Category Archives: Beaufort

St Marnocks

01 Thursday Aug 2019

Posted by in Beaufort, Beggs, Eurambeen

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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.

Beggs Francis and Rose

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.

St Marnocks Beaufort Races 1894

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).

BeggsFrank and GeoffCdeCrespigny StMarnock 1908

Frank Beggs and Geoff de Crespigny St Marnocks 1908

Beggs Frank obituary Pastoral Review

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).

St Marnocks 1927 Australasian

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 rams 1935

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.

St Marnock's 1930

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 1987 1

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 1987 2

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

St Marnocks 1987 3

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

St Marnocks 1987 4

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

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Sources

B is for Beatrix

02 Monday Apr 2018

Posted by in A to Z 2018, Adelaide, Beaufort, Champion de Crespigny, Eurambeen, Hughes

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Beatrix Hughes

Beatrix Hughes

One of my great grandmothers was Beatrix Champion de Crespigny née Hughes (1884-1943). She was born on 23 April 1884 in Ascot Vale, a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, the eldest child of Edward Walter Hughes (1854-1922) and Jeanie Hughes née Hawkins (1862-1941). Edward Hughes was  the manager of the Bank of Victoria in Beaufort, Victoria, from about 1888 until his retirement in 1919.

Beatrix had three brothers:

  • Reginald, born 1886 in Essendon, a suburb of Melbourne
  • Vyvyan, born 1888 in Beaufort
  • Cedric, born 1893 in Beaufort

As a girl Beatrix studied music and in 1902 did well in her examinations, but beyond this I know very little about her when she was young.

Hughes Beatrix Ballarat Star 1902

No title (1902, March 6). The Ballarat Star (Vic. : 1865 – 1924), p. 2. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article207621650

 

The Hughes family knew my 3rd great grandmother Charlotte de Crespigny (1820-1904) and her daughter Rose Beggs who lived at Eurambeen near Beaufort. There are several mentions of the Hughes family and Trixie Hughes in letters written by Charlotte de Crespigny in 1900 and 1902. Charlotte de Crespigny’s grandson Trent de Crespigny, then known by his family as Con, was a frequent visitor to Eurambeen in the holidays.

In about 1900 in a letter to her daughter Ada (1848-1927), Charlotte de Crespigny wrote:

Monday
We had a very pleasant evening, both afternoon tea and a magnificent iced cake with almonds all over it, and a lovely tea, 14 sat down to it. Con’s ducks were most delicious, and a magnificent ham and meat pies, sweets of all sorts. I wished so much you could have had some of the good things and Loo would have enjoyed the ducks so much. Con and Rose were wishing he was there and you too. I was thinking all the time what a dull old Sunday you would all be having, without any servant.
After Tea, Frank drove me with Rose and Mr. Minchin to the other house. All the young people walked in the lovely moonlight. They stayed out playing games till nearly 10 when Frank came in and read prayers. After that, supper and home, Mr Hughes and all the whole crowd walking home Anna and Ethel, [?] coming as well, having a little more refreshment. They did not go till after the Hughes and Minchins drove home, near 12, and then Con and Jack walked back with them enjoying the moonlight, no one wore any hats or bonnets, and all the white dresses looked so pretty. Trixey Hughes and Edith Minchin gave Rose pretty little presents.

Eurambeen tree 1900

Who was who at the Eurambeen party.

 

 

 

deCrespigny Beatrix 1905 abt nee Hughes

Beatrix Hughes about 1905

 

In 1906 Beatrix married Constantine Trent Champion de Crespigny, a doctor then practising in Glenthompson, fifty miles from Beaufort.

Ch de Crespigny Trent and Hughes Trixie 1906 weddingfromslvh2013-229-20

1906 wedding of Constantine Trent Champion de Crespigny to Beatrix Hughes at Beaufort, Victoria.

Ballarat Star 1906 09 15

WEDDINGS. (1906, September 15). The Ballarat Star (Vic. : 1865 – 1924), p. 2. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article210684752

Beatrix and Trent had four children.

The eldest, Richard Geoffrey, known as Geoff, was born in Glenthompson in 1907.

deCrespigny Geoff 1912 abt with mother Beatrix

Geoff de Crespigny with his mother Beatrix about 1912

Their second child, Nancy, was born in Adelaide in 1910. Constantine Trent was Superintendent at the Adelaide Hospital from 1909.

In World War 1 Constantine Trent Champion de Crespigny, who reached the rank of Colonel, had a distinguished career commanding military hospitals. On the home front Beatrix contributed greatly to fundraising efforts for the soldiers at the front.

In 1919 Beatrix had two more children, twins. Sadly, one of these, Adrian, suffered a brain injury at birth, and spent most of his life in care. The other child was a girl, Margaret.

deCrespigny Trent 1930 abt with Beatrix & Margaret

Trent, Beatrix and Margaret de Crespigny about 1930

Beatrix died in 1943 at the age of 59. Her obituary made mention of her charitable work, drawing particular attention to her contribution to child welfare which included many  year’s service to the Mothers’ and Babies’ Health  Association in Adelaide.

Obituary Beatrix de C The Advertiser

Death Of Lady de Crespigny (1943, November 12). The Advertiser (Adelaide, SA : 1931 – 1954), p. 4. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article48774207

 

The day after her obituary, the Adelaide newspaper carried a letter from Paquita Mawson, President of the Mothers’ and Babies’ Health Association, and Dr Helen Mayo, the founder of the Mothers’ and Babies’ Health Association and Honorary Chief Medical Officer, who spoke of Beatrix’s wise management and sound decision making.

MBHA letter The Advertiser 13 Nov 1943

LADY De CRESPIGNY’S WORK FOR THE M.B.H.A. (1943, November 13). The Advertiser (Adelaide, SA : 1931 – 1954), p. 6. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article48774345

 

 

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Trove Tuesday: canaries

09 Monday Jan 2017

Posted by in Beaufort, Champion de Crespigny, Eurambeen, Hughes, Trove Tuesday, World War 1

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Canarios mios
Domestic canaries by Optiknv (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons

 

LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS. (1917, January 27). Riponshire Advocate (Vic. : 1914 – 1918), p. 2. Retrieved  from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article119572665

The Miss de Crespigny who donated the canaries was probably my 3rd-great-aunt Viola Julia Constantia Champion de Crespigny (1855-1929).

The canaries were raffled to raise funds for the war effort. The Beaufort Girls’ Patriotic Club forwarded comforts parcels, including parcels of socks, to 130 soldiers from the district.

Advertising (1917, April 7). Riponshire Advocate (Vic. : 1914 – 1918), p. 2. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article119572958

Later in 1917 Miss de Crespigny donated another pair of canaries to the Beaufort, Waterloo, and District 15th Infantry Brigade Comforts Depot. Mrs E.W. Hughes, wife if the bank manager (my great great grandmother) also made a donation of socks and tobacco.

Advertising (1917, August 18). Riponshire Advocate (Vic. : 1914 – 1918), p. 1. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article119573514
BEAUFORT. (1917, August 20). The Ballarat Courier (Vic. : 1869 – 1880; 1914 – 1918), p. 6 (DAILY.). Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article73323890

Breeding canaries was a pastime of my third great grandmother Charlotte Frances de Crespigny née Dana (1820-1904). In 1898, in a letter from Eurambeen to her daughter Ada, Charlotte wrote:

I have 4 beautiful young canaries and the other little hen sitting. Rose has 10 young ones I have to look after.

Charlotte had two sons, Philip (1850-1927) and Constantine (1851-1883) and three daughters, Ada (1848-1927), Viola (1855-1929), and Helen Rosalie, called Rose (1858-1937). Rose married Francis Beggs and lived at Eurambeen and St Marnocks near Beaufort.

In 1900 Charlotte’s letter to Ada mentioned canaries again:

Would you very much mind putting my big canary cage under the tap and clean it for the poor little birds when I come. They will be so crowded I shall have to put them in a bigger cage till I sell them.

I believe Charlotte was at Eurambeen and writing to Ada in Melbourne. It seems from the letters that Viola also lived at Eurambeen with her sister Rose and mother and brother-in-law.

On the 1914 electoral roll Viola is listed as living at St Marnock’s, Beaufort. At the same property were Francis and Helen Rosalie Beggs. On the 1903 roll Francis and Rose Beggs and Viola and her mother were living at Eurambeen near Beaufort.

Viola had four nephews who served in the war:

  • Philip Champion de Crespigny (1879-1918) enlisted in 1918, served with the Light Horse and was killed in action in Palestine.
  • Constantine Trent Champion de Crespigny (1882-1952) enlisted in 1915and served as a doctor.
  • Francis George Travers Champion de Crespigny (1892-1968) enlisted in 1917 and served as a doctor.
  • Hugh Vivian Champion de Crespigny (1897-1969) enlisted in 1914 but resigned shortly thereafter and joined the British Air Flying Corps.
Constantine Trent married Beatrix Hughes from Beaufort. Beatrix had two brothers who served in the war:
  • Vyvyan Westbury Hughes (1888-1916)
  • Cedric Hughes (1893-1953)
Beatrix’s third brother, Reginald Hughes (1886-1971) was rejected for enlistment on medical grounds.
Besides these close relatives there were almost certainly many other relatives and friends who served.

A run on the bank in Beaufort

14 Friday Aug 2015

Posted by in Bank of Victoria, Beaufort, Cherry Stones, Hughes, Trove

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This week’s Sepia Saturday picture is a prompt for the topic of banking.

There are several bankers in my family tree. One of them is my great great grandfather Edward Walter Hughes (1854-1922).

E. W. Hughes from Hudson, Helen Lesley Cherry stones : adventures in genealogy of Taylor, Hutcheson, Hawkins of Scotland, Plaisted, Green, Hughes of England and Wales … who immigrated to Australia between 1822 and 1850. H.L. Hudson, [Berwick] Vic, 1985.page 81.

Edward Hughes was manager of the Bank of Victoria at Beaufort, Victoria, 50 km from Ballarat. In 1883 when he married at the age of 29, Hughes was working with the Bank of Victoria, though possibly not, so far as I know, at its Beaufort branch. In 1906 he was manager of the Beaufort branch when his daughter Beatrix, my great grandmother, married. His son Vyvyan was born in Beaufort in 1888 but his son Reginald was born in Essendon, Melbourne, in 1886, so I assume Edward Hughes moved to Beaufort about 1887. He retired from his job of bank manager in Beaufort in 1919 due to ill health.

Bank of Victoria, Beaufort, 1890s – from Museum Victoria Reg. No: MM 001094

In mid-April 1893, while Hughes was manager at Beaufort, there was a run on the bank. The branch at Beaufort ran out of bullion and Mr Hughes travelled to Ballarat by the 2 p.m. train for more gold.

A DEMAND FOR GOLD. (1893, April 14). The Age (Melbourne, Vic. : 1854 – 1954), p. 5. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article193438039

THE BENDIGO ADVERTISER. (1893, April 15). Bendigo Advertiser (Vic. : 1855 – 1918), p. 4. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article88966637

When I think of a bank run I think of the scene from the film  of Mary Poppins when Michael wants to keep his tuppence to feed the birds.

There was a report that the bank declined to take deposits from some of their customers who had withdrawn their funds at the time of the run.

The Portland Guardian (1893, April 19). Portland Guardian (Vic. : 1876 – 1953), p. 2 Edition: EVENING. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article65442835

The Beaufort depositors in the Bank of Victoria were right to be wary .  On 28 January 1893 the Federal Bank of Australia in Melbourne had run out of cash and closed. On 4 April the Commercial Bank of Australia, then one of Australia’s largest, suspended operations. Twelve other banks  followed in quick succession and depositors struggled to retrieve their savings.

On Sunday 30 April the Victorian Cabinet met and in an attempt to manage the financial crisis, decided to close all banks for the following week.

The Oxford Companion to Australian History summarises the crisis:

The drying up of British capital inflow after the Baring crisis of 1890 spelt the end of the over-extended financial system. As asset prices fell and borrowers defaulted, the lending institutions came under pressure.The fringe financiers fell first. Eventually, the banks too began to experience financial losses, falling share prices, and panicking depositors. Thirteen of Australia’s 22 banks closed their doors in 1893. All but two reopened within the year. However, all of the survivors had been forced to reconstruct.(page 58)

On 1 May 1893 the Bank of Victoria and other Victorian banks closed their doors for a week.
THE FINANCIAL CRISIS. (1893, May 2). The Age (Melbourne, Vic. : 1854 – 1954), p. 5. Retrieved  from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article193419212

The Bank of Victoria re-opened at 2.30 on Wednesday 3 May. (SITUATION IN MELBOURNE. (1893, May 4). The Age (Melbourne, Vic. : 1854 – 1954), p. 5. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article193417046)

On 12 May the shareholders and depositors of the Bank of Victoria approved a scheme of reconstruction. (THE BANK OF VICTORIA. (1893, May 13). The Age (Melbourne, Vic. : 1854 – 1954), p. 15. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article193419451 LARGE MEETING OF DEPOSITORS. (1893, May 13). The Age (Melbourne, Vic. : 1854 – 1954), p. 15. Retrieved  from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article193419452)

E. W. Hughes retired in 1919 aged 65. He died in 1922 in Melbourne.

What People are Saying and Doing. (1919, November 13). Table Talk (Melbourne, Vic. : 1885 – 1939), p. 6. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article146472785

I had trouble identifying the building of the former Beaufort Bank of Victoria. In the twentieth century the building, in Havelock Street, was converted to a Masonic Hall. A parapet was added incorporating the Masonic device of a square and set of compasses.  The building has since been subdivided into three flats and sold.

16 Havelock Street Beaufort from Google street view as at February 2010

The Bank of Victoria merged with the Commercial Banking Company of Sydney in 1927. The CBC merged with the National Australia Bank in 1982.

Sources

  • Hudson, Helen Lesley Cherry stones : adventures in genealogy of Taylor, Hutcheson, Hawkins of Scotland, Plaisted, Green, Hughes of England and Wales … who immigrated to Australia between 1822 and 1850. H.L. Hudson, [Berwick] Vic, 1985.
  • Foster, S. G. (Stephen Glynn), 1948-, Aplin, G. J. (Graeme John) and McKernan, Michael, 1945- Australians, events and places. Fairfax, Syme & Weldon Associates, Broadway, N.S.W, 1987.  
  • Davison, Graeme, 1940-, Macintyre, Stuart, 1947- and Hirst, J. B. (John Bradley), 1942- The Oxford companion to Australian history. Oxford University Press, Melbourne ; Oxford, 1999. 
  • Wikipedia contributors, “Australian banking crisis of 1893,” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_banking_crisis_of_1893 (accessed August 14, 2015). 

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