DAWSON and BRAY FAMILIES

JOHN HENRY ROBERTS (1851-1931) and EMILY DAWSON (1853- 1946)

Homestead Selectors of Menai

John Henry Roberts Dawson, the son of Henry Dawson and Martha Ann Roberts, was born on the 22 January 1851 at 139 Meadow Street, Sheffield England in the family home. Emily Ward, the daughter of Alfred Ward and Harriet Goodison, was born on the 4 December 1853 at Walkley, Nether Hallam England (a Sheffield suburb).

John, aged 20 of Crescent Road, Walkley married Emily, aged 17 of 189 King James Street, Walkley on 24 September 1871 at St Mary’s Walkley. John’s occupation was given as file grinder and Emily was a dress maker. Emily was unable to write her name. The witnesses were Alfred Ward and Edward Harmston. A descendant of the couple, Fred Midgley, wrote in Emily’s obituary, that after marriage they ran a ‘Mixed Business’ in Sheffield. However I believe that this is unlikely because John was still listed as a file grinder in 1877 and again in 1881. He gave his occupation as a ‘sheep shears grinder’ in 1884 on his immigration record. I believe it is unlikely that Emily would have run a business  as very few married women worked in those days and she was illiterate when married. Their address in 1877 was 148 Greaves Street, Nether Hallam and in 1881 was 69 Walkley Bank Road, Nether Hallam.

Their children, all born in the Sheffield area of Yorkshire, were Emma born 1872, Annie born 28 August 1877, Edith born 1879, Horace born 1882 and Lily born 1884. They also had another boy and a girl, both of whom died in infancy before the family migrated to Australia.

Stories of fortunes to be made in Australia attracted them and the family migrated in 1884 on the steam ship Abergeldie leaving from Plymouth on 13 May and were landing in Sydney on 11 July 1884 .After arrival they had intended to go to the ‘diggings’ but never left Sydney. In the first year or so they lived at a variety of addresses, Botany, then Leichhardt, St Peters and then in 1885 settled in Bellevue Parade, Hurstville, in those days sparsely populated, while John followed his trade of grinder (ie cutler).

After 12 years at Hurstville they took up a ‘Homestead Selection’ of 23 acres (Portion 258) in Menai Road, Menai (previously known as Bridge Road), some time between 1897 and 1899, there being very few other families living in that area then. However, they were still actually living in Bellevue Parade, Hurstville on 22 April 1898 (when their daughter Annie married Harry David Bray), but must have moved onto their land very soon afterwards. The Old Illawarra Road, connected by a small hand-operated punt over the Georges River at Lugarno was the only access to the city. They ran a mixed farm, mainly poultry on the property, his occupation being given as farmer in 1930.

Emily Dawson was involved in many pioneer works at Menai, chiefly being the foundation of the School of Arts and the Congregational Church. Their land, portion 258 Menai Road, was originally taken up in 1897/99 and their right to it was confirmed on the 4 June 1912. It was eventually purchased in Emily’s name on 23 June 1931 just after John died, for £34/2/6. You can find the location of their house on current street directories, as there is a street named after them called Dawson Place on what was their land, right beside the shops called Menai Market Place. I have been told that their house stood for many years and was kept by the Council and historical societies as an example of pioneer housing. Unfortunately it was demolished after being badly vandalised. Sadly I never went to see it, as I was not aware of its existence until after it had gone. After Emily’s death the land passed to her children Horace and Lily.

 All their surviving children married, Emma married John Grogan in 1911 at Hurstville, Annie married Harry David Bray on the 22 April 1898 at Kogarah, Edith married Frederick Browne in 1902 at Hurstville, Horace married Emily Fisher in 1909 in Sydney and Lily married Arthur Midgley in 1909 in the Sutherland area, probably Menai. Arthur and Lily Midgley settled in Menai and raised a family there.

John, aged 80, died on the 6 June 1931 at the home of his son Horace at 77 Beaconsfield Street, Bexley. John’s occupation was given as farmer. He was buried on the 8 June 1931 in the Church of England section Woronora Cemetery, (section AF grave 252). After John’s death Emily went to live with family in the St George district. She later returned to her own home at Menai in January 1945. She was an expert needlewoman and possessed a fine memory. Emily died on the 8 July 1946, aged 92, at her home in Menai Road Menai. She was buried on the 10 July 1946 in the Church of England section Woronora, (section AF, grave 252).

Click on the names JOHN HENRY ROBERTS (1851 – 1931) and EMILY DAWSON (1853 -1946) in the heading of this story. You will be taken to the database entry for John Henry Roberts and his family.

HARRY DAVID (1877- 1941) and ANNIE (1877-1952) BRAY

Homestead Selectors of Menai

Harry David Bray, the son of Harry Cornelius Bray and Mary Bannatyne Armitage, was born on the 2 August 1877 at Wyndham Street, Alexandria NSW in the family home. Annie Dawson, the daughter of John Henry Roberts Dawson and Emily Ward was born on 28 August 1877 at 148 Greaves Street, Nether Hallam, Sheffield Yorkshire, in the family home. Annie and family migrated to Australia on 11 July 1884 in the ship Abergeldie.

Harry, aged 20 of Woids Avenue Hurstville and Annie, aged 20 of Bellevue Parade Hurstville, were married on the 22 April 1898 at ‘The Laurels’, Webbers Road Kogarah. The witnesses were Harry Cornelius Bray and Edith Dawson. Harry David’s occupation then was given as mattress maker and Annie’s was machinist.

Their children were, Horace Cornelius born 2 November 1899 in Hurstville, Florence Emily born 5 August 1901 in Hurstville, Harry David born 3 June 1903 in Hurstville, Jack Cyril born 30 October 1904 in Hurstville, Thelma Emma born 9 March 1909 in Sydney, Frank Hamilton born 16 January 1912 in Menai and Daphne Dawson born 25 July 1917 in Arncliffe.

 By mid June 1903 the family were residing in Menai and had taken up a Homestead Selection of 24 acres, (Portion 298, Old Illawarra Road), just as Annie’s parents had done. I think it could be possible that they went to Menai about the same time as her parents, however the first four children’s births were registered at Hurstville, the last being Jack Cyril on 30 October 1904. This would be a sensible precaution as not many people were in Menai at that time. Frank was the only child born in their house in Old Illawarra Road Menai, the remainder being born in Sydney. The location of this house can easily be located on a current street map, as it would have stood about the middle of what is now the Blaxland Drive Reserve. The Menai High School now stands over part of this land and the corner of Blaxland Drive and Morton Road is almost exactly at the middle of it.

When taken up, this land was natural bush and Harry began to clear it while still working in Sydney. Can you imagine commuting to and from the city in those days with the lack of transport? He eventually was able to make a living from the land running a poultry farm and market garden. The confirmation of the right to this land was granted on 22 July 1920 and was then purchased for the sum of £36.5.8 which in those days was a very much larger sum than it sounds today. It was finally paid for on 15 May 1941 sadly not long before Harry died. His occupation was given as gardener in 1936 and farmer when he died in 1941.

     All of their children married. Horace married Nellie Embleton on 11 February 1930, Florence married Herbert Dine on 1 June 1929, and Harry married Dulcie Thompson on 12 January 1929. Jack married Esme Croft on 14 December 1927, Thelma married Albert Long on 2 July 1929, Frank married Edna Embleton on 18 August 1936 and Daphne married Charles Bertram on 24 September 1938. Nellie and Edna Embleton are sisters.

 Harry died aged 64 of cerebral thrombosis on 25 September 1941 at Lidcombe State Hospital. His usual residence at that time was Old Illawarra Road Menai and occupation was given as poultry farmer. He was buried on 26 September 1941 in the Church of England section Woronora Cemetery, section AF, grave 573.

Annie died, aged 74 on 20 June 1952 in her home in Old Illawarra Road Menai of coronary occlusion. She was buried in the Church of England portion of Woronora Cemetery on 23 June 1952, section AF, grave 573.

THE LAND

Both parcels of land occupied by John and Emily Dawson and Harry and Annie Bray were taken up by conversion of a ‘Homestead Selection’. This was Crown land that had been originally ‘selected’ by a person, which then gave them the right to occupy, use and ‘improve’ it. Then as a result of the Crown Lands Consolidation Act of 1913, those who qualified were finally able to purchase the land they were occupying directly from the Government.

An original release of 10 lots for selection was made in December 1896 which became the village of Menai. The land ‘selected’ by John and Emily Dawson was portion 258 and was one of these original lots. It is known that John and Emily Dawson were living on their land in Menai, sometime around 1898/1899 and there probably was no more than 11 other families living in that area the time. The title deed shows that they had met the conditions in 1912 but the land was actually purchased by Emily Dawson after the death of her husband John in 1931.

When Harry and Annie Bray were married in 1898 they were both living in Bellevue Parade, Hurstville. They also took up land at Menai, portion  298 Old Illawarra Road, sometime well before 1909, possibly by 1903, as they were living in Menai by mid June 1903. This was a later release of land, date unknown though sometime after the original 10 lots. It probably would have been soon after her parents moved there, as it would seem likely to me that they would do it together for mutual support. The title deed shows they qualified for the land in 1920 but it was not purchased until 1940. The title deed also shows that when the land was finally paid for in 1941 parts of the land were sold or given to their sons Harry Jnr and Jack. Both of them had built their houses and were living there with their families at that time. By then Mick (Horace) had his own land and house next door and Frank was living in Campsie with his family. Daphne married Charles Bertram in 1938 and after Harry then Annie died, Daphne and Charles lived in the old house for a number of years before it was finally sold out of the family.

 Mick (Horace) Bray took up his block, portion 387 Old Illawarra Road, next to Harry and Annie’s, as a Homestead Selection, he qualified in 1921 and finally purchased it in 1943. The order of the houses on the left as you came up Old Illawarra Road from the ferry was Mick and Nellie’s, Harry and Dulcie’s, Jack and Esme’s then the old house of Harry and Annie. A family of cousins, the Berry’s lived on the right hand side of the road in the same area.

Why did they go way out there? When they went there, it really was miles from anywhere and was still virtually untouched natural bush, there were no facilities at all and hardly any people. A small hand operated ferry crossed the river at Lugarno to get to Hurstville and there was a bridge of some sort at Woronora, which meant you could also get across to Sutherland as well. The road, (Old Illawarra Road), meandered through the bush down to Bulli Pass, as this road was the early way down to the coast. It was not even particularly good land, most of it rocky and covered with stunted scrub, with just a small fertile bit down where they had the market gardens.

 My guess is that the desire to own land was overwhelmingly strong, particularly for ‘working class’ English like the Dawsons who would never have even dreamt of the possibility of owning property back in England. Yet here was the opportunity of owning land for a reasonable price and a lot of very hard work and obviously they went for it despite all the hardships that it meant. How did they get to hear of the land? Did they ‘select’ it sight unseen off a map or did they actually go out there by horse and cart to see it first? There had been articles about the land in the St George Advocate and this obviously sparked their interest and led to them taking up the land.

 During the family‘s early life on the land at Menai, they had no electricity or running water of course and the district was very sparsely settled with the nearest supplies quite a distance away. The produce from the market garden was taken to Sydney Markets by horse and cart. The children first went to school at Menai, then at Sutherland and had to walk there across country a distance of about 7 miles. The families were ‘pioneers’ in the true sense of the word.

A contemporary report in the St George Advocate dated 1 March 1902 gives a description of the area as follows:

In fulfilment of a long standing promise, I paid a visit to Bangor recently, where some of our Miranda friends Webbs, Midgleys, Bentleys and Maymans) have been living for the past five years. As readers of this column have heard much of Bangor – formerly known as Holdsworthy – a description of the place and how the people are situated will be interesting. This settlement consists of ten blocks. It was thrown open for selection in December, 1896, and is about a mile square. Its southern boundary is the southern boundary of the Sydney metropolitan area. It sits regally astride a sandstone ridge which runs due north and south about three miles west of Sutherland and eight miles from Hurstville. The main road traverses this ridge the land falling by easy slopes eastward and westward. There are magnificent gullies where an unlimited water supply could be saved.

The material for constructing the dams can be got from plentiful outcropping of sandstone rock. Useful timber of iron bark, stringy, mahogany, bloodwood, gum and oak is abundant. The top soil is a loamy sand with a friable red clay subsoil easy to work. It is a soil well suited for orchard and garden purposes and could be raised to a high degree of scientific farming. It will respond generously to green manuring.

There are two blocks of seventeen acres, the others average twenty eight. The selection has been made under Mr. Carruthers Act of 1895 [Minister for Lands]. The blocks are valued at 30/- and £1. Curiously, the land selected by most experienced and successful gardeners is valued at the lower figure. The annual rental is fixed at threepence in the pound for the first five years.

Alfred Midgley included the above newspaper article in his book Reflections Menai Congregational Church 1901-1977 and added:

Those who came from Miranda, for example, saw an escape from the Landlord and tenant farming under the Holt landowning system. They accepted the challenge of ‘fresh field and pastures new’ and advanced with the pioneer spirit so much evidenced in Australian history of past generations. This pioneer spirit strove against droughts and adversities in carving out a livelihood in the virgin bush. It triumphed with fortitude in good seasons and bad; in the sickness and; misfortune and death; steadfast in a faith that stems from God – a faith that gives courage and strength not only to the physical being, but primarily to man’s deepest need, the spiritual. This faith gave root to a common unity in gathering together the handful of pioneer settlers to link their hearts in the worship of their Creator, Almighty God.

This newspaper reporter’s description of the land seems hopelessly optimistic to me considering the quality of the land before the homes were built there.

NEVILLE BRAY

First published in  Sutherland Shire, Some Early Residents, 2006, by Botany Bay Family History Society. Compiled by Maree McKinley and Sue Hewitt.     

Click on the names HARRY DAVID (1877 – 1941) and ANNIE (1877 – 1952) BRAY  in the heading of their story. You will be taken to the database entry for Harry David Bray and his family.