Closer Settlement Scheme - James Collis BIRD

[majm]

Hi Glen,

There is a second file for your chap that is indexed online at the National Archives of Australia.  It has not yet been digitised.  It seems to be dated 1926 and relates to employment.  There is a  fee associated with having it digitised, but from memory that fee is less than $20 Au. That item's barcode is 232225. 

Use this link http://www.naa.gov.au/collection/recordsearch/index.aspx and then take the option to search as a guest.  Enter Collis Bird as the keywords, and the digitised record will also be fully available to you compare with your current holdings on his naval file.  It may well be a different file from that.

Cheers,  JM

[cando]

Australian Electoral Roll
1924
BIRD James Collis  Gonn Crossing  Farmer
BIRD Minnifred  Gonn Crossing  Home duties

http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper
Search using "j collis bird" or "commander bird"

Sailing with the St Kilda Yacht Club, Melbourne Vic - 1929
http://www.rootschat.com/links/0emj/

He moved to Boyup Brook, Western Australia by 1932
http://www.rootschat.com/links/0emi/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boyup_Brook,_Western_Australia

I live in an area that includes 'blocks' settled  under the Closer Settlement Scheme.  The size of the blocks was only one of many reasons that the scheme failed.  Many settlers did not have the capital to clear the land, build homes and the necessary farm infrastructure including fences,etc; purchase the necessary basic farm equipment and machinery, seed grain and fertilizer or livestock.  Many also lacked any farming experience whatsoever.  Of course these factors coupled with drought, mice plagues, poor farming practices, low commodity prices and the 1930's depression saw many people simply walk off their holdings.  Of course many settlers were successful.

Cheers
Cando

[majm]

The Closer Settlement Scheme also operated in rural NSW ....  It is my understanding that so many returned servicemen were suffering from shell shock and were basically ostracised by family and friends.  Some of the larger property owners with several generations of family occupation resented the CS schemes and were un-co-operative towards these newer and in-experienced farmers and graziers.   Yes, of course many were successful.

...... "kept trotters and lived after sharing a caravan at the boarding house at Ross’ homestead before Rees-Williams and then on the northwest corner of Dunbar Road CS Map L 6046 Lot 45 which appears to have been Carr’s block.’    Glen, In Our Dominion of the North 

"trotters" ..... Harness Racing horses as opposed to Gallops Racing.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harness_racing

My take : (I could well be wrong, I have not got access to the book, my comments of course are speculative)

Firstly, Collis Bird lived in a shared caravan which was at the boarding house at the place known locally as "Ross' homestead" ie before the land had been subdivided for the CS scheme it had been part of a larger land holding which had at one time been held by a person or family with the surname ROSS.  After Collis Bird moved from that place it was next occupied by someone with the surname REES-WILLIAMS. 
Secondly, Collis Bird then lived at Lot 45, which was on the northwest corner of Dunbar Road (CS Map L etc) and that was known as "Carr's block".   He kept his trotters at that Lot 45.   

Cheers,  JM (an NS Waler with heritage back to the Penal Colony of New South Wales, which federated with five other colonies to become a colony of Britain on 1 January 1901.  Final legal separation came to NSW in January 1986 with the signing into law by HM of the Australia Act 1986, and proclaimed on 3 March 1986)

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia_Act_1986  
http://www.schools.nsw.edu.au/nswconstitution/html/3rd/bgr/overview.html

[cando]

JM the area in which I live in the Mallee was settled by free settlers just prior to WW1 so no resentment from 'several generations of family occupation'. They were all in the same situation...struggling to make a living from the land.  The Closer Settlement Schemes were operating in Victoria well before WW1, so we mustn't confuse them with the War 1 and WW2 Soldier Settlement Schemes. 

Cheers
Cando

[mabeljessie]

Here is a bit of backkground info from one of my books that I love. There are 3 in the series Arriving, Settling and Making their Mark. They were commisioned for Victoria's 150th anniversary. They have taught me so much.

From The Victorians - Settling - Tony Dingle

"After some hesitation the government passed the Settlement of land Act in 1893, ' to enable all classes who may o desire to obtain their heritage, that is , the lands which belong to them.' The act provided allotments of one to twenty acres for city folk who want to go on the land and live in village communities and there were also provisions for the establishmet of homestead associations and labour colonies" p124

There were other acts from 1898, but first actual Closer Settlement Act was 1904

" two royal commisions on dry land and irigation setttlement concluded the the results of closer settlement did not justify the expense."  p127 around 1915

"Soldier settlements began and closer settlements of civilians.....Each settler was also lent 625 pounds - later increased to 1000 pounds- to buy  stock and equipment. These were far more generous than any previous offered for land settlement and better than those available to civilian closer settlers who had to have some initial capital of their own and paid a higher rate of interest. p185

It seems that James Collis Bird must not have been eligible for the soldier settlement scheme, I would have thought that British soldiers being part of the commonwealth would have had the same eligibility in those days been but he joined the civilian closer settler scheme.

"the properties bought for subdivision and irrigation had originally supported 232 families but they were replaced by 3,738 soldieers and closer settlement families" p176

Many farmers resented the soldier settlers and closer settler scheme farmers as the govt compulsorily acquired their land to set up this scheme after WW1 as there was not as much vacant land they also used some crown land.

There were 3 Royal commissions into these schemes the 1925 one said the surprise was " not that ther had been so many mistakes but there had been so few.

[glenhodgins]

It is no wonder he returned to England I have been reading a book on migration to Victoria and the system was a monumental failure in most areas....

Mabeljessie:

Thanks very much. What you have said accords with the snippets of information I am beginning to piece together on my chappie, James Collis BIRD.  It seems (based upon newspaper reports and passenger lists) he gave up on "the Murray" (is that the correct usage of the term for the area he was in?) about 1930, and went back to the UK, passing through Western Australia, picking up a ship in Freemantle.  Whether by default or design, he came back to Australia and ended up settling in Boyup Brook, W.A., where he seems to have bought (or established) a sheep farm in the early 1930's -- there are many references to him in the local (W.A.) newspapers selling bales of wool (and the odd head of cattle).  He was also (again,  based upon newspaper references), heavily involved in horse racing ("trotters"?), being the founding president of the local Trotters Club in the mid-1930s.

Thank you also for the lead on the Kerang Historical Society and Kerang Family History Group.  I have found their website and will be following up shortly. 

Perhaps I should add that his father -- simply identified as a "merchant" in the census records -- was filthy rich for the day, leaving a estate of over £33,000 in 1912; my chappie also ended-up taking-up with one of  the daughters of one of the richest men in England of the day, (Frederick John Horniman -- the developer of tea bags) so, unless my chappie was a complete spendthrift, he should not have been wanting for finances, and could have easily decided to "up stakes" and move on if/as desired.

Cheers,
and thanks again,

Glen,
In Our Dominion of the North
(Canada! )

[glenhodgins]

Australian Electoral Roll
1924
BIRD James Collis  Gonn Crossing  Farmer
BIRD Minnifred  Gonn Crossing  Home duties

Cando:

Thanks very much for all the information you kindly dug-out on my behalf.  Once again I am over-awed by the kindness and expertise of this forum... sincerely.

I am particularly grateful for the above excerpt from the Electoral Roll. I knew that my chappie, James Collis Bird, had "taken-up" with Minnifred Louisa (nee Horniman, b. 1898), and that they came out to Australia together in the early 1920s -- but the above seems to indicate that they were formally married, (which is new to me -- I had thought it was a common law relationship).

Minnifred, (by the way), is the daughter of the wealthy tea merchant referenced in my previous posting.  As I understand it, (from correspondence from some one researching the Hornimans), it was a bit scandalous.  My chappie, in fact, was already married (in 1912) to a woman named Margaret Augusta Garnier (b. 1879) who was the daughter of an Anglican Minister. Whether or not Minnifred and James Collis Bird met on the ship during the voyage out (in 1923), or whether their relationship commenced in the UK and they sought a new life away from the public scorn of the UK, I don't think one will ever know for certain.  But, clearly, they were living as man and wife in Gonn Crossing in 1924. Again, thank you for this information.

Sadly, Minnifred died in January 1931 -- buried in St Kilda, Victoria.  But this only adds to the mystery, since there are numerous references (in newspapers) to "Commander and Mrs J. Collis Bird" (in W.A.) starting in January 1932 (ie., only a year after Minifred's death), and clear evidence that Bird was living in Boyup Brook W.A. by October 1931 (ie., within 10 months of Minifred's death). 

The questions are:
a)did Minifred's demise contribute to his decision to move from Gonn Crossing, or did they split-up in advance, and he moved on his own?
and
b) who is this "new" Mrs Collis Bird?  Is it a new ie., (third) wife? -- or did the Minister's daughter, Margaret Augusta, end-up joining her erstwhile husband in Australia?  (I suspect the post-1932 references are to a third wife, and not Margaret). 

All this is next to impossible to nail down, since I cannot find any relevant divorce or (re-)marriage documentation on any the main characters in this saga. 

At any rate, thanks again for your kind interest and continued assistance.  I shall persevere.

Cheers,
Glen,
In Our Dominion of the North

[glenhodgins]

Here is a bit of backkground info from one of my books that I love. ...

These insights are very useful.  Thanks again, Mabeljessie.  Cheers.

[cando]

Glen there is an private online tree  that includes a photo of James and Minnifred in Melbourne in 1924.

Living at the same address on an electoral roll doesn't mean they were legally man and wife.  Date of the election was 26 Jun 1924 so they would have enrolled before that date.  Gonn Crossing is not a town but an area north of Murrabit on the Murray River.  Area greatly effected by floods earlier this year.  I would suggest his 'block' at Gonn Crossing on the Murray, may have been intended for irrigation perhaps citrus - not broadacre farming that is in my area. 

Minnifred does not appear to be buried at St Kilda.  There is an online database and I have a CD of the transcribed MI's.  Her death was registered in the district of St Kilda. Perhaps you have other information.
http://www.deceasedsearch.com/index.php

Mr Jas C BIRD, 37 years, seaman and Miss M HORNIMAN 25 years, no occupation, departed from Liverpool, 29 May 1923 on the CERAMIC were both listed as cabin passengers on ticket#2863 contracted to land in Melbourne.  Their last address in UK was 22 Ryder Road, London. Neither was accompanied by husband or wife.  Country of last permanent resident England, country of intended permanent residence, Australia.

Lt Commander J C BIRD 45 years, last address in the UK Hampton Court Hotel departed UK on 4 Jun 1931 on the BALRANALD. Country of last permanent residence England, country of intended permanent residence Australia.  Ticketed to land in Melbourne.  Travelled in a 3rd class cabin. He was on the only person travelling on ticket#80. 

On both manifests James' passenger record has been struck out.

Many papers, books etc written on the Closer Settlement Schemes as well as the Soldier Settlement Schemes WW1 and WW2 in Victoria.  I wrote my comments from my own family's experiences. My grandfather a marine engineer, drilled many government bores for water for the new settlers in the developing area of the north west Mallee in 1911 and 'took' up a couple of blocks which in our area ranged from 640 to 800 acres. However it was his engineering skills that provided the family's income.   My father, a mechanical and manufacturing engineer, was my source of information. His stories of the tough times including the inability of farmers to pay him were also peppered with lots of funny tales.   I live on farmland which would have been initially allocated to 12 applicants under the Closer Settlement Scheme and even in the 1960's when purchased by my father, still had areas of the uncleared mallee scrub. 

If you wanted to find out the location of "allocated Plot 59 under the Closer Settlement Scheme in 1919" at Gonn Crossing, that you contact the Ganawarra Shire Council - there are  maps on their website but no allotment numbers.  The title identification is usually Crown Allotment 19, Section of ****  Parish of ******being land in Certificate of Title Volume ****  Folio****.  Hopefully the electoral roll address will help the council identify the allotment.

http://www.gannawarra.vic.gov.au/

I assist with similar enquiries in my area and fortunately one of my friends has written a local history book detailing the Parishes, allotment numbers and owners since settlement. Thankfully it was completed before the Privacy Act in Victoria prevented access to Council records.  Hopefully the Kerang family group will have some similar records. 

He appears to be on his own here
http://www.rootschat.com/links/0en9/
and here ...passengers on the BALRANALD passing through Fremantle, but states he is heading to Melbourne....now was that to collect Mrs BIRD?
http://www.rootschat.com/links/0ena/

Due to arrive in Perth on the MANUNDA from the Eastern States published  Jan 1832 ...Messrs..... J C BIRD and also listed amongst the Mesdames...J C BIRD.
http://www.rootschat.com/links/0enb/

http://www.rootschat.com/links/0enc/
Commander and Mrs. Bird and Mrs. Fimms, of Boyup Brook, are staying at the Hotel Esplanade. Commander Bird intends returning home on Friday. '

Did you find the snippet where James had purchased and registered his Ford car in ?1936   He appeared he had a 'city address'.  I have searched the WA Post Office directories and can only find listings for 1933, 1934 at Boyup Brook as Collis BIRD, farmer.

Clearing sale for J. Collis-Bird Esq., of livestock, plant and household furniture.  Property leased. 1936
http://www.rootschat.com/links/0end/

If only they had enrolled to vote .

Cheers
Cando