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2016 – The Year of Jerrems Journals in Review
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Dear Readers,
As has been our custom for December editions, we encapsulate the previous months’ stories.
All the best to our Jerrems families around the world. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
Ray Jerrems, Our Genealogist, Historian, and Adventurer |
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| January 2016 Edition 130
Ray took us back to the mid-1800’s family in Australia. This article includes an important episode in Australia’s history which has almost been lost in the sands of time. In my previous article I discussed the marriage of Elizabeth Jerrems (a daughter of Big Bill) and William Small and their life in Boston, their voyage to Australia and their life in Australia. In this article I embarked on describing the lives of two of William and Elizabeth’s three children in the order of their birth (Elizabeth Jnr and Thomas). Thomas, born in 1834, married Zilpha Burchett (1840-1903) and they settled initially in Richmond. Thomas described himself as a surveyor, but he also had a strong interest in the Richmond Voluntary Rifles. Zilpha was born in 1840 in Harlaxton, Lincolnshire, famous for its palatial Manor. Dying in 1903 at the age of 63, she predeceased Thomas, who died in 1912 at “Harlaxton”, San Remo, south of Melbourne. |
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February 2016 Edition 131 – THOMAS STEPHEN SMALL
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. 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. 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. |
| March 2016 Edition 132 – JABEZ WILLIAM SMALL
This article is about Jabez William Small, who was a grandson of Big Bill, being a son of Elizabeth Small (nee Jerrems) and William Small. In earlier articles I described the life of Elizabeth and William while they lived in Boston in Lincolnshire in England and later migrated to Melbourne in 1850. Later I wrote two articles about his older brother Thomas Stephen Small, who became a Lieutenant Colonel in the Richmond Volunteer Rifles. Now it is time to talk about the youngest child, Jabez William Small. Jabez was ten when he arrived in Australia with his parents and older siblings Elizabeth and Thomas Stephen. |
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April 2016 Edition 133 – Jerrems Fishing Story
Last May, when I was out of town and received a text from my 25-year old daughter Jacqueline letting me know that she and my wife, Mia and a friend were taking my 21′ Proline for a fishing trip out of Pensacola pass. Jacqueline has been fishing with me since early childhood and knows her way about the boat. Needless to say I was a bit nervous as this was her first solo excursion. Having her mother on board was of some help but usually when Mia goes fishing, the first time she touches a fish is when it is on the fork at the dinner table as I usually catch and hook her bait, take off her fish, together with cleaning and cooking any and all fish. Mom was there for moral support and motherly advice. Jacqueline loaded up the boat with tackle, rods, ice, electronics and all the usual paraphernalia. After catching a live well full of cigar minnows, she headed offshore and did quite well with 30″ red snapper (safely released) and a pair smoker kings. Two different captains who I regularly see on the water, came up to the boat to say hi to me and were very surprised that I was not on board. They both commented to me later on how much hooting and hollering was taking place on the boat that they had to see what was going on. To cap off the day of fishing, on the way back in, the girls ran into a school of redfish and my daughter caught a 36″ fish on light tackle with a soft bait again, safely released. When they sent me the photos, I asked that they also send me a photo of my boat and was relieved to see it too was returned in one piece. |
May 2016 Edition 134 – CAMELS AND AFGHANS
I thought it was time to have a break from genealogy.
This article is the story of camels in Australia, a subject which has few parallels in the histories of other countries. My interest in camels emanated from my First World War research on the forbears of Journal readers. Camels were used by Australians in that war. Camels are much more interesting than I had previously thought, and their longstanding adaptation to desert environments made them particularly useful in Australia, which has a high proportion of arid country. |
| June 2016 Edition 135 – Jabez William Small
This article continues the story of Jabez William Small (1840-1891), the youngest child of William Small and Elizabeth Small (nee Jerrems, a daughter of Big Bill). In a previous article I described his early career, culminating in his service in the First Waikato Militia Regiment in New Zealand in 1862/3). After the high drama of serving in New Zealand Jabez returned to the day-to-day reality that he had to earn a living in Melbourne. At some stage (possibly soon after he returned from New Zealand) Jabez started up a photography supply business known as JW Small &Co. Perhaps he had adopted the idea of his brother William and brother-in-law George Priston who had married their sister Elizabeth in August 1863. William and George (a pharmacist) had gone into partnership for a period in the 1860s to sell photographic supplies. After they split up they had separate stores in Melbourne They must have been successful because they entered exhibits in the 1866 Melbourne Inter Colonial Exhibition. Meanwhile, Jabez had opened a shop known as “JW Small & Co.” in Melbourne and it appears that in due course he may have opened branches in Sydney, Adelaide and Brisbane. The reports are not clear about the branches because they seem to confuse Jabez with his brother Thomas. Although there was no obvious reason why people settled in Melbourne would move to Sydney, the fact remains that Jabez was not alone, some of his Jerrems cousins (Thomas Jnr and my great grandfather Charles) who also lived in Richmond, moved to Sydney. |
July 2016 Edition 136 – Jabez William Small JABEZ WILLIAM SMALL, THIRD ARTICLE
The above photo shows the Manly Peninsula.** The beach is on the left and the Harbour is on the top right.
This article draws to a close the career of Jabez William Small, a grandson of Big Bill Jerrems. Previous articles describe his early career, including his military service in New Zealand and later business of importing photographic supplies and to his ventures into gold mining companies and land speculation. Jabez the gold miner: Within three years of marrying Emma in Sydney in 1870 Jabez must have had a rush of blood to the head, deciding he would like to be a goldminer. Since the 1860s gold mining had changed from individuals panning for gold in streams to sophisticated methods like dredging or (as described in earlier articles relating to Ballarat and Bendigo) quartz mining using deep shafts. Dividends: Returning to Jabez’s gold mining investments, although the gold mines in which he invested have long since disappeared from memory because the gold would predictably have run out, he would still have received dividends if the companies ran at a profit. In the case of the Golden Gully Gold Mining Company it went into liquidation in 1894, 21 years after it was floated and three years after Jabez died. One could conclude that it must have made a profit during that period in order for it to have remained in operation for so long. On the other hand these are the only gold mining investments I can find for Jabez, so he must have changed his mind about their profitability. Jabez moves to Manly: Although we do not know specifically when Jabez moved to Manly, we know that he was elected as an alderman of Manly Council in 1882, the year his daughter Stella was born in Manly. At the time he owned a house in East Esplanade, Manly, literally across the road from the Harbour beach and very close to the Ferry Wharf. It would be reasonable to assume that when he stood for the election he had been a resident there for some time. Jabez moves to Stanmore: Despite the fact that he had become a prominent citizen in Manly, not long afterwards he moved to the well-to-do suburb (as it was at that time) of Stanmore, on Sydney’s Western railway line, where a son was born in 1886. Notwithstanding Manly’s very pleasant beachside surroundings and idyllic setting for his young family he may have moved because Stanmore was much closer to his office (he would have had well over an hour’s travel time each way whilst at Manly). Jabez returns to Melbourne: It is apparent from the birthplaces of his later children that Jabez returned to Melbourne in 1887, when his son Reginald was born in Pascoevale, near Essendon. The family then moved to Balwyn, near Hawthorn, where he died in 1891 at the comparatively early age (for those days) of fifty one. It is a matter of conjecture as to why they moved to Melbourne, after having lived in Sydney for sixteen years (ten years at Marrickville, where Emma’s parents lived).Further, Emma’s parents were still alive, so their demise was not the reason for the change of address. My initial reaction when I saw that Jabez had moved to Melbourne was that he may have been in financial trouble in Sydney and had decided to move to Melbourne to make a fresh start. However the probate of his will shows that when he died his NSW estate was a very healthy 11,734 pounds, and his Victorian estate was also a healthy 5,131 pounds. Financial matters were not therefore an issue, he left his family was well off. |
| August 2016 Edition 137
Research on my article about Jabez William Small included a segment about Manly, where Jabez lived, and where my great grandparents Charles and Susannah lived later. This research brought home to me the significance of the development of Manly in the history of Sydney, particularly in the field of entertainment of the public. On a broader front, the research led me to examine public entertainment in Great Britain, the United States and Australia in the late 1800s and early 1900s because it is quite possible that some of our readers’ ancestors went to those places. Entertainment Piers in Great Britain Brighton, England, Probably the first Entertainment Piers were constructed in England in the 1860s, where Brighton West Pier became famous. Soon after, every British seaside resort wanted a pier! Llandudno Pier, North Wales Llandudno Pier, completed in 1878, is a pier in the seaside resort of Llandudno on the coast of North Wales between Bangor and Colwyn Bay. Entertainment in Australia: The situation was somewhat different in Australia. We did not have the same degree of industrialisation. In the case of Sydney, in particular, most of the population was within striking distance of Sydney Harbour, There were a number of picnic areas which could be accessed by ferry, for instance at Balmoral. Trips to the Blue Mountains were also popular. The surf beaches were not as popular, due to lack of public transport to many of them. Also, most people could not swim, and there were no lifesavers, making fatalities quite common. The Entertainment Piers and similar entertainment centres seem to have filled a social need. Long before the car was invented the public flocked to them, using cheap public transport like steam trains, trams and ferries. The forms of entertainment were various, as you will see. However they seem to have had limited long-term appeal in Australia. Entertainment at Manly: Briefly, Manly had an entertainment pier on the Harbour side, next to the ferry wharf. It also had a huge water slide, a swimming pool and bathing pavilions.The Entertainment Pier at Manly was next to the Ferry Wharf, an ideal location for ferry passengers travelling on the large Manly ferries, which could carry up to 1,000 passengers. Bondi: Bondi had a Wonderland City. Entrepreneur William Anderson created a new venture ‘Wonderland City’ opening in 1906 using many existing structures and modelling the site on the famous Coney Island in New York. Coogee Pier: In 1928 construction of an ‘English seaside style’ amusement pier was completed, reaching 180 metres out into the sea complete with a 1400-seat theatre, a 600 capacity ballroom, a 400-seat restaurant upstairs, small shops and a penny (machine) arcade. Dalley’s Castle: This somewhat bizarre Gothic-Roman “castle” was built by William Bede Dalley on the hill behind Manly. It was built in 1882-1883 and by 1884 Dalley is listed as living there. It was demolished in 1939. The Stone Kangaroo: This very rustic version of a kangaroo was also a local landmark, situated on the Manly skyline. It was probably made by Thomas Youll, a stone mason, in about 1857. City Pier on Anna Maria Island with the Jerrems siblings. The pier extends out into Tampa Bay Florida. It hasn’t changed much since the mid-1950’s when we spent the summers on the Island. (Editor’s Note: Originally mis-reported as the Rod and Reel Pier.) |
| September 2016 Edition 138
Exciting news! We have recently discovered a completely new line of Nicoll the Tailor descendants coming down from his son Donald, giving new impetus to research of Nicoll. Contributions by a “new” descendant (Calvin Crouch) and recent research by one of our readers (Leila) has filled in many of the gaps. Tracing down the numerous articles I have written about Nicoll and his forbears, we have finally reached the point when we can talk about Nicoll the Tailor’s children, as a prelude to talking about the new line. We have a number of readers who are descendants of Nicoll the Tailor, through Mary Nicoll who married William George Jerrems, so this article is particularly relevant to them. It is very likely that these readers have distant cousins living in Australia tracing back to Nicoll the Tailor. Nicoll the Tailor and his family arrived in Melbourne in or prior to 1856, when he is shown in the Victorian 1856 Census as living in Collingwood, Melbourne with the occupation of tailor. Readers could be forgiven for thinking that Melbourne was the only city in Australia because that is where many of our forbears first settled! Nicoll the Tailor’s children Briefly, Nicoll the Tailor’s ten children were: |
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October 2016 Edition 139
In this article we continue the story of the children of Alexander Nicoll (“Nicoll the Tailor”) who set up his tailoring empire in the 1870s and 1880s in the United States. Tracing the descendants of Nicoll the Tailor has solved the last great mystery in my research. In previous articles we have followed the careers of most of Nicoll’s children. Now we turn to Nicoll’s son Donald as the result of recent research. An intriguing aspect is that his descendants are distant cousins of many of the Jerrems readers who live in the United States. Donald’s early days: Donald was born in 1853 in St James, Westminster, London. As described in a previous article, Nicoll the Tailor and his family migrated to Melbourne, Australia in 1854 or 1855, where he quickly set up business as a tailor. Briefly, according to US Censuses (which merely repeated information supplied by Donald), Donald arrived in New York in 1867 when he was fourteen. According to my calculations he was still living in Australia in 1867, but this is not important. Regardless of when he actually arrived in New York, Donald married Lee Coleman (b1855 England) in 1873 in New York, and in quick sequence they had four children who reached adulthood, a daughter (Florence born 1880) and three sons, Alexander (b1881 ), Donald (b1882 ) and Wallace (b1883 ). We do not know a lot about the young couple (when they were married Donald was twenty and Ellen was eighteen) but we do know that they had a baby girl (Elizabeth) in 1874, who was baptised in Manhattan. Sadly she died in 1877 and was buried in Green-Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn. |
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November 2016 Edition 140 This article tells the dramatic stories of shipwrecks which occurred in colonial times on the notorious “Shipwreck Coast” of Victoria on the southern coast of Australia. The photo shows a heavily dissected part of the Shipwreck Coast in the vicinity of The Twelve Apostles and Loch Ard Gorge. The Shipwreck Coast became the graveyard of many proud sailing ships and their unfortunate passengers and crews. For our Australian readers and most of our American readers this article is particularly relevant because our forbears ran the gauntlet of this coast in the 1850s and 1860s. |