Albert Philpott
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Original information:
This could be Adolphus, Andrew or Albert. Brothers Isaac and John Philpott migrated with their wives, Mary and Jane, and in all there were 13 Philpotts on the Randolph. Three are in the photo. Isaac and Mary had four children under 10 on board (baby Harriett was born and died on the voyage). John and Jane had five children under 10.
Isaac initially worked as a sawyer in Riccarton Bush. He then bought an acre of bush at Papanui for felling, He cut timber from the “Maori Bush’’ at Kaiapoi, and bought land at St Albans and Harewood. He had a horse-powered and then a steam-powered threshing machine. He was a member of the North Avon Road Board, and Philpotts Road is named after the family.
Adolphus (5) was the third son of John and Jane. He farmed in North Loburn. Albert Miles (9; 1841-1917) was the son of Isaac and Mary. He was a boundary shepherd for John MacFarlane, carted timber for his father and worked as a contractor. He bought a farm in St Albans, and had a large family.
Readers’ response:
According to a family member, this is Albert Philpott, 2 son of Isaac William Philpott. Albert was born at Borton, Kent, England, in 1841. After attending school in Christchurch, he worked as a boundary shepherd for John MacFarlane, of Loburn, for 18 months, and at various other places until he was 25. He then joined his father in carting timber from Christchurch to the Bealey and Craigieburn.
He continued at that and general farm work until his marriage in 1868, when he bought an 87-acre property in St Albans for £1300. Albert drained the land and used it for general farming and dairying. He also made some of the main streets in Sumner and many roads in Christchurch, and worked on the Gladstone pier and the dry dock in Lyttelton.
For many years Albert was a member of the Avon Road Board and chairman of the Papanui Domain Board. He was also a trustee of the Wesleyan Church of St Albans. He married Rhonda Rapley, who arrived on the Minerva in 1853. The couple had 13 children. 2
Footnotes:
1. Kathleen Holder, unpublished family history
2. The Cyclopedia of New Zealand, p392 − extract supplied by Kathleen Holder