David and Ellen Leed

When he was in his twenties David Leed was an engineer on the riverboats that plied the Murray River, but that's a story for another day. This blogpost is an account of his first marriage.

Today we visited Kapunda in South Australia and made a point of visiting the Church of England because David,  Phil's great-grandfather, married there in 1884. In the 1800s it was a town that developed when copper was mined in the area. It was also the home of the pastoralist Sidney Kidman. A lot of beautiful buildings from that era survive and the museum is well worth a visit.

In 1884 Ellen Beaumont was 20 years old and living in Kapunda where her father William was a butcher. She married David Leed in the Church of England at Kapunda on the second day of the new year. David was 27 years old. They set up home at Morgan, an important river port on the Murray River. Morgan is about 50 km from Kapunda.

David would have spent many weeks at a time away from home as he worked as crew on various riverboats carrying goods upstream as far as Echuca in Victoria and up the Darling as far as Bourke. David and Ellen's first child was born at Morgan in September 1884, a girl they named Clara Florence, but sadly she died of dysentery three months later. A son, William George, was born at Morgan in March 1886 and some time in the next year the family moved to Eaglehawk in Victoria where David's family was living. (David's mother died in June 1886 so that may have prompted the move.) David and Ellen's second son was born at Eaglehawk in December 1887.

The following year, on 31 May 1888, Ellen died of typhoid. The two little boys were cared for by David's sister Grace until David married again three years later.

Sepia Saturday: Mary Leed the MLC scholar

The theme photo for Sepia Saturday this week is of girls in a school dorm. I've decided to write about my husband's grandmother who was at boarding school In Melbourne, Victoria.

In the early 1900s David and Mary Ann Leed lived near Pyramid Hill in central Victoria where they had a farm. There were five sons (including two from David's previous marriage) and two daughters, Nell and Mary.

Nell Leed (left) and Mary Leed

Nell and Mary attended local rural schools like everyone else in the district but when they were late teenagers it was decided that they should go down to the prestigious Methodist Ladies' College (MLC)  in Kew for a year (more-or-less as a 'finishing' experience). Mary had singing lessons while she was there - she had a fine voice.

Students at Methodist Ladies College, Melbourne (1919).
Mary Leed bottom right.

Mary already had a 'boyfriend', a dairy farmer from Mologa, not far from home. Throughout her time in Melbourne they corresponded regularly and we are lucky to have a few of Ralph's letters to Mary. He was an amusing correspondent and filled Mary in on what was happening in the family, church activities and sport in the district and gossiped about the people they knew.

[Extract 1] Talking of looks.  Do you know that I got the prize for best looking gent. on the ground on Monday.  Needless to say my conceit has risen almost to bursting point. Scobie reckoned the judging was crook.  Some of the old married women were judges, so that accounts for me winning, I’m pretty well in with one or two of them.  It’s more than I can say of the young girls.   

[Extract 2] I had plenty of spare time to think things over.  I’ve come to the conclusion that Mologa isn’t much of a place, especially of a Sunday now that your not here.  Eight o’clock, Sunday night, nothing to do, nowhere to go, its too rough.  Once you come home again I’ll never let you go away any more (as if I could stop you).  I’m selfish aren’t I.  But truly its ever so lonesome up here now & I can’t help longing for the time when I can see you again.  November seems a long way off.  Think of me while you are enjoying yourself at the show tomorrow. 

[Extract 3] It is with deep sorrow in my heart that I record the demise of Clara. Yesterday she stole our meat that was to do us for dinner.  She was arrested, tried & sentenced to death.  But in our tenderness of heart, she was granted a reprieve.  However, last night she entered the house with felonious intent & knocked a pack of plates off the shelf breaking three.  Today, the reprieve was annulled & at half past four  the sentence was carried out.  Clara (in a bag) went to her last long home accompanied by two half bricks. (RIP). With this touching episode, I draw to a close, So long sweetheart. From you ever loving                                                                                                Ralph

Mary and Ralph married in 1922 and remained in the district and raised a family of five daughters. MLC is still a very prestigious school, now run by the Uniting Church.

Voyage to Australia: The ship 'Susan'

In 1852 Robert Leed was 22 years old and working at Kinneil Iron Works at Bo'ness on the Forth, Scotland. His father, deceased, had been a Master and part owner of a schooner operating out of Glasgow. His mother remarried in August 1852.

Gold had been discovered in Australia so that may have influenced Robert's decision to buy passage on a ship to Australia. He paid his own way on a brig called Susan, one of only nine passengers on board. A brig has two square-rigged masts and is quite small compared with some of the huge clippers that sailed to Australia in the 1800s. She weighed 175 tons. Brigs were fast and maneuverable but had a reputation for being difficult to sail into the wind.

A brig

The Susan, with R D Munro as Master, departed Liverpool 24 January 1853. On 2 March she was sighted off the west coast of Africa by another ship called the Lima, and on 8 May she was seen west of Cape Leeuwin, Western Australia by Uncle Tom.

South Australian Register, 16 May 1853

The Argus, 25 May 1853

Hobson's Bay, Williamstown, Victoria [Source unknown]

After a voyage of four months the Susan arrived Hobson's Bay (Williamstown), Melbourne on 24 May 1853. There was a notice in Melbourne's main paper, The Argus, detailing the cargo she and several other ships had carried and the Sydney paper also listed the cargo.

The Argus, 25 May 1853

Geelong Advertiser, 26 May 1853

The Sydney Morning Herald, 30 May 1853

The brig stayed for a year or so, plying back and forth between Victoria and Tasmania carrying passengers and cargo. In August 1854 is was advertising accommodation to Mauritius and England.

The Argus, 11 Aug 1854

Geelong Advertiser and Intelligencier, 26 Aug 1854

In 1856 and 1857 there were several newspaper notices of 'the brig Susan' returning to Sydney port with sperm oil from whales, but it may not be the same ship.

Robert Leed went to the goldfields at Castlemaine and Eaglehawk, married and raised a family and died at the age of 57 from phthisis, a lung disease common with goldminers. He was a very good engineer, and worked for many years on large quartz-crushing machinery, but that's a story for another day.

Sepia Saturday: Reposting Flowers and Crosses

Sepia Saturday: Flowers and crosses

Two men in suits, yarning in the doorway of a coffee lounge. That's the theme photo for this week's Sepia Saturday. So of course I ignored the men and went with some of the signage on the wall.

On the left side of the photo there is a florists's sign that reads 'Wreaths and Crosses' and I'm following that link in this blog. In World War 1 a relative was sent an album of pressed flowers from the Holy Land and Jerusalem.  There are about 12 pages like those below. The album is about A4 size and has a cover made of olive wood. Some of the pages have crosses, some not. The flowers are in remarkably good condition and retain a lot of colour.

Also during the war a family member, David Ray Leed, was killed in France. This photo was sent to his parents.

David Ray Leed's cross, Rue-Du-Bois Cemetery, Fleurbaix, France

Private David Ray Leed, 23 Battalion,  Killed in Action Pozieres, Somme, France 15 Jul 1916;
Buried Rue-Du-Bois Cemetery, Fleurbaix, France.

About 15 years ago friends of ours visited the cemetery and gave us these photos as well as a pressed red poppy they gathered from a field there. As you can see, the cemetery looks much different now. It's under the care of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

Rue-Du-Bois Cemetery, Fleurbaix, France

David Ray Leed's headstone, Rue-Du-Bois Cemetery, Fleurbaix, France

At about the same time, between 1910 and 1920, this postcard was sent to a lady in Melbourne for her birthday. Now why would you put a cannon on a birthday card??? Even if it is covered in flowers.

To celebrate Sepia Saturday's 200th anniversary we have been asked to repost our favourite post. You can see what posts the other participants have chosen on the group's webpage.

Sepia Saturday: Peace

There used to be a town called Mologa. It developed to serve the land selectors that started arriving in the 1870s. Now the shops, churches, school and post office have almost gone. But the War Memorial remains and it records the names of sons of those selectors who served in two world wars.

The two photos below have been taken from almost the same position and you can see in the first some of the buildings that used to be there in the 1920s. Great-uncle Ray Leed was killed in France and Great-uncle George Leed served in France. Both are named on the memorial. In fact for such a small community there are a lot of names on the memorial and this is repeated all over Australia.

Mologa war memorial (Alford family album)

War Memorial, Mologa (2013) Photo: Tim Fitzgerald
http://monumentaustralia.org.au/themes/conflict/ww1/display/32659-mologa-war-memorial

Most towns and cities in Australia erected memorials after the first world war and they still hold an important place in our culture. They are the focus point for the ceremonies that are held each year to celebrate the volunteers who left to serve overseas. And the communities also planted memorial avenues of trees, installed memorial boards in halls, clubs and workplaces and built memorial halls, bridges and so on. The war had a huge impact on the peace time that followed.

Not far away from Mologa is the town of Mitiamo. At the time of the first world war it was bigger and busier than it is now but it hasn't disappeared like Mologa has, and the community at Mitiamo also installed a memorial. I remember reading somewhere that this memorial is unusual in that it has a female sculpted figure - presumably she represents something or other and is not just there to look pretty. She seems to be holding a basket of fruit or vegetables.

Grandpa Roy Phelan (at right in the photo below) served in France in WW1 and his name is on the memorial. And so are the names of his two sons, Neil and Keith, who served in WW2.

Mitiamo war memorial (Phelan family album)

Mitiamo war memorial (Phelan family album)

The photo above is interesting because it records the German machine gun that was also installed at the memorial. It is no longer there and I believe it was stolen.

Mitiamo memorial as it looks now.
More information here: http://en.tracesofwar.com/article/8643/War-Memorial-Mitiamo.htm
and here: http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~ausvsac/Mitiamo_War.htm

The theme for this week's Sepia Saturday was peace, as in a campaign for peace, but I don't have any campaigners in my photo collection. So I went for the 'peace after war' idea.  I suggest you march on over to see what other Sepians have to say about peace.

Sepia Saturday: A lady with style

This week's Sepia Saturday theme is human faces. I'm posting just one photo this week. I love the strength in Grace's face and she seems very self-assured, and confident in her dress style.

Grace Leed

Great-great aunt Grace Leed was born 1860 on the goldfields of Specimen Hill near Castlemaine, Victoria, Australia. Her father was Robert Leed and her mother Helen Jackson The family moved to Eaglehawk, a gold mining town, when she was about four years old. Her father worked as an engineer in a stamping battery. Three of her siblings died as children, six survived to adulthood, and both her parents died before she turned thirty.

She married John McKenzie in 1881 and then Robert McKay in 1907 and died 1915 in Caulfield, Victoria. She had no children but cared for nieces and nephews at various times, in particular the two young sons of her brother David when he was widowed (until he remarried).

Sepia Saturday: Flowers and crosses

Two men in suits, yarning in the doorway of a coffee lounge. That's the theme photo for this week's Sepia Saturday. So of course I ignored the men and went with some of the signage on the wall.

On the left side of the photo there is a florists's sign that reads 'Wreaths and Crosses' and I'm following that link in this blog. In World War 1 a relative was sent an album of pressed flowers from the Holy Land and Jerusalem.  There are about 12 pages like those below. The album is about A4 size and has a cover made of olive wood. Some of the pages have crosses, some not. The flowers are in remarkably good condition and retain a lot of colour.

Also during the war a family member, David Ray Leed, was killed in France. This photo was sent to his parents.

David Ray Leed's cross, Rue-Du-Bois Cemetery, Fleurbaix, France

Private David Ray Leed, 23 Battalion,  Killed in Action Pozieres, Somme, France 15 Jul 1916;
Buried Rue-Du-Bois Cemetery, Fleurbaix, France.

About 15 years ago friends of ours visited the cemetery and gave us these photos as well as a pressed red poppy they gathered from a field there. As you can see, the cemetery looks much different now. It's under the care of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

Rue-Du-Bois Cemetery, Fleurbaix, France

David Ray Leed's headstone, Rue-Du-Bois Cemetery, Fleurbaix, France

At about the same time, between 1910 and 1920, this postcard was sent to a lady in Melbourne for her birthday. Now why would you put a cannon on a birthday card??? Even if it is covered in flowers.

David Jackson, where are you?

Finally. The little bundle of clues coalesced and my theory has turned into a fact.

Here's the story.

In March 1857 a baby, Thomas, was born in Fryers Creek, Victoria. His father was Robert Leed and his mother Helen Jackson. At the time of his birth his parents weren't married, although they stated that they were, and didn't marry until after their third child was born. So, working backwards, Thomas must have been conceived about June 1856 when Helen was 17 years old. Fryers creek in 1855/1856 was a rich goldmining area near the present day town of Castlemaine in central Victoria. It was an area in an extreme state of flux, with miners coming and going continually. What was a 17-year old girl doing there?

When I checked Robert and Helen's marriage certificate it stated that Helen's parents were David Jackson, storekeeper, and Helen Kinross. A witness to the marriage was a David Jackson. I found young Helen on the 1851 Scottish census for Leith, Scotland - she was living with several relatives including her grandmother and her younger brother John but no parents were present.

So I wondered if the David Jackson who witnessed the marriage was her brother or her father. Next I checked the immigration records and found Helen (16) and her brother John (13) arriving in Melbourne on the ship 'Oliver Lang' in April 1856. I assumed that as they were so young they would be travelling to join a family member, and speculated that it would be her father. So I checked all sorts of records without being able to prove any connection but there was a John Jackson who died at Castlemaine in 1916 (who I think is Helen's brother) and a David Jackson operating a store at Castlemaine. I got excited when I  found that that David Jackson remarried in 1857 at Castlemaine and quickly got a copy of the marriage certificate but it was inconclusive although several facts, including age and birthplace, were about right.

The Argus (Melbourne) 7 April 1856

But just before Christmas I found this newspaper notice. The shipping agents in Melbourne are advertising for David Jackson of Leith to tell him that his daughter and son have arrived. Remember, Leith is where Helen was living in 1851. That was the proof I needed that David was in Victoria prior to his children arriving. And now I think I'm on safe ground assuming that the David Jackson living in Castlemaine was her father.

Helen JACKSON, daughter of David JACKSON and Jane KINROSS was born on 11 Feb 1838 in Leith, Scotland. She died on 20 Jun 1886 in Eaglehawk, Victoria, Australia. She married Robert LEED, son of Thomas LEED and Grizzel (Grace) McLEISH on 19 Aug 1863 in Eaglehawk, Victoria, Australia. He was born on 22 Aug 1832 in Glasgow, Scotland. He died on 26 Jul 1889 in Eaglehawk, Victoria, Australia

Trove Tuesday: Private Leed K.I.A.

 Bendigonian 14 Sep 1916, p2

http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/91387566

 

We know quite a lot about great-uncle David Ray Leed*, or Ray as he was known, because we have letters he wrote home from Egypt and France in WW1 as well as his enlistment papers from the National Archives of Australia.

But it seems there's always more. When I typed his name into the search box at Trove today I discovered that two months after his death two articles appeared in a Bendigo paper - one (above) included a photo and the other (below) a brief biography. His family lived at Central Mologa north of Bendigo. 

Bendigonian, 14 Sep 1916, p24

http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/91387550

The telegram received by Ray Leed's mother.



P.S. The name RAY is actually a family name. It's the surname of his great-grandmother, Susannah RAY who was born in 1804 in Denford, Northhamptonshire, England.

*David Ray LEED, son of David LEED and Mary Ann ANDREW was born on 10 Aug 1893. He died on 16 Jul 1916 in France.

Military record: Enlisted 17 Jul 1915; Private 23 Battalion, 7th Reinforcement; Embarked 26 Nov 1915 on 'Commonwealth'; Killed in Action at Pozieres, Somme, France 15 Jul 1916; Buried Rue-Du-Bois Cemetery (Plot I, Row F, Grave 7), Fleurbaix, France.