William Burton Mitchell and Margaret
Hawton
Parents
: Thomas
Mitchell
Margaret (Peggy) Burton
Francis (Frank)
Hawton and Jane
Dingle
William Burton Mitchell (b 1825 Tregorrick St Austel Cornwall , m
Margaret
Hawton 1846 Stoke Climsland Cornwall, d 1913 Ascot Vale, Vic)
Margaret
Hawton (b 1828 Stoke Climsland, 1922 Essendon Vic)
Jane Hawton Mitchell (b 1847
Stoke
Climsland,
d 1862 Osborns Flat Vic)
William
Mitchell (b 1850 Stoke Climsland Cornwall, m Ellen Adelaide
Cubit 1880 Sandridge Melb, d 1889 Bethanga, Vic )
Ernest Harold Mitchell
(b 1887 Whiteford, m Liela Muriel Roach
1914 Kew,
d 1960 Wodonga)
Selina
Mitchell (b abt 1852 Stoke Climsland, m Matthais Oats 1877, d 1940)
Braddon (Brad) Mitchell (b 1854
Stoke Climsland, m Annie Parnaby 1896, d 1918 Sunbury Vic)
Margaret Ann (Dinah) Mitchell (b
1858, m Arthur Welshman)
Fred Mitchell (b 1863 Osbornes
Flat, m Lottie Barnes)
Clara Jane (Minnie) Mitchell (b
1865 Osbornes Flat, m Jack Flenjte)
Link for photos of Fred and Lottie, Fred
and Minnie
Chronology
1825 William Mitchell born Tregorrick St Austel
Cornwall
1828
Margaret
Hawton born Stoke Climsland Cornwall
1846?
William and
Margaret marry in Tregorrick (?)
1850 William Mitchell and brother James
arrived in Victoria
on the Samuel Boddington (22 Apr)
We have not yet found their return to England
1851
James in in England for
the census in April, living with his parents
1851 James marries in Stoke
Climsland, aged 22, on
24 Jul
1851 Aug is about the latest
date for Selina's conception, if her age of 9 in the 1861 census is
correct, ie Wliiiam was in Stoke Climsland by mid 1851
So James
and probably William had left Australia for England by January 1851
1858 William Mitchell
arrived on
the Morning Light.
1861 James is a draper and grocer in
Stoke Climsland in the census
1861 Prince of Wales
arrived December with rest of
family. James
stayed in England and prospered. One would like to have sat in on the
discussions as they weighed up the merits of moving families to the
other side of the world.
1863 William is listed as a butcher when Fred
baptised
Yackandandah,
1868 William is in the Victorian Directory as a
farmer at
Osbornes Flat
1913 William dies in Melbourne
1928 Margaret dies in Melbourne
Chronology
Update based on input from Hawton Clarnette and
Fred Mitchell
Where does this leave us?
Alma Dillon says that William and James came to
Australia in the early
1850s, found gold at Ballarat, then returned to England. This tallies
with the chronology above, except for a timing discrepancy,
understandable 120 years later. But gold was not officially discovered
in Australia till 1851. However gold was being found earlier than
that. See the website ~
Gold ~ . The Early Discoveries section starts with the quote
"Put it away Mr Clarke, or we shall all
have our throats cut". - Sir
George Phillips, 1844 after Reverend WB Clarke presented his gold
discovery.
So
perhaps they did find gold as Alma says, kept it very quiet, and headed
back immediately to England. They were able to set up nicely in
business, William as a butcher, James as a grocer.
But all this raises
further questions
(1) What
prompted them to make the journey to Australia? Particularly William
who was married with two young children.
(2) How
come they were so lucky as to find substantial gold so quickly (if they
did)?
(3) What
prompted William to uproot his family ten years later and come back to
Australia?
Update after responses from Di Gibbs, Stoke
Climsland OPC
(1) William Mitchell was baptised
14 Oct 1849. As his father arrives in Melbourne 22 April 1850, he
could not have stayed long with his new (2nd) child.
(2) On the baptisms of Jane,
William and Brad, the parents abode is referred to as Village,
Tailors Shop, and Stoke. In each case William's profession is given as
miner. This is news, as on the ship out he said "agricultural
labourer".
But it does add some credibility to the theory they found gold.
(Di Gibbs : Thes bapts were Church of England)
Di comments that the missing baptisms could be
accounted for by William B's family being non-conformist.
Certainly William's son was a staunch Methodist later in Australia.
There was a William Mitchell on the committee that was formed to build
the Wesleyan church in Bethanga in 1878, but while it is likely on age
grounds (53 vs 28) to have been William senior, it is hard to tell from
the minutes. And Di's baptism list has Jane and William being baptised
by Rector and Curate respectively, which sounds like C of E?
Di Gibbs :Occupations of
emigrants
often reflected the needs of the new country, ie they probably had more
need of agricultural labourers than miners, at that time.
I am intending to
have another
look at the parish church baptisms for MITCHELL in Stoke Climsland as I
may have missed Selina. There seems to be a nice little gap for her bap
between William and Braddon.
Update Post Visit to Stoke
Climsland April 2008
We had a very
productive day with Caroline Vulliamy in the Stoke Climsland
Archives. She found lots of material for us. We spent a couple of hours
studying the Mitchells in the 1844 Tithe records and the 1841 census.
They
probably worked at the Winsor copper mine, one of the earliest in the
area. It was first from the road towards Kit Hill .Most of the
product of that visit is on a special page - Link to it.
Tregorrick
William Burton Mitchell was born
in
Tregorrick in 1825. We visited the small village in April 2008. We had
the good fortune to meet Michael Flemen, who lives
in what was Tregorrick Farm. Michael
identified the
various original buildings for us. I suspect the farm was all that
there was
in 1825 - the rest of the small village looked more modern. Some
research on census records could clear this up. The farm has now been
converted to
about four very attractive homes. At one stage I had William and
Margartet married in Tregorrick but this was wrong (see above).
Tregorrick is 18 miles east of St Agnes where William's father was
born, and 25 miles SW of Stoke Climsland wher The family was living in
1841.
General Comment from Les Rowley
The first thing that strikes you on reading the
pages for the two William Mitchells, is that these guys enjoyed
themselves. Travelling widely round NE Victoria, and
further, prospecting for gold and finding it and literally building
prosperous farming properties. But it must have been very hard work.
Brad mentions 644 tons of dirt processed from the Welcome mine in a
year. And later William B took a contract
to raise 100 tons quartz at the Bon Accord mine, starting July and
finished in Nov 72. I suspect they did the work themselves, or Brad's
bookkeeping would have recorded the cost of wages. Can do people - if
you need a school or church in the community, organise a committee and
build it. If you need another house - build it yourself.
I suspect the women enjoyed the northeast less.
Margaret (nee Hawton) seems to have had long term ill health. She must
have missed Cornwall and her family support, particularly in
those long periods in summer when the temperature reached 35
centigrade day after day. And Ellen must have felt much the same
growing up in Tasmania, ant then living in the city from her late
teens. The isolation on the farm in the Mitta valley must have been a
shock. And Leila grew up in suburban Melbourne - again country life
must have been a shock,
There is a whole lot of stuff about Hillsborough on
the Australian Locations page (follow the
links). This includes an account of the school committee (which
included William Burton Mitchell) trying unsuccessfully to remove the
school teacher Emma
Anderson. Arthur Welshman - William B's future son in law was an
applicant for the position.
Maybe there is enough material here to get a feel
for some of the characters - William senior brought his family to the
other sude of the world, not because of poverty, but because he saw
opportunity. His brother James was more cautious, as I suspect I would
have been. William junior who cemented the family fortunes with a
serious gold find. Who wrote poetry because he was missing home on
their horseback ride to Queensland. Who was meticulous in
recording his desparate attempts to control his diabetes. Churchgoers
and temperance advocates all.
One interesting character is the brother Fred. We
know little of him, because there are no surviving descendants. But he
was the person Wlilliam turned to for executor, for what he knew would
be a long and difficult job. And what do we make of Brad? The contrast
in diaries with his brother's is interesting, as is Alma Dillon's
strory of the falling out with his father.
|
|
William Burton Mitchell
|
Margaret Hawton
|
Notes Supplied by Fred Mitchell
It is believed the
original of this
is a Daguerreotype of William
Burton Mitchell taken some time in the 1850's. For a better image
(500KB), click
here.
In 1850 the Samuel Boddington arrived
in Melbourne with brothers
William Mitchell and J. Mitchell on board. They went to the goldfields
(which one is not known) and found gold. The date of this is not known
nor is the date both returned to England, but the time elapsed could
not be great as the Mitchell's next child was Selina (b about 1852).
The family sailed on the Prince of
Wales
in September 1861 and arrived in
December. Fred has produced a map of the ship's voyage from
England. It
is interesting to see how they went right acros to Africa, and how far
south they went. See
the map
Comments from Hawton Clarnette (Descendant of Brad)
Hawton has produced an extensive history of Brad's family - I have
edited it to remove information covered elsewhere in these pages. Also
information about living or recently
living people has been removed . Link to edited
document. The following extraxts are of more general family
interest
"Len and Ern worked Climsland for some time. Brad and
family moved to
Sunbury 1917, and Hannah was left with the property when he died Brad
named the house Bailabbe (in Wodonga) after the place where
their two sons died in WWI (Baileau and Abbeville)
Location of the
Welcome mine.
It was above the Methodist church, old location up the hill - rubbish
on hill above church to the left. (Les Rowley - om mu computer -
search the Bethanga
photos directory for Welcome mine)
Selina
married Matthias Oates of
Stanley (which is about 10 kms. S-E of Beechworth or 8 kms west of
Hillsborough) and it is most likely that they set up home at
Stanley.
They had one son Desmond , who unfortunately died a few weeks before
his wedding day. Matthias took Selina to England about 1913-1914
where
she was able to meet all her parents’relatives. However World War 1
broke out and they had to catch the first ship home. They settled in
Beechworth on return, but Matthais died soon after. Selina then spent
the winter months with her brother Brad and Annie.
Dinah (Margaret
Ann) married Art
Welshman of Hurdle
Flat (about 5km north of
Stanley
on the Beechworth road). They had two sons Arthur and Morton, and
two
daughters Ilma and Miriam. Arthur, Morton and Miriam went to the first
World War. Dinah and family eventually moved to Melbourne .
Minnie, the
youngest, married Jack Flentje
and had two daughters
Alma
and Rita. I can’t find the date of their marriage, but the nearest time
would be say between 1888 and 1892, i.e.24 to 28 yrs.
Alma married
twice , the second time to a Mr. Dillon . She had two children , Perl
and Bert.
Robert
Hawton lived with the family at Osborne
Flat and
Hillsborough
until Jan. 1872 when he left and went to Hill End. Robert married
on 3 May 1873 and had four children - Robert, Emma, William, and
Russell. William stayed
with
him on trip Nth
Samuel
Hawton lived with the family at Osborne
Flat and
Hillsborough
and possibly also at the property owned by the family on the Mitta
Mitta near Bethanga. He did not marry."
Alma Dillon's Recollections
Alma Dillon was Clara's daughter and William Burton's
grandaughter. She died about 1988. The notes
of a meeting with
Jenny Mitchell in 1975 are interesting reading. Extracts follow
. In
about early fifties, William (Burton) and his brother James came to
Australia and went mining at Ballarat. They made money and returned to
England. James then had a grocery shop and William a Butcher shop in
Stokeclimsland (border of Cornwall and Devon). After two or three
years
William returned to Australia alone and went to Osmonds/Butchers Flat
(Yackandandah). His wife and children plus two of her brothers - Sam
and Bob - followed. They sailed from Plymouth Sound on 11 September
1861
William met them at Port Melbourne and with two
drays they walked to
Osmonds Flat. Selina's assessment was Grandmother drove, i.e.., we
walked. (Grandmother was Margaret; Selina was talking to Alma,
Margaret's grand-daughter). The house at Osmonds Flat had a dirt
floor with bags on it.. William had a butcher's shop for 8 or 9 years
— the mines were no longer working at Osmonds Flat. Jane died the year
the family came out, aged 15. She was buried in Yackandandah Cemetery.
William (son) used to tend her grave till he died. One day he
found some red roses growing by it. He took cuttings which were planted
at Climsland. The plant finally died a few years ago in
Essendon (Home of Minnie and Jack Flentji).
From
Osmonds Flat the Mitchells moved to
Hillsborough where the mines
were operative. William built a house (in those days people shifted
with mining booms). Bethanga had opened up between c1868 to early
1870s (Minnie was only a little girl). William built a hut in Bethanga
and the men used to camp up there and work. Sometimes Margaret would
stop up there and do the cooking. William (son) found a mine that they
called "Welcome," which was situated at the top of the hill near the
old Methodist Church. The mine was said to have more copper than gold
in it. William (son) was interested in buying land and in 1879 he
and Brad rode on horseback as far north as Queensland, checking out the
country (see diaries). On the trip they stayed with Bob Hawton
(Margaret's brother) who had gone mining at Hill End - top of New South
Wales. But in 1879, after his return, William's diary revealed interest
in land outside of Bethanga.
To
finance the landbuying, the mine "Welcome" was
sold. William (son) got half the money and his father William and
brother
Brad who also had shares in it each got one quarter of the money. ....
The land taken on by
William (father) and Brad was called Woodlands. This was later
changed to Climsland by Brad's wife. Brad later bought William's
share in the Woodlands property.
On
Selina's wedding day [1877] she was sitting on
the front verandah at
Hillsborough. It was pouring rain. Minnie said "You going to get
ready?". "Thinking about it"' she did. The man she wanted had "married
his cousin at the end of a shotgun." William (son) used to take the
collection. He got really sick of threepences and he wouldn't put them
in the church funds but took them home and locked them up. When Selina
got married William told Art I've got five pounds worth of
threepences. You can have them to pay the minister if you want
to? So
he did. William gave Minnie three pounds worth of threepences to buy
herself a locket; she bought a nice pearl one.
William and Fred
met Ellen and
sister
Alice at the Victoria in
Melbourne (This must be Ellis?, but she was 14 when Ellen
married?)
Fred was engaged to Alice, but she returned his ring and went to
Sydney. Fred went to Eldorado outside Bright..
Art
Welshman taught at Rutherglen <1910,
West Wodonga, headmaster
G??? school, Dederang 1888 teaching there when married. ie mostly
primary. Longfellow book - presented to him by school kids
Grandfather lovely
old chap
Arsenic in mines
used to kill horses and cattle
Margaret Hawton
in her old age couldn't stand music - "didn't
want
anybody to enjoy themselves". She said it made her head bad. A fella
who had a bike came to pick up Alma's sister and he started playing the
piano while he waited to take her back to his folks place. Grandma came
down and said to him "go home and bang your own hurdy-gurdy and don't
bang on ours."
Selina
had money and "things" all better than anyone else. She
had
a silver teapot which she put on the sideboard, and she said to Alma's
mother "Now you can use this when you get some visitors" One day it was
gone and Minnie said "Where is it?" Selina answered "I've given
it to Lottie. They have lots of visitors down there". Alma bought her
Mum a silver teapot, so Selina went down to Lottie's to get hers. But
they said she'd given it to them and the wouldn't give it back. (Selina
was very put out).
Poor Auntie, never happy, jealous of everybody. Selina kept
her stuff in an iron safe in her room.
he made a lot of fuss about her will and was always going to "cross
people off" - "Your not going to get anything". In 1914 Selina and Matt
went on a trip to England. War broke out and
coming home they were chased by the Emden. Tthey were off course and
ran into a terriffic storm.
Selina always lived at
Hurdle Flat (just near Stanley -
other side of
lake). When Des died bought house in Beechworth and lived there
Oates - mine manager +owned mine in
finished. Just left +closed down
before died.
1926 Selina came to Melb, married guy
in Croxford, lived there 2nd
Husband died
Desmond making preparations for
wedding, felt crook, went to Drs + died
while getting ready to examine
Fred and Lottie lived in
Bright
Brad Father
and Brad bought Woodlands. Parents + Brad still at Woodlands. twins
born and Annie did not like
living with inlaws, so Brad found claypot made bricks - straw and clay,
made a kiln. built v nice brick house next door. Annie (nee Parnaby)
changed name to Climsland. Brad and Grandfathewr bought some other
land, old man Cole said hey
Bill you know of the land in Brad's name. Big row also Annie always
selling cattle. Grandfather said "Whose?". Brad said her father
gave her a cow. Grandf - all those cattle out off one cow . (5
calves a year! Told Brad he'd been cheating him (granf) for years. Brad
gave Grandfather £3,000 for his share in farm (lot of money
but Brad got thousands).
Minnie 33 and Jack Flentje (writing unclear) 22 both sang in
church
choir, + he took her home. girls after him because good looking and a
singer. He was a shift boss in the Bethanga mines.
Grandfather gave mother (Minnie) money to pay deposit on house
(Ascot
Vale) then he got money on fixed deposit + she paid house off.
Grandfather died there, buried in Footscray, also Grandma
1902 they built the house in Bethanga - last one in street down to
Mitchell's paddock, street near mine (Alma 4 yrs)
Brad Mitchell's Diary
Hawton Clarnette kindly provided a typed version of Brad Mitchell's
diary, which he has in his possession. Extracts follow
At the start of the Diary the family were living at
Hillsborough which was a small village about 10 km.south of Beechworth
1871 . 7 Jan.
William (brother) went to Eldorado
(gold mine west of Beechworth) and got work on 17 Jan. came home to
Hillsborough on 1 May
1872 .Robt. Hawton left for
Hill End ( today a suburb in
south Brisbane) on 15 Jan. 1872. He got married 3rd April
1873.
22 July William and Sam ( Samuel Hawton) went
to Running Creek to work. Started for the
rush ( gold or tin rush ) at Koetong on Sept 16, ‘72.
10 July William Burton Mitchell took a contract
to raise 100 tons quartz at the Bon Accord mine ( near Hillsborough) at
6s8d per ton. finished on Nov 6,
72. 154 tons. made wages.
11 Oct William applied applied for 30 acre Tin
lease at Dinna Creek, Koetong.
20 Nov Father and I reached Koetong .
19 August 1873
Father and I went to work at Hawke’s
View , driving 10 feet at £3:5:-
Cure for drunkards; Sulphate of Iron 5 grains;
Magnesia 10grains;
Peppermint 11drachms; spirit of Nutmeg 1drachm; twice a day.
Claim registered at Bethanga for four men on 13th
March 1876 by William
Mitchell. (This was on the North Gift Line. The
four men were William Mitchell, his father William Burton Mitchell, his
brother Braddon, and the fourth could have been either Sam Hawton
or the youngest brother Fred, who would have been 14 at that time)
Obtained 644 tons of dirt; which yeilded
923ounces13dwt5grains of gold worth £2860:6:1
Sold the claim on 1st March 1878 to Harris and
Hollow for £3000
1 April 1878 William and I left Bethanga for
Gippsland; reached Drouin on10th, Brandy on 11th, Little Moe 12th at
noon. Started for the Sarwick on 17th, pegged out 3 blocks on the 18th.
Arrived at Little Moe second time on 25
April, got back to Bethanga 4th May.
9 Jan 1879 Left
Bethanga for good. 18
Jan. Went to Melbourne,
sailed for Sydney in the Cheviot on 21 Jan. Arrived Sydney on Friday
24Jan. and put up at James Temperance Hotel in Kent st.
10 Dec. 1879 Will Father and I went to Bethanga to examine
Finlay’s land. 11Dec.---went all over the land and formed a
bad opinion of some of it. 12Dec.---went to the Sale.
William bought Section I containing 324 acres at £4:12:6 per
acre. We
bought Section B containing 412 acres , between at £4:12:6 per
acre. I
bought 200 acres, Will 90 and Father 128 acres.
13Dec.---I pegged out about 60 acres of river frontage, being the
frontage of Section B, at 10.54am; and applied for it at Beechworth
under the 19th Section of the Lands Act 1869, on Mon. 15th Dec
1879. 17Dec.---pegged out 20acres at
1.40pm, and applied for it under the 49th Section on
19Dec. Called on Fred
Brown, the lawyer, on Mon.15 Dec. and instructed him to ascertain the
correctness of Title of the land that we bought.
19 Dec. Father and Will bought 134 head of cattle at Palmerston.
Will bought a filly by young barbarian for £5, 36 bullocks at
£2:17:0, 78 steers at £1:19:0, and 20 cows at£1:15:0;
total £294:14:0.
Discount taken off for cash £7:7:0, net cost
£282:9:6. Lost
two of the cattle on the road coming
home. 22Dec----took the cattle to
Bethanga, made the trip from paddock to paddock in 12.5 hours.
14 May 1880 at
Tallangatta land board, my application for 60 acres
in Parish of Berringa, which had been recomended on 2 April, was
refused, and recomended to be put up at auction at an upset price of
£3:0:0 per acre. Will got his long toe in front of the
pre-emptive recomended; McNick objecting to both; I appealed.
15 June 1880, Tue. Went to Melbourne.
16June---attended at the Boardroom at the Land’s Office; Duffy
presided. When my case was called on he looked at the map for a while
and then said he would postpone the matter for a report from Skeane the
Surveyor General; he would not hear what I had to say; said if I was
not satisfied he would decide it at once and give against me; Finlay
did not appear; came home on 17th.
13 Feb. 1882. Went
to a bush fire up Spring creek, took all the
week to put it out.
6 Jan. 1886 went to
Bethanga , lent Will £400
24July----home again, been away about 21 weeks, cost about £23
--Josephson’s Australian ointment for inward
piles--
---To cure Queensland Fever, get a lot of cobwebs
from a dwelling or old house (those from the bush will not do being
poisonous), roll them up in the hand in a roll ball (hard) like a
marble, then cut the ball in four pieces, put them in a cup of warm tea
or water and drink the lot; after the emetic has worked take a dose of
opening medicen.
2 August 1887
Went to Bethanga to help put in fruit
trees. 9Sept------bought 40 head of store bullocks in
Wodonga from Gibson at £6/10/- a head.
12 Oct. Mother and Min(sister Minnie) shifted
to the Paddock to live( that from their long time home in
Hillsborough).
28 Nov.1890 Went to
Dart River,registered 2 Claims 19Dec; came
back 22Dec.
18 Jan.1891 went back
to
Dart. Crushed 5.5 tons
quartz for 20oz18dwt of gold (16Feb.’91)
15 June 1896
Took first samples of water from Bethanga
Creek.
Mr.c.R.Blakett.
F.G.S.
Laboratory, 360 Swanston St. Melbourne
Report on analysis of a sample water submitted
by Mr C. Ellen The
results obtained were as follows--
Reaction----alkaline.
Total solid residue , in grains per gallon at
110C ---------165.10
Appearence after
settling------------clear
Loss on ignition water of
crystallization-------27.10
Fixed
constituents------------138.00 , consisting of Silica,
Alumina, Calcium Carbonate 10.5; Calcium
Sulphate 55.08,
Magnesium 15.10, Sodium
Chloride 20.76, Sulphate of Sodium
36.56.
This water contains too much Sulphate of Lime to be
fit for either human or animal consumption. I would advise its
discontinuance.
C.R.Blakett.
F.G.S.
Fee £2/2/-.
1 Sept 1897 Brought
Annie and the boys home. (This is the first
and only time that Brad mentions his wife or family. In 1896 Brad
visited the Parnaby family in Wodonga and met Hannah ElizabethParnaby,
who he subsequently married and brought to his propertyon the Mitta
Mitta. Their first children were twin boys, namd Matthew and
Hawton)
14 March 1907 Wilson
surveyed frontage pegs.
This is the last entry in the Diary of a chronological
nature. Below are shown other entries which pertain
to various costs and income which Braddon recorded, and these show that
he was a very good record keeper, probably more so than his Father or
brother.
The following information sets out the costs and income from working
the Paddock, as Braddon refers to it throughout theDiary. The
Paddock was the land that William B., William, and Braddon bought from
Finlay in Dec.1879 about a year after they had sold their gold mine in
Bethanga.
Date
Paid
Received
B
Mitchell
W.B.Mitchell W
Mitchell
23July1881
371.1.10
518.19.1
70.12.6
45.4.0
31.15.6
19July 1882
352.19.3
793.10.0
191.5.0
122.8.0
86.1.0
..............
30Sept 1889
186.12.4
664.18.11
228.17.0
146.9.10
102.19.9
.......
7Oct 1897
138.12.10
393.14.10
180.11.
0
74.11. 0
_________________________________________________________
Totals
3860.14.11 9061.
9.
7
3023.12.
1
1541. 1. 6
1n 1887 I received about £70/ rent from Father and Will.
For 18 years the Paddock has paid me £171:17:0 per year; plus the
rent
from Father and Will.
Father has made £85:12:0 per year.
......
16Aug 1901 345. 6.
5 555.19.
6
149. 1.
9
61.11. 4
Will died in July 1889, hence the cessation of distributions in his
name after Nov of that year.
Braddon also entered some costs in his diary of building a separate
dwelling on their land in preparation for his marriage in 1896. It is
interesting to read of the various items that he needed and I have
shown these below.
Railway freight 11.4.8;
Murray pine J Bulmer 1.8.6; Foy and Gibson-wallpaper
2.6.2 white lead
6/6 Railway freight,bedstead
,washstand , chest, bedding and linoleum
1.10.3; freight -lime and tar
12/10; staying town 1.9.0; railways
fares 1.12.0; Richards and Co.-drapery
3.0.11; Mates-lime and tar 5.17.0;
Ackman-furniture 26.12.5; Cobb and Co-
ironmongery 18.18.9; ditto 8.1.3;
advertising for bricks 3/-; freight for
ironmongery,Cobb and Co 4.2.2; Ackman-perambulator and
sundries 2.9.6; Wolf-making bricks--36.7.9; coloured
glass 5/3; iron for arches 6/6; ironmongery,
sundries 11/0; Stone-pine timber 4.2.4;
Turnbull-pine timber 21.17.8; Foy and Gibson-bedstead
and other furniture 13.7.6; Nisbet-sawn
timber 15.3.0; freight-Bulmers pine 3/2;
Stratton-chopping wood 2.5.0; White-bricklaying
5.8.0; Darmody-carpenter 3.10.0; P.O.Callaghan 3.0.0;
Armstrong-pine cupboard 17/10; sewing machine 2.0.0;
stove 3.0.0; chest o
Notes by Jenny Mitchell
Welcome MineRoyal Comission, Peter Wright's Evidence. Says 3 years
earlier the Mitchells had applied and been rejected
because it was a red gum reserve. Not mining before 1876
Ovens and Murray times: 13/3/77 - Principle mines are New Years Gift,,
Excelsior and Mitchells and the welcome
Mitchells getting up to two ounces a ton - very high yeild
Written somewhere Welcome 29 June 1876
Venterden was the family home of Margaret Hawton and
had been in the family for many generations. I saw it when I visited
StokeClimsland village. Venterdon was also the name of the hamlet in
which the house is located. These days it is part of StokeClimsland but
i think in the days of margaret hawton it was probably almost like a
kind of manor/farm holding. I met the guy who owned it in about
1999, He was very friendly and had recently done
renovations but the building itself was quite old ie. like a
couple of hundred years anyway.
While at Stoke Climsland I also saw the school which
William jnr attended. It is now run by the local historical
society but wasn't open the day I was there. goddamit. I'm sure there
would be stuff about Hawtons and Mitchells there. Interestingly William
Burton's parents were buried in the SC graveyard. Yet William was
seemingly married at Tregorrick, which we also visited. It is close to
an old tin mine which has a very big mullock heap. Seeing how young
William and Margaret were when they married I wondered whether they had
made themselves scarce for a while before Jane was born, with Margaret
returning to her family home while William went out to Australia. Must
have been quite big things to deal with.
Recollections from Muriel Clarnette (about 1975)
William B started
butchers shop in ...... near Stoke
Climsland. James
-> grocery
Margaret Hawton suffered from headaches. She
used to
put acetic acid oh her head -
her room stank of it - and on walks with MC she would stop and put her
head under the tap
Selina - when MC
remembers her - had lovely wispy
grey
hair. she
used to put a circular pad on her head; then put her own hair over it;
then put a toupe over that; then pin a transformation - lots of little
rolls on top. One day MC went with Selina to Albury to buy a hat. The
shop lady said after several tries "They won't fit". Selina said "
won't have me hair to fit me hat, I'll have my hat to fit my hair."
Recollections from Gladys Barnes
"You may not know that Grandfather took an
interest in phrenology
(reading bumps on heads), and Mum had his textbook on this, whish we,
when children, used to love to get and try and read each other's
bumps". The book has been lost.
"... the orange
demonstrations he went to would be Orangemen from the
Orange Lodge. I know mum's two brothers were Orangemen. " (these would
be Parnaby boys)
Gladys had Jane Mitchell's Bible,
"When I was in my
teens and going to Bible Class, I was very proud of
my Bible, and showed it to one of the chaps, saying it was over seventy
years old at the time. He said, looking down his nose, and much to my
chagrin, "No Bible should last more than TWO years". Meaning of course,
it wasn't used." Gladys intended to pass it on. Perhaps Jodie now has
it?
Emily Cubitt also
not listed. She married a Stratton. Jack Stratton, a
son married Margaret Wray of Tallangatta ......Mum came to NZ to care
for Jack Stratton (her cousin)'s family
when Margaret died in childbirth (Dinah). there is an older brother and
sister
Aunt Selina I feel
sure married twice. M Oats firstly, and I think she
was a Whittaker when I knew her
Recollections from Norm Martin (2004)
Wiliam Burton and son worked on a mine at Running
Creek for Martin in
3/7/1874. Location of Running Creek was not known to Norm.
Note from G.F.Craig 's Book
Brad registered a claim at
Hillsborough in 1873, and William Burton was subscribing to the
Ovens Hospital Appeal (Beechworth)
Acknowlegements:
Particularly Fred Mitchell (Ernest Mitchell's son) and Jenny
(Fred's
daughter), but also Bob Mitchell (Ernest's son), Norm Martin
(Florence's daughter). and Hawton Clarnette (Brad's descendant).
Many thanks to Caroline Vulliamy
of the Stoke Climsland Archives (held in the Old Svhool). She spent the
best part of a day
finding material for us, and trying to work out where the Mitchells
lived in Venterdon from the Tithe and Census records. She also took a
group (including us) on an historical ramble of Venterdon in the
evening.
Doug Nichols has supplied material on the Hawtons.. Thanks in
particular to his wife Jan for retyping the Hawton documents:.
The
Hawton Family Tree and History
The
Hawtons of Stoke Climsland
This material mentions Venterdon and Whiteford. This material may have
come from Tony Reese. He has a webpage,
but his
email is now inactive?
Public Records Office of
Victoia Index to Inward Passenger Lists Foreign Ports) 1852-1889.
supplied shipping information
Research Notes
Genes Reunited checked William and Margaret
No joy on 1851 census, either Ancestry.com or Google but they should be
somewhere
Cannot find anything for Selina's birth. Checked FHO Google
Refer to the Hillsborough page. Further investigation of Arthur
Welshman and Dinah would be interesting. When did they marry?
No record in Victorian Pioneers Index birth of Dinah, Fred
or Minnie (Clara).
Osmonds flat was known to Fred Mitchell as
Osborns flat on way to
Yackandandah.
William Burton M and Margaret's grave Section 2A/377 Footsgray general
cemetery. Brad is in the Methodist section of Sunbury Cemetery.Indexes
Brad's will 164-4, 2-12-18, bur 17/3/19 probate. Hannah
195-898, 4 apr24 probate 13jun24 (Hawton Clarnette)
Fred's PRO list if the Mitchell arrivals in 1861 list the port as "B" .
Which port was that?
It would be interesting to know the size of Tregorrik in those days.
Can the 1841/51 Census help?
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Bones in the Belfry home
page Page last updated - Dec 2007
Dec 2007 Apr 2008