Family background
Henry (‘Harry’) Nunn Howe was born on 4 March 1839 in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, England, to Frederick and Ann Elizabeth Howe. His father was a bricklayer and plasterer. Henry Nunn Howe came to Australia in 1852 on the ‘Humboldt’ as a 14-year-old with his parents and six siblings. One of his brothers, 10-year-old Bryant John, died on the voyage.
Henry Nunn Howe moved to Newtown where he married Jane Maria Willis in 1860. They lived at ‘Carnarvon Terrace’, Church Street, Newtown, with their growing family which may have included as many as 13 children. Suffering from ongoing heart trouble, Howe died in office on 26 July 1907, aged 68, two weeks after contracting pneumonia and bronchitis. He was buried at Rookwood. His wife died on 3 March 1922 at Church Street, Newtown, survived by children Fred, Harry, Annie, Agnes, Alfred and Percy.
Occupation & interests
Henry N. Howe followed in his father’s footsteps and worked as a bricklayer and builder. In March 1877, he won Council’s contract to lay paving tiles over all municipal footpaths.
Community activity
Howe was a churchwarden of St Stephen’s Anglican Church, Newtown. He was also a former Grand Master of the Loyal St John’s Lodge of the Manchester Unity and other Oddfellow and Orange organisations. After his death, the I.O.O.F Manchester Unity order erected a large monument at Rookwood to commemorate Howe’s 47-year association with their society.
Local government service
Henry Nunn Howe was an alderman on Newtown Council in 1894-1907, representing O’Connell Ward. He was Mayor in 1906.
References
Biographical information for this alderman was originally researched by Mark Matheson for the Newtown Project Website.
‘Advertising, The Daily Telegraph, 27 July 1907, 8, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article238073633
‘Death of a Newtown resident’, Evening News, 29 July 1907, 3, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article112644630
‘Personal’, The Sydney Morning Herald, 29 July 1907, 6, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article14871745
‘Men and Women’, The Australian Star, 31 March 1908, 4, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article229903279
‘Family Notices’, The Sydney Morning Herald, 8 March 1922, 12, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article15991784