With All Their Worldly Possessions

Glendon O’Connor

A story connecting the Rees, Deslandes,

Jardine and Nelson families and their
emigration to Australia in the 1850s

“If your ancestors on average had four new generations of family

every century then over the last five centuries it took 1,048,576
individual people to create you.”
 With All Their Worldly Possessions

Second edition published in 2018

By Famocon Investments Pty Ltd
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First edition published in 2017
Copyright © Glendon O’Connor 2017 and 2018
The right of Glendon O’Connor to be identified as the moral rights holder of this work has been
asserted by him.
This work is copyright. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968
(Australia), no part may be reproduced, copied, scanned, stored in a retrieval system, recorded
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ISBN 978-1-548-37688-8
Printed and bound by CreateSpace

1
 Dedication
This story is dedicated to the memory of two Rees descendants, both from my branch
who encouraged me to write this story:

Joyce Adele O’Connor Shirley Linda Albert

(1924 – 2013) (1928 – 2016)

2
 With All Their Worldly Possessions

Contents
Preface .................................................................................................................................. 7
1 - London ............................................................................................................................. 9
An Unfortunate Event...................................................................................................... 9
On the Broadwall .......................................................................................................... 12
The London Victualler ................................................................................................... 15
The Mitre Tavern ........................................................................................................... 22
The Fate of the Orphans ................................................................................................ 28
William Rees and John Rees .......................................................................................... 28
George Rees ................................................................................................................... 32
2 - Emigration ..................................................................................................................... 36
Colonial Melbourne ....................................................................................................... 36
The French Connection ................................................................................................. 42
3 - A Digression with the Deslandes ..................................................................................... 53
John and Jane Deslandes (1) ......................................................................................... 53
John and Jane Deslandes (2) ......................................................................................... 57
Philip and Eliza Deslandes ............................................................................................ 63
Elizabeth Ann Deslandes ............................................................................................... 64
Melvina Deslandes ......................................................................................................... 65
Philip Deslandes ............................................................................................................ 66
Walter Deslandes ........................................................................................................... 67
Charles and Olivia Deslandes ........................................................................................ 68
Charles William Deslandes ............................................................................................. 69
Alfred Ernest Deslandes ................................................................................................. 72
George Deslandes .......................................................................................................... 73
4 - Following the Gold .......................................................................................................... 75
Mudgee ......................................................................................................................... 75
Devil’s Hole ................................................................................................................... 77
Lambing Flat ................................................................................................................. 84
Beechworth ................................................................................................................... 89
Respectability ................................................................................................................ 95
Changing Fortunes ...................................................................................................... 101
5 - Sydney ......................................................................................................................... 109
A City Miner ................................................................................................................ 109

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 Suburban Life ............................................................................................................. 114
6 - The Rees Children......................................................................................................... 117
Kezia Louisa Rees ........................................................................................................ 117
Louisa Elizabeth Rees .................................................................................................. 126
George Theodore John Rees ......................................................................................... 134
Hilda Janet Rees .......................................................................................................... 143
Elsie Adelaide Rees ...................................................................................................... 147
Eveline Alice Rees ........................................................................................................ 160
Norma Aubrey Rees ..................................................................................................... 165
Myra Linda Rees .......................................................................................................... 173
George Nelson Rees ..................................................................................................... 185
Malvina Olivia Rees ..................................................................................................... 194
Alice Victoria Josephine Rees ....................................................................................... 198
Charles Marriott Rees .................................................................................................. 210
Adelina Marion Rees .................................................................................................... 213
Norman Wesley Gosnell ............................................................................................... 214
Gladys Marion Gosnell ................................................................................................. 217
Doris Adeline Gosnell ................................................................................................... 217
Herbert Philip Ernest Rees ........................................................................................... 219
Ernest Phillip Rees....................................................................................................... 223
Ruby May Rees ............................................................................................................ 224
Robert William Meredith Rees ...................................................................................... 224
Nellie Hazel Rees and Noela Eunice Rees ...................................................................... 225
7 - The Jardine Connection ................................................................................................ 227
James and Ann Jardine ............................................................................................... 227
Janet Jardine .............................................................................................................. 231
Bulk Emigration .......................................................................................................... 232
Margaret Jardine ......................................................................................................... 234
Helen Jardine .............................................................................................................. 236
Ann Jardine ................................................................................................................ 239
James Hewitt Jardine .................................................................................................. 240
Jane Jardine ............................................................................................................... 241
John Alexander Logan ................................................................................................. 244
Ann Hewitt Logan ........................................................................................................ 246
Mary McNaught Logan ................................................................................................. 248
Other Logan Children .................................................................................................. 251
Thomas Jardine .......................................................................................................... 254
James Hewitt Jardine .................................................................................................. 256
Albert Joseph Jardine .................................................................................................. 259

4
 Thomas Folster Jardine ............................................................................................... 259
Hercules Edward Jardine ............................................................................................. 261
8 - The Nelson Connection ................................................................................................. 263
Thomas Nelson ............................................................................................................ 263
Life on the River .......................................................................................................... 267
Life on the Farm .......................................................................................................... 269
Ann Hewitt Nelson ....................................................................................................... 272
Agnes Nelson............................................................................................................... 277
Margaret Nelson .......................................................................................................... 280
Thomas Andvis Nelson Skulander ................................................................................ 285
Peter Nielsen Skulander ............................................................................................... 286
Jens Nielsen Skulander ............................................................................................... 287
Janet Jardine Nielsen Skulander.................................................................................. 289
Amy Nielsen Skulander ................................................................................................ 289
Alexander Nielsen Skulander ....................................................................................... 290
Bertha Nielsen Skulander ............................................................................................ 291
Ruby Nielsen Skulander ............................................................................................... 291
Norman Nielson Skulander .......................................................................................... 291
John Nelson ................................................................................................................ 293
Thomas William Nelson ................................................................................................ 295
Anne Murray Nelson .................................................................................................... 297
Islet Ruby Macleay Nelson ........................................................................................... 298
Madeline Elena Nelson ................................................................................................. 299
John Hewitt Nelson ...................................................................................................... 301
Thomas James Nelson ................................................................................................. 303
Thomas James Nelson ................................................................................................. 306
Lola Irene Nelson ......................................................................................................... 307
Doris Ida Nelson .......................................................................................................... 308
Arthur Claude Nelson .................................................................................................. 309
Nellie Clarice Nelson .................................................................................................... 309
Maud Edna Nelson ...................................................................................................... 311
Amy Jardine Nelson .................................................................................................... 313
Peter John Olsen ......................................................................................................... 315
Thomas James Olsen ................................................................................................... 316
William Andres Olsen................................................................................................... 317
David Olsen ................................................................................................................. 319
Ethel Ann Olsen .......................................................................................................... 320
Amy Nelson Olsen ........................................................................................................ 320
Janet Jardine Olsen ..................................................................................................... 327

5
William Hewitt Nelson ................................................................................................. 329
Janet Irene Nelson ....................................................................................................... 335
James Oswald Nelson .................................................................................................. 336
Cecil Manning Nelson .................................................................................................. 336
Alma Doris Nelson ....................................................................................................... 338
Mary Nelson ................................................................................................................ 339
Alexander Nelson ........................................................................................................ 342
Elizabeth Smith Nelson ............................................................................................... 348
James Jardine Nelson ................................................................................................. 350
Leonard James Nelson ................................................................................................. 361
Thelma Eileen Nelson .................................................................................................. 362
Emily Muriel Nelson ..................................................................................................... 368
Thomas Keith Nelson ................................................................................................... 373
Alma Janet Nelson ....................................................................................................... 375
Alice Nelson ................................................................................................................ 378

6
 Preface

This story starts with the life of George Rees, who knew what it was like to grow up as an orphan
in London in the time of Charles Dickens. He barely survived childhood in one of the poorer
areas of the city. He became a publican and innkeeper like his father and he found his way to
Australia around the time of the first great gold rush in 1851.
In Melbourne he met and married Kezia Deslandes, an immigrant from the Channel Islands who,
with a small group of her closest family, joined the exodus of islanders escaping a dire economic
future. Together, George and Kezia founded a family that flourished in this distant outpost of
the British Empire.
George’s family name of Rees is predominantly of Welsh origin and most people of that name
have lived in or come from Glamorganshire in the very south of Wales. The name has had many
spelling variations over time including Reece, Reese, Rhys and Rice (standardised spelling was
not a normal part of literacy until more modern times). The name is connected with ancient
Celtic royalty. The last ruler of the independent Kingdom of Wales went by the name of Rhys ap
Tewdwr (later known as Tudor) who was killed long ago, in fact in 1093, by land coveting
Normans.
Kezia Deslandes was born on the island of Jersey, the largest of the Channel Islands in the
English Channel off the coast of France. She was most likely descended from land coveting
Normans. Her family name of Deslandes means of the moors. It was a name well known in
France, particularly in Normandy where they have quite a lot of moors. Coincidently, there have
been families of Deslandes living in Glamorganshire in Wales. The name is pronounced in French
as Daylonduh and in English as Delond or Delongey.
After George and Kezia, the story follows the lives of the next few generations and then takes a
look at some of the other immigrant families who became connected to George or his children
through marriage, particularly through my branch of the Rees family.
In this story, I have mostly referred to the old units of measurement and currency but I have
mostly used kilometres (km) instead of miles to describe most distances. Pre-decimal currency
mostly comprised pounds, shillings and pence (pennies). Examples of currency symbols and
conversions to help more decimal minded readers are: £1/12/4, also expressed as £1.12s.4d
(one pound, 12 shillings and four pence) converts to $AUS3.23, 46/8 (forty six shillings and eight
pence) converts to $4.67 and 5/- (five shillings) converts to 50 cents. If you think any of this is
difficult, imagine having to do live additions and conversions in the shop and then check the
change when the new Australian currency came in on St Valentine’s Day in 1966.

You may have noted that copyright has been claimed on this work but in fact I am happy for any
part of the work to be copied or used for any lawful purpose, with appropriate accreditation.
Ownership of images is more of a problem. As the internet has now become the world’s major
source for information in the public domain it seems inconsistent to me for many people to place
information on the internet and then try to regulate the use of their information under the
inconsistent copyright laws of hundreds of different countries. This is a non-profit work (at least
for me) and is solely intended to assist others in identifying and connecting their related family
histories. Most images are mine or have been supplied to me with permission to use in this
story. I have used other images from the internet that can be readily downloaded and I have
accredited their parentage when it is known for certain.

I am particularly grateful for the research done by my mother’s cousin, Nadene Goodwin. Nadene
was the first in my branch of the Rees family to publicly record the relevant family trees and to
delve deeply into the history of that family. She kept a keen eye on the many drafts of this story

7
as they evolved. Nadene provided the photos for her branch of the family and some of the others.
My mother’s brothers, Bruce and Ray Hely, spent many of their later years collecting information
on members of the Rees family. Their research and occasional writings on my branch have been
invaluable to this story. I also thank Megan Fox and her grandmother, Marion Smith (nee Ball,
who is a granddaughter of Kezia Louisa Rees) for access to their photo collection of the Rees,
Frost and related families. Also much thanks to Nev Higgins (a grandson of James Jardine
Nelson) for his generous contributions with information, stories and photos relating to the Rees,
Jardine and Nelson families. Nev has long been recording details of those families. Others, such
as Jan Koperberg (a great granddaughter of Margaret Nelson), Robert Rees and Gina Wright
(grandchildren of George TJ Rees) and Elaine Combe of Monifieth in Scotland gave me extra bits
of information and assistance along the way.

There are challenges to writing a story on family history. First, there are many relatives out
there, some who are close and some who are distant (or even unheard of), who may have
information that confirms, adds to or contradicts what I have written. I welcome receiving their
input on the chance I make a revised edition. Second, this story is taken from confirmed sources,
unconfirmed (but promising) sources, family anecdotes and, at the far end, family legends.
Sources have been noted whenever they have been confirmed. Other sources may be noted to
acknowledge prior work by others (thus avoiding claims of plagiarism). Once a source is
identified, I tend not to tediously restate that source when used for later information. Thirdly, I
have always enjoyed reading about history, so I have injected some historical background to give
the story more perspective. There is a risk that by adding too much extraneous material as well
as having readers trawl through hundreds of footnotes, those readers might lose the thread of
the family narrative along the way.
When reading the story it is also easy to get lost with all of the names of family members,
particularly when different generations have the same name or when Christian names are
interchangeable between family branches. To help you with this problem, I have added tables of
family members at appropriate places in the story.
Finally, a story such as this can be very boring if it dwells on far flung family trees and a
seemingly unending supply of births, deaths and marriages. So to entice you to read past this
point I decided to start this story with a dramatic flourish before gradually settling into a more
regular pattern of births, deaths and marriages.

Rees family crest

8
 1 - London

An Unfortunate Event
It first lurked in the shadows of the older, run down parts of London as the Georgian era was
nearing its end in the late 1820s. It moved only occasionally but with stealthy patience until,
when the time was just right, it struck an unsuspecting populace, precipitating a level of havoc,
unrest and rioting on a scale not seen since the days of the Black Death in the 1660s. It was
cholera.1
The origins of this hideousness have been traced back to the Ganges River in India thousands of
years before. It crept into Europe when trade opened up with the Far East. It was brought to
London possibly by soldiers returning from duty in India or by traders returning from less
attractive (and less hygienic) parts of Europe. It found a home in the open drains and sewers
inadequately servicing the humble, impoverished and overcrowded residential areas. It then
made its way to the Thames River where it flourished in the tidal mud flats along the southern
bank.
Clusters of it broke free in the turbulent tides and were caught up in the water that was pumped
from the putrid river to the large holding tanks that stored the neighbourhood drinking water.
The people who drank the contaminated water had no
idea what they were drinking and it made them very sick.
The disease spread quickly and it caused many people to
die without anyone in authority having the least idea of
how the outbreak had occurred. The first London
Cholera Epidemic lasted from 1827 until 1835, with a
peak in 1832.
Although the medical profession could readily identify
cholera from the symptoms of the victim (mostly severe
diarrhoea, sunken eyes and vomiting), they were clueless
as to it being caused by a bacteria, instead claiming that
its source was to be found in a variety of offensive odours
that victims had inhaled. A person could wake in the
morning with the first signs of the disease and be dead
before tea. Small children dehydrated faster and were
often the first to go. Many years later it was commented
that people with Type O blood seemed to be more
susceptible to cholera, completely ignoring the fact that
Type O was the most common blood type.

London Cholera Caricature Victims were assailed with many weird and fanciful
medical and folk remedies, some harmless, some not, but
all completely useless. Doctors had little idea that the severe diarrhoea led to sudden and
massive dehydration which was usually the cause of death. The elusive but unreliable treatment
was to drink as much fluid (preferably boiled or bottled, like beer) as could be managed.

1 Wikipedia – Cholera (Mar 2015)

9
It is hard to imagine that as the cholera epidemic spread across the United Kingdom, large groups
of people became convinced that it had been deliberately spread by doctors.2 The trial of Burke
and Hare in 1828 for harvesting corpses for medical dissection (otherwise known as “body
snatching”) had destroyed much of the faith that working class people had in the medical
profession. When body snatching tools were found at a newly constructed cholera burial ground,
it was assumed that doctors had found an alternative dissection source by poisoning the drinking
water. Riots broke out in England and Scotland resulting in many doctors refusing to treat
cholera victims for fear of reprisal.
Various religious zealots proclaimed that
cholera was the wrath of God for the sins
of the Nation and called for days of prayer,
fasting and public humiliation to placate
the vengeful divinity.
On the other hand, the inhabitants of
Lambeth in south London were exhorted to
ignore the false reports that cholera had
reached London. It was said to be a simple
plot by half-starved doctors, apothecaries’
clerks and those in charge of parish funds
to frighten the nation into a lavish
expenditure.
By the time the disease had mostly run its
Burke and Hare course, in the winter of 1832, cholera had
claimed 52,000 lives in the United
Kingdom with 7,000 just in London during 1831. Two of the casualties in London in July 1832
were William Rees and his wife Susannah who lived at Broadwall in the Parish of Christchurch.
Their children, who lived with them and were much more likely to be victims of the disease,
managed to survive (to the relief of their descendants now reading this story).
The disease would return with a vengeance in later decades until the bacteria was finally
identified and drastic measures taken to improve the quality of drinking water and sanitation.
In his book “Cholera and its cures: a historical sketch” published in 1850, John Stevenson
Bushnan said:

“In the parish of Christchurch, and the neighbourhood of Broadwall, where

there were open sewers, and at Brunswick place, the Cholera, in 1832, was
unusually severe; in one row of houses, within two yards of one of the sewers,
in houses which were very miserable as regards size, ventilation, and means
of cleanliness, the mortality was excessive — as many as five died in one
house, and that place still remained, in 1847, without amendment.

Hence it was clearly proved, that when certain atmospheric conditions prevail,
and typhus arises, it is always found to be very malignant in these districts,
and the result extremely fatal. The people living in this district are described
to be sickly and miserable, the children poor and dwindling. The great defect
of the district is described to have been, very obviously, the state of the sewers
and the house drains.”

2 Cholera Humbug - Fortean Times Magazine Article 5032

10
 London in about 1700 showing the spread of buildings (maroon colour) – the
fields south of the river were steadily taken over by basic urban development

Bushnan mentions Broadwall, which was actually a street with much significance to this story.
Broadwall was the western boundary of what would become the Borough of Southwark. The
borough was located on the southern side of the Thames between Blackfriars Bridge and Tower
Bridge. In 1832, the western part of Southwark bordering Lambeth was supplied by the Lambeth
Water Works “with worse water than any other part of London” and the mortality rate there from
cholera, 891 people, was much higher than anywhere else. 3
Broadwall had at least nine deaths alone from the disease during July 1832. As there were
13,705 people living in the parish at the time, you would have to say that those dying in
Broadwall in July 1832 from cholera were not blessed with good luck.

Tidal flats close to the river end of Broadwall

3 On the Mode of Communication of Cholera – John Snow MD, 1855

11
 On the Broadwall
The Broad Wall (as it was known in earlier times) was an embankment that followed the eastern
edge of the Lambeth Marsh, a large area of pasture and field that was prone to flooding by the
Thames River. The original embankment was built by the Romans to help protect their crops
and animals from the floodwaters.
When the Romans first arrived at this location, the Thames River was defined by much higher
banks on the northern side. On the southern side, however, the river meandered through a mass
of swamps dotted with islands both large and small. The largest was the gravel island that would
become the bulk of Southwark. The Romans first occupied and settled on the higher land on
the north side of the river (roughly between St Pauls Cathedral and Aldgate) but the earliest
Roman road to the new settlement was built across the Southwark island and some of the other
larger gravel islands to the south.4 Southwark was at the end of all of the roads from the Channel
ports and from Kent and Surrey and became a city in its own right. The name Southwark came
from South Work because of the major
defences built on the south side of the
London Bridge.
Centuries later, the invading Normans
arrived in London. The old Roman built
London Bridge was left intact but the
Normans sacked and burnt Southwark to
the ground. However, the area’s progress
could not be stopped and rebuilding was
soon under way. The rebuilt Southwark
was spared from the Great Fire of London
in 1666 but any complacency or sense of
victory was misplaced as the area largely
burnt down in another fire ten years later.
The rebuilt inns and taverns of Southwark
became the haunts of some of England’s
most famous writers, including Chaucer,
Shakespeare and Pepys. A young Charles
Dickens lived in Lant Street, Southwark
after his father was imprisoned for debt in
the Marshalsea Prison in 1824.
Dickens’ affinity with the poor and
destitute of Southwark formed the basis
for most of his literary works. The northern end of the Broad Wall in 1808 -
The Broad Wall not only acted as a barrier looking south from the river
to floods from the marsh. It also became
used as an elevated road providing another direct access to the Thames.
After other embankments were built along the southern shore of the river, the Lambeth Marsh
gradually became better protected from the incursion of floodwaters and seasonal high tides.
The marsh was gradually drained and converted into more productive fields. 5

4Wikipedia – Lambeth Marsh (Mar 2015)

5Lambeth: Introduction and the transpontine theatres in Old and New London: Volume 6 – Edward
Walford 1878

12
 The Broad Wall in c 1770 – it is the road on the western
boundary of Christ Church Parish

By 1700, the Broad Wall ran in a northerly direction from the Lambeth Road to the river. Houses
and businesses were first built on the road at the river end but buildings gradually extended
south.
New straighter roads were formed nearby along the boundaries of existing fields, such as Hatfield
Road, presumably named in honour of Mr Hat.
The Broad Wall was only a short distance from the Christ Church, from which the parish was
given its name. The first church on the site was built of timber and stone in 1671 but it soon
fell into disrepair due to the surrounding wet and swampy land. The Broad Wall may have
stopped surface water coming in from the Lambeth Marsh but there was still an abundance of
ground water rising up that made the church foundations rather fluid. The slow descent of the
church into the ground was made more conspicuous, however, by the many burials that took
place within the Church Yard. Within 20 years the yard was half way up the church windows.
A new church was built in 1741 which lasted until World War II when it was destroyed during
the London Blitz in 1941. It was rebuilt in 1958.

13
The parish of Christchurch had earlier been part of an old manor known as the Paris Garden,
named after the Norman descendant with the generic name of Robert of Paris who leased the
land from a monastery.6 Paris Garden is mentioned in a work by Shakespeare as a very
disreputable place. In Shakespeare’s day, bear baiting and bull baiting were frequent events in
the area. Dogs were used as the bait – large and savage dogs such as mastiffs. Bets were made
on either the dog or the bear. Today, there is a street called Paris Garden, between the old
Hatfield Road and Christ Church.
William and Susannah Rees lived at the southern end of the Broadwall (away from the river) until
they were taken away by the sweep of cholera. It is now time to look back at their story in more
detail.

The Thames in flood at Lambeth

6 A Topographical History of Surrey Volume V - Edward Brayley 1850

14
 The London Victualler
William Rees was born about 1772, according to the parish Burial Register that recorded his age
as being 60 at the time of his death.7 At this stage I do not know with any certainty where he
was born or who his parents were. There are many records of birth in and around 1772 for
people named William Rees, mainly in Wales but also scattered around London and other parts
of England. Rees was not an uncommon surname and a lot of Rees were called William.
What I do know is that by 1818 a victualler named William Rees ran a tavern called the Harp
(sometimes called the Welsh Harp) at 14 Little Russell Street in the Westminster district of
Holborn (intriguingly pronounced Hoburn) in the parish of St Martin in the Fields.8 The address
today is in the Bloomsbury area, a short walk south of the British Museum. William may well
have visited the British Museum as it was first opened to the public in 1759. A victualler
(pronounced vittiller) was a publican who was also licensed to sell food or other provisions. The
English were fond of drinking alcoholic beverages and this can be seen with so many
establishments variously called inns, taverns, grogshops, alehouses, beerhalls, bars, public
houses, taprooms, hostelries, gin palaces and, of course, hotels.

The Harp shown as P.H. (Public House) in Little Russell Street

The Harp was located within an area dominated by the theatres of Drury Lane to the south. By
William’s time the area had become one of the poorest slums in London and well known for
prostitution and gin palaces. The Harp was later described as “the rendezvous of strolling players,
mountebanks, conjurors, etc.”9 The tavern was a popular drinking and meeting place for actors
and musicians, particularly for those looking for work. In a book written by William Clarke in
1827 he commented that actors congregated at the Harp “… to discuss their past deeds and

7 Parish Register of Deaths for Southwark Christ Church County Surrey, 1832 - No 1916
8 Westminster Poll Books 1818 and 1819 - Middlesex
9 The Royal Rake: And The Adventures of Alfred Chesterton - William Leman Rede 1842

15
future hopes over porter or gin, according to their funds … a draft of porter or a go of gin will often
make them merry in the midst of misery.”10 He further added:

“The guests are, for the most part, we believe, country comedians; the Harp
is accounted the head-quarters of the regiment; and here engagements with
provincial and strolling managers are obtained. Stage-struck young fellows
also make it ‘a house of call’ and many mad pranks are played with them on
their first appearances. Mock managers are introduced, and the would-be
tragedian tempted to exhibit specimens of his abilities, for the amusement of
the waggish hoaxers.

The society of actors is much sought after, and many, who have no chance
from their station in life of consorting with the higher order, take pleasure in
passing their time among those of their own level in appearance, who are to
be found at the Harp.”

Inside the Harp, the public space was divided into various drinking wards, each defined by the
type and price of drink that a person could afford at the time. One of the wards, theatrically
named the Suicide Ward, was reserved for charity cases with no funds.
In June 1821 a William Rees was acquitted of a charge of larceny brought in the criminal court
at Clerkenwell, a neighbouring area of Holborn. 11 This may have been the same William Rees
because a false charge of larceny was an occupational
hazard for publicans (and victuallers) owing to a clientele
often overcome by inebriation who would have no idea of
what had happened to their missing money or personal
items.
On 29 August 1827 when William was 55 he married
Susannah Clarke at St George the Martyr Church in
Southwark.12 The ceremony was performed by the 26 year
old Reverend Edward Pett Hannam. The official witnesses
were Joseph and Jannet Morgan (with that spelling of
Jannet) who performed their witnessing after the happy
couple had shown a fair degree of literacy by inking their
own signatures.
St George the Martyr Church had origins going back to
the 1100s. It was on the route of those travelling from
London to Europe. The church was used by English kings St George the Martyr Church
for a final blessing before heading over to France for the
next season of ravaging and pillaging. The church was next door to the Marshalsea Debtors
Prison which was made famous by Charles Dickens in his book Little Dorritt and where the
subject of the book was both baptised and later married.
The Morgans who witnessed the marriage were either great friends of William and Susannah or
they had some family connection. They would have much interaction with the Rees family over
the following years. Joseph and Scottish born Jannet (whose maiden name was Morrison) had
themselves only married a few months earlier on 26 April 1827 at St George Church, Hanover
Square in Mayfair. William and Susannah were the official witnesses to their marriage

10 Every Night Book: Or, Life After Dark – William Clarke 1828
11 Home Office Criminal Registers HO 26 - Piece 27 Page 148
12 St George the Martyr Parish Marriage Register 1827 - Page 255 No 764

16
(Susannah having prematurely assumed the married surname of Rees).13 The celebrant was the
Reverend Evan Nepean whose father was a noted colonial
administrator whose name is well commemorated in
various landmarks in Australia, such as the Nepean River
in Sydney. The actor Hugh Grant is a Nepean descendant.
Many famous people have been married at St George
Church including Theodore Roosevelt, the future
President of the United States.
This was not William Rees’ first marriage. He was
described on the register of his marriage to Susannah as
a widower. A record of his previous union has not as yet
been isolated from the possible offerings. The best of the
offerings, however, is the marriage of a William Rees to
Jane Dennis, also at St George Church, Hanover Square, Charles Dickens
on 14 December 1818 by the Reverend John Tillotson. 14
They had a daughter who they named Jane after her mother. The child was baptised at the
church on 11 September 1820. It is likely that mother and daughter were the 33 year old Jane
Rees and the baby Jane Rees who were both buried on 22 January 1821 in the Parish of St
George, Hanover Square at a cemetery on Bayswater Road opposite Hyde Park (today located
uner a housing development off Albion Mews). The cemetery was also the final resting place of
the author Laurence Sterne. It is unlikely William and Jane had other children.
Susannah had also been married before. She was described on the register as a widow. She
was born Susannah Marriott about 1787. On 16 August 1808 when she was 21 she married
John Clarke (but under the name of Susan Marriott) at the same St George the Martyr Church
where she would later marry William Rees.15 The official witnesses to her first marriage were
William and Mary Marriott, who may have been Susannah’s parents or siblings. John and
Susannah Clarke had at least one child, a boy who they named William, who was born on 15
May 1808 (which, if you are aware of prevailing social stigmas, you will have noticed was four
months before his parents married).
The baby was baptised a year later on 14 May 1809 at St Sepulchre Church which was located
at Snow Hill near Holborn and just across the road from the Old Bailey criminal courts and
Newgate gaol. It was not uncommon for
babies to be baptised on or near their first
birthday.16 The register records the father
as John Clarke and the mother simply as
“Harriott”, which is likely a transcription
mistake for Marriott.
St Sepulchre Church was badly damaged
by the Great Fire of London in 1666. It was
soon restored by Christopher Wren and
was in excellent condition at the time of the
baby’s baptism. The church was the
resting place of Captain John Smith who
was once in charge of the colony in Virginia
and who was reputedly saved from
Looking down Snow Hill towards the spires of execution by the Indian princess
St Sepulchre

13 St George Hanover Square Parish Marriage Register 1827 – Page 14 No 316

14 St George Hanover Square Parish Marriage Register 1818 – Page 227 No 678
15 St George the Martyr Parish Marriage Register 1808 – Page 104 No 256
16 Ancestry.com - England, Select Births and Christenings, 1538-1975 – 14 May 1809

17
Pocahontas. The church was also mentioned in the song Oranges and Lemons as “the bells of
old Bailey.”
John and Susannah may have had another child, a daughter Ann, who was baptised on 26
March 1815 at St Bartholomew Church in Bethnal Green. This was an area in the Tower Hamlets
near Tower Bridge, one of the poorest areas of London.
John Clarke, who was also a victualler, died in 1821 when Susannah was 34. There are plenty
of death records for men named John Clarke who
died in London in 1821 but there is insufficient
information to identify Susannah’s husband with
particular certainty.
As William and John were both victuallers in the
Holborn area, at least for a time, they may well
have known each other. Victuallers were usually
members of a society that had a guild like status.
The society held regular meetings and members
contributed to a fund that helped members and
their families in times of insolvency or tragedy.
As William and Susannah both lost their spouses
in the same year, it may be that 50 year old
William took pity on the now displaced and likely
destitute Susannah and took her in. Having experienced deep loss, neither were in a hurry to
marry.
In fact, the first two of their three sons were born before William and Susannah decided to tie
the knot. Their first son, William Morgan Rees, was baptised by the Reverend Thomas Hamilton
on 22 May 1822 at the same St Sepulchre Church where baby William Clarke had been baptised
14 years earlier.17 The Baptism Register records that William Rees was a victualler living at 14
Smithfield Street, which was only a short walk from the church and opposite the Smithfield meat
and poultry market that had already been operating on that
site for over 600 years. I can imagine William running a tavern
full of meat workers finishing their daily shifts and serving
meals of steaming cuts of meat and gravy along with meat pies.
But the competition would have been fierce as there was never
a shortage of such establishments. Few working families had
cooking facilities in their lodgings.
The baby’s second name of Morgan was probably named after
the Morgans who would eventually witness the marriage of
William and Susannah.
The family’s stay at Smithfield did not last for long. When their
second son, George Rees (the principal subject of this story),
was born on 16 May 1824, William was recorded as living at
Fenchurch, further down the river towards the Tower of
London.18 Baby George had to wait until 12 December that
year before he was baptised. The ceremony was performed by
the Reverend James Whiffen, the curate of St Katherine
Coleman Church in Fenchurch. William was recorded on the
register as being a victualler in Fenchurch, but without saying
St Katharine of
where in Fenchurch.
Alexandria

17 St Sepulchre Parish Baptism Register 1822 - Page 182 No 1452

18 St Katharine (as it was spelt) Coleman Parish Baptism Register 1824 - Page 28 No 218

18
The church had been named after Katherine of Alexandria in Egypt. She was not only a martyr
for her faith but also a known devout virgin, making her a shoe-in for sainthood. The church
had been on its site since at least 1346 and narrowly escaped the Great Fire of London in 1666.
Even at the time of George’s baptism the church was a rather drab and plain building. It
surprised no-one when the venerable but completely dilapidated structure was finally
demolished in 1926.19 The old church yard is now a park off Church Row (the grave contents
having been inhumed elsewhere).
On 23 September 1823 the Mayor of London, William Heygate, ordered that William Rees be
admitted into the Freedom of the City as part of the Company of Innholders. 20 The order was
signed by London’s Town Clerk, Henry Woodthorpe. William had made application for the order
earlier in the year by way of Redemption (ie by payment of a fee). The application was approved
on 18 March 1823 but William had to wait until
September when he could afford the fee of 46/8.
All victuallers were expected to be Freemen of the
City and pay the relevant fees, or face prosecution
but prosecutions were rare so that might explain
why William took so long to obtain his Order.
Victuallers also had to obtain references from good
people and receive the sacrament in church before
taking up their position. Freemen were allowed to
vote in elections, avoid the payment of tolls and
not be subjected to the attention of Press Gangs
(being forcibly taken into Royal Navy service). The
mayor resigned only a few days after William’s
Order was signed but I doubt the events were
connected.
At the time of the Order, William Rees was in fact
the licensee of the George public house at 86
Fenchurch Street in the area known as Aldgate
and this was probably where the family lived when
baby George was born the year before. 21
Freeman of the City Order for William
Rees Records of a public house on the site of the George
have been found dating back to the 1100s. At one
time it was known as Mountjoys Inn. The land was bought by William of Wykeham in the 1300s
22

who, for a time, was the Lord High Chancellor of England. A tenant of Mountjoys Inn, a doctor
named Roderigo Lopez, was executed after being convicted of plotting to poison Queen Elizabeth
I in 1595. The section of Fenchurch Street that included the inn was spared from the Great Fire
of London in 1666 with the result that the inn and other nearby medieval buildings were still
standing well into the 1700s. Mountjoys Inn was not habitable by 1732 and it is likely that the
site was rebuilt in the later 1700s. The new premises were named the George not long after.
King George I had been given the throne after the death of Queen Anne in 1714. There were
Georges on the throne for the rest of the century and the name George became very popular for
inns, streets and baby boys.
The buildings on the site of the George were rebuilt in 1900 and a new George public house
emerged.23 These buildings were in turn demolished in 1980 and a new apartment block was
erected in 1982. The development incorporated a new public house called The Pumphouse. In

19 Wikipedia – St Katherine Coleman (Mar 2015)

20 Ancestry.com – Freedom of the City of London William Rees 1823
21 Ancestry.com – Freedom of the City of London George Rees 1848
22 82/86 Fenchurch Street – The Story of a Gift - Richard Saunders 1983
23 Corporation of London Record Office COL/SVD/PL/02/0289

19
turn these buildings were demolished in 2013 to be replaced by modern office buildings of up to
15 levels, designed by the high end architect, Sir Norman Foster. As the site of the George was
within the boundary walls of the original Roman settlement of Londinium, an archaeological
excavation was carried out on the site after the 1980 demolition. The dig revealed the remains of
a series of early Roman timber buildings from between AD44 and AD200. 24
Shortly after the baptism of George Rees in December 1824, the family made the fateful move to
Southwark. William became the licensed victualler at the Mitre Tavern at No 90 the Broadwall.
The Mitre, as it was known, was built around the mid-1700s during a flourish of development
along the southern end of the Broadwall and in surrounding streets. The houses and tenements
in Broadwall were mostly occupied by tradesmen and the very poor and those who held the leases
would then sublet one or more times. A single room might be occupied by more than one family.
Linen printers and labourers were perhaps the most common inhabitants of Broadwall in the
mid-1700s.
Europe was caught in a Mini Ice Age from about 1350 to 1850 (following a 300 year warming
period) and the winters in London were often so cold that much of the upper tidal part of the
Thames would completely freeze over. This was mostly caused by the old London Bridge which
acted as a partial barrier slowing the flow of water. Frost Fairs were held on the frozen river and
on one occasion in 1814, an elephant was walked across the river just downstream of the
Broadwall to show the strength of the ice.25 William and his family would have seen the river
freeze over in 1830.26 The old London Bridge was demolished in 1831 ending any chance of
further Frost Fairs on the river.
These were hard times to live in.
From the mid-1700s London
experienced a massive population
increase that could not be financially
supported, particularly with housing.
The wars against Napoleon finished
in 1815 and London became full of
maimed, wounded and sick survivors
who had fought on land and sea.
Joining them were the farmhands,
weavers and other agricultural and
manufacturing workers made
redundant as the later named
Industrial Revolution gained
momentum in the towns and
countryside. The common factor was Thames River Frost Fair
that they were all crushingly,
grindingly and hopelessly poor and lived by whatever means they could find. Slum like lodging
houses and workhouses sprang up over London and the worst parishes were declared to be poor
areas to help provide a low level of assistance to those most in need.
There was large unrest across the country over the eligibility to vote in elections and the abuses
by those who controlled voting. Many of the abuses were removed in 1832 on the passing of the
famous Reform Act.
The cost of bread, the staple food of the poor, had become prohibitively expensive due to the Corn
Laws which protected the ever increasing price of local grain from cheaper foreign competition
(mostly from the American colonies). Corn included all grains that required grinding (but mostly

24 London Archaeological Archive and Research Centre Online – Site Record PUB80
25 Wikipedia – River Thames frost fairs (Apr 2015)
26 The Morning Herald 3 February 1830

20
it was wheat). These laws greatly contributed to poverty and were not fully repealed until after
the Irish famines in the 1840s.
Stealing food and clothing and other petty crimes became chronic and were met with swift and
harsh retaliation. If you were not hanged, you faced transportation to Botany Bay. This was the
peak time for the transportation of convicts and everyone in the poor areas would have been at
some risk of committing a crime and facing transportation.
Most parishes in Southwark were declared poor areas, with the poorest of all being not far from
the Broadwall, in the streets surrounding the site of an old Mint in the parish of St George the
Martyr. It must have been a prodigiously difficult place for William and Susannah Rees to raise
their family and keep their heads above water.

The Mitre – shown below the Vacant Ground – Surrey Road is later
known as Blackfriars Road

21
 The Mitre Tavern
The Mitre was one of three taverns built on the Broadwall but it was probably the most popular
(especially after the other two closed). By modern standards it was very small. The ground floor
was mostly a single bar along the back wall with enough chair and bench seating for about
twenty people. The upper level contained rooms for boarding and lodging and the attic floor
would have been occupied by William and his family.
William Rees had taken over the lease of the Mitre. He gave an equitable lien (ie an unregistered
charge) over the lease to Barclay Perkins & Co who owned the Anchor Brewery in Park Street,
Southwark.27 The lien was in return for the brewery giving William ale on credit as few
innkeepers could afford to pay in advance. The Mitre was then bound to only sell product from
the Anchor Brewery. That product would have been limited to porter and stout as they were the
only products then brewed by
the Anchor. The brewery had
been around since 1616 and
by 1809 it was producing
260,000 barrels of ale a year,
making it then not only the
largest brewery in London but
in the world.28
The Mitre was occasionally
used for holding coronial
inquests. The southern end of
nearby Blackfriars Bridge was
a popular place for suicidal
jumps into the water. If
requested, a licensee was
obliged to receive into the hotel
a body for the purposes of an
inquest. In return they were
The Mitre Tavern, Broad Wall, Southwark
paid a small set fee. Inquests
were usually held in the evening and attracted a large crowd of inquisitive locals so the small fee
was probably not a problem for the licensee.
The tavern also became the habitual meeting place of various lodges and organisations operating
in the area. One such lodge was the Grand Lodge of Antient Masons, a breakaway group from
the main Masonic lodge (Antient was an alternative spelling for Ancient but pronounced the
same). Its earlier members included Thomas Sneath who was the victualler at the Mitre, at least
for the time between 1751 and 1755. The Antients only had four lodges but the first lodge was
at the Mitre.29
In 1825 a Register was kept by each Clerk of the Peace of “all the persons licensed to keep
Alehouses Inns and Victualling Houses” in the county of Surrey (which included Southwark). The
Register included the names of each person who went surety (recognizance) for those licensed
persons. In the Southwark area, the surety for Thomas Moses who ran the George in George
Street, Christchurch was none other than “William Rees of Broadwall Victualler.” Not
surprisingly, the surety for William Rees of the Mitre at Broadwall was “Thomas Moses of George

27 Will of William Rees – The Public Records Office – The National Archives Catalogue Ref 11/1807
Image Ref 38
28 Wikipedia – Anchor Brewery (Apr 2015)
29 The Antients General Register Table 17 Southwark & South of the Thames 1751-1755

22
Street Victualler”. The licensing of Alehouses each year by two Justices of the Peace or
Magistrates had been around since 1552. Local Clerks of the Peace took over the registration
process in 1753. The giving of
sureties became redundant in
1828.30
What became known as the
Beerhouse Act of 1830 allowed
anyone within the designated
poor areas to sell beer, ale,
porter, cyder (apple cider) and
perry (pear cider) if they paid a
two guineas annual licensing
fee (a guinea was a gold coin
originally made from gold
obtained from mines in Guinea
in West Africa – originally worth
20 shillings (£1), its price was
fixed at 21 shillings after
increases in the value of gold.
Guineas are still referred to in
The Anchor Brewery, Southwark
horse racing today). These
cheap backyard operations undermined the business of the inns, taverns and public houses,
often forcing the licensees out of a living.
Not long after taking over the Mitre, William advertised for new staff to help run the tavern. An
advertisement placed in the Morning Advertiser on 7 December 1825 (page 1) stated:

“Wanted – for a respectable public house, a steady sober man to carry out
Beer, clean Pots, and make himself otherwise useful – Also a Maid-servant of
All-work – Persons that have lived in the same line may apply at the Mitre,
Broad-wall, Blackfriars Road.”

A similar advertisement was placed in the newspaper in July 1829. Perhaps William was looking
for a husband and wife team to do the work.
The Mitre must have been a reasonably popular establishment. It was just off the main road
running south from Blackfriars Bridge and it had a pleasant tree shaded garden along the corner
frontage.
Some of London’s pomp and pageantry made its way to the Mitre in 1826 after the annual election
of the Lord Mayor of London (an honorary position and not to be confused with the modern
political position of Mayor). For over 800 years the election of a new Lord Mayor has been
celebrated by the Lord Mayor’s Procession in which the guilds, institutions and other associations
of London put on an ornate parade of bands, floats and entertainment that starts at the Guildhall
and finishes at Westminster Hall. In earlier years the procession started from the new Lord
Mayor’s ward and in 1826, the procession found its way over Blackfriars Bridge (sometimes the
procession moved onto barges for a trip on the Thames and this is the origin of a float in a
parade).

A London newspaper reported:31

30 West Yorkshire Archive Service – Off the Record – Licensing (Alehouses)

31 Morning Advertiser 9 November 1826

23
 “That part of the Lord Mayor’s Procession comprising the Five Knights in
Armour and Attendants, the Yeomen of the Guard and State Trumpeters, will
take refreshment at Mr Wm Rees’s, Mitre Tavern, Broadwall, Christ-Church,
Blackfriars, during the time his Lordship is going to Westminster Hall.”

In 1827, after the birth of their first two children, William and Susannah decided it was time to
formally get married. At 55, William had gone 10 years past the average life expectancy of a male
in London at that time and 40 year old Susannah was not exactly in her prime.
On 31 October 1827, only a few months after the marriage, Susannah’s half-sister, 21 year old
Eliza married 41 year old Thomas Davis at St Mary’s Church at Lambeth. They made their home
in the Southwark area.32 Thomas’ occupation was a bonnet presser, which may have involved a
lot more skill in the making of bonnets than the name suggests. Susannah and Eliza had always
been very close and they now lived only a short distance apart.
The Land Tax Records for 1828 show that William Rees was paying an annual Land Tax of £1
on his lease of the Mitre, calculated on an annual rent of £20.33
William and Susannah’s third son and last child, John Morgan Rees, was born while they were
living at the Mitre. The baby was baptised at Christ Church on 10 May 1829 by the Reverend
Henry Blunt.34
Major events were occurring at this time. Robert Peel (who would become Prime Minister a
number of times) had set up his police force in 1829 after which London policemen were known
as Bobbies, a take on Peel’s name. William IV became king in 1830 after the death of his
unpopular brother George IV. George IV had no heirs but he had at least two illegitimate
children. William IV also had no heirs but had at least 10 illegitimate children. By the time
William died in 1837, his nearest legitimate relative and successor would be his niece who would
become Queen Victoria. In 1831 Charles Darwin set sail on HMS Beagle for a five year voyage
around the world which included a visit to Australia. This voyage would eventually lead to his
breakthrough work on natural selection known as On the Origin of Species. Frenchman Victor
Hugo published his book The Hunchback of Notre Dame in 1831 to much acclaim.

Robert Peel Charles Darwin

32 St Mary Lambeth Parish Marriage Register 1827 – Page 112 No 336

33 London Land Tax Records Christ Church – Page 21 Broadwall
34 Parish Register of Births for Southwark Christ Church County Surrey (Surry), 1829 – Page 246

No 1968

24
On 28 December 1831 William Rees made his last Will and Testament. He may have been
prompted to do this by the cholera epidemic that had taken hold across London that year. In
his Will he left his wife Susannah his “household furniture, plate, linen, china, books, bonds and
debts” as well as the lease of the Mitre. He also recorded his trust in Susannah to maintain and
educate his children. His Will was witnessed by his long term friend (or relative) Joseph Morgan
and by close brother in law Thomas Davis.35
The great news of the day in early 1832 that excited much attention across all walks of life was
the progress of the Reform Bill. The reforms promised a broader and fairer voting franchise, an
end to the worst rorting of electoral seats and, closer to the hearts of the residents of
Christchurch, a fairer treatment of the poor. After a lot of agitation that included armed conflict
and the deliberate delay of its passage through Parliament, the bill finally became law in June
1832. There was much excitement across London and no doubt the Mitre would have been abuzz
with the news and the merriment of happy drinkers.
It was in that very same month and in the midst of that excitement when the cholera outbreak
reached the parish of Christchurch. It struck with some savagery on the residents of the
Broadwall. Of the 35 residents that died in the whole of the parish, many of them were from the
crowded residences along the Broadwall. Two of the nine residents who died in July 1832 were
60 year old William Rees and 45 year old Susannah Rees, who were buried two days apart on
the 15th and 17th. Both of their burial services were conducted by the Reverend Gaye at the
Christ Church.36
The Morning Advertiser reported William’s death under the touching headline “Died”:37

“On Tuesday (10th July), Mr Rees, of the Mitre, Broadwall, Christchurch, a

subscriber to the Licensed Victualler’s School and the Asylum, leaving behind
him a wife, many children, and many friends to lament his loss.”

The newspaper reported Susannah’s death a week later under the same headline:38

“On Monday, the 10th instant, in the 45th year of her age, Mrs Susannah Rees,
of the Mitre, Broadwall, Christchurch, after a few hours illness; much
respected, and leaving four orphan children totally unprovided for.”

The reports suggest they both died on the same date (10th July) but this is unlikely to be correct.
First, the newspaper thinks that the 10th was both a Monday and a Tuesday when in fact it was
only a Tuesday. Second, they were buried two days apart. More likely Susannah died on the
Wednesday or Thursday after William. If in fact she died on a Monday then I suspect it was
Monday 16th July as she was buried the following day. The five day delay in William’s burial is
unusual. Cholera victims were usually despatched quickly to avoid contamination.
The second report mentions four orphan children. In the later administration of his estate there
is only specific mention of his children William, George and John. The fourth orphan would
appear to be a child of Susannah from her previous marriage.

35 Will of William Rees – The Public Records Office – The National Archives Catalogue Ref 11/1807
Image Ref 38
36 Parish Registers of Deaths for Southwark Christ Church County Surrey (Surry), 1832 – Nos

1916 and 1928

37 Morning Advertiser 12 July 1832, page 4
38 Morning Advertiser 20 July 1832, page 4

25
We are indebted to the Morning Advertiser for these reports as very few deaths of the less
prosperous citizens were reported in any of the London newspapers. Fortunately, the Morning
Advertiser was published by the Friendly Society of Licensed Victuallers and reporting the death
of its members was a regular feature. The paper was first published in 1794 and by the mid-
1800s its circulation was only second to
The Times. Charles Dickens was an
early writer for the paper.

As cholera is more severe among

Christ Church, Southwark
Fortunately, William and Susannah’s bodies received proper burial – perhaps the fear of cholera
overrode other considerations.
children and the elderly, it is hard to
imagine how any of the children were
spared the fate of their parents, but they
did survive, or at least the three sons of
William and Susannah. The Anatomy
Act had only been passed as law earlier
in the year. The Act permitted the
unclaimed corpses of paupers to be used
for medical experiments. It caused
horror among the poor and a fear and
hatred of workhouses where managers
were now legally paid for providing
unclaimed corpses. Less caring relatives
found a new source of income. 39

As Susannah died before she could obtain probate of William’s Will and as Susannah did not
herself leave a Will, it was left to her next of kin to look after their affairs. Administration of
William’s Will was granted to Susannah’s half-sister Eliza Davis allowing her to deal with the
estate and, as appointed Guardian, to look after the children until they reached the age of 21.
No doubt young William, George and John were initially taken in by Eliza and her husband who
at the time had no apparent children of their own (Thomas Davis junior would be born on 21
March 1834 and Eliza Phoebe Davis on 31 May 1836).
There is mystery surrounding Susannah and Eliza. Some family historians have suggested that
Eliza (whose maiden name was Clarke) was the daughter of Susannah and her first husband,
John Clarke. That would be a logical assumption except that when administration of William
Rees’ Will was given to Eliza, she was described as “… the natural and lawful sister by the half-
blood next of kin” of Susannah. This can only mean that they shared either the same mother or
the same father. A possible scenario is that Susannah’s father, Mr Marriott, died after Susannah
was born and Mrs Marriott remarried a man named Clarke. They then had a daughter, Eliza.
Susannah, who was 18 years older than Eliza, has then married a relative of that Mr Clarke,
possibly a younger brother. Multiple marriages between two families were quite common. Of
course, there are many other possible scenarios but, whichever is correct, Susannah and Eliza
stayed very close and Eliza played a big part in raising the three boys. Many years later when
George Rees died, his family stated that his mother’s name was Eliza, rather than Susannah,
revealing what George had thought of his upbringing (he was only eight years old when his
mother died).
It is appropriate perhaps to mention here some additional information on Joseph and Jannet
Morgan. Joseph, who was considerably younger than William Rees (by at least 24 years), took
over the Harp tavern not long after William Rees moved on. Joseph and Jannet stayed there for
over 25 years with their two boys, named Joseph and (not surprisingly) William, who were likely
twins, and their daughter Eliza. During that period he became a tireless worker for the Friendly
Society of Licensed Victuallers, serving long terms on the boards or committees of the

39 The English And Their History - Robert Tombs 2014

26
organisation’s Asylum, School and Fire and Life Assurance Company. William Rees was also for
a time a committee member of the Asylum.
Joesph was one of the early promoters for establishment of the Asylum “where aged and infirm
Licensed Victuallers or their widows, when reduced from a state of comfort to misery and want,
may be enabled to pass the evening of life in humble but respectable retirement, cheered by the
consoling reflection of being rescued from the miseries of a parish poor-house.” The Asylum was
built on land purchased by the Victuallers and its upkeep was met mostly from subscriptions
provided by the society’s members. Residents received a pension “to provide for the necessities
of life” plus a weekly allocation of coal.
Joseph famously found himself in trouble with the licensing authorities in 1834 when he was
prosecuted “for harbouring idle and disorderly persons, and suffering drinking and tippling … at
an early hour in the morning” contrary to the Beerhouse Act of 1830.40 As mentioned before, that
Act was intended to wean the population off hard spirits, such as gin, by making it easier to
make and sell cheaper beer. It soon became apparent that people were simply drinking longer
to reach the same state of inebriation. The law was amended to reduce the hours of operation
for the sale of beer.
This was potentially a significant test case for the prosecution but the case quickly fell apart and
was dismissed when it was revealed that the Harp had wrongly been described in the charge as
being in the Parish of St Paul, Covent Garden instead of in the Parish of St Martin in the Fields.
The following week, the prosecution had Joseph back in court on the same charge, this time with
the correct Parish. Yet again the charge was dismissed on a technicality because it failed to
make clear whether the Harp was a beerhouse or a tavern (it was actually licensed as both).
Joseph had brought six witnesses to
defend the charge if necessary and was
most put out by having to appear twice
in court on what he believed to be a false
charge. The magistrate was sufficiently
annoyed with the prosecution as to ban
them from bringing the charge again. He
also dismissed all of the prosecution’s
similar charges against others.
Joseph died suddenly of apoplexy (most
likely a stroke) on 9 August 1847 soon
after leaving the Harp due to ill health.
His stated age at the time was 55. He left
Jannet and his children to fend for themselves but no doubt with the help of the Licensed
Victuallers.41
Joseph’s Will contained a gift to his two married sisters. One family historian believes that
Joseph and his sisters were born in the village of Whitford in the county of Flintshire in the far
north of Wales near the mouth of the River Dee. Their parents were John Morgan and Susannah
Price. The name Price is a derivative of Rees. For example, the name Rhys, which we would now
pronounce Reece, was sometimes prounced Rice. A typical Welsh name would have been Dafydd
ap Rhys (meaning David son of Rhys) but pronouncing the ap and Rhys together gave the sound
of Price. The name Price is common in Flintshire but there are very few people called Rees,
suggesting that Price became the standard spelling in that county. All of this is hinting at William
Rees having a connection to the family of Joseph’s mother. Perhaps future DNA matching among
family members will throw light on any connection.

40 Morning Advertiser 12 June 1834, page 4

41 The Era 15 August 1847, page 14

27
 The Fate of the Orphans
The first official Census of England and Wales was carried out in 1841 and it is the primary
source to track down the whereabouts of the Rees boys nine years after the death of their parents.
The Census for Surrey shows Thomas and Eliza Davis living in Union Road, just a short walk
from the Mitre, but none of the boys are with them.

William Rees and John Rees

The Census for Middlesex (which includes much of London, north of the Thames) has a record
of a 20 year old William Rees living as one of many boarders at a residence in Hyde Street,
Holborn, not far from Little Russell Street, where his father had once been the licensee of the
Harp and where Joseph Morgan was now the licensee.
This William Rees could well be the son of William and Susannah as he is the only William Rees
in the whole of the known London Census who is a match on age. At the time of the Census,
Hyde Street provided a reasonable level of accommodation and was the home for many young,
single and aspiring working men. The younger William was recorded as being a journeyman
tailor (the more prosperous stage after apprenticeship but before master). All of the houses in
Hyde Street were demolished not long after the Census was taken as part of a major
redevelopment of the area and the extension of Oxford Street to the east. The old Hyde Street is
now part of West Central Street.
The Census for Surrey has a record of a 12 year old John Rees at The Licensed Victualler’s School
at Kennington, Southwark, to the south of Broadwall. John Rees, the third child of William and
Susannah, would have been 12 at the time of the Census. The School was founded as a charity
in 1803 by the Friendly Society of Licensed Victuallers for the maintenance and education of
children of deceased or distressed licensed victuallers who had been annual subscribers to the
charity. The demand for placement was high and admission was by the election of subscribers. 42
The aim of the School was to prepare the children for good trade apprenticeships or household
positions. The focus was not on training them to be future victuallers.

The Licensed Victuallers’ School, Kennington

42 Children’s Homes UK – LVS (Apr 2015)

28
According to the 1841 Census, the School had 11 staff and 149 students (identified as scholars)
mostly between the ages of 10 and 14, with a few being 8 or 9. The students were both boys and
girls.
John was only three years old when his parents died so he is most likely to have lived with
Thomas and Eliza Davis until he was admitted into the School, probably from the age of 10.
There seemed to be no shortage of funds for the School as the previous building was demolished
and replaced by a grand new structure in 1836, before John arrived. The foundation stone was
laid by Lord Melbourne. Queen Victoria, who was close to Lord Melbourne, became the School’s
Patroness the following year. It is possible that either or both of John’s older brothers may have
also gone to the School and became apprentices there. George would become a publican and
victualler in later life. It would have helped that Joseph Morgan, the licensee of the Harp and
supporter of the family, was also on the committee of the School for many years after the time of
William and Susannah’s deaths.43
The School still exists although it has moved out of London and is now known as LVS Ascot. The
Queen (now Elizabeth) is the current Patroness. Past students include the actors Simon Cowell
and Tracey Ullman.

The site of the Mitre Tavern on a much later map – “P.H.” on the corner of
Isabella Street – almost wiped out by the elevated railway
We lose track of William Rees after the 1841 Census. The next Census in 1851, which for the
first time recorded place of birth, does not provide any obvious entry for William. There are
various William Rees but none with matching places of birth or ages or consistency of address
to give any certainty.
The 1851 Census does, however, identify a 22 year old John Rees (incorrectly transcribed in
some indexes as Reed) who was living with the Pound family and 90 other lodgers at 36 Old
Compton Street in Soho. I am fairly certain he is our John Rees as he matches name, age and
later known occupation. He was described in the Census as a “Draper’s Assistant” which was

43 Morning Advertiser 21 July 1832, page 1

29
an occupation common to many of the lodgers at that residence. He soon moved back to
Southwark, probably when he was able to establish himself as an employed or self employed
draper. He had been living in the Bermondsey area for only a short time when he married 21
year old Mary Ann Curtis at St Paul’s Church, Bermondsey on 7 October 1852. 44 The ceremony
was performed by the fiery-tempered Irish born curate, the Reverend John Armstrong. The
marriage register describes John as a draper. It also names his father as George Rees, a
publican. This is likely a mistaken reference to his older brother who may for a time have been
John’s guardian.

John Morgan Rees - Married 1852 Mary Ann Curtis

Children:

Alisamon Ann Rees b 1853 d 1888 34 years

Susan Alice Rees b 1855 d 1940 84 years

John William Rees b 1861 d 1929 67 years

George Witney Rees b 1865 d 1953 87 years

Walter Marriot Rees b 1869 d 1918 49 years

Frank Edgar Rees b 1871 d 1954 83 years

Mary Ann Curtis was born in the town of Lincoln on 9 March 1831 and was baptised a few weeks
later at the church now known as St Peter at Gowts. Her father William Curtis was a cabinet
maker and upholsterer who had married Lucy Poucher. Mary Ann was one of six children.
John and Mary Rees’ first child was a daughter born on 30 December 1853 in the Parish of St
James Bermondsey. She was named Alisamon Ann Rees. Another daughter, Susan Alice Rees,
was born in the St George the Martyr Parish in Southwark on 11 June 1855. Four sons made
up the balance of the family with John William Rees (born 24 December 1861), George Witney
Rees (born 29 November 1865), Walter Marriot Rees (born 4 June 1869) and Frank Edgar Rees
(born 2 June 1871).
The family does not appear in the 1861 Census records that I have seen but those records are
far from complete. No doubt the records would have shown the then family residing somewhere
in the Southwark area.
Like their older sisters, the first three boys were born in Southwark but the family relocated to
Mary’s home town of Lincoln about 1870. Frank was born in Lincoln in 1871 but not in time for
his name to appear in the Census records taken that year. His father’s name is also absent. He
may have been on business away from home or temporarily residing elsewhere. Or he may have
had a falling out with the pregnant Mary who then packed up her children and all of her
belongings and returned to find support with her family in Lincoln.
The 1871 Census identifies Mary as the head of the house suggesting that John’s absence is
deliberate and permanent. This is further supported by Mary being described as a green grocer

44 St Paul’s Bermondsey Parish Marriage Register 1852 – Page 130 No 260

30
rather than as a wife. The family’s address is 24 Grantham Street, Lincoln but Mary would have
run her grocery business from an open market place in Lincoln where she had a stall. No doubt
she had the help of 17 year old Alisamon and 15 year old Susan.
Alisamon seems to have gotten herself into some trouble a few years later when she was 21.
Mary and the children attended church at St Martins on 5 May 1875 for the baptism of
Alisamon’s one year old baby son who was named as Llewellyn Morgan Rees. No father was
named on the register but pointedly, Alisamon was noted as a “single woman.” If this baptism
was a daunting experience for the family, you can only imagine how much grit Mary had when
she decided to have all of her six children, including Alisamon, baptised at the same time. There
could be a number of reasons for this. John and Mary may have overlooked having the children
baptised but this is unlikely given they were living in London where a failure to baptise would be
very obvious. Or John may have retained the baptism records and them unavailable to the
family. Or the records may have been lost and too difficult to replace. Much simpler to just get
everyone baptised again.
Unfortunately for Alisamon, baby Llewellyn died just less than a year after his baptism.
A few months after the baptisms, Mary found herself in the news when she took out a summons
against William Hunter for using abusive and obscene language in a public place. He was a
fellow stall holder at the market. Mary claimed he called her a “-------- thief” (I assume the
unprintable word in the newspaper report was something like “damned”). He claimed Mary’s
husband had owed him some money and had “gone away without paying it.”45 This of course
suggests that John Rees was still in contact with his family even if he fails to show up in any of
the Census records. The City Police Court, which on the day of the hearing comprised the Mayor
of Lincoln, William Maltby and his brother, Joseph Maltby (who was a previous Mayor), found
William Hunter guilty and fined him 10s plus 18s 6d costs.
Mary was again the target of obscene language in 1877 when a lady named Ellen Balduin (with
that spelling) was fined 25s for abusing Mary, with one month imprisonment in default of
payment.46 Worse was to happen in 1879 when a meeting of Mary’s creditors met and decided
to liquidate her green grocery business due to her inability to meet outstanding debts.47

George Witney Rees (second son of John Morgan Rees) and his wife
Mary (nee Smalley) surrounded by their family

45 Lincolnshire Chronicle 23 July 1875, page 5 but under the name of Mary Ann Reeves
46 Stamford Mercury 6 April 1877, page 3
47 Stamford Mercury 14 March 1879, page 6

31
The 1881 Census shows Mary still living in Grantham Street but the number is now 35 (most
likely caused by a change in street numbering rather than a relocation). Mary is again described
as a green grocer so perhaps her insolvency was over and she was back in business. Alisamon
and Susan have now left the family home but the four boys are still in residence. Their father
remained absent from the household in the Census.
In 1882, the well-known English dramatic and musical agent, Dudley Smith, was staying with
the Rees family in Grantham Street. At the time, he advertised in London’s The Era newspaper
his availability for new management and agency roles. 48 Smith had offices in London, Paris and
New York. He had managed some of the country’s most famous opera, drama and comedy
companies, including the D’Oyly Carte Opera who were performing the latest works of Gilbert
and Sullivan. They had only recently performed HMS Pinafore and the Pirates of Penzance at
Shodfriars Hall in Boston, a small harbour village on the coast of Lincolnshire. 49 Smith had
connections to all the best theatres and halls throughout England as well as to lodgings for the
troupes. It is hard to imagine him lodging with a green grocer’s family unless he was down on
his luck and out of work. His connection to Mary may well go back to Joseph Morgan and his
connections with the theatre district of Drury Lane.
Mary, however, was not destined to see old age. She died on 19 January 1886 and was buried
a few days later at the Canwick Road cemetery in Lincoln. She was 54 years old. I have been
unable to isolate specific information about her husband, John Rees, after the birth of his last
son Frank. He seems to have disappeared completely.

George Rees
The 1841 Census for Westminster has a record of an 18 year old George Rees living as a lodger
with a family named Kemp at Regent Street, Westminster in the parish of St John the Evangelist,
to the south of Westminster Abbey and across the Thames from Lambeth. Although he is the
only George Rees listed in London with the same age, it is hard to believe he is William and
Susannah’s son George, because of his address and occupation. It is difficult to read the
handwritten entry for his occupation on the Census record – it looks like Punter but having
discounted that, the options become Painter or Printer but neither are certain. On closer
examination, the occupation may well be Punster, a not uncommon livelihood as newspapers,
magazines and books of puns, all devoted to droll humour, were very popular at the time. For
example, a satirical work called The Vulgarities of Speech Corrected With Elegant Expressions For
Provincial And Vulgar English, Scots And Irish For The Use Of Those Who Are Unacquainted With
Grammar, which was full of puns and irony, was published in 1829. Also, Edward Lear’s Book
of Nonsense was published in 1840. The name Regent Street was changed to Regency Street in
the late 1800s, presumably to avoid confusion with the more famous street to the north between
Piccadilly Circus and Oxford Circus.

Extract from the 1841 Census

48 The Era 29 April 1882

49 The Era 1 October 1881

32
We lose track of George for the next six years until his admission as a Freeman of the City of
London in the Company of Innholders on 2 December 1848 when he was 24 years old.50 George
was able to obtain this Freedom by Patrimony (and without the payment of a fee) on the basis
that his father William was a Freeman at the time of George’s birth. However, a condition of
eligibility was that George must have been born in “lawful Wedlock” and as he was born some
three years before his parents married, the Freedom is likely to have been obtained fraudulently.
But at least George was not on his own in the fraud as six other Freemen all declared that George
was legitimate at the time of his birth. By this time George was the licensee of the Ship at 64
Lower Queen Street in Rotherhithe on the eastern side of Southwark (the address, without
changing the location, later became 538 Rotherhithe Road). 51 The Ship became known as the
Ship Tavern and was rebuilt in 1934 (it had a number of other names over the years including
the Mermaid’s Galley Alehouse). In the 1980s the whole of Rotherhithe underwent a massive
facelift and redevelopment by the London Dockland Development Corporation.52 The public
house on the site is now known as The Clipper in recognition of the many clipper ships built by
Rotherhithe shipbuilders in the later 1800s.

The Ship The Clipper

In 1843 a tunnel was opened under the Thames connecting Wapping on the north and
Rotherhithe on the south. The tunnel had been built by Isambard Brunel, the greatest engineer
of his time, and was both the first tunnel under the Thames and the first tunnel in the world
under a navigable river. At first the tunnel was used by pedestrians and it became the major
attraction at Rotherhithe and brought many sightseers. This may have influenced George Rees’
decision to take over the licence of the Ship.
George sold the licence of the Ship to Francis Dimsdale in 1849 and took over the licence of the
similarly named Ship Tavern at Little Tower Street (now known as Great Tower Street), Tower Hill
near Aldgate and Fenchurch.53 His time at Tower Hill was very short as he sold the licence to
Richard Scott by September 1849. 54
The last we hear of George in London is when he applied for the licence of the Surrey Arms public
house in Waterloo Street, Camberwell Green in March 1851. By this time, the authorities were
intent on dealing with the great over supply of drinking establishments and were refusing large
numbers of licence applications and renewals. George’s application for a licence was refused. 55

50 Ancestry.com – Freedom of the City of London George Rees 1848

51 Pubhistory.com – Ship Tavern (Apr 2015)
52 Russiadock.blogspot.com.au – Rotherhithe Pubs (Apr 2015)
53 The Era 22 April 1849, page 7
54 The Era 23 September 1849, page 7
55 The Era 21 March 1851, page 6

33
We again lose track of George until some time after he emigrates to Australia. There were many
reasons that caused a flood of Londoners to relocate to the Australian colonies around this time.
One reason was to escape debt and the drastic consequences that followed. Another was the
Great Exhibition held in London in 1851. The exhibit was housed in the Crystal Palace, built for
that purpose, and contained some 100,000 objects from Britain and the Empire and other
countries which included “every conceivable invention”, as Queen Victoria wrote in her diary. It
was visited by over six million people. The Australian colonies exhibited samples of their finest
wool, timber, whale oil, copper ore, wine, beef and tallow. 56 However, most keenly inspected by
visitors were the barrels of best Australian
wheat and flour to make cheap and nutritious
bread. The result was that many more people
became aware that Australia offered a healthier
and more prosperous future than Britain.
Another and perhaps more compelling reason
was the discovery of gold in Australia shortly
after George’s licence application was refused.
Money Tokens for the Ship Tavern George’s story continues in the following
chapters.
The Mitre continued long after its association with the Rees family. It lasted longer than most of
the old London public houses. The tavern, well over 100 years old, was rebuilt in about 1880
and continued to be a popular drinking establishment.57 At some time after the Rees family had
left, the Mitre’s street address was changed
from 90 to 117 Broadwall. In 1937, after a
rearrangement and realignment of streets in
the area, the southern and longer end of
Broadwall was merged with Hatfield Road and
the combined road was renamed Hatfields and
the address of the Mitre became 51 Hatfields.
The middle part of Broadwall had been
absorbed into adjoining properties and the only
remaining part of Broadwall became the small
end near the river.
The site of the Mitre today is located on the
southern corner of Isabella Street just before
the road tunnel under the railway and close to
Southwark Tube Station.
The Mitre featured under its own name in the
1970-1971 television comedy series For the
Love of Ada and in the 1972 movie of that
name, which were all set in the local area.
Rundown and neglected, the Mitre was finally
demolished in 2003 and the land became
vacant. By 2009 a group of residents at the
adjoining housing estate known as Styles
House had been given control of the site for use
as a Community Allotment to grow their own
organic vegetables. Since then the residents
have put in a greenhouse made from recycled
materials and a number of raised vegetable George Rees – Freedom of the City

56 Illustrated London News, as reported in The (Hobart) Courier 20 September 1851, page 2
57 Olde Brewery Recorder – Richard Greatorex (Sep 2012)

34
beds. The allotment has won prizes in various competitions. More garden allotments are
planned for the area. Although Styles House has both high and low rise buildings which were
built in the 1960s, they are now fully refurbished, upmarket and much sought after – a one
bedroom flat on the fourth floor sold in 2014 for £475,000 (over $A960,000).
And so the site of the Mitre has now returned to its earlier use as a field.

A scene from For the Love of Ada

35
 2 - Emigration

Colonial Melbourne
A year after George Rees became a Freeman of the City of London, Charles Dickens finished
writing his latest book, David Copperfield. He had already written Oliver Twist, Nicholas Nickleby
and A Christmas Carol, among others. Dickens’ story plots were usually woven around the harsh
social conditions of the day and his books drew world attention to the poverty, suffering and
oppression inherent in the British class structure. Countries with a less robust class structure
usually managed to find other ways to oppress their poor.
Dickens was particularly scathing in his ridicule of people who held positions of authority but
he was uncommonly soft in his treatment of publicans and their like. He spent so much of his
time frequenting inns and taverns in his research that he probably found these hosts to be
generally trustworthy. In his collection of stories called The Uncommercial Traveller he describes
Mr Licensed Victualler as “a sharp and watchful man … with tight lips and a complete edition of
Cocker’s arithmetick in each eye.” Cocker’s Arithmetick was the bible for mathematical rules for
over 150 years.
Nevertheless, the life of a tavern keeper in the poorest
parts of London was always going to be a precarious
livelihood. Thanks to the untimely death of his parents,
George would have seen how quickly you can be brought
down. Looking for the next opportunity to better yourself
would have been a frequent pastime. In 1849, the year
David Copperfield was published, gold seekers from
around the world were converging on the newly discovered
Californian goldfields. Stories of great wealth soon
reached London. Gold worth tens of billions of dollars in
today’s money was extracted making many people very
rich but many gold seekers returned home with little to
show for their effort. The lucky few who struck good
fortune and brought their new found riches back with
them became celebrities who encouraged others to follow
in their footsteps.
Only a few years later, gold strikes at Ophir and Sofala in
New South Wales were officially announced in May 1851.
This was followed later in the same year by gold strikes in
hundreds of creeks and watercourses around eastern
Australia. Small deposits of gold had been discovered by
shepherds and farm workers as early as the 1820s but for various reasons, the discoveries had
not become public knowledge. By the 1840s the Government was actively silencing news of gold
discoveries for fear that an already depleted workforce would disappear leaving the economy of
the colony in ruins. After hearing the official news of the gold strikes, most of the 6,000 men
who had left the colonies for the Californian goldfields during the late 1840s quickly returned to
try their luck back in their home country. For some reason these Australians had been poorly
received in California where they were treated as a lower class, little better than convicts.

36
Whether you were wishing to escape London’s poverty or seeking adventure, the lure of riches
and a better life by digging up gold in a peaceful British colony bursting with opportunities was,
for many Londoners, a call too strong to resist.
We don’t know when George Rees made the decision to go to Australia. There are records of
many Rees arriving in Port Phillip (Melbourne) and Port Jackson (Sydney) between 1851 and
1858. Some are simply recorded as Mr Rees and others with variants of the Rees name, such as
Ray, Rae, Rice and Reece. Passengers sailed as either cabin passengers or steerage passengers.
Often only the cabin passengers were identified in the ship’s records. The cheapest shared cabin
would cost about three times the cost of steerage and steerage passengers outnumbered cabin
passengers by at least ten to one. It is unlikely that George Rees would have paid for cabin
accommodation, so he would have made the voyage either as a steerage passenger or as a crew
member.
Although he had no known experience as a sailor, his inn in Rotherhithe was almost next door
to Rotherhithe’s famous shipyards and wharves. His clientele would largely have been seafarers
or people in ship building or related jobs. George would have had plenty of contacts who could
be useful in helping him to sign on as a crewman on one of the many ships bound for Australia.
He may even have been a ship’s cook. Two Rees arrived as crew in Melbourne in 1852, one on
board the Charlotte Jane and the other on the Monarch. Another possibility is that he arrived as
a crewman under the name of George Rae on board the Stratheden which arrived in Melbourne
on 15 May 1853.58 By whichever means, George would have arrived in Australia with all of his
worldly possessions consisting of little more than the clothes he wore and what he could carry.
The only significant clue to the timing of
George’s arrival is a notation on his death
certificate stating that he had been in the
colony for 33 years, which would put his
arrival at 1850. As he was still in London
in March 1851, we can assume that he
sailed to Australia very soon after that
time.
We know that by 1858 George was living
in the Melbourne outpost of Collingwood
where he was running a restaurant, most
likely attached to a licensed hotel. 59
Melbourne had only been established as
late as 1835 when a group of settlers from
Tasmania, headed by John Batman, Ship building at Rotherhithe
purported to purchase 600,000 acres of
land from eight Aboriginal chiefs.60 Batman has been memorialised as the founder of Melbourne.
Less known was that he was a chronic alcoholic who died from syphilis in 1839. Both afflictions
became a common problem in early Melbourne for the settlers and for the local Aborigines, who
somehow managed to get badly affected by both afflictions.
The town of Melbourne was marked out two years later by the Government surveyor, Robert
Hoddle. The town, which sat next to the Yarra River, grew from a ragged collection of tents and
huts to a settlement seething with a huge influx of immigrants who were crowded into hastily
built, ramshackle buildings. By 1839 it was still a straggling, evil smelling little town with filthy

58 Index to Unassisted Inward Passenger Lists to Victoria 1852-1923 - Stratheden 1853 - Public
Record Office of Victoria
59 Vic BDM Marriage Certificate No 939/1858
60 The History of the City of Melbourne - Melbourne City Council November 1997

37
streets and a high death rate among the population of 6,000 and yet it was destined to become
the largest population centre in the future colony of Victoria.61
Prosperity grew on the back of a
developing wool industry. Queen
Victoria’s declaration of the town
as the City of Melbourne in 1847
was read out on the steps of St
Peter’s Church on the eastern hill
of the city. The 1840s saw some of
the principal streets of Melbourne
take on a more civilized look as
substantial churches and
commercial buildings were
erected.
The layout of early Melbourne by Surveyor Hoddle
As the population grew, however,
the Yarra River became polluted, causing outbreaks of typhoid fever during the 1850s.
Improvements were frustratingly slow because the necessary funds from Sydney for public works
and Government buildings were rarely forthcoming. This failure to prosper pushed the citizens
of Melbourne into demanding a separate colony.
The new breakaway Colony of Victoria was established in 1851 with much celebration (probably
in Sydney as well, at least until gold was discovered in Victoria later that year, in amounts that
would dwarf the gold found in NSW). People living in Brisbane and the north eastern part of the
colony had also been agitating for a separate colony and they had already chosen the name of
Victoria. After the dastardly southerners got in first and stole the coveted name, the northerners
opted for the next best name of Queensland.

Early Melbourne Town

In 1851 the population of Melbourne was 75,000 but as a result of the gold rush, the population
of the new colony by 1860 was half a million. Melbourne would soon become the largest city in
Australia and the second largest city in the British Empire after London. The Melbourne town
that George Rees found on his arrival was a burgeoning metropolis yet to outgrow its rudimentary
beginnings.
Collingwood was one of the oldest outposts of Melbourne, 3km to the north east of the city. It
was known as the pioneering municipality of Victoria. The area had a frontage to the Yarra River
where it winds its way back towards the north of Melbourne. It was the perfect place for people
of moderate means to live. It was also the perfect place to stay before leaving for the goldfields.

61 Illustrated History of Australia - P Hamlyn 1974

38
Land subdivision started in the late 1830s and the area soon had a distinct residential and small
business character that separated it from the more commercial settlement at Melbourne. The
population and economy of Collingwood quickly grew during the gold rushes. 62 Much of
Collingwood later became an inner city working class slum, overcrowded and full of broken down
cottages and neglected terrace houses. Although a lot of the old residential and commercial
buildings were later demolished, the area today is known for its restored grandeur and
gentrification.
Many people who had tried their luck on the goldfields with little success came back and settled
in Collingwood where they could find plentiful work servicing the hordes of new arrivals on their
way to the goldfields. But Collingwood soon started to take on a more desolate look as closely
packed and cheap wooden cottages were built to house the increasing number of poor
inhabitants.
After arriving in the colony, George Rees may well have joined the long line of fortune hunters
making the trek from Melbourne to the richest goldfields the world had ever known - those
around Ballarat and Bendigo. The sheer quantity of gold being extracted in those early days
made the diggings the draw card for most foreign fossickers to the Australian goldfields.

Camp outside Melbourne for travellers to and from the goldfields

Social standing had no place on the goldfields where doctors, magistrates, dentists, naval
captains, clergymen, merchants, labourers, sailors, servants and ex-convicts all worked side by
side along the creek beds digging out the dirt, always caked with mud and soaked with water.
In particular, the old colonial concept of a ruling class mostly ended on the goldfields where a
person was admired for their stamina, good humour and dealing with adversity rather than for
their education or class.
It would make sense for George to be caught up in the excitement of the constant news of
hundreds of gold strikes and for him to seek his fortune as a fossicker. It also makes sense that
after arriving at the diggings, he realised that most of the existing creeks, streams and low hills
had quickly been taken up by mining licences and unregistered claims. The diggings were being
well worked by mostly small groups of partners who were only looking for new partners who had
capital to contribute. The discovery of these immensely rich goldfields greatly enhanced the
international reputation of New South Wales and Victoria, previously seen as little more than

62 Wikipedia – Collingwood, Victoria (May 2015)

39
prison camps on the other side of the world. One writer to the Sydney Empire on 8 November
1852 wrote:

“Gold has redeemed our shame, and the colony which was about to be made,
in nature and in name, the cesspool of the empire, is now denominated and
esteemed the brightest jewel in the British Crown.”

George’s prospects of being a successful miner at this time were slim. Even if George had some
success as a fossicker he was more likely to rely on using his experience as an innkeeper and
meal provider to help serve the needs of the fossickers. Liquor was largely banned from the
goldfields early on but, to the surprise of no-one, it soon became the second best trade after gold.
Within three years of the first gold rush, the population of Australia had tripled. People born in
the colonies were known as Native Australians (Aborigines were not included in that term). The
recently arrived fortune seekers were expected to show respect to those who were colony born.
The foreign born men, who had arrived in their thousands, independent and free, soon demanded
democratic rights, including the abolition of restrictive government regulation, land reform and
the right to representation.
And so an obscure colony of sheep farmers and ex-convicts suddenly became the world’s hotbed
of human rights. The escalating tension erupted with the Eureka Rebellion (as it was named in
the media) in 1854 when many of the 25,000 miners at the Ballarat diggings violently opposed
official corruption and the fee for a mining licence which was imposed regardless of whether any
gold was found.63
Life on the goldfields started to settle down after the rebellion. However, another issue soon
raised the temperature of the miners. Thousands of mostly peasant Chinese men disembarked
in Melbourne between 1853 and 1855 on their way to the goldfields. By 1858 the population of
the goldfields had reached 150,000 of
which 40,000 were arrivals from
mainland China. In South Australia,
10,000 men (many of them Chinese)
out of a total population of 70,000, left
for the Victorian goldfields. The
Chinese were thought to be a security
risk as they represented 11% of the
Victorian population but more
tellingly, their superior mining
practices soon put them on a collision
course with the other miners.
The Chinese were drawn to the claims
that had been abandoned after earlier
fossicking had removed the more easily
extracted surface gold. They worked
long hours in large numbers in process
lines that were far more efficient than Idealised painting of the goldfields
the small team methods used by
others. They started to win more gold than most of the other alluvial miners. They also ate very
little and drank no alcohol. They were cleaner in body than the miners as they were frequent
bathers but they were careless with their refuse and body wastes. Because of those latter habits
they were accused of bringing disease to the diggings. They found it difficult to get people to sell

63 Australian Government Website – Australian Stories - Eureka Stockade

40
them provisions and tools. As a result, they were regularly caught stealing the property of other
miners. They engaged in unfair practices, such as damming creeks and diverting watercourses.
The courts were often filled with Chinese men accused of both petty and grand thefts and with
other men accused of assaulting Chinese men. Disturbances and skirmishes occurred that led
to significant assaults and riots against the Chinese. The riots became increasingly difficult to
control and official Chinese Protectorates were established at Ballarat, Bendigo and Beechworth.
Victoria finally dealt with the issue by passing laws making Chinese immigration difficult. A tax
of £10 on every Chinese entering a Victorian port and a limit of one Chinese person per ten tons
of ship cargo were imposed. This only caused the Chinese to disembark in South Australia and
then make the long walk to the Victorian goldfields.

Chinese miners arriving at the diggings

Democracy on the goldfields extended not just to British and other European citizens, but also
to Americans, both black and white, Malays, Eskimos and other exotic people but it never
welcomed people from China. Chinese miners were so unpopular they were even attacked by
Aborigines on goldfields in Queensland. The Chinese had met the same hostility on the
Californian goldfields and they would continue to be poorly welcomed elsewhere in the United
States (anti-Chinese riots were a frequent occurrence on the construction of the US
transcontinental railroad in the 1860s).
One possible piece of information about George Rees in Australia before 1858 is that a George
Rees was granted 35 acres of land at Albury on the Murray River on 30 January 1856 (known
as Suburban Allotment 87 (or Lot 63) in a NSW Proclamation dated 25 November 1853). The
purchase price was £157/10, which was a very substantial amount. Living in Sydney at the
time was another George Rees who was a wealthy merchant and founding member of the Sydney
Royal Exchange. He is likely to have had business interests in Albury, as he did for most of the
major rural centres. He certainly could have afforded to buy high priced land in Albury. This
George Rees had once advertised the sale of 150 bags of rice as being “suitable for Coolies” (he
died in Sydney in 1862 at the age of 57). 64 On the other hand, as you will discover, our George
Rees also had a strong connection to the Albury area and he may have used some proceeds from
a successful gold strike to fund such a land purchase. Although this purchase by our George
Rees was unlikely, it cannot be completely discounted.

64 The Sydney Morning Herald 20 February 1852, page 3

41
 The French Connection
We know that George Rees was living at Collingwood in 1858 because of his marriage to Kezia
Martha Deslandes on 18 February at St Peter’s Church, Melbourne, which was the very same
church that featured in the declaration of Melbourne as a city. The marriage register notes they
were both residents of Collingwood. 65 The marriage was by licence and not by banns. This
meant that they were married in a parish where they were not known. The licence would only
be given if they could produce adequate character references including ones they may have
brought with them to Australia.

St Peter’s Church at Eastern Hill about 1850 and before surrounding development

George was a 34 year old bachelor and Kezia was a 20 year old spinster. George’s age on the
register is shown as 31 but as he was born in 1824, it cannot be correct. Perhaps George was
keen to keep his age down to better impress Kezia. The ceremony was performed by the church’s
curate, the Reverend Caleb Booth, under the rights of the Church of England and the marriage
was witnessed by Kezia’s older brother Charles Deslandes and by Elizabeth Simpson, who may
have been a relative of Charles’ wife Olivia (whose maiden name was Simpson).
The Reverend Booth would later take over the parish of Wangaratta. In 1867 he was suspended
for six months by the Bishop of Melbourne following a service where the Reverend suddenly
stopped in mid sermon, came down from the pulpit and then in front of a gawping congregation,
used his hands to deliberately break the leg of a barking dog that had wandered in during the
service. His main offence, however, was not the injury to the dog but the later lying about what
really happened, thereby blackening the reputation of others.
Interestingly, the marriage could have been held at St Mark’s Church of England at Collingwood
which had been built only a few years earlier. However, St Peter’s was the principal church in
the colony and that may have held some appeal. St Peter’s was rather a small church by later
standards, yet it still remains today on its little hill, dwarfed by its more modern high rise
neighbours.
Along with the rest of the British Empire, Melbourne was still reeling from the news of the
massacre and dreadful mutilation in 1857 of 200 British women and children at Cawnpore in
India by rebel soldiers during what would be known as the Sepoy Mutiny. High caste Hindus
and high bred Muslims made up most of the British run Bengal Army and they were paranoid

65 Vic BDM Marriage Certificate 1939/1858

42
about anything that might lower their caste or status. Many within the Army felt that they had
been treated by the British as inferiors or as equals with lower caste soldiers. Part of the problem
for the Sepoys was the fear that animal fat
had been used to grease the cartridges of the
new Enfield rifles. Even after the British
removed any pre-greasing, the fear remained
that contamination by beef fat (Hindu) or
pork fat (Muslim) would cause instant loss of
caste. Local rulers embittered with English
overlords helped to foment the rebellion. The
gruesomeness of the massacre at Cawnpore
shocked and appalled everyone across the
Empire and regiments posted in Australia
were soon being pulled back from duties at
the goldfields and sent to India. Many
outraged fossickers were quick to enlist in
the regiments to exact revenge against the
mutinous masses. About 100,000 Indians
would die before the British thirst for revenge
was quenched.
Kezia Deslandes was also a recent emigrant
Slaughter of women and children at
to Australia having arrived just over two
Cawnpore
years earlier at the end of 1854 with other
members of her family. They had sailed from the island of Jersey, the largest of the Channel
Islands in the English Channel off the coast of France.
There are conflicting views on the origins of the Deslandes on Jersey. In the north west of the
island in the parish of St Ouen there is an area of moorland hugging the coast (called Les Landes)
which is famous for its heather including various species of erica and gorse. As Deslandes means
of the moors, some people believe this is the origin of the family name. 66 However, the
predominant view is that people of that name emigrated the short distance from Normandy on
the French coast to Jersey around the early 1600s. Deslandes is not an uncommon surname in
areas of France, particularly in Normandy. Over 350 baptisms of Deslandes are recorded for
Jersey but none before 1600. The earliest recorded Deslandes on Jersey is Pierre Deslandes who
married Sara Dorey in 1623.
This first record of the Deslandes name in Jersey gives some credence to a belief that the first
family may have been French Huguenots who had left France to escape religious persecution.
Over the preceding centuries, large groups of people had opposed the dominant Roman Catholic
Church by seeking a less adorned and less blemished form of Christian faith. These non-
conformists (challengingly known as Heretics but later less severely known as Protestants)
followed a variety of teachings. In France, they mostly followed the teachings of the Frenchman
Jean (John) Calvin and they were derisively called Huguenots by the Catholics. Eventually, 12%
of the French population would become Huguenots. As they became more powerful they began
to challenge the Pope and the monarchy with their politics and wealth which led to their
persecution on both religious and secular grounds.
After a coordinated massacre of Huguenots around France during five weeks in 1572, many
survivors fled abroad to escape further persecution. The Channel Islands, then under British
rule, had already become home to many refugees and continued to be a safe haven (the word
refugee is of French origin and was first applied to Huguenots).

66 The Island Wiki – George Deslandes and Son, Shipbuilders and Shipowners

43
The Edict of Nantes in 1593, which gave liberty of worship to non-Catholics including Huguenots,
brought some temporary relief in the religious wars but by the early 1600s the infant Louis XIII’s
Italian Catholic mother Marie de Medici and her adviser, Cardinal Richelieu, began persecuting
the Huguenots again, this time in earnest. As the
south west of France rose in hostile defiance of the
King, many more Huguenots fled the oncoming
storm to the Channel Islands and beyond (the first
Governor of Victoria, Charles La Trobe, was of
Huguenot ancestry). The Huguenots were largely
defeated by the King’s armies following sieges of a
number of southern cities such as Montpellier and
La Rochelle in 1622. This makes the timing of the
first Deslandes on Jersey in 1623 very relevant to
the Huguenot narrative.
A great grandson of that first recorded Pierre
Deslandes was Elie Deslandes who was born in
1683. Elie is probably short for Elias which was
one of the more popular names among the Channel Islands
generations of Deslandes. One of Elie’s great
grandsons was Philippe Deslandes who was born in 1788, the year the First Fleet of British
convicts arrived at Botany Bay (or Port Jackson to be more precise as they were never
disembarked at Botany Bay).

Philippe Deslandes – First Married 1808 Jeanne Le

Sueur

Children:

Philip Deslandes b 1810 d 1882 72 years

5 Other Children

Philippe Deslandes - Married 1832 Kezia Martha

Stratton

Children:

Charles Deslandes b 1832 d 1904 72 years

Louisa Kezia Deslandes b 1835 d 1920 85 years

Kezia Martha Deslandes b 1837 d 1911 73 years

George Stratton Deslandes b 1840 nk

Theodore Philip Deslandes b 1843 1924 80 years

44
Philippe had six children with his first wife Jeanne. He had another five children with his second
wife, Kezia Martha Stratton. Kezia’s first child, Charles Deslandes, was born in 1832 and it was
pointedly noted on the baptism register that he was illegitimate. There was an old saying that a
baby usually takes nine months before it is born but the first baby often arrives a lot earlier.
Kezia and Philippe did not bother with any hasty nuptials. They did not marry until 1 August
1834 but the timing was of no particular concern because it was noted on the marriage register
as an afterthought that their son Charles was now legitimate and able to inherit.
All of Kezia and Philippe’s children were born on Jersey, including Kezia Martha Deslandes who
was named after her mother. It is this latter Kezia, born in 1837, who would marry George Rees.
The name Kezia is taken from the Bible (she was one of Job’s three named daughters who were
considered to be the most attractive maidens in the land). The name has the same meaning as
Cassia, the bark from a number of trees from which most cinnamon is made. 67 Cinnamon was
one of the highly prized fragrant powders of the time. Biblical names such as Kezia became very
popular in Europe from the 1100s. According to the 1851 Census for Jersey, Kezia’s parents
were living at 5 Belmont Road, St Helier, the principal town of the island. Her father Philippe (or
Philip) was described as a clerk but in the earlier 1841 Census he was described as a labourer
(that census was the first in the British Isles and outlying areas). In the later Census, Kezia’s
mother was incorrectly named as Maria rather than Kezia and that was probably a transcription
error made from the Census taker’s handwritten returns because Kezia was not a name much
known on the island.
Young Kezia’s 21 year old brother, Charles, was described as a moulder (a maker of moulds for
metal castings, pottery, bricks etc) and her 16 year old sister, Louisa, was a scholar, a rather
nice name for a school student. Her younger brother Theodore was 7 years old. Another brother,
George, who had been named in the 1841 Census as a seven month old baby does not appear
on the 1851 Census, having either died or was temporarily staying elsewhere when the Census
was taken.
Young Kezia herself does not appear on the 1851 Census for this household or anywhere else on
the island of Jersey. However, an Eliza Deslandes of the same age of 13 was recorded as a visitor
staying at a house at 41 Pollet Street in the town of St Peter’s Port on the nearby island of
Guernsey. The name Kezia may well have been incorrectly transcribed in much the same way
as her mother’s name. Making this possibility more likely is that Eliza is noted on the Census
as having been born in St Helier on Jersey.
In 1852 young Kezia’s brother, Charles, married Olivia Simpson who had been working as a
servant girl in another household in St Helier. According to the 1851 Census, Olivia had been
born in Malta where her father had been based as a soldier. Their first child, Charles William
Deslandes, was born the following year.
Young Kezia’s mother, Kezia Stratton, was born on Jersey about 1811. Her father, Samuel
Stratton, had been born in England about 1774. He joined the Royal Marines and served on
navy ships during the time of the Napoleonic Wars. One of the ships he served on was the 18
gun large sloop HMS Prometheus whose crew took part in the capture and destruction of 17
Russian gunboats and 12 store ships in the Baltic Sea in July 1809. Later that month his ship
led a light squadron that captured three more Russian gunboats and a brig off the coast of
Finland. This later action saw 47 killed and 110 wounded, mostly on the Russian side. In 1847
the Royal Navy belatedly issued a General Service Medal to all known personnel still living who
had been engaged in naval actions between June 1793 and 1840. Each medal had a unique
clasp for each individual action. Samuel Stratton was awarded a medal and clasp for his part in
the action off the Finland coast.

67 Job 42:14

45
Samuel Stratton and his wife, Eliza, had two other daughters (see table below). Mary Ann
Stratton (known as Ann) was born in 1820 and Catherine Stratton was born in 1823. Ann
married George Ennis, probably in Jersey. Catherine married James Brett Higgs in London in
1844. Both couples lived in Jersey where the three Stratton sisters remained close, caring for
their aging father who was by now a Chelsea Pensioner (a British ex-serviceman on an army or
navy pension for service injury or debilitation). Catherine was the godmother of young Kezia’s
brother Theodore who was born in 1843.
Ann’s husband George Ennis was 30 years older than her but he had been a master smith, which
would have provided them with a good income and a comfortable retirement. In 1851 they lived
at Beaumont Cottage in the Vingtaine of St Nicholas which is part of the Parish of Saint Peter on
the west coast of Jersey below the parish of St Ouen (a vingtaine, meaning about twenty, is a
division of a parish, particularly on Jersey).

Samuel Stratton - Married 1803 Ann Lingham

Children:

Kezia Martha Stratton b 1812 d 1881 69 years

Catherine Stratton b 1816 d 1891 76 years

Ann Stratton b 1818 d 1905 86 years

Possible Other Children

46
By coincidence, there is a small village in Saint Peter, just south of Jersey Airport, that is called
Les Landes, indicating that pockets of moorland are found scattered on the island. Anne and
George lived with their four children who were all under the age of 10. Living with them was
Ann’s father, the 77 year old Samuel Stratton,
who moved in with them.
George Ennis also had business dealings with
the wider Deslandes family. For example, he
entered into a contract with one of the many
George Deslandes on the island in 1846 to buy
an annual quantity of wheat at a fixed price
(described as a rente) of just over £65. This
type of transaction was commonly used to pay
for land purchased as a type of mortgage. The
wheat could be substituted for cash at the
prevailing price of wheat.68
According to the 1851 Census, there were at
least 24 households of Deslandes recorded in Medals with clasps as awarded to Samuel
Jersey, comprising at least 103 people. Their Stratton
livelihoods were varied, ranging from
shipbuilders, master tradesmen, publicans and carters to farmers, butchers and grocers. In
addition, there may have been as many households again due to all the female Deslandes who
had married and created new households under the names of their husbands.
Catherine’s husband, James Brett Higgs, was the same age as his wife and he worked as a cigar
maker and tobacconist providing a somewhat less secure income for Catherine. In 1851 they
boarded at a house with 14 others at 19 Don Street in Saint Helier, close to the centre of the
town.
The 1861 Census for Jersey shows that young Kezia’s parents had moved to an address in St
Helier known as 19 Pier Road where they lived with their 19 year old son Theodore, who was a
draper. Kezia’s 87 year old grandfather Samuel Stratton had by now moved away from daughter
Ann to live with daughter Kezia.
The population of the Channel Islands had risen rapidly from the 1700s and soon became
unsupportable. Tradition saw the first son of the larger families inherit the farm or the business
while the other siblings needed to find whatever jobs came their way, such as fishing, boat
building, labouring and working as domestic servants. Jersey’s shipyards became the sixth
largest ship and boat building community in the World. 69 As work became harder to find and
starvation became a reality, many islanders began emigrating, firstly to Canada and later to
Australia and New Zealand. Emigration escalated from the 1850s as the building of more and
more metal and steam ships in the competing dockyards of Europe and the United States meant
a decline in the demand for traditional wooden vessels. Jersey was unable to build and support
a new industrialised shipyard necessary to move into the metal and steam age and consequently
suffered a major economic decline.
Today, Jersey has a thriving economy built around offshore financial services and lower taxation
rates (yes a tax haven) and tourism which has caused a boom in construction, redevelopment
and retail shopping. Jersey has given us the Jersey sweater (similar to the nearby Guernsey
sweater), the Jersey cow, Jersey caramels and the Jersey Royal potato. It also leant its name to
New Jersey in the USA.

68 Jersey Heritage Archives - L/C/139/A2/49 – Vente de Rente Livre 192 Folio 21

69 Jersey Evening Post 11 July 2008

47
The most successful members of the Deslandes family on Jersey had been ship builders. They
later became the owners of a large fleet of ships, some built by the family and some purchased
from other island ship builders. The best known of these Deslandes was George Deslandes
Senior who was born in 1784. He was another great grandson of Elie Deslandes but from one of
the many other branches of the family. George and his son George junior, who was born in 1808,
built the largest shipbuilding business on Jersey (or possibly the second largest, depending on
who you read). Ships built in the earlier days were made to order for customers. Later ships
were built as part of the fleet owned and operated by the family. At least 107 ships were built in
the family shipyards.70

Flying over Jersey

Many of the Jersey ships were built for the lucrative cod fishing trade in the North Atlantic Ocean.
Later ships, especially those owned by the Deslandes, plied the trade routes between various
West African ports and Europe. One of the larger ships, the barque Royal Sovereign, was built
in 1848. For its maiden voyage, it carried passengers and cargo from England to Adelaide,
Melbourne and Sydney. The captain was George junior’s brother, Philip Deslandes, who took on
a mission to beat the clipper Childe Harold by better sailing. There is a story that on arrival in
Port Adelaide, Captain Deslandes found out he had only just been beaten by the clipper because
of his passengers’ reluctance to sail close inshore. He was so incensed he refused to take the
Melbourne and Sydney passengers any further. He had them removed to other forwarding ships
and then advertised for cargo in Adelaide to take their place for the return voyage to England. 71
In 1850, another ship owned by George Deslandes, the barque Jane, heavily laden with copper
ore, was forced back to Adelaide after it lost its mainmast in a violent gale on the start of its
return voyage to England.72
Another ship, ubiquitously named the Deslandes, also plied an occasional route to Australian
ports around 1850. It mostly traded along the West African coast. Some of that trade near Lagos
may have been contrary to the interests of the British authorities as there was a call for the ship

70 The Island Wiki – George Deslandes and Son, Shipbuilders and Shipowners
71 Flemington Spectator 29 August 1918, page 6
72 The Argus 3 May 1850, page 2

48
Deslandes to be impounded.73 It is unlikely to have carried slaves but it may have carried cargo
to and from local rulers who had been barred by the British in connection with the slave trade.
By 1840 Jersey islanders had started emigrating to Australia either as assisted or unassisted
immigrants. Many members of the Deslandes families would join them, particularly in the 1850s.
Assisted immigrants had their
passage paid for them by the
colonial Government. On arrival
they were obliged to meet the
Government’s work requirements
until the cost of their passage was
assuaged.
Kezia Deslandes was 18 when she
emigrated to Australia with her 25
year old brother, Charles, and his
23 year old wife, Olivia, and their
one year old son, also named
Charles. With them was Kezia’s
20 year old sister Louisa.74 Also
on board was another relation,
St Helier in the late 1800s - The Island Wiki
Kezia’s 12 year old niece, Elizabeth
Ann Deslandes. She was the daughter of Philip Deslandes, an older half-brother of Kezia, born
to Jeanne, the first wife of Kezia’s father. Just to complete the family circle, they were all joined
by Kezia’s aunt, Catherine (her mother’s sister) and her husband James Brett Higgs who had
also decided to emigrate to Australia.
Young Elizabeth’s parents, Philip and Eliza Deslandes, were living with their other children at
Ann Lane, St Helier, just around the corner from where Kezia’s family lived in Belmont Road.
Although the families were obviously very dear to each other, it must have been wrenching for
Philip and Eliza to see their young daughter leave on a potentially perilous voyage for a new life
on the other side of the world. Perhaps they were waiting to see how well these Deslandes settled
in the new colony before deciding to
make the voyage themselves. A more
likely reason is that Eliza had given
birth to a son, Charles Alexander
Deslandes, in January 1854 and her
health, or the baby’s health, may not
have been up to a long sea voyage.
Philip and Eliza, however, would soon
emigrate to Australia with some of
their other children.
Kezia and company packed up
whatever possessions they could wear
or carry (extra luggage cost more)
having booked to sail on the barque
Deslandes Shipyards - The Island Wiki
Evening Star from St Helier, bound for
Adelaide and then Melbourne at a cost of £21 each. The passengers were all from the Channel
Islands with 95 coming from Jersey. The Jersey people most likely would have known each
other.

73The Lagos Consulate 1851-1861 - Robert Sydney Smith 1979

74Index to Unassisted Inward Passenger Lists to Victoria 1852-1923 – Public Record Office of
Victoria

49
The Evening Star was a ship of 847 tons, built of oak and was one of the largest ships built in a
Jersey boatyard. This voyage to Australia, leaving on 22 August 1854, with 135 emigrants and
various cargo was under the command of Captain Phillip de Ste Croix. This was the ship’s
maiden voyage.
According to the Channel Islands web site, The Island Wiki, the lead up to the maiden voyage
was reported in Les Chroniques de Jersey as follows:

“Since her arrival …. In St Helier …. The Evening Star has been visited daily
by a crowd of the curious who have come to admire the beautiful and
grandiose proportions of the colossal ship. Visitors are particularly struck by
the elegance and comfort of its 36 foot long vast salon with its polished walnut
furniture, its four suspended lamps, its moveable back chairs and the
spaciousness and good ventilation of its cabins, which are situated on both
sides of the ship. When standing in the magnificent salon (main hall) one
feels, despite one’s self, that one could undertake a voyage to Australia
aboard the Evening Star if powerful considerations did not attach us to our
native soil.

The steerage level where a large number of carpenters are busy building
cabins for the Second Class passengers is very large and well ventilated and
will easily be able to accommodate at least 150 passengers.”

On route, the Evening Star made port at Pernambuco on the coast of Brazil before heading back
out to sea. The voyage took three months and they arrived in Semaphore (Port Adelaide) on 24
November 1854. This was not the most propitious of times to travel by ship. Great Britain and
France were at war with Russia in what would become known as the Crimean War and Russian
naval ships were out on the high seas in both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.
The colonial government in Sydney was alert to the threat of Russian forces and had built
fortifications around Sydney Harbour, including Fort Denison, to deal with the threat. However,
the passenger ships were built for speed and their captains were confident of being able to outrun
any heavier navy ships. The Crimean War took place between 1853 and 1856 and was caused
by Russian expansion colliding with French prestige. The British alone had 21,000 deaths with
16,000 of them from disease.
On arrival in South Australia the ship was inspected by the local health officer who was less than
impressed with the state of cleanliness on board.
After leaving Port Adelaide the Evening Star continued its voyage with its remaining 107
passengers, arriving in Melbourne on 30 December 1854. The ship was duly inspected and

Drawings of the bow and stern of the Evening Star - The Island Wiki

50
details of the passengers were recorded. The passengers disembarked on 1 January 1855 after
the ship was given medical clearance.75 Among the many immigrants to arrive about this time
were the Polish Jews, Alfred and Rebecca Isaacs, whose son, Isaac Isaacs, was born less than a
year after their arrival. Isaac would have a spectacular career that would see him become Chief
Justice of the High Court of Australia and then the first Australian born Governor General.
The voyage of the Evening Star would be the greatest single movement of emigrants from the
Channel Islands to Australia. It was also the last large group from the islands to make the
voyage. Letters sent back to family on the islands from earlier arrivals told of disillusionment
and hardship. The overwhelming number of emigrants constantly arriving from around the world
severely reduced the opportunities to find gold or work. Islanders now began looking to North
America for better prospects.76

The Evening Star returned to Jersey with a cargo mostly of wool, copper and gold dust. It is
likely that within the first year Charles, Louisa and Kezia set themselves up at Collingwood.
Kezia’s sister Louisa soon met a man named Richard Anstis, a Londoner who was 13 years older
than her and who had arrived in the colony a year earlier than Louisa. The relationship
flourished and they married on 22 February 1856 at the same St Peter’s Church in Melbourne
where Kezia would marry in two years’ time. Kezia was a witness who signed the marriage
register. The other person to witness the marriage was James Brett Higgs, the husband of Kezia’s
and Louisa’s aunt, Catherine. Louisa had quickly found happiness and looked forward to a good
life in the new world. It helped that Richard owned a number of livery stables at Collingwood
and was considered well off.
Catherine and James Higgs must have brought
with them a significant amount of capital. By
1856, James was the owner of freehold land at
Windsor within the St Kilda district. This land
ownership entitled James to be recorded as a voter
on the Electoral Roll.77 Over the next few years
James extended his property assets by acquiring
some three and four room cottages in Union Street
and John Street, Prahran which were let to
respectable tenants.78 Catherine and James were
sufficiently well off to return home to Jersey for an
extended visit in 1861. They show up on the 1861
Census for Jersey, as visitors, staying with
Catherine’s sister, Ann Ennis, at Pier Road, St
Helier, next door to where her other sister Kezia
Deslandes senior lived with her family, including
their father Samuel Stratton.
As emigrants to Australia usually had no idea of
where they were going to reside after arrival, it
usually took some time for details of new
permanent addresses to reach back home.
Consequently, letters sent from home were
addressed to the person at the arrival city with the
name of the ship they had travelled on. The
Advertisement for assisted passage to
General Post Office at Melbourne regularly printed
Sydney
a list of unclaimed letters that had been received

75 The Argus 1 January 1855, page 4

76 The Channel Islands and Australia: Maritime Links in the 1850s – Alan Jamieson 1983
77 Victoria Electoral Roll 1856
78 Victoria Rate Books 1857-1858

51
from ships and the list was regularly published in The Age. Louisa Deslandes’ name appeared
in one of those lists in November 1856, indicating how long it took for news of her marriage to
travel back home. Louisa would have gone to the Post Office to obtain her letter or arranged for
the letter to be forwarded on to her.79
Louisa’s first child was born in 1857 but his tragic death the following year was probably the
start of the downturn that beset Louisa and Richard. Although a daughter was born in 1859,
the couple made the decision to abandon Australia for better fortune in London. They had six
more children in London between 1861 and 1877 where Richard worked variously as a coachman
and cab driver. Richard died in 1903 at the age of 84 but he was at the time of his death a
Pauper Inmate of the Workhouse at Camberwell, a London suburb to the south of Southwark.
Louisa fared little better. She started going blind when she was about 55 and by 1901 she was
fully blind and living away from her husband in a nursing home at Calais Street, Camberwell
that catered for elderly or infirm ladies. Louisa died in 1920 at the age of 85.
Many members of the wider Deslandes family would make the voyage to Australia, mostly as
unassisted immigrants but with more success than Louisa. Some of their stories are included
the next chapter.

A busy pier at Melbourne’s port

79 The Age 1 November 1856, page 6

52
 3 - A Digression with the Deslandes

John and Jane Deslandes (1)

John Deslandes and Jane Laurens Married 1836

Children:

John Deslandes b 1836 d 1930 93 years

George Deslandes b 1837 d 1914 77 years

Thomas Deslandes b 1840 d 1840 0 years

Thomas Philippe Deslandes b 1841 d 1869 28 years

Jane Mary Deslandes b 1842 d 1914 72 years

Elizabeth Sarah Deslandes b 1845 d 1935 89 years

Daniel Deslandes b 1846 d 1846 0 years

Mary Anne Deslandes b 1847 d 1890 42 years

Anne Deslandes b 1849 d 1926 77 years

Daniel Deslandes b 1851 d 1918 67 years

Philip Thomas Deslandes b 1852 d 1935 82 years

Eliza Deslandes b 1854 d 1934 80 years

William Frederick Deslandes b 1858 d 1951 92 years

Among the other passengers on the same voyage of the Evening Star were members of another
family branch of Deslandes from Jersey. The 1851 Census for Jersey shows that a John
Deslandes owned a farm of 11 acres in the Vingtaine of Coin Hatain in the parish of St Lawrence
which is in the middle of Jersey.
John Deslandes was born in 1813 and baptised with the name Jean. He grew up on the farm
which had been in his family for generations. He later worked as a road builder to supplement
the farm income. John married Jane Laurens in 1836. He and Jane boarded the Evening Star

53
 with their 10 children (two others had previously died as
infants).80 John’s mother was Anne de St Croix who most likely
was a close relative of the ship’s captain.
The family disembarked with the other Adelaide passengers at
Semaphore, a stopping off location on the coast near Port
Adelaide in South Australia. The port had yet to be constructed
and Semaphore was as close as a ship could get to conveniently
unload cargo and passengers.
It seems that Adelaide was the destination of a third of the
passengers. This was probably due to the current campaign in
Britain to recruit immigrant workers to South Australia, which
had become a separate colony in 1834 (long before Victoria). The
new colony was set up to favour hard working rural labourers and
their families who would grow wheat and raise sheep and
generally build prosperity, without the shackle of convicts and
John Deslandes Senior lesser denizens of society to hold them back. The recruitment
campaign was very successful with thousands of migrants
arriving mostly from Britain and Germany. Seven ships full of Channel Islanders arrived in
South Australia in 1854, which followed six ships in the previous year. 81
The family first resided at The Pinery near Alberton to the south of Port Adelaide before settling
as farmers on Section 94 of the Hundred of Yatala at Glanville on the Lefevre Peninsular, not far
from Semaphore. They called their 40 acre holding Jersey Farm. John and Jane managed to
produce one more child after arriving in the colony.
The farm was located close to the lavish stone mansion known as Glanville Hall, built in 1856
by John Hart, who would become the first premier of South Australia.
John was 62 when he died on 7 November 1874, suffering from
dropsy and heart failure.82 Jane made it into the new century,
reaching the age of 91 when she died on 3 August 1903. Their
children were also excellent at reproduction. By the time of her
death, Jane had 49 grandchildren and 35 great grandchildren,
leaving behind an amazingly large succession of Deslandes in South
Australia. She had lived continuously at Jersey Farm since her
arrival in the colony.83 Most of her children, however, had died
before her.
One child, the eldest and also named John, became the town
planner and city engineer for Port Adelaide. He had an even longer
life than his mother, reaching the age of 93. When the younger John
was an apprentice ship carpenter on Jersey, he assisted in the
building of the Evening Star that would bring his family to Australia.
On the voyage he helped the ship’s carpenter repair damage to the
vessel caused by a severe storm in the Bay of Biscay. 84 His
John Deslandes Junior
companion on the voyage was his good friend and fellow shipwright,
Phillip Le Cornu who went on to establish a cabinet making business in Adelaide in 1861 which

80 The Register (Adelaide) 13 October 1926 – Obituary of John Deslandes Jnr.

81 The Australian People – An Encyclopedia of the Nation, Its People and Their Origins - James
Jupp 2001, page 195
82 South Australian Register 5 December 1874, page 7 Supplement
83 The Register 6 August 1903, page 5
84 The Advertiser 18 October 1928, page 13

54
later became the largest furniture and carpet business in South Australia. The Le Cornu family
ran the business until 2008.
John junior’s first employment off the family farm was at Fletcher’s Slip at Birkenhead. John
also found to combine travel with work. He once sailed to China on a trading ship. John married
Jane Berry in 1861. Ten years later he was sent by the South Australian government to build a
floating bridge in the Northern Territory.85 Overland travel that far north was unheard of in those
days so the trip was made by sea on the Ellen Lewis. On the first day the new bridge was to be
used, a steam ship arrived to remove everyone as the government had decided to abandon the
project.

Site of Jersey Farm – Section 94, Hundred of Yatala

After returning from the Northern Territory, John junior ran a contracting business for the next
20 years, making most of the roads in the Port Adelaide district and building a large number of
houses.
John and Jane had four children between 1861 and 1869 but their two boys died in early infancy.
Their two daughters later married but died in their early 30s.
John junior’s hard work for the Glanville area wore him out and his health suffered. His health
was also affected by a very public dispute with Joseph Hay, the Scottish born superintendent of
the government dockyard at Glanville. John and other road contractors bought silt dredged from
the port for use on roadworks for the council and for private use including for resale to others.
The silt for council works cost 6 pence per ton but it cost a shilling for private use. The difference
in cost was seen as arbitrary by the council and the contractors as disposal of the silt was seen
as a favour to the dockyard. As well, the dockyard frequently charged no cost when the stockpile
was high. John was singled out by Hay as a rorter of the scheme and in reply, John had a letter
published in the local paper where he gave Hay a very strong rebuke. Hay considered the
response was malicious and, backed by the Marine Board which had responsibility for the
dockyard, took proceedings against John for criminal defamation.86
Well attended meetings were soon held in Glanville to express outrage against Hay and support
for John who was said to have only told the truth. Feelings ran high in the town with supporters

85 Port Adelaide News 27 August 1926, page 6

86 Port Adelaide News 17 February 1882, page 5

55
taking sides but the dominant mood was clearly in favour of John. At his trial in April 1882, the
prosecution against John was led by the pugnacious Attorney General, John Downer QC (later
to become the 16th Premier of South Australia). The judge told the jury that although men in
public office should not be attacked for properly carrying out their duties, they should be open
to fair criticism. The jury took a mere eight minutes to find John “Not Guilty”.
A complimentary dinner was held the following month at which many notable persons, including
two members of Parliament, expressed sympathy and admiration for John in taking on the
dockyard superintendent
who was shown to be a
much disliked person. A
banner with the word
“Truth” was prominently
displayed at the dinner.87
John was escorted to his
home by the town band and
a large group of serenaders.
On medical advice, he
packed up his wife and
children in 1888 and took
them to New Zealand for a
change of climate.
However, in 1890 after a Semaphore Beach
trip to England, he accepted
the position of City Surveyor (later the City Engineer) for the Port Adelaide Corporation. He
became the first councillor elected to the Glanville Council where he served for many years. After
his wife Jane died in 1901, John married Priscilla Heath the following year. He was 72 when he
retired from the council at the end of 1907. In January the following year he and Priscilla sailed
to Jersey to catch up with John’s many relatives.
John junior was well known in the Port Adelaide district as “the grand old man of Glanville”. He
died on 7 July 1930 at the age of 93.
John junior’s youngest brother William, (the only sibling born in the colony), was elected Mayor
of Semaphore in 1896 at the age of 34, probably the youngest person to hold that position. He
was well known in the district for his involvement in many of the
district’s societies and organisations. He was also appointed Chief
Magistrate for Semaphore. William’s son, Cecil Melville Deslandes,
served in the First World War, mostly in the 14th Battalion, the same
battalion that the famous Victoria Cross holder, Albert Jacka, served
in. Promoted to sergeant, Cecil was severely wounded on 4 July 1917
in the fighting around Messines (probably in Ploegstreet Wood) during
the third battle of Ypres in Belgium. He was taken to the 2nd Australian
Casualty Clearing Station at Trois Arbres, just over the border in
France. He died there the next day and was buried in the attached
cemetery. Cecil was a single 33 year old architectural draughtsman
when he enlisted in June 1915. At least seven of Cecil’s cousins also
served in the war. They all returned to Australia, including Lieutenant
Sgt Cecil Deslandes George Carter who won the Military Cross.

87 Port Adelaide News 9 May 1882, page 6

56
 John and Jane Deslandes (2)

John Deslandes and Jane Byng Married 1852

Children:

John William Deslandes b 1853 d 1913 60 years

Charles Austin Deslandes b 1855 d 1911 56 years

George Henry Deslandes b 1857 d 1899 42 years

Angelina Mary Jane Deslandes b 1861 d 1933 72 years

Thomas Elias Deslandes b 1862 d nk nk

Joshua Huett Deslandes b 1864 d 1881 16 years

Herbert Trinity Deslandes b 1871 d 1871 0 years

Susan Deslandes b 1867 d 1868 1 year

Emily Edith Deslandes b 1869 d 1941 72 years

Margaret Susan Deslandes b 1872 d 1956 83 years

Other members of the broader Deslandes family from Jersey had emigrated to Australia earlier
than those on the Evening Star. Another also named John Deslandes, who had been born in
1828, arrived in Melbourne in 1848 on the Lady Willing from Jersey. The Melbourne newspaper,
The Argus, reported in February 1851 that a “John Deslands” was charged with an assault on
Edwin Dark at Box Forest to the north of Melbourne. There had been previous disagreements
between the two and John claimed he had been provoked. He was fined £2. 88 He is very likely
to be the same John Deslandes.
He married Jane Byng (or Bing) in Melbourne in 1852 at the Wesleyan Church. The marriage
was registered twice, possibly to correct spelling errors.89 Jane was a 15 year old former
nursemaid from a rural area west of Athlone in Ireland when she arrived in Melbourne on board
the Diadem in January 1850. She had been an orphan of the famine years and living in a
workhouse in Enniskillen. She arrived with her older sister Mary. They were called orphans
even though, like Jane, they still had one parent.90 Jane was one of the 4,000 Irish female
orphans sent to Australia under the scheme of Earl Grey, the Secretary of State for the Colonies,
which operated from 1848 until it was suspended in May 1850. The scheme reduced the severe

88 The Argus 25 February 1851, page 2

89 Vic BDM 46A/1852 and 3717/1852
90 Irish Famine Memorial Sydney

57
overpopulation of the workhouses in Ireland and provided much needed domestic servants and
marriageable young women to meet Australian needs.
The girls were condemned in local
newspapers as being unskilled,
untrained and generally useless as
well as a financial strain on Australia,
which had paid for their passage.
They were also branded harlots by
many in the community. Some ended
up with terrible lives but many others
went on to become happy and
worthwhile contributors to the
community. Jane’s first job was
working as an apprentice for Gilbert
Pippett in Russell Street, Melbourne
at the rate of £7 for 12 months. 91
After her marriage to John, she would
have 10 children between 1853 and Enniskillen Workhouse
1872.
John and Jane lived in and around Melbourne before moving in about 1856 to Sandhurst, a
name given to the highest producing goldfield in eastern Australia during the 1800s. 92 The name
lasted until 1891 when it was officially changed to Bendigo, an earlier name given to the area
that had never gone away in the mind of the older inhabitants. Jane’s sister, Mary, had married
and moved to Sandhurst a short time earlier.
The two families then moved to Inglewood to the north
west of Bendigo about 1860. John worked as a
photographer, hairdresser, tobacconist and stationer.
He was identified under the name of John Desandes
in a book named Mechanical Eye by Davies &
Stanbury 1985 and described as a little known
goldfields photographer, active in the Inglewood area
during 1866.
In one of his photographic works in about 1870 he
produced a series of albumin prints of the Berlin
Nugget found at the Berlin diggings near Inglewood.
Six prints attributed to John Deslandes, including
prints of the Berlin Nugget, were recently offered for
sale by Douglas Stewart Fine Books of Armadale,
Business logo on the back of Victoria for $1,500.
photographs John also had an interest in taxidermy. He was once
given a huge “tiger cat” (which was “not unlike the
native cat”) to stuff after it had been shot in a paddock. 93 The cat was probably one of the native
quolls.
Two of their children died in infancy, Susan in 1868 at the age of 14 months and Herbert in 1871
at the age of five months.

91 PRONI BG 14/G/4(4611) – Public Record of Northern Island

92 Bendigo Advertiser 1 March 1856, page 1 – Unclaimed letters at Sandhurst PO for “John
Deslands”
93 The Argus 4 May 1865, page 5

58
A severe storm swept through Inglewood in November 1872 causing much damage, including to
two houses that were blown flat. The large front window of John’s shop was blown in and rain
destroyed a lot of his “fancy goods” and photographic equipment.94 He would suffer more damage
in later storms.
The Police Magistrate in Bendigo for a time was John Ogier. He had a habit of treating counsel
and witnesses poorly by both his conduct and language. On one occasion in 1877 he made John
Deslandes so extremely indignant over the manner in which he was spoken to as a witness that
John started his own campaign to have Ogier removed from office. Other complaints by respected
citizens had previously been made and continued to be made. A public meeting was held where
150 citizens signed a petition calling for a formal inquiry. Ogier was eventually removed from
office but, in a practice that has never gone away, he was paid compensation by the Government
to resign. A Parliamentary Select Committee later reported that although Ogier had not broken
any laws and did his best to carry out justice, his manner had unnecessarily offended fellow
citizens.95
John had by now become very well respected, as shown by his election as a member of the
Inglewood Hospital committee and his involvement in much of the social affairs of the town.
In 1878 a local lady entered John’s shop to buy
tickets in the Melbourne Total Temperance
Abstinence Society’s Gala Raffle. John was the local
agent for buying tickets for such popular raffles and
lotteries. The lady wanted tickets for each member
of her family, except for the baby. As only one ticket
was left after the sale and the lady could not be
persuaded to buy it for the baby (she was a widow or
a deserted wife), John bought the ticket in his name
but presented it as a gift to the baby. Amazingly, that
ticket with the number 23,545 won first prize which
was a new cottage built in Prahran, a Melbourne
suburb not far from the coast at St Kilda. The cottage
was valued at £200.
John kept his word and transferred the cottage to the
baby’s mother.96 John’s generosity made the
newspapers all over Victoria and he became one of
Bendigo’s most popular citizens.
However, popularity was not enough to save John’s
fortunes. Making his act of generosity even more
remarkable, he was declared insolvent only a few
months later in July 1878 due to “falling off in
A more stylised logo from 1866
business, borrowing money at a high rate of interest,
losses in mining speculation, and pressure of creditors.”97 He was assessed as having liabilities
of £551/5/7 and assets of £121/5/10, leaving a deficiency of £430/0/9. His assets were
assigned for the benefit of his creditors.
John must have managed to pay off his debts or at least have had them settled because he was
soon back in business. However, in June 1881 a fire tore through part of Inglewood causing

94 The Argus 2 December 1872, page 7

95 Bendigo Advertiser 13 November 1877, page 2 and Report of the Select Committee Upon the
Case of Mr J C H Ogier 1881
96 The Australasian 30 March 1878, page 31, Bendigo Advertiser 31 December 1877, page 2 and

The Argus 1 January 1878, page 5

97 The Argus 24 July 1878, page 5

59
severe damage to John’s shop, now in Verdon Street, and to his photographic equipment and
stock. His shop was insured but his cameras and other items were not. The good news for the
town was that although the fire destroyed many businesses, it was stopped at the Deslandes
shop.98
It only got worse for John. Later in 1881 he and his son John William Deslandes were charged
with larceny of a large amount of building materials from a site in Inglewood next door to the
Deslandes business. The materials mostly comprised all of the roofing, floorboards and linings
that had been placed on the site for the erection of a new building. Much of the stolen materials
were later used on a rural selection at Hope Creek occupied by John William Deslandes and on
which he was building a public house. At their crowded committal hearing, one witness, who
was the foreman at the site from where the materials had been taken, stated:

“(John Deslandes) said (to me) he had taken the things, but he did it while
drunk. He said that the police had taken Johnny, but that he was innocent,
and stated he would go and bring everything back, and anything used or
damaged he would pay for, if witness would only let it drop.”

The witness also added that in the few weeks he knew John “he had been drunk five nights out
of six.” John listened to the evidence presented (which was thought by all present to be
conclusive of guilt) and at the end of the five hour hearing he gave up and pleaded guilty but his
son continued to plead his own innocence. Both were committed for trial and given bail. 99
At their trial the following month, the Judge said that the case was an extremely painful one,
with each of the two trying to take the blame for the other. John was a well-respected citizen
and his 46 year old wife Jane was now an invalid and needed constant care. John was described
as having a “stout build” and being blind in the left eye. The son was found guilty by the jury of
receiving stolen goods. The Judge said he would give as mild a sentence as he could and
sentenced them both to six months’ imprisonment with hard labour.100 I wonder what a harsh
sentence would have been.

Photographs taken by John Deslandes – the lady on the left is thought to

be his wife Jane

98 Bendigo Advertiser 30 June 1881, page 3

99 Bendigo Advertiser 18 November 1881, page 2 and The Argus 19 November 1881, page 10
100 Bendigo Advertiser 8 December 1881, page 3

60
Father and son were taken from Sandhurst Prison to Pentridge Gaol in Melbourne. John was
released on 14 May 1882. His son had been released the day before.
John continued to get into trouble. In 1884 he was fined £2 plus costs for illegally selling
laudanum from his hairdressing shop. This was the same fine given at that sittings to Poon
Goon for illegally selling opium.101 A
year later John was again fined £2 plus
costs on each charge of underpaying
postage by concealing papers and letters
inside newspapers.102 John certainly
showed himself to be enterprising when
it came to looking after his affairs.
John was 68 when he died at Clifton Hill
Lunatic Asylum in Melbourne on 3
August 1896 “after a lingering illness” no
doubt related to his drinking addiction.
His cause of death was recorded as a
softening of the brain which was a rather
nice way of saying senile dementia. The
Bendigo Advertiser said that “prior to his
John Deslandes and his son John William
removal to Melbourne, (he) was a very old
Deslandes – official prison photos
resident of Inglewood.”103 Jane was 67
when she died in the Melbourne suburb of Brunswick three years later on 29 August 1899.
Sadly, one of her sons, 42 year old George Deslandes, who took over the hairdressing business
at Inglewood, passed away two months before her from multiple illnesses that had left him in
hospital for months.104
It is a wonder young George lived as long as he did. When he was 13 he jumped off a cart to
grab the bridle of a wayward horse and was crushed between the horse and a building. He
vomited everything he ate and was not expected to survive his injuries but he confounded
everyone by recovering.105 When George was 32 he was again involved in a serious accident
involving a horse and cart. This time it was a dark and stormy night and the horse bolted and
galloped off at great pace with George at the reigns. A doctor, who happened to be travelling with
George, had the good sense to jump off early. On arriving at some closed railway gates, the horse
successfully jumped over the gates but the buggy failed to make the jump and was smashed to
pieces on the follow through. George was thrown to the ground somewhere in the dark.
Neighbours in fact found George lying unconscious on the railway tracks and managed to remove
him just before a passing train arrived (probably explaining why the gates were closed). Not
surprisingly, George sustained serious head and body injuries.106
George found himself in court two years later charged with stealing money from a fellow drinker
at an Inglewood hotel. The drinker had laid out banknotes on the counter totaling £26. George
helped count the money and gave the notes back but the drinker later claimed he was missing
£5 and accused George of theft. The evidence against George was flimsy and there were many
witnesses who backed George. The charge was dismissed with the bench saying George would
leave the court without a stain on his character.107

101 The Argus 23 October 1884, page 6

102 Bendigo Advertiser 2 June 1885, page 3
103 Bendigo Advertiser 6 August 1896, page 3
104 Bendigo Advertiser 16 June 1899, page 3
105 Bendigo Advertiser 20 March 1872, page 3
106 Bendigo Advertiser 22 May 1889, page 2
107 Bendigo Advertiser 6 June 1891, page 5

61
At least George was luckier than his older brother John (the unfortunate receiver of the stolen
goods). Farmer John’s body was found on the side of the road at Burke’s Flat in 1913, apparently
the victim of a lightning strike while driving sheep.108 His oldest son, Hector Deslandes, was
killed four years later at Poelcappelle in Belgium during the Battle of Passchendaele when he
was hit by shell fire. Lance Corporal Hector had been with the army since he landed at Gallipoli.
Some families have had their fair share of bad luck but this family is a standout. John and
Jane were dogged by misfortune for most of their lives. Fancy winning a State-wide raffle and
coming out empty-handed. Other families in this story had misfortunes but no family comes
close to that of John and Jane Deslandes.

Hector Leslie Deslandes on left

108 Bendigo Advertiser 13 November 1913, page 7

62
 Philip and Eliza Deslandes

Philip Deslandes and Elizabeth Seney Married 1835

Children:

Philip Charles Deslandes b 1836 d nk nk

Louisa Eliza Deslandes b 1840 d 1841 1 year

Elizabeth Ann Deslandes b 1842 d 1931 89 years

Eliza Jane Deslandes b 1843 d nk nk

Jane Deslandes b 1845 d nk nk

Priscilla Deslandes b 1846 d nk nk

Walter Deslandes b 1847 d nk nk

Melvina Deslandes b 1849 d nk nk

Philip Deslandes b 1851 d 1924 72 years

Charles Alexander Deslandes b 1854 d 1870 16 years

It was Philip and Eliza Deslandes’ 12 year old daughter Elizabeth who sailed with Philip’s half-
brother Charles and half-sister Kezia on the Evening Star on the voyage to Australia. Philip (also
known as Philippe) and Eliza (her full name was Elizabeth) soon followed with their four youngest
children. They sailed on the 1,123 ton ship the Nugget which left on 17 August 1856 carrying
386 passengers. Eliza’s 18 month old son, Charles Alexander Deslandes, was robust enough by
now to make the voyage. Philip and Eliza had married on Jersey in 1835 and had at least 10
children, born between 1836 and 1854 although it is likely that most did not survive infancy.
Daughter Elizabeth was the third eldest. The children who came on the voyage were Walter (9),
Melvina (7), Philip (4) and Charles Alexander.
46 year old Philip and all of the children survived the voyage but 40 year old Eliza did not. She
was one of eight people who died on board and she was buried at sea. 109 The ship arrived in Port
Phillip Bay (Melbourne) on 13 November 1856 but because the ship had notified port authorities
on arrival that it had cases of fever on board, it was brought to the Point Nepean Sanitary Station
where the sick were taken off. At first it was thought they may have contracted typhus fever but
this was soon dispelled and the passengers were allowed to disembark in Melbourne two days
after their arrival.110 The family was soon reunited with their daughter and sister Elizabeth at

109 Vic BDM Death Certificate 144M/1856

110 The Argus 15 November 1856, page 4 and The Age 15 November 1856, page 5

63
Collingwood. They later lived in a three room cottage in Stawell Street, West Melbourne, opposite
the contradictorily named North Melbourne railway station. The land also had a frontage to
Dryburgh Street and Philip later erected a five bedroom cottage fronting that street. The old
cottage was rented out for income. Philip was a qualified wood carver having served his
apprenticeship in Jersey. It is likely he taught the trade to his nephew, Charles William
Deslandes, and that Philip later worked for Charles. His later life was spent mostly doing general
labouring work. He was 72 when he passed away in 1882.

Elizabeth Ann Deslandes

Philip and Eliza’s daughter Elizabeth was 22 when she married 24 year old Thomas Ereaut on
21 June 1864 at St John’s Anglican Church in La Trobe Street, Melbourne. Thomas was a fellow
immigrant from Jersey. They had seven children between 1865 and 1877, with the last three
dying in infancy. During his career Thomas was variously described as a clothier (a maker of
cloth rather than clothes), a draper (a wholesaler or retailer of cloth), a hatter (mostly men’s hats
as against a milliner who made women’s hats) and a shopkeeper. In fact, his shop was in a
fashionable part of Bourke Street, Melbourne near the corner of Russell Street. The family lived
in the residence above the shop and for a time, Elizabeth’s widowed father Philip lived with them.
For leisure (or perhaps escape), Thomas was a member of the Collingwood Draughts Club and
he represented the club in competitions for many years.
Bourke Street was always busy with shoppers. Thomas, like many of his fellow shopkeepers,
liked to display a sample of products outside the entrance to the shop. He employed a boy to
watch over the goods displayed outside because thieves were known to take advantage of the
situation. One day in 1877, two
men approached the shop and
picked a fight with the boy. While
the boy was distracted, one of the
men grabbed a great coat from a
hangar but to his alarm, the coat
was secured by an iron chain
through the sleeve that was
fastened to the door. Thomas and
a passerby were able to capture one
of the men. The other was
apprehended by police some hours
later after a violent struggle. The
men, Patrick Kelly and Thomas
Harris, were well known to the
police and had previous
convictions for stealing. As nothing
Bourke Street in the late 1800s
had been stolen, they were charged
with being in a public place with intent to commit a felony. They were found guilty and sentenced
to 12 months in prison with hard labour.111
Thomas’ two storey brick shop almost came to grief in 1888 when a fire broke out in the residence
above the auction rooms next door. Fortunately, firemen from insurance companies and from
the Carlton Brewery were able to put the fire out before it spread to the adjoining buildings.112

111 The Argus 3 August 1877, page 3 and Leader 4 August 1877, page 22
112 Weekly Times 8 December 1888, page 9

64
Two years later an enterprising 13 year old boy from Sydney visited the shop and bought a hat
which he paid for with a gold half sovereign (with a face value of 10/-). The coin turned out to
be a six pence that had been painted with gilt. Showing that enterprise and intelligence do not
always act in unison, the boy returned to the shop the next day and tried to repeat the trick. He
was quickly detained while the police were called. 113
The Bourke Street business prospered over the years allowing Thomas and Elizabeth to relocate
to Carlton House, Wallace Street, Toorak, not far from the historic Como House and gardens.
Thomas died on 6 November 1898 at his Toorak residence at the young age of 57. He was
eulogized as “a patient sufferer at rest.”114 Elizabeth passed away on 29 May 1931 at the age of
89.

Melvina Deslandes
In 1868 Elizabeth’s 19 year old sister Melvina (sometimes later recorded as Malvina and Malvena)
married George Gay Ashton, a 25 year old who was born in Massachusetts, USA. He had
emigrated to Australia and prospered enough (probably on the goldfields) to become a hotel
keeper at Carlton. A son, given the same name as his father, was born in 1869 but died the
following year aged only six months.
At the inquest it was noted that the baby had been born healthy and strong but his mother,
Melvina, had not been able to suckle him and instead fed him bread and milk. He remained
healthy for a time but became ill suddenly and died the following day. The quality of the milk
was raised at the inquest but was ruled not to be an issue as it
always came from the same cow, twice a day. Melvina had,
however, given the baby some Atkinson & Barkers’ Royal Infants’
Preservative, a common patent medicine given for a wide range of
symptoms.
A post mortem showed the baby to be undernourished. The
conclusion was that the artificial feeding failed to sufficiently
nourish the baby who died from “exhaustion and debility”.115 It was
also stated in the report “the medicine … had nothing to do with the
cause of death.” Ominously, an inquest into another baby’s death
in England in 1886 found that a mere six drops of the same
patented medicine, which contained the opiate laudanum, had
been enough to kill the baby who had already been weakened by
illness. We now know that opium caused severe malnutrition in
infants.
A year after the baby’s death, Melvina gave birth to a daughter who
they called Lucy Malvina Ashton (they probably realised that a mistake in spelling had been
made when Melvina was baptised back in 1849).
1870 was not a good year for Melvina’s family. Not only did she suffer the loss of her baby son,
George Ashton, but her 16 year old brother, Charles Alexander Deslandes (who was the baby
when the family emigrated) died on 13 April.116 He had been suffering from rheumatic fever for
some time and was later found to have an enlarged heart and pericarditis, or inflammation of

113 Ovens and Murray Advertiser 10 May 1890, page 10

114 The Argus 8 November 1898, page 1
115 The Telegraph, St Kilda, Prahran and South Yarra Guardian 17 December 1870, page 6
116 The Argus 14 April 1870, page 8 and Vic BDM Death Certificate 4038/1870

65
some of the tissue surrounding the heart. His passing took over a month and would not have
been easy.

Philip Deslandes
Melvina’s younger brother Philip, named after his father (but also known as Phillip), lived the
rest of his life in Melbourne but does not appear to have married. He worked as a wood carver
and spent much of his time in Findon Street, Hawthorn. He likely learnt his trade from his father
and later worked with his father at his cousin Charles’ business in Swanston Street. He may
also have carried on a wood carving business in Sydney for a time, during the 1870s. 117
Later in this story there will be many references to the economic depression that gripped
Australia in the 1890s. It started in Melbourne where land speculation and heavy borrowing got
out of control. The malaise soon spread to Sydney and the rest of the country. Many banks
collapsed leaving depositors, borrowers and shareholders with extreme hardship. Businesses
soon became insolvent, in turn causing personal bankruptcies to soar. Very few people were
ever held accountable for the major losses that were suffered but across the community, there
was a deep seated anger against the ruling and big business classes who were held responsible
for the calamity.
Philip junior found himself on a jury at one of the biggest trials to come out of the 1890s
depression. After the Mercantile Bank in Melbourne failed in 1892, two directors and a manager
were charged with making a false report and balance sheet with the intent to deceive
shareholders. One of the two directors was Sir Matthew Davies, a major land speculator who
had earlier been the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly. His defence counsel was the Irish born
Frank Gavan Duffy who would later become Chief Justice of the High Court. Duffy himself
became insolvent due to land speculation but he avoided bankruptcy when his creditors accepted
3d in the £ to clear his debts (he later repaid the debts in full when he was back in funds).

The three accused men– Sir Matthew Davies, Thomas Munz and Frederick
Millidge - drawn by a court sketch artist
Another defence counsel was Collingwood born Alfred Deakin who became the second Prime
Minister of Australia. He would have been the first Prime Minister but for an amazing blunder

117 Advocate 18 August 1877, page 15

66
by the newly appointed Governor General, the Earl of Hopetoun, an English peer who was
arrogantly ignorant of the politics of the first Parliament.
The sensational trial was avidly followed by the whole country and lasted 13 days. When the
judge gave his summing up to the jury, he made it plain what he thought of the prosecution
case. He told the jurors “if the jury could … acquit the prisoners, every man who was not
vindictive, ignorant or prejudiced would rejoice.”118 Inevitably perhaps, the jury took an hour and
a half before deciding to acquit the accused. The jurors had been repeatedly told that negligence,
carelessness, complacency and apathy, no matter how reprehensible, did not constitute a
criminal offence unless there was a clear intention to deceive. Phillip, whose address was
published at the beginning of the trial, may have needed to keep a low profile in the community
for some years after the trial.
Philip lived many of his later years in Cunningham Street, South Yarra. He died in 1924 at the
age of 72, the same age as his father.

Walter Deslandes
Like his father and brother Philip, Walter worked mainly as a wood carver.
He was 23 when he married 19 year old Annie Jane Andrews in 1871. The following year Annie
gave birth to a son, who was also called Walter. Annie died in 1874 at the age of 22, probably in
connection with the birth of her second child, William. To make matters worse, the infant William
died the following year when he was 10 months old.
The unlucky Walter later tried his luck again when he married Florinda Rowell (nee Dove) in
1883. Florinda had an earlier marriage to George Rowell in 1861. Two children followed that
marriage, a son George and a daughter Jane. Florinda suffered similar tragedies to those
suffered by Walter when first Jane died as a baby and then her husband George passed away
four years later. Florinda herself only had a few years of marriage to Walter before she passed
away in 1886. I have no details as to the fate of Walter after this time.

118 The Age 8 March 1894, page 5

67
 Charles and Olivia Deslandes

Charles Deslandes and Olivia Simpson Married 1852

Children:

Charles William Deslandes b 1853 d 1916 63 years

George Edwin Deslandes b 1855 d 1917 62 years

Olivia Kezia Deslandes b 1857 d 1933 76 years

Ann Catherine Deslandes b 1860 d 1940 80 years

Theodore James Deslandes b 1862 d 1922 60 years

Emily Jane Deslandes b 1865 d 1940 75 years

Ada Alice Deslandes b 1868 d 1905 37 years

Alfred Ernest Deslandes b 1872 d 1916 44 years

Soon after arriving on the Evening Star, Charles and Olivia Deslandes and their young son,
Charles William, moved to Collingwood, a residential area on the north east fringe of the city.
Here they were close to their Jersey relatives.
George Edwin Deslandes, was born in March 1855, the year his parents first stepped foot in their
adopted country. Olivia had become pregnant a month before
they sailed. The voyage may have been quite eventful for her.
Charles continued to work in metal foundries and casting
yards as a moulder and metal worker.
Charles and Olivia did not stay long in Collingwood as they
were soon caught up in the gold rush to the newer Victorian
goldfields. Gold had been discovered across many parts of
Victoria in the early 1850s and thousands of fossickers flocked
to each site as they were discovered. These fortune hunters
quickly moved on if a new site promised easier pickings.
Many thousands descended on the Whroo-Rushford area,
about 160km north of Melbourne, when gold was first
discovered there in 1853. Within a year, only a core group of
miners remained to extract the wealth using heavier
machinery. Charles and Olivia most likely packed up all of
their worldly possessions and moved to this area not long after Charles Deslandes
George was born.

68
According to the 1863 Victorian Rate Book for the Shire of Waranga, the family was living in a
log hut at Growler Jacks in the Whroo area. The hut was on Crown land over which Charles had
obtained a mining right. Later rate books recorded Charles working as either an engine driver
or mine labourer at Bailieston, a hamlet formerly known as Coy’s Diggings, just south of Whroo.
The mining right was later shown as being shared with William Berry who also built a cottage on
the site. The two families were later united in 1879 when Charles and Olivia’s daughter, Ann
Catherine Deslandes (known as Annie), married William Ellis Berry, the son of William Berry and
his wife Esther. The marriage was celebrated at Emerald Street, Collingwood which was said to
be the residence of Annie’s father, Charles (suggesting that for some time at least Charles and
Olivia had a Melbourne residence). 119
A further six children would be born to Charles and Olivia between 1857 and 1872. For most
of the births, Olivia went down to Collingwood as she neared her confinement. Here she was
close to supporting relatives and better medical attention. The Whroo cemetery records reveal
how precarious it was to give birth on the goldfields where there was usually a complete absence
of doctors and midwives (reassuringly, all of the children survived the hardships of their early
lives and went on to make successful marriages – they each produced at least two children and
in total, Charles and Olivia would end up with at least 23 grandchildren).
Olivia was 68 when she passed away at Whroo in 1900. She was buried at the Whroo cemetery,
at the time an open ground surrounded by a forest of ironbark trees. The following year Charles
was living in a cottage owned by a Mrs Whalley, suggesting he had moved from the family
residence or had sold it. Charles was living with his daughter, Olivia Kezia Frank, at 987
Rathdowne Street, North Carlton when he died on 13 November 1904 as a result of an intestinal
blockage he suffered a few days earlier. He was 74. His daughter Olivia had married local Whroo
boy James Darroch (also known as Darrock) in 1877 and they had five children but after James’
untimely death in 1890, she married another local man, Nicholas Frank. Nicholas provided the
information for his father in law’s death certificate, including Charles’ occupation of brass
founder.

Charles William Deslandes

Charles and Olivia’s eldest son, Charles William Deslandes, became a wood carver like his uncle
Philip Deslandes.
The Deslandes family had a long history of working with wood. The ship building industry on
Jersey needed many expert ship carpenters for the planking, decking and masts as well as wood
carvers and cabinet makers to fit out the cabins and make the railings, doors and windows. The
carvers would also provide much of the intricate detailing that featured on passenger ships to
give the passengers a taste of opulence. Apprenticeships for ship carving were eagerly sought
on Jersey. They lasted at least seven years before the apprentice could become a journeyman,
allowing him the freedom of travel to find work.
It is thought that an earlier wood carving member of the Deslandes family crossed from Jersey
to England to work on at least one of the successive figureheads of Admiral Nelson’s ship, HMS
Victory. The current figurehead was fitted in 1855 at a cost of £65. It resembles the figurehead
the ship carried at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805.
Charles junior would have served an apprenticeship in Melbourne with a master carver and it is
very likely that his master was in fact his uncle, Philip Deslandes, who had arrived in Melbourne

119 Weekly Times 29 November 1879, page 22

69
with his children in 1856. Philip was a recognized wood carver before he left Jersey. One of his
sons, another Philip, also became a wood carver.
Charles junior gradually built up his own business at various locations until establishing a long
term site at 461 Swanston Street, Melbourne where he designed and carved intricate wooden
sculptures such as altar pieces and other religious carvings for churches. Beautifully carved
and painted horses and other animals for merry-go-rounds were a speciality. He also produced
cabinets, mantelpieces and other items of ornate furniture to supplement his income.
Charles junior married Ellen Baker in 1875. They had three children between 1875 and 1884.
Sadly, the middle child, William Charles Deslandes, died in 1883 when he was only four years
old. Ellen (who was mostly known as Helen) also worked in the business, mostly doing fretwork
which involved the use of fret saws, jig saws, coping saws and other small saws and chisels to
produce interlaced decorative designs. Intriguingly, some of the business directories of the day
referred to the business as “H C W Deslandes” which lends weight to Helen’s involvement. There
had been an earlier time when Charles junior was in business with John Harvey under the
business name Deslandes and Harvey.

Ornate carving and detailing at St Paul’s Cathedral, Melbourne

Char les was commissioned to help on the interior woodwork for the new St Paul’s Anglican
Cathedral in Melbourne during the late 1880s. The detailed items of wood carving, including the
Bishop’s throne and the pulpit, were supervised by an English wood carver, William Howitt, but
at least 70% of the joinery and carving were made by local workers, including Charles and
possibly other members of the family.120 Most of the wood was blackwood, sourced from South
Gippsland. The pulpit was paid for by the former Lord Mayor of Melbourne, William Cain.
In 1887 Charles reported to the police that an apprentice, 16 year old Charles Cain (apparently
no relation to William Cain) had stolen £4/4/9 and absconded from his employment. A warrant
for the arrest of the apprentice, whose parents lived near Charles’ shop, was duly issued but is
was not until March the following year that the apprentice was apprehended. 121
Perhaps Charles’ finest moment in business came when he was commissioned to carve and paint
the statues of Gog and Magog (and other ornate carvings using clear pine) to grace the elegant
Royal Arcade located in today’s Bourke Street Mall. The arcade opened in 1870 but the statues
were not installed until 1892. They are now one of the most iconic features of Melbourne history.

120 Illustrated Sydney News 31 January 1891, page 14 and The Argus 24 July 1914, page 7
121 Victoria Police Gazette 20 April 1887, page 128

70
Gog and Magog are characters from Britain’s early folklore. They figure prominently at the start
of every Lord Mayor’s Procession in London. A newspaper article in 1953 correctly identified
Charles as the maker of the statues and described him as “… a quiet, lovable old gentleman …
whose admirable profession consisted largely of making rocking horses for children and horses for
mechanical roundabouts.”122

Gog and Magog in the Royal Arcade

Charles’ business was another casualty of the depression of the 1890s. He was made insolvent
in 1896. He had assets of £90 but debts of £198/14/1. He blamed his insolvency on slackness
in trade, shrinkage in the value of his real estate and an inability to meet interest payments on
borrowed money.123
However, he had a sideline business that allowed him to see out his troubles. He was a gifted
dancer, even in his later years, and had a full repertoire of dancing styles. He became well known
as a teacher of the waltz and set up a dancing school at Collingwood where he was living. The
local paper, in which he regularly advertised, recommended the school “for those anxious to
cultivate the Terpsichorean art”, a reference to the mythological Greek muse of dancing.124
Charles later moved to Clifton Hill before moving to Downshire Road, Elsternwick, a suburb to
the south of St Kilda. He named his house “St Helier”, a clear reference to St Helier on the island
of Jersey.
In 1915, the Yarraville Citizen’s Club reported that its new Honour Board for enlisted members
had been made by “H C W Deslandes”.125 This may have been among the last works made by
Charles. He died the following year on 1 February at the age of 63. Helen outlived him by
another 10 years.
Their son, Arthur William Deslandes, joined the family business and worked as a wood
machinist. Arthur had suffered from epileptic fits. On one occasion when he was 13, Helen
came home from the markets to find the house had been ransacked while Arthur was home on

122 The Age 23 June 1953, page 2

123 The Argus 23 March 1896, page 4
124 Mercury and Weekly Courier 3 May 1894, page 3
125 Weekly News 4 September 1915, page 2

71
his own. Arthur claimed that three hooded men, each over six feet, had broken in, tied him up
and pressed a saturated rag over his nose that made him drowsy. The men fled empty handed
when someone knocked on the door. Arthur gave very detailed descriptions of each of the men.
After further questioning he broke down sobbing and admitted he had made it all up. The story
“A Boy’s Imagination” made headlines in newspapers around the state. 126
Arthur enlisted as an air mechanic in the Australian Flying Corps on 1 May 1918 when he was
34. He served his time at the air base at Laverton, 17 km west of Melbourne. He was discharged
at the end of 1919.

Alfred Ernest Deslandes

Alfred was the fourth son and last child of Charles and Olivia Deslandes, having been born in
1872. He was 23 when he married Ada Collocott. He worked as a sawyer, possibly in the
business of his older brother Charles junior.
Alfred was living in Rae Street, North Fitzroy in 1897 when his house was broken into. The
thieves stole cash and a number of valuable items, including silver watches, a gold albert watch
chain and gold earrings valued at £13.127
Alfred was also an early motoring enthusiast. His motor car registration number and licence
plate (No 162) was one of the earliest registered in the State of Victoria. 128

Alfred (originally baptised

as Arthur) Deslandes, with
his wife Ada and first child

126 The Argus 30 March 1898, page 6

127 Mercury and Weekly Courier 4 March 1897, page 3
128 Victoria Police Gazette 12 January 1915, page 16

72
 George Deslandes

In the goldfields at Bendigo, the most productive quartz reefs were found at Victoria Hill near the
settlement of Ironbark and from 1852 many people invested in the various mines that dotted the
hill. A George Deslandes owned a third share of one of the best gold claims on Victoria Hill. He
was appointed the secretary of the Union Quartz Mining Company which was formed to mine the
claim through its investors. The claim was described by the local Assay, Bullion and Share
Brokering Officer as “unrivalled by any other on that far-famed hill.”129 George also owned a third
share in another claim on the hill known as Jackass Reef of which the same Officer said:

“(it) promises to surpass in richness every other yet opened on that great hill;
and if the adjacent claims have the good fortune to strike the same vein … the
produce from the Victoria Reef will be almost fabulous.”

At the height of the mines’

prosperity, George Deslandes
suddenly decided in 1858 to
sell his shares in the two claims
as well as his house at Ironbark
and furniture and other assets
to return to England, clearly as
a matter of some urgency.130
I have not found a record of any
such George Deslandes arriving
or leaving either Victoria or New
South Wales at the relevant
The town of Ironbark in the 1850s
times. I strongly suspect that
he is George Deslandes junior, the son of George Deslandes the shipbuilder and shipowner from
St Helier on Jersey.
He may have sailed with his brother
Capt Philip Deslandes (yet another
with that name) on one of his many
voyages to the colonies or on one of
the other Deslandes ships that did
the Australia run. Sailing on a
family ship as an owner’s son may
well be the reason for not appearing
on passenger and crew lists. He
may have been accompanied to
Australia by his wife Jane and their
children but more likely he came
without them.
A notice appeared in The Argus on 4
March 1856, page 8 asking George
Miners on the Victoria Reef on Victoria Hill c 1853

129Bendigo Advertiser 13 July 1857, page 2

130Bendigo Advertiser 6 January 1858, page 3, 15 January 1858, page 3 and 21 January 1858,
page 2

73
Deslandes to contact his cousin J Gallichan at the Melbourne Post Office. A John or Jonathan
Gallichan had arrived in Melbourne in September 1854. A search of the 1851 Census for Jersey
reveals a number of Gallichans, including a John Gallichan. If George did travel with his brother
Philip it had to be before 1855 because Philip died suddenly at the age of 29 on 1 December 1854
at the goldfield town of
Castlemaine. It is unusual to find
a committed sea captain at one of
Victoria’s earliest goldfields,
situated between Bendigo and
Ballarat. The fact that Philip was
at the goldfields gives some weight
to the view that his brother George
may have been there as well.
Perhaps Philip and George arrived
at the goldfields together and after
Philip’s death, George relocated to
Bendigo and Victoria Hill. George
must have been well funded to buy
his shares, property and furniture
and it is hard to imagine any other One of the claims on Victoria Hill
Deslandes from Jersey having that
kind of capital.
George Deslandes senior, who was running the family shipping business in Jersey, died in
November 1857 at the age of 72. Although a telegraph had been installed between Melbourne
and Bendigo in 1855, there was no connection outside Australia until 1872. George junior may
have received news by letter of his father’s serious illness but, unbeknown to George junior, the
letter arrived after his father’s death. It is a good explanation for George’s sudden departure
from the country only a few months after his father died.
George junior took over the running of the family shipping
business back on Jersey. His wife Jane died in 1861 leaving
him with a young family. The business continued to prosper,
at least for a while. Between 1851 and 1861 the business
employed over 200 workers but, as the demand for wooden
sailing vessels declined and other economic woes beset
Jersey, the business finally went bankrupt in 1878, joining
the many other businesses that floundered in the changing
conditions. George would have been much better off selling
the shipping business in 1858 and keeping his shares in the
gold claims. During its 97 years of operation, the Victoria
Hill mine yielded about $8bn worth of gold in today’s values
and was the deepest mine in the world at 4,613 feet. The
mine appeared on Australia’s first pound note printed in
1913. Ironbark today is a suburb of Bendigo.
A photo thought to be of
George junior was 84 when he died at St Helier on 20
George Deslandes, senior
January 1893 but he is still remembered as one of the most
and junior and their wives –
the Island Wiki
important people the island has produced.

74
 4 - Following the Gold

George Rees & Kezia Martha Deslandes Married

1858

Children:

Kezia Louisa Rees b 1859 d 1940 80 years

Louisa Elizabeth Rees b 1861 d 1917 56 years

George T J Rees b 1865 d 1920 54 years

Theodore Rees b 1867 d 1868 1 years

Malvina Olivia Rees b 1869 d 1925 55 years

Alice V J Rees b 1872 d 1949 76 years

Charles Marriott Rees b 1874 d 1945 72 years

Adelina Marion Rees b 1877 d 1970 93 years

Herbert P E Rees b 1880 d 1962 81 years

Mudgee
By the end of 1858 George and Kezia Rees had packed up all of their worldly possessions as they
prepared to head north to try their luck in the booming New South Wales town of Mudgee. Kezia
farewelled her relatives in Collingwood and wondered if and when she would see them again.
They travelled slowly along the rough tracks and infant road system that connected Victoria to
inland New South Wales until they eventually arrived at Mudgee in the central west of the colony.
They may have even travelled by Cobb & Co coach as that company had been established in
Melbourne in 1853 and by 1858 was expanding its operations well into New South Wales.
Mudgee was a small agricultural village dating back to 1821. The village officially became a town
in 1838 and was only the second settled town in New South Wales west of the Great Dividing
Range. The first settled town was Bathurst. Mudgee officially became a town before Melbourne.
Gold was discovered in the area in 1851, mainly along the Cudgegong River and one of its
tributaries, Meroo Creek. The town quickly became a major supply centre for the goldfields and
by the time George and Kezia arrived it had a population of over 1,000 people which was growing
by the day as many more fossickers arrived to work claims at newly opened sites.

75
We don’t know what work George found after first arriving in Mudgee. He may have joined the
fossickers in the creeks or he may have looked for work more suited to his talents in the supply
of liquor or food.
Whenever a new gold strike was
announced, a horde of fossickers
would soon arrive hoping that this
strike would yield the longed for
riches. Tent camps would soon
follow, built high enough above the
creeks to avoid flooding. Tents would
be augmented by bits of hessian,
calico, bark and sheets of iron.
Humpies, wattle and daub or slab
huts gradually replaced the tents.
Stone chimneys and fireplaces
became a sign of comfort, especially
for families. Kitchens were usually Market Street Mudgee
built outside to avoid fire hazards.
Shops also graduated from tents to more substantial buildings. A shop was identified from the
other buildings by the advertising flag flown on the roof. Many stores, regardless of type, sold a
wide variety of goods including clothing, mining equipment and the food staples – tea, sugar and
flour.
Beef steaks and lamb chops were popular but meat was expensive with ham and bacon
considered luxury items. A lamb stew with damper was the basic fare on the goldfields and was
a popular meal at the local inns. A laconic miner once said “We had to content ourselves with
mutton and damper three days a week and damper and mutton on the other four days.” Eggs
were scare as were chickens because they were easily stolen. Butchers would buy cattle, sheep
and other animals from local landowners. The animals were slaughtered each day as meat could
not be kept unless well salted. Merchants often found it difficult to keep up with the demand for
flour.
If a fossicker managed to avoid influenza and pneumonia while working in water in all kinds of
severe weather, there were plenty of other hazards ready to do him in, including infected cuts,
broken bones, snake and spider bites, illicit alcohol and fighting. Dysentery from poor sanitation
was rife on the goldfields and children, in particular, often succumbed to scarlet fever and
diphtheria. Carpenters were in high demand for the making of fossicking equipment, pit props
and coffins. This was the world that George and Kezia found when they arrived at the Mudgee
goldfields.
Once they were settled, they soon set about making a family of their own. On 19 September
1859 they became parents for the first time when 22 year old Kezia delivered a healthy baby girl.
They named the baby Kezia Louisa Rees.131 The birth register records that George was working
as a storekeeper at Mudgee. Kezia was obviously named for her mother and grandmother and
the name Louisa was probably a nod to Kezia’s older sister Louisa Kezia Deslandes (again
recycling Christian names through the generations). By coincidence, the Louisa River was one
of the biggest goldfield sites in the Mudgee area and not far from where George and Kezia were
later living.

131 NSW BDM Birth Certificate 9953/1859

76
 Devil’s Hole
On 17 April 1860 George Rees officially became the licensee of a small public house called the
Albion Hotel. It was located 21 km south of Mudgee at the grim sounding settlement of Devil’s
Hole, off the road between Mudgee and Hill End.132 The creek running through Devil’s Hole rises
in the tableland between the Turon
River and Meroo Creek and it quickly
became a much worked site after gold
was found there in 1851. After an
initial burst of frenzy, fossickers left
the site for more hopeful locations.
Devil’s Hole had a resurgence just
before George and Kezia took up
residence and soon impressive
amounts of payable gold were being
taken from that part of the creek bank
known as Eaglehawk Gully.
Devil’s Hole was probably the name
Remains of spoil from the early diggings at Devil’s
given to a particular excavation site
Hole
on the creek that initially yielded good
returns of gold. Early prospectors soon referred to the whole length of the creek as Devil’s Hole
Creek. Official maps later changed the name to Kinggarragan Creek and then Spring Creek. It
was again officially changed to Clarke’s Creek in 1862 after an ex-convict miner who lived near
the junction with Long Creek.
A report in the Empire gave an alternative account for the naming of Devil’s Hole: 133

“The very ugly name of this very pleasing little creek arose from the
exclamation of a shepherd who lost his sheep in the upper portion of it, that it
was ‘the devil’s hole.’ The diggings extend between two and three miles up
the creek from Long Creek.”

Up to eight fairly ramshackle public houses were built at Devil’s Hole in the early days when the
population was at its peak of about 500 people. By 1859 there were just two public houses left
operating, including the Albion Hotel.134
The other public house had the unsurprising name of the Golden Nugget. One of the earlier
hotels was called the Welcome Inn but it had closed shortly before the time of George’s arrival.
The Albion Hotel had originally been called the Commercial Inn and was first licensed by Moses
Bailey in 1856.135 He changed the name to the Albion Hotel in 1857. Moses was one of the two
people who went surety for George Rees when he took over the licence of the Albion Hotel. The
other surety was John Smith of Windeyer who may have been the John Smith who became the
licensee of the Carrier’s Arms in Mudgee later that year.
John Smith’s six year old son died in Mudgee early the following year. Moses Bailey relocated to
Mudgee where he owned land in the town. Being a publican had its downside as Moses showed
when he died on 15 November 1880 after he was admitted into the Lunatic Asylum at Parramatta.

132 NSW State Records – State Archives – Publican’s Licences 1830-1861 - Licensee No
0365/1860 (NRS 14403 [7/1512]; Reel 1241)
133 The Empire 6 November 1852, page 2
134 The Glint of Gold – Kerrin Cook and Daniel Garvey 1999.
135 The Empire 7 August 1856, page 8

77
Early map of the Meroo Creek gold mining area showing Devil’s Hole Creek and
Kinggarragan Creek, (later Clarke’s Creek) – NSW State Records (Map 2856)

78
George probably joined a small group of diggers at Devil’s Hole. During the day he would be
working the claim as hard as the others. Late in the day he would relieve Kezia at the hotel and
look after the saloon and bar when it became packed with men from the diggings. By this time
much of the gold being removed came from underground reefs which required more mining skills
than fossickers had. In later life George would be described as a mine manager and it may have
been here at Devil’s Hole that George started to gain his mining experience.
Around the time George started at the Albion Hotel, an Englishman named George Theodore
Blakers had arrived at Devil’s Hole Creek and recorded in his journal: 136

“The part of the goldfield we selected had a strange name. It was called
Devil’s Hole. Why it was so called I know not. It was certainly not a
particularly ugly place. I remained till near the end of the year. On one
occasion we found in our claim a beautiful nugget. Had it come out of a
jeweller’s shop it could not have been more perfect. It was the shape of a
heart; and strange to say, there was actually a small hole (of course water
worn) just in the right spot. It required nothing but a silk ribbon, where it
would be quite ready to be hung around a lady’s neck.

One day I was standing at the edge of a large hole, very near to our claim, in
which an acquaintance of mine was at work. He was employed in picking
washdirt. Suddenly it seemed as if the man had gone mad. He threw down
his tools, and began to kick something about the bottom of his claim. With
every kick he used one of the following expressions ‘Here is your father you
rascal?’ ‘Where is your mother?’ ‘Where are all your brothers and sisters?’
Then stooping, and picking up what he had been kicking about, he threw it
up to me saying ‘What do you think of that old man?’ It was a splendid
nugget, about the size of a child’s fist.”

At about the same time, a correspondent for the Sydney Morning Herald reported:137

“The Devil’s Hole Creek, once so famous for the immense auriferous deposits
discovered on its banks and in the adjacent flats, has proved itself not yet
bankrupt and I would now prefer to have the gold remaining in it, to what has
been taken from it.”

An earlier report in the Sydney Morning Herald noted:138

“The number of diggers at work (at Devil’s Hole) was, however, limited. I
counted between 40 and 50, but these were not all, most of the holes
employing one or two of a party, working at various depths from the surface,
and who were, considerably hidden from sight. I saw one man take out a
nugget which appeared to me to weigh about 1 and a half ounces which he
deposited in his trousers pocket with the utmost apparent indifference, and
immediately throwing down his tools, adjourned to the nearest ‘public’ to
celebrate the occasion.”

No doubt the miner would have been well looked after at the Albion Hotel. It would have been
common for George to buy gold from the miners in payment for food and drink. In turn George

136 A Useless Young Man – an autobiography of life in Australia 1849-64 – George Blakers
137 The Sydney Morning Herald 8 March 1859, page 3
138 The Sydney Morning Herald 1 November 1852, page 1

79
would sell the gold to official buyers when they visited the goldfield. It was in the interests of
miners to sell to George as they had much less security over their new found riches.

During the time George and Kezia lived there, Devil’s Hole had a blacksmith’s shop, a butcher’s
shop, four stores and at least 20 established dwellings. The stores, in particular, did a large
trade in the surrounding district. Chinese miners had a settlement on the other side of the Creek
where they had a Joss House and a cemetery. The usual tensions existed between the European
and Chinese miners but matters improved when the Chinese established excellent market
gardens in the rich soils along the creek and river banks and Europeans were able to buy fresh
fruit and vegetables. The cooking smells coming from the Chinese camp would often entice
European miners away from the interminable stew and damper. The larger village of Windeyer
was only 4 km downstream and it became the more significant settlement in the Meroo area.
The Sydney Morning Herald reported in 1860:139

“A nugget has been found by a Chinaman, weighing 41 ozs 10 dwts on the

Devil’s Hole. Mr Tucker has purchased it. It has caused great excitement
among the Celestials, who have spread the report far and wide. There are
various reports of other nuggets having been obtained on the Meroo by
Chinamen. There is no doubt, however, from one or two samples of gold we
have seen, that some good claims are being worked by these gentlemen on
the sly.”

The largest gold nugget taken from the Meroo area weighed 364 ounces (over 11 kg) and its gold
value today would be $450,000. Nuggets found at Devil’s Hole generally weighed between 1
ounce and 42 ounces. The gold was very coarse but free from alloys. The Eaglehawk reef ran
for over 3 km. The mines known as Golden
Lily, Golden Gate and Coronation were along
the same vein and were among the richest
and longest producing mines in the Mudgee
area.140 The high quality of the gold extracted
at Devil’s Hole was well known. The Sydney
Morning Herald claimed that “the gold found
at Devil’s-hole Creek is the purest in the
district.”141 The gold was always bright yellow
and often very dense with minimal alloy,
such as silver.
Social life was a vital component of life on the
Digger’s enjoying a hotel’s hospitality
goldfields. The miners needed an outlet to
escape from the harsh drudgery of their work. Sporting events were popular, particularly boxing,
football and horse racing. Gambling was so common that it was eventually banned in hotels.
Drinking alcohol was the preferred route to relaxation and hotels and inns were in high demand.
They also provided meals, entertainment and company. Dances and picnics were popular on
Sundays after church services.
There was much excitement among the small community at Devil’s Hole when the popular
Anglican Bishop of Sydney, Frederic Barker, dropped in on 27 November 1860 to formally inspect
a school. The Bishop was touring the goldfields as part of his visit to Mudgee. 142 George Rees
and his family would have been at the heart of the welcome put on for the Bishop. I have another

139 The Sydney Morning Herald 2 November 1860, page 3

140 Primefact 560 – NSW Department of Primary Industries 2007
141 The Sydney Morning Herald 28 April 1859, page 2
142 Illawarra Mercury 30 November 1860, page 4

80
great great grandfather, William Lattimore, whose marriage service on the eve of his emigration
to Australia was conducted by Frederic Barker when he was the local minister at St Mary’s
Church at Edge Hill, near Liverpool, England.

Dwellings at Devil’s Hole - Les McAlpine’s house on the left and the remains of Bill
Walker’s house on the right (see the map of Devil’s Hole on the next page)

George was of the Anglican faith but that did not stop him from taking part in community
activities that involved other churches. He is listed in the local newspaper in 1861 as having
donated 5/- towards the cost of erecting a new Catholic schoolhouse at Mudgee. Not one to get
carried away by sectarian crossover, his donation was the smallest on the list. 143
Bushrangers and highwaymen were a constant source of criminal activity at the goldfields. On
one occasion in March 1861 a gold buyer working for the Bank of New South Wales was robbed
shortly after he left Devil’s Hole. He suddenly heard a
pistol shot and a ball passed close by his horse’s head
causing the horse to rear and the rider to fall. He was
then accosted by two masked and armed gunmen who
disguised their voices by “speaking in assumed tones.”
He was relieved of his saddle bags and his horse. A
reward of £60 was offered.144 An unconfirmed report
stated that the fugitives, two local men, had been
captured at Devil’s Hole four days later. I suppose if
you wear masks and use funny voices, there is a good
chance you are locals who just might be recognized.
Much of western New South Wales and beyond had yet
to be explored and people were fascinated by what
might be found in the great unknown lands. At the
end of 1861 news arrived around the colonies that the
bodies of Burke and Wills had been found. Those two
had set off on an ill-fated exploration to discover a
north south route across Australia. The expedition
had left Melbourne in August 1860 and headed
generally north to the eastern corner of the Gulf of
Carpentaria. Their route passed via Menindee, about
700km west of Mudgee. The exploration generated
much excitement in the colonies. The loss of contact
Licence of the Albion Hotel at with the overdue expedition caused dismay but the
Devil’s Hole granted to George news of the deaths of the two leaders resulted in a keen
Rees 17 April 1860 outpouring of sorrow.

143 Western Post 12 January 1861

144 The Maitland Mercury and Hunter River General Advertiser 4 April 1861, page 3

81
The site of the Albion Hotel is thought to be the triangle near the number 12

82
George and Kezia’s time in the Mudgee area was fairly short as they would leave Devil’s Hole
within three years after arriving. You can imagine that the 20 or so dwellings and shops were
mostly timber slab and bark structures and the Albion Hotel may not have been much better.
The settlement would have been hot in summer, cold in winter and dependent on good rains to
keep the creeks flowing for gold fossicking and mining. Sometimes the rain would not stop and
the creeks would flood. The houses and other buildings would have leaked profusely and the
ground would have turned to bog. Facing these depredations, a growing sense of community
spirit would have sustained the more permanent dwellers but the fractious diggers and the
hangers on would have taken to drunkenness, violence and uncouth behavior, somewhat souring
the mood.
George and Kezia may have made the decision to leave because they were worn down by the life
they led. Or they may have decided it was time to improve their prospects elsewhere. And so
the little family packed up all their belongings and headed south via Bathurst and Cowra to the
newly discovered goldfields at Burrangong.
I have been to Devil’s Hole and seen the screes of worked rubble along the creek beds. I found
remnants of the mines and other evidence of early settlement. There are few remains of the old
buildings. Mostly you see the remains of a stone chimney or a trace of the foundation of a
building. But the site is still a very pleasant place with its running waters and grassy banks and
fields, frequently shaded by towering gum trees. There are now more sheep here than there
were miners.

Clarke’s Creek at Devil’s Hole today

83
 Lambing Flat
The New South Wales town of Binalong had become a major stopover for stagecoaches travelling
north from Victoria into the heart of New South Wales. The town provided services and amenities
for drivers, passengers, teamsters and the hordes of gold seekers on their way to the latest
goldfields.
East of Binalong, on a property known as Burrangong Station, the White family still grazed sheep,
cattle and horses. Elsewhere the property was used for agriculture. One day at the end of June
1860 some stockmen on the banks of
Burrangong Creek washed a few
spadesful of dirt and found a
promising amount of gold. News of
the find spread quickly and was
reported in the Sydney Morning
Herald on 4 August 1860. This
started one of the biggest rushes for
gold in the country. In the nine years
since gold was first officially found in
eastern Australia, most of the
hundreds of diggings had either been
exhausted or had significantly
slowed down.145 Reef mining had
taken over in the prosperous
locations and that meant little joy for
the fossickers. Suddenly, those who
were disappointed with their meagre
finds in other locations packed up
and quickly made their way to the
On the road to the next gold strike new diggings at Burrangong Creek.
There is no reason to believe that
George and Kezia were any different because they arrived within a year of the first strike.
Claims were made as quickly as they could be processed and fossickers had to protect their sites
until their claims were recorded. A tent city soon sprang up around the claims but more
permanent dwellings and fledgling business premises were built further down the creek on the
open flat pasture known to the White family as the Lambing Flat, where pregnant ewes had once
been brought in from nearby hills for better protection and to feed on the lush grasses.
It is hard to imagine that George would have willingly taken his family away from the minimal
comforts of the frontier settlement of Devil’s Hole in favour of living at possibly the dirtiest and
worst behaved goldfield ever established in the colonies. Perhaps he had no idea how bad
conditions were going to be. The thousands of people that poured into Burrangong were the
most destitute and forlorn of the fossickers, worn down by years of constant failure and desperate
to claim and find that elusive pot of gold. And yet, amid the early mayhem and rapaciousness,
the older miners exerted a calming influence, gradually imposing a code of conduct based on
fairness and common sense that had been developed by experience on earlier goldfields. In the
absence of any police presence, the miners formed a vigilance committee to help keep the peace.

145 Young History - Young Shire Council

84
George was probably again part of a group of
fossickers working a claim and hoping for
success but he also secured a job at Lambing
Flat where he ran a recently built bowling
saloon. Most bowling saloons were built next
door or attached to a hotel. The relationship
was symbiotic as most bowlers would like a
drink and drinkers gradually became
convinced of their prowess with the bowls.
Some bowling saloons would have had their
own liquor licence but some simply sold sly
grog. Almost every significant goldfield would
have a bowling saloon because bowling
became a popular and cheap pastime, in Recreation of a nine pin bowling saloon at
competition with shooting galleries, dancing Sovereign Hill, Victoria
saloons, sparring rings, theatres and other generally low brow forms of amusement. Bowlers
usually played for money and onlookers bet on who would win.
English nine pin bowling had been around since the colonies were first established and plenty of
saloons catered for this type of bowling. However, the bowling craze took off when the American
ten pin bowling rules were introduced and most saloons catered for this new and more exciting
style. In nine pin bowling, the highest score was obtained by knocking down all the pins except
the front pin (60 points). The next best score was to
leave standing only the king (middle) pin (30 points). If
you knocked down all pins you received 24 points. The
skill in this game was in directing a ball to only knock
down selected pins. By contrast, the ten pin game was
a straight bash them all down as fast as you can and
this had greater appeal to the particular patrons of the
goldfields.
A typical saloon’s equipment consisted of varnished
wooden planks and side boards for alleys, wooden balls
and wooden pins. The equipment was very portable
and could be assembled and disassembled within a
day. The pins, of course, were set and reset on the alley
by hand. The equipment would be housed in a long
tent until a more permanent timber structure could be
built, depending on the potential life of the diggings.
The bowling saloon where George worked and an
adjoining rifle gallery were built at the same time in
Scores for nine pin bowling early December 1860 in the main street of Lambing Flat
on the site of an earlier sparring saloon. That latter
saloon had only been demolished days before by the vigilance committee due to the perceived
misconduct of the saloon keeper.146 By the end of 1861 more buildings had been erected.
However, the town still lacked good accommodation for travellers and other amenities and the
population was very much unsettled with people mostly just arriving or passing through.
It was during this time that 24 year old Kezia gave birth to her second child, Louisa Elizabeth
Rees, who was born on 13 October 1861 at Lambing Flat in the presence of Doctor Park who had
been called in to help deliver the baby.147

146 Goulburn Herald 15 December 1860, page 2

147 NSW BDM Birth Certificate 5527/1861

85
Despite the efforts of the vigilance committee, the behaviour on these goldfields only got worse.
By the time of Louisa’s birth the goldfields had become a hotbed of unlawful activity including
robberies, burglaries, cattle and horse stealing, assaults, murders, drunkenness and civil
disobedience. The vigilance committee tried to rid the goldfields of drifters, sly groggers and
claim jumpers. Offenders were commonly punished with the destruction of their property, the
cutting off of hair and whiskers and, for the more serious offenders, the clipping or removal of
their ears. In one particularly severe episode in December 1860, two men were killed and ten
wounded by the vigilantes before police arrived from Binalong to restore order. 148 Disturbances
at Lambing Flat were bad enough but they only got worse with the arrival of the ubiquitous
Chinese.
Thousands of Chinese miners had left the Victorian goldfields and the less profitable NSW
goldfields for Burrangong where they were quickly resented by the European miners. A Protective
League was soon formed to expel the Chinese. In an attempt to head off predicted violence, the
NSW Premier, Charles Cowper,
made an urgent trip to the
goldfields to give a personal
address to the miners. He said
he was very sympathetic to their
concerns but he called on them
to respect the livelihoods of
people who had migrated from a
friendly foreign country. The
miners were not to be placated.
Not long after, a thousand
miners took up whips and pick
handles and dozens of “No
Chinese” banners. With a brass Family life on the goldfields
band playing, they marched on
the main Chinese camp near the Lambing Flat pasture. On their way they were joined by another
thousand miners. At Lambing Flat they whipped and beat the Chinese, tearing off many a pigtail,
and plundering their gold and other assets while burning their tents. The band played Rule
Britannia as the mob then attacked a smaller camp of 500 Chinese and gave them the same
treatment.
The riot had largely subsided by the time mounted police troopers eventually arrived from
Binalong. It was not difficult for order to be restored. After a degree of calm settled on the
miners, the police arrested three men for leading the riot. Refueled with indignant anger on
hearing of the arrests, a mob of about 3,000 miners attempted to rescue the three but were
repelled by the troopers who shot and killed one miner and wounded a number of others.
Eventually, soldiers, trundling cannons and other artillery, (and even marines) arrived to
maintain order. The soldiers had left Victoria Barracks in Sydney and travelled by steam train
to Campbelltown. They then made their way overland to Lambing Flat. Further disturbances
on a smaller scale played out over the next six months despite the military presence.
The riots at Lambing Flat have gone down in history as one of the ugliest (or perhaps the worst)
incidents of racial intolerance in Australia. The Government’s response was to follow Victoria’s
lead and severely restrict Chinese immigration through punitive taxes and duties.
The established communities around the Australian colonies were shocked by the scale of the
intolerance shown. The public revulsion that followed made sure the riots became a permanent
and embarrassing stain on the reputation of the fledgling country.

148 Bushrangers – A Pictorial History – Harry Nunn 1979

86
 Modern depiction of the Lambing Flat riots with the No Chinese flag

I would like to think that as George Rees was more than a simple miner, being a saloon keeper,
a husband and a father, he would have avoided any role in the riots, other than counselling for
calm. His training and experience as a licensed publican working with drunk and riotous patrons
should have put him above the level of those patrons. However, feelings during the riots ran
deep and the violence was caused or encouraged by an eclectic group of unhappy people at the
goldfield. In any event, George and Kezia were present at this momentous episode in Australian
history and they could not have been unaffected by it. The newspapers of the day had previously
been full of stories of the American Civil War that was fought between 1861 and 1865 which
resulted in the deaths of 620,000 soldiers and the loss of much property and business. The
Lambing Flat riots kept the war off the front page of Australian newspapers for many months.
It is worth mentioning that Burrangong was the name of the primary goldfield. The goldfield is
often incorrectly called Lambing Flat. The settlement at Lambing Flat became too notoriously
known for the riots and most people were keen to see it renamed. It was quickly changed to
Young in 1863 in honour of the then Governor of New South Wales, Sir John Young.
To add to the unrest of the times, it was not long after the riots that Frank Gardiner and Ben
Hall and their gangs of bushrangers harried the district, holding up stagecoaches and travellers,
robbing stores, raiding farmsteads and stealing horses, particularly racehorses for the obvious
reason that they were the fastest. Gardiner had been a well-known butcher at Burrangong and
may well have supplied meat to George and Kezia. Frank, however, found he could do better by
taking up armed robbery. His most famous exploit was the ambush at Eugowra Rocks where he
took at least £14,000 in gold and banknotes. Gardiner was no fool and left the area soon after.
He headed north and disappeared somewhere in Queensland. He was eventually betrayed and
captured. Found guilty and sentenced to hang, he was instead banished from the country after
a wave of community sympathy. He lived the rest of his life in San Francisco.
The activities of Ben Hall and his gang continued well after Frank Gardiner left for Queensland.
The gang was particularly prevalent between 1863 and 1865 when over 100 robberies and the
occupation of several towns were attributed to them. Hall’s main accomplices were the Canadian
John Gilbert and the local John Dunn, whose grandfather and other relatives lived at Binalong.
Gilbert and Dunn were particularly vicious, shooting three police constables. Ben Hall was never
accused of shooting anyone. The end came for Hall when he was shot and killed near Forbes in

87
May 1865. Gilbert suffered a similar fate six days later near Binalong. Hundreds of people came
to look at Gilbert’s body when it was put on display in the court house. His body was then
interred in the Police Paddock behind the Binalong Police Station.
It was time again for George and Kezia to move on. They may have decided to leave Lambing
Flat soon after the riots at the end of 1861 or they may have waited until the end of 1864, but at
some time in that period they again packed up all of their worldly possessions and headed back
to Victoria to seek fortune at other goldfields.

Bushrangers Frank Gardiner, Ben Hall, John Gilbert and John Dunn

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 Beechworth
George Rees arrived with his family in the bustling Victorian gold town of Beechworth, a one
hour coach ride south of the New South Wales’ border. They may have stopped over in Albury
where George was known to have friends.149 Beechworth became George and Kezia’s most settled
location since they were married.
The area around the site of the town had long been used for grazing and was known as the
Mayday Hills. After gold was discovered in 1852, a promising town coalesced next to the claims
being worked along Spring Creek and the town took on the name of the creek. It was renamed
Beechworth in 1854. The town lies in the fertile and picturesque Ovens Valley, named by
Hamilton Hume and William Hovell in honour of Governor Brisbane’s secretary, Major John
Ovens.
The popular and hard-working Major Ovens had died suddenly in 1825 and the worthies of the
colony went into shock. At his request he was buried in the recent grave of his married best
friend, Ellis Bent. As the colony’s chief
engineer in the 1820s, Ovens had control
of all public works and the clearing of
extensive lands for cultivation. Governor
Brisbane acknowledged the “heavy debt
of gratitude” owed to Ovens. It became
popular to memorialise Ovens by naming
places after him. A visitor to Melbourne
once said “there are more Ovens in
Victoria than kitchens.”
One establishment taking his name was
Early Beechworth
the Ovens Brewery which was set up in
1856 in Last Street, Beechworth in 1856. After some shifting of owners, Henry Edwards became
the sole owner in 1861. 150 Last Street was thought to have been named after a miner, Thomas
Last, who lived in the area but it was in fact given that name simply because it was the last street
laid out on the original street plan. The surveyor, either with a sense of humour or a lack of
imagination, thought that was an appropriate name. It was Henry Edwards that employed the
recently arrived George Rees as a traveller, an occupation more commonly known today as a
sales representative.
George’s principal duty as the brewery’s representative was to find markets for his employer’s
products in the hotels, saloons and public houses not just in Beechworth but in as wide an area
as practicable. In his book “Nobblers and Lushingtons - History of the Hotels of Beechworth and
the Ovens District” (2009), Richard Patterson provides information on some 49 hotels that came
and went at Beechworth in those early years. George Rees would have made strong business
relationships and many good friendships with the licensees of those hotels.
Here at last was a town going somewhere. Much of the wealth generated by the goldfields stayed
in the town, rather than being forwarded to Melbourne, and local businesses quickly prospered.
Substantial investment was made in civic buildings and public amenities, including a town hall,
post office, hospital, gaol and mental asylum. This investment in public administration and the
establishment of elegant commercial buildings maintained the economic strength of Beechworth
long after the gold ran out.

149 NSW Police Gazette 24 March 1869, page 93

150 The Breweries of Australia - Keith M Deutsher 1999

89
Between 1852 and 1867 well over 28,000 kg of gold was extracted from the Beechworth
goldfields. It is hard to believe that George Rees would not have taken a direct interest in some
of the mining activities during the time he was in Beechworth. Having a full time job, he was
more likely to have looked to invest in mining ventures and there would have been ample
opportunity to find one or more worthwhile investments. Townspeople became quite well off with
the returns they got from investing in goldmines.
The wealth from the Australian goldfields and from the overseas sale of wool and wheat led to
Australia having the world’s highest wealth per capita between 1860 and 1890 and this would
have been apparent particularly in Beechworth.
George was not the only person named Rees living in the town. The Reverend William Rees was
an English born Congregationalist Minister who arrived with his wife Annie in 1861. Despite his
name, he was not a known relative of George. William was renowned for being the best cricketer
who ever played in the Ovens District. Being a cousin of Dr W G Grace, the English cricketing
legend, was a help. He played for Victoria against New South Wales in 1857 at the Domain in
Sydney where he had the unremarkable scores of 2 and 0. In his next first class match he was
dismissed for two ducks. He played against New South Wales again in 1858, this time making
1 and 3. His run scoring in the local competition was far more impressive.
The first English cricket team toured Australia in
early 1862 and one of their many exhibition
games was played at Beechworth against an
Ovens team of 22 players. This reverse
handicapping was applied because the English
team was so good. For some reason, William
Rees did not play in that game. Local rules were
applied by the umpire, who was the resident
magistrate, William Gaunt. The English team
batted first and made 264 runs. The team
included George Wells, the father of the famous
novelist H G Wells. The Ovens team then batted
and lost their first four wickets before a run was
scored. They went on to make only 20 runs for
W G Grace
the loss of 22 wickets. Forced to bat again, the
locals made a further 53 runs, to be comprehensively beaten (their two innings showcasing 12
ducks).151 These scores were no worse than those by many other country teams who played
against the English.
Charley Duchatel who was the licensee of the Alliance Hotel had advertised that his imported
English beers were the best in Beechworth and he called on the English team to visit his hotel. 152
Perhaps they did.
William Rees left his position as Minister at Beechworth quite suddenly following rumours of an
affair with a parishioner. He relocated his family to New Zealand chasing the gold rush in Otago
where he became a barrister. He later settled in Auckland where he won fame as a prominent
but controversial politician.153
On 23 May 1865 the following news item appeared on page 2 of the Ovens and Murray Advertiser:

“A NEW PUBLICAN – We understand that Mr Rees, the traveller of Mr H

Edwards, of the Ovens Brewery, has taken the Alliance Hotel, at Beechworth.
We wish him success in his undertaking.”

151 Ovens and Murray Advertiser 11 January 1862, page 2

152 Hotel History on display at Hotel Nicholas, Beechworth (formerly the Alliance Hotel)
153 Te Ara – The Encyclopedia of New Zealand – Story: Rees, William Lee

90
George Rees must have been sufficiently well known in the town to have been given such good
wishes of success from the local paper in his new venture. He was now rejoining that particular
group of hospitality providers for which he was so well trained and qualified. The difference here
was that he was living in a town dedicated to the improvement and refinement of the community.
A community that was completely intolerant of the type of behavior found at most other goldfield
towns.
It was no easy task to obtain a publican’s licence. The annual fees had been as high as £100
but never less than £35. A surety had to provide a monetary guarantee that the licensee would
observe the relevant regulations. Five known and respectable people had to confirm that the
applicant was a fit and proper person. The magistrates had to be satisfied that the premises
would be “a convenience to the public.”154 The hotel needed to have, as a minimum, two sitting
rooms and two bedrooms ready for occupation by customers (and not family). It was essential
for hotels to provide a lamp over or near the door to be kept burning each night between sunset
and sunrise as well as a stable for at least six horses and “a place of accommodation for the use
of customers to prevent offences or nuisances against decency” (what we would call a toilet).
Hotels were to be open between 5 am and 10 pm for the
six months from 1 April and from 4 am for the next six
months. Publicans had an obligation to accept
travellers and guests, provide them with food and
lodging and look after their horses. Only genuine
travellers (certainly not locals) were allowed to be served
on Sundays. Additional licences could be purchased to
stay open after 10 pm solely for the purposes of
receiving late travellers or to offer other licensed
facilities to customers, such as billiards.
The police kept a constant watch on the hotels for any
lawbreaking. Miscreant publicans were quickly dealt
with, as were any of their infringing customers. A
magistrate or policeman had a right of entry at any time.
It was an offence to provide alcohol to people under the
age of 16 or to drunk married men who neglected their
families. There was a total ban on the sale of alcohol to
aborigines. Gambling of any sort was also prohibited.
A 5/- fine was the usual punishment for allowing a
night lamp to go out. A larger fine was imposed for
after-hours drinking or for gambling. Only cash could
be accepted for the payment of drinks. Publicans were
Only known photo of required to personally run their hotels, except for short
George Rees absences. As it was in London, a publican was obliged
to receive a dead body at the hotel for an inquest, for a set fee of £1. An inquest needed a jury
and it was convenient to press some of the readily available customers for that purpose. An
inquest usually only took an hour or so and the jury was quite fast in returning a verdict before
the jurors forgot what they were there for.
The Alliance Hotel was built on the corner of Camp Street and High Street, Beechworth in 1858.
This was the same year that the town’s police inspector, Robert O’Hara Burke (of Burke and Wills
fame), left to pursue another career before his death a few years later. The new hotel was a single
storey weatherboard building with a main roof of wooden shingles and with corrugated iron over
the verandah. The first licensee was a Frenchman, Camille Reau, who as a boy had been appalled
at seeing an execution by guillotine and had run away to sea. He eventually worked as a cook

A Beechworth Companion – Volume 3 Beechworth’s Hotels - Richard Patterson, Burke Museum

154

Beechworth

91
on travels around the world until he jumped ship in Melbourne where he worked as a chef. Later
he became the chef at Beechworth’s El Dorado Hotel in High Street before applying for the licence
of the Alliance Hotel.

Early days of Beechworth - Commercial Hotel, Ford Street 1857

In 1861 the licence was taken over by another Frenchman, Charley Duchatel, who could only be
described as a “colourful character.” One example of Charley’s showmanship involved putting ice
in drinks, a novelty in most of Australia at the time. Following sustained heatwaves across
Eastern Australia during the 1850s, some entrepreneurial people arranged for supplies of block
ice from Wenham Lake in Massachusetts in the US to be shipped to Sydney and Melbourne. The
popularity of this ice resulted in huge crowds clamouring to buy the ice direct from the ships
soon after arrival. By the 1860s, ice supplies had found their way inland to the better regional
towns.
Charley Duchatel was one publican who made much publicity advertising the availability of this
wonderfully translucent ice in drinks such as a sherry cobbler, mint julep, madame bishop,
stonefence or a Lola Montez (she was an Irish born actress and dancer, famous for her husbands
and lovers including King Ludwig I of Bavaria. She toured many of the Victorian goldfields in
the mid-1850s to rapturous acclaim, especially from those eagerly anticipating her scantily clad
Spider Dance). The idea of having a cold drink on a hot day, in the days before refrigeration, was
completely unknown to most Australian born people. In 1864 Charley Duchatel installed his
own imported ice making machine which made ice in the shape of a hollow tumbler from which
patrons could sip their drink of choice.155
Beechworth kept itself up to date with all the major news from Melbourne. On 7 November 1861,
an extra horse race was added to the spring meeting at the Melbourne suburb of Flemington for
horses older than three years, run over a two mile course. The race attracted attention because
it offered the best prize so far in the colony. This very first Melbourne Cup was expected to draw
a record crowd but only a few days earlier, news had reached Melbourne of the deaths of Burke
and Wills and the resulting pall of gloom kept the crowd well down. The race was won by Archer,
a horse raised on a farm near Majors Creek in New South Wales, just south of Braidwood. The
horse was walked the 800 km from Majors Creek, mostly along rough bush tracks. Archer was
in fact in perfect condition by the time he arrived at Flemington. Amazingly, the horse returned

155 Ovens and Murray Advertiser 4 February 1864

92
and won again the following year, managing to improve his time despite carrying the highest
weight handicap. Making sure the horse could not achieve a hat-trick, the organisers managed
to keep Archer out of the third year race by declaring the application to race the horse was late
in arriving, despite strong protestations to the contrary.
The deaths of Burke and Wills had a profound and lasting impact across the colonies. People
realised how vast and remote the country was and they were eager for any new discoveries. Many
people were now third generation Australians but they still had no idea what lay beyond the
settled areas. This constant desire to unearth the secrets of the vast inland was now tempered
with the reality that further exploration may exact too high a price.

Early photo of Beechworth

Before long, Beechworth had more hotels than were needed. As profitability dropped, the less
successful hotels found it hard to stay solvent. The Alliance Hotel was one of the smaller
establishments on the fringe of the town centre and trade was always a lot less than at the main
central hotels. Perhaps the cost of imported ice and imported English beer became too much of
a burden for Charley Duchatel because he was made bankrupt in 1862. It was not long, however,
before he recovered from that setback and returned to running the hotel again.
In early 1863, the Alliance Hotel became involved with a cholera scare. The local paper cautioned
against panic after fears were raised that cholera had arrived at Beechworth. An inquest had
just been held at the Alliance Hotel on a 70 year old man who died while being brought in to the
town. Rumours quickly spread that he had cholera but a doctor at the inquest said that his
death was from other causes.156 You can only imagine that business at the Alliance Hotel after
the cholera scare would have been quiet for a while. At least Charley would have received his £1
inquest fee. Isolated cases of cholera were known elsewhere in Victoria.
Charley was one of the liveliest and most popular business owners in the town. However, in
February 1865 the local paper reported that:

“On Thursday last a well-known hotel keeper in High Street, Beechworth left
his licensed house, and with his wife, family and furniture, lock, stock and
barrel, disappeared, vanished, skedaddled…”

156 Ovens and Murray Advertiser 10 January 1863, pages 2 and 3

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It was thought by some to be a reference to Charley Duchatel who became bankrupt for a second
time a few months later (but it may not have been Charley as he was still running the hotel in
April and May 1865). It was about this time that Charley decided to transfer his hotel licence to
George Rees. A formal notice of intention to transfer the licence “to George Rees, of Beechworth,
Salesman” was published in the local paper on 20 May 1865.
Four days earlier a local auctioneer advertised the sale of all of Charley’s “furniture and household
effects” at the Alliance Hotel.157 The sale included his prized ice machine and a quantity of
muriatic acid for use with making the ice. Charley was often getting into trouble, not just
financially. With the police vigilantly acting on any infringement by publicans, Charley and
others faced court earlier in 1865 for failing to have lights continuously burning in front of their
premises. The magistrate suggested they push the Council to install street lighting which would
make the hotel lighting redundant. They were each fined 2/6. On the same day, Charley pleaded
guilty to assaulting a man, without provocation, and then boasting about it later. Charley’s
claim, that he thought the man was trying to steal his goat, did not sway the magistrate who
fined him £3 with £2 costs.

Chinese parade in Ford Street

157 Ovens and Murray Advertiser 8 April 1865, page 2

94
 Respectability
George took over the Alliance Hotel at a difficult time. One of the reasons that Charley Duchatel
gave the following month for his second insolvency was the building of a much superior hotel on
the opposite diagonal corner in August 1864. The new two storey brick hotel, the Metropolitan
Hotel (later called the Empire Hotel), had already taken a lot of trade from the Alliance Hotel. By
now other hotels had been built or renovated and the Alliance was looking more and more like a
less well-off establishment. It was one of the furthest from the centre of town (it was, however,
the first hotel a traveller saw when arriving from Bright). It was always going to be a difficult
task for George to bring the hotel back to profitability.
Shortly after George and Kezia took over the hotel, their third child arrived. Kezia was now 27
and she gave birth to a boy on 17 June 1865. They named him George Theodore John Rees (my
great grandfather).158 Baby George was clearly named after his father and probably Kezia’s
younger brother Theodore. The name John could have been taken from either the Rees or
Deslandes families. In October when Kezia was well enough to resume more involvement in the
running of the hotel, she advertised in the local paper for a nurse girl. 159 The duties of a nurse
girl were primarily focused on the care of a new born baby but she was still a domestic servant
and her duties would extend to other chores within the household or the hotel business, as
required. As the position was particularly aimed at a girl rather than a nurse maid, it can be
assumed that she would not have been a wet nurse (a supplier of breast milk). The reason for
Kezia placing this advertisement was that the previous nurse girl, Catherine Moore, had suddenly
left her employment following an event that caused the biggest sensation in Beechworth for many
a year.
Catherine (Katie) Moore was an 11 year old who made a police complaint about a nearby
storekeeper, Henry Evans, which led to him being charged with carnally knowing a child under
the age of 12 years. The community was alternatively shocked or bewildered by the charge.
There were many who could not believe that the well-known and highly respected grocer Henry
Evans could possibly commit such an outrage. Others near
haemorrhaged at the lecherous conduct of the shopkeeper on
an innocent child and trumpeted at how hanging would not be
a sufficient punishment.
On 2 November 1865, the first day of the committal hearing,
Beechworth court was packed with people eager to hear the
lurid details of the case.160 The first matter before the court,
however, was a charge of drunkenness, for which the
defendant was found guilty with rather unseemly haste, fined
5/- and sent on his way. The Crier of the Court then
announced that the next case was the charge of rape against
Henry Evans. The presiding magistrate was the newly
appointed William Gaunt. England born William Gaunt had
earlier been appointed chief clerk of the Court in 1854. After
further career appointments elsewhere, he returned to
Beechworth as the Police Magistrate in 1865 (two of his
Beechworth born sons became British Admirals and both were
knighted while another son became a Lieutenant Colonel in the
William Gaunt British Dragoon Guards). After the case was called, the first
action he took, much to the chagrin and voluble

158 Vic BDM Birth Certificate 13410/1865

159 Ovens and Murray Advertiser 31 October 1865, page 3
160 Ovens and Murray Advertiser 2 November 1865, page 2

95
disappointment of most of the people present, was to clear the court of all persons unconnected
with the case.
In a bizarre turn, the first witness called was the Crier of the Court himself, William Moore, whose
daughter was the complainant. His evidence was important to fixing the girl’s age, as registration
of her birth in Melbourne had apparently been overlooked. After testifying as to her age, he said
“I know the girl has been a little wild, not going to school, and leaving a baby she was minding (ie
Kezia’s baby) … while she was playing.”
Catherine Moore was then put in the witness box and it was hard to imagine she was even 11
years of age, being so small and childish in appearance. After a few hesitant stumbles over her
understanding of taking an oath, she then gave her evidence “with great precision, merely
hesitating when questions were asked her which would naturally shock her sense of modesty.”
Her evidence was:

“I am the daughter of William Moore, the last witness. I know the defendant,
and know where he lives in Camp Street. I was recently in Mrs Rees’
employment at the Alliance Hotel, at the corner of that street. I have been to
Mr Evans’ store. I was there about a week ago. I was passing by and he
called me in. I had been in there about a fortnight before that.

On the first occasion my mistress, Mrs Rees, sent me for 1lb of rice. That was
on a Thursday, three weeks tomorrow. There was nobody in the store. Got
the rice from Mr Evans. There was nobody else in the store. He was getting
the rice ready when he gave me some lollies and asked me to come round the
counter behind the wall. I mean behind the bags that were heaped up; this
is what I call the wall. I did not go but he caught hold of my hand and pulled
me. He was then just beside the wall of bags at the end of the counter. He
sat down on a chair when he pulled me behind the bags and sat me on his
knee and put his hand up my clothes. I began to kick and screamed out. This
was about seven or eight o’clock in the evening. He took hold of me by the
waist and wanted to lay me down on some bags behind the other bags. He
did not put me down but was trying to when I began to kick and scream again.
[The report then says that part of the evidence has been excluded as being
‘entirely unfit for publication.’]

He did then lay me down. I then kicked and screamed again and he said
‘Hush hush, Mr Geddes (meaning the Chemist next door) will hear you.’ He
held me down. He hurt me and I called out and he got up again. [Again some
distinct explanation of the offence has been excluded.]

He gave me some lollies and sixpence and told me not to tell my father. He
said I might have lollies whenever I wished. I was there about a quarter of
an hour. I did not tell my mistress or anyone. I went straight back to Mrs
Rees’ place and took the rice with me.”

96
On cross examination from the defendant’s counsel, she provided more evidence:

“I told nobody, nor did I go to a doctor. I walked back to Mrs Rees’. My clothes
were not torn or dirtied. I was not in Evans’ shop again from a fortnight before
till last Thursday evening when I took £1 out of his shop. I took the £1 back
to Mrs Rees’ house. Mr Evans came after me for that £1 and threatened to
give me to the police. I gave him every shilling I took and went down to
Rutherglen the next morning.

Somebody did something to me two and a half years ago. No person did
anything since. That was a little boy. The little boy knocked me down and
got on me but nothing more. He did not hurt me. I got rice more than once at
Evans’. I got rice there the morning after the affair.

When Mr Evans asked me for the money I took I said ‘If you take the money
from me I will tell my father what you did to me.’ A servant named Rebecca
Brown was present then. Evans said ‘What I have done to you I have paid
you for.’”

Dr John Dempster was then called to give evidence on his examination of the girl. He said he
examined her very carefully. She was not intact but then she may never have been. There was
no mark of recent violation. There might have been slight penetration. She had not arrived at
puberty and was not far advanced for the age stated.
His evidence was followed by the crucial evidence of 17 year old Rebecca Brown, who also worked
at the Alliance Hotel, who said:

“I am a servant in Mr Rees’ employment and know the girl Catherine Moore

who has been a fellow servant of mine. I remember the 25 th of October. I
think the girl was in Mrs Rees’ employment that day. I know Mr Evans by
seeing him. Mr Evans came to our place on Wednesday evening. Katey was
out for a few minutes and came back with some money in her hand and Mr
Evans came down after her and said ‘Katey Moore I want you.’ She ran into
her bedroom but came back again. He said ‘Give up this cash or I will give
you in charge to the police.’ She said ‘If you take all the money from me I
shall tell my father what you did to me.’ Mr Evans after a few moments said
‘What I did to you my girl I paid you for.’ She gave him some money and he
said ‘Well if you don’t take any more I will not tell Mrs Rees.’”

The magistrate found that Henry Evans had a case to answer and he was committed for trial.
He was allowed bail of £300 with two sureties each of £150 which were provided by two of the
more respectable business owners in the town.
Elsewhere in the newspaper report it was stated that the evidence “was of the most disgusting
description. The girl gave her evidence with a good deal of sang froid and as far as her manner of
giving it went, she could not have been more collected.”
This was preceded in the newspaper by an outraged editorial that said “Catherine Moore discloses
the existence of the most revolting depravity … crimes of this nature are prevalent in the colony.”
The editorial then drew attention to the laxity of morals, the convict taint and the danger of co-
educational schools. The message was, even if Henry Evans was innocent, the girl had clearly
been a party to a gross act of indecency for her to have the knowledge she spoke with. This was

97
either a case of the grossest perjury or a warning which should not be forgotten. The newspaper
made no attempt to report that Henry Evans had pleaded not guilty to the charge.
The town immediately split into two camps. The supporters of Henry Evans put word out that
the girl was a liar and a thief and not to be trusted. George and Kezia Rees were definitely
supporters of Henry Evans. Through December and the Christmas period the supporters looked
for more ways to discredit the girl, including collecting details of her dealings with people at the
Chinese camp. Those that supported the girl railed at the attempts to blacken her name. The
local newspaper made its position clear when it reported on 23 November that the charge was
“one of those charges that make humanity blush” and that “it appeared from the evidence … that
the accused had accomplished his purpose in his shop.” Everyone was looking forward to the trial
which was to commence on 18 January 1866.
In the meantime, a busy hotel life continued for George and Kezia and their three children. On
17 November, George himself appeared in court before magistrate Gaunt in an action he had
taken against Sarah Brown. Sarah may well have been the mother of the witness Rebecca Brown.
His claim was for £2/4/- for goods sold and for use and occupation of premises. Sarah said that
her husband was at Rutherglen and that he had left her poor. She offered to pay the amount by
instalments of 2/6 a week, which was approved by the court. Ironically, Sarah would have
accrued the debt in the first place by not making regular payments.
Not even the mania associated with the rape case could overshadow the excitement of the annual
Beechworth Horticultural Show that was held at the end of November 1865. Exhibits and judging
were held in the newly opened St George’s Hall. The fife and drum band was well received,
especially by the exhibited dogs
who “kept up a little music of their
own, which if not exactly
agreeable, was certainly highly
amusing.” The dog show was a
major hit. The setter owned by the
solicitor William Zincke was
particularly praised, as was the
large number of small dogs. These
dogs were nothing at all like the
curs commonly found on the
streets outside. The police were
particularly vigilant in taking
action involving unrestrained or
unregistered dogs in public. The
flowers on show were thought to Ford Street, Beechworth
be the best ever exhibited in the
district, particularly the collections of six gentlemen including the grocer, Henry Evans. In the
poultry class, the judges were the Reverend May and the magistrate William Gaunt. The prize
for best cock and pair of hens (Dorkings) went to William Gaunt. No conflict of interest there.
Showing that not even a sensational impending trial can dampen the festive mood or lower the
presumption of innocence until proven guilty, the judges (including William Gaunt again)
awarded Henry Evans two prizes for pot plants in flower, including for six best fuchsias. Henry’s
flowers must have been very good to have William Gaunt show any form of public endorsement
of Henry.
The same judges also helped with the judging of the dogs. William Zincke’s setter went on to win
a prize as did George Rees’ dog whose prize was for “Best Smooth Terrier.” There was no prize
given for rough terriers.
The festive season came and went and then the trial of Henry Evans started at Beechworth court
before Judge Cope. English born Thomas Cope was the resident Judge at Beechworth from 1859

98
to 1869 and became very involved in the Beechworth community. The defendant’s solicitor was
the popular dog owner William Zincke, who in his day, represented about half of all people
appearing at Beechworth court. William Zinke was born in Jamaica and admitted to the English
bar. He worked the goldfields around Beechworth before being appointed clerk to the Court in
1858. He had his own legal practice by 1864.
Catherine Moore repeated all of her earlier evidence but on cross examination admitted that she
had once stolen meat to give to Mrs Rees which Mrs Rees had paid her 2/- for (this information
could only have been provided by the Rees). She also admitted to stealing a gold chain, purse
and money from Mrs Warren and travelling on her own to places like Rutherglen and
Yackandandah using the illegally obtained proceeds. She admitted to stealing food. She agreed
that she had left the employment of Mrs Slater but not because Mrs Slater called her a liar but
because she was too small. She had stolen another 15/- from Henry Evans that he did not know
about and she had lent some of it to Rebecca Brown. She agreed that she had spent a lot more
time at the Chinese camp, often in the company of prostitutes, than she had previously sworn
under oath.
Rebecca Brown repeated her evidence but she fell apart on cross examination and rather lamely,
but sensationally, admitted by the end that she had been lying most of the time (I doubt that
Rebecca Brown lasted long in the Rees’ employment). Mrs Warren was then called and said she
would not believe Catherine Moore “on her oath.”
George Rees was next to give evidence saying that the girl had only been sent twice to the grocer
to get rice and he distinctly recalled that both times were before noon (and not in the evening as
claimed by the girl). Dr Slater said that the girl was in his service but was dismissed for lying
and he would not believe anything she said either in the court or out of it.
The judge thought it would be an insult to send the case to the jury but after making that
observation out loud, left it to the jury to reach a verdict. The jury did not even bother to leave
the witness box and immediately returned a verdict of Not Guilty. An attempt to applaud was
quickly quelled by the judge.
The local newspaper, without any hint of remorse or apology to the defendant, reported that the
girl’s evidence was read with pain and astonishment and concluded that:

“the child is naturally depraved no one can doubt and it was no wonder that
the jury refused to give a moment’s credence to her testimony or to that of the
almost equally dangerous corroborating witness, who swore that she herself
was lying in the witness box. We believe the unfortunate child will be sent to
the Reformatory. We have never heard openly revealed by any girl of her age
such a precocity of criminal tendencies.”

By 1866 the gold rush at the Beechworth diggings was coming to an end and with it, a temporary
decline in the town’s prosperity. Other goldfields had opened up at nearby Rutherglen and
Yackandandah and at further places such as Albury. A fine specimen of quartz containing gold
which came from the Ethiopian Reef at the Black Range near Albury was exhibited at the Alliance
Hotel in January 1866, around the time of the sensational trial.161 George had friends in Albury
and may have exhibited the rock as a favour to a friend or he may have had some vested interest
in the mine and had some claim to ownership of the specimen. One of these friends was Daniel
Driscoll who at the time ran the Bridge Inn at Albury which was advertised in 1866 as “the Poor
Man’s Friend.” There he sold Albury Ale at 6 pence a pint. Horsemen crossing the bridge over
the Murray River could go toll free by paying 1/- and getting a pint of ale into the bargain.162

161 Ovens and Murray Advertiser 4 January 1866, page 2

162 Federal Standard 24 December 1866

99
Daniel spent a short time in Beechworth where he probably renewed his acquaintance with
George. Daniel then became the licensee of the Piney Range Hotel between 1866 and 1869.
Piney Range was a small town about 61 km north west of Albury. The bushranger, Daniel “Mad
Dog” Morgan, after serving a term in Beechworth Gaol, travelled north to Piney Range and took
up residence at the Piney Range Hotel, where he was regarded as a hero, despite having already
killed several people.163 The name Piney Range was changed to Walbundrie in 1869 (Ned Kelly
and his gang passed through Walbundrie on his famous ride from Greta to Jerilderie in 1879).
Daniel returned to Albury in 1868. He gave evidence against a known bushranger, Christopher
Duigan, in 1869 who was facing new charges of horse thieving and robbery under arms.
Although Duigan threatened a policeman with a revolver before taking a horse, the jury found
him not guilty on both counts.164
Around this time, in early 1866, George had been thinking about the need to make an effective
tobacco cutter which allowed smokers to avoid accidentally slicing off the tips of their fingers
when cutting tobacco for a pipe or cigar. This injury was a common problem as the practice was
usually done routinely without much focus. He commissioned a local blacksmith, Samuel
Taylor, to manufacture a cutting machine that could be used safely. When assembled, he put
the machine on display at the hotel in February 1866 to much acclaim.165
In April 1866 George ran into trouble with the local police who were still rounding up
unregistered dogs and charging their owners or other persons in possession. George argued that
he was not the owner or person in possession of a particular dog at the time the offence was
alleged to have occurred and he called witnesses to confirm this. Clearly, George must have been
the owner of the dog at some earlier time for the police to confront him. The magistrate (William
Gaunt again) was not impressed with George’s defence and fined him 5/- with costs of £1/7/3.166

Beechworth today

163 The Border Mail 9 July 2015

164 The Sydney Morning Herald 24 April 1869, page 5
165 Ovens and Murray Advertiser 20 February 1866, page 3
166 Ovens and Murray Advertiser 10 April 1866, page 3

100
 Changing Fortunes
George and Kezia’s time at the Alliance Hotel came to an end in May 1866 when George
transferred the licence to Carl Esther.167 In Richard Patterson’s publication A Beechworth
Companion – Volume 3 – Beechworth’s Hotels, George Rees is identified as the licensee of the
Newtown Hotel up to 28 May 1866, having taken over the licence from Frederick Lemme.
However, Mr Lemme was still going strong at that hotel in August 1866 and George is still at the
Alliance Hotel. It seems that Mr Patterson may have made an attribution error and the details
should have been used for his entry on the Alliance Hotel.
The new licensee, Carl Esther, would run the Alliance Hotel for 20 years until his death.
According to the current owners of the hotel, it was in the forge located in the yard of the hotel
that a local blacksmith fashioned the armour worn by Joe Byrne, a member of Ned Kelly’s gang.
This yard overlooked the site of a bare knuckle fight between Ned Kelly and Isaiah Wright on 8
August 1874. The name of the Alliance Hotel was changed to the Railway Hotel in 1876 as it
was the closest hotel to the newly constructed railway station. The hotel today is named the
Hotel Nicholas.

Carl Esther and family after taking over the Alliance Hotel

It was a good time for George and Kezia to leave the Alliance Hotel. It was too small and too
shabby compared with the much larger and more upmarket hotels that were now dominating
the hotel trade. It would not be long before George would take over another hotel in Beechworth.
In the meantime, he was again in court, this time in July 1866 to answer a debt of £1/15 which
was claimed by Peter Ramsay, the owner of a wine and spirit store in Ford Street. Judge Cope
ordered George to pay the amount claimed as well as £1/10 for costs. 168
Records show that for some part of 1866 George Rees was the publican at the Border Inn Hotel
at Howlong, a small NSW town on the Murray River about 29 km west of Albury (and about 47
km north west of Beechworth). He may have taken on that job as a favour to friends at Albury

167 Ovens and Murray Advertiser 22 May 1866, page 3

168 Ovens and Murray Advertiser 12 July 1866, page 2

101
or to fill in time until another licence became available in Beechworth. 169 Kezia and the children
most likely moved to Howlong as well, otherwise there would be little reason for George to be
appointed to the School Board of Howlong Public School on 28 January 1867. 170
Later in 1867 George was back in Beechworth having seen a better opportunity by taking over
the licence of the Temple Bar Hotel which was located in Ford Street, the main street of the town.
The Temple Bar Hotel had originally been built in 1853 as the Union Hotel. It was the third oldest
hotel in Beechworth. It was probably named after the famous hotel of that name in Dublin. It
was located on the site of the Salvation Army Hall in Ford Street, opposite Tanswell’s Commercial
Hotel (which still exits). The Temple Bar Hotel was demolished in 1904. Australia’s future
Governor General, Isaac Isaacs lived with his family in Ford Street and may well have patronized
George’s hotel.

The Railway Hotel, formerly the Alliance Hotel

The Temple Bar had an attached American Bowling Alley that had a floor laid with American
pine. It was the only bowling alley in town and George would have been very familiar with its
workings from his days at Lambing Flat. The hotel was quite large. It had a long central bar on
the ground floor with private rooms and a dining room off to the sides. Dining options were
excellent as the hotel had one of the better hotel kitchens. Some well-known chefs in the district
had been lured to work in those kitchens, including one chef named Graf who advertised “meals
at all hours” at Melbourne prices (which you would assume were cheaper than regional prices
because of greater competition, but not today).171 Attached to this area was a two storey private
hotel that had a large ballroom on the ground floor. Upstairs there was a spacious drawing room
as well as private bedrooms and a large balcony. Another building at the back had nine more
bedrooms. The hotel also had the biggest hotel stabling area in town, accommodating 18 horses.
The yard was said to be big enough to accommodate a circus, which is interesting because a
circus did visit Beechworth in later years.
George was soon advertising the sale of his best ale at six pence a pint and all spirits at six pence
a nobbler (which was a small shot glass of at least 30 ml capacity). These prices were about half
the going rate.172
Kezia was 29 when she gave birth to another son on 24 August 1867 at Beechworth. They named
him Theodore Stratton Rees, presumably after Kezia’s younger brother and certainly after her

169 Publican’s Licences - Western NSW 1865 – 1870 – NSW Government Gazette
170 Illustrated Sydney News 16 February 1867, page 3
171 Ovens and Murray Advertiser 5 April 1866, page 3
172 Ovens and Murray Advertiser 8 August 1867, page 3

102
mother’s family.173 Dr John Dempster of Beechworth (who had so carefully examined the
perjured Catherine Moore) delivered the baby with the assistance of a midwife, suggesting that
there may have been complications beyond the expertise of the midwife. By now George was
firmly in place at the Temple Bar. He had only recently advertised that the hotel had the best
American Bowling Alley in the district.
The town went into a state of frenzied excitement for most of 1867 with the news that Queen
Victoria’s son, Prince Alfred, who was recently created Duke of Edinburgh, would be the first
member of the Royal Family to visit the Australian colonies. His itinerary included the Victorian
goldfields of Ballarat and Bendigo and there was a strong possibility that he would pass through
Beechworth on a circuit return to Melbourne.

Tanswell’s Commercial Hotel, Ford Street, Beechworth today

Committees were formed and activities commenced to ensure the residents of Beechworth would
have celebrations to be proud of. George and Kezia would have been caught up in the excitement
of the planning and implementation of the various programs. After the Prince started his tour,
he received a rapturous reception wherever he went. The cheers at Ballarat in December, for
example, were just as strong and sustained as the cheers had been for the rebels at the Eureka
Stockade some years earlier. One observer said of the visit “words fail to express the sense of
exhilaration produced.”174
Sadly, all of the preparations in Beechworth had been in vain as the Prince cut short his tour
after visiting Bendigo and promptly returned to Melbourne. The Prince sailed to Sydney where
in March the following year at Clontarf he was shot at close range by a crazed law clerk, the
bullet just missing his spine. Other bullets fired at him missed him completely (although one
did hit a bystander). Six Sydney nurses, trained by Florence Nightingale and led by the
indomitable Lucy Osburn, cared for the Prince over the next few weeks, managing to keep most
of the hygiene shy doctors away. The repaired Prince was fit to sail back to England the next
month.
By the start of 1868 the Ovens district was in a decline that would not pick up again until the
1880s. In May that year, George was called as a witness in a case where his old boss, Henry
Edwards, claimed he was owed £22 from a local publican named Ransom. Payment for beer
from the brewery was often postponed by the giving of bills of exchange and other promises to
pay. Edwards claimed that Ransom had not honoured a number of bills, some going back to
George’s time as a traveller for Edwards. George gave evidence that not all bills were recorded

173 Vic BDM Birth Certificate 13051/1867

174 The Argus 12 December 1867, page 5

103
in the books and not all subsequent payments were recorded by Edwards. The court found that
Edwards had not established a case. 175
George and Henry Edwards had not been getting on very well. Edwards claimed that George
owed him over £144 (a huge amount) and this may have been in retaliation for George giving
evidence against Edwards in the earlier case.176
George was back in court in July, this time to serve on a jury. 177 There were a number of cases
being heard that day including the stabling of a police officer and the shooting of cattle. George’s
jury was given neither of those.
Instead they dealt with the case of
a pair of stolen boots (Not Guilty)
and the indecent assault of a child
under the age of seven and a half
(Guilty – 12 months in prison with
hard labour).
1868 was a difficult year for George
and Kezia. Almost to the day of his
first birthday, baby Theodore
became ill with fever. It soon
developed into pneumonia. The
local doctors and the hospital were
unable to overcome the condition
as it ran its course over the next
three weeks. Theodore died on 24
September 1868 and was buried Circus arriving in Beechworth passing the
the next day.178 The officiating Railway Hotel
Wesleyan Minister was the Reverend James Dodgson. Dodgson was a colourful character in
Beechworth. He had toured the Holy Land and other parts of the Middle East. He was a well-
known speaker on everything there was to know about Palestine. His wife had been a governess
to the family of Melbourne founder John Batman. Rumours then circulated that she was a
lesbian but the rumours were stifled after she married Dodgson in 1861. 179
The official witnesses to the burial of baby Theodore were George and his friend George Billson
(also known as Bilson). The informant was Edward Wade, who was described as a “friend”, rather
than by the father which would have been the standard practice. George Billson had taken over
the Ovens Brewery which had been George Rees’ main supplier since the time of Henry Edward’s
ownership. George Billson went on to become one of the most important people in the town. The
brewery’s name was changed to Murray Breweries in 1872 and it is still operating in Last Street
today. Its most famous brand was Anglo-Australian Ale. It later specialised in non-alcoholic soft
drinks and cordials, including the non-alcoholic beer called Ecks (which later became a brand of
soft drinks under that name).
The loss of a child gave George no reprieve from his civic duties. Two weeks after Theodore’s
death, George was back in court to serve on another jury. A timber splitter named Frederick
Boyd had fallen head first down a deep hole at the Chinese Camp. Holes in the ground were a
constant hazard in a gold mining area. Mr Boyd had somehow managed to fall through the sticks

175 Ovens and Murray Advertiser 5 May 1868, page 3

176 Ovens and Murray Advertiser 6 August 1868, page 3
177 Ovens and Murray Advertiser 25 July 1868, page 2
178 Vic BDM Death Certificate 5782/1868
179 A Beechworth Companion – Volume 2 Beechworth’s Ministers of Religion - Richard Patterson,

Burke Museum Beechworth

104
and bark covering the hole. There was a suggestion of foul play but little evidence was offered.
The jury found he had died from a broken neck caused by an accidental fall.180
Adding to his publican duties, George set himself up in October 1868 as a stockbroker of mining
shares. The local paper reported that the share market had been considerably neglected in
Beechworth, suggesting that George may have found a profitable sideline.181 In fact the sideline
may have been very successful because George handed over the licence of the Temple Bar Hotel
to Harry Foster on 29 December 1868. An auction of George’s furniture and household effects
was held at the hotel on that day.
George was known to travel to Albury during 1868 and 1869 and his travel may have had
connections with his share broking business. The NSW Police Gazette of 24 March 1869, page
93 had an item:

“James Kinealy charged on warrant with forging and uttering three cheques
for the payment of £9 and 14 shillings with intent to defraud Daniel Driscoll
and George Rees, of Albury has been arrested by Detective Elliott on his
discharge from Darlinghurst Gaol and remanded to Albury.”

This suggests that George was at Albury in early 1869. Daniel Driscoll was back at the Bridge
Inn at Albury between 1868 and 1870. The police may have simply used Daniel’s address on the
warrant for convenience. It is unlikely that George had left Beechworth as his connections to
the town remained strong throughout 1869. What this unpaid debt strongly suggests is that
George and Daniel had a continuing business relationship involving hotels, stock broking or
other ventures.

Billson’s Brewery in Last Street

George was definitely present in Beechworth in May 1869 when he served on yet another jury.
A patient at the Beechworth Hospital had been given a deadly dose of tincture of opium
(laudanum) instead of a medicine to treat constipation. It was apparent that the opium had been
put in the wrong bottle even though everything was labelled. The mistake was noticed
immediately by another patient about to be given the same dose (that patient was familiar with

180 Ovens and Murray Advertiser 10 October 1868, page 4

181 Ovens and Murray Advertiser 13 October 1868, page 2

105
the smell of the opium). The jury’s verdict was death by misadventure. Manslaughter charges
were considered a possibility.182
By June 1869 George was back in the hotel business in Beechworth, having taken over the
licence of the hotel on the corner of Ford Street and Short Street. That hotel had been built on
the site of the previous Great Britain Hotel which had burnt down in 1858. The new hotel was
originally called the Allied Arms (after an earlier hotel in Beechworth). Daniel Driscoll, had taken
over the hotel in 1865, changing its name to the Sportsman’s Arms. By the time George took
over the licence from a later publican, the hotel had been renamed the Horse and Jockey. George
considered it was time for another name change and he chose the Union Hotel, which just
happened to be the original name of the Temple Bar Hotel.183 And you thought the recycling of
names was confusing.
George was 43 and Kezia 31 when their fifth child, Malvina Olivia Rees, was born on 18 July
1869 at Beechworth.184 Kezia was incorrectly recorded on the register as being 43, the same age
as George. Their oldest child, also named Kezia, was now 9, Louisa was 7 and George was 4
years old. Malvina may have been named after the daughter of Kezia’s half-brother, Phillip. The
name Olivia probably came from the wife of Kezia’s brother Charles who also arrived in
Melbourne on the same ship.

Hotel Nicholas today, formerly the Alliance Hotel

The birth did not interrupt George’s business dealings. The popular district racecourse at
Beechworth had its busiest days on public holidays. One of the local public holidays was the
Prince of Wales’ birthday. George was granted a licence to set up a liquor booth at the racecourse
on that day to cater for the large crowd expected. 185
Like many other business owners in Beechworth, George was finding that trading conditions had
become increasingly difficult. This was probably due to the downturn in gold production as the
mines became less viable. The downturn caused the town to go through a period of downsizing

182 Ovens and Murray Advertiser 18 May 1869, page 3

183 Ovens and Murray Advertiser 17 June 1869, page 2
184 Vic BDM Birth Certificate 13723/1869
185 Ovens and Murray Advertiser 9 November 1869, page 3

106
and consolidation before economic prosperity returned. George’s time at the Union Hotel turned
out to be quite short because the hotel apparently closed for business later in 1869. In early
1870 George found himself in court chasing the outstanding debts from customers and suppliers
who had defaulted on their credit.186
George’s occupation as a country publican was coming to a close. There is no record of George
obtaining another licence in Victoria. He had become increasingly involved with stock broking
and mining activities and it is likely that he always had an interest or two in local gold mines, as
was common among many other business owners in the town. George may have been smart
enough to have some of these interests in Kezia’s name and to keep her debt free. The downturn
would also have had a negative impact on these other interests. In October 1870, his friend and
probable business partner, Daniel Driscoll, was declared insolvent with debts of more than
£200.187
George managed to hang on for a further time and it is a testament to his character that his
creditors showed great reluctance to finish him off despite their own problems. George was
finally declared a bankrupt in May 1871. 188 However, George was not fully beaten. At the time
of his bankruptcy, the family were living in Chiltern which was only 25 km north west of
Beechworth on the road to Howlong. Here, George had teamed up with others to prospect for
gold around some of the established sites at Chiltern.
Miners had the choice of claiming a
prospecting licence or a mining licence.
Prospecting licences were much
cheaper. You first needed to ensure you
were not encroaching on other claims
and you then needed to peg out a claim
site before lodging your claim. One of
the known gold bearing quartz reefs at
Chiltern was the Happy-Go-Lucky Reef
and the site had been well covered by
prospecting and mining licences.
However, a prospecting licence was
Gold miners on their claim easily lost if you stopped actively
prospecting. Both George and Kezia
and their partners held various licences at Chiltern (and perhaps
elsewhere). They showed interest in working some of the prospecting
sites that had been abandoned by others on the Happy-Go-Lucky
Reef. Suddenly, they struck a rich section of the quartz vein on four
of these abandoned sites. They quickly sought to have their claims
registered but news of the strike soon reached the ears of the previous
prospectors who were equally quick to defend their prior claims. In
the Mine Warden’s Court at Chiltern on 6 June 1871, the parties
argued their cases. The solicitor, William Zincke, appeared for
George, Kezia and their partners. The Warden found the claims had
been abandoned, even if only for a short time, when the prospectors
left to work on other more likely sites in the area. George and Kezia
ended up being part owners of a profitable mine on a section of the
reef. Total gold production to come out the reef, plus an adjoining
reef, was 6,000 oz (170 kg) which would be valued today at $9.6
million.
William Zincke

186 Ovens and Murray Advertiser 29 January 1870, page 3

187 The Sydney Morning Herald 8 October 1870, page 5
188 Ovens and Murray Advertiser 30 May 1871, page 3

107
It was less productive to have a reef owned by groups of partners working different sections than
it was to work the whole reef in one operation. It was common for the owners of larger sites to
buy out the other owners and consolidate their operations. George and Kezia most likely sold
their interests in the claims for a good price. George took on the role of a mine manager.
Since arriving in Australia, Kezia would have corresponded with her family back in Jersey and
with her brother Charles and other relatives in Melbourne (and wherever else they may have
moved to in the colony). Her aunt Catherine and Catherine’s husband James Brett Higgs were
living in Union Street, Prahran when James suddenly died in January 1870 at the age of 52.
During the 1860’s, James had worked as a tobacconist and cigar maker and they had lived at
various addresses in the Prahran and St Kilda areas. James was buried at the St Kilda Cemetery.
When Kezia’s father, Philippe, also passed away about 1870, Catherine wrote to her sister (Kezia’s
mother) imploring her to make the voyage to Australia to be with Catherine and other members
of her family. Her persistency worked and Kezia’s mother, Kezia Deslandes, arrived in Melbourne
on board the Star of India in June 1871 at the age of 59 (the ship’s record incorrectly shows her
age as 55). She went to live with Catherine at Prahran.
Kezia Rees would have been able to make a quick trip back to Melbourne on Cobb & Co’s daily
service to visit her mother who she had not seen since 1854. She may have taken George and
the children with her as none of them had met Kezia’s mother. They needed to be quick because
the younger Kezia was pregnant with her next child and travelling the rustic road system was
not conducive to advanced child bearing.
George and Kezia’s next child, Alice Victoria Josephine Rees, was
born on 27 January 1872 at Chiltern.189 Kezia was now 34 and
the other four children ranged from 2 to 12 years of age. This new
child was likely named after Victoria and Alice, the first two
daughters of Queen Victoria. Josephine may have come from
Queen Josephine of Norway and Sweden. Naming children after
royalty, especially British royalty, had become very popular.
Princess Alice was a particularly popular person both in the United
Kingdom and in the German Empire where she later lived. Sadly,
the Princess died only six years later in Germany from diphtheria
at the age of 35, preceding her mother by 23 years.
Within a year or two after the birth of baby Alice, George and his
family would not only leave the Beechworth district but they would
Princess Alice
leave Victoria, bound once again for NSW.

189 Vic BDM Birth Certificate 3052/1872

108
 5 - Sydney

A City Miner
Kezia delivered another baby on 7 September 1874, two and a half years after the birth of Alice.
George was now 50 years old and Kezia 36. They named their new son Charles Marriott Rees,
presumably after Kezia’s older brother Charles and certainly after George’s mother’s family. 190
What was remarkably different to the births of their more recent children was that this birth took
place in the city of Sydney, the original site of settlement in Australia and quite a distance from
rural Victoria. Charles’ birth took place at his parents’ residence which was identified on the
register as 412 Pitt Street.
Street numbers in Sydney have changed many times over the years. This makes it difficult to
accurately locate a site today. Pitt Street, in particular, had many number changes and on one
occasion in 1858, the street numbers were reversed. However, various advertisements in The
Sydney Morning Herald during the 1870s for lodging (and, strangely, for the sale of goats) at 412
Pitt Street, locate the premises as between Liverpool and Goulburn Streets. A paper titled Virtual
Walk Down Pitt Street in 1858: Uncovering the Hidden Women Workers of Colonial Sydney by
Catherine Bishop (2011) has 412 Pitt Street near the corner of Goulburn Street. Between
Liverpool and Goulburn Streets the properties are numbered 398 to 424 on the eastern side. At
the time George and Kezia lived there, the premises were owned by John Yeomans and leased to
Samuel Collins, a hat maker.191 George would have been a sub-tenant of Collins.
George’s occupation was described on Charles’ birth certificate as “miner” and his age was
incorrectly stated to be 48. The birth certificate surprisingly reveals that George and Kezia had
two children, a boy and a girl, who
had died before the birth of
Charles. On Alice’s birth
certificate, all of her older siblings
are named, including Theodore
who is acknowledged as the only
child to have died. So we know
about little Theodore but we know
nothing about another baby girl
who had presumably been born
after October 1872 (nine months
from Alice’s birth) but before
Charles’ birth (or she may have
been a twin to Charles).
A search of Victorian births and
deaths during that time provides
no registration under George or
Kezia’s names or any similar
names. Similarly, there are no
Pitt Street, Sydney deaths recorded of anyone with

190 NSW BDM Birth Certificate 2222/1874

191 City of Sydney Rate and Assessment Books 1874 and the Sands Directory 1876

109
the surname of Rees during that time who may have been a child of George or Kezia.
In New South Wales, the indexes reveal only one potential registration for a girl named Rees who
was born and died in that same period and her father’s name just happens to be George.
However, this George Rees was a Welshman who was married to Sarah. They were much younger
and they lived at Cambridge Street in the Rocks. This George had been a mariner but was now
a carter.
It is likely that the unknown baby girl of George and Kezia was stillborn or died very soon after
birth as is does not appear that the birth was registered, at least under any obvious family name.
The notation that two of their children had died was also made on the birth certificates of George
and Kezia’s later children, confirming the fact.
The population of the city of Sydney in 1861 was about 56,000 but by 1881 it had risen to
225,000. George and his family were part of that huge influx into the city as prosperity increased.
We can only speculate on the reason that brought the family to Sydney. Melbourne should have
been the more likely destination if the family intended to move to a major metropolis. Melbourne
had overtaken Sydney as the main city in the colonies with most of the wealth from the abundant
supply of gold, wool and wheat in both NSW and Victoria flowing through the southern capital.
One of the main reasons NSW produce was sent to Melbourne was that the Great Dividing Range
was a formidable barrier to transport. Even today there are very few road crossings over the
range to the coast. Victoria’s rail network extended into NSW and it was much easier and cheaper
to send produce to railway stations to be loaded onto trains heading for Melbourne.
George may have moved to Sydney to take up a mining position in or near the business district
of Sydney. At the time, there was very little mining being carried out in Sydney or the
surrounding area. There was a large industry involved in excavation including the extraction of
clay at brick pits but this did not extend to the commercial extraction of minerals. Coal was not
mined in Sydney until 1897 when the Sydney Harbour Colliery was established near Balmain
(the mine was not a commercial success. It was the deepest coal mine in Australia but suffered
from poor working conditions and notable disasters. It closed 30 years later after many long
periods of shutdown). However, during the 1870s, a number of coal prospecting bores were sunk
utilising the new diamond drill heads at locations such as Moore Park, Rose Bay and
Newington.192 There is the possibility that George had mining interests back in Victoria and was
remotely managing those interests whilst living in Sydney. Perhaps, more likely is that George
came to Sydney to escape from his creditors or at least from his bankruptcy. In Sydney where
he was not known, he could start with a clean slate.
Perhaps more promising is an item published in the Australian Town and Country Journal dated
4 April 1874 (page 11) that noted that a George Rees had been granted a lease of ten acres of
land on Bogolong Creek, Mylora, in the pastoral district of Lachlan “for the purpose of erecting
machinery for working minerals.” The creek is not far from the town of Grenfell in western New
South Wales and the timing fits in that George and his family may well have passed through the
region on their way from Victoria to Sydney. Having set up the mine, he could have appointed a
foreman and then managed the mine himself from Sydney, with regular visits of inspection.
Whatever the reason for their relocation to Sydney, it was not long before George was back at his
old profession. By May 1874 he had become the licencee of the Paddington Inn at Paddington in
Sydney, having taken over the licence from Jane Rankin. 193 The Paddington Inn was established
in 1860 and was previously called the United States Hotel (it is still going strong today). Hotel
licences were strictly limited in number and old licences were cancelled faster than new licences
were issued. Which is why George needed to take over an existing licence.

192 Subterranean Sydney (The Real Underworld of Sydney Town) - Brian and Barbara Kennedy
1982
193 The Sydney Morning Herald 9 May 1874, page 5

110
By late 1874 George had become involved in local politics and had put himself forward as a
member of a committee formed to elect Alexander Stuart as one of the Parliamentary
representatives for East
Sydney.194 Stuart was a well-
known Sydney businessman
and free trade supporter who
had been urged to stand for
Parliament by the Anglican
Bishop of Sydney, Frederic
Barker. He was duly elected
and later became Treasurer in
the Government. He became
Premier in 1883, fending off
such notable politicians as
Henry Parkes and John
Robertson. George certainly
backed a winning candidate.
The Sands Directory for
Sydney in 1876 (page 466) has
Paddington Inn today George Rees, a miner, living at
a residence “off 412 Pitt
Street.” He is the only George Rees (and for that matter the only Rees) listed in the 1876 directory
so the other George Rees from the Rocks, who was listed in 1873, must have left the city by this
time (a George Rees from the inner Sydney suburb of Petersham is recorded as having died in
1901 and he is likely to be the George Rees from the Rocks). Building numbers were only
allocated if a building existed at the time a street was numbered. As vacant land became built
on, there was no number available for the new building because the numbers had already been
used so they became known as “1 off”, “2 off” etc until the next numbered building was reached.
The same 1876 Sands Directory also lists W F
Tarran as having the Lady Robinson Hotel at
168 Riley Street on the corner with Liverpool
Street, not far from 412 Pitt Street. The 1876
NSW Police Gazette (at page 3658) lists the
publican licences issued for the period 1 July
1876 to 30 June 1877 as including “Tarran,
William F (now Rees George) Riley and Liverpool
Streets, Sydney (now Castlereagh Street) Lady
Robinson Hotel (now Guildhall Hotel).”
The annual Sands Directories were always
compiled the previous year, so it is likely that
George and his family moved from the
Paddington Inn to the Guild Hall Hotel in 1875.
The hotel was a rather modest two storey
building, the upper floor having a covered
balcony facing Castlereagh Street. It was
located next door to the Guild Hall, a narrow-
sided ornate three storey structure, built in
early 1875 by Sydney’s Catholic Guild as a
venue for formal meetings and recreation. The The Guild Hall and Guild Hall Hotel with
hotel must have taken on its name very shortly patrons outside

194 The Sydney Morning Herald 8 December 1874, page 3

111
after the Hall was built. The Hall was officially opened in 1876 by Roger Vaughan, the soon to
be appointed Catholic Archbishop of Sydney following the death of Archbishop Polding.
Vaughan’s speech at the opening managed to incense Sydney’s Masonic community after he
foolishly accused them of being part of a plot to take over control of the country.
By 1879 the Hall had become the Academy of Music but only for a short time. In 1880, after the
old Victoria Theatre in Pitt Street burned down, the Hall had a significant refurbishment and it
became the Gaiety Theatre with a capacity of about 800 people. The theatre was decorated in
blue and gold with dazzling crimson curtains and carpets. No doubt, the theatre substantially
added to the clientele of the adjoining hotel. The theatre was not overly successful and it reverted
to a hall after about 20 years. The Hall and the hotel have both long been demolished.
Ned Kelly’s siblings Kate and James Kelly stayed at the Guild Hall Hotel in 1880, two weeks after
Ned was hanged in Melbourne on 11 November. They were doing paid appearances to talk about
Ned and his execution, which they witnessed. They also exhibited Kelly memorabilia and
answered questions about Ned’s life. Kate attracted large crowds everywhere she went in Sydney
but her shows were disparaged in the press and frequently broken up by the police.

Gaiety Theatre Kate Kelly and James Kelly

A regiment of Irish Rifles was given a farewell dinner in January 1900 at the Guild Hall Hotel
before leaving for the Boer War. They were addressed by Edmund Barton, just less than a year
before he became Australia’s first Prime Minister.
The Police Gazette can be a useful source of information for tracking down or confirming the
location of ancestors. The Gazette of 9 August 1876 (at page 241) had the following item included
under the heading of “Reports of Burglaries, Stealing from Premises”:

“Stolen between the hours of 2 and 3 am the 8th inst from the Guild Hall Hotel
No 289 Castlereagh St the property of George Rees the landlord one box of
cigars, two bottles of pale brandy, and about 7s in silver and copper money.
Total value 24s. Not identifiable.”

Presumably the items were not identifiable rather than the suspect (or perhaps both were not
identifiable). George may have leased the hotel or he may have been employed as the licensee.
The owner at the time was Thomas G Green (he would later be prosecuted for allowing betting
sweeps on the premises). The 1877 Sands Directory for Sydney has the address of the Guild Hall
Hotel as 201-203 Castlereagh Street which probably indicates yet another street renumbering.

112
The 1877 Rating Assessment Book for the City of Sydney shows that the Guild Hall Hotel was
now leased by George Rees from Robert Lowe and had a gross annual value assessed at £130.

George’s time as licensee of the Guild Hall Hotel was quite short. The following year a Benjamin
Hook, who described himself as the providore of the Steamship “Maitland” advertised:195

“… having taken the Guildhall Hotel Castlereagh Street between Park and
Bathurst Sts Sydney. Visitors from the Country will find every
accommodation. Best Brands of Wine & Spirits always on hand. Bath &
Piano, and every comfort.”

The SS Maitland was wrecked off Broken Bay on a return trip to Newcastle in 1898 with the loss
of 27 lives and 83 kegs of beer.

195Maitland Mercury 17 February 1877 page 3 and The Sydney Morning Herald 10 February
1877, page 6

113
 Suburban Life
George and Kezia would have two more children but they would both be born in Redfern, one of
the new residential areas opening up to the south of the city. Sydney had long been a difficult
place to raise a family. The streets were either surfaced with gravel or wood blocks hammered
into the earth but in either case, they were putrid and stinking, fouled mostly by the relentless
outpouring of horse ordure. The streets were particularly offensive after periods of rain. Drains
became blocked, cellars were flooded and raw sewage often escaped into both public and private
areas. The vast collection of closely packed wooden buildings was under constant threat by fire.
The great mass of people that lived and worked in the city were assailed by a range of natural
events such as heat waves, droughts, water shortages, howling gales and torrential rain. Thick
acrid smoke from burning coal in thousands of fireplaces and factory forges choked the city and
the lungs of its people.
But as the railways and other efficient means of public transport spread out from the city,
workers no longer needed to live close to their work places and so new residential dormitory
suburbs such as Redfern were created. The main Sydney train terminus was located at Redfern
but originally on a site much closer to the city. A new station 1.3 km to the south named Eveleigh
was built in 1876 to cater for the residential influx at Redfern. During the 1880s, Redfern had
a large population of railway workers, many of them employed at the nearby Eveleigh Railway
Workshops. When Central Station became Sydney’s new terminus in 1906, the old Redfern
terminus was demolished. Eveleigh Station was then renamed Redfern Station.

The original Redfern Station

The Sydney Morning Herald reported on 9 March 1877 (page 9), as part of its Mining Summary,
a story from the Tamworth Observer that a gentleman down from the diggings (evidently those at
Happy Valley near Gulgong) said that “Mr George Rees, a well-known mining man, has got on
antimony and contemplates bringing up extensive machinery from Sydney to work it.” This shows
that George spent a good deal of his time travelling between Sydney and mining sites in the west.

114
Kezia was 40 years old when her ninth baby, Adelina Marion Rees, was born on 12 May 1877. 196
The same age mistake was made for George on the birth certificate when his age was noted as
51 instead of 53. Perhaps George genuinely thought he had been born in 1826 rather than 1824.
At the time of Adelina’s birth the family was living in premises at the corner of Pitt Street and
East Street, Redfern (at that time Pitt Street ran all the way from Circular Quay to Waterloo via
Redfern). On this certificate George is described as a “Mining Manager” and this supports the
view that he was not actively engaged in mining in Sydney as there were no obvious mines to
manage in or around the city. Having said that, there were a number of tunnels being built
under and around the newly built Eveleigh Station and it may be that George’s mining expertise
played a role in these projects.
Their last child, named Herbert Philip Ernest Rees, was born three years later on 9 October
1880.197 The family was now living at a house at 110 Cleveland Street, Redfern (on the northern
side of the street, just east of Beaumont Street). This time George’s correct age of 56 was noted
on the birth certificate, suggesting that George had known his age all along. George was
described as a “Licensed Victualler” which may mean that he had taken up employment again as
the keeper or manager of a hotel. However, there was no hotel at 110 Cleveland Street so it is
possible that his occupation was no more than a historical reference. If he was no longer
managing a mine or if he had sold his mining interests and become a retired gentleman, he may
have taken on some work in a nearby hotel.
George and Kezia would have received the news from Kezia’s aunt Catherine in Melbourne that
Kezia’s mother, Kezia Deslandes, had passed away on 8 March 1881 at the age of 68, ten years
after she left Jersey to come to
Australia. Catherine arranged for
her sister to be buried in the same
grave as Catherine’s husband,
James Higgs, at St Kilda Cemetery.
The relevant details were added to
the existing headstone. The
Melbourne newspaper, the
Illustrated Australian News, reported
on 6 April 1881 that Kezia had died
at 86 Albert Street, Windsor, aged
69. There was some ignominy in
being described as Thergia Martha
Deslandes, relict of the late Philip
Deslandes of Jersey, Channel
Islands.
Later that year there was great
excitement in the Rees family at Headstone for Catherine Deslandes, her husband
Redfern when the oldest of the J B Higgs and mother Kezia Martha Deslandes
children, 22 year old Kezia Louisa
Rees, married Herbert Ernest Frost on 14 October 1881 at the nearby St Paul’s Church of
England in Cleveland Street, Redfern.198 The church is still there today but it is now a Greek
Orthodox church.
Louisa’s parents, George and Kezia, were the official witnesses and the officiating Minister was
the Reverend Alfred Stephens. Herbert Frost was also 22 years old. He had arrived in Australia
from London only two years earlier and was working as a draper. At the time, a large number of
people named Frost worked in the cloth and clothing industries in the Redfern and Leichhardt

196 NSW BDM Birth Certificate 5533/1877

197 NSW BDM Birth Certificate 3523/1880
198 NSW BDM Marriage Certificate 1573/1881

115
areas and although Herbert’s parents continued to reside in England, he was likely to be related
to many of those Frosts.
Herbert quickly took an interest in local politics. In 1882 he was a member of a committee that
had been convened to support the then Mayor of Sydney, the very popular John Harris, in his
bid to be re-elected to State Parliament as a member for South Sydney. 199 Harris Street, Ultimo
is named after him.
By 1883 Herbert and Kezia Louisa were now happily settled with a one year old son, who was
named Herbert Ernest Frost after his father.200 Her sister, Louisa Elizabeth Rees, was now 22
and her brother George Theodore Rees was 18. The youngest sibling, Herbert Philip Rees, was
just two years old.
Suddenly, life was turned upside down for the Rees family. After a marriage of only 25 years
that had seen life in the raw at frontier mining towns and had then experienced more prosperous
times, George Rees was gone at the age of 59. He died at home on 1 March 1883. 201 His death
certificate states that his residence was 108 Cleveland Street. He suffered from a debilitating
disease of the kidneys known then as Bright’s disease or nephritis of the kidneys. It had many
causes, any of which could have been assigned to George. The obvious cause would have been
excessive alcohol (a particular curse for publicans) but other causes included eating too much
meat or other protein, stress, high blood pressure and infection. Whatever the cause, George’s
last two months were in chronic and debilitating pain. The doctor attending him was Dr
Mackellar who was probably the same Dr Mackellar who was a physician at the Sydney Hospital
in Macquarie Street. He was the only doctor of that name practicing in Sydney and the suburbs
as listed in the 1883 Sands Directory. Dr Mackellar (later Sir
Charles Mackellar) would become the most eminent physician in
the country and be appointed to the NSW Legislative Council and
become President of the Bank of NSW. He was the father of the
poet Dorothea Mackellar (as in “I Love a Sunburnt Country”).
The death certificate also stated that George’s wife was “Casira
Deslandes” which was almost a phonetical mistake for Kezia. His
mother was noted as “Eliza Marryott” with the surname also
phonetically mistaken, but the name Eliza instead of Susannah is
probably due to him growing up under the care of Susannah’s half-
sister Eliza Davis.
George’s death notice was published in The Sydney Morning Herald
on 3 March 1883. It stated that he had died “after a painful illness,
aged 59. God’s will be done.” The funeral notice in the same paper
invited his friends “to attend his Funeral, to move from his late
residence, 108 Cleveland Street this (Saturday) afternoon at 2
Dr Charles Mackellar
o’clock, to the Necropolis at Haslem’s Creek Cemetery – now
Rookwood Cemetery.” A Memorium saying “Though lost to sight, to memory dear” was placed by
the family in The Sydney Morning Herald on 1 March 1884, a year to the day George had died.
A similar Memorium was again placed in that paper in 1885 and 1886.
Kezia was now left with the challenge of caring for her family with only the older children able to
provide any meaningful income support. Louisa would soon relocate to Queensland, leaving the
Frosts to look after the Rees family, at least until the younger children could take over. The
family continued on at 108 Cleveland Street for a year or so but they had moved by 1885. The
story of the widowed Kezia continues in the following stories of her children.

199 Evening News 1 December 1882, page 8

200 NSW BDM Birth Certificate 8196/1882
201 NSW BDM Death Certificate 468/1883

116
 6 - The Rees Children

Kezia Louisa Rees

Married 1881 Herbert Ernest Frost

Children:

Herbert Ernest Frost b 1882 d 1962 80 years

George Dicks Frost b 1885 d 1959 73 years

Louisa Kezia Frost b 1887 d 1976 89 years

Harry Frost b 1890 d 1968 78 years

Sydney Stanley Frost b 1893 d 1952 59 years

Dorothy May Frost b 1895 d 1983 88 years

Eleanor May Frost b 1900 d 1954 54 years

Kezia Louisa Rees and her husband Herbert Frost were living at Station Street, Petersham when
their second child, George Dicks Frost, was born on 24 July 1885. 202 Young George was clearly
named in honour of Kezia Louisa’s recently departed father and the name Dicks was the family
name of Herbert’s mother. Herbert and his small family left the Petersham address about 1887.
He was working as both a draper and outfitter of clothing at 313 Parramatta Road, Leichhardt
when daughter Louisa Kezia Frost was born on 5 August 1887. 203 At least they had the sense
to reverse the names to make it a bit easier for later family historians.
Earlier in 1887, Herbert was the victim of a store robbery when three young men in their early
twenties walked past Herbert’s shop and took the opportunity to snatch from the doorway a pair
of dark tweed trousers, a pair of grey tweed trousers with a light stripe and a vest, all worth a
total of £2. The three youths were wearing suits and were otherwise well dressed and Herbert
was able to give the police a good description. 204 I don’t know if the culprits were ever caught.
Herbert should have followed the example of his cousin’s wife, Thomas Ereaut, who had a more
successful outcome from a robbery at his shop in Bourke Street, Melbourne 10 years earlier.
Herbert, unfortunately, had far worse problems to face. He was another one of the early
casualties of the severe economic depression that started in Australia in early 1890 when foreign
capital dried up, property prices collapsed and people were left with insolvent creditors. Herbert’s

202 NSW BDM Birth Certificate 6642/1885

203 NSW BDM Birth Certificate 5104/1887
204 NSW Police Gazette 16 March 1887, page 1

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position was not helped by the widespread Maritime Strike that started in Sydney in July 1890
and stopped almost all trade entering Sydney Harbour, including Herbert’s much needed bolts
of cloth and haberdashery he obtained from overseas. Although the strike was over by November
1890, Herbert was forced into a sale of assets in that month as a prelude to insolvency.205 The
Maritime Strike and the Shearers’ Strike that happened at the same time, ended in defeat for the
workers but the strikes would be the catalyst for the formation of the Australian Labor Party.
Herbert was soon back on his feet,
perhaps because his creditors simply took
whatever assets he possessed at the time
and, having no reason to punish him
further, declined to make him bankrupt.
Putting aside this misfortune, Herbert
and Kezia Louisa welcomed the arrival of
another child, Harry Frost, in late
1890.206
By 1891, the family was living at Queen
Street, Petersham where Herbert
continued to work as a draper. The
Census carried out in 1891 shows that
there were four males and three females
living at the Queen Street address.
Although there is an extra female Parramatta Road
unaccounted for, it is clear that George’s
widow, Kezia Rees, and her younger children were not living with them at that time.
By 1893, the Frost family had moved to 33 Day Street, Leichhardt. It was here that Herbert and
Kezia Louisa’s next child, Sydney Stanley Frost was born in 1893. 207 Within a year or two they
had moved again, but only around the corner to 38 Marion Street, Leichhardt 208 Herbert was
still involved in local politics. He was part of a group
that endorsed Fred Walsh for election to State
Parliament in 1894.209 Fred was an interesting
choice for endorsement as he was a staunch
supporter of free trade (which would help Herbert to
import cloth without tariffs and duties). The trouble
was that clothing was also being imported without
tariffs or duties and this put tailors and other
clothing makers under price pressure (much the
same as today).
Fred Walsh appeared at the Leichhardt Town Hall
in June to tell the crowd what he stood for as a Free
Trader. His speech was followed by much applause
from the large crowd but he had an unexpected
moment when his chairman, in moving a vote of
Maritime Strike march
thanks for his appearance, said that he agreed with
most of Fred’s views but then proceeded to pull apart the views he did not agree with. When the
vote of thanks was finally taken, two thirds of the assembly voted against giving any thanks with

205 The Sydney Morning Herald 8 November 1890, page 12

206 NSW BDM Birth Certificate 18832/1890
207 NSW BDM Birth Certificate 19468/1893
208 Sands Directories 1886-1892
209 The Sydney Morning Herald 27 April 1894, page 8

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an obvious show of hostility and a suggestion that Fred should leave the event sooner rather
than later.210
Dorothy May Frost became the latest addition to the Frost family in 1895 but the joy of another
daughter was overshadowed by increasingly difficult times. 211 The worst of the 1890s depression
was over by 1894 but for many people, there was no economic recovery until after the turn of
the century. Herbert again fell on hard times and in 1896 he was sufficiently insolvent to apply
for voluntary sequestration of his assets to ward off yet another prospective bankruptcy. 212
Disillusioned by a constant battle to stay afloat in business, Herbert decided his future lay
outside the highly competitive and frustrating drapery business in the Sydney market. By 1899
Herbert had relocated his family to the Stockton peninsula at the northern entrance to the
Hunter River opposite Newcastle.
On arrival in Stockton, Herbert took up employment as a shop salesman by the well-known
master tailor, Isaac Lasker, who was the principal of the firm of Lasker Brothers which had a
tailoring and mercery shop at 82 Hunter Street, Newcastle. The firm was reputed to be the
largest tailoring business outside of Sydney (they would later operate a large menswear business
in both Sydney and Newcastle). 213 Herbert may have had a prior business relationship with
Lasker Brothers and was invited to join them. It is hard to imagine the family packed up all of
their worldly goods and moved to Stockton without some guarantee of job security.
The job, however, was short lived. In June 1899, Herbert had “an argument” with his employer
who then dismissed Herbert with a week’s notice. At the end of that week, Herbert was allowed
to stay on for another week but Mr Lasker refused to pay him for the extra week because Herbert
had not sold anything in his capacity as a salesman. Herbert took his employer to court with a
claim for £3 and was awarded part of the claim mainly for his time in dressing the shop window
during that extra week.214 Litigation was well known to Mr Lasker as both a plaintiff and a
defendant so Herbert was particularly courageous in taking on (and beating) such a formidable
opponent.
A few months later in August 1899, Herbert advertised in the local paper that he was no longer
with Lasker Brothers but was now the representative of Kinos, the “Noted London and Melbourne
Tailors.” He was available at Short’s Hotel to show customers “the Latest English and Continental
Fashions in High Class Tailoring.”215 The
hotel was on the corner of Scott and
Market Streets, Newcastle and was run by
Isabella Short and for a time had been
known as the Market Inn. Mrs Short had
the name changed to the Shortland Hotel
in 1898, the year before Herbert’s visit,
but it was still known to many by its
shorter name. The hotel was almost lost
in January 1908 in Newcastle’s worst fire
when the adjoining warehouse complex
was completely destroyed.
Kezia Louisa and Herbert’s last child,
Shortland Hotel on the corner after surviving Eleanor May Frost, was born at Stockton
the fire next door in 1900 not long after their arrival and the

210 The Sydney Morning Herald 30 June 1894, page 7

211 NSW BDM Birth Certificate 33462/1895
212 The Sydney Morning Herald 12 May 1896, page 3
213 Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate 23 November 1897, page 8
214 Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate 13 July 1899, page 6
215 Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate 12 August 1899, page 6

119
family of four boys and three girls would spend many years growing up in this area that was
ideally suited for a prospering young family. 216
Over the next ten years, Herbert took an active role in local affairs. He donated a gold locket as
one of the gifts made to the three organisers of the Stockton Ladies Choir which had just
completed a recital at the Stockton Temperance Hall. The recital included their party piece “Coral
Caves of Ocean” for which the choir had won a prize at the Newcastle Eisteddfod. 217
Herbert was probably the “H Frost” who was appointed to be a scrutineer of the voting of the
Board of Management at the first annual meeting of the Newcastle District Starr-Bowkett
Society.218 These types of societies are traced back to 1843. They were formed to help people
with the cost of buying or building houses. Each society had a limited number of members who
nominated how much they wanted to borrow and then contributed a monthly subscription fee
proportionate to the loan sought. Loans were made available each month on a random lottery
basis. Once all members had been given a loan opportunity and all loans had been repaid, the
society was closed and all capital returned to members. The last Starr-Bowkett Society in
Australia only closed in 2014. They had long been banned in the United Kingdom as they were
often the target of unscrupulous operators.
Herbert also renewed his interest in local politics and in July 1904 was supporting the Liberal
and Reform candidate William Dick, who was fiercely opposed to the Labor Party which was
gaining much support in the Newcastle and Stockton areas. After William Dick addressed an
enthusiastic crowd from the balcony of the General Washington Hotel at Stockton, Herbert moved
the vote of thanks which was loudly supported. The meeting was described as “the best ever
held in Stockton.”219
The Frost family would have joined most of the population of Stockton in September 1904 in
climbing to the end of the breakwater to see the newly wrecked sailing ship Adolphe. The ship
came to grief on the site of many previous wrecks and in fact ended up resting across the remains
of the SS Wendouree which was wrecked in 1898 and the SS Lindus which sank at the same spot
in 1899. All 32 crew members of the Adolphe were
rescued by the heroic efforts of the Stockton lifeboat
crew.
The first of the Frost children to marry was 22 year
old eldest son, Herbert Ernest Frost, who wed 21
year old Margaret Jane Armstrong (known as
Maggie) in Sydney in 1904.220 They would have
three daughters, Audrey, Adele and Jean, between
1906 and 1911 and live in various suburbs of
Sydney.
In 1905 Herbert Senior had a run in with the
Inspector of Nuisances for the Borough of Newcastle
who charged Herbert by summons with the offence
of “driving furiously round a corner”, the corner being The stricken Adolphe – note the
at Hunter and Watt Streets in the main business other wrecks
district. At the hearing Herbert strenuously pleaded
a not guilty case but was found to have rounded the corner “at a pace faster than a walk.” He
was fined 5/- with 2/6 in costs. Herbert made it clear that he intended to appeal but this is

216 NSW BDM Birth Certificate 16885/1900

217 Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate 19 November 1903, page 7
218 Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate 31 March 1904, page 6
219 Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate 27 July 1904, page 5
220 NSW BDM Marriage Certificate 4573/1904

120
unlikely to have occurred.221 Later that month, Herbert attended the Stockton Debating Society’s
meeting where he was one of seven impromptu speakers. His topic was “The evils of war.” The
local school headmaster, and Herbert’s good friend, Walter McLaren spoke on “Russia.”222
May 1905 was certainly a busy time for Herbert. He and Walter McLaren were among those
elected as councillors of St Paul’s Church of England in Maitland Street, Stockton, a position
that Herbert would hold for some time.223 The church would later be the venue for a number of
marriages of his children. Later that year Herbert was elected as a committee member of the
Stockton School of Arts. He would also hold that position for some years.
The Frost family were keen collectors of canaries and they had a large aviary at their house in
Church Street, Stockton. One day in January 1906, a six foot long brown snake found its way
into the aviary. An investigation was made into the excited state of the birds which “resulted in
the discovery of the undesirable intruder which was speedily despatched.”224
That same month Herbert was nominated to stand for election as an Alderman of Stockton
Borough Council.225 As part of his campaign, Herbert made an election address one evening at
the Boatrowers’ Hotel in Fullerton Street, Stockton. In his newspaper announcement of the
upcoming address he urged voters not to pledge their votes “until you have heard my views on
Lighting, Roads, Bathing Facilities and general advancement of the Borough.”226 He came seventh
out of the eight candidates with 58 votes. Only the first three candidates were elected. 227
Nevertheless, Herbert would have become much better known as someone who held strong
community values.
In 1907 Herbert helped petition the
Mayor of Stockton to convene a public
meeting for the purpose of thanking
headmaster Walter McLaren for his
excellent years of service at the local
school. The popular teacher was
being transferred to the Sydney
suburb of Botany, probably as a
promotion.228
Kezia Louisa and Herbert’s second The Boatrowers’ Hotel at Stockton
son, George Dicks Frost, was 26 when
he married Mary Ingram on 12 December 1911 at St Augustine’s Church, Merewether, a
southern beachside suburb of Newcastle.229 They later lived for most of their time together at 11
Clyde Street, Stockton. George worked as a boilermaker. They had a son, George, born in 1912
whose second name of Ingram started a trend for later children to be given that second name but
another son, born in 1916, who they named Alan Rees Frost, kept Kezia Louisa’s maiden name
in the family.
Sydney Frost (also known as Sidney but mostly as Syd), the fourth son of Kezia Louisa and
Herbert, was 22 and working as a warehouse salesman when he enlisted on 4 July 1915 at
Liverpool as part of the 10th Reinforcement of the 6th Light Horse Regiment. This was around the

221 Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate 4 May 1905, page 7 and 18 May 1905 p 7
222 Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate 18 May 1905, page 6
223 Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate 23 May 1905, page 6
224 Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate 30 January 1906, page 6
225 Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate 30 January 1906, page 5 and 7 February

1906, page3
226 Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate 7 February 1906, page 7
227 Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate 12 February 1906, page 5
228 Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate 7 January 1907, page 6 and 8 January 1907,

page 6
229 NSW BDM Marriage Certificate 13708/1911

121
time that the call came for volunteers to replace the dreadful losses suffered since the landings
at Gallipoli. He nominated his mother Kezia Louisa as his next of kin. He could obviously ride
a horse well to be selected for a Light Horse Regiment. By the time his unit arrived in Egypt, the
Gallipoli campaign was over. The regiment joined forces with New Zealand troops and became
the ANZAC Mounted Division. They spent the war fighting mostly in Egypt, Palestine and Syria.
In Palestine, the division made the famous charge at Beersheba.
After arrival in Egypt Syd was soon transferred to the
Division’s Signal Company as a sapper and later to the
Pack Wireless Section attached to the Desert Mounted
Corps where he served out the rest of the war, spending
much time in and out of hospitals. He suffered mostly
from dysentery which he got from contaminated water
(most water was contaminated in some form and
needed to be sufficiently purified).
When the war ended in November 1918 there were not
enough ships to bring home all of the Australian
soldiers so a scheme was devised to spread them
around England and give them training, mostly in
agriculture, so they would have better skills when they
eventually returned home. A unit of soldiers was sent
to Jersey and Guernsey in the Channel Islands where
they were made very welcome. The Jersey islanders
joined in when the soldiers put on a big celebration of
Australia Day.230 Syd finally left Egypt for England in
May 1919, six months after the war ended, and then
joined the unit on Jersey under the command of
Syd Frost with nephew George Lieutenant George Benest. Syd was provided with
Frost – Marion Smith Collection overalls and was paid 6/- a day and had vouchers to
meet the cost of all his transportation. It says a lot for
Syd that his superiors were happy to send him to a particularly obscure location that just
happened to be an ancestral home where he could catch up with members of the Deslandes
family. Syd’s Army file notes that a
“Report from Lieutenant Benest
states that Sapper Frost took a keen
and intelligent interest in his work
and made very good progress.” He
was discharged back in Australia in
December 1919 and a welcome
home celebration for the last
returning veterans was held at
Stockton on 21 January 1920.231
Two of Kezia and Herbert’s other
children were married in 1916 while
the war was still raging in Europe.
The first was Harry Frost who
married Mary Lynn (known as
Syd Frost in Egypt – 4th from the left
Mollie) at Stockton when they were – Elsie Hely Collection
both 26.232 Harry worked as an

230 Jersey Evening Post 16 July 2009

231 The Newcastle Sun 20 January 1920, page 4
232 NSW BDM Marriage Certificate 1595/1916

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engine driver. They lived for many years at 19 Maitland Street, Stockton where they raised their
family.
His older sister Louisa Kezia Frost was 28 when she married 31 year old Gordon Dalby at St
Phillips Church in Sydney.233 Gordon had the unusual distinction of being named after General
Charles Gordon, the Hero of
Khartoum who was killed after
a long and bloody siege in
Sudan following an Arab
uprising. His death occurred
only two days before a relief
force arrived under Lord
Wolseley. Just to show his first
name was not coincidental,
Gordon was also given the
further Christian names of
“Wolseley” and “Soudan.”
Young Gordon Dalby was
famously injured when he was
about seven. He was sitting in
a cart belonging to the grocer,
Walter Ball, at Stockton when
Harry and Mollie Frost on their wedding day
– Marion Smith Collection the horse bolted. Gordon was
soon thrown from the cart as it
crashed and he was badly injured needing many stitches. He survived and later qualified as a
marine chief engineer in England before returning in 1909 to become a builder and engineer at
Stockton. For a time he and Louisa owned a hotel
in Sydney when he was a superintendent at the
Mortlake Gas Works.
They returned to Stockton where they spent most
of their time at 16 Crown Street. They both became
active in the community. Gordon was elected
President of the Progress Association and
Alderman on Stockton Council. By 1932 he was
Mayor of Stockton but he resigned when he
accepted the position of chief engineer for a China
based shipping company because the payment
terms were unrivalled. He later spent six years on
ships operating out of Vladivostok in eastern
Russia before returning to Stockton. Louisa
occasionally travelled with him, once on a trip to
Japan.
These were difficult and dangerous times for the
regions that Gordon travelled within. By 1930
China had erupted into civil war mainly between
two factions led by implacable adversaries, Chiang
Kai-Shek and Mao Tse Tung. Japan took
advantage of the upheaval to invade the northern
Chinese province of Manchuria in 1931 and from Most likely Malvina Olivia Rhind and
there proceeded to conquer much of northern Kezia Louisa Frost, seated
– Marion Smith Collection

233 NSW BDM Marriage Certificate 4865/1916

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China, often with such brutality against the civilian population that considerable worldwide
antipathy to Japan was generated.
In 1919, Gordon’s younger sister Dorothy Frost married Arthur Ball, the son of Walter Ball the
grocer, in Stockton (although Walter later became an estate agent).234 Dorothy and Arthur were
both 24. Arthur was working for a firm of estate agents in Newcastle called Drayton & Howard.
Arthur trained as an auctioneer and later became a director of the firm with Walter Howard.
Business was booming and Arthur and Walter Howard formed their own business, Howard &
Ball, where their main focus was on real estate auctions.
The business continued to prosper but, as is often the case, a boom is followed by a bust, in this
case the worldwide Great Depression of the late 1920s and early 1930s. Business started to dry
up by 1928 and by the following year the two auctioneers had left the business and were now
fending for themselves at whatever work they could find.
Bankruptcy beckoned for Arthur when he was declared insolvent in November 1929. 235 At that
time, Arthur found it difficult to get any work. He had found some employment as a wire drawer,
a job that involved pulling wire through a die to make much thinner wires. By 1930 he was
picking up the odd appointment as a general auctioneer. In these hard times, he made himself
available at church harvest festivals and other community fundraising events to use his
auctioneer skills to sell donated gifts and other items to get the best value for the charity. His
help was most appreciated.
Arthur’s insolvency continued for some years while he tried desperately to fend off formal
bankruptcy which would make it difficult for him to work again as an auctioneer. In court in
September 1931, he stated that his
pending bankruptcy was due to his
unemployment – he had only worked eight
months in the last three years.236
Arthur survived and he returned to full
time business as an auctioneer, which he
kept up for the rest of his working life. He
and Dorothy lived at a few different
addresses in their early days together but
after a long stay at 39 Hereford Street, they
moved to 100 Mitchell Street, Stockton, not
far from his father’s old grocery store.
Eleanor Frost, the youngest of the children,
was 21 when she married 27 year old
William Tayler at St Paul’s Church,
Stockton on 8 October 1921.237 William
worked as an engineer. Like his brother in
law, Gordon Dalby, he had some unusual
Christian names in “Sydenham” and
“Annandale.” It may have been because he
was born at Annandale in Sydney and his Arthur and Dorothy Ball – Marion Smith Collection
father’s second name was “Sydenham.”
They lived at 122 Bull Street, Mayfield for most of their married life where they brought up a
family of four boys. After Eleanor’s untimely death in 1954, it is likely that William remarried a
lady named Alice.

234 NSW BDM Marriage Certificate 1034/1919

235 Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate 14 December 1929
236 Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate 11 September 1931, page 8
237 NSW BDM Marriage Certificate15961/1921

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Herbert Frost, the father, was working as a commercial traveller when he was diagnosed with a
mental illness sufficient for him to be admitted to the Mental Hospital at Gladesville in Sydney
where he died on 21 August 1922 at the age of 61.238 A notice appeared in The Newcastle Herald
on 23 August 1922 (page 6) stating that Herbert:

“… has been in this State 43 years, the last 23 years being in Stockton. He
leaves a widow four sons and three daughters, who received many
sympathetic messages.”

By 1929 many probably thought that the only unmarried child, the war veteran Sydney Frost,
was not destined to be married. However, in that year when he was by now 36, he wed Elsie
Johnson at Newcastle.239 Stanley had worked at a number of different jobs since the war
including as a wire drawer like his brother in law Arthur Ball during the worst time of the Great
Depression. For a time Syd and his wife lived at 3 Crown Street, Stockton, an address that
William and Eleanor Tayler also lived at for a time.
Herbert’s widow Kezia Louisa continued to live close to most of her family. She was 80 when she
passed away at 14 Crown Street, Stockton on 9 August 1940.240 Her death was the result of old
age leading to heart failure and congested lungs. She was the first born child of George and
Kezia Rees, having been born at Mudgee when her parents were looking to prosper on the
goldfields. Her death certificate incorrectly stated that she was 81 and that she had been born
in Beechworth. The certificate also stated that she had another child who had died earlier. As
this child was not named, it is likely that it died soon after birth. A notice was placed in the
Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate on 23 August 1940 (page 10) incorrectly giving
her age as 82 and stating that she had lived at Stockton for 43 years. It also noted that she had
24 grandchildren and two great grandchildren. Six of her grandsons were pallbearers at her
funeral. She was buried with her husband at Stockton Cemetery.

The Frost family at Kezia Louisa Frost’s funeral 1940 – Marion Smith Collection

238 NSW BDM Death Certificate 9671/1922

239 NSW BDM Marriage Certificate 16804/1929
240 NSW BDM Death Certificate 18203/1940

125
 Louisa Elizabeth Rees

Married 1886 Albert Prince Buglar

Children:

Natalie Malvina Buglar b 1887 d 1974 86 years

Evelyn Alice Buglar b 1890 d 1973 83 years

Burnett Santley Buglar b 1892 d 1974 81 years

Albert Norman Buglar b 1896 d 1985 88 years

Sybil Louise Mafeking Buglar b 1900 d 1998 98 years

Leslie Stratton Buglar b 1903 d 1995 91 years

Growing up in the Leichhardt and Petersham areas in the 1870s gave young Louisa Rees a great
deal of exposure to the clothing trade that then flourished in those areas. Within a short distance
from home, Louisa would have found countless tailors, dressmakers, seamstresses, drapers,
haberdashers, milliners and bootmakers. At the time, most young urban women worked as
domestic servants or seamstresses or, if they were sufficiently educated and capable of becoming
highly skilled, as dressmakers and milliners. Louisa had managed to find work with a milliner
and she became quite skilled in her own right by the time of her father’s death in 1883.
Shortly after that time she successfully applied for a job as the head milliner at a large general
merchant and fashion store at Ipswich, a major rural town between Brisbane and Toowoomba
in southern Queensland. The store of Cribb & Foote, on the corner of Bell and Brisbane Streets,
had become an iconic retailer in Ipswich since it first opened in 1849 under the name of London
Stores. Louisa’s position as head milliner would have been highly respected in Ipswich and well
paid, especially for women. The store was known for treating its employees like family and the
owners were much involved and admired in the local community.
Not long after commencing at the store, Louisa became attracted to a man nine years older who
worked there as a clerk. Or perhaps he was the reason she relocated to Ipswich in the first place.
He went by the unusual name of Albert Prince Buglar. The name Prince does not readily appear
in Albert’s earlier family history. Could it have come from Prince Albert, the husband of the
reigning monarch, Queen Victoria? Albert Buglar frequently suffered the indignity of seeing his
surname misspelled as Bugler, Bagler, Bulgar and even on one occasion, Burglar. Official
records were not immune from this outrage. Albert had been born in 1852 in Haselbury
Plucknett, a village on the Parrett River in Somerset, England. He came with his parents and
siblings to Australia in 1855. His employment as a clerk enabled Albert to pursue other business
interests. By 1883 he had become a partner in the Prospect Colliery, one of the many enterprises
that were mining the so called black diamonds of the rich coalfields in and around Ipswich. In

126
that year Albert advertised that he was no longer responsible for any debts of his partners without
his written authority, suggesting that the partnership was fast coming to an end.241
Louisa and Albert were married on 30 March 1886 at the home of Herbert and Kezia Frost at
Station Street, Petersham to allow Louisa to be with all of her family. 242 Albert’s older sister,
Louisa Buglar, had earlier married John North, another of the senior employees at Cribb & Foote.
Other members of the Buglar clan would also work at Cribb & Foote over the years giving the
store quite a family connection. The Reverend Samuel Savage of the Congregational Church
conducted the ceremony and the official witnesses were Louisa’s younger sister Malvina and her
brother in law Herbert Frost. It is likely that Albert’s parents and siblings came down to Sydney
with him for the wedding and that the newlyweds returned to Ipswich soon after the marriage.
Albert’s father Jeremiah died suddenly only three months later. Louisa’s career as a milliner
and department head came to an abrupt end on her marriage to Albert because married women
were looked on as needing to provide full time domestic support for their husbands. Fortunately,
Albert’s position was sufficient to provide a comfortable income.

Cribb & Foote store Ipswich 1890s

Albert took his work and community duties seriously. In September 1887 he was empanelled
on a jury for a criminal case heard at the District Court in Ipswich. Serving on a jury was not
an uncommon event for respectable citizens in country towns, as George Rees had found out in
Beechworth. The defendant had been charged with indecent assault of a 12 year old girl, in that
he ran his hand up her leg under her bedclothes. The evidence was quite clear that the defendant
had mistaken the girl’s bed for that of the young adult female servant who slept in the same
room who had been flirting with the defendant earlier in the evening. The jury took little time to
return a verdict of “not guilty.”243
A month before the jury trial, Louisa had given birth to her first child, a daughter who was named
Natalie Malvina Buglar.244 The baby’s name was incorrectly registered as Natalie Malvine Buglar.
Some later official documents have her first name incorrectly shown as Natolie. She was named

241 Queensland Times 15 February 1883, page 2

242 NSW BDM Marriage Certificate 2636/1886
243 Queensland Times 10 September 1887, page 3
244 Qld BDM Birth Certificate C4721/1887

127
Malvina after Louisa’s younger sister Malvina who may have been living with them at the time of
the birth. By 1890, the family home was at Burnett Street, Ipswich where they lived with Albert’s
widowed mother, Eliza.
Another daughter, Evelyn Alice Buglar, was born that year. 245 Their first son, Burnett Santley
Buglar, was born in 1892 (although the register has his surname as Bugler).246 Presumably he
was named after Burnett Street, where the family lived near the intersection with Brisbane Street.
The street itself was named after James Burnett, an early government surveyor who explored the
area in the 1840s. The name was not an uncommon Christian name in the 1890s in Queensland.
Baby Burnett’s middle name of Santley would often be mistaken for Stanley on later official
forms. Or perhaps the mistake was made at the time of registration of his birth and he really
was a Stanley. Ipswich coincidently was in the County of Stanley. His mother’s death notice in
the local paper refers to him as Stanley (and not Burnett) which strongly suggests this was the
name he was known by. But for the sake of this story, I have called him Burnett.
Albert’s position as a
clerk at Cribb & Foote
made him a respectable
figure in the community
and he joined many local
organisations, including
the Ipswich Benevolent
Society. Not everything
he did had community
support. On one occasion
in 1894 he went surety for
the bail of a man accused
of assaulting and having
carnal knowledge of an 11
year old orphan girl living
in a temporary foster
home. The case was the The thriving town of Ipswich
talk of the town and it is
hard to imagine that, in the face of local hostility, Albert would have backed the accused if he
did not have a strong belief in his innocence. 247 Perhaps his earlier jury experience had shown
that the police were often quick to bring charges in these types of cases based on little evidence
(there did, however, seem to be a lot of cases involving sexual offences against minors).
Like his brother in law Herbert Frost, Albert was actively involved in local politics. In 1896 he
was one of the nominees of a retiring Alderman on Ipswich Municipal Council who was seeking
re-election.248 His nominee was duly elected when no-one stood against him. Albert took part
in further nominations in later years. Later in 1896 another son, Albert Norman Buglar, was
born.249 In later life he would always be known as Norman.
The following year, Louisa and Albert attended a society wedding at Pine Mountain, a few miles
to the north west of Ipswich.250 The wedding was lavishly described in the local newspaper and
an inventory of wedding gifts was included in the report. Louisa and Albert presented the couple
with “an ornate epergne” which was a many tiered table centerpiece, usually made with silver. It

245 Qld BDM Birth Certificate C6465/1890

246 Qld BDM Birth Certificate C6544/1892
247 The Telegraph 11 April 1894, page 2 and Queensland Times 19 April 1894, page 2
248 Queensland Times 25 January 1896, page 3
249 Qld BDM Birth Certificate C5685/1896
250 Queensland Times 3 September 1898, page 5

128
was probably a more pleasing present than the “cheese stand and moustache cup” given by
another guest, assuming they were in fact separate items.
In 1899 Cribb & Foote celebrated their 50 year Anniversary by closing the store for the day and
providing a special train to take staff and guests to a festive picnic at Hillside west of Ipswich.
Activities included swings, cricket and football. The abundance of food included roast turkey,
chicken and duck, ox tongue, ham, potatoes, peas, salad, cheese, apple pie, currant pie, fruit
and blancmange, trifle, jelly and custard, dried fruits, nuts confectionery and a giant six tier
celebration cake.251 Louisa and Albert would have been keen participants at the picnic. The
original store had many extensions and
alterations over the years. It lasted for
a long time but its end came when it
burnt down in 1985. The site is now the
Ipswich City Square.
September 1899 was the month in
which all eligible voters in Queensland
went to their local polling booths to vote
Yes or No in the latest non-compulsory
referendum that would decide whether a
Commonwealth of Australia was to be
established. All other States, except
Western Australia, had already voted
Yes and now it was Queensland’s turn.
Albert was keenly in favour of a
Commonwealth and after the polls
closed, he worked as a scrutineer for the
Cribb & Foote Jubilee invitation 1899
Federalists, keeping close watch on the
official counting. Although, Ipswich and surrounding areas returned a resounding No vote, the
referendum was carried in Queensland (the Yes vote was 55% but only 54% of eligible voters
turned out). Western Australia followed suit the following year.
Louisa gave birth to another daughter in 1900 who was given the name Sybil Louise Mafeking
Buglar.252 Mafeking was a town in the Cape Colony (South Africa) that withstood a siege during
the second Boer War that lasted for 217 days until relief forces arrived on 17 May 1900. News
of the continuing siege was gloomily followed in Australia but news of the relief caused much
celebration around the nation. Australia even minted a medal to honour Colonel Baden-Powell,
the Defender of Mafeking (the same Baden-Powell who later started the Scout movement). Over
the next year or so, thousands of children around Australia were given Mafeking as a Christian
name. Albert and Louisa’s last child, Leslie Stratton Buglar, was born in 1903 when Louisa was
41.253 The name Stratton was a clear acknowledgment to Louisa’s grandmother.
In 1907 Albert supported his retired employer, Thomas Cribb, in unsuccessfully seeking re-
election as the State member for Ipswich. Cribb had first been elected to the upper house in
1893 before being elected to the lower house, where he served for a time as the State Treasurer.
Not put off by his failure to be re-elected in 1907, he ran again in 1913 and was elected once
again to the upper house but died shortly after.
In May 1907 the Buglar family travelled together for a holiday at Southport, the popular beach
community now located in the heart of Queensland’s Gold Coast. No doubt they enjoyed many
annual holidays at the seaside.

251 Pins, Petticoats and Ploughs: Cribb & Foote, universal providers to Ipswich and district from
1849 to 1977 - Keith Jarrott 1998
252 Qld BDM Birth Certificate C6014/1900
253 Qld BDM Birth Certificate C5287/1903

129
The Buglar family continued to live in Burnett Street, as shown in the 1908 Census for the area.
However, during the next few years, Albert moved out of the house and spent many of the
following years living apart from the family in a house in Limestone Street, which was one of the
eastern extensions of Burnett Street, so not too far away. A separation is further evident in
Louisa taking most of the children on a later holiday to Southport. Albert and one of the girls
also went to Southport at the same time but were guests of other holiday makers.254

Louisa Frost, Evelyn Buglar and Natalie Buglar

– Marion Smith Collection

The new century continued the tradition of community support for progress. Church, school
and club building and renovation works were well supported by fund raising activities and one
of the main activities was holding a social, in the form of a dance or concert. An example was
the concert and entertainment held in 1909 to raise funds for a new organ at the West Ipswich
Congregational Sunday School. In between the many songs and recitals, Albert played a
selection of gramophone records. The gramophone had become the wonder of the age and
listening to recordings of famous singers and bands had become the paramount form of
entertainment (Albert was a forerunner to the modern disk jockey). 255
At the Ipswich Show in 1910, Cribb & Foote were well represented. Mr Cribb won many prizes
for his horses and Mr Foote was similarly successful with his dogs (including the well named
Glendon Duke which won a major trophy). Albert Buglar won prizes in the poultry competition

254 Queensland Times 30 March 1910, page 6

255 Queensland Times 6 July 1909, page 5

130
for his chickens and ducks.256 He had been winning prizes for his chickens, ducks and turkeys
at local and regional shows since at least 1892. Albert had also previously won prizes at various
shows for his greyhound dogs and his fruit and vegetables (including loquats, cabbages, turnips,
cauliflowers and lettuces). His
crowning achievement came
in 1906 when he won the
Champion Card for best game
bird with his British black-red
hen.
Albert and Louisa’s eldest
daughter, Natalie, was the
first of the children to marry.
She was 24 when she wed
Walter Williams and they
would spend all their days
living in Ipswich.257 Natalie
must have been particularly
fertile as she gave birth to her
first child eight months later
but the child did not survive
long. They had a further four Cribb & Foote, Ipswich 1910
children between 1916 and
1923. One son was named Lloyd George Walker, presumably after the solicitor and politician
who was the British Prime Minister at the time.
Albert must have been held in some high regard in the community as shown in the following
news article that appeared in the Queensland Times in 1913:258

“Many of our readers will regret to learn that Mr A P Buglar, the well-known
employee of Messrs Cribb and Foote, was two or three days ago, suddenly
seized with a somewhat alarming illness. Yesterday, however, we were
informed that he had decidedly improved, and trust to be enabled to
announce, ere long, his restoration to convalescence.”

At the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, Burnett Buglar was 22 years old and his brother
Norman was 18. Both were eligible for enlistment (with Norman needing parental permission)
but neither saw service during the war.
1916 was a big year in the Buglar family for marriages. Starting the year, 19 year old Norman
married May Lowis.259 Their first child was born four months after the marriage so there may
have been some haste in getting to the church. Three more children followed between 1917 and
1924. In 1917 Norman purchased in May’s name the aptly named Norman Vineyard at
Coominya, north-west of Ipswich, near Lake Wivenhoe. May died unexpectedly in 1929 at the
age of 31 leaving Norman and his children distraught. Norman later worked for the Queensland
Railways as a carpenter. He eventually remarried in 1937 to Violet Klumpp, a descendant of
German immigrants, and they would have three children.

256 Queensland Times 28 April 1910, page 7

257 Qld BDM Marriage Certificate C1522/1912
258 Queensland Times 24 March 1913, page 6
259 Qld BDM Marriage Certificate C410/1916

131
Four months after Norman’s marriage, Burnett married Alice Michel and they would have four
children, all sons, between 1919 and 1933. 260 Any issue Burnett had about being named after
a street was dispelled when he also named his first son Burnett. Another
son, Rodney, was given the middle name of Rees and his brother Noel
had a middle name of Ewald, the Christian name of his maternal
grandfather. In 1917 Burnett was working at S Hoffnung & Co Ltd in
Brisbane. Sigmond Hoffnung had set up a general merchandise
business in Sydney in 1852. The Brisbane store was opened in 1871
and the now international firm became a public company in 1902. The
company became one of the largest wholesale/retail businesses in
Australia. It was taken over by Burns Philp in 1980.
Surprisingly, Burnett’s older sister Evelyn (known to everyone as Evie)
married only 12 days after Burnett.261 Her husband was Reinhold
Roghan and perhaps even more surprisingly, he was related to Burnett’s
wife Alice. Evelyn and Reinhold would only have one child, a daughter
Rita who was born six months after the marriage, an improvement in
birth timing on her brother Norman. They lived at Sandgate, a coastal
Violet Buglar
suburb of Brisbane.
(Klumpp)
Louisa the mother, the second of the Rees children and who was born
on the infamous goldfield at Lambing Flat and later the mother of six children, died at Ipswich
Hospital on the last day of 1917 at the age of 56, three years
short of her father’s life span.262 Louisa had been suffering for
some time from a widespread general peritonitis, an
inflammation in the inner abdominal layer of the skin mostly
caused by a stomach ulcer or other rupture that allowed bacteria
to escape into the abdominal cavities (famous people to die from
peritonitis have included Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (poet)
1882, Lawrence Hargrave (aviation pioneer), Enrico Caruso
(singer) 1921, Herman Rorschach (inventor of the inkblot test)
1922, Harry Houdini (escapologist) 1926, Rudolph Valentino
(actor) 1926 and Walter Burley Griffin (civic architect) 1937).
Louisa had been under the care of Dr Gilmore Wilson who was
the Medical Superintendent at the hospital. The local paper
reported that Louisa was “a very old and respected resident of the
city … known to a large number of citizens, by all of whom she
was held in high respect.”263 This is rather damp praise at a
time when death notices were usually written with flourish and
Norman Buglar
effusiveness. A few weeks later, Albert and his children gave
public thanks in the local paper to those who sent wreaths, cards and messages of condolence. 264
Interestingly, Louisa had made her Will on the day she died. She owned real estate at Ipswich
which she left to Albert.
By 1919 Albert was living back in the Burnett Street house on his own. In that year his older
brother Frederick died three months after he had been attacked at a local hotel. Fred was found
in the hotel’s toilet with his throat cut, causing considerable shock to the next intending user of
the facility when he opened the door. Strangely, Fred remained conscious the whole time but

260 Qld BDM Marriage Certificate C1326/1916

261 Qld BDM Marriage Certificate B18657/1916
262 Qld BDM Death Certificate C473/1918
263 Queensland Times 17 January 1918, page 4
264 Queensland Times 2 February 1918, page 6

132
refused to provide any details of his attacker or a reason for the attack. 265 Ironically, Fred was
by occupation a butcher.
In 1920, on the third anniversary of Louisa’s death, her sons Norman and Leslie (and Norman’s
wife May) placed a Memoriam notice in the local paper.266
By 1922 Albert had been admitted to the Hospital for Insane at nearby Goodna, having been
diagnosed with senile decay. This creeping dementia may have been a contributing factor to the
family living in different residences in the preceding 10 years. Albert was 69 when he died on 25
March 1922 at the hospital.267 The hospital later became the largest asylum for the insane in
Australia. It is a strange coincidence that Albert Buglar and his brother in law Herbert Frost
died in mental hospitals within 5 months of each other. Albert’s Will, which was made in August
1918, appointed two of his nephews as Executors. This could also suggest a relationship problem
with his own children. Albert owned a significant amount of real estate. His Executors arranged
for a breakup of his larger property into at least 38 lots but 11 years after Albert’s death, the
estate had still not been finalised. 268 The local council had advertised the forced sale of some of
the lots due to unpaid rates.
The youngest child of Albert and Louisa was their son Leslie Buglar
who was 29 when he married Hilda Mitchell in Brisbane in 1933. 269
His older sister Sybil Buglar was the last to marry. She was 46
when she married Charles Ahern in 1946 but she made up for the
late nuptials by living until she was 98 and setting the bar for later
generations of Buglars.
Although Burnett Buglar did not enlist in the First World War, he
enlisted in 1941 during the Second World War when he was 48
(putting his age down six years) and served for over four years in a
Brisbane military hospital as a member of the Australian Army
Veterans Corps. He reached the rank of Staff Sergeant in his role
as a Quarter Master. At the time of his enlistment, Burnett was
Burnett Buglar’s WW2 living at 125 Park Road, Woollowin and he was working as a
army photo stockman.

265 Queensland Times 13 June 1919, page 5

266 Queensland Times 31 December 1920, page 4
267 Qld BDM Death Certificate B36794/1922
268 Queensland Times 28 January 1933, page 4
269 Qld BDM Marriage Certificate B15419/1933

133
 George Theodore John Rees

Married 1892 Janet Nelson

Children:

Hilda Janet Rees b 1895 d 1966 71 years

Elsie Adelaide Rees b 1897 d 1991 94 years

Eveline Alice Rees b 1899 d 1984 84 years

Norma Aubrey Rees b 1901 d 1984 83 years

Myra Linda Rees b 1903 d 2000 96 years

George Nelson Rees b 1907 d 1977 69 years

After the Frost family moved to Stockton, it was left to George TJ Rees to help his mother with
the care of the younger Rees children. Their movements between 1885 and 1889 are unclear
but by 1889 Kezia Rees had moved the family to an eight room house at 13 Elswick Street,
Leichhardt. According to the 1891 Census there were three males and three females living at
the large residence, with Kezia as the head of the house (although the lease was in the name of
26 year old George TJ).
George TJ probably delayed thoughts of marriage while working hard as the main bread winner
for the family. However, he did finally meet the right girl. He was 27 when he married 26 year
old Janet Nelson on 13 June 1892 at the temporary Anglican church building in North
Annandale.270 To be more precise, the temporary church building was in fact the Primitive
Methodist Chapel in Johnstone Lane which was hired by the Anglicans for £3 a month while the
new Anglican Church of St Aidan’s was being built on the corner of Johnstone and Booth Streets,
Annandale. Primitive Methodists had split from the Wesleyan Methodists in England in 1810,
preferring a simpler and somewhat sombre form of worship, closer to the original Wesleyan
ideals. Primitive must have had a less pejorative meaning back then.
The wedding service was performed by the curate in charge of the new church, the Reverend
Harry Izod Richards. The wedding day was a Monday, possibly because the Methodists used the
chapel themselves on weekends.
The only established Anglican church in the area in 1890 was the recently built All Souls Church
in Norton Street, Leichhardt, which was much closer to where George TJ and his family lived.
But the residents of the Annandale ward of the municipality of Leichhardt wanted their own
church. They also wanted their own suburb and they would get both within a few years. Janet
Nelson lived at Annandale, which was a fashionable new subdivision of an old estate on a ridge
between Parramatta Road and Rozelle Bay, having wide views across the bay to the city. Most
of her family also lived at or near Annandale and it must have been more convenient for the large

270 NSW BDM Marriage Certificate 4558/1892

134
Nelson clan to have the marriage in a nearby borrowed church rather than in a grander church
farther away.
No doubt, many of the Rees clan turned out for the ceremony and the festivities that followed
but they would have been outnumbered by the Nelson clan. That probably explains why the
official witnesses at the wedding were Fred Farquharson, who was married to Janet’s older sister
Agnes, and Mary Smith who was also an older sister of Janet.
The timing for the wedding ceremony must have been tight. The official laying of the foundation
stone for the new church of St Aidan’s was planned for only five days after the wedding but, as
it happened, it was delayed by a further five weeks. The stone was finally laid by the Anglican
Bishop of Sydney, William Saumarez Smith, in the presence of the Governor, who happened to
be the Earl of Jersey, and an assembly of notables and the press. The curate, the Reverend
Richards, was absent as he was suffering rather badly from acute rheumatism. 271 His long term
suffering suddenly ended when he died a year later, leaving a new wife and a daughter born after
his death.
Janet Nelson was the ninth child of Thomas Nelson and his wife Janet Jardine. They were both
immigrants who came to Australia independently. After marrying in Sydney, they worked as
farmers on Mitchells Island near the mouth of the Manning River. They raised a large family but
most of them, as they approached adulthood, left the district to find work in Sydney.

Janet Nelson and George TJ Rees in their younger days

Janet’s parents came to Sydney around 1890 because of her father’s ill health and the better
treatment he could find in the city. 23 year old Janet was one of the children that came with
them. As Janet is my great grandmother, the stories of the Nelson and Jardine families are a
significant part of this book in later chapters.
George TJ and Janet settled into married life at George’s home at 13 Elswick Street, Leichhardt,
although they had to share the house with Kezia and the remainder of her family. Leichhardt
was originally a handful of large land grants that were later subdivided into residential estates.
One of the resulting properties was renamed Leichhardt after the famed explorer of that name
whose party disappeared in 1848 while attempting a crossing of the continent from east to west.
Another large property, named Elswick, was bought by James Norton, one of Australia’s first

271 The Sydney Morning Herald 25 July 1892, page 6

135
solicitors. He turned Elswick into a grand manor, with orchards, formal flower gardens and eel
and fish ponds. Peacocks roamed and strutted at will through the manor which stretched from
Parramatta Road to the Parramatta River at Iron Cove (near the Hawthorn Canal).
No 13 Elswick Street was on the south western corner of Jarrett Street and was the end house
of a seven house brick terrace, just around the corner from Parramatta Road. The houses were
demolished many years ago and replaced by a large commercial building fronting Parramatta
Road. The land for the terrace houses (lots 32-36) had been bought by a fruitgrower, Joseph
Stevens, in 1882. The terrace houses were built the following year and then rented out. George
TJ took up no 13 as tenant in 1889.
George had not long been at Elswick Street when he reported he had lost a silver watch and
chain which had coins and a small gold nugget attached. The presence of the nugget suggests
the watch may have belonged to his father. Its value may have been more sentimental to George.
He placed a notice in the Lost and Found section of The Sydney Morning Herald on 11 February
1890 (page 1).
George was working as a clerk looking after deliveries for Hudson Brothers (Bros) who owned
timber and metal works at Redfern and Granville.
They had built many major works in Sydney including
the Coast Hospital. The hospital had been built in
1881 as a smallpox hospital at remote Little Bay but it
soon became a general convalescent hospital as well.
It was renamed Prince Henry Hospital in 1934 after a
visit by Henry (who was the Duke of Gloucester). He
later became Australia’s 11th Governor General).
The Hudson Bros workshop at Botany Street, Redfern
(now Cope Street) was where the timber products were
Hudson Brothers logo
made. The workshop at Granville was where Hudson
Bros made railway rolling stock and other metal products. They also had their own wharf and
sawmill at Pyrmont. George probably spent most of his time down at the wharf, where timber
deliveries and products would be received and despatched.
The Australian poet, Henry Lawson, had earlier started work at Hudson Bros as a 16 year old
apprentice and stayed there for many years. He was happy with his employers but not very
happy with many of his fellow workers. His early literary works drew on the characters of the
workers and on his personal experiences at the
workshops.
George and Janet’s first child, Hilda Janet
Rees, was born on 17 January 1895 at home. 272
The official witnesses for the birth certificate
were Kezia Rees and the doctor, Peter Slade
Kendall, who had a surgery at nearby
Petersham.
The next child born was Elsie Adelaide Rees
(my grandmother). She arrived on 14 March
1897, also at home.273 Once again Kezia Rees
was on hand as midwife but Dr Kendall was
unavailable, having prematurely died at the age
of 41 only five months after the birth of Hilda.
His practice had been taken over by Dr Henry
Prince Henry at the Coast Hospital 1934

272 NSW BDM Birth Certificate 4456/1895

273 NSW BDM Birth Certificate 13341/1897

136
Sinclair Fordyce who had previously been at the Coast Hospital. Dr Fordyce was available to
attend Elsie’s birth. I don’t know whether Elsie’s second name had a connection to Adelaide in
South Australia or to the long suffering wife of King William IV. Adelaide had been a popular
Christian name for some time and perhaps Elsie’s parents just liked it.
Married life was difficult for George. He had to
support not only his wife and children but also his
younger siblings as well as his mother. His daughter
Elsie would remember the hard times when her father
struggled to make adequate provision for the family.
It was worse during the 1890s because of the
economic depression and the unrest on the wharves
caused by the increasingly militant action of
stevedores, wharf labourers and sailors. People were
poorly paid and were expected to work long hours,
sometimes in dangerous conditions. There was much
unemployment and a lot of the employment available
was only part time.
In 1897 Hudson Bros became insolvent, another
victim of the 1890s depression. It was a further time
of struggle for George as he and the other workers
faced uncertainty and possible retrenchment. But
then out of the ashes of failure, the business re- Elsie Rees at 9 months
emerged as a new company with the name Clyde Engineering. Not surprisingly, Clyde
Engineering’s logo was the phoenix. George was able to continue his job with the new company.
By 1899, George had only three siblings living with the family. Two of them were boys (Charles
and Herbert) and they were becoming increasingly difficult as they grew into adulthood. George
found it hard to be both a brother and a father. Both boys worked as labourers, whenever work
could be found, but neither could afford to move out.
Yet through all the tough times, George was the perfect model of calm and rational behavior and
he somehow managed to keep things together. He was also well liked by the Nelson clan and he
was known to pitch in whenever help was needed (and that would be often).
Another daughter was born on 19 October 1899 and once again
it was a home birth.274 The baby was named Eveline Alice Rees
but she became known all of her life as Dolly (or Doll, if you
knew her well enough). Kezia again acted as midwife and luckily
Dr Fordyce had not died and was also able to attend the birth.
Dolly would always have trouble with the official spelling of her
first name. Records reveal an abundance of alternatives
including Evelyn and Evelean. No wonder she preferred Dolly.
Another daughter was born on 30 July 1901 at home when
George was 36 and Janet 34. 275 They named the baby Norma
Audrey Rees but due to a handwritten transcription error, the
baby’s name was recorded as Norma Aubrey Rees and that was
the name Norma was always officially known by. Attending the
birth was Dr John Inglis Clark Cosh, who had a surgery at 90
Elizabeth Street, Ashfield. He was assisted by Nurse Smith, the
midwife.
George TJ Rees

274 NSW BDM Birth Certificate 31552/1899

275 NSW BDM Birth Certificate 23252/1901

137
George’s sister, Adeline, had married in 1898 and left home to live with her husband at
Petersham. By 1902, the two remaining Rees boys had moved out. It was now time to find a
more suitable residence, away from the increasingly noisy and dirty Parramatta Road and the
closely packed terraces and shops that had mushroomed in the area. In 1903 the family moved
to a newly built house at 13 Wallace Street, Ashfield in a more upmarket residential subdivision
with only a 15 minute walk to Ashfield train station. The recently
subdivided land was on the corner of Federation Avenue and was
called the Federal Estate, presumably to commemorate the recent
federation of Australia.
The subdivided lots had only been put up for sale in 1899. One of
the principal land owners and subdividers in Wallace Street had
been Robert Hudson. A person of that name had a very strong
connection to the Nelson family (see later) and it is possible that
he may have had some influence with George and Janet.
This area of Ashfield was a vast improvement on their previous
location. The surrounding houses were mostly made of brick or
fine timbers. Oak trees and other English shade trees lined the
surrounding streets (but not Wallace Street which was too
narrow). The area today still retains the same sense of calm and
stateliness with the houses mostly renovated and well looked after.
Norma Rees
The Rees house had been built in the Federation Queen Anne style
of architecture and was mostly timber but with many fancy decorative touches. This would be
the permanent home for George and Janet.
They named their house Norma, presumably
after their most recent daughter. The house
had been built on a large block and George
set about planting gardens and fruit trees,
including peach, apple and persimmon.
Another daughter, Myra Linda Rees, was
born on 6 August 1903 at the new home. 276
Interestingly, according to the birth
certificate, George and Janet had not aged
since the previous birth. He was still
recorded as being 35 when he had in fact
turned 38 and Janet was recorded as being
34 when she was actually 37. Dr George
Bowen Thomas and Mrs Osborne attended
the home birth. Dr Thomas had only
recently qualified and had taken over the
medical practice at 184 Liverpool Road
(Hume Highway), Ashfield owned by the late
Dr R T Jones (after marrying Dr Jones’
daughter). Dr Thomas was young, charming
and very caring and he would become the
most popular doctor in the district.
This part of Ashfield attracted more than just
families looking for a better suburban life. Advertisement for the Federal Estate
Thieves were also attracted to the suburb

276 NSW BDM Birth Certificate 18964/1903

138
because of the richer pickings. George found this out when his house was burgled on 29 July
1904. Jewellery to the value of £6 was stolen. 277
A sixth and final child was born on 24 August 1907, also at home. 278 This time, and no doubt
with much excitement, they had a boy and he was named George Nelson Rees after both of his
parents. Dr Thomas and Mrs Osborne were again on hand to look after the birth.
Sometime before this birth, George was involved in an accident, probably on the wharves, which
resulted in his losing most of his left arm. Although he would later become very adept at using
the remaining stump in a way that hardly
incapacitated him, his time as a delivery clerk
was finished. George left Clyde Engineering
and started working as a tally clerk at the
Darling Harbour wharf of the Union Company.
The wharf was just west of the bottom of
Erskine Street and the company’s store was off
Sussex Street near the intersection with
Margaret Street. The Union Steam Ship
Company of New Zealand (to give it its full
name) was soon to become the biggest shipping
line in the southern hemisphere. Their ships,
whose hulls were always painted with a
distinctive bronze green colour, carried both
passengers and freight. They were popular Union Co wharves at Darling Harbour
with passengers, although the US writer Mark Twain sailed on one in 1897 and was
unimpressed.
George may have got the job through the Nelson clan who had many commercial interests
concerning the transport of goods to and from the wharves. Or he may have been helped by
William Gillies, the husband of his sister Alice, who worked on the wharves as a Customs clerk.
He may, however, have simply been taken on because of his previous experience. The new job
was ideally suited for someone with George’s apparent disability.
It was at the Union Company wharf in
1900 that a rat was first tested positive for
bubonic fever, leading to Australia’s first
official outbreak of bubonic plague. Land
resumptions, demolitions and the quick
removal of decades of rubbish and filth
kept the number of deaths to 103.
Fortunately George started work after the
wharves had been cleaned and
refurbished.
Distinctive hull colour of Union Company The birth of the last child had put a strain
steamships on the living arrangements at the family
home in Ashfield. Janet’s younger sister, Alice Nelson, was living with their mother, who was
also named Janet Nelson, at 153 Trafalgar Street, Annandale, where they were happily
surrounded by the Nelson clan. 31 year old Alice, who was not married, had lost her only baby
eight years earlier. She had taken a shine to her 10 year old niece, Elsie Rees, and offered to
look after Elsie until baby George was older. Elsie lived with Alice and Janet for the next four
years. Elsie was very unimpressed at being the one who had to give up her bed but the bond that

277 The Australian Star 30 July 1904, page 8

278 NSW BDM Birth Certificate 32439/1907

139
developed between Elsie and Alice became very strong and Alice would always hold Elsie in high
regard.
Elsie’s return to the family home was
probably soon after the death of her
grandmother, Kezia Rees, from a
sudden heart attack on 22 April 1911 at
the age of 73 at the Ashfield home. 279
Kezia, the girl from Jersey who
farewelled her family and braved the
seas to emigrate to Australia to face an
uncertain but exciting future, had come
to the end of her adventure. She had
outlived her husband by 28 years. She
was buried with George senior at
Rookwood Cemetery but no gravestones
Postcard from Janet Rees to her daughter Elsie
or other markings remain to note their
who was then living with her aunt Alice Nelson – passing.
about 1910 – Elsie Hely Collection
George TJ’s employment with the Union
Company came to an abrupt end when he was accused of moonlighting (having a second paid
job) at a time when there was a very high demand for jobs on the wharf and most workers
struggled to get full time
employment. According to family
legend, George was helping out a
sick member of the Nelson clan by
driving a goods van from the
wharves. George protested that it
was unpaid volunteer work but the
decision to dismiss him stood.
This led to a rift between the Rees
family and some members of the
Nelson clan that lasted for many
years with those members
eventually losing touch with each
other.
George then took on a variety of
jobs, many of them working from
home, such as boot repairing and
other mending work. He operated
a milk run for a time and sold fruit
from the many trees growing on
the property at Ashfield.
The Rees girls were all teenagers
when the First World War broke
out in 1914. Although they had no
brothers heading off to the war
(young George was only 7), they
had many relatives and friends
with sons that did enlist. To help George and Janet Rees with their children, from top,
keep their spirits up, the young Myra and Norma, George junior in the middle, Hilda
soldiers were encouraged to write and Dolly in front – Elsie probably took the photo

279 NSW BDM Death Certificate 4537/1911

140
letters and postcards home to as many relatives and friends as they could manage. It became
fashionable for young girls to agree to correspond with these young men. The Rees girls were
popular choices for correspondence and the girls competed to receive the most correspondence.
The girls had a cousin named Ken (but he may not have been a real cousin) who sent a postcard
from Le Havre in France in June 1916. His detachment had arrived via the Suez Canal and
Egypt and then travelled by train from Marseilles to the north of France on their way to the front.
Not having seen any fighting and having no idea of what was coming, Ken wrote:

“Well cousins, I have no time to go into details of my wanderings of late but I

could write books on what I have seen since we left Egypt. Have encountered
plenty of French and Belgian soldiers over here and some of them show signs
that they have been in action.”

As the war progressed over the next four years, the letters from the soldiers became more grim
and sobering. The number of letter writers gradually declined.
During the war, the older Rees girls all worked in the city. They travelled daily by train from
Ashfield Station to Central Station. They then walked down the ramp to George Street and then
on to their respective work locations, some of them down near Market Street. The long walks
every morning and evening saved on tram fares. Working hours were usually 7.30am to 6.00pm.

George TJ Rees, on left (with missing arm), Joe Hely and Elsie, Dolly in front,
George jnr and Janet, Myra and friend, in Hyde Park, Sydney in 1919
– Elsie Hely Collection

At the end of the war, when people were allowed to be happy again, George TJ was diagnosed
with cancer. It started as a mole on his leg. It became itchy and George was forever rubbing his
other foot over it. Eventually it became painful and then the pain became bad enough to see a
doctor. By the time treatment started on the melanoma, it was too late and the cancer continued
its spread to vital organs. He was taken to the Coast Hospital where he died on 19 January 1920

141
at the age of 54.280 He was also buried at Rookwood Cemetery. He left behind his wife, Janet,
who was only 51 and his six children who ranged in age from 12 up to 25.
Janet was now left to look after all of the
children on her own. Times were hard but
the family budget was augmented by the
incomes of the older girls. Janet kept a lot
of hens so eggs were plentiful. She often
fed the family with a cook up of leftover
food mixed with other things she could
forage. Most of the eggs, however, were
sold to a man who collected eggs from
housewives who were looking for extra
income.
Gradually the children married and moved
out. Janet later consoled herself with
looking after her two Pomeranian dogs,
Snowball and Jetty (their names indicating
George TJ and Janet Rees in later life
their colour).
It became a family tradition for all of the Rees children to go to Janet’s house at Ashfield for
lunch on Christmas Day. Janet (by now known to everyone as Nanna) would roast a couple of
her chickens, Norma would bring a Christmas pudding, studded with silver threepences and
sixpences, to be boiled in a big pot on the stove and the others would bring a variety of festive
food and drink. They would somehow all manage to squeeze around the large dining room table
and enjoy a sumptuous lunch while catching up on family news. The weather was usually very
warm to very hot. The heat, the big meal and the hours of preparation would take a toll. After
lunch, the women would clean up and then lie down wherever they could find space for an
afternoon sleep while the children played outside. The men would walk through Ashfield Park
and cross Parramatta Road on their way to Rawson Street, Haberfield (about 1.5 km) where they
would catch up with Arthur Longhurst for some proper drinking. Uncle Arthur had married
Janet’s younger sister, Elizabeth. He became a father figure to the fatherless Rees girls. He was
obviously popular with the men as well.
From about 1930, when Janet was 61, she started to develop
heart trouble which gradually worsened over the next ten years.
Her children would often take her out on excursions but they
became more attentive to her limitations as she got older. On one
particular outing in 1939, she went with her daughter Elsie and
family to the picnic area at Wattamolla in the Royal National Park.
They made the trek down the forest path from the carpark to the
lagoon and beach but when it was time to go, Janet was unable
to find the energy for the walk back. Elsie’s sons fashioned a chair
out of branches and bush and carried her back to the car.
By now it was apparent that she had suffered an arterial blockage
which led to a heart attack. She did not improve and died five
days later at the Emlyn Private Hospital at Summer Hill on 28
August 1939.281 She was 72 years old. Her 32 year old son George
Grave of George TJ and
Nelson Rees provided the details for the death certificate. The
Janet Rees
funeral party left the family home in Wallace Street for Rookwood
Cemetery where Janet was interred with her husband.

280 NSW BDM Death Certificate 903/1920

281 NSW BDM Death Certificate 15248/1939

142
 Hilda Janet Rees
Although Hilda was the eldest child of George TJ and Janet Rees, she was the last to marry. This
was because, after her father died so prematurely in 1920 when Hilda was 25, she became the
bulwark of the family, both supporting her mother during her grief and helping to look after the
rest of the family who were all still at home (her younger sister Elsie would be the first to marry
and move out in 1921).
Hilda worked as a milliner at Farmers & Co in the city where she
was valued for making exquisitely beautiful hats with very fine
detailing. The Farmer family first traded in Sydney in 1839 as
drapers and over the years the family built the business into the
first of the large department stores in Sydney. Farmer & Co would
also own one of the first radio stations in Australia (2FC – Farmer
& Co) and be the first major retailer to install escalators and air
conditioning. The business was bought by the Melbourne based
Myer Group in 1960 and later traded under the name of Grace
Bros before its name was changed to Myer.
Hilda had a unique role in the family. Her siblings thought of her
as a second mother, a big sister and a friend to share confidences
with. An example of this was when her sister Norma asked Hilda
to be the godmother
Hilda Rees for Norma’s baby
daughter, Nadene.
Hilda later changed employment and worked for R
H Gordon & Co which, from 1925, operated from a
five story building at 569-581 George Street,
Sydney. The building was quite a landmark at this
southern end of the city and from the time it was
built in 1913, it was known as “the big white store
on Brickfield Hill.” This southern section of George
Street became a popular furniture and furnishings
precinct. R H Gordon were house furnishers who
sold furniture, curtains, carpets and linoleum.
Hilda’s new role at
A section of Farmer & Co
the company was in
the carpet department. Most of the hats that Hilda had previously
worked on as a milliner were made of felt and she had spent a lot
of time hand stitching felt pieces. Much of the floor carpets at the
time were also made of felt although much thicker and with a stiff
backing material. Felt carpets were machine made to a narrow
width of 2ft 3in (0.69m) and strips needed to be cut and sewn
together to cover a room. Hilda was employed to sew the carpet
strips. The job was not as glamorous as millinery but it paid
more.
R H Gordon introduced a new form of cash credit, involving
payment by installments with interest. The scheme was so
successful that it became common in the industry and paved the
way for the later lay-by credit scheme. The company traded until
R H Gordon on right 1960 when it was bought by Waltons Ltd.

143
 R H Gordon carpet department – Sydney Living Museums/Caroline Simpson
While working at R H Gordon, Hilda met a young carpet planner, Harrie Sykes. His job at the
company was to measure, design, identify the cuts and otherwise plan how a carpet was to be
laid in a particular space. He later moved up to become a carpet layer. They became close
friends but Hilda resisted any marriage proposal while she was still the primary carer for her
mother Janet. From 1936, Harrie had a similar role in looking after his widowed father, Fred
Sykes, who was a retired painter.
After Janet Rees’ death in August 1939. Hilda and Harrie took only
a few months to organise a wedding and they were married on 4
November 1939 at St John’s Anglican Church at Ashfield.282 Hilda’s
brother, George Nelson Rees, and Harrie’s father, Fred Sykes, were
the official witnesses. Having married late in life, Hilda would not
have any children.
At the time of the marriage Hilda was 44 but Harrie was 10 years
younger. Harrie had been
living with his father at his
father’s house at 53 The
Promenade, Sans Souci. His Hilda Rees
mother, Ila, who had died in 1936, and whose full name
was Eliza Blanche Sykes, was a granddaughter of Edward
Chalton Madgwick. By coincidence, that person has an
infamous reputation within the Lattimore branch of my
father’s family. Edward Madgwick and the Lattimores had
some spectacular disputes over money and land in the
mid-1800s at Glen William and Dungog, some ending up
in court in both civil and criminal cases. The highly
educated Madgwick had a low opinion of almost everyone
else and became deeply unpopular wherever he settled
(this is covered in my earlier book Taming The Frontier – A
story of the Lattimore family from the Eden River in
Cumbria, England who helped pioneer Australia, published
in 2013).
After their marriage, Harrie and Hilda lived at Fred’s home
at Sans Souci. A few weeks after the marriage, the Rees
family home at Wallace Street and most of the furniture
Hilda Sykes at Central Station

282 NSW BDM Marriage Certificate 19641/1939

144
were put up for sale by auction.283 However, property prices, which had been fairly steady for
20 years, had suddenly dropped due to the start of the Second World War in August 1939 and
the sale price for the Ashfield home was disappointingly low.
Harrie and his uncle, John Gwydir Madgwick, who lived in the
district, had an unusually entrepreneurial relationship. Harrie
would come up with new ideas and John would back them with
money. They then sought to register patents or designs for
those ideas. One example was the successful patent they both
took out in 1955 on An Improved Adjustable Reclining Chair.284
They may well have enjoyed some commercial success by
selling or licensing the patent. Hilda certainly had the benefit
of being able to sit in a remarkably comfortable rocking
chair/recliner in time for television to arrive in Australia.
The enterprising pair also applied in 1955 for registration of a
design for a rocking footstool. The timber rocker/footrest had
a layer of carpet on top for extra comfort. His footstool became
a common accessory in the homes of the Rees family. I fondly
remember both of those products as I was growing up.
Harrie eventually set up his own carpet business in King Street,
Newtown. Hilda worked there sewing the carpets and she was
Hilda and Harrie
joined for a time by her sisters Norma and Myra.
Harrie loved working with timber and was always found pottering about his workshop at home
making cupboards, shelves, bookcases and other items of furniture. By the late 1950s Harrie
had given away the carpet business and now worked full time from home making furniture. I
still have a beautifully made solid timber cupboard in my garage known to my family as “Uncle
Harrie’s cupboard.”
Harrie and Hilda spent a good deal of time holidaying at Werri Beach on the NSW south coast
where Harrie had bought a block of land across the road from the sand dunes. He built a modest
timber and fibro house which was also enjoyed from time to time by other members of Hilda’s
family.
Harrie’s father, Fred Sykes, and his
uncle, John Madgwick, both passed
away in 1957. After Fred’s death,
Harrie subdivided the land at Sans
Souci and sold off the existing timber
house on the waterfront. He and
Hilda lived in a new brick dwelling
built higher up near the road.
By 1963 Harrie and Hilda had sold the
Sans Souci house and were living in
an apartment at 34 Bowns Road,
Kogarah. It was there that Harrie had
a sudden heart attack and died on 1
New house at The Promenade, Sans Souci July 1963 at the age of 57.285 Details
for the death certificate were provided

283 The Sydney Morning Herald 30 November 1939, page 7

284 Australian Patent No AU1955006797
285 NSW BDM Death Certificate 24826/1963

145
by Joe Hely, the husband of Hilda’s sister Elsie. Harrie was buried at Woronora Cemetery in the
far south of Sydney.

Hilda was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in about 1958 (it was called paralysis agitans). As
her condition deteriorated during the 1960s she became more susceptible to infection and she
died from bronchial pneumonia at the Stonehaven Private Hospital at Kogarah on 13 July 1966
at the age of 71 (a year less than her mother).286 The details for her death certificate were
provided by Harry Murray, who was married to Hilda’s sister Myra. Hilda was also buried at
Woronora Cemetery.

The executors of Hilda’s estate were her nephew Ken Robson and Ian O’Connor, the husband of
her niece Joyce. The proceeds of just over $13,000 were bequeathed in equal shares to her
brother and four sisters.

Memorial plaques at Woronora Cemetery

286 NSW BDM Death Certificate 28967/1966

146
 Elsie Adelaide Rees

Elsie Rees was 17 when the First World War started. During the war she regularly corresponded
with a number of young boys who had gone to Gallipoli or on to France and Belgium. Some were
relatives, some were friends of the family but a few had a more romantic interest in the budding
young woman.

One of those boys from the latter group was Joseph Thompson Hely. Joe was 21 when he enlisted
at the Sydney Town Hall in September 1915, having had previous experience in the cadets and
local militia. He was working as a driver and motor mechanic for the Acme Motor Engineering
Works at Drummoyne and the Army took him on as a driver.

He arrived in Egypt in March 1916 and was then sent to France where he was placed with an
Australian Field Ambulance unit. He soon saw plenty of action driving his Sunbeam Motor
Ambulance Car in and around the front lines. Ambulance drivers and stretcher bearers carried
out their work often under heavy gun fire and bombardment and they suffered appallingly high
casualty rates. Even Joe’s commanding officer, who was a country doctor, was shot twice. Joe
was rewarded for doing this dangerous work with generous stretches of leave, first in England
and then in Paris.

His letters home to Elsie were always cheerful and

warm. Even though he would not see Elsie for three
and half years, her letters to him must have been
encouraging as his letters to her became increasingly
heartfelt.

Elsie had been working for some years at Lowes, a

A young Elsie Rees
– Elsie Hely Collection
menswear business in Sydney that was established by
Irish immigrant William Lowe in 1898, the year after
Elsie was born. Lowe had worked for Mark Foy, the
department store owner in Sydney before moving to
Gowings. In 1903 Lowe moved his store from Oxford
Street to a larger site in George Street. Elsie was
introduced to the store by her aunt Alice Nelson, who
Elsie had earlier lived with at Annandale. Alice was a
tailoress who worked on the upper floors of the George
Street building making both ready-made and made to
measure clothing. Elsie started out as an apprentice
dressmaker. Lowes was a great success and by 1923
the single store business had over a thousand
employees and an annual turnover of £500,000.

Elsie and her family celebrated her 21st birthday on 14 March 1918. She had made many friends
among the other young girls at Lowes and they helped to make her birthday special.

Only a month later in France, a distinctive German triplane flying over the Australian lines
engaged in a dogfight with a Canadian plane. As the German plane came close to the ground it
was met by a fusillade of rifle and machine gun fire from the Australian soldiers on the ground.
One bullet fatally hit the pilot who had only just enough time to crash land the plane before
dying. And so ended the life of Manfred von Richthofen, otherwise known as the Red Baron. It
may be uncertain which Australian fired the fatal shot but Joe Hely was later acknowledged by

147
comrades as being the driver of the ambulance that took the body to the hospital for identification
and later burial with full military honours. Many years later, upon his retirement, Joe was
presented with a model of the Red Baron’s plane.

At the Second Battle of Bullecourt in May 1918 Joe was caught

in the open by an exploding shell full of chlorine gas. He was
poisoned by the inhaled fumes. After some basic treatment in
hospital he was soon back at the front but he would later suffer
from the damage done.

The defining moment for the Australian Army during the war
was the Battle of Amiens which started in August 1918. The
Germans had reached as far west as the French village of Villers-
Bretonneux when they were stopped in their tracks by some of
the Australian Battalions. This was the end of the road for the
Germans and from here they were pushed back by the
Australians and then by the rest of the combined allied forces.

The fighting around Villers-Bretonneux was intense with

constant shellfire in between rounds of ferocious hand to hand
combat. Joe was in the thick of it, evacuating wounded soldiers
under heavy shellfire. He was sent to an area being heavily Joe Hely about 1916
shelled east of Harbonnieres where two other ambulances had – Elsie Hely Collection
already been destroyed. He spent the day bringing out wounded
soldiers and going back for more, always with his cheerful and easy going manner on full display
to reassure his wounded comrades. That night, when his own unit was stood down, he
volunteered to clear out the wounded from an adjoining area that were still under shellfire. For
these actions Joe was awarded the Military Medal for showing “great coolness and devotion to
duty.”

By the end of the war in November 1918, the final letters and postcards exchanged between Joe
and Elsie clearly showed there was a strong romantic attachment between them. While Joe
waited for transport home he was given extended leave in England and Scotland but he came
down with the influenza that had plagued the forces during the later stages of the war. He was
sent to Scotland where he needed a lot of time to convalesce before he finally returned home on
10 May 1919. Luckily for me he was not one of the 20 million who died in the world wide flu
epidemic. There is strong evidence that the cause of the disease was a bird virus, from ducks,
that passed to pigs before being passed on to humans. The major troop staging area and hospital
camp at Etaples on the French coast was the likely place where the disease was widely dispersed.

Joe’s ship, the Karoa, berthed at the

finger wharf in Woolloomooloo Bay to a
tumultuous welcome home from the
assembled crowd of families and
friends. Elsie and her four sisters were
there to greet Joe enthusiastically, or at
least as well as they could as they were
wearing muslin masks tied with tapes
behind their ears as a precaution
against the influenza. After settling in
back home, Joe needed to be treated at
the Randwick Military Hospital for an
old condition of trench feet. He also had
A 1917 Sunbeam Ambulance

148
the septum in his nose removed as the tissue had been badly eaten away by the poison gas
attack.

Joe’s mother had died in 1911 and his father had taken off long ago so he returned to live with
his uncle William Thompson at Haberfield. Joe and Elsie were keen to get married but Joe first
needed to get work and build up funds so he could provide a house for them. He first worked
for Tooheys Limited, driving a sales representative around the north coast of NSW. After about
18 months he changed jobs to work for a commercial traveller named Yates, driving him around
the south coast and Monaro regions of NSW.

When Lowes started producing more machine made clothes, Elsie was one of the many who were
put off when the business cut back on staff. For the next 18 months she worked for a tailor
named Smith at Newtown.

Joe’s sister, Lily Allerdice, had managed Joe’s affairs during the war. She had banked all of his
army pay and with the money he had saved after his return, Joe now had enough for a deposit
on a new brick house at 107 Hudson Street, Hurstville (Lot 2 of the Jacques Estate which was
previously a dairy farm known for its rich black soil). Joe signed a contract on 16 October 1919
with the builder, John Black, for a total price of £680. Completion was to take place within 3½
months but as Joe and Elsie had delayed their marriage due to the untimely death of Elsie’s
father in January 1920, the new house was rented out for a year. As was the custom in those
days to give each house a name, the new house was given the name Karoa which was the name
of the troopship that brought Joe back to Australia.

The wedding party – Joe Thompson, Hilda Rees, Joan Allerdice, Joe Hely, Elsie
Hely, Arthur Longhurst, Leslie Forrester and Dolly Rees – Elsie Hely Collection

Joe and Elsie were eventually married at St John the Baptist Anglican Church at Ashfield on 29
October 1921 when Joe was 27 and Elsie 24. 287 The marriage service was performed by the

287 NSW BDM Marriage Certificate 15061/1921

149
Reverend William Hilliard who had been the rector of the church since 1916 (he had previously
been the headmaster of Trinity Grammar and would later be appointed a bishop).

In the absence of her father, Elsie was given away by Arthur

Longhurst, who was married to Elsie’s Aunty Lizzie (Elizabeth
Nelson). Arthur, as the fatherly figure to the Rees sisters, would
end up giving all of them away at their weddings. Joe’s best man
was Joseph Thompson, a cousin on his mother’s side. Cousin Joe
became a doctor and later married Ivy Grimmett, whose brother,
Clarrie Grimmett, would later become one of the more famous
Australian Test Cricketers in the Bradman era because of his
uncanny spin bowling. Joe Thompson’s medical career, however,
was short-lived when he regrettably died at the age of 43.

Joe may have had a naturally warm and cheerful personality that
mostly kept in check a short fuse of Irish temper but his war
experience came with a cost. He suffered badly from nightmares
and would frequently wake up, dreaming he was under fire or Elsie Hely – detail from
bombardment, and he would thrash about, with Elsie often in the Wedding photo
firing line. His nightmares gradually became less common but no
less intense. In later years he would suffer from occasional bouts of depression. During one
bout, he burnt his collection of war and family photographs, war correspondence from Elsie and
other memorabilia, saying he did not think anyone had shown any interest in them. Elsie, on
the other hand, was always a most kind, gentle and loving person who never had a bad word to
say about anyone. She managed to keep most of her memorabilia.

In 1922 Elsie was seven months pregnant when she had a serious accident. She was walking
down the stairs from the top of the Hurstville Train Station towards Forest Road when she missed
her footing and fell heavily. She was quickly assisted by fellow commuters and then given
medical aid. She and the baby seemed to be unharmed but when the baby was born a few
months later on 7 September, the medical staff could not get the baby to draw breath after it was
detached from the umbilical cord and so the baby’s death was recorded as stillborn. 288 They
named the baby Rodney Hely.

In about June 1922 Joe had taken up employment as a Commonwealth public servant working
for the Postmaster-General’s Department (PMG). He initially worked as a linesman but, after
suitable training, he was appointed as a telephone technician.

Joe and Elsie’s second child (and my mother), Joyce

Adele Hely, was born on 25 May 1924 at Nurse
Crossling’s Private Hospital which was conveniently
located seven houses down from the family home in
Hudson Street. Another son, Bruce Graham Hely,
arrived on 2 March 1928. He was born at another
private hospital, this time Nurse Chittick’s in Illawarra
Road at nearby Allawah. Their last child, Raymond
George Hely, was born at home on 7 January 1930
during the Great Depression years when the cost of a
private hospital may have been too much.

Joyce Hely – Elsie Hely Collection Another family named Hely lived about 20 houses
down Hudson Street. This was unusual because the

288 The Sydney Morning Herald 16 September 1922, page 12

150
name Hely was a much less common spelling of the more common name of Healy. Joe had first
met Fred Hely from that family in Egypt in 1916 when Joe had been locked up for the night after
being absent from his army unit without leave. The following morning at parade the name Private
Hely was called out and two soldiers stepped forward.
Talking afterwards, they had no idea whether they were
related or not.

It came as a surprise to both men when after the war they

found they had both moved to the same street. Joe and
Elsie’s children always referred to Fred and his wife
Miriam as Uncle and Aunty even if they were not related.
But many years later it was discovered that the families
were in fact closely related, sharing a common ancestor,
the ship builder and publican from Sydney and
Launceston, John Hely (1807–1887).

After the war, motor vehicles became increasingly popular

and gradually replaced horse drawn vehicles but they were
expensive to buy and even more expensive to run,
maintain and repair. About 1934, when the effects of the
Great Depression years had mostly worn off, Joe bought a
second hand 1928 Chevrolet Tourer motor car. The
vehicle had a waterproof fold back canvas roof and
detachable sides. It helped that Joe was both an expert
Joyce and Joe Hely
– Elsie Hely Collection driver and could do his own mechanical work. It gave the
city based family easy access to the beaches and pleasure
parks of southern Sydney, such as Carss Park, Dolls Point, Cronulla and Gunnamatta, and the
opportunity to visit friends and relatives less close to public transport.

The motor car also allowed the family to have picnics in the Royal National Park and further
afield. They had long and enjoyable holidays, sometimes twice a year (around Easter and
Christmas). Memorable holidays were spent at Harrington on the north coast near Taree and at
Durras Beach on the south coast. The young children grew up with a love of camping, fishing,
prawning, swimming, bushwalking and
generally having fun outdoors. The trip to
Durras, along winding dirt roads south of
Nowra, was rarely completed in one day and
the family would stop for the night on the
way (or longer if the car broke down).

Joe was never one to sit still for long. If he

was not working on his car, he was cropping
vegetables or growing flowers in his gardens
or maintaining his lush lawns. He planted
fruit trees including apples, peaches, pears,
nectarines, lemons, oranges and figs that
flourished in the rich soil. There was always Ray, Joe, Elsie, Joyce and Bruce Hely
fresh home grown seasonal fruit on the table and the house had that wonderful perfume that
only a lot of fresh fruit can provide. Joe built a timber framed garage for his car and fitted out a
long workbench inside where he carried out a variety of jobs, many normally done by a
tradesman.

During the Second World War Joe worked underground in the Main City Tunnel Command Post
which was located in the abandoned railway tunnels beneath Macquarie Street and The Royal

151
Botanic Gardens just north of the Mitchell Library. This command post was the nerve centre in
Sydney for all Australian and South West Pacific security operations during the war. It was from
here that orders were distributed to frontline army, navy and air force units. Joe was part of the
team maintaining a reliable and trouble free telephonic and electronic communication network.

Many food staples and goods became in short supply as

the Second World War progressed. Family cars were
sold off or mothballed as petrol and oil supplies
dwindled. Joe and Elsie had one of the only cars left in
Hudson Street but it eventually became too much of a
luxury item and it too was sold when Joe could no longer
obtain tyres and other parts. The sale price was £40 but
Joe also got £2 for four 1 gallon petrol rationing tickets.

Joe enjoyed the companionship available at the local

Masonic Lodge. He looked forward to all the meetings
and activities where he could mix with a wide range of
people on an equal footing. He continued working for the
PMG Department for 37 years until his retirement on 25
June 1959, just after his 65th birthday. Joe and Elsie
had a long and happy retirement with many holidays.
They celebrated their 50th and 60th wedding
anniversaries with their children and their
grandchildren. Joe and Elsie Hely on holidays

Every Anzac Day Joe would make the early morning trip to the city for the dawn service and the
city march, joining the ever decreasing band of veterans from his old ambulance unit. He hardly
ever touched alcohol but made an exception on Anzac Day. As light beer had not yet been
invented, his rosy cheeks and skewed hat and tie did not always impress Elsie when he returned
home looking for a hug and a kiss.

Joe and Elsie lived in the Hudson Street

home all of their married lives until Joe
suffered a major stroke which led to his
entering the Botany Gardens Nursing Home
at nearby Carlton. Joe died a few years later
on 22 April 1984 at the age of 89. 289 His
ashes were placed in a garden bed at
Woronora Cemetery.

Elsie continued on at Hudson Street until

Joe and Elsie Hely in later life
frailty caught up with her and she moved to
the Leisureworld Nursing Home at Peakhurst
when she was 92. She passed away from
heart failure on 21 June 1991 at the age of
94.290 Her ashes joined those of her husband
at Woronora Cemetery.

289 NSW BDM Death Certificate 8830/1984

290 NSW BDM Death Certificate 11581/1991

152
 Joyce Adele Hely

Joe and Elsie’s daughter Joyce grew up in a very high achieving male environment at home and
locally. She was friends with a boy named Jack Brabham, an only child whose father was a local
greengrocer. Jack would later become famous as an international racing car driver. Not only
did she know Clarrie Grimmet through family connections but she went to school with Clarrie’s
fellow future Australian Test Cricketers Arthur Morris, Bill O’Reilly and Ray Lindwall. The last
two grew up in Hudson Street where they learned to play street cricket from a young age. A
friend from the Methodist Church in Hudson Street, Barbara Gill, became the mother in law of
Greg Chappel.

The Great Depression years made life difficult for most families and the Hely family was no
exception. They needed to be frugal and self-sufficient as much as possible. Luckily, Joe had a
good full time job that allowed a steady income. Joyce later managed to get a clerical job at
Standard Telephones and Cables (STC) which was based at Alexandria.

During the Second World War Joyce

and some of her work friends at STC
were helping as volunteers serving tea,
coffee, biscuits and cakes to
servicemen who passed through
Sydney’s Central Station. One
servicemen, Noel O’Connor (but
known as Ian and yes my father), was
served by Joyce and kept coming back
for more. When Joyce finished her
shift she happily allowed him to escort
her back to Hurstville Station and
then on home to Hudson Street.
During his short time in Sydney, Ian
Joyce Hely and Ian O’Connor
and Joyce fell in love and had a
whirlwind courtship. A week later he returned to Townsville where he was based and they would
not see each other for over three years.

Ian was in service for nearly six of the seven years that
the war lasted. He started off in the army before
transferring to the air force. Most of his service was in
New Guinea and the surrounding islands.

Luckily for my brother and me, they had a happy reunion

and they were engaged only a few days before the war
ended. They were married a few months later on 24
November 1945 when Joyce was 21 and Ian 28. 291 The
ceremony was performed by the Reverend Ted Walker
After their engagement
whose father was yet another famous Test Cricketer, Alan
Walker. The St George area proved to be a wonderfully productive breeding ground for Test
Cricketers.

Ian and Joyce set up home at 10 (later changed to 9) Georges River Road, Oyster Bay in the
southern suburbs where they raised their family. Ian worked for the Australian Tax Office in
various positions until he retired. At the village like suburb of Oyster Bay he became involved

291 NSW BDM Marriage Certificate 21763/1945

153
in the local progress association and other local activities such as the Scout Group and the
Hospital Auxiliary where he audited their books.

Bert Hely, Gwen Forrester, Ian and Joyce O’Connor, Joe Hely

In those early days the few roads in Oyster Bay were mostly unsealed and there was limited
public transport. The walk to the train station at Como was about 3km. Eventually, as the
population rapidly increased, the roads became sealed and buses regularly appeared.

Ian was a devoted family man. He took his family on mostly camping holidays, two to four times
a year. The NSW coast was famous for the number of camp and caravan parks occupying prime
space adjacent to sandy beaches and tidal rivers. They provided inexpensive enjoyment for hard
working families. Weekends involved picnics with Joyce’s relatives and on Sundays, Joe and
Elsie were regular visitors to Oyster Bay.

Ian was a good conversationalist who made friends

easily. Joyce was a good talker who made friends
even more easily. Between them they had a solid
social network but their closest friends were Tom
and Rose Graham who lived around the corner.

The two bedroom fibro house at Oyster Bay

remained virtually unchanged for the next 20
years. In the early 1970s they moved to a new
three bedroom brick house at 10 Currah Road,
Como West.
9 Georges River Road, Oyster Bay
Ian and Joyce bought land at Vincentia on the
south coast after Ian retired. They spent many a week down there walking, reading and generally

154
relaxing and looking forward to family stay overs. They also had many overseas holidays until
Ian’s knees became too painful. Instead, they focused on bus trips around Australia. Ian had
quite a few serious medical issues. He was one of the earlier patients to take advantage of the
new bypass surgery techniques for blocked arteries. The surgery, although still experimental,
was a success but he would develop later heart issues.

Ian also suffered from a lung condition related to his war service and he eventually succumbed
to that illness on 2 August 2005 at the
age of 89. His ashes were also placed in
a garden bed at Woronora Cemetery.

Joyce had devoted herself to caring for

Ian during his later life. After Ian’s
passing, she emerged with a new zest for
life which carried her along for many
years until she was overwhelmed by her
own health issues. She was 88 when she
passed away on 8 January 2013
(officially recorded as the following day)
at Thomas Holt Aged Care Village, where
she had been living. Her ashes were
placed next to Ian’s. Ian and Joyce O’Connor in later life

Bruce Graham Hely

Joyce’s brother Bruce lived at Hudson Street until he was 22.

He had been a bright student at Sydney Technical High School
at Paddington. He found employment with the NSW Department
of Main Roads (DMR). Not being able to afford university without
a scholarship, he enrolled at the Sydney Technical College for
the Diploma in Civil Engineering course. A week after starting
at the DMR he was offered a scholarship with the NSW Forestry
Commission. He resigned from the DMR, took up the
scholarship and enrolled at Sydney University in a civil
engineering course. He was only 16.

During university holidays he took up bushwalking with

university friends because it was a cheap and enjoyable
diversion from his studies.

Bruce Hely As part of his University course Bruce did work experience with
the NSW Irrigation Commission. Some of his work took him to
the Commission’s office in Deniliquin in the south west of NSW where the solitary typist was
Rosemary Burchfield. She was the daughter of a prominent business family in Deniliquin and
Bruce spent most of his leisure time with Rosemary.

After Bruce completed University, Rosemary moved to Sydney where she found a job as a typist
in Chinatown while staying at the YMCA Women’s Hostel in Liverpool Street. They were married
at Deniliquin on 14 April 1951 when they were both 23.292 On graduation Bruce worked for the

292 NSW BDM Marriage Certificate 14185/1951

155
Forestry Commission but within a year he had joined the newly created Snowy Mountains Hydro
Electric Authority (SMA) where he worked as the engineer at Tumut Pond.

After living at Tumut Pond for a nearly a year, Bruce and Rosemary spent a year in the United
States where Bruce attended training projects for
SMA at various dam sites before he returned to work
on the Eucumbene-Tumut and the Guthega Dam
projects in the Snowy Mountains.

Towards the end of his time with SMA, Bruce and

Rosemary lived at 2 Geewa Street, Cooma. It was at
Cooma that the first of their two children were born.
Bruce left SMA a few months after the birth to work
for a small but expanding construction company
that would become Project Development
Corporation (PDC). The family was now living at 33
Hull Road, Beecroft in Sydney in a house that had
been built by Bruce as owner/builder. In 1963 they
moved to the upmarket suburb of Mosman where
they had a house at 44 Pearl Bay Avenue,
overlooking Middle Harbour and the Spit Bridge.

Bruce left PDC in 1983 and worked as a consultant

in the construction industry until 1998 when he
was 70. He then focused on managing his
investments and spending time with family.
Bruce and Rosemary Hely
During his working career, Bruce spent much of his
time away from home on projects around Australia and overseas, including in Fiji, Singapore
and The Philippines. Bruce and Rosemary separated and divorced later in life. Bruce formed a
new relationship while overseas and had started a second family with Avelina who he later
married.

Bruce and his second family moved

back to the Beecroft area before
settling down in an apartment at
Epping. He loved to travel and in
between overseas trips he kept himself
active with his children, grandchildren
and social matters. Bruce was
diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease
and his condition gradually made him
fragile and prone to balance issues.
After a particularly bad fall, he died at
the age of 85 on 14 February 2014 at
Royal North Shore Hospital, St
Leonards. He was cremated at Joyce O’Connor, Bruce Hely and Ray Hely
Macquarie Park Crematorium.

After the divorce, Rosemary moved to the eastern suburbs of Sydney to be close to her two
daughters. She was slowly afflicted with dementia and, like Bruce, became fragile and unstable.
After many falls and breakages she became wheel reliant but yet another fall caused irreparable
heart damage and she passed away on 9 April 2015 at the age of 87. Her ashes were placed at
Waverley Cemetery.

156
 Raymond George Hely

Ray was the youngest of the children of Joe and Elsie Hely but he was probably the most rounded
and creative. He had an enthusiasm for discovery. Camping and holidaying trips with his
parents opened up a world of natural beauty that would constantly amaze him.

Ray loved the gardens at the family home

and took to planting and propagating
many of the ferns and flowers that grew
there. He watched and learned as his
father worked at his benches, turning
pieces of timber and metal into useful
products. He studied hard at school and
absorbed knowledge like a sponge.

As he got older he went on camping trips,

often in the wild and sometimes on his
own, to see for himself the unique
Australian landscapes. He was 17 when
he walked the Cradle Mountain trail in
Tasmania. A later highlight was the 4WD
Ray Hely and Gwen Fletcher
trek he did along the Canning Stock Route,
the longest stock route in the world at 1,850km. The route runs through some of the most
remote and rugged areas of Western Australia.

After leaving high school, Ray obtained a civil engineering cadetship with the Metropolitan Water
Sewerage and Drainage Board (MWSDB). He studied at the Sydney Technical College at night
and achieved a Diploma in Civil Engineering.

He later worked for McDonald Constructions as the office

and site engineer at the Kurnell Oil Refinery before returning
to the MWSDB. He then worked for the Sydney City Council
as an engineer on the construction of the Cahill Expressway.
Attracted to the role of municipal engineer, he later worked
for Bankstown Municipal Council before finally moving to
Liverpool City Council.

Ray later introduced his wife to the delights of travelling

around Australia. He had married the former Gwenyth
Fletcher on 24 March 1956 when he was 26.293 On these
trips they made many friends. Some of those friendships
developed into regular catch up events that lasted for many
years.

His strong career prospects allowed Ray to buy land at 10

Carbethan Crescent, Beverly Hills and have a modern brick
Ray and Gwen Hely
home built, not far from the family home at Hurstville. Their
two children were born while Ray and Gwen lived at Beverly Hills.

293 NSW BDM Marriage Certificate 9165/1956

157
Ray’s love of the outdoors also led him into photography. He joined a photographic club and had
lessons to augment his natural ability to find the best shots. He would later set up a dark room
at home for processing his own photos.

In the 1970s Ray and Gwen were able to buy Crown Land at 38 Elm Street, Lugarno. Ray
designed a new house and then built it as owner/builder. He oversaw everything from start to
finish, doing a lot of the fine detailing himself, particularly the joinery. He was a perfectionist in
most ways and the house he built was no exception.

He also focused his energies on the landscaping of the home. What was a steep sandstone cliff
punctuated with dense overgrown clumps of inferior natives was transformed into a series of
terraced gardens full of Japanese maples, azaleas, camellias and a host of thriving native shrubs
and flowers.

In 2000, the Liverpool Regional Museum put on an exhibition of 12,000 colour and black and
white photos that Ray had taken during his 22 years with Liverpool Council. Ray had taken the
photos to depict the many drainage, stormwater, kerbing and other municipal works in the area
as well as the many parks, gardens and memorials but Ray could not help but capture far more
in his photos. He also managed to show people at work, street scenes, parades, community
events and other aspects of life in the Liverpool area in a way that evocatively showed the essence
of the times.

The exhibition, which was called “Ray’s World”, was so successful that it attracted the attention
of The Sydney Morning Herald which ran a long article on the exhibition. This publicity led to
Ray and Gwen receiving an invitation from the National Museum in Canberra for Ray’s World to
be one of the first exhibitions at the official opening of the museum in 2001.

Ray Hely at the exhibition of Ray’s World

Ray had been diagnosed with prostate cancer in the mid-1990s and his treatment kept the
disease largely in check. However, its path was inexorable and Ray finally succumbed at Calvary
Hospital, Kogarah on 11 November 2009 when he was 79. He was cremated at Woronora
Crematorium and his ashes were placed at Northern Suburbs Crematorium.

158
Gwen had always supported Ray in all of his life’s interests but this was not such a hard task as
they were devoted to each other and to their family.

Gwen and Ray Hely

159
 Eveline Alice Rees

Married 1925 Leslie Francis Forrester

Children:

Gweneth Elaine Forrrester b 1928 d 1980 52 years

The name Dolly was often used as a pet name for new born babies. In the case of Eveline, the
third child of George TJ Rees and his wife Janet, the name stayed with her and few people outside
her family ever knew her real name.
Dolly followed in her sister Elsie’s steps by working as a
dressmaker at Lowes in Sydney. Elsie was always quiet
and easy going but Dolly, on the other hand, was loud
and strong willed. She tended to get her way in the
family much more often as the others considered
whether it was worth the effort to resist or disagree with
her. Despite these characteristics, Dolly was a lot of fun
to be around and she was popular among her social set.
Judging by the number of young men who were always
hovering around her, she was never going to be short of
suitors.
She was 25 when she married Leslie Francis Forrester at
St John the Baptist Anglican Church at Ashfield on 14
March 1925.294 Les was a 27 year old carpenter and
joiner who was living at Rozelle where he was born. Les
had learnt his trade both in New Zealand and Australia.
The church was where Elsie had been married three
years earlier. The Reverend William Hilliard was again
on hand to perform the service. Dolly Rees – Elsie Hely Collection

By coincidence, Les and Dolly each had a grandmother named Kezia. Les’ parents were Frank
and Martha Forrester and they lived at Balmain (strangely there were two Frank Forresters living
at Balmain at the time and both had wives named Martha but they were unrelated).
Les had been a bright boy who had gone to Sydney Boys’ High School on a scholarship. He went
on to do a carpentry trade course at Sydney Technical College while undertaking an
apprenticeship at Folster’s Door and Sash Factory and Joinery Works at 219 Weston Road,
Rozelle. Coincidently, Dolly’s grandmother, Janet Jardine, had a brother in law named Thomas
Folster but there is no obvious family connection between these Folsters, even though it is an
uncommon surname.
Les was only 17 at the start of the First World War and both his apprenticeship and his age
stopped him from enlisting. He was almost 21, the proper age for enlistment, when the war
started going bad for the Germans in August 1918. However, he had not yet completed his
apprenticeship and he was worried the war would be over before he could enlist. He finally
abandoned his apprenticeship with only months to go and, with his parents’ consent (his age
was 20 years and 11 months), he enlisted at South Head Military Barracks. He was assigned as

294 NSW BDM Marriage Certificate 1051/1925

160
a bombardier to the 36th Australian Heavy Artillery Group of the Siege Artillery Brigade. He
sailed on the troopship Wyreema that left Sydney on 14 October 1918.
Les was one of the last soldiers to be sent to the war because it was all over 3 weeks after his
ship sailed. They received the news when they arrived at Capetown, South Africa. The ship
turned back to Australia arriving in Fremantle
in December. Not only did Les escape the
horrors of the war, he also avoided the mass
return of soldiers carrying the deadly influenza
virus that tore through them on the home
voyages.
Between the war and his marriage, Les worked
for Paynter & Tropman of 89 Pitt Street, Sydney
who were building contractors who also made
their own joinery. The company later became
Paynter & Dixon (it is still going strong today).
He later worked for the building company
Williamson & McIntyre of Darlinghurst and
then for Stuart Bros who made joinery and
cabinets at their factory at Taylor Street,
Annandale. One of the brothers, James Stuart,
lived for many years in Trafalgar Street,
Annandale and he probably knew the Nelson
clan quite well.
After their marriage, Les and Dolly moved to a
house at 52 Orange Street, Hurstville where
they would live most of their lives. The house
was only a short walk from where Elsie and Joe
Les and Dolly Forrester Hely lived in Hudson Street.
Les and Dolly would only have one child, a daughter named Gweneth Elaine Forrester, who was
born on 7 August 1928. The family spent a lot of time with Elsie and Joe and frequently went
on picnics and holiday camping trips with them. But Dolly was very competitive with Elsie. She
made sure that she had the best that Les could afford. Her house was immaculately (possibly
compulsively) cleaned and maintained and full of the latest appliances. Her motor car was a
step up from her sister’s motor car.
Young Gwen Forrester grew up almost as an extra child in the Hely household. The four children
would always be close (Gwen was my godmother).
From around the time of his marriage, Les worked as a foreman joiner for E M Utick Pty Ltd, a
furniture manufacturer that had an office, factory and timber yard at Mount Street, Pyrmont.
Les probably remembered the time when the company owner, Edgar Utick, advertised for “one
strong youth, about eighteen.” More than 350 youths turned up so he purchased four packs of
playing cards. Those who got Aces were then invited to draw for the Joker which was the winning
card. The process and result were accepted by all without complaint. 295
Interestingly, Dolly had a younger cousin named Ruby Rees whose husband, Arthur Lyons, later
worked for E M Utick. Les may well have arranged for young Arthur to get that job.
As Les progressed through his career, he took an interest in teaching. For some years he
conducted part time classes at Sydney and Kogarah Technical Colleges, where he was well
regarded by both staff and students.

295 The Maitland Mercury 19 June 1933, page 1

161
Les’ father, Frank Forrester, died in 1935. His mother, Martha, soon moved in with Les, Dolly
and Gwen at Orange Street and she stayed there until her own death in 1939.
When the Second World War started in August 1939, Les was too old for active service but he
managed to enlist as a carpenter in the Royal
Australian Air Force (RAAF) on 5 August 1942 at the
age of 44. He was initially sent to do building work
at the Flying Training School at Benalla in Victoria.
From there he was transferred to Tocumwal where he
spent most of his time over the next two years
building new houses attached to the No 5 RAAF
Hospital. The adjoining airfield was built to
accommodate the US bomber fleet. The base became
the headquarters in Australia for the US Army Air
Force with 7,000 personnel working at the base.
He was then sent to the No 3 Aircraft Depot which
was a maintenance unit of the RAAF at Amberley,
just west of Ipswich in Queensland. The depot was
then responsible for assembling new fighter planes
supplied by the US (mostly Kittyhawks and Cobras).
They also carried out repair and salvage work.
Les was discharged on 11 January 1946, well after
the war had finished, having risen in the ranks to
corporal. He returned to work as a carpentry
supervisor and later became a building inspector.
Like his father in law, George TJ Rees, Les was a very Joyce Hely and Les Forrester during
popular member of the extended Rees family. He had WWII
a motor car when few in the family could afford one and he was reliably on hand to give lifts to
train stations or to make pick-ups when needed. He was generous with his time and support.
He acted as guarantor on some of the mortgages of his nieces and nephews.
If Les had visions of a comfortable retirement after he turned 65 in 1962 he was mistaken. On
9 December 1962 his coronary artery was suddenly blocked by a large blood clot and he was
rushed to the St George Hospital at Kogarah. He died eight hours later. 296 Les was cremated at
Woronora Cemetery which by now had become the
final resting place for most members of this branch
of the Rees family.
Dolly continued living at home with her daughter
Gwen but her health began to slowly deteriorate.
Her main problem was a narrowing of the arteries
in her brain which gradually led to dementia. She
was eventually placed in care at the Botany
Gardens Nursing Home at Carlton, where she
would later be joined by her brother in law, Joe
Hely after his major stroke.

Les and Dolly Forrester in later life Dolly passed away on 15 October 1984 following a
particularly difficult bout of pneumonia. 297 Joe
had died earlier in the year but Dolly would not have been aware of that. She joined her husband
at Woronora Cemetery.

296 NSW BDM Death Certificate 32876/1962

297 NSW BDM Death Certificate 24195/1984

162
 Gweneth Elaine Forrester

Les and Dolly’s daughter, Gwen, left school and became qualified as a stenographer (a typist who
could record dictation using shorthand). She worked for many years as a secretary and personal
assistant for the import and trading company known as Robert A
Conaghan Pty Ltd at Princeton House, 235 Clarence Street, Sydney.
The company had a large sporting and fishing tackle warehouse. It
was probably for Gwen that a Dictaphone recorder and transcriber
was sought for the company in an advertisement in The Sydney
Morning Herald on 10 June 1948 (page 9).
The owner of the company, Bob Conaghan, had made the business
very successful and he moved in celebrity circles. He was a boating
enthusiast and big game fisherman. Gwen was introduced to this
celebrity lifestyle. She was a very attractive and popular young girl
who soon found herself with many suitors.
One of Gwen’s more serious suitors who was keen to marry her was
a radio sports commentator named Reg Grundy. He was also keen
on water sports and fishing and no doubt came to know Gwen
through those connections. Les and Dolly were not at all keen on
Reg, believing he could not afford that lifestyle on his salary as well Gwen as Joyce Hely’s
as look after a wife. bridesmaid

They may have been better giving Reg more encouragement. Not long after, he invented the
Wheel of Fortune game for radio, which he hosted. The show was so popular that it was
transferred to television two years later. Reg, who was always a perfect, well-mannered
gentleman, would go on to fame and fortune as one of the major players in television production
in Australia.
Although Gwen thought very highly of Reg, her heart was set on her boss, Bob Conaghan. Bob
was married with a daughter and although he and Gwen were eventually in a relationship, he
would not divorce his wife Frances. Gwen was 38 when she finally married 55 year old Bob on
5 July 1967 at St John the Baptist Church at Ashfield, a year after the death of Bob’s wife who
had been suffering from a long term illness. Her flower girl was Gina Rees, the six year old
daughter of Gwen’s uncle George Nelson Rees.
Gwen and Bob lived very happily at 48 Parriwi Road, Mosman in an area of fashionable real
estate. A modern mansion had been built on the property in the early 1950s after the demolition
of an old grand villa known as Huntly. The property overlooked the Pacific Ocean and had views
of Sydney Harbour, Sydney Heads and Middle Harbour.
Bob continued to successfully run and grow his group of companies. Sadly, however, the
marriage was short-lived. Bob fell down some steep stairs at the house while taking out the bins
and suffered brain damage which left him incapacitated and unaware. After a time in care, he
died on 14 December 1972.
Following Bob’s death, Gwen was subjected to much hostility from Bob’s family and from
shareholders and directors of Bob’s companies. Having worked for those companies and been
intimately involved in their operation over many years, she declined all offers to sell out and
instead took over the running herself.

163
She found some happiness again
when she married Ernst Marusicz.
Ernst was a migrant from Switzerland
who arrived in Fremantle in Western
Australia on Christmas Day 1959 on
board the SS Flaminia. But again, the
marriage would be short-lived, this
time by Gwen’s untimely death only
three years later. She had been
diagnosed with breast cancer a year
after her marriage to Ernst. The
cancer was treated but it travelled and
became so far advanced that she had
no hope of survival. She passed away
on 3 November 1980 at the age of
52.298
Nadene Peek, Elsie Hely, Les and Gwen Forrester,
Gwen’s death occurred well after her
Ray Hely and my brother (the baby)
mother’s dementia had taken hold. At
Gwen’s funeral, Dolly had no idea whose funeral it was. Dolly outlived her daughter by only four
years. Ernst looked after Dolly’s welfare in those remaining years and correctly provided all of
the information for Dolly’s death certificate. Ernst was the sole beneficiary of Gwen’s substantial
estate but he became reclusive after Gwen’s death and fell out of touch with the family, possibly
having unfounded worries about disinheritance.

Les Forrester, Nadene Peek at back, Norma Peek,

Gwen and Dolly Forrester

298 NSW BDM Death Certificate 25783/1980

164
 Norma Aubrey Rees

Married 1928 Robert George Peek

Children:

Nadene Janette Peek b 1931

Norma was 27 when she married 30 year old Robert George Peek (known as George) on 3 March
1928 at St John the Baptist Church at Ashfield. 299 The service was conducted by the 68 year
old Reverend Archdeacon William Apedale Charlton who, when he was
not performing his role of General Secretary of The Home Mission
Society, often visited the parishes to help with the workload and keep in
touch with parishioners. He became a canon of the Anglican Church
and one of its highest members in NSW.
The official witnesses to the marriage were Norma’s 23 year old brother
George Nelson Rees, and her husband’s 15 year old sister, Jessie Peek.
Norma’s occupation was recorded as a “typist” (she was in fact a
telephonist and had never been a typist). Such an error might help
explain why George’s occupation was recorded as a “saleswoman.”
George Peek had grown up in various NSW country towns before the
family settled at
Picton, a rural
town about 80 km
south west of
A young Norma
Sydney (in fact the
Rees
town where both
George and his father Bert had been born).
His father was a railway worker. By the
time the family moved back to Picton, Bert
had become an engine driver, usually
driving the Melbourne Express.
George worked as a salesman in the floor
coverings department at R H Gordon, the
same company that Norma’s older sister
Hilda later joined, probably with the help of
George.
Norma was working for the Australian Drug
Company in O’Connell Street in the city.
That street had originally been the home of
fine residences but they were eventually
Norma Rees on left, George Peek and Myra
knocked down and replaced by warehouses
Rees in front
and office buildings. The street became the
centre for medical practices, pharmacies and the warehousing of pharmaceutical products.

299 NSW BDM Marriage Certificate 1699/1928

165
 Like many Sydney people keen to escape the suburbs for a
weekend break, George Peek and his friends were regular visitors
to the guest houses and mountain air of the Blue Mountains. It
is here that George likely met Norma and her sister Myra who
often made the trek to Katoomba.
George and Norma became engaged but it was another five years
before they were married until they had saved enough money for
a deposit on a house. At least they saw a lot of each other during
their engagement because George became a boarder at the Rees
family home at Wallace Street, Ashfield.
A new subdivision known as the Goodlet Estate was being
developed at Ashbury and George put a deposit on 47 Hay Street,
later to be known as 47 Hay Street, Croydon Park as the house
was on the border of two suburbs (the name Ashbury is derived
from Ashfield and Canterbury). They called the house “Norge”
which caused many people to later think there was some
Norma Rees Norwegian connection. In fact, the name was an abbreviation of
Norma and George.
The couple moved into their new house after
their marriage and they would stay there for
the rest of their lives together. They would
see many changes in suburban life over the
years. Not everything was sold in main
street shops or corner shops. In the early
days it was common for vendors (or
hawkers), such as the egg man, the ice man,
the milko, the rabbitoh, the fisho, the baker
and the paper boy to visit houses to sell at
the door or deliver orders.
Norma did her shopping for clothes and the
banking and bill paying at Ashfield so she
could visit her mother Janet at least once a Les and Dolly Forrester, Norma Rees and
week. friend and Joe and Elsie Hely, possibly
George and Norma’s only child, a daughter dressed up
who they named Nadene Janette Peek, was born on 28 July 1931
at the Gowrie Private Hospital at Milton Street, Ashfield run by
Nurse Annie Faber who had been an army nurse during the First
World War.
George was only entitled to one week’s holiday at R H Gordon.
As he was not senior enough, he was made to take that holiday
the week after the end of the January school holidays. The
timing became a problem when Nadene started school and she
usually missed the first week back at school. When he was
promoted to manager of the floor coverings department, he was
given two weeks off and he could go in the school holidays. As
the family did not have a car, their holidays were mostly at
boarding houses in resort locations such as Manly, Cronulla,
Terrigal and Katoomba.

George and Norma

166
George volunteered for service in the Second World War but he was rejected on medical grounds
when he was found to have diabetes. He would suffer from the disease for many years as it
impacted on his health.
The war came close to the family on the last day of May 1942. It was a Sunday and George,
Norma and Nadene had made the trek by public transport to visit Norma’s brother, George Nelson
Rees, who lived with his wife and son at Balgowlah, a northern suburb of Sydney. After a happy
day out, they returned to Sydney by ferry on their way home. They had only just arrived home
when sirens sounded all over Sydney and the suburbs. It was not until the next morning they
found out that three Japanese mini
submarines had entered Sydney
Harbour to attack the US Navy ships the
Japanese thought were based there.
The only ship damaged was the
Australian Navy training ship HMAS
Kuttabul which was partially sunk with
the loss of 19 sailors. Their ferry had
passed over the route of the
submarines. None of the submarines
made it back to the mother submarine
lurking off the coast. In retaliation, the
mother submarine surfaced and fired its
canon into the eastern suburbs,
causing property damage but little else.
George and Norma had many friends
George and Norma Peek with Nadene
and they were involved in a lot of social
activities. They loved to play cards and they belonged to a group who rostered their meetings
every second Friday evening for a social tournament. Norma also liked to have a flutter on the
horses and it helped that a neighbor had a contact who was related to some bookmakers and
trainers. Many of the ladies in the card group also liked to sometimes attend and bet on the
races on ladies’ day. On one occasion the ladies went to Randwick race course for the day where
young Nadene was allowed to put her money on a horse called Bragger. Of course, it came first
at 10 to 1. Nadene and some of the ladies were very excited. The horse was the first owned by
a new (and later famous) trainer named Tommy Smith, the father of Gai Waterhouse.
George and Norma bought their first car, a Morris Oxford, in
the 1950s and the family went on many enjoyable outings,
particularly on Sunday afternoons. They were sometimes
joined by George’s sister Vera and her husband. When George’s
eyesight started to fail as a result of the diabetes he was
reluctantly forced to give up driving. This meant that Norma
had to learn to drive at a much later age than normal but she
soon mastered the skills and obtained her licence. She would
often drive down the coast to visit her daughter at Austinmer.
In early 1967 George was diagnosed with advanced prostate
cancer. He died on 21 August that year at the Calvary Private
Hospital, Kogarah at the age of 69.300 He was cremated at
Rookwood Cemetery.
Norma continued to live at Croydon Park for a short time but
soon decided to move to the Sutherland Shire where her
daughter and most of her relatives now lived. By 1970 she was George and Norma

300 NSW BDM Death Certificate 28071/1967

167
living at 7/25 Banksia Road, Caringbah, a unit block known as “Lexington Court”, where she was
closer to her daughter Nadene as well as the shops and train station. She brought her car with
her and made great use of it. She was a great help when Nadene went back to teaching.
In the late 1970s Norma started showing signs of dementia. In 1984 she was placed in care at
the Wade-Lyn Nursing Home in Gloucester Street, Hurstville (now known as Hurstville Gardens
Nursing Home). She passed away in her sleep on 30 August 1984 at the age of 83, only two
months before her older sister Dolly.301 She was cremated at Woronora Crematorium but her
ashes were placed with George’s ashes at Rookwood.

George and Norma in later life

Nadene Janette Peek

Nadene grew up at Croydon Park. She went to infants and primary school at the recently built
Ashbury Public School. She was eight years old when the Second World War started (which was
a week after her grandmother Janet
Rees had passed away). As many male
school teachers were among the first to
enlist, female teachers no longer had to
resign when they married and female
teachers already married were coaxed
back to teaching to make up the
shortfall in numbers. Nadene was
fascinated watching the construction
of underground air raid shelters at the
school. An underlying fear in the
community of bombing and invasion
by Japanese forces became real after
the fall of Singapore and the bombing
of Darwin and North Queensland. The Norma, Hilda Rees, Nadene, Janet Rees &
Snowball

301 NSW BDM Death Certificate 19601/1984

168
war would also come much closer for Nadene later on.

Like many girls in primary school, Nadene’s boredom was alleviated by games such as rounders,
vigaro, jacks (usually played with sheep knucklebones), hopscotch and skipping (with a short
rope that was self-held or with a long rope held by two girls). She looked after the occasional
shoe box full of silkworms. Fortunately, a friend living nearby had two large mulberry trees in
her backyard. Nadene also joined the Enfield girl guides.

She started at Petersham Girls Junior High School in 1944. The school had a moment of high
drama the following year. On 2 May 1945 a loud explosion came from a two seater British air
force (RAF) Mosquito war plane as it flew over the school on a test
flight from Mascot airport. Nadene watched as the flaming petrol
tank fell through the air on its downward trajectory. All of the
students were kept in their classes and then sent home through the
back gate. The two airmen were killed. One body fell onto the
bitumen in the school playground and the other fell onto the roof of
a nearby railway building. Five houses were set on fire from the
falling debris and many others were damaged. It was believed by
some that police confiscated a canon from the plane that had been
salvaged by two enterprising boys who were taking it home on their
billy cart. A memorial service was later held in the playground. Two
silky oak trees were planted and a flagpole and plaque were installed.

Nadene did well at school coming first in her class in the

Intermediate Certificate examinations held at the end of her third
year. Most girls left school after third year. Nadene was one of the
few who continued on to the Leaving Certificate and she attended A young Nadene
Fort Street Girls High School in Sydney near the Harbour Bridge.
The walk uphill from Wynyard station was unappealing but at least she was in the crowd one
day in 1947 that stood around admiring one of the first
sparkling brand new Holden motor cars off the assembly
line.

Judy Canty, a 16 year old girl from Nadene’s year at

school at Fort Street, represented Australia in track and
field at the 1948 Olympic Games in London. She
qualified for the finals of the long jump. Although she
finished seventh in the final, all those who knew her
were very proud of her achievement. She lost so much
schooling travelling by sea to and from the Olympics that
she had to repeat her last year at school.

Nadene’s results in the Leaving Certificate earned her a

Teachers’ College Scholarship but Norma wanted
Nadene to take up a business college course instead
because of the opportunities that were opening up for
women. After completing her course at the Metropolitan
Secretarial College at Endeavour House in Macquarie
Place, Sydney, Nadene was placed with an agricultural
Nadene on left with her cousins
finance company in Sydney. Hating the long hours and
Ken and Shirley Robson
boring work, she visited the Education Department one
lunch hour and found that she could still take up the teaching scholarship. She enrolled at
Sydney Teachers’ College in 1950. Nadene enjoyed her time at the college and the supervised
practical training at various schools in her area.

169
The college ran practice teaching camps at Castlereagh on the Nepean River west of Sydney. At
one of the camps, with a focus on nature studies, children from Bankstown and Warragamba
primary schools also attended the camp and each trainee teacher was allocated two children to
look after for the week. Nadene met many other trainee teachers at the camp, including Barry
Goodwin.

After graduating as a primary school teacher, Nadene started her teaching career in 1952 on
probation at the girls department of Punchbowl Primary School. 302 In her third year at
Punchbowl, Nadene was on one of her shopping visits to the city when she accidentally met Barry
Goodwin who she had not seen since the camp at Castlereagh. Nadene quite liked the softly
spoken and gentlemanly Barry and they made arrangements to meet again. In no time at all, a
romance bloomed.

Barry had come to Sydney from Byron Bay looking to pursue a career in banking. However, he
decided he would rather be a teacher than a banker. Six months after Nadene’s appointment,
Barry started his teaching career on probation at Cronulla South Primary School before being
transferred to the primary department of Gardeners Road Public School at Rosebery. 303 He was
then snatched by the secondary department which was short of a maths teacher, even though
he had no maths qualification and had no desire to be a secondary teacher.

At the end of 1954 the amorous couple were shocked to learn that Nadene was being transferred
to Broken Hill North Public School. To
make matters worse, Barry was being
transferred to Keira Boys High School in
Wollongong. And so they parted, at least
for a time, with Nadene saying goodbye to
Barry and her parents at Central Station.
School holidays became a time to catch
up and make plans. They agreed to get
married before the start of the next school
year so that Nadene could be transferred
to the Wollongong area after a year at
Broken Hill.

Barry bought a big and heavy second

hand Armstrong Sidley utility vehicle in
Barry and Nadene
1955 which was given the name Thomas.
He had completed a NRMA handyman mechanics course and was able to keep the vehicle in
good repair and order. He taught Nadene to drive the vehicle and she obtained her driving licence
on it.

Nadene and Barry were both 24 when they married at St John the Baptist Anglican Church at
Ashfield on 6 January 1956. 304 The official witnesses were Barry’s brother, Gordon Goodwin,
and Nadene’s cousin, Gwen Forrester. The service was conducted by the Reverend Alan Setchell
who had been the rector at nearby St Matthews Church at Ashbury. Nadene’s connection with
St Matthews started when she went to Sunday school there at a young age. She continued
through to the youth fellowship group and for a time was a Sunday school teacher.

During the last term of 1955, Barry found some rooms to rent in Market Street, Wollongong (the
main street). An old house had been partitioned into three areas and Barry had taken the middle

302 NSW Government Gazette No 132 – 20 June 1952, page 2176

303 NSW Government Gazette No 33 – 13 February 1953, page 527
304 NSW BDM Marriage Certificate 1559/1956

170
area of three rooms together with shared bathroom, laundry and entrance. The domestic
arrangements and shared facilities were a challenge but this was the best Barry could find at the
time. This was where Nadene and Barry first lived after their marriage. They persevered with
these arrangements until they could afford to put a deposit on a house at 270 Main Road (Princes
Highway), Austinmer. The house had a beautiful view along the coast and they lived here for the
next six years. Thomas, the vehicle, was sold to help pay the deposit.

Barry continued teaching maths at

Keira Boys High School but his heart
was set on returning to primary school
teaching. Nadene’s first appointment
as a married woman was to Unanderra
Public School. She later asked for a
school closer to Austinmer and was
transferred to Woonona at the start of
1958. Later that year she gave birth to
John, the first of her four sons, at
Wollongong Hospital. Her uncle, Les
Forrester, came down from Sydney soon
after the birth to pick up Nadene and
the baby and drive them to Norma’s
house at Croydon Park for some post-
natal care before their return to
The wedding day
Austinmer. Nadene then took a year’s
leave before returning to teaching, this time at Thirroul Public School which was even closer to
home. Barry’s mother came down from Byron Bay and moved in to help look after the baby.

With the imminent birth of her second son, Nadene officially resigned as a teacher with 30
January 1961 being her last day of service. 305 Barry was transferred to Cronulla High School in
the south of Sydney and a new house was needed to be found before the transfer took effect.
They bought a house at 104 Karimbla Road, Miranda in January 1962.

Having been appointed a special master and taking up positions at various secondary schools,
Barry was appointed deputy principal at Hurstville Primary School. He was finally appointed as
a principal at Mortdale Primary School. His brother Harold was also a teacher and served as
principal of Port Hacking High School. Barry had a
time off from teaching for a couple of years. He had
usually been the union representative at each of the
schools he was appointed to and he was offered a
position with the NSW Teachers’ Federation. He
resigned his teaching position on 26 March 1964. 306
Although he was happy with the extra money and a
union car, he was unhappy with the politics of the
union which was increasingly coming under the
control of communists. He was soon back teaching
again.

In 1968, Nadene was offered a full time teaching Nadene and Barry Goodwin
position at Our Lady Star of the Sea Catholic School at

305 NSW Government Gazette No 34 – 17 March 1961, page 835

306 NSW Government Gazette No 88 – 17 July 1964, page 2304

171
 Miranda, which was unusual as she was not a Catholic. Nadene
was very happy because it was within easy walking distance. She
started on a six month agreement and retired 23 years later.

Her other sons were all born at Sutherland Hospital. Peter (1962),
Mark (1964) and Stephen (1970) all grew up at the house in
Karimbla Road. After Stephen was born, Nadene changed to part
time teaching for two years before returning to full time.

Nadene had a major health scare in 1990 when she was found to
have bowel cancer but the early removal of the offending parts
soon put her back in good health. She officially retired the
following year when she turned 60 and could access her
superannuation. Barry retired from Lurnea Primary School at the
end of 1990 as he was turning 60 in the first week of the 1991
school year.

Volunteers at Sydney Nadene and Barry

2000 Olympics enjoyed their retired
life and had many
holidays both overseas and travelling around
Australia with their caravan which they thoroughly
enjoyed. They also had good times with their
families. During the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games,
they both worked as volunteers at Homebush,
welcoming visitors and helping them to find their
way around the Olympic facilities.

Barry was badly injured when a suburban train jerk

started and he lost his balance while moving to a Nadene and her cousin Joyce
seat. He crashed onto a large protruding pram and suffered broken ribs, a punctured lung, a
gashed head and bad bruising. Soon after he suffered some mini
strokes that were probably a result of the head knock he had
received. He gradually became more debilitated with balance issues
and perhaps the onset of dementia. He regularly used a walking
stick to get around. He had a bad fall on his driveway after tripping
over his walking stick and crashed his head onto the concrete and
received other injuries. He was taken to St George Hospital and then
to Hurstville Community Hospital where Nadene had been staying
after having a knee replacement. He did not recover from the injuries
and he passed away at the hospital on 30 May 2007 at the age of 76.
He was buried at Woronora Cemetery.

Nadene’s life continues to be centred on her family, her friends, the

Nadene Goodwin Probus Club and her love of researching and learning about her and
Barry’s family history.

172
 Myra Linda Rees

Myra was the youngest daughter of George and Janet Rees and she would live the longest out of
her parents and all of her siblings. But her life was not going to be an easy one.
She was 23 when she married 27 year old Thomas Robson
(known as Tommy) at St John the Baptist Church at
Ashfield on 26 February 1927. This time the service was
performed by the 74 year old Reverend Canon Robert
Edward Goddard who was helping out with the workload,
having retired due to ill health from his former position as
the canon of the All Saints Church at Petersham.
Arthur Longhurst, who was married to Myra’s aunt,
Elizabeth Nelson, gave her away as he had done for Myra’s
sisters, in the absence of their departed father. Uncle
Arthur was also an official witness along with Myra’s very
close sister, Norma Peek.
Tommy had by then spent most of his family life at the NSW
town of Wallsend, near Newcastle (it was named after
Wallsend in England where Hadrian’s Wall ends on the
eastern coast). Many members of the Robson clan worked
in the coal mines of the Newcastle district. Tommy had an
ability with mathematics and was clever enough for his
A young Myra Rees parents to send him to the Sydney Technical College, most
– Elsie Hely Collection probably as a boarder but he may have stayed with Sydney
based relatives. His schooling may not have been as
successful as his family hoped for. Soon after he left school, he found work with the NSW Railway
Commissioners as a railway porter based at the
train cleaning yard in Sydney.
Before her marriage Myra must have known that
Tommy had been involved in a criminal case that
made headlines around Australia. Less than a year
before the marriage, Tommy and nine other railway
employees were accused of conspiring to cheat and
defraud the Railway Commissioners of large
quantities of goods worth many thousands of
pounds. After being charged, the employees were
suspended without pay.
The employees all worked at the train cleaning
yard, mostly as porters and cleaners. The
allegation was that they helped themselves to
parcels being consigned by train and made money
on the sale of the contents of the parcels.
Stolen goods had been found in the possession of Norma and Myra Rees
each of the accused employees, including Tommy,
but most of them claimed they did not know the goods were stolen and that they had paid for
them, believing the goods had been unclaimed lost property. The committal hearing was heard
at the Central Police Court in Liverpool Street, Sydney in May 1926. The hearing lasted three
weeks, during which 151 witnesses gave evidence. One accused became a prosecution witness

173
after the charges against her were dropped but the other nine accused were found to have a case
to answer and they were sent to trial in the District Court at Darlinghurst.
In his opening address, the prosecutor stated: 307

“… if the facts as disclosed in the depositions were proved, it would be shown

to be the greatest conspiracy affecting the railways that had ever been
ventilated in this State.”

There was a sensation on the first day of the trial when the notorious Sydney gangster and razor
gang leader, Kate Leigh, was accused of trying to intimidate a newly sworn juror, a claim which
she denied.
The trial set a new record for the longest in New South Wales (it lasted 14 days). The judge was
skeptical about the strength of the prosecution case. After a two hour retirement, the jury
acquitted four of the defendants, including Tommy, who were immediately released. 308 The
following day the jury announced that they had been unable to agree on a verdict for the other
five defendants, who were accused of being the ringleaders.
At a new trial a few months later, four of the five remaining
accused were found guilty and were sentenced to prison terms
from 15 to 24 months. The judge took into account a
recommendation for mercy from the jury.309
Tommy and Myra were married six months after his acquittal.
For many months Tommy had suffered the stigma and
indignity of the very public charges against him. His acquittal
allowed him to return to his employment but it is hard to
imagine that his future with the railways was not irreparably
tarnished. However, he managed to keep his job and stay with
the railways for the rest of his working life.
Inevitably, Tommy was relocated away from his Sydney base
and soon found himself transferred to Junee in rural NSW.
Their first child, a daughter named Shirley Linda Robson, was
born on 28 December 1927. Myra had come to Sydney for the
birth which took place at the Windermere Private Hospital, Myra Rees
Allawah.310
In early 1930, Myra gave birth to their second child, a son named Ronald Thomas Robson (known
as Ronnie). At first the baby thrived but about the time his first teeth were making an
appearance, his health started to decline. He lost appetite, became weak in the limbs and had
a run-down look. He became colicky with abdominal pain and sweaty as his temperature rose.
He had periods of apparent stability but the symptoms always returned to make him worse. He
was a very unwell baby.
He was taken to Sydney for better treatment at the Renwick Hospital for Infants at Summer Hill
(formerly one of Sydney’s finest villas, known as Carleton). The hospital, at 56 Liverpool Road
(Hume Highway), was within easy walking distance from the Rees family home in Wallace Street,
Ashfield where Myra’s mother Janet and her sister Hilda still lived and, no doubt, where Myra
stayed while her baby was receiving treatment.

307 The Sydney Morning Herald 6 August 1926, page 8

308 The Sun 23 August 1926, page 9
309 The Sydney Morning Herald 23 October 1926, page 10
310 The Sydney Morning Herald 19 January 1928, page 10

174
Sadly, Ronnie’s condition continued to decline. He now showed a redness on the tips of his
fingers and nose. A pinky/red blotchiness formed over his arms and legs, as if he had been
rubbed on a towel wet with red dye. His death on 8 December 1930 at the age of only ten months
after a long and painful illness was heartbreaking for his parents. 311 The baby was buried at
Rookwood Cemetery in the grave of his grandfather, George TJ Rees. 312
The cause of death was officially recorded as
erythroedema which was a reference to the redness of
the baby’s extremities but the origin of the condition was
not then recognised. It was not until the 1940s that the
condition, also known as pink disease, was attributed to
mercury poisoning. Mercury, in the form of calomel, was
commonly used in baby products such as colic
medicines and teething powders.
Not long after Ronnie’s death, Tommy was transferred to
South Grafton where he worked as a railway porter for
the next 14 years. Myra gave birth to another son,
Kenneth John Robson, on 11 January 1934 while she
and Tommy were living in a house at 18 Villiers Street.
Tommy and Myra made many friends during their time
Renwick Hospital for Infants in South Grafton. They were both very sociable and
Tommy liked to play cards and drink with his friends
and bet on the races. He was also a fine soccer player, a sport no doubt he learnt playing among
the English migrant families at Wallsend. As a railway porter in those days, Tommy was expected
to be smartly dressed in his uniform and well groomed. This practice meant that he was always
careful with his appearance. As well, he was not known to lose his temper.
On one occasion in 1941, Tommy was asked by a work colleague and social friend to give evidence
in a divorce case where the husband accused the wife of deserting him with no intention of
returning to him (more legally known as denying him his conjugal rights). Tommy corroborated
the husband’s evidence and the divorce was granted. 313
A railway porter was a respectable job but the pay was not great and Myra and Tommy would
have found it difficult to make ends meet, especially with a family. They changed residences a
few times while living at South Grafton. Tommy found the rents difficult to meet on his pay. In
about 1943 he asked for a transfer to Wollongong where the rents were cheaper. There was the
added benefit of being closer to relatives in Sydney. By now Tommy had become a conductor
and sleeping car attendant and the extra income would have been welcomed.
Tommy’s work usually took him to Sydney. He mostly stayed overnight with relatives such as
Janet Rees at Ashfield and later with Norma and George Peek at Croydon Park. He loved joining
in the card games and betting on the races with the Croydon Park group. One time he brought
his niece, Nadene Goodwin, up to Grafton for a two week holiday. She sat just outside the
guard’s compartment in a window seat that looked out over the coast.
For some years Tommy had been infected with an inactive tuberculosis. While living at
Wollongong the infection became active and he was given radical treatment to control the disease.
On one occasion, probably returning from treatment at a hospital, he and Myra were refused a
ride home by two taxi drivers. Not liking the way they were treated, Tommy made a formal

311 NSW BDM Death Certificate 17477/1930 and The Sydney Morning Herald 9 December 1930,
page 8
312 The Sydney Morning Herald 9 December 1930, page 7
313 Daily Examiner 28 March 1941, page 7

175
complaint which, after investigation, resulted in a recommendation to prosecute the two
drivers.314
Unfortunately, Tommy’s condition worsened and his blood became toxaemic. He died at home
(29 Matthew Street) on 20 October 1946 at the age of 46. 315 He was cremated at Woronora
Cemetery. Myra was a widow at 43 with an 18 year old
daughter and a 12 year old son.
After Tommy’s death, Myra and the children came to
Sydney where they moved in with Myra’s sister Hilda
and her husband Harrie Sykes in their home at 53 The
Promenade, Sans Souci. At the time, Harrie had his
carpet business at King Street, Newtown and Myra went
to work for Harrie to earn income to help look after her
family. Myra had to make do with a wage of about half
that paid to a man as that was what the award
conditions required.
While living with Hilda, Myra met Henry John Murray
(known as Harry) who lived at 44 Walter Street, Sans
Souci. Harry drove a fruit and vegetable truck and no
doubt Hilda was one of his customers.
Harry was six years older than Myra and had been born
in Collingwood, Melbourne, the old home of Myra’s gold
mining grandfather, George Rees. Like Myra, Harry had
suffered a large amount of grief in his life. He had
married Sarah Ann Willoughby in 1918 but Harry
Myra with Grandson Peter
divorced his wife in 1922 on the grounds of his wife’s
adultery, citing a man named Arthur Edward Clarke. 316 Harry and Sarah had a daughter, Alice,
who was born in 1919 and who stayed, at least for a time, with her mother.
However his ex-wife did not go quietly. She married a man named Jack Fraser in 1923 but
continued to make claims against Harry for child maintenance. On one occasion in 1929 when
Alice was 10, the Children’s Court issued an arrest warrant for Harry, charging him with child
desertion. The warrant stated:317

“He is 33 years of age, 6 feet high, thin build, olive complexion, dark hair and
eyes, clean shaved; a fruiterer; has not been seen for the past seven years.
Complainant, Sarah Ann Fraser, 31 Wharf Road, Gladesville.”

Harry had remarried a year earlier in 1928. His new wife was Marjorie Violet Canham and they
would have two children, Laurel and Bruce. Matters with his first wife must have turned out
well for Harry. His daughter Alice would later live with Harry and Marjorie and Alice would look
on Marjorie as her mother.
It is thought that Harry had a haulage firm during the 1920s but he became a victim of the Great
Depression and the firm became insolvent. Harry and Marjorie lived at the house at 44 Walter
Street until Marjorie’s untimely death on 15 November 1945 at the age of 47.

314 Illawarra Mercury 27 September 1946, page 9

315 NSW BDM Death Certificate 25615/1946 and The Sydney Morning Herald 22 October 1946,
page 14
316 The Sydney Morning Herald 11 October 1921, page 5 and 19 May 1922, page 6
317 NSW Police Gazette 21 August 1929, page 596

176
And so Myra and Harry found themselves in 1949, both grieving from the loss of their loved
spouses at an early age. They were married on 31 December 1949 at St Paul’s Anglican Church
at Kogarah. Arthur Longhurst would probably have been happy to again give Myra away but he
had died five years earlier. Harry’s daughter Laurel and Myra’s daughter Shirley were the official
witnesses to the marriage.
Myra moved in with Harry at 44 Walter Street.
After the marriage, Harry opened up a grocery
store but he still operated his fruit and vegetable
truck, making home deliveries. By 1958 they
were living at 25 Redman Street, Campsie.
About 1962 when Harry was contemplating
retirement, they moved to 266 Burraneer Bay
Road, Caringbah, closer to Myra’s son Ken and
his family. Harry died suddenly on 30 March
1975 at Sutherland Hospital, Caringbah from a
ruptured aneurysm in his aorta. He was
cremated at Woronora Cemetery.
Myra continued to live at Burraneer Bay Road for
some years until she moved to a unit at 8/11
Sisters Norma, Myra and Elsie
Waratah Street, Cronulla. The unit was once
broken into when Myra was out and among the items stolen, was a quantity of jewellery including
the engagement ring of Myra’s mother, Janet Rees. Myra had ended up with rings belonging to
Janet after a heated argument between the sisters following Janet’s death in 1939. Norma had
suggested that Hilda should get them because she had looked after her mother for so long but
Dolly exploded saying she had always wanted them and Janet had promised them to her, a claim
laughed at by the others. The fight became known among some of the sisters as The Night of the
Rings. Hilda may have had the rings for a time but they ended up with Myra.

90th birthday celebrations for Myra with Shirley and Ken

When Myra’s eyesight failed in her 90s, she moved to Narrabri to live in a hostel and be close to
her daughter Shirley. She was not particularly happy to live in Narrabri but a return to Cronulla
was out of the question. Myra passed away at Narrabri on 26 July 2000, just short of her 97 th
birthday. She was cremated at Tamworth but her ashes were brought by her daughter Shirley
to Sydney where they were placed in a rose garden at Woronora Cemetery next to those of her
two husbands.

177
 Shirley Linda Robson

Shirley Robson made it into the local Grafton paper, the Daily Examiner, in 1934 when she was
only 6 years old. The South Grafton Parents & Citizens Association put on a Children’s Frolic at
the School of Arts on a Wednesday night in August. Children dressed in costume, such as an
eastern maiden, a blacksmith or Little Red Riding Hood. It was recorded that Shirley was
costumed as “A Woodland Elf.”318
The editor of the local paper must have known that if you
keep putting the names of a large number of residents and
their children in each edition then you will sell a lot of
papers and earn more advertising revenue. This was
apparent when in October 1934, for example, the paper
included all of the names of the dozens of winners of the
monthly class tests at South Grafton Public School.
Shirley, who was only in 1st Class, won a test for
writing.319
Her parents were keen to encourage little Shirley to do well
and arranged for her to participate in a number of
activities. No doubt, she had a wiry frame even at age 6,
because she was not only active, she was positively
athletic.
By the age of 8, Shirley was a pupil of Mrs Alda Morris,
who taught singing and recitation. In May 1936 a large
crowd packed out the Salvation Army Hall for a musical
concert. The Salvation Army Band was prominent,
A very young Shirley Robson
playing in between the solo vocalists and musicians.
Shirley overcame any nervousness to make a loud and clear recitation that was well received. 320
You can imagine how proud her parents were.
Shirley later became the pupil of a dancing teacher, Miss Ida
Cooper, and regularly performed at revues and concerts as
one of her pupils. Shirley would later be a pupil of Miss Mary
Cameron, an eminent teacher of Scottish dancing.
Shirley was 10 when she performed at a Saturday night
social function held by the Highland Society at nearby Coutts
Crossing. She provided a sole toe tap dance. It was noted,
incorrectly however, that this was her first performance on
stage.321 She was one of three pupils of Miss Cameron who
performed that night and they all received enthusiastic
applause.
It seems to me that Shirley had quite a good time in her
primary school days. She was confident as a singer and
dancer, popular with people of all ages and always near the
top of her class. She was also fit and sporty, with a love of
running. She started high school in 1940 and progressed Janet Rees with Ken and
well, coming second in her class in 1st Form (Year 7). The Shirley Robson

318 Daily Examiner 30 August 1934, page 5

319 Daily Examiner 24 October 1934, page 2
320 Daily Examiner 16 May 1936, page 2
321 Daily Examiner 25 August 1938, page 8

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following year she won the athletics trophy for sub-junior girls, showing that a slight frame was
no bar to physical success.322
Shirley left high school early due to illness. She had come down with pneumonia that had left
her quite debilitated and she missed almost a year at school. She did not want to return school
as she would have been placed in a class with a younger year group. She wanted to take up
nursing but the doctor said she was not strong enough so instead she enrolled in a secretarial
course at the Grafton Business College.
She was 16 when she completed her course in
November 1943. She topped the course in shorthand
and book keeping and came second in typewriting, to
earn a diploma grade pass.323 From here Shirley
would become a stenographer like her cousin Gwen
Forrester. She moved to Sydney to find work and lived
with Hilda and Harrie Sykes. She worked for a
number of firms including Butler Air Transport which
was, for a time, the most successful airline in NSW,
operating out of Sydney and servicing country towns
in NSW and Queensland. It was eventually absorbed
into the Ansett group. Shirley was occasionally asked
to fill in as an air hostess.
Shirley’s father Tommy had died in 1946 when she
was 18. Shirley lived with her mother Myra and when
Myra married Harry Murray in 1949, Shirley was
welcomed into Harry’s family and they lived in his
house at 44 Walter Street, Sans Souci. There she
stayed until her marriage on 28 January 1954 to
Shirley, Ken, Nadene, Norma and Allan Valentine Albert at St John the Baptist Anglican
Myra Church at Ashfield.324 The service was performed by
the Reverend Frederick Seymour Shaw who had been the rector of the church since 1949.
Shirley was 26 and Allan was 11 years older.
Allan had been born in 1916 in Jung Jung (now cut back to just Jung), a rural farming area in
Victoria’s Wimmera region, about 18km north east of Horsham. His father Gordon, who was one
of 11 children, had died suddenly at Jung Jung in 1920 at the age of 26 leaving his wife Emma,
Allan and his sister, who coincidently was also named Myra. Gordon, who had been a grocer,
died from tuberculosis which had been found 12 months earlier. This means that the fathers of
both Shirley and Allan died from the same disease. Three of Gordon’s brothers died in the
preceding four years, including one who died fighting in France at Poziers in August 1916 (four
months before Allan was born and after whom Allan was named). Another brother died back
home from complications after being gassed in France. The boys’ distraught parents and their
remaining siblings wrote a Memoriam for the four boys in 1921: 325

“We miss the genial friendship, true and tender,

The voices so earnest in the cause of right;
The noble service that they loved to render,
Their hearty hand-clasp and their grave good night.
Though absent from amongst us,
Their bright smile haunts us still.”

322 Daily Examiner 18 December 1941, page 6

323 Daily Examiner 19 November 1943, page 2
324 NSW BDM Marriage Certificate 1210/1954
325 The Horsham Times 11 March 1921, page 4

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Allan’s mother married Edward Regan in 1929 in Sydney and she would have another son, Mark.
Allan lived on the Regan family farm at Mount Mitchell, near Mullaley, which is about 40km west
of Gunnedah in rural NSW. The Mount Mitchell property was well known in the region for
producing prize winning sheep and high quality wool. 326
Around the age of 15, Allan was sent to school at Newington College in Sydney. His time at
Newington, however, did not last long because the economic downturn of the Great Depression
made it necessary for him to return to work on the farm to save on labour costs and school fees.
When he was older, he found work on a farm called Melrose, which was about 12km west of
Baradine on the Coonamble Road.
Allan enlisted for service in the Second World War on 6 June 1940. He served as a sapper in the
2/1 Field Company of the Royal Australian Engineers. The company provided support such as
bridges, tunnels and airfields for specific campaigns and combat operations. The company
served in North Africa, Palestine, Syria, Greece and Crete in the fighting against the Germans
and their allies before being sent to Ceylon for training and then to New Guinea to help repel the
Japanese invasion. Allan served in many of these theatres.
Having survived the war largely intact, Allan was living at Baradine in 1948 on a property owned
by his mother when his name was successfully drawn in a ballot for land (Block 13) at Edgeroi,
between Bellata and Narrabri. The ballot was held under a scheme to settle ex-servicemen from
the Second World War on the land and at the time, it was the largest ballot of land so far under
the scheme in NSW.327 Soon after, the Narrabri branch of the RSL held an informal Smoke Social
in March 1948 to welcome 33 of the successful applicants, including Allan, and promised to
assist the new settlers “in every way possible.”328 Allan called his property Nabra (although it
was later incorrectly recorded as Vabra on the marriage register).
A year later Allan was listed as having sold 96 heavy lambs at the Homebush sales in Sydney. 329
There was great demand across NSW to know the sheep and lamb prices at saleyards. Many city
and country newspapers carried sale prices and Allan’s prices would often appear in rural papers
far from his farm. Even The Sydney Morning Herald carried sale prices, including details of
Allan’s 122 wethers (castrated male lambs) and 49 ewes sold at the Flemington stock sales in
July 1954, six months after his marriage to Shirley.
Sometime before the wedding, Shirley had made the trip to Narrabri to stay with her step sister
Alice (Harry Murray’s eldest daughter who was eight years older than Shirley). Alice had married
an accountant, Ross Kimmorley, in 1942.
Ross invited his friend, Allan Albert, to forgo
farm work for a time and have lunch with
them and their fetching female relative from
Sydney. This was the first meeting of Shirley
and Allan but a surprise was in store for both
of them.
The 41st Davis Cup international tennis
tournament was held in Adelaide on the final
days of December 1952. Shirley and a friend
made arrangements and bookings to attend
the event. To Shirley’s amazement, she
discovered that Allan and his brother in law
Allan and Shirley Albert had not only gone to the Davis Cup as well,

326 The Sydney Morning Herald 30 April 1936, page 9 and Crookwell Gazette 27 October 1937,
page 6
327 The North Western Courier 12 February 1948, page 8
328 The North Western Courier 4 March 1948, page 4
329 The Farmer and Settler 15 July 1949, page 15

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but they were staying at the same accommodation in Adelaide. They were engaged eight months
later.
In February 1954, soon after the wedding, Shirley moved in with Allan at Nabra. She would
spend the next 20 years as a sheep farmer’s wife until the day came in 1974 when the decision
was made to get rid of the sheep and plant wheat instead. So for the next 20 years Shirley
became a wheat farmer’s wife. Wheat had become the ideal crop for the area. Although a higher
rainfall in other areas of the wheat belt made those areas generally more productive, the Bellata
area could produce bumper crops of premium grade wheat, when the rains came at the right
time.
When Shirley arrived at Nabra, there was no electricity. Tilly lamps provided the lighting until
the purchase of a 10 volt generator. The telephone was a party line shared by four families. The
roads were poorly sealed, if they were sealed at all. One day, the windscreen was broken on the
way into Narrabri, where it was fixed, but the new windscreen was broken on the way home.
People driving past always waved to you – or they may have just had their hand on the windscreen
to stop it from breaking.
Shirley immediately took to country life. She soon joined the Edgeroi Country Women’s
Association (CWA) and became a long standing and popular member, spending many years as
secretary of the branch. She volunteered with Meals on Wheels when it started up in Narrabri
and she continued making deliveries for the next 40 years until she was well into her eighties.
She did a lot of other volunteer work over the years, including for the Parents & Citizens
Association, Inner Wheel (a Rotarian women’s friendship group) and Probus, as well as on the
school canteen when the children were younger. If there was a cake stall on a street in Narrabri,
there was a good chance you would find Shirley behind it.

Barry and Nadene Goodwin and Allan and Shirley Albert

Over the years, Shirley made many friends, starting with neighbours and then moving on to the
groups where she volunteered. She belonged to a loyal group of friends, many going back over
50 years.
Shirley and Allan had almost boundless energy, (Allan may have slowed as he got older). Allan
on occasion worked long hours, particularly at harvest time. Shirley buzzed through her life but
never left anything to chance. She was a meticulous planner and organiser with a dedicated
attention to detail. It made no difference whether she was washing a floor or baking a cake or
setting up a street stall. Everything was done properly.

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Shirley and Allan had a family of three sons and a daughter. Shirley devoted most of her time
to her family. As the children grew up and had children of their own, Shirley took a lot pride
and joy in all of their achievements.
Their older son took over the management of the farm in
1990 and he commuted from Narrabri every day.
Eventually in January 1996, when Allan was 78 and Shirley
67, they moved off the farm and took up residence at 4
Nandewar Street, Narrabri. Their older son took over the
management responsibility of the farm. Shirley was not
happy to leave the farm she had come to love but she soon
embraced living in Narrabri, catching up with friends,
playing bridge and throwing herself into her volunteer work.
Allan, meanwhile, spent most days helping out on the farm
where he was also away from Shirley’s dietary restrictions
for his cholesterol condition. He could also have a pleasant
afternoon nap.
Allan was 91 when he died on 9 January 2008. He had
prostate cancer and ultimately the treatment was not
successful. In his final months he received much support
and care from staff of the Nandebri Home Nursing operation
based in Narrabri.
Shirley Albert
Shirley later suffered from lymphoma but successfully went
into remission after chemotherapy treatment. She later developed heart issues and it was her
heart that finally failed after a short stay in a nursing home. She died on 4 August 2016 at the
age of 88.

Kenneth John Robson

Kenneth Robson (known as Ken) was 17 when on 1 April 1951 he was appointed a probationary
junior clerk at the NSW Auditor General’s Department, which at the time was attached to the
Premier’s Department.330 Employment in the public service was highly prized. There was
unrivalled opportunity for career advancement, either within a single department or across a
spectrum of departments. Even junior clerks had the potential to advance through the ranks to
the top positions. It helped (or at least it was not a hindrance) that Ken’s father was also in
public service because recruitment practices often favoured generational service. Ken must have
kept himself out of trouble because his probation was lifted at the end of his first year.
Interestingly, a 15 year old girl, Joan Doreen Fisher, was also appointed a probationary junior
clerk in the public service on 1 April 1951, the same day as Ken. She was appointed to the
Department of Lands.331 Her probation was also lifted after a year. Joan’s parents lived at the
small coal mining settlement of Helensburgh where the south coast Illawarra region meets the
southern fringes of Sydney.
Ken started an accountancy course and was soon promoted to clerk. Joan also had her position
upgraded to clerk as she progressed with her career.

330 NSW Government Gazette No 146 – 2 September 1951, page 2599

331 NSW Government Gazette No 129 – 3 August 1951, page 2307

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 A meaningful relationship developed between Ken
and Joan and they were married at the Presbyterian
War Memorial Church at Hurstville on 22 March
1958.332 Ken was 24 and Joan was 21. The
marriage celebrant was George Woodcock. At the
time of their marriage Ken was living with his mother
Myra and step father Harry Murray at Campsie and
Joan was living with her family at Helensburgh.
The couple had waited to get married until after Ken
had gained his accountancy qualification in late
1957. He became a chartered public accountant
and, some years later, a fellow of the Australian
Society of Accountants. His qualification allowed
him to be appointed an Assistant Auditor
(Professional Division) on 1 January 1958.
After their marriage the couple lived at 12
Humberston Avenue at Gymea. This would be their
home for many years and where their four children
first lived. Joan resigned from the Department of
Lands on 17 March 1959 to become a full time
Myra and son Ken with Norma and mother.
Nadene Peek in the middle Through hard work and with the benefit of a happy
and stable home life, Ken steadily progressed
through the ranks of the Auditor General’s Department. He was promoted to Auditor in 1962
but his career rapidly rose after he was appointed a Senior Auditor in 1977 (which was soon
reclassified as a Director of Audit). He became a Chief Auditor in 1979 before being appointed
an Assistant Auditor General in 1980. Promoted to Deputy Auditor General in 1983, he finally
reached the pinnacle of his career when his appointment by the Governor as NSW Auditor
General from 17 July 1985 was formally notified by the then NSW Premier, Neville Wran. 333 He
was only 51.
The primary role of the Auditor General is to hold the NSW
Government accountable for its use of taxpayers’ money by
making regular reports to the NSW Parliament and by
administering the NSW Public Finance and Audit Act. To
be effective, the position must be independent of
government. By the time of Ken’s appointment, there had
been a political shift, led by the Greiner Government, to
demand a higher standard of public service accountability.
The Auditor General was now expected to actively assert
independence by exposing unacceptable practices and
recommending changes.
Inevitably this led to a less than harmonious relationship
with government, particularly with the Premier’s
Department where the critical views of the Auditor General
were not always welcome. The Public Finance and Audit
Act was amended during Ken’s tenure to limit an Auditor
General’s term of appointment to seven years or the age of
Ken in his office as Auditor
65, whichever occurs first. An independent review of the
General

332 NSW BDM Marriage Certificate 9941/1958

333 NSW Government Gazette No 105 – 19 July 1985, page 3615

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Auditor General’s operations was also required every three years. I doubt these changes were
brought in as a result of any conduct by Ken. Although he became one of the earlier Auditor
General’s to criticise the government whenever he found fault, he still enjoyed a good relationship
with the Premier’s Department and the NSW Treasury and he was well respected by both sides
of Parliament.
Ken introduced many worthwhile changes to auditing practices in the
State. NSW was the first State to adopt accrual accounting, which
was far more effective than cash accounting. He conducted various
audits on highly politicised expenditure such as the appeal for
donations for victims of the 1989 Newcastle earthquake and the 1992
review of the Legal Aid Commission.
Ken’s appointment expired in 1992 when he was 58, after completing
seven years in office. However, he had not finished with public life.
He was soon appointed a trustee of the Sydney Cricket and Sports
Ground Trust for a four year term (a position of high reward and
keenly sought). His known impartiality and integrity kept him in high
demand for many high profile audit and oversight roles. In 1999 he
Joan Robson
was appointed the NSW Parliamentary Ethics Adviser after a new code
of practice for parliamentarians had been introduced. Unfortunately, Ken resigned from that
position soon after due to ill health.
Ken was made a member of the general division of the Order of Australia (AM) in the Australia
Day honours in 1993 “for public service, particularly as Auditor General of NSW.”334 He was also
awarded the NSW Long Service Medallion in 1994.
Ken and Joan moved house a number of times. They later lived at Sylvania before moving to a
number of residences in Miranda and Yowie Bay.
Ken was 73 when he passed away on Christmas Eve 2007 at Sutherland Hospital, Caringbah.
His funeral service was held at Woronora Crematorium. Joan now lives in a retirement village
and has the support of a large family of children and grandchildren.

Barry Goodwin, Ian O’Connor, Nadene Goodwin, Joan and Ken Robson,
Shirley Albert and Bruce Hely – photo by Ray Hely

334 The Sydney Morning Herald 27 January 1993, page 47

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 George Nelson Rees

First Married 1934 Gwendolyn C M Thuell

Children:

Robert George Rees b 1939

Married 1959 Marjorie May Hosking

Children:

Georgina Patricia Rees b 1960

Young George grew up at Ashfield with his many older sisters. He was only 12 when his father
died in 1920. He then watched as, one by one, his sisters married and left home until he was
living with just his mother Janet and eldest sister Hilda who continued to stay at home to look
after Janet. George would spend his first 32 years living at the family home in Wallace Street.
After leaving school, he found work as a clerk for an insurance
company, which provided him with a modest but steady income,
sufficient at least to help support a wife. His work took him to
Adelaide for a time in the early 1930s. He was 27 when he married
25 year old Gwendolyn Constance Minnie Thuell at St Matthews
Anglican Church at Manly on 15 September 1934.335 The service
was performed by the church rector, the Reverend Arthur Ebbs, who
had previously worked among aborigines on the Roper River in
northern Australia before serving as the vicar at Lismore.
Gwen had grown up on a farm at Duri, a small settlement on the
outskirts of Tamworth. She was the youngest of nine children, all
daughters. Her father Nicholas later moved the family to New
Lambton near Newcastle where he worked as a produce merchant.
Gwen completed her schooling by doing a two year Domestic Science
George Nelson Rees course with an extra year to learn business skills. In her final year
in 1925 she passed each of the subjects (English, arithmetic,
shorthand and typing) and gained an A grade pass in business principles and book keeping.336
Many of her sisters had left Newcastle and settled in the Manly area on Sydney’s northern
beaches. After finishing her education, Gwen also made the trek to Sydney where she found
work as a typist.
After her marriage, Gwen lived with George, Janet and Hilda at Wallace Street where they would
live under the one roof for the next five years until Gwen became pregnant. She was six months
pregnant when Janet Rees passed away in August 1939.

335 NSW BDM Marriage Certificate 19696/1934

336 Newcastle Morning Herald & Miners’ Advocate 29 January 1926, page 8

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George and Gwen had left Ashfield not long before the baby was born and a month before the
sale of the Ashfield house. They settled at a semi-detached house at 6 Northcote Avenue,
Balgowlah (later becoming part of the suburb of Fairlight). Gwen’s sister Lorna and her husband,
Len Hawksford, were living next door at 4 Northcote Avenue. Lorna and Gwen were the youngest
of the Thuell sisters and the opportunity to live next door to Lorna
seemed too good to be missed. Len Hawksford was a First World
War veteran who worked as a motor mechanic at the Sargent’s pie
factory at Darlinghurst.
Gwen’s baby, a son named Robert George Rees, was born on 28
November 1939.
Gwen developed some serious abdominal problems, possibly related
back to the birth of her child. These problems required several
major operations. She would have no more children. One of the
operations, which likely included a hysterectomy, was performed by
the local doctor. This and other operations caused many adhesions
and blockages which then required further treatment, including an
operation at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital at Camperdown where she
was laid up for three weeks. Gwen worried about her continuing
health and how they were going to pay for all of the medical bills.
George suffered from frequent headaches. His main treatment was George at School
a Bex powder which contained 420mg of aspirin, 420mg of
phenacetin and 160mg of caffeine. Phenacetin was later banned after it was found to be highly
addictive, a cause of kidney disease and a carcinogen. The long time advertising slogan for Bex
was “Have a cup of tea, a Bex and a good lie down.” Although it was recommended that you have
no more than three powders a day, George would sometimes consume more than the
recommended number over the course of the day.
Gwen devoted herself to her family life, in particular, to the raising of her son. She had been a
young adult during the Great Depression and had seen the hard
times that ordinary people had suffered. She wanted Robert to
have the best education possible and she worried how this could
be achieved. She also witnessed the distress of friends who
suffered loss during the Second World War and she worried over
her son being involved with the armed forces.
The same local doctor who operated on Gwen shared facilities with
a dentist. Young Robert had his tonsils taken out while having the
novel experience of sitting in the dentist’s chair.
By 1946 George had changed jobs. He was now working as a
Commonwealth public servant for the Post Master General’s
Department (PMG), initially as a linesman. He may have found the
job with the help of his brother in law, Joe Hely, who also worked
for the PMG. George spent a lot of time away from home as his
George the young man work took him all over NSW.
His work once took him to the small settlement of Lawrence on the
Clarence River downstream from Grafton where he worked on the local radio transmitter. He
took Gwen and Robert with him and they stayed with George’s sister Myra at South Grafton.
Myra’s husband Tommy, who was now a train sleeping car attendant, was away on work. Robert
rode around the area on an old bike that Tommy used to ride. When the family was returning
to Sydney by train, Myra insisted that Robert take the bike with him.
In April 1949, George and a colleague had been sent to work on lines at the airport at Broken
Hill. George was returning to town in the PMG truck when he was involved in a minor road

186
accident for which he was charged with negligent driving. Although the case was almost
insignificant, it was the major story from the police court reported on that day. 337 A motorcyclist
had made a left hand turn and collided with the PMG truck driven by George. The rider said
that after he made the turn, the truck hit him from behind and knocked him over. He was
superficially injured and the motorcycle suffered some minor damage.
George and his colleague both claimed they never saw the
rider. After they passed the intersection they felt a bump
behind them and when they stopped to have a look, they
assumed that the rider had ridden into the back of the truck.
Faced with conflicting evidence, the magistrate decided to
believe the rider, who was a local man. George was found
guilty and fined £5 plus £2/12/- costs. George had to make
the trip back to Broken Hill for the court appearance at his
own cost.
By 1949 George had been promoted to postal officer, fourth
division at the PMG and was working as a radio technician
on the transmitter at Liverpool for the Sydney radio stations
2BL and 2FC, which by then were government owned (and
are today known as 702 ABC and Radio National). 338
Later that year, Gwen won a contest that at least recouped
part of the fine. The Sunday Sun newspaper had been
running a competition for many years under the title “Give-
George and his grandmother it-a-Name.” Readers were asked to make up a caption for a
Janet cartoon. First prize was £1,500 with hundreds of lesser
amounts given away. Gwen paid her 6d entry fee and her caption for the cartoon below was
“He’ll get time in time for taking time.” Gwen’s entry did not win first prize but it did win one of
30 daily prizes of £2. As first prize went to the caption “To Central Station, via Underground”,
Gwen’s entry must have at least been in with a good chance. 339
Gwen suffered the loss of her sister, Lorna,
who died in the house next door on 3
September 1951 at the age of 47, leaving
behind her husband Len and their 20 year old
daughter Janette. Lorna had been suffering
from Bright’s disease for some time. This was
the same kidney disease that George’s
grandfather, the immigrant George Rees, had
died from in 1883. Lorna eventually
succumbed to the complications of pleurisy
and pneumonia.
By September 1957, Gwen’s health had
worsened. She was due to have yet another
operation that gave her more to worry about.
Sunday Sun cartoon
Her suicide at home on 26 September 1957 at
the age of 48 was both sudden and unexpected. 340 The severity of her depression had not been
recognised.

337 Barrier Miner 11 July 1946, page 8 and Barrier Daily Truth 12 July 1946, page 5
338 Commonwealth Government Gazette No 22 – 24 March 1949, page 772
339 The Sun 16 August 1949, page 6 and 28 August 1949, page 11
340 NSW BDM Death Certificate 29439/1957

187
Only a day or two before, Gwen had been happy, ordering
clothes to be made and making other arrangements for the
following week. Her sister in law, Myra, later said that the
turning point was when, on the morning of her death, Gwen
received a form card (not in an envelope) from the
Commonwealth Government confirming that her son Robert
had been registered for national service in the armed forces.
Robert was soon to turn 18 and all 18 year old boys needed to
be registered for national service. There was no Australian
involvement in a war at the time. As it turned out, about 50%
of boys registered that year were not taken on. Robert had a
deferment because of studies but he later did his national
service before joining the Sydney University regiment when he
was undertaking his University course (he had earlier joined the
Air Cadets when he was in high school).
An inquest was held on 7 November 1957. It found that Gwen
had died from blood loss caused by self-inflicted wounds while
in a state of mental depression. Her burial took place at Gwen, George and Robert
French’s Forest Anglican Cemetery.
George and Robert functioned as best they could while still living at Northcote Avenue. Sisters
from the Thuell family gathered around to lend support. Myra was also on hand to help out.
The second eldest of the Thuell sisters, 70 year old Ida, came to live with George and Robert, to
look after the house and help with the domestic duties. Ida was the classic maiden aunt. She
had spent much of her life looking after various family members, including her mother for 10
years until her mother’s death in 1953.
Then in 1956, following the death of her sister Florence, Ida became housekeeper to Flo’s
husband, Will Lord, (or Will Cranston, using his step father’s name). Will had married the eldest
of the Thuell sisters, Ethel, in 1909 but
after Ethel died in childbirth in 1916, he
married Flo two years later. Will was a
clever man who registered seven patents
for inventions between 1911 and 1948,
including patents for the modern bean
peeler and a hand rotary churn/mixer. He
had premises in Kent Street in the city
where relatives, including Robert, helped
out with packaging and despatch of his
products to shops.
But the needs of young Robert and George
were greater and Ida now turned her
attention to them. George’s brother in law,
Len Hawksford, was a large and likeable
man who helped do the mechanical work
The Thuell family – Gwen on her mother’s lap
on young Robert’s first motor vehicle.
George, on the other hand, rarely had a motor vehicle and usually travelled by public transport
if he could not get a lift.
Time passed and George met a much younger woman named Marjorie May Hosking who had a
young son Ronald (known as Ron), named after his father. Ron was born in 1946 but his parents
separated within the next three years. Marjorie and her son then lived in a flat at Erskineville

188
with her parents. Marjorie, whose maiden name was Clingan, was 37 when she married 51 year
old George on 19 June 1959 at the district registry office at Mosman.341

L to R – Thuell sisters at back, in front - Joyce Hely, Gwen and Dolly

Forrester, Janet Rees, Thuell child, Shirley and Ken Robson, Hilda Rees, Ray
Hely, Myra Robson, Gwen Rees, Elsie Hely, Nadene and Norma Peek –
photo taken by George N Rees probably at Manly
Marjorie and Ron moved in with George and Robert at Northcote Avenue. George’s sister in law
Ida had by now moved out. Marjorie gave birth to a daughter, Georgina (known as Gina) on 29
February 1960 (who wins a prize for being the only known person in all of my families born on
the leap day and thus properly celebrating a birthday only every four years).
An opportunity came up for George and Marjorie to buy a house at Manly Vale. George resigned
from the PMG to cash in his entitlements and then found employment as a quality control
inspector. About the same time, he likely received an inheritance from the estate of his sister,
Hilda Sykes.
In the mid-1960s, George and Marjorie and the two younger children moved house, first to 22
Tango Avenue, Dee Why and later to 41 Pittwater Road, Manly. Marjorie had been managing a
coin operated laundry business, possibly across the road from where they were living in Pittwater
Road (a laundry business is still there today).
However, money became a problem for George and Marjorie. It may be they borrowed too much
money for the real estate at Dee Why or they may have overextended their personal debts. In
any event, creditors took action against both of them and they were declared bankrupt on 15
May 1969.342 They were living at 1 Marshall Street, Manly until their bankruptcies were wound
up five years later. A first and final dividend of their estates was made in 1974. 343
By this time George and Marjorie had relocated to the Gold Coast in Queensland where Marjorie
ran another coin operated laundry. After arriving, they lived in a little house at Buds Beach near
Surfers Paradise. The 1974 floods delivered five feet of water through the house by way of

341 NSW BDM Marriage Certificate 12347/1959

342 The Sydney Morning Herald 25 May 1969, page 109
343 Australian Government Gazette No 34 – 23 April 1974, page 51

189
welcome to the Gold Coast. Looking for higher ground, they moved to a flat at 3310a Gold Coast
Highway, Surfers Paradise but George soon became ill. He was found to have a cancerous mass
extending from his bowel to his bladder. He was 69 when he died at the Princess Alexandra
Hospital at Woolloongabba in Brisbane on 26 April 1977. 344 He was cremated at the nearby
Mount Thompson Crematorium at Holland Park.
Marjorie soon married again, to a retired aircraft engineer, Vivian Albert Powell (known as Viv).
Viv had served in the RAAF during most of the Second World War where he became a trained
aircraft mechanic and fitter. After the war,
he became an inaugural employee with
Trans Australia Airlines (TAA) set up by the
Commonwealth Government in 1946 (the
airline merged with Qantas in 1992). Viv
later taught aircraft engineering at Boeing’s
Brisbane facility.
Viv was managing an apartment block on
the Gold Coast (many of the early apartment
buildings were owned by the airlines so they
could create holiday packages). Here he met
Marjorie who did some cleaning work at the
building. They would be married for 25
years and Viv, in the absence of George,
Marjorie and George at their wedding
would become a devoted and kind
grandfather to Marjorie’s grandchildren who adored him.
Viv bought a steel boat hull and did his own fitout work to turn the hull into a comfortable and
serviceable boat. Viv and Marjorie then travelled up and down the Queensland coast having
many adventures (including a near run in with an oil tanker). Viv had to be careful as Marjorie
had never learned to swim.
They later lived in a little house at Burpengary, a community to the north of Brisbane, just south
of Caboolture. They flew to the USA where they bought a motor home and for the next 12 months
they travelled around parts of the USA and Canada. The experience was so enjoyable they soon
went back and did it again, this time buying a car and caravan.
After Viv died in 2004, Marjorie joined forces with her daughter Gina. Together they built a new
house that incorporated disability elements to accommodate an ailing Marjorie who had multiple
health issues. In 2006 Marjorie was having one of her occasional stays in hospital when she fell
while trying to get out of bed. Her subsequent injuries required surgery but this was not
particularly successful. She was kept in extended care at the hospital for 12 months before she
was released to a nursing home. Within four months she had complications from an infection
and died on 4 April 2007 at the age of 85.

Robert George Rees

Robert graduated from Sydney University with a degree in Agricultural Science following the
completion of his course in 1961. He soon left home and moved to Brisbane to work as a
mycologist (a specialist in fungi) at the fledgling Queensland Institute for Medical Research
(QIMR). The QIMR was then housed in a large ex Second World War US Army fibro asbestos hut
inside the Victoria Park Golf Course, opposite the University of Queensland Medical School. It
had a staff of about 35. QIMR today has a staff of over 700 and is housed in a high rise tower

344 Qld BDM Death Certificate 77357/1977

190
adjacent to the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital. Robert supplemented his work by joining
the Army Medical Corps, working part time for a tax free income.

Robert and Lynne George, Lynne and Robert Rees

Robert spent time as a boarder at 4 Mars Street, Wilston, an inner suburb of Brisbane. He later
moved to nearby 55 Stoneleigh Street, Albion.
Before moving to Queensland, Robert had met a lovely girl at a youth group at St Matthews
Anglican Church at Manly. Her name was Lynne Spooner and she lived about a mile or so away
from Robert. Work commitments separated them with Robert in Queensland and Lynne working
in the Albury-Wodonga area as a pre-school teacher. Yet they managed to continue their
courtship.
They were married on 28 December 1963 at the church where they had met. 345 Robert was 24
but because Lynne was 20, she needed the consent of her parents to marry.
They rented a flat in Ashgrove Avenue, Ashgrove, about 2km from where Robert was working.
From Ashgrove they moved into their new home at 13 Chaplin Street, Stafford Heights, to the
north of Ashgrove. In 1966 Robert wrote a thesis on “Brisbane Air Spora” for his degree as a
Master of Agricultural Science at the University of Queensland.
The following year Robert and Lynne moved to Toowoomba where
Robert took up a position as a plant pathologist at the Queensland
Wheat Research Institute (QWRI). They lived at 4 Marcia Street,
Rangeville, a south eastern suburb of Toowoomba. The first of
their two children, a daughter Carolyn, was born in 1967 making
that year an eventful one. Another daughter, Alison was born in
1970.
Robert wrote another thesis “Wheat Rust Epidemiology” in 1976
for his PhD from the University of Queensland (but being modest
by nature, you will not hear him use the honourific of “Dr”, to
which he is entitled).
By the time of his father’s death in 1977, the family had moved to
their dream home at 11 Dorge Street, Middle Ridge, a suburb of
George Rees with Robert mostly larger allotments on the southern fringe of Toowoomba
and his daughters with occasional views over the valleys to the east.

345 NSW BDM Marriage Certificate 777/1964

191
Robert remained at QWRI until his retirement in 1996. He spent
the bulk of his career researching and writing papers on diseases
of wheat, barley and oats and their control. He also assisted in
developing disease resistant varieties.
Robert received an Advance Australia Award which was made by
the Advance Australia Foundation to recognise the “outstanding
contribution” made by him in his work. Other recipients of the
award have included Fred Hollows, Victor Chang, Alan Jones, John
Williamson and the Little River Band.
Lynne developed a long-term disabling illness which required
Robert and Lynne to move to a more accessible house at 5
Turnberry Court, Middle Ridge in 2004. Robert was devoted to
Lynne’s care over the many years she suffered from the disability.
Lynne eventually passed away on 13 October 2015. Robert is now Lynne Rees
adjusting to the next phase of his life with a move to the Sunshine
Coast to be closer to his family.

Georgina Patricia Rees

George Rees may have been swayed by his first wife Gwen’s belief in giving children the best
education possible or it may have been that his second wife Marjorie also knew the value of a
good education coupled with religious faith. In any event, despite frequent money problems,
George and Marjorie ensured that all of Gina’s education was
at top quality private Catholic schools. Gina first went to
primary school at Sacred Heart, Mosman before attending St
Patrick’s School at Church Hill in the city.
Marjorie’s son (and Gina’s half-brother) Ron had married in the
early 1970s. Ron was asthmatic and was told to move to a
warmer climate for his health. His relocation to the Gold Coast
in the south east of Queensland was one of the reasons
Marjorie and George decided in the early 1970s to move to the
Gold Coast as well.
Marjorie had sold off all of the furniture but as she and George
were still in their bankruptcy period, they had no possessions
of any great value. They travelled from Sydney to the Gold
Coast by Greyhound bus. Marjorie had managed to fit all their
worldly possessions into suitcases and various sized boxes
which took up most of the storage area along the base of the George with Gina
bus. They were dropped off at the Greyhound depot at the end
of Cavill Street in the heart of Surfers Paradise and there George, Marjorie and 12 year old Gina,
surrounded by boxes and luggage, waited on the footpath for Ron to pick them up.
Gina was soon enrolled at the Star of the Sea Convent School at Southport (only demolished in
October 2016). Her father died in 1977 when Gina was 16. One day not long after, a distraught
Marjorie arrived at the school having receiving a bill from the ambulance service for some
thousands of dollars for transporting George to hospital from the Gold Coast to Brisbane.
Marjorie had turned up to take Gina out of the school because she could no longer afford the
fees. She was consoled by a senior nun who later told Marjorie that all school fees would be
waived. In a bonus for Marjorie, Ron later wrote to the ambulance service who agreed in the
circumstances to withdraw the bill.

192
After leaving school, Gina enrolled for a secretarial course at the Gold Coast TAFE (Technical
and Further Education) which was the first course held at the newly built facility in Ridgeway
Avenue (many in the original class still regularly catch up after almost 40 years). After
qualification, Gina’s first job was with an accountant. It was not a happy experience and it was
at this time that her father died.
Finding it hard to settle down, 18 year old Gina applied for an apprenticeship with a hairdressing
salon, Stefan Hair Fashions. She was one of 50 applicants for two positions. It helped that she
was older and with some business experience, including some shift work at the first McDonalds
restaurant to open at Surfers Paradise. Stefan thought highly of the work ethic and business
culture introduced by McDonalds and this was the edge that gave Gina the job.
She married Udo Grebe in 1983 and later moved to Melbourne where Udo worked for his father
who ran a family bakery and pastry shop in Melbourne. Gina took up a hairdressing job with
Myer. Two children were born in 1985 and 1987. The family then moved to Queensland’s
Sunshine Coast where they bought land and built a house at the Glass House Mountains. Their
third child was born in 1991.
Udo worked at the newly built Pick ‘n Pay supermarket at Aspley (now part of the Aspley
Hypermarket) where he ran the bakery section. In 1992, they bought the bakery at Beerwah.
Working hard every day of the year and being the only bakery in town made the business very
successful. They later moved to a larger home at Rocksberg, west of Caboolture where they were
closer to the children’s private school. Gina spent her days looking after her family and running
around after very active children who were involved in many activities including soccer, netball
and dancing.
The marriage, however, came to an end in 2003 when Gina and Udo divorced. Gina’s step father,
Viv Powell, passed away the following year and Gina and her children met up with Gina’s mother
Marjorie to build a new house at North Lakes. After Marjorie died in 2007 Gina worked for the
Red Cross Blood Service on the donor van.
One of Gina’s oldest friends, Libby, who was in that first TAFE class, had a brother named Steve
Wright. Gina had met him all those years ago through Libby. She later met Steve’s wife
occasionally through connections with their children.
In 2006 Gina mentioned to Libby that she was tired of going to weddings and other functions on
her own. Libby said that her brother was now also on his own
and she would talk to him. Steve rang Gina that night and they
soon caught up for dinner. Gina and Steve were married on 9
November 2008. Steve had three children of a similar age to
Gina and they became a classic Brady Bunch family.
Gina and Steve purchased their own Building Management
Rights business on the Sunshine Coast where they lived for two
years until they sold up. They took on similar management
rights at South Brisbane for three years. They now manage at
least 160 apartments across five buildings at the premium
residential community at Yungaba on the Brisbane River at
Kangaroo Point. The complex includes extensive heritage listed
gardens and the iconic Yungaba House, built as an immigration
centre in 1887. They are kept very busy.
Having covered the family of George TJ Rees in some length, it
Steve & Gina Wright
is time to return to his younger sisters and brothers to continue
the stories of the Rees children.

193
 Malvina Olivia Rees

Married 1899 William John Charles Rhind

Children:

Howard W A Rhind b 1900 d 1959 58 years

John Charles Rhind b 1903 d 1990 87 years

Douglas Arthur Rhind b 1909 d 1947 38 years

I take you back to continue the story of the further children of George and Kezia Rees. Malvina
was the fifth of their children and the third to be born in Beechworth, this time in 1869. Malvina
(or Vina as she was known to everyone) had left Sydney and moved to Ipswich in Queensland,
probably to be with her older and very dear sister, Louisa.
Malvina was 29 when she married 30 year old Englishman William John Charles Rhind on 27
March 1899 at Bayview, an elegant colonial house in Brisbane on Wickham Terrace. The
ceremony was performed by a Presbyterian minister, the Reverend MacQueen. 346 William’s
residential address on the marriage certificate was SS Eurimbla, care of the Australian United
Steam Navigation Company of Brisbane. The 1,055 ton SS Eurimbla was built in 1884 and was
engaged in trade and passenger business along the east coast of Australia. At the time of his
marriage, William was working on the ship as chief steward. The two official witnesses to the
marriage were both crewmen on the ship – William Craig, who was the second engineer (needless
to say he was a Scot) and fellow
Englishman, Henry Gasson, who was
the second officer.
William had been working full time as a
steward since the late 1880s and
continued to serve on ships sailing
around the Australian coast after his
marriage. This meant that he was away
from home for weeks at a time. In
between those trips he managed to see
enough of Vina to initiate the birth of the
first of their three children who would all
be sons. The baby was named Howard
William Alexander Rhind and he was
born in 1900. Vina had by now
relocated back to Sydney and was living in the Leichhardt area, presumably staying with other
members of her family as the birth got closer. 347
Between other trips William managed to set Vina up in her own shop at 15 Willoughby Road,
Crow’s Nest which was one of the older northern suburbs of Sydney. The road was on the direct
tram route from McMahons Point. At the time, Crow’s Nest was a growing village on the outskirts

346 Qld BDM Marriage Certificate B19859/1899

347 NSW BDM Birth Certificate 32499/1900

194
of North Sydney. Beyond Crow’s Nest, the countryside was either rural or native bushland.
Willoughby Road was still mostly a dirt road as it headed north. In December 1901 William
successfully applied for a wine licence for the shop. The fee for the licence was calculated on the
assessed rental of the shop, which in this case was £57 a year (William would successfully apply
for new licences in later years).348 At the time of the application William had only just returned
to Sydney from Port Pirie in South Australia on board the SS Alala, so he had little time in which
to do all the necessary paperwork.
The business, which also sold alcoholic
and non-alcoholic cordials and
confectionary, became known as Rhind’s.
It wasn’t long before Vina ran into trouble
with the law. She would have been
ignorant of much of the myriad of red
tape that existed at the time but she
should have known that trading on the
Sabbath (Sunday) was an offence taken
very seriously by the authorities. She
was prosecuted at North Sydney Court
for being the keeper of a refreshment
shop who opened the premises for
business on a Sunday. It turned out that
she had sold “a few lollies” to a lady. For
this wickedness she was fined 5/- plus
costs.349
The following year Vina was back in court
but this time her appearance was as the
Back – Most likely Kezia Louisa Rees (Frost) and
victim of a fraud from a man, Henry
Adelina Marion Rees (Gosnell) – Front George
White, who presented himself as a
Dicks Frost and wife Mary c 1910
representative of one of the major
– Marion Smith Collection
breweries. He showed Vina a large
mirror with the name of the brewery engraved on it and said that the brewery, which was one of
the shop’s suppliers, insisted the mirror be hung in the shop. He said there was an opportunity
for the shop’s name to also be engraved and he was able to get Vina to pay him 2s 6d. He had
already pulled the same scam on a number of other businesses in Sydney. The accused was
found guilty by a jury and sentenced to six months’ imprisonment. 350
William may have completed his last trip as a steward in February 1903 on board the SS Albany
sailing to Sydney from Ocean Island in the Gilbert Islands (now Benaba Island in Kiribati). From
about this time he joined Vina working in the shop and was later shown on Electoral Rolls as a
confectioner. It was later in 1903 that second son John Charles Rhind was born. 351 It would be
another six years before the third son, Douglas Arthur Rhind, was born when William and Vina
were both 40.352
For over 20 years Rhind’s became a well-known establishment on Sydney’s Lower North Shore.
They frequently advertised for cooks, waitresses and “generals”, as assistants providing general
services were known. The business provided a good and steady income during the difficult years
of the First World War. Luckily for the family, the three sons were never old enough to serve in
the war. When the war was finally over, the middle son John was the first to find a bride. He

348 Evening News 18 December 1901, page 1

349 Evening News 11 February 1902, page 3 but reported with the name Nalvina Rhind
350 Evening News 20 January 1903, page 2 but reported with the name Malveena Rhind
351 NSW BDM Birth Certificate 25088/1903
352 NSW BDM Birth Certificate 18841/1909

195
was only 18 when he married Gladys Sanderson at Marrickville in 1921. 353 John, who had been
given the same name as William’s father, was sometimes known as Jack but he was mostly
known as Bill (by which name he is known from here on). He and Gladys would have at least
two daughters Pat (Patricia) and Joy (Joyance).
By 1920 William had expanded the business to include catering, utilising the kitchens that
serviced the shop. Young Bill, who was still living at home, advertised his availability for work
as a driver with his own lorry.354 By 1922 William and Vina had sold the shop at Crow’s Nest to
a Mrs Lynch, to allow William to focus on the catering business. 355 They were probably by now
living only a few doors away at 19 Willoughby Road with Bill and Howard.
Bill Rhind brought a personal injuries claim for £400 following a motor vehicle accident in 1922.
Bill was injured when he was knocked off a motor cycle by a car which had crossed around a
tram in Cleveland Street near Moore Park. His injuries included a “Pott’s fracture”, a type of
broken ankle, that left him off work for a considerable time. Unfortunately for Bill, the claim
based on negligence of the car driver, was dismissed by the jury.356
In 1925 Vina began to suffer badly from a build-up of stones in the gall bladder. The
inflammation became so severe that the stones broke through into the bowel causing a blockage
that eventually cut off circulation which in turn led to gangrene. Vina was only 55 when she
died on 21 May 1925 at Royal North Shore Hospital after enduring days of agony. 357 As no Will
had been made, it was left to William to apply for administration of Vina’s estate. 358
Over the next few years, various In Memoriam tributes were placed in The Sydney Morning Herald
on the anniversary of Vina’s death by Howard, Bill, Gladys, Douglas and the two granddaughters,
including a tribute in 1928 that said “Too dearly loved ever to be forgotten.”359
William may have been overwhelmed by his wife’s untimely death because he passed away
suddenly only six months later on 28 December 1925 at the home of his wife’s younger brother,
Herbert Rees, in Hyde Park Road, Lidcombe.360 He was 55, the same age as Vina. As with his
wife, William never managed to sign a Will before he died so it was left to his son Bill to administer
his estate, which was valued at £615. A bond of £200 was also given as surety for payment to
George Henry O’Connor, a cordial manufacturer of Erskineville Road, Newtown.
In 1926 the older son Howard married Lily Thompson at Waverley. 361 The marriage may have
started with good intentions but it was not a success. Less than two years later Howard had
deserted Lily and she took him to court where she succeeded in obtaining an order for Howard
to return to her within 21 days “for restitution of conjugal rights.”362
This order may have had little effect because by 1933 the marriage was well and truly over, with
the details once again making the news. By now, Howard was probably living with another
woman but there was no suggestion in the ensuing divorce proceedings of any infidelity. Instead,
Lily obtained a preliminary divorce in 1933 and an absolute divorce in 1934 as a result of
Howard’s non-compliance with a restitution order.363 There is always the chance that these
circumstances were manipulated by the couple to conjure a divorce by two unhappy people at a

353 NSW BDM Marriage Certificate 11388/1921

354 The Sydney Morning Herald 23 June 1920, page 19
355 The Sydney Morning Herald 25 October 1922, page 9
356 The Sydney Morning Herald 5 December 1924, page 7
357 NSW BDM Death Certificate 5568/1925
358 The Sydney Morning Herald 29 July 1925, page 3
359 The Sydney Morning Herald 21 May 1928, page 8
360 NSW BDM Death Certificate 475/1926 and The Sydney Morning Herald 29 December 1925,

page 8
361 NSW BDM Marriage Certificate 8508/1926
362 The Sydney Morning Herald 10 September 1928, page 6
363 The Sydney Morning Herald 24 February 1933, page 6 and 7 March 1934, page 9

196
time when the grounds were usually limited to desertion, cruelty or adultery. Howard wasted
little time in getting re-married. The year after the divorce he married Edith Smith. 364 Howard
worked for a time with John McGrath Motors at Glenmore Road, Paddington. 365 For most of the
1950s he was living at Bexley North until his early death at Chatswood in 1959 at the age of
59.366 Edith survived him by another 23 years.
The youngest of the three sons, Douglas Rhind, was 24 when he married Olive Cotterell at
Rockdale in 1933.367 They lived at Brighton-
le-Sands and Bondi during the 1930s. Doug
was almost 32 when he enlisted in the 2nd AIF
on 12 January 1943 during the Second
World War. Sadly, his wife Olive died the
following year while living at Newtown. 368
Doug reached the rank of Lieutenant by the
time of his discharge on 22 August 1947, well
after the war finished. However, his return
to Australia was brief because he died
suddenly less than a month later on 16
September 1947 at Chiltern in Victoria,
where his grandfather George Rees had
worked as a gold miner 75 years earlier.
Doug was only 38 years old.369 A post
mortem revealed he had died from a stroke
caused by a ruptured brain aneurysm. As
there was no suggestion of violence, an
inquest was not held. His body was returned
to Sydney for burial at the Northern Suburbs
cemetery.
His older brother Bill had also enlisted in the
2nd AIF on 15 July 1942 when he was 39, six
months before Doug enlisted. He also rose to
the rank of Lieutenant by the time of his
Most likely Adelina (with Herbert Gosnell), discharge on 30 Mar 1945. Bill died on 26
Mary (with George Dicks Frost and son December 1990 at the age of 87, outliving by
George Ingram Frost) and Malvina (with far all of his other family members. His wife
William Rhind) c 1915 Gladys lived until she was 95 before passing
– Marion Smith Collection on at Manly in 1999.

364 NSW BDM Marriage Certificate 14380/1935

365 The Sydney Morning Herald 27 February 1954, page 48
366 NSW BDM Death Certificate 10723/1959
367 NSW BDM Marriage Certificate 10116/1933
368 NSW BDM Death Certificate 26328/1944
369 Vic BDM Death Certificate 20196/1947

197
 Alice Victoria Josephine Rees

Married 1895 William Gillies

Children:

William Keith Gillies b 1896 d 1917 20 years

Alma Evelyn Gillies b 1899 d nk

Gladys Victoria Gillies b 1901 d 1992 91 years

Jean Gwendoline Gillies b 1903 d 1903 0 years

Iris May Gillies b 1905 d nk

Alice Rees was 11 when her father George died in 1883. She was 23 when she married William
Gillies at the Holy Trinity Church at Lower Fort Street, Millers Point in Sydney in 1895. 370
William was 31 and belonged to a family of graziers from Maitland. He worked in Sydney for the
Customs office (also known as Her Majesty’s Customs). The wedding ceremony was performed
by the Anglican minister the Reverend Reginald Noakes. Alice’s older sister Malvina was one of
the official witnesses.
The marriage did not get off to a good start as shown by later
events but between 1896 and 1905 Alice and William managed
to have five children. Young Jean, born in 1903, did not survive
long past birth and died later that year when the family were
living at Mowbray Road, Chatswood. 371
William continued working for the Customs office after 1901
when it was taken over as one of seven new Commonwealth
departments set up by the new Federal Government.
William kept Alice on a very tight budget and this led to many
incidents that spilled out into the public domain. They
sensationally made the news when their domestic affairs were
highlighted in the Sydney newspaper, the Truth. This paper was
founded in 1890 and published until it was replaced by the
Sunday Mirror in 1958. It was a Sunday scandal sheet,
notorious for its salacious coverage of the divorce courts,
prominent infidelities and unabashed racism. Of course the
paper was hugely successful. The paper ran the following story A comfortable Alice Rees
(and accompanying sketches) on 5 November 1911 (page 6): – Marion Smith Collection

NSW BDM Marriage Certificate 6311/1895

370
371The Sydney Morning Herald 8 October 1903, page 10. NSW BDM Death Certificate
15649/1903

198
 “GALLANT GILLIES

CUSTOMS OFFICER IN COURT

Spouse Wants Spondulix (Spondulix is

slang for a reasonable amount of spending money)

And Gets the Housekeeper’s Allowance

A tall, soft spoken woman, named Alice Gillies, arrayed in sombre hues,
unfolded to Mr Payten, SM at the Water Summons Court on Friday last, a tale
of the tertium quid (tertium quid, as used here, most likely meant a third
kind of drama somewhere between comedy and tragedy) when suing her
husband, a Customs officer in charge of the Japanese wharf, named William
Gillies, for support. Mr E R Abigail appeared for the wife, and Mr Shipway for
Gillies.

Complainant stated she left her husband on account of his cruelty, but their
four children, whose ages were 14, 12, 10 and 6, were maintained by him,
as well as a woman housekeeper, to whom he paid 15/- a week. His pay
was £20 a month and overtime, making it £6 a week. He had offered her £1
a week through a solicitor, but now in the court 15/- was the utmost he would
spring.

However, that small amount was too insufficient for her needs, as shortly she
would be compelled to enter a hospital, in which the fee would be a guinea
each week. She heard that her husband had sold some property at Long Bay,
but she had seen none of the money.

William Gillies, a grey-headed fellow, adorned with a buttonhole and specs,

pulled a very poor mouth of the financial troubles he had to put up with. He
had to pay his housekeeper 15/- a week and keep, and his little girl [Iris] was
in need of delicacies and a change in the country, as shown by two medical
certificates he produced.

In answer to Mr Abigail, Gillies admitted that he had been to Goulburn for a

week, and while there had stayed at his housekeeper’s mother’s house.
While he lived with his wife and family at Long Bay they occupied a three-
roomed canvas tent.

He would get only about £150 out of the sale of this property, and that not
before the three years were up. During the 15 years of his married life, he
had been always heavily in debt, through the constant strain his wife had put
on him.

Mr Abigail: Haven’t you been drinking for the last ten years? – I was never
drunk in my life.

You talk about your wife. Why, hasn’t she prosecuted you several times? –
Yes, and I was fined once, but innocently.

You allow your housekeeper 15/- a week and keep, and think your wife
should live on 15/- only. You have done with your wife, eh? – Well, when she
has run away so many times.

199
Weren’t you drunk every night while you lived at Long Bay? – No.

Mr Shipway: He is in charge of the Japanese wharf, and is it likely that the

Government would employ a drunken servant? (Sickly smiles from those who
could answer, but wouldn’t.)

Mr Abigail: No, he was sober in the day and drunk at night. (Laughter.)

Gillies: I have never taken drink home.

Mr Abigail: Not in a bottle, but in your interior.

Gillies: It is my wife who is the habitual drunkard. She came home drunk six
years after our marriage, and has never been properly sober since.

Alice: It’s false, how dare you say that?

A letter from the husband’s solicitor was put in, in which they called the wife’s
attention to the fact that by consent an order was made in April at Paddington
Court for £1 a week for six months, on her undertaking to institute proceedings
for a divorce. They reminded her that the order had just expired, and that
she had not yet commenced her suit for divorce. However, they were willing
without prejudice to pay her 20/- [£1] a week, conditionally upon her living a
proper life.

Mr Shipway asked that, since his client had offered to pay the money without
being forced, no costs be allowed.

Mr Payten, however, said the husband, when under oath, had offered only
15/-, therefore the letter was outside the question.

Gillies must pay £1 a week, with 27/- costs.”

Alice Gillies – Marion Smith Collection

200
The publication of this story in one of the three major Sydney newspapers of the day would have
caused the Rees family much embarrassment and anguish. Alice enjoyed a close relationship
with her sister Malvina and brother George and no doubt they provided such help as they could.
It was quite obvious that both William and Alice had a very unhappy marriage mainly due to
money and alcohol problems. It is likely that William was keen to divest himself of Alice and this
is shown by his strong relationship with his housekeeper and that a condition of support for
Alice was for her to initiate divorce proceedings. Alice’s reluctance to divorce was likely due to
her needing greater support than she could get as a divorcee. Eventually William resorted to
other means to try to divorce himself from Alice, again bearing in mind that the grounds for
divorce were almost entirely limited to adultery, cruelty and desertion.
The following year, 1912, the Gillies again made news in the pages of the Truth.372 This time, the
story was even more salacious, as the report shows:

“GALLANT GILLIES

ASKS A DIVORCE FROM HIS ALICE

She, in Turn, Seeks a Separation

EAVESDROPPERS AND WATCHERS GIVE EVIDENCE

Pursuing Lovers in the Lane and Park

William Gillies, an examining officer of Customs, a talkative old chap in the

witness-box, wearing glasses, a red nose, and a thin grey thatch, sought a
divorce from his wife Alice Victoria Gillies, a tall, and plump dame, at the
hands of Judge Gordon, at the Divorce Court on Thursday, on the ground of
adultery. Mrs Gillies had filed a petition suing for a judicial separation on the
grounds of Gillies’ drunkenness and cruelty. Mr Shipway appeared for
Customs gent, and Mr Perry for the wife.

Gillies, perfectly at home in the witness-box, while answering questions too

lengthily, couldn’t remember lots of things, such as the month he was married
in or the complete names of his children.

372 The Truth 16 June 1912, page 3

201
However, being helped out of his little difficulties, he fired ahead with his
evidence, which was to the effect that his wife’s maiden name was Rees, and
William
they were Gillies, an examining
married at Trinity officer of Customs,
Church, Miller’saPoint
talkative old Rev
by the chapNoake
in the witness-
on Guy
box, wearing glasses, a red nose, and a thin grey thatch, sought a divorce from his
Fawkes Day 1905 [It was actually 1895]. At that time he was 31, and lived
wife Alice Victoria Gillies, a tall, and plump dame, at the hands of Judge Gordon, at
at Dulwich Hill, while his Alice, who was nine years younger, hailed from
the Divorce Court on Thursday, on the ground of adultery. Mrs Gillies had filed a
Leichhardt.
petition suing for There were separation
a judicial four children,
on thea grounds
boy of of15, and drunkenness
Gillies’ three girls, and
the
youngest
cruelty. Mrbeing seven.
Shipway They lived
appeared together,
for Customs with
gent, andmore or less
Mr Perry amity,
for the wife.at various
suburbs, including Mosman and Long Bay, until a couple of years ago, when
Gillies,
his wife perfectly
gaddedataway
home in
and thehad
witness-box,
a summons while answering
served uponquestions
him. too lengthily,
couldn’t remember lots of things, such as the month he was married in or the complete
names said
Gillies of hishis
children.
hours on However,
the P&Obeing
wharf helped
wereout of his little
ordinarily from difficulties,
8am to 5pm, he fired
but
ahead with histhe
occasionally evidence,
stress ofwhich
workwas to the effect
required him to that
be his wife’s
there longmaiden name was
after hours – in
Rees, and they
fact, there waswere married
a bed fittedat
upTrinity Church,
in a shed Miller’s
at the wharfPoint
forby
histhe Rev Noake on
convenience Guy
when
Fawkes Day 1905 [It was actually 1895]. At that time he was 31, and lived at Dulwich
delayed all night. After his wife went away, she obtained an order against
Hill, while his Alice, who was nine years younger, hailed from Leichhardt. There were
him at the Water Police Court for 20s a week.
four children, a boy of 15, and three girls, the youngest being seven. They lived
together,
Coming downwith more or question
to the less amity,atatissue,
various suburbs,
Gillies saidincluding
that oneMosman and Long
night, March 11
Bay, until a couple of years ago, when his wife gadded away and had a summons
last, while with an ex-policeman named Andrews, he saw his wife alight with
served upon him.
a man from a tram at Miller St North Shore, and wander on to McMahon’s
Point. said
Gillies Shehis seemed
hours onmerry and wobbly,
the P&O wharf were andordinarily
swung fromher hand-bag
8am to 5pm, likebuta
occasionally the stress of work required him to be there long
pendulum, while her companion curled his arm around her waist, a la the after hours – in fact, there
was
loversa bed fitted upspringtime.
of youth’s in a shed at He
the and
wharf for his convenience
Andrews dogged theirwhen delayed
steps, andall night.
noticed
After his wife went away, she obtained an order against him at
that when they crossed to the other side of the street, the man changed sides the Water Police Court
for 20s a week.
and curled his other hand around her waist, hugging and wobbling her about.
As theydown
Coming wended their
to the way at
question down
issue,hill, they
Gillies turned
said intonight,
that one Millmill St, 11
March a blind lane
last, while
ending
with in a precipice.
an ex-policeman He followed
named Andrews, some
he saw 20his
yards behind
wife alight withAndrews,
a man from and in a
a tram
at Miller St North Shore, and wander on to McMahon’s Point. She
little while his vigilance was rewarded by seeing the unsuspecting pair recline seemed merry and
wobbly, and swung her hand-bag like a pendulum, while her
on the grass growing at the end of the lane. Watching them contentedly for companion curled his
arm around her waist, a la the lovers of youth’s springtime.
some time, he retraced his steps and looked around for Andrews, who had He and Andrews dogged
their steps, and noticed that when they crossed to the other side of the street, the man
mysteriously disappeared somewhere. Not finding him. He returned to the
changed sides and curled his other hand around her waist, hugging and wobbling her
scene of the spooning, and behold, his Alice and her male friend had
about. As they wended their way down hill, they turned into Millmill St, a blind lane
vanished.
ending in a precipice. He followed some 20 yards behind Andrews, and in a little
while his vigilance was rewarded by seeing the unsuspecting pair recline on the grass
Mr Perry: Why didn’t you speak to them at first? – I thought I had better find
growing at the end of the lane. Watching them contentedly for some time, he retraced
Andrews.
his steps and looked around for Andrews, who had mysteriously disappeared
somewhere.
Where did he Notget
finding
to? –him. He returned
I don’t know, heto went
the scene
afterofthem
the spooning,
20 yards and behold,
ahead of
his Alice and her male friend had vanished.
me.
Mr Perry: Why didn’t you speak to them at first? – I thought I had better find Andrews.
Could they have seen you? – Ha, I think they were otherwise engaged.
Where did he get to? – I don’t know, he went after them 20 yards ahead of me.
Answering further questions, Gillies said he watched the pair for five minutes,
Could they have
he thought. seen you?
Andrews – Ha,
had I think
been they were
watching hisotherwise
wife for engaged.
some time, and was
taken that night specially to ascertain what’s what, so to speak. It was untrue
that he had behaved cruelly to his wife, except in restraining her from
drinking. She had been drinking now for 15 years, having acquired her thirst
in an hotel before her marriage. It was true that while they lived at Long Bay
his wife had to bawl for help, and that the police had been at his home many
times, brought there by his wife, who was everlastingly running for them.
Yes, he had been up three times for using language.

And the very next month, were you fined again for a similar offence? – Oh,
that was owing to a pack of notorious prostitutes who had followed me around
month after month, my wife among them.

202
 Did you plead guilty? – Yes, to save my wife going into the witness-box.

And were you fined after that? – I don’t know. It is possible. I was persecuted
by a pack of prostitutes at Long Bay, they put my wife up to it. Yes, a pack
of prostitutes.

His Honor: That will do.

Mr Perry: Do you know Alice Russell? – Unfortunately I do.

Has she ever seen you drunk? – Oh, I don’t know. She has never been sober
enough to see if anybody was drunk, I’m afraid.

Ever give your wife a black eye? – Nunno, but I’ve seen her with a black eye,
black legs, black throat, black heart –

His Honor: You were not asked that

“Well, six weeks after her marriage she came home howling mad drunk,”
spruiked Gillies, heedless of His Honor’s comment.

Benjamin Andrews, an old chap who limped into the box with his gamp, a la
dot and carry one, explained that he had just got out of bed after an illness
lasting six weeks (a gamp was a large umbrella and dot and carry one was
slang for putting one foot down and swinging the other one around, probably
with help from his gamp, probably of a mathematical origin). He was given
a chair to rest his weary bones. He said he was a joiner by profession, and
joined Gillies on the night that Mrs Gillies alighted from a tram at Mount St.
Her companion was about 5ft 8in, wearing a brown mo and gold rimmed
specs. Crossing near the bank, the man folded his arm around her, and they
wandered down the road till they came to Millmill St, up which they sought
seclusion. At the end of this sequestered lane the railway emerges from a
tunnel, and a fence barred progress, and prevented persons from falling over
the rocks on to the line. When Mrs Gillies and her chum came to this fence
they halted and sat on the struggling grass or weeds which the scarcity of
traffic allowed to spring up on the road, and immediately he saw them squat
he skipped in search of Gillies, who was supposed to be following behind like
a faithful sleuth.

He couldn’t find the husband anywhere, until later on that night, but he was
certain the woman was Mrs Gillies, because Gillies had pointed her out to him
on three or four occasions before, and when she returned with the man from
the lane they passed him outside an hotel, the beams from the outside lamp
showing on their faces.

To Mr Perry, Andrews admitted that he had been paid out-of-pocket expenses

by Gillies for his touting, but insufficient to satisfy him.

Mr Perry: You are used to watching people? – Nunno

Weren’t you in the police force? – Ha, that was in the City of London force, I
resigned to come here 30 years ago.

The next to come was a solemn-looking little fellow named William Margetts,
who described himself as a licensed vanman, living on the Shore. He knew
Mrs Gillies ever since they were boy and girl together, attending the Cleveland

203
St school, and though they had not been on speaking terms since then, he
had learnt from her sister, Mrs Rhinds [Malvina was Mrs Rhind], that Gillies
worked in the Customs.

Skipping an uninteresting chapter, Margetts said that on January 13, a

Saturday it was, about half-past 9 at night, he encountered Mrs Gillies on the
Lane Cove road in company with a man. That night he was looking for a man
in Christie St, about some work, but on seeing the pair he followed past
Christie St to the Gore Hill Park, and keeping in the rear some 15 or 20 yards,
saw them walk to the back of a bit of bush and lie down. She wore a light
dress, and the man a dark suit. What he saw so shocked his gentlemanly
instincts that he waited till they left the park together, and on the following
Monday morning he inquired the whereabouts of Gillies, whom he had not
seen before, and acquainted him of the misconduct he had witnessed in the
starlight.

Mr Perry: What made you follow them? – I thought I’d like to have a look.

Why, what did you expect to see? – I didn’t expect to see much.

Alice Gillies – Marion Smith Collection

Are you married? – Yes.

And living with your wife? – I decline to answer.

His Honor: You must answer.

“Well I’m not,” said the moralist vanman.

Mr Perry: She has an order against you, and you are now living with another
woman? –No-o-o-o.

204
 Why, aren’t you living with a Mrs Hardy? – I’m living in her house, but I pay
my wife 7s 6d per week.

His Honor: Did you meet the man you wanted that night? – I went to his house,
but he was out.

His Honor intimated that there was no evidence of adultery – that is, positive
evidence, and he didn’t know if Mr Shipway suggested there had been.

Mr Shipway said he didn’t expect his Honor to draw an inference, but he

thought if two people lay down at ten o’clock at night in a dark place, it was
presumed.

“I hold on this evidence it has not been proved,” said his Honor.

Alice Josephine Victoria Gillies, the wife, a tall, plump woman of perhaps 12st
weight, given her turn at the tale-telling, declared that life with Gillies had
been unhappy ever since the honeymoon waned. Her after-life was the
realisation of a mirage, love’s young dream giving place to an existence barren
of happiness. It did not take her long to discover that her husband had a vile
tongue, and a fondness for waggling it at her over nothing. In addition to this,
he had a habit of returning home drunk three or four times a week, and
accusing her of unchastity. Sober and drunk, his moods seldom varied, and
if he was not accusing her of carrying on with the trades-people who called at
her door, then he was cursing her for all he was worth, sometimes on his
knees.

He would bellow at the top of his voice that she had been philandering with
men, and altogether his behavior was cruel. Why, six weeks before her babe
was born, he struck her in the nose, causing it to bleed for days, and bringing
on a premature birth. At Mosman the neighbours complained about him so
much that they were given notice to leave the house. Finally he contracted
some complaint which led him to sleep by himself, and her suspicions became
aroused, she gazed through the bathroom window at him as he was washing,
and for doing so he smacked her face and knocked her down, but not before
she confirmed her suspicion. He would give her no money for housekeeping
purposes, preferring to foot the bills himself, while all the drink she swallowed
was no more and no less than what he himself fetched her.

At Long Bay, where they lived in a tent, a mode of life she couldn’t appreciate
as fully as those who liked that kind of home, he ill-treated her badly, and
after he sold the place he told her to go where she liked. She saw Mr Mowle,
the Chamber Magistrate at Paddington, for the purpose of getting a summons
against her husband for assaulting her daughter, but Mr Mowle, eliciting a
promise of amendment from her husband, got her to stay proceedings, and
that very night her husband returned home drunk again.

As far as the hero Margetts was concerned, she had heard her brother
mention his name, but certainly she never went to any school with him. On
the Saturday night that he had spoken of she was engaged assisting her
sister in her shop at Gore Hill, and therefore could not have been in any park.
On the other day specified, she accompanied a very old friend – an engineer
aboard the Burwah – to a friend’s house for tea. He afterwards saw her
home. He was a short, stout man and wore glasses, and she did take his
arm.

205
Giving further evidence, Mrs Gillies admitted that she was once locked up,
and a charge of drunkenness sheeted against her, but though she pleaded
guilty to save time, she was not drunk, she was locked up because she gave
cheek to the arresting constable and that happened three years ago. Once
she was picked up outside Grace Bros and taken to Prince Alfred Hospital,
but drink was not the cause. She never frequented the fishermen’s huts at
Long Bay.
Mr Shipway produced a few pawntickets, and Mrs Gillies replied that she had
pawned jewellery to purchase food when her husband kept her without
money, but she denied that it was because of her fondness for drink that he
kept her short.
Aubrey Mowle, the Paddington Chamber Magistrate, said that in April, 1910,
when Mrs Gillies came to him to seek a summons against her husband for
assaulting a female, he suggested that she should bring her husband to see
him. When Gillies came, and promised that he would never more assault or
interfere with his wife, a withdrawal was counselled, and this advice Mrs
Gillies accepted.
George Rees, a clerk in the Union Company, and brother of Mrs Gillies, said
he had not seen Gillies often, perhaps once in six months, but many a time he
had seen his sister with black eyes. Gillies had come eight different times to
him seeking his services in reconciliation, and on those occasions he would
explain that the hitting was purely accidental, and promise to allow his wife
money for housekeeping.
Constable J Bragg, formerly stationed at Marrickville, said that when the
Gillies lived in Livingstone Road he was attracted to their house one night by
the lurid language uttered by Gillies, and he knocked at the door, demanding
the meaning of it. He told Gillies a summons would be issued, but Gillies
afterwards met him, and, telling him what a good position he held, and how
he stood in danger of losing it if he was summonsed, the summons was not
issued. The constable said he frequently saw Mrs Gillies, and she was
invariably sober.
Sergeant W McNally, of Randwick, told how he had been called to the Gillies’
tent at Long Bay to quell a disturbance, how he had noticed a girl of 12 or 13
with her face bruised, and how he had counselled Mrs Gillies to see a chamber
magistrate.
Mrs Rhinds, sister of Mrs Gillies, keeping a refreshment shop at Crow’s Nest,
rebutted the evidence of Margetts, asserting that on that particular night – she
couldn’t mistake the date, because her servant had to be hurried to the
hospital, and her husband was ill a-bed – her sister helped her in the shop
the whole evening.
The shop being next to a picture show, and running a drink fountain, it
required help on Saturday nights particularly, and there was no opportunity
for Mrs Gillies to be away wandering in any park.

On the hearing being resumed on Monday, John Wray, a wheelwright, whose

name had been mentioned, gave evidence as to the whereabouts of Mrs Gillies
on the night of Saturday, January 13, when she was charged with being in
the park. Wray was positive that she never left her sister’s shop. He had

206
 never been out with her, but had played cards with her and the children at
her sister’s shop.

Elizabeth Haggett, a Long Bay resident, said that while the parties lived
neighbours to her, Gillies was addicted to drink and the use of nasty
language.

Rosanna Lawrence, a widow, said that a couple of years ago, at Marrickville,

Mrs Gillies came to her house long after midnight in her nightdress, carrying
a child, and was given a bed.

Mrs Gillies, re-called, denied that when she was served with the petition at
McMahon’s Point, she said, “This suits my book very well.” Nor did she ask
the man to take a drink, though he did have one with a man in the house.
She did not take a drink, nor did she send her daughter for a bottle.

Alma Gillies [who was 13], a well-grown, lively girl, daughter of the parties,
was called. Her evidence was all for her mother, she declaring that it was
her father’s habit to get drunk about three times each week at Long Bay, and
behave cruelly to her mother.

Keith Gillies [16 year old William Keith Gillies], a youth, however, said that
his mother was frequently drunk, he used to fetch her whiskey and beer when
only six years of age. She used abusive language to his father, and threw the
crockery at him, and his father would have to hold her down when in her
drunken fits. He had never seen his father paralytic drunk, but had been
flogged by his mother when he refused to fetch drink for her.

Mr Perry here produced a letter, which had been written by the boy to his
mother, containing a sentence, “Father was paralytic drunk.” Keith answered
that, though the letter was his, the statement was not true.

Gillies, recalled, gave a general denial to almost everything his wife had
alleged against him. He had loved and cherished her, he said, and had never
ill-treated her, while, on her part, she would give way to drink, and after a
carousal, she would throw him a bunch of pawn-tickets, bidding him to
redeem the goods pledged. He had never supplied her with drink, and had
reprimanded his daughter for fetching drink for her mother. Gillies declared
that he had been martyred by his wife for 15 years, her habit being to first
annoy him and then to run around creating a scene merely to show him up.
Many times she attacked him with daggers, knives and lumps of wood, threw
sand into his eyes, and felled him with a blow on the head. Only once,
however, her attacks prevented him from attending his work.

Mr Perry: Still you say you have been martyred? – Yes, for 15 years, and I’ve
been as dumb as an oyster. She told me that if I didn’t divorce her, she would
divorce me, and marry another whose name she mentioned.

This concluded the evidence, and his Honor reserved his decision.”

207
The case was also briefly mentioned in The Sydney Morning Herald on 15 June 1912 (page 6) but
reference to adultery was changed to misconduct. As it turned out, the Judge later handed down
his decision to dismiss the petitions of both parties and ordered them to pay each other’s costs. 373
His reasonings were not published but clearly the Judge decided that neither party had made a
satisfactory case for what they were after. This was not the first time that Alice had started
proceedings to end the marriage. Previous unsuccessful applications had been made in 1907
and 1911.374
The newspaper reports clearly showed a fractured relationship. They also provided pearls of
background information on Alice and some of her family.
It is unlikely that Alice and William ever lived together again. Older son Keith was probably living
with his father, which might explain his paternal loyalty. The evidence suggests the three girls
were living with their mother, which could explain Alma’s maternal loyalty. This was one family

373 The Sydney Morning Herald 20 June 1912, page 4

374 Divorce Index NSW State Records 6186a/1907 and 8051/1911

208
seriously divided. The laws at the time were complicated – failure to provide support to a wife
(and children) was an offence, whether by desertion or neglect, but if the wife absconded, she
could lose any entitlement unless she could prove that she was forced to leave by circumstances.
It seems that Alice may have finally reached a position where she could be supported by others
without needing to rely on William. This would have been fortunate because William was made
bankrupt in 1914 and Alice was unlikely to have received any further support from him. 375
Their son Keith was 19 when he enlisted for service in the First World War on 3 January 1916.
He put his age up by a year but he would still have needed to obtain consent from one parent.
Even though he was young, his qualities were soon recognized and he was promoted to sergeant
before his unit embarked for Egypt and England. After training in England, he was serving with
the 8th Field Company Engineers when he was killed by a piece of shrapnel from a shell landing
3 miles behind the front line during the Battle of Passchendaele near Ypres in Belgium on 19
October 1917, ten days after being promoted to 2nd Lieutenant. Interestingly, in his Will dated
25 July 1917, Keith left everything to his mother. Keith also left a 255 page diary of his war
service from March 1916 when he was at the engineering school until shortly before he was
killed. Alice sold the diary to the Mitchell Library in 1920.

Sgt Keith Gillies – third from left, second row sitting (no 28) – Australian War Memorial

There is little known about Keith’s sisters. Alma Gillies was 25 when she married Herbert Crouch
in 1924. After their divorce in 1937 on the grounds of Herbert’s desertion, she married John
Vaughan Kelly in 1940 when she was 41. They were divorced in 1963.
Gladys Gillies married Harold Crofts in 1929 when she was 28 and Iris Gillies was 22 when she
married Robert Findlay in 1927.
Their mother, Alice, lived at various locations in later life including at Balmoral Beach in the
1920s. She was living at an apartment in Bondi, near her daughter Alma, when she died on 6
August 1949 at the age of 76.376 She succumbed to bronchial pneumonia but she had been
diagnosed with bowel cancer six months earlier. Her death certificate stated she had been born
in Bendigo instead of Beechworth.
Her death certificate also notes that she was a widow but it is not clear when William died. He
is likely to be the William Gillies who died in 1929 as the few others of that name can be
accounted for. Daughter Gladys lived to be 91 before she passed away in 1992.

375 Bankruptcy Index NSW State Records File No 19837

376 NSW BDM Death Certificate 19750/1949

209
 Charles Marriott Rees

Likely common law wife Mary Jane Heath

Children:

Frank Richard Rees b 1908 d 1965 57 years

Charles Rees is without doubt the black sheep in the Rees family. He was just 10 years old when
his father George died and he was brought up in a large family where the only male influence
was his brother George TJ, who was nearly 10 years older, and possibly Herbert Frost. Little is
known about Charles in his early years except that George TJ was glad to see him leave the
family home at Ashfield as soon as he could financially stand on his own feet.
Sometime after leaving school he became a brickmaker. It is likely he was the Charles Rees
referred to in the 1908 and 1915 Sands Sydney Directories as living at Parramatta Road,
Burwood, although there were at least six Charles Rees living in the wider Sydney area at the
time (most of the other Charles Rees can be accounted for, usually by a middle name).
By 1908 he had met Mary Jane Heath and was living with her when they adopted a new born
baby who they named Frank Richard Rees. Charles was by now 34 and Mary Jane was five years
older. The adoption seems to have been arranged unofficially because there is no obvious official
record of the adoption and the names of Frank’s natural parents are not known. The natural
mother was likely a friend or relative of Mary Jane and the adoption was arranged privately
between them. On the Index of Deaths in NSW for Frank, his father is noted as Marion and his
mother as Unknown, but as has been shown before in this story, the registered details are not
always reliable.
Mary Jane had previously been married to a John Purkis when she was 16. Her son Herbert
was born soon after in 1886 at Burwood and a daughter, Violet, was born in 1888 but died the
following year. The marriage failed to last and they were divorced in 1894. It is unlikely that 22
year old Herbert was still living with his mother when Charles and Mary Jane adopted the new
baby.
Charles is not to be confused with a Charles Morgan Rees who married Annie de Lawrence in
1918. Charles Marriott Rees, in fact, never officially married. He lived with Mary Jane, bringing
up their only son, until Mary Jane’s untimely death at Redfern in 1920 when Frank was only 12
years old.377 Charles was left to raise Frank on his own.
By 1930 Charles was still working as a brickmaker and living as a boarder with a family named
Hogan at Condor Street, Burwood. He and Frank may have been living there for some years.
Gordon Hogan, the older son of the family, was two years older than Frank and they both got on
well. Gordon was a painter who in 1926 had married a girl with the patriotic name of Australia
Parsons. They had a daughter born in 1927 called Shirley but this marriage also failed and
Gordon and his wife went separate ways.
On 1 July 1930 at Burwood, when Frank was 22, he married a local girl, Thelma Jane Knight,
who was a year younger than Frank. Frank and Thelma soon moved in with Thelma’s parents
and siblings at Clermont Avenue, Concord. One of Thelma’s siblings was her twin sister, Violet

377 NSW BDM Death Certificate 16181/1920

210
Ann Knight. No doubt they were very close to each other. Thelma gave birth to a daughter,
Audrey Rees, in October 1930. Another child, a son Don, would follow.
Frank and Thelma stayed with the Knights until they found a house of their own in Flavelle
Street, Concord in 1934. Meanwhile, Charles Rees stayed with the Hogans in Condor Street
until about 1932. He then spent a short time living with his younger brother Herbert and his
family at Albert Crescent, Burwood before moving in with Frank and Thelma in their new
premises in 1934. By now Charles was working as a labourer. He had acquired a bad drinking
habit and it got to the stage that his continuing stay was not always welcomed by Thelma,
especially with young children in the house.
On 21 December 1935 a night watchman named Harry Brooks saw a
man acting suspiciously in the company of a young girl. He followed
them to some scrub in the Concord area when, after a short time, he
intervened to rescue the girl from her assailant. You can only imagine
the shock and horror within the Rees, Knight and Hogan families when
Charles Rees was charged with assaulting a 10 year old girl and
committing an act of indecency. 378 He pleaded not guilty and was sent
to trial in February 1936 where he was found guilty by a jury. The
foreman of the jury told the judge that the jury wished to commend Mr
Brooks for his action in protecting the child. The judge agreed, saying
that the action taken by Mr Brooks was often a thankless task as many
Violet Knight citizens preferred to shut their eyes to what was taking place. The judge
thought it was quite possible that Mr Brooks’ action had prevented a
more serious charge. Charles was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment. 379
On his release from prison in 1937, Charles was no longer
welcome to live with Frank and Thelma and he was left to
find his own accommodation. By now Frank and Thelma
were living at Normanby Street, Fairfield. Frank was
working as a gardener, a job he may have obtained
through other members of the Knight family who worked
as gardeners.
A strong attachment had developed between Frank’s friend
Gordon Hogan and Thelma’s twin sister, Violet Knight.
Gordon continued to live with family members at Condor
Street, Burwood and Violet with her family at Clermont
Avenue, Concord. Gordon’s former wife had found new
love and was keen to formalise a divorce, which she
obtained in 1939 on uncontested grounds of desertion.
She remarried very soon after. Gordon and Violet finally
married in 1943.
When he was almost 34, Frank enlisted in the 2nd AIF on
21 May 1942 for service in World War II. At the time, he
and Thelma were living at Stanbrook Street, Smithfield.
On enlistment he gave his date of birth as 27 February Frank Rees
1908 and that may have been an accurate date but only if
his adoptive parents had been aware of his origins. He served for over three years in Australia
and Bougainville before arriving back in Sydney in January 1946. After the war Frank had a job
as gardener at the Concord Repatriation Hospital.

378 The Newcastle Sun 11 February 1936, page 5

379 The Sydney Morning Herald 12 February 1936, page 10 and 15 February 1936, page 12

211
While he was in the army, his father Charles was admitted to Lidcombe State Hospital and Home
suffering from dementia, probably due to his alcohol issues. He died there on 16 November 1945
at the age of 72 after a particular bout of bronchial pneumonia. 380 The details for the death
certificate were supplied by a manager at the hospital and probably taken from information
supplied to the hospital when he was first admitted. Charles’ father is described as George Rees
Publican but his mother is shown as Mary Jane which was in fact the name of his common law
wife. His wife is shown as Jennie Heath, which is reasonably close enough to Mary Jane Heath.
Soon after the war Frank was working as the municipal gardener for Fairfield Council. In 1948
the council reported on the new gardens in Fairfield Park: 381

“the rose garden fence had been completed and the council’s gardener, Mr
Frank Rees, proved himself to be an expert landscape gardener by the way
he designed the garden plots and the meticulous manner in which he carried
out every detail reflected credit on himself.”

The local paper, The Biz, gushed over Frank’s “unbounded enthusiasm … only equalled by his
undoubted skill …”
Frank and Thelma remained close with Gordon and Violet Hogan. Interestingly, Gordon and
Violet ended up moving back to the old Knight family home at Clermont
Avenue, Concord where Frank and Thelma had spent so much time when
first married.
In October 1951, Frank and Thelma put on a party at their home in
Fairfield to celebrate Audrey’s 21st birthday. The local paper reported
“Audrey looked very charming in a blue crepe frock to which she added a
rope of pearls.” Frank “made a very brief but appropriate speech.” Thelma
made a cake iced in pale green and white and provided “a large variety of
delectable items.”382
The local paper reported a number of events at the Rees household.
Audrey fell down some stairs at home in January 1953, hurting her back.
Frank spent 10 days visiting relatives in Griffith the next month. Audrey’s Fairfield Council
brother, Don Rees, made the paper for his efforts at cricket and cycling. head gardener
Frank Rees died on 11 March 1965 at Concord at the young age of 57. 383 He was, however, long
outlived by Thelma who passed away at Burwood in 1992 at the age of 82.

380 NSW BDM Death Certificate 24734/1945

381 The Biz 8 July 1948, page 2
382 The Biz 1 November 1951, page 10
383 NSW BDM Death Certificate 11432/1965

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 Adelina Marion Rees

Married 1898 Herbert W W Gosnell

Children:

Norman Wesley Gosnell b 1899 d 1964 64 years

Gladys Marion Gosnell b 1903 d 1982 79 years

Doris Adeline Gosnell b 1905 d 1999 94 years

When Adelina was born in 1877 Sydney was enjoying the start of a long period of peace and
prosperity as the wealth and population of New South Wales rapidly expanded. The Government
was flushed with revenue that enabled a massive public building program. Work started on
many of Sydney’s iconic buildings including the Art Gallery of NSW in the Domain and the
Garden Palace next to the Botanic Gardens to house the upcoming Sydney International
Exhibition. A new cemetery at Waverley was laid out to cater for the increased number of
departures.
The area around Redfern, where the family lived,
was fast being developed across the swathe of
open space down to the University of Sydney
which still commanded the skyline to the south
west.
Adelina’s older siblings ranged in age from 17 to
3 years so she had plenty of company to keep her
occupied during her early childhood. She was
six years old when her father died and she would
have been caught up in her mother’s struggle to
raise the family on her own. By the late 1890s,
the family was living at 13 Elswick Street,
Leichhardt, the residence of her brother George
T J Rees.
When she was 21, Adelina (who was known as
Addie) married 24 year old Herbert William
Wesley Gosnell at 32 Railway Street, Petersham
on 29 June 1898.384 The ceremony was
performed by the Reverend William Allen, a
Congregational Minister. George TJ Rees and
Herbert’s father, William Gosnell, were the
official witnesses to the ceremony showing quite
clearly how much the families approved of the
Adelina Gosnell with Gladys and Doris
marriage. Herbert lived with his parents at
c 1917 – Marion Smith Collection
Palace Street, Petersham on the edge of the

384 NSW BDM Marriage Certificate 6214/1898

213
clothing district and, not surprisingly, his father worked as a draper. Herbert on the other hand
had become a saddle maker. The newlyweds probably lived with Herbert’s parents until they
could set themselves up independently. Their first child, Norman Wesley Gosnell, was born on
7 April 1899 at Petersham.385
Herbert (or Bert as he was known) worked for many years at Anthony Hordern and Sons, who in
1905 had built a six-storey department store at the southern end of the Sydney business district.
The store was called the Palace Emporium and was one of the largest department stores in the
world with 52 acres (21 hectares) of retail floor space. Employment at this store would have been
seen as a high achievement in any trade and Herbert’s rise to become the manager of the saddle
and harness department meant he was held in high regard. 386
Two more children were born a few years after Norman’s birth. Gladys Marion Gosnell arrived
in 1903 and Doris Adeline Gosnell surfaced in 1905, both births registered at Petersham. 387 The
family later moved to the St George area of Sydney and by the late 1920s they were living at 30
Princes Street, Brighton-le-Sands. Herbert and Adelina would live here for much of their married
lives together.
The end of the Second World War saw some significant changes in the family. The war in Europe
ended when Germany surrendered in May 1945. Back home, Herbert Gosnell, still in the glow
of celebration and pleased to have all of the family survive the war, passed away a month later
on 11 June 1945 at home in Princess Street, Brighton-le-Sands at the age of 71.388 In addition
to his wife and three children, he left behind four grandchildren, Alan, John, Patricia and Jill.

Norman Wesley Gosnell

Norman was 26 when he married 25 year old Hilda May Cubis, in 1925. 389 Hilda lived with her
family at Glendalyn, an impressive residence in Fitzwilliam Road, Vaucluse. She came from a
fiercely Protestant family (I suppose that means they were opposed to Roman Catholic influence).
Her father Alfred was a Justice of the Peace but had also been the Right Worshipful Grand Master
of the Provincial Grand Black Chapter of New South Wales which held regular meetings at the
Protestant Hall in Sydney. He was addressed as Sir Knight Alfred. This lodge was the highest of
the orders connected to the Orangemen Order in Ireland and you would be hard pressed to find
a more radical Protestant group anywhere in the world.
Norman and Hilda moved from Vaucluse to Beecroft in the early 1930s and during this time,
Norman went into the printing business. Norman’s burgeoning relationship with his father in
law came to an abrupt halt two years after the marriage when Alfred suddenly died.
Norman’s wife Hilda came down with pleurisy and also prematurely died at the Vaucluse house
in 1932 when she was 36. She was privately buried at the South Head Cemetery. Norman
moved back to the Eastern Suburbs to a house in Victoria Road, Woollahra. About 1935 he
returned to his parents’ home at Princess Street, Brighton-le-Sands.
During the next few years, Norman became more involved in his printing business. The printery
did a lot of work for some of the extreme right wing organisations then operating in Sydney. One
such group was the Australia First Movement and Norman’s business printed the earlier editions
of their regular paper The Publicist which was published between 1936 and 1942. This group
started out as Pro-Australian and Anti-British before becoming very supportive of Germany’s

385 NSW BDM Birth Certificate 15084/1899

386 The Katoomba Daily 6 October 1933, page 2
387 NSW BDM Birth Certificates 24276/1903 and 36889/1905
388 NSW BDM Death Certificate 12481/1945
389 NSW BDM Marriage Certificate 15903/1925

214
Nazi Party during the 1930s. The paper printed the full text of many of Adolph Hitler’s speeches.
With a firm belief in the superiority of the Aryan race, the group bizarrely believed that Aborigines
were directly descended from the Aryans and they railed against Aboriginal prejudice. It seems
amazing that a few well known Nazi sympathisers were among the first activists to support rights
for Aborigines.
Of the two men that ran the Australia First Movement, one died early in the Second World War
and the other was arrested and interned for most of the war.
The printery was looked upon by authorities with great suspicion during the lead up to the war.
It did, however, have the honour in 1938 of being the first to print Xavier Herbert’s iconic
Australian novel, Capricornia.
While he was living with his parents, Norman met a local girl whose name, Lily Hazel Lawn
Whiteoak, was truly an abundance of vegetation. It may come as no surprise to find out her
mother’s name was Flora. Norman was 37 and Lily 27 when they were married at Rockdale in
1936.390 They lived at Princess Street for many years after their marriage.

Some publications by Norman Gosnell’s printery

Norman again came to the attention of authorities after the start of the Second World War,
probably as a result of the types of publication being printed at his business. In 1940 he was
raided by the NSW taxation office. At that time, income taxes were levied by both the
Commonwealth and the State Governments and this would not change until 1942 when income
tax was fully taken over by the Commonwealth to help fund the war effort. The Sydney Morning
Herald of 9 July 1940 (page 4) reported:

“Norman Wesley Gosnell, a partner in the firm of Gosnell & Stafford, trading
as Stafford Printery, Levey Street Chippendale, was fined £150 at the Central
Summons Court yesterday for having avoided a tax by fraud. Gosnell
pleaded guilty to an information alleging that he had fraudulently stated in a
sales return for March 1938 that the net amount of sales was £22 4s 6d,
although it had been in excess of that amount.

Mr Mills, who prosecuted for the Crown Solicitor’s Office, said that sales from
September 1931 to February 1940 amounted to £6,752. The amount of tax
evaded was £408 9s 10d.”

390 NSW BDM Marriage Certificate 17491/1936

215
The case was reported in newspapers in NSW, Victoria and Queensland, so you can only imagine
the effect it had on the respective families, especially during the war when government funding
was imperative for the war effort and matters such as tax evasion and profiteering were looked
upon as acts of treachery.
Norman was 43 when he enlisted at Arncliffe on 2 June 1942 for service in the Second World
War and it may be that his enlistment was prompted by a desire to atone for his earlier tax
evasion or for his association with pro-Nazis.391 However, the real reason was almost certainly
a keen desire to help protect Australia and Sydney, in particular from a possible Japanese
invasion following the attack in Sydney
Harbour by three midget submarines during
the night of 31 May 1942. Thousands of
citizens, including Norman, enlisted in the
days following the submarine attack. Most,
like Norman, joined the part time Volunteer
Defence Corps which was Australia’s answer
to the British Home Guard of Dad’s Army
fame.
He had previously held the rank of sergeant
in the local militia so he brought some
experience with him. Compulsory military
training was introduced into Australia in Remains of a Japanese mini submarine
1911 after the urging of the British Field from Sydney Harbour
Marshall Lord Kitchener who visited
Australia in 1909. Service in local cadets, militia or other army or naval unit for at least three
months was in force in various forms until 1929 when it was abolished by the Labor Party who
felt that low paid workers and the poor bore the brunt of the scheme. There were exemptions
but over 7,000 young men were sent to prison between 1911 and 1915 for failing to serve.
At the time of Norman’s enlistment, he and Lily were living at 2 Jacobson Avenue, Kyeemagh.
There were so many volunteers that processing applications was held up for long periods.
Norman was finally taken on strength on 27 March 1943, almost a year after his enlistment but
his service was short lived as on 13 July 1943 he was discharged on the basis that his services
were no longer required. The Government had decided that it had far more volunteers than
Australian industry or the economy could sustain and the numbers now needed to be drastically
reduced. Norman was part of the first group to be culled. Perhaps the Army discovered his
earlier association with people deemed to be subversive and he was considered to be an early
candidate for retrenchment.
Norman and Lily later decided on a complete change of life. Norman had sold the printing
business and in 1948 he and Lily moved to Tarlinjah, a rural village on the Princes Highway near
Moruya on the South Coast of New South Wales where they became farmers. They would later
retire and move to Tuross Heads, a bit further up the coast. Norman died at Moruya Hospital
on 30 April 1963 just after turning 64.392

391 NAA War Service Record WWII N458310

392 NSW BDM Death Certificate 17183/1963

216
 Gladys Marion Gosnell
In 1928 when she was 22, Gladys was the first of the children of Adeline and Herbert to marry.
Her husband was Percival Patrick Johnson and the ceremony took place at Rockdale. 393
Perce worked as an electrical fitter and they lived at Kurnell Street, Brighton-le-Sands, not far
from Gladys’ parents. They soon moved to Manly, the popular holiday and day trip coastal area
to the north of Sydney where Perce would be able to make a good income from servicing the huge
growth in the motor vehicle trade. They found an upmarket apartment on the corner of Camera
and Tower Streets that perfectly suited their needs. The building was called the Montcalm Flats
and of the six apartments, they had number 6. They would stay here well into the 1950s,
including during the Great Depression years that came soon after their marriage, when most
people could no longer afford to live in expensive apartments.
Gladys and Perce finally moved from the Montcalm apartment at Manly to nearby Addison Street.
Gladys passed away at Manly many years later in 1982 at the age of 79 and Perce followed two
years later.394

Doris Adeline Gosnell

Doris (who was mostly known as Dot or Dottie) was about 23 when she married Ivor Guile Dobson
Porter in 1928, also at Rockdale. 395 Ivor was the same age and worked as a warehouseman.
They soon moved in to the family home of Ivor’s parents, George and Adelaide, at Teralba Road,
Brighton-le-Sands, again staying close to the rest of the family. Ivor’s parents soon relocated to
other premises leaving Ivor and Doris on their own until 1934 when they rejoined Ivor’s parents
at Botany Road, Botany where Ivor’s father had a grocery business. Ivor then became a grocer
with his father. Doris and Ivor would have three children.
Doris was still living at the grocery at Botany with her husband Ivor during the early 1940s. The
business fully passed to Ivor in 1942 after the death of his father. His mother had passed away
six years earlier.
By 1954, Doris had left Ivor
after he had taken up with
another woman. Doris moved
back to the old family home at
Princess Street to be with her
mother, Adelina. Also staying
with Adelina was her grandson
John Gosnell who was working
as an electrician. John married
in 1955 and his wife Judy
moved in with them. When
John and Judy moved out,
Adelina’s granddaughter
Patricia moved in with her.
Adelina needed to keep her wits
to work out who was staying
No 75 (Old) Taren Point Road

393 NSW BDM Marriage Certificate 14952/1925

394 NSW BDM Death Certificates 10463/1982 and 19389/1984
395 NSW BDM Marriage Certificate 16072/1928

217
where. Ivor meanwhile kept running the grocery business at another address in Botany Road
but by 1958, he had sold out and moved down the South Coast to Greenwell Point where his
occupation on the Electoral Roll had him as a fisherman.
When Ivor became very ill in the late 1960s he approached his son and asked him to intercede
on Ivor’s behalf with Doris with a view to them reuniting so that Ivor could be looked after during
his illness. Doris, who was by now living at 75 Taren Point Road in Sydney’s southern suburbs
(just south of the current Captain Cook Bridge), reluctantly took him back in.
They were later joined by Adelina who had finally left the Brighton-le-Sands home. Adelina
Gosnell died on 14 August 1970 when she was a well advanced 93 thereby cementing her place
as the longest survivor of the Rees children by far.396 She had for a time before her death been
a resident at the Blakehurst Convalescent Hospital.
Doris made it to 1999 when she died on the last day of the century at the age of 94, thus beating
the family record set by her mother by a year. She only just outlasted Ivor who, despite his
continuing ill health, had made it to 1997, before he passed away on 21 May.

396 NSW BDM Death Certificate 31250/1970

218
 Herbert Philip Ernest Rees

First Married 1900 Elizabeth May Meredith

Children:

Ernest Phillip Rees b 1900 d 1986 86 years

Stanley Robert Rees b 1902 d 1904 1 year

Ruby May Rees b 1906 d 1999 92 years

Robert William M Rees b 1909 d 2005 95 years

Married 1924 Annie Thelma Sheridan

Children:

Nellie Hazel Rees nk nk

Noela Eunice Rees nk d 1987

Herbert, born in 1880, was the tenth and last born of the Rees children. He was just three years
old when his father died but he had his mother and a number of older siblings to look out for his
welfare and set him on a path that would serve him reasonably well in life. His path was a lot
better than that of his older brother Charles.
He lived with his family at Leichhardt and attended the local Cleveland Street school. He left
school at an early age to work as an apprentice at the Clyde Engineering Company where his
older brother George TJ was already working as a delivery clerk. While working there he become
qualified as an engineer and iron turner.
At the age of 19 he married local girl Elizabeth May Meredith who was the same age.397 Elizabeth
was descended from one of the oldest free settler families in Australia. Her great grandfather,
Frederick Meredith, had been the Captain’s steward on board the Scarborough that had sailed
with the rest of the First Fleet through Sydney Heads on 26 January 1878. Frederick was one
of the first non-convicts to be lashed in the colony (for trading rum with a convict for food) but
he soon became the gardener that set up Garden Island at Sydney Cove. His graffiti, “FM 1788”,
is still a feature of Garden Island today (but considerably eroded). Later on, he was the baker
on board the HMS Sirius when it was wrecked off the coast of Norfolk Island. After permanently
settling in the infant colony with a large land grant he proceeded to produce a prodigious number
of offspring with his two (consecutive) wives and a few mistresses. Other descendants of
Frederick Meredith include the well-known Myer and Packer families.

397 NSW BDM Marriage Certificate 413/1900

219
Elizabeth was given the same Christian names as her mother, who coincidently was the daughter
of a Thomas Nelson and his wife Eliza. This was not the same Thomas Nelson who was
mentioned earlier in connection with George TJ Rees.
Herbert’s mother, Kezia Rees, and Elizabeth’s father, Robert
Meredith, gave their consents to the marriage as Herbert and
Elizabeth were both under the age of 21. They were married
at the Primitive Methodist Church at 57 Phillip Street, Sydney
by the Reverend Emanuel Masterman on St Valentine’s Day
1900. The Marriage Certificate stated that Herbert’s father
was George William Rees, the first and only time we have seen
George Rees with a second Christian name, which suggests
that its inclusion was dubious.
There may have been some rush to get married because their
FM 1788 graffiti first child, Ernest Phillip Rees, was born in August later that
year. 398 Another son, Stanley Robert Rees, was born in 1902 but did not survive infancy, dying
in 1904.399 The funeral party for little Stanley left the family home at 25 Carlisle Street,
Leichhardt and caught the train at Petersham Station for the trip to Rookwood Cemetery. 400
A daughter, Ruby May Rees, was born in 1906 and another son, Robert William Meredith Rees
was born on 7 August 1909.401 The family later moved to Junior Street, Leichhardt. After leaving
Clyde Engineering, Herbert worked at various heavy engineering workshops around Sydney,
including Henry Vale & Sons at Auburn, Mainwaring & Sons at Sydney, the Colonial Sugar
Refinery at Pyrmont, G&C Hoskins at Sydney, the Lithgow Ironworks, Duncan Moffatt & Pritchett
at Camperdown and National Motor & Engineering Company
at Glebe. This large number of jobs over a fairly short time
could suggest that Herbert had trouble impressing his
employers. Or perhaps his qualifications were in demand and
he was always looking for better prospects.
During the First World War a call went out for workers
experienced in metal turning to work in munitions factories
in England. Herbert, who had particular skills on high speed
lathes, signed up as a volunteer at the age of 36 and was given
Badge No 113.402 He sailed from Australia on 17 October
1916 on the troop ship Borda and arrived in England in
January 1917. He was part of the Australian Munitions
Workers headquartered at the Cromwell Road in London.
Most of his service was spent at the Royal Arsenal at Woolwich
where he worked as a tool turner. In early 1918 his wife
Elizabeth wrote to the Defence Department stating that she Clyde Engineering works
had not heard from Herbert since he left Australia 15 months Phoenix logo
before and had not received any of his earnings in that time.
The authorities were not impressed with Herbert’s nonchalant response that he wrote every
fortnight and that the letters had probably been “miscarried.” He also showed them recent cables
where he had sent some money. They insisted that Herbert send a telegram clarifying the
payments to be made. Payments may have improved from that time but by now Elizabeth had
moved the family to 222 Catherine Street, Leichhardt and had taken in a boarder to help pay the
rent. The house was only two doors from her parents who lived at 226 Catherine Street.

398 NSW BDM Birth Certificate 23151/1900

399 NSW BDM Birth Certificate 32740/1902 and Death Certificate 5789/1904
400 The Sydney Morning Herald 2 May 1904, page 10
401 BDM Birth Certificates 14438/1906 and 29193/1909
402 National Archives of Australia File NAA: MT1139/1, Rees Herbert

220
Herbert stayed in London until the end of the war and continually asked to be sent back on the
last available ship as he was waiting for some patents to be approved. In reality, he may have
been keen to delay his return for more domestic reasons. He finally returned to Australia on the
troop ship Kurak, arriving on 10 May 1919, on which date he was discharged from further
service. He had lined up a new job at the Lithgow Small Arms factory that would see him away
from home yet again.
Elizabeth’s father, Robert Meredith, died suddenly at the age of 70 on 2 May 1919, only eight
days before Herbert’s return. His funeral was held on 3 May with the funeral party catching the
train from Stanmore Station for Haslem’s Creek Cemetery (Rookwood). 403 A memorial notice in
The Sydney Morning Herald (page 12) a year later on 1 May 1920 stated the traditional words
“Not dead to us, we loved him dear. Not lost, but gone before.”
Elizabeth would have been grief stricken by this unexpected loss of her close parent. Within a
day or two after the funeral she had the unpleasant task of telling the current boarder at the
Rees house, a returned soldier named Robert Jacobs, he was no longer able to stay as Herbert
was expected back any day. After Herbert returned (at least until he took up his job at Lithgow),
he took pity on the boarder who was then invited to come around and take his meals at the
house until he could find another permanent lodging. Jacobs accepted the offer and he came
around for five days until the day he turned up drunk and shot Elizabeth dead in front of her
son Ernest.
The shooting happened on a Saturday night about 7 pm as Elizabeth and other relatives were
leaving the house to go to the pictures. Jacobs simply walked up to her and shot her point blank
in the head, killing her instantly. Jacobs then bolted to the street corner where, under the glow
of the street lamp, he shot himself through the forehead.
An ambulance was called and he was taken to the
Prince Alfred Hospital where he died soon after arriving.
Jacobs was a 28 year old country boy from Queensland.
He had been wounded twice during the war, the first
being a less serious gun-shot wound to the chest and
the second being a more serious thigh wound from an
exploding shell that caused major damage. He had only
just returned to Australia after a long convalescence in
England and was waiting for his formal discharge which
came through the day after Herbert returned. It is
unlikely that he formed any romantic attachment to The Sun headlines
Elizabeth in the five weeks he had been a boarder so his
intent to kill must have been related to the manner in which he was treated. Elizabeth’s son
Ernest would later tell the inquest “He said he was mad when he took drink. He must have been
mad with drink when he shot my mother.”404 The report of the inquest gave no mention of motive.
Elizabeth’s funeral party, so soon after her father’s, left her house on 9 June 1919 for Petersham
Station to catch the train to Rookwood Cemetery. 405 Special mortuary trains left twice a day
from Redfern Station to each of the four stations built within the cemetery. The trains were
bedecked with mourning drapes and flowers. They stopped at prearranged stations on the way
to Lidcombe to pick up coffins and mourners. A branch line took the train from Lidcombe to the
cemetery.

403 NSW BDM Death Certificate 10259/1919 and The Sydney Morning Herald 3 May 1919, p 15
404 The Sydney Morning Herald 9 June 1919, page 7 and 14 June 1919, page 14
405 NSW BDM Death Certificate 10330/1919 and The Sydney Morning Herald 9 June 1919, p 5

221
Herbert was now on his own in raising his younger children. Ernest was a more self-sufficient
19 year old but Ruby was only 13 and Robert 10. Herbert may have decided to stay in Sydney
instead of moving to Lithgow for his new job so he could be closer to family members for support.
Sometime over the next four years he met Annie Thelma Sheridan (known as Thelma), who was
22 years younger than Herbert. Thelma was born in rural Glen Innes in 1903 and had only
recently come to Sydney. They were living together at 26 Northumberland Avenue, Stanmore
when they married on 30 January 1924 at Christ Church St Laurence at Railway Square near
Sydney’s Central Station.406 The Anglican Church dates back to 1844. The ceremony was
performed by the curate of the Church, the
Reverend E H B Coulcher. The following
year the Reverend Coulcher, on his way
back from a wedding near Rockhampton
in Queensland, was holding open the gate
at a railway crossing when a train
barrelled through and “smashed to atoms”
the car in which he had been travelling as
a passenger.407
On this Marriage Certificate, George Rees,
as father of the groom, was described as
John Rees, although his wife’s name of
Kezia Deslandes was stated correctly.
This was the first time that George was
described as a mine owner, but as his son Meeting the funeral train
had trouble remembering his father’s
name, you cannot put too much weight on the occupation being precise.
Later that year, Herbert’s 18 year old daughter Ruby Rees married Leichhardt boy Arthur Henry
Lyons.408 Arthur was a year older than Ruby and was working as a machinist and wood turner,
having completed a trade course at Ashfield Junior Technical School. At a time when Ruby may
have been thinking about having children, her father was busy thinking about having more of
his own and soon he and Thelma had produced two girls, Nellie Hazel Rees and Noela Eunice
Rees.
After their marriage, Herbert and Thelma lived for some years at Hyde Park Road, Lidcombe,
where the two girls were born. In 1930 the family moved to 53 Albert Crescent, Burwood.
Herbert, Thelma, Robert and the girls continued to live at Burwood until about 1935 when they
all moved to Heighway Avenue, Croydon. The older son, Ernest, had moved to the NSW country
some years earlier for a new life but still carrying the emotional scars from his mother’s death.
The family group later moved back to Albert Crescent, Burwood but this time to No 55, the house
next door to their old house.
Herbert Rees had a sudden heart attack at home and died on 23 June 1962 at the age of 81. 409
His Death Certificate continued the mistaken name of his father but this time his mother’s
Christian name of Kezia was recorded as Keziah and her surname was mangled into
Deslendanders. Thelma Rees lived for another nine years, passing away on 11 July 1971 at the
age of 68.410

406 NSW BDM Marriage Certificate 296/1924

407 Evening News 30 October 1925, page 7
408 NSW BDM Marriage Certificate 10596/1924
409 NSW BDM Death Certificate 13264/1962
410 NSW BDM Death Certificate 60142/1971

222
 Ernest Phillip Rees
Herbert’s older son, Ernest, had moved to the NSW country town of Aberdeen, between
Muswellbrook and Scone, where he worked as a barman at the Aberdeen Hotel. Ernie met a
local girl, Annie Josepha Meredith, who was another descendant of the same Meredith family as
Ernie’s mother but not so close as to be a problem. He may even have met her through family
connections. Annie was three years younger than Ernie. Her parents were farmers who also
raised horses. Her father Alfred James Meredith (or Jimmy as he was known) was the owner of
many race horses that competed on race tracks in the Hunter Valley and along the North Coast.
One horse of note was given the name Annie M.411
Annie grew up surrounded by horses and she was an adept with them. When she was 13 she
and a friend won first prize at the Upper Hunter Show for riding a pair of hackney horses
(hackney being a horse that could trot, making it suitable for pulling a carriage). 412 She
continued to win prizes at district shows over the years, particularly with hackney horses. She
was 28 when she married Ernie on 17 February 1931. 413 Their first home was at McQueen
Street, Aberdeen. Ernie found work as a labourer until he took up a position as a meat worker
at the local abattoir run by Australian Chilling and Freezing Company Ltd.
In 1943 Ernie Rees was in trouble at the
Aberdeen abattoir. War time
regulations made it an offence for
workers to refuse to work on work days
where the work involved supplying the
army. These regulations had been
made to overcome stoppages and
strikes by some unions who had
deliberately withheld the supply of food,
weapons and other materials to fighting
forces to get wage rises. The issue had
become very emotional across the
country. In 1943 New Year’s Day fell on
Australian Chilling & Freezing Co at Aberdeen a Saturday and the Government had
declared Monday 28 December 1942 as
a public holiday in lieu of the Saturday, making 1st of January an ordinary working day.
However, the workers at the abattoir worked under an award that said that the 1st of January
was a public holiday and therefore did not count as a work day. A meeting of workers on 31
December decided by a majority (mostly all of the younger workers) that the regulations did not
apply because 1st January was not a work day. Most of the older workers, including Ernie, did
not agree and they turned up for work on the day but as there were insufficient workers to
process the sheep, there was no point killing them, so the workers left early in the afternoon.
Part of the meat was destined for the army. The Government decided to prosecute all of them
including those who had turned up but who had left before the end of their shift. Ernie and his
co-workers were found guilty but given the rather light punishment of a £5 bond to comply with
the regulations in future.414
By 1949 Ernie was working as an offalman, which may have involved the cutting out and cleaning
of the livers, kidneys, brains, etc but it could have covered the making of devon and other cured
meats. Annie continued to raise horses and Ernie found himself working part-time in coursing,

411 The Scone Advocate 18 April 1951, page 3

412 The Muswellbrook Chronicle 15 April 1916, page 2
413 NSW BDM Marriage Certificate 2136/1931
414 The Muswellbrook Chronicle 26 January 1943, page 1

223
as greyhound racing was then known. He had some success with dogs named Gayalo and Lou
Again.415 Ernie and Annie lived their remaining lives at Aberdeen where Ernie passed away in
1986 at the age of 86.

Ruby May Rees

Ruby and her husband, Arthur Lyons had a daughter, Norma, who was born in 1927. They
moved around the Leichhardt area for some time before permanently
settling at 18 Lords Road. Arthur worked for Harrison Timber Pty Ltd at
Belmore and later for E M Utick at Pyrmont making various items of
furniture (the latter business still operates today but at other locations).
He also made wireless cabinets in his own time which he sold to
Kelshaws Radio at Leichhardt.
Arthur had two run-ins with the law in 1940. He was fined £5 for illegally
using a place for betting. He was also given a two year good behavior
bond for stealing timber worth £5.
Arthur enlisted in the Citizen Force of the RAAF on 13 October 1942,
after two previous unsuccessful attempts.416 He signed up at the age of
37 as a carpenter relying on his civilian trade as a wood machinist. He
gave a good enough explanation of his minor criminal record to allow his
enlistment to proceed. He worked at various locations in Australia, Arthur Lyons on
including Ascot Vale in Victoria, Narrandera in NSW and Darwin in the enlistment
Northern Territory. He was promoted to leading aircraftsman before his
discharge on 13 February 1946. Arthur left a very favourable impression with his superiors in
the Army who consistently gave him good reviews and looked on him as an ideal civilian soldier.
Arthur made representations soon after the war ended to the Speaker of the Commonwealth
Parliament seeking an early discharge from the RAAF so he could re-establish his furniture
business with his 21 year old son Sydney, who was also serving in the RAAF. 417
Arthur passed away on 14 May 1956 at the young age of 51. 418 Ruby was obliged to return to
work and she lived at various addresses around Leichhardt before moving to Five Dock. She
passed away on 11 August 1999 at the age of 92.

Robert William Meredith Rees

In 1930, 21 year old Robert Rees was living with his parents and sisters in the family home at
Burwood. At the time he was working as a clerk. He was still with the family when they moved
to Croydon. By 1935 he had qualified as an accountant and was working for a hardware
business, T C Davis & Co, at Parramatta Road, Concord. The business had only been established
in 1934 and Robert was soon appointed as its manager.
In late 1939, Robert married Mavis Irene Armstrong in Sydney and they lived at various
addresses in Old South Head Road, Bellevue Hill.419 Robert was 39 when he enlisted for service
as a clerk in the Citizen Force of the RAAF in the Second World War on 2 June 1942, the very

415 The Muswellbrook Chronicle 3 November 1953, page 2 and 8 December 1953
416 NAA War Service Record WWII 71072
417 NAA War Service Record WWII 139582
418 NSW BDM Death Certificate 12219/1956
419 NSW BDM Marriage Certificate 22/1940

224
same day as his cousin’s husband, Norman Gosnell, following the submarine attack on Sydney
Harbour.420 That was unlikely to be coincidental. Their enlistment probably encouraged Robert’s
brother in law, Arthur Lyons, to do the same four months later.
Robert had earlier experience as a private in
the civilian militia. As a qualified
accountant, he was offered a place at the
School of Administration as part of an officer
training course. Robert’s assessment for
suitability as an officer was not particularly
overwhelming in praise, confining his
abilities to mostly an average rating. In
particular, his appearance was marked as
“passable, the average ordinary looking
individual” instead of the higher rating of
“creates a distinctly favourable impression or
most impressive – stands out among his
Robert William Meredith Rees fellows.” On passing the course in 1944, he
was promoted to Pilot Officer and then to
Flying Officer while working at the RAAF Service Police Unit which dealt with criminal, security
and intelligence matters. He was discharged in March 1946, seven months after the end of the
war. He then returned to accountancy again, mostly in his own practice. He and Mavis lived for
many years at Bellevue Hill before moving to Neutral Bay and then to Cremorne.
Robert died on 7 August 2005 at the grand age of 95.

Nellie Hazel Rees and Noela Eunice Rees

In 1948, after the war, Herbert and Thelma’s older daughter, Nellie, married 24 year old Harold
Raymond Wake at Burwood. 421 Nellie was working as a typist and Harold as a printer. He had
enlisted in the Army on 8 May 1942 and gave his occupation as a letterpress machinist working
at The Weekly Times at Gladesville.422 He had no experience as a driver of any type of motor
vehicle or at cooking, typing or first aid but he did happen to know Morse Code and this was
seized upon as an asset. He joined the citizen force in the Signals Division before transferring to
the regular Army where he worked in a printing press unit.
Harold served three and a half years, a third of which was based overseas, mostly in New Guinea.
He was discharged on 30 November 1945 and returned to Nellie, who was by then living at No
74 Day Street, Drummoyne. They later spent many years living at 2 Ross Street, Gladesville
before moving to Kenthurst where Harold operated a plant nursery.
Herbert and Thelma’s other daughter, Noela, married Herbert Bobb in 1956 at Burwood. 423
Herbert worked as a hire car driver and Noela was a clerk. They moved in with Noela’s parents
at Burwood after the marriage. Noela and Herbert took over the old family house after the
passing of Noela’s parents. Noela died in 1987.

420 NAA Service Record WWII 65439

421 NSW BDM Marriage Certificate 5563/1948
422 NAA War Service Record WWII NX156797
423 NSW BDM Marriage Certificate 22326/1956

225
Photo from the Elsie Hely Collection titled “The Rees Girls” but with no identifying detail
– they do not belong to Elsie’s branch of the Rees family

226
 7 - The Jardine Connection
The remainder of this story is about the family connections of Janet Nelson, the wife of George
TJ Rees. I could have finished the Rees story at the end of the last chapter and written a separate
story in a new book about Janet’s families. However, in looking into those families in more detail,
I realised they had a lot in common with the pioneering Rees family and that their story would
make a logical addition to the Rees story.
This chapter looks at the family of Janet’s mother – the Jardines. The following chapter looks at
the much larger family of Janet’s father – the Nelsons.

James and Ann Jardine

James Jardine and Ann Hewitt - Married 1826

Children:

James Jardine b 1827 d nk

Margaret Bain Jardine b 1829 d 1910 81 years

Helen Mitchell Jardine b 1831 d 1917 86 years

Janet Jardine b 1832 d 1921 89 years

James Hewitt Jardine b 1834 d 1907 72 years

Jane Jardine b 1836 d 1888 52 years

Ann Jardine b 1838 d 1871 33 years

Thomas Jardine b 1843 d 1906 62 years

Amy Jardine b 1846 d 1857 11 years

In the 1850s thousands of men, women and children across Ireland, Wales, Scotland and
England carefully folded up all of their worldly possessions into sturdy bags and sacks and tied-
up packages, said their goodbyes, usually final ones, to loved ones and friends and then left their
mostly impoverished homes for a new life. They walked long distances in all weather,
occasionally taking cheap transport if economically possible, as they made their way to the major

227
ports of Britain. Many of them converged on the port of Liverpool in England, one of the major
departure points for those emigrating to the new worlds of North America and Australia.
Passage to North America was quicker and cheaper because of the shorter distance. To
encourage workers and domestic servants to emigrate to Australia, the colonial government set
up assistance schemes from the 1830s resulting in hundreds of thousands of emigrants making
the voyage to Australia over the next 50 years.
James and Ann Jardine and their children were among those to make the voyage to Australia
with little idea of the life awaiting them in the far off colony.
James and Ann most likely met when
they were neighbours living at the
northern end of the road known as
Cowgate, about 300 metres from
Edinburgh Castle. A gate was
originally a road but as walls were
built around towns, the gate became
a reference to the gap in the wall used
to access the road. The name
Cowgate dates back to the 1400s
when cows were driven from
surrounding fields and along the road
to get to the large open Grassmarket
area below the castle. The market
operated from 1477 to 1911 and was
also the site of public hangings. The grassless Grassmarket in the early 1800s

James and Ann were simple people with no need to look for married bliss beyond the potential
occupants of the next house. Having found their life partner amazingly close by, they were
married on 2 December 1826 at Greyfriars Kirk just around the corner from where they lived.
Greyfriars represented the Franciscan Order as against Blackfriars which represented the
Dominican Order – there were other colours for less popular orders. The kirk, at the time of the
marriage, was not run by monks but by the modern Presbyterian Church of Scotland. The kirk
had been named after the monastery that used to be on the land.
Greyfriars Kirk is famous as the resting place of almost 1,000 Protestant dissenters known as
Covenanters who were infamously executed by the ruling Protestants in 1679. The Covenanters
were representative of the more extreme religious groups that were opposed not only to the
Papacy but also to monarchy and
they were therefore seen by the ruling
Protestants as a political threat. The
kirk is also remembered for its
association with Edinburgh’s most
famous dog, Greyfriars’ Bobby.
James was working as a cabinet
maker which was a respectable
occupation that probably earned him
a reasonable income. As James and
Ann were regular parishioners at the
kirk, they had their banns read three
times with no objection received (a
process recorded as Procla which was
an abbreviation of Proclamation of Greyfriars Kirk
Banns).

228
James’ family has been traced back by some family historians to his parents James Jardine and
Helen Mitchell as well as to his paternal grandparents William Jardine and Jean Gourlay. The
name Jardine has a French origin and means of the garden (it is also the origin of the name
Gardiner). James’ wife, Ann Hewitt, descended from her parents James Hewitt and Margaret
Bain and her grandparents, William Hewitt and his wife Janet Kirk and William Bain and his
wife Margaret Milne or Mill.
Apart from a stay in Glasgow where their first two children, James and Margaret, were born,
James and Ann Jardine lived most of their lives in Dalkeith, a town on the Esk River to the south
east of Edinburgh. The town was very prosperous during the mid-1800s and local employment
was high. The Statistical Account of Scotland for 1845 described Dalkeith’s excellence of produce
and manufacturing and noted that “Few towns are better supplied … almost every article that the
present improved condition of society requires may be obtained here in abundance.”
It is likely that James junior died young, possibly as an infant. He is not recorded with the family
in the 1841 Scottish Census. Ann’s next male child was born in 1834 and was called James
Hewitt Jardine, suggesting that the first James had died before then.
According to the 1851 Scottish Census, the family lived on land owned by a Mr Laws on the High
Street which, as expected, was the main street through the town and the site of one of the largest
produce markets in Scotland. James worked as a joiner journeyman probably working for a
master furniture maker adjacent to or near the street market.
The Census recorded eight children at the Jardine household - Margaret, Janet, James Hewitt,
Jane, Ann and Thomas with the youngest being 5 year old Ammy (or Amy as she was always
known) whose name was incorrectly transcribed in the Census as another Ann. Janet’s older
sister Helen (who by now was known to everyone as Ellen) was not at home at the time the
Census was taken. She was working as a servant for the Crowe family at 2 Darnaway Street,
Edinburgh. A 16 year old nephew named John Jardine, a brush maker, was also staying with
the family at the time of the Census.
Janet was recorded as an 18 year old scholar. This was a word used for almost all children above
the age of five who were not working. To be a scholar, the child needed to be either at school or
under instruction by a recognised tutor but it was common for the 1851 Census to show most
children who were not working as scholars. At 18 Janet was old to be a scholar. She was
probably working in some capacity but it was desirable to conceal her contribution to the family
income for rent and tax purposes.
Her younger brother, James Hewitt, was 16 and working as a shopman (probably in a butchery)
and her 20 year old sister, Margaret, was employed as a dressmaker. Their wages would have
supplemented their father’s income.
If times were so good in Dalkeith (unlike most of Britain), why did the Jardine family make the
decision to start emigrating across the world in 1853? Perhaps it was because tradesmen,
especially furniture makers from Scotland, were in high demand in the colony and prospects for
a comfortable life were much brighter.
In any event, the family’s emigration started with James and Ann’s 20 year old daughter, Janet
Jardine who was likely acting as a trailblazer for the rest of the family. Janet could make the
journey and get herself established in the colony and report back on conditions so that the family
could make a more informed decision on whether to join her.
Perhaps Janet went first simply because the other family members were held up obtaining
certificates of birth. Astoundingly, the 1854 parish register of baptisms for the Parish of Dalkeith
included baptismal details for all of the Jardine children from Margaret to Amy even though their
baptisms had taken place over many earlier years and in different locations in Scotland. This
act of post-registering the baptisms was highly irregular but the inclusion in the 1854 register
contained the note “For permission to register the above family of James Jardine see Minutes of

229
 Session 9th April 1854.” This
was a reference to minutes
kept by the local kirk of the
ordinary sessions held by the
minister and elders of the
congregation.
To be eligible for assisted
passage, emigrants needed to
be able to provide evidence of
their birth to confirm who they
claimed to be. There must
have been some problem for
the Jardines, such as getting
access to the parish records in
Glasgow where James and
Margaret had been baptized.
High Street, Dalkeith
However, most of the children
had been baptized in Dalkeith so the problem there must have been either loss of the relevant
registers through destruction or the baptisms were never recorded. James Jardine must have
made a request to the kirk for the baptisms of the children to be officially recorded so that
certificates could be provided to the colonial agents. This would have taken time to arrange but
in the meantime, as Janet’s birth documentation must have been sufficiently available, she
travelled ahead of her family.

230
 Janet Jardine
Janet was born in Linlithgow on 22 September 1832. She was the third of the nine children of
James Jardine and Ann Hewitt. Linlithgow was a town of great beauty on the road between
Edinburgh and Stirling. It was for a time the home of Scottish royalty and the town provided
most of the workers for the running of the royal estate. The ill-fated Mary, Queen of Scots and
heir to the English crown, was born at Linlithgow Palace in 1542.
Janet left the family home at Dalkeith and travelled to Liverpool in England to start her voyage
to the colony. Armed with her emigration paperwork and carrying her worldly possessions, Janet
boarded the 1,118 tons ship Telegraph in Liverpool as part of a complement of 443 government
assisted passengers on their way
to Sydney.
The Telegraph had been built at
Saint John in New Brunswick on
the far south eastern coast of
Canada, near the border with the
United States, and launched in
early 1853. The new ship set sail
only a few months later on 24
June 1853 under the command
of Captain J T Irvine with George
Anderson as the surgeon
superintendent.424 The ship
carried 56 married males, 23
single males, 57 married females
and 87 children. These
passengers were greatly
outnumbered by the 221 single
females, including Janet Jardine,
who were most likely travelling Linlithgow
without friend or family. Most of
the passengers were from Ireland, which was typical of the make-up of emigrants at the time.
The ship also carried a substantial cargo of coal which doubled up as ballast.
The voyage took just less than three months with the ship berthing in Sydney on 18 September
1853 having sailed without stop. The surgeon superintendent reported that the only sickness
on board was diarrhoea, with 10 cases of a slight attack. Almost as an afterthought he added
that diarrhoea had also caused the death of two infants. One adult drowned after being lost
overboard early on the voyage. He was John Standen and his wife Naomi later wrote a heartfelt
letter to her parents on the distress of losing her husband and at arriving in Sydney with two
small children and with no money or friends (she later found friends and married one of them in
1855).
On arrival, the immigration agent who organized the voyage, Willis Merry & Co of Pitt Street,
Sydney drew up a record of the passengers. The record was essential to allow the agent to claim
the government assistance. Agents usually made profits of many thousands of pounds for each
voyage. Janet was recorded as a 21 year old housemaid (she was still four days short of that
age) whose native place was Linlithgow in Scotland. It was noted that she could both read and
write but her later marriage certificate shows that she could only make her mark rather than

The Maitland Mercury and Hunter River General Advertiser 21 September 1853, page 2 and
424

NSW State Records - Persons on bounty ships (Agent's Immigrant Lists), 1838-1896

231
pen a signature. Immigration forms often exaggerated the literacy level of immigrants to improve
their job prospects. It does suggest, however, that her home tuition as a child was somewhat
lacking.
Her parents were noted on the passenger record as James and Ann Jardine and they were living
at Dalkeith. Janet was in good health, had no complaints about the conditions on board and
had no relatives in the colony. She had also paid her £1 contribution to the fare. Under the
assistance scheme she was required to work for a period as a housemaid to pay off her passage,
usually for three months but sometimes for up to a year.
Within 12 months of arriving in Sydney Janet had met and married Thomas Nelson with the
ceremony being held at the Scot’s Church in Sydney on 5 October 1854. Despite Janet being
the first of her family to emigrate, she may not have seen much of her family again. Janet’s story
continues in the next chapter that looks at the Nelson family.

Bulk Emigration
With Janet safely stowed in Sydney, James and Ann packed up all of their belongings as soon
as they could and, with the rest of the family, other than son James Hewitt Jardine, they made
the long journey to their port of embarkation (James Jardine was probably required to stay in
Dalkeith to complete his butchery apprenticeship – he could always join up with the family later).
This port was in the south of England at Plymouth where they boarded the 851 tons Oithona.
The Oithona had been built in Sunderland in the north of England in 1853. The ship set sail on
21 October 1854 (only 16 days after Janet was married) under the command of Captain W Taylor
and with a complement of 344 passengers, made up of 108 adult males, 133 adult females and
103 children. The ship’s surgeon superintendent, Lloyd Herbert, reported that one adult and
seven children failed to survive the rigors of the voyage. The adult only lasted eight days at sea.
The voyage took 101 days with the ship arriving at its destination of Portland Bay on 30 January
1855. The town of Portland was 360 km west of Melbourne and was the first European
settlement in Victoria, having been settled by the Henty brothers in 1834. 425
48 year old James and 47 year
old Ann had paid their own way
and officially brought with them
the two youngest children,
Thomas and Amy. Two of the
older girls, 21 year old Helen
and 15 year old Ann were
assisted passengers. Helen was
sponsored by a Mrs Clarke of
Portland and Ann by a Mrs
Sutherland, also of Portland.
They were both required to work
for their sponsors as domestic
servants for at least three
months. Mrs Clarke was
probably the wife of Lindsay
Portland, Victoria
Clarke who was the Assistant
Government Surveyor and later the District Surveyor at Portland. They lived at Warrane at 35

425 Victoria, Assisted and Unassisted Passenger Lists 1839-1923

232
Henty Street. Mrs Sutherland was the wife of the Portland doctor, William Sutherland, who lived
at the townhouse Sandilands at 33 Percy Street.
By 1856 James and Ann had moved most of the family from Portland to Melbourne and they
were living just north of the city at No 18 Madelaine Street in the inner suburb of Carlton (older
daughter Helen had found other interests and moved on).426 Madelaine Street, which ran from
Victoria Street north to the Melbourne Cemetery, would much later become the northern end of
Swanston Street.
Not long after they moved to Madelaine Street, Ann was found to have developed a tumour in the
breast. The 50 year old passed away on 9 October 1856 at Melbourne Hospital from breast
cancer with her husband at her bedside. 427 She was buried three days later at 3.30 pm in the
Presbyterian section of the nearby cemetery in an unmarked grave. The cost of the funeral was
£3/10.
Tragedy again befell the family
exactly a year later when the
youngest child, 11 year old Amy,
died on 8 October 1857 after
suffering over the previous six
weeks from a wasting disease
generally called phthisis, the
most common manifestation of
which was consumption
(tuberculosis).428 At the time, the
family had moved to nearby
Leicester Street.
Amazingly, the family stayed in
Melbourne or in rural Victoria for Melbourne Hospital
the rest of their lives and made no attempt to follow Janet to Sydney or to the farmlands of
northern NSW. Perhaps they were content with the lifestyle and comforts they had already found.
We do know that Janet kept in touch with her family and there were clearly visits that took place
between family members.
By 1858 James had opened a wine and spirit shop in Carlton and became a respected
businessman in the inner city suburb. By 1867, James was now on his own, having seen the
last of his children married off or leave to catch up with other siblings in the country. He swapped
his wine and spirit licence for a publican’s licence (or he may have kept both) and he took over
the Dover Castle Hotel at Palmerston Street, Carlton. His holding of the licence did not last very
long as he sold it the following year. 429 He is likely to have made a number of investments in
hotel businesses as the name James Jardine shows up on a few hotel ownership records.
James eventually gave up life in Melbourne and moved to the rural Beechworth area to be closer
to some of his children. He died at Hillsborough, where his older daughter Margaret lived, on 30
June 1892 at the well advanced age of 89 and was buried at the cemetery in nearby Stanley. 430

426 The Argus 14 October 1856, page 4

427 VIC BDM Death Certificate 4598/1856
428 VIC BDM Death Certificate 5935/1857
429 The Argus 5 June 1868, page 8
430 The Yackandandah Times 9 July 1892, page 2

233
 Margaret Jardine

Married Thomas White Folster 1860

Children:

James Jardine Folster b 1860 d 1942 81 years

Ann Folster b 1864 d 1921 57 years

Thomas Jardine Folster b 1865 d 1911 46 years

William Folster b 1867 d 1941 74 years

Charles Folster b 1869 d 1937 68 years

The oldest of the Jardine children, Margaret, was 31 when she married Thomas Folster in 1860
while she was still living in Melbourne. They soon moved to the Beechworth area and settled at
the town of Yackandandah for some years before moving to Hillsborough situated in the range
of hills overlooking Yackandandah. Her sister Helen would later arrive in the area no doubt
following in Margaret’s footsteps.
Thomas took up gold mining along the quartz reefs found in the area. In particular, he is credited
with discovering the Perseverance Reef, which yielded well for some time.431
He and Margaret had five children between 1860 and 1869. Two of their sons continued the gold
mining focus of the family by owning a quartz crushing battery at Clear Creek near Hillsborough
and another at Twist Creek near Yackandandah.
Their only daughter Annie married William Waterson in 1893 at Hillsborough. In 1900 William
wrote to the local newspaper a letter of appreciation of the Beechworth based Doctor Haynes for
saving Annie’s life when William thought she was beyond saving. Annie had come down with
hydatids after she inadvertently managed to ingest tapeworm eggs that probably originated from
an infected dog.432
Annie was badly injured in an accident in 1907. She was sitting under a tree where William and
others were working to remove saplings and branches when a large sapling fell the wrong way
and landed on Annie. If she had sat any closer, the injury could have been fatal. 433
William Waterson was born in Ireland. His parents and their five children emigrated to Australia
in 1871. Another five children were born in Victoria. William and his sister Eliza (Elizabeth)
both married into the Folster family, with Eliza marrying Charles Folster, the youngest of the
Folster children.
Charles became a mine manager looking after the Homeward Bound Mine at Bruarong about
8km north of Yackandandah. By now almost all of the gold mines were being worked by crushing

431 The Yackandandah Times 28 August 1903, page 2

432 Ovens and Murray Advertiser 4 August 1900, page 4
433 Ovens and Murray Advertiser 15 June 1907, page 10

234
ore dug from the gold bearing reefs. The crushed ore was then mixed into a slurry to which was
added carbon and cyanide. The gold was dissolved by the cyanide and then absorbed by the
carbon. The loaded carbon was then removed from the slurry and processed further to extract
a liquid solution containing the gold. The gold was then removed from the solution by electrolysis
using copper plates which became electroplated with gold. Of course the use of cyanide in this
process was always a risk to the environment if waste products were not properly stored and
neutralised.
By the 1870s, the more efficient ore crushing equipment at the Homeward Bound Mine was
crushing ore from many of the mines at nearby Hillsborough and surrounding areas.
Management of the mine was now a significant job in the district.
In 1920, three gold plated copper plates (each weighing between 18 to 20 kg) were stolen from
the Homeward Bound Mine during the Christmas shut down. With Charles’ help, two men were
identified as the culprits and later charged with the theft.434 The bench of magistrates had
different opinions about the men’s guilt with the result that one was convicted and the other was
acquitted.
Charles was also a keen rifleman and a member of the Yackandandah Rifle Club.
Margaret died on 30 January 1910 when she was 81. She had lived in the Yackandandah and
Hillsborough areas for over 50 years. At the time of her death, all of her siblings had passed
away except for Helen in Yackandandah and Janet in Sydney. All of her children lived in the
area and survived her. Sadly, one of her sons, Thomas Jardine Folster, died in Beechworth
Hospital in 1911 after a tree fell on him in one of his paddocks at Hillsborough. He had been
inspecting the paddock after a bush fire had just gone through. He had a profound deafness
caused by his mining work and did not hear the tree falling. His wife Mary heard him calling out
and he was eventually taken to hospital but died from his injuries which included a broken
neck.435

Miners at the start of a shift – the shift boss Jim Porter, a

manager at Bruarong, is wearing a bowler hat and vest

434The Yackandandah Times 27 May 1920, page 4 and 24 June 1920, page 4
435The Argus 22 November 1911, page 14 and Ovens and Murray Advertiser 25 November 1911,
page 4

235
 Helen Jardine

Married Charles McIntyre 1855

Children:

Jane McIntyre b 1855 d 1862 6 years

Charles McIntyre b 1857 d 1884 26 years

James McIntyre b 1859 d 1933 74 years

John McIntyre b 1861 d 1935 74 years

William McIntyre b 1863 nk

Ellen Jane McIntyre b 1866 d 1866 3 months

Margaret McIntyre b 1867 d 1869 2 years

Thomas Jardine McIntyre b 1871 d 1905 34 years

While working for Mrs Clarke in Portland after arriving in the colony, Helen met Charles McIntyre,
a 23 year old Englishman from Chorley in Lancashire who worked as a joiner. They later claimed
to have married at Portland Bay in May 1855 but I can find no record to confirm this.
Once Helen’s service to Mrs Clarke was finished, she and Charles relocated by ship (the
Boomerang) to Melbourne where they found quarters at Little Bourke Street. They had agreed
to work for Thomas & Cook of North Melbourne as day workers. Their first child Jane was born
on 28 December 1855. Charles and Helen left Melbourne in 1857 and made their way to the
gold town of Yackandandah in the north east of Victoria near Beechworth.
From this time Helen became officially known in Australia as Ellen, the name she was known by
for most of her earlier life (I will from now refer to her as Ellen). They would have seven more
children between 1857 and 1871 while living in that area.
They first settled at Three Mile Creek where Charles worked a gold claim but after their six year
old daughter Jane died in February 1862, Charles took over the licence of the Eureka Hotel at
the nearby gold village of Kirby’s Flat. He advertised he was holding a grand ball and supper on
20 June 1862, probably to commemorate his taking over the hotel. 436 There was a story
circulating at the time that the hotel had been purchased by a person named Jardine and it is
possible that his father-in-law, James Jardine, may have bought the hotel as an investment.
By 1865, after the gold had dwindled at Kirby’s Flat, Charles famously dismantled the wooden
hotel and re-erected it on land he now owned in Windham (Wyndham) Street, Yackandandah

436 Ovens and Murray Advertiser 10 June 1862, page 3

236
where it became the Bridge Hotel.437 The building and its substantial brick extensions still stand
today, including the hotel signage, but it is no longer a hotel. 438
After moving to Yackandandah, Charles and Ellen retained some property at Kirby’s Flat,
including a stable and an old ball room but they remained unused. Charles took exception when
he found out that local children had been taking bark and rafters from the old buildings in a
wheelbarrow for their father’s cowshed. Charles had the father charged with theft but the
magistrate took the view that the buildings were too deserted to warrant a conviction for
stealing.439

The Bridge Hotel, Yackandandah c 1900 – James McIntyre (also a

veterinarian) is examining the horse’s teeth – Elsie Hely Collection

Two more children died in infancy, Ellen in 1866 when she was only three months old and
Margaret in 1869 when she was two years old.
Charles was 39 when he accidentally drowned in the nearby Kiewa River on 30 June 1870 when
record levels of floodwater passed through the fertile valley to discharge into the Murray River.
Ellen gave birth to her last child, Thomas Jardine McIntyre, three months after the loss of her
husband.
When Ellen’s 26 year old son Charles died in 1884, the family eulogized:

“We watched him fading day by day, we saw him pass away,
We nursed him with love and kindest care, but could not make him stay.”

Ellen took over the running of the hotel for many years. In 1892, the youngest child, Thomas
Jardine McIntyre, who was now a 23 year old, was arrested and charged with stealing postal
orders from the mail during the time he had worked for the Post Office in Collingwood,
Melbourne.440

437 Ovens and Murray Advertiser 26 October 1865, page 4

438 Yackety Yak Issue 38 Oct/Nov 2011 Yackandandah Community Development Company
439 Ovens and Murray Advertiser 20 February 1868, page 3
440 The Yackandandah Times 17 September 1892, page 2

237
Earlier that year the Bridge Hotel was the venue for the celebration of a win by the local
Yackandandah Australian Rules Football Club against the visiting team from Tallangatta.
Evidently a win by the local team was a rare event, so great hospitality was shown to the visiting
team at the hotel.441
By 1895 Ellen had contemplated
selling the hotel and licence and
retiring to her gardening and social
activities. She had purchased a
house in the town from a Mrs Street
as her place of retirement. Later in
the year she sold the business to
Harry Jennings from Melbourne who
bought the hotel as an investment.442
Ellen’s son James continued working
the Bridge Hotel as licencee. Ellen
passed away on 20 August 1917 at
the stated age of 86. Of her eight
children, only three survived her.443
In 1901 one of Ellen’s sons was
injured in an accident at the
Bethanga Mine. Luckily, the injury
was not too serious and the son made
a full recovery.444
James and possibly other family
members continued to run the hotel
for the owner for some decades.
James famously wrote a letter to the
council in 1918 complaining that by
accepting the least attractive tender
of a person because he was a
returned soldier was an act of charity
that deprived the ratepayers of a
Gravestone of Charles and Ellen McIntyre and four better return. This provoked an
of their children outpouring of indignation towards
James for his callous views about
returned servicemen.445 Although James spent all of his life at Yackandandah, he was an official
of the Albury Race Club and Wodonga Race Club for 40 years. James was also a qualified
veterinary surgeon and was well known throughout the district for his veterinary skills. He spent
many years as a member of the Albury Fire Brigade and the Yackandandah Town Band. 446 He
died in 1933 at the age of 74.447
Later owners of the hotel included the Australian actor, Mel Gibson.

441The Yackandandah Times 30 July 1892, page 3

442The Yackandandah Times 21 June 1895, page 2
443 The Yackandandah Times 23 August 1917, page 2
444The Yackandandah Times 16 August 1901, page 2
445The Yackandandah Times 19 September 1918, page 3
446 The Argus 22 September 1933, page 15
447 Vic BDM Death Certificate 17177/1933

238
 Ann Jardine
About the time of her sister Amy’s death, Ann Jardine, now 19, had followed her sister Ellen’s
lead when she left home in Melbourne to marry George Albert Barnes on 24 June 1857. 448
George was a 29 year old storeman from London and he may have been known to the family
through James Jardine’s business interests. A year after they were married Ann and George had
a son who they named George Thomas Barnes.449 At the time of the birth they were living at No
1 Union Street, North Melbourne.
On the birth register Ann is incorrectly recorded as Anne Jordan. They do not appear to have
had any more children.
Ann and George spent most of their time in Melbourne. Most other members of the Jardine
family spent little time in Melbourne before heading out to regional areas. As a result, Ann may
have had limited contact with her family, other than perhaps her brother Thomas Jardine who
stayed in Melbourne until the 1890s.
Ann and George were living at Hoddle Street in Collingwood when Ann died from “congestion of
brain and fever” on 29 March 1871 at the age of 33.450 Very little is known about this family.

Melbourne in the 1860s

448 VIC BDM Marriage Certificate 2147/1857

449 VIC BDM Birth Certificate 9848/1858
450 VIC BDM Death Certificate 837/1871

239
 James Hewitt Jardine
James Hewitt Jardine was the butcher’s apprentice who was left behind in Scotland to finish his
apprenticeship when the family emigrated to Australia. He was 24 when he finally arrived to
rejoin the family he had not seen for four years. The trouble was, the family had largely split up
in that time and James would have been disappointed if he thought they would all be back
together again.
James’ ship, the Red Jacket, had left Liverpool on 20 July 1858 under the command of the
popular Captain Hector O’Halloran.451 The voyage took only 83 days. Young James was one of
over 480 passengers. He
was described on the
passenger list as a 24 year
old butcher, but he was
mistakenly described as an
Englishman, an insult of the
highest order to a clearly
accented Scot.452
The Red Jacket was one of
the largest and fastest of the
clipper ships especially built
for the Australian run. Its
The Red Jacket net tonnage of 1,597 made it
much larger than the more famous Cutty Sark which was a mere 963 tons. The Red Jacket was
the first ship of the newly formed White Star Line which, many years later, would launch the even
more famous SS Titanic.
James stayed in Melbourne and kept in touch with his father and his then Melbourne based
siblings. He later relocated to the Beechworth area and spent his remaining years in
Yackandandah where he was close to his sister Ellen.
A James Jardine was charged at Beechworth Police Court in 1875 with insulting behavior in High
Street but no further identifying details were given in the newspaper report.453 He said that he
did not know he was committing any offence and if he did, he was very sorry. As he had
expressed regret and had been in the lock-up for the weekend he was only fined 1/6, which just
happened to be the total amount found on him. If he was not our James Hewitt Jardine then it
was probably his father James Jardine who had also moved to the Beechworth area to be closer
to his family.
From about 1887 James junior lived next door to Ellen where he had a well-kept garden and
grew table grapes which won prizes at local shows. He retired from the butchery business but
maintained an income doing odd jobs as a labourer. James never married
He passed away on 29 September 1907 at his sister’s retirement house at the age of 72. He had
suffered from stomach pains for years and had taken castor oil, brandy, Epsom salts and cream
of tartar periodically to ease the pain. After a day of severe stomach pain he was found dead in
his bed with clear signs to even the most amateur bush doctor of a major stomach rupture but
in a bizarre twist, the coroner found that because he had a peaceful look on his face, he had died
of heart disease.454

451 The Argus 13 October 1858, page 4

452 Victoria, Assisted and Unassisted Passenger Lists 1839-1923
453 Ovens and Murray Advertiser 28 September 1875, page 2
454 The Yackandandah Times 3 October 1907, page 2

240
 Jane Jardine

Married Benjamin Logan 1859

Children:

John Alexander Logan b 1861 d 1935 74 years

Ann Hewitt Logan b 1863 d 1956 92 years

Mary McNaught Logan b 1865 d 1957 92 years

Margaret Logan b 1868 d 1868 0 years

James Jardine Logan b 1868 d 1868 0 years

George Henry Logan b 1869 d 1938 69 years

Robert Johnstone Logan b 1872 d 1952 79 years

James McCartney Logan b 1874 d 1952 78 years

Thomas Jardine Logan b 1877 d 1953 76 years

Benjamin Logan b 1879 d 1968 89 years

James and Ann Jardine’s daughter Jane was 23 when she married Benjamin Logan on 16
September 1859.455 The ceremony and reception took place at her father’s residence at Carlton.
James was described in the newspaper notice of the wedding as “a wine and spirit merchant from
Dalkeith”.456
Ben Logan was a fellow Scot who came from the extremely remote Black Laggan, high in the
Galloway hills in the south west of Scotland, not far from Loch Dee. The Logan family had settled
at Black Laggan many generations earlier where they had mostly raised sheep. There is an
obvious link between the names Logan and Laggan.
During the 1840s, Ben moved to London where he found work as a draper. The discovery of gold
in Australia and the fabled wealth to be had soon motivated Ben and his twin brother James to
make their way to the Australian colonies.
Gold had first been officially discovered in NSW in February 1851. Melbourne soon became
almost paralysed by the mass desertion of workers to the goldfields. The Mayor of Melbourne

455 VIC BDM Marriage Certificate 3134/1859

456 The Argus 17 October 1859

241
quickly organized a Gold Discovery Committee to urgently find gold close to the capital. A prize
of £200 was offered if gold was discovered within 100 miles of Melbourne.
In June 1851 a hotel owner named Louis Michel led one of the two official parties looking for
gold. The party travelled slowly, searching the tributaries and creeks of the Yarra River as they
worked their way upstream. Running low on supplies and thinking of turning back, they camped
one night at a creek feeding into the upper Yarra River that was known as Anderson’s Creek.
The creek was about 25km to the north east of Melbourne (an easy walk compared to other
goldfields).
The next morning the party found a vein of quartz which revealed the first specks of gold officially
discovered in Victoria. Other goldfields would soon be discovered around regional Victoria.
Between 1851 and 1880, Victoria would supply one third of the World’s gold production.
Within six months, thousands of miners had turned up at Anderson’s Creek which was soon
awash with a sea of tents among the scattered workings.
Ben and James Logan had arrived at Port Phillip Bay (Melbourne) on 13 October 1852. After
working in Melbourne for six months, Ben found his way to Anderson’s Creek and obtained gold
licence number 235 on 31st March 1853 at a cost of £1/10. Most miners could not afford a
licence and had to make do by working for those who could. Ben was one of the few who had
the money to buy a licence and he was one of the few that stayed on at Anderson’s Creek, long
after most of the miners had left for easier pickings at other goldfields.
He built a small timber cottage on the west side of Anderson Street in the town that grew up
around the goldfield. Later, when the creek ran dry, the miners moved to the banks of the nearby
Yarra River where they obtained a good quantity of gold by building simple coffer dams on
sections of the river to open up the mud and rock on the river bed. This practice continued well
into the 1900s.
Only the serious workers such as Ben stayed to mine the quartz reefs using higher grade
crushing equipment but the operations were not particularly efficient and the return of gold from
the crushings was never particularly high, compared to other goldfields.
Miners spent decades searching for the
“missing mother lode” but such a reef was
never found. There was always a suspicion
that the mother lode ran through the land
set aside for the local cemetery. Bereaved
family members were often surprised to see
a great number of unknown but well-dressed
men among the mourners. The men had
turned up to run a practiced eye over the
walls of the freshly dug grave looking for
traces of the lost lode.
Ben and a partner co-owned the Great
Southern Quartz Claim Company and their
mine was called the Great Southern Mine (its
present location is at 45-56 Gold Memorial
Road). It operated for many years, being
Ben Logan’s Gold Licence particularly active during the 1880s. The
mine consisted of three shafts, each 4-6 feet
wide. The north shaft was about 100 feet deep, terminating in a short tunnel (the Hope Tunnel)
along the bottom of the seam. The central shaft was about 120 feet deep and the south shaft
about 50 feet deep. It was one of the 15 or so major mines at Anderson’s Creek.

242
The town of Anderson’s Creek was absorbed into the adjacent town on the Yarra River named
Warrandyte. Typically Australian in attitude, most residents continued to use the old name long
after the official name change. Eventually, Anderson’s Creek became known as South
Warrandyte.
The Warrandyte Cricket Club was formed in 1855 and Ben Logan was one of its original
members. He signed a petition in 1864 requesting the government to make a grant of land over
the cricket ground to prevent its destruction from future development.
After their marriage in 1859
Ben and Jane lived at the
cottage at Anderson’s Creek
where she would give birth to
10 children over the next 18
years. They suffered tragedy
when two of their children,
twins Margaret and James
Jardine Logan who were born
in 1868, died in early infancy.
Ben became involved in local
affairs as shown by his
appointment in 1875 as the
auditor for the town common
at Warrandyte. He took on
road contracting work for the
local council to supplement
Ben Logan outside his hut c 1890
his income from the mine.
His work included a new log bridge over a creek near Warrandyte and widening of the Warrandyte
Road.457
Jane died on 1 November 1888 at the age of 52.458 She had never left Anderson’s Creek. There
must have been something in the creek water because, apart from her twin babies, her children
all easily outlived her. Ben passed away on 29 June 1892 at the age of 69.459 He was described
as “a thorough straightforward, honest old gentleman.”460 The reporter noted “One by one the old
residents of the fifties are passing away, there being now only three left, I think.”
His twin brother James who had emigrated to Australia with Ben did not follow a life of gold
mining. Instead, he became a sheep farmer (like his ancestors). At the time of his death in 1880,
he was farming 320 acres at St Germains, a rural locality on the Goulburn River in northern
Victoria.
Descendants of Ben and Jane Logan still live in Warrandyte today. There is also a road in
Warrandyte named Logan Avenue. Warrandyte is now surrounded by the Warrandyte State
Park, the closest state park to Melbourne. It is a haven for picnickers, bushwalkers, canoeists,
birdwatchers and people looking for peace and solitude in the bush.

457 Mount Alexander Mail 20 October 1875, page 2 and The Argus 4 May 1877, page 3
458 Vic BDM Death Certificate 11892/1888 and The Age 2 November 1888, page 3
459 Vic BDM Death Certificate 7902/1892
460 Evelyn Observer and South East Bourke Record 8 July 1892, page 2

243
 John Alexander Logan
John (known as Jock) was the first child of Ben and Jane Logan. He became a noted cricketer
playing for the Warrandyte Cricket Club (it was still referred to as the Anderson’s Creek Cricket
Club by incalcitrant locals). He was a gifted batsman and fielder and troubled many batsmen
with his yorker, a ball pitched at or in line with the batsman’s toes. He was appointed captain
of the team when he was about 24. In a book “The Warrandyte Story 1855 – 1955”, Louis
Cranfield wrote about “Diver Logan”, a nickname given to John:

“A cricket story that lives on, concerns “Diver” Logan. The scene was
the cricket ground near Anderson’s Creek with Warrandyte in the field.
The sun shone and all was green and lush. The Yarra had recently
flooded the surrounding country but was now abating. Anderson’s
Creek nearby was still fairly full, but the cricket pitch was unaffected.
Players were spread around, although the outfield was a bit heavy.
Excitement was intense. There was a hush as Logan, smartly attired
in white togs, hovered in the vicinity of the boundary. This was the
decisive Over! Down went the ball! Crack, fair in the middle of the
bat, and the ball took wing, soaring towards the sky – an easy catch
for the dependable Logan who, measuring it with his eye, trotted, then
raced to intercept its fall just inside the boundary.
A last magnificent leap and the innings would be over. With everyone
on tiptoe, the batsmen ran with backward glance hoping for a sixer.
Suddenly there was a gasp as Logan made his dive – an easy catch
surely – and disappeared head first with a mighty splash. Anderson’s
Creek, deceptive and soggy had swallowed the immaculate cricketer.
There was a long drawn-out sigh of relaxed tension, then laughter
most uproarious echoed through the hills. Birds rose querulously into
the protective air as Logan reappeared, soaked and muddy, holding
the ball high.
No one remembers whether he was credited with the catch, but the
game broke up in a great burst of hilarity. Someone shouted “Diver
Logan, Hoorah!” and the name stuck.”

John was quite entrepreneurial and continued his father’s business as a road contractor. He
used the crushing machines from the mines to break rock down to an aggregate suitable for road
surfacing (the aggregate was known as “metal” – the term “blue metal” is an Australian reference
to aggregate made from basalt). John won many profitable tenders to the local council for the
metalling and upgrading of local roads.
Timber was in high demand for the mines and for other industry and general use. Most of the
timber was on Crown Land and it was cheap, if you did not get caught taking it. Unfortunately,
John did get caught once. In 1882 at nearby Queenstown (now called St Andrews), John was
fined 5/- for taking timber from Crown Land without a licence. 461
John’s prospects greatly improved when he became a third partner in the Great Southern Quartz
Claim Company in August 1885. He took on a more active role than his father in prospecting
for gold at other locations and the company started a number of new diggings, including at Bald
Hills near Ballarat.

461 Evelyn Observer and South East Bourke Record 29 December 1882, page 2

244
However, John soon had a change of heart in being a gold miner. Not long after his mother’s
death in 1888, he relocated to the dairying town of Warragul (an aboriginal name for the dingo),
about 100 km from Warrandyte. Perhaps he had a falling out with his father or other family
members.
When he was 29, John married 24 year old Emily Hasthorpe in 1890. They would have nine
children between 1891 and 1909, all born at Warragul. Their first child, also named John, died
in early infancy in 1891. John found work in Warragul with the Victorian Railways and he stayed
there until his retirement much later in life. The town of Warragul grew up around the railway
that was constructed in the 1870s between Melbourne and Traralgon.
Warragul had an abundance of good quality timber that was comparatively easy to obtain.
Sawmills soon dotted the landscape. Most of the timber went to Melbourne for building the
booming residential suburbs. Timber was also cut to meet the demand for railway sleepers.
Warragul quickly became a major regional railway town with branch lines to other settlements.
Much of the local population found employment in railway work.
By the time John arrived in
Warragul, the locality had
become a thriving center for dairy
farming (it remains today the
major agricultural pursuit of the
region).
John gave evidence at an inquest
in 1890 into the death of a 16
year old boy who was engaged in
building work at the railway coal
sheds at Warragul. The boy and
his supervisor had both fallen
from the edge of some scaffolding
that had given way under the
weight of the large piece of angle Warragul – State Library of Victoria
iron they were carrying. The
height they fell from was not so great but the angle iron fell after them and struck the boy on the
back of his head, killing him instantly. John was a witness to the angle iron striking the boy
(but not to the scaffolding giving way). The inquest held that, although the scaffolding had been
erected many months before and had been well used since, it was unsafe. 462
The family home was in Pharaohs Road, Warragul. It was a happy time for the expanding family
and they all became involved in local sport and activities. John’s son Jesse was elected as a
councillor for the north riding of the local council.
John continued his love of cricket. He played for the Darnum cricket team for many years and
became its captain during the period when the team was supreme in the Central Gippsland
competition. He was involved in other sports, particularly with his children. His wife Emily
became a keen golfer and was secretary of the Warragul Golf Club (actually the Associates club,
a name quaintly used for women). Her daughters also became golfers. The boys in the family
became rifle club members and were noted rifle shooters.
After having been a resident of Warragul for more than 45 years, John died after a long illness
on 11 July 1935 at the age of 74.463 Emily continued to live at Warragul although she moved
from the family home to live with children. She died on 25 August 1950 at the age of 84. 464

462 Great Southern Advocate 17 January 1890, page 3

463 Vic BDM Death Certificate 17160/1935
464 Vic BDM Death Certificate

245
 Ann Hewitt Logan
The second child of Ben and Jane Logan was Ann (also known as Anne and Annie). When she
was 25 she was working as a housekeeper for Joseph and Louisa Barkley in Melbourne. Joseph
had been a baker working on the clipper ship Red Jacket, the same ship that Ann’s uncle James
Hewitt Jardine had sailed on when he came to join the rest of his family in 1858. There is a good
chance that Joseph and James became friends. They both lived for a time in Carlton where
Joseph now worked as a newsagent. He would leave very early every morning on horseback to
collect the newspapers and magazines for his shop.
Joseph had six children with his first wife Bridget but she died in 1876 and one of the children
passed away three years later. Joseph then married Louisa Goulding and they had a further
four children. As housekeeper to the Barkley family, Ann Logan had a full time job.
Ann married William Henry Bruce in 1889 when she was 26. William (known as Bill) came from
a very large family and, interestingly, his half-brother John married Joseph Barkley’s daughter
Elizabeth in 1891. So it seems they all knew each other quite well.
Bill and Ann set up house in the town of Oakleigh, about 9km west of Melbourne. Like Warragul,
Oakleigh became a boom town after the railway line opened up a direct service to Melbourne in
the 1870s. The town was rich in natural resources which were eagerly sought for Melbourne’s
rapid growth. Its brickworks supplied 20% of Melbourne’s bricks. Quarrying and sand mining
added to the town’s reputation as a good source of building material. The town eventually
became a city and by the 1950s had been swallowed up by Melbourne’s expansion.

Bill and Ann Bruce with sons Roy, James and William

246
It was here that Bill Bruce found the perfect place to suit his chosen career as a civil works
construction contractor. His line of work was far more sophisticated than the road work
contracting done by the Logan family. Most of his work involved road construction for local
municipal councils but it was in the city and suburbs rather than in the bucolic borderlands.
In 1894 he submitted a tender of £72/15/4 for constructing a pitched channel through a
recreation reserve for the Malvern Shire Council. He was beaten by a tender that was only 12/-
less.465 However, he was often the successful tenderer for other local and regional work. In 1896
he won two tenders for road construction from Boroondara Shire Council worth £723/16/8. 466
That year he also completed a new retaining wall and walkway on Port Phillip Bay along
Beaconsfield Parade, north of St Kilda for £900. 467
His contracts became more expensive with time. For example, his tender of £1,883 for the
construction of new streets in Geelong was accepted in 1910.468
Bill had a reputation as a good and solid citizen, although he did manage to find himself in court
on one occasion on the wrong side of the dock. He had walked up to a cab rank in South Yarra
in 1893 and told a cab driver waiting there that he wanted the oldest man on the rank. The
driver, who had the prophetic surname of Crust, described himself as a rather old driver. In the
Prahran Police Court, the driver said that after further discussion Bill became very offensive and
used insulting words to the driver (Bill clearly did
not believe the cab driver and did not like being
taken for an idiot). Bill said he knew nothing
about the charge although he did not deny it. A
fine of 5/- was imposed.469
Bill and Ann had four children, all sons, between
1890 and 1898. After the first two children, the
family moved to nearby Murrumbeena before
settling in for the long term at 20 Johnstone
Street, Malvern East, a suburb closer to
Melbourne.
This was the time of the 1890s depression which
severely affected the price of land and led to a
huge downturn in construction work. However,
road building and other municipal works were
boosted to keep people employed and Bill may not
have had the difficulties generally experienced by
others.
Bill and Ann’s oldest son, 10 year old Thomas
Dealey Bruce, died at the Alfred Hospital at
Prahran on 9 May 1901.470 At home, young
Thomas had come down with pneumonia. He
was transferred to the hospital when treatment
failed. He died from empyema, a complication
from pneumonia when infection leaks from the
lungs to the outside cavity. Ann Hewitt Bruce

465 The Caulfield and Elsternwick Leader 6 October 1894, page 5

466 The Argus 28 July 1896, page 6
467 The Age 28 August 1896, page 3
468 The Age 21 June 1910, page 10
469 Chronicle, South Yarra Gazette, Toorak Times and Malvern Standard 28 October 1893, page 7
470 Vic BDM Death Certificate 7172/1901

247
Bill was again before a court in 1902. This time he was the victim of a robbery. The accused
was found guilty in the Malvern Police Court of stealing a saddle and bridle worth £4 from Bill.
The goods had been well described by Bill and they were later found in the accused’s possession
at the Box Hill market. The accused said he had bought them for 35/- at the market. With his
evidence failing to sway the court, he was sentenced to six months in prison.471
Having tragically lost their first son when he was 11, Bill and Ann had the dire misfortune to
lose their second son, James Jardine Bruce, on 3 August 1912 when he was 19. 472 James had
recently become a mechanical engineer. Very suddenly he complained of chest pains. Admitted
to the Alfred Hospital at Prahran, as was his older brother, he was found to have acute
pericarditis involving a severe inflammation of the tissue which holds the heart. The condition
failed to respond to treatment and he died from exhaustion due to his laboured breathing and
reduced heart function.
By 1914 Bill and Ann were living at 8 Kerferd Street, Malvern East.
In November 1916, Bill and Ann’s 21 year old third son, also called Bill, and his wife were both
seriously injured in a motor vehicle accident in Prahran. Bill’s car was struck by an electric
tram, a not uncommon event as trams, motor vehicles and horse drawn carriages competed for
space on the busy road network. He sustained a compound fractured skull and hs wife suffered
a fractured collar bone. Both were admitted to the Alfred Hospital. 473 Bill and Ann must have
been greatly relieved that one son at least survived treatment in the hospital.
Bill senior died on 16 February 1923 at the age of 66.474 His estate was valued for probate
purposes at £6,670, a testament to the success of his career as a contractor. Ann lived on for
many years at Kerferd Street before passing away on 28 June 1956 at the age of 92. 475

Mary McNaught Logan

Mary Logan was 18 and working as a domestic servant at Springhill near Lillydale when she
married 26 year old William Hussey (known as Bill) at his family’s residence at The Lodge, Yering
also near Lillydale, on 12 March 1884.
The service was conducted by the
Reverend Alexander Mackie who had
trained as a doctor and was known in the
district for his medical care as well as his
pastoral care. Lillydale was a small
settlement to the east of Anderson’s
Creek. It had first been known as Brushy
Creek before it was changed to Lillydale.
The name was later changed to Lilydale
when it was realised that a spelling error
had been made.
The Lodge was thought to have been built
as the gateway lodge to Chateau Yering
where Victoria’s first wine vintage was
Cobb & Co coach from Warrandyte to
made in 1845. The Yarra Valley is now a
Warburton – Warrandyte Historical Society

471 The Prahran Telegraph 4 October 1902, page 3

472 Vic BDM Death Certificate 11713/1912
473 The Ballarat Star 4 November 1916, page 6
474 Vic BDM Death Certificate 2253/1923
475 Vic BDM Death Certificate 7693/1956

248
world famous wine producing region and Yering is one of the best known areas in the valley (and
the home of Yering Station, St Huberts and Yeringberg wineries). Yet to see the potential, Bill’s
father, who was a blacksmith, purchased a beer licence for The Lodge and called his premises
The Sportsmans Arms. His father later owned the Coldstream Hotel and in later years his parents
became friendly with Dame Nellie Melba
who had for some time grown up in Lilydale
(Bill’s daughter in law, Sylvia Hussey, was
later tutored by a young Nellie Melba).
Bill was born in Lilydale in 1857. His
parents were assisted immigrants who
arrived in the 1840s. He had gone to
Deniliquin in NSW to find work in his early
years. After returning to the district he
became one of the original Cobb & Co coach
drivers and for years drove the route from
Melbourne to Healesville and Marysville.
After the railway came through to Bill Hussey’s coach – Warrandyte Historical Society
Healesville, he ran the coach to Warburton
and later ran a coach between Warrandyte and Ringwood, a settlement about 10km to the south.
Bill and Mary lived in a house on the corner of Belle Vue and Main Street, Lilydale. All of their
eight children were born at Lilydale. After raising their own family they fostered another six
children, a testament to the generous and loving Mary. After Cobb & Co ceased operating, the
family moved to South Warrandyte in 1895 where Bill took up land in what is now known as
Hussey’s Lane (the residence was called Heather Lea). Here he took up road contracting and
dam building, following in the footsteps of both his father and father in law.
Mary Hussey had earlier (in 1893) been granted a Residence and Cultivation Licence on Auriferous
Lands at Hussey’s Lane at South Warrandyte. The licence did not allow mining below the surface
of the land. During her life, Mary bought and sold a number of properties in South Warrandyte
and built up a considerable holding.
Like his brother in law, John Logan, Bill Hussey was also a gold fossicker, bus driver, log hauler
and a general entrepreneur at finding profitable activities. He frequently worked for the
Templestowe Shire Council. He had a property close to where the road to Ringwood crossed
Anderson’s Creek. He had built the bridge himself in 1900 to get access to his property. In 1904
he won a tender of £64/19/10 for the cutting and formation of part of a new road from Anderson’s
Creek to Ringwood, about 10km to the south. 476

Bill Hussey fossicking for gold in the Yarra River – Warrandyte Historical Society

476 Evelyn Observer and Bourke East Record 6 May 1904, page 1

249
The bridge over Anderson’s Creek did not take long to fall into disrepair. The Templestowe
Council had for so long relied on Bill to make the repairs because of his vested interest but Bill
became disillusioned when the heavy traffic by others made the repairs more expensive. He
continually harassed the council to either repair the bridge or let him do the work, which he
offered to do at cost. Bill’s offer was finally accepted in 1908.
Social events were popular occasions for rural towns. A Masked Ball was arranged at Warrandyte
by the local tennis club in 1908. It was both a “plain and fancy dress” ball. The Ladies Prize
was won by a young girl who dressed in Chinese costume. Bill Hussey won the Gentleman’s
Prize dressed as a stockman. It is hard to imagine a stockman’s outfit winning a prize at a
regional ball but he must have been better than the other contenders who included men dressed
as a Mexican sailor, a German boatman, a Japanese cook and a brown paper parcel. 477

1920 Cobb & Co reunion – Bill Hussey is sitting the tallest on top
– Warrandyte Historical Society

Boxing Day was always a big event in Warrandyte. It was the day when the town held the annual
Sports Day. Foot races and novelty races took up most of the program but the highlight was
always the wood chopping. Bill was appointed one of the three judges for events in 1911. 478
The bushfires of 13 January 1939 (also known as the Black Friday fires) burnt out almost two
million hectares across large areas of Victoria. 71 people died and whole townships were wiped
out. The fire jumped the Yarra River at Warrandyte and destroyed part of the town including
168 houses that were burnt down in less than an hour. Heavy loss of life was only prevented by
residents taking refuge in the Yarra River or in some of the larger properties’ dams.479 The
stables and blacksmith forge and workshop on the Hussey property were destroyed (including
an historic collection of old coaches and bullock wagons) but the house was saved using buckets
of water from a well.480 Bill was very sick in bed at the time and it was left to his 74 year old wife
Mary and others to keep the fire away from the house. Mary had pulled the blinds down so that
Bill could not see what was happening.

477 Evelyn Observer and Bourke East Record 28 August 1908, page 2
478 Evelyn Observer and Bourke East Record 27 October 1911, page 4
479 The Golden History of Warrandyte – Louis R Cranfield 1982
480 William & Mary Hussey, William Hussey and William John Hussey – Warrandyte Historical

Society

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Bill did not recover from his illness and he died on 3 March 1939 at the age of 81. The bushfire
had destroyed the bridge on Hussey’s Lane and
Bill’s coffin had to be carried across a tree that
had fallen over Anderson’s Creek in the fire to
get to the waiting hearse. He was buried in the
Anderson’s Creek cemetery.481
Mary lived sparsely, with few modern amenities.
She refused to apply for the old age pension
(introduced in Victoria in 1900). Her daughter
in law, Edith Hussey, was not persuaded and
filled in all of the forms for Mary and sent them
off. Six months later Edith was shown all of the
unpresented fortnightly cheques that Mary had
carefully put away in a drawer.

Bill and Mary Hussey (seated) at their Mary died on 14 August 1957 at the age of 92.
Golden Wedding anniversary in 1934 - She was buried with her husband. The house
Mary’s sister Ann Bruce is behind her that was saved from the 1939 bushfires was
– Warrandyte Historical Society burnt down in the 1960s.

Other Logan Children

At Lilydale Court in 1895, James Logan, who was 21, was fined for assaulting a man at a mine
by knocking him down and kicking him. John replied that he did neither of those things.
Instead, he pushed him but the injuries happened when the man staggered back and fell into
the mine shaft. One of John’s witnesses amused the court by saying that on oath he always told
“the naked truth” but off oath he was “subject to circumstances.”482
Robert Logan followed family tradition and also became a road contractor. He received most of
his work from Templestowe Shire Council.
In 1904 Robert opposed the establishment of a slaughter house (an earthier name for an abattoir)
and butchery at Warrandyte because it would “spoil the place.” He wrote a letter to the local
paper regarding his opposition. He was then called out by another citizen who said that Robert,
before leaving the district, had himself tried his best to set up a similar business but without
success. The other citizen said “I fancy it is the applicant he is against, not the licence (Sour
grapes, Bobbie).”483
Robert and his brothers James and Thomas made an application for a mining lease in 1906.
They represented The Last Caledonia Gold Mine Company and they were after a lease of 20 acres
of Crown Land at Warrandyte which had previously been the site of the Old Devonshire mine. 484
Thomas Logan had married Jessie McCulloch in 1900. A fire destroyed Tom and Jessica’s cottage
in April 1908. Jessica had just put the children to bed when one of them placed a candle too
close to the wall. She noticed a bright light coming from the bedroom and rushed in to find
flames were running all over the wall. She then had the dilemma of deciding to take action to
douse or smother the flames before they got out of control or to get her five children to safety.
She believed she only had time to get the children out. Tom was in Tasmania at the time. He

481 The Hussey Story – Bruce Bence (Hussey descendant) and Warrandyte Historical Society 1991
482 Evelyn Observer and South East Bourke Record 25 October 1895, page 3
483 Evelyn Observer and Bourke East Record 29 April 1904, page 3
484 Evelyn Observer and Bourke East Record 23 February 1906, page 2

251
had only recently come out of hospital and had been out of work for a long time. Nothing from
the house was saved.
The local Progress Association came to their rescue, relocating an old house from its site to the
site of the ruins. A collection was taken up for the stricken couple and citizens were urged to
donate furniture, bedding and clothing. The local paper described this as “a genuine case of
distress.”485
The collection raised a total of £2/5/- which
was hardly a princely sum.
The following year Tom asked the council for
a reduction of rates on the basis that the
house had burnt down and the land value
was reduced. The council valuer agreed but
the unsympathetic council said that it was
too late to change the rate. No mention was
made of the relocated house. 486
Tom was also a road contractor but his views
were firmly stuck in the horse and buggy
days. He was not convinced that motor
vehicles were welcome on local roads. He
wrote to the council asking for a speed limit Thomas and Jessie Logan
to be placed on shire roads which were more
dangerous than other roads. He said that vehicles travelled too fast and were destroying the
road formation. The council noted that although the law required motorists not to drive at a
dangerous speed, Thomas’ request was worth further consideration. 487
Tom was appointed by the local council as herdsman to manage the use of the common and
collect fees. He was also known for his woodchopping skills.
In 1912 Thomas’s son who had the same name as his father wrote to the Weekly Times in
Melbourne in response to the paper’s call for letters from young people. Young Tom wrote: 488

“Last winter we had a great flood, which flooded

the river flats about here. There is now beautiful
scenery along the river banks, where the wattle
trees are all out in blossom… Last year there were
a lot of fish in the Yarra River. My father and I went
fishing one day and we caught 20 black fish out of
which I caught 12. I am 10 years old.”

Publication of the letter made Tom so proud that he encouraged his other children to write letters
as much as possible in the hope that they too would be published.

485 Evelyn Observer and Bourke East Record 17 April 1908, page 3
486 Evelyn Observer and Bourke East Record 5 February 1909, page 7
487 Box Hill Reporter 8 December 1911, page 8
488 Weekly Times 19 October 1912, page 39

252
 Members of the Logan family – from left James McL Logan, John A Logan,
George H Logan, Thomas J Logan, Robert J Logan and Benjamin Logan – Ann
H Bruce and Mary McN Hussey in front

253
 Thomas Jardine

Married Christina Weeks 1867

Children:

Thomas Jardine b 1868 d 1869 1 years

James Hewitt Jardine b 1871 d 1958 87 years

Albert Joseph Jardine b 1873 d 1912 39 years

Thomas Folster Jardine b 1876 d 1931 55 years

Christina A McL Jardine b 1878 d 1895 17 years

Amy Ann M Jardine b 1880 d 1881 0 years

Hercules Edward Jardine b 1883 d 1917 35 years

Violet Claudine Jardine b 1885 d 1885 0 years

James and Ann Jardine’s younger son Thomas married Christina Weeks in Melbourne in 1867
when he was 24 and she was 16. They were soon living at Emerald Hill, which was the original
name of the area now known as South Melbourne. They had a residence at 61 Cobden Street
which was called Dalkeith Cottage, not far from the Botanical Gardens and Albert Park.489 Their
first son, also named Thomas was born in 1868 but he died in infancy, probably the following
year.490 Thomas and Christina had a further seven children between 1868 and 1885, all at
Emerald Hill. Two of them, Amy and Violet, also died in early infancy. A later son was also
named Thomas, ensuring some confusion for family historians.
In fact, Thomas and Christina’s residence was only just around the corner from Albert Park.
They regularly visited the park and the nearby gardens and the annual National Agricultural
Shows that were held at a St Kilda Road site adjacent to the gardens. Among the prize winners
at the 1875 show was Thomas Jardine of Emerald Hill who won first prize for best broken haired
terrier dog or slut (perhaps bitch was too strong a word). The dog was called Nip.491
The family later moved to a new address at East Brunswick where they had a six room house on
the corner of Lygon Street and Brunswick Road. Thomas was working as a timber merchant and

489 Illustrated Australian News 12 June 1876, page 94 and 5 August 1878, page 142
490 Vic BDM Death Certificate 9708/1869
491 The Age 11 November 1875, page 3

254
he had a large timber yard, a two storied workshop and a foundry next to the house. 492 Christina
added to the untimely family deaths when she passed away at home in 1888 at the age of 37.493
Thomas had a rather bizarre connection to another branch of my family. As a timber merchant,
he provided much of his product on credit to builders. One such builder was Francis Herbert
Hely who also lived at Emerald Hill and who was a brother to one of my great grandfathers,
Thomas B A Hely. Smart enough not to have everything in his own name, Thomas Hely incurred
debts in the name of his wife, Jane Theophila Hely. It was Jane who became insolvent when the
debts were not repaid. Jane was forced to assign her assets to her creditors, including Thomas
Jardine.494
This debt was one of many that were owed to Thomas at the time. Unfortunately, the economic
depression across Australia through most of the 1890s mentioned earlier in this story originated
in Melbourne in 1889 when land prices collapsed. Thomas soon found himself overwhelmed by
his own debts and he became insolvent in June 1890 with a net deficiency of over £1,800.495 All
of his assets and property were put up for auction on 16 July 1890 at his timber yard.
Thomas took off for Tasmania where he sought work in the mines in the north of the island. By
1894 he was living at Lefroy, a gold mining town in the Tamar Valley. He may have taken the
younger children with him but it is more likely they were left in the care of others.
In 1903 Thomas left Tasmania
and moved to Horsham, a large
rural town in the
Grampians/Wimmera area to
the north west of Melbourne on
the road to Adelaide, where his
older sons resided. Here he
worked as an orchardist with his
son Albert on an irrigated
holding at Riverside, which was
a fruit growing area near
Horsham.
Later in 1903, when he was
about 60, Thomas fell heavily
Gold mining operations at Lefroy from a sulky onto the road after
the horse made a sudden
movement. He fractured several ribs with one rib penetrating a lung. He recovered from the
injuries but his health was not good due to asthma and a weak heart.496
He died suddenly on 6 June 1906 at his residence in Horsham.497 He was 64 years old. His son
Albert had pestered him to see a doctor or go to hospital but he refused. Albert gave him some
prescribed medicine that he had obtained from the doctor but Thomas passed away not long
before the arrival of the doctor called by Albert. His funeral left his son James’ house in Sloss
Street, Horsham.
Thomas suffered much tragedy in his life, not only losing his wife at a young age and three
children in early infancy, but also losing his 17 year old daughter Christina from a brain
hemorrhage in 1895.

492 The Age 22 March 1889, page 7

493 The Argus 1 December 1888, page 1
494 The Argus 21 January 1889, page 3
495 The Argus 26 June 1890, page 7
496 The Horsham Times 18 September 1903, page 2
497 The Horsham Times 8 June 1906, page 2 and Examiner 18 June 1906, page 1

255
 James Hewitt Jardine
Not long after the forced sale of Thomas Jardine’s property in 1890, Thomas’ three older sons,
20 year old James (known to everyone as Jimmy), 18 year old Albert and 14 year old Thomas
junior, left the rest of the family in Melbourne to go to the irrigation colony of Riverside near
Horsham. James had become a certified steam engine driver and took up a job with S C Fraser
in Horsham. James’ full name was James Hewitt Jardine and he was named after his father’s
brother. No doubt this sharing of identical names between uncle and nephew has caused much
confusion to family historians.
In July 1891 his brother Thomas junior was caught in a private backyard one night under some
fruit trees. It just happened that the owner had a large orchard and had previously lost a lot of
fruit from pilfering. On hearing Thomas’ story, the owner decided not to press ahead with the
charges, preferring the incident to be seen as a deterrent to would-be pilferers. James promised
to look after his brother in
future.498
In August 1891 James’
absence from work one day
due to illness led to his
unqualified stoker firing up
the boiler on the engine
instead of James. This
unlawful act was witnessed
by an inspector. James’
employer was charged but
only a nominal £1 fine was
imposed.499
James (who was also an
accomplished Aussie Rules Cottage at Horsham
football player for the Federal
Football Club in Horsham) must have been enjoying his court appearances because he was back
again in October 1891 this time charged with assault. He and three friends had been out
drinking, had a disagreement and decided to settle the matter by personal combat. After causing
a disturbance to the peace all four were fined 10/- and warned against further altercations. 500
Over the next few years some of the younger children of Thomas and Catherine Jardine had also
left their father Thomas in Melbourne to live with their older brother James at Horsham or with
Albert at Riverside where Albert was working a highly productive orchard.
James had married Agnes Ryan at the end of 1893 and young Thomas was living with them.
Their 17 year old sister Christina (who was known as Tiney – pronounced Teeny) had only been
staying with James a short time before she suffered a series of fainting spells over a few days,
followed by many days of bed rest. Just when she looked to be getting better, she would have
another relapse. She did not think she was ill enough to see a doctor. Two weeks later she
passed away. At an inquest held in July 1895 the cause of death was noted as a rupture of a
large blood vessel in the brain. It was also unflatteringly noted that she was “well-nourished”. 501
James’ 12 year old brother Hercules Jardine had also come to Horsham to live with James.
Hercules was the reason James was again in court, only three months after his sister’s death.

498 The Horsham Times 24 July 1891, page 3

499 The Horsham Times 4 August 1891, page 4
500 The Horsham Times 2 October 1891, page 2
501 The Horsham Times 16 July 1895, page 3 and Inquest No 829/1895

256
Hercules had walked past an unattended carriage at the store owned by the local magistrate and
helped himself to a basket containing two pounds of butter which he then sold to another local
storekeeper. He was caught and sentenced to a week in prison, suspended if he entered into a
12 month bond of £10 to be of good behaviour. James, who paid the bond for his brother, told
the magistrate that he would send Hercules to live with his father in Tasmania. 502
However, Hercules did not return to his father. Instead he stayed in Horsham and got himself
into more trouble. The following year the “diminutive and simple looking” 13 year old was charged
with stealing a rifle after breaking into a house at Riverside. He pleaded guilty saying that he
just wanted to have a shot. His brother James said that he was “quite unable to do anything with
him” and wished him to be committed to an Industrial School (a school set up for orphans and
troublesome children to teach them trades). James added that their father was working as a
miner in Tasmania, far removed from any school. Hercules was committed to the care of the
Department for Neglected Children to be placed into a suitable institution. 503
By 1898 James had been
appointed assistant engineer,
part time, at the pumping
station for the Borough Water
Trust set up by the local council
and which was the major
irrigation facility in the area.
James and his wife Agnes had
moved to a house in Searle
Street, Horsham soon after they
married. In 1901 James and
Agnes’ four year old daughter,
Catrina Mary Violet Jardine
(known as Vi) had a narrow
escape when she found a bottle
of eucalyptus oil and drank a
Horsham decent dose before she was
stopped. She was rushed to the doctor and although she started to lose consciousness, she
managed to hang on and survive the ordeal.504 Their nine year old son, James Edward Jardine,
was not so lucky, dying from an inflammatory illness the following year.
James’ job as assistant engineer became full time about 1905. He and Agnes soon moved to
Sloss Street in Horsham which would be the family home for many years.
Agnes was always very active in the community and took on the role of secretary of the Women’s
Organizing Committee to raise money for the patriotic fund and other gifts to help soldiers now
fighting in the First World War. Her indefatigable efforts were frequently acknowledged at
functions and meetings around Horsham. Perhaps she was particularly vigilant because James’
younger brother Hercules had enlisted for service.
But then, at the age of 41, Agnes suddenly died on 13 February 1917, leaving a grieving husband
and four children plus a community of shocked citizens. 505 Agnes had been diagnosed with
typhoid fever six weeks earlier. She died from a haemorrhage but I cannot help think that her
death may have been hastened by the shock from the news that Hercules had been killed in
action only 11 days earlier.

502 The Horsham Times 17 September 1895, page 3

503 The Horsham Times 7 July 1896, page 3
504 The Horsham Times 12 February 1901, page 2
505 Vic BDM Death Certificate 1750/1917

257
About 1925, James changed jobs but still worked for the local council. He became a gardener
and was soon given control of May Park on the edge of the town’s business district. The park
contained many magnificent flower gardens and open lawns and
provided shady areas of beauty for the lunch time workers.
James remarried in 1932 to Catherine Rushbrook, a local widow
whose husband had died while out droving in 1929, leaving her a
number of teenage children still at home.
1933 saw the England cricket team arrive in Australia for the
infamous Bodyline series where fast bowlers hurled an unsporting
number of bouncers aimed at the batsmen’s shoulders which resulted
in many head and upper body injuries. James no doubt copped a lot
of good natured abuse, having the same surname as the detested
English captain, Douglas Jardine.
James retired from the council in 1940 after 35 years of full time work. Catherine Jardine –
At a presentation in his honour, his services “were suitably James’ second wife
recognized.”506
An article appeared in The Horsham Times in August 1951 remembering James as a well-known
local Australian Rules football player:507

“Football On Wednesday
Way Back In The Good Old Days
One of Horsham’s oldest footballers is Mr J (Jimmy) Jardine of McPherson
Street. He played with Horsham in the 1890s when football was played
on Wednesday afternoons – the weekly half-holiday.
Mr Jardine, who will be 81 next November, is still an ardent supporter of the
Horsham team and never misses a home match.
He was born in South Melbourne and as a youngster was mascot for the South
Melbourne League Team. He began his football in the Melbourne Junior League,
playing with Parkview in 1889 and with Star of Brunswick in 1890.
Although only small, Mr Jardine was a ruckman. He said the best ruckmen in those
days were the small men. There were no boundary umpires. When the ball went
out the central umpire threw it in over his head. No one was allowed to touch the
ball until it hit the ground…
Mr Jardine came to Horsham in 1890 and played with Horsham Federals in 1891.
There were two Horsham Teams then. In 1892 he again played with the Federals.
They were premiers that year and Mr Jardine was awarded the Kimberley Trophy
for the best placed man. He played at centre half forward.
From 1893 to 1900 he played with Horsham. When the match was at Ararat the
team had to leave on the express at 3 am and travel through the night. The players
had no sleep, but according to Mr Jardine this did not affect their play… He also
played with Dimboola, Rupanyup and Murtoa on days when Horsham had the bye…
Mr Jardine recalls that the only grass oval was at Central Park, Stawell, where the
gift was run. All other grounds were paddocks. The Horsham ground was where
the showgrounds are now.”

506 The Horsham Times 16 February 1940, page 2

507 The Horsham Times 10 August 1951, page 5

258
James died on 18 September 1958 at the age of 87, five days after the death of his daughter Vi
(another daughter Agnes had died in 1956). His second wife Catherine died a month after James.

Albert Joseph Jardine

James’ brother Albert became the more productive of the brothers in working the family orchards
and he took over the holdings when James and Agnes moved to the town. Like James, Albert
played Australian Rules football and later officiated in games as an umpire.
He married Sarah Eveline (Evelyn) Brown (known as Ev) in 1908 when he was 35 but their time
together would be short.
He was 39 when he died on 23 August 1912 after suffering
much pain for some six months due to a “melanotic sarcoma”,
most likely a melanoma (although his cancer was said to be
very rare).508 He died at Nurse Tapper’s private hospital. He
had been admitted a week before when his condition rapidly
deteriorated. His death was reported in the local paper but
incorrectly under the name of Walter Joseph Jardine.
He had prepared his Will only a few weeks before his death
when his passing became imminent. He left £250 to be
divided equally between his brothers James, Thomas and
Hercules. He gave his personal estate to his wife Eveline. He
also left to Eveline all of his real estate, which comprised 30
acres of irrigated farmland (which was mostly an orchard and
a modest house), but on condition that if she remarried, the
properties would pass to his three brothers and Eveline
would receive a £200 bequest instead. Albert and Eveline
had no children. His estate was valued at £1,250 for probate
purposes.
Eveline did not sell the properties but instead, in 1939, she
Albert and Eveline Jardine bought an additional 10 acres. She never remarried and
nefor the remainder of her life. She died on 19 March 1975 at the age of 91,
lived at Riverside
having been a widow for 62 years.509

Thomas Folster Jardine

After his troubles with the law in Horsham, Thomas junior followed his father to Tasmania. He
became a well-known Australian Rules footballer and cricketer on the West Coast. In 1899 he
enlisted in the 2nd Tasmanian Imperial Bushmen for service in South Africa during the Boer War.
The mounted infantry contingent of 253 men left for South Africa on 27 March 1901 and returned
on 25 June 1902 after the end of the war. They arrived near the end of hostilities so their
casualties were light (two killed in action and four died from disease).
Thomas married Clara Louisa Bennett (known as Louisa) in 1905 at Hobart, Tasmania. After
the church service the reception was held at the Bennett family home. The gathering then made

508 The Horsham Times 27 August 1912, page 5 (incorrectly under the name of Walter Joseph
Jardine)
509 Vic BDM Death Certificate 6810/1975

259
 Senior members of the 2nd Tasmanian Imperial Bushmen
its way to the train station to farewell the happy couple as they embarked for the journey to their
new home at Devonport.510 Their daughters Ismay and Tina were born in 1906 and 1907.
In 1907 Thomas junior bought the Bridge Hotel at the town of Hamilton-on-Forth (now known
simply as Forth), about 10km west of Devonport. Two years later he sold the hotel and bought
the Empire Hotel at Deloraine, a larger town south east of Devonport.
Thomas had become prosperous enough to invest in race horses and he became a known racing
identity in the Launceston and Devonport areas. He left the north of Tasmania in 1919 and
settled in New Town, one of Hobart’s oldest suburbs. They
first stayed in Roope Street before moving to 180 Main Road.
Here Thomas had plenty of time to pursue his hobbies of race
horsing and playing cricket. In between these recreations, he
made a living as a motor car driver (chauffer probably sounded
too upmarket).
Thomas was not one to take a backward step. In 1922 his
wife’s sister had a falling out with her husband and she and
her young daughter had moved in with the Jardines. When
the husband came around he started kicking the front door
and swearing loudly. Thomas arrived home in his car, walked
up to the husband, punched him in the mouth, threw him to
the ground and then dragged him to the street where he told
him to stop swearing or he would choke him to make him stop.
Thomas was then restrained by neighbours who took him Thomas Folster Jardine
inside to calm him down. The husband later had Thomas
charged with assault but the magistrate dismissed the charge saying that Thomas had used
reasonable force.511

510 The North Western Advocate and The Emu Bay Times 5 July 1905, page 2
511 The Mercury 22 May 1922, page 8

260
By 1925 Thomas and Louisa had moved to North Hobart but he soon succumbed once again to
the lure of hotel keeping and he took over the Clarence Hotel at Bellerive, another suburb of
Hobart. He also unsuccessfully stood for election to the local council in 1929 and 1931.
Thomas died on 16 July 1931 at the age of 55. An obituary in The Mercury the following day
stated:

“He was well-known throughout Tasmania, particularly on the North-

West Coast and West Coast, where he took a prominent part in horse
racing and field sports. He served in the South African War. As a
cricketer he played in Hobart with the Licensed Victuallers’ Club, of
which he was the captain. A very large circle of friends in Tasmania
will hear of his death with regret.”

Over 300 people attended his funeral. His cortege was met at the gates by a squad of Boer War
veterans who carried the coffin which had a Union Jack draped over it. His brother James
Jardine had come from Horsham to lead the mourners. Among those mourners were members
of the Licensed Victuallers Association, the Masonic Lodge, various horse clubs and sporting
organisations and boys from the Kennerley Boys Home.512
Louisa passed away on 1 April 1955 at the age of 82 and was buried with her husband at the
Cornelian Bay Cemetery.

Hercules Edward Jardine

After his ill-fated escapade in stealing a rifle as a 13 year old, Hercules was made a ward of the
State and sent to the Ballarat District Orphan Asylum where they took in destitute and
troublesome children as well as orphans. He was then sent to a reformatory school.
When he was 17 and still a ward he was placed on licensed service with a farmer named Barber
at Wirmbirchip Station at Birchip, a small rural outpost about 120km to the north east of
Horsham. He absconded from that service in March 1898 and made his way back to Horsham.
He was described in the Police Gazette as “5 feet high, medium build, dark complexion, dark hair,
brown eyes, nose has been broken; wore a black serge coat, brown mole trousers and a black felt
hat.” He was small for a 17 year old but he would later gain another seven inches in height.
He was duly returned to Birchip to continue his farming “apprenticeship.” After he left the State
ward system, he stayed in the area working as a farm labourer at the village of Warmur. He is
recorded on the electoral rolls at
that location in 1908 and 1909. By
1913 he had moved to Wagga
Wagga in NSW where he continued
to work as a farm labourer.
Despite his difficult childhood and
sometimes strained relationship
with older brother James, he still
remained close to his brothers and
stayed in contact with them.
However, when he enlisted for
military service in the First World
Countryside near Warmur War at Cootamundra in NSW on 2

512 The Mercury 20 July 1931, page 6

261
November 1915 at the age of 30, he kept his family in the dark and they had no idea he had
enlisted.
He was initially assigned to the 4th Battalion, but was transferred with many others to the 56th
Battalion which was part of the 5th Division. That Division was almost entirely full of men with
no front line experience. However, the 56th Battalion was different, being comprised of about
1,100 men of whom 50% were Gallipoli veterans who had transferred from the 4th Battalion. This
may not have been good news for Hercules because the battalion would inevitably be sent in to
fight whenever the hardest men were needed.
On arriving in France on 30 June 1916, the 56th was sent to Armentieres in northern France
where the 5th Division took over this supposedly quieter section of the front from other Australian
Divisions. At the time, the Battle of the Somme to the south was well underway and going badly
for the Australians and their allies.
A week after the Division arrived at the trenches, a British General decided to use the Division
as a diversion to attack the German line at the non-descript village of Fromelles, to encourage
the Germans to take men from the Somme and lessen the fighting there. The attack was
appallingly planned and coordinated. British troops withdrew at a critical stage without
informing the Australians who were then blasted from the field by heavy artillery with no covering
support. The attack resulted in the greatest ever loss of Australian lives in a 24 hour period,
with casualties of over 5,500 men or 40% of the Division (the equivalent of the Boer War, Korean
War and Vietnam War combined).
The Division was out of action for many
months as it tried to regroup to face combat
again. While still under strength, the Division
was thrown against the Germans as they
retreated to their defensive Hindenburg Line.
On 2 April 1917 the 56th Battalion had their
first set piece full battalion attack on the
Germans at the small hamlet of Louverval,
near Cambrai. To get to the German line at
the edge of the woods, the Battalion had to
come down a steep ridge through snow, rain
and piercing wind, all the time under fire from
machine guns and rifles as well as shell fire,
until they were close enough to rush the
defenders. An officer was the first to fall and
Louverval after the war was over
all along the Australian line coming down the
ridge men were struck down in a hail of bullets. The noise of the machine guns was deafening
and never ending.
Despite the carnage, the Battalion successfully drove the Germans out but Hercules was one of
the 51 Battalion soldiers who were killed during that attack and the failed counter attacks that
followed later in the day. A few weeks later, after a Scottish battalion had taken over the hamlet,
the Germans recaptured Louverval in a counter attack.
Back home, The Horsham Times reported on Hercules’ death (mistakenly using the name Private
A Jardine). It said he was 35 and had been a Horsham schoolboy. It added “He was a crack rifle
shot and on his arrival at the front he was detailed as a sniper.”513
James and Thomas would later place annual In Memorium notices in the local paper “in loving
memory of our dear brother.”

513 The Horsham Times 27 April 1917, page 4

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 8 - The Nelson Connection

Thomas Nelson

Married 1854 Janet Jardine

Children:

Ann Hewitt Nelson b 1855 d 1937 81 years

Agnes Nelson b 1856 d 1939 83 years

Margaret Nelson b 1857 d 1941 83 years

John Nelson b 1859 d 1938 79 years

Thomas James Nelson b 1860 d 1945 85 years

Amy Jardine Nelson b 1862 d 1927 65 years

William Hewitt Nelson b 1863 d 1917 53 years

Mary Nelson b 1865 d 1936 71 years

Janet Nelson b 1866 d 1939 72 years

Alexander Nelson b 1868 d 1925 56 years

Elizabeth Smith Nelson b 1871 d 1948 77 years

James Jardine Nelson b 1872 d 1942 69 years

Alice Nelson b 1876 d 1953 78 years

As mentioned in Chapter 6, George TJ Rees married Janet Nelson who was the ninth child of
Thomas Nelson and his wife, also called Janet. This chapter looks at the lives of Thomas and
Janet and their other children.
Thomas Nelson married Janet Jardine at the Scots Church in Sydney on 5 October 1854. The
church, more formally known as St Andrew’s Scots Presbyterian Church, had been built between
1833 and 1835 on a grant of land at the rear of the future site of the Sydney Town Hall. The
church was built after a schism among Presbyterians in Sydney over the polarising actions of

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the Church’s founder in the colony, the Reverend John Dunmore Lang. He was a firebrand
church leader who frequently condemned what he saw as a lax morality overwhelming the
community. He found fault with the Government, the Churches and anyone else who failed to
accept his views. Lang had earlier built a Presbyterian church at the southern end of Church
Hill in Sydney, near the entrance to the old Military Barracks. He was the minister at that church
from 1826 until his death in 1878. Lang’s church, confusingly known as the Scots Church of St
Andrew’s, was demolished in 1926 to make way for the Sydney Harbour Bridge approaches and
is not to be confused with the replacement church that was later built in Margaret Street. The
first minister at the new breakaway Town Hall church was the Reverend John McGarvie. After
his death in 1854 he was replaced by the Reverend John Dougall who, only a few months later,
conducted the marriage service for Thomas and Janet. It is fair to say that at the time of the
marriage the division within the Presbyterian Church was immense. However did Thomas and
Janet decide which of the two churches was best for them?
The certainty of the marriage details is the only real certainty that I have found in the life of
Thomas Nelson to that point. All of his prior history, as investigated by me and other family
historians, has a varying degree of
conjecture. His death certificate (with
details provided by his son, also named
Thomas) and the birth and death
certificates of his children state that he
was born in Ayrshire, the old coastal and
agriculturally fertile county in the south
west of Scotland below Glasgow. His
birth in Ayrshire is taken as fact by
everyone in the family but information in
these certificates, often provided by
relatives with only indirect knowledge, is
frequently wrong (Janet’s death
certificate, for example, has her place of
birth as Edinburgh when it should have
been Linlithgow). St Andrew’s Scots Presbyterian Church, Sydney
Various certificates show Thomas’ age at particular dates. Unfortunately, they are rarely
consistent. The wide range of those recorded ages leads to the conclusion that Thomas was born
between 1826 (based on his death certificate) and 1832 (based on his son John’s birth certificate).
Discovering a confirmed record of his birth in Ayrshire has so far remained elusive. His death
certificate states that his father was Andrew Nelson and his mother was Unknown, at least to
Thomas’ son.
Some family historians believe Thomas was born in 1830 and was the son of Andrew Nelson (or
Nielson) and his wife Jean (Bruce) of Graitney in Dumphriesshire (not Ayrshire) but as that family
apparently had always lived in Graitney and had children born in Graitney either side of Thomas,
it is less likely that our Thomas was their child. Among the other alternatives is that Thomas
was Thomas James Nelson, the son of Andrew Nelson and his wife Elizabeth (Johnson) but this
looks more like hopeful speculation as there is a lack of evidence to substantiate the claim which
was made on the basis that the 1841 Scottish Census shows a Thomas Nelson was living at Old
Linky Burn in Muirkirk, Ayrshire. His age was at the higher end of the range. He was a boarder
with another family (with no parental details given) and was employed as an iron worker. One
possible link between these two is that the Muirkirk Thomas had a second name of James. The
1945 death certificate for our Thomas’ son recorded both father and son as having James as a
second name. However, this certificate was the only time our Thomas was given a second name
and the details were provided by his son’s family.

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Nadene Goodwin put me on to the possibility that our Thomas Nelson was from a family living
in Northern Ireland. After much research I have come to the view that she may well be correct.
In fact, I believe this connection to be the most likely so far for the reasons which follow.
According to other family historians, for much of the 1800s there were families named Nelson
living at Donaghadee on the coast of Northern Island. The families were headed by John Nelson
and his wife Agnes who had at least seven children between 1826 and 1837. The eldest child,
Andrew Nelson, married Catherine Duffy on 25 September 1847 at nearby Newtownards. Some
of this is confirmed by the Griffiths Valuation of Tenements for the Parish of Donaghadee which
has Andrew Nelson sub-renting a house, yard and small garden from his father in law, Hugh
Duffy, at New Row in the Townparks of Donaghadee. Hugh Duffy in turn is renting a house and
some large gardens from the wealthy squire, Daniel Delacherois, who owned much of the town
and for a time was the High Sheriff of the County of Down.
After Andrew, the next eldest child was a son named Thomas who was said to have been born
on 23 April 1828 at Donaghadee (but I can find no source of baptism to confirm this). Thomas
is listed on numerous family trees together with his siblings. Although much has been written
about his siblings, nothing is written about the life of Thomas. He seems to have completely
disappeared from view. There was some speculation that Thomas died at Donaghadee in 1907
and was buried in the local
cemetery but again, I can find no
source to confirm this and I
suspect it is not correct as
available cemetery inscriptions
and other sources should have
been able to confirm this detail.
We know that our Thomas took
up land on Mitchells Island near
the mouth of the Manning River
in northern NSW. Two of
Andrew Nelson’s sons, Francis
The port town of Donaghadee and Hugh, emigrated to NSW
(Francis on the Samuel Plimsoll
in 1879 and Hugh on the Glamis in 1880). Both Francis and Hugh were sponsored by a Thomas
Nelson who contributed £2 each towards the cost of their passage. Francis first took up ship
building as did Thomas when he first arrived. Within a year or two Francis took up 44 acres of
land (Portion 101 of the Parish of Oxley) very close to the land being farmed by our Thomas on
Mitchells Island. Hugh purchased 60 acres of land, just south of Oxley Island at the junction of
the South Channel of the Manning River and Warwiba Creek near Bohnock.
Our Thomas’ first child Ann was named after his wife’s mother but their next child was named
Agnes and that was the name of the Irish Thomas’ mother. Our Thomas’ first son was named
John and, as you can no doubt see, John was the name of the Irish Thomas’ father. Many of our
Thomas’ children shared common names with the Irish Thomas’ siblings such as William and
James.
The only time we see a name for our Thomas’ father is when Andrew is shown on our Thomas’
death certificate. Although the Irish Thomas’ father was named John, both Irish Thomas’ brother
and grandfather (John’s father) were named Andrew.
John Nelson was a fisherman and our Thomas was identified on his first child’s baptism
certificate as a seaman. If he came from Ayrshire in Scotland, he was less likely to be a seaman.
Donaghadee was for some centuries the chief port for crossing over to Scotland. Portpatrick in
Scotland was a mere 30 km away and easily seen on a good day. Ayr was further up the Scottish
coast along the Firth of Clyde but within a day’s sailing distance for a fishing fleet. It is quite

265
feasible for Agnes Nelson to have travelled with John on one of his expeditions to the fishing
grounds off Ayr and for her to be landed there for shopping, visiting other relatives or to give
birth to her son Thomas, if he arrived unexpectedly. As they were only likely to be staying over
in Ayr, the baby would have been baptised back in Donaghadee (if it was baptised at all).
Nadene Goodwin visited Mitchells Island some years ago
and was directed to an elderly lady known locally as
Grandma Nelson who was still living on the island. She
showed Nadene a chart of a large family tree. Francis
Nelson had at least 10 children and Hugh Nelson had at
least eight children who, at the time of Hugh’s death in
1945, had produced 24 grandchildren and six great
grandchildren. Nadene did not see any reference to the
Thomas Nelson family but Grandma Nelson insisted that
the families were related.
Francis Nelson later moved further north to the Hastings
River and then to the Camden Haven River where he settled
at Kew. His family also left the Manning River district.
Hugh Nelson stayed on the Manning, living in later years
with family members at Bohnock. Grandma Nelson is likely
to be a descendant of Hugh Nelson. The newspaper
obituaries of Francis and Hugh confirm they arrived in Andrew and Catherine Nelson
Australia about 1880 from Donaghadee. 514 Nelson

At this stage, I believe there is strong evidence that our Thomas and the Irish Thomas are the
same person but confirming this will be a job for a future time.
Do we later pick up Thomas’ trail before his arrival in Australia? The options are many. Given
his later occupation in the colony as a farmer, you would think he would have grown up on a
farm to get his basic training. Francis Nelson was described on
his immigration documents as a farm labourer and Hugh as a
labourer, even though his parents lived in the town. But we also
know that Thomas had experience as a seaman before his
marriage. Thomas could have packed up his possessions and
gone to sea or he may have made his way to the growing
industrialized areas of Glasgow or Liverpool. Or he may have
travelled to the south of England and found work there that set
him on course for Australia.
It is equally hard to work out when Thomas arrived in Australia.
According to his death certificate, he had been in NSW for 45
years but was first in Victoria for two years. This means that he
arrived in Melbourne about 1852-1853. A study of incoming
passenger lists at Melbourne (Port Phillip Bay) during that period
reveals a few Thomas Nelsons, some T Nelsons and a plethora of
Mr Nelsons. Many can be ruled out by age or accompanying
family. Of those remaining, one possible worthy candidate was
the Thomas Nelson who arrived in Melbourne on 27 April 1853
Louisa and Hugh Nelson
on board the Strathfieldsaye from Plymouth. The only problem
at Bohnock
is that he was noted as being English rather than Scottish or
Irish. Most likely Thomas was one of the many Mr Nelsons. The same difficulty happens with
the lists of passengers arriving in Sydney in 1853-1854, including passengers arriving from
Melbourne. There are simply too many options and not enough information.

514 Tweed Daily 31 December 1934, page 2 and The Wingham Chronicle 9 January 1945, page 4

266
Many family historians have opted for the Ths Nelson who arrived in Sydney on board the Golden
Age on 24 February 1854 from Liverpool. No age or birth details were given for this person and
so once again, any recognition of this candidate, like all the others, can only be speculative. In
any event, he doesn’t tick the box for having spent two years in Victoria (unless the ship from
Liverpool picked up passengers in Melbourne on its way to Sydney, which is quite possible).
It is likely that our Thomas Nelson had arrived in Sydney at least by April 1854 to give himself
enough time to get to know and then court young Janet Jardine in time for their wedding in
October.

Life on the River

Like many thousands before him, Thomas would have heard Presbyterian and Wesleyan
ministers energetically encouraging young men and women to emigrate to Australia where there
was “a desperate need” for hard working, clean living and god fearing farm workers to help in
the fight against the colony’s moral corruption.
If he was an assisted immigrant, Thomas would have worked off the cost of his passage while in
Victoria, either as a farm worker or even as a seaman engaged in coastal shipping. If he was
driven by the high moral crusade then he would have been keen to get to Sydney and to join
other Scots and Irishmen who were inundating the settlements at the borders of civilization north
of Sydney between Dungog and Port Macquarie. What better way to travel to the Promised Land
than with a suitable “wee lassie” picked up along the way?
However, the northern exodus for Thomas and Janet had to be postponed because Janet became
pregnant soon after her marriage. Travel by any expectant woman in the colony, either by road
or sea, was always a grave risk in the absence of medical help. Their first child, a daughter who
they named Ann Hewitt Nelson after Janet’s mother, was born on 1 July 1855. 515 According to
Ann’s obituary notice, thankfully written much later in life, Ann was born at Emu Plains, an
agricultural settlement west of Sydney on the floodplain of the Nepean River at the foot of the
Blue Mountains. Ann’s birth was registered at the river settlement of Wiseman’s Ferry which
was less than a days’ rowing downstream on the Nepean River and where the principal road from
Sydney to the northern settlements crossed the river. Thomas and Janet may have registered
the birth with the Government agent while making their long awaited journey. But first they
made the trek back to Sydney to have the baby
baptized on 29 July by the Reverend John Dougall
at the church where they were married.
According to the baptism certificate, Thomas was
working as a seaman at the time. As Ann was born
at Emu Plains, Thomas may have taken on work as
a boatman on the Nepean River. Regardless of his
seafaring experience, he would soon take up farming
as his livelihood.
Once Janet and Ann were fit to travel, the small
family, together with their bundles of meagre
belongings, made their way north over the primitive
Wiseman’s Ferry convict built road system then in place, stopping and
sheltering at the hamlets and small settlements

515 NSW BDM Baptism Certificate V1855368 53

267
along the way, until they arrived at the Manning River, just over 300 km north of Sydney. Or
they may have gone there by boat from Sydney if they could have afforded the passage.
The Manning River by now was dotted with settled patches carved out of the heavily forested
brush and the hardy first inhabitants of those settlements were mostly engaged in timber getting
and boat building as well as general agricultural and pastoral pursuits. The larger settlements
were at Bungay Bungay (which was the principal town at the head of navigation up the river),
Taree (then known as Tarree) and its neighbour, Cundle Cundle. At Taree, the river diverted into
different channels on its way to the sea, creating a number of islands, the largest being Mitchells
Island and Oxley Island, both named after successive NSW Surveyors General. A small
settlement was also established on little Pelican Island in the main channel of the river opposite
Mitchell’s Island. It is hard to imagine that only ten years earlier, a quarter of the people living
on the river were convicts working as assigned servants.
It was on Pelican Island that Thomas chose a likely site for settling his family. There was a small
but thriving boat building business on the island at the time due to the abundance of suitable
timbers and easy access to the sea and river. Thomas may have used his boat building expertise
to supplement the work on his burgeoning farm. He had taken up a selection “on the Pelican”,
which meant that he selected previously unselected land on the island as a start to the process
of obtaining a land grant from the Government.
Applicants first needed to obtain approval to make a selection of land but only in areas identified
by the Government. The amount of land that could be selected depended on various factors
including the amount of cash and assets the applicant had available. Once approval had been
given, the applicant could then make a selection, being careful to avoid land already selected or
in the process of selection. The selected land was then identified to the Government who would
arrange for a surveyor to confirm and delineate the boundaries on a map. Surveys could take
years to be done because of high demand. After survey, the Government would issue a grant of
land on condition that improvements be made to the land to an agreed value and that a modest
rent be paid until the improvements had been made. Usually selected land could not be sold for
at least seven years. Later, the
Government would hold regular
auctions of surveyed land that had not
been selected and these were sold for
market value and on less conditional
terms. Canny people (in addition to the
Scots) would simply occupy recently
surveyed land and then wait for the
auction when no-one else would bid for
land already occupied and bristling
with “Trespassers Will Be Shot” signs.
Thomas would purchase a number of
lots in the area at later land auctions.
The greatest hardships faced by settlers
The first Anglican church, St Mark’s, on Mitchells
were the isolation, lack of medical
Island near Scotts Creek
assistance, animal and insect pests, the
lack of drinking water and the densely forested brush which could only be cleared by hand. This
was truly a hard place to live where survival was a daily occupation. It was in this environment
that Thomas set about clearing his land for farming and grazing.
Thomas and Janet’s second child, another daughter, was born at Pelican Island on 15 August
1856, just over a year after their first child. There remains confusion over whether the new baby
was a twin. The baby was named Agnes and the birth was registered on 11 October at Bungay

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Bungay.516 The midwife was a Mrs Sullivan. Midwives were affectionately known on the river as
“rabbit catchers” (the exact meaning of that expression is somewhat elusive but may have had
something to do with putting a ferret in a rabbit burrow and netting the rabbits when they came
flying out). The baby was baptized by a Presbyterian minister on 15 December 1856 but with
the name of Janet, her mother’s name, and not Agnes.517 The birth and baptism certificates
show the same date of birth. The baby was always later known as Agnes. It is unlikely, in my
view, that there were two babies. More likely is that the baptism certificate incorrectly recorded
the mother’s name of Janet instead of Agnes. Such errors are not uncommon – for example, the
birth certificate also records the mother’s name as Janet Jordan instead of Janet Jardine
(although it correctly identified her place of birth as Linlithgow). The various certificates for later
children do not show a twin baby among the siblings, either living or dead.

Life on the Farm

After the birth of Agnes, Thomas had discovered that nearby Mitchells Island offered far better
rewards for farming than Pelican Island. Mitchells Island was also densely forested but it was
mainly rain forest and the soil was much more suitable for the cultivation of crops and grasses.
Within a few months he had managed to sell his land on Pelican Island and took up a new
selection at Pelican Bay, an inlet of the river on Mitchells Island opposite Pelican Island. It was
here that a third daughter, Margaret Nelson, was born on 23 November 1857 when Thomas was
27 and Janet 25, at least according to Margaret’s birth certificate.518 Mrs Sullivan was again
available to step in as midwife and the birth was duly registered at Bungay Bungay. By that
time the Manning River had ceased to be navigable to Bungay Bungay for the larger boats due
to silting caused by land clearing upstream and
the decision was made for the small village of
Wingham, a few bends further downstream, to
take over as the principal settlement.
By now Thomas, Janet and the three girls were
living in a small cottage with timber slab walls
and a shingled roof. The walls would have been
lined with hessian and mud, or similar
materials, and the floor would have been timber
planked as there was no shortage of material.
Thomas would have worked from sun up to sun
down clearing and tilling land, planting crops,
vegetables and fruit trees and tending a small “On the Pelican” – Pelican Bay today
herd of cattle and sheep while Janet would have
looked after the horses, the poultry, the flower gardens and the smaller animals.
Their first son, John Nelson, was born at the cottage at Pelican Bay on 10 January 1859. 519
Extraordinarily, after an interval of 14 months since the last birth, Thomas was again recorded
as being 27 but Janet amazingly had gone from 25 to 24. Perhaps there was something in the
water here as well. Mrs Sullivan did the honours again but this time the birth was recorded at
the new registry in Wingham.
The lure of better land was too much for Thomas and he soon sold his Pelican Bay holding to
take up another new selection of almost 300 acres towards the middle of the island (Portions 62,

516 NSW BDM Birth Certificate 7292/1856

517 NSW BDM Baptism Certificate V185630 124
518 NSW BDM Birth Certificate 10501/1857
519 NSW BDM Birth Certificate 13798/1859

269
89, 172, 173, 190, 203 and 220 of the Parish of Oxley). He would add adjoining land to this
holding over the years but the first selection would always be the main holding. The new cottage
he built only had two rooms but those rooms would have been divided by hessian curtains or
similar material.
A kitchen was added separately to minimize the risk of fire. The slab walls were cut from white
tea tree using an adze and a broadaxe and the inside of the walls were glued with painted
newspaper. The roof was made from bark or shingles (it was replaced with corrugated iron much
later). The cottage was built straight on to the ground and had a beaten earth floor.

Thomas Nelson’s selection in green colour, son in law Stewart Currie’s selection in
orange colour and Francis Nelson’s selection in red outline
The old cottage is still standing although not in its original position. It was moved and raised
onto blocks to make way for a new modern cottage in the late 1900s. It has also been extended
on two sides and was last used as a barn and storage site.
There were no roads on the island. Walking tracks and bridle paths had been cut through the
forest to get access from the farms to the river, often crossing neighbouring farms. These hardy
pioneers had a strong community spirit and were happy to help each other. There were no stores,
churches, schools, post offices or doctors on Mitchells Island so transport by boat was essential.
The main access to the Nelson farm was by boat up Scotts Creek which separated Mitchells
Island from Oxley Island.
The Nelson children would eventually be sent for formal education to the little school on Pelican
Island and they would be rowed across the river each school day. At this point near the river’s
mouth the currents and winds could be deadly and many a large ship, let alone smaller craft,
came to grief on the lower Manning when conditions were poor. Members of the Nelson family

270
over many generations, travelling by boat up Scotts Creek, relied on two close growing pine trees
that stood well above the surrounding landscape as their means to find their way to their mooring
– even at night the two trees would stand out against the lighter background. In fact, the trees
were visible at sea. Coastal fisherman referred to them as the “Two Old Maids” and used them
as a landmark to find the entrance to the Manning River.
Another son, Thomas James Nelson, was born at
the new holding on 12 November 1860.520 He was
followed by Emma Jardine Nelson (who was
always known later as Amy). She was born on 5
February 1862 at the harshly named Foul
Weather Reach, presumably a location on the
island (although a more well-known location in
the colony with that name was on the Nepean
River).521 William Hewitt Nelson was born on 4
August 1863 on the island (but indexed under the
name of Neilson) and his sister Mary Nelson came
later in 1865.522 My great grandmother Janet
Nelson was next to be born, on Boxing Day
1866.523
A further four children were all born on the island
over the next 10 years – Alexander Nelson (known
as Alec) on 23 June 1868, Elizabeth Smith Nelson
on 14 June 1871, James Jardine Nelson on 17
May 1872 and Alice Nelson on 26 April 1876. 524
Thomas and Janet continued to work their land
as hard as they could while their children were
growing up. The population of the island would
steadily grow but never exceed 300. Parties
would be held by the islanders to celebrate special The Two Old Maids still standing and
birthdays, anniversaries, engagements and the original Nelson slab cottage
weddings. Up to half the island would be invited
by the Nelsons to dine on freshly butchered meat and poultry, home-made cakes, pastries and
desserts, fresh fruits, locally brewed ales and that morning’s catch of seafood and shellfish.
These meals would always be followed by dancing, usually to no more than one or two
instruments, and the merriment would last “until the evening sky was threatened with the first
rays of the new sun.”
Their story continues in the lives of their children in the following pages.

520 NSW BDM Birth Certificate 13430/1860

521 NSW BDM Birth Certificate 8776/1862
522 NSW BDM Birth Certificates 8867/1863 and 10052/1865
523 NSW BDM Birth Certificate 10729/1866
524 NSW BDM Birth Certificates 10953/1868, 11997/1871, 13282/1872 and 14503/1876

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 Ann Hewitt Nelson

Married 1875 Stewart Currie

Children:

Janet Jardine Currie b 1876 d 1964 88 years

Isaac Stewart Currie b 1878 d 1935 57 years

Eliza Clinton Currie b 1879 d 1956 77 years

Ann Hewitt Nelson Currie b 1881 d 1951 70 years

Mary Jane Currie b 1882 d 1947 65 years

Thomas Charles Currie b 1884 d 1962 78 years

William Walter Currie b 1887 d 1969 82 years

Alexander Alan Currie b 1889 d 1962 73 years

John Allan Currie b 1891 d 1974 83 years

Francis J Jardine Currie b 1894 d 1965 71 years

Donald Robertson Currie b 1896 d 1965 69 years

Victor Sydney Currie b 1899 d 1902 3 years

When Ann Hewitt Nelson, the oldest of Thomas and Janet Nelson’s children, reached her early
teens her prospects on Mitchell Island were somewhat limited. She had received a modest
education from local schooling and a reasonable understanding of farm management from her
parents. She could look forward to helping out on the family farm until she met and married a
local boy and she could then become a farmer’s wife like her mother or the wife of someone
otherwise making a living on the river. Perhaps she had a yearning to capitalise on her education
to achieve a more fulfilling life or perhaps her parents wanted her to have the opportunity to
accomplish more than they were able to. When she was 14 she left Mitchells Island to go to
Sydney where she had obtained a position working for a dressmaker. There is a good chance
that her parents had connections back in Sydney and had arranged the position beforehand.
But Ann was the trailblazer and her example would later be followed by many of her siblings.
Ann continued diligently with her training and within a few years became a dressmaker in her
own right.
She was 20 when she married Isaac Stewart Currie after they had met in Sydney. Since her
mother’s marriage, the Presbyterian Church in Sydney had seen yet a further split. A third

272
church was built on the corner of Pitt and Hay Streets in the Haymarket area by another
breakaway group, this time under the ministry of the Reverend Dr James Fullerton, a
Presbyterian from the province of Ulster in Ireland. He had been appointed by John Dunmore
Lang to look after the mostly Irish congregation at Lang’s church but Fullerton soon found ample
reason to turn against his superior. Lang called Fullerton “a mere Hibernian driveller with neither
ability nor respectability.” However, others described Fullerton as “the unbending champion of the
old theology.” Dr Fullerton performed the ceremony for the Curries at the Pitt Street church on
21 December 1875.525
Stewart Currie, as he was always known,
was a son of Captain Charles Currie who
was a master mariner from Lochgilphead
in Argyll, Scotland. Stewart’s mother was
a direct descendant of the Stuart line of
Scottish and English Kings.526 Stewart
grew up in a maritime environment
surrounded by ships and dockworkers. He
went to sea at an early age in a brigantine
captained by his father. He and his father
continued their seafaring ways after
arriving in NSW. Unfortunately, in 1871
father Charles (or it may have been
Stewart’s older brother, who was also
called Charles) was the captain of the 138
Dr Fullerton’s church, Pitt Street, Sydney ton brigantine Callendar from Melbourne
when it was wrecked after it drifted on to
rocks at the entrance to the Richmond River in northern NSW. 527
Before his marriage Stewart was working as an officer on the 2,167 ton mail steamer Macgregor.
The Macgregor ran aground on a coral reef near Kandavu Harbour in the Fijian Islands in
February 1874.528 The damage to the hull was extensive but the ship was eventually refloated
and limped back to Sydney for repairs. The ship resumed service in July 1874. Mail from Britain
and Europe was usually contracted to come from Southampton in England to Sydney via Suez
in Egypt where the mail was carried overland by train to a waiting ship in the Red Sea (yes before
the Canal was built). But competing companies offered faster delivery by ship to New York, then
by train to San Francisco and then by ship to Fiji where it was picked up and brought back to
Sydney.529 In March 1874 for example, one mailboat, the Tartar, arrived back from Fiji carrying
100 mail bags containing some 11,066 letters, 372 packets and 18,602 newspapers. Seventeen
bags were for Victoria, one for South Australia, two for Tasmania and seven for Queensland with
the balance for NSW. The mail had arrived in Sydney from England in 54 days, faster than the
Suez route. Even more impressive was that the Tartar had been delayed trying to help refloat
the Macgregor.530
After his marriage Stewart looked for more steady employment and joined the Australasian Steam
Navigation Company (ASN Co) which mostly operated along the NSW coast.
Ann and Stewart’s first child was born the following year in 1876. Ann had returned to Mitchells
Island to be with her mother when the baby was born. They named the girl Janet Jardine Currie
in honour of Ann’s mother. Returning to Sydney to live, Ann gave birth to a son in 1878 who

525 NSW BDM Marriage Certificate 1176/1875

526 The Northern Champion 18 March 1925, page 2
527 Australian Town and Country Journal 24 June 1871, page 27
528 Wagga Wagga Express and Murrumbidgee Advertiser 29 April 1874, page 6
529 Across the Pacific – Liners from Australia and NZ to North America - Peter Plowman 2010
530 Evening News 11 March 1874, page 2

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they named Isaac Stewart Currie after his father. Young Isaac was not well when he was born
and he remained sickly. Six weeks after his birth it became apparent that he was totally blind.
Doctors advised the parents to remove the unwell baby from Sydney’s overpowering pollution,
mostly caused from the industrial and domestic burning of coal and from the blanket of toxic
horse manure that covered much of Sydney’s streets. Stewart made the decision to give up his
seafaring career and take Ann and the children to Mitchells Island to make a new life and where
they could count on the support of Ann’s parents.
Stewart first worked at a small sawmill
towards the south of the island near
Scotts Creek, where he and Ann also
lived. This was the first sawmill built
on the Manning River. Stewart then
moved to a larger sawmill at Langley
Vale, on the mainland near Lansdowne,
north of Taree. While working at the
second sawmill he took up a selection
of land on Mitchells Island next door to
the selection of Thomas Nelson, on the
western side. As soon as he could, he
retired from the sawmill and started
working his selection which he slowly
developed into a prosperous mixed The rescue of the Macgregor at Kandavu Harbour
farming operation.
Their third child, Eliza Clinton Currie, was born in 1879. She was named after her other
grandmother, Eliza Currie (Clinton was probably in honour of General Henry Clinton, the
Commander in Chief of the British forces in North America who had recently captured New York
and won a series of other victories over the rebel colonists during the American War of
Independence).
Ann and Stewart would produce another nine children over the next 20 years. The youngest,
Victor Sydney Currie (other family historians for some reason have called him Richard) was born
in 1899 but died less than three years later. Despite that setback, the family prospered and the
Curries became well-respected and popular on Mitchells Island. Stewart was named as an
Executor in at least three Wills of other islanders, including Thomas Jobson. Ann would always
remain very close to her parents.
The Curries saw two of their sons volunteer for service in the First World War. Alex Currie was
26 when he tried to enlist in 1915. At his medical it was found he had a groin hernia and he
was told to have an operation to fix it. Meanwhile, his younger brother Frank had been working
as a labourer on the family farm when he enlisted on 7 November 1916 at the age of 22 in the
35th Battalion. He came down with mumps and was hospitalized soon after arriving in England.
He later served in a machine gun company and was promoted to Lance Corporal. He returned
home on 12 June 1919. Alex had his hernia operation and reapplied for enlistment on 5 August
1918 only to discover he had since developed a hernia on the other side. He was again rejected
for service. Even if he had been accepted at the second attempt, the war would have been over
before his arrival in Europe. Three of Alex’s sons would have more success at enlistment during
the Second World War. They each saw active service overseas, with one son being a Japanese
prisoner of war for three years.
Some of the Currie children, such as Annie and Don, moved to Sydney and a few moved to other
regional areas looking for work but most of them stayed on Mitchell’s Island. Not surprisingly,
those who had left often returned to the island in later life. Annie had first found work at the
Windsor Castle Hotel in Taree before working at the Grand Central Hotel in Sydney.

274
Stewart had retired from active farming by 1920 when the work was fully taken over by some of
his sons. Ann and Stewart celebrated their 50th Golden Wedding Anniversary at their home
(which they had called Currieville) on 22 December 1924
with 83 guests and a three tiered wedding cake. 531 Stewart
gave a speech describing the difficulties and hardships of
the man on the land in making a home for himself and his
family and of the noble part of the wives and mothers in
bearing the incidental toils and hardships. By now they had
31 grandchildren. To the great happiness of their children
and friends, their continued good health saw them
celebrating their 60th Diamond Wedding Anniversary in
December 1934.
Their son Isaac (who was also known as Stewart), blind from
birth, had never married nor left the family home. He
performed much work about the farm, learning by
experience every nook and cranny, every contour of the
pastures and the layout of all of the garden and vegetable
beds. He became an accomplished musician and he
“performed creditably on a number of instruments.” In the
early days he played at the local School of Arts free of charge
and in rain or shine without fail to help out the organizing
committee but later he was in high demand for paid
performances at social events and dances. He was popular
Francis (Frank) J J Currie
with all who knew him and he showed a keen intelligence
in all that went on around him. But after suffering heart trouble for a year and a half, he died
at the age of 57 on 14 February 1935, only a few weeks
after his parents’ 60th anniversary.532 An obituary said
he was obliging and tried to help everybody he could
and that he was greatly loved by all the children. 533
Two years later on 3 June 1937 Ann Currie passed
away at the age of 81.534 She was described as “a home
loving woman and never took any active part in public
functions but was always ready to do a good turn for
her neighbours.”535
The loss of his wife must have been sorely felt by
Stewart. He had suffered acutely from asthma for
many years and had developed kidney trouble soon
after his wife’s death. He was admitted to the Mayo
Hospital at Taree, built as a private hospital in 1922,
where he passed away at the age of 82 on 21 July
1937, only seven weeks after the death of his wife. 536
He and his wife were buried on the island. 537 His estate
was sworn in at £445 for probate purposes. Son William Walter Currie and the
former Alice Jobson

531 The Manning River Times and Advocate 14 January 1925, page 2
532 NSW BDM Death Certificate 4189/1937
533 The Northern Champion 16 February 1935, page 4 and The Manning River Times and Advocate

9 March 1935, page 6

534 NSW BDM Death Certificate 10448/1937
535 The Manning River Times and Advocate 16 June 1937, page 2
536 NSW BDM Death Certificate 16212/1937
537 The Manning River Times and Advocate 24 July 1937, page 6

275
Stewart and Ann’s daughter Eliza had never married and continued living at the family home
after the death of her parents. She was soon joined by her unmarried sister Annie who had
decided to leave Sydney.

276
 Agnes Nelson

Married 1880 Frederick George Farquharson

Children:

Georgina Anvess Farquharson b 1880 d 1888 7 years

Frederick George Farquharson b 1883 d 1927 43 years

Robert James Farquharson b 1885 d 1894 9 years

Like her sister Ann, Agnes Nelson left Mitchells Island at an early age to find work in Sydney. In
early 1880 at St David’s Church of England at Surry Hills she married Sydney born Frederick
George Farquharson who worked in the city as a postman (but more quaintly known then as a
letter carrier).538 They were both 23 and they first lived at Young Street in the city in a terrace
house that was built on part of the site of the first Government House. Later that year, but
probably not late enough for the sensibilities of the time, Agnes gave birth to her first child who
they named Georgina Anvess
Farquharson (although the birth
certificate records her first name as
Georgianna). The index entry for
Agnes’ marriage records her name as
Agnes Annis Nelson so there is
probably some connection between
the second names of mother and
daughter. However, Agnes’ birth
certificate only has Agnes, so any
second name was acquired at a later
date.539 Two sons followed after
Georgina - Frederick George
Farquharson was born on 3
December 1883 and named after his
father and Robert James
Farquharson was born on 21 July
1885.540 Postal workers at Balmain Post Office 1890
– Australia Post Historical Section
By 1888 the expanded family was
living at 40 Mackenzie Street, Leichhardt but random tragedy was not far around the corner. On
5 September 1888 Georgina died aged only seven years.541 She had contracted diphtheria about
seven days earlier and despite medical treatment, her throat swelled and became covered with a
felt like coating. Eventually her airway was cut off. There had been no particular outbreak of
the disease at the time but it was always a presence in suburban Sydney and fatal in about 30%

538 NSW BDM Marriage Certificate 551/1880

539 NSW BDM Birth Certificate 3552/1880
540 NSW BDM Birth Certificates 10636/1884 (indexed under the name Farqueson) and

11376/1885 and The Sydney Morning Herald 2 August 1928, page 10

541 NSW BDM Death Certificate 2701/1888

277
of cases. In the month before Georgina’s death there had been 10 reported cases of diphtheria
in Sydney and the suburbs. This increased to 18 in the next month (September) and then
dropped to 16 in October. By January, the number had dropped to 9. An engineer with the
Department of Public Works had reported the year before that the incidence of diseases like
diphtheria, typhoid fever, scarlet fever and attacks of diarrhoea were far more prevalent in the
suburbs than in the city, despite the general view that the suburbs were healthier places to live
than the more polluted cities. This was because drainage and sewerage in the suburbs were
often behind the higher standard in the city. Diphtheria during the year 1887 was said to be
“somewhat prevalent throughout the year.” The engineer concluded:542

“For many years past the rate at which children of tender years have been
stricken down in the suburbs has formed a pathetic commentary on the
absence of sanitary precautions.”

Four years later on 18 July 1892, Ann’s husband Frederick, who was still working as a postman,
passed away fairly suddenly at the age of 35 from the effects of pneumonia which had steadily
progressed over an eight day period.543 His death certificate states that his daughter was
Georgina Anvis Farquharson, adding yet another variant of the second name. I cannot help but
picture a postman doing his rounds, largely unprotected during miserably cold and wet weather
in the middle of winter and succumbing to such an illness. He was buried at Waverley Cemetery.
The official witnesses at his burial were George TJ Rees, who only a month earlier had married
Agnes’ younger sister Janet Nelson, and Peter Skulander who had been married to another of
Agnes’ younger sisters, Margaret, for the last 11 years. The connection was that they all lived
nearby and were in close contact.
It only got worse for the widowed Agnes two years later when on a pleasant Sunday in November
1894, she left her house at Leichhardt with her two boys to join a group of ladies for a day out.
They caught the early steamer from Circular Quay to Manly and walked around to Fairlight
Beach for a quiet picnic away from the large crowds usually enveloping the various Manly
beaches. The boys were playing
on the rocks when nine year old
Robert fell off into deep water.
An alarm was raised immediately
but poor Agnes could only watch
as Robert, who could not swim,
struggled desperately but
ultimately failed to stay above
water. A little time later a man
named Sydney Allen arrived on
the scene and made two
attempts to bring the boy out,
the second being successful. A
Dr Watkins and a police sergeant
then arrived and did all they
could to resuscitate Robert but
they were unsuccessful.544 The
city coroner, W Moore, held an A steamer arriving at Manly Wharf
inquiry at the ASN Hotel, on the

542 The Sydney Morning Herald 26 June 1888, page 5

543 NSW BDM Death Certificate 7101/1892
544 The Sydney Morning Herald 12 November 1894, page 5

278
corner of George and Argyle Streets, Sydney, on 12 November and returned a verdict of accidental
death by drowning.545 The event was widely reported in NSW newspapers.
Agnes’ remaining child, Frederick junior, married Annie McCann in 1912 and they had at least
three children. But again tragedy was never far away. Frederick died at the age of 43 on 2
August 1927 at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, leaving his mother to help look after Annie and his
young family.546 By 1931 Agnes, Annie and the children had moved down the road to 66
Mackenzie Street, Leichhardt.
Agnes herself died on 4 November 1939 at home when she was 83 having been a widow for 47
years.547 Her funeral procession left from her home and headed for Waverley Cemetery.548 Her
estate was sworn in at £275 for probate purposes.

545 Evening News 12 November 1894, page 5

546 NSW BDM Death Certificate 16368/1927
547 NSW BDM Death Certificate 23394/1939
548 The Sydney Morning Herald 6 November 1939, page 7

279
 Margaret Nelson

Married 1881 Peter Nielsen Skulander

Children:

Thomas Andvis N Skulander b 1881 d 1957 76 years

Peter Nielsen Skulander b 1883 d 1964 81 years

Jens Nielsen Skulander b 1885 d 1950 64 years

Janet Jardine N Skulander b 1886 d 1973 86 years

Amy Nielsen Skulander b 1888 d 1958 70 years

Gertrude Nielsen Skulander b 1890 d 1891 11 months

Alexander Nielsen Skulander b 1891 d 1977 86 years

Bertha Nielsen Skulander b 1896 d 1972 76 years

Ruby Nielsen Skulander b 1899 d 1972 72 years

Norman Nielsen Skulander b 1903 d 1981 78 years

It is likely that Margaret followed the lead of her older sisters to find work in Sydney because it
was here where she met her future husband, Peter Nielsen Skulander. The name Skulander (or
Skolander, which was his father’s name) was not a surname commonly found in Peter’s native
Denmark but Nielsen was quite common and, coincidently, was the origin of the British name
Nelson. In this Skulander family the name Nielsen was commonly used as a second name for
the next generation but along the way it was somehow changed to Neilsen. For simplicity, I have
only used Nielsen in this story. Margaret and Peter were both 23 when they married on 1 January
1881 at the home of her parents on Mitchells Island.549
Peter was the eldest of nine children and had grown up in the Danish coastal town of Nordborg,
on the eastern side of the Jutland peninsular not far north of the German border.
He went to sea at an early age and became a proficient mariner. He first came to Australia as a
cook on a ship named Wagrien that left Hamburg in Germany, arriving in Sydney via Mauritius
in April 1875, according to records of shipping arrivals in Sydney (or in 1874 according to his
later naturalization papers). The ship was a sealer and Peter was unhappy with the sealing work
he was required to do. The 18 year old Peter was on board the same ship when it returned to
Sydney in November of that year from Foshan in China. Soon after the ship left Sydney he

549 NSW BDM Marriage Certificate 4215/1881

280
managed to jump ship and make his way back to Sydney where he looked for work. One day he
was asked by a man why he cried so much and he gave his reply in Danish, which was easier
for him than English. The man turned out to be Danish also and from a town only three
kilometres from Nordborg. Peter went home and stayed with the man and his family and then
worked for him for some time until he could make it on his own.

Peter’s family home in Denmark with his parents and sister

After their marriage, Margaret and Peter soon returned to live in Sydney. Their first child, a son
Thomas Andvis Skulander, was born later in the year on 5 October 1881 (his second name is
eerily similar to Georgina Farquharson’s second name of Anvess). I have yet to find any member
of the current Skulander family who knows the origin of the name Andvis. I like to think the
name was that of Peter’s Danish benefactor who was so helpful to Peter after he first arrived in
the colony. It is possible that he also helped the Farquharsons to get established as they were
living close to Peter and were related to Peter’s wife Margaret (and that might also explain
Georgina’s second name). Peter became a naturalized British subject in NSW in 1885.
Margaret and Peter proved particularly productive in having children, providing another nine
over the 20 years between 1883 and 1903. Only one child, a daughter named Gertrude Nielsen
Skulander, failed to survive past infancy. In fact all of the other children would live well past 60.

After working as a seaman, Peter found it far more profitable to be a carrier of goods to and from
the wharves and rail heads. He sometimes loaded up goods at the wharves that he had himself
ordered on consignment but usually he acted as a carrier for others in loading and transporting
goods from the wharves to either his warehouse or direct to his customers’ businesses. As
examples, he once imported 417 cases of fruit from Victoria and at another time, 87 bags of
onions. All had to be cleared through customs before he could pick them up (all States had
separate customs duty). Once he sent a bull and a horse on board the Taviuni which sailed to
Fiji, Tonga and Apia.550 Peter accumulated a number of horses and carts as he built up his
business, which became primarily focused on the wharves of Darling Harbour and the nearby
fruit and vegetable markets.

Despite his new endeavours as a carrier, Peter never lost sight of the plight of seafarers who were
often lost or injured as a result of unseaworthy and overloaded vessels (famously known as coffin

550Daily Commercial News and Shipping List 18 December 1896, page 2, 30 January 1901, page
2 and 13 May 1898, page 2

281
ships). He was a long time member of the Sydney Marine Benefit Society which had affiliations
with the NSW Seamen’s Union.

Samuel Plimsoll (known as the seamen’s friend) had for

many years in Britain provided distinguished and
valuable services to the seamen of the world including
his tireless work to have a safe loading line marked on
the side of all merchant ships (known as the Plimsoll
Line). A ship, the Samuel Plimsoll, was named after him
(the same ship that Francis Nelson from Donaghadee
sailed on to Sydney).

In early 1883 Peter Skulander attended a function in

Sydney to present to Samuel Plimsoll, who was on an
Australian tour, a model of the ship named after him
to thank him for his services which were much
recognized in the colonies.551 Unfortunately, Mr
Plimsoll was not able to make the function, his wife
having inconveniently died in Queensland shortly
before, resulting in his need to return home before
completing all of his engagements. Nevertheless, a
written presentation with 11 signatories, including Carts at Darling Harbour
Peter Skulander, was read out:

“Your name is treasured and revered with heartfelt gratitude by seamen of all
nationalities in the Australasian colonies. It was your noble efforts, sir, in
defiance of the most determined hostility and malignant enmity of owners of
rotten ships, which have saved many … from a watery grave.”

Peter was a member of the organizing committee of the Marine Benefit Society. He helped
organize a fund raising ball at the Exhibition Building at Prince Alfred Park one night in January
1886 for 200 couples with music provided by the Naval Brigade Band. Peter also assisted the
MC for part of the night. Dancing continued until 4 am. 552 The Exhibition Building was built in
1870. For a time it housed the War Memorial Museum before it moved to its new home in
Canberra in 1936. The Exhibition Building was demolished in 1954.

Exhibition Building at Prince Alfred Park

551 Australian Town and Country Journal 17 March 1883, page 13

552 Evening News 27 January 1886, page 3

282
By 1887 Margaret and Peter were living at Nelson Street, Leichhardt (later to become part of
Annandale). The name of the street probably appealed to Margaret even though it was named
after Admiral Nelson. They moved to nearby 177 Trafalgar Street, Leichhardt in 1890 where they
stayed for the next 15 years (actually 177½ according to the Sands Directories, which was a
different property, probably a subdivision of a larger lot).

Peter also stayed active in other local affairs. He followed politics and often gave public support
for candidates in municipal elections. 553 He was a steward at a large sports carnival at a United
Protestant Demonstration and Picnic held at Ryde. It was organized by the Orange Institution,
the Orange Benefit Society and the Royal Black Association, all rather extreme Protestant groups
mostly connected to the Protestant cause in Northern Ireland.554 Peter was a talented and regular
player of draughts at a time when most of his relatives by marriage were talented players of the
card game euchre.555

Peter’s life became very difficult after an incident in 1901. A labourer named Edwin Greach
brought a court action against Peter for negligence, claiming damages for serious injuries.
Greach said that on 11 May he went to the Grafton Wharf at Darling Harbour on business and
when coming out of the gateway he was struck by a dray that was being carelessly backed up by
one of Peter’s employees. Greach
said he was forced into a trolley and
became jammed between the two
vehicles. Although Peter strongly
defended the claim, he was found to
be liable for the fault of his employee
and ordered to pay Greach £75. 556

When Peter indicated that he was

unable to pay the verdict at that
time, mainly because he had not
been working for some months due
a broken leg, Greach commenced
bankruptcy proceedings against
Peter. At the same time, Peter sought
to delay those proceedings by
commencing an action against the
Adelaide Steam Ship Company.
Pyrmont Bridge traffic with Darling Harbour wharves
This action was for £2,000 damages
for injuries, including a broken leg, which Peter suffered in an accident at another wharf. Peter
said that on 17 May (six days after Greach’s accident), he had gone to a wharf to receive crates
of cauliflower from the company’s ship S S Albany. When he arrived he was told that all of the
ropes and slings were being used so he had to make do with a hook and chain. As the last crate
was being lowered it fell from the chain onto Peter, breaking his leg and causing other injuries.
The company argued that Peter had entered the wharf without proper permission and had no
right to be there at the time. The court agreed with this technical argument and found against
Peter.557

He was subsequently declared bankrupt but he continually delayed and avoided any action by
the official assignee by seeking numerous adjournments and being generally unhelpful. His

553 Evening News 23 December 1889, page 5 and Sunday Times 3 January 1897, page 1
554 The Protestant Standard 14 November 1891, page 6
555 Australian Town and Country Journal 14 September 1895, page 30
556 Evening News 18 October 1901, page 6
557 Evening News 19 December 1901, pages 2 and 7

283
official assignee had trouble determining whether business assets belonged to Peter or his son
Thomas.558 Within six months of being declared bankrupt, Peter had paid the debt to Greach
but then faced contempt proceedings for the delays. At last, the bankruptcy registrar looked
into Peter’s plight and said that in his view Peter’s bankruptcy was brought about by misfortune.
He was inclined to think that Peter’s delaying tactics were mostly justified and he suspended
him for a token one day before giving him a certificate of discharge. 559

In December 1902 James McGuinness, a carter employed by Peter Skulander, took a load of fruit
to the Darling Harbour railway goods station for loading. He backed the dray up against the
platform and then climbed up on the wheel to get to the platform. He slipped and fell striking
his head on the wood blocks that surfaced the area. He later died in Sydney Hospital from skull
fractures.560

By 1905 Peter had moved to 155 Trafalgar Street. I then discovered that he had not moved at
all. Instead, the council had changed the house numbers in the street, probably to remove all
of the half numbers that had resulted from many subdivisions and to reflect the loss of houses
bought and demolished by new businesses who were consolidating their individual holdings.
But Margaret did move, up the road to 198 Trafalgar Street. A further sign of a deteriorating
relationship was when Margaret obtained an order for maintenance against Peter in 1909 at the
Glebe Police Court. These orders were usually applied for in the case of desertion. Not one for
sitting back, Peter appealed against the magistrate’s order but his appeal was dismissed. 561 Later
events show that they would be reunited and once again enjoy a loving relationship.

Peter and Margaret Skulander

There is a good chance that all of the Skulander children were good swimmers as learning to
swim would have been seen by both Margaret and Peter as vital, having regard to both of their
backgrounds. Arriving in the Balmain and Leichhardt areas in the late 1870s, Margaret may
well have taken to the baths that operated around that part of the harbour, including one at
Pyrmont. Swimming was a popular activity and competitions were frequently held. Thousands
of people would turn up to watch State and National competitions. In particular, swimming
became even more popular after many restrictions were lifted after 1902. Which brings me to

558 The Sydney Morning Herald 6 May 1902, page 8

559 Evening News 7 August 1902, page 3
560 Evening News 18 December 1902, page 4
561 The Sydney Morning Herald 3 March 1909, page 7

284
report that a “Mrs Skulander” was a judge at the State Swimming Championships held in 1910. 562
It is hard to imagine that Mrs Skulander could have been a judge unless she was herself a former
recognized swimmer. Margaret may have been the judge or perhaps it was one of the young
wives of one of her sons, but I like to think that Mrs Skulander was Margaret.

In 1916 Peter again went through a bankruptcy process but this time it took its full toll on him
and his business was finished. A first dividend on his estate was declared at 2⅛ pennies in the
pound, with little prospect of there being a second dividend.563

Bankruptcy did not stop Peter from working but he no longer worked in his own business. Most
likely he worked for one of his sons, such as Jens or Peter junior, who both kept in close contact.
In 1918 when Peter and Margaret were both about 60 they moved from Trafalgar Street to 14
Brabyn Street, Eastwood where they would spend their remaining days. Peter died at home on
9 April 1924 at the age of 65. Margaret also died at home but 17 years later on Australia Day
1941 when she was 83. 564

Thomas Andvis Nelson Skulander

Margaret and Peter’s eldest son, Thomas Andvis Skulander, was the first of the children to marry
(but only by three months). On 28 April 1904 he married Edith Jude Hely (known as May), the
eldest daughter of Frank Herbert Hely and his wife Jane Theophila Hely of Tasmania. The
ceremony was performed at the Central Mission Hall at Balmain by the Reverend W F Oakes.
The reception was held at Wilhelmy’s Hall, also at Balmain. 565 Thomas was described in a
newspaper report of the event as Thomas Andreas Skulander. Coincidently, Frank Hely was the
same Hely whose wife owed money to Thomas Jardine, the timber merchant from Melbourne.
Frank soon moved from Tasmania to Balmain to work as a shipwright. The coincidence deepens
when you consider that in marrying a Hely girl, Thomas Skulander joined my Hely family to the
Nelson family some 17 years earlier than previously thought when my mother’s parents were
married. No doubt this earlier union played a role in the later meeting of my mother’s parents.
A further coincidence is that May Hely’s brother, George William Hely, also married on the same
day as May but at a different place in Balmain. The local paper, the Balmain Observer, noted
that not many turned up for George’s wedding service at the church because of inclement
weather (in reality, they were all at May’s service). However, everyone turned up at the reception
(which was held jointly).566

Thomas and May moved to New Zealand in about 1905, not long after their wedding at Balmain.
Peter Skulander and Frank Hely saw New Zealand as a great business opportunity for the newly-
weds who could take advantage of the very profitable supply chain that passed through the
islands. By 1907 Thomas and May had settled into a town soon renamed Silverdale, about 30
km north of Auckland on what is now known as the Hibiscus Coast. Although they would make
frequent visits back to Sydney, they remained in Silverdale for the rest of their lives and their
descendants became (and still are) well represented in sport, community and cultural activities.

562 Evening News 4 February 1910, page 2

563 The Sydney Morning Herald 31 March 1916, page 1
564 NSW BDM Death Certificates 8444/1924 and 3218/1941 and The Sydney Morning Herald 3

May 1924, page 16 and 27 January 1941, page 6

565 The Sydney Morning Herald 7 May 1904, page 10
566 Balmain Observer 14 May 1904, page 3

285
 The Wade Store after the town of Wade was renamed
Silverdale – Sir Charles Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries

Peter Nielsen Skulander

The second son of Peter and Margaret Skulander was given the same name as his father. Peter
Skulander junior, married Mary Quigley in 1906. 567 Peter enlisted for service in the First World
War and was allocated to a unit of no more than 100 volunteers to be reinforcements for the 17th
Battalion. They were to help plug the gaps left after the Battalion’s losses at Gallipoli. The unit
left Sydney for Egypt on 2 November 1915. In another significant coincidence, my grandfather’s
brother, Cyril Eugene O’Connor, and my wife’s grandfather’s brother, Ernest Sidney Griffiths,
sailed on the same ship as part of that volunteer unit and all three later transferred to the 55 th
Battalion before it was sent to France.

At the time of his enlistment, young Peter was living with his wife Mary at 48 Foveaux Street,
Surry Hills. He arranged for all of his pay of 5/- a day to be paid to Mary so she could look after
their seven year old son Allan. He would be their only child.

Promoted to Lance Corporal, Peter was severely wounded in February 1917 when his company
was out on night patrol and engaged a German unit in a fierce firefight at the front somewhere
north of the Somme River, between the French towns of Cambrai and Amiens. Suffering from
gunshot wounds to thigh, knee and foot he was sent to the 3rd Australian General Hospital at
Brighton in England before being sent back to Australia. Cyril O’Connor also managed to survive
the war but Ernest Griffiths was killed just outside Villers-Bretonneux near Amiens in 1918.

Only days after Mary had received notification that Peter had been seriously wounded, his son
Allan had a narrow escape when he was among 250 boys who were attending a Boys’ Brigade
film night at their hall in Surry Hills when the highly flammable cellulose nitrate film caught fire
and the resulting flame and smoke caused a stampede for the exit. A boy fell on the stairs and

567 NSW BDM Marriage Certificate 39/1907

286
others then fell on top and many were stuck while smoke filled the stairwell. 28 boys, including
Allan, were taken to hospital, mostly with smoke issues but one boy could not be revived.568

After returning from the war, Peter spent

time working in sugar mills in
Queensland. Seasonal work in the cane
fields and mills paid handsomely and
Peter was probably drawn there by the
income. However, when working at the
Macknade Sugar Mills in northern
Queensland in 1921, his leg became
caught in points on the rail tracks when
he was shunting rail trucks. His leg was
torn open from hip to ankle but after a
lengthy stay in the local hospital, he
recovered and returned to Sydney.569

Having survived his earlier brush with

death, Allan Skulander was not so lucky Macknade Sugar Mill – Hinchinbrook Shire Library
the next time. In 1928 when he was 20
he was a pillion passenger on a motor cycle that collided with a bus in Darlinghurst Road after
the motor cycle skidded on the road which had only just been watered. Allan fell from the motor
cycle and a rear wheel of the bus passed over his head, killing him instantly. 570 Peter and Mary
were inconsolable and never stopped mourning for their only child. For many years they placed
In Memorium notices in The Sydney Morning Herald for their son. In later life, Peter and Mary
moved to Yarra Bay, near La Perouse.

Jens Nielsen Skulander

Margaret and Peter’s third son, Jens Nielsen Skulander (named after Peter’s father), joined the
family business as a carrier of goods. Jens and his wife Louisa, who he married on 20 July 1904,
later moved into 157 Trafalgar Street, Leichhardt (previously 179), next door to his parents. 571
He and Louisa had three children, including George Thomas Skulander, before Louisa sadly died
on 19 May 1911 at home. The residents of Trafalgar Street were keen to offer support and
encouragement to Jens in his time of sorrow.

Less than a month later Jens was walking past Russell Wharf at Darling Harbour about 6 am
when he noticed a dark object in the water. He found it was the body of a fully dressed man.
After tying the body to the wharf he made his way to the Water Police. The man was found to be
an engineer from a boat moored in Darling Harbour and it was thought he had slipped and fell
when boarding the boat earlier in the morning. Coincidentally, the man’s wife had only died a
few days earlier after falling down stairs at home in Darlinghurst. 572

568 The Sydney Morning Herald 15 February 1917, page 7

569 The Cumberland Argus and Fruitgrowers Advocate 8 October 1921, page 8
570 The Register 31 January 1928, page 9 and The Sydney Morning Herald 31 January 1928, page

15
571 NSW BDM Marriage Certificate 5539/1904
572 Evening News 6 June 1911, page 6

287
 157 and 138 Trafalgar Street, today

Jens married his second wife, Alice, the following year but by then he had left 157 Trafalgar
Street.573 By 1920 they were living at 138 Trafalgar Street, still within the support range of the
Skulander and Nelson families. By then the broader Skulander family had spread out to occupy
a number of residences in Trafalgar Street. Jens and Alice later moved to 3 Argyle Avenue, Ryde.

Jens spent most of his working life in the Darling Harbour and Haymarket areas transporting
fruit and vegetables from the wharves and rail heads to the complex of markets that later came
to be known as Paddy’s Markets. He was known to everyone as Jimsy or Jim.

He was an avid sailor on the harbour and was a social committee member of the Sydney Flying
Squadron whose members regularly raced their 18 foot yachts. The squadron was held in high
regard among Sydney’s social elite – Department
Store owner Mark Foy was for a time its President
and J J Giltinan (a founder of Australian Rugby
League) was its Deputy President. 574

When Jens died in 1950 at the Ryde District

Soldiers Memorial Hospital an obituary said
Jimsy Skulander was “a character who had been
round the city vegetable markets for 40 years or
more.” About 100 of his friends gathered at the
Duke of Cornwall Hotel, next to the markets,
where Jimsy had held a reserved seat. The
proprietor of the hotel closed the doors for two
minutes silence, placed a beer on Jimsy’s chair
and everyone drank to the health of their
departed friend. Afterwards, the barmaids, with
tears streaming down their faces, took up a
collection for Jimsy’s family. The obituary noted
in passing, the irony of drinking to the health of
Paddy’s Markets 1950
someone who had died. 575

573 NSW BDM Marriage Certificate 14037/1912

574 Sydney Sportsman 13 August 1929, page 14
575 The Wingham Chronicle and Manning River Observer 4 August 1950, page 1

288
 Janet Jardine Nielsen Skulander

Margaret and Peter’s eldest daughter Janet Jardine Nielsen Skulander, had married Thomas
John Nelson Dier in 1911. 576 Strangely, he was known to everyone as Nelson, rather than
Thomas or John. They first lived at 190 Trafalgar Street, Annandale. They later lived at 14
Brabyn Street, Earlwood and it was to their home that Janet’s parents, Peter and Margaret,
moved to in 1918. Some of Janet’s other siblings would also spend time living in that street.

Janet and Nelson were still living at Eastwood when 78 year old Nelson died on 10 June 1960. 577
Janet finally left the old family home after Nelson’s death and later lived at 154 Wallarah Road,
Gorokan on the NSW Central Coast. She passed away on 26 June 1973 at the age of 86. 578

Amy Nielsen Skulander

By 1906 Amy Skulander had set herself up as a dressmaker at Penrith in Sydney’s west and she
regularly advertised her enterprise in the Nepean Times. Her advertisements sometimes
described her as a costumiere, which sounds much more expensive. She soon met Robert James
Hudson who she would eventually marry in 1914. 579

Before then, in 1907, they both walking along High Street, Penrith when they witnessed an
assault. A pregnant girl was punched in the mouth by her ex-boyfriend and father of the
gestating baby after harsh words had passed between them. Amy gave evidence that helped
convict the assailant.580 Amy was again a witness in court two years later in 1909, this time in
a case for unpaid rent. Amy had gone to support the landlady. 581

After her marriage to Robert Hudson in 1914 they lived at Glenbrook in the foothills of the Blue
Mountains but by 1920 they had moved to 153 Trafalgar Street, Annandale, next door to the old
Skulander residence, and which had previously been occupied by members of the Nelson family.

Amy and Robert had a daughter, named Amy after her mother, who was born in 1916 while they
were living at Glenbrook. While growing up in Annandale, the young Amy Hudson started playing
cricket in local matches. As others discovered she had a flair for the game, she was selected to
play for the Annandale Waratahs team, later becoming the team’s captain. When she was 19,
she became the 15th woman to play test cricket in the Australian women’s cricket team. Both a
batsman (often an opener) and a leg spin bowler, she played in nine test matches between 1935
and 1951 (the Second World War got in the way between 1939 and 1947). Except for one match
against New Zealand that was played in Wellington in 1948, all of the matches were against
England, played in both Australia and England.

576 NSW BDM Marriage Certificate 8377/1911

577 NSW BDM Death Certificate 12064/1960
578 NSW BDM Death Certificate 61954/1973
579 NSW BDM Marriage Certificate 826/1914
580 Nepean Times 26 October 1907, page 7
581 Nepean Times 30 October 1909, page 4

289
Her first match against England in January 1935 was played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
Amy had been called into the team after Australia had lost the first two of the three match series.
The match ended in a draw not long after the infamous Bodyline series that left much ill feeling
here, at least against the English men’s team. The English women were the first to return to
Australia since that time and they played purely in the spirit of the game and did much to lift
the tension. The England team was captained by Betty Archdale who would later become
headmistress of Sydney’s Abbotsleigh Girls School at Wahroonga and then a lively personality
on radio and television.

Amy Hudson batting – National Museum of Australia

Amy had a batting average of 34 and a bowling average of 16, figures which would be impressive
today. Donald Bradman played in 52 test cricket matches between 1928 and 1948. Although
he still holds the world record test batting average of 99.94, his bowling average was 36, more
than double Amy’s excellent average.

Coincidently, Amy played two matches at Kennington Oval, just around the corner or two from
the Broadwall in Southwark, London and the old haunt of the Rees family.

Alexander Nielsen Skulander

Amy’s younger brother, Alexander Skulander, who everyone called Alec, married Mabel Burchell
in 1911. They later lived at 153 Trafalgar Street, on the other side of their parents from his older
brother Jens. Like Jens, Alec suffered the loss of his wife at an early age when Mabel died in
1923. They had four children. The following year when he was 33 he married 19 year old
Adelaide Jackson. Unfortunately, Adelaide died only five years later at the Royal Hospital for
Women at Paddington leaving behind her own two children with Alec.

290
 Bertha Nielsen Skulander

Bertha Skulander, another of the children of Margaret and Peter, married Patrick Galvin in
1925.582 Bertha was an accomplished piano player having been trained under the direction of
the London College of Music in Sydney. 583 They lived at Bramley Terrace, Annandale, a row of
eight single storey, brick terrace houses built in 1909 which just happened to be in Trafalgar
Street (they are still there today having undergone a major renovation in 2016). They later moved
to Tempe with their two children. Patrick and Bertha had a bit of trouble in the early years with
their son Frederick. Fred and a friend, Robert James Hudson (no doubt related to Amy Hudson),
were injured in a motor cycle accident on Parramatta Road, Auburn in 1937. Luckily for them,
they were able to avoid the fire that consumed the motor cycle and the car it had collided with. 584
Two years later Fred was given a two years good behavior bond after he was caught stealing a
car radiator at Mascot.585 He later put the bad times behind him and became a successful
carpenter.

Ruby Nielsen Skulander

There has been some confusion over the identity of the next child of Margaret and Peter
Skulander. Most family historians have identified the child as Robert Skulander as that is the
name on the birth index. In fact, Robert is the mistaken name of Ruby Nielsen Skulander who
was born in 1899. Ruby stayed close to her mother and never married. She was still living at
16 Brabyn Street, Eastwood before moving into the Fernleigh Nursing Home at Meadowbank
where she passed away on 19 June 1972.586 She had suffered cancer of the bladder for some
years and had a poor heart. She remains an enigma. She is mentioned in various family tributes
to deceased relatives between 1925 and 1940, particularly those to her father, but she does not
appear in any electoral rolls or other obvious directories. This suggests to me that she may have
had some long term disability requiring full time care, initially by her mother. Her death notice
in The Sydney Morning Herald on 19 June 1972 says that she was 72 and late of Eastwood.

Norman Nielson Skulander

The last of the Skulander children, born in 1903, was Norman Nielsen Skulander. He married
Violet Jupe in 1924.587 Norman became a storeman and he and Violet would have three children.
He was a noted rugby player and a solid district cricketer who sometimes played on the same
team with his wife’s father and brother. They lived mostly in the Eastwood area and mostly at
137 Rowe Street. In 1957 they moved to Warimoo in the Blue Mountains and by 1977 had moved
to rural Orange where some of their children had settled.

582 NSW BDM Marriage Certificate 1966/1925

583 The Sydney Morning Herald 5 July 1910, page 5
584 The Cumberland Argus and Fruitgrowers Advocate 15 July 1937, page 5
585 The Cumberland Argus and Fruitgrowers Advocate 7 June 1939, page 2
586 NSW BDM Death Certificate 54221/1972
587 NSW BDM Marriage Certificate 11253/1924

291
 Norman Skulander with his mother
Margaret and three sons at his sister Janet
Dier’s house, Brabyn St, Eastwood

292
 John Nelson

Married 1882 Margaret Bale

Children:

Thomas William Nelson b 1883 d 1965 82 years

Anne Murray Nelson b 1884 d 1954 69 years

Islet Ruby Nelson b 1887 d 1961 74 years

Madeline Elena Nelson b 1895 d 1969 74 years

John Hewitt Nelson b 1899 d 1968 69 years

Around the age of 14, John Nelson was apprenticed to the Scottish blacksmith, David Henderson,
at Cundletown (previously known as Cundle Cundle). Henderson’s forge was on the site of the
old Union Inn built in River Street in 1857. The hotel had a short history. It was the first hotel
in Cundletown and the original licensee was an old whale hunter who had salvaged a small
cannon from a shipwreck in the mouth of the Manning River. Whenever mail or news on the
Crimean War or the siege at Cawnpore or other major news arrived from Sydney, he would fire
the cannon which could be heard as far away as Taree, Mitchells Island and Landsdowne. He
then sold food and drink to all of the locals who rowed or rode in for the latest news. 588

The hotel later burnt down and the licence was transferred to another hotel in the colony.
Henderson then set up his smithy which became the most renowned on the Manning River. His
iron ploughs, for example, won 1st prize at the early Sydney International Shows during the
1870s, the time that John Nelson worked there as an apprentice (the old smithy would eventually
be demolished in 1945). 589

After completing his apprenticeship, John (who was usually known as Jack) met Margaret Bale,
a Kempsey girl, and they married in 1882.590 They had a son the following year who they named
Thomas William Nelson.591 Three daughters, Anne Murray Nelson, Islet Ruby Macleay Nelson
and Madeline Elena Nelson followed in 1884, 1887 and 1895 and a further son and last child,
John Hewitt Nelson, was born in 1899. 592 Their daughter Anne is often overlooked in family
trees because her mother’s name was mistakenly recorded on the birth index as Anne rather
than Margaret.

John and Margaret lived and worked for nearly 20 years at Rollands Plains (north west of Port
Macquarie), and later at Cessnock, before moving to Kempsey where John worked for William
Henry Rowe, an established coach builder and blacksmith at the settlement of Greenhill on the

588 The Northern Champion 1 August 1917, page 2

589 The Gloucester Advocate 18 May 1928, page 1
590 NSW BDM Marriage Certificate 5146/1882
591 NSW BDM Birth Certificate 21871/1883
592 NSW BDM Birth Certificates 24318/1885, 25907/1887, 4305/1895 and 21839/1899

293
Macleay River just west of Kempsey. John would eventually take over the forge at Greenhill
when William Rowe relocated to Corangula, north west of Kempsey. William Rowe was quite a
character and was still working hard in 1918 at the age of 73, when he died after collapsing while
shoeing a draught horse during a heat wave.

John retired from blacksmithing

about 1920 when he was 61 and he
moved his family from River Street,
West Kempsey to nearby Exhibition
Lane. He still managed to catch up
with various Nelson family
members on trips down to the
Manning. On one trip in 1922, he
dropped in at the hospital in
Wingham to see his younger
brother Alec who had recently been
suffering from a severe illness. 593

The main street of Greenhill In retirement, John was a brilliant

example of self-sufficiency. He
worked a large garden and had a lot of poultry and at least one cow. As Kempsey grew, so did
the need for the Council to provide a regular garbage collection service. Every household was
required to buy an approved garbage tin and pay a rate for its emptying. John wrote to the
Council in 1931 asking to be exempt from buying the tin because he had no garbage to collect
as all of his household waste was recycled between his animals and his garden. His letter was
well received by the Aldermen who found they had much in common. Alderman Caldwell said: 594

“He himself had never used a tin. He paid the garbage rates…but…made use
of every scrap of his garbage, but he could use more; he didn’t have enough…
I use every empty tin that I can get hold of…I find the empty tins most useful
for a variety of purposes…sometimes I feel that myself and others are a set of
fools to pay rates just to keep dirty folk from being a nuisance to themselves
and everyone else.”

Margaret passed away later in 1931 at the age of 69 after a period of severe ill health (and not
from contact with the contents of the garden) but John was 79 when he died in 1938 not long
after he moved to 8 Jubilee Street, West Kempsey.595 The house in Jubilee Street was sold at
public auction in May the following year. 596

593 The Wingham Chronicle and Manning River Observer 9 May 1922, page 2
594 The Macleay Chronicle 18 March 1931, page 8
595 NSW BDM Death Certificates 20407/1931 and 24356/1938, The Macleay Chronicle 16

December 1931, page 10 and 9 November 1938, page 2 and The Wingham Chronicle and Manning
River Observer 11 November 1938, page 4
596 The Macleay Chronicle 24 May 1939, page 4

294
 Thomas William Nelson

John and Margaret Nelson’s first child, Thomas William Nelson, was 26 when he married Louisa
Franklin at Laurieton in 1908.597 They soon moved to Kempsey to be with Thomas’ parents.
They then lived for a short time at Port Macquarie before relocating to the Manning River. Some
years later Thomas took his family much further north and became a teamster working in the
hinterland around Coffs Harbour, mostly using his team of bullocks to haul timber and farm
produce down the Bellinger River valley to the timber mill at Coramba or to the wharf at Coffs
Harbour (the old town of
Bellingen lies in the valley but a
clerk in the early lands office
misread the surveyor’s
handwriting, with the result that
the river was given an official
name slightly different from the
town name).

Only 34 people lived at Coffs

Harbour in 1903 but by 1912
the population had risen to
2,244. Thomas and Louisa later
lived at the township known as
Coffs Heights, off the Coramba
Road near Red Hill, just west of
Coffs Harbour. It may sound Teamsters at Coffs Harbour Wharf
somewhat upmarket but it was – Coffs Harbour Regional Museum
in fact built as a temporary town
during the construction of the North Coast Railway between 1911 and 1922. Accommodation
was limited to mostly tents and basic timber huts. A social hall and school were built but both
closed within a few years once the rail workers moved on. Families later settled in the near
deserted township but it retained its remote flavour for many years.

In 1915 the Coffs Harbour Advocate reported that:598

“On Wednesday that scourge of infantile life, pneumonia, claimed another

victim in the person of the three-year old son of Mr Thomas Nelson, Coramba
Road. The little fellow had a close call on the previous day, but artificial
respiration administered by Dr Wood was successful in staving off the fatal
hour for a while. But the Grim Reaper claimed his own.”

The lost infant, who was actually a daughter and only one year old, was Philadelphia Nelson who
had been named after Louisa’s mother, Philadelphia.599

By the 1930s Thomas had changed jobs and become a farmer but he and Louisa may have fallen
on difficult times in running the farm during the later years of the Great Depression. In 1934

597 NSW BDM Marriage Certificate 2852/1908

598 Coffs Harbour Advocate 23 October 1915, page 2
599 NSW BDM Death Certificate 16857/1915

295
he was one of a number of property owners that fell into arrears of Council rates. He was taken
to court by Dorrigo Shire Council and ordered to pay £12/7/6 plus 11/- costs.600

Thomas had the unwanted role as a

witness at a coronial inquiry in 1937.
He had engaged a labourer to plough
some of the farm land with a rotary hoe
for £2. After a cup of tea, the labourer
started work and was ploughing
downhill when the hoe gathered pace,
hit a hard piece of ground, kicked up
and fell onto the labourer causing his
feet and lower legs to fall into the
blades of the hoe where they were
severley lacerated. Thomas drove him
to the doctor and then to the hospital
where he was operated on. However,
the severely damaged skin did not heal
and a week later gangrene set in. His
left leg was amputated above the knee Workers on the North Coast Railway
but the delay had been too long and the
gangrene continued to spread resulting in death by septicaemia.

Louisa passed away on 3 February 1946 at the age of 64. Her married daughter Gladys had died
three years earlier at the age of 35. Three years after Louisa’a passing Thomas had an In
Memoriam to both of them placed in the local paper:601

“Always loving, unselfish and kind,

Few in this world their equal to find,
Their wonderful life came to an end,
They died as they lived, everyone’s friend.

Inserted by her loving husband and father, Thomas.”

By 1954, Thomas had retired to Mylestom, a small beach community at the mouth of the
Bellinger River, opposite Urunga. He died at the Bellinger River District Hospital at Mylestom on
10 June 1965 at the age of 82. He and Louisa had eight children between 1910 and 1930, with
two of them predeceasing their parents.

600 Coffs Harbour Advocate 14 December 1934, page 2

601 Coffs Harbour Advocate 4 February 1949, page 4

296
 Anne Murray Nelson

Thomas’ sister Anne Nelson was only 16 when she married 23 year old Hugh Donald Stewart at
Kempsey in 1900.602 They would have six children over the next 18 years. By 1918 they were
living on a large and prosperous 400 acre farm with a frontage to the Wilson River at the rural
community known as Ballengarra, near Rollands Plains, where Anne’s parents had lived for 20
years and where her mother
Margaret had grown up.
Hugh had a mixed farm of
animals and crops but the
mainstay was dairying. He
had four horses and 51
cattle in 1918 and managed
to double those numbers by
1920.

Tragedy hit the family in

August 1920 when 43 year
old Hugh was thrown from
his bolting horse while
riding along Ballengarra
Road. He suffered a
fractured skull and injury
to his brain.603 With no
hope of survival, he died at
home the following day. An
inquest was held at the
home by the district coroner
the day after Hugh died.604 Map of the Rollands Plains area
Hugh’s youngest child, who
was named after her mother, was just two years old. As Anne was not in a position to run the
farm on her own, she had it auctioned off in July 1922 and it was sold for the impressive amount
of £2,000.605

A man named Frederick West had come up to the Rollands Plain area from Port Macquarie some
time before 1919. He was active in local affairs and had occasion to meet the recently widowed
Anne Stewart. Anne would have been keen to find another husband to help look after her and
the children. An attraction developed between them and they were married in 1922 when Anne
was 38. They would have three children of their own, the last being born in 1926. However,
that year Frederick died leaving Anne a widow once again with young children. By 1930 she and
her children were living in Wide Street, West Kempsey but she would move houses around
Kempsey many times over the next 20 years or so, with a short time back near Ballengarra from
1937. Anne died from a sudden heart attack at home at 62 Lord Street, East Kempsey on 5
March 1954 when she was 69.

602 NSW BDM Marriage Certificate 8877/1900

603 NSW BDM Death Certificate 11927/1920
604 The Port Macquarie News and Hastings River Advocate 14 August 1920, page 4
605 The Port Macquarie News and Hastings River Advocate 5 August 1922, page 4

297
 Islet Ruby Macleay Nelson

Anne’ sister Islet Nelson married a farmer, Henry Clinch, at Kempsey in 1910. They moved to
the quaintly named area of Gum Scrub, just across the Wilson River from Ballengarra where her
mother’s parents and mother’s brother Sydney now lived. Harry (as Henry was known) bought
his father in law’s 140 acre farm and built a new house that was described as “a very creditable
piece of work.”606 Harry set about making the farm one of the most productive in the area. He
was happy to share the benefit of his farm’s high productivity by making gifts of tomatoes, plums,
pears and other produce to good causes including donations to the Hastings District Hospital at
Port Macquarie.607 His animals included three horses and 32 cattle and he tried to at least
maintain those numbers over the time he was there.

He was so impressed with the new stump-jump pasture renovator made by the Sunshine
Harvester Works that he became the company’s Far North Coast representative, which provided
him with much appreciated additional income. 608

In 1935, Harry and Islet

decided to sell up at Gum
Scrub and move to
Lansdowne back in the
Manning River district. The
farm was taken over by one
of Harry’s brothers from
Kempsey but the following
year the brother gave up
running the farm and moved
back to Kempsey to carry on
his former work as a
carpenter.609 The farm
passed through a few hands,
including those of a young
relative of Hugh Stewart and
it was probably during his
Sunshine Stump Jump plough in action ownership that Hugh’s
widow Anne and her family
came to live for a while at Gum Scrub in 1937. In 1941, to the delight of the local community,
Harry and Islet re-purchased the farm and returned to Gum Scrub. Harry was soon back to
donating more produce to the hospital. 610 By 1958 they had retired and were living at 58 Gore
Street, Port Macquarie. Islet died in 1961 at the age of 74 and Harry in 1974 at the age of 91.

606 The Port Macquarie News and Hastings River Advocate 28 March 1925, page 4 and 13 June
1931, page 4
607 The Port Macquarie News and Hastings River Advocate 23 February 1935, page 6
608 The Port Macquarie News and Hastings River Advocate 20 December 1930, page 5
609 The Port Macquarie News and Hastings River Advocate 8 June 1935, page 4 and 8 February

1936, page 4
610 The Port Macquarie News and Hastings River Advocate 28 June 1941, page 5

298
 Madeline Elena Nelson

Islet’s sister Madeline Nelson was 25 when she married Harry Macleay Murphy in 1920. Harry
was part of a large clan of Murphys that lived at West Kempsey, many of them in Exhibition
Street, where the Nelsons were then living. Harry had been quite an enterprising young man.
Not only was he a proficient violinist but he also captained the West Kempsey rugby team. In
1915 he had a fresh milk run in West Kempsey where he made deliveries twice a day. His paid
advertisement implored people to “Just give him a trial.”611 This may have been ironic, given his
later court appearances.

Four years after her marriage, Madeline needed to go to Sydney to have a “severe surgical
operation.” She was later reported as progressing favourably. 612

By 1930 Harry and Madeline were living at 27 Short Street, West Kempsey. Harry worked as a
bread carter for a baker named Curtis whose bakery was in Elbow Street. Harry would have
quite a few run-ins with the law in his career and the first recorded episode happened in 1931
when he committed the dastardly offence of not parking his bread van close enough to the
footpath. If this wasn’t bad enough, his van was also found to be facing the wrong way.

Elbow Street, West Kempsey

After the diligent Constable Griffiths told the magistrate that he had previously cautioned Harry,
the magistrate imposed on the master criminal a fine of £1 plus 8/- costs.613 Four years later,
he was fined the same amount again, this time for driving on the wrong side of the road. 614

Finally discovering that the police spend much of their time targeting bread van drivers, Harry
switched to working in the bakery where he started to learn the art of cooking with dough. He
soon started winning prizes for Best Bakers Loaves at the Central North Coast National Shows
held at Kempsey (no mean feat as there were at least nine bakers at the time just in Kempsey). 615
Later that year, Madeline again went to Sydney for specialist treatment. Harry also needed to
seek medical treatment in Sydney a few years later.

611 The Macleay Chronicle 1 December 1915, page 1

612 The Macleay Chronicle 3 December 1924, page 4
613 The Macleay Chronicle 30 September 1931, page 2
614 The Macleay Chronicle 27 February 1935, page 6
615 The Macleay Chronicle 3 April 1935, page 5

299
Harry had taken over the bakery by 1933 when Mr Curtis retired and then moved it to his
residence in Short Street. He had by now built a high reputation as a first class baker and pastry
cook, with a speciality for making malt
bread.616 The bakery in West Kempsey was
relatively small and Harry still made all of his
own deliveries. He employed a foreman baker
and later took on a son of Mr Curtis as a
favour. The son, Albert Curtis, worked for
Harry for four years before he was let go. He
then brought a claim against Harry for
underpaid wages. His claim was that he was
paid £1/10 a week rather than the rate of
£3/10 which was the rate for the job he
claimed he was doing. He also claimed for
overtime worked beyond the normal shift
between 6am and 1pm. He said he started at Baking the bread
4am on Fridays and stayed until 5pm on
most days from Sunday to Thursday and until 7pm on Fridays. The value of the underpayment
and overtime for the four years was £95/15/6. Albert agreed that he was treated like one of the
family and that Madeline usually made meals for him at breakfast and lunch and washed his
clothes. Harry denied the claim saying that Albert was employed as a short jobber and was in
fact paid £3/10 per week, which was above the award wage. The amount was confirmed by all
the entries he made in the book. He wasn’t required to work overtime after 1pm when his shift
finished but he usually stayed for lunch and often did gardening work for Madeline for which
she paid him separately. He sometimes helped out in the bakery on an afternoon but he did so
voluntarily to fill in time and he was paid for this. Harry let him go after he took on an apprentice
(a nephew of Harry’s) who could mix the dough, mould it and bake it far better than Albert did
in four years. The magistrate decided that there was insufficient evidence to find in favour of
Albert, so he dismissed the claim. 617

During the Christmas break at the start of 1936, the family was staying on the coast at Crescent
Head when Harry’s 14 year old niece got into serious difficulties in the surf. Harry dived in to
rescue her but he also found himself in trouble. Fortunately, life savers on duty used the belt
and reel to save them both from drowning.618

In 1949 Harry was one of five Kempsey bakers prosecuted for selling bread above the fixed price.
Price fixing of essential goods like bread had been ruthlessly enforced during the Second World
War as a means of keeping the economy on a war footing and to stop profiteering. But by 1949,
four years after the war ended, price fixing was still in place and very unpopular because it led
to shortages and rationing. This was one of the main reasons for the defeat of the Federal Labor
Government in December 1949. In Harry’s case, 7.5 pence was the fixed price of a 2lb loaf of
bread. The Kempsey bakers had submitted a claim to the Prices Branch in June for the price to
rise to 8.5 pence because it cost 7.85 pence to make a loaf and this argument was accepted by
the Prices Branch. After receiving no further reply by August, the five bakers put their prices up
as an alternative to stopping production. When charged, they all pleaded guilty and the
magistrate imposed fines and costs representing half of the money made from the increase.
Harry was fined £90 with costs of £5/3. The magistrate may have been lenient but his criticism
was harsh (and somewhat alliterative) when he said “when they fix their own price they, in effect,

616 The Catholic Press 7 December 1933, page 40

617 The Macleay Chronicle 27 September 1939, page 8
618 The Macleay Chronicle 8 January 1936, page 4

300
affect the effective wage of all persons who are on fixed wages … no section of the community can
fix their own prices.”619 How times have changed.

To further keep the community safe, government

Delivering the bread 1950
Enforcement of regulations in those days, which were often petty and harsh, was a major
industry in its own right.
inspectors regularly took samples of commodities
like milk and bread to ensure that standards were
maintained. In 1951, three bakers at Kempsey,
including Harry, were caught selling brown bread
with less than 60% wholemeal flour. In Harry’s
case, the loaves tested only contained 52.5%
wholemeal flour but he explained that when
mixing the dough the full 60% of wholemeal flour
is added to the batch but it is impossible to get it
to mix in perfect proportion before you overmix it
and the glutens in the mix become affected. The
law does not allow you to add extra to ensure
compliance. The magistrate also heard that white
flour costs more than wholemeal flour so there
was no profiteering. Harry was fined a total of £4.
The same inspector also prosecuted a milk bar
owner for selling a milkshake where the milk in
the metal container had not been shaken first,
which meant that, as the non-homogenized fat
had not been evenly distributed in the milk, some
milkshakes had less fat than the regulated
amount (although others had more). 620

By 1968 Harry and Madeline had moved to 7 Wide Street in Kempsey. He died later that year at
the age of 72 and Madeline passed away the following year at the age of 74.

John Hewitt Nelson

John Hewitt Nelson was still with his parents when they were living at Cessnock. It was here
that he met his future wife, Ina Edith Smith, and they were married in 1919. John became a
blacksmith working for his father and for a time they were in partnership at Greenhill under the
name of Nelson & Son. After John the father had retired about 1920, John the son took over the
business. In 1926 they got around to formally dissolving the partnership. 621 Young John
continued in the blacksmith business for some further years but by 1934 he was working more
as a carter, looking for whatever jobs he could get in those financially hard times. For most of
the 1930s, he and Ina were living with his parents at Exhibition Street in West Kempsey.

John may well be the same John Nelson who was charged with an assault at South West Rocks
in 1935, as they were both blacksmiths and of the same age. A farmer named Wixted complained
that he had been punched by John Nelson after Wixted accused him of charging for work done
for Wixted while John was employed doing work for the Public Works Department at the quarry

619 The Macleay Chronicle 6 April 1949, page 3

620 The Macleay Chronicle 14 November 1951, page 3
621 The Macleay Chronicle 24 February 1926, page 5

301
at South West Rocks, which is at the mouth of the Macleay River north of Kempsey. John
admitted to pushing Wixted over but not punching him. The evidence given from a number of
witnesses showed that Wixted was loud, uncouth, half drunk, obnoxious, cantankerous and
objectionable but above all, unpopular. The magistrate found the offence proven but having
regard to the circumstances and John’s clean character, he dismissed the charge under section
556a of the Crimes Act (often known as the First Offender’s rule).622

John senior had moved to Jubilee Street, West Kempsey in about 1937. After his death, John
junior and Ina also moved to Jubilee Street but over the next 20 years they managed to live in
three different houses in that street (or the house may have been renumbered). By 1963, they
had moved to Sydney but when registering for the electoral roll, John’s middle name was
recorded as Hueitt instead of Hewitt. They lived in the suburb of Merrylands before settling in
one of the new estates at Beverly Hills. John died on 20 September 1968 when he was 69 (“late
of Beverly Hills, formerly of Kempsey”). Ina died in 1982 at the age of 81.

622 The Macleay Chronicle 15 May 1935, page 6

302
 Thomas James Nelson

Married 1886 Jessie Kate Smith

Children:

Thomas James Nelson b 1887 d 1971 84 years

Lola Irene Nelson b 1895 d 1981 86 years

Doris Ida Nelson b 1897 d 1963 66 years

Arthur Claude Nelson b 1899 d 1958 58 years

Nellie Clarice Nelson b 1903 d 1999 95 years

Maud Edna Nelson b 1906 d 1995 89 years

Young Thomas (or Thomas junior if you prefer) was number five of the thirteen children of
Thomas and Janet Nelson and the next to grow up on the family farm on Mitchells Island. He
went on to become a blacksmith like his slightly older brother John but with a difference. Most,
if not all of his work, was done in Sydney rather than the country. It was in Sydney where in
1886 at the age of 26 he married 19 year old Jessie Kate Smith. Their first child, also named
Thomas James Nelson, was born in 1887.

By 1890 they were living and working

at 179 Trafalgar Street, Leichhardt,
next door to Peter and Margaret
Skulander. The following year
Thomas senior (and probably Janet)
had come down from Mitchells Island
to live with the Skulanders. This was
likely at a time when Thomas’ health
had deteriorated and he was unable
to run the family farm. I suspect he
came to Sydney for serious medical
or even hospital treatment which
involved a long period of
convalescence. No doubt, Stewart
and Ann Currie looked after the farm
as well as any of the younger children
Trafalgar Street, Annandale
still at home. The two farms and
families were probably too much for
the Curries to look after but they managed. In 1894 Thomas junior placed advertisements in
some of the Sydney newspapers offering the main farm for rent on terms to be agreed, with
possession available on 1 July.623 The advertisement noted that 60 acres of the 295 acre farm

623 The Sydney Morning Herald 9 March 1894, page 8 and Evening News 31 March 1894, p 2

303
had been cultivated for crops and the rest had been divided into grazing paddocks and a pig run.
The buildings comprised a five room house, a detached kitchen and a large barn. The butter
factory was three miles from the farm.

The property at 179 Trafalgar Street was typically narrow fronted but long. In addition to the
workshop at the back, the yard had sheds, vegetable and flower gardens and poultry coops.
Thomas junior and Jessie had a prize stock of chickens, mainly brown and white leghorns. They
sold eggs from the chickens at a premium price for breeding purposes. 624

Jessie gave birth to the first of her four daughters in 1895. They named her Lola Irene Nelson.
The next daughter, Doris Ida Nelson, was born on 9 March 1897.

About 1896 Thomas senior and Janet took over the house at 177 Trafalgar Street, on the other
side of Peter Skulander (177½) from Thomas junior (179). 625 The following year Thomas senior
(or it may have been Stewart Currie using Thomas’ name) put a notice in the local paper at
Mitchells Island stating that an unknown “beast” with an “x” brand on the rump (presumably a
cow) had been running in his paddock for five months. He intended to sell it to pay expenses if
not claimed within seven days.626 A few months later Thomas (or Stewart) offered for sale six
young bullocks and a roan filly that was broken to saddle. 627

Back in Sydney, another son arrived for Thomas junior and Jessie in 1899 and they named him
Arthur Claude Nelson.

It is unlikely that Thomas senior or Janet ever returned to the family farm to live. As the new
century arrived Thomas’ health started a steady decline. Unfortunately his time was short. He
picked up a gastric infection causing severe diarrhoea and dehydration which in turn led to an
unconsciousness from which he could not be roused. He died at the Skulander residence on 9
November 1900 at the stated age of 74 (which just happens to coincide with the Irish born
Thomas Nelson’s year of birth).

His large family were distraught after his unexpected death and grieved for him for many years.
In Memorium notices mourning his loss were placed by his wife Janet and some of the children
at times in various newspapers from 1901 to at least 1913, including: 628

“Long days and nights he bore in pain,

To look for cure was all in vain,
But God above, who knowest best,
Cured his pain and gave him rest.

Loving wife J Nelson”

“Thirteen years have passed,

And still we miss you,
Never will your memory fade,
For we love you just as dearly,
Though you’re in the silent grave

Ann and Stewart Currie”

624 Evening News 14 September 1895, page 2

625 The Manning River Times and Advocate 12 January 1898, page 3
626 The Manning River Times and Advocate 28 October 1899, page 7
627 The Manning River Times and Advocate 23 December 1899, page 5
628 The Manning River Times and Advocate 12 November 1913, page 5

304
I was at a loss to work out who the “L S Nelson” was who placed In Memorium notices in The
Sydney Morning Herald in 1901 and 1903. The later notice identified “L S Nelson” as a daughter
of Thomas. There was no daughter with a Christian name starting with “L”, neither was there a
matching daughter-in-law. I then connected her to the youngest daughter Alice Nelson and
recognized how difficult it was to give your name coherently over the then telephone network to
the advertisements clerk at the paper (yes, L S does sound a lot like Alice).

Thomas Nelson, senior and Janet Nelson, senior

You get an idea how close this family was from the many notices placed in the papers and the
fact that even those who left the island to come to Sydney were always in very close contact with
each other, often living in the same street, or house. Janet continued to live at 177 Trafalgar
Street with her youngest child Alice and possibly other family members needing a place to stay
from time to time. The main farm was now permanently run by Stewart Currie. Under his Will,
Thomas senior had appointed Stewart and Thomas junior as executors of the estate and they
applied for probate only a few weeks after Thomas’ death.629 There was no rush to finalize the
estate, however, with everything largely left in place for at least the next 35 years.

Thomas junior and Jessie soon set about

getting on with their own lives at 179
Trafalgar Street with the birth of two more
daughters, Nellie Clarice Nelson in 1903
and Maud Edna Nelson in 1906, making
up the remainder of the family. The
Nelsons were joined in their new house by
the Skulander’s son Jens and his family.
The houses in Trafalgar Street were not
very large which meant that rooms were
shared by many family members. Thomas
and Jessie stayed here for about three
years before moving to Powell Street,
Homebush. By 1909 members of the
Eastwood House - residence of Edward Terry
Nelson family had settled at Balaclava
– State Library of NSW
Road, Eastwood where Thomas junior had

629 The Sydney Morning Herald 28 November 1900, page 2

305
bought one or more properties. The Eastwood estate had been subdivided after the death of its
owner, Edward Terry, in 1905. The lots were large blocks of rural land and most buyers soon
turned their lots into market gardens, orchards or small businesses. Thomas set himself up in
business as a blacksmith where he served the thriving new community for many years.

There is an interesting record held in the Commonwealth archives stating that a ”Thomas James
Nelson” of Eastwood tried to enlist in the Army in 1916 for service in the First World War. His
age on the enlistment form was stated as 44. Thomas was by then actually 56 and his oldest
son, who had the same name, was 29. I imagine the applicant was the older Thomas putting his
age down as there was no reason for the son to put his age up. Regardless of which Thomas it
was, he was rejected, most likely on medical grounds.

Thomas and Jessie lived in their house at 26 Balaclava Road for over 25 years before moving a
few houses up the road to number 34. When Thomas was found to be suffering from a mental
illness (probably dementia) he was admitted to Parramatta Mental Hospital at Westmead where
he died on 21 June 1945 at the age of 85.630 Jessie outlived him by almost 10 years, passing
away at home on 16 May 1955 at the age of 87. 631

Thomas James Nelson

The oldest son of Thomas junior and Jessie, also called Thomas, was 24 when he married Helena
Jane Russell in 1911.632 They were soon living on Nelson land at 30 Balaclava Road, Eastwood.
This Thomas worked as a boilermaker. He acquired an investment property at Collaroy on
Sydney’s northern beaches. He had problems with one tenant in 1929 who had written a letter
to Thomas from Melbourne saying that he had vacated the property a week earlier and had left
the key on the back verandah. When Thomas went to the property he found the tenant was still
there. The tenant said that he had come back to fix up the water service for which Thomas had
already paid him months before. Thomas then noticed a number of breakages and missing
items. In court Thomas claimed unpaid rent and damages but the tenant claimed he should not
have had to pay the light and gas bills. The magistrate found in Thomas’ favour saying that the
tenant’s defence was “impudent and quite unreasonable.”633

After Helena died at the Ryde Memorial Hospital on 4 February 1944 Thomas largely withdrew
from public life and does not appear to have remarried. 634 He later moved to the northern
beaches and was living at Avalon when he died on 24 July 1971 at the age of 84. 635

630 NSW BDM Death Certificate11840/1945

631 NSW BDM Death Certificate 12495/1955
632 NSW BDM Marriage Certificate 6923/1924
633 The Cumberland Argus and Fruitgrowers Advocate 15 August 1929, page 11
634 NSW BDM Death Certificate 5573/1944
635 NSW BDM Death Certificate 56664/1971

306
 Lola Irene Nelson

The first daughter of Thomas junior and Jessie was Lola who was always known by her second
name of Irene. She was 20 when she married 27 year old George Herbert Slough in 1915. 636
George grew up in the Redfern area and became well known through his sporting activities, in
particular cycling. After their marriage they moved to Balaclava Road at Eastwood, probably
staying with Irene’s parents. By 1921 they had moved back to the old family home at 157 (old
179) Trafalgar Street, Annandale (now Leichhardt). Perhaps when Irene’s parents moved from
there in 1905, they kept ownership of the property as an investment.

Travelling back in time must have been an obsession for the Nelson family because by 1929
George and Irene and their children had moved to Mitchells Island where George became a dairy
farmer, no doubt working in close contact with Irene’s relatives on the island. They quickly took
to the rural life. George joined many local organizations, including the P&C Association, and
took up sporting activities including
cricket and cycling and is thought to
have played in regional golf
tournaments. In 1931 it was reported
that he was “a most efficient MC” at a
school fair on the island held at the
Literary Institute hall. The fair had
many stalls and activities to amuse the
locals. The band was lively and there
was much dancing until 2am.637

However, the rural dream soon faded as

the reality of running a small farm and
herd took hold. George and Irene made
Nelson farm on Mitchells Island in 1995 the decision to move back to Sydney. In
December 1934, about 100 people
gathered at the hall for a party to farewell the family. The party had been underway for a time
when at 9pm the dancing stopped as George and Irene entered the hall whereupon they were
welcomed with “For they are jolly good fellows.” People made speeches with very fine remarks
including about their sportsmanship and citizenship. They were presented with a tea set and a
cake tray. Their good friend, Mr Gollan (a well-known identity in the area), acted as MC. 638

They were soon living at 16 Robert Street, Belmore. George had obtained work as a boilermaker’s
assistant. He would later become a qualified machinist. George continued to play cricket and
golf but his main recreation was cycling and he competed in many races around Sydney. In
June 1937 he was out riding his bike when, at the intersection of Burwood Road and Lakemba
Street, Belmore, he was knocked over by a car driven by Benjamin Barraclough and badly
injured. In a court case the following year George was awarded the very large amount of £512/4
in damages, which indicated the seriousness of his injuries and the time he was off work. 639
George should think himself lucky because less than a year later Benjamin Barraclough had
another collison, at an intersection in Campsie, this time killing the driver of the other car. 640

636 NSW BDM Marriage Certificate 8298/1915

637 The Northern Champion 3 October 1931, page 4
638 The Northern Champion 12 January 1935, page 4
639 The Sydney Morning Herald 18 August 1938, page 6
640 The Sydney Morning Herald 28 April 1938, page 7

307
At least three of George’s sons signed up for the Second World War. His son George junior joined
the volunteer reserve of the Navy in 1940 and was posted to England for four and a half years
before transfer to the Pacific region. He
enlisted as an ordinary seaman but was
promoted up to first lieutenant and made
commander of a British Navy minesweeper,
HMS Whitethorn. He was discharged after
the war in 1945. His brothers, Edward and
Frederick, enlisted on later dates. After the
war, George junior rose to the rank of
Officer in Charge of the Ministerial and
Correspondence Branch of the Department
of Health, not a bad achievement for a boy
who started his career as a junior clerk at
the Lidcombe State Hospital.

By 1943 George and Irene had moved to 6

Yarran Avenue, Brighton-le-Sands where
they would stay for the rest of their lives. Minesweepers of the class of HMS Whitethorn
He soon became a member of the Beverley
Park Golf Club and played there for many years. George passed away on 10 June 1979 at the
age of 91 and Irene followed on 23 May 1981 at the age of 86. 641

Doris Ida Nelson

George’s younger sister Doris was 35 when she married 42 year old Patrick Stella (also known
as Patsy) in Melbourne in 1932.642 Not long before her marriage she had been living at the White
Horse Hotel at 161 King Street, St Peters. Patsy was most likely an Italian immigrant who was
born in Naples in 1889 but under a different name. After migrating to Australia, he found work
as a green grocer while living in the Melbourne suburb of Prahran. He enlisted for service in the
First World War on 21 January 1916 under the name “Petsey Stella” and stated that he was born
in Malta (making him a British subject and eligible for enlistment – Italians were not eligible).
He was discharged after 71 days as being medically unfit after he was found to have a hernia
and a dose of gonorrhea. He re-enlisted on 18 November 1917, presumably after a successful
hernia operation and treatment for his disease. He saw action in a machine gun battalion in
France where he was shot in the arm in August 1918 and sent back to England before the war
ended.

By 1934 they were living at 38 King Street, Prahran and Patsy was working as a labourer. He
was working for the Victorian railways when they moved to 16 Rose Street, Bentleigh. Patsy died
on 14 April 1956 at about the age of 67 and Doris followed a few years later in 1963 at the age
of 66.643

641 NSW BDM Death Certificates 12936/1979 and 11242/1981

642 VIC BDM Marriage Certificate 4508/1932
643 VIC BDM Death Certificates 4197/1956 and 20838/1963

308
 Arthur Claude Nelson

Doris’ younger brother Arthur Nelson never married and continued to live with his parents while
they were alive. He worked as a boilermaker like his older brother Thomas. Arthur got into some
bother with the police when he was 22. A gang of young men had taken to standing around the
bridge entrance to Eastwood railway station and making a nuisance of themselves, mostly by
whistling at women and girls. After many complaints, police arrived one evening but the gang
ran off except for three young men including Arthur. They were found guilty of loitering and
fined the maximum amount of £2 plus costs and expenses. The magistrate took a serious view
of the matter and regretted that the maximum fine was not greater. 644

In 1926 Arthur was back in court again but this time as a witness to a car accident. A local
butcher named Hall was driving his car along Parramatta Road when he collided with three other
cars. He claimed that they all ran into him but he later in court blamed the accident on a fault
with his steering gear. Evidence was given by witnesses and the police that Hall was drunk at
the time but other witnesses who were in Hall’s car, including Arthur, testified that although
they had been drinking at the races, Hall had not had a drink. The magistrate convicted Hall
and fined him £10.645

After his father’s death in 1945, Arthur and his mother Jessie moved further down the road to
34 Balaclava Road, Eastwood. Arthur died on 22 March 1958 at the age of 58. 646

Nellie Clarice Nelson

Arthur’s sister, Nellie, was 20 when in 1923 she married 27 year old Arthur Otto Hussey (also
known as Otto Arthur Hussey). Arthur had enlisted in the First World War in the Royal
Australian Navy as an ordinary seaman but he soon advanced and became trained as an
electrician. He served on a number of ships including Tingira, Australia and Swan. He left the
Navy in 1921. After they married they lived at 20 Causeway, Kingston in the Australian Capital
Territory. Arthur worked as an electrical mechanic.

From 1923 to 1930 Arthur worked at the

Canberra Power House on the Molonglo River.
Completed in 1915, this was the first large
building erected in Canberra. It supplied the
power needs of the new Australian capital.
Arthur was involved with installation works at
the power house which was frequently
upgraded and expanded to cope with the
capital’s rapid expansion.

Arthur was a highly proficient rifle shooter and

was a long time member of the Canberra Rifle
Club having previously been a member of the
Queanbeyan club. During the First World War,
Arthur had become quite attached to his 1915 Canberra Power House

644 The Cumberland Argus and Fruitgrowers Advocate 17 December 1921, page 8
645 The Cumberland Argus and Fruitgrowers Advocate 15 October 1926, page 4
646 NSW BDM Death Certificate 7818/1958

309
Short Magazine Lee-Enfield No 1 Mk III Rifle, issued to him by the Navy. He carved “A Hussey”
on the butt of the rifle. After the war he managed to acquire the rifle through the help of the
National Rifle Association. He used the rifle in many later shooting competitions. The rifle is
now held in the collection of the Australian War Memorial.

He again enlisted in the Navy on 22 August 1940 for service in the Second World War. With the
nickname “Nipper” he became a leading seaman and later a leading torpedo operator on various
ships and spent time instructing at the Navy’s training facility HMAS Cerberus on the Mornington
Peninsular. He was trained in mine disposal and he was so good with his rifle that he was given
permission by a ship’s captain to shoot at floating mines from a distance and explode them if
they were too dangerous to defuse. The crew would marvel at his uncanny ability to hit a spike
on a mine from a long range while both the mine and the ship were moving in different directions.
This earnt him a new nickname of “Old Unc”, given his mature age. Two of his three children,
Arthur junior and Valerie also served in the Second World War.

Arthur and Nellie were second cousins – Nellie was a granddaughter of Janet Jardine (who
married Thomas Nelson) and Arthur was a grandson of Janet’s sister, Jane Jardine. This is clear
evidence that even though Janet’s family was firmly based in NSW and the rest of the Jardine
family was firmly based in Victoria, there was interaction between them.

After the war Nellie and Arthur took over the

Manuka Inn in Furneaux Street, Manuka. The
business closed by 1958 and the family moved to
27 Tasmania Circle, Forrest while Arthur
continued his work as an electrical supervisor.

Arthur also kept up his rifle shooting mainly at the

Enogerra rifle range in Canberra and at rifle ranges
around the country where he was known for his
remarkable wind judgement over long ranges. He
was always much older than most of the
competitors but he had lost none of his accuracy.
He was known to everyone now as “Uncle”, a Arthur’s actual Lee-Enfield rifle
– Australian War Memorial
leftover name from the war. In 1960 when he was
64 he was shooting in his 35th consecutive NSW Queen’s Shoot when he fell ill. He soldiered on
despite his obvious illness and collapsed on the mound after firing his last shot and was rushed
to Liverpool Hospital in a serious condition (he had narrowly missed coming first in the shoot).647

He recovered and continued his shooting activities in as good form as ever. The following year
he beat one of his main competitors to win the 1961 National Rifle Association Gold Medal. It
was reported that:648

“Hussey, an ex-navalman from two world wars and a veteran of over 40

Queen’s Shoots, was one of Australia’s best rifle shots.”

However, his health had not really recovered fully and he died on 26 September 1963 at the age
of 67. The Canberra Rifle Club later renamed their clubhouse as the “Uncle Hussey Memorial
Hut.” They also announced a new competition for an “Unc Hussey Trophy”, which was presented
for the first time by Nellie.649 Nellie lived as a widow for a further 36 years before she passed
away in early 1999 at the age of 95.

647 The Canberra Times 18 October 1960, page 20

648 The Canberra Times 15 May 1961, page 14
649 The Canberra Times 24 February 1964, page 18

310
 Maud Edna Nelson

Nellie’s younger sister Maud, who was the last of the children of Thomas and Jessie Nelson, had
the bad luck to meet Englishman Leo Maurice Stanley who she married on 18 January 1929. 650
He was 29 and she was 23. They lived at the old family home at 157 Trafalgar Street, Leichhardt,
probably after it was vacated by her sister Irene. Leo worked as a painter. He also had family
living in Trafalgar Street.

A year earlier in 1928 a man named Ernest Hartland was charged with stealing a wallet and £12
inside it. Hartland was exposed to be in fact an alias for Leo Stanley. Sydney’s Truth newspaper
reported the proceedings in its inimitable style: 651

“EASY MONEY

Stanley’s Story to a Simple Soul

CON MAN”S CATCH

Like taking candy from a kid it was to Ernest Hartland

known for the nonce as Leo Morris Stanley.

Leo was a “minute man” – He believed there was

one born every minute. And Robert Jennings Taylor,
with his English public schoolboy look standing
outside the music shop in George Street, seemed one.”

Leo had started a conversation with and quickly befriended a young Englishman named Taylor
who was homesick and keen to return to England. Leo falsely told him that he was a steward
on a ship leaving soon for England and that he could arrange passage for him as part of the crew
and save the fare. Later at Taylor’s lodgings, the young man went to the bathroom and when he
returned his wallet and money, as well as Leo, were missing. Unluckily for Leo, Taylor
accidentally ran into Leo in the next day or two in George Street north. A policeman was called
and Leo was arrested. Leo was convicted and sentenced to four months hard labour. It was
revealed he had several convictions in both England and Sydney. 652 It is hard to imagine that
Maud and her family did not know about Leo’s criminal past when Maud married him, as they
were all living in the same street and he disappeared for four months less than a year before the
wedding.

A few months after his marriage in 1929 he was charged with driving under the influence of
liquor after his car collided with another car at the corner of Park Road and Driver Avenue,
Paddington.653

The marriage inevitably failed to last and Leo took off to Queensland. In 1940 he married Daphne
Roser and they later lived at 23 Quinton Street, Kangaroo Point. 654 Maud does not appear to
have remarried. By 1949 she was living with her mother Jessie Nelson and brother Arthur at 34
Balaclava Road, Eastwood. Maud and her daughter Lois returned for a time to the family home

650 NSW BDM Marriage Certificate 3273/1929

651 Truth 22 April 1928, page 15
652 The Sun 17 April 1928, page 11
653 The Sydney Morning Herald 29 May 1929, page 19
654 Qld BDM Marriage Certificate B38111/1940

311
at 157 Trafalgar Street in the 1950s where Maud started to work as a tailoress but they were
soon back at Balaclava Road after Arthur’s death in 1958. Maud died in 1995 at the age of 89.

34 Balaclava Road, Eastwood

312
 Amy Jardine Nelson

Married 1884 Peter Olsen

Children:

Peter John Olsen b 1884 d 1942 57 years

Thomas James Olsen b 1885 d 1969 83 years

Alfred Olsen b 1887 d 1907 19 years

William Andres Olsen b 1888 d 1924 35 years

Ethel Ann Olsen b 1891 d 1973 82 years

David Olsen b 1895 d 1970 74 years

Amy Nelson Olsen b 1898 d 1978 79 years

Janet Jardine Olsen b 1901 d 1983 82 years

Amy Jardine Nelson, the sixth child of Thomas senior and Janet Nelson, was registered as Emma
Nelson on her birth certificate but she was known to everyone in the family on Mitchells Island
as Amy and that became her name for life. She also followed her older siblings to Sydney where
she met Peter Olsen. Peter was from Denmark and most likely met Amy through connections
with fellow Dane, Peter Skulander. They were both seamen who were actively involved with the
welfare of fellow seamen. Peter Olsen had grown up on a farm until the age of 14. Feeling the
urge to see other lands (he was after all descended from Vikings), he ran away to sea in about
1870. He spent the next 12 years on ships sailing to various ports around the world including
Greenland and North America. He settled in New Zealand for a few years before arriving in
Sydney in 1882 where he changed jobs to work as a stevedore on the Sydney docks. He was 28
when he married 22 year old Amy Nelson in Sydney in 1884. 655
Over the next 18 years Amy and Peter would have eight children, all born in Sydney. The family
lived in the city and in various Sydney suburbs during that time. They lived in close contact
with Amy’s Sydney based family. Their first child, Peter John Olsen, was born in 1884 around
the time of his parents’ marriage and he was followed by another son, Thomas James Olsen, the
following year.656 Another two sons, Alfred Olsen and William Andres Olsen, were born in 1887
and 1888.657 You have probably noted the second name of Andres as yet another possible variant
of Anvis, Andvis and Anvess. Amy and Peter’s first daughter, Ethel Ann Olsen, was born in 1891

655 NSW BDM Marriage Certificate 3131/1884

656 NSW BDM Birth Certificates 3124/1884 and 3811/1885
657 NSW BDM Birth Certificate 2621/1887 and 19566/1888

313
and she was followed by David Olsen in 1895. 658 The last two children managed to help with the
gender imbalance as they were both girls, Amy Nelson Olsen and Janet Jardine Olsen, who were
born in 1898 and 1901. 659
Very soon after the birth of their last child in 1901, Peter and Amy packed up the family and all
of their possessions and made their way to Mitchells Island where they left behind their city life
with the intention of spending the rest of their lives under rural skies. Amy’s father Thomas
Nelson had died in 1900 and the island farm needed a family to run it. Stewart Currie and his
sons had been looking after the main farm for some years in the absence of Thomas senior and
Janet Nelson but they had plenty of work to do on their own farm and were more than happy to
see others from the Nelson family return to their roots. Who better than Amy and her happy,
hardworking and reliable husband, Peter Olsen?
Peter and Amy were soon building up a good herd of dairy cattle and harvesting crops of maize
and lucerne with increasing profitability. 1907, however, was not a good year for the Olsen
family. In May a fire broke out in the barn about 9pm
on a Sunday night. The barn and most of the maize
inside were destroyed.660 Only a month later Amy
and Peter lost one of their sons in a work accident.
19 year old Alfred (known as Alf) was a sometimes
timber getter who worked in the dense forests of the
lower ranges north of the Manning River. He had left
home about a fortnight before to stay with his 23 year
old cousin Thomas Charles Currie (known as Charlie)
who lived at Koppin Yarratt, a small timber
settlement north of Upper Lansdowne. The cousins
were used to working together felling trees. Just
before dusk on 18 June 1907 they were cutting a
particular tree while standing on pegs stuck in the
trunk about three metres from the bottom. William
yelled “Look out, she’s off” just before the tree fell on
them both. Charlie received a serious head wound
but managed to stagger off to get help. Alf’s lifeless
body was eventually found in the dark under the tree.
Felling a gum tree c 1910 The top half of his head had been crushed causing
massive facial injury. He had a broken arm and
severe flesh wounds. There was no doubt that he had been killed instantly. The coroner returned
a verdict of accidental death.661 The newspaper account of the coronial inquiry also reported
that:

“The affair has caused quite a gloom to be cast over the community, and
widespread sympathy is felt for the bereaved.”

As an example, the annual Plain and Fancy Dress Ball on the island was postponed indefinitely.
By 1908 Peter and Amy had five horses and 80 head of dairy cattle on the farm. These numbers
fluctuated over the years depending on prices and demand but they had an average of 94 cattle
for the next 18 years, with a maximum count one year of 120.

658 NSW BDM Birth Certificates 10488/1891 and 33739/1895

659 NSW BDM Birth Certificates 30909/1898 and 3648/1901
660 The Manning River Times 18 May 1907, page 4
661 The Manning River Times 22 June 1907, page 4

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Of the children of Peter and Amy, only four married and the marriages all took place in the early
1920s. The older sons, Peter, Thomas and William never found the right girl.
Peter senior and Amy had become two of the most well-known and well-liked people in the island
community. Peter ran the Mitchells Island Post Office for many years. He became secretary of
the Literary Institute at the time his brother in law Stewart Currie was its President. Amy was
a committee member at the time. They also helped organise balls, flower shows and many other
island activities.
Amy passed away in 1927 when she was 65.662 She had an aneurysm on her aorta that had
begun to leak causing blood to get into her lungs. With no hope of recovery, she survived with
much difficulty for 14 days. Her passing had a profound effect on the family. Her husband Peter
was now in his 70s. He had already retired from farming and was showing signs of dementia.
He was immediately looked after by his youngest daughter Janet. She had also managed her
mother’s estate which was valued at £60 for probate purposes. For the next 12 years, Peter
alternated living with Janet, Peter junior and David. Peter passed away at Janet’s home on 1
October 1939 (two months after the start of the Second World War). He was 83 (actually he was
a day away from his 84th birthday).663 He had been ill for some months with kidney trouble.
An obituary, probably provided by Janet (it is a pity she did not do one for her mother as well),
noted that Peter was well-liked by all, was a hard worker and had a happy, friendly nature. She
added “He was an interesting conversationalist (that could mean that no-one understood
anything he said - he did have an accent after all) and showed a keen interest in world affairs.”664

Peter John Olsen

The eldest son, Peter John Olsen, was known by his second name of John, presumably to
distinguish him from his father (I will now call him John). He moved to the Wauchope area to
work in the timber industry, initially as a teamster. Wauchope had become the centre for the
timber industry in the Hastings River valley. In 1912 the local Land Board approved John’s
purchase of 160 acres as a homestead selection.665
John was 30 when the First World War commenced in 1914 and he refrained from enlisting to
focus on his burgeoning farm. He added to his holdings when in 1923 he received permission
from the local council to erect a dwelling in Hastings Street, Wauchope. 666 By 1925, John had
increased his farming land to 404 acres and was running four horses and 27 cattle.
John took an active role in Wauchope affairs. He became a committee member of the Wauchope
P A & H Society (Pastoral Agricultural and Horticultural) which was responsible for putting on
the annual Shows at the Showground. 667 He frequently acted as a steward at those Shows.
He subdivided his large property in Hastings Street in 1927. By this time his brothers Thomas
and David had also come to live in Hastings Street. 668

662 NSW BDM Death Certificate 10245/1927

663 NSW BDM Death Certificate 27355/1939
664 The Northern Champion 4 October 1939, page 2
665 The Port Macquarie News and Hastings River Advocate 1 June 1912, page 5
666 The Port Macquarie News and Hastings River Advocate 24 February 1923, page 4
667 The Port Macquarie News and Hastings River Advocate 16 August 1930, page 6
668 The Port Macquarie News and Hastings River Advocate 20 August 1927, page 4

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John was only 57 when he died on 22 April 1942. 669 He had moved from Hastings Street to
Kings Creek, a settlement 2 km south east of Wauchope, but he became quite ill at least 12
months before he died. He spent most of that time living in Sydney with his sister Ethel where
he underwent constant medical treatment. For the last three months he was a patient at the
Hasting District Hospital at Port Macquarie. 670

The main street (High Street) of Wauchope

Thomas James Olsen

John’s younger brother, Thomas Olsen, was 30 and working as a miner when he enlisted for
service on 11 January 1916. He was assigned to the 34th Battalion. He arrived in France in
November 1916 and was soon transferred to the front. He received a gunshot wound to the left
thigh in June the following year. He was then transferred to the 9 th Australian Light Trench
Mortar Battery. In April 1918 he was severely poisoned after breathing mustard gas at Villers-
Brettoneux. He took no further part in the war and returned home in 1919 with the remainder
of his unit.
Thomas returned to the Wauchope area after the war where he leased a returned serviceman
property from the Government’s Repatriation Department. The property was a 210 acre farm
site at Pappinbarra, a remote timber settlement about 50 km west of Wauchope. These properties
were made available to returned servicemen under the Soldier Settlement scheme.671 Although
the scheme was started with good intentions, it eventually failed largely due to a lack of ongoing
support from the Government. However, some servicemen, like Thomas, would make a success
of their farms, probably with help provided by their families.
Thomas prospered and later increased his holding to 539 acres. He moved to Hastings Street,
Waughope about 1927 to live closer to his brothers John and David. The three brothers each
lived in their separate houses in Hastings Street but each of them continued to manage their

669 NSW BDM Death Certificate 12484/1942

670 The Wingham Chronicle and Manning River Observer 28 April 1942, page 4
671 The Port Macquarie News and Hastings River Advocate 2 February 1924, page 6

316
farms. Between 1926 and 1932 the three brothers had on average 180 cattle a year between
them.

Thomas James Olsen 8th from right second row (short man)

They were frequently known as the Olsen brothers, particularly when they were selling cattle.
In November 1926, Thomas had the misfortune of having the house at his Pappinbarra property
destroyed when a bushfire passed through the area. Luckily, he was living at his town residence
in Wauchope at the time.672

Thomas continued living in Hastings Street until about 1960 when he moved in with David and
his wife Margaret. He was still living at David’s residence when he died on 4 May 1969 at the age
of 83.673

William Andres Olsen

Like his brother John, William Olsen also left the family farm to work in the timber industry at
Wauchope.674 On 12 April 1915, just two weeks before the start of the ill-fated Gallipoli landing,
25 year old William enlisted in the Army. Initially assigned to the 20 th Battalion, he was
transferred to the 18th Battalion which landed at Gallipoli in September 1915. The 18th saw
some of the worst fighting on the peninsular and led the attack on the infamous Hill 60, quickly
losing 386 men out of 1,000 with a similar number wounded. William managed to come through
that action unscathed but terribly stressed.
After the withdrawal from Gallipoli he arrived in France in March 1916. He was slightly wounded
in action by shell fragments in June during a night raid on German trenches as part of the
Somme offensive at Pozieres. In August he received a gunshot wound to his right wrist. By the
end of 1916 he was suffering from scabies and spent some weeks in hospital for treatment. He

672 The Port Macquarie News and Hastings River Advocate 4 December 1926, page 4
673 NSW BDM Death Certificate 25520/1969
674 The Port Macquarie News and Hastings River Advocate 22 July 1916, page 2

317
was diagnosed with gonorrhea in early 1917, a common complaint for many soldiers billeted
near towns and larger villages. He spent many weeks in and out of hospital during 1917. He
was later transferred to the headquarters company of the battalion and was able to avoid the
later fighting at the end of the war.
Like many young Australian
soldiers, he was happy to be
absent without leave when
in England, taking
advantage of the opportunity
to travel the country and see
the sights of London. The
only punishment was the
docking of his pay. William
served for most of the
duration of Australian
involvement in the war and
in that time he was exposed
to a nightmare world of
horror, carnage, deprivation
and suffering that would Cemetery at Hill 60 after the war
never leave him.
William returned to the Wauchope area in May 1919 where, like his brother Thomas, he leased
a returned serviceman property which was a 330 acre homestead farm with a slab hut at Cedar
Creek near Upper Pappinbarra. This property was one of the 20 allotments, each averaging over
300 acres, made available at Upper Pappinbarra at the time.
In December 1923 William was returning to his home when he was thrown from his sulky. A
local man drove William in his car to Dr Begg in Wauchope where it was found that he had
broken several bones above the ankle. He was then taken to the Hastings District Hospital at
Taree for x-rays and treatment.675 He was still on crutches six weeks later and would have been
unable to work in that time. However, not long after, in February 1924, his tender for erecting
fencing in Range Street, Wauchope was accepted by the council. 676
It was generally known in the community that William was an alcoholic, especially to the police
whose job it was to round up inebriated citizens before any harm could be done to themselves or
others. It doesn’t take much to guess at the causes of his condition as alcoholism had become
a leading cause of early death among returned soldiers. And so it was for 35 year old William
when on 15 June 1924 his body was found in the yard of the Star Hotel at Wauchope.
Earlier, with the help of his father Peter and a local doctor, William had desperately tried to stop
drinking and had not had a drink for days. Unable to cope with the withdrawal, he had grabbed
his razor and slashed his throat, bleeding to death a short time later. Many knew what he was
going through but could not react quickly enough to save him from his sudden action. At the
inquest Peter said:677

“I am the father of the deceased, who was a returned soldier, and was
addicted to drink, and used to suffer a good deal since the war. I last saw
him alive on the football ground (in the morning), when he appeared to be quite
alright … It would be about two years since he had been drinking up to the
present bout. On (the day of his death) he was perfectly sober and in his
proper senses.”

675 The Port Macquarie News and Hastings River Advocate 1 December 1923, page 4
676 The Port Macquarie News and Hastings River Advocate 23 February 1924, page 4
677 The Port Macquarie News and Hastings River Advocate 21 June 1924, page 4

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William had always been difficult, even before the war. In 1906, when he was 18, his father was
forced to advertise in the local paper that he would not be responsible for any debts run up by
William.678 William’s farm was sold at public auction by the public trustee in May 1925. 679

David Olsen

David Olsen (known as Dave) had started farming land on Mitchells Island but by 1921 he had
also moved to the Wauchope area where he continued working as a farmer.
David was 30 when in 1925 he married Margaret Trotter at Beechwood, a settlement on the
Hastings River near Wauchope.680 Thomas Olsen was best man and the honeymoon was at the
Blue Mountains west of Sydney. The Trotter family were local farmers at Beechwood and
Bellangry.
David also settled at Beechwood and had a farm of 260 acres where he was soon running four
horses and about 49 cattle. His first purchase of land was Portions 53, 54 and 63 totalling 140
acres with a frontage to Mortons Creek.
Dairy farming was not the easiest
life to follow in the 1920s. When
David Olsen broke his arm in May
1926 it meant that a lot of work
around the farm could not be done
for some time and he would have
relied on others to help him out
(some years later in 1932 he slipped
over on a footpath and broke his
leg).681
David transformed himself from a
farmer to a builder when he
realised he could make a better
living erecting buildings in the now
booming town of Wauchope and its
environs. However, he never quite
gave up farming and still managed
his dairy herds for many more
years. David had erected some new Original farm purchase by David Olsen in green
milking and feeding sheds on the
property Clover Hills that belonged to his wife’s family. The set-up consisted of a covered yard,
four feed bails, a washing up room, a separator room, an engine room and 36 feeding stalls. The
engine powered the separator and the chaff cutter. A pump brought water up from the nearby
Pappinbarra Creek. The design was so popular that other farmers were quick to get David to
build similar installations.682 Many more orders were received after a successful demonstration
at Clover Hills in December 1929.

678 The Manning River Times 23 June 1906, page 5

679 The Port Macquarie News and Hastings River Advocate 2 May 1925, page 5
680 NSW BDM Marriage Certificate 9306/1925
681 The Port Macquarie News and Hastings River Advocate 15 May 1926, page 5
682 The Port Macquarie News and Hastings River Advocate 21 December 1929, page 1

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David’s building career occupied most of the 1930s to the 1960s. In that time he erected many
buildings including residences, garages and sheds as well as farm, school and commercial
buildings, including a doctor’s surgery. He was elected as a member of the Wauchope Urban
Committee in 1941.
By 1954 David and Margaret had moved from Hastings Street to 7 Bain Street, Wauchope, no
doubt to a house he had built. They later moved down the road to 1 Bain Street. In 1955 their
son, also called David (but known to everyone as Darby), joined his father and the business
became D Olsen & Son. Under Darby’s reign the company became one of the largest regional
builders in NSW. Their buildings included the Port Macquarie RSL Club and the Woolworths
Plaza Shopping Centre in Port Macquarie.
David senior died at Ryde in Sydney on 14 July 1970 at the age of 74. 683 Margaret stayed at
Bain Street until she moved to the Bundaleer Nursing Home at Wauchope before 1980. She
passed away on 8 August 1983 at the age of 80. 684

Ethel Ann Olsen

Ethel Olsen was probably living in Sydney by the time she was 18. Around that time she wrote
to her cousin Elsie Rees saying that Ethel’s mother, Amy, had arrived home after a pleasant trip
to Sydney to see her mother, Janet Nelson. At the time Elsie was living with Janet and her
youngest daughter Alice Nelson at Trafalgar Street, Annandale. Ethel also hoped that “Granny
is getting on alright.” She signed off as “your loving cousin”, suggesting the two were frequent
writers.
Ethel was 30 years old when she married Thomas Goodfellow in Sydney in 1922. 685
Thomas was a lot older at 46 but he had been successfully working as a plumber for many years
and was well established. Within two years of their marriage, Thomas and Ethel were living at
20 Agar Street, Marrickville, near Newington College.
Thomas was only 55 when he died at home on 9 August 1931. 686 Ethel lived most of her life at
her Marrickville home before moving to 9 Nichol Parade, Strathfield. She died on 9 August 1973
at the age of 82.687 She had been a wife for nine years and a widow for exactly 42 years, dying
on the anniversary of her husband’s death.

Amy Nelson Olsen

About 1913, around the time Amy turned 16, she moved from Mitchells Island to Sydney where
she worked as a nurse. She was 24 when she married Jacob Johnson in 1922, jumping ahead
of her older sister Ethel who was married later that year. 688

683 NSW BDM Death Certificate 34130/1970

684 NSW BDM Death Certificate 105848/1983
685 NSW BDM Marriage Certificate 15256/1922
686 NSW BDM Death Certificate 12052/1931
687 NSW BDM Death Certificate 63014/1973
688 NSW BDM Marriage Certificates 2902/1922

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After her marriage to Jacob Johnson, she entered a world radically different to anything she had
ever known. She would soon become famous around the country as the person who sued a
sitting Prime Minister, and won.
Jacob had been born in the town of Sappemeer in the far north of The Netherlands in 1888. His
family name was Johansson. Like Peter Olsen, he became a seaman and travelled around the
world before settling for a time in New Zealand. He came to Australia in 1910 and was
naturalized in 1913. He was 34, ten years older than Amy, when they married but with his fair
hair and complexion and weathered skin, he looked a lot older.
From 1905 the union movement in Australia had begun to assert itself, pushing for workers to
share in the booming prosperity after the desolate years of the 1890s. The waterfront would
become the great battleground for disputation, only matched to a degree by the coal mines. The
Australian Labor Party (ALP) under Andrew Fisher had won the 1910 Federal election, the first
majority win by any party since Federation. Jack Lang had also put the ALP into government in
NSW in 1910, riding on the back of a strong pro-worker sentiment. After the First World War,
socialists and communists had gained strong niche
support in Australia and found a voice within the
union movement. Strikes became a popular
weapon as an alternative to arbitration and
conciliation, which were favoured by employers and
the government.
Amy’s brother in law Peter Skulander had been
involved with the Sydney Marine Benefit Society
that looked after the interests of injured and out of
work seamen. They were closely affiliated with the
Seamen’s Union. As touched on before, the
conditions on ships had not much improved over
the previous 100 years. Many ships were rust
buckets sailing well past their serviceable life and
these derelict and often overloaded ships regularly
sank with the loss of all on board. Sailors were one
of the most underpaid group of employees, usually
competing for jobs with lowly paid sailors from Asia.
Jacob Johnson came to prominence in 1922 when
he was elected Assistant Secretary of the NSW Jacob Johnson with
branch of the Federated Seamen’s Union (Assistant Amy Johnson on right
Secretary was the senior branch position – the
Secretary was only an honourary position). The country was undergoing a brief economic
recession and unemployment rose to 11.2%. Although steady economic growth returned from
1922 (but only as far as 1928 when the Great Depression started to take hold), Jacob took
advantage of the downturn to become the most militant of all the unionists on the waterfront.
His later actions would make him one of the most unpopular, reviled and divisive figures in
Australia for years to come. What had Amy gotten herself into?
Jacob’s style was to bash hard and long against all foes, particularly the shipowners and their
associations. He saw little merit in arbitration or conciliation. He saw all politicians as time
wasters and rent seekers. He once wrote to the ALP saying that his Union “was not interested in
the domestic affairs and squabbles of a capitalistic party as it was of no benefit to seamen.”
Although he disavowed any connection with the Communist Party, he maintained strong ties to
many of their members and he was regarded fondly by them in their newspapers (but they would
later turn on him). He commanded a loyal following of supporters within his Union, at least in
NSW for a time.

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He was famously charged in 1924 with six other union leaders with conspiracy to make seamen
break their employment contracts. He was arrested, sent to gaol and then let out on £40 bail.
He was gaoled again for the two nights of the trial, as was the custom for defendants. The trial
judge held that the Crown had failed to make out a case and he instructed the jury to acquit the
defendants.
Australia’s biggest strike to that time occurred in 1925 when the Seamen’s Union went on strike
over pay and conditions. The strike was intended to slow down ships leaving Australian ports
but the dispute quickly escalated to all out stoppages. At the urging of shipowners, Jacob and
Tom Walsh, the Federal General Secretary of the Union, were repeatedly charged with inciting
seamen to break their employment contracts. Jacob often spent a night or two in Long Bay gaol
before being bailed. These charges were either thrown out by the State courts or later dropped.
The Australian Nationalist Government led by Stanley Melbourne Bruce, under pressure from
the shipowners, moved to de-register the Seamen’s Union to remove their influence. The Union
was de-registered but the fight continued unabated.
Shipowners begrudgingly agreed to lift
wages to £14 a month on Australian ships
in Australian waters. However, they had a
counter plan and they then started hiring
mostly British ships where sailors were
paid a maximum of £10 a month.
But then British seamen around the world
started a series of strikes for better pay and
conditions. The catalyst for this was the
sellout by the head of the British Seamen’s
Union, Havelock Wilson, agreeing to
shipowner demands to reduce the wage of
British sailors to £9 a month because of
reduced economic returns. Havelock
Wilson (known as Have a Lot) was on an
annual salary of £1,000 for life. He was an
OBE and travelled with a manservant. The
British shipping industry had made
millions of pounds during the war years
but was now experiencing a slight decline
in revenue. Meanwhile, conditions on
Adela and Tom Walsh, Jacob Johnson
British ships had shown little
improvement. Sailors usually had no bathing or washing facilities on board and were required
to provide their own clothing and bedding. Food was provided but was usually rationed to little
more than a subsistence level.
Soon 44 British ships were left idle in Australian ports after 2,500 seamen walked off. Jacob
and Tom Walsh were happy to receive the strikers and provide support. It was the first time
Australia had played host to striking workers from another country. Initially housed and fed in
places like the Domain in Sydney’s CBD, the workers were soon adopted by sympathetic families.
Collections were taken up and local seamen were hit with a 5/- levy on their monthly wage to
help with the costs. The Seamen’s Union made sure that no Australian seamen would take a job
on a British ship.
When the Government failed to have Johnson and Walsh gaoled, it quickly passed special
legislation in the Federal Parliament allowing it to deport any foreign born person found guilty
by a special tribunal of disrupting the industrial life of the community. This was seen by the
wider union movement and the State Labor Government as an act of bastardry. The NSW
Premier, Jack Lang, refused to allow NSW police to serve the summonses on Johnson and Walsh.

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The Prime Minister responded by establishing a new Commonwealth police force which rushed
to recruit over 200 members. The Government was then challenged to go to an election on this
issue, which they did in November 1925. The Government was returned with an increase in
seats having pushed Australia’s first “red scare” election, branding the waterfront dispute as a
communist plot.
In the meantime, Johnson and Walsh had appeared before a newly convened Deportation Board
on 29 August to show cause why they should not be deported. They were represented by R D
Meagher MLA solicitor who, in a surprise move, was instructing the NSW Attorney General as
counsel. That counsel later pulled out as he was required in Parliament to push through the
Abolition of Capital Punishment Bill. He was replaced by Andrew Watt KC and a 30 year old
barrister named Herbert V Evett (who would later become leader of the ALP from 1941 to 1949).

Johnson was Dutch by birth and Walsh was Irish. After his first wife had died, Walsh married
Adela Pankhurst, daughter of the English Suffragette leader Emmeline (Emily) Pankhurst. They
were both very articulate and outspoken people who were founding members of the Communist
Party in Australia (although they would soon withdraw from the party over disagreements).
Jacob and his legal team eventually walked out on the proceedings when their repeated requests
for subpoenas and witnesses were refused. The proceedings continued in their absence.
Meagher was quoted as saying “We are hamstrung, gagged and chloroformed.” Having
established that they were foreign born immigrants, the Board then found that they had
interfered with the laws of the Commonwealth in trade and commerce and recommended they
be deported. The Attorney General had them arrested at 5am the following morning and taken
to the Garden Island Naval Depot where they were placed under house arrest. The Navy’s light
cruiser HMAS Melbourne was on standby to remove them as it was unlikely any merchant crew
would do it.
But before the ship could leave, an appeal was filed in the State Supreme Court. Not trusting
the State court, the Federal Government then had the case transferred to the High Court which
sat for one day in early December before handing down its judgement on 9 December. Before the
judgement was handed down, however, the British seamen’s world-wide strike was over. Beaten
by lack of money and vehement opposition from other waterside unions whose members were
put out of work, the British seamen accepted the reduction to their wages. In Australia, the

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strikers had faced an unsupportive press who fired up the communist plot line and said the
strike was crippling farmers.
To the utter shock of the Government, the High Court ruled that the men could not be deported.
The special legislation did not apply to British ships and even if it did, it did not apply to Johnson
and Walsh because although they were foreign born, they were no longer immigrants, Walsh
having been in Australia before Federation. As a result their detention since the deportation
board’s decision was illegal.
By now Johnson and Walsh had started to fall
out over strategy and control. Before the strike
ended, Walsh found that the impact of the strike
on others was so severe that he pushed for an
easing of the strike and a move to arbitration.
Johnson, however, was determined to fight on
and never concede. Eventually they would have
a complete falling out and in an acrimonious
power play for control of the Union, Jacob would
win and take over Walsh’s position. Later, Walsh
would unsuccessfully try to form a new union
(although he was dismissed from the Seamen’s
Union as punishment, he was allowed to return
as a member in 1936). Tom Walsh, Jacob Johnson, and another
On being released from detention Walsh called for Stanley Bruce to resign. Johnson said “You
can tell the shipowners I will resume duty on Monday morning.”
In the aftermath of the deportation fiasco, Johnson and Walsh sued the Commonwealth and the
Prime Minister personally for wrongful arrest and imprisonment, each claiming £20,000. As
well, their wives Amy and Adela, sued for loss of services of their husbands and for pain and
suffering, each claiming £5,000. The same legal team as for the deportation case was retained.
After an early loss in the Supreme Court arguing a technicality, the Government admitted that
the men had been illegally arrested and detained. The court then set hearing dates before a jury
to determine the amount of damages. The four cases were held separately.
In Jacob’s case, the Government repeatedly drew attention to Jacob’s role in the unpopular
strikes and the communist links, despite being constantly castigated by the judge for that
irrelevant line of questioning. It was also said that the men were well looked after while in
detention. After the jury had retired and returned, the foreman announced that they found in
favour of the Commonwealth. After the laughter died down, the judge reminded them that the
Commonwealth had already accepted liability and the jury’s job was simply to assess damages,
not decide who won. After a quick heads together in the jury box, the foreman announced that
the verdict was no damages. The judge again reminded the jury that they had to make some
award of damages. They retired and returned with a verdict of £20. The judge ordered the
Commonwealth to pay all of the costs.
In Amy’s case, she claimed that the assault, arrest and imprisonment of her husband caused
her “mental anguish and derangement of her mental system.” She claimed to have fainted when
men entered her bedroom at 5am in the morning to arrest her husband. In cross examination
she was asked whether she felt faint at the thought that thousands of men were thrown out of
work by her husband’s actions. She said she was not aware of legal proceedings that had been
taken against Jacob in the past as he never mentioned much about his work. She agreed that
she had been paid an allowance by the Government after the arrest. She did not know that
Jacob had kept £254 in the house. She agreed that her husband was often away on union
business but since his arrest she had never been to bed. She said her husband was a quiet,
peace loving man. Those in court were impressed by her calm demeanour and candid answers.

324
The jury returned a verdict of £60 damages. Mrs Walsh later received the same award plus £21
for medical expenses. Tom Walsh received £25.
Also in the aftermath, almost by way of comic relief, Jacob was charged with failing to vote at the
election in November 1925 during the middle of his deportation dispute. Instead of claiming that
he was under house arrest at the time, he defiantly
said “None of the candidates contesting the election
represented my interests.” He was fined 1/- plus
costs.
Jacob’s troubles were far from over. His feud with
Tom Walsh and his uncompromising style meant
that he had plenty of enemies within the Seamen’s
Union. He was in constant battles to retain his
position as General Secretary of the Federal branch.
And then in August 1928 he was charged with
incitement and intimidation of seamen involved in a
strike by marine cooks. He was brought before the
Central Police Court in Sydney. Witnesses claimed
Jacob Johnson on right they were at a meeting when Jacob threatened to
ostracize any seaman who scabbed by taking on any
of the jobs of striking members. This time the Commonwealth police were determined to get a
conviction and they put their best people on the case. Jacob was found guilty and sentenced to
6 months hard labour. His later appeal was unsuccessful and he went first to Long Bay gaol
before he was sent to Tuncurry Afforestation Camp (but known to everyone as Tuncurry Prison
Farm) not that far south of Mitchells Island. While in prison, the Labour Councils of the various
States organized very large demonstrations and protest meetings around the country to mark
the imprisonment of a union official who was simply doing his job. The popular Sydney Sun
newspaper reported:689

“SON CALLS

“WHERE’S DADDY?”

JOHNSON’S BABY

“Where’s Daddy?”

“Daddy’s away.”

That is all the little four year old son of Mr and Mrs Jacob Johnson comprehends of the calamity
which has stripped their home at 39 Captain Piper’s Road, Vaucluse, of its head for six long
months.

A charming lady, devoted to her home, Mrs Johnson is bearing with fortitude the misfortune
which has taken her husband from her side to a prison cell at Long Bay.

Very soon after his imprisonment, she visited her husband. The interview took place at a long
table – the prisoner at one end, his wife at the other, and a warder midway between.

Under prison regulations, say Seamen’s Union officials, one visit a month, of 20 minutes
duration, is permitted; and one letter a month is allowed.

Although his wife and numerous friends would be happy to relieve the monotony of prison fare
for Johnson, by taking in something more dainty, it seems that they cannot, under the
regulations.”

689 The Sun 28 October 1928, page 5

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As the newspapers were never sympathetic to Jacob or his causes, and in fact often showed their
contempt, I suspect the article was just an excuse to publish his address.
The NSW Government allowed Jacob out on early release in February 1929, 4½ months into his
sentence. He came to Sydney by train and immediately went to his home in Vaucluse. A few
hours later he was in the city attending a stop work meeting. He received a mixed reception.
When not fighting his own Union, Jacob spent the next two years trying to clear his name. A
bombshell hit the front pages of the press when a witness against Jacob at his trial signed a
declaration that he was paid by police to sign an affidavit that contained false statements. He
also said that other witnesses were treated similarly. As the noise rose the Government entered
into negotiations to pay compensation to Jacob but the new Scullin Labor Government reneged
on paying compensation and instead ordered a Royal Commission. The Commission was run by
Justice Beeby in August and September 1931. The decision handed down in October was that,
although some of the evidence may have been tainted, there had been no miscarriage of justice
to the detriment of Jacob Johnson and there was no evidence favourable to him withheld at the
trial. So Jacob ended up with no compensation and no exculpation.
This was the only time in Australian legal history that a Royal Commission has been held into a
case involving a single person. I am amazed to think that Jacob had the fortitude to represent
himself against a formidable team of senior counsel. Then again, he did lose.
Attempts to remove Jacob from his union position continued unabated, often illegally, and Jacob
was forced to go to court to have decisions overturned. He was voted out of the Union on one
occasion but managed to get back in. He was still General Secretary in 1937 when he was again
removed at a stormy meeting and
this time expelled from the Union.
He later brought proceedings
against the Union claiming fraud
and non-compliance with rules.
He then had the Union de-
registered in a final act of self-
immolation. In 1938 he failed to
have a new union registered under
his banner. His union
involvement ceased after that.
In his career, Jacob made many
bitter enemies, including inside
his own Union. Other unions
castigated him for always fighting
unwinnable fights that put
thousands out of work for no gain.
The ALP admired his ideals and
Jacob, Desmond and Amy Johnson strength of character even though
he treated all political parties with
contempt. He was too blunt and stubborn for arbitration and conciliation and much preferred to
attack shipowners in their wallets. He obtained only modest wage increases and improvement
in conditions in return for massive disruption on the waterfront but he turned the Seamen’s
Union into a powerful and influential body. He also helped unite the infant labour movement.
By 1932 Amy and Jacob had left their home at Vaucluse and moved to Rose Bay. Amy had at
least two children, Desmond (the baby mentioned in the newspaper article above) and Leslie.
They later moved around the Rose Bay and Vaucluse areas before settling at 31 Wilberforce
Avenue, Rose Bay. Jacob died on 25 January 1961 at the age of 75, mostly forgotten and

326
unremembered.690 By 1972 Amy had moved to 1/51 Gilderthorpe Avenue, Randwick. She
passed away at the age of 79 on 25 March 1978. 691 Amy may not have been as famous as her
namesake, Amy Johnson, the famous British aviatrix who was the first woman to fly solo from
England to Australia, but she certainly holds a position of fame within Australian political
history.

Janet Jardine Olsen

The last child of Amy and Peter Olsen, Janet Jardine Olsen, was 23 when she married Roy Calvin
in Sydney in August 1924 only a few months after the death of her brother William.692 Roy Calvin
was a country boy, born in Wauchope, with no love of the big city or a desire to go there. After
their marriage they moved to Jones Island in the Manning River delta on the northern side of the
river opposite Mitchells Island. Jones Island would have been mainland except for the small
Ghinni Ghinni Creek which runs from the Lansdowne River to the Manning River thereby
creating an island by definition. The Pacific Highway runs through the middle of Jones Island.

Headstone – Janet’s parents - Peter and Amy Olsen

The Calvins settled at the village of Croki on the northern bank of the Manning River opposite
the confluence with Scotts Creek. They lived a quiet rural life while bringing up their children.
Janet kept in touch with her brothers at Wauchope and visited them when she could. 693 Her
mother Amy had spent her last days being looked after by Janet and Amy passed away at the

690 NSW BDM Death Certificate 474/1961

691 NSW BDM Death Certificate 7369/1978
692 NSW BDM Marriage Certificate 11190/1924
693 The Manning River Times and Advocate 29 October 1932, page 6

327
Croki home. Janet later looked after her father at various times and he also spent his last days
with Janet.
Roy enlisted in the Citizen Military Force during the Second World War when he was 45 years
old. After the war they left the land and moved to 8 Boomerang Street in Taree where they would
stay, often with their grown up children. Roy worked as an engineer. In 1953 he was working
at the Lower Manning Butter Factory at Scotts Creek on Mitchells Island. 694
Roy died on 4 August 1982 at the age of 85 and Janet passed away five months later on 21
January 1983 at the age of 82.695 Janet had the distinction of dying on the anniversary of her
birth.

Mitchells Island Butter Factory

694 The Manning River Times and Advocate 3 July 1953, page 2
695 NSW BDM Death Certificates 105972/1982 and 100734/1983

328
 William Hewitt Nelson

Married 1902 Emily Alice Bishop

Children:

Edward Nelson b 1903 d 1908 4 years

Jeanette Irene Nelson b 1905 d 1989 83 years

James Oswald Nelson b 1906 d 1978 72 years

Cecil Manning Nelson b 1911 d 1995 83 years

Alma Doris Nelson b 1915 d 2008 93 years

After distracting you for so long with the Olsen family, it is time to continue with the story of the
other Nelson children. The first two boys of the children of Thomas and Janet Nelson became
blacksmiths, one in the country and the other far away in the city, but the three younger Nelson
boys stayed firmly together all their lives when they became neighbouring farmers further
upstream on the Manning River. The first of these three younger brothers was William Nelson
(known to all as Bill).
Bill also grew up working on the family farm on Mitchells Island. He first purchased about 55
acres for himself (Portion 222) adjoining the family farm on the southern boundary. In 1895,
when he was in his early 30s, Bill had saved enough money to take up a selection of land of 57½
acres (Portion 37) at Brushy Mountain on the track that then ran between Tinonee and Wingham.
This land was close to a selection made by Bill’s younger brother, Alexander Nelson, in 1894.
The brothers set about adding to their landholdings over the next few years. In 1896 Bill further
selected Portion 40 comprising 43¾ acres, which was adjacent to his first selection and which
gave him direct access to the Tinonee to Wingham track.
In 1898 Bill selected Portion 38 of 66½ acres to add to his holding. The council later carved out
an access road through Portions 37 and 40, creating a virtual subdivision of the three Portions
that altered their acreages (now 55, 43¼ and 74¾ acres).
The Manning River, as it heads upstream from Tinonee, curves around a large left hand bend
before passing by Wingham. The peninsular (or in river terms, the point) around which the river
bends, is one of the most picturesque areas along the river.
The countryside around this part of the river was heavily timbered and covered in a dense
understory of brush. Brushy Mountain was aptly named because the brush here was so thick
as to be almost impenetrable. The brush comprised very dense scrub and tightly packed trees,
mostly cedar, beech, ironbark, rosewood and immense fig trees. Giant nettle trees were also in
abundance. Growing luxuriantly all over the trees and undergrowth were thick ropes of leafy
vine. Inside the brush, the sky could be completely lost to view and the enveloping darkness
was not much different to the night.

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Timber getters started to arrive up the river during the 1820s. The first land grants were made
in the 1830s, including one upstream of Tinonee at Mondarook Creek (a native word meaning
“place of frogs” but soon known as Mondrook) which was granted to Lieutenant Charles Steele
in 1837. Settlement on the point was slow to take off. It was not until the Government laid out
the village of Tinonee in 1850, at the site of a ferry crossing, that settlement steadily increased.
Mondrook was then largely cleared and occupied by tenant farmers but there was little activity
heading up the mountain.
One of the early occupiers at Mondrook was William McLeay who also had a cattle run on
Mitchells Island. His neighbours to the south were the McLeods who, not surprisingly, named
their estate Dunvegan after the clan castle on the Isle of Skye in Scotland.
Brushy Mountain itself was the crown of the point, on the border of the Mondrook Estate (on the
Tinonee side) and the Yappo Brush (on the Wingham side). Among the first settlers at Yappo
was the Lobban family who had made the trek with their stock and fully loaded drays from the
Hunter Valley as far as Mondrook. From here the men had to cut their way over Brushy
Mountain and through Yappo Brush until they arrived at their selection on the river opposite
Wingham (the river could be crossed at this spot when the level was low enough and it became
known as Lobban’s Crossing). The Lobban women and children stayed at Dunvegan until the
path through the brush was cleared.
Other families followed and Yappo (or
Yaypo) soon became known more often
as The Bight, named after the neck of
the river bend. Settlers had discovered
that the soils all over the point were
particularly fertile and friable and
suitable for a wide range of plantings.
A businessman named Charles
McDonell bought up the Mondrook
Estate in 1868 for £3,000. The estate
comprised 700 acres of forest and 260
acres of brush but he would soon
extend the holding. Charles had
Dunvegan on the Mondrook Estate
worked the goldfields on the Turon
River where he and his partners had struck lucky and become quite wealthy. He invested in
properties and businesses in the district. He leased most of the estate to tenant farmers. He
built Mondrook House in 1871 on a prime location and from here he ran a valuable stud of race
horses. Mondrook became famous around Australia when one of his horses, Zulu, won the 1881
Melbourne Cup at 50/1 (but only after a dog had run onto the course causing three horses to
fall, resulting in the death of a jockey, John Dodd). The race was witnessed and written up by
the visiting US author Mark Twain.
Eventually the track over Brushy Mountain became a road of sorts. In 1880 a travelling reporter
wrote in The Sydney Mail:696

“From Tinonee and until Wingham is reached, for a distance of five miles, the
bush road is of a beautiful description, hemmed in on either side with profuse
semi-tropical vegetation, and at points views of a kaleidoscopic appearance
are obtained, showing the high mountain range blue in the distance, while in
the foreground is noticed the tortuous Manning River, with the white and airy-
looking buildings of the larger homesteads dotted along its course.”

696 The Sydney Mail 13 March 1880, page 498

330
By the time Bill made his first selection on Brushy Mountain, the point had become a fast growing
agricultural area. Bill soon set about clearing parts of the brush with help from friends, relatives
and locals who were ever keen to offer a helping hand. The early crops planted were wheat,
sugar cane, tobacco and potatoes, which were all in high demand. However, these crops were
very labour intensive and there was always a shortage of available labour. As well, the cane was
badly affected by the heavy frosts that were common to the area. This paved the way for maize,
which required far less effort, and it became the principal crop in the district. Fruit trees also
did well in the soil, particularly oranges.
The local fauna, already in prodigious numbers before settlement, found great delight in the
agricultural pursuits of the settlers. Birds were in abundance, particularly native pigeons and
parrots. Goannas and snakes inhabited the rocky crevices. Flying foxes found the fruit orchards
particularly to their taste and paddymelons, the small wallaby like marsupials, could not resist
the tender young shoots of recently planted crops.
Shooting parties were regularly found in the brush during the day and in the paddocks on dusk.
These shooting parties were as much a social event as a pest extermination expedition. Foxes
were introduced into the area to help control the fauna but they too flourished with so much
available sustenance. On one occasion in 1899, a party made a raid on the foxes’ den on the

The original Wingham Punt over the Manning River – operated by hand wheel
– Manning Valley Historical Society

mountain. They formed a ring around the den using cut brush and set fire to it. The first volley
of shots caused a dark cloud as foxes fled the den but they were trapped by the fire which was
kept burning for most of the day. It was estimated that about 1,500 foxes were destroyed. 697
Eventually most of the brush that covered the point would be cleared and dairying would take
over as the principal activity.
Bill was far too busy working his farm to worry about finding a wife and starting a family. But
that changed when Bill was 39. He married 20 year old Emily Alice Bishop (known as Alice) on
8 October 1902.698 Alice was the oldest daughter of Thomas and Sarah Bishop. The Bishops
had fallen on hard times. They had moved from their farm at Bootawah, a settlement about a
mile to the south of Brushy Mountain, to the Woolla Woolla Brush (The Woolla), on the banks of
the Manning River directly opposite Bill’s holding where they were tenants. The wedding service
was held at the Church of England in Taree and the reception that followed was at the Bishop
farm.
The Bishops became involved in a bitter matrimonial dispute less than a month after their
daughter’s wedding when the barn leased by Thomas Bishop mysteriously burnt to the ground
destroying the bagged crop inside. Thomas and Sarah “were not on good terms” and Thomas
accused his wife of lighting the fire while he was working in the field. He claimed that Sarah had
threatened to destroy his property if she did not get all she wanted. The neighbour who alerted

697 The Manning River Times and Advocate 30 December 1899, page 3
698 NSW BDM Marriage Certificate 10193/1902

331
Thomas to the fire was John McGilvray, the husband of Sarah’s sister Charlotte. In an indication
of where sympathies lay, Sarah said she was “on very bad terms” with the McGilvrays. Newly
married Alice had rowed across the river to visit her parents in the morning and was waiting in
the boat at the river for Bill to return from Taree when the fire broke out. She arrived at the barn
after the others had come running. An inquest held a week later failed to identify the cause of
the fire but everyone had their suspicions. 699
Bill and Alice’s first child, Edward Nelson, was born in 1903. 700 That same year Bill acquired
additional land between his holding and the river. Charles McDonell, the owner of the Mondrook
Estate, had been caught out by the depression of the 1890s. He had managed to fend off a forced
sale of Mondrook in 1898 but by 1903 the Commercial Bank had stepped in and subdivided the
estate into eight lots in preparation
for sale.701 Bill purchased Lot 7 (80
acres, old Portion 149) at the
public auction held at the Taree
School of Arts on 1 April 1903 for
£160, which was a very low price
at the time.702 Only three lots sold
at the auction but the remaining
lots were privately purchased over
the next few months. The total
price for all of the 1,300 acre estate
was nearly £9,000. Tenants had
been given plenty of notice of the
sale and purchasers were not
allowed to take possession until 1
July 1904. A Paddymelon shooting party near Wingham c 1910
– Manning Valley Historical Society
Lot 7 had already been mostly
cleared and was being used as
grazing land. It had a good frontage to the river and was a significant addition to Bill’s holding.
Bill and Alice’s next child, Jeanette Irene Nelson, was born on 11 May 1905.703 She would always
be officially known as Janet (or Jennie if you wanted to be unofficial). She was followed by
brothers, James Oswald Nelson in 1906 and Cecil Manning Nelson in 1911. 704 The last child,
Alma Doris Nelson was born in 1915 and was later known as Doris (or Dorrie to her friends). 705
The family was sadly reduced when their older son Edward died of leukaemia on 10 October
1908, a month before his 5th birthday.706
In 1912 Bill continued to add to his landholding by purchasing Portion 30 of 39¼ acres which
was on the southern side of the road to Wingham, directly opposite Bill’s farm.
By 1914 Bill was running 70 dairy cattle on his property and had eight horses. The following
year he had 61 cattle and nine horses. Cattle were bred for both milking and for sale.
The old road over the mountain was always in poor condition and it was bypassed when a new
section of road was built around the western side of the mountain. Sneeringly known as Barton’s
Folly after the man then in charge of local roads, it took years to build and was finally completed

699 The Manning River Times and Advocate 19 November 1902, page 4
700 NSW BDM Birth Certificate 34752/1903
701 The Manning River Times and Advocate 9 April, 1898, page 5
702 The Manning River Times and Advocate 14 March 1903, pages 4 and 5
703 NSW BDM Birth Certificate 17955/1905
704 NSW BDM Birth Certificates 29167/1906 and 33942/1911
705 NSW BDM Birth Certificate 40515/1915
706 NSW BDM Death Certificate 15578/1908

332
 Bill Nelson’s holdings shown by blue outline

by the popular road contractor, Henry Gore. The new road passed through a cutting in the rock
that gave the road its name of Brushy Cutting Road. The immediate area also became known as
Brushy Cutting and that was the address adopted by the Nelson brothers. The new road was
necessarily narrow as it came around the mountain, with a steep drop on the river side and a
wall of rock on the other side. Over the years there were many traffic accidents with vehicles
going over the side. There were moves to replace the cutting in the 1940s but it took until the
1980s before it was eventually replaced with a road that ran back over the mountain. The top
of the old cutting is now famous as a lookout for views of the Manning River upstream from
Bungay.
Bill had started feeling unwell towards the end of 1916. He was diagnosed with kidney cancer
and came to Sydney for treatment, staying with his younger sister Elizabeth and her husband
Arthur Longhurst at their residence at 1 Rawson Street, Haberfield. He died there on 29 March
1917 at the age of 53. 707 The information for Bill’s death certificate was provided by his brother
in law George TJ Rees of Ashfield, showing yet again how much the Nelson family in Sydney
stayed in touch with each other. His body was transported by train to Taree and then on to the
Tinonee Cemetery.
Bill’s death shocked the Brushy Mountain community. 35 year old Alice may have been left with
four children under the age of 13 (including a two year old) but she was well looked after by Bill’s
brothers, Alec and Jim Nelson, and their wives. Jim was keen to keep Bill’s holding within the

707 NSW BDM Death Certificate 1260/1917

333
Nelson family but he could not
afford to purchase the holding
at that time. Jim and his
father-in-law John Bishop had
been named as the Executors in
Bill’s Will. John Bishop also
happened to be Alice’s uncle
(Alice and Jim’s wife Elizabeth
were cousins). The property
was placed in the names of the
executors who then managed
the estate until such time as
Jim could afford to purchase
the properties.
In 1918 a neighbor to the north, Manning River from Brushy Cutting – Nev Higgins Collection
William Robb, had approached
Jim, as an executor of the estate, for permission to build an access road across Bill’s property to
get to Robb’s property. There was some difficulty in sorting out the arrangements, including
with the council, but the matter was satisfactorily resolved and William Robb paid Alice £40 as
compensation for the severance.708
Alice continued to live in her house until after well after the children married and left home. She
relocated to the coastal village of Harrington in about 1946. Alice never remarried and she died
on 10 December 1952 at the Strathairlie Private Hospital in Taree at the age of 70, after a six
month illness. She had been a widow for half of her life.709

Graves of Bill and Alice Nelson – Nev Higgins Collection

708 The Wingham Chronicle and Manning River Observer 26 April 1918, page 2
709 NSW BDM Death Certificate 31253/1952 and Dungog Chronicle 17 December 1952, page 4

334
 Janet Irene Nelson

Janet, who was now the oldest of the children of Bill and Alice, must have felt a need to stay and
support her mother long after Bill’s death. Janet and her younger siblings each married much
later in life than would normally be expected. Janet was 29 when she married Raymond Victor
Odgers at Penrith in the west of Sydney in 1934. Ray Odgers had come from a mining family
living at Kandos but he had moved to Sydney by 1930. He had worked as a wheeler, which could
have been either someone who wheeled animals such as pit ponies or he may have attended a
spinning wheel in a factory.
After their marriage, they moved to 115 Johnston Street Annandale, not far from Trafalgar Street,
where they ran a shop. They lived here until the early 1950s by which time the marriage had
started to unravel. They were divorced by 1954. Janet continued to live at the shop after Ray
had moved out. By 1968 she had changed shops and moved a bit further down the street to 109
Johnston Street where she stayed for most of her remaining life. Janet never remarried and she
died at the Crest Nursing Home at 11 Johnston Street on 3 August 1989 at the age of 83. The
shop at 115 Johnston Street has seen many different businesses pass through its door. Before
Janet, it had for a time been the home of the Orr sisters who sold millinery and baby clothes.
After Janet, it later became a butchery and delicatessen. Today it is a pizza restaurant trading
under the name Made in Italy.
Ray Odgers married again, this time to a real estate agent named Ruth Reymond, in 1961 but
that marriage also did not last. Ruth had been a single mother and a successful business
woman, an almost unique combination for the time. When Ruth and her daughter were
holidaying on the south coast at Narooma she noticed that the Tree Motel always had a “No
Vacancy” sign on display and she thought this was a good opportunity for some competition.
She had a new 13 unit motel built in 1960 on the corner of the Princes Highway and Harrington
Road and called it the “Highway Motel.” The motel had the first licensed restaurant in Narooma.
The motel was later extended and eventually sold to the De La Salle Brothers. Ruth developed
the major nursing home at Dalmeny near Narooma where she passed away in 2003.
Ray meanwhile had died on 24 April 1974, having lived at Maroubra for the previous 15 years.

335
 James Oswald Nelson

James stayed on the family farm long after the death of his father and probably became the
principal farm worker as he grew up. He was 33 when he married 23 year old Sydney girl Elsie
May Green in Sydney in 1939.710 They later left Brushy Mountain and moved to Ettalong on the
Central Coast where James worked for the local council. They moved to Sydney in the early
1950s and lived at 10 Morrice Street, Lane Cove before moving to 34 Westwood Street, Pennant
Hills a few years later. James continued working for local government. By 1972 they had
returned to Lane Cove, living in a house three up from their former residence.
When James retired, he and Elsie moved to the Australian Capital Territory where they lived at
13 Roseberry Street, Fisher. Elsie died on 4 October 1975 when she was 60 and James, who
had moved to the suburb of Griffith after Elsie’s death, died in December 1978 when he was 72.

Cecil Manning Nelson

Cecil (known as “Doose” but probably only to a small number of people) also grew up on the
family farm where he helped his brother James keep the farm working. In 1925 when he was
14, he sat for the annual “Health and Temperance Examination”, along with many of the pupils
at the school at Mondrook. 711 This examination was open to all primary and secondary school
pupils and was conducted by the NSW Youth Temperance Council and the NSW Band of Hope
Union, clearly with the fervent approval of the State government and education authorities. Cecil
and his cousin Thelma (also 14 and daughter of Bill’s brother Jim) were both successful in the
examination. The aim of the examination was to provide thorough training in hygiene,
temperance and first aid. The Band of Hope was one of the earlier temperance societies, formed
in England in 1847. It was particularly focused on educating children on the evils on drink. The
Youth Temperance Council was more about abstinence than temperance. On one occasion
pupils were shown how whisky quickly caused earthworms to shrivel up and die in a jar. The
pupils were asked what this taught them? One pupil replied “If you have worms, drink whisky.”
He obviously missed the point.
Dame Nellie Melba was an avid supporter of the examination. She said it was: 712

“designed to inculcate ideals and sentiments of self-restraint and good

citizenship in growing boys and girls, irrespective of class or creed. Surely
nothing will be more conducive to national prosperity than the spirit of
temperance, not only in drink, but in food and amusement.”

(and this from a woman who lived the high life to the full and was famously
accused by her husband of adultery with the Duke of Orleans, who French
monarchists named Philippe VIII in the hope a return to the monarchy).

As a single man, Cecil enlisted in the Citizens Military Force of the Army on 2 April 1942 at Taree,
his mother being noted as his next of kin. By the time of his discharge on 30 September 1945

710 NSW BDM Marriage Certificate 19131/1939

711 The Manning River Times and Advocate 30 May 1925, page 4
712 The Sydney Morning Herald 13 April 1927, page 16

336
he was working part time with the 4th Battalion Volunteer Defence Corps. In 1949, around the
time that his brother James left the farm, Cecil also moved out but only as far as Harrington,
the coastal village at the mouth of the Manning River, where his mother was now living. He was
now working as a herd recorder.
Herd recorders had a unique role in rural areas. They were public servants who visited registered
farms to record milk production and test milk quality. As the tests were done in the evening and
again the next morning, the recorders were often given overnight board and lodging and their
company was usually appreciated. Filled test tubes would be taken to the nearest milk factory
for testing. The results were invaluable at cattle sales. Today the relevant information is stored
and updated electronically in each cow’s identity tag.
Cecil was living at Harrington when he married Nellie Madge Wallace in 1953 when Cecil was
well into his 40s.713 They moved to 121 Wynter Street, Taree in the late 1950s and this would
be their home for many years. Cecil passed away on 14 March 1995 at the age of 83. I have
not found any information on the later life of Nellie Nelson after Cecil’s death.

Memorial for Cecil Nelson at Tinonee Cemetery

713 NSW BDM Marriage Certificate 5094/1953

337
 Alma Doris Nelson

Like her brother James, Doris married in 1939. 714 She was 23 and her husband, John Denning
McDermid (known to all as Jack), was 24. Jack’s family had also been early settlers at The Bight
and it was not unexpected that Doris would meet and marry a local boy, although they were
married in Sydney.
Jack started work at the Wingham Post Office where he was employed as a messenger and
general junior around the office. In 1933 when he was 19, another employee at the Post Office
by the name of Higgs was charged with stealing money from
his official cash advance. Higgs claimed that the money must
have fallen on the floor and been swept up. Jack gave evidence
that he swept the Post Office inside and out first thing in the
morning and had found no money. Evidence was also given of
Higg’s drinking and gambling habits and of his poor attempt
to explain how he found money to pay for all of his expenditure.
Higgs was duly found guilty.
Jack was promoted and transferred to the Mudgee Post Office
as a postman where he performed his duties on a bicycle. He
returned to Wingham in 1936 as a postman and was given his
own official post horse. A short time later he was transferred
to the Sydney suburb of Canterbury before a further promotion
saw him at Newcastle Post Office. He was now close enough
to visit his parents once a year for his holidays. 715 After their
marriage, Jack and Doris moved to Sydney and not
unsurprisingly found their way to 147 Johnston Street,
Annandale, not much further up the street from Doris’ sister
Janet.
Jack enlisted in the Australian Army on 13 February 1942 at
Wingham not long before his brother in law Cecil Nelson. Jack
was assigned as a gunner to the Fortress Engineers who
constructed gun emplacements and other defensive
establishments (as against Field Engineers who constructed
bridges, tunnels, airfields etc for combat). He was discharged
on 24 November 1944.
By 1949 Jack and Doris were living at 109A Johnston Street.
Jack’s sister Janet would later move into the shop next door
at 109 Johnston Street. They stayed here for many years but
by 1980 they had moved back to the Manning River where they
lived at 8 Tirriki Street, Old Bar. Jack died on 20 July 1986
when he was 72. Doris was much older when she passed away
at the Bushland Place Nursing Home at Taree on 12 October
Doris and Jack McDermid 2008. She was 93.
– Nev Higgins Collection

714 NSW BDM Marriage Certificate 10531/1939

715 The Wingham Chronicle and Manning River Observer 25 January 1938, page 2

338
 Mary Nelson

Likely common law husband Arthur Smith

Children:

Edward James Smith b 1893 d 1950 57 years

Like so many of her older siblings, Mary Nelson left Mitchells Island and found her way to Sydney.
Her story is more obscure than most of her siblings and it has taken some time to unravel what
is known.
Her death certificate records that she married her husband, Arthur Smith, in Sydney when she
was 27.716 As she was born in 1865, that would make her year of marriage 1892, or possibly
1893. This is reinforced by the birth certificate of her only child, Edward James Smith, who was
born on 22 September 1893. That certificate states that his mother, who was 28 at the time and
his father, who was a 29 year old carter, were married at St Barnabas’ Church of England at
Glebe on 26 December 1892. 717 The only problem is that there is no record of such a marriage
in the marriage index for 1892 or the following year when it would most likely have been recorded.
In fact, there is no record at any time of a marriage in NSW between Arthur Smith and Mary
Nelson. I have even allowed for Mary having been previously married to someone else and had
a different surname at the time of marrying Arthur. To add to the mystery, Mary was an official
witness to her sister Janet’s wedding in June 1892 and she signed the register as Mary Smith.
This was six months before the supposed marriage date of 26 December 1892.
It is unlikely that a church minister would fail to
send the details of the marriage to the local
registrar. I have a view, therefore, that the couple
were never officially married. Perhaps Arthur was
already married or they wanted to avoid the
stigma of having a child out of marriage by
pretending they were already married. The family
seemed to have no great issue with them as a
couple as Mary was always referred to in family
obituaries as “Mrs Smith.”
Arthur and Mary lived in the Annandale area
close to the other Sydney based members of
Mary’s family. They were living at 177½ Trafalgar
Street, the home of the Skulanders (Mary’s sister
St Barnabas’ Church, Glebe (Broadway)
Margaret), when Edward was born. In fact, the – State Library of NSW
baby was born at home and there would have
been much excitement in the large household. Another of Mary’s sisters, Agnes Farquharson,
was the witness noted on the birth certificate. At the time, Agnes had been a widow for less than
a year.

716 NSW BDM Death Certificate 15765/1936

717 NSW BDM Birth Certificate 19771/1893

339
As Arthur’s occupation was recorded as a carter, there is a strong possibility that he worked for
Peter Skulander who had a carting and van business. A carpenter named Robert Smith was
living next door to the Skulanders at 177 Trafalgar Street and Arthur may have been connected
to that Smith family. One of these connections was likely to be how Mary came to meet Arthur.
There were quite a few Arthur Smiths living in Sydney in the 1890s and early 1900s, including
in the Annandale and Leichhardt areas. There is an interesting court case from 1902 that may
well apply to our Arthur Smith.
The firm of Taylor Brothers were jam manufacturers who had set up business in Camperdown
in the early 1890s. They moved to a new factory at 143 Trafalgar Street Annandale, on the corner
of Booth Street, about five doors from the Skulanders. The business grew rapidly, employing up
to 200 workers during the fruit season who were engaged in coring, slicing, crushing and boiling
the fruit and sugar and then packing the jam into tins and jars. Labels were pasted on and the
containers were packed into cases made of pine from the Richmond River. From 1900, managers
of the business started noticing discrepancies between stock and invoices. Pilfering had always
been around and usually excused but the discrepancies revealed a serious amount of missing
stock. Despite frequent checks and searches, the managers were unable to get to the bottom of
what was now seen as a systemic course of robbery.

Label on Jam made by Taylor Bros

Finally in September 1902, two policemen went undercover as employees. Within a few weeks
they arrested a number of people after they intercepted at Summer Hill two vans packed with
tins of jam. The ringleader was named as Arthur Smith who was working as a carter. He was
aged 41, around the age of our Arthur Smith. Police had searched his residence at Leichhardt
and in a hole in the floor of a back bedroom they found a quantity of jam tins. Arthur pleaded
guilty to having stolen over the previous two years about 100 cases of jam valued at £110. At
the police station he saw one of the owners and said to him: 718

“I am very sorry, Mr Pratten, for wronging you. I hope you won’t be too hard
on me, for the sake of my poor wife and family.”

At his sentencing later that month, he was given one month’s imprisonment and ordered to make
restitution.719 Coincidently, or perhaps not, less than a month later, a fire ripped through the
box area of the jam factory destroying all of the packing cases and equipment. The estimated
loss was £1,400.
I have not found any more information that can be attributed to our Arthur Smith with any
certainty. He was not living with Mary in 1920 when she had a house at 24 Trafalgar Street,
Annandale in her name. He was not living with Mary and Edward when the 1930 Australian
census was taken. At that time Mary was living at 28 Rawson Street, Haberfield and 37 year old

718 Evening News 8 November 1902, page 6

719 The Sydney Morning Herald 28 November 1902, page 3

340
Edward was working as a tinsmith. This was only 12 houses or so up the road from where
Mary’s brother Bill Nelson was living when he died in 1917.
Over the next few years Mary developed a “chronic cerebral disease” which was sufficiently vague
enough to cover a wide range of illness (although the expression was sometimes used as a
euphemism for alcoholism). She was admitted to the Mental Hospital at Rydalmere when the
disease reached an advance stage. She passed away there on 8 July 1936 at the age of 71. Her
funeral left the Rawson Street residence for burial at Rookwood Cemetery on 10 July.
The main cause of Mary’s death was cellulitis which had taken hold in her arm. This type of
skin infection (which includes Golden Staph) was almost always fatal before penicillin was
introduced. Two things of particular interest show up on her death certificate. The first is that
she is recorded as “Mary Gertrude Smith”, the only time she was officially given a second name,
and the second is that the minister for the burial service was Alfred Smith and one of the
witnesses was Daniel Smith, who may have been related to Arthur.
Mary’s son Edward never married and continued to live at 28 Rawson Street until well into the
1940s. He had moved to 1 Rawson Street by 1949, that same address where his uncle Bill
Nelson had died in 1917. There must have been a family connection with both of those properties
and I explore this later. Edward had been working as a tinsmith for most of his adult life. He
was later described on Electoral Rolls as a machinist. He developed pulmonary fibrosis, most
likely as a result of his occupation. He died at home from bronchial pneumonia on 24 July 1950
at the age of 57. The details for his death certificate were provided by John Dier of 14 Brabyn
Avenue, Eastwood who was Edward’s cousin from the Skulander family.

341
 Alexander Nelson

Despite being a very popular identity within the local community and known for his love of sport
and good times, Alexander Nelson never married. Alexander (he was known as Alec or Alex) and
his brother Bill Nelson played rugby football for the Wingham club from the mid 1890s. Alex
won many a game for his team with his ability to consistently score tries. Rugby was a popular
sport in the district and across the country. Each game was a social event for the community.
It was only challenged for popularity by cricket and horse racing and later by cycling and rowing.
Rugby was such a passion for Alex that he wanted to play every game,
rain or shine. He was out of action, however, for some time in 1898
following a serious accident. He was ploughing some of his land when
the plough caught in the root of a tree. The plough kicked back and
struck him on the foot causing a severe injury. The accident happened
just before the final match of the year. The Club would have been hard
pressed to stop Alex from hobbling onto the field even if only for a few
minutes.720
Alex was also an excellent boxer and he was often featured at or near
the top of bouts held around the district. He is not to be confused with
another boxer of the same name who belonged to the Redfern Harriers,
a Sydney cycling and sports club, who became far more famous as a
boxer than our Alex.
Alex was the first of the three brothers to select land on Brushy
Mountain. His first selection in 1894, a year before Bill Nelson’s
Alex Nelson selection, was Portion 35 of 42¼ acres which fronted the Wingham
road as it wound around the mountain high above the river. The following year Alex and Bill
made selections of other Portions. Alex selected Portion 34 of 45¼ acres which was on the
northern boundary of his first selection. Today that land is opposite the famous Manning River
lookout mentioned earlier. Alex found that second selection to be unsuitable for his needs and
he replaced it in 1896 with Portion 36 of 75½ acres which joined his land to Bill’s farm.
His selection of Portion 39 of 44¼ acres in 1899 gave him a substantial combined holding along
the Wingham road at the start of the Brushy Cutting. Alex’s younger brother Jim came to work
for him and was given the run of Portion 36 until such time as Jim could afford to purchase it
from Alex.
Alex was a very energetic person. When not working hard on the farm or playing rugby he
became accomplished in other sports. He was a fine rider and competed in many local races.
Despite his reputation for the more manly sports, he also had a softer side. At the “Floral Fete
and Fancy Fair” held at St Matthews Church at Wingham in 1901, Alex won 2nd prize for best
pansies.721 Of course he may have entered the contest as a laugh. On the other hand he may
have been a serious gardener because he later won further prizes at flower shows including one
show at the Federation Hall in Tinonee in 1903 held in conjunction with a visit by the State
Governor, Sir Harry Rawson. Alex won first prize for his poppies.722
When the Wingham Athletic Club was formed in 1914 it came as no surprise to anyone that
among the first elected office bearers was Alex Nelson who was duly elected Captain of the Club,

720 The Wingham Chronicle and Manning River Observer 10 September 1898, page 2
721 The Manning River Times and Advocate 13 November 1901, page 2
722 The Wingham Chronicle and Manning River Observer 21 November 1903, page 5

342
a strong indication of how well the 46 year old Alex was still regarded as a sportsman.723 His
popularity was such that the local paper reported in January 1914 that Alex had gone on a
“holiday jaunt” to Tasmania.724
The same paper became very excited in 1915 by Alex’s cultivation of peas: 725

“Mr A Nelson … has for some years gone in for pea growing on a fairly
extensive scale. During the past winter he had between eight and ten acres
under such crop. The land in question is admirably adapted for pea culture –
it is sheltered from frosts, and is not too rich. It is a point worthy of mention
that, according to Mr Nelson’s investigations, rich land does not make pea
culture a profitable undertaking. It grows too much vine, to the detriment of
proper podding.”

Alex expected that his 1915 crop of peas would yield from 75 to 100 bushels an acre, giving him
an average return of about £16 per acre.
Many residents along the Manning River volunteered for service in the First World War. They
were well supported by the people back home. Fund raising was constant at every function, fair,
dance or sporting event. At a Euchre Party and Dance organized by the Wingham Girls’ Patriotic
League in 1917, Alex won every one of the men’s games, a feat of great accomplishment as locals
took their card games very seriously. 726
One particularly unusual example of war time fund raising was for a Battleplane. This came
about when it was reported in the press that aeroplanes, for so long a novelty in the war, had
been particularly effective in stopping German advances. One plane fitted with bombs and
machine guns was reported as being “equal to at least 2,000 men, and every pound put into one
is worth a man’s life.”727 Suddenly, all over the country, church groups, women’s temperance
groups, local towns and employees of large companies were setting up Battleplane Funds. They
even held smoke concerts which were very popular among the men. It was not long before a
Manning and Wallamba District Battleplane Fund was set up and among its early contributors
were Bill Nelson’s widow Alice (5/-) and Alex Nelson (3/6).728
The first war widow’s cottage on the Manning was erected at the end of 1917. It was partly
funded by local charities and individual subscriptions. Alex gave 10/- to the fund which was
quite a reasonable amount for the time.729 The war widow was Cordelia Thiele whose husband
James was 40 years old when he enlisted in 1916. James had a foot blown off by an exploding
shell that killed those around him. Without medical help at his advanced position at the front,
he survived for 36 hours before eventually bleeding to death. The people of Wingham felt a deep
sense of sympathy to Mrs Thiele and her three young children and were keen to help them. A
block of land in Murray Road was donated and a house was constructed by a volunteer force
working on Sundays, taking four months to complete.
Alex took great pride in all of the produce he grew. He was an intrepid experimenter of new
hybrids, techniques and equipment, including some of his own invention. He startled the staff

723 The Wingham Chronicle and Manning River Observer 6 May 1914, page 2
724 The Wingham Chronicle and Manning River Observer 17 January 1914, page 6
725 The Wingham Chronicle and Manning River Observer 29 September 1915, page 2
726 The Wingham Chronicle and Manning River Observer 28 September 1917, page 4
727 The Sydney Morning Herald 1 June 1918
728 The Wingham Chronicle and Manning River Observer 21 May 1918, page 2
729 The Wingham Chronicle and Manning River Observer 22 January 1918, page 2

343
of the local paper in 1917 when he dropped off a giant apple he had grown, weighing well over
one and a half pounds (about three quarters of a kilogram). 730
The Queensland fruit fly had become a serious threat to the fruit farms on the Manning River.
Border controls had been in place for many years but the pest had made its inexorable ride down
the eastern coast. Alex told the local paper in 1918 that his
orchard would have very little fruit that year because of the
fly. It particularly attacked his peaches, plums and pears. He
stressed how important it was to pick up and destroy all wind
fallen fruit.731
Although his fruit crop may have been devastated that year,
by September Alex was reporting a bumper crop of peas and
excellent tomatoes. He had been experimenting with
tomatoes for some time and considered his ones would be the
equal of the best grown. 732
In late 1921 Alex was found to have a skin cancer on one of
his arms. The melanoma was sufficiently advanced that local
surgical removal was insufficient. He went to Sydney for
further treatment but it became necessary to amputate his
arm in January 1922. This was a terrible blow to Alex,
handicapping his ability to run a farm. One district paper
reported that “everyone who knows him will be genuinely
sorry for him.”733 He spent many weeks recuperating in Cordelia Thiel and children
Sydney and finally returned home in March. His friends and Stanley, Winnie and Faith
relatives were reported as being very pleased to see him
back.734
He was forced to return to Sydney for a second operation in April but he was back the following
month in time to receive a visit from his older brother John Nelson, the blacksmith from
Kempsey. The wound may have
healed but Alex experienced a great
deal of continuing pain from the
amputation and the later surgery.
He visited the hot mineral spas at
Moree in 1923 to ease the pain which
had now become chronic. The
mineral spring was discovered in
1895 when a bore was drilled to tap
into the artesian water. Suddenly
vast quantities of very hot water
poured out, flooding the nearby shops
and businesses. The potential of the
water as a curative treatment (or at
least a respite treatment) saw a pool
built around the bore and people
Brushy Mountain in the neck of the river
arriving from near and far to take the

730 The Wingham Chronicle and Manning River Observer 7 February 1917, page 2
731 The Wingham Chronicle and Manning River Observer 25 January 1918, page 4
732 The Wingham Chronicle and Manning River Observer 3 September 1918, page 2
733 The Maitland Weekly Mercury 28 January 1922, page 6
734 The Wingham Chronicle and Manning River Observer 10 March 1922, page 4

344
waters. By 1913 there were two pools in operation. 735 Alex was not the only family member to
take advantage of the hot spas.
Alex had a few years before the cancer returned. His amputation had not contained the spread
of the disease and he was diagnosed with secondary thoracic cancer, possibly in the lungs. He
quickly deteriorated and was admitted to the Manning River District Hospital in Taree in early
April 1925 but he died there on 21 April at the age of 56, only three years older than the life
given to his brother Bill.736 His funeral the following day left St Matthews Church at Wingham
where he had won many flower prizes. He was buried at The Bight cemetery.

Alex Nelson’s farm outlined in orange in the centre

One of the two people who officially witnessed his burial was his very good friend Herbert Stanley
Lattimore (known as Stan) who had bought land adjacent to Alex (Portions 32 and 34 totalling
113 acres). The Lattimore family had been among the original families that had settled the

735 The Wingham Chronicle and Manning River Observer 13 March 1923, page 2
736 NSW BDM Death Certificate 8089/1925

345
Manning River at Bungay. By another one of those remarkable coincidences, one of Stan’s many
cousins, Clarice Lattimore of Kyogle is my grandmother on my father’s side. In 1912 she had
married my grandfather, Cecil O’Connor, from the Monaro region of southern NSW, and one of
their sons, my father Noel O’Connor, from Pittsworth near Toowoomba in Queensland, would
marry my mother, Joyce Hely from Sydney, in 1945. Joyce was a granddaughter of Alex’s sister
Janet Nelson.
In his obituaries Alex was described as having: 737

“… many friends in Wingham, who will always have a kindly recollection of

a stalwart and honest resident” and “as a straight-goer and a man who
enjoyed the respect of the community.”

A later obituary said “His death was really a happy release, for no-one knew what he suffered.”
His relatives publicly thanked the doctors and hospital staff for their care of Alex.
Many years later he was remembered (in an obituary for his brother Jim) as “a fine boxer, and
one who could take his own part amongst the roughest and the most scientific so far as the art of
self defence went.”738

Wingham Football Club 1st Grade 1901 - Alex Nelson on the far right – H Dimond Collection

Alex’s oldest sister Ann and her husband Stewart Currie placed an In Memorium notice in a local
paper the following year that said “As the ivy clings to the oak, so our memory clings to thee.”739

737 The Manning River Times and Advocate 29 April 1925, page 3 and The Wingham Chronicle and
Manning River Observer 24 April 1925, page 4
738 The Wingham Chronicle and Manning River Observer 20 January 1942, page 2
739 The Manning River Times and Advocate 24 April 1926, page 4

346
Probate of Alex’s estate, valued at £845, was granted on 20 May 1925. These valuations were
often understated to minimise duties and this is confirmed when in July his farm was sold for
£2,171/11 plus the price for the animals and equipment. 740 In fact, the farm was bought by his
brother Jim, again with a view to keeping the farm within the family. Jim had now become the
effective owner of all of the brothers’ properties, something those brothers would have been
pleased to see, if the alternative was to sell to others.

740 The Wingham Chronicle and Manning River Observer 24 July 1925, page 4

347
 Elizabeth Smith Nelson

Elizabeth (known as Liz and Lizzy) was 34 when she married 30 year old Arthur Charles Melrose
Longhurst at the Holy Trinity Church of England at Midland Junction, Perth, Western Australia
on 14 March 1906.741
Arthur Longhurst became a firm favourite among the men and women of the Rees and Nelson
families who lived in Sydney. He was a warm hearted and caring man with an interesting history
that made for many amusing stories. He was born into a large pioneer family in the town of
Melrose in South Australia. The town was built at the foot of Mount Remarkable and was the
oldest settlement in the Flinders Ranges. For many years it was the most northern settlement
in South Australia.
Arthur’s father John had been a teamster before settling down as a farmer and then later, a
publican. Gold was first discovered in Western Australia at the outposts of Coolgardie and
Kalgoorlie in 1892. The discovery set off another gold rush not seen in the country since the
1860s. The rush was exacerbated by the economic depression of the early 1890s, which caused
much unemployment, and by a sustained period of drought over much of Victoria and South
Australia. The population of Perth in 1892 was 48,000 but over half a million people passed
through the city during the next ten years on their way to the goldfields. One of those people
was Arthur Longhurst.
Many of Arthur’s siblings (including Ada, Phoebe and
William) also relocated from South Australia to
Western Australia, suggesting that the whole family
may have followed the gold trail. A John Longhurst
became a part owner of the Lancefield Goldmine at
Coolgardie. Arthur had an older brother named John
and they may well be the same person. The Lancefield
mine became one of the most profitable in the district.
A young mining engineer from the USA was appointed
a director of Lancefield. His name was Herbert Hoover
and he would later go on to become the 31st President
of the USA.
How Arthur made connection with Lizzy Nelson
remains a mystery. Did he come to Sydney where he
met Lizzy or did she make the trek to Western
Australia and perhaps to the goldfields? It is possible
that Lizzy met Arthur much closer to home. There
was a family named Longhurst living at Wingham who
had been in the area for some time and Arthur may
have been related to them. Cornelius Longhurst
(known as Curl) had been a timber getter on the
Arthur Longhurst in 1921
Manning River and later took up the running of the
Wingham ferry in the early 1900s. His son Frank Longhurst became a long term rugby player
for Wingham and would have known Bill and Alex Nelson very well.
After their marriage in Perth, I have been unable to track the whereabouts of Arthur and Lizzy
until Arthur turns up in the 1912 Sands Directory for Sydney as living in Yasmar Street,
Haberfield. They may have remained in Western Australia until this time or they may have

741 The Manning River Times and Advocate 7 July 1906, page 5

348
moved to Sydney and stayed with family or friends. The suburb of Haberfield came into existence
in 1901 when Richard Stanton acquired and subdivided 50 acres of land from the large estate of
the Ramsay family. There had been a rush of people leaving the city for the suburbs after an
outbreak of bubonic plague in Sydney from 1900. Haberfield, which was the maiden name of
Stanton’s wife, was a more upmarket suburb with a higher standard of dwellings. It was the
sort of suburb that Arthur, who had been successful on the goldfields, could afford to live.
Arthur was working as a labourer in 1913 but he
soon found work as a blacksmith and he would keep
to that occupation for many years.
By 1914, Arthur and Lizzy had moved from Yasmar
Street (which, when you think about it, is Ramsay
backwards) to 1 Rawson Street, Haberfield. Their
Federation style cottage was named Thelma for
reasons not known (although Lizzy had a niece
named Thelma (Higgins) who was born in 1912).
Arthur made his Will in 1914, leaving all of his estate
to his wife. The two witnesses to his Will were Lizzy’s
sister Janet and Janet’s husband George TJ Rees.
Arthur and Lizzy had no children but they formed
strong relationships with the children of Lizzy’s
1 Rawson Street, Haberfield today
siblings. Those children grew up with fond memories
of both of them. One memory is that their home had a spare room that was fitted out like a
small mining museum. Arthur had kept many tools and artefacts from his goldmining days and
had them on display in that room. He entertained the children with many stories from his
experiences on the goldfields.
Arthur and Lizzie were known to have visited
Lizzie’s Jardine relatives in Victoria. There
may have been much more interaction
between the Nelsons and the Jardines than
we know. On a trip to Yackandandah, Lizzie
sent a post card to her mother Janet (which
in fact is the photo of the Bridge Hotel in the
story of Helen Jardine). On the back of the
postcard, Lizzie wrote “Dear Mother, I
suppose you remember this old place.”
Arthur was 68 when he suffered a stroke that
Postcard from Lizzy to Elsie Rees (using severely incapacitated him. He died 14 days
Elsie’s second name) – Tosh may have been later at home on 6 March 1944.742 His estate
a dog – Elsie Hely Collection was valued at just under £4,000 which was
a considerable sum for those times. Lizzie outlived Arthur by four years. She had suffered from
rheumatoid arthritis for many years that had often caused her to be bedridden. She became ill
with hypostatic pneumonia and passed away at home on 25 May 1948 at the age of 77. 743 They
were both cremated at Rookwood Crematorium.
One unusual thing about Lizzy was her second name. Both her birth and death certificates
record her second name as Smith but her marriage certificate and other official documents in
between record that name as “Smyth” or “Smythe.” I have not found an obvious source for the
Smith name or a reason for the difference in spelling.

742 NSW BDM Death Certificate 692/1944

743 NSW BDM Death Certificate 11115/1948

349
 James Jardine Nelson

Married 1909 Elizabeth Amelia Bishop

Children:

Leonard James Nelson b 1909 d 1976 66 years

Thelma Eileen Nelson b 1911 d 2006 94 years

Emily Muriel Nelson b 1914 d 2010 96 years

Thomas Keith Nelson b 1915 d 1976 60 years

Elizabeth Amelia Nelson b 1921 d 1921 0 years

Alma Janet Nelson b 1923 d 2007 83 years

James (known as Jim) was the youngest of the five Nelson boys and, like all of his siblings, grew
up on the family farm on Mitchells Island. Sharing a bond with his brothers Bill and Alex, he
had farming in the blood that would make him loyal to dairy farming and agriculture for all of
his life. In his early days after leaving the family farm he took on all types of labouring work,
particularly at Camden Haven and Nowendoc.
His brother Alex had selected Portion 36 at Brushy Mountain in 1896 possibly because it was
easier for Alex to pay the deposit and meet the annual rents until such time as Jim could get on
his feet. Jim did not waste much time before he took over the conditional purchase from Alex.
Jim set about clearing his land and planting crops, gardens and orchards. Just about anything
could be grown in the rich soil and the farmers constantly experimented with ever more exotic
produce such as tobacco and almonds.
A report in the local paper in 1899 noted that “The Nelson Brothers have done much work on their
farms on the Brushy Mountain, where they have selected.”744 Jim soon had a good herd of cattle
both for dairying and for sale. When he was 28, Jim fell badly from a horse when it bucked
under him unexpectedly. His injuries were not severe but the fact that the fall was reported in
the local paper, suggests that it was considered to be extraordinary for a proficient rider like
Jim.745
In 1901 he proudly offered his prize heavy draught horse Royal George for stud duties, charging
£1/5/- for servicing a mare. People could bring their mares to Brushy Mountain or Jim could
take the horse anywhere in the district “where sufficient inducement is given.”746

744 The Wingham Chronicle and Manning River Observer 16 August 1899, page 3
745 The Wingham Chronicle and Manning River Observer 12 June 1901, page 2
746 The Manning River Times and Advocate 31 August 1901, page 9

350
In looking back on Jim’s life, the Wingham Chronicle reported that:747

“he was a particularly active man in his younger days. He was an athlete of
note. Fine horseman, he was a rough rider to be reckoned with and not only
rode buck jumpers, but also broke many wild horses in. He was also one who
could use his hands whenever the necessity arose. He learned to box early
in life and it is somewhat remarkable that all the Nelson boys could box, and
if it came to ‘mixing it’ in a rough up, they were capable of rendering a splendid
account of their abilities with the gloves on or off.”

It was inevitable that he would meet Elizabeth Amelia Bishop, daughter of John and Amelia
Bishop. They were after all neighbours at Brushy Mountain for some years. Her father John
Bishop had acquired a property on the other side of the Wingham road from the Nelson boys,
closer to Mondrook. Jim’s brother Bill had married Elizabeth’s cousin, Alice Bishop, in 1902 so
there was already a connection within the families.
36 year old Jim and 24 year old Elizabeth were married on 17 March 1909 at the home of her
parents at Cedar Party Creek where John Bishop had recently purchased two allotments which
became the new home for his family.748 He had sold the Mondrook property in 1908 and moved
his family to Killabakh before the move to Cedar Party Creek. The service was performed by the
Reverend Percy Musgrove who happened to be in Wingham at the time. He would return in 1920
to be the Rector at Wingham for the next 16 years. He always remembered the Nelson wedding
as his first on the Manning.

Amelia Bishop, Alex Nelson, Francie Bishop, Elizabeth and James Nelson,
Emily Bishop and John Bishop – Nev Higgins Collection
Cedar Party Creek was the self-explanatory name of an early settlement, just north of Wingham.
The creek of that name runs south to the Wingham township, passing by the back of the site of
the old Wingham Hotel until it joins the Manning River at the big bend downstream of the
township.

747 The Wingham Chronicle and Manning River Observer 20 January 1942, page 2
748 NSW BDM Marriage Certificate 3015/1909

351
According to family legend, a horse or cow had rolled over on Jim, breaking his leg shortly before
his wedding day. In his formal wedding photo he appears to be propped up against a post to
allow him to stand upright for the photo. Another legend is that the newly wed Nelsons planted
two fig trees in front of their homestead, perhaps a reminder of the twin pines on the family farm
at Mitchells Island. The fig trees, long grown to full size, are still standing today.
Jim and Elizabeth’s first child, Leonard James Nelson, was born on 21 December 1909. 749 He
was followed by two daughters, Thelma Eileen Nelson, on 1 December 1911 and Emily Muriel
Nelson on 14 May 1914.750 The family kept growing with the birth of a further son, Thomas
Keith Nelson, on 27 September 1915.751
The farm became very prosperous and Jim set about acquiring other property. By 1916 he
owned town blocks in Manchester Street, Tinonee and in Bohnock near the mouth of the
Manning River (where Irish
immigrant Hugh Nelson had
settled). He also bought up some
large farm allotments, including
Portion 91 (40 acres) and Portion
189 (200 acres) at Bootawah (then
called Bootoowaa and later
Bootawa). The Bootawah lands
were next door to a large
landholding owned by his father in
law John Bishop.
Jim became unwell in 1918 when
he was 45 and needed to go to Visitors at Brushy – Nev Higgins Collection
Sydney for treatment. Elizabeth
went down to visit him. His condition improved and he was soon on the mend and back at
Brushy Cutting.752
Long time neighbours to the north, Joe Bryan and his wife, left Brushy Cutting in 1919. Jim
gave a heartfelt address on how good they were as neighbours “… they followed the Divinely
taught lesson of helping in time of need and being charitable.” The evening was later filled with
piano solos, songs and dancing until the early hours of the morning. 753
Jim had a few issues with the local council. After his earlier objection to a proposed access road
over Bill Nelson’s old property he lodged an appeal in 1921 over the rating assessments that the
council had made on his two properties. His appeal was successful and the assessments were
reduced.754
Elizabeth had the misfortune to be a witness in a divorce case in 1921. A young girl, Ada Godwin,
spent some time in 1919 working for Elizabeth on the farm and working in a shop in Tinonee
run by Mr and Mrs Chapman. The girl was later named by Mrs Chapman as her husband’s
adulterous partner. Elizabeth had warned Ada that Mr Chapman was a married man. When Mr
Chapman came to pick her up at the farm, Elizabeth told them “If she goes she is not coming
back.”755
Social functions were very important as they united the community and allowed young people to
meet prospective partners (in a more supervised manner than Ada Godwin would like). As an

749 NSW BDM Birth Certificate 9243/1910

750 NSW BDM Birth Certificates 10240/1912 and 25611/1914
751 NSW BDM Birth Certificate 52701/1915
752 The Wingham Chronicle and Manning River Observer 5 April 1918, page 4
753 The Wingham Chronicle and Manning River Observer 20 June 1919, page 4
754 The Wingham Chronicle and Manning River Observer 5 July 1921, page 4
755 The Manning River Times and Advocate 14 December 1921, page 2

352
example, a celebration was held for Elizabeth’s mother Amelia at the home of Amelia’s brother
Albert Smith who also lived at Cedar Party Creek. Friends and relatives gathered for a night of
conversation and entertainment. Jim and Elizabeth were present and Jim was one of the
speakers.756
Jim and Elizabeth had two more
children in the early 1920s. Elizabeth
Amelia Nelson, named after her
mother, was prematurely born in May
1921 but died after only 12 hours. 757
The two official witnesses to the burial
on the family property were 11 year old
Len Nelson and nine year old Thelma
Nelson, the only time I have ever seen
young children recorded as official
witnesses to a burial.
Jim was 51 and Elizabeth was 48
when their last child, Alma Janet
Nelson, was born on 22 August 1923.
The later 1920s were good years for
Elizabeth Nelson in the sulky – Nev Higgins Collection
Jim and Elizabeth. The farm, which at
the time was called Woomera, was doing very well. Jim was able to purchase a number of
Portions on the southern side of the main road to Wingham formerly owned by the Lambert
family which gave him a total of 180¼ acres on that side of the road, far larger than his original
holding.
Elizabeth became a regular exhibitor at the annual Wingham Show and over the years won many
prizes, particularly for her poultry. Under her direction, a large bird aviary was built on the farm.
The huge orchard became full of orange, persimmon and loquat trees. Much of the fruit found
its way into large storage jars via the Vacola Preserving method developed by Joseph Fowler in
Melbourne in 1915.
Jim had been appointed a Justice of the Peace in recognition of the esteem in which he was held
in the community. That esteem was helped by their many social engagements. Jim and
Elizabeth held many get-togethers, birthdays and other celebrations to which their neighbours
and much of the local community would be invited to attend. They built a solid reputation for
providing excellent entertainment and Elizabeth became renowned for her catering skills. One
event in 1926 was a family and friends reunion attended by about 40 couples. The local paper
reported that people stayed until at least 3 am “… quite satisfied that they had attended one of
the happiest dances ever held at the Brushy Cutting.”758 I suppose that was meant as a
compliment.
The following year a grand birthday party was held for Jim at their home. In fact they had one
every year but this one was grander than most of the previous ones. Why the party was held in
January when his birthday was in November is a mystery, but perhaps it was seasonally
adjusted. It was also a good excuse to have a big party. Dinner at the family home was reserved
for near relatives and close friends. Elizabeth did all the cooking for the 40 guests but of course
she had others to help her, particularly her daughters. Many more guests were invited to that
grand birthday party but only for the entertainments after the dinner. Music and dancing took
place in Alex Nelson’s house which had been converted into a dance hall by removing some of
the walls. This became the entertainment centre for many of the functions of the Nelson family.

756 The Wingham Chronicle and Manning River Observer 17 February 1922, page 4
757 NSW BDM Death Certificate 9295/1921
758 The Wingham Chronicle and Manning River Observer 21 September 1926, page 2

353
Elizabeth was on hand again at 10.30pm to provide supper for the guests before presenting the
birthday cake at midnight.759
In 1928 the local paper wrote a complimentary article of Jim and Elizabeth and their farm: 760

“Mr Nelson’s home is on one of the most commanding heights of the inner
portion of the Manning River district, and from it can be seen the sea on a
clear day when the visibility is good, portions of Taree, and over the
undulating country between it and Bulga, Woodside, etc…

From three quarters of an acre he marketed £190 worth of peas during the
last season. His poultry farm contains 300 fowls, 150 chicks and 95 ducks…

Mr Nelson recently completed an attractive and commodious residence (which

he named “Brushy”). It contains six rooms and a well-equipped laundry…

Mrs Nelson is also noted for her jam making and preserving. At the time the
writer called there she had 34 large bottles and seven kerosene tins of
preserves, 246 bottles of jam and in addition she has 75 bottles of jams and
preserves made 20 years ago.”

I suspect that this article and many later ones on the family were written by Jim Winney who
was an accomplished pianist, organist, music and singing teacher and freelance journalist for
the Wingham Chronicle. He was a popular person in the community and was also a good friend
of the Nelsons and a regular on their guest lists.
Celebrating family birthdays at the Nelsons had now become a regular social occasion on the
mountain. The Nelsons put on a combined celebration of their son Len’s birthday (only a month
late) and Australia Day 1928 (at the time it was called Anniversary Day) by entertaining 100
guests at their home in the evening. Len’s sisters Thelma and Emily helped out with the
preparation work with Emily, who was only 13, getting the credit for the whole of the cooking.
Music was provided by accordion, drums and gum leaf, which made up a reasonable ensemble
for a typical Manning bush party.761
Great excitement occurred in the area in
1929 when Australia’s most famous flyers,
Charles Kingsford Smith and Charles Ulm,
flew their respective planes to the
Mondrook airstrip that had only been built
in 1922. Using the airstrip as their base,
they took part in the search for the missing
fishing trawler Heather Belle that had been
heading north along the coast from Port
Macquarie when it disappeared three days
earlier. The pilots took off from Mondrook
The milking shed at Brushy
and searched the waters until 12.45pm – Nev Higgins Collection
when they needed to return to refuel. Ulm
at times flew so low that his wheels skimmed the waves as he checked for possible debris. As it
turned out the boat had run into bad weather and had sought shelter much further down the
coast at Port Stephens. The crew had seen the planes flying north but had not thought they

759 The Wingham Chronicle and Manning River Observer 21 January 1927, page 5
760 The Wingham Chronicle and Manning River Observer 17 February 1928, page 3
761 The Wingham Chronicle and Manning River Observer 17 February 1928, page 3

354
were looking for their boat. Many years later in 1935, Australians would mourn the loss of
Kingsford Smith after his plane disappeared over the Bay of Bengal south of India.
At Jim’s annual birthday party in November 1929 the main toast was proposed by close friend
Bert Higgins. Another guest declared:

“The Nelson family was one that had made itself known not only in the
Manning district but also in other centres of the State – and wherever its
members had settled they had earned the respect of the people.”

Jim responded by saying in part “… it was a pleasure to both Mrs Nelson and himself to see so
many old and young friends around the festive board that day.”762
By the time of that birthday celebration, Jim and Elizabeth had announced the intending
marriage of their daughter Thelma to Neville John Manning Higgins, the youngest son of Bert
Higgins and his wife Elizabeth. After a bridal shower tea party (or Gift Party as it was more
prosaically called) the wedding took place on 27 November 1929 at the family home. 763 Thelma
and Neville were both youthful 17 year olds. Her sister Emily was bridesmaid. 764
Thelma wore an orange blossom wreath in her hair. Orange blossom had long been associated
with weddings and, when in season, was traditionally worn at almost all country weddings. It
was thought to bring good fortune but much has been written about it being an aphrodisiac,
which might make more sense. Neville was a valued member of the Taree Football Club, whose
members wished the couple all the best at a medal presentation the night before the wedding. 765
Just when the family could begin to
wind down and relax after the
wedding, Emily Nelson was taken
seriously ill and was admitted to the
Manning River District Hospital for
treatment.766 Whatever the illness
was, she soon recovered.
In December 1930 the family
decided to forego celebrating Jim’s
birthday in favour of celebrating son
Len’s 21st birthday (or Coming of Age
party) on 22 December with about
150 guests at home.767 Dance music
Jim and Elizabeth Nelson – Nev Higgins Collection
and songs were provided by a
Hawaiian Band. Isaac Currie, the blind son of Jim’s older sister, Ann Currie of Mitchells Island,
played on the accordion. The 21 candles on the cake were lit by young Nellie Williams of
Cessnock who had formed a strong romantic attachment to young Len. Bert Higgins was on
hand to propose the loyal toast (to the King) and to get the formalities underway. Among the
kind words said about Len were “(I) always considered him bright and of kindly disposition.” I
hope Len was not too overwhelmed by this fulsome show of praise.
The early 1930s was in the middle of the world wide Great Depression, the worst economic times
seen in the modern world. Unemployment was high and many men left their families in the cities

762 The Wingham Chronicle and Manning River Observer 19 November 1929, page 2
763 NSW BDM Marriage Certificate 18530/1929
764 The Wingham Chronicle and Manning River Observer 13 December 1929, page 4
765 The Manning River Times and Advocate 30 November 1929, page 12
766 The Wingham Chronicle and Manning River Observer 20 December 1929, page 4
767 The Wingham Chronicle and Manning River Observer 6 January 1931, page 2

355
and large towns and took to the country roads to look for work and sustenance while their
deserted families at home qualified for government relief. Country people were also doing it hard
with depressed prices and shortages. They still managed, however, to look kindly on the itinerant
men and provide them with work, shelter or a meal, whenever possible. Sometimes people
became desperate and helped themselves to the property of others. Jim was one of a number of
people who, after a spate of melon and fruit stealing, put up notices warning that they would not
tolerate any theft from their properties as farmers were doing it hard enough without losing their
products by thefts.768

Family gathering for Jim Nelson’s 60th Birthday – Nev Higgins Collection
January 1931 saw the hospitalization of daughter Thelma Higgins who underwent a “serious
operation” at Nurse Cummins’ Fairview private hospital in Taree. Nurse Cummins worked closely
with Taree based Dr Gormley.769 Thelma’s sister Emily then took her turn a few months later in
March 1931, this time at the Manning River District Hospital having her appendix removed. 770
Completing a good year for illness and not to be outdone by his sisters, 15 year old Tom Nelson
was by June recovering from a brush with pneumonia and pleurisy.771 Tom later became a
Junior Farmer in an organization set up to teach farming techniques to the young. The
organization was keenly supported by locals including Tom’s uncle Alex. The Mondrook Junior
Farmers Club was one of the best in the State, winning many annual State titles.
Vehicle accidents were common in the district mainly due to the alignment and condition of the
roads. Only occasionally was a vehicle involved in a collision with another vehicle without the
road being at fault. But that happened on 30 August 1931 when Jim was returning with family
members from a visit to Cedar Party Creek when at an intersection in Wingham, his car was run
into by a following car driven by Mr Muscio who was travelling from the Comboyne. Jim’s car
was the more seriously damaged but no-one was hurt.772
Elizabeth had for some time suffered from neuritis. She must have been inspired by Alex Nelson’s
trips to the hot mineral springs at Moree because she made the visit there on her own in October

768 The Wingham Chronicle and Manning River Observer 13 January 1931, page 2
769 The Wingham Chronicle and Manning River Observer 23 January 1931, page 4
770 The Wingham Chronicle and Manning River Observer 6 March 1931, page 4
771 The Wingham Chronicle and Manning River Observer 12 June 1931, page 4
772 The Wingham Chronicle and Manning River Observer 4 September 1931, page 4

356
1931. On her return she said “I feel ten years younger, and the neuritis has gone.”773 She also
drew attention to other people she had met who had benefited from the spa. Many claimed their
cures bordered on the miraculous.
Elizabeth may not have been
completely cured as this was only
the first of a number of visits she
would make to the hot springs. On
later visits over the years she would
take Jim with her and sometimes
her daughters and grandsons.
Older son Len and his girlfriend
Nellie Kathleen Williams were
quietly married at Cessnock in
September 1931.774 No doubt all of
the Nelson family made the trip
down for the wedding.
Jim was occasionally called upon
Elizabeth Nelson with her maid, Molly Dennes (nee for jury service. In November 1931
Lambert) – Nev Higgins Collection he sat on a jury where a man had
been charged with maliciously
setting fire to his wife’s house. The defendant’s answers to questions were not very convincing
but the evidence was not particularly strong. The judge said “…though a man may be a liar it
was not enough evidence that he was an incendiarist.” The judge directed the jury to acquit. 775
In another case two years later with Jim back on jury service, the defendant had been charged
with using strychnine to poison her husband. Once again the evidence was particularly weak
and the jury took only 20 minutes to return with a verdict of not guilty. 776
17 year old Emily Nelson became a singing student under Jim Winney. She was good enough to
sit for the London College
of Music examination at
Taree in November 1931
where she received a First
Class Pass and much
praise.777
The traditional birthday
celebration for Jim was
somewhat different in
November 1932 when the
Nelsons hosted a wedding
reception at the same
time for a close family
friend. Emily was the
bridesmaid and she and
Elizabeth provided the
catering. The bride wore
Jim and Elizabeth Nelson on the veranda and Thelma Nelson
a veil that had been
with two friends – Nev Higgins Collection

773 The Wingham Chronicle and Manning River Observer 16 October 1931, page 4
774 NSW BDM Marriage Certificate 8855/1931
775 The Wingham Chronicle and Manning River Observer 10 November 1931, page 1
776 The Wingham Chronicle and Manning River Observer 7 November 1933, page 4
777 The Wingham Chronicle and Manning River Observer 8 December 1931, page 2

357
loaned to her by Thelma.778

When she was 20, Emily married a 34 year old Englishman named Arthur Bakewell at the
Anglican Church at Tinonee on 7 November 1934.779 The ever cheerful Emily was a good match
for the popular Arthur. Her bridesmaid was her cousin Doris Nelson (Bill’s daughter) and Jim
Winney took control of the church organ. The 100 guests were later fed and entertained at
Brushy. Elizabeth Nelson had once again made a fine three tier cake. 780 As her name suggests,
Arthur’s mother, Sarah Bakewell, was also an excellent cake maker.

Jim was very active on the Mondrook Parents and Citizens Association. For much of the 1930s
he agitated for improvements by the council to the main road down to Wingham which had yet
again reverted to a deplorable state. He, Stan Lattimore and others were deputised to approach
the council to obtain action.781

Rabbits had colonized the district during the 1930s and had become the number one scourge of
the farmers. Rabbit Destruction Groups were set up to combat the pest. Jim was a keen member
of his local group and Elizabeth’s brother, John Bishop, who was living on his Bootawah
property, ran the group at Bootawah with Neville Higgins.

Jim and Elizabeth Nelson on the left at Brushy – Nev Higgins Collection

Elizabeth’s father, also named John Bishop, had been quite ill for some time and passed away
in June 1936. Elizabeth had looked after her father through his long illness until she became
ill herself. That year saw a few members of the family in and out of hospital including Jim himself
and Len’s wife Nell. The Nelson family members were such regular patients at the district
hospital over the years I suspect they may have had a bed set aside for their permanent use.

778 The Manning River Times and Advocate 10 December 1932, page 8
779 NSW BDM Marriage Certificate 18882/1934
780 The Wingham Chronicle and Manning River Observer 16 November 1934, page 3
781 The Wingham Chronicle and Manning River Observer 14 October 1938, page 9

358
Elizabeth’s prize poultry were attacked by a fox in November 1938 after the fox had managed to
gain entry to the poultry yard despite the many defences in place. The mutilated bodies of 20
poultry were found the following morning.782

By the end of 1940 Jim and

Elizabeth were both unwell. Jim had
been diagnosed with prostate cancer
and needed to go to Sydney for an
operation at the War Memorial
Hospital at Waverly. A second
operation was required soon after. 783
Another problem was that his
youngest daughter, 17 year old
Alma, was about to get married and
Jim would not be there to give the
bride away. The family insisted that
Jim’s health came first and he was
packed off to Sydney.

Brushy homestead before it was demolished In Jim’s absence the wedding took
– Nev Higgins Collection place on 10 May 1941 when Alma
married Sidney George Williams who
was a brother to Len Nelson’s wife Nell.784 Nell was matron of honour and little Gwen Higgins,
Alma’s niece, was flower girl. Alma’s brother Len gave her away and her other brother Tom was
best man. About 80 guests attended the reception at Brushy.785 The Wingham Chronicle noted
that “The Nelson family is one of the best known and the most highly respected on the Central
Coast of NSW.”786

Jim was back home by June 1941 but the cancer had spread and his health was broken. He
was admitted to the Mayo Private Hospital in Taree in November. The end finally came on 19
January 1942 when Jim died at the hospital at the age of 69. 787 An obituary described Jim as
follows:788

“The late Mr Nelson was a very fine character – straight in his dealings, kindly
in his daily life – and generally speaking, he was a man who enjoyed the
respect of everyone who knew him. He worked hard on his property at
Brushy Cutting, and carved out there a splendid home for his good wife and
family. Those who knew him best in life keenly regret his passing.”

The minister at Jim’s service was the Reverend William McLeod who often did relieving work at
the Church of England in Wingham. Jim was buried at The Bight cemetery. The official
witnesses were a local teacher at Mondrook (and close family friend), Neville Dennes, and James
Oswald Nelson, the 35 year old son of Bill Nelson.

782 The Manning River Times and Advocate 26 November 1938, page 10
783 The Wingham Chronicle and Manning River Observer 9 May 1941, page 2
784 NSW BDM Marriage Certificate 9454/1941
785 The Wingham Chronicle and Manning River Observer 11 July 1941, page 3 and The Cessnock

Eagle and South Maitland Recorder 3 June 1941, page 5

786 The Wingham Chronicle and Manning River Observer 11 July 1941, page 2
787 NSW BDM Death Certificate 1888/1942
788 The Wingham Chronicle and Manning River Observer 20 January 1942, page 2

359
All three Nelson brothers from Brushy Mountain died from a form of cancer. Each of their
cancers were very different so it is hard to imagine there was a common cause, for example,
agricultural chemicals or other environmental issues.

Jim’s attending doctor in Taree was Allen Muscio who was one of the two owners of the Mayo
Hospital. He had come to the Manning in 1917 and practiced there for many decades. He was
much loved as a medical practitioner and a leading figure in the Taree Methodist Church. He
had a long and rewarding life which was balanced by some of the tragedies that often afflicted
rural people, including the loss of his 32 year old son Peter in a road accident. Dr Muscio lived
well into his nineties before passing on.

Among the In Memorium notices for Jim put in the local paper by Elizabeth and the children was
this one from 1944:789

“Many a lonely heartache,

Often a silent tear,
But always a beautiful memory,
Of the one we loved so dear.”

Jim’s estate for probate purposes was valued at £8,948. Elizabeth continued on at the farm
surrounded by her poultry, dogs, cats and lots of preserved fruit and jam. She was well
supported by her family which by now included many grandchildren. She outlived Jim by nearly
20 years.

Stan Lattimore, the relative on my father’s side and who was a neighbor to the Nelsons, died the
year before Jim. It seems that Jim saw the opportunity to include Stan’s farm in the Nelson
landholding. It helped that Jim’s sons Len and Tom and their families still worked the family
farm and were able to absorb the Lattimore farm. In 1948 Elizabeth gave instructions to auction
the dairy herd and other animals and all of the plant and equipment from Lattimore’s farm. 790
Bill Nelson’s old farm was also sold off.

By coincidence, a longtime friend of the

family and leading local identity, John
Skinner (married to Stan Lattimore’s
sister Maria) died the day after Jim and
obituaries to both of them were
published in the local paper on the
same day.

Elizabeth continued to be plagued by

rheumatoid arthritis and was
increasingly ill with diabetes and
coronary heart disease. She was
hospitalized for a time while visiting her
youngest daughter Alma in
Bellingen.791 The end came for 76 year
old Elizabeth when she died on 1 May
1961 at home after suffering a heart Highview at Brushy Mountain – Nev Higgins Collection
attack 12 hours earlier. She joined her
husband at The Bight cemetery.

789 The Wingham Chronicle and Manning River Observer 18 January 1944, page 3
790 The Manning River Times and Advocate 25 September 1948, page 3
791 The Wingham Chronicle and Manning River Observer 14 January 1949, page 2

360
 Leonard James Nelson

Len’s wife Nellie (known as Nell) was about four years older than Len when they married in 1931.
They had one child, a son, who they named John Alexander Nelson (known as Jack). Len worked
on the family farm but in his
early years he was more
concerned with the growing of
vegetables, fruit, nuts, etc,
rather than dairy farming.

He became an avid fisherman

and spent a lot of his spare time
fishing on the banks of the
Manning River or on the coast at
Harrington and Old Bar. He
would one day teach a
grandnephew how to fish with a
net in the Hunter River (an
activity that was illegal at the Alma Nelson, Nellie Williams and Emily Nelson
time). – Nev Higgins Collection

After his father’s death, Len took on a share farming role with the dairy herd and he and Nell
helped Elizabeth with the management of the farm. Matters started to come unstuck for Len
when marriage problems surfaced. In 1952 Nell was named as the co-respondent in divorce
proceedings between Tinonee residents Seward Clerke and his wife Margaret. Len and Margaret
joined forces and made a trip to Sydney with hired private investigators where they gathered the
evidence needed for Margaret’s divorce. 792

Margaret Clerke was a member of the Gollan family.

This family was well known in the district for their
community service and hospitality. The Gollans were
close friends of the Nelsons and the Clerke divorce
would have been a difficult time for both families.

Len and Nell went their separate ways but they did not
obtain a divorce. Len was living in Sydney by March
1952 where he worked for a manufacturing company
that made pencils and other items. He was still living
in Sydney when his mother died in 1961.

After retirement he travelled back up the coast and

spent time between his sisters Thelma and Alma.
Thelma and her husband had moved to a farm near
Denman and Len spent a lot of time helping on the farm
with jobs such as shifting the irrigation sprays and
driving the tractor during the hay season.

Len’s health was not particularly good mainly due to a

Len and Nellie Nelson
– Nev Higgins Collection
long love of beer and he disappeared off the radar for a

792 Truth 26 October 1952, page 11

361
while. Thelma later found out that Len had become almost blind, was in failing health and lived
in a boarding house in Lismore. Thelma and her husband travelled up to Lismore and brought
Len back with them.

He died at the Manning District Hospital at Taree on 25 November 1976 at the age of 66 and was
buried near his parents at The Bight cemetery. 793 Nell lived to 100 years of age before passing
away on 27 June 2005 at Smithfield in Sydney.

Their son Jack took over his grandfather Jim’s homestead farm, keeping it in the family,
something that would have made Jim very happy.

Thelma Eileen Nelson

After their marriage in 1929, Thelma (known to all as Doll) and Neville Higgins lived and worked
on their farm at Bootawah, to the south of Brushy Mountain on the road to Killawarra. The
lands they occupied were probably those that Jim had earlier selected next door to his brother
in law, John Bishop junior.

Nev was a big, solid man and had a strong

temperament to match. His family lived in
Tinonee. He was a rugby front row forward. After
his marriage he moved from the Taree Club to the
Wingham Club where his 1st grade team consisted
mostly of people he had grown up with. He was a
very industrious farmer and took a keen interest in
local affairs, including the Bootawah Progress
Association and the Bootawah Parents and
Citizens Association, where he was appointed
President.

Nev was a witness in a court case in 1933 that

shocked the sensibilities of the community. A 14
year old girl had given birth claiming that the
father was Percy Northam, a local man who had
been married for three years. Percy was charged
with carnal knowledge and faced trial in Taree.
The prosecution evidence was poor, particularly
that of the girl who had been caught lying a
number of times. Northam’s evidence, on the other
hand, was strong and well supported by others.
Nev Higgins was one of the witnesses who vouched Neville and Thelma Higgins
for Northam’s good character. The jury, comprised – Nev Higgins Collection

of many men well known to Nev, took little time in returning with a verdict of not guilty. 794

Nev was not one to tolerate bad behavior and he was big enough to look after himself. One night
in 1935 he and Thelma went to a dance and euchre party held the Federal Hall in Tinonee. As
he went to go outside to his car he passed by a group of young men lounging in the doorway and

793 NSW BDM Death Certificate 108112/1976

794 The Manning River Times and Advocate 4 November 1933, page 2

362
generally being a nuisance. One of them, Charles Lillington, backed into Nev, knocking him into
the wall. Nev grabbed hold of Lillington and calmly but firmly pushed him away. Lillington
yelled out and punched Nev. After a scuffle and further punches by Lillington, Nev finally stopped
being defensive. He hit Lillington once who immediately dropped to the floor. Nev was then
attacked by one of Lillington’s
friends who kept throwing
punches until Nev finally
responded and dropped the
friend to the floor. When a
police constable arrived, he
heard conflicting stories and
charged both Nev and
Lillington with “riotous
behaviour.” When the matter
was heard in court, the police
had obtained more witness
statements and the charge
against Nev was withdrawn.
Lillington was fined £5 plus
costs. The magistrate was
Higgins family with Jim Nelson at Bootawah
critical of the “hoodlum – Nev Higgins Collection
element which infested dance
halls …made pests of themselves and annoyed decent people.”795

Over the years Nev had a number of lucky escapes from serious injury due to motor car accidents.
In 1936, Nev and a fellow footballer were driving from Bootawah to Tinonee when Nev’s car went
over the edge of a culvert, crashing into a deep rocky gully where it burst into flames. Nev was
badly cut about the face and neck but rallied before the flames engulfed the car. He scrambled
out of the wreck, dragging his passenger with him. He was taken to Dr Muscio’s surgery for
repair and the car was taken to Taree Motors where it was found to be beyond repair. The
accident was thought to have been caused by a defective steering gear.796 The accident was
reported in all the coastal newspapers at the time and even made it into The Sydney Morning
Herald.

Thelma continued the Nelson tradition

of frequenting the local hospitals. She
was a patient at Nurse Langley’s Private
Hospital at Taree in May 1941. 797

Nev and Thelma had five children

between 1930 and 1948 – Phyllis, Gwen,
Nev junior, Nancye and Patricia. The
older children were brought up on the
farms at Bootawah and Brushy.

With the Second World War underway

from August 1939, many men from the
district signed up. As the war
Nancye, Phyllis and Neville Higgins junior progressed, many more enlisted and the
– Nev Higgins Collection age of those enlisting steadily increased.

795 The Northern Champion 28 August 1935, page 4

796 The Wingham Chronicle and Manning River Observer 25 September 1936, page 3
797 The Wingham Chronicle and Manning River Observer 2 May 1941, page 4

363
Nev watched as many of his friends left their farms and trades to sign up and he regularly spoke
at official farewell functions. Nev first enlisted on 22 August 1941 at Liverpool in Sydney when
he was 29. He was taken on as a driver. At his own farewell function held at the Federal Hall,
Tinonee in December 1942, his good friend, Neville Dennes, said “Neville was a fine footballer
and if he proved to be as good a soldier as he was a sport, he would be an acquisition to the army.”
He said that he had taught Nev’s children when he ran the Bootawah school and he “was sorry
to part from them when transferred to another school.”798 Arthur George thought “it would be an
unlucky Jap who got in close contact with Neville.” Thelma was up on the stage with Nev during
the speeches and a toast was made to the wives and mothers of soldiers who faced a very
uncertain future. Nev was sent off with the confident hope that he would prove a credit to his
family and the district (no pressure there). After training at the Sydney Showground he was sent
to Brisbane and then Cairns before being posted to New Guinea in November 1943. His troop
train to Queensland stopped at Taree for water and the
family was able to spend a short time with Nev before the
train left.

Nev soon found out what Army life would be like when he
was fined 10/- for posting a letter at a civilian post office
instead of using the Army mail (which was censured). His
principal role during his service was with 1 Corps Head
Quarters after it had returned to Australia following
service in Greece and the Middle East. He left New Guinea
and arrived back in Australia at Townsville in May 1944.
He was discharged on 19 October 1944 after having
served for a total of 843 days, of which 194 were served
overseas.

While Nev was away during the war, Thelma and the
children continued farming at Bootawah with the help of
Thelma’s brother Tom Nelson. Thelma struggled being on
her own and soon moved to the Brushy homestead for Neville Higgins
support from her mother. Thelma and the children then – Nev Higgins Collection
settled in Fotheringham Street in Wingham for the
remainder of Nev’s service so the children could be closer to school. When they moved to Brushy,
Len and Nell took charge of the farm at Bootawah.

Nev made several trips home on leave, always bringing back souvenirs. The family looked
forward to these unexpected visits. Other family and friends also on service dropped in when on
leave to pay their respects and give updates on the war. Thelma continued to struggle with the
stress of coping without Nev and his discharge was arranged on compassionate grounds.

The family returned to the Bootawah farm when Nev was released from the army at the end of
1944. Nev and other returned soldiers were given a welcome home party in December 1944 at
St John’s Hall in Taree where Nev spoke on behalf of the soldiers.799

They breed a hardy lot in the Higgins family. Nev’s son, also named Neville, was eight years old
when in April 1945 he had the misfortune to step into a rabbit trap while walking to a neighbour’s
place. The jaws bit deep and nearly severed several toes. He was not strong enough to prise
open the jaws of the trap and no-one heard his cries for help. After three hours he managed to
pull the tethering peg out of the ground and he then hobbled home with the trap still clamped
to his foot. He was released with help from his sister Gwen and was no doubt treated by Dr

798 The Northern Champion 12 December 1942, page 1

799 The Manning River Times and Advocate 16 December 1944, page 4

364
Muscio. His father said this was the first human catch he had made. 800 This story was also
reported in all of the local papers. Young Neville must have recovered well because two years
later he won second prize for best boy rider under 10 years at Wingham’s 60th Show.801 He would
later win other horse races.

One of Nev’s more interesting jobs was

working as a bookmaker at local races.
One day at Mount George, Nev and his
clerk had a particularly bad day and
they had no money between them to buy
a beer. There was only one store at
Mount George and it sold everything
except liquor, for which it had no
licence. Except that the shop was the
district centre for the sale of sly grog,
mostly trucked in under cover from
wholesalers in the south and some from
home-made stills hidden in the forests. Neville junior, Nancye and little Patricia Higgins
Nev and his clerk made their way to the – Nev Higgins Collection
store and started to convince the locals
that they were interested in building a pub there if alcohol sales were good enough. Miraculously,
bottles appeared from everywhere and the two were soon being provided with plenty to drink. A
pub was never built at Mount George.

Nev usually got on well with the local police. One officer in particular, Constable Wilson, had
grown up with Nev and they were great friends. But his relationship with others was not so
good, in particular with Constable Stan Dunmall who served three years at Taree as a traffic
officer. One day in May 1948 Nev and Thelma were at a sports meeting at Mount George and
having a good time. Constable Dunmall approached Nev who was sitting behind the wheel of his
Chrysler sedan car (RC-665) and, in front of others, said that Nev was too intoxicated to drive
home. Nev was unimpressed about being embarrassed in front of the others and said “You are
smart aren’t you. You have nothing on me.” He then added, perhaps unwisely “That’s alright. You
are the mug from Tinonee who accepts money
from the bookmakers.” Nev was then charged
with using “insulting words.” He later pleaded
guilty and raised his good character and war
service in mitigation. He was fined £2 plus
costs.802

But Constable Dunmall was not satisfied with a

The part time bookmaker
– Nev Higgins Collection
simple charge of using insulting words. The
Constable and his colleague had left Mount
George before Nev but they hid down the hill in
the dark waiting for Nev to leave. Constable
Dunmall stopped Nev two days later in Taree and
charged him with “driving under the influence.”
Nev denied being the driver and said “You can do
what you like. You’ve got nothing on me.” The
Constable denied having a grudge against Nev
and said he had “forgiven him for the insulting

800 The Wingham Chronicle and Manning River Observer 20 April 1945, page 2
801 The Wingham Chronicle and Manning River Observer 11 March 1947, page 3
802 The Northern Champion 23 June 1948, page 2

365
remarks.” The other Constable denied he and Constable Dunmall had lain in wait in the dark
for the cars to leave the event and he denied the light was too poor to recognize anyone in the
cars. Nev’s story was that he was riding on the
running board but a friend was driving. The
magistrate said he believed the police evidence and
had no doubt Nev was drunk while driving. He said
the evidence of Nev and Thelma was “absolutely
unreliable.” However, on the urging of Nev’s solicitor,
he dismissed the charge because the police had failed
to prove that the road coming out of the sports ground
was a public street and the police had also failed to
identify the car in the summons.803

Constable Dunmall was promoted out of Taree the

following year. He was divorced some years later and
died suddenly at Bateman’s Bay at the age of 42 when
he was stationed as a sergeant at Cooma. It is unlikely
that Nev ever knew that.

Just before the run in with the police at Mount George

in May 1948, Nev and Thelma had packed up and
moved the younger children to 53 Glebe Road,
Merewether (also known as The Junction), an inner
suburb of Newcastle where Nev had ran a general
store. He had been farming at Bootawah for 18 years Nev Higgins with Alma and
and he sold the property to an English boot and shoe Grandma Nelson
– Nev Higgins Collection
manufacturer who had come to Australia on holiday
with his wife. They liked what they saw and decided to stay. Sadly, the would be farmer died at
the Carlyle Private Hospital only two years later after
catching a chill which developed into pneumonia. 804
You would think people from England would be more
resistant to that kind of thing.

Nev and Thelma sold the store in 1950 and planned on

moving to Queensland. In the meantime they returned
to Brushy. On their way back from Newcastle after
finalising the sale, they were involved in a horrifying
road accident when their car, driven by Nev, collided
with the shire grader in a cutting on the Bucketts Way
near Ward’s River. Nev was not badly hurt but Thelma
was taken to Narraweema Hospital with serious
fractures and crushing of her right ankle and right
wrist. She was later treated at the Carlyle Private
Hospital in Wingham, where she was known from earlier
visits.805

Thelma was a wonderful piano player and over the years

there had been many a Sunday night where the family
Neville and Thelma Higgins – gathered around the large dining table at Brushy under
60th Birthday – Nev Higgins Collection the central Aladdin lamp for a hearty singalong. The

803 The Northern Champion 18 December 1948, page 4

804 The Wingham Chronicle and Manning River Observer 20 October 1950, page 2
805 The Wingham Chronicle and Manning River Observer 21 April 1950, page 6

366
dining room was made snug in winter by a roaring open fire. Thelma’s piano playing days ended,
however, after the Bucketts Way accident.

They never did make the move to Queensland. Instead, they

stayed longer at Brushy before moving to a property at
Wallamore, just outside Tamworth. In 1952 they moved to a
large dairy farm at Auburn Vale near Inverell. In 1954 Neville
junior was thrown from a horse in the buckjumping event at
the Inverell Rodeo and spent time in hospital with broken
ribs and a possibly ruptured spleen.806

Nev and Thelma’s daughter Phyllis married Ron Braithwaite

who became the welter weight boxing champion of the North
Coast, a title he retained in Coffs Harbour in 1954 at a match
refereed by the recently retired Australian bantam weight
World champion, Jimmy Carruthers.807

Nev was in Maitland in February 1955 when the Hunter River

had one of its worst floods in history. The flooding created
an inland sea the size of England and Wales. Maitland was
completely inundated. Total loss of life was 25 and 161
homes were destroyed. Nev may well have been in Maitland
Nancye at Tinonee 2002
as a volunteer to help with flood control. In any event he
later reported that he lost his coat and his active service badge that was pinned to it (he later
obtained a replacement badge and presumably, a replacement coat).

By 1956 Nev and Thelma had moved to a farm named Oakdale near the small settlement of
Denman, south of Muswellbrook. In that year, Nev was working in a field when he was attacked
and badly gored by a bull. His 16 year old daughter Nancye, who was nearby, rushed in to slap
the maddened bull across its eyes to divert its attention away from her father. While she was
keeping the animal distracted, her brother Neville junior arrived with a solid piece of wood which
he used beat the bull’s head while
Nancye dragged her father through
the fence to safety. Nancye’s actions
were reported in all of the regional
newspapers and many others around
Australia and New Zealand (Neville
junior was also given some credit).
Nancye later received an award from
The Royal Humane Society for
outstanding bravery.

By 1963 Nev and Thelma had moved

to Mirribong farm at Dalswinton Road,
not far from Denman. Here they were
Gwen, Thelma and Patricia – Thelma’s 91 st joined by Neville junior and his newly
Birthday – Nev Higgins Collection married wife Norah. The farm was
now successfully run as a family
team. Nev and Thelma would stay here until they retired from farming. By 1972 they were living
at 5 Gamack Street, Mayfield, a suburb of Newcastle near the Hunter River.

806 The Inverell Times 1 November 1954, page 4 (two items)

807 The Inverell Times 1954, page 8

367
Neville junior and Norah continued on at the Mirribong farm turning it into one of the more
productive dairy and hay making farms in the district. Neville junior, his son and father in law
were severely injured in a traffic accident in 1980 that killed the other driver. After several
operations, Neville found it too difficult to continue farming. He and Norah sold up and moved
to Muswellbrook where Neville looked after security matters for three TAFE colleges in the region
and Norah became a herd recorder. They were both heavily involved in Rotary for many years
before their retirements.

Nev senior was 70 when he died on 9 December 1982. Thelma outlived Nev by many years. She
suffered dementia in later life and passed away at the Mayfield Aged Care Centre on 3 July 2006
at the age of 94.

Emily Muriel Nelson

Emily was known to family and friends as Snow. Her husband, Arthur Bakewell, had emigrated
to Australia with his family in 1910 when he was 10 years old. The family settled on the Manning
River at The Bight not far from the ferry crossing. In 1914 the family shifted to Mount George,
a settlement on the upper Manning River about 19km west of Wingham. After a few years in
Sydney, the family returned to Mount George in 1920.

Arthur’s father had been a blacksmith

and then a butcher in England but in
Australia he became a motor mechanic,
learning his trade on the earlier models
of motor vehicles in the country. Arthur
followed suit and worked as a motor
mechanic when he was not working on
the farm. He had some exploits with
motor vehicles when he was young
which landed him in court.

In 1925 at Gloucester, where he was

Emily Nelson (Snow) – Nev Higgins Collection
living, he was fined 2/- for having a
defective tail light.808 He faced a more
serious charge at Taree Court of driving
in a dangerous manner after he had
knocked down a young boy in
Commerce Street. The boy told police
he had a scarf wrapped around his head
and did not hear the car coming when
he crossed the road. Arthur said the
boy ran out in front of him after he
sounded his horn. The boy was
knocked unconscious for a short time.
He suffered a lump on the head and
sore knees but was not otherwise
injured. Arthur took the boy to his
father who, after expressing some anger

808 The Maitland Weekly Mercury 25 July 1925, page 6

368
with a tirade of abuse, shook hands with Arthur. The police,
however, visited the scene of the accident and noticed a 12 foot
skid mark suggesting that the car had been travelling too fast.
Arthur’s passenger stated that the car stopped no more than
the car’s length after hitting the boy. The charge was
dismissed.809 Perhaps this was the lesson Arthur needed to
stop him from becoming a Mr Toad. However, it was not to be
the last time Arthur would sit in a courtroom dock.

Arthur was bitten on the wrist in 1927 at Mount George by

what he thought was a snake. He was handling timber at the
time. He was treated at the scene and then brought to
Wingham where he was looked after at the Fassifern Private
Hospital.810 The incident was worthy enough to be reported in
The Sydney Morning Herald, which added somewhat
gratuitously “Snakes were very plentiful on the Manning.”

After Arthur and Emily Nelson (who was known to friends and
family as Snow) married in 1934, they lived at Mount George Arthur Bakewell
on the 300 acre family dairy farm named Wyoming. The farm – Nev Higgins Collection
was on the lower Woolshed Creek (Portion 102 of the Parish of
Wyoming). Arthur made ends meet working as a mechanic.

The coastal ranges were frequently battered by fierce storms, many of them being the last furious
gasps of tropical cyclones coming down from the north. Arthur and Emily lost the roof off their
barn during a storm in 1938 and had a cow killed from a falling tree. Iron from the roof was
found over a kilometre away. 811
However, they had an even luckier
escape earlier that year.

Emily and Arthur were in their yard

milking the cows one winter’s day in
1938. Their 14 month old son was
trailing two small calves playing nearby
when a bull, grazing down the hill, was
disturbed by a barking dog. The bull,
not being the brightest animal in the
paddock, charged the boy, caught him
in its horns and tossed him into the air.
The child landed back on the horns and
Arthur Bakewell at Brushy – Nev Higgins Collection then fell to the ground. The bull tried
again to hoist the boy but was unable
to get its horns under the supine body. Emily had been alerted by Arthur and she arrived before
the bull could do more. Although the boy received a severe shaking and some abrasion to his
nose, he was not otherwise hurt.812 The story of the “miraculous escape” made the news across
the country, including in the Sydney papers.

The same child, still famous in the district nearly five years later, was again in the news in 1943
when he fell over at home and was later found to have a very painful swelling which was thought

809 The Northern Champion 25 July 1925, page 4

810 The Manning River Times and Advocate 30 November 1927, page 2
811 The Manning River Times and Advocate 12 November 1938
812 The Manning River Times and Advocate 18 June 1938, page 8

369
to be caused by a piece of bone. X-rays at the doctor’s surgery revealed that the swelling was in
fact caused by a needle that he had fallen onto. 813

Arthur did not always get on with his neighbours. Other farmers to the north east had been
using a road across the farms run by Arthur and his brother in law, Tom Nelson but in the
process, those other farmers had destroyed much of the pasture because the road was unformed
and in bad weather, their vehicles strayed all over Arthur’s land. Arthur had successfully applied
for the road to be closed earlier because other, less destructive roads were available as
alternatives. The neighbours commenced land board actions to have the roads re-opened.
Fortunately, the local council took up Arthur’s case and the appeal was dismissed. 814

However, Arthur had not counted on

political interference. The other
farmers went to the local member.
After intervention by the Minister for
Lands, the applications were re-
heard and the board approved the
re-opening of the road because the
alternative routes were too costly to
build or maintain.815

In 1945 Arthur sold his entire dairy

herd as well as his horses, pigs and
equipment because of “labour
Arthur Bakewell with Packard Car
– Nev Higgins Collection difficulties.”816

I mentioned earlier that liquor was

not legally available at Mount George. The only storekeeper at Mount George decided to apply
for a licence to sell liquor at his shop. He may as well because he sold everything else. The
application was opposed by the police who claimed the area was already sufficiently served by
hotels and licensed stores at Wingham, Taree and other centres. Arthur was one of the many
locals who gave evidence in support of the licence being granted. 817 The licensing magistrate
refused the application but, as mentioned earlier, the store became known as the district’s sly
grog outpost.

By 1948 Arthur had been appointed the Impounding Officer for the Shire of Manning, with the
job of selling or destroying stray animals that had not been claimed. Stray animals were a hazard
on the roads and a nuisance to farmers. The job was not without difficulty, especially if you
impound animals belonging to local residents who then have to pay to get their animals back.

In March 1949, two horse owners charged Arthur with impounding their horses unlawfully as
they had been removed from private property and not a public space. They gave evidence that
Arthur was seen directing the horses from the property of a mill owner to the public road from
where they were impounded. Arthur and his 13 year old son Alan (not the miracle baby who
was a younger brother) said that the animals had been running loose on the roads for some days
and he had found them grazing at the mill property. He merely took the animals from the
property to the temporary pound at his place. The magistrate dismissed the charges against

813 The Manning River Times and Advocate 16 January 1943, page 4
814 The Wingham Chronicle and Manning River Observer 5 October 1943, page 2
815 The Northern Champion 11 December 1943, page 2
816 The Wingham Chronicle and Manning River Observer 16 February 1945, page 3
817 The Northern Champion 31 May 1947, page 6

370
Arthur saying that the horses went onto the mill property during the act of impounding and that
is different from taking them from private property and then impounding them. 818

Sisters Alma, Emily and Thelma (Pop, Snow and Doll)

– Nev Higgins Collection

Perhaps there really was an alcohol shortage at Mount George because by 1950 there was a
black market in liquor in the area that became so great that it attracted the attention of police.
In January 1950 two undercover policemen from Newcastle signed up to work with the railway
gangs building the new railway not far from Mount George. Arthur was well known to the railway
workers as a good source of illicit alcohol. The two policemen, in company with two unsuspecting
railway workers, went to Arthur’s farm at Mount George and bought two bottles of Toohey’s
Pilsener beer and a bottle of Penfold’s wine for a total of 13/-. Arthur was then arrested on the
spot for selling without a
licence. Arthur was reported as
saying “Well, that’s a great thing
to do to a man – come out here
and buy beer and wine off him
and then pinch him. I only sold
it to you as a favour.” Arthur
defended the charge saying that
he was giving the liquor to his
friend as a return favour. He
thought he was being asked to
change money, not take
payment. Unimpressed with his
version of events, the magistrate
convicted Arthur and fined him
£35 plus expenses which was
an extremely large fine.819

50th Wedding Anniversary - Emily and Arthur Bakewell Despite his conviction, Arthur
with Emily’s sisters Thelma and Alma – Nev Higgins Collection remained one of the most

818 The Northern Champion 2 March 1949, page 1

819 The Wingham Chronicle and Manning River Observer 17 March 1950, page 3

371
popular citizens of Mount George. He was an office holder for just about every society or group
in the area and he was always at the forefront in organizing or compering dances, socials,
farewells, charity concerts, music recitals and other
local entertainment. Arthur became a valued member
of the Nelson and Bishop clans and made many a
formal speech at family gatherings.

Emily had a “miraculous escape” in 1951 when her

dress got caught on the drive shaft of the milking plant
and cream separator. Her dress and her
underclothing were ripped off her before she could free
herself. She suffered cuts and bruises to her leg. But
the injuries could have been much worse. 820

Later that year it was Arthur’s turn to have a

“miraculous escape.” He was driving a work vehicle
when it collided with a car on a sharp bend where
vision was very limited. Amazingly coincidental, the
sharp bend was on the Brushy Cutting where either
or both cars could have ended up 300 feet below in the Norah, wife of Nev Higgins jnr, with
Manning River.821 Neither driver was charged with Emily Bakewell – Nev Higgins Collection
any traffic offence.

The earlier conviction for selling liquor without a licence was not enough to deter Arthur from
continuing his alcoholic activities. He was again before the court in 1953 for a similar offence.
This time he was caught selling bottles of wine from the boot of his car outside the local hall at
Mount George where a ball was in
progress. Arthur pleaded guilty but
said that not all of the money found
on him and in the car were unlawful
proceeds to be confiscated. The
magistrate did not accept Arthur’s
claim and, as this was a second
offence, fined him £100, in default
200 days in gaol with hard labour. 822

Arthur and Emily lived most of their

lives on the farm at Mount George.
When they retired in the late 1970s,
they moved to 25 Canget Street,
Wingham. Arthur became a
centenarian in 2000 but died the
following year on 14 April, just after
Arthur and Emily Bakewell with Nev Higgins junior
his 101st birthday. Emily passed
1999 – Nev Higgins Collection
away on 29 April 2010, just before
her 96th birthday. They both clearly made the most of their miraculous escapes to live long lives.

820 The Wingham Chronicle and Manning River Observer 26 January 1951, page 2
821 The Northern Champion 31 August 1951, page 4
822 The Wingham Chronicle and Manning River Observer 7 July 1953, page 2

372
 Thomas Keith Nelson

Tom Nelson grew up on the family farm at Brushy Mountain and was of great support to his
father as a dairyman during the 1930s and to his mother during the 1940s. He invested a lot of
time investigating and applying cattle breeding improvements to raise the value of the herd. He
frequently advertised the sale of cattle and was known for obtaining high prices based on the
prized pedigree of his stock.

In the 1930s Tom’s father Jim had acquired land on the lower Woolshed Creek at Mount George,
next door to Arthur and Emily Bakewell. Tom looked after the Mount George property while
working on the Brushy Mountain farm. He was helped at Mount George by a good friend, Frank
Reeves, who would one day be Tom’s groomsman at his wedding. The two friends lived in an
American backwoods style of cabin. In their spare time they taught themselves to play guitar
and they became very accomplished players.

Tom opposed a road closure at Mount George proposed by the Department of Lands in 1939
because the road was the only means of access for several properties. His opposition was
supported by the Manning Shire Council.823

Not to be outdone by other members of his family, Tom also showed an interest in local hospitals
as an adult by being admitted to the District Hospital in 1941 with appendicitis. 824

The Mount George property had

been largely cleared by 1940 and
was being used for pasture. As well
as breeding cattle, Tom began
breeding prize horses. In 1942 he
began advertising the availability of
his well-pedigreed Clydesdale
stallion named Teddy to service
mares at Brushy Mountain or at
other places “where inducement
offers.”825 The basic cost for the
stud service was three guineas
(£3/3/-).

Raising horses had its own share of

problems. In October 1942 at
Mount George properties
Mount George, Tom lost a valuable
foal after it was attacked and killed by dingoes. The dogs ate everything except the hoofs. 826

In November 1942, Tom gave evidence in a civil case between two motorists who collided at
Brushy Cutting. Stan Sawyer claimed that his vehicle was almost stopped when Jane Cross
crashed her vehicle into his. He had nowhere to go because he was on the edge of the drop down
to the river while she had plenty of room on her side. In response Jane Cross, who was a local
nurse and well known to the Nelsons, said that the other driver came around the bend far too
fast for the sight distance and ran into her. Tom gave evidence about the skid marks he saw on
the road shortly after the accident. The magistrate found the case quite difficult but decided

823 The Northern Champion 15 March 1939, page 4

824 The Northern Champion 20 September 1941, page 2
825 The Wingham Chronicle and Manning River Observer 21 August 1942, page 3
826 The Wingham Chronicle and Manning River Observer 23 October 1942, page 3

373
that Sawyer was travelling too fast. He ordered Sawyer to pay Janet Cross £32 plus expenses
and costs.827

Most cattle and horses were branded with registered brands so that straying, lost, impounded
or stolen animals could be identified. Tom placed a notice in the local paper in 1943 that he had
lost nine cattle from Mount George. He was offering a reward for their return. He noted that he
had lost 37 cattle in the last three years, suggesting they may have been stolen rather than
strayed.828 Perhaps the loss of cattle was due to Tom having to divide his time between the two
farms. Two months later he advertised for a married couple interested in running the dairy farm
at Mount George.829

Tom also offered a reward for anyone who returned his war time petrol licence and car
registration certificate, which he lost in or about Wingham Post Office in 1945. 830

Tom was a successful exhibitor at the annual Wingham Shows, winning prizes for horses, cattle
and pigs. He also did well in selling animals. However, dingoes continued to take a toll at Mount
George and in 1946 Tom offered a reward of £5 for the killer dingoes he was after and a further
10/- for any other dingo caught on his property. 831

In addition to the property at Mount George, Tom also leased another farm on the Nowendoc
Road about three miles from Mount George. In February 1947 he decided to sell out the leased
farm by auctioning all of the dairy herd on the property and the equipment. 832 Perhaps he needed
the money for his upcoming marriage. He had met a Sydney girl, Margaret Rose Hamilton (known
as Peggy), whose parents lived in Lane Cove. They became engaged in April 1947. But a strange
thing happened before the wedding took place.

Wedding of Tom and Peggy Nelson – Frank Reeves is best man

– Nev Higgins Collection

827 The Northern Champion 25 November 1942, page 1

828 The Wingham Chronicle and Manning River Observer 7 September 1943, page 3
829 The Wingham Chronicle and Manning River Observer 9 November 1943, page 3
830 The Wingham Chronicle and Manning River Observer 5 January 1945, page 5
831 The Wingham Chronicle and Manning River Observer 15 October 1946, page 3
832 The Wingham Chronicle and Manning River Observer 18 February 1947, page 5

374
Tom was making preparations for his wedding and had stored a good deal of furniture and other
articles in the residence at Mount George which he started erecting two and a half years earlier
(and which he called Wattle Reach). He was visiting a neighbor and having tea when smoke was
seen coming from his property. By the time he and his neighbours arrived, his residence was
half burnt down and they were unable to put the fire out. The house and most of the contents
(including the electric guitars owned by Tom and his friend Frank Reeves) were destroyed. He
lost all his clothing and household goods. He estimated the total loss at about £1,100. The
building was only partly insured.833 In July, he was given approval by the council for a new
residence.

He eventually married Peggy in October 1947 when he was 32. 834 His mother Elizabeth and
sister Thelma had gone to the hall to check if all was well for the reception. To their horror, the
top layers of the wedding cake had melted and collapsed because of the heat. Elizabeth donned
her pinafore apron (pinny) and had the cake fully restored just as the bridal party arrived.

Tom and Peggy eventually moved into the new residence by the end of the year and stay there as
dairy farmers and market gardeners for at least the next decade.

Tom still managed to make the regular trek from Mount George to Brushy Mountain. On one
occasion he lost his car’s number plate (UB 650) and asked for its return when found (an
indication of the poor state of the roads). 835

Their first child, named James, was born soon after their marriage. In 1950 when young Jim
was only three years old he was knocked down by a Peters Creamery Milk truck in Taree. He
had been having lunch at the Paragon Café with his mother Peggy and Thelma Higgins and her
son Neville. As they came out, little Jim ran between two parked cars. Luckily, the truck was
moving slowly but the little boy still suffered a broken leg and abrasions. 836

Tom and Peggy gave away farming in about 1960 and moved to Sydney where they lived at 15
Pengilly Street, Lane Cove (today the suburb of Riverview). Tom found work as a labourer and
later as a machinist. By 1972 they had moved the family to 31 Bouvardia Street, Five Dock (now
the suburb of Russell Lea).

Tom died on 9 September 1976 at the age of 60. I have not been able to track Peggy’s story any
further, except that she may have later moved to Blacktown.

Alma Janet Nelson

Even as a young girl, Alma (who was intriguingly known as Pop) loved her rural life. At the
Mondrook school she was keen at sports and usually participated with gusto in singing recitals
and concerts. At home, she helped to look after the poultry, the vegetables, the flowers and the
jams. She won many prizes at the local shows for her own entries of those products, as well as
for cooking and needlework. She was one of the most successful female members of the Junior
Farmers movement, winning the top trophies and cups for most points two years running in
1938 and 1939 while in her mid-teens.

833 The Northern Champion 23 April 1947, page 2

834 NSW BDM Marriage Certificate 26788/1947
835 The Wingham Chronicle and Manning River Observer 30 July 1948, page 2
836 The Northern Champion 2 December 1950, page 1

375
 When she married Sidney George Williams (known as
George) in 1941, she was a very accomplished 18 year
old from a well-respected family. Her husband had
already connected to the Nelson family when his older
sister Nellie married Alma’s oldest brother Len. George
could be a bit wild and was prone to flaring up with little
provocation as shown when, as an 18 year old, he was
convicted in the Cessnock Police Court of inflicting
grievous bodily harm on a 64 year old man who had
accused George of knocking the man’s wife off her
bicycle. The magistrate accepted that George did not
start the fight but he was not impressed with the amount
of injury George inflicted in retaliation, especially to such
an older person. They were both fined but George’s fine
was much greater.837

After the marriage, George and Alma lived at Brushy

Mountain in a modern cottage built for them by Alma’s
Alma and Emily Nelson
mother Elizabeth. The cottage was on Alex Nelson’s old
– Nev Higgins Collection
holding and the property was called Highview. George
took on laboring jobs while Alma looked after her gardens and chooks. Later, they moved to the
cottage on Bill Nelson’s old holding where they ran a dairy herd for a while. Elizabeth then moved
into Highview, leaving Len and Nell to look after the dairy at Brushy.

Unfortunately, after having two

sons (in 1941 and 1944) George
and Alma’s marriage would turn
out to be a disappointment. By
1946 the marriage was finished as
far as Alma was concerned after
George attacked her with a
shovel. They were divorced the
following year. By 1949 Alma had
left Brushy Mountain and taken
up with Francis Eric Beattie who
had a farm at the extremely
remote settlement of Valery, near
Bellingen.
A young Alma Nelson at Brushy Farm
George continued to live for a time
– Nev Higgins Collection
at Brushy Mountain after Alma
had left. His woes worsened in August 1949 when he was charged with driving a motor cycle
while under the influence. At the time George worked as a roller driver for the Taree Municipal
Council and, according to the police, was “an industrious man, of good character.”838 Although
George denied the offence, he was up against three policemen who contradicted him. He was
found guilty but a sympathetic magistrate (and they seemed to have been rare) gave him a good
behaviour bond in view of his good record and job.

George’s mother, who came to live at Tinonee after George’s marriage, died suddenly in 1952 and
George moved on, living first at Cundletown before returning to Taree.

837 The Cessnock Eagle and South Maitland Recorder 11 January 1935, page 2
838 The Northern Champion 28 September 1949, page 1

376
Alma married Frank Beattie in
January 1951.839 Frank was a
widower with three young
daughters. His first wife was
Faith Thiele who by coincidence
was the daughter of Cordelia
Thiele whose first husband died
in the First World War, as
mentioned earlier in the story of
Alex Nelson. Faith grew up in the
first war widow’s cottage built on
the Manning. Faith and Frank
lived for many years at Fox’s
Creek near Kendall where Frank
worked as a dairy farmer. They
later returned to take up dairy Alma and Frank Beattie – Nev Higgins Collection
farming at The Bight. The couple
were very devoted to each other and it was devastating for everyone when 37 year old Faith died
during labour while giving birth to her stillborn son in 1944.

The following year Faith’s niece, 15 year old Patty Thiele, was accidentally killed when the tractor
she was driving for her uncle Bill Lambert tipped over on a downhill run, crushing her
underneath. I mention this because it had a profound effect on young Neville Higgins who was
returning from school at Wingham when his bus passed by the accident scene as people were
scrambling to dig Patty out. Young Neville thought Patty was the prettiest girl he had ever seen
and the shock of her passing stayed with him for many years.

Alma and Frank returned to Brushy

Mountain for 10 years or so mostly
working the farm that had belonged to
Alex Nelson. That farm was left to Alma
after her mother died. Alma and Frank
had four sons born between 1954 and
1958. Frank’s last farm was at Bunyah, a
small hamlet about 42km south west of
Tinonee via Krambach. They moved here
with their sons after leaving the old farm.

By 1972 they had retired to 59 Dora

Street, Mayfield which was around the
time that Alma’s sister Thelma and Nev
Noel and Alma O’Hare – Nev Higgins Collection Higgins also retired to Mayfield. A few
years later they were back at Brushy
Mountain. Frank died on 23 July 1982 at the age of 76. 840

In later life, Alma again found some happiness with a new husband, William Noel O’Hare (known
as Noel). Alma passed away on 22 June 2007 at the age of 83 and was buried with Frank Beattie
at The Bight cemetery. Noel died on 30 November 2011 at the age of 85.

839 NSW BDM Marriage Certificate 15808/1951

840 NSW BDM Death Certificate 105262/1982

377
 Alice Nelson

Alice Nelson was the last of the children of Thomas and Janet Nelson. It is almost unfair that
her story, which is relatively short, should come after the much longer story of her brother Jim
Nelson.

Alice was in her mid-teens when her parents first came to live in Sydney in about 1891 so that
her father could receive better medical treatment. She is likely to have lived with her parents in
Trafalgar Street, Annandale rather than have stayed on the family farm on Mitchells Island.

Nothing is known of Alice until she shows up in official records in 1899 as having given birth to
a baby boy who she named Herbert Nelson.841 The baby was born on 2 July 1899 at 11 Prospect
Road, Summer Hill, which was probably the home of the midwife who delivered the baby. A Mrs
Ashton was the official witness to the birth and was most likely the midwife.

Alice was 23 at the time and unmarried. The name of the father was not supplied when the birth
details were given to the Registrar of Births. This leads to a number of conjectures, including
that Alice may have been abandoned by the father of the child or, if he was a married man, she
may have been given support while keeping the birth a secret.

At the time of the birth, Alice was living at 2 Kent Street, Newtown which was an upmarket
property known as Camdenhurst. The property was owned by a 71 year old respectable
businessman named John Biggs who lived there with his second wife Emma (he married Emma
eight months after the death of his first wife). There were at least four children who grew up in
the house who went on to be high achieving adults around Sydney, such as son William who
became the choirmaster and organist at the All Saints Church, Woollahra. Mrs Biggs
occasionally advertised for staff to help with the running of the house. One such advertisement
by Mrs Biggs in April 1898 was for “a respectable young girl as General.”842 At other times the
position was described as being suitable for a respectable girl in her early 20s to act as a general
servant to the household.
It was a live-in position.

This was probably the job

Alice applied for and was
given after a successful
interview and reference
check. Alice became
pregnant about six
months later. She
probably had little or no
social activity given the
full time live-in role of her Newtown about 1900
job and it is hard to think
she found an external love interest in that time (unless she already had one). I would speculate
that the father may well be one of the sons of the house still living at home. This would explain
why Alice was still living there at the time of the birth and had not been shown the door when

841 NSW BDM Birth Certificate 18602/1899

842 Evening News 4 April 1898, page 8

378
her unrespectable pregnancy became known. It was not as if she had no family to fall back on
if she was ejected.

After the birth, baby Herbert was taken away from Alice and put into the care of a lady named
Helen Franklin. After Helen received the baby she moved to a newly refurbished residence at 20
Emily Street, Marrickville (today absorbed into Newington Road). The previous occupants of that
residence had auctioned all of their household furniture and effects in September 1899 just
before leaving. Helen and the baby would have moved in shortly after.

The care for the baby was found wanting when Herbert came down with gastroenteritis. His
condition worsened over the next six days and he died at that residence on 26 December 1899,
less than six months old.843 The primary cause of death was noted as asthenia, or lack of
strength. It sounds rather similar to other cases of poisoning by medication. Helen Franklin
was the informant who described herself as the baby’s custodian but “not a relative.” Alice had
little or nothing to do with the arrangements. The baby was given a formal burial at Rookwood
cemetery but no official announcement was made.

The doctor signing the death certificate was Alice Sarah Newton who was one of the first female
doctors in Sydney. She was only a year older than Alice Nelson and had graduated from Sydney
University in 1898 with a Bachelor of Medicine (MB) and a Master of Surgery (ChM). She
practiced in the Stanmore and Enmore areas and became
known for her specialised care of women and children. The
death of baby Herbert so early in her career may have helped
to guide her medical direction.

Alice Nelson would have no more children and she would

never marry. She returned to her parent’s home at 177
Trafalgar Street but her father, to whom she was devoted,
died less than a year later on 9 November 1900. Alice then
spent the next phase of her life looking after her mother
Janet. They stayed on at Trafalgar Street for many years,
nestled between Alice’s sister Margaret and her brother
Thomas. Alice became apprenticed to a tailor and later
spent many years working as a tailoress at Lowes in George
Street, Sydney.

Alice was a prodigious writer of postcards. By 1890

postcards rivalled letters for popularity. In the urban areas
of Australia, mail was now delivered morning and afternoon
Dr Alice Newton on on weekdays and on Saturday mornings. Postcards covered
graduation holidays and travelling, birthdays, Christmas and other
celebrations. A postcard could be sent in the morning to arrange a meeting time in the afternoon
or to cancel a meeting due to illness. Postcards were a quick and cheap means of keeping in
touch. They became the rage during the First World War and you can only wonder at the amount
of cards that travelled between Australia and the troops overseas. Soldiers could send cards to
relatives for free. As a result, many of their friends and acquaintances quickly became “cousins.”

In 1917 Janet and Alice moved from Annandale to 68 Waratah Street, Haberfield on the corner
of Rawson Street. Alice’s sister, Elizabeth Longhurst, lived at the opposite end of Rawson Street.
Not long after, Alice and Janet moved to a tenement house at 28 Rawson Street, which was a lot
closer to Elizabeth. By 1920 Janet had developed dementia and Alice was her full time carer.

843 NSW BDM Death Certificate 13982/1899

379
Janet deteriorated after problems with inflamed kidneys. The matriarch of the Nelson clan died
at home on 10 October 1921 at the age of 89. 844

Her son Thomas provided the details for the death certificate. Those details were not quite
correct. Janet had been born in Linlithgow and not Edinburgh and his brother William was
recorded as living when he had in fact died four years earlier. Janet was buried at Rookwood
cemetery with her husband Thomas. Alice later had a stone flower vase installed at their graves
to honour their memory.

Postcard from Alice Nelson to Elsie Rees 7 May 1911 – Elsie Hely Collection

Alice applied herself to her tailoring work but kept in close contact with the family. As a maiden
aunt to many children, she was a great favourite among them and she took a keen interest in
their unfolding lives (they would know her as Aunty Allie although some grew up thinking her
name was Ellie). Her sister Mary Smith and Mary’s son Edward moved in with Alice from about
1930. Edward continued living with his Aunt Alice after Mary was admitted to the Mental
Hospital at Rydalmere and after Mary’s death in 1936.

Alice’s widowed sister Elizabeth Longhurst died in 1948 and Alice and Edward moved into the
Longhurst home at 1 Rawson Street soon after. The unmarried Edward did not live long after
the move, dying in 1950 at the age of 57 from bronchial pneumonia. Alice only outlived him by
three years, passing away in hospital on 22 July 1953 at the age of 78. 845 She was buried with
her mother, Janet Nelson, at the old Church of England section of Rookwood Cemetery.
And so ends this story of the Nelson family, at least up until the generations that have mostly
passed on. The story of the later generations is best left for those generations to tell.

844 NSW BDM Death Certificate 16206/1921

845 NSW BDM Death Certificate 16969/1953

380