250 posts later

In writing on the Web about my family - I have just submitted my 250th blog post - I try to go beyond just listing names and dates and adding relatives to my tree.

How have I gone about my research and what have I noticed along the way?

My method is to be thorough. When I prepare a blog, I revisit any earlier work I might have done and check my notes and the original records. There's always more to know on any subject, and often there's something new to say, though I do feel that despite more research I can't help thinking that I don't know and understand my more remote ancestors any better than I did. I certainly don't feel more Scottish or Irish, for example, despite confirming Celtic DNA in my blood.

More than any other topic, I have written about my forebears and relatives who have my maiden name Champion de Crespigny. Because this surname is uncommon it's easier to research. People with the name Champion de Crespigny are certainly related to me and to one another.

I have enjoyed being inspired by 'Sepia Saturday' prompts and by 'Trove Tuesday'. It's great fun to explore the immense digitised repository ofthe National Library of Australia, especially its digitised newspapers.

For the last four years I have joined in the 'A to Z Blogging Challenge' in April. Trying to find ideas for every letter of the alphabet is not easy but it has lead to some fascinating research. For example, in the first Challenge, I was wondering what to write for the letter Z. My son suggested the Zulu wars. I knew my paternal grandmother's Mainwaring relatives were in the army and sure enough I found a second cousin of mygreat great great grandfather who fought against the Zulus. I had heard of the Zulus, of course, but the blogging challenge led me to learn much more. It was fun and satisfying.

I used to enjoy historical novels, but now I can find real life history in my own family researches. Who needs fiction!?

And it's everywhere. For example, next week our family is travelling to the Northern Territory for a short holiday. One of the main streets of Darwin is named after my great great grandfather Wentworth Cavenagh. I visited Darwin many years ago and knew of Cavenagh Street though I only learned about the family connection afterwards.

I've looked in Trove to learn more. On 13 January 1869 the SouthAustralian Advertiser, and other newspapers,  published instructions from W. Cavenagh, commissioner of Crown Lands, to Mr Goyder, the Surveyor-General, giving guidance to Goyder in his expedition to survey the Northern Territory. These instructions had been tabled in Parliament. The document was more of a mandate to proceed than detailed instructions. The SouthAustralian Register of 13 January 1869 notes that the instructions were in keeping with the Strangway's Government's laconic style. It was interested to see what Cavenagh's role was and how it was interpreted by newspapers of the day.

In the unlikely event that someone asked for my advice about writing family history I'd say just go ahead and do it. It's great fun.

Wentworth Cavenagh who, after being Commissioner of Crown Lands, served as Commissioner of Public Works of South Australia from 1872 to 1873. Image retrieved from the State Library of South Australia id  B 5622/17

Cavenagh Street Darwin photographed in 1915 by Ted Ryko: Chinese shops at the north west end of Cavenagh Street, Man Fong Lau in foreground. Photograph retrieved from Territory Stories ID PH0135/0045

N is for the Labour candidate for Newark in 1945

On 13April 1945, the Grantham Journal of 13 April 1945 noted briefly that Air Vice-Marshall H. V. Champion de Crespigny had been selected as the Labour Candidate for the constituency of Newark in Nottinghamshire, England.

Air Vice Marshal Hugh Champion de Crespigny, Commander of the Royal Air Force in Iraq and Iran during World War 2, photographed about 1943, at his desk by Cecil Beaton. Photograph CBM 2192 from the collections of the Imperial War Museums retrieved from Wikimedia Commons.

On Saturday 16 June 1945, Harold Laski, chairman of the Labour Party addressed a meeting of about 1,500 people in the Newark Market Place. Afterwards he was asked why he seemed to be openly advocating violence. Laski's response was alleged to have included the comment that "If Labour did not obtain what it needed by general consent, we shall have to use violence even if it means revolution".

This was tantamount to calling for a violent left-wing revolution if Labour could not get its way by parliamentary democracy, and Laski's statement was immediately reported in the Beaverbrook conservative press. Laski sued for defamation. In November 1946, when the case was heard, a jury found against Laski. (Collini, Stefan (2006). Absent minds : intellectuals in Britain. Oxford University Press, Oxford ; New York. Pages 131-2)

Nottingham Evening Post Friday 22 June 1945 page 6. Image © Local World Limited. Image created courtesy of THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD.

The 1945 General Election was held on 5 July. There was an 11.7% swing to Labour, which won. In the Division of Newark Hugh Champion de Crespigny received 42.35% of the vote, but this was not enough to defeat the sitting member, the Conservative Sidney Shephard. Shephard held the seat, with 18,580 votes, or 45.09%. Compared to previous election results for the Labour party in Newark, Hugh de Crespigny had managed to continue the swing to Labour despite the Laski affair.

During the war there had been an agreement that major parties would not contest by-elections in seats held by another party in the wartime Conservative-led coalition government, so when there was a by-election in 1943 in Newark no Labour candidate contested the seat. In the 1935 general election the sitting candidate, the Marquess of Titchfield, held the seat with 62% of the vote against the Labour candidate.

In the 1950 general election, with 54% of the vote, George Deer the Labour candidate for Newark, unseated the incumbent Sidney Shepherd.


See also

• Hugh Vivian Champion de Crespigny (1897 - 1969)

E is for Eden Park, home of Wentworth Cavenagh

My great great grandfather Wentworth Cavenagh (1822-1895) was a member of the South Australian Parliament, elected in 1862 to represent Yatala, part of the Adelaide metropolitan area north of the River Torrens. He served as Commissioner for Crown Lands and Immigration from 1868 to 1870 and Commissioner of Public Works from 1872 to 1873.

Portrait of Wentworth Cavenagh, member for Yatala. This is one of 36 portraits of members of the South Australian House of Assembly, 1872-1875, in a composite compiled in 1872 (Picture from State Library of South Australia reference B1288-38)

James Shaw, oil-on-canvas painting 'South Australian Parliament; the House of Assembly', c. 1867. Painting in the collection of the Art Gallery of South Australia. I am not certain which of the parliamentarians portrayed is Wentworth Cavenagh.

Wentworth Cavenagh had arrived in South Australia in January 1853 on the Queen of Sheba. On 16 February 1865 he married Ellen Jane Mainwaring (1845-1920) at St Paul's Church, Adelaide. They had ten children.

The Cavenagh family lived at a house called Eden Park in Marryatville two  miles from the city centre. Their oldest daughter Eva was born there in 1867. Their first child, James Gordon Cavenagh, had been born at Norwood in December 1865.

St Matthews Church is close to Eden Park. The Cavenaghs were involved in fundraising for the church. My grandmother, Kate (1874-1951), was running the bran pie (lucky dip) when she was 12. This was the beginning of a long career in fundraising for good causes.

CHURCH NEWS. (1886, December 13). The South Australian Advertiser (Adelaide, SA : 1858 - 1889), p. 6. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article37164097

St Matthew's Church Marryatville

In 1892 Ellen Cavenagh inherited the Mainwaring estate at Whitmore in Staffordshire, and the family left South Australia for England. The house at Eden Park was sold. With it went the grounds covering 21 acres and a tennis court and stables.

Advertising (1892, March 9). South Australian Register (Adelaide, SA : 1839 - 1900), p. 8. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article48219128

In 1900 the house was purchased by Thomas Roger Scarfe who pulled down most of the old home and rebuilt it. Today the house is the Year 11 and 12 centre for Marryatville High School.

Marryatville High School occupies the grounds of Eden Park

The stables are now the music centre

The house, which is not the one the Cavenagh family lived in as this was built in 1900 by the Scarfe family, is now the year 11 and 12 centre.

Related posts

• Trove Tuesday: Kathleen Cavenagh dressed for a children's ball in 1887
• 1892 journey on the Ballaarat
• A shipboard romance aboard the SS Ballaarat
• N is for Naval husbands
• F is for fundraising

V is for vivacious Vida on the vamp

Vida Goldstein (1869 - 1949) was my first cousin three times removed. In 1903, 113 years ago, she stood for the Senate. Vida was a feminist and suffragist and one of the first four women in the British Empire in the British Empire to be nominated and to stand for election to a national parliament. In 1902 she travelled to the United States of America to speak at the International Woman Suffrage Conference, was elected secretary, gave evidence in favour of woman suffrage to a committee of the United States Congress and attended the International Council of Women Conference.

The Brisbane Truth noted Miss Goldstein's candidature.

The Truth's use of the word "vamp", or rather the phrase "on the vamp", does not correspond to our usage of the word today, as a femme fatale or the dictionary definition of part of a shoe-upper or boot-upper. A 1901 news article in the Sydney Truth obviously is using another meaning again when it refers to the "official vamp given in the daily press". I do not quite understand the meaning of "on the vamp"  in the caption to the cartoon "Vivacious Vida Goldstein on the Vamp". Is it some reference to the Anti-Sweating League?

A Female Franchiser. (1903, August 23). Truth (Brisbane, Qld. : 1900 - 1954), , p. 5 (CITY EDITION). Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article199294063

Although Vida gathered more than 50,000 votes, her 1903 attempt to gain a seat in the Senate was unsuccessful.

Further reading

• Whiting, Julie. "National Anti-Swaeating League of Victoria." NLA Behind the Scenes Blog. National Library of Australia, 19 Aug. 2015. Web. 26 Apr. 2016. <https://www.nla.gov.au/blogs/fringe-publishing/2015/08/16/national-anti-sweating-league-of-victoria>. 

Related posts

• Trove Tuesday: Vida Mary Jane Goldstein (1869 - 1949) 
• Sepia Saturday 195 : International Day of Peace  
• P is for Poperinghe New Military Cemetery  

Sepia Saturday 195 : International Day of Peace

This week's Sepia Saturday blogging theme is on Peace as 21 September is International Day of Peace.

Just the other day I posted a piece about my 1st cousin, three times removed, Vida Goldstein (1869 - 1949), a noted suffragette and campaigner for Peace.  She was the first woman in Australia to stand for Federal Parliament.

I haven't found a picture of Vida campaigning for peace or political purposes.  The photograph below is in the collection of the National Library of Australia.

Portrait of Vida Goldstein sometime after 1900.  From the collection of the National Library of Australia retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.pic-an23371660 20 September 2013

As a suffragette Vida travelled the world.

She met President Theodore Roosevelt in 1902 at the time of the first International Women's Suffrage Alliance conference convened in Washington.  She also addressed committees of the US Senate and House of Representatives on the suffrage question. She was elected secretary of the Conference.

"PERSONAL ITEMS." The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954) 9 Aug 1902: 18. Web. 20 Sep 2013 <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article14495403>.

 In 1911 Vida was in London for the Great suffragette demonstration.

"11.950 Great suffragette demonstration in London, Mrs Fisher, Mrs McGowan and Miss Vida Goldstein from Australia, copyright 1911 by Geo. Rose" --Caption below stereograph. "The Rose Stereographs, Melbourne, Sydney, Wellington & London" (No longer in copyright according to Australian law). Retrieved from "Great Suffragette Demonstration in London." Culture Victoria - Women's Suffrage. Arts Victoria (State Government of Victoria), 2010. Web. 20 Sept. 2013. <http://www.cv.vic.gov.au/stories/victorian-women-vote-1908-2008/8844/great-suffragette-demonstration-in-london/>. Vida is on the right in the white dress.

The Women's Peace Army was formed in Melbourne in July 1915 with Vida Goldstein presiding.

"WOMEN'S PEACE ARMY FORMED." Leader (Melbourne, Vic. : 1914 - 1918) 10 Jul 1915: 49 Edition: WEEKLY. Web. 20 Sep 2013 <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article90191264>.

Vida Goldstein never married. This gave the Mirror of Australia an opportunity for a cheap jibe when reporting meetings of the peace movement.

"MELBOURNE IN THE MIRROR." The Mirror of Australia (Sydney, NSW : 1915 - 1917) 18 Dec 1915: 6. Web. 20 Sep 2013 <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article104646536>.

Peace was generally not a popular subject in 1917 when Vida was seeking election to Federal Parliament.

"IDEALISM AND REALITY." Maryborough & Dunolly Advertiser (Vic. : 1914 - 1918) 30 Apr 1917: 4. Web. 20 Sep 2013 <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article90586318>. This article was widely syndicated, the Maryborough and Dunolly Advertiser just one of many carrying it..

Apart from the arguments in the above article it was suggested that there could be peace tomorrow if we surrendered. This was not a position viewed favourably by Mr Rodgers, the retiring member for Wannon in the House of Representatives. ("National Politics." Koroit Sentinel and Tower Hill Advocate (Vic. : 1914 - 1918) 28 Apr 1917: 3. Web. 20 Sep 2013 <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article120951135>.)

There was opposition to her standing as a candidate for election

"DETERMINED WOMAN CANDIDATE." The Register (Adelaide, SA : 1901 - 1929) 10 Apr 1917: 4. Web. 20 Sep 2013 <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article59967891>.

Vida polled extremely poorly attracting only 4,446 votes and all other candidates polled significantly better.  In 1903 her Senate candidature attracted more than 51,000 votes.  Vida had also stood in 1910, 1913,  and 1914. She stood for the last time in 1917.

"AUSTRALIA'S ANSWER." The Advertiser (Adelaide, SA : 1889 - 1931) 7 May 1917: 5. Web. 20 Sep 2013 <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article5584427>.

In 1919 Vida accepted an invitation to represent Australian women at a Women's Peace Conference in Zurich. She was away from Australia for three years and this period was the end of her involvement in Australia politics. (Janice N. Brownfoot, 'Goldstein, Vida Jane (1869–1949)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/goldstein-vida-jane-6418/text10975, accessed 20 September 2013.)

She is remembered and honoured by the Division of Goldstein in Victoria being named after her in 1984. The electorate is in the south-east of Melbourne. ("Goldstein Results." Federal Election 2013 - Live Results. Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 2013. Web. 20 Sept. 2013. <http://www.abc.net.au/news/federal-election-2013/guide/gold/>.)  

Vida's birthplace of Portland in Victoria has erected a bench in her honour which has, among other words, the word PEACE incorporated into the design. (Gervasoni, Lisa. "Vida Goldstein Chair_5268." Flickr. Yahoo!, 2011. Web. 20 Sept. 2013. <http://www.flickr.com/photos/gervo1865/6270664349/>.)

Trove Tuesday: Vida Mary Jane Goldstein (1869 - 1949)

Vida Goldstein (1869 - 1949) was my first cousin three times removed and stood for the Senate in 1903, 110 years ago. Although she was not elected, she was the first woman in Australia to stand for election to the Federal parliament and one of four women who were the first in the British Empire to be nominated and to stand for election to a national parliament. She was also a key campaigner for the vote for women in Victoria.  She has an entry in the Australian Dictionary of Biography and also on Trove. (Janice N. Brownfoot, 'Goldstein, Vida Jane (1869–1949)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University.  Retrieved September 10, 2013, from http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/goldstein-vida-jane-6418/text10975) (Goldstein, Vida (1869-1949). (2008). In Trove. Retrieved September 10, 2013, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.party-599050)

Vida was a relative from my Hughes branch and I first learned of the family connection through Helen Hudson née Hughes (1915 - 2005) who enjoyed researching the family history and wrote a book, Cherry Stones, which I have found tremendously useful in following up on her research. ( Hudson, Helen Lesley (1985). Cherry stones : adventures in genealogy of Taylor, Hutcheson, Hawkins of Scotland, Plaisted, Green, Hughes of England and Wales ... who immigrated to Australia between 1822 and 1850. H.L. Hudson, [Berwick] Vic )

Vidal was the daughter of Isabella née Hawkins (1849 - 1916) and Jacob Goldstein (1839 - 1910). Isabella was the sister of my great great grandmother Jeanie (1862 - 1941) who married Edward Walter Hughes.

Last weekend's election prompted me to search for mentions of Vida's political career.  She has been the subject of several books and I have come across a memorial mentioning her name at Parliament House in Canberra.  When researching Avoca at the time of World War 1, I noted that as a candidate at that time only four people voted for her from Avoca; but then again she had not visited the town to campaign.

In 1903 her campaign for the senate received wide coverage.  Trove newspaper search has 353 items in its newspaper database for 1903.  The coverage is across Australia, not only in Victoria; newspapers as far afield as Kalgoorlie, Western Australia, Broken Hill, New South Wales, and Brisbane, Queensland reporting on her campaign.

Meetings were well attended and usually reported on at length with details of the speeches and questions to the candidate.  Here is a short report of a meeting at Echuca in northern Victoria.  It is a small town but she had an audience estimated at 600 to 700.

THE SENATE. (1903, December 11). Bendigo Advertiser (Vic. : 1855 - 1918), p. 3. Retrieved September 10, 2013, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article89494011

Vida gained more than 50,000 votes and ranked 15th out of 18 candidates for the four senate seats.

THE SENATE. (1903, December 22). The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957), p. 5. Retrieved September 10, 2013, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article10589115

Vida spoke about the aftermath of the election:
 

A LADY CANDIDATE'S OPINION. (1903, December 24). The Advertiser (Adelaide, SA : 1889 - 1931), p. 5. Retrieved September 10, 2013, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article5025504

My search on Trove found a picture of her I had not seen before.

The image is from the collection of the State Library of Victoria. Their catalogue entry: 

• Title: Miles Franklin [and] Vida Goldstein [picture]
• Publisher: ca. 1900-ca. 1920 
• Date(s): 1900 
• Description: photograph : gelatin silver ; oval image 6 x 4 cm., on double mount 18 x 14 cm. 
• Copyright status: This work is out of copyright 
• Terms of use: No copyright restrictions apply. 
• Identifier(s): Accession no(s) H42756; H42756a 
• Subjects: Goldstein, Vida, 1869-1949 ; Franklin, Stella Maria Sarah Miles, 1879-1954 ; Feminists -- Australia ; Gelatin silver prints ; Group portraits
• Index terms: Australia; women's movement; suffragettes; feminists; authors; Miles Franklin; Viva Goldstein [sic]
• Notes: Title inscribed on mount l.l. and l.r. 
  Detailed view digitised. 
  Miles Franklin was born in Tumut, N.S.W.; published My Brilliant Career 1901; involved with feminist movement; left for the U.S.A. 1906; returned to Australia 1927; died 1954. 
  Vida Goldstein was born in Portland, Victoria 1869; became involved with suffragette movement; ran for the Australian Senate 1903; addressed the United States Congress in 1902; died 1949. 
• Contents/Summary: Miles Franklin is half-length, to right, Vida Goldstein standing behind her. 
• Source/Donor: Donated by Miss Jean Robinson, 1980. 
• Link to digitised item: http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/136880 
• Link to this record: http://search.slv.vic.gov.au/primo_library/libweb/action/dlDisplay.do?vid=MAIN&reset_config=true&docId=SLV_VOYAGER1787491 

I did not previously know of any connection with Miles Franklin, an author whose works I enjoy very much and who came from areas around Canberra which I used to visit often (Brindabella, Tumut, Goulburn, Talbingo). I also wonder of the connection with Jean Robinson, I am not sure who she is, a puzzle for another day.

Exploring further in the State Library's collection I found more items which I must research further to explore this branch of my family. Included were these photos:

Group of people at river, including Vida Goldstein 1885 - 1892. Vida Goldstein - left foreground, holding stick. Col. Goldstein [Vida's father] - seated in centre with a little girl on his knee. I [presumably Leslie Henderson, donor of the photograph] do not know who she is. George Reid - extreme right, standing. From the State Library of Victoria http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/242093

Vida Goldstein at a picnic, probably at Lorne. Vida is second from right in front row holding a paper & with a billy in front of her. The donor of the photograph, Vida's niece, Leslie Henderson (1896 - 1982) did not know any of the other people in the photograph. From the State Library of Victoria http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/242166 

• 
  

There are many more items for me to follow up in the State Library's collections when I get a chance.