Rosewood History Qld.
Jeebropilly Pioneers

Dan MATTERFACE and Ann

TOTTERSHELL

© Jane Schy 2025

Name: Dan MATTERFACE aka MATTAFACE
Occupation: Hemp & Flax Dresser: Cotton Farmer at Seven Mile
Birth: 16th October 1840, Bridport, Dorsetshire, England
Baptism: 8th November 1840, Allington, Dorset, England
Residence: 1861 – North Allington. Flax Comber. Boarder with older brother George Mattaface and his wife Elizabeth (Twine Spinner), sister Emily (Twine Spinner) and brother Alexander (labourer).
Immigration: 25th December 1866, the Ocean Empress arrived Moreton Bay (on Christmas Morning) from Liverpool (departed August 18th).
Death: 28th February 1939, at his residence on the corner of South and Gordon Streets, Ipswich, aged 98 years.
Buried: 1st March 1939, Ipswich General Cemetery
Religion:Congregational B, Row 33.
Father: Thomas MATTERFACE (Bleacher)
Mother: Amelia TOTTERSHELL (Spinner)

Spouse: Ann BOWRING
Baptised: 29th March1846, Stratton, Dorset, England
Residence: 1861 – Ann, her widowed mother and her 3 siblings were boarders in the home of a widow Martha Sprackling and her 3 children in Stratton Village.
Immigration: 25th December 1866, the Ocean Empress arrived Moreton Bay (on Christmas Morning) from Liverpool (departed August 18th).
Death: 29th May 1931, Ipswich aged 85 years.
Buried: 30th May 1931, Ipswich General Cemetery
Religion: Congregational B, Row 33.
Father: William BOWRING (Carpenter)
Mother: Mary GUPPY
Married: 23rd February 1865, Parish Church, Allington, Dorset, England

Children: 12
Julia MATTERFACE (1866-1946) = Edgar Henry MANN (See Bakers)
Emily MATTERFACE (1868-1945)= DABELSTEIN
Mary Ann MATTERFACE (1870-1944) = James DODDS
Elizabeth Fanny MATTERFACE (1873-1954) = George FIELDING
Georgina MATTERFACE (1875-1875)
Alice Isabel MATTERFACE (1876-1942) = John Louis CLEM
Thomas George MATTERFACE (1878-1879)
Eva MATTERFACE (1880-1914)
Amelia MATTERFACE (1882-1983) = Alfred Edward PYSDEN
Helah MATTERFACE (1884-1981)
Edward Bowring MATTERFACE (1888-1985) = Elizabeth Rose POULTON
Ellen Ada MATTERFACE (1890-1965) = Charles Henry KIFF

Dan Matterface was one of 12 children born to Thomas and Amelia Matterface of Bridport, Dorset, England. Bridport is a market town, only 2.4 km inland from the English Channel. It has a long history of rope and net making and sailcloth weaving. The necessary products for making these items, flax and hemp, were grown in the surrounding district and the Matterface family worked in the industry. Dan was 12 years old when his father died in 1852. 

At age 25, Dan married Ann Bowring, the 6th child of William and Mary Bowring from Stratton, which was about 50 km away from Bridport. Ann and Dan had something in common. Ann’s father died in 1853 when she was only 7 years old. Her mother didn’t work. The census records don’t indicate she had independent means so she must have been supported by her daughter Mary, a dressmaker and son William, who followed his father’s trade as a carpenter. They were living with her in 1861. Ann’s eldest sister, Elizabeth Guppy Bowring, had died before their father in 1852, aged about 19 years. Her older brothers Thomas Guppy Bowring and Henry Bowring were also carpenters and and lived not far away.

Dan and Ann decided to immigrate to Australia and came with their infant daughter Julia on the sailing ship Ocean Empress, reaching Moreton Bay four months later on Christmas morning in 1866. The long voyage was due to the prevalence of foul winds and heavy weather. The ship made Tasmania on 11th December and was held on the coast until December 17th by light and contrary winds. The passage up the east coast of Australia took eight days, and at 6 a.m. on Christmas Day, the ship anchored off the Yellow Patch inside Cape Moreton. She came up to the anchorage next day. On board were 267 souls from England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales. During the voyage there were 8 deaths and 3 births. The new arrivals seemed to be a very superior class of immigrants and Captain Macdonald spoke in the highest terms of their conduct during the voyage.

While in port the following address was presented to Captain Alexander Macdonald and the experienced Surgeon Superintendent on board, Dr. John Henry Peacock Oldmeadow.

On Board the Ocean Empress, 26th December, 1866
To Captain Alex. Macdonald. 

Sir, We, the undersigned passengers on board the Ocean Empress, feel it to be a duty, as well as a pleasure, to record our best thanks to you for the manner in which you conducted us over our passage from Liverpool to Brisbane. Your unwearied attention to your duty as captain, your zeal in your profession, coupled with your unbiassed kindness to the passengers, have been the admiration of all on board. 

You have been well and ably supported by your first and second officers (Mr. Jones and Mr. Hughes) in the navigation of the ship, as well as in the very difficult duty of endeavouring to satisfy all. 

We wish you and them farewell with regret, and hope that you and they may live long to ornament tho profession to which you belong, having the satisfaction of knowing that you have done your duty.

[Here follow the signatures of 165 of the passengers.] 

On Board the Ocean Empress, December 22, 1866
We, the undersigned desire to express our satisfaction in Doctor Oldmeadow as Medical Superintendent of the ship Ocean Empress. 

We consider that to the care and attention he has given, in watching over and checking the progress of disease when it appeared amongst us; and to his solicitude and assiduity in attending to every case of sickness as it showed itself, is owing, under God, the perfect state of health in which the whole of the passengers now are, and that we should be wanting in a proper sense of his faithfulness in the discharge of his duties, if we did not thus publicly bear testimony, not only to his fitness as medical officer, but also to his urbanity, by which he has contributed to soothe down the irritation and bad tempers which so often disturb the peace of a long voyage.”

[Signed by 124 of the passengers.]

The passengers and their luggage were transported to Queen’s Wharf by the steamer Kate on 28th December. After seven weeks at the immigration depot in Brisbane, Dan found employment with a station owner named Pollet Cardew on the Bremer River at Three Mile Creek. (formerly the Rhossilli property)

Later Dan took up farm work at Bundamba Head Station for Michael Murphy, then found work at at Seven Mile Creek and Redbank Plains. In early 1875 he bought a block of land near Stone Quarry, Portion 197, 60 acres 3 roods in parish of Jeebropilly, where he successfully grew cotton and gradually developed the farm in order to obtain his title deeds. 

Dan and Ann were conscientious adherents of the Congregational Church. For 20 years the Matterface family lived in the district before moving to Ipswich. In November 1916 the roof of their house in Thorn Street was damaged by an explosion from the nearby Red Hill Quarry. They moved to the corner of South Street and Gordon Street where they spent the remainder of their lives. 

The article below was published in the Queensland Times Wednesday, 16th October 1935 on the day of Dan’s 95th birthday. Dan tells us about his life.

MR. D. MATTAFACE. 95 YEARS OLD TO-DAY.
Seven Mile Creek Pioneer.
Hard work and temperance are advanced by Mr. D. Mattaface, South-street, as an infallible recipe for long life. He ought to know, for to-day he will celebrate his 95th birthday. Somewhat deaf, and with his eyesight not quite as keen as in his younger days, he has an amazingly retentive memory, and yesterday he entertained a “Queensland Times” representative with excerpts from the story of his very interesting career. A son of the late Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Mattaface, he was born at Bridport, Dorsetshire (England), in 1840. One of 12 children, he had to work almost from infancy to help the family, as his father was a semi invalid and unable to do much work. Bridport was one of the great hemp and flax centres in the county, and Mr. Mattaface and his family used to spin twine for making fishermen’s nets. This work was done by hand in the homes, and thought it was not very remunerative, it assured them of a moderately comfortable existence. With the advent of machinery, how ever, many people became unemployed, as the new system enabled greater work to be done in faster time by less men. Subsequently Mr. Mattaface became interested in hemp and flax dressing. He obtained the raw material from the warehouses, and dressed it as required. 

LANDED ON CHRISTMAS DAY.
In his early twenties Mr. Mattaface married Miss Ann Bowering. Industrial conditions became so bad that he decided to emigrate to Australia. He and his wife and their child left England about 1866 on the sailing ship Ocean Empress, and reached Moreton Bay on Christmas morning, four months later. “That was one of the happiest mornings I can remember,” he said yesterday, when re calling the experiences of the voyage. Though the events he was describing happened almost 70 years ago, his memory for details was as fresh and as accurate as if the whole drama had been enacted yesterday. “The emigration authorities took us to the depot in Brisbane, where we had to wait for a while to see if anybody would employ us,” he said. “People from the country used to come to the depot whenever they wanted an employee, because the country was rather young and rural labour was not as plentiful as it is today. It was a bad time to get work in the towns then, as the Government was more or less bankrupt. Unfinished bridges and public buildings were all over the place. The first railway line from Ipswich to Grandchester was being laid. It was seven weeks before I got work, and I got it just in time, for I had only 1/2d, left.” he added with a smile. A squatter named Mr. Cardew, of the Three-Mile (Amberley) employed him, but Mr. Mattaface became tired of the work and left after two months. He set off for Brisbane again in the hope that things might have improved in the capital. On the way he passed the mail coach, which plied between Ipswich and Brisbane, on the very day that it was held up and robbed. “Of course I didn’t have anything to do with that,” he said.

HAD TO SELL CLOTHES,
Things were just as bad as ever in Brisbane, and he was forced to sell a suit of clothes to buy food. Mr. Mattaface secured half a day’s work eventually, and with the 3/- he received he was able to stave off hunger for a while longer. Then he began the long trek back to Ipswich again. He fell in with a “chummy” and suggested to him that they try to get work in the bush, but his companion, according to Mr. Mattaface was “One of those chaps who don’t want work.” On arrival at Bundamba he met a man named Thomas, who gave him a letter of introduction to a Mr. Murphy. He saw the latter, who gave him a job on a farm worth £36 a year. For 15 months he tolled there, and saved enough to give him a start. It was Mr. Mattaface’s ambition to possess a homestead of his own, so he went to the Ipswich Lands Office, and acquainted the officer there with his desires. A visit of inspection was arranged and he went out with a Mr. Graham to Seven-Mile Creek, near Stone Quarry, and decided to take up a 60-acre homestead block. This land was to be purchased at the rate of 2/6-an acre, and if he had met all his commitments at the end of five years he was to be given the deeds. The first year’s rent, the surveying fees, and initial incidental expenditure accounted for £8, and this left him with only enough money for about six weeks’ rations. The 60 acres were to be divided into two sections-30 acres for agriculture and 30 for pasturage. It was virgin scrub country, and though unaccustomed to such work, Mr. Mattaface set to work to clear the scrub and build a humpy for his wife and family Before a decent start could be made, however, nearly all his food ran out, so he was forced to look for work again. 

AT REDBANK PLAINS.
After a while a Redbank Plains, a farmer took him on and gave him 15/. a week and keep. At the end of each fortnight he would walk the 15 odd miles from the Plains to Seven Mile Creek and take food and clothing to the family. While at home he would do what he could on the farm. Though the time at his disposal was not great, he managed to do quite a lot, and at the end of 10 weeks he settled down on the farm to work in earnest. After a while, however, he was forced again to seek temporary work elsewhere, and it was almost three years before he was able to concentrate on his own homestead. Mr. Mattaface fenced it all in himself, and when things improved he bought a better house from a neighbour and assembled it himself. He began growing cotton, which he sold to a Mr. Harris, who kept a gin at Ipswich. His first crop was very successful, and he was able to sell 20 bales. With the proceeds from this he was able to pay all his debts. By and by he purchased a couple of cows, and step by step put the farm on a solid foundation. At the end of five years he was able to go to the Land Agent and secure his deeds. This happened on a Christmas Day which coincided with the day of his arrival in the country. “It was hard working, hard living, and hard grinding, but they were happy years,” he declared feelingly, as he gazed retrospectively into the past. 

BUILT A WALL AT 70.
For about 20 years Mr. and Mrs. Mattaface and their family remained in that district, winning a name for themselves for their honest endeavour, courage, and strength when facing the adversity to which the man on the land continually is subjected. Later they moved to Ipswich and bought a house at Thorn street, near the council’s quarry. During an explosion in the quarry a lot of the material fell on their house and damaged it to such an extent that the council bought them out. They then moved to a house on the corner of South and Gordon Streets, which Mr. Mattaface and his daughter (Helah) still occupy. For a great part of his sojourn in Ipswich, Mr. Mattaface worked for Mr. Joseph Cribb, and at the age of 70 he erected a brick wall for him. Of retiring disposition he has never sought the limelight. He always has been an adherent of the Amberley and Central Congregational Churches. Mrs. Mattaface died about four years ago, at the age of 85. Twelve children were born to them, of which nine are still living. A grand old man, Mr. Mattaface chopped wood to within about two years ago, and he said with some vehemence yesterday, that if it were not for his bad eyesight he would still do it. He is anxious to reach the century, and speaks with bride of the fact that he has not drunk intoxicating liquors or smoked. “‘You can never hope to live long unless you work hard and keep away from these temptations.” he said.

Dan and his family put a memorial notice in the Queensland Times on Saturday, 28th May 1932, in memory of Ann.

MATTAFACE.—In loving memory of my dear wife and our mother and grandmother, Ann Mattaface, who departed this life on May 29, 1931.
Empty is the home dear mother,
Vacant is your chair,
It’s lonely when I visit home,
And find no mother there.
A better mother never lived,
Or a mother more true and kind,
For an equal in this weary world,
You very seldom find.
(Inserted by her loving husband, daughters, Miss H. Mattaface, and Miss J. L. Clem; also son-in-law and grandchildren.)

References:
Dorset, England, Church of England Marriages and Banns, 1813-1921
Dorset, England, Church of England Births and Baptisms, 1813-1906
1861 Census England
Queensland Registry Births, Death, Marriages
Queensland Immigration Indexes
Queensland Government Gazette 1873