Nathaniel Blencowe 1832 Hackney

Hackney 1832-1852

Nathaniel and Thomas Blencowe grew up in what was by todays standards a village evolving in to the a surburb of London. His father William was a shoemakers and lived with other trades people on Cold Bath Lane in the heart of Hacknet. This written about the street in a history of Hackney “Apart from yards, the only offshoots from Church Street north of Hackney brook in 1831 were Coldbath (formerly Buck House) Lane, which ended at the brook, the houses on the south side of the old churchyard, and Bohemia Place,  all in the 1820s inhabited by people in trades or crafts. Church Street itself was mainly commercial. So too, south of the brook, were Grove Lane, much of the Grove, Pleasant Place, Jerusalem Square and Place, and Morning Lane. Gentry, professional people, and prosperous merchants lived mainly in the newer houses, notably in Grove Place, the south end of the Grove and King’s Row, and Chatham Place.” Cold Bath Lane Hackney, doesn’t exist today,

One of five siblings there is no evidence that unlike at lot of the Blencowe emigrants he was in need of anything at home. He was employed as a Wine Merchants Clerk in 1851 , but maybe a spirit of adventure was the main driving force to give up this beginning in a trade. Elder brother Thomas was a House servant so maybe had less to lose in joining Nathaniel and going abroad.

The Voyage

The brothers embarked from Liverpool on the 12 July 1852 and after a period of 95 days arrived in Adelaide, South Australia on 15 October. Newspapers reported “This ship, with 236 passengers, left Plymouth on the 12th July, and arrived yesterday. Two births have occurred during the passage. There appears to have been no disease of any kind on board since leaving England, an exemption which is ascribed in no small degree to the great care now used in fitting up ships for the passenger trade, and the sedulous attentions of the officers appointed by the British Government at the several ports of departure.” It seems from the records the brothers were fare assisted passengers as were all the passengers on The Prince Regent ship. The painting below of Port Adelaide is wonderful and perhaps the brothers saw this in London and were tempted by its beauty into their adventure . See further on, how the painting was used to recruit emigrants. What is definitely the case is that the young men did see promotions for South Australia . Assisted passages were promoted at the time all over the country.

S T Gill was commissioned by local newspaper owner James Allen to paint a series of views of Port Adelaide in watercolour, not sketches. Allen took these watercolours to England and used them to illustrate a series of lectures in 1846, intended to entice immigrants and investment. Others followed as the port developed.
On this 1847 painting I’ve posted, on the left is the large red two-storeyed building which is the warehouse of the South Australian Company, which is located above their McLaren Wharf (named for the manager of the Company). The central light-coloured stone building is the Customs House, located above the Government’s Queen’s Wharf and warehouses. And the third building of note, on the right, is the Port Tavern. The original single-storey Port Tavern was destroyed by fire on 29 January 1847. In Gill’s various versions, we can see the original tavern, construction in progress amid a grid of scaffolding, and the resulting 2 story new tavern. source Frank Leyvraz Facebook

Adelaide 1852

On arriving in Adelaide for the brothers there would have been no doubt that the stories and illustrations of the country they had heard and seen about the opportunities, had not been oversold. However the local newspapers were full of this news.

This news swayed Nathaniel and Thomas and they went about getting a passage to Melbourne immeadiately. The brothers arrived in Melbourne on ship Prince Regent from Adelaide to dig for Gold.on 4 November 1852. Note: Nathaniel and Thomas are recorded again arriving at Melbourne from Adelaide on 22 March 1853 on the ship Lioness. Was the first trip a reconnoitre for the second Gold digging venture?

Castlemaine Gold Digger 1852-53

Thomas and Nathaniel travelled to Victoria and they made their way to Castlemaine where Gold Fever had struck. They likely took part in the frantic rush to a get a gold diggers licence and the ST Gill sketch below shows men queuing to get signed up.

It seems neither brother was succesful and they soon turned around and returned to Adelaide, where Nathaniel took up employment in a grocery business

Return to Adelaide

After having no significant Gold find in Victoria , Nathaniel returned to Adelaide and probably intended to start a business there, this didn’t happen, but he was importantly in the grocery business, In May 1856 he met an emigrant woman Ellen Ellison from Burslem in Staffordshire. Ellen had come out to Adelaide at age 5 in 1840 , her father was a brick maker. He had died in 1850. Nathaniel and Ellen married in 1856 in Adelaide. A daughter came in 1857 and Nathaniel continued as a grocer it seems. Ellen’s older sister Ann Isobel had married a grocer herself, George Walker Johnson, they moved to Kyneton in Victoria where he establish a business. In 1865 a letter offering Nathaniel employment in Victoria, was received, and they pack up and traveled to Kyneton.

Kyneton

In 1865, Nathaniel, Ellen and their young daughter Martha travelled to live very close to the goldfields he had once dug, and in fact Kyneton had grown as a commerce centre based on its role in supplying the goldfields with materials and services. Ellens sister Ann Isobel had married in Adelaide to Goerge Walker Johnson a JP who ran a grocery and wine and spirit business in their buildings in Piper street, Kyneton. This connection was formative for Nathaniel because George a JP was connected and part of the establishment in Kyneton. Its probably no coincidence that Nathaniel followed George in later years into the JP role .

Piper Street retains many of it’s older buildings. This shot from the late 1860’s looks up Piper Street from the Royal George Hotel, which still stands, see photo below. Photographer (John H Jones Photo: State Library of Victoria)

A good match for his daughter

The Blencowes only had one child a daughter Martha Hannah Blencowe,

Martha Hanna was a most eligible bride in Kyneton, attractive, a father making his way in commerce and Kyneton society, and the perfect match came in the form of Duncan Mclennan also an eminent catch, well school, a Post Office manager and handsome . At age 22years Hannah married Duncan.

Kyneton Observer (Vic. : 1856 – 1900), Saturday 4 October 1879, page 2

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MARRIAGE. M’LENNAN—BLENCOWE.—On the 1st October, at Wesley Church, Kyneton, by the Rev. Spencer Williams, President of the Wes-leyan Conference of Victoria, assisted by the Rev. John Catterall, Duncan, eldest son of John M’Lennan, of Geelong, to Martha Hannah, only daughter of Nathaniel Blencowe, both of Kyneton.

From Duncan Mclennan obituary: He married Martha Hannah, the only daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Nathaniel Blencoe, in the Methodist Church, Kyneton, on October 1, 1879. Five years later (1884)Mr. McLennan was appointed postmaster at Donald, but owing to Mrs. Blencowe’s feeble health the young couple felt they could not go so far away. Mr. McLennan then resigned from the service (abt 1885) and entered the old established grocery business of Mr. Blencowe. A short time after Mrs. Blencowe’s death Mr. Blencowe took a trip to England (Abt 1885), Mr. McLennan managing the business which he afterwards owned and carried on till about 1920

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1882 Grocery business partnership with Son-In-Law

The photograph of the store below was taken sometime after Nathaniels death , it only has Don Mclennan’s name on the front.

1884 Widower

1886 Trip to England

On the 8th April 1886 , Nathaniel Blencowe set out on journey back to his home country, not it seems to visit family as his mother, father and siblings were dead but to visit the Colonial and Indian Exhibition of 1886 which was held in South Kensington in London. He gave a lecture on this visit and the news clipping of the highlights is in the Gallery. Nathaniels chosen route to England was through Perth to Island of Colombo, Ceylon (Sri Lanka) onto Malta and entered England on a very “dismal day”.

Family Tragedy 1887

Grandson Nathaniel just a toddler drowns it seems accidently at home on 15 April 1887

1889 House for Rent

Nathaniel rents out his property and moves the residence of his daughter and son-in-law on the same street, where he lived until he died.

Death 1900

On the 19 June at the home of daughter and her husband on Simpson Street, Kyneton

Will

Will of Nathaniel Blencowe late of Kyneton Victoria, gentleman, formerly storekeeper to Martha Hannah McLennan (Daighter) of Kyneton married woman and sole executrix   

Obituary

The ” old familiar faces ” are passing away, and it is with deep regret that we now record the death of Mr Nathaniel Blencowe, J. P. which occurred at the release of his daughter and son-in-law (Mrs and Mr D. M’Lennan), in Simpson street, Kyneton, on Saturday morning at 6 o’clock. The deceased gentleman had been in failing health for the past six or seven years, but was not obliged to take to his bed till about two months ago, when he was laid aside with an aflection of the stomach and liver, which was soon followed by jaundice. The patient, though suffering from these serious complaints, was able to leave his bed at intervals up to last week, and move about the house. At the end of the previous week, as stated in Thursdav’s Observer, he appeared to have somewhat improved, and was able to get into the garden for a little time. On Saturday night he became much worse, and his condition on Tuesday was so serious that Dr Duncan was called in,in consultation with Dr Faulkner, Mr Blencowe’s regular medical attendant The medical gentlemen consulted on Tuesday evening and again on Wednesday morning, the regretful conclusion being that, humanly speaking, there was no hope of recovery, and the sufferer passed away peacefully at the time and hour as stated above. Mr Blencowe wąs born at Hackney, near London, England, on 14tb July, 1832, so that be would have reached the age of 68 years had he lived till the 11th of next month. Fifty years ago, when he was 19 years old, he emigrated to Adelaide (S.A.). Soon after the discovery of gold in Victoria he came to this colony and worked as a digger at the Forest Creek (Castlemaine) diggings, but- his efforts were not rewarded with large success, and after a time he returned to Adelaide, where he resumed his former calling of grocer. Thirty-five years ago, when Mr G. W. Johnson was carrying on an extensive grocery and wine and spirit business in Tucker’s buildings in Piper street, Kyneton, Mr Blencowe (who had married Mrs Johnson’s sister in Adelaide) was induced to come over uader agreement to Mr Johnson, in whose employ he remained about two years, until Mr Johnson sold his business to Mr J. Barrow. Mr Blencowe then established a grocery business of his own in Mollison street, first in the shop now occupied by Mr T. W. Blair, the draper, and nest in the shop purchased by him further north and now occupied by Mr D. M’Lennan. After the latter gentleman (who was an officer in the Postal department and discharging his official duties at the Kyneton post-iffice) had married Mr Blencowe’s daughter, Mr Blencowe admitted him as a partner in the business,”which was henceforth carried on under the style of Blencowe and M’Lennan. Fifteen years ago Mis Blencowe died, and two years later Mi-Blencowe sold his share of the business to his son-in-law and retired from active duties: but he continued to live with his daughter and her husband till the time of his death. For many years (over twenty), and at the time of his death, Mr 31encowe was returning officer for the Parliamentary elections in the electoral district of Kyneton, and always discharged the duties of the office in a manner which reflected the highest credit upon him. He was also for many years a justice of tlie peace, and his legal knowledge and honesty of purpose were such that he was looked upon as oue of the best honorary magistrates in the district. As a member of the Hospital Committee for several years (being vice-president for one year) he faithfully discharged the trust reposed in him, and in his death the hospital subscribers have lost one whose services were invaluable. Mr Blencowe was also a member (and member of committee) of the local bowling club, and. his absence will long be thought of with regret by his fellow members. He was elected vice-president of the North-Western Bowling Association for 1898-1899, and held the office of president for the season 1899-1900 at the time of his decease.

Mr Blencowe was a prominent member of the Wesleyan Church, and a local preacher of much excellence. He had been church treasurer for 25 years; he had been senior and junior circuit steward, on and off, several times; lay representative to the annual confdeence several times; trustee and secretary to the trustee board since Mr Joshua Morris died, about seven or eight years since; and for upward of twenty years, to the time of his death, was superintendent of the Sunday school. In addition, Mr Blencowe always took an active interest in connection with the Sunday School Union excursions, and always, or nearly always, carried through the secretarial duties for them, and also took a leading part in discharging the other arrangements. The deceased gentleman was also vice-president of the Wesleyan Local Preachers’ Association of Victoria, and had he been spared and in good health would have taken part in the opening of a branch of the association at Kyabram to-morrow. As all Mr Blencowe’s actions has the stamp of beins regulate-! by religion and reason and his life by sobriety, righteousness, and piety, and he was an ardent and energetic worker, the various connections just -enumerated’ will sufEer greatly through his demise. The deceased gentleman was also a liberal monetary supporter of all movements connected-with the church and Sunday school. Mr Blencowe in late years was also a great temperance advocate.

Timeline – Nathaniel at a glance

Event	Date/Location	Details
Full Name	Nathaniel Blencowe
Birth Place	Hackney St John, Middlesex
Birth Date	14 Jul 1832
Census UK 1841 (6 Jun)	6 Jun 1841, Cold Bath Lane, St John, Hackney, Middlesex	William Blencowe 40 Shoemaker Martha Blencowe 30 William Blencowe 15 Thomas Blencowe 14 Nathaniel Blencowe 8 John Blencowe 6 Mary Blencowe 2
Occupation	1851, Hackney, Middlesex	Wine Merchants Clerk
Census UK 1851 (30 Mar)	30 Mar 1851, 2 Cold Bath Lane, St John at Hackney, Middlesex	Nathaniel Blencowe 18 son Head William Blencowe 54 Head shoemaker Martha Blencowe 48 Wife Thomas Blencowe 24 Son Hse Servant Nathaniel Blencowe 18 Son Clerk Wine Merchant John Blencowe 16 son Daughter Mary A Blencowe 12 George Blencowe 8 son
Emigrated with his older brother Thomas	15 Oct 1852, Adelaide	15 Oct 1852 Nathaniel 20 and Thomas 24 arrive in Adelaide The Prince Regent departed from Plymouth, England on 12 July 1852 and arrived in Adelaide, South Australia on 15 October 1852, carrying 236 passengers
Gold Digger	About 1853	Forest Hill Castlemaine, Victoria
Grocer	1854-57	Employed in Adelaide South Australia
Marriage	6 May 1856, Wesleyan Chapel, Pirie St ., Adelaide, SA
Birth of Daughter Martha Hannah	18 Nov 1857, Adelaide, SA
Occupation	1865, Tuckers Building, Piper Street, Kyneton	Employed by wifes brother-in -law George Walker . Johnson a grocery and wine and spirit business
Residence	15 Jul 1865, Kyneton, Vic	Application to be paced on Roll for Kyneton
Occupation	1869, Kyneton, Victoria	Grocer Name Nathaniel Blencowe Sex Male Age 37 Birth Date 1832 Arrival Date 1869 Occupation Storekeeper Event Type Emigration likely just business travel Event Date 14 Sep 1869 Event Place Victoria, Australia
Travel	15 Sep 1869, Melbourne	Nathaniel Blencowe 37 storekeeper on board Claud Hamilton departed Adelaide on 14.9.1869 to Melbourne no one with him
Appointment	1880, Kyneton, Victoria	Justice of the Peace and Returning Officer Ballarat district Govt Gazzette 1880-1881
News Article	1 Sug 1882, Kyneton, Victoria	Partnership with son-in-law D Mclennan in Grocery Business
Widower	Ellen died 23 Oct 1884, Kyneton, Vic
Travel	8 Apr 1886, London, England	A holiday trip to England via India Ocean and Mediterrean
Death	18 Jun 1900, Kyneton, Victoria, Australia

Descendants

Sources

• Daphne Austin genealogist’s Blencowe Database 2026
• State Library of Victoria
• Public Record Office Victoria
• Trove Newspaper Archives
• Ancestry
• Free BMD
• Family Search

Gallery

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