and Lucy.
Published in The Adelaide Advertiser on 18/09/2013
HOLLOW. Lance (Rocky). Late of Irymple and Mildura,
passed away at Mildura Base Hospital on Nov. 12, 2014, aged
77 years. Husband of Judy, father and father-in-law of Janet
and Wayne, Lance and Katrina. Adored Poppy Rock of
Cassandra, Jack, Georgia and Jenna. Mate of Thomas. Brother
and brother-in-law of Pearl and Dennis. Uncle of John, Garry,
Wendy and families.
Published in Melbourne Herald Sun on 14/11/2014
HOLLOW Lavorna Pearl On 22nd
December 2014 passed away at
Royal Cornwall Hospital Truro
Lavorna aged 94 years of Cardinnis
Road Alverton Penzance. Wife of
George (deceased), mother of
Geoff and Keith (deceased) Susan
and Andra, grandmother and great
grandmother. Funeral service at St
Johns Church Penzance on Friday
9th January 2015.
Originally printed on January 8, 2015 in the Cornwall and Devon
Media.
HOLLOW (nee Maclachlan) Margaret Florence Sep. 6, 1926 -
Jan.1, 2015 wife of Donald (dec. ). Mother and mother-in-law
to John and Carol, Ian and Wendy and Geoff and Julie.
Grandmother of Lara, Tom, Nathan and Amy.
Published in Melbourne Herald Sun on 05/01/2015
HOLLOW On Friday 24th April 2015 peacefully at The Royal
Cornwall Hospital Treliske, Patricia Mary (Pat) aged 94 years
of Nancledra. Wife of the late Norman Hollow. Funeral
Service on Monday 11th May at Treswithian Downs
Crematorium.
Originally printed on May 7, 2015 in the Cornwall and Devon Media.
HOLLOW Robert Berryman Peacefully at his home, Newgate
Bungalow, Trink, formerly of Amalveor Farm, Towednack on
Wednesday 6th May 2015 following a short illness, aged 87
years. Husband of the late Doris Ann, father of Elizabeth,
Charlotte and Emma, father-in-law to Robert, Roy and David,
grandfather to Christopher, Simon, James, Louis, Dominic and
step grandfather to Ian and a much loved great-grandfather.
Brother of the late Wilfred John and twin brother of Augustus
James. Funeral service at Towednack Parish Church on
Saturday 16th
May 2015,
followed by
interment in
Towednack
Cemetery.
Originally printed
on May 14, 2015
in the Cornwall
and Devon Media.
♣
The Hollow Log, Issue 46 Page 3
This piece about Robert Hollow by his grandson, Chris Knowles from a magazine in
Cornwall. Chris works Trink farm where Robert lived with his family up until his
death.
News from Trink Farm Life on the farm is very
busy at the moment. The
cows are being artificially
inseminated each day as
they come into season. My
brother, Simon, has hired a digger and is here putting
in some new cow tracks.
We are also busy making
silage when the weather
and the contractor allows.
There is, however, a tinge
of sadness in the air as my
Grandfather, Robert
Hollow, passed away on
May 6th. He farmed in the midst of our community at Amalveor Farm all his
working life. He was a farmer through and through and I feel he was much more in tune with the soil and the seasons than I need to be – no weather app on your mobile
for him!
He worked the soil with
horses initially until
tractors came along in the
fifties. The equipment
used back then was very
basic which required a far
greater level of skill than
the sophisticated machines
of today. I often envy the
carefree farming lifestyle that he would have
enjoyed, especially the
lack of paperwork and form filling.
The farming community was the dominant group in the area and there was a high
level of helping your neighbour and the sense of fellowship was much stronger.
This was especially true at thrashing time when a dozen local farmers would come
together to share the workload.
Together with his twin brother Gus they milked up to 30 Guernsey cows. He found
it hard to comprehend that I milk 300 cows but I think I would find it difficult to
imagine my grandson (or granddaughter) milking 3,000 cows!
Chris Knowles
Thanks for this piece to
Robert’s daughter, Charlotte
Murt and Robert Hollow, fifth
cousin from Australia..
Hello There
I apologise for the lateness of this issue. My production technique is not an exact science and prone to all sorts of delays and distractions.
In the end I think this issue shows the diversity of Hollow family history and the need to be cautious in interpreting evidence. The stories I present are the best explanation of events at the time of writing. Things may change as new information is found. All stories should
be seen in this light.
Borrowed Odd Spot – from
The Age, Melbourne.
The Hollow Family Website
The website is updated on a monthly basis now. In the Hollow Log, details of families are often quite brief. You can use the Hollow Database section on the website to get further details of individuals and families. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.an
cestry.com/~chollow/
Contact
Colin Hollow edits the Hollow Log,
comments and contributions are always
welcome.
Write to 2 Keeley Lane, Princes Hill,
3054, Victoria, Australia. e-mail:
Hollow and variants Holla, Hollah,
Hallo and Hallow are registered with
The Guild of One-Name Studies. The
Guild member is Colin Hollow
(Member No. 3056).
©No material in this newsletter should
be produced without permission.
Robert and Ann Hollow
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~chollow/http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~chollow/mailto:[email protected]
The Hollow Log, Issue 46 Page 4
St Ives to South Australia This is another family story of migration from Cornwall to
Australia in search of a new life. This story involves two
siblings from a large St Ives Hollow family. William Robert
Hollow (1836-1902) himself from a family of eleven also
fathered eleven children. His eldest two children both finished
up living in the same small township of Woodside in the
Adelaide Hills of South Australia. Unusually their journey to
Woodside was via Queensland a large northern state of
Australia.
The siblings, Catherine Hollow (1856-1896) and William
Hollow (1858 – 1893), must have been looking for ways to
escape Cornwall and probably really wanted to go to South
Australia. They had an uncle working in the mines of Moonta,
South Australia and South Australia was a rich mining state.
Catherine had married a miner William Norman Ellis in 1876
and they had two children before leaving St Ives for
Queensland in 1883. However Catherine’s brother William
was the first to leave St Ives for Queensland so I take up his
story first.
William
Hollow (1858
– 1893) was
born 2
February 1858;
he was the
second child in
a family of
eleven. He was
living with his
family in the
street of
Stennack in St
Ives at the
1871 census
but then leaves
St Ives and his
next appearance in the records is in Australia. He married in
1882 at Mt Barker, South Australia to Honorah Edmonds at
the De Sales Catholic Church. William is believed to have been
living at Woodside at the time and Hanora lived at Forest
Range which is 6 Kilometres from Woodside. Mt Barker was
possibly the closest town with a Catholic church.
William is not following the normal Hollow pattern. Mt Barker
and Woodside in the Adelaide hills are not places where the
Hollows had been found previously and Catholicism was not
the usual Hollow calling although that has changed over the
years.
William’s journey to Australia was different too. The only
record I have found that fits him is a passage to Townsville in
Queensland in July 1879 as a “Free” passenger.
To help people who do not know Australian geography
Townsville and Rockhampton are in far North Queensland.
Aussies refer to it as FNQ and it is some 1800 kms as the
crow flies from Adelaide, and more relevantly, some 3200 kms
by ship. FNQ is deep in the tropics so the conditions are
somewhat different to the temperate Cornish clime.
Australian governments, each state had its own legislature,
were often offering incentives for the British people to come
to Australia. It seems that in the late 1870s and early 1880s
Queensland was offering very attractive incentives.
Two such incentives were Free passages and Bounty passages.
Free passages were granted by the Government to particular
categories of immigrants, and their families, which were from
time to time particularly required in Queensland. Applicants
were required to pay the sum of £1. To be eligible, they had to
be unable to pay their own passage, they could not have
resided previously in any Australian colony, and they must
intend to
reside
permanently
in
Queensland.
Bounty
immigrants
were
individuals
or families
who wanted
to come to
Australia.
Ships were
chartered by
an agent in
the UK.
People applied to the agent to be included to fill up ship.
Alternatively Individuals or small groups could be sponsored
by people in Australia, these sponsors received subsidies.
On arrival in Australia the immigrants were interviewed by
Immigration Board. If they were deemed suitable a bounty of
a set amount was paid to the Agent. No payment was made
for people deemed unfit, too old or who died on voyage.
Immigrants had to be “suitable” young, healthy & useful in
work experience. The immigrants had to satisfy the
occupational criteria. They needed testimonials (references)
and there was also a limit to number of children they could
bring.
The Hollow Log, Issue 46 Page 5
William as a single man took a Free passage and arrived in
Townsville FNQ on the Scottish Knight on the 22nd July 1879.
In November 1879 a William Hollow travelled from Brisbane,
Qld. to Sydney NSW. So his stay in Queensland may not have
been long. Perhaps the climate got to William, Aussies joke
about going troppo (mad) in FNQ or
perhaps William’s goal was always
South Australia.
William had his uncle in South
Australia in the mining area of
Moonta but miners were starting to
leave that area. Around that time
Woodside was experiencing
something of a gold rush. Early
excited reports suggested it may have
been South Australia’s Ballarat or
Bendigo. There was a lot of gold
mining activity through the Adelaide
Hills with gold being found at Forest
Range, Glen Osmond and Jupiter’s
Creek near Echunga. There were
newspaper reports of large nuggets
being found at Forest Range around
1882, one weighting 12 ounces and
another 4 ounces. These reports may
have attracted William’s attention.
Somehow William began working in
the Woodside area and William and
Hanorah Edmonds who lived at Forest
Range met. Woodside was only 6
kilometres from Forest Range and it was a
larger town where supplies would have
been purchased from.
William and Hanorah, lived the early part
of their married lives in and around
Woodside in the Adelaide Hills as their
first child, William John was born at Glen
Osmond, which is closer to Adelaide, on
30th
December 1883. William may have
worked in the Mines there but for a short
time as around 17 months later on 18th
September 1885 their second child Jane
was born at Woodside. There is evidence
that William was a miner there. He appears
in the court records in 1886 trying to get
payment for money he was owed as a
miner. Court reports in 1888 show an
unhappier story when William is to come
before the Insolvency court. This also
coincided with the death of the couple’s third child, Elizabeth
Norah at just thirteen months old. The outcome of the
insolvency action is not reported but William does move to
another mining area, Broken Hill, in New South Wales, very
soon after this time. Broken Hill was where William’s uncle
from Moonta now worked and where there was a mining
boom.
In 1888 a stock market boom makes
Argent Street in Broken Hill the
equivalent of Wall Street in the US
and the BHP share price hits an
incredible 400 pounds. But like all
booms, an equally massive bust
follows just a few years later.
William and Hanorah had another
child, Robert Archie, in Broken Hill in
1891 but by 1893 they were back
South Australia for the birth of their
fifth child, Edith Sandow, in August
1893. Edith was born at Happy Valley
a town south of Woodside. William
was working on the construction of
the new Happy Valley Reservoir being
built in the southern vales area of
Adelaide. William had a responsible
job heading a gang of men working on
the project.
This project included the construction
of water pipeline tunnels under the Mt Lofty
Ranges from the Onkaparinga River at
Clarendon and it came out at the other side at
Happy Valley. His mining skills would have
been needed for this work. This tunnel was 3
metres in diameter and 5 kilometres in length,
quite a big and important project for the time.
This last child was never to know her father as
tragedy hits the family on the 18th November
1893. The newspaper report in the box has the
details.
The family presumption is that Hanorah
moved back to Forest Range with her parents.
In 1899 she was to marry again to George
Knott, a man from the adjacent town Basket
Range. The marriage was at the Adelaide
Registry Office on 9th September 1899 ie
9/9/99. Nowadays couples actively seek out
dates like that to be married. George and
Hanorah lived at Basket Range until 1917 and
had three children together. They moved to a
small holding, 17.5 acres at Athelstone and
lived out the rest of her life there. She died there in 1930.
A sad fatality occurred at the Happy Valley
waterworks early on Saturday morning by
which William Hollow, a chief of a gang of
men, met his death. Just as the night shift
were leaving work at half-past 6 o'clock on
Saturday morning Hollow made a final
inspection of the work in one of the tunnels.
He was examining a timber which appeared
to be somewhat irregular when the whole
affair gave way. It struck him on the side of
the head, and the falling sand covered both him and his assistant. The latter was not so
heavily buried, and managed to extricate
himself. He called to the trucker to get help,
and when the unfortunate man was unearthed
he was found to be dead. The resident
engineer (Mr. G. S. Mann) and Dr. Horneck
were sent for, and the doctor on arrival ex-
pressed the opinion that Hollow had suffered
no pain whatever —the blow from the timber
having rendered him unconscious. He leaves
a wife and four children, the youngest being only a few weeks old. His widow will draw
about £100 from the accident fund.
The Advertiser (Adelaide, SA) 20 Nov. 1893
Hanorah Hollow/Knott nee Edmonds
The Hollow Log, Issue 46 Page 6
Catherine Hollow (1856 – 1896)
William may have been the forward party for his sister
Catherine’s move from St Ives to Queensland, although he did
not stay, Catherine left Cornwall a year after William married
in South Australia. Catherine married a William Ellis in 1876
and they made the voyage to Queensland as Bounty
Immigrants in 1883. They arrived in Rockhampton on 29th
January 1884 the ship Scottish Hero. Once again they did not
stay. The climate may have been a factor; although
Rockhampton is further south than Townsville it is on the
Tropic of Capricorn and thus well and truly tropical. The Ellis
family moved to Woodside in the Adelaide hills at least by
1889 when their sixth child was born. Three more children
followed. Catherine was from a family of nine girls and two
boys. She attempted to balance the family by giving birth to
nine boys.
Catherine and William Ellis were to lose another son early in
his life, their first born, Robert, died in 1895 aged eighteen.
Catherine herself was to pass away the next year a couple of
months short of her fortieth birthday.
The next Generation
William and Hanorah Hollow had four children, the oldest was
William John Hollow (1883-1951). William married Teresa
Stella Eglington in 1908 at Swan Reach on the Murray River.
The Eglington’s were from Forest Range so the relationship
may have started there.
Land was being made available in the area known as the
Murray Mallee and William and Teresa took up farming at
Mindarie although he also worked as a stock agent. Their
house is listed for sale by Tender by the State Bank of SA in
May 1948. It is described as a 4 roomed stone and concrete
The Hollow Log, Issue 46 Page 7
residence. Newspaper reports from June 1916 have Bill being
part of the Mindarie Rifle Club. Bill was an active participant
in the local community and there are newspaper articles where
he was the founding secretary of the Mindarie School in 1929
and was regularly MC for functions held in the local Hall.
They had four children Rose, Olive, William and James. The
girls both married teachers in the area the boys both married
in Adelaide in 1843 and 1945. William was in the army during
the war and lived for some time at least on the Paddle Steamer
Decoy which had been converted to a houseboat. After the
death of her husband in 1951 Teresa Hollow lived on said
boat with her son William and family until heavy floods in
1956. There has to be a story in that…more research?.
I found the photo opposite of the PS Decoy as a houseboat as
it would have been when William Hollow and his family lived
on it. The story of the PS Decoy sparked my interest so I have
described its life before it became a Hollow house at the end
of the Hollow story.
Jane Hollow (1885-1964) married Basket Range local, William
Thomas Raymond (Bill). This was keeping it in the family so
to speak as Bills mother was Mary Susannah Knott the sister
of Hanorah Edmonds Hollow’s husband. This meant that Bill,
who was George James Knott’s nephew, married George’s
step daughter. Jane and Bill married in George and Hanorah
Knott’s house at Basket Range on 3rd March 1909.
Jane and Bill stayed in the Basket Range area all their lives.
She worked as a midwife and
delivered many babies all over
the immediate area and was a
very popular lady, known by
many. Whenever there was a
need for medical assistance in
the local area, Jane was the
person they called for.
Jane died relatively young at
the age of 68 In the Uraidla
Hospital on the 31st July 1954.
William went on to live
another 8 years and passed
away aged 77 on the 10th April
1962. They are buried together
at Norton Summit, near Basket range, Cemetery. The marriage
produced six children between 1910 and 1930.
Robert Archie Hollow (1891-1927) is pictured on the front
page. He worked a farm block at Basket Range with his
brother until he joined the AIF in 1916 and fought in France.
Robert was wounded and gassed late in the war. He was
repatriated because of his injuries and eventually resided in a
soldier’s home in Adelaide where he died from those injuries
in 1927. Robert was not married.
Edith Sandow Hollow (1893-1974) was a six week old baby
when her father died in November 1893. Edith was known for
her long Red hair.
She married Clifford Thomas Stewart at St Ignatius Church,
Norwood SA on 21st
June 1919.
Edie, as she was known
and Cliff had two
children, Clifford and
Charles whilst they were
married. They separated
sometime around the
second war and Edith
filed for divorce on the
grounds of desertion on
the 6th September 1951.
It was short lived and
Edie and Cliff got back together and stayed this way for the
rest of their lives.
Edith passed away at Basket Range in 1974 at the age of 81
and is buried at Norton Summit Cemetery. Clifford died on
the 11 August 1970 aged 80. Members of Edie's family are still
living in the area (2014).
Catherine Ellis nee Hollow lost three of her nine boys before
adulthood. Her eldest son Robert died at eighteen. Unlike the
Hollows most of the Ellis boys moved out of the Adelaide
hills to the Copper triangle of Kapunda, Moonta and Kadina
north of Adelaide where presumably they worked in the mines
there. Research on this family has been limited. ♣
I am indebted to Graham Witt for most of the family detail
which I have taken from a longer family history he has put
together for his extended family of which the Hollows were a
small part.
The PS
Decoy as a
house c2011
Jane Raymond nee Hollow
Edith Sandow Stewart nee Hollow
The Hollow Log, Issue 46 Page 8
The PS Decoy The PS in the ship’s title stands for Paddle Steamer. Paddle
steamers were the means farmers and graziers along the River
Murray were able to get their produce to markets. They also
carried lumber from the extensive Red Gum forests along the
river. In their heyday hundreds of steamers worked on the
Murray. Their demise came with the growth of the railway
systems in New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia.
The PS Decoy was built in Scotland by a Glasgow company in
1878, shipped to Melbourne in pieces where it was
reconstructed. The PS Decoy was then sailed 456 nautical
miles from Port Phillip Bay to the Murray River mouth at
Goolwa where she arrived in 1879. It was a tow boat and
worked on the Murray towing barges carrying wheat, timber,
wool, sheep, and produce mostly in the lower end of the
Murray between Renmark and Goolwa and then sea voyages
to Port Adelaide. In 1881 she was lengthened by a further 23
feet and her hull sheathed externally with hardwood to resist
the abrasiveness of the silt laden water. Between 1902 and
1905 she was employed about the South Australian gulf ports
towing wheat barges. In 1905 she was bought by a Perth
entrepreneur to become a day cruise ship on the Swan River.
The trip to Fremantle, the Perth port is 1470 nautical miles. A
Second deck was added. This venture faltered and in 1909 she
was towed back across the Australian Bight to Goolwa where
she did cruises but eventually the second deck was taken off
and she reverted to working as a tow boat. In the early 1930s
she was converted to a houseboat and moored near Renmark.
It was here that William Hollow owned her in the 1950s. In
1984 she was towed to Mannum and has remained there as a
house rather than a houseboat. She is there today.
The accompanying map shows the enormity of the trip from
Goolwa (A) and Fremantle (B). Going over under its own
steam and but being towed back, an even greater and more
dangerous feat.
In 1986 another Perth entrepreneur had a replica of the Decoy
built for tourist cruise on the Swan. This venture also faltered
but a new owner is restoring the ship for a
new life the exact nature of which is not
clear. Sorry about the diversion from the
Hollow story but Murray steamboats will
do that to a family historian. ♣
Boat images from State Library of South
Australia Murray River Collection
Historical info from Paddle Boat News at
http://www.slimpage.com.au/pbn/
Map by Google.
The PS Decoy
circa 1880
The PS
Decoy in
Perth 1905-
1909
The PS Decoy back in
Goolwa c1910
The PS
Decoy
stripped
back as a
work boat
http://www.slsa.sa.gov.au/http://www.slsa.sa.gov.au/http://www.slimpage.com.au/pbn/
The Hollow Log, Issue 46 Page 9
Correcting the Record In Hollow Log 41 I headed a story “Records do not tell all of
the story”. I should have added – “But do not dismiss them
lightly”. In the story I described the family of Edwin Davies
Hollow and Mary Hollow nee Collins. They were credited with
eleven children, the last two of whom had the name Clow
included in their birth registration. I made a couple of
assumptions that I now know were incorrect. Firstly I
Suggested the Hollow family may have adopted or fostered the
last two boys. I also intimated there may have been a family
connection between the Hollow family and the suggested
family of the two boys.
Francis Charles Clow Hollow was born in 1889 and his birth
registration has Edwin Davies Hollow as his father and Mary
Collins as his mother. His birth was registered at Prahran,
Victoria. Prahran is an inner Melbourne suburb. The next
child Hector Harry Clow Hollow was born in 1894 and his
birth registered at Bairnsdale in country Victoria some 200
kilometers from Melbourne. There are actually two birth
registration entries for him in the published birth indexes.
Clow, Hector Harry, father Joseph Charles, mother Mary Hollow Re.
No. 8507R
Hollow, Hector Harry, father unknown, mother Mary Hollow Reg. No.
8507R
The R in the registration number in Victoria indicates that the
record has been adjusted in some way. My original article
included the interpretation of these anomalies as the Hollows
fostering Francis and Hector Clow, perhaps due to a family
connection. Joseph Charles Clow in the 1870s had fathered
two children in Victoria to an Ellen Watson. Watson was also
a name Mary Hollow had given to more than one of her
children, actually the surname of her grandmother.
The Clow Family
After having been contacted by descendants of the Clow
family, and investigating other records I have to change my
original interpretation.
The name Jane Watson appeared in both sides of these
families and I thought there was a possibility of a family
connection. Ellen Watson the second spouse of Joseph
Charles Clow was the daughter of a Jane Watson. With a lot of
help from another researcher with an interest in the Clow side
of things we have a lot more information on Ellen Watson.
From a variety of sources I can say she was born in Buckland,
Berkshire, England, and her mother Jane was also born, c1815,
in Buckland and died in 1834 in Buckland. Her daughter Ellen
was living with her grandparents Peter and Sarah Watson, in
1841 and 1851 so was presumably raised by them. Ellen
Watson married an Edmund Cavey in Buckland in 1853 then
with two children migrated
with her husband to
Australia in 1855. They
landed in Melbourne as
assisted passengers and
were committed to work
for a Henry Nickless who
owned a hotel at Little
River a small town between
Melbourne and Geelong.
Ellen had seven more
children to Edmund Cavey
and the family lived in or
around Geelong. Then the
marriage must have broken
down as in 1874 and 1877
she had children to Joseph
Charles Clow at Rheola, a
mining town near Bendigo,
some 100 miles north of
Geelong. This relationship
also breaks down and in the
1890s we have found them
living separately in the
inner suburbs of
Melbourne. There is little
chance that she was the
mother of the Clow Hollow
children born in 1889 and
1894.
So Jane Watson the mother
of Ellen was a Berkshire
girl. The other Jane
Watson, the mother of
Mary Hollow nee Collins
was born in Renfrew,
Scotland. She was about the
same age as Berkshire Jane
but there is no connection
and so no family reason
why the Hollows might
adopt or foster two boys.
The Hollow Family
Through directories, local
newspapers and Victorian
prison records a picture
emerges of this Hollow
family living under very
trying conditions.
Timeline (Directory entries in
purple) 1873 Mary Collins marries Edwin Davies Hollow 6 Mar.
1874 Edwin D Hollow Kay St. Carlton. 26 Jan. appointed a customs Officer Howlong Florence Evaline Hollow born
1875 no entry Albert Edwin Watson Hollow born, Florence dies
1876 Edwin D Hollow Kay St. Carlton Robert James Watson Hollow born 1877 Edwin D Hollow Kay St. Carlton
1878 Edwin D Hollow 62 Moray Pl. Emerald Hill appointed a weigher customs Isabella Emily Hollow born
1879 Edwin D Hollow 95 Raglan St. Emerald Hill Elizabeth Ethel Hollow born
1880 Edwin D Hollow 78 Raglan St. Emerald Hill Arthur Oscar Hollow born Edwin in court 1881 Edwin D Hollow 78 Raglan St. Emerald Hill
1882 Mary Hollow 43 Cowie St. South Melbourne. Elsie May Hollow born
1883 Mary Hollow 43 Cowie St. South Melbourne. William Watson Hollow born
The Hollow Log, Issue 46 Page 10
Edwin Hollow and Mary Collins married in 1873. In 1874
Edwin was appointed as a customs officer at Howlong on the
Victorian New South Wales border some 150 kilometers from
Melbourne. He may not have taken up this post as Melbourne
Directories have him living in Carlton (inner Melbourne) from
1874-1877. Then in he lived at Emerald Hill (South
Melbourne) from 1878 to 1881.
In 1880 Edwin was before the courts for an unpaid bill and
leaving his children without support. The Hollows had had
five children at this stage. Perhaps he did work at Howlong
and came home when he could, if the tenancy of the houses
was in his name it could explain the directory entries. In 1882,
83 it is Mary Hollow who is recorded in the directories living
in South Melbourne. In 1884 Edwin is recorded living in
South Yarra (close by to South Melbourne). Another child was
born to Mary in 1883 and another in 1885, her ninth child and
last to Edwin it seems. In 1885 and 1886 the directories just
have the house in South Melbourne with the family name
Hollow. Edwin is the occupier of the house in 1887.
In June 1888 Edwin is again before the court for not paying
Child support. The court report includes the information that
the couple had separated for some time then they came back
together but this did not last and they were separate again.
This court appearance resulted in Edwin being ordered to pay
Mary £1 12s. 6d per week. This arrangement must have
broken down as on October 10th that year Edwin was jailed
owing £9 3s. 4d.
Over the next three years he is in jail on four separate
occasions each time for non payment of support.
10/10/88 to 7/12/88 6/10/90 to 5/2/91 25/2/91 to 18/4/91 17/10/91 to 15/2/92
Francis Charles Clow Hollow was born in early 1889 so it
would seem that Mary Hollow was in a relationship with
Joseph Charles Clow at during 1888 and it may have triggered
Edwin’s reluctance to support his children. Mary’s relationship
with Joseph Clow must have lasted to at least 1894 when
Hector Harry Clow was born. The relationship may have been
in difficulties as a newspaper report shows that the Clow
family received support in Bairnsdale in 1894 from the
Bairnsdale Ladies Benevolent Society. Mary Hollow returned
to Melbourne, Joseph Charles Clow is listed as living in
Prahran in 1897 and the Mary Hollow is listed in the 1898 and
1899 directories living in Elsternwick, the relationship with
Clow seems to have ended.
Joseph Charles Clow
Joseph Charles Clow led an intriguing life. He was born in
1845 in Surrey The son of a spirits agent, a proprietor of
houses, a distiller’s commercial traveller and eventually a
distiller himself. In 1868 aged
23 Joseph Charles Clow
married Caroline Graves a
widow aged 37. Caroline was
the mistress of the famous
author Wilkie Collins and it
seems the marriage was an
attempt on Caroline’s part to
punish Wilkie Collins for
taking on another mistress.
The ploy worked to a degree,
Caroline returned to Wilkie’s
household but Wilkie retained
his new mistress too in
another house. Joseph Charles
did not hang around, in late
1869 he set out for Australia
arriving in Melbourne in
January 1870 aboard the ship
Melmerby. He next appears in
the Victorian records when he
had a daughter to one Ellen
Watson at Berlin (Rheola) on
the Victorian goldfields on
14th May 1874. He married
Ellen, according to the child’s
birth certificate, on the
29/10/1868 at the parish
church at Marylebone
London. This happens to be
Joseph’s marriage date,
according to British records,
but his wife was Caroline
Graves not Ellen Watson. No
marriage has been found for
Joseph and Ellen.
Joseph and Ellen had another
daughter in 1877. Ellen was
known as Ellen Clow. I am
not sure how long this family
stayed together but in 1889 of
course Joseph fathered a child
as we have established to
Mary Hollow. Ellen Clow at
some point moves to
Melbourne. In 1893 a
newspaper report tells of the
death of a 4 month old child
of her daughter Queenie
while being looked after by
Ellen in North Melbourne.
Joseph Clow is reported that
1884 Edwin D. Hollow, 8 Portland Pl. South Yarra William Watson Hollow died
1885 Hollow __, 43 Cowie St. South Melbourne Jennie Watson Hollow born
1886 Hollow __, 43 Cowie St. South Melbourne
1887 Hollow Edwin D, Cowie St. South Melbourne appointed a weigher
1888 Hollow Edwin D, Cowie St. South Melbourne 16 June Edwin in court. Jailed wife desertion, 10/10/88 to 7/12/88
1889 No entry 4 Jan. Edwin resigns as a weigher Francis Charles Clow Hollow born
1890 No entry Oct. 90 jailed for not complying with court order.
1891 No entry Jailed Feb.91 Jailed Oct. 91 1892 No entry 1893 No entry for Edwin or Mary Hollow Joseph C Clow Essendon
1894 No entry Hector Harry Clow Hollow born at Bairnsdale.
1895 No entry 1896 Joseph C Clow livng in South Yarra in 1896 1897 Joseph
The Hollow Log, Issue 46 Page 11
same year as living in Essendon. Later directories show Joseph
and Ellen continued to live apart. About 1893/94 Joseph must
have been with Mary Hollow in Bairnsdale where their second
son Hector was born in 1894. This relationship also
floundered and Joseph is next in the records marrying a
divorcee, Louisa Maguire in 1902 in Melbourne. Louisa had
four children and she and her children left Victoria for
England with Joseph Charles Clow and his first son to Mary
Hollow, Francis Charles Clow Hollow. Francis would have
been about thirteen.
The marriage of Joseph and Louisa Maguire also broke down.
In the British 1911 census they are living apart, Joseph is living
with his son, now 22 and recorded as Charles Francis Clow.
Charles was married in 1915 but was to die two years later.
Family Dynamics
Despite the fracturing of relationships the family bonds
remained strong. It is pretty clear that Edwin Hollow and
Mary remained apart although both remained close to their
children. Both are shown at times living with one of the
children or very close to them. There is a family grave in the
Melbourne General Cemetery (see Picuture) where both
Edwin and Mary are buried along with three of their children.
The death notices for both Edwin and Mary mention all of the
children who survived to adulthood, including the Clow boys
and there is no hint that is anything else but a large united
family. Note Charles Francis Clow is referred to as Francis in
Edwin’s notice and Charlie in his mother Mary’s notice.
Possibly the family did not realize that he had died in England
in 1917. His departure in
1903 with his father did not
lead to him being left out of
the listing. His brother
Hector Harry enlisted in the
Australian Army as Hector
Harry Hollow in WW1 and
saw action in France. In later
life he did use the surname
Clow. His death in 1957is
registered as both Hollow
and Clow, when his wife died
in 1973 her surname is
registered as Hollow Clow.
Their son used the surname
Hollow. ♣
Researcher Shirlee Cantwell
has helped me with this
article. Colin Hollow.
HOLLOW -On the -27th October 1937 at the
residence of her daughter Miss Elsie Hollow
40 Nicholson street Footscray Mary the
dearly loved wife of the late Edwin Davis
Hollow beloved mother of Albert, Robert,
Elizabeth (Mrs Hibbs) Arthur, Elsie, Jinnie,
Charlie Harry, mother of 11 children aged
83 years Colonist of 80 years.
The Argus (Melbourne) Thursday 28 October
1937
HOLLOW.-On the 23rd October, 1925 at the
residence of his son-in-law, Mr. H. Hibbs, 41
Droop street, Footscray, Edwin, the dearly be-
loved husband of Mary Hollow, loving father
of Albert, Robert, Mrs. H. Hibbs, Arthur, Elsie,
Mrs. W. Keogh, Francis, and Hector, aged 83
years.
The Argus Saturday 24 October 1925
Clow living in Prahran 1898 Mary Hollow 16 Hopetoun St. Elsternwick 1899 Mary Hollow 16 Hopetoun St. Elsternwick 1900 to 1905 No Entry
1906 Hollow, Mrs Mary, 19 Raleigh Gr. Prahran 1907 No Entry 1908 No Entry 1909 Hollow, Mrs _, 473 Bourke St. Melb 1910 No Entry 1911 Hollow, Mrs Mary, 473 Bourke St. Melb 1912 onwards no further entries for Mary or Edwin
The Hollow Log, Issue 46 Page 12
Origin of Hollow Name -
Update In the last Hollow Log I put forward my theory of where the
Hollow name originated. Briefly, my theory is that the name
Hollow grew from the older version Holla and that Holla
might be a locational name. That is, a name that is taken from
the name of a place. Conventionally people who research
name origins have suggested that Holla and Hollow were
geographical names that were linked to a geographical feature,
in our case a hollow or alternatively a moor. Moor because our
name may have come from the word hallow and old word for
a moor. So the name was taken or given to those who live by a
hollow or moor. I argue that if this is the origin of our name
then the name should widely distributed around Britain as
there are hollows and moors all over Britain. The name is not
widely known, it is more or less restricted to Cornwall and
mostly to the western part of Cornwall, the Penwith region.
I managed to find at least two places in Western England,
actually farming properties that were name Holla. One was in
middle Cornwall near Probus, the other in Devon the adjacent
county to Cornwall. Some surnames do derive from the village
or manor or farm that people worked on. The weakness of my
argument is that neither of the Holla properties were in the
Penwith region and I could not find a place called Holla there.
My explanation is that the families that owned these two Holla
properties did have own other properties in the Penwith
region and that somehow one Holla. or maybe more than one,
took up residence in that part of Cornwall and the family grew
from there.
In the last Log I mentioned that I was going to contact
researchers at the University of Western England at Bristol
who were working on surname origins and were about to
publish there findings. This I did and I received a reply From
Richard Coates, the leading investigator of the project and
Professor of Linguistics/Onomastics at the University of the
West of England in which he said… I agree from the
evidence in the paper you attached that there is a prima
facie case for the name coming, in at least some instances,
from a place-name in Cornwall, and I’ll ask our Cornish
consultant for his comments. Richard Coates
Then a few days later…I’ve heard back from Oliver Padel,
our Cornish consultant, and I attach what almost amounts
to a full academic paper on the topic! As you will see, he
agrees with you that Hollow is likely to come from C16
Holla, and that Hollow and Hollows probably have different
origins, but he doesn’t think, on the balance of the evidence,
that Hollow/Holla is a locative name. There are different
ways of taking the evidence, and I tend to think he’s being a
bit cautious: see what you think.
Oliver Padel did pour cold water on my idea that Holla was a
locative name. The two places called Holla he concluded were
not relevant as one was in Devon and the other although in
Cornwall was in the parish of Cornelly which is adjacent to
Probus. His main argument was that if the name Holla
originated from these places there would be evidence of the
name Holla in their records.
Oliver Padel did offer his ideas of where the name came from.
…Occurring where it does at the date when it does, the surname could be
a Cornish-language one; as such, it could be either nickname-descriptive or
occupational in type; but I cannot think of any suitable word in Cornish
having the right form for either of those types. A third possibility is that it
is a patronymic. There were various vernacular forenames ending in -a, of
the pattern Tomma (Thomas), Jacka (John, Jack), Watta (Walter), and
so on, and these did give rise to surnames in the sixteenth century; again
presumably with preservation of Middle English -e (though possibly with
some Cornish-language input too, in west Cornwall). However, I cannot
readily think of a suitable forename to have given rise to Holla (Henry,
pet-form Hal, is possible but not very convincing). But that is my best
guess for an origin on the present information….
These ideas lack any evidence as Oliver Padel suggests so they
do not get us much closer to an answer. Oliver did mention a
nick name as a possible source. I have a reprint of an old
book, "The Ancient Language and the Dialect of Cornwall" by
Fred.W.P. Jago. The original printed in 1882. It contains what
it calls a Glossary of Cornish Provincial Words. Within the
Glossary are two references to Holla.
Holla-pot See Tom-holla
then
Tom-holla. A noisy, rude fellow.
Could a person who was a noisy rude fellow be given the
name Holla!
I have read of surname origins based on characteristics or nick
names, maybe we have one here. The search continues. ♣
Finally I couldn’t resist. Here is the new PS Decoy on the Swan River in Perth, the 1986 version. It does contain the ship’s bell of the original PS Decoy.