Our Hofmann Ancestors Version 24 Sean A. IRVINE Valerie WILLIAMS [email protected] b.1932-12-01 181 Boyd Road d.2011-02-11 RD 1 Hamilton 3281 New Zealand October 29, 2018 Acknowledgments The following people have directly contributed information: Sandie BAIN, Chris BENNETT, Mer- lene BENSEMANN, Amanda BORTONE, Lee COATSWORTH, Trish CORNEY, Sarah CULLEN, Judy DAWSON-WOODS, Nerolee DEVERY, Julia FOOTE, Glenys FRASER, Linda GEORGE, Rebecca HOBBS, David HOFFMAN, Heather HOFFMAN, John HOFFMAN, Judy and Stephen HOFFMAN, Nicky HOFFMAN, Tracey HOFFMAN, Karyn HOFMANN, Malcolm HOFMANN, Paul HOFMANN, Sharman HOFMANN, Sue HUNTER, Bill and Bev IRVINE, Graeme KENYON, Annie LA HOGUE, Jess MALIGIERI, Keith McMECKING, Anna NEWLAND, Liz O’SULLIVAN, Janice ROBINSON, Helen and Les SNOWBALL, Laraine SOLE, Barbara and Bernie WAY, Colleen WHETTON, Jane WHITTON-DU FEU, Nicky WILLIAMS, Kay WYATT. 1 Introduction This document is a summary of information we have collected about Carl HOFMANN and Sophia Charlotte Elizabeth STEINHAUSER¨ and their descendants. This couple arrived in Nelson, New Zealand, in 1858, promptly married and set about making a family. The pursuit of family connections is an addictive activity with many tempting side- tracks. Our family history will always remain a work in progress with new avenues to explore and new achievements by family members. As you read through, you will find places where information is incomplete or where additional detail could be given. Please forward such snippets to us, so they can be included in future versions for the benefit of everyone. In order to keep some focus, we have concentrated on Carl, Sophia, and their immedi- ate descendants. The full set of descendants, numbering over 600 people, contains many people who have achieved in a variety of activities as well as a few tragedies. In time we hope to add further notable stories about subsequent generations of the family. We have tried to maintain a clear separation between speculation and fact. This is not always so simple, because even official written records are not error free. In our family, a particular complication is the multiple spellings of HOFMANN and the fact that our ancestors freely meddled with the order and spelling of their first names. Sophia is a good example, her name is rendered many different ways with different combinations of her first names. It appears that, in New Zealand, she mostly went by the name Eliza or Elizabeth, but because of the number of other Elizabeths in the family, we have opted to use the less ambiguous Sophia. Figure 1 shows the extent of these variations. In accordance with usual 1 genealogical convention we have capitalized surnames except when quoting directly from other sources. In previous versions of this document, “HOFFMAN” was used in the title, since this was the spelling used by my immediate family. However, from version 20 onwards the spelling “HOFMANN” has been adopted in the title, to better reflect the spelling used by Carl. Sophia Charlotte Elise STEINHAUSER¨ 1858 Marriage cert. Sophia Charlotte Elise HOFMANN 1859 Birth cert. of Anna Dorothea Elisabeth HOFMANN Sophia HOFMANN 1860 Birth cert. of Anna Frederike Charlotte HOFMANN Sophia Charlotte STEINHAUSER 1861 Naturalization record Sophia HOFMANN 1863 Birth cert. of Henriette Margretta Elizabeth HOFMANN Eliza HOFMANN 1865 Birth cert. of Olga Catherina Margaretta HOFMANN Eliza HOFMANN 1867 Birth cert. of Charles William Dietrich HOFMANN Elizabeth HOFMAN 1896 Electoral roll Sophie Charlotte HOFMANN 1870 Birth cert. of Anna Magdalena HOFMANN Sophie Elizabeth HOFMANN 1871 Birth cert. of Marie Louise Magdalena Emilia HOFMANN Sophie Charlotte Elizabeth HOFMANN 1874 Birth cert. of Friedrick August Gottleib HOFMANN Sophia Elizabeth HOFMANN 1880 Birth cert. of Alfred Joseph HOFMANN Elizabeth HOFFMAN 1890 Marriage cert. of Charles William Dietrich HOFFMAN Charlotte Sophie Elizabeth STEINHAUSER 1896 Marriage cert. of Anna Magdalena HOFFMAN Charlotte Sophy Elizabeth HOFFMANN 1899 Pension award (newspaper article) Elizabeth HOFMAN 1900 Electoral roll Charlotte Sophia Elizabeth STEINHAUSER 1902 Death cert. of Carl HOFMANN Charlotte Sophia Elizabeth STEINHAUSER 1915 Death cert. of Anna Frederike Charlotte HOFMANN Sophia Charlotte Elizabeth HOFMANN 1919 Electoral roll Elizabeth 1920 Headstone on her grave Elizabeth Sophia HOFFMANN 1920 Death cert. Sophia Charlotte Elisabeth HOFMANN 1950 Death cert. of Anna Dorothea Elisabeth HOFMANN Elisabeth HOFMANN 1959 Death cert. of Joseph Alfred HOFMANN Figure 1: Various renderings of Sophia’s name. Valerie was a great-granddaughter of Carl and Sophia and collected HOFMANN family information for over thirty years. Her collection comprised material obtained from her Aunt Bessie, the Nelson Museum, and many individual family members. Val had four children and five grandchildren. Sean is a great-great-great-grandson of Carl and Sophia and father of two of the newer family members. Dates in this documented are formatted according to the ISO convention of YYYY- MM-DD. 2 German Immigration It comes as no surprise to learn that our HOFMANN ancestors originated in present day Germany. At the time of Carl’s birth in 1830 the region he lived in was actually part of Prussia. Therefore, it is more precise to refer to the family origins as Prussian. Prussia did not become a formal part of the German Empire until about 1867. Nevertheless, it is usual practice to refer to immigrants from this region as German. In 1813, Friedrich III of Prussia created an official state church which became known as the Union Church. The Lutheran church was officially abolished in 1823 and by 1830 a new ‘Agenda’ was made compulsory in all churches. As a result, many Lutherans emigrated so they could continue to practice their faith. In 1840, Wilhelm IV abolished the ‘Agenda’ allowing old religious practices to resume, but the emigration continued for many years 2 afterward. The early 1800s were also a time of war, poverty, and famine in Prussia due to constant battles with Napoleon’s French Empire. Once some of members of a family became established in a colony it was common to send for relatives and assist in their emigration. Most German emigration was to the United States because this was a shorter and cheaper trip. Nevertheless, many German’s did emigrate to Australia and New Zealand. In 1843, the ship Sankt Pauli arrived in Nelson with 140 German immigrants. They settled in the Moutere area, just south of Nelson. The settlers were mainly Lutheran Protes- tants and a few Bavarian Catholics. The colony struggled and by 1844 many of the original immigrants had left the area. Those who remained were bolstered by the arrival of the Ski- old in September 1844. In August 1845, a large number of the remaining immigrants left for Australia on the Palmyra. It was not until the 1850s that immigrants began returning to the area. Some of those who had gone to Australia returned and they were joined by other immigrants arriving on several different ships. See The Road to Sarau: From Germany to Upper Moutere [2] and The Extended Com- munity [5] for general information about the colony and other early German settlers. Nel- son: A History of Early Settlement [1] also contains a chapter devoted to German settlers. Pastor HEINE (who later performed the marriage ceremony for Carl and Sophia), came out on the Sankt Pauli. He wrote to the government listing the names of several German families he wanted to encourage to New Zealand. Carl was not on this list, although men- tion is made of Sophia’s relatives. The following extract from this letter indicates typical reasons for immigration: The first Germans who came to Adelaide were induced to emigrate on account of the violent suppression of the Luth. Church by the Prussian Government. After having suffered for several years incarceration and other hardships the opposers of the new organized state Church in Prussia were allowed to emigrate. Two Parishes went with their Ministers to Adelaide, which they effected by the assistance of friends who advanced to them money for the outfit, but which they repaid within a few years. When the Country and resources of Adelaide became known in Germany two mer- chants established a regular Emigration thence. I believe that a similar large Emigration from Germany to New Zealand may now be opened after the Land question becomes settled, if the Country and its resources is made properly known there. The full letter is reproduced in Section 19. 3 3 Carl and Sophia HOFMANN Carl HOFMANN b. 1830-06-28, Neuwied, Prussia – d. 1902-10-30, Upper Moutere Sophia Charlotte Elizabeth STEINHAUSER¨ b. 1833?, Dassow, Germany – d. 1920-07-08, Moutere Carl HOFMANN was born on 1830-06-28 in Neuwied, Prussia (part of present day Germany). It is likely, that he was born at the village Holzbach in Neuwied Province since this is where his father and grand-father were born. Alternatively, he could have been born in Neuwied town itself. His father was Johann Nicolaus HOFMANN and his mother Dorothea Phillippine LICHTFERS. It is likely that Carl had at least one other name, perhaps Johann, since it was normal German practice at that time to assign three or more first names. In New Zealand, Carl was sometimes referred to as Charles. There was some family belief that Sophia was a Belgian Jew, but this is not supported by official records. According to her death certificate, Sophia Charlotte Elizabeth STEIN- HAUSER was born about 1833 in Dassow, Germany. The place name is hard to read, but is Dassow, because on 1869-02-15 Carl HOFMANN and J. B. C. DUCKER lodged an ap- plication for assisted immigration to Nelson of a Frederick STEINHAUSER, of Dassow, Mecklenburg, Schwerin, Germany. An earlier 1856 nomination for assisted immigration by Carl HAMMERICH and F. HAMMERICH lists Frederich STEINHAUSER (adult), Lizzy (adult) and Mary (adult) of Dassow.