Trove Tuesday: In which a bushfire engulfs Zachary's farm

Zachary Perryman went to the Wedderburn area during the goldrush of the 1850s and ended up staying and buying land. There are still descendants in the area.

A little snippet of information about Zachary came from a newspaper search at Trove. In an extreme heatwave in January 1875 a number of bushfires raged throughout central Victoria and the town of Wedderburn was surrounded on all sides. Zachary's land was north of the town and a newspaper report details how he and his neighbours lost everything on their farms. (Note: The report names Zachary as William in error.)

Bacchus Marsh Express, 30 January 1875

Bendigo Advertiser 23 January 1875



Snip from Borung Parish map shows the neighbouring farmers mentioned in the newspaper article (above).

In the following months there was a Relief Fund set up so that people could donate money to distribute to the victims of the fires. Zachary Perryman must have applied, following the instructions listed in the newspaper article below, and then in October the successful applicants were listed in the newspaper. Zachary received five pounds which would have been much less than the value of what he'd lost I'm sure but appreciated all the same.

The Argus 15 September 1875

BUSH FIRES RELIEF FUND.

In compliance with the terms of the notice given in our columns, we have received applications for assistance from the above mentioned fund from 25 persons, whose claims amount in the aggregate to £2,267.

As the sum at our disposal only amounts to £75 6s. 6d., we have considered it inadvisable to make a pro rata division of the money, and have selected for relief those cases which appear to us to be the most deserving.
The following are the cases selected and the amounts awarded.
Mary Bull, Linton £10 0 0
Edmond Faress, Newington £5 0 0
Rosanna Burns, Huntly  £5 0 0
Charles Dunn, East Trentham, Blackwood £10 0 0
Thomas Freeman, Durdidwarrah, near Geelong  £5 0 0
William Purcell, Anakie £5 0 0
Thomas Finner, Cargarie £ 10 0 0
Zachariah Perryman, Wedderburn £5 0 0
Mary Moloney, Moranding, Kilmore £5 0 0
George Robinson, Boccoflat, near Wedderburn £ 10 0 0
Ellen Walsh, Smythesdale £5 6 6

 £75 6 6

Subscription withdrawn at request of donor £2 0 0
Total amount of fund £77 6 6

The persons to whom sums have been awarded are requested to communicate with the general manager, Argus office, Melbourne, without delay, stating how the amounts due to whom can be most conveniently transmitted.

                                                                            The Argus Saturday 16 October 1875

Zachary PERRYMAN, son of Henry PERRYMAN and Elizabeth CLAYTON was born on 23 May 1824 in Dorney, Buckinghamshire, England. He died on 07 Jul 1888 in Korong Vale, Victoria, Australia. He married Ellen STOCK, daughter of John STOCK on 07 Jan 1849 in Southwark, England. She was born in 1823 in England. She died after Jun 1854 (Adelaide or Melbourne, Australia). He married Margaret KERR, daughter of William KERR and Mary PORTER on 01 Feb 1869 (Sandhurst, Victoria, Australia). Margaret was born in 1835 in Pontspass, ARM, Ireland. She died in May 1907 in Bellevue, Western Australia, Australia.

Sepia Saturday: Installing the new boiler

Keith and Neil Phelan, brothers, returned from serving in the Pacific in WW2 and were at a bit of a loss for a while as to what to do next. It turned out all right in the end but one of their business ventures, in 1952, was to take over a company that had been owned by other family members. It was a cordial factory, Euroa Cordials. They closed it down after a year or two because it wasn't profitable.

Here are Neil (left) and Keith (right) watching cheerfully while their father's first cousin, Ford McKernan (also a returned serviceman), does all the hard work! They're installing a new boiler.

You can.see more blogs on the Sepia Saturday theme here

The house in Little James Street

Just when you think you know it all something else pops out of the woodwork.

In 1850 William Chaundy was living in Victoria, Australia. (He had been jailed in Oxford, sentenced to transportation and arrived in Geelong in February 1849 -- but that's another story.) His wife, Rachel, and six children were living in Oxford, England and were a drain on the resources of their parish so when she applied to the Poor Law Commissioners to join her husband they agreed. The whole family arrived in Melbourne late in 1850.

The Electoral Roll of 1856 records that William had a house and land in Little James St, Richmond and working as a porter. He was still living there when he died in 1863. Rachel died there three years earlier.



Richmond Rate Book, 1862.
It describes the house as made of wood with two rooms.

Probate on William Chaundy's will in 1863 describes the property as having a frontage of twenty feet, 

a depth of eighty four feet and a three-roomed house in a bad state of repair. It was valued at 90 pounds.

Little James St, Richmond as it looks today - a narrow back lane with garage access for
 houses fronting other streets. (Google Maps street view)

William left the property to a son and two daughters and I have a copy of the paperwork generated in January 1878 when the son bought out the daughters' shares for ten pounds.

Now I hadn't actually been able to determine when William bought the property and I wondered how such a poor family could even afford it by 1856. I thought perhaps the gold rush that began in Victoria in 1852 may have been a factor but couldn't prove it.

So I was delighted yesterday to find a reference that filled in a few of the blanks. Early in 1852, just before the gold rush, one of William and Rachel's sons, William Henry Chaundy, sent a letter to a friend in Oxford and it was published in a newspaper there. He described how he was working on a large farm property near Ballarat and mentioned quite a few snippets about the family, including this:

My father, through our joint efforts, has a large piece of land, and a house built on it, at Collingwood, one mile from Melbourne.

[Extract from a letter written by William Henry Chaundy, in Victoria, to a friend in Oxford, England. Published in Jackson's Oxford Journal, Saturday, April 17, 1852.]

It appears that several members of the family were earning enough to contribute to the purchase of the property some time in the prior year or so. (It was actually at Richmond not nearby Collingwood.) William also explained that he and his brother were heading to the goldfields and we know from other sources that they were quite successful.

William CHAUNDY, son of Richard CHAUNDY and Jane ATKINS was born on 09 May 1806 in Stokenchurch, Oxfordshire, England (Stokenchurch was transferred to Buckinghamshire in 1896.). He died on 20 Jan 1863 in Richmond, Victoria, Australia. He married Rachel GREEN, daughter of Edward GREEN and Elizabeth HERRING on 06 Nov 1829 in St Lawrence, Reading, Berkshire, England. She was born on 25 Jun 1810 in Eastrop, Highworth, Wiltshire, England. She died on 20 Dec 1860 in Richmond, Victoria, Australia.  

Trove Tuesday: In which Uncle is dangerously ill

Saturday August 4th, 1888

We have had bad news today, had a telegram from Sale saying that Uncle is dangerously ill, that Father is to go at once if he can. So Father went this afternoon. He can only get as far as Melbourne tonight, so he will not reach Sale till Monday. I do hope poor Uncle will soon be better I am sure; poor Auntie will be in trouble. Father has a long journey before him. I do hope he will not take colds. I trust he will have a safe journey down, and find them all better than expected, and a safe journey home.

Thursday August 9th.

We received a letter from dear old Dad, at last. He arrived safely on Monday, found Uncle very much better. All the rest are well. What a blessing. I am glad Uncle is better, I'm sure it is a good thing. Mr Hampton arrived the day after Father; poor Auntie would be glad to see her Father.

Monday August 13th.
Dear Father came home today, Mr Hampton came with him, Mary went down to the railway station to meet them.

Rhoda ANDREW was 19 years old and living with her parents and her older sister on a farm near Pyramid hill north of Bendigo when she wrote the above entries in her diary. Her 'dear old dad' is John ANDREW and her uncle is Daniel ANDREW.

I was somewhat surprised to find a newspaper report about the cause of Uncle Daniel's illness.

Gippsland Times, 10 Aug 1888

PS We're very lucky to have Rhoda's diary. She only wrote it for about a year but it has provided me with quite a few clues for my family history research. Sadly both Rhoda and her mother died within a few days of each other 11 years later in an influenza epidemic.

Daniel ANDREW, son of John Andrew SHAWLEY and Susannah RAY was born on 25 Mar 1845 in Great Gidding, England. He died on 04 Aug 1913 in Longford, Victoria, Australia. He married Elizabeth HAMPTON, daughter of George HAMPTON and Pamela FRANKLIN on 27 Jul 1868 in Geelong, Victoria, Australia. She was born on 29 Aug 1847 in Bath, SOM, England. She died on 27 Mar 1917.