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Extracts
from Notes by Rachel Rose Freeman TYLER
{On Her
side of the Family}
Betty Lesley
(nee Witts) Tyler- Born Wyong 13.7.1912, Married John Freeman Tyler-
August 1942 at the Anglican Church, Mosman (it may be called St.
Clement's).
The Tyler
Family, originally from England, were
early settlers and pastoralists in South
Australia. Large
holdings in the more remote areas. John William Tyler was one of the
early Squatting Kings of NNE of Port Augusta. He is understood to
have been the first South Australian pastoralist to import machinery
from United
States of
America
for boring for water. He visited California
to see the plant at work and order machinery. By means of this he
secured good water supplies on most of his stations, thus providing
an almost incalculable asset wherever water was struck.
John's
parents were: Mother- Mabel (nee Freeman) Tyler. (The
Freeman in my Dad's and his children's names, was after Stephen
Freeman, a very early Surveyor in the colony of NSW) My Dad's Father
was named John C. S. Tyler also (unsure of middle name, also
mother's middle name). John C. S. Tyler (Sen') helped form the
constabulary in Fiji,
where My Dad was born on 10.12.1907. His mother died of TB when he
was only 3 years old and he was sent to his mothers sister Maud (nee
Freeman) Morrice Who at this time was a Widow- at Moss Vale. She had
2 daughters older than Dad named Miriam and
Sylvia.
Stephen John
Tyler - married Robin
Ramsay in Moss Vale NSW
Their
Children:
Benjamin Myles
TYLER b. in
Bowral NSW
Samuel Ian TYLER
(Known as Samuel Ian Carroll) b. in Bowral NSW
Stephen
re-married: to Sandra Gai Taylor
Elisabeth
Lesley Freeman Tyler- born 18.3.1945 and died of meningitis four
months later. She was Buried Besides Her Grand Mother Mabel Kate, in
the Old
Berrima Cemetery,
Later Grandfather was Buried on the other side of his "Dear Wife" as
he requested
Rachel
Rose Freeman (nee Tyler)
Morse - married Christopher Michael Morse, His mother- Nancy Joan
(nee Quartly) Morse- 2.2.1916. Chris' father, Henry Tourle Morse
14.8.1914
Our
children:
Simon John
Morse- . Married Shelli (nee Butcher)
Peter Michael
Morse
Katherine Heather Morse
I had heard
many times that the de Witt Family were French Huguenots (A
French Calvinist of the 16th or 17th centuries), and that
Grandfather’s family dropped the “de” from de Witt in
England, and
sailed to Australia from
Yorkshire UK.
Aunty Nan thought that Cornelius de Witt Family was part of our
ancestors
I also Asked
Aunty Nan and Mum about their history
when they were here together- and wrote it
down
Recollections of
the life and family of Mabel Kate Witts (nee
Herring)
Mabel Kate was
the eldest child of Lesley and Kate Herring.
She remembered
her little brother Guy as a dear little toddler with beautiful
auburn hair, playing on the beach with her, before his death from
teething.
She lived at “Rondebosc”
Hunters Hill and then at “Sheen” Beecroft a little bush town. For
her education, she had Governesses. As she grew into her twenties,
she lived apart from the family in the converted Groom’s quarters
above the stables, with her maid Ivy. She and Ivy were firm friends
and spent a lot of time together, going for walks etc. She was
rather a spoilt daughter (only one) grown up and did not always see
eye to eye with her father
She went on a sea voyage
with an elderly lady, Mrs Harrison, no doubt a friend of the family,
stopping off at the New Hebridies, where she met Maurice Miles Witts
and a friendship was formed.
She stayed with Rev. Dr
McKenzie and family, a medical missionary, for some time until
returning to Australia
to organise her marriage. She returned to the New Hebridies for
there Wedding performed by Rev Dr. McKenzie. Early in their
marriage, their first baby was still born (a daughter). Dr McKenzie
was away at Synod at the island of Tanna, so Maurice had to assist
his wife as best he could, but was unable to start her breathing, it
was a terrible blow for them.
Their Second Daughter Helen
Kate was also born in the new Hebridies, Mabel once asked a native
chief if he had ever eaten “man” and gazing at plump little Helen in
Mabel’s arms replied “Yes, plenty man”! A rather disconcerting thing
to be told.
Maurice had a coconut
plantation and we are told coconuts bear after 7 years. The
plantation was just becoming of commercial value when Mabel in
particular and Maurice to a lesser extent, found the recurring
Malaria so severe, that they had to leave the New Hebridies and
return to Australia.
In those days there was little help medically for malaria. Mabel
returned to Australia
with Helen in the ship “Lakemba”.
The cargo on the
ship listed badly to one side in the stormy seas, and they only just
limped in to Sydney
Harbour.
Maurice returned to
Australia
later on, although he was unable to sell the plantation for very
much. With very little behind him, he bought a dairy farm at Wyong,
where Betty and Nancy were born. It was while here that Betty aged
only 2 years had her tonsils removed on the kitchen table by an old
doctor cousin of Mabel’s ... She lived to tell the tale.
Unfortunately her tonsils grew back and were removed permanently
later on. Maurice had a nice horse called Comet (after Haley’s
Comet) Who he rode and put in the sulky.
It was after Mabel’s
fathers’ death, that she was advised by doctors to live in a cooler
climate, to stimulate her children’s ailing appetites. The dairy was
sold and ‘Willow Grange’ at Moss Vale, a rambling but charming home
of some size set on 8 acres, was bought, (Both Maurice and Mabel
resided here until there deaths).
The little girls Helen,
Betty aged 6 and Nancy remember seeing soldiers on the trains
returning home from the 1st world war and them wearing
masks to prevent contact with the Killer influenza epidemic which
wiped out more people than had been killed in the war. They were
called by their dad to the gate at ‘ Willow Grange’ to see German
“Prisoners of War” marching from Berrima Goal to Moss Vale railway
station, on their first leg home to Germany-
after the end of the “World War One”.
Mabel was a very home-loving
and family orientated, and lived a quite life occasionally visiting
her brothers at Batlow (who were all orchardists there after trying
orcharding at Beecroft and cousins at Sydney, when
she caught up with old friends from Beecroft days. Cousin Hilder
Dampney (nee Henning) (Mabel’s mother was a tucker, whose sister had
married Baldolf Henning) and was one of these friends married to
Gerald Dampney. Mabel told her daughters of all the interesting
history of close and extended family, that the Dampneys could trace
their ancestry to William the Conqueror.
Mabel was a Christian,
particularly as she grew older and had fine moral values and was
‘old fashioned’ for her time. A very loving mother and a ministering
angle to her children when sick, she was however a dominant
personality and tried to live her daughter’s lives. Examples such as
not allowing her daughters to sit exams. (Betty would have received
the English prize in her final year at Sceggs Moss Vale, if allowed)
She did not want or allow them to train for careers etc.
Mabel loved animals and had
beloved dogs, and in her childhood had her own creamy pony named
Daisy. The girls had ponies, dogs and cats whom they loved dearly.
Ponies named Blackberry, Dolly, and Bally. Cats named Even so,
Longfellow and of course Nip, Aunty Nan’s beloved Sydney
silky. Mabel drove a pony carriage, seldom letting her husband drive
and later a Buick car, obtaining her drivers licence in her early
60’s. She would not allow Maurice to have an outside job or drive
the car, even though he obtained a drivers licence. However she was
very kind to neighbours in need and those who were ill. She was very
brave facing her untimely death from cancer, making arrangements
herself with the undertaker.
Her very real faith, which
she shared with her family, was an inspiration to all whose lives
she touched. During this time of illness Nancy, her
youngest daughter and still unmarried, cared and nursed her mother
selflessly, as well as being of great comfort to her old
father.
Maurice Myles
Witts (Mabel Kate’s Husband)
Maurice was the
13th surviving child (12 sons, 2 daughters to Sara (nee
Tivvy) and Alfred Edward Witts. They were pioneers in the Monaro
district, living at the sheep property “Rosemount” at Ando via
Cooma. He attended school 7 miles away for his young schooling
(primary) and like his brothers, attended Sydney Grammar School,
where in his final year, he attained deputy Dux overall, and won the
maths prize. His two sisters became Red Cross nurses in “World War
One”.
In his childhood days he and
his family had their own musical evenings with each member of the
family playing some instruments. Maurice played the mouth organ.
They had their own cricket team and were all tall- Maurice being 6
feet. His father died before the last baby was born (Charlie) His
mother then had the daunting task of bringing up her large family.
She used to drive a four in hand of horses. The family had very nice
courteous manners- a credit to their mother. Bon Kendall (nee
herring) used to Call Maurice ‘her favourite uncle’ when she visited
‘Willow Grange’ when her girls were at school at Annesley, Bowral,
and was always fond of him as those who knew him
were.
After leaving school,
Maurice worked in Fiji
with C.S.R. before enlisting for the Boer War, were he rose to the
rank of Captain with the light horse (not
called that in the Boer war). He was their Journalist. He rode a
beautiful “Whaler” mare
named Ruby, who at the end of the war was sold to a Boar
Farmer!
After the war finished, his
position with C.S.R. was no longer kept open for him, so with his
cousins Arthur and Theo Thomas set out for the New Hebridies where
they started a coconut plantation. One cousin Arthur Thomas died of
fever. Life was primitive in those far off days and the natives not
always friendly. Maurice and his cousin Theo had to move their beds
around in their house as often a spear would be thrust through the
walls at night. Later on Maurice had his own
plantation.
As time went by on both
Mabel and Maurice Had a good relationship with the natives of the
New Hebridies. Mabel had a helper in the house- a young married
woman with her own baby much the same age as Helen. She carefully
copied how Mabel cared for her baby, - bathing, feeding etc and
learned quickly the new ways of her mistress. She was a friend to
Mabel who was often lonely for her old friends and family in Sydney-
particularly her dear mother. Like wise Maurice had native men in
his employ whom he got along well with, I can remember a
Presbyterian missionary family- (a married couple with children)
visiting us at ‘Willow Grange’ bringing news of the old men, back to
my Grandfather. One particular man ‘David’ seemed to have been a
good friend sent his regards. Maurice would have been in his 70’s at
the time. Maurice never returned to the New Hebridies although he
would have loved to, but instead in his usual unselfish fashion gave
what little money he had to those who needed
help.
Maurice used to return to
“Rosemount” to help Charlie and family with the shearing etc. He
also visited brother Sam who managed ‘Llanillo’ at Walgett. The
family had a holiday cottage at Corimal called “Thalasa”. Which in
Greek means ‘by the sea’, here the family holidayed- sometimes
Maurice alone or Mabel and the girls. Maurice had a house cow, which
kept him tied to the place.
Maurice was a loving father
to his girls but did not have an easy home life as many of his
aspirations were vetoed by Mabel. He was very interested in politics
and the old National party wanted him to stand for pre-selection but
Mabel would not allow this. Despite the friction Mabel and Maurice
were “in love” with each other and had ‘good times’ as well as ‘bad’
in the see-saw of married life.
Maurice grew sweeter with age
(I can only remember this side of him) and with his failing sight,
was almost blind when he passed away at the age of 89. He too had a
good Christian faith.
The Witts family were originally de Witt- French Huguenots
Protestants in a predominately Roman Catholic country- who were
persecuted to the extent that those who could, fled the
country.
John de Witt (Old ancestor of the Witts
family) fled to Holland and practically managed the
affairs of Holland
between 1650 and 1672. An account of this time is published in “The
Story of the Nations” by James E. Thorold Rogers, published in 1886.
Eventually the remnants of the family escaped to England
after John and his brother Cornelius were assassinated. From
Yorkshire came the family, who
later were pioneers in the Monaro district.
It was from “Cornelius” side
where the family connection came from. Aunty Nan told me
this.
When these interesting
details came to light, Mabel and Maurice too perhaps were keen to
include “de Witt in their youngest daughter’s name, so Nancy was
saddled with – Nancy Mabel de Witt Witts -?
The Hassall
Family
Eric James-
Husband of Nancy Mabel Witts- was one of the very early families to
settle in the Colony of NSW. They have this Month (May 1989) had
their Bi- Centennial Family Re union Held over 3 days at Camden NSW.
Many of the old Hassall; graves can be found at Cobbity NSW.. Rev
Hassall married Rev Samuel Marsden’s daughter, She started the first
Sunday school in NSW. He was known as “The Galloping Parson” whose
parish was so large that he had to gallop to get to different
destinations for the church services! As an example, it was from the
parish of Cobbity that he would take service at Sutton Forest NSW.
Many other clergy and missionaries in following generations have
kept the Hassall name linked with the church. One of Eric’s aunts
was a missionary in India
for many years.
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updated 2006 modified
13/6/2013 |