Charlotte Bruce was known as ‘Cousin Brucie’. She married Frederick Harcourt-Hamblin of Demerara, in 1879. Little is known of him but he was probably in the Government service and he died young leaving his widow with two small children, Bruce and Mehetabel. She returned to live with her parents at Kingston House in Georgetown and after her mother's death kept house for the Bishop. Her son died at school in England in 1890 of some childish complaint but her daughter married Richard Preston, the son and private secretary of the then governor of British Guiana, Lord Gormanston, an impoverished Irish peer. They had five children, Anthony, Jennico, Elizabeth, Dianne and Christopher. The family were Roman Catholic and Mehetabel changed her faith. That the Anglican Bishop's grand-daughter should take this step scandalised her relations and was a shock to the entire community.
Was probably in Government service in Georgetown but died young leaving a widow and 2 small children.
Died at school of some childish complaint
104. John Gardiner Austin
J.G.A. was born in Demerara and with Toto and his baby sister Belle spent a few formative early years England, where he must have acquired that love for ‘Home’ which lasted throughout his life and which he passed on to his eldest daughter, another Mehetabel.
When ‘Papa’ or ‘the Governor’ was obliged for financial reasons to return to Demerara, J.G.A. was sent with Toto to Queen's College where the education must have been of a high quality judging by his letters which are those of a cultured young man, although he himself regretted his lack of higher education.
On leaving school at the age of 16, he had a temporary post in the Secretariat, taking in the place of a friend, Euan Lucie-Smith who was ill for some months. Later, J.G.A. must have been appointed officially for he remained there two years. In an early letter to Belle he writes:-
‘I have given up all hope of seeing you at Home, even if Mama goes. Indeed, unless I had a good deal of money I don't see any use for I am rather too old for school and not old enough for college. You will be glad to hear that I have saved from my six months' salary $300.00 which is not to be despised. I only hope that I may soon get another situation so that I can go on adding to the heap, but I am afraid it will be fearfully diminished if I don't. My present views are - after working here until I am 20 (I will be 17 next month) - I hope to have saved enough to keep me for two years at Home if possible. I would like to go to college and join the Church, but if I can't do that I will spend the greater part of my time on the Continent and then I will have to look for something else out here again.’
His hopes of going to college were never realised and the following year he wrote sadly: -
‘When I reach England, if ever this should take place, it will be almost too late. Youth, the season of education, will have passed and then what can I be but an ignoramus?’
However he took piano lessons, practised hard and recounts to Belle that he could play a polka ‘but not fast enough to dance to!’ Later on, in Barbados, he had no money for music lessons nor time to practise, always a matter for regret to him.
These early letters give us an insight of the social life of the colony in the mid-nineteenth century, with descriptions of balls at Government House, theatricals and tableaux vivants.
Towards the end of 1856 the young man was offered a post in Barbados by ‘Uncle Rennie’ who had married J.G.A.’s mother's sister, Fanny Wilday (See Chapter 17, The Rennie and Wilday Families). Uncle Rennie was a partner in the Colonial Company of which Michael Cavan & Company in Barbados was a subsidiary.
This firm, which gave its name to Cavan’s Lane in Bridgetown, was founded in 1797 by James Cavan, an Irishman who came to Barbados from Virginia. He was later joined by his brother Michael. They did not confine their business activities to the island for they had also founded a firm in London, first known as Cavan Bros: & Company and this eventually became the Colonial Company.
Michael Cavan died in 1832, and was buried in a vault in St Michael’s Cathedral. He was succeeded in partnership by his nephew Michael McChlery, who had joined the firm a few years earlier.
The ‘Barbadian Newspaper’ of Nov: 5th 1836 records that ‘the branch of the Colonial Bank under the agency of Mr Michael McChlery will transact business at Cavan's House at the Pierhead.’ The Colonial Bank, founded by Royal Charter in 1836 is now Barclays International.
In 1838 the same newspaper states that Cavans would receive silver dollars at 6/6 currency and doubloons at £5.
During this early period the firm operated it’s own shipping line. In April the ‘Barbadian Newspaper’ gives an account of a fleet of new ships belonging to Michael Cavan & Company adding ‘there is another being built at Bristol of 5,000 tons to be called the ‘Enmore’ after the old established residence of the firm on the outskirts of the city.’ However, they ceased to operate their own vessels when appointed agents for the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company. It was in this firm that J.G.A. was offered a junior clerkship at a salary of $60 a month. Promotion in the Government Service was slow and in 1856 prospects in Cavan’s were far better. It was impossible to foresee the great depression of the decades to follow when the bottom fell out of the sugar market. In later years J.G.A. would speak wistfully of his contemporaries in the Secretariat in Demerara who had risen high in the Colonial Service. Perhaps he would have been better suited temperamentally to that type of career rather than to the ruthless competition of the business world.
However when he arrived in Barbados in January 1857 all was set fair. He was a little homesick at first but soon made friends and entered into ‘society’ and was as good a snob as any. His friends included the Pitchers and the Thomases, with the latter he spent weekends at Villa Nova in St John. He was often entertained at Bishop’s Court by the Parrys to whom he had probably brought an introduction from his Uncle Piercy, the Bishop in British Guiana. The Parrys had six daughters so there was young company to enjoy.
Time passed pleasantly enough, although he longed to get away and see his family, especially Belle. He evidently enjoyed his job and worked hard although he complains occasionally of the boredom of sewing on his own buttons, the mosquitoes and the heat. To escape the worst of the hot weather the bachelor clerks of Cavans moved from their ‘Mess’ over the Pierhead office to Merrywing Hall in Christchurch, which J.G.A. says was like ‘another clime’. The young men rode their horses back and forth each day between the city and their temporary country home. Merrywing Hall stood on the site now occupied by Blue Waters. He enjoyed his recreations, mentioning particularly the exhilarating sea bathing at Hastings. In 1861 he describes the festivities attendant on the visit of Prince Alfred, Queen Victoria’s second son, during which J.G.A. acted as an extra A.D.C. to the Governor. He saw a good deal of his cousin, Preston Bruce Austin, Vicar of St James Church and on one occasion he accompanied Uncle Rennie on business to Trinidad to visit the Company’s estates in that island.
He mentions many ‘young ladies’ who had to be ‘ladylike’ to meet with his approval, but it was not until 1864, aged 25, that he met his future wife (Dorothy Frere Grant, 1840-1916, known as Dora). On 10th February that year he wrote excitedly to Belle:-
‘...though it is nearly 2 o’clock, I cannot let this mail go away without conveying to you myself the all-important intelligence that I’ve ‘been and gone and done it’- in fact that a certain lady, Dora Grant by name, with very pretty eyes has taken pity on my forlorn condition and has promised to see me safely through this vale of tears...Papa, no doubt, will make you a more trustworthy description than I can. My only regret is that she is barely recovered from a bad attack of fever in which she has lost most of her beautiful dark hair. Dora is the daughter of a clergyman here, is 23, about your height, large bright eyes and is very clever and sensible.’
The path of true love did not, at first, run at all smoothly. They had planned to get married soon, as J.G.A. was to go on a business trip to England, followed by some leave. He had hoped to take Dora with him as his wife and introduce her to his family there, but for some reason the engagement was frowned upon. Dora was but a poor clergyman's daughter and perhaps Papa had hoped for a better match for his handsome young son. There is also a legend that Uncle Rennie would have liked his daughter Agnes to marry J.G.A. At all events this letter is sent to sister Belle on the 25th April 1864:-
‘... You will have heard ere of this of the kettle of fish and bobbery kicked up by my engagement. It is no use fretting, so unpleasant though the sentence is, it must be endured. Dora and I are still young so can afford to wait. It is true that a few days ago I was not in so reasonable and philosophic a frame of mind, but time brings reflection and I am bound to admit that my seniors have a right to feel annoyed. I send you a bad photo of Dora but the only one worth anything and one of your humble servant.’
J.G.A. went to England alone, via North America. From New York he wrote to his mother, then in England but preparing to journey herself to British Honduras to join Papa. The time was that the American Civil War.
‘July 20th 1864.
... We left Jamaica on the 10th and arrived here on the night of the 17th so that in point of time we had a splendid passage, but as regards comfort and meals it was the reverse. There were only two of the sailors who knew anything about steering and we had no mate nor a barometer. We had two squalls, our cabins leaked like sieves, the floor was covered with two inches of water. We have to thank God for a tight little vessel for our swift passage. When just off the harbour entrance we sighted a Pilot Boat and our fool of a Captain, instead of showing our colours, said it was unnecessary. The upshot of this was that we were mistaken for a Confederate cruiser and away went the Pilot Boat at a fearful speed as it was blowing a gale. We at last put up a signal but it was an hour or two before it was answered. You of course have heard of the boldness of the ‘Tallahassie’ coming into New York harbour and capturing several vessels. We anchored on the lower Quarantine Ground for the night, about 50 miles below New York. The next morning, the Health Officer boarded us and we were all in fear and trembling for small pox had broken out in our ship. However, after an hour’s delay we were released but the steamer and all our baggage were quarantined. The ladies were not even allowed to land their reticules. The steamer that took us up to New York had two vessels to tug it, so it was not long before we landed. We had eaten no dinner so you may imagine with what vigour we attacked the good cheer afforded us at the Fifth Avenue Hotel. Then, chartering a trap we went to drive in the Park (probably Central Park). It is very pretty but all is new, the trees only 4 or 5 foot high and the stone and masonry white. The Yanks are trying to copy the Bois de Boulogne. We strolled down Broadway to Nibbles Theatre but soon came out as the acting was villainous and the heat intense. After strolling for a little and after some refreshment, we sank into the luxurious beds. I woke refreshed and after a bath was set up for the day, but the nuisance of having no clothes was very great so after investing in a toothbrush (60 c!!!) I turned in at a Barbers’ and got shaved and brushed, then went down to Wall St. to enquire about our baggage, for the steamer had been released during the night. It was only after five hours hard driving, walking and boating that I got my luggage. To effect this I spent $3.00 boat hire, $3.50 bus ditto. Bribe to the Customs official £1. Champagne for the brute $1.20 besides taking a bundle of my best cigars, to save, as he said, duty! Travelling is done quickly now, weeks instead of months. I leave New York for Gaspe, Canada, one day next week, return to complete my business in Baltimore and Philadelphia and then will start for England.’
The next letter is to his mother from Montreal in which he describes his journeying to Niagara, to Lake Ontario, shooting the rapids on the way which is ‘great fun’ and the American boats are ‘floating houses’. He has invitations to spend days in every state in the Union. Poor Dora!
However their marriage took place on March 14th 1866 at St Michael’s Cathedral in Bridgetown, the ceremony being performed by the bride's father Francis Bell Grant. Dora blamed Uncle Rennie for the postponement of their marriage. In due course, she had seven sons, each of whom bore a family name such as Wilday, Gardiner etc: but Rennie was conspicuous by its absence, although Mr Rennie of London was godfather to their third son.
The first home of the young couple was at Little Waterford in Hastings Road (now apartments) and there in the following year their eldest child Mehetabel Emma was born. Later they moved to The Farm in Passage Road which was a large family establishment, partly inhabited by some of Dora’s relations. Here three boys were born, the first of whom lived only a month and the second two years, sad and deeply felt losses for the young parents, but their third boy survived, another John Gardiner Austin who rose to the rank of Brigadier in the Army and died at the age of 86.
Things were going well in business and in 1872 the head of the firm, Mr Baird, a Scotsman, retired and J.G.A. aged 34 succeeded him as senior partner. The family moved to Enmore, the old established residence on the outskirts of the city mentioned by the ‘Barbadian Newspaper’.
Enmore is the name of a Somersetshire village and it is probable that from the early days of colonisation there was a house or cottage of that name near Bridgetown, called thus perhaps by a homesick West Countryman.
The two Cavan brothers, founders of the firm, had bought a parcel of land north of an adjoining property belonging to the Martindale family. The road bounding the two properties is still called Martindale’s Rd. The house, Enmore, the Cavans built on their land was designed as the residence of the senior partner of their firm. They furnished it handsomely, sending to London for furniture and canteens of silver (some of which still survives) so that they could entertain in style. This house was considerably damaged by the 1831 hurricane but was rebuilt during the ensuing years and the present building dates from that period. It is two storied, constructed of blocks of the local coral sandstone with a parapet roof to reduce danger from hurricane, the rooms of pleasant proportions and surrounded on three sides by wide, shady verandas, these paved in grey and white marble squares. This material was employed extensively at this time. Being brought out in ballast from Europe it was comparatively cheap to use as well as being elegant in appearance.
The baths were made of marble, one big enough for the children to use for swimming, the goldfish swam in a marble pool and even the kitchen sinks were of marble. The house had all the amenities of that era, including a beehive-shaped hurricane shelter, a well with windmill to supply the water which was brought by conduit and ‘drip-stones’ for purifying and cooling it for drinking. There was an enclosed yard with airy rooms for the women servants (slavery had been abolished in 1834) whilst the men servants were accommodated over the coach house and stables. There was also a wine cellar which may have been a vestige of the older house. There were wide pastures of guinea and sour grass to feed the horses in and in one paddock roamed deer imported from Canada.
The first inhabitants of this mansion were the Cavan brothers, then Mr McChlery, then Mr Baird himself (referred to by J.G.A. as ‘Old Gorilla’), then J.G.A. himself.
With his occupation a turtle crawl was built, for turtle meat and soup were popular in these days of opulent dining and J.G.A. was hospitable and loved entertaining. Part of the grounds were levelled and turned into grass tennis courts. The Enmore Tennis Club met every Tuesday afternoon for over 20 years and, in the opinion of its members, to belong to this club was the hallmark of ‘good society’.
The next few years passed happily and the family increased to eight. Relatives and friends from Demerara and elsewhere were welcome guests at Enmore, the visits either social or for convalescence after illness. Trips to England were regular and on one of these occasions the eldest daughter was left at school at ‘Home’.
J.G.A. had also been appointed honorary consul by Norway, Sweden and France. Although honorary, there was nevertheless a great deal of work and responsibility attached to the appointments, particularly with regard to shipping, and later he was honoured by being made a Knight of the Scandinavian orders of St Olaf and of Vasa.
Towards the end of the 1870’s the price of sugar went down and down. The effect of this was felt by merchants as well as by planters whose estates were often thrown into Chancery. The good times were at an end. In the middle 80’s it proved impossible to maintain Enmore. It was sold and the family moved to Bay Cottage, a far more humble dwelling next to the Great House (Bay Mansion) of the old Bay Estate, facing the sea. Transport from Bay Cottage to Bridgetown by mule train was easier than it had been at Enmore and it was, here that the five boys, ‘Ruff’, Arthur, Harold, Malcolm, Frank and the two girls, Daisy (D.H.A.) and Mabel spent their schooldays. There was no question now of their being sent to England, and the boys were educated at Harrison College and the girls at Queen’s College, but somehow the eldest girl was kept at ‘Home’ until she grew up.
These years were saddened for J.G.A. by the deaths of his own brothers and sisters. By the early nineties he and Belle were the only two left of that big family.
Enmore had been bought by a Mrs St Hill whose relations lived nearby at Stockton. On her death it was found that she had left instructions in her will that J.G.A., for whom she had an affectionate respect, was to have the first opportunity of buying back the property should he be able to offer any reasonable amount for it. Such was the poverty of the times that big houses with several acres of land were changing hands for a few hundred pounds. J.G.A. did not even have this small amount but his children were growing up, one son at least was a wage-earner, and they all agreed to contribute their savings, most of which must have been gifts from godparents and relatives or their shares in the fleet of lighters operated by Cavan’s. Belle sent money from Sweden and a certain amount was left on mortgage, so in 1898 the family moved back to their dearly-loved home, just in time for the hurricane of September that year. This hurricane was not to be compared in violence with that of 1831 and the house was not seriously damaged.
J.G.A.’s last years were clouded with business worries and anxieties which affected his health. Early in 1902 he died suddenly of an aneurism of the heart and with him the old firm of Cavan’s ceased to exist and went into bankruptcy.
Enmore was left to his widow, Dora, who continued to live there with the unmarried children. Her son Harold worked successfully to revive the family firm, under the name of Gardiner Austin & Company and was later joined by his youngest brother, Francis. Such was the respect felt for J.G.A. in the business world that most of the agencies for which Cavan’s had been responsible were now handed on to his sons in the new firm. One of the most important was that of Lloyds and J.G.A.’s grandson, Bruce Wilday Gardiner Austin, was invited to London by the directors of Lloyds to receive a silver plaque, given to the firm of Gardiner Austin & Co. in recognition of over 100 years of faithful service. This was the third silver plaque in the western hemisphere to be awarded, only New York and Montreal being senior to Barbados.
The Scandinavian consulships too were passed on. In due course Harold became a Knight of Vasa and Francis became a Knight of St Olaf. After the Second World War, Francis’ son Bruce, mentioned above, who had succeeded him as Consul for Norway, was also made a Knight of the same order - three generations of unbroken service to the Kingdom of Norway.
On Harold’s marriage in 1904, his mother decided to vacate the house in his favour, he to pay her a rent of £100 p.a. The small mortgage outstanding was paid off by Harold’s bride with wedding present money. Dora and D.H.A. left Barbados for England where they spent the rest of their lives.
In 1916 Dora Austin died leaving Enmore and its contents to Harold, with the exception of certain bequests itemised separately. The reason for this, given in her will, was that he was the son ‘in possession’.
The house was once again a family home and the tradition of hospitality was kept up until the death of its owner, then Sir Harold Austin, in 1943. It was sold and eventually the site was redeveloped and became a hospital.
Now the old deer paddock is covered with buildings and the land where once the elite of Barbados society played tennis is built over with accommodation for medical staff. The ruins of the old windmill alone remain as a reminder of the past.
Dora Frere Grant was the daughter of Rev. Francis Bell Grant (1811-1888) and Annette Moore. The Rev. Grant was from an old and prominent Barbados family. He lived and worked mainly in Barbados, though he spent seventeen years in Antigua. He kept diaries and those that have survived are for the six years 1867 and 1870-1874. The originals of these diaries are in the Rhodes House Library, Oxford.
"Here lies Dorothy Frere
wife of J.G.A.
of Enmore in the island of Barbados
on July 10 1840
and died in London on June
25 1916
Her sons and daughters have
placed this stone here to
the loved memory
of their mother."
247. Charles Pierrepoint Gardiner Austin
He lived for less than a month
248. Jeffrey Hugh Gardiner Austin
He was the third child of John Gardiner Austin Jnr and Dora Grant.
251. Dora Helen Annette Austin
Born in Barbados and known to her close family as Daisy, D.H.A. is acknowledged earlier in this book. She collected and kept many of the family papers on which the book is based, probably saving them from destruction, and added her notes to them. She died in England.
253. Mabel Louise Frere Austin
She was born in England and became known to her nieces and nephews as Aunt Mab. In 1903, she married Charles Edward Yearwood, B.A., LL.B. (1877-1934), but they had no children. Charles went to Pembroke College, Cambridge and became a Barrister-at-Law. Mab and Charles lived for many years in Winnipeg. It is said that after he died she ‘took his ashes around with her in a little box’. Mabel spent her last years in England at the house of her niece Dorothy Louisa Woollcombe (née Austin).
She was an outstanding personality and a senior member of the family for many years. She outlived her own generation by over 40 years and was ‘Aunt Belle’ to numerous nephews, nieces and their children many of whom had never met her.
Belle was born in Demerara on Leap Year Day 1840 and as a baby shared in the migration of the family to England and the ‘country gentleman’ episode in Warwickshire. She must have been about four when her parents returned to Demerara with the two older brothers and two younger ones born in England. We know little of the ten years she then spent in Demerara except that her mother was considered very modern and rather daring in allowing her daughter to discard frilly pantalettes, the proper dress for little girls of the period, despite the tropical heat. She must have had a governess for there was no girls school in Georgetown and she was described by a slightly older cousin, in later years, as ‘such a handsome girl’ being fresh-complexioned and blue-eyed.
At fourteen Belle was despatched to her grandmother in Bonn, spending a few days in Trinidad with Burnett relations en route. Seventy years later she described to a great-niece, with great accuracy, the appearance of Bonn, the capital. From Bonn she began a correspondence with her brother J.G.A. (then 16 years old), his part of which for the next ten years has survived. She learned German, although no great linguist, and studied music and singing with masters. Two years later she was joined in Bonn by Mama and the younger children.
By the time Belle was grown up, her father had embarked on his expedition to China and had settled his family (except for the two elder boys left behind to work in Demerara) at Porchester Terrace, Bayswater, where there was much entertaining among a wide circle of friends, both colonial and English. She went to concerts and theatres and J.G.A. makes occasional sly references to ‘admirers’.
In 1862 he wrote an excited letter of congratulation on her engagement, not unmixed with sadness that he would no longer be of first importance in her life. Her betrothed was a young Swedish widower, Axel Dickson, who was of Scottish descent but born and brought up in Sweden. He was one of four brothers, the family having made a fortune in the timber trade, supplying pit props for coal mines. Their London agents were the Parks, family friends of long standing. Axel’s first wife Charlotte Wilson Dudgeon (1829-1860) had been a Scotswoman who died leaving him with three little girls.
The engagement was not long and the wedding took place at Holy Trinity near Westbourne Grove in July 1862. The honeymoon was spent in Paris after which Belle found herself chatelaine, at the age of 22, of a huge house near Gothenburg called Kyleberg (pronounced Chuleberg). There was a large staff, on a feudal scale, of indoor and outdoor servants. One of Belle’s first tasks was to learn Swedish which she never spoke really well. Her husband and children often poked gentle fun at her mistakes in grammar and pronunciation. Many of the necessities of life, butter, soap and candles were made on the estate. Belle’s clothes, and later those of the daughters, came from Paris.
The year following the wedding J.G.A. wrote an enthusiastic letter of welcome to a niece, another Mehetabel but known as Lillabell and he accepted the responsibility of being her godfather. All letters after this contain ‘love to my little god-daughter’. Members of Belle’s family frequently visited her at Kyleberg and her youngest sister, Helen, who was not much older than the eldest step-daughter, shared a governess with the step-children.
Years passed happily and Belle’s own family increased to nine, all born in Kyleburg. They were: Mehetabel Emma, known as Lillabell (1863-1948), Louisa Helen (1866-1959), Edith Alleyne (1868-1906), Axel James Austin (1869-1945), Constance Agnes Piercy (1871-1961), known as Connie, Ethel Margaret (1872-1872), Gertrude Caroline, known as Caline (1873-1969), Oscar Charles William (1875-1950), and Grace Mary (1877-1962). A note of some of the descendants of these children is given in Chapter 17.
Then there was a serious financial crisis. Axel had lent a considerable amount money to his friend, a local bank manager. This manager misappropriated the bank’s funds and Axel lost all the money he had lent. In addition, Axel felt obliged to compensate the bank’s customers. As a consequence, he had to sell Kyleburg and became virtually bankrupt, even selling his prized watch. The family moved nearer to Stockholm where one of Axel’s brothers owned a large property called Skeppsta, once owned by Count Warendorf, the illegitimate son of the Kaiser. On this property there was a hunting box, so called, but actually a large and roomy house which may have seemed small to the Dicksons but palatial to the Austin cousins.
Axel was appointed land agent and looked after the forest and scattered farms which were all part of the estate. There was a big garden and in the grounds a lake on which there was boating in summer and skating in winter. The move took place in the late seventies or early eighties and Skeppsta provided a happy holiday home for J.G.A.’s children in the years that followed.
Axel nearly saw the new century in, dying in 1899, sometime after which Belle, together with two unmarried daughters, moved to the little township of Södertälje on the Gota Canal, joining Lake Mälar to the sea and about 50 miles from Stockholm. Here she spent the remainder of her life, dying at Torekällgatau, a large villa set in its own grounds.
Her 100th birthday on 29th February 1940 was a great occasion, tributes of gifts and flowers coming from far and near, including personal greetings from the Swedish royal family. Unfortunately it was wartime so no English relations could be present. She lived for three more years, succumbing to an attack of ’flu in 1943. Her funeral took place at Södertälje church.
Up till the time of her death she retained all her faculties, keeping up an enormous correspondence with relations to the third and fourth generation writing to them for any special occasion. She crocheted shawls (some of which are still intact) for new family babies and knitted socks for the troops, particularly for the Finns, whose country to her indignation had been invaded by Russia.
On the whole Swedish sympathies during the Second World War were with the Axis. Not so Belle’s. She would hear no talk of an Allied defeat and remained stoutly British though she died before she could see her faith justified.
Was of Scottish descent but born and brought up in Sweden. He was one of four brothers, the family having made a fortune in the timber trade, supplying pit props for coal mines. Their London agents were the Parks, family friends of long standing. Axel’s first wife Charlotte Wilson Dudgeon (1829-1860) had been a Scotswoman who died leaving him with three little girls.
James Dickson (1748-1826) was from Montrose, Scotland, but emigrated to Sweden. He was in the timber business and became very wealthy exporting pit props for coal mines. He married Christian Murie (1755-1813) and they had ten children. Of these, we know that two married and had children and numerous descendants. One of James’ sons, also James (1784-1855), married Margaretha Eleonora Bagge (1795-1857) and they had six children. Of these, Axel (1826-1899) married first Charlotte Wilson Dudgeon (1829-1860), and second Mehetabel Piercy Austin (1840-1943).
Axel (1826-1899) married first Charlotte Wilson Dudgeon (1829-1860), having three daughters, Blanche, Florence and Alice, and second Mehetabel Piercy Austin (1840-1943). Axel and Mehetabel had nine children. The five who married and who were all born in Sweden.
Mehetabel Emma ‘Lillabell’ Dickson (1863-1948) who married Karl Henrick August Fries (1861-1943) but had no children. Karl was head of the YMCA in Geneva, where he and Mehetabel lived before retiring to Sweden.
257. Louisa Helen Dickson
Louisa Helen Dickson (1866-1959) who married Charles Daniel Tottie (1855-1938), a Colonel in the Swedish Army. They had no children of their own, but adopted Henry and James
He married Lata Emily Gertrude Jamesson in 1895 and they are believed to have had a son, Hugh of whom nothing is known. Hugh Leith Gordon died in Honolulu.
119. Rev. Preston Bruce Austin LL.D.
He was born in Wales and took his degree at Trinity Hall, Cambridge. He was ordained a deacon in 1851, and received an LL.B. degree in 1857 and an LL.D. in 1876. He was a priest in British Guiana in 1852 and must have spent some time there for J.G.A., who knew him well and thought him a splendid fellow, wrote in 1855 ‘Uncle Piercy, Uncle Charles and Aunt F. dined with us last night. Francis could not come, poor fellow, as he was bothered with a meeting of Preston’s old friends, the Old Women who accuse him now of taking their money.’
Preston was then in England and in touch with J.G.A.’s sister, Belle, for J.G.A. writes to her:
‘Tell Preston that he ought to send something for the Kitty Church’ (evidently then being built) ‘as the people there were always such favourites of his. In fact, they are, I believe, the best people in Demerara, they turn out in large gangs and take timber, bricks etc, to the site of the new church without any charge’.
Preston spent some time in Germany (possibly as English Chaplain at a Spa) and was not in Barbados when J.G.A. arrived there in 1857 but was expected at the end of the following year.
J.G.A. writes from Merrywing Hall, Rockley, to which Cavan’s Mess had moved for the hot weather: ‘The town is intensely hot and Preston would do well to delay his coming as long as possible’ adding primly ‘I am sorry to hear he has bought a dog-cart, which does not become a clergyman.’
In the next letter to Belle, Preston is expected in a fortnight’s time and was to go to Dayrell’s, a small estate about four miles from Bridgetown. By the following year he was settled at St James’ Church, first as curate but soon as Rector for J.G.A. writes to his sister:
‘Preston his been inducted into the living. Is he not a lucky fellow? Only out here two years and to obtain what many a poor devil has been mainly wishing for ... Those who know him say the Bishop has made a good selection. He was formally inducted on Saturday and mounted a swell up and down coat and M.B. waistcoat.’ (whatever that might be)
We do not know whether Preston lived at a rectory or at nearby Husbands, a property he had acquired by his marriage (‘for money’) to Ann Eliza Griffith who had inherited it from Goodridge relations. D.H.A. writes that Annie ‘was something of an heiress and perhaps spoilt. She was kind and affectionate but neither wise nor intelligent - not the wife for a man like Preston.’ The old mill at Husbands, bearing the date 1729, is still in existence.
J.G.A. was very attached to this second cousin and spent many weekends at his house in St James, riding along the coast road from Bridgetown. He was godfather to the third son, another Preston Bruce, who was nicknamed ‘Snobbie’.
During Preston Bruce’s rectorship a new church, St John the Baptist, was built in St James parish on land given by the then owner of Holder’s Plantation. The Governor and churchwardens, accompanied by Preston, rode around the district and finally decided on a site near Thorpe’s.
Preston stayed in St James from 1860 until 1865. From 1875 to 1880 he was Rector at St Philip. During this time the Pope-Hennessy riots took place and Preston, who somehow combined the duties of a rector of a parish with those of editor of a newspaper, the ‘Agricultural Reporter’, was amongst the commissioners chosen to go to the Colonial Office in London to represent local opposition to Governor Pope-Hennessy’s scheme for federation of the Windward Islands and the consequent loss to Barbados of the privilege of self-government. Perhaps this was because he had signed a ‘Petition to the [Barbados] House of Assembly on the Religious and Social Conditions of the Labouring Classes’. (Federation of the West Indies was finally inaugurated in 1958, but failing dismally after a trial of five years, was dissolved.)
In 1880 D.H.A. records that Preston left the West Indies and the Church ‘under a cloud’. The nature of this cloud she does not disclose, but Preston does not appear to have been unfrocked. The next twenty years of his life were spent in England and for some time he was Rector of All Hallows, Lombard Street, London. On the death of his wife in 1900 he returned to Barbados to live with one of his sons until his own death in 1908.
His grave is at St John the Baptist Church, St James, of which he is described as ‘the Founder’.
266. Rev. Piercy Griffith Bruce Austin
He was born in Barbados and became a chaplain in the Indian Army. He married Evelyn Oldfield. He died at Buntingford, Hertfordshire.
268. Rev. Preston Bruce Austin
He was a student at Codrington College, Barbados, became a barrister and took Holy Orders. At his ordination in St George’s Pro-Cathedral in Georgetown in 1890, the sermon was given by Archdeacon Thomas Farrar, who had married into the Austin family. Preston was an assistant master at Queen’s College, Georgetown, and Assistant Curate at the Pro-Cathedral. Sometime later he was unfrocked for ‘serious misdemeanours’. These appear to have been his gambling habits. He liked playing cards and on one occasion the game lasted all night and into the next morning. Preston was due to officiate at the early morning communion, but as he was on a winning streak, he persuaded one of the other players to put on a frock and take his place at the altar. That it was not Preston taking the communion was found out and it did not please the Bishop. This incident may have been the last straw on the camel’s back that caused him to be unfrocked. Preston died in London.
He was born in Barbados but lived Trinidad and the USA (he was in Los Angeles in 1927). He died a bachelor.
270. Charles Ware Bruce Austin
He was a planter in Barbados, having inherited Apes Hill Plantation in St Thomas’ parish. He married the widow (Ethel, née Newcombe) of his brother Wiltshire Stanton Austin. He represented St James parish in the Barbados House of Assembly for twenty years.
272. Alleyne Bruce Austin
He was baptised in St James, Barbados, but there is no information on him.
273. Maurice Bruce Austin
Known as ‘Hoax’, he was physically handicapped and died young
120. Archdeacon Francis Webster Austin
Francis was born or baptised in Clapham, Surrey and went to school in King’s College, London. He went up to Jesus College, Cambridge, received his B.A. in 1855 and M.A. in 1876. He was ordained deacon in 1856, and was Curate of St George’s, Georgetown, Demerara in 1856. He was Garrison Chaplain there during 1857-1861, Rector of St Michael’s, Berbice and St Paul’s, East Coast Demerara 1871-1873, Rector of All Saints’, Berbice, 1873-1884, Archdeacon of Berbice 1883-1884 and of Demerara 1884-1890. He was Vicar-General, Diocese of British Guiana, 1888-1890, and Rector and Dean of St George’s Cathedral, Georgetown, 1884-1890. He was Curate at Coulston, Wiltshire 1891-1892 and Rector of West Ilsley, Berkshire, 1892-1895. He is often mentioned in J.G.A.’s letters of the 1850’s when the latter was in his teens and Francis nine years older. He must have been a curate at one of the churches in Georgetown when J.G.A. watched with interest the progress of the courtship between Francis and their cousin ‘Jo’, daughter of Joseph Gibson Austin, who had married William Edward Pierce.
Young curates were ill paid and J.G.A. writes:
‘Mrs Thorne tells me that Preston does not approve of the match on account of the poorness of both parties, but one must remember that young ladies of fortune are not picked up every day!’
However the couple were married in 1858, after J.G.A. had left for Barbados. He was invited to the wedding but was unable to spare the time to go to Demerara for the occasion.
Jo only survived nine years, leaving a family of three, after which Francis married Jane ‘Jeanie’ Murray from Trinidad. By this time he was Archdeacon and his finances had improved so that he was able to support his second family of seven children in addition to his first. He was living in Abingdon, Berks, in 1904 and died there in 1905.
275. Eustace Austin
He lived in Demerara. He was a bachelor and committed suicide.
276. Josephine Austin
She died a spinster, aged about 30.
Of Trinidad
278. Edward Murray Austin
He was in the Cape Mounted Riflemen and fought in the Boer War. When the Cape Mounted Riflemen was disbanded in 1913 he was transferred to the 4th Pioneer Battalion of the South African Defence Force. The memoirs of his brother-in-law Thomas Bonser (see below) give the following account of Edward, known as Ned to his immediate family:
Ned started off in a bank in the city, but he did not like it, and went to South Africa, where he obtained a commission in the King’s African Rifles. He fought through the Boer War, and then in 1914 went back to England and fought right through the 1914-1918 War, in the trenches of Flanders. That must have been a horribly uncomfortable war, quite apart from the danger of being killed, wounded or gassed. Four years of war fought from trenches and dugouts, half full of water most of the time, left Ned crippled with arthritis of both hips (there were no replacement hips in those days). He returned to his home in Chapter 12 41
Grahamstown, and never went back to England. He had two children Barbara and John, whom I have never met, but with whom I correspond every Christmas, sadly they both caught meningitis as children, and were, as a result, slightly handicapped.
282. Walter Murray Austin
Walter was a Private in the 10th Battalion, the Imperial Yeomanry and served in the Cape Colony and in the Orange Free state during the Boer War. He died of disease (probably cholera or typhoid, as did so many others) at Bothaville, in the Orange Free State, 200 km south west of Johannesburg.
He was born in Walton, Yorkshire but emigrated to Natal.
The following is taken from Sheelagh Spencer’s ‘British Settlers in Natal 1824-1857 - A Biographical Register’, Vol. I :
He went to South Africa and was living in Durban in 1851. He appears to have been associated with Adolph Coqui in bringing a 5000 lb consignment of ivory from ‘Overberg’ in 1854. Edward Snell bought the lot at 5/4½d per lb. When a request to Coqui to stand for the Legislative Council was prepared in January 1859 Austin was one of the signatories. In January 1856 Austin entered into the lease of 60 acres of R.P. (Dick) King's farm ‘Isipingo’. This was due to run for 50 years but Austin sold it in April 1862. Austin died after taking a dose of five grains of ‘strychnia’. In reporting this the ‘Natal Star’ stated he was well known in Durban and was ‘respectably connected’ but had for some time been ‘a victim of intemperate habits’. According to his death notice he did not have any land in Natal, but had a small property in Barbados.
John Bird Sumner had a (probably illegitimate) son by Jane Calverley. The son was named Wiltshire Stanton Austin (1859-1886). He became a farmer and storekeeper of Walker’s Lease, Umgodi, Ixopo District. He died a bachelor.
Probably illegitimate
122. Richard Austin
He is described as ‘of Milford Haven’. He went up to Christ Church College, Oxford, from where he matriculated in 1856. He married Julia Mary Rogers, from Dublin, in London in 1858. After the birth of their first son in 1859, the family emigrated to Melbourne, Australia, where Richard became a school teacher. Four more children were born before Richard died there, leaving Julia with two surviving children. In 1885, Julia married a Scot, Anthony Brown (1839-1910), apparently after she had born him two children, both of whom died in infancy. Julia died in Melbourne in 1906.
In 1885, Julia married a Scot, Anthony Brown (1839-1910), apparently after she had born him two children, both of whom died in infancy. Julia died in Melbourne in 1906.
He was born in London, but died from scarlet fever a few months after reaching Melbourne.
She was born in Gardiner, then on the outskirts of Melbourne. She died there before 1868.
289. Richard Wiltshire Stanton Charles Austin
He was born in Melbourne and died there of diphtheria.
126. Ware Plumtre Austin
He was the youngest of the large family. He was born in Milford Haven, Wales and was in the Madras (India) Civil Service, where he served as a judge for 40 years. He married Frances Laura Greenaway (1847-1941), a daughter of Colonel Greenaway of the Bengal Lancers, in India and they had seven children, one of whom, another Wiltshire Stanton Austin, settled in South Africa, married and had a large family. Frances Laura was the author and composer of many hymns. Ware Plumtre and Frances Laura died in Oxford.
293. Charles Francis Webster Austin
He was born in Calicut, died as a child and is buried there.
294. Thomas Austin
He was also born in Calicut and died there.
296. Mabel Frances Austin
Zetti was born in Arcat, India and married Charles W. E. Pittar, formerly of the Indian Civil Service. Zetti and Charles had two daughters. Charles and Zetti visited her brother Sumner Francis when he (or her married sister Kathleen Schindler) was in Dresden, for there are photographs of Charles and Zetti taken in that city. Zetti died in Oxford
She was born in Guildford, Surrey and married Hermann Schindler.
He was also born in Guildford. He went to St John’s College, Oxford, where he gained a M.A. degree. He was for sometime in the Indian Civil Service. He was married twice, first, in Oxford, to Margery Lillian Sharpe, the daughter of a hat manufacturer and second to Lillian Little. He died in Horswell, Surrey.
He was born in Anersley, Kent and went to St John’s College, Oxford from where he gained an M.A. degree. At Oxford he studied with the intention of joining the Indian Forest Service, but in 1910 he went to Dresden to study music and singing. His first engagement was at the Royal Theatre, Potsdam. He was interned at Rhuleben from 1914 to 1918. On his return to England he became a well known baritone and actor and was with the Sadler’s Wells Opera and later with the Carla Rosa Opera. He performed in and produced opera in England and in other countries. Latterly he became technical director of the Sadler’s Wells Opera.
Sumner was the Don in Mozart’s ‘Don Giovanni’ and a critic wrote in 1924 ‘The “Don” of Mr Austin was the fittingly outstanding personage: he used his beautiful voice very artistically, looked the part and acted with easy versatility’.He sang Schumann’s Dichterliebe song cycle and, commenting on Sumner’s performance at the Wigmore Hall, a critic wrote in ‘The Times’ of 24 October 1924 ‘…the singer established such an intimacy between the composer, himself and his audience that the smallest touches told. The “Monologo di Orfeo” was a masterpiece of expressive singing.’
Sumner married Dorothy Stirling, née Blackwell, in 1921. Dorothy was a sister of Sir Basil Blackwell of the Oxford publishers and book sellers. Her first husband had been killed in World War I. Dorothy was a fine pianist and a great help to Sumner in his musical career. She died in 1979.
Sumner was for a time a Captain in the British Army Intelligence Corps.
Nee Blackwell
129. Richard Austin
He was christened in the village of Raskelf, a few miles north of York, in 1832, but lived much of his life in Brazil. He was Acting Consul at Pernambuco from 1864 to 1865; Acting Consul and Post Office Agent in the British Consulate in Rio de Janeiro from 1872 to 1873. Subsequently, he held positions in the Rio Consulate until he retired from the service in 1880.
In 1872 he married (in Rio) Emma Victoria Sarah Violet Albertazzi, born in England, a daughter of a lawyer, and they had five children. Emma died in Bournemouth after the birth of her last child. A few months later, Richard married Kate Dring (1861-1924) in London. When they were married he was 50 and she was 21. They had four children. After her husband died, Kate and her three surviving children went to live in Framlingham, Suffolk, where she had relatives.
Emma Victoria Sarah Violet Albertazzi
Had a fourth child who only lived a few months
He was born in London and died of typhoid fever in Wilcannia, New South Wales, Australia, in 1898. A letter written to his father Richard, dated 23rd April, 1897 survives, giving a graphic description of a drought there. The letter is typed, and reads:
My dear Father,
You will see from the above date that I have had to put this letter aside for some time, at the time I ended the first part of this letter my boss was working on the books and getting them fixed up ready for me to post to the Ledger and I had to start straight away and post up three months entries, and in a big concern like this with three branches it is no small matter, I have been going all the time, for I have my ordinary work to do just the same, so please excuse the delay, I am going to finish this letter tonight, if I have to stay up all night to do it.
I am sorry to say since starting this letter I have heard that there is not the remotest chance of any work going on for at least six months to come, this is owing to the severe drought, no rain, no feed, few sheep, the latter are dying in thousands for the simple reason there is absolutely nothing for them to feed on, you cannot realize the terrible state the country is in, everywhere you look it is as bare as a billiard table, nothing but glaring sand to look on and the stock cannot live on that. We are practically ‘closed down’ and goodness only knows when we will resume work, there are very few hands here now and in a week or so I expect there will not be any at all, I do not know what I am going to do, the head boss may have something for me to do elsewhere as I have been here some time now and standing well with them I do not think they will discharge me, I may have to go to one of their branches, of course this is only a surmise, I have not the slightest idea how things will turn out but the next few weeks will decide the question one way or the other. If I have to go, then I shall be on my beam ends for a while but not for long I bet, I’ll make tracks for South Africa or some other place in double quick time perhaps I might take a run to South America and see some of the dear old haunts when I was a kiddie, that would be great fun, just suit my roving disposition to a T. but there, it has not come to such a pass yet and rest assured dear father I will acquaint you immediately my destination if I leave, I do not want to leave for I have made up my mind to settle down quietly if I can live the life a gentleman’s son should live, but if I once have to start on my own again I am afraid I will try and disprove the old proverb, ‘A rolling stone gathers no moss.’ I would be living the life I like best and I think I could make it pay also, but as long as I can stick here I will and try my level best to get on.
I have some amusement sometimes, at least it is amusement to me, and that is dancing, I am passionately fond of this form of enjoyment and never feel tired of it, no doubt you are aware that I could not dance at home so did not show any great inclination for same, but this is terrible country for dancing, I learned here at Menindee and without blowing my trumpet I think I can say that I am a tolerable good dancer, at least I can always secure partners and the best of them.
In a good season there is no end of sport, both with the rifle and shot gun, and all we have to do is to go out a few miles and bag as much game as we want, for there are many kind of wild ducks, pigeons and wild turkeys, in galore, three of us went out one day some little time ago and we came across turkeys in droves, but they were very wild indeed and we only succeeded in getting a couple, we also got some ducks and pigeons which are splendid eating. If we could only be sure of some good seasons this place would not be half bad to live in, for we have tennis, riding, rowing, fishing, polo and lots of other sports to go in for, of course Cricket and Football go without saying. But if we have no feed we can’t keep horses and game go elsewhere where there is feed and so on, the bad seasons play the devil with everything.
I must not forget my old friends, please kindly remember me to Mr. Beresford, Mr. Sherlock and Mr. Miles if ever you see them now and I hope they are all well.
I believe Mr. B.C. Besley (the managing director of the Company) is going to England on a visit in about a week, if so I am going to ask him to be good enough to see you and from him you will be able to hear about me and you will also find him full of information about the Colonies, I should like him to meet you very much, if he promises to call I will let you know hereafter.
Now dear father I think I have exhausted my stock of news so must wind up, first asking you to write to me soon and let me know how you are.
Adieu, God Bless you and keep you well and prosper you.
With fondest love,
I remain your affectionate son, Percy
Percy’s sad end (he died from typhoid fever) is recorded in a letter from Lionel Henri Meyer to Richard Austin, Percy’s father. It is dated 30th January, 1898.
307. Jessie Mary Austin
She was born in Brazil. She went with her parents to England and lived in London with her father and stepmother.
308. Florence Austin
Known as ‘Flo’, there is no information on her early life. After a whirlwind courtship, she married a Canadian in London in about 1918 and they then went to live in the town of Niagara Falls, Ontario. She died in 1924, apparently childless.
309. Charles Adye Austin
This Charles Adye was known as ‘Charlie’ to his siblings. He married Margaret Elsie ‘Madge’ and they emigrated to South Africa. Several letters from Madge survive, but most were written after Charlie’s death in 1917. Evidently, there were no children from their marriage. Madge married again, a Mr Bignoux, and went to live in Canada.