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.
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. ‘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!) My ‘nanna’, Lily Mabel Florence Hooper, was a ballet dancer with J C Williamson’s Theatre Company from 1904 to 1912, when she married her ‘Stage Door Johnny’, my ‘poppa’, clerk and later commercial traveller John Edward or ‘Jack’ Devitt. Lily was the youngest of nine children, seven girls and two boys. At least five, but definitely four of her sisters – Minnie, Edith, Ruby and Violet - were also ballet dancers. Lily always ‘stood up straight’, and like her sisters, seemed to have a ‘natural turnout’. Even when older, they all seemed to stand in first position! How I would love to be able to time travel back to the 1890’s when Lily was trained, with her sisters, by Madame Rosalie Philippini, the ballet mistress for Williamson and Musgrove; to watch her doing bar work and learning the beautifully executed grand battement demonstrated to me in her kitchen when she was in her late sixties. How wonderful to be able to watch her learn new ballets; find out that she had a place in the corps de ballet (perhaps even a solo!); travel on a company tour in New Zealand; be courted by Jack at the stage door. Tall, statuesque and often serious, Lily had a wide and welcoming smile and was occasionally prone to ‘the giggles’. I have cherished memories of her having ‘the giggles’ with my aunt when something triggered them to double over with infectious laughter and we all found ourselves joining in. Growing up I had a romantic picture of Lily’s time as a dancer. In fact Lily considered being a ballerina a hard life, and did not actively encourage my mother to become a dancer. Lily faced other challenges during her life in addition to those of the times in which she lived. Two years after my mother’s birth in 1913, Lily lost a beloved first son at six weeks old—a cause of deep sadness for her. Jack, like many of his maternal Miller relatives, proved to have an addictive regard for the sport of kings, apparently causing the only arguments between them. Marrying Jack also carried with it difficulties associated with ‘mixed marriages’. Jack’s family were devout Roman Catholics, Lily’s family were barely practicing Protestants. Where Jack seemed to negotiate this with ease, never doubting his choice of bride, becoming a non-practicing Catholic, yet having the confidence to retain contact with his loved parents, I suspect it was more difficult for Lily. Often serious, rarely physically affectionate, Lily showed her love for us all in so many other ways. When we were little she was always on hand if Mum needed some help; she would knit beautiful hand made jumpers for us all and would have us to stay ‘turn about’ as children. Perhaps it was Nanna’s theatre experience that made her so adept at successfully curling even my very fine straight hair using rags – I just loved her doing this when it was ‘my turn to stay’! I took the picture below of Lily with Jack on my Brownie box camera a few years before Jack died in 1967. One of the few memories I have of Lily touching Jack, it seems to epitomize a love and life shared for over fifty years. Lily is touching Jack’s arm as if concerned to help him keep his balance, and had knitted the warm cowl-necked sweater he is wearing, a pattern chosen to keep his neck warm. When Jack died, Lily clearly missed him very deeply. Lily was part of a large, close family rich with family stories passed on through my mother to us. I don’t look at all like her ‘Hooper/Taylor’ side, and in many ways am more like my father’s ‘Lee’ side and Jack’s ‘Devitt’ side. However Lily’s stories; the stories of her brothers and sisters and memories of meeting them and hearing about their lives and children, of meeting their children, of visiting Hooper family sites in Melbourne and Sydney, of learning more about ‘Hooper/Taylor’ side family history, all form part of who I am. These stories, along with the caring and support Lily gave me over so many years have I think given me a measure of self esteem and strength which perhaps my other ‘sides’ didn’t in quite the same way. I was overseas when Lily died, so in some way never really said goodbye to her. I occasionally have distressing nightmares in which she is still alive, is alone and I can’t find her. My nanna, Lily, will always be part of me, and perhaps, if there is another life, I will find her again. Beverley Lee This was originally written for a memoirs based U3A writing group in June 2015 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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