This excerpt from here:
http://www.celticcouncil.org.au/corn...istory%201.pdf
ties in with the newspaper excerpt about the housefire. The family had obviously already moved to NSW. It does however say that John Henry was born in Brazil!
In 1858, Josiah and Elizabeth Holman had five children, born either in Cornwall or at distant
places where Josiah’s mining work had taken the family.
Elizabeth Simmons Holman b.1842 Cornwall
John Henry Holman b.1846 Brazil
Emily Louisa Holman b.1849 Cornwall
Josiah Holman b.1853 Cornwall
Charles William Holman b.1857 Capetown, South Africa
Josiah and Elizabeth must have decided that the time was ripe to move to New Zealand.
Josiah had anticipated that the 1106 ton ship Caduceus would depart for New Zealand late in
January 1859 and made bookings for the seven of them.
Caduceus under the command of Captain Cass sailed from London on 13 February 1859 and
arrived in Auckland on 19 May 1859. Before he departed from Truro, Josiah Holman wrote a
letter dated 11 January 1859 to John Penrose Christoe indicating that he was departing from
Cornwall with his family and stated “I go out (to NZ) entirely on speculation and failing to get
a situation shortly after my arrival in that country I intend to begin as a farmer”.
After arriving Auckland, Josiah Holman again wrote to Christoe on 4 December 1859 explaining that he would be interested for Christoe to advise him “if anything worth while turns up in
NSW” at the new mines being developed in the area. Josiah found no employment in
Auckland and purchased what was described as “a lot of wild land of 233 acres” at
Whangarei, about 75 miles north of Auckland. He housed his family, partially stocked the land
with cattle and was “…bringing a little of it into cultivation”. In the time after their arrival, there
had been an addition to the family in 1859, Annie Holman, born at Parahiki in New Zealand.
She was eventually to be the oldest member of the Holman family living at Cadia.