Hannah Fish aged 5 died in 1879

No title (1879, June 3). Avoca Mail (Vic. : 1863 – 1900; 1915 – 1918), p. 2. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article202422612

On Friday 30 May 1879 a five-year-old girl called Hannah Fish died at Lamplough, a small gold-mining town near Avoca in central Victoria.

Her death was sudden and unexpected, and a coronial inquest was held the next day.

Hannah was the child of an unmarried daughter of William Fish, a miner, who deposed that the thumb of her left hand had become inflamed a couple of weeks previously, that her grandmother had bathed and poulticed it, that within a few days she was retching, and that he had given her four teaspoons of fluid magnesia (magnesium hydroxide in suspension, a laxative and antacid) to settle her stomach. He did not call a doctor or take her to see one: ‘I did not have any medical attendance for her, but would have brought her to the doctor yesterday afternoon had she lived’.

An Avoca doctor called William Selwyn Morris stated that he had seen the body. He believed that the cause of death was ‘inflammation of the absorbent vessels’: her lymphatic system had been overwhelmed by the infection.

A paragraph in the Avoca Mail on the following Tuesday reporting the inquest added the information that there appeared to be severe ‘gathering’ (accumulation of pus) on one of Hannah’s fingers. This rapidly extended to the arm, then to the chest.

Morris offered the opinion that the wound may have been caused by a venomous insect and that he had no reason to believe that ‘violence or [deliberate] injury’ had caused Hannah’s death.

Deposition by William Fish, grandfather of Hannah Fish from Inquest into the death of Hannah Fish held on 31 May 1879 at Avoca. Page 1

page 2 of grandfather’s deposition

page 1 of the deposition by Dr Morris

page 2 of the deposition by Dr Morris

Fluid Magnesia or Magnesium Hydroxide was first patented in 1818. In 1879 it was advertised in many newspapers including the Avoca Mail.

Advertising (1879, May 20). Avoca Mail (Vic. : 1863 – 1900; 1915 – 1918), p. 4. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article202422481

 

Without knowing more about the circumstances it is impossible to say whether and to what extent Fish and his wife were responsible for the little girl’s death. Two teaspoons twice of a mild laxative seems a culpably inadequate treatment for a spreading suppurating wound, which would most certainly have produced a high fever and great agony. Even if she had been attended by a doctor, it was decades before antibiotic drugs were available and in common use, so the result may have been the same.

The blame for poor Hannah’s untimely death, if we can speak of blame, must be divided somehow between an indifferent universe, a cruel and incompetent God and, perhaps, her callous and careless family.

If William Fish did not do enough to save his dying granddaughter, it is satisfying to learn that in 1893, fourteen years later, a miner called William Fish from Lamplough was fossicking for gold in an old working, and

“… while below in a stooping position the earth above him
gave way and forced his head towards his feet, breaking his back and several of his ribs.”

It took him a day to die.

Hannah Fish (1874 – 1879) was the daughter of Hannah Fish (1856-1891) and was the niece of Alfred Fish (1860-1932), who later married Rachel Young (1865-1918) and also the niece of Alfred’s brother Thomas Fish (1872-1949) who married Rachel’s sister Alice Young (1859-1935).

References

• Inquest from Public Record Office Victoria: VPRS 24/ P0  unit 399,  item 1879/202 Female
• Glossary of 19C medical terms at http://www.thornber.net/medicine/html/medgloss.html
• DISTRESSING FATAL ACCIDENT. (1893, April 14). The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 – 1954), p. 6. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article13904967

 

L is for Never Surrender Lodge No. 187 I. O. G. T. Lamplough

The International Order of Good Templars is a temperance organisation, founded in the United States in 1851.

IOGT (International Organisation of Good Templars) Certificate of Membership from 1868. Published by Lyman T. Moore, Lawton, Michigan. Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1868, by Lyman T. Moore in the Clerks Office of the District Court for the Western District of Michigan. Image from Wikipedia. (Click to enlarge)  Vignette (top): The parable of the Good Samaritan. Vignettes (clockwise from bottom): First drink – social. Second drink at a bar. Drinking & gambling. Goes home drunk to young wife. Pawns his clothes. Poverty & delirium. Recovery – signs the pledge. Prosperity & happy home. Certificate of Membership: This is to Certify, that — is a worthy Member in good standing of — Lodge N° — held at — State of —. In Witness Whereof, we have hereunto affixed the Seal of our Lodge this — day of — A.D. 18 —. Secretary. W.C.

In 1875 the Order established a branch, the ‘Never Surrender’ Lodge in the small mining settlement of Lamplough, in central Victoria. My husband’s 3rd great grandfather, George Young (1826-1890), and George’s son John (1856-1928), both gold miners, became officers of the Lodge. George’s daughter Alice (1859 – 1935) , aged 17, was also a member, holding the office of Worthy Treasurer. George was Worthy Financial Secretary and John was Worthy Marshall.

FRIDAY EVENING. FEBRUARY 5, 1875. (1875, February 5). Avoca Mail (Vic. : 1863 – 1900; 1915 – 1918), p. 2. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article202697423

No title (1875, November 12). Avoca Mail (Vic. : 1863 – 1900; 1915 – 1918), p. 2. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article202698128

LAMPLOUGH. (1876, January 14). Avoca Mail (Vic. : 1863 – 1900; 1915 – 1918), p. 3. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article204038187

In 1876 the Avoca Mail reported that at a concert put on by the Lodge, Mr Young—presumably either George or his son John—‘did good [unreadable]’. From the context it appears that his performance was either a song or two or perhaps a few jokes. It is a little frustrating not to be able to read the badly scanned text.

The International Order of Good Templars still exists, but I have found no more newspaper mentions of the Lamplough Lodge after this one in 1876; I don’t know when it dissolved.

Initials

IOGT = Independent Order of Good Templars
GWCT = Grand Worthy Chief Templar
WCT = Worthy Chief Templar
PWCT = Past Worthy Chief Templar
WVT = Worthy Vice Templar
WS = Worthy Secretary
WC = Worthy Chaplain
WIG = Worthy Inside Guard
WOG = Worthy Outside Guard
WAS = Worthy Assistant Secretary
WT = Worthy Treasurer
WFS = Worthy Financial Secretary
WDM = Worthy Deputy Marshall
WRHS = Worthy Right Hand Supporter
WLHS = Worthy Left Hand Supporter

Further reading

• IOGT International: historyhttp://iogt.org/about-iogt/the-iogt-way/who-we-are/the-history/
• Turnbull, William W The Good Templars : a history of the rise and progress of the Independent Order of Good Templars. 1901 retrieved from https://archive.org/details/goodtemplars00turn
• Echoes from the Bush. (1873, August 5). Evening Journal (Adelaide, SA : 1869 – 1912), , p. 3 (SECOND EDITION). Retrieved June 8, 2016, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article197668264 

George Young’s land at Lamplough

In 1859 or 1860  my husband’s great great grandfather, George Young, who had followed earlier Victorian gold rushes, moved to the new diggings at Lamplough, near Avoca. The Lamplough rush was one Victoria’s last great scrambles for gold. It was the very last for George, who settled on a block of land, became a small farmer, and died there thirty years later.

George’s wife Caroline née Clarke and their two young children, John, born in August 1856 at Dunolly, and Alice, born in January 1859 at White Hills near Maryborough, moved with him to Lamplough. (A third child, George, had been born at Beechworth in 1854 but died there while still an infant.)

In July 1861 Caroline gave birth to twin girls, Charlotte and Harriet. Although the rush was petering out and miners were leaving, George and Caroline, burdened with four young children, stayed on. George took up ten acres of land, began farming, and continued to dig for gold.

Caroline died in December 1879 at the age of forty-three, leaving eight children, the youngest two just three years and one year old. Altogether she and George had thirteen children.

On 6 September 1873, George bought ten acres at Lamplough.

Land Title from Crown Allotment 2 Section 1A Parish of Glenmona VOLUME 00687 FOLIO 357 retrieved from http://www.landata.vic.gov.au 5 December 2012

Extract showing George Young’s two allotments from Parish Plan for Genmona County of Gladstone. Plan dated May 28 1929 and digitised by the Public Records of Victoria.

The Victorian 1869 Land Act, passed on 29 December 1869, was

designed to expand land ownership in Victoria. People could peg out a parcel of unsurveyed land and apply for a survey to be done. If the application was successful, the land could be held by licence for three years. At the end of this period, if conditions regarding improvement to the land had been met, the land could be purchased. As an alternative to immediate purchase, the balance of the cost of the land could be paid over a seven-year lease. (“Lucy: Glossary.” Online Exhibitions: Lucy’s Story: Lucy Bell. Public Records Office of Victoria, 26 Apr. 2006. Web. 12 Jan. 2014. <http://www.prov.vic.gov.au/online-exhibitions/lucy/glossary.htm>)

George Young had taken advantage of this legislation. He bought his block shortly only three years and nine months since the legislation had been passed.

On this plan, prepared when George Young was acquiring his second block of ten acres, it can be seen that the first block was acquired under section 42 of the 1865 Land Act.

PROV, VA 538 Department of Crown Lands and Survey, VPRS 439/P0 Land Selection Files, by Land District, Section 49 Land Act 1869, Unit 203, 49/991 Glenmona

George first leased the block, then, in 1884, he made an application to purchase it.

On 7 August 1877 George Young wrote to the Lands Office about his lease payments.

PROV, VA 538 Department of Crown Lands and Survey, VPRS 439/P0 Land Selection Files, by Land District, Section 49 Land Act 1869, Unit 203, 49/991 Glenmona: letter concerning licence fee.

The error was made by the Lands Office. George’s payment had not been posted correctly.
His application to purchase the block in 1884  included the following statement:

PROV, VA 538 Department of Crown Lands and Survey, VPRS 439/P0 Land Selection Files, by Land District, Section 49 Land Act 1869, Unit 203, 49/991 Glenmona: application to purchase 18.8.84.

I have been unable to find the file associated with the purchase of the first block of land. It is a pity as I learned much more about George and his life from the land files, building on the family history that I learned from the birth and death certificates of his children.

George Young died on 31 August 1890. Seven weeks before his death George transferred the land to his daughter Maria. She sold it a year later. There is no probate file for George Young. He had probably arranged his affairs before his death and didn’t need to make a will.

Land Title from Crown Allotment 2 Section 1A Parish of Glenmona VOLUME 00687 FOLIO 357 retrieved from http://www.landata.vic.gov.au 5 December 2012  Denis Strangman, a descendant of one of the Lamplough miners who settled there near George Young, has written a history of the rush. (Strangman, Denis. “The Gold Rush to Lamplough, near Avoca in Victoria, Australia, during 1859-1860.” Familia (Ulster Historical Foundation) 2.3 (1987): 3-21. Avoca and District Historical Society, 10 Jan. 2000. Web. 10 Nov 2018. <http://home.vicnet.net.au/~adhs/article-the-gold-rush-to-lamplough-1859-1860/>.)