Horatio Ellerman had a distinguished career ministering God's word to Aboriginals in Victoria. It is interesting to speculate how much he was driven by a desire to make amends for an unfortunate event that is outlined below.
Reference www.berksfhs.org.uk/journal/Jun2002/jun2002AnAustralianBoy.htm
On Wednesday March 10, 1852 an 11-year-old boy died in Reading from the effects of tuberculosis and peritonitis. Several days later his body was buried in the London Road Cemetery and a headstone placed upon his grave as a memorial by those who knew him. In part it read 'Sacred to the memory of William Wimmera an Australian boy...'
A century and a half has now elapsed since William 'Willie' Wimmera's death yet the headstone that was erected still exists and is today both a rare and poignant reminder of his short existence.
Rare, because the grave it marks shares a common history with only a handful of other known graves in cemeteries across Britain- it contains the remains of an indigenous Australian.
The oldest burial site of an indigenous Australian in Britain is the grave of Yemmerrawanie (Yemmerrawanyea), a 19-year-old native of the Eora tribe who died on May 18, 1794. With Bennelong he was one of the first two indigenous Australians to visit England. They arrived in London from the fledgling Colony of New South Wales aboard the Atlantic in 1793 and were presented to King George III. Within a year Yemmerrawanie was dead and his body interred in the churchyard of St. John the Bapfist at Eltham, Kent.
The Warstone Lane (Church of England) cemetery in Birmingham is the final resting place of Edward Warrulan (Warru-loong). He was about nine years old when he arrived in London aboard the Symmetry in 1845. Warrulan was the son of a tribal chief in the Colony of South Australia and had been brought to England by Edward John Eyre, the noted explorer. He and a companion were presented to Queen Victoria in January 1846. Following Eyre's appointment and departure to New Zealand as LieutenantGovernor, Warrulan remained in England where his benefactors placed him in an agricultural school at Sibford, in Oxfordshire. He later moved to Banbury where he learnt saddlery and harness work before joining the harness manufacturing firm of J. Middlemore in Birmingham. He also was aged about 19 years when he died from the effects of exposure on October 23,
At a park in Tower Hamlets in London's East End lies Bripumyarrinin (also known as 'King Cole', Brippokei, and Charles Rose). He was a native of the Colony of Victoria and had the distinction of being one of the members of the first all-aboriginal cricket team to visit and play in England. The team surreptitiously arrived in London aboard the Parramatta in May 1868 and had already played several matches when 'King Cole' tragically succumbed to tuberculosis within a month of their arrival and died on June 24, 1868 in Guy's Hospital, London.
William Wimmera was not a cricketer or the son of a tribal chief. Nor was he ever presented to royalty or had a well-known patron or benefactor. He was the youngest known 'Australian boy' to die and be buried so far from his land of origin. 'Willie', as he was referred to by his benefactors and acquaintances in England, was a native of the Wotjobaluk tribe who occupied lands in the Wimmera district in the Colony of New South Wales. He was born about 1840, only four years after Major Thomas Mitchell and his expedition had first traversed the region and in whose wake came the eventual demise of its native inhabitants.
Illustrated London News, February 14, 1846
By the time the boy was six years of age, the Wotjobaluk country had been encroached upon by white squatters who brought with them thousands of head of sheep to graze the lands. Clashes between the Wotjobaluk and the European invaders became inevitable as both culture and commercial interests collided.
In a punitive measure for some unknown aggression or act, in February 1846, a party of white settlers set upon a camp of these aboriginal people by the banks of the Wimmera River. Amongst this native group was our six-year-old boy who, by the end of the attack, was left clinging to his dead mother - a bullet through her heart. The woman was buried on the spot and the 'orphaned' boy removed to the home of a Belgian settler, Horatio Ellerman, who had both participated in the raid and was reputed to have fired the shot that had killed the boy's mother.
At the home of Ellerman he was brought up and worked in the household as a servant. In December 1850, Willie's life took another dramatic turn. He was invited to join some men on a trip carting wood to Melbourne. But while in the city he became lost and wandered the streets.
He was soon discovered by a group of young white children and, either at the invitation of his young peers or through curiosity followed them home where he was both fed and allowed to sleep. Willie also accompanied the white children to their school and it was there he came to the attention of the 33-year-old Reverend Septimus Lloyd Chase, an Anglican clergyman and former curate of St. Johns Church, Reading.
After discovering the boy in the school it wasn't long before the Reverend Chase eventually took him into his own home. Chase was soon to return to England and so, with the thought of educating and evangelising the boy into the Christian Church, he asked Willie if he wished to accompany him. But Chase didn't realise that the boy was not an orphan, as his father and brothers were still alive in the Wimmera district, a fact that was realised many years later when his story was told to a local aboriginal congregation.
The barque Sacramento departed Melbourne on the March 29, 1851. A local newspaper recorded that among her passengers were the Reverend Chase and his 'servant'. It was a very long passage to England but it provided Chase with ample time to give the young aboriginal boy instruction in reading and writing and prayer. Following their arrival in London in September 1851 Chase and his young charge travelled to Reading, to the residence of Chase's father, Samuel. Over the next six months, the boy was cared for and educated by Chase's family and his acquaintances at Reading and at Iver nearer London. He was given lessons in writing and drawing and taught practical skills in plaiting straw and making shoes. His education into the Bible and Christianity also continued.
Whilst at Iver, the boy became ill with congestion of the lungs and so it was decided that he should return to Australia as it was considered that the English climate could prove fatal. He returned to Reading before Christmas but his condition continued to deteriorate. On January 8, 1852 Chase was married at St. Giles in Reading and because of this and other commitments was not able to provide the boy with his full attention.
Nevertheless, with Willie's understanding and acceptance of his new faith, Chase had the young Wotjobaluk boy baptized into the Church where he received the name 'William Wimmera' - a reflection of his origins because his traditional or given aboriginal name was probably never known or had been long forgotten.
Sadly, over the next few months the boy's condition scarcely improved. He lost a great deal of weight and he suffered great pain. Although his passage back to Australia in the company of Chase had been arranged Willie did not live long enough to make the journey home. Despite the efforts of his benefactor and carers he finally succumbed before dawn on that spring morning of Wednesday, March 10, 1852.
Plot 10, Row A, Section 44 of the London Road Cemetery, Reading holds more than the body of that eleven-year-old boy. It holds a glimpse into our history and although there may be none now who will mourn or mark the sesqui-centenary of his passing we can at least remember and reflect.

Bibliography:
Aborigines' friend and colonial intelligencer, London. V. 1, No. 1, January-December 1855.
Argus, Melbourne, 1895.
Christie, M. F. / Aborigines in colonial Victoria, 1835-86. Sydney: Sydney University Press, 1979.
The Encyclopedia of Aboriginal Australia: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander history, society and culture. Canberra: Australian Studies Press for the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies, 1994. Illustrated London News, London, 1846.
Massola, Aldo. Aboriginal mission stations in Victoria. Melbourne: Hawthorn, 1970.
Mulvaney, D. J. Cricket walkabout: the Australian aborigines in England. 2nd ed. South Melbourne: Macmillan in association with the Dept. of Aboriginal Affairs, 1988.Scholefield, Mrs H. A short memoir of William Wimmera: an Australian boy who sailed from Melbourne, April 1851 died at Reading, March 10 1852.  ¶ 4:10 pm 0 comments

  The children of Sir Abraham Ellerman dispersed to all parts of the globe. Whilst his son Charles Frederick Ellerman (my GG grandfather) went to England, another brother came to Australia. Here follows an account of their history.
The sons of Abraham III, Horatio (b. 1/9/1822) and Henry (b. 23/10/1827) had gone to Australia and it is possible that this decision was made as there was not sufficient room for them all in the family business. However, Horatio was not quite 17 years of age when he set sail from London on 14/8/1839 in the barque “Florentia” which arrived in Sydney 162 days later on 23/1/1840. Horatio spent about 3 years in NSW, possibly in the Goulburn, Yass and Cooma districts, and then we find him about 120 km north-west of Port Phillip (Melbourne) with 80 head of cattle. Here he became associated with overlanders Darlot and Carter with 400 head of cattle and they set off westward looking for country on to set up as squatters. They travelled with two teams of bullocks pulling wagons, with the country in a dreadful state with incessant rains and with the wagons bogged to the axles on occasions. Eventually, after about 3 months, they selected some land close by the present town of Horsham, on the Wimmera river and called the property North Brighton. About two years later, Horatio selected his own land further down (north) the Wimmera river on a property he called ‘Antwerp’ after the town of his birth. Horatio’s Antwerp was of about 128,000 acres with the river passing through its centre from south to north. About the end of 1846, Horatio was joined by his brother Henry and they operated the property together. In 1854, the brothers acquired Lake Hindmarsh station and later Henry went there to reside. In the meantime, Horatio was married on 20/3/1851 to Anne Westgarth and they subsequently had six children:-

1. Clarence Henry, b. 22/9/1853
2. Eliza, b. 30/7/1855
3. John Westgarth, b. 2/4/1857,
4. Lydia Anne
5. Gustavus, b. 28/10/1861,
6. Abraham Daniel Frederick, b. 22/8/1865

Henry also married, on 20/8/1861, to Emma Griffin Buller and they had a daughter, Emily Constantia Westropp, but it is not known if they had any further children.

However, the seasons did not favour Horatio and Henry over the years and they had some very lean times; eventually they transferred their grazing licences. Horatio applied to be admitted or received into the ministry of the Presbyterian Church on 2/8/1865 and was licensed as a probationer on 31/1/1866 and was ordained and inducted into the north west Wimmera charge on 16/5/1866. About this time the grazing licence for the “Antwerp” station was transferred from Horatio to John Wilson.

In 1869, Henry and Emma and their daughter left Lake Hindmarsh station and it is not known where they went. Henry was found to be working on a station just north of Dimboola in 1873 and it is rumoured that they went to America. Also, another Horatio is believed to have arrived in Victoria, as there was a meeting of a “Horatio Ellerman Jnr” as Clerk of the first race meeting (Horses) held in Dimboola on 3/4/1873 and it has been assumed in the light of the events that followed, that he was the fourth child of Charles Ellerman in London and he could have been staying with the “Antwerp” Horatio at the manse at Dimboola. He migrated to the USA (more of which later)

On 2/6/1874, Horatio Snr. Received a call from the Lismore parish and he was inducted there as the minister on 4/8/1874. Lismore is a small town with a large parish, about 25 miles north of Camperdown Victoria. Horatio Snr. Continued ministering at Lismore for some 13 years until his death from pneumonia on 8/1/1887 at the age of 64 and he was buried in the Lismore cemetery.

His wife and members of his family who had not already left to pursue their own vocations, went to live in a house in Power St in Hawthorn, a Melbourne Suburb.

Not very much is known of Horatio Snr’s children; however, the eldest son was Clarence Henry, born at Antwerp Station in the Wimmera district of Victoria on 22/9/1853. He attended Scotch College, Melbourne. Entering there on 11/2/1867 and the date of leaving is unknown. He worked on different sheep and cattle stations around Victoria and was married on 20/8/1879 to Helen Morton Yeats. He was first a jackeroo, station hand and later overseer and about 1880 or 1881 he became manager of “Nimagee” station in the Lachlan district near Cobar and several years later the family moved to “Glenbrook” station near Cooma in NSW, remaining there until 1890. Clarence Henry then purchased a stock and station agency at Young in NSW which he conducted there until his death in 1921.

Eliza did not marry and lived in Power St in Hawthorn until about 1900 when she moved to Royal Pde and then Bay St in Mordialloc, another Melbourne suburb.

Horatio’s wife, Anne, died at Power St in Hawthorn on 8/1/1887 and was buried in the Booroondara General Cemetery, Kew, Melbourne.

Eliza died on 8/8/1933 and is also buried in the same grave as her mother in the Kew Cemetery.

John Westgarth: No information but there is a suggestion that he might have gone to Queensland but he may have gone to America with his uncle Henry. Rev. Morey believed that a young male did go with him.

Lydia Anne: Like her sister Eliza, Lydia did not marry and they probably lived together in Hawthorn and then Mordialloc. She died in hospital in a Melbourne suburb and was buried in the New Cheltenham cemetery which was near Mordialloc.

Gustavus: He also went to Scotch College in Melbourne, as did John Westgarth, and he worked in the Bank of Australasia in Victoria, being manager of their branches in a number of towns, the last known being Foster on the south coast, where it is believed he retired and may have joined his son-in-law, Roy Paterson as commission or real estate agents. He died on 27/1/1930 aged 68 years and was buried at Kew cemetery in the same grave as his mother and his sister Eliza.

Abraham D. F. Ellerman: Attended Scotch College, beginning in Feb. 1879, but for how long is not known. However, 4 months after his father’s death in 1887, he re-entered Scotch College when he was almost 22 years of age. It is possible that he did not marry but stayed with Gustavus and family and followed them from bank to bank. It is not known where he died or was buried.

Horatio ex London: (Father of Charles Digby?) Born in London on 9/4/1848 and it is assumed he is the one at the Dimboola Races in 1873. On 16/10/1875, he was married in St Peters Church in Melbourne to Fanny Louisa Madeline Scott (Certificate No. 2077 or 3839) and it is thought that they had 4 children:-

1. Fanny Rosalind, b. 1877 in Melbourne, Birth Certificate # 10156; she did not marry, and died in Melbourne on 17/6/1947, aged 70. Death Cert. #7012 (Philip Ellerman has a copy in Wagga).
2. Violet, b. about 1878 in Melbourne, Cert. # 19441. Max Ellerman of Brisbane believes that she went to the USA?.
3. Charles Digby, b. at Hay, NSW on 19/2/1880, Cert # 16247, where his father was the sheep manager of Eli Elwah stud sheep property.
4. Ernest Horatio, b. 1881, cert # 19697; nothing further known.

Horatio’s wife, Fanny Louisa died in Victoria (probably in South Yarra, Melbourne), aged 27 years; cert #8941, in 1881?

It is believed that Fanny Rosalind lived initially with Eliza and Lydia and at the time of her death she was residing in Canterbury Rd, Toorak and she was described as a domestic servant.

On 14/2/1885, Horatio married for a second time to a spinster, Mary Isabella Robertson. They had at least one child, Lillian Mary, b. about 4/8/1895, d. 13/10/1895, aged 2 months and 9 days.  ¶ 7:44 pm 6 comments

  My father writes on 20th May 1831 to Lord Ponsonby:
“I have not been pleased with General Du Failly who is a warm member of the association (Association Nationale) and felt extremely piqued that I should be in possession of General Chassé’s intentions an hour or two after he had received the same himself. However, it has effected a great deal of good but his reply to Colonel Rupert of General Chassé’s staff shows plainly, by the very language, that he felt vexed and I was obliged to press him hard for a copy thereof, which I demanded to send to Mr Abercrombie. He said ‘C’est tant la fante de vous avec votre non-intervention.’
I am sorry to have to add that in consequence of my exertions yesterday I have hurt one of my legs which may keep me confined to my house for 12 or 14 days.”
Fortunately my father’s intervention, or rather interposition, had the desired effect, the magistrates, justly alarmed for the safety of the city, obtained what General Chassé wanted; the assurance that the works directed against himself should be discontinued. I see my excellent father hurrying about with a view to save the town from destruction at a time when every minute was precious and a moment’s delay might involve the most serious consequences to the public. He must evidently have had a warm altercation with General Du Hailly at the House of the Burgomaster, Mr Lefrelle, and it was on leaving this house irritated and vexed that he must have snapped the tendon of his leg which stretched him for a time upon a bed of suffering – another sacrifice to the public weal. It is interesting to follow him in the description of the dreadful and painful times he traversed, having much property at stake, his own private interest more or less jeopardised, his own life and the personal security of his family in constant danger.
He writes on the 28th May 1831 to Mr Marcus Derkheim:
“I am confined to my house and become a victim of my zeal displayed on Wednesday last to prevent the horrors of a second bombardment with which General Chassé at least threatened the works carried on against him by the Belgians ever since yesterday week and with which progress was made close under the guns of our Citadel. A despatch was in consequence sent by General Chassé’s orders to our commanding officer here desiring these works to cease within 6 hours from the time of delivery at our advanced posts or that his fire would open. Copy of that despatch with an open letter to the Magistrate here was sent to me by General Chassé with desire to deliver the same into the hands of the Burgomaster. When the same reached me only 3½ hours were left and the Belgians still hard at work. My activity was required to get the authorities and General together and I unfortunately snapped the tendon in my left leg, which may keep me laid up for 10 to 12 days, or many months, unless I take good care of myself.
These are anxious moments for a husband and father however I have an excellent and courageous helpmate who still keeps well as do all my children.”
On the 25th May, to Sir Hugh Halkett, Hanover:
“All must come to a crisis before the 1st of next month. No doubt we shall have a very hot day of it. – My wife and children I am firmly resolved to send out of Town as soon as I learn that Lord Ponsonby comes back. As for myself, I am firmly determined to remain at my post, indeed I shall not be able to move much about as I am laid up and walk on crutches since Wednesday last, when I snapped the principal tendon of my leg by hard running wishing to save the Town from a horror with which we were threatened if the Belgians had continued for an hour longer to carry out their works against the Citadel.”
The constant fear of hostilities recommencing through imprudence or want of faith on the part of the Belgians kept the inhabitants of Antwerp in a continual state of alarm. Many of these abandoned the Town to resort to the neighbouring villages for greater safety whilst the known adherents to the Dutch cause, amongst whom ranked my father, were exposed to outrage, insult and attack on the part of the members of the Association Nationale with which the Governor, Mr ….mans, sympathised. Later on this person was replaced by Mr Charles Napier who entered upon his functions with zeal and integrity and restored quiet and order to a certain extent.
On 25th May my father wrote to Lord George Stuart:
“Many thanks for the interest you have manifested on my and my family’s account. We all possess your best wishes and sympathy which is always cheering for God knows the last 7 months we have passed have been filled with the most anxious and disturbing scenes you can possibly imagine – I have perhaps braved the dangers around us more than any one. I felt convinced in my own mind that nothing could interfere with me as to political or raise a question against me as an individual. Not so however did my wife consider matters; she has been frequently very much alarmed and entertained much apprehension about my personal security, particularly during the night of the general pillage here when my excellent friend the Burgomaster and several houses of friends were ransacked. However no attempt was made upon mine and had there been any I was so well prepared to receive them warmly that many lives would have paid for such an insult. Indeed I keep 8 muskets and firearms beside pistols ready loaded 2 of which form my companions, loaded every night by my bedside. Charles, whom I am happy to say, possesses much courage, determination and character, is my faithful aide-de-camp. A 12 lb cannonade faces the door and the latter is closed every night with boards well barricaded inside. Thus I am at all events well prepared and I believe none doubts my determination.”
On 30th May to his son Gustavus:
“I have arranged that your mother and the children move off at once for Schortenhof. I and Charles however, remain here and should the bullets fall too thick in the Rue de Venns our cellar will be bomb proof. We have all our furniture, plate and a good deal of other valuable property ….  ¶ 11:36 am 0 comments

 

14^th April 1831 to Lt General Sir Hugh Halkett:

“I went over to London in charge of my fourth boy Lionel to get him pass (sic) his exam for admittance into Sandhurst where he is quite happy in his red coat. I also parted with my third son William about fourteen days ago for Rotterdam where I have opened a mercantile house same as here under the guidance of my old clerk Bertram. So you see I do not allow my boys to rust under my roof. My eldest son Charles is my assistant here after having been at ……….for ten years. Thank you for the compliment you pay my Eliza and to your profession, indeed I know, I assure you, how to value my good wife in these times of real distress and trouble. It is perfectly impossible to describe what I suffered by sheer anger and provocation at the dastardly proceedings (alluding to the night of the 31^st March) The perpetrators were evidently not Antwerpians, except a few of the leaders, but agents of the Black gang and sorry am I to state that the Generals, after giving me in the morning the most unqualified assurance that they and there troops would act with determination to keep the peace, did just the contrary and the Generals who replaced van der Smissen have to account for their extraordinary conduct. Since that period they have put the forces under their command (probably eight to nine hundred men) properly en avant and everything has been perfectly tranquil. My wife, who I wished should leave with the younger children, refused to leave me and we are then together watching, as it were, the enemy. My situation, and that of most persons here, is far from satisfactory. I have a 12lb cannonade in my court loaded facing the grand entrance and my rooms on the first floor are barricaded in a manner that neither the windows nor the doors can be forced open without the greatest violence. Our lower windows, as is the case generally here, are completely guarded outside with iron railings and my porte cochere, or house door, is doubly barricaded every night and closed at 10 o’clock. I have six muskets and fusils besides six pistols and swords all ready charged and hung about the rooms and I never lay down without three loaded arms close to my bedside. This is a melancholy and sad picture of this once prosperous and happy town in which I certainly could not remain but do as many of my friends have done before me, quit I not. Property in it, and my official duties, kept me here; for besides all this danger which threatens my habitation by aggression, we have all the guns of the Citadel and the heavy forts, opposite to us, filled with Dutch troops.”

Up to the middle of May things remained pretty much in the same position when the Belgians trespassing upon the arrangements entered into with General Chassé commenced raising batteries in the vicinity of the Citadel and the Tete de Flandre in such a way that in the event of a resumption of hostilities they could molest the Dutch ships communication with the Citadel and cut off supplies. The Dutch remonstrated and the town, fearing reprisals on their part, was kept in a state of alarm.

On the 18^th May, my father writes to Lord Ponsonby:

“Since your Lordship quitted we have been here in a dreadful state. I was sent for and explained to General Belliard and Mr White, when here on Monday evening, all the circumstances relative to the affair of the Citadel. Nobody can or ought to doubt General Chassé right to …….

In all directions household furniture and merchandise is moving out of this City which is now considered by almost none safe and would, I am sure, be deserted by almost everyone (except myself) as I am determined to remain and if necessary take refuge in my cellars when the first few guns are fired by either party.”

Irritated by the progress of the works undertaken by the enemy and which his representations did not serve to stop, General Chassé wrote on the 19^th May to General Du Failly commanding the Belgians troops that within six hours, if the works had not been stopped, he would be forced to commence hostilities. Not Trusting Du Failly, General Chassé sent a copy of the letter to my father in order that he might communicate with the authorities and see that the danger be averted. My father explains the object of Chassé in a report which he addressed on the 3^rd June to the Hanoverian Government (Here follows a long German letter which I do not translate. ( French letter here)

  ¶ 10:32 am 0 comments

  On 28th March 1831 he writes to his friend Denzil T Thompson of London:
“I had a very pleasant passage to Rotterdam and in 24 hours made some necessary arrangements and of course a good deal of inquiry and have every expectation that an establishment there will succeed. Bertram goes there on Wednesday or Thursday next and William accompanies him; thus three of my boys are afloat or rather launched into the world. Charles remains with me.”
On the 31st March I (that is my Uncle William mentioned above eg) started with Bertram for Rotterdam. I remember perfectly my father’s farewell and parting and recommendation to bear an honourable character – always to remember that I was his son. I find the following as a specimen of his introductory letters which were addressed to an excellent and kind gentleman of the name of James Young of Rotterdam dated 30th March.
“My son William will do himself the honour of delivering this. He leaves his home early in life but carries with him a good stock of the best principles of honour and virtue which I trust to God he will preserve as his greatest treasures in life.”
During the month of March 1831 a league was formed amongst the Orangists with a view to restore the Dynasty of Nassau16 to the throne. General van der Smissen then Military Governor of Antwerp was engaged in this conspiracy which was encouraged by my father whose attachment to the cause was no secret to anyone. It was supposed that the Colonels of some of the Belgian regiments quartered at Antwerp had been gained over to the cause of the house of Nassau and that at the moment chosen for the purpose, a well concerted movement would have drawn in a sufficient number of adherents to secure success.
The 26th of March had been fixed upon as the day of action. I remember with what anxiety my father awaited the news that the Dutch flag would again be waved from the walls of the city. The conspiracy failed from want of union and decision, perhaps the result of treachery and van der Smissen, who stood at the head, saved himself by flight from the pursuit of the government at Brussels. The discovery of this conspiracy led to great excitement and angry feelings. All persons known to have been connected with it, as indeed all those who were supposed to be favourable to the cause of Nassau were exposed to danger and insult or outrage. On the evening of the day of my departure for Rotterdam 31st March the town was overrun by a gang of incendiaries and pillagers who broke into several houses pillaging and destroying what they could lay their hands upon. My father, known to be a staunch Orangist, was exposed to the same fate, indeed his name was on the list of those upon whom the fury of these monsters, instigated by party feeling, had determined to wreak its vengeance. Fortunately his house was spared that night and the following day the Authorities, fearing a recurrence of atrocities declared the town in a state of siege and proclaimed martial law. To give you an idea of what my poor father underwent during that fearful night I extract the following from his private correspondence.  ¶ 4:39 pm 0 comments

  24th Jan 1831 to his friend Mr Helmsley in London:
“I have had my hands full of business of a public nature particularly with the many thousands of poor who have all been placed under my charge as the head of a comité to find employment for them and also getting pecuniary means. This object keeps one employed from morning to night. It is a heavy but very honourable charge as the security of the Town and its inhabitants depends on the same.”
24th Jan 1831 to his son Gustavus:
“You must strictly confine yourself from henceforth to £12.10 each quarter as it is impossible for me to allow you any more. The times, my dear boy, go very hard with us; economy must therefore be the order of the day. War is unavoidable. If so this place cannot remain my residence and as yet I have not been able to make up my mind where to go, except to Copenhagen. As matters are it would perhaps be as well for you to remain in the Mediterranean; even should the “Blonde” come home you might easily fit aboard another ship for coming home to us at a moment of general war would be cruel to us all, however happy, very happy it would make us to see you again.”
21st Jan 1831 to Count Munster, London:
“I have to thank your Excellency for your letter from Brighton dated 13th. I feel much gratified to observe that the King honoured my communications with his attention. I trust I shall ever find myself considered by His Majesty as one of his most devoted and faithful servants and I beg you will do me the honour of laying my dutiful respects before His Majesty thanking him for his very great consideration in requesting you to forward my petition to Sir Herbert Taylor, for which I feel very much obliged. Whenever you have an opportunity please to let Sir Hubert know that I was, of course, quite prepared for the payment of the annual price, which I know exceeds £100 a year, and that I should take care to lay such vouchers before him shortly as would I flatter myself entitle my son (Lionel) to the admission at College.
24th Jan 1831 to the Honourable C. Boyle:
“From Count Munster I heard the other day and was delighted to learn, that both Their Majesties were well and that The King felt considerable interest in my constant communications to the Count.”
On the 8th March he writes to T. F. Wedekind of Hanover:
“In London, The King received me in a manner peculiarly gracious and amiable at a private audience. He desired me to sit next to him and our conversation lasted three quarters of an hour. I was often at Count Munster’s. He and the Countess took me to a drawing room of the Queen. I returned by The Hague, where I had a private audience with the King of Holland which lasted an hour. I saw the Prince of Orange in London likewise at The Hague last Tuesday and consulted with him in reference to the unfortunate occurrences in this country.”
On 31st March 1831 he wrote to the Duke Bernard of Saxe-Weimar:
“When I visited the Hague I took the liberty of paying my respects to your Lady. H.H. received me in a most flattering manner.”
It will be seen that early in 1831 my father seeing the sad turn which political events had taken in Belgium threatening the destruction of the trade of Antwerp, had then contemplated establishing a house of trade in Copenhagen. When, after his visit to England he proceeded to Holland, his plans took different directions and his short stay at Rotterdam brought about an immediate decision in his mind that that was the place for his new mercantile trade.  ¶ 5:14 pm 0 comments

  No 287: 2nd December 1830:
“Mr Ellerman has not been able to set out for Flessingue this morning. (Translation continued) Commerce awaits impatiently Mr Ellerman’s return from Flessingue.“
No 290: Dec 6:
“Mr Ellerman has not yet returned.”
No 295: 11 Dec:
“Mr Ellerman has arrived at The Hague. Thanks to his exertions the vessels under foreign flags, so arbitrarily detained at Flessingue, will at last be permitted to leave their anchorage and discharge their cargoes at Ostend or Newport. Will his Batavian majesty hold himself responsible for these events?
We hope that the French Government and the National Congress will not neglect to lay before the London Congress the letter full of Dutch Civilities which Vice Admiral … has sent to Mr Ellerman who has so effectively pleaded our cause in the affair of the excluded foreign vessels.”
No 296: 15th Dec:
“Mr Ellerman has been very well received by King William who declared to him that nothing could be altered in that which bind us to the measures suspended by his advice (French extract omitted)”
Turning to my father’s private correspondence at this period I find a letter addressed by him to Lord Ponsonby, British Minister at Brussels 11th Dec 1830.
“I consider it necessary to acquaint your Lordship that I proceeded to Flushing not only for the protection of the Hanoverian flag but also at the solicitation of the mercantile body and the wish expressed by the Governor of this City and that I was provided with a conveyance down to Flushing by General Chassé, that at The Hague I was in constant consultation with his Excellency Sir Charles Bagot who fully approved of my procuring, also with the ministers of America and Sweeden (sic) so vessels under these flags continue to be detained at Flushing and who in consequence of my communications have presented to the Minister of Foreign Affairs at the Hague on the subject of such detentions in opposition to the King’s decree of the 25th.
I had also the honour to be admitted by the King at a private audience on the subject of the blockade, the result of which fully tended to convince me that for the present no further concessions than those stated in Mr Verstolk van Fide’s letter are intended. I returned from The Hague this day.”
It will be seen in this instance that my father devoted himself entirely to the public good and went down to Flushing in an embarkation placed at his disposal by the Dutch authorities. At The Hague he had the honour of being received by the King – In the Journal de Commerce d’Anvers I relate what follows. (French abstract omitted)
It will be interesting to gain an insight into my father’s private feelings during the march of these serious events and to learn how he felt as a citizen, as a husband and as a father. I turn to his private correspondence for this purpose.  ¶ 7:07 pm 0 comments

  On the following morning early, my father was not idle but went with several other devoted citizens to General Chassé with an endeavour to bring about some arrangement which might preserve the city from further destruction. (Extracted Dutch paper omitted) In the Journal de Commerce d’Anvers15 No 263 4th November 1830 gives the following (Translated):
“To the Editor: I make it my duty to acquaint you with the names of those respectable persons who have had the courage to go as a deputation to the Citadel during and after the bombardment of our town to bring about a cessation of the incendiary fire which has entailed such incalculable losses.
Messrs De Hochpied Larpent12, British Consul,
A. Ellerman, Hanoverian Consul,
De Vris Veringlin, Vice Consul, Two Sicilys,
Jer Casseris, Merchant
Dubois Rentier
De Commisle, Conservateur des Hypotheques.
You will oblige by mentioning the names of these brave citizens in your next number (German letter omitted)
It is pretty clear from the above, as well as the testimony of other documents, that my father and father-in-law were principally instrumental in saving the city from further destruction by opening negotiations which terminated in a conditional armistice concluded on the 28th October in the morning, between the belligerent parties. The horrible condition of the town, after this sad disaster, is fully described in the von Antwerpen above alluded to. Commerce was completely suspended. On the 10th November my father was named member of the Committee appointed by the Merchants of the place to see what could be done to raise the trade from the prostration and inactivity into which it had been thrown by these calamitous times.
The Journal de Commerce d’Anvers No 268 says (translated) “Mr Ellerman has been named a member of the Committee appointed to watch the commercial interests of the place. (German extract omitted)
It omits to mention how much my father did towards bringing relief to the poor (see letters to Lord George Stewart above quoted).
When some little order was restored after the bombardment, merchants began to turn their attention again to trade but difficulties were thrown in the way of the arrival of the vessels by the Dutch and the desire to see these come up from Flushing,13 loaded with cargoes, originally intended for Antwerp, not frustrated. Here again my father’s solicitude for the interests of the place was awakened. I extract from the Journal de Commerce the following passage which throws light upon the importance of my father’s endeavours at this critical period.
No 286: 1st December 1830 (Translated):
“The lively solicitude of Mr Ellerman does not relax for a moment. That worthy merchant waited today upon General Chassé by whom he was well received for the purpose of enquiring into the cause of the delay imposed upon the ships at Flessingue13, now awaiting permission to ascend the Escaut14 (i.e. the river Schelde).
Replies from M. Chassé from M. Koopman were to the effect that they had not yet been instructed in the matter by their Government and that they were so far ignorant of the motives of the detention of the vessels at Flessingue. These replies have determined Mr Ellerman on repairing immediately to Flessingue. Commandant Koopman has placed a vessel at his disposal. Too much praise cannot be accorded to Mr Ellerman’s zealous endeavours to smooth the obstacles by which our commercial affairs are so sadly embarrassed and his generosity in providing for the wants of the indigent classes.
By his philanthropic exertions a new subscription list is about to open for the benefit of the unfortunate sufferers, but instead of food and fuel given in preceding occasions, which encouraged an illegal bar by unscrupulous persons, work will be provided for those who are able to work. The police officers are charged with the executive portion of this system in their respective sections. Everything will be done to forward Mr Ellerman’s benevolent designs.”  ¶ 12:18 pm 0 comments

  The time of Armistice had been concluded but the volunteers heedless of the consequences opened fire upon the arsenal still in the hands of the Dutch situated in the Rue des Convout some partial firing more of a tantalising than an effective nature was also directed against the ships.
The Dutch then opposed force to force and their fire was opened from the Citadel and fleet upon the town with violence towards 4 o’clock in the afternoon of the 27th October. My father, in a letter to Lord George Stewart dated Feb 1831, thus describes what he suffered on the night of the bombardment…
“I have been very much occupied in the affairs of this unfortunate country in support as far as lays in my power of thousands of poor wretches who have brought distress upon themselves but whose mouths must be fed for the security of our property. I am placed at the head of a committee to procure about £10,000 for that purpose and thank God that I succeeded. Not that I feel in any way inclined to recompense the base and vile acts of this deluded and ungrateful nation, for you may well imagine how I, and all my house, felt disgusted ever since the commencement of this deplorable revolution. It broke out whilst I was at Jersey and Guernsey. I hastened home and did what every honest man ought to do in support of loyalty and good order and which I have ever continued in as my situation in life entitled me. Hard times have we indeed passed since the so-called patriots came to this city. Mrs Ellerman has shown firmness of character never surpassed. We passed a horrid night during the bombardment; she and all my children were in the cellar. Her brother Lionel, Charles and myself watched the progress of the flames. A 24 pounder passed into our house at the very spot where I kept almost constantly a look out. That and the alarm was all, thank God, we suffered; for although £2,000 worth of property was lost by me at the entrepôt it was not my own but belonged to my correspondents. I remember the fatal day well. I had wandered through the streets during the day, not without danger to myself, and it was while we were seated at dinner that the bombardment actually commenced and opened the sad tale of horrors which were to follow. The terrific noise went on increasing whilst we and as many trustworthy hands we could muster were busy removing valuables from the upper and ground floor to the bomb proof cellars where we passed the night. Dear little Emily was then a baby in arms and remained in perfect good humour whilst we listened with horror and alarm to the booming of guns and the bursting of shells. The town was burning in various directions and the light thrown from the entrepôt in flames was truly awful. We had buckets filled with water ready in the inner court to be applied to fire in case of need. My father and my uncle, Major Lionel Hughes, had repeatedly visited the (attic?) of the house and looked from the windows. Below these windows a ball struck the stone front wall of the house, which it penetrated and rolled exhausted along the flooring. My father and uncle had visited the spot only a few minutes before and had thus a miraculous escape. The ball which had previously passed through the Museum opposite has now been fixed in the wall itself as a remembrance of that fatal night.  ¶ 11:08 pm 0 comments

  (The children of Abraham Daniel Frederick Ellerman were listed here in the original and are recorded in Appendix 11.)
After the birth of the last of these children, political events occurred almost immediately which gave my father an opportunity of displaying upon a more prominent scene the admirable qualities he possessed and of exercising those noble sentiments of charity, philanthropy and devotion to the public weal which so eminently distinguished his character.
It is fortunate that amongst the private letters and official correspondence of my father I have discovered sufficient, though not enough, to throw light upon the part which he took in the events which broke out in the Autumn of 1831, upon his conduct which called forth feelings of gratitude on the part of his fellow citizens and admiration on the part of all who knew him.
History has recorded the sad tale of the Revolution which threw a country, up to then enjoying the greatest measure of success and prosperity, into an abyss of misery. Under the reign of King William of Holland all had been done to advance the trade and commerce of Belgium and from its famed position the port of Antwerp reaped a large share of this general prosperity.
In some respects, the administration of the Dutch opened the door to dissatisfaction amongst certain classes of society and had the King been better advised or sent his son, the Prince of Orange, either on a mission of conciliation and timely concession, all would have been well. After a fruitless attempt on the part of the Prince during which his good intentions were frustrated by orders received from The Hague, he took his departure from Antwerp for London 25th October 1830. His presence in town had up to then served to keep the smouldering agitation of the populace in check but after his retreat the dissatisfied party managed to open a communication with the rebels outside the town. On that day General Chassé withdrew the Dutch troops within the walls of the citadel leaving only the gates of the town house strongly guarded. A Burgher guard was formed to protect the Bank and other public property in case of an uproar and the whole city soon assumed an aspect of extraordinary agitation and excitement. On the 26th October an attack was made by about 50 men upon the guard stationed at the town house which was responded to by a vigorous fire on the part of the Dutch. The town house was taken and the next attempt was on the Palace, then occupied by the Duke of Saxe-Weimar, who escaped with difficulty. On the evening of the 26th October the rebels had become masters of two of the gates of the City (The …. and the Red Gate) so that on the following morning the patriots, in their blouses and armed in all manner of ways, made their entry into the City which then presented a most strange spectacle never to be forgotten by any person who witnessed such a scene. Barricades were thrown up in the street which were overrun by motley and noisy groups vociferating patriotic songs. All was confusion, the Dutch troops as they had to abandon their posts either fled along their ramparts towards the Citadel were taken prisoner if not shot down. The patriots, emboldened by success, imagined that they could insist upon the surrender of the Citadel then defended by 6000 men and supported by a fleet of armed Dutch vessels in the Scheldt.  ¶ 5:24 pm 0 comments

  Evidently the days spent by my mother in Heligoland were the most brilliant of my mother’s life; she was made a great deal of in society composed at the time of officers and navy men. Civilian refugees of rank from different countries, the whole forming a pleasing and fascinating melange, delighted to enjoy my father’s hospitality which was granted in a princely style.
My mother has often alluded to the merry times spent in Heligoland, of the dinners (which she declares she did not approve of) given by my father, where plenty abounded and the ruby cup went merrily round.
In 1814 my father determined upon quitting Heligoland which no longer offered the same resources. On the 22nd May he and his wife accompanied by Mr and Mrs Hughes, 3 children, Charles, Fanny and Gustavus, left the island and landed on the 23rd at Emden in East Friesland, passed through L(oppersum?) and Groningen, crossed the Zuyder Zee5 and then stopped a week at the Doelen Hotel6, Doelen street at Amsterdam where they were most kindly treated by Mr Melville the English Consul and the …nger family.
They next visited The Hague and Rotterdam and arrived at Antwerp on the 17th June 1814.
It was this place which he had fixed upon as his new residence and place of business. They first took up their quarters at the Hotel D’Angleterre situated in the Rue de L’Empereur, kept by a Madam Loot, the mother of the present Burgomaster of Antwerp where they remained till the 22nd July. They moved on the 23rd of July into a house situated in the Rue de le (sic) Hopital7, then belonging to a Mr van der Heyden and in which I was born on the 7th of August 1814. With his usual activity Mr Ellerman soon managed to give an impulse to his new house of business which he established under the firm of “Abraham Ellerman” and which (while I am now writhing in 1861) has continued to exist with the ups and downs which attend mercantile undertakings for a period of nearly 47 years.
Through his English connections he immediately secured an influx of consignments to his address. At the time of the occupation of the town by the Allied forces in 1815 my father’s house was hospitably opened to friends amongst whom were General Sir Hugh Halkett and Sir Colin Halkett who were in command of the Hanoverian8 troops.
On 19th May 1817 he was appointed Hanoverian Consul. On 18th September 1820 as Consul of the Grand Duchy of Mecklenberg-Schwerin9. On 24th August 1826 he was promoted to the rank of Consul General for Hanover in the Southern Provinces of The Netherlands. In …. he obtained the lucrative appointment of the Agent of the Underwriters at Lloyds10, London and in June 1825 he was appointed acting British Consul after the death of his friend Mr Annesty and gave great satisfaction in the appointment for 9 months when Mr Larpent succeeded to the office. On 26th January 1823 Mr and Mrs Ellerman walked across the river Scheldt upon the ice which was strong and fixed from shore to shore.
My father’s business increased up to 1830. He bought in for the modest sum of 5,000 (currency?) a large sugar refinery which had belonged to the Le Grelle family and which after repairs he converted into spacious warehouses for receiving the numerous cargoes of sugar, coffee and hide he received in consignment. The building I allude to bears the signs of the “Bell and the Gun” situate Plaine de Hesse with a dwelling house adjoining. The proximity of these stores to the docks and the Railway Station has since the purchase more than doubled the value whilst yielding yearly a very handsome interest. The investment has proved a very excellent one to the Ellerman family:  ¶ 12:39 pm 1 comments

 

The public services of my father as well as his amiable qualities called for a demonstration of esteem and respect which must have been highly flattering to his feelings. The leading people of the Island headed by the Governor, Sir William Hamilton, presented my father with a service of silver plate valued at 500 guineas. Upon the centre piece or epergne is inscribed the following:

“At a meeting of several merchants the following resolutions were passed – Resolved that the conduct of Mr. A. Ellerman deserves the approbation and thanks of every individual interested in or connected with the Trade of this Island. Resolved that the high esteem and attachment which is so universally felt for him here, his unwearied and unceasing exertions for advancing the interests and extending the Commerce of this settlement. The upright and manly conduct is frequently testified in the discharge of our arduous public situation during a period of great difficulty necessarily requiring from him the sacrifice of much valued time. The urbanity of his manners to all who have had an occasion to address him as Representative of the Mercantile Body or who have mingled with him in private life demand some signal and lasting mark of approbation. Resolved that a Service of Plate value 500 guineas be presented to him and that Messers Hercules Sharp, G.P.Becker and John ‘I Surteau be nominated a committee for carrying this purpose into effect. Heligoland 22^nd August 1810”.

After a period of great prosperity reverses came and my father lost at one time nearly all the whole of his property through the decree of Napoleon’s ordering all English Manufacture and goods to be burnt. Unfortunately at that time my father held a large quantity of such goods at Hamburg and was thus deeply involved in the losses which resulted from the iniquitous act of spoliation.

In the Island of Heligoland commenced that friendship with Lord George Stuart son of the Marquis of Bute⁴, which lasted for life.

I cannot say whether it was before or after his settlement in Heligoland that my father was so frequently in Scotland. At all events it was during his bachelor days since at the time he was about to be married to a Miss Hamilton, an engagement broken off for reasons I cannot tell. In Scotland, a country (as well as its inhabitants he was very fond of), he had many friends especially in Greenock and Glasgow many of them business friends who remained true to him when circumstances forced him to quit Heligoland.

In 1807 my grandfather on my mother’s side, Captain William Lang Hughes, was sent in command of some English troops to Heligoland. He embarked from England on board a Transport ship called the Endeavour, which was neither staunch nor strong and arrived at Heligoland in so disabled a condition that after disembarking the troops she was declared unseaworthy. My father was standing on the pier at Heligoland when Captain Hughes, his wife and daughter Eliza (our mother) landed in the island. Next to my father stood a Captain D’huberque or the family of the Duc do Bouillou who said “Ellerman that will be your wife” and so it proved. It was at Heligoland 13^th October 1808 that my father was married by Pasteur (sic) Inghusen to Eliza Georgiana Lang Hughes born at Dublin 10^th March 1790, in the presence of Sir William Hamilton Governor of the Island (who I believe was related to my mother’s mother), Mr Nicholas the consul and Baron de Theusingen. My father had a very pleasing appearance, chestnut coloured hair, good features, an open and manly appearance, bluish grey eyes with great vivacity of manner and buoyancy of spirits. Nothing seems ever to have daunted him or discouraged him uniting a proper religious feeling to great confidence in himself and his resources. His motto was “Faire sans Dire” “Deeds not words”. He was of middle size and well made; the only fault to find in him was that his feet and hands were a little too long, though well shaped. In habits he was most active, in bearing gentlemanly and agreeable and he possessed a very winning and engaging way. He attended always particularly to his person, was always moulded on the best of models. My mother must have been remarkably handsome and attractive at the time of her marriage, a fair brunette with luxuriant and beautiful brown hair which, when allowed to escape, fell round her in such profusion that her person was concealed as with a veil and descended to her knees. She is rather under the middle size but had a good figure and bust and rather a coquettish manner; she must have been a great favourite with the gentlemen. We possess of my father a small miniature taken when he was 18, a portrait some years after painted by a German artist at Heligoland who represented him with two children, Charles and Fanny, on his knees. We have also an excellent bust in plaster made immediately after his death in 1831 by the sculptor Geefs. It is a valuable cast from nature representing him in his consular dress.

  ¶ 6:15 pm 0 comments