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Feilding Star, Volume XVI, Issue 278, 29 May 1895, Page 2 His wife, Jane Lumsden nee Brockie, who had married James after the death of her first husband, did not inherit all of James' estate. The will was explained in a Supreme Court case held on 5 April 1895. Cornishman James Prisk, born in Gwennap in 1842, travelled to New South Wales in 1861.[2]  The National Archives (UK) tna_rg4_0212_0_005 Many members of his family were already based at Nundle, near Tamworth in New South Wales. He didn't stay there for long. By 1868, James had migrated to the Manawatu region of New Zealand. The availability of land was advertised in the Sydney Morning Herald in 1865:  Advertising (1865, November 7). The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), p. 6 While the original owners were not averse to selling their property, they did expect their conditions to be observed and they made their position clear in March and April 1866 in both Australian and New Zealand newspapers:  Wanganui - Manawatu Chronicle, 24 March 1866, p3; reprinted as MANAWATU BLOCK. (1866, April 16). The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), p. 5. In May 1872, James Prisk wrote to the Land Commissioner in Wellington:  Item ID R24439574, date 1872, Box 22, formerly LS / W2, record number 1872 / 213 National Archives of New Zealand The block was successfully acquired by 1877, as Prisk sought permission to relinquish his day job for the Manawatu County Council fixing roads in order to focus on his land holding.  Manawatu Times, 18 November 1877, p.3  Early Rangitikei, James G. Wilson, 1914 (reprinted 2012), p.16 showing Sanson and Feilding Between 1879 and 1891, Prisk's flock of sheep grew from 200 to almost 700.  New Zealand Sheep Farmers, 1881 - 1918, Find My Past  Sanson School and District Centennial, 1973, p.10 But he had made his mark in other ways, as one of the settlers who established the township of Sanson (Whakari).  Idle Hours, W. J. Croucher, p.2  Idle Hours, W. J. Croucher, p.26  New Zealand Mail, 10 August 1894, p.28 James Prisk was also a donor to the Diocese of Wellington:  The Church Chronicle, Wellington: 1st May 1891. John Kinder Theological Library, https://kinderlibrary.recollect.co.nz/nodes/view/784 And his wife's contribution to early Sandon life was not forgotten.  Reminiscences of Early Sandon, W. J. Croucher, 1933 from Chapter 10, Our Mothers  Reminiscences of Early Sandon, W. J. Croucher, 1933, p.8  The Church Chronicle, Wellington: 1st February 1896. John Kinder Theological Library, https://kinderlibrary.recollect.co.nz/nodes/view/843 References 1. "South of the Bombay Hills" is described at Bombay Hills. 2. Advertising (1861, February 27). Freeman's Journal (Sydney, NSW : 1850 - 1932), p. 7. 3. Early Rangitikei, James G. Wilson, 1914, 2012, National Library of New Zealand 4. Sanson School & District Centennial, J. Gravitt, 1973, National Library of New Zealand 5. Idle Hours: Tales of country and village life around Sandon 1871 - 1938, W. J. Croucher, 1940 ? National Library of New Zealand 6. Reminiscences of Early Sandon: Jubilee souvenir, W. J. Croucher, 1933, National Library of New Zealand Acknowledgement I am grateful to the National Library of New Zealand, the National Archives of New Zealand, and the Northern Explorer for sharing their information resources. |
Sunday 28 July 2024
South of the Bombay Hills
A phrase well-known to the inhabitants of North Island of New Zealand, south of the Bombay Hills neatly sums up a divide between rural and urban landscapes.[1] My Australian family made a contribution to both spaces; this story focuses on the southern side of the line.
It took more than 40 years after his death in 1894 for my grandmother Amy Parkins to receive her inheritance from her great-great-uncle James Prisk. In 1936 she inherited a one-twelfth share of £700. Although he eventually married, Prisk did not have any children.
Monday 23 October 2023
Two centuries in time
TWEED CENTENARY.
ROMANTIC DISCOVERY
Exactly 200 years ago today, Lieutenant John Oxley discovered the Tweed River. On October 23 1823, Lieutenant Oxley, commissioned to find a new penal settlement, left with a party in his Majesty's colonial cutter Mermaid.
Thus explained The Daily Mail, 100 years ago. [1]
It probably was not the most romantic journey, but the Tweed River did inspire poetry subsequently [2]:
Flow gently, sweet Tweed
Fair river - broad and deep
The Tweed River was discovered before the nearby Clarence and the Richmond Rivers. [3]
It is not generally known that the Tweed, the smallest of the three northernmost rivers of New South Wales, dates its discovery some years earlier than either of its more pretentious sisters, the Clarence and Richmond. Whilst the Clarence was not discovered (and accidentally, too) until 1834, when Richard Craig, a convict, who escaped from Moreton Bay, walked to Port Macquarie, or by some cedar cutters from Sydney in 1838, and the Richmond was not entered by the Hon. Captain Rous, R.N., then commanding H.M.S. Rainbow on the Australian station, until 1828, yet the Tweed—the beautiful fertile though small river Tweed—was found and entered by Mr. Lieutenant Oxley, surveyor-General of New South Wales, on the 21st November, 1823. So then Thursday is the 95th anniversary of the discovery of the Derwent of New-South Wales. It will equally surprise many readers—and half dispel a popular misconception— to know that to Lieut. Oxley belongs the distinguished honor of finding this river, and not Captain Cook, nor yet Captain Rous. It was Mr. Oxley, too, who explored that remarkable formation at Fingal Point on the mainland opposite Cook Island, which he named from its re-semblance to Fingal Caves and the Giant's Causeway in Scotland and Ireland.
It is therefore interesting at this juncture to reproduce portion of the account of the discovery of the Tweed as recorded by Mr. John Uniacke, one of Mr. Oxley's party on that occasion. It is published from "Narrative of Mr. Oxley's Expedition" - contained in "Geographical Memoirs of New South Wales," published in London in 1825. Mr. Oxley was at the time in his Majesty's cutter Mermaid, and in search of a big river which it was thought entered Moreton Bay. (He discovered and entered the Brisbane River on December 2nd following.):-"Whilst running down for this place (a small island off Point Danger subsequently, renamed Cook Island, and on which Fingal light sheds its friendly rays) to which we sought shelter from a storm, we perceived the mouth of a large river about a mile and a half to the north-ward." Next morning the master was sent in a whaleboat to investigate. He found two fathoms of water on the bar at low water."
1. TWEED CENTENARY (1923, November 1). The Daily Mail (Brisbane, Qld. : 1903; 1916 - 1926), p.6
2. A LONELY CEMETERY (1932, October 25). Daily Examiner (Grafton, NSW : 1915 - 1954), p.17
3. DISCOVERY OF THE TWEED RIVER (1918, November 21). Northern Star (Lismore, NSW : 1876 - 1954), p. 6
Friday 31 March 2023
19th century crowdfunding
** more to come **
On 19 August 1894, James Adams was thrown off his horse when returning to his home near Frederickton. He was taken home, but died there the next day. The horse had tripped over a peg in the road, left for roadworks.
Fatal Accident on the
His widow, Jane Mary Teresa Adams, took on a court case against the local council, even as she became the matriarch of three families: her first marriage to Walter George Mason which gave her four sons followed by three children; James' first marriage to Ann Thompson with six surviving children; and their own family of four daughters. Their eldest daughter together, Ida May Adams, married Joseph Judd just two years before her father's death.
Jane Mason with her daughter Robinniana
Source: https://mychildrensancestors.weebly.com/jane-mary-teresa-brady.html
Jane's parents, William Brady and Margaret Smith, were married in Cavan, County Cavan on 2 November 1838. Jane was baptised on 19 January 1840 in the same Roman Catholic Church where her parents wed. Working back from her immigration record dated 25 December 1841, arriving in Australia aged one year and nine months old, Jane was born in early April 1839.
Saturday 17 December 2022
Too soon to say goodbye
It is hard to explain the impact of a life when the tilt of the universe is knocked off-balance by the circumstances of loss, and finding equilibrium again is still proving to be a challenge, but here is an attempt.In November, two people we needed passed away. The first was someone who worked beside a privileged few but was unknown by many, least of all the public who receive benefit from her work every day. Her name was Joanna Meakins and she scoped the functionalities available to everyone who uses Trove, Australia's most significant social and cultural discovery platform. One of her more recent colleagues wrote this:
In his poem, "The Second Coming", WB Yeats categorises people as the best, who "lack all conviction" while the worst are "full of passionate intensity". I'm not sure what he'd have made of Jo. Jo, who both determinedly lacked conviction in her own abilities, yet epitomised passionate intensity. For Jo was one of the very best. She was a great friend, always ready to reassure, encourage and inspire, despite being completely resistant herself to absorbing the regard and praise sent her way.
If someone could "care too much" about the people around her, Jo did. If someone could "worry too much" about work, she did that too.In her years at the National Library, Jo's emphatic and relentless representation of the public, those silent and invisible users of the library's resources, made everything she touched better. Her intellect, courage and hard work made the lives of thousands of people more productive and enjoyable - people she never met, people who will never know her name.
There were many times it would have been much easier for her to acquiesce to the inward-focussed group-think that congenially sabotages every organisation, but her advocacy never wavered, she was never afraid to "speak truth to power". She took the right path, despite the personal cost.
That she is now gone is unfathomable, unfair, impossible.
It seems to make no sense - it is unreasonable - a flash of desperation, a spike of sadness that can't be undone.
Many of us have been there, to that point where it seems that, to quote Yeats, "the centre cannot hold", but so far, for us, with some combination of luck, a thick-enough skin and blinking away from reality at that crucial moment, we've made it through.
Just as our happy memories of Jo will live on in us, the lucky ones who knew her.
Joanna was 42 years old; she left three pre-teenage children. [1]
The second person was barrister Sandy Dawson SC. Someone I did not know, but such was the outpouring of public personal distress when he died that his achievements could not be ignored.
His work was incredibly important to Australian society, and included establishing a 21st century precedent for defamation law when he was successful in 2014 in obtaining damages for misrepresentation on social media platforms.
Mr Dawson was 50 years old; he left four teenaged children. [2]
Part of the versatile functionality of Trove is a feature for making simple lists of items discovered while searching the content. It was scoped by Joanna.
Not all of Mr Dawson's work is in the public domain, being sub judice or only available within the legal sector, but it is possible to draw some threads together into a Trove list. It is by no means exhaustive, but indicates the breadth of intellectual endeavour achieved by one person in a short time.
A modest memorial to these two extraordinary people.
References:
The first Trove logo, created when its list feature was developed, is shown above.
[1] Jo in the original Trove T-Shirt, 2013, from facebook
[2] Sandy Dawson in 2016, https://bit.ly/3HINBgo.
Monday 5 December 2022
My life as a souvenir
In my current role, I have the privilege of seeking out souvenirs of the city in which I work. An added bonus is the discovery of items for my own home town. The quirky and the quaint are equally valued; but items with images have a double layer of meaning. I recently discovered one of these gems; here are the highlights.
Oak Avenue was part way along the Pacific Highway from Tweed Heads to Murwillumbah.
My parents drove this way south to the District Hospital - the concrete slabs made a comforting railway track noise. After too many road accidents, the trees were eventually cut down. The now unmarked avenue has been bypassed, but is still a thoroughfare to the hinterland.
My younger brothers and I were born under the pointed outlook of Wollumbin.
The border fence separating Tweed Heads from Coolangatta had a dual role as the boundary delineating the playground for the children attending Tweed Heads Public School.
The main street of Tweed Heads, Wharf Street, had buildings on one side only until the early 1970s when the "back channel" was reclaimed to develop the main shopping centre Tweed Mall. It was also the scene of many street parades, including Red Cross girls.
The chalet was on top of the Razorback lookout, which took advantage of the view.
Snapper Rocks Baths at Point Danger were a summer destination for all Tweed Heads children learning to swim.
Jack Evans' Pet Porpoise Pool Tweed Heads
Travelling to Tweed River High School on the bus meant crossing the Boyds Bay bridge (out of view on the right of the image) past Ukerebagh Island in the Tweed River.
There was much excitement in Geography class when we had to travel to Stotts Island for an in-the-field excursion. Until we experienced the leeches. It's one of the few locations on the Tweed which has retained its natural environment.
My first fully paid job, at the rate of $6.00 per day, was in the Kirra Beach cafe serving milkshakes and ice creams. Sweeping the floor once earned me an extra $10.00 which had fluttered out of someone's pocket. One year I spent a whole week's wages going to the Ekka.
Like my places of casual work, my favourite beaches were in Queensland. I spent my last day at Greenmount before going off to university.
Not a place I knew very well, living at the opposite end of the Shire, Cudgen became significant after I left home. Helping others to access local materials about Cudgen in faraway repostories led me to becoming a history researcher.
The Coolangatta, Q. label for the booklet is at odds with the subject matter - 10 of the 12 images were taken over the border in New South Wales. Sometimes, twins are inseparable.
Thanks to
Saturday 31 July 2021
Coming to our census
One of the few enjoyable pastimes insisted on by government is completing the personal response to the quinquennial national census.
In 2016, I was able to fill out two forms: one while visiting the Isle of Man and later in that year, the Australian one. I was keen to let the Reiltys Ellan Vannin know that I was there on an important date. In fact I had to remind the hotel we were staying in to give me the form, but it encouraged them to hand it to other visitors. In this pandemic year, they don't have to bother. Nevertheless the Isle of Man does have a good track record in sharing the results of its census every 10 years.
Our national census is always of interest to genealogists. The import of some of the questions in this year's census, especially those where every possible answer is not given with the question, are scrutinised. The uptake of DNA testing in the last five years by those with a genealogical interest creates a quandary. Where the country of origin of our earliest migrating ancestors may not have been previously known, many of us are now more informed. Just a spit or a swab and some dollars reveal all.
While those of us who have been researching their family history for a long time won't be caught short for an answer, there may a noticeable change in the statistics. Although not granular in the Census questions, level of Aboriginality for example, may be better understood if a DNA test has been undertaken. But perhaps the change won't be statistically significant?
The census instructions don't define 'ancestry' but it could be inferred from two prior questions about the birthplaces of self and parents. If you and your parents were all born in Australia, doesn't that automatically make you Australian? Which leaves scope for acknowledging those ancestors who weren't born here no matter when they migrated to Australia.
The wealth of knowledge, understanding of identity, and record of environmental influences stored in other countries' census results are hugely rewarding when shared. Thankfully, the same commitment to future genealogical research has been made in recent Australian censuses. It is an extraordinary opportunity to show our place in society. Make sure to choose 'Yes' when answering Question 65.
Monday 25 January 2021
To Australia, with love
Although I started reading Mills & Boon romances during the 1970s and 1980s as a teenager, I left them behind for decades until recently. Indulging in them now makes me chuckle, recognising some of the wishfulness which does not turn into reality.
It didn't take long to realise how different they were from current "granny lit" - plot development for a start had to be much more detailed, given that all the body-to-body action doesn't have to occur until the last page or two. An exception may be made if marriage happened earlier in the book.
There is also social history commentary of the time, as the primary occupations of women slowly changed into more diverse roles; single parentage through circumstances other than widowhood; taking on responsibility for large corporations and so on.
But what I didn't expect in these little capsules of escapism was a tribute to my country. Although the intensity of one writer's work stayed with me - Lucy Walker's - it was thrilling to find that other authors found my home region to be a worthy backdrop to romantic drama.
Lindsay Armstrong
"I have friends who have a holiday home at Cabarita, but they've gone to America for three months and let me with a key and an open invitation to use it whenever I like. [p.128]
"Tallitha looked at the house, at the marvellous aspect - the beach below was white and clean and went for miles in both directions. Then they went up to the village - it was little more than that, a few shops and a pub - and laid in supplies. [p.129]
"Many months later she could still remember every detail of that holiday in Cabarita, and knew that it would probably be impossible to forget, even when she was very old. How could one forget? How could you ever forget the way the sun shone the day after they arrived and how the sea glittered and danced beneath a blue, blue sky. [p.130]
Standing on the outside, 1986
Ann Charlton
Although not named, this is reminiscent of Kingscliff or even Fingal Head.
" Sorry to frighten you darling - but I couldn't have you screaming, now could I? With your projections, you'd be heard in Tweed Heads. [p.3]
"The beach was empty but the row of tracks across it remained evidence of the visits of holidaymakers from the next cove. People rarely drove on to the beach because of the unsealed road and the swampy creek beside it." [pp.25-26]
"What about this place? I don't think I could bear to see a club and carpark over there changing everything. Let's wait and see. It could take years." [p.185]
The Driftwood Dragon, 1985
Lucy Walker
Lucy Walker's stories focused on "The Outback" in regional Western Australia. Her books were renowned in England for their expositions of "the Australian way of life", and serialised in their ubiquitous Woman's Weekly.
All of the women who married the strong, almost prenaturally silent, station owners must have been widowed at an early age, given the frequency of smoking, but it's not difficult to understand where strength in times of hardship was forged.
"Have you got a mouth of cast iron, Mick? Kate asked. "Nope," he said, wiping the back of his hand across it. "I guess I learned that from the old-timers on the inland cattle routes. A man wasn't fit to drove cattle if he couldn't drink tea boiling ... along the Canning route anyways." [p.96]
The one who kisses, 1954
This was an area I didn't visit until almost sixty years after the book was written, so learning about its magic was an unexpected pleasure. It's not an easy route to traverse, but it's easy to see how such details captivated an audience so far away. And the illustrations in these serialisations may have helped, even when they were a plot misdirection.
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| Home at sundown, first published in Woman's Weekly, December 1967 - January 1968. Illustration from the 30 December 1967 issue by Peter Gibson |
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