Magdalen Yabsley (nee Ryder), 1812 – 1896
Magdalen and William Yabsley lived in Plymouth, England with their young daughter Jane. In 1838 William sailed to Australia aboard the Beagle as the ship’s carpenter. He left the ship and made his way north to the Clarence River to try his hand at timber-getting. He sent for Magdalen to join him and she sailed with six-year-old Jane in 1840. Arriving in Sydneytown, William was not there to greet them. Undaunted, Magdalen set sail on a coastal cutter “beyond the settled areas”, having left Jane with relatives in Stonequarry (Picton).
Reunited with William in Woolport (Grafton), they set about building a hut and earning a living cutting timber. When the next baby was due, Magdalen travelled by boat back to ‘civilisation’; bought much-needed supplies; collected Jane, now 8; and with the newborn, returned to their life in the bush. William began to build his first ship on the Clarence river but sold it in unfinished so that the family could move north to the Richmond River, to even more remote bushland where the red cedar was still plentiful.
In winter 1843, just after their first son was born, the family set off on a dray with a year’s worth of provisions – cutting a path through the virgin bush with the bullock team. A journey that should have taken 4 or 5 days, ended up taking 6 weeks as it rained the whole time and they battled mud for the whole 50 miles.
They set up camp at Bulloonah (Ballina) with the other first settlers. William built a small coastal cutter Pelican, and began trading timber to Sydney. After three years they loaded their chattels onto the Pelican for their final move – William had taken over the lease at Brook Station on the junction of the North and South Arms of the Richmond. Here they established the town of Coraki with a store, inn, trading post and shipyard. They bought large tracks of land, built a school, churches, and houses. William erected the largest shipshed in the colonies and built many fine ocean-going ships. Magdalen had six more children and raised her large family in a fine house on the banks of the Richmond, overseeing the business and civic duties.
After William drowned in 1880, Magdalen lived another 16 years, surrounded by grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
[The full story of William and Magdalen Yabsley can be found here]
Jane Cruden Wilson, 1802 – 1897
Jane Wilson, a niece of the Colonial Treasurer, sailed from London with her husband William in December 1832. They arrived at Port Jackson in May 1833.
After some years in Sydney and the Illawarra area, bankruptcy forced Jane, William and their six children to set sail for the Richmond River. They arrived at the entrance in February 1844. Jane and the children stayed in a timbercutter’s hut on the shores of Ballina for a year while William explored the country.
The Wilson family, with a milk cow, embarked on a raft and made the long, slow journey of about seventy-five miles till they came to a place known by the Aborigines as Tuckurimba — meaning the junction of two creeks.
It was here that William had found good squatting land – and had their home built. Jane called the station ‘Lismore’. The scenery here reminded her of Lismore, an island in Loch Linnhe, Argyleshire. In Gaelic, Lismore means ‘a great garden’ or ‘great enclosure’.
Within a few weeks of their arrival they were befriended by an Aboriginal, Queybaum, who was an elder of his tribe. Queybaum and Jackie Gridi with their wives and children moved to ‘Lismore’ Station. It was due to them that the Wilsons had no trouble with the local tribes, Jane was said to have introduced lantana to the Richmond River. The lantana was sent from Sydney by a nurseryman with some plants for the garden at ‘Lismore’.
After ‘Lismore’ Station was sold the Wilsons moved to ‘Monaltrie’ Lismore. Jane lived until she was eighty-nine years old and it was reported that she never had a day’s sickness in her life. *
Caroline Greenhalgh, 1804 – 1913
Caroline Greenhalgh was born near St, Paul’s Cathedral, London, in January 1804. She remembered the soldiers marching through the streets of London to Waterloo. The sailing vessel in which she emigrated brought one of the first batches of free emigrants to Australia. She was eighteen years old and the year was 1822. In Sydney she met and married Joseph Greenhalgh.
Caroline and Joseph came to search for Red Cedar in one of the first small schooners to cross the bar of the Richmond River. The party landed at or near Bulloona, which is now Ballina. They went to Coraki and Gundurimba before finally settling in Lismore.
Caroline was the mother of eleven children and was the smartest cedar dealer on the river. She would look through the logs for flaws and pick out the best cedar for a Sydney or Melbourne buyer.
She later gained employment as the caretaker of Lismore Council. She earned odd shillings by sewing and making paper ornaments and for some years she refused to accept the pension.
Caroline lived in a small cottage near the Convent. A visitor found her at home surrounded by her pets, these being a few Skye terrier dogs, a monkey, a eat, two possums and several parrots. Daily she wheeled a small handcart to town dressed in picturesque attire. One night a kerosene lamp exploded in her home setting her clothes on fire. She was taken to hospital protesting but did not survive the burns and shock. *
Mary Garrard , 1810 – 1873
Mary and Henry Garrard with their three youngest children sailed from Plymouth in April 1838. They left their eldest girl, Julia, in England. They reached Port Jackson in August and settled in the Maitland area.
In 1839 Mary had a son and later in the same year Julia died in England. Four years later, after moving to the Patterson River, the three eldest children returned to England to live with their Uncle.
In 1847 Henry bought ‘Tunstall’ Station covering the area now known as Tuncester, Leycester and south Lismore.
The station was sold in 1855, but before the Garrards left, a number of French, German and Italian migrants came to work there. Mary had been highly educated in London and was a great linguist so she was able to act as an interpreter and to teach them English.
It was at this time that Mary had her eleventh and last child. More people were moving into the area around their new farm ‘Twickenham’. Lismore was gazetted a village the following year and Mary became the person that many people turned to for help with their sick children.
After her husband was thrown from his horse and killed in 1862 she moved with her children to Booerie near Lismore. Soon after Mary obtained cuttings of sugar cane and planted the first cane to be grown on the Richmond River. When the cane was ready to crush her son Sebastian and a farm hand made a crusher with hardwood rollers worked by one horse. Mary’s daughter Annie wrote many years later that “… the crushing was done in the morning, the boiling in the afternoon, then emptied into a sugar bag and hung up to drain. In the morning there was about sixty pounds of beautiful sugar crystals. This caused quite an excitement all over the river, and many samples were given away.”
In 1864 Mary was selling cuttings to the farmers on the Richmond and from this simple beginning grew up a rich industry. *
Mary Bundock & Mary Ellen Bundock 1845 – 1924
Mary Ellen Bundock was born at ‘Merton’ on the Hunter River in 1845. Her father, the squatter W.C. Bundock came north upon the advice of his brother in law E.D. Ogilvie of ‘Yulgilbar’.
Mary Ellen and her brothers and sister Alice spent their days riding horses, fishing in the creeks, making clay dishes and sailing black bean pods down the Richmond River. Regular school hours were kept, their mother offered combined teaching and the household chores. When the children went to boarding schools, they were placed in classes well above those of their own age. Mary Ellen returned home at 17 to help her mother.
Her mother, Mary Bundock Senior, led a very lonely life with infrequent visits to women friends and her brother. Besides doing the washing, cooking and sewing for the whole family which now included eight children. She also planted trees and a garden and regretted the day she introduced water hyacinth in the lagoon at ‘Wyangarie’.
Mary Ellen and her sister Alice were interested in the local Aborigines. They collected weapons, baskets, and campware for the Sydney Museum.
They visited the camps on the selection and watched the corrobborees on the banks of the Pink Lily lagoon. It was from these experiences, Mary Ellen wrote notes on the ‘Richmond River blacks’.
Mary Ellen was the bush doctor for the people of the Upper Richmond and many owed their very existence to her forced study of medicine and surgery. She rode for miles on her horse, setting limbs, delivering babies, and treating general complaints. She would not take payment for her services.
In 1870 Mary Ellen married Tom Murray-Prior and went to live on his property ‘Maroon’, South Queensland. After Tom’s death she managed the property and bought it through difficult times. Mary Ellen wrote a manuscript detailing the early days at ‘Wyangarie’ which is recognized as an important historical document. Mary Ellen travelled overseas to Europe and in 1924, when returning to Australia, she became ill on board the ship and landed in Perth, W.A. where she died. Mary Ellen Murray-Pryor was buried in the family cemetery overlooking the plain of ‘Wyangarie’. *
Maria Meanly
In 1848 Maria Meanly of Somersetshire, England, and her husband John came to Australia, they travelled to the Richmond. John worked for Clark Irving on ‘Cassino’ Station as a butcher. In 1854 he built the Durham Ox Inn on the banks of the Richmond River adjacent to the crossing place. Maria became hostess at the Inn and the first barmaid was Bridget O’Rourke. Maria also assisted in the adjoining store and post office. John drowned in 1860 after his boat capsized whilst he was releasing stranded cedar logs from the flooded Richmond. As he died intestate Clark Irving as administrator, was entrusted with the affairs of his estate.
After John’s death Maria carried on the licence of the Inn. In September 1860, “an alarming fire broke out on the premises known as the Durham Ox Inn occupied by Mrs. Meanly …The loss of property is estimated at about 250 pounds.” This was another setback for Maria.
Horse races, cricket matches and aquatic sports were held from time to time. These events attracted the cedar getters, station hands and squatters to the Inn. Maria was hostess to such visitors as the surveyor F.S. Peppercorne and the Rev. J.D. Lang. The Inn was the nerve centre of the town and was also used for weddings and court proceedings. Maria had seen the settlement grow from a few humble buildings to a busy little township.
In 1865 Maria donated 6 pounds to the Bishopric at Grafton. The authorities removed the post office from the Durham Ox on the 15th April, 1867 due to irregularities of the mail service. In 1869 Maria sold the Durham Ox Inn to Thomas Greenstreet. *
Dr. Margaret Amelia Corlis, 1840 – 1925
Doctor Margaret Amelia Corlis was a school teacher who came from a distinguished line of Canadian educationalists. Her husband, Josiah was a Baptist Minister.
Josiah wanted to be a doctor so he entered McGill University to study Medicine. To finance his studies Margaret ran a ‘board-in’ residence for university students.
After Josiah’s graduation and when their three sons were older she studied Medicine at Queen’s University, Ontario. In 1885. Margaret graduated at the age of 46, being one of the first two women to graduate from the Queen’s. After graduation Margaret went on to obtain a Master of Surgery at the Canadian College of Physicians. Margaret and Josiah started a practice in St. Thomas, Ontario. Dressed in furs from head to toe she cut a dashing figure as she directed her team of horses about the town on her calls.
Margaret and Josiah came to Australia in 1891. She was the first woman to appear on the New South Wales Medical Register. In 1892 she had a practice on the Bellinger River. In 1896 she answered the call for volunteer doctors and joined her husband in treating the epidemic of typhoid on the gold fields in Western Australia. For weeks Margaret and Josiah were separated and she would travel miles on a camel to treat typhoid or injuries caused by inexperience with explosives among the miners.
After eight years in Western Australia, she practiced in Mclean, Ballina, Byron Bay and Bangalow for many years, then retired from medicine to live at Bangalow. Her three sons all graduated in Medicine. *
Elizabeth Cox (nee Palmer), 1850 – 1911
Elizabeth Cox was born in Deptford, England in 1950. She was the first child of John Palmer Junior and Sarah Craythorne. When she was two years old she sailed with her parents and grandparents for Australia. They landed in Sydney and the family decided to try their luck in the bush. They boarded the Rodrick Dhu bound for the Richmond River.
Elizabeth’s grandfather was employed on ‘Runnymede’ station and her father on Cassino station. It was at ‘Cassino’ that she met John George Cox, they married in September, 1868. They settled at ‘Tomki’, near Casino. Their first home was constructed of slabs and had a shingle roof.
She worked beside her husband in felling the timber and clearing the land. Between the fallen trunks they planted corn, pumpkin, potato and arrowroot. She acted as the midwife for the neighbourhood and delivered three hundred and twenty-six babies without loss of life. Elizabeth was also an expert carpenter and on one occasion while waiting for the birth of twins, she built an extra room on the house to accommodate them.
When one of her children was sick she took him on horseback to seek medical attention. Elizabeth held the sick child in her arms and placed the other children on either side in makeshift saddle bags. It was in this fashion that she rode to Byron Bay and back to Casino, arriving home late at night.
Elizabeth could speak the local aboriginal dialect fluently. She was taught to swim by aborigines and was capable of crossing the river with a bag of flour on her head.
She was an accomplished carpenter, an excellent horse rider, midwife of the district and a devoted mother to nine children. *
Emma Pyers
Robert and Clara Pyers had a family of eleven children, Emma being the fifth. Robert Pyers was a timber dealer and ship owner. He commissioned Mr. Lemax a well-known Sydney shipbuilder to build him a steamer. This craft he christened the Emma Pyers after his baby daughter. The story is told of Emma attending the launching with her hair curled with one-pound notes.
The price of timber fell and Robert Pyers started an auctioneering business in Casino. His son George and daughter Emma became partners in the business. An extract from the ‘Casino and Kyogle Courier’ 21st February, 1921 tells part of the story —
“Miss Emma Pyers, who is believed to be the second woman auctioneer in the State, has been granted a licence. The Magistrate asked if any previous application had been made by a lady for a licence. Sergeant Wren said he understood a licence had previously been granted to a lady at Albury.”
After the deaths of her father and brother Emma continued the business. She auctioned pigs, fowls, fruit and vegetables. *
Maud Annie Tate Stocks, 1876 – 1911
Maud Annie Tate Stocks was born to Annie (nee Yabsley) and James Stocks at Caniaba near Lismore in 1876. Her mother Annie died when Maud was two years old.
Maud was assistant pharmacist to her father James Stocks, a chemist of Lismore.
She was twenty-two when she gained registration. Maud was the second woman on the register of assistants of the 1897 Act.
In 1902 Maud was nursing at Casino Hospital when she met Stanley Dart, a patient with typhoid fever. They were married in March, 1904. They moved from the Richmond River area to Minto New South Wales, where she was reported to have a Chemist Shop.
Stanley left for Valparaiso, Chile to work for the Pacific Steam Navigation Co. in 1907. In November of the same year Maud was appointed Dispenser at the Royal Hospital for Women, Paddington at a salary of 52 pounds per annum. In March 1908, her salary was raised to 62 pounds per annum to include dispensing at the Benevolent Asylum.
Stanley returned to Sydney on leave in March, 1908. The following September Maud resigned as their third child was due in January. After the arrival of the baby, Stanley returned to Valparaiso. Maud and her three young children joined him later.
In April 1911, at the age of thirty-four, Maud suffered a severe attack of typhoid fever and died at her home in Cerre Alegre, Chile. *
Mary Magdalene Dent, 1866 – 1964
Mary Magdalene Dent was born in Lismore in 1886. She was educated at St. Carthage’s School and St. Mary’s College. Her musical talents were developed by the Presentation Sisters. Under tuition from Mother Mary Patricia she was awarded the Associate of Trinity College.
For 50 years Mary was conductress of St. Mary’s and St. Carthage’s School, choirs. She also taught singing and music at St. John’s College, Woodlawn and was an Organist at St. Carthage’s Cathedral.
She was associated with the Lismore Musical Festival and an Irish Musical Festival since their inception in the 1930s. During the two wars she helped organize concerts and musical comedies for fundraising to the overall district support of comfort funds. A testimonial was held to her in August 1954 “in recognition of her services to the city”.
In 1962, Mary was presented with a life governorship of the Lismore Musical Festival Society, thus becoming the first woman to obtain the award. The Society has also dedicated a trophy for a competition among women at the Musical Festivals in recognition of her work.
Three of her six children have become music teachers. They are Dorothy Kearney and Sister Patricia, both well known in Lismore, and Ruth Nolan of Kempsey. Mary Dent is remembered as the “Mother” of music in Lismore. *
Lena and Maggie Chisholm
Lena and Maggie Chisholm were the first of Lismore’s young musicians to make a name for themselves abroad. They studied at the Presentation Convent in Lismore under Sister Patricia D’Arcy. At the first Lismore Musical Festival Lena won the under 14 section for violin solo and and Maggie won the under 17 section for piano. Maggie moved to Sydney to study under Signor de Beaupuis.
Both sisters gained scholarship to the Royal College of Music, London. It was here, in 1920, that Lena won a gold medal for the most brilliant student at the College. She was summoned to the Royal Palace and the medal was presented by H.R.H. the Prince of Wales. Lena also won the Royal College prize for the best string player in 1920.
Both followed successful careers in England. Maggie mainly in concert work and Lena performing with several orchestras. *
Jessie Blanch
Jessie Blanch was born at Bangalow and attended Rous Public School. She trained to be a nurse in Brisbane before enlisting during World War II. She spent a year nursing in Malacca tending to wounded soldiers before being evacuated from Singapore when it fell to the Japanese in 1942.
Approximately 250 women and children alongside the 65 nurses squeezed on board the Vyner Brooke, a luxury yacht which was built for about 12 passengers. On the second day at sea, their boat, along with dozens of other boats trying to flee, was attacked by Japanese aircraft and sunk. Those who survived the raids, attempted to swim to shore clinging to debris. Jessie and some other nurses spent 16 hours in the water before finally reaching the shore of a Japanese controlled island. At Banka Island, an infamous slaughter was perpetrated on many of the survivors but luckily Jessie was not in that group.
She spent three and half years in captivity with hundreds of other Dutch, English and Australian women and children encountering atrocious conditions. The nurses were not given the same entitlements as a “prisoner-of-war” and had to endure starvation, disease and torture at the hands of their captors. They were moved several times around different camps, many internees succumbing to the horrendous conditions. During this time Jessie was an inspiration to the other nurses, trying to keep spirits up with her sense of humour and music.
By the time they were liberated in 1945, many had perished from disease and starvation and unfortunately only 24 of the nurses from the ship made it back to Australia. Jessie received one of the three Associate of Red Cross medals. She later married and spent the last few years of her life in Alstonville. Jessie Blanch’s story can be found here.
Casino’s Darkest Hour
In the latter half of 1918 pneumonic flu swept the world, and the medical authorities predicted an outbreak in Australia. In November, 1918, the Board of Health advised the Casino Council to make preparations for an outbreak of the disease.
A former nursing sister, Matron Ferguson, recruited Voluntary Aid Detachment (V.A.D.) nurses and instructed them in treatment procedures. On 21st of May 1919, the first death from the flu was registered in Casino.
By 9th of July, 1919, there were one hundred and fifty victims and thirteen deaths. An appeal went out for help and married women with nursing experience were asked to come forward. The Mother Superior from Cowper Orphanage and four Sisters of Mercy arrived in Casino from Grafton to assist in nursing duties. By 23rd of July there were thirty-seven deaths. Three of the deaths were V.A.D.s: A. Norton, Delvin and Nurse Guiren. At the end of August the flu epidemic had gone, however, 45 had died and over six hundreds had been hospitalised. *
Sister Ellen Riordan
Ellen Riordan was born in 1889 to John and Elizabeth Riordan of ‘Bella Vista’, Steve Kings Plain, Wyrallah. After training and nursing at Sydney’s Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Nellie enlisted on June 16, 1915 as a staff nurse. She embarked on July 29, as a member of 14th Australian General Hospital aboard the hospital ship, HMAT Kanowna, transporting wounded soldiers from Gallipoli during the ANZAC campaign. She was appointed Matron-in-Chief at Choubra Infectious Hospital in Cairo, Egypt.
In March 1916, she returned to Australia, nursed at Randwick Military Hospital and also served on hospital ships here from July to September that year then she embarked for Salonika, Greece where she stayed until the armistice. She received the Greek Medal of Military Merit in 1919 from King Alexander for her nursing services to Greece.
Nell returned to Australia on July 13, 1919, and the Wyrallah Red Cross entertained her at afternoon tea in the Protestant Hall.
The speeches stated that the town was pleased to welcome back Sister Nellie Riordan, who had represented them at the front for four years. During that time she had endured many hardships, and had seen a good deal of the horrors of war, and had twice done the journey to Europe and back. The later part of her experience had been in Salonika, and this was the most arduous owing to the rigor of the climate. However, they were all pleased to welcome her back looking none the worse for the trials of hospital nursing in war time, thus showing that the spirit and endurance of the Australian women was equal to that of the men.
Both her brothers had also served in WWI and survived.
In 1930 she travelled to East Africa to marry civil engineer Cyril Tucker in Mombasa. She nursed in military and civilian hospitals in Kenya and Abyssinia (now Ethiopia) and then went on to serve in the Second World War. A courageous nurse, she won seven medals during both wars. She finished her military service before continuing her nursing career in Australia, eventually retiring to Coraki.
In 1968, Sister Ellen Tucker (nee Riordan) was accepted into the Gallipoli Legion of ANZACS
Acknowledgements: The paragraphs marked with * were reprinted with permission from Marcia Ritchie who first compiled these vignettes into a 1983 journal.
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