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 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.
“Each regiment formed upon a squadron frontage in three lines from 300 to 500 yards apart, and every man was restless, excited, and resolute for victory.
At 4.30 the two regiments moved off at a trot. Surprise and speed were their one chance, so no time was lost in breaking into a gallop. For what seemed to be a space of minutes the Turkish fire ceased, as if the garrison was wondering what the approaching horsemen had in mind. Then swiftly realising that they were out for business, the whole line burst into a flame of fire.
But the Australians were not to be denied, much less were their glorious chargers in the mood to hesitate. As if entering into the spirit of the great game, with ears pricked and manes flashing back, they headed in a wild scamper into the setting sun.
As they reached the Turkish front line trenches, the leading troopers dug in their spurs and their mounts cleared the obstacle in their stride”
The outcome, achieved in just under 60 minutes of wild riding, sheer bravery and maybe a touch of madness, saw the 4th Light Horse Brigade, consisting of the 4th and 12th Light Horse Regiments, capture Beersheba in one of the most important offensives of WW1.
Eight hundred Australian Light Horsemen waited on a ridge about six kilometres from the town of Beersheba, hidden from the Turkish troops. At 4.30pm on October 31, 1917, under the orders of Lieutenant General Harry Chauvel, they moved forward, first at a walk, then a trot, gradually quickening until the order of “CHARGE” was given, and 800 horsemen urged their horses, tired and thirsty from travelling overnight, into a gallop.
The Turks, expecting the Australians to dismount and fight one on one at the first trench, watched with surprise as horsemen, with only bayonets in hand, rode resolutely with no intention of stopping. They cleared the first trench, then the second. As the first squadron approached the third trench and dismounted, gunfire raining upon them, a bullet hit a 28-year-old farmer from Byaduk in the Western District and he died where he fell.
Walter Rodney Kinghorn, the youngest child in a family of 12, was born in Byaduk in 1888 to Francis Kinghorn and Elizabeth White. Britain declared war on Germany on 4 August 1914 and 20 days later at Broadmeadows, 26-year-old Walter Kinghorn enlisted, one of the first from the Hamilton district to do so. Prior to that, life for unmarried Walter consisted of farm work at Byaduk, like his father and brothers before him. His future had looked mapped out for him, but with no wife or children, the offer to see the world was all too enticing.
On August 22 1914, the people of Hamilton demonstrated the patriotic feelings that abounded as they bid farewell to what they then thought was the remaining quota of Hamilton district volunteers preparing for departure overseas. Those in the streets that day described the scene as “stirring”.
It was not just men leaving Hamilton. Fourteen horses, donated by prominent local breeders, including James Learmonth of Melville Forest, also said goodbye to their breeding grounds and like the men, were oblivious to what lay ahead of them. The mood was buoyant and locals provided gifts for the men including cigarettes and a box of cigars, from Mr Short, brother-in-law of Private Maurice Tilley. The parade moved along the streets of Hamilton to the Town Hall, accompanied by the Hamilton Pipe Band.
Walter spent time training at the Broadmeadows Camp until 19 October 1914 when the men and horses of the 4th Light Horse sailed aboard the steamer HMAT Wiltshire bound for Egypt. With him were Tom Henderson, Maurice Tilley and William Niven of Hamilton and John Francis of Yulecart.
FEEDING HORSES OF THE 4TH LIGHT HORSE ON BOARD SS WILTSHIRE. Image Courtesy of the Australian War Memorial. Image no. PS0008 http://www.awm.gov.au/collection/PS0008/
They arrived at Port Said, Egypt on 10 December 1914 and work began to unload the horses and set up camp.
Walter Kinghorn’s service record gives no clue to his whereabouts from the time the steamer docked in December 1914 until 2 January 1916 when he was recorded as being in Heliopolis. The only other listing was that he was a driver with 4th Light Horse Transport from the time of his enlistment until July 5, 1916.
If Walter remained with the 4th Light Horse after their arrival, he would have travelled with them to Gallipoli during May 1915, minus the horses, as infantry reinforcements. The regiment spent six months in the trenches at ANZAC Cove before returning to Egypt to discover the regiment would be split up. Horses had limitations in the desert with water supplies an ongoing concern. Two squadrons left for France, while the rest remained around the Suez Canal.
Walter spent time at the 4th Light Horse Regiment Headquarters at Heliopolis before falling ill late in May 1916. He spent a few weeks in hospital before joining the 1st Light Horse for a month at Tel-El-Kebir. Then on to the 1st Double Squadron at Serapeum, Egypt in July, where he remained for four months.
There was still reshuffling among the Light Horse regiments and the 4th Light Horse joined with the Imperial Camel Corps to form the 3rd Camel Regiment at El Ferdan, Egypt in November 1916. Walter was with the camel regiment for three months. On December 27, 1916, Henry Langtip wrote in his diary “Got camels issued today. I don’t like them at all but I suppose one willget used to them“, but the following day…”On camels for the first time today and it was great fun as several fell off”.
4th LIGHT HORSE REGIMENT BATHING HORSES & CAMELS, MARAKEB, PALESTINE, 1917. Image Courtesy of the Australian War Memorial Image No. J00425 http://www.awm.gov.au/collection/J00425/
With further reorganization to the mounted brigades in early March 1917, Walter returned to his role as a driver with the 4th Light Horse Transport, then camped at Ferry Post on the Suez Canal. He was also promoted to Lance Corporal. For some reason, at his own request, Walter reverted from driver to trooper on 26 May 1917, while in Tel El Fara, Palestine. That decision may have sealed his fate.
4th Light Horse in Palestine c 1915. Image courtesy of Picture Queensland, State Library of Queensland Image no. 182314 http://trove.nla.gov.au/version/47940236
In the months leading up to the attack on Beersheba, on two occasions the Allies had unsuccessfully tried to take Gaza but a different tack was in the planning. The Light Horse would come from another direction, the East.
Harry Langtip wrote on Sunday 28 October1917, “We are ready to move out to attack Beersheba at a moments notice. We have had a lecture from the Colonel and he tells us that we are going 30 miles tonight and 30 miles again the next night” (p37 of transcript).
On 31 October he wrote, “We rode all night to get right around Beersheba, 32 miles in all…Our horses ready to go into the line to attack within the next few minutes. It was a terrible ride inheavy dust all the way. The horses have still got the saddles on and I don’t know when they will get them off…”
THE ROAD TO BEERSHEBA (Oct 1917). Image courtesy of the Australian War Memorial Image no. A02788 A02788
Soon they were on the move as the charge began. Aloysius Cotter of the 4th Light Horse wrote home to his sister in Gippsland about the charge. He recounted burying his head in his horse’s mane as they galloped directly into the barrage.
OUR SOLDIERS. LETTER FROM PALESTINE. (1918, February 28). Foster Mirror and South Gippsland Shire Advocate (Vic. : 1914 – 1918), p. 3. Retrieved April 21, 2014, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article129511784
Thomas Hoskisson, of the 12th Light Horse Regiment, wrote home to his brother in N.S.W. about his experience.
HOW THE LIGHT HORSE FOUGHT IN THE CAPTURE OF BEERSHEBA. (1918, December 5). Camden News (NSW : 1895 – 1954), p. 1. Retrieved April 21, 2014, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article136790912
Walter Kinghorn was one of the brave troopers at the head of the charge. His father Francis received a letter from Major James Lawson, a hotel keeper from Rupanyup prior to the war, describing Walter’s last ride.
THE LATE LANCE-CORPORAL WALTER KINGHORN. (1918, May 9). Hamilton Spectator (Vic. : 1914 – 1918), p. 4. Retrieved April 21, 2014, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article119501800
As members of the 4th Light Horse dismounted and fought the Turkish soldiers in the trenches, the 12th Light Horse passed them by and continued on to Beersheba clearing the way for the remaining squadrons to move forward, resulting in the capture of the town. Horses wasted no time drinking from the wells, another advantage of taking Beersheba. Some horses that had survived the gruelling gallop, dropped dead from exhaustion after drinking. Behind them, on the path they had travelled lay fallen horses, taken down from underneath their riders. Considering the number of troops involved and the great risk, the casualties were considered light with 31 men killed and 36 wounded. The loss of horses was higher, with 70 killed and at least 70 wounded.
Seven other men died at the same trench as Walter from Troopers to Officers, and they were buried close to where they fell. Eight white crosses marked their graves.
The 4th Light Horse Quarter Master Sergeant James French managed to craft a memorial plaque for the gravesite, using scrap metal, the debris of war. During the 1920s, the plaque was donated to the Australian War Memorial, but not before approval was given by the eight families.
Memorial at Beersheba. (1918, May 14). Gippsland Farmers Journal (Traralgon, Vic. : 1914 – 1918), p. 2. Retrieved April 21, 2014, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article88057978
He may have been thousands of miles from home when he died, but a touch of Byaduk, family and friends was not far away from Walter. Also in Palestine was the No. 1 Squadron of the Australian Flying Corps (AFC) and among the ranks was Charles Harman, Walter’s brother-in-law.
The AFC’s role in Palestine was mainly surveillance, taking photos of the war front and military objectives, such as this photo above Beersheba.
Aerial View of Beersheba taken from the plane of No 1 Squadron AFC. Image courtesy of the Australian War Memorial. Image no. B02020 http://www.awm.gov.au/collection/B02020/
Charles Harman, 10 years older than Walter, married Walter’s eldest sister Catherine in 1905, but he would have known Walter all of his life. After all, Charles’s grandfather James Harman and the Kinghorns had neighbouring properties and in 1907, James and Jonathan Harman stood with Frank and Elizabeth Kinghorn for a photograph with other Byaduk pioneers. The two families had known each other for 50 years. Even while they were overseas, letters to Walter and Charles from home would have told them the news of the marriage of Walter’s brother David Kinghorn to Charles’ cousin, Charlotte Harman in 1915.
Charles Harman was a Sergeant with the AFC No. 1 Squadron mechanics. The mechanics made a memorial plaque and Charles erected it on Walter’s grave. A touching gesture and most likely one of the most difficult times of Charles’ war service. During the 1920s, the plaque was returned to the Kinghorn family after Walter and the other men were exhumed and buried at the Beersheba War Cemetery.
MEMORIAL PLAQUE MADE BY THE MECHANICS OF THE NO. 1 SQUADRON AFC Image Courtesy of the Australian War Memorial. Image No. B02143 http://www.awm.gov.au/collection/B02143/
WALTER KINGHORN. Photo taken at the 2015 Byaduk Spring Show. The photo of Walter was part of a larger tribute to him.
In contrast to the deserts of Palestine, back at home in Western Victoria, the spring grass was abundant, lambs were fattening and the local P&A Agricultural show season was underway. News of Walter’s death, however, began to reverberate from Byaduk by mid-November 1917. His death was felt as far away Trawalla, west of Ballarat, home to Walter’s sister Flora. Reports appeared in both the Ballarat Courier and the Ripponshire Advocate.
TROOPER W. KINGHORN. (1917, November 16). The Ballarat Courier (Vic. : 1914 – 1918), p. 1 Edition: DAILY. Retrieved April 21, 2014, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article73334841
In the Hamilton Spectator, Frank Kinghorn gave thanks to all those who had paid tribute to his youngest son.
When Major Lawson corresponded with Frank Kinghorn the following year, he too paid tribute to Walter and reassured Frank that Walter had played a part in the “finest charge in the annals of modern warfare”. Little consolation for Frank, then in his 80s. He died in 1919.
THE LATE LANCE-CORPORAL WALTER KINGHORN. (1918, May 9). Hamilton Spectator (Vic. : 1914 – 1918), p. 4. Retrieved April 21, 2014, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article119501800
Byaduk suffered the loss of 14 men during WW1 and the community moved to remember them. Described as a historic day for Byaduk, on June 28, 1918, the families of the local men that served, planted trees for an Avenue of Honor. Those who had paid the supreme sacrifice carried a laurel wreath on their plaques. One of Walter’s sisters, most likely Fanny, planted his tree. Mrs Hilda Harman, aunt of Charles Harman planted one for him, while Charles’ sisters Julia and Alice planted trees for the other Harman brothers to serve, Reuben Edward and William Louden.
A cousin of Charles Harman, Isabella Harman had two brothers-in-law served, Denis and Michael Bunworth. Denis was killed only a month earlier in France. As Isabella’s husband, Jonathan Bunworth planted a tree for his brother Michael, he could never imagine that within two weeks, Micheal’s plaque too would bear the telling laurel wreath. Michael was killed on 1 August 1918 in France. The deaths of the two Bunworth boys was also felt by the Kinghorns as Walter’s brother Frank Jr. married Denis and Michael’s sister, Johanna. Three families intertwined through marriage and united in grief.
In nearby Hamilton, the brave ride of the Light Horsemen at Beersheba was also remembered, with a row of 14 Aleppo palms planted along Alexandra Parade in 1920 as a tribute.
Unveiled in 1995, a memorial stone close to the palms completes the Beersheba memorial. Water Kinghorn’s name is beside Dunkeld boy, Edward Womersley, who died of his wounds in the days after the charge.
The horses of the Australian Light Horse, especially those from the Western District that never returned to rolling green pastures, but instead only knew sand, dust, flies, heat and death, their bravery and endurance should never be forgotten.
While in no way can the adrenaline, fear and the scale of the charge at Beersheba be recreated, the Australian film “The Lighthorsemen” does go some way to depict the events of 31 October 1917.
But nothing can go past recollections of those that were at Bersheeba such as the following poem by Trooper Arthur Beatty of Sassafras written in 1918 remembering those buried in a “Bedouin camping place”
I enjoy a trip to the Byaduk Cemetery. When I turn off the Hamilton-Port Fairy Road and drive up the hill on not much more than a track, I can sense the ghosts of my ancestors around me, walking or driving a buggy up the hill following a horse-drawn hearse to the cemetery. It is like stepping back in time.
There are over 250 burials, in the cemetery and I will share photos of a small sample of headstones, including some of my family. There are also unmarked graves, such as that of my 4 x great grandparents Joseph and Sarah Harman.
THREE BROTHERS
Scottish brothers, Colin, Duncan and James Fraser called Byaduk home and became respected residents.
The brothers immigrated from Scotland in 1853 and went to the Ararat diggings. When land became available in 1861, the brothers went to Byaduk and Colin and James selected “Aird“.
They all at one time lived at “Aird“. “James built a hut there but later built a home at “Lower Aird”, the adjacent property. Colin built his home at “Aird” where he resided until his death. The Victorian Heritage Database has a concise history of the Frasers and information about the Aird Homestead complex and the Lower Aird Homestead complex. The Weekly Times ran an article about “Lower Aird” in 2009.
Duncan didn’t buy land initially, rather, he returned to Scotland. In 1871 he was back in Byaduk with his wife Margaret and four children, Simon, Helen, Donald and William and they lived at “Aird” for a time. In 1873, Duncan purchased “Camp Creek” where he lived until his death in 1878 aged just 49.
HEADSTONE OF DUNCAN & FRASER, BYADUK CEMETERY
James and Mary Fraser produced a WW1 hero, 2nd Lieutenant Simon Fraser, and his bravery at the Battle of Fromelles, is commemorated at the Australian Memorial Park at Fromelles. A statue “Cobbers“, depicts Simon carrying a fellow soldier during the battle.
A member of the 57th Battalion, Sergeant Simon Fraser carried men from No Man’s Land. As he lifted a man on his shoulders, he heard another call out , “Don’t forget me cobber”. Simon was later promoted to 2nd Lieutenant. The following year he was killed in action. “Cobbers” has been replicated at the Shrine of Remembrance, Melbourne.
Colin and Margaret Fraser lived at “Aird” but unlike the other two brothers, they had no children. “Aird” was later purchased by another well-known Byaduk family, the Christies.
GRAVE OF COLIN & FRASER, BYADUK CEMETERY
I am very thankful to James and Mary Fraser’s third son, Peter Fraser. It was Peter’s writings of the Early Byaduk History in 1931, compiled from events he kept in diaries, that has given me so much information on the history of Byaduk and the families that lived there.
Peter did not publish his writings, but in 1994, Ian Black of Hamilton, typed them out and published a wonderful little book, Early Byaduk Settlers. It may only be only 15 pages long, but it is a star on my bookshelf and a must for anyone that has ancestors that lived at Byaduk. Peter tells the story of the Fraser brothers in great detail.
There are at least sixteen Frasers buried at Byaduk. Following are some of the family’s headstones:
The following headstones are either linked to each other in some way or have direct links to the Harman family
Jane Carmichael (nee Pope) came to Byaduk from Scotland later in life with two of her children, Charles and Emma. From what I can gather her husband had either died in Scotland or remained there.
Emma Carmichael, born in Dundee, Scotland around 1859 married Albert Harman in 1907. She was 48 and Albert 39. Albert was the fourth son of James and Susan Harman.
HEADSTONE OF ALBERT AND EMMA HARMAN
Samuel and Jane Tyers did not have any children, but other members of Samuel’s family lived in Byaduk. There are at least nine other Tyers family members in the Byaduk Cemetery including Samuel’s sister Jane.
Other than Charlotte’s obituary, I could not find a lot about James and Charlotte Ward. It was that obituary, however, that helped me find a link between this headstone and the one following it.
This Holmes headstone has a link to the previous one and to Samuel and Jane Tyers (above). Joseph Holmes (1862-1929) was the son of George Holmes and Jane Tyers. Jane was a sister of Samuel Tyers (above).
Joseph married Agnes Brand. Her grandparents were James and Charlotte Ward (above). Her parents were William Brand and Agnes Ward and Charlotte’s obituary mentions her daughter “Mrs William Brand”.
The following headstone belongs to Isabella Ward and her son Charles Ward. Isabella was Isabella Harman, daughter of James and Susan Harman. Her sister, Julia, married George Holmes, brother of Joseph Holmes (above).
Isabella married Stephen Ward in 1885 and their son Charles Frederick Ward was born in 1886, the same year as his mother’s death, presumably as a result of the birth.
I had heard from Nana that Henrietta Harman, Isabella’s unmarried sister, raised Charles. James Harman, in his will, made provision for his daughter Henrietta and grandson, Charles to stay in the house that he owned beyond his death and for as long as needed. Also, after the death of Henrietta, a trust would allow for Charles’ maintenance. That was not because Auntie Henrietta outlived her much-loved nephew Charles. He died in 1928 at Ballarat.
Henrietta Harman was Nana’s great-aunt and she could recall as s a child, Auntie Henrietta visiting their home. That would have been during the 1920s and 30s. Henrietta would catch the coach from Byaduk to Hamilton. “She was a dear old thing” Nana would say. I think maybe because Nana, Linda Henrietta, was named after her great-aunt she felt a special bond. Henrietta passed away in 1952 and was buried in a simple grave at Byaduk,.
Catherine Harman was the wife of my great-great uncle Charles James Harman, son of Reuben James Harman and Elizabeth Bishop. Catherine was Catherine Kinghorn, daughter of Francis Kinghorn and Elizabeth White. Born in 1868 at Byaduk, Catherine married Charles, at the age of 37, in 1905. Charles was 10 years her junior. Catherine died in hospital in Melbourne in 1913. Charles enlisted in the Australian Flying Corps in 1916 and remarried in 1922 to Lavinia Raven Fisher of Middle Park.
William Leslie Harman was born in 1888 at Byaduk, the third child and eldest son of Alfred Harman and Louisa Newman. William was the grandson of James and Sarah Harman.
Isabel Bunworth was Isabel Harman, the sixth daughter of Alfred and Louisa Harman and sister of William (above). Isabel married John Bunworth of Byaduk in 1923.
Gershom Harman (1869-1940) was the second son of Reuben Harman and Elizabeth Oliver. He married Elizabeth Hilliard in 1905 and they had two children, Ivy and Gordon.
Now to the Bishops and another Harman link as my gg grandparents were Reuben James Harman and Elizabeth Bishop.
The following headstone belongs to Charles Bishop and his wife Sarah Dancer. Charles (1856-1916) was the eldest son of James Bishop and Sarah Hughes. He was the brother of Elizabeth Bishop.
Charles married Sarah Dancer in 1884 and they had 11 children. Frances Bishop Hylard was their ninth child, born in 1900. She married Edward Thomas Hylard in 1920.
Charles Bishop passed away from a heart attack while loading wood.
Percy Almond Bishop was the second son of Charles and Sarah Bishop. Percy was born in 1888 at Byaduk and enlisted in 1916 at Hamilton and served with the 39th Battalion. He was awarded a Distinguished Conduct Medal and a Military Medal. Percy never married.
**Thank you to Maria Cameron, President of the Port Fairy Genealogical Society for providing with me additional information on the Fraser family and correcting an oversight I had made on the parentage of Simon Fraser.
I have previously posted on the Misadventures, Deaths, and Near Misses of my family members, but as people could hurt themselves in so many ways in the 19th and early 20th century I thought I would share some more. I have included a couple of people related to me, but most are just everyday people doing everyday things. If you click on the “victim’s” name it will take you to Trove and the original article.
Poor Henry was climbing through a fence with his Winchester when it went off and shot him in the foot. John Kinghorn, a somewhat accident prone lad, lost the flesh below his thumb after the barrel of his gun exploded in 1890. On another day not long after, he was riding to Hamilton with the Byaduk Mounted Rifles when another horse kicked him in the leg resulting in a severe leg injury to John.
Reverend Father Scanlan was shooting rabbits with Reverend Father Timmins. Father Timmins wounded a hare so Father Scanlan pointed his gun through a hedge to take a last shot when the gun exploded, wounding him in the thigh.
A search at Trove found 1624 article headlines containing “Peculiar Accident” So what characterizes a peculiar accident? Well Mrs C.E. Lewis qualified after a cow’s horn ripped her eyelid.
Mr W.B Edgar made the grade while trying to relive his golfing days only to have some protective plovers attack him.
Peculiar Accident. (1937, August 30). Portland Guardian (Vic. : 1876 – 1953), p. 2 Edition: EVENING. Retrieved July 11, 2012, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article64276868
An over exuberant crack of a stock whip resulted in Stephen Moodie’s peculiar accident. Another peculiar accident occurred to an unknown and probably embarrassed customer of Page’s store in Warracknabeal. Lucky in-store video surveillance was not around then or the footage may have made it to a 1920s equivalent of Funniest Home Videos.
Young Alex McIntyre would have thought twice before he messed with a bottle of spirits of salts again. Deciding the best way to make sure the cork was in the bottle was to stomp down on it with his boot, he caused the bottle to explode. It was enough to blow the hat from his head. Luckily he escaped with minor burns and a dose of sense.
While the following peculiar accidents were not headlined as such, I do believe they fall into that category. Feeding peanuts to a leopard at Melbourne Zoo did it for David Horsfall and Mrs Hill of Casterton found a lost needle in her hand, 35 years later.
Miss Gladys Makin would have been wary of yawning after her peculiar accident in 1908.
“Eyes Damaged by Paper” was the headline for Mr H. Foster’s peculiar accident. From the Minyip “Guardian” newspaper, Mr Foster took paper cuts to a whole new level. Fingers are the usual victims of the dreaded paper cut, but the gentleman managed to have the paper he was carrying pass over his eyeball. Several days in a dark room was the remedy.
PAINFUL ACCIDENT. (1916, January 25). Warrnambool Standard (Vic. : 1914 – 1918), p. 3 Edition: DAILY.. Retrieved July 11, 2012, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article73868145
The headline “painful accident” was found 2149 times at Trove, although I think most accidents would fit this description.
Walter Greed of Hamilton was a victim of a painful accident in 1891. Walter was the son-in-law of Reuben Harman and husband of Jesse Harman. While working at his uncle’s coach building business Walter’s hand became caught in a studded drum used to prepare stuffing for carriage seats. Once released, he ran, blood dripping, to Rountree’s Chemists in Gray Street where his hand was bandaged. The chemist recommended Walter attend the Hamilton Hospital where it was found he had no broken bones.
It goes without saying that Mr Matthews’ accident was painful. While mustering sheep in the Grampians in 1898 a fall on to dry sticks saw one of them enter three inches into his leg. Wood was also the cause of Mr J. Sullivan’s painful accident near Warrnambool. A chip of wood flew up and hit him in the eye, resulting in the eye being removed.
I feel bad smiling while reading the following article. But when I begin to visualise what John Brisbane was doing it is becomes cartoon-like, particularly if I think of what might have happened and thankfully didn’t. Apologies to John’s descendants for my mirth.
PAINFUL MOTORING ACCIDENT. (1946, July 25). Portland Guardian (Vic. : 1876 – 1953), p. 2 Edition: EVENING. Retrieved July 12, 2012, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article64408475
SOME UNFORTUNATE RELATIVES
Death by misadventure best describes the unfortunate death of my gg uncle and again spirit of salts proved a very dangerous substance. In 1939, Ernest Richard Diwell drunk spirits of salts thinking it was whiskey. This was a fatal mistake.
Only two years earlier, Ernest’s, uncle William Diwell had his own misadventure.
I could go on all day with examples. I have hundreds of them including “unusual accidents”, “extraordinary deaths” and articles with headlines such as “Horse Jumps in Side-Car” and “Cakes Flew When Horse Bolted”, but I will save them for another time.
Western District pioneers were exposed to most of the elements Australia offers including flood, drought and fire. Each had its own devastating effect on their lives and livelihood, particularly those on the land.
By summer 1905, my Harman family of Byaduk had already experienced bushfire, Fires in 1888, 1896, 1901, and 1902 had seen the loss of stock, grazing land and life. Bushfires today are just as devastating but the pioneers of the 19th century and early 20th century did not have the weather forecasting, firefighting equipment and communications now available. When a fire went close to their homes at Byaduk on 11 January 1905, one can only imagine how they managed.
The fire broke away in the stony ground near the Byaduk Caves and travelled southerly at a rapid pace.
NEAR BYADUK CAVES.
The first Harman hit was George Harman, son of James Harman. His property Quetta was on the north-eastern corner of the Hamilton-Port Fairy Road and what is now Harman’s Road. The fire crossed the main road on to his father’s property Mt Pleasant and Frank Kinghorn’s The Island next door. Alfred Harper, lost all the timber for a new house, while others lost haystacks. Forty men were fighting the fire but wind changes made it almost impossible for them. The Portland Guardian reported on the fire on 13 January 1905.
HEAVY LOSSES AT BYADUK. (1905, January 13). Portland Guardian (Vic. : 1876 – 1953), p. 2 Edition: EVENING. Retrieved January 11, 2012, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article63691042
I grew up in Hamilton, with Byaduk only about 20 kilometres from my home. I passed through it on trips to coastal Port Fairy, visited the nearby dormant volcano Mt Napier with school and heard stories about the Byaduk caves. Never for a minute did I know that I had any link to the small town with its drystone fences and rocky paddocks.
I had heard of the Harmans from the conversations of my great uncles and aunties, but when I asked who they were Nana would just say they are “cousins”, so I figured they were not that closely related. It was not until I started finding out more about my family tree and Nana told me all the names she knew, I discovered that her mother Sarah was a Harman.
My Great Grandmother Sarah Elizabeth Harman
When first researching, I would look through records for certain family names and would often come up with very little. That was until I started on the Harmans. There was loads of information and they soon became my favourite family, and not just for the ease of researching them. I discovered an upstanding, religious family that always dotted the i’s and crossed the t’s. A family that got involved in the community whether it be building schools, ploughing competitions, the Methodist church, or the Farmers Union. Back in the late 1800s and early 1900s, they were a well-known family in the district.
Coming to Australia in three separate groups, Joseph and Sarah Harman and their mostly grown-up children, reunited in Port Fairy during the mid-1850s. They established themselves in the town, but with the land opening up in 1861 they moved to newly settled Byaduk around 1863. Joseph was the first bootmaker in the town, while sons James, Jonathon, and Reuben began farming the stony land. George, who was second eldest, seemed to have no wish to farm and by the late 1860s had returned to Port Fairy where he worked for the local council.
The family grew and by the turn of the century, another generation of Harmans were raising families with the union of marriage linking them to other well-known families in the district, including the Kinghorns, Bishops, and Olivers. The family was also beginning to branch out to other parts of the state, including Gippsland. In 1907, three members of the Harman family appear in a photograph of Byaduk pioneers, James, Jonathan, and Reuben’s wife Elizabeth.
Byaduk Pioneers 1907
I eventually left Hamilton and did not return to Byaduk until the 1990s to visit the cemetery. By this time I knew something of the Harman’s standing in the community but had not realised that there was so much recognition of it. While not that surprised to find a road named after them, I was surprised the Byaduk Caves had the names, Harman’s Cave No 1 and Harman’s Cave No 2 and that the volcanic lava flow that runs from Mt Napier to Byaduk is called “Harman Valley”. Also, the Byaduk area has been recognised as part of the Kanawika Global Geopark
The Harman Valley, Byaduk
The name of Harman is not common in Byaduk today but I am proud that ongoing recognition of their presence there is ensured.
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