James Knight Rebbeck 1848
- 1910
Grandfather of Judy Rebbeck Watten & 4th cousin to George Rebbeck
James
Knight Rebbeck was born in Lockeridge, Wiltshire, 21 September 1848. The
little community does not have a church but is next to Overton,
which does, and there he was baptised on 20 October
In 1851 he was living with his grandparents in Devizes according to the Census. In 1863 he was on his way to Calcutta, India where he lived until 1882. He was in Hong Kong until the spring of 1888 when he and his bride moved to Macao. By 1991 he was in Victoria, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. He died there 1 September 1910
Judy Rebbeck Watten wrote of her Grandfather
My grandfather's grandparents sent him to India to stay with his mother's married brother when he was fifteen years old. He was the only passenger on the India trade ship the Saladin when she sailed for Calcutta on 7 October 1836. He began a journal which is still in the family, though he stopped writing after a few weeks. He was in India until 1882; in that year his name makes its first appearance in the Hong Kong city directory.
The Victoria Foundry, part of a shipbuilding firm owned by the Fenwick Company, Hong Kong, built steam engines for paddlewheel steamers and they also built the brakes for the Peak Tram, a funicular train on Victoria Peak in Hong Kong. One steamer was built for a company in Port Darwin, Australia. Another, the Cerf, was ordered by Jules d'Abbadie, a French businessman in Tonkin (now Viet Nam). It was when the Cerf was delivered in 1887 that grandfather met and fell in love with Jules' sister Lili who became my grandmother.
Diary of James Knight Rebbeck
An extract from the Diary of James Knight for the period when he first sets sail for foreign lands follows James was 4th cousin, once removed, to George Rebbeck, R.N. and his experiences at sea may have been similar to those George endured as a young seaman. The difference was that James Knight Rebbeck was 15 years of age when he undertook the voyage although he thought he was only 14
George and James never met as far as we know - what stories they could have shared!
Next Page: - His Diary
