After their marriage in 1889, Mary Ann joined Edward on the family farm at Gowar East. From then until Edward's untimely death in 1912 they had seven children two of whom, Beatrice Maud (1890-93) and John (Jack) Allen (1896-98), died young. As reported in the Melbourne Age on Sunday 29 June 1912, 'Edward Allen (45), a farmer, of Gowar East, dropped dead on Saturday afternoon at Coonooer-bridge, while watching a foolball match between, Logan and Coonooer clubs. The game was about half through when the fatality occurred. A post-mortem examination this morning by Dr Angwin showed that death was due to heart failure from chronic kidney disease. Deceased leaves a wife and five children'.
Edward was buried with his youngest daughter, Beatrice Maud Allen, in the St Arnaud Cemetery (Wesleyan Section 8, Grave 17, Marker 731B). The widowed Mary Ann and her children lived for a time on the farm which was run by their eldest son Ted Allen until Ted enlisted in the First AIF in February 1916 (see below). A report in the St Arnaud Mercury, on 2 June 1917 tells us she was involved in an accident for which she sought financial recompense from the local council:
Around the same time, Mary Ann was informed her son Ted had been wounded in France. Four months later she lost her mother Jane. Mary Ann spent the latter part of her life on Alma Street in St Arnaud (the 1928 and 1931 electoral rolls have her two youngest sons, William - who was working as a station hand - and Sydney Allen - labourer - living with her. She died on 4 July 1932 and was buried with Edward and Beatrice in the local cemetery. What of their five remaining children?
2.1) Edward (Ted) Allen. Ted - pictured on the left - was 20 years old and working on his parents' farm at Gowar East when his father died while attending a football match at nearby Coonooer Bridge. As Edward and Mary's eldest son, Ted took over the running of the farm until he enlisted in the First AIF at Melbourne on 22 February 1916. His military file in the Australian Archives shows Ted was allocated to the 2nd Reinforcements for the 58th Infantry Battalion, and proceeded overseas on the A31 AJANA on 8 July 1916. On hearing of his coming departure, the Gower East community held a hastily arranged send-off during Ted's final home leave. As reported in the St Arnard Mercury:
Proceedings commenced with a song, with chorus, "Soldiers of the King", by Miss Poole, after which the toast of "The King", proposed by the chairman, was drunk with musical honours . . . . The chairman said the principal business of the evening . . . [was] to make a small presentation to Private Allen, whom he had known from that gentleman's childhood. During these years he had grown into manhood and had on all occasions proved his sterling worth both as boy and man, he had proved himself industrious, honourable, and reliable in his dealings with the public, and, when his father had been called away with tragic suddenness a couple of years ago, he had been a true and loyal son, and had shouldered his new responsibilities most manfully, The chairman then asked Private Allen to accept a wristlet watch accompanied by boomerang mascot presented by Mr Halthide as a token of the esteem in which he was held by his neighbours, and to rest assured that with it went the most heartfelt wishes of the community for a safe, speedy and victorious return' (29 April 1916).
After arriving in France in December 1916, Ted as wounded in action at Bullecourt on 11 May 1917 while serving with the 57th Infantry Battalion. He was shipped back to England on 25 May where he spent time in the Queen Alexandra Military Hospital in London. Mary Ann
seems not to have been informed of the nature of her son's injuries until late June when she 'received word that the injuries consist of a severe gunshot wound in the right knee' (St Arnard Mercury, 27 June 1917). Eventually declared no longer fit for active service Ted was repatriated back to Australia three months later. He was discharged at Benalla in Victoria on 30 November 1917. Three weeks prior to his discharge, Ted was formally welcomed home by the citizens of Gowar East. The event took place in the local school where, as in the case of his farewell:
Proceedings commenced with the singing of "Soldiers of the King " . . .
followed by the toast of the King, proposed by the chairman, Mr R A Spence. [This was followed by a song] "There's a Lad," by Miss Poole, our former teacher, who had come all the way from Melbourne to do honor to our gallant lad . . . [and a Toast to] "Our Guest," proposed by Mr W. Mackay, who eulogised Private Allen as a son, a brother, and a good and useful citlzen in times of peace, and who when the call for soldiers to uphold the honour of the Empire came, was one of the first to volunteer . . . The chairman then, on behalf of the company, presented Private Allen with a gold locket . . . [which] carried with it an expression of our pleasure at seeing him back amongst us again, admiration for his courage, loyalty, and devotion to duty, and our good wishes for his future happiness and
prosperity. Private Allen, in responding, gave a resume of his experiences in travel, in the trenches until wounded, and in the hospitals afterwards, and impressed on his audience the fact that every man who could go was wanted at the front. He said that while he was not a particularly brave fellow himself, nor much in love with life on the battle field, he would go back again if necessary, as soon as the doctors could pass him (Applause).
. . [Following further songs, a toast was proposed to Ted's mother, Mary Ann, by a Mr J. Smith who told his audience] that few realised how bravely and cleverly the lady had managed her affairs, and looked after the interests of her family, but more especially of her soldier son during his absence (St Arnaud Mercury, 10 November 1917).
The immediate post-War electoral rolls show Ted living at Gowar East and working as a labourer. The Victorian Index of BDMs shows he married Ida May Bullock (1904-54) in 1923. The 'Perry' and a number of other family trees on Ancestry tell us Ida was born at Dunolly in Victoria, the eldest daughter of George Bullock (1875-1946) and Elizabeth Anne Watts (1881-1959) who were married there on 19 November 1903. Following a prolonged illness, Ida died at the Bendigo Base Hospital on 17 December 1954, her obituary published in the Bendigo Advertiser two days later, telling us 'She is survived by her husband and son Kevin'. Ida and Ted had three children: twin girls - Myra Hazel and Ida May Allen - who both died at birth at St Arnaud on 12 July 1923, and a son, Kevin Llewellyn Allen (born in 1925) who married Ruby Margaret Castleman (born in 1924) and had two children. In the mid-1920s Ted and Ida separated and he partnered with Evelyn Mary Bullock (1908-96), only daughter of Edward Bullock (1883-1970) and Annie Sophia Evans (1881-1974). The 'Perry Family Tree' on Ancestry tells us Ted and Evelyn had four girls: Melba Ellen Bullock (1929-31) and three others. Edward (Ted) Allen died at St Arnaud on 24 September 1963 and was buried in the St Arnaud Cemetery (Methodist, Section 13, Grave 44, Marker 825D). His
gravestone reads: '1867 Pte Edward Allen 57 Battalion First AIF 24 September 1963 Beloved husband of Evelyn Father of Kevin, Elvie, Joyce and Mavis'.
Wedding photo of Edward (Ted) Allen and Ida May Bullock in 1923.
From the 'Mulraney & Bullock Families Feb 2025' family tree on Ancestry,
Kevin Allen and his three sisters - Joyce, Mavis and Elvie - in 2020.
2.2) Annie Gladys Allen (1894-1981). Born at Yarrawonga, Annie was living with her mother and siblings at Gowar East when she married Alfred Richard (Dick) Hyder (1892-1977) on 30 November 1914. According to the 'Barry Hyder Family Tree' on Ancestry, Dick was born at Marnoo near St Arnaud in central Victoria, the third of nine children of James Hyder (1855-1937) - pictured on the right - and Jane Nicholson (1861-98) who were married at Clunes in Victoria on 21 August 1879. Jane was born at Mansfield in Nottinghamshire in England on 13 April 1861. Later the same year she, together with her parents and two older siblings, sailed from Liverpool to Melbourne on the UTOPIA. James Hyder was born at the Melbourne suburb of Moorabbin on 3 July 1855. His parents, Thomas William (Eric) Hyder (1816-56) and Ellen Steer (1817-81), and their two daughters emigrated from England on the CONSTITUTION which arrived at Adelaide on 8 August 1851. They then sailed on to Melbourne on the WOODSTOCK arriving there on 29 August 1851. The birth places of their children indicate that James and Jane and their family were living at Clunes in 1880, Avon in 1881, Marnoo near St Arnaud from around 1883 to 1892 and then in St Arnaud itself where Jane died from typhoid fever on 15 July 1898. She is buried in St Arnaud Cemetery (Church of England, Section 8, Grave 39, Marker 778A). The electoral rolls and other sources indicate that after his wife's death, James continued initially to live at St Arnaud where he worked as a carter and married/partnered with Minnie Alice Morris (1870-1952) in 1907. Sometime after this James and Minnie moved to Yatpool south of Mildura where they had acquired a wheat farm and where James; son, Dick Hyder, was working as a forest worker for the Mildura Council. James Hyder died at Red Cliffs south of Mildura on 2 February 1937, his obituary in the Sunraysia Daily the following day telling us he was the 'beloved husband of Minnie Hyder, and devoted father of William, James, George, May, Alfred, Lucy and Emily, and loved stepfather of Roy Matthews'. He is buried in the Church of Christ portion of the Mildura Cemetery (Plot NP-Baptist-B023).
Although they had married in 1914, the 1916 electoral roll has Annie Gladys Hyder nee Allen still living with her widowed mother on Alma Street in St Arnaud. Her husband, Alfred Richard (Dick) Hyder, was working as a labourer and registered as living on Bowen Street in St Arnaud (along with with Dick's brother George and George's wife, Annie Jane Hyder nee Cutting). By the time of the 1919 election, Dick and Annie Gladys had relocated to Merbein outside Mildura where Dick was working as a foreman for the Victorian Forests Commission. As noted above, Dick's father and his second wife Minnie were then also living in the Mildura region. Dick and Annie were still at Merbein at the time of the 1924 and 1931 elections (the latter roll has Dick's younger brother, James Robert Hyder, and his wife, Alice Frances Lowe, farming land at Benetook in the Sunraysia region). The 1934 and 1942 rolls show Dick and Annie Agnes living at Chaffey(s) Bend in Mildura along with a Beatrice Jane Hyder, factory hand, in 1934 and Allen Richard Hyder, a motor mechanic, in 1942. Dick and Annie Agnes' address in 1954 was 18 Chaffey Avenue Mildura (Dick was still
working as a forest officer). As reported in the Sunraysia Daily on 23 February 1956, Dick retired from the Forests Commission two years later:
Mr A. R. Hyder has retired after 41 years' service with the Victorian Forests
Commission, 38 of them spent in the Mildura area. Mr Hyder. who lives in 7th
Street, Mildura, commenced work with the commission at St Arnaud in 1914 and
came to Mildura two years later. Among his first jobs were the construction of the
Merbein Nursery and the supervision of extensive firewood thiings. These
thinnings were carvied out at Cowannah Bend, Bruce's Bend and Psyche Bend. The
work was done by gangs of up to 10 men working with mattocks. The timber thus
worked tip by Mr Hyder and his men is now being extensively cut for use as
electric light and telephone poles and for railway sleepers. The stumps are cut low
to the ground and the shoots from these stumps will in their turn be used for
poles and sleepers in 35 years' time. Mr Hyder recalls when paddle steamers carted
redgum downstream to Brute's Bend for the Nichols Point pumping station. The
redgum was transported to the pump on trolleys which ran on narrow tram lines.
This week friends of Mr Hyder presented him with a combination barometer and
thermometer set in polished wood to mark his retirement from the commission.
Dick and Annie Agnes Hyder were still living at 18 Chaffey Avenue at the time of their deaths, Dick on 25 September 1977 and Annie on 10 July 1981. The Find a Grave website shows them buried together in Mildura's Nichols Point Cemetery (Plot NP-Presbyterian-T012). The 'Barry Hyder' and a number of other family trees on Ancestry tell us they had three children as follows:
a. Beatrice Jane Hyder (1915-2008). Born at St Arnaud on 23 October 1915, Beatrice grew up in Merbein and Chaffey Bend in Mildura (the 1938 and 1939 electoral rolls show her living with her parents at Chaffey Bend and employed as a factory worker). In January 1940 her friends and coworkers from the Mildura Co-operative Company held a social evening to
celebrate Beatrice's forthcoming marriage to another Mildura local, Laurence Bruce (1914-63). As reported in the Sunrasia Daily on 31 January 1940: '. . . Miss Hyder was daintily dressed in blue organic evening frock appliqued with velvet blue birds. St. Margaret's hall was prettily decorated with flowers, foliage and blue and white streamers. Dancing and games: were heartiiy enjoyed by about 8O guests. Early in the evening a box of chocolates was presented to Miss Hyder. Music was supplied, by Miss N Murphy. A tap dance by the Misses Pat Gott and Melva Siemers was very much enjoyed. A dainty :supper was served. In the absence of Mr Dyason, Mr Hawson presented Miss Hyder with a beautiful chiming clock on behalf of the Mildura Co-operative by-products employees. Miss Hyder and Mr Bruce suitably responded'.
Laurence was then living with his widowed mother on Belar Avenue in Mildura and working as a boxmaker. His parents were John Francis Bruce (1884-1916) and Florence Scott who were married in Victoria in 1907 and living at Mildura at the time of John's enlistment in the First AIF at Melbourne on 1 September 1915. His file in the National Archives tells us John sailed from Melbourne on the HMAT A64 DEMOSTHENES on 29 December bound for Egypt where he spent time in hospital suffering from influenza. In March 1916 he sailed from Alexandria to Marseilles in France where he joined the Ist Pioneer Battalion. Eight days after being promoted to Cpl on 13 August 1916, he was killed in action at Villers-Bretonnaux and is buried/ commemorated at the War Memorial there. The file further notes that John and Florence had three sons: Francis John, Laurence and Eric Bruce. Their paternal grandparents were Donald Bruce (1855-1934) and Anne McCulloch (1856-1930) who were married at Balranald in central NSW on 7 April 1883 and, as detailed in Donald's obituary published in the Riverina Recorder on 27 January 1934, were among the
original pioneer residents of the Mildura district:
Mr. Bruce, who was born at Kilmore, spent his early manhood in mining pursuits in the Kilmore fields, and later went to New South Wales. He was married at Balranald, and worked for some years on Kilfere station. When the Mildura settlement was in its infancy Mr Bruce came here from Echuca, travelling on the river-boat, Trafalgar. In his early employment for the Chaffey Bros, he worked on the foundations of the Psyche Bend pumping station, and later entered the employment of the F.M.I.T. at the Nichol's Point pumping station. With his family, Mr Bruce settled on the river in the vicinity, and resided there
until about eight years ago, when fire destroyed the property. The bend bears the name of Bruce's Bend, and is popular among Mildura residents at the present time as a picnic spot.
Several years ago Mr Bruce was forced, to retire from active employment with the irrigation trust owing to an injury sustained at work. He leaves a family of five children — Joe, Alex, and Don, of Renmark (S.A.); Mrs H. Kelly (Mildura), and Mrs R. Griffen (Nichols Point). Corporal John Bruce (killed in action) and Mrs. A. Cremer (Girly), Renmark, pre-deccased him.
After their marriage in 1940, Beatrice and Laurence Bruce continued living in Mildura where Laurence died on 2 June 1963. Beatrice, who in 1990 married Charles Russell, died in Mildura on 20 January 2008. She is buried with Laurence in the Nichols Point Cemetery, their gravestone telling us they were the 'Loved parents of Pat, Joy and Judy'. The 'Barry Hyder Family Tree' on Ancestry tells us their three girls are all married and provided their parents with seven grandchildren.
b. Allen Richard Hyder (1918-99). Born at St Arnaud on 21 January 1918, Allen moved with his parents and siblings to Merbein outside Mildura a few years later. His military record in the National Archives shows he underwent a four-year apprenticeship at Stuart and Harrison's Garage on Deakin Avenue in Mildura and attended night school over the same period. The 1939 electoral roll has him living with his parents at Chaffey Bend in Mildura and working as a mechanic. A report in the Sunraysia Daily on 13 July 1940 tells us
Allen and two others - A. Vaughan, of Orange Avenue Mildura, and J. Treweek, of Deakin Avenue Mildura - were injured when a car and a utility truck collided on a cattle ramp. The first two 'were admitted to the Mildura Base Hospital. After treatment the third, Hyder, was allowed to return home'. On 1 August 1940, Allen enlisted in the RAAF in Melbourne where, on 18 April the same year, he had married Loris Jean Treweek in the suburb of Prahran.
Loris - pictured on the right - was born at Mildura in 1921 the youngest of five children of Samuel Thomas Treweek (1889-1950) and Sarah Ruth Gallagher-Jackson (1889-1973) who were both born in the Wellington district of NSW and were married there in 1911. They then moved to the Mildura region of Victoria where Samuel's parents and a number of his siblings resided and where their first four children were also born: John Thomas (in 1912), Elizabeth Ruth (1913), Gladys Leah (1915), Sarah Thelma (1917) and Ruby Kleen Treweek (1919). The Australian electoral rolls show Samuel and Sarah lived at Merbein until the early 1930s - Samuel was working as a labourer - and then farmed land at Wargan in the Mallee region west of Mildura for a number of years before selling up and moving to Melbourne. The 1941 and subsequent rolls have them living at 51 Andrew Street in the inner-Melbourne suburb of Prahran (their son John Thomas and his wife Ruby Florence Treweek were residing at 7 du Murksa Street Prahran). As reported in the Sunraysia Daily, 'Mr Samuel T. Treweek, a well known resident of Sunraysia, died in Melbourne on January 13 1950, He was 60 years of age. The late Mr Treweek lived in Wentworth, Mildura and Merbein districts for 50 years. He spent 10 years farming in the Mallee. He is survived by his widow, five daughters and a son. All live in Melbourne' (27 January 1950). Samuel was buried at Springvale Botanical Cemetery on 16 January 1950 (Church of England, Compartment O, Section 1, 11). Sarah continued to live in Melbourne after Samuel's death, initially at Prahran, then with her son John Thomas at Bentleigh and then by herself at nearby Hampton. She died at Kew in July 1973 and was buried with Samuel at the Springvale Botanical cemetery.
According to Cheryl Chandler's 'Condon, Rasmussen, Treweek, Yelland, Vivian and more' family tree on Ancestry, Sarah's parents were William George Jackson (1871-1941), a native of Norfolk in England, and Susannah Gallagher who was born at Gordon in Tasmania in 1860, the daughter of James Nicholas Gallagher who hailed from County Leitrim in Ireland. Samuel's parents were William Thomas Treweek (1864-1927), who was born at Pooncarie in the
Murray region of NSW, and Rebecca Coralie Dean (1867-97) who was born at Boggy Creek near Myrtleford in North-East Victoria. They were married at Wolverston, near Pooncarie, in 1888 and had five children in addition to Samuel: Laura Caroline Chaffey (1890-1979), Ellen (Nellie) May Pascoe (1892-1954), William Albert Treweek (1893-1968), Ethel Maude Dewar (1895-1957) and Mabel Treweek (1897-98). William Thomas died at the Mildura District Hospital on 11 October 1927 and is buried in the Nicols Point Cemetery (Plot NP Anglican-
F053). His obituary, published in the Adelaide Chronicle on 29 October 1927 tells us William
, , , was the third son of Mr John Treweek, of Gepp's Cross [in
Adelaide]. Born at Enfield [also in Adelaide], he had reached the age of 62. When young he began working with his father, who was a blacksmith. After leaving home, he took up land on the bank of the River Darling and named the place Enfield. Mr Treweek was married to Miss Rebecca Dean, and they lived there for a number of years. There are five children, three daughters and two sons. On the death of his wife, 27 years ago, Mr Treweek removed to Mildura, where he started fruit growing. After several years he was married to Miss May Middleton of Merbein . . . He had a large circle of friends, and was noted for his kindly disposition. There are three sisters living in Adelaide, Mrs A. Tobin, of Yatala East; Mrs J. Glenn, of Herbert-street, Franklin; and Mrs L. Smith, of Glanville.
Cheryl Chandler further tells us William Thomas' father, John Treweek, was born at Redruth in Cornwall in 1838 and, with his parents and two siblings, sailed from England to Australia on the PAKENHAM in 1848 (John's father, William Treweek, died on the voyage out). His mother, Devonshire-born Melora Treweek nee Bray, died in Adelaide on 5 January 1886).
From Cheryl Chandler's family tree on Ancestry, Sarah and Samuel Thomas Treweek.
While waiting to be formally enlisted in the RAAF, Allen Richard Hyder sailed from Australia on 27 June 1941 bound for Egypt where, along with of a number of other Australians, he would serve in the aircraft maintenance section of 462 Squadron. Formed in September 1942 the squadron flew Halifax bombers against enemy forces at Tobruk and other targets across the Mediterranean region. Disbanded in March 1944 the unit was re-formed in the United Kingdom in August the same year in order to participate in the bombing campaign against Germany. After arriving in the UK on 27 February 1944, Allen rejoined 462 Squadron at Driffield in Yorkshire and later served at 43 RAF Base at Foulsham in Norfolk. While there he was promoted to Cpl on 1 November 1944. He returned to Australia the following year, disembarking at Melbourne on 1 October 1945, and was discharged from the RAAF two months later. The Australian electoral rolls have Allen and Loris living with Loris' parents at 51 Andrew Street Prahran at the time of the 1946, 1949 and 1954 elections (Allen was working as a mechanic). They were at 95 Hotham Road Niddrie in Melbourne at
the time of the 1963 and subsequent elections (Allen was then an aircraft engineer). Loris Jean Allen nee Treweek died at Parkville in Melbourne on 4 May 1990 and was buried in the Springvale Botanical Cemetery (Church of England, Compartment F, Section 18, Grave 49).
The 'Legacy Remembers' website tells us Allen Richard Hyder 'passed away peacefully at RMH, Feb. 15, 1999 in his 81st year. Beloved husband of Loris (dec). Loving father of Leona, Margaret, Valerie and Carol. Loving Grandpop of Tracie, Craig, Jason and Janine. Great Grandfather of Benjamin, Hollie and Maryfaithe' (16 February 1999). He is buried with Loris at Springvale. The 'Dean/Treweek/Hicks/Kidd/Nairn Family Tree' on Ancestry says that two of Allen and Loris' daughters are also deceased: 1) Margaret Gladys Hyder (1841-2023) who married Leonard Richard Searles (1936-90) in Victoria in 1957 and had one son; and 2) Carol Dawn Hyder (1948-2013) who the Ryerson Index tells us died at Gisborne Oaks on 26 September 2013 (Herald Sun, 1 October 2013).
c. William James (Bill) Hyder (1921-2006). Born at St Arnaud on 21 January 1921, Bill was working for the Mildura City Council when he enlisted in the Australian Army at Alice Springs in the Northern Territory on 26 July 1942. His military file in the National Archives shows he had previously spent 12 months in the CMF and served with the 2nd AIF in Australia until 21 August 1946 (at the time of discharge he was a private soldier with 148 General Transport Company). Prior to his discharge Bill married a Queensland girl, Lillian May (Lily) Kettleton (1926-2016) at Brisbane on 22 June 1946. Born in Brisbane, Lily was the youngest daughter of a First World War veteran, John Kettleton (1892-1962), and his Scottish-born wife, Elizabeth (Lizzie) Stewart (1900-69), who he had married at Glasgow in Scotland on 10 February 1919. John's military file in the National Archives tells us he
was born in Brisbane on 9 November 1892 and enlisted in the Australian Army there on 22 November 1916. He was then working as a farm labourer and gave as his NOK his sister Mary Ann Shackleton of Wilston in Brisbane. After undergoing training at Enoggera, John embarked for overseas service on the HMAT DEMOSTHENES which left Sydney on 22 December the same year and arrived at Plymouth in England on 3 March 1917. After further training at Rollestone on the Salisbury Plain, he proceeded to France on 9 July 1917 to serve in the
26th Infantry Battalion. He was wounded in action in Belgium on 20 September 1917 - a GSW to the right thigh - and shipped back to England for treatment. After returning to his unit on 9 April 1918 John was again wounded - a GSW to the left thigh - while serving in France. He was again evacuated to England where he remained until 6 September 1919 when he returned to Australia on the SS BERIMA. We don't know if Lizzie sailed with him on the BERRIMA or travelled to Australia seperately. The Queensland BDMs show their first child, Vera Elizabeth Kettleton, was born there on 29 October 1921. The Australian Electoral Rolls show John, who worked as a labourer, and Lizzie lived out their lives in Brisbane. John Kettleton, aged 69, died there on 7 June 1962 and is buried/memorialised in the Mount
Thompson Memorial Gardens and Crematorium at Holland Park (Plot Columbarium 12, Section 14). Lizzie died in Brisbane in 1969. We have yet to find where she is buried.
After their marriage in Brisbane in 1946, Lily went to live with Bill Hyder in Mildura where Bill had resumed working for the nurseries and gardens section of the Mildura City Council (by 1955 he was the section's supervisor and later served as Superintendant of Parks and Gardens). Over this time he oversaw a number of major projects including the two acres of lawns, gardens and trees encompassing the Mildura baths and a scented garden which was named after him in recognition of his and the Hyder family's contributions to the city's growing reputation as a 'garden city' (see the photo below). On retirement Bill and Lily returned to Queensland where they both died in 2016 (Bill on 30 January and Lily on 6 August). They are buried together in the Pinnaroo Lawn Cemetery and Crematorium (Plot
8-651), their gravestone stating they were respectively the 'Beloved husband of Lily. Devoted father, grandfather and great grandfather. Admired employee of Mildura City Council' and 'Devoted wife of 'Bill', Devoted mother, grandmother great grandmother and great great grandmother'. The 'Hyder Clark Garner Maguire Family Tree' on Ancestry tells us Bill and Lily had five children - four sons and a daughter - all of whom married and together provided their beloved parents with 17 grandchildren.
Bill Hyder and his Scented Garden in Mildura.
2.3). Lila Allen (1899-1968). Born at St Arnaud on 7 September 1899, Lila married a local boy, George Perry (1884-1974), there on 15 August 1918 (the photo of them on the right was taken in around 1959). Debby Perry's 'Perry Family Tree' on Ancestry tells us George's grandparents were Henry Perry, who was born at South Petherton in Somerset in England in 1833 and married Phyllis Male (1833-1916) there on 9 May 1852. Ancestry's 'Victoria Assisted and Unassisted Passenger Lists 1839-1923' shows Henry (aged 19) and Phillis Perry (18) sailed from Plymouth on the SIR EDWARD PARRY which arrived at Geelong on 23 October 1852. They later had two children: Simeon Male Perry, who was born at the Forest Creek gold diggings near Castlemaine on 29 May 1853, and Mary Augusta Perry who was born at Castlemaine on 7 August 1855. Sometime after this Phyllis and her two children left Henry and went to live at Bealiba southeast of St Arnaud where she married/partnered with the local hotelier, George Evans (1817-89). Phyllis and George had at least six children we know of: Elizabeth Evans (1860-68), Phyllis Eliza Sale (1862-1916), George William (1866-92), John (1868-1904), Eda Helen Kitson (1870-1952) and Ethel Utz (1875-1912). George Evans died at Bealiba on 5 January 1889. Phyllis died while staying with her daughter Eda in Melbourne on 12 October 1916. Her obituary, published in the Bealiba Times on 20 October, states: 'Few people have left a better record than the late Mrs Evans. Throughout her long life here she was noted for her kindly nature, and her consistent charity in all deserving cases will long be remembered. She was amember of the Church of England, and a liberal supporter of all local church objects . . . [her remains were brought by train to Bealiba and] were interred near those of her late husband'.
George's father, Simeon Male Perry, married Melbourne-born Mary Ross (1860-94) at Maryborough in central Victoria on 16 April 1879. In 1884 he had an application approved for a block of land at Berrimal northeast of St Arnaud. Mary died at St Arnaud on 29 May 1894 and was buried in the local cemetery there (Church of England, Section 25, Grave 41, Marker 512). She and Simeon had ten children all of whom were born at St Arnaud: Roderick (in 1880), Mary Ann Augusta (1881), Simeon (1883), John (1884), George (1885), Donald Ross (1888), Duncan James Holbrook (1890 and Jessie (1891). Following Mary's death in 1894, Simeon partnered with Annie Nicholson nee Strachan (1870-1960) with whom he had a further six children. During this time he was farming land at Gowar East near St Arnaud. In around
1909 he acquired a farm at Langwarrin near Frankston in outer Melbourne. Simeon was living at nearby Carrum when he died at Prahran in Melbourne on 26 July 1929 and is buried in the Frankston Cemetery (Area 1; Row X6; Grave 420).
From the 'Perry3120022' family tree on Ancestry: the sons of Simeon Male Perry and Mary Ann Ross.
Rear (L/R): Donald, Jack and Duncan. Front: Roderick, George and Simeon Perry jnr.
The Australian Electoral Rolls show that after their marriage at St Arnaud in 1899, George and Lila Perry lived at nearby Coonooer West until the mid-1940s when they moved to Charlton in Western Victoria. Lila died at Ballarat on 2 June 1968 and George - who worked all his life as a labourer - at Charlton on 17 March 1973. They are buried together in the Charlton Cemetery (C of E; Plot 243) next to their daughter Mary Edna Harris nee Perry (Plot 244). Their gravestone states they were the 'Loved parents of Mary (dec), Allen, George, Ronald, Colin, Valda and Evelyn'. As noted, their eldest daughter, Mary Edna Perry had pre-deceased them. Born at Yawong she married Douglas (Jack) Harris in October 1849. As reported in the Melbourne Age on 6 December 1949, some six weeks later she died in a motor cycle accident: 'A woman was killed instantly and her husband received a
fractured leg when a motor cycle crashed into a guide post on the St Arnaud-Charlton road, six miles from Charlton, last night. They were: Mrs Mary Harris, of Charlton, and Douglas Harris . . . [who] lay on the side of the road for three-quarters of an hour before the accident was discovered'.
The 'Perry Family Tree' and other sources inform us that four of their other children are also deceased. Their two eldest sons, Allen Perry (1920-2004) and George Michael Perry (1922-2007) were both living in the Melbourne suburb of Footscray when they enlisted in the RAAF, George on 8 September 1942 and Allen on 16 December 1943 (Allen's military records in the National Archives show he had earlier served as a private soldier in the 1st Battalion of the VDC). While in the Air Force they both worked as cook's assistants and served time in both Australia and Papua New Guinea. George, who was discharged at Port
Moresby on 8 February 1946, returned to Melbourne where he married Margaret Mary O'Leary on 9 September the same year. Discharged in Melbourne on 26 March 1946, Allen was living at Fitzroy and working as a storeman when he married Monica (Molly) Josephine Killian
(1921-2006) there in 1948. The Australian electoral rolls show the two married couples continued to live in Melbourne, Allen and Molly in Fitzroy and later Northcote, and George and Margaret in Footscray. The Ryerson Index tells us Allen Perry, aged 84 years, died at the John Fawkner Hospital in the Melbourne suburb of Coburg on 16 December 2004 (Herald Sun, 20 December 2004). Monica (Molly) Josephine Perry, aged 85 and late of Northcote, died on 9 July 2006 (Herald Sun, 11 July 2006). The Find a Grave website shows them buried together in Fawkner Memorial Park (Lawn Of Tranquillity, Row P, Grave 919). Allen's gravestone states he was the 'Loving and beloved husband of Monica. Father of Jennifer, Mark and Luke'. The same website informs us that George and Margaret Perry are buried at Altona Memorial Park (Plot Wren Lawn (N), Row G, Grave 4). Debby Perry's 'Perry Family Tree' on Ancestry tells us they had five children - three boys and two girls -
and ten grandchildren.
Allen and George Michael Perry on joining the RAAF.
George and Ila's next two sons - Ronald Keith (1922-2007) and Colin Perry (1928-2011) - lived all their lives in country Victoria where Ronald married Valma Mary Tormey (1928-2014) in 1948 and Colin Carole Eunice Scobie in 1957. The Find a Grave website shows Ron and Valma both died at St Arnaud and are memorialised in the local cemetery there. Their respective gravestones state Ron was the 'Dearly beloved husband of Val. Loving Father of Maxine and Graeme. Adored Pa of Amanda, Graeme, Christopher, Rebecca and Joel. Poppy of Lachland', and Valma was the 'Dearly Beloved wife of Ronald, Mother of Maxine, loving Nan of Chris, Amanda and Graeme, and Gerry and Great Nan of Lachland and Ashleigh'. Colin ('Col') Perry, who died on 27 Feb 2011, is buried in the Charlton Cemetery (Second Lawn, Row I, Grave 16), his gravestone states he was the 'Loving husband of Carole. Beloved Dad of Debby, Wayne, Sandra, Darren, David and Lesley'.
2.4) Sydney Allen (1902-66). Born at Yawong near Gowar East, Sydney was living at St Arnaud and working as a labourer when he married Ada (Adeline) Gertrude Edwards (1911-70) in 1927. Ada was born at Sunshine in Melbourne's west, the eldest daughter of John Daniel Edwards (1875-1949) and Elizabeth Sarah Ann(e) Higgins (1888-1962) who were married at Esperance in Tasmania on 30 August 1905. Sometime after the birth of their first child - John Alexander (Jack) Edwards (1906-87), at Queenstown in Tasmania's West Coast region - John and Elizabeth moved to Victoria where Ada and her and Jack's 11 siblings were born. John Daniel and Elizabeth Edwards were living at 5 Reservoir Street in the inner Melbourne suburb of Preston when John died on 11 June 1949. He is buried in the Preston General Cemetery at Bundoora (Plot H, Grave 5913). According to the 'Woodier Family Tree' on Ancestry, John Daniel's father, John James Edwards, was born at Barbados in the West Indies on 20 November 1853. His mother was London-born Wilhelmina (Sarah) Currie (1808-83) who his father married in Sydney on 30 August 1873. Sometime after John Daniel's birth at Sydney on 21 August 1875, they moved to Tasmania where Sarah died on 30 August 1883. We have yet to determine when and where John James Edwards died. The 'Woodier Family Tree' adds that Elizabeth Sarah Ann Edwards was the eldest of six children of John Alexander Higgins (1862-1909) and Frances Elizabeth Escourt (1866-1914) who were married at Hastings in Tasmania on 20 January 1887. It adds that Frances parents - William Escourt and Hannah Maria Dimond - both came from England and married at Hobart on 8 June 1874.
Frances Elizabeth Higgins nee Escourt died at Queenstown in Tasmania on 13 December 1914 and is buried in the Lyell Cemetery there (Plot Q 18). On the same date the following year 'In Memorium' notices were placed in the Zeehan and Dundas Herald by Frances'
husband, John 'Alexandra'; daughter and son-in-law E. and J. Edwards and family of Footscray in Victoria; daughter and son-in-law C. M. and H. Sanson and family of Queenstown; daughter and son-in-law W. and J. King of Geeveston; daughter and son-in-law J. and G. Fisher of Queenstown; and sons William and Frederick Higgins of Queenstown.
On 13 November 1922 C. M. and H Sanson placed a further 'In Memorium' notice in Launceston's Daily Telegraph which read: 'HIGGINS - In loving memory of my dear mother, who died at Queenstown on December 13, 1914; also my dear father, who died at
Carlton (Vic.) November 13, 1921 (late of Queenstown)'. The Victorian index of BDMs shows John Alexander Higgins, 59 and born at Hobart, died at Carlton in Melbourne in 1921 (parents unknown). Melbourne's Greater Metropolitan Cemeteries Trust website tells us John Alexander Higgins is buried in the Coburg Pine Ridge Cemetery (Church Of England H, Grave 498). Date of service: 14 November 1921.
The Australian Electoral Rolls indicate that after their marriage in 1927, Sydney, who was working as a labourer, and Ada Gertrude Allen were registered as living at St Arnaud in 1931, Wedderburn in 1942 and 1949 and Undera near Echuca in 1963 (along with an Edward John Allen, labourer). Debby Perry's 'Perry Family Tree' tells us that over this time they had nine children: 1) Sydney (1927-28); 2) John (Jackie) (1927-28) both of whom were born and died in Melbourne; 3) John Edward (1928-31) born and died at St Arnaud; 4) Joyce May
(1933-2016) born at St Arnaud and married three times, the third time to Thomas Allan James Blackberry (1928-81). Joyce had three children with Thomas and one with her first two spouses. She died in Launceston in Tasmania on 5 October 2016 and is buried in the
CarrVilla Memorial Park there (Lawn Graves, Chamomile, 48). Her gravestone says she was the 'devoted Mum of Noel, Julie, Mick and Karen'; 5) Edward John (c1934-91); 6) unnamed (1939-39); 7) Raymond (1945-88) born in Melbourne and died at Footscray, was married in around 1959 and had five children. Edward is buried/ memorialised in Fawkner Memorial Park (South Lawn Row A Grave 125). His gravestone says he was the 'Loved husband of Lynette
Devoted Father of Rhonda, Ken, Raymond, Danny, Ricky-Lee'. Also buried there is 'Cooper Allen 2.12.2002 Our Little Angel'. 7) married boy with two children; and 8) married boy with three children. The 'Corkin Family Tree' on Ancestry tells us Sydney and Ada also had an adopted son: Ronald Geoffrey Allen/Ayton (1929-2016) who married Olive Myrtle Slaughter (1934-2018) in Victoria in 1954 and had seven children. The same source indicates that sometime after Sydney's death in 1966, Ada married/partnered with an Alfred Carl Neeson with whom she had earlier had an illegitimate daughter. Sydney Allen died at Echuca in Victoria on 3 January 1966. Ada (Adeline) Gertrude Allen nee Edwards died at Swan Hill on 15 December 1970 and is buried in the Kerang Cemetery (Plot C/E 13-3-CE124).
Along with the two photos above, this one of Sydney Allen is from
Debby Perry's 'Perry Family Tree' on Ancestry.
2.5) William (Bill) Allen (1905-78). Born at St Arnaud in central Victoria, Bill was living there with his widowed mother and working as a station hand when he married Ivy May Hartley (1907-99) in 1932. Born at nearby Charlton, Ivy was the eldest daughter of George Hartley (1873-1956) and Elizabeth Mary Pyers (1874-1948) who were then farming land at Coonooer Bridge. The 'Pyers Smart Family Tree' on Ancestry tells us that George was born in Sheffield in England in 1873. The following year he and his parents - George snr (1837-1910) and Martha Hartley nee Feltrup (1839-84) - and his five older siblings left Liverpool on the sailing ship GREAT BRITAIN which docked at Port
Phillip Bay on 30 July 1874. The birthplaces of their next four children indicate George, who was a joiner by trade, and Martha continued to live in Melbourne. Both died at Brunswick, Martha on 12 December 1884 and George on 14 December 1910, and are buried in the Melbourne General Cemetery at Parkville (MGC-BAP Comp-D-No-73). While most of George and Martha's children lived, worked and were married in Melbourne, George Hartley jnr and his younger brother Charles spent their early adult lives at Coonooer Bridge where both worked as labourers. After his marriage to Elizabeth Mary Pyers at Charlton in 1906, George took up farming at Coonooer Bridge. His brother, Charles, returned to Melbourne where he enlisted in the First AIF on 24 February 1917 (he gave as his NOK his sister Ada Munyard who was then living at 116 Edward Street in Brunswick). Allocated to the reinforcements for the 22nd Infantry Battalion, Charles embarked for overseas service on the A11 HMAT ASCANIUS which left Melbourne on 11 May 1917 and arrived at Devonport in England on 20 June the same year. The subsequent discovery that he had a 'deformed foot' led him to be sent back to Australia on 18 January 1918. After living for a time on Victoria's Mornington Peninsular Charles died at the inner-Melbourne suburb of Coburg in 1942. His death notice published in the Sun News Pictorial on 13 January 1942 reads: 'Charles, dearly loved brother of Ada (Mrs A. Munyard), Eliza (Mrs J. Bouncy) and George. Late A.I.F. Peace, perfect peace'. We don't think he married.
The 'Pyers Smart Family Tree' on Ancestry further tells us Ivy's mother, Elizabeth Mary Pyers (1874-1948), who was born at Avoca in the Central Highlands of Victoria, was the youngest of 13 children of Samuel Pyers (1813-91) and his second wife, Mary Montgomery Cook (1834-1910), who were married at Buninyong near Ballarat in central Victoria on 17 September 1854. According to the 'Shepherd Family Tree' and other sources, Samuel was born at Black Snake Rivulet in Glenorchy in Tasmania. Both his parents - Samuel Pyers snr
(1769-1850) and Sarah Mary Johnson (1783-1840) - had been transported from London to Sydney and then sent to Norfolk Island where they were married on 2 November 1801. In 1808 they and their first three children were removed to Tasmania where they took up land at New Town and later Glenorchy. Both died in Tasmania, Sarah at Ellendale on 11 May 1840 and Samuel at Hamilton on 13 August 1850. They had eight children in all, a number of whom, including Samuel Pyers jnr, were among Victoria's earliest European settlers.
The Australian Electoral Rolls show that after their marriage in 1932, Bill and Ivy Allen lived on their farm at Coonooer Bridge until the early 1960s when they relocated to nearby St Arnaud. The Find a Grave website shows they both died at St Arnaud, Bill on 3 April 1978 and Ivy on 24 January 1999, and are buried together in the local cemetery there (Methodist, Section 14, Grave 20, Marker 207E). Bill's gravestone reads: 'Loved husband of Ivy Father of Lawrence and Grandad of John, Jenny and David'. As noted, Bill and Ivy had one child, a son Lawrence (Laurie) William Allen (1932-2013) who was working as a primary
school teacher at Benloch near Lancefield in Victoria when he married Joyce Margaret Wilson in 1955. The Australian Electoral rolls have Joyce registered as living at Rochford State School near Kilmore in Victoria in 1958, the year she gave birth to their first child, Robert Kenneth Allen, who died aged 3 days at Lancefield in Victoria. Subsequent rolls show Laurie, who continued working as a school teacher, and Joyce at Kingsville in Melbourne in 1963, Broadmeadows/Tullamarine during the late 1960s and early 1970s, and Mildura in 1977 and 1980. The Ryerson Index shows a Joyce Margaret Allen died on 5 April 2010 (Bendigo Advertiser, 5 April 2010). Find a Grave tells us she was cremated at the Eaglehawk Crematorium but not interred there. It adds that Lawrence (Laurie) William Allen died on 23 October 2013 and was interred in the Lancefield Cemetery in Victoria's Macedon Ranges. His obituary in the 28 October 2013 edition of Melbourne's Herald Sun reads: 'ALLEN - Lawrence William (Laurie) 2.12.1932 - 24.10.2013. Peacefully passed away at the Bendigo Hospice. Loving husband of Joyce. Loving father of John, Jenny and David. Father-in-law of Debbie, Wayne and Robyn. Much loved Pop of Tim and Kristy, Megan, Anthony, Brad, Nathan, Brock, Justin and Dean. Great Grand Pop of James'.
Lawrence William (Laurie) and Joyce Margaret Allen nee Wilson.
According to Robert White, Abraham Joseph and Annie Louisa Allen had six children before Annie's death at St Arnaud in 1913. These included Grace Victoria Allen, 'who died at two years from convulsions', and Joseph Allen (1890-1966) who, according to Robert Shepherd's 'Shepherd Family Tree' on Ancestry.com, lived in Melbourne and did not marry. Their remaining four children, all of whom are pictured in the Allen family photograph shown below, were:
Ann Maria (pictured on the left) married Abraham Joseph Allen (1825-68) at Rich Avon station on 28 January 1854. The couple's wedding certificate shows that Joseph was a shoemaker who was born at Bacton in Suffolk and was then living and working at Swanwater. His father was Abraham Allen, a labourer. The marriage, conducted according to the rites of the Independent Church, was witnessed by William Price and Edward Shepherd where all parties signed the document. After their marriage Ann and Abraham lived at Rich Avon, where their first child and only daughter, Elizabeth Ann, was born in around 1859, and then St Arnaud where they had four sons before Abraham's death there in 1868: Edward Allen (1860-c1912), Abraham Joseph Allen jnr (1864-1937), John Robert Allen (1865-1940) and William Allen (1868-1915).
Edward Allen. Born at St Arnaud in Victoria on 18 December 1860, Edward - pictured on the right - married Mary Ann Scott (1870-1932) at Berrimal, not far from Gower East where Edward's family were then farming, on 22 August 1889. The 'Perry Family Tree' on Ancestry tells us Mary was born at Garvoc in the Western District of Victoria on 27 December 1870, one of 17 children of John Burns Byron Scott (1842-1923) and Jane Ann Stevens (1849-1918) who were married at Warrnambool in Victoria on 10 June 1867. It adds John was born at Kingmoor in Cumbria in England on 26 October 1842. At 10 years of age, he travelled with his parents and three siblings to Australia on the sailing ship CHANCE which departed from Liverpool on 24 July 1852 and arrived at Port Phillip Bay on 26 October the same year. Jane was born in the Melbourne suburb of Richmond, one of four children of Thomas Stevens (1820-1916) and Jane Anne Hannah Stephens (1822-58), who were both born in Cornwall and emigrated to Australia on the sailing ship LYSANDER which arrived at Port Phillip Bay on 13 January 1849. The birth places of John and Jane Scott's children show the family lived first at Garvoc and then Panmure in Victoria's Western District before, in the early 1880s, moving to Berrimal near St Arnaud. By the early 1900s, they were farming land near Swan Hill in Victoria's Mallee district. Jane Allen died on 26 September 1918 and was buried in the Swan Hill Cemetery (Presbyterian Row 17, 402). John Burns Byron Scott died at Swan Hill on 18 December 1923 and was buried with Jane.
2) Abraham Joseph Allen (1864-1937) who farmed land at Kooheh (north of Carapooee) from at least 1914 to the time of his death in 1937 (he was buried at St Arnaud). Joseph, as he was also known, married twice. His first wife was his cousin Annie Louisa Shepherd (1871-1913), the daughter of 