| Dear Donald, From time to time, we have to make changes in what do and the way we do it.
We have been using Constant Contact (a commercial service) for 130 editions. Usually I copy the previous month’s template, modify and add new content.
This month I moved on to a new format. It is not as colorful, but maybe with practice I can brighten up future editions.
Also we are limited to only five images (for free).
This format may be more readable in your hand held device rather than in an email format. Let me know if you like the change.
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Introduction
 The above photo shows the Utica Militia Regiment during the American Civil War. Three of the soldiers came from the Utica Jerrems family.
This article continues the story of Thomas, the first son of Elizabeth Small (nee Jerrems), a daughter of the ubiquitous Big Bill Jerrems.
In my first article about Thomas I recounted how he had a family of 15 children and was a Lieutenant Colonel in the Victorian Militia. The article concluded with an account of the early history of the Richmond Volunteer Rifles. This article continues that history and describes how Thomas bought a farm, concluding with his death in 1912.
Rifle Clubs An important innovation for the future began in 1883 with the establishment of rifle clubs throughout Victoria. Rifles and ammunition could be purchased from the Ordnance Stores at reduced rates. Members could travel by rail free when taking part in rifle matches. In fact Richmond already had a rifle club. Thomas’s cousin Robert Cane Jerrems (one of the sons of my great great grandfather Thomas Jerrems, and the ancestor of some of our Melbourne readers) was a member of the Club and competed regularly between 1868 and 1877. The 1900 photo of the Richmond Rifle Club shows its headquarters as being in Church Street, Richmond.
 Colours
The Companies had individual colours which were displayed at parades. Troops were very proud of their colours, demonstrated vividly towards the end of the First World War. On that occasion a number of Australian battalions with proud histories were to be merged with other battalions because they were very low on strength. They went on strike, but agreed to the merger on the assurance of General Monash that they would be allowed to keep their colours. The Queen’s Colour shown in the photograph is one of a pair presented to Captain Septimus Martin of the Richmond Volunteer Rifles on 2 February 1861, at the Richmond Cricket Ground by the ladies of Richmond. This committee of women were wives, relatives and influential people connected with the Corps. The Colours have been held at the Richmond Town Hall since 1967. They are the oldest surviving Australian Colours. Comparison with Colours in America Readers may remember my series of articles about the Jerrems brothers who were members of the Utica Militia and signed up to fight in the American Civil War. In that instance also, the ladies of Utica sewed the colours, which were presented to the Companies in a ceremony.
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Types of rifles used
Initially the Volunteer Rifle Companies were equipped with a motley collection of muzzle loading weapons, some of which were so worn that some were described as being little better than a piece of water pipe! In 1866 the Victorian Government purchased a substantial number of muzzle loading Lancaster guns (see photo) directly from Charles Lancaster, the London manufacturer. The Lancaster remained the mainstay of the Victorian Volunteer forces until it was replaced by the Martini-Henry rifle in the 1870s. The Martini Henry was a single shot breech loader (ie it was loaded at the trigger end of the rifle and was loaded with one bullet at a time) and was a significant improvement in firing rate, accuracy and distance. In 1876 the Richmond Club competed at distances up to 600 yards, which is a long distance for aperture sights. The rifle had a large calibre of 0.577 inches, the calibre used in the United States at the time for shooting buffaloes.
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Accommodation for Rifle Companies Volunteer Rifle Companies and, later, militias provided themselves (or took over from their predecessors) numerous buildings of a basic construction and design bearing such names as Drill Halls and Orderly Rooms. I remember when I was in the Scouts we met in a former Army Drill Hall built in the early 1900s. It was ideal for energetic scouts because it was of very strong timber construction. The Richmond Volunteer Rifles Orderly Room in Gipps Street Richmond on the corner of Docker Street (see photo) was constructed of timber in 1867 with donations from members of the Richmond Company. This would have involved a large fund-raising exercise and numerous working bees and demonstrates the enthusiasm of the members of the Company and the support of the Richmond townspeople. Thomas (a surveyor) and his brother Jabez (a carpenter) would have made significant practical contributions to the construction of the hall.
Replacement by militia forces A ‘Militia’ organisation replaced the volunteer forces from 1884. The Militia were paid, and enrolled for a fixed term. Although service remained part time, members were obliged to attend a number of full days training per year, in the form of annual camps. By 1900, due in part to the Boer War in South Africa, the strength of the Local Forces was more than 22,000.
With the disbandment of the volunteer system in 1884 the Richmond building was one of the few orderly rooms substantial enough to be taken over by the new Victorian Department of Defence. The building was altered and extended significantly in 1891 (when Thomas was approaching retirement) and now has a new roof with skylights. However it appears that the original building probably started at the front of the photo, stopping at the downpipe which is past the second window in the side street. It is likely that the original building had a room for the Commanding Officer, used by Thomas during his tenure in that capacity. It is tantalising to think that more than 140 years ago he would have actually marched through the same front door shown in the photograph. |
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Thomas leases land
In an earlier article I referred to a lease of land taken out by Thomas. To put the area of the lease (311 acres) into context, this area is almost half a square mile in the old language and its perimeter would have involved a lively walk of about three miles (five kilometres). But why did Thomas take out the lease? At first blush this seemed to be Thomas’s first venture into farming, overtaken later by his purchase of a dairy farm at San Remo. However this was probably not the case. Apart from the lease’s unwieldy size, at the time it was a long distance from a railway line, although this was soon rectified in 1882 when the Hawthorn-Camberwell-Lilydale railway line reached Lilydale, which was still 10 kilometres from the farm. The farm would also have needed significant development to be profitable. Initially I thought that perhaps he was seeking refuge from his expanding family, and he could also have indulged in his interest in rifle-shooting. Then it struck me that he probably intended to use the land for training his beloved Richmond Volunteer Rifle Brigade. Thomas buys a dairy farm Thomas bought a dairy farm at San Remo, close to Phillip Island and 100 kilometres south east of Melbourne CBD. I have not been able to establish the date of purchase, but it seems possible to me that he bought it after 1903, when his wife Zilpha died. When Zilpha died their youngest child (Edward Ernest Small) was 17 and the rest of the family were adults, so Thomas would have been comparatively free to move out of Melbourne. In fact Edward retained the dairy farm until the late 1930s. Also, some of the children were farmers when they moved further afield in later years, demonstrating an ongoing interest in farming. Thomas dies at San Remo According to his Death Notice Thomas died in San Remo and was buried there in San Remo Cemetery. |
The puzzle of the family gravestone
The gravestone is puzzling because the people listed on it are not set out in chronological order. For instance, Thomas is listed above his brother Jabez (who died 21 years earlier than Thomas) and his wife Zilpha (who died nine years earlier than Thomas). The gravestone therefore appears to be a “consolidation” of family members who may not (like Thomas) have necessarily been buried in that cemetery. If this is correct, it seems that Thomas had two more children than I set out in my previous article (Evelyne 1862-3 and Zilpha E Alberta 1864-5). This means that he in fact had 17 children! A family Small by name but not by number! Not mentioned are two of Jabez’s children who died before Thomas, or Jabez’s wife Emily who died in 1927. Perhaps the entries stopped because the gravestone had been filled up? Amazingly, Thomas’s 17 children is not a record for the Jerrems extended family because Henrietta Harrison, who married Big Bill’s youngest son Arthur Reginald Jerrems, came from a family of eighteen (of which 14 survived childhood), just pipping Thomas. |
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Contact with the Jerrems families Discerning readers may remember that my great great grandfather’s family also lived in Richmond at the same time as Thomas. It is interesting to surmise as to whether the families were in close contact. The Small and Jerrems families, who were cousins, obviously knew each other well. A case in point was that Thomas Small and Robert Jerrems were in the Richmond Volunteer Rifles together for 15 years, however Thomas was (by coincidence) 15 years older than Robert. On the other hand Thomas’s younger brother Jabez, who was also in the Richmond Rifles, was closer in age. Conclusion Well, that just about finishes the story of Thomas. I have traced those of his children who reached adulthood, but at this stage I have not located anything particularly newsworthy about them, nor have I found any specific current descendants, although I know that there must be a lot of them out there.
Perhaps Mulder hits the nail on the head in the “X Files” when he says “The truth is out there! In a later article I will tell you the story of Thomas’s brother Jabez and his adventures in the Maori Wars in New Zealand, and also his later wildcat investments in goldmining companies. |
| Anecdotes from Grand Parents Ray & Diane
I have a small anecdote from my seven year old granddaughter Samantha. She had been playing with her father Brad and commented “You know, Dad, that that you will make a very good grandfather for my children”. That is what I call forward planning!
Recently her ten year old sister Jessica exclaimed to my wife Diane “Nanny, we love coming to your house because we can do anything we like there”. This is actually pretty close to the truth because our house is close to being bullet proof (or at least child proof) and has a large back yard. |