A view of Maribyrnong Street Footscray, c.1875

Maribyrnong River and Maribyrnong Street, Footscray, c.1875.

Maribyrnong River at Footscray, c. 1875. Photographer: American & Australasian Photographic Company. 

State Library of New South Wales Image 63642. Click here for the original image.

I came across this photograph on the State Library of New South Wales website of the Maribyrnong River (also known as the Saltwater River) at Footscray. It's a great photo, taken c. 1875, and shows some of the buildings in Maribyrnong Street - the Bridge Hotel, on the right, then Pickett's house; the substantial bluestone building on the hill, is the premises of Samuel Henderson, Ham and Bacon Curers and further along is the double storey Ship Inn. Maribyrnong Street runs along the river between Hopkins and Youell Streets. We will have a look at these four buildings in a little more detail.

Close up of the four buildings, cropped from the photo above.

Photographer: American & Australasian Photographic Company.  State Library of New South Wales Image 63642

The Bridge Hotel, on the corner of Wingfield and Maribyrnong Streets was built in 1854/55 by James Maher (1).   It was originally known as the Punt Hotel, due  to its proximity to the punt which crossed the river to Bunbury Street. James Maher was declared insolvent in November 1856, but still held the licence in 1859 (2).  This Punt Hotel is not to be confused with an earlier hotel called the Punt Inn built in 1838 and destroyed by fire in January 1848 and called the Bush Inn between 1843 and 1847 (3).  At the time of the fire it was owned by Charles Kellett. Kellett then sold his punt to Michael Lynch and his hotel licence to William Pickett (4) the husband of Michael's half-sister, Mary Dowd, more of whom later. Just to confuse matters even more Michael Lynch later established a Punt Hotel on Ballarat Road, near Lynch's bridge. This later became the Pioneer Hotel (5).

 The opening of the bridge at Hopkins Street, viewed from the Punt Hotel, and the reason the name changed to the Bridge Hotel.

Opening of the draw-bridge, Salt Water River, from the Australian News for Home Readers March 23, 1863. 

State Library of Victoria Image IAN25/03/63/9

The  Hotel changed its name from the Punt Hotel to the Bridge Hotel around 1863 (6),  when the new bridge over the Maribyrnong was opened in March 1863. This bridge connected Dynon Road to Hopkins Street, and was opened by the Governor, Sir Henry Barkly. The bridge was a boost to the locals as the Footscray people have hitherto suffered great inconvenience from the want of a proper crossing place, which necessitated a long circuit to reach Melbourne. The bridge was  built with a moveable roadway which, by means of machinery, can be removed at any time when a vessel requires to pass (7). The bridge was replaced in 1903, and this is when I believe it was named the Hopetoun bridge after Lord Hopetoun, who had been Governor of Victoria from 1889 until 1895. Lord Hopetoun had visited Footscray on April 23, 1891 on the day it was proclaimed a city (8). The bridge was replaced in 1969 by the existing bridge (9).

Advertisement for a leaseholder for the Bridge Hotel. Perhaps the idea was for the landlord to supplement his income from fish sales.

The Argus April 17, 1866. https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/5787155

The Bridge Hotel had other licensees and this advertisement in 1866 (see above) said that the house should have a Waltonian landlord. That's rather interesting, a Waltonian being an angler or a follower of Izaak Walton (1593-1683) who wrote The Compleat Angler. In 1907, the Licences Reduction Board was established whose role was to reduce the number of hotel licences in Victoria to the statutory number which was based on the population of an area (10). The hotels which lost their licence would be given compensation based on the profit of the past three years (11). The Bridge Hotel and the Ship Inn along with eight other local Footscray hotels were the subject of a licence deprivation hearing at Licence Court in May 1918 (12). As we shall see later, the Ship Inn was ordered to close. The Bridge Hotel's licence was reviewed again in May 1926 (13) and it was delicenced by January 1927 (14). The building was  demolished in 1966 (15).

Licence Court hearing into hotels in Footscray and Yarraville, including the Bridge Hotel.

The Age April 9, 1918  http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article155089602

Interesting comparison to the c. 1875 photo at the top of the post, which shows the industralisation of the waterfront. Looking under the 1903 Hopetoun bridge, you can just see the Bridge Hotel, to the left of the Port Phillip Mills factory. They were a wool treatment business. In front of the hotel are Raisbeck & Campbell, Boat Builders (16). 

  Hopkins Street Bridge and Maribyrnong River, Footscray, dated 1920s-1954. 

Photographer: Rose Stereograph Co. State Library of Victoria Image H32492/933

Bridge Hotel, c. 1953  This photograph was published in Early Melbourne Architecture 1840-1888: a photographic record (17). The caption in the book says Bracketed eaves and wide-banded arches, painted in red ochre against yellow walls, gave a foreign air to this old house on the west bank of the Maribyrnong River.

Facing Maribyrnong River, c. 1953. State Library of Victoria Image  H2010.73/29

The Bridge Hotel, 1963, three years before demolition.

Footscray, corner Wingfield and Maribyrnong Streets, February 16, 1963. 

Photographer: John T. Collins State Library of Victoria Image H96.210/214

In our original photo, along from the Bridge Hotel is Pickett's house. In 1840, 21 year old Margaret Dowd arrived in Victoria and the next year she married William Pickett. In March 1848, William took over the licences of the 'Salt Water Punt Inn' and also operated the punt. The road to Melbourne by way of  Pickett's Punt, was well named "The Summer Road' for the journey was impossible in winter. (18). No wonder the community was happy when the bridge was opened in 1863. In 1853, Michael Lynch evicted them from the hotel and punt business, and gave it to his sister Ann to operate, but they had done well enough out of the business to purchase the land where they built their house in 1854 -  Pickett's house, as shown in the photo. Sadly for the family, William died in April 1858 at  only 35 years of age. Margaret was left with seven children from 16 years old to a baby born after William's death and had also given birth to three other children who had died young. Margaret lived in the house all her life and died in 1875, aged 55 (19).  The house is demolished, I cannot tell you when, but it is not in the November 1926 photo below. The life of Margaret Dowd Pickett and her children is recorded in the book Pubs, Punts and Pastures: the story of Pioneer Irish Women of the Salt Water River (20).

This is the temporary railway bridge over the Maribyrnong and was replaced in 1928. It runs into the Bunbury Street rail tunnel and is same location as William and Margaret Pickett's punt. The Bridge Hotel is visible, perfectly framed by the second span of the bridge on the right. The Michaelis Hallenstein tannery is the edifice behind the hotel. The Pickett house is gone, but the Ship Inn can still be seen, centre of photo, behind the railway line supports.

South Kensington to West Footscray, temporary bridge over Maribyrnong River, looking upstream, November 8, 1926. Victorian Railways Photographer. State Library of Victoria Image H28682/11

The next building  is the blue stone premises of Samuel Henderson, Ham and Bacon Curers, built around 1873. It included a house as well as the piggery. The slaughterhouse was 90 feet by 45 feet, and after they were killed and cleaned over 200 pigs could be hung on hook on a railing in one room and pushed along railings to the next stage. There is a detailed description of the process in the Illustrated Australian News for Home Readers of July 15, 1873, see here. The building had a number of later uses, and community action saved it from demolition (21).  You can read the Victorian Heritage Database citation, here. The building is now the Footscray Community Arts Centre.

A pretty picture of Henderson's Piggery.  The Bridge Hotel is in the background. What is missing is the smell and of course, the 1863 bridge.

Premises of Samuel Henderson, Ham and Bacon Curers, Saltwater River, Footscray, c. 1873. 

 Artist: S.T. Gill. State Library of Victoria Image H25128

Which brings us now to the Ship Inn, on the corner of Bunbury and Maribyrnong Streets. It was built around 1859 by Ann Dowd (22) who was Margaret Pickett's sister.  Ann had arrived in Melbourne in 1850, with her husband Thomas Delaney and two children. Thomas died in May 1853, and she married Cuthbert Harrison in August 1854 - all up she had five children with Thomas Delaney and another six with Cuthbert Harrison (23). Ann was entrepreneurial and her husband took full advantage of this according to Footscray historian, John Lack - it was a fruitful economic partnership for Harrison. (24). The construction of the Ship Inn was technically organised by her husband, Cuthbert Harrison, but it was no doubt her money. You can also read about the life of Ann Dowd Delaney Harrison in Pubs, Punts and Pastures: the story of Pioneer Irish Women of the Salt Water River (25).

Does this tender refer to the Ship Inn?

The Argus February 26, 1858 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/7147168

Cuthbert Harrison also had the licence for the Rising Sun Hotel in Footscray.  The Rising Sun Hotel appears to have been opened around 1857 and one of the first references I can find to it in the newspapers is the April 1857 report of a County of Bourke Hotel Licencing session where Michael Dowd was granted the licence of the Hotel. Michael Dowd, who died at the age of 99 in 1881, was the father of Ann and Margaret Dowd.  In April 1858 the licence was granted to Cuthbert Harrison. (26)

Michael Dowd granted the licence of the Rising Sun Hotel in Footscray. Cut Paw Paw is name of the land administration Parish, which covers Footscray, Yarraville and Williamstown.

The Age April 22, 1857 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/154821016

An advertisement placed by Cuthbert Harrison letting some of his wife's blocks of land in Maribyrnong Street.

The Age, July 21, 1859. https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/5684855

As mentioned before, the Ship Inn lost its licence at a Licence Reduction Board hearing which began in May 1918. The hotel was demolished in 1970 or as John Lack wrote simply crumbled into pieces during demolition (27).

Report of the Licence Reduction Board, which resulted in the closure of the Ship Inn.

The Argus June 12, 1918  http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article1665434

This and the photo below are from a series of photos taken during the construction of the railway bridge over the Maribyrnong, March 1927. The Ship Inn is on the right, partly obscured by a wharf shed.

Pulling pile sheeting at Coffer dam, with steam hammer, March 17, 1923; South Kensington to West Footscray, bridge over the Maribyrnong River. Victorian Railways photographer. State Library of Victoria Image H28682/51

View down the Maribyrnong River, the Ship Inn can be seen on the right bank. March 1927.

View of north side of Maribyrnong River bridge March 19, 1927;South Kensington to West Footscray, bridge over the Maribyrnong River. Victorian Railways photographer. State Library of Victoria Image H28682/52

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Sources

• Lack, John A history of Footscray (Hargreen Publishing, 1991)
• Early Melbourne Architecture 1840-1888: a photographic record compiled and edited by Maie Casey et al (Oxford University Press, 1953, 3rd edition 1975)
• Footscray: a pictorial record of the Municipality from 1859 to 1988 (City of Footscray, 1989). 
• Footscray & Yarraville:  a pictorial record (Footscray Historical Society, 2005)
• Footscray's first 100 years: the story of a great Australian City (City of Footscray, 1959)
• Pubs, Punts and Pastures: the story of Pioneer Irish Women of the Salt Water River by Joan Carstairs and Maureen Lane (St Albans Historical Society, 1988)

Footnotes
(1) Lack, John A history of Footscray (Hargreen Publishing, 1991), p. 45

James Maher was granted a licence for his hotel at the Annual Licensing Meeting for the District of Bourke, held Tuesday April 17, 1855. Report was in The Argus, April 19, 1855, see here.

(2) Report of James Maher's Insolvency was in The Argus, November 17, 1856, see here. He was still the Hotel in 1859 according to this article in Bell's Life in Victoria and Sporting Chronicle, January 29, 1859, see here.
(3) Punt Inn - Footscray's first 100 years: the story of a great Australian City (City of Footscray, 1959), unpaginated and Lack, op. cit., p. 410.
(4) Lack, op. cit., p. 39
(5) Lack, op. cit., p. 46 and Footscray & Yarraville:  a pictorial record (Footscray Historical Society, 2005) p. 46.
(6) The earliest newspaper reports on Trove using the search term Bridge Hotel Footscray date from 1863, the year the bridge opened. I have no other evidence.
(7)  The Leader, March 7, 1863, see here.
(8) Footscray's first 100 years: the story of a great Australian City, op.cit. unpaginated.
(9)  Living Museum of the West  website    https://www.livingmuseum.org.au/projects/stories_places/warves/FW_infrastructures_bridges.html
(10)  The Herald, July 9, 1906, see here and The Herald June 13, 1912, see here.
(11)  The Age April 26, 1907, see here.
(12)  The Age April 9, 1918, see here.
(13)  The Argus, May 5, 1926, see here.
(14)  The Argus of January 22, 1927 reported that the licensee of the Bridge Hotel (now delicensed) was charged with having disposed of liquour in prohibited hours on December 11. See full report, here.

(15) Footscray & Yarraville:  a pictorial record, op.cit., p. 46.
(16) Raisbeck and Campbell are listed in the 1950 Sands & McDougall Directory at the State Library of Victoria, but the 1945 edition. Access the Directories here https://www.slv.vic.gov.au/search-discover/popular-digitised-collections
(17) Early Melbourne Architecture 1840-1888: a photographic record compiled and edited by Maie Casey et al (Oxford University Press, 1953, 3rd edition 1975)
(18) Footscray's first 100 years: the story of a great Australian City, op.cit., unpaginated.
(19) The information about Margaret Dowd Pickett comes from Pubs, Punts and Pastures: the story of Pioneer Irish Women of the Salt Water River by Joan Carstairs and Maureen Lane (St Albans Historical Society, 1988)
(20) Pubs, Punts and Pastures: the story of Pioneer Irish Women of the Salt Water River by Joan Carstairs and Maureen Lane (St Albans Historical Society, 1988)
(21) Lack, op. cit., p.388.
(22) Lack, op. cit., p. 410. On page 52, John Lack writes Ann Dowd brought the Junction Hotel site [corner Bunbury and Whitehall Street] in 1854, and Lynch's Maribyrnong Street properties in the same year, selling the former to Robert Jones and building the Ship Inn on the latter.
(23) Ann Dowd's family information comes from Pubs, Punts and Pastures: the story of Pioneer Irish Women of the Salt Water River, op. cit.
(24) Lack, op. cit., p. 52.

(25) See footnote 18.
(26) Lack, op. cit., p. 52; The Age April 22, 1857, see here;  The Age, April 22, 1858 see here;

(27) Lack, op. cit., p. 388.

Henri Rintel - hotel keeper, farmer and the Secretary of the Warragul Hospital

This is the story of Henri Rintel - hotel keeper, farmer and the Secretary of the Warragul Hospital from 1907 until 1922.

Henri Rintel, born in 1856, was the fifth of nine children of Moses Rintel, Melbourne's first ordained Rabbi (1)  and his wife Elvina Hart (2).  Moses Rintel, born in Edinburgh, Scotland had arrived in Sydney in 1844 where he served the Sydney Congregation as  the Principal of the Hebrew School (3).  In January 1849, he was appointed as the Reader of the Melbourne Hebrew Congregation (4).  In 1857 he established the Mikveh Israel Melbourne Synagogue (5). The Congregation built a Synagogue on the corner of Exhibition Street and Little Lonsdale Street in 1859. I have written about this building, here.  In 1877 they built a new Synagogue in Albert Street, East Melbourne (6) which is still in use.

All I know about Henri's early days was that he was keen singer with a promising baritone voice (7).  Henri established an independent life for himself from the age of twenty when he applied for a grant of land, 23 acres,  in Lardner, off Lardner's Track, near Warragul (8). The next year he leased a store at Lardner situated on three acres (9) and he purchased it in 1878 (10).  Sadly in June 1879, his store was destroyed by fire (11). It was rebuilt and destroyed again by fire in February 1881 (12).  It was Henri's burnt store that gave its name to Burnt Store Road in Lardner (13).

Henri Rintel

Image: Buln Buln: a history of Buln Buln Shire  by Graeme Butler (Shire of Buln Buln, 1979) 

Some time after this Henry left Gippsland for the Western District were he took over the Excelsior Store with a Mr Fryberg in January 1886 (14).  Fryberg and Rintel sold Drapery, Millinery, Haberdashery, Clothing, Boots, Grocery, Ironmongery, Crockery, Tinware and Stationery (15).  Graeme Butler in his history of the Shire of Buln Buln, says that Rintel and Fryberg had opened a general store business  in 1881 at the corner of Shaw and Grant Tracks (16) - the business included an agency for the Singer Sewing Machine (17).  As business partners they also moved onto Camperdown, which was a short-lived venture. Their partnership was to dissolve in October 1886 (18).

Before we look at what Henri did next, we will have  a look at Mr Fryberg. In 1885, Henri and S.L Fryberg are listed as Officers of the King Solomon Lodge, No. 422 - Henri as the Worshipful Master and Fryberg as the Senior Warden (19).  It was not surprising that Henri was a Freemason as his father, Moses, was also a member, having joined a Lodge in Sydney in 1847 and later, was also a Member of the King Solomon Lodge, No. 422 (20). A Solomon Fryberg is also listed in the membership list of the Lodge (21) and a Solomon Leo Fryberg died in St Kilda in 1940, aged 83 (22).  I believe this is the man who was Henri's business partner.

Advertisement for Fryberg and Rintel, Camperdown

Camperdown Chronicle, February 10 1886 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/22097153

After Camperdown, Henri took over as licensee of the Royal Mail Hotel on the Poowong Road for  a year from 1889 (23).  In 1890 he filed for bankruptcy, his occupation at this time was listed in reports as a store keeper of Jeetho (24).  Also in 1890 Henri married a widow, Jane Manning, and became an instant father to Jane's five children and their own son Horace, born in 1891, but more about his family life later.

In 1896 Henri was back into the hotel business and had the license of the Toolangi House Hotel (25). It was Henri that gave the hotel it's rather prosaic name, it had previously been called the 'Ye Olde Englishe Inne' (26). The Hotel was located on 220 acres and had 30 rooms (27).  Henri became involved with community life in Toolangi and was the Secretary of the Yarra Glen to Toolangi Railway League (28). We can place Henri and Jane at Toolangi until January 1901, when a clearing sale was held at the Hotel. Interestingly the clearing sale was advertised in Mrs Rintel's name, not that of Henri (29).  The Rintel family were given a social evening before leaving the district (30).

Toolangi House Hotel, owned by Henri and Jane Rintel

Toolangi House - Yea River Photographer: John Henry Harvey

State Library of Victoria Image H90.161/106

Henri and family returned to the Warragul area and Henri became involved in community life as the President of the Warragul Progress Association (31). Henri and Jane operated a dairy farm at Warragul South where they had success with the Alderney breed.  In fact, he considered the Alderney the best cow for West Gippsland (32). The Rintels retired from dairy farming in 1905 and a clearing sale was held and again it was advertised in Mrs Rintel's name, who is giving up dairying (33).  Mrs Rintel was a widow, so was the Toolangi Hotel and the Warragul farm purchased with 'her' money or was the fact that Henri had been made a bankrupt meant that he couldn't have or didn't want property in his name?

In 1907, Henri became the Secretary of the Warragul Hospital (34).  At the time it was a private hospital but on August 5, 1908 it opened as public hospital. There were naturally a number of speeches on the opening day and the President of the Narracan Shire, Cr Mahony, congratulated the committee on the work of their energetic secretary (Mr Rintel.) He deserved great credit for the manner in which he had maintained his enthusiasm and energy in working to make the project such a great success (35). The President of the Hospital Committee, Mr D. McNeil said that The committee also felt exceedingly grateful to the ladies who had inaugurated the kitchen fund (Mrs Rintel and Miss Manning) for the splendid service which they had rendered to the finances of the institution (36). 

This is now the time to take a look at Henri's family. He married, as we said, Jane Manning (nee Herity) in 1890. The wedding took place at Sale on February 25 by the Registrar of Marriages, so it was not a religious service (37).  Jane's first husband, Charles had died in 1888, when she was only 28 leaving her with five children, Charles Henty, Jane Eliza, Agnes Ellen, John Henry and Robert Francis (38). Henri and Jane were to have one child, Horace Lisle, who was born in Clunes on August 26, 1891 (39).

As a matter of interest, there was a report in Punch (40) of Henri's step-daughter's marriage. Jane wed Ernest Henry Jones, at the Catholic Presbytery in Warragul in 1910 (40).  The bride was given away by Horace, her half-brother.  The reception was held at the  Railway Hotel and a toast was made by  Mr Snowball, Grand Master of the Loyal Orange Lodge of Victoria. The report noted that both the Groom's father, Charles Jones,  and the Bride's step-father, Henri Rintel were Past Masters of the Grand Order of Freemasons. It was no wonder that the paper said that the wedding possessed some unique features (41) with that mixture of  Catholicism, the Protestant Loyal Orange Lodge and the Freemasons.

Henri's only biological son, Horace, married Gwendolyn Morey at Christ Church in St Kilda on November 17, 1916 (42).  Horace was a teacher, having graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from Melbourne University and a Diploma of Teaching (43).  He enlisted in the A.I.F on July 20, 1915 and spent over a year assisting with training recruits. Horace was promoted to Lieutenant and embarked for overseas service on November 23, 1916, a few days after his wedding. He served in the 23rd Reinforcements, 8th Battalion and was sadly Killed In Action in Belgium on September 20, 1917 (44).

Horace Rintel is honoured on the Warragul War Memorial 

Unfortunately Horace's death did not bring the family together - there is a letter on his file at the National Archives from his wife Gwendolyn and one from Henri. The issue seemed to be where Horace's medals should go - Gwendolyn said that she had not been treated fairly by her husband's family. Henri wrote that Horace was secretly married unknown to any member of his family and that since his death Gwendolyn had treated them with callous indifference and if she received any medals then she would appreciate them for their monetary value only. The letters were written in 1921 and the eventual decision was the British War Medal and the Memorial scroll would go to the widow and the Victory Medal and Memorial Plaque would go to Henri (45).

I cannot tell you why Horace and Gwendolyn got married without telling the family. I don't know how they met, Gwendolyn was a 22 year old teacher and living in St Kilda at the time of the marriage (46).  Gwendolyn was Principal of Faireleight School, in Alma Road, St Kilda from 1919 until 1923 and after Faireleight closed she took up a position at Toorak College (47). She never remarried and died in 1966 at the age of 72 (48).  Horace had been teaching at Ballarat Grammar School when he enlisted and in December 1921, the school named a racing boat after him. The Head Master was reported as saying that  it was fitting that the boat should be named 'H. L. Rintel’ in memory of one who as master here in our earliest days, did so much good both in and out of school amongst the boys with whom he worked, and who afterwards gave his life for his country. The report goes on to say that on the day of the boat race the new boat was christened by Mrs Rintel in the presence of a large number of spectators (49).  Horace is remembered on two Great War Memorials -  The Memorial Gates at Ballarat Grammar, which were dedicated in May 1924 (50) and the Warragul War Memorial.

Horace's half brother, Charles Manning, was also Killed in Action, on July 7, 1915 at Gallipoli. Another half brother, John, died on August 31, 1919 at the age of 36. John has also enlisted in the A.I.F, but was discharged on medical grounds (Cardiac irregularities) (51).  Perhaps that is why Jane and Henri fought so hard for Horace's medals as they already felt they had lost so much. Jane died in Kerang on December 18, 1921 (52).  Henri had also been at Kerang, where they were living with their daughter, Jane Eliza Jones. He had to reluctantly relinquish his position as Secretary of the Hospital due to ill health, but he decided to return to Warragul to spend his last days (53).

This is the Warragul Hospital as Henri would have known it.

Image: The Path of Progress: from forests of yesterday to homes of to-day by Hugh Copeland (Shire of Warragul, 1934) Photographer: H. S. Reeves.  The image has been cropped.

Henri had many visits from his old friends and his Masonic brethren raised money for a tricycle for Henri to help him get around. This was reported in the West Gippsland Gazette where Mr. Rintel said he could not thank them as he would wish. The loss of his only son at the war, followed by the death of his sister, and then his wife, had left him feeling very desolate at times, and this spontaneous act of kindness and remembrance was like a ray of sunshine in the gloom (54).

His Masonic friends were not his only visitors, Hugh Copeland, in his history of the Shire of Warragul, says that Henri was a friend of Sir John Monash, and 'the little doctor' (Dr Maloney, M.H.R.), who visited him in hospital before he died there (55).

We will return to the West Gippsland Gazette for their final tribute to Henri Rintel who died on Saturday, March 3, 1923 - Death of Mr Rintel - Impressive Masonic Service - Many friends throughout this district will regret to learn of the death on Saturday night, at the Warragul District Hospital, of Mr. Henri Rintel, the late secretary of that institution. For many years he held that post, until failing health compelled him to relinquish it, and he went north to Kerang to join his family. As he did not improve, he felt a keen desire to return to his favorite institution, and after several months of weary illness, he passed away on Saturday night. It is not too much to say that the late secretary was one of the original founders of the Warragul District Hospital in 1908, and it was he who did all the original organising work in converting the private institution into a public district hospital. For many subsequent years he filled the position of secretary and collector, and it is largely due to his untiring energy and his unbounded enthusiasm that the institution was placed on such a substantial foundation, and has been the means of untold blessing and relief to thousands of sufferers in the intervening years. Surely one could hardly conceive or wish for a more beautiful and enduring memory than this to know that one's constant efforts had been usefully directed to the benefit and blessing of his fellow men and women. Now the work is over, and the realisation of what he has been able to do should contribute to that serenity and peace of soul which is to be so earnestly desired.

The funeral took place yesterday morning, the cortege leaving the Masonic Hall - where full Masonic honors were accorded the deceased shortly after 11 o'clock the service at the grave was conducted by the Rev. P. W Robinson, and the beautiful and impressive ritual of the Masonic Order was read by Bro. Cromie, W.M. and participated in by a number of the brethren of the Gippsland Forest Lodge (56).

Henri's unmarked grave at the old Warragl Cemetery.

Henri's funeral, which took place on Monday, March 5,  was conducted by the Anglican Minister and so I wondered if Henri still had a connection to his Jewish faith. Jane was not Jewish, thus Horace was not Jewish: his enlistment papers have his religion as Church of England. We know that Henri did not have  a religious wedding. There are two references to Henri's Jewishness in The Path of Progress, a history of Warragul, published in 1934. One reference refers to him as a well-known Jewish character (57) and another reference describes Henri as a Jew, with a fund of Yiddish anecdotes (58).  The Hebrew Standard of Australasia, a Sydney paper did report on August 25, 1922 that Mr. Henri Rintel, one of the surviving sons of the late Rev. M. Rintel is an inmate of the hospital at Terang (59). Apart from getting the town wrong, it was Kerang not Terang, they did consider that one of the sons of Melbourne's first Rabbi was still of interest to the Jewish community.  I believe that in spite of the funeral being conducted by the Anglican Minister that Henri never converted to Christianity and reading the funeral report it seems that the most prominent feature of the service was the Masonic component. Rabbi Moses Rintel, was a dedicated member of the Freemasons and held the position of the Very Worshipful Provincial Grand Chaplin for fifteen years and Henri's dedication to the Freemasons was as enduring as that of his father (60).

Henri is buried at the Warragul Cemetery in an unmarked grave, but he is remembered in the town by Rintel Court. Rintel Court is off Landsborough Road and is close to where Henri's fine homestead  was located (61).   It is also a few 100 metres from the Warragul Hospital, the  institution that he worked tirelessly for as the Secretary for over fifteen years and where he passed away.

Rintel Court, Warragul

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Trove list
I have created  a list of newspaper articles on Henri Rintel and his family, you can access it here.

Sources
(1) Moses Rintel (1823-1880) - You can read his entry in the Australian Dictionary of Biography, here. Rabbi  Moses' appointment is also discussed in length in The Jews in Victoria in the  Nineteenth Century by Lazarus Morris Goldman, published by the Author in 1954.
(2) Moses Rintel and Elvina Hart (1823-1904) married on August 22, 1849. She was the daughter of John and Isabella (nee Levy) Hart. They had nine children Henri John (1850-1850), Isabella (1851-1921), Myer (1853-1914), Edward (1854-1913), Henri (1856-1923), Simeon (1858-1919), Walter (1859-1925), Adelaide (1862-1916) and Sarah (1867-1893).
(3) Goldman, Lazarus Morris The Jews in Victoria in the  Nineteenth Century (The Author, 1954) p. 62.
(4) Goldman, op. cit., p. 62.
(5) Goldman, op. cit., Chapter 12 - A New Congregation.
(6)  Goldman, op. cit., pp 250, 251.
(7) The Leader, December 24, 1875, see here.
(8) Butler, Graeme Buln Buln: a history of Buln Buln Shire (Shire of Buln Buln, 1979) p. 211.
(9) Buter, op. cit., p. 210.
(10)  Butler, op. cit., p. 210.
(11)  Butler, op. cit., p. 210.
(12)  Butler, op. cit., p. 210.
(13)  Butler, op. cit., p. 210. Also mentioned in Copeland, Hugh The Path of Progress: from forests of yesterday to homes of to-day  (Shire of Warragul, 1934) on page 434,
(14) Camperdown Chronicle, January 23 1886, see here.
(15) Camperdown Chronicle, February 10, 1886, see here.
(16)  Butler, op. cit., p. 211. Not really sure where the intersection of Shaw and Grant Track is.
(17)  Butler, op. cit., p. 211.
(18)  The Argus, October 27, 1886, see here.
(19) Jewish Herald, December 11, 1885  see here.
(20) Members of the early Australian Lodges can be found on Ancestry, where the Ireland, Grand Lodge of Freemasons of Ireland Membership Registers, 1733-1923 and the United Grand Lodge of England Freemason Membership Registers, 1751-1921 have been digitised.
(21) Henri and Solomon Fryberg are both registered in the King Solomon Lodge, No. 422 on May 1, 1881. See Note 20, above.
(22) Index to Victorian Birth, Deaths and Marriages, https://www.bdm.vic.gov.au/
(23) Warragul Guardian, May 9 1890, see here.
(24) The Age, September 27, 1890, see here.
(25) Lilydale Express January 8, 1897, see here.
(26) Lilydale Express January 8, 1897, see here.
(27) Lilydale Express, April 3, 1896, see here.
(28) Healesville Guardian, May 12, 1899   see here.
(29) Evelyn Observer, January 11, 1901, see here.
(30) Healesville and Yarra Glen Guardian, January 18 1901, see here.
(31) West Gippsland Gazette, February 14, 1905, see here.
(32) West Gippsland Gazette, August 25, 1903, see here.
(33) West Gippsland Gazette, November 7, 1905, see here.
(34) West Gippsland Gazette, July 2, 1907, see here. This is the first reference I can find if Henri being listed as Secretary.
(35)  West Gippsland Gazette, August 11, 1908, see here. Comprehensive report of the opening and the work required to bring the old building up to scratch.
(36)  West Gippsland Gazette, August 11, 1908, see here.
(37) This information comes from the Marriage certificate.
(38)  Jane's children with her first husband, Charles Manning, come from the Victorian and New South Wales Indexes to the Births, Deaths and Marriages.
(39) This information comes from Horace's Birth certificate.
(40) Punch, January 13, 1910, see here.
(41) Punch, January 13, 1910, see here.
(42)  This information comes from the Marriage Certificate.
(43)  West Gippsland Gazette, January 5, 1915, see here.
(44)  National Archives of Australia - First Australian Imperial Force Personnel Dossiers, 1914-1920  see Horace's file here
(45) National Archives of Australia - First Australian Imperial Force Personnel Dossiers, 1914-1920  see Horace's file and the letters from his wife and father here
(46)  This information comes from the Marriage Certificate.
(47)  The Argus, November 19, 1923, see here.
(48)  Index to Victorian Birth, Deaths and Marriages, https://www.bdm.vic.gov.au/
(49)  Ballarat Star, December 17, 1921, see here.
(50)  Ballarat Star, May 5, 1924, see here.
(51) National Archives of Australia - First Australian Imperial Force Personnel Dossiers, 1914-1920
(52)  Her death notice was in The Argus, December 20, 1921, see here.
(53)  West Gippsland Gazette, March 6, 1923, see here.
(54)  West Gippsland Gazette, February 7, 1922, see here. The sister he refers to is Isabella Rintel (Mrs Abraham Stern) who died February 3, 1921.
(55) Copeland, Hugh The Path of Progress: from forests of yesterday to homes of to-day  (Shire of Warragul, 1934),  p. 435. Sir John Monash - Engineer and General, read his Australian Dictionary of Biography entry, here. Dr Maloney is William Robert Maloney - Doctor, Politician and Humanitarian, read his Australian Dictionary of Biography here.
(56)  West Gippsland Gazette, March 6, 1923, see here.
(57) Copeland, op. cit p. 38.
(58) Copeland, op. cit., p. 435.
(59) Hebrew Standard of Australasia, August 25, 1922, see here.
(60) Jewish Herald, September 10, 1880, see here.
(61) Copeland, op. cit., p. 18.