Name: Martin BEAVIS
Occupation: Shepherd; Cotton Farmer at Rosewood; Freeholder of the Rosewood Hotel
Birth: c.1819, St Mary’s, Norwich, Norfolk, England
Military: 54th Regiment of Foot 1841-1849
Immigration: 30th May 1857, the Hastings arrived Moreton Bay from Liverpool 24th February.
Land Purchase: 18th September 1869, 80 acres Walloon, Homestead/Agricultural (Portion 337) See Land Purchase
Residence: Tallegalla, Queensland
Death: 20th October 1886, at his residence, Bundamba, Ipswich, Queensland aged about 67 years.
Burial: 21st October 1886, Ipswich General Cemetery (Church of England B, Grave number 3476)
Father: Robert BEAVIS
Mother: Anne
Marriage: 1857, registered at Hartismere, Suffolk, England
(Jan-Feb-Mar Hartismere Volume 4a Page 661)
Spouse: Mazellah “Zillah” PALFREY
Occupation: Servant (1851)
Birth: 1834 Bury St Edmonds, Suffolk, England
Baptised: 7th September 1834, Westhorpe, Suffolk, England
Immigration: 30th May 1857, the Hastings arrived Moreton Bay from Liverpool 24th February.
Death: 24th October 1920, North Ipswich aged 86 years
Burial: 25th October 1920, Ipswich General Cemetery (Church of England B, Grave number A2041)
Father: Robert PALFREY/PALPHERY
Mother: Elizabeth BRAME
Children: 10
Sophia BEAVIS (1857-1945) = John PERRETT
Robert BEAVIS (1859-1937) = Anna Catherine GOOS
Henry North BEAVIS (1862-1947)
Walter BEAVIS (1862-1939) = Mary Elizabeth PONTING
Mary Ann BEAVIS (1863-1957) = James Samuel JACOBS
Louisa BEAVIS (1867-1947) = Philip ANGEL
Julia BEAVIS (1870-1870)
Francis BEAVIS (1871-1939) = Alice WILSON
Emily BEAVIS (1873-1955)
Ernest George BEAVIS aka George SEARLE (1879-1945) = 1. Amy TAYLOR 2. Annie O’DRISCOLL née MCNAMARA
I haven’t been able to ascertain the exact birth details for Martin Beavis to date. The shipping record of 1857 states his age as 34, suggesting he was born in 1822/23. His age at death was given as 64 or 65 years old which would have suggested he was born about 1821/22. His death registration names his father as Robert and mother as Anne.
When his wife Zillah died, her obituary stated this: Her husband, who predeceased her 34 years ago, fought in the Indian Mutiny, and received wounds which subsequently resulted in his death.
The Indian Mutiny began on 10th May 1857 and Martin and Zillah were on board the Hastings when it left Liverpool on 24th February 1857. The informant must have been mistaken.
There is a record of a Martin Beavis aged 22 years 6 months, from Norwich, Norfolk, enlisting in the 54th Regiment of Foot at London on 17th November 1841. He would have been born in 1819. He served in Gibraltar, Malta and the West Indies. In August 1848, while serving at St Lucia in the West Indies, this man strained one of his knees while lifting a heavy weight. He had a popliteal artery aneurysm behind his knee joint. It required an operation and as a result of this injury his leg was contracted and could not be extended. He was deemed medically unfit for duty and discharged 11th September 1849.
It is probable that Martin Beavis, the subject of this story, had an artificial limb, because on the 5th September 1883, Charles Rumpf, a baker and storekeeper who ran his buisness from the shop next to the hotel that Martin owned, made a special trip to Ipswich by train and bought an artificial leg back for Martin.
Like Martin’s father, Zillah’s father was also named Robert. He was 26 when he was convicted at Ipswich, Suffolk, of stealing a pig. He was tried on Michaelmas, a Christian Festival, 29th September 1834 and sentenced to 7 years. Her father was transported to Van Diemen’s Land on the Waterloo 18th November 1834. Zillah’s mother then became a Washerwoman and Charwoman to support her family.
Back to Martin and Zillah. Very little sickness occurred during the 93 day voyage of the Hastings. The ship’s Captain, Alexander Newlands, is on my family tree. For 130 years he held the record for racing a ship after commanding the Champion of the Seas on its maiden voyage from Liverpool to Melbourne in 1854.
There were two deaths of infants and five births during the voyage of the Hastings. Zillah was carrying their first child when they left England. Sophia was born at sea in the final weeks of their voyage on the ship’s approach to Tasmania.
The paddle steamer Breadalbane (pictured) bought the immigrants from the ship to the Brisbane Wharves on 3rd June.
The family first settled at Buaraba Station near Esk, which was owned by Mr. Thomas Bell. Work was hard to get and Martin Beavis earned a living as a shepherd, at fencing and at doing general odd jobs, before moving to the One Mile Estate. Their daughter Mary Ann was born there in 1863. Martin found work at Three Mile Creek (Amberley) where was employed by Mr. Pollet Loftus Cardew, an Ipswich solicitor, who ran sheep on his property at the Three Mile.
It was here that he met Daniel Shine who was a wheelwright working on the construction of the bridge across the Three Mile Creek. After the bridge was completed in February 1865, Martin and Daniel Shine took up a fencing contract on Buaraba Station, which was then the property of Sir Joshua Peter Bell (son of Thomas Bell). They divided their attention between the fencing work and shearing on the station, and on Cooyar Station when each shearing season came round.
In 1869 Martin Beavis bought a farm at North Rosewood and started growing cotton.
The family suffered the hardships which befell the lot of the early pioneers. Water was a problem, the nearest source of supply being the Western Creek over a mile away. It had to be carried coolie fashion – two buckets suspended from a piece of wood thrown across the shoulders. Later it was carried on horseback held by a corn sack slit in half.
According to the recollections of their daughter Mary Ann Jacobs, food was not a great problem. The bush gave wild tomatoes and other fruit, and at times when other meat was not available, wallabies were snared and the flesh of the hind legs used for stewing and mincing. The fowls, of course, supplied their eggs, and on many occasions Mary Ann and her siblings walked to Rosewood township to sell them for 8d. a dozen. In those days, tribes of aboriginals roamed the district. Her mother was afraid of them and kept a watchdog which she remembered was called “Dusty.” However, the fears were unfounded for they were never troubled at any time. She remembered corroborees being held on the flats at Rosewood. [1]
Martin was at a public meeting held at Rosewood on 10th September 1870 to make arrangements for establishing a primary school. John Vance was voted to the chair, and a committee was appointed to collect subscriptions and make all necessary arrangements for building a school-house and teacher’s residence. The members were William Mathew, John Vance, Martin Beavis, Richard Mason, John Farrell, James Moran, Walter Bunney, Thomas Smith, Domenico Pedrazinni, Thomas Green and Thomas Smith.
It was reported that one of their sons, probably Henry or Walter, had a bad accident in April 1876. He was out getting bark and was standing with his axe held inwards and pointing towards his left leg. A large branch fell and struck him on the back causing him to fall on his axe, which in turn inflicted substantial wounds. His wounds were initially dressed by a townsperson who had limited medical knowledge, but who also was very concerned about the seriousness of the injury. Being so far from Ipswich, he set about stanching the blood and making the boy as safe as possible to be transported to the hospital. He applied strips of linen saturated in the white of egg as a bandage. This method was used to bring the lips of the cut together and was an excellent application that was always on hand. It was found to never disagree with any wound, which couldn’t be said for common lead-plaster that was also commonly used. The boy was taken on a stretcher to the station, where, by the kindness of the station-master, he was placed on a bed in the brake-van. At the Ipswich hospital Martin’s son was attended by Dr. Gun and was able to recover from the accident. The boy was known as a fine, honest, hardworking lad, well liked by all. [2]
In June 1876 this appeared in the Paper.
In May 1883 Martin acquired the license for the Rosewood Hotel and on 1st September he bought the hotel from Mrs Olivia Vance at an auction. He ran the hotel until October 1884 when he sold it to Conrad Iszlaub. He and Zillah then took on the lease of the Farmers’ Inn at Tallegalla from Michael Goos until April 1885. He had a clearing out sale in August and sold his residence. The family moved to Bundamba where he had purchased a large house and Martin became a storekeeper for a short while. Martin put the property up for sale in October.
Martin didn’t leave a will when he died a year later in 1886. Zillah inherited realty of £200, and personality £50 under probated rules, and £100 under the Succession Duties Act. She inherited land decribed as Allotment 13 of section 5 in the town of Bundanba (sic). After Martin’s death she moved back to Rosewood.
The Beavis’s large house at Bundamba that was put up for sale in 1885 didn’t sell, but instead became the Working Men’s Club. An article was published in the Queensland Times in 1888. [3]
DESTRUCTION OF THE BUNDANBA WORKING MEN’S CLUB.
The peaceful repose of the residents of the township of Bundanba was rudely disturbed, late on Tuesday morning last, by an alarm of “Fire!” And they immediately ascertained that the scene of the conflagration was the building occupied by the Working Men’s Club. It is situated between Messrs. Dobbie’s and R. Miller’s residence, on the main road, and was in charge of Mr. David Roberts, who looked after the property of the club on behalf of its members.
How the fire originated is, at present a mystery, but it commenced in what was known as the bar. Mr. Roberts slept in a bedroom adjoining that department, and the flames made their progress before he discovered them, that it was with difficulty that he and his wife escaped in safety. There was some money in the bar, and he attempted to get possession of it, but he was compelled to retire without obtaining it, being almost suffocated with smoke when he opened the door leading into that apartment.
Within a few minutes of the whistle of the engine, a large number of people had assembled round the fast-disappearing house, which was constructed of wood, and was therefore very flammable. There is a pool of water in close proximity, which comes from the stone quarries on the opposite side of the railway-line, and from this buckets of water were dashed on the burning structure but it was soon apparent that such labour was useless.and the energies of the spectators were devoted to saving the adjoining houses, which were in considerable danger at times, for an occasional slight gust of wind drove the flames in their direction. Had any of those caught alight, nothing could have averted the destruction of the greater number of the shops in Bundanba, but, fortunately, the fire was kept from spreading, and, in about half an-hour, all that was left of the club rooms were a few charred smoking blocks and small pieces of timber.
Senior-Sergeant O’Driscoll was informed of the occurrence, and he lost no time in despatching two mounted constables to the scene. The premises were the property of Mrs. Beavis, of Rosewood, and were insured in the South British Insurance Company for £100, but this amount will not nearly recompense her for her loss, which is computed at over £200. The furniture was insured for £100 in the Royal Insurance Company, but Mr. Roberts estimates that he will suffer to the extent of £40 or £50; while the club also loses considerably.
On 7th July 1890, 11 year old Ernest Beavis was out riding and was thrown from his horse. The horse trod on him and severely injured him about the lower part of his body. He was taken to the Ipswich Hospital and he recovered well.
Prior to the death of a Tallegalla resident Mary Goos in May 1898, Dr. Flynn visited her at home, but Zillah and some other ladies Mesdames Watkins, Klewe, Kapernick, and Brook were in constant attendance during her illness. Mary was only 30 years old and was the wife of Michael Goos, brother of Anna Catherine GOOS who married Zillah’s son, Robert Beavis. Such were the selfless acts of women in these days who frequently acted as substitute nurses and midwives when no other medical assistance was available.
The Beavis’s land at Bundamba came under scrutiny a couple of times, as reported by the Brisbane Courier, Monday, 20 July 1891, page 8 and the Queensland Times, Thursday, 17 May 1906, page 2.
The amount of rates owing on the land in 1906 was £5/16/8. Robert Dobbie had been a Bundamba resident since 1884. He and his brother William were actively engaged was in the coal industry and were the proprietors of the Bonnie Dundee Colliery at Bundamba established in 1903. He acquired the Beavis land in 1906, and by the time he died in 1918, Robert had acquired lots (9, 13 and 14 of section 5).
Zillah died in 1920 at the residence of her daughter, Mary Ann Jacobs, Wyndham-street, North Ipswich, leaving four daughters and five sons, 51 grandchildren, and 28 great grandchildren.
Her daughter Sophia Beavis married John Perrett whose parents settled at Bundamba in 1855. John and Sophia lived their entire lives at Station Hill, Bundamba, which was previously known as Perrett’s Hill.
© Jane Schy, 2024
References:
[1] Queensland Times, Ipswich Herald and General Advertiser, Friday 2 January 1948, page 2
[2] Queensland Times, Ipswich Herald and General Advertiser, Saturday 8 April 1876 page 9
[3] Queensland Times, Ipswich Herald and General Advertiser, Thursday 2 August 1888, page 5
England, Select Births and Christenings, 1538-1975
England & Wales, Civil Registration Marriage Index, 1837-1915
UK, Royal Hospital Chelsea Pensioner Soldier Service Records, 1760-1920
Queensland, Australia, Passenger Lists, 1848-1912
Qld Registry Births, Deaths, Marriages