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| In one of life's coincidences (and indicative of the small population of Queensland then), baby Meta grew up to marry, on 15 April 1896 at All Saints Church of England in Brisbane, Dr Hobbs' son Arthur, a solicitor who lived in Townsville.((The online Qld marriage registration B17986 gives her name as Matilda Annie; //Leader//, 25 April 1896, p.30.)) Not surprisingly, he became his widowed mother-in-law's solicitor.((M-P papers, NLA, MS 7801, Box 4, folder 23.)) Arthur's mother was Anna nee Barton,((Qld births registration B11948)) no relation to Nora but a sister of {{http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/barton-sir-edmund-toby-71|(later Sir) Edmund Barton}}, who became Australia's first Prime Minister. It says much about Nora that, when Meta married, she and Meta's eldest step-brother shared the duties that would have been TLM-P's if he had been alive. Thomas de M. M-P escorted Meta up the aisle, but it was Nora who gave her daughter away.((//Leader// 25 April 1896, p.30.)) Later in life, by 1913, Meta lived in the Brisbane suburb of Ascot.((Andrew Darbyshire, A Fair Slice of St Lucia. Thomas Lodge Murray-Prior, St Lucia History Group research paper no. 8, p.90.))\\ | In one of life's coincidences (and indicative of the small population of Queensland then), baby Meta grew up to marry, on 15 April 1896 at All Saints Church of England in Brisbane, Dr Hobbs' son Arthur, a solicitor who lived in Townsville.((The online Qld marriage registration B17986 gives her name as Matilda Annie; //Leader//, 25 April 1896, p.30.)) Not surprisingly, he became his widowed mother-in-law's solicitor.((M-P papers, NLA, MS 7801, Box 4, folder 23.)) Arthur's mother was Anna nee Barton,((Qld births registration B11948)) no relation to Nora but a sister of {{http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/barton-sir-edmund-toby-71|(later Sir) Edmund Barton}}, who became Australia's first Prime Minister. It says much about Nora that, when Meta married, she and Meta's eldest step-brother shared the duties that would have been TLM-P's if he had been alive. Thomas de M. M-P escorted Meta up the aisle, but it was Nora who gave her daughter away.((//Leader// 25 April 1896, p.30.)) Later in life, by 1913, Meta lived in the Brisbane suburb of Ascot.((Andrew Darbyshire, A Fair Slice of St Lucia. Thomas Lodge Murray-Prior, St Lucia History Group research paper no. 8, p.90.))\\ |
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| When Nora wrote to Rosa Praed, she often described her children. In 1883, when Meta was a young girl, Nora described her having 'little bent towards book learning preferring outdoor pursuits of any description, but she has observation & is shrewd, going straight to the root of any question & taking a common sense, & not a conventional, view of matters... She is quite on the ground, never soars to the stars but sees what is on the ground plainly & shrewdly.'; 'Meta is Papa all over from top to toe – in deposition I mean, so trustworthy & strong & self-confident I already lean on her a great deal.' However, she suffered in comparison to her more attractive younger sister Dorothy.((Nora to Rosa, 14 March 1883 and 1884, check exact date, JOLQ))\\ | When Nora wrote to Rosa Praed, she often described her children. In 1883, when Meta was a young girl, Nora described her having 'little bent towards book learning preferring outdoor pursuits of any description, but she has observation & is shrewd, going straight to the root of any question & taking a common sense, & not a conventional, view of matters... She is quite on the ground, never soars to the stars but sees what is on the ground plainly & shrewdly.'; 'Meta is Papa all over from top to toe – in deposition I mean, so trustworthy & strong & self-confident I already lean on her a great deal.' However, she suffered in comparison to her more attractive younger sister Dorothy.((Nora to Rosa, 14 March 1883 and 1884, check exact date, JOLQ)) TLM-P approvingly repeated to a Salvation Army officer a question Meta had asked 'Why God let the Devil make her bad?' . Her father's response, at least in 1882, was to let faith develop of its own way.(Diary, 14 June 1882) \\ |
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| Meta and Arthur Hobbs had two children - more information is available for family members. \\ | Meta and Arthur Hobbs had two children - more information is available for family members. \\ |
| Meta, like all of TLM-P's daughters, received her basic education at home from governesses, her mother and older siblings. Like her paternal uncle William M-P and maternal aunt Emily Susan Paterson, Meta was a talented artist, judging from a lovely watercolour of a swallow and orchids by a river in the NLA.\\ | Meta, like all of TLM-P's daughters, received her basic education at home from governesses, her mother and older siblings. Like her paternal uncle William M-P and maternal aunt Emily Susan Paterson, Meta was a talented artist, judging from a lovely watercolour of a swallow and orchids by a river in the NLA.\\ |
| {{:meta_s_painting_of_swallow.jpg?200|}}((M-P papers, NLA MS7801, folder 44))\\ | {{:meta_s_painting_of_swallow.jpg?200|}}((M-P papers, NLA MS7801, folder 44))\\ |
| | TLM-P encouraged her, in 5 October 1888 while in Australia with Meta in Europe, he tried to preserve a frilled-neck lizard, presumably for Meta to draw: 'bought some arsenical soap [for 2/-] and was most of the day trying to set up the Frilled lizard for Meta, very difficult. I managed the stuffing but could not do the frills.' (6 Oct) 'Finished Meta's frilled lizard'. |
| She also wrote poetry.((M-P family papers, NLA, Box 4, folder 22.)) A 17 page handwritten story of hers survives: the copy is dated July 1925((check)), inscribed 'For Mother', with the title "With the Sultan through Spicer's Gap. A Round Trip from Brisbane to Warwick and Back'. It is a well-written story of a family car trip with "the Sultan", her husband, and daughter ("Miss N.S.W.").((Provenance: J. Godden. **If anyone knows any of Meta's descendants, I'd be happy to return the ms to them. J.G.**)) \\ | She also wrote poetry.((M-P family papers, NLA, Box 4, folder 22.)) A 17 page handwritten story of hers survives: the copy is dated July 1925((check)), inscribed 'For Mother', with the title "With the Sultan through Spicer's Gap. A Round Trip from Brisbane to Warwick and Back'. It is a well-written story of a family car trip with "the Sultan", her husband, and daughter ("Miss N.S.W.").((Provenance: J. Godden. **If anyone knows any of Meta's descendants, I'd be happy to return the ms to them. J.G.**)) \\ |
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| 2. **Emmeline** Mary (18 May 1875((Qld Births registration no. B19267))- 5 February 1876((NSW Death registration 371/18760))((‘Questions to be answered by T.L.M-P’, 6pp Memoranda by the Herald Office, Somerset House, London re Burke’s Colonial Gentry. According to Jeremy Long, she was known as Elsie, Jeremy Long, letter to J. Godden, 21 June 2001, but the only references I've seen to a nickname is 'Emmie'.)) Nora hired a Brisbane midwife, Mrs Nevison, who agreed to come to Maroon for her birth and that of a neighbour. Mrs Nevison was, Nora wrote to Rosa, 'a charming old lady'((Nora M-P to Rosa Praed, 19 December 1874, M-P papers, JOLQ, OM81-71.)) Although Nora appreciated Maroon with its 'bright pure air', after the birth she complained that, as none of her four women servants were mothers, there was no-one on hand to advise her about baby care.((Nora M-P to Rosa Praed, 3 May 1875 and n.d.[late 1875?], Praed papers JOLQ, box 4.)) Unfortunately, Mrs Nevison had had to leave after two weeks, as the neighbour gave birth early. Then Emmeline fell ill and Nora floundered until a neighbour advised her. Although Nora had trained as a nurse, it was at Sydney Infirmary (later Hospital) which did not offer midwifery nor (to use a modern term) paediatrics. Given this experience, none of her other babies were born at home.\\ | 2. **Emmeline** Mary (18 May 1875((Qld Births registration no. B19267))- 5 February 1876((NSW Death registration 371/18760))((‘Questions to be answered by T.L.M-P’, 6pp Memoranda by the Herald Office, Somerset House, London re Burke’s Colonial Gentry. According to Jeremy Long, she was known as Elsie, Jeremy Long, letter to J. Godden, 21 June 2001, but the only references I've seen to a nickname is 'Emmie'.)) Nora hired a Brisbane midwife, Mrs Nevison, who agreed to come to Maroon for her birth and that of a neighbour. Mrs Nevison was, Nora wrote to Rosa, 'a charming old lady'((Nora M-P to Rosa Praed, 19 December 1874, M-P papers, JOLQ, OM81-71.)) Although Nora appreciated Maroon with its 'bright pure air', after the birth she complained that, as none of her four women servants were mothers, there was no-one on hand to advise her about baby care.((Nora M-P to Rosa Praed, 3 May 1875 and n.d.[late 1875?], Praed papers JOLQ, box 4.)) Unfortunately, Mrs Nevison had had to leave after two weeks, as the neighbour gave birth early. Then Emmeline fell ill and Nora floundered until a neighbour advised her. Although Nora had trained as a nurse, it was at Sydney Infirmary (later Hospital) which did not offer midwifery nor (to use a modern term) paediatrics. Given this experience, none of her other babies were born at home.\\ |
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| {{:emmeline_2.jpg?200|}} There are numerous copies of this photo of Emmeline in her parents' albums. It was taken in Brisbane before Nora took her baby to Sydney to see her family. Before the photos could be distributed by her proud parents, Emmeline died. She was just over 8 months old.((BDM, registration number 371/1876)) Emmeline was buried at Ryde, probably in the churchyard of St Anne's Church of England where her parents married.((‘Questions to be answered by T.L.M-P’, 6pp Memoranda by the Herald Office, Somerset House, London re Burke’s Colonial Gentry.))\\ | {{:emmeline_2.jpg?200|}} There are numerous copies of this photo of Emmeline in her parents' albums. It was taken in Brisbane before Nora took her baby to Sydney to see her family. Before the photos could be distributed by her proud parents, Emmeline died. She was just over 8 months old.((BDM, registration number 371/1876)) Emmeline was buried at Ryde, in the churchyard of St Anne's Church of England where her parents married.((‘Questions to be answered by T.L.M-P’, 6pp Memoranda to the Herald Office, Somerset House, London re Burke’s Colonial Gentry.))\\ |
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| Emmeline's death certificate reveals how quickly babies could die from bacterial infections in those pre-antibiotic days. Nora was staying at Richmond Terrace next to the Domain and near Sydney Hospital and her former nursing Matron Lucy Osburn, but it was to no avail when, on 2 February, Emmeline became sick with diarrhoea.((The death certificate gave diarrhoea as the secondary cause with 'congestion of the brain' as the primary cause - that is now a superseded diagnosis but it is possible that Emmeline also fell at some stage and had a brain haemorrhage.)) Four days later, despite a doctor's attendance, she was dead. Summer diarrhoea was a prime cause of death for babies at the time, usually caused by contaminated milk or water. Emmeline's death certificate was sent to her father at Maroon - his fifth child to die as a baby.\\ | Emmeline's death certificate reveals how quickly babies could die from bacterial infections in those pre-antibiotic days. Nora was staying at Richmond Terrace next to the Domain and near Sydney Hospital and her former nursing Matron Lucy Osburn, but it was to no avail when, on 2 February, Emmeline became sick with diarrhoea.((The death certificate gave diarrhoea as the secondary cause with 'congestion of the brain' as the primary cause - that is now a superseded diagnosis but it is possible that Emmeline also fell at some stage and had a brain haemorrhage.)) Four days later, despite a doctor's attendance, she was dead. Summer diarrhoea was a prime cause of death for babies at the time, usually caused by contaminated milk or water. Emmeline's death certificate was sent to her father at Maroon - his fifth child to die as a baby.\\ |
| Robert was admitted to the NSW bar in November 1908; as a barrister, he specialised in probate law. Family lore has it that he did not enjoy that area of practice largely because it so often involved bitter family disputes. It is also understood that he challenged the power of law clerks to distribute briefs - he lost that battle and thereafter the clerks avoided giving him briefs, much to the detriment of his practice.((E.S.M-P, pers. comm. to J. Godden))\\ | Robert was admitted to the NSW bar in November 1908; as a barrister, he specialised in probate law. Family lore has it that he did not enjoy that area of practice largely because it so often involved bitter family disputes. It is also understood that he challenged the power of law clerks to distribute briefs - he lost that battle and thereafter the clerks avoided giving him briefs, much to the detriment of his practice.((E.S.M-P, pers. comm. to J. Godden))\\ |
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| Robert M-P was a political conservative, a prominent Mason and active in his local community of Hunters Hill, becoming its mayor in 1935. During World War II he was employed as a censor.((G.M-P, pers comm, 15 Sept 2020)). Murray Prior Reserve, George Street, Hunters Hill is named after him. He was also active in community groups. In c.1901, he was the founding Honorary Treasurer of the Gladesville Volunteer Fire Brigade.((J. Boult,//Hunter's Hill 1794-1938, sesqui-centenary celebrations// Hunters Hill Council, 1938, pp.21,32.)) A small medal dated March 1902 has inscribed on the reverse that it was presented to him 'by the G.C.& D. Society for his zealous work as Secretary' - just what was that Society is unknown though G perhaps stands for Gladesville.((Provenance medal: J. Godden)) He was also a founder, President and keen actor for the Hunters Hill Playreading and Dramatic Club.((Gabrielle Shannon, email to J. Godden, 28 August 2014; pers. comm 14 May 2020.)) While in his twenties, he wrote the genealogical history of his family, 'The Blood Royal of the Murray-Priors'. \\ | Robert M-P was a political conservative, a prominent Mason and active in his local community of Hunters Hill, becoming its mayor in 1935. During World War II he was employed as a censor.((G.M-P, pers comm, 15 Sept 2020)). Murray Prior Reserve, George Street, Hunters Hill is named after him.{{:20230611_144140.jpg?300|}} {{:20230611_145226.jpg?300|}}((it is an oddly shaped reserve on the waterfront at Figtree. The approach is over-grown with weeds and looks very uninviting. This is probably deliberate as, if you venture down to the waterfront and clamber up a rough path to your right, you get to an open area which adjoining homes appear to use as an extension of their lawns.))\\ |
| | \\ He was also active in community groups. In c.1901, he was the founding Honorary Treasurer of the Gladesville Volunteer Fire Brigade.((J. Boult,//Hunter's Hill 1794-1938, sesqui-centenary celebrations// Hunters Hill Council, 1938, pp.21,32.)) A small medal dated March 1902 has inscribed on the reverse that it was presented to him 'by the G.C.& D. Society for his zealous work as Secretary' - just what was that Society is unknown though G perhaps stands for Gladesville.((Provenance medal: J. Godden)) He was also a founder, President and keen actor for the Hunters Hill Playreading and Dramatic Club.((Gabrielle Shannon, email to J. Godden, 28 August 2014; pers. comm 14 May 2020.)) While in his twenties, he wrote the genealogical history of his family, 'The Blood Royal of the Murray-Priors'. \\ |
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| Robert married on 22 April 1908, Estella (Stella) Augusta Herring 1883-17 September 1968.((//The Sydney Morning Herald//, 25 April 1908, p.10 and death notice, 18 September 1968.)) She was born at Gladesville on 4 March 1883((Birth Certificate in possession of J. Godden.)); her brother Sydney had married Robert's step-niece, a daughter of Florence and Thomas de M.M-P. Stella Herring was reputedly brought up by nannies in an austere fashion, normally seeing her parents only to say goodnight, and at a set and limited period on the weekends.((E.S.M-P, pers.comm to J. Godden.)) Her father was Gerald Herring, a Mayor of Ryde: Herring Road, North Ryde is named after him. On her marriage certificate, Stella gave his occupation as 'gentleman'; Robert described TLM-P as a grazier. After their marriage, Robert and Stella lived at 1 Yerton Avenue, Hunters Hill (the noted artist Nora Heysen lived at no. 2 Yerton Ave). With the death of Robert's sister Ruth M-P, they moved to her home at 17 Madeline Street, Hunters Hill. Click here for [[certificates]]. \\ | Robert married on 22 April 1908, Estella (Stella) Augusta Herring 1883-17 September 1968.((//The Sydney Morning Herald//, 25 April 1908, p.10 and death notice, 18 September 1968.)) She was born at Gladesville on 4 March 1883((Birth Certificate in possession of J. Godden.)); her brother Sydney had married Robert's step-niece, a daughter of Florence and Thomas de M.M-P. Stella Herring was reputedly brought up by nannies in an austere fashion, normally seeing her parents only to say goodnight, and at a set and limited period on the weekends.((E.S.M-P, pers.comm to J. Godden.)) Her father was Gerald Herring, a Mayor of Ryde: Herring Road, North Ryde is named after him. On her marriage certificate, Stella gave his occupation as 'gentleman'; Robert described TLM-P as a grazier. After their marriage, Robert and Stella lived at 1 Yerton Avenue, Hunters Hill (the noted artist Nora Heysen lived opposite at no. 2 Yerton Ave). With the death of Robert's sister Ruth M-P, they moved to her home at 17 Madeline Street, Hunters Hill. Click here for [[certificates]]. \\ |
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| Robert and Stella had five children - more information is available for family members.\\ | Robert and Stella had five children - more information is available for family members.\\ |
| Nora was dismayed when she again became pregnant, around two years after Robert's birth. She apparently delayed telling Rosa until she could put it off no longer: "//Open confession is good for the soul and nothing can be hidden forever, and you can perhaps imagine some little of the mortification, chagrin and disgust [with] which I have been forced to recognise myself as once again in the valley of the shadow of a baby. ... All pleasant plans were broken up and at an end. So many more years of necessary repetition in this quiet dull place, of which by the bye, I am heartily fond when I do not feel eternally tied to it ... [baby] being forced into world where he is not at all wanted.//"((3 December 1883, OM 81-71 JOLQ))\\ | Nora was dismayed when she again became pregnant, around two years after Robert's birth. She apparently delayed telling Rosa until she could put it off no longer: "//Open confession is good for the soul and nothing can be hidden forever, and you can perhaps imagine some little of the mortification, chagrin and disgust [with] which I have been forced to recognise myself as once again in the valley of the shadow of a baby. ... All pleasant plans were broken up and at an end. So many more years of necessary repetition in this quiet dull place, of which by the bye, I am heartily fond when I do not feel eternally tied to it ... [baby] being forced into world where he is not at all wanted.//"((3 December 1883, OM 81-71 JOLQ))\\ |
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| 7. **Julius** (Jules) Orlebar (25 March 1884 - 6 October 1931((Queensland death certificate, 1931 C4220))). Nora's 'poor little morsel' was born at 'Ervingstone',((probably a private hospital, given other births there. See, e.g., //The Queenslander//, 3 November 1883, p.727.)) Stanley Street, South Brisbane((Qld Births registration no. B32130)) and baptised at the Kangaroo Point Church of England.((‘Questions to be answered by T.L.M-P’, 6pp Memoranda by the Herald Office, Somerset House, London re Burke’s Colonial Gentry.)) Julius never married and had no known children. His second name of Orlebar was the family name of TLM-P's maternal grandmother; when TLM-P visited his daughter Rosa Praed in England, they visited the widowed 'Mrs Olebar' whom he thought was 'nearly 80 a very nice looking old lady' with two daughters.((TLM-P, Diary, 31 May 1882))\\ | 7. **Julius** (Jules) Orlebar (25 March 1884 - 6 October 1931((Queensland death certificate, 1931 C4220))). Nora's 'poor little morsel' was born at 'Ervingstone',((probably a private hospital, given other births there. See, e.g., //The Queenslander//, 3 November 1883, p.727.)) Stanley Street, South Brisbane((Qld Births registration no. B32130)) and baptised at the Kangaroo Point Church of England.((‘Questions to be answered by T.L.M-P’, 6pp Memoranda by the Herald Office, Somerset House, London re Burke’s Colonial Gentry.)) Julius never married and had no known children. His second name of Orlebar was the family name of TLM-P's maternal grandmother; when TLM-P visited his daughter Rosa Praed in England, they visited the widowed 'Mrs Olebar' whom he thought was 'nearly 80 a very nice looking old lady' with two daughters. The Olebars had fallen on hard times and were in the process of leaving their ancestral home.((TLM-P, Diary, 31 May, 1 June, 14 August 1882)) TLM-P also refers to seeing Miss Olebar in England and mentions the 'Olebars farm at Warrnambool Victoria'(( Diary 1882, 16 August))\\ |
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| Julius was three months old when Nora wrote to Rosa about her 'morbid thoughts and feelings' during pregnancy and what we would now call a mid-life crisis (Nora was then 37 years old):' You have brought a life into an uncertain world of wrecks and disease and dynamite explosions. Your heart’s love is irrevocably invested in that life."((15 June 1884, JOLQ)) As far as childhood diseases went, necessity meant that she had gained considerable confidence, writing to Rosa that 'Fortunately I am now quite as good as a Doctor with baby complaints', which was fortunate given she also assured her that 'as little as I care for having babies, I should like losing those I have still less.'((Nora M-P to Rosa Praed, 21 December 1884, JOLQ.))\\ | Julius was three months old when Nora wrote to Rosa about her 'morbid thoughts and feelings' during pregnancy and what we would now call a mid-life crisis (Nora was then 37 years old):' You have brought a life into an uncertain world of wrecks and disease and dynamite explosions. Your heart’s love is irrevocably invested in that life."((15 June 1884, JOLQ)) As far as childhood diseases went, necessity meant that she had gained considerable confidence, writing to Rosa that 'Fortunately I am now quite as good as a Doctor with baby complaints', which was fortunate given she also assured her that 'as little as I care for having babies, I should like losing those I have still less.'((Nora M-P to Rosa Praed, 21 December 1884, JOLQ.))\\ |
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| Like his brothers Fred and Robert, Julius initially went to school at Bowen House in Brisbane, the preparatory school for Brisbane Grammar.((//The Telegraph// 9 December 1897, p.3.)) While still a schoolboy, he moved with his mother and other siblings to Sydney where they lived in a home called Karlite (or Karlyte) at Gladesville.((//The Maitland Daily Mercury//, 8 January 1909, p.6.)) In 1901, the 17-year-old won two prizes at a Flower Show to raise money for the Anglican church at Gladesville (his sisters, Eileen and Dorothy, entered the table decoration category, but were unsuccessful).((//The Cumberland Argus and Fruitgrowers Advocate//, 1 May 1901, p.1.)) In 1909, 24 year-old Julius was described as a stockman in the Gulf of Carpentaria and 'a bit of a mug'. The latter was because, on the train down to Sydney, he was fleeced £4 at cards - understandably, he was 'greatly agitated' at the loss - in 2017 values it was around $548, a lot for a young stockman to lose before even arriving in the city.((//The Maitland Daily Mercury//, 8 January 1909, p.6; //National Advocate// 9 January 1909, p.4.)) He gave his address in Sydney as 'Abalar', Darling Point Road, Darling Point.((//Cairns Morning Post//, 1 Feb 1909, p.2.))\\ | Like his brothers Fred and Robert, Julius initially went to school at Bowen House in Brisbane, the preparatory school for Brisbane Grammar.((//The Telegraph// 9 December 1897, p.3.)) While still a schoolboy, he moved with his mother and other siblings to Sydney where they lived in a home called Karlite (or Karlyte) at Gladesville.((//The Maitland Daily Mercury//, 8 January 1909, p.6.)) In 1901, the 17-year-old won two prizes at a Flower Show to raise money for the Anglican church at Gladesville (his sisters, Eileen and Dorothy, entered the table decoration category, but were unsuccessful).((//The Cumberland Argus and Fruitgrowers Advocate//, 1 May 1901, p.1.)) He was listed in the Wise Directory of 1907 and 1908 as a 'farmer' living at [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clifton,_Queensland|Clifton]].((accessed through Ancestry.com.au)) In 1909, 24 year-old Julius was described as a stockman in the Gulf of Carpentaria and 'a bit of a mug'. The latter was because, on the train down to Sydney, he was fleeced £4 at cards - understandably, he was 'greatly agitated' at the loss - in 2017 values it was around $548, a lot for a young stockman to lose before even arriving in the city.((//The Maitland Daily Mercury//, 8 January 1909, p.6; //National Advocate// 9 January 1909, p.4.)) He gave his address in Sydney as 'Abalar', Darling Point Road, Darling Point.((//Cairns Morning Post//, 1 Feb 1909, p.2.))\\ |
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| Sometime after this widely reported incident, he went to the Kimberleys in Western Australia. It was a popular destination for Queensland graziers eager for new land, such as the famed Durack family.((Chris Owen, 'Every mother's son is guilty': policing the Kimberley frontier of Western Australia 1882-1905, Crawley: UWA Publishing, 2016, pp.15,97, 104-05.)) Julius's sister Ruth wrote that he had been a special constable in the north of Western Australia to deal with Aboriginal resistance which took the form of cattle spearing and murder.((M-P papers, NLA MS 7801, Box 4, folder 26.)) In 1911, he was part of an exploring expedition to collect zoological and botanical specimens as well as discovering land that was then unknown to the white settlers. The Expedition initially consisted of three experts: the leader was Perth Museum's zoologist, Charles Conigrave. He was accompanied by Lachlan McKinnon and Roy Collison, both 'zoologists and passionate ornithologists'. Julius and three other bushmen joined the party at Wyndham: the others were two members of the native police known as Killy and Quart-Pot and another white man, Jack Wilson. The Expedition left Wyndham in June 1911; the three leaders returning to Perth in March 1912. Their discovery of land suitable for cattle meant they were feted on their arrival back in Perth, with over 100 newspaper articles published about the expedition. Today as much interest is in their recording of Aboriginal art. The outcomes of the Expedition included giving European names to two rivers and identifying a 'new', at least to the white settlers, form of Indigenous art, that of ground figures.((Michael Rainsbury, //Rock Art Research//, vol 33, no. 1, pp.99-102)) There are two photos of Julius and other members of the exploring expedition held by the National Archives of Australia. Click on [[https://www.slwa.wa.gov.au/images/pd090/090191PD.jpg|Julius second from left back row]] and [[http://www.slwa.wa.gov.au/images/pd090/090190PD.jpg|Julius far left]].\\ | Sometime after this widely reported incident, he went to the Kimberleys in Western Australia. It was a popular destination for Queensland graziers eager for new land, such as the famed Durack family.((Chris Owen, 'Every mother's son is guilty': policing the Kimberley frontier of Western Australia 1882-1905, Crawley: UWA Publishing, 2016, pp.15,97, 104-05.)) Julius's sister Ruth wrote that he had been a special constable in the north of Western Australia to deal with Aboriginal resistance which took the form of cattle spearing and murder.((M-P papers, NLA MS 7801, Box 4, folder 26.)) In 1911, he was part of an exploring expedition to collect zoological and botanical specimens as well as discovering land that was then unknown to the white settlers. The Expedition initially consisted of three experts: the leader was Perth Museum's zoologist, Charles Conigrave. He was accompanied by Lachlan McKinnon and Roy Collison, both 'zoologists and passionate ornithologists'. Julius and three other bushmen joined the party at Wyndham: the others were two members of the native police known as Killy and Quart-Pot and another white man, Jack Wilson. The Expedition left Wyndham in June 1911; the three leaders returning to Perth in March 1912. Their discovery of land suitable for cattle meant they were feted on their arrival back in Perth, with over 100 newspaper articles published about the expedition. Today as much interest is in their recording of Aboriginal art. The outcomes of the Expedition included giving European names to two rivers and identifying a 'new', at least to the white settlers, form of Indigenous art, that of ground figures.((Michael Rainsbury, //Rock Art Research//, vol 33, no. 1, pp.99-102)) There are two photos of Julius and other members of the exploring expedition held by the National Archives of Australia. Click on [[https://www.slwa.wa.gov.au/images/pd090/090191PD.jpg|Julius second from left back row]] and [[http://www.slwa.wa.gov.au/images/pd090/090190PD.jpg|Julius far left]].\\ |
| Little is known about Julius' life immediately after the war. By 1927 he was living at Stanthorpe, perhaps on one of the notoriously inadequate soldier settler blocks there (to check). Calling himself Jules Murray-Prior, he was also trying to find work as a stage and screen 'character' actor: [[https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-557796529/image?WID=1217|click here for his ad]](( see also Everyones, 6:389 (17 August 1927) p.65.))\\ | Little is known about Julius' life immediately after the war. By 1927 he was living at Stanthorpe, perhaps on one of the notoriously inadequate soldier settler blocks there (to check). Calling himself Jules Murray-Prior, he was also trying to find work as a stage and screen 'character' actor: [[https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-557796529/image?WID=1217|click here for his ad]](( see also Everyones, 6:389 (17 August 1927) p.65.))\\ |
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| In 1931 Julius died, aged 47, after shooting himself in the head. Sadly, his end was not quick, as he died in Stanthorpe Hospital.((Queensland death certificate, 1931 C4220)) He was then described as an orchardist at Broadwater, Stanthorpe.((//The Brisbane Courier//, 23 October 1931, p.12 and ?24 October 1931.)) His Australian experiences and army service may provide one explanation for one informant's belief that he was an alcoholic and was often found drunk on his horse outside his home in the early hours of the morning.((Tom M-P, Pers. Comm., 2017, information from person selling the above sketch of Julius. It is as likely that this was a confusion with his step-brother Hervey.)) His domestic and overseas war experiences could also be an explanation for his sad end. So too was the fact that 1931 was near the depth of the Great Depression. As an orchardist, Julius was unlikely to have been able to make a living at this time. It may be a factor too in his not marrying, if he had ever been so inclined, as he probably could not afford to support a wife and any children. \\ | In 1931 Julius died, aged 47, after shooting himself in the head. Sadly, his end was not quick, as he died in Stanthorpe Hospital.((Queensland death certificate, 1931 C4220)) He was then described as an orchardist at Broadwater, Stanthorpe.((//The Brisbane Courier//, 23 October 1931, p.12 and ?24 October 1931.)) His Australian experiences and army service may provide one explanation for one informant's belief that he was an alcoholic and was often found drunk on his horse outside his home in the early hours of the morning.((Tom M-P, Pers. Comm., 2017, information from person selling the above sketch of Julius. It is as likely that this was a confusion with his stepbrother Hervey.)) His domestic and overseas war experiences could also be an explanation for his sad end. So too was the fact that 1931 was near the depth of the Great Depression. As an orchardist, Julius was unlikely to have been able to make a living at this time. It may be a factor too in his not marrying, if he had ever been so inclined, as he probably could not afford to support a wife and any children. \\ |
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| Julius left an estate of £2,492 - around $223,449 in 2017 values.((//The Courier-Mail//, 18 July 1934, p.11.)) In a will made 4 months before he died, Julius left land, presumably his orchard, worth £696 to Miss Mary Myrtle Macdonald, then living in Brisbane. She was also his sole executor of the will.((//The Courier-Mail//, 8 October 1934, p.2.)) Mary (1889-1958) never married.((Qld BDM, 1889/C/6525 & 1958/B/24758))\\ | Julius left an estate of £2,492 - around $223,449 in 2017 values.((//The Courier-Mail//, 18 July 1934, p.11.)) In a will made 4 months before he died, Julius left land, presumably his orchard, worth £696 to Miss Mary Myrtle Macdonald, then living in Brisbane. She was also his sole executor of the will.((//The Courier-Mail//, 8 October 1934, p.2.)) Mary (1889-1958) never married.((Qld BDM, 1889/C/6525 & 1958/B/24758))\\ |
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| Nora apparently suffered 'perineal tears and subsequent haemorrhage' during Julius' birth (( Katie Spearitt, 'The Sexual Economics of Colonial marriage' in Gail Reekie (ed) On the Edge. Women's experiences of Queensland', Univerisity of Queensland Press, 1994, p.71)) but nevertheless, eight months later she conceived again and desperately, despairingly, sought to induce an abortion. With her earlier pregnancies, she had taken care not to miscarry, cancelling travel and postponing dental work.((Nora to Rosa, 9 February 1879, OM 81-71.)) This time was very different. In a much-quoted passage, she wrote to Rosa: '//What will you say to me? How will you manifest your disgust? When I tell you that I am again sick, sorry and expecting ... When it first began I resolved to try heroic remedies - so ... had sixteen teeth taken out - but ... I was much pulled down and very sick after it, but my prospects remain the same. What will become of all my little ones of whom the world stands in no need, how will they find niches & sure foothold for themselves amongst the many struggling ones who are each pushing for themself. There is certainly not room for them all to walk safely - some of them must go to the wall. No mother even bore children into the world with more foreboding than I do...//'((Nora M-P to Rosa Praed, 3 November, 21 December 1884, M-P papers, JOLQ, OM81-71. )) Fortunately for Nora, it was to be her last baby. | Nora apparently suffered 'perineal tears and subsequent haemorrhage' during Julius' birth (( Katie Spearitt, 'The Sexual Economics of Colonial marriage' in Gail Reekie (ed) On the Edge. Women's experiences of Queensland', University of Queensland Press, 1994, p.71)) but nevertheless, eight months later she conceived again and desperately, despairingly, sought to induce an abortion. With her earlier pregnancies, she had taken care not to miscarry, cancelling travel and postponing dental work.((Nora to Rosa, 9 February 1879, OM 81-71.)) This time was very different. In a much-quoted passage, she wrote to Rosa: '//What will you say to me? How will you manifest your disgust? When I tell you that I am again sick, sorry and expecting ... When it first began I resolved to try heroic remedies - so ... had sixteen teeth taken out - but ... I was much pulled down and very sick after it, but my prospects remain the same. What will become of all my little ones of whom the world stands in no need, how will they find niches & sure foothold for themselves amongst the many struggling ones who are each pushing for themself. There is certainly not room for them all to walk safely - some of them must go to the wall. No mother even bore children into the world with more foreboding than I do...//'((Nora M-P to Rosa Praed, 3 November, 21 December 1884, M-P papers, JOLQ, OM81-71. )) Fortunately for Nora, it was to be her last baby. |
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| 8. **Ruth** Angela (27 July 1885-15 August 1961).((Qld Births registration no. B34762; //Sydney Morning Herald//, 16 August 1961.)) She was born and baptised at Kangaroo Point, Brisbane.((Dorothy, Alienora and Ruth was all baptised at the Kangaroo Point Church of England by the Rev. D. A. Court, ‘Questions to be answered by T.L.M-P’, 6pp Memoranda by the Herald Office, Somerset House, London re Burke’s Colonial Gentry.)) As the youngest child, she was seven when her 73-year-old father died. When her mother chose a verse to describe her, probably in the 1890s, it was one from the poet Lowell, 'I know not how others see her/ but to me she is wholly fair.'((M-P family papers, NLA, Box 7, folder 42.)) From shortly before World War I, Ruth lived in England (mostly London) with her mother and her elder sister Dorothy. After Nora died, Ruth and Dorothy returned to Australia in 1931. The sisters spent the rest of their life at 'Drak', 17 Madeline Street, Hunters Hill.\\ | 8. **Ruth** Angela (27 July 1885-15 August 1961).((Qld Births registration no. B34762; //Sydney Morning Herald//, 16 August 1961.)) The birth notice((28 July 1885, Brisbane Courier)) stated that, like her brother Julius, Ruth was born at Ervingstone, presumably a private maternity hospital: 'MURRAY-PRIOR.—On the 27th July, at Ervingstone, South Brisbane, the wife of Thos. L. Murray-Prior, of Maroon, of a daughter'. Dorothy, Alienora and Ruth were all baptised at the Kangaroo Point Church of England by the Rev. D. A. Court.((‘Questions to be answered by T.L.M-P’, 6pp Memoranda by the Herald Office, Somerset House, London re Burke’s Colonial Gentry.)) As the youngest child, Ruth was seven when her 73-year-old father died. When her mother chose a verse to describe her, probably in the 1890s, it was one from the poet Lowell, 'I know not how others see her/ but to me she is wholly fair.'((M-P family papers, NLA, Box 7, folder 42.)) From shortly before World War I, Ruth lived in England (mostly London) with her mother and her elder sister Dorothy. After Nora died, Ruth and Dorothy returned to Australia in 1931. The sisters spent the rest of their life at 'Drak', 17 Madeline Street, Hunters Hill.\\ |
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| In 1903 the 18-year-old Ruth wrote to her 'Dearest Old Mother' saying that she would like to be coached in mathematics, if Nora could afford it.((M-P family papers, NLA MS 7801, folder 22)) If the coaching occurred and was for matriculation, it succeeded as she enrolled in the University of Sydney and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in 1906. Her success meant that for three successive years she, her brother Robert (in 1905) and her sister Dorothy (1904) all graduated from that University with a BA.((//Alunmi Sidneienses//, University of Sydney Archives, accessed 25 October 2003.)) Ruth shared her mother's and her sister Dorothy's intellectual interests: in 1904 all three attended the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science congress in New Zealand.((//Otago Daily Times//, 7 January 1904, p.2; //Evening Star//, 5 January 1904, p.4.))\\ | In 1903 the 18-year-old Ruth wrote to her 'Dearest Old Mother' saying that she would like to be coached in mathematics, if Nora could afford it.((M-P family papers, NLA MS 7801, folder 22)) If the coaching occurred and was for matriculation, it succeeded as she enrolled in the University of Sydney and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in 1906. Her success meant that for three successive years she, her brother Robert (in 1905) and her sister Dorothy (1904) all graduated from that University with a BA.((//Alunmi Sidneienses//, University of Sydney Archives, accessed 25 October 2003.)) Ruth shared her mother's and her sister Dorothy's intellectual interests: in 1904 all three attended the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science congress in New Zealand.((//Otago Daily Times//, 7 January 1904, p.2; //Evening Star//, 5 January 1904, p.4.))\\ |
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| Ruth was the more radical and adventurous of her sisters and, by 1910, she supported women's suffrage and free trade.((M-P family papers, NLA MS 7801, 17/25)) It was Ruth who pressured her mother and sister to travel overseas, to satisfy what she called her 'awful craving for foreign travel'. As it was, Ruth wrote to Rosa Praed in 1910, during the last year they had travelled around 4,000 miles but encountered nothing new: 'always to bump up against the same prosaic, money-making Anglo-Saxon race.'((M-P family papers, NLA MS 7801, folder 25.)) In England during World War I, she supported the war effort. She served with the Young Men's Christian Association in 1914. From around August 1915, she joined the Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD). (([[https://maxandtonybartonww1lettershome.wordpress.com/page/15/|Max letter 22 August 1915]])) In around March 1917, she helped run a YWCA canteen in France.(([[https://maxandtonybartonww1lettershome.wordpress.com/|Max letter 23 March 1917]])) While her loyalty to the British Empire was unquestioned, her experiences inflamed her Australian nationalism - a dual sentiment strongly shared by her mother's family and promoted by her cousin [[http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/paterson-andrew-barton-banjo-7972|Andrew Barton (Banjo) Paterson]] s well as Australian nurses working in British hospitals and clearing stations.((M-P family papers, NLA MS 7801, 17/25; Kirsty Harris, 'Red Rag to a British Bull? Australian Trained Nurses working with British nurses during World war One' in //Exploring the British World: Identity, Cultural Production, Institutions// (eds) Kate Darian-Smith et al, Melbourne RMIT Publishing, 2004.)).((M-P family papers, NLA MS 7801, 17/25)) For more on Ruth's wartime experiences, click on [[Ruth during WWI]].\\ | Ruth was the more radical and adventurous of her sisters and, by 1910, she supported women's suffrage and free trade.((M-P family papers, NLA MS 7801, 17/25)) It was Ruth who pressured her mother and sister to travel overseas, to satisfy what she called her 'awful craving for foreign travel'. As it was, Ruth wrote to Rosa Praed in 1910, during the last year they had travelled around 4,000 miles but encountered nothing new: 'always to bump up against the same prosaic, money-making Anglo-Saxon race.'((M-P family papers, NLA MS 7801, folder 25.)) Later, Ruth's brother Robert swore that the purpose was to increase his sisters' employment prospects: 'My said sisters are both graduates of the Sydney University and the main idea of the visit abroad was to enable them to become more proficient in the French German and Italian languages so that they would be in a more favourable position to teach on their return to New South Wales'.((R.S. M-P, Statutory Declaration, Probate for Nora Clarina M-P, NRS-13340-1-[20/1582]-Pre A60823))\\ |
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| | In England during World War I, she supported the war effort. She served with the Young Men's Christian Association in 1914. From around August 1915, she joined the Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD). (([[https://maxandtonybartonww1lettershome.wordpress.com/page/15/|Max letter 22 August 1915]])) In around March 1917, she helped run a YWCA canteen in France.(([[https://maxandtonybartonww1lettershome.wordpress.com/|Max letter 23 March 1917]])) While her loyalty to the British Empire was unquestioned, her experiences inflamed her Australian nationalism - a dual sentiment strongly shared by her mother's family and promoted by her cousin [[http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/paterson-andrew-barton-banjo-7972|Andrew Barton (Banjo) Paterson]] s well as Australian nurses working in British hospitals and clearing stations.((M-P family papers, NLA MS 7801, 17/25; Kirsty Harris, 'Red Rag to a British Bull? Australian Trained Nurses working with British nurses during World war One' in //Exploring the British World: Identity, Cultural Production, Institutions// (eds) Kate Darian-Smith et al, Melbourne RMIT Publishing, 2004.)).((M-P family papers, NLA MS 7801, 17/25)) For more on Ruth's wartime experiences, click on [[Ruth during WWI]].\\ |
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| Ruth had ambitions to write and was encouraged by Rosa to put her literary talent 'to profitable account'.((M-P family papers, NLA, Box 1, folder 2, Rosa to Ruth, 20 April 1914)). However, Ruth found Rosa's criticisms dispiriting; she wrote that she was mortified not to see the defects before and will not try again to write a book.((M-P papers, NLA MS 7801, Box 4, folder 25.)) Her talent is evident in a light-hearted romantic short story she wrote with Rose Jardine((Possibly no relation to her step-sister Lizzie's family.)) called 'The Morse Code'. It was published in June 1910 in the prominent literary magazine [[wp>The_Lone_Hand_(magazine)|Lone Hand]] - it can be viewed at [[https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-404151580/image?WID=1205|The Morse Code]]. She had a close friendship with New Zealand writer Edith Lyttleton, who wrote under the pen-name of G.B. Lancaster. While they had both published in the //Lone Hand//, their friendship began in London during 1913.((Ruth to 'Miles Franklin', letter 12 August 1945,in Miles Franklin papers, vol 39, SL MLMSS364/58)) They bonded over literature, but another common factor was that they both sacrificed a great deal of their life to look after their mother. Lyttleton's ironic comment that she and Ruth should stop being so unselfish and 'Do Something that will keep us busy with remorse for the rest of our days' was impossible for either to contemplate seriously.((Terry Sturm, //An Unsettled Spirit. The Life & Frontier Fiction of Edith Lyttleton (G.B. Lancaster)//, Auckland University Press, 2003, pp.231,268.)) | Ruth had ambitions to write and was encouraged by Rosa to put her literary talent 'to profitable account'.((M-P family papers, NLA, Box 1, folder 2, Rosa to Ruth, 20 April 1914)). However, Ruth found Rosa's criticisms dispiriting; she wrote that she was mortified not to see the defects before and will not try again to write a book.((M-P papers, NLA MS 7801, Box 4, folder 25.)) Her talent is evident in a light-hearted romantic short story she wrote with Rose Jardine((Possibly no relation to her step-sister Lizzie's family.)) called 'The Morse Code'. It was published in June 1910 in the prominent literary magazine [[wp>The_Lone_Hand_(magazine)|Lone Hand]] - it can be viewed at [[https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-404151580/image?WID=1205|The Morse Code]]. She had a close friendship with New Zealand writer Edith Lyttleton, who wrote under the pen-name of G.B. Lancaster. While they had both published in the //Lone Hand//, their friendship began in London during 1913.((Ruth to 'Miles Franklin', letter 12 August 1945,in Miles Franklin papers, vol 39, SL MLMSS364/58)) They bonded over literature, but another common factor was that they both sacrificed a great deal of their life to look after their mother. Lyttleton's ironic comment that she and Ruth should stop being so unselfish and 'Do Something that will keep us busy with remorse for the rest of our days' was impossible for either to contemplate seriously.((Terry Sturm, //An Unsettled Spirit. The Life & Frontier Fiction of Edith Lyttleton (G.B. Lancaster)//, Auckland University Press, 2003, pp.231,268.)) |