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FOURTH GENERATION
94. Mary Ann Sayer
(29) was born on 7 Jul 1837 in
Saham Toney, Norfolk, England. She was christened on 13 Aug 1837 in Saham
Toney, Norfolk, England. She died on 12 May 1900 in Torquay, Tasmania,
Australia. She was buried in East Devonport, Tasmania, Australia.
She was married to William Holyman on 15 Dec 1855 in Torquay, Tasmania,
Australia. William Holyman(29) was born on 17 Dec 1833 in Barton,
Lincolnshire, England. He was christened on 21 Dec 1833 in St. Peter,
Barton, Lincolnshire, England. He died on 18 Aug 1919 in Torquay,
Tasmania, Australia. He was buried in East Devonport, Tasmania, Australia.
He was a Master mariner.
Australian Dictionary of Biography; William Holyman (1833-1919), master
mariner and ship owner, was born on 17 December 1833 at Barton upon
Humber, Lincolnshire, England. His parents took him to Hull where his
training for maritime service commenced at Trinity House School. His
father was lost at sea in 1839. In 1847 Holyman began his apprenticeship
on a coastal ship trading out of Hull. He completed his articles in 1854
and then joined the barque Elizabeth Ratcliffe, sailing to Launceston
where she berthed on 12 June. Holyman left his ship to join the schooner
Victory, sailing between Victorian and Tasmanian ports. In 1855 he
transferred to the coastal trader Amelia Francis (Captain William
Chapman).
On 15 December Holyman and Chapman married daughters of James Sayer at
Devonport, Holyman to Mary Ann; they had three sons and a daughter.
Holyman settled at Devonport and worked the barges owned by his
father-in-law In 1861 he returned to active command in
the ketch Cousins. Ten years of profitable trading in her on the north
coast of Tasmania encouraged him to buy the paddle-steamer Annie in 1871.
This venture was not a success and she was sold in 1873, discouraging
Holyman from further use of steamships for many years. All his sons
qualified as master mariners and in turn commanded ships which were added
to the fleet of the family company, William Holyman & Sons. In 1882
the company registered their ships as the White Star Line. In 1883
Holyman's only daughter Susannah married Harry Wood, a shipbuilder at
Devonport. This added an important service to the Holyman company, which
later bought several ships for enlargement at Wood's shipyard. Holyman
retired from the sea in 1886 and visited England with his wife. He then
gave his full attention to management of the company, to his interest in
music, reading biblical history and community affairs. He was an active
founder of the district library and Chamber of
Commerce and was elected to the town board, later becoming its chairman.
He was a prominent Freemason and Oddfellow and a member of the Protestant
Alliance Federation. After his wife died in 1900, the management of the
company was again revised with William, the second son, assuming the
management of the company from his father and transferring its head office
to Launceston. The company continued to expand its fleet and its
operations. In 1911 they bought automobiles to carry mail from Launceston
to Beauty Point, the first regular mail service by motor car in Tasmania;
pastoral estates of 27,000 acres were also developed on the islands of
Bass Strait. Later the company inaugurated a commercial airline. Holyman
senior died at his home in East Devonport on 18 August 1919, survived by
his three sons, a daughter, thirty-one grandchildren and eighteen
greatgrandchildren. His son William died aged 63 at Launceston on 29
September 1921, leaving an estate of 57,155 pounds to his wife Honora,
four sons and five daughters.
Ships that have been wrecked,that have a connection with the Holymans;
ORION (S.S): Crew of fourteen departed Duck River on the north west coast
of Tasmania on 7 May 1908 but was not seen again. Built 1900, 214 tons,
123.9 X 21.5 X 10.2 feet.
AWAROA (S.S): This Tasmanian ship sprang a leak 12 miles south of Cape
Liptrap on 25 July 1925 and was eventually a bandoned. The crew of 13 were
rescued by the S.S.
Huntingdon. Master was Capt. Holyman. Built 1904, 139 X 25.4 X 13.3 feet.
ARISTIDES: Lost on Three Hummock Island in Bass Strait on 17 Jan. 1940.
Built in 1902, wooden vessel of 188 tons. 100.4 X 22.3 X 6.8 feet. Owned
by W.Holyman and Sons.
PAULINE: After losing hers sails in a gale she was driven on to Horseshoe
Reef off the north coast of Tasmania. The crew lashed themselves to the
rigging, then in the morning reached Wright's Island on a hastily
constructed raft. 1 August 1889. Wooden ketch of 21 tons built in
Launceston in 1877. 47 X 15 X 5.2 feet. Owner-Master W. Holyman sen.
G.V.H. (Grace Victoria Holyman): Capsized off Cape Barren Island on 13 O
ctober 1895 with the loss of five lives. Built by Harry Wood in 1886 she
was a ketch of 14 tons. 48 X 12.8 X 4.4 feet.
KELPIE: On 7 September 1897 after purchasing S.S. Kelpie from the
Melbourne Shipping Co., Capt. Holyman with a crew of two set out to cross
Bass Strait. About an hour after passing through Port Phillip Heads the
Kelpie sprang a leak and foundered within ten minutes. The crew took to
the boat with only one tin of beef and no water, but hoisting a blanket on
the paddle crossed the Strait in 74 hours, arriving safely at Penguin,
Tas. Wooden steamship of 13 tons, built at Williamstown in 1868. 58.6 X 10
X 4 feet .
ERSKINE: Forced ashore and became a wreck at Mussel Roe Bay on the
Tasmanian north-west coast on 20 Dec. 1935. The crew of six reached
safety. Built in Geelong in 1922, a wooden ketch of 89 tons. 88.8 X 23 X
7.2 feet. Valued at 5,000 pounds a nd owned by W. Holyman when lost.
TOROA (S.S.): Bound from Launceston to the Furneaux Group in the eastern
approaches to Bass Strait with passengers and mixed cargo which included
horses and sheep, when it struck a reef off the west coast o f Rabbit
Island on 12 April 1916 and became a total wreck. Built in 1889, steel
steamer of 338 tons 140 X 24.2 X 10 feet. Owned by W.Holyman and Sons
Ltd., registered in Melbourne, Master was Capt. Cartwright. She is
probably best remembered for her historical voyage to the Antarctic to
rendezvous with the Aurora in Dec. 1911 with supplies for Mawson.
LEMAEL: After being battered for days by terrible gales which carried away
her mainmast and left her helpless, the schooner Lemae l was cast upon a
reef near Cape Banks S.A. on 21 July 1921, while on a voyage from
Tasmanian ports to Adelaide with timber. Two of the crew drifted ashore on
a plank and set out for help, while the others remained onboard until she
began to break up. All reached safety. Master Capt. Holyman, wooden vessel
of 98 tons built in 1892 . 101.7 X 26.3 X 7.7 feet.
COLLIBOI: Beached at Woolnorth Point near Sandy Cape Tasmania on 26 August
1932 after springing a leak and could not be refl oated. Parts of her
engines, collapsed boilers and timbers were visible on the beach for more
than 50 years. Built at Balmain in 1917, wooden vessel of 310 tons, 130.6
X 25.8 X 9.4 feet. Owned by W. Holyman and Sons.
AMY: On a voyage from Launceston to St. Helens Tasmania, she was stranded
while crossing the bar inwards on 11 feb. 19 11 and could not be
refloated. Wooden steamer of 73 tons built at Pyremont NSW in 1875 and
rebuilt by Harry Woods at Devonport in 1898. 96.6 X 15. 1 X 6.5 feet.
Captain William Holyman was born in Barton, Lincolnshire, came Van
Dieman's Land on the barque Elizabeth Ratcliffe with a cargo of building
materials and arrived in Launceston in June, 1854. At Torquay later in
1855 he married Mary Ann Sayer. They lived at "The Hamlet" near
Robert Stewart's sawmill. All the houses and the mi ll have disappeared.
Capt. Holyman built his house, "Barton Villa", in the 1860's. It
is still standing at 71 Wright Street, East Devonport. He had three sons
and a daughter. As each son reached the age of twelve years he went to sea
wit h his father. The sons, Thomas, William and James, all had their homes
at Torquay in the early days. "Barton Villa" was demolished on
1st March, 1972.
Mary Ann Sayer and William Holyman had the following children:
 +235
i. Thomas Henry
Holyman.
+236
ii. William Holyman.
+237
iii. Sussanah Holyman.
+238
iv. James Holyman. |