Hoosum: Blatherum

BATTLE OF VIMEIRA 
(Wikipedia)

One of the most colourful characters in the Port Phillip District was Joseph William Hooson. He arrived in 1836 and was a resident here until his death in 1852. A head injury he received during his military service caused him to babble incessantly which earned him the nick-name in Melbourne of ‘Blatherum.’

Little is known of Hooson’s early life. From his given age at the time of his death he would have been born about 1782, but when he enlisted in the 2/9th Regiment of Foot on 15 January 1807 he was described as being a boy. He served in the Peninsular War which began in 1807 when Napoleon invaded Portugal. Spain, which had initially sided with Napoleon, was then invaded and their royal family deposed in favour of Napoleon’s brother, who became King José the First of Spain. Britain then joined Portugal and Spain in their fight to regain control of the Iberian Peninsular.

A medal that Hooson received in 1849 credited him as having participated in the Battles of Vimeira (21 August 1808); Corrunna (16 January 1809); the Siege of Badajoz (16 March 1812 to 6 April 1812); and the Battles of Vittoria (21 June 1813), St. Sebastian (5 May 1813) and Nive (10 December 1813 to 14 December 1813). During his service he rose to the rank of Sergeant.

On 22 January 1828 he married Sophia Obee at St. George’s Church of England, Hanover Square, London, England by Banns. All went well for a short time but a Police Report which was published in late January in a number of newspapers including “The Times”describes what happened next:

“MARY-LE-BONE OFFICE – Joseph William Hooson, a working engineer, was charged by Sophia Obee, a smart young woman, with bigamy. It was stated in evidence, that the prisoner and the complainant saw each other for the first time on Christmas day. He represented himself to be single – made love to her, and, after a courtship of 28 days, she consented to become his wife, and they were married on the 22nd inst. at St. George’s church, Hanover-square. Seven days, including the wedding-day, were passed by them without interruption, at No. 10, Edward-street, Langham-place; but on the 8th a former wife, to whom he was married ten years before, at Winchester, came to their lodging and claimed him as her own. He was immediately given into custody of the bell-ringer of All Souls’ Church, and brought to the Office; and yesterday he was remanded until Tuesday, that the marriage certificate produced by his apparently real wife may be verified.”

There does not seem to have been a follow-up article in the newspapers, but the Parish Registers of St. Peter Cheesehill in the Parish of Winchester, Hampshire has a record of the marriage of Joseph Hooson and Mary Leven on 7 December 1818. How Hooson gained his release and how the matter was resolved is not known but it was Sophia Obee who accompanied Hooson to Australia as his wife.

Hooson travelled to Australia on the 203 ton barque “Guardian” (Capt. G. Sinclair) with his wife, Sophia, and son, James William Hooson. They arrived at Sydney, New South Wales on 20 January 1833 from London (4 September 1832) via the Cape of Good Hope (3 December 1832). Here Hooson worked as an engineer for John Edye Manning, Esq. He was also one of the promoters of the ‘Australian Steam Conveyance Company’ which planned to run a steamship between Sydney and Parramatta.

In August 1834 Hooson was awarded a £400 contract to remove the hull of the “Ann Jamieson” which had caught fire and blown up at King’s Wharf in Sydney and was subsequently causing a hazard to shipping. He was also promised the assistance of forty men from the Government, and all the cables, anchors, chains, boats, pulleys, etc. in the dockyard that he might want. He initially had plans to raise the hull by atmospheric pressure, then considered the use of a powerful magnet of about 200 horse power as there was still a large quantity of her cargo of iron and steel in the hull. Though he succeeded in retrieving part of the cargo he did not succeed in raising the hull and the contract passed to someone else.

“NSW Government Gazette” – 21 September 1836
(Trove)

In September 1836 he was appointed to be a Constable at the new settlement at Port Phillip under Captain William Lonsdale of the 4th King’s Own Regiment. They arrived at Melbourne with two other new constables in late September 1836 on “H.M.S. Rattlesnake.”His service at Port Phillip appears to have been satisfactory until November 1837 when he accepted a ten shilling bribe from a prisoner named James Murphy to release him from the gaol two days before his one month sentence was completed. On learning of this Captain Lonsdale dismissed Hooson from his position.

At Melbourne’s first land sale on 1 June 1837 Hooson bought a block of land (Section 4, Lot 12) for £22. This was located near the south-west corner of Collins and Elizabeth Streets.

In January 1840 Hooson was named as the engineer for the newly formed ‘Steam Mill Company’ which planned to acquire three acres of land on the south bank of the River Yarra and acquire machinery from the Circular Head Company in Van Diemens Land.

By 1841 Hooson’s wife was running a Boarding House in Melbourne. The 1841 census shows there to have been, in addition to Hooson, his wife and son, 6 adult males and 2 adult females residing there. Redmond Barry, the barrister, is said to have stayed there when he first arrived at Melbourne.

In June 1841 Hooson was acting as Bailiff of the the Court of Requests in Melbourne. When, in November 1841, he was indicted for trying to collect additional monies than were owed to the Court in order to cover his expenses it was Redmond Barry who defended him.

There were numerous newspaper articles written about him in the 1840s describing events such as court cases, accidents, assaults, etc. He led a very eventful existence.

In 1845 Hooson was appointed Poundkeeper at Taraville in Gippsland and worked there for about a year before being dismissed on 1 April 1846 for being absent from Gippsland. As he had not received any payment for his services, and had even erected a pound there at considerable expense to himself, he commenced legal proceedings in the Court of Quarter Sessions. As his initial appointment had, by some mistake, not been properly proclaimed in the Government Gazette, he lost the case. However, when the Governor of New South Wales, Sir Charles Fitz Roy visited Melbourne in March 1849 he tried once again to obtain payment, as was reported in the “Argus” newspaper:

“BLATHERUM AND THE GOVERNOR – On Wednesday evening Mr. J. W. Hooson presented a petition to his Excellency the Governor, praying for compensation for his services in Gipps Land as Poundkeeper during the period of twelve months, for which he has as yet received no renumeration. Sir Charles, who was accompanied by his Honor the Superintendent, promised to attend to the matter. Mr. Hooson informed his Excellency that they had seen each other before, when they encamped together at Quatre Bras, the day before the battle of Waterloo, when Sir Charles was Aid-de-Camp to General Lambert, and held the rank of Brigade Major under Brigadier General Gomm. Mr. Hooson concluded a long story about the Peninsular War, by saying “Blow me, Governor, if we were’nt two handsome fellows then; but we’re getting old now. As for this fellow (pointing at Mr. La Trobe) he’s a recruit – I don’t know him.” His Excellency seemed amused with Mr. Hooson’s eccentricity, but afraid of a repetition of the scene, once more promised to think of the petition, and retired. Mr. Hooson describes the Governor as “a brick,” like all true soldiers.”&

“BLATHERUM AND THE GOVERNOR – We understand that His Excellency the Governor before his departure from Melbourne instituted an enquiry into the claim for compensation for his fruitless Gipps Land poundkeeping, which Mr. Joseph William Hooson, in his own eccentric style, preferred to His Excellency at the door of the Royal Hotel, and that finding the claim morally if not legally just, His Excellency has directed the solicited compensation to be given.”

On 19 September 1849 Mrs. Sophia Hooson died at her residence in Little Bourke Street, Melbourne, aged 64 years. After a service at St. Peter’s Church of England she was buried in the Old Melbourne Cemetery. The notice of her death in the “Argus” claimed her to have been the first Englishwoman who arrived in the settlement of Port Phillip.

On 21 November 1849 Hooson received a silver medal for his services in the Peninsular War under General Moore and the Duke of Wellington. It bore his name on the rim, and on the obverse side there was an alto-relievo of Queen Victoria. On the reverse was shown the personification of Victory crowning the ‘Iron Duke.’ To the medal was affixed a clasp bearing the names of the battles in which he had fought.

Joseph William Hooson re-married on 24 September 1851 at St. James Church of England, Melbourne to Ann Miller, a widow.

Hooson died on 4 December 1852 in Melbourne and after a service at St. James’ Church of England was buried in the Old Melbourne Cemetery. The Burial Register incorrectly gives his surname as Wilson, states his age to have been 70 years, and that he had been a Sergeant of the 11th/9th Lancers.

Contributed by Alexander Romanov-Hughes – PPPG Member No. 152