M is for Mary

My husband Greg’s great aunt was Mary Ann Nichols, formerly Lack nee Whiteman (1884-1945). She was the daughter of Robert Henry Whiteman (1839-1884) and Sarah Jane Young formerly Whiteman nee Way (1863-1898).

When I first started researching our family history Greg and I looked through a postcard collection that his father Peter Young (1920-1988) was given by Greg’s grandfather Cecil Young (1898-1975). At first we didn’t know who the people mentioned on the cards were. Nor did we recognise the place names. When we saw ‘Timor’ on one of the cards we thought it was a reference to the island of Timor to the north of Australia, not – what it was – a gold mining town in central Victoria!

The notes from our research 25 years ago show some of the things we learned from  reading the cards carefully and looking carefully at the postmarks and addresses.

Conclusions from the transcribed postcard collection. This collection was passed from Cecil to his son Peter. The postcards were mainly addressed to Cecil’s brother Jack. From at least July 1906 to after 1911, Jack and Cecil lived with a Mrs GE Wilkens in Lower Homebush. Bob Whiteman (Jack and Cecil’s half brother) referred to them as Aunty and Uncle. He also referred to Lora (a daughter?). Mr George E Wilkens is a teacher at Lower Homebush school from at least 1899 to at least 1916 according to Wise’s Victorian Post Office Directory. In ‘Avoca the Early Years’ a George Wilkens is mentioned playing the cornet. Cecil and Jack’s father, John Young, was not living with his sons. In 1907 he was in Barringhup, Victoria. In 1909 he was at Burnt Creek or Middlebridge. After 1911 Jack and Cecil moved to Clunes. At one stage they are with or near Aunt Harriet and her children. At another stage Jack lived in Service Street Clunes. According to another post card Cecil lived with a Mr Thomas, Fraser Street, Clunes. Bob Whiteman (Jack and Cecil’s half brother) was living at Moriarty in Tasmania at least between 1906 and 1911. Jack and Cecil’s half sister, Mary, lived at Homebush in 1909.

We have since learned much more. We now know that Mrs G.E. Wilkins was Charlotte Wilkins nee Young (1861-1925), who was married to George Wilkins (1857-1944), a schoolteacher at Homebush, Victoria, not far from Avoca. Charlotte was the sister of John Young (1856-1928), father of Cecil and Jack. She was the twin sister of Harriet Richards nee Young (1861-1926) who lived at Clunes.

Mary Ann Whiteman was born 19 August 1884 at Parkes, New South Wales, the second child of Sarah Jane and Robert Henry Whiteman, a miner. Robert Henry Whiteman had died of pneumonia in February 1884, six months before Mary was born. Mary had an older brother, Robert Henry (Bob) 1883-1957).

In September 1894 Sarah Jane married John Young, a gold miner, in Melbourne, Victoria. Mary was then aged ten and her brother Bob aged 11. Sarah Jane had earlier given birth out of wedlock to another child (Leslie Leister) in 1894, but left him in Parkes to be brought up by her mother and sister. It seems that Bob and Mary came to Victoria to live with John Young and Sarah Jane.

John Young and Sarah Jane had three children together:

• Caroline 1895-1895 born and died at Timor aged one month
• John Percy (Jack) 1896-1918 born at Bowenvale near Timor
• Cecil Ernest 1898-1975 born at Rokewood, Victoria

Sarah Jane died of postpartum haemorrhage the day after Cecil was born.

John Young was left a widower with two step-children, Bob aged 14 and Mary aged 13, and two infants: Jack, almost two, and the newborn Cecil. It appears that John’s sisters looked after the children. Jack and Cecil grew up mainly in Homebush, cared for by their aunt Charlotte.

John Young with his step children Bob and Mary Whiteman and his sons Jack and Cecil Young. Photograph taken 1898-9. A copy of this photograph came from the Tunks family (relatives on the Young side) but a copy is also held by the Way family (relatives of the children’s mother).

The post card album

There are four postcards in the collection signed by Mary. It seems that Mary called Charlotte ‘Aunty’ and spent time at Homebush.

It is hard to tell in what order the postcards were sent. Mary, it appears, was living with a Mrs Thomas in Stawell (75 kilometres west of Homebush and Avoca). She was presumably Mrs Thomas’s servant.

Silver Creek Weir is in Kinglake National Park 260 kilometres east of Stawell

My address c/o Mrs Thomas Childe Street Stawell

Dear Jack I am sending you this to let you see that I have not forgotten you, I do wish the you Cecil would write me a letter and tell Aunty to write also I do wish I could see you. I hope to come down at Xmas time. Love to all your loving sister Mary.

Addressed to Master J Young c/o Mrs Wilkins Post Office Lr Homebush

….

Dear Aunty Just a line to let you know that I will be coming down to see you on Friday morning. Mr T is in Avoca and Mrs T is going down so she is going to pay my fare and I am coming down to see you. Hope all are, love from Mary.

….

My dear brother Jack. Just a card hoping you are all well as it leaves us all nicely at present, how do you like being at Clunes. I think that you will like it better than Homebush. It will be livelier for you, give our love to Harriet and all the children, how did you spend Xmas. Well dear wish you all a happy new year, with love from Jim and Mary.

[In 1911 Mary married James Theodore Lack (1887-1971) at St Arnaud, 60 kilometres north of Avoca. I assume this is Jim.]

….

The fourth card is to Miss Eva Hogan (1889-1913). She lived at Homebush and in 1910 married James John Cross (1886-1963), also a relative of Greg’s, his great uncle, but on a different branch of the family.

Dear Eva Just a line hoping you all are doing well, & did not get washed away. Tell dad Gus wrote to Charlie to give him a show if he gets it, that is all we know at present. When are you coming to see us. Give love to all from all yours Mary.

Addressed to Miss E Hogan Bromley near Dunolly and postmarked 6 August 1909.

[I have not yet worked out who Gus and Charlie are or what “give him a show if he gets it” could refer to.]

….

 

Mary and Jim Lack had three boys.

In 1925 she and Jim Lack were divorced. In the same year she remarried Henry White Nichols (1873-1959), a widower. They had one daughter.

John Young lived with the Nichols family in Melbourne for the last years of his life. He died at the age of 72 in 1928.

In 1945 Mary died aged 63.

John Young and Mary Nichols are buried together in  Footscray cemetery.

The unmarked grave of John Young and Mary Ann Nichols, Church of England section, Footscray Cemetery FO-CE*D***755

 

Related posts

• Y is for Young family photographs
• Trove Tuesday: Obituary for John Young (1856 – 1928)
• W is for George Wilkins writing from Western Australia
• Cecil Young and family: Cecil’s early life up to end World War I
• John Percival Young (1896 – 1918)

 

Trove Tuesday: William John Plowright (1859-1914)

William John Plowright (1859-1914) was my husband’s great grand uncle, the oldest son of John Plowright (1831-1910) and Margaret Plowright née Smyth (1834-1897).

The Avoca Mail reported on a mining accident where William Plowright dislocated his ankle and broke the extreme end of the small bone of the leg. He was nearly killed.

No title (1884, March 28). Avoca Mail (Vic. : 1863 – 1900; 1915 – 1918), p. 2. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article201529669

William married Harriet Hosking in 1881. At the time of the accident, they had two children, both born at Homebush near Avoca in central Victoria. They had another child, also born at Homebush in 1885, when their fourth child was born in 1886 they had moved to Melbourne.

It appears after the accident William Plowright gave up mining and joined the police.

The Geelong Advertiser reported the recruitment of a number of new constables in October 1885.

TOWN TALK. (1885, October 2). Geelong Advertiser (Vic. : 1859 – 1929), p. 2. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article149010584

On 6 October 1885 William John Plowright was appointed a constable with the Victorian Police Force. Constable Plowright was 26 years old.

Fifteen years later, in 1901, he still held that position. His name appeared in the Police Gazettes for 1901, 1902, 1903 and 1904.

Victoria, Australia, Police Gazette 14 October 1885 page 284 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2016.

The first mention I found in the newspapers of Constable Plowright was in December 1885, on duty at Princes Bridge on the Yarra in Melbourne when a young man jumped off.

CASUALTIES AND OFFENCES. (1885, December 21). The Age (Melbourne, Vic. : 1854 – 1954), p. 5. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article197028844

In 1888 Constable Plowright gave evidence in court about a fight in Clarendon Street. In 1889 he pursued and arrested three burglars in South Melbourne, apparently with the help of just one man, who was not a member of the police force.

In March 1889, with another constable he arrested three boys who had escaped from a reformatory.

Constable Plowright was regularly involved in various prosecutions under the liquor act, in particular Sunday trading offences.

WILLIAMSTOWN POLICE COURT. (1890, August 9). Williamstown Chronicle (Vic. : 1856 – 1954), p. 2. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article68594039

In 1891 Constable Plowright was working in a plainclothes position, still helping to enforce Sunday closing laws. He was also preventing young men from playing football in the street.

FOOTBALL PLAYING IN PUBLIC THOROUGHFARES. (1891, June 16). The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 – 1957), p. 9. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article8637481

In his work as a plainclothes constable, Plowright helped to arrest a gang of harness thieves.

PARS PITHILY PUT. (1893, January 28). The Prahran Telegraph (Vic. : 1889 – 1930), p. 3. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article144497711

In early 1894 Constable Plowright applied to rejoin the uniformed branch.

In 1902 Constable Plowright was assaulted by a drunk. This required several stitches to his wound.

A VIOLENT RUFFIAN (1902, December 10). The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 – 1957), p. 6. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article9070007

POLICE INTELLIGENCE. (1902, December 18). The Age (Melbourne, Vic. : 1854 – 1954), p. 7. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article187636294

STONE THROWING AND ASSAULT. (1902, December 18). Bendigo Advertiser (Vic. : 1855 – 1918), p. 4. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article89512971

The Police Gazette of 3 March 1904, page 122, records that Constable William John, Plowright, number 3607, Melbourne District, was discharged 29 February 1904. This was shortly after his 45th birthday.

The electoral roll of 1903 shows him living at 69 Argyle Street, St Kilda, with his occupation constable. The roll of 1905 shows that he moved to 27 Hannover Street Prahran and his occupation is given as home duties. By the 1908 roll he was still living in Hannover Street, working as a wood merchant. It appears after he was he discharged from the police force he took a while to establish a new career.

William John Plowright died on 29 May 1914 at the age of 55.

Additional sources

• Ancestry.com. Victoria, Australia, Police Gazettes, 1855, 1864-1924 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2016. 
• Ancestry.com. Australia, Electoral Rolls, 1903-1980 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Original data: Australian Electoral Commission.

W is for George Wilkins writing from Western Australia

Greg’s grandfather Cecil Young (1898-1975) had a small collection of postcards that he had collected when young. He passed it on to Greg’s father, Peter.

When I first started our family history research I looked at those postcards and tried to work out who was writing to whom and why the cards had been collected.  They contained important clues. I’ve spent many years working on the family tree they make a lot more sense now,  but they are still worth revisiting for new insights.

Two of the cards were sent from Western Australia, I think from Cecil’s cousin George Wilkins (1884-1909). Cecil and his brother Jack lived at Homebush near Avoca, with George’s parents, George Wilkins senior (1857-1944) and their aunt Charlotte Wilkins née Young (1861-1925). These two postcards were addressed to Charlotte Wilkins.

 

The cards show Fremantle Harbour and Kings Park, Perth. Both cards are postmarked Meekatharra, a town in the mid-west of Western Australia.

An article in the Avoca Free Press of 10 March 1909 mentioned a memorial service for George Wilkins who had died 30 January 1909 in Meekatharra.

Cemetery records show that George was buried at Nannine Cemetery.  Nannine is 35 kilometres south-west of Meekatharra, 735 kilometres north-north-east of Perth. It is now a ghost town but in the early 1900s it was a gold-mining centre.

When I was thinking about researching this post I decided to look up the Victorian probate index. Although George did not die in Victoria there was a chance his affairs had been administered there. George died intestate but he had a block of land and there is a file containing letters of administration.

• George E Wilkins occupation School Teacher residence Maryborough date of death 30 Jan 1909 file number 115/855 VPRS 28/P3, unit 130 VPRS 7591/P2, unit 447

The file contains an affidavit by George’s father concerning the search for the will. It mentions a William Baker of Meekatharra, who had been an intimate friend of George’s. Baker stated there was no will and there was no will found in the effects forwarded to his parents by the police. Nurse Cameron of the Meekathatta hospital attended George in his last illness and stated he had made no will despite being urged to by his attendants. George Wilkins senior also stated that Nurse Cameron had said George had been asked

if he had any message to leave. He replied that he had told Willy Baker all that he had to say except what he would tell his mother. His mother did not see him as he died before news of his fatal illness arrived. For all of which reasons I am fully satisfied that deceased left no will. (VPRS 7591/P2, unit 447, pages 15-16)

The letters of administration dealt with 20 acres of land at Homebush Lower and associated fencing.

I don’t know how long George Wilkins had been in Western Australia. The postmarks are not clear and I can’t read the dates.

Related posts

• T is for teachers’ records

E is for Exemption Courts

In 1916 during World War I the Australian Government felt that the recruitment of volunteers was not providing sufficient men for military service. Two plebiscites seeking to conscript men for overseas military service were held, one in 1916 and the second in 1917. In both cases the proposal was voted against and Australia sent only volunteers to fight in the war.

The Prime Minister, William Morris Hughes, returned from Britain and France in July 1916  determined to introduce conscription.  Britain, soon followed by New Zealand, had introduced compulsory military service in January 1916.  Hughes believed that unless Australia was absolute in its support of the war effort, the nation might not get a full say in peace discussions where matters of Australian concern would be decided.

This plebiscite is often referred to as a referendum but this is technically wrong. A referendum decides constitutional issues; no constitutional issue was in question, the plebiscite was really just seeking consensus for the legislative changes required to introduce conscription.  However, the word `referendum’ was used at the time and has remained the accepted nomenclature.

WWI Poster promoting enlistment for the AIF, 1915 from the National Archives of Australia and retrieved from Wikimedia Commons http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:WWI_Enlistment_Poster,_Australia.jpg

A `War Census’ was taken between 6 and 15 September 1915.  All males aged between eighteen and sixty years were asked their name, address, age, marital status, dependants, general health and debilities, current occupation and any other work they could undertake, military training (if any), numbers and descriptions of firearms in their possession, place of birth (and place of birth of father and mother) and, if relevant, naturalization particulars.  On the basis of information collected from this census, the Commonwealth Statistician found there were 600,000 fit men aged between eighteen and forty-four years. The Commonwealth Statistician deemed men “fit” if they described themselves in good health, neither blind nor deaf, and had not lost a limb.

THE WAR CENSUS. (1916, June 27). The Horsham Times (Vic. : 1882 – 1954), p. 4. Retrieved March 10, 2014, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article72979438

The Prime Minister anticipated a favourable outcome from the referendum and called up eligible men to go into military training camps. At the beginning of October 1916 the Federal Government, invoking powers under the Defence Acts, required men aged between twenty-one and thirty-five to register for service within the Commonwealth and, if fit, to enter camp for training.

Exemption Courts. (1916, October 18). Northern Times (Newcastle, NSW : 1857 – 1918), p. 5. Retrieved March 11, 2014, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article123520807

I have looked at the history of Avoca , a town in central Victoria, during World War 1.  When all men in Avoca deemed eligible were required to report to camp in September 1916, many of those eligible who were found medically fit applied for exemption, mostly on the basis of farming or other commitments.  The exemption courts were reported in the papers without comment.  Calling up  eligible men perhaps drew the attention of voters to the implications of conscription and provoked them to vote no.

121 men were medically examined for military service in Avoca in October and November 1916. Of these, 69 were found fit for military service. Fifty-four of those applied for exemption, about 80% of those fit and eligible. This proportion is in line with the national averages.  National proportions of those claiming exemptions were: 62% of those examined, or 80% of those found fit.

No legal representation was allowed at the exemption courts.

Examples of newspaper reporting of the exemption courts include Nhill which gave reasons for exemption:

EXEMPTION COURT. (1916, November 17). Nhill Free Press (Vic. : 1914 – 1918), p. 2. Retrieved March 11, 2014, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article129561102

Similarly in Parkes:

MILITARY EXEMPTION COURT. (1916, November 16). Western Champion (Parkes, NSW : 1898 – 1934), p. 19. Retrieved March 11, 2014, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article112321176

Some men, though granted exemption, nevertheless subsequently enlisted. A man from the Avoca district, Stanley William Smith, a farmer from Homebush, who applied for and was granted exemption to 28 February 1917 was one of these. He enlisted on 28 April 1917, served with the 60th Battalion, was wounded on the road to Amiens, and died of his wounds on 9 August 1918 aged 26. He is buried at Vignacourt British Cemetery, Vignacourt, Somme, France.

Studio portrait of 3484 Private (Pte) Stanley William Smith, 9th Reinforcements, 60th Battalion, of Avoca, Vic. Pte Smith enlisted on 28 April 1917 and embarked aboard HMAT Port Melbourne in Sydney on 16 July 1917. He died of wounds on 9 August 1918. Photograph in the collection of the Australian War Memorial ID number DA18225 taken by the Darge Photographic Company at Broadmeadows, Victoria about June 1917 retrieved from http://www.awm.gov.au/collection/DA18225/

On 28 October 1916 the `No’ vote prevailed Australia-wide but not in Victoria, nor amongst soldiers from Victoria. (Soldiers voted in the plebiscite and their votes have been tallied separately.)

MEN IN TRAINING. (1916, November 18). The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 – 1954), p. 13. Retrieved March 11, 2014, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article15676111

 Of the 86,101 applications for exemption Australia wide, 38,508 were allowed and 14,803 were refused. The result was that of the 189,335 men who reported in response to the 1916 proclamation only 18,192, under 10%, were found fit and did not claim exemption.

Chart based on figures published by the Sydney Morning Herald on 18 November 1916 on the outcome of men called up under the 1916 proclamation

If a member of your family was eligible for military service in 1916 and had not enlisted by October 1916 it might be worth your while to search local newspapers for reports of the exemption courts.

The National Archives appear to have few records of these courts, presumably because the push for conscription was unsuccessful and the files were destroyed shortly thereafter. The only two records I could find in the catalogue of the Archives relate to appeals to the High Court:

• NAA: A10117, 1916/12: In the matter of an appeal by the Military Representative Henty Subdistrict Victoria, re exemption court appeal, re JAPP Ronald Douglas, War Service Regulations
• NAA: A10117, 1916/11: Military Representative Fawkner Subdistrict Victoria, re exemption court appeal for FRANKLIN Richard Penrose, War Service Regulations

A is for Avenue of Honour

Entrance to Avenue of Honour, 14 miles long, the Lucas Girls tribute to Ballarat soldiers Image of postcard published by Rose Stereographs from State Library of New South Wales retrieved from http://143.119.202.10/item/itemDetailPaged.aspx?itemID=69960 9 March 2014

Avenues of Honour planted during and after World War I are an Australian innovation. The avenue at Ballarat was one of the first.

The young women employees of a Ballarat clothing firm, Lucas and Company, planted a tree for every soldier who left Ballarat to serve in the Great War. The avenue runs from the city westerly for 14 miles (over 20 kilometers). The first 505 trees were planted in June 1917.

3,900 trees altogether were planted. The Lucas girls also raised funds for an Arch of Victory at the beginning of the avenue.  The Arch was opened by the Prince of Wales on 2 June 1920.

“AVENUE OF HONOR.”. (1917, June 5). Warrnambool Standard(Vic. : 1914 – 1918), p. 4 Edition: DAILY.. Retrieved January 19, 2014, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article73930919

The Argus reported the opening of the Arch of Victory: REST FOR THE PRINCE. (1920, June 3). The Argus(Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 – 1957), p. 7. at http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article1707916 

Several years later the Argus wrote a feature article on the avenue:  BALLARAT’S AVENUE OF HONOUR. (1922, April 15). The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 – 1957), p. 5. at http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article4665883

The names of the 3,900 men for whom trees were planted can be found through https://bih.federation.edu.au/index.php/Ballarat_Avenue_of_Honour

One of the men was Alan Lawrie who is pictured standing next to his tree.

Mrs C Chisholm (Creator) Negative – Alan Lawrie Standing Next to his Tree in the Avenue of Honour, Ballarat, Victoria, pre 1925. Museum Victoria. Reg. No: MM 001068 retrieved from http://museumvictoria.com.au/collections/items/768849/negative-alan-lawrie-standing-next-to-his-tree-in-the-avenue-of-honour-ballarat-victoria-pre-1925

 Roderick Allen Lawrie enlisted in March 1915 aged 20 years with the permission of his mother.  He was a draper’s assistant. (National Archives of Australia Series B2455; LAWRIE Roderick Allan : Service Number – 3169 : Place of Birth – Ballarat VIC : Place of Enlistment – Ballarat VIC : Next of Kin – (Mother) LAWRIE Alice. Digital copy of dossier at http://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/scripts/Imagine.asp?B=7377828)

Associated with the centenary of World War I, there is a project to preserve and restore the avenues across Australia: http://www.avenuesofhonour.org/ 

My husband’s grandfather Cecil Young and Cecil’s brother Jack have their names listed on a plaque with a small avenue of eucalypts planted in the grounds of the former school of Lower Homebush near Avoca in Victoria.

The Avenue of Honour at the Lower Homebush school

The Homebush Honor Roll at the beginning of the Avenue of Honour at Lower Homebush school

At Avoca nearby, an avenue was planted, but most of the trees have died . There presumably was a list of the men who were commemorated but I don’t know where that list is.

One of my favourite avenues is at Bacchus Marsh. It was planted in 1918 and is of Dutch elms. 281 trees were planted simultaneously on the afternoon of 10 August following the blowing of a bugle. The avenue extends for nearly two miles on the road towards Melbourne. In 2004 there were 312 trees and 48 vacant sites. A list of the names of the soldiers can be found at http://www.bacchusmarsh.avenueofhonour.org.au . On 28 May 2010, The Age reported on a plan to build a roundabout in the avenue and opposition to the proposal. For the time being the avenue is  intact. http://www.theage.com.au/national/a-matter-of-honour-20100527-whtb.html The avenue is listed on the Victorian heritage register http://vhd.heritage.vic.gov.au/#detail_places;4957

Avenue of Honour in Bacchus March By Wcwu (Self-photographed) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Avenue_of_Honour_in_Bacchus_Marsh.jpg

52 Weeks of Genealogical Records in 2014 – Week 4 Memorial Cards

Four weeks ago, the archivist and historian Shauna Hicks (http://www.shaunahicks.com.au) started a series of blog posts about genealogical records. There’s to be one post each week this year.  I am a bit late to the party, but now I’m joining in.

This week Shauna wrote about Memorial Cards (http://www.shaunahicks.com.au/52-weeks-of-genealogical-records-in-2014-week-4-memorial-cards/).

I have only one Memorial Card, purchased from Lenore Frost’s ‘Photo Rescue!’, a service intended to ‘re-unite orphaned photos [and cards] with their lost families’. (http://members.optushome.com.au/lenorefrost/prnews.html)

 

In 1854 Margaret Smyth, who became Margaret Plowright, arrived in Melbourne from Southampton on the Persian. She was  20 years old from County Cavan. During the passage to Australia, she gave birth to a boy, and when she arrived she first stayed with a cousin called John Hente. At least the surname looks like ‘Hente’ on the Assisted Migrant record; but the writing is hard to read and I have no other information about him. I would be grateful for any suggestions.

 

Microfiche copy of Register of Assisted Immigrants from United Kingdom 1839 – 1871 – See more at: http://prov.vic.gov.au/provguide-50#sthash.Bo7PJjpY.dpuf Microfiche copy of Register of Assisted Immigrants from United Kingdom 1839 – 1871 – See more at: http://prov.vic.gov.au/provguide-50#sthash.Bo7PJjpY.dpuf

From Public Record Office of Victoria VPRS 3502 Register of Assisted Migrants from the U.K. 1839 – 1871: 1854 list for the Persian Book 9 page 437

In November 1855 Margaret married John Plowright, a goldminer, at Magpie near Ballarat.  Their  marriage certificate describes her as a 22 year old dressmaker from County Cavan, whose parents were William Smyth, a farmer, and Mary Cox.

Margaret and John had seven children including one adopted child.  I can find no mention of the boy who was born on the Persian.

I have written previously on the marriage and children of Margaret and John.

On 5 March 1872 Margaret was admitted to the Maryborough Hospital.  According to the index of the hospital admission record, she was 37 years old, married, from Homebush, a Wesleyan, and she had arrived in the colony seventeen years previously on the Persian.

In 1897 at the age of 63 Margaret died at Homebush near Avoca. The death certificate has the cause of death as Brights Disease [kidney failure], dropsy [fluid retention] and exhaustion.  She was buried in Avoca cemetery.

A Christmas farewell

DISTRICT NEWS. (1915, December 31). Maryborough & Dunolly Advertiser (Vic. : 1914 – 1918), p. 4. Retrieved December 19, 2013, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article93799334

George Wilkins (1857 – 1944) was the school teacher at Homebush and married to Charlotte Young (1861 – 1925), my husband’s great grand aunt. After Charlotte’s death, George married Laura Squires (1878 – 1970).

George Templeton was 22 1/2 years old when he enlisted in August 1915. ( http://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/scripts/Imagine.asp?B=8098926 ) He died in Belgium of wounds received in action at Polygon Wood in September 1917.

Roll of Honour circular from http://www.awm.gov.au/research/people/roll_of_honour/person/R1671953/

Wes Rowlands died in July 1916 at Pozieres in France. He was 23 when he enlisted in August 1915. ( http://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/scripts/Imagine.asp?B=11583468 )

Roll of Honour circular from  http://www.awm.gov.au/research/people/roll_of_honour/person/R1666033/ .

There are 19 men called Frederick James who enlisted in World War 1 and I have not identified which of these was the visitor at Homebush.

George Templeton and Wes Rowlands are remembered in the Avenue of Honour in the grounds of the former Lower Homebush State School.

Trove Tuesday: Obituary for John Young (1856 – 1928)

From OBITUARY. (1928, November 3). Williamstown Chronicle (Vic. : 1856 – 1954), p. 2. Retrieved August 27, 2013, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article69525217

John Young was my husband’s great grandfather.

He was the oldest surviving son of George Young and Caroline née Clarke. He was born at Dunolly on 27 August 1856. His father was a gold miner and the family moved around the rushes until settling at Lamplough as can be seen from the birth places of the children:

• George born and died at Beechworth about 1854
• John born 27 August 1856 at Dunolly
• Alice born  1859 at White Hills near Maryborough
• Charlotte and Harriet, twins, born 1861 at Lamplough
• Maria born 1863 at Lamplough
• Rachel born 1865 at Lamplough
• Caroline born 1867 at Lamplough, died 1876
• Edmond born 1870 at Lamplough died 1876
• Annie born 1872 at Lamplough and died 1873
• Laura  born 1874 at Lamplough and died 1876
• William Robert born 1876 at Lamplough
• James Ernest born 1878 at Lamplough

With the birth of the twins at the Lamplough rush of 1860, the family didn’t move on. George bought land and the family settled in the district.

John worked as a miner.

He travelled to New South Wales and, according to his death certificate, spent six years there.  In Parkes he met a widow, Sarah Jane Whiteman née Way. They married in Melbourne on 26 September 1894 at 430 Bourke Street according to the rites of the Church of Christ.   Their residences stated on the marriage certificate was that he was living at Bowenvale and she was at the Mechanics Hotel, Bourke Street.

Sarah Jane had two children by her first marriage, Robert born 1883 and Mary Ann Whiteman, Mary Ann was born on 19 August 1884, seven months after Sarah Jane’s first husband died of pneumonia. Sarah Jane had a third child, Jack Walsh Whiteman born 13 August 1894 at Parkes, just weeks before her marriage to John Young. The child was born to an unknown father and stayed in Parkes to be brought up by Sarah Jane’s parents and sister. He was renamed Leslie Leister; Sarah Jane’s sister Eliza marrying Robert Leister and the two of them brought up the boy.

John and Sarah Jane had three children together:

• Caroline born and died 1895 at Timor (near Bowenvale)
• John Percy 24 August 1896 at Bowenvale
• Cecil born 5 July 1898 at Rokewood

Sarah Jane died of following the birth of Cecil on 6 July 1898 at Rokewood.

The two young boys were brought up by John’s sisters. In particular by Charlotte who had married George Wilkins and lived at Homebush, near Avoca. The boys also spent time with Harriet who had married William Richards and lived at Clunes.  The era was not one where widowed fathers brought up their children.  John continued to work as a miner at Bowenvale and Betley just south of Dunolly.

Sarah Jane’s oldest two children stayed very close to the Young family; for example visiting Charlotte and writing frequently to their two young half-brothers (we have a collection of post cards from the young Jack Young which he collected through his child hood).

At the end of his life, John Young lived with his step daughter Mary Ann and her second husband, Henry White Nichols, in Henry’s house in Seddon, also known as Yarraville.  According to the electoral rolls, John was still living at Betley in 1924.  I do not know of any connection to Beveridge as mentioned in the obituary.

John died on 23 October 1928 after a three month illness from arterio sclerosis and cardiac failure.  He is buried at Footscray cemetery.

John Plowright (1831 – 1910)

John Plowright was born 1831 in Kings Lynn, Norfolk to William Plowright (1791-1869) and Sarah Ann née Jackson (1796 – 1864). He was the fourth of eight children of the couple and in addition had an older half-brother from his father’s first marriage.

He was three days old when christened at St Margaret’s Church Kings Lynn on 29 November 1831 as the transcription of the parish register states he was born on 26 November.  His father was a mariner and the family was living at Austin Street, Lynn. (Transcription from freereg.org.uk http://www.freereg.org.uk/cgi/SearchResults.pl?RecordType=Baptisms&RecordID=770159 retrieved 5 August 2013)

On the 1841 census John was aged 9 and living with father, half-brother and six siblings at Austin Street Kings Lynn in the Parish of St Margaret.  His father’s occupation was labourer.  His half-brother William aged 20 was a plumber.(Ancestry.com. 1841 England Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc, 2010. Source Citation: Class: HO107; Piece: 786; Book: 5; Civil Parish: St Margaret; County: Norfolk; Enumeration District: 6; Folio: 9; Page: 15; Line: 11; GSU roll: 438868.)  None of the other children had an occupation stated.  John’s mother was away from home, one of two female servants in the house of John Ayre a merchant living in Norfolk Street Kings Lynn with his wife. (Ancestry.com. 1841 England Census [database on-line]. Source Citation: Class: HO107; Piece: 786; Book: 5; Civil Parish: St Margaret; County: Norfolk; Enumeration District: 7; Folio: 20; Page: 2; Line: 7; GSU roll: 438868.)

Austin Street has changed significantly from the 1840s but remnants of an old wall are standing based on Google maps street view http://goo.gl/maps/r3DDZ. Norfolk Street was one block away from Austin Street (Google maps link ). More buildings from the 1840s would appear to survive although I have not identified Mr Ayre’s house (Google street view link ).

In 1851 John Plowright was in London, a seaman boarding with a number of other young men also from Lynne in Shadwell in London.  He had signed on as a seaman with the rank of boy at the age of 17.

Merchant Navy Seamen 1835-1857: records of individual seamen that the central British government created to monitor a potential reserve of sailors for the Royal Navy.  Retrieved from FindMyPast.com.au

When he was admitted to Maryborough Hospital in 1873, John Plowright stated he had been in the colony for 20 years arriving on the Speculation.  His occupation was as mariner. The Maryborough hospital collected information on port of embarkation, name of ship, number of years in colonies. This information was collected apparently as part of a disease tracking program.

Shipping Intelligence from The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 – 1957), Thursday 22 September 1853, page 4 retrieved from trove.nla.gov.au

As there were no passengers I assume he came as crew.  There are no reports that I can find in the newspapers of crew desertion from the Speculation.

John Plowright married Margaret Smyth (1834-1897) on 19 November 1855 at his residence at Magpie near Ballarat.  Margaret had arrived on the Persian in April 1854.  She had been born in Bailieborough, County Cavan Ireland. Her father William Smyth was a farmer.  her mother was Mary née Cox.

There is a description of the Magpie diggings  from the perspective of James Davies born 1846 who arrived in Australia earlier in 1855 with his family and wrote about his experiences some time later:

Among the many fresh fields that were being opened about this time & they were numerous, was Magpie Gully about two miles south of Ballarat in the spring of 1855. This gutter, below its junction with the Chinaman’s Lead, proved to be the richest alluvial wash in Victoria, many of the claims washing up with an average of 8 to 10 oz to the tub. One claim that I knew went over a pound weight to the tub all through the claim. A town sprang up here in three or four days with a main street over a mile ling consisting of business places, hotels, theatres and restaurants, among the latter was one kept by the renowned John Ah Loo, whose table was appreciated by the diggers on many fields. The first hotel was opened by Teddy BRADSHAW, later a business man in Buninyong for many years, & partner at the crossing in the gully & did a roaring trade while the rush lasted. The theatre proprietors introduced an attraction in the shape of a tightrope walker named Madam De La Cass who used to walk a rope fastened at the height of 15 to 20 feet

——————–(Page torn off here)———————

retrieved from http://www.ballaratgenealogy.org.au/art/davies.htm Letter transcripts contributed by Jacqui Cunningham to the Ballarat and District Genealogy Society.

 John and Margaret had six children and also adopted one child:

• William John born 1859 at Alma (four miles west of Maryborough)
• James Henry born 1860 at Homebush (about 10 miles from Alma)
• Ann Jane born 1862 at Four Mile Flat (Homebush)
• Frederick Edward born 1865 at Avoca
• Samuel Joseph Smyth born 1868 at Homebush
• John Plowright born 1872 at Homebush and died the same year
• Frederick Harold born 1881 was adopted. No birth record found. In the probate file of John Plowright he is described as adopted son and no blood relation.

In 1872 Margaret was admitted to Maryborough Hospital. John was admitted a year later in 1873 and again in 1884.

In 1878 tragedy struck the family when Frederick died while cutting down a tree.  He died on 24 April and a magisterial inquiry was held the day after.  The file of the inquiry contains statements from John and his daughter Ann Jane.

Statement by John Plowright to magisterial inquiry touching the death of Frederick Edward Plowright held at Avoca on 25 April 1878 from inquest file held by Public Record Office of Victoria VPRS 24 number 372 of 1878 (male).

Statement by Ann Jane Plowright on 25 April 1878 presented to the magisterial inquiry into her brother’s death. Ann Jane was 15 years old. VPRS 24 1878/372 (male)

The death of Frederick was widely reported; mentions appeared in the Wagga Wagga Advertiser, the Launceston Examiner as well as the Argus.

John’s wife Margaret died of Brights Disease, dropsy and exhaustion in 1897.  She is buried in the Avoca cemetery.

Bereavement Card for Margaret Plowright.  The card was rescued by Lenore Frost and I found a mention of it on her site http://members.optushome.com.au/lenorefrost/prnews.html

In the last years of his life John continued to live at Lower Homebush and had a carrier business.

John died at Homebush Lower on 8 January 1910.  The cause of death was given as pneumonia syncope. Pneumonia is a “Lung inflammation caused by bacterial or viral infection.” Syncope is “Temporary loss of consciousness caused by a fall in blood pressure.” He had been ill for six days and Dr Charles G Grimm had last seen him the same day he died.

The death certificate informant was John’s son William John Plowright of 27 Hannover Street, Windsor.  He gave John’s occupation as miner.  He stated that John’s father was William, a tailor. He didn’t know who John’s mother was.  He knew John was born in Lynn, Norfolk, England and stated he had been 55 years in Victoria, that is arriving about 1855.

John was buried at Avoca cemetery on January 10th.  The undertaker was J. Classen.  The minister of religion was Reverend Tuckfield, a Methodist minister.  Coincidentally Tuckfield is related to another branch of the family tree.

John had made his last will in 1902.  He divided his estate into sixths.  Each child received a sixth except for Samuel Joseph Smyth Plowright who received two one sixth shares. His two oldest sons were appointed executors.  His estate did not have any real estate but personal effects amounted to £204 11 shillings one penny.  This was mainly in cash with the exception of furniture valued at £12.  Probate was granted 2 April 1910.   (Probate files held by Public Record Office of Victoria reference 114/702).

Cecil Young and family: Cecil’s early life up to end World War I

Cecil was the grandson of one of the earlier miners of the Avoca district.  He served in World War 1.

George Young, a miner, had arrived at the Lamplough Rush near Avoca in about 1859 with a wife and two young children.  A third child had been born and died at Beechworth.  John had been born in 1856 at Dunolly and Alice in January 1859 at White Hills near Maryborough.  Twins Charlotte and Harriet were born in July 1861 at Lamplough. Although the rush was moving on, perhaps the burden of four young children including new born twins persuaded George and his wife Caroline to settle.  George took up a small portion of land and continued to mine at Lamplough.  He and his wife had thirteen children.  She died in 1879 at the age of 43 leaving 8 children, the two youngest being one and three years old.  It would appear John, who was then aged 23, took on some responsibility for helping with his siblings while probably working as a miner locally.  His sister Alice was married a year later, Harriet and Charlotte married in 1881 and 1882 respectively, and Maria was married in 1884.

It seems that between about 1887 and 1894 John Young was working in New South Wales.  At Parkes he met the widow of a miner, Sarah Jane Whiteman.  They married in Melbourne in 1894.  She already had two children Robert and Mary Anne aged about eleven and ten at the time of her second marriage.  John and Sarah Jane had one daughter who died in infancy and then a son John Percy (Jack) was born at Timor in 1896.  A second son, Cecil,  was born at Rokewood in 1898 but Sarah Jane died in childbirth.

The two young boys were brought up by their aunt Charlotte who had married a schoolteacher George Wilkins. George was headteacher at Homebush near Avoca.  John Young continued as a miner at Barringhup then Burnt Creek and later Betley.  The two boys stayed in contact with their half-brother and half-sister.  Postcards from Tasmania reveal that Robert Whiteman moved to Tasmania and married there.  Later he moved back to Melbourne.  Mary Ann lived for a time at Homebush (1909) and after marriage in 1911 lived in Melbourne.  From 1911 the two boys were living at Clunes with their Aunt Harriet (Charlotte’s twin) who had been widowed in 1904 and whose youngest child was the same age as Jack and Cecil.¹

As the head teacher of Homebush George Wilkins played an active role in the community: he was on the local cricket team; he played the cornet in the local band; he was frequently called to take on the roll of MC at local gatherings.  George was Lieutenant in charge of the local cadets.² During the war George Wilkins took on a leading role organising the Soldiers’ Comforts Fund of Homebush. After the war he helped to form the local branch of the Returned Soldiers’ League.

Cecil enlisted in the AIF in December 1915.³ He was only seventeen and a half but he advanced his date of birth by one year.  He described his trade as a butcher but was not an apprentice.  He declared he had served with the senior cadets at Footscray for 9 months (no kit had been issued as the annotation stated it was an exempt area).  He was only a small man: 5 feet 5 1/4 inches tall weighing 123 1/2 lbs (just under 9 stone or 60 kg).  He had two tattoos: a ship and two clasped hands on his left forearm, a rose with “Myrtle” on his right forearm.  In April 1916 he was appointed to the 24th Battallion, 13th reinforcements.

Cecil Young, photograph from Noel Tunks

He embarked from Australia in July 1917 arriving Plymouth, England in September and departing Folkestone, England in November 1916 and taken on strength in France 21 December 1916. He was with the 24th battalion reinforcing the second division. He was sick with scabies in hospital in mid-June 1917 and rejoined his unit at the end of the month.  He was wounded in action on 20 September 1917 with gunshot wounds to his right ear and his right thigh.  He was transferred to an ambulance train and three weeks later to hospital in England.  In January he was discharged to furlough and later that month he was admonished by a major following disorderly conduct and refusal to obey an order given by the Military Police. In April he was returned to Australia disembarking in early June and he was discharged from the AIF at Melbourne as medically unfit on 26 July 1918.  The last stamped annotation to his AIF file is  “Application for war service leave gratuity passed Feb 28 1919”.

Battle of Menin Road – wounded at side of the road. The 24th battalion’s battle honours include Menin Road. This battle occurred on 20 September 1917 so it is possible that the conditions Cecil experienced are similar to those in this picture taken by Frank Hurley.4

By August 1918 he was in Homebush staying with his aunt and uncle George and Charlotte Wilkins.  There he entertained a large number of guests together with Pte Allen, a friend of his from his war service, at the Public Hall, Homebush.  Guests were mainly members and supporters of Homebush Soldiers’ Comforts Fund.  The object of Privates Young and Allen “being to show their appreciation of the good work that is being done by the above body”.

Cecil’s brother Jack also served in World War I.  He enlisted in Melbourne on 3 October 1916. He was twenty years old. He trained as a signaller, and went to France in January 1918. He was wounded in action, gassed, in August 1918. In November 1918 Jack Young died of pneumonia in England. He is buried at Brookwood War Cemetery. John Young, his father, completed a card for the Roll of Honour of Australia.

Cecil and Jack are remembered locally on the Homebush Honor Roll unveiled in 1917 and on the memorial placed at the Homebush school in 1993. They are not remembered on any of the other local Avoca memorials.

Cecil is my husband’s grandfather.

The school at Lower Homebush where Cecil and Jack Young lived with their aunt Charlotte and her husband George Wilkins.  The Avenue of Honour can be seen.  Photographed September 2011.

The plaque at the Avenue of Honour at Lower Homebush School.

---

<sup>1. In the 1960s Cecil passed a collection of postcards to his son Peter. These postcards helped us to develop the family tree and understand the family history of the early twentieth century.↩
2. Postcard concerning uniforms for two cadets from the firm Alfred Bowley addressed to Lieut. G.E. Wilkins in 1907. ↩
3. National Archives of Australia: Australian Imperial Force, Base Records Office; B2455, First Australian Imperial Force Personnel Dossiers, 1914-1920; Young Cecil Ernest : SERN 5115 : POB Rokewood VIC : POE Melbourne VIC : NOK F Young John ↩
4. Picture retrieved from Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Battle_of_Menin_Road_-_wounded_at_side_of_the_road.jpg 20 April 2013. This image was in turn saved from the State Library of New South Wales: Exhibition of war photographs taken by Capt. F. Hurley, August 1917- August 1918. The caption for image 35: The Battle of the Menin Road. Walking wounded returning from the battle and by the roadside a relay of seriously wounded. The battle is still raging in the background. http://acms.sl.nsw.gov.au/item/itemDetailPaged.aspx?itemID=423850 retrieved 20 April 2013. ↩</sup>