NaNoWriMo Day 20

Yesterday I found complete WW1 records for family members I'd been writing about - what a bonus! On the other hand, it is quite harrowing reading about the horrific wartime experiences they underwent for King and country. I'm pleased, however, to be able to include some of this information in the family history, to honour them beyond  the granite Rolls of Honour.


Excerpt from NaNoWriMo Day 20

Hugh Arnold Holmyard was born in Launceston on 29 December 1865. Little is known of his early life but he moved with his parents to Elizabeth Town in 1878, where he was to spend most of his life until just before his death in 1941. He married Maria Raynor at Deloraine on 2 April 1883, just one month before his mother died and eight days before his 18^th birthday.  Their first child, Ansel George (known in some records as George Hanshaw) was born twelve months later. Hugh and Maria had another six children; twins Elvin Hugh and Edwin John (9 January 1886), Sarah (12 January 1888), Ivy May (16 August 1890), Richard George (23 December 1891) and Charles Edward (13 August 1893). Maria also raised Ivy’s daughter Doris

Whether it was because he was the only surviving child of his parents or because he was what might be considered at that time as ‘a late birth’, Hugh Arnold appears to have missed out on the qualities, showing himself for the most part to be selfish and self-indulgent, known within the family circle to be ‘the laziest man alive’.  He drank to excess, whether he could afford it or not, and was known to be belligerent when drunk. His interest in horse led to his employment as head groom for Mr L Gowan of Whiteford Hills and an interest in horse racing. In December 1889 he was one of several entries received for the Green's Creek races, for the Maiden Plate with two horses, Gazelle and Mayflower. The Green's Creek race track was situated on land owned by Mr T. Burgess, of Green's Creek. An annual event, it drew a large crowd of over 300. Hugh carried his passion for horses into racing and hunting, emulating the landed gentry in forming and belonging to hunt clubs.