Dr. John Waddington HUBBARD MD 1823 - 1871
First child of Samuel HUBBARD and Sarah WADDINGTON
Born 4am, 10th July 1823 Free School Lane, Leicester.
Baptised 13 July 1823 by the Revd. Stewart, Curate (at home) and 'Christened' 30th October 1824 in the parish church (All Saints.)
This possibly means he was a sick baby and had emergency baptism - or that the clergy had a local custom private baptism followed by a public celebration.
See the Book of Common Prayer which advocates the administration of infant baptism within the first or second Sunday after their birth.
From an old family bible:
"Godfathers - Grandfather John Hubbard and Uncle Waddington
"Godmothers - Mrs. Capt. Shoads and Grandmother Hubbard (Margaret KNOWLAND)."
Uncle Waddington could have been one of five uncles - 'we don't know which one!'
Died 15th June 1871 Funchal, Madeira. Buried in the old part of the English Cemetery, Funchal
Married Emma EVANS (1828 - 1905) on 10 January 1856 at St Mary Abbots Church, Kensington
Children:
1 Arthur John HUBBARD 1856 - 1935
2 George HUBBARD 1859 - 1936
3 Mary HUBBARD 1860 - 1865
4 Frances HUBBARD 1862 - 1919
5 Emma HUBBARD 1863 - 1891
From Notes on the Family of Phelps of Madeira by Frances Ann Roper (née Hubbard) sent to Mr Noël Cossart of Funchal in 1956.
In 1870 John Waddington Hubbard contracted tuberculosis and was invited by the Phelpses to come and stay with them in Madeira, as in the case of his brother in law George Evans, a quarter of a century earlier. However the same sad story repeated itself, and my grandfather is buried in the English Cemetery, the tablet to his memory standing at the side of that in memory of George Evans.
He died on the 15th of June 1871, leaving my grandmother with four small children.
Memorial at The English Cemetery, Funchal, Madeira.
In memory of
John Waddington Hubbard
of 16 Kensington Square London
Born July 10th 1823
Died at Funchal June 15th 1871
From Victorian Hangover by Frances Ann Roper (née Hubbard)
My grandmother was born at Market Bosworth soon after her father, the Rev. Arthur Benoni Evans, had been appointed to the Head Mastership of the Grammar school there. Some twenty five years later a new young doctor came to take over the practice in the district, and. the following story has been told to me.
The first Christmas that the new doctor [JOHN WADDINGTON HUBBARD] was in the village, my great-grandparents felt it would be a pretty gesture to invite him to dinner. He then, for the first time, met Emma, an exceptionally beautiful and talented girl, for whom her parents had very high aspirations in the matrimonial direction.
At dinner the two young people pulled the merry-thought according to tradition. The authentic superstition in connection with this ceremony is that if pulled by two unmarried persons, the one who gets the knob at the end of the bone will be the first to be married. On this occasion the incredible happened. The knob at the end split neatly up the centre, leaving an equal piece on the end of each of the two prongs. This is an extremely rare occurrence, and according to the superstition obviously means that the two people pulling the merry-thought are destined to be married simultaneously. As, in this case, the two people concerned were of opposite sex, what more natural than that the oracle should portend their marrying each other? However, this was their first meeting, and Emma’s parents had far higher ambitions for her than a village doctor, however delightful and well-bred, so the family placed no importance on a mere merry-thought.
But, superstition or no superstition, that merry-thought had told the truth, for eventually, and despite strong family opposition, Emma married the doctor, and their married life, though tragically brief, was one of ideal happiness.
