janilye on Family Tree Circles

John Thomas, the youngest child of John William EATHER 1845-191 and Harriet nee CLARK 1849-1928, was born on 3 October 1891.

At the age of 25 and still unmarried he enlisted in the Australian Army on 17 October 1916, approximately a year after his brother Ivo mack had enlisted. He was posted to the same Battalion as his brother, the 35th, and went overseas amongst reinforcements. He saw Ivo in England while he was convalescing after having been wounded at Villers-Bretonneux. Back in Australia in 1919 after having been discharged from the Army, he returned to life on the land.

On Sunday the 13th June 1920 John was in the paddock at Bulga threshing lucerne seed, when the drive belt on the machine snapped.

John put his arm in the air to ward off the whip of the belt and fell into the thresher. His cries brought nearby workers to a most horrific scene, but nothing could be done to save John.

John William EATHER the first born of six children to Thomas EATHER 1824-1909 and Eliza nee CROWLEY 1822-1897.
When John William was born on the 8 March 1845 his parents were living in a house owned by his grandfather Thomas EATHER 1800-1886 in Windsor street, next door to the 'Union Inn', and there they operated a butchery and bakery. Not long after the birth the family moved to Bulga and took over the family farm 'Henriendi'which Thomas and Sarah had established twenty years before. It became their home for the rest of their lives.

John William was the only son of Thomas and Eliza Eather nee Crowley to reach manhood.

By 1897 'Henriendi' had shrunk to a fraction of it's former extent and in 1900 it was resumed by the government and subdivided into 600-acre allotments, which were put up for ballot under a closer settlement scheme. Over the years many members of the Eather family had been involved in partnerships on 'Henriendi' and the subdivision had the effect of bringing some later branches back in control of small portions of the old squattage. Among those who thus became small proprietors on 'Henriendi' were two grand-daughters of James Eather 1811-1899 ,Julia Eliza EATHER 1880-1955 the wife of Leopold GUEST 1869-1932 and Edith May EATHER 1871-1952 the wife of James Robert NELSON 1868-1950 and their brother, Thomas Charles EATHER 1866-1943 who married Hannah Mary MCGINNITY 1871-1929.

The family at Bulga retained interest in the old station after 1900, for John William Eather's six sons by his marriage to Harriet 1849-1928, the daughter of James Swales CLARK of Bulga, on the 31 January 1872 at St.Mark's in Bulga, were keen to be able to maintain the links between Bulga and the Namoi. Some of the brothers ballotted unsuccessfully for the Henriendi allotments, but in 1905 they finally persuaded the farmer who had drawn the homestead block, to sell out to them. The old house with the small area of land surrounding it reverted to the ownership of the Eathers'.

When Reginald Victor EATHER 1873-1946, eldest son of John William and Harriet, married Harriet Maria COUSINS 1882-1924 the daughter of Walter Young COUSINS 1856-1898 and Sarah Jemima MCFADDEN 1860-1885 on 30 November 1910 he took his bride to Henriendi.

The property was passed on to their daughter Wilga Elizabeth who married Charles COCHRAN in 1945, their son, Malcolm COCHRAN represented the fifth generation of family to live at 'Hendriendi'.

Henriendi could no longer support partnerships on the old scale and Reginald's eldest brother, Arthur Alexander EATHER 1875-1961, moved to the Scone district after marrying Jeanie mary PANKHURST 1891-1975 the daughter of Allan Sneesby PANKHURST 1865-1945 and Jane Ann RUSSELL 1864-1938. There, on the upper Hunter, the partnership of Eather Brothers at first leased the homestead area of old 'Milgarra station' at Bunnan and later in 1926 purchased it outright. The families of Arthur Alexander became well established in the district- James Allan and David Arthur at Milgarra, and Archibald Maxwell at Belford, Scone.

The Children of John William EATHER and Harriet CLARK:-

Reginald Victor EATHER 1873 – 1946
Arthur Alexander EATHER 1875 – 1961
Amy Louise EATHER 1877 – 1965
Gerald EATHER 1879 – 1911
Alexander Nicholas EATHER 1881 – 1959
Ivo Mack EATHER 1883 – 1952
Hope Isabel EATHER 1885 – 1949
Elizabeth Australia EATHER 1887 – 1954
Laura Ann EATHER 1889 – 1974
John Thomas EATHER 1891 – 1920

On 25 July 1843, when he was eighteen, Thomas EATHER 1824-1909 married Eliza CROWLEY in St. Peter's Church at Richmond. Eliza was nearly twenty-one and was the third daughter and fifth child of John CROWLEY 1775-1833 and his wife, Jane Charlotte, nee BRYANT 1796-1869.

Eliza's maternal grandmother, Jane ISON/LLOYD 1770-1823, had arrived at Sydney on the ship "Surprize" in 1794 and found a husband in William BRYANT 1776-1857, who had arrived on the ship "Pitt" in 1792. Jane Charlotte, born on 17 May 1796, was the first of two daughters born to them. In 1800 Jane ISON had married William EATON, and in 1804 they had taken up farming on a block of land near the confluence of Grose and Nepean Rivers near North Richmond. There Eliza had spent her childhood. Eliza's father, John CROWLEY, born at Millbrook in England, arrived in the colony in 1803 on the ship "Glatton", and married Jane Charlotte on 4 March 1811 when she was nearly fifteen. From 1820 they had farmed a grant of land on the Grose River adjoining the farm of William EATON. Eliza had been born on 30 August 1822 and the farm had been her childhood home.

The children of Thomas EATHER 1824-1909 and Eliza CROWLEY 1822-1897
John William EATHER 1845 – 1915 married Harriet CLARK 1849-1928
Mary Jane EATHER 1847 – 1847
Peter M EATHER 1849 – 1851
Jane Charlotte EATHER 1851 – 1897 married Samuel PARTRIDGE 1850-1928
Alexander George EATHER 1859 – 1859
Sarah Elizabeth EATHER 1861-1923 married Ashton CLARK 1844-1925

Stanley Common, the eldest son of Sarah EATHER 1861-1923 and Ashton CLARK 1844-1925, was born at 'Willow Farm' on 29 October 1888. He attended Bulga Public School with his brothers and sisters and when he was a young man he earned a living by felling timber in the range near Bulga. He had a team of bullocks and transported the logs on a bullock wagon to Gould Brothers Sawmill in Singleton. The journey usually took two days with an overnight stop at Yellow Waterholes Reserve. About 1917 he and his brother James (Jim) went into partnership on a block of land which they called 'Hillsdale'. It was covered in scrub and kept them very busy clearing it and building fences for farming. On the 3rd July 1918 Stanley married Lyndall Dorothy COOKE, the daughter of George COOKE 1865-1925 and Mary,nee CLARK 1865-1951. There was still no house on 'Hillsdale' so they lived in a tent on the farm. A citrus orchard had been planted and they commenced a small dairy herd. Jim also moved onto the farm and they employed four men to build a shed and clear the land for grazing. Stanley and his wife (called Dorothy not Lyndall) moved into the shed just before their first child was born. They then began to build a house, using ironbark and pine timber cut from the farm. They moved in as soon as the walls were up. Their family continued to increase and they had six children. The youngest daughter died at the age of 22 months. Stanley's niece Beulah SQUIRE often spen time at 'Hillsdale' after a new baby was born to help. The children were introduced at an early age to chores connected to the dairy section of the farm. At the age of four years the daughters were taught to assist in milking the cows. After the morning milking was completed, the cans were loaded onto a horse-drawn spring cart. Stanley would drive the cart to meet the milk lorry, driven by one of his cousins Dave CLARK, down at the Putty Road. Stanley was destined not to have a long life. One day he was chaffing sacaline and putting it into the silage pit, when he was taken ill. The next door neighbour, Mr. Os Thompson, took him into Singleton Hospital, where he died on 13 April 1941, aged 52. Dorothy and the children continued to live at 'Hillsdale' for about a year after Stanley's death, then they moved over the mountain to live with Dorothy's mother Mary (May) COOKE, at 'Leeholme', on the Putty Road. The house at 'Hillsdale' remained empty for more than ten years, except when used by an occasional employee of Jim CLARK.

James Clyde Young, the fifth child of Ashton CLARK 1844-1925 and Sarah,nee EATHER 1861-1923, was born at 'Willow Farm', Bulga on 30 May 1896. He was usually known as Jim. He grew up on 'Gerale' and attended the Bulga Public School with his brothers and sisters. About 1917 Jim and his brother Stanley took up land they named 'Hillsdale' near 'Willow Farm'. They worked the farm in partnership. While he was single, Jim used to ride home to 'Gerale' each week-end, and quite often on Saturday afternoons he would ride over to Bulga Post Office to visit the MCALPIN's, who ran it. There, on one occasion he met Rosamond CHAPMAN 1889-1990, daughter of Thomas CHAPMAN 1863-1929 and his wife Emily, nee WHITBREAD 1863-1902. Rosamond had come up from Sydney to visit the McAlpins, who were her cousins. Jim courted her and they were married in St.Paul's Church, Burwood in Sydney on the 22 June 1929. They made their home in a house that Jim built on 'Hillsdale'. Their only child Betty Joyce was born on 19 September 1931 in Garthowen Private Hospital at Stanmore in Sydney.

In the 1940's Jim had a property out in bush country that is now part of the Wollemi National Park. There, he ran a herd of cattle and every so often he would go out to muster them. He used to ride from Bulga on his horse 'Trigger', leading another horse 'King Pin' loaded with provisions in pack saddles. He followed a creek up to a place known as 'Junction' and then went on to 'Parnell Springs' and then further on to 'Paddock Hut' where he camped. There, he had a yard for the horses and a hut which he furnished with rough furniture, including a bed made with saplings and corn bags resting on two logs. He took the usual basic cutlery and cooking utensils and carried corned beef with him. He stored tea and sugar in Golden Syrup tins and kept the lot in a box because the rats used to invade the hut when he wasn't there. Loaves of bread were carried in a calico flour bag, which he always packed at the top of the saddle bags because the contents of the saddle bags were often damaged on the rough track. He'd boil the billy and cook pumpkin and potatoes over an open fire and supplemented his corned beef with tinned meat and finished it off with a desert of bread and jam.

On 14 March 1953 daughter Betty married Harold Onslow HARRIS in St.Andrews Presbyterian church in Singleton. Harold had been born in a private nursing home in Singleton, the son of Albert HARRIS 1896-1962 and Emily,nee WOODS 1893-1966. Harold used to go with his father-in-law on mustering trips to the bush country that Jim owned. They would set off with pack horses and food for a week. The property covered a huge area and was unfenced, so mustering the cattle was a difficult task. In 1961 they began looking for another grazing property, so that Jim could get rid of the bush country. On the 3rd of November 1962 Jim and Harold bought a grazing property known as 'Yellow Rock' at Carrabolla on the Paterson River, from Peter CAPARO. They stocked 'Yellow Rock' with a hundred head of Hereford Bullocks that roamed the mountains, and with the help of several drovers took them on foot a distance of one hundred miles to Carrabolla. The muster took five days. Some years later an adjoining property called 'Rudwood' was also purchased. From these properties the cattle were sold to the Newcastle Abattoirs at Waratah.

James Clyde Young CLARK died in the Singleton District Hospital on 24 October 1973 at the age of 77. A week previously he had been riding his horse around 'Yellow Rock' inspecting the stock. Rosamond, his widow, lived to be a centenarian, she was 100 when she passed away on 14 April 1990 in Elizabeth Gate Home in Singleton.

Sarah Elizabeth, the youngest child of Thomas EATHER 1824-1909 and Eliza, nee CROWLEY 1822-1897, was born at Bulga on 26 November 1861. She grew up on her parent’s farm and as a child had formal schooling in the Bulga Public School, which was newly established about the time that she started school. On 8 October 1885, when she was 23, Sarah married Ashton CLARK, son of James Swales CLARK 1812-1851 and his wife Elizabeth, nee McDONALD 1810-1899 who had married at Largs in Scotland and had later lived in the English county of Yorkshire before migrating to Australia. They had arrived in New South Wales on the ship "Thomas Hughes" in 1843 with their children, McDonald, Susannah and James. They had worked for a time at Black Creek (Branxton) and it was there that son Ashton had been born on 20 October 1844. In 1846 the CLARK family had moved to Bulga and had settled on a farm owned by Mr HALSTEAD. In 1848 they leased a farm of 550 acres from Joseph ONUS and named it "Willow Farm". It was just across Wollombi Brook from where Sarah lived and the two families knew each other well. The wedding was held at "Willow Farm". Ashton was age 40 years and Sarah 23 years. Ashton had been a boy of seven when his father had been accidentally drowned while teaching some shearers to swim away out at Narromine. He had grown up at "Willow Farm" and in 1863 he and his brother James had been on the ill-fated droving trip with their cousin Peter CLARK to stations near the Queensland border, when Peter had been killed by a bushranger while they were crossing the range north of Murrurundi. Sarah and Ashton made their home at "Gerale", a farm next door to "Willow Farm", where Ashton constructed a house. It was remembered by their granddaughters as a lovely old home. Sarah was a slim straight woman who always wore a white apron. After lunch she would change her dress, put on a clean apron and then spend the afternoon mending clothes or preparing fruit for preserving. She made excellent jam and was a good cook generally. She kept a good vegetable garden. "Gerale" was a busy place after Church on Sundays, when relatives would arrive for a baked dinner. Ashton had a sulky painted black and gold. On every second Sunday morning, when there was a Church service, they would dress in their best clothes and go off to Church in the sulky drawn by their pretty chestnut horse. The parson travelled to Bulga by sulky from Jerry's Plains, and often stayed to lunch at "Gerale". Usually Ivy and another of the daughters would stay back from Church to cook the baked dinner. Ashton's mother died in November 1899 and subsequently he took over "Willow Farm" as well as retaining "Gerale". Sarah and Ashton's family consisted of three daughters followed by three sons. All had been born at "Willow Farm". Ashton developed a fine farm on "Gerale". He ran a flock of sheep and a herd of cattle, and he developed a useful orchard. He had a very good set of stock yards and some of his neighbours without stock yards made use of them at times. There were numerous wild cattle in the ranges to the west of Bulga, and on occasions some of the farmers would muster some of them and succeed in driving them into Ashton's stock yard. From there they would drove them into sales at Singleton. On "Gerale" was a large dam fed by a spring. Ashton used to carry buckets of water for his garden from the dam with the aid of a yoke across his shoulders. He kept a small herd of dairy cows on the farm and had a set routine at milking time. He bailed up the cows and Sarah and their eldest daughter Ivy milked them. When the milking was completed, Ashton separated the milk and fed the separated milk to the pigs, while Sarah washed up. If there were young poddy calves to be fed, Sarah attended to this. All the milking chores were completed before the family returned to the house for breakfast. In the orchard there were three or four rows of fruit trees of different varieties, including plums, apricots, peaches, nectarines, apples and pears. Quince trees were scattered around the paddock and Sarah became noted for her quince dumplings. A passion fruit vine grew on a large trellis at the end of the corn shed and nearby was a vineyard of table grapes. As on most farms, there was a large poultry run. Sarah was almost 62 when she died at Bulga on 2 October 1923. Ashton was a great bushman and had a very good eyesight, even in his old age. Following the death of his wife he often went off into the bush nearby and spent hours enjoying the tranquility of his surroundings

The photograph below of Ashton and Sarah with the family was taken on the front verandah of 'Gerale'

Born at Scarborough, Yorkshire, on the 28 December 1812,the son of James CLARK 1777-1863 and Susanna SWALES 1776-1831 who were married at Liverton on the 2 April 1798.
James was employed as a steward at 'Flowery Field' the residence of Cheshire merchant Thomas Ashton. In 1835 he married Elizabeth MCDONALD 1810-1899 from Largs, Scotland, the daughter of David MCDONALD 1781-1835 and Catherine YOUNG.(Catherine died at Black Creek,Branxton,NSW in 1844)
Elizabeth's brother Thomas McDonald, persuaded by family friend, the Rev. John DUNMORE LANG, had emigrated to Australia in 1831. James and Elizabeth with their children, Macdonald (b.1836), Susanna (b.1838), and James (b.1840), and Elizabeth's widowed mother, Catherine, left for Australia in 1842 on the 'Thomas Hughes'.

Arriving in Sydney in early 1843 the family went to the Hunter district; James worked for Helenus SCOTT at 'Glendon' and then later settled at Bulga, near Singleton.

The Clarks had four more children, Ashton (b.1844), Mary (b.1847), Harriet (b.1849) and Elizabeth, born in 1852 after her father's death the previous year. Of the Clark children, Mary died in 1857 and the others were married as follows : Macdonald to Susannah MCALPIN in 1863; Susanna to William T. SQUIRE in 1875; James to Mary DAWES in 1875; Harriet to John W. EATHER in 1872; Ashton to Sara EATHER in 1885; Elizabeth to Thomas S. COLLINS in 1879.

The Bulga farmers were plunged into sadness over the new year of 1852 when word reached them that their neighbour, James Swales CLARK of "Willow Farm", had been drowned on Christmas Eve in the river at Narromine. He had gone out there with his team of bullocks to load wool for transporting down to the coast. With him were his two eldest sons, McDonald and James Jnr. The news arrived in a letter from the station manager advising Elizabeth CLARK that her husband had drowned in the river and had been buried. When her sons returned she heard how James had gone swimming after lunch to help some of the station hands to learn to swim. He had appeared to dive but did not resurface and an aborigine who was a strong swimmer dived repeatedly and eventually found his body. They had buried him on Christmas Day on the bank of the river.James CLARK and his family had become popular members of the community in the three years that they had lived at "Willow Farm", and the community grieved with them in their sad loss. Six months later Elizabeth CLARK gave birth to another daughter and named her Elizabeth Catherine after her two grandmothers. James CLARK had wanted a daughter named after his own mother, so his wish was fulfilled. Elizabeth CLARK and her family continued to live on at "Willow Farm" in the years that followed.

Edwin EATHER, the third son, of Charles EATHER 1827-1891 and Eliza, nee HOUGH 1825-1870 was born at Richmond on 28 June 1852 and was a boy of about ten when he moved with his parents and siblings to "Henriendi". There he grew to manhood and learnt many of the skills of running a pastoral property.

At Gunnedah on 10 April 1877 he married Catherine Agnes TURNER 1855-1933 and they had three daughters and four sons. According to an old family bible, their first son, William Charles, was born at Gunnedah and died there when three months old.
The second child, Vera Eliza, was born at a place called "Cooboobindi"; the third in Eaton's Hotel at Muswellbrook; the fourth at Gunnedah and the fifth at Boggabri.

All the children except the first lived to adulthood and married.

Edwin EATHER and his brother Henry leased the 40,000 acre Namoi property "Norfolk" from around 1871 and still held the lease in 1878/1879.
About 1884 Edwin moved from Gunnedah to Narrabri, where he became the proprietor of the "Cooma Hotel". After a short while there he moved to Boggabri and took over the Centennial Hotel,the first hotel in that township.

They had been at Boggabri only a few years when Edwin died on 30 July 1890 - at the age of 38.
His youngest Edwin Royce was only a year old and his widow Catherine was left with six children all under the age twelve.


Their second daughter Blanche Marion EATHER, born at Gunnedah on 25 January 1883, married Albert Edwin HEAGNEY at the age of twenty. Nine years later, in 1912, Albert HEAGNEY died, leaving Blanche a widow at the age of 29 with five young sons. Blanche had outstanding musical talent and following the death of husband, she took up teaching music and soon had many pupils.
At night she played the piano at dances various social functions. During World War I from 1914 to 1918, she gave unsparingly of her services voluntarily played at every farewell function in Narrabri. She treasured the many letters of thanks that received from various patriotic committees. When silent movies became a feature of entertainment in a local theatre at Narrabri, Blanche provided the musical background to the pictures. She continued in this role until the advent of sound movies. For some years she supplemented her musical activities by managing the Narrabri Musical Store. With her sons, she embarked upon a moving picture undertaking in the Narrabri Town but it was a venture that proved unsuccessful. During her busy career, Blanche received engagements from such far-flung places as Mungindi, Walgett and Gunnedah, and legions of young folk learned to dance to music. In her later years she confined her activities to playing at socials and house-parties, while an orchestra which included her sons as instrumentalists, provided band music when required. Blanche HEAGNEY died in the Newcastle Hospital in May 1940 at the age of 57 after a long illness. She was interred in the Presbyterian section of the Narrabri Cemetery beside her late husband. Her five sons survived her. The eldest, Edwin, was at Narrabri West; Alexander (Alex) at Narrabri; Charles at Bellata, Matthew (Matt) Wollongong; and Richard (Dick) at Sydney. Her second son Alex attended the first EATHER reunion in 1977, but died during the following year. His youngest brother Dick subsequently became a subscriber to the EATHER Family Newsletter and attended a number of EATHER reunions in the years that followed. Dick's wife, Una Mildred, died on 6 September 1996 and her funeral service was held at the Woronora Crematorium three days later. Following her death, Dick moved from Kingsgrove to the Bethel Nursing Home at 96 Holder Street, Ashfield, and it was there that he died on 22 October 1999 aged 87 years.


Catherine in 1903 ar Narrabri married Matthew FANNING who died on 2 May 1913 at Narrabri, NSW

Catherine Agnes died on 4 November 1933 at Narrabri

CENTENNIAL HOTEL:- Corner Brent & Laidlaw Streets (north western corner)
In 1870, Mark Taylor built the Centennial Hotel on this site. It was a low flat wooden structure with a shingle roof. Catholic masses were celebrated in the parlour of this hotel until the new church was built in 1886. The Royal Hotel replaced the Centennial Hotel in 1909. Built by Laban Thomas Guest, it remains much the same as it was in 1909.
If you happen to be in the Boggabri area, call into the Museum,
Ellen EATHER who runs it will be more than happy to help with any enquiries about the history and the people of Boggabri.

The children of Edwin Eather and Catherine Agnes were:-
William Charles EATHER 1878–1878 Vera Eliza EATHER 1879–1940 Alexander Munro EATHER 1880–1965 Blanche Marion EATHER 1883–1940 Emily Gertrude EATHER 1885–1967 Joseph Mark EATHER 1887–1971
Edwin Royce EATHER 1889–1945

William Charles EATHER was born on 7 Jan 1878 in Gunnedah, NSW, Australia, died on 23 Apr 1878 in Gunnedah, NSW, Australia, and was buried in 1878 in Church of England cemetery, Narrabri, NSW, Australia. Vera May Elizabeth EATHER was born on 31 Jan 1879 in Cooboobindi, Gunnedah, NSW, Australia and died in 1939 in Narrabri, NSW, Australia at age 60.

Vera married Thomas BURT in 1900 in Narrabri, NSW, Australia.

Alexander Munro EATHER was born on 17 Jul 1880 in Muswellbrook, NSW, Australia and died in 1965 in Auburn, Sydney, NSW, Australia at age 85.

Alexander married Ethel May MILLS (b. 1890, d. 1953) in 1910 in Narrabri, NSW, Australia.

Blanche Marion EATHER was born on 25 Jan 1883 in Gunnedah, NSW, Australia, died in May 1940 in Mayfield, Newcastle, NSW, Australia at age 57, and was buried in 1940 in Presbyterian Church cemetery, Narrabri, NSW, Australia.

Blanche married Albert Edward HEAGNEY (b. 1881, d. 1912) in 1903 in Narrabri, NSW, Australia.

Emily Gertrude EATHER was born on 13 Jun 1885 in Gunnedah, NSW, Australia and died in 1967 in Sydney, NSW, Australia at age 82.

Emily married ???? (--?--).

Emily next married Francis J THUELL (b. 1893) in 1920 in Narrabri, NSW, Australia.

Joseph Mark EATHER was born on 22 Apr 1887 in Gunnedah, NSW, Australia and died in 1971 in Kempsey, NSW, Australia at age 84.

Joseph married Dorothy Maude HOLBOROW (b. 1897, d. Feb 1944) in 1915 in Kempsey, NSW, Australia.

Edwin Royce EATHER was born in 1889 in Boggabri, NSW, Australia and died on 31 May 1945 in Moparrabah, NSW, Australia at age 56.

Edwin married Mabel I JONES in 1918 in Bellingen, NSW, Australia.


Research Notes:



Medical Notes:
Death Reg No: 8625/1890
Name: EATHER Edwin
Father: Charles
Mother: Eliza
District: Narrabri, NSW

Edwin married Katherine Agnes TURNER, daughter of John TURNER and Catherine A DETHICK, on 14 Apr 1877 in Gunnedah, NSW, Australia.

Marriage Notes:
Marriage Reg No: 4474/1877
Names: EATHER Edwin & TURNER Catherine Agnes
District: Gunnedah, NSW

At Gunnedah on 10 April 1877 Edwin EATHER married Catherine Agnes TURNER, daughter of Robert and Mary TURNER.

Edwin EATHER was born on 28 June 1852 in Richmond Bottoms, NSW, Australia, Birth registered Richmond, NSW V18521434 38A (and V1852911 158) Church of England Parish Richmond. He was baptized on 4 August 1852 in St Peter's, Church of England, Richmond, NSW, Australia. He married Katherine Agnes TURNER, daughter of John TURNER and Catherine A DETHICK, on 14 April 1877 in Gunnedah, NSW, Australia, Marriage registered Gunnedah, NSW 1877 No 4474. He died on 30 July 1890 in Narrabri, NSW, Australia, at age 38; Death registered Narrabri, NSW 1890 No 8625. He was buried in August 1890 in Church of England Cemetery, Narrabri, NSW, Australia.

General Notes:
Birth Reg No: 8583/1864
Name: TURNER Catherine A
Father: Robert B
Mother: Mary
District: Goulburn, NSW (this is not Catherine A Eather nee Turner.j)

Death Reg No: 18328/1933
18328/1933 FANNING CATHERINE
Father: MARK
Mother: CATHERINE
District: NARRABRI

Sources:
janilye
John St.Pierre
Eather family Newsletter
Eather Family History






The Sydney Morning Herald Monday 13 November 1933

PIONEER'S DEATH.
NARRABRI, Saturday.
Mrs. Catherine Fanning, of Narrabri, who died at the age of 78 years, was a pioneer of the Narrabri district. She came to the district in 1890 with her husband, who later conducted the Cooma Hotel at Narrabri West. Mrs. Fanning was twice married. Her second husband died many years ago. She Is survived by three daughters and two sons.

Henry Charles, the eldest son of Charles EATHER 1827-1891 and his first wife Eliza nee HOUGH 1825-1870 was born at Richmond on 8 June 1849 and spent his childhood there. According to his obituary, he went to the Narrabri district when he was 16, about 1865, however, his younger brother, my great grandfather Alfred McAlpin was born at 'Henriendi', Narrabri in 1863, so, it is more likely that he went to Narrabri about 1862 when he was thirteen and the family moved from Richmond to the Liverpool Plains. He spent his teenage years on 'Henriendi' and learnt the skills of a stockman. After his father's bankruptcy in 1871, he was placed in charge of 'Henriendi', as well as neighbouring 'Pinegolba' and 'Gumanally'.

In 1876, the year that 'Henriendi' passed into the hands of John Kerr CLARK, Henry Charles and his brother Edwin were leasing 'Norfolk', a property of 40,000 acres (16,000 hectares)to the south of Narrabri on Jock's Creek.

On 23 May 1877 at Narrabri, Henry Charles married Lucina Sarah RIDGE 1857-1936, a younger sister of his stepmother. Martha May RIDGE 1843-1920

In 1878 Henry Charles was listed in the electoral roll as being a leaseholder of 'Norfolk' and a resident of 'Henriendi'. It appears that he was working either full time or part time for John Kerr CLARK, who, at that time was living in Tasmania.

In the early 1880s Henry Charles had a butcher shop at Tullamulla near Boggabri. By the year 1883 he was in financial difficulties (not necessarily related to the butcher shop). The insolvency index in the New South Wales Archives lists him as being in Insolvency Court on 2 April 1883.

Henry Charles and his wife Lucina had a family of five sons and two daughters. One son died in infancy.

By 1925 Henry Charles and his wife Lucina were separated and Henry Charles was living with his son Leslie Gordon 1884-1969 and his wife Ivy Josephine nee Kelly 1889-1971, who owned a large poultry farm at Wetherill Park near Smithfield in New South Wales.

Lucina spent her later years in Sydney and died there in 1936.

Henry Charles died on 2 September 1942 at the age of 93. His eldest and youngest sons had both pre-deceased him.

Thomas Frederick TUDOR was born in Newcastle, New South Wales in 1870. He was one of thirteen children born to Thomas TUDOR an immigrant born Staffordshire, England in 1829 and his wife Ellen nee WILLIAMSON born 1834 in Fifeshire, Scotland.
In 1898, 18 year old Thomas Frederick had a son to miss Emma May Ashton, She named the baby Albert Cyril ASHTON and Thomas Frederick paid his 5 shillings a week support for the infant.
Emma and the baby lived with her parents and Thomas made the occassional visit.
One evening Thomas arrived at Emma's house at Catherine Hill Bay and he, Emma and the then 9 month old Albert walked down to the boathouse to spend some time together. They laid the baby down on the floor of the boathouse where according to his mother the child fell asleep on a blanket. After about half an hour they headed back to the house it was dark and the baby began coughing and crying. Thomas lit a match to see what was wrong with the infant and they both noticed the baby's face was green.
Emma took the child inside the house and Thomas went home. The child became worse and Emma woke her mother. The mother gave the baby butter as an emetic but the child continued to cry and was obviously in pain. They sent for the doctor but by the time he arrived the next morning the child was dead.
The doctor performed an autopsy and declared the baby had been poisoned with Paris Green. Paris green was a mixture of copper and arsenic which was used as a rat poison and it is also a pigment which was used in paint. Emma declared Thomas had poisoned her baby because he didn't want to pay child support.
An inquest was held and the jury declared the child died from wilful poisoning. Thomas was arrested and committed for trial. The newspapers all over Australia ran headlines declaring Thomas Frederick TUDOR charged with poisoning his illegitimate son.
Thomas's popular and well respected family were held up to ridicule.The trial was held at the Sydney Criminal Court on 14 June 1899 and the jury disagreed on the verdict, so the judge ordered a retrial.
The second trial was held at Maitland Circuit Court on 27 September 1899. Thomas pleaded his innocence and the jury returned a verdict of not guilty.
Although Thomas was free, there was still the matter of the baby being poisoned and the population was divided over the issue.

Today, of course we don't use Paris Green in our dyes or paints.
And fishermen no longer paint their boats and boathouse floors with it to keep the barnacles away.

Janilye

The Children of Thomas Tudor and Ellen nee WILLIAMSON:-
Ellen Tudor 1855 – 1860
Mary Tudor 1856 – 1861
Thomas Tudor 1858 – 1860
Robert Henry Tudor 1860 – 1861
Ann Jane Tudor 1862 – 1864
George Henry Tudor 1864 – 1912
Adelaide Tudor 1866 – 1945
Blondon Tudor 1868 –
Thomas Frederick Tudor 1870 – ????????
Robert Ernest Tudor 1872 – 1948
Albert Hamilton Tudor 1874 – 1877
Alice Felecia Tudor 1877 – 1939
Blanche Tudor 1880 – 1880