A Passionate Man

The first indication I had that my 2x great grandfather William Todd may not have been an upstanding member of the Temuka community came when I read the following Letter to the Editor in the Timaru Herald dated 17 August 1876:

Inhuman conduct? Excluded from church membership? What on earth was this about? As I delved further into William's life I found a story of bullying, child abuse, bankruptcy, fraud and family desertion.  As with most family history research this information came in dribs and drabs, sometimes huge chunks of information and sometimes little snippets to set my head reeling.  It's quite a story and I have the feeling that there is still a lot to discover.  This is what I know.

William Todd was born in County Armagh, Ireland in about 1839. Various documents confirm the country and the year so I'm quite happy with that, though if I could find a birth registration I would be over the moon. His parents were William Todd (1793-1877) and Eliza Hampton (1814-1899) who were both born in Ireland.  They were married in 1839 and William jnr is the first of their children that I have identified.  He was followed by Violetta in 1841, Robert in 1843, Hampton in 1851, Patten in 1852, John Colvin in 1855 and Mary Ann in 1856. In addition, according to William's mother's death certificate there were also "8 males deceased".

On 21 October 1862 the clipper ship Chariot of Fame, a 1640 ton vessel, set out for Lyttelton from London under the command of Captain Robert Kerr.  This ship was renowned for the speed of a previous voyage from London to Melbourne and was state of the art for its day, even boasting of having a milch cow on board for the comfort of passengers. The ship docked on 29 January 1863 and among the passengers is listed "Todd".  There are no details for this passenger but I believe it to be William.

On his arrival William headed for Winchester, a small settlement about eight kilometres from Temuka.

Meanwhile Mary Bruce Keith who was born in Kilkenzie in Argyleshire, Scotland was preparing to emigrate to New Zealand. Whether Mary had met William Todd before she made the decision to emigrate is unknown but the chance to start a new life in a new land must have been very attractive to entice her to leave her home in Greenock. On 23 July 1863 she boarded the ship Brothers' Pride for the trip to Lyttelton.

There are many newspaper accounts of the terrible voyage of Brothers' Pride under Captain Alexander Glendining and the subsequent investigations.  The ship was battered by gales and storms and then sickness broke out among the passengers. Forty six deaths occurred before the Lyttelton Heads were sighted. The ship was quarantined at Camp Bay on 9 December 1863, 140 days after it left London. Four more passengers died during the 28 days that  the ship was quarantined with the yellow fever flag flying.  Finally Mary was allowed to leave the ship and the next day, 6 January 1864, she and William Todd were married at the home of Mr Saddler in Tuam Street, Christchurch. William gave his occupation as "gardener" and Mary said she was a "tailoress".

It would seem that they lived peacefully; there are no newspaper accounts of anything untoward while their marriage lasted.

William and Mary had at least three children together although there are births recorded for just two. My great grandmother Mary Violetta Todd was born in December 1866 (recorded) and her sister Eliza Jane was born in 1869 (unrecorded). In 1870 a little boy was born. Unfortunately, although his birth is recorded, his name is not. 

Then on 22 July 1874, after 10 years of marriage, Mary Bruce Todd died.  Her death certificate says that she died after a prolonged labour but there is no living or stillborn child recorded in births or deaths for the area. It is even possible that Mary died after a miscarriage - we will never know.

from the Timaru Herald, 29 July 1874

According to the original cemetery records, William purchased two burial plots side by side on 22 July 1874.  Mary was buried in Temuka Cemetery on 25 July 1874 in row 61 plot 8. It is possible, but there is no evidence, that Mary's last child is buried in her arms. There is no record of a burial in plot 9 which is the second plot owned by William Todd. Maybe William purchased two plots thinking that he would be buried beside his wife.  William's story, however, doesn't stop with the death of his young wife and his own death was not to be in New Zealand.

After Mary's death, William was left on his own with his three small children; Mary Violetta aged 8 and a half, Eliza Jane aged about 5 and his wee son aged 4. With a farm to run as well as children to care for it is hardly surprising that he quickly remarried.

William's new wife was another Mary seeking a new life in New Zealand.  Mary Wilson was born in Fife, Scotland in about 1853. On 04 March 1874 Mary had left Plymouth aboard the Ballochmyle and arrived in Lyttelton on 01 June 1874.  Mary was listed as a dairymaid on the ship manifest.  William and his new bride were married at the home of W McCullum, Epworth, Temuka on 22 December 1874.  Mr McCullum had a bacon factory at Epworth and seems to have hosted a few weddings and funerals at his house.  William had been a widower for exactly six months.

The location of William's residence has been described variously as Orari, Temuka, Winchester, Arowhenua, Geraldine and Waihi.  All these locations are in close proximity to each other.  In 1875 his property was listed in the New Zealand Electoral Rolls as "Section 2902, Waihi Crossing, Geraldine, Canterbury". Mary Wilson, aged 21 years, must have thought she had struck the jackpot marrying a handsome man with land and a house but she quickly discovered that marriage was not always the answer to a single woman's prayers.  The work was hard, the days were long and there were three children to care for who were not her own. Added to that, William was a cruel man who treated  his children and new wife dreadfully.

On 24 August 1876 William Todd was summoned to court and charged that "on 09 August he has unlawfully beaten and assaulted" his daughter, (my great grandmother) Mary Violetta Todd.  The Auckland Star reported the crime as being "a most unnatural case of revolting brutality". John Albert Young, an hotel keeper and Special Constable at Winchester, and his wife had noticed "the state of the child" on numerous occasions and on Thursday 10 August when they saw her at Mr Klee's property across from the hotel they must have thought enough was enough and they took her home with them. They had seen two little girls support Mary as she walked from the school - she was unable to walk unattended. Later that day William came to claim his daughter and Mr Young told him that she was in his care and he would not give her up.  Mrs Young had thought Mary had been beaten by her mother but William soon let her know that he had done it and he would do it again because Mary "told falsehoods." Mr Young gave evidence that he brought Mary to the police station on Friday 11 August "half naked and covered with bruises on every part of the body that I saw." Mrs Young and Mrs Klee went with Mr Young to the police station with Mary and that they had to take her in "the trap" as she was unable to walk. Dr McIntyre was sent for and Mary was examined and taken to hospital.

Dr McIntyre gave evidence of Mary's condition and was also cross examined by Alfred St George Hamersley,  who was representing William:

Hamersley practiced as a solicitor in Timaru for 13 years and was an English rugby union international who had captained England in 1874. Hamersley commented, to applause from the body of the Court, that before coming to Court he had only a few moments with the defendant. Now that he knew the facts of the case he should  "throw it up and let the defendant conduct it himself."

Mary, aged just nine had to give evidence against her father.  The newspaper reported that she looked "weak and emaciated" but that she spoke in a clear and straightforward manner.

William's evidence was met with much derision from the Court:

My great grandfather George Cliff who lived 1/4 mile away from the Todds at Winchester had been subpoenaed to give evidence.  He said that he had never seen any evidence that William had abused Mary Violetta but added that William was "a passionate man".

At this everyone in the body of the Court cheered but were silenced by the police.  As William was led away to prison people hissed and yelled "lynch him".

William had been sentenced to six months imprisonment which means that March 1877 was his release date.  Whether he returned to Mary when he was released is not known but on 25 August 1877, the following appeared in the Timaru Herald:

It is not clear why this case was withdrawn. Did Mary believe that William would return to her and their life would take a turn for the better?  If that was the case then her hopes were in vain. Mary, left with no means of support, had no choice but to file for a Judicial Separation in the hope that William would be compelled to maintain her. Alfred St George Hamersley who had previously defended William and expressed his displeasure at doing so, was now firmly on Mary's side.  He acted for Mary as she filed her plea asking for a Judicial Separation and "such further or other relief" that the judge might see fit to award her:

The Divorce and Matrimonial Causes Act was New Zealand's first divorce law and was passed in 1867.  Divorce was not common in 19th century New Zealand. The Encyclopedia of New Zealand says that divorce was "a scandalous, shameful rarity, which was seen as challenging the sanctity of marriage. Separation and desertion were alternatives to divorce.  Desertion was widely believed at the time to happen more often in New Zealand than elsewhere."  The law was very biased against women who had to prove that the husband had committed  "adultery plus sodomy, incest, bestiality, bigamy, rape or extreme cruelty." Men, on the other hand, needed to prove "only adultery on the part of his wife." Such were the misogynistic conditions of the times that Mary Wilson had to pit her wits against.

A divorce and a judicial separation are very different things.  A divorce means the couple are no longer married, no longer live together and have nothing to do with one another. A judicial separation on the other hand means the marriage is still in force but the couple no longer live together.  Mary did not petition the court for a divorce.

Mary said in her affidavit that her husband had deserted her on numerous occasions; that he had exerted extreme cruelty towards her; that she had many times feared for her life and that William had had "illicit intercourse" with many women.  Among many acts of cruelty, Mary alleged that William had beaten her with his stock whip until she feared for her life, forced her head into the fire and set her hair on fire, kicked her in the "tender parts" of her body with his boots on until she feared for her life and locked her out of doors all night on several occasions "without coverings or clothes".  Mary said that she was in daily fear of her life being taken by William Todd.

On Friday 05 October 1877, Detective Officer James Darrell served William Todd with a Citation dated 11 September 1877 outlining Mary's case and the date that William was required to appear in court. William was found in Wellington where, in partnership with a man named Johns, he had opened a business in Willis Street "nearly opposite the Melbourne Hotel".  The following advertisement was from the Evening Post on 12 October 1877:

Mary went to court on 15 January 1878.  William Todd did not appear.  Mary gritted her teeth and told of the horror of her abusive marriage.  And oh how that papers loved it! The case was written up like a comedy; a forerunner to the lascivious pieces put together under the guise of being newsworthy in the NZ Truth in days to come.  Every salacious detail was revealed.  But finally Mary, after having to prove she was married to William Todd and the ways in which she had been treated with cruelty and abandoned without means of support, was granted her judicial separation.

And where was William while Mary was telling her story?  Mary testified that she thought he was in Wellington, that he had sold his farm which she said was 200 acres for £1,000 so that she would have no money and that he had told her he had "put his three children in the reformatory".

On 16 January 1878, the day after Mary obtained the judicial separation, William Todd filed a statement that he was unable to meet his engagements with creditors. Mary would never see a penny of the money from the sale of William's property.  This is the last evidence of William Todd in New Zealand that I can find.

On 01 February 1878, Phillip Moeller advertised the notice above advising caution in any dealings with William Todd. In a twist of fate, solicitor Philip Moeller administered the Todd and Johns estates only to be adjudged bankrupt himself four years later with the Todd and Johns estates named as creditors owed £108.6s.5d. Meanwhile William had thought of a plan to permanently rid himself of his debts, his wife, three children and a country which he no doubt felt had not treated him kindly. The Police Gazette of 1878 records that a warrant was issued for his arrest but William was long gone by then:

I have no record of the fate of William's second Mary - Mary Todd is a very common name and it has proved impossible to trace her.

I do know what happened to William and it's a story so incredible that I can hardly believe it.  Sometime after 16 January 1878 when he signed papers declaring his bankruptcy, William set off for Scotland to the home of his first wife Mary Bruce Keith.  It's likely that he is the "Wm Todd" on board the Kent which left Melbourne for London in February 1878. He must have been a great story teller because on 03 June 1878 William married Rachel Bruce Keith, the sister of his first wife, in the District of St Giles in the City of Edinburgh. Rachel was a domestic servant living in Edinburgh and both her parents were dead, her mother just eighteen months before. Maybe Rachel felt that this was her chance of marriage and a new life with her dead sister's husband.  It is possible that they had met before; possible that he had courted Mary before he left for New Zealand and met her family including Rachel; so he may have known Rachel from that time.  On the marriage document William said that he was a widower and that he lived in Canterbury, New Zealand. William was still married to Mary Wilson of course and so this marriage was bigamous. I go over in my head what it could have been that William said to convince Rachel that it was fine to abandon his children in New Zealand and start again with her.  How much did she know of his past when she agreed to marry him?

William decided that once again he would emigrate.  This time he avoided New Zealand and set his sights on Australia - new country, new wife, new beginning! His sister Violetta had emigrated to Sydney on board the Sultana in 1865 and his brother Robert on board the You Yangs in 1866 so there were family already "down under". William and his new wife, his recently widowed mother Eliza, his brother Hampton and his sister Mary Anne arrived in Sydney from London on board the Whampoa on 21 September 1878.  Nine months after leaving New Zealand, with two 100 day sea voyages and a marriage under his belt, William started all over again.

William's Australian story is not nearly so dramatic as his New Zealand chapter.  There are no distressing newspaper reports.  William acquired land in Darlington in 1881 and became a farmer of the 306 acre Burnside Farm.

William and Rachel had six children together: Bruce Hampton 1881-1961, William Todd 1882-1935, Margaret Jane Bruce 1884-1885, Joseph James Colvin 1887-1932, David Archibald 1889-1958 & Percy Albert 1891-1977.  It is unknown whether he ever saw the children of his first marriage again.

William's daughter Mary Violetta Todd married George Cliff of Winchester, the man who had given testimony that William was "a passionate man".  She carried the mental scars of her father's abuse of her for the rest of her life

William died in Brisbane on 17 August 1909 of senile decay and heart failure and is buried in Toowong Cemetery.  Rachel Bruce Todd died on 28 May 1928 in Brisbane.

When I began researching the Todd family I found it hard to believe that William Todd was actually one person - I thought that maybe, just maybe, other people named William Todd (it is a common name) had been added to the mix. But things added up - signatures on documents; family records; legal documents; newspaper reports; land ownership records; witness statements; place names; trial dates; birth, death and marriage certificates; ship manifests all led me to the conclusion that William Todd was just one man with many faces. And then the coup de grace which brought everything together.  At the beginning of this year I had my DNA analysed and thus the last piece of the puzzle was put in place. My DNA is a match with the Australian great great grandchildren of William Todd.


© Deborah Watson 2016