John Holder Worgan (1835-1907). (Parish Records)

by jhopkins , Thursday, August 05, 2021, 00:32 (988 days ago) @ PamChilds1

Kia ora Pam - from Christchurch NZ.

We seem to be swimming in John Worgans. There was one who served in WW1 (I think he was resident on the West Coast where there is a branch of the Worgan family). He was shot, but was saved by the bullet hitting his identity disk. His personal account of this is on Papers Past, but I have also seen another account of his service in a West Coast newspaper, accompanied by his photograph. I'm sorry I don't have a copy - I have been concentrating on the Hopkins family rather than the Worgans.

There is another John Holder Worgan, whose obituary is in The Press in 1933 as follows:
"The death occurred recently at the age of 47 years of Mr John Holder Worgan. Born in the Forest of Dean, Lydney, Gloucester, in 1886, Mr Worgan arrived at Lyttelton with his parents in 1896. He was educated at the Lyttelton District School and for some years was a member of the choir at Holy Trinity Church, Lyttelton. For many years he was in the dentistry business with his brother in Cashel street, and during the last 10 years was employed on the travelling staff of A. J. White, Ltd. Mr Worgan was once well known in musical circles and possessed a fine baritone voice. He married in 1920 Miss Minnie Elizabeth Bland, daughter of the late Mr Thomas Bland, of Island Bay, Wellington, who survives him. He leaves one son, John Holder, also his sister, Mrs E. H. Davies, Albany street, and his brother, Mr Jesse Worgan, Chester street."

So this John Holder was not a child of John Holder Worgan and Janetta Hopkins. However the link to Lyttelton is probably significant. It looks like an example of chain migration from the Forest of Dean, as happened with my family (who settled around Saltwater Creek).
John