#52Ancestors – Storms

I didn’t know of any specific storm that affected my ancestors so I decided to research what storms might have taken place in Tamworth in the few years after my grandparents, Edward Thomas Bailey & Ines Maude Smith were married there in 1909.

The Tamworth storm season traditionally comes with spring each year, with the main onslaught of storms coming between October and the end of February.  Most of the storms are electrical with vivid lightning displays, rain and sometimes hail.  Depending upon the weather in the previous years leading up to a storm season, Tamworth can also be hit with large dust storms.

In November of 1908, just six months after my grandparents were married, a tremendous rain and hail storm befell Gidley which is a small geographical area located on the outskirts of Tamworth.  My grandmother’s parents, John (known as Jack) Edward Smith and Mary Ann nee: Whiteman, had a property named “Fairfield” there. 

Heavy Storm at Gidley

The Mr Britten mentioned in the newspaper article would have been a neighbour to my great grandparents Jack and Mary Ann.  There is no doubt that my great grandparent’s property also suffered some degree of damage by the same storm that hit Mr Britten although,  as he is not mentioned in the papers of the time, I can only assume that he was lucky enough to escape the worst of it.

Another severe storm hit the Tamworth area in February of 1909.  Nemingha is on the opposite side of Tamworth from where my great grandparents lived, so they may not have been affected to the same degree as the folks of this small village.

More Trouble At Nemingha

October of 1909 saw yet another storm hit the township of Tamworth with very heavy rains and lightening causing an electrical “blackout” and a number of “shocks” to local residents.

Terrific Storm at Tamworth

In recent years Tamworth has been hit with many storms but two enormous storms spring to the minds of many residents.  There was a huge dust storm affecting much of the state of New South Wales, including Tamworth, on 23 Sept 2009.  I vividly remember driving to work on that morning when our town was cloaked in an eerie red haze.  Everyone that I saw on the road that morning was driving to the conditions thankfully, as visibility was poor.  The other storm at the forefront of the minds of Tamworth residents took place on 3 Dec 2012.  The Super Cell storm ripped though South & West Tamworth causing large amounts of damage to housing and personal property with winds peeking at 100 kilometres per hour and destructive golf to cricket ball sized hail.  Our own home suffered roof, carport, pergola, shed and garden damage, but our neighbour also lost a number of windows to the storm.  Another neighbour suffered damage to his car, which was parked on the road, with 3 of the windows smashed by hail.

I don’t think that Tamworth is any worse off than any other Australian town or city, or in fact any country in the world, when it comes to storms though.  Storms are essentially a part of our “Aussie” life.  World wide people recoup after a storm – and then they rebuild, begin again and start anew.

Sources:

Heavy Storm At Gidley: nla.news-article192363756

More Trouble at Nemingha: nla.news-page24879657

https://www.theland.com.au/story/4943592/eight-years-since-the-dust-photos/

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-12-03/50-minute-super-cell-wreaks-havoc-on-tamworth/4405684

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-12-03/hail-stones-from-tamworth-super-cell-storm/4405668

TROVE Tuesday – It Happened in Tamworth in 1908 – Insanitary Conditions

Insanitary Conditions

My Goodness!  I love a day where I learn something new!!

When I first looked at the title of Insanitary Conditions I thought that there had been an error in spelling.  As it turns out insanitary is very different from unsanitary and without knowing the difference I would have chosen to use the wrong word.

After the flooding of Tamworth the month before, apparently there was indeed a sanitation problem.  As discussed last week in my TROVE Tuesday post infectious diseases had reared their ugly head in the town, and then I found this notice in The Daily Telegraph stating that a number of hotels in Tamworth and area had insanitary conditions. Insanitary would actually have meant that the hotel establishments were in such frightful condition that they were a potential health risk to any member of the public that may choose to walk through the door.  A number of notices were given to the proprietors of these hotels to clean up their premises as quickly as possible or risk loosing their license.

Caledonian Hotel – PLEASE NOTE – This is not the 1908 flood but a flood that took place a few years later

I know that the Caledonian Hotel and the Royal Hotel were established in Tamworth in the early 1900’s but I cannot say that either of these particular establishments were serving customers under insanitary conditions.  Both of these hotels were situated in Peel street where the flooding was at it’s worst, but it is documented that the Royal Hotel in particular had a very fine reputation by 1909.  Both premises look to be fine establishments in these photographs.

Royal Hotel – excerpt from Tamworth – A Pictorial History by Warren Newman & Lyall Green

My grandfather Edward Thomas Bailey may have frequented these hotels for the odd ale, although I doubt that my grandmother Ines Maude Bailey would have set foot inside such a place.   Many years later my grandfather was a keen lawn bowler and helped establish a bowling club in Sydney, so I feel confident that he may have had a drink now and again. 

Actually, I suspect that the weeks and even months before my grandparents wedding in May must have been very trying for them.  With major flooding to the town and area, the outbreak of serious disease and the subsequent insanitary and unsanitary living conditions of 1908 they must have faced many difficulties when trying to accommodate extra family and friends at their home.  Any normal bride today will tell you how stressful it is to organise their wedding day, never mind the additional social problems faced by my grandmothers family.

Sources:

nla.news-page25698584

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/insanitary

Tamworth – A Pictorial History by Warren Newman & Lyall Green. p 119 http://www.tamworth.nsw.gov.au/

TROVE Tuesday – It Happened in Tamworth in 1908 – Infectious Disease Outbreak

Typhoid At Tamworth

I really had to research what Typhoid and Diphtheria were and how one caught such a  disease.  After doing as much research as Google would allow I discovered that it is no surprise at all that an outbreak of infectious diseases began after the recent, large-scale flooding of Tamworth a few weeks prior. 

40 Cases Typhoid

Typhoid and Diphtheria continued to plague Tamworth residents for many weeks to come and by the end of the month of April there had been 40 cases of Typhoid with an undisclosed number of Diphtheria cases.

From what I could learn Typhoid is spread through water that has been contaminated by excrement from sufferers of the disease and also through food infected by contaminated water.  The symptoms include fever, sweating, severe headache, abdominal pains, diarrhoea or constipation and lack of appetite.  My grandmother Ines Maude Smith suffered with a prolonged but undocumented illness before marrying my grandfather.  I have postcards that she wrote to my grandfather letting him know that her recuperation was going slowly, although the headaches continued to plague her for some time.  During this time my grandfather was not allow to visit the homestead and I have written before about how he would ride his horse close by to see if there was any smoke coming from her bedroom chimney.  If he saw the smoke he knew that she was till alive. (read story here).  Of course this is conjecture on my part – she certainly may not have had Typhoid at all.

Diphtheria is of course spread from person to person through the air by coughing and sneezing, and was potentially lethal if left untreated as 40 – 50% of cases died.  Having had a major flood in Tamworth the spread of Typhoid was inevitable and as Diphtheria was also prevalent many households in Tamworth would have succumbed to one of the illnesses.    I wonder how the families of Ines Maude Smith and Edward Thomas Bailey coped and if they were at all affected by these diseases.  I do know that neither of my grand parents suffered long term complications from these diseases so if either of them contracted one, or the other of theses illnesses they were lucky indeed.  Whilst death from the complications of these diseases was a distinct possibility there was also a reasonable chance of survival if caught early, with little or no further problems. 

Both of these illnesses are almost unheard of in Australia today and once again I am so grateful for the advances in medical sciences that have allowed generations of my family a healthy and fulfilling life.

Sources:

nla.news-page1313273

nla.news-page7867426

https://www.news-medical.net/health/Typhoid-Fever-History.aspx

https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/wellness/1994/01/25/when-typhoid-was-dreaded/9b2abb2d-ac05-42ae-802a-34122b16c322/?utm_term=.8eb62b76aaac

https://www.healthline.com/health/diphtheria#risk-factors

#52Ancestors – Taxes

I have struggled a bit this month as I’m finding a couple of the subjects quite difficult.  Tax information, for instance, is not something that seems to be readily available here in Australia. So for this topic I thought it would be interesting to find out just when personal taxation started in Australia.  My post is the very briefest of histories of tax in Australia and how it related to my family, and it is written by someone completely oblivious to all things tax – so I beg understanding if I have gotten facts wrong.

Being a relatively new country (a mere few hundred years old), and starting out as a penal colony, I had no idea when taxes started in Australia until I researched the subject and came up with the following timeline.

Admiral & Governor Arthur Philip who arrived with the first fleet in 1788 was given Royal instruction and permission allowing him to impose taxation when he thought the colony needed it.  I never realised that this was how the building of the first jail in Sydney (Rock Island –then call Pinchgut Island and now Fort Denison) and the care of the colonies orphans was funded.  My husband and I have a number of convicts in the family who in the early stages of the colony would not have been affected by tax as they worked for others earning little or nothing in wages.  These included the Browne, Smith and Bailey families on my side and  the Thompson, Huff, Mason, McIntyre & Allsopp families of my husbands family .  Perhaps unaffected by tax – UNLESS – they were actually placed on Rock Island as a form of punishment or shipped to Norfolk Island.  All our ancestors made their homes in New South Wales for many, many years and so would possibly not have been subject to the custom and excise duties which were paid between states on many items at all.  It should be pointed out though that the wonderful, yet well taxed, country we live in today was built on the tax-free blood, sweat and tears of these colonial pioneers.

In 1901 with Federation there was a removal of  all levy customs and excise duties on goods traded between Australian states. Again, this would not have made a huge difference to my husbands and my own family, but it is clear that the states were moving toward a more cohesive and self sufficient country.  Federation itself was of huge importance to our nation, allowing us the right to govern ourselves as part of the Commonwealth.

1915 saw the introduction of personal income tax and a tax on company profits which was used to help fund our war effort in WW1.  Around this time is when our families would have been impacted by taxes although most, if not all, would have been happy to contribute to something as important as supporting our war effort, and “our boys”.  Our grandparents Cyrus & Florence Allsopp nee: McGrath (Cyrus fought in WW1),  Percy & Doris Preston nee: Lord (working in regional New South Wales), Joseph & Christina Di Salvia nee: Hastings (working in Sydney, New South Wales) & Edward & Ines Bailey nee: Smith (also working in Sydney, New South Wales) were the people effected by the introduction of personal income tax.  Nearly all Aussie families were affected by at least one young soldier heading off to war. 

It wasn’t until 1944 that the Pay As You Earn (PAYE) tax system was introduced to wage/salary earners.  The employer deducted the tax prior to the employee receiving their wage.  This is the tax system that I am most familiar with, as it has been the constant in Taxation in Australia.  There have been many modifications over the years though.  These taxation changes firstly affected our parents Edward & Lola Preston nee: Allsopp and Ronald & Madeleine Di Salvia nee: Bailey.  These changes also governed tax paid by Terry and I, and also the tax paid by our children.

In 1983 the Medicare levy was introduced to all wage/salary earners at 2% of their wage (approx).  This tax continues to help fund Australia’s national healthcare scheme ensuring the right to medical assistance for all.  This tax was introduced soon after Terry and I were married and of course we thought it was a good idea, as it would ensure our access to healthcare without the cost of private insurance.  The government did introduce the idea that medical insurance was necessary some years late though.

The year 2000 saw an introduction of a 10% goods and services tax known as the GST which is levelled at most goods, services and other items sold or consumed in the country.  No-one escapes this tax!

There have been many taxation changes over the life of this great country, but as always tax in my family has been the subject we love to hate.  It has affected nearly every member of my family, in one form or another, for most of the time that we have called Australia home.

Sources:

https://www.taxsuperandyou.gov.au/node/133/take

https://www.ato.gov.au/Individuals/Medicare-levy/

https://www.ato.gov.au/Business/GST/

#52Ancestors – My Maiden Aunt Esma

Esma with her mother Christina & sisters Thelma and Clare

Emsa Mavis Di Salvia was born at Wahroonga, Sydney, New South Wales in 1922 and joined the Seventh Day Adventist faith with her parents when she was around 5 years old.  In this first photo of her from abt. 1934 she is seated with her seriously ill mother Christina, and her sisters Clare (left) and Thelma (middle). At the age of twelve she looks like like any young girl with her long plats and slightly hesitant face, although the caring and protective way in which she is positioned with her mother points to a character trait that stayed with her for her entire life.

Esma was a smart and bubbly  girl, and knew from the very beginning what she wanted to do with her life.  She was driven by her desire to spread the word of God and spent a number of years in the South Island of  New Zealand as a Colporteur, distributing bibles and other religious tracts. 

Esma whilst on a trip to Tasmania

Early in 1953 and whilst she was still in New Zealand, she received a call to work as a missionary in Bombay, India.   She boarded the ship S.S. Strathaird, leaving Sydney on 31 Jul 1953.  In total she spent 7 years in India teaching people about the word of God, focused and dedicated to bringing souls into the faith.  She did return home a few times during those years for visits with family and friends.

Esma at Home

Whilst in India she came to the realisation that she would be better equipped to help the people in Bombay if she had some nursing experience as well as her Bible teaching experience.  She wanted to be of help the women of that poor nation who had limited access to pre-natal care.

Nurse Esma Di Salvia

Upon her return to Australia in 1960 she enrolled in nursing at the Sydney Adventist Hospital at Wahroonga and did well with her studies.  By all accounts she was a popular student for her happy, caring  and conscientious nature.  Sadly, Esma became ill late in the 2nd year of her training and passed away roughly a year later on 5 Oct 1963 at the hospital where she studied and worked.  She was just 40 years old.

Esma was unmarried, so essentially a maiden aunt, but found a fulfilling and happy life by following her passion to bring people into the faith.  Her commitment and loving dedication  for her work was mentioned in her obituary.

I had difficulty writing about Aunty Es as I am not a  particularly religious person, but I very much wanted to do justice to a post about this strong, loving and dedicated lady.  RIP Aunty Es.

 

 

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colportage

Australasian Record:  http://documents.adventistarchives.org/Periodicals

TROVE Tuesday – It Happened in Tamworth in 1908 – Helpful Hints

Helpful Hint – Cultivating Orchids

I know that my grandmother, Ines Maude Smith carried orange blossoms on her wedding day because of a newspaper article that was written about the wedding.  But I fancy there were other blooms in the bouquet, perhaps even orchids, and found this helpful little hint in the newspaper about growing orchids.

Tamworth still has an active Orchid Society today and in fact I have two different types of orchids growing in my very own bush house!

Sources:

nla.news-article165393354

TROVE Tuesday – It happened in Tamworth in 1908 – Bad Language, Drunkenness & Resisting Arrest

Drunkenness, Bad Language & Resisting Arrest

I can’t imagine my grandfather Edward Thomas Bailey and my grandmother Ines Maude Smith floundering around drunk, swearing or resisting arrest and I’m quite sure that Granma would “not be amused” by such behaviour.  In fact my grandparents were just 6 weeks out from their wedding and I’ve no doubt they had other things on their minds beside the bad behaviour of a couple of locals.

This tiny article amused me though, as it show two things:

Firstly – Tamworth hasn’t actually changed too much in the 110 years since this article appeared.  There are always going to be unsavoury types in any town, as has been the case since time began.

Secondly – did you notice that Mr James Walsh was fined more for his indecent language than he was for his drunkenness!  I would have thought that being drunk to the extent that you couldn’t control mouth and what comes out of it, and no doubt causing trouble was the larger crime here.

Interesting!

Sources:

nla.news-article192956589