A masked ball

In April 1919 the Adelaide weekly ‘Critic‘ claimed that because of the chaos Spanish flu had caused nothing could be planned.

Further down the page there was a discussion of plans for a Victory Ball to be held two months off, on 5 June, with a dance for juveniles on the following night. The proceeds were to be in aid of the Cheer-Up Society, an organisation for the aid and comfort of Australian soldiers passing through Adelaide. My great grandmother Mrs A.M. Cudmore, who was on the executive committee, keenly supported this effort on behalf of returned men.

At the Sign of Four O’ (1919, April 16). Critic (Adelaide, SA : 1897-1924), p. 29. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article212480508

At first it was planned to hold the Ball in the Exhibition Building on North Terrace, but this was being used as an isolation hospital for influenza patients.

Though a Peace Ball was cancelled in Sydney because of the influenza outbreak, Adelaide’s Victory Ball went ahead at the Adelaide Town Hall.

On the afternoon of the ball Mrs Cudmore supervised a rehearsal for debutantes.

GENERAL NEWS. (1919, June 4). The Advertiser (Adelaide, SA : 1889 – 1931), p. 6. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article5654323

Frock worn by the Mayoress (Mrs. C. R. J. Glover)  FEMININE VANITIES (1919, June 7). The Mail (Adelaide, SA : 1912 – 1954), p. 9. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article63761531

Depicted in the sketch … is the elegant gown worn by the Mayoress at Government House on the occasion of Admiral Viscount Jellicoe’s visit, also at the Victory Ball on Thursday. This frock is composed of supple black satin, with an overdress of tulle, weighted by steel and gold embroidery. The corsage permits a peep of gold tissue between the less diaphonous fabrics with what is at hand. A short length of widish insertion, rather open and bold in design, can be turned to endless account.

In July 1919 there was another ball, the University Ball. This time Mrs Arthur Cudmore had the job of supervising sixty-four debutantes carrying posies tied with ribbons in University colours.

1919 Adelaide: Guests attending a ball (not specified), possibly for debutantes in a hall decorated with garlands of flowers in Adelaide. Image retrieved from the State Library of South Australia PRG-280-1-29-65 and subsequently colorised using the MyHeritage photo colorizing tool.

 

The influenza epidemic, it seems, had little effect on Adelaide social life.

A recent ABC News article recalls the 1919 Adelaide quarantine camp.

15,000 people died in Australia from the 1918-19 pandemic out of a population of 5 million. 40 per cent of Australia’s population was infected by the influenza but its subsequent death rate of 2.7 per cent per 1,000 members of the population was the lowest recorded of any country during the pandemic. Worldwide 50 to 100 million people died. The first Australian case was recorded in January 1919 in Melbourne,
Victoria. The virus spread to New South Wales and South Australia, with these States closing their borders to limit the spread of the virus.

Travellers from South Australia to Melbourne were not allowed to return home to South Australia. Quarantine was offered in association with soldiers who were being quarantined on Kangaroo Island and in two other camps. Eventually several hundred travellers from Adelaide were allowed to travel back to Adelaide on heavily guarded trains having signed declarations that they had taken every precaution not to be exposed. A quarantine camp was set up on Jubilee Oval next to the Torrens River. There were 100 military tents and more accommodation was set up in the adjacent Machinery Hall. About 640 people who had been visiting Victoria and elsewhere were quarantined at the site.

It was said that many people quarantined at Jubilee Oval treated the experience as an extended holiday and, cleared of the infection, were reluctant to leave.

1919 View of the Quarantine Camp, Jubilee Oval, Adelaide Photograph retrieved from State Library of South Australia PRG 1638/2/67

Young men at the Quarantine Camp, Jubilee Oval [PRG 1638/2/68]

Woman at Quarantine Camp [PRG 1638/2/80]

 

Below the well-advertised cheerfulness, however, was an ugly truth. The Spanish flu was extremely dangerous. In South Australia 540 people died of the flu, the equivalent in today’s population of 15,000. No Australians have yet died of COVID-19.

Exhibition Building, North Terrace, Adelaide about 1900. The Jubilee Exhibition Building was just north of the camp and was turned into an isolation hospital.  [State Library South Australia image B 1606] (The building was demolished in 1962)

Source

• How Did the 1919 Spanish Flu Isolation Camp Become a Party? Malcolm Sutton- ABC Radio Adelaide – https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-02-14/when-quarantine-during-the-spanish-flu-pandemic-became-a-party/11958724

Deckchairs on the Mooltan

This week’s Sepia Saturday prompt is a 1939 photograph of four men sitting in deck chairs on a ship bound for the Congo.

I have something similar.

Among my paternal grandmother’s photographs is a casual shot of her father, Arthur Murray Cudmore, her future father in law, CTC de Crespigny, and Bronte Smeaton, another Adelaide doctor, in deckchairs on RMS Mooltan sailing to Lemnos in the Aegean, near Gallipoli, in 1915. Both Drs de Crespigny and Cudmore held the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel: de Crespigny was Registrar and Secretary and Cudmore a consultant surgeon of the 3rd Australian Hospital.

Arthur Murray Cudmore with Trent de Crespigny [centre] & Bronte Smeaton [left] in 1915 at sea. Picture from my grandmother Kathleen née Cudmore’s scrapbook. (Kathleen later married the son of Constantine Trent Champion de Crespigny.)

18 May 1915 Crowds of well-wishers farewell Australian Army Medical Corps (AAMC) personnel who have just embarked on the transport HMT Mooltan at Port Melbourne railway pier. Australian War Memorial image id C01009 retrieved from http://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C01009/

My great grandfathers served at Lemnos with the Third Australian General Hospital receiving sick and wounded soldiers from Gallipoli.

In January 1916 the hospital closed. De Crespigny was put in charge of the 1st Australian General Hospital at Heliopolis. The staff of the hospital sailed for Marseilles in 1916 from Alexandria.

On 24 March 1916 Alice Ross King received her orders to sail to France. She and her fellow nurses from No. 1 Australian General Hospital waited on the pier at Alexandria, weighed down with the booty from a final shopping spree. One nurse had a canary in a cage. A captain was told to make sure all the nurses were on board the hospital ship Braemar Castle.‘Not knowing the AANS he told us to form a double row to “number off”,’ Alice recounted.‘He wanted 120. Each time he got a different number. He was terribly worried. Finally our big [commanding officer] Col De Crespigny came down the gangway to see what was the matter. In his tired voice he called out, “Sisters! Form a fairly straight line. Left turn! Get on board.” “Oh! Sir,” said Matron, “they are not all here.” “Then they’ll be left behind,” said our CO. Our first hard lesson! We had always been fussed over [and] spoilt before,’ Alice wrote, with a shade of overstatement. (Rees, Peter. The Other Anzacs: Nurses at War 1914-1918. Crows Nest, N.S.W.: Allen & Unwin, 2008. Retrieved from https://epdf.pub/other-anzacs-the-nurses-at-war-1914-1918.html)

I never knew my great grandfather Constantine Trent Champion de Crespigny, and my impression of him is derived from what my father can remember and other people’s memoirs. But this story, of him of directing people to get on with it, sounds characteristic. It certainly brings him to life for me.

Another shipboard anecdote is set in the journey home. My great grandfather, supposedly averse to brisk exercise, did his rounds of the deck very very slowly. But he met a satirical suggestion about his speed with a rapid retort:

The TALK OF THE TOWN (1941, January 11). The Mail (Adelaide, SA : 1912 – 1954), p. 7. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article55761367

Both my great grandfathers arrived back from the war on Tuesday 13 May 1919 on the HMAT Dunluce Castle.

Personal Notes. (1919, May 17). Observer (Adelaide, SA : 1905 – 1931), p. 12. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article164132088

Soldiers line the deck of the hospital ship HMAT Dunluce Castle in the harbour in Malta about 1915. Image from the Australian War Memorial P05382.015

Related posts

• Arthur Murray Cudmore World War I service
• No 3 AGH (Australian General Hospital) Lemnos Christmas Day
• R is for No. 1 Australian General Hospital at Rouen
• The patients of No. 1 A.G.H. France during World War 1
• U is for Unibic biscuit tin

Mary Cudmore née Nihill (1811 – 1893)

My third great grandmother Mary Cudmore née Nihill (1811 – 1893) was born near Adare, County Limerick, Ireland, to Daniel James Nihill (1761 – 1846) and Dymphna Nihill née Gardiner (1790 – 1866). Mary was the oldest of their eight children, seven of whom were girls.

Mary Cudmore née Nihill probably photographed in the 1850s

For some period, Mary’s father Daniel James Nihill, was employed as a schoolmaster at Cahirclough (Caherclogh), Upper Connello, about ten miles south of Adare. Daniel’s father James owned a large stone farmhouse near Adare called ‘Rockville’. Daniel and his family lived with James Nihill and cared for him until his death in 1835. The house and its associated estate, Barnalicka, were then passed to the daughters of Daniel’s older brother Patrick Nihill (died 1822).

[Rockville House, now known as Barnalick House, operates as bed-and-breakfast tourist accommodation.]

On 15 January 1835 Mary married Daniel Michael Paul Cudmore who was from a village near Cahirclough, called Manister.

The Limerick Chronicle of 24 January 1835 reported the marriage:

At Drehedtarsna Church, in this County, by the Rev. S. Lennard, Daniel Cudmore, Esq. son of the late Patrick Cudmore, of Manister, Esq. to Mary, eldest daughter of Daniel Nihill, of Rockville, near Adare, Esq.

The Cudmores were poorer than the Nihills. Daniel’s parents had separated and his father had died in 1827 . About 1822 their mother, a Quaker, sent Daniel and his older brother Milo to be educated by fellow Quakers in Essex, England. In 1830, when Milo finished his apprenticeship to a baker and flour dealer, Daniel and Milo returned to Ireland.

Daniel seems not to have trained for a trade, but his mother found a position for him with John Abell, a family friend, who ran a hardware store in Rutland Street, Limerick. There he gained a working knowledge of the hardware business, which perhaps proved useful to him in his later career.

In January 1834 Daniel Cudmore sought permission to emigrate as an assisted immigrant to New South Wales, proposing that he would undertake to ‘explore the interior of New Holland’. His application was turned down. A newspaper notice in the Freemans’ Journal of 15 April 1834 made it clear that assisted emigration was available only to young and married agricultural labourers who intended to take their wives and families with them.

Daniel had known Mary Nihill for a some time. In 1833 he wrote a poem to her:

To Mis N—-l
Dear Mary, since thy beaming eye
First raised within my heart a sigh –
Since first thy tender accents clear,
More sweet than music, charm’d my ear,
My heart beat but for thee, love.

This heart which once so blythe and gay,
Ne’er owned before Love’s gentle sway,
Now bound by Cupid’s magic spell!
O! Words would fail were I to tell
The half I felt for thee, love.

Though far from Erin’s vales I stray’d,
I never met so fond a maid;
Though England’s fair ones vaunt their gold,
With all their wealth their hearts are cold –
I leave them all for thee, love.

And should Australia be my lot,
To dwell in some secluded spot,
Content and free from want and care,
Would’st then my humble fortune share? –
My hopes all rest on thee, love!

The handwritten original is in the possession of one of my cousins. It appears that ‘Australia’ in the last verse was added well after its composition. This suggests that Daniel had decided to emigrate but had not yet decided where.

In 1835, as Mary’s grandfather James Nihill approached the end of his life, Daniel Nihill, perhaps recognising that he could have no expectations, and with little to keep him in Ireland, decided to emigrate to Australia. By their marriage, Mary and Daniel Cudmore qualified for assistance. On 11 February 1835 they left on the “John Denniston” for Hobart Town. Mary’s mother and two of her sisters travelled with them.

Six months later, after the death of Daniel’s father James in July, Daniel Nihill and Mary’s other sisters followed.

On his arrival in Hobart Daniel Cudmore applied for a teaching position. However, a review of his application found that it was not written by himself. Mary had written the document on his behalf. Nevertheless, such was the shortage of trained people, Daniel was engaged as a teacher and clerk at Ross, in the Midlands, seventy miles north of Hobart.

On 22 July 1836 Mary gave birth to her first child, a daughter called Dymphna Maria, at George Town, where Mary’s parents were teachers. George Town was a small settlement on the Tamar River thirty miles north of Launceston.

By the end of 1836, however, Daniel had moved back to Hobart, where he found work at De Graves Brewery, later to be known as Cascade Brewery.

A year later Daniel and Mary decided to try their luck in Adelaide, which had been proclaimed a colony on 28 December 1836. Daniel arrived on 15 April 1837. Mary, leaving her 14 month old daughter in the care of her mother, travelled on the “Siren” from Launceston to Adelaide with her father and sister Rebekah. Mary was pregnant, and on 11 October 1837 gave birth prematurely to a son, James Francis, on the “Siren” off Kangaroo Island.

On 3 December 1837 visitors from England, who were friends of Daniel’s mother Jane, called on the Cudmores. They wrote:

… at a hut we saw an elderly man sitting at the door, reading, we found it was the dwelling of Daniel Cudmore, son of Jane Cudmore of Ireland…and the old man was his father-in-law. D. Cudmore has greatly improved his prospects temporally by removing from Tasmania, where he was an assistant in the undesirable business of a brewer; he is here occupied in erecting Terra Pisa buildings and both himself and his wife are much respected.

Daniel Michael Paul Cudmore and his wife Mary probably taken in the 1850s

Daniel acquired his first block of land in North Adelaide in December 1837. By 1838 he was a partner in a new brewing company. Daniel farmed at Modbury, ten miles north-east of the main Adelaide settlement. In 1847 he inherited property in Ireland. This he sold to take up a pastoral lease in South Australia. In the 1850s and 1860s he acquired more pastoral leases in Queensland and New South Wales. Mary Cudmore appears to have had an active involvement in the management of the Cudmore properties. In 1868, for example, it was she who gave the instructions for the sale of a farm called Yongalain 1868.

Beside the two children mentioned above Mary Cudmore had 7 more:

• Mary Jane Cudmore 1839–1912
• Margaret Alice Cudmore 1842–1871
• Daniel Henry Cashel Cudmore 1844–1913
• Sara Elizabeth (Rosy) Cudmore 1846–1930
• Robert Cudmore 1848–1849
• Milo Robert Cudmore 1852–1913
• Arthur Frederick Cudmore 1854–1919

Mary Cudmore née Nihill (1811-1893): portrait in the collection of the Art Gallery of South Australia donated by her grandson Collier Cudmore

In 1862 Daniel Cudmore bought and extended a villa in the Adelaide Hills
at Claremont, Glen Osmond, five miles south-east of the city. There he
retired with Mary. Daniel died in 1891, she in 1893. They were buried in
the Anglican cemetery at Mitcham. In his retirement he had published a
volume of poetry, including the poem he wrote to Mary in 1833.

Claremont, Glen Osmond

The Advertiser TUESDAY, MARCH 7, 1893. (1893, March 7). The Advertiser (Adelaide, SA : 1889 – 1931), p. 4. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article25351396

Grave of Daniel and Mary Cudmore Mitcham (St Michaels Anglican) Cemetery

Grave of Daniel and Mary Cudmore Mitcham (St Michaels Anglican) Cemetery

The theme of this week’s post is ‘prosperity’. It is pleasing to suppose that beside Daniel and Mary’s material success, they prospered as a couple, joined together, through richer and poorer, for fifty-six years.

Related posts

• Portraits of Daniel Michael Paul Cudmore and his wife Mary in the Art Gallery of South Australia
• H is for the Cudmore family arrival in Hobart in 1835
• Q is for questing in Queensland

Sources

• In the 1990s James Kenneth Cudmore (1926 – 2013), my second cousin once removed, of Quirindi New South Wales, commissioned Elsie Ritchie to write the Cudmore family history. The work built on the family history efforts of many family members. It was published in 2000. It is a very large and comprehensive work and includes many Cudmore family stories and transcripts of letters and documents. (Ritchie, Elsie B. (Elsie Barbara) For the love of the land: the history of the Cudmore family. E. Ritchie, [Ermington, N.S.W.], 2000.)
• P. A. Howell, ‘Cudmore, Daniel Michael (1811–1891)’, Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/cudmore-daniel-michael-6335/text9913, published first in hardcopy 1981
• Gunton, Eric Gracious homes of colonial Adelaide (1st ed). E. Gunton, [Adelaide], 1983.

Further reading

• Cudmore, Daniel.  A few poetical scraps : from the portfolio of an Australian pioneer : who arrived at Adelaide in the year 1837  Printed by Walker, May &Co Melbourne 1882

Trove Tuesday: 1905 Bushfire precautions

Daniel Henry Cashel Cudmore (1844 – 1913) was my 3rd great uncle, one of the sons of my 3rd great grandparents Daniel Michael Paul Cudmore and Mary Cudmore née  Nihill. Like his father and brothers he was a pastoralist, settling stations on the Darling River above Wentworth, New South Wales.

At least one obituary of D.H. Cudmore mentioned that he was an authority on fighting bush-fires.

In 1905 D.H. Cudmore published his advice on bush-fire precautions.

BUSH-FIRES. (1905, January 14). The West Australian (Perth, WA : 1879 – 1954), p. 10. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article25371805

The technology we now have to fight fires has not made preparation less important nor has it provided a magic bullet to quell fires.

DEATH OF MR. D. H. CUDMORE. (1914, January 3). The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 – 1954), p. 6. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article15468590

Mr Daniel Cudmore, probably an enlargement from a carte de visite image. Approximately 1870. Retrieved from the State Library of South Australia [ image B 72282]

Further reading

• A. Howell, ‘Cudmore, Daniel Henry (Dan) (1844–1913)’, Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/cudmore-daniel-henry-dan-270/text9913, published first in hardcopy 1981

Related post

• • Fires at Batemans Bay

 

A memorial window in Glenelg

Some time ago, idly browsing digitised newspapers on Trove, I noticed a reference to a stained-glass memorial window at St Peter’s Church Glenelg in memory of my great great grandparents James Francis Cudmore (1837 – 1912) and Margaret Cudmore née Budge (1845 – 1912).

Last week, in Adelaide for a short holiday, we drove to Glenelg and had a look.

The West Window – the left hand light is in memory of James Francis Cudmore and his wife Margaret who both died in 1912. It shows the Raising of the Widow’s Son.

CONCERNING PEOPLE. (1915, August 16). The Register (Adelaide, SA : 1901 – 1929), p. 4. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article59413619

The left light (panel) of the window, unveiled in August 1915, depicts the story of Jesus raising the son of the widow of Nain from the dead. The episode is recorded in the Gospel of  Luke 7:11–17. Nain was a small village, a day’s walk from Nazareth.

11 And it came to pass the day after, that he went into a city called Nain; and many of his disciples went with him, and much people.

12 Now when he came nigh to the gate of the city, behold, there was a
dead man carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow: and much people of the city was with her.

13 And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her, and said unto her, Weep not.

14 And he came and touched the bier: and they that bare him stood still. And he said, Young man, I say unto thee, Arise.

15 And he that was dead sat up, and began to speak. And he delivered him to his mother.

16 And there came a fear on all: and they glorified God, saying, That a great prophet is risen up among us; and, That God hath visited his people.

17 And this rumour of him went forth throughout all Judaea, and throughout all the region round about.

The subject of the west window is Jesus’ triumph over death. It has three lights, depicting His three resurrection miracles. The others show the raising of Jairus’ daughter and the raising of Lazarus.

The church of St Peter’s at Glenelg is on land set aside by Colonel Light in 1839. The first church of St Peter’s was built in 1852. In 1880 the first church was demolished to make way for a larger structure. Its foundation stone was laid 18 January 1881, with the new building consecrated 19 May 1883.

The architect of the 1881 building was Edmund Wright, who also designed the Adelaide Town Hall in 1863, the Adelaide Post Office in 1866, and the South Australian Parliament House in 1874. He also worked on Paringa Hall, a house built for James Francis Cudmore between 1880 and 1882 at Somerton, South Australia, a few kilometres south of St Peter’s Church.

The first record I have found in the digitised newspapers of the Cudmore involvement with St Peter’s was a report in the Adelaide Evening Journal of 1 February 1883: “We understand that a liberal offer has been made by Mr. J. F. Cudmore (in addition to previous gifts) to have the internal plastering of the building [St Peter’s Church, Glenelg] executed at his expense.” The report of the consecration of the new building in May 1883 included a mention that J.F. Cudmore was on the building committee.

In July 1883 the South Australian Register reported “Two very handsome gas standards, about eight feet high and containing seven lights, have been presented to the Church by Mrs. J. F. Cudmore. The lower part of each is nicely designed and supports a spiral brass standard carrying an elegant crown of jets. These additions to the Church are very handsome indeed, and with the memorial window enhance the effect of the interior arrangements, which are in themselves in thorough good taste.”

In the evening of 27 December 1883 and on the following day a bazaar in aid of the church was held. The Advertiser reported :

The stalls, four in number, exclusive of a Christmas tree and the inevitable bran pie, were very nicely arranged under the management of Mr. J. F. Cudmore, and were covered with articles of use or ornament. The ladies who presided were Mesdames Cudmore and Winnall at one, the Misses Bonnin at another, Mesdames Simms and Ferguson at the third ; and Mrs. West and the Misses Phillipson at the fourth. The Christmas tree was under the supervision of Mrs. Fisher, and the bran pie under that of the Misses Young, whilst Mrs. Douglas managed the refreshment stall. A considerable number of visitors were present during the evening, and the stalls were very well patronised …

So it appears that my great great grandparents did not merely attend St Peter’s Church. They were active members of the congregation.

In July 1889, Mrs Cudmore was helping with the annual social and an associated sale of goods. In October 1891 Mrs J.F. Cudmore was in charge of a Fancy stall when the ladies of St Peter’s Church held a Jumble Sale to wipe off the debt of the Church mission-room.

There was a large attendance at a dramatic and musical entertainment in August 1893 at St Peter’s schoolroom. Among the performers Miss Rosa Cudmore was reported as making a very pretty page boy and there was a piano duet by the Misses Cudmore. James Francis and Margaret Cudmore had 13 children including 7 daughters, 2 of whom died young. Rosa was born 1879 and about 14 years old in 1893. Her two older sisters were Violet born 1872 and Dorothea born 1876 and perhaps they were the pianists.

At the 1894 annual strawberry fete in aid of St Peter’s Church there was a good trade reported at the refreshment stall conducted by Mrs R. Smith, the Mayoress, and Mrs Cudmore, assisted by a large number of young ladies.

In 1896 Mrs J.F. Cudmore was on the committee to raise funds to renovate the schoolhouse. At a fundraising ball Mrs Cudmore was in the first set of lancers with Mr W. Bickford. [William Bickford 1841 – 1916 was the father of Reginald Bickford 1880 – 1945 who married Rosa Cudmore in 1910.]

In 1899 Mr J. F. Cudmore was reported as being on the committee to organise additions to the church.

In 1904 Mrs J.F. Cudmore was one of five seatholders selected to act in conjunction with the trustees and the Bishop of Adelaide to fill the vacancy caused by the death of the Rev. Canon Green.

In 1907 Alexandrina Budge Cudmore (1882 – 1942), fifth daughter of James and Margaret, married Hugh Crawford at St Peter’s Church Glenelg. In 1910 Rosa Cudmore (1879 – 1954) married Reginald Bickford at St Peter’s and later the same year Dan Cudmore (1881 – 1966) married Kathleen Pile at the same church. The following year in 1911 Mary Paringa Cudmore (1887 – 1952), their youngest daughter, married Arthur Toll at St Peter’s.

Both James Francis Cudmore and his wife Margaret died in 1912 within 5 months of each other. In 1913, in accordance with the wishes of the late Mr. and Mrs. J. F. Cudmore, of “Paringa Hall,” a copy of Leonardo Da Vinci’s “Last Supper” was presented to St. Peter’s Church, Glenelg. The painting is by an Italian artist, Giovanni Grinaschi [Grignaschi]  (1839 – 1905) who seems to have produced a number of versions of this copy. The Cudmores are said to have bought the painting from the artist in Milan in 1890.

“Last Supper” painting

The painting is still hanging in the church accompanied by a plaque inscribed “To the Glory of God and loving memory of JAMES FRANCIS CUDMORE of Paringa Hall, Glenelg, who died 17th August 1912 and MARGARET his wife, who died 1st December 1912”.

Looking towards the altar with the “Last Supper” on the left

Sources

• CHURCH INTELLIGENCE. (1915, August 16). The Advertiser (Adelaide, SA : 1889 – 1931), p. 10. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article5477742 
• Simpson, Janet and Anglican Parish of Glenelg Images of faith : the stained glass windows of St Peter’s Church, Glenelg, South Australia. St Peter’s Church, Glenelg, S. Aust, 2011.
• Sullivan, Christine, ‘Wright, Edmund William’, Architecture Museum, University of South Australia, 2008, Architects of South Australia: http://www.architectsdatabase.unisa.edu.au/arch_full.asp?Arch_ID=17
• Latest News. (1883, February 1). Evening Journal (Adelaide, SA : 1869 – 1912), p. 2 (SECOND EDITION). Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article197781409 
• ST. PETER’S CHURCH, GLENELG. (1883, May 21). The Express and Telegraph (Adelaide, SA : 1867 – 1922), p. 2 (SECOND EDITION). Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article208338203 
• ST. PETER’S CHURCH, GLENELG. (1883, July 23). South Australian Register (Adelaide, SA : 1839 – 1900), p. 5. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article43467252 
• The Advertiser FRIDAY, DECEMBER 28, 1883, (1883, December 28). The South Australian Advertiser (Adelaide, SA : 1858 – 1889), p. 5. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article33775450 
• CHURCH INTELLIGENCE. (1889, July 12). The Express and Telegraph (Adelaide, SA : 1867 – 1922), p. 4. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article208310241 
• CHURCH INTELLIGENCE. (1891, October 12). The Express and Telegraph (Adelaide, SA : 1867 – 1922), p. 3. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article208575114 
• ENTERTAINMENT AT GLENELG. (1893, August 4). Evening Journal (Adelaide, SA : 1869 – 1912), p. 4 (SECOND EDITION). Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article198429934 
• Religious news (1894, November 26). Evening Journal (Adelaide, SA : 1869 – 1912), p. 2 (SECOND EDITION). Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article202826585 
• ST. PETER’S DAYSCHOOL, GLENELG. (1896, August 26). South Australian Register (Adelaide, SA : 1839 – 1900), p. 7. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article54832376 
• RELIGIOUS. (1899, August 10). South Australian Register (Adelaide, SA : 1839 – 1900), p. 6. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article54584505
• ST. PETER’S CHURCH, GLENELG. (1899, December 22). Evening Journal (Adelaide, SA : 1869 – 1912), p. 3 (ONE O’CLOCK EDITION). Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article207936083 
• CHURCH INTELLIGENCE. (1904, August 12). The Advertiser (Adelaide, SA : 1889 – 1931), p. 7. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article4996208
• Weddings. (1907, July 3). Critic (Adelaide, SA : 1897-1924), p. 21. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article211417925
• Family Notices (1910, November 19). Observer (Adelaide, SA : 1905 – 1931), p. 5. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article164711514
• PERSONAL NEWS. (1910, December 24). The Capricornian (Rockhampton, Qld. : 1875 – 1929), p. 36. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article68890257
• PERSONAL NEWS. (1911, July 11). Morning Bulletin (Rockhampton, Qld. : 1878 – 1954), p. 6. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article53214208
• CHURCH NOTES. (1913, February 8). The Advertiser (Adelaide, SA : 1889 – 1931), p. 7. Retrieved November 5, 2019, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article5370367
• Visual Arts Data Service:  National Inventory of Continental European Paintings ( on-line inventory of all the 22,000 pre-1900 Continental European oil paintings in the UK’s public collections) copy of “Last Supper” in Huddersfield Art Gallery https://vads.ac.uk/large.php?uid=86573 and another copy in Paisley Museum and Art Galleries https://vads.ac.uk/large.php?uid=85151

L is for Lilian

My third cousin four times removed, who was also the sister-in law of my third great uncle, was Dr Lilian Helen Alexander (1861-1934), one of the first woman doctors in Australia.

Lilian was the second of three children of Thomas Alexander (c. 1820-1888) and Jane Alexander nee Furnell (1818-1908). Their oldest daughter was Constance (1858-1913) and they also had a son, Albert Durer Alexander (1863-1933).

 

Family tree showing the Alexander and Cudmore cousin connection

 

The Alexanders lived in South Yarra. Thomas was employed as a printer for the Government but lost his job in the Victorian Government political crisis of January 1878. In 1878 and 1879 he operated a bookselling business. From 1873 Jane, Mrs Alexander, ran a Ladies’ College, which took boarders, called “Lawn House”. This began at William Street, South Yarra. From 1879 the school advertised that the principals were Mrs Alexander and the Misses Alexander: Lilian and Constance were teaching too. In 1883 the school moved from William Street – Lawn House was required by the railway – to Springfield House, 13 Murphy Street, South Yarra, later renumbered to 17.

Lilian was educated at her mother’s school and then for one year at Presbyterian Ladies’ College. In 1883 she entered the University of Melbourne as one of a small group of women who studied Arts. She was the first woman student of Trinity College. She gained her Bachelor of Arts degree in 1886 and her Master of Arts in 1888. The 1887 advertisement for the school proudly announced her achievements.

 

Advertising (1887, January 29). The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 – 1957), p. 6. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article11588121

 

In 1887 Lilian applied to study medicine and was one of the first women medical students at Melbourne. She obtained her Bachelor of Medicine in 1893 and her BCh (Baccalaureus Chirurgiae or Bachelor of Surgery)  in 1901.

 

First group of female medical students at the University of Melbourne, 1887. Description: Standing (l. to r.) Helen Sexton, Lilian Alexander, Annie (or Elizabeth) O’Hara. Seated (l. to r.) Clara Stone, Margaret Whyte, Grace Vale, Elizabeth (or Annie) O’Hara. Retrieved from https://blogs.unimelb.edu.au/librarycollections/2011/07/12/237/

 

In 1895 Lilian was inaugural secretary of the Victorian Women’s Medical Association, and later its president. Her first appointment was at the Women’s Hospital in Carlton, and she was one of the inaugural staff members of the Queen Victoria Hospital for Women and Children, which was established in 1897.

In 1891 Lilian’s sister Constance (1858-1913) married their third cousin Milo Robert Cudmore (1852-1913). Milo was the brother of my great great grandfather James Francis Cudmore (1837-1912).

Milo and Constance had four sons:

• Francis Alexander Cudmore 1892–1956
• Ernest Osmond Cudmore 1894–1924
• Arthur Sexton Cudmore 1897–1974
• Wilfred Milo Cudmore 1899–1965

In January 1913 Constance Cudmore died at the Alexander family home in Murphy Street, South Yarra. In July, six months later, Milo also died at South Yarra. Lilian, still living at 17 Murphy Street South Yarra, assumed the care of  the four orphans,  then aged between 14 and 21.

Lilian practiced medicine until 1928. She died on 18 October 1934.

OBITUARY (1934, October 20). The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 – 1957), p. 24. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article10983054

 

In April 1936 Arthur Sexton Cudmore and his two surviving brothers, Francis Alexander Cudmore and Wilfred Milo Cudmore  presented a bas relief sculpture by the notable Australian sculptor Web Gilbert to the University of Melbourne in honour of their aunt Dr Lilian Helen Alexander.

The sculpture “Wheel of Life” by Web Gilbert in the foyer of the Medical Building Grattan Street, University of Melbourne.

 

Sources

• Farley Kelly, ‘Alexander, Lilian Helen (1861–1934)’, Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/alexander-lilian-helen-12770/text23037, published first in hardcopy 2005
• Chiron : Journal of the Melbourne University Medical Society. The Society, Parkville, Vic, 1988. “The Wheel of Life” – The Alexander Memorial by Robin Orams. Volume 2, Number 1, page 35

Related posts

• A is for aviator: Ernest Osmond Cudmore
• B is for Buick

 

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

C is for Collier

My first cousin three times removed was Collier Robert Cudmore (1885-1971), the cousin of my great grandfather, Arthur Murray Cudmore. Collier was the seventh of nine children of Daniel Henry Cudmore (1844-1913) and a grandson of Daniel Michael Paul Cudmore (1811-1891).

Collier was born at the family property Avoca  near  Wentworth, in the far south-west of New South Wales. He attended school at St Peter’s College in Adelaide, going on to study at Adelaide University.

MR. COLLIER R. CUDMORE. (1908, April 4). Observer (Adelaide, SA : 1905 – 1931), p. 27. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article164105016

In 1903 Collier rowed for St Peter’s against Geelong Grammar School; Geelong won.

In 1904 Collier rowed for Adelaide University on the Yarra River in a university competition; Adelaide came second. In 1905 Collier again rowed in the University Boat Race for Adelaide but Adelaide again came second.

In 1906 Collier matriculated at Oxford University, where he studied at Magdalen College. He rowed for Oxford in the Boat Race in 1908 and 1909. Oxford won in 1909.

from the Sphere 4 April 1908 page 13 from the British Newspaper Archive retrieved through FindMyPast

“The Stewards’ Challenge Cup Final. The record-cutting Magdalen (Oxford) four beat London.” From the Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News 11 July 1908 page 20 retrieved from the British Newspaper Archive through FindMyPast

In 1908 Collier was a member of the Magdalen College coxless four, which won the Stewards’ Challenge Cup and the Visitors’ Challenge Cup at the Henley Royal Regatta. The four won forty consecutive events in 1907 and 1908.  The Magdalen crew represented Great Britain rowing at the 1908 Summer Olympics, and Cudmore was the bow-man in the four. They won the gold medal for Great Britain.

Illustrated London News 3 April 1909 page 26 retrieved from the British Newspaper Archive through FindMyPast. Collier is number 10 in the top right hand corner.

MR. COLLIER R. CUDMORE. (1909, May 22). Observer (Adelaide, SA : 1905 – 1931), p. 30. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article164681103

Collier returned to Adelaide to practice law. He served with the Royal Field Artillery in France during World War I. His brother Milo Massey Cudmore, who was also a noted rower, was killed in action in 1916.

Collier Cudmore served in the South Australian Legislative Council  from 1933 until 1959.

Collier bequeathed his Olympic gold medal and his medals from Magdalen to St Peter’s College in Adelaide.

At St Peter’s College Collier and his brother Milo each have a rowing boat named after them.

Related post

• S is for St Eloi – the death of Milo Massey Cudmore in 1916.

Sources

• P. A. Howell, ‘Cudmore, Sir Collier Robert (1885–1971)’, Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/cudmore-sir-collier-robert-9873/text17471, published first in hardcopy 1993, accessed online 2 April 2018.
• Edition 128 of ‘Saints’ published in December 2016, page 35
• “Adelaide Rowing Club – The First Hundred Years.” Adelaide Rowing Club – Australian Rowing History, www.rowinghistory-aus.info/club-histories/adelaide/26-1.php.

Notes from a toy hospital 1919

Among various documents kept by my family is “Stuffed Notes”, the hand-written newsletter of an imaginary hospital, composed in 1919 by my grandmother Kathleen Cavenagh Cudmore (1908–2013), when she was eleven.

Kathleen’s father was Arthur Murray Cudmore (1870-1951), an Adelaide surgeon. Her mother, Kathleen Cudmore (1874-1951), was much involved in charity work.

“Stuffed Notes” seems to be based on overheard scraps of dinner-time conversation, which Kathleen adapted and re-worked into the newsletter of a 50-bed hospital ‘for any diseases, infectious or not’. She herself was Matron.

Kathleen and her sister Rosemary

 

The transcription below retains my grandmother’s spelling and grammar.

Stuffed Notes

The Hospital telephone number has changed from 36 to 4506.

This Hospital is for any diseases infectious or not. There is a nicely equipped isolation hospital for infectious diseases.

Stuffed Notes will be published monthly. The charge is a 1d a year.

The Hospital will hold fifty beds. Children can be kept at the hospital when they are convalescent if parents wish.

The Doctors are

Dr Binks

Dr Bronte

Dr Sam

Dr Bingo

The chief Nurses are

Nurse Wills

Nurse Wagga

Nurse Sambo

Nurse Coon and many others

K.C. Cudmore (Matron)

 

Nowra Public School converted into a temporary hospital for pneumonic influenza epidemic, 1919 (Illustrating hospitals of 1919, photograph from the collection of the Historic Houses Trust)

…..

 

We are pleased to send you this months Stuffed Notes.

There has been one case of influenza which was fatal. But we are glad to say no more cases have been proved influenza.

All the other patients all getting on very well, all but Caecer the Stuffed whos eye is still bad. Bruin has got Typhoid Fever very badly but we think he will not die.

All in the hospital send there love.

K.C. Cudmore

 

…..

 

The Hospital has had one death a little boy died of a injured Spinal Cord. The accindent accured through a motor driven by Mr Jackson of Henly Beach ran into a trap driven by Bellring and Caeser the Stuffed. Both were rendered unconious and taken to the Animal Hospital. Bellring is getting much better and soon will be going home.

All the other patients are getting better

No more cases of Enfluenza have accured.

All the Hospital sends their love.

KC Cudmore

(Matron)

 

…..

 

If you would like all the 1919 numbers of Stuffed Notes in a little book you can do so by writting or Telephoning 4506.

There has been one more case of Influenza. But he is recovering. There are 5 cases of Diphtheria but they are all getting better all but two who are dangirus.

Nurse Wells is going for a holiday so Nurse Wagga is taking her place.

All the patients are improving all but two Bellring and Possy the Stuffed.

The hospital sends their love.

KC Cudmore

(Matron)

 

Ward 11 Keswick Military Hospital, Adelaide, South Australia 1919 Photograph from the Australian War Memorial

…..

 

The are 8 cases of Influenza 2 deaths and 3 dangious cases all the rest are getting better.

The Mayor gave 10 pounds to the hospital on Saturday. The Govenor 5 pounds.

Bellring and Possy are much better and will leave the hospital on Friday. Nurse Wells has come home and will go on with her dutys as before. Dr Binks xrayed Bruin yesterday but found nothing broken only a bone bruised.

All the Hospital sends its love.

K.C. Cudmore

(Matron)

 

…..

 

Five cases of Influenza have accured 1 death and 2 dangirus the other two a getting better the outbreak of Influenza is very bad at present.

One of the convalescent patients, Poggy Quack Quack, was out for a walk with one of the nurses, saw his mother across the street and run to meet her when he was in the middle of the street a motor run over him.

He was taken to the Hospital were he died. It was not the nurses fault for she tried to catch him.

All the Hospital sends thier love.

K.C. Cudmore

(Matron)

 

…..

 

There are 10 cases of Influenza 3 deaths and 5 dangrous cases. Nurse Wagga is ill with Influenza so Nurse Sambo is taking her place. Dr Bingo x-rayed Little Teddy, he has a broken back. He is slowly getting better. Nurse Wagga is is not so very dangious but she is fairly bad.

The Hospital has given 20 pounds for the Navy.

All the Hospital sends thier love.

K.C. Cudmore

(Matron)

 

…..

 

Influenza

Cases = 12

Deaths = 4

Dangious = 3

Mild = 5

Nurse Wagga is quite well now and has gone away for a Holiday a Henly Beach.

We are not removing the Influenza cases to the Isolation Hospital at the Exhibition. As we heard the conditions are not very good.

All the Hospital sends thier love.

K.C. Cudmore

(Matron)

 

…..

 

Septeber

On Monday Bellring was in a tran when it clided with another the two motormen were killed as well as 10 passengers & many injured. The rams caught alight which made the tragedy more awful. Bellring was taken to the Hospital where he is in critical condition between Life and Death. Some times he seems better sometimes worse. every attention is being had to him that can be done & we still have hope of his recovery.

There a five cases of Influenza but they are all recovering.

Nurse Coon has gone for a holiday so Nurse Wells is taking her place.

All the patients send their love.

K.C. Cudmore

(Matron)

Crowd gathers to observe the damage following a collision between a motor bus and an electric tram near Hurtle Square, Adelaide, on 13 March 1915. Both vehicles burst into flames and Walter Simmons, aged 5, received fatal burns. Photograph from State Library of South Australia.

…..

We are glad to say Bellring has received but is not well enough to be discharged.

Little Teddy is back is much better and will go home on Friday.

Nurse Coon is home from her holiday.

There were no deaths lately and most of the dangerous cases are getting better.

Possy has to have his fingers amputated as he slammed it very badly in a door.

All the Patients send their love.

K.C. Cudmore

(Matron)

…..

No more cases of Influenza have accrued. Dr San x-rayed Bellring nothing serious was the matter only a broken arm.

A fete will be held on the 11th Nov at he hospital ground there will be Brand Pies, sweet stalls, work stalls Hoop-la and other stalls

There are 5 cases of measles but none of them are dingoes.

All the Patients are getting much better.

All the Hospital sends their love.

K.C. Cudmore

…..

This is the last number of Stuffed Notes this year, it will soon be Christmas.

We want to give a little present to the children that are in the Hospital at Christmas. we may have a Christmas tree with the presents hung on and wheel it round for the children to see and take the presents off and give them to the children.

All the Patients are a little better.

A happy Christmas to you.

All the patients & staff send their love.

K.C. Cudmore

Christmas tea Keswick Military Hospital 1919. Photograph from the Australian War Memorial

A Christmas party at Parliament House, Adelaide, for soldiers’ children. In the foreground is Mr Samuel ‘Sammy’ Lunn, M.B.E., a well-known worker for soldiers at the Front and, after the war, for returned soldiers and their families. c. 1919 Photograph from State Library of South Australia.

Portrait of Mrs Geoffrey de Crespigny by Ernest Milston

Mrs Geoffrey de Crespigny née Kathleen Cudmore (1908-2013), portrait by Ernest Milston

My father has a portrait in oil of his mother, my paternal grandmother, Kathleen Cudmore (1908-2013) painted about 1941 when she was 33.

The signature is ‘Milston’. Who was he? Before the Internet it was hard to find out.

Trove has made it easy. Here is newspaper article mentioning the portrait:

SEES ART FUTURE FOR AUSTRALIA (1946, March 30). News (Adelaide, SA : 1923 – 1954), p. 3. Retrieved January 15, 2018, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article128344371

 

Ernest Milston (1893-1968), born in Prague Czechoslovakia, graduated from the University of Prague in 1916. He was Jewish and fled Europe in 1939 and began practicing as an architect in Adelaide in 1940. He enlisted in the Australian Army in November 1942 as Ernest Muhlstein, and served with the Royal Australian Engineers. He was discharged on 20 March 1946.

In Adelaide a September 1940 newspaper review of the Spring Exhibition mentioned a portrait of a mother and son Milston exhibited. In April 1941 he was reported as being responsible for the decor of an amateur ballet performance.

After the war Milston moved to Melbourne and successfully practised as an architect. He also exhibited with the Victorian Artists’ Society and in 1945 one of the paintings he showed was my grandmother’s portrait.

My grandmother kept a newspaper clippings book and it includes a review from the 1945 exhibition by George Bell in the Sun newspaper (not apparently currently digitised by Trove).

 

Milston is best remembered for winning the design for the second world war memorial at the Melbourne Shrine.

News of the Day (1950, February 18). The Age (Melbourne, Vic. : 1854 – 1954), p. 2. Retrieved January 15, 2018, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article187342730

 

Thanks to Trove I have been able to learn much more about the artist who painted my grandmother.

Further reading

• biography of Ernest Milston in a database of unsung architects compiled by Built Heritage Pty Ltd

Related post

• Kathleen Cudmore: a Memoir