John William Hodkinson: 1896-1942 – marriage to death
John William Hodkinson: 1869-1896 – birth to marriage
John William Hodkinson: 1896-1942 – marriage to death ... this page
John William Hodkinson: 1900-1917 – three times a soldier
John William Hodkinson: 1869-1942 – eighteen homes
This is the SS Konigin Luise which took John William Hodkinson to Australia.
- Parents: James Hodkinson and Sarah Ellen Hodkinson (remarried as Kenyon)
- Born: Monday, 20th September 1869
- Married: Saturday, 4th April 1896 (age 26 years and 6 months)
- Four children: all boys
- Died: Monday, 2nd February 1942 (age 72 years and 4 months)
What a difference a generation can make
Life as a child had been tough for John William Hodkinson. He had experienced grinding poverty in a variety of homes in Ashton-under-Lyne. He had to come to terms with the deaths of five brothers and sisters and of his father by the time he was 20 years old. He had to adjust to new family relationships when his mother remarried and had children with her second husband.
The effect of all of this on John William could have been profoundly negative, but it wasn’t. He grew up to be a determined and resourceful individual who did not give up easily in the face of challenges. From the age of eleven, his stepfather (George Albert Kenyon) was a positive influence and encouraged him to become a core maker, skilled work which earned him a good salary and status. John William’s regard for his stepfather was reflected in naming his first son after him, but none of his children (all boys) were given the name of his natural father (James), either as a first or second name.
John William Hodkinson’s social standing was also indicated by his right to vote. Prior to 1918, it was necessary to own a property or pay rent above a designated amount in order to be allowed to vote. In the case of John William, it was the latter criterion which came into play and which accounts for his name on local electoral registers more or less from the time that he was married.
Marriage was the start of a new era for John William. Yet, although happily married with Frances Eliza, he could not shake off tragedies. Vincent Hodkinson, their second child died in 1899, not having reached the age of three months. Their first son died in 1918, a soldier of the Great War. John William Hodkinson may well have been resilient, but he struggled with ill-health. Deafness, vertigo and rheumatism – probably due to his working environment – started to have a major impact well before he was forty. An army medical report of 1917 states that John William had been laid up for six months before enlistment due to (in John William’s own words) “paralysis of the brain”. His health continued to deteriorate particularly badly in the 1920s and the 1930s, necessitating long stays in hospital.
John William Hodkinson's journey to Australia, 1911
The future that never happened
John William Hodkinson's 1911 journey to Australia was on the SS Konigin Luise which began its journey in Bremen, and then called at Antwerp (where John William boarded), Southampton, Algiers, Genoa, Port Said, Aden, Colombo, Fremantle, Adelaide, and for John William, the next stop at Melbourne marked the end of a very long journey. The SS Konigin Luise, however, had not quite reached its final destination as it had to carry on to Sydney. Click on the icons to see the ports of call.
In October 1911, 42-year-old John William Hodkinson said goodbye to Frances Eliza, his 39-year-old wife, and to his three children: George Albert, who was thirteen, John who was ten, and Steven who was six, and started his journey to Melbourne. Why exactly he travelled on his own to what was the temporary capital of Australia has been lost during the course of many decades, but of all the possible reasons, there is one which is the best fit, of which more later.
The first leg of the journey to Melbourne: Stockport to Antwerp
In late October 1911, John William headed from Stockport to Antwerp, his boarding port for his ship, the Konigin Luise, which would take him to Melbourne. He had some time to look around the city – certainly a day or two at least – and, on a postcard of the Konigin Luise which he sent back to his wife, commented that it was a fine place for buildings.
The German shipping company Norddeutscher Lloyd, the owner of the SS Konigin Luise, on which John William was a passenger, made the above announcement in the Tasmanian newspaper "Mercury" on 14th November 1906 regarding a 43-day journey time from Southampton to Sydney.
On Saturday, 28th October , 270 passengers boarded the ship in Antwerp and all, apart from one, were steerage. 240 were listed as being "English"; 21 were listed as "Welsh", "Irish" and "Scotch"; with the rest being other nationalities. The next morning, at 5 o'clock, the ship set sail on the 15,000-mile journey which would last over 40 days.
The second leg of the journey to Melbourne: Antwerp to Melbourne
The SS Konigin Luise, owned by the German shipping company Norddeutscher Lloyd, started its journey in Bremen before calling at Antwerp – where John William boarded – and then called at Southampton. John William would have watched as almost one hundred first- and second-class passengers boarded at Southampton and would have thought how simpler it would have been if he had travelled from Stockport to Southampton by train and boarded the ship there. Yet the shipping company would not allow that – John William had the cheapest possible ticket which gave him through travel from Stockport to Melbourne, including steerage accommodation on board the SS Konigin Luise, but from Antwerp and not Southampton.
There were a number of reasons for this. One of most important was that Antwerp had been developed as a hub for steerage passengers from all over Europe travelling to all kinds of world-wide destinations on different shipping lines, including Norddeutscher Lloyd. Antwerp had the organisational capabilities and the facilities, which included customs, medical services and sleeping accommodation, to deal with large numbers of passengers and all their luggage. In that respect, Southampton could not match Antwerp and was able to deal only with smaller numbers, especially as the duration of stops at Southampton were timetabled for much shorter periods than at Antwerp. The demand for boarding at Southampton was easily choked off by selling only higher priced/higher status tickets.
Getting a cheap fare, but going by a longer route, is still with us nowadays. Some train companies offer cheap tickets for some journeys, but the routes are not necessarily the quickest and most direct. Budget airlines offer cheap tickets, but often serve airports which are not as easy to get to as the larger airports, thus adding extra distance and time to journeys.
In October, John William sent the above postcard to his wife saying that he was impressed with the smoothness of the journey, and that "You can't tell that you're sailing." He also said that it was very cold as they passed through the Straits of Dover and that his overcoat came in handy. The sellotape repair to the rip in the postcard was carried out many decades later by John William's youngest son and so has become part of its history. (Postcard: property of Samuel Hodkinson.)
Only one person joined at Antwerp who was not a steerage passenger. She was a first-class ticket holder, Miss G Robin, who was 35, English, with her occupation given as "Barrister". Separate arrangements would have been made for her to join the boat – after all, there is no way that she could have joined a steerage-class queue.
On the way to Melbourne, John William witnessed more passengers joining the ship until there were 671 on board, of whom 401 were in steerage including 24 children.
Those that John William came into contact within steerage accommodation came from a wide variety of work backgrounds. The occupations listed included: butcher, carpenter, engineer, musician, labourer, trader, soldier, miner, farmer, farrier, printer, waiter and gardener. The nationalities were also diverse. Apart from those from the British Isles, other nationalities included: Danish, Russian, German, Sinhalese, Spanish, Italian and Swiss.
John William would have formed friendships with many of those in steerage and would never have been short of somebody to chat with, including, maybe, the oldest person making the trip, a Mrs F Hill, who was 82.
In the first week of December 1911, with goodbyes said to other passengers, John William Hodkinson disembarked from the SS Konigin Luise and set foot on Australian soil, the third Hodkinson to do so. His step-grandfather, William Hodkinson (1798-1858), was stationed in New South Wales from about 1827 to 1833 as a private in the 39th Regiment of Foot. His aunt, Lucy Hodkinson (1836-1893), landed in Queensland in 1870 when her family emigrated there. A more recent member of the Hodkinson family spent time in Australia, but eventually returned to the UK.
So ... why did John William travel to Australia?
What is key to understanding why John William went to Melbourne were his responsibilities as head of the household. His family needed to be provided for during the time he spent travelling to and from Melbourne (about three months in total) and for the duration of his stay in Melbourne itself. He had given up his job as a core maker in a factory in Reddish, so he no longer was earning a wage. His family needed to live – perhaps they had savings to sustain them but that is highly improbable. Within that context, it is hard to believe that John William went to Melbourne without thinking about the welfare of his family.
That being so, there are a couple of reasons for John William's journey that can be discounted straight away. One is that he went to Australia simply because he wanted to, and didn't consider, or care about, the ramifications for his wife and young family.
A second reason could be that John William went to visit relatives. After all, his aunt, Lucy Hodkinson (who married William Henry Newton in 1866), had moved to Australia about four decades earlier. However, Lucy's descendants (she died in 1893) lived in a town in Queensland, about a thousand miles away from where John William landed. It is too be wondered what he actual knew about his relatives in Queensland.
When in Melbourne, John William wrote to his wife letting her know where to send mail to him – in his name, care of the post office in Melbourne, and marked, "to be called for", which was hardly the indication of someone on a short-term visit.
There can't be any doubt that John William went to Melbourne to look for better-paid work. As a core maker, he would have earned wages that were much higher than those in Stockport. Possibly, he may have regarded his employment in Melbourne as a long-term, but temporary money-earning venture, with the intention of always returning to Stockport.
Most likely of all – and like many other heads of households – John William went to Australia not only to find well-paid work (with remittances being sent to his wife), but also to assess whether the rest of his family should join him on a permanent basis. for a better life for all. If that had happened, the history of the family would have moved to a different trajectory with John William's grandchildren born as Australians.
How long John William remained in Melbourne is not known, but eventually, when more ocean liner passenger lists have been digitalised and made public then, hopefully, his return journey details will be available. Why John William returned when he did is also not clear. Maybe he felt that the future of his family did not lie in Australia. Maybe, if he was still there in 1914, he decided to return home to be with his family as tensions mounted between countries in Europe that eventually led to war.
John William was definitely back in Stockport by October 1914. On 5th October he became Private John William Hodkinson when he joined the 3rd (Special Reserve) Battalion of the Cheshire Regiment and on that day he was mobilised to Birkenhead.
John William Hodkinson at work
Although he worked as a weaver at a young age, John William, with the encouragement of his stepfather George Albert Kenyon, completed an apprenticeship as a core maker, an occupation that he stayed with for the rest of his working life. During the First World War he spent two short periods in the army, but in unskilled roles.
1881: John William, 11 years old, half-time weaver
John William was 11 years and seven months old and was living at 1 Headfield Street, Ashton-under-Lyne when the census was taken at the start of April 1881. Although he was well over a year into his working life, legislation determined that those who were between 10 and 13 were to work half-time only. On those days or half-days when he didn’t work, John William had to attend school.
Where he worked half time will never be known, but he probably worked near home in one of the many cotton factories in his local area. Maybe he worked at Junction Mills – if he went out of the front door, and crossed Whittington Street, he would be at the entrance.
c.1883-c.1890: John William, 14 to 21 years of age, seven years as an apprentice
When John William reached the age of 14, the combination of half-time working and part-time elementary education was over for ever. Changes in his working life now took place, which would be life changing.
John William’s dad died in 1881 and his mum married again in 1882, to a widower, George Albert Kenyon. George Albert Kenyon worked in the iron industry in various overlapping roles, which included iron moulder (his first job), furnaceman, tip maker and shuttle tongue forger.
George Albert’s dad was an iron moulder, and it is not surprising that George Albert himself followed in his dad’s footsteps. They both knew from experience that the apprentice route to being an iron moulder, although not well paid and which could take seven years, was one that, in the long term, was a very good choice for, in the hierarchy of working-class jobs, an iron moulder had good status, and was paid well. That being so, it is also not surprising that George Albert’s new stepson John William was persuaded, or encouraged, or told, to take on a similar apprenticeship, that of core maker. This changed his life in a positive way – when he finished his apprenticeship, he, like his stepfather and step grandfather, had a good job with good pay and was able to provide a decent standard of living for his family.
c.1883-c.1890: John William, 14 to 21 years of age, seven years as an apprentice ... what a life!
At the heart of a typical apprenticeship was a legally binding indenture between parents, apprentice and a master. A master might be a business or a highly skilled self-employed individual who owned his own workshop and who was legally allowed to train others. In return for learning all aspects of a trade, the apprentice had to do as he was told by his master, not to do any damage to his master’s reputation, and, as the fairly modern phrase goes, to have his back. Additionally, the apprentice was not to pass on any secrets (an early form of a non-disclosure agreement?!), and not to waste resources, or to lend them to others.
That, and some other related terms, covered the long and tiring work day, but after work … the apprentice was not to have sex, not to get married, not frequent alehouses and taverns, not to play cards or dice or participate in unlawful games where his master might suffer loss. In theory, the indenture meant a great deal of control over an apprentice’s life at work, and of whatever leisure time he had. In practice, control of leisure time and some aspects of work life would have been impossible to police. What did John William get up to?! If only we knew! He certainly did not get on the wrong side of his master (well, maybe he did occasionally!) for, whatever the terms and conditions of the indenture, John William successfully completed his apprenticeship.
1891 onwards: John William, from core maker to journeyman core maker
In April 1891, John William was 21 years and seven months old and his stepfather would have taken great pride in filling in the ten-yearly census form for he could write “core maker” next to John William’s name. John William also would have felt proud to see his occupation written on an official government form, a huge milestone in his life after seven long years as an apprentice.
In 1891, John William, however, was at the start of his career, and, as his skills improved and were honed over subsequent years, he gained the status of “journeyman” with extra pay and status which reflected the quality of his work. That is why on the birth certificates of two of his children, both born at the same address in 1897 and 1899, his occupation is given as core maker (journeyman), although he may have acquired that status well before the birth of the two children. Once he had proved how good he was, either at work or on official forms, he dropped the “journeyman” part of his role, as was common practice, and was quite happy to be known as a core maker. He was undoubtedly very skilled at his work, as he spent the next ten years or so at an engineering works.
About 1901 - October 1911: John William, 31 to 42 years of age, working at the J.E.H. Andrew gas engine works in Reddish.
An engineering works in modern premises and at the forefront of modern engine technology – that was J. E. H. Andrew and Company Limited of Reddish, established in 1878 and absorbed by R. Hornsby and Sons of Grantham in 1906 … and John William found employment there! He must have been so pleased that his skills were recognised and were wanted in the factory and that he would be working in an environment that would have been far better than any he had experienced so far.
Using the censuses of 1901 and 1911, electoral registers and other official documents, it seems a strong probability that he spent more than ten years in the same workplace from before the 1901 census until he left for Australia in October 1911.
A core maker's dream? This 1904 Stockport Gas Engine advert for J.E.H. Andrews in Reddish shows the kind of engine that John William would have helped to make.
An article in the Iron and Steel Journal of 1899 commented that the works
... are of considerable size, are situate adjoining the London and North-Western Railway Station, Reddish, ten minutes’ walk from Reddish Great Central Railway Station, and a quarter of an hour’s walk from Heaton Chapel Station, London and North-Western Railway. The works are devoted solely to the manufacture of Stockport gas-engines, in sizes from 1 horse-power to 250 horse-power. The factory is driven by gas-engines worked from fuel-gas made on the premises … The works contain many examples of the most modern tools and labour-saving appliances, including electric travelling cranes. They are lighted throughout by the electric light, and are capable of turning out about 16 gas-engines per week.1
From about 1903 to 1906, John William lived at 4 Hurst Street in Reddish – a very convenient short walk away from the factory site next to the railway station. When his family moved to Stockport, he carried on working at the same place – it wasn't that far away, just about three miles.
John William Hodkinson's home was conveniently situated for a short walk to his work at the gas engine factory. The Lancashire part of this map, which includes Reddish, was revised in 1904-05, but does not show the house at 4 Hurst Street where the Hodkinsons lived from at least July 1903 to at least June 1906. The map was published in 1911 and is reproduced with permission of the National Library of Scotland.
There’s nothing better than going on a works’ outing on a day off. On the 14th September 1905, the Stockport County Express published an item about the foundry workers at the Gas Engine Works having their first annual picnic. I have no doubt at all that John William took part in this little soiree. Although the newspaper said it was the first picnic, I could find no further mentions of similar events for the foundry workers when I searched through local newspapers for the next six years. Either the events were never mentioned again in the press, or the first picnic was the last.
October 1914 to April 1915 and May to October 1917: John William, from 35 to 37 years of age, soldier
A full account of John William's time in the army is on a separate page.
As a very, very brief summary, he served as a private in the 3rd (Special Reserve) Battalion, the Cheshire Regiment, from October 1914 to April 1915 when he was discharged on medical grounds. Surprisingly, he rejoined the army and was allocated a role as a labourer in the 331st Road Construction Company of the Corps of the Royal Engineers, from May 1917 to October 1917, when he was again discharged on medical grounds.
1921: John William, age 51 at census date, employed at Henry Hollingdrake and Son, Iron Founders, Stockport
Although we know about John William’s trip to Australia in 1911 and his service in the British Army during 1914-1915 and 1917, what is no longer known is where he worked between, and immediately after those events. However, the census of 1921 reveals that John William Hodkinson was working at Henry Hollingdrake and Son, Iron Founders, 65 Prince’s Street, Stockport, as a core maker. Did he get employment there in 1917 after leaving the army?
The listing above is from Kelly’s 1914 directory for Cheshire. H.Hollingdrake and Son Limited was founded a hundred years earlier and was still thriving, having successfully adapted its business practices to take advantage of the massive changes in commerce and industry over a century. As seen from the listing and the adverts from 1919 and 1921 (Acknowledgements to Grace's Guide2), the company’s portfolio was diverse. The map, which has a revised date of 1917, shows the location of the foundry where John William worked. The map has been reproduced with the permission of the National Library of Scotland.
1921-1942: John William, 51 to 72 years of age, battles illness
There is no recorded information about where John William was employed from 1921 when he worked at Hollindrake's to his compulsory retirement age of 65 in 1934. Becoming a core moulder may well have changed his life for the better in terms of pay and a related lifestyle, but his occupation changed his life for the worse in other ways. He was discharged twice from the army on medical grounds and his army records show he suffered from rheumatism, deafness and vertigo, doubtless the result of working conditions in his job as a core maker. In the 1920s and up to his death, snippets of information in a Hodkinson diary indicate that John William was often very ill and spent time in hospital, so the last thirteen years of his working life were punctuated by periods – some of them long – when he did not work at all.
John William's jobs as a core maker and moulder - praiseworthy occupations
As a final few paragraphs about the working life of John William, it's nice to look at something positive, namely some contemporary occupation-specific writings about what others thought about the kind of job he had.
In 1887, when John William was getting towards the end of his apprenticeship, an article about a locomotive foundry commented that "... mouldings of all sizes and shapes are being made ... over which the moulder expends as much care and pains as if he were a sculptor at work upon some tender piece of statuary."3
In 1902, when John William was working at the gas engine factory in Reddish, the author of a book on modern iron foundry practice wrote, "Of the many branches of the engineering trade, there are few which offer such scope for the exercise of mental power and perceptive faculty as the construction of a mould ... and a careful study of the moulder’s art by the pattern maker and draughtsman is essential if thoroughly satisfactory work ... is to be produced."4
A 1921 book entitled Iron Founding spoke of "... the success or otherwise in dealing with (castings) ... depends entirely on the individuality of the moulder, and readiness in dealing with problems … is one of the attributes of a skilful moulder."5
In 1922, an article specifically about core makers which was published in The Foundry Trade Journal commented that the degree of skill necessary in the making of cores was not less than that required in the preparation of moulds and went on to point out that the making and assembly of cores for highly complicated work was more difficult than the preparation of moulds.6
The chances are that John William never read any of the compliments above, but he knew his job was skilled and respected and was well placed in the hierarchy of working-class jobs.
The death of John William Hodkinson on Monday, 2nd February 1942, age 72 and four months
Information about John William's funeral arrangements was published in the Stockport County Express on Thursday, 5th September 1942. John William had been unwell for many years and spent long spells in hospital.
As John William's health deteriorated after the war, he became a frequent visitor to the infirmary at the workhouse in Stockport. Some of the stays were long, with, for example, a family diary detailing such a visit in 1926. The 1939 Register also shows that he was in the workhouse at the time that the Register was taken. John William struggled on with ill health until Monday, 2nd February 1942 when he died. He was 72 years and four months old. His wife, Frances Eliza, was with him in his final moments. Three days later, on Thursday 5th February, his funeral service was held at Stockport Crematorium, with this information being published on the same day in the Stockport County Borough Express, as above.
On John William's death certificate, Dr William More provided three related causes for his death.
The first was bronchopneumonia, which is a bacterial lung infection. The risk factors for developing such a condition relevant to John William appear to have been his age, his history of smoking and, bearing in mind that his death occurred in winter, perhaps recent respiratory infections, such as influenza, also had a part to play. Added to that, he had spent a lifetime of breathing in silica dust in his workplaces and the consequences of that – silicosis and lung scarring – would have permanently hindered the ability of his lungs to function normally.
The chest infections contributed to the cause of the second stated reason for death, namely, myocarditis, the inflammation of the heart muscle.
Sadly, John William’s heart had been in a bad way for some time. His age, smoking and probably a high-fat diet were the factors in his life that brought about arteriosclerosis – the thickening and hardening of arterial walls – which was the third reason given for his death. However, it needs to be kept in mind that the term arteriosclerosis was often used in a broader sense, and could cover other aspects of heart disease which may have affected John William.
Compared to current medical research and practice, the knowledge and understanding of the harmful effects of a poor diet and of the dangers of smoking were at a basic or non-existent level when John William died. This is amply illustrated by a story passed down the generations relating to John William’s love of pipe smoking. When he put sugar in his tea, he often stirred it, not with a teaspoon, but with the stem of his pipe. This meant that the highly concentrated nicotine and tar residues inside the stem dissolved directly into his hot tea … and then he drank it! The effects on his bad heart would have been to cause narrow blood vessels to constrict more, and the effects on his blood pressure would have been detrimental. John William would have enjoyed sitting and having a nice cup o’ tea, but he, unwittingly, was enjoying a nasty cup of toxicants and adding to his heart problems and the causes of his death.
John William Hodkinson's family after his death
John William was survived by his wife and two of his four children.
His wife, Frances Eliza Hodkinson, was 69 years old when John William died.
Frances Eliza Farrar was born in a house in the High Street, Kidsgrove, Staffordshire, on 12th February 1872. By 1881, her family were living in Dukinfield with the census of that year stating that she was a scholar. Ten years later, the 1891 census gives her occupation as a cardroom hand; her 1896 marriage certificate and the censuses of 1901 and 1911 provide no information about her occupation; she is performing “Home Duties” in the 1921 census; and, according to the 1939 Register, she is carrying out “unpaid Domestic Duties” in that year. Frances died on 3rd August 1949 at 61 Adswood Lane, Stockport, the house that she and her family moved into in 1911.
As the years go by ... the images of Frances Eliza Hodkinson (Farrar) are cropped from undated photographs from about the 1890s to the 1940s. (Photographs: property of Samuel Hodkinson.)
John William's first son, George Albert, died in 1918 of war wounds. His second son, Vincent, died in 1899 from bronchopneumonia.
John William's third son, John Hodkinson, was 41 years old and living in Portwood with his wife when his dad died. World War II was into its third year but John, as an x-ray machine operator, was exempt from military service. However, he supported the war effort as a volunteer part-time ARP (Air Raid Precautions) warden. John Hodkinson died in 1971 and his wife died in 1993. They had no children.
Steven Hodkinson (whose life I am currently researching) was working on wing construction for military aircraft at the Fairey Aviation company in Errwood Park, Stockport.
John William Hodkinson: 1869-1896 – birth to marriage
John William Hodkinson: 1896-1942 – marriage to death ... this page
John William Hodkinson: 1900-1917 – three times a soldier
John William Hodkinson: 1869-1942 – eighteen homes
Bottom of the page information
Notes and sources for this page:
Unless otherwise mentioned, this page is based on copies of birth, marriage and death certificates; census returns; and family documents and related items including photographs which are the property of Samuel Hodkinson.
- Brough, Bennett H (ed.), The Journal of the Iron and Steel Institute. (London: E & F.N.Spon Limited. 1899.) p.272.
- Grace’s Guide, H. Hollingdrake and Son. (https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/H._Hollingdrake_and_Son. 10th June 2022.)
- Various Writers, Fortunes Made in Business. (London: Sampson Low, Marston, Searle and Rivington. 1887.) p.358.
- Bale, G.R., Modern Iron Foundry Practice. (Manchester: The Technical Publishing Co. Ltd. 1902.) p.2.
- B.Whiteley, Iron Founding. (London: Sir Isaac Pitman and Sons Ltd. 1921.) p.54.
- Shaw, Ben and Edgar, James. Cores and Core Making. Foundry Trade Journal. (London. 9 November 1922.) Vol 26, no. 325. p.389.
Date of the latest updates
This page was originally published on 12th August 2018. The latest updates were completed by 20th June 2026.