Roland Bishop

Roland Oakley Bishop was the first child born to Henry Bishop and Bertha Hughan. He was born at Mount Rowan, near Ballarat, on October 24, 1866. His sister Olive arrived two years later in December of 1868, and by the time brother Guy joined the family in 1870, the Bishops had moved to Melbourne.
Three more sisters completed the family- Violet in 1874, Myrtle in 1877 and Daphne in 1878.Roland received an excellent education, and most likely finished his schooling at Melbourne Grammar in South Yarra where his family lived in the 1880s.
Roland was a very good sportsman, and excelled as a bicycle rider. This was fortuitous, as his father was an importer of bicycles, amongst other things. The photo above was taken of Roland in 1881, when he was 15 years old.
When Roland finished school in c. 1884, he went to Hobart to manage his father's importing business in Hobart, and it was in Tasmania that he became a very competetive bicycle racer...he must have cut a splendid sight careering around the track on his penny farthing! I have two medals that Roland won...one says "L.B.C Sports. October 18, 1884" on one side and "R.O Bishop 2nd Prize Umbrella Race" on the other.The other medal has a depiction of a man on penny farthing bike on one side, and on the other "R.O. Bishop. Mounting and Dismounting, 11/10/1884." My grandfather, Norman Oakley, who was a nephew of Roland, gave me before his death in 2000 his precious gold pocket watch which had once belonged to Roland. Inscribed inside are the words "R.O Bishop 1st Prize 5 Mile Bicycle Race 10/11/84" and around the perimeter on the top half is written "1,2,3,4 & 5 Mile Records".
Roland was 18 years old in 1884, which was obviously a very successful year for him on the cycling scene.
The well-known Tasmanian photographer John Bishop-Osborne photographed Roland and his bicycles several times, and the resulting portraits will be produced in the following blog entries. Bishop-Osborne operated a studio at 76 Murray Street, Hobart, from 1879-93.
Whilst in Hobart,Roland met a young woman named Maria Celia Hughes. Maria was one of ten children born to school master Stephen Hughes and his wife Maria Eleanor Weavell.Stephen's story is a very interesting one. I found the following information on a very interesting website:http://www.newtownprimary.tased.edu.au/HISTORY/convicthead.htm

"Stephen Hughes was Headmaster of New Town Primary School from 1862 to 1888.
He was tried in Kerry on the 9th March 1842 and sentenced to 7 years for stealing a watch from Captain Scott of the "Hart of Douglas". He had previously been given fourteen days days for stealing a coat.
Stephen was transported to Tasmania from Ireland in 1842. He left Dublin on the "Isabella Watson" and arrived in Tasmania on 3rd August. His age was given at 20.
He was released from the first stage of probation on 3rd August 1844 - just two years after arriving in Tasmania.
Stephen Hughes was married to Maria Eleanor Weavell in 1849 when he was 24.
In July 1849 Stephen Hughes was appointed school master at O'Brien's Bridge Parochial School.
In 1855-56 he was Postmaster at Glenorchy Post Office.
For 26 years from 1862 - 1888 he and Maria ran the New Town State School.
In 1884 his salary was 100 pounds per annum. His qualifications were stated as "Board of Education 1854"
The birth of Anne was registered by her Grandfather, Edwin Weavell , of Patterson Street, and her father's occupation was given as clerk. When the births of the other children (?) were registered their father's occupation was given as Schoolmaster and the parent's address was O'Brien's Bridge (Glenorchy) up to when John was born when it was given as New Town. When Anne married her name was given as Annie and she claimed to be the daughter of a gentleman.
Other Facts
Stephen's description includes the fact that he was 5ft 3 3/4 ins tall and had a fresh complexion, large head, brown hair, blue eyes and a long chin. He also had both little fingers crippled and scars on centre forehead, fingers of left hand, back of right hand, and on his left foot. His goal report was "Good once convicted" and on board ship he was described as "Very Good" and a "Good Stockman". On 10th January, 1844, however, he was described as being disobedient of orders when acting as watchman.
In 1852 - ten years after transporting Stephen Hughes to Van Dieman's Land, the Isabella Watson was caught in a squall in Port Philip Bay and wrecked on Corsair Rock. One of the survivors - Thomas Ritchie- was the founder of Ritchie's liquor stores.
Maria's age at death in 1895 was given at 66. She was one of the children who emigrated from England to Australia with her parents in 1833. They arrived in Tasmania 30th April 1833 on board the "Cabotia".
Witnesses at the marriage of Stephen Hughes and Maria Eleanor Weavell were Elizabeth Farquharson, Elizer Rider and James Hickson. Stephen and Maria were married by Rev W R Bennett. The Rev Bennett was Religious Instructor at Jeruselem Probation Station from 1844 until 1845. This was the probation station to which Stephen Hughes was taken in 1842. The Rev Bennett served at o'Brien's Bridge from 1848 until his death in 1865. He was Superintending Minister of the school at O'Brien's Bridge at the time it was being run by "Stephen Hughes and wife".

Maria Celia Hughes was born in 1857, nine years before Roland. Her siblings were Edward b 1850; Ann b 1852; Stephen b 1855; Stephen Henry b 1859; James b 1861; James Emerson b 1863; John Weavell b 1865; unknown infant b 1867 and Rosa Eleanor b 1871.
Edward married Mary Leitch, 1874, Hobart.
James married Alice Sophia Arnett, Bothwell, Tasmania, 1888
John married Gertrude May Crisp, Hobart, 1897.
And Maria Celia married Roland Oakley Bishop on July 3, 1894, at 158 Johnston Street, Collingwood. Her address at the time of the marriage was Toorak, Victoria, and Roland stated that he was an 'Artist' of Oakleigh, Victoria.Neither the bride nor groom correctly stated their ages, though it must be said that Roland was closer to the truth than Maria...instead of being 26 as he claimed Roland was actually 27. No big deal there. Maria, however, said that she was thirty years old, when in reality she was going to turn 37 that year.
This age difference is absolutely no big deal, but may have caused problems if the couple had wanted to have children.They did in fact have a childless marriage, and I don't know if they stayed together 'until death they did part'.At the time of Maria's death on July 21, 1926, she was living at 37 Hope Street, South Yarra. There was no mention of Roland on the death certificate as informant, but it did mention that Maria married him in Melbourne when she was 30 years old. The informant got mixed up with the middle names of Maria Bishop and her mother, stating that Maria Bishop's name was 'Maria Eleanor' and her mother's was 'Maria Celia', when in reality it was the other way around.The informant was somebody Gunn from Toorak Rd,South Yarra.Maria's cause of death was cerebral haemmorrhage and heart failure, and she was 70 years old. She was buried in the Brighton Cemetery.
My grandfather and his brother Gordon knew their Uncle Roland Bishop very well, but barely mentioned Maria, even though they would have been well into their teens when she died.Uncle Gordon told me that Roland had married a woman named Marie Hughes in Tasmania, and because absolutley no more information was forthcoming I assumed that she had died relatively soon after the marriage. Certainly not thirty-plus years after Maria and Roland were married!!!

 Maria's death notice appeared in the Argus newspaper as follows:
Death Notice:Thursday 22 July 1926 BISHOP:On July 29 at South Yarra, Victoria, Maria Celia Bishop second daughter of the late Stephen Hughes New Town.

But now I'm getting too far ahead- time to post some early photos of Roland as a bicycle rider.