Stu's Stories as at 2024

Charles Thomas Hewett Much has been written about Charles Thomas Hewett by other members of the Hewett family. Therefore this will only be an abridged story of his life, extracted from the family books, "History of Charles Thomas Hewett and His Second Child", and "Four Hewetts Venture North". Charles Thomas was baptised 14 June, 1795, South Pool, Devon, England, which indicates he was probably born in 1794 or early 1795. (Most records of the time only recorded baptisms.) He was the fourth son of John Hewett (yeoman farmer, and a rope maker for church bells) and Mary Ann Torr, daughter of another Devon farmer. At 17 he was appointed clerk of a fishery in Labrador. During the first year he was appointed manager, a position he held for nine years. During this period he travelled twice to America and Canada. It is reported that on one occasion, while returning from America, the Captain of the vessel died. None of the officers understood navigation, so Charles took over the log and navigated the ship safely home. This experience was apparently repeated on another occasion when returning from Newfoundland. The rigours of life in Labrador began to affect his health, so he returned to Dartmouth, in Devon, where he set up a business as a wholesale and retail butcher. He became Superintendent of the St Peters Church Sunday School where he met, and later married, Hannah Jane Moore. After the birth of their first three children they moved to Cornworthy, where they leased Coombe Farm, just outside Ashprington. It was here that Charles Shallum (my g-grandfather) was born. Charles Thomas was a man of strong political opinions, as can been seen from reading the history of his life in England and later in South Australia. The research done by the Hewett Family Reunion Committee is enormous, and gives a glimpse, not only of the man Charles Thomas Hewett, but of the difficult times in which they lived in England. It was England’s repressive laws which decided the fate of the family history in Australia. P a g e | 116