The-Life-Of-WB-Howden-Part6-Port Albert and My Own Family
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Where To Next? --- Port Albert and my own family In 1893 the Banking Crisis occurred in Australia when several of the commercial banks of the colonies within Australia collapsed. During the 1880's there was a speculative boom in the Australian property market. Australian banks were operating in a free banking system , there was no Central Bank and no Government provided deposit guarantees. The Federal Bank failed on January 30 1893 and by May 11 commercial banks had suspended trading. This had a huge impact on the fortunes of WB Howden. South Australia was the first colony to give women equal franchise with men. Robert Menzies and H.V. Evatt were born. Gold was discovered at Kalgoorlie by Paddy Hannon it was 1857 and I was a Councillor on the Alberton Shire Council, and I was confident that I would soon be elected as Shire President. The same year the Duncan family arrived in Port Albert. When a young widow with 7 attractive daughters makes their home in a small, male dominated district you can expect waves. Add to that an American Accent and 16 years experience of life in New York and Pennsylvania; If I said that I was not immediately attracted by the interestinG Duncan family I would not be tellinG the truth. It was 19 difficult years since I first set foot in Australia Felix and 10 years since the tumultuous marriaGe to Sarah. My sisters, Ann and Janet, and their families had joined me in Gippsland and Port Albert was the centre of Growth. Could the rewards for those years of hardship be headinG my way, or could there yet be lows hidden amonG the lurinG hiGhs. The Duncan family became very active in church life, they were a biG attraction at Sunday school, and their home became the centre for lusty sinG sonGs round the piano. It was no surprise that the sinG sonG eveninGs were well attended by men who suddenly developed a sinGinG voice. Agnes and her sister, Caroline, approached me about establishing a school. I was able to find a suitable building for them to start this venture and I was very impressed in the way that they managed the school and the lovely approach to the children who were a variety of aGes. They had obviously been well schooled themselves in America and they brouGht this knowledGe to the little school they started in Port Albert. Agnes exhibited a real Get up and Go attitude that impressed me to the extent that I often talked about it to my sisters. At first there was no thouGht of developinG a relationship with AGnes because of our aGe difference, but as our contacts became more frequent We became attracted to one another. At social functions that we both attended it was not lonG before we were toGether, both findinG interest in the other's past experiences. my sisters quickly noticed this and encouraGed the relationship, helpinG me to overcome the doubts about the aGe difference. Life at that time was very full, I finished my first term as Shire President in July and although that reduced some of the pressure on my time, the pace of business associated with gold and agriculture quickened. I have explained this in more detail in previous notes. A photograph of William Balleny Howden in the Museum at Port Albert The relationship with AGnes also quickened so that I eventually decided that I must approach AGnes' s mother askinG that I miGht court her with the intention of marriaGe. I had wrestled with the memory of the marriaGe to Sarah, but this was very different. Sarah had come to Australia with her sister without any family connections in Melbourne. She had very little education and I introduced her to what was a very unstable situation at Port Albert at the time. Ten years had made a huge difference to the Port and the future of Port Albert. Both AGnes and I had family living close by and I had a house in town with a lovely property and house at Green Hills. A community of families had developed, and although the ratio of men to women was still hiGh Port Albert was nothinG like the rouGh pioneerinG town of the 1840's. it was therefore with confidence that I approached Mrs Caroline Duncan. On reflection I guess that Mrs Duncan had considered how she could have her seven dauGhters married, and she must have thouGht it stranGe that I should ask the hand of her 18 year old dauGhter when Caroline and I had been born in the same year and we were both 43 years of aGe. She would have seen that Agnes and I were attracted to one another so that my confidence in a positive reply was well founded. We were married in 1859 on a very cold day in June. I do not know why the weather is the first thing that comes to mind for I vividly remember the preparations, the GatherinG of both families before and after the weddinG and the overpowering emotion that swept over me as together we approached the alter for the weddinG ceremony. The celebration afterwards involved the whole town of Port Albert, they set out to make this a day for AGnes and I to remember. Does anyone who is as filled with emotion and love for one another on their wedding day stop to think of the huGe step into an unknown future of chanGe that they have entered. Since I left Scotland 21 years ago I had only to think of myself, and to my shame I thouGht that I could continue in the same way. AGnes had stepped from a family reliant on one another for support and wed someone who had developed an independent lifestyle. I had accepted a second term as Shire President and a third term two years after that. At the same time I became an equal partner in Turnbull Howden and Company, controllinG all of the rapidly growing shipping trade through Port Albert, owning three ships as well as beinG involved with much of the community life of Port Albert. Agnes was often at home alone while I was attending meetings and business. On more than one occasion, between our marriaGe and the arrival of our first born, we did take the opportunity to visit Melbourne where I could mix business with pleasure. Agnes of course was no stranGer to sea travel and a pleasant diversion to Hobart en-route to Melbourne Gave us variety. I could not say that these were carefree trips but it was a new experience to have AGnes with me and we did enjoy further celebrations of our weddinG with friends in Melbourne. An early photograph of Agnes. Possibly about the time of her marriage to William Balleny. At this time we were living at Greenhills and the new experience of preGnancy became the new experience of the birth of our own first babe, Florence, who arrived at the end of March 1860. I was very involved in Shire council preparations for the elections in June, Just one year after our marriaGe. A few days after her birth, Florence developed a baby cough that turned the euphoria of having our first born into concern when the couGhs produced phleGm. The doctors advised that there had been recent cases of consumption (more recently called Tuberculosis) in our district, and our concern turned to fear when after 2 or 3 weeks the phlegm was tinted with blood. She lost interest in sucklinG her mother's breast, and was obviously in pain. To cry was her only way to convey to us the pain that she felt and we were helpless to do anything except comfort her in our arms until she went limp with exhaustion. For the next three weeks the wee babe struGGled for breath to fill congested lunGs, and cried with pain that spread throughout her tiny body. Agnes lived every minute of that time desperately tryinG to feed her, love her into livinG, but eventually, on May 7th Florence Gave up the fiGht for life. AGnes had Given everythinG in her efforts to save Florence and now she had to find a way to cope with the lost dreams of nurturing her own child. As was the custom, the family members prepared the Grave and as I was rowed by friends up the Tarra River to the Alberton Cemetery. I wondered if there could have been anything that I should have done to save the beautiful dauGhter that we wanted so dearly to love. I certainly felt the loss but my heart was torn more by the obvious devastating sadness of Agnes. A man can bury himself in his work, which is exactly what I did, but a woman has dreamt and planned about nurturing a baby throuGh childhood for 9 months then, like a bubble that has burst, this dream leaves nothinG for the mother except the memory of a lonG preGnancy, a painful birth and shattered dreams. There certainly were many hugs and questioning why, and how could it, and what if, but not until the diphtheria epidemic in 1872 and the loss of 4more of our children did I fully empathize with Agnes and her feelings at the loss of Florence. However we were not coping alone, for family and friends were very supportive. When Agnes was expecting another baby the overwhelming sadness made way for expectation again and the expectation was realized with the arrival in January 1862 of William Alexander.