Long-time reader Leila sent the above image and brief story a few months ago. We love these old Jerrems stories and findings.
Oct 31, 1890 page 7–an ad for Jerrems. (Not certain of the newspaper source)
I saw this while on a search for John W Brittan (my husband’s great grandfather) and thought you might find it of interest–it’s not the whole ad for some reason I couldn’t get it all to clip.
Enjoyed the latest Jerrems issue, as always–the history fascinates me.
Leila
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Me too. In 1960 I visited a Jerrems store in Chicago. I bought a neck tie. Don
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In the rest of this edition we will recap some of Ray’s story lines during the year.
All the New Years best to our subscribers
Ray Jerrems, Sydney
Donald Jerrems, North Carolina
January
The side photo shows Avalon Beach, with its generous expanse of sand and high sandhills, looking north to its headland.
It seemed to me that a “beach” theme would be particularly appropriate for Australia’s current summer. You will be hearing a lot more about Avalon.
This article is about a great grandson of Big Bill, Arthur Jabez Small. Arthur was by far the biggest land developer in the Jerrems family, pioneering the development of 63 acres of land in the modern-day up-market Sydney beach suburb of Avalon. Perhaps it could be quipped that he was Small by name but not by nature.
He was also a prominent conservationist, being a founder of an association which later became the largest conservation organisation in New South Wales.
Briefly, Big Bill had a daughter Elizabeth who married William Small, and the couple migrated to Australia in 1850 with their three children, including Jabez William Small.
February
Here is an old photo of St Helen’s Church, one of four churches which featured in the Jerrems history.
Ray started with this Church because it has featured extensively in the history of the local Jerrems families starting in the 1700s.
Churches and cathedrals have played an important part in the history of the Jerrems families, and they have been referred to in a number of Jerrems Journal articles in various contexts.
This has led Ray to write an article which consolidates some of the different references and provides additional information. In Jerrems history some churches are huge (for instance All Saints Church in Gainsborough and St Botolphs in Boston) and some are quite small (for instance St Helens in Willingham and St John the Baptist’s Church in Stainton By Langworth).
March
Here is a postcard photo of a long bullock team pulling a wool dray in 1909.
Unlike the United States, where mules were used, bullocks played an important part in Australia’s colonial history. While carrying out research for the Timbergetting article in the Jerrems Journal of May 2015 Ray realised that bullocks had been used extensively for timbergetting, however he did not realise how suited they were to this type of work as well as other rural work.
April
Here is a photo of Arthur Small, provided by Geoff Searl.`
This article continues the story of Arthur Jabez Small, a grandson of Big Bill Bilo!
Arthur had an entrepreneurial spirit which was only exceeded by Nicoll the Tailor. In the previous article we left Arthur in the throes of developing the rustic Sydney suburb of Avalon Beach. Here he moved on to some of the projects to attract discerning buyers (or so he apparently intended), including an ill-fated mini Putt Putt Golf Course, a service station and a general store .
May- SHIPWRECK COAST SECOND ARTICLE
Here is a photo of a salvaged ceramic peacock off the Shipwreck Coast (as it is popularly known), on the south coast of Victoria, Australia.
Ray’s story of the Shipwreck Coast has had a chequered career. His first article appeared in the November 2016 Journal, where he told you about a number of shipwrecks on that coast, mostly leaving the wreck of the Loch Ard in the Twelve Apostles area to a later article.
The most famous shipwreck on the Shipwreck Coast was that of the “Loch Ard” in 1878. The ship was 260 feet long, 1700 tons and had 150 foot masts, which was quite large for those times, and it was very fast. With 54 people on board it left England in March 1878. Included in the crew as surgeon was Dr Evory Carmichael. Aged 45 he was migrating from Ireland with his family for health reasons, having contracted TB.
When the ship was some distance south of Cape Otway on 30th June there was a heavy haze which resulted in a poor “sight” which initially placed the ship’s longitude in doubt, and later obscured the coastline. At 4 am the haze lifted and the Captain saw high cliffs straight ahead in the moonlight. The southerly wind drove the ship towards the cliffs. It hit a reef and was swept into a gorge, smashing against the cliffs and then sinking.
June
This was the third (and final) article about Arthur Jabez Small, a great grandson of Big Bill (William Jerrems).
This article was notable for the photo of a koala clambering over a fence.
Arthur had an outstanding career which places him in a unique position in the history of the Jerrems family. Two previous articles trace Arthur’s childhood and his later venture of opening up the Avalon Beach area, on the northern beaches of Sydney. This article continued this theme by describing his interest in conservation and town planning, commencing with his eulogy and moving on to projects with which he was involved. But first we need to see Arthur’s family.
Here is a photo of Arthur’s family taken at Christmas in Avalon in 1948, provided by local historian Geoff Searl who Ray referred to in previous articles. Top row (left to right), daughter Finetta (Winifred) Small, Arthur, daughter Muriel Hunt (nee Small).
Bottom row, Alison Hunt (child, daughter of Muriel), daughter May Small, Jessie Small (Arthur’s wife), son Geoff Small and John Hunt (child, son of Muriel). Ray understands that there is only one surviving member of Arthur’s descendants.
July
In Ray’s words:
Here is a painting which shows Sydney Cove in 1803. I have kept the history of the Lenton family up my sleeve for a number of years because I have received a lot of information which I have put off analysing. However, at last I have buckled down to the task with results which I am sure you will find very interesting.
My wife Diane’s maiden name was Lenton, and three of her ancestors were convicts who were transported to Australia in the late 1700s and early 1800s. In this article I will tell you about the earliest of them, James Moore, and his adventures as a convict, involvement in a mutiny, and his final tragic demise described in a later article.
Convict ancestry has become very popular in recent years and has almost reached the level of a status symbol in Australia. Gone are the days when convict ancestry was frowned upon, to the extent that some original archive records were destroyed.
August
This article continued the story of the Lenton family convicts, where James Moore, a convict sawyer on the sailing ship “Boyd” (pictured), was eaten by Maoris. Another convict, John Wild then appeared on the scene, at one stage hunting seals. Finally he settled down to farming.
John’s sentence of seven years expired in January 1801. The following year his daughter Elizabeth accompanied him to Norfolk Island and later lived on the Island with Samuel Larkin.
September
In his first article about the Lenton family Ray said that it was clearly impractical for all convicts to be continuously kept under guard, nor was it necessary because 80% of the convicts had only been transported for larceny, not for crimes of violence. Quite a few of the convicts were skilled stonemasons and carpenters who were deployed on public works.
The system therefore evolved of some convicts being pardoned and appointed to administrative positions and others, like Lenton ancestors James Moore and probably John Wild referred to in previous articles, being assigned to “masters”. On the other hand intransigent convicts were kept in chains on roadworks and, often, construction of public buildings etc, being kept locked up at night in jails or stockades.
This lead Ray to interrupt his dissertation on the Lenton family with an account of the range of works for which convicts were often employed. Initially, bearing in mind that for the first five years of settlement (during which there were two droughts) the only people landing in Sydney were convicts and soldiers, there was a strong emphasis on land clearing, farming and building rudimentary houses. High quality hardwood was abundant and was used almost universally for houses, bridges (including a bridge on Bridge Street), wharves, stockades, a navigation beacon on South Head etc. High quality softwood (cedar) was also abundant.
October
In this article Ray showed photographs of a number of gravestones of people who have been significant in his Jerrems narrative.
At first glance you might conclude that the subject of gravestones is a rather macabre subject, however gravestones are a necessary part of life and come in numerous shapes and forms. In addition to their human interest and pictorial value they also form a useful tool for genealogical research. Ray selected gravestones from England, United States, South Africa and Australia.
November
In the previous article by Ray about his wife’s Lenton ancestors, Ray finalised the story of convict farmer John Wild, except for his two children. Ray dealt briefly with them and move forward to John Frost, concentrating on his property grants and his service with Elizabeth Macarthur, a famous landowner and one of the most famous women in Sydney’s colonial history.
Elizabeth was 21 when she married John Macarthur in 1788 and the following year the couple left England for the colony. She was seen as the “first woman of education and sensitivity” to reach NSW. She presided with her extensive family of children at Elizabeth Farm, the family’s home at Parramatta, where she established extensive fruit and vegetable gardens.
In 1809 her husband was recalled to England, and she became responsible for the Macarthur merino flocks at Camden. Her intelligent and diligent husbandry in establishing and maintaining the flocks helped found the colony’s export wool industry. In addition she looked after her husband’s extensive commercial interests in the colony until he finally returned in 1817.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year
As always, Angie our family guardian angel continues her mission to the family: keep them happy and healthy.
