-PN- GN
-FN- G SURNAME GIVEN NAMES CH.FNs BIRTH DATE
0 12 003A M
HOCHEE JOHN 07-09, 38-39, 51-53 (1789)
Born 1789, in Hyan-Shan,
Canton, China
Came to England 1819
Married in 1823
Died 1869
John Hochee was a native of
Hyan-Shan in Canton, China, born of Chinese parents in 1789. His father was Ho
Foo and his own name was originally Ho Chee. For reasons not fully known, he
came to England in August 1819 and settled in Braughing, Hertfordshire. He
adopted the name "John." On 6 January, 1823 he married a
seventeen year old English girl, Charlotte Mole. In 1825 he moved to the parish
of Lingfield, where he farmed. He and Charlotte had eight children. He died in
1869.
Researches by Alexandra
Knight (17194F)
1 Her great-grandfather was Henry St.John Knight
(15015BM)
The story of his life has
been researched by Alexandra Knight1, a great-great-great
grand-daughter of Ho Chee. The following is based partly on her researches and
on the 1966 edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica.
****************
HO FOO was
a mandarin
2 Mandarin, general
name under the empire for a Chinese magistrate or public official, civil or
military. The civil mandarins, chosen from the men of letters or scholars from
every part of the country, were divided into nine degrees, each consisting of
two classes, the highest of which were ministers of state, counsellors of the
emperor, and presidents of the supreme court. Each order was distinguished by a
button worn on the top of the cap, while the highest grade also wore a
peacock's feather at the back of the cap, not as a sign of office or rank, but
as a reward for peculiar merit. The buttons of the higher orders were made of
coloured coral, the lower of glass, and the lowest of gilt metal.
Ho Chee was born in Canton,
China, in 1789 during the Qing (or Manchu) dynasty. Very little is known about
his life except that he was the son of Ho Foo, a mandarin2. The
family lived at Hyan-Shan in Canton (now known as Guangzhou in the province of
Guangdong) and were landowners. Mandarins were the qualified Government
officials and Ho Foo may have been dealing with trade matters, the chief occupation
of Canton, which brought him into contact with the East India Company. At this
time Canton was a major trading post for the company in China; the East India
Company had large tea factories in Canton and had a lucrative and flourishing
trade there.
The history of this company
in helping to open up China to Western trade is of some interest. With the
coming of the industrial revolution, Britain's need for raw materials at home,
and markets for manufactured goods and investments abroad, induced that country
to take the lead in "opening" China. This was accomplished ultimately
by war, in and after 1839, consequent upon more than two centuries of peaceful
relations.
3 Peking = Beijing
Relationships between
Britain and China.
Attempts at establishing relationships
were made from 1635. The Chinese emperor Ch'ien Lung (1736-96) commended George
III for his "respectful humility" in sending a "memorial and
tribute." The request that an English envoy be permitted to reside in
Peking3 was refused, it being disclosed that China itself had no
desire to be represented abroad. Ch'ien Lung's official wrote, "As your
Ambassador can see for himself, we possess all things. I set no value on
objects strange or ingenious, and have no use for your country's manufactures."
China's goods, however, are "absolute necessities to European
nations"; therefore, "as a signal mark of favour" trade might be
carried on at Canton - but not, as the English had asked, at "Ningpo,
Chusan, Tientsin and other places . . .," including storage of goods at
Peking.
Britain was regarded as a
vassal state by the Chinese.
Having dispatched to China
an envoy whose conveyances inland bore flags marked "Ambassador bearing
tribute from the country of England," and who presented gifts
("tribute") to the imperial court even though he did not perform the
kowtow, Britain was definitely rated as a vassal kingdom.
For almost half a century,
despite increasing friction over impositions and limitations upon its trade,
England maintained peace with the Manchus and their subjects. It was during the
Anglo-Chinese wars of 1839-42 and again 1856-60 that Britain took the lead in
challenging Manchu-Chinese pretensions to "sway the ten thousand
kingdoms," and in insisting upon recognition by Peking of the western state-equality
concept.
The Opium trade
Another cause for friction
leading to the Anglo-Chinese wars was the opium trade. Foreign, as opposed to
native, opium was imported into China first by the Portuguese but later by
other westerners. Until April 1834, the East India Company held a monopoly on
English trade with China. The Company began farming out opium in Bengal in
1773, in which year the drug was first imported through Calcutta into Canton.
Determination of the West to have Chinese teas and products; small demand by
the Chinese for western products, including English woollens; unwillingness of
the English to pay for Chinese goods with silver bullion; the high value of
opium and its popularity for smoking; all these explain the phenomenal growth
of the opium trade despite Chinese imperial anti-opium edicts from 1729. These
edicts were disregarded by native officials and non officials and aliens alike.
This opium trade may have
triggered the wars beginning 1839, but the conflict was basically one between
two worlds and two different concepts of international relations.
Through the East India
Company, Ho Chee met John Elphinstone.
It would appear that it was
through the East India Company that Ho Foo and his son Ho Chee met John
Fullerton Elphinstone, eldest son of the Hon. William Fullerton Elphinstone,
one of the directors of the company. John Elphinstone was a
"Supercargo" in Canton, responsible for managing the sale of goods.
Ho Chee became a firm
friend of Elphinstone and followed him to Britain on his return.
Elphinstone was about ten
years older than Ho Chee
It appears that Ho Chee and
Elphinstone came into contact through their work and became close friends.
Elphinstone returned home in January 1816 arriving around April/May 1816. Local
stories in Dormansland say that Ho Chee accompanied Elphinstone to England when
he became ill, and East India Company records confirm that Elphinstone was
indeed prone to Ill health. However, we now know from Ho Chee's application for
denization that Ho Chee did not arrive in England until August 1819.
Ho Chee remained
permanently in Britain. He may have been helpful with Chinese trade.
Although Elphinstone had
fully intended to return to China, he had retired from the East India Company
in 1818 due to ill health. The following year we find Ho Chee arriving in
England. We can only speculate as to the reasons, but it appears to have been
due to their close friendship. This is possibly not the whole story for his
coming. Ho Chee was undoubtedly able to speak English and with his knowledge of
China and its customs he would have been particularly useful to a merchant such
as Elphinstone and the East India Company connections. It is also known that
George III had been keen on establishing diplomatic relations with China and Ho
Chee's advice via the East India Company could have been valuable in this
respect.
The background of the
times. There was no love lost between the English and the Chinese.
No love was lost between
the English and the Chinese; the official term for the chief of the
supercargoes council was "Red-Haired Devil," and all Englishmen were
known as "Red-Haired Devil's Imps". In view of this, it is remarkable
that Ho Chee and Elphinstone should have become friends. The following extract
from "Lords of the East - The East India Company and its Ships" by
Jean Sutton, shows the lack of understanding and distrust between the English
and the Chinese at that time:
"These seemingly
innocent articles in the officers' private trade - generally termed
'sing-songs' - bedevilled the company's trade with China for a hundred years.
The Emperor collected them, and so they were highly sought after by the
mandarins for bribing their superiors. On the slightest pretext, the mandarin
in charge of the customs, the 'hoppo,' stopped the trade, threatening the
company with huge demurrage bills until a bribe, of which the 'sing-songs'
constituted the most important part, was exacted. Extortion was facilitated by
the system of trade with the Europeans. A handful of Chinese merchants, the
Co-Hong, bought the right to a monopoly of the trade. Each member of the
Ho-Cong was appointed a security merchant to a few European ships and dealt
with every aspect of the trade with the ships' supercargoes and, later, the
council of supercargoes resident in the season at Canton.
It was therefore the
security merchant who was forced to purchase the 'sing-songs' to placate the
'hoppo.' Captain Wordsworth's chiming clock, at £150, was relatively cheap; the
more sophisticated - with figures dancing minuets, jigs, and gavottes, birds
singing and waterfalls cascading - were extremely expensive, frequently
bringing the security merchants to the verge of bankruptcy and so threatening
to increase the already unhealthy monopoly of the Co-Hong."
The voyage from China to
England was geared to the monsoons; outward journeys were normally only
undertaken between April and September, and homeward between November and
March. The larger ships (usually those of more than 1200 tons) were used for
trade with China. The East India Company used ships of its own fleet, amongst
which were ships such as the "Elphinstone" and the
"Broxbournebury." The ships were necessarily fast - journeys taking
approximately four months - not only for trading reasons but also to
outmanoeuvre pirate boats. They were also armed to ward off pirate attacks.
Goods brought to England included fans, ivory carvings, lacquer ware and
porcelain. After 1700 tea was the major commodity as well as lead, cotton and
silks. Commanders and officers were able to trade privately, and traded in
sugar, bamboos and spices as well as other luxury goods.
4 Denizen = An alien admitted to residence and to certain rights of
citizenship in a country.
Ho Chee may well have had
it in mind to return to China after visiting his friend but, presumably because
of the close bond with John Elphinstone, decided to stay. He later became a
naturalised British subject by denization4 (denization 1839; naturalisation
1854).
Ho Chee settled in Braughing and in 1823 married seventeen year old English
girl, Charlotte Mole.
There is a short gap in our
information here, but Ho Chee somehow found his way to the village of Braughing
in Hertfordshire. We believe Elphinstone lived in or near the parish. It was
here in Braughing that Ho Chee met seventeen-year-old Charlotte Mole, the ninth
child of Chamberlain Mole who rented Braughingbury Farm, covering approximately
175 acres.
He became known as John
Hochee.
Sarah was born in 1824
Ho Chee and Charlotte were
married on 6 January 1823 at St. Mary's, Braughing, and they continued to live
in the parish for another three years. Ho Chee gradually became known as John
Hochee and Charlotte took Hochee for her surname. The following year their
first child, Sarah, was born on 7 March 1824, and she was baptised at St.Mary's
on 27 July the same year.
John Elphinstone bought
Ford Manor, Lingfield, in 1826.
Henrietta born 1826.
Hochee moved to Lingfield.
Early in 1826, John
Elphinstone purchased Ford Manor, in what is now the village of Dormansland in
the Parish of Lingfield, Surrey, but at that time numbered a few houses and
surrounding farms. On 14 March that year, their second daughter, Henrietta, was
born at Braughing and they moved to Ford Manor with Elphinstone before she was
baptised at the Parish Church of St. Peter and St.
Paul, Lingfield on 30 July
1826. Dormansland and the Parish of Lingfield became home to the Hochee family
and it was to remain so, for some time at least, into the next century.
John Elphinstone Fatqua
Hochee, born 1828, who later, in his army career used the name of Milton.
Daughter Jane christened in
1831.
5 his maternal grandmother's maiden
name
On 12 June 1828, the
Hochee's first son was born and was named John Elphinstone Fatqua Hochee,
probably in gratitude for the help and friendship of John Elphinstone, who may
also have been a God-father. It is also known that one of the Chinese security
merchants in Canton was named Fatqua and may have been a relative. However,
John Elphinstone Fatqua Hochee was not christened until May 1831 when he was
baptised along with his year-old sister, Jane. John E.F. Hochee later used the
name John E. Milton5, although this was probably not until after his
father's death. He later became a lieutenant in the Madras Army.
John Hochee moved to
Nortons Cottage, Lingfield in 1831.
In 1831, Elphinstone
purchased Nortons Cottage which he let to Ho Chee. It seems that a new house
was built on the same site around this time. This house still stands although
its name has been changed several times. It is an impressive building for the
area; it has been described by a local historian as a "country house of
quiet distinction."
Other children: James,
Letitia, Ann, Emily followed.
6 Both Letitia and Ann
became
great-great-grandmothers to Alexandra Knight who compiled this section.
Their younger son, James,
was baptised in 1832. Letitia Charlotte6 (baptised 12 April 1835)
and Ann Hochee6 (born 9 June 1840) followed. Their last child,
Emily, was baptised on New Year's day 1845.
Only a year later, on 1
April 1846, their daughter Jane, died at the age of sixteen. She was buried in
Lingfield churchyard, where she was to be joined, many years later, by her
elder brother and her mother.
Ho Chee referred to as a
Gentleman. Assisted John Elphinstone.
It is not known whether
either Elphinstone or Ho Chee ever went abroad again. Ho Chee is always
referred to as a gentleman on certificates and in Parish Registers, although he
may have acted as a secretary to John Elphinstone. Elphinstone owned several
other properties in England and Scotland and it seems that Ho Chee managed Ford
estate while he was away. Hoopers Farm provided a home for Charlotte's brother
Thomas Mole and his wife, and a house known as Crosses was occupied by John Sue
Achow, also Chinese, and his family. Achow arrived later in 1832. Thorold
Lowdell wrote that, when he was a boy, there were elderly residents who could
recall seeing the Chinese about the village.
He petitioned for
denization in 1839.
Ho Chee petitioned for
denization on the 26 July 1839 giving his status as a yeoman and `reason to
believe I should become possessed of Freehold Landed estate..... if the
Disability of my being alien born were removed by Letters Patent of Denization
or otherwise by Royal Concession or Favour.'
In 1839 John Elphinstone
gave Ho Chee his Surrey Estate.
Elphinstone wrote a Deed of
Gift in December 1839 giving Ho Chee his Surrey estate following his
denization. It may be no coincidence that the news of the confiscation and
destruction of the British opium stocks in Canton (March/April 1839) had
recently arrived in England. This seizure led directly to the Opium War of
1840. Ho Chee's position in England as a Chinese native would have been
untenable in the mounting climate of war and this could have prompted his
application for denization.
John Elphinstone died in
1854.
He left property to John
Hochee.
In 1854, events took a turn
for the worse when John F. Elphinstone died at the age of 75. He was buried in
the extra-mural cemetery in Brighton as he had died while staying in the town.
It appears that both Elphinstone and the Hochee family often spent the winter
in Brighton, as was fashionable at that time. Elphinstone
willed Ford Manor, and
several other properties to his friend Ho Chee. In his will he wrote:
"I, John Fullerton
Elphinstone in consideration of the long and continued attachment and of the
services I have received and for the attention he has given to the management
and the improvement of my landed property in Lingfield Surrey On the event of
my death I hereby give and devise unto Mr. John Hochee formerly of Macao and of
Canton in China but for many years residing at Nortons in the Parish of
Lingfield and now by her Majesty's Letters Patent a Denizen of the United
Kingdom all my landed property situated in the Parish of Lingfield and County
of Surrey known as Ford Farm Hoopers Crosses Nortons Milkhouse Farm together
with all cottages or other appendages Manorial rights as may be thereunto
belonging."
In 1854, Sarah married
Thorold Lowdell.
In 1866, Henrietta married Sydney Poole Lowdell.
In the same year of
Elphinstone's death (1854), their eldest daughter, Sarah, married Thorold
Lowdell at Lingfield. The Lowdell family lived at Baldwyns, now on the
outskirts of East Grinstead, although included in Lingfield parish. The
Lowdells were land owners and also in the professions. Sarah and Thorold later
moved to Woodgates Farm (also known as Milkhouse farm) which was owned by Ho
Chee. On 23 August 1866, Henrietta Ho Chee married Sydney Poole Lowdell, who
had trained as a doctor and who eventually inherited Baldwyns. Members of the
Lowdell family also became associated in a doctors' practice with the Pococks
in Brighton. Crawford John Pocock later married Ann Hochee.
The mystery of Letitia
Hochee and Anthony Knight.
Secret marriage in 1860.
Second marriage, with the family in 1861.
After marriage, Letitia and
Anthony went abroad to New Zealand.
One of the unsolved
mysteries of this family is that of the marriage of Letitia Charlotte Hochee to
Anthony Knight. On 24 October 1860, they were married at All Souls, Marylebone;
no member of either family witnessed the marriage and, if anything, it seems to
have been secret. In the census of 7 April 1861 Letitia Charlotte is living at
Nortons and she has been declared unmarried, presumably by her father. On 1st
August 1861, Anthony and Letitia married again at Lingfield, with members of
both families present. It may be no coincidence that Elphinstone owned number
23 York Terrace, Regents' Park, a near neighbour of number 3 Cornwall Terrace,
owned by the Knight family. Within a short time of this second wedding they
emigrated to New Zealand and did not return until both their fathers had died.
In 1864, James, now a
surgeon, married Emma Fry.
On 27 July 1864, James
Hochee, who was by this time a surgeon, previously working in India, married
Emma Fry at Redhill; they later lived at Finchley and were the only ones to
perpetuate the Hochee name as John E.F. Hochee did not marry.
Around 1867, Ford Manor and
the surrounding land was sold off, although various farms and cottages were
kept. The following year a new house, now known as Greathed Manor, was built
near to Ford Manor by the new owners.
John Hochee died in 1869.
Eventually on 1 March 1869,
Ho Chee himself died whilst staying at Devonshire House, Brighton. He was
buried in a grave adjoining and identical to that of his benefactor, John
Elphinstone. One of the provisions of his will was:
"I give and devise
unto my said wife Charlotte Hochee all that piece of Freehold land now planted
with fir on which a limekiln formerly stood situate at the cross of roads at
Dormans Land in the Parish of Lingfield in Surrey."
The Hochee Almshouses at
Lingfield.
In the will there is no
obvious reason for this but a few years after his death we find that Charlotte
gave the Hochee Almshouses, built on this land, to the village.
Marriage of Ann and Emily
Hochee
There were two more
marriages at Lingfield; on 18 July 1871 Ann married Crawford John Pocock of
Brighton and on 24 September Emily married Frank Abrahams of Croydon.
1882: Charlotte died.
Oil painting of Ho Chee and
his father Ho Foo now with the Lowdell family.
On 1 July 1882, Charlotte
died at the age of 77. She was buried at Lingfield with her daughter; their
grave was given a Chinese inscription which reads "Ho Chee." In her
will Charlotte left an oil painting of Ho Chee to her sons "with the hope
that it will always remain in the family." Portraits of Ho Foo in Chinese
robes and a smaller one of Ho Chee in Western Dress are now in the possession
of the Lowdell family.
John E.F. Hochee died 1882.
The Hochee Almshouses contains a bust of Ho Chee.
End of the section based on
the work of Alexandra Knight
In 1882 Dormansland Church
was completed with the help of contributions from local landowners including
John E.F. Hochee. John E.F. Hochee died the next year at his London home, 33
Wimpole Street and he was buried with his mother in Lingfield.
The Hochee Almshouses, with
a marble bust of Ho Chee himself presiding over the tiny hallway, still survive
to this day providing a permanent memorial to this unusual family.
****************
Some detail of his
Naturalisation request is given below:
Applied for Naturalisation in 1839 so he could inherit and own property.
"Denizen" = an
alien admitted to residence and to certain rights of citizenship in a country.
"Yeoman" = a countryman, especially one of some social standing, who
cultivates his own land.]
In August 1839 he wrote to Lord Russell, Principal Secretary of State for the
Home Department
In the Naturalisation
records of the London Records Office there is a letter that appears to have
been written by Hochee himself applying for citizenship. This initial
application appears to have been unsuccessful. He then employed a solicitor to
write a second letter. The record is as follows:
Ho Chee - The Petition of
Ho Chee formerly of Hyan-Shan in Canton, China but now of Nortons in the Parish
of Lingfield in the County of Surrey, Yeoman. To be a free Denizen - Awarded 21
Nov 1839
I Ho Chee of Nortons in the
Parish of Lingfield in the County of Surrey, Yeoman a petitioner to Her Majesty
for letters patent of Denization do solemnly and sincerely declare that I am a
Native of Hyan-Shan in Canton, China that I was born of Chinese parents and am
about forty-nine years of age. That I came to England in the month of August in
the year one thousand eight hundred and nineteen and resided at Braughing in
the County of Hertford until the year one thousand eight hundred and twenty
five wherein I went to live in the Parish of Lingfield aforesaid and where I
have continued to live ever since. That I have reason to believe I should come
possessed of freehold landed estate either in Fee or on lease for life or years
if the disability of my being alien born were removed by Letters of Denization
or otherwise by Royal Concession or Favour and I further declare that I am the
lawful Husband of an English Woman by whom I have a family of six children and
am desirous of living permanently in England and that I am undeniably well
affected to Her Majesty's person and Government and I make this solemn
declaration conscientiously believing the same to be true and by virtue of the
provisions of an Act made and passed in the fifth and sixth years of His late
Majesty William the fourth entitled an Act to repeal an Act of the present
session of Parliament entitled an Act for the more effectual Abolition of Oaths
and Affirmations taken and made in various Departments of the State and to
substitute declarations in being thereof and for the more entire supposition(?)
of voluntary and extrajudicial Oaths and Affidavits and to make other
provisions for the Abolition of unnecessary Oaths.
Declared at the Mansion
House, London 23 July 1839
Ho Chee
and further,
1st August 1839
To the Right Honourable
Lord John Russell Her Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for the Home
Department. The Humble Petition of Ho-Chee formerly of Hyan-Shan, Canton, China
but now of Nortons in the Parish of Lingfield in the County of Surrey, Yeoman.
Thewth - That your
Petitioner is a Native of China and was born at Hyan-Shan aforesaid of Chinese
parents and is aged forty nine years or thereabouts. That your Petitioner came
to England in the month of August in the year one thousand eight hundred and
nineteen and took up his abode at Braughing in the County of Hertford and continued
that residence til the year one thousand eight hundred and twenty five when he
went to live in the Parish of Lingfield aforesaid and has not since resided out
of that Parish. That your Petitioner farms an Estate which is called Nortons
and he is aforesaid to the different County and Parochial Rates and Assessments
in his own name. That your Petitioner on or about the sixth of January 1823
married according to the Rites and Ceremonies of the Church of England at
Braughing Church, Charlotte Mole of Braughing aforesaid Spinster and Native of
that Parish. That your Petitioner and his wife have six children videlicet
Sarah, Henrietta, John, Jane, James, Letitia. That your Petitioner has reason
to believe that he may become entitled to an Estate of Inheritance in Fee
Simple or Lease for Life of lands in the County of Surrey provided no legal
impediment existed but your petitioner is advised that being born an Alien he
cannot possess Landed or any other Real Property without Her Majesty's gracious
Letters of Denization being first granted to your Petitioner.
Your Petitioner therefore
humbly prays your Lordship that you will be pleased to grant to your Petitioner
Her Majesty's most gracious Letters of Denization and that under the Authority
thereof your Petitioner may be enabled to take either by Gift or Purchase
landed or other property and your Petitioner will ever pray.
Ho Chee
We the undersigned are well
acquainted with Mr Ho Chee and believe him to be rightly deserving of the
Indulgence he solicits.
William Rixon Snr -
Solicitor, Jewry St, Aldgate - intimate with him from his first arrival
William Rixon Jnr -
Solicitor
W.H.Blackmore 16 Gauld(?)
Sq, City
Thomas Robson Aylesford,
Kent
Brailsford(?) Bright First
Gate, Essex.
****************
Census records for Nortons, Lingfield 1841 ,1861
The British 1841 census
Lingfield HO107, 1077, 35 p16, Nortons, described him as a farmer. At that time
there were three female servants in the house [Eliza Friend (20), Esther
Longend (15) and Hannah Standish (15)] and an Agricultural Labourer [William
Lambert (15)].
The British Census of 1861
for Nortons Lingfield, (reference R.G.9/579, 143 page 5), states his age as 70, and that he
was born in Canton, but became a Naturalised British subject.
John Hochee's eight
children
His death
His last will and testament
Birth certificates and
other records show that he and Charlotte had eight children: John, Sarah,
Henrietta (known in the family as "Netta"), Jane, James, Letitia, Ann
and Emily.
John Hochee died on 1 March
1869 {recorded in the parish of Brighton for the March 1869 quarter, 2b 128
(aged 80).}
A copy of his Last Will and
Testament has been studied. It is a long, handwritten, and partly illegible,
legal document that showed him as a man of some substance. He left his lands
and premises for the use of his wife, although these were eventually to go to
his son, John, to be sold, and the proceeds to be equally divided amongst his
children.. He gave his servant, John White, £50. He left legacies to his
children as follows: Sarah, £200; Henrietta, £700; Letitia, £200; Ann, £700;
Emily, £1,700; John, £200; James, £200. He stated he had made these unequal as
he had already advanced certain sums to some of his children. [See entry for
Charlotte Hochee for mention of an oil painting.]
****************
The Australian Rumble
family's search for details of Hochee and his family.
7 15016F
8 16021M
9 17033F
10 15020M
11 14015M
12 14004F
13 14095F
14 13008M
15 13009M
16 14088M
17 13039F
Until recently (1991) the
Australian branch of the Rumble family knew very little about their Chinese
ancestor. In the 1930s and 1940s Dorothy Fall7 thought that Hochee
was a mandarin, possibly Ambassador to Britain. This seemed unlikely. Dorothy said:
My mother Kate Rosaline
Rumble had a small black mole on her hand. She said this was hereditary, and a
branch of the family had been given the name 'Mole'." Dorothy
said that Hochee had married a sixteen year old English girl and she thought
her name might have been "Mole."
When Dorothy died in
October 1988 her son John Fall8 found a scrap of handwritten paper
tracing a family tree. Hochee was listed with the note: "from Oxford
University." Brenda Rohl9, who was at that time living at
Oxford, checked Foster's Alumini Oxonensis from 1715 to 1886 without success.
Brenda then obtained a birth certificate for Ann, one of John Hochee's
children. This certificate described Ho Chee's occupation as
"Gentleman." His residence was given in 1840 as Nortons, Lingfield.
From this Brenda was able to consult census and other records to build an
initial picture of him.
There was also much initial
confusion over the number and names of John Hochee's children. Dorothy Fall
knew of two daughters, Letitia and Florence. She said there was also a son who
became a captain in the army and changed his name to Meredith as he did not
like the Chinese name. Further information was given by Anton Knight10,
grandson of Letitia Hochee and Anthony Knight. Anton was brought up for most of
his childhood by Letitia. In a letter to Dorothy Fall he omitted the names of
Florence and Meredith, but added Annie and Netta Hochee. Henry St.John Knight11
in an 1897 letter to his sister Kate12 stated that "Elphin
Hochee married on 20.2.1895," also "Uncle James Hochee died
at Finchley at the end of 1896."
We now know that Florence13
was the granddaughter of John Hochee, being a child of his son James14.
We also know that John Hochee's other son, John Elphinstone Fatqua Hochee15,
became an officer in the army and changed his name to Milton, not to Meredith.
The Elphin Hochee who married in 1895 was found to be John Elphinstone James
Hochee16, the first child of James Hochee. "Netta" was
Henrietta17.
Thus, the complete picture
of Hochee's family emerged from a diligent search of the London records. This
research was confirmed in 1991 when Brenda Rohl contacted Alexandra Knight who
had independently researched the family.