Great Grandma Jane was a Vaxxer

 

Mary Jane Eynon's biscuit tin contains two frail certificates of vaccination: Emily Isabel, vaccinated at 6 months in 1882;  and Charlotte Victoria in 1894, the year she was born.  Both took place in Fitzroy;  There was a further "Notice to Parents" that their child Violet Alicia was to be presented for vaccination, either to the Public Vaccinator or to a Medical Practitioner.  Isabel was vaccinated by a medical practitioner, Charlotte by the Public Vaccinator, and there is no further information about Violet's vaccination.

The certificates indicated that vaccination was compulsory for children under the Compulsory Vaccination Act.  The certificates were to be forwarded when vaccinations completed to the district registrar who presumably matched them with births registered.

The only vaccinations available at this time were for smallpox.  Public health was a serious issue for the government with a growing and mobile population.  Outbreaks of smallpox in Australia in the 19th century were common, but in 2015 no cases of small pox have been notified - the disease has been eradicated in Australia.  The last notification of a smallpox case occurred in 1921.

Mary Jane would have heard her mother talk about the two baby brothers who had died in Beechworth in the 1850s, and would have personally remembered the deaths of other small children in the camps around her as she grew older, as well as two siblings who died as young adults.   Mary Jane's children benefited from public health programs.  She lost only one infant of her large family of eight children.

Baptised in Fitzroy

A row of terraces in Marian St, Fitzroy, circa 1935.
Source:  State Library of Victoria Collection Image No: mp010420

I was a little too optimistic about what I would find in the transcriptions of St Mark's baptismal registers, but I was pleased with what I did find.

In each case the child's parents were given as George Griffith and Susan, George's occupation "musician".  The elder George Henry Griffith's baptismal record in 1865 gave his mother's maiden name as Rochester, but the later ones gave no maiden name:

Baptised    Born          Child's name                Address
2/11/1865   15/4/1865     George Henry                Marian Street
6/8/1868     23/11/1867   Alfred John                    Budd Street
6/8/1868     23/11/1867   Charlotte Broadley         Budd Street
14/8/1873   8/4/1873      Emily Frances                Fitzroy Street
8/6/1876     9/2/1876      George Henry                Moore Street

I can't tell from any of that when George returned to Fitzroy, but it does show a gap in the family from 1867 to 1873.

Baptising the children

St Mark's Anglican Church and School, Fitzroy, circa 1861-1862.
Source:  State Library of Victoria, Image No: pi002899

I'll bet you thought I had forgotten all about you - nup, just been busy.  So back on the trail of the Griffiths.

In a very exciting development, I discovered this evening that the Genealogical Society of Victoria has added to its Genealogical Index (GIN), which is online for members, the baptisms from the St Mark's Anglican Church, Fitzroy, on the north east corner of George and Moor Streets, Fitzroy, and the index includes a number of the Griffith children:

• George Henry, b 1865, baptised 1865
• Alfred John, b 1867, baptised 1868
• Charlotte Broadley, b 1867, baptised 1868
• Emily Frances, b 1873, baptised 1873
• George Henry, b 1876, baptised 1876

Fingers crossed that the baptismal entries give an address.  I will also be very interested to discover the sponsors at the baptisms.  1868 is one of the years the Griffiths are absent in the post office directories.

When did George Griffith leave Melbourne for New Zealand?

In this post I will examine the available Victorian directories for entries from George Griffith and see if I can establish approximately when he was absent from Victoria. 






 1857 Ovens,   Griffith, George, Professor of Music, Woolshed, Beechworth
1866 Sands & McDougall, Griffith, Geo, 16 Little Latrobe-street, east
1867-
1868 -
1869 Sands & McDougall, Griffith, Geo, Prof of Music, 10 Budd St, East Collingwood
1870 Sands & McDougall, Griffith, Geo, Prof of Music, 10 Budd St, East Collingwood
1871 Sands & McDougall, Griffith, Geo, Prof of Music, 10 Budd St, East Collingwood
1871 Sands & McDougall, Trade & Prof, Prof's & Teachers, Griffith, George (music),        Budd St, E C.
1871/72  Bailleire's, Victoria, Griffith, G, Prof of Music, East Collingwood
1872 -
1873 -
1874  Sands & McDougall, Griffiths, George, 75 Fitzroy St, Fitzroy
1875  Sands & McDougall, Griffiths, George, 75 Fitzroy St, Fitzroy
1876  Sands & McDougall, Griffiths, George, 75 Fitzroy St, Fitzroy
1876  Sands & McDougall, Griffiths, George, 1 Lit Marion St, Fitzroy
1877  Sands & McDougall, Griffiths, George, 123 Moor St, Fitzroy
1878  Sands & McDougall, Griffiths, George, Lit George St, Fitzroy
1879  Sands & McDougall, Griffiths, George, 49 Lit George St, Fitzroy

George died on 31 December 1878.  From 1880 his wife was listed in the directories.


Two things stand out here - firstly, that there are two apparent gaps in the record, which may indicate two periods of absence.  This requires a more detailed examination.  We know from the previous post on the West Coast Times advertisements that he was in Hokitika, New Zealand, in 1867, which matches with one of the years in which George was absent from the directories.


Secondly, that George's main occupation, where it is recorded, is as a teacher, or Professor of Music.  After the second period of absence, from 1874, it is not so clear how he was employed.  In the 1867 ads he is a piano tuner and repairer, which is quite a change from 'musician'.