Jane Carne, with
her husband and four young children departed Plymouth, England on 14 October
1854 along with 201 other people on the Medway
bound for Port Philip, Australia. It is possible that Jane had never left
Plymouth before boarding the Medway.
The young couple had presumably decided that the new Colony offered more
opportunities than remaining in England. I wonder if Jane ever regretted this
decision, thinking she might have avoided certain heartaches if they had stayed
in Devon, England. Then again, life for a woman in the 19th Century was
expected to be difficult, and despite a number of tragic events, Jane lived a
long and full life with many wonderful occasions to celebrate.
Jane was born on 18
May 1822 in Stoke Damerel, Devon, now an inner suburb of Plymouth. She was the
daughter of Mary (nee Hundrey) and William Baker, a bricklayer. Jane was
baptised on 18 June 1826 at the Independent Mount Zion Church in Devonport,
along with two younger siblings. This area was relatively affluent at the
time and the Baker family lived at 30 Queen Street, about 250 metres from the
coastline. Jane’s father died before the 1841 Census: but it is difficult to
determine exactly when (William Baker is a very common name).
On 20 April 1845
Jane married William John Carne at East Stonehouse Parish Church, very close to
Stoke Damerel. William was a mason and he also came from a relatively well off
family.
Jane and William
had nine children together. The first five were born when they lived in Stoke
Damerel:
Mary Jane, born at
the end of 1845
Henry, born 1848
Ellen, born in 1850
and died on 26 July 1852
William Henry, born
in May 1852
Ellen, named after
her older sister and born at 4:00 am on 13 May 1854. Ellen was only five months
old when the family migrated to Australia.
The family arrived
in Melbourne in January 1855 and lived in Bedford Street, Collingwood. A
further four children were born:
James Baker, born
in 1857
Alfred Harris, born
in 1859
Caroline, born in
1861, and died on 29 November 1862
Fanny Elizabeth,
born in July 1863, when Jane was 41.
Jane’s younger
brother also migrated to Australia with his wife. He was a carpenter, but became a teacher in
Wyndham. William’s brother, John, his wife, Mary and their children lived in
the same street in Collingwood as Jane and William. The two families had also
lived in the same address in Granby Street.
Tragedy hit both Carne
families on Christmas Day in 1865. Some of the children decided to go Merri
Creek for an afternoon swim. It wasn’t a particularly hot day, but it was a
public holiday and the weather was sunny and fine. William dived from the bank
head first and came up on his back. His cousin Samuel immediately saw this and
called out an alarm before jumping in fully clothed in order to assist his
cousin. He grabbed hold of him, but
wasn’t able to swim. Henry saw that
Samuel was struggling and so he rushed in to help him. Meanwhile Samuel’s brother, George, managed
to find a police officer who came to the waterhole to help, but they were too
late and all three boys had drowned. The inquest noted that none of the boys
could swim. As a result of the accident it was recommended that notice boards
should be put up advising the varying depth of the waterholes and that safety
equipment should be kept at the Northcote Police Station. It must have been
devastating to lose two sons and their cousin in such a way.
In 1875 Jane and
William became grandparents with the birth of Ellen Jane (daughter of Ellen).
Ellen, James and Alfred all had a number of children (the brothers married two
sisters). Alfred was a Methodist Minister and went to Samoa as a missionary. Mary
married, but did not have any children.
Jane’s youngest daughter
Fanny Elizabeth died on 23 June 1884 when she was just 20 years 11 months.
Then, after 48
years of marriage, William John died on Saturday 25 November 1893, when the couple
was living in Prospect Grove, Northcote.
.jpg) |
| Jane in about 1890 |
Jane would also
have been concerned about the death in 1989 of Alfred’s wife, Mary, who had
moved to South Australia upon their return to Australia. The couple had six children. Alfred married a
young widow in 1900 and they had a further four children.
Jane’s first great
grandchild was born in 1900 when she was 78.
Someone wisely suggested that a studio photo be taken of the four
generations: Jane, Ellen, Ellen Jane and baby Albert Clifford Green.
Jane’s son James
Baker died suddenly on 13 September 1904 when he was 47 years old. He was visiting his son in Euroa at the time
of his death, but was living in Williamstown and working for the Department of
Ports and Harbours. He had four
children. James was buried in Melbourne General Cemetery in a gravesite that
also mentioned Jane’s two children who had died as infants: Ellen in 1852 and
Caroline in 1862.
Sadly some of
Jane’s grandchildren died in the latter part of Jane’s life, including the young
mother Ellen Jane.
Jane Carne was 85
when she died on 21 June 1907 in her daughter’s home at 166 McKean Street,
Fitzroy North. Her husband and six of her children had pre-deceased her; but
she was survived by three children, 12 grandchildren and two
great-grandchildren. The notice in The Argus on Saturday 22 June read:
CARNE - On the 21st
June, at the residence of her daughter, Mrs A. Joyce, 166 McKean-street, North
Fitzroy, Jane, relict of the late William John Carne, of Collingwood, aged 85
years. No flowers by request. At rest.
She was buried at
Melbourne General Cemetery the following day and was the last person to use the
family plot. In September 2014 I visited the Carne family graves in Melbourne
General Cemetery. It is a reminder of the sad events that took place in
Jane’s life. The main gravesite is in the independent section of the
Cemetery and is a double sized plot (long and thin) with a black stone obelisk
and writing on seven white stone slabs: five around the four sides of the
obelisk and two horizontal. It is not known which slab was the first to be
used, and of the seven slabs, only two are legible. The details are:
1.
Large, high slab
at the front of the grave with only the name legible: William Henry Carne / age
13 yrs 7 mths.
2.
Smaller slab
directly underneath slab 1, all details able to be read, but only just: In
loving remembrance of Fanny Elizabeth Carne. Who departed this life in Hope of
eternal life / through the merits of her dear redeemer / June 23rd
1884 aged 20 years & 11 months. / She hath escaped all danger now/ Her pain
and sighing all are fled / The crown of joy is on her brow / Eternal glories
o'er her shed / In robes of white, a queen, a bride / She standeth at her
Sovereign's side [Taken almost verbatim from verse two of the hymn “Now rests
her soul in Jesu’s arms” by Johann Ludwig Conrad Allendorf (1725); Translator:
Catherine Winkworth (1855)]
3.
Horizontal slab on
the same side as 1 and 2, all words able to be read, but there is significant
wearing and in time the words will fade: In Affectionate Remembrance of /
William John Carne / who fell asleep in Jesus / November 25th 1893 /
Age 71 years / There remaineth therefore a rest / to the people of God [Taken
from Hebrew 4:9, King James Bible]
4.
Large, high slab,
in line with slab 1 and on the left side, only name is legible: Samuel Carne /
age 17 yrs 2 mths.
5.
Large, high slab
in line with slab 1, and on the right side, only name is legible: and
Henry Carne / 13 yrs
6.
Large, high slab
in line and directly behind slab 1, totally illegible: Sacred to the memory of
Henry & William Henry Carne / beloved sons of William John and Jane Carne /
also Samuel Carne 1865 / their cousin.
7. Horizontal
slab on the same side as slab 6, totally illegible: In memory of Jane / beloved
wife of W.J.Carne / died 21 Jun 1907, 85 years.
 |
| Carne Memorial at Melbourne General Cemetery |
A second grave is located in Methodist Section A, which says:
CARNE
In memory of the children of William and Jane CARNE
Ellen, died 28 Jul 1852 at Devonport, Devon, England
age 2 years
also Caroline, died 29 Nov 1862 at Collingwood
age 13 months
also J.B. Carne
husband of Catherine Carne
died 19 Sep 1904, age 47
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