| Notes |
- Margaret Hill BELL , the daughter of Thomas & Mary HILL was baptisedin Belfast on the 2nd of October 1820 at St. Georges Church.
Book. Year 1844, Page 8, Memorial No, 2
A Memorial of a Deed of Indenture of a Settlement bearing the date 17April, 1844 between Walter Atkin of Atkinsville in the South Liberties ofCork City, Esq., Barrister at Law (this crops up later) of the I" partand Thomas Bell of the said city, spinster daughter of said Thomas Bellof 3rd part and James William Atkin the Younger of Atkinsville and SamuelBell of said City of Cork of the 4th part, reciting that marriage wasthen intended to be had and solemnized between the said Walter Atkin andMargaret Hill Bell.
Thomas Bell gave certain lands at Clonpriest, Co. Cork to them as aMarriage Settlement. Referred to in Memorial No. 86 on page 14 below as"Clonpriest".
On the 18th of April 1844 at St. Nicholas Church, Cork, MargaretHill BELL married Walter ATKIN, Barrister-at-law, the eldest son ofWalter ATKIN & Arabella DREW of Atkinville, Douglas, Cork.
Walter & Margaret ATKIN went to live in London. There on the 6th ofFebruary 1845 a daughter, Mary Hill ATKIN was born.
Walter, Margaret & their new daughter returned to Atkinville,Douglas where on the 27th July 1845 Mary Hill ATKIN was baptised at St.Luke's Church, Douglas in the presence of the ATKIN Family. (According tothe Baptismal Registers of Carrigaline Parish.)
Baptismal Register, St. Luke's Church, Carrigaline Parish, Douglas.
27 July 1845, Mary Hill dau of Walter & Margaret ATKIN of Atkinville.Born 6 Feb.
Walter & Margaret Hill ATKIN announced the birth of their only sonin the Southern Reporter, Cork on the 31st of March 1846. They namedhim Walter as had become the custom in the ATKIN family. Walter ATKIN wasborn on the 28th March 1846.
Southern Reporter, Cork, 31 March 1846.
'At Atkinville on the 28th inst. Mrs ATKIN of a son.'
Walter ATKIN Barrister-at-law moved his family & work to Dublin.The family lived in Wentworth Place and 27 Percy Place, in Dublin. Twomore daughters were born in Dublin. Margaret Hill ATKIN was baptised inDublin on the 22nd of November 1848 & Eleanor Harrison ATKIN was born andbaptized 1851 in St. Stephen's Church, Dublin.
Baptisms, St. Mark's Church of Ireland, Dublin.
'22 November 1848, Margaret Hill of Walter & Margaret Hill ATKIN ofWentworth Place, Barrister.'
Dublin Street Directory, 1850 by Henry SHAW.
ATKIN, Walter 4 Leinster Street, Barrister & Secretary to theDublin Trade Protection Society.
By now the ATKIN Family had made the decision to emigrate to theUnited States of America. In New York Walter & Margaret Hill ATKIN'sdaughter Annie Bell was born around 1854. Another daughter ElizabethATKIN was born about 1857 in Illinois, U.S.A.
By this time members of the ATKIN family had travelled west toChicago & Illinois areas. Maybe by now mother Arabella was missing herhomeland Ireland, as Arabella ATKIN accompanied by her son Walter, hiswife Margaret Hill & their family of six children returned to Englandbefore March 1858 when yet another child was born in London.
Victoria Rosetta Barbra ATKIN daughter of Walter & Margaret Hill,was born on the 25th of March 1858 at Banbury, Islington, Londonand baptised on the 12th of September 1858 at St.Botolph's withoutAldergate, London.
Surprisingly, Walter ATKIN, his wife Margaret Hill & their sevenchildren emigrated to Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, aboard the'Lincolnshire' arriving there in late March 1859.
Apart from meeting with his brothers John Drew & ChristopherMusgrave ATKIN, they also met up with the DREW family who were theircousins.
It appears from the constant changes of their residential addressesthat appeared on the Birth & Death Certificates of their children, thatlife was not easy for the family in Melbourne.
Arabella Drew ATKIN was born on the 20th of July 1860 at CardiganStreet, North Melbourne.
Tragedy struck the family when in 1861 their daughter Elizabeth whohad been born in Illinois, United States of America, died of 'scarlatina'on the 12th of June at Stanley Street, West Melbourne. Four year oldElizabeth was buried at the New Cemetery, Melbourne on the 13th of June1861.
Then the thirteen month old baby Arabella Drew ATKIN died ofbronchitis on the 8th of August 1861 at Peel Street, Hotham, Melbourne.She was buried at the New Cemetery on the 9th of August.
Margaret Hill ATKIN gave birth to Thomasina Catherine on the 14th ofApril 1862 at their rooms in Barry Street, Hotham Melbourne.
Sadly Thomasina Catherine ATKIN died at four months of age on the28th of January 1863 at 37 Victoria Street, Melbourne. She was laid torest at the New Cemetery, Melbourne on the 30th of January 1863.
On the 6th of March 1864 their last child, a daughter AlexandraATKIN was born at Victoria Street, Melbourne.
In some aspects their life in Melbourne would have been quitedifficult. Though it is not known whether Walter was successful as aBarrister-at-law there, it does not seem likely. Possibly he did havemeans of support from Ireland, however that seems doubtful as noagreements or Deeds have been found to suggest this. It is probable thatMargaret Hill ATKIN had been provided for by her father in the marriageagreement should Walter pre-decease her. This was the practice in thosedays. There was certainly some means of monetary support for MargaretHill ATKIN after Walter ATKIN died of pneumonia in March 1865.
It must have been a tremendous blow to the family when on the 6th ofMarch 1865, Walter ATKIN died of pneumonia at 31 Queensbury Street, NorthMelbourne. He was forty-eight years of age and had been ill for threeweeks. Walter died on the first birthday of his daughter Alexandra.
After only six years in Melbourne, Australia, Walter ATKIN was laidto rest in the General Cemetery, Melbourne, on the 7th of March 1865. Hepre-deceased his mother Arabella who died the following year, his wifeMargaret Hill and their seven surviving children.
How Margaret Hill ATKIN managed to support her young family can onlybe wondered about. By this time some of the children were working so somemoney was coming in. It must have been a very difficult period ofadjustment for Margaret Hill particularly, as she had been brought up ina gentile society very used to servants and the privileges, associatedwith the Landed Gentry in Ireland. How times had changed for them all.
It is evident in photographs taken in the 1880's that Margaret HillATKIN probably suffered from rheumatoid arthritis. Her hands are veryswollen around the knuckle areas and show the classic deformity. Thisgenetic arthritis is often stress related and has passed down throughfollowing generations of the family, alternatively from female to male.That Margaret had health problems after the upsets and problems that thefamily seemed to be enduring in Melbourne, was not at all surprising.
Eldest daughter Mary Hill ATKIN married Jean Arstide D'ASSONVILLE atthe Fitzroy Registrar's Office in Melbourne on the 6th of June 1868.Witnesses to the marriage were Henry WILD and Margaret Hill ATKIN. Mary'sprofession was given as 'lady' on the certificate so possibly she did notwork outside the home.( Margaret Hill ATKIN was probably the bride'smother, but could also have been her sister.)
Widowed Margaret Hill ATKIN became a grandmother in late 1868 whenMary Hill and Jean Arstide D'ASSONVILLE had a son named Louis Arstide.
Another marriage took place the following year. Second daughterMargaret Hill ATKIN married Thomas BLAIR at 5 Royal Terrace, Fitzroy,Melbourne on the 9th of October 1869. Thomas was a clerk and Margaret abookfolder by profession. Margaret's brother-in-law Arstide D'ASSONVILLEwas one of the witnesses to sign the register.
Seven weeks later on the 30th of November 1869 daughter EleanorHarrison ATKIN was wedded to John Morrison McREA, at the PresbyterianChurch at Emerald Hill, Melbourne. As Eleanor was just seventeen years ofage the written consent of her mother had to be obtained. The witnessesto the marriage were Thomas and Margaret BLAIR (sister of the bride).
In 1870 two more grandsons were born. Margaret Hill and ThomasBLAIR has a son called Thomas Walter BLAIR. Then Eleanor Harrison andJohn Morrison McREA welcomed Alexander McREA into the family.
Daughter Annie Bell ATKIN had moved to Sydney at some time and thereshe met and married her first husband. Marius Alexander LALCHE'RE andAnnie Bell ATKIN were married at St. Patrick's Catholic Church in Sydney,New South Wales, on the 3rd of January 1871.
Around 1870 son Walter ATKIN jnr. left Melbourne, Australia andsailed to the West Coast of the South Island of New Zealand, where goldhad been discovered. In Greymouth, he was to work at a news agency andon a newspaper called the "West Coast Times".
During the 1870's Margaret Hill ATKIN made the decision to return toEngland to live. This probably followed her son Walter's departure to NewZealand. It must have been very difficult to leave her married daughtersand grandchildren in Australia, knowing that she probably would never seethem again. Accompanied by her daughters Victoria Rosetta Barbra andAlexandra ATKIN she sailed back to England.
Margaret Hill ATKIN and her daughters Victoria and Alex (Alexandra)chose to reside in London, though at one stage they did go to Prestwick,Scotland. In the 1881 Census of London they were living at 10 EllingtonStreet, Islington, London.
A photograph of Margaret Hill ATKIN was taken, in 1882 in Prestwick,Scotland. Why she had been to Scotland we do not know.
Another photograph of Margaret was taken in 1886, by photographerW. WRIGHT in Stoke Newington, London, and sent to her son Walter who bynow was living in New Zealand.
Margaret Hill ATKIN, daughters Victoria and Alexandra continued tolive in London, though apart from knowing that Victoria was with hermother when she died in 1892, nothing more is known about the daughters.
On the 14th of August 1892 at Upper Park Street, Islington S.W.,London, Margaret Hill ATKIN died of bronchitis and exhaustion. She wasseventy-two years of age and had sailed the seas four times with herfamily, to America, back to England, to Australia and back to Englandagain. An admirable feat for a mother and wife in those days, especiallywhen one remembers the small, cramped sailing ships. Daughter VictoriaATKIN was with her at the time of her death.
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1820 - 1892 (~ 71 years)
