William Burton Mitchell and Margaret
Hawton
Parents
: Thomas
Mitchell Margaret (Peggy) Burton
Francis (Frank) Hawton and Jane
Dingle
William Burton Mitchell (b 1825 Tregorrick St Austel Cornwall , m
Margaret Hawton 1846 Stoke Climsland Cornwall, d 1913 Ascot Vale,
Vic)
Margaret Hawton (b 1828 Stoke Climsland, 1922 Essendon Vic)
Jane Hawton Mitchell (b 1847
Stoke Climsland, d 1862 Osborns Flat Vic)
William
Mitchell (b 1850 Stoke Climsland Cornwall, m Ellen Adelaide Cubit 1880 Sandridge
Melb, d 1889 Bethanga, Vic )
Ernest Harold Mitchell
(b 1887 Whiteford, m Liela Muriel Roach
1914 Kew, d 1960 Wodonga)
Selina Mitchell (b abt 1852
Stoke Climsland, m Matthais Oats 1877, d 1940)
Braddon (Brad) Mitchell (b
1854 Stoke Climsland, m Annie Parnaby 1896, d 1918 Sunbury
Vic)
Margaret Ann (Dinah) Mitchell
(b 1858, m Arthur Welshman, d 1944 in
Victoria)
Fred Mitchell (b 1863 Osbornes
Flat, m Lottie Barnes, d 1944 in Victoria)
Clara Jane (Minnie) Mitchell
(b 1865 Osbornes Flat, m Jack Flenjte, 1954
Essendon)
This page now
consists of three distinct parts
The standard tree and links above.
A writeup of the William Burton Mitchell
story as I see it.
A collection of correspondence and research
notes that provides discussion and evidence for the preceeding
story.
The first thing that strikes you on reading the
pages for the two William Mitchells, is that these guys enjoyed
themselves. Travelling widely round NE Victoria, and further,
prospecting for gold and finding it and literally building
prosperous farming properties. But it must have been very hard
work. Brad mentions 644 tons of dirt processed from the Welcome
mine in a year. And later William B took a contract to raise 100
tons quartz at the Bon Accord mine, starting July and finished in
Nov 72. I suspect they did the work themselves, or Brad's
bookkeeping would have recorded the cost of wages. Can do people -
if you need a school or church in the community, organise a
committee and build it. If you need another house - build it
yourself.
I suspect the women enjoyed the northeast less.
Margaret (nee Hawton) seems to have had long term ill health. She
must have missed Cornwall and her family support, particularly in
those long periods in summer when the temperature reached 35
centigrade day after day. And Ellen must have felt much the same
growing up in Tasmania, and then living in the city from her late
teens. The isolation on the farm in the Mitta valley must have
been a shock. And Leila grew up in suburban Melbourne - again
country life must have been a shock,
There is a whole lot of stuff about
Hillsborough on the Australian
Locations page (follow the links). This includes an account
of the school committee (which included William Burton Mitchell)
trying unsuccessfully to remove the school teacher Emma Anderson.
Arthur Welshman - William B's future son in law was an applicant
for the position.
Maybe there is enough material here to get a
feel for some of the characters - William senior brought his
family to the other sude of the world, not because of poverty, but
because he saw opportunity. His brother James was more cautious,
as I suspect I would have been. William junior who cemented the
family fortunes with a serious gold find. Who wrote poetry because
he was missing home on their horseback ride to Queensland. Who was
meticulous in recording his desparate attempts to control his
diabetes. Churchgoers and temperance advocates all.
One interesting character is the brother Fred.
We know little of him, because there are no surviving descendants.
But he was the person Wlilliam turned to for executor, for what he
knew would be a long and difficult job. And what do we make of
Brad? The contrast in diaries with his brother's is interesting,
as is Alma Dillon's strory of the falling out with his father.
With that preamble I should tell the story as
we know it. The Mitchells were tin miners in Cornwall. They
moved across Cornwall presumably as each nine was worked out,
living in St Agnes, St Austell and Stoke Climsland. The mines
were underground mines so they had knowledge that could have
proved useful in Victoria. In 1850 William and his brother James
arrive in Victoria to assess prospects. The official discovery
of gold was 1850, but there would have been rumours. Anyway the
Mitcheel informatom was pretty good. They returned to England in
1851. William had married in 1846 and they already had two
children. James married on his return.
In 1858 William returns to
Victoria. James stayed in England and prospered. One would like to
have sat in on the discussions as they weighed up the merits of
moving families to the other side of the world. In 1863 William is
listed as a butcher in Yackandandah and in 1868 William is in the
Victorian Directory as a farmer at Osbornes Flat (near
Yackandandah). William and margaret retired to Melbourne and lived
to a ripe old age . William reached 88 and Margaret 94.
Detailed
correspondence, discussion and research notes follow the above
statement of the story as I see it.
Les Rowley
Chronology
1825 William Mitchell born
Tregorrick St Austel Cornwall
1828 Margaret Hawton born Stoke Climsland
Cornwall
1846? William and
Margaret marry in Tregorrick (?)
1850 William Mitchell and brother
James arrived in Victoria on the
Samuel Boddington (22 Apr) We
have not yet found their return to England
1851 James in in England for the
census in April, living with his parents
1851 James marries in Stoke
Climsland, aged 22, on 24 Jul
1851 Aug
is about the latest date for
Selina's conception, if her age of 9 in the 1861 census is
correct, ie Wliiiam was in Stoke Climsland by mid 1851
So James and probably William had left Australia for England
by January 1851
1858 William Mitchell
arrived on
the Morning Light.
1861 James is a draper and grocer
in Stoke Climsland in the census
1861 Prince of
Wales arrived December with rest of family. James
stayed in England and prospered. One would like to have sat in on
the discussions as they weighed up the merits of moving families
to the other side of the world.
1863 William is listed as a butcher when Fred
baptised Yackandandah,
1868 William is in the Victorian Directory as a
farmer at Osbornes Flat
1913 William dies in Melbourne
1928 Margaret dies in Melbourne
Chronology
Update based on input from Hawton Clarnette and Fred Mitchell
Where does this leave us?
Alma Dillon says that William and James
came to Australia in the early 1850s, found gold at Ballarat,
then returned to England. This tallies with the chronology
above, except for a timing discrepancy, understandable 120
years later. But gold was not officially discovered in
Australia till 1851. However gold was being found earlier than
that. See the website
~ Gold ~ . (Go to Early Gold Discoveries) The Early
Discoveries section starts with the quote
"Put it away Mr Clarke, or we
shall all have our throats cut". - Sir George Phillips, 1844
after Reverend WB Clarke presented his gold discovery.
So perhaps
they did find gold as Alma says, kept it very quiet, and
headed back immediately to England. They were able to
set up nicely in business, William as a butcher, James as a
grocer.
But all this raises further questions
(1) What prompted them to make the journey
to Australia? Particularly William who was married with two
young children.
(2) How come they were so lucky as to
find substantial gold so quickly (if they did)?
(3) What prompted William to uproot his
family ten years later and come back to Australia?
Update after responses from Di Gibbs, Stoke Climsland OPC
(1) William Mitchell was baptised 14 Oct 1849. As his father
arrives in Melbourne 22 April 1850, he could not have
stayed long with his new (2nd) child.
(2) On the baptisms of Jane, William and Brad, the parents
abode is referred to as Village, Tailors Shop, and
Stoke. In each case William's profession is given as miner.
This is news, as on the ship out he said "agricultural
labourer". But it does add some credibility to the
theory they found gold. (Di Gibbs : Thes bapts were Church of
England)
Di comments that the missing baptisms could
be accounted for by William B's family being
non-conformist. Certainly William's son was a staunch
Methodist later in Australia. There was a William Mitchell on
the committee that was formed to build the Wesleyan church in
Bethanga in 1878, but while it is likely on age grounds (53 vs
28) to have been William senior, it is hard to tell from the
minutes. And Di's baptism list has Jane and William being
baptised by Rector and Curate respectively, which sounds like
C of E?
Di Gibbs :Occupations of emigrants often
reflected the needs of the new country, ie they probably had
more need of agricultural labourers than miners, at that time.
I am intending to
have another look at the parish church baptisms for MITCHELL
in Stoke Climsland as I may have missed Selina. There seems to
be a nice little gap for her bap between William and Braddon.
Update Post Visit to Stoke Climsland
April 2008
We had a very
productive day with Caroline Vulliamy in the Stoke Climsland
Archives. She found lots of material for us. We spent a couple
of hours studying the Mitchells in the 1844 Tithe records and
the 1841 census. They probably worked at the Winsor copper
mine, one of the earliest in the area. It was first from
the road towards Kit Hill .Most of the product of that visit
is on a special page - Link to it.
Tregorrick
William Burton Mitchell was born in
Tregorrick in 1825. We visited the small village in April
2008. We had the good fortune to meet Michael Flemen, who
lives in what was Tregorrick Farm. Michael identified the
various original buildings for us. I suspect the farm was all
that there was in 1825 - the rest of the small village looked
more modern. Some research on census records could clear this
up. The farm has now been converted to about four very
attractive homes. Tregorrick is 18 miles east of St Agnes
where William's father was born, and 25 miles SW of Stoke
Climsland wher The family was living in 1841.
|
|
William
Burton Mitchell
|
Margaret
Hawton
|
Notes Supplied by Fred Mitchell
It is believed the original of this is a Daguerreotype of
William Burton Mitchell taken some time in the 1850's. For a
better image (500KB), click here.
In 1850 the Samuel Boddington
arrived in Melbourne with brothers William Mitchell and J.
Mitchell on board. They went to the goldfields (which one is not
known) and found gold. The date of this is not known nor is the
date both returned to England, but the time elapsed could not be
great as the Mitchell's next child was Selina (b about 1852).
The family sailed on the Prince
of Wales in September 1861 and arrived in December. Fred
has produced a map of the ship's voyage from England. It is
interesting to see how they went right acros to Africa, and how
far south they went. See
the map
Comments from Hawton Clarnette (Descendant
of Brad)
Hawton has produced an extensive history of
Brad's family - I have edited it to remove information covered
elsewhere in these pages. Also information about living or
recently living people has been removed . Link
to edited document. The following extraxts are of more
general family interest
"Len and Ern worked
Climsland for some time. Brad and family moved to Sunbury
1917, and Hannah was left with the property when he died Brad
named the house Bailabbe (in Wodonga) after the place
where their two sons died in WWI (Baileau and Abbeville)
Location of
the Welcome mine. It was above the Methodist church, old
location up the hill - rubbish on hill above church to the
left. (Les Rowley - om mu computer - search the
Bethanga photos directory for Welcome mine)
Selina
married Matthias Oates of Stanley (which is about 10
kms. S-E of Beechworth or 8 kms west of Hillsborough) and it
is most likely that they set up home at Stanley.
They had one son Desmond , who unfortunately died a few weeks
before his wedding day. Matthias took Selina to England
about 1913-1914 where she was able to meet all her
parents’relatives. However World War 1 broke out and they had
to catch the first ship home. They settled in Beechworth on
return, but Matthais died soon after. Selina then spent the
winter months with her brother Brad and Annie.
Dinah
(Margaret Ann) married Art Welshman of Hurdle Flat (about 5km
north of Stanley on the Beechworth road). They had two
sons Arthur and Morton, and two daughters Ilma and Miriam.
Arthur, Morton and Miriam went to the first World War. Dinah
and family eventually moved to Melbourne .
Minnie, the
youngest, married Jack Flentje and had two daughters Alma and
Rita. I can’t find the date of their marriage, but the nearest
time would be say between 1888 and 1892, i.e.24 to 28
yrs. Alma married twice , the second time to
a Mr. Dillon . She had two children , Perl and Bert.
Robert
Hawton lived with the family at Osborne Flat and
Hillsborough until Jan. 1872 when he left and went to Hill
End. Robert married on 3 May 1873 and had four children -
Robert, Emma, William, and Russell. William stayed with him on
trip Nth
Samuel
Hawton lived with the family at Osborne Flat and
Hillsborough and possibly also at the property owned by the
family on the Mitta Mitta near Bethanga. He did not
marry."
Alma Dillon's Recollections
Alma Dillon was Clara's daughter and William
Burton's grandaughter. She died about 1988. The
notes of a meeting with Jenny Mitchell in 1975 are
interesting reading. Extracts follow
.
In about early fifties, William (Burton) and his brother
James came to Australia and went mining at Ballarat. They
made money and returned to England. James then had a grocery
shop and William a Butcher shop in Stokeclimsland (border of
Cornwall and Devon). After two or three years William
returned to Australia alone and went to Osmonds/Butchers
Flat (Yackandandah). His wife and children plus two of her
brothers - Sam and Bob - followed. They sailed from Plymouth
Sound on 11 September 1861
William met them at Port Melbourne and with two drays they
walked to Osmonds Flat. Selina's assessment was Grandmother
drove, i.e.., we walked. (Grandmother was Margaret; Selina
was talking to Alma, Margaret's grand-daughter). The house
at Osmonds Flat had a dirt floor with bags on it.. William
had a butcher's shop for 8 or 9 years — the mines were no
longer working at Osmonds Flat. Jane died the year the
family came out, aged 15. She was buried in Yackandandah
Cemetery. William (son) used to tend her grave till he died.
One day he found some red roses growing by it. He took
cuttings which were planted at Climsland. The plant finally
died a few years ago in Essendon (Home of Minnie and Jack
Flentji).
From Osmonds Flat the Mitchells moved to Hillsborough where
the mines were operative. William built a house (in those
days people shifted with mining booms). Bethanga had opened
up between c1868 to early 1870s (Minnie was only a little
girl). William built a hut in Bethanga and the men used to
camp up there and work. Sometimes Margaret would stop up
there and do the cooking. William (son) found a mine that
they called "Welcome," which was situated at the top of the
hill near the old Methodist Church. The mine was said to
have more copper than gold in it. William (son) was
interested in buying land and in 1879 he and Brad rode on
horseback as far north as Queensland, checking out the
country (see diaries). On the trip they stayed with Bob
Hawton (Margaret's brother) who had gone mining at Hill End
- top of New South Wales. But in 1879, after his return,
William's diary revealed interest in land outside of
Bethanga.
To finance the landbuying, the mine "Welcome" was sold.
William (son) got half the money and his father William and
brother Brad who also had shares in it each got one quarter
of the money. .... The land taken on by William (father) and
Brad was called Woodlands. This was later changed to
Climsland by Brad's wife. Brad later bought William's share
in the Woodlands property.
On Selina's wedding day [1877] she was sitting on the front
verandah at Hillsborough. It was pouring rain. Minnie said
"You going to get ready?". "Thinking about it"' she did. The
man she wanted had "married his cousin at the end of a
shotgun." William (son) used to take the collection. He got
really sick of threepences and he wouldn't put them in the
church funds but took them home and locked them up. When
Selina got married William told Art I've got five
pounds worth of threepences. You can have them to pay the
minister if you want to? So he did. William gave
Minnie three pounds worth of threepences to buy herself a
locket; she bought a nice pearl one.
William
and Fred met Ellen and sister Alice at the Victoria in Melbourne
(This must be Ellis?, but she was 14 when Ellen married?) Fred was engaged to Alice, but she
returned his ring and went to Sydney. Fred went to Eldorado
outside Bright..
Art
Welshman taught at Rutherglen <1910, West Wodonga,
headmaster G??? school, Dederang 1888 teaching there when
married. ie mostly primary. Longfellow book - presented to
him by school kids
Grandfather
lovely old chap
Arsenic in
mines used to kill horses and cattle
Margaret Hawton in her old age couldn't stand music - "didn't
want anybody to enjoy themselves". She said it made her head
bad. A fella who had a bike came to pick up Alma's sister and
he started playing the piano while he waited to take her back
to his folks place. Grandma came down and said to him "go home
and bang your own hurdy-gurdy and don't bang on ours."
Selina had money and "things" all better
than anyone else. She had a silver teapot which she put on the
sideboard, and she said to Alma's mother "Now you can use this
when you get some visitors" One day it was gone and Minnie
said "Where is it?" Selina answered "I've given it to
Lottie. They have lots of visitors down there". Alma bought
her Mum a silver teapot, so Selina went down to Lottie's to
get hers. But they said she'd given it to them and the
wouldn't give it back. (Selina was very put out). Poor Auntie, never happy, jealous
of everybody.
Selina kept her stuff in an iron safe in her room. he made a
lot of fuss about her will and was always going to "cross
people off" - "Your not going to get anything". In 1914 Selina
and Matt went on a trip to England. War broke out and coming
home they were chased by the Emden. Tthey were off course and
ran into a terriffic storm.
Selina always
lived at Hurdle Flat (just near Stanley - other side of lake).
When Des died bought house in Beechworth and lived there
Oates - mine manager +owned mine
in finished. Just left +closed down before died.
1926 Selina came to Melb,
married guy in Croxford, lived there 2nd Husband died
Desmond making preparations for
wedding, felt crook, went to Drs + died while getting ready to
examine
Fred and Lottie lived in Bright
Brad Father and Brad bought Woodlands. Parents +
Brad still at Woodlands. twins born and Annie did not like living
with inlaws, so Brad found claypot made bricks - straw and clay,
made a kiln. built v nice brick house next door. Annie (nee
Parnaby) changed name to Climsland. Brad and Grandfathewr bought
some other land, old man Cole said hey Bill you know of the land
in Brad's name. Big row also Annie always selling cattle.
Grandfather said "Whose?". Brad said her father gave her a cow.
Grandf - all those cattle out off one cow . (5 calves a
year! Told Brad he'd been cheating him (granf) for years. Brad
gave Grandfather £3,000 for his share in farm (lot of money
but Brad got thousands).
Minnie 33 and Jack Flentje (writing unclear) 22 both sang in
church choir, + he took her home. girls after him because good
looking and a singer. He was a shift boss in the Bethanga mines.
Grandfather gave mother (Minnie) money to pay deposit on
house (Ascot Vale) then he got money on fixed deposit + she
paid house off. Grandfather died there, buried in Footscray, also
Grandma
1902 they built the house in Bethanga - last one in street down to
Mitchell's paddock, street near mine (Alma 4 yrs)
Brad Mitchell's Diary
Hawton Clarnette kindly provided a typed
version of Brad Mitchell's diary, which he has in his possession.
Extracts follow
At the start of the Diary the family were
living at Hillsborough which was a small village about 10 km.south
of Beechworth
1871 . 7 Jan. William (brother) went to Eldorado (gold mine
west of Beechworth) and got work on 17 Jan. came home to
Hillsborough on 1 May
1872 .Robt. Hawton left for Hill End ( today a suburb in south
Brisbane) on 15 Jan. 1872. He got married 3rd April 1873.
22 July William and Sam ( Samuel Hawton)
went to Running Creek to work.
Started for the rush ( gold or tin rush ) at Koetong on Sept 16,
‘72.
10 July William Burton Mitchell took a
contract to raise 100 tons quartz at the Bon Accord mine ( near
Hillsborough) at 6s8d per ton.
finished on Nov 6, 72. 154 tons. made wages.
11 Oct William applied applied for 30 acre
Tin lease at Dinna Creek, Koetong.
20 Nov Father and I reached Koetong .
19 August 1873 Father and I went to work at
Hawke’s View , driving 10 feet at £3:5:-
Cure for drunkards; Sulphate of Iron 5 grains;
Magnesia 10grains; Peppermint 11drachms; spirit of Nutmeg
1drachm; twice a day.
Claim registered at Bethanga for four men on
13th March 1876 by William Mitchell. (This was on the North Gift
Line. The four men were William Mitchell, his father William
Burton Mitchell, his brother Braddon, and the fourth could have
been either Sam Hawton or the youngest brother Fred, who
would have been 14 at that time)
Obtained 644 tons of dirt; which yeilded
923ounces13dwt5grains of gold worth £2860:6:1
Sold the claim on 1st March 1878 to Harris and
Hollow for £3000
1 April 1878 William and I left Bethanga for
Gippsland; reached Drouin on10th, Brandy on 11th, Little Moe 12th
at noon. Started for the Sarwick on 17th, pegged out 3 blocks on
the 18th.
Arrived at Little Moe second time
on 25 April, got back to Bethanga 4th May.
9 Jan 1879 Left Bethanga for good. 18
Jan. Went to
Melbourne, sailed for Sydney in the Cheviot on 21 Jan. Arrived
Sydney on Friday 24Jan. and put up at James Temperance Hotel in
Kent st.
10 Dec. 1879 Will Father and I went to Bethanga to examine
Finlay’s land. 11Dec.---went all over the land and
formed a bad opinion of some of it.
12Dec.---went to the Sale. William bought Section I containing 324
acres at £4:12:6 per acre. We bought Section B containing 412
acres , between at £4:12:6 per acre. I bought 200 acres, Will 90
and Father 128 acres. 13Dec.---I pegged
out about 60 acres of river frontage, being the frontage of
Section B, at 10.54am; and applied for it at Beechworth under the
19th Section of the Lands Act 1869, on Mon. 15th Dec
1879. 17Dec.---pegged out 20acres at
1.40pm, and applied for it under the 49th Section on
19Dec. Called on
Fred Brown, the lawyer, on Mon.15 Dec. and instructed him to
ascertain the correctness of Title of the land that we bought.
19 Dec. Father and Will bought 134 head of cattle at
Palmerston. Will bought a filly by young barbarian for £5, 36
bullocks at £2:17:0, 78 steers at £1:19:0, and 20 cows at£1:15:0;
total £294:14:0. Discount taken off for cash £7:7:0, net cost
£282:9:6. Lost two of the cattle on the road coming
home. 22Dec----took the cattle to
Bethanga, made the trip from paddock to paddock in 12.5 hours.
14 May 1880 at Tallangatta land board, my application for 60
acres in Parish of Berringa, which had been recomended on 2 April,
was refused, and recomended to be put up at auction at an upset
price of £3:0:0 per acre. Will got his long toe in front of
the pre-emptive recomended; McNick objecting to both; I
appealed.
15 June 1880, Tue. Went to Melbourne.
16June---attended at the Boardroom at the Land’s Office; Duffy
presided. When my case was called on he looked at the map for a
while and then said he would postpone the matter for a report from
Skeane the Surveyor General; he would not hear what I had to say;
said if I was not satisfied he would decide it at once and give
against me; Finlay did not appear; came home on 17th.
13 Feb. 1882. Went to a bush fire up Spring creek, took all
the week to put it out.
6 Jan. 1886 went to Bethanga , lent Will £400
24July----home again, been away about 21 weeks, cost about £23
--Josephson’s Australian ointment for
inward piles--
---To cure Queensland Fever, get a lot of
cobwebs from a dwelling or old house (those from the bush will not
do being poisonous), roll them up in the hand in a roll ball
(hard) like a marble, then cut the ball in four pieces, put them
in a cup of warm tea or water and drink the lot; after the emetic
has worked take a dose of opening medicen.
2 August 1887 Went to Bethanga to help put in
fruit trees. 9Sept------bought 40 head of store
bullocks in Wodonga from Gibson at £6/10/- a head.
12 Oct. Mother and Min(sister Minnie)
shifted to the Paddock to live( that from their long time home in
Hillsborough).
28 Nov.1890 Went to Dart River,registered 2 Claims 19Dec;
came back 22Dec.
18 Jan.1891 went back to
Dart. Crushed 5.5
tons quartz for 20oz18dwt of gold (16Feb.’91)
15 June 1896 Took first samples of water from Bethanga
Creek.
Mr.c.R.Blakett.
F.G.S.
Laboratory, 360 Swanston St. Melbourne
Report on analysis of a sample water
submitted by Mr C. Ellen The results obtained were as follows--
Reaction----alkaline.
Total solid residue , in grains per
gallon at 110C ---------165.10
Appearence after
settling------------clear
Loss on ignition water of
crystallization-------27.10
Fixed
constituents------------138.00 , consisting of Silica,
Alumina, Calcium Carbonate 10.5;
Calcium Sulphate 55.08,
Magnesium 15.10, Sodium
Chloride 20.76, Sulphate of
Sodium 36.56.
This water contains too much Sulphate of Lime
to be fit for either human or animal consumption. I would
advise its discontinuance.
C.R.Blakett.
F.G.S.
Fee £2/2/-.
1 Sept 1897 Brought Annie and the boys home. (This is the
first and only time that Brad mentions his wife or family. In 1896
Brad visited the Parnaby family in Wodonga and met Hannah
ElizabethParnaby, who he subsequently married and brought to his
propertyon the Mitta Mitta. Their first children were twin boys,
namd Matthew and Hawton)
14 March 1907 Wilson surveyed frontage pegs.
This is the last entry in the Diary of a chronological
nature. Below are shown other entries which
pertain to various costs and income which Braddon recorded, and
these show that he was a very good record keeper, probably more so
than his Father or brother.
The following information sets out the costs and income from
working the Paddock, as Braddon refers to it throughout
theDiary. The Paddock was the land that William B., William, and
Braddon bought from Finlay in Dec.1879 about a year after they had
sold their gold mine in Bethanga.
Date
Paid
Received
B
Mitchell
W.B.Mitchell W
Mitchell
23July1881
371.1.10
518.19.1
70.12.6
45.4.0
31.15.6
19July 1882
352.19.3
793.10.0
191.5.0
122.8.0
86.1.0
..............
30Sept 1889
186.12.4
664.18.11
228.17.0
146.9.10
102.19.9
.......
7Oct 1897
138.12.10
393.14.10
180.11.
0
74.11. 0
_________________________________________________________
Totals
3860.14.11 9061. 9.
7
3023.12.
1
1541. 1. 6
1n 1887 I received about £70/ rent from Father and Will.
For 18 years the Paddock has paid me £171:17:0 per year; plus the
rent from Father and Will.
Father has made £85:12:0 per year.
......
16Aug 1901 345. 6.
5 555.19.
6
149. 1.
9
61.11. 4
Will died in July 1889, hence the cessation of distributions in
his name after Nov of that year.
Braddon also entered some costs in his diary of building a
separate dwelling on their land in preparation for his marriage in
1896. It is interesting to read of the various items that he
needed and I have shown these below.
Railway freight
11.4.8; Murray pine J Bulmer 1.8.6;
Foy and Gibson-wallpaper 2.6.2 white
lead
6/6 Railway
freight,bedstead ,washstand , chest, bedding and linoleum
1.10.3; freight -lime and tar
12/10; staying town 1.9.0; railways
fares 1.12.0; Richards and Co.-drapery
3.0.11; Mates-lime and tar 5.17.0;
Ackman-furniture 26.12.5; Cobb and Co-
ironmongery 18.18.9; ditto 8.1.3;
advertising for bricks 3/-; freight for
ironmongery,Cobb and Co 4.2.2; Ackman-perambulator and
sundries 2.9.6; Wolf-making bricks--36.7.9;
coloured glass 5/3; iron for arches 6/6;
ironmongery, sundries 11/0; Stone-pine timber
4.2.4; Turnbull-pine timber 21.17.8;
Foy and Gibson-bedstead and other furniture
13.7.6; Nisbet-sawn timber 15.3.0;
freight-Bulmers pine 3/2; Stratton-chopping wood
2.5.0; White-bricklaying 5.8.0; Darmody-carpenter
3.10.0; P.O.Callaghan 3.0.0; Armstrong-pine
cupboard 17/10; sewing machine 2.0.0;
stove 3.0.0; chest o
Two of Brad's sons died in WWI.
Notes by Jenny Mitchell
Welcome MineRoyal Comission, Peter Wright's
Evidence. Says 3 years earlier the Mitchells had applied and been
rejected because it was a red gum reserve. Not mining before 1876
Ovens and Murray times: 13/3/77 - Principle mines are New Years
Gift,, Excelsior and Mitchells and the welcome
Mitchells getting up to two ounces a ton - very high yeild
Written somewhere Welcome 29 June 1876
Venterden was the family home of Margaret
Hawton and had been in the family for many generations. I saw it
when I visited StokeClimsland village. Venterdon was also the name
of the hamlet in which the house is located. These days it is part
of StokeClimsland but i think in the days of margaret hawton it
was probably almost like a kind of manor/farm holding. I met
the guy who owned it in about 1999, He was very
friendly and had recently done renovations but the building
itself was quite old ie. like a couple of hundred years
anyway.
While at Stoke Climsland I also saw the school
which William jnr attended. It is now run by the local
historical society but wasn't open the day I was there. goddamit.
I'm sure there would be stuff about Hawtons and Mitchells there.
Interestingly William Burton's parents were buried in the SC
graveyard. Yet William was seemingly married at Tregorrick, which
we also visited. It is close to an old tin mine which has a very
big mullock heap. Seeing how young William and Margaret were when
they married I wondered whether they had made themselves scarce
for a while before Jane was born, with Margaret returning to her
family home while William went out to Australia. Must have been
quite big things to deal with.
Recollections from Muriel Clarnette (about
1975)
William B started butchers shop in ...... near
Stoke Climsland. James -> grocery
Margaret Hawton suffered from headaches. She used to put acetic
acid oh her head - her room stank of it - and on walks with MC
she would stop and put her head under the tap
Selina - when
MC remembers her - had lovely wispy grey hair. she used to put a
circular pad on her head; then put her own hair over it; then
put a toupe over that; then pin a transformation - lots of
little rolls on top. One day MC went with Selina to Albury to
buy a hat. The shop lady said after several tries "They won't
fit". Selina said " won't have me hair to fit me hat, I'll have
my hat to fit my hair."
Recollections from Gladys Barnes
"You may not know that Grandfather took an interest in
phrenology (reading bumps on heads), and Mum had his textbook on
this, whish we, when children, used to love to get and try and
read each other's bumps". The book has been lost.
"... the
orange demonstrations he went to would be Orangemen from the
Orange Lodge. I know mum's two brothers were Orangemen. " (these
would be Parnaby boys)
Gladys had Jane Mitchell's
Bible,
"When I was
in my teens and going to Bible Class, I was very proud of my
Bible, and showed it to one of the chaps, saying it was over
seventy years old at the time. He said, looking down his nose,
and much to my chagrin, "No Bible should last more than TWO
years". Meaning of course, it wasn't used." Gladys intended to
pass it on. Perhaps Jodie now has it?
Emily Cubitt
also not listed. She married a Stratton. Jack Stratton, a son
married Margaret Wray of Tallangatta ......Mum came to NZ to
care for Jack Stratton (her cousin)'s family when Margaret
died in childbirth (Dinah). there is an older brother and sister
Aunt Selina I
feel sure married twice. M Oats firstly, and I think she was a
Whittaker when I knew her
Recollections from Norm Martin
(2004)
Wiliam Burton and son
worked on a mine at Running Creek for Martin in 3/7/1874.
Note from G.F.Craig 's Book
Brad
registered a claim at Hillsborough in 1873, and William
Burton was subscribing to the Ovens Hospital Appeal (Beechworth)
Acknowlegements:
Particularly Fred Mitchell (Ernest Mitchell's
son) and Jenny (Fred's daughter), but also Bob Mitchell
(Ernest's son), Norm Martin (Florence's daughter). and Hawton
Clarnette (Brad's descendant).
Many thanks to Caroline Vulliamy of the Stoke Climsland Archives
(held in the Old Svhool). She spent the best part of a day finding
material for us, and trying to work out where the Mitchells lived
in Venterdon from the Tithe and Census records. She also took a
group (including us) on an historical ramble of Venterdon in the
evening.
Doug Nichols has supplied material on the Hawtons.. Thanks in
particular to his wife Jan for retyping the Hawton
documents:.
The Hawton Family Tree and History
The Hawtons
of Stoke Climsland (PDF)
This material mentions Venterdon and Whiteford. This material may
have come from Tony Reese.
Public Records Office of Victoia Index to Inward
Passenger Lists Foreign Ports) 1852-1889. supplied shipping
information
Documents
Hillsbourough Area Maps
Research Notes
Osmonds
flat was known to Fred Mitchell as Osborns flat on way to
Yackandandah.
William Burton M and Margaret's grave Section 2A/377 Footsgray
general cemetery. Brad is in the Methodist section of Sunbury
Cemetery.Indexes Brad's will 164-4, 2-12-18, bur 17/3/19
probate. Hannah 195-898, 4 apr24 probate 13jun24 (Hawton
Clarnette)
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