Vicissitudes of a Remarkable Career

So many stories of ancestors and relatives are mentioned in the newspapers of the past. During April 2020 for the A - Z blog challenge, I am listing the types of stories or information I have found in newspapers with examples for each letter of the alphabet. My clippings include a variety of articles about relatives of my children's ancestors.

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Visitors to a town or city were often reported in the gossip or About People columns of newspapers. The results of Voting for committees and organisations are excellent finds where relatives may have been listed. Veterans of wars are commemorated through In Memoriam notices and on ANZAC Day and Remembrance Day. This is about a veteran of a different kind.

A most elusive character - A veteran of the goldfields

When Edward John William Payne died in Birmingham, England in 1932 a variety of newspaper articles recalled his life and career. How much of that is true? Was it poor management of money and interpersonal relationships? Will we ever know? These were the headlines of the day, choose the links to read any of the long articles.

1933 'LIFE OF ADVENTURE',
Western Argus (Kalgoorlie, WA : 1916 - 1938), 17 January, p. 28.
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/34610904

1933 'LIFE OF ADVENTURE.', The West Australian (Perth, WA : 1879 - 1954),
18 March, p. 5. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article32466716

That lengthy article talks of his education and explorations as well as his time in Africa before ending up in England. It does make some fantastic claims, so let's step back a few years and trace his earlier days.

Confectionery, Marriage and Bankruptcy

In August 1884, Ted as he was known, married Mary Agnes Walmsley in Auckland, New Zealand. She had arrived there with her parents aboard the Hydaspes as recounted in an earlier post. The first newspaper mention is of the birth of their daughter in 1885. In 1886 a fire broke out in their premises where Edward was running a confectionery business. His father in law, John Walmsley, had taken over a previous confectionery premises from Payne in 1884.

FIRE IN WELLESLEY-STREET., New Zealand Herald,
Volume XXIII, Issue 7552, 3 February 1886
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZH18860203.2.20

The article goes on to describe the circumstances of the fire and the rescue of family and servant with no apparent reason for the fire being found. Just one month later Edward is declared bankrupt and appears to have left Auckland and perhaps even New Zealand. 

Auckland Star, Volume XVII, Issue 78, 27 March 1886, Page 7
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/AS18860327.2.96.9

By September of 1886 when his second daughter Natalia is born, he can be found in Western Australia seeking his fortune looking for gold. When the final dividend of 4s 11½d in the £ was to be paid to creditors in December 1886, he was long gone. (1)

In September of 1887 notices appeared in Western Australian newspapers noting that a Mr Anstey was putting together an expedition for the purpose of prospecting for gold.

He will be accompanied by Mr. Richard Greaves and Mr. Edward Payne, both of whom have had several years' experience on the colonial goldfields. For travelling purposes, Mr. Anstey has had constructed by Messrs. Donegan A Flynn a cart specially designed for his purpose. It is divided into compartments for carrying water and specimens and rations (2)

This raises the question of where was Edward's previous experience in the goldfields? Perhaps in Ballarat as a very young man before he went to New Zealand. He had studied chemistry and mineralogy at the Ballarat School of Mines where he is listed as a 24 year old in an enrolment book (3) but he also claimed to be 24 on his marriage certificate in 1884.

Nevertheless the expedition was successful with the discovery of gold at Yilgarn, not Payne's Find as family folklore thought. Payne's Find is attributed to a Thomas Payne not Edward Payne.

A 1906 article reflecting on early gold prospectors in Western Australia comments:

How Greaves and Payne were rewarded for their exertions is a standing disgrace to the State. They got nothing while the feather-bed prospector, Anstey, received the then Government reward.of £500. At this time Dick Greaves was lying on what all the doctors in Perth thought was his dying bed, and , it was only after years of painful operations under the surgeon's knife that he recovered... Payne cleared out to Africa in disgust. (3)

This poster reprooduced at the end of that article commemorates  those who discovered the Western Australian goldfields. His photo appears just to the left of centre.

courtesy State Library of Western Australia
http://purl.slwa.wa.gov.au/slwa_b1976225_1.jpg

So no fortune thus far, a bankrupted confectionery business in New Zealand followed by a very successful gold find in W.A. but without adequate compensation.

1889 finds Edward and his wife Mary Agnes with the two small girls in Queensland where their first son Edward John was born on September 8th of that year. By 1892 they had returned to to Ballarat where by this time Mary Agnes' father John Walmsley had a confectionery business. Son Norman George was born there in 1892 followed by the birth of Grace Walmsley Payne in 1893.

Edward was still not settled and this advertisement signalled his intention to leave Ballarat.

Was it another failed confectionery business or itchy feet to get back to mineral exploration?

1893 'Advertising', The Ballarat Star (Vic. : 1865 - 1924), 25 October, p. 3. ,
 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article209799061

By 1902 the family or some of them are in Adelaide as youngest son, Francis Leo was born there in 1902.  Some time after this Edward leaves his family in Adelaide and from the article previously mentioned which was written in 1906, he had left for Africa.

The accounts of his life after this time are variously reported in the articles listed below. John Michael Galvin in his 1968 memoir claimed that his wife Grace knew nothing of her father's whereabouts until the articles about his death in Birmingham came to light in Australian newspapers.

Edward John Payne m. Mary Agnes Walsmsley
⇓⇓
Grace Walmsley Payne m. John Michael Galvin
⇓⇓
John Dominic Galvin m. Phyllis Yvonne Stirling  - my children's paternal grandparents

Some unresolved issues

Who were the family he left behind in Birmingham?

Did he really make and lose fortunes or was that just hearsay?

Who were his parents and where was he born?

1. New Zealand Herald, Volume XXIII, Issue 7827, 22 December 1886, Page 8, https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZH18861222.2.62.5

2. 1887 'GOLD PROSPECTING IN THE EASTERN DISTRICTS.', The West Australian (Perth, WA : 1879 - 1954), 29 September, p. 3. , viewed 25 Apr 2020, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article3113834

3.  Clare Gervasoni, October 2007, updated January 2008, Federation University https://federation.edu.au/about-us/our-university/history/geoffrey-blainey-research-centre/honour-roll/p/edward-francis-john-william-michael-payne-1853-1938

4. 1906 'PIONEERS OF PROSPECTING.', The Sun (Kalgoorlie, WA : 1898 - 1929), 14 January, p. 9. , http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article211739588

Lengthy newspaper articles detailing the life of Edward John William Payne
Kalgoorlie Miner https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/95024397
Western Argus, Kalgoorlie https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/34610904
The West Australian https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/32466716
Queensland Times, Ipswich https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/113447024
Smith’s Weekly, Sydney https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/235069602

This post first appeared on earlieryears.blogspot.com by CRGalvin

Meetings, Marriages and Memorials

So many stories of ancestors and relatives are mentioned in the newspapers of the past. During April 2020 for the A - Z blog challenge, I am listing the types of stories or information I have found in newspapers with examples for each letter of the alphabet. My clippings include a variety of articles about relatives of my children's ancestors.

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Finding an ancestors name listed in the Membership of a society or organisation can lead to a variety of newspaper clippings as seen in  my previous article where love blossomed. Meetings listed in newspapers often have attendees and office bearers listed. These notices provide background to the interests of ancestors. Memorials in the form of In Memoriam notices often provide details of siblings and children of the deceased person. My favourite notices are those about Marriages. These may be Approaching Marriage notices or reports of the Marriage listing attendees and their relationships.

Payne family Marriages

These notices relate to the children of Edward John William Payne and Mary Agnes Walsmley, my children's gt.gt.grandparents. By 1910 it appears that this family were living in Adelaide.

1910 - Norman George Payne 

1911 'Family Notices', The Advertiser (Adelaide, SA : 1889 - 1931), 14 January, p. 12.
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article5232888

This notice appeared in the Personals column of a Sydney newspaper in 1924

1924 'Advertising', The Daily Telegraph (Sydney, NSW : 1883 - 1930), 9 August, p. 2. ,
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article245205081

and Norman remarried in 1927

1927 'Family Notices', The Register (Adelaide, SA : 1901 - 1929),
17 August, p. 8. , http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article55038400

1913 Natalia Cecelia Payne

1913 'WEDDINGS.',
The Mail (Adelaide, SA : 1912 - 1954), 27 September, p. 2. ,
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article63803982

1917 Edward John Payne

On June 23rd the eldest son, Edward John Payne married Kathleen Hourigan but I have found no newspaper notice relating to that marriage.

1917 Grace Walmsley Payne

An extensive report of that wedding appeared in the Southern Cross newspaper (1)

A pretty wedding was celebrated before a Choral Mass in St. Patrick's Church, Adelaide, on November 21, the contracting parties being Mr. Jack M. Galvin, eldest son of Mr. and Mrs. J. P. Galvin, of Adelaide, and Miss Grace Walmsley Payne, youngest daughter of Mrs. E. Payne, of Adelaide. Rev. Father O'Sullivan officiated.
The bride, who was conducted to the altar by her brother, Mr. E. Payne, looked charming in a dress of ivory silk poplin (tunic effect), and carried a shower bouquet. The first bridesmaid, Miss Annie Walmsley (cousin of the bride), wore a dainty Assam, silk costume and black hat with pink trimmings. The second bridesmaid, Miss Kathleen Dineen (cousin of the bridegroom), was charmingly dressed in a Japanese silk frock costume with black hat relieved with pink.
The duties of best man were performed by Mr. James Dineen, of Mile-End. Mr. Arthur Watts led the choir, Mrs. V. Brown being organist. During the Mass the bride and bridegroom approached Communion together. At the breakfast, held at the residence of the parents of the bridegroom. Rev. Father O'Sullivan proposed the toast of the bride and bridegroom, and spoke in eulogistic praise of the newly married couple and wished them every success. The bridegroom suitably responded. The toast of the bridesmaids was proposed by Mr. E. Payne and Mr. J. Dineen responded, and that of the parents of the bride and bridegroom was proposed by Mr. F. P. Keogh and responded to by Mr. J. P. Galvin. The happy couple were the recipients of costly and numerous presents. A very pleasant time was spent on the evening of the wedding, when many of their numerous friends were present.

 1940 Francis Leo Payne - the youngest son

1940 'A JUNE BRIDE',
Barrier Miner (Broken Hill, NSW : 1888 - 1954), 10 June, p. 4. ,
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article48351352

This clipping has the parents listed as the "late Mr and Mrs W Payne" reminding me that newspaper reports often contained errors. Francis Leo was indeed the youngest son of  Edward John Wiliam Payne and his wife Mary Agnes Walmsley.

These marriage notices provided many clues which lead to further research into each of these families.

1. 1918 'Family Notices', Southern Cross (Adelaide, SA : 1889 - 1954), 18 January, p. 16. , viewed 15 Apr 2020, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article166985060



This post first appeared on earlieryears.blogspot.com by CRGalvin

Kith and Kin

So many stories of ancestors and relatives are mentioned in the newspapers of the past. During April 2020 for the A - Z blog challenge, I am listing the types of stories or information I have found in newspapers with examples for each letter of the alphabet. My clippings include a variety of articles about relatives of my children's ancestors.

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 Perhaps one might find a Knighthood in an awards list or a shocking Kidnapping retold in the news. My story is about the Kindness of Kin in sad circumstances.

Edward John Payne was an elder brother of Grace Walmsley Payne; she was a gt-grandmother of my children.  He was born in Queensland in 1889 while his father pursued the glimmer of gold. He was the third child in the family, Florence was born in New Zealand then Natalia in WA. Wanderlust brought the family back to Ballarat in Victoria where his father returned to study at the School of Mines.  Norman was born in 1892 followed by Grace in 1893. By 1902 when Francis Leo was born, it appears that most of the family were living in Adelaide. 

By 1915 Edward, known as Ted, was prominent in musical circles in Adelaide with several mentions of his fine voice in newspaper reports. In June 1915 he made an appearance at the St Patricks Literary Society presenting an impromptu speech on "The Influence of Music in Adelaide," (1) He went on to become an active member of that society through 1916 and 17. He was a leading member of the choir of St Laurence's Catholic Church at North Adelaide. It is likely that it was through these circles that he met Kathleen Hourigan whose father Frank was also in the choir. Edward and Kathleen married in 1917 but ill health beset him in his early 40s and he died in 1934.

1934 'Family Notices', The Advertiser (Adelaide, SA : 1931 - 1954), 24 January, p. 14. ,
 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article36472773

He and his wife Kathleen had borne three children and it was their young son David who took on the burden of trying to provide for the family with a job as an apprentice at General Motors Holden.

One year later tragedy struck

1935 'TWO DEAD IN KIRKCALDY CROSSING SMASH',
The Advertiser (Adelaide, SA : 1931 - 1954), 27 February, p. 19. ,
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article37269719

TWO DEAD IN KIRKCALDY CROSSING SMASH
Third Victim In Hospital
CAR CRUSHED BY ENGINE
Frantic Warning Too Late
Two persons, a man and a youth, were fatally injured, and a woman seriously injured, in a shocking level-crossing smash at Kirkcaldy at 5.45 p.m. yesterday.
The victims were:— DEAD David John Payne. 15. apprentice, only son of Mrs. Kathleen Payne, widow, of Hughes street. Woodville; John Arthur Kearns. 32. saw doctor, of Coombe road. Allenby Gardens. INJURED Mrs. Christina Doreen Keams. 31. fractured skull, gashed leg. and shock, in hospital, condition serious. Although the crossing gong was ringing, and the locomotive bell and whistle were sounded, Kearns, who was driving the car along Kirkcaldy road towards the beach, apparently was not aware of the approach of the train until the car was only about 15 feet from the line. He was then warned by the frantic waving of a cyclist, Harold Rogers, bowling green employe, of Surrey street, Kirkcaldy. and was seen to make a desperate effort to swing the car clear of the line.  

Manoeuvre Too Late 
The manoeuvre was too late, however, and the buffer of the locomotive (which was travelling bunker first) struck the bonnet of the car. The car was then caught against the step of the engine and carried 40 yards before it was jammed into an almost unrecognisable mass against the Kirkcaldy station platform. After the car had been squeezed between the train and the platform for 10 yards, the train came to a stop. The victims were found lying close together clear of the line on the left side of the first carriage. Mrs. Keams. who was conscious when picked up, was thrown under the platform about two yards from the line.
Payne, who was killed instantly, and Kearns, who died three hours later, were lying just clear of the train wheels, between the line and the platform. Wire-netting on the opposite side of the platform had to be torn away to enable the station agent (Mr. K. O'Brien) and Messrs. H. Rogers and C. Smith, of Seaview road. Kirkcaldy. to carry Mrs. Kearns from under the platform. She was able to give the names of the victims, and to say—"We did not notice the train coming." She and her husband, who was semi-conscious, were lifted on to the platform. and after treatment by Dr. Peters, of Grange, were hurried in a railways ambulance to the Adelaide Hospital Kearns died at 9 p.m. of injuries to the head and chest. Payne's body was taken from Kirkcaldy to the City Morgue.
Mrs. Payne, whose husband died only about 12 months ago, was notified by the Woodville police of her son's death. Kearns was formerly a prominent footballer, playing in the league for West Adelaide for some years. More recently, he played for Underdale. Kearns and Payne were employed by General Motors-Holdens.  

Waved A Warning 

"When the driver of the car saw me waving, I saw him pull desperately at the wheel trying to turn the car clear," said Mr. Rogers. "Only another few yards would have enabled him to do so. The step of the engine seemed to act as a claw, holding the bent car for about 40 yards until it was crushed against the platform. It seemed to me that the brakes of the train were applied about the same time as, or just before. the impact. Their screeching and the grinding against the platform could be heard half a. mile away." Mr. Rogers said that he was cycling along Kirkcaldy road, towards the beach, with his two-year-old daughter on the front of the bicycle, and his son, Howard, aged four, on the rear carrier.
 "About 50 yards before I reached the crossing, I heard the gong sounding,"' he added. "Near the line I saw the train approaching some hundred yards or so away. I turned across the road and stopped with my back to the crossing, about five yards from the line. It was then that first I noticed the approach of the car. It did not occur to me at first that it was not going to stop."
Rupert Victor Byrne, with Robert George Lane as fireman, was driving the train of six carriages from the city; it was due at Kirkcaldy at 5.46 p.m.. Constables Chilman and Tilka, of Henley Beach, took charge immediately after the crash. Bystanders assisted in gathering up the fragments of the car, which were stacked at the side of the line.

The coroner decided there was no need for an inquest, but the head of the Safety Council recommended that gates or wig-wag signals be installed on the crossing to prevent further accidents.
David was buried alongside his father just 13 months after his father's death.

Kindness

How sad for this family but kith and kin gathered to help.

1935 'Concert to Aid Bereaved Family',
News (Adelaide, SA : 1923 - 1954), 1 April, p. 3. ,
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article128823795

One hopes the concert brought some comfort to the stricken family along with much needed funds.
Kathleen Payne, wife of Ted and mother of Imelda, David and Grace died in 1974.

1.1915 'LITERARY SOCIETIES.', Southern Cross (Adelaide, SA : 1889 - 1954), 25 June, p. 7. , viewed 13 Apr 2020, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article166426298

This post first appeared on earlieryears.blogspot.com by CRGalvin