John CANDY, 1846-1875

John CANDY 1846-1875

Elizabeth Randall CANDY had two siblings who travelled to Australia - Roger and John. John didn't actually emigrate to Australia, he arrived there as a crew member on a ship, then spent time working in the Australia-New Zealand district. He never returned home, dying in his brothers home in Glebe in 1875.

John Candy was born around 1846 in Truro, Cornwall to John CANDY and Elizabeth Watkins nee ALLEN. When John was born, his uncle William CANDY and family already lived in Australia, and by his tenth birthday his older siblings Elizabeth Randall CANDY (married to Thomas TREVITHICK) and Roger CANDY had also emigrated to Australia. The 1851 census shows John as a 5 year old scholar living with his father Roger, a printer, and mother Elizabeth, a sheet binder, and older brother Roger, a cabinet maker's apprentice, living at 122 Lemon Row in Truro. His sisters were living next door in another of the other family homes.

Parish registers for St. Pauls, Truro reveal that on 27th Aug 1868, aged 23, John married Eliza Jane DENNIS (also 23). In the 1871 Census, John Candy is living at Bosvigo Lane in Kenwyn with Jane, also born in Truro. John's occupation is given as sailor, and this may explain why he has not yet been identifed in the 1861 census.

John Candy sailed for Australia as an Able Bodied crew member of the 'Damascus' departing London and reaching Sydney, New South Wales, on 14 May 1872 aged 25, and listing his home as 'Truro'. While his Uncle William, brother Roger and sister Elizabeth had all emigrated to Australia prior to John's arrival (his sister Elizabeth had died a year before he arrived), it appears that as a mariner, he may only have intended to visit or work in the region of Australia while spending time with the family. Whether he deserted from the 'Damascus' or was able to crew ships is unclear, however he probaby spent time at his brother Roger's home at Parramatta St, Glebe.

During this period in Australia he had left a bride of four years behind in Truro. Including his initial arrival on the 'Damascus', four journey arrivals have been found for John Candy;

Arrived Sydney ex London, 14 May 1872 per 'Damascus'.
Arrived Sydney ex Maryborough, Queensland, 6 January 1873 per 'Forward'.
Arrived Sydney ex Melbourne, 3 August 1873 per 'Wentworth'.
Arrived Sydney ex Port Lyttleton, New Zealand, per 'Zistta' 16 March 1874

Three years after John arrived in Sydney, and with no indication that he ever returned home, John Candy died at his brother Roger's home at 218 Parramatta Rd, Glebe, NSW, on 18 April 1875, aged 28. The medical attendant had seen John a week earlier, and the cause of death was given as 'morbus cordis' - a disease of the heart, though more generally employed to describe an unknown cause of death in younger persons. John's occupation was listed as mariner, and while his brother knew that he was married, surprisingly he could give no details suggesting that perhaps John was truant in Australia from his responsibilities in Cornwall. His funeral was reported in the Sydney Morning Herald:

Sydney Morning Herald.
Monday 9 April 1875.
Funeral Notice.
The friends of Mr Roger Candy, Cabinetmaker, are respectfully invited to attend the Funeral of his deceased BROTHER John; to move from his residence Parramatta Street THIS (Monday) AFTERNOON, AT HALF-PAST 1 O'CLOCK FOR THE Necropolis. SHYING and CO. 719 George-street.

John was buried at Haslem's Creek, now known as Rookwood Cemetery. Lauris Candy-Kidd states in her book on the Candy's that his sister Elizabeth Randal Candy Trevithick is buried in same grave. No headstone exists, and a transcript in Cornwall paper has not been identified.

The fate of John's wife in Cornwall has not been uncovered.

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Matthew D. Hall
This bio was written with reference to work by Betty Candy, NSW and Lauris Candy-Kidd, WA