Mementos of Beechworth from 1922

The Gorge Road, Beechworth, Vic. Rose Series, P10559.

Reid's Creek, Beechworth.  Rose Series, P10543.

The Elephant Rock, Beechworth.  No 12.

These three postcards of the Beechworth area come from a biscuit tin in which George Griffith's  daughter  Mary Jane Eynon (who was born in Silver Creek, Beechworth) kept sentimental fragments of letters, cards, receipts, postcards and photographs, mainly from her children. On the back of one of these postcards was written "1922" in pencil, which is a match for the date on the back of a postcard of Camp St, Beechworth posted earlier on this blog.

The writing is hard to identify.  It doesn't appear to be Mary Jane herself - she learnt to write back in the 1860s and her writing is of a distinctive style.   Her children were taught a particular script at school in Fitzroy and the formation of their letters is quite similar, so taking a not-very-wild guess, the postcards were given to Mary Jane by one of her children  in 1922 as a memento of her birthplace. 

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.

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.