Key Dates

 

1869 January              

Sarah Fanny Bracher begins teacher training in Prahran, Melbourne

1869  July        

Death of Emma, Amelia Bracher at Kangaroo Flat

1871 June 4

Death of George Bracher Snr at Alderbury, Wiltshire, England

1871 September 

George Bracher jnr discharges his debts in the Supreme Court of Victoria

1872-1873                  

George Bracher jnr speculates heavily on Bendigo mining stocks

1873                           

George and Sarah Louisa Bracher are living in Willis St, Sandhurst

1874                           

Sarah Louisa begins running a boarding house at 4 Victoria Terrace, Sandhurst

 

The one bright spot in the Bracher family’s life during the mid to late 1860s was Sarah Fanny’s return from Sydney. No doubt she regaled them for months with stories of her previous five years with Aunt Amelia in the harbour city.

 

Her time there would have enabled her to set ambitions much higher than she had previously imagined. The crudity and harshness of life in Kangaroo Flat must have been in stark contrast to her aunt’s relatively prosperous life in Rushcutters Bay, Macleay Street and, from the early 1860s, in ‘Waverley House’ on Old South Head Road.

 

In December 1868 Sarah Fanny received a letter from the St James Training Institution, Commercial Road, Prahran, Melbourne, advising her that she had passed the entrance examination for admission to teacher training. She started in the new year of 1869 and was sitting her first exams by May.

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Sarah Fanny’s success in Melbourne contrasted dramatically with father George’s continuing lack of fortune. By 1868 George was 52 and, while not old by today’s standards, it was a relatively advanced age for that era. It was nearly 40 years before Australia passed the Invalid and Old Age Pension Act (1908). George’s ailing health, lack of qualification, insolvency and his seeming inability to stick at anything, continued to make life difficult not only for him, but extremely difficult for Sarah Louisa and their dependant children, George, 11, Emma Amelia, 15, and Ada Louisa, 9.

 

During 1868 George took to the road looking for work of any nature. Often his family would not know his whereabouts or when he would return. Sarah Louisa wrote to daughter Sarah Fanny in October 1868:

 

“ I have not heard or seen anything of papa since he left here (ie Kangaroo Flat) last Wed week..I feel full of anxiety about (????) to find out what to do for the best…our present way cannot last long it will not find food for the children……We seem to be quite in the wrong place for everything just now, both for ourselves and the dear children, that God will of his goodness direct and undertake for us is my earnest prayer….”

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George tried put his daughter’s mind to rest the following month when he wrote about his latest venture:

 

“…I think your mama told you I had been away from home for 3 weeks. I went to the (???) Station, about 8 miles from Taradale. I was there a little over a fortnight.  The first week I was sheep shearing and the next week I was dipping sheep in hot Tobacco (??) water for which I received altogether 2 pounds, 2 shillings and six pence, out of which I sent mama 2 pounds. I then went on 20 miles to try and get another job. In fact I went to 5 different stations but I was a week before they commenced, but some of them would have detained me until they were ready but because I could not guarantee to shear as many in a day as the old experienced hands they would not engage me, so I was obliged to come home again very footsore from tight boots. I was then thinking of starting again the next week when I was taken very ill all night, so I intend to remain at home for a short time until the harvest commences, when I shall take another turn around the country, besides there are many little things wanting to be done at home….”

 

By early the following year George had secured some work in property valuation:

 

“…I am going from home for 6 or 7 weeks. I have got the district of South Bourke which commences about 6 miles this side of Keilor and strikes away west to the Werribee Creek, then down along the sea road to Williams Town, from thence to Footscray across to the (?????) North Melbourne to Pentridge for 10 miles on the Sydney Road, then across to the railway line. I have all the farms, vineyards, schools and native industries to take (???) this boundary. There is over 1,000 farms and vineyards. I calculate it will take me 7 weeks and then I must be pretty sharp. The price is so low that I can barely earn 2 pounds per week at it and then there is my expenses to come out of that….”

 

Because of George’s piecemeal work the family income was very low. Sarah Louisa was unable to send her daughter all the money she required to live and study in Prahran.

 

“ Your kind note to your father came to hand and sorry am I over income is so scant that I cannot help as I ought or could wish. You know I will always do what I can with all my heart and I still hope times may be improved….

 

“….Papa just keeps us in meat and that is a very small item in the expenses of a family like ours. The goats are a failure at present. They kidded too early….and all the kids dead but one. Amelia intends night after night to write but is too poorly and tired and has to go to bed…”

 

During mid 1869 Sarah Louisa received news by letter that her brother, Henry Hastings Hall, and his wife Dora had lost their house and all belongings in a fire at Mandurah. By the following year her younger brother, William Shakespeare Hall, had been forced to surrender everything to his creditors. Therefore, any possible financial lifeline from Western Australia was highly unlikely.

 

However, the biggest shadow hanging over the Bracher household in Kangaroo Flat was the growing illness of 15 year old Emma Amelia. Her illness is first mentioned in letters of February 1869. She had returned to work during March at a local business called Hendersons, but it was her intention to become a pupil teacher.

 

By July 1869 Sarah wrote to her daughter that Emma Amelia was

“so very ill…retching night and day for a week. Amelia has been and still is so very ill that I have less time than ever. She was retching night and day for a week and could not retain anything on her stomach yesterday and today…..Pa is going on with his cider at present...it takes more than he can make to pay for bottles, casks etc”

 

Within a few weeks the situation had become grave: “…She is in a very dangerous state and the doctor is very attentive and greatly fears  (??)  brain fever. He says hers is a bad case, she is terribly thin..we will try to write daily to let you know how she is….on Thursday the doctor ordered her head to be shaved all over without delay….for the last two days and nights she has been quite delirious and has hardly spoken a sensible word. She has had three leaches on each temple and cold water cloths on her head…”

 

On July 25th 1869, after three weeks of Typhoid Fever, a death certificate was written for their child, who was buried at Kangaroo Flat on July 29th. Father George was struck with emotion. He spelt out his feelings in a letter to Sarah Fanny in September 1869:

 

“…I have been in very low spirits ever since dear Amelia’s death. I cannot get over it every time I hear the girls sing in the Chapel, previous to the reading of the scripture, especially if it is some of her old favourite tunes. It makes me weep and I seem to fancy every now and then I hear her voice mingling with the rest, and I look round and she is not there. We have made a little flower garden over her grave. Mr Taylor borrowed Jenning’s cart and put a foot of rich black soil on the top, a lot of quartz stones around for the border, bought a little Cyprus and planted it at her head. Mrs George and Mrs Pile planted some daisies and other flowers all over it…it is a sacred spot, we all visit it every Sunday afternoon, she is always uppermost in my thoughts night and day. I take no pleasure in doing anything about the place, it seems so desolate without her, but we must all submit to the will of our Heavenly Father. We came into the world one by one and one by one we shall leave it.”

 

Sarah Fanny had failed her Training College examination held during May. Aunt Amelia provided consoling words of advice:

 

“ Amy was here a few days since and she told me of your disappointment. These examinations are not very good guarantee for proficiency. Still they are troublesome to get through especially for young people who have not studied closely. The papers only require care and work, but the questions are more difficult because although if you had time for reflection you might have the information which would ensure correctness, still the answer must be given rapidly. I hope you may be more fortunate the next time because having tried, it is not well to fail, especially if at any future period of your life you may be required to teach – and things are so uncertain in young countries that however well placed people may be at the beginning of their life very unforseen circumstances frequently bring all faculties into use. These ‘times’ have tried many in Sydney whose position a few years seemed very secure…”

 

Sarah Fanny’s financial situation was helped during November when her grandfather in Wiltshire sent her a credit note for 25 pounds. She had also passed the end of year examinations, which enabled her to obtain a First Class Training Certificate and to begin as an Assistant Teacher at Epsom, just north of Bendigo. Her mentor, Aunt Amelia, was delighted:

 

“ You cannot tell how delighted we are at your success and especially at your having obtained a school so near the Flat that you may have the comfort of seeing your family so frequently – it will indeed be a blessing for your mama to have you so frequently. When I wrote to you months ago that having gone to the Institute it would be better to succeed I did not know a school would depend upon the certificate. I am indeed thankful you have got through so nicely and I do hope you will find your new position a pleasant one…….”

 

There should be no underestimating the influence of Aunt Amelia on the academic and emotional development of Sarah Fanny. Amelia’s nephew, Ted Hall, wished to marry Sarah Fanny, but the union was opposed by Aunt Amelia. Ted would not go against his aunt’s wishes, such was the emotional control Amelia wielded over her relatives.

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Sarah Fanny's start as a teacher could not have been better timed. The Education act of 1872 removed state funding of non-government schools, and created a new Education Department to control government schools. State funded schools grew from 648 in 1863 to 1,048 in 1872. The State employed 2,416 teachers/  instructors, of which about half were female. Additionally, there were 881 private and church schools, employing 1,764 teachers. The profession of teaching the young minds of Victoria took a sharp upward turn.

 

George and Sarah owned five blocks of land in Kangaroo Flat in 1871, while their daughter owned two blocks of land. It cannot be imagined that the land held any great value, as the parents were still in dire financial circumstances only a year before. However, a financial lifeline was thrown to them in mid 1871, which should have enabled them to rebuild their lives.

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George Bracher Senior died on June 4th, 1871 in the town of Alderbury, a village three miles south-east of Salisbury and was buried in St Mary's churchyard, Alderbury. The long-time employee of the Wiltshire and Dorset Bank had become a director between 1859 and 1861. In 1849 he had been appointed to the Grand Jury of the Salisbury City Sessions and as Overseer for the Parish of St Edmunds in Salisbury. In 1852 he was appointed as Foreman of the Grand Jury on the City's General Quarter Sessions. For the last decade of his life he had served on the committee of the Salisbury Infirmary, which was the country hospital for Wiltshire. This role  brought him into direct contact with the nobility, as well as civic and clerical leaders of Salisbury and Wiltshire. Although no longer in the employ of the bank, George dabbled during his latter years in the running of the Salisbury Penny Bank and the Salisbury Savings Bank and Annuity Society. The man who started working life helping in his mother's tinsmith business had risen to a position of some stature  in the cathedral city.

 

The 76 year old died of an abdominal tumour and, while his son was no doubt saddened to receive the news, the 40 year separation and years of condescension from his father probably meant that the grieving process was not too lengthy. Any grief, however, must have been assuaged by the news received later that year that he had left 2,800 pounds to his son, as well as 1,000 pounds to be shared between the three children. The death of Emma Amelia meant that her share was redistributed to the three remaining children, resulting in each receiving 333 pounds.

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George Senior had amassed a sizeable amount during his career as a merchant, banking official and investor. At the time of his death he held assets of 17,352 pounds, which, after deduction of debts and expenses, left a legacy of 15,500 pounds for distribution, plus a residue of 1,205 pounds. His eldest son by his second marriage, John Howes Bracher, was executor of the estate and wrote to George regarding the distribution of monies to his children:

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“..If you should find that you do not want to make use of this money for your children I can invest it and let it accumulate here till they are of age – perhaps you will let me hear if you should approve of the suggestion before the next payment comes due.”

 

With his inheritance, George was able to discharge his debts in the Supreme Court of Victoria on September 8th, 1871. After the discharge, George obviously had a considerable sum left over, because within a few months he was listed in the 1872 Sandhurst Directory as being a ‘Mining Speculator’ of Kangaroo Flat. By 1871 the town of 29,000 had outgrown its initial alluvial gold reserves and was then more dependent on the rich gold-bearing quartz reefs. It is said that more gold was found in Bendigo between 1850 and 1900 than anywhere else in the world.

​

George’s father’s abstemiously garnered money was burning a hole in his son’s pocket and, rather than use it to generate a sustainable income, he chose to join the many thousands of people at the time who gambled their livelihoods in the hope of riding the mining boom.

 

An undated list of his mining shares held in 1873 lists 5035 shares held in 18 mining companies:

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First Chance Tribute Co.

Central Burra Tribute Company

Argus Tribute Company

Balmoral Tribute Company

South Hartman’s Company Limited

Rankin Gold Mining Company

St Michaels Mount Tribute Company

Cullens Tribute

Diamond Hill Tribute

Premier Gold Company

Pass By Tribute Co.

Buffalo Head Tribute

Dicks tribute Company

Red White & Blue Extended Tribute Company

No 90 Tribute Company

 

Luckily, the children’s inheritance was not placed at the discretion of their father. John Howes Bracher acted as investor and mentor to the children, and for many years the correspondence between them shows an almost filial relationship, including sound investment advice provided by the banker. He first wrote to Sarah Fanny in January 1872:

 

“….am pleased and happy to be trusted with your little (I beg your pardon large) affairs and will endeavour to be a faithful servant and ready at any time to render an account of my stewardship. I am already guardian to a pack of the rising generation and Godfather to half a dozen besides, but you are my first charge at the antipodes. In one of my letters to your father I told him I would (?????) and invest some of the money in Wiltshire & Dorset shares, but that all your eggs might not be in one basket and be smashed by one blow. I have further bought or transferred from my own name a New South Wales bond. The shares I have put at the price I had them, viz 37 pounds each, so that you have…

 

5 shares @ 37        185

1 bond                   102.10

                              287.10

legacy only               4.0

                             291.10

Letter of credit

Herewith               40.0

Balance in hand     1.1.8

1/3 of

1000 pounds      333.6.8

 

of course you will not fail to write to me if at any time you have any suggestions to offer. As I shall direct this to your father’s residence, I ask you to give him a message and that is, that I have not sent him any money with this letter because I thought it better to hear that the 1000 pounds I sent in November had reached, as there is also 300 pounds on the road which I sent in December and the remainder of his money which I have in hand is bearing nil interest. Please also tell him that I have made the 55 pounds alright and that I may write him again by next mail…I am very glad to hear from time to time that you are so comfortable in your noble pursuit of training the young – don’t forget the opportunity you have of instilling in their minds the earliest seeds which shall bear fruit for eternity…..by the bye, please tell your father that the house at Wincanton was sold ages ago and that my father was not possessed of an acre of land nor a barrow full of bricks and mortar..”

 

No doubt using part of the proceeds from his father’s estate, George and Sarah decided to take a trip to see the Hall relatives in Sydney in March 1872. Even on holiday it seems that George’s mind was constantly at work in search of a business opportunity, as Sarah Louisa’s letter to her daughter indicates:

 

“…The quartz is turning out far more gold here than in Victoria. Pa is going to the diggings and Ted and Herbert want to go too, but cannot get time. Ted has made one or two good specks. Herbert is getting rich fast. He has lately bought a house for 2,000 pounds…Ted is much better looking than his photo. He has greatly improved since I last saw him. Pa gets on well with them all. Ted came from Waverly yesterday in the pouring rain to see when we were likely to arrive..he is going to do up his books and take a holiday for 2 or 3 days to show us about Sydney…We are hoping all is going well at home and that George and Louisa are as good as you could desire…”

 

By January 1873 Sarah and George had moved into a new home in Wills Street, Sandhurst, though George’s health was still causing concern:

 

“…Papa no doubt said enough to assure you that our change is likely to be a pleasant one. We like the house very well and the locality is healthy. The house is about as good as Piles with the addition of a nice kitchen and water laid on…Papa was so unwell that he did not do a single thing. He had his hand in a sling all day with pain in his shoulder. I had to dress and undress him for nearly a week…”

 

It didn’t take long for the folly of George’s large scale speculation to become obvious, as a letter written during March 1874 to George from James Jackson of Camperdown reveals:

 

“ I have just received yours dated 18th I am glad to hear that you are all well, but the depreciation in mining stock is something frightful. It just reminds of what we often talked about. I am very sorry to admit that both of our better halves advised us for our good and we would not but no one could withstand the temptation, and look on besides sometimes making money, but still it is sad, as we are both getting old and not so able to work. We were rather surprised to hear of you moving again already but no doubt unless for your advantage you would not. I am sorry you have so much trouble one way and another, and for the insurance policy I never thought of trying to take any advantage. Neither did I remember that it was included in the deed, but before signing my interest away…”

 

A letter from his half brother in England later that year indicates that George had been bemoaning the quality of the stock brokers:

 

“Here comes another half year’s interest on the remaining childrens’ share – and with it my best thanks for your last letter, or I rather think – letters, as I believe I have had two since I last wrote, and both of which gave rather prominent mention to the mining matters, but as you don’t paint the stock brokers and all their fraternity in very flattering terms, I hope you are giving them the cold shoulder and that your acquaintance with them has not been any detriment to you.”

 

By 1874 George’s short-won reprieve from debt and hardship was over for them both. George wrote to the Marong Shire, tendering to conduct property valuation services. Around this time Sarah began running a boarding house at 4 Victoria Terrace. It is not clear, but it would seem that they retained the house in Rowan Street because for a couple of years letters were sent from both addresses.

 

Throughout the 1870s Sarah Louisa wrote to her daughter frequently about the comings and goings of her boarders; their personalities and their often late payments. During early 1876 she wrote about having a ‘full house’ of nine boarders. However, it must have been a competitive business for boarders in Bendigo at the time. At times Sarah refers to servant help. In July 1877 she wrote about having to pay 10 or 11 shillings wages to secure staff.

 

A letter from Sarah to George, written while he was away seeking work in August 1874  indicates that George’s sometimes difficult personality and his complete lack of financial acumen were again taking its toll on the family:

 

“ My dear husband, I was not surprised that you and Jones parted on such short notice as he evidently did not appreciate the many good qualities you really possess. The fact is he should look for a man of low stamp, one used to a laborious life and if he took a good part of his pay in “Eau de Vie” Jones would no doubt like him all the better. The way he treated you about the cows was absurd and shows he or she knew nothing themselves about the matter……Both Mrs Rogers new houses are empty and so are those of ours I mentioned before still empty….I am sorry to find the rates are 4 pounds, 2 shillings besides Fanny’s at Kangaroo Flat and must be paid as the new collector is very prompt. Our rates for ’73 are 14/2/6 and for ’74 8/.16/.10/18/. Of course this is besides the Bridge St. Mr Massak saw Fanny and said they must be paid at once. I am quite in a fix as to what to do as I have not enough to pay current expenses and everything is still very bad in Sandhurst.”

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 By mid 1875 her letters to George were taking a more strident tone:

 

“ I really don’t see anyway out of the bank difficulty, but your going this (??) the court for they will always be (???) us and we shall have no peace. I have a lady and a gent come last night for a week or two and I am scratching along the best way I can…When you write tell me where to (???) you, perhaps the post office. Let me know. I shall be very anxious till I know things are more settled.”.

 

There must have been a small amount of money still due to Sarah Louisa from her parent’s estate, which George began to pursue. A reply from George Lazenby in Perth in December 1875 didn’t present much hope:

 

“..I beg to acknowledge the receipt of your very kind letter of the 17th and in reply to state that the money due to Mr Bracher has not yet been placed in my hands, but you can assure Mr Bracher that so soon as I can get hold of it I will lose no time in forwarding it to him, in the meantime he must exercise a little patience….”

 

By February 1876 George Lazenby wrote to Sarah Louisa with better news:

 

“…Enclosed I forward you the money so long expected. I only received it on the 19th, two days ago, so I have not lost much time in forwarding it to you and hope you will receive it by this mail. From a letter sent to Henry, it would appear that Mr Bracher was surprised you had not received the balance due you. This however was impossible except had I advanced it out of my own pocket, which I am sure you neither expected nor wished me to do. The other two allotments that were sold at the some time as yours the Council cannot find out who they belong to, so the balance due will be paid in the Supreme Court, agreeable to Mr Bracher’s wish, the money is made payable to you only and all you have to do on the receipt of this, will be to present the orders at the Post Office, Sandhurst, stating that you have received them from Mr G. Lazenby of Perth. And you will get the money. I have not charged anything for my trouble….”

 

Allotment sold for 33 pounds

City Council claims  17, 4,4

Auctioneers Comm. 1, 13, 0

Transfer to Victoria  0, 3, 0

Money orders sent  13,19,8

 

Total                             33 pounds

 

Sarah Fanny had long since left home and was working at Epsom. Prior to 1872, education in the state of Victoria was voluntary and was undertaken through private contract between families and private providers, or church-based schools. The quality of teaching varied considerably, although it was believed at the time that Victoria was well ahead of other states in educational standards. However, the State of Victoria wanted to introduce a teaching system that was both free and compulsory and in 1872 legislated for it. State schools flourished throughout Victoria during the 1870s, with more than 1,000 opening in places from remote country districts to the suburbs of Melbourne. The need for qualified teachers must have been great and opportunities were therefore abundant, even if the role of headmaster was never within womens’ reach. Sarah Fanny’s timing could not have been better. By 1876 she had been appointed First Assistant Teacher at Dunolly on an annual salary of 130 pounds. During the next 20 years she held school posts throughout the local district: Emu Point; Bullock Creek Road;  Golden Square; Gravel Hill School Sandhurst; Sandhurst North; Golden Point, and finally at Porlington on the Bellarine Peninsula.

 

Ada Louisa (‘Louie’ as she was affectionately known) was the only child still living at home. During the early to mid 1870s she was being educated in Kyneton, while George Henry was working in Melbourne. George had attended the local denominational school until he was 12, when he entered Sandhurst High School for two years. He started working at 15 in a foundry in Kyneton, but he soon secured a junior position in the saddlery of Mr Jon Snow of Sandhurst, where he spent the next four years, which also enabled him to play, with some success, in the local football competition:

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“…George has got great praise in the B & M papers for his wonderful foot-ball play. I was very much opposed to his going at all and feared life or limb would be in danger… Snow has been very short of money. Is he not foolish to run about to Melbourne and other places and neglect his business? George longs to be earning more than he is getting now and will not be contended at home much longer I fear….”

 

After that time, he spent 12 months in Hay, NSW working as a journeyman harness maker. Perhaps in response to his father’s poor financial record, from the earliest of letters it seems that George Henry was determined to do better. Writing to his sister from Hay in May 1876 he comments:

 

“…The company I am obliged to associate with here are not my sorts. Hewitson is a very good boss when he is sober but when he is drunk he is an aggravating fool. I think he intends to send me out on the Lachlan with the wagon in a week or two. I hope he does this for then I will be my own boss to a certain extent., I have got 15 pounds saved and I am saving every farthing for future events.”

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No doubt attracted by the higher wages available in Melbourne, he spent two years honing his trade with Mr Eyton’s saddlery in Queen Street, Melbourne. Beyond Eytons, George Henry took on the management of the saddler department at Mr Pride’s factory in Geelong for four years. It was towards the end of his time in Geelong that in 1881 he purchased  for 132 pounds, 30 shillings a half share in the photographic business of Matthews and Co, located at 60 Moorabool Street. George evidently didn't want to work in his photographic business, because he then spent 10 months at the Hon. J. Colton’s factory in Adelaide, then to Melbourne to work for a few months each at D. Alton and Co, Gutheridge and Powers, and T.J. Walkers. (Extract from Victoria and its metropolis, 1888). He then started a wholesale factory in Post Office Place, in central Melbourne, which he operated for five months, before relocating to Barkly Street Footscray.

 

Having lost two children during the previous 24 years, it is understandable that Sarah Louisa clung to her remaining offspring. Her lifetime of correspondence with daughter Sarah Fanny reveals an extremely loving relationship and her pride in George’s achievements shines through all her letters. In March 1876 Sarah Louisa’s life came crashing down again. Fanny received a telegram from her father notifying her “ Louisa dangerously ill since Friday; today much worse”

 

It was only a matter of a few weeks until the 17 year old Ada Louisa (Louie) succumbed to Typhoid and a four day bout of Peritonitis. An invoice for the seven pound, ten shilling funeral held on March 29th, 1876 is among the family historical records.

 

Louie’s death, as well as George Henry’s and Sarah Fanny’s absence from home, produced some poignant letters from Sarah Louisa to her daughter, including this passage of July 1876:

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“….She was such a nice good girl. I am very glad she has left so many kind remembrances behind her. Your brother is thinking of a change in the country in a few weeks. I hardly like to think of it for it will leave such a sad, lone house for me after so many years of comfort and love with my dear children. I hope and trust I am not going to be separated altogether from my children for long…”

 

The property at 4 Victoria Terrace was sold to a Scotsman in May 1876 and while the Brachers were able to continue operating it as a boarding house, Sarah feared that things might change:

 

“ ..this whole block of property was sold today at auction for three thousand, one hundred and seventy pounds, with a mortgage of 2,000 pounds to a building society. Papa says the purchaser is a Mr Ferguson, a Scotchman. I fear he will not be so nice as Adams you may fancy. I feel in a fix of course. I don’t yet know how we shall get on, but I quite expect he will insist on prompt payment…”

 

Sarah Louisa continued to struggle with the finances, having to resort in June 1876 to a loan from her daughter:

 

“ A thousand thanks for the letter and enclosed. I will send you back the crossed cheque and I will pay the 5 pounds into the National Bank as soon as possible. As to the bills, there was no other way of keeping the bailiffs out and Pa made the arrangement as you will see down at the lawyers on Wednesday. I think he was in a regular fit. He seemed almost ready to throw himself away. Adams was here this morning in a great state that the bills had not come down as he had to go off up to Kerang. I did not read the part of your note to him, but I told him that you had made a proposal he might depend on what we said, but as the bills had gone up to you it would be better to settle it the way Pa and he had previously agreed upon…..Adams had put Pa in possession as his agent and if he wished we cannot move anything till the bills are accepted….I cannot make up the rent and keep other expenses down I would wish to sell a few of the extra things and repay you the amount of the acceptances (?) and take a cheaper house. Rent is the worst thing of all debts for they can seize without summons on any notice. Everything would have gone smoothly only for A  (Adams) selling off the place and he was obliged to press everyone”.

 

Boarders were hard to come by and the competition within Bendigo was stiff. Many of Sarah Louisa’s letters lament the uncertainty of the times, including the unexpected departure of some boarders

 

“…so you see dear how very uncertain all things are….I hope to have one of Fred Hester’s children with me and I think they will be standing in their own light if they don’t send Fanny (ie Fanny Hester) as I could give her a home and let her go to school or Millinery (?) – you will see how deplorably they are off….If I could have got a house full permanently I should have helped with the bills and I am very vexed about them, but you know who is in fault. As long as I keep down expenses as well as I do and keep the rent paid up I think it is best to continue as I am, now that Williamston’s are full and all the others shut up I have a better chance than ever I fancy….Old Ferguson (?) will not do the least thing for me, he is grieving with parting with his money for The Terrace and says he will sell if he can…..George paid the money into your credit at your Bank…you need not mistrust either of us I hope…”

 

“ ..boarders seem scarce just now….I really think Sandhurst is getting worse and worse. The doctors appear to be the only well to do folks just now and for some time past.”

 

“…Things are very slack here just now. All the boarders (except Monkouse who owes over 20 pounds) have gone up country to contracts. What Matthews will think or do when he comes I don’t know.”

 

 By the mid 1870s George Henry’s fledgling career in saddlery was being nurtured at Hay, on the plains of southern New South Wales, which was little consolation for his still grieving mother:

 

“ I feel a good deal put about at George’s proposed leaving home. I hope it will be for the best, poor dear lad. I don’t know it is hard to part like this with the very few who are left us now. My prayer is that an all-wise hand may guide and keep him life’s journey thus.

 

“ Charlie Wallis has left and intends taking a trip to Adelaide next week, his mother is quite broken hearted about his leaving home. She thinks that Mr W. ought to feel it too, but she says it is just the way with fathers, they cannot feel the loss or absence of their children like mothers”.

 

George Henry’s 12 month’s of letters from Hay are full of excitement and hope, as would be expected from an ambitious 19 year old:

 

“ I have been working for the last 5 days (on trial) at Mr Hewitson’s here in Hay at 2 pounds, 5 shillings per week and he is so well pleased with my harness that I have got a constant billet…..I am boarding only 3 doors from the shop so it is nice and handy as I have to work from 7 till 6 & only half an hour for breakfast and dinner….Hay is a very convenient place as it is only about the same size as Kangaroo Flat, but it is a very busy sort of place, as the nearest town is 75 miles. There are a great many Sandhurst people up here and in Echuca and Deniliquin…..travelling across the old man plains, where it was looking across an ocean. Nothing but land to be seen, not even a stick of timber as far as the eye could reach & no water to speak of for 3 solid days and hundreds of dead bullocks and horses on the long weary track. Twice I had the pleasure of stripping and wading two swamps of mud and (??) of water and carry my luggage on my back. It would not do to ride as the fare was about 3 pounds. There are some very large hotels and stores in Deniliquin..”

 

“…I have learned a great deal in the trade by keeping my mouth shut and my ears and eyes open. The days seem very short and not monotonous as it used to be at Snows as there are always 5 or 6 laughing and talking all day……..

 

“ Would you be kind enough to tell me when you sent the tools.  What date was it, as I am very much in want of them….I have removed from the hotel to a private boarding house, where I get much better board at 2, 2/6 but I shall be leaving here on Saturday. There is a very nice young man come to work in the same shop as I am from Eaglehawk and we have taken a slab cottage at 5/- a week and are going on the batch. We are both getting the same and I think I shall be able to put 30/- a week in the bank…the house is very close to the river and also the shop, so it will cost nothing for wood and water ”.

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The two children – George Henry and Sarah Fanny -were increasingly called upon to financially help their parents:

 

”…how thankful I was that you had settled the horrid bills……I shall only be too glad if I can prevent being a drag on my dear children. I will do all I can to clear expenses, though I am not doing as well as I ought owing to having so few in the house…Miss Mills lately from Melbourne has taken George’s room and board at 18/- per week – it is very low, but it pays better than empty rooms……..”(Sarah Louisa writing to Sarah Fanny, October 1876)

 

At one stage there must have been consideration of the parents going to live and work in Hay, where their son was based:

 

“….There would be no chance here for the old folks that I can see unless they had a large house of their own. Such a house as would suit them would cost at least 250 pounds or 300 pounds up here things in that way are so awfully expensive as every single thing has to come up from Victoria. They must go on as long as possible and then come to a full stop and then if nothing turns up we must provide for them somehow the best way we can. I think we can manage it alright if they go back to the Flat…Boarding out is something horrible which you and I have had to put up with lately. I would much rather board myself, even if it cost 25 shillings a week than live in a boarding house or hotel…”

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George Henry had embarked on a career that would eventually see him operating in Western Australia and Melbourne. As one of Victoria’s finest saddle makers, he became President of the Victorian Saddle and Harness Makers Union, but not before enduring his own life’s roller coaster.