Above: Entry from the Kirkmabreck Parish Register showing the baptism of William Hughan, son of Samuel Hughan and Mary McKie of Balhasie.
Top: William James Hughan, famous Freemason, whose father, William Hughan was from Kirkmabreck parish in Kirkcudbright. William James Hughan was first cousin, once removed, of Jessie Wallace Hughan of Brooklyn, New York.
William Hughan was baptised in Kirkmabreck Parish on 14 August, 1806, the second son born to Samuel Hughan and Mary McKie.
Like his brother Peter, William grew up on the Hughan farm at Balhasie, near Creetown, and then moved down into England as a young man. The brothers moved to Stonehouse, in Devonshire, where they were both drapers. Samuel moved back to Scotland several years after the death of his father in 1835, and resumed farming. William, however, remained in Stonehouse, where he married and raised a family of three sons and a daughter.
William Hughan married Margaret Chisholm in 1838, and their first child, Samuel Chisholm Hughan, was born the following year in 1839.
Another son, William James Hughan, followed in February of 1841, then Peter in 1844 and Mary Jessie in 1848.
Because William Hughan and his family lived in England, there are far fewer details to be had about their lives as compared to the family of his brother Peter, who resided mainly in Scotland and allowed me to use the excellent Scotlandspeople site to harvest wonderful information. Still, we can follow the Hughans of East Stonehouse through the census returns, and at least gather a glimpse of their lives:
1841: Union Street, East Stonehouse, Devon.
William Hughan/ 30/ draper/ born Scotland
Margaret Hughan/ 30/ born Scotland
Samuel C. Hughan/ 2/ born in county
William James Hughan/ 3 months/ born in County
Jane Evans/15/female servant
1851: Adelaide Street, East Stonehouse.
William Hughan/head/ 44/ draper/ born Scotland
Margaret Hughan/ wife/ 44/ born Scotland
Samuel Hughan/son/11/scholar/ born East Stonehouse
William Hughan/son/10/scholar/born East Stonehouse
Peter Hughan/son/6/scholar/ born East Stonehouse
Mary Hughan/daughter/2/born East Stonehouse.
Martha Pearce/servant/20/born Cornwall
1861: Emma Street, East Stonehouse
William Hughan/head/54/draper/born Scotland
Margaret Hughan/wife/53/born Scotland
Samuel C Hughan/son/21/assistant/born Stonehouse
William J Hughan/son/20/drapery warehouseman/born Stonehouse
Peter Hughan/16/son/ chemist's apprentice/ born Stonehouse
Mary Hughan/ daughter/12/scholar/born Stonehouse
Elizabeth Jewell/servant/17/ general servant/born Bristol
1871: Emma Street, East Stonehouse.
William Hughan/head/64/draper/born Scotland
Margaret Hughan/wife/63/born Scotland
Samuel Hughan/son/31/unmarried/draper assistant/born E. Stonehouse
Jane Andrews/servant/unmarried/20/general servant/born Devonport.
1881: 18 Emma Place, East Stonehouse.
William Hughan/head/74/draper/born Kirkcudbright, Scotland
Margaret Hughan/wife/73/ born Kirkcudbright, Scotland
Plus a servant girl.
William and Margaret Hughan appear in no more census returns after 1881...William died in 1882 at East Stonehouse, aged 75 years. His wife Margaret died in 1886, aged 78 years, at East Stonehouse.
Two of their children had predeceased them....Mary Jessie Hughan, their only daughter, died in East Stonehouse in 1862, aged just 13. Her brother Peter died the following year in 1863, aged 18.
Of their two remaining sons, Samuel Chisholm and William James, both married, although only Samuel had any issue.
William married first...in 1868 he married Mary Jane Pillow, who had been born in Pimlico, London.This William is famous throughout the world as a Freemason author, historian and expert in general. Known as "W.J.Hughan", he became an apprentice in the drapery trade in his brother Samuel’s business at East Stonehouse at the age of 15. After completing his apprenticeship, he became a warehouseman at a company of haberdashers in Plymouth. William managed to work himself up to become a joint manager of a wholesale cloth warehouse in Truro. At the age of 24 he was the first Master of the new Mark Lodge in Truro. In 1875 he became Past Grand Master Overseer of the order.
1871 census: Edward Street,St.Marys, Truro.
William J. Hughan/head/married/39/woollen draper warehouseman/born East Stonehouse, Devon.
Mary J. Hugha/wife/31/warehouseman's wife/born Middlesex.
Annie Lowry/servant/unmarried/15/general servant domestic/born Cornwall
1881: Edward Street, Truro.
William J. Hughan/head/married/46/woollen warehouseman/born East Stonehouse
Mary J Hughan/wife/41/ born Pimlico
1891: Castle Terrace, Torquay, Devon
William J. Hughan/head/56/retired warehouse manager/born East Stonehouse
Mary J. Hughan/wife/51/born Pimlico London
Ann Everill/19/servant/general domestic/born Cornwall.
1901: "Dunscore", Torquay, Devon
William J. Hughan/head/60/retired cloth warehouse manager/born East Stonehouse
Mary J. Hughan/wife/61/born Pimlico, London
1911: "Dunscore", Torquay, Devon
William James Hughan/head/70/private means/married 42 years/no children/born east Stonehouse
Mary Jane Hughan/wife/71/ born London, Pimlico
Emma Canniford/servant/51/married 13 years/no children/born Cornwall.
William James Hughan died not long after the 1911 census was taken. He died on May 20, 1911, at Torquay, aged 70. His wife, Mary Jane Hughan, passed away the following year.
Again, as with his famous first cousin once removed, Jessie Wallace Hughan, I will not include vast reams of information about William James Hughan and his exploits in this blog. There are gazillions of hits for his name when it is entered into a search engine...I just wanted to put into perspective where it was that he fitted amongst the Hughan familes of Kirkmabreck.
Of his elder brother Samuel Chisholm Hughan, not much is known by me. He married Catherine Ann Stringnell, daughter of Henry Stringnell, in Whitegate, Cheshire on September 18, 1879, at the age of 40.
1881: 73 Union Street, St. Andrew, Plymouth.
Samuel C. Hughan/head/41/draper's assistant/born Stonehouse
Catherine A. Hughan/wife/28/ born Droxford, Hampshire
1891: 18 Emma Street, East Stonehouse.
Samuel C. Hughan/head/51/draper/born East Stonehouse
Catherine A. Hughan/wife/35/ born Droxford, Hampshire
William C. Hughan/son/9/scholar/born Plymouth
Laura Jones/21/servant
1901: Woodford Villas, Plymouth.
Samuel C.Hughan/head/61/credit draper/own account/born Stonehouse
Catherine A. Hughan/wife/46/born Droxford
William C. Hughan/son/19/student/bron Plymouth.
Samuel Chisholm Hughan died in Devon in 1902, aged 63 years.In the 1911 census, his widow Catherine Hughan and son William were both lodgers at 23 Loveday Road, East Ealing in Middlesex:
Catherine A. Hughan/48/widow/married for 20 years/one child/commercial clerk/born Droxford
William Chisholm Hughan/25/single/born Plymouth
Catherine Hughan died in Brentford, Middlesex, in 1919, aged 67. Her only child, William Chisholm Hughan, married Grace H. Bridge in Brentford, Middlesex, in 1916. They had at least one child- Catherine M.V Hughan was born at Brentford in late 1916.
Hello, I have been reading your information with great excitement! As a member of the Brooklyn family of Hughans, I have some details that may have eluded you and many questions! There have been some problems logging on, however! Don't know if this will even go through.
ReplyDelete-----Marta, Granddaughter of Marjorie Rockwell (sister to Jesse Wallace Hughan)
Hello Marta,
ReplyDeleteI have just found your two comments on my blog...I wonder why I wasn't notified when you wrote them, which usually happens? Oh well...doesn't matter! I have found them now, which is the important thing! How fantatstic to hear from you! The Hughans of Brooklyn are a fascinating lot, and it was fabulous to finally figure out where Jessie and her sisters fitted in the Hughan scheme of things. I would love to correspond with you further...my email addy is sheridanallstate@bigpond.com. So looking forward to hearing from you, Jen