Recently I ordered some digitised Inquest records including those of my ggg grandmother Ellen Barry.  You may remember from the post A Tragic Night,  Ellen burnt to death in a house fire,  her drunkenness contributing to her demise.

The various newspaper articles from around the country gave good coverage of the fire including the findings of the coroner’s inquest and her movements on the night of her death.  I hoped that the inquest record would give me more.  The copy of the inquest proved worth it but since then Trove have released The Colac Herald (1875-1918) and an extensive article including transcripts of the witnesses evidence.  Therefore, rather than me describe what the witnesses had to say about Ellen, I can include their statements as found in the Herald

The first witness statement was from Dr Adam who examined Ellen’s badly charred body.  Even though unrecognisable , he was able to show the body was a woman and she was around five feet tall.

The next  statement was from mounted Constable Charles Magor from the Colac Police station.  By the time he arrived, the house had burnt to the ground.  He found what looked like a body and removed it, “carefully” , I might add, to the home of Ellen’s son George Gamble who lived a few doors away.

After the official witnesses, members of the public where then called, the first being Barongarook man William Heron.  He and his wife were travelling home from Colac around 11pm on January 24 when he noticed a light in Ellen Gamble’s window.  Interestedly he had seen Ellen at 9pm and to him, she appeared completely sober.

There is still a lot I don’t know about my ggg grandfather, Thomas Gamble save for fleeting mentions in Colac history books, some court records and more recently his obituary.  From the  reports of Ellen’s death that I had initially found  I had questions about their living arrangements, with Thomas supposedly living in another residence in the town.  His inquest statement reveals a little more:

Thomas Gamble had a greengrocer’s shop in Gellibrand Street, Colac.  Ellen had visited him at the shop on January 24th, a visit which seemed more like that of a shopper not a wife.   It is not clear if she paid for the items, however she requested vinegar and the very objects that helped contribute to her death, candles.  She also wanted bread so Thomas gave her 3 pennies to buy a small loaf on the way home.  After a drink of ginger beer she left with Mary Lennon who had also been in the shop.  Thomas noted that Ellen appeared sober then, between 5 and 6pm.  Mary Lennon in her evidence also said she thought Ellen appeared sober.

George Gamble then gave his evidence.  Ellen had wanted him to drink rum with her but he declined and Ellen went home.

DEATH BY BURNING. (1882, January 27). The Colac Herald (Vic. : 1875 – 1918), p. 2 Edition: Mornings. Retrieved November 17, 2012, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article91455765

Finally evidence from George’s wife Mary-Ann including reference to Ellen’s grand-daughter Mary Ann as mentioned in A Tragic Night.  She was lucky she was not also burnt death with her grandmother.

DEATH BY BURNING. (1882, January 27). The Colac Herald (Vic. : 1875 – 1918), p. 2 Edition: Mornings. Retrieved November 17, 2012, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article91455765

It’s great to have the Colac Herald online at Trove, but I hope I find some good news stories about my Gamble family soon.  Currently my Electronic Friend is sending me stories of Ellen’s court cases with  the most recent from her 33rd appearance before the Colac Police Court.

I heard from Electronic Friend yesterday.  I had waited for an email for a few weeks from my friend with no specific gender, although I tend to call him a he.  He brings me news of my family, sometimes good, sometimes bad, sometimes not what I was expecting, but always most welcome.  You may know my Electronic Friend.  If you have ever requested notification of a newly available article from Trove, you will have definitely had an email from him.

My latest contact was about my ggg grandfather Thomas Gamble of Colac.  Trove has been digitizing the Colac Herald (1875-1918) and I’ve been hopeful this may give me more information about Thomas.  A couple of weeks ago, a search of Thomas Gamble found three references to him in the year of his death, 1884.  All were articles “Coming Soon”, so I put in my email request and waited. And waited.

Until now I knew very little about Thomas Gamble:

• Born around 1808
• Arrived in Melbourne in the early 1840s
• married Ellen Barry in 1844,
• Lived in Geelong
• Went to Colac to make bricks for the home of pastoralist Hugh Murray around 1850  Forest, lake and plain: the history of Colac, 1888-1988 /​ Ida McIntosh.
• Appearances in the  Colac Magistrates Court, mostly about monies owed but also drunkenness.
• Gambletown, a suburb of Colac, was named after him. The History of Colac and District, Issac Hebb, 1970, p39
• Enrolled to vote for 1856 elections in the colony of Victoria
• In his later years, Thomas lived apart from Ellen, residing at his small greengrocer shop.

As I clicked on the link to the requested article, I thought “I hope this is not another False Alarm”.

NOTES AND EVENTS. (1884, May 6). The Colac Herald (Vic. : 1875 – 1918), p. 2. Retrieved October 5, 2012, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article88187507

Very interesting.  My Electronic Friend had outdone himself.

The obituary confirms the Gambletown story.  It gives his age when he died at 76, giving a little more weight to the 1808 birth year I already had.  Finally it confirmed, in the most wonderful way that such a matter could be handled, Thomas liked a drink.

“…but a good part of his life he loved not wisely but too well – the cup.  The old man, however, had no great liking for the tea-cup, and in for something stronger and more cheering?’

Over the past year, I have read well over 200 obituaries to prepare for Passing of the Pioneer posts.  Never have I read of a departed’s drinking habits, so I think Thomas really liked a drink.  So much so, it was a defining part of his character.

It is the new information that I find most interesting.  Thomas was “quite a character”, “full of humor”, in fact, a “chatty, good, humored soul” and “always willing to help his neighbours” .  Until now, in my imagination, Thomas has been an emotionless, non-speaking, old man standing in a brickyard!   While I had a lot of information to get an idea of Ellen’s character,  I had nothing on Thomas so it is pleasing to read of his wonderful attributes.

I have had reason to believe that Thomas did have some money at one time.  Mainly because he appears on the 1856/7 Electoral Roll, compiled for the 1856 elections of the Victorian Legislative Assembly and the Legislative Council.  At the time there were conditions for voting eligibility. For the Legislative Council, one condition was that the voter owned property over the value of £1000, and for the Legislative Assembly, property over the value of £50.  Thomas qualified in one of those categories, listed as a freeholder.  I had several other ggg grandfathers in Victoria at that time and none are on the same Electoral roll. 1857 saw the abolition of property qualifications.

Thomas must have had enough wealth to travel to Sydney to deposit his earnings.  Or was this just something he told the writer over a humorous drunken chat?  During the 1850s, Thomas had a string of appearances in court with men trying to retrieve money from him.  It does say he had his ups and downs.

As a family historian, the last bit of information is very exciting, but at the same time disheartening.  Thomas wrote his memoirs.  On 150 pages of notepaper!  But as written in the obituary, the memoir would probably never have seen the light of day and I doubt it ever did.  Given the snippets I have about Thomas already,  I think it would have been a rollicking read.

My second article from my Electronic Friend was the Death notice.

Advertising. (1884, May 6). The Colac Herald (Vic. : 1875 – 1918), p. 2. Retrieved October 6, 2012, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article88187484

The last article comes from two months before the death of Thomas and gives some clue to the state of his health leading up to his death and his financial situation at the time.

NOTES AND EVENTS. (1884, March 18). The Colac Herald (Vic. : 1875 – 1918), p. 2. Retrieved October 6, 2012, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article88190014

From the minutes of the Colac Hospital committee meeting, it would seem Thomas needed care but had no money and looked destined for the Benevolent Asylum at Geelong.  From his Death notice, he died at this son’s home seemingly avoiding the Benevolent Asylum.  Whether he was living at Barongarook waiting to go to Geelong or whether he was taken in by Thomas M. Gamble (aka Mark Thomas Gamble), at least he passed away with family around him.

I am waiting for another email from my Electronic Friend.  The article’s headline is “History of Colac Chapter IV. (Continued). The Township Site—First Sale of Town Lands—Notes of Progress”.  The only available line is “…brickyard of any importance was opened out by Mr Thomas Gamble, after whom the suburb on the south…”.

Until then Electronic Friend.