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| thomas_de_montmorenci_florence_mary_m-p [2023/09/06 14:19] – judith | thomas_de_montmorenci_florence_mary_m-p [2023/09/06 14:20] – judith |
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| Colin Roderick's biography of Rosa Praed refers to a letter by Matilda to her mother-in-law describing how their property Bromelton was isolated by a flood when she gave birth to Thomas: 'Having neither doctor nor nurse, and knowing that I might die before there was any hope of medical assistance, I endeavoured to prepare my mind for leaving this world.'((Colin Roderick, //In Mortal Bondage: the Strange Life of Rosa Praed//, Sydney: Angus & Robertson, 1948, p.10.)) Death was a distinct possibility for her baby too, given he was premature.((Patricia Clarke, 'The Murray-Priors at Bromelton 1844-1853' in Patricia Savage (compiled), //They came to Bromelton: a brief outline of the life and times of the early pioneers who came to Bromleton - from the pages of history, personal diaries, old letters and family recollections//, Patricia Savage, 2004, p.20.)) It is not known if Matilda's difficulties were compounded by the knowledge that [[wait_there_s_more|Emma Quin]] also gave birth in 1848 and that it would later be believed that the father was TLM-P.\\ | Colin Roderick's biography of Rosa Praed refers to a letter by Matilda to her mother-in-law describing how their property Bromelton was isolated by a flood when she gave birth to Thomas: 'Having neither doctor nor nurse, and knowing that I might die before there was any hope of medical assistance, I endeavoured to prepare my mind for leaving this world.'((Colin Roderick, //In Mortal Bondage: the Strange Life of Rosa Praed//, Sydney: Angus & Robertson, 1948, p.10.)) Death was a distinct possibility for her baby too, given he was premature.((Patricia Clarke, 'The Murray-Priors at Bromelton 1844-1853' in Patricia Savage (compiled), //They came to Bromelton: a brief outline of the life and times of the early pioneers who came to Bromleton - from the pages of history, personal diaries, old letters and family recollections//, Patricia Savage, 2004, p.20.)) It is not known if Matilda's difficulties were compounded by the knowledge that [[wait_there_s_more|Emma Quin]] also gave birth in 1848 and that it would later be believed that the father was TLM-P.\\ |
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| Thomas de M was baptised at Bromelton by the [[http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/glennie-benjamin-3621|Rev. Benjamin Glennie]]((‘Questions to be answered by T.L.M-P’, 6pp Memoranda by the Herald Office, Somerset House, London re Burke’s Colonial Gentry.)) and went to school in Brisbane and Hobart. In 1862, when he was 14 years old, he won the prize for English at the Collegiate School, Brisbane.((The Courier, 22 December 1862, p.3)) For more on his and his brothers' education see [[Matilda and TLM-P's children|William, Rosa (Praed), Morres, Lizzie (Jardine), Hervey, Redmond, Weeta, Hugh, Lodge, Matilda, Egerton M-P]] After school, for a time at least, he worked on Maroon. A letter by his sister Rosa to her father in the late 1860s indicates that Tom encouraged, and to a degree shared, her literary inclinations. His praise was tempered by his times ('Tom liked it. He said it was like a man's work.') but he also shared and encouraged her writing the Marroon [[magazine|Magazine]] and her determination to educate her intellect: 'Tom and I had a long dissertation last night upon the cultivation of the understanding and he is going to follow my plan, and write notes and remarks upon everything he reads.'((Roderick, //In Mortal Bondage//, p.48.))\\ | Thomas de M was baptised at Bromelton by the [[http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/glennie-benjamin-3621|Rev. Benjamin Glennie]]((‘Questions to be answered by T.L.M-P’, 6pp Memoranda by the Herald Office, Somerset House, London re Burke’s Colonial Gentry.)) and went to school in Brisbane and Hobart. In 1862, when he was 14 years old, he won the prize for English at the Collegiate School, Brisbane.((The Courier, 22 December 1862, p.3)) For more on his and his brothers' education see [[William, Rosa (Praed), Morres, Lizzie (Jardine), Hervey, Redmond, Weeta, Hugh, Lodge, Matilda, Egerton M-P.]] After school, for a time at least, he worked on Maroon. A letter by his sister Rosa to her father in the late 1860s indicates that Tom encouraged, and to a degree shared, her literary inclinations. His praise was tempered by his times ('Tom liked it. He said it was like a man's work.') but he also shared and encouraged her writing the Marroon [[magazine|Magazine]] and her determination to educate her intellect: 'Tom and I had a long dissertation last night upon the cultivation of the understanding and he is going to follow my plan, and write notes and remarks upon everything he reads.'((Roderick, //In Mortal Bondage//, p.48.))\\ |
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| At some unknown date, Nora chose lines from poetry to describe her step-children and children. The lines she chose for her eldest stepson were: 'Of comfort, & an open hand of help,/A splendid presence.'((M-P papers, NLA, Box 7, folder 42.)) His letters to her indicate why she made this judgement as they are affectionate and kind. In one undated one, he comments on his and his wife's happiness: 'Florence and I are as jolly and happy as two people can be.' - the qualification 'as two people can be', seems typical of his conscientious conservatism.((M-P papers, NLA, Box 1, folder 21.)) Nora later wrote to Rosa giving one of her usual penetrating character assessments: Tom is such a grand fellow, mellowed & softened – a little narrow perhaps.(( check date, 1883?)) Nora's high opinion of T de M. M-P was shared by his father, as TLM-P appointed his eldest son a trustee in his will (along with Nora's brother Charles Barton and, in a codicil, Anthony Darvall, the son of her uncle's second wife).((TLM-P, Last will and testament, copy with J. Godden)) After T de M M-P's death, his step-brother Julius complained that the management of their father's estate had 'gone to pot', another indication of T de M. M-P's competence.((Andrew Darbyshire, A Fair Slice of St Lucia. Thomas Lodge Murray-Prior, St Lucia History Group research paper no. 8, p.74.)) \\ | At some unknown date, Nora chose lines from poetry to describe her step-children and children. The lines she chose for her eldest stepson were: 'Of comfort, & an open hand of help,/A splendid presence.'((M-P papers, NLA, Box 7, folder 42.)) His letters to her indicate why she made this judgement as they are affectionate and kind. In one undated one, he comments on his and his wife's happiness: 'Florence and I are as jolly and happy as two people can be.' - the qualification 'as two people can be', seems typical of his conscientious conservatism.((M-P papers, NLA, Box 1, folder 21.)) Nora later wrote to Rosa giving one of her usual penetrating character assessments: Tom is such a grand fellow, mellowed & softened – a little narrow perhaps.(( check date, 1883?)) Nora's high opinion of T de M. M-P was shared by his father, as TLM-P appointed his eldest son a trustee in his will (along with Nora's brother Charles Barton and, in a codicil, Anthony Darvall, the son of her uncle's second wife).((TLM-P, Last will and testament, copy with J. Godden)) After T de M M-P's death, his step-brother Julius complained that the management of their father's estate had 'gone to pot', another indication of T de M. M-P's competence.((Andrew Darbyshire, A Fair Slice of St Lucia. Thomas Lodge Murray-Prior, St Lucia History Group research paper no. 8, p.74.)) \\ |