How lucky can you be, eh? Is it serendipity or maybe another force at work here? … No worries, all I know is that today it came to me to log onto E-Bay and go on a search in “books, magazines” with a focus on South Australia… then up it popped.
“The Story of Bungaree Station by Rob Linn.
Paperback book published by Bungaree Station 2011, unpaginated with black and white photographs as well as some black and white illustrations, colour photographs and colour illustrations.”
I simply clicked, clicked and clicked again and this book will soon be winging its way to me… “quicker than you can say Jack Robinson”.
Why am I so happy?… glad you asked. 😆
My Susan arrived from Ireland, aged 18, and was employed from the Clare Depot by a Mr Bryden at 5/- a week. Eight months later, on 15 Jan 1856, Susan married Edward Nicholls and they had three daughters; Catherine Ann, Mary Anne and Margaret Nicholls.
Four years later, when Susan and Edward’s youngest babe Margaret was just 10 weeks old, her daddy died of pneumonia, at the age of 26, and was buried at his workplace… Bungaree Station. I’ve had trouble locating records of Edward’s burial place and especially an understanding of his working life. Hopefully this book will take me a step closer with the understanding. The blurb reads:
“Bungaree Station, 140 kilometres north of Adelaide, South Australia, is a unique cultural tourism destination. Within its buildings, site, artefacts, memorabilia and historic documents lies the story of rural Australia over the last 170 years. There are few other centres of Australia’s wool-growing history that have so meticulously retained the historic documentation behind the settlement, management and progress of operations.
Bungaree Homestead 1863
The story of Bungaree Station is full of fascination. The story began on Christmas Day 1841, when the brothers George, Charles and James Hawker, Sons of an Admiral in the British Navy, came upon and settled at the place that became Bungaree Station. From that point on, the fortunes of the Hawker family mirrored the history of South Australia. The records they kept, in word and picture, reveal the story of pastoral occupation and the European settlement of the land. Bungaree was a rare gem at the height of the pastoral era and it is this fact that makes the buildings and their interpretation so significant for visitors, cultural tourists and the study of Australia’s history.
Source: Wikipedia
For generations the Hawker family have kept alive the core of Bungaree Station’s heritage. Central to their thoughts was the preservation and use of the buildings that are at the heart of Bungaree Station’s life.”
So, colour me happy and you can be sure that I’ll be sharing any info which may arise as a result of this exciting discovery 😯
~~~~~~~~~
Copyright © 2014. Catherine Ann Crout-Habel
A great find & addition to your family history. Well done!
Thanks Julie… This sure is a very exciting moment and I feel truly blessed that this info has come to me just when I needed a “lift up” in what sometimes seems like an impossible task.
Yes, it is the little things that sometimes fill the biggest gaps!
always good to have a find like that Catherine. we stayed at Bungaree once years ago…it was lovely.
Indeed it is a wonderful find Pauleen … Despite visiting Clare, and the surrounding districts, for many years to access info not available on-line, to talk with people and walk the streets of my Ancestors I have never yet visited Bungaree Station. About time I did, eh? … 😉
How exciting. Is it a place that you may be able to visit one day?
Oh yes… now you have got me thinking. Not all that far “down the track”, but health issues make it a bit tricky. However, if I put it “out there” to my beautiful children, as a Mother’s Day pressie, then I reckon it will happen 😆 Thanks for the idea!!!
Once you have read the book, you may have more wonderful hints to drop in the direction of your children 🙂
You betcha!!! Lucky me to have children who appreciate/ love the work I do re: our family history and also their spouses. I am indeed “a lucky duck”. Thanks for the encouragement…
That’s brilliant news. It always feels good to make a breakthrough on a family tree. This could be a really exciting one for you.
xxx Huge Hugs xxx
Thanks heaps David… yep, the last six months, or so, have been particularly difficult when my “mojo” flew away to heavens know where and it seemed that my heart had been ripped from me. However things do seem to be turning around. Thank you so much for always being there with your fun blog and words of caring. Heaps of hugs and xxx always.
Wow, what a wonderful find! It sounds like the book has information that will fill in some of the missing pieces of your family history puzzle. It’s amazing what can be found on Ebay.
Ohhh… Absolutely right Sheryl!!! I LOVE EBay 🙄 and have to be very strong with myself 😉 …
Figners crossed for you!
Thanks Rose… I have every single part of me crossed and double crossed 😆 With a bit of luck the book will give some useful leads…
Terrific find- well done!
Thanks Angela, sure is and I’m so looking forward to it arriving. Got the EBay message to say it’s posted and on it’s way 🙂 …
Now that is a very exciting find for you! Imagine what you might just learn? 🙂
It’s just arrived Joanne… and with just a very quick look through I already know that Bungaree Station encouraged married men and provided living quarters for their families. Is probably why Edward was buried at Bungaree and not in the nearest town where I imagined his family were living. Colour me happy… 🙂
Hi Catherine, thanks for your interesting blog posts and for sharing your family story. I’m researching my daughter’s tree on her father’s side. He’s descended from Edward Nicholls and Susan Kelleher through their daughter Margaret. There’s been suggestion that the family is Aboriginal. Obviously Susan is from Ireland but I can’t find any evidence of where Edward was born (except an approximate birth year of 1834 from his death index record). Would you happen to have any info on this? I realise you may not as he’s not your direct ancestor, but fingers crossed! Also, does the book The Story of Bungaree Station by Rob Linn contain much about the family? I’m trying to track down a copy to purchase. With many thanks and I hope you still monitor this page, Jacqueline.
Hello Jacqueline, I am Kirrily, Catherine’s daughter. Um died in 2014, and so it is me who is monitoring the site now and posting every now and again to keep the Blog alive in honour of my Mum.
I’ve just checked Mum’s extensive tree and it doesn’t have a location for Dewards, birth, but it shows him in England when he was 7 in the 1841 census with his four siblings, mother and grandmother.
I haven’t read the whole book, but in the flick through I did, I didn’t find anything about the family.
Eliza Jane, Margaret’s Sister was my great great grandmother.
Hope that helps.
Regards,
Kirrily