thomas_de_montmorenci_florence_mary_m-p [Murray-Prior History Wiki]

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====== Thomas de Montmorenci, Florence and Mary M-P ======

[[wp>Thomas_de_Montmorency_Murray-Prior|Thomas de Montmorenci Murray-Prior]] (1848-1902) was the 4th consecutive Thomas Murray-Prior. He was TLM-P and Matilda M-P's eldest son, born 27 January 1848 at his father's property Bromelton, on the Logan River. \\
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{{:tom_morres.jpg?200|}} Young 'Tommy' de Montmorenci M-P with his brother Morres, from his father's album.\\
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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.\\
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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 [[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.))\\

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 an 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 stepbrother 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.)) \\
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The following three photos are of Tom de Montmorenci M-P. The first, of him as a boy, is from his father's album.((Provenance: J. Godden)) The last photo of Tom with his statement moustache is typical of the era.((Provenance of last two: T.A. & M.T. M-P.))\\
{{:t_de_m_mp.jpg?300|}}  {{:t_de_m_mp.jpeg?300|}}  {{:mp5_a.jpg?300|}}\\
**For other photos, click on [[Thomas de M. M-P photos]].**\\
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Ledgers for //Maroon// shows that Tom was employed as manager on 1 January 1866 just before his 18th birthday. He was paid an 'allowance' of £50 pa for his first year but his allowance for first 6 months in 1867 was halved to £25 pa. He was paid £80 pa from September 1867.((MLMSS3117/box 8 & 9)) 

The younger Tom was adventurous and by July 1874, for a short period he left working on //Maroon// to become a miner in the harsh [[wp>Palmer_River#Palmer_goldfields|Palmer River goldfields]]. It is not for nothing that an account of life on the Palmer goldfields was entitled 'shattered dreams'.((Gordon Grimwade and Christine Grimwade, 'Shattered dreams: Recollections of the Palmer Goldrush 1874-1875', //Queensland History Journal//23:7, November 2017.)) Tom's dreams were also shattered as he contacted 'gulf fever' (typhoid or malaria) and nearly died.((Jane Black (compiled), North Queensland Pioneers, Country Women's Association, Townsville, ?1932.)) His brother Morres wrote in a [[letter]] that, after Thomas returned from the Palmer in ill-health, he remained on //Maroon// while Morres had to leave, presumably because the property could not support them both.\\
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In later life Tom, like his father, bought a considerable amount of property in Queensland: Darbyshire lists nine purchases between March 1877 and January 1881, at Melcombe (Maroon), Telemon((//The Brisbane Courier//, 8 October 1873, cited in Darbyshire, described it as 640 acres of second class pastoral land)) and Mogill.((Andrew Darbyshire, 'A Fair Slice of St Lucia', p.123)) At some stage Thomas de M. M-P owned, with his brother Hugh, Annie Vale station.((D. Waterson, //A Biographical Register of the Queensland Parliament 1860-1929//, Canberra: ANU Press, 1972, p.135.)) In 1880, he was listed as being at Moonbago, South Kennedy, Bully Creek.((H. Mortimer Franklyn, A glance at Australia in 1880, p. xlvii.)) At the time of his father's death, in 1892, he was in partnership with his father running a property 'Bullywallah' (or Bulliwallah), Bulli Creek south-west of [[wp>Charters_Towers|Charters Towers]], Queensland - another M-P property, Aberfoyle, was due west, across the dividing range.((Andrew Darbyshire, A Fair Slice of St Lucia. Thomas Lodge Murray-Prior, St Lucia History Group research paper no. 8, p.77 map)) Possibly Moonbago was part of this property. It would be interesting to discover if he named the property with its distinctive Anglo-Indian name of 'wallah' (Bullywallah: an inhabitant of Bulli). One source states that, after some years, Thomas de M. M-P. bought his father out to become sole owner of the property. On his father's death, he returned to Maroon.((D. Waterson, //A Biographical Register of the Queensland Parliament 1860-1929//, Canberra: ANU Press, 1972, p.135.)) As there is no mention of Maroon in TLM-P's will, and T de M M-P was left the smallest legacy of any of his father's children (£1,000)((Judgement re T.L. M-P Trust, 11 Otober 1905, schedule 15. J. Godden's copy.)) the assumption is that his inheritance was secured (like much of that of his sister Rosa) before his father's death. A New Zealand paper reported that Thomas de. M. M-P, at the time of his death, owned Aberfoyle station, previously owned by his father and brother-in-law John Jardine; after he died the property was sold by his executors.((//Otago Witness//, 3 May 1905, p.8; //The Pastoralists' review : a journal and record of all matters affecting the pastoral and agricultural interests throughout Australasia//,15:2 (15 April 1905) p.76.))\\
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Like his father, Thomas de M. M-P took advantage of the 1868 act which allowed people to 'select' land to farm. Angela Collyer((Angela Collyer, //Rathdowney: Federation history of an Australian rural border community// Rathdowney, Qld.: Rathdowney Area Development and Historical Association, 2001 p.128)) lists his four selections around Maroon:\\

|Lease  1164| 1 October 1870| Portion No.  9| Melcombe parish| 320 acres|\\
|Lease  1594| 5 August 1872 | Portion No. 12| Melcombe parish| 1093 acres|\\
|Lease  1662| 24 October 1872| Portion No. 12| Telemon parish | 3810 acres|\\
|Lease  1968| 24 September 1873| Portion No. 26| Telemon parish |705 acres|\\

A total of 5,928 acres (nearly 2,399 hectares). //The Queenslander// (9 November 1872) reported that he had selected 80 acres of first class and 2,320 acres of second class pastoral land at Telemon, then on 8 October 1873 made a conditional purchase of 640 acres of more 'second class' land at Telemon. Andrew Darbyshire notes that Thomas de M. was probably 'dummying' for his father, to get around restrictions any one person could acquire property. Darbyshire also outlines Thomas de M's purchases at Melcombe, Telemon and Mogill from March 1877 to January 1881.((Andrew Darbyshire, A Fair Slice of St Lucia. Thomas Lodge Murray-Prior, St Lucia History Group research paper no. 8, pp.75,123.))\\
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At Maroon, Thomas de M. M-P developed a strong reputation as a skilled breeder of [[wp>Shorthorn|shorthorn cattle]]: something his father had also done since his days at Bromelton station. Thomas de M. M-P  appears to have visited Scotland in 1894 where he was reported as a 'prominent Queensland cattle breeder' with plans to export cattle.((//Aberdeen Evening Express//, 27 September 1894.)) These plans were implemented with good results.((//New Zealand Mail//, 27 December 1900, p.51; //Otago Witness//, 14 March 1885, p.6.))\\
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Again like his father, Thomas de M. M-P had a passion for horses. He bred 'grade Arab horses', with some from Arab stallions imported 'direct from Arabia.'((//Queensland Times, Ipswich Herald and General Advertiser//, 13 December 1902, p.4; A. Yarwood, //Walers. Australian Horses Abroad//, Carlton: Melbourne University Press, 1989, p.154.)) During a visit to India, he 'canvassed the prospects for Queensland horses in the remount [army horses] trade'. He followed this up by bringing together a number of fellow horse breeders during the 1892 Brisbane Exhibition week, advocating that they become regular traders for remounts. Like his father, he deplored the emphasis on sprint events for horses, designed to maximise gambling, which meant a reduction in Queensland horses' stamina.((T. de M. Murray-Prior, 'The Horse in Australia - Breeding with Arabs', //The Australasian Pastoralists' review : a monthly journal and record of all matters affecting the pastoral and landed interests throughout Australasia//, 2:10, 15 December 1892; when at the races in England, TLM-P wrote in his diary: 'What can be the good of a horse even if it could fly a few hundred yards? now a horse that can go and has staying power is worth having; racing people do not agree with me.//', 24 May 1882)). Thomas de M. M-P also wrote advocating a tax on stallions in order to weed out weaker horses and improve the breed overall.((It was republished in //Waikato Times//, 24 November 1894, p.15, see https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/WT18941124.2.55?page=2&phrase=2&query=Murray-Prior.)) He was a founding member of the Belyando Picnic Race Club's Committee of Management which organised the first race meeting at Lanark in 1884. He was also Chairman of the South Kennedy Picnic Race Club's Committee of Management from c.1887: his horses won prizes at the Club meetings. In 19-20 July 1892, the Belyando Picnic Race Club held its races on an unfenced course at their President's (T de M M-P) home Bulliwallah: they continued to race at Bulliwallah until at least 1896 before a permanent course was built.((ch 3 'Picnic Racing on the Belyando', from book? pp.9,10.)) Fox's History of Queensland summarised T. de M. M-P as having "enjoyed a wide reputation as a breeder of prize stock, his shorthorn cattle and Arab horses carrying off many of the most coveted honours of the day. He owned the Arab stallion "Pathfinder," at the time one of the best-known horses in Queensland, and also imported from India "Trojan," another noted Arab sire, both of which accounted for prize stock of the highest quality."((Matthew Fox, //The history of Queensland: its people and industries: an historical and commercial review descriptive and biographical facts, figures and illustrations: an epitome of progress//, Brisbane: States Publishing Company, 1919, vol.1, p.173))\ For details of sales etc of T de M M-P stock, see Andrew Darbyshire ((//A Fair Slice of St Lucia//. Thomas Lodge Murray-Prior, St Lucia History Group research paper no. 8, pp.76-79.))\\
The Belyando Handicap, NLA.{{:belyando_handicap.jpg?300|}}(( for a photo of the 1898 Bulliwallah races, see Andrew Darbyshire, A Fair Slice of St Lucia. Thomas Lodge Murray-Prior, St Lucia History Group research paper no. 8, p.79.))
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One of Thomas de Montmorenci M-P's claims to fame is that he and Peter Pears, a tutor at nearby Unumgar Station, were the first Europeans to climb [[wp>Mount_Lindesay_(Queensland)|Mt Lindesay]], in 1872.((e.g. N.C. Hewitt, 'Early History Recalled', //Northern Star// [Lismore], 9 January 1940; //The Brisbane Courier//, 18 May 1872, p.6.))  His wife Mary believed that the pair were actually the second, with the first ascent in the 1840s: that claim is uncertain. Thomas de M. M-P passed on his fascination with climbing Mt Lindesay to his son [[thomas_bertram_and_lizzie_m-p|Thomas Bertram]], who, with his cousin Standish Lightoller, climbed it in September 1902.((Robert Thomas, 'The First Ascent of Mt. Lindesay - A Climbing "Whodunit"', //Queensland Review//, 8:1, May 2001, pp.1-20.)) {{https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a5/Mount_Lindesay_Queensland.jpg/280px-Mount_Lindesay_Queensland.jpg}}\\
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Thomas de M M-P presumably shared his fellow squatters' conviction that cheap labour was the answer and shut his eyes to how this was acquired. On 10 December 1872 he took two Polynesian contract labourers to court for refusing to work. Both were fined making it harder than ever for them to return home. It was highly likely that neither gave informed consent to any labour contract.((Andrew Darbyshire, A Fair Slice of St Lucia. Thomas Lodge Murray-Prior, St Lucia History Group research paper no. 8, p.75.))
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Thomas de M. M-P contributed to numerous local organisations. He was active in local government - the Boonah Shire Council - being elected a member of the Goolman Divisional Board from 1889-92 and 1895-99, including Chairman in 1896-97.((Collin Pfeffer, //The Fassifern Story: a history of Boonah Shire and surroundings to 1989//, Boonah Shire Council, c.1991, p.148; [H. Krause], //The Story of Maroon. A Souvenir Review of its History and Development 1827-1961//, Maroon Centenary Celebrations Committee, 1961, p.40.)) He was also Vice-President of the Queensland Chamber of Agriculture.((D. Waterson, //A Biographical Register of the Queensland Parliament 1860-1929//, Canberra: ANU Press, 1972, p.135.)) He was the founding President of the Fassifern and Dugandan Agricultural and Pastoral Association; on the first Committee of the General Hospital at Boonah as well as the Boonah Literary and Debating Society. He donated the land for the first Maroon School which opened in 1891, mainly for the children of settlers taking advantage of the closer settlement acts.(([H. Krause], //The Story of Maroon. A Souvenir Review of its History and Development 1827-1961//, Maroon Centenary Celebrations Committee, 1961, pp.13,31.)) In addition, he was known to have a good relationship with the local German settlers.((Margaret Jenner, letter to J. Godden, 6 July [year?]))\\
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Despite local support, he failed to gain election to the [[wp>Legislative_Assembly_of_Queensland|Queensland Legislative Assembly]] for the seat of [[wp>Electoral_district_of_Fassifern|Fassifern]] in 1896.((//Queensland Times, Ipswich Herald and General Advertiser//,5 March 1896, p. 2 and 26 March 1896, p.2))  In 1901, despite being supported by the Commonwealth Electoral League ((//South Australian Register//, 28 February 1901, p.5. The F. is a misprint for T.)) he also failed in his bid to be elected to the Queensland Senate, though he gained a respectable 13,236 votes.((Manfred Cross, Queensland's First Federal Election,  Memoirs of the Queensland useum Cultural Heritage series, vol.2, part 2, Brisbane, Queensland Museum, 2002, p.221; //The Brisbane Courier//, 8 March 1901, p. 4;  //Gympie Times and Mary River Mining Gazette//, 26 March 1901, p.3.)) On 11 March 1902, he was successful in his bid for higher public office, elected to the Legislative Assembly as the member for Fassifern.((D. Waterson, //A Biographical Register of the Queensland Parliament 1860-1929//, Canberra: ANU Press, 1972, p.135; //Queensland Times, Ipswich Herald and General Advertiser//, 25 March 1902, p.6 .)) He died at Maroon exactly 9 months later, on 11 December 1902.(([[wp>Thomas_de_Montmorency_Murray-Prior]]))\\
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Thomas de Montmorenci M-P and Florence Claudia Moore((or Moor)) (c.1861-1901)((Queensland death certificate, 1901/C1766)) married on 18 March 1878 at the Holy Trinity Church of England in the far north Queensland town of [[wp>Bowen,_Queensland|Bowen]].((‘Questions to be answered by T.L.M-P’, 6pp Memoranda by the Herald Office, Somerset House, London re Burke’s Colonial Gentry.)) Like her father Henry ((Florence's Queensland death certificate, 1901/C1766 probably incorrectly gives his name as John)) Moore (or Moor), Florence was born in London. Her mother, with the wonderful name of Georgiana Boadicea Maria Leathant, was the daughter of Charles Leathant; she and Henry married at St Pancras Church on 22 July 1857. They lived in the London suburb of [[wp>Highgate|Highgate]]. Henry died on 11 February 1861 and was buried in the famous {{https://highgatecemetery.org/|Highgate cemetery}}.((‘Questions to be answered by T.L.M-P’, 6pp Memoranda by the Herald Office, Somerset House, London re Burke’s Colonial Gentry.)) 

Florence and her mother appear to have emigrated to Australia in 1862, the year after Florence's father died.((Queensland death certificate, 1901/C1766)) It is probable that Florence's mother had already re-married, to Henry J. Jones who, at the time of Florence's marriage, worked for a bank in Bowen, Queensland.((//Clarence and Richmond Examiner and New England Advertiser//, 27 April 1878, p.2.)) For that reason, Florence is sometimes referred to as Florence Jones.((Robert M-P, //The Blood Royal of the Murray-Priors//, 1901-05, p.14, NLA; Thomas Bertram M-P, //Some Australasian Families Descended from Royalty//, ms, n.d.,p.7, NLA; Bernard Burke, //A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Colonial Gentry//, Melbourne: E.A. Petherick, 1891-95, pp.49-50.)) TLM-P and Nora both found Florence difficult. Nora was always discerning about people, and she wrote to Rosa that Florence easily took offence, imagining that people were slighting her and referring to her mother having been a forewoman in a shop. While Brisbane society was snobbish, the colonies were a place where people could rapidly ascend the social scale and Nora was probably correct in saying that no-one else cared. Nevertheless, Nora told Rosa, Florence was haunted by her mother's unladylike past. She had also snubbed anyone she thought of an inferior class, so consequently had few friends. Florence's saving grace, in Nora's eyes, was that she was a devoted wife and mother. ((Nora to Rosa, 3 December 1883))\\
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Florence was 18 years old when she married, her husband 30, and she conceived almost immediately, going on to have five children in 8 years. Their roving life (and possibly a reason for Florence's few friends) is indicated by their five children having four different birth places.((‘Questions to be answered by T.L.M-P’, 6pp Memoranda to the Herald Office, Somerset House, London re Burke’s Colonial Gentry.)) Florence died aged 40 in 1901 suffering from the endocrine disorder, [[wp>Addison%27s_disease|Addison's disease]].((Queensland death certificate 1901/C1766.)) She was buried at Maroon but in 1920, after the property was sold, was re-interred in the family plot at [[family_burial_site_toowong_cemetery_brisbane|Toowong cemetery]].\\
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{{:florence_enhanced.jpg?300|}} **For other photos of the beautiful Florence and her possessions, click [[painting, photos Florence]]**\\
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 **Children** 
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Thomas and Florence had four daughters and one son.((Bernard Burke, //A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Colonial Gentry//, Melbourne: E.A. Petherick, 1891-95, pp.49-50; Robert M-P, //The Blood Royal of the Murray-Priors//, p.14, NLA; [Thomas A. M-P], Murray-Prior Family, booklet, October 2014; Thomas Bertram M-P, //Some Australasian Families Descended from Royalty//, ms, n.d.,p.7, NLA.)) See the sidebar entry for **Thomas Bertram M-P** and his sisters **Florette, Mabel, Ethel and Phyllis M-P**.((Queensland Death certificate 1902/C1918.))\\
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 **Thomas de Montmorenci M-P and Mary Bundock** 
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On 30 August 1902, the year after Florence died, Thomas married 57-year-old Mary Bundock (1845-1924).((BDM, marriage registration no. 5779/1902)) Thomas' young step-brother Robert was reportedly his best man at the wedding.((N.C. Hewitt, 'Early History Recalled', //Northern Star// [Lismore], 9 January 1940.)) The Bundocks and M-Ps were on visiting terms at least from 1880,((Praed papers, Nora M-P to Rosa Praed, 1880, OM64-1, 4/2/1-4)) and Thomas de M. M-P had a connection to the area where Mary Bundock's family had a property, Wyangarie, on the Richmond River in northern NSW. Isabel McBryde states that Mary's father owned a property called Kooralbyn near Beaudesert (and thus Maroon) and also owned Bulliwallah, south of Charters Towers, which appears also as a M-P property. One bond between Thomas de M. and Mary was their love of horses. Mary was known as 'a fearless horsewoman, and would ride for miles to set a broken limb or succour a settler in distress in that then sparsely settled district'.((Sydney Morning Herald, 23April 1924,p.10)) Oral history recollections are frequently not-quite-right, and the former description particularly fitted her sister Alice,((Praed papers, Nora M-P to Rosa Praed, 1880, OM64-1, 4/2/1-4)) but perhaps both sisters were that way inclined. Another recollection of Mary described her as 'the Florence Nightingale of the Upper Richmond, of whom all the early settlers still speak with affectionate regard. She was a wonderful woman, admired and remembered by all with gratitude.'((N.C. Hewitt, 'Early History Recalled', //Northern Star// [Lismore], 9 January 1940.)) \\
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The family story((T.A. M-P, pers comm.)) is that it was a marriage based on friendship and trust, to enable Mary to look after Thomas de M.'s soon-to-be orphaned children and Maroon. Thomas de M. was already suffering from the stomach cancer that would kill him four months after the wedding.((Queensland Death certificate 1902/C1918.)) Maroon was struggling due to the prolonged drought, and Thomas B. was only 19 years old, too young to effectively take on such a challenge. His four sisters ranged in age from 23 to 16 years old. Three months after he married Mary, Thomas de M. was described as an 'invalid'; his sister Lizzie and brother Egerton came to Maroon to say goodbye.((//The Telegraph//, 29 November 1902, p.13.)) A month later, on 11 December 1902, he died there.((//SMH// death notice, 16 December 1902; //The Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser//, 17 December 1902, p.1614; Queensland Death certificate 1902/C1918.)) Like Florence, he was buried at Maroon but on 25 June 1920, re-interred in the family plot at [[family_burial_site_toowong_cemetery_brisbane|Toowong cemetery]].((Queensland Death certificate 1902/C1918.))\\
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{{:maroon_t_bm-p_unknown_woman_cropped.jpeg?400|}} The man is reputedly Thomas B. M-P: is the woman Mary Bundock?((Provenance T.A. & M.T. M-P))\\
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The newly-wed, newly-widowed Mary stayed at Maroon running the property for some time. In the Wise Directory of 1907 she was listed as 'station owner' of Maroon and another nearby property[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dugandan,_Queensland|Dugandan]].((accessed through Ancestry.com.au))

Today Mary Bundock is renowned for her significant contribution to European knowledge of Aboriginal arts and crafts through her work as an artist and anthropologist-collector. During 1885-92, she collated two ethnographic collections, one which she gave to {{https://volkenkunde.nl/|Rijkmuseurn voor Volkenkunde, Leiden in the Netherlands}} where it was valued; the other to the Australian Museum in Sydney. The latter collection was first displayed in 1895 as a fund-raising exhibition for the Women's College at the University of Sydney. Archaeologist Isabel McBryde judged the collection in Leiden, the only one which survived, to be 'large, comprehensive and meticulously documented' in a highly professional manner. What remains unexplained was how Mary Bundock had the skills to do this despite 'few opportunities for scientific contacts and indeed little formal schooling'.((Isabel McBryde, 'A remarkable life - Mary Ellen Murray-Prior and her contribution to Australian ethnography', //Richmond River Historical Society Bulletin//, 16 March 1997, p.3.))\\
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Mary Bundock also wrote two works of great value: 'Notes on the Richmond River Blacks', and an untitled history of early European settlement in the Richmond River valley, both now held at the ML: neither was published during her lifetime.((Isabel McBryde (ed.), //Records of Time Past//, Canberra: Australian Institute for Aboriginal Studies, 1978; Isabel McBryde, 'Miss Mary, Ethnography and the Inheritance of Concern', in //First in their Field: Women and Australian Anthropology// ed. Julie Marcus, Melbourne University Press: 1993, pp.15-45.)) The significance of Mary Bundock's work was enhanced by her close bonds with, and her knowledge of the Bandjalang dialect spoken by, Aboriginal people in the Richmond River district.((Billy Griffiths, //Deep Time Dreaming: Uncovering Ancient Australia//, Carlton (Vic): Black Inc, 2018, ch.2.)) It meant that her ethnographic collections were 'made in close collaboration with members of the local Wyangarie Aboriginal community'.((Isabel McBryde, 'A remarkable life - Mary Ellen Murray-Prior and her contribution to Australian ethnography', //Richmond River Historical Society Bulletin//, 16 March 1997, p3.))\\
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Mary M-P died on 9 April 1924 while visiting Perth. ((//Sydney Morning Herald//, 15 April 1924; see //Kyogle Examiner//, 16 & 26 April and 4 June 1924.)) Her will reveals her interests and closeness to her own and step-family. She left ₤2,000 each to St Paul’s College and to the Women’s College at the University of Sydney, to establish respectively the W.C. Bundock Scholarship and the Ellen Bundock Memorial Scholarship, in memory of her parents.((//Sydney Morning Herald//, 2 June 1924, p.10; {{http://www.stpauls.edu.au/home/contribute/benefactors/founders-of-scholarships-and-prizes}}; a copy of her will is in (her brother's) Francis Forbes Bundock papers, 1902-1928, MLMSS A5396; //First in their Field: Women and Australian Anthropology// ed. Julie Marcus, Melbourne University Press: 1993.)) She left money to her godchildren, maid and family members (both those related by blood and her husband's family), as well as an annuity to her widowed sister-in-law, Lizzie Jardine (Elizabeth Catherine nee Murray-Prior). The reason for the latter is forgotten, but perhaps due to Lizzie's relative poverty and her closeness to her eldest brother, Mary's late husband. Her step-grandson Thomas L. M-P received ₤300 along with a silver watch once belonging to his grandfather, Mary's late husband. She also bequeathed jewellery to her step-daughter-in-law Lizzie, her husband's sisters and a step-grandchild (Diana Herring).((Mary Bundock, will, in F.F. Bundock papers, MLA5396)) Her religious convictions is shown in her leaving ₤500 to the (Anglican) Brotherhood of the Holy Shepherd, Kyogle.(('The Brotherhood of the Good Shepherd is a society, consisting of the Clergy and Laity of the Church of England, formed for the purpose of ministering to the spiritual needs of the dwellers in the bush districts of the Diocese of Bathurst.', [[https://www.dubboanglicanchurch.org/history.html]] Previously, she and three other Bundocks had set up a £800 bursary to train priests for this ministry. Agreement in F.F. Bundock papers, MLA5396)). Mary M-P is buried in the Bundock family cemetery at Wyangarie.((F.E. Bundock, 'A "Who's Who" in the Bumdock Cemetery at Wyrangarie, t/s, 4pp, September 1977.)) \\
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{{:mary_bundock_and_ethel.jpg?400|}} Mary Bundock in old age with her step-daughter Ethel on the verandah at Maroon.((Provenance: Jill Fleming))\\
{{:mary_s_will.jpg?300|}} Mary M-P's original will with its beautiful, laborious handwriting. 
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**Whose?** 

{{:mp28.jpg?500|}} These are Indian tabar axes.((Provenance:T.A. & M.T. M-P and thanks for identification by a generous stranger, Damien Fegan, via Facebook.)) Damien Fegan has identified them (from a photo) as more likely to be used as dervish axes than as combat weapons and thinks they probably date from no earlier than the mid-19th century. The dating suggests they were bought by Thomas de M. M-P when he travelled to India. The handle of the 'weapon' doubles as a sword. One of the axes has an elephant on it; the blades originally had engraving on them, which also appears to suggest they were ceremonial arms rather than weapons designed for use in war.((T.A. & M.T. M-P, pers. comm., 2017.))