Act 23

The Australians

The emigrants to Australia

The Australians Podcast This is a new experiment. Using Google’s Notebook LM, listen to an AI powered podcast summarising this page. This should only be treated as an introduction, and the AI generation sometimes gets the nuance a bit wrong. There are a some instances in this podcast where there are mistakes about the exact relationships and an overlap of generations. There is an error in this podcast where the AI mistakes that it was Matthew’s twin brother who married Hannah Thompson. However it does provide an introduction to the themes of this page, which are dealt with in more depth below. Listen to the podcast for an overview, but it doesn’t replace the text below, which provides the accurate historical record.

The Melbourne Gold Rush The Gold Rush of the 1850s was the backdrop to Matthew and Hannah’s migration to Australia in 1852

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Scene 1 – Birregurra, Victoria

A Big Decision

Matthew Farndale was born on 30 September 1793, the twin of William Farndale, son of William and Mary Farndale of Kilton. He was baptised at Brotton on 3 November 1793. We met him in Act 13 amongst the extended family of Kilton. Matthew married Hannah Thompson in 1829, and they had two daughters, Mary Ann Farndale born in 1831 and Elizabeth Farndale born in 1832. Matthew and Hannah and their family remained at Kilton, on the family farm, until 1848, when they moved to farm 150 acres at Kildale.

It was at this time that advertisements encouraging emigration to Australia were appearing in the Press. An advertisement in January 1851 referred to Line of Packets from Liverpool, for Port Adelaide and Sydney, landing passengers at Port Philip. Reduced Fares. 1st Cabin: £45; 2nd Cabin: £25; Intermediate: £15; Steerage: £10. Accommodation, Provisioning and Equipment, second to None. Condor, 1500 Tons, to sail 20th January 1851. Osprey (or other Vessel), 20th March. A1 new ships, coppered and copper fastened. For further particulars apply to the Owners. Gibbs Brigg & Co, Liverpool or R Mills, 2 Blake Street, York. Indeed Matthew’s brother John Farndale advertised passage to Australia after Matthew had departed for Australia. In 1863 John touted a spare ticket for a passage warrant to Australia at half price. Open until July 1863, for a single eligible young man. Apply (post paid) to John Farndale, 20 Park Row, Stockton on Tees.

Matthew Farndale Hannah Farndale Elizabeth Farndale

We do not know what it was that made Matthew and Hannah decide to emigrate to Australia. Perhaps they had been thinking of this for some time, but whatever the reason it was a major undertaking to look for a new life at the age of 57 and to leave the extended family and all that they knew. Before leaving Kildale their eldest daughter Mary Ann Farndale married William Martin of Kildale who had been a butler at Ingleby Manor.

Matthew’s small family were the Australia 1 (Birregurra) Line, and their descendants, thorough Mary Ann, were the Martins of Australia.

Matthew Farndale

1793 to 1884

Matthew and Hannah Farndale and their daughters Mary and Elizabeth embarked on a 14 week voyage to Melbourne to establish a new lineage in Australia

Voyage

In August 1852 the Liverpool Black Bell Line prepared an Australian Packet, comprised the 1,800 ton South Sea to sail for Port Philip and Sydney on 25 August under Captain Brett; the 1,500 ton Northumberland to sail for Melbourne and Port Philip on 5 September under Captain T Smith; the 2,000 ton Argo to sail for Melbourne and Port Philip under Captain C Mills on 20 September; and the 2,500 ton Beejapore to sail for Melbourne and Port Philip on 15 October under Captain W M’Lay. It was promised that they would be followed by equally good A1 ships. These magnificent A1 frigate built ships have very lofty well-ventilated between decks, splendid cabin accommodation, are commanded by captains of great experience, who will carefully attend to the comfort and health of the passengers, carry qualified surgeons, and will be despatched under the inspection of her Majesty’s Emigration Agent. For further particulars, apply to Hames Baines & Co, 6 Cook Street.

By 23 August 1852 the Argo’s sailing date had slipped to 1 October. She was described as the well known fast sailing favourite New York Black Star Packet ship. Samuel Macoduck was by then to be the ship’s Commander. She was described as 986 tons register, 1750 tons burthen; open to the public for inspection. This splendid vessel was built by Smith and Dimon, in New York, expressly for the packet service, without regard to expense, her frame being entirely live oak, and copper fastened throughout. She is now temporarily withdrawn from the line for one voyage to the gold regions. Her cabin arrangements, which are unsurpassed by any ship in port, combine comfort with elegance, no pains or expense being spared to have every possible convenience for passengers. To ensure the comfort of those on board, the advertisers wish to remark that it is intended to take first and second class passengers only. The rates of passage are After Saloon: £50; Forward Saloon: £45; Second Cabin: £20 and £25. These saloon staterooms will be furnished with everything necessary. The second cabin passengers will have to supply themselves with beds, bedding, linen etc. Superior stores will be provided, and an experienced surgeon will be attached to the ship, which will be dispatched under the superintendence of the government immigration officer. Parties wishful to avail themselves of so desirable an opportunity are requested to make early application to see Grimshaw and Co, 10, Goree piazzas.

By 6 September 1852 Argo, 1030, Macoduck, C Grimshaw was berthed at the Salthouse Dock.

By 2 October 1852, she was to sail positively on the 4th instant.

Australian Emigrants, Liverpool Harbour in the 1850s The Bourneuf at Liverpool Emigration depot in 1852. During its voyage, 88 passengers died of consumption, diarrhoea, measles and other diseases

The SV Argo was an American wooden sailing vessel designed for the trans-Atlantic Packet trade, sailing regularly into New York in the 1840s. She ran aground off Long Island in 1850 and lay there for a year until she was salvaged. She was then sold to a new owner. She was operated by Caleb Grimshaw and Co in 1851 on the New York route under Samuel Macoduck’s captaincy and transferred to the Melbourne route, and the voyage to be joined by the Farndale family was the Argo’s first voyage to Melbourne. About a year after her arrival in Melbourne, on 17 April 1854, the Argo met a violent hurricane somewhere in the vicinity of Barbados, and she was abandoned, her resting place never found.

The American packet ship Montezuma, built 1843, of similar size to Argo

The Farndales must have felt the emotions and the excitement of their departure. They would know little of Australia. Perhaps they had met a returning emigrant and heard some stories. They were not looking for gold or a fortune, but simply a new life. They knew of the perils of the journey, but for whatever reasons, they left their homeland forever.

We must presume that they travelled to Liverpool by a combination of railway and stage coach. It is unlikely that there was any family to see them off, but their feelings must have been of great trepidation as the Argo sailed out of Liverpool. Little remains now of what they took with them but we know they took a pillow case woven from flax from Kilton which is still with descendants in Australia. We know they took their feather beds and riding saddles.

Aboard the Argo were 242 passengers, each with a cabin trunk of tin or timber, a port-manteaux and hand luggage. The master was Sammuel Macadock. The conditions would have been primitive, food simple and sickness rife.

The Argo finally left Liverpool on 8 October 1852. Onboard were Matthew, Hannah, his wife who was 45, Elizabeth, their youngest daughter who was 19 and Mary Ann Martin, nee Farndale, who was 23, and her husband William Martin who was also 23. On that day the Argo, 1030, Macoduck, C Grimshaw, bound for Port Philip was in the River outward Bound. There was clearly an early problem as there was a report on the same day that the Prince of Wales, and the Argo, for Port Phillip, got in contact yesterday morning, while at anchor in the river, owing to the latter breaking her shear. The Prince of Wales lost funnel, quarter boats, bulwarks etc; but the Argo did not appear to have sustained any damage.

A fellow genealogist, Andrew Pettit’s family were also on the Argo. His great-great-grandfather and his son were also on the ship as part of a party of ten travelling from Ireland to Melbourne.

By 12 October 1852 the Argo, for Port Philip was off Holyhead, at the tip of Anglesey, at 8.30am.

They would be well out into the Bay of Biscay before they were used to the ship's routine and much relieved to get their feet onto dry land at Cape Town, their likely first port of call, probably some four weeks later. The voyage took 103 days or just over 14 weeks. We do not know if they called into port again, perhaps Freemantle in Western Australia, before they sailed up the Yarra Yarra river to Melbourne. It was 19 January 1853, a midsummer day, as they disembarked to a new life in a new world and to establish the Farndale family in Australia.

The Argo was a chartered American ship on its first voyage to Melbourne. The voyage lasted 100 days arriving in Melbourne of 19 January 1853. It then departed Melbourne on March 25, 1853, for Callas.

The rations provided to passengers were quite good for the time and only two people died during the voyage, two brothers named Custon who died from diarrhoea.

By 1 November 1852, the voyage had reached Mauritius and encountered a hurricane near Mauritius, but that in the same storm the Argo made part of her second circuit, scudding round in the gale in the same direction.

They arrived in Melbourne Australia on 19 January 1853, a journey of 103 days or some three months.

Melbourne

Melbourne, Boonwurrung, Woiwurrung or Naarm, is the capital of the Australian state of Victoria, and today the second-most populous city in Australia, after Sydney. The wider metropolitan area now stretches to 9,993 square kilometres and is known as Greater Melbourne. Indigenous Australians have lived in the Melbourne area for about 40,000 years.

When European settlers arrived in the early nineteenth century, about 2,000 hunter-gatherers from three regional tribes, the Wurundjeri, Boonwurrung and Wathaurong, inhabited the area. It was an important meeting place for the clans of the Kulin nation alliance and an important source of food and water.

The first British settlement in Victoria, then part of the penal colony of New South Wales, was established by Colonel David Collins in October 1803, at Sullivan Bay, near present-day Sorrento. The following year, due to a lack of resources, these settlers relocated to Van Diemen's Land or present-day Tasmania and founded the city of Hobart. It was then thirty years before another settlement was attempted.

In May 1835, John Batman, a leading member of the Port Phillip Association in Van Diemen's Land, explored the Melbourne area. He claimed to have negotiated a purchase of 2,400 square kilometres with eight Wurundjeri elders. Batman selected a site on the northern bank of the Yarra River, declaring that this will be the place for a village before he returned to Van Diemen's Land.

A late nineteenth century artist's depiction of John Batman's treaty with a group of Wurundjeri elders

In August 1835, another group of Vandemonian settlers arrived in the area and established a settlement at the site of the current Melbourne Immigration Museum. Batman and his group arrived the following month and the two groups agreed to share the settlement, initially known by the native name of Dootigala. Batman's Treaty with the Aborigines was annulled by Richard Bourke, the Governor of New South Wales, who at the time governed all of eastern mainland Australia, with compensation paid to members of the association.

In 1836, Bourke declared the city the administrative capital of the Port Phillip District of New South Wales, and commissioned the first plan for its urban layout, the Hoddle Grid, in 1837.

Known briefly as Batmania, the settlement was named Melbourne on 10 April 1837 by Governor Richard Bourke after the British Prime Minister, William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne, whose seat was Melbourne Hall in the market town of Melbourne, Derbyshire. That year, the settlement's general post office officially opened with that name.

Between 1836 and 1842, Victorian Aboriginal groups were largely dispossessed of their land by European settlers.

By January 1844, there were said to be 675 Aborigines resident in squalid camps in Melbourne. The British Colonial Office appointed five Aboriginal Protectors for the Aborigines of Victoria in 1839. However their work was nullified by a land policy that favoured squatters who took possession of Aboriginal lands.

By 1845, fewer than 240 wealthy Europeans held all the pastoral licences then issued in Victoria and became a powerful political and economic force in Victoria for generations to come. Letters patent of Queen Victoria, issued on 25 June 1847, declared Melbourne a city. On 1 July 1851, the Port Phillip District separated from New South Wales to become the Colony of Victoria, with Melbourne as its capital.

Melbourne, 1853 from below Princes Bridge

When the Farndales arrived in Melbourne on 19 January 1853, they must have first spent some time in Melbourne, perhaps first renting a house, hut or tent. There were still only a few permanent buildings. Here they would have enquired after land.

The Gold Rush

The Farndales would have heard much of gold as they arrived since the Australian Gold Rush was in full cry.

Gold had been discovered in nearby Ballarat in 1851, causing the Geelong population to grow to 23,000 people by the mid-1850s. To discourage the growing population to the west, a false map was issued by Melbourne interests to new arrivals, showing the quickest road to the goldfields as being via Melbourne. Melbourne, the colony's major port, experienced rapid growth. Within months, the city's population had nearly doubled from 25,000 to 40,000 inhabitants. Exponential growth ensued, and by 1865 Melbourne had overtaken Sydney as Australia's most populous city.

An influx of intercolonial and international migrants, particularly from Europe and China, saw the establishment of slums, including Chinatown and a temporary tent city on the southern banks of the Yarra.

Life in the Goldfields South Melbourne's "Canvas Town" provided temporary accommodation for the thousands of migrants who arrived each week during the 1850s gold rush

In the aftermath of the Eureka Rebellion in 1854, mass public-support for the plight of the miners resulted in major political changes to the colony, including improvements in working conditions across mining, agriculture, manufacturing and other local industries. At least twenty nationalities took part in the rebellion, giving some indication of immigration flows at the time.

A large crowd outside the Victorian Supreme Court, celebrating the release of the Eureka rebels in 1855

With the wealth brought in from the gold rush and the subsequent need for public buildings, a programme of grand civic construction soon began. The 1850s and 1860s saw the commencement of Parliament House, the Treasury Building, the Old Melbourne Gaol, Victoria Barracks, the State Library, University of Melbourne, General Post Office, Customs House, the Melbourne Town Hall, St Patrick's cathedral, though many remained uncompleted for decades. The layout of the inner suburbs on a largely one-mile grid pattern, cut through by wide radial boulevards and parklands surrounding the central city, was largely established in the 1850s and 1860s. These areas rapidly filled with the terrace houses, as well as with detached houses and grand mansions, while some of the major roads developed as shopping streets.

In 1855, the Melbourne Cricket Club secured possession of its now famous ground. Members of the Melbourne Football Club codified Australian football in 1859, and in 1861, the first Melbourne Cup race was held. Melbourne quickly became a major finance centre, home to several banks, the Royal Mint, and in 1861 Australia's first stock exchange.

With the gold rush largely over by 1860, Melbourne continued to grow on the back of continuing gold-mining, as the major port for exporting the agricultural products of Victoria, especially wool, and with a developing manufacturing sector protected by high tariffs. An extensive radial railway network spread into the countryside from the late 1850s. Construction started on further major public buildings in the 1860s and 1870s, such as the Supreme Court, Government House, and the Queen Victoria Market. The central city filled up with shops and offices, workshops, and warehouses. Large banks and hotels faced the main streets, with fine townhouses in the east end of Collins Street, contrasting with tiny cottages down laneways within the blocks. The Aboriginal population continued to decline, with an estimated 80% total decrease by 1863, due mainly to introduced diseases, particularly smallpox, frontier violence and dispossession of their lands.

The decade of the 1880s saw extraordinary growth, consumer confidence, easy access to credit, and steep increases in land prices led to an enormous amount of construction. During this land boom, Melbourne reputedly became the richest city in the world, and the second-largest after London in the British Empire. The decade began with the Melbourne International Exhibition in 1880, held in the large purpose-built Exhibition Building. In 1880 a telephone exchange was established, and in the same year the foundations of St Paul's, were laid. In 1881 electric light was installed in the Eastern Market, and in the following year a generating station capable of supplying 2,000 incandescent lamps was in operation. In 1885 the Melbourne Tramway Trust built the first line of the Melbourne cable tramway system, which became one of the world's most extensive systems by 1890. In 1885 visiting English journalist George Augustus Henry Sala coined the phrase Marvellous Melbourne. Melbourne's land-boom reached a peak in 1888, fuelled by consumer confidence and escalating land-value. As a result of the boom, large commercial buildings, grand edifices, banks, coffee palaces, terrace housing and palatial mansions proliferated in the city. The establishment of a hydraulic facility in 1887 allowed for the local manufacture of elevators, resulting in the first construction of high-rise buildings; most notably the APA Building, amongst the world's tallest commercial buildings upon completion in 1889. This period also saw the expansion of a major radial rail-based transport network. In 1888 the Exhibition Building hosted a second event, even larger than the first: the Melbourne Centennial Exhibition. This spurred the construction of numerous hotels, including the 500-room Federal Hotel, The Palace Hotel in Bourke Street, and the doubling in size of the Grand Windsor.

A brash boosterism that had typified Melbourne during this time ended in the early 1890s with a severe economic depression, sending the local finance and property industries into a period of chaos, during which sixteen small land banks and building societies collapsed, and 133 limited companies went into liquidation. The Melbourne financial crisis was a contributing factor in the Australian economic depression of the 1890s and in the Australian banking crisis of 1893. The effects of the depression on the city were profound, with virtually no new construction until the late 1890s.

Moving on

However the Farndales decided not to settle in Melbourne when they arrived in Victoria in January 1853. Someone advised them to move west to Western Victoria around Colac. There was not much there. It was a risk, but they took it. They moved to a land of bush, huge gum trees, scrub, native wattle huts and bracken. There were no roads so they had to assemble stores, equipment and prepare to move. They would probably have had a large wagon hauled by bullocks and a few horses. They would have found their way across country, crossing rivers where they could, until they came to Geelong, perhaps 60 miles into their route, which might have taken about a week. They would have camped outdoors listening to the strange new sounds of a strange new land, and seen unrecognised the birds. The most unusual would have been the kookaburra with its hearty laugh, but magpies would have reminded them of Yorkshire.

The land and the sky, with the southern cross would all be new, strange and different. They would have seen signs of aborigines who still lived in the area outside Melbourne and would have seen the settlers with suspicion. The heat of the day would be much more than anything they had ever experienced before and the terrible insects and flies would have been difficult to bear. They would have been dirty and weary, the women in their long skirts sweeping the ground when they rested at Winchelsea. Then on to Colac where they must have stayed sometime looking for land.

For whatever reason they ended up at Birregurra and selected land there. Their first task was to build a house which they did made of earth, grass and water.

They must then have planted crops and collected animals, in particular sheep. Sometime later, perhaps a year or two, they built a small house of timber with a tin roof. They called it Hawthorne from the hawthorn they had planted on arrival. Hawthorn stills grows there.

Hawthorne, Birregurra, The Garden of Eden

Birregurra is about 130 kilometres southwest of Melbourne. The town is divided today between the Shire of Colac Otway and the Surf Coast Shire. In 2016 Birregurra had a population of 828. Birregurra is an Aboriginal word thought to mean kangaroo camp.

In 1839, the Wesleyan missionaries and colonial government established the Buntingdale Mission Station in the area. This was Victoria's first Aboriginal mission. A Post Office had opened in the area on 1 October 1858 and was renamed Mount Gellibrand in 1894, a few days before another office nearby was opened as Birregurra.

As the years passed the farm grew. William Martin would take their produce to Ballarat and Geelong and buy provisions. That was still a long cross country journey lasting many days. Cows and pigs were added and the farm buildings extended in size until it resembled a Yorkshire farm house.

Geelong

Geelong was the centre from where the Farndales and the Martins and their descendants bought supplies.

Geelong is a port city on Corio Bay and the Barwon River, seventy five kilometres southwest of Melbourne and the second largest Victorian city. Geelong was named in 1827, from the local Wathaurong aboriginal name for the region, Djillong, thought to mean tongue of land or peninsula. The area was first surveyed in 1838, three weeks after Melbourne. The post office was open by June 1840. The first wool store was erected at this time and it became the port for the wool industry of the Western District.

From a letter of 1846

During the gold rush, Geelong experienced a brief boom as the main port to the rich goldfields of the Ballarat district. The city then diversified into manufacturing, and during the 1860s, it became one of the largest manufacturing centres in Australia with its wool mills, ropeworks, and paper mills. The first issue of the Geelong Advertiser newspaper was published in 1840 by James Harrison, who also built the world's first ether vapour compression cycle ice-making and refrigeration machine in 1844, later being commissioned by a brewery in 1856 to build a machine that cooled beer.

A paddle steamer approaches Geelong Harbour in 1857 Geelong in 1856 Exhibition Building and Market Square Clocktower in 1879

The Geelong Hospital was opened in 1852, and construction on the Geelong Town Hall began in 1855. Development of the Port of Geelong began with the creation of the first shipping channel in Corio Bay in 1853. The Geelong to Melbourne railway was built by the Geelong and Melbourne Railway Company in 1857.

Rabbits were introduced to Australia in 1859 by Thomas Austin, who imported them from England for hunting purposes at his Barwon Park property near Winchelsea.

One of Geelong's best-known department stores, Bright and Hitchcocks, was established in 1861, and the Her Majesty’s Prison Geelong built using convict labour, was opened in 1864.

The gold rush had seen Ballarat and Bendigo grow larger than Geelong in terms of population. Melbourne critics dubbed Geelong Sleepy Hollow. A number of industries became established in Geelong, including Victoria's first woollen mill at South Geelong in 1868. In 1869, the clipper Lightning caught fire at the Yarra Street pier and was cast adrift in Corio Bay to burn before finally sunk by artillery fire. Improvements to transport saw Geelong emerge as the centre of the Western District of Victoria, with railway lines extended towards Colac in 1876, and to Queenscliff in 1879. Construction of the Hopetoun shipping channel began in 1881 and completed in 1893.

The Geelong Cup was first held in 1872, and Victoria's first long-distance telephone call was made from Geelong to Queenscliff on 8 January 1878, only one year after the invention of the device itself. Geelong was also the home of a prosperous wine industry until the emergence of the grapevine eating insect Phylloxera vastatrix in 1885, which killed the industry until the 1960s. Between 1886 and 1889, the central business district's major banks and insurance companies erected new premises. Further industrial growth occurred with the Fyansford cement works established in 1890.

The town became known as the Pivot in the 1860s owing to its being a central rail and shipping hub to Melbourne, Ballarat, and the western district. Inhabitants of Geelong were often known as a Geelongites or Pivotonians.

Birregurra

Mathew’s daughter Mary Ann and her husband William Martin had their first child born on 19 December 1853, Elizabeth Clarissa Teresa Martin. Marion Amelia Susanna Martin followed in 1856 and Anna Maria Martin in 1858. Their first son John Matthew Martin was born in 1860 and Alfred Miro Vitericus Martin in 1863. Ada Melinda Martin was born in 1864, Mary Matilda Martin in 1867 and Martin Edgar Martin , the youngest in 1869. John and Alfred took up farming in the Booma Noomanah area.

Martin Family Tree

The descendants of Matthew and Hannah Farndale

In May 1857, there was tension in Colac politics when a group of the electorate, including Matthew Farndale wrote, Sir, We the undersigned electors of the district of Colac, having through our local committee now repeatedly requested you will meet the electors, and you having declined attending their meetings, and refused to acknowledge their rights to demand your attendance, and having ignored the committee appointed by the almost unanimous voice of the people; and, further, having absented yourself from the legislative assembly at this most critical time, without consulting your constituents, we, therefore the underside undersigned electors of the district of Colac, call upon you to resign your seat in the legislative assembly.

Old Matthew was to see his second daughter Elizabeth Farndale marry William Darby in 1859 and several of his daughter Mary Ann's family also married before his death making him a great grandfather.

William Darby was from Ely, England. William and Elizabeth had no children. William had been involved in the gold rush but probably before his marriage. There was a William Darby who was single who was born in 1830 and travelled to Melbourne on the Invincible in 1858, aged 28.

Elizabeth Farndale who married William Darby William Darby of Ely who married Elizabeth Farndale in Victoria, Australia

The Darbys ran a general store at Colac East.

In 1870 the railway reached Colac. In August 1874 a deputation, representing the inhabitants of Birregurra, was introduced to the Commissioner for the Railways yesterday by Mr Connor, MLA. They came to express their apprehension that the black line, according to the survey now in progress, would not come nearer to Birregurra than four miles, and they felt sure that the line as originally surveyed, to run through the township, would be much more advantageous to the inhabitants generally.

The railway did reach Birregurra in 1877 as part of the line to the south west of the state. In October 1878 this morning’s train from Colac broke down soon after leaving Birregurra, one of the valves of the engine bursting.

Matthew Farndale helped to establish the Birregurra Methodist Church. In July 1878 Mr Edward Darling, Clerk of Courts at Steiglitz, has been appointed a Commissioner of the Supreme Court. The following have been appointed trustees. Mr John Bell, for land temporarily reserved as a site for a cemetery at Bambra, in the room of Mr J. Dennithorne, who has left the colony; Messrs Alex. and Richard Dennis, Samuel Gilbert, Samuel Talbot, and Matthew Farndale, for land temporarily reserved as a site for Wesleyan Church purposes at Birregurra; Messrs Francis Orinon and Chas. Shannon, for land reserved as a site for a Presbyterian place of worship and minister's dwelling in the town of Geelong.

In October 1863 Birregurra, which this month celebrates a centenary of methodism in the district, can claim to be the cradle of Methodism in Victoria. Birregurra and its immediate neighbourhood will long recall memories of the early Methodist Church in this state. Methodism was first introduced there by the Wesleyan Missionary Society in London at the request of the Reverend John Orton, when the Reverend Francis Tuckfield who arrived at Port Philip in July 1838, took charge of the first mission to the aborigines in Victoria. He established the headquarters of the Wesleyan Society in Port Phillip district at Buntingdale and it was from here that he, with the assistance of the Reverend Benjamin Hurst, who arrived in February 1839, worked his huge circuit which extended to the Yarra until 1840.

It is also interesting to note that Mr Haskins who was familiarly known as the “Old Bishop” conducted services In Mr Kettle’s barn prior to the erection of the Wesleyan Chapel and that his son, John Haskins junior, opened the first government school in Birregurra district during 1854.

Among other staunch supporters of methodism in the circuit, who were also residents of Birregurra and district in the early days were Mr and Mrs M Farndale and Mr and Mrs Bramley. Mr Farndale was one of the usual leaders at the prayer meetings conducted by Mr Usher at Colac from 1856 onward. These meetings were held at the presbytery and place of worship or a Methodist Church with erected there.

In 1956 it was recalled that it is nearly 100 years, in 1858, since the picturesque church at Warncoort was built, a period which has been most remarkable for the development which has occurred in the district. In that century, the countryside has been completely transformed and the wide almost unpopulated area has become a closely settled place supporting thousands of people. At the unveiling ceremony, Mr Strickland expressed his pleasure at renewing acquaintances with so many of the friends he had made during his term in the Colac district and at being given the opportunity of participating in that historic ceremony. He was glad to see the present descendants of those of the original trustees, the late Messrs Alexander Dennis, Matthew Farndale, and Thomas Butcher.

It was also later recalled that in these days when so much emphasis is being placed on the importance of youth in business and national affairs, it is interesting to quote an example from the early history of this district of a man whose enterprise, courage and energy had not become extinguished at an age when people now regard them as worn out. This man was the late Matthew Farndale one of the very first trustees of the Warncoort Methodist Church referred to in the recent ceremony at Warncoort.

From the Dales of Yorkshire where his ancestors had been on the land for centuries, Mr Farndale made up his mind to come to this distinct southern land, then in its infancy. And so, more than a century ago accompanied by his two daughters, his wife and a son-in-law, he sailed 12,000 miles in three months to make a new home. The son-in-law married one of the daughters at the last minute when he decided also to take part in the great adventure. Mr Farndale was buried in the Warncoort cemetery in 1882. He was aged 90 when he died. He left England when he was 62 years of age. At Warncoort on Sunday a descendant placed a wreath on the grave of a great grand father she had never seen.

Matthew Farndale died at the age of 90 at Birregurra, Australia on 8 August 1884. We regret to record the death of Mr. Matthew Farndale, a very old and respected resident of this district, which took place on Friday last at his residence, Birregurra. Mr. Farndale, who had reached the great old age of 90 years, was a wonderfully robust and sound constitutioned man, but, of course, during late years a general breaking up of the system was taking place, and his death was not unexpected. His remains were interred in the Irrewarra cemetery yesterday afternoon in the presence of a large number of friends and acquaintances of the family.

The grave of Matthew and Hannah at Warncoort cemetery, Australia reads In Memory Matthew Farndale Who died August 8th 1884 Aged 90 years Blessed are the dead Who die in the Lord Also of Hannah Relict of the late Matthew F Who departed this life at Hawthorne, Birrgurra On Friday 9 December 1892 Aged 85 years For so he giveth is beloved sleep.

His death is also memorialised on the tombstone of his twin brother William Farndale at Brotton. Memorial of William, son of William and Mary Farndale died 21 October 1831 aged 33 and also to Mathew Farndale twin brother of the above of Birregurra, Australia who died 8 August 1884 aged 90 years. Also Hannah his widow who died Dec 9 1892 aged 85 years.

Hannah Farndale died at the age of 84 at Birregurra, Australia on 9 December 1892.

Hawthorne’s End

Sadly the whole property at Birregurra was destroyed by a bush fire in 1901 when all Western Victoria was set alight.

Elizabeth Darby died at Colac, Victoria in 1918 at the age of 84. Mrs Wm. Darby, an old and well known resident of Colac for the past 65 years, passed away on Thursday morning, at the advanced age of 84 years. The deceased lady arrived in the town in 1853, in company with her parents (Mr and Mrs Farndale) and her sister (Mrs W Martin) and a few years later married the late Mr W. Darby, who for many years carried on a general store at Colac east. Mrs Darby was of a kindly and genial disposition, and endeared herself to a large circle of friends. For a considerable time past she suffered from partial blindness, but she bore this affliction with more than ordinary resignation. Nothing delighted her more than for some relative or friend to drop in and read to her the news of the day, the changing fortunes of the war being followed with keen interest. Even up to the last, though suffering intense bodily pain, her bright and cheerful temperament still remained with her, Christian fortitude and endurance being fully exemplified. The funeral of deceased is timed to leave her late residence at half past ten o'clock this (Saturday) morning, for the Colac cemetery.

Grave of William and Elizabeth Darby at Colac Cemetery, Victoria, Australia

Erected By Elizabeth In memory of her beloved husband William John Darby Died 16 January 1906 aged 79 years Also To Elizabeth Wife of the above Who died on ? October 1918.

The Martins

Mary Ann Martin and William Martin had five daughters and three sons.

Mary Ann Martin William Martin

In 1887 William paid a visit to England but did not take Mary Ann. However he made a special will to her at Birregurra on 28 February 1887 in case something happened to him while he was away. He then deposited it in the Colonial Bank of Australia and left authorisation for is wife to draw it out on giving proof of his death. He also brought back a cup and saucer.

William Martin died in Birregurra on 27 May 1888. In 1895 Mary Ann made over her husband’s lands near Birregurra to her two sons William John Martin and Alfred Miro Vitericus Martin, at the same time releasing them from paying her an annuity.

Mary Ann Martin died on 20 January 1923, aged 92. On the 20th January, 1923, at Hopetoun Street, Camperdown, Mary Ann, widow of the late William Martin, formerly of Hawthorne, Birregurra, and Newtown, Geelong, and elder daughter of the late Matthew and Hannah Farndale, aged 92 years.

By the death of Mrs Martin, which occurred at her daughter’ (Mrs Aspland) residence, Camperdown, on Saturday afternoon, this district has lost one of its oldest pioneers. Born at Kilton, Yorkshire, in 1831, Mrs Martin, immediately after her marriage to her late husband, Mr W Martin came with her parents, Mr and Mrs W Farndale, and her sister, the late Mrs Darby, of Colac, to Australia, arriving in 1853. The family first came to Colac, and subsequently took up their residence at Birregurra. There was, of course, no railway line to Colac in those days, and the party did the journey by road. Mr. Martin and Mr Farndale were their own architects and carpenters, being compelled to erect their own houses out of any material available. At a later date, more commodious and up-to-date residences were erected, and many of the older residents of Birregurra have tender memories of delightful days at Mr Martin’s residence, “Hawthorne”, which, surrounded by a large orchard, was one of the best known houses around Birregurra. “Hawthorne” was destroyed by the big fire about 1900, and Mrs Martin took up her residence in Geelong, afterwards going to live with her daughter, Mrs Aspland, at Camperdown, where she resided until the time of her death. Mrs Martin's husband predeceased her about 35 years ago, but the family of eight, Mrs Aspland, Camperdown, Mrs A J Sitlington, Colac, Mrs H Smith, Melbourne, Mrs T Parkinson, Portland, Miss Emma Martin, Camperdown, and Edgar, John and Alfred Martin, (Wilby) all survive, and much sympathy will be felt for them in their bereavement. Although having reached the very advanced age of 92 years, Mrs Martin was wonderfully active, and was in complete possession of her faculties. Her kindly nature and always cheerful manner, endeared her to a host of friends, who found a great deal of pleasure in a conversation with the warm hearted old lady who, it might truthfully be said, was beloved by all. Until a few months ago she had retained her physical powers to an amazing degree, but an attack of pneumonia, which occurred during a visit to Portland, affected her considerably, and it was evident to her friends that she was failing rapidly. Her one concern, during the last few weeks of her life, was that she, who had never considered herself in her services to others, was unable to help herself. Happy and cheerful to the end, the deceased lady was conversing with a friend a few minutes before her death. The late Mrs Martin was one of the type of early settlers who were the foundation of the Australian nation, and whose example might well be kept before the present generation, and those yet to come. The funeral will take place to the Warncoort cemetery today, passing through Colac at about 10:30 am, and arriving at Warncoort at 11 am.

The death occurred on Saturday last at the residence of her daughter, Mrs Aspland, of Hopeton street, Camperdown, of Mrs M A Martin, relict of the late Mr William Martin, formerly of Hawthorn, Birregurra and Newton, Geelong, and elder daughter of the late Matthew and Hannah Farndale. The late Mrs Martin, who had reached the venerable age of 92 years, was a native of Yorkshire, England, but had resided in this state for a very long time, having come to Victoria as a bride in the early days. She was sweet old lady possessed of many sterling traits and a charm of manner that endeared her to all who had the good fortune to call her friend, being possessed of a nobility of nature very rare. To know her was to love her. Despite her great age, until a few months back she was comparatively active and was capable of taking long walks unattended. With her daughter, Miss M M Martin, she went to Portland sometime back to visit another daughter, Mrs Parkinson, and while there her health failed seriously. Some weeks ago she was brought back to Camperdown, but, despite loving care and attention, gradually grew weaker until she passed away as stated. She will be sincerely mourned by a host of ardent admirers, and sincere and widespread sympathy will be felt for those bereaved. She leaves to mourn their loss a family of grown up sons and daughters. They are Messrs Alfred, John and Edgar Martin, Wilby, and the daughters Mrs Aspland, Camperdown, Mrs A J Sitlington, Colac, Mrs Ray Smith, Melbourne, Mrs T Parkinson, Portland, and Miss Martin, Camperdown. The body will be laid to rest in Warncoort cemetery today, whither it will be conveyed by motor hearse. The internment will take place about 11:00 AM. Messrs Coley and Brennan have charge of the Funeral arrangements.

Elizabeth Clarissa Teresa Martin (19 December 1853 to 26 July 1946) was born at Birregurra on 19 December 1853 exactly eleven months since the family landed at Melbourne after their voyage from England. She lived most of her life in Camperdown and for a while worked in the drapery department of her uncle’s Mr Dandy general store. She grew up a devout and devoted Methodist and on 30 August 1876 she married William Aspland. He had come from England to visit the Darbys and was a cabinet maker by trade.

Elizabeth Aspland William Middleton Aspland, born 27 March 19850 (or 1852?) and died 11 July 1908

The Asplands had ten children. Percy Poole Aspland (1877 to 1968), Ethel Marion Aspland (1878 to 1955), Nellie Eliza Aspland (1880 to 1974), Hilda Mary Aspland (born 1881), Alice Amy Aspland(1853 to 1883) who was blind, Alfred Herbert (born 1885), Ada Rebecca Aspland (1886 to 1955), Lesley James Aspland (born 1890), Clarica Middleton Aspland (1893 to 1976) and Doris Jean Aspland (b 1896).

Marion Amelia Susanna Martin (15 September 1856 to 1951) was the second daughter of William and Mary Ann Martin and was born at Birregurra on 15 September 1856. We know very little about her except that she married James Sitlington who worked in a shop. Her family were Irene and Alex. Alex was killed in action with the Australian army in World War 1.

Anna Maria Martin (b 1855) known as Marion was the third daughter to Mary Ann and William Martin, born on 4 August 1858 at Birregurra. She married Thomas Parkinson, a dentist of Portland, Australia. They had no family.

William John Matthew Martin (16 May 1860 to 1942) was the first son and fourth child of Mary Ann and William Martin and born on 16 May 1860 at Colac, Australia. He lived initially at Wilby and later took over his father’s farm in partnership with his brother, Alfred at Birregurra. He married Irene Erlandson and they had two children, Erland Martin and Farndale Martin.

Alfred Miro Vitiricus Martin (13 July 1863 to 28 June 1953) was the second son and fifth child to Mary Ann and William Martin and born on 13 July 1863 at Birregurra, Australia. He first lived at Wilby and later, according to the indenture with the record of his mother, Mary, he jointly farmed at Birregurra. We are not sure who he married. His family was Eva, Edgar, Alex and Finlay.

The Hunters Iburn Ridge Wattle Grove 1918 At the church

Pictures are of Wilby where William and Alfred lived for some time. Alfred lived at Iburn Ridge and his brother at Wattle Grove. They were opposite each other. Both properties were sold many years ago, though Wattle Grove has been kept much as it was

Ada Melinda Martin (2 September 1864 to 5 November 1947) married Horatio Smith, a jeweller of Camperdown, Victoria. They had five children Harold, Nellie, Ray, Eilleen and Victor.

Mary Matilda Martin (20 April 1867 to 11 March 1944) never married. She was always known as Tilly in the family.

Martin Edgar Martin (18 September 1869 to 1952) married Elly. He was a house decorator at Yarrawonga. They had two children Alfred Milton Martin and Wilson Martin.

Of the fourth generation, Percy Poole Aspland, son of Elizabeth and William Aspland married Mary Ann Love in 1925 at the Methodist church in Camperdown. He was a cabinet maker, opening a business in 1903 and he retired aged 99 in 1960.

Nellie Eliza Aspland married Walter Oakley in the Camperdown Methodist church. They had six children Reginald, Lynda, Lorraine, Evelyn, Allen and Clarissa.

Joan Allbut Woodmason was the eldest daughter to Arthur and Doris Jean Woodmason, of Colac, Victoria and was born on 27 January 1927. Her mother was the youngest daughter of Elizabeth Clarissa Teresa and William Aspland. She married John P Dunstand, a dairy farmer and they had 4 children, John Richard Dunstand born 1956, Stuart Farndale Dunstand, born 1958, Elwynne Elizabeth Dunstand born 1960 and Rowena Doris Dunstand born 1962.

Joan Dunstan took a great interest in the family history. She was of the fifth generation from Matthew Farndale.

The Dunstan family on 1 June 1979 at Stuart’s 21st birthday party The Dunstan Family June 1983

John (22) Stuart (21) Elwynne, Jack, Joan, Stuart (on their return to Australia after three years in England)

Jack Rowena (17)

Joan Elwynne (19)

Scene 2 – Other Australian ventures

James Neville Farndale, was born on 6 December 1921 in the Camberwell District of London. He married Cecelia Patricia Bingham in 1948 at Dartford. In 1955 at the age of 34, then trained as a moulder, James and Cecelia travelled to Melbourne, Australia on the Moreton Bay of the Shaw Saville Line leaving Southampton on 30 April 1955. The ship arrived at Fremantle, Western Australia on 31 May 1955 and they settled in Melbourne.

Clifford Farndale, the son of James and Mary Ann (nee Fairbairn) Farndale, was born in Thornaby on 28 April 1927. We met his father James Farndale, who worked in animal husbandry and served with animals in both world wars, in Act 16 Scene 5. Clifford Farndale, married Kathleen Moira Gourlay on 9 July 1949 at St Patrick’s church, Thornaby. They had three children, James Farndale, Cliff Farndale and Angela Farndale. The family emigrated to Australia in the mid 1960s. This line of the family are the Australia 2 Line and still live in South Australia.

There are Farndales who remain in Australia and although none of Matthew and Hannah Farndale’s descendants still have the Farndale surname, there are Martins and Asplands, Woodmasons, McMahons, Oakleys, Holmes, Campbells, Smiths and Dunstans who are their descendants and therefore share the ancestry of the Farndale story. Some, such as Stuart Farndale Dunstand continued to use the name.

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