#52 Ancestors 2020 Week 17 Land

#52 Ancestors 2020

Week 17 Land

How happy must our emigrant ancestors have been to finally sight land.  I think particularly of those who came in the 19^th century, when shipboard conditions were dangerous and uncomfortable.  For the convicts, of course, it was even worse.

My 3 x great grandparents James and Elizabeth Golding embarked on this voyage as assisted immigrants with their four children, Susan, Eliza, Deborah and baby John.  They sailed from Plymouth,  England in November 1858 on the emigrant ship “Hornet”.  There were 438 passengers on board and most of them, like my ancestors, were travelling in the cheapest way possible, in steerage.

Steerage accommodation

Steerage class was the bottom of the ship, a space previously used for cargo.  It was crowded, dark and close to the water line.  Each family was granted a small space into which they had to find room for their bedding and cooking utensils and the few clothes they could keep with them.  All their other belongings were packed into trunks and stowed in the ship's hold. Depending on the ship, and the weather, passengers may have had access to their trunks only once or twice during a voyage. In bad conditions, many emigrants were stuck in damp, dirty clothes and bedding for weeks at a time.

Unfortunately for the Goldings, this was a rough trip, as the Sydney Morning Herald reported on 12 March 1859.

“The Hornet, arrived on the 3rd March from Plymouth, with 438 immigrants. She had a rather long passage, having been particularly unfortunate in meeting with foul winds and bad weather throughout. After clearing the Channel she had a succession of heavy gales, which lasted 22 days. She crossed the Equator on the 42nd day out, and since rounding the Cape of Good Hope has had nothing but light winds from N.E. to S.E.

There have been 5 deaths and 6 births on the passage.”

One of those deaths was Deborah Golding, who was 4 years old.  I’m still looking for Deborah’s death certificate, but there are any number of likely causes of death under these conditions, although the small number of deaths on the voyage would at least rule out an epidemic of something like measles.

The State Library of NSW describes life on board:

Steerage quarters had berths lining the walls and a long dining table in the middle. Passengers were organised into messes of eight to ten people prior to embarkation, and usually given berths close to friends or passengers from the same region. Emigrants cooked, ate, washed and cleaned within their mess and to a timetable specifying when each mess could do their chores.
The daily routine in steerage began at 6am with washing, dressing and tidying up before breakfast. Emigrants would then clear away and begin their chores: cleaning berths, scrubbing decks, and doing washing. Single men were expected to help out with extra tasks but steerage passengers with children could have very long days.

Emigrants had to be out of bed by 7am, with all the children washed and dressed before breakfast at 8 am and then sent off to school. At 9 am the decks were cleaned and groups assigned to clean areas of the ship that didn’t belong to a particular mess.  Dinner was at 1 pm, tea at 6 pm and lights out at 8 pm. Government regulations determined the daily routine on board British emigrant ships as well as many private ships leaving English ports. Steerage passengers were required to clean their own berths (as were some second and third class passengers) and this was how most emigrants started their day. Regulations also dictated the timing of religious services and weekly musters for inspections by the Surgeon Superintendent, wash days and daily cleaning of the ‘coppers’

There are some journals written by passengers as they made the voyage – all that I have found are written by those who are fortunate enough to have travelled in a cabin.  My guess is that most of those in steerage were illiterate, like my forebears. 

James and Eliza disembarked with their three surviving children on 3 March 1858.  At that time of the year, Sydney is warm and clear – it must have felt like heaven after 113 days on board the ship.  They left almost immediately for Northern NSW, where James had a position on the large station called “Tomki” near Casino where his brother in law, Sam Shepherd also worked.

Ships at the wharf at Benelong Point, c 1860 (this is where the Opera House now stands)

The Golding family spent the rest of their lives in the Northern rivers area.  In 1865, James and Eliza had another child, Emily, but Elizabeth died when she was only two years old.

James lived on until 1908, and I have a photo of him with one of his great granddaughters, my aunt Nellie.  The four Golding children produced a total of 44 grandchildren and many of their descendants are still living in the Northern rivers district.

Nellie White with her grandfather James Golding, about 1900

#52 Ancestors 2020 Week 15 Fire

#52 Ancestors 2020

Week 15 Fire

Last year (Week 28 – Reunion) I told the story of the 1915 fire at the Regatta Hotel in Brisbane which affected my great grandfather, James Gleeson, and his family.  James was the licensee of the Regatta at the time of the fire and his family had to make a dramatic escape.

This is a tale about another mysterious fire which involved my great uncle, Alfred Whitten.

My mothers Uncle Alf was one of two Methodist Ministers in his very religious family, the other being his older brother Albert. 

Alfred Giles Whitten was born in 1883, the second last of Anthony and Charlotte’s family of thirteen children.  All the Whitten children had their early schooling at the little school their father built at “Lowestoft”, the family property, and I Albert and Alfred appear to have received their theological training at the Central Methodist Mission’s Evangelist’s Training Home.

Albert and Alf third and fourth from left in second back row

By 1909, Alf was a Minister at Coolamon in the Riverina, and in 1910, he was on the North Coast where he made an impression at a Methodist rally in Grafton.

From the Raleigh Sun (Bellingen, NSW : 1898 - 1918), Friday 18 November 1910, page 3:

No Plays, Dances or Cards.

The Rev. A. Whitten, speaking of ' Amusements” at a Methodist rally at Grafton, said he felt sure that God had intended His people to enjoy amusements. Some recreation and amusement was necessary for the youth of Australia, and they had no right to shut themselves in with a picket fence of dogma and creed; they must look out through the palings and see the wide world. There were many unhealthy amusements, however, and the speaker referred to so-called ' religious ' plays. He believed that the great majority of actors and actresses were morally corrupt, and until they were cleansed the theatre was a place to be avoided. He also condemned dancing and cards, on the ground that although when properly conducted there was no harm in them, the strong-minded people should deny themselves such pleasures for the sake of their weaker brother and sisters, who had no sense of moderation.

In 1912, Albert and Alf set off to see the world together.  They visited the Holy Land, went to Europe and England and then to the family in Ireland.  From there they travelled to America where they were enrolled at Drew Theological Seminary in Madison, New Jersey.  Alf signed up for three months, then left for Canada and home, where the following year he married Ethel Cock.

In 1917, Alf and Ethel were welcomed to the Nambucca circuit of the Methodist church, and at some time in the next few years, Alf bought a disused sawmill at a little place called Warrell Creek and had it moved to Macksville.  He paid 600 pounds for it and insured it with Mercantile Union insurers for 1423 pounds.

This is the building that burnt down, in December 1920.

There appears at first to have been not much excitement – just a small paragraph in the local paper on 24 December, but by February the coroner had concluded that the building’s owner had a case to answer.  Evidence had apparently been given that a tall man wearing a pith helmet had been seen at the scene – a description which might have fit Alf.

The story was taken up by newspapers all over the country with headlines like these in the Bathurst Times.

CLERGYMAN COMMITTED FIRE IN A MILL

SENSATION IN THE NORTH MACKSVILLE

And then, on the 18th of March, an anti-climax.

Maitland Daily Mercury (NSW : 1894 - 1939), Friday 18 March 1921, page 4

THE MACKSVILLE FIRE. REV A.G. WHITTEN EXONERATED

"The Methodist" the official organ of the 'Methodist Church, publishes the following :— 'A week or two ago the daily newspapers gave wide publicity to the proceedings at a coroner's inquiry into the origin of a fire at Macksville and to the fact that the Rev. A G. Whitten was under accusation in respect, to that matter and was committed for trial. The accusation was a most serious one and has given the greatest pain to Mr Whitten and to all who have the honour of the Methodist Church at heart. We are glad now to be able to say that Mr Whitten's solicitors have received an official communication from the Attorney-General, who states that after a careful perusal of the depositions he was unable to find any evidence which would justify any charge being brought against Mr Whitten in connection with the burning down of the mill at Macksville, and also that the Attorney General had caused a telegram to be sent to the coroner at Macksville, in that effect. "You can take it," the solicitor's letter adds, "that any stigma which may have temporarily attached to you has now been entirely removed." It is a matter of satisfaction that in regard to this matter, Mr Whitten has been officially and completely exonerated.”

So, what really happened? 

There are some questions.  We know from “Trove” that Rev Whitten had been farewelled from the Nambucca circuit of the church in April 1919.  I don’t know where he was from then until he turned up in the Rylestone Kandos district (near Mudgee) in 1921.  Was he really an “ex-Minister” during those two years, and still resident in the Nambucca area?  There is a story in the family that he had Spanish flu at this time, and there is also an appearance before the Bankruptcy Registrar by “AG Whitten, grazier of Kempsey.” (July 1921). Maybe he took time out to try being a farmer, like his brothers.

His daughter Beth was born in 1920 in Waratah, in the Newcastle area, and then Olwen was born in Kempsey in 1922 when he was still attached to the Rylestone circuit.  Another mystery.

Described as “overworked and ill” he left Rylestone in 1923.  It had been a tumultuous few years.

#52 Ancestors 2020 Week 16 Air

#52 Ancestors 2020

Week 16 Air

Both of my parents told stories about their first encounters with aeroplanes. 

Mum (born 1924) remembered that the famous Australian airman Charles Kingsford Smith landed his plane in Quirindi when she was a child, and also that he gave joy rides to some of the many people who came out to see him.  I can’t find any mention of this visit on Trove but it must have been some time after the famous Trans-Pacific flight of the Southern Cross.

Kingsford Smith and his three - man crew flew across the Pacific in three short stages in 1928. They left Oakland, California on 31 May, refueled in Hawaii and Fiji and then crossed the Australian coast at Ballina, not far from where I now live, and flew up the coast to Brisbane, where they landed at 10.10am on 9 June. Their flight had taken 83 hours and 25 minutes. 

A few days later Kingsford Smith and his partner, Charles Ulm were in Scone, NSW, not far from Quirindi, so perhaps this was the time of the famous visit.

Dad’s memories were quite clear. He wrote:

When I was about six or seven the first aeroplane to visit Lismore arrived amid much excitement.  Few of us had ever even seen a picture of an aeroplane – I certainly hadn’t -and when the teacher, as part of the advance publicity for such a momentous event, asked us to draw what we thought an aeroplane looked like, the results were strange and wonderful.  All except one.  Georgie Krause, about whom I shall have more to say, had actually seen an aeroplane and was able to draw something that was recognisably near the mark – although none of us could believe it until a few days later the machine appeared and well, wonder of wonders, landed in a paddock in South Lismore, about half a mile from the school.

 In those far off days, there were no landing grounds actually designed and built for the landing and take-off of aircraft.  Most of the machines were flimsy affairs made of a canvas covered framework, more like a kite, with a not very reliable motor.  All they needed was a reasonably flat surface, free of obstacles, such as could be found on the outskirts of most towns, with a wind sock to indicate the direction of the wind.  With such inadequate equipment, hundreds of aspiring airmen piloted their crazy aircraft over thousands of miles, crashing now and then, occasionally killing themselves, just as often picking themselves up and sticking their aeroplane together, and trying again until, sooner or later, the pitcher went too often to the well.  Anyhow, this particular aeroplane came to and went from Lismore without mishap, in the process enriching the lives of a lot of children for whom such events were to become commonplace in the years to come.

I have found the details of this story, written up in The Northern Star, on Trove – it took place on 25 August 1920, so Dad was six years old.  It made a such a strong impression that he never forgot it.

From The Northern Star:

PEACE LOAN. 

Aeroplane Arrives in Lismore. 

The aeroplane, which is touring the North Coast in furtherance of the second Peace Loan, arrived in Lismore yesterday. Lieut. .F. S. Chapman is the pilot and Mr. J. Hogg the engineer. The machine is of the splendid Avro make rendered so familiar to the people of Lismore by the comparatively prolonged stay of Lieut. F. L. Roberts in the town some few weeks ago. There is also the greatly interesting fact that the aeroplane is a gift to the Commonwealth by the British War Office. The roar of the engines over the town about 1.30 p.m. drew a large number, of people into the streets. The aviators were beheld encircling the town in a magnificent manner at a height of upwards of 5000ft. The air, however, was full of ''pockets," the machine dropping 200ft.. or 300ft. at a time.. The high winds prevented the aviators from performing any stunts, but they hope to do some before leaving Lismore. The town was encircled three times, some Peace Loan printed matter being dropped each time. After going round the town the airmen proceeded to land. It was found that Risk's paddock was not wide enough with the wind in evidence, so the aviators landed in a suitable paddock about, a mile further south. 

52 Ancestors 2020 Week 14 Water

52 Ancestors 2020

Week 14 - Water

Those of us who grew up in post war Australia had every opportunity to learn to swim.  There were creeks, rivers and the ocean, and in almost every country town and suburb, a Municipal Baths.

In Dubbo, The Olympic Pool had been built as a Depression project in the 1930s.  When I was a teenager it was the social centre of our lives.  In summer, we were there every afternoon after school and all weekend, sprawled on the lawn with our towels and books and comics and a portable record player with a stack of 45s.  In 1996, writing about local history for the Daily Liberal, I wrote a piece this era and about Tom Yeo, who was the manager of the Dubbo Olympic Pool for 23 years from 1952 – 1975. *

Both of my parents were good swimmers and they made sure that we learnt to swim as early as possible.  I had my first lessons from a student of Dad’s at Young High School called Albert Stevens.  I would have been about 4.  When we moved to Glen Innes in 1954, we were upset that there was no pool, but the Council were raising funds to build one – it opened in about 1956 and we children quickly became regulars.  Glen Innes is on the New England Tablelands so there weren’t many really hot days in the summer, but we got used to peeling off layers of clothes to dive into freezing cold water.  Mum, famously, did it once and vowed never again.

Mum won lots of these certificates

Dad at Quirindi Baths about 1937

Our ancestors were not so fortunate.  Most of the convicts who came to Australia were from urban areas and could not swim.  Paul’s convict 3 x great grandfather, Peter McCann, was an early casualty.  He drowned in the flooded Rickerby’s Creek, a tributary of the Hawkesbury River, in October 1806, only 6 years after his arrival in the colony.  

Another convict ancestor, Rebecca Harris (nee Bloxham) also met her death by drowning, in 1879.  The Northern Star:

ACCIDENT.­ We are informed that an old resident of this district, named Rebecca Harris, aged 70 years of age met her death, at Tirrania Creek, under the following circumstances, on the 6th instant. It appears that she left her home between 10 and 11 o'clock on the morning of the above day, for the purpose of taking a walk, but not returning to dinner, a search was made by her daughter in ­law, who found the deceased lying in the creek, into which it was supposed she had fallen, being rather short­sighted. As­sistance was procured, but life was found ex­tinct, and a Magisterial Inquiry being held before J Stocks, Esq., J.P., the above facts were elicited.

Peter’s great grandson (Paul’s great grandfather) also drowned in a flooded creek – Wilson’s Creek near Eureka on the North Coast of NSW.  On 20 April 1889, the Northern Star reported, “

Drowning We are sorry to hear that a well known man named Chas. McCann, was drowned fording Wilson's Creek, above Eureka on Tuesday last. It is stated that McCann was crossing the creek, which had risen several feet, when his horse slipped, McCann was washed out of his saddle, and drowned before assistance could be rendered. The police are now searching for the body, but it has not yet been recovered, owing to the flooded state of the creek.

There were drownings in my family, too.  My grandmother’s young cousin, Norman Fleming, was only 8 years old when he died in 1896.

Accidentally Drowned

 A magisterial inquiry was held by the city coroner yesterday into the circumstances connected with the death of Norman Fleming, aged 8 years, who was drowned in a waterhole off Dawes Street Leichhardt, on Saturday. William Clark Fleming, father of deceased, identified the body. Witness left home at 7.30 a.m. on Saturday and did not see deceased again alive. About 5. p.m. that afternoon his dead body was brought home. Harold Star, 8 years, said that deceased and be went to the waterhole. Witness fished, and deceased said he would have a swim. Witness warned him not to go in as the water was deep. After entering the water, he suddenly sank, and went out of his sight. Witness informed the police, and the body was recovered about 4.45 p.m. A finding of accidentally drowned was returned.

Sydney Evening News 5 December 1896

And in my father’s family too, a beach drowning.

DROWNED AT BALLINA

CAUGHT IN UNDERTOW.

Mr Ernest Talbot Willows, manager of the Lismore branch of Norco, Ltd, was drowned in the surf at South Beach, Ballina, on Sunday afternoon. A party from Lismore, including Mr and Mrs Willows, journeyed to Ballina, and joined some local residents at South Beach. About 3 o'clock the male members of the party went into the surf, and when 50 yards out got into a channel, with a swiftly flowing undertow. Mr Drake, headmaster of the Ballina School, swam back to the shore, procured a lifebelt, and went after Mr Willows, and brought him ashore. Efforts to restore animation were unsuccessful.

Northern Star  1 March, 1928.

Now that I live near a beach, I am constantly reminded that while it is beautiful,  it can be a dangerous place.  Growing up swimming in the relative safety of the local pool, I am always wary of the ocean and careful not to swim too far from the shore. 

Tallow Beach, Byron Bay, NSW

* The Daily Liberal, 28 July 1996

Regular readers of this blog will notice that I skipped #52 Ancestors Week 9.

The prompt was "Disaster"

This year, I  have enrolled in the University of Tasmania Diploma in Family History.  This will be a bit time consuming so  I've decided that I can skip the occasional #52 Ancestors week when I don't think there is an clear story in my family that relates to the prompt.

I think that while there are accidents, bad timings, poor judgments and other mishaps throughout my family story, there aren't any real "disasters".

#52 Ancestors 2020 Week 10 Strong Woman

#52 Ancestors 2020


Week 10 Strong Woman

Elizabeth White (nee Stanford) 

In family history there are always questions that have no answers.  For me, one of those questions is addressed to my great grandmother, Elizabeth Stanford.

Why did your parents withhold permission for you to marry Robert White, even when you were clearly pregnant?

Robert White has been the subject of several previous posts (see #52 Ancestors 2019 – “I’d Like to Meet” and “Rich man”.)  It’s difficult to understand what Charles and Susan, Elizabeth’s parents, could have had against him.  He was a hard worker, he wasn’t the wrong religion, his family and theirs came from the same part of town and the same kind of background.  Robert and Elizabeth had known each other since childhood.

And yet the marriage took place quietly on 19 June,1888, the day after Elizabeth turned 21 and no longer needed her parent’s permission to marry.  She was 6 months pregnant.

The first of their children was Ellen (Nellie) born in September of 1888.  Over the next 15 years, six more children were born.  My grandmother Alice was the second, born in 1890.  She was undoubtedly a strong woman, so I thought I should have a closer look at her mother, to see if she had been Alice’s role model.

Elizabeth Stanford was the second of 15 children, born to Charles and Susan Stanford in 1867.  Her father was born in Kempsey, NSW, the oldest child of English immigrant parents.  Susan came to NSW as a child – her parents were also assisted immigrants from Suffolk in England.  Charles was a small farmer and a timber getter, first at Casino and then at South Lismore, where Elizabeth was born.  She spent her entire life in this area.

As the oldest girl in a large family, Elizabeth would have carried some of the responsibility of child care and house work.  We know nothing about her education, but I assume she had only basic primary schooling until the age of 12, and then left to help at home.  At the time of her marriage, she had three siblings under 5, and one of her little sisters had recently died.  (Her mother went on to have three more children who were roughly the same ages as Elizabeth's first three - Nellie, Alice and Violet).

Robert spent most of his adult life involved in his community.  He was a passionate supporter of the Manchester Unity Friendly Society and an Alderman of Lismore Council.  He was President of the Lismore Show Society and the Horticultural Society.  The Northern Star (Lismore’s newspaper) has pages of references to him over 40 years from 1890 until his death in 1932. 

There are almost no references to Elizabeth as a separate person, yet she managed to raise seven children and have her own outside activities.  She too was involved in the Manchester Unity, and was one of the first women to be initiated as a member.  She was also a member of the Red Cross and was made a Life Member of this organisation, of the Lismore Hospital, for which she was a tireless worker and of South Lismore Public School, which was attended by all her children and many of her grandchildren.

From many postcards I now have, it seems that Robert spent a lot of time away from home, particularly when he was NSW Grand Master of the M.U.I.O.O.F.(1912-13)  Elizabeth would have been left with the children and the running of the household many times.  I have only one postcard from her to Alice, so she managed to go at least once to Sydney with her husband.  It must have been written before 1911, the year Alice was married, as she has been left in charge of the younger ones.

St Andrews Cathedral Sydney

Elizabeth's card to Alice

Elizabeth lived for 25 years after Robert’s death.  She was clearly very involved in the lives of her children and grandchildren, most of whom lived within walking distance of the family home. From Dad, I had the impression that her advice and approval were important to all of them.  Nellie’s daughter Annie lived with her when she first left school and went to work as a florist, and other members of the family apparently came and went.  She died in 1957, just before her 90^th birthday.

#52Ancestors 2020 Week 8 Prosperity

#52 Ancestors 2020

Week 8 Prosperity

Prosperity is relative.  Many of my early ancestors would have considered themselves prosperous if they had a safe roof over their heads and enough food on the table for all the people sitting around it.

But Nicholas McCann, son of two convicts, became genuinely prosperous in his lifetime.  Described in the electoral roll of 1856 as a “gentleman”, he owned a house, land and a business and was highly regarded in his community.

Nicholas was born in 1803 to Peter McCann and Mary Fitzgerald, both Irish convicts.  He was baptised at St Johns Church, Parramatta on the day of his parent’s marriage – 9 January 1804. 

Peter drowned in October 1806, leaving Mary with two small children (Catherine was born in July 1805).  We will never know if Nicholas’ life would have been very different had Peter lived, but what we do know is that he was very lucky that John Norris, his godfather, took a great interest in him.

John Norris, a former convict, was a stone mason who operated a Monumental and Builders Yard on the main road between Sydney and Parramatta.  He is described in (the second) Peter McCann’s memoir as ”an splendid tradesman– sober, industrious and methodical (with ) a capacity for making money, and at the same time, the ability to take care of it – a wise principle not adopted by many in the early days of colonisation.”*(1)

Nicholas seems to have been “adopted” by John Norris who taught him the trades of masonry and building which were to stand him in good stead all his working life.

By 1827, Nicholas was married to his first wife, Catherine Johnston and his first child, Charles, had been born.  He applied for a land grant in Parramatta, and was described by a local magistrate who supported his application as, “an industrious clever tradesman …I do not hesitate to recommend him for the indulgence applied for”*(2)

At about this time Nicholas constructed a sandstone altar for the grave of wealthy grazier, Robert Townson which is still there in the St Johns Parramatta cemetery.  The sandstone altar is weathered but it is still possible to read the carving on its top, “Nicl McCann Sculpt”.  This is the first known example of Nicholas’ work in this field.

In 1828/29 Nicholas was consumed by a court case involving a wealthy landowner, James Elder and Nicholas’ alleged illegal acquisition of sandstone from land which Elder claimed was his.  There were three judgements and ultimately Nicholas was vindicated but it was obviously too much for him and he looked elsewhere for a new opportunity.

 John Batman, who was from Parramatta and a friend of Nicholas, had settled in Tasmania and sent back glowing reports.  Nicholas went to Tasmania, and Catherine, Peter (born 1828) and baby Anne (born 1831) followed shortly afterwards.  For reasons which have never been clear, Charles remained in Sydney in the care of his grandparents.  He never saw his mother again, as she died in Tasmania three months after their arrival.  Peter was sent to a terrible “boarding school” for about a year, and Nicholas gave up his baby daughter Anne*(3) to the care of a couple called Hopkins, who took her to England.

Nicholas married his second wife, Catherine Nelson in October 1836.  Catherine was eleven years his junior, Scottish, and had been a nursery governess before her marriage.  Nicholas, Catherine and Peter (then 9 years old) left Tasmania in 1837 and after an astonishing voyage (see #52 Ancestors 2019 – Week 42) they arrived at Port Fairy on the western coast of Victoria.  Initially, Nicholas was involved in the whaling industry, and later sheep farming which failed in part because of the hostility of the local native population.  The family, now with William (born 1837)*(4) and Catherine (1839), moved to Geelong.  Here they were to establish a business and a family which maintains connections to Geelong to this day.

Four more children were born in Geelong – Ellen (Helen), Nicholas, James and Janet.  When Catherine died on 7 October 1850, there were six children under the age of thirteen years.

During the 1840s Nicholas carried on in Geelong as a builder and stonemason.  He built some of Geelong’s earliest public buildings – the Gaol, the Hospital, Customs House, Christ Church and the piers for the original bridge across the river.  He also, during this time, made the momentous decision to become a teetotaller.  His action was recorded in the local newspaper reports of the Corio Total Abstinence Society.

“Mr McCann expressed himself happy in having the opportunity of speaking in favour of Total Abstinence. Having himself derived much benefit from it, he could confidently recommend it to all: he considered that no one would be injured by leaving off intoxicating drink at one, as he had abandoned it after fourteen years hard drinking, and found his health and circumstances were improved by the abstinence from intoxicating liquors, and was determined to practice it as long as he lived”*(5)

Nicholas gave the land on which the Temperance Society built their meeting house.

Temperance Hall at Ceres

By the early 1850s, Peter McCann had joined Nicholas in his business and together they looked for a suitable quarry to provide stone for the burgeoning building industry.  They found land at Ceres, about six miles from Geelong in the Barrabool Hills.  Demand for this stone grew so fast that Nicholas gave up contracting and built a family home at Ceres.  The stone from his quarries was used in the building of many of Melbourne’s fine colonial buildings including Scots Church, St Paul’s Cathedral and Ormond College. 

Nicholas was prosperous enough in the early 50s to send his son Peter to England on a trip to bring back Annie, his little sister.  While he was there Peter met and married Elizabeth Begley. On his return, it was Peter who consolidated the family fortune when he extended the quarry operations and acquired a limestone deposit which became the foundation of the Australian cement industry.

Nicholas died at Ceres on 1 December 1879 and was buried in the Highton cemetery.  When we visited Geelong in 1993 to meet some of the family, the house he had built was still there and it, and much of his land, was still in the family.  He was described by the Geelong Advertiser as “one of the greatest benefactors of Geelong.”

McCann graves at Highton cemetery - both Nicholas and his son Peter are buried here

*(1)”History of Descendants of Peter McCann who Landed in Australia in 1799 and the Establishment of the Cement Industry and its Develeopment in Victoria” By Peter McCann and Wesley McCann

*(2) quoted in “With Conviction” by Richard J (Dick) Sansom

*(3) An indication of the esteem in which Nicholas held John Norris is that Anne was called Anne Norris McCann.

*(4) William Nelson McCann.  At the age of 24, he had become the first Victorian born member of Parliament and he was also a part owner of the “Geelong Register” newspaper at one time.  He was convicted of forgery in 1867 and after serving a short sentence he moved to the United States where he was known as William Nelson/Neilson.  He worked there as a journalist and married a second time after the death of his first wife in 1895.  He died in San Francisco in 1903.

*(5) Geelong Advertiser August 1844