Budd St, Collingwood

There is nothing faster than thinking of a question that can be answered by a Victorian birth certificate, and having the answer shortly afterwards. (Overnight, in fact, because the Vic BDM was down for maintenance last night).  A tiny bit of bad luck ensured that the twins were registered on different pages, but I obtained little Charlotte's certificate, showing her to be the younger of twins.  The birth occurred on 22 November 1867 at around 2 pm at 20 Budd St, Collingwood.

 

Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works detail plan, 1237,

 City of Collingwood, 1900.  http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/117738  

Courtesy of the State Library of Victoria collection.

This little snip of an MMBW plan of Collingwood shows 20 Budd St a few doors from Sackville St.

Was Mrs Charlotte Broadley present at the birth?  No.  The attendant was Mrs Mahaney, a midwife.

Was George Griffith the informant for the births?  No.  The informant was Susan Griffith of 20 Budd St, Collingwood.   The twins were a month old when she registered their births.  Her other children still living were Mary Jane 10, Annie 7 and Louisa 5.

In the 1871 Sands & McDougall Directory, the Griffiths and the Broadleys were shown to be neighbours, with the Griffith family at number 10 and the Broadleys at number 8, not far from the Johnston St corner.

Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works detail plan, 1237,

 City of Collingwood, 1900.  http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/117738 

 Courtesy of the State Library of Victoria collection.

Who was Charlotte Broadley?

McGregor & Macuire, Grocers, 107 Wellington Street, East Collingwood, Courtesy of the State Library of Victoria Collection, H694.  Charlotte may have done a bit of shopping here, as Budd St where she lived is only one block over from Wellington Street.

First the good news - this blog has been selected by the National Library of Australia to be perpetually preserved in Pandora Archive - you will see the new Pandora button to the right. The preservation of one's work is a great thing for bloggers, so I didn't want the occasion to pass unremarked.


After the Griffiths returned to the Melbourne suburbs, the family continued to grow, with the birth of George Henry Griffith in 1865, Alfred John Griffith and Charlotte Broadley Griffth, twins, in 1867.  Another two children arrived in 1873 and 1876 - Emily Frances Griffith and another George Henry Griffith, but I want to press the pause button at 1867.

Many, many years ago when I first learned the names of the Griffith children, I was convinced that Charlotte Broadley was the name of a relative of either Susan or George.   I had done enough of the Susan Rochester tree to rule out that side of the family, but George is still a complete unknown,  so I decided to have a red hot go at discovering whether there was a Charlotte Broadley,  or a Broadley family, in Liverpool that could be related to George Griffith.

I went through Censuses and birth, death and marriage records in Liverpool, all to no avail.  There actually *were* Charlotte Broadleys to be found, but I could not connect them in any way to the Griffith family.  Eventually I put that theory into the tested but unproven pile, and moved on.

At some stage I had gone through the Sands & McDougall Melbourne Directories tracing the various addresses of the Griffiths, and found them to have stayed mainly in the vicinity of Collingwood and Fitzroy.  I had a list of addresses gleaned from the alphabetical section, and was happy with that.  However, at a later time I thought I might pay a visit to some of these addresses and take a photo if the houses were still standing.  It was when I was looking through the suburban streets listing for the Budd Street, Collingwood East address to establish the position of the house in the street that my eye fell on a Mrs BROADLEY.   The unexpectedness of it was a bit of a shock.  Could this Mrs Broadley be Charlotte Broadley?

It took a fair bit of sifting through Victorian BDM *microfiche* (yes, it was that long ago), but I did eventually establish that a Charlotte Jones married Allen Broadley in Melbourne in 1856. Tonight, many years later,  I thought I would pop her name into an Ancestry search to see if someone had done her family tree, but what turned up was actually more interesting - Charlotte Broadley as a ratepayer in East Collingwood.

I sifted through the various years, and in 1868 found a ratepayers listing for Budd Street, East Collingwood, with Allan Broadley tinsmith and George Griffiths (sic), violinist listed sequentially. 

Broadley was shown as the owner of the property he occupied - a five roomed house of wood - and he was also shown as the owner of the 3 roomed wooden house occupied by the Griffith family.

I have discussed before the absence of George Griffith in New Zealand  in 1866 and 1867, and expressed some doubt whether George was the father of the twins.  He might have travelled back and forth to make it possible, but I don't know the answer.   But what the naming of the child Charlotte Broadley does suggest to me is that Mrs Broadley was very kind to Susan at this time, and the naming of the infant was a gesture of gratitude or admiration on Susan's part.

Arriving at this point, I realise that the birth certificate for Charlotte could resolve that question - was Charlotte Broadley senior present at the birth? And was George Griffith the informant, or was he missing in action?

Stay tuned.

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.

A New Baby Girl, 1861

"Baby May, Home Poems and Ballads", by William Cox Bennett, 1875, p 8. From the British Library Flickr Photostream.

A fourth child and second daughter was born to Susan and George Griffith in 1861. Her name was Ann Catherine.  The birth appears not to have been registered - it doesn't appear in the Pioneers Index of births, but the index of marriages gave her birthplace as New South Wales.   The birth did not appear in the NSW Index of Births either, and eventually curiosity got the better of me and I purchased Ann's marriage record to see if it named a town in NSW.  It turned out to be "Chilton (sic), New South Wales".    Clearly Ann didn't know what colony Chiltern was in, so far from having moved on to another rush in NSW, the Griffiths were still in Chiltern in 1861.

In 1880 Ann Catherine Griffith married Alfred Tarrant. It was interesting to see that both of the fathers' occupations were recorded as 'musician'.  Alfred's father was John Tarrant of Fitzroy.  By this time the Griffith family was living in Fitzroy, George having died there two years earlier.  

Annie was only 23 when she died, and she was buried with her father at the Melbourne General Cemetery.  Her name appears on the memorial stone.

Another Child Lost, 1859

This photo gives a view of the old part of the Beechworth Cemetery in about 1875.  Courtesy of the State Library of Victoria Collection.  H2005.34/515; H2005.34/515A.

George and Susan lost their little fellow George at the age of 7 months and 1 week, on 2 October 1859.  The certificate states that the death occurred at Silver Creek, and he was buried on the same day at Beechworth.  There are no extant burial records for the Beechworth Cemetery in this period, so it is impossible to say whether he was buried with his older brother Edward George, or popped into the grave of an adult being buried that day. 

The doctor John C Dempster gave the cause of death as acute hydrocephalus, from which the children had suffered for one week.  The symptoms would be headaches, vomiting, sleepiness and seizures.  In infants the head could swell because of the buildup of fluid.  The cause may have been congenital, or acquired by disease or injury.  The available records don't allow us to know the cause.  Dr Dempster had last seen the child the day before its death.  Dempster was based in Beechworth, and it is possible that the child was brought from Chiltern to see him, which would explain why the death occurred at Silver Creek.  They would probably have had friends there.

The witnesses were W R or W K Lyon, and C Bennett, and the service Church of England.

Susan and George returned to Chiltern with their little girl, now aged just over two years.

And back to Court, April 1859

The Magistrates in a detail from [Courtroom Scene] by Charles Lyall, circa 1854, courtesy of the State Library of Victoria Collection.  H87.63/2/7B

INDIGO POLICE COURT.
Wednesday, April 6th, 1859,
(Before J. P. Morphy, Esq, J. P. and
Dr. Beckett, J. P.)

Annie O'Keefe v George Griffiths.
Claim for £3 15 0 for work and labour done.

Annie O'Keefe, sworn, deposed. Am a single woman, and live at Beechworth. About four months ago I entered into the services of the defendant, at the rate of 25 s. per week. I left him about seven weeks since. I gave him notice of my intention to leave ; he consented to it. He paid me all, but the last three weeks, amounting to £3 15 0. I asked him for the money on Monday last ; he said he could not pay it till his place was furnished.

To the defendant. I did not get £3 the day I went to Beechworth.

Susan Griffiths, sworn, stated. Am a married woman, and live at Indigo. A fortnight before the complainant left I gave her £3, which left a balance of 10s. against her She was in my service a fortnight afterwards ; there is a balance of £2 coming to her.

Order for £2, with costs.  

INDIGO POLICE COURT. (1859, April 7). Ovens and Murray Advertiser (Beechworth, Vic. : 1857 - 1918), p. 3. Retrieved October 8, 2013, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article117926503


The servant got her money, though only what the Griffiths' said they owed her, but they also paid the costs. 

It is interesting to see that the Griffiths could now keep a servant.  Annie O'Keefe had joined them in the previous December, when Susan was seven months pregnant and with a toddler at foot.  It seems likely she was employed to help with the housekeeping, and possibly in the dance-hall.

New Babe at Indigo, 1859

"Fifty “Bab” Ballads", by W S Gilbert, 1877.  Courtesy of the British Library's Photostream.

 Within days of the end of the Sly Grog court hearings towards the end of February, Susan gave birth to a baby boy, whom they called George Griffith.  Mary Jane was a toddler of 19 months at this time.

New Life at Silver Creek, 1857

Image taken from page 33 of '[Original Poems, for Infant Minds ... A new and revised edition. [By Ann and Jane Taylor and others.]]'  London, 1868.   "British Library HMNTS 11649.f.5.

The Griffiths' second child, a girl called Mary Jane, was born on 10 August 1857 at Silver Creek.  Silver Creek was  not far from the centre of Beechworth.  No witnesses were recorded, nor doctor.  Did no-one assist with the birth?  Perhaps it was George.  He was the informant.  At this time he was performing at the El Dorado Hotel.

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.

At the Ovens goldfields, 1850s.

This photograph by Walter Woodbury, said to have been taken circa 1855, shows the mining settlement at Woolshed Creek, a village of canvas and shingles.  Woodbury set up a studio in Beechworth in 1857, so it is possible that the image dates to this later period.  Source:  The Royal Photographic Society Collection at the National Media Museum. Inventory no: 2003-5001/2/23789

I am now going to wind back the dial on the time machine to 1855 when we will find George and Susan Griffith on the Ovens goldfields of northern Victoria.  I have already mentioned the children born and baptised in Fitzroy between 1865 and 1876, but there was an older group of children born among the tents, bark huts and gold workings in the Ovens Valley.  These were:

Edward George,  born 14 Apr 1855 at Wangaratta  (died 24 Feb 1856 Wangaratta)
Mary Jane           born 10 Aug 1857 at Silver Creek
George                born circa 1859 Indigo                     (died 1859 Indigo)
Ann Catherine    born circa 1861 in NSW      (turned out to be Chiltern, Victoria)
Louisa                 born 2 Jun 1863 at Beechworth

George was listed in the 1857 Ovens Directory as a Professor of Music, Woolshed.  Woolshed Creek was north west of Beechworth.  It had long been a matter of puzzlement to me as to whether George used his musician's hands to dig for gold, and I spent a bit of time researching this in the dark ages of research prior to the widespread use of the WWW.   I was able to find some traces of him, which didn't really resolve the question.   He invariably gave his occupation as 'musician', but it turned out that he did have a Miner's Right.  This information came from the card files of Fay Johnson, who had recorded that in the 1856/57 Electoral Roll - Legislative Assembly - Reid's Creek and Woolshed Division (Ovens District) on page 31, George GRIFFITHS of Woolshed, miner, was included on the roll by virtue of a Miner's Right.

Ros Shennan, another researcher of the Ovens history had recorded an advertisement which was included in a publication called History of the Parish of Beechworth about the Catholic Parish of Beechworth, by Father Leo Lane.  In this ad for St Patrick's Day at St Joseph's Church, Beechworth to be held on 17 March 1858, a Grand High Mass was to be held with orchestral accompaniments provided by Mr G Griffiths, first violin; Mr Welchman, second violin; Mr P Hurley, flute; Mr W Radford, viola; Mr Barlow, cornet; Mr Jenkins, sax tuba, Mr Wright violincello and Herr Esther double bass.

I found this interesting because it placed George's musical skills at the top end of the scale of fiddlers, with the capacity to play complex liturgical pieces, and also as the first violinist - the orchestra leader.

That was about the extent of my findings until last year when I decided to give the Ovens and Murray Advertiser (1855-1866), based in Beechworth  a thorough going over to see what else I could find about the activities of the Griffiths family, and shed more light on what type of music George was performing, and was he combining that with mining.

The next few posts will have a look at those findings.

Emily Griffith's South African Adventure

I'm going to take a break from New Zealand research for the moment, and take a side trip to South Africa.  The wedding portrait above, a rather battered photo from the family collection, was unexpectedly identified by someone I met at a genie talk I was giving to a group visiting from Sydney.  This group included the grand-daughter of the happy couple, Emily Frances Griffith and Hugh Owens.  This was said to have taken place in Durban, South Africa, which I found rather astounding.  Any wonder I couldn't find what became of George Griffith's daughter Emily in Victoria!  After returning from South Africa they settled in New South Wales, which again tended to obscure what had happened to Emily.

So the next few posts are going to be looking at what Emily got up to in South Africa.  I will be asking the question, how and where did she come to meet and marry Hugh Owens?  I am not sure I will be answering the question, but it will be fun trying.  South African research is reputed to be difficult, so others may find it of interest just what records can be accessed.

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.

Did Susan Griffith travel to New Zealand?

In the past I have assumed that George's wife Susan and their children did not travel to New Zealand with George, but the truth is that I have no evidence either way.  I thought it was time I examined this question again. 

So far I have managed to establish that George was in Hokitika from at least March 1866 until December 1867.  He doesn't reappear in the Melbourne directories until 1869, which is consistent with him being back in Melbourne by 1868.

There appears to be a second period of absence from Melbourne in the directories, from about 1872 to 1873.  He is back in the directories by 1874.  I have not discovered where he went, if he went anywhere.

Looking at the births of their children, the sixth child, George Henry, was born in Fitzroy in 1865, and died there in 1866.  After young George the next birth involved the twins Alfred John and Charlotte Broadley Griffith, registered in Collingwood in 1867.  That would appear to be a bit of a fly in the ointment when George can be shown to be in Hokitika from 1866 to 1867, so the question arises as to how Susan became pregnant.  Was she in New Zealand for a time and return?  Was someone else the father?  It doesn't seem likely that she could have been pregnant before he turned up in Hokitika in March 1866 and have her twins in 1867.  Had she been pregnant by March 1866, the twins would have been born before the end of the year.  Perhaps George came and went a couple of times?

After the twins there is a substantial gap before the next child was born - Emily Frances, born in Collingwood in 1873, a gap of five to six years.  This could have been a natural gap, but the directories do seem to indicate that George was absent from Melbourne in the period 1872 to 1873.

There are no children born or died in New Zealand.

I haven't yet been able to find a shipping record to New Zealand for George, let alone Susan and the children, so anything is possible.    However,   taking the view that Susan may still have been in Melbourne, but I hadn't spotted her in the directories, I did a special search in the digitised Sands & McDougall directories for Susan Griffith/s, and I was surprised to turn up several references to a Susan Griffiths living at St David Street, Prahran (next to the Windsor Castle Hotel)  from 1872 to 1875.

Whether that is my Susan Griffith I have yet discover, but it does introduce another line to examine, particularly if I could discover the children in school records somewhere.