On 9 October 1900 Thomas Hickmott (1874-1942) married Julia Flanders (1875-1948) - pictured before her marriage on the left - at the residence of a Mr E. Gough at Brassall in Ipswich in Queensland. Their marriage certificate tells us Thomas, then a 26 year-old bachelor, was living on Stanley Street in Brisbane South and working as a cook. Julia was a 25 year-old spinster who was residing in Ipswich where she was working as a servant. Julia's parents were said to be George Flanders (1853-1931) and Martha Ingram (1855-81), who, the 'KELLY Family Tree' on Ancestry tells us, were married in Huntingdonshire in England in October 1873. The marriage certificate states Julia's place of birth was Brampton in Huntingdonshire and Thomas was born in the Eastern Central district of London. It does not say who Thomas' parents were. The marriage service was witnessed by an Edward Flanders (probably Julia;s brother) and Alice Ellen Marsden.

We have yet to find a record of Thomas' birth or baptism. Nor have we been able to ascertain exactly when he travelled to Australia. Ancestry's immigration records show that Julia, along with her parents and two younger siblings - Edward and Alice Flanders - sailed from Plymouth in England on the ZAMORA which arrived at Brisbane on 24 May 1881. The family then went to Gin Gin in Queensland's Bundaberg region where George engaged in sugarcane farming on the Watawa Estate (later known as the New Laidley Settlement). Martha Flanders nee Ingram died at Gin Gin in October 1881 and George married Ellen Mary (Helen) Snelling (1865-1902) at Laidley on 16 June 1884. Helen died in January 1902 and George married Janet McLeod (1851-1922) later the same year. In 1924 he married his fourth wife, Elizabeth Ann Streaton. The Find a Grave website shows that George Flanders, who was born in Bedfordshire in England on 13 June 1853, died at Gin Gin on 21 January 1931. He is buried in an unmarked grave in the local cemetery there (GGA-3 Grave No: 318). It also indicates he had five children with his second wife, Helen.

After their marriage at Ipswich in 1900, Julia joined Thomas in Brisbane South where the electoral rolls have them living on Merivale Street in 1903, Allen Street in 1906, Hope Street in 1908 and back on Allen Street in 1913 and 1916. The 1917 and subsequent rolls show them living at 'Flanders' at 48 Fisher Street in the suburb of Woolloongabba (later Buranda). Over this time they had six children all of whom, Ancestry's 'Queensland Schools Admission Records, 1860-1992' show, attended the East Brisbane State School. These were: Martha Lilian (born on 3 January 1902), Violet Alice (19 October 1903), George Edward (15 July 1906), Ann Evelyn (28 April 1909), Edna Joyce (15 April 1911) and Dorothy Julia Hickmott (28 October 1916). Thomas Hickmott died in Brisbane on 13 September 1942. His funeral notices, published in the Courier Mail the following day, state: 'The Relatives and Friends of Mrs Julia Hickmott and Family are Invited to attend the Funeral of her beloved Husband and their father, Thomas Hickmott (48 Fisher Street, East Brisbane), to move from the Funeral Chapel, Stanley Street, South Brisbane), To-morrow (Tuesday) Forenoon, at 10 o'clock, to Bulimba Cemetery . . . [and] HICKMOTT, Thomas, Onward Bound Lodge, No. 18. P.A.F.S.O.A. The Officers and Members of the above Lodge are invited to attend the Funeral of their deceased Bro., Thomas Hickmott'. Julia Hickmott nee Flanders died three years later, on 16 August 1948. Her funeral notice in the same newspaper read: 'The Relatives & Friends of Misses Lily, Violet, Joyce, & Dorothy Hickmott, Mr & Mrs M. Barber & Family, Mrs I. Hickmott & Ken., are invited to attend the Funeral of their beloved Mother, Mother-in-law, & Grandmother, Mrs Julia Hickmott, of Fisher St., East Brisbane, to leave the Funeral Chapel, Stanley St., South Brisbane, This (Wednesday) Forenoon, at 11.30 o'clock, for Bulimba Cemetery'. Julia and Thomas are buried together in the Bulimba/Balmoral cemetery (Plot 19-133). What of Julia and Thomas' six children? We think four of their girls died without marrying: Edna Joyce in 1954, Martha Lilian in 1972, Violet Alice on 24 August 1995 and Dorothy Julia (date unknown). The Find a Grave website shows Joyce and Violet are buried together in the Bulimba Cemetery (Plot 6-542). As detailed below, their other two children did marry:

1) Ann Evelyn Hickmott (1902-92) married Norman Barber (1905-97) in Brisbane in 1933. Born at Stockport near Manchester in England on 28 March 1905, Norman sailed from London on the TSS JERVIS BAY on 21 October 1924 bound for Brisbane. His military file in the National Archives tell us he enlisted in the Australian Army at Brisbane on 9 January 1942. His NOK was his wife, Ann Evelyn Barber of 'Turncroft', Bennett's Road Norman Park in Brisbane. His previous military experience included 5 years in the cadets and two months in the VDC. Norman served in the Army in Australia until 29 November 1946 at which time he was a sergeant in 112 BMH. After the war Norman and Ann continued living in the inner Brisbane suburb of Norman Park. According to the Find a Grave website, Ann died at Brisbane on 1 October 1992 and Norman in 1997 and are buried together in the Balmoral Cemetery (Section 4, Grave 242). Buried with them are two of their children: Joyce Margaret (1934-5) and Leslie Norman Barber (1943-68). The 'Sacre Family Tree' on Ancestry tells us they had two further daughters one of whom has four children.

2) George Edward Hickmott (1906-45) married Ivy Annie Young (1909-92), youngest daughter of Edmund Thomas Young (1874-1945) and Elizabeth Herbener (1872-1940), in Brisbane on 20 July 1935. The 1937 electoral roll shows George working as a labourer and he and Ivy living on Riding Road in the inner Brisbane suburb of Balmoral. On 3 April 1939, readers of the Daily Telegraph were informed that Mrs G. Hickmott (nee Ivy Young) had given birth to a son - Kenneth George Hickmott - in the Palms Private Hospital at Kangaroo Point on the 1st of April. They were living on Dutton Street in Hawthorne when George died unexpectedly on 28 March 1945. Like his parents, George is buried in Brisbane's Balmoral Cemetery (Section 3, Plot 148F). On 28 March 1948, the still grieving Ivy posted the following tribute in the Brisbane Telegraph: 'HICKMOTT. A tribute of love & re-membrance to my dear Husband & Father, George, passed away March 28th 1945. "As the year passes by your memory grows dearer. There's nothing can sever the bonds of our love; In sunshine or shadow, our hearts bring you nearer. And some day we hope to meet vou above. Ivy & Ken"'. The 1949 and subsequent electoral rolls show Ivy, who was working as a machinist in 1954, lived first in the Brisbane riverside suburb of Toowong (the 1963 roll shows Kenneth George Hickmott, 'lino layer', living with her) and then Chermside where she died in 1992.