ROBYN PARKES
The mystery surrounding Francis Phillip Weicht has, for many years baffled some of his descendants, leaving many unanswered questions.
Francis was born in 1848 to Francis and Eleanor in London, England. In 1869 he married Harriett Carpenter, and the couple had five children, Francis, Eleanor, Walter, Augusta and Ada. In the 1871 census the family was living in Shoreditch. Around this time Francis began working for a tea company.
In 1877 Francis left England, spent a few months in Australia and then relocated to Nelson in 1878, apparently deserting his family.
Records show that Harriett and the children were forced into the workhouse where two of the children died.
While in Australia he met Mary Ellen Rogers and she, along with her parents Henry and Mary Rogers came to Nelson at the same time as Francis. At the time of his arrival his surname had changed to Browne, but it is unknown whether he did this in Australia or on his way to Nelson.
In January 1883 Francis married Mary Rogers at Christ Church, despite the fact that he still had a wife in England. The couple had three children in Nelson, Mary, William and Francis.
Browne entered a new career in the hospitality business and successfully applied for a license for the Steamboat Tavern in Haven Road.
Three years later, in May 1886 he moved to the Pier Hotel, situated at the Port. While at this location, Browne, with several other men, formed a committee to give a concert in aid of the Grosse relief fund.
After three years of running the Pier Hotel he moved on to the Commercial Hotel in the city. Advertisements informed the public of the change of publican and invited them to visit the hotel where the meals were prepared by an experienced chef de cuisine and had been reduced in cost to 1/-. Improvements and alterations were made to the hotel, and a new commercial room was fitted out for the comfort of visitors.
Browne died, very unexpectedly, on 5 August 1889 and was buried in Wakapuaka Cemetery. Members of the Southern Star Lodge, the Orange Lodge and Loyal Nelson Lodge attended his funeral.
An inquest into Browne’s death stated that either he died of a heart attack or from an episode of extreme anger. Following his death, wife Mary liquidated the assets of her husband and purchased their rented home at 29 Bridge Street, where she continued to live upstairs while operating a confectionery and fruiterer shop. This small building later became Will’s Jewellers and still stands today.
The mystery of why he deserted his family in England and changed his name has not been solved.
