Passing of the Pioneers

July 26, 2012September 22, 2020 / Merron Riddiford / Leave a comment

As Passing of the Pioneers enters a second year, the fascinating stories keep coming. Who could not be taken in by James Parker’s story? Gold, Captain Moonlight and more than a stroke of good luck make it an interesting read. Or Octavius Palmer? While still a teenager, he travelled to California and took on the risky job of gold escort, while Mrs Isabella Gilholme’s business sense saw her acquire a portfolio of shops and houses.

Hannah BIRCHALL: Died July 1889 at Bridgewater. I have mentioned Hannah Birchall before. In the News -May 26 was about the passing of Mrs Hugh Kittson who was Margaret Jennings, daughter of Hannah. Hannah’s husband, Margaret’s father, was Cook Abraham Jennings. Hannah and Abraham arrived in the district during the 1840s.

Amelia PITTS: Died 11 July 1897 at Myamyn. Mrs Dudden was known by many around Myamyn due to husband Stephen Dudden’s work as a storekeeper in the town. She arrived in Victoria during the 1850s. From a search at Trove, I found that only three months earlier on April 19, 1897, the Dudden’s residence, behind their shop, was destroyed by fire

James PARKER: Died 6 July 1899 at Heywood. At the time of James Parker’s death, The Portland Guardian correspondent promised an account of Parker’s life, in the next issue. Finally, on 9 August 1899, he came good with his promise and it was worth it. I cannot possibly summarise the life of James Parker, so you must read the obituary for yourself here. It is a fascinating read, particularly Parker’s encounter with Captain Moonlight. I will, however, include a piece from the obituary which describes pioneer life. As you read, keep in mind the obituary is from 1899.

The Late Mr James Parker. (1899, August 9). Portland Guardian (Vic. : 1876 – 1953), p. 3 Edition: EVENING. Retrieved July 22, 2012, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article63676913

William DISHER: Died 11 July 1902 at Stawell. William Disher arrived in South Australia during the 1830s. He married Agnes Horsburgh in 1842 and during the 1870s they moved to Kewell West, north of Murtoa. William and Agnes had twelve children and by the time of his death, the couple had seventy-two grandchildren and twelve great-grandchildren. Incidentally, William’s mother had 220 direct descendants at the time of her death at ninety-two, including 120 great-grandchildren. William’s sister was Lady Eliza Milne, the wife of Sir William Milne a South Australian politician.

John M. SHEEHY: Died July 1903 at Casterton. How I need a man like John Sheehy in my life.

OBITUARY. (1903, July 28). The Horsham Times (Vic. : 1882 – 1954), p. 3. Retrieved July 22, 2012, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article72840810

John MacEACHERN: Died 4 July 1908 at Nelson. While John MacEachern had only been in the Nelson district from the 1870s, he had been in Australia since 1839 having arrived in Sydney from Scotland with his parents. He made his way to Victoria, first working at Strathdownie as a stockman, where he proved himself an excellent horseman.

Edwin BOASE: Died July 1911 at Murtoa. Edwin Boase was a newspaper pioneer in the Wimmera. He arrived with his parents in Adelaide as a baby during the 1850s before they headed to Castlemaine. He learnt the printing trade in Ballarat before moving to Horsham in 1872 where he printed the first edition of The Horsham Times. He later founded The Dunmunkle Standard and published the paper for thirty-three years until the time of his death. He married Isabella Cameron in 1878, a daughter of a former Horsham Mayor.

Octavius Frederick William PALMER: Died 18 July18 1914 at Terang. What a life Octavius Palmer led. He was born in London in 1833 and went to Tasmania with his parents and nine siblings in 1838. His father was Captain Frederick Palmer of the East India Company. After schooling at the Church of England Grammar School in Launceston, Octavius left for the goldfields of California where he spent three years driving the gold escort team of horses. He returned to the Castlemaine diggings and after some pastoral pursuits with his brothers, he settled in the Western District around Warrnambool.

Octavius was a member of the Warrnambool Polo Club and the Warrnambool Racing Club. He imported many head of Romney Marsh sheep in the 1870s. An article from The Age of September 1972, reports on the Palmer family breeding Romney Marsh sheep for 100 years with references to Octavius. How proud he would have been that his family continued to breed the sheep he preferred for the conditions of the southwest of Victoria.

I couldn’t resist this insight into Octavius in later life. From The Mail (Adelaide), the article describes an “old buster”.

When The Heart Is Young. (1941, September 20). The Mail (Adelaide, SA : 1912 – 1954), p. 4. Retrieved July 25, 2012, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article54893294

Forty seems far too young to be thought of as an “old buster”!

Thomas BAILEY: Died 23 July 1914 at Ballarat. Like the JohnGreed above, Thomas Bailey was from Taunton, Somerset. He was born there in 1840 but at a young age, he left for the New Zealand goldfields. He then went to Ballarat where he had various mining interests. He married Sarah Craig, the daughter of Walter Craig owner at the time of Ballarat’s Craigs Hotel.

Family Notices. (1869, January 29). The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 – 1956), p. 4. Retrieved July 23, 2012, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article5815936

Thomas was a member of the Ballarat Anglers Club, Ballarat Hunt Club and had a keen interest in football. His death was felt in many parts of Ballarat including the Old Colonists Hall, where, out of respect, a meeting was cancelled.

Richard BRYANT: Died 12 July 1919 at Hamilton. Richard Bryant was born in Cornwall in 1829 and married Elizabeth Millstead in 1850. The couple travelled to Adelaide aboard the Epaminodas in 1853. From there they went to Portland and Richard walked on to Ballarat in 1854 in search of gold. After the death of Elizabeth, Richard and two young daughters settled on land at Mooralla. He then married Irish-born Margaret Nowlan. Margaret passed away in 1907.

I have a family link to Richard Bryant via a daughter from his first marriage. Richard was the grandfather of Elizabeth Bryant McWhirter, wife of James Stevenson of Cavendish. James was the subject of the post “Hobbies Passions and Devotions.

Sophia Caroline GORTE: Died 10 July 1920 at Halls Gap.

Obituary. (1920, July 16). The Horsham Times (Vic. : 1882 – 1954), p. 5. Retrieved July 23, 2012, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article73176649

I turned to Ida Stanton’s Bridging The Gap for more information about Sophia Gorte. Sophia’s husband Carl Wehl had a tannery in Stawell but owned land in Halls Gap. The house that Sophia built (as referred to in her obituary) was Glenbower 2 near Borough Huts, just outside Halls Gap. The house was so named as it was next to Glenbower owned by members of the D’Alton family, including twins Sophia and Henrietta.

That home went into ruin, however, at the time of Ida writing her book, poplars and remnants of the garden still existed. Ida tells how the D’Altons brought the poplars with them to Australia from Napoleon Bonaparte’s grave on the island of St Helena. This is not as unusual as it sounds. A Google search found many others who also grew both poplars and willows grown from cuttings taken from the island’s trees. An article from The Mercury tells of a Tasmanian family who did the same.

The bushfires of 1939 saw Glenbower 2 destroyed. There are photos of both homes in Bridging the Gap, and Sophia Wehl is on the veranda in the Glenbower 2 photo.

Sophia Wehl’s daughter was a noted artist specialising in wildflowers. Her art teacher was neighbour Henrietta D’Alton who was famous for her wildflower art and had even exhibited overseas.

Margaret Ann DIWELL: Died July 1932 at Hamilton. Margaret was my ggg aunt and daughter of William Diwell and Margaret Turner. She was born at Portland in 1857 and married John McClintock in 1883. They lived at Grassdale and had eleven children including John, James Richard, and Albert Edward featured in my Anzac Day post The McClintock Brothers.

OBITUARY. (1932, July 21). Portland Guardian (Vic. : 1876 – 1953), p. 2 Edition: EVENING. Retrieved July 23, 2012, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article64298800

In the post, Passing of the Pioneers – A Year On, I mentioned the dangers of wrong information in obituaries. Margaret’s obituary offers an example of this. It mentions her parents arrived in Portland in 1850. They, in fact, arrived on the Duke of Richmond in 1852. Margaret’s mother is also mentioned because of her involvement in the murder trial of George Waines. I wrote about that trial in Witness For the Prosecution.

John Thomas EDGAR: Died 10 July 1941 at Melbourne. John Thomas Edgar was born at Portland in 1848, the son of David and Sarah Edgar. The Edgars settled at Pine Hills estate near Harrow. David Edgar subsidised a private school at the estate for the use of his children and the children of other settlers and John attended that school before going on to Hamilton College and later Scotch College in Melbourne.

With his schooling completed, John returned to Pine Hills to learn the finer points of running Merino sheep. This saw him go to on to become an expert breeder and judge of the popular Western Victorian breed. He took over management of his father’s property Kandook Estate at Harrow and later the ownership. In 1871, John married Margaret Swan and they raised a family of twelve children. He was the brother of Walter Birmingham Edgar and a cousin to Jean Edgar, both Passing Pioneers.

Michael MURPHY: Died 12 July 1943 at Melbourne. I have driven past Tobacco Road, Pomonal many times en route to Halls Gap and finally, I know how it got its name. Michael Murphy was a former resident of Pomonal at the foot of the Grampians. He was one of the tobacco-growing pioneers in the area. I didn’t know tobacco was grown there, but it seems obvious now that Tobacco Road was named for such a reason.

Michael was also a supporter of local football and cricket and was a founding member of the Stawell Druids Lodge. He was seventy-four at the time of his death, following complications of injuries received in a tram accident in Melbourne.

Isabella REID: – Died July 1953 at Heywood. Isabella Reid was the daughter of William Reid and Johanna Steven and wife of Charles Gilholme. Isabella ran a guest house but after Charles’ death, she expanded her business interests into property.

DEATH OR HEYWOOD OCTOGENARIAN. (1953, July 27). Portland Guardian (Vic. : 1876 – 1953), p. 2 Edition: MIDDAY. Retrieved July 24, 2012, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article64435398

Passing of the Pioneers

April 28, 2012February 28, 2021 / Merron Riddiford / Leave a comment

April Passing of the Pioneers reminds me how much can be learnt about Western Victorian history from reading pioneer obituaries. This month sees some prominent men of 19th century Western Victoria, James Dawson, James Thomson, and John Kirby.

I am also learning more about the wonderful homesteads dotted throughout the Western District. The Monivae, Longerenong, and Mt. Koroite Homesteads are all mentioned this month. If you click on the homestead name in the obituary, the link will take you through to the Victorian Heritage Database and relevant homestead’s listing.

James DAWSON: Died 19 April 1900 at Camperdown. James Dawson was born at Linlithgow, Scotland in 1806. His mother, Johannah Park, was a niece of explorer Mungo Park. James left Scotland in 1840, bound for Victoria. He initially purchased a property on the Upper Yarra at Melbourne, but later bought a property at Port Fairy. He erected a house he had brought in pieces from Scotland. The property was known as Kangatong Estate. While there, he commissioned artist Eugene von Guerard to paint nearby Tower Hill.

He sold the property and moved to Keilor then Camperdown. After two years away in Scotland, James returned and was appointed Protector of Aboriginals, a role that saw his greatest contribution to Victorian history. He was also an honourary superintendent of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and amateur taxidermist. A large collection of his taxidermy was presented to the Museum connected to the Melbourne Mechanics Institute.

William BAILEY: Died 25 April 1906 at Ballarat. Born in about 1828, William arrived in Victoria in 1848. He went to Ballarat during the gold rush and remained there until his death. he Ballarat papers were speculating at the time of his death the value of his estate, thought to be £400,000 thanks to mining and squatting. He had a number of children who had been successful including Stephen who was a station owner at Orange N.S.W. The boys were also good cricketers.

Margaret Bennett MARTIN: Died 22 April 1909 at Portland. The wife of Mr Francis Findon Levett, Margaret Martin was eighty-five years old at the time of her death. She had been in Victoria since her early teens. She had many stories about the early days of the Portland district.

James ALGIE: Died 17 April 1910 at Stawell. Jame Algie was a veteran of the Crimean War. He was born in Glasgow around 1832 and joined the 71st Highland Light Infantry from Glasgow in 1849 and served in Greece and India. He lived in Stawell for forty years.

Thomas CLOHESY: Died 24 April 1910 at Hamilton. Thomas Clohesy had been in Victoria since 1871. He made the journey from Ireland with his father and brother, but sadly his father passed away on the voyage. He at one time worked at the estates of the Chirnside brothers. In 1894, he married Mary Jeanes. Thomas and Mary were buried at the Hamilton (Old) Cemetery.

GRAVE OF THOMAS AND MARY CLOHESY, HAMILTON (OLD) CEMETERY.

James THOMSON: Died 25 April 1910 at Hamilton. James Thomson was born in Balnachole, Scotland in 1823. He and his wife travelled to Australia in 1852. With him, he brought sheep farming experience which he tried, first at Edenhope in a partnership and later at Hamilton at the well known Monivae estate. James purchased Monivae in 1870 from the estate of Police Magistrate Acheson Ffrench. The property was 18,000 acres and James ran Angus cattle and Lincoln sheep. The Victorian Heritage Database lists he also bred rare Scottish ponies, collie dogs and goats.

MONIVAE 1966. Image Couresy of the J.T. Collins Collection, La Trobe Picture Collection, State Library of Victoria. Image no. H97.250/44 http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/230077

MONIVAE 1966. Image courtesy of the J.T. Collins Collection, La Trobe Picture Collection, State Library of Victoria. Image no. H97.250/44 http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/230077

I have an interest in the history of the Monivae property and it’s homestead as I attended Monivae College in Hamilton which, for a short time in the 1950s, ran the school from the homestead before moving to the current site. The school retained the Monivae name. At school, we learnt a lot about Acheson Ffrench, the original owner, but I knew nothing of James Thomson’s links to the homestead. Ffrench named Monivae after Monivaea Castle, his father’s castle in Galway, Ireland.

I discovered, thanks to the Victorian Heritage Database, that James Thomson built the existing Monivae homestead, known as “Old Monivae”, rather than Ffrench. Ffrench had lived in another home on the property and it was later left empty by Thomson. The bluestone for the new homestead was taken from a quarry on the property. James also donated bluestone for St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, which stands with the Hamilton Anglican Church on Hamilton’s “Church Hill”. Their spires are landmarks on the Hamilton skyline. Nana and several other Haddens were married at the Presbyterian Church.

St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, Hamilton

James Thomson was buried at the Hamilton (Old) Cemetery.

James INGLIS: Died 12 April 1914 at Ballarat. James Inglis ran the Ballarat coachbuilding business of J. & J. Inglis. with his brother John. His father started the business in 1860 after he took his family from Melbourne to Ballarat. James was just three at that time. The original business was at Market Square but later moved to nearby Creswick Road.

Robert DALGLEISH: Died 12 April 1914 at Learmonth. Robert Dalgliesh arrived in Ballarat around 1850 from his native Roxboroughshire, Scotland. He tried his luck on the diggings, brought property with his brothers, then returned home to Scotland in 1856. In 1860, he was back and bought a property at Learmonth, Salwick Hall“, from his brother. It was there he died in 1914.

William UREN: Died 19 April 1914 at Berringa. Before travelling to South Australia with his wife during the 1860s, Cornish-born William spent time in Chile, South America. He and his father worked in silver mines. While in South Australia he worked in the copper mines before moving to Ballarat. He was a shift boss at the Midas and Lone Hand mines.

Agnes LUNDY: Died 16 April 1916 at Horsham. Agnes came to Australia from Scotland during the 1860s and worked for Sir Samuel Wilson at Longerenong near Horsham. That is where she met her future husband, William McClintock. William was a cousin of Sir Samuel and worked as an overseer at Longerenong. They remained at Longerenong for some time, before William bought land and bred fine woolled sheep and thoroughbred horses.

Sybil GAIN: Died 28 April 1921 at Horsham. Sybil Gain was ninety years old at the time of her death and was one of the Horsham district’s oldest pioneers. She arrived in Victoria from Scotland during the 1850s. She married three times. Her husbands were John Morrison who she married at nineteen, William Knipe and John Gillies. Gillies was a pioneer of the flour milling industry at Horsham while Sybil was a foundation member of the Horsham Presbyterian Church.

John RUNDELL: Died 19 April 1925 at Condah. Born in Cornwall around 1840, John Rundell was a well-known member of the Condah community. He arrived as a child aboard Birmingham with his parents and spent time with his father at the Ararat goldfields. He married Matilda Hardy upon his return. Matilda later died and John married Agnes Willling. John was a road contractor and spent many years building roads between Portland and Hamilton for the Shire.

Catherine HANLEY: Died 12 April 1929 at Hamilton. Catherine Hanley was an early pioneer of the Portland district, having arrived in Adelaide around 1856 from Donegal, Ireland. It was in Adelaide that she married her husband, James Ball in 1858. They then journeyed to Portland where James farmed. After the death of James Ball, Catherine moved to Hamilton.

Hannah HATHERELL: Died 13 April 1934 at Lyons. Hannah Barr would have had some great pioneering stories to tell. She and her husband ran the first and apparently the only hotel in the Lyons/Greenwald area.

Obituary. (1934, April 16). Portland Guardian (Vic. : 1876 – 1953), p. 2 Edition: EVENING.. Retrieved April 25, 2012, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article64285471

Eliza FEATHERBY: Died April 1934 at Hamilton. Eliza was born in England and travelled to Portland with her parents aboard the Flora McDonald. While in Portland she knew Stephen, Edward and John Henty and had many stories to tell about them. She moved with her parents to Coleraine and after her marriage to John Molloy in 1867, she moved to Hamilton. She was a devout Roman Catholic and crocheted an altar cloth for the St. Marys Church, Hamilton.

ST MARY’S CATHOLIC CHURCH, HAMILTON. Image courtesy of the Museums Victoria Collections https://collections.museumvictoria.com.au/items/769324

Eliza CALLAWAY: Died 3 April 1942 at Maryborough. Eliza was the daughter of Charles and Anne Callaway and was born in Amherst, Victoria in the mid-1860s. During the 1870s, the Callaways moved to the Heytesbury Forest near Timboon where Charles selected 240 acres. He cleared the land and grew hops until red spiders began destroying the crops.

Obituary. (1942, April 10). Camperdown Chronicle (Vic. : 1877 – 1954), p. 3. Retrieved April 25, 2012, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article26091893

John Finn KIRBY: Died 7 April 1942 at Portland. John Kirby was quite a man. Born at Springbank Casterton in 1858, he completed his schooling at Ballarat College. He then worked for seven years as a stock and station agent in Ballarat, before returning closer to home in 1882 to work as a stock and station agent at Coleraine. He eventually bought the business.

Among his many positions around the district, he was both a Councillor and three-time president of the Wannon shire. He was a chairman of directors of the Western District Butter Factory Ltd. and a Justice of the Peace. John was a talented sportsman and excelled as a footballer, including a stint in the metropolitan league. Probably his greatest sporting achievement was as a racehorse owner. His horse The Parisian won the 1911 Melbourne Cup. He also had success with a steeplechaser, Napier which won the Great Eastern Steeple at Oakbank, South Australia, and the Grand Annual Steeplechase at Warrnambool.

John Kirby married Elizabeth Crowe in 1885. They resided in the Mt. Koroite homestead overlooking the Coleraine racecourse. The Victorian Heritage Database mentions extensive renovations to the homestead after Parisian’s success in the Cup.

John was buried at the Coleraine Cemetery (below).

KIRBY FAMILY PLOT, COLERAINE CEMETERY

Robert Arthur LIGHTBODY: Died April 1949 at Drik Drik. Robert Lightbody was the third son of the wonderful Rebecca Kitson remembered in the January Passing of the Pioneers. Robert had fine clerical skills and was a Justice of the Peace, secretary of the Drik Drik Butter factory, Drik Drik P & A Society, Drik Drik school, Drik Drik Repatriation committee and the Drik Drik cricket club. As if wasn’t busy enough, he was also a local preacher of the Methodist church for sixty-five years. His wife, Ellen Jones, must never have seen him. All that activity must have contributed to him living to the ripe old age of ninety-three.