Smith

Passing of the Pioneers

/ Merron Riddiford / Leave a comment

There are ten obituaries for the September edition of Passing of the Pioneers. They include a woman from Apollo Bay and a man who was born in Canada. Hotels get a mention again and there is the story of a Branxholme recluse. Each subject now goes on to the WDF Obituary Index. Don’t forget to click on the links (underlined text) for more information on a subject.

MEREDITH, Robert – Died 14 September 1897 at Yeo. Robert Meredith was born in County Sligo, Ireland around 1827. He married Susannah McNamara, and the couple left for Australia in 1858. A son was born on the voyage. The couple settled at Queenscliff then, after around ten years, they moved to Yeo, near Colac, where Robert farmed. During the 1880s, he carried mail from Colac to Yeo. Robert and Susannah raised five sons and three daughters. Robert died in 1897 and Susannah remained at their property Lightwood Park and died there in June 1913.

SMITH, Maria – Died 18 September 1897 at Hamilton. Maria Smith was born in 1843 at Great Swanport, Tasmania, a daughter of blacksmith Robert Smith and Emma Farrell.1 In 1851, Maria came to Victoria aboard the Shamrock with her mother.2 On 24 November 1864 at Geelong, Maria married George Rippon, a writer for the Geelong Advertiser, and a son, John James Rippon, was born the following year. George and Maria lived in Moorabool Street with further children born at their home, sons George in 1867 and Herbert in 1869, followed by daughters Martha in 1870, Emma in 1872, and Alice in 1874.

In July 1876, George entered a partnership in the newspaper the Hamilton Spectator, in the state’s west and the family moved. George was very active in the Hamilton community and their home, Altham Lodge on the corner of Dryden and Collins Streets, saw many guests, including visitors from out of town. Maria was renowned for her hospitality. Maria and George shared a loved of the sport coursing with George, the president of the Hamilton Coursing Club.

Maria was a charitable woman as expressed by Canon Tucker of the Hamilton Anglican Christ Church after her death, “By a thousand quiet acts of Christian charity she had made herself beloved by the sick and needy about her”. She was just fifty-four when she died in 1897. George died two years later. They are buried with their family at the Hamilton (Old) Cemetery, below.

THE RIPPON FAMILY PLOT, HAMILTON (OLD) CEMETERY

KENDALL, Elizabeth – Died 8 September 1903 at Apollo Bay. Elizabeth Kendall was born around 1835. She came to Australia with her husband John Cawood and a child was born in Geelong in 1861. Soon after, they were at Apollo Bay and among the first white settlers in the area.

Apollo Bay became a logging district and there was an influx of mill workers. Elizabeth saw a need for a restaurant and started offering meals from their home and then accommodation. The Cawood’s Milford House built in 1870, soon became well known to travellers to the district.

On 4 September 1880, the American ship Eric the Red hit the Otway Reef while travelling to Melbourne. Four people drowned in the wreck, including one crewman. The ship was laden with American treasures for the International Exhibition at Melbourne’s Royal Exhibition Building. Soon after the wreck, those items washed up on beaches along the coast. Furniture and fittings from Eric the Red went into the bedrooms of Milford House and the Cawoods built an extension to the home using timbers from the ship.

MILFORD HOUSE, APOLLO BAY. Image courtesy of the State Library of Victoria http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/49094

A visitor to Milford House in 1888 wrote of Elizabeth telling him she was looking at increasing the accommodation at the house. During the visit, John Cawford was pruning his extensive orchard and Elizabeth served fruit and cream. In 1898, fire swept through Apollo Bay and destroyed the orchard, at the time considered one of the best in the colony. John was not there to witness it, having died two years before. But Elizabeth saw the flames come close to her home.

At Elizabeth’s funeral on 10 September 1903, her charitable acts for the needy of the town were remembered. She was considered the “preeminent woman of the town”. Interestingly, she was the first woman in ten years to be interred at the Apollo Bay cemetery. Elizabeth left seven sons and two daughters at the time of her death.

At a memorial service for Elizabeth at Apollo Bay on 13 September, the word “motherly” was what best described Elizabeth…”the mother of Apollo Bay”. Reverend Lowe also described her as one of the “Marthas, always serving and helping”.

Milford House was auctioned in November 1903. In later years, it was destroyed during bushfires.

Advertising (1903, November 23). Geelong Advertiser, p. 3.http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article149004783

HOWARTH, William – Died September 1904 at Branxholme. William Howarth was born in Lancashire around 1814 and worked in law offices as a young man. He arrived in NSW and worked in the legal field before travelling to Victoria during the gold rushes of the early 1850s. While in Melbourne, he met a man who had imported stone pavers, but since all interest was in gold, and not construction, William had the chance to purchase the pavers for a cheap price. As people moved away from the diggings, the pavers were in demand, and William turned his outlay to a profit of several hundred pounds.

In the late 1850s, William settled at Branxholme and opened a general store. During his time in Branxholme, William divulged nothing of his life and the locals were unaware if he even had living relatives. It was rumoured he lost money during a land boom. He was a Justice of the Peace and, with his early legal experience, could act as a magistrate if required. In 1859, he was instrumental in Branxholme becoming a gazetted polling place.

William built a cottage in Monroe Street, Branxholme, but within a few years, he built a bluestone house in front of it, thought to be designed by architect Charles Fox. Built with stone carted from Mt Sturgeon near Dunkeld, for a considerable fee, it was considered palatial for the town.

WILLIAM HOWARTH’S FORMER HOME, BRANXHOLME. Image courtesy of the John T. Collins Collection, State Library of Victoria http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/4112412

Once the house was built, William left his business and lived “in seclusion” with all the rooms unfurnished except for the one William used as a bedroom. When he died, the interior was just as it was when built. William’s obituary said it was quite a costly home in the end. More information about the cottage-Victorian Heritage Database – https://vhd.heritagecouncil.vic.gov.au/places/23284

CLUNAN, Sarah – Died September 1906 at Dunkeld. How different life for Sarah Clunan may have been if her journey from Ireland to Australia at nineteen had taken her to Sydney as planned. Her entry on the passenger list of the Sir Edward Parry in 1848 shows Sarah, along with several other passengers were “originally for Sydney, remains at Port Phillip”.1 In 1850, Sarah married George Mahony. The obituary of Sarah’s son, Patrick Mahony in 1912, mentions Sarah and George settled at Mount Moriac near Geelong. They then went to Dunkeld around 1865, where they remained until their deaths.

Sarah left three sons, five daughters, and twenty grandchildren at the time of her death.

  1. Public Records Office of Victoria, Register of Assisted Immigrants from the United Kingdom, VPRS 14/P0000, Book No. 2/3, Sir Edward Parry, 1848, Sarah Clonen

POOK, Mary – Died 24 September 1906 at Dunkeld. Mary Pook was born around 1830 in Brixton, England. She married Edwin Collins at Brixton in 1852. The obituary of Mary’s daughter, Jane Collins, says Mary and Jane arrived at Portland around 1858 aboard the Great Britain. They were to meet her husband Edwin, who had travelled ahead and was at Hamilton. It must be noted the Great Britain arrived in Victoria to Hobsons Bay with immigrants in 1857 and 1859 but not Portland. I also haven’t found Mary or Jane on the passenger lists.

Once the family reunited, they settled in Hamilton where Edwin was a butcher, but they moved to Dunkeld by 1861. Edwin continued butchering, but in 1866, he took over the Royal Mail Hotel. He then ran Dunkeld’s Family Inn (below).

In 1877, the railway arrived in Dunkeld. Edwin built a hotel on the corner of Sterling and Skene Streets, opposite the station, and named it appropriately, the Railway Hotel. Edwin Collins died at the end of 1881 and Mary took over the ownership of the Railway Hotel and her son Adolphus held the license. In March 1894, Mary’s daughter Jane took over the license of the Railway Hotel.

COLLINS FAMILY PLOT, HAMILTON (OLD) CEMETERY

Mary still owned the Railway Hotel at the time of her death. Her probate file held by PROV has an interesting inventory with all the items in the Railway Hotel listed, from pillows to brushes and combs provided for guests’ use in each room. Mary also owned ten parcels of land in the Dunkeld township and one on the outskirts of town. The Railway Hotel was sold in 1907.

Advertising (1907, April 6). Hamilton Spectator, p. 2. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article226130151

McPHEE, Alexander – Died 27 September 1916 at Hamilton. Alexander McPhee was born on the island of Mull off the coast of Scotland around 1833. He arrived in Victoria about 1852 aboard the Marmion which arrived at Portland. With him were his parents, Donald and Mary, and his siblings. They left Portland for Muntham station near Merino, where the family was engaged to work.

Alexander married Sarah Prider in South Australia, and in 1855 they settled at North Hamilton near the Coleraine Road. Alexander was a member of the Independent Order of Rechabites from around 1873.

When WW1 broke, Alexander’s grandson Norman McPhee of Hamilton enlisted in December 1914. In January 1916, Alexander’s son Jack, who had earlier moved to New Zealand, enlisted with the New Zealand Forces. Alexander died in September 1916, saving him from the grief of the loss of firstly Jack, killed in Belgium in June 1917, and three months later Norman, who died from wounds, also in Belgium.

Alexander was buried at the Hamilton Old Cemetery, less than 350 metres from his home. In later years, after the subdivision of the land he once owned, a new street was called McPhee Street. He was buried with his wife Sarah and his parents, Donald and Mary. This is the family plot in 2015.

When I photographed the plot in 2021, I noticed the headstone of Donald and Mary had fallen.

WILSON, Frank – Died 7 September 1917 at Hamilton. Frank Wilson was born in Ontario, Canada, around 1860. He started work in the printing industry, giving him an opportunity to travel to Australia for the Melbourne International Exhibition in 1881 to oversee a printing machinery exhibit. He stayed in Australia and got a job in the printing department of the Daily Telegraph and later the Evening Standard, which was then taken over by The Herald.

Frank then found his way to St Arnaud and was involved with the Lord Nelson mine in the town, working on the machinery. He married Ellen Morrison in St Arnaud in 1901 and they had two daughters and two sons. Frank also worked on mining machinery at Omeo and Stawell. They had arrived in Hamilton by 1909 where Frank ran the Cossar printing machine and suction gas plant at the Hamilton Spectator.

THE HAMILTON SPECTATOR c1905. Image courtesy of the Museums Victoria Collections https://collections.museumsvictoria.com.au/items/766376

In 1913, Frank faced insolvency. He cited old debts, increased cost of living, and high rent as the cause of his money troubles. Frank was an excellent banjo player and gave tuition to several students in Hamilton. He also played at local concerts.

WHELAN, John – Died 15 September 1918 at Dixie. John Whelan was born around 1840 in Limerick, Ireland. He arrived in Victoria in 1868 on the Southern Ocean. He went to Port Fairy, and that’s where he married his wife, Mary O’Grady. They spent time in the Tower Hill district, and the Garvoc district, before living at Keayang near Terang for around twenty-two years. Mary died around 1913, and John died five years later. He left two sons and three daughters at the time of his death in 1918.

PERRY, Frederick – Died September 1942 at Casterton. In the 1850s, Frederick Perry’s father, John, was the manager of the Upper Crawford station near Condah. That’s where Frederick was born in 1854. In the early 1860s, the family moved to Lexington station near Moyston. It was while at Lexington that Frederick’s older brother William was found dead in a waterhole on 25 October 1860 after going missing while running errands for his father. Foul play was called, but an inquest found William accidentally drowned. Despite that finding, 82 years on, Frederick’s obituary stated Wiliam was murdered. It was said it was the reason for the family leaving the district.

The Perrys headed for the Digby district and Frederick attended the Digby school before getting work at Rifle Downs station. It was there Frederick married Helen Gull in 1876. Eventually, Frederick was a manager material himself and he took over the management of Runnymede near Sandford.

A change of pace came in 1913 when Frederick took over the Digby Hotel where he remained for sixteen years. He retired to Casterton, where he died in 1942.

Hamilton’s WW1…A Reflection

/ Merron Riddiford / Leave a comment

Four years, two months and twenty-two days after Privates Maurice Tilley, William Niven, William Turner, Ernest Huggins and Harry Caple left Hamilton by train on the evening of Tuesday 18 August 1914 the first official troops from the district, the guns fell silent.  The people of Hamilton, although somewhat buoyant after the surrender of Turkey and Austria in the days before, were wary about getting too swept up. That was until around 9pm on Monday 11 November when the news of the Armistice reached Hamilton. As those waiting outside the Hamilton Spectator were given the news, jubilation erupted and soon people flooded the streets.  The boys were coming home…but not all.

Just as William Niven, one of the first five men to leave Hamilton, did not return, around one in five of the total number of men with Hamilton ties who enlisted, also never made it back to Hamilton.  Of the 693 men I have identified as having Hamilton connections, 169 died before Armistice Day as a direct result of the war.

HAMILTON WAR MEMORIAL c1930-1954. Image courtesy of the State Library of Victoria Image no. H32492/2728 http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/63654

Since early 2015, I’ve been compiling names and writing stories of the men and women of Hamilton’s WW1 and since late 2015, I’ve been posting snippets of each edition of the Hamilton Spectator from 100 years before on the Hamilton’s WW1 Facebook page.  The aim was to gain an understanding of the effects of the war on a town such as Hamilton, the mood of the people and their response, and of course, the stories of the men and women who enlisted and their families.  Over the next three posts, I will tell you something of my project, what I’ve discovered, and where it’s going.

The first man with Hamilton connections killed in action was Joseph Alan Cordner, a Collingwood footballer, former Hamilton College student and a player in the Hamilton Cricket team.  Joseph, better known as Alan, was the first Victorian Football League player to enlist and among the first VFL players killed.  His death came in the hours after the landing at Gallipoli.  Initially, he was reported as missing and it was almost a year before his death on 25 April 1915 was made official.

JOSEPH ALAN CORDNER. Image Courtesy of the Australian War Memorial. Image no. P03483.009 https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/P03483.009/

The first the Hamilton people heard of a man with a local connection to have fallen was the news of the death of Harold Johnson of Maldon.  Harold was well-known in Hamilton having worked at department store J.Thomson & Co.  He was wounded in the days after the landing and died in hospital in Alexandria on 2 May 1915.  However, it was 24 May 1915 when the reality of war really hit Hamilton.  The Hamilton Spectator wrote on 24 May 1915, “The youth of the town have had their first piercing illustration of what war means in the last resort when they realise that one of their number will never associate with them.  Private William Henry Waters, a Hamilton State School boy, between nineteen and twenty years of age, has died at the front whilst fighting with the Australian forces at Gallipoli. He is the first Hamilton soldier to fall.”

Of those I’ve researched, William Norman was the youngest to enlist at seventeen years and eleven months.  The eldest of eight children, William was eighteen years and five months when he arrived at Gallipoli.  He went on to serve in France and Belgium and was killed on 8 October 1917, near Broodseinde Ridge, Belgium. He was buried where he fell, his body never recovered.  William was twenty.  His five younger brothers all enlisted for WW2.

WILLIAM LESLIE NORMAN. Image courtesy of the Australian War Memorial https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/P10789.004/

The youngest to die was Robert Taylor, born in Hamilton and a former student of the state school.  He was eighteen years and one month when he enlisted on 24 January 1916.  He was dead just seven months and fifteen days later, killed at Pozieres, France. Like Joseph Cordner and William Norman, Robert’s body was never recovered.

ROBERT TAYLOR. Image courtesy of the Australian War Memorial https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/P10789.005/

The last Hamilton man to die before the Armistice was James Smyth of the 9th Light Horse Regiment.  After James and another man captured a German officer with eighty-five Turkish soldiers on 2 October 1918 near Khan Ayash in Syria, James was nominated for a Distinguished Conduct Medal  (DCM) for conspicuous gallantry, initiative and devotion to duty.  Fifteen days later he was sick with malaria and died on 25 October 1918.  His DCM was awarded posthumously.

Many families had multiple enlistments which for some brought added grief like that experienced by the Joyce family. Brothers Matthew and Thomas were killed just two months apart, Matthew on 11 April 1917 at Bullecourt, France and Thomas on 1 June 1917 at Warloy-Baillon, France. 

There was also the two sons of Charlotte Lance.  Her eldest son Alexander Scott (below) was killed on 26 August 1916 at Mouquet Farm, France but Charlotte was not notified he was even missing.  After the death of her younger son George Lance, she wrote to the Defence Department asking after Alexander as she had not heard from him since the year before.  He was dead, came the reply.  Two boys lost a year apart but the news of both coming within months. Charlotte didn’t even want George to go, refusing the nineteen-year-old her permission. Determined to enlist, George went to Adelaide, enlisted under a false name, then wrote to his mother and told her what he had done.  She didn’t even get to say goodbye.

ALEXANDER WILLIAM SCOTT. Image courtesy of the Australian War Memorial https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/DA11399/

Then there were the Stevenson brothers  Alexander and Edgar. Only a few years apart in age, they spent a lot of time together before enlistment. The worked together at the family bakery in Coleraine Road, were both members of the Independent Order of Rechabites, and sung together at the local Baptist Church.  The also went to war together both serving with the 39th Battalion.  Alexander known as Lex was there when Edgar was killed on 4 October 1917.  He helped dig the grave and placed a cross upon it.  A week later, Lex was shot near Passchendaele, Belgium and died on 15 October from his wounds.  William and Euphemia Stevenson received the news of their sons six days apart.

James Lodge of Clarke Street, Hamilton sent four boys to war. Remaining at home was eighteen-year-old Frederick who was keen to join his brothers but instead worked with his father, a stonemason. James and Frederick were building the Catholic presbytery at Casterton when Frederick developed double pneumonia and died on 20 June 1918.  While James’ mind was with his four sons overseas, it was the son under his own watchful eye who died.  Despite his grief, James continued working but he too contracted pneumonia and died on 31 July.  Since it was James’ idea to plant trees along Clarke Street to form an Avenue of Honour for those in the street who enlisted, at the official planting on 24 August 1918, the first tree planted was in James’ honour and positioned in front of the Lodge home. The Lodge boys all returned to Australia, two highly decorated, and they went on to secure the contract of the construction of the Shrine of Remembrance.

James’ death before the war’s end was very common among parents of those serving.  William Sugden Price Lewis passed away within two weeks of hearing of his adopted son Arthur’s fate.  After waiting for eight months for news of his missing son Joseph only to learn he was dead, William Sloan felt he could live no longer.  Grief and anxiety were often compounded by the often necessary dealings with the Defence Department.  I’ve read dozens of letters to Base Records from desperate parents and siblings.  You can sense the frustration and anguish of Isiah Cordner in his letters seeking information about his missing son Alan.  He wrote to the Defence Department, the Red Cross and sought out men from Alan’s battalion for help. It was 364 days after Alan’s death when Isiah finally had official confirmation.

The family of John Taylor killed on 29 July 1916 at Pozieres experienced similar pain.  John’s mother Eliza tried to get news of her son, writing letters to the Defence Department and asking relatives to write.  The reply came that he was killed on 28/29 July 1916 but no more details of his death or burial were available.  The first inquiry into John’s death was held on 22 June 1917 finding there was no trace of him.  Letters were still being sent from the family in 1919 requesting more information.  They just wanted to know where he was buried and maybe get a photo of his headstone something available to parents of sons who did get a formal burial.

It was Abraham Tredrea father of Francis Tredrea who summed up the feelings of all parents when he wrote a letter to the Collie fanciers of Victoria by way of the Leader newspaper’s “Kennel Notes” published in September 1917. Abraham had waited thirteen months for news of his missing son. “I received word on Friday last re my son, F. S. Tredrea, saying he was killed in action on the 19th of July, 1916. You will remember he was then reported missing. I miss him very much. He was a very smart boy in the fancy, both in dogs and poultry. He was known by the Collie fanciers of Melbourne, and I am sure his friends in the fancy will be sorry to read the sad news.” Those words…I miss him very much.

FRANCIS STANLEY TREDREA. Image courtesy of the Australian War Memorial https://mywdfamilies.files.wordpress.com/2015/04/tredrea.jpg

Like Francis, a number of the men were married with children. His wife Ada spent the thirteen months Francis was classed as missing, writing letters and advertising in newspapers for information about her husband.  When she finally received the official confirmation, she placed the following notice in The Argus,

“After months of hopeful waiting
The sad cable it came through
Saying he nobly did his duty
As only loyal Australians do”

Arthur Emmett had the largest family of all the married men. When he enlisted in July 1915, Arthur and his wife Evangeline had four children with twins born after Arthur’s enlistment. Arthur was killed on 26 July 1916 at Pozieres, France but was reported missing.  When Evangeline heard the news, she began a year of letter writing to the Red Cross asking for help in finding Arthur.  It was not until 4 August 1917 when Arthur’s death was officially confirmed. It was a double blow for the Emmett family with Arthur’s younger brother Alfred Emmett killed only weeks after they heard of Arthur’s fate.

With such a large number of men from the district overseas, there was always an opportunity to catch up with someone from Hamilton. The talk would invariably turn to news from home and the Hamilton Spectator sent by relatives was highly sought after.  Horace Westgarth (below) wrote home after the evacuation at Gallipoli, telling his mother, “…half of Hamilton seem to be with us now.”  By the time Horace left Egypt for France, just having transferred to the 58th Battalion, he had met up with fellow Hamiltonian Terence Finnegan. It was an unlikely friendship, which may not have come about if they were back in Hamilton.  Terence went to the Convent School and Horace went to the state school.  Terence worked as a tailor at J.Thomson & Co., while Horace was a carpenter.  But so far from home that didn’t matter and the common thread of being from Hamilton bound their friendship.  Terence and Horace were on rations fatigue around 9pm on 12 May 1917 as the second Battle of Bullecourt drew to an end. A shell killed Terence and Horace in an area known as Death Valley. They were buried where they fell and the two Hamilton men still lie there together today.

HORACE LEONARD WESTGARTH. Image courtesy of the Australian War Memorial https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C1298989

Claude Douglas and Albert Sheehan were both twenty and Arthur Lewis aged twenty-four when the trio from Hamilton found themselves together in D Company of 14th Battalion.  At Gallipoli, they shared a tent behind the frontline.  Thirteen men slept in the tent in the beginning, but by the start of August 1915, there were only three still occupying the tent, the three Hamiltonians.  Three weeks later the tent was empty.  Albert was missing after the attack on Hill 971 on 8 August, Arthur died of wounds on 13 August and finally on 21 August, Claude was killed.

Ken Toleman of Mortlake and Englishman Reg Briant, were “out of towners”, electricians with the Hamilton Electric Co. when they enlisted.  They left Australia together on 17 June 1915 with the 14th Battalion 6th Reinforcements.  Kenneth and Reg arrived at Gallipoli on 1 August 1915.  It was a bad time to get there with heavy fighting and great loss of life throughout the month.  The day of 22 August was a particularly dark day. The battalion took part in the attack on Hill 60 and Reg was killed. Ken went on to France and then Belgium and was an acting Captain when wounded near La Clytte on 13 October 1916.  He died soon after. Ken had never stopped thinking about Reg.

It was Ken and Reg’s friendship which brought about one of the more heart-warming moments I came across.  In July 1916, Ken was granted leave to England for eight days and took the opportunity to meet with Reg Briant’s sister Dorothy. He also accepted the invitation of Reg’s schoolmaster and paid a visit to the school at Lymington, Hampshire. He was taken on a tour and was the first Australian soldier the children had seen.  He was given three cheers in all the classrooms.  When he next wrote home he described it as a holiday he would never forget. Ken’s grandmother Sarah in Mortlake received a reassuring letter from Dorothy Briant who said Ken was “well and strong”.

That wasn’t the only school visit.  Walter Filmer of Byaduk and a teacher at the Hamilton State School for three years, visited the  Hamilton Academy in Hamilton, Scotland.  The Hamilton State School and the Academy had exchanged flags while Walter was at the state school.  He found the Hamilton State School flag proudly displayed at the Hamilton Academy.  The children were excited to meet a representative from the school on the other side of the world, and Walter passed on his regards from the committee, staff and pupils of Hamilton State School.

WALTER STEPHEN FILMER. Image courtesy of the Australian War Memorial https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C73149

The letters to loved ones have been a highlight.  Men and women wrote letters home and in turn, some parents passed the letters on to the local paper for publication.  How thankful I am to those parents who did so. The letters share news of friends or relatives also serving, they describe the conditions and the countryside and give something of the letter writer’s personality.  Some were written during a quiet moment in the trenches while others were written from hospital while reflecting on why they were there.

One of the more entertaining letter writers was plucky William Lovell.  His self-assurance belied his age of nineteen years but it was likely that self-assurance saw him become part of “Jacka’s Mob”, the famous 5th platoon of the 14th Battalion led by Albert Jacka VC.  William lost his life near the Hindenburg Line on the 11 April 1917 aged twenty.  His body still lies in the fields of northern France.

WILLIAM LESLIE LOVELL. Image courtesy of the Australian War Memorial https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/DA09468/

Frank Kendall wrote a long letter home to his father describing his time in London.  So long it was published in two parts in the newspaper.  Ivan Morieson, a son of a teacher wrote a lovely letter home to his mother describing his time in Egypt, “There is nothing I should like better than to travel over Egypt at my leisure. A man properly interested could spend a lifetime here, and if ever I get the chance I shall do my best to have a proper look at the place”.  Although he described himself as a man, he was just a boy.  Only eighteen at the time of his letter and twenty when he was shot through the heart while acting as company runner near Polygon Wood, Belgium.

IVAN FRANCIS MORIESON. Image courtesy of the Australian War Memorial https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C2073040

The nurses from Hamilton have also been part of my research. They were not immune to the horrors of the war working under horrendous conditions and broken bodies.  The mental images would haunt them.  At least two of the Hamilton nurses spent time under psychiatric care within ten years of the end of the war. 

I have posted three stories of the Hamilton nurses so far,  one of those the story of Hamilton born Edith Malcolm.  She nursed at Salonika, Greece where living conditions were poor, some even thought worse than France. There was very little fresh food and they lived off soldiers’ rations. For a boost of iron, a weekly ration of bully beef and biscuits was issued.  Winters were freezing and the summers were hot with malaria a constant risk. The nurses covered themselves from head to toe to protect themselves from mosquitos. Edith was diagnosed with anaemia in July 1918 and invalided home.

Once back on Australian soil, Edith (below far right) found her brother Norman had returned home in the months before and her sister Stella and younger brother Eric returned in the months following allowing the Malcolm siblings to come together for the first time in three years for this beautiful photo.

THE MALCOLM FAMILY. Image courtesy of the Australian War Memorial https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C390054

There have been many inspiring stories of bravery.  Several came from stretcher bearers who often found themselves in exposed positions as they removed the wounded from the battlefields.  They were often members of the battalion band like Arthur Underwood of Mill Road, Hamilton, a member of the 23rd Battalion band. He was awarded a Military Medal after his actions led to at least a dozen wounded men saved from No Man’s Land in broad daylight at Pozieres, France on 29 and 30 July 1916.

ARTHUR BELL PERCY UNDERWOOD. Image courtesy of the Australian War Memorial https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/DA10497/

Then there was Edwin Smith of 22nd Battalion, not afraid to volunteer for raiding parties.  On 29 June 1916, he volunteered for a raid which saw the man they called “Fatty” crawl on his stomach through No Man’s Land with around sixty other men, before they jumped in the German trenches, taking the enemy by surprise. He didn’t receive a medal for that occasion but was awarded a Military Medal for his service as one of the last remaining men on Gallipoli after the evacuation on the 20 December 1915.  The 22nd Battalion was positioned near Johnstone’s Jolly and as the battalion began its evacuation, Edwin and several other men kept up steady gunfire for over two hours so the enemy would believe everything was normal.

On the morning of 26 August 1916, as Edwin Smith passed through the village of Pozieres to relieve a crew on the front line, a shell hit his company. Edwin was killed instantly and buried where he fell. He was later exhumed and his body placed in the Pozieres British Cemetery.

EDWIN RICHARDSON SMITH. Image courtesy of the Australian War Memorial https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/DA08695/

Frank  Lodge (below)was one of the four enlisted sons of James Lodge. On 29 July 1916, the 2nd Pioneers were in Pozieres and had commenced working on a communications trench known as “Centre Way” running to Pozieres Wood.  Their work was not helped by the enemy as the Germans bombarded the area.  Overnight on 4 August, with their section almost complete, Frank stood in the open above the trench not only giving directions to his men but urging them on.  He was awarded a Military Medal. 

On 31 August 1918, near Peronne Frank went forward to assess sites for bridges to aid with the advance…

…he got over the main canal and examined an old German bridge which had been partially destroyed.  Finding a gap of about fourteen feet, he pushed a spar over the gap and attempted to cross but disturbed a German sentry on the opposite bank who opened fire, and ran toward the village.  As Lieutenant Lodge was fired at by machine guns. from the south side of Halle he returned.  The information gained by this reconnaissance was of great value.  That night he got material carried to the site and proceeded to reconstruct a demolished road bridge and remained in charge of the work until completion the next evening, although immediate vicinity was heavily shelled all day. Later he did further valuable reconnaissance work and rapid bridging (Australian War Memorial, Honours and Awards https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/R1622549/ )

His actions saw him awarded a Military Cross.  His brother Augustine Bernard Lodge was awarded a Distinguished Service Order for his actions at Pozieres in 1916.

“BROTHERS WIN MILITARY HONORS” The Herald (Melbourne, Vic. : 1861 – 1954) 11 November 1916: 6. Web. 19 Jun 2018.

Look out for Part 2 coming soon when I’ll share some of the stories of Hamilton’s WW1 which have had the greatest effect on me. 

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

Passing of the Pioneers

/ Merron Riddiford / Leave a comment

This edition of Passing of the Pioneers is a joint one with both July and August obituaries.  The pioneers include graziers, a butcher, a commercial traveller and a man with 104 descendants at the time of his death. They came from right across the Western District from Beeac to Carapook and places in between.  As usual, any underlined text is a link to a further information about a subject.

JULY

MANIFOLD, Peter – Died 31 July 1885 at Purrumbete.  Peter Manifold was born around 1817 in Cheshire, England.  With his parents and siblings, Peter travelled to Tasmania around 1831.  In 1836 Peter was around nineteen years old and he and his brother set off for Victoria. They settled at Batesford for a few years before deciding to look at the land further west in 1838  Peter and his brother John arrived at the Stony Rises and climbed Mount Porndon.  Below they saw expansive grass plains and Lake Purrumbete and they knew it was the place for them.

PURRUMBETE HOMESTEAD c1913. Image courtesy of the State Library of Victoria http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/75019

Peter was a member of the Hampden and Heytesbury Roads Board from 1859 and then the Hampden Shire Council.  From 1877 he a was a member of the cemetery trust.  He never married.  You can read a biography of the Manifold brothers on the link to the Australian Dictionary of Biography-http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/manifold-peter-2840

PATTERSON, George Robertson – Died 9 July 1912 at Casterton.  George Patterson was born in Glasgow in 1841.  He arrived in Victoria with his parents in 1850.  In 1858, he went to live at Warrock with his uncle George Robertson.

WARROCK HOMESTEAD c1900. Image courtesy of the Museums Victoria Collections https://collections.museumvictoria.com.au/items/769379

Around 1873, George purchased his own land, the property Capaul on the Glenelg River in the Dergholm district.  In 1876, he married Mary Grace Simson of neighbouring Roseneath and a son George was born in 1877 followed by Isobel in 1879, Charles in 1881, and Hugh in 1883. Sadly Mary died in 1885 at St Kilda leaving four children under ten.  In April 1890, George remarried to Ireland born Sara Guilbride in Christchurch, New Zealand. George managed Roseneath and took over much of the management of Warrock in his uncle’s last years. George inherited Warrock after his uncle’s death in 1890.  From 1882-1889, George was a Glenelg Shire councillor.  He also contributed financially to the Presbyterian church, the Casterton Hospital and the Casterton Pastoral & Agriculture Society.  Sara died in 1908 at Casterton and George died four years later leaving an estate of more than £92,000

PALMER, Thomas McLeod – Died 31 July 1915 at Elsternwick.  Thomas Palmer was born in London, England in 1831.  His father was an officer with the East India Company.  In 1838, Thomas with his parents and nine siblings left England for Tasmania. He was educated at Launceston Grammar School then worked in a merchant’s office.  In 1850 he left for the Californian diggings and returned to Australia in 1854 taking up Dederang station south of Albury.  Thomas arrived in the Western District in 1863 after purchasing Grassmere station.  He also purchased Tooram a dairy farm near Allansford.  In 1864, Thomas married Elizabeth Miller.

George’s innovative farming methods saw him put Tooram on the map for its dairy and cheesemaking. George also raised pigs at Tooram and produced bacon.  It was a large concern and required many workers and that was how George come to employ a large group of Afghan men in 1883.  An incident in March 1883 in which one of the Afghans was killed, saw Thomas in court facing manslaughter charges.  He was later acquitted.

Thomas’ wife Elizabeth died in 1888 at the age of forty-seven and poor health forced Thomas to retire around 1890 but he still kept an interest in the industry.  Thomas was also on the Warrnambool Shire Council.  At the time of his death, Thomas had one son and two daughters. 

Two interesting articles about Tooram are on the following links  http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article142438769  http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article142438520  You can also read Thomas’ biography at the Australian Dictionary of Biography on the link http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/palmer-thomas-mcleod-4360

HOPE, Ann – Died 20 July 1916 at Kirkstall.  Ann Hope was born around 1832 in Haddington, Scotland.  She married Barnabas Hamilton and they left for Portland aboard Othani arriving in 1854.  The couple settled at Kirkstall and remained there for the rest of their lives at their property Hopefield.  When they first arrived the land was bush and Ann remembered the “old hands” or former convicts from Tasmania employed in the district.  Barnabas died in 1907 and Ann in 1916.  She left three sons and two daughters and was buried at the Tower Hill Cemetery.

In 1937, a diary written by Barnabas Hamilton was found in a box belonging to his son.  It described his and Ann’s departure from Scotland and his first employment in Victoria.  It also included a description of Sing Sing Prison in New York, visited by Barnabas before he went to Australia.  You can see more about Barnabas’ diary on the link to the Camperdown Chronicle http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article28320120

CUMMING, Thomas Forest – Died 30 July 1918 at Toorak.

THOMAS CUMMING c1865. image courtesy of the State Library of Victoria http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/235425

Thomas Cumming was born in Melbourne at a property on the corner of Flinders and Elizabeth Streets on 26 September 1842.  He went to school at Robert Lawson’s Melbourne Academy which later became Scotch College.  His father John Cumming purchased Stony Point station on Mount Emu Creek near Darlington while his older brother John Jr purchased nearby Terrinallum in 1857. When Thomas finished school he went to work for John at Terrinallum learning about all things agricultural.  When John Cumming Sr. died, Thomas inherited Stony Point and began improving the merino stock introducing new bloodlines.

STONY POINT STATION WOOLSHED. Image courtesy of the J.T. Collins Collection, La Trobe Picture Collection, State Library of Victoria http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/217389

In 1865, Thomas married Selina Dowling and they went on to have five sons and three daughters.

SELINA CUMMING (nee DOWLING) Image courtesy of the State Library of Victoria http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/235438

In time Thomas also bought a sheep station on the Darling River in NSW.  In the 1870s Thomas purchased Hyde Park station near Cavendish with John Simson, father-in-law of George Patterson (see obituary above).   A leader in the breeding industry, he was the founder of the Australian Sheep Breeders Association in 1877.  He was a longtime secretary with the association and was still on the committee at the time of his death.

In 1881, Thomas sold Stony Point but retained his interest in Hyde Park.  It was also in 1881 Thomas became the member for Western Provence in the Legislative Council, retaining the seat until 1888.  He moved to Melbourne and ran a land valuation and stock agency business in Collins Street Melbourne.  From 1900, he was president of the Old Scotch Collegians and in 1904, President of the Royal Agriculture Society.  He also sat on the Closer Settlement board and Licence Reduction board.  You can read more about Thomas Cumming at the Australian Dictionary of Biography on the link http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/cumming-thomas-forrest-273

“DEATH OF MR. T. F. CUMMING.” The Australasian (Melbourne, Vic. : 1864 – 1946) 3 August 1918: 36. Web. 12 Aug 2018 <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article140209940&gt;.

AUGUST

BEVAN, Thomas – Died 23 August 1915 at Beeac.  Thomas Bevan was born around 1829 in Devonshire, England.  He married Elizabeth Eastlake and they left for Australia, arriving at Geelong around 1851. In 1863, Thomas and Elizabeth settled at Beeac. Thomas was a devout Methodist and was a local preacher for the church for fifty-one years.  He also conducted the Methodist church choir and was the Sunday School superintendent for fourteen years.  Thomas was also a member of the Rechabite Order, a Justice of the Peace for twenty years and trustee of the Beeac Cemetery at the time of his death.  Thomas survived his wife Elizabeth, who died in 1895, by twenty years. At the time of his death, Thomas had four sons, eight daughters, fifty-four grandchildren and thirty-eight great-grandchildren, a total of 104 descendants.

FRASER,  John Alexander – Died 9 August 1917 at Hamilton.  John Fraser was born in Inverness, Scotland around 1834 and arrived in Australia by 1877.  With his wife Mary Dugalda Mackiehan, John lived in Warrnambool and was employed by Messrs Patterson in the town.  He later obtained work with Rolfe & Co, wholesale merchants of Melbourne and his life as a commercial traveller began.  For thirty years, John travelled the roads of the wider Hamilton district as a representative of Rolfe & Co. His home during much of that time was in Hawthorn.  John was a member of the Commercial Travellers Association and gained the respect of all who did business with him.  He was described in his obituary as, “overflowing with Scottish sentiment and a fund of national anecdote, he was a most-interesting raconteur.”  On 9 August 1917, John still working at eighty-three, stopped by his room at the Argyle Arms Hotel in Gray Street, Hamilton before catching a train home.  He suddenly took ill at the hotel, collapsed and died.  He was buried at Hamilton (Old) Cemetery, leaving a widow and three sons.  On 13 November 1917, a memorial stone donated by fellow commercial travellers was unveiled at John’s grave.

SMITH, George – Died 16 August 1917 at Melbourne.  George Smith was born in the Chetwynd district west of Casterton in 1853. His father died when he was three and his mother remarried.  George became a butcher and operated a shop in Henty Street, Casterton (below).

GEORGE SMITH’S BUTCHER SHOP, HENTY STREET, CASTERTON. Image courtesy of the Museums Victoria Collections https://collections.museumvictoria.com.au/items/767590

He married Mary Gill in 1874.  In 1900, George sold his business and in time became the ranger and health inspector for the Glenelg Shire Council.  At the time of his death, George left his widow, Mary and nine children. One of George’s daughters Grace married Jonathan Diwell, my first cousin 3 x removed.

KELLY, James – Died August 1917 at Hamilton.  James Kelly was born in County Armagh, Ireland and married Rose Etta Jackson there.  James and Rose arrived at Portland in 1857 where they stayed for a short time before James decided to try his luck at the Bendigo diggings.  By 1860, the Kellys had settled at Hamilton.  James worked for the Hamilton Borough Council and was a member of the Ancient Order of Foresters.  When James died in 1917, he left his widow Rose, two sons and two daughters.  Rose died on 22 January 1918 and was buried with James at the Hamilton (Old) Cemetery.

MILBURN, William – Died 15 August 1918 at Casterton.  William Milburn was born in Durham, England around 1837.  He arrived in Victoria around the age of twenty-one and went to the Ballarat diggings.  While in Ballarat, he married Mary Coxon in 1863.  The following year William selected land near Carapook, north-east of Casterton.  When the Retreat estate on the Glenelg River was subdivided, William purchased a block and named it Olive Grove.  He lived there for twenty years before moving to Jackson Street, Casterton about 1917.  William was eighty-one at the time of his death and left his widow Mary, four sons and six daughters.  You can read more about William and Mary’s family on the link to Glenelg & Wannon Settlers & Settlement – www.swvic.org/carapook/names/milburn.htm

FREEMAN, Alice Maria – Died 28 August 1951 at Portland.  Alice Freeman was born in Mount Barker, South Australia in 1855.  She married Charles Langley in 1877 in the Mount Barker district.  They moved to the Murtoa district where other members of the Langley family were living.  In the 1890s, the Langleys moved to Halls Gap in the Grampians.  In 1898, Alice’s son Arthur wrote a letter to “Uncle Ben” of the Weekly Times, describing the family’s life in the Grampians.

“OUR LETTER BOX.” Weekly Times (Melbourne, Vic. : 1869 – 1954) 24 September 1898: 8. Web. 12 Aug 2018 <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article222632641&gt;.

Later Alice and Charles leased the Morningside Guest House in Halls Gap

morningside

“MORNINGSIDE”, HALLS GAP. Image courtesy of the State Library of Victoria. http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/59086

They then moved on to the Bellfield Guest House, also in Halls Gap.

“Advertising” The Age (Melbourne, Vic. : 1854 – 1954) 14 December 1907: 17. Web. 9 Aug 2018 <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article205002162

Bellfield

“BELLFIELD”, HALLS GAP. Image courtesy of Aussie~mobs, Flickr https://flic.kr/p/2iA5DzZ

The Langleys moved to South Portland around 1909 and Charles took up farming.  Alice attended St Stephen’s Church (below) and later in her life she became a life member of the St Stephen’s Ladies’ Guild.

ST STEPHEN’S CHURCH, PORTLAND

Alice was also a great worker for the war effort, knitting socks during the two world wars.  She lived to the great age of ninety-five and left two sons and two daughters.

Passing of the Pioneers

/ Merron Riddiford / Leave a comment

A further ten pioneers join the Pioneer Obituary Index this month.  They include a woman who was a pioneer in the transport industry from Cobden through to Port Campbell and a man who travelled the same routes carting goods.  There is also a Coleraine storekeeper, a Colac politician and a man still training racehorses into his eighties.  Remember to click on the underlined text to read further information on a subject.

ROBERTSON, William – Died 24 June 1892 at Colac.  William Robertson was the second son of William Robertson of Colac Estate. He was born in 1839 at Hobart and by 1842, the Robertsons arrived in Victoria.  William returned to Hobart for his high school education before studying law at Oxford University. In 1861, he was a member of the winning crew of the annual Oxford vs Cambridge boat race and throughout his life, kept the trophy from the event, a cut-down oar. William returned to Victoria in 1863, marrying Martha Mary Murphy. He worked as a barrister in Melbourne until 1871 when he was successful in winning the seat of Polworth and South Grenville which he held until the next election in 1873 when he didn’t seek reelection.  William’s father died the following year and Colac Estate was divided in four for each of William Robertson Sr’s sons.  William Jr became the owner of The Hill (below).

“THE GOVERNORS DRIVING TOUR.” The Australasian (Melbourne, Vic. : 1864 – 1946) 24 March 1894: 30. Web. 15 Jun 2017 <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article138115318&gt;.

William returned to politics in 1881, holding the seat of Polworth and South Grenville for the next five years, then in Victoria’s Legislative Council in the seat of South-West Province until 1888.   The Robertsons were known Australia wide as breeders of fine Shorthorn cattle and their stock sold for large sums.  Williams’ funeral on 28 June 1892  was one of the biggest seen in the district.  Various noted men from Colac attended as well as those from the world of politics.  Numerous wreaths were sent including one from the Governor. The Colac Brass Band led the cortege to the cemetery and shops closed.  Martha died at Armadale in 1909.

PART OF “THE HILL” HOMESTEAD, COLAC IN 1970. Image courtesy of the J.T. Collins Collection, La Trobe Picture Collection, State Library of Victoria. http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/216917

WIGGINS, Charles Augustus – Died 23 June 1901 at Hamilton.  Charles Wiggins was born in Tasmania in 1836 and arrived in Portland with his parents when a boy, attending school at Portland.  In his early twenties, Charles went to Hamilton to live with his brother James Wiggins. Charles was appointed the secretary of the Hamilton Common and was a sheriff’s officer and bailiff until 1883.  In the same year, he married Emma Lawn. Charles joined the Grange Lodge of Freemasons and was a member of the Australian Natives Association.  He was also secretary of the Hamilton Hospital and the Hamilton Pastoral & Agriculture Society.  Charles and Emma lived in Clarke Street, Hamilton and attended the Christ Church Cathedral (below). He was the secretary for the church for more than twenty years and a year before his death he was appointed churchwarden. 

168

CHRIST CHURCH, HAMILTON

Charles’ death came suddenly, and he was preparing to be the returning officer at the North Hamilton State School ballot box for the upcoming election on 25 June and had received all the relevant paperwork in preparation.

SMITH, Sidney – Died June 1916 at Warrnambool.  Sidney Smith was born in Cambridgeshire, England in 1848. Arriving in Victoria as a child, he attended Geelong Grammar School.  Sidney started his working life at fifteen at the offices of R.Busche, Solicitors of Timor Street, Warrnambool.  He then worked as an accountant for a mercantile and shipping firm at Port Fairy, Messrs Bateman & Co.  Later he went into partnership with Messrs Bateman with the firm becoming Bateman, Smith & Co.  Operations moved to Warrnambool and Sidney’s brother Spencer went into partnership with him.  They operated the company until 1898. Sidney then worked as an insurance agent until his retirement due to ill health.  Outside of business, Sidney was a vestryman at the Warrnambool Christ Church. (below)

CHRIST CHURCH WARRNAMBOOL c1907., Photographer Joseph Jordan. Image courtesy of the State Library of Victoria http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/54344

CLARKE, Edward Henry – Died 21 June 1918 at Digby.  Edward Clarke was born in Tipperary, Ireland in 1847 and arrived at Portland with his parents on the Helen to Portland in 1852.  The family first went to the Mount Gambier district before settling around Digby.  In 1873, Edward settled on his own property Lovely Banks at Digby.  Edward enjoyed football and cricket and was always a spectator at local games.  During the war, he donated to the various patriotic and relief appeals.  Edward’s wife Elizabeth Taylor died in 1909. Eight of Edward and Elizabeth’s ten children were still living at the time of Edward’s death. His youngest son John Clarke was serving overseas and returned to Australia in 1919.

LESSER, Louis – Died 19 June 1921 at Coleraine.  Louis Lesser was born around 1832 in Swarzędz, Poland, then under Prussian rule. When Louis Lesser arrived in Australia about the 1850s, his first job at Sandridge (Port Melbourne) moving sand from the nearby sand dunes.  He then went to the diggings at Bendigo and Pleasant Creek (Stawell).  Louis’ brother Abraham arrived in Australia and the two moved to Coleraine, opening a store in Whyte Street. The partnership in the store was mutually dissolved in May 1865 when Louis left for London and in 1867, Louis married his sister-in-law’s sister Londoner Evelyn May and they left for Australia.  They arrived in Melbourne and made their way to Coleraine to join Abraham and his wife Elizabeth, Evelyn’s sister.  The partnership in the Coleraine store appears to have resumed with Louis operating the store with other family members after Abraham’s death in 1886.

A.LESSER & CO, COLERAINE. Image courtesy of the Museums Victoria Collections https://collections.museumvictoria.com.au/items/769410

Louis was a member of the Coleraine Racing Club for sixty years, retiring in 1918 as an honourary life member.  Louis is pictured below, second from right, with fellow stewards of the racing club in 1914.

RACE MEETING AT COLERAINE (1914, May 23). Weekly Times (Melbourne, Vic. : 1869 – 1954), p. 30.   http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article121130046

He also served on the Wannon Shire Council and was a Justice of the Peace.  He was also a generous man, donating to many causes and was one of Hamilton Hospital’s leading donors.  In his will,  Louis’ requested a fund be established after his death called the “Louis Lesser Charity Endowment Fund” with an annual sum going to various organisations annually.

“Obituaries.” Observer (Adelaide, SA : 1905 – 1931) 9 July 1921: 34. Web. 28 Jun 2017 <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article165649115&gt;.

The Ballarat Synagogue was one of the recipients of the fund, receiving  £1000 pounds annually.  On 11 June 1922, a memorial was unveiled at the Ballarat Synagogue (below) by Louis’ nephew.

 

 

BALLARAT SYNAGOGUE. Image courtesy of the J.T. Collins collection, La Trobe Picture Collection, State Library of Victoria. http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/214178

Louis was buried at the Coleraine Cemetery.

GRAVE OF LOUIS LESSER, COLERAINE CEMETERY

HARVEY, Martin – Died June 1929 at Cudgee.  Martin Harvey was born at Penzance, Cornwall in 1836.  Around 1851, the Harvey family arrived at Geelong where Martin held his first jobs. Soon he was working a bullock team, taking food to outlying settlements, then returning to the Geelong port with a load of wool.  He spent time around the Minyip district moving from property to property working as a shearer.  He also took a bullock team on three trips from Ballarat to Dimboola.  He married Elizabeth Swan in 1867 and they spent time farming around Ballarat before moving to Cudgee near Warrnambool.  Martin finally settled down and lived there until his death at ninety-three. Martin and Elizabeth had seven sons and four daughters.

ROBERTSON, Marslie May – Died 15 June 1930 at Hamilton.  Marslie Robertson was born in Inverness-shire, Scotland in 1844 and was eight when she arrived in Melbourne with her parents. The Robertson family stayed in Melbourne only a few days before journeying to Portland, then on to Straun Station near Coleraine where May’s uncles had already settled.  In 1868, she married William Sudgen Price Lewis, the stepson of Richard Lewis, a former owner of Rifle Downs at Digby. William leased Hilgay near Coleraine until around 1871.  They then moved to Hamilton.  Marslie was an excellent horsewoman and showed horses including Gold Dust for Samuel Winter Cooke in September 1890 at the Hamilton Show in the Ladies’ Hack Class.

Marslie and William had eight children and some time after 1890, the Lewis’ took a young boy Arthur into their care, raising him as their son. They resided at Pine Lodge in Mill Road, Hamilton. In 1914, Arthur Lewis was one of the first Hamilton enlistments for WW1.  He died as a result of his wounds at sea on his way from Gallipoli to a hospital in Alexandria, Egypt on 13 August 1915. The shock of Arthur’s death was a great loss to William and he died In October 1915 at Hamilton.  Marslie was involved with the Hamilton Red Cross during the war and the Women’s Christian Temperance Union.  Each Sunday, she gave out flowers at the Hamilton Hospital.

COOKE, Eliza Jane – Died 29 June 1932 at Cobden.  Eliza Cooke arrived in Australia when she was eight and the family made their way to Ballarat. In 1866, she married Charles Morehouse They arrived in Cobden in 1880 and Charles died in 1881 aged forty.  A son was born in August of the same year.  Eliza ran a store in Cobden and from around 1882 was operating coach services departing from the store.  She pioneered coach services between Cobden, Princetown and Peterborough.

“Classified Advertising” Camperdown Chronicle (Vic. : 1877 – 1954) 20 August 1889: 1. Web. 29 Jun 2017 <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article22474287&gt;.

For forty-seven years, Eliza held the mail contract between Cobden and Camperdown. Eliza’s business grew and her sons eventually joined her.

“Advertising” Heytesbury Reformer and Cobden and Camperdown Advertiser (Vic. : 1914 – 1918) 26 February 1915: 3. Web. 29 Jun 2017 <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article152613189&gt;.

On 5 August 1931, Eliza celebrated her ninetieth birthday at her home Kooringa, Curdie Street Cobden.  At the time she was President of the Cobden Ladies’ Benevolent Society and still chairing meetings.

JEFFERS, Jonas – Died June 1933 at Cobden.  Jonas Jeffers was born at Connewarre around 1848.  Around the age of twelve, Jonas walked to Cobrico north-west of Cobden.  When he was older he bought land in the district and married Selina Westerland of Terang in 1869.  Jonas worked as a carter throughout the district, passing through the Heytesbury Forest when there was only the roughest of tracks.  He carted wool from Glenample near Princetown to Geelong and timber for the first bridge over the Sherbrooke River, east of Port Campbell.  He also carted wood for the first hotel in Cobden in the 1860s and items from the wreck of the Loch Ard to Colac in 1878.  At the time of Jonas’ death, Selina was still living along with ten of their children.

Jeffers

JONAS JEFFERS, LEFT, AT THE BACK TO COBDEN CELEBRATIONS IN LATE FEBRUARY 1933 JUST MONTHS BEFORE HIS DEATH. Happy Reunions at the back to Cobden Celebrations of Which back to School” and Sports Meetings Were Outstanding Features (1933, March 11). WeeklyTimes , p. 32 (FIRST EDITION). http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article223807373

HANLON, James – Died 26 June 1940 at Casterton.  James Hanlon was born in Dublin, Ireland around 1854 and his family set sail for Australia soon after his birth. He lived in various towns including Narrawong and Hamilton and operated a hotel at Heywood. By the time he was twenty-one, it was thought he must have held the record for the number of successful racehorses he owned or leased. James was always interested in horses and twice travelled to India with horses exported to that country.  The first horses he raced were Paddy the Larrikan and My Lord. In 1878, James married Morgey Gooding Smith and they had four sons and two daughters.

In 1931, at the age of seventy-seven, Jim walked eighteen miles between Casterton and Coleraine scaling hills like a “mountain goat”.  He was in training for a veteran race over a mile at Mount Gambier on September 1931 in which James ran third riding Dutch Dull, beaten by a rider sixteen years his junior.  His training feats made the Weekly Times on 3 June 1939. A race meeting about three years earlier was referred to.  The jockey didn’t arrive for the ride, so James, then around eighty-four, put on the silks and rode the horse himself.  In the year before his death, James prepared a horse called Furnival.

“CASTERTON VETERAN’S TRAINING TRIUMPH AT EIGHTY-FIVE” Weekly Times (Melbourne, Vic. : 1869 – 1954) 3 June 1939: 58 (FIRST EDITION). Web. 29 Jun 2017 <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article224436779&gt;.

Aside from racing, James was a Mason for over fifty years including past Master of the Portland Lodge No. 6. James’ obituary in the Naracoorte Herald of 2 July 1940,  named fifty horses he was connected with during his life.

 

Passing of the Pioneers

/ Merron Riddiford / Leave a comment

At the end of last month, the Western District Families Pioneer Obituary Index had 696 pioneers listed. With this post, the number passes 700.  My ggg grandmother is the first pioneer for January and becomes pioneer number 697.  Therefore, the 700th pioneer obituary belongs to Thomas Fitzgerald of Warrnambool and appropriately so.  Thomas was 111 when he died and some early 20th-century genealogical investigation confirmed his age.  To see the full list of 711 pioneer obituaries at Western District Families go the Pioneer Obituary Index.  Don’t forget any underlined words in this post and others at Western District Families are links leading you to further information about a subject.

Ellen BARRY – Died 24 January 1882 at Colac. Ellen Barry, born in Tipperary, Ireland around 1823 was my ggg grandmother and her obituary was not like the others here.  Rather it was a news article, published across Australia after the events of the night of 24 January 1882 at Colac.  You can read more about Ellen’s tragic life and death in an earlier post “A Tragic Night”with links to further stories about Ellen.

Patrick HYLAND – Died January 1884 at Tarrington.  Patrick Hyland was born in Ireland around 1823 and as a newlywed in 1841, arrived in Portland with his wife Elizabeth Darcy.  He got a job working for Arthur Pilleau at Hilgay near Coleraine and remained there around ten years before taking up a position as overseer of Edward Henty’s Muntham Station.   In between, Patrick had a short stint as publican of the Sandford Hotel, transferring his licence in 1859.

http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/217208

THE RED BRICK BARN AT MUNTHAM STATION WAS ALREADY STANDING WHEN PATRICK HYLAND ARRIVED THERE AROUND 1851. http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/217208

Footrot was rife through the Western District in those times and while at Muntham, Patrick introduced practices to eradicate it and with success.

hyland

“THE ARGYLE ROOMS.” Bell’s Life in Victoria and Sporting Chronicle (Melbourne, Vic. : 1857 – 1868) 16 May 1857: 3. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article201372934

Patrick later moved to Tarrington and continued working for the Hentys at Stephen Henty’s Tarrington Estate.

John ROBERTSON – Died 16 January 1905 at Strathkellar. John Robertson was born at Ballater, Aberdeen, Scotland around 1823.  He arrived in Victoria with his family in 1840 on the John Bull. John’s father John Robertson Sr. settled first in at Broken River but as the land wasn’t suitable, he went into partnership with William Skene and purchased the Mount Mitchell Station west of Melbourne.  He eventually purchased more property including at Victoria Valley Station.  John Robertson Jr. eventually inherited the Victoria Valley property and settled there. In 1855, John married Mary Jane Carter, the daughter of Charles Carter of Rosebrook near Wartook in the Grampians and they had two sons and five daughters.

In 1881, John purchased the large property Skene at Strathkellar from the estate pf William Skene, John’s brother-in-law.  John also bought Gazette at Penshurst and Moyne Falls near Macarthur.  Aside from accumulating property, John was a  keen follower of horse racing as an owner and breeder and a devotee of coursing.  John Robertson was buried at the Old Hamilton Cemetery after the funeral cortege travelled from Skene to the cemetery taking two hours to cover the trip of around eight miles.  A further obituary for John Robertson is available on the link – John Robertson obituary 

Thomas FITZGERALD – Died 26 January 1909 at Warrnambool.  Thomas Fitzgerald was one of those people who was better known posthumously.  In 1904,  Thomas was admitted to the Warrnambool Benevolent Asylum.  At the time, he gave his age as 106 and those in charge were curious, so much so they wrote to Ireland for verification.   They received word back and found  Thomas was on the level.  He was born in Kerry, Ireland on 11 January 1798.  Therefore at the time of his death, he had just turned 111 years old.

Thomas Fitzgerald apparently arrived in Victoria in 1855 aboard the Margaret Chisholm, already aged fifty-seven.  I found only one reference to a barque Margaret Chisholm,  when she arrived Port of Melbourne on 1 June 1857 all they way from Corner Inlet,  Gippsland!  Thomas may have remembered his birthday but details of his arrival seem sketchy.  When Thomas died, news of the old man went around the country.  The Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate published the following unflattering article with a dig at the Temperance movement.

"THAT WARRNAMBOOL CENTENARIAN." Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate (NSW : 1876 - 1954) 13 February 1909: .

“THAT WARRNAMBOOL CENTENARIAN.” Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate (NSW : 1876 – 1954) 13 February 1909: <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article138584038&gt;.

Henry Belfrage NIMMO – Died January 1915 at Camperdown.  Henry Nimmo was born in Falkirk, Scotland and arrived in the Western District around 1862.  Soon, he was participating in a sport he took up in Scotland, that of coursing and was a founding member of the Camperdown Coursing Club.  Laara Estate was a popular coursing venue and Henry was alway there with his often handy greyhounds.  In his later years, he took to spectating but as he grew older he found it difficult to spot the dogs.  On once occasion at Larra Estate, Henry commented to “Hotspur” the coursing correspondent for the Leader newspaper, “I cannot see the dogs, but mon, Hotspur, it’s a grand course.”

 

"PORT MORESBY." Leader (Melbourne, Vic. : 1862 - 1918) 30 June 1906: 36. .

“PORT MORESBY.” Leader (Melbourne, Vic. : 1862 – 1918) 30 June 1906: 36. <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article198364516&gt;.

George WARREN – Died 24 January 1915 at Stawell.  George Warren was born around 1860 at Bourne End, Hertfordshire, England and arrived in Australia around 1874. He went straight to Lexington Station near Moyston to work and join an uncle,  James Graham. In 1877, George married Anne Flower Bennett and they took up land in the district.  Upon the death of an uncle Robert Graham in 1908, George and Ann’s daughter inherited his Halls Gap property Myrtlebank, located where the manmade reservoir Lake Bellfield is today. Robert Graham was one of the first freehold owners in the Fyans Valley.  George and Ann moved there and built and ran the Myrtlebank Guest House 

http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/382906

MYTRLEBANK, HALLS GAP. Image courtesy of the State Library of Victoria http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/382906

George was Church of England and even when struck with ill-health would make the trip to Stawell on Sundays travelling over twenty miles on a rough road.

"DISTRICT NEWS." Stawell News and Pleasant Creek Chronicle (Vic. : 1914 - 1918) 28 January 1915: http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article129499589

“DISTRICT NEWS.” Stawell News and Pleasant Creek Chronicle (Vic. : 1914 – 1918) 28 January 1915: http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article129499589

Along with Ann, George left seven daughters and five sons at the time of his death. Two sons were serving overseas. Francis Edgar Warren was killed at Gallipoli six months after his father’s death on 17 June 1915. Leslie Parsons Warren later returned home. Ann continued running Myrtlebank after George’s death until her own death in 1935 at Hamilton.     

Bridget CAREY – Died January 1916 at Hamilton.  Bridget was born in Ireland around 1835 and arrived in Victoria with her husband Joseph Lanphier. Joseph got work as an overseer of Kanawalla Estate just north of Hamilton but on 18 October 1875 at the age of fifty, he was killed on the property after a fall from a horse. Bridget moved closer to town, residing at Stanview on the Cavendish Road near the Hamilton Racecourse. Around 1908 Bridget, described as a robust woman, tripped on the step while entering St Mary’s Catholic Church (below) in Hamilton and was never the same.

ST MARY'S CATHOLIC CHURCH, HAMILTON. Image courtesy of the State Library of Victoria. http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/63342

ST MARY’S CATHOLIC CHURCH, HAMILTON. Image courtesy of the State Library of Victoria. http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/63342

Although bedridden Bridget remained cheery to the end.  She left eight children at the time of her death.

James McNAUGHTON – Died 5 January 1917 at Ellerslie.  James was born at Perthshire, Scotland in 1832. During his twenties, James arrived in Portland with his family including his father James McNaughton Sr. and started work as a stonemason.  His occupation saw him work on some of Warrnambool and Portland’s main buildings and a number of homesteads. James married Mary Ann Osborne in 1860 and they moved to the Ellerslie district. Mary Ann died in 1915.  

Mary AHERN – Died 17 January 1917 at Hamilton. Mary Ahern was born in County Clare, Ireland in 1834 and arrived at Geelong on 6 June 1857 aboard the Black Eagle accompanied by her brother  Patrick in 1857. On arrival, they met their sister, Anne who had been in Victoria for four years. The Victorian Unassisted Passenger list has the following entry beside Patrick’s name. “Gone to visit sister at J.Gibson’s Fyans Street.”  Mary’s entry reveals she gained employment as a housemaid for three months for Mr Howe of Park Street, Kildare (Geelong West).  In 1859, Anne Ahern married Richard Elijah and they moved to Hamilton.  Mary stayed on in Geelong for a few years before moving to Ballarat where she remained until she bought a house in Clarendon Street Hamilton.  

Sampson SMITH – Died 26 January 1917 at Caramut. Sampson Smith arrived in Australia as a baby around 1852 when his parents landed at Warrnambool.  As a young man, he went to the Wimmera and ran his own farm at Dunmunkle.  In 1901, Sampson arrived in Caramut and took up the position of librarian at the Mechanics Institute.  He was also secretary of the institute and a secretary and trustee of the Caramut Cemetery.  He found time for a role as correspondent for the Caramut School committee and registrar of Birth, Deaths and Marriages in the town.  Sampson was a keen horticulturist and exhibited his flowers at local shows.  He left a widow and two daughters and six sons.  A further obituary was published in the Penshurst Free Press on the link  – Sampson Smith Obituary.

Margaret POWER – Died 5 January 1918 at Port Fairy. Margaret Power was born in Tipperary, Ireland around   During the 1850s, Margaret and her husband James Prior arrived in Melbourne aboard the Sarah Dixon.  They soon made their way to Port Fairy and settled and James worked as the curator of the Port Fairy Botanical Gardens.

176

PORT FAIRY BOTANICAL GARDENS

Margaret and James had two sons and three daughters and attended the Port Fairy Catholic Church.  James died in 1911 and Margaret went to live with her daughter in Sackville Street where she died in 1918.

Friedrich LINKE – Died 29 January 1918 at Lake Linlithgow.  Friedrich Linke was born in Magdeburg, Germany around 1837 and arrived in South Australia in the early 1850s. He gained employment in Adelaide, saving his money before travelling to Victoria and selecting land just west of Lake Linlithgow near Penshurst.  In 1865, Friedrich married Anna Harnath and they went on to have twelve children. Friedrich was buried at the Tabor Cemetery.

Euphemia Adamson WALKER  – Died 23 January 1937 at Hamilton. Euphemia Walker was born at Dixie Estate, Camperdown around 1856.  Her father was Duncan Walker. In 1881, Euphemia married John Smith, manager at The Sisters and later Mount Noorat for Niel Black.

"Family Notices" The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957) 4 May 1881: .

“Family Notices” The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 – 1957) 4 May 1881: <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article5988835&gt;.

In late 1885, John in partnership with Messrs Black Bros. sons of Niel Black purchased Grassdale Estate near Merino.

J.T. Collins Collection, La Trobe Picture Collection, State Library of Victoria. http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/215963

GRASSDALE ESTATE HOMESTEAD. Image courtesy of the J.T. Collins Collection, La Trobe Picture Collection, State Library of Victoria. http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/215963

Eventually, John became sole owner of the property and he and Euphemia went on to have three sons. During 1890, John was of ill health and spent three months recuperating in Camperdown, while Euphemia’s brother managed Grassdale.  In just a few years at Grassdale, Euphemia was receiving praise for her garden, a restoration of the garden of the former owner, John Coldham.

smith

"IN THE WANNON COUNTRY." The Australasian (Melbourne, Vic. : 1864 - 1946) 3 January 1891: .

“IN THE WANNON COUNTRY.” The Australasian (Melbourne, Vic. : 1864 – 1946) 3 January 1891: <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article140168027&gt;.

Euphemia was Presbyterian and taught Sunday School at Tahara. Meanwhile, John was a councillor with the Portland Shire. In November 1905, the 9000 acres of Grassdale Estate was subdivided into seventy-five lots and sold at auction.  John and Euphemia remained at Grassdale.  During February 1915, Euphemia and John’s son Eion Lindsay Smith sailed for Egypt with the 8th Light Horse Regiment. Eoin was killed at Gallipoli on 27 June 1915.  John Smith died at Grassdale in 1921 and Euphemia moved to Hamilton, residing at Coela in Gray Street and attended St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church.

Charles Arthur LEY – Died 17 January 1943 at Casterton.  Charles Ley was born in a shepherd’s hut on Dunrobin Station around 1860.  His education was limited to learning from his parents and a man known as Ben.  Charles first worked for Mr Target who founded the Casterton News, next for the proprietor of the Glenelg Inn at Casterton.  After a stint working with a butcher, delivering meat on horseback, Charles worked on the railway line between Henty and Sandford.  In 1885, he married Annie Cotter and he began work for James McPherson at Nangella.  From Nangella, Charles worked at Muntham, Wando Vale and Bella Vista until 1889. He then turned to share farming at Bella Vista and finally in 1912, Charles settled on an allotment from the subdivision of Dunrobin Station where he started life.  Charles was survived by three sons and two daughters.

Sarah Harriet Ann WARREN – Died 13 January 1950 at Cobden.  Sarah Cooke was born around 1877 at Elaine and in 1898 she married Jens Rasmussen at Ballarat. In 1907, they moved to Cobden and ran a boarding house in Curdie Street opposite the Cobden Catholic Church for twenty-five years. Sarah attended Cobden’s St Mary’s Church of England. During WW1, Jens enlisted at the age of forty-three and left for France in January 1916, serving with the 2nd Tunnelling Company before returning to Australia in 1918. Moving on from the boarding house, Jens and Sarah bought a farm at Jancourt East where they remained until a few years before Sarah’s death when they returned to Cobden in retirement.  On  25 December 1949, Sarah and Jens celebrated their Golden Wedding anniversary and within weeks, Sarah died aged seventy-three. She left four sons, one daughter and thirteen grandchildren.  Jens, around four years older than his late wife, remarried in 1952 but died around six weeks later during June 1952.

Passing of the Pioneers

/ Merron Riddiford / 1 Comment

There are fourteen new pioneers this month, including two old colonists Cecil Cooke and Jane Fountain.  There is Thomas Rutledge born in Port Fairy in 1846 and  a son of one of that town’s prominent early residents. Don’t forget if you see underlined text, you can click on it for further information about the subject.

Cecil Pybus COOKE – Died 30 September 1895 at Condah.  In 1836 when Major Thomas Mitchell returned to Sydney after his third expedition taking in Victoria’s Western District he described as Australia Felix, word spread far and wide.  In England, Cecil Pybus Cooke heard of the “good country” in the new-found part of the colony and set off to see for himself.  Cecil was a son of a Madras Civil Servant William Cooke and was born in India in 1813.

http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/334502

CECIL PYBUS COOKE c1870. PHOTOGRAPHERS: JOHNSTONE, O’SHANNESSY & CO. Image courtesy of the State Library of Victoria. http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/334502

Cecil sailed to Launceston and arrived  on 3 April 1839 along with two servants.

"Shipping Intelligence." The Hobart Town Courier (Tas. : 1827 - 1839) 5 April 1839: 2. Web. 13 Sep 2016 .

“Shipping Intelligence.” The Hobart Town Courier (Tas. : 1827 – 1839) 5 April 1839: 2. Web. 13 Sep 2016 <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article4159238&gt;.

During the voyage, Cecil met George Winter, on his way to join his brother Samuel Pratt Winter who had already made his way to the Western District.  Travelling with George was his sister Arbella who caught Cecil’s eye.  Just a month after they disembarked at Launceston, Cecil and Arbella were married at St John’s Church, Launceston.

"Family Notices" Launceston Advertiser (Tas. : 1829 - 1846) 23 May 1839: 2. Web. 13 Sep 2016 .

“Family Notices” Launceston Advertiser (Tas. : 1829 – 1846) 23 May 1839: 2. Web. 13 Sep 2016 <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article84751097&gt;.

Soon after, the newlyweds boarded a schooner for Victoria arriving at Portland Bay on 10 July 1839.  Cecil even travelled with his own accommodation, bringing a hut from England and he set it up in Portland. Soon after, he took up a run on the Smokey River, or Crawford River as it more commonly known.  In 1842, a daughter Emily was born and she died the following year. Cecil and Arabella went on to have five sons.  Cecil was finding pioneering life tough and things were not going to plan so he went further north to Harrow in 1845 and set up the Pine Hills Estate. More bad luck came when a fire went through the property in 1846.  By 1849, Cecil had sold Pine Hills to David Edgar.  He then bought Lake Condah Station.  In 1864, Cecil sold Lake Condah but the purchaser was unable to make the repayments so he retained it.

One of Cecil and Arbella’s sons Samuel Winter Cooke inherited Murndal, west of Hamilton from his uncle Samuel Pratt Winter in 1878. He employed his brother Cyril Trevor Cooke as manager from 1883. Samuel later became a Member of the Legislative Council for the Western Province. Cecil and Arbella spent a lot of time at Murndal. The photos below are a collection of photos of or relating to Cecil Cooke held by the State Library of Victoria with most taken at Murndal.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Cecil Cooke was a Justice of the Peace and held court at the Branxholme Magistrates Court.  He was Church of England and contributed to the building of St Thomas’ Anglican church at Condah. Arbella died on 1 May 1892 and Cecil had a church built at Spring Creek (below) near Condah in memory of his wife with the foundation stone laid on 24 March 1894.

http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/233693

ST. PHILLIPS CHURCH OF ENGLAND, SPRING CREEK 1983. Image courtesy of the J.T. Collins Collection, La Trobe Picture Collection, State Library of Victoria. http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/233693

Just two years after his wife, Cecil was buried at Murndal Private Cemetery with Arbella. On 13 March 1900, a memorial window was unveiled for Cecil Cooke at the Condah Church of England.

Jane FOUNTAIN: Died 10 September 1901 at Hamilton.  Jane Fountain was born in Cowick, Yorkshire, England on 5 December 1823.  When she was eighteen, Jane married James Blastock and soon after the newlyweds left England for Australia, arriving in Melbourne in July 1841.  In 1843, they travelled by bullock wagon via Hamilton to Heywood.  Jane and James remained there for a short time before returning to Hamilton, then known as the Grange and in 1844, they purchased the Grange Inn. The only other businesses then were a shoemaker and blacksmiths.  The photo below shows the Grange settlement when Blastocks ran the Grange Inn and shows land nearby owned by James Blastock.

097-2

EARLY MAP OF THE GRANGE (HAMILTON) FROM INTERPRETIVE BOARD AT HAMILTON WETLANDS

One of the guests at the Grange Inn during the Blastock’s time there was Charles Latrobe prior to his appointment as Lieutenant Governor.  They sold the Grange Inn and purchased the Mooralla Station, north of Hamilton with James’ brother-in-law Mr. Malcolm.  Leaving Mr. Malcolm to run Mooralla, Jane and James returned to England for a visit.  On their return, they sold Mooralla and built the Victoria Hotel in Gray Street, Hamilton.

"Advertising" Portland Guardian and Normanby General Advertiser (Vic. : 1842 - 1876) 17 September 1855: 4 (EVENING). Web. .

“Advertising” Portland Guardian and Normanby General Advertiser (Vic. : 1842 – 1876) 17 September 1855: 4 (EVENING). Web. <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article71572794&gt;.

1930 Museum Victoria Collections http://collections.museumvictoria.com.au/items/766568

VICTORIA HOTEL, GRAY STREET, HAMILTON 1930 Museum Victoria Collections http://collections.museumvictoria.com.au/items/766568

In 1857, James Blastock died aged forty-six and in 1859, Jane married James Wiggins.  They spent some time living in Geelong then returned to Hamilton and settled at Sandal on Digby Road overlooking the former site of the Grange Inn.  Jane was a member of the Wesleyan Church and was involved with the Sunday School.  She had an excellent memory of the early days of Hamilton and was often called on for her recollections.  In 1893, journalist The Vagabond called on Jane and she was able to show him the route Major Mitchell took when he crossed the Grange Burn in September 1836. On 24 August 1899, the Hamilton Spectator published an article “The Infancy of Hamilton” featuring Jane’s memories.  At the time of her death, Jane was Hamilton’s oldest resident.

George SMITH: Died 8 September 1916 at Byaduk. George Smith was born in Devonshire, England about 1843.  He arrived in Victoria in 1852 at Portland before moving on to Warrnambool. George moved north to Muddy Creek where he attended the local Primitive Methodist Church.  After a few years, he moved to Byaduk, working as a carrier.  George left a widow, five sons, and two daughters at the time of his death.

Hannah GREGORY: Died 9 September 1916 at Penshurst. Hannah Gregory was born at Preece, Shropshire, England around 1825 and arrived in Sydney around 1864.  Hannah then went to New Zealand where she met her husband James Chesswas and they returned to Australia, settling at Penshurst around 1873.  They lived in Bell Street and James worked as a tanner and currier.  James died in 1896 and Hannah continued on at Penshurst until her death at age ninety-one.

Hanorah RYAN:  Died 30 September 1917 at Kirkstall. Hanorah Ryan was born in Ireland around 1845 and arrived in Australia at the age of twenty, marrying William Pye in 1865.  The couple settled at Kirkstall and went on to have five sons and six daughters.  Hanorah was buried at Tower Hill Cemetery.

Elizabeth BYRNES:  Died 30 September 1917 at Terang.  Elizabeth Byrnes was born at Scarva, County Down, Ireland around 1835.  She married Thomas Kearns in Ireland and they arrived in 1856 aboard the Anna Maria with their two-year-old daughter to Port Fairy.  They settled at Woodford and had four sons and six more daughters.  Around 1911, Elizabeth moved to Terang to lived with her eldest daughter until her death.

Thomas Forster RUTLEDGE:  Died 6 September 1918 at Toorak.  Thomas Rutledge was born at Port Fairy in 1846, a son of well-known resident William Rutledge and Eliza Kirk.  His first home was most likely Emoh below, dating back to 1849 and sold by William Rutledge in 1863.

202

EMOH, COX STREET, PORT FAIRY

In 1876, Thomas married Edith Ritchie.  Eventually, Thomas and his brother took over their father’s Farnham run.  The 5000 acre property covered the area from the Merri River near Dennington Killarney, further west.  The two sons split it, with Thomas taking up Werronggurt and his brother the remaining Farnham run.  Thomas bred Lincoln sheep and was known as one of the best judges of Lincolns in the state. He also imported and bred Shorthorn cattle and imported many Clydesdale mares from Scotland.  A popular and charitable man, Thomas was one of the first directors of the Farnham butter factory and on the board of the Rosebrook butter factory. He also served on the Warrnambool Shire.

Thomas gradually sold off his holdings and he and Edith moved to Bell Park at Geelong. At one stage, Thomas and Edith spent time living in New Zealand then returned to Geelong. They eventually moved to Woodford in Toorak.  At the time of his death, Thomas left his widow Edith and five daughters and one son, Geoffrey, at the time a 2nd Lieutenant with the Australian Flying Corps.  Another son, Noel was killed at Ploegsteert, Belgium on 3 June 1917 while serving with the 3rd Division Artillery.

Marie GWYTHER:  Died 8 September 1919 at Hamilton.  Marie Gwyther was born in Pembroke, South Wales on 2 March 1824. She arrived in Melbourne around 1855 with her three brothers, George, William, and Henry. They stayed in Melbourne a week before moving on to Portland then arriving in Hamilton on 2 August 1855.  At the time, the rent on a hut was one pound and a bag of flour ten pounds.  Marie was a Presbyterian and attended the ceremony of the laying of the foundation stone by William Skene of Hamilton’s first Presbyterian church (below) on 21 October 1857.

http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/69513

HAMILTON’S FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH TO THE RIGHT WITH THE HAMILTON ANGLICAN CHRIST CHURCH ON THE LEFT. c1890. Image courtesy of the State Library of Victoria. http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/69513

During the 1870s, Marie spent time at Harrow working as a cook at the Hermitage Hotel.  Marie never married and was “loved by all with who she came in contact.” She lived in Goldsmith Street and as a keen gardener always had a lovely garden.

Isabella McDONALD:  Died September 1942 at Geelong. Isabella was born at Mortlake around 1864.  Her father Alexander is thought to have built Mack’s Hotel at Mortlake before purchasing the Camperdown Hotel. In 1888, Isabella married John Charles Haugh and they remained in Camperdown.  John worked as a baker and they had a family of six sons and two daughters.  John Haugh died only four months after Isabella on 19 January 1943.

John PITMAN:  Died 4 September 1943 at Portland. John Pitman was born at Macarthur around 1865.  While still a teenager, John took up land at Patyah north of Edenhope.  In 1897, he married Ellen Montgomery of Neuarapurr.  John was interested in athletics and in his early years was a boxer, athlete, cricketer.  In his later years, John took up bowls.  He retired to Portland in 1921.

Arthur PERRETT:  Died September 1948 at Colac.  Arthur Perrett was born in January 1884 at Camperdown and married Gertrude Swayn at the Pomberneit Presbyterian Church in 1911.  They settled at Derrinellum where Arthur ran a boarding house and grocery store.  They returned to Camperdown and Arthur worked for Kleine’s Bakery as a delivery driver. He then obtained work at the Werribee Research Farm before managing a branch of the farm at Boisdale in Gippsland.  Arthur and Gertrude returned to the Western District in 1921 when Arthur took up a dairy farm at Pirron Yallock, west of Colac. In 1929, Arthur bought a block in the Reads Estate at Dreeite further north.  At both Pirron Yallock and Dreeite, Arthur was on the local state school committee.

John TEHAN:  Died 10 September 1953 at Camperdown.  John Tehan was born at Heathcote in 1872 and arrived in the Western District as a young man and worked at Youngers at Warrnambool. He then worked for Morrisons General Store in Manifold Street Camperdown for sixteen years. In 1900, John married Jessie Peter.  They had two sons and two daughters. In 1907, John opened his own shop in Manifold street.  In 1913, he called for tenders to build a large new brick store on the site.  In 1934, John demolished the shops had four new shops built in their place.

"BUILDING ENTERPRISE" Camperdown Chronicle (Vic. : 1877 - 1954) 15 December 1934: 2. Web. .

“BUILDING ENTERPRISE” Camperdown Chronicle (Vic. : 1877 – 1954) 15 December 1934: 2. Web. <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article27397193&gt;.

Thomas Stewart LORD:  Died 12 September 1954 at Warrnambool.  Thomas Lord was born at Port Campbell around 1882 and was the first boy of European descent born there.  His parents William and Jessie Lord had settled there in 1876.  Thomas attended the Port Campbell State School but did spend two years at school in Bairnsdale in East Gippsland.  He returned to Port Campbell and worked in the local store from the age of fifteen. Thomas was the first secretary of the Port Campbell Football Club and a member of the school committee.  He was also a director of the Cobden and District Pioneer Butter Factory (below)

Museum Victoria Collections http://collections.museumvictoria.com.au/items/772409

COBDEN BUTTER FACTORY 1933. Museum Victoria Collections http://collections.museumvictoria.com.au/items/772409

Thomas’ funeral was one of the largest funerals seen in Port Campbell.

 

Not Just Hamilton’s Soldiers

/ 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/

‘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.

388

 

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

 

 

Passing of the Pioneers

/ Merron Riddiford / Leave a comment

It’s four years this month since Passing of the Pioneers began.  Starting out with the Portland Guardian, Horsham Times and the Camperdown Chronicle, the number of newspapers at Trove from which I can now draw obituaries has increased considerably.  This month, it is with great pleasure that I am able to post my first obituary from the newly digitised Hamilton Spectator (1870-1879).  It wasn’t a Hamilton person, rather Thomas Anderson of Portland, with his death reported on by the Spec correspondent.  It’s also the first Passing of the Pioneers with the blog’s new layout.

There are a further fifteen pioneer obituaries included in this post and once again, the stories that come with them are good reading.  The July pioneers have been added to the Western District Families Pioneer Obituary Index taking the total number to 566.

Thomas ANDERSON:  Died 12 July 1870 at Portland.  Thomas Anderson, born about 1805, was an early arrival in the colony with the Hamilton Spectator correspondent believing in 1870 he was the oldest colonist in Portland other than the Hentys.  Thomas was a publican and ran the Old Lamb Inn Collins Street Melbourne around 1840 to 1843 as reported in the Spectator of 13 July 1870. That is also recorded on the Port Phillip Pioneers website.  Once in Portland, Thomas was for a time the owner of the Union Inn in Julia Street.  He lived at Clinton Cottage in Portland.   The funeral procession was described by the Spectator correspondent on 16 July 1870, as “one of the largest…which has been witnessed in this district”.  Present were magistrates, bankers, the President of the local shire, the Mayor of the Borough of Portland and “…every class of the community, in carriages, on horseback and on foot, from every part of the district…”.

OLD LAMB INN c1858 by George McRae, Image courtesy of the State Library of Victoria. Image no. H36480 http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/274274

OLD LAMB INN c1858 by George McRae, Image courtesy of the State Library of Victoria. Image no. H36480 http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/274274

Jane LAMB:  Died 1 July 1890 at Heywood.   Jane Lamb’s obituary brings together three generations of pioneer obituaries for the Steven family, with Jane joining her daughter Johanna Steven and granddaughter Isabella Reid on the Western District Family Pioneer Obituary Index. I have found with this family they were often listed as both Steven and Stevens. In Jane’s obituary, it was Stevens, however, I do think it is Steven.  Jane married Robert Steven/s in Scotland and they travelled to Victoria with their family.  Robert ran a bakery and confectionary shop in Julia Street and later owned “Wee Station”, as it was known locally, a small property at South Portland.  Robert passed away seven years before Jane.

Robert DONELAN:  Died 25 July 1901 at Karabeal.  Robert Donelan was born in Galway, Ireland around 1833.  He arrived in Victoria to live with his uncle, Hamilton’s first Police Magistrate, Acheson Ffrench of Monivae Estate near Hamilton.  Robert’s obituary said his family appeared in Burke’s Landed Gentry of Ireland.  Indeed, they did, the 1912 edition, for example, sees the Donelan family of Killagh, Galway on page 196.  More information about Killagh with photos is on the following link – Killagh House.

Robert married Bridget Lalley in 1863 and around 1870 they started the Karabeal Inn on the Cavendish/Dunkeld Road.  The couple had ten children, however, not all survived. There is a sad reminder, a couple of kilometres south of Cavendish.  It is the site of the lone graves of two of Robert and Bridget’s children, Eliza and Viola, both dying at age one, Eliza in 1875 and Viola in 1886. A photo of the grave is on the Victorian Heritage Database website.  Robert also sat on the Shire of Dundas and at one stage put his name up for candidature in the Victorian Parliament but later withdrew it.

James SMITH: Died 5 July 1914 at Bringlebert South.  Born in Wiltshire, England around 1833,  James Smith arrived in Victoria aboard the Ugiauah and apparently was one of the last of the early Henty employees to pass.  James spent time at the diggings and then carrying goods along the Portland Road. Then he lived at Sandford before eventually settling at Apsley.  A further obituary is available on the link http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article129451701.  More about the Smith family is available on theGlenelg & Wannon Settlers & Settlement website 

William Grange HEAZLEWOOD:  Died 10 July 1914 at Portland.  William Heazlewood, it was said, was the first European child born at The Grange (Hamilton) at the time of his birth in 1844.  His father Robert Heazlewood had a blacksmith shop by the banks of the Grange Burn, that ran through the settlement of The Grange.  The map, below, from the interpretative sign at the site of The Grange in Digby Road Hamilton, shows the “Smithy” shop next to Blastock’s Grange Inn to the right.

097 (2)

MAP OF THE GRANGE. Interpretive board, Digby Road Hamilton.

 

099 (2)

After a few years, the Heazlewood family moved to Portland.  When old enough,  William began a printing apprenticeship with the Portland Guardian.  In 1864, he married Miss G.M.Richards who arrived in Portland ten years earlier aboard the Nestor. William was for a time the Portland pound keeper and was a member of the Sons of Temperance.  He purchased a property, Cherry Grove, in North Portland a planted a large orchard.  He remained on the property until around 1910.  William passed away after collapsing while walking along Henty Street, Portland.

Francis Thomas BEGLIN:  Died 11 July 1914 at Portland.  Frances Beglin died after collapsing while helping to unload the cargo from the SS Casino.   Born about 1849 in Portland, Francis was a cornet player with the Portland Band and was a member of the Portland Battery Garrison Artillery.

SS CASINO. Image Courtesy of the State Library of Victoria. Image no. H92.302/23 http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/195620

SS CASINO. Image Courtesy of the State Library of Victoria. Image no. H92.302/23 http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/195620

 

James William PASCOE: Died July 1917 at Terang.  James Pascoe was ninety-eight years and six months old when he passed away in 1917 and he did a lot during that time.  Born in Cornwall in 1819, he worked as a farm hand as a boy then in the Cornish mines.  Word of gold discoveries in Victoria reached Cornwall, and James and a group of other men travelled to the Victorian goldfields, landing at Geelong in 1852 and then travelling on to Castlemaine. James then went on to Ballarat and was there at the time of the Eureka uprising in 1854.

James discovered work as a carrier was more lucrative than looking for gold, and he starting carrying goods from Melbourne to the Bendigo goldfields.  He then settled at Creswick long enough to operate a store there, Pascoe and Thomas.  Next he returned home to Cornwall before going back to the Creswick district and operating a hotel and general store at Newlyn. Around 1887, James moved south to a bush block at Glenfyne, until the early 1890s when he moved to Terang for the last twenty-five years of his life.  That was the most settled period of his life.

James DOWNEY:  Died 13 July 1918 at Koroit. James Downey was born in Tipperary, Ireland around 1822 and arrived in Victoria in 1853.  He settled  in Koroit where he remained for the next sixty-five years.  During his life, James went from a farm labourer to a rich landowner, but he never forgot where he came from.  He enjoyed mixing with his employees and lending a hand when needed.  James married Margaret Moloney in 1864 and they had seven children.  James was a devout Catholic and was a charitable community member.

John FLETCHER:  Died 31 July 1918 at Branxholme.  John Fletcher was born around 1842 in Scotland and arrived in Portland as a child of eleven.  He married in 1867 and he and his wife had eleven children.  John worked as a station manager, managing well-known properties including Ardachy, Mundarra and Straun and was considered a fine judge of livestock and an expert on Merino sheep.

mundara

MUNDARRA WOOLSHED. Image courtesy of the J.T. Collins Collection, La Trobe Picture Collection, State Library of Victoria. Image no. H95.200/1079 http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/230709

William WILSON: Died July 1924 at Geelong.  William Wilson was born in Somersetshire in 1833.  He married in the early 1850s to Jane Clements and in 1855 they sailed to Australia arriving in Geelong.  The couple’s eldest three children were born in Geelong before the family moved to Ballarat hoping for some luck with gold prospecting.  A further eight children were born during their time in Ballarat.  By 1874, William had a selected land in the Heytesbury Forest at Scott’s Creek.  In the early 1880s, William moved into Camperdown, although he did keep his property at Scott’s Creek.  While in Camperdown, he ran a business in Manifold Street.  William was ninety-one at the time of his death.  Jane passed away around twenty-five years before him.

John CROMRIE:  Died 16 July 1927 at Warrnambool.  John Cromrie was born in Northern Ireland and first lived in Melbourne when he arrived in Victoria around 1860.  After about six years, he moved to Warrnambool and remained there sixty years until his death.  He first ran a saddlery business and then moved into coachbuilding.  He was in partnership with Mr A. Purcell and they operated from a large premises in Liebig Street.  John was also the oldest member of the St. John’s Presbyterian Church committee.  He was a widower of around forty years and had a family of five children still remaining at the time of his death.

WARRNAMBOOL PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH 1903. Photographer Joseph Jordan. Image Courtesy of the State Library of Victoria. Image no. H96.160/837 http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/53807

WARRNAMBOOL PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH 1903. Photographer Joseph Jordan. Image Courtesy of the State Library of Victoria. Image no. H96.160/837

Jane WILSON:  Died 15 July 1934 at Ascot Vale.  Jane Wilson was born in Ballarat in 1860 and was the daughter of William Wilson (above).  After her marriage, Jane lived in Terang for around forty years before moving to Melbourne about 1920.  In 1885, Jane married John George Boyes.  John died in 1902 and Jane raised their three children alone.

Matthew Charles RHOOK:  Died July 1936 at Hamilton.  Matthew Rhook was born at Narrawong in 1854.  His first job was for George Lamb, a Portland butcher and he then worked at various large properties around the Portland and Port Fairy district.  He also spent time gold prospecting in Northern Victoria.  Matthew married Elizabeth Jane Quick in 1878.  They eventually made their way to Hamilton, settling in Eversley Street.  At the time of WW1, two of Matthew and Elizabeth’s sons, Archie and Harry, enlisted.  Harry was killed overseas while Archie returned home.  A profile for Archie Rhook is available on the Hamilton’s WW1 pages.

Angus Stuart REID:  Died 22 July 1937 at Camperdown.  Angus Reid was the son of Stuart Reid and Jessie Craig and was born at Eddington in 1878.  He attended school at Geelong Grammar before working in the mercantile business in Melbourne.  He returned to Eddington to take up the running of the station

EDDINGTON HOMESTEAD, Image courtesy of the J.T. Collins Collection, La Trobe Picture Collection, State Library of Victoria. http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/216810

EDDINGTON HOMESTEAD, Image courtesy of the J.T. Collins Collection, La Trobe Picture Collection, State Library of Victoria. http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/216810

In 1916, Angus married Irene Thomson of Hawthorn.

Weekly Times (Vic. : 1914 - 1918) 8 Jul 1916: 10. .

Weekly Times (Vic. : 1914 – 1918) 8 Jul 1916: 10. <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-page13616253&gt;.

In 1918, Stuart Reid and in 1923, Angus’ mother Jessie died.  After the death of his mother, Angus bought out the beneficiaries of her estate, thus owning Eddington outright.  He sold the property in 1931.  Angus’ obituary has a lot of information about the lives of his parents.

Henry HAMMOND: Died 4 July 1941 at Cobden.  Henry Hammond was born in Dandenong around 1859 and during his life he travelled widely throughout Australia from Queensland to Western Australia.  However, in the early 1890s, Henry settled down at Cobden.  He carried timber using his bullock team for construction of the Cobden Pioneer Butter Factory.  He also did fencing for the Heytesbury Shire and ran a butcher shop.  Henry’s wife died around twelve years before him.

Fanny Lea PICKEN: Died 9 July 1941 at Camperdown. Fanny Picken was born in Geelong around 1856 and was the last remaining child of James Picken, a Camperdown legal practitioner.  Fanny never married and devoted much of her time to the St. Paul’s Church of England choir.  Fanny and her sister were members of the choir for many years.

ST. PAULS CHURCH OF ENGLAND, CAMPERDOWN. Image Courtesy of the J.T. Collins Collection, La Trobe Picture Collection, State Library of Victoria http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/216509

ST. PAULS CHURCH OF ENGLAND, CAMPERDOWN. Image Courtesy of the J.T. Collins Collection, La Trobe Picture Collection, State Library of Victoria http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/216509

Thomas WEBB: Died  19 July 1943 at Cobden.  Thomas Webb took his first steps while sailing with his parents from England to Australia.  He was born in Birmingham around 1869. Thomas was the local Cobden undertaker for forty-four years as well as blacksmith and wheelwright.  In addition to his role as secretary of the Cemetery for many years, he was also a Justice of the Peace and a past Master of the Cobden Freemason’s Lodge.  He also was a regular at the local football.  Thomas’ wife died only a month before him.  They had no children, although there was an adopted son who was missing in action while serving during WW2.

 

 

Passing of the Pioneers

/ Merron Riddiford / 8 Comments

Welcome to July 2013 Passing of the Pioneers, the second birthday of Western District Families monthly feature. Including this month’s obituaries, there are now 372 pioneer obituaries recorded here. You can view all of them on this link – Pioneer Obituaries – or search family names using the search box on the side bar.

I didn’t expect Passing of the Pioneers would continue this long.  In July 2011, I didn’t even think I would be blogging this long.  Also, I have had a few desperate moments when I thought I would run out of obituaries. I started using only the Portland Guardian and the Camperdown Chronicle  and then the Horsham Times, but thankfully papers like the Port Fairy Gazette (1914-1918) and the Ararat Advertiser (1914-1918) came online.  Now with the likes of the Hamilton Spectator(1914-1918) and the Coleraine Albion (1914-1918) coming online I’m reassured that Passing of the Pioneers should see at least a third birthday.

As it is birthday month it is only appropriate that one of the obituaries belongs to one of the great pioneering women of the Western District  who left a legacy that is still around today and has a link to Trove, a source I’m totally dependent on for the obituaries in Passing of the Pioneers.  .

Janet NICOL: Died July 1903 at Bridgewater. After reading two obituaries and an entry in the Portland Pioneer Women’s Book of Remembrance, I have concluded that Janet Nicol was an intelligent woman and one of the most significant pioneers to appear in two years of Passing of the Pioneers.

No title. (1936, May 5). Border Watch (Mount Gambier, SA : 1861 - 1954), p. 7. Retrieved July 29, 2013, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article77987617

No title. (1936, May 5). Border Watch (Mount Gambier, SA : 1861 – 1954), p. 7. Retrieved July 29, 2013, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article77987617

Janet Nicol was born in Lanarkshire, Scotland in 1822, the daughter of Professor Andrew Nicol a linguist, University lecturer, and head of a boys college. Janet, one of eight daughters, attended boarding school and like her father could speak several languages. In 1841, she married the Reverend Alexander Laurie, and shortly after they sailed to Port Phillip aboard the William Nicol, appropriately, arriving in February 1842. After a short time in Melbourne, they sailed for Portland Bay.

On arrival at Portland, Janet was carried ashore on a chair by the crew through the surf. It is unclear whether it was before or after her disembarkation, but on that same day, she gave birth to her first child,  Alexander. The Lauries couldn’t stay at any hotel when they first arrived because of quarantine restrictions and instead camped under a shelter near the flour mill. The draughts left Janet with a severe cold and a lifetime of deafness.

Alexander had been appointed minister for the Portland Bay Presbyterian ministry and went about setting up a church. He then took an interest in newspapers and became involved with the Portland Herald. After his death in 1854, Janet took over the running of the Herald. By that time, she had four children. Interestingly the first child, Alexander was not one of those children. I can find his birth record from 1842, but in 1854 Janet gave birth to another Alexander. Therefore I would assume the first Alexander passed away some time before 1854, however, I can’t find his death record. He may have been a victim of that cold introduction to the world.

That is the glossy story so far taken from the Pioneer Women’s book and the obituaries, however, I found another side of the story that I can support with articles found at Trove. The Pioneers of Port Phillip Inc website includes articles from the group’s newsletters.  One of those entitled “Portland – The truth, the whole truth and anything but the truth” submitted by Jan Hanslow reveals research by Ann Grant about stories passed down over the years and the facts behind them.  The Reverend Laurie and Janet are mentioned.

The first revelation is the cause of Janet’s deafness. It was not the cold draughts on the first night in Portland, rather a blow allegedly inflicted by Alexander for which Janet had him charged for assault, as recorded in Police records. This and various other incidents saw him removed from the church. A report of his falling out with the church appeared in the Geelong Advertiser of July 11, 1848. That is how he really came to be at the Portland Herald, not a voluntary swing from God to journalism.

THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN PORTLAND. (1850, April 16). Geelong Advertiser (Vic. : 1847 - 1851), p. 3 Edition: MORNING. Retrieved July 29, 2013, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article93135253

THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN PORTLAND. (1850, April 16). Geelong Advertiser (Vic. : 1847 – 1851), p. 3 Edition: MORNING. Retrieved July 29, 2013, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article93135253

The next revelation from Ann Grant was that Alexander got himself into trouble with the paper and Janet had to take over.  The following article supports that claim.

LOCAL. (1851, July 12). The Cornwall Chronicle (Launceston, Tas. : 1835 - 1880), p. 436. Retrieved July 29, 2013, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article65576481

LOCAL. (1851, July 12). The Cornwall Chronicle (Launceston, Tas. : 1835 – 1880), p. 436. Retrieved July 29, 2013, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article65576481

Alexander died in 1854 and after a short break, the Portland Herald resumed publication every Friday with a promise that the paper would be “renewed in strength and efficiency”.

Advertising. (1854, November 9). Portland Guardian and Normanby General Advertiser (Vic. : 1842 - 1876), p. 3 Edition: EVENING.. Retrieved July 29, 2013, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article71571179

Advertising. (1854, November 9). Portland Guardian and Normanby General Advertiser (Vic. : 1842 – 1876), p. 3 Edition: EVENING.. Retrieved July 29, 2013, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article71571179

ESCORT. (1854, December 1). Geelong Advertiser and Intelligencer (Vic. : 1851 - 1856), p. 4 Edition: DAILY. Retrieved July 29, 2013, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article91858365

ESCORT. (1854, December 1). Geelong Advertiser and Intelligencer (Vic. : 1851 – 1856), p. 4 Edition: DAILY. Retrieved July 29, 2013, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article91858365

Janet finished up the Portland Herald in 1860 and she and the children went to Mt, Gambier where she assisted two of her sons in setting up the Border Watch, a paper still published today. The first edition was published on April 26, 1861 and is online at Trove. The eldest son was only seventeen then, so Janet must have been the main force behind the paper’s establishment. The name was definitely her idea as there was a Border Watch newspaper on the border of Scotland and England. Given the close proximity of Mt Gambier to the South Australian/Victorian border, she thought the name appropriate.

(1861, April 26). Border Watch (Mount Gambier, SA : 1861 - 1954), p. 1. Retrieved July 28, 2013, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-page7596636

(1861, April 26). Border Watch (Mount Gambier, SA : 1861 – 1954), p. 1. Retrieved July 28, 2013, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-page7596636

Also in 1861, Janet married widower Joshua Black of Cork Hill, Bridgewater. Joshua was a father to seven children and Janet must have had a busy time running a paper in Mt. Gambier and the duties of matrimony at Bridgewater. Janet and Joshua had three children together, the first in 1862 when Janet was 40.  By 1865 there were fifteen children from the combined marriages, aged from twenty-two to newborn. One would hope by this time Janet was leaving the running of the newspapers to her sons.

Janet was buried in the North Portland Cemetery in the same grave as Alexander Laurie. The Portland Guardian of 29 July 1903 reported that “the funeral procession was one of the largest, if not the largest seen in Portland”.

The Glenelg Shire have completed a Heritage study of Cork Hill and there is a good history of the Black and Laurie families  http://www.glenelg.vic.gov.au/files/52757_CORK_HILL_HO184.pdf

The State Library of South Australia website includes a history of the Border Watch. http://www.samemory.sa.gov.au/site/page.cfm?c=2585

The entry for Janet in the “Book of Remembrance of the pioneer women of the Portland Bay district”  including a photograph is found here  http://www.slv.vic.gov.au/vicpamphlets/1/4/4/doc/vp1442-007-0000.shtml

Janet’s obituary from the Border Watch, 29 July 1903 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article77160512  and from the Portland Guardian http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/63998138

132 (2)

BRIDGEWATER BEACH

Henry DOWN:  Died 4 July 1914 at Port Fairy. Henry Down arrived in Victoria around 1856 aged twenty-one and his first employment was at Yambuk. He was then appointed manager of St Helen’s were he displayed successful farming practices. He purchased his own land at Codrington and continued his success. Henry married twice. His first wife, Susan Dawe was the mother of all of Henry’s six children. She passed away in 1893 and Henry married the widow of Mr William Cain. Henry returned twice to the north of England to visit his two brothers, both coal miners.

James FRY: Died 26 July 1914 at Broadwater. James Fry was born in Gloucestershire, England in 1830. He married Sarah Brown in 1853, in Gloucestershire. They left England in 1857 aboard Chance bound for Port Fairy. He set up a business as a plasterer in the town and was deeply involved in the Oddfellows and the Farmers Rest Lodge. He even built a lodge room at Broadwater for the Farmers Rest masons, at his own expense. James and Sarah had eleven children and Sarah predeceased James in 1907.

Silias SMITH: Died 5 July 1915 at Hamilton. Silias Smith was born in Somerset, England in 1824. He arrived in Hobart in 1855 and then in 1857, sailed for Portland, settling in the Narrawong area. Silias worked in the horticultural field and had great knowledge of both this and general agriculture. In later life, he lived with his married daughter in Heywood and later in Hamilton.

Bridget McCARTHY: Died 16 July 1916 at Crossley. Born in Ireland around 1835, Mrs Bridget O’Brien arrived in Victoria in the mid-1850s. Bridget and her husband Patrick O’Brien lived at Crossley for many years before leasing their land and moving to Port Fairy North. The O’Brien’s had four children but lost three of them at a young age. They had one son John survive them.

Francis McSORLEY: Died 16 July 1916 at Port Fairy. Francis McSorley was born in Ireland around 1826 and arrived in Victoria in the early 1860s aboard the Mindora, along with his wife and two sons. Francis was an expert on the Crimean War and the early history of Victoria. He worked on the railways for many years before retiring to Rosebrook.  He left six sons and one daughter. Another son Patrick, a jockey was killed in a race fall in Adelaide.

Thomas SHANLEY: Died 12 July 1917 at Killarney. Thomas Shanley took up residence at Killarney in 1856. He married Ellen Malone in the same year.  Thomas was the road overseer for the Belfast shire for twenty-two years.

John WILLIAMS: Died 26 July 1917 at Port Fairy. John Williams was born in Hobart in 1834 and arrived in Victoria as a fourteen-year-old in 1848. He worked on stations doing stock work and around the time of the discovery of gold, he was droving stock to Ballarat and Bendigo. He tried his luck while at each of these goldfields with no success and returned to station life and marriage in 1855. He later went to Port Fairy where he remained for forty-nine years. During that time he worked at Guinn’s Brewery and at the harbour. John and his wife raised thirteen children.

Kate St George McCANN: Died 27 July 1929 at Coleraine. Kate McCann was already well travelled by the time she reached Melbourne in 1866 aboard the Great Britain. She was born on a ship just offshore of San Fransisco in 1849.  Her birth certificate would have stated she was born in Stepney, London as all children born at sea under the British flag were allocated to the Parish of Stepney. Kate grew up playing on her mother’s ranch in the Rocky Mountains, California.  After her mother’s death, she travelled to England with her sister, living with her aunt, Emma Crouch in London. It was with Emma that Kate and her brother and sister sailed on the Great Britain.  They caught the steamer Edina to Portland.

In 1876, Kate married James Trangmar. They moved from Portland to Coleraine and ran a family store. The store was run by members of the Trangmar family until 1969. Kate and James had eight children, six surviving at the time of Kate’s death.

GRAVE OF KATE McCANN AT COLERAINE CEMETERY

Lottie McKEAND: Died 11 July 1942 at Casterton. Lottie was the daughter of Mr and Mrs Andrew McKeand of Penola and she was born there in 1875. She married James Carmichael of Argyle Station at Lake Mundi near Casterton and they moved to their own property Argyle after their marriage. James passed away and Lottie moved to Melbourne with her three sons to enable them to finish their education. She later married James Mitchell of Moredun Hills, Casterton, however, he predeceased her. Lottie was keen on dogs and horses and will still riding only a few years before her death. At the time of her passing, her three sons were serving with the A.I.F, with Thomas missing in Malaya.

Passing of the Pioneers

/ Merron Riddiford / Leave a comment

The Portland Guardian was mindful of the contribution made by the early pioneers toward developing the south-west.  They offered regular items titled “Passing of the Pioneers” or “Passing Pioneers” and often mentioned in obituaries that “…one by one are old pioneers are passing”.  As early as 1889, they were lamenting the loss of the links to the early settlers and suggesting that the efforts of those who passed be recognised.

The Portland Guardian,. (1889, January 16). Portland Guardian (Vic. : 1876-1953), p. 2 Edition: EVENING. Retrieved July 18, 2011, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article63591640

Established August 1842. The Portland Guardian,. (1899, July 7). Portland Guardian (Vic. : 1876-1953), p. 2 Edition: EVENING. Retrieved July 19, 2011, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article63676630 MLA citation

In 1921, the paper spoke of the many unwritten histories that had gone before, but now we can see the Portland Guardian lived up to its charter of 1889,  successfully recording the histories of many of the local pioneers.  By doing so, they are now helping us learn more about our families and gain a sense of life in the early days of the Western District.  Of course, The Guardian was not alone.  References to the “passing pioneers” are found in most of the papers on the Trove website.

Obituaries are a secondary source as the information comes from the knowledge of those still living and I have noticed errors in obituaries of my family.  But they can offer leads to records you may never have thought of such as Masonic lodge records and local council records. Whatever you do or don’t get out of an obituary, no-one can deny they are often a good read.

July was a month when many “Passing of the Pioneers” columns appeared.  Cold winters in the southwest saw many of the older residents “cross the Great Divide” as the Guardian would put it.

Some of the more notable passing pioneers in the month of July were:

James PARKER:  Died 6 July1889 at Heywood. James PARKER’S obituary is an interesting read.  Born in Tasmania around 1810, he came to the mainland as a whaler. In 1842, he married Margaret NOLAN at Portland. Later he had some luck at the Creswick goldfields only to have an encounter with bushranger Captain Moonlight.

William TULLOH: Died 19 July 1889 at Portland.  This is a lengthy obituary of a Portland resident of nearly fifty years, whose death saw half-closed shutters on homes around the town.  Born in Scotland in 1812, he left a wife, four sons, and a daughter at the time of his passing.  I have found a site with more detail of William and his wife Eliza Mary KEARTON.

James BARNETT: Died 18 July 1892 at Portland.  James was known as “Old Barney” around Portland and while the Portland Guardian credits him as a pioneer, they make a judgement in saying that he did not make the most of his opportunities as other early settlers had done.  He married in 1851 to Elizabeth AUSTIN. Five children were living at the time of James’ death.

Alexander THOMSON: Died July 1897 at Hamilton. Scottish born Alex THOMSON was prominent around the Hamilton area as a Shire of Dundas Councillor for twenty-one years.  At the time of his death, he was the owner of Pierrepoint Estate near Hamilton and was also an active member of the Pastoral and Agricultural society.

Thomas Webb SMITH:  Died 29 July 1914 at Branxholme.  Thomas served on the Borough of Portland council and was mayor from November 1871-November 1873.  He was also a member of the Goodfellows and Freemasons.

Annie Maria HENTY: Died 2 July 1921 at Hamilton.  Annie was from the most famous southwest pioneering family of them all, the Henty’s. The daughter of Stephen HENTY, Annie married Hamilton stock and station agent Robert STAPYLTON BREE in 1874.  The Bree name is preserved in Hamilton with a much-used road of the same name in the town.  Their home Bewsall (below) once stood near the end of Bree Road in North Boundry Road.

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

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

Stapylton-Bree (2)

Ann Eliza KEEPING: Died 9 July 1921 at Portland.  Annie Eliza KEEPING arrived in Australia aboard the Eliza and married John FINNIGAN in 1857.  She was eighty-two at the time of her death.

Joseph Bell PEARSON:  Died 7 July 1922 at Portland. Yet another interesting character.  According to his obituary, Joseph was born on the voyage from England to Tasmania.  His family moved to the Retreat Estate near Casterton in 1844.  He was a noted horseman, with several good racehorses which he would ride himself.  One of his jumps racing rivals was Adam Lindsay Gordon.

Joseph was buried at the Hamilton (Old) Cemetery with his wife Mary Abbott and mother-in-law Martha Holdish (below).

Abbott

Sarah MARSHALL:  Died 7 July 1923 at Gorae West. Sarah was the wife of the late Richard BEAUGHLEHOLE and she died at seventy-three. Richard selected land at Gorae West and transformed swampland into flourishing orchards.  Sarah and Richard had twelve children.

Mary Thurza HEDDITCH: Died 1 July 1930 at Drik Drik. Mary HEDDITCH was born in Portland in 1844 and moved with her family to Bridgewater in 1846.  Her elder brother drowned when she was a teenager leaving her to take on some of his duties.  As a result, she became an accomplished horsewoman, helping her father with the cattle.  She married James MALSEED and together they had seven children.

Phillipa JOHNS: July 1931 at Portland.  Phillipa JOHNS, the daughter of a doctor, was herself something of a substitute doctor for those living in the Willenbrina area, near Warracknabeal.  Later she and her husband William DELLAR moved to the Portland district.  They had nine children.