BLACKBRIDGE CEMETERY

FRY FAMILY and Joseph's Fry's Cottage

 

Joseph Farwell Fry was baptised on 24 February 1807 in Symondsbury, Dorset, son of Thomas and Martha Fry.

 

It is not clear when he arrived in New Zealand, but he appears on the list of jurors for Wellington in 1846. Two years earlier there is an entry in the 1844 List of Jurors for Joshua Fry, a boatman, living at Pipitea in Wellington.  

 

In May 1849 Joseph married Frances Barnes, daughter of William and Harriet Barnes (nee Rofe), who had arrived in Wellington on the ship Gertrude on 31 October 1841. William was a blacksmith, and the couple had been married in Cranbrook in Kent.  Harriett Frances Barnes was aged 12 when she arrived in New Zealand

 

On 1 January 1851 there is the record of transfer of land to Joseph Fry from Kenneth Bethune of the trading firm of Bethune and Hunter for 89 pounds. Hamilton family tradition has it that the house which later became known as Joseph Fry’s Cottage was built about the 1860s. It was certainly one of the oldest houses in Lower Hutt when it was demolished late in 1973.  

 

It appears that the land was prone to flooding, as the following item appeared in a local newspaper in 1858.

 

THE LATE FLOODS AT THE HUTT.  Early on Monday morning last the body of Thomas Stanway, Carpenter, was found in a creek, on Mr. Joseph Fry’s land, also the body of Richard Stanway his son was found yesterday afternoon, near Mr. David Speedy's ground. The body had been carried fully three miles by the flood.

 

There appears to be just the one child of the marriage, Frances Martha Fry, who was born in 1860. In 1883 she married William Knight. This is the notice in the newspaper.

 

“Marriage – Knight, Fry— On Wednesday, 30th May, at the residence of the bride's father, by the Rev. D.Rodger, William, eldest son of Henry Knight, Esq to Frances Martha, only daughter of Joseph Fry, Esq. Lower Hutt. Manawatu papers please copy.   (Evening Post, 31 May 1883)”

 

 Joseph Forwell Fry died on 30th April 1888, at his residence, Blackbridge, aged 81 years. He is buried at the Presbyterian cemetery of Blackbridge, now part of the Knox church property in High Street.

 

Later in 1888 Mrs Fry put her house and property on the market. Among the items advertised were the following. Saddle and bridle, farm implements, 1 cart, lot harness, haystack, wheelbarrow, a lot of firewood, and a quantity of first-class fowls. It is unclear whether the sale went ahead, as the following notice appeared in the newspaper some years later -

“Public Notice. Any person or persons found trespassing on my property, Fry's Lane, near Blackbridge, Lower Hutt, with horse and cart after this date will be prosecuted. Frances Fry.          (11 November 1902)”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Frances Fry.

 

In 1921 the following notice appears in the newspaper.  Death FRY.—On the 2nd April, 1921, at Palmerston North, Frances, widow of the late Joseph Fry, of Blackbridge, Lower Hutt, in her 91st year.

 

It appears likely that she had moved to Palmerston North to live with her daughter.

 

In the minutes of the Knox Church Board of Managers on 3April 1922 the following entry appears "It was reported that the sum of 100 pounds had been received from the solicitors of the late Mrs Fry and it was agreed that Mr McCaw should write a letter of thanks to the relatives." 

 

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3 Boulcott Street from stopbank 1962                                                       Painting of 3 Boulcott Street. Probably about 1950.

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t was probably early in the 1900s that the cottage was sold to Jack Hamilton. He had moved from South Canterbury to work as a traction engine driver in Lower Hutt, and there is a photo of him on his engine when stop-banks were being built alongside the Hutt River. Jack is the man at the controls of the traction engine.

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In the book "The Hutt River - History" is the following report. "The engineers prepared the plans and specifications for the work and tenders were called for contactors to offer their services. On April 23 1901 the tender of Mr T.J. Jones of Pleasant Point, which was L13,322.10.00 was accepted.

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In 1907 Jack married Margaret Fyfe, whose family lived in Geraldine. They had one son who died young, and two daughters, Margaret and Ina. Margaret Snr died on 4 June 1953, and her husband in 1961, but their elder daughter Margaret continued to live in the house until her death in 1973. She never married. The property was sold, and the cottage pulled down, to be replaced by three townhouses.  The original address is described as Fry’s Lane, but the street was later renamed Boulcott Street, and the cottage was situated at No 3.

 

 

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  The house itself was interesting. Upstairs were two bedrooms, and these were reached by a ladder built into the wall of the dining room. Both bedrooms had a wall which was maybe 30 centimetres high, before it merged into the roofline. 

   

     

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Jack and Mag. Hamilton with Daisy. Fry’s Lane.