In Search of Charlotte
Introduction
My maternal Great Great Grandmother was born in Hobart Town, Van Diemen’s Land (Tasmania) in 1834. Her name was Charlotte Byron. This is mostly her story, but along her journey other characters appear. It’s also a story of Australia being settled after the ‘European Invasion’ that displaced, often brutally, the original inhabitants of the land. It is written against a backdrop of major forces for social change unfolding in Australia in the 19th Century, such as the transportation of British convicts, the free settlers coming to escape hardship in search of an opportunity for a better life, the gold rushes of Victoria and New South Wales that were a magnet for fortune seekers, the first legislated measures by colonial administrations to provide protection for orphaned, abandoned or otherwise neglected children and, finally, the closer settlement of former pastoral runs by selectors wanting to farm the land. As will be apparent, the line between genealogy and social history becomes increasingly blurred.
Part One – Charlotte & William Smith
Charlotte’s granddaughter, my maternal grandmother, Ellen (Nellie) Mackie was born at Kaarimba, near Numurkah in the Goulburn Valley, Victoria in 1891. She was one of 16 children born to Mary Ann (née Smith) and William Mackie.
Mary Ann and William were married at Dunolly, Victoria in 1871. At the time, William was a miner on the Victorian Goldfields. Mary was born in Hobart, Van Diemen’s Land (Tasmania) in 1853 on the traditional land of the Muwinina People. She was the only child of William and Charlotte (née Byron) Smith.
Little is yet known of Charlotte’s origins, other than that she was born in Hobart and her father was George Byron and his occupation was ‘coppersmith’.
On the other hand, Mary Ann’s father, William Smith, was a convict. He was tried at the Nottingham Assizes on July 23,1835 for the crime of stealing a silk handkerchief and sentenced to serve 14 years in the penal colony of Van Diemen’s Land. He was transported along with 329 other convicts on the Lord Lyndoch under Captain John Baker.
The ship set sail from England on April 24,1836 and arrived in Hobart on August 20,1836. According to the Ship Surgeon’s notes, there were 19 deaths during the voyage to Australia – 9 of scurvy and 10 of old age and diseases contracted before embarkation, but which were not detected. More than 75,000 convicts were transported to Tasmania between 1794 and 1853.
Fourteen years for stealing a handkerchief, albeit a silk one, seems disproportionally harsh. However, it is likely that William had recidivist tendencies and had previously found himself on the wrong side of the law.
William’s age at the time of his conviction is recorded as 20, although subsequent records conflict with this, and he may have been much younger. On arrival in Hobart, he was initially assigned to a Mr Watson. Assignment was the provision of convict labour to the free settlers of the colony as a way of supporting the emerging economy.
While I cannot be certain about the identity of ‘Mr Watson’, it is possible it was the former naval architect and ship builder, John Watson, who arrived in the colony from England in 1831. On the strength of his reputation, he was initially engaged by the Colonial Government to train convicts in ship building at Port Arthur. He later established his own shipyard in Hobart, where ships were built using Tasmanian Blue Gum from his own sawmill. He is considered the “father” of ship building in Tasmania and convicts on assignment were the source of much of his labour. Despite this, by the 1850s, John Watson had become a strong supporter of the Anti-Transportation Movement. (1)
William’s record while serving out his sentence suggests he was far from being a model prisoner and it appears he was re-assigned to new ‘employers’ several times. As well as re-assignment, convicts who were in breach of the rules and regulations governing their behaviour were subjected to often brutal punishments. William was constantly on the receiving end of such punishments for a wide range of misdemeanours, such as being out after hours, disobeying orders, neglect of duty, absenting himself without leave, absconding, being drunk and even larceny. The punishments meted out to William for these breaches included twice receiving 36 lashes, doing hard labour in chains, fines and periods of confinement.
Because of his record of misconduct, he would not have been considered for any early remission of his fourteen-year sentence by way of a ‘ticket of leave’ and certainly not a pardon. The best he could have hoped for at the end of his sentence was to be issued a ‘certificate of freedom’.
Fourteen years after arriving in the colony, William married Charlotte Byron in Hobart on December 9,1850. Their marriage certificate gives William’s age as 30 and his occupation as ‘sawyer’. However, if he was 20 at the time of his conviction in 1835, he would have been closer to 35 when he married. Charlotte is aged 19 and her occupation is ‘servant’. The record states she is “free on permission to marry”. William and Charlotte’s wedding was conducted “according to the rites and ceremonies of the Church of England by banns with the consent of J. Andrewarthur”. The witnesses were Thomas Malpass and W. Faulkner.
When their daughter, Mary Ann, was born on June 28,1853, William and Charlotte were living in Goulburn Street, Hobart. Their marriage was to be short-lived.
Three years later, on October 17, 1856, William Smith, along with three other men, all of whom were sawyers, drowned when their small boat capsized off Port Cygnet. A report in the Melbourne Argus said the men “met with a watery grave” on the previous Friday evening when their small boat capsized between Deep Bay and Lymington and the men were “precipitated into the water”. The incident was witnessed by a surveyor, Mr Blackwood, who, with assistance, “made every exertion to save the men, but without success”. (2)
Charlotte Smith’s immediate fate, following the tragic death of her husband, remains clouded. According to my family’s oral history, Charlotte also died soon after her husband and their daughter Mary Ann was subsequently taken into the care of guardians - Sophia and Patrick McGuire.
The next official record sees Mary Ann, aged 18, marrying my Great Grandfather William Mackie, a gold miner, in the Presbyterian Manse at Dunolly on July 17,1871. William Mackie was born at Tomago, near Newcastle, in New South Wales in 1848. He was the son of William and Margaret Mackie, who arrived in Australia from Ayrshire in Scotland earlier that year. He started his working life as a pit miner in the Hunter Region of New South Wales, before joining the goldrush in Victoria.
The marriage certificate confirms that Mary Ann was born in Hobart and her parents were William Smith (sawyer) and Charlotte Smith. It notes that Charlotte’s family name was unknown. Written consent for the marriage was provided by the bride’s guardian, Sophia McGuire, who also witnessed the marriage ceremony.
Sophia was born in London in 1832 and came to Australia at the age of 15 in about 1847. She married Patrick O’Brien in Adelaide in 1852.
When Mary Ann died in 1928 at the age of 75, her obituary notice in the Wagga newspaper said she was born in Tasmania in 1852 (sic). “Her parents died when she was very young and she was adopted by friends (the McGuires) and travelled with them to Victoria “where her adoptive father pursued gold mining interests, chiefly around Bendigo, later moving to other fields in Victoria and New South Wales.” (3)
According to the obituary, Mary Ann would “talk interestingly of those early experiences, of the long travelling and occasional hardships and she could remember when quite young crossing the Lachlan River in a bark canoe.”
After their marriage, William and Mary Ann were living in the gold mining settlement of Havelock, between Dunolly and Maryborough. This is where the first of their sixteen children, a daughter called Margaret and a son William, were born. Sadly, William only lived for a year.
By 1873, William Mackie Snr had abandoned goldmining for farming and taken up a selection on the former pastoral run at Kaarimba near Numurkah on the traditional lands of the Yorta Yorta and Bangerang People in the Goulburn Valley. William and Mary Ann continued farming there until 1904 and, during this time, Mary Ann had 14 more children, including my grandmother, Ellen (Nellie), who was born in 1891. Three more of their children died in infancy at Kaarimba of illnesses easily treatable in this day and age.
When the Mackie family arrived at Kaarimba, there was very little community or social infrastructure to support the selectors as they set about establishing their farms. The first school, Mundoona State School, was erected on neighbouring property and was opened in 1877. Three of William and Mary Ann’s children – Margaret, John and May - were recorded as among the first pupils to attend the school. All of the 12 surviving Mackie children attended the school over the years from its opening day in 1877.
In 1974, Adrian Twitt, a descendent of neighbours of the Mackies, wrote that, “Kaarimba was being settled before the existence of towns in the immediate area. But some of the conveniences of a civilization were not long in coming. Before the seventies were through, the area had a store, a hotel, a school and a church. Kaarimba and the adjoining parish of Mundoona were twin parishes which were to develop in the future a strong sense of community. In those early years and for a long time afterwards they were to share common services.” (4)
It was at Kaarimba on December 3,1879 that Mary Ann’s guardian, Sophia, died of natural causes at the age of 47. William Mackie is mentioned on the death certificate as the informant. There is no mention of Sophia’s husband, Patrick McGuire. Sophia was buried two days later at the nearby Wunghnu Cemetery. It is interesting to note that earlier in 1879, William and Mary Ann’s fourth born child, a daughter also called Sophia, died at the age of two. The death of infant children was a constant in the early years of European settlement.
In the late 1970s, I sat down on a couple of occasions with my grandmother Nellie (née Mackie) Linsell and recorded her reminiscences about her childhood at Kaarimba.
Nellie said her father, who was the son of a brickmaker, built their house at Kaarimba out of what she called ‘Egyptian Bricks’, which I now assume would have been made of mud and straw and ‘baked’ in the sun. She said it had six rooms, including a parlour with a piano and a large cedar chiffonier and three bedrooms at the front, with a veranda connecting a separate kitchen and a large fourth bedroom for the boys at the back. She said her mother, Mary Ann, loved gardening and grew all of their vegetables, as well as making jams and pickles that were stored in a cellar accessed from a dairy.
Nellie said they had a large barn where the piano would be taken from the house for dances and concerts. She said her mother enjoyed ‘square dancing’, even though she suffered from varicose veins and leg ulcers. Nellie recalled the Numurkah Band would come every year to play and many neighbours would come and listen to the performance and then stay on into the evening for a “do”, for which her mother would cater.
She talked about two of her older sisters, Margaret and Jane, being able to break in horses, and another sister, May, being taught to play the piano on condition she taught the others. They had a music teacher who would come weekly, sometimes staying overnight, to teach them new songs. She said two of her brothers, Jim and Ern, were good singers. Ern played the mouth organ and also the cornet as a member of the Numurkah Band and Jim could yodel.
Nellie remembered the passing “swaggies’ who would do odd jobs in return for food and the Indian Hawkers who would often visit, including one who came monthly and would sometimes camp overnight in their barn at Kaarimba. Their carts would be loaded with dress materials, sheets, blankets and all manner of provisions for sale.
On the subject of Indian hawkers, the Mackie barn was the scene of an accident with tragic consequences in 1899. The Numurkah leader of December 15 reported that an Indian Hawker named Kareem Bux “arrived with his van at Mr Mackie's on Saturday evening and camped there. When the Mackie family left the house on Sunday morning for a day's fishing, the Indian was well. About three o’clock a young fellow named O'Neill called at the farm to see one of the lads, and, not finding anyone at home, he went round to the stable to have a smoke. While there he heard groaning or very heavy breathing, and, looking around, he found the hawker under a horses foot with his skull kicked in. O’Neill waited about until one of the Mackies came home at sundown during which time the Indian continued insensible. The poor fellow was brought into Numurkah that night, dying on Monday. His remains were interred in the local cemetery on Tuesday afternoon, being followed to the grave by some 25 of his countrymen, who conducted a Mohammedan service.” (5)
By 1904, after having spent 30 years living and raising a family at Kaarimba and facing the recurring challenges of farming in long periods of low rainfall, drought, and an economic recession, William and Mary Ann Mackie decided to move to New South Wales. According to Nellie, it came down to choosing either Forbes on the Lachlan River in the Central West or Brushwood, between Ganmain and Coolamon in the Riverina. They chose Brushwood, the traditional land of the Wiradjuri People.
Nellie talked about the move from Kaarimba to Brushwood and travelling part of the way by Cobb & Co Coach and staying at Berrigan for three weeks, while waiting on finalising the arrangements for the purchase of the new farm.
Only the eldest daughter, Margaret, remained at Kaarimba, having earlier left for Western Australia where she married her husband, William Hooper. They later returned to Kaarimba, where William had spent his early boyhood. They both went on to play an active role in the life of the local district, with William becoming a Councillor and later President of the Numurkah Shire. Margaret’s obituary in 1948 in the Numurkah Leader describes her as “one of those grand old women who played such a prominent part in the settlement and development of this portion of the Goulburn Valley”.
As an indication of the Kaarimba community’s high regard for the Mackie family, the Numurkah Leader reported on a farewell party held in their honour prior to their departure in 1904.
“After a residence of 30 years in Kaarimba, Mr William Mackie has left that district, having purchased a good property at Coolamon (N.S.W.) The departure of such an old and a highly esteemed identity, with his wife and family, was made the occasion of a farewell social, which took place in the Kaarimba Hall on Tuesday evening of last week. The gathering was a large and representative one, and during the evening Mr Mackie was presented with a substantial purse of sovereigns, as a token of the esteem in which he was held by his friends. A number of toasts were honoured, and interspersed with harmony and dancing, a very enjoyable time was spent by all present.” (6)
Now living with her family at Brushwood, Nellie Mackie, at the age of 15 in 1906, wrote several times to the children’s column in the ‘Albury Banner’. In one letter published on October 26, 1906 she wrote, “We have been taking the ‘Banner’ nearly 18 months now, and we all like it the best of any of the papers we are taking. We came from Victoria, but I like New South Wales best; have only been up here two years. We have a parrot, and it can whistle very nicely. I was at sports in Ganmain last week, and enjoyed myself very much.” (7)
In a further letter published on March 22, 1907, she said how pleased she was to see her last letter in print. She went on to talk about the needs of her local community. “We are having very nice cool weather at present, but not enough rain; the farmers in this district are anxiously waiting for enough rain to enable them to start ploughing. I have some news about our town for you this time. Some of the people in Coolamon and in the district round it are trying to have a creamery, and a hospital, too, built in Coolamon. I think both of these ideas should be encouraged by everybody who is likely to use them. The creamery would be of great use to the farmers, who now send their cream to Cootamundra or other places, while it would help others, who do not keep many cows, to get more and so make the cream help the wheat to keep the farm going: and put some money away for – well, not so much for a rainy day as a dry season. As everybody knows, a hospital is a good and useful institution anywhere.” (8)
After 6 years at Brushwood, William and Mary Ann purchased a farm closer to Ganmain, where he also operated a chaff cutting business with his sons.
Tragedy struck the Mackie family on Wednesday, January 4, 1911 when their 31-year-old son James (Jim) was stuck by lightning and killed while the Mackie brothers were cutting chaff on a farm seven miles from Coolamon. As heavy rain started falling and the others sought shelter in a hut, Jim Mackie decided, with the assistance of the farm owner’s young son, to start covering the bagged chaff with tarpaulins to stop it getting wet. When the flash of lightning struck, Jim was killed instantly, and the young boy rendered temporarily unconscious.
According to a report in the Coolamon Echo, “The boy as soon as he recovered gave the alarm and the other men ran from the hut to find poor Jim, who a few minutes before was full of life playing and skylarking with his mates, dead and practically naked as his clothes had been stripped from his body with the exception of part of one boot. It was a sad sight. For there could be found no better young man in the district than Jim Mackie. Generous of heart, kind of manner and a fine character always ready and willing to do service. A big heart and a willing hand. Poor Jim cut with off with a flash. The death of Jim Mackie cast a deep gloom over Coolamon, Ganmain and the whole district.” (9)
A large gathering of friends and family members attended his funeral the next day at Ganmain Cemetery. The ‘Coolamon Echo’ reported rather colourfully that, “As the funeral passed through the town of Ganmain, the pent-up fury of (another) storm burst its fetters and let itself loose. Iron rattled, tanks were rolled off their places, horses became frightened, and few could help each other but themselves. The lightning flashed great forked tongues of fire, and the thunder rattled fairly like a canon on the battlefield, still the funeral went on. With poor Jim it had done its worst and couldn’t hurt him now, he was at rest. The rain fairly poured down and many left the cortege at Ganmain out of fear of the storm, but the graveside was reached and there the father and brothers stood to lay to rest a loving and dutiful son, an affectionate brother and a true and honest friend who had no ill tongue for his enemy. While the coffin was waiting to be lowered into the ground, the lightning flashed and flashed and strange to relate it played around the coffin and yet did no harm. There is only one conclusion and that is there must have been something in the deceased's body which attracted lightning. Poor Jim was killed in a storm and was buried in a storm.” (10)
Six months later, the Wagga Daily Advertiser reported on the unveiling of a monument erected on Jim Mackie’s grave by the Ganmain branch of the I.O.O.F. in honour of their late esteemed member. Before an address at the graveside by a fellow lodge member who remarked on “the excellent characteristics of the late Mr Mackie and of the regret at his loss”, the lodge members “marched in regalia from the lodge room, headed by the Ganmain Town Band, which at the conclusion of the ceremony played the sacred selection, ‘Promised land’.” (11)
In 1922, 18 years after the Mackie family had left Kaarimba, the Numurkah Leader reported on a Civic Reception in the Mechanics’ Hall held as part of a ‘Back to Numurkah’ celebration. Among the large crowd at the reception were several early ‘settlers’ of the district who were given a “hearty welcome”, including William and Mary Ann Mackie, who were the “oldest couple present” and had travelled from Coolamon to attend. William was introduced to the guests as the first farmer to grow wheat in the district. (12)
Also in 1922, William and Mary Ann made a final move, this time from Ganmain to “Glencoe” at Culcairn, NSW - a little over 100kms away. William and Mary Ann were “well known and extremely popular” in Ganmain and when they left for Culcairn, they were given a “handsome illuminated address as a token of the high esteem and regard in which they were held”. (13)
William died at Culcairn in 1925, and Mary Ann spent her remaining years living with her son, John Mackie, at Coolamon. After suffering a stroke, Mary Ann became increasingly unwell. A granddaughter, Elvia Barratt, regularly visited her uncle’s house to help him provide care for her ailing grandmother. She recalled a nurse taught how to dress the leg ulcers that Mary Ann suffered from over many years. (14)
According to Mary Ann’s obituary, “… although enfeebled she was able to get about and spent much time in doing crochet work. During the past 12 months however, she was bedridden and for six months was an inmate of the 'Glen Isla' Private Hospital, and for the last two months was an inmate of the Wagga District Hospital, where she received every care and attention and was regularly visited by members of her family”. Mary Ann died in the Wagga Hospital on May 7,1928 and was buried alongside her husband at Ganmain Cemetery. (15)
As a sign of the lasting respect of her former neighbours at Kaarimba for Mary Ann, even though she and her husband had long since departed, the Numurkah Leader carried this obituary for Mary Ann: “One of the earliest settlers Mrs Mary Ann Mackie in the Mundoona district passed away at Wagga on Monday of last week after a somewhat lengthy illness. The late Mrs Mackie arrived in the Mundoona district with her husband the late Mr William Mackie, who died about three years ago in 1925, and up until a few years ago lived in the district. She shared with her husband and neighbours the hardship and privations of those early days when the work of carving out a home in the wilderness had to be shared by all members of the family. The deceased did her fair share and also found time to lend a helping hand to her neighbours and many of the older residents of the district recall with gratitude the assistance thus given.” (16)
With the death of her daughter, this is where Charlotte Smith’s story should have come to an end on the belief that she had died many years earlier. However, other researchers pursuing their own family histories have established that the recently widowed Charlotte did not die in Tasmania but, under her family name of Byron, entered into a de facto relationship with Thomas Nalder. By 1864, the couple were living in Young in New South Wales where Charlotte gave birth to three more children – a daughter and two sons. It transpired that Charlotte eventually married Thomas in April 1872, before succumbing to illness and dying that same year. More of Charlotte’s ‘new life’ later.
Part Two – Winifred & Thomas Nalder
Thomas Nalder was born at Clerkenwell, London, England on March 17, 1825 to John and Susannah (née Shergold) Nalder. The 1841 Census lists John and Susannnah living in Brunswick Place, Clerkenwell with three children, including Thomas aged 15. John’s occupation is ‘joiner’.
Thomas married Winifred Cavnaugh at St Giles, Cripplegate, London on August 11, 1850. Winifred’s father was Andrew Cavnaugh, a coach builder. The 1851 Census has them living at 40 Percival Street, Clerkenwell, London. On October 2, 1851 their son Thomas John Nalder was born. He was baptised at St Giles on October 19, 1851.
At this time, Clerkenwell had a well-founded reputation for people living in slums and in the most desperate poverty and being subjected to high levels of violence and other criminal activity. It was also, not surprisingly, Charles Dicken’s “backdrop for Oliver Twist’s initiation into pickpocketing”. (17)
According to an article in the London Illustrated News in 1847, “In Clerkenwell, thereis grovelling, starving poverty. In Clerkenwell broods the darkness of utter ignorance. In its lanes and alleys, the lowest debauch – the coarsest enjoyment – the most infuriate passions – the most unrestrained vice – roar and riot……The burglar has his ‘crib’ in Clerkenwell – the pickpocket has his mart…” (18)
This could well explain why the Nalders decided to escape all this and seek a better life elsewhere in which to raise their son. So, in 1853, Thomas and Winifred together with Thomas John emigrated to Australia on the barque ‘Coromandel’, departing Southampton on April 10, 1853 and arriving at their destination, Hobart, Van Diemen’s Land (Tasmania), on July 16, 1853. Thomas’s occupation is given on the shipping record as “carpenter and joiner”, skills that would likely be in demand in the colony, and Winifred’s occupation, although a little difficult to decipher, appears to be ‘glove and silk cleaning’, or maybe not.
How long they remained in Tasmania is not clear, but it is probable, as with so many other recent arrivals to Australia at this time, the lure of gold attracted them to cross Bass Strait for the Victorian goldfields. By 1855 it appears certain that Thomas and Winifred Nalder had relocated to Victoria. A daughter, Mary Winifred, was born that year, possibly in Geelong or Forest Creek, and another daughter, Hannah Augusta was born in 1857.
However, from newspaper reports and government records we know by 1858, Winifred Nalder, was seeking to make a living on the Victorian Goldfields between Pleasant Creek (now Stawell) and Maryborough, but apparently now without her husband
According to a report in the Maryborough & Dunolly Advertiser on November 2, 1858, Winifred Nalder appeared before the Maryborough Police Court on November 1, 1858 having accused a New Zealander, Thomas Carr, with assaulting her with “intent to do grievous bodily harm”. Under cross examination she said she was no longer living with her husband and said she kept different places, principally “grog-shops and restaurants”. (19)
The newspaper report of the court proceedings includes some highly offensive language attributed to Winifred Nalder.
She told the court that Thomas Carr, a Māori, had come to her tent wanting a drink, but she refused to serve him because he had previously insulted her. She said he then threatened her, so she threw a broom at him, which he “returned with such force as to cut her severely over the eye”. Carr was subsequently taken into police custody.
Winifred Nalder was heard by the newspaper reporter in the court room to say: “I’d rather die than let a black fellow insult me”.
John Major, a witness, said Mrs Nalder threw a salt cellar at the prisoner and called out: “What do you want you black animal - you black devil. I'd sooner have a Chinaman than take you. She then took up a Porter bottle and attempted to throw it at the prisoner.” He said she then “pitched the broom at (the prisoner) and he took it up and threw it back at her, when she received the wound.”
Mr Smith, acting for the prisoner, said that the bench “could easily see by (Winifred Nalder’s) conduct in the box, that she was a brazen faced woman and belonged to that class of persons who kept places which were the origin of all kinds of infamy and disturbance”.
According to the newspaper report, the bench decided Winifred Nalder was “in great measure to blame for what happened, still that did not excuse a man for striking a woman in so unfeeling a manner. He would allow the plaintiff the probable amount of the doctor’s charges, 2 pounds, 2 shillings”.
A little over a year later, Winifred Nalder died in her tent at Lamplough, near Avoca, in the most abject circumstances. A report in the Melbourne Age, dated February 1,1860,
on an inquest held at Lamplough into her death said the “facts that were unfolded were of a most distressing nature”. The report goes on to say: “It appears that she was a very respectable restaurant keeper at Pleasant Creek (now Stawell) some time ago, but owing to some disagreement with her husband she had thrown herself under the care of a paramour. She came down here to the rush, and commenced to drink gin excessively to drown her sorrow. The paramour left her in a state of destitution, and about a week ago she took to her bed, and died on Saturday evening whilst her face was being washed by a female neighbour, who had kindly attended her gratuitously for several days. The jury returned a verdict to the effect that deceased had died from exhaustion brought on by want and accelerated by intemperance.” There was no mention of her children. (20)
The rush at Lamplough was relatively short-lived, having started with the discovery of gold there in late 1859. Within days of the discovery an estimated 3,000 people had swarmed to Lamplough from other diggings and a makeshift town of tents, dance halls and grog shanties sprang up. Within a month the number of people had swelled to an estimated 12,000.
However, by the time of the Census on April 7, 1861, the population remaining on the Lamplough diggings had shrunk to just 469 people. (21)
Thirty years later, John Chandler, a carrier who had taken supplies from Melbourne to Lamplough at the time of the rush, wrote that the three things that remained in his memory about Lamplough were ”the dust, the grog, and the wickedness”. He said the dust was “halfway to the axle of his cart” and he could only buy “a glass of sour beer which cost a shilling” and “every man was a law unto himself, and the weakest had to go to the wall”. He described Lamplough as “a very hell for every sort of wickedness and vice”. (22)
The better life that one could assume Winifred was seeking when she and her husband left Clerkenwell in England with their young son was certainly not to be found on the Victorian Goldfields. It is clear that in 1858 Thomas and Winifred Nalder had gone their separate ways, but the immediate fate of the children is less certain.
Did either parent attempt to look after them on the Goldfields or, at the time of Winifred’s death in 1860, were they with their father? When their mother died, Thomas John would have been nine years old, Mary Winifred, six and Hannah Augusta, three.
The most plausible scenario however, given subsequent events, is that Thomas Nalder also abandoned his children, and they were left to the care of others or the state. This is because in 1864, Thomas was living in a de facto relationship with the widowed Charlotte (Smith) Byron in Young, New South Wales. It was also there on May 5, 1864 that Charlotte gave birth to her second child, a son they also called Thomas.
Children in the 1850s in Victoria who were abandoned or neglected or otherwise at risk could be assigned by the court to whoever was willing to undertake their maintenance and education. It was not until 1864 that Victoria established comprehensive child welfare legislation under the ‘Neglected and Criminal Children’s Act’. “The Act defined the conditions under which children could be removed from their families and made provision for neglected children to be placed in a children’s institution. ‘Neglected children’ included children found begging, frequenting a tavern, sleeping in the open air, or associating with a person known to be a thief, drunkard or prostitute.” (23)
Sadly, we do have confirmation that by the mid-1860s, according to Victorian Government records, the three Nalder children had all been committed to the care of the State.(The term ‘ward’ to collectively describe such children did not come into general use until 1887.) All their names appear on the Colony’s ‘Children’s Register 1864-1887’ as being victims of neglect. Although the records do acknowledge their sibling relations, it appears that they were separated from each other.
The first official record I can find for Thomas and Winifred’s first-born child, Thomas John Nalder, is his court committal to the care of the State dated January 17, 1865. Although he would have been 14 years old at this time, it gives his birth year as 1853, and not 1851, understating his actual age by 2 years. It records that he is being ‘re-committed’ for 3 years to the notorious Sunbury Industrial School, having previously been an inmate.
State run Industrial schools were created in Victoria under the ‘Neglected and Criminal Children's Act of 1864’ to educate and house destitute children. The Sunbury Industrial School, located on Jackson’s Hill in Sunbury, lasted from 1864 to 1879. The school was co-educational, boys were expected to learn a trade and girls were expected to carry out domestic tasks such as washing clothes, cleaning and cooking. The bluestone buildings housing the school and sleeping quarters were unheated and the inmates were exposed to frequent illness and poor health.
“The children were given rancid food, that they ate in their own rooms but by the time they received it, was cold. The children were given only a little water, no bedding, save for a blanket and many affected by ophthalmia (conjunctivitis), went untreated resulting in blindness. It was estimated that around 10% of children died within the first year of operation. This fact alone led to the school gaining the nickname of the Sunbury Slaughterhouse.”(24)
A public outcry and a Royal Commission into the industrial school system in 1872 led to its demise. By 1879, the Sunbury Industrial School was closed
Sadly, Thomas John Nalder did not survive the appalling conditions at Sunbury and died on October 7, 1872. The cause of death was given as ‘caries of the bones’, a condition he had suffered from for several years, no doubt exacerbated by malnutrition. He was 21, however the death certificate gives his age as 19 and his occupation as ‘labourer’ and notes that his parents were ‘not known’.
In 2004, following advocacy by local residents and family historians, a plaque with the names of the children known to have died at the Sunbury Industrial School, including Thomas John Nalder, was unveiled at the Sunbury Cemetery.
The first official record for Thomas and Winifred’s second born child, Mary Winifred Nalder, is her committal in Melbourne on January 17, 1865 to the care of the State under the Neglected and Criminal Children’s Act of 1864. The reason given for her commitment is that she was previously an inmate of the Immigrants’ Aid Society. This was a non-government organisation set up in 1853, initially to provide relief and information for new arrivals. However, before the passing of the 1864 Act, the Immigrants’ Aid Society was also responsible for the ‘care’ of hundreds of vulnerable children and their so-called Immigrants’ Home on St Kilda Road in Melbourne accommodated both orphaned and neglected children.
“The Immigrants’ Home was the name that early colonists gave to ramshackle buildings on either side of St Kilda Road at Princes Bridge. Over time, the Immigrants’ Home came to serve a similar function to an English workhouse, operating a night shelter, convalescent hospital and providing shelter for deserted wives, single mothers, the disabled and ‘neglected’ children.” (25)
Mary’s record under the care of the State shows she was ‘licensed out’ for three placements – firstly to a Mr Poulton in 1868, then to Mrs Margaret Hemphill in 1870 and finally, to Mr Roberts of Glenferrie Road, Hawthorn in 1873. Such placements of children were made with named, approved individuals within the community. Mary’s record notes that she has a “supposed” sister and a “supposed” brother also under the care of the State – no names, just file numbers and there is no mention of her parents!
On June 7, 1875, Mary, at the age of 21, married Joseph Henry Emery in Victoria and together they had eight children. Joseph died in 1913 at Wagga Wagga, NSW and Mary Winifred Emery died on November 28, 1935 in Perth, WA. She was buried in the Wesleyan Section of the Karrakatta Cemetery, Nedlands City, WA.
The first official record for Thomas & Winifred Nalder’s third child, Hannah Augusta Nalder, is her committal into State Care on February 2, 1866 at the Victorian Goldfields town of Majorca. She was “licensed out” to Mrs Sarah Turner Clarke of Carlton on July 5, 1869, then to Mr Thompson of Collingwood and then to Mr Henry Richards, Accountant, of Carlton on November 19, 1870. Hannah was re-committed to the Care of the State in March 1971 by the Bench in Melbourne. She had three further placements, firstly to Mr P Macfarlane on June 3, 1871. The other two placements are illegible.
It appears that Hannah had a child in 1878 out of wedlock to Robert Gartshire – Annie Augusta Marion Nalder – whose name subsequently appears on the Children’s Register of State Wards (1853-1897). Hannah eventually married William Jospeh Hill at the Registry Office in Gore Street, Fitzroy in 1880 and together they have three children – Hannah born in 1880, Thomas born in 1883 and Augusta born in 1892.
Hannah Augusta Hill died in Melbourne of Pneumococcal Peritonitis on April 29, 1918. At the time of her death, she was aged 60 and living at 119 Scotchmer Street, Fitzroy. Her death certificate states that both the names of her parents and her birthplace are ‘unknown’. Her children are listed as Hannah (38), Thomas (36) and Augusta (26). There is no mention of her first-born child, Annie Augusta Marion Nalder.
Part Three - Charlotte & Thomas Nalder
But what of the father of these three abandoned children, Thomas? We have established that he left their mother, Winifred, on the Victorian Goldfields sometime after the birth in 1857 of their third child, Hannah Augusta Nalder. The next records we have are of him living at Young in NSW, on the traditional land of the Wiradjuri People, and in a de facto relationship with the widowed Charlotte Smith, my Great Great Grandmother, who had reverted to using her family name of Byron. It is likely that Thomas Nalder, along with many other fortune seekers, made the move to Young following the discovery of gold there in 1860. Originally known as “Lambing Flat”, the scene of the infamous anti-Chinese riots, the name was changed to Young in 1863, after the then Governor of NSW, Sir John Young.
The first official record of Thomas Nalder residing in Young is the registration of the birth on May 5, 1864 of a son. He was named Thomas, even though he already had a son from his marriage to Winifred called Thomas John, who he had ‘abandoned’ in Victoria and who was, if not already, about to become an inmate of the Sunbury Industrial School. Thomas Senior gives his occupation on the birth registration as ‘goldminer’, which would confirm his reason for coming to Young.
While Nalder family researchers acknowledge, and later official records confirm Charlotte Byron to be the mother, somewhat confusingly the NSW Registration of the birth of the second Thomas records his mother’s name as Winnifred Cavanagh (sic). Given that Winifred Nalder (née Cavnaugh) died in 1860, this seems likely to be intentional rather than inadvertent. But, for what reason? Presumably to hide the fact from ‘officialdom’ that Thomas and Charlotte were unmarried at the time of the birth? (26)
A second child was born at Young on April 17, 1869, Rose Hannah Sophia Nalder, and this time, the NSW Birth Registration clearly names the parents as Thomas (42) and Charlotte (35). However, it now states that Thomas and Charlotte were married on April 16, 1862 in Dunstan, New Zealand.
I have been unable to find any evidence of Thomas and Charlotte having travelled to New Zealand, let alone getting married there. Even without confirmation and, given that their whereabouts from 1860 to 1864 is still a mystery, it is possible to accept that they did travel to New Zealand. This requires further investigation.
What is interesting and a trigger for speculation, is that Dunstan (now called Clyde) in New Zealand was settled during the Otago Gold Rush and, at its height in 1862, once claimed to be the most populous town in New Zealand. Many Australians were known to be among those who joined the rush to the Otago Region. (27)
A third child, William Edward Nalder, was born to Thomas (44) and Charlotte (37) at Young on September 8, 1871. Once again, the registration of his birth states that Thomas and Charlotte were married in Dunstan, New Zealand, but this time in August, and not April, 1862.
Whether they actually travelled to New Zealand or not, it seems rather obvious that Thomas and Charlotte were continuing to hide the fact that they were unmarried and living in a de facto relationship.
By 1865, it would appear that Thomas and Charlotte had firmly established themselves as residents of Young. They were now living at Garibaldi Gully, on the outskirts of the town. In the local newspaper, the Burrangong Argus, on November 25, 1865, there is a report of court proceedings against a man accused of stealing a horse from the Nalders at Garibaldi Gully.
By 1869 and after the birth of their second child, Thomas was advertising his services regularly in the Burrangong Argus as a ‘Carpenter & Undertaker’ based in Main Street, Young. According to descendants of Thomas and Charlotte, the Nalders were living above a funeral parlour at this time. Apparently in Australia in the 19th Century, it was not uncommon for carpenters to also become undertakers. (28)
By 1870, as evidence of his improving personal circumstances, Thomas Nalder was acquiring property in and around Young, including a land grant of 81 acres at Tipperary Gully, a short distance from the town. He soon after began advertising his business in the local newspaper as “ Nalder & Co – Contractors & Builders”.
Seven months after the birth of their third child, on April 10, 1872, Thomas and Charlotte were finally ‘legally’ married. The ceremony took place at the residence of George and Jannett Vickers in Young. The marriage registration states that Thomas was a ‘widower’ and Charlotte was a ‘housekeeper’. The marriage celebrant was a “Primitive Methodist” Minister, William Kingdon, and Charlotte signed the marriage certificate with her mark. (29)
It is likely the decision to marry was hastened by the fact that Charlotte had developed a terminal illness, of which sadly she succumbed on Monday, November 11, 1872. The death certificate gives the cause of death as ‘scirrhus of the uterus’. Charlotte’s death notice in the Burrangong Argus (November 16, 1872) said that the “beloved wife” of Thomas Nalder had died from cancer in her thirty-eighth year.
Reporting on the funeral, which was held the next day, the Burrangong Argus noted that Mrs Nalder, was “the wife of Mr Nalder, builder of Main Street’ and that she died of an illness “proceeding from cancer, of some month’s duration”. “Her funeral took place on Tuesday afternoon, and was attended by a very large number of the townspeople and friends of the deceased.” (30)
This is where the known story of Charlotte’s relatively short life ends, but alas, leaving many unanswered questions. Why did she give up her daughter, Mary Ann, to be raised by Sophia and Patrick McGuire? Where did she meet Thomas Nalder and was she aware of the existence and fate of the three children he had with Winifred? No photographs of Charlotte have surfaced, however according to Nalder family oral history, she was referred to as “Pretty Charlotte”.
While Charlotte’s story may have ended in 1872, it was not so for Thomas. On January 22, 1875 he again married, this time to Agnes Elizabeth Biggar, aged 42, at the Young home of Rev. George Smith, and again according to the rites of the Primitive Methodist Church. One of the witnesses was a Mary Biggar, who signed her name on the marriage register with a ‘x’.
Agnes Elizabeth was born at Limehouse in Middlesex, England and, according to the 1871 Census, was living at that time in Islington, along with her mother and sister. Sometime between 1871 and 1875, for an as yet unknown reason, Agnes Elizabeth came to Australia. After she married Thomas, the couple continued living in Young.
A search of the Burrangong Argus over the years following his marriage to Agnes Elizabeth, revealed that Thomas Nalder was becoming increasingly involved in the affairs of his local community, at the same time as his business was expanding and flourishing. He also received a further land grant of 8 acres in 1875.
The following year (1876) a story in the Burrangong Argus acknowledges Thomas as the builder of a new 500 seat grandstand at the Young Racetrack. According to the newspaper report, “The grandstand was erected by Mr Thomas Nalder, from the designs of Mr J P Leeder, and both architect and builder are entitled to great credit in connection with it. It has a light and finished appearance, but has proved its strength by withstanding unscathed the violent wind which did so much damage a week ago to other buildings in the neighbourhood.” (31)
In June 1876, Thomas Nalder was the contractor engaged to build a new drapery store for Messrs Hopkins and Gate in Burrowa Street, Young. The Burrangong Argus reported on the large gathering at the laying of the foundation stone for the new building: “The ceremony was performed by Mr John Russell, and the company afterwards adjourned to the Shamrock hotel, where the health of the Queen, Messrs Hopkins and Gate, the contractor - Mr Nalder and the architect Mr J P Leeder - were drunk in champagne and suitably responded to.” (32)
A little over 9 months later, the Burrangong Argus reported on a “great fire” that broke out in Hopkins and Gate’s drapery store and spread to neighbouring buildings. The new premises, only recently erected, had burnt down before the occupants could move in. Thomas Nalder’s nearby premises in Burrowa St were saved, however timber and other stock had to be hastily moved and fences taken down to protect the property at a cost estimated later to Thomas Nalder of £100. (33)
By 1879, Thomas Nalder’s business had greatly expanded, and he was now selling an extensive range of building materials, including timber doors, architraves, mouldings, paints. oils, varnishes, corrugated iron, builders ironmongery, cement, drain piping and plaster. He was also advertising for carpenters to join his business. His advertisements in the local newspaper were also becoming larger.
In January 1879, Thomas Nalder's then 15-year-old son, Thomas Jnr, made an appearance before the local Police Magistrate. He was “summoned for wantonly throwing stones in the street to the danger of persons passing. The defendant pleaded guilty, and said he threw a stone at a dog. The lad was cautioned, and fined one shilling and costs, or to be imprisoned till 6:00 this evening.” I assume the fine was paid. (34)
On August 31, 1881, the Burrangong Argus reported that, “Yesterday evening, when Mr Nalder builder of this town and his son were turning the corner, close by the culvert bridge, into Wombat Street, in a spring cart, the horse started at a man who was repairing a fence, and turning short round upset the cart, precipitating the occupants into the road. Both got pretty well shaken and bruised and the cart a good deal broken, but beyond that no damage was done.” (35)
In September 1881, no doubt in keeping with a desire to be seen as a worthy and engaged member of the community, Thomas Nalder participated in a meeting of members of the Church of England, who were residents of the Young district, to elect representatives to attend the upcoming Diocesan Synod. Yet curiously, despite his connection to the Anglican Church, he chose a ‘Primitive Methodist’ minister to perform the ceremony for his marriage to Charlotte. This likely suggests a reluctance on his part to reveal his former marital status to the local Church of England congregation and, perhaps, the wider community. (36)
By 1882, Thomas Nalder’s business has further expanded into selling local and imported farm machinery, including harvesters, reaping machines, string binders, strippers and winnowers from his Main Street premises.
In October 1882, Thomas was one of twenty men who nominated to stand in the election for Alderman on the Young Borough Council. At a public meeting of the candidates, Thomas spoke briefly and promised to “do his best to serve the inhabitants if returned and, in answer to a question expressed himself “in favour of the centre of the town for the (proposed) new courthouse and school”. When the vote was held several days later, Thomas came equal last with two others and was therefore not elected. (37)
Undeterred by his failure to get elected, Thomas continued to be actively involved in the affairs of his local community. In 1894, Thomas and a fellow shopkeeper nominated Robert Bulla to fill a casual vacancy on the Borough Council. Later that year, he was named as one of a large group of men appointed to a committee to organise a celebration for the arrival of the railway to Young. (38)
Thomas is regularly named in the Burrangong Argus as a member of juries hearing cases in the Young District Court or donating to local fund-raising appeals or exhibiting farm machinery and winning prizes at the local Pastoral and Agricultural Society shows.
Whether or not Thomas Nalder was actively seeking respectability, he had certainly come a long way from the ‘mean streets’ of Clerkenwell!
By 1885, Thomas was holding a substantial portfolio of properties in and around Young. However, it is clear he was now preparing to leave. On June 24, he advertised the private sale of his properties, as well as the private sale of the “assorted stock in trade” of his timber yard and his building material and ironmongery establishment “which does prosperous business”. The advertisement notes that “the proprietor's sole reason for placing the above desirable property on the market is his contemplated departure for England”. (39)
On October 21, 1885, the Burrangong Argus reported that Thomas Nalder’s then 14-year-old son, William, had been selected to play the large drum in a newly formed fife and drum band and that their instruments were due to arrive the following week. (40)
Despite initially advertising his intention in 1885 to sell his business, Thomas Nalder continued to trade for a further three years. However, in May 1888, the Burrangong Argus reported that: “Mr Thomas Nalder, who has been identified with the trade of our town and district for 12 years, has disposed of his lucrative business as timber merchant, builder and general ironmonger, agricultural machine salesman, etc. to Messrs Allen Brothers, of Stony Creek. Mr Nalder we believe intends to take a trip to the old country and renew his acquaintance with the scenes of his youth. He proposes, however, to return to Young and live privately. We hope that Messrs Allen will be as successful in the business as their predecessor.” (41)
A public notice in the Burrangong Argus on September 29, 1888 said Thomas Nalder “having disposed of his business in Main Street to Messrs Allen brothers may now be seen at his private residence, Burrowa Street, opposite Rogan's coach factory.” (42)
In Thomas Nalder’s final move to clear the way for his departure, an advertisement appeared in the Burrangong Argus on May 15, 1889 notifying of an upcoming furniture sale. “J A McKean and Co have received instructions from Thomas Nalder Esquire to sell by public auction on Saturday next the 18th of May for the whole of his valuable household furniture, kitchen utensils, pictures, sewing machine, etc. etc. Sale takes place at Mr Nalder's residence, Burrowa Street opposite Mr Rogan's factory. Commencing at 2:30 PM. Terms cash. No reserve.” (43)
This is the last mention of Thomas Nalder that I can find in the pages of the Burrangong Argus and, I assume, he and Agnes departed Young shortly after the sale of their household furniture.
But what of Thomas’ three children with Charlotte? Since her death in 1872, they were obviously living for a time with Thomas and his wife, their stepmother, Agnes Elizabeth, at Young. There is anecdotal evidence passed down by their descendants that they were treated badly by their stepmother and that that made for a difficult childhood. However, by 1889, Thomas Jnr would have been 25, Rose Hannah Sophia, 20 and William, 18. All old enough to make their own way in the world.
Records show that they all survived well into adulthood.
Thomas Nalder Jnr took on the trade of a plasterer and married Louisa Huff at Newcastle in 1885. He died of heart failure aged 61 in 1924. His obituary in the Newcastle Morning Herald (January 22, 1924) said he was one of the founders of the Newcastle Branch of the Plasterer’s Union and was “a well-known identity” in the local community. He left a widow, a son and a daughter. Louisa died in 1935.
Rose Hannah Sophia Nalder married Alexander Innes Devine at Redfern, Sydney in 1892. They had two daughters – Florence Ethel (1901-1992) and Daphne Ophelia Simla Lucretia. (1903-1994). She died in 1960 and was buried in the Waverley Cemetery at Bronte, Sydney. Her husband pre-deceased her in 1947.
William Edward Nalder married Mary Barker in Queensland in 1899. They had two children – Mary Isabel Jane (1902-1963) and William Edward Thomas (1911-1968). He died at Rockhampton, Queensland in 1952. His wife pre-deceased him in 1940.
The next official record we have for Thomas shows that he did return to England, the country of his birth and, according to the 1891 Census, he and Agnes were living at Cheshunt in Hertfordshire. He is now 66 and Agnes Elizabeth is 59 and they have a live-in servant aged 18, Eleanor Charles.
Sometime between 1891 and 1903, Thomas and Agnes Elizabeth returned to Australia, because the next record we have is of them departing Sydney on the Oceanic Line’s SS Ventura for San Francisco, en route to England.
However, misfortune struck on May 20, 1903, when Thomas died at sea aged 78. He was buried on May 27, 1903 in the Cypress Lawn Cemetery at Colma, on the San Francisco Peninsula in the United States.
On July 30, 1903, probate of Thomas’ will was granted to his widow, Agnes Elizabeth Nalder. He left effects to the value of 685 pounds 4 shillings – which would be worth approximately 104,000 pounds today. (44) There is also anecdotal evidence that Agnes Elizabeth was responsible for denying Thomas’ children any share in the inheritance. Interestingly, the Probate Register gives Thomas’ address as Southdown Park Road, Berwood (sic), Sydney, NSW.
Agnes Elizabeth must have continued on her journey to England. The 1911 Census finds her aged 79, widowed and living on private means at 21 St Georges Avenue, Tufnell Park, Holloway, London.
Conclusion
So far, I have mostly refrained from passing judgement on the actions of the various characters that feature in Charlotte’s story. I am also acutely aware of human frailty. But it is hard to avoid attributing motives and casting blame on those who are no longer able to explain or defend their behaviour or life choices, however unfair this may be.
I am sure Charlotte’s decision to give up her daughter, my Great Grandmother, Mary Ann, would not have been taken lightly. Knowing there would have been little or no support for a young, widowed mother with a 3-year-old child in Tasmania in 1856, she likely found herself having no choice.
I also have no doubt that my Great Grandmother lived a good and happy life after her ‘adoption’, grateful for both the care provided by the McGuires and for the large, loving family that resulted from her marriage to William Mackie.
As for Thomas Nalder, despite my misgivings about passing judgement, I find it impossible to see his actions in abandoning his three children in Victoria from his marriage to Winifred in anything other than an unfavourable light. While he was able to create a new life for himself and a new family in New South Wales and become a successful businessman, this hardly amounts to redemption for him.
Postscript
When researching family history on genealogy websites such as ancestry.com, there is a need to be ever vigilant in avoiding the mistakes made by others that become accepted wisdom. Despite a great deal of supporting evidence, I still harboured a nagging doubt until very recently that there just might have been two different Charlotte Byrons in Tasmania. Thanks to ancestry.com's DNA database, I now know that they are one and the same, because I have found that I do share DNA with a direct descendant of Thomas and Charlotte Nalder. Surely it cannot be any more conclusive than that!
I have called this paper ‘In Search of Charlotte’, however I do not think I have really found her. So much of the historical record that I have relied on for my research is from the pages of contemporary newspapers. Unlike her two husbands, Charlotte’s name only appears in print when she died at Young in 1872. Not untypical for a women living in that time and place. As yet we know nothing of the circumstances of Charlotte’s birth in Hobart, who her mother was, what her childhood was like and how she came to be with Thomas Nalder. Some of the answers to these questions may still be discoverable.
What we do know, however, is that at least seven generations and thousands of individual Australians can trace their ancestry back to Charlotte Byron Smith Nalder.
____________________________
David Miller
Ballarat
11 September, 2024
Notes
1 Obituary, Hobart Mercury, March 18, 18872 Melbourne Argus, October, 27, 1856
3 Wagga Wagga Daily Advertiser, May, 1928
4 A Paradise for Twitts: The Life of a Goulburn Valley Selector, Adrian
Twitt, 1974
5 Numurkah Leader. December 15, 1899
6 Ibid, May 26, 1904
7 Albury Banner, October 26, 1906
8 Ibid Banner, March 22, 1907
9 Coolamon Echo, January, 1911
10 Ibid, January, 1911
11 Wagga Wagga Daily Advertiser, July 24, 1911
12 Numurkah Leader, September 13, 1922
13 Obituary, Wagga Wagga Daily Advertiser, May, 1928
14 Letter written by Elvia Barrat. April 17, 1979
15 Obituary, Wagga Wagga Daily Advertiser, May, 1928
16 Numurkah Leader, May 16, 1928
17 Calling Clerkenwell home – roots in roguish & revolutionary soil –
Blog by Suzie Grogan, October 12, 2011
18 London Illustrated News, 1847
19 Maryborough & Dunolly Advertiser, November 2, 1858
20 The Age, Melbourne, February 1,1860
21 The Goldrush to Lamplough 1859-1860, Denis Strangman, Avoca &
District Historical Society Inc
22 John Chandler, ‘Forty Years in the Wilderness’ 1893 quoted in ‘The
Goldrush to Lamplough’ 1859-1860’, Denis Strangman, Avoca &
District Historical Society)
23 Berry Street 140 Years: Restoring Trust and Hope, Alicia Cerreto,
2017
24 Sunbury Industrial School, Wikipedia
25 From the Find & Connect Website www.findandconnect.gov.au
funded by the Australian Government and administered by the
University of Melbourne.
26 NSW Registration of Births, Ref. 1864/6138
27 Wikipedia
28 State Library of South Australia
https://guides.slsa.sa.gov.au/bdm/undertaker
29 Primitive Methodism
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primitive_Methodist_Church
30 Burrangong Argus, November, 1872
31 Ibid, February 16, 1876
32 Ibid, June 19, 1876
33 Ibid, March 13, 1877
34 Ibid, January 15, 1879
35 Ibid, August 31, 1881
36 Ibid, September 24, 1881
37 Ibid, October 14, 1882
38 Ibid, November 29, 188439 Ibid, June 24, 1885
40 Ibid, October 21, 1885
41 Ibid, May 25, 1888
42 Ibid, September 29, 1888
43 Ibid, May 15, 1889
44 www.officialdata.org/uk/inflation/1903?amount=685
Thank you to all those ‘relatives’ who have spent countless hours researching our family history and shared their findings on genealogical websites.
Thank you also to my ‘new’ cousin, Cheryl Samuel, for shedding light on the offspring of Charlotte and Thomas and also for taking that DNA test.
To learn more about the convicts transported to Tasmania and their involvement in the Victorian Gold Rush, I highly recommend ‘Vandemonians: The Repressed History of Colonial Victoria’ by Janet McCalman, The Miegunyah Press, 2021 An invaluable resource.
