CHAPTER 1 Introduction
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CHAPTER 1 Introduction Anna Maria Martin’s writing box Chapter 1 | The Complete History of Arthur and Rose Introduction Three Generations The history of Arthur and Rose tells the stories of three generations in Cornish and South Australian history from the late eighteenth to the mid twentieth centuries. It is the story of four families, the Martins from Stithians, the Crougeys from Wendron, the Coombes of Frogpool and the Jackas of St Day. Bringing these families together was the 1894 marriage of Arthur George Martin and Rosalie Blanche Jacka, whose children lived through the twentieth century. The generations which form the backbone of this history are Arthur and Rose’s grandparents, parents, then Arthur and Rose themselves. While there is emphasis on these main figures, the stories of the brothers and sisters in each generation are also told: it is interesting to see how siblings interacted with each other but more significantly, the lives of brothers and sisters illustrate the different choices made and the different ways lives could be shaped in the places and times of this history. Three of the four parts of the book correspond to these three generations. Thomas MARTIN Bapt: 13 May 1781 in Stithians Occup: farmer and miner Henry MARTIN Died: 15 Sep 1848 in Foundry Born: 4 Jul 1830 in Burn(t)coose Bapt: 16 Oct 1831 in Stithians Elizabeth PEARCE Occup: grocer and draper Bapt: 30 Nov 1794 in Constantine Died: 27 Oct 1922 in Moonta Marr: 2 Apr 1814 in Stithians Died: 29 Jan 1864 in Willunga Arthur George MARTIN Born: 25 Jan 1866 in Moonta Occup: storekeeper Henry CROUGEY Died: 13 May 1944 in Goodwood Pk Born: Oct 1791 in Cornwall Bapt: 12 Nov 1791 in Stithians Occup: mine captain Anna Maria CROUGEY Died: 25 Feb 1861 in Adelaide Born: 5 Feb 1834 in Wendron Bapt: 26 Sep 1835 in Stithians Grace WILLMOTT Marr: 22 Jan 1857 in Adelaide Born: May 1792 in Cornwall Died: 5 Dec 1913 in Moonta Bapt: 24 Jun 1792 in Stithians Marr: 27 Dec 1814 in Wendron Died: 13 Mar 1865 in Adelaide ARTHUR MARTIN’S FOREBEARS 2 Introduction William JACKA Snr Bapt: 19 Oct 1797 in Gwennap Church Occup: miner, smith, stovemaker William JACKA Jnr Died: 1 May 1867 in Adelaide Bapt: 25 Dec 1828 in St Day Cornwall Occup: blacksmith, stovemaker, brewer, Mary BRAY publican Bapt: 28 Jun 1799 in Cornwall Died: 15 Aug 1888 in Hammond Marr: 22 Mar 1821 in Gwennap Died: Jan 1846 in Gwennap Cornwall Rosalie Blanche (Rose) JACKA Born: 1 Mar 1871 in Auburn Died: 9 Sep 1937 in Adelaide Samuel COOMBE Born: 20 Jun 1805 in Feock Bapt: 30 Jun 1805 in Perranarworthal Occup: Miner Jane COOMBE Died: 26 Oct 1861 in Adelaide Born: 12 Mar 1833 in Frogpool Bapt: 25 Aug 1833 in Gwennap Occup: licensee Hammond Hotel Harriet DUNSTAN Marr: 29 Jun 1850 in Blakiston Born: 18 Apr 1813 Died: 30 May 1914 in Murraytown Bapt: 4 Jul 1813 in Gwennap Marr: 27 Sep 1831 in Gwennap Died: 24 Apr 1850 in Paringa ROSE JACKA’S FOREBEARS Part 1, Cornwall centres on the grandparents of Arthur and Rose and their brothers and sisters, all of whom were born in west-central Cornwall in the late eighteenth century. Where information is available, brief accounts of preceding generations are also included. Growing up in rural and mining areas rather than in large towns, these people were by and large farmers, miners and blacksmiths. Consequently some background on agriculture, mining and town life in Cornwall in the first half of the nineteenth century has been included in Part 1. As adults this generation experienced the privations of the potato famine and the downturn in the copper industry of the 1840s. They lived all or most of their lives in Cornwall and with one exception, their siblings stayed there. Two of the grandparents, Thomas Martin and Mary Jacka died in Cornwall in the late 1840s. But the remaining six emigrated to South Australia between 1847 and 1849 with most of their offspring. Part 2, Emigration describes a pivotal stage in the lives of two generations – the grandparents and parents, as well as aunts and uncles, of Arthur and Rose. Much has already been written about the emigration of Cornish people to South Australia but no history could be complete without some mention of the decision to emigrate and the voyages which were such a major step in the lives of the emigrants. For fifty years or more, the ships on which they made their voyages were part of the identity of people in the colony. First-hand accounts of the voyages undertaken by the four families of this study reveal some of the uncertainties and day-to-day practicalities of their emigration experiences. 3 Chapter 1 | The Complete History of Arthur and Rose Part 3, Colonists continues the story of Arthur and Rose’s grandparents who lived the last part of their lives in Australia for periods from two to twenty-nine years. While their younger children grew to become adults, the men supported their families using skills gained in Cornwall. However this part of the book is mainly concerned with the next generation, Arthur and Rose’s parents and their siblings. All except one of this group were born in Cornwall between 1814 and 1845, and arrived in South Australia as children, teenagers or young adults. Their orientation was to the future and they described themselves as ‘colonists’, committed to finding their own paths to prosperity in their adopted home. They sought and found work initially in or close to Adelaide, working as miners, servants, blacksmiths, shop assistants, with one a quarryman and one a teacher. They married and had children, a distressing number of whom died in infancy. Many were adventurous in grasping opportunities and developing new skills. For many of the new colonists, an unexpected opportunity was provided by the rich gold discoveries in Victoria from 1851. These gave rise to a mass exodus of South Australians including some Martin, Crougey, Coombe and Jacka individuals and families. Many stayed in Victoria only a few years, acquiring sufficient gold to start businesses back in South Australia, while some families remained as the alluvial gold was exhausted and Cornish hard rock mining skills were required by companies developing deep underground mines. By the 1860s though, most of the colonist generation had returned to South Australia. While the generations who arrived by ship always had a significant presence in Adelaide, family members were in the vanguard as settlement extended out from the capital. Copper mining in the ranges east of Adelaide directly or indirectly provided employment for members of each of the four colonist families for a few years after they arrived and it brought together two family strands with the marriage of Jane Coombe and William Jacka Jnr near the Paringa mine. During the 1860s many of Arthur and Rose’s parents’ generation moved north and west out of Adelaide to rural and mining districts where they saw opportunities resulting from northward expansion of agriculture and from copper mining around Moonta. The Martin and Jacka parents were notable for trying new enterprises to exploit opportunities. No Martin in Cornwall was a shopkeeper, but this became a successful endeavour for colonist Henry Martin in Adelaide then Moonta and later his sons. William Jacka Jnr, blacksmith, ultimately became a successful brewer and publican, as were several of his sons in the north of the Province. 4 Introduction Part 4, South Australians, concerns the third generation, that of Arthur and Rose and their brothers and sisters, all of whom were born in South Australia. They no longer thought of themselves as colonists transported from another culture. Many of this generation followed the directions set by their parents (storekeeping for the Martins, brewing and hotel keeping for the Jackas), although a few took up farming and some were miners. Likewise many remained in the areas where they had grown up, although others ended their lives in Broken Hill and Western Australia. The South Australian generation built on their parents’ directions with varying success. Arthur George Martin c. 1886 Rosalie Blanche Jacka c. 1894 The pivotal figures in this generation, Arthur Martin and Rose Jacka, met in Hammond, Rose the daughter of the town’s pioneering hotel-keeper and Arthur a more recent arrival who eventually established his own store. Their family grew with the arrival of nine children and they lived about twenty years in Hammond, contributing significantly to community life in the town. However the country around Hammond should have never been opened for agriculture and despite a few good seasons, the town underwent a slow decline. 5 Chapter 1 | The Complete History of Arthur and Rose The Martin family eventually moved to Adelaide in the early twentieth century to improve their children’s prospects. They encouraged their sons, although not their daughters, to begin their working lives in banking, accounting, pharmacy and education. The last section of Part 4 briefly follows the lives of the nine Martin children, although it will be up to their descendants to continue the stories that follow from the history of Arthur and Rose. Themes in History All through this history, the fortunes and choices of the Martin, Crougey, Jacka and Coombe families reflect themes common in the history of nineteenth-century Cornwall and of the settlement and development of South Australia. The emigrant families in this history were part of an exodus in the nineteenth century from Cornwall to the United States, Canada, South Africa, Latin America and New Zealand, as well as to South Australia.