Passing of the Pioneers

December 21, 2018September 19, 2020 / Merron Riddiford / Leave a comment

This edition of Passing of the Pioneers brings you obituaries from the months of November and December. You can read about the two men who carried out their respective businesses on opposite corners, one of the earliest European settlers with a taste for exploration and several women who devoted their lives to charitable works. Remember to click on the underlined text for further information on a subject.

NOVEMBER

KLUG, Carl – Died 5 November 1897 at Hamilton. Carl Klug was born in Bromberg, Prussia (now Poland) around 1827. Following the careers of his father and older brother, Carl went to the University of Berlin to study as a chemist. As a Prussian citizen, he had to serve time with the Prussian army. It was thought he served with another Hamilton pioneer we met in the last Passing of the Pioneers post, Sigismund Jacoby.

Sometime after his military service, Carl travelled to Victoria. He arrived in Hamilton around 1864 and opened a shop in Thompson Street.

“Advertising” Hamilton Spectator and Grange District Advertiser (South Melbourne, Vic. : 1860 – 1870) 6 May 1864: 4. Web. 4 Dec 2018 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article194723497

He later moved to the corner of Gray and Thompson Streets.

“Advertising” Hamilton Spectator and Grange District Advertiser (South Melbourne, Vic. : 1860 – 1870) 4 November 1865: 3. Web. 4 Dec 2018 <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article194467571

“VIEW OF HAMILTON VICTORIA.” Hamilton Spectator (Vic. : 1870 – 1918) 17 April 1888: 2 (SUPPLEMENT TO THE HAMILTON SPECTATOR). http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article225809074

On 25 April 1868, Carl married Eveline Kruger at Warrnambool. They went on to have five daughters and one son. In 1877, Carl was a member of the founding committee of the Hamilton Gas Company. Earlier in that year, Carl opened the Hamilton Ice Works, the first of its kind in the Western District. It took great financial investment, with Carl having to buy the necessary machine followed by much trial and error to get it working. He advertised he was making ice twelve hours a day. Unfortunately, the business didn’t take off and Carl moved into producing aerated water. In his role as a chemist, he made and patented medicines. Placing his lemonade and ginger beer advertisement under his chemist advertisement for arsenic doesn’t seem like a good idea.

“Advertising” Hamilton Spectator (Vic. : 1870 – 1918) 21 November 1885: 3 (SUPPLEMENT TO THE HAMILTON SPECTATOR). Web. 4 Dec 2018 <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article225772985

Carl also treated his own ills which led to his demise. After having numbness in one of his legs, he simply rubbed cream on it. It was on until the pain got too great several weeks later did he call in the doctor who found his leg gangrenous and there was no choice but to amputate. Carl developed pneumonia after the operation and died. He was buried at South Hamilton Lutheran Cemetery.

GRAVE OF CARL AND EVELINE KLUG AT THE SOUTH HAMILTON LUTHERAN CEMETERY.

JAMES, Henry Cottenham – Died 4 November 1898 at Casterton. Henry James was born in Nottingham, England around 1831. He arrived in Victoria in the early 1850s and went to the Ballarat diggings. He then went west to Carngham where he opened a store. While there, Henry took up a share in the Britannia Reef at Carngham. When he sold his share, he made a good profit so he took a trip back to his hometown of Nottingham. He also took the opportunity to tour Europe before returning to England to marry Helen Wayte. On arrival back in Victoria, Henry and Helen went to Pitfield where two children were born. By 1875, the James family were in Casterton and Henry opened a business selling stationery.

BUSINESS OF HENRY JAMES IN HENTY STREET, CASTERTON c1880. Image courtesy of the State Library of South Australia Image no.B 21766/92 https://collections.slsa.sa.gov.au/resource/B+21766/92

Henry was the secretary of the Casterton Racing Club, the Casterton Pastoral and Agricultural Society, the Mechanics Committee and just about every other committee in the district. He was also the Casterton correspondent for the Hamilton Spectator and The Argus. Henry James fell sick suddenly in 1898. He’d been planning a trip to the Melbourne Cup the following week. His health gradually declined until he died about a week later. Henry left his widow Helen, two sons and three daughters.

KENNAN, John Edward – Died November 1917 at Hamilton. John Kennan was born in Dublin in 1841 and arrived in Victoria in December 1855. He headed to Ballarat where he remained for several years and spent time in Melbourne and Bendigo. By 1865 he was in Kyneton where he married Jane Cameron Campbell on 21 August 1867 and they raised a large family. Their first child was born in Richmond in 1870, the year John arrived in Hamilton after buying George Robinson’s stationery shop. At the time George was the owner of the Hamilton Spectator. The family took up residence in French Street.

Advertising (1870, October 8). Hamilton Spectator (Vic. : 1870 – 1918), p. 3. Retrieved December 5, 2018, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article196303053

In time, John built a new store on the corner Gray and Thompson Streets.

HAMILTON (1893, November 25). Leader (Melbourne, Vic. : 1862 – 1918), p. 32. Retrieved December 20, 2018, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article196644733

That was where “The Vagabond” visited him in 1893 and later wrote about John’s successful business in The Leader.

John’s corner became known as Kennan’s corner. You can see the corner on the right in the photo below taken after John’s death but while still a newsagent. John also owned the shop next door occupied by Robertson’s drapery during his time.

Museums Victoria Collections https://collections.museumvictoria.com.au/items/769320

John was a Justice of the Peace from 1887 and served on the Hamilton Council from March 1884 until 1904 and elected Mayor after only five months as a councillor. John was voted off the council in 1888 but returned in 1898 and remained until 1904. John was also an honourary Magistrate and a founding member of the Hamilton Gas Company in 1877. At the time of his death, he was the oldest member of the Grange Lodge at Hamilton. John left his widow Jane, five sons and four daughters. Gerald, one of John and Jane’s sons continued the business before moving to Melbourne in the mid-1920s.

Advertising (1923, March 1). Advocate (Melbourne, Vic. : 1868 – 1954), p. 12. Retrieved December 21, 2018, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article171246844

READ, William Henry – Died 9 November 1936 at Branxholme. William Read was born at Davenport, Manchester, England around 1856. He travelled to Victoria on the Champion of the Seas (below)in 1866 with his parents and younger siblings.

“CHAMPION OF THE SEAS”. Image courtesy of the State Library of Victoria http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/101122

They headed to Sailors Gully near Bendigo and then Learmonth where William gained farming experience from his uncle. William went on to manage the Tarrone station near Koroit followed by Greenhills station near Hawkesdale. On 22 September 1880, at Ballarat, William married Clara Edwards of Burrumbeet. In 1883, on the death of their uncle David Vines, William and his brother purchased Audley near Branxholme from their uncle’s estate. William later bought out his brother’s share.

“AUDLEY”, BRANXHOLME. Image courtesy of the J.T. Collins Collection, La Trobe Picture Collection, State Library of Victoria http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/215908

William was a councillor with the Shire of Portland from 1889 to 1906, a member of the Hamilton Hospital committee and a member of the Branxholme Mechanics Institute committee. He was an active member of the Branxholme Church of England congregation and a Justice of the Peace.

Clara died on 11 June 1927. William carried on at Audley and spent time with his family as seen in this lovely photo of William and his descendants on the beach at Portland a year before his death.

WILLIAM READ AT PORTLAND WITH FAMILY IN 1935. Image courtesy of the Museums Victoria Collections https://collections.museumvictoria.com.au/items/771581

William died at Audley in 1936, survived by four sons and one daughter.

GRAVE OF WILLAM HENRY READ, BRANXHOLME CEMETERY

DECEMBER

READ, William Henry Vines – Died 1 December 1938 at Hotspur. William Read was born at Ballarat in 1881, a son of William Read (above) and Clara Edwards. The family moved to Audley at Branxholme when William was two. He later attended school at the Hamilton Academy (below).

HAMILTON ACADEMY. Image courtesy of the State Library of South Australia https://collections.slsa.sa.gov.au/resource/B+21766/58

After his schooling, William went to work for Thomas Laidlaw at Wonwondah, south of Horsham for two years. William worked for Messrs. A.E. Smith agents of Casterton in their Merino branch. While in Merino, he was involved with the Mechanics Institute and the tennis and rifle clubs. He moved to Terang in 1904 where he ran his own stock and station agency for around five years. In July 1909, William married Isabella Philip of Branxholme at the Branxholme Presbyterian Church and he remained in the Branxholme district.

Like his father, William was a Portland Shire councillor, holding his place for thirteen years including two terms as President. He was also involved with the Branxholme Progress Association, the Branxholme Racing Club and the Branxholme Hall committee. He was active with the Branxholme Presbyterian Church and a life governor of the Hamilton District Base Hospital. William died suddenly after collapsing while out with his son at Hotspur. He left his widow Isabella, two daughters and one son.

HENTY, Stephen George – Died 18 December 1872 at Tarrington. Writing the life story of Stephen Henty would take more space than I can allow here so I will base his story on his obituary published in the Hamilton Spectator with some help from his wife Jane. Stephen Henty was born in 1811 at West Tarring, Sussex, England the seventh son of Thomas Henty and Frances Hopkins. He left for Western Australia with his brothers James and John in 1829 going to the Swan River on the Caroline. With them were forty staff as well as stock including Merino sheep. They took up land but found it unsuitable so they headed for Launceston.

STEPHEN GEORGE HENTY. Image courtesy of the State Library of Victoria http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/91532

Stephen made a couple of trips back and forth putting into practice the navigational skills he picked up on his voyage to Australia. It was in the Swan River area where Stephen, at the age of twenty-two met sixteen-year-old Jane Pace, who had arrived from Yorkshire, England. Her mother carried a letter of introduction addressed to Stephen should need help on her arrival. Stephen and Jane married on 14 April 1836 at Fremantle and they soon set off for Portland Bay where the Henty brothers had a whaling station and were establishing themselves as sheep farmers.

Soon after reaching Portland, the Henty brothers received a surprise visit from Major Thomas Mitchell. He told them of good land inland, just to the north. Stephen set off and found the spot which would become Merino Downs. Jane wrote in her memoir, “My husband, Stephen, never rested until he had gone all through the interior, cut a track through fifteen miles of forest land with two men and a dray, and arrived on the banks of the lovely River Wannon about sundown, grass up to his shoulders. Exclaiming “this is Paradise,” he lay down and slept till sunrise”.

STEPHEN GEORGE HENTY -“MEMORIES” (1934, November 15). Table Talk (Melbourne, Vic. : 1885 – 1939), p. 6. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article149584670

Another of Stephen’s expeditions was to what is now Mount Gambier and Jane noted he was the first European to stand on the banks of Blue Lake. Stephen was also active in business at Portland as a merchant and shipowner. Jane said, “My husband and his brother Edward were in partnership from boys and continued so for years after, Edward managing the Muntham property and Stephen the mercantile part at Portland Bay.”

Elected to the Legislative Council of Victoria in 1856, Stephen and Jane spent much of their time at Findon in Kew. During his time in Melbourne, Stephen became one of the first members of the Melbourne Club. He resigned his parliamentary seat in 1870 due to ill-health and he and Jane retired to Tarrington, a property just east of Hamilton where Stephen died two years later. Stephen Henty is buried at the Hamilton (Old) Cemetery with Jane who lived for a further thirty-four years.

GRAVE OF STEPHEN AND JANE HENTY AT THE HAMILTON (OLD) CEMETERY.

You can read more about Stephen and his brothers in their biography at the Australian Dictionary of Biography on the link http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/henty-stephen-george-2257

CHAMBERS, Margaret Alice Werge – Died December 1903 at Tahara. Margaret Chambers was born in Melbourne in 1850. On 6 January 1883, she married Samuel Winter Cooke of Murndal, Tahara and Alice went to live at Murndal (below)

IN THE MURNDAL GARDEN. c1880. Image courtesy of the State Library of Victoria. http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/334528

Margaret and Samuel did not have children and Margaret devoted much of her time to various charities in the district. That was no different in the lead up to Christmas in 1903 a busy time for charitable institutions. While sitting down to lunch with Samuel and her nephew William Gayer they discussed the latest happenings when suddenly Margaret didn’t respond. Realising all was not well Samuel and William got her to bed and a doctor called. She lapsed in unconsciousness and died soon after aged fifty-three. Margaret was well-respected in the community and evidence of that was demonstrated at her funeral. Two hundred mourners turned out to Murndal including all the Murndal staff. Eight employees were pallbearers and they placed in her coffin in her grave at the cemetery on the property.

DENMAN, Ellen – Died 7 December 1917 at Hamilton. Ellen Denman was born at Blackwood in 1871. In 1873, her mother Mary died leaving her father Joseph with nine children to care for. Ellen married Richard Millard in 1888. They settled in McIntyre Street, Hamilton. Ellen was a tireless worker for charity particularly the Hamilton branch of the Australian Natives Association (ANA). Described as a Trojan, she never expected payment or rewards for work. Her obituary read,

She was of a most friendly disposition, towards all with whom she came in contact, possessing a character for honour which appealed most forcibly, whilst her individuality was most distinctive and marked so strongly that it was recognised her will was unshakable when once she decided on a course of action. Had she been in a more public position there is little doubt that her qualifications would have placed her among the ranks of notable women. But social position deprived her of that opportunity, and she had to work for her home in her task.

In 1915, her son Arthur enlisted and left overseas. Ellen never got to see him return in

1919 as she died on 7 December 1917. She had been looking forward to Christmas

activities with the ANA

GRAVE OF ELLEN AND RICHARD MILLARD, HAMILTON (OLD) CEMETERY.

LOVETT, Eliza Kardinia – Died 30 December 1929 at Pomborneit. Eliza Lovett was born at Geelong around 1879. She married Alfred Lucas on 12 June 1902. at the Camperdown Presbyterian Church and they went to live at Bonnie Brae at Pomborneit. Eliza was very active in the community as a member of the Camperdown Presbyterian Church Ladies Guild, the Public Hall committee and the women’s section of the Victorian Country Party. Eliza left her husband Alfred, two daughters and three sons.

DAVIS, Richard – Died 22 December 1949 at Camperdown. Richard Davis was born in Camperdown in 1864, however, his father died before his birth. He was one of the first children baptized at St Paul’s Church, Camperdown. As a child, Richard helped with the watering of Camperdown’s Finlay Avenue of Elm trees in Manifold Street planted in 1876.

FINLAY AVENUE, MANIFOLD STREET, CAMPERDOWN. Image courtesy of the State Library of South Australia Image no. B 61788/117 https://collections.slsa.sa.gov.au/resource/B+61788/117

Richard obtained a job with Andrew Walls, a road contractor and later started a similar business with partner Jesse Porter. He also added stone masonry to his skills. Richard married Elizabeth Rawbon in 1892 and they had six children. Richard was a founder of the Camperdown Traders Association and a member of the IOOF Lodge. He and his son Norman raced ponies, winning twenty-seven races with “Lady Howard” and “Joe Jewell”. Richard left his widow Elizabeth and four children at the time of his death. Elizabeth died in May the following year.

Passing of the Pioneers

February 11, 2018February 11, 2021 / Merron Riddiford / Leave a comment

After the chore of moving house, I’ve finally had a chance to write a Passing of the Pioneers post. I had good intentions for a December edition and started a post but it was soon January. Not wanting to let another year go by until I had to chance to post about some of the “December” pioneers, I decided to write a combined December/January post. As time went on it was obvious I wasn’t going to finish by the end of January, so now it has become a combined December/January/February post.

There are only seven pioneer obituaries in this edition, two each from December and January and three from February, however, due to the amount of extra information about some of the subjects, their entries are longer than usual. Most are long overdue in finding their way to the Pioneer Obituary Index. Among them is one of our great female pioneers along with two men who were pioneers of Victorian horse racing one of whom still has a leading race named after him. And there is a woman who by marriage became linked to three well known Hamilton district families, the Learmonths, Laidlaws and Thomsons and learnt Spanish along the way.

COLDHAM, John – Died 2 December 1882 at Grassdale. John Coldham arrived in Tasmania from England around 1840. Having heard of good land in Victoria, John sailed for the colony, taking up the Grassdale Run, west of Branxholme where he remained for the next forty years. In 1850, John was appointed a Magistrate in the district and in 1853 he married Josephine Lane and they went on to have five sons.

John was active in community affairs and early horse racing in Victoria. From a horse called Bobby he raced at Portland around 1848, he went on to own two of the runners in the first Melbourne Cup in 1861, Grey Dawn and Twilight. Grey Dawn was the progeny of Western District sire King Alfred. Break O’Day out of Grey Dawn won the 1874 Ballarat Cup for John.

Along with horses, John was a breeder of fine sheep and in his later life took up breeding Alderney cattle. In 1882, John’s health was failing and he took a trip to the sulphur springs of New Zealand in search of relief. Knowing death was impending, on his return, he sold his stock. He didn’t see out the year and was buried at the Merino Cemetery. Further reading about John Coldham’s racing and farming successes was published in The Australian in 1881 after a visit to Grassdale and you can find the article on the following link http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article225486595

FFRENCH, Acheson – Died 29 January 1870 at St Kilda. Acheson Ffrench was born at Monivae Castle, Galway, Ireland in 1812. As a young man, he left Ireland and travelled through Europe and the Holy Land before landing in Australia. In 1841 at the age of twenty-nine, Acheson was appointed Police Magistrate at Hamilton, the same year he took up a large run of 17,000 acres to the south of Hamilton. He named it Monivae after his Galway home. On 8 February 1842, Ffrench married his fiancé Anna Watton and children began arriving at a steady rate with six boys and six girls born in the following years. In 1847, a homestead was built at Monivae located on what is now the eastern side of the Hamilton/Port Fairy Road.

In 1864, Acheson put Monivae up for lease for a term of three years and moved his family to Melbourne where they remained for two years before returning to Monivae in 1866. Ffrench continued to visit Melbourne and he was in town on 29 January 1870. Feeling like a swim, he visited Kenny’s Gentleman’s Bathing Ship (below) at St Kilda.

Kenny’s Baths, St. Kilda by Thomas Clark,artist. Image courtesy of the State Library of Victoria http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/84320

Acheson plunged into the water and hit his head on the bottom of the pool. With his neck broken, Acheson died at the scene. For more about Acheson Ffrench go to my post Strong in Faith, a story of Monivae Estate.

GRAY, Charles – Died 27 January 1905 at Kensington, London. Charles Gray was born in 1818 at Anstruther, Fife, Scotland a son of Major George Gray of the Royal Marines. In January 1839, Charles sailed from England to Hobson’s Bay on the ship Midlothian, meeting William P. Scott and John Marr on the voyage. They parted company on arrival, with Charles making his way to Glenormiston. Hearing of a flock of sheep for sale, Charles wrote to his shipmates Scott and Marr and proposed they squat together. They agreed and the three men took out a squatters licence further on to the north-west at Green Hill Creek near what is now Glenthompson. The site Charles first camped on Green Hill Creek in 1840 was marked with a stone obelisk. The inscription on the obelisk read,”Charles Gray Camped Here September 1840″.

CHARLES GRAY c1855. Image courtesy of the State Library of Victoria http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/294252

The trio stayed in partnership until 1845 when Scott retired. In 1850, John Marr and Charles dissolved their partnership, splitting the property and stock. John Marr named his share Burrie Burrie, later becoming Brie Brie while Charles named his share Nareeb Nareeb. He set about building a homestead by the Green Hill Creek and improving the property for sheep farming. In 1855 Charles was appointed a Magistrate in the Portland Bay district.

THE HOMESTEAD BUILT BY CHARLES GRAY AT NAREEB NAREEB ON THE BANKS OF THE GREEN HILLS CREEK. Image courtesy of the State Library of Victoria http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/294239

At the age of thirty-nine in 1857, Charles married Elizabeth Sharp. Elizabeth was a watercolour artist from Dublin, Ireland via Sydney. She arrived at Portland from Sydney early in 1857 and married Charles on 19 March that year. A daughter Annie was born the following year and another daughter Emily was born in 1860.

ELIZABETH GRAY AND HER DAUGHTERS ANNIE, (right) and EMILY (seated with Elizabeth) c 1862. Image courtesy of the State Library of Victoria http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/294254

In 1862, a boy was born to Charles and Elizabeth but he sadly died before he could be named. The following year on 13 February, a daughter Elizabeth was born at Neptune Cottage at Queenscliff. The pride Charles had in his daughters comes through in the photo below.

CHARLES GRAY AND HIS DAUGHTERS ANNIE (right) and EMILY (left) c1862. Image courtesy of the State Library of Victoria http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/294247

Charles spoke fondly of his girls, evident in his memoir Western Victoria in the forties: reminiscences of a pioneer, published posthumously in the Hamilton Spectator in 1932. Charles mentioned his oldest daughters particularly Annie who he taught to ride on a Shetland pony and by “ten years of age was a good and fearless rider”. He recalled Annie helping him reduce kangaroo numbers on Nareeb Nareeb and an adventurous trip to Glenthompson with Annie and Emily who were fully exposed to pioneering life.

Amid the isolation of life at Nareeb Nareeb, Elizabeth continued with her art. In 1864 she sent five paintings to the Annual Exhibition of Fine Arts in Melbourne and in 1866, she exhibited watercolours at the Melbourne Intercolonial Exhibition, including views of Queenscliff such as the work below.

QUEENSCLIFF BEACH by ELIZABETH GRAY (1963) Image courtesy of the State Library of Victoria http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/401523

In 1867 when Queen Victoria’s son Prince Alfred, the Duke of Edinburgh visited the colony, he spent time at neighbouring property Hopkins Hill, the guest of John Moffat. Charles and Elizabeth were invited to lunch with the prince and Elizabeth presented him with vases adorned with etched Black Swan eggs. The Prince was most impressed with Elizabeth’s work and commissioned her to make similar ornaments for his mother. Elizabeth produced four vases including two smaller vases each with carved Black Swan eggs including one of the Wannon Falls near Hamilton, seen on the right in the illustration below. A larger vase featured Mount Sturgeon near Dunkeld carved on an emu egg. The four vases given to Queen Victoria are now part of the Royal Collection and are located at Osborne House, the summer house of Queen Victoria on the Isle of Wight. A photograph of the vases in the illustration below is available on the link to the Royal Collection.

“VASES PRESENTED TO HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN.” Illustrated Australian News for Home Readers (Melbourne, Vic. : 1867 – 1875) 15 August 1868: 12. Web. 7 Feb 2018 <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article60450420>.

In 1873, Elizabeth exhibited in the Victorian Intercolonial Exhibition in Melbourne and the London International and by December that year, the Grays had decided to move to England. Charles sold the household furniture and harness and the family left Australia in February 1874. Two years later Charles travelled from London to New York and then on to the Philadelphia Exhibition before embarking at San Francisco for Sydney. He then made his way south to Nareeb Nareeb. The women in his life extended their stay in England. On his return, Charles was appointed a Justice of the Peace. In 1881, Charles’ eldest daughter Annie married Charles Rowe in Kensington, London.

Charles may not have been the easiest person to get along with according to a description of him by Billis & Kenyon in 1942.

“Nareeb Nareeb—One of the Famous Western District Fine-wool Stations” The Australasian (Melbourne, Vic. : 1864 – 1946) 3 May 1941: 37. Web. 3 Feb 2018 <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article142429106>.

However, a reporter from the Hamilton Spectator visited Nareeb Nareeb in 1876 upon Charles’ return from London to report on his “Model Wool-Growing Estate” describing him as most hospitable and not one to turn a passer-by away. I turned to the journalist The Vagabond to see if he, as a keen observer of human character, had an opinion of Charles. Unfortunately, he did not pass by Nareeb Nareeb while writing his series Picturesque Victoria in 1885 but in his account of his visit to Hamilton during that series, he mentioned he wanted to visit Charles in the future. Little did The Vagabond know by 1886 Charles was feeling the loneliness of life at Nareeb Nareeb. Missing his family and approaching his seventies and no son to pass the property on to, he returned to England. In 1903, Elizabeth died in England with Charles living a further two years, dying in 1905 at the age of eighty-seven.

CHARLES GRAY c1872. Image courtesy of the State Library of Victoria http://search.slv.vic.gov.au/permalink/f/1o9hq1f/SLV_VOYAGER1805529

While I was searching for The Vagabond’s thoughts on Charles Gray, I found a reference to Charles from an article by The Vagabond written after a return visit to Hamilton in 1893. On that occasion, he met with Hamilton’s Alexander Ingram. The Vagabond wrote Ingram had said Hamilton’s main street Gray Street, “… was not named from Commissioner Gray…but from Mr Charles Gray, the squatter…”. However, Ingram went on to refute that with a Letter to the Editor of the Hamilton Spectator on 28 November 1893 as seen below.

“THE “VAGABOND” IN HAMILTON.” Hamilton Spectator (Vic. : 1870 – 1918) 28 November 1893: 3. Web. 10 Feb 2018 <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article225780345>.

PACE, Jane – Died 3 February 1906 at Hamilton. Jane Pace was born on 8 February 1816 at Stokesley, Yorkshire, England to Walter Pace, a captain with the East India Company and Elizabeth Fennie. In 1832 Walter, on hearing of good land in Western Australia, left his family in Yorkshire and set off on an exploratory trip. Finding Western Australia to his liking, Walter built a stone house for his family and wrote to his wife Elizabeth he would return to collect her and the children. However, Elizabeth was an independent woman, a trait later seen in her daughter Jane, and without telling her husband she boarded The Quebec Trader with daughters Jane and Ann and travelled to Western Australia. After a treacherous voyage, broken with a visit with friends in South Africa, Elizabeth and her daughters arrived in Fremantle much to Walter’s surprise.

Elizabeth also proved herself a resourceful woman having a contingency plan in case Walter had already left to collect them. From England, she carried a letter of introduction addressed to Stephen George Henty, a young trader who had frequented the Swan River area since 1829. With Walter still in Fremantle, the letter wasn’t required but an introduction to the twenty-two year old Henty did take place leading to his marriage to sixteen year old Jane Pace. They were married on 14 April 1836 at Fremantle. They soon set off for Portland Bay where the Henty brothers had a whaling station and were establishing themselves as sheep farmers. The newlyweds arrived on a Sunday evening and under moonlight, Jane was carried ashore by a sailor, the first European woman to land on the shores of the Port Phillip District.

VIEW OF PORTLAND BAY 1835-1836 BY GEORGE JACKSON. Image courtesy of the State Library of Victoria http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/288641

Jane found the Henty brothers had built a comfortable homestead and were awaiting her arrival with a fire burning, a hearty meal of bread, butter, eggs, and tea. As Jane entered the homestead Francis Henty said, “Welcome, Mrs Henty” to which Jane replied, “My name is Jane Henty, your sister”. Jane got along well with her brothers-in-law and in her memoirs published in 1902 and reproduced in part in 1934 by Table Talk newspaper, she looked back fondly on those times albeit tough. In August 1837, a son Richmond was born, the first of eleven children Jane would bear.

JANE HENTY ca. 1872-1880. Photographer Batchelder & Co. Image courtesy of the State Library of New South Wales. File no. FL3317680 http://archival.sl.nsw.gov.au/Details/archive/110343890I

In time, the Hentys moved to Tarrington Station, just east of Hamilton. It was there in December 1872 Stephen died at the age of sixty-one. In 1874, Anna Henty, one of Jane’s daughters married Hamilton stock and station agent Robert Stapylton-Bree and Jane went to live with the couple. A sad time came in 1904 when Jane’s eldest son Richmond died in London. Jane spent her last years at Bewsall, Hamilton the home of the Brees (below). She died there on 3 February 1906 only a few days short of her ninetieth birthday.

BEWSALL, HAMILTON. (1903, May 2). The Australasian (Melbourne, Vic. : 1864 – 1946), p. 27. Retrieved February 18, 2014, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article138684187

Jane was buried with Stephen at the Hamilton Old Cemetery. A memorial to Richmond was included on the headstone.

GRAVE OF JANE HENTY

Jane was a woman of strong religious faith and a great supporter of St Stephen’s Church in Portland and the Christ Church Hamilton. It was there a memorial pulpit to Jane was dedicated on Sunday 4 November 1906.

INSCRIPTION ON JANE HENTY MEMORIAL PULPIT, CHRIST CHURCH HAMILTON,

A report on the pulpit’s dedication by the Hamilton Spectator read as follows,

“CHRIST CHURCH.” Hamilton Spectator (Vic. : 1870 – 1918) 6 November 1906: 1 (SUPPLEMENT TO THE HAMILTON SPECTATOR). Web. 7 Feb 2018 <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article226123438>.

And yes, today more than a century later one can visit Hamilton’s Christ Church, view the pulpit and remember Jane a great pioneering woman of not only the Western District but Australia. March is Women’s History month and I will be posting more about Jane as part of the series, Wonderful Western District Women.

WIMBLE, Clara Augusta – Died 3 February 1912 at Cavendish. Clara Wimble was born at Northcote in 1860, a daughter of Lands Department officer Nehemiah Wimble and Edith Hewett. On 30 August 1887, Clara married Stanley Learmonth at the Northcote Wesleyan Church. Stanley had returned from Mexico where he and his brother Allan had run the family property La Mariposa since 1881. Soon after their marriage, Clara left with Stanley for Mexico, her home for the next fourteen years. Clara at least had some female company from home when she arrived because her brother-in-law Allan Learmonth had married Annie Thomson from the Hamilton district a year earlier and made their home at La Mariposa. Clara learnt Spanish enabling her to better adjust to her adopted country. Children were born to Clara and Stanley in Mexico including in 1890, 1891 and 1892. It was 1892 when Allan and Annie Learmonth returned to Australia but Stanley and Clara remained in Mexico for another ten years.

On their eventual return in 1902, they took up residence at Horsham where Clara was involved with the Horsham Golf Club and the Horsham Ladies Benevolent Society. They left Horsham in 1906 moving to Eulameet, Cavendish. Clara did suffer from illness through that time but still managed to get out and about. Around 26 January 1912, Clara, Stanley, a son, and daughter travelled in Stanley’s car for an afternoon visiting the Carters at Glenisla. When Clara stepped from the car she suffered a stroke and died days later on 3 February. During her last days, Clara was attended by Dr David Laidlaw of Hamilton, married to Stanley’s sister Mary Simpson Laidlaw. Clara was buried at the Hamilton Old Cemetery (below). A Hamilton Spectator article the day after her burial recalled stories unfolding from the funeral including that of Stanley Learmonth’s return visit to Mexico in 1908. At La Mariposa, he found Clara’s Spanish name of Dona Clarita was known by all and many people sent messages to her via Stanley.

GRAVE OF CLARA LEARMONTH

MINOGUE, Jerome Joseph – Died 31 December 1928 at Edenhope. Jerome Minogue was born in Clare, Ireland around 1840 and arrived at Port Phillip as a baby with his parents Simon and Johanna Minogue aboard the Agricola. The Minogues lived at the property Wattle Hill at West Portland. Jerome remained in Portland for more than thirty years working as a stockman for the Henty brothers, including time as the head stockman at their property Cashmore. He was known as an expert horseman and his tracking abilities saw him find missing children in the bush on two occasions. Jerome married Jean Edgar of Harrow in 1871 and then bought a farm near Edenhope. Jerome was survived by Jean, two sons and three daughters.

MANIFOLD, Edward – Died 14 February 1931 at East Melbourne.

“The Late Mr. Edward Manifold.” Camperdown Chronicle (Vic. : 1877 – 1954) 17 February 1931: 5. Web. 10 Feb 2018 <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article27389306>.

And so begun the obituary of Edward Manifold, the fifth son of John Manifold and Marion Thomson of Purrumbete Station, the place of Edward’s birth in 1868. John Manifold with his brothers first took up Purrumbete in 1838 and bred Shorthorn cattle. When Edward was nine in 1877, his father John died. Young Edward completed his early schooling at Geelong Grammar and later Melbourne Grammar. He then went on to study at Cambridge University, England. In 1894, Edward’s mother Marion died followed by the sudden death of his brother Thomas in 1895. From Thomas’ estate, Edward received and took up the first option to buy Thomas’ property Wiridgel and each of Thomas’ brothers inherited a share in the homestead where Edward went on to live. He already owned the Dandite Estate inherited from his father.

“NEWLY-ELECTED MEMBER OF THE V.R.C. COMMITTEE: MR. EDWARD MANIFOLD.” The Australasian (Melbourne, Vic. : 1864 – 1946) 18 August 1906: 30. Web. 2 Feb 2018 <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article139174270>.

Edward was a good all-around sportsman excelling at cricket, football, athletics and was a member of the Trinity College rowing team while at Cambridge. However, his first love was polo and he was a member of the Camperdown Polo Club and represented Victoria, captaining the team on a tour of New Zealand in 1901. He is seen on the far right below, along with his brothers John Chester Manifold and William Thomas Manifold, and Hexham Polo Club member, Robert Hood all members of the 1899 Victorian team.

“INTERCOLONIAL POLO MATCH.” Melbourne Punch (Vic. : 1855 – 1900) 18 May 1899: 21. Web. 10 Feb 2018 <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article180224372>.

Another equine interest for Edward was racing. He was involved with the Camperdown, Terang and Warrnambool Turf Clubs and he sat on the committee of the Victorian Racing Club. With his brother John Chester Manifold, Edward won the 1893 Grand National Steeplechase with the horse Dugan and again in 1896 with Mysore (below).

“SATURDAY’S RACING IN MELBOURNE.” The Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1871 – 1912) 22 July 1899: 212. Web. 10 Feb 2018 .

As the years went on, Edward’s racing successes continued including the 1904 Australian Steeplechase with Airly. Such was his involvement in Victorian horse racing, since 1932, the Group 2 Edward Manifold Stakes is run over 1600 metres for three year old fillies at Flemington Racecourse during the Spring Carnival. His brother Chester also had a race named after him, the listed Chester Manifold Stakes over 1400 metres run in January at Flemington.

In May 1900, it was announced Edward was engaged to Beatrice Mary Synnat Anderson, a daughter of Andrew George Anderson and Elizabeth Mary Synatt Manifold, daughter of Edward’s uncle Thomas Manifold. Edward and Beatrice were married two months later on16 July 1900 at Christ Church, South Yarra.

“STELLA’S LADIES LETTER” Table Talk (Melbourne, Vic. : 1885 – 1939) 19 July 1900: 15. Web. 10 Feb 2018 <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article145935546>.

Edward and Beatrice went on to have three sons, Peter, Andrew and Robert.

Edward was a councillor with the Hampden Shire Council from 1909 and was president on three occasions. He was also chairman of directors of the Camperdown Cheese and Butter Factory. Edward Manifold and his brothers were great philanthropists. Edward supported St Pauls Church of England at Camperdown and the Anglican Diocese of Ballarat. He also funded various scholarships at Geelong Grammar. As a collective, the brothers funded the Camperdown Hospital and the equipment within. Edward was also a large landholder having an interest in a number of properties in Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland. One of his properties was Boortkoi at Hexham (below), which was taken over by his son Andrew.

BOORTKOI, HEXHAM. J.T. Collins Collection, La Trobe Picture Collection, State Library of Victoria. http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/231806

Edward died at a private hospital in East Melbourne in 1931 and cremated at the Melbourne Crematorium. He was sixty-three and the last surviving son of John and Marion Manifold.

“DEATH OF MR. E. MANIFOLD” The Australasian (Melbourne, Vic. : 1864 – 1946) 21 February 1931: 9. Web. 10 Feb 2018 <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article141418767>.

Sacred Memorials

February 11, 2017March 24, 2020 / Merron Riddiford / 2 Comments

You may have sat in a church and admired the stained glass windows, but have you had a close look? You’ll see church windows can tell a story about a town’s history and people. To give you an example, let’s take a look at windows at two churches I’ve visited over the past year, the Hamilton Uniting Church and the Hamilton Anglican Christ Church. A disclaimer…I like to think it’s a spiritual force responsible for the large percentage of blurry photos I’ve taken in churches. In reality, it says something about my photography skill. Also, there are loads of links in this post so if you see underlined text, click on it and you will find more information about the subject.

Opened on Sunday 5 October 1913 as the Hamilton Wesleyan Methodist Church, the Hamilton Uniting Church in Lonsdale Street has some beautiful windows.

HAMILTON WESLEYAN METHODIST CHURCH c1930. Image courtesy of the Museums Victoria Collections http://collections.museumvictoria.com.au/items/769323

I have some family history here as my ggg grandfather James Harman was a Wesleyan local preacher and often preached at the former Wesleyan Church in McIntyre Street. The current church opened prior to his death and even though he was eighty-three he still found the energy to attend events important to him so I expect he was there.

HAMILTON UNITING CHURCH

There isn’t a memorial window for James, but there is a window for a man he knew well, Peter Learmonth of Prestonholme Hamilton, a local businessman, flour mill operator and stalwart of the Wesleyan Methodist Church. Unveiled on 14 January 1900 at the then Methodist Church in McIntyre street, this beautiful window was later installed at the new church in Lonsdale Street.

PETER LEARMONTH MEMORIAL WINDOW

The Reverend W.C. Thomas spoke of the Learmonth’s dedication to the Methodist Church during a memorial service for Mary Jarvey Pearson, herself deserving of a memorial window.

“LATE MRS. PETER LEARMONTH.” Hamilton Spectator (Vic. : 1870 – 1918) 8 December 1913: <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article225162684>.

James Allan Learmonth was a son of Peter Learmonth and Mary Jarvey Pearson. He was born at Merino Downs on 8 April 1856 and went to school at the Hamilton and Western District College and Wesley College. Locally, James was well-known for his sporting prowess. After some work experience in Melbourne, James returned to the Western District to manage his father’s Penshurst Flour Mill.

After his father co-purchased Maraposa Estate in Mexico, James and his brother left for that country to manage the estate for ten years, returning home briefly in 1886 to marry Annie Thomson of Monivae Estate. In 1892, James and Annie returned from Mexico to live at Prestonholme. James died on 29 October 1928 and Annie on 14 June 1930. They were buried at the Old Hamilton Cemetery.

Annie’s family were Presbyterian and the St Andrew’s Church in Hamilton features a large memorial window for her father James Thomson. James and Annie Learmonth’s window at the Hamilton Uniting Church is below.

JAMES AND ANNIE LEARMONTH MEMORIAL WINDOW, UNITING CHURCH, HAMILTON

Hamilton’s Christ Church in Gray Street was built in 1878.

CHRIST CHURCH ANGLICAN CHURCH, HAMILTON

Walking up to the door, I always imagine handsome Lieutenant Edward Ellis Henty and his beautiful bride Florence Grace Pearson emerging through the doors after their marriage on 18 November 1914. They’re bittersweet thoughts because nine months later, Florence and Edward’s family and friends entered the same doors for a memorial service for Edward. He was killed at the Charge at the Nek at Gallipoli on 7 August 1915 while serving with the 8th Australian Lighthorse Regiment. Florence was around seven months pregnant.

I’ve visited the Christ Church three times in the past year. Each time I visit, I can’t help but touch the 137-year-old walls made from local bluestone just as I enter the doors below.

Just inside the main door of the church in the vestibule is the first stained glass window, a memorial for the Tatlock family, Alfred James Rolland Tatlock, his wife Marie McGowan and sons Norval and Alfred Jr. Depicted is St. Francis of Assisi possibly indicating the Tatlock’s love for animals. Alfred Sr.’s father Thomas Henry Tatlock was a leading breeder and judge of poultry and horses.

TATLOCK MEMORIAL WINDOW

Alfred Tatlock Sr. was a grand master of the Grange Masonic Lodge and a Hamilton councillor. Marie died in 1937 and Alfred Jr. met a tragic end, killed in a plane crash in Queensland on 27 March 1943 while serving with the RAAF. Twenty-two other crew and passengers were also killed. Norval died in 1951 and Alfred Tatlock Sr. in 1956.

Another window in a different part of the church remembers another son of Alfred Tatlock and Marie McGowan, Rolland Tatlock who died in 1981. This window depicts St. Vincent de Paul and is one of two windows in the church created by Jean Orval. I went to school with three of Jean’s grandsons, all cousins. Each day on my way to primary school, I passed Jean’s house with his workshop at the end of the driveway. You can read more about Jean Orval and see photos of his beautiful windows in churches across Victoria and South Australia on the link http://www.orvalstainedglass.com/index.html

ROLLAND TATLOCK MEMORIAL WINDOW BY JEAN ORVAL

Once inside the Christ Church, stained glass windows line either side of the nave. To the left is the window for Abraham Greed and his wife Hannah Oaff.

ABRAHAM AND HANNAH GREED MEMORIAL WINDOW, CHRIST CHURCH ANGLICAN CHURCH, HAMILTON

Abraham was a leading coachbuilder in the town and a Mayor of Hamilton. He was born in Taunton, Somerset, England and arrived in Victoria around 1857. Abraham married Hannah Oaff in 1866. He died on 27 July 1926 aged eighty while on holiday in Geelong with Hannah and their daughter. Only the year before, Abraham had donated an oak altar and reredos to the church.

“HAMILTON.” The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 – 1957) 22 May 1925: 6. .

In his will, Abraham left the Christ Church money for a peal of bells. Hannah died at Hamilton in 1937 aged eighty-eight.

“ABOUT PEOPLE.” The Age (Melbourne, Vic. : 1854 – 1954) 1 November 1926 .

Also to the left of the nave is the window for Robert Edwin Windsor Sandys Stapylton Bree and his wife Anna Maria Henty.

MEMORIAL WINDOW OF ROBERT BREE AND ANNIE HENTY

Robert Bree was born in Cornwall on 11 November 1839, his father an Anglican minister. He worked for Dalgety & Co. in London before arriving in Victoria and working for Stephen Henty as a manager of Henty’s properties. It was during that time Robert met Stephen Henty’s daughter Annie four years younger than himself. They married in Hamilton’s first Anglican Church on 30 July 1874. Robert operated a stock and station business at Hamilton from 1872. At one time he was in business with Alfred Tennyson Dickens, son of Charles Dickens.

Robert sat on the Hamilton Borough Council for thirty-five years, twice serving as Mayor. He was President of the Hamilton Hospital board and operating theatre was named in his honour along with a park opposite the hospital. On 26 May 1900, Robert and Anna’s son Reginald Robert Stephen Stapylton Bree serving as a Lieutenant was killed in Bloemfontein, South Africa during the Boer War.

Robert Bree died on 16 September 1907. After Robert’s death, Anna continued living at the Bree family home Bewsall in Hamilton and in 1914 hosted the wedding breakfast of her nephew and his new wife, the aforementioned Edward Henty and Florence Pearson. Anna died on 2 July 1921 at Bewsall in Hamilton leaving two daughters and a son.

HAMILTON. (1903, May 2). The Australasian (Melbourne, Vic. : 1864 - 1946), p. 27. Retrieved February 18, 2014, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article138684187

BEWSALL, HAMILTON. (1903, May 2). The Australasian (Melbourne, Vic. : 1864 – 1946), p. 27. Retrieved February 18, 2014, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article138684187

Next is the window for the Rountrees, James Hughes Rountree and his wife Margaret Strang Kitchen.

MEMORIAL WINDOW OF JAMES ROUNTREE AND MARGARET KITCHEN

James Hughes Rountree died on 1 August 1902 after an operation for an ulcer. He arrived in Victoria aboard the Great Britain in 1864 and worked as a dispenser at the Geelong hospital. In 1874, he became superintendent at the Hamilton Hospital. Fourteen years later, James opened a chemist shop in Hamilton. He was a member of the Masonic and Orange Lodges. At the time of his death, James left his widow, Margaret and eight children.

Most of James and Margaret’s children followed James’ profession. Daughters Mary, Margaret, Jean and Ella were chemists as was son James. Mary Rountree married the well-known jockey Bobby Lewis in 1920. Lewis rode four Melbourne Cup winners during his career and controversially rode Phar Lap to third in the cup in 1929. The wedding took place at the Hamilton Christ Church.

“PERSONAL.” The Ballarat Star (Vic. : 1865 – 1924) 19 June 1920: <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article211909666>.

James and Margaret Rountree were buried at the Old Hamilton Cemetery.

GRAVE OF JAMES ROUNTREE AND MARGARET KITCHEN

The following photo is a perfect example of most of my church photos and I wasn’t going to post it. Instead, I asked Mum to try her luck photographing the window. When I compared the two photos, I had to share both because of the different colours in each photo.

This is Mum’s photo. Each was taken in the early afternoon, the first in April and the second in November. The angle was the main difference. The window is dedicated to the memory of Percy Beaumont Osborne.

MEMORIAL WINDOW OF PERCY BEAUMONT OSBORNE

Percy Beaumont Osborne was the stepson of Hamilton’s Anglican Vicar from 1907 until 1917, Charles Harris. He enlisted for WW1 on 11 February 1916 and left Australia for England on 28 July 1916. Percy died of Meningitis at Tidworth Military Hospital, England on 2 February 1917 aged twenty-two. His memorial window was unveiled on Sunday 17 June 1917.

Memorial windows for WW1 soldiers are not unusual. The former Baptist Church in Hamilton (now a private home), had five memorial windows installed for WW1 soldiers Alexander and Edgar Stevenson, James Sack, Joseph Brokenshire, Walter Filmer and Albert Herbert Lewis. The Victorian War Heritage Inventory site allows for searches by a soldier’s name or site of a memorial.

I intend to add to my stained glass window photo collection and hopefully, with more practice, they’ll improve. I’m keen to get back to St. Stephen’s Church in Portland where there are beautiful windows and a memorial tablet for Edward Ellis Henty was unveiled there on 1 July 1917.

Passing of the Pioneers

November 18, 2016December 4, 2020 / Merron Riddiford / Leave a comment

If you have seen the Western District Families Pioneer Obituary Index, you’ll notice pioneers have links to their relatives. I will be busy linking this month as six of the fourteen pioneers are related to earlier pioneers. There is also Walter Henty, father of one of the men featured in Hamilton’s WW1 Edward Ellis Henty. And William Chadderton who was practically a neighbour of Walter Henty. There is a link between two of the pioneers, Hamilton’s David Laidlaw and Garvoc’s John Scullion by way of the Hamilton home St Ronans. Interesting too is the story of William Doig’s will, giving us an insight into anti-German sentiment during WW1.

Any underlined text in the post is a link to further information about the subject.

Harry NORTHCOTT – Died 5 November 1894 at Merino. Harry Northcott was born in Plymouth, England in 1853 and arrived in Victoria with his parents two years later. They settled at Merino and his father, George Northcott was a builder in the town and later operated the Commercial Hotel (below).

COMMERCIAL HOTEL, MERINO 1880 Image Courtesy of the State Library of South Australia http://images.slsa.sa.gov.au/mpcimg/22000/B21766_112.htm

Harry was apprenticed to his father as a joiner and remained working with him until 1879 when Harry married Alice Leake. He then turned to work on the land having purchased several hundred acres on the edge of Merino. In 1891, Harry took over the running of the Commercial Hotel from his father. Harry was involved with the Mechanics Institute, a Shire Councillor and was a Freemason. He also enjoyed football, horse racing, and cricket. On 23 July 1894, Harry’s father died. Harry himself had suffered an illness at the time and died only three months after his father.

John DARCY – Died 27 November 1905 at Ondit. John Darcy was born in Milltown Malbay, County Clare, Ireland in 1833. At the age of twenty-two, he arrived in Australia and went to the diggings around Ballarat, Beechworth and Chiltern. In 1860, John married Catherine Doherty and by 1862, had selected land near Beeac. John and Catherine went on to raise nine sons and two daughters. John spent six years on the Colac Shire Council and owned several successful racehorses. At the time of his death, John owned two properties in Queensland run by one of his sons. John’s funeral was held at Beeac and was one of the largest seen there with 126 carriages and thirty horsemen making up the funeral cortege

David LAIDLAW – Died 22 November 1913 at Hamilton. David Laidlaw was born at Selkirk, Scotland in 1831, a son of William and Agnes Laidlaw. The Laidlaw family arrived at Melbourne aboard the Argyle in March 1841. David attended the Scots School in Collins Street Melbourne then went to the property of his older brother Robert at Heidelberg where he learnt all things pastoral. He then moved to Port Fairy where his parents resided and continued farming. It was around that time David gained a reputation as one of the best riders of buckjumpers around.

In 1854, David married Elisa Fraser a daughter of John Fraser of Mount Sturgeon Plains Station, east of Hamilton. Their first child Edith was born in Port Fairy in 1856. Another daughter, Florence was born in 1858 at Port Fairy before David and Elisa moved to Hamilton with Margaret born in 1859. The family grew with a further seven children born over the next thirteen years. Soon after his arrival in Hamilton, David started a saddlery business in Gray Street.

“Advertising” Hamilton Spectator and Grange District Advertiser (South Melbourne, Vic. : 1860 – 1870) 9 November 1861: 3. Web. 12 Nov 2016 <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article194859603>.

“Advertising” Hamilton Spectator and Grange District Advertiser (South Melbourne, Vic. : 1860 – 1870) 29 December 1869: http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article194156977

In 1866, David sold the business and in November 1867, took over the ironmongery business of James Allan in Gray Street. By the end of 1869, David had expanded the business to include drapery and groceries.

"VIEW OF HA[?] [?]AM[?]TON VICTORIA." Hamilton Spectator (Vic. : 1870 - 1918) 17 April 1888: 1 (SUPPLEMENT TO THE HAMILTON SPECTATOR). Web. 13 Nov 2016 .

“VIEW OF HAMILTON VICTORIA.” Hamilton Spectator (Vic. : 1870 – 1918) 17 April 1888: 1 (SUPPLEMENT TO THE HAMILTON SPECTATOR). Web. 13 Nov 2016 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article225809074

In September 1875, David entered into a partnership with Thomas Pratt and the business started trading as D.Laidlaw & Co. The partnership continued until 1881 when it was dissolved. David remained in the business.

“Advertising” Hamilton Spectator (Vic. : 1870 – 1918) 13 January 1891: 3. Web. 12 Nov 2016 <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article226083364>.

By 1890, David and his family were occupying St Ronans, a large bluestone home in Dryden Street Hamilton previously owned by draper Sigismund Jacoby and built with the stone of Hamilton’s first post office. The photo below shows St Ronans while the Laidlaws were in residence.

“HAMILTON.” The Australasian (Melbourne, Vic. : 1864 – 1946) 2 May 1903 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article138684187

ST RONANS, HAMILTON TODAY.

From the time David Laidlaw arrived in Hamilton, he had an interest in the future development of the town. As a result, he was one of the founders of the Mechanics Institute, the Hamilton Hospital, the Hamilton and Western District College and the Alexandra College. A Presbyterian, David was an elder of the Hamilton Presbyterian Church from 1861. He also served on the Hamilton Borough Council, first in 1861 and later as Mayor in 1871, 1888, 1892 and 1893. With his role on council, he was part of the committee for the building of Hamilton’s first Town Hall and was there when Mayor James Wiggens laid the foundation stone in 1872. He was also a Justice of the Peace and a member of the Caledonian Society. David Laidlaw’s contribution to Hamilton are still present today as the photos below show and a street was also named in his honour.

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David’s wife Elisa died in December 1906. David soon spent more time at home and indulged in his great passion for Scottish literature right up until his death on 22 November 1913, taking solace in the great works. He was eighty-two. On the day of David Laidlaw’s funeral, the bells of St Andrew’s Presbyterian rang out across Hamilton as the townspeople made their way to Church Hill to pay their last respects to a man who had done much for their town. Appropriately, the Hamilton Scottish Pipe Band accompanied David to his final resting place at the Old Hamilton Cemetery.

“BURIAL OF MR. DAVID LAIDLAW.” Hamilton Spectator (Vic. : 1870 – 1918) 21 November 1913: http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article225165507 .

GRAVE OF DAVID AND ELISA LAIDLAW, OLD HAMILTON CEMETERY

William Henry DOIG – Died 21 November 1915 at Hamilton. William Doig was born in Hamilton in 1863. He worked in the building and carpentry trade and built many residences in the town. In 1885, William married Matilda Graves. Matilda died in 1912 and William went to live with his newly married daughter Alexandra in Dinwoodie Street Hamilton. It was where he died in 1915. William’s death came over a year after the beginning of WW1 and a newspaper report about his will brings a twist to William’s tale, but indicative of the times.

“A HAMILTON WILL” Hamilton Spectator (Vic. : 1870 – 1918) 22 November 1916: 4. Web. 12 Nov 2016 <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article129390444>.

Williams daughter Alexandra Mary Doig married Eric Gramsch in 1914, the year WW1 started but before the rise of anti-German sentiment in the community. Eric was born in Berlin and arrived in Australia in 1912. Since William was living with Alexandra and Eric, it may have been an uncomfortable arrangement with William’s strong feelings. The court case made news nationally with the Chronicle in Adelaide running the headline “Married a German” in the 25 November 1915 edition. The judge did find that Alexandra could inherit her father’s property and a report of the finding was published in the Ballarat Star of 1 December 1916.

William and Matilda Doig were buried at the Old Hamilton Cemetery (below)

Agnes DOWNING – Died 29 November 1915 at Hamilton. Agnes Downing was born around 1844 at St Edmunds, Suffolk and arrived in Victoria with her parents around 1869. Soon after, they arrived in Hamilton. In 1871, Agnes married butcher James Willet and they had two sons and two daughters. Agnes was living in Skene Street at the time of her death and was buried at the Old Hamilton Cemetery.

William CHADDERTON – Died November 1916 at Hamilton. William Chadderton was born at Staffordshire England and arrived in Victoria in 1883. He lived at Buckley Swamp for eight years and during that time married Jane Kirkwood in 1885. William then purchased Glencoe at Bochara where he bred fine Jersey cattle. He was a member of the Hamilton Pastoral and Agriculture Society and won many prizes at shows with his stock and produce. At the time of his death, William left his widow Jane and four sons and two daughters. He was buried at the Old Hamilton Cemetery.

GRAVE OF WILLIAM AND JANE CHADDERTON, OLD HAMILTON CEMETERY

Robert Pender WILLIAMS – Died 28 November 1916 at Lilydale. Robert Williams was born around 1833 in Cornwall, England. During his early years, he was involved with mining in Victoria possibly on the diggings. In 1859 he married Honora Mary Corcoran at Hamilton and they lived on a dairy farm at Penshurst. After retiring from farming in 1901, Robert and Hannah moved to Ararat, living on the Stawell Road. Hannah died the following year and by 1905, Robert purchased Aldersyde at Port Fairy and lived there for a few years before moving to Wee Station at Lilydale. Robert was buried at Ararat Cemetery. He left five children, twenty-one grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren. An obituary for Robert in the Advocate, Melbourne, a Catholic newspaper and is on the following link http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article151841357

Jane COBB – Died 4 November 1917 at Lower Crawford. Jane Cobb was born in Dorset, England around 1833. She married James Hiscock and they travelled to Australia on the Shand arriving at Portland at Christmas 1854. They first went to Grassdale but soon moved to the Lower Crawford district, living at their property The Elms for the rest of their lives. James died in 1900. Jane had two daughters at the time of her death.

Walter Thomas HENTY – 25 November 1917 at Hamilton. Walter Henty was born in 1856 at Portland a son of Stephen George Henty and Jane Pace. On 27 November 1881, Walter married Annie Margaret Campbell at St Stephen’s Church, Portland (below). They spent their honeymoon at nearby Bridgewater.

ST STEPHEN’S CHURCH, PORTLAND

Three sons were born to Annie and Walter, Wilfred in 1883 at Hamilton, Archie in 1884 at Portland and Edward Ellis in 1888 at Portland. The family moved to The Point at Victoria Valley in the Southern Grampians were Walter farmed. Around 1897, they settled at The Caves, a property on the Grange Burn, very close to William Chadderton (above). Walter Henty led a quiet life, avoiding public life, but was well-known all the same. He was well-liked and “highly respected for his sterling and generous qualities”. Those qualities were also present in his son Edward Henty. Walter’s appears to have been a relatively simple life considering his heritage and the lifestyles of some of his siblings and cousins. He went about his business of farming, with Archie joining him running The Caves and Annie selling chooks (below).

“Advertising” Hamilton Spectator (Vic. : 1870 – 1918) 23 October 1911: 5. .

The following photos are from a collection of photos taken by Wilf Henty and held by the State Library of Victoria. I can’t be totally sure but after looking at Wilf’s other photos and comparing photo descriptions, I believe the photos depict Walter and Annie Henty. The second photo has three young men and Walter and Annie had three sons close together in age. Having researched Edward Ellis Henty and seen a number of photos of him, I believe Edward is the young man on the right. If so, the second photo would date back to around 1905-1908, when the Henty’s resided at The Caves. The first photo shows a younger version of the couple but in front of a weatherboard house. This is possibly the Henty home at The Point, Victoria Valley.

Photographer: Wilf Henty. Image courtesy of the State Library of Victoria http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/38928

Image courtesy of the State Library of Victoria http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/42101

In 1914, Walter and Annie attended the wedding of their son Edward on 18 November 1914. Edward was the only one of their three boys to marry and it was a large social event for Hamilton but bittersweet for Walter and Annie. Lieutenant Edward Ellis Henty of the 8th Light Horse Regiment was on leave from camp at Broadmeadows. Home to marry his sweetheart Florence Pearson. Edward left for Egypt in February 1915 and by May 1915 was off to Gallipoli. Lieutenant Edward Henty was killed during the Charge at the Nek on 7 August 1915, standing little chance. By then Florence was six months pregnant and living at The Caves with Walter and Annie. Walter and Annie’s only grandchild, Edward Henty Jr was born on 21 October 1915.

Around the time of Edward’s death, Walter’s health began to falter. A few weeks before his death, he was confined to home. He was just sixty-two. Walter was buried at the Old Hamilton Cemetery. Annie died in 1921 aged sixty-nine.

GRAVE OF WALTER AND ANNIE HENTY, HAMILTON (OLD) CEMETERY

John James SCULLION – Died 13 November 1918 at Terang. John Scullion was the son of John and Janet Scullion and was born at Dennington in 1866. The Scullions moved to Garvoc settling at Mount View and John was soon helping his father with the property. He succeeded his father as a member of the board of Directors of the Garvoc Butter Factory and was a senior partner in Scullion Bros at Garvoc. He was also on the executive committee of the Garvoc Racing Club. At the time of his death, John’s sister Lilias Scullion was running a private hospital at St Ronan’s Hospital in Hamilton, the former residence of David Laidlaw in the obituaries above. His brother, Daniel Scullion had owned the Caledonian Hotel in Hamilton until 1915, and at the time of John’s death, Daniel’s widow was still operating the hotel.

Anne WILLIAMS – Died 17 November 1918 at Colac. Ann Williams was born in Ireland around 1831 and arrived in Victoria in 1849 aboard the Elgin. During the Eureka uprising in 1854, Anne was living at Ballarat. She then lived at Geelong before going to Pomberneit in 1869 with her husband Samuel Lord. Two years prior to her death she moved to Colac. Anne had an interest in the history of Victoria and knew much about the early days. She and Samuel had five sons and three daughters. At the time of her death, she had seven grandsons serving with the AIF. One had lost his life and another awarded a Military Medal and Military Cross and recommended for a Victoria Cross.

Grace Murray WILLIAMSON – Died 24 November 1918 at Chetwynd. Grace Murray was born at Inverness Scotland in 1823. She married Walter Edgar and they had three children before they left for Australia in 1853. On arrival, they headed for Pine Hills at Harrow where Walter’s brother David resided.

http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/229897

Around 1870, the couple went to Tallengower and by 1876 were at Woodacres at Chetwynd where they remained and had a further seven children. Devoted to her family, she ran a true Scottish home with much hospitality shown to a wide circle of friends. Grace never went far from her home at Woodacres and during her time there only visited Casterton three times and Coleraine twice. Walter died in 1896. A stoic Scot, Grace endured the loss of Water and rheumatism she had suffered with for thirty years and in 1908, she broke her thigh. Grace was buried at the Tarrayoukyan Cemetery near Nareen.

Eliza Ann OWENS – Died November 1918 at Coleraine. Eliza Owens was born around 1845 at Anglesea, Wales. She arrived in Australia in 1854 aboard the Severn with her parents and younger sister. Also on board was her uncle Richard Lewis who lived at Rifle Downs. He was importing thoroughbred stallion King Alfred, who went on to sire many successful racehorses in the colony. Other passengers included James Edgar and his family, a brother-in-law of Grace Williamson (above). Eliza Owens married William Moodie at Portland in 1866 and they settled at Wando Dale, Nareen (below).

http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/217385

WANDO DALE. Image courtesy of the J.T. Collins Collection, La Trobe Picture Collection, State Library of Victoria. http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/217385

Eliza was an organist at the Digby Church of England before her marriage and later at St. David’s Nareen (below). She was well known for growing and exhibiting flowers.

ST DAVID’S ANGLICAN CHURCH, NAREEN Museums Victoria Collections http://collections.museumvictoria.com.au/items/767539

In their later years, Eliza and William moved to Mona Vale, Coleraine. At the time of her death, Eliza left twelve sons and daughters including one on active service.

Annie HORAN – Died November 1930 at Elsternwick. Annie Horan was born at Warrnambool around 1859. In 1877 she married James Beeching at St Josephs Catholic Church, Warrnambool (below)

http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/64508

They operated the Princess Alexandra Hotel for twenty years, later known as the Grand Central Hotel. After retirement, they lived in Warrnambool for a few years before moving to Melbourne around 1915. Annie was buried at the Fawkner Cemetery.

Passing of the Pioneers

October 31, 2016October 31, 2016 / Merron Riddiford / 6 Comments

Ten pioneers join the Pioneer Obituary Index this month and an interesting group they are. Previously I have mentioned how bringing the monthly pioneers together revels things they have in common. This month it’s the name Alan/Allan. There are three pioneers bearing the moniker this month, two of whom were given it as a second name but preferred it over their first. A reminder that all underlined words are links to further information about the subject.

James WIGGINS – Died 21 October 1896 at Hamilton. James Wiggins was born in Launceston, Tasmania on 23 February 1833 and arrived at Portland with his parents in 1840. In the early 1850s, James headed to the goldfields around Eaglehawk before giving up and going to Drysdale near Geelong where he and his brother John purchased the Buck’s Head Hotel for £6000. It was there James met recently widowed Jane Blastock (nee Fountain) from Hamilton, ten years older than himself. At the time, James was a cross-country rider but Jane did not approve, so on the day before they married in 1859, James rode in and won his last steeplechase.

The couple soon moved to Hamilton, taking up residence at Sandal on Digby Road overlooking the Grange Burn. James turned to farming with root crops his main priority. He was also elected to the Dundas Shire and was president for a time. James was on the first Hamilton Borough Council formed in 1863. As Mayor on 24 May 1872, James laid the foundation stone (below) for the first Hamilton Town Hall in Gray Street.

FOUNDATION STONE OF HAMILTON’S FIRST TOWN HALL. IT IS NOW LOCATED ON THE SIDE WALL OF THE HAMILTON PERFORMING ARTS CENTRE.

At the time, James expressed disappointment funds wouldn’t allow for a bigger structure. Fourteen years after James’ death, in 1910 a new, grander Town Hall was opened in Brown Street to replace the original building (below)

Museum Victoria Collections http://collections.museumvictoria.com.au/items/765800

HAMILTONS FIRST TOWN HALL IN GRAY STREET. Image courtesy of the Museum Victoria Collections http://collections.museumvictoria.com.au

As a young man, James excelled at competitive sport. He was a “one of the best and boldest footballers” and could “wield the willow as well as most up-country players”. He also participated in competitive walking and the aforementioned cross-country riding. After his vow not to ride, James instead owned and bred horses and sat on the Hamilton Racing Club committee. He also had an interest in greyhound racing. James was for a time president of the Hamilton Cricket Club and the Hamilton Bowling Club and was a bowls champion. He was a member of the Hamilton Pastoral and Agriculture Society and won many prizes for his roses at flower shows. James received the Commission of the Peace and when he died was, along with David Laidlaw, the most senior Justice of the Peace in the town and was a respected for his attention to detail as a Magistrate. James’ wife Jane lived on for a further five years after his death. They had no children.

Caroline Agnes HENTY – Died 1 October 1914 at Merino. Caroline Henty was born in 1849 at Portland, a daughter of Francis Henty and Mary Ann Lawrence. She grew up at Merino Downs, the large pastoral run of her father. In 1889, Francis Henty died and left Caroline his property in Portland including Claremont (below).

CLAREMONT, PORTLAND

Also, Merino Downs was split three ways and shared between Francis’ daughters Louise, Alice and Caroline. The following year when Caroline was around forty, she married Alexander Magnus MacLeod at Holy Trinity Church, Kew.

“Family Notices” The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 – 1957) 22 August 1890: http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article8429127

The marriage set tongues wagging and the difference in age questioned along with Alexanders’s worthiness to marry a woman of high status. Alexander was in fact only two years older than Caroline and was himself from good standing. His father John McLeod was a member of Victoria’s Legislative Assembly and owned several large properties including Castlemaddie at Tyrendarra.

“Personal.” The Cumberland Argus and Fruitgrowers Advocate (Parramatta, NSW : 1888 – 1950) 30 August 1890: 3. <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article86271136>.

Caroline and Alexander’s first daughter Caroline Agnes MacLeod was born at Hawthorn in 1892 and in 1894, Alexandra Frances MacLeod at Albert Park. In 1901, Caroline and Alexander built Talisker on Caroline’s share of Merino Downs and they took up residence there.

TALISKER, MERINO 1901. Image courtesy of the Museum Victoria Collections http://collections.museumvictoria.com.au/items/766380

In 1910, Alexander and Caroline were staying at Melbourne’s Menzies Hotel when Alexander died on 19 July aged sixty-four. Caroline returned to Talisker and died there four years later and buried at the Merino Cemetery. Applications for Probate for Caroline and Alexander’s estates were lodged in December 1914, and the joint worth of the couple was a tidy sum for the times.

“Wills and Estates” Weekly Times (Melbourne, Vic. : 1869 – 1954) 12 December 1914: <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article132723107>.

In 1959 for the purpose of a Red Cross fundraiser, Caroline’s gowns and even her “unmentionables” were displayed by her descendants. You can see the photos from the Australian Women’s Weekly on the link – Caroline’s Gowns

Alan McCALLUM – Died October 1914 at Dandenong. Alan McCallum arrived at Cavendish in the early 1860s and worked on stations around the area as overseer and station manager. He then purchased the Cavendish Hotel and general store and spent time on the Dundas Shire Council. Alan then sold up and went to Heywood, operating the Commercial Hotel for several years. He then went to Hamilton taking up the lease on the Prince of Wales Hotel in Thompson Street. He was soon on the move again, operating a store in Cobden for two years before returning to Hamilton where he remained until 1913. He then moved to Dandenong to live with his sister and remained there until his death the following year.

Emala ILIFFE – Died 29 October 1915 at Koroit. Emala Iliffe was born in Warwickshire around 1826. She came to Australia with her husband Ephraim Brittain in 1855 arriving at Port Fairy aboard the Samarang with a three-year old son Charles and baby Jane. They spent two years at Port Fairy before moving to Koroit where they remained for the rest of their lives. They went on to have a total of seven sons and six daughters. Emala attended the Koroit Methodist Church (below).

KOROIT METHODIST CHURCH. Image courtesy of the State Library of Victoria http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/63789

Ephraim died in 1904. At the time of Emala’s death, she had sixty-eight grandchildren, and fourteen great-grandchildren. Six of her grandsons enlisted for WW1.

Michael MUGAVIN – Died October 1916 at Crossley. Michael Mugavin was born in Ireland around 1832 and arrived in Australia sometime between the mid 1850s to 1860s. Michael and his wife Mary Lineen settled in the Crossley area. Michael had early success as a farmer, becoming quite prosperous. He was described as having a “…quiet and inoffensive disposition, honest and thrifty”. He had a son and four daughters, one of whom was a Catholic nun with the Convent of Mercy at Warrnambool. Requiem mass was held for Michael at the St Brigid’s Catholic Church at Crossley and he was buried in the Tower Hill Cemetery.

Sarah Ann HICKS – Died 16 October 1918 at Mortlake. Sarah Hicks was born near Bristol, England in 1844 and arrived at Melbourne in 1863 aboard the Princess Royal with her cousin Mr Fielding. They then travelled to Logan Station at Mount Elephant near Derrinallum. In 1864, Sarah married William Whitson and they selected land at Mortlake. They had a large family of twelve. Despite failing health, Sarah contributed greatly to the Red Cross during WW1.

Catherine MEAGHER – Died 24 October 1918 at Hamilton. Catherine Meagher was born in County Tipperary in 1841 and travelled to Australia when she was fifteen with her parents aboard the Clara, arriving at Portland. After a short time, she went to South Australia to live remaining there around five years. She then moved to Hamilton where she married Henry Anslow in 1866. They settled on Mill Road and lived there until their deaths. Henry died in 1908. Catherine’s funeral left Hamilton’s St Mary’s Catholic church for the Hamilton Cemetery.

James Allan LEARMONTH – Died 29 October 1928 at Hamilton. James Learmonth better known as Allan, was born at Merino Downs in 1856, a son of Peter Learmonth and Mary Pearson. By 1859, the Learmonths had taken up residence at Prestonholme, beside the Grange Burn on the eastern side of Hamilton. Allan attended Wesley College and gained his matriculation. He then went to work for Andrew Rowan, a Melbourne merchant.

By 1879, Allan was back in the Hamilton district, running his father’s flour mill at Penshurst but his life almost ended soon after. In April of that year, Allan was in the mill’s engine room, leaning on the bed of the boiler and about to start the engine when the boiler exploded, sending it twenty yards away from its base. Allan was found lying under bluestone, lucky to be alive. The full account of the explosion is on the following link to The Argus – Penshurst Mill Explosion.

In 1881, it was decided Allan and Stanley would travel to Mexico to run their father’s 82,000 acre share of Nacimiento Ranch purchased by David McKellar of Strathkellar. The Learmonths share was called La Mariposa.

“Items of News.” Hamilton Spectator (Vic. : 1870 – 1918) 6 December 1881: <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article226060700>.

Allan left for Mexico with a heavy heart as he was leaving behind his sweetheart Annie Thomson, a daughter of James Thomson of Monivae, south of Hamilton. On 2 August 1882, Allan wrote a letter home of his first impressions of the “mystic land”, published in the Hamilton Spectator of 28 September 1882 under the headline – News From Mexico. Allan’s letters were regularly published in the Spectator during his time there.

Although several years had passed, Allan and Annie’s love remained strong and in 1886, Allan returned from Mexico to marry her. The wedding was a large social occasion and sparked much interest within the Hamilton community.

“The Portland Guardian,” Portland Guardian (Vic. : 1876 – 1953) 3 September 1886: 2 (EVENING.). http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article63406515

Allan returned to Mexico with Annie and they remained there until 1892, arriving back in Australia with four children, all born in Mexico. Allan then took up the running of Corea near Dunkeld. The following year, his father Peter Learmonth died and Allan took over Prestonholme. There he built up one of the best flocks of Lincoln sheep in the state. An all round sportsmen, Allan participated in cricket, golf and bowls. At the time of his death, Allan left three sons and three daughters. Annie died two years later and was buried with Allan at the Hamilton Old Cemetery.

HEADSTONE OF JAMES ALLAN LEARMONTH AND ANNIE THOMSON, HAMILTON OLD CEMETERY

Highly recommended further reading on the Learmonths is the book Mariposa: A Story of the Learmonths of Western Victoria and Mexico, 1834-1930 by Anita Macdonald available from the Hamilton History Centre.

Samuel KING – Died 29 October 1940 at Cobden. Samuel King was born around 1870 and went to the Cobden district around the age of twenty. Taking up a life on the land, he soon became a renown breeder of Southdown sheep and Hereford cattle. That led to show judging with Samuel well known in all states of Australia for his good eye for livestock. He was among the oldest members of the Hereford Cattle Breeder’s Association and the Society of Breeders of British Sheep. Samuel was also a Councillor on the Heytesbury Shire for three years in the 1920s. Samuel left a family of five sons and two daughters. He is pictured below with two of his sons and a grandson.

“DEATH OF WELL KNOWN SHEEP JUDGE” Chronicle (Adelaide, SA : 1895 – 1954) 21 November 1940: http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article92400968

Henry Alan CURRIE – Died 10 October 1942 at Burrumbeet. Henry Currie was born around 1868 at Geelong, a son of John Lang Currie of Larra, Camperdown. Better known as Alan, he attended Melbourne Grammar School and then Melbourne University studying engineering. He then joined the Victorian Board of Works as a surveyor with the Western Australian Public Works Department working on providing water to Kalgoorlie. After returning from Western Australia, Alan managed Mt Elephant Station near Derrinallum for his father until John Currie’s death in 1896 when Alan inherited the property.

http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article71594944

During WW1, Alan served with the Royal Field Artillery, suffered wounds several times and was awarded a Military Medal. After his return from war in 1920, Alan sold Mt Elephant and purchased Ercildoune Estate at Burrumbeet. He also developed a group settlement scheme for returned serviceman.

ERCILDOUNE. Image courtesy of the State Library of Victoria. http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/283228

At Ercildoune, Alan became a renowned breeder of Merino sheep owning the only flock with descendants of John Macarthur’s Merinos. Alan’s interest in horse racing began while still at Mt Elephant. He owned Mala a champion two and three-year old and a winner of the Newmarket Handicap at Flemington in 1910. His horses also won the Grand National Steeple and Grand National Hurdle. Such was his passion, he even purchased a thoroughbred while on leave in England during WW1. Alan was elected to the committee of the Victorian Amateur Turf Club in 1909 and was chairman in 1910. He resigned from the committee because of the war but returned in the 1920s, and was later was chairman. In 1937, Alan Currie was knighted. Five years later Alan died at Ercildoune and was buried at Learmonth cemetery. There is more information on Alan in his Australian Dictionary of Biography entry on the link – Sir Henry Alan Currie

Major Mitchell Reaches Portland Bay

August 29, 2016July 8, 2017 / Merron Riddiford / Leave a comment

On 29 August 1836, Major Thomas Mitchell saw Portland Bay for the first time. Since we last were with Mitchell on his freezing night on the summit of Mount William in July 1836, he and his party had travelled a great distance and being winter, the terrain was mostly muddy. From Mount William, the party had travelled north to and climbed Mount Zero. Then west along the northern Grampians to Mount Arapiles and Mitre Lake. Scaling Mount Arapiles, which he named, Mitchell was able to see the country to the south and it was in that direction they next travelled.

MOUNT ARAPILES BY NICHOLAS CHEVALIER 1865. Image courtesy of the State Library of Victoria. http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/136946

As they moved out of the Wimmera and into the Western District, Mitchell noted,

Thus suddenly were we at length relieved from all the difficulties of travelling in mud. We had solid granite beneath us; and instead of a level horizon the finely rounded points of ground presented by the sides of a valley thinly wooded and thickly covered with grass. This transition from all that we sought to avoid to all we could desire in the character of the country was so agreeable that I can record that evening as one of the happiest of my life. (Mitchell, T. L. (Thomas Livingstone) Three expeditions into the interior of eastern Australia, Chapter 3.9)

They soon met the Glenelg River near Harrow on 31 July, and from there they passed through Pigeon Ponds, Chetwynd, and Wando Vale. On 7 August, the party reached the Wannon valley south of Casterton at the Wannon River’s junction with the Glenelg River and saw a beautiful scene before them.

After fording this stream with ascended a very steep but grassy mountain-side, and on reaching a brow of high land, what a noble prospect appeared, a river winding amongst meadows that were fully a mile broad and green as an emerald. Above them rose swelling hills of fantastic shapes, but all smooth and thickly covered with rich verdure. Behind these were higher hills, all having grass on their sides and trees on their summits, and extending east and west throughout the landscape as far as I could see. I hastened to ascertain the course of the river by riding about two miles along an entirely open grassy ridge, and then found again the Glenelg, flowing eastward towards an apparently much lower country. All our difficulties seemed thus already at an end, for we had here good firm ground, clear of timber, on which we could gallop once more. The river was making for the most promising bay on the coast (for I saw that it turned southward some miles below the hill on which I stood) through a country far surpassing in beauty and richness any part hitherto discovered. (Mitchell, T. L. (Thomas Livingstone) Three expeditions into the interior of eastern Australia, Chapter 3.10)

http://collections.museumvictoria.com.au/items/766481

MERINO DOWNS. Image courtesy of the State Library of Victoria Museum Victoria Collections http://collections.museumvictoria.com.au/items/766481

From there, they travelled to near where Dartmoor is today and Mitchell launched a boat on the Glenelg River at Fort O’Hare and with a small party, made his way to the sea.

THE GLENELG RIVER. Image courtesy of the State Library of South Australia http://collections.slsa.sa.gov.au/resource/PRG+280/1/14/36

Expecting to come out near Portland Bay, they were further west, reaching the mouth of the river at what is now Nelson.

AT THE MOUTH OF THE GLENELG RIVER, NELSON

The party turned back up the river and returned to the camp at Fort O’Hare. They then travelled along the Crawford River and with the carts getting bogged down in heavy ground, Mitchell and a small party set out on horseback to Portland Bay. Their first stop was near Heywood and a large hill Mitchell climbed and named Mount Eckersley. From there they crossed the Fitzroy and Surry Rivers bringing us back to 29 August 1836 and Major Mitchell’s first sighting of the coast at Portland Bay.

LOOKING TOWARD PORTLAND BAY

Major Mitchell walked on to the beach littered with whale carcases, evidence of whalers in the area. A member of the party, Aboriginal man Tommy Came-last, reported cattle tracks and the footprints of a white man. Tobacco pipes and a broken bottle were also found, possibly from the whalers but they would not have had cattle. Looking around the bay, Mitchell saw houses, possibly whalers huts, so they headed toward them. Mitchell and his party descended high cliffs and could see a ship anchored in the bay. Approaching the wooden houses they found they discovered they were abandoned whalers’ shacks but just as they were moving on, two shots rang out. Mitchell ordered one of his men to fire off a shot and to sound the bugle. They climbed to higher ground and found a cart track which they followed until a man approached them. Mitchell continues,

He informed me in answer to my questions that the vessel at anchor was the “Elizabeth” of Launceston; and that just round the point there was a considerable farming establishment belonging to Messrs. Henty, who were then at the house. It then occurred to me that I might there procure a small additional supply of provisions, especially of flour, as my men were on very reduced rations. I therefore approached the house and was kindly received and entertained by the Messrs. Henty who as I learnt had been established there during upwards of two years. It was very obvious indeed from the magnitude and extent of the buildings and the substantial fencing erected that both time and labour had been expended in their construction. A good garden stocked with abundance of vegetables already smiled on Portland Bay; the soil was very rich on the overhanging cliffs, and the potatoes and turnips produced there surpassed in magnitude and quality any I had ever seen elsewhere. (Mitchell, T. L. (Thomas Livingstone) Three expeditions into the interior of eastern Australia, Chapter 3.11)

The following day, Mitchell made a trip to Cape Nelson then returned to Portland.

AT CAPE NELSON LOOKING TOWARD CAPE BRIDGEWATER

Major Mitchell said his goodbyes to the Hentys and continued on his way.

THE MEETING OF MAJOR MITCHELL AND THE HENTYS AT PORTLAND BAY 29 AUGUST 1836. PHOTO OF A PRINT AT PORTLAND’S HISTORY HOUSE

The party returned to the Surry River then continued back to the base camp. On 31 August, Mitchell’s party reached Mount Clay with Mitchell naming it, and by sunset they were back at the base camp. We leave Major Mitchell now but will join him again on 11 September when he reaches what is now Hamilton.

The arrival of Major Mitchell at the doorstep of the Henty’s home at Portland Bay influenced their future. In glowing terms, Mitchell had told them of the land around the Wannon Valley he described as “Australia Felix”. On his recommendation, the brothers travelled north to see for themselves. Within twenty-five miles from their settlement at Portland Bay, they noticed the change in the countryside. Stephen Henty’s reaction was simply, “This is paradise.” By 3 August 1837, Henty sheep were on the land at Merino Downs and soon Muntham Station, opening the next chapter in the history of the Henty brothers.

J.T. Collins Collection, La Trobe Picture Collection, State Library of Victoria. http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/231999

HENTY MONUMENT, MERINO DOWNS. Image courtesy of the J.T. Collins Collection, La Trobe Picture Collection, State Library of Victoria. http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/231999

MUMTHAM HOMESTEAD. Image courtesy of the J.T. Collins Collection, La Trobe Picture Collection, State Library of Victoria. http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/217208

This video of Muntham Station shows the countryside Major Mitchell and the Henty brothers found so attractive.

SOURCES

Back to Merino and Henty Centenary Celebrations Committee Historic souvenir of the Back to Merino and Henty centenary celebrations, November 11th to 15th, 1937. Back to Merino and Henty Centenary Celebrations Committee, [Merino? Vic, 1937.

Glenelg Library Historic Treasures – Major Mitchell meets the Hentys

Mitchell, T. L. (Thomas Livingstone) Three expeditions into the interior of eastern Australia, with descriptions of the recently explored region of Australia Felix, and of the present colony of New South Wales. London, T. & W. Boone

Not Just Hamilton’s Soldiers

February 4, 2016February 21, 2017 / Merron Riddiford / 3 Comments

One of the features of Western District Families is Hamilton’s WW1 now with sixty-six profiles of enlisted men with Hamilton links.

‘HAMILTON BOYS’ c 30 April 1915. Photo Courtesy of the Australian War Memorial. Image no. DAOD1060 https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/DAOD1060/

I’ve set a target, possibly an over ambitious one, of 100 profiles by Anzac Day but I’ll give it a go. There are some good stories about Hamilton nurses that I would like to share before 25 April 2016 too. But first something I’ve noticed…well it’s one of many things I’ve observed during the course of my research, but let’s start with memorials…well, one of the things I’ve noticed about memorials…

If you visit the Hamilton War Memorial and look at the names, you could be excused for thinking those men listed lived in Hamilton for a significant part of their lives or, at the very least, were born there. But that’s not the case, they were from all over with a few men having only a fleeting connection with Hamilton.

Some of the men had fathers who moved often with work. Clifford Williams, who was unlikely to have even visited Hamilton, was a son of a teacher while William Thompson was the son of a railway worker who often moved his family. Both are on the Hamilton War Memorial (below). Others went to Hamilton as adults for work and were only there a short time before enlisting, such as Edwin Smith who arrived in Hamilton around 1913 to work at the Union Bank. Reginald Briant was born in Hampshire, England and spent a few years in Melbourne before working for the Hamilton Electric Supply Company before his enlistment.

When searching for a family member on memorials and honour boards, clues from Electoral Rolls, Trove newspapers and the solider’s Attestation papers can help you find them. Even if your soldier’s family just “passed through” a particular town, it’s worth following up. Soldiers were often memorialised in several towns. As well as the Hamilton War Memorial, Clifford Williams and Percy Osborne had trees planted along Bacchus Marsh’s Avenue Honour. And don’t overlook workplaces and churches. Percy Osborne has a memorial window at Hamilton’s Christ Church Cathedral (below) and is on the Union Bank Honour Roll in Melbourne.

MEMORIAL WINDOW FOR PERCY OSBORNE BEAUMONT, HAMILTON CHRIST CHURCH CATHEDRAL.

MEMORIAL WINDOW FOR PERCY BEAUMONT OSBORNE, HAMILTON CHRIST CHURCH CATHEDRAL.

If you are wondering if Hamilton commemorated your WW1 soldier’s service, all Hamilton’s outdoor WW1 War Memorials including names are at Hamilton’s WW1. Eventually, I will add Hamilton’s honour boards. The Victorian War Heritage Inventory is a useful resource for locating memorials across Victoria. You can search by the name or a place.

A quick reminder…to delve into the daily events of Hamilton 100 years ago, “like” the Hamilton WW1 Facebook page. Along with new profiles, six days a week I post an article from the Hamilton Spectator from 100 years before. It’s been interesting to read how Hamilton, just like other towns, continued on while so many were away fighting and how the subject of war managed to creep into most aspects of daily life.

The names of the sixty-six soldiers profiled at Hamilton’s WW1 are below. I’ve included their place of birth and other towns they had connections to. Most never returned to Australia. For some of those who did, life was never the same. Lest We Forget.

AUSTIN, Glenister Burton Hamilton

AUSTIN, William John Hamilton, Adelaide

BARR, Gordon Hotspur, Strathkellar, Warrnambool

BRAKE, William Horsham, Hamilton, Mont Albert

BRIANT, Reginald Stuart Hampshire (ENG), East Melbourne, Hamilton.

BURGESS, Ebenezer Benalla, Mildura, Numurkah, Wonthaggi, Stratford

CAMERON, Archibald Douglas Branxholme, Hamilton

CAMERON, Sidney Joseph Hamilton

CAMERON, Thomas Waddell Port Fairy, Hamilton, Kyabram

COULTER, Robert James Hamilton

DAVIES, Albert Hamilton

DAVIES, Stanley Walton Hamilton, Lubeck

DOUGLAS, Claude Campbell Telford Euroa, Hamilton

DUNN, Daniel Joseph Heidelberg, Carlton

ELDER, Frank Reginald Charlton, Jurek, Hamilton

FENTON, John Wilfred Hamilton

FOLEY, Cornelius Thomas Coleraine, Hamilton

GIBSON. Sydney Walter Moe, Casterton, Hamilton, Bendigo

HARRIS, Leslie Duncan Fremantle (WA), Hamilton, Coleraine

HENTY, Edward Ellis Portland, Hamilton

HERILHY, George Joseph David Balmoral, Hamilton

HERRMANN, Bernard Hamilton, Hochkirch (Tarrington)

HIND, William Arthur Mooroopna, Hamilton, Heyfield

ILES, Cyril Thomas Brackley Hamilton, Windsor

JAFFRAY, Alfred John Hamilton

KINGHORN, Walter Rodney Byaduk

KIRKWOOD, Willliam John Clyde Hamilton, Colac, Port Fairy

KNIGHT, James Alfred Hamilton, Malvern

LANCE, George Basil Casterton, Hamilton

LEWIS, Arthur Harold Hamilton, St. Arnaud, Heywood

LIEBE, Sydney August Hamilton

LINDSAY, Charles Henry Heywood, Ballarat, Wallacedale, Hamilton

McPHEE, Norman Edward Hamilton

MORISON, John Archibald McFarlane Hamilton, Maroona

MULLANE, Leslie Alexander Branxholme, Wallacedale, Hamilton

NIDDRIE, Stanley Roy Hamilton

NIVEN, William David Harrow, Merino Downs, Hamilton

NORMAN, William Leslie Hamilton, Warracknabeal

OSBORNE, Percy Beaumont Bacchus Marsh, Maryborough, Hamilton, Ballarat

PORTER, George Richard Hamilton

PORTER, Norman Leslie James Hamilton, Wallacedale, Broken Hill, Tasmania

RHOOK, Archibald Alfred Tyrendarra, Hamilton

RHOOK, Henry Joseph William Hamilton, Beaufort

RICHIE, George Katunga, Willaura, Hamilton

RIGBY, Frederick Roland Angus Coleraine, Hamilton

SALTER, Herbert Ernest Naracoorte, Dunkeld, Hamilton

SCOTT, Alexander William Portland, Hamilton, Donald

SHARROCK, Charles Terang, Mt. Napier, Penshurst

SHAW, Ivan Thomas Coleraine, Hamilton

SHEEHAN, Albert Edward Macarthur, Hamilton

SMITH, Edwin Richardson Mooroopna, Shepparton, Morwell, Kyabram, Hamilton

STAGOLL, Robert Leslie Hamilton

STEVENSON, Alexander John Hamilton, Portland

STEVENSON, Edgar Richmond Hamilton, Portland

STEWART, Charles Herbert Byaduk, Hamilton, Western Australia

THOMPSON, William Norton Horsham, Ararat, Hamilton, Hopetoun

TREDREA, Francis Stanley Hamilton, Stawell

TRIGGER, Samuel Wilfred Macarthur, Hamilton, Murray Bridge (SA)

UNDERWOOD, Arthur Bell Percy Dunkeld, Bendigo, Hamilton

WATERS, William Henry Edenhope, Hamilton

WESTGARTH, Horace Leonard Hamilton

WHITE, John Francis Raymond Hamilton, Cosgrave

WILLIAMS, Clifford Davis Tarnagulla, Bacchus Marsh, Melbourne

WILLIAMS, Lancelot Hamilton Hamilton

WOMERSLEY. Edgar Dunkeld

YOUNG, Clarence Everard Hamilton

**Postscript – Since writing this post, I have added a further forty stories of Hamilton’s enlisted men. You can read them at Hamilton’s WW1

More Soldiers, More Sorrow

August 13, 2015January 10, 2016 / Merron Riddiford / 3 Comments

HAMILTON WAR MEMORIAL

Writing the profiles of the Hamilton WW1 soldiers has highlighted the month of August of 1915, 1916 and 1918 as particularly sad times for the town’s residents. There was heaving fighting at Gallipoli during August 1915 with the battle of Lone Pine, the Charge at the Nek and the attack on Hill 971 and Hill 60. During July and August 1916 there was heavy fighting at the Somme, France with the battles at Fromelles, Pozieres, and Mouquet Farm. During August 1918, there was the Battle of Amiens. Many Hamilton men lost their lives during those months.

You can now read forty profiles of Hamilton’s WW1 soldiers from the tab at the top of the page “Hamilton’s WW1“.

Currently, I’m working to finish the profiles of the men who died during August, particularly those for whom it is now 100 years since they made the ultimate sacrifice.

The stories of Albert Sheehan, Arthur Lewis and Claude “Dot” Douglas are particularly sad considering they watched the occupancy in their tent diminish. Thirteen men occupied their tent at the start of their Gallipoli campaign. By the beginning of August, only the three Hamilton mates were alive. As the month passed, one by one, Albert, Arthur, and Claude did not return. By the end of August 2015, their tent was empty.

Image Courtesy of the Australian War Memorial. Image no. P00649.004 https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/P00649.004/

There is also the story of Lieutenant Edward “Ted” Henty of the 8th Light Horse Regiment (8th LHR), grandson of Stephen George Henty. Before departing overseas, he married his sweetheart at Hamilton’s Christ Church. Ted was killed during the charge at the Nek. A son he would never know was born in the months after his death. Also killed at the Nek and with the 8th LHR was William Hind, who at the time of his enlistment was beginning his career in the printing industry with the Hamilton Spectator. One man, an officer from an esteemed Victorian family, the other a private of working class blood, but each with so much more to offer. They bravely gave their lives in what was one of the most futile battles of WW1.

“DISTRICT HONOUR ROLL.” Hamilton Spectator (Vic. : 1870 – 1918) 23 Sep 1915: 6. Web. .

With each profile, I attempt to uncover how the enlistment affected the family and the town’s residents and how each lost man was remembered. In some cases, the shock of the loss of a son saw the death of a parent soon after, as was the case with the father of Arthur Lewis. Other men had wives and children. I’m writing the profile of William John Clyde Kirkwood, a man who sits on the edge of my family tree with a Kirkwood link through marriage. The effect of his death on his children reverberated for well over a decade. Parents and wives had exhausting ongoing correspondence with the Defence Department, often for years, sorting out pensions, medals and personal effects. Some had to get around administrative challenges of incorrect names given at enlistment or the death of the listed next of kin. There were also the men who returned home, like William Brake and Albert Davies (below) who never fully recovered from their war experiences.

STANLEY & ALBERT DAVIES. Image courtesy of the Australian War Memorial. Image no. DA15721 https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/DA15721/

It is a privilege to research the stories of the Hamilton’s soldiers. It’s easy to feel an attachment to them and in a small way feel the sorrow of their families, in the reading of their service records, letters published in the Hamilton Spectator, and looking at photographs of young, fresh faced men with innocence in their eyes. One such soldier was Stan Niddrie (below) a quiet country lad, at home on his horse with his dogs bringing up a flock of sheep. He also shared his thoughts in letters home to his sister. Nineteen at the time of his enlistment in September 1915 and just 5’4″, Stan would stand six feet tall during his service, working his way through the ranks, reaching Sergeant just before he was killed near Villers-Bretonneux in August 1918, only months from going home. Stan’s eyes would have seen much during his three years of service, their innocence taken away.

STANLEY ROY NIDDRIE. Image courtesy of the Australian War Memorial. Image no. DASEY1899 https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/DASEY1899/

The stories of the men, each from different backgrounds, with different war experiences, and different fates, all end the same. There were no winners from The Great War and we really don’t understand what those that lived it endured. Albert Lewis, writing home after the Gallipoli landing so rightly said, “I am certain there is not a single person in Australia who can near realise what their boys went through”.

LEST WE FORGET

Western District Enlistments-8th LHR B Squadron

January 30, 2015April 8, 2022 / Merron Riddiford / 8 Comments

The AIF’s 8th Light Horse Regiment (LHR) formed in September 1914, had among its ranks many Western District men. It was for that reason I was recently contacted by Dean Noske who is currently researching the 8th LHR, in particular, B Squadron. As I’m familiar with the 8th LHR, mostly due to the involvement of Edward Ellis Henty of The Caves Hamilton, grandson of Stephen G. Henty, I was keen to help Dean reach out to family members of the Western District men.

The following photo has been a favourite of mine, found among the Australian War Memorial‘s collection. Pictured are four Western District officers of the 8th LHR, Lieutenants Edward Ellis Henty, Eliot Gratton Wilson, Robert Ernest Baker and Major Thomas Redford. Also joining them in the photo was Lieutenant Borthwick of Melbourne. The relaxed nature of their poses and uniforms, the mateship and the babyface of Eliot Wilson have intrigued me since I first saw it.

Image Courtesy of the Australian War Memorial Image No. P00265.001 http://www.awm.gov.au/collection/P00265.001/

STANDING FROM LEFT: MAJOR THOMAS REDFORD (WARRNAMBOOL); LIEUTENANT (LT)EDWARD ELLIS HENTY (HAMILTON); AND LT ELIOT GRATTON WILSON (WARRNAMBOOL). SEATED FROM LEFT: LT ROBERT ERNEST BAKER (LARPENT) AND KEITH ALLAN BORTHWICK (ARMADALE) Image Courtesy of the Australian War Memorial Image No. P00265.001 http://www.awm.gov.au/collection/P00265.001/

The photograph is also one of the most poignant I have found, once one considers that within months of the sitting, four of the five soldiers were dead. They did not see service beyond Gallipoli, as they were all killed at the “Charge at The Nek” on 7 August 1915. Only Robert Baker survived. Further reading about The Nek and the 8th LHR’s involvement is available on the following link – http://www.anzacsite.gov.au/2visiting/walk_12nek.html

A photograph in full uniform was also taken, depicting three of the Western District officers again with Lt.Borthwick and an unidentified man.

Identified from left to right: Lieutenant (Lt) Eliot Gratton Wilson from Warrnambool, Victoria; Lt Edward Ellis Henty ; unidentified; Major (Maj) Thomas Harold Redford and Lt Keith Allan Borthwick http://www.awm.gov.au/collection/DAX0139/

Those four Western District officers and the soldiers listed below are those Dean is seeking help with. If you are able to offer Dean any assistance by way of photographs, letters or stories, please contact him at dean.noske@gmail.com Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

All names were sourced from the 8th Light Horse Regiment B Squadron Embarkation Roll and Hamilton’s WW1.

(Click on underlined names to read more)

BAKER, John Henry – Nareen †

BAKER, Robert Ernest – Larpent

BARKER, Robert – born Yambuk

BORBRIDGE, Robert Henry – Ararat

BOSWELL, John – Woorndoo †

BOWKER, Alwynne Stanley – Princetown †

BROUGHTON, John Moffatt – Hamilton

CLAYTON, Henry Norman – Casterton †

“THOSE WHO HAVE DIED FOR FREEDOM’S CAUSE.” Bendigo Advertiser (Vic. : 1855 – 1918) 2 Sep 1915: 2. Web. 29 Jan 2015 <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article91091398>.

“ROLL OF HONOUR.” The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 – 1957) 17 Sep 1915: 6. Web. 29 Jan 2015 <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article1561135>.

CONNOR, John Leslie – Coleraine

CORR, Reginald Clarke – Warrnambool

CUMMING, John Currie – Halls Gap †

DODDS, Franklin James – Warrnambool

FINN, Laurence Gerald – Port Fairy †

FLOYD, Harry – Colac West †

HAYBALL, Herbert – Camperdown †

HENTY, Edward Ellis – The Caves, Hamilton †

“ROLL OF HONOUR.” The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 – 1957) 27 Oct 1915: 7. Web. 29 Jan 2015 <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article1575352>.

HIND, William Arthur – Hamilton †

HINDHAUGH, Russell George – Port Fairy †

HYDE, Norman John – Cavendish

JOHNSON, Donald Matthieson McGregor – Warrnambool †

“WARRNAMBOOL HEROES.” Warrnambool Standard (Vic. : 1914 – 1918) 7 Sep 1915: 3 Edition: DAILY.. Web. 29 Jan 2015 <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article73458334>.

JOHNSTONE, Percy Francis – Camperdown

KERR, James Mark – Dartmoor/Portland †

LEARMONTH, Keith Allan – Hamilton

McGARVIE, David – Pomberneit

McGINNESS, Paul Joseph – Framlingham

MITCHELL, William Albert – Cobden

“CAPTAIN A. W. MITCHELL.” Camperdown Chronicle (Vic. : 1877 – 1954) 8 Jul 1915: 3. Web. 29 Jan 2015 <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article22979740>.

MOORE – Samuel Vincent – Ararat †

PARTINGTON, Thomas James – Heywood

PATTERSON, Hector Alexander – Casterton

PETTINGILL, John Thomas – Port Fairy

REDFORD, Thomas Harold – Warrnambool – Squadron Major †

“MAJOR T. REDFORD.” Hamilton Spectator (Vic. : 1914 – 1918) 23 Aug 1915: 4. Web. 29 Jan 2015 <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article120398693>.

REGAN, Thomas – Camperdown †

SUTHERLAND, Charles Tyler – Tatyoon †

TILLEY, George Edward – Hamilton †

WALLACE, William Issac – Warrnambool

WEATHERHEAD, John Fortescue Law – Camperdown †

WHITEHEAD, Eric – Minhamite †

WILSON, Eliot Gratton – Warrnambool †

WINGROVE, Charles Melbourne – Stawell †

8th LHR B SQUADRON c1915. Image courtesy of the Australian War Memorial. Image no. DAX0139 http://www.awm.gov.au/collection/DAX2703/

Passing of the Pioneers

January 30, 2014June 7, 2015 / Merron Riddiford / 2 Comments

A small band of pioneers for January, ranging from the rich and influential through to a bullock wagon driver who drove produce to the ports, to aid the rich and influential become more so. There is also the obituary of Catherine Grady, an Irish Famine orphan.

Francis HENTY: Died January 1889 at Kew. Francis Henty featured here several times, was one of the Henty brothers, early European settlers at Portland. Francis had a house at Portland, one that I have written a post about, Claremont, but he spent much of his time at the Henty property, Merino Downs, and in later in life, his home Field Place in Melbourne where he passed away. Noted in his obituary, that while his presence was often not felt in the town, post the settling of Merino Downs, Francis Henty’s donations over the years were much appreciated.

The Portland Guardian,. (1889, January 16). Portland Guardian (Vic. : 1876 – 1953), p. 2 Edition: EVENING. Retrieved January 29, 2014, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article63591640

FRANCIS HENTY (c1890) Artist unknown. Image courtesy of the State Library of Victoria. Image no. H24630 http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/91524

Catherine GRADY: Died 3 January 1916 at Macarthur. Catherine Grady was born around 1836 in Wexford, Ireland and arrived in Port Fairy at seventeen. She married Archibald Hamilton there are they moved to Mt. Napier station where they remained for many years, then on to Macarthur where they both remained until their deaths. Catherine was a nurse and it was said she attended over 300 maternity cases. Catherine and Archibald raised a family of twelve children. I found Catherine on the Famine Orphan Girl Database on the Irish Famine Memorial (Sydney) website.

John Sinclair COX: Died 11 January 1918 at Hamilton. John Cox was born in Ireland in 1850 and travelled to Victoria with his family around 1857. He resided in the Hamilton district almost from that time and ran a successful butcher shop. At one time, he ran for the Shire of Dundas but was unsuccessful. John passed away at Greenwood Park, Hamilton and left a widow, two sons and one daughter.

Matthew TOWNSEND: Died January 1916 at Portland. Matthew Townsend was born in Cambridgeshire in 1832 and arrived in Adelaide in 1857, but travelled on to Digby. In 1865, he opened a store in Digby that he ran for forty-three years, including forty as postmaster. Matthew married around 1867. He had many stories to tell of the old times in Digby included four-in-hand coaches, wool wagons and visits by Adam Lindsay Gordon. In his later years, Matthew moved to Portland where he passed away. He was buried at Digby cemetery.

Mary Ann MURPHY: Died 26 January 1918 at Willaura. Mary Ann Murphy was an early pioneer, born around 1843, and she and her husband Patrick Nicholson, settled at Warracknabeal in the “early days of agricultural development”. Around the turn of the century, Mary Ann and Patrick moved to the Ararat district, taking up a sub-division at Willaura, Mary-Ann and Patrick raised a family of fourteen.

Elizabeth Jane PETERS: Died January 1923 at Warracknabeal. Elizabeth Peters was born at Digby on “Black Thursday” 1851, her father having arrived with the Hentys some years before. After her marriage to Henry Lang in 1872, they settled at Merino. After Henry’s death, Elizabeth moved to the north-west of Victoria to live with her son, where she remained until her death.

Mark KERR: Died 31 January 1925 at Portland. Mark Kerr was born around 1850 at Portland, and it was noted he was born in the “Police Paddock”, not far from the place he died seventy-five years later. Having been born in a paddock, it was fortunate Mark’s father was a doctor, but it was thought he didn’t practice in Portland. Mark Kerr worked as a teamster, driving bullock wagons from the north with wool and other produce for the Port of Portland. At one time, he owned the Emu Flats Hotel at Kentbruck, built by another Passing Pioneer, John Johnstone. He later returned to Portland where he remained until his death.

Eliza HAZELDINE: Died 12 January 1941 at Portland. Born around 1857 at Portland, Eliza Hazeldine, a former student of John Hill of Portland, joined the Education Department at 15 and the first school she taught at was North Portland. She later taught at Koroit, Corindhap, Queenscliff, Coleraine and Casterton. Mary Ann was a resident of Casterton for about five years and it was there she met her future husband Job Lea. After marriage, she left teaching but Job passed away after two years of marriage, leaving Mary Ann with two babies. After nineteen years, she returned to Portland before opening a store at Condah Swamp, including the first post office there. Condah Swamp was later named Wallacedale, where she resided for twenty-two years. In 1919, she again returned to Portland and remained there until her death. One of Mary Ann’s son, Charles was killed at Gallipoli in 1915.

William BOYLE: Died 3 January 1942 at Camperdown. William Boyle was born in Ireland around 1868 and arrived in Victoria as a 15-year-old. Keen to see Australia, he travelled along the southern coast and then inland, droving stock from Central Australia to the Western District. William later established newsagents in Camperdown that he ran for 50 years. He was also a foundation member of the Camperdown Bowling Club and was playing up until weeks before his death.

NOVEMBER

DECEMBER

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