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| nora_m-p [2021/03/17 13:08] – judith | nora_m-p [2023/11/09 10:03] (current) – [Visit to Europe, 1885-89] judith |
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| All photos, unless otherwise stated, are from Nora's photo album.((Provenance: J. Godden.))\\ | All photos, unless otherwise stated, are from Nora's photo album.((Provenance: J. Godden.))\\ |
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| In 1872, a little over four years after Matilda died, the widowed TLM-P married again. His second wife was Nora Clarina Barton (3 December 1846-12 May 1931).((She was baptised on 10 February 1847 according to Emily Mary Barton's family bible, Jeremy Long to J. Godden 6 May 1993. Nora's baptismal sponsors, according to the same source, were her uncle and aunt Nathaniel and Honoria Barton, and her father's cousin Lady Clarina (nee Susan Elizabeth Barton 1819-86, daughter of Hugh Barton who managed the family's Bordeaux wineries. Susan Barton married a distant cousin Eyre Massy who succeeded to the Irish title of [[wp>Baron_Clarina|Baron Clarina]] in 1810.)) Her step-daughter Rosa Praed described Nora as tall and placid,((Helen Woolcock et al, '"My beloved chloroform': Attitudes to Childbearing in Colonial Queensland', Social History of Medicine Journal,p.440)) but her correspondence suggests that, while ultimately pragmatic, there was a great deal of introspection and emotional turmoil behind her calm surface.\\ | On 18 December 1872, a little over four years after Matilda died, the widowed TLM-P married again.((//Sydney Morning Herald//, 19 December 1872)) His second wife was Nora Clarina Barton (3 December 1846-12 May 1931).((She was baptised on 10 February 1847 according to Emily Mary Barton's family bible, Jeremy Long to J. Godden 6 May 1993. Nora's baptismal sponsors, according to the same source, were her uncle and aunt Nathaniel and Honoria Barton, and her father's cousin Lady Clarina (nee Susan Elizabeth Barton 1819-86, daughter of Hugh Barton who managed the family's Bordeaux wineries. Susan Barton married a distant cousin Eyre Massy who succeeded to the Irish title of [[wp>Baron_Clarina|Baron Clarina]] in 1810.)) Her step-daughter Rosa Praed described Nora as tall and placid,((Helen Woolcock et al, '"My beloved chloroform': Attitudes to Childbearing in Colonial Queensland', Social History of Medicine Journal,p.440)) but her correspondence suggests that, while ultimately pragmatic, there was a great deal of introspection and emotional turmoil behind her calm surface.\\ |
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| It was common for colonial widowers to remarry within five years of their first wife's death, and to marry younger single women.((Peter McDonald and Patricia Quiggin, 'Lifecourse transitions in Victoria in the 1880s', //Families in Colonial Australia// ed. P. Grimshaw, C. McConville and Ellen McEwen, Sydney: George Allen & Unwin, 1985, pp.74-75.)) But in this case, the age difference was at the extremes. Nora was 27 years younger than her husband and only two years older than her eldest step-son, Thomas de M. M-P. It was not an easy relationship for any of the family to manage, but it appears to have worked. Part of Nora's success as a step-mother was that, as evidenced by her writings, she consistently showed concern for all the family and not just her own children. She also forged a strong friendship with TLM-P's eldest daughter Rosa Praed, helped by them navigating motherhood together. Nora's ability to adapt to new circumstances was boosted by her having had a much less sheltered life than most middle-class women in the Victorian age. She had trained as a Sister Probationer at Sydney Infirmary (see below) and from early 1866 to late 1868 had visited her relatives in England.((TLM-P, Diary, 21 August 1882, ML. Her mother gave her a bible to take with her, inscribed 'Nora C. Barton with her Mother's Farewell Blessings February 25 1866 XIII Heb. 20 & 21 v.' That biblical text exhorted her to retain her confidence in her faith. Nora added her own prayer, 'For what we are going to receive the Lord make us truly happy. For what we have received the Lord make us truly happy'. Provenance: J. Godden. Confirmation of her trip also comes from a 14 February 1876 letter from her brother Charlie, saying that he was thinking of 'taking a run to England soon' and asking for 'the benefit of your experiences in the old country' as well as letters of introduction 'to the right sort'. Information from Jeremy Long, letter to J. Godden, 6 May 1993; She was one of the signatories of a letter thanking the captain of their ship [[wp>La_Hogue_(1855)|La Hogue]] for a safe journey from London to Sydney, published in //The Sydney Morning Herald//, 6 November 1868, p.4.))\\ | It was common for colonial widowers to remarry within five years of their first wife's death, and to marry younger single women.((Peter McDonald and Patricia Quiggin, 'Lifecourse transitions in Victoria in the 1880s', //Families in Colonial Australia// ed. P. Grimshaw, C. McConville and Ellen McEwen, Sydney: George Allen & Unwin, 1985, pp.74-75.)) But in this case, the age difference was at the extremes. Nora was 27 years younger than her husband and only two years older than her eldest step-son, Thomas de M. M-P. It was not an easy relationship for any of the family to manage, but it appears to have worked. Part of Nora's success as a step-mother was that, as evidenced by her writings, she consistently showed concern for all the family and not just her own children. She also forged a strong friendship with TLM-P's eldest daughter Rosa Praed, helped by them navigating motherhood together. Nora's ability to adapt to new circumstances was boosted by her having had a much less sheltered life than most middle-class women in the Victorian age. She had trained as a Sister Probationer at Sydney Infirmary (see below) and from early 1866 to late 1868 had visited her relatives in England.((TLM-P, Diary, 21 August 1882, ML. Her mother gave her a bible to take with her, inscribed 'Nora C. Barton with her Mother's Farewell Blessings February 25 1866 XIII Heb. 20 & 21 v.' That biblical text exhorted her to retain her confidence in her faith. Nora added her own prayer, 'For what we are going to receive the Lord make us truly happy. For what we have received the Lord make us truly happy'. Provenance: J. Godden. Confirmation of her trip also comes from a 14 February 1876 letter from her brother Charlie, saying that he was thinking of 'taking a run to England soon' and asking for 'the benefit of your experiences in the old country' as well as letters of introduction 'to the right sort'. Information from Jeremy Long, letter to J. Godden, 6 May 1993; She was one of the signatories of a letter thanking the captain of their ship [[wp>La_Hogue_(1855)|La Hogue]] for a safe journey from London to Sydney, published in //The Sydney Morning Herald//, 6 November 1868, p.4.))\\ |
| Like Matilda, Nora had numerous family connections in Queensland - which probably explains how she and TLM-P met. The likelihood of their meeting was enhanced by Queensland's small European population: at the time of their marriage there were just under 72,000 living there.((Vamplew, Wray (ed.), //Australians. Historical Statistics//, Sydney: Fairfax, Syme & Weldon Associates, 1987, p.27)) Perhaps the most important for Nora was her younger sister Georgiana (Georgie) who also married a Queenslander, in a double wedding with Nora and TLM-P. Georgie's husband was Henry Martin, a cashier in the Queensland railways who, after their marriage, worked in Rockhampton.((TLM-P, Diary, 5 July 1882, ML.)) He resigned c.1880-81 to move to England, with a shadow over his reputation when shortly after his departure from Queensland, he could not account for cheques totalling £740 (worth around $115,012 in 2017 values). For more, click on [[Martins]] when TLM-P visited them in [[tlm-p_s_diaries|1882]].((Introduction, Praed papers, JOLQ, p.5; Nora M-P letters, 1880, JOLQ)) \\ | Like Matilda, Nora had numerous family connections in Queensland - which probably explains how she and TLM-P met. The likelihood of their meeting was enhanced by Queensland's small European population: at the time of their marriage there were just under 72,000 living there.((Vamplew, Wray (ed.), //Australians. Historical Statistics//, Sydney: Fairfax, Syme & Weldon Associates, 1987, p.27)) Perhaps the most important for Nora was her younger sister Georgiana (Georgie) who also married a Queenslander, in a double wedding with Nora and TLM-P. Georgie's husband was Henry Martin, a cashier in the Queensland railways who, after their marriage, worked in Rockhampton.((TLM-P, Diary, 5 July 1882, ML.)) He resigned c.1880-81 to move to England, with a shadow over his reputation when shortly after his departure from Queensland, he could not account for cheques totalling £740 (worth around $115,012 in 2017 values). For more, click on [[Martins]] when TLM-P visited them in [[tlm-p_s_diaries|1882]].((Introduction, Praed papers, JOLQ, p.5; Nora M-P letters, 1880, JOLQ)) \\ |
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| Other relatives of Nora's in Queensland included her uncle, Frederick Orme Darvall. He and his wife Deborah had moved to Queensland by 1860 after he had been appointed that Colony's Registrar-General. In 1867 he was appointed Auditor-General, serving in that position for 10 years. He also held various other positions, including Registrar of the Supreme Court in 1859 and Visiting Justice to Brisbane Gaol and Lunatic Asylum in 1861-62. In 1911, their daughter Frederica married Francis Bell, and the couple lived on the Bell family property //Coochin Coochin//, which bordered on to TLM-P's property //Maroon//.((Norman Pixle, 'The Bells and "Coochin Coochin". An historic Queensland Family', //Journal of the Royal Historical Society of Queensland//, VIII:4, 1968-69, p.624.)) It is a further sign of the closely connected 'squatter' society of the day, that Frederick Darvall's home (Nunnington, named after his father's home in Yorkshire) in Brisbane was bought in c.1877, by Matilda M-P's brother-in-law, William Barker.((F.Lord, //The Queenslander//, 13 February 1930, p.50.))\\ | Other relatives of Nora's in Queensland included her uncle, Frederick Orme Darvall. He and his wife Deborah had moved to Queensland by 1860 after he had been appointed that Colony's Registrar-General. In 1867 Fred Darvall was appointed Auditor-General, serving in that position for 10 years. He also held various other positions, including Registrar of the Supreme Court in 1859 and Visiting Justice to Brisbane Gaol and Lunatic Asylum in 1861-62. He and TLM-P were both members of the Council of the Queensland Acclimatisation Society in the early 1860s.((//The Brisbane Courier//, 14 May 1863, p.2.)) In 1911, their daughter Frederica married Francis Bell, and the couple lived on the Bell family property //Coochin Coochin//, which bordered on to TLM-P's property //Maroon//.((Norman Pixle, 'The Bells and "Coochin Coochin". An historic Queensland Family', //Journal of the Royal Historical Society of Queensland//, VIII:4, 1968-69, p.624.)) It is a further sign of the closely connected 'squatter' society of the day, that Frederick Darvall's home (Nunnington, named after his father's home in Yorkshire) in Brisbane was bought in c.1877, by Matilda M-P's brother-in-law, William Barker.((F.Lord, //The Queenslander//, 13 February 1930, p.50.))\\ |
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| Both the children of Jane Darvall, the second wife of Nora's grandfather Edward Darvall, lived in Queensland (Nora and TLMP's age difference was nothing compared to Edward and Jane's 52 years difference! Again the marriage appears to have been a success). One was Anthony Darvall who was appointed by TLM-P in his 1892 will as one of his trustees. Anthony had lived in Queensland for some time as he married Kate Wilson there in 1869; he was the manager of the Joint Stock Bank in Ipswich.((Philippa Garnsey, Family of Anthony Griffin and his wife Jane, email to J.Godden, 5 July 2018; Kevin Shaw (ed) //Historic Ryde: a guide to some significant heritage sites in the city of Ryde//, Ryde District Historical Society, 2002, p.102.)) The second was Sarah Ann (Annie) Darvall who married William Tully, later Queensland's Surveyor-General and Secretary of Lands. When Annie died in childbirth, Nora's grief was compounded by fears that she too would meet that fate.((M-P family papers, NLA, MS 7801, Box 7, folder 42 and Box 4, folder 20, letter of TLM-P to Nora M-P, 31 March 1875.)) It is interesting that the families were so close despite the censorious times. Nora had to know that both her step-cousins were born before their parents married. \\ | Both the children of Jane Darvall, the second wife of Nora's grandfather Edward Darvall, lived in Queensland (Nora and TLMP's age difference was nothing compared to Edward and Jane's 52 years difference! Again the marriage appears to have been a success). One was Anthony Darvall who was appointed by TLM-P in his 1892 will as one of his trustees. Anthony had lived in Queensland for some time as he married Kate Wilson there in 1869; he was the manager of the Joint Stock Bank in Ipswich.((Philippa Garnsey, Family of Anthony Griffin and his wife Jane, email to J.Godden, 5 July 2018; Kevin Shaw (ed) //Historic Ryde: a guide to some significant heritage sites in the city of Ryde//, Ryde District Historical Society, 2002, p.102.)) The second was Sarah Ann (Annie) Darvall who married William Tully, later Queensland's Surveyor-General and Secretary of Lands.((for photo of Annie, see Andrew Darbyshire, A Fair Slice of St Lucia. Thomas Lodge Murray-Prior, St Lucia History Group research paper no. 8, p.73.)) When Annie died in childbirth, Nora's grief was compounded by fears that she too would meet that fate.((M-P family papers, NLA, MS 7801, Box 7, folder 42 and Box 4, folder 20, letter of TLM-P to Nora M-P, 31 March 1875.)) It is interesting that the families were so close despite the censorious times. Nora had to know that both her step-cousins were born before their parents married. \\ |
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| Nora may have had another family link to TLM-P: possibly her uncle (later Sir) [[http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/darvall-sir-john-bayley-3370|John Darvall]] had been educated by the [[tlm-p_s_childhood|Rev. William Drury]], as had TLM-P.((The //Australian Dictionary of Biography// states that John Darvall was educated at Eton, but Isobel Hannah claimed that he was educated by Drury, Isobel Hannah, 'The Royal Descent of the First Postmaster-General of Queensland', //Queensland Geographical Journal//, vol. LV, 1953-54, p.11. Possibly both statements are correct.))\\ | Nora may have had another family link to TLM-P: possibly her uncle (later Sir) [[http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/darvall-sir-john-bayley-3370|John Darvall]] had been educated by the [[tlm-p_s_childhood|Rev. William Drury]], as had TLM-P.((The //Australian Dictionary of Biography// states that John Darvall was educated at Eton, but Isobel Hannah claimed that he was educated by Drury, Isobel Hannah, 'The Royal Descent of the First Postmaster-General of Queensland', //Queensland Geographical Journal//, vol. LV, 1953-54, p.11. Possibly both statements are correct.))\\ |
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| {{:nora_cm-p.jpg?250|}} Her Superintendent of Nursing (Matron) at Sydney Hospital, {{http://purl.library.usyd.edu.au/sup/1920898395|Lucy Osburn}}, wrote in 1873 thanking 'Sister Nora' for sending her photo: from the description, it was this one.((It is wrongly identified as TLM-P's mother Eliza Skynner M-P by State Library of Queensland.))\\ | {{:nora_cm-p.jpg?250|}} Her Superintendent of Nursing/Matron at Sydney Hospital, {{https://sydneyuniversitypress.com.au/products/78882|Lucy Osburn}}, wrote in 1873 thanking 'Sister Nora' for sending her photo: from the description, it was this one.((It is wrongly identified as TLM-P's mother Eliza Skynner M-P by State Library of Queensland.))\\ |
| TLM-P at the time of his second marriage: {{:tlmp_hairy.jpg?250|}}\\ | TLM-P at the time of his second marriage: {{:tlmp_hairy.jpg?250|}}\\ |
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| On her mother's side, Nora came from a line of independently minded women who were, like Matilda Harpur, intellectually and artistically inclined. Her sister Emily Susan Paterson was an especially gifted artist who exhibited prominently.((Judith Godden,//The Matriarch of Rockend: Emily Mary Barton, more than Banjo Paterson’s grandmother//, Ryde History Series No.13, Ryde District Historical Society, 2021.[[http://www.rydehistory.org.au/our-published-works/]])) As a trained nursing Sister, Nora had more options than most women, and apparently weighed up marrying TLM-P against going to India (perhaps as a missionary nurse, like her mentor Lucy Osburn had originally planned for herself?).((TLM-P, Diary 17 July 1882, ML)) Amongst Nora's books there is a bible in German given to her father in 1836. Her German was good enough for her to inherit it in 1865 and write in it in German.((Provenance: J. Godden.)) She also shared Matilda's literary bent with her papers including manuscript versions of poems, including 'Australia', a patriotic poem sent to her by the then well-known Queensland poet, [[http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/evans-george-essex-6121|George Evans Essex.]]((M-P family papers, NLA, Box 7, folder 42.)) Her 'commonplace' notebook, written when she was a Sister at Sydney Infirmary, is full of poems and hymns largely by the romantic poets of her day plus, Colin Roderick suggests, some of her own. It also includes some sketches, including a beautiful - but incomplete - one of a bird.((M-P family papers, NLA MS 7801, folder 24.)) It is significant that Rosa Praed, when commending her step-sister Ruth's literary talent, supposed that Ruth had inherited her talent from Nora.((M-P family papers, NLA, Box 1, folder 2, Rosa to Ruth, 20 April 1914.))\\ | On her mother's side, Nora came from a line of independently minded women who were, like Matilda Harpur, intellectually and artistically inclined. Her sister Emily Susan Paterson was an especially gifted artist who exhibited prominently.((Judith Godden,//The Matriarch of Rockend: Emily Mary Barton, more than Banjo Paterson’s grandmother//, Ryde History Series No.13, Ryde District Historical Society, 2021.[[http://www.rydehistory.org.au/our-published-works/]])) As a trained nursing Sister, Nora had more options than most women, and apparently weighed up marrying TLM-P against going to India (perhaps as a missionary nurse, like her mentor Lucy Osburn had originally planned for herself?).((TLM-P, Diary 17 July 1882, ML)) Amongst Nora's books there is a bible in German given to her father in 1836. Her German was good enough for her to inherit it in 1865 and write in it in German.((Provenance: J. Godden.)) She also shared Matilda's literary bent with her papers including manuscript versions of poems, including 'Australia', a patriotic poem sent to her by the then well-known Queensland poet, [[http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/evans-george-essex-6121|George Evans Essex.]]((M-P family papers, NLA, Box 7, folder 42.)) Her 'commonplace' notebook, written when she was a Sister at Sydney Infirmary, is full of poems and hymns largely by the romantic poets of her day plus, Colin Roderick suggests, some of her own. It also includes some sketches, including a beautiful - but incomplete - one of a bird.((M-P family papers, NLA MS 7801, folder 24.)) It is significant that Rosa Praed, when commending her step-sister Ruth's literary talent, supposed that Ruth had inherited her talent from Nora.((M-P family papers, NLA, Box 1, folder 2, Rosa to Ruth, 20 April 1914.))\\ |
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| For more about Nora's career as one of the first Sisters at Sydney Hospital to be trained under Lucy Osburn in the Nightingale system of nursing, click __ BROKEN-LINK:[[https://www.jstor.org/stable/27516774?Search=yes&resultItemClick=true&searchText=Godden&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery%3DGodden%26amp%3Bfilter%3Djid%253A10.2307%252Fj50000201&refreqid=search%3Ab77a43dc599eeda3f1a6bc97368ec5ea&seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents|Judith Godden, “‘Be good sweet maid’: Sister Probationer Nora Barton at the Sydney Infirmary, 1869-72’, Labour History, 80, 2001, pp.141-56.]]LINK-BROKEN__ | For more about Nora's career as one of the first Sisters at Sydney Hospital to be trained under {{https://sydneyuniversitypress.com.au/products/78882|Lucy Osburn}} in the Nightingale system of nursing, click __ BROKEN-LINK:LINK-BROKEN__ |
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| ===== Nora and TLM-P's Children ===== | ===== Nora and TLM-P's Children ===== |
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| **For more details of these children and their descendents, click on the sidebar entry.** \\ | **For more details of these children and their descendants, click on the sidebar entry.** \\ |
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| ==== Visit to Europe, 1885-89 ==== | ==== Visit to Europe, 1885-89 ==== |
| On 1 December 1885, TLM-P, Nora, Lizzie Jardine, Maggie M-P with her little son Hervey, Meta, Dorothea, Alienora, Julius and his nursemaid, all departed for London on the steamship //Quetta//.((//The Queenslander//, 5 December 1885, p.909.)) She stayed in England and Europe until late 1889, with quite some time spent in Switzerland.\\ | On 1 December 1885, TLM-P, Nora, Lizzie Jardine, Maggie M-P with her little son Hervey, Meta, Dorothea, Alienora, Robert, Julius and his nursemaid, all departed for London on the steamship //Quetta//.((//The Queenslander//, 5 December 1885, p.909.)) {{:to_london_1885_screenshot_2023-11-09_095613.jpg?200|}} Nora and her children stayed overseas until late 1889, with quite some time spent in Switzerland.\\ |
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| The following three Swiss scenes were likely to have been bought as souvenirs when Nora lived in Switzerland. The first is of a famous waterfall seen on the way to Jungfrau.((Provenance: Glenn M-P and A. Federer))\\ | The following three Swiss scenes were likely to have been bought as souvenirs when Nora lived in Switzerland. The first is of a famous waterfall seen on the way to Jungfrau.((Provenance: Glenn M-P and A. Federer))\\ |
| {{:watefall_on_way_up_to_jungfrau.jpg?300|}} {{:dscn3776.jpg?300|}} {{:dscn3783.jpg?300|}}\\ | {{:watefall_on_way_up_to_jungfrau.jpg?300|}} {{:dscn3776.jpg?300|}} {{:dscn3783.jpg?300|}}\\ |
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| | In August 1889, Nora heard that TLM-P was ill and wrote back saying that she had advertised the lease on the apartment they were living in at Lausanne, sold their furniture and was planning to return to Australia asap.TLM-P wanted to travel to England to meet up with Nora and help her with her return trip home, but his doctors advised against it. Instead he sent £500 to her for expenses. Nora, 7 unnamed members of her family, and an unnamed governess and servant arrived in Sydney on the //Oceana// on 21 February 1890. Nora and just three of her children, governess and nurse (all unnamed) left Sydney for Brisbane on the //Maranoa// on 3 March.((Andrew Darbyshire, A Fair Slice of St Lucia. Thomas Lodge Murray-Prior, St Lucia History Group research paper no. 8, p.69, 73n; //Sydney Morning Herald//, 21 February 1890, p.4 and 3 March 1890, p.6.)) |
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| ==== Widowhood, Travel and Old Age ==== | ==== Widowhood, Travel and Old Age ==== |
| Nora was widowed in 1892, when she was 46 years old. She was to survive her husband for almost 39 years, but never remarried. At some date, probably in the 1890s while mourning in her early widowhood, Nora chose lines from poetry to describe family members. Those she chose for TLM-P were from Tennyson: 'Whatever record leaps to light/ He never shall be shamed.' For herself, she chose two extracts, both suggesting she was grieving for TLM-P. The saddest quote she chose was from Longfellow: 'My thoughts still cling to the mould'ring past/ but the hopes of youth full thick in the blast/ And the days are dark and dreary.'((M-P papers, NLA MS 7801, Box 7, folder 42.))\\ | Nora was widowed in 1892, when she was 46 years old. She was to survive her husband for almost 39 years, but never remarried. At some date, probably in the 1890s while mourning in her early widowhood, Nora chose lines from poetry to describe family members. Those she chose for TLM-P were from Tennyson: 'Whatever record leaps to light/ He never shall be shamed.' For herself, she chose two extracts, both suggesting she was grieving for TLM-P. The saddest quote she chose was from Longfellow: 'My thoughts still cling to the mould'ring past/ but the hopes of youth full thick in the blast/ And the days are dark and dreary.'((M-P papers, NLA MS 7801, Box 7, folder 42.))\\ |
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| Under the terms of her husband's will and codicil, Nora could remain in their Brisbane home Whytecliffe and also a recently furnished cottage in Sandgate, a coastal suburb of Brisbane. She was to have at least £500 p.a. to meet the cost of any of her under-age children living with her.((TLM-P, Last will and testament, 1892, copy belonging to J. Godden)) In 1904 her trustees wrote to her that her income from TLM-P's estate had declined by 20 per cent, so that she received £123.12.0 [a month? quarterly?] (in 2017 values around $18,719)((M-P papers, NLA MS 7801, 12/94.)) \\ | Under the terms of her husband's will and codicil, Nora could remain in their Brisbane home Whytecliffe and also a recently furnished cottage in Sandgate, a coastal suburb of Brisbane. She was to have at least £500 p.a. to meet the cost of any of her under-age children living with her.((TLM-P, Last will and testament, 1892, copy belonging to J. Godden)) In 1904 her trustees wrote to her that her income from TLM-P's estate had declined by 20 per cent, so that she received £123.12.0 [presumably a month, but possibly a quarter?] (in 2017 values around $18,719)((M-P papers, NLA MS 7801, 12/94.)) \\ |
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| Despite the provision in her husband's will that she could stay in their Queensland homes, Nora moved to Sydney. Perhaps she wanted to be closer to her mother and other family; perhaps Whytecliff with its 22 rooms was too big for her.((F.Lord in //The Queenslander//, 11 September 1930, p.7.)) Nora's two single daughters, Dorothy and Ruth, and younger sons Robert and Julius, went with her. They returned to the Gladesville area, close to where Nora's widowed mother Emily Mary Barton lived.((Judith Godden, The matriarch of //Rockend//: Emily Mary Barton, more than Banjo Paterson's grandmother, Sydney: Ryde District Historical Society, 2020.)) Nora and her daughters were close, and Nora was an explicitly loving mother. A letter to her 'dearest daughters', for example, ended with 'dear love to you both, I am ever darlings, Your loving Mother Nora C. Murray-Prior.'((M-P papers, NLA, MS 7801, Box 4?, folder 23.)) From at least 1901-04, Nora, her two daughters and her son Julius, lived at 'Karlite' (also spelt Karlyte), a house on what is now Victoria Road, Gladesville. It is possible that she was renting from Gerald Herring who at one stage owned 'Karlite'.((Paul Davies P/L, //The Gladesville Shops. Heritage Assessment and Conservation Guidelines//, Draft, 2004, Appendix A, __ BROKEN-LINK:[[http://www.huntershill.nsw.gov.au/files/Joint_Planning_Studies_Undertaken_for_the_Gladesville_Commercial_Area.pdf]]LINK-BROKEN__)) Four years later, her second youngest son Robert married Gerald's daughter. From Karlite, Nora and her daughters moved to Hunters Hill, renting a beautiful two-story stone home,'Oatlands' at 10 Ferry Street.((M-P papers, NLA, MS 7801, Box 7, folders 42, 23 and 12/94; Hunters Hill Trust, //A Glimpse of Hunters Hill// at [[http://huntershilltrust.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Glimpse-of-HH-32-items-Woolwich-Rd-Wybalena-Rd-Ferry-St.pdf]].))\\ | Despite the provision in her husband's will that she could stay in their Queensland homes, Nora moved to Sydney. Perhaps she wanted to be closer to her mother and other family; perhaps Whytecliff with its 22 rooms was too big for her.((F.Lord in //The Queenslander//, 11 September 1930, p.7.)) Nora's two single daughters, Dorothy and Ruth, and younger sons Robert and Julius, went with her. They returned to the Gladesville area, close to where Nora's widowed mother Emily Mary Barton lived.((Judith Godden, The matriarch of //Rockend//: Emily Mary Barton, more than Banjo Paterson's grandmother, Sydney: Ryde District Historical Society, 2020.)) Nora and her daughters were close, and Nora was an explicitly loving mother. A letter to her 'dearest daughters', for example, ended with 'dear love to you both, I am ever darlings, Your loving Mother Nora C. Murray-Prior.'((M-P papers, NLA, MS 7801, Box 4?, folder 23.)) From at least November 1900 to 1904, Nora, her two single daughters Dorothy and Ruth, and her son Julius, lived at 'Karlite' (also spelt Karlyte), a house on what is now Victoria Road, Gladesville. It is possible that she was renting from Gerald Herring who at one stage owned 'Karlite'.((Paul Davies P/L, //The Gladesville Shops. Heritage Assessment and Conservation Guidelines//, Draft, 2004, Appendix A)) Four years later, her second youngest son Robert married Gerald's daughter. From 'Karlite', by June 1904 Nora and her daughters rented a beautiful, sprawling sandstone home,'Oatlands' at 10 Ferry Street, Hunters Hill.((M-P papers, NLA, MS 7801, Box 7, folders 42, 23 and 12/94; Hunters Hill Trust, //A Glimpse of Hunters Hill// at [[http://huntershilltrust.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Glimpse-of-HH-32-items-Woolwich-Rd-Wybalena-Rd-Ferry-St.pdf]].)){{:20230611_154421.jpg?300|}} {{:20230611_155436.jpg?300|Oatlands in June 2023}} 'Oatlands' in June 2023\\ |
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| Some time later, at Ruth's insistent urging, they travelled to Europe. Ruth acknowledged that they would have to live quietly and cheaply and 'chase the climate as we do here.'((M-P papers, NLA MS 7801, Box 4, folder 25.)) By January 1913, they were in Rome with Mabel M-P (see sidebar, Mabel was Nora's step-grand-daughter) and all learning Italian. Over a year later, in April 1914, Nora and her daughters were in [[wp>Heidelberg|Heidelberg]], Germany. That city was, Ruth wrote, 'a dream of loveliness', but it would only be three months before the Kaiser swept it, and most of the world, into war.((M-P papers, NLA MS 7801, Box 4, folder 25.))\\ | Some time later, at Ruth's insistent urging, they travelled to Europe. Ruth acknowledged that they would have to live quietly and cheaply and 'chase the climate as we do here.'((M-P papers, NLA MS 7801, Box 4, folder 25.)) By January 1913, they were in Rome with Mabel M-P (see sidebar, Mabel was Nora's step-grand-daughter) and all learning Italian. Over a year later, in April 1914, Nora and her daughters were in [[wp>Heidelberg|Heidelberg]], Germany. That city was, Ruth wrote, 'a dream of loveliness', but it would only be three months before the Kaiser swept it, and most of the world, into war.((M-P papers, NLA MS 7801, Box 4, folder 25.))\\ |
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| With the outbreak of World War I, they lived in England in various private hotels and rented places; Nora was to live in London (by 1919, in Highgate) for the rest of her life. It appears that by 1918, when the war ended, she was considered too ill to travel. In 1915, Dorothy described her mother in terms that suggested she was an invalid: we 'just had Mother tucked up' in bed when there were bomb explosions: when they put up the blind in Nora's bedroom they saw one of the dreaded [[wp>Zeppelin|Zeppelins]] glide past. 'Mother', Dorothy wrote, ' was as calm as a cucumber - just lay in bed watching the Zeppelin.'((M-P papers, NLA MS 7801, Box 4, folder 26.)) \\ | With the outbreak of World War I, they lived in England in various private hotels and rented places; Nora was to live in London (by 1919, in Highgate) for the rest of her life. In 1928, a letter from Rosa Praed gives their address as 3 Gresley Road, off Whitehall park, Highgate. N London.((Andrew Darbyshire, A Fair Slice of St Lucia. Thomas Lodge Murray-Prior, St Lucia History Group research paper no. 8, p.81)) It appears that by 1918, when the war ended, she was considered too ill to travel. In 1915, Dorothy described her mother in terms that suggested she was an invalid: we 'just had Mother tucked up' in bed when there were bomb explosions: when they put up the blind in Nora's bedroom they saw one of the dreaded [[wp>Zeppelin|Zeppelins]] glide past. 'Mother', Dorothy wrote, ' was as calm as a cucumber - just lay in bed watching the Zeppelin.'((M-P papers, NLA MS 7801, Box 4, folder 26.)) \\ |
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| During the war, probably for the first time in her life, Nora lived - at least for a time - without help from a servant. Nevertheless, she contributed to the war effort by billeting soldiers in her home, and helped to support them in other ways.((M-P papers, NLA MS 7801, Box 1, folder 2.)) Ruth wrote to Rosie Praed that the men didn't talk much about their experiences except for one man fresh from Flanders and visiting with his wife and children - he told Nora about the women and children maimed and killed, 'His eyes looked mad almost & he clutched at his own child as he spoke in such a wild way ...'.((M-P papers, NLA MS 7801, Box 4, folder 26.)) \\ | During the war, probably for the first time in her life, Nora lived - at least for a time - without help from a servant. Nevertheless, she contributed to the war effort by billeting soldiers in her home, and helped to support them in other ways.((M-P papers, NLA MS 7801, Box 1, folder 2.)) Ruth wrote to Rosie Praed that the men didn't talk much about their experiences except for one man fresh from Flanders and visiting with his wife and children - he told Nora about the women and children maimed and killed, 'His eyes looked mad almost & he clutched at his own child as he spoke in such a wild way ...'.((M-P papers, NLA MS 7801, Box 4, folder 26.)) \\ |