praed_jardine_murray-prior_children [Murray-Prior History Wiki]

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====== Praed, Jardine, Murray-Prior children ======

Matilda and Thomas had 12 children, of whom only five had children. 

 ===== Rosa and Campbell Praed's children ===== 

All four of Rosa's children predeceased her. The life of her only daughter, Maud, was especially tragic. It is no wonder that Rosa took to the popular fad of her era, spiritualism. \\

1. **Matilda (Maud) Elizabeth Mackworth Praed** (1874-1941), born 8 February 1874 at Rosa's family home 'Montpelier'.\\
{{:rosa_and_baby_maud.jpg?200|}} Rosa Praed and her daughter Maud, aged ten months, Rockhampton, ca 1874, QJO.\\
Maud was known as clever and a talented artist - there is an attractive watercolour landscape in the NLA with a note on the back that it was 'Maud's'.((NLA, M-P family papers, MS7801, box 17, folder 45)) She was also profoundly deaf, a disability that Rosa blamed on her syringing Maud's ears when she was a baby.((M-P family papers, NLA MS 7801, special set 19, folder 2, 19/35.)) Mother-blame was strongly assumed when a child had health problems, and in one of her novels Rosa writes, 'My little girl is almost an idiot. She is deaf and dumb. They said - they said that it was because I had been unhappy [when pregnant]. I have suffered - I can't speak of it.' Later Rosa came convinced that Maud's suffering and later violence towards her was due to Rosa's sins in a past life in ancient Rome.((Roderick, //In Mortal Bondage//, pp.94,170.)) The reality was likely to be much more prosaic; that Maud's deafness was caused by measles or scarlet fever.((Nora M-P to Rosa Praed, 7 March 1875, Praed papers, Box 10, QJO; Patricia Clarke, //Rosa! Rosa! A Life of Rosa Praed, novelist and spiritualist//, Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1999, p.39; Jessica White, ‘I actually hear you think of me’: Voices, Mediums and Deafness in the Writing of Rosa Praed', //Journal of the Association for the Study of Australian Literature//, 15:1, 15pp; hospital case note for certificate 28 September 1902, transcript with T.A. & M.T. M-P))\\
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TLM-P visited 'poor dear little Maudie' when she was 8 years old and living in an institution which taught deaf children through lip reading. He described her as 'a nicely made little lady, with very quiet manners and an intelligent look... black eyes bright and loving and thick brown hair.' At this stage she was very loving to her mother. Seeing her and the others struggle to talk 'made poor Rosie and me sad, but Maudie is a darling little creature'.((TLM-P. Diary, 13 June 1882))\\
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In his will TLM-P tried to ensure Maud's future by stipulating that his legacy to Rosa would go to Maud on her mother's death. As with the other women legatees, this was to be 'free from marital control'. Maud was admitted to a private mental hospital, Holloway Sanatorium, on 28 September 1902. She was transferred to St Ann's private asylum, Canford Cliffs near Bournemouth on 29 April 1902; tragically she remained committed within a hospital for the rest of her life, over 40 years. She died on 6 July 1941.((Patricia Clarke, //Rosa! Rosa! A Life of Rosa Praed, novelist and spiritualist//, Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1999, p.243.)) As Jessica White so eloquently writes, for Rosa the pain of her daughter's fate could not be expressed in writing: 'Rather, it could be heard only through a thunderous silence.'((Jessica White, ‘I actually hear you think of me’: Voices, Mediums and Deafness in the Writing of Rosa Praed', //Journal of the Association for the Study of Australian Literature//, 15:1, 15pp.))\\
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{{:maud_praed.jpg?250|}} This photograph is identified as Maud Praed in her 20s. It is almost certainly actually Florence, Thomas de M. M-P's wife. The photograph was identified by Colin Roderick, who was not a reliable source for all family members.((Photo Provenance: J. Godden. The same photo is in the ML at PXA1403 Box 1, part of M-P papers acquired by Colin Roderick when he wrote Rosa's biography.)) The NLA has another photo said to be Maud at 16 years old which is more likely to be her.((Andrew Darbyshire, A Fair Slice of St Lucia. Thomas Lodge Murray-Prior, St Lucia History Group research paper no. 8, p.82.))\\
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The hospital case book for Maud suggests that she became paranoid after the death of her beloved father. The impact of her once-beloved mother's relationship with Nancy Harwood, a relationship then seen as depraved, was not mentioned. On 28 September 1902 her hospital the notes stated that 'She informs me she is accused of killing her father & that the police are spreading reports of scandals about her - she cannot sleep & wishes to escape from the persecution'. She could lip-read and read writing, but could not speak very intelligibly, and suffered from various paranoia delusions and hallucinations. In April 1902 she was transferred to the private asylum St Ann's at Bournemouth.((transcript case notes from 29 September 1902 to 25 May 1926, copy with T.A. & M.T. M-P.))\\
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Maud's story has inspired a 'creative non-fiction' book by Jessica White titled //Hearing Maud// (UWA Publishing, 2019). Jessica White argues that Maud's life would have been much better if she had been allowed to adopt the German system of sign language rather than being forced to lip read which was the current English/American system. Beautifully written, the book is a cry against 'the terrible history and impact of oralism', i.e. making deaf children (such as Maud and Jessica White herself) lip-read and talk. //Hearing Maud// allows us to understand better Maud's struggles as a deaf person, especially when locked away in an asylum which did not cater for deaf patients. Yet the complexities of Maud's situation, especially her reaction to Rosa and Nancy Harwood's love, means that - as ever - Maud has not yet been heard in its own right.\\ 
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2. **Bulkley Campbell Mackworth Praed** (1875-1931), born 6 December 1875, less than two years after Maud. Rosa, like her step-mother, did not welcome getting pregnant on virtually a yearly basis, with Nora writing to her that 'I am sorry at the hint you give of future expectations but you could not expect to go scot free'.((Nora M-P to Rosa Praed, c.June 1875, M-P papers, JOQ, OM81-71.)) By the time Bulkley was born, the Praeds had abandoned their struggle to make a living on Port Curtis Island, and were living at Rosa's family home 'Montpelier'. Bulkley's birth certificate has one of the witnesses to the birth as 'Mrs Prior (Nurse)' - Prior is a common name so it was probably not her stepmother Nora.((Praed papers, Box 10, QJO.)) He was named Bulkley after his paternal grandfather. \\
In 1922, Bulkley married an American widow, Eda Vernon.((Patricia Clarke, //Rosa! Rosa!//, p.196)) Buckley was a loving husband and a stereotypical responsible eldest son - until he could take no more of the chronic, intense pain of terminal cancer. To end his suffering, Bulkley shot himself on 29 April 1931. Typically, Rosa saw herself as central, wondering what impact it had that, while she was pregnant with him, she was extremely distressed because baby Maud was 'so near death'.((M-P papers, NLA MS 7801, Box 1, folder 11.)) \\ 

3. **Humphrey Praed** (1877-1904), born in England, 9 May 1877. As was common for younger sons, he was sent to outposts of the British Empire to make his living. After an unhappy time in Western Australia, he moved to California where he was an assistant manager for a company that owned orange groves; he also bought his own orchard. He was a talented sportsman and a playboy: on 20 November 1904, taking an actress for a drive in his sports car (with his chauffeur in the back seat) in the early hours of the morning, there was an accident, and he died 'almost immediately', aged 24.((Roderick, //In Mortal Bondage//, pp.170-71; Patricia Clarke, //Rosa! Rosa! A Life of Rosa Praed, novelist and spiritualist//, Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1999, pp.178-79.))\\

4. **Geoffrey Praed** (1879-1925), born in England, 19 December 1879. According to Roderick, he was the black sheep of the family. He ran away and enlisted to fight the Boers in South Africa; the family subsequently brought him home, provided him with an army commission and sent him 'to India to learn to be a soldier and a gentleman'. It is not sure if they succeeded, but he did prove to be a talented linguist so, against his will, was retained in India during the First World War until repatriated to England when he became ill. After the war, with a Major's pension, he returned to South Africa with the aim of becoming a big game hunter. He died in Rhodesia in September 1925 after a rhinoceroses, not appreciating that Geoffrey was the hunter and not the prey, charged and fatally wounded him.((Roderick, //In Mortal Bondage//, pp.172-73; Patricia Clarke, //Rosa! Rosa! A Life of Rosa Praed, novelist and spiritualist//, Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1999, p.197-98.))\\\\

===== Lizzie and Robert Jardine's children =====
Elizabeth (Lizzie) and Robert had three children. 

1. **Rosa Katherine Maule Jardine** (14 March 1884-1973)((‘Questions to be answered by T.L.M-P’, 6pp Memoranda by the Herald Office, Somerset House, London re Burke’s Colonial Gentry; Jill Fleming, email to J. Godden, 18 January 2018; familypedia.wilia.com)). She was baptised at Rockhampton on about 16 June 1884 by the Rev. Diggins. Her aunt Rosa Praed was her godmother.((‘Questions to be answered by T.L.M-P’, 6pp Memoranda by the Herald Office, Somerset House, London re Burke’s Colonial Gentry.))  Rosa Jardine married dentist Dr Eric Frederic Molle (8 February 1879((Queensland birth registration 1879/B/24804-1975)) - 28 January 1975((Queensland death registration 1975/B/57606))) in 1912.((Marriage certificate, Queensland, 1912/C2016.)) He served in the Boer War as a private in the 3rd Queensland Mounted Infantry, returning to Australia in 1901.((https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/R1434321)) In 1908, he was referred to as 'Lieutenant Eric Molle'.((//The Brisbane Courier//, 30 June 1908, p.7.)) He was prominent enough socially that the Brisbane newspaper reported the event when he spent a weekend at Southport.((//The Brisbane Courier//, 1 March 1910, p.7.)) In July 1915, he was one of the first six dentists selected in July 1915 to form the Dental Corps of the AIF. By that stage he had qualified as a DDS (Doctor of Dental Surgery) from the University of Pennsylvania, USA.((Tamson Pietsch, (2016) "Universities, war and the professionalization of dentistry", //History of Education Review//, 45:2, pp.168-182, https://doi.org/10.1108/HER-09-2015-0016)) By November 1915, he was at Heliopolis Palace Hospital, Egypt.((//The Queenslander//, 13 November 1915, p.6)) He rose to the rank of Major and was mentioned in despatches. In 1967, he was awarded an honorary membership of the Australian Dental Association (Queensland branch).((//Australian Dental Journal//, February, I967, p.75.)) He and Rosa had three children.\\
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2. **John Lodge Murray Jardine** (1 September 1888 - 29 July 1916).((QBDM, registration no. F4384.)) He was born at Toowoomba and went to Townsville Grammar School and Brisbane Grammar School.((Roll of Honour, Australian War Memorial)) He joined the 25th battalion (7th Reinforcement) as a private on 16 August 1915, a year after the outbreak of World War I. John gave his occupation as station manager (in the Roll of Honour held by the Australian War Memorial, his family gave his occupation as pastoralist). He was 5' 8"tall and weighed 10 stone, 2 pounds. He disembarked in France on 27 March 1916; just four months later, he was killed in action on 29 July 1916 at Pozières, France. He was buried at Villers-Bretonneux Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux, Picardie, France.
His photo was published in //The Queenslander Pictorial//, 26 February 1916, p.23. ((https://discoveringanzacs.naa.gov.au/browse/records/271088/28)) {{:showimage.jpeg?300|}}((https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=7360393)) {{https://discoveringanzacs.naa.gov.au/media/mawson/91692.png?width=275&height=267&mode=Both}}\\
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3. **Francis (Frank) Alexander Lascelles Jardine** (14 February 1893 - 1950)((Jill Fleming, email to J. Godden, 18 January 2018; familypedia.wilia.com)) born at Albion, Brisbane. When he joined the army, he gave his occupation as 'mercantile clerk'. He enlisted in 5th Light Horse Regiment shortly after the outbreak of World War I and served at Gallipoli. He was wounded in action by shrapnel in his thigh, sent to hospitals in Malta then England before being invalided home in 1916, as medically unfit for further action.((https://discoveringanzacs.naa.gov.au/browse/records/258946/15)) Frank Jardine married Madge Dorothy Ellen Blackman in 1924((Queensland marriage registration B35687)) (1900-77); they had at least one son.  \\
===== Hervey and Maggie Murray-Prior's child =====

Hervey Morres Macdonald M-P was born on 25 April 1883, the only son of Hervey and Maggie M-P.((QBDM, registration number 1883/B/30531)) His parents followed family tradition and had him baptised at All Saints Church of England, Brisbane.((Bernard Burke, //A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Colonial Gentry//, Melbourne: E.A. Petherick, 1891-95, p.50; 'Questions to be answered by T.L.M-P’, 6pp Memoranda by the Herald Office, Somerset House, London re Burke’s Colonial Gentry.)) \\
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His life was short and, in its ending at least, pitiful. He died at his mother's home in Stanley Street, South Brisbane on 19 August 1918, aged 36, after 'after a long and painful illness'.((//SMH// death notice, 28 August 1918, p.10.)) His death certificate reveals that he had tuberculosis, dying of tubercular broncho-pneumonia and heart failure. Presumably due to his illness, he had no occupation, instead being listed as 'gentleman'. Following family practice, he was buried at Toowong cemetery, Brisbane.((Historical Death Image, 1918/B27764, copy with J. Godden.)) He had no known children, and left everything he owned to his mother who he also appointed sole executor. At the time of his death, his debts were to doctors, chemist and the funeral company. Just two  assets were noted: a watch and chain worth £2 and 'An interest in the estate of Thomas Lodge Murray-Prior deceased' worth £913.2.6.((Probate papers, Queensland Archives))\\
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===== Egerton and Sara M-P's child =====
Egerton and Sara's only child, Egerton Thomas Crawford M-P, was born in Brisbane in November 1895,((//The Brisbane Courier//, 3 December 1895, p.4; //The Queenslander//, 11 January 1896, p.57.)) but died just before Christmas that year, less than a month old. A bible that belonged to baby Egerton's father records the sad facts: born 28 November 1895; died 23 December 1895.((See also Queensland death registration 1895/B/28362)) Egerton added the biblical text that comforted so many bereaved parents: 'Of such is the Kingdom of Heaven'.((Provenance: J. Godden.)) Baby Egerton was buried in the family plot at Toowong cemetery - the later plaque has his first name misspelt.\\

{{:baby_egertons_grave.jpg?200|}} {{:baby_egerton_grave_2.jpg?200|}}(([[https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/190805836/egerton-thomas_crawford-murray-prior]]))