Records indicate that there were actually three 'Nanny Hodge'
Birth, death & marriage records verify that John Hodge (I)(1814-1878) and his second wife, Catherine Jane (nee Sellar, later Green) had two daughters named ‘Nanny Hodge’ (see summary details below). The first daughter named ‘Nanny Hodge’ died in 1861, just before her seventh birthday. Their next daughter, who born in 1865 was then named ‘Nanny Hodge’, likely after her late sister.
In early 1868 John Hodge sailed to Newcastle in search of work, leaving Catherine and her six children destitute in Moonta (South Australian Chronicle 12 Mar 1868 & Weekly Mail 14 Mar 1868). By the time her last daughter was born in 1871, Catherine had relocated to Victoria and it is likely she took the surviving Nanny and her other children with her then, as subsequent records including John’s death, Catherine’s remarriage and the marriages and deaths of their children are based in Victoria.
‘Nannie Hodge’ [alternative spelling] was residing in Victoria when she married Lewis Henry Watkins in 1889 and the original wedding certificate indicates her to be the daughter of ‘John Hodge’ (dec) and ‘Catherine Jane Peters Green Sellar’. Records of children born to Lewis and Nannie Watkins indicate that they remained in Victoria, and Nannie was residing in Newport, Victoria, when she died in 1933. Her death registration records her parents as ‘John Hodge’ and ‘Cath Jane Sellars’. The death notice for Catherine Hodge’s second husband, John Green, also links him as the stepfather of ‘Mrs. Watkins’ (Leader 1 Jun 1918).
The third Nanny Hodge married Andrew Wight in Adelaide on 1st October 1887 when she was 24 years old; the Marriage Index lists her father’s name as John Hodge and family notices published in the newspapers describe her as ‘second daughter of the late John Hodge, of Moonta Mines’ (The South Australia Advertiser 11 Oct 1887 & South Australian Weekly Chronicle 15 Oct 1887). Birth records for Andrew and Nanny Wight’s children and newspaper articles indicate that they resided in South Australia.
In 1889 ‘loving daughter Nanney Wight’ placed an in memoriam for her ‘dear father, John Hodge, who was killed at Beddome's shaft, Moonta Mines, on December 15 1881’, suggesting she is the daughter of John Hodge (II)(1839-1881)(son of John Hodge (I) 1814-1878).
This is supported by in memoriam notices placed in 1928, 1929 & 1930 for ‘Nann(e)y W(h)ight’ from her ‘loving sister Annie Wilkinson’ (Advertiser 15 Nov 1928, Chronicle 17 Nov 1928, Advertiser 15 Nov 1929 & Chronicle 20 Nov 1930). Annie Wilkinson (nee Hodge) was the eldest daughter of John Hodge (II)(1839-1881) & Ann Trevorrow, born in 1861.
Nanny Wight’s age was recorded as 24 when she was married in 1887 and 64 when she died in October 1927, suggesting she was born in about 1863. I have not been able to locate a birth registration for a daughter ‘Nanny’ born to John Hodge (II)(1839-1881) and Ann Trevorrow, however a 1863 birth would fit in the interval between their eldest child Annie (later Wilkinson), born 1861, and son John (III), born 1865. This would also fit with Nanny being the ‘second daughter’ of John Hodge, as indicated in her marriage notice. Therefore, I believe Nanny Wight (nee Hodge) is an unregistered daughter of John Hodge (II)(1839-1881) and Ann Trevorrow. This would make her the granddaughter of John Hodge (I)(1814-1878) and the niece of the sisters, Nanny Hodge (1854-1861) and Nanny Watkins (nee Hodge)(1865-1933).
Nanny Wight was my great great grandmother.
Summary details for the three Nanny Hodge
HODGE, Nanny
b. 20 Oct 1854, SA (‘Nanny Hodge’, Reg. The Murray/Burra 6/206, father ‘John HODGE’ & mother ‘Catharine SALLAR’)
d. 22 Sept 1861, age 8 [actually 6 yrs 11 mths], Wallaroo Mines, SA (‘Nanny Hodge’, Reg. Adelaide 9/305)
Last residence Wallaroo Mines, SA
No burial record found
HODGE, Nanny (WATKINS)
b. 9 Oct 1865, Moonta, SA (‘Nanny Hodge’ Reg. Adelaide 37/522, father ‘John HODGE’ & mother ‘Catherine SELLAR’)
m. 10 Apr 1889, ‘WATKINS, Lewis Henry’, Primitive Methodist Church, South Yarra, Vic (‘Nannie Hodge’, 23, m. ‘Lewis Hy Watkins’, 25, Reg. Vic 3994, bride’s father ‘John Hodge’ (dec) & mother ‘Catherine Jane Peters Green Sellar’)
d. 4 Dec 1933, Newport, Vic, age 67 at (‘Nannie Watkins’, Reg. Vic 9938, father ‘John HODGE’ & mother ‘Cath Jane Sellars’)
Buried Eaglehawk Cemetery, Vic (‘Nannie Watkins’, Plot MON K5 Grave 61 – with husband)
HODGE, Nanny (WIGHT)
b. Abt. 1863 (based on age at death), father ‘John Hodge’ (from Marriage Index)
[likely second daughter of John Hodge (II)(1839-1881) & Ann Trevorrow]
m. 1 Oct 1887 ‘WIGHT, Andrew’, Adelaide (‘Nanny Hodge’, age 24, Reg. Adelaide 35/153, bride’s father ‘John Hodge)
d. 15 Nov 1927, Parkside (‘Nanney Wight’, Reg. South Australia, 499/389)(Death notice indicates 14 Nov [sic], aged 64)
Buried West Terrace Cemetery, Adelaide, South Australia on 16 Nov 1927 (EYN, 11N, E, 76)(Buried next to Andrew Wight E, 77). No monument present in 2017.
