John (Captain) Houghton was born in 1818 in Shoreditch, LON, ENG.
1,2 He and
Charlotte Yoell were married in 1839. He and
Mary Ann Harris were married on 18 April 1854 in Christ Church, Taita, Wellington.
2 He died on 29 September 1879, at age ~61, in Wellington Harbour drowned Wellington Harbour.
2,3 He was buried in 1879 in Bolton St Cemetery, Wellington, NZ.
4 Grocer Willis street ?
notice in Wellington Spectator 25 jul 1840 re "will not be responsible for any debts incurred by his wife Charlotte" PP1840
PPA Evening Post, Volume XVIII, Issue 79, 30 September 1879, Page 2
INQUEST ON THE BODY OF MR. HOUGHTON.
An inquest was held at the Bforgut tbfs morning by Dr. Johnston and a jury of twelve on the body of John Houghton, which was found in the harbor yesterday morning. The following persons were sworn as the fury :? Messrs. Arthur Brown (foreman), M. Bowen. H. Gills, £. F. Eager, C. Bath, W. Black, T. M'Clelland, £. Rotbenberg, J. M'Coll, F. Fisher, Jamrs Dyer, E. Muncaster, and H. Eteveneaux. Leonard Parrant deposed that he was a carpenter, residing in Tasman-street. Yesterday morning about a quarter to 9 o'clock he was on Clyde Quay with two other men, when he saw an object in the wat
Houghton Family https://friendsofkaroricemetery.co.nz/houghton-family/
There are two memorials placed against the Underwood mausoleum that originally marked Houghton family graves at Bolton Street Cemetery.
The headstone attached to the wall is for John Houghton, born 1818 in Shoreditch, London. He married Charlotte Yoell in 1839 and they emigrated to New Zealand just three weeks later on the ?Aurora?. Their son Louis was born at sea and died as a child. John and Charlotte separated and both remarried although a formal divorce may not have been obtained.
On arrival in New Zealand he first went surveying for Mr Stokes about ?Kaiwarra? and Johnsonville. He then worked with his father and brothers boating and lightering up until about 1851. He went to Sydney and then the Victoria diggings before returning to Wellington in 1854 and opened a grocery store in Willis Street. The same year he married Mary Anne Harris at Taita. She was the eldest of thirteen children born to Abraham and Sophia Harris who arrived on the ship ?Bolton?. Their children were Sophia Ann (1855-1861), Harriet Ellen (1858-1916) and John David (1860-1860).
On 7th September 1879, John was reported as missing from his house Flagstaff Hill in Willis Street. He had got up at 3am, dressed and quietly left the house leaving the front door partly open. By the 18th September, the newspapers still had no news. Telegrams were sent to his friends in the Manawatu and Picton but nothing had been heard of him. On 29th September, his body was found in Wellington harbour near the Te Aro baths. He was identified by his clothes and papers in his pocket. John was 60 years old.
At the inquest, a lodger in the Houghton home named Henry James Underwood stated that on the 7th September John was in his usual spirits and wished him goodnight as he went to bed. John also suffered from attacks of cramp which were only relieved by ribbing or walking. John?s daughter Harriet also gave evidence.
In the face of family objections, Henry Underwood eloped with Harriet Houghton. They were married on 6th November 1879. The couple lived at Holly Lodge. Mary Ann continued living at Flagstaff Hill where she died suddenly on 6th June 1893. Harriet placed In Memoriam notices in the newspaper for her mother every year until 1914. Harriet lost her husband in the sinking of the S.S. Penguin in 1909. His body was the first interment in the Underwood Mausoleum. Harriet died in 1916 and is one of 16 family members in the Mausoleum.
With the coming of the new urban motorway set to run through the middle of the cemetery, in 1969 John, Mary Ann and their infant children Sophia Ann and John David?s remains were disinterred from Bolton Street, cremated and interred in the Underwood mausoleum. The monuments came to be placed here at this time.
Houghton Bay is named after John?s father, Captain Robert Houghton. He was the person responsible for the powder magazine at Somes Island and the signal station at Mount Albert about Houghton Bay. John (Captain) Houghton was a mariner in 1839.
5 He immigrated to ENG to NZ on the Aurora arriving NZ 7/1/1840 on 18 September 1839.
5 He was a Grocer Willis Street in 1855.
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