Emil Heinrich Schellenberger aka Emile Henry Shelley

Emil Heinrich Schellenberger was born on June 17, 1869 at the family home and business, the Bakers' Arms Hotel in Sandhurst, as Bendigo was once called. He was the fifth child and fifth son of George and Wilhelmina (nee Herold) Schellenberger. When Emil died in 1944 in Warragul, he was known as Emile Henry Shelley and he generously left his estate to the people of Bunyip for the beautification and advancement of the township. This is his story and I am sorry to say that I don't have  a photograph of him. 

His father, George Schellenberger was born June 27, 1826 in Merxheim, Rhineland-Palatinate in Germany.  George arrived in Sandhurst in 1852 and he returned to his birth town in 1862 where on November 27 he married Wilhemina, who had been born on August 8, 1841. Their eight children, were all born in Bendigo; Emil's birth being followed by two sisters and another brother (1).

George Schellenberger - a member of the Society of the Old Bendigonians, 

residents who were in Bendigo up to December 31, 1853 (2) 

State Library of Victoria Image H26099/99

George was a successful businessman - a Master Baker and later a Publican, but the family endured many tragedies - their third son, Albert, died in 1867 aged only 11 months; their second son, Friedrich, died in 1871 aged 6 years and five months; George himself died of cancer on January 27, 1876, when he was only 47. This was followed by the death of the eldest daughter, Wilhelmina in 1877 at the age of five years and nine months. Then tragedy struck again with the death of George's wife and the mother of the children, Wilhelmina, when she died August 18, 1878 aged 37. This left the five remaining children as orphans, ranging from 15 years to three years old (3).

What did they do? Wilhelmina had remarried in May 1877 to Wilhelm Beischer (4). Did the children remain with him or was their another relative who looked after them? I cannot tell you. 

There are a some references to Emil in the newspapers - this first one from December 1883, when he was only 14 years old, tells us about his musical talent and his love of  performing and entertaining which he had all his life -

A performance was given in Weeroona Hall on 12th December, in aid of the Bendigo Hospital, by the Weeroona Dramatic Club. The hall was kindly lent by Mr. Beiseher, and was well

filled. Songs by H. Lethbridge, E. Schellenberger and F. Apted were rendered in good style. The farce "Bruised and Cured" by H. Lethbridge aud W. J. Gissing caused great laughter. The programme concluded with the side-splitting farce entitled " Grand-mudder's Ghost," which was well rendered by F. and E. Schellenberger, Gissing, and Apted, the audience being kept in roars of laughter until the curtain was drawn. (5).

In May 1884 a report of the monthly meeting of the Bendigo United Friendly Societies' Dispensary and Medical Institute noted that the executive committee of the Dispensary reported that they had appointed Mr. E. Schellenberger, on probation as apprentice and in February 1885 it was reported that the Pharmacy Board had registered his apprenticeship indentures (6).

The Bendigo Advertiser reported further on his career in June 1889 -
Pharmaceutical Examinations - We observe by the "Argus" that several Sandhurst students have been successful in passing their examinations before the Pharmacy Board of Victoria this month. Mr. J. W. B. Pedley has passed his final examination as pharmaceutical chemist; also Mr. F. W. Waller and Mr. Alex Rae Downes. Mr. Emil Schellenberger is one of six successful out of eleven candidates for the intermediate examination in materia medica and Botany. All these four gentlemen have been students at the School of Mines here, and three of them, viz.: Messrs. Pedley, Schellenberger and Downes were pupils attending the lectures of Mr Lillie Mackay, director of the school. Mr. Waller studied under Mr. E. L. Marks.(7). 

By 1891, Emil had completed his studies and was leasing 128 Clarendon Street, South Melbourne, where he operated a Chemist Shop. He was involved in many local organisations in South Melbourne, including the Australian Natives Association, a committee member of the South Melbourne Cricket Club,  President of the South Melbourne Cricket Club Skittle Club and as his obituary in the Emerald Hill Record noted - During the 'nineties he was treasurer of the South Melbourne Football Club and was instrumental in persuading Mr. Bert Howson to join up with the Red and Whites (8).  Bert was a champion wingman for South Melbourne over 17 seasons which comprised the club's last six in the VFA, and its first 11 in the VFL. He was supremely unfortunate in that he began his senior career the year after South's last VFA flag, and ended it the season before the club's first premiership in the VFL. However, he made amends to some extent when, after being appointed non-playing coach of the red and whites in 1918, he led them to a flag at the first time of asking. (9).  

As a Chemist, Emil was very pro-active and advertised on a regular basis in the local papers and in return they gave him favourable editorial space, such as this -

An Enterprising Chemist - We desire to call our readers' attention to the fact that Mr. E. H. Schellenberger has obtained the local agency for the celebrated Chamberlain Medicines, which are manufactured by the Chamberlain Medicine Co., Des Moines, Iowa, U.S.A.. This company is one of the oldest and most reliable in America, and come highly recommended to the people of South Melbourne, and to make their remedies a household article through this district they have made an advertising contract which will appear in the columns of this paper during the next year. The line of remedies they manufacture is of a class that should be found in every home, since they are for the most common ailments such as every family have use for some time during the year. (10).

One of Emil's advertisements

Emerald Hill Record April 15, 1899 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/108490259

However not content to being just an enterprising chemist, in 1897, the Emerald Hill Record advised its readers that -

The attention of the public is directed to an advertisement by Mr. Emil Schellenberger, the well-known chemist, of Clarendon-Street, who having undergone a training at the Dental College of Victoria, has commenced practice as a surgical and mechanical dentist in all the branches of the profession. (11).

Emil's advertisement for his Dental practice

Emerald Hill Record April 21, 1900 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article108492093

On August 1, 1899 at his home 50 Howe Crescent, South Melbourne, 30 year-old Emil married 22 year-old Ethel Jane Whylie McCann. The minister was the Reverend Canon Dickinson. Ethel had been born in Stawell and was the daughter of Thomas Johnston  and Elizabeth (nee Gendall) McCann (12). One of the witnesses was Burley Peet, who was to marry  Emil's sister Henrietta, on August 23 the same year (13). 

On May 11, 1900 Ethel gave birth to their daughter, Minnie Ethel, at Howe Crescent.  Sadly Minnie passed away on January 10, 1904 at the age of three years, eight months. She was to be their only child (14).  By this time, due to the renumbering of South Melbourne streets which took place sometime between 1900 and 1905,  the business and their residence was now 224 Clarendon Street (15). 

Death notice for little Minnie, who died at 224 Clarendon Street.

The Argus January 11, 1904    https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/10592045

Emil was, as we know, a talented musician and performer and there are many reports of his singing engagements as well as some of the social functions he attended with Ethel. Emil sang at a Pleasant Sunday Afternoon, organised by the local committee in aid of the s.s. Federal disaster fund; at an Independent Order of Foresters concert and at a Euchre party held the Albert Park Bowling Club. (16). In July 1905, the couple were guests at the Mayoral Ball, held at the South Melbourne Town Hall; Ethel wore ivory duchesse satin, relieved with chiffon. In the July of the next year, they were invited to a Mayoral 'At Home', also held at the Town Hall. This time Ethel wore cream merv, chiffon bertha, scarlet flower - merv being a silk material and bertha being a deep falling collar attached to a low-necked dress. (17). 

In 1907, Emil established a factory for the manufactory for rubber goods located on the corner of Meaden and Douglas streets and he still had that business in 1915. A year later in 1908 the couple left for Europe for an extended holiday - the dentistry practice was taken over an Alfred Deakin and the rubber goods factory was managed by J. E. McCann - Ethel's brother (18). The couple returned to South Melbourne at some time, they were certainly back by 1911, as there are references in the paper to Ethel's involvements in the South Melbourne Cricket Club Ladies Bowling Club (19). 

In February 1913,  Emil and Ethel travelled overseas again, as The Herald reported  - Mr E. H. Schellenberger... has decided to follow a musical career. He will leave by the Afric, and will go to Germany to pursue his studies on the 'cello. For three years Mr Schellenberger was a member of Mr Marshall Hall's orchestra.  George William Louis Marshall-Hall (1862-1915) was the Professor of Music at Melbourne University and conducted his orchestra from 1892 until 1912. (20). 

I don't know how long they were overseas for, but they are listed in the 1917 Electoral Rolls at Mitford Street in Elwood. There is one change though - presumably due to anti-German feeling the couple are now  known as Emile Henry and Ethel Shelley. From 1918 until sometime in 1922, the Shelley's were in Yea, where he operated a Chemist shop.  Not surprisingly, Emile was involved in musical performances at Yea on occasions - at a farewell to the Reverend Falconer, of St Luke's Church of England, a violin and 'cello duet by Messrs Taylor and Shelley was well rendered and well received and at a Peace Ball held in October 1919 - The Yea Orchestra, consisting of violin (Mr R. Taylor), 'cello (Mr E. H. Shelley), bass violin (Mr C. Sheppard), cornet (Mr A. Lonsdale), and piano (Miss J. Bett) provided excellent music for the twenty odd dances, which made the evening still more enjoyable.(21).

Emile Shelley's advertisement for his Yea Chemist shop

Yea Chronicle, December 23, 1920 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/60451376

After their return from Yea, the couple are listed in the Electoral Roll at 11 Vautier Street in Elwood. Then they made another move to a country town, this time Bunyip. The Shire of Berwick Rate Books show that on June 17 1925, Emil took over the Chemist shop in the town and purchased a house. 

Emile and Ethel soon involved themselves in the community - Emile was a member of the Bunyip Progress Association, the Agricultural Society and the Cricket, Tennis and Football Clubs. Ethel was a committee member of the Australian Women's National League and an inaugural member of the Bunyip Country Women's Association (22). However, life in a country town had its downsides. The Dandenong Journal reported on the following letter Ethel Shelley wrote to the Berwick Shire in 1942 - 

“Are there any by-laws limiting the extent of farming in a residential area (George street).? wrote Mrs. E. Shelley, Bunyip to the Berwick Shire council last Friday. ‘I can honestly say I have not had a proper, night’s rest for some weeks,” she went on. Late at night and early morning, white leghorn roosters start crowing - as well as cows.”....Mrs. Shelley added that animals near a private house bring flies and mosquitoes - “and we have plenty, of both,” she wound up. Sadly for Ethel the Council responded that they had no by-law covering the matter.  (23)

In 1948 Ethel Shelley was photographed at Mrs Pye and Mrs  at the recently

opened Country Women's Association Club in Lansell Road, Toorak. The caption reads Mrs Pye and Mrs Shelley pause beside a fountain. Mrs Shelley, who is very fond of flowers, says the garden is a delight. She was one of the first members of the CWA in Bunyip, "The Club is wonderful - It fills a long-felt want," she tells Mrs Pye

The Herald, December 14, 1948 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/243547502

Emile Shelley died on January 8, 1944 at the Warragul Hospital (24). The contents of his will were detailed in a letter his Trustees sent to the Berwick Shire Secretary -

“We beg to advise that the company is applying for probate of the will of Emile Henry Shelley, late of Bunyip, retired chemist, who died on the 8th. ult. Under the will, the whole of the estate, both real and personal, is devised and bequeathed upon trust for the widow, for life without impeachment of waste. On the death of the widow, the sum of £1000 is payable to the trustee for the time being of the Bunyip Mechanics’ Institute, and £1000 to the trustees of the Bunyip Agricultural Society.

The remainder of the estate is to be known as the Emile Henry Shelley Trust and is bequeathed upon trust as to capital and income to be administered by the trustee and expended as it in its absolute discretion shall decide for the beautification and advancement of the township of Bunyip, and the trustees may seek the advice of F. S. Dodge, J. A. Cock, G. B. Calderwood, all of Bunyip, or the survivor or survivors of them. From data prepared to date it would appear that the value of the trust will be in the vicinity of £7000, but it will be appreciated that this figure may vary by the time the trust is established."  (25).

It was a very generous donation to the town. When Ethel Shelley died at the age of 71, on June 3, 1950 at her home in George Street, Bunyip, Emile's bequests could then be enacted upon (26). It was reported that when the Hall received the magnificent bequest [it] automatically liquidated the hall overdraft, leaving a credit of £475. When the hall was re-built the late Mr. Shelley donated the portico at the main entrance. The original Hall  burnt down on March 14, 1940 and the new Hall, with Mr Shelley's portico, opened on October 8, 1942. (27).

Bunyip Hall, which opened October 1942. The portico was donated by Emile Shelley.

Image: Call of the Bunyip; History of Bunyip, Iona and Tonimbuk 1847-1990 by Denise Nest

Emile's plaque at the Bunyip Hall. 

I'll take a better photo of it one day,

There was a challenge to the Will as reported in The Argus in December 1952 -

The Full High Court today ruled that a man's bequest of £9,600 should be used for the "beautification and advancement" of Bunyip, Victoria. The man, Emile Henry Shelley, died in 1944. He bequeathed his estate to his widow in trust until her death. Shelley directed that when his wife died the money should be used for Bunyip's beautification and advancement. When Mrs. Shelley died in 1950, next of kin contested the will in the Supreme Court of Victoria. Judge Coppel held that the purpose of the will was "good and charitable." The next-of-kin's fight ended today, when the Full High Court upheld Judge Coppel's ruling. (28). Who was the next of kin who challenged the Will? More on this later. 

The Trustees of the Emile Henry Shelley Trust made a decision in 1957 that  the money should go towards a Hospital. The Shelley Memorial Hospital Society was established in 1960 and the Shelley Memorial Hospital at Bunyip was officially opened on March 19, 1966, a fitting tribute to a community minded man. In the first two years of operation, 100 babies were born at the Hospital. The Hospital closed on May 1, 1991, and the building is now part of Hillview Aged Care. (29). 

The Shelly Memorial Hospital, Bunyip.

Image: Call of the Bunyip; History of Bunyip, Iona and Tonimbuk 1847-1990 by Denise Nest

Emile was cremated at Springvale Crematorium and his ashes were interred with Minnie at the Melbourne General Cemetery, where Ethel was later buried. (30).  There was one mystery which temporarily perplexed me. Ethel's death notice (see below) listed her children as Lily, Charles, Mary and Edgar. And yet,  both death certificates list Minnie as their only child, and their marriage certificate states that neither were married before and had no previous children.  Lily, Charles, Mary and Edgar  are actually her siblings and Vi Barber is Ethel's niece, the daughter of her sister Mary (31).  It would be interesting to know who challenged Emile's will - he had two surviving siblings, Ferdinand and Herbert;  Ethel had the one surviving sibling, Edgar, did they feel they were entitled to the Estate or was it nieces and nephews on either side? I cannot tell you. 

Emile's death notice 

The Argus, January 10, 1944 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/11802986

Ethel's death notice, which mistakenly lists her siblings as her children.

The Argus, June 5 1950 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/22833353

The town of Bunyip would be grateful for the generosity of Emile and Ethel Shelley, as the during the 25 years the Hospital operated it provided employment for the local community, in a caring local hospital used for the treatment of illness, for operations and for the delivery of babies. 

Trove List - I have created a list of newspapers articles on Trove on the  Schellenberger / Shelley family. Access it here. 

Footnotes 

(1) A source on Ancestry.com - Geneanet Community Trees Index - lists George and Wilhemina's Birth and Marriage locations as Merxheim, Meisenheim-Birkenfeld, Rheinland Pfalz, Allemagne; George's arrival date in Bendigo Advertiser, February 23, 1876, see here. Their children were - George Frederick (1863 - died in Kalgoorlie, W.A in 1931); Friedrich (1864-1871); Albert Wilhelm (1866-1867); Ferdinand (1867 - died in Cheltenham, Vic, in 1955); Emile; Wilhemina Maria (1871-1877); Henrietta Margaratha (1873- died in Beechworth in 1931, married Burley Peet in 1899); Herbert Luie (1874 - died in Belmont, W.A. in 1952). 

(2) Old Bedigonians - Bendigo Advertiser, September 28 1870, see here.

(3) Victorian Indexes to Births, Deaths and Marriages; family notices in the newspaper, see my Trove list, here.

(4) Bendigo Advertiser, June 11, 1877, see here. In 1882, when he was 38 years old,  Wilhelm married 25 year old Henrietta Friswell and they had eight children together. 

(5) Bendigo Advertiser, December 17, 1883, see here.

(6) Bendigo Advertiser, May 24, 1884, see here; The Argus, February 13, 1885, see here.

(7) Bendigo Advertiser, June 15, 1889, see here.

(8) City of South Melbourne Rate Books on Ancestry.com; involvement with community groups - see references in my Trove list, here; Obituary - Emerald Hill Record, January 15 1944, see here.

(9) Bert Howson -  Entry by John Devaney on Australianfootball.com - here 

(10) Emerald Hill Record, April 15 1899, see here. 

(11) Emerald Hill Record, May 1, 1897, see here. 

(13) Information from marriage certificate. Thomas Johnston McCann (1845-1928) married Elizabeth Gendall (1848-1937) in 1870. They had six children - Lily (1871-1892); Mary Helena (1873-1948, married James Taylor in 1894 and they had  three daughters - Mary Helena, Elsie Elizabeth and Violet May. Mary and James divorced in 1914 and she married William Gardner in 1928); Ethel; Thomas Johnston (1879-1883); Charles Edmund (1883-1918); John Edgar (1887 - died in New South Wales in 1961)

(13) The Argus, September 20, 1899, see here.

(14) Birth certificate; death notice The Argus, January 11, 1904, see here. 

(15) Sands McDougall entries for 1900 and 1905. Emil's shop - same location, different number. 

Location of Emil's shop in Clarendon Street, 1900

Sands and McDougall Melbourne and Suburban Directory for 1900.

State Library of Victoria https://www.slv.vic.gov.au/search-discover/popular-digitised-collections

Location of Emil's shop in Clarendon Street, 1905

Sands and McDougall Melbourne and Suburban Directory for 1905

State Library of Victoria https://www.slv.vic.gov.au/search-discover/popular-digitised-collections

(16) Singing engagements - see references in my Trove list, here.

(17) Mayoral Ball, Emerald Hill Record, July 22, 1905, see here; Mayoral 'At Home' Emerald Hill Record, July 14, 1906, see here. Definitions of merv and bertha - Shorter Oxford English Dictionary, 3rd edition, 1964.

(18) Manufactory for rubber goods -  Emerald Hill Record, February 16, 1907, see here; Emerald Hill Record, February 22, 1908, see here; The Age, July 24, 1908, see here.

(19) Emerald Hill Record, September 16, 1911, see here.

(20) The Herald, February 12, 1913, see here;  George William Louis Marshall-Hall (1862-1915) - Australian Dictionary of Biography entry, here 

and https://library.unimelb.edu.au/collections/marshall-hall

(21) Electoral Rolls on Ancestry.com. Farewell to Reverend Falconer Yea Chronicle, July 17, 1919, see here; Yea Orchestra - Yea Chronicle, October 23, 1919, see here

(22) Nest, Denise The Call of the Bunyip: history of Bunyip, Iona & Tonimbuk, 1847-1990  (Bunyip History Committee, 1990), p. 195 and see also my Trove list, here, 

(23) Dandenong Journal, July 22, 1942, see here.

(24) Death certificate.

(25) Dandenong Journal, February 23, 1944, see here.

(26) Death certificate

(27) Dandenong Journal, November 8, 1950, see here;  Nest, Denise Bunyip Mechanics' Institute Hall 1906-2006: a place of learning and entertainment (published by the author, 2006) 

(28) The Argus, December 13, 1952, see here.

(29) Nest, Denise History of Shelley Memorial Hospital, A'Beckett Road, Bunyip 1930-1991 (Bunyip History Committe, 2000)

(30) Death certificates and https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/186234662/emile-hennch-shelley_(schellenberger)

(31) See footnote 13