With no one with living memory of him alive, or stories written down, there's a need to clarify what we know about my maternal great grand father George Charles Beech Hooper and his family of origin before it is too late... From notes written on the back of a photograph by my mother, Paula, we find...
"Grandpa Hooper (George Charles Beech Hooper) was 73/74 when he died--appears to have been born in 1846. He was born in Wiltshire - Bath - home 'Bradford on Avon'. His family home, 'Murhill House' B-on-Avon. He went to Blue Coat School, W'shire. There was an Aunt Fanny. Also Edith Crutwell - Auntie Min (Fanny Emily Mary Rose nee Hooper b 1877) used to write to her. Her son Hugh Crutwell was Secretary to the Governor of Hong Kong. During World War II his wife Joyce and first born (at that time only child) Martin were evacuated to Sydney and stayed with Auntie Min for a time. Hugh's father was an historian at Oxford University." _______________________________--- While largely correct, after checking carefully through a range records, also speaking with my sister, it seems that the following edited version may be more correct. I've also added some additional historical information. "Grandpa Hooper (George Charles Beech Hooper) was 73/74 when he died--appears to have been born in 1846. He was born in Wiltshire - Bath - home 'Bradford on Avon'. His family home, 'Murhill House' B-on-Avon. He went to Blue Door School, W'shire. There was Edith Crutwell. Auntie Min (Fanny Emily Mary Rose nee Hooper b 1877) used to write to her. There was also an Aunt Fanny, Grandpa Hooper's sister whose son, Hugh McAuley Crutwell, who attended Bath Gr school and studied History at Oxford, graduating in 1890, was a teacher. Hugh McAuley Crutwell's son Humphrey John Crutwell, recorded by Paula as "Secretary to the Governor of Hong Kong" was certainly a 'Civil Servant, HK' and listed under that occupation in the records of the Stanley Internment Camp in Hong Kong. He appears to have been held at the Stanley Internment Camp by the Japanese from early 1942 to the end of World War II and is recorded in a fellow detainee's journal as having taught German classes while there. "During World War II his wife Joyce and first born (at that time only child) Martin were evacuated to Sydney and stayed with Auntie Min for a time". Possibly a distant cousin, .... Crutwell was an historian at Oxford University, ........, was typecast in many of the novels of Evelyn Waugh. (Still under construction....) This post is currently under construction! Reflective Hypothesis 1 - Seven of the Hooper children, from Minnie to Lily, were connected in the theatre in some way. In this set of photos, I've included the earliest available photo evidence where possible.
My great, great grandfather, Jeremiah Taylor, 1790-1853 was described over generations as an ‘East India Man’, possibly also a Ship’s Captain! However, was he really?
My sister has a coin which was minted by the British East India Company in 1837. When our grandfather gave it to her, he told her it “belonged to Nanna’s grandfather”, our great, great grandfather, Jeremiah Taylor, 1790-1853. I called my sister to ask her about the coin. Researching it some years ago, she found it to be the coin be a ‘Half Anna’ minted in 1837 by the British East India Company. (Museums Victoria – Bombay Mint, Medal & Coin Makers, India https://collections.museumsvictoria.com.au/articles/1873) My sister then commented that, while she had heard Jeremiah described as an ‘East India Man’, she’d never heard him described as a ship’s captain as I had done. On reflection, I have found no clear evidence of his being a ship’s captain, so have needed to rethink this. My sister mentioned meeting another of Jeremiah’s descendants, Dean Taylor, who appeared to have a deep understanding of the patriarchal line of his family and who clearly described Jeremiah and his son, Port Phillip Bay ship’s pilot, Henry Taylor, as ‘East India Men’. Interestingly, the term ‘East Indiaman’ was a general name for any sailing ship operating under charter or licence to any of the East India trading companies of the major European trading powers (Austria, Denmark, Holland, England, France, Portugal, Sweden) of the 17th through the 19th centuries. ‘East Indiamen’ carried both passengers and goods, and were large, galleon like ships armed, often heavily, to defend themselves against pirates and privateers. The British East India company maintained a monopoly on trade with initially India, then later other Eastern countries, from 1600 until 1834, with the company’s power, and its larger galleon vessels, being phased out over the coming decades. In terms of his age, Jeremiah is likely to have worked with the during the period between 1810 and 1840 when he was twenty to fifty years old. Although Jeremiah was born and spent his childhood in a farming hamlet, Tattershall Thorpe, in Lincolnshire, family records relating to his adult life, including his marriage, births, baptisms, marriages and deaths, list the busy port and market town of Boston, Lincolnshire, as his place of residence during his twenties and thirties. Jeremiah appears most likely to have been employed as an experienced mariner who presented himself to the East India Company for work on voyages as they became available. The ‘half anna’ coin suggests that he was employed by the British East India Company c 1837, when he was in his mid to late forties. He is likely to have done this for periods of time, eventually retiring to Lincolnshire to farm. When his youngest daughter, my great grandmother, was born in 1847, he was 57 and listed on her baptism record as ’farmer’. I need to find records from the 1820’s and 30’s which clearly record that Jeremiah was a mariner. The first available UK census –1841 - appears to contain no record for Jeremiah or his son Henry. Perhaps they were at sea for an extended period? Sea faring mariners and apprentice mariners are likely to be difficult to find in Census. I am certain I have seen records described Jeremiah as a mariner in the St Botolph’s Boston baptism records for his children in the 1820’s and 1830’s – I just need to access them again! I’ve also found that Ancestry.com now has a listing of employees of the British East India Company which I am thinking of pursuing – however there are two hundred or more ‘J Taylors’! Overall, I haven’t fully ‘busted’ the original myth. I have firmed up my hypotheses surrounding Jeremiah having been ‘an East India Man’ and rejected the notion that he was a Ship’s Captain. I’m still looking for more concrete evidence of Jeremiah having been an East Indiaman and have at least two avenues still to pursue! Bev Lee June 2022 Henry Taylor, a Port Phillip Pilot who guided ships through the Heads into Port Phillip Bay, was my great grand uncle, an older half-brother of my great grandmother, Emma Taylor (1847-1931). Henry was born in Boston, Lincolnshire, England in 1823 to Jeremiah Taylor and Hannah Padlay. Family stories abound that his father Jeremiah was also a seaman, perhaps a ship’s captain, certainly an ‘East India Man’. Henry had three siblings, and a half-sister, my grandmother, Emma Taylor, whose mother Emma Jane Jackson, was buried in Boston on the day of Emma’s christening in 1847. Henry appears to have been an adventurous, risk-taking young man, arriving in Melbourne in his twenties if not before. In the 1941 NSW census for Port Phillip/Bourke, a Henry Taylor, ‘Twenty one and under’, is listed as having arrived in the colony ‘free’, religion ‘Church of England’. Henry married boatman’s daughter Mary Colina Cannon in 1852. They had five children, James Henry (1850–1934), Eliza Colina (1851–1907), Charles (1853–1922), Hannah Esther (1853–1891) and Mary (1856–1918). 1856 records list Henry as “Occupation Pilot, living in Queenscliff”. Henry and Mary played a role in bringing up my great grandmother, Emma Taylor, who Jeremiah brought out to Australia before his death in 1853. Emma was only six years old when Jeremiah died. Evidence of Henry’s involvement as a ship’s pilot guiding vessels through the Heads into Port Phillip Bay is recorded many places including in the Port Phillip Government Gazette in 1851. There are many articles relating to his experiences and capacity as a ship’s pilot in Trove, including one featuring his report on the Wreck of the ship Sea in 1853. Rapid tidal currents meet an underwater reef at Port Phillip Heads causing complex turbulence and eddies. Sailing ships required smaller pilot boats with experienced crews to navigate the narrow channels, which were especially dangerous at ebb tide when many wrecks occurred. The 1850’s were also the ‘Gold Rush’ years in Victoria, with many people arriving through Port Phillip Heads in search of gold. Henry died on the 21 November 1858, at 35 years of age, when the wheel of the carriage he was driving hit a rock or rut and he was thrown out, hitting his head and dying instantly. His adventurous nature and bravery is clearly reflected in this letter to the Editor of the Argus newspaper on Thursday 25 November 1858. ‘The Late Captain Henry Taylor’. Sir,—I regretted much to read in your issue of today (November 23) the sudden death, by accident, of Captain Henry Taylor, pilot of Queenscliff. His loss must not only be severely felt by his immediate family and friends, but his memory must he held in grateful remembrance by a large number whom he on more times than one risked his life to serve. I for one cannot forget how gallantly Captain Taylor, in 1852, swam the river Barwon twice unsuccessfully, and a third time only reaching the shore nearly exhausted, to assist the 450 unfortunately shipwrecked passengers and crew of the Earl of Charlemont…. WM. ED. COOK, M.D., Late Surgeon of the Earl of Charlemont. Captain Henry Taylor (1823 - 1858) is buried in the Queenscliff Cemetery. Postscript - 'This was written for the topic 'Obituary' presented at a Family Research class in late May 2022 - it caused lots of discussion,, particularly as one of this group had ancestors who were shipwrecked on the Earl of Charlemont! There were lots of questions relating to what happened to the family after his death - something for another time!' BL
Under construction... Scrapbooks and old photograph albums relating to the Hooper family are held in our family by my younger sister, who has had a long term interest in the family history of our matriarchal line. We have spent time recently pouring over them, trying to work out people, time frames in old photographs, .... I'm trying to date what happened to my great grandfather's first son, George, wondering if a photo taken in his sister's childhood scrapbook may have been him. Could the men's on the balcony on the house in the photo adjacent to his childhood photo have been maternal uncles? Is the time frame similar.... I found this photograph titled 'Man photographed in 1876' from, I think, the State Library. It is, it seems, distinctly possible that the photo could have been taken in the mid 1870's, which would fit with the age of the boy we think could have been George....
During this quiet, socially isolated period (Covid pandemic 2021) in which I haven’t been visited, or visited others, for months at a time, I’ve been visiting and reuniting families virtually, ‘time travelling’. I’ve been photographing documents and photographs found in old albums, shoe boxes, old suitcases and drawers to add to the ‘gallery’ of a multitude of grand, great grand, and even some great, great grand ancestors on ancestry.com. In doing so, I’ve experienced the sense of ‘time travelling’ I’ve often felt when immersed in researching the life of a particular family member, a sense of almost being with them Allowed to visit once again, I've been spending time with my sister, who is collating records collected while researching our maternal grandmother's family history thirty years ago and records secreted away by our mother and grandmother in old suitcases and drawers. Large envelopes labelled for particular ‘great grand’ relatives have been brought into action. My grandmother’s siblings, Beatrice, Ada, Minnie, Edie, Alf, Charlie, Ruby, Violet and of course my grandmother Lily, each have an envelope. We’ve been conferring over old scrapbooks and albums containing photographs, many of which I’ve not seen before. I’ve taken photographs of a multitude of photographs, documents such as my grandfather’s passport; ephemera such as a leather collar box containing my ballerina grandmother's grease paint to add to my family history collection. At least 110 years old - Lily Devitt nee Hooper's grease paint (stored in a collar box) There are so many photographs! Where to start? With a goal of adding at least one photo to ancestry.com a day I have found myself immersing myself in the lives of two great aunts, ‘Auntie Beat’ (b 1872) and ‘Auntie Min’ (b 1877). ‘Auntie Beat’ (Beatrice amy Maud Hooper 1873 - 1959) 'Auntie Beat', my eldest maternal great aunt, never married, looking after her parents until they died, then living with nieces and nephews’ families until she passed away. My only memory of Aunty Beat is peeping into a bungalow to see her while holidaying with an aunt who was caring for her not long before she died. Just yesterday Janette found a loose photo of Beat with a postcard back on which is written ‘Beatrice Hooper – the eldest’. What a find! A dressmaker, Beat is wearing a dark trimmed check dress, standing in front of a rose bush. It was probably taken in the early 1900’s. It’s now sitting in her ancestry ‘gallery’ alongside other gems found in her scrapbook which suggest that she may have travelled with a theatre company to New Zealand. While most of her younger sisters were dancers with J C Williamson’s, perhaps, being a dressmaker, she was in the wardrobe department? Auntie Beat’s profile on ancestry now includes photos across her life span, including some in which she appears to be enjoying time spent travelling with friends. There is a wonderful photo of Beat playing cards with a group of friends, another in an outfit suggesting she may have been a suffragette! ‘Aunty Min’ (Fanny Emily Mary Hooper 1876 - 1964) Do you have a person in public life in your family tree who other relatives all lay claim to? ‘Auntie Min’ is that person in our family. Family stories of her abound across the generations. ‘Auntie Min’, my grandmother’s older sister Minnie Hooper, became quite famous as a choreographer and ballet mistress for JC Williamson and is remembered for having taught Robert Helpmann to dance. While I have many photos of Auntie Min, until my visit to the farm last weekend they were almost all quite theatrical, revealing little of her life. I’d met Auntie Min when visiting Sydney as a child and remember her as a rather serious woman of considerable wealth who lived in a house looking over Sydney Harbour which had a path down to a private boat ramp. I remember her son, John Rose, as being quite eccentric. John was always described by my mother as a change of life baby, born after Min’s husband, Ernest Rose, then aged 51, had already had a stroke. Family research revealed that Min, who had married ‘Uncle Ern’ at 20, had two little boys who only lived for a few months during her twenties, followed by decades working in the theatre, before having a baby, John, at aged 46. John was born with a disability which affected his development, and Min’s beloved husband died at 59 when John was 8 years old leaving her to care for John. Janette’s envelope for Auntie Min contains portraits of Uncle Ern pasted on a textured card and a portrait of John in early adulthood. The photo in the envelope which somehow provides a deeper glimpse into their lives is a photo of Min and Ern sitting together, reading material in their hands. Ern appears to be convalescing. It is an evocative photo in which Min looks less severe than I remember her in latter years. Adding this photo, and the portraits of Ern and John, to their profiles on ancestry a day or two ago, somehow ‘rounded off’ my ‘time travels’ with Auntie Min’s family—at least for the moment.
With Covid moving from pandemic to endemic, I’m likely to continue to lead a quiet life. Underlying chronic illnesses have already impacted on my capacity to travel to places in which my ancestors lived to find out more, and now Covid! However, I can always resort to time travelling! I’m enjoying my current bout of time travelling and have so many more photos to ‘ground’ my research. I sense that I’ll continue to enjoy ‘This ‘time travelling’ Life’, immersing myself in family photographs, documents and other ephemera, well into the future! Beverley Lee October 2021 *This story was originally written as a topic for 'As Time Goes By' - writing memoir stories class at U3A. As we downsize, my sister Janette has joined forces with me in collaborating about photos we have found in family albums and 'shoebox' like collections of papers and ephemera. Across collections we've found some beautiful photos of my grandmother, Lily Hooper, with friends, many taken while on tour with a J C Williamson company. I've photographed them and 'tweaked' them a little to make them as clear as possible. Over the next month or so, I'm going to gradually add them to this slide show and to ancestry.com. I hope you enjoy looking through them. The following photographs feature Lily with two of her closest friends, the earlier photo with Florrie Sutherland (later Pearce), the second with her lifelong friend Cora, photographed together during the NZ tour with JC Williamsons. My beautiful maternal aunt and godmother, Joyce Adelaide Hooley, passed away on the 10th July 2021 at her nursing home in Warriewood, near Narrabeen, Sydney's northern beaches. ‘Auntie Joyce’ was 103 years old, just a month short of her 104th birthday. Her funeral was watched online, as Sydney was in Covid 'Delta' lockdown, with Melbourne to return to its fifth lockdown in two days. A funeral with no more than 10 mourners, in this case my cousin, her husband, their two daughters, spouses and children. 'Auntie Joyce' was my godmother and a quietly loving presence in my life for over 70 years. Had I lived in Sydney I know I would have found all sorts of reasons to drop by to spend time with her, however I visited her at least every two years, with my last visit in October 2019, not long before the continuing Covid pandemic disrupted our lives. I loved spending time with her - she seemed to accept me with 'unconditional positive regard', which I treasured. Born on 28 August 1917, Auntie Joyce was the third child of John Edward Devitt Jr and Lily Mabel Florence Hooper, who married in 1912. Her sister, my mother, Paula Alice Devitt, was 3 when Joyce was born. A baby brother, Gordon, was born in June 1916 but died in late July at 7 weeks, a ‘blue baby’ with a suspected hole in the heart. Eight years after Joyce’s birth, her brother, Lex Devitt was born. Both sets of grandparents lived fairly close by, with the Hoopers living in Carnegie and John Edward Devitt Sr and Elizabeth Miller living within walking distance of Testar Grove. Devitt grandchildren Paula and Joyce, and their cousin Marie Kirsch, described to me treasured childhood memories of Saturday lunch time gatherings with Dinky and Elizabeth. These photos from an old album appear to have taken place at such a gathering during 1918, when Joyce would have been perhaps 10 to 18 months old. In the first photo, Joyce's grandfather John Edward Devitt Sr, or 'Dinky', is holding her. 'The Shack', a holiday cottage at Newport, owned by my grandmother Lily Hooper's loved sister Ruby, and her American husband Alva Moses was part of the family's life for many years. Aunty Joyce and her husband Bill had lived there early in their marriage while their house was being built. This is confirmed in the electoral records. Aunty Joyce also spent time there as a child, evidenced by these wonderful photographs found in an old album of my grandmother's. I have memories of Aunty Rube and Uncle Alva visiting Aunty Joyce and Uncle Bill for Sunday lunch. A glamorous couple, even in older age, they always dressed well for the occasion. Childless, Aunty Rube had a special affection for Paula and Joyce when they were children, and remained close to Aunty Joyce and her family, who also lived in Sydney, throughout her life. Memories of Aunty Joyce’s ‘Devitt side’ family reputation as being 'good with her hands' are many – of watching as she made Bill's niece Frances's magical wedding veil during a childhood visit; of watching her knitting and creating clothes for her grandchildren. My mother, Paula, wrote this poem about her sister, Joyce - ‘Joy Devitt’ for hats… Kooyong Road, North Caulfield around 1939-1942 My sister Joyce is a milliner Her talents beyond dispute Her hats are quite fantastic All ages she can suit. She started in a workroom That’s where she learnt her trade Then opened her own business Her fortune to be made. Her hats were always special She really had a flare They were the latest fashion and Were easy styles to wear. She gave up many years ago Now only does a few May be just for the family, or when Melbourne Cup is due! Paula Lee nee Devitt, aged 97.5, October 2010 Like other members of ‘the Devitt’ family, Joyce worked in Flinders Lane, Melbourne, renowned for being the centre of ‘the Rag Trade’. Joyce learnt to become a milliner at Latiners’ in Flinders Lane, where her father, ‘Jack Devitt’ worked as a commercial traveller. Latiners was owned by Rupert Kirsch, brother-in-law of Joyce’s aunt, Victoria Kirsch, nee Devitt. ‘Auntie Vic’, a milliner, is also remembered as being creative and ‘good with her hands’. Before commencing her four-year apprenticeship at Latiners in 1931, Joyce attended Caulfield North School in Balaclava Road, in walking distance of Testar Grove. Another Devitt aunt, Lily Devitt, was a teacher there. “I started working in Latiners, I was only 14, you were allowed to leave school then. The job was created for me really - without Dad I wouldn’t have got that job. The women there were nearly all fully qualified milliners, as each firm could only employ so many juniors. We sat at long tables. The first table I sat at I was under the strict eyes of Miss Penny. She wasn’t a bit friendly, she just sat at the end of the table watching to make sure that people didn’t start chatting and not finish their work. I moved from that table to Miss Gilding’s table. I was much happier there. I remember Miss Penny coming up to Miss Gilding’s table to look at the hats. Picking up a hat I had made, she asked, “Who made this hat, Miss Gilding?”, and Miss Gilding said, “Miss Devitt”. Miss Penny just said ‘Oh’. She didn’t pass on any praise, but she liked it apparently! At that time the technology we used was simple– the felt hats had to be steamed and pressed into shape – we just did this over a tin kettle at Tasman House”. After Rupert Kirsch moved the firm into a new building in Brunswick, which proved difficult to get to from North Caulfield, Joyce left Latiners - “One of the travelers, Mr. Featherstone, recommended me to a Miss Webb who had a shop at Caulfield Junction and needed a milliner. I worked there for three or four years, at times being left in charge of the shop while Miss Webb went on holidays. I eventually decided I could do this work for myself and set up my own business. I worked all hours to make sure I had hats ready for clients for the Spring Racing Carnival’s 'Cup' Days... they all wanted new hats, or old hats retrimmed or renovated. Mum would give me a hand, I had so much work to do!” Joyce married soldier William John Hooley in Sydney in 1942. L to R: Maggie Hooley, Fred Murphy, Arthur Palmer, Thelma Bisset (nee Hooley), Bill Hooley, Joyce Devitt, Minnie Rose (Joyce's Aunt), Lily Devitt, Jack Bissett, Merva Palmer (nee Hooley) When Bill resumed active service, Jean returned to Melbourne with Bill’s 8 year old daughter Jean. Bill’s first wife, Vera Hooley nee Stewart, had sadly died in childbirth in 1934. Joyce and Jean lived at Testar Grove with Jack and Lily Devitt and Lex for a few years, returning to Sydney when Bill returned from the war. Paula lived ‘just around the corner’ in Balaclava Road, and loved spending time with Jean. William was born in Sydney in 1945, then in 1953, Barbara completed the Hooley family. A treasured memory of Aunty Joyce was her close relationship with my mother, Paula, who was three years older. They stayed in regular contact throughout their lives. I was always thrilled to hear them chatting away together on the phone, at least once a week, when I stayed with my mother at her unit in East Malvern, where she lived until she was 96. A teacher, once a year during the school holidays I would drive with, and later drive, Paula to Sydney where we would stay at 15 Heights Crescent with Auntie Joyce. Mum would stay in 'Barb's room', while I would stay in the little flat, 'under the stairs'. I loved hearing Mum and Joyce chatting happily together upstairs. I could head out for a day in the city, Manly or other beaches, knowing that they were happy in one another's company, with their own plans for the day, and wouldn't miss me one bit! It was wonderful that, in their retirement years, they were able to travel overseas together to visit children, nieces and nephews. I treasure memories of their visiting me in Canada in 1982, of the trips we took together. The time spent with Jean and her family in New York was treasured by my mother, and I know by Auntie Joyce. Joyce’s love of her home, and the 'secret garden' below the cliff-like drop at the back of the garden, was unbounded. I don't think she was passionate about cooking, however she always remembered that I loved crumbed brains and bacon and cooked them for me whenever I visited. Had it not been for lockdowns in both Sydney and Melbourne at the time of her funeral, I know that my sister Janette and I would have driven to Sydney for Aunty Joyce’s funeral. We do, however, have very happy memories of our trip to Sydney for her 100th birthday party almost four years ago. I already miss Aunty Joyce, the knowing that she would be there if ever I visited Sydney, the happy visits she made to spend time with my mother in Melbourne. I loved her very much. Auntie Joyce would have celebrated her 104th birthday yesterday, had she lived. RIP Auntie Joyce. Beverley Lee 29 August 2021
‘Beatrice Ada; Minnie; Edith; Alf; Charlie; Ruby, Violet’- I learnt my ‘Hooper side’ great aunts and uncles names off by heart as a child. I remember meeting them all at least once and have built up pictures of them over time based upon family stories, conversations and old photographs. Portraits of their parents, George Charles Beech Hooper and Emma Jackson, could be found hidden in a dark cupboard at my grandparents’ house. My grandmother Lily was their youngest sister.
‘Aunty Beat’, born in 1873, was already over 80, with arthritis and mobility problems, and possibly slowly dying, when I first met her in the 1950’s. I remember being frightened of going into her darkened bungalow bedroom at my aunt’s dairy farm near Dandenong when on holiday there. A woman of rounded curves who had never married, my memories of her have softened as I’ve aged. I feel sad that I was frightened of her and do hope that seeing me and my cousin peeping around her door as she lay in bed had given her pleasure rather than pain. Auntie Beat had cared for her parents as they aged, then in later life rotated amongst family members when she needed care. Reputed to have been a beauty when young, Auntie Beat apparently had a suitor who wanted to marry her, but Grandpa Hooper had forbidden this. ‘Aunty Ada’, next in line, was petite and finely boned like my mother, very approachable and loving. I have warm memories of visiting her and her interested, well-educated husband, Uncle Wal Kemp, in Dandenong as a child. Mum told wonderful stories of going on hayrides to country dances with her cousins May and Les when visiting the Kemps’ farm in Cranbourne during her youth. A chance discovery concerning Auntie Beat and Auntie Ada surprised my sister and mother during a family history quest some years ago. Checking out the death certificate of my great grandfather, George Charles Beech Hooper, they found him listed as having children with two women. A marriage certificate was found only for the first, a Janet ‘Jessie’ Wipers. Jessie was the mother of a boy George, two girls, Beatrice and Ada, and a baby girl who died shortly after birth. We will never know the story behind the collapse of this marriage. Perhaps Jessie, who had four children in a short time one of whom died, became unwell, perhaps with PND, and moved to Sydney to live where here parents lived, taking young George with her. Perhaps George wasn’t free to marry again? It seems that he and our great grandmother, Emma Jane Jackson, were never married. How did great grandfather George meet my great grandmother Emma Jane? We know he was a clerk at the Melbourne Steamship Company which was owned by a member of Emma Jane’s late brother’s family. Perhaps Emma Jane had been employed as a governess for little Beatrice and Ada? Was she ‘in the picture’ before Jessie relocated to Sydney. We will never know. The existence of our great grandfather’s first wife Jessie Wipers came as quite a shock to my mother and her cousins! Whether married or not, my Hooper grandparents, George and Emma, are remembered as a loving couple. Beatrice and Ada were raised as their children. They had seven other children together who all, interestingly, appear to have worked with J C Williamson’s Theatre Company in some capacity, the girls as dancers and choreographers, the boys in stage management, book-keeping roles. Born to Emma Jane in 1876, ‘Auntie Min’ was, by the time I knew her, a formidable woman who achieved acclaim and some notoriety as a ballerina/actress, then as J. C. Williamson’s ballet mistress and choreographer. Music scores and programs from the ballets Auntie Min had choreographed were kept amongst theatre memorabilia at my grandparents’ house; hearing about them was a magical part of my childhood. The family was particularly proud that Auntie Min ‘had taught Robert Helpmann to dance!’ Clearly a woman of spirit, Auntie Min had taken J C Williamson’s to court when they refused to pay her for two weeks when the theatre was closed during the Spanish influenza epidemic. Although Auntie Min received recognition and accumulated considerable wealth, her life was affected by sadness. Her son, John Rose, who mum described as a ‘change of life baby’, had a disability related to encephalitis and struggled throughout his life. Through family history research I discovered that Auntie Min had given birth to two little boys prior to John, both of whom had died not long after birth. A devout Christian Scientist who owned a beautiful house overlooking Sydney Harbour, widowed Auntie Min left her wealth to the Christian Science Church in Cremorne who had promised to watch out for John. John died alone and anonymously, with our family not being informed of his death until making enquiries many years later. ‘Auntie Ede’ or Edie was always spoken of in relation to farming however had also been a dancer, with an early photo of her in a Pierrot costume amongst family photos in an old trunk which found its way to her granddaughter in Yarrawonga a year or so ago. A beautiful young woman, Auntie Ede left the ballet to marry John Moore, a young Englishman who was keen to farm in Australia. They moved to Foster in Gippsland, establishing a farm and raising four daughters, Violet, Dot, and twins Ida and Ena, none of whom became dancers. Perhaps Edie told her daughters that working in the theatre was a very hard life, as my grandmother had told her daughters. I enjoyed visiting Aunt Ede in her 90’s when she was in care at Toora Hospital in 1971-2. Auntie Ede had my grandmother’s wide smile and reminded me of her. I was teaching at nearby Yarram High School - It was good to be able to report back to my grandmother about my visits to Auntie Ede when I returned to Melbourne. I met my grandmother’s eldest brother, ‘Uncle Alf’, once or twice in Sydney. He lived in Chatswood near my aunt who took me to visit him when I was there on holidays. A kind and friendly man, Uncle Alf struggled with health issues throughout his life. Tall and thin, he may have had polio as a child as he is reported to have had a limp. ‘Later in life’ Uncle Alf married a woman our family barely spoke of, however my understanding from her relatives is that she loved him deeply and that he was treasured by her family. Auntie Ede’s family told me Alf always corresponded with her and often visited their farm in Gippsland. ‘Uncle Charlie’, a rather dapper gentleman, didn’t really make an impression on me, however I do remember his wife, another ‘Auntie Ada’. Auntie Ada was a talented dressmaker who had taught dressmaking at the Sydney Technical College. I have memories of seeing a dressmaker’s dummy and beautiful embroidered lingerie lying on a table at their house. Ruby, their only daughter, was much loved by my mother. ‘Kindred spirits’ of the same age, they shared many memories. I loved diverting to Cooma to take mum to visit Ruby when we were en route to Sydney. They would talk for hours, then walk hand in hand back to the car like little girls when it was time to leave. ‘Auntie Rube’, possibly my grandmothers’ favourite sister, was still beautiful in her seventies when we had afternoon tea with my mother’s sister Joyce in Sydney. Ruby was with her loving ‘Studebaker’ car selling husband ‘Uncle Alva’ (Alva Moses), possibly the first person from the United States I met. Auntie Rube dearly loved my mother and her sister as children, spending time with them whenever possible and spoiling them with presents. Perhaps she couldn’t have children herself. Auntie Rube had apparently had other suitors before meeting and marrying Uncle Alva when she was 34. A dancer then dance mistress with J C Williamson, Auntie Rube lived in an apartment on the top floor of a blue stone building in ‘The Rocks’. We loved visiting there. My brother and I would spend as much time as we could in the beautiful wrought iron but rather clanky lift cage, going up and down as we pretended to be lift attendants. Like Auntie Min, and through astute investments, Auntie Rube at one stage was apparently one of the wealthiest women in Sydney. Finally, my grandmother’s closest sister in age, ‘Auntie Vi’. Regarded as a Melbourne beauty, Auntie Vi danced but also had a beautiful contralto voice and spent some time with the Royal Comic Opera. On a concert tour of New Zealand, Violet met the love of her life, tall and handsome widower ‘Jack’ Carl. My mother described them as a very close and loving couple. Jack became the doorman at Her Majesty’s Theatre when he moved to Melbourne where their lives continued to be involved in the theatre. Jack’s sudden death in 1942 left Auntie Vi bereft and lonely. I remember visiting her little single fronted terrace house in a square near Rathdowne Street in Carlton. My grandmother would always check to see how Auntie Vi was before children were invited in. I can remember sometimes waiting on the porch outside and suspect that, when we weren’t allowed in, Auntie Vi had been drinking. Auntie Vi and Jack Carl are still present in my life as I have her oval mirrored oak dressing table and Uncle Jack’s cedar chest in my bedrooms. I discovered during my family history journey that Uncle Jack had had a son in New Zealand and was able to send his tiny gold edged bible, signed by his mother in 1899, to his granddaughter Penny, who was thrilled to receive it. There you have it! I have cherished memories and stories of Beatrice, Ada, Minnie, Edie, Alf, Charlie, Ruby and Violet. My grandmother Lily, along with my mother and aunt, clearly loved her brothers and sisters and wherever possible included them in our lives. I feel so lucky to have known and be able to write about Beatrice, Ada, Minnie, Edith, Alf, Charlie, Ruby and Violet who were all born almost a century and a half ago. How truly amazing to be able to do this! Next project…. ‘The Devitts’…. Bev Lee February 2020 I'm currently looking out writing relating to family history which I've posted elsewhere since I began my family history quest in 2010. This process is likely to result in an even more eclectic blog! The following post features something I wrote in 2013 or thereabouts for my 'Armchair Economics' blog ( I still post to it, but very intermittently)... While doing family history over recent years, and with a background in economics, I've found myself reflecting on my family's role in the economy over time - dancers; milliners; coal trimmers; riveters; printers; soldiers; bookkeepers; farmers; bookkeepers and accountants; secretaries; sales representatives/commercial travellers; stonemasons; coal trimmers; teachers and more. I've found myself thinking about the entrepreneurs and the workers; the wealthy and the impoverished, and more. I've also come across evidence of the impact of economic instability in their lives. In a small photograph album created by my grandmother, Lily Hooper, I found this photograph taken during her time as a ballet dancer with J C Williamson in the early years of the 20th Century. The picture is of young dancers working with the J. C Williamson company in the early 1900's--I think perhaps Lily's in the back row - second from your RHS - as I see a resemblance to photos of my uncle at about the same age. My grandmother's family were associated with the theatre 'industry', with at least five Hooper sisters becoming dancers - Edie, Minnie, Violet, Ruby and Lily - and Minnie and Ruby moving on to become ballet mistresses, choreographers and owners of their own dance schools in Sydney. Both went on to become quite wealthy women in Sydney, with large share portfolios and significant estates. There are rich narratives in my family about their stories and they feature heavily on 'Trove' (National Library of Australia's online archive).
I started to wonder whether there is in fact, a field of economics known as 'cultural economics', and it seems there is. Looking into the area of 'cultural economics' seems worthwhile, and timely given Cate Blanchett's eulogy at Gough Whitlam's funeral service, which spoke tellingly of the role of arts and culture in the socio-economic life of Australia. Cate Blanchett referred to the production of culture as an end in itself. The production and consumption of 'widgets' is very different from the way in which cultural goods are produced and consumed as an end product during a performance by hard working, fit, skilful ballerinas at a theatre such as Her Majesty's in Melbourne. My grandmother was one of those dancers. Of seven Hooper daughters, at least five were dancers. While Lily's older sisters, Minnie and Ruby, become highly regarded ballet mistresses for J C Williamson, my grandmother did not encourage her daughters to become dancers, describing it to them as a very hard life. These young dancers worked very hard and may have been exploited. My grandmother's world in the paid work force was competitive, her career had a very limited life, there was an intensity about her life which became the substance of dreams - her trips to New Zealand; the ephemera in her treasured trunk; and now for me, the articles about her world I find in Trove. In terms of family narratives .... forward 50-65 years from the photograph, and I remember my grandmother, with my grandfather (her stage door Johnny)... living on their pension in Caulfield North, Melbourne. They owned their own home, had interesting furniture which they kept well polished and preserved, ate well because they knew how to cook nutritious meals out of 'the basics' and Poppa's well cared for vegetable garden. They didn't have extensive bank deposits, perhaps because my grandfather had been attracted to the 'sport of kings', but also because he had been a commercial traveller, then in older years a men's clothing salesman at London Stores. I always saw them as producers - of nutritious meals, which I loved seeing made and then eating together; of vegetables and lemons from their always to be remembered lemon tree, in front of which their are countless photographs of relatives standing as family photographs were produced. Poppa was always the family 'shoe shine' and repair man; and of course the gardener. They saved their pension to travel to visit their son Lex, an unmarried farmer on a bush block in the North East. While there they would work hard to support him; providing nutritious meals; mending his clothes; cleaning; painting; chopping and piling up the wood heap, and more - often going back to Melbourne for 'a rest'! They would provide child care and food and board to grandchildren, from toddler hood to late adolescence, who always loved visiting them, and provide some respite for their older daughter, my mother - who sometimes needed a bit of extra support. They provided produce to others; my grandmother was always knitting for someone - keeping Poppa and Lex supplied each year with a new cowl neck woollen jumper. They had regular routines and a well balanced life which enabled them to productively contribute to their own and other people's welfare and standard of living. Now I'm out of the paid workforce myself, living on an only very slightly topped up pension, in my own home, and producing more in terms of a 'household economy' ... making instead of buying cakes and Christmas gifts; contributing to my friend's and family members quality of life via family history projects; making my home operate more efficiently in a greenhouse sense; maintaining and updating my own computer system; discarding paper to recyclers, old clothes to opportunity shops for redistributing, and more; until recently providing love and support and assistance with evening meal and monitoring service to my beloved 100 year old mother in a nursing home. While I did most of these things while working - they were less frequently done... I continue to pay someone $25 a fortnight for mowing and tidying my garden, with other expenses paid on an as needs basis eg. pruning; removal of branches and sometimes gum trees... I'm also involved with U3A and have been spending some time testing the website and contributing to its updating and further development. Sometimes I think of the imputed value of what I'm contributing to GDP. The imputed value of the services provided by members in the provision of U3A courses would be considerable - barely reflected at all in the financial accounts of U3A... Armchair theorizing about the role of the Household Economy has begun to preoccupy me more since my retirement , reminding me of the work of the wonderful then Melbourne University economist Duncan Ironmonger who inspired me to think about it during the late 1980's. My memories of my grandparents, Jack and Lily Devitt, provide a rich vein for thinking about this. (Armchair theorizing about: Paid and unpaid work; Gross Domestic Product and the Household Economy; Imputed values; Measuring the Quality of Life; Safety Nets;Traditional and non-traditional gendered roles in work - and more!) Editing old laptop files just now I came across the baptism record of my maternal grandmother, Lily Hooper, at St Peter's Anglican Church, East Melbourne. Lily was baptised on the same day as her brother Charles and sisters Violet and Ruby. We have a rather lovely photo of these children taken in their 'Sunday Best'.... looking at it now, and the ages given above, it was highly likely to have been taken on the day of their baptisms at St Peter's. Lily would have been about six. Charlie (Back); Ruby; Lily; Violet (Note the smocking on the dresses and home made lace collars!) Two things stared out at me from the certificate - the first - my great grandfather, George Charles Beech Hooper, was described as having the profession of 'Collector'. Now this could be anything from a refuse collector to a tax or customs collector.... As he was a clerk for the Melbourne Steamship Company earlier, I'm thinking he may have been a tax, customs collector, or perhaps a collector of bad debts? Perhaps my sister, knows something about this, as she is our 'Hooper' side family historian. The second thing which stared out at me ... 106 Grey Street (spelling Gray St on certificate), East Melbourne, was the address of the family at this time. Mum spoke of Nanna growing up in East Melbourne and I'm sure at times when we were driving in the vicinity spoke of this. I tried to find some photos of housing in Grey Street - it is clearly in the 'Hospitals' zone these days. It is in such a wonderfully central area, near the Fitzroy Gardens, St Pat's Cathedral, Parliament House, and very close to the Epworth Hospital where my niece had her two boys.
The East Melbourne Historical Society's website has photos of houses bordering on Grey Street and of housing which which still remains or was photographed before demolition. The housing appears varied, from two story Victorian villas to one story possibly upmarket cottages - it is hard to say what 106 Grey Street looked like. It is in the area of Laneways - the East Melbourne Historical Society has put together a booklet on the Laneways of East Melbourne which I'd like to check out, both the book and the laneways. Considering the housing, it seems more likely that George Charles Beech Hooper was, at the time, some sort of collector of finances rather than refuse. It's interesting that they don't have early records of dance teachers, or Nanna's dance teacher, though there is an article about the origins of the Australian Ballet School in the area. |
The Journey ...An 'occasional blog' recording elements of my renewed family history journey. This is the second wave in my 'family history' journey. The first lasted from 2010 to 2014. with intermittent bursts since then. It's time to revisit, to share more stories, to edit, to tackle uncertainties... Categories
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