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--- nora_m-p [2025/07/03 21:48] – [Visit to Europe, 1885-89] judith
+++ nora_m-p [2025/07/21 14:57] (current) – [Nora M-P nee Barton] judith
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 Other relatives of Nora's in Queensland included her uncle, Frederick (Fred) Orme Darvall. He and his wife Deborah had moved to Queensland by 1860 after he had been appointed that Colony's Registrar-General. In 1867 Fred Darvall was appointed Auditor-General, serving in that position for 10 years. He also held various other positions, including Registrar of the Supreme Court in 1859 and Visiting Justice to Brisbane Gaol and Lunatic Asylum in 1861-62. He and TLM-P were both members of the Council of the Queensland Acclimatisation Society in the early 1860s.((//The Brisbane Courier//, 14 May 1863, p.2.)) In 1911, their daughter Frederica married Francis Bell, and the couple lived on the Bell family property //Coochin Coochin//, which bordered on to TLM-P's property //Maroon//.((Norman Pixle, 'The Bells and "Coochin Coochin". An historic Queensland Family', //Journal of the Royal Historical Society of Queensland//, VIII:4, 1968-69, p.624.)) It is a further sign of the closely connected 'squatter' society of the day, that Frederick Darvall's home (//Nunnington//, named after the large home that the family believed had been his father's home in Yorkshire, though no evidence has been found to confirm this belief) in Brisbane was bought in c.1877, by Matilda M-P's brother-in-law, William Barker.((F.Lord, //The Queenslander//, 13 February 1930, p.50.))\\
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-Both the children of Jane Darvall, the second wife of Nora's grandfather Edward Darvall, lived in Queensland (Nora and TLMP's age difference was nothing compared to Edward and Jane's c.47 years difference! Again the marriage appears to have been a success). One was Anthony Darvall who was appointed by TLM-P in his 1892 will as one of his trustees. Anthony had lived in Queensland for some time as he married Kate Wilson there in 1869; he was the manager of the Joint Stock Bank in Ipswich.((Philippa Garnsey, Family of Anthony Griffin and his wife Jane, email to J.Godden, 5 July 2018; Kevin Shaw (ed) //Historic Ryde: a guide to some significant heritage sites in the city of Ryde//, Ryde District Historical Society, 2002, p.102.)) The second was Sarah Ann (Annie) Darvall who married William Tully, later Queensland's Surveyor-General and Secretary of Lands.((for photo of Annie, see Andrew Darbyshire, //A Fair Slice of St Lucia. Thomas Lodge Murray-Prior//, St Lucia History Group research paper no. 8, p.73.)) When Annie died in childbirth, Nora's grief for her friend was compounded by fears that she too would meet that fate.((M-P family papers, NLA, MS 7801, Box 7, folder 42 and Box 4, folder 20, letter of TLM-P to Nora M-P, 31 March 1875.)) It is interesting that the families were so close despite the censorious times. Nora had to know that both her stepcousins were born years before their parents married. \\
+Both the children of Jane Darvall, the second wife of Nora's grandfather Edward Darvall, lived in Queensland (Nora and TLMP's age difference was nothing compared to Edward and Jane's c.47 years difference! Again the marriage appears to have been a success). One was Anthony Darvall who was appointed by TLM-P in his 1892 will as one of his trustees. Anthony had lived in Queensland for some time as he married Kate Wilson there in 1869; he was the manager of the Joint Stock Bank in Ipswich.((Philippa Garnsey, Family of Anthony Griffin and his wife Jane, email to J.Godden, 5 July 2018; Kevin Shaw (ed) //Historic Ryde: a guide to some significant heritage sites in the city of Ryde//, Ryde District Historical Society, 2002, p.102.)) The second was Sarah Ann (Annie) Darvall who married William Tully, later Queensland's Surveyor-General and Secretary of Lands.((for photo of Annie, see Andrew Darbyshire, //A Fair Slice of St Lucia. Thomas Lodge Murray-Prior//, St Lucia History Group research paper no. 8, p.73.)) When Annie died in childbirth, Nora's grief for her friend was compounded by fears that she too would meet that fate.((M-P family papers, NLA, MS 7801, Box 7, folder 42 and Box 4, folder 20, letter of TLM-P to Nora M-P, 31 March 1875.)) It is interesting that the families were so close despite the censorious times. Nora had to know that both her step-cousins were born years before their parents married. \\
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 Nora may have had another family link to TLM-P: possibly her uncle (from 1877, Sir) [[http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/darvall-sir-john-bayley-3370|John Darvall]] had been educated by the [[tlm-p_s_childhood|Rev. William Drury]], as had TLM-P.((The //Australian Dictionary of Biography// states that John Darvall was educated at Eton, but Isobel Hannah claimed that he was educated by Drury, Isobel Hannah, 'The Royal Descent of the First Postmaster-General of Queensland', //Queensland Geographical Journal//, vol. LV, 1953-54, p.11. Possibly both statements are correct.))\\
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 Managing the generation gap was not easy, but overall the marriage appears to have been happy. In a letter of Nora's to her stepdaughter Rosa two years after her marriage, she writes that, returning to Maroon after a visit to Brisbane, she 'realised fully that the great pleasure of leaving home is coming back again'.((Nora M-P to Rosa Praed, 27 December 1874, Praed papers, QJO Box 4. check quote))  A decade after their marriage, TLM-P was addressing his letters to her as 'My own Darling'; she addressed him as 'dearest husband'.((M-P family papers, NLA MS 7801, Special Set 14/36.)) Later still, she affectionately teased with calling him 'the Father'.((M-P family papers, NLA MS 7801, Box 4, folder 20.)) In 1882, when TLM-P was in England, the gentle teasing went the other way when he deplored that he had not time to write 'a nice letter to dear old wife to let her see how I think of her and love her.'((TLM-P, Diary, 14 June 1882)) As telling was his comment when visiting Nora's relatives: Julia Sterling's 'likeness to Nora is very great, and even many little ways and the manner of talking, very cheery and in all ways nice and sympathetic'.((TLM-P, Diary, 17 June 1882)) Two months later, he received a letter from Nora which indicated she was worried, both she and his daughter Lizzie were ill, the seasons were 'bad', and her younger stepsons causing problems. His response was immediate: 'Poor darling it is too much for her and I must get back as soon as I can.' If news of the boys from Nora continued to be bad, he planned to cancel going to Scotland and Ireland, and 'go back at once' via the continent. A disappointment for him, and, with the lack of information about aspects of his Irish roots, a loss for us.((TLM-P, Diary, 16 August 1882)) \\
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-TLM-P's will, made in 1892, the year he died, is further evidence of his love and care for Nora. With Australia in the midst of a deep depression, there was valid concern that his assets could not cover his bequests: in that case, he stipulated that Nora's portion be paid first, if necessary proportionally reducing his children's inheritance. Further, his provision for his wife was generous: he gave her a choice between continuing with her marriage settlement, or accepting £10,000 (roughly equivalent to $1,427,346 in 2017 values) instead. In both cases, the money was to be invested for her by trustees.((TLM-P, Last will and testament, copy in possession of J. Godden; Thom Blake, how much is it worth? http://www.thomblake.com.au/secondary/hisdata/calculate.php)) She chose to accept the £10,000, but unfortunately it took a court case to insist that the trustees, including her brother Charles (Charlie) Barton, should set aside the money and invest for her benefit - perhaps because of the poor economic conditions they had not sold the properties necessary to raise the money. As well, as the court pointed out, if the trustees invested unwisely, Nora's income was 'liable to be diminished or totally lost'.((Supreme Court of Queensland, no 166, judgement 3 November 1905; TLM-P, Last will and testament, 1892; both copies held by J. Godden.)) \\
+TLM-P's will, made in 1892, the year he died, is further evidence of his love and care for Nora. With Australia in the midst of a deep depression, there was valid concern that his assets could not cover his bequests: in that case, he stipulated that Nora's portion be paid first, if necessary proportionally reducing his children's inheritance. Further, his provision for his wife was generous: he gave her a choice between continuing with her marriage settlement, or accepting £10,000 (roughly equivalent to $1,427,346 in 2017 values) instead. In both cases, the money was to be invested for her by trustees.((TLM-P, Last will and testament, copy in possession of J. Godden; Thom Blake, how much is it worth? http://www.thomblake.com.au/secondary/hisdata/calculate.php)) She chose to accept the £10,000, but unfortunately it took a court case to insist that the trustees, including her brother Charles (Charlie) Barton, should set aside the money and invest for her benefit - perhaps because of the poor economic conditions they had not sold the properties necessary to raise the money. As well, as the court pointed out, if the trustees invested unwisely, Nora's income was 'liable to be diminished or totally lost'.((Supreme Court of Queensland, no 166, judgement 3 November 1905; TLM-P, Last will and testament, 1892; both copies held by J. Godden.)) When she died in 1931, probate on Nora's estate was £1,770/6/4 and it was recorded that her income included a £500 annuity from her late husband's estate. That amounted to a payment of around £20,000 over 40 years.((Probate for Nora Clarina Murray-Prior, no.176840, 19 October 1931, State Archives, copy held by J. Godden))\\
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 While the marriage was basically happy, there was a generation gap in attitudes towards women's rights, especially over their fertility. Nora wrote to her friend and stepdaughter Rosa that TLM-P had 'no sympathy' with her misery during pregnancy. While she (and her sister Rose) resented constant pregnancies over which they had no control, TLM-P 'only gets cross with me ... looks upon it as a sign [of a] free thinking tendency and want of faith' in providence. He thought, Nora complained to Rosa, that 'one ought to feel grateful for what providence sends, even tho’ it costs one’s health, strength and life' (as, she didn't need to add, it had for Rosa's mother).((Nora to Rosa, 16 May [1881])) For more on Nora's views on religion, see Howard Le Couteur.((‘Brisbane Anglicans, 1842–1875’, PhD thesis, Macquarie University, 2007, ch.6.)) In contrast, Nora believed that human acts not providence caused so many pregnancies - why hold providence responsible for 'what we take such a large share in bringing about?'.((Nora to Rosa, 16 May 1881, JOL)) TLM-P's attitude was that of an older generation - a prejudice against 'weedy wives' and a firm belief that a woman's 'chief delight' should be having children and raising her family.((Helen Woolcock et al, '"My beloved chloroform': Attitudes to Childbearing in Colonial Queensland', //Social History of Medicine Journal//, p.443, citing Nora to Rosa, 15 June [1884].))\\
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 ==== Visit to Europe, 1885-89 ====
-On 1 December 1885, TLM-P and Nora departed for London on the steamship //Quetta//. Astonishingly (at least to modern minds) they took along their seven children (11 year old Meta; Dorothy aged nearly 8; 6 year old Eileen; 4 year old Fred; 3 year old Robin; 21 month old Julius; and 4-month old Ruth) along with one unnamed nursemaid plus their daughter-in-law Maggie M-P with her 20-month-old son Hervey - and, according to the newspaper (as shown), Mrs Jardine ((//The Queenslander//, 5 December 1885, p.909.)) {{:to_london_1885_screenshot_2023-11-09_095613.jpg?200|}} The purported aim of the trip was to give the children experience of European culture and to learn French and other languages. They arrived in Malta in early February 1886; six weeks later they were at Pozzuoli near Naples. They slowly moved north through Italy to Switzerland. By October 1886, they were in Lausanne, where Nora and her children would spent three years. The older children honed their social and recreational skills with tennis and dancing and gymnastic lessons - with Nora keeping a stern eye on her daughters' deportment. The younger children spoke basically in French. A highlight for Nora was reconnecting with Rosa Praed, now a well-known author of 10 books who moved in gentry and literary circles in England. As Patricia Clarke points out, , the two friends had not met for nearly 12 years and, of her step-siblings, Rosa had only met Meta, the last time when Meta was two years old. Their lives had dramatically diverged: Nora's 'world was dominated by domestic troubles, sometimes problems with governesses, more often the incessant demands of jam-making and sewing  ... She complained of deteriorating eyesight from constant sewing, reading and writing'; a suspected cancerous lump proved to be 'caused by constant working of her treadle sewing machine'. Her only break from Brisbane had been visits to her mother in Sydney, and a trip in 1880 to the Melbourne Exhibition. Nora and Rosa met at Châlet Patience Chapelay at Champêry, a 'summer holiday village in the Swiss mountains.'((Patricia Clarke, //Rosa! Rosa! A Life of Rosa Praed, novelist and spiritualist//, Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1999, pp.104-05.))  \\
+On 1 December 1884, TLM-P and Nora departed for London on the steamship //Quetta//. Astonishingly (at least to modern minds) they took along their seven children: 11 year old Meta; Dorothy aged nearly 8; 6 year old Eileen; 4 year old Fred; 3 year old Robin; 21 month old Julius; and 4-month old Ruth; along with one unnamed nursemaid plus their daughter-in-law Maggie M-P with her 20-month-old son Hervey - and, according to the newspaper (as shown), Mrs Jardine ((//The Queenslander//, 5 December 1885, p.909.)) {{:to_london_1885_screenshot_2023-11-09_095613.jpg?200|}} They were lucky - just six years later, the ship was en route to London when it hit a rock in the Torres Strait and sunk - it is thought to be the ‘worst single-incident disaster in Queensland history’ with 134 deaths.(([[wp>RMS_Quett]]))\\
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+The purported aim of the trip was to give the children experience of European culture and to learn French and other languages. They arrived in Malta in early February 1885; six weeks later they were at Pozzuoli near Naples. They slowly moved north through Italy to Switzerland. By October 1885, they were in Lausanne, where Nora and her children would spent three years. The older children honed their social and recreational skills with tennis and dancing and gymnastic lessons - with Nora keeping a stern eye on her daughters' deportment. The younger children spoke basically in French. A highlight for Nora was reconnecting with Rosa Praed, now a well-known author of 10 books who moved in gentry and literary circles in England. As Patricia Clarke points out, the two friends had not met for nearly 12 years and, of her step-siblings, Rosa had only met Meta, the last time when Meta was two years old. Their lives had dramatically diverged: Nora's 'world was dominated by domestic troubles, sometimes problems with governesses, more often the incessant demands of jam-making and sewing  ... She complained of deteriorating eyesight from constant sewing, reading and writing'; a suspected cancerous lump proved to be 'caused by constant working of her treadle sewing machine'. Her only break from Brisbane had been visits to her mother in Sydney, and a trip in 1880 to the Melbourne Exhibition. Nora and Rosa met at Châlet Patience Chapelay at Champêry, a 'summer holiday village in the Swiss mountains.'((Patricia Clarke, //Rosa! Rosa! A Life of Rosa Praed, novelist and spiritualist//, Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1999, pp.104-05.))  \\
 The following three Swiss scenes were likely to have been bought as souvenirs when Nora lived in Switzerland. The first is of a famous waterfall seen on the way to Jungfrau.((Provenance: Glenn M-P and A. Federer))\\
 {{:watefall_on_way_up_to_jungfrau.jpg?300|}} {{:dscn3776.jpg?300|}} {{:dscn3783.jpg?300|}}\\