Miss Emily Soldene and Henry Nelson Weippert

In December 1877 Miss Emily Soldene appeared at the Prince of Wales Opera House in Melbourne. This was the first time Melbourne had seen this famous actress who played the Grand Duchess in Offenbach's comic opera The Grand Duchess of Gerolstein. Emily Soldene was born in London in 1838 or 1840 or 1844.  Various dates have been suggested because as Emily said it was a woman's privilege not to give their exact age  and I have a different age for every census. (1). Her family was of a Puritanical background and in 1859 she run away and  married Jack Powell, a law clerk, to whom she had four children, Kate, Ellen, Edward and  John between 1860 and 1867 (2).  During this time Emily also had her first stage appearance in Il Trovatore in January 1865, and this was the start of a wonderful career no doubt due to her possessing a glorious mezzo-soprano voice [to this] she added physical form and handsome features to her other accomplishments, and was soon in the front rank (3). By the time she toured America in 1874/1875 she had her own Repertory Troupe and it was this troupe which toured Australia starting in Sydney in August 1877.

Miss Emily Soldene, 1870s.

Photographer:  Lock & Whitfield. National Portrait Gallery Image NPG Ax7716 www.npg.org.uk

Not only was Emily Soldene (and you can read more about her life and career, here and here) a talented actress and entrepreneurial, but she was also a talented writer. In 1897 Emily wrote a regular column, My Musical and Theatrical recollections which was published in the Sydney Evening News and from 1900 to 1909 she had another regular  column, London Week by Week, also published in the Sydney Evening News.

When Emily and her troupe finished in Sydney in 1877,  most of the company went by sea to Melbourne but she took a Cobb & Co coach to Melbourne which was an adventure that she wrote about as part of her My Musical and Theatrical recollections series and published on May 15, 1897 (4). When the coach finally arrived in Melbourne. Emily wrote,  we lived at St. Kilda, at Mrs. Gardiner's. She was a furrier by trade, had a business in Melbourne, had prepared the furs for his Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh when he visited there (1868), and related the episode every day, sometimes twice a day. Some days it was very interesting, other days one found it monotonous; after many days it made one sick.

The St. Kilda residence was a pleasant one - a long, low house of one storey, built on piles, with a
broad passage running down the centre, and ten or twelve rooms opening off on each side. St. Kilda is close to and looking over the sea - so close to the sea, in fact, that a man-o'-war practising miles away had sent a big shot through the local pianoforte shop just before we arrived. It was a delightful place, but we seemed to have a good many hot winds there. They always gave me a horrible headache. 

Emily visited  Mr. and Mrs. Saurin Lyster - the impresario and the namesake of the town of Lysterfield -   We went out to their delightful place at Fern Tree Gully, drove in a four-in-hand down a 'corduroy' road constructed at an angle of 45deg, had a lovely dinner and a lovely day, crept down the gully and saw the huge fern-trees, rode bush ponies over stumps, through and over and under the trees, emulating and nearly sharing the fate of Absalom.

The most amusing apart of Emily's essay was this - During my stay in Melbourne, one day I got a letter from a place called 'Brandy Creek.' It was from Mr. Weippert, once upon a time of Regent-street, London. It was very sad. He said he was there in that God-forsaken place in distress, and needed help to buy a piano to get his living. From his description 'Brandy Creek' seemed to me to be about the last place in the world in which a professor the pianoforte should set up his tent (5).

This is what Brandy Creek was like when Henry Nelson Weippert was living there.

Buln Buln Brandy Creek, c. 1880.  Photographer: Fred Kruger

State Library of Victoria Image H35016  http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/69363

Mr Weippert was Henry Nelson Weippert, and we can place him at Brandy Creek at the time through this Electoral notice, below, where he was the substitute Returning Officer.  Brandy Creek was a small town on the  original coach road to East Gippsland. When the Gippsland railway line to Sale went through in 1878 to the south of Brandy Creek, the nearest station to Brandy Creek was Warragul. The township which developed around the Warragul railway station soon overshadowed Brandy Creek, which is now known as Buln Buln.

Henry Nelson Weippert, substitute Returning Officer

The Argus June 17, 1878   http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article5936592

Henry was born in 1840 the fifth of nine children of William and Corunna (nee Bradford) Weippert of London. Henry married Julia Harris in London in 1862 and they had six children John, Annie, Frances, Jane, Edmund and William born between 1864 and 1874. In the 1871 English Census, Henry's occupation was Music Publisher and it was noted that he employed four men and 2 boys. In 1873 he was listed in the London Electoral Registers at 266 Regent Street in London, so sometime between and 1877 he came to Australia.

I am unsure whether Julia went to Australia at all. Julia is listed in the 1881 English Census as living with her mother, Martha Harris and her two sons, Edmund and William and yet at this same time William and 'Mrs Weippert' are living in South Australia (more of which later).  In the 1891 Census she is still in England living with daughters Frances and Jane and son William. Julia died October 18, 1900 in London and her Probate records lists her as widow. She wasn't a widow as Henry was alive and well and living in Australia - but perhaps he was 'dead to her' (6).

So for what ever reason, Henry Weippert finds himself in the small town of Brandy Creek and sends a letter to his old acquaintance the well known actress, Emily Soldene. I don't know whether Emily helped him out in any way but Henry did his best to bring some culture to the small town of Brandy Creek and on December 21, 1877 held a Grand Concert and Soiree Dansante at Bradley's new hall.

Advertisement for Henry Weippert's Grand Conert

South Bourke & Mornington Journal   December 12, 1877 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article70010558

In February 1878 the South Bourke and Mornington Journal published an article A trip up the Gippsland Road to Brandy Creek and the writer, who used the pseudonym Nemo, described the trip and also mentioned Henry Weippert - Just opposite [the hall] a school is being erected by Mr. Weippert, who is also a teacher of music and dancing, showing that he has faith in the future of the township (7). 

By the end of 1878 Henry was touring South Australia and Tasmania in a production of The Infant Mozart. His sister, Emma or Madame Weippert Patey, as she was called was also in the production. Henry was a vocalist as well as the conductor. From 1880 to 1882 we can find references to him living, teaching and performing in Nuriootpa, in the Barossa Valley in South Australia and his occupation was Professor of Music. There are also references to a Mrs Weippert, as I said before. This may be his mother Corunna, who had come to Melbourne in March 1864, with her daughters: sixteen year old Corunna and fourteen year old Emma (8).  In the 1890s we can find a Professor Weippert in Castlemaine, and I am assuming this is Henry (9). From around 1904, Henry is in Sydney, where in 1906 at the age of 66 he married 27 year old, Ruth Mildred Major. Henry remained Sydney, living in Woollahra until his death on August 14, 1914 (10).

We will have  a look at some of the other members of the Weippert family. William and Corunna (nee Bradford) Weippert were married on May 18, 1828 in London. William (1809 - 1857) was a Professor of Music. There is an interesting website A biographical register of Australian colonial musical personnel by Dr Graeme Skinner of the University of Sydney, which has information on some of the Weippert family, see it here. He has slightly mixed up the generations, however Dr Skinner says that William was the son of John Michael Weippert (c. 1775-1831), a harpist who was the younger brother of the more famous composer and bandmaster John Erhradt Weippert (1766-1823).  Corunna Weippert was born in 1809, came to Melbourne as we said before with her two youngest daughters and died in South Melbourne, March 19 1889.  She may have spent time in Tasmania, where her daughter Mary lived.

Mary Eleanor Weippert (1833 -1874) had married James Joseph Pollard in 1853 and they arrived in Tasmania in October 1854 and settled in Launceston where James was pianoforte tuner and teacher of music. Mary died in Launceston in July 1874 and James then married her sister Corunna in January 1876. Her occupation was a 'teacher of dance'. Between Mary and Corunna they had at least sixteen children (11) and as the children grew up they were taught music thoroughly, both vocal and instrumental, the latter including reed, string, and brass—each of them being proficient on several instruments. So strict was the father with them that two hours' practice was compulsory before breakfast. The outcome of this training was a family of clever musicians, which, during the middle seventies, became known as "Pollards Orchestral Union." Balls, parties, and theatrical orchestras were supplied, and the production of amateur opera was also a feature of the programme (12). 

Pollard's Lilliputian Comic Opera Company, 1881.

Poster designed by Richard Wendel. State Library of Victoria Image H2000.180/75

The family then formed the Pollard Lilliputian Opera Company and toured extensively, their first production being Gilbert and Sullivan's, H.M.S. Pinafore (13).  The company toured extensively: New Zealand, Burma, Singapore and Calcutta amongst other places. As well as the family members the Company also had other talented young performers in the Company. It was on the way back from Asia that James Pollard died in Charters Towers in Queensland in May 1884 (14). After his death the company went into an hiatus until 1891 when Tom Pollard, Mary and James' son revived  it (15). Corunna settled in Melbourne in Northcote and died in 1906, aged 59. You can read Dr Graeme Skinner's research on the Pollard family, here.

May Pollard - the daughter of Mary and James Pollard in theatrical costume, c. 1885.

Photographer: Bishop-Osborne. State Library of Victoria image H10159

Olive Pollard - the daughter of Mary and James Pollard in theatrical costume, c. 1881.

Photographer: Hemus and Hanna. State Library of Victoria image H10429

Albert Weippert was another son of William and Corunna's who came to Australia. I don't know when Albert arrived but on February 10, 1862 he married Ann Jane Warren at the Presbyterian Manse at Williamstown. In 1865 he was in Launceston, Tasmania - a pianoforte maker, tuner and regulator. Albert died January 15 1897, aged 56. I have no information about Ann.

Albert Weippert - Pianoforte tuner

Launceston Examiner September 28, 1865  http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article38662607

William and Corunna's last child was their daughter Emma (1850 - 1939). Emma had arrived in Melbourne in 1864 with her mother and sister Corunna. She married Boyle Robertson Patey in 1866. In the late 1870s Emma had toured with her brother Henry, in the production of The Infant Mozart,  but we will let her obituary tell us more of her career in the  Arts - A versatile member of the theatrical profession passed away yesterday after noon in the person of Mrs. Emma Patey, of Speight-street, Thornbury.....A highly accomplished and versatile performer, she was widely popular on both the dramatic and variety stages,as well as on the concert platform. It was she who sang the dedicatory ode at the opening of the Melbourne Town Hall. Amongst her mast noteworthy dramatic successes were Nancy Sikes (Oliver Twist) and Madge Wedfire (Heart of Midlothian). She supported the noted John Dunn in a long round of plays. The deceased lady married Boyle Robertson Patey, well known In Melbourne legal circles, who predeceased her. There were four children, of the marriage, all of whom survive. Mr. Fred E. Patey, well known in broadcasting circles....She was the oldest living actress in Australia (16).

Emma Patey pictured at the Golden Wedding anniversary celebration of her daughter Louise and her husband George Tutton. This is the only photo I can find of  Emma Weippert Patey. 

Emma and her husband, Boyle Robertson Patey had celebrated their Golden Wedding anniversary on June 11, 1916 (17). 

The Argus June 3, 1938  http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article11173786

Acknowledgement 

I came across Emily Soldene's story of her trip from Sydney to Melbourne by Cobb & Co coach in the book They came to Australia: an anthology, edited by Alan Brissenden and Charles Higham (F.W. Cheshire, 1961). Emily's story was published under the title A coach ride to Melbourne.

Sources

I have created a list on Trove of newspaper articles relating to  Emily Soldene and various members of the Weippert family who came to Australia, see it here. Much of  genealogical information came from Birth, Deaths and Marriage notices on Trove; Tasmanian Archives and sources on Ancestry database. 

The website A history of Preston in Herfordshire - Emily Soldene: her life story was useful and interesting, see it here

As referred to in the text this website - A biographical register of Australian colonial musical personnel by Dr Graeme Skinner of the University of Sydney was also both useful and interesting - access the Weippert family entry, here, and the Pollard family entry, here. 

Footnotes

(1) Adelaide Chronicle, April 20 1912, see here.

(2) A history of Preston in Herfordshire - Emily Soldene: her life story, see here.

(3) Adelaide Chronicle, April 20 1912, see here.

(4) Sydney Evening News, May 15, 1897, see here.

(5) Sydney Evening News, May 15, 1897, see here.

(6) Family information comes from various sources on Ancestry database including the English Census, English Births, Deaths and Marriage records, Probate records etc.

(7) South Bourke & Mornington Journal, February 27, 1878, see here.

(8) Public Records Office of Victoria Unassisted Passenger lists - they arrived on the Coldstream in March 1864,.

(9)  Mount Alexander Mail August 4, 1892, see here.

(10) Henry Nelson Weippert is buried at the Rookwood Cemetery in Sydney.

(11) Mary had at least 13 children and Corunna had three. They may have had more, but I have only discovered the 16 so far.

(12) Hobart Daily Post March 30, 1909, see here.

(13) Hobart Daily Post March 30, 1909, see here.

(14) Launceston Examiner May 6, 1884, see here.

(15) Hobart Daily Post March 30, 1909, see here.

(16) The Age July 26, 1939, see here.

(17) Preston Leader June 10, 1916, see here.

Pageant of Loyalty, Frankston, September 1917

This photograph  comes from Museums Victoria, and is labelled Armoured Car in a Street, Victoria, 1914-1918. Part of the description offers the suggestion that it may have been taken in Playne Street, Frankston. I assumed it was connected to a procession or fundraiser in World War One, and with some research on Trove I found it was an exhibit in the Pageant of Loyalty held in Frankston on September 1, 1917. 

Imitation tank from the Pageant of Loyalty, Frankston, September 1 1917

Museums Victoria https://collections.museumvictoria.com.au/items/2098766

The Pageant of Loyalty was a fundraiser for the Red Cross effort, to augment the fund for the erection of an honor roll in the town bearing the names of locally enlisted soldiers, and to help the Wattle Club and Australian Club of Frankston, each of which entertains men going to and returning from the war (1). One of the ways that money was raised was through the sale of  a beautiful souvenir [which had] been prepared and will be on sale for 1s. It is entirely original, and contains, besides other treasures, a list of the names of the boys who have gone from the district to fight for us. Everyone should make a point of  obtaining one at least of these books (2). 

The main attraction was a spectacular procession (3) which started at the Frankston State School, wound it's way around the main streets of Frankston and ended up at Frankston Park. There were some special guests, of which the most distinguished were their Excellencies, Sir Arthur and Lady Stanley - Sir Arthur being the Governor of Victoria (4). The Prime Minister, Mr Hughes (5) was also scheduled to attend, but was unexplained absence, however the local M.L.A., Mr Downward (6) was in attendance. The Shire of Frankston and Hastings was represented by Cr Oates, in the absence of the Shire President, Cr Watts (7).

That's a brief overview of the day and we will have a look in more detail how the day unfolded. The picturesque little town (8) of Frankston was en fete for the pageant - The display of bunting in Frankston had never before been equalled, flags of every color and design being suspended on ropes hung at short, intervals across the street, while the front of the business places were also decked with flags and colored ribbons (9). 

Troops from Langwarrin leading the procession.

Table Talk September 16, 1917 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/146477220?#

The procession, which was reported to be a mile and a half long (10) started as we said at the Frankston State School, hence to Davey Street, Bay Street, Playne Street (where the photo of the tank was taken) to the Railway Station, Wells Street, back to Bay Street and onto Frankston Park (11).  It was lead by exhibits organised by the Langwarrin Military Camp -  a Band, headed by pony mascotte; Infantry guard, 2 platoons, under Sgt Tarrant; Army Medical Corps, 3 stretcher squads, cyclist orderly, ambulance waggon and field dressing station, under Staff Sgts Cox and M'Henry. Army Service waggon, 8 horse team, and display of stores, arranged by Supply Officer Nedwell and Transport Sgt Fishwick. Home Service Kitchen, in charge of Sgt Beer. Blacksmith's Forge, Farrier Sgt Blackway. Y.M.C.A. in charge of Mr M. J. Blok (12). 

Following these were the community groups and floats - Mornington Red Cross, Britannia (Soldiers and Sailors), Britannia (The Allies) - The United States and Britannia were both represented allegorically by classically garbed ladies wearing helmets and draped with the national flags (13);  Frankston Red Cross, Frankston Tent of the Independent Order of Rechabites. Next to come were various tableaux showcasing aspects of Australia's history which included Australian Home, Wounded Soldiers, Young Australia, Bourke and Wills and Captain Cook. This was followed by other exhibits such as the Fire Brigade, Company Red Cross Nurses, Company of Boy Scouts, Bugle Band, School children and about 50 cars of the Volunteer Motor Corps with wounded and returned soldiers (14). Another highlight was Loads of pretty girls in fancy costumes, embowered in greenery, wattle bloom and heath (15). 

Some of the pretty girls in fancy costumes in the pageant.

Table Talk September 16, 1917 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/146477220?#

The procession ended with the whole winding up with a veritable "Tank," with swivel turret and guns, which were fired at intervals along the route, and created no end of wonderment to the youngsters (16). The tank was built at the Langwarrin Miltary Camp. When the  procession arrived at Frankston Park a number of speeches were made, prayers were offered for the troops serving their Country and the National Anthem and the  hymn, O God, our help in ages past, were sung. The Governor, Sir Arthur Stanley's speech focused on our connection to and love of the Empire, the need to unite in the cause of liberty, equality and fraternity and the fight for freedom.  You can see a report of the speeches, here.

Of course there were many school children present and they had a special treat as during the speeches, the children were marched off to the Anglican Sunday School ground, where Mrs. Deane and Staff Sgt Cox, assisted by a detachment of the Army Medical corps, provided them with the good things so liberally contributed, and which had previously been prepared in bags by a body of workers. 500 bags of cakes, fruit and lollies vanished in the onslaught (17).  The newspapers reported that the pageant was a brilliant display (18) and the afternoon's display was very entertaining, creditable to the organisers, and financially successful, much money being collected by ladies and secured by sales of souvenirs (19). 

I wonder if this tank inspired the Tank Tour around Victoria and New South Wales in 1918?  In that year,  the Commonwealth Government sought to raise 40 million pounds through the  Seventh War Loan. Each state was allocated an amount they needed to raise - Victoria's share was  £13,500,000 and each Victorian Municipality was given a quota to raise money, based on valuations and population etc. One of the ideas to encourage members of the public to subscribe to the War Loan was to have a imitation Tank tour the countryside where at each stop people would hopefully be inspired to subscribe. This idea had also been used in England and the United States the previous year, but were they inspired by the Pageant of Loyalty tank? I have written about this tank tour, and there are photographs of the tanks, in another of my blogs, Casey Cardinia Commemorates: Our War Years, read it here. 

The Tank

Table Talk September 16, 1917 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/146477220?#

This is the photograph that confirmed that the Museums Victoria photograph at the top of this post, was the veritable tank of the Pageant of Loyalty, which caused no end of wonderment to the youngsters who saw it. 

Trove list I have created a list of articles on the Pageant of Loyalty on Trove. You can access it here. All the articles referred to in this post are on the list. 

Sources

(1) The Age September 3, 1917, see here.

(2) Mornington Standard September 1, 1917, see here.

(3) Punch August 30, 1917, see here.

(4) Sir Arthur Stanley (1875-1931) and Lady Stanley (nee Margaret Evelyn Evans Gordon). he was Governor of Victoria from 1914 until January 1920. Read his Australian Dictionary of Biography entry, here. Lady Stanley was the first President of the Australian Red Cross, Victorian division. Read about the formation of this branch, here, in The Age of August 22, 1914. 

(5) Prime Minister, William Morris Hughes (1862-1952) read his Australian Dictionary of Biography entry, here.

(6) Alfred Downward (1847 - 1930). Member for the seat of Mornington in the Legislative Assembly from 1894 to 1929. https://www.parliament.vic.gov.au/about/people-in-parliament/re-member

(7)  Shire of Frankston and Hastings - William James Oates, Shire President  1915, 1918, 1931 and 1944. He was defeated after 34 years on the council in August 1944, at the end of term as Shire President. He died in 1958, aged 82 and is buried in the Frankston Cemetery. Cr Watt - I believe this is James Morice Watt, who was an orchardist, from Hastings. He was Shire President in 1917. He died in 1932, aged 67, you can read his interesting obituary here, in the Frankston and Somerville Standard of February 13, 1932. 

(8) The Argus September 3, 1917, see here.

(9) Mornington Standard September 8,  1917, see here.

(10) Mornington Standard September 8, 1917, see here.

(11) The Age September 3, 1917, see here.

(12) Mornington Standard September 8, 1917, see here.

(13) The Age September 3, 1917, see here.

(14) Mornington Standard September 8, 1917, see here.

(15) The Age September 3, 1917, see here.

(16) Mornington Standard September 8, 1917, see here.

(17) Mornington Standard September 8, 1917, see here.

(18) Mornington Standard September 8, 1917, see here.

(19) The Age September 3, 1917, see here.

Alden family of 'Little London', Tyabb

This delightful postcard of the Queen Victoria Memorial Gardens in Melbourne was sent to Mrs Alden, of 'Little London', Tyabb on August 5, 1913 from Mary Buckley.

Mary wrote - Dear Mrs Alden,

We arrived safe here. Uncle Jack met us at the station. We got here at ten past seven. We are just going out to look for work. I wonder how we shall get on? I don't think work and I will agree, somehow, after the pleasant time at Little London. I give my love to all, 

Yours affectionately, 

Mary Buckley

The Alden family settled in Tyabb in 1901. The family consisted of Albert, his wife Mary (nee Newcombe) and children Albert Allen, known as Bert and Ivy Mary. We are fortunate that Albert Alden was interviewed in the Weekly Times in 1913 (1), 1918 (2)  and 1933 (3) , so we have some interesting sources of information about the family.   Mr Alden had been on a family farm with his father and brothers at Surrey, 7½ miles from London Bridge. The farm grew both fruit and vegetables and twice  a week Albert took the produce into Covent Garden market.  However, due to the ill health of family members Albert and Mary decided to sell their interest in the family farm and move to Australia.

They purchased 150 acres at Tyabb, and called their property, Little London. The land was situated on a nice elevation within a mile of the Tyabb railway station.  The soil consisted of from 12 to 18 inches of friable loam on a substrata of congenial clay (4).  They paid just over £6 and acre for the land which had nine acres of apricot trees planted and the rest was was covered in tree and scrub.  The Aldens spent another £5 per acre to clear 60 acres to establish the orchard (5). It is hard to imagine Tyabb now in a state of natural bush with the original wildlife, but there was an account in the Mornington Standard in May 1902 of Mr Alden's encounter with this wildlife - Some little time ago Mr Alden secured a splendid specimen of iguana, which measured 6ft 3½ in length and 18in in girth. Having captured it in his own paddock he is justly proud of it, and it is now stuffed and preserved in all its naturalness (6).  I wonder what became of this example of the taxidermist's art?

Orchards, of course, take  a long time to establish themselves, thus in the early years the family grew vegetables for an income.  By 1913, the first interview in the Weekly Times, the Aldens were exporting 2,500 cases of fruit, mainly apples and sending another 500 cases to the Melbourne and interstate markets. Twenty years later, in 1933, it was reported that the Aldens during the past season, 3760 cases having been sent abroad, of which more than 3000 cases were apples of the Jonathan, Five Crown, Dunn's (or Munroe's Favorite) and Sturmer varieties, and the remainder Josephine, Packham's Triumph and Broompark pears (7). The Aldens were not the only orchardists who exported their fruit. Fresh produce was a large export earner for Australia at this time, the 1934 Commonwealth Year book reported that in 1932/33 the value of the fresh apples Australia exported to the United Kingdom was £1,676,525; to Germany it was £169, 631 and to Sweden £28,540 (8).

The Tyabb and Somerville area was well known fruit growing area and in the Weekly Times article from 1933 they reported There are about 125 growers within a three-miles radius of that centre [Tyabb], and the latest crop is estimated at 140,000 cases, of which approximately 85 per cent, was apples. Deliveries at the Tyabb co-operative trading and cool stores totalled 56,000 cases (9).

Tyabb Cool Store, c. 1915,  used by the Aldens and other local growers.
The cool store was officially opened April 21, 1914. It is now an Antiques centre.

Image: Somerville Tyabb and District Heritage Society

https://cv.vic.gov.au/stories/a-diverse-state/postcards-stories-from-the-mornington-peninsula/

The three Weekly Times articles go into great detail about the varieties planted and the farming methods adopted by the Aldens, but we wont go into that here, we will have a look at their personal and social life. From the start there are accounts in the local papers of the Alden family partaking in community activities. By 1904, Albert was the President of the Tyabb and Hastings Fruitgrowers Association (10) and in August 1911 he was elected to the Frankston and Hastings Shire Council, defeating the Shire President, Cr H.P. Woodhouse in a surprise result (11).  Arthur was Shire President in 1917 and 1929 (12) and he retired from the Council in 1938. This was the same year his wife Mary died on August 19, at the age of 80.  The local paper reported that Mrs. Alden was an old resident of the district, and was held in high esteem by a large circle of friends (13).  Arthur died June 1, 1951, aged 88.

Their daughter, Ivy Mary had married Arthur Edward Benton, of Clifton Park, Tyabb on September 23, 1915 at All Saints Church at Tyabb. It was a very pretty wedding and the church was beautifully decorated with white roses, double white stocks, lilies and marguerites, and, as the occasion was
favored with beautifully fine weather, a large assembly of relatives and friends turned out to witness the ceremony. The bride was given away by her father and was beautifully attired in white silk, orange blossom wreath, and veil, and carried a shower bouquet of white roses, double white stocks and asparagus fern (14). Arthur was also a farmer and an orchardist and the couple had five children, George, Irene, Len, Edna and Myrtle (15).  Ivy Mary died on June 25, 1962, aged 69.

Arthur and Mary's son, Bert, who was also an orchardist, became a local councillor when he was elected in September 1942. He had married Ruth Unthank (nee Foubister), a widow with one son, Eric, in 1937 (16).  Bert died December 7, 1966 aged 75.  Arthur, Mary, Bert and Ivy Mary are all buried at the Frankston Cemetery (17).

What do we know of Mary Buckley, who sent the original postcard to Mrs Alden after her pleasant time at Little London? Nothing, but I hope that she eventually found work which agreed with her.

Trove list: I have created a list of articles on Trove, connected to the Alden family, you can access it here.

Sources:
(1) Weekly Times April 19, 1913, see here.
(2) Weekly Times December 14, 1918, see here.
(3) Weekly Times September 16, 1933, see here.
(4) Weekly Times April 19, 1913, see here.
(5) Weekly Times April 19, 1913, see here.
(6) Mornington Standard March 10, 1902, see here.
(7) Weekly Times September 16, 1933, see here.
(8) Commonwealth Year Book, 1934.  Copies of the Year book have been digitised from 1908 to 2010 and are available on the Australian Bureau of Statistics website, here.
(9) Weekly Times September 16, 1933, see here.
(10) Mornington Standard, October 22, 1904, see here.
(11) Mornington Standard, August 26, 1911, see here.
(12) Frankston: Resort to City by Michael Jones (Allen & Unwin, 1989)
(13) Frankston & Somerville Standard, August 26, 1938, see here.
(14) Mornington Standard, October 9, 1915, see here.
(15) Children are listed in Arthur's death notice in The Argus of June 12, 1945, see here.
(16) Ruth's first husband Gordon Percy Unthank died July 22, 1932. His death notice was in The Argus July 23, 1932, see here.
(17) Frankston Cemetery has some on-line records  and there are also photos of Albert and Mary's grave; Bert and Ruth's grave and Ivy and Arthur Benton's grave    https://www.australiancemeteries.com.au/vic/frankston/frankston.htm