Hi Rob,
Market Gardens and Moorabbin is part of the history of the Sears family.
William Sears (expiree from Tasmania) settled there in
The early 1850s and started a market garden. Family stories relate he used to
at one time pay his labourers to go and wreck the
Chinese market gardens (opposition) and if they were caught he would pay their
fines. He brought with him his wife who he had married
In 1850 in Melbourne. Why he didn’t wait until late 1853 or later (the mongrel)
has caused me much grief as then they would have had parents
Names on their wedding registration. His wife started life as Rose Eliza Wadham
and married Bill as same in 1850 as said. In the meantime
She had married a Mr Paine in London and then been arrested for stealing 10
pound as a lady of the night working as Eliza Brown. The death
Sentence was commuted to transportation for life. In Tassie she married a
convict William Haldsworth and 3 kids , one son surviving and named
For the father. She separated from Haldsworth at some time and took up with Wm
Sears. Got a conditional pardon which she renewed
And then boarded a boat to Melbourne Dec 1847 with William who was taking a
load of scantlings (timber slats) to Melbourne. She got on
the boat as Eliza Brown (CP) and got off the boat in Melbourne as Rose Eliza
Wadham. 30 Jan 1848 after getting to Melbourne she has
William Sears child who then dies a year later. So he waits to 1850 to marry
her officially. In Tassie Wm himself had a son who was not
“officially registered” which would have been a big fine if found out in August
1846. The child is baptised as James Tudor Sears but always went by James
Chuter Sears. Now when James C Sears married he says his mother is Rose Eliza
Wadham but his baptism says his mother is Sarah Eliza.
So I am left wondering if Eliza Brown/Haldsworth is hiding as sarah Eliza from
her hubbie William Haldsworth. Wm Haldsworth junior marries twice and has Wm &
Rose Sears as his witnesses and lives in a tent in the yard of Wm Sears in Keys
Road, “South Brighton”. Tried to find where
They actually lived through rate books etc but could not crack it. James seems
to have been religious as he was married by a Bible Christian
Minister and had a bible which has James Sears 16 April 1865 which was a
Sunday. He married 10 months later.
The family came to WA in the mid 1890s over the Nullabor driving a mob of
horses, went to Kalgoorlie for a while and then to Brookhampton
Near Donnybrook by 1896 where they established orchards, market gardens and
general farms.
Mal Sears
The market gardening community of early Moorabbin had a number of shared
characteristics: most members derived from poor circumstances in the British
Isles, arriving in Australia with few or no financial resources; they were
strongly family-oriented and, in many cases, highly fertile, spawning ancestral
trees formidable in dimension; and they were staunchly religious.
The church communities were valued both for worship, and for the important
communal link that they provided. Within the environment of the churches there
was the opportunity for farmers and their families to gather and express their
neighbourliness and common identity, find support in times of trial or stress,
reinforce the ethic of hard work and the strong sense of duty, and maintain
their connections with a heritage that sprang from their shared origins
overseas.
Anglican, Presbyterian, Catholic and Methodist churches were established in the
Moorabbin region from the earliest years and were important to the growth and
well-being of the communities they served. All churches also paid much
attention to religious observance, particularly on Sundays, although some
faiths were more demanding than others.
Alan Marriott, a member of one of Moorabbin’s most successful market gardening
families, recalls that, as a child and young man earlier in this century, being
required to attend chapel three times on Sundays, as were many of his peers
within the Methodist community. Such demonstrations of piety had applied for
generations, and other denominational groups had requirements that were
similarly demanding, although not always in the same form.
At Moorabbin, Methodists first used a tent for worship. In 1854, they
constructed their first permanent church on a site in Wickham Road. This was
replaced by the current Wickham Road church in 1867. A church hall was
constructed on a site immediately adjacent to the church in 1928. The memorial
stone for the hall was laid by Rev R Barnes, President of the Conference.
The original church and hall remain on the site. The church is a rendered brick
structure with a slate roof. It was designed in a Gothic style favoured by the
church in the 1860s and 70s with prominent corner pinnacles and butresses. The
principal facade of the church is of note for its tracery and lancet arched
heads to doors and windows. The hall is designed in a simpler but complementary
style. Both early buildings have been painted white.
A number of additions have been made to the group since WWII. A child care
facility has been added to the rear of the church and a vestry has been
constructed to the rear of the hall. Both appear to date from c.1960.
A porte Cochere and entry hall constructed some years later form a link between
the two early buildings but their form and detailing are appreciably different
to that of the early buildings and the early group remains clearly legible.
The Methodist Church was among a number of denominations to amalgamate, forming
the Uniting Church in 1977. The church has been known as the Wickham Road
Uniting Church since this time.
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Interestingly, the conversion of those early market gardens into post war
housing estates led to a new wave of poor English, Irish and war ravaged Jewish
survivors taking up residence around my family home and in many cases their
children were my associates at kindergarten, school and sunday-school.
Cheers for now, ROB!!
rnelson@xxxxxxxxxxxx
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