Sisters' reunion at the goldfields

The story my grandmother told me:  The two Rochester sisters met again on the Ovens goldfields after many years apart.  The chain is a fine gold lady's watch chain made from a nugget found by the Griffiths at the Ovens and given to Elizabeth to have the chain made.  The chain is shown above with a gold bracelet for comparison.

It is only recently that the chain, which I remembered my grandmother telling me about as a teenager, fell into my hands.   It was the chain that set me off sifting through the known facts about Susan and Elizabeth Rochester and investigating them further.  We have already traced the Griffiths to the Ovens goldfields and the Hitchmans as newly weds most likely at Oaklands Junction on the Deep Creek.

Disappointingly, the Hitchmans, perhaps due to illiteracy, did not register the four known children they had in Victoria, but my grandmother told me that her father James, the eldest child, was born at Donnybrook in 1854.  The descendants of their third child, Elizabeth, had also heard Donnybrook as a birthplace for the daughter Elizabeth, about 1858.   The fourth child Anne was stated on her death certificate to have been born in Wangaratta,  circa 1862-63.  She died aged five at Wool Shed Farm, Gobbogombalin in 1868, the details being verified by her father.

Donnybrook is about twenty kilometres north of Oaklands Junction, along the Sydney Road.   A cluster of businesses had grown up around a permanent water hole known as Rocky Water Holes near  the Sydney Road, including two inns, a post office, watchhouse, flourmill, coaching depot and accommodation houses.  Small mixed and dairy farms were nearby and provided more opportunities for work. (See Historic Views of the City of Whittlesea by Robert Wuchatsch and Gwen Hawke, Whittlesea Historical Society, 1988). The locality may also have included the area of Mickleham on the western side of Sydney Road.  In 1874 the name of the town was changed to Kalkallo.

The Town of Donnybrook Parish of Kalkallo County of Bourke [cartographic material] / Robt. Mason Assist. Survr.; lithographed by R. Meikle, 1855.  Courtesy of the State Library of Victoria Collection.

In October 1861 James Hitchman was charged with being drunk in charge of a team by Constable Jones of Moonee Ponds.  When he appeared at the Flemington Police Court on 21 October 1861, James was fined five shillings by local JP, Patrick Phelan.  Phelan had lost his seat in the Victorian Legislative Assembly just the year before.

Presumably James was just passing through Flemington or Moonee Ponds  with a load, after possibly stopping off for a quenching ale at the Flemington Inn, but it is some indication that he was still in the vicinity of Melbourne in 1861.  By 1863 the family had moved on to Wangaratta where a daughter Anne was born.  The Register for Births and Deaths is missing for the period, so we don't know any further details about their stay in Wangaratta. Thank you Jenny Coates for the information regarding the missing births and deaths in Wangaratta.

Leaving Donnybrook via the Sydney Road (now the Hume Highway), Wangaratta was on the way to their final destination in the vicinity of Wagga Wagga. Phil Sheather, a relative in Wagga Wagga, NSW, tells the story that the Hitchmans were accompanied part of the way north by Ellen and John (Red) Kelly, the parents of Ned Kelly.

We don't know if they intended Wagga as their final destination when they first left Donnybrook, and we can't be sure just when they left Donnybrook.  The previous child to Anne was born at Donnybrook circa 1858, and Anne in Wangaratta in 1863.   The background to this movement north may have involved the dwindling of readily available alluvial gold in Victoria and the associated recession in the economy, with a peak in the number of bankruptcies occurring in 1862.  The through traffic from Melbourne to the goldfields in the north declined significantly, and the goods and services that a town like Donnybrook would provide to that traffic would have also declined.   The Hitchman departure may have occurred in response to loss of work.  It is interesting that they headed north at this time rather than return to Melbourne, but James' acquisition of a 50 acre conditional purchase farm at Malebo, near Wagga, in 1866 might indicate that the couple had a plan for their future.

Whether they spent any time at Wangaratta, or were resting there while awaiting the birth of their child I don't know.   We do know that the Griffiths were still in Beechworth in 1863, but had returned to Melbourne by 1865.  It would seem therefore that the fabled meeting of the sisters on the goldfields after many years' separation most likely occurred in Beechworth around 1863.  From Wangaratta, Beechworth was not overly far out of the way, with another route through to Albury north of the town, though the road may not have been as good.

The Sydney Hotel, formerly known as the Hope Inn, Wangaratta, 1868. Courtesy of  Museum Victoria, MM 6080. 

The story of the gold chain made from a nugget found on the Ovens goldfield hangs on whether or not the chain is made from gold.   This was a question recently resolved by calling in at a jeweller's in Moonee Ponds, Micheli Eurogold, and discovering that in fact the chain was machine made and gold-plated.

Any number of explanations might be put forward - that the gift of gold was sufficient only to purchase a gold plated chain; that the original gold chain is in other hands in the family; that the original gold chain was sold in times of hardship (and there would have been many of those).  Whatever the case, I am prepared to believe that the lady's watch chain does represent a joyful meeting of the sisters in the northern goldfields after many years' separation.  The value is in the associations attached to the chain. (Even though my sister told me to cash it in if the chain was real gold!  There's sisters for you.)

It is indeed the case that all that glisters is not gold.

Elizabeth and Susan Rochester of Chipstead, Surrey, daughters of a labourer, would have had few enough opportunities had they remained in England, most likely becoming the wives of labourers, if they could find a husband.  By accepting the challenges of migration to a very strange and different land, among strangers, Elizabeth became a farmers' wife and with her husband James Hitchman, helped to populate the inland areas of the Riverina. Susan, on the other hand, cast her lot with a musician with gold fever, who took her at first to the northern Victorian goldfields of the Ovens River, and then a suburban life in the growing city of Melbourne.  Both lives involved hard work to sustain themselves and their families, but also offered opportunities.  The two young girls from Surrey proved to be resilient pioneers in their own way. Neither of them became particularly wealthy, but they became the mistress in their own homes, which may not have been the case had they stayed at Chipstead.

Thank you to Phil Sheather of Wagga Wagga for helping with some birth and death details for this story.

Return to Melbourne, circa 1863-1865

Beechworth, c 1922, showing the Bank of Victoria centre right. From the family collection.

The above photo postcard of Beechworth is annotated on the back with "Taken 66 years after other card 1922".  The two storey stone building to the centre right was built in 1867 for the Bank of Victoria, at 29 Camp St, corner of Ford St.  The Bank of Victoria amalgamated with the CBC in 1927.  Someone made a sentimental return to Beechworth - perhaps Mary Jane, born there in 1857.

The building in the right foreground is interesting.  It has the look of an old hotel, but from Camp Street, when looking via Google Maps, the building has a narrow shop front and the verandah only along the front and Ford Street side. Does anyone know what this building was?


We are almost done with the Ovens goldfields - I am waiting on one more reference.  By 1865 the Griffiths had returned to Melbourne.  They'd spent about ten years in the chaotic life of the goldfields, but now the easy surface gold was gone and deep lead mining was replacing the panning and winnowing of the old days.  Economic times were hard.  The population on the goldfields began to drift back to Melbourne, or buy landholdings and turn their efforts to farming.

George and Susan returned to Melbourne with their three little girls - Mary Jane, Ann Catherine and Louisa -  leaving two little boys in the Beechworth Cemetery, it seems in unmarked graves.   Mary Jane, who turned five in August 1862 had probably started school in 1863.

Did they return to Melbourne with a nice sum in a Bank of Victoria account, or had their fortunes declined with the goldfields?  That is a question that would warrant some investigation.

Another daughter, 1863

"The Cottage Girl; or, the Marriage-Day. By the author of “The Gipsey Bride,” etc., etc. [i.e. Mary Bennett.], London 1867. Courtesy of the British Library Photostream.

In June 1863 the Griffiths added a third little girl to their brood.  The two little boys had died as infants.  The births index shows that the daughter, Louisa, was born at Beechworth.  Together with the performance with the Beechworth Philharmonic Society the next month, this may indicate the Griffiths had moved back to Beechworth from Chiltern.  It is hard to say without a copy of the certificate.

Ashton's Circus, Beechworth, 1858

Drawing of Ashton's Circus in Clermont, 1873. Courtesy of the John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland.

 The large advertisement run in the Ovens and Murray Advertiser  called  the circus "Ashton's British and American Circus".    As it seems not to be the case that the circus came from  Britain or America, perhaps there were a few American personnel amongst the troupe. Or perhaps it was a reference to the American Negro style of entertainment which was part of the program.

The origins of the circus are a little cloudy, but in 1849 in Hobart a man named Thomas Mollor, the licensee of the Bath Hotel in Murray Street, advertised some circus acts associated with the Hotel.  Ashton was performing feats of daredevil riding in that entertainment.  Whether Mollor had a long background in circuses is not certain.  It seems possible that he was the convict of that name who arrived by the Mangles.

In early 1850 Mollor announced that he was leaving the country.  A new company was formed to take over the equestrian horses and circus equipment.  Interestingly this included not only James Ashton, but Mrs Ashton, who also performed with the circus.   In the early 1850s the circus was touring in Queensland and New South Wales, and by 1855 had arrived in Bendigo.  They had probably found the goldfields to be a lucrative source of customers, and in 1858 they had arrived at Beechworth.

LATEST EUROPEAN INTELLIGENCE. (1854, May 6). Illustrated Sydney News (NSW : 1853 - 1872), p. 5. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article63614282

Evidently there was a core group of circus performers, and local musicians were employed to fill in for the musical entertainment.  In the large advertisement taken out in the Advertiser on 6 April 1858, many familiar names were mentioned - Mr Zeplin on the harp; Billy Barlow was to give his 'opinions'; Mr Griffiths (sic) on the violin.  In addition to the locals were: Mr Faulkner on the banjo; Mr Ashton on the flautina; Mr Sams on the tamborine; Troy Knight on the bones; and Fritz Bimes as Leader of the Military Band;

And Mr Griffiths  as the "Leader of the Nigger Band".

Oh dear.  One can only hope he wasn't wearing blackface to really disgrace the family.

Advertising. (1858, April 6). Ovens and Murray Advertiser (Beechworth, Vic. : 1857 - 1918), p. 3.  http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article113237500

"Minstrel" entertainment was extraordinarily popular at this time, and continued to be so for many decades.

The "Boston Serenaders" who appeared on the bill, may have been Minstrels, and constituted the main claim to being an American Circus.

The Robert O'Hara Burke Memorial Museum has in its collection a glass slide of Ashton's Circus entering Beechworth via Camp Street.   The street is strangely empty apart from a horse and cart keeping to the opposite side of the road.  The horse looks rather alarmed, and has a rider on its back case it took it into its head to bolt.  This photo is included in a book by Peter M Shea, called Champagne from Six to Six:  a short social history of entertainments and recreations at the Beechworth and Ovens' goldfields Victoria 1852-1877. (Durham, CT: Eloquent Books, 2010.)

Wages withheld, 1858

 Detail of Township of Beechworth [cartographic material] / N. F. Martin, Assist. Surveyor, Beechworth, August 20th, 1856 ; lithographed at the Surveyors General's Office, Melbourne, by E. Gilks.  Courtesy of the State Library of Victoria Collection.  http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/121412

WAGES.

John Barlow claimed £4 for services as a musician from John Brock landlord of the Hibernian (sic) hotel. The agreement was that complainant might absent himself on any night except Saturday or Monday, on condition that he found a substitute ; he had absented himself one night without complying with the term of the agreement, defendant therefore refused to pay him.

Zeplin v Brock.

Griffith v Brock.

These two cases were exactly similar to the above, and were all dismissed.

POLICE COURT. (1858, January 6). Ovens and Murray Advertiser (Beechworth, Vic. : 1857 - 1918), p. 3. Retrieved October 9, 2013, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article113236055

Birth and death on the goldfields, 1855-56

"The Harp of the Valley", by William Stewart Ross in  Illustrated Handbook of Victoria, Australia. British Library HMNTS 10492.f.22

While George was busy with concerts in Beechworth, Susan was delivered of a boy, on 14 April 1855 at Wangaratta. They named the babe Edward George.   Susan registered the child at Beechworth on 23 May 1855.  She signed with her mark.   As usual when Susan was the informant, the surname was rendered as "Griffiths", but George always used the spelling "Griffith".

Ten months later, on, 24 Feb 1856, the infant died of cholera infantum,  also referred to as 'summer diarrhea', a contamination exacerbated by swarms of flies, and the insanitary conditions on goldfields.  The death was certified by Thomas Crawford.  The Ovens Directory 1857 described Crawford as MD, JP, and residing in Camp St, Beechworth.

The baby boy was buried at the Beechworth Cemetery, which had been surveyed in February 1854 and divided into rectangular denominational compartments. In I856 a Cemetery Trust was formed and the cemetery was in operation in January the same year.

The Minister Thomas Dowell of the Church of England presided, and the witnesses were William Haydon and Octavius Folkard.  These two gentlemen were involved in a courtcase against each other in the Beechworth Police Court on 30 March 1857, but the case was dismissed as neither party appeared.  Octavius Folkard later obtained a Refreshment License for Indigo in 1859.

Dancing, Dancing, Dancing! 1855 UPDATED

The Royal Photographic Society Collection at the National Media Museum  Inventory no: 2003-5001/2/24008. Beechworth, circa 1857, by Walter Woodbury. The hotel appears to be the Commercial Hotel in Ford St, Beechworth

ASSEMBLY ROOMS.
Dancing! Dancing! Dancing!
M LANGFORD, proprietor of the 
Beechworth Hotel, begs to inform 
the inhabitants of Beechworth and 
its vicinity, that he has rented the 
above rooms, with an intention of 
making it into a Dancing and Musical 
Saloon, which will be opened on
MONDAY, 9TH APRIL, 1855.
It is being fitted up in the best possible 
style, Messrs. Griffiths and Co.
(Harp and Violin players) are engaged 
as musicians, and the lovers of really
good music, singing, and dancing, 
will have an opportunity afforded 
them unequalled in the district.
Doors open every evening, from 
half past 6 to 12 p.m.
N.B.-There will be an entrance from 
the Assembly Rooms to the Billiard 
Room, which will enable persons    
who are fond of this game likewise
to amuse themselves.
Beechworth, March 30, 1855.

Advertising. (1855, March 31). Ovens and Murray Advertiser (Beechworth, Vic. : 1855 - 1866; 1914 -1918), p. 3. Retrieved April 23, 2014, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article113013270

"Messrs Griffiths and Co, Harp and Violin Players" probably included George Zeplin.  A five and a half hour evening gig would certainly leave George (both Georges) with plenty of daylight hours to work a claim.

UPDATE- Richard Patterson in Nobblers and Lushingtons places the Assembly Rooms next to the first Beechworth Hotel in Ford St.  Michael Langford had been the licensee of the El Dorado (later Exhange Hotel), where George's association with Langford began.

A Professor on the goldfields,1855

"On stone by A J Stopps from a Daguerreotype by Acley and Rochletz.   Post Office, Beechworth 1856."   The original photographers appeared in the 1857 Ovens Directory, business rivals of Walter Woodbury - "Ackley & Rochlitz, Daguerrean Artists, Ford St, Beechworth".  This postcard copy of the lithographed daguerreotype was included in the family photo collection.

  
Advertising. (1855, March 3). Ovens and Murray Advertiser (Beechworth, Vic. : 1855 - 1866; 1914 -1918), p. 6. Retrieved April 25, 2014, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article113013160


With the above advertisement George Griffith introduced himself and his talents and services to the diverse and growing community in the Ovens goldfields.  He was aged 31; his wife Susan was still only 17 and on the verge of delivering her first child - which arrived on 14 April 1855, a fortnight after the ad.

George announced multiple skills - a teacher of pianoforte, violin, harp, with a general wave in the direction of other instruments.  He could repair multiple instruments, and he could perform at private and public functions.

George also helpfully indicated his place of employment prior to coming to the Ovens goldfields - with Wilkie's Music Saloon in Melbourne.

It is difficult to imagine Susan travelling along badly made roads from Melbourne to Beechworth in an advanced state of pregnancy, which makes it seem likely that they had been in the area for a few weeks at least, or had travelled from somewhere closer.   George perhaps had been wearing himself out digging for gold, and erecting some form of home for himself and his young wife and coming child.  The advertisement signals a more focussed approach to earning a living. 

Diggers' Ball, August 1857

"Life  on the goldfields - a digger's ball".   From a sketch by W Lacey.  Courtesy of the State Library of Victoria collection.

THE BALL AT THE EL DORADO. Mr. Winter's ball at the El Dorado hotel last night was a decided success in point of numbers, as well as the means of enjoyment provided for the occasion. An excellent band excited the ladies and gentlemen to endless terpsichorean evolutions, and when eventually exhausted an abundance of suitable refreshments renewed their vigor. After midnight the company sat down to a magnificent supper, laid out with great taste and elegance, and comprising all the delicacies which the district and the season afford. The skill of the artiste in charge of the culinary department was displayed in various marvellous mysteries, which while the pleased the eye gratified the palate in a still greater degree. But M. Camille Reau is a veritable cordon bleu, who has graduated in high places and taken the highest degree in his delightful act. To use the language of the advertisement, which has been fully justified, "all the resources of the establishment" were displayed to the greatest advantage. The spacious accommodation which the El Dorado now possesses for such entertainments added materially to the general comfort and enjoyment.

THE LAND CONVENTION. (1857, August 5). Ovens and Murray Advertiser (Beechworth, Vic. : 1857 - 1918), p. 2. Retrieved October 14, 2013, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article113016258

George Griffith may well have performed at this Diggers' Ball at the Eldorado Hotel.

Eldorado Hotel, August 1857 - UPDATED

Image from the British Library Photostream

IMMENSE ATTRACTION

El Dorado Concert Room,

On Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and

Thursday evening. 

Positively the last week of the present

company 

MR & MRS. PENDLETON

Will appear in their celebrated characters of

the COOK AND FOOTMAN. 

Teddy O'Rourke and his pupil Biddy O'Shanasy.

THE ROVING GIPSIES.

Pretty Polly Hopkins and Mr Tomkins.   

Also their side splitting deleniations of domestic bliss, entitled 

MATRIMONIAL SWEETS,

MRS. PENDLETON

Will sing a choice selection of most popular 

ballads. 

MR. PENDLETON

Will appear in his laughable character of the

UNFORTUNATE MOTHER 

and introduce his comic abilities on the Light 

Fantastic Toe.

Also in his unequalled performance on the

BONES AND THEIR TAMBOURINES.

Assisted by

HERR KRAMER, MESSRS. GRIFFITH,

ZEPLIN,

And other professionals. 

The Performance on Thursday Evening will

be for the Benefit of

MR. AND MRS. PENDLETON.

Admission Every evening Free

Advertising. (1857, August 12). Ovens and Murray Advertiser (Beechworth, Vic. : 1857 - 1918), p. 3. Retrieved October 9, 2013, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article113016336

According to various advertisements in the Ovens & Murray Advertiser, the Pendletons seemed to be musical hall variety artists, while Herr Kramer claimed to be a celebrated vocalist from Buda and Pesth, Hungary.

UPDATE  Richard Patterson, in Nobblers and Lushingtons,(pp 30-31) described the El Dorado hotel as a substantial wooden building on the corner of High and Church Streets, Beechworth.  In 1857 the licensee  was Robert Winter, who made extensive alterations throughout, and included the El Dorado Concert  Room.

Unpaid Wages, March 1857 UPDATED

Robert O'Hara Burke, circa 1860.  Courtesy of the State Library of Victoria Collection

 POLICE COURT.
Friday, March 27, 1857
(Before R. O'H. Bourke, Esq., J.P. and J, S. Morphy, Esq., J.P.)

WAGES
George Zeplin v John Johnson.
A claim for £5 6s 8d, balance of wages, for playing a harp at defendant's house for two weeks and two days at £5 per week. Plaintiff had received £5, and now sued for the balance.

Mrs Griffith was sworn, and stated that she was present when Zeplin agreed with Johnson to play for him at £5 per week each. Would swear positively that the word "each" was mentioned.

Mr Johnson, having been sworn, stated that he engaged the plaintiff and his mate for £5 per week, and board, but never dreamt of paying them that amount each.

The magistrates said they had no...........the amount claimed.  

[There appears  to be a fold in the newspaper in the above sentence, and it is not clear just what the magistrates thought.] 

 WAGES.

George Griffith v John Johnson. A claim for £5 6s 8d.
This case was exactly similar to the last, and judgment for the amount was taken by consent.

POLICE COURT. (1857, March 28). Ovens and Murray Advertiser (Beechworth, Vic. : 1857 - 1918), p. 2. Retrieved October 8, 2013, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article113014651

George Zeplin was a fruiterer and greengrocer (and evidently a harpist) at Woolshed, per Ovens directory 1857.  John Johnson was a publican at One Mile (about one mile south of the centre of Beechworth).    Henry Johnson was listed in the Ovens Directory as a publican at Woolshed.  According to Nobblers and Lushingtons: a history of the hotels of Beechworth and the Ovens District, by Richard Patterson, Johnston's Hotel was located at Upper Woolshed, where it had been from 1856. In September 1858 the hotel was described as 'the best finished house on the Woolshed'. (Patterson, p 302.)


The most interesting aspect of this post, to me, was George and Susan's brush with fame - the case was heard before Police Magistrate Robert O'Hara Burke, who would later go on to lead the ill-fated Victorian Exploring Expedition in 1860.

In the nineteenth century citizens were probably more familiar with the inside of a Magistrates' Court, which they used to chase wages owed, payments for goods, unpaid rent or board, and so on.

We learn from this that George was employed at £5 a week in a hotel to play what one imagines woud have been popular music.   We don't know what sort of week that entailed - all day for six days, or every evening for six days, five days?  The wage for a carpenter was £1-10-0 per day, a bricklayer could earn £1-5-0 per day, and a labourer between 15 shillings and £1 a day.  So these musicians (had they been paid) would have been earning less than a labourer - or the day was not a full working day.  It is hard to know unless we can shed some more light on it.