ST ALBANS PIONEERS SETTLERS AND SPECULATORS FROM THE 1860s Joseph Ribarow November 2018 0 ISBN 978-0-9874353-3-0 Published by Community Research and Management Services 5 Harding Street Ascot Vale Victoria 3032 Copyright Copyright © 2018 Joseph Ribarow. The sources of information and images appearing in this publication have been acknowledged where possible. Any copyright holder who believes they have not been properly acknowledged should notify the publisher so that corrections can be made. The information in this publication may be copied without fee for personal and not for profit use provided that the content is neither used for any malicious or detrimental purposes nor for commercial advantage and the origins of the material are acknowledged in the reproduced material. Individual copyright holders and suppliers of documents and images may reproduce their own material unreservedly. Disclaimer The information in the document is based on historical records and is presented in good faith, but the publisher and copyright holders do not guarantee the accuracy of the information nor accept any responsibility from any errors in the document or for any consequences arising from them. Every care has been taken in compiling this information, but errors and gaps in the source data, including the possibility of mistaken identities, have made the verification of data very difficult. Readers are advised to make their own judgement about accuracy and relevance. Corrections and amendments If you wish to correct any errors in this publication, or want to suggest any other amendments, please contact the publisher at the above address or leave a message for the author at www.historyofstalbans.com Front cover Fruit pickers with horse and cart on the Stenson farm, St Albans, circa 1920. Man on the left believed to be Frederick Charles Stenson. Stenson family archives. 1 The suburb of St Albans is an area hard to define. Originally, the area from St Albans to Sunshine was known as Keilor Plains and was a very busy farming area. The area bounded by Taylors Road, Main Road, Kororoit Creek and Maribyrnong River was the Keilor- Braybrook Farmers Common which was established in 1863 … It was here that settlers for miles around could graze their stock. Around and About St Albans St Albans History Society, 1991 2 St Albans in the 1870s / 1880s. Source: Trove NLA http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/170889 3 Preface When I came back to St Albans in the 1990s to work at the Migrant Resource Centre, I was fascinated to discover the local publication “St Albans The First Hundred Years 1887-1987” that had been prepared by the St Albans Railway Centenary Committee. It was an excellent introduction into the history of St Albans that aimed to show how the district developed from a tiny settlement of English-speaking colonists into a cosmopolitan community speaking over seventy languages, The Railway Centenary Committee threw out a challenge for current and former residents to “provide more wide-ranging and detailed information about the people and events that shaped our community.” This publication is a response to that challenge. These stories focus on the people of the 1868 land selections that gave birth to St Albans, though some pioneers came earlier, from the 1830s to the 1850s. My thesis is that the neighbourhood of St Albans started in 1868 and consequently 2018 is the district’s 150th anniversary. Thanks are due to several people for their assistance in the preparation of this document. Special thanks to Gwen and Wayne Kratsis for their assistance with the Stenson family history, and Pauline McIntyre and Helen Wardle for their history of the McIntyre family. Alie Missen provided information about local pioneers and land sales, and Gary O’Hagan provided access to his library material of pioneers in Victoria. Thanks also to Mario Viti, the local history buff who kept my computer operating efficiently. The National Library of Australia’s Trove online access to digitised newspapers and images was a wonderful resource. Mundia, the former family history site from Ancestry.com, was a good source of genealogical information. Joseph Ribarow November 2018 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction ........................................................... 1 Luscombe, Richard Charles ................................ 69 Anderson, Francis ................................................. 3 Mansfield, Samuel and Emily............................... 71 Arbuthnot, George Snr. and Mary .......................... 5 Margrett, Stephen and Maud ............................... 73 Arbuthnot, George Jnr. and Mary .......................... 6 McGuiness, Ann and Bridget ............................... 76 Ball, Joseph and Elizabeth .................................... 7 McIntyre, James and Bridget ............................... 77 Blackwood, Alexander and Mary ........................... 8 McIntyre, James and Susannah .......................... 83 Brown, Thomas and Bridget .................................. 9 McLellan, William MLA ........................................ 88 Burns, John and Mary ......................................... 10 McMahon, Thomas and Mary .............................. 90 Burnside, James and Rachel ............................... 12 McMillan, William and Elizabeth .......................... 91 Cahill, Edward, Mary and Margaret ..................... 16 McShane, Patrick and Sarah ............................... 92 Callow, Henry and Maria Jane ............................ 17 Milburn, David and Susan.................................... 94 Cavanagh, John and Ellen .................................. 19 Newell, David and Margaret ................................ 99 Christie, James and Elizabeth ............................. 21 Norris, Henry ..................................................... 101 Cranwell, Thomas and Emma ............................. 24 O’Connor, John and Catherine .......................... 102 Cummins, John and Bridget ................................ 27 O’Neil, William and Bridget ................................ 103 Davies, Benjamin and Emma .............................. 28 Opie, Bennett and Ann ...................................... 105 Davis, Arthur, Edmund, and George .................... 29 Opie, Thomas and Josephine ............................ 107 De Carle, Edward and Annie ............................... 31 O’Shanassy, John ............................................. 111 Delahay, John ..................................................... 32 Padley, Alfred and Mary .................................... 112 Delahey, Mary and Henry .................................... 33 Phelan, Patrick and Ellen .................................. 127 Delahunty, John and Maria ................................. 35 Powell, William and Mary .................................. 128 Derham, Thomas and Matilda ............................. 36 Quail, Charles and Christine .............................. 130 Donnelly, Patrick and Bridget .............................. 39 Quaile, Charlotte and Vere ................................ 131 Egan, Margaret and Patrick ................................. 41 Servante, Charles and Emily ............................. 132 Errington, Hannah and George............................ 44 Sincock, William and Mary................................. 136 Farrell, Henry and Jane ....................................... 47 Smith, Dr. Louis Lawrence................................. 137 Finn, James and Mary ......................................... 48 Solomon, Joseph and Sarah ............................. 141 Foley, John and Bridget ...................................... 50 Stenson, Charles and Emma ........................... 1496 Fox, Michael and Rose ....................................... 51 Stenson, Frederick and Eva .............................. 149 Fox, John and Mary ............................................ 52 Tate, Paul and Hannah...................................... 162 Greville, John and Charlotte ................................ 53 Taylor, William and Helen .................................. 164 Harrick, James and Bridget ................................. 55 Toop, Walter and Elizabeth ............................... 169 Harrison, Matthew and Mary Anne ...................... 57 Von Stieglitz, Frederick and Katherine ............... 170 Hassed, Edward and Ellen .................................. 58 Watson, James and Elizabeth ........................... 172 Kennedy, Rody and Margaret .............................. 63 Williams, Isabella .............................................. 175 Le Fevre, Dr. George and Sarah ......................... 65 5 INTRODUCTION looking for land and then skyrocketed when the gold seekers who stayed likewise demanded The history of St Albans is usually said to have access to land. By 1851 the population of started on the 1st of February 1887 when the Victoria had reached 77,000 but a decade later station of St Albans on the Spencer Street to it was over half a million and starting to impact Sunbury railway line was officially opened. While on the claims of the squattocracy. The 1850s this is a valid proposition, it is not entirely correct, was a time of growth in Keilor. It was declared a because the genesis of the neighbourhood township in 1850 by the colonial government in occurred two decades earlier, on the 2nd Sydney and became a major stopping point for November 1868, when the Keilor Commons hopefuls leaving Melbourne for the goldfields at was put up for selection.1 Ballarat. When the gold