Marion Agnes Hughan (above) was daughter number three for Robert and Hannah Hughan. She was born in Ipswich, Suffolk, on Sunday, November 5th, 1824.
Her father, Robert Hughan, made several attempts to establish himself as a tea merchant in Suffolk and Essex, but failure drove the family to London where Hannah and her elder daughters kept the family financially afloat by taking in needlework.
Whilst living in London two life-changing events happened to the Hughan family- the death of husband and father Robert Hughan, and the conviction and subsequent transportation of son Robert Hughan to Australia for the theft of a watch. Malvina, the eldest Hughan child, had also died in 1848, so it must have seemed to mother Hannah that her close-knit family was unravelling. The decision was made to emigrate to Australia themselves- daughter Laura went to Melbourne in the ship 'Tasman' in 1849, and convict Robert Hughan was sent to Moreton Bay on the Mount Stuart Elphinstone in the same year. The following year- 1850- Hannah followed with her three remaining daughters as part of Sir Sidney Herbert's Needlewomen Scheme, with Hannah acting as Matron to the first shipment of girls to be sent to Victoria from London.
In 1850, at the age of twenty five years, Marion Hughan boarded the ship ‘Culloden’ with her mother, sisters Jessie and Bertha, and 38 other women between the ages of 17 and 36, to voyage to Australia. Hughan brothers Fergus and Allan also emigrated around the same time, but by what means is unknown. Eldest brother Oscar had travelled to America and Canada prior to his family leaving London, and found his way to Australia in 1853.
Her father, Robert Hughan, made several attempts to establish himself as a tea merchant in Suffolk and Essex, but failure drove the family to London where Hannah and her elder daughters kept the family financially afloat by taking in needlework.
Whilst living in London two life-changing events happened to the Hughan family- the death of husband and father Robert Hughan, and the conviction and subsequent transportation of son Robert Hughan to Australia for the theft of a watch. Malvina, the eldest Hughan child, had also died in 1848, so it must have seemed to mother Hannah that her close-knit family was unravelling. The decision was made to emigrate to Australia themselves- daughter Laura went to Melbourne in the ship 'Tasman' in 1849, and convict Robert Hughan was sent to Moreton Bay on the Mount Stuart Elphinstone in the same year. The following year- 1850- Hannah followed with her three remaining daughters as part of Sir Sidney Herbert's Needlewomen Scheme, with Hannah acting as Matron to the first shipment of girls to be sent to Victoria from London.
In 1850, at the age of twenty five years, Marion Hughan boarded the ship ‘Culloden’ with her mother, sisters Jessie and Bertha, and 38 other women between the ages of 17 and 36, to voyage to Australia. Hughan brothers Fergus and Allan also emigrated around the same time, but by what means is unknown. Eldest brother Oscar had travelled to America and Canada prior to his family leaving London, and found his way to Australia in 1853.
Two years after their arrival, Marion married a fellow Englishman, Henry Aulert Edmiston. Henry had emigrated to Victoria in 1849 on the ship ‘Tasman’, which also carried his future sister-in-law, Laura Hughan. Marion and Henry were married in the Presbyterian Church, Melbourne, in 1852.
At the time of his marriage to Marion Hughan, Henry Edmiston was a storekeeper at Kyneton, who in partnership with a man named Fentum kept the gold miners of the district supplied with essentials, as well as providing a safe location at which they could sell their gold. On his arrival in Melbourne, Henry had been appointed to act as the Shipping and Commercial reporter for the Argus newspaper from May 15, 1850. The Argus soon recorded that on September 4, 1850, Mr Henry Edmiston had been appointed as Agent to the Argus for the district of Mount Macedon. On September 18, 1850, the Argus carried the following advertisement heralding the opening of Fentum and Edmiston:
On November 9, 1850, Daniel Bunce had a letter to the Editor published in the Argus, part of which read:
" At Kyneton we spent one night, and were not a little astonished at the improvements made at this little township, which can already boast of three stores. The one later built by Messrs Fentum and Edmiston would be a credit to a place established as many years as this has been months."
Above: From the Argus, October 31, 1851
At the time of his marriage to Marion Hughan, Henry Edmiston was a storekeeper at Kyneton, who in partnership with a man named Fentum kept the gold miners of the district supplied with essentials, as well as providing a safe location at which they could sell their gold. On his arrival in Melbourne, Henry had been appointed to act as the Shipping and Commercial reporter for the Argus newspaper from May 15, 1850. The Argus soon recorded that on September 4, 1850, Mr Henry Edmiston had been appointed as Agent to the Argus for the district of Mount Macedon. On September 18, 1850, the Argus carried the following advertisement heralding the opening of Fentum and Edmiston:
On November 9, 1850, Daniel Bunce had a letter to the Editor published in the Argus, part of which read:
" At Kyneton we spent one night, and were not a little astonished at the improvements made at this little township, which can already boast of three stores. The one later built by Messrs Fentum and Edmiston would be a credit to a place established as many years as this has been months."
The above advertisement advises Fentum & Edmiston's willingness to supply all miners with the essentials needed to head to the newly discovered Mount Alexander diggings.
Another report, penned from the Mount Alexander diggings on November 3, 1851, stated :
"Since Saturday morning, the scene has greatly changed- then a tent would be seen here and there, but now they are becoming inconveniently crowded, and the confounded bull and mastiff dogs chained to tents and drays compel one to have the eyes of an Argus, to escape feeling their teeth. On Saturday, dozens were arriving at a time; on Sunday hundreds; Monday and Tuesday one continuous line of new arrivals. Your Melbourne departures are but trifling compared to the arrivals from Ballarat and the surrounding country. Kyneton has but two men in it, and Mr Edmiston has allowed his carter to supply the deserted females of that village with water, otherwise they must go without."
The Goulburn Herald of November 15, 1851, reported from the Mount Alexander diggings "About the centre of this canvass village stand the stores of Messrs Fentum and Edmiston, Mr Hamilton and Mr Tucker. The former appears to be supplied with every necessary article, and at very moderate rates, when carriage is taken into consideration, and if they continue as they have begun, they will have no cause to regret the accommodation they give the diggers."
On December 17, 1851, the Sydney Morning Herald reported: " Robberies are becoming rather fashionable of late....Messrs Fentum and Edmiston's store was attempted, but owing to a watch being kept, they did not succeed."
In January of 1852, the Sydney Morning Herald reported that "Messrs Fentum and Edmiston are about opening an hotel at Kyneton"....it is not known whether Fentum went on to build the hotel himself, because his partnership with Henry Edmiston came to an end later that year in April.
In March of 1852 the community of Mount Alexander/ Forrest Creek was up in arms about their settlement being dealt with severely by officials who were fining storekeepers and others for not having a licence. Fentum and Edmiston were fined 25 pounds - a very substantial amount for those times- for five men in their employ.
For whatever reason, Henry Edmiston and Fentum decided to go their separate ways, with Henry heading for the Geelong district, and Fentum continuing with the goldfield stores.
Above: April 2, 1852, Argus.
Henry remained in the store keeping business, opening a shop in Mercer Street, Geelong.
On 28 December, 1853, at Geelong, Claude Herbert Edmiston, aged about 8 ½ months, died of pneumonia, 4 days illness, certified by Dr. Spark, M.D. Buried 28 December, 1853, Geelong.
It must have seemed to Hannah Hughan that she would never have a grandchild…she had already lost her granddaughter Malvina Paton and then in 1853 daughters Laura and Marion both lost their baby sons.
In 1856, Marion’s brother Fergus McIvor Hughan published a small volume of poetry which included a poem titled “On Claude’s Recovery From A Severe Illness”:
I stood and beheld thee, Claude,
Pining and lowly,
And thought thou wert leaving us,
Surely, but slowly.
On thy pale marble brow
Suff’ring was seen;
And I thought of thee, sweet one,
And what thou had’st been.
Friends gathered round thee, love,
Weeping in sorrow,
Wrapping their sad heart In dread of the morrow;
And silently, solemnly,
Night shadows twined,
And the stars came and went,
Yet they left thee behind.
Then thy fond mother came, pet,
And sat by thy side,
And she kissed thee, and called thee
Her darling,- her pride;
And her hands touched the keys*
When thine eyes, before dim,
Beamed brightly again
At the music-breathed hymn.
Then I prayed, ‘Claudie,” darling,
The angels to bring
A robe of protection
Around thee to fling;
On the wings of the morning
I heard them pass by,
So I knew thou wert better,
And wept with deep joy.
Come, smile again, baby mine,
Prattle and say,
Can thou hear the sweet tones
Of the harps, far away?
Or, do the angelic forms,
Breathe in thine ear,
“Thou shalt stay with thy mother,
And we will be near?”
*The child being almost unconscious, the effect of music was tried, with the result recorded above.”
In 1854 a baby daughter arrived – Ada Josephine Edmiston. She was born at Ashby near Geelong on May 12, and was followed two years later by a sister, Claudine Malvina, who was born at Pitfield on September 20, 1856.
Things appear to have been going swimmingly for several years after Marion moved with her husband to Geelong...at least on certificates concerning their children Henry was able to record his occupation as "Gentleman" rather than common old "storekeeper". Something happened to make Henry decided on a career change, however, because the following two advertisements began appearing in the Geelong Advertiser in June of 1856:
One has only to read the descriptions of the household furniture for sale from the Edmiston home to realise the scale of opulence that they had been living in...for example, their bed was described as a " massive elaborately finished four post bedstead with richly carved posts, heavy cornice, rings, hangings etc." I get the feeling that financial problems were behind the move and the dispersal of Henry's business and home...why else would you sell absolutely all of your family belongings rather than transport them to your new residence? Even kitchen utensils were being sold... it appears that the Edmistons were leaving Geelong with very little of their possessions.
An advertisement from April 2, 1855, in the Geelong newspaper reads: "EGGS- from the finest breed of Cochin-Chin fowls, always on sale, by Henry A Edmiston, Mercer Street, Ashby."
The advertisement which described the Edmiston belongings for sale also stated that Mr Edmiston was "leaving town for the interior". His movements for the remainder of the 1850s are uncertain, apart from a period as an inn keeper in Pitfield in 1856, but the next record of Henry describes him as " Henry A Edmiston, of Melbourne", and was a notification of his insolvency in June of 1859.
Above: The Argus, Friday, May 27, 1859.
Above: Argus, June 8, 1859.
The family was residing at Brighton near Melbourne when Amy Beauclerk Edmiston was born on January 30, 1861, but had moved to New Zealand by the time daughter number four burst onto the scene in 1865. Known all of her life as ‘Blanche’, Bertha Blanche Edmiston was born on February 6, 1865.
Last child – who was also the long-waited for son – was Leonard Allan Edmiston. He was born in New Zealand on May 25 1867.
I don’t know what Henry’s occupation was in New Zealand. The family is mentioned in two letters written in the 1860’s by Joseph Bishop, the uncle of the man who would marry Bertha Hughan in 1865. The first letter was written to Bertha herself, and the much older Joseph flirted with her like a teenager, and sweetly asks:
“ Have you heard from Mrs. Edmiston lately? She has written me once only since I left N.Z. I hear Mr. Edmiston will lose his appointment with Nebb (?? Hard to decipher) P___ Co. on account of their failure, and I cannot imagine where in Dunedin he can procure another one.”
-Joseph Bishop, May 20, 1862.
Find another position he must have done, because their final two children were both born in New Zealand.
The second letter was written to his nephew Henry Bishop in 1862, just after Henry had announced his intention to marry Bertha. Joseph blasted the members of Bertha’s family – with the exception of her sister Jessie McCallum and Bertha herself – and the Edmistons didn’t escape his scathing remarks:-
“ …Then there is Edmiston, his wife, and three children that will always and forever
be an expense and trouble to Mrs McCallum, and perhaps to you.”
-Joseph Bishop, August 6, 1862.
When the Edmiston family returned to Australia from New Zealand, they settled at Ballarat. On November 4, 1869, the Ballarat Star newspaper published a report from the Ballarat Benevolent Asylum which mentioned receiving correspondence from Mr H A Edmiston, of Gordons, in regard to a case of distress at Gordons.
Only five years after the birth of their final child, Marion Edmiston was left a widow... at the age of 47 years, Henry Aulert Edmiston, native of London, England, and son of Charles and Ann Edmiston, died at Ballarat East on 23 February, 1872. The cause of his death was dysentery, and he had been ill for 12 days before succumbing to the disease. Details on his death certificate, which were given by Fergus McIvor Hughan, brother-in-law, journalist, Melbourne, included the following:
Born London, 22 years in Victoria. Occupation: clerk. Married in Melbourne aged 27 to Marion Agnes Hughan. Issue: Ada 18 years; Claudine 15; Blanche 7; and Leonard 4 ½.
Marion Hughan raised her children alone without remarrying, and lived a long life before passing away 38 years after her husband. The electoral roles of 1903 and 1909 reveal that she spent her later years in Hamilton, Victoria, living with her daughter Claudine. In 1903 their address was Skene Street, and in 1909 it was Martin Street. In both years her occupation, and that of Claudine, was ‘home duties’. Marion died at a house in Thompson Street, Hamilton, Victoria, on June 1, 1910.
The details on her death certificate were as follows:
‘ June 1, 1910, at Thompson Street, Hamilton, Marion Agnes Edmiston, 84 years old, of senile decay and exhaustion. She had suffered with the condition for three years, and her physician, Dr. James B. Hayes, had last attended her on May 20th, 1910.
Marion’s parents were Robert Hughan and Hannah Hughan, formerly Oakley. The informant on the certificate was an undertaker (name illegible) who was acting as an authorised agent.
Marion was buried on June 3, 1910, at the Ballarat West Cemetery, by undertaker Hugh Loughlin.
She had been born In Ipswich, England, and lived in the state of Victoria for 60 years. Marion married in Melbourne at the age of 25, to Henry Edmiston. Issue of their marriage were Claude; Ada 55; Claudine 54; Amy 49; Blanche 45 and Leonard 43.’
Marion’s children, particularly her daughters, kept in touch with their cousins, and my great-grandmother, Olive Bishop, visited with the Edmiston sisters often. Because of this, we know a little of their lives:
Ada Josephine Edmiston:
In 1886, at the age of 32, Ada married Albert James Hodgkinson. Their marriage notice was published in The Argus on Wednesday 5 May 1886, and read:
“ Have you heard from Mrs. Edmiston lately? She has written me once only since I left N.Z. I hear Mr. Edmiston will lose his appointment with Nebb (?? Hard to decipher) P___ Co. on account of their failure, and I cannot imagine where in Dunedin he can procure another one.”
-Joseph Bishop, May 20, 1862.
Find another position he must have done, because their final two children were both born in New Zealand.
The second letter was written to his nephew Henry Bishop in 1862, just after Henry had announced his intention to marry Bertha. Joseph blasted the members of Bertha’s family – with the exception of her sister Jessie McCallum and Bertha herself – and the Edmistons didn’t escape his scathing remarks:-
“ …Then there is Edmiston, his wife, and three children that will always and forever
be an expense and trouble to Mrs McCallum, and perhaps to you.”
-Joseph Bishop, August 6, 1862.
When the Edmiston family returned to Australia from New Zealand, they settled at Ballarat. On November 4, 1869, the Ballarat Star newspaper published a report from the Ballarat Benevolent Asylum which mentioned receiving correspondence from Mr H A Edmiston, of Gordons, in regard to a case of distress at Gordons.
Only five years after the birth of their final child, Marion Edmiston was left a widow... at the age of 47 years, Henry Aulert Edmiston, native of London, England, and son of Charles and Ann Edmiston, died at Ballarat East on 23 February, 1872. The cause of his death was dysentery, and he had been ill for 12 days before succumbing to the disease. Details on his death certificate, which were given by Fergus McIvor Hughan, brother-in-law, journalist, Melbourne, included the following:
Born London, 22 years in Victoria. Occupation: clerk. Married in Melbourne aged 27 to Marion Agnes Hughan. Issue: Ada 18 years; Claudine 15; Blanche 7; and Leonard 4 ½.
Marion Hughan raised her children alone without remarrying, and lived a long life before passing away 38 years after her husband. The electoral roles of 1903 and 1909 reveal that she spent her later years in Hamilton, Victoria, living with her daughter Claudine. In 1903 their address was Skene Street, and in 1909 it was Martin Street. In both years her occupation, and that of Claudine, was ‘home duties’. Marion died at a house in Thompson Street, Hamilton, Victoria, on June 1, 1910.
The details on her death certificate were as follows:
‘ June 1, 1910, at Thompson Street, Hamilton, Marion Agnes Edmiston, 84 years old, of senile decay and exhaustion. She had suffered with the condition for three years, and her physician, Dr. James B. Hayes, had last attended her on May 20th, 1910.
Marion’s parents were Robert Hughan and Hannah Hughan, formerly Oakley. The informant on the certificate was an undertaker (name illegible) who was acting as an authorised agent.
Marion was buried on June 3, 1910, at the Ballarat West Cemetery, by undertaker Hugh Loughlin.
She had been born In Ipswich, England, and lived in the state of Victoria for 60 years. Marion married in Melbourne at the age of 25, to Henry Edmiston. Issue of their marriage were Claude; Ada 55; Claudine 54; Amy 49; Blanche 45 and Leonard 43.’
Marion’s children, particularly her daughters, kept in touch with their cousins, and my great-grandmother, Olive Bishop, visited with the Edmiston sisters often. Because of this, we know a little of their lives:
Ada Josephine Edmiston:
In 1886, at the age of 32, Ada married Albert James Hodgkinson. Their marriage notice was published in The Argus on Wednesday 5 May 1886, and read:
"HODGKINSON-EDMISTON: On the 27th ult., at Christ Church, South Yarra, by the Reverend H.F Tucker, Albert James Hodgkinson, of Richmond River, NSW, to Ada Josephine Edmiston."
They had a son and a daughter, the latter of whom was quite an amazing woman in the independent manner of her great Aunt, Malvina Hughan. Her name was Lorna Hodgkinson (born May 13,1887 – 1951), and she became very well known as a Doctor through her work with handicapped children. From a website on the history of the Sunshine Home, which Lorna founded, came the following:
“ Sunshine Home began as one woman’s dream brought to effect against the odds. Dr. Lorna Hodgkinson was the first woman to graduate with a Doctorate in education from Harvard University. She overcame adversity; ‘doing the right thing’ in spite of obstacles, and succeeded in bringing dreams alive. She firmly believed that people with an intellectual disability should not be put into hospitals for the mentally ill and subsequently, using her own money and resigning her position with the NSW Education Department, she purchased a large house and land at Gore Hill on Sydney’s lower North Shore, where she founded Sunshine Home with only six children. Lorna then devoted her life to these children’s care, believing firmly in dignity, education and opportunity.’
“ Sunshine Home began as one woman’s dream brought to effect against the odds. Dr. Lorna Hodgkinson was the first woman to graduate with a Doctorate in education from Harvard University. She overcame adversity; ‘doing the right thing’ in spite of obstacles, and succeeded in bringing dreams alive. She firmly believed that people with an intellectual disability should not be put into hospitals for the mentally ill and subsequently, using her own money and resigning her position with the NSW Education Department, she purchased a large house and land at Gore Hill on Sydney’s lower North Shore, where she founded Sunshine Home with only six children. Lorna then devoted her life to these children’s care, believing firmly in dignity, education and opportunity.’
HODGKINSON, LORNA MYRTLE (1887-1951), psychologist and educationist, was born on 13 May 1887 at South Yarra, Melbourne, daughter of Victorian-born parents Albert James Hodgkinson, sugar-planter, and his wife Ada Josephine, née Edmiston. The family settled in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales. After Albert's death, his wife and daughter moved to Western Australia where Lorna attended Perth Girls' School. In 1903-06 she was employed by the Education Department as a pupil-teacher and took courses to qualify for the 'C' certificate. While working as an assistant (1907-12) at Perth Infants' School, she pioneered a class for mental defectives.
Between 1913 and 1915 Miss Hodgkinson taught at public schools in New South Wales. In 1917 the Department of Public Instruction appointed her to May Villa, near Parramatta, to teach mentally defective girls who were wards of the State. She obtained paid leave in 1920 and travelled to the United States of America where she studied the treatment of retardates. At Harvard University (M.Ed., 1921; D.Ed., 1922), she wrote her dissertation on 'A State Program for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Atypical Children in Public School Systems'. Back in New South Wales, in October 1922 she took up a post created for her by the department as superintendent (later supervisor) of the education of mental defectives.
In evidence before the royal commission on lunacy law and administration in 1923, Hodgkinson asserted that the system for dealing with mentally defective children was mismanaged. Her allegations provoked a public outcry. Albert Bruntnell, who held the portfolio of public instruction, ordered a ministerial inquiry which found against her on all counts. She was suspended from duty for 'disgraceful and improper conduct in making false statements and pretences', specifically in regard to the claims she had made about her formal education to gain admission to Harvard.
An investigation by the Public Service Board confirmed the charges, and in March 1924 Hodgkinson was censured and demoted to regular teaching duties. When she failed to take up her new position, she was dismissed. Impatient and indiscreet, she had fallen victim to the government's sensitivity over its handling of an issue on which there was growing public concern. The evidence that she had falsified her educational background was circumstantial, and the dean of Harvard's graduate school of education wrote a testimonial affirming her standing and achievement.
In April 1924 Hodgkinson advertised for residents to enter a new private school for mentally defective children; with six pupils, it opened later that year as the Sunshine Institute, Gore Hill. Initially a tenant, in 1930 she purchased a portion of the site (previously owned by the Theosophical Society in Australia) and spent the rest of her life building up the establishment to sixty pupils. She and her companion Ruth Nelson holidayed at Mona Vale with the children.
The main influence on Hodgkinson came from her Harvard mentors, especially Walter Fernald, founder of a residential state school in Massachusetts for the feeble-minded. Hodgkinson urged that such children be appropriately classified, segregated from the rest of the community and trained for later economic self-sufficiency. For the 'higher grade' of child, she favoured an additional system of vocational guidance and supervision; she envisaged that the 'less able' should remain—if need be, permanently—in a self-supporting, cottage-colony system. Her first priority, however, was the residential training school.
Despite her definite opinions on the appropriate treatment of retardates, Hodgkinson was a 'very retiring and private person' after her public humiliation. She was not a prominent speaker or writer, nor was she active in the emerging groups of professional psychologists. Nevertheless, she lectured on 'mental hygiene' on radio 2GB (the Theosophists' station) in 1927 and addressed the Australian Racial Hygiene Congress in Sydney in 1929. She had published a two-part article, 'Workers or Wasters: the Feeble-minded in America' in the Sydney Morning Herald in 1922 and a summary of an address she gave to the Women's Reform League appeared in the Woman's Voice in 1923.
Hodgkinson died of cancer on 24 March 1951 at Gore Hill and was cremated with Anglican rites; her ashes were interred in the grounds of the Sunshine Institute. She had brought to reality on a small private scale the vision she entertained for a large public venture. Immediately before her death she had converted the institute to a non-profit organization under a board of trustees, to whom she bequeathed the bulk of her estate, sworn for probate at £55,812. Renamed the Lorna Hodgkinson Sunshine Home, the institution expanded, while retaining her philosophy of individual care and development."
CLAUDINE MALVINA EDMISTON: born September 20, 1856, Pitfield, Victoria. Her parents were noted on her birth certificate as being 32 year old Inn Keeper Henry Edmiston, born in London, and 31 year old Marion Hughan from Ipswich, England. Like so many of the Hughan cousins, Claudine did not marry. She was a teacher, and died whilst touring England just prior to World War 1, on July 5, 1913.She can be found in the electoral roles of 1903 and 1909, living with her mother Marion in Hamilton, and posthumously on the 1914 role: Claudine Malvina Edmiston, 20 Hope Street, South Yarra, home duties.
Between 1913 and 1915 Miss Hodgkinson taught at public schools in New South Wales. In 1917 the Department of Public Instruction appointed her to May Villa, near Parramatta, to teach mentally defective girls who were wards of the State. She obtained paid leave in 1920 and travelled to the United States of America where she studied the treatment of retardates. At Harvard University (M.Ed., 1921; D.Ed., 1922), she wrote her dissertation on 'A State Program for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Atypical Children in Public School Systems'. Back in New South Wales, in October 1922 she took up a post created for her by the department as superintendent (later supervisor) of the education of mental defectives.
In evidence before the royal commission on lunacy law and administration in 1923, Hodgkinson asserted that the system for dealing with mentally defective children was mismanaged. Her allegations provoked a public outcry. Albert Bruntnell, who held the portfolio of public instruction, ordered a ministerial inquiry which found against her on all counts. She was suspended from duty for 'disgraceful and improper conduct in making false statements and pretences', specifically in regard to the claims she had made about her formal education to gain admission to Harvard.
An investigation by the Public Service Board confirmed the charges, and in March 1924 Hodgkinson was censured and demoted to regular teaching duties. When she failed to take up her new position, she was dismissed. Impatient and indiscreet, she had fallen victim to the government's sensitivity over its handling of an issue on which there was growing public concern. The evidence that she had falsified her educational background was circumstantial, and the dean of Harvard's graduate school of education wrote a testimonial affirming her standing and achievement.
In April 1924 Hodgkinson advertised for residents to enter a new private school for mentally defective children; with six pupils, it opened later that year as the Sunshine Institute, Gore Hill. Initially a tenant, in 1930 she purchased a portion of the site (previously owned by the Theosophical Society in Australia) and spent the rest of her life building up the establishment to sixty pupils. She and her companion Ruth Nelson holidayed at Mona Vale with the children.
The main influence on Hodgkinson came from her Harvard mentors, especially Walter Fernald, founder of a residential state school in Massachusetts for the feeble-minded. Hodgkinson urged that such children be appropriately classified, segregated from the rest of the community and trained for later economic self-sufficiency. For the 'higher grade' of child, she favoured an additional system of vocational guidance and supervision; she envisaged that the 'less able' should remain—if need be, permanently—in a self-supporting, cottage-colony system. Her first priority, however, was the residential training school.
Despite her definite opinions on the appropriate treatment of retardates, Hodgkinson was a 'very retiring and private person' after her public humiliation. She was not a prominent speaker or writer, nor was she active in the emerging groups of professional psychologists. Nevertheless, she lectured on 'mental hygiene' on radio 2GB (the Theosophists' station) in 1927 and addressed the Australian Racial Hygiene Congress in Sydney in 1929. She had published a two-part article, 'Workers or Wasters: the Feeble-minded in America' in the Sydney Morning Herald in 1922 and a summary of an address she gave to the Women's Reform League appeared in the Woman's Voice in 1923.
Hodgkinson died of cancer on 24 March 1951 at Gore Hill and was cremated with Anglican rites; her ashes were interred in the grounds of the Sunshine Institute. She had brought to reality on a small private scale the vision she entertained for a large public venture. Immediately before her death she had converted the institute to a non-profit organization under a board of trustees, to whom she bequeathed the bulk of her estate, sworn for probate at £55,812. Renamed the Lorna Hodgkinson Sunshine Home, the institution expanded, while retaining her philosophy of individual care and development."
CLAUDINE MALVINA EDMISTON: born September 20, 1856, Pitfield, Victoria. Her parents were noted on her birth certificate as being 32 year old Inn Keeper Henry Edmiston, born in London, and 31 year old Marion Hughan from Ipswich, England. Like so many of the Hughan cousins, Claudine did not marry. She was a teacher, and died whilst touring England just prior to World War 1, on July 5, 1913.She can be found in the electoral roles of 1903 and 1909, living with her mother Marion in Hamilton, and posthumously on the 1914 role: Claudine Malvina Edmiston, 20 Hope Street, South Yarra, home duties.
AMY BEAUCLERK EDMISTON was born on January 30, 1861, at Brighton. She married a man named Charles Herbert Elliott, from England, in 1886. They had two children- Charles Stanley Henry Oliver, born at Toorak on May 16,1889, and a daughter named Marion Winifred who was born in 1896.
Above: Argus, July 8, 1886.
A very unpleasant depiction of Amy's character was reported in The Age newspaper in August of 1891:-
"ALLEGED ILL TREATMENT OF A BOY.
The condition of a lad named William Clark, aged 11, was yesterday brought under the notice of the South Yarra police by some members of the local Ladies' Benevolent Society. Young Clark, who comes from Geelong, lives with Charles Herbert Elliott, shirt manufacturer, residing at Seaforth, Argyle-street, St. Kilda.
For some time past he has had charge of an office belonging to Elliott in Toorak-road, South Yarra, and on Monday evening he, according to his own statement, went off to sleep at the South Yarra railway station, and remained there all night. Next morning Mr. Elliott called at the office, and sent the lad home. Dissatisfied with his explanation, Mrs. Elliott took him in hand, and for a quarter of an hour, so the boy alleges, she belabored him with a walking stick, bruising him terribly about the arms and shoulders and legs. Evidences of the lad's severe punishment are still visible upon his body, and Dr. Sandford, to whom the boy was yesterday submitted for examination, expressed surprise at finding no bones broken, the injuries being of so serious a character. During the afternoon Sergeant Finlayson took out a summons against Mrs. Elliott for assaulting the lad, and brought young Clark before Mr. Bateman, .J.P., and had him remanded to the industrial school as a neglected child until next Tuesday, when the charge against his mistress will be investigated.” -The Age, Saturday 1 August 1891
Above: The Age, August 6, 1891
Amy and her husband went their separate ways, and in the 1901 English Census, Amy Elliott appears as living in London with a man named George Enever. I discovered this unexpected turn of events quite by accident whilst researching for author Paul Terry. He was writing a book on the infamous Arthur Orton aka The Claimant aka Sir Roger Tichborne, and I had been asked to chase up what I could about Sir Roger's mistress, actress/singer Nellie Rosamond. Her real name was Lilly Enever, and the George Enever who was living with Amy Elliott and her children in 1901 was her brother.
Above: 1901 Census return showing Amy Elliott and her two children living in London with George Enever.
Amy's relationship with George Enever had ended by the time the 1911 census was taken. George had been married for one year to Annie and they had a daughter who was not yet a month old.
The electoral roles track the movement of the Elliott family as follows:
1914: 19 Madden Street, Albert Park,Victoria.
Amy Beauclere Elliott, home duties
Charles Stanley Henry Oliver Elliott, engineer
1919: ‘Colchester’, Octavius Avenue, Caulfield East.
Amy Beauclere Elliott, home duties
Charles Stanley Elliott, splicer
Winifred Marion, clerk
1924: ‘Colchester’, Octavius Avenue, Caulfield East
Amy Beauclere, home duties
Charles Stanley, splicer
1931: ‘Colchester’, Octavius Avenue, Caulfield East.
Amy Beauclere, home duties
Charles Stanely, splicer
1936: 25 Octavius Avenue, Caulfield east
Amy Beauclere Elliott, home duties
Charles Stanely Elliott, splicer
Winifred Marion Charlotte Elliott married Robert Beveridge Downes in 1922.
Above: Grave of Amy Beauclerk Edmiston Elliott, New Cheltenham Cemetery, Victoria.
BERTHA BLANCHE EDMISTON: was born in New Zealand on February 6, 1865. At the age of thirty she married Vincenzo Carl Brun, in 1895. Their marriage notice was published in The Argus on May 11, 1895, and read:
A very unpleasant depiction of Amy's character was reported in The Age newspaper in August of 1891:-
"ALLEGED ILL TREATMENT OF A BOY.
The condition of a lad named William Clark, aged 11, was yesterday brought under the notice of the South Yarra police by some members of the local Ladies' Benevolent Society. Young Clark, who comes from Geelong, lives with Charles Herbert Elliott, shirt manufacturer, residing at Seaforth, Argyle-street, St. Kilda.
For some time past he has had charge of an office belonging to Elliott in Toorak-road, South Yarra, and on Monday evening he, according to his own statement, went off to sleep at the South Yarra railway station, and remained there all night. Next morning Mr. Elliott called at the office, and sent the lad home. Dissatisfied with his explanation, Mrs. Elliott took him in hand, and for a quarter of an hour, so the boy alleges, she belabored him with a walking stick, bruising him terribly about the arms and shoulders and legs. Evidences of the lad's severe punishment are still visible upon his body, and Dr. Sandford, to whom the boy was yesterday submitted for examination, expressed surprise at finding no bones broken, the injuries being of so serious a character. During the afternoon Sergeant Finlayson took out a summons against Mrs. Elliott for assaulting the lad, and brought young Clark before Mr. Bateman, .J.P., and had him remanded to the industrial school as a neglected child until next Tuesday, when the charge against his mistress will be investigated.” -The Age, Saturday 1 August 1891
Above: The Age, August 6, 1891
Amy and her husband went their separate ways, and in the 1901 English Census, Amy Elliott appears as living in London with a man named George Enever. I discovered this unexpected turn of events quite by accident whilst researching for author Paul Terry. He was writing a book on the infamous Arthur Orton aka The Claimant aka Sir Roger Tichborne, and I had been asked to chase up what I could about Sir Roger's mistress, actress/singer Nellie Rosamond. Her real name was Lilly Enever, and the George Enever who was living with Amy Elliott and her children in 1901 was her brother.
Amy's relationship with George Enever had ended by the time the 1911 census was taken. George had been married for one year to Annie and they had a daughter who was not yet a month old.
The electoral roles track the movement of the Elliott family as follows:
1914: 19 Madden Street, Albert Park,Victoria.
Amy Beauclere Elliott, home duties
Charles Stanley Henry Oliver Elliott, engineer
1919: ‘Colchester’, Octavius Avenue, Caulfield East.
Amy Beauclere Elliott, home duties
Charles Stanley Elliott, splicer
Winifred Marion, clerk
1924: ‘Colchester’, Octavius Avenue, Caulfield East
Amy Beauclere, home duties
Charles Stanley, splicer
1931: ‘Colchester’, Octavius Avenue, Caulfield East.
Amy Beauclere, home duties
Charles Stanely, splicer
1936: 25 Octavius Avenue, Caulfield east
Amy Beauclere Elliott, home duties
Charles Stanely Elliott, splicer
Winifred Marion Charlotte Elliott married Robert Beveridge Downes in 1922.
BERTHA BLANCHE EDMISTON: was born in New Zealand on February 6, 1865. At the age of thirty she married Vincenzo Carl Brun, in 1895. Their marriage notice was published in The Argus on May 11, 1895, and read:
" BRUN-EDMISTON: On the 6th ult, at the residence of the bride's mother, St. Vincent Place, Albert-park, by the Reverend S.C Kent, Vincent Brun to Bertha Blanche, youngest daughter of the late Henry Aulert Edmiston."
Vincent Brun was a very talented artist, who earned a living creating magnificent stained glass windows for the firm ‘Brooks Robinson’. Olive Bishop was given a beautiful plate painted with the face of a lovely woman which was created during the afternoon of one of her visits. It now hangs in the home of Olive’s grand-daughter, Margaret Sheridan (note: Marg died in December 2005, and before she passed away she gifted the plate to me, her daughter Jen Lamond. It now hangs in the lounge room at “Eurimbla’, beside the oil portrait of Malvina Hughan)
Blanche and Vincent Brun had two daughters – Elizabeth Vendramin Brun, born in 1897 at Armadale; and Marion Dorotea Brun, born in 1903.
Electoral roles give the following information about the Brun family:
1914: Weybridge Street, Surrey Hills, Kooyong, Victoria:
Bertha Blanche Brun, home duties
Vincent Brun, artist
1919: 9 Wentworth Avenue, Canterbury, Kooyong
Bertha Blanche, home duties
Vincent, artist
Elizabeth Vendramm, music teacher
Also for 1919:
Bertha Blanche Brun, Weybridge St, Surrey Hills
Vincent Brun, 5 Wandsworth Rd, Surrey Hills, artist
1924: 9 Wentworth Avenue
Vincent Brun, artist
Elizabeth Vendramm Brun, music teacher.
Electoral roles give the following information about the Brun family:
1914: Weybridge Street, Surrey Hills, Kooyong, Victoria:
Bertha Blanche Brun, home duties
Vincent Brun, artist
1919: 9 Wentworth Avenue, Canterbury, Kooyong
Bertha Blanche, home duties
Vincent, artist
Elizabeth Vendramm, music teacher
Also for 1919:
Bertha Blanche Brun, Weybridge St, Surrey Hills
Vincent Brun, 5 Wandsworth Rd, Surrey Hills, artist
1924: 9 Wentworth Avenue
Vincent Brun, artist
Elizabeth Vendramm Brun, music teacher.
Finally, son LEONARD ALLAN EDMISTON was born in New Zealand on May 25, 1867. He married Alice Maud Fielding in Victoria 1892 at the age of twenty five. The couple had the following children that I can locate in the Victorian and W.A birth index:
Leonard Allan Waterlow Edmiston: born 1893, Prahran. Died 1893, Prahran.
Vera Marion Edmiston: born 1894, Prahran.She was living with her father at 18 Churchhill Avenue, Subiaco, Western Australia, and working as a typist, in the electoral role of 1916. Vera married Arthur L. R. Sadler in Perth in 1921.
Myrtle Fielding Edmiston: born 1898, Fremantle, W.A Married Leslie D. Austin, 1920, Perth, W.A.
Henry Edmiston: born 1900, Cottesloe, W.A. Died aged one day.
Olive Bertha Edmiston: born 1902, Fremantle. Married Albert E. Gumbleton, 1928, Perth.
Leonard Waterlow Edmiston born 1904, Subiaco. Died when hit by a car in his home street at the age of ten years on July 27, 1914. On Wednesday 29 July 1914, in the West Australian newspaper, the following funeral notice appeared:
"EDMISTON: The friends of Mr and Mrs Leonard Allan Edmiston of 31 Hay Street, Subiaco, are respectfully invited to follow the remains of their late dearly beloved son LEONARD WATERSON to the place of interment, The Anglican Cemetery Karrakatta."
On Tuesday 4 August 1914, the same newspaper had the following announcement:
" EDMISTON: On July 27 at Subiaco, the result of a motor accident, Leonard Waterlow, aged 10 years, the twin son of L.A and A.M Edmiston, 31 Hay Street, Subiaco."
The newspaper report of the little boy's death makes incredibly sad reading:
"MOTOR FATALITY. BOY"S TRAGIC DEATH.
Last night, at Subiaco, Leonard Edmiston, a bright little lad of ten years, residing with his parents at 31 Hay Street, Subiaco, met his death in a tragic way, being knocked down by a motor car travelling down Hay Street, in that suburb.
The car, which was driven by Mr. Morris Crawcour, solicitor, of Perth, it appears was proceeding in a westerly direction, and it is said, at a low speed. Mr. Crawcour, in a statement made to the police last night, said that he was travelling along Hay Street and on reaching Thomas Street slowed down. Running on a free engine past the intersection of Thomas and Hay Streets, Subiaco, he noticed a figure run from the side footpath across the road. He applied the car brakes, but was quite unable to avoid mishap, the car striking the boy and knocking him down. Mr. Crawcour declared that the car was at the time travelling at such a slow pace that he brought it to a standstill within a few yards.
The condition of the lad was at once found to be serious, and with the aid of a number of people who witnessed the accident the boy was carried into the Children's Hospital, close at hand. The unfortunate lad's injuries were such, however, that he died when being carried through the institution.
The right side of the head on examination was found to have been badly injured, and a scrutiny of the car shows that one of the car lamp rests was broken.
An inquest will be formally opened this morning.
Mr Crawcour stated to a "West Australian" reporter subsequently that he had been informed that the lad, with others, had been placing threads across the street to amuse themselves by discomforting passersby. He had been told that a lady had fallen into the trap, and had endeavoured to remonstrate with the lads, who ran away from her. Mr. Crawcour added that he was travelling at a speed of about eight to ten miles an hour when he suddenly noticed a form in front of the car. He swerved to the right, but unfortunately was unable to prevent the accident."
Alan Waterlow Edmiston was born in Perth on April 24, 1906. He was living in Sydney and working as a bar man in the 1930 and 1936 electoral rolls, and in 1931 married Selma A. Field at Woollahra. He joined the RAAF in Sydney on July 8, 1940 and upon discharge in 1946 was posted with the 23 Squadron.
The same electoral roles place Leonard Allan Edmiston and his family in Western Australia from at least 1901. In that year, he and his wife Alice are noted as living at Charles Street, Beaconsfield, Freemantle. Leonard was a clerk, and his wife ‘home duties’. In 1906 there are two entries for Leonard and Alice- one identical to the one above, and the other for the address of Townsend Road, Subiaco, Perth, occupations still clerk and home duties.
Leonard Edmiston's wife died at the age of 47 in 1915, not even one year after the tragic accident that killed her son. Her death notice in the West Australian newspaper was as follows:
"EDMISTON: On May 17, 1915, at her residence 18 Churchill Ave, Subiaco, Alice Maud, the beloved wife of Leonard Edmiston, and fond mother of Vera, Myrtle, Olive and Alan Edmiston, aged 47 years. Deeply regretted."
Leonard Allan Edmiston, son of Marion Hughan, died on June 30, 1927:
" EDMISTON: On June 30, at Perth, Leonard Alan Edmiston, beloved father of Vera(Mrs A. Sadler, Osborne Park); Myrtle(Mrs L. Austin, Purracoppin), Olive (Perth); and Alan (Sydney) aged 60 years. No flowers by request." - West Australian, Friday, July 1, 1927.
In the same issue appeared Leonard's funeral notice:
" EDMISTON: The friends of the late Mr Leonard A. Edmiston, of Tootra Station, Moora, and formerly of Richie and Jackman, Perth, are respectfully invited to follow his remains to the place of interment, the Anglican Cemetery, Karrakatta."
Henry Aulert Edmiston's own family history is one worth repeating here, albiet briefly. He was born on May 10, 1824, at Number 10 North Buildings, Finsbury Circus, London, the son of James Charles Edmiston, a tailor, and his wife Deborah Ann Waterlow. Henry's baptism took place on May 29, 1824, at St. Stephen's Church, Coleman Street, City of London. I can find three siblings belonging to Henry:
Marie Pink Edmiston: born January 19, 1817, Somerset Street, City of London. Baptised St. Botolph Without Aldgate, City of London, on February 16, 1817. On the same day in the same church, her maternal first cousin, Charles William Waterlow, the son of James Waterlow, Law Stationer of Somerset Street (brother of Deborah Waterlow) and his wife Mary Crackell, was also baptised. Marie married William Kislingbury, a wine merchant situated in High Street, St. Andrews, Holborn, in London in 1837.
By 1841, William and Maria were the parents of 2 year old William and 10 month old Emily. The 1841 census reveals that amongst the six "assistants in the trade" that were living with the Kislingbury family was Maria's youngest brother, Henry Aulert Edmiston, aged 15.
Son Charles was born in 1850, and for whatever reason Maria and William had a combined baptism of four of their children - Arthur, Edith, Emily and William- at St. John The Evangelist, Brixton, Lambeth, on August 1, 1855.
To be continued...
Charles Spyers Edmiston: born September 9, 1819, Somerset Street, London. Baptised November 17, St. Botolph Without Aldgate, London.
Augustus Weston Edmiston: born February 17, 1822, Somerset Street, London. Baptised St. Botolph Without Aldgate, May 1, 1822. Emigrated to New Zealand. Died June 10, 1862, Remuera.
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