Thursday, February 19, 2009

Guy Bishop's marriage



Guy Bishop was living at the family home 'Fairmount' in Oakleigh at the time of his marriage in 1901. His bride was New Zealand born Edith Alice Whyman Bolton, who had come from New Zealand in the early 1870s aged about 4 years and settled in Spotswood, a suburb of Melbourne with her family.(More on the history of the Bolton and Whyman families later.)
Edith was the 31 year old daughter of Thomas Edward Bolton and Emily Whyman, and had been born in Hokitika, New Zealand, in c. 1870.Her parents had married in England in 1863, and after a few years in New Zealand relocated to Victoria. Edith's father was a metallurgist and assayer, and thus was involved in the mining industry.
Edith had one sister, Hethyl Zoe, known as Zoe, and three brothers- Albert Edgar Whyman b c. 1874 South Melbourne; Ernest and Tom.They all lived in the family home 'Fairview' at 67 Hope Street, Spotswood, and it was here that Edith Bolton married Guy Bishop on March 27, 1901.
They were married by a Church of Christ minister, W.C Morro, B.A, and witnesses to the event who signed the marriage certificate were Edith's siblings Albert and Zoe.
Information given on the certificate was as follows:
Guy Arnold Bishop, bachelor, born North Melbourne, Victoria, aged 30, salesman. present and usual address 'Fairmount' Oakleigh. Parents Henry Bishop, iron monger, and Bertha Hughan.
Edith Alice Whyman Bolton, spinster, born Hokitika, New Zealand, aged 31, present and usual address 67 Hope Street, Spotswood, parents Thomas Edward Bolton, assayer, and Emily Whyman.
The following year their one and only child was born. Edith Elaine Bishop was born on April 17, 1902,and remained an only child as at the age of four, in 1906, her mother Edith died.
On December 2, 1906, at the Alfred Hospital, Melbourne, 36 year old Edith died having undergone a laparotomy for the condition known as 'myoma uteri', which is a tumour or tumours growing from the wall of the uterus.In a laparotomy, an incision is made in the abdominal wall to reach the uterus, and in Edith's case peritonitis developed and she lost her life two days after the operation.
Two days later Guy buried his wife in the St.Kilda Cemetery, and returned to their Prahran home with his little four year old daughter.Guy's sisters Olive and Daphne were unmarried and still living at home in nearby Oakleigh and certainly would have helped with Edith, and as mentioned in Roland's blog, some years after he and his wife Marie Celia Bishop separated Guy and Edith moved to her home at 97 Leopold Street, South Yarra.
I think that Guy moved in with Marie and not the other way around because in the 1909 electoral roll Marie was noted as being at this address, with no sign of Guy anywhere. In 1914 Marie and Guy were both living there, then in 1919 and 1924 Guy was still there and Marie had moved out but was still living very close-by.
Another scenario would be Marie living in Guy's house at Leopold Street in 1909 and looking after it for him if this was the period that he was working elsewhere-I can't find any trace of him anywhere for this period.
Stop Press: I just located online (Worldvitalrecords)the Sands & McDougall Victorian Directory of 1904(parts one and two), and it gives two addresses for Guy. Part One has:
Guy Bishop, 15 Greville Street, Prahran
Part Two: Guy Bishop, 15 Porter Street, Prahran ( the latter also has his siblings Miss Olive J. Bishop, 38 Hawksburn Rd, Hawksburn; and Roland Bishop, 93 Lewisham Road North, Prahran.

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