HUTCHING family:
James Hutching aka Hutchins (b. 13 Mar 1851, d. 1922)  and his wife Ellen Maria Culley (b. 16 Mar 1855 in Warwick, Eng., d. 1900) came to NZ from Surrey England.   They settled with their family in Woodville, where James was a bootmaker. George Hutching (b. 2 Mar 1848, d. 11 May 1939) and his wife Ruth Spearman (b. bef 31 Dec 1848, d. 11 July 1900) also settled in Woodville.  It appears that their children also went by the name Hutchins. James & George had an elder brother Stephen.  Stephen (b. bef 11 May 1834, d. 16 Jan 1919), his wife Maria Staines (b. abt 1838, d. 22 May 1920) and their then 6 children emigrated to New Zealand, arriving in November 1873 on the ship "Helen Denny".  Maria must have then been 6 months pregnant with Albert (child #7).  They eventually made their way up to Woodville, joining Stephen's 2 younger brothers, George & James.  Albert was born in Featherston. There is mention of the Hutching family in the book The Farthest Promised Land, by Rollo Arnold, page 314.  An excerpt is below: George Hutching... was one of three brothers of Essex origins, who arrived in Wellington as assisted immigrants in October and November 1873.  George, a 25-year- old labourer, with a wife and infant daughter, and James, a 23-year-old bootmaker with his wife Ellen, 19, arrived on the E.P. Bouverie, and immediately transhipped to a coastal steamer owned by Brogdens, sailing for Napier.  By January 1875 the two brothers had saved enough to purchase a block at the sale of Woodville land.  Shortly afterwards they tramped through to see their purchase, and that autumn they again swagged to Woodville to carry out a bush- felling contract. (Woodville Jubilee Souvenir, 1877-1937, 1937, p.71)   Shortly thereafter, James Hutching began to practise his trade in Woodville.   A settler who arrived to fell bush in 1876 recalled the boot repairing shop of "Jimmy Hutchins" -"simply a calico fly rigged up on poles in front of a tent in which he and his wife lived and in this calico boot palace Jimmy would sit mending old shoes and whistling lively tunes all day long." (ibid, p 75).  On 25 May 1876 a newspaper correspondent reported that timber for a four-roomed house and shop to be occupied by James Hutching, bootmaker, was ready on a section belonging to Mr Carr, surveyor. (Hawke's Bay Herald, 30 May 1876, p.6)  Meanwhile George and James had soon been followed to New Zealand, and on to Woodville, by their older brother, Stephen, a 39-year-old farm labourer with a wife and six children. Stephen had been working as a gardener at Penge in Surrey, and of the testimonials for his immigration application had been supplied by a local magistrate, J. Broomhall.  On Christmas Day 1876 Broomhall, on a visit to New Zealand, passed through Woodville on the stage coach.  When the coach stopped to deliver a bag at Stephen Hutching's cottage, a brief reunion took place.   Broomhall reported that Stephen Hutching "pointed with pride to his twenty acres of land with the cottage on it his own freehold, and to chickens and ducks in abundance, and, if he have not now, he will soon have pigs, cows and a good farmyard . . . Mrs Hutchins was not so jubilant as her husband; she experienced the loss of the Christian advantages of Penge Baptist Tabernacle, but if the Rev. John and Mrs Collins would emigrate and open a tabernacle in the Seventy Mile Bush Mrs Hutchins would be as satisfied as is her husband. "A mile further on the road I observed a sign-board, James Hutchins, boot and shoe maker, and out came James, equally pleased as was Stephen . . . The brothers recounted some of the difficulties which had beset them, and which are incidental to all emigrants, but the experience was beneficial and now each rejoiced over them, and are strong men, able to hold their own.
J. Broomhall, Fragments from the Journal of J. Broomhall, Esq, J.P., lll, London, 1877, p.29
If you have a connection with this family or would like to learn more please contact Gary & Brenda Anderson

KNAPP family:
Alban Vincent KNAPP, the son of Edward and Mariae KNAPP, was born in Hampshire, England in 1838. On November 20th 1859 he married Maria Ann HOUSEGO (born 3rd June 1838) and in 1873, along with their son Edward Arthur, they emigrated to New Zealand on board this sailing of the Edward P Bouverie. Alban was a blacksmith by trade and it wasn't long before he took on his son Edward as an apprentice. Alban and Maria had a further five sons; Walter, William, Edward, Alban and Frederick. Alban died on October 14th 1891 and his wife Maria on March 17th 1931. If you have a connection with this family or would like to learn more please contact Peter.