THE MYSTERIES SURROUNDING THE TWO HILMAS
Hilma Josephine Johnson senior and Thomas Jones married in 1927, when Thomas was 65 years old and Hilma was around 52. In the 1920s this is ‘elderly’. They are already living together as de factos at the time of their marriage. So why marry?
Questions (answers unknown):
– Have they been in a relationship for decades but not free to marry until 1927?
– Is Thomas free to marry in 1927 because he is divorced, or his wife (if he has been married) has passed away?
– Or, have they met after her daughters were born and he is no biological relation to them?
– Or for some other reason, which is unknown?
Thomas is still employed at the time they marry in 1927 and continues to work for a number of years after that date. He is a drainer. A drainer is like an underground plumber, someone who works on below-ground drainage i.e. stormwater, sewerage systems.
On her marriage certificate Hilma is listed as 45 y.o. this is clearly incorrect. She was in fact 52 y.o.
On her death certificate it is listed that she married at ‘about 18 y.o.’ to Thomas Jones. She did not. But, does this indicate that they were a long-standing de facto couple i.e. together from when she was about 18 y.o.?
Is this information on the death certificate an attempt to cover up for her two children who are aged 50 and a 48 y.o.? That is, to give her a married respectability in death.
It is not possible to know whether Thomas Jones is the father of Hilma’s two children. He may be, he may not be.
Hilma Josephine Johnson’s children:
(1) Josephine Hilma Johnson
later known as Hilma Josephine Johnson (1893-1977) – married Robert Hartley Little
Hilma gave birth to a daughter, Josephine Hilma Johnson, in May 1893. She was living at Camden Street, Enmore, at this time. House number unknown.
(2) Ethel May Johnson (1896-1980)
Hilma gave birth to a second daughter, Ethel May Johnson, in 1896.
She is illegitimate too, with no father listed on her birth certificate. On Ethel’s birth certificate Hilma’s name is incorrectly recorded as ‘Alina’.
Ethel May Johnson married Frank Brooker Bishop in 1914 in St. Peters.
She becomes known as Ethel May Bishop. No father is listed on her marriage certificate.
Ethel and Frank lived in Erskineville and St. Peters. They have one child, Elizabeth C. in 1915. Frank died in 1950 in Erskineville.
Ethel May Bishop died in 1980 in Liverpool. Her mother is listed on her death certificate, but no father is listed on her death certificate. This raises some suspicion that Thomas Jones may have been a step-father rather than a biological father.
Another female child, also called Josephine Hilma Johnson, was born in May 1893 in Newtown, but she died aged 1 month. She’s buried in Rookwood Cemetery. Her mother is also called Hilma. This caused a lot of confusion when researching!
I’m still not sure if this is a bizarre co-incidence, or there is more to this.
It seems unlikely for there to be so many co-incidences between the two
babies i.e. an exact match of a child’s complete name (first, middle and surname), the same mother’s name (first name and surname) and for both babies to have no father listed.
Both born in the same month, same year. Also Newtown and Enmore are next to each other. A puzzle! Or an extraordinary co-incidence?
Hilma’s daughter is illegitimate, no father is listed on her birth certificate.
This was not uncommon when a child was born out of wedlock.
Other reasons for a father not being listed are:
– father is married (to someone else)
– agreement has been made between the father and the mother that the father will support his illegitimate child, as long as he is not listed on the birth certificate. This is usually to stop an illegitimate child making a claim on the biological father’s estate after he dies.
– father is of a high social status and being named the father of an illegitimate child would be a scandal i.e. employer and servant
Curiously, at a certain point Josephine Hilma Johnson reverses her two first names and becomes known as Hilma Josephine Johnson. She marries as this version of her name in 1911 to Robert Hartley Little.
She becomes known as Hilma Josephine Little. No father is listed on her marriage certificate, in the section for father is written ‘not given’.
Hilma Josephine Little died in 1977 in Sans Souci. Curiously her mother’s first name is listed on her death certificate (despite being the same name as hers). Her father is identified now as Thomas Jones.