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

My dad, the dairy farmer

Dad has worn a few hats in his long life (he's nearly 92) but mostly he was a farmer. The word 'farmer' covers a lot of ground but in dad's case it means 'wheat and sheep', then 'dairy', then 'sheep'. This blog is about his time as a dairy farmer because that period coincides with my youth.

In the early 1950s mum and dad moved from a wheat farm in Victoria's Wimmera district to a dairy farm in the Western District. Dad says they moved because he got sick of driving round and round in circles. The farm they bought was perfect for dairying - it had a creek flowing along one border, it had low paddocks that held good pasture over the dry months and high paddocks that were dry in the wet months, it had acres of natural bush that provided timber for new fences - and it was in a great little community.

Dad's dairy, summer 1973

Dad worked hard and made a good living off the dairy cows in the 50s and 60s, and supplemented his income with relief school bus driving, contract hay baling and sale of timber from the bush. We kids thought it was a perfect environment. A dairy farmer's daily routine is dictated by the needs of the cows so dad was always up early for the morning milking and we always had to be back for the afternoon milking (this was particularly annoying if we'd been to the beach for the day). And we could only go on holiday in May because that was when the cows were briefly 'dry'. Dad didn't need to go down to the paddock to get the cows because he could stand on the back verandah and whistle loudly and they would lift up their heads from grazing and start walking up the lane to the dairy. He always had machinery to milk the cows, a walk-in dairy system that had six or eight cows being milked at any one time. Dad's herd size was less than 40 and took more than an hour to milk - now in the same time they milk hundreds of cows in fully automated rotary dairies. At first dad would put the milk and cream in cans and take them to the end of our lane to be picked up but later he put the milk in stainless steel vats and a truck came to pump it out every day or so. I think he enjoyed his work.

Dad's dairy, summer 1973

After about 20 years the authorities started to tighten up on regulations about health, cleanliness and quality and dad decided that he didn't want to spend the money to upgrade, stopped being a dairy farmer and became a sheep and beef cattle farmer. And then they sold the farm and moved into town. But he made sure he bought a house with a big shed so he's still got somewhere to go and tinker.

Sepia Saturday: The swimmers

The topic for Sepia Saturday this week is very apt given that here in Australia we're breaking records left (west), right (east) and centre. We've just had our hottest day ever (average of all temperature reports nation wide) and there are fires all over the place creating havoc.

These photos of three sisters are from a family album, taken in the 1920s in central Victoria. There is another one from the same album that I blogged about here.

I think their bathing costumes are wool, and aren't those hats great? (We used to call swimsuits 'togs' when I was young but that word seems to have gone out of use, replaced by 'bathers'.)

Elv

Annie and Edith

Trove Tuesday: A brief business venture

The late Mr Sims was a pushing, energetic man, and one of the luckiest pioneers of the district. He owned a lot of land at Pine Grove, also at Kerang, where he resided for some years until recently. His was a well-known name amongst auctioneers and business men all over Victoria and he always did his utmost to push the interests of his district ahead. He also took a keen interest in the Mallee, and by his energetic advocacy did much towards the development of a considerable part of that country.  [Rochester Express, Friday 6 April 1906]

The obituary above describes Samuel Sims as an energetic business man. Today's blog for Trove Tuesday details just one of his business ventures, one I didn't know about before 'reading all about it' at Trove.

In 1889 he was farming near Kerang and at Pine Grove in northern Victoria and, as well, had established a store, butter factory and butchery at Pine Grove. The eldest son, Sidney (aged 23), was also at Kerang and was a player with his father in their brief venture into the butchering business there.

The first evidence I found was this newspaper notice from May 1889.

Kerang Times and Swan Hill Gazette, Friday 24 May 1889, page 3

In the same newspaper there is an article (too long to reproduce here) about a court case involving the prior owner, Mr Moorhead. Apparently there was a misunderstanding about who actually owned the debts associated with the business when Moorhead was the butcher. It appears to me that Samuel Sims, the canny businessman, had all his bases legally covered. The article provided me with interesting details about how much he paid and how he organised his business affairs.

Then there is a newspaper advertisement I found, dated 27 September 1889.

The Kerang Times, Friday 27 September 1889, page 4

Then, a month later, this notice appeared. They've closed the business.

The Kerang Times, Tuesday 22 October 1889, page 3

Samuel Sims and his son Sidney continued to farm in the district. There's more to their stories, there always is, but that will have to wait for another day.

Samuel SIMS, son of William SIMS and Mary LEATHERLAND was born on 14 Apr 1831 in Uppingham, Rutland, England. He died on 31 Mar 1906 in Pine Grove, Victoria, Australia. He married Elizabeth CARTER, daughter of Joseph CARTER and Ann TURNER on 29 May 1865 in Lauriston, Victoria, Australia (In the home of Elizabeth's mother, Ann CARTER.). She was born in 1842 in Billingshurst, Sussex, England. She died on 03 Sep 1891 in Pine Grove, Victoria, Australia. Issue: Sidney, Ann (married Edwin Chappel), Charles and Albert.