Colin Wilson (Albion Staple Colin Wilson to be precise!)

Colin Wilson was born on 13 October 1899.  His parents were Alfred Wilson and Blanche (nee Mead).  Alfred Wilson was the first Minister of the Museum Street Central Perth Baptist Church.  Blanche Mead was the younger daughter of Silas Mead, the first Minister of Flinders Street Baptist Church, who was a key person in the establishment of the Australian Baptist Missionary Society.  Colin's aunt, Gertrude Mead, was the third woman doctor to register in Western Australia (in 1901).  

When Colin was 8 his family went to Wanganui, New Zealand, where his father was the Minister of the church there.  They returned to Perth 1913 where Alfred worked as General Secretary of the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA).

Colin was a well-liked person.  He attended the Modern School, Perth, and was in the tennis team and the cricket team.  Upon finishing school he worked as a bank clerk.  He regularly attended Church with his parents and younger brother, Bernard.  From a relatively young age he was the organist at the Museum Street Baptist Church and he conducted the Sunday School choir – everyone universally agreed that he excelled in music!   

Colin was nearly 5 feet, 8 inches tall, weighing 117 pounds with a chest measurement of 30 inches / 33 inches when taking a breath!  He had a fair complexion, blue eyes and light brown hair.  We know these rather personal details because when Colin was 18 years and 8 months he enlisted for the Australian Imperial Force!

His record shows that he enlisted as a private on 27 June 1918.  He had already been a cadet for four years prior to this.  Colin was eager to serve his country.

Colin embarked on the HMAT “Boonah” at Fremantle on 29 October 1918.  The Boonah was carrying approximately 1000 soldiers and was the last troopship to carry men intended for the battlefields of the Western Front.  The boat reached Durban, South Africa three days after the Armistice was signed and so the boat returned to Australia!  Unfortunately when in South Africa the soldiers on board were exposed to the Spanish Influenza.   The boat returned to Fremantle but the soldiers were not allowed to disembark due to the number of flu cases – nearly 300 of the soldiers were infected (space was at a premium on these boats and so the disease spread very quickly).  The whole situation was a debacle and badly handled!  The sick soldiers were transported to the quarantine station but it was not equipped to handle so many patients and so, desperate by this point, the authorities called for volunteers from a group of military nurses on board the Wyreema.  Twenty nurses came to help – and four of these would themselves eventually succumb to the Spanish Flu.  Twenty six soldiers from the Boonah died.

Diagnosed on 12 December 1918, Colin died just two days later at the Quarantine Station, Woodmans Point at 9am.  

It was noted by The Daily News on Saturday 21 December 1910 that the “tragic death of Private Colin Wilson … has cast quite a gloom over the Baptist Churches, among which he was widely known and loved.  A white memorial services will be held in the Museum Street Baptist Church [Sunday 22 December], the Rev F.E. Harry preaching on “A Soul of Honour”.”

The Central Baptist Sunday School Choir - with Colin Wilson in centre.

RIP Colin…

Relationship to SNR = Friend of great-grandparents

Anna Williams and the Rogers Family

This is a family connection that was mentioned by Frederick Harry in a letter to his daughter: he wrote about his cousin, Olly Rogers, who lived in Adelaide.  Unfortunately I can’t find the exact link.  I believe that Oliver’s mother, Anna Williams (possibly just Ann!) was connected to either Frederick’s mother; or his grandmother (who were both named Mary Williams, and both had mothers called Ann and, I think, sisters called Ann!).  I’ve not been able to find the link which is very frustrating…  However, seeing I have researched Anna Williams and the family, I thought I should write it up! (I've focussed this on Anna - seeing that it is more likely that the family relationship is through her).

Anna Williams was born in about 1833.  I suspect she was born in Wales – Ann Williams was a relatively common name in Wales – but a relevant baptism record hasn’t been found! 

Sometime between 1850 and 1856 Anna Williams married Jonathan Rogers.  

Jonathan was slightly older – possibly about ten years older – born about 1823.  A Jonathan Rogers was registered as a mechanical engineer, at the Pontypool Iron Works in 1853 – this fits his future career and places him close to one of the relevant Williams family who were also living in Pontypool!

Anna and Jonathan’s first child, a daughter named Mary Maude, was born in about 1856 – but again, I don’t know where!! 

By 1858 the family was living in South Australia.  Their daughter, Kate was born in 1858 in Adelaide and a son, William Edward, was born in 1859 in Payneham.  Jonathan was appointed to the South Australian Railways as a first Draftsman in October 1859. 

1862 was a mixed year.  A new son, Oliver Herbert (the Olly referred to in the letter) was born on 21 June, but on 16 August, six year old Mary Maud died of diphtheria.  Anna and Jonathan had a further three children: 1863 – Agnes Maud; 1866 – Annie Edith; and 1870 – Arthur Ernest.  The family now consisted of six children: three boys and three girls.

On 25 April 1887, Anna Rogers died of paralysis aged 54 years.  Paralysis was a relatively common description of death and could possibly have been caused by a stroke or polio or even syphilis (although given that only one of her children had pre-deceased her, this is less likely).  Just ten days later Arthur Ernest (her youngest son) died aged 16 years on 4 May 1887, at the Private Hospital, North Adelaide.  The reason given for his death was “inflammation of the lungs” which could have been Pleurisy or Pneumonia.  It is possible that Anna and Arthur died of the same disease, with either description being incorrect – but could have just been a sad coincidence…

Jonathan Rogers, age 78, died on 10 September 1900.  For many years he had held the position of superintendent of public works in the south-east of South Australia.  One of his highest profile tasks was as the engineer for the Millicent drainage scheme.  The Kingston and Beachport jetties were also constructed under his supervision.  He died at his residence, a farm named Poolna, near Millicent.  The family was later described as a “South Eastern pioneering family”.

Agnes Maud Rogers died on 6 January 1914 (age about 51).  She was unmarried.

Kate Ida Ellis died on 24 November 1927 (age 69), at her daughter’s home in Prospect. She gained a middle name at some point!  Her husband James Ellis had died earlier and they had a daughter and two sons.  Interestingly, she was buried in the Roman Catholic portion of the New Cemetery.

Oliver Herbert Rogers died on 28 June 1929 (age 67) with an obituary published in the Adelaide papers.  He had married Elsie Eliza Roach in 1892 and they had one daughter.  Elsie died at her daughter’s home in Perth on 22 December 1951.

William Edward Rogers died in April 1938 (age 77) in the Naracoorte Hospital.  He had married Rosa Day in 1896; she died a few years before him; and they had no children.

Annie Edith Rogers – who called herself Edith – died on 6 June 1947 (age 81), nearly 10 years after her brother’s death.  She was also unmarried and her death was registered without any details of her parents. 

It would appear that Frederick Harry had met the family, although not Anna - she died before Frederick arrived in Australia.  

Relationship to SNR = possible sibling of great-great-great grandmother

Hugh Dixson

Hugh Dixson was born on 5 June 1810, in Edinburgh, Scotland.  He was the son of Mary Scott and Hugh Dixson, a baker.  When I first voiced an interest in family history, I was told in no uncertain terms that “the family always spelt the surname as D I X S O N”.  However, it appears that Hugh Dixson's father, for most of his life at least, spelt his surname “Dickson”.  This was the spelling he used on marriage to Mary Scott on 25 August 1809 in Edinburgh.  In the 1814 Directory of Midlothian – North (Edinburgh and Leith) he was listed:

Dickson, Hugh baker, 11 Shakespear square

In contrast, Hugh Dixson Junior, with only a few exceptions, used the spelling “Dixson” throughout his life.  It appears that his siblings also started spelling their surname Dixson.  For example, when Hugh's sister Rachael was born, she was baptised as Rachael Dickson.  When she married she used the name Dixson. 

Hugh was educated at Edinburgh High School and served an apprenticeship with a tobacconist before opening his own business as a manufacturer and retailer of tobacco.  The 1833 Directory of Midlothian (North) Edinburgh his entry reads:

Dixon, Hugh, tobacconist, 42 Prince st.

Prince Street was, and still is, one of the main streets in Edingburgh.  It has very few buildings on the south side of the street as a means of protecting the views over the gardens and to Edinburgh Castle.

By 1833 both of Hugh’s parents were deceased.  Hugh Senior died on 24 October 1830 and Mary Scott died on 23 March 1832.  At the time of Mary’s death, Hugh’s was 22 and it is possible that he had responsibility for his siblings.

Hugh Dixson married Helen Craig in Edinburgh, Scotland on 11 April 1837.   Helen Craig was born 25 April 1810 in Edinburgh – about six weeks older than Hugh.  Her parents were Isabella Duncan and Robert Craig.  Robert Craig was described as a shawl maker.   Helen was the second eldest of nine children.

Helen and Hugh with their son Hugh, emigrated from Edinburgh to Sydney on board the Glenswilly departing Greenock on 23 May 1839 and arriving in Sydney on 29 October 1839.  Hugh was encouraged to immigrate to Australia by relatives who had returned from the Colony.  It is unknown who these relatives are, but Helen’s older brother was already living in the Colony (in Goulburn, as it so happens).  Hugh and Helen were part of the Bounty Scheme. 

Upon arriving in Sydney, Hugh Dixson immediately opened a tobacco shop in George Street.  This was the start of one of the largest enterprises of its kind in Australia, the Dixson Tobacco Co. Ltd.  In the early 1840s the city of Sydney was new and was only officially established in 1842.  There were a little over 30,000 people living in the city.  The Dixson family lived at 540 George Street - across the road from Town Hall.  

One of the first things that Hugh Dixson did was to order 400 gross of pipes from Scotland.  These pipes bear an inscription ‘Sydney’ on one side and ‘Dixson’ on the other.  I am lucky enough to own one of these unbroken clay pipes.

Helen and Hugh had 10 children but only 5 survived infancy.  Their children were named according to naming patterns common during the 18^th and 19^th centuries, particularly in Scotland.  The first son is named after his paternal grandfather and the second after his maternal grandfather; the first daughter after her maternal grandmother and the second daughter after her paternal grandmother.  

The first son was Hugh, named after his paternal grandfather.  He was born in Edinburgh, Scotland but died before a second son was born.  Helen and Hugh’s second son was born in Sydney, Australia in 1841 and he was also called Hugh.  Another son was born in 1843, Robert, named after his maternal grandfather.

Their first daughter, born in 1845, was named after her maternal grandmother, Isabella (nee Duncan).   Another son, John Saunders, was born on Christmas Day in 1846, however he died on 7 March 1848.  A second daughter, named Mary after her paternal grandmother Mary Scott, was born on 11 August 1848 but she died on 10 April 1850.  Three more sons were born: Craig in 1850, Andrew in 1852 (who subsequently died in 1854) and Thomas in 1854. 

According to the death certificate of Helen Dixson, completed by her son-in-law, another child was born, however the child must have died at birth or soon afterwards as neither the birth or death appears to have been officially registered.  It is possible that her son-in-law merely miscounted the number of children.

Helen and Hugh must have spoken to their Scottish relatives glowingly about Australia as a number of their family emigrated from Scotland to Australia.  In particular, Hugh's sister, Rachael came to Australia in 1858 with her second husband, John Watson and their family.  John Watson became a successful Chemist in Australia - but that's another story!

The family grew up predominantly in Sydney.  In around 1860, Hugh relocated his family and business to Twofold Bay, near Kiandra presumably to take advantage of the goldrush, but it was not as successful as he had hoped and by 1862 the family was again in Sydney at 193 York Street.  In 1864 Hugh and Robert became partners of their business with their father and the company was renamed Dixson and Sons Pty Ltd.  In 1875 the business moved to Castlereagh Street. 

Hugh Dixson was committed Baptist and respected as a good employer.  The Empire Newspaper, Sydney, on Saturday 26 January 1867 reported on a presentation to Hugh.  The address read:

"Presented to Hugh  Dixson, Esq., senior, by his Employees, on the occasion of his departure from Sydney, NSW, to England, as a mark of their esteem and a token of their appreciation of his uniform kindness and general consideration displayed on all occasions towards them.-Respected Sir : In bidding you farewell we feel we should be deeply wanting in

gratitude did we permit you to depart without in some tangible form manifesting to you the high regard in which you have ever been hold by us. Whilst maintaining your position as an employer, you have without sacrifice of self-respect, in the most courteous and friendly manner, mingled with us in healthful recreations, and by your generosity on those occasions to us and our families, you have contributed considerably to our health and happiness, and to the promotion of those feelings of respect and goodwill that should ever exist between an employer and his servants. Nor are we forgetful of the numerous instances in which you have sympathised with us in sickness, and by your good advice and spontaneous pecuniary assistance, relieved us from pressing liabilities. The junior assistants and apprentices have ever been the peculiar subjects of your solicitude, and anxiety for their moral and social advancomant has been constantly manifested in the fatherly advice and admonitions which you have tendered for their welfare. We heartily congratulate you upon your commercial success, and we trust that the Divine Providence may still be vouchsafed to you and your family ; and that after a safe and pleasant voyage, you may again revisit the scenes of your childhood, and should your heart be saddened by finding that many with whom you were once familiar, and who would have welcomed you with warm congratulations, have long since been deposited in the silent tomb, you may be cheered and reanimated in the thought that in this sunny clime, so long the land of your adoption, and endeared to you by so many ties, there are many warm and loving hearts, who will long after your career on earth is ended revere your name and bless your memory."

Hugh thanked his employees for these words, adding that he wanted to treat people as he would like to be treated and advised that he was visiting some "States of America" to look at the growth and manufacture of tobacco and to look at the improved machinery.

His children were all well educated.  The Scots are known for their commitment to education and Hugh Dixson had signed a petition for better provision for education.  Hugh and Robert - the two elder sons - worked with their father in the tobacco business.  The two younger sons, Craig and Thomas, were both medical doctors.  Isabella, the only daughter to survive childhood, married Rev Frederick Hibberd, a Baptist Minister.  

Hugh Dixson died at home in 111 Victoria Street, Darlinghurst, Sydney on 3 November 1880.  At his death, his estate for probate was valued at over thirty five thousand pounds.  Helen went to live with her daughter, Isabella.  She died at their home in Holden Street, Ashfield, Sydney on 5 February 1894.  Hugh and Helen Dixson are buried in Rookwood Cemetery, Sydney.

Christian Rowe Thornett

Christian Dixson was born in 1879, the daughter of Emma Elizabeth and Hugh Dixson (she was the sixth child and third daughter!).  She married Arthur John Rowe Thornett on 23 November 1902 at her parents’ home Abergeldie, in Summer Hill, Sydney.  They were married by her uncle, Rev Frederick Hibberd.  Christian was 23 and Arthur was 36 plus he had previously been married. And that is the last reference to Arthur… Not quite, the last reference was in the divorce records lodged by Christian in England in 1910.

Christian spent the next fifty years travelling extensively.  For many years her home was in Monte Carlo, but with war looming in the mid 1930s she relocated to Australia. 

She was a part of the ‘social set’ and her movements were often reported on.  In addition, she continued an interest in many of the charities supported by her mother, who died in April 1922. 

Some examples of these are:

• In June 1922, Christian opened the Surry Hills Welfare Centre.
• The Evening News (Sydney), on 7 September 1922, reported that Christian was the patron of the “Powder and Patches Ball” raising funds for the “Little Citizens Kindergarten, which is the charge of the Feminist Club”.
• Christian officially opened the fete at the Trinity Grammar School, South Ashfield, in September 1925.
• Christian and her sister, Emma Keep, entertained 120 members of the Dulwich Hill Scout Troop at a Christmas party in December 1929.
• The Canberra Times, on Saturday 21 April 1934 noted that “The Excellencies the Governor General and Lady Isaacs entertained at Government house yesterday afternoon, delegates of the fifth Australian Cancer Conference.  Captain and Mrs Chester Wells and Mrs C Thornett are the guests of her Excellency Lady Isaacs at Government House, Canberra.” (Mrs Chester Wells was Christian’s sister, Marion). 
• In an article in the Sydney Morning Herald on 20 August 1943, it was reported that Christian had lost a diamond platinum ring valued at £3,000 somewhere in the city.  It was found later in the day by the proprietress of Turkish baths, under a mat in a cubicle at the baths (Christian had visited during the afternoon!).
• In October 1951 Christian paid for the carpeting of Christ Church, Kiama.  Later in the year she presented Sunday School prizes at the Church.

She was an avid collector – like her older brother William (who bequeathed his collections and funds to establish the Dixson Library).  In order to store all her items, she had specially constructed barns erected at her property near Kiama.  She had a special collection of fans which were donated to the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.

She died on 26 February 1972, aged 93.  She had no children, so she gave just over $150,000 to her friends and family and the remainder of her $1,068,528 estate was distributed to twelve different charities.  For example:

• ·      The Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts and Trinity Grammar School received substantial sums of money;
• ·      Funding was given to the University of NSW to establish a scholarship – the “Christian Rowe Thornett Scholarship” – for postgraduate studies in the development of agricultural science; and
• ·      The Powerhouse Museum has a number of items donated by Christian. 

[Relationship to SNR = cousin of great-great grandmother]