Wife & Child Deserters – SA

SOUTH AUSTRALIAN FAMILIES LEFT DESTITUTE BY HUSBANDS GOING TO THE VICTORIAN GOLD DIGGINGS, 1855

Copied from the Victoria Police Gazette, 31 August 1855.

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[Details given: Name, Age, Address, No. of children, Name of ship, Remarks]

ASHLEY, -. 32, Grenfell St., 4, Olivia, husband absent c10 mths.

BENNETT, -, 42, Franklin St., 4, Indian, absent c1 yr, never sent any money.

BENSON, Margaret, 39, Logan St., 4, Chatham, absent c16 mths.

BERTRAM, -, 23, Irish Town, 4, John Casar, left when he had been a few weeks in colony, left no money behind.

BLOCKWICK, -, 27, Dry Creek, 2, Canton, husband absent c2 yrs.

BONES, Martha, 32, Elizabeth St., -, Duke of Wellington, left soon after arrival.

BROADBENT, M.A., 21, Para, 1, Elgin, went to diggings with threat never to return to family.

BURGESS, Elizabeth, 21, Wright St., 2, Merope, absent c2 yrs, sent £20 about 12 mths since.

BUTTLE, -, 40, Kermode St., 6, Navarino, away 3 yrs, never heard of him since.

CAINS, – 27, Bent St, 3, Trafalgar, away c3 yrs.

CLARK, -, 27, Grey St., -, James Fernie, away c9 mths.

COLLEY, Mary, 37, Brompton, 8, Duchess Northumberland, away c12 mths, sent £13.

CONOLAN, – 27, Myrtle St., 2, Catherine, went away 12 mths ago, took all their money and left her destitute.

DARLING, Rosa, 30, Near Windmill, North Rd., 5, [not given] away a year, received £23m now destitute.

DAVIES, Ann, 20, Sturt St., 2, Elgin, away c12 mths

DAVIS, Catherine, [not given] Hindmarsh, 5, Emerald Isle, is a Welshman, left a few weeks after arrival, sent letter in June, but no money.

DAW, Susanna, 30, Bowden, 4, Winchester, away c2 yrs; sent £10 14 mths ago.

DOWLING, Rose, 30, Pulteney St., 5, Trafalgar, away, received 7 July 2^nd.

EY, Henrietta, [not given] Norwood, 4, [not given], absent.

FORTUNE, Margaret, 22, Weymouth St, 1, Trafalgar, away c15 mths.

GAIL, M.A., 23, Robert St., 1, Clipper, left at Diggings, came to Adelaide seeking him, has since heard that he has returned there.

GODFREY, Ann, 35, John St., [not given] Mount Stuart, away c16 mths.

GOODMAN, -, 28, Nailsworth, 4, Mount Mitchell, away 2yrs, not heard for 10 mths.

HAMMOND, Mary, 25, Philip St., 2, Caroline, left 3 yrs since.

HANLEY, -,[not given] Brown St., 3, [not given], in Melbourne, supposed insane.

HARRIDON, -, 37, Field St., 4, Sir Edward Parry, away c6 mths

HESLOP, -, 50, Kermode St., 6, Epaminondas,away c2 yrs.

HONDRICKSON, -, 45, Ackland St [not given] D’Auvergne, away c3 yrs, sent nothing for 2 yrs.

HOWELL, -, 30, Blyth’s Buildings, Hindley St, 4, Lysander, away c20 mths.

HUTCHINS, -, 35, Field St., 8, Macedon, away c15 mths.

JAFFORD/KAFFORD – See SAFFORD

KEARNES, Julia, 27, North St., 1, Epaminondas, away c2 yrs.

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LAMBLEY, -, 35, Thebarton, 5, Jos. Cripps, away c2 yrs.

McKENZIE, -, 31, Grey St., 1, James Fernie, away c2 yrs, sent £20 in all.

McKENZIE, -, 31, Bentham St., 5, Sea Queen, away over 2yrs, sent £20.

McNEILL, -, [not given] Destitute Asylum, 3, James Fernie, left them at Gilles’s Plains.

MAIR, Margaret, 53, Dover Castle, 3, Circassian, husband, 2 sons away 2 yrs, sent 5 ozs of gold.

MEALEY, Elizabeth, 58, Sturt St., 3, Lord Raglan, [not given]

MELANY, -, 27, Currie St., 3, Princess Royal, away c12 mths.

MILLER, -, 35, Elizabeth St., 2, Navarino, away c12 mths.

MURNAHAN, -, 40, Weymouth St., 4, Osceola, away over 12 mths.

NAUGHTON, -, 32, Maryattville, 2, Phoebe, away c14 mths.

NORMAN, -, 19 Hindmarsh, 3, Navarino, away 12 mths.

PAGE, Jane, 37, Jerningham St., 3, Ramilies, away c2 yrs.

PETTY, -, 28, Rundle St., 4, Princess Royal, away 2 yrs.

PHILLIPS, Mary, 38, Hindmarsh, 3, Marion, left on arrival in Colony.

PRICE, Margaret, 29, Hindmarsh, 3, Lady McDonald, away since landing.

RAYNER, Mary, 38, Logan St., 2, Chatham, away c12 mths.

ROBINS, -, 25, Rundle St., 4, Brightman, away c5 mths.

ROSENTHAL, -, 28, Stepney, 2, [not given], away c18 mths.

SAFFORD, -, 21, Rosina St., 2, Charlotte Jane, away c 3yrs. [out of alphabetical order in original list, name may be JAFFORD or KAFFORD]

SAUNDERS, Esther, 37, Thebarton, 2, Constance, away c14 mths

SEARLE, Margaret, 40, Cox’s Creek, 8, Prince George, eldest boy away with father.

STAPLE, Jane, 31, Thebarton, 2, Belle Alliance, away c18 mths

STOBB, -, 30, Freeman St., 2, [not given] away c20 mths.

STONE, Emily, 24, Solomon St., 1, Flora, left soon after arriving in Colony.

STRATFORD, Hannah, 30, North Adelaide, 5, Birman, absent since May 1852.

TANKIN [TONKIN?], -, 25, Destitute Asylum, – Standard, away 8 mths.

TRAINER, Esther, 35, Irish Town, 3, [not given] away about a year.

WEAR, Mary, 30, Morphett Vale, 5, Waterloo, away more than 2 yrs.

WEBBER, -, 32, Bowden, 3, Immigrant, away c18 mths.

WEBBER, M.A., 28, Sturt St., -, Telegraph, away c2 mths.

YOUNG, Margaret, [not given] Franklin St., 6, Lord Goderich, left c2 yrs since.

‘Extract from the Report of the Destitute Board of South Australia: The Board reluctantly grant relief in these cases; and in order to check the evil, the enclosed return is given in detail. They consider it desirable to publish it in the local papers of Victoria, with a statement that, if the husbands do not either return or make provision for their families by the 1^st of October next, the Government will withdraw all future support.’

[Notice published at the request of the South Australian Government. The Victorian Colonial Secretary’s Office requested that the Notice be displayed at post offices, police stations, court houses and other public places.]

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