Pulling a thread

In 1983 The Strongest Thread was published. It described the life of a Manx family matriarch, her Northern Irish husband, and their 10 children born in Australia during the 19^th century. Unbeknown to the author Glad Stanford, research began two decades earlier, during the 1960s, summarising the life of one of those 10 offspring. This compilation bridges the two, requiring 21^st century resources to bring it fruition and relink the generations. It is based on a collection of papers preserved by Ian Campbell Jagelman. 

The collection includes documents obtained by Patricia Gwena Jagelman, daughter of John Steele Campbell and Edwina Hatton.  

1. A handwritten ode

Even song
 By Kinchela my loved one
O Come & walk with me
Where the great light of Smoky
Flames o’er the Eastern Sea

Now the old sun has left us
To wander in the West
& the rise clouds have faded
That tinged Toorumbee’s crest

 The swans are in the sedges
The flowers are closed in sleep
All nature is in slumber
Except the restless deep

 So let us seek Koorora
& linger by the Wave
Where round the rocky headland
The trampling surges rave

 While softly round your temples
Will blow the perfumed breeze
Where silvered by the moonlight
Stoop blossom laden trees

So later may we linger
& wander Evermore
By mystic seas of Gladness
Along a summer shore  

Initially it wasn’t exactly clear who wrote this poem, although the paper is stamped with the business details of Campbell & Son indicating that it was transcribed earlier than 1908. Further investigation revealed that it was the work of Dr Brabazon Casement, a botanist and medical doctor who practised in Kempsey until his early death in 1910. He was well-known for his humanitarian and botanical work, less so for his poetry published by his family in 1945. Curiously, this poem was not given the same title in the publication – it is labelled A Serenade to his Wife, Islet Casement. [1]

2. The 1960s’ certificates 

Patricia Jagelman obtained certificates in the 1960s which were generated by hand and typewriter [3]:

Birth of Ann Campbell, 1880, NSW Registry of Births, Deaths & Marriages

Birth of Mary Mabel Campbell, 1882, NSW Registry of Births, Deaths & Marriages

Death of Jane Campbell, 1884, NSW Registry of Births, Deaths & Marriages

3. The postcard collection

John Campbell’s daughter Annie collected postcards during the first decade of the 20th century. Many were sent by Annie’s brother Jack while travelling for work. 

John Steele Campbell (Jack), 1888 - 1964

Jack’s father had drawn him into the family business in July 1908, but there were also exchanges between Jack’s step-sisters and friends. Here is a sample:

4. Land titles

Photocopies of documents pertaining to Charles Steele’s holdings in New South Wales, which are available on the website of the Land Registry, see Volume 4610, Folio 177. John Campbell took on responsibility for the block of land owned by Charles Steele which had rates etc. owing at the time of the latter’s death in 1886.

5. Family history pages

In a Biblical style, the pages impart counsel. John’s first family’s details may have been written by John himself.

The remaining pages, which seem to have been cut from a larger volume, show a range of different handwriting styles.

6. A curious note

Ann Quirk and William Campbell met when the Campbell family arrived on the Isle of Man, and moved into a farmhouse on the same road as the Quirk family. The other details are not yet proven.

7. Newspaper cuttings

Obituaries for John Campbell and his second wife Eunice Septima Campbell

JOHN CAMPBELL 

John’s first wife was Jane Leslie, born on 23 April 1858 at Tycannah (near Warialda in NSW) to Irish immigrants James Leslie and Jane Phillip. 

Messrs. Campbell and Scott. (1904, November 30).
Australian Town and Country Journal (Sydney, NSW : 1870 - 1919), p. 24.
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article71517361

At the time of their marriage in 1879, John Campbell was a stock and station agent. John and Jane had two daughters: Ann, known as Annie, named for her paternal grandmother Ann Jane Quirk; and Mary Mabel, known as Mabel.

In January 1884, Jane died. Annie was three years old, Mabel almost two.

On 7 July 1886 John married Eunice Septima Steele, a daughter of Charles Steele and Mary Ann Weymouth, at Gladstone on the Macleay River. Eunice’s obituary describes her birth as having been unregistered due to a lack of a government office in Port Macquarie, but in reality her parents did not marry until 1860. [4]

John died in 1913, only two months after moving from East Kempsey to Port Macquarie. He was trying to overcome a serious illness.

JOHN STEELE CAMPBELL

John Steele Campbell, known as Jack, was the first and only son of John and his wife Eunice. He was born on 7 January 1888 at Kempsey.

After his father’s death, he enlisted twice, in 1914 and in 1918, but the second enlistment lapsed.  Both have been made available by the National Archives of Australia. [5]

He served in the 1st Light Horse Regiment for just over a year, but was demobilised after succumbing to two contagious diseases. He is listed on the Port Macquarie Presbyterian Church’s First World War Roll of Honour. On his return, Jack married Edwina Hatton, and they had a daughter Patricia Gwena Campbell in 1918. 

He “deserted” his wife and daughter in December 1920, ostensibly looking for work north of Manly. His war-attained illnesses do not seem to have affected his ability to have children, but post-traumatic distress may have led to his life taking unexpected directions.

There were some attempts by Jack’s sisters to contact him prior to the divorce petition lodged by his wife. Advertisements were included in Queensland newspapers as well as Sydney’s Daily Telegraph. He found temporary work at Goodwood Station near Boulia.

Jack did not inherit any of his mother’s estate when she passed away in 1940. He died in Roma Hospital, in Queensland, in 1964. 

PATRICIA GWENA CAMPBELL 

engagements (1940, June 9). 
The Sun (Sydney, NSW : 1910 - 1954), p. 5 (WOMEN'S SECTION).
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article231459786

Jack’s daughter Patricia, known as “Paddy”, spent time with her half-Aunts Mabel and Ann when she was young. 

In 1942, when she married Ian Jagelman, her father was described as deceased on her marriage certificate. Paddy had two sons.

ANN LAWSON

Ann was the older daughter of John and Jane Campbell, and step-sister to Jack. She married Findlay John Lawson on 21^st October 1914, at 2 Table  Street, Port Macquarie. [6]

The bride was given away by her mother (in the absence of her brother, who left for the front with the Light Horse Regiment of the 'first Australian Expeditionary Force' [7]) – as Ann’s father John had passed away the previous year, and her brother Jack was already overseas.  

Eunice was Ann’s stepmother, but she raised Ann and Mabel from a young age after the death of their mother Jane. 

Ann died on 25 February 1962, and Findlay died on 28 April 1964 respectively, in Sydney. They did not have children.

MARY MABEL CAMPBELL

Mabel died on 29 May 1963, and was buried in the Northern Suburbs Memorial Gardens in Sydney. She did not have children. [8]

References

[1] Casement, B. N. (Brabazon Newcomen) (1945). Poems. N. Morriss, Newcastle, https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/23370558; held by the University of New England. The publication was explained in a newspaper article here: trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/173391566.
[2] State Archives of NSW, Register of Firms Index, Campbell & Son, 30 July 1908; file 17262. See also Advertising (1908, June 18). The Macleay Chronicle (Kempsey, NSW : 1899 - 1952), p. 7. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article174469726
[3] Extracts of certificates supplied by the NSW Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages in 1962. They are all typescript copies.
[4] It is possible that Charles Steele had married in his hometown of Forfar, Scotland prior to his travel to Australia.
[5] National Archives of Australia naa.gov.au, Item ID 1914: 1855169; Item ID 1918: 1854329. See also Item ID: 32545663.
[6] The History behind No.2 Table Street, Toomey, R. in Footsteps, Port Macquarie Family History Society, August 2019, https://www.pmdfhs.org.au/files/152-footsteps-pdf.pdf
[7] Wedding. (1914, November 14). The Port Macquarie News and Hastings River Advocate (NSW : 1882 - 1950), p. 4. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article119154623
[8] Sydney Morning Herald, 31 May 1963, p.22

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.

Feilding Star, Volume XVI, Issue 278, 29 May 1895, Page 2

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/FS18950529.2.29

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

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/MT18771110.2.12

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

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZMAIL18940720.2.81

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.

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

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 Gladstone Road. (1894, August 22). Macleay Argus (Kempsey, NSW : 1885 - 1907; 1909 - 1910; 1912 - 1913; 1915 - 1916; 1918 - 1954), p. 5 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article233882283

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. 

Kempsey Road Accident. (1894, August 23). Evening News (Sydney, NSW : 1869 - 1931), p.5 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article113326809

This was not the first time that Jane had been left destitute. Her first husband Walter Mason died when she was pregnant. The Mason family was well known in Sydney, especially for the wood engraving work, and consequently a fundraiser was planned. 

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. 

 

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. 

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 recreation ground in the centre of the image (pre-reclamation) was essential for primary school school athletics carnivals and the "march past".

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