Stephen Saul Brighting (1835 - 1878)

Born 8 May 1835 in St James, Picadilly, Westminster, London, England, United Kingdom

Husband of Mary Ann (Blow) Hogget — married 27 Sep 1856 (to 1878) in St. Helier, Jersey, , Channel Islands

Descendants

Died 1 Mar 1878 at age 42 in Christchurch, Canterbury, New Zealand

Stephen Brighting was born in England.

Stephen Brighting migrated from England to New Zealand.

Biography

Stephen as born in 1835. He was the son of Saul Brighting and Mary Ann Weeber.

He was baptised on 31 May 1835 at Saint James, Westminster, London, England^[1].

England and Wales Census, 1851: Living with his parents and four siblings at Saint Georges Hanover Square, Middlesex, England. Aged 15.

Occupation: Cordwainer

He married Mary Ann Blow on 27 September 1856 at Saint Helier, Bailiwick of Jersey.

They had about nine children:

1. George (b. 1857)
2. William Henry (b. 1859, d. 1907)
3. Stephen Saul (b. 1861)
4. Mary Ann (b. 1864)
5. Emily (b. 1866, d. 1922)
6. Lucy (b. 1868, d. 1937)
7. John Charles (b. 1870, d. 1935)
8. Jane Elizabeth (b. 1873)
9. Albert (b. 1875, d. 1875)

Stephen and Mary Ann emigrated from England to New Zealand in 1860, traveling on the barque Minerva. They arrived into Lyttleton on 27 February 1861^[2].

In New Zealand, he made a living as a fish hawker.

In the 1870-1871 NZ Electoral Rolls he was recorded at Sumner Road, Lyttelton, Town Sections 201, 202 and 203.

In the Canterbury, New Zealand, Provincial Rolls (1868-1874) he was recorded at Sumner Road, Christchurch.

Stephen was in and out of the court news for various petty and some serious offences, including drunkenness. In 1874 and 1877 he was charged with violently assaulting his wife.

In 1878 he was suspected of stealing a ladies' small gold hunting-lever watch from the dwelling of Rachel Herns, Avonville, Christchurch. Stephen was described as a bottle-gatherer and fish-hawker, aged 43, 5 feet 8 inches high, stout build with fresh complexion, brown hair, beard, whiskers, and moustache, large nose.

He passed away in 1878 at the age of about 42 after he drowned in the Avon River, after becoming intoxicated.

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

STAR (CHRISTCHURCH), ISSUE 3092, 2 MARCH 1878, PAGE 2:

DEATH BY DROWNING.— As two men named Francis Fahye and Michael Cosgrove, who are employed by the contractor for keeping the river clear of weeds, were yesterday following their occupation in a boat, about 75 yards from the Colombo street bridge, they discovered the body of a man floating in the centre of the river. It was at once removed to the shore, where it was identified as being the body of Stephen Saul Brighting, a well known fishhawker. It appears that the deceased, who did not live on very good terms with his wife, had left his home near the South Town Belt about nine o'clock on Thursday morning. He had been drinking somewhat heavily for the past fortnight, and seems on that day to have visited several public houses in town, About five o'clock in the evening he was seen by two lads sitting near the river's edge in Cambridge terrace, 50 yards from the bridge— some 25 yards from the spot where the body was found. At that time he was considerably the worse for drink, and no doubt he slipped off the bank, which is here very steep, while the water in the immediate vicinity is some five feet deep. The body was removed to the morgue at the Hospital. An inquest will be held upon it this afternoon. Deceased was about 50 years of age, and leaves a wife and six children.^[3]

Burial

Addington Cemetery, Addington, Christchurch City, Canterbury, New Zealand. PLOT: Block 0. Plot 462A^[4]

Sources

1. ↑ "England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JWMK-QFS : 30 December 2014, Stephen Saul Brighting, 08 May 1835); citing SAINT JAMES,WESTMINSTER,LONDON,ENGLAND, index based upon data collected by the Genealogical Society of Utah, Salt Lake City; FHL microfilm 1,042,311.
2. ↑ https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/LT18610302.2.5
3. ↑ https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/TS18780302.2.9
4. ↑ Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/141114455/stephen-saul-brighting), memorial page for Stephen Saul Brighting (8 May 1835–3 Mar 1878), Find a Grave Memorial ID 141114455, citing Addington Cemetery, Addington, Christchurch City, Canterbury, New Zealand ; Maintained by Southern Man (contributor 48043025)

• NZ BDM Death Records Online: Registration No: 1878/1132 | Family Name: Brighting | Given Name(s): Stephen Saul | Age at Death: 44Y | https://www.bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/Search

Census Records

• "England and Wales Census, 1851," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:SGTD-TGN : 12 September 2019), Stephen Brighting in household of Lane Brighting, Saint Georges Hanover Square, Middlesex, England; citing Saint Georges Hanover Square, Middlesex, England, p. 43, from "1851 England, Scotland and Wales census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing PRO HO 107, The National Archives of the UK, Kew, Surrey.