Heathcote revisited

In 1852 there was a large rush to a newly-discovered gold field at McIvor Creek, sixty miles north of Melbourne.

The following year, Philip Chauncy (1816 – 1880), my 3rd great grandfather, was appointed surveyor-in-charge of the McIvor district. He laid out the town there, naming it Heathcote. The origin of the name is unclear. The town may have been named after named after Sir William Heathcote, a British member of Parliament 1854-68, or after the prolific wild heath in the area.

The Victorian government provided Philip Chauncy with funds to erect a stone house in the main street. This served as both the Survey Office and his residence. The Chauncys – Philip and his wife Susan (1828 – 1867) and their children- lived there for six and a half years.

Philip Chauncy 1878, image attached to my ancestry.com family tree

After 167 years the Survey office and Chauncy residence is still standing. We visited it yesterday. The last time we saw it, in 2007, it was overgrown and falling down. Now the main structure is being renovated and an extension added. A wooden two-storey 1897 add-on at the front has been demolished.

Heathcote Government Surveyor’s Office 2007 from Chauncey Street

Heathcote Government Surveyor’s Office in 2007 – this building was added in the 1890s and had been demolished by 2020

Heathcote Government Surveyor’s Office March 2020

Heathcote Government Surveyor’s Office from High Street in 2020 – the two storey wooden building built in te 1890s has been demolished

Heathcote Government Surveyor’s Office from the corner of High Street and Chauncey Street. There is a new fence around the property since 2007.

Chauncy’s oldest child Philip died less than week after the family moved into their new stone house. He was 3 years and 2 months. The death was put down to ‘croup’.

Philip was the first interment at the Heathcote cemetery. As District Surveyor Chauncey had selected the site, and as a trustee held helped to lay laid out the fencing, divisions, and walks.

drawing by Philip Chauncy of his son’s grave

to the memory of PHILIP LAMOTHE CHAUNCY the eldest and beloved Son of PH. L. S. & S. A. CHAUNCY Obit. 19th May 1854 aged 3 years & 2 mos. He died for Adam’s sin He lives for Jesus died

 

In a memoir of his wife and his sister, Philip wrote that while they lived in Heathcote Susan visited the child’s grave every Sunday. On a drawing of it, she wrote, “The last earthly dwelling place of my much-loved child, and the grave of my chief earthly joys.”

Philip and Susan had nine children. The other eight all survived childhood. Three of the children were born at Heathcote, including my great great grandmother Annie Frances Chauncy (1857 – 1883).

Source

• Chauncy, Philip Lamothe Snell Memoirs of Mrs. Poole and Mrs. Chauncy. Lowden Publishing Co, Kilmore, 1976.

Related posts

• Remembering Susan Augusta Chauncy née Mitchell (1828-1867)
• H is for heartbreak in Heathcote
• 1854 : The Chauncy family at Heathcote

Through her eyes: votes for women 1903

My third great grandmother Charlotte Frances Champion Crespigny née Dana, lived from 1820 to 1904, a period of great change in the political status of women.

Charlotte Frances Champion Crespigny née Dana (1820 – 1904) photograph probably taken in the late 1850s

In 1902, when she was 82 years old, the Commonwealth Franchise Act 1902 granted Australian women the right to vote and the right to stand for election to the Commonwealth Parliament.

When the list of voters was compiled, Charlotte was recorded on the Electoral Roll for the polling place of Beaufort, Division of Grampians, State of Victoria, as Charlotte Champion, living at Eurambeen, occupation home duties. (Eurambeen was about 11 kilometers west of Beaufort.) Also on the Roll were her daughters Viola Julia Champion and Helen Rosalie Beggs née Champion Crespigny, both also living at Eurambeen with the occupation of home duties.

The Commonwealth of Australia 1903 Electoral Roll for the polling place of Beaufort, Division of Grampians, State of Victoria, pages 2 and 3 showing the surnames of Beggs and Champion. Image retrieved from ancestry.com

 

Oddly, it appears that Charlotte and Viola were recorded twice. There are entries  on page 4 of the roll for Crespigny Frances and Crespigny Constantia, also both of Eurambeen; Frances was Charlotte’s middle name and Constantia was Viola’s third given name. When names were collected for the roll the surname Champion Crespigny went over two lines and so did their given names. There was not enough space on the form: the result was two Roll entries each.

The Commonwealth of Australia 1903 Electoral Roll for the polling place of Beaufort, Division of Grampians, State of Victoria, pages 4 and 5 showing the surname Crespigny. Image retrieved from ancestry.com

On the 1909 roll Viola’s surname was changed to Crespigny, with her full name recorded as Crespigny, Viola Julia Con. C. At that time she living at St Marnocks with her sister and brother-in-law.

A Victorian state election was held in October 1902 but for this women were as yet not enfranchised. The next year, however, there was a Federal election on 16 December and Charlotte and her daughters were eligible to vote.

The Federal Division of Grampians was retained by the sitting member Thomas Skene (1845 – 1910) of the Free Trade Party, an anti-socialist party which advocated the abolition of tariffs and other restrictions on international trade.

Charlotte and her daughters, from a prosperous family of graziers, probably supported Skene, a pastoralist. Voting was not compulsory, however, and though she was entitled to vote, Charlotte was unwell and probably unable to travel to the polling station at Beaufort to cast her vote.

There was provision for postal voting but it was very complicated, with specific witnesses required.

All in all, the story of my great grandmother’s enfranchisement is not especially remarkable. She was not a fire-breathing suffragist, but an ordinary person who, late in life, accepted a new political privilege with no great fuss.

Sources

• Australia, Electoral Rolls, 1903 retrieved through ancestry.com first published by the Australian Electoral Commission
• Geoff Browne, ‘Skene, Thomas (1845–1910)’, Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/skene-thomas-8441/text14837, published first in hardcopy 1988, accessed online 12 February 2020.
• VOTING BY POST. (1903, December 9). The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 – 1957), p. 9. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article10586768
• A new genealogy prompt ~ Through Her Eyes Thursday! #ThroughHerEyesThursday https://thishoosiersheritage.blogspot.com/2020/01/new-genealogy-prompt-through-her-eyes.html

In memory of lost homes

The cynical French epigram “Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose” (The more change she is paid [when shopping], the more a lady will choose…)* describes it nicely: someone who has money left over from his purchase of a house will use it to choose additions and alterations and then, unsatisfied with the change he’s got out of it, will bowl the whole thing over and build a new home for himself on the cleared site.

* [perhaps I have not translated exactly 😉 ]

Many of the houses I recall from my childhood and later years have been destroyed by their new owners.

Of course the new owner is entitled to rebuild, and – who knows? – the new house may be more comfortable. It is not cheap to maintain an old house, and some new houses may be measurably better in every way. Even so, it is sad to see a place you knew and loved simply discarded like a worn-out shoe.

The house I grew up in and where we spent the first 30 years of our married life was bulldozed by its new owners.

Arnhem Place Red Hill May 2003

The beach house my parents built when I was a child was badly damaged by termites, which had penetrated the concrete foundations. This was discovered too late for the house to be saved and it had to be torn down.

My parents’ beach house when it was newly built in the 1960s

My paternal grandparents’ house in Adelaide was bulldozed by the people to whom it was sold.

81 Esplanade abt 1966 (dating based on other pictures nearby including Nicholas)

Me as a young child on the verandah of my paternal grandparents’ house

My maternal grandparents’ house was extensively renovated after their death.  Although parts of it remain unchanged, the re-modelled house has quite a different feel to it.

Me on my scooter outside my maternal grandparents’ house

The house of my mother-in-law, in Albury, was sold after her death. Then her pretty garden was cleared. Soon afterwards the house itself went.

Greg’s mother Marjorie Young nee Sullivan in front of her bush house in the back garden

1966: Greg sitting on the bonnet of a 1959 Plymouth. Jim Windsor, a family friend and the car’s owner is behind the wheel. Not sure who is in the passenger seat, probably Greg’s mother Marjorie. The car is parked in the street outside the Young family home.

Greg outside his home in Albury 1966

My children liked playing in the garden, my son took some of his first steps clinging to the front fence, and there was the most magnificent and prolific lemon tree in the back garden.

Greg’s maternal grandparents’ house in Castlemaine, which he remembers as a lovely old place with chooks and a vegetable garden, has gone. Next door there’s now a car-wash. Down the road is a large estate of new houses, all made out of ticky-tacky. They all look just the same.

There is an exception. The house of Greg’s early childhood in Ballarat still stands. Out the back Greg can remember a large stable. It’s still there.

1949 snowman in the back garden of the Ballarat house

For the most part the houses as physical structures have gone, but I will continue to remember them as warm homes I used to know and love.

John Narroway Darby

One of my husband’s 3rd great-grandfathers was a compositor and printer named John Narroway Darby.

John Darby was born in 1823 in Exeter, Devon, son of a joiner and carpenter named Joseph Darby (abt 1780 – 1865) and his wife Sarah Darby née Narroway [sometimes spelled Narraway]. Joseph and Sarah were married in 1807. They had at least six children of whom John, baptised on 3 March 1823 at Saint Mary Major, Exeter, was the third.

At the time of the English census of 1841, John, then a printer’s apprentice, was living in Exeter with his parents and three siblings.

In July 1842 following the publication of banns, John married Matilda Priscilla Moggridge (1825 – 1868) at St Mary Arches, Exeter. The consent of Matilda’s parents had been given.

Five months later Matilda and John emigrated on the Westminster to New Zealand. The Westminster was the first planned emigrant ship from England to Auckland. It sailed from Plymouth on 4 December 1842 and arrived 31 March 1843.

On a February 1844 list of all men within the District and Town of Auckland in the Colony of New Zealand and liable to serve on juries, there is a John N. Derby, compositor, living in Queen Street, Auckland.

Queen Street Auckland in 1843 from page 53 of The Project Gutenberg EBook of The City of Auckland, by John Barr, first published 1922 and retrieved from https://www.gutenberg.org/files/46925/46925-h/46925-h.htm#Page_53

In April 1844 John Darby wrote to the editor of the Auckland Chronicle with his views on the future of the Government Printing Office.

Auckland Chronicle and New Zealand Colonist, Volume 2, Issue 37, 18 April 1844, Page 2

In December 1844 John Narroway Darby was in court over a forged promissory note, and in March 1845 he was indicted for issuing a shilling forged debenture. He was acquitted by the jury.

On 12 April 1845 Darby, with his wife and two children, left Auckland on the Sir John Franklin for Hobart Town, Van Diemen’s Land [Tasmania]. The Hobart Courier described the voyage as “a tedious passage of twenty five days.” The schooner carried 33 passengers, including 26 children, with a cargo of 12,000 feet of New Zealand timber and 12 parcels of printing apparatus. The ship brought news of the Maori Wars. The Tasmanian and Austral-Asiatic Review stated that the schooner was “laden with families flying from the Maories”

Matilda Frances Darby, the younger child of John Narroway Darby and Matilda Darby, was baptised in Hobart on 30 November 1845. She had been born on 14 March 1845.

from Tasmanian Lincs database https://stors.tas.gov.au/NI/1089444 Name: Darby, Matilda Frances Record Type: Births Gender: Female Father: Darby, John Harroway Mother: Matilda, Elizabeth Date of birth: 14 Mar 1845 Registered: Hobart Registration year: 1845 Record ID: NAME_INDEXES:1089444 Resource: RGD32/1/3/ no 2603

Apart from a mention on the shipping record, I have found very little about the other child of John and Matilda Darby. He, or she, appears to have been born in New Zealand about 1844 and seems to have died in Australia before 1855.

Sometime before 1850 John and Matilda Darby separated. In 1850 Matilda had a child, Margaret Hughes, born at Ashby near Geelong, Victoria. The father’s name was David Hughes. Margaret died in 1858. Ten years later, on 4 May 1868, Matilda Darby, claiming to be a spinster, married David Hughes. She died one month later, on 5 June.

It seems to me likely that Matilda Darby, knowing a formal union with David Hughes would be bigamous, refused to marry him until she had news that her first husband John Darby was dead. It is also possible that Matilda Darby, very ill, with not long to live, sought to regularise her relationship with Hughes as best she could. They had lived together for nineteen years; a form of marriage was possibly a kind of consolation
for them both.

John Darby appears to have been less concerned than his wife Matilda about committing the crime of bigamy. When on 21 July 1855 in Portland, Victoria, he went through the form of marriage with a woman called Catherine Murphy he claimed he was a widower, the father of two children, one living and one dead.

Name John Darby Spouse Name Catherine Murphy Registration Place Victoria Registration Year 1855 Registration Number 2765

In August 1855 John Darby of the Portland Guardian advertised for a printer’s apprentice.

In 1856 John Darby was listed on the electoral roll in Portland, living at Gawler Street, printer, entitled to vote as receiving a salary of £100 from T.E. Richardson.

I have found no further mentions of John Darby or  Catherine in Australian birth, death or marriage indexes, nor in other records.

In the Tumut and Adelong Times of 22 October 1866 a John Darby is recorded as having successfully sued the printer of the Braidwood News for £6 3s. wages. It is possible that this is our John Darby but I have found no further records of John or Catherine Darby in New South Wales.

DNA evidence links Greg and his cousins to Matilda Frances Sullivan née Darby but as yet no further back on the Darby line.

Related posts

• Poor little chap
• Triangulating Matilda’s DNA

Sources

• FindMyPast  
  • Record set Devon Baptisms  First name(s) John Narroway  Last name Derby Birth year 1823  Baptism year 1823 Denomination Anglican  County Devon Baptism place Exeter, St Mary Major  Mother’s first name(s) Sarah Father’s first name(s) Joseph
  • Matilda  Last name Mogridge  Banns year 1842 Banns date 03 Jul 1842  Parish Exeter, St Mary Arches Spouse’s first name John  Spouse’s last name Darby Residence Exeter St Mary Steps Spouse’s residence Exeter St Mary Steps  Denomination Anglican County Devon Country England Archive reference 332A/PR/1/13 Archive South West Heritage Trust  Record set Devon Banns Category Life Events (BDMs)
• Ancestry.com
  • English 1841 census Class: HO107; Piece: 267; Book: 4; Civil Parish: St Mary Major; County: Devon; Enumeration District: 14; Folio: 25; Page: 45; Line: 23; GSU roll: 241331
  • Jury Lists: Auckland 1842-1853
  • Tasmania, Australia, Passenger Arrivals, 1829-1957 Reports of ships arrivals with lists of passengers; Film Number: SLTX/AO/MB/3; Series Number: MB2/39/1/8
  • 1856 electoral roll for Portland, Victoria, Australia
• Whyte, Carol. “Passenger List of Westminster, Cork, 4 December 1842 to Auckland.” New ZealandGenWeb Project, Carol Whyte, 2014, www.newzealandgenweb.org/index.php/regions/auckland/44-source-records-auckland/60-passenger-list-of-westminster-cork-4-december-1842-to-auckland.
• PapersPast – an online collection of digitised New Zealand newspapers and periodicals
  • Auckland Chronicle and New Zealand Colonist, Volume 2, Issue 37, 18 April 1844, Page 2 retrieved from https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/ACNZC18440418.2.9 
  • Auckland Chronicle and New Zealand Colonist, Volume 2, Issue 72, 19 December 1844, Page 2 retrieved from https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/ACNZC18441219.2.7 
  • Auckland Times, Volume 3, Issue 112, 4 March 1845, Page 3 retrieved from https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/AKTIM18450304.2.13 
  • Daily Southern Cross, Volume 2, Issue 99, 8 March 1845, Page 2 retrieved from https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/DSC18450308.2.10 
• Trove – online Australian digital reproductions of newspapers, journals, books, maps, personal papers, as well as archived websites and other born-digital content compiled by the National Library of Australia
  • THE COURIER. (1845, May 8). The Courier (Hobart, Tas. : 1840 – 1859), p. 2. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article2948660 
  • SHIPPING INTELLIGENCE. (1845, May 10). The Courier (Hobart, Tas. : 1840 – 1859), p. 2. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article2948650 
  • To the Editor of the Review. (1845, May 8). The Tasmanian and Austral-Asiatic Review (Hobart Town, Tas. : 1844 – 1845), p. 6. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article233612148 
  • Family Notices (1855, July 23). Portland Guardian and Normanby General Advertiser (Vic. : 1842 – 1843; 1854 – 1876), p. 2 (EVENING). Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article71572567 
  • Advertising (1855, August 9). Portland Guardian and Normanby General Advertiser (Vic. : 1842 – 1843; 1854 – 1876), p. 1 (EVENING). Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article71572645 
  • SATURDAY, OCTOBER 20TH. (1866, October 22). The Tumut and Adelong Times (NSW : 1864 – 1867; 1899 – 1950), p. 2. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article144775228 
• from Tasmanian Lincs database https://stors.tas.gov.au/NI/1089444   Name:  Darby, Matilda Frances  Record Type: Births Gender:  Female Father: Darby, John Harroway  Mother: Matilda, Elizabeth Date of birth:  14 Mar 1845 Registered: Hobart Registration year:  1845 Record ID: NAME_INDEXES:1089444 Resource: RGD32/1/3/ no 2603
• Victorian births, deaths and marriages
  • • Name Margaret Hughes Birth Date Abt 1850 Birth Place Ashby, Victoria Registration Year 1850 Registration Place Victoria, Australia Father David Hughes Mother Matilda Registration Number 22395
    • Name Matilda Priscilla Craddock Spouse Name David Hughes Marriage Place Victoria Registration Place Victoria Registration Year 1868 Registration Number 1485
    • Name Matilda Hughes Birth Year abt 1825 Age 43 Death Place Victoria Father’s Name Mogridge John Registration Year 1868 Registration Place Victoria Registration Number 3957
    • Name John Darby Spouse Name Catherine Murphy Marriage Place Victoria Registration Place Victoria Registration Year 1855 Registration Number 2765

Brandy for the clerk

From time to time I look over various online resources for my family tree to see if anything interesting has been added. Recently I went back to the Genealogical Index of Names, an eclectic database of personal names from material in the Genealogical Society of Victoria library and elsewhere.

Among the 103 items for the name Crespigny I noticed:

CRESPIGNY, P C (CASTLEMAINE). Castlemaine, Victoria Court records 09 JUN 1853 PETER ROBINSON CASE; Offence: STOLEN BOTTLE BRANDY; Status: victim

The more detailed record has:

CRESPIGNY, P C (CASTLEMAINE)
Event Court records
Date 09 JUN 1853
Place: Castlemaine, Victoria
Source: Victorian ‘Argus’ court reports 1851-1856 [Includes victims, witnesses,
jurors and accused]
Author/compiler: Button, Marion.
Comment: PETER ROBINSON CASE; Offence: STOLEN BOTTLE BRANDY; Status: victim

P.C. (Philip Champion) Crespigny was my great grandfather. I hadn’t noticed this incident before.

There was a report of the theft in the digitised newspapers that can be retrieved through Trove, but the text-recognition software had done a poor job of transcribing the faint image of the newspaper. The extracted text was quite garbled; no wonder I hadn’t seen it when I’d searched on Trove before for ‘Crespigny’.

The incident gives me a little bit more information about Philip Crespigny’s life on the goldfields. To be living in a tent probably means that his wife and children were not with him at that time and had stayed behind in Melbourne.

NORTHERN COURT OF GENERAL QUARTER SESSIONS. (1853, June 9). The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 – 1957), p. 5. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article4793362

 

Peter Robinson, accused of stealing the brandy, was tent-keeper to Mr Crespigny, resident Gold Commissioner. He was found not guilty.

Philip Champion Crespigny was appointed Assistant Commissioner of Crown Lands for the Gold Fields on 18 November 1852 (Gazetted 14 October 1853). When gold was discovered in great quantity in the colony, the governments of New South Wales and then Victoria followed British law at and asserted the right of the Crown to all gold that was found, requiring anyone who sought to mine it must hold a licence. Commissioners and Assistant Commissioners were appointed to administer each new field, to adjudicate disputes and, most important, to collect payments for the licences.

License no. 144. Issued to George Bencraft, 05 February 1853. Issued by Commissioner P. C. Crespigny. State Library of Victoria Collection (H41033/19)

Mt. Alexander gold diggings, 1853 watercolour by William Bentley in the collection of the National Library of Australia retrieved from from http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-135588436 [Mt Alexander diggings were at Castlemaine]

Related posts

• T is for Talbot in 1869

Provenance of a photograph of Philip Lamothe Snell Chauncy

Philip Chauncy 1878, image attached to my ancestry.com family tree

The photograph above, “Philip_Chauncy 1878”, first shared by me on 27 March 2012 on my online public tree at Ancestry.com, has been saved and added by at least 13 people to their public Ancestry trees.

Yesterday someone asked me how I knew the subject was really Philip Chauncy, an excellent question. To able to substantiate your facts is the foundation of every sort of history.

Over twenty years ago, before Greg and I moved from Canberra to Ballarat, we spent an evening with one of my third cousins once removed, like me a descendant of Philip Lamothe Snell Chauncy (1816 – 1880), my 3rd great grandfather. My cousin and his wife very generously shared the results of their family history research with me, including a copy of “Philip_Chauncy 1878”, which I remember they said came from the Anglican Cathedral in Ballarat.

Philip Chauncy was appointed Registrar of the diocese of Ballarat in August 1878. He had lost his position as Government surveyor in January 1878 when around 400 public servants were sacked by the Victorian Government. He resigned as Registrar in late 1879 and died the following April. He had held the Registrar’s position for just over a year. The Church of England Messenger and Ecclesiastical Gazette for the Diocese of  Melbourne and Ballarat published an obituary on 7 June 1880.

THE LATE MR. PHILIP CHAUNCY. (1880, June 7). The Church of England Messenger and Ecclesiastical Gazette for the Diocese of Melbourne and Ballarat (Vic. : 1876 – 1889), p. 6. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article197135316

Three years ago Greg and I went to the Anglican Cathedral in Ballarat in search of “Philip_Chauncy 1878”, naturally expecting to have to make an appointment to view the archives. To our surprise the gentleman who met us at the door was able to take us directly to the photograph, which was hanging on the wall close to the entrance of the Diocesan offices. The photograph was captioned “Philip Chauncy Esq. Registrar of the Diocese 1878”, and signed “Richards & Co Ballarat”. It was indeed the image passed on to me by my cousin.

Anglican Diocese of Ballarat: Cathedral and Diocesan Offices Lydiard Street September 2016

Portrait of Philip Chauncy hanging in the Diocesan Offices of the Anglican Diocese of Ballarat in September 2016

It is one of only two photographs of Philip Chauncy that I have come across, the other being a family portrait taken shortly after the death of Philip’s wife Susan in 1867.

Philip Chauncy and children shortly after the death of Philip’s wife Susan Chauncy nee Mitchell in 1867. From left to right Auschar Philip (1855–1890), Amy Blanche (1861–1925), Theresa Snell (1849–1886), Frederick Philip Lamothe (1863–1926), Philip (1816 – 1880), on Philip’s lap Clement Henry (1865–1902), William Snell (1853–1903), Constance (1859–1907), Annie Frances (1857–1883)

Sources

• Notes. (1878, September 13). The Church of England Messenger and Ecclesiastical Gazette for the Diocese of Melbourne and Ballarat (Vic. : 1876 – 1889), p. 6. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article197135877
• MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 1878. (1878, September 16). The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 – 1957), p. 4. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article5948571
• Advertising (1879, December 2). The Church of England Messenger and Ecclesiastical Gazette for the Diocese of Melbourne and Ballarat (Vic. : 1876 – 1889), p. 10. Retrieved September 6, 2019, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article197136149http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article197136149
• THE LATE MR. PHILIP CHAUNCY. (1880, June 7). The Church of England Messenger and Ecclesiastical Gazette for the Diocese of Melbourne and Ballarat (Vic. : 1876 – 1889), p. 6. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article197135316
• Photographs taken by Anne Young 15 September 2016.

 

180 years since the arrival of the “David Clark”

On 29 October 1839 my 3rd great grandfather Samuel Proudfoot Hawkins (1819 – 1867) arrived in Melbourne on the David Clark from Greenock, Glasgow, Scotland. The voyage, via Rio de Janeiro, took five months.

Ship David Clark coming into the harbour of Malta, 1820 Watercolour and ink on paper Nicolas Cammillieri, 1762/73-1860, artist (attrib.) Private collection Lance Pymble

The David Clark had been chartered by the Secretary of State for the Colonies to bring Port Phillip’s first bounty immigrants from Scotland. There were 229 settlers, among them Samuel Hawkins, aged 20, described as a storekeeper from Edinburgh. Although he had brothers in New South Wales he made his own way in what later became the colony of Victoria.

Samuel Hawkins would have responded to an article similar to this one which appeared in the Inverness Courier of 6 March 1839 on page 1

On 29 October 1939, one hundred years after the arrival of the David Clark, an anniversary celebration was held by some descendants in Melbourne.

Centenary Of First Barque-Load Of Pioneers (1939, October 3). The Herald (Melbourne, Vic. : 1861 – 1954), p. 10. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article243409125

PIONEERS’ CENTENARY (1939, October 10). The Age (Melbourne, Vic. : 1854 – 1954), p. 10. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article206330961

The organisers of the anniversary celebrations did not have access to the original passenger list and preparation for it seems to have been left very late. Two weeks before the anniversary only 16 of the 68 families who had arrived on the David Clark had been contacted.

The festivities included a dinner for 330 descendants at the Hotel Federal in Melbourne and a church service the following day at Scot’s Church, Collins Street, Melbourne. One speaker at the dinner described the David Clark as “Victoria’s Mayflower”. A set of bagpipes that came out on the ship was brought to the dinner. The entertainments included pipe music, Scottish dancing and songs.

Today’s Parties (1939, October 27). The Herald (Melbourne, Vic. : 1861 – 1954), p. 11. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article243405090

GATHERING OF THE CLANS (1939, October 30). The Age (Melbourne, Vic. : 1854 – 1954), p. 8. Retrieved September 2, 2019, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article206335659

In the Churches REMEMBERING PIONEERS (1939, October 30). The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 – 1957), p. 2. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article11250259

NEWS OF THE DAY (1939, November 15). The Age (Melbourne, Vic. : 1854 – 1954), p. 10. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article205590886

The lament “Lochaber no more” was played when the David Clark left Greenock and also at the centenary reunion.

Piper Sheila Wagg played the bagpipes at the David Clark centenary dinner. This picture is of her playing at the Royal Show in 1939.LATROBE CENTENARY FOOTBALL GRAND FINAL GARDEN PARTY (1939, October 2). The Age (Melbourne, Vic. : 1854 – 1954), p. 11. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article206336187

A reunion is planned for the 180th anniversary. A picnic will be held at Gulf Station at Yarra Glen, a property once owned by William Bell and Thomas Armstrong, both passengers of the David Clark. The 150th anniversary celebration was also held there.

If you would like to attend, please book so the organisers know how many people will be coming. There is a small charge ($12 adults, $10 concessions, $5 children, $30 families). Bookings can made through this link https://www.trybooking.com/book/event?eid=542336& .

I look forward to meeting my Hawkins cousins and other David Clark descendants.

Related posts

• Trove Tuesday: Samuel Proudfoot Hawkins
• 52 ancestors: 1839 arrival in Australia of Samuel Proudfoot Hawkins (1819-1867)

Further reading

• Janson, E. (2009). They came by the David Clark in 1839. Retrieved from http://www.oocities.org/vic1847/ship/david39.html?20192
• Kearsey, I. (2018). La Trobe’s first Immigrants: passengers from the ‘David Clark’, 1839. La Trobeana: Journal of the C J La Trobe Society, 17(2), 16-21. Retrieved from https://www.latrobesociety.org.au/LaTrobeana/LaTrobeanaV17n2Kearsey.pdf
• Kearsey (transcriber), I. (1839). Journal of Surgeon, Dr Archibald Gilchrist, David Clark. Retrieved from https://www.shade.id.au/Grierson/Surgeon’s%20journal%201839%20voyage%20of%20barque%20David%20Clark.pdf

 

Roy and Phil de Crespigny farming

Royalieu Dana ‘Roy’ Champion de Crespigny (1905 – 1985) was the fifth of the six sons of Philip Champion de Crespigny (1850 – 1927).

Roy was a close friend of his nephew Philip George ‘Phil’ Champion de Crespigny (1906 – 2001), the son of Philip de Crespigny (1879 – 1918). They were about the same age and enjoyed each other’s company. Roy and Phil spent many years farming together. Phil used to talk with great pleasure about their bachelor days in the Avoca district, a couple of hours west of Melbourne.

In 1927 Phil enlisted in the Citizen Military Forces (Army Reserve). He was then twenty-one, living in East Kew and working for the Commercial Banking Company of Sydney at Ringwood. The CBC had just merged in January 1927 with the Bank of Victoria. Phil’s grandfather – Roy’s father – had been general manager of the Bank of Victoria until the merger. Philip de Crespigny senior died in the same year. Phil now felt free, it seems, to give up his banking career.

I don’t know if Roy ever worked for the bank, and I am not sure when Phil and Roy began farming together.

I believe that Phil and Roy share-farmed together for the first few years, working land owned by someone else. From what I remember of Phil’s stories they grew tobacco. It was a hard life. Phil’s obituary recalls he “endured the prewar years of depression and drought as a bachelor with those virtues for which he was beloved among his wide family: courage, humour, uprightness, honesty, hospitality and a marvellous plain-speaking charm.”

In 1934 the Weekly Times and the Age reported that Phil and Roy de Crespigny had bought a property of 1260 acres called Glenshee, near Elmhurst about 35 kilometers northeast of Ararat.

Phil and Roy joined in the social life of the district. Phil became president of the Elmhurst Tennis Club.

In 1937 Roy married Nancy ‘Nan’ Temple Smith (1914 – 2005). Phil was best man.

 

Family Notices (1937, November 25). Table Talk (Melbourne, Vic. : 1885 – 1939), p. 45. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article152536790 The wedding party in 1937: Nan, Roy and Phil are standing to the right of the group.

 

On 13 May 1940, seven months after Australia declared war on Germany, Phil enlisted in the army. His engagement to Jane Beggs (1913 – 2005) was announced a week later. They married in July 1940. Roy was Phil’s best man.

In June 1943 Nan and Roy de Crespigny’s only child, a son, Royalieu Peter, also called Roy,(1943 – 1964) was born.

Roy enlisted in the army in 1942.

After the war in July 1946 Phil and Roy dissolved their partnership in Glenshee. Phil took up a Soldier Settlement block near Wickliffe, thirty miles south of Ararat.

Advertising (1950, January 21). Border Watch (Mount Gambier, SA : 1861 – 1954), p. 4. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article78619651

 

In February 1950 Roy sold Glenshee and, not long after began farming on the south coast thirty miles east of Warrnambool, at Ecklin South near Cobden and north of  Peterborough.

Roy and Nan’s farm was destroyed in the February 1983 ‘Ash Wednesday’ bushfires. Roy never recovered. He died two years later, on 10 February 1985.

 

Phil and Jane retired to Malua Bay on the south coast of New South Wales. I got to know them in their retirement. Phil was my grandfather’s first cousin.

Sources

• National Archives of Australia B883, VX14856: DE CRESPIGNY PHILIP GEORGE CHAMPION : Service Number – VX14856 : Date of birth – 23 Feb 1906 : Place of birth – MELBOURNE VIC : Place of enlistment – CAULFIELD VIC : Next of Kin – DE CRESPIGNY JANE retrieved from https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=6220200
• ARARAT. (1934, February 9). The Age (Melbourne, Vic. : 1854 – 1954), p. 13. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article203378375
• Conditions and Recent Happenings in Rural Areas (1934, February 17). Weekly Times (Melbourne, Vic. : 1869 – 1954), p. 50. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article223199514
• OTHER DISTRICTS (1934, October 13). The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 – 1957), p. 21. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article10981044
• Wore Mother’s Wedding Gown (1937, November 10). The Age (Melbourne, Vic. : 1854 – 1954), p. 6. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article205547420
• Family Notices (1937, November 25). Table Talk (Melbourne, Vic. : 1885 – 1939), p. 45. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article152536790
• ENGAGEMENTS (1940, May 21). The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 – 1957), p. 10. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article12462614
• Family Notices (1940, July 23). The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 – 1957), p. 6. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article11301472
• World War Two Nominal Roll – listing for CHAMPION DE CRESPIGNY, ROYALIEU DANA V361905. (2002). Retrieved from http://www.ww2roll.gov.au/Veteran.aspx?serviceId=A&veteranId=646180
• Advertising (1946, August 12). The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 – 1957), p. 17. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article22317790
• Public Record Office Victoria VPRS 16540 consignment P0001 unit number 6 Soldier Settlement and Land Settlement Purchase Lease Preparation Files; Champion De Crespigny, P.G. Narrapumelap Lot 5 0069/27
• Advertising (1950, January 21). Border Watch (Mount Gambier, SA : 1861 – 1954), p. 4. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article78619651
• Obituary for Philip Champion de Crespigny (2001, May 25). Sydney Morning Herald

St Marnocks

In Australia, a horse’s birthday is the first day of August. Mating usually happens early in the previous spring, with foaling eleven or twelve months later. Having a common birthday means that horses of a similar age can be entered together in racing events.

Francis Beggs (1850 – 1921), called Frank, the husband of my 3rd great aunt Rose Beggs nee Champion de Crespigny (1858 – 1937), owned a Thoroughbred called Saint Marnocks, probably named after a village near Dublin with a connection with the Beggs family.

Francis and Rose Beggs. Photograph from Flickr uploaded by Guy Goodman.

 

The Australasian of 19 September 1891 reported that:

Mr. Francis Beggs, Eurambeen, Beaufort, requests permission to supplement our correspondent’s report of the Ararat show by stating that his colt Saint Marnocks, by Macgregor-Nightlight, took first prize at Ararat in the class for two and three year old thoroughbreds, and also Messrs. Briscoe’s special prize for the best thoroughbred stallion in the yard. In the light-weight hack class his horse Malahide, by Macgregor, took first prize.

In March 1892 St Marnocks was reported as being 3 years old when he came third in the one mile Trial Stakes at the Buangor Races on 15 March. His sibling Elphinstone, also by Macgregor-Nightlight, came first. Later in the day St Marnocks came third again in the one mile Welter Handicap. The newspapers over the next two decades have many report of St Marnocks.

In the annual races of the Beaufort Jockey Club on New Year’s Day 1894 St Marnocks won the Handicap race by a neck. In 1899 he won the three quarters of a mile Flying Handicap at the Beaufort races. The Ballarat Star reported that the win was “A gift to St Marnocks, who won in the last few strides by two lengths in 1 min. 35 sec.”

At the March 1899 Beaufort Show St Marnocks won first prize for best blood entire horse and also the Champion prize for best blood horse or mare, any age, in the yard.

In the next decade Aloha, the son of St Marnocks, began to feature in the turf reports. St Marnocks again won first prize for blood entire and also Champion at the 1902 Beaufort show. St Marnocks sired many progeny, for example in 1908 10 horses all sired by St Marnocks were offered for sale by Mr Francis Beggs of Eurambeen.

On 13 August 1908 Melbourne Punch reported “Mr. and Mrs. Frank Beggs, who for many years have lived at Eurambeen East, are now settled in their new home at St. Marnocks, Mr. Beggs having purchased part of the Stoneleigh Estate in the Beaufort District.” The new property was named after their successful horse.

Punch reported in January 1909 “Mrs. C. De Crespigny, of Brunswick-street, Fitzroy, and her little son, are visiting their relative, Mrs. Frank Beggs, of St. Marnock’s, Beaufort.” The ‘little son’ was my grandfather Geoff (1907 – 1966); his mother was Beatrix de Crespigny nee Hughes (1884 – 1943).

Frank Beggs and Geoff de Crespigny St Marnocks 1908

Pastoral Review, 15 October 1921, p 795 retrieved from ‘Beggs, Francis (1850–1921)’, Obituaries Australia, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, http://oa.anu.edu.au/obituary/beggs-francis-95/text95

In 1927 an article in the Australasian reported that Francis Beggs was responsible for building the homestead and outbuildings. He also established plantations to provide shelter for the paddocks and a created a garden surrounded by acacias. After the death of Frank Beggs in 1921 the property was taken over by his nephew Theodore George Beggs (1903 – 1936).

beginning of a lengthy profile of St Marnochs (St Marnocks) in PASTORAL (1927, December 10). The Australasian (Melbourne, Vic. : 1864 – 1946), p. 42. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article140807599

ST.MARNOCK’S (1935, July 20). The Australasian (Melbourne, Vic. : 1864 – 1946), p. 36. Retrieved August 1, 2019, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article141759823

In 1930 the homestead was photographed as part of a series of pastoral homes and again in 1987, by that time somewhat run down.

PASTORAL HOMES OF AUSTRALIA (1930, September 13). The Australasian (Melbourne, Vic. : 1864 – 1946), p. 32 (METROPOLITAN EDITION). Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article140832545

St Marnocks photographed 28 October 1987 by John T Collins (1907 – 2001) and in the collection of the State Library of Victoria Image H2013.6/11

St Marnocks photographed 28 October 1987 by John T Collins (1907 – 2001) and in the collection of the State Library of Victoria

St Marnocks photographed 28 October 1987 by John T Collins (1907 – 2001) and in the collection of the State Library of Victoria

St Marnocks photographed 28 October 1987 by John T Collins (1907 – 2001) and in the collection of the State Library of Victoria

Related post

• Aunt Rose’s teapot

Sources

• Carrot cake and party hats as horses celebrate birthday. (2016, August 1). Retrieved from https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-08-01/southern-hemisphere-horses-celebrate-birthday/7677546
• Port-St. Marnock – Topographical Dictionary of Ireland (1837). Retrieved from https://www.libraryireland.com/topog/P/Port-St-Marnock-Coolock-Dublin.php 
• RURAL TOPICS AND EVENTS. (1891, September 19). The Australasian (Melbourne, Vic. : 1864 – 1946), p. 5. Retrieved August 1, 2019, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article140709700 
• BUANGOR RACES. (1892, March 22). Sportsman (Melbourne, Vic. : 1882 – 1904), p. 3. Retrieved August 1, 2019, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article227692711
• BEAUFORT RACES. (1894, January 2). The Ballarat Star (Vic. : 1865 – 1924), p. 4. Retrieved August 1, 2019, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article209802427
• BEAUFORT RACES. (1899, January 4). The Ballarat Star (Vic. : 1865 – 1924), p. 4. Retrieved August 1, 2019, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article215236224
• HORSES AND CATTLE. (1899, March 23). The Ballarat Star (Vic. : 1865 – 1924), p. 4. Retrieved August 1, 2019, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article215322056
• Sporting Notes. (1902, April 26). Weekly Times (Melbourne, Vic. : 1869 – 1954), p. 16. Retrieved August 1, 2019, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article221224922 
• PASTORAL AND AGRICULTURAL SHOWS. (1902, April 3). The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 – 1957), p. 6. Retrieved August 1, 2019, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article9634486 
• Advertising (1908, May 14). The Ballarat Star (Vic. : 1865 – 1924), p. 5. Retrieved August 1, 2019, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article205464765 
• Fact and Rumour. (1908, August 13). Punch (Melbourne, Vic. : 1900 – 1918; 1925), p. 24. Retrieved August 1, 2019, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article176018320 
• Fact and Rumour. (1909, January 21). Punch (Melbourne, Vic. : 1900 – 1918; 1925), p. 24. Retrieved August 1, 2019, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article176022294 
• PASTORAL (1927, December 10). The Australasian (Melbourne, Vic. : 1864 – 1946), p. 42. Retrieved August 1, 2019, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article140807599
• PASTORAL HOMES OF AUSTRALIA (1930, September 13). The Australasian (Melbourne, Vic. : 1864 – 1946), p. 32 (METROPOLITAN EDITION). Retrieved August 1, 2019, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article140832545 

Swimming in Bendigo

Reading the responses to this week’s Sepia Saturday prompt – swimming costumes – I was reminded that I had some terrific 1940s photos of Greg’s parents, aunts, uncles, and grandparents at the White Hills Swimming Pool, next to the Bendigo Botanic Gardens, a few miles north of the city centre.

Marjorie Young, Violet Buckley, Roy Sullivan, Joyce Sullivan, Jack Buckley, Arthur Sullivan

Greg’s maternal grandparents Arthur Sullivan (1891 – 1975) and Stella Sullivan nee Dawson (1894 – 1975) had six children:

• Stella Violet (Violet) Sullivan 1914–2005
  • She married John Buckley in 1938. He served in the Australian Army (AIF) from 1942 and was discharged 14 March 1946. On the 1946 electoral roll John and Stella Violet Buckley were living at Napier Street Bendigo.
• Lillian Mavis Sullivan 1915–2009
  • She married Alan Wilson 1934. In the 1940s were farming at Tongala with a family of children. They are not in the pictures at Bendigo.
• Arthur Stanley Sullivan 1919–2014
  • He married Joyce Robbins 1941. He served in the AIF from 1943 and was discharged 4 December 1945
• Marjorie Winifred Sullivan 1920–2007
  • She married Peter Young 1944. He served in the AIF from 1943 and was discharged 25 February 1946
• Royle Lawrence Sullivan 1926–2009
  • He enlisted in the RAAF in 1944 and was discharged in August 1946 He married Grace in 1956. She is not in the photos at Bendigo.
• Gwendolyn Phyllis Sullivan 1933–1935
  • She died of meningitis aged 17 months.

Peter Young, Violet Buckley, Roy Sullivan, Joyce Sullivan, Jack Buckley, Arthur Sullivan

Roy and Marjorie

Violet

Roy, Violet, Marjorie, Mum, Pop, Arthur

Roy, Jack Buckley, Arthur,Marjorie, Violet, Stella, Arthur senior, Joyce

I thought at first I might be able to date the photos from when the men were discharged after the War. But I think that some of them might have been on leave at the time, not yet demobbed. Peter and Marjorie had their first child in late 1946 and there is no sign of a baby in the pictures. He arrived back in Australia in late December 1945. Arthur and Joyce had their first child in early 1947.

In 1946 Violet and John Buckley’s house was on Napier Street (the Midland Highway), so I suppose the group might have met there before going on to the pool. Unfortunately the Electoral Roll gives no number for their house, and Napier Street runs for several miles.

At this time, Violet’s parents, Arthur and Stella Sullivan, were living in Castlemaine. On the 1946 Electoral Roll Arthur and Joyce Sullivan were living in 251 Auburn Road, Hawthorn, Melbourne. Marjorie was registered as living at 1 Yarra Street, Toorak, with the occupation of weaver. Roy, only twenty, was too young to be enrolled to
vote.

It seems likely that these photographs were taken when Violet’s parents and brothers joined Violet and Jack in Bendigo for a holiday in early 1946.

All of Arthur and Stella’s sons and their and son-in-law got back unhurt from the war. This was something to celebrate.

Marjorie and Peter Young. I think this was taken at a similar time but at Marjorie’s parents’ house in Castlemaine.

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