M is for Merseyside – 1854 departure of the “Dirigo”

On 10 June 1854, some two years after the death of her husband Kenneth Budge, my 3rd great grandmother Margaret Budge née Gunn (1819 – 1863) married for a second time, to Ewan Rankin (1825- ?), a carpenter in Wick in the far north of Scotland.

Soon afterwards she and her new husband, with the four surviving children of her first marriage, made the long journey—nearly five hundred miles—from Wick to Liverpool, planning to emigrate from there to South Australia.

The family sailed as assisted immigrants, passengers whose fare was paid by a Government body.

McMinn, W. K. 1852, Emigration depot at Birkenhead Illustrated London News, 10 July 1852 retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-135889210

They embarked on the new emigrant ship Dirigo, launched that year in New Brunswick, Canada. She was 1282 tons, owned by Coltart and Co, and registered in Liverpool.

In light of what unfolded we are fortunate in having quite detailed records of this voyage of the Dirigo, much of it correspondence between officers in the Colonial Land and Emigration Office; some of it even tabled in the House of Commons.

The Dirigo got off to a bad start:

“She was to have been ready for the reception of her emigrants at noon on Friday, the 24th June, but owing to various delays, the whole of her passengers could not be embarked before the 3rd of July ; and although moved into the Mersey on the 29th June, she could not, from the rainy and tempestuous weather, finally sail until the 6th July.

“At the final muster of the emigrants on the 4th of July, when the sailing orders were delivered, the number on board was equal to 426 statute adults [passengers over the age of 12] ; and with the exception of diarrhoea among children (a very common complaint in emigrant ships at starting), and the case of an emigrant named Nottage, who was recovering from an attack of the same malady, all the people answered to their names, and were to all appearance in good health.”

On 7 July Captain Trevillick telegraphed the owners:

“From Trevellick, Queenstown, to William Coltart, Son & Co.,
Chapel-street, Liverpool. SATURDAY —Ship “ Dirigo,” from Cork ; three deaths; seven cases cholera; two cases fever. Expect to see or hear from you. (Reply by magnetic telegraph.)”

William L Echlin, Surgeon Superintendant of the Dirigo wrote to the Emigration Officer at Dublin:

Sir, Ship “Dirigo,” Cove of Cork, 8 July 1854, 5 A. M. IT is my painful duty to inform you that sickness of a very serious nature has broken out on board the ship “ Dirigo,” Captain Trevellick, commander, which sailed from Liverpool on Thursday the 6th instant at 1.30 p. m. About this time, a girl aged 13 years, was reported ill; she was promptly attended and every attention was paid to her, but she expired about 3 p. m. Her father, who was in attendance upon her, sickened and expired upon the following night at 8 p. m. On the 7th instant, about 7 p. m., cholera appeared on the lower deck, attacking two men, one single and the other married. At 11.30 p. m. another case presented itself on the poop deck.
On the 8th instant, between the hours of 2.30 a. m. and 5 a. m., three other cases appeared, two amongst the single women, and one on the lower deck. There are also two cases of fever, but I am happy in stating they are progressing favourably. It is almost impossible that those persons suffering from cholera can recover. 
Under such circumstances as the above, I have considered it prudent to order the ship into Cork, with the hope of having the sick promptly removed, so that the health of the remaining passengers may be insured. I trust that the urgent necessity of the case will be sufficient excuse for the order I have given.”

On 8 July the Dirigo arrived in Cork. The Government Emigration Officer advised the Colonial Land and Emigration Office that he had landed the sick, but had no means of landing the healthy passengers. When inspecting the ship with the medical examiner of emigrants, the Government Emigration Officer found 7 dead and 19 persons were in confirmed cholera, and more than half the passengers suffering from diarrhoea and premonitory symptoms. The Government Emigration Officer sent the Dirigo back immediately to Liverpool, in tow of the Minerva steam ship, as he believed the passengers would be provided with accommodation of a better description and at an earlier period than could be effected if they stayed in Cork.

The Dirigo arrived back in Liverpool on the morning of 10 July. It was towed to the dock gates at Birkenhead. The authorities there, however, were reluctant to allow the emigrants, sick or healthy, to be re-landed. There had been three more deaths and there were likely to be more before night. There were about 100 cases with cholera or with premonitory symptoms. There was much alarm among the passengers. At 1 am on 11 July 300 of the healthy emigrants were eventually brought ashore in a steamer to the depot.

“... large fires at both ends of the dining hall having been previously lighted, and tea already made to serve them. The thankfulness of these people at finding themselves once more in the depôt, and as they said, out of danger, more than repaid the anxiety of those engaged in attending their wants.”

McMinn, W. K. 1852, Government Emigrants’ Mess-Room in the Emigration depot at Birkenhead Illustrated London News, 10 July 1852 retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-135889210

At 3am on 13 July a second party of 65 emigrants were landed leaving 20 on the ship who were sick or convalescent. These were landed the following night.

C. Stuart Bailey of the Colonial Land and Emigration Office who was in Liverpool wrote:

“I did not, however, overlook, while attending to my other duties, the importance of carrying out the Commissioner's instructions to induce the people to take daily walking exercise in the country. On several occasions I took parties of women and children to spend part of the day in the park, adjoining Birkenhead, regaling them with cakes and milk ; at another time, I hired half a dozen spring carts, and conveyed the whole of the people, men, women, and children, a few miles into the country ; giving them, in addition to their usual rations, which we took with us, a liberal supply of cakes and milk, and a small allowance of beer for the men ; and still further to encourage them to take exercise in the open air, away from the town, a notice was posted at the depôt, that such as might desire it should have cooked rations for the whole day served out to them in the morning.”

Ewan Rankin was among 118 passengers who signed a memorial concerning the cholera outbreak. Although they had made a number of complaints in the memorial, many of those who signed re-embarked and continued their journey to Australia. The Colonial Land and Emigration Commissioners investigated and settled their complaints before sending the Dirigo to sea again.

Fifty-seven people from the Dirigo died of cholera from 8 July to 9 August.

The Dirigo left the Mersey at 7 p.m. on 9 August to continue her voyage to Adelaide. All her passengers were reportedly in good health and spirits. The voyage was more than a month delayed in setting off but the passengers had been ashore for four weeks recuperating from their ordeal.

The Dirigo . . . Arrived from Liverpool on the 22nd November, after a passage of 107 days. She landed 482 immigrants. Fourteen deaths and twelve births took place at sea. This ship arrived in a very excellent order. The cleanliness, general management and discipline of the people reflected the highest credit on Mr. W.L. Echlin, the surgeon-superintendent.

South Australian Government Gazette 1855.

At the same time the Dirigo was having trouble with cholera, another emigrant ship, the Bloomer, was leaving Liverpool. Amongst the emigrants were the Ralph family, ancestors of Greg. The Bloomer left Liverpool on 20 July but had to leave from Liverpool, on the other side of the Mersey, rather than Birkenhead because of the cholera at Birkenhead. The Bloomer arrived in Portland, Victoria on 21 November 1854 after a voyage of 124 days.

In reading the correspondence about the cholera outbreak on the Dirigo I was impressed by the efficiency of the officials dealing with the Dirigo cholera outbreak and struck by their kindheartedness. I was particularly touched by the conclusion of a report prepared on 10 August by C. Stuart Bailey, the Commissioners’ Despatching Officer at the Birkenhead Depot, an officer of the Colonial Land and Emigration Office:

"I have much gratification in pointing to the success which attended these simple efforts to promote the healthful recreation and amusement of these people; for instead of leaving, en masse, dispirited and discontented, long before the time came for a general muster preparatory to re-embarkation, good health, good spirits, and confidence were restored, and the number of those who had returned to their homes, instead of being 250, as at first threatened, did not exceed 50 adults altogether ; that is to say, the number in adults of the original passengers who re-embarked was about 300."

We smile condescendingly at Dickens’ portrayal of Victorian bureaucratic tanglements—Little Dorrit‘s Circumlocution Office is an example—so it is useful to be reminded that our forefathers were also very capable of doing things well.

Related posts

• Margaret Gunn (1819 – 1863)
• The death of Kenneth Budge (1813 – 1852) – Captain Budge died of cholera
• B is for Bookmark
• B is for the barque Bloomer arrived 1854

Further reading

• SHIPPING REPORT. (1854, November 1). The Hobart Town Advertiser (Tas.), p. 2. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article264615098
• Accounts and Papers of the House of Commons, Volume 46. Emigrant Ship Dirigo: Correspondence between Officers in Charge of Emigration Depot at Birkenhead, and Colonial Land and Emigration Coms. in relation to outbreak of cholera on board emigrant ship Dirigo. Retrieved through Google Books.

Wikitree:

• Ewan Rankin (abt. 1825 – aft. 1863)
• Margaret (Gunn) Rankin (1819 – 1863)

B is for Bookmark

In 1863 my third great grandmother Margaret Rankin, formerly Margaret Budge nee Gunn, died at ‘Bookmark‘, a sheep-station on the Murray River near present-day Renmark.

brass plaque from the grave of Margaret Rankin now on view at Olivewood Historic Homestead and Museum, Renmark

Margaret had arrived in South Australia from Liverpool on the ‘Dirigo‘ in November 1854 with her second husband Ewan Rankin and four surviving children from her first marriage. In Wick on 10 June 1854, five weeks before they sailed on 15 July, she had married Ewan Rankin, a carpenter.

When the Rankin family arrived the two boys, Daniel and Kenneth, were 12 and 11, and the two daughters, Margaret and Alexandrina, were 9 and 2. I do not know where the family settled nor how Ewan Rankin was employed from the time of their arrival until Margaret’s death nearly ten years later. It appears, however, that Ewan Rankin had found work on a large property called ‘Bookmark‘ on the Murray River near present-day Renmark.

In the early 1860s ‘Bookmark‘ and the neighbouring station, ‘Chowilla‘, were leased by two men named James Chambers and William Finke. Chambers died in 1862 and his brother John Chambers took over. Finke died in early 1864. At that time Ewan Rankin seems to have been the ‘Bookmark‘ overseer.

In 1864 a man named Richard Holland bought the ‘Bookmark‘ station lease for his stepsons John, William, and Robert Robertson. The run extended from Spring Cart Gully near Berri to the NSW border. I do not know if Ewan Rankin stayed with the property or moved on; I have not found any reference to him after 1863.

In 1867, four years after her mother Margaret died, Margaret Budge, now 21, married James Francis Cudmore of ‘Paringa‘, a neighbouring station on the Murray, 20 miles upstream from ‘Bookmark‘.

In the 1870s Daniel and Kenneth Budge worked for the Cudmores and went into partnership with them. In 1870 Kenneth purchased ‘Gooyea‘ station in Queensland with J F Cudmore. In October 1871 the Adelaide “Evening Journal” reported that “A lot of 600 cows with 16 bulls, from Mr Cudmore’s Paringa Station, in charge of Mr. K. Budge, passed through Wilcannia on the 12th for Dowling’s Creek, Bulla, Queensland.”

In the 1860s paddle steamers carried a great amount of goods, much of it wool, up and down the Darling and Murray rivers. Two dangers were boiler explosions and collision with submerged logs, snags. In 1862 the ‘Settler‘ hit a snag near ‘Bookmark‘ and sank:

"In coming up the river near Bookmark Station she came in collision with a large snag some two feet under water, which made such a large hole in her below watermark that she had to run ashore immediately, when she sunk, and now lies with the water up to the floor of her cabins. She had some 200 tons of cargo onboard, the greater portion of which was for settlers and storekeepers on the river, and they will consequently be put to considerable inconvenience, in addition to the loss attending the accident. The steamer 'Lady Daly' is lying alongside the 'Settler' to render any assistance that may be necessary."

In 1865 the landing place at Bookmark station was cleared of 9 trees from the water by Edward Williams, superintendent of the Snagboat ‘Grappler‘, employed in the service of the Commissioner of Public Works.

In 1880 a correspondent of the “Kapunda Herald“, on a trip aboard the steamer ‘Gem‘ up to Wentworth, reported that “On the way down we had the chance of seeing Mr. J. F. Cudmore’s Paringa Station. It is a very pretty house built on a hill, with a fine garden terraced down the slope to the river, and from the steamer looks a grand residence. Farther down is Messrs. Robertson Brother’s Bookmark Station, which is a very nice looking building.”

Paringa station, Murray River about 1890 by Frederick Needham from the collection of the State Library of South Australia SLSA reference B 62050

In 1881 Mr G.E.M. [a Melbourne University student who wrote for the Melbourne Leader] on a trip down the Murray by canoe, coming around a bend,

“… to my astonishment, came suddenly in view of a well built residence, occupying a very elevated position off the left bank. Four tanks were near it on a lofty staging. The steam-engine was on a ledge lower down. A beautiful garden was round the house, and the flat ground below it was occupied by a number of outbuildings. My surprise was great to find that I was at Paringa, more so that it was only half-past three. The manager, Mr. Hayes, looked after me well. Paringa station belongs to Mr. Cudmore of Adelaide, and is his home for six months of the year. It runs 20,000 sheep, only a third of the number on Chowilla. I had a good night's rest, and, rising early, made my preparations before breakfast. At half-past eight I was proceeding onwards. At half-past twelve I was knocking at the door at Bookmark. The 21 miles between the two places did not offer much variety. Near Cutler's billabong I saw far ahead a man slowly propelling his boat, and having overtaken him, learnt that he was a carpenter by trade, who, finding work slack in Wentworth, had patched up an old furniture case to form a boat, and taking a few tools, had started off down the river to seek work. Instead of sculling in the ordinary way, he looked to the bows and pushed his sculls through the water. I was amused, on asking him the time, with the startling vehemence of his reply, "God knows." His boat crept along so slowly that I wished him good morning and paddled on. From Paringa can be seen a range of hills trending towards the Murray. They do not, however, come to the river, but form a precipitous bank for the Margary Creek, which flows into the Murray a mile above Bookmark. The station house is in a striking position, of which it is worthy, for a more elegantly furnished dwelling I have rarely seen. Despite my peculiar appearance, Mrs. Robertson extended to me a cordial welcome, and in the afternoon Mr. Robertson came home. All the wood work in this house and a great part of the cabinet work is the result of Mr. Robertson's own labor. In the evening we fished, using shrimps for bait, and caught in a short time a nice basket of bream. Music enlivened us till bedtime. The following day was delightfully spent. In the morning we drove to the back country, to try for a shot at a kangaroo. As we drove along I had many of the trees and shrubs pointed out to me. "This fragile gum tree," said he, " is the mallee, the Eucalyptus Dumosa ; that prickly bush, whose roots when cut yield fresh water, is the needle bush ; there is the sandalwood, there the box. This stunted shrub, interspersed with spinifex, is a kind of saltbush ; that dark-tinted tree is the native cherry ; that, very like it in appearance, is the bitter bush; yonder is the curious quandong, easily picked out by reason of its light-green foliage." The kangaroos sleep during the heat of the day under shelter of the pines. We disturbed many, but my execrable shooting invariably resulted in their hopping off scathless. In the evening, while fishing, I was sitting beside Mr. Robertson, watching my float, when he said quietly, "Look here," motioning towards a snake which had swum the river and landed at his feet. A well aimed blow killed the first and last snake I saw in my whole trip. It was the common brown snake, 4 feet 6 inches long. On the 15th. January, with great regret, I left Bookmark. Three miles from the house the Spring Cart Cliffs begin, and extend for a long distance, gradually diminishing in height.”

Overlooking Pike Lagoon with the Murray in the distance, near Paringa

1887 sketch map showing Chowilla, Renmark, Paringa, and Bookmark from IRRIGATION. (1887, June 4). Adelaide Observer (SA), p. 13. Retrieved from
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article160762389

In 1887 the South Australian Government granted the Chaffey Brothers 30,000 acres from Bookmark station to begin Renmark, the first irrigation colony in Australia. In 1896 Bookmark station was divided into Calperum and Chowilla Stations; John and Robert Robertson dissolved their partnership, John retained Bookmark, and changed the name to Calperum, and Robert settled at Chowilla.

Now heritage listed, the homestead at what was Bookmark is on Calperum station. The present building, dating from the 1870s, replaces an earlier construction of pug and pine, which for walls used native pine trunks rendered with clay. This building technique was frequently employed in country South Australia, especially when there were not enough large trees to provide bark or slabs. In the early 1860s the Rankin family were probably living in buildings of pug and pine construction. In 1984 a pug and pine outbuilding built in 1863 on Chowilla was reported in a heritage study to be one of the oldest surviving structures in the upper Riverlands.

A pug and pine structure erected in 1876 and photographed 1925 (Barabba Primitive Methodist Chapel) State Library of South Australia image B58121

In 2015 the Robertson family celebrated 150 years on “Chowilla”, formerly part of Bookmark, which is now 35,200ha (87,000ac) and consists of mostly semi-arid rangeland featuring saltbush, blue bush, copper burr and native grasses. The Robertsons farm 132,000 hectares (327,000 acres) spread across four properties. Depending on the season the Robertsons shear 15,000 to 17,000 head of sheep.

saltbush

looking over the property at Ned’s Corner

Ned’s Corner is not far from the former station of Bookmark

Sources

• Sinking of the Settler at Bookmark: WENTWORTH. (1862, September 3). South Australian Register (Adelaide, SA : 1839 – 1900), p. 2. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article50175737
• CLEARING THE MURRAY. (1866, August 25). Adelaide Observer (SA : 1843 – 1904), p. 2 (Supplement to the Adelaide Observer.). Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article159504885
• Distances on the Murray between stations STATIONS ON THE MURRAY. (1880, August 12). Southern Argus (Port Elliot, SA : 1866 – 1954), p. 4. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article96888299 
• Description of trip to Wentworth on the Gem: OVERLAND CORNER. (1880, July 13). Kapunda Herald (SA : 1878 – 1951), p. 3. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article106564681 
• Canoe trip: THE CONTRIBUTOR. (1881, September 10). Leader (Melbourne, Vic. : 1862 – 1918, 1935), p. 2 (SUPPLEMENT TO THE LEADER). Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article198494350
• 1984 Heritage survey of the Murray Riverlands https://data.environment.sa.gov.au/Content/heritage-surveys/3-River-Murray-Heritage-Survey-Unincorporated-1984.pdf
• Border Stations: Milestone shapes a family’s future by Emma Downey published 25 June 2015 in farmonline (Fairfax Media) https://www.farmonline.com.au/story/3377738/border-stations-milestone-shapes-a-familys-future/
• The video introduction for Ned’s Corner Station gives a very good view of the countryside in the area of the upper Murray https://trustfornature.org.au/what-we-do/neds-corner-station/

Related posts

• Margaret Gunn (1819 – 1863)
• K is for Kenneth
• The tristate tour February 2021 part 2

Wikitree:

• Margaret (Gunn) Rankin (1819 – 1863)
• Ewan Rankin (abt. 1825 – aft. 1863)
• Margaret (Budge) Cudmore (1845 – 1912)
• James Francis Cudmore (1837 – 1912)

J is for John O’Groats

The village of John O’Groats, on the north-eastern tip of mainland Scotland, is 876 miles from Land’s End, on the western tip of Cornwall. Some of our ancestors lived at John O’Groats, some at Land’s End. Because they failed to bunch up for our convenience we will be obliged to drive from one end of the country to the other to take them all in.

One was Margaret Cudmore nee Budge (1845 – 1912), my great great grandmother, who was born on 22 October 1845 to Kenneth Budge (1813 – 1852) and Margaret Budge nee Gunn (1819 – 1863) in Wick, Caithness, 16 miles south of John O’Groats .

From a collection of 44 monochrome postcards showing fishing scenes around Scotland in the early 20th century. Monchrome photograph with the title ‘Herring Gutters at work, Wick’ showing three large trench style benchs full of herring with men and women on each side gutting herring. There are stacked fish barrels behind them with the masts of fishing vessels in the harbour in the background. Retrieved from Dornoch History Links image library http://www.historylinksarchive.org.uk/picture/number11794.asp

Margaret was baptized on 16 January 1846.

16/01/1846 BUDGE, MARGARET (Old Parish Registers Births 043/ 40 493 Wick) Page 493 of 593 retrieved from ScotlandsPeople.gov.uk

Her father was a sailor, who died at sea of cholera in 1852, when Margaret was almost 7. In 1854 Margaret Budge nee Gunn remarried, to Ewan Rankin (born 1825).

Margaret was the fourth of five children. Her older sister Alexandrina died between 1845 and 1851. Her younger sister was also named Alexandrina.

Margaret, her two brothers Daniel and Kenneth and younger sister Alexandrina accompanied their mother and step-father to Adelaide, South Australia in 1854. Margaret was then 9 years old.

Margaret married James Francis Cudmore (1837 – 1912), a pastoralist. They had 13 children.

Margaret Cudmore nee Budge. (I am not certain of the source of this photograph)

James Francis Cudmore was in business at various times with Margaret’s brothers Daniel and Kenneth and also James Mansfield Niall, the husband of Margaret’s younger sister Alexandrina.

Margaret, it appears, never returned to Wick. In honour of her home place however, Margaret named their house at Mount Barker “Caithness”. Mount Barker is 33 kilometers from Adelaide. Margaret’s youngest child, Robert Milo Cudmore, was born there in 1889.

Family Notices (1889, February 15). The Express and Telegraph (Adelaide, SA : 1867 – 1922), p. 2 (Second Edition.). Retrieved April 9, 2019, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article208524891

Related posts

• W is for Wick, Caithness
• The death of Kenneth Budge (1813 – 1852)
• Margaret Gunn (1819 – 1863)
• K is for Kenneth
• Trove tuesday : Daniel Budge

K is for Kenneth

One of my third great uncles was Kenneth George Budge (1842-1878), the son of Kenneth Budge (1813-1852) and Margaret Budge nee Gunn (1819-1863).

Kenneth Budge the father was a seaman who married Margaret Gunn in 1840. Kenneth and Margaret lived in Wick, Caithness, in the far north of Scotland. Their five children were:

• Daniel (1841-1895)
• Kenneth George (1842-1878)
• Alexandrina (1844 – before 1851)
• Margaret (1845 – 1912) my great great grandmother
• Alexandrina (1851-1911)

In August 1852 Kenneth Budge senior, who was trading between Scotland and the Baltic, died of cholera at sea, in the Øresund, the strait that separates Sweden and Denmark.

On 10 June 1854, Margaret remarried, to Ewan Rankin (1825- ?). With her four surviving children she emigrated to Adelaide, South Australia, sailing on the Dirigo. The ship departed Liverpool on 10 July 1854 but returned because of a cholera outbreak. Sailing again on 9 August, they arrived in South Australia on 22 November. Kenneth George was then 12 years old.

In 1863 Kenneth’s mother Margaret died at Bookmark station on the River Murray near present-day Renmark. Margaret was 44.

In 1867, in Adelaide, Kenneth’s sister, Margaret, married James Francis Cudmore (1837-1912).

In 1870, in partnership with his brother-in-law James Francis Cudmore, Kenneth bought Gooyea, a cattle station, on the Bulloo River near the Barcoo River, Queensland. In 1875 Kenneth’s brother Daniel joined the partnership.

The Barcoo River near Blackall photographed in 1938

Musterers on Milo station, probably in the 1890s. Milo station was formed from several stations including Gooyea

 

In October 1871 Kenneth was in charge of a mob of 600 cows and 16 bulls travelling from Paringa, a Cudmore station, to Dowling’s Creek, at Gooyea. A herd of cattle this big could travel only about ten miles a day, so the journey from Paringa to Gooyea would have taken nearly three months.

 

Latest News. (1871, October 18). Evening Journal (Adelaide, SA : 1869 – 1912), p. 2 (SECOND EDITION). Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article197660614

It is 1,224 kilometres from Paringa to Gooyea via Wilcannia or 765 miles

 

A mob of cattle crossing the MacIntyre River from Queensland to New South Wales. Image retrieved from Wikipedia.

From the Wikipedia article on Drover (Australian):

Movement of large mobs of stock was traditionally carried out by contract drovers. A drover had to be independent and tough, an excellent horseman, able to manage stock as well as men. The boss drover who had a plant (horses, dogs, cooking gear and other requisites) contracted to move the mob at a predetermined rate according to the conditions, from a starting point to the destination. The priorities for a boss drover were the livestock, the horses, and finally the men, as drovers were paid per head of stock delivered. Drovers were sometimes on the road for as long as two years. The drovers who covered very long distances to open up new country were known as “overlanders“.

Traditional droving could not have been done without horses. The horse plant was made up of work-horses, night-horses and packhorses, with each drover riding four or five horses during a trip. The horse tailer was the team member responsible for getting horses to water and feed, and bringing them to the camp in the morning. A good night-horse was highly prized for its night vision, temperament, and its ability to bring animals under control when a “rush”, known elsewhere as a stampede, occurred at night.

The standard team of men employed to move 1,200 cattle consisted of seven men: the boss drover, four stockmen, a cook and a horse-tailer. Store cattle were moved in larger mobs, of up to 1,500 head, while fat bullocks going to meatworks were taken in mobs of about 650 head, i.e. three train loads. The stockmen will ride in formation at the front, sides and back of the mob, at least until the mob has settled into a routine pace. Cattle are expected to cover about ten miles (16 km) a day, sheep about six miles (10 km), and are permitted to spread up to 800 metres (half a mile) on either side of the road. A short camp is made for a lunch break, after which the cook and horse-tailer will move ahead to set up the night camp

 

A report in November 1874 mentioned 2,200 cattle head of cattle had been purchased and were en route to Gooyea.

HAY SHIPPING. (1874, November 11). The Riverine Grazier (Hay, NSW : 1873 – 1954), p. 2. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article141197711

In June 1878 a newspaper article discussed the effort Kenneth Budge and J.F. Cudmore were making to establish a quality beef herd.

The Advertiser THURSDAY, JUNE 6, 1878. (1878, June 6). The South Australian Advertiser (Adelaide, SA : 1858 – 1889), p. 4. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article29603079

 

In April 1878 Kenneth Budge was appointed a Queensland magistrate.

On 6 November of that year, only 36 years old, he died suddenly of heart disease at Gooyea. He was buried at Gooyea, but two years later his body was exhumed, brought to Adelaide, and re-interred in West Terrace Cemetery.

 

 

The grave of Kenneth Budge at West Terrace cemetery photographed in April 2017

 

Related posts

• Margaret Gunn (1819 – 1863)
• The death of Kenneth Budge (1813 – 1852)
• W is for Wick, Caithness
• Trove tuesday : Daniel Budge
• Q is for questing in Queensland

Typhoid epidemic in Parkes in 1896

Headstone in Parkes cemetery of John Way and his parents, with a memorial inscription recording the death of his nephew

On 21 April 1896, John Way, 24 years old, died of typhoid, perforated bowel, and peritonitis after an illness of three weeks. John Way, from Parkes in central New South Wales, was a miner like his father, also called John.

Typhoid is a bacterial disease caused by eating food or drinking water contaminated by human faeces. Its spread is prevented by efficient sanitation and careful public hygiene.

John Way’s death was reported in the Evening News, a Sydney newspaper, on the next day:

Death from Typhoid.
PARKES, Wednesday.— Another death from typhoid has occurred a young man named John Way being the victim.

I came across this article by accident while browsing the National Library of Australia’s ‘Trove’ collection of digitised newspapers. I broadened my search to look for typhoid in Parkes in April 1896.

On 1 April, the Queanbeyan Age reported that there were 21 cases of typhoid in Parkes hospital. On 17 April the Sydney Evening News reported that since the beginning of the year there had been 59 deaths in Parkes, 19 of these due to typhoid. The source of the outbreak was yet to be traced. The mayor was taking steps to have cesspits filled in and the pan system generally adopted. On 24 April the Albury Banner and Wodonga Express reported there were over 100 typhoid cases in Parkes and district under medical treatment.

PARKES. (1896, April 24). Albury Banner and Wodonga Express (NSW : 1896 – 1938), p. 17. Retrieved June 29, 2014, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article99431481

Towards the end of May a report on the epidemic was tabled in Parliament.The Riverine Grazier summarised the report on 23 June:

• Dr Tidswell, medical officer, was sent by the Board of Health to inquire into the prevalence of typhoid fever and the insanitary state of that town with special reference to the recent outbreak.
• Although certain by-laws were passed in 1890 requiring the adoption of a dry earth system, the by laws were not enforced as the validity had been disputed and in 1894 a bylaw was passed permitting the use of cesspits . Despite the requirement that they be constructed so as not be a nuisance, the bylaws were neglected and the arrangements were most primitive. The soil was polluted from slops, drainage and nightsoil.
• The excreta from typhoid patients was not treated before being buried in back yards or gardens.
• The supply of water was defective. Rainwater collected in tanks was very largely used in Parkes. The report pointed out that the roofs from which the water is collected are often covered with dust, sometimes to the extent that the gutters are blocked. During dry weather dust storms are no uncommon and the town is a dusty one. The rains carry the dust into the water tanks. the dust from the polluted soild carried the typhoid bacilli into the rain water collected in the tanks.
• Tidswell pointed out that soil pollution was the primary evil. The combined influence of natural conditions and the absence of an efficient drainage system meant that Parkes was specially liable to diseases fostered by soil pollution. The neglect of the by-laws resulted in excessive soil pollution.

In 1895,according to the cemetery register, there were 22 burials in Parkes cemetery. This in
cluded seven people burnt to death in a fire in April, mainly members of a family called Quinn. Twenty people were buried in the cemetery in 1896 but ten of the burials were in April. The cemetery register does not appear to include all those affected by the typhoid epidemic but the disproportion of the deaths in April 1896 gives some idea of the tragedy.

Usually there were no more than three burials a month in Parkes cemetery. The exceptions are in April 1895 when there was a fire killing seven people and in April 1896 when there was a typhoid epidemic. The figures are derived from the Parkes cemetery register.

In May 1879, John’s sister Harriet Way, nine years  old, died in Parkes of typhoid after an illness of three weeks.

John and Harriet Way were my husband’s great grand mother’s siblings, that is his great grand uncle and great grand aunt.

In my family tree, Eleanor Mary Niall (1858-1891), my first cousin four times removed, died of typhoid in Adelaide in November 1891.  My great great grand uncle Daniel Budge (1842-1895) died of typhoid in Coolgardie, Western Australia, in January 1895. One of his obituaries mentions that typhoid was firmly established at Coolgardie.

It is estimated that worldwide today there are 21 million cases of typhoid and 200,000 deaths each year. “Typhoid Fever.” National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 14 May 2013. Web. 30 June 2014. <http://www.cdc.gov/nczved/divisions/dfbmd/diseases/typhoid_fever/technical.html>.

Trove tuesday : Daniel Budge

Although I had spent a long time looking for the death of Daniel Budge (1842 – 1895), the brother of my great great grandmother Margaret Cudmore née Budge, and had found a death index entry for him in Western Australia, I couldn’t be sure this was the right man.  It wasn’t until I had searched the digitised newspapers on Trove that I learned how he died and why he was in Western Australia.

 COMPARATIVE LEGISLATION. (1895, January 26). The Capricornian (Rockhampton, Qld. : 1875 – 1929), p. 18. Retrieved October 22, 2013, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article67947575

It is with feelings of the deepest regret that we (Barcoo Independent,) learn of the death of Mr. Daniel Budge, who expired at Coolgardie on Sunday last of typhoid fever. The deceased gentleman was well-known throughout the pastoral districts of Queensland, and to many of the older residents of the western portion of New South Wales, and was exceedingly and deservedly popular with all classes of the community. Born in Scotland in 1842, he accompanied his family to Adelaide, South Australia, in 1853. He adopted pastoral pursuits, and about 1862 was appointed manager of one of the Tolarno stations, on the Darling River, New South Wales. In 1875 he joined his brother, Mr. Kenneth Budge, an part owner of Gooyea Station, near Adavale, Queensland, where he remained until the death of his brother, after which the station was sold. In 1880 or 1881 he purchased Mr. A. Mossman’s share in Delta Station, baring for a partner Mr. W. P. Tozer, which station he managed for some years, during which Mr J. M. Niall bought Mr. Tozer’s share. About 1886 Messrs. R. Rarr-Smith and Co. bought Mr. Budge’s interest in that property, and the latter removed to Blackall, where he pur- chased the old Barcoo Hotel. This property he sold to Mr. R. Moss about 1888, and then entered into partnership with Mr. J. D. Hughes as auctioneers, stock and station agents, Blackall. Mr. Budge was the lessee of this paper from April, 1891, to April, 1894, and in September, 1894, he left Blackall for Coolgardie, where he died. He took a great interest in local matters, more especially in the welfare of the local racing institutions. At various times he occupied the offices of alderman of the Blackall Municipality, chairman of the Kargoolnah Divisional Board, vice-president of the Blackall District Hospital, and vice-president of the Blackall Racing Club. From his genial manner and cheerful disposition he was a general favourite with everyone with whom he was brought into contact ; while his extreme generosity will make his name long remembered on the Barcoo, and his good deeds a fruitful subject of conversation at many a camp fire. Poor old Dan will be greatly missed, and many a long day will elapse before his name fades in the memory of a host of friends. He leaves a wife and two children, who reside in Sydney.

The obituary also appeared in Rockhampton’s Morning Bulletin of 24 January 1895.

There is a longer obituary in The Western Champion and General Advertiser for the Central-Western Districts (Barcaldine, Qld.), 22 January, page 9.  It mentions Daniel Budge’s connections with the Niall, Cudmore and Tozer families, his property dealings and his interest in local government and in horse-racing.

Barcaldine Small Debts Court. (1895, January 22). The Western Champion and General Advertiser for the Central-Western Districts (Barcaldine, Qld. : 1892 – 1922), p. 9. Retrieved October 22, 2013, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article79735787

The death of Kenneth Budge (1813 – 1852)

My very great thanks to Laurena who has so generously shared some research with me relating to the Budge and Cudmore families.  Although she is only very distantly related to these families by marriage she had come across some research which solved a long standing puzzle for me.  Unfortunately ancestry.com’s notification system is very unreliable and I was unaware that she had let me know of her finds until she sent me a follow-up message.  I am indeed very grateful and my silence did not mean my lack of interest!

I wrote a couple of months ago about Kenneth’s wife Margaret Gunn. They married in 1840 and had five children:

1. Donald, also known as Daniel, (1841 – 1895)
2. Kenneth George (1842 – 1878)
3. Alexandrina (1844 – ? : died young)
4. Margaret (1845 – 1912), my great great grandmother who married James Francis Cudmore
5. Alexandrina (1851 – 1911)

When Margaret married James Francis Cudmore in 1867 the marriage announcements referred to her as the daughter of the late Captain Kenneth Budge.  I had a great difficulty in finding Margaret’s and her family’s immigration and had never found her father’s death.  I had worked out that the death must have been about 1853 based on Margaret’s remarriage.  The death preceded civil registration and I had not found a burial record.  I thought he must have died at sea but had not found any newspaper mentions.

Laurena has located a key newspaper article telling of the fate of my great great great grandfather, filling in some of my family history and also adding another generation.

From the John O’Groat Journal Friday 10 September 1852

THE MARY RODGERS. –  This vessel which belongs to Bo’ness, is reported in the Shipping Gazette of the 4th instant as having left Elsinore on the 30th ult.; and in the same paper she is again reported as having put into the same port, with master and one man dead of cholera. This vessel left Wick on the 30th July, herring laden, for Dantzic, and was commanded by Mr Kenneth Budge, of this place, son of the late Mr Donald Budge, shipmaster, Wick. The owner of the Mary Rodgers was on board when the vessel left Wick.

Another article on the same subject from the Newcastle Guardian and Tyne Mercury  Saturday 11 September 1852: 

Elsinore, Aug.30 – The brig Corinthian, from Newcastle, was towed up from Hornbeck to these roads to-day. The schooner, Mary, Rodgers, of Boiness, from Danzig, has put in here; master and one man dead of cholera.