RootsChat.Com
Research in Other Countries => Australia => Topic started by: andrew999 on Thursday 06 September 18 01:23 BST (UK)
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Hi, I'm looking for relatives, stories & connections to the Davidson family who once owned & ran the King's Arms Hotel at Tambo Crossing, Gippsland, Victoria.
Thomas Davidson was born in 1836; the 3rd child of John & Martha Davidson of 76 George St, Dunoon, Scotland.
Thomas emigrated to Australia, married Jane Flood & they had 9 children together from 1856 to 1881: Amandie, Marion, Jane (d. infant), Charles William (d. infant), Charles, Mira, Amour, James, William.
Some of the boys inherited the hotel, whilst the other children were overlooked.
The hotel burned down in 1961, having being sold to a corporation sometime previously.
Mira/Myra/Mia married Arthur Langley & they had two daughters, who were known as Eve & June.
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A very warm welcome to Rootschat.
Have you yet checked Australian newspapers? https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/search?adv=y
Had a quick look. First item checked was in the Weekly Times, 20 Nov 1897 re. a Charles Davidson, owner of the Walter Scott Hotel at Gippsland. Possibly related?
Best of luck with the search.
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The Gippsland Independent, 24 Dec 1915, carries an item about a Thomas Davidson, King's Arms Hotel, Neerim South.
Co-incidence?
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Hi Andrew,
A few more snippets ...
Marriage notice for son Thomas Armour DAVIDSON http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article10669793
Death notice for wife Jane http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article11633017
A photo of their hotel and some interesting family history (poorly digitised) http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article221138938
Obit for son Charles DAVIDSON http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article74169537 and another
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article130145450
Engagement of grandson Charles Clyde DAVIDSON http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article63293207
Marriage notice for son Wiliiam http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article1589361
A young daughter of Charles DAVIDSON dying of burns http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article200247488
adding :1895 death Ethel Margaret DAVIDSON, father Chas, mother Louisa Hamilton, age 3, at Bruthen
Ros
adding : various mention of Davidson and Tambo for you to browse :)
http://www.rootschat.com/links/01moc/
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Here is NSW BDM https://familyhistory.bdm.nsw.gov.au/lifelink/familyhistory/search?41 and here is Victoria BDM https://online.justice.vic.gov.au/bdm/indexsearch.doj
Both are free to search and can use wildcards.
From electoral rolls
Arthur Alexander LANGLEY and Myra LANGLEY are in Forbes NSW in 1913 where Arthur is a blacksmith.
Possibly Arthur died in NSW in 1915.
Myra LANGLEY is a hotel-keeper in Neerim South in Victoria in 1914,1915,1917 ( Arthur not with her)
Possible second marriage for Myra in Victoria in 1916 to Patrick CULLEN
Ros
adding :
Arthur Alexander LANGLEY appointed Inspector of Dairies in 1908 in NSW
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article226916153
Arthur Alexander LANGLEY appointed Sanitary Insepctor in 1908 in NSW
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article226915566
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From Victorian BDM
Deaths with parents of Thomas DAVIDSON and Jane FLOOD
1952 William DAVIDSON, age 71, place of birth Yeeringa, place of death Richmond
1920 Marian ROBERTSON, age 59, place of death Maffra
1956 Maria ROSE, age 83, place of birth Ballarat, place of death, Cheltenham
Death notice for William DAVIDSON 1952 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article23194352 and funeral notice http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article206211724
Ros
adding
1915 Chas DAVIDSON, father Thos DAVIDSON, mother Jane (Flood), POD Bdale, age 49
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From Victoria BDM deaths with parents Charles DAVIDSON and Louisa HAMILTON
1895 Ethel Margaret DAVIDSON, age 3, at Bruthen
1968 Clyde Charles DAVIDSON, age 69, POB Bruthen, POD Melbourne
1978 Thomas Rupert DAVIDSON, age 72, POD Bairnsdale
Ros
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From NSW BDM
Births
1904 Ethel J LANGLEY, father Arthur A, mother Myra at Forbes
1905 Lillian M LANGLEY, father Arthur A, mother Myra at Molong
Ros
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Duplicate information so deleted. ;D
Sue
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I think I will leave any further response until andrew999 replies to the postings given so far.
Very hard to know what is actually being looked for.
Sue
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Thanks rosball, that’s great info, you’re really good at this :)
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Thanks Andrew :)
But I haven't found a likely death or remarriage for Myra (Mira, Mia) LANGLEY/CULLEN or probable marriages for her daughters i.e. with marriage announcements which confirm parents or corresponding deaths which match (even partly) the parents. I tried with surnames of LANGLEY and CULLEN and there are some possibles.
Was it Eve LANGLEY (in your heading) who you were especially interested in?
Anything in particular that you were hoping to find?
Ros
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Hi Ros,
Myra moved to NZ with her younger daughter June & Eve followed shortly after. I know quite a bit of that part of the family history from the two biographies of Eve. Eve moved to Katoomba in the 1960’s & died there in 1974.
I’m interested in info about the descendants of Myra’s siblings. From what you’ve found,it looks as though some stayed in the Bruthen & Tambo area for some time.
I have an old photo of the Kings Arms Hotel, proprietor T. Davidson, which I’ll try & post... I think the name may’ve been changed to the Sir Walter Scott Hotel & was retained when it was rebuilt on the other side of the Tambo
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I see there is a probate file for Eve Langley-Clark who died in 1974 at Katoomba at NSW archives
https://www.records.nsw.gov.au/item/1511533
I can photograph this for you next time I am there if it is of interest ...?
The Victorian BDM is really useful for searching. If you click on an index entry it gives more information (not obvious as it is not highlighted). And if you click on more search options you can search for deaths with given parents etc.
OK I will search for more info on siblings of Myra ... :)
Ros
adding : aha I have found biography of Eve (aka Ethel Jane LANGLEY) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eve_Langley
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That’s a very kind offer to photograph the probate file, thank you.
Interesting info about Arthur too. I thought he’d died in 1910, but perhaps was later... I think he had a brother, Alec, who I think was a drover near Forbes.
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From NSW BDM
Death 1915
Arthur A LANGLEY, father William H, mother Barbara, at Granville
I can't see a death for an Alec LANGLEY or Alexander LANGLEY in NSW or an enlistment in WW1
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Some info I’d posted on another thread:
From wikipedia: "A hotel was established at Tambo Crossing on the east side of the river in this period, first being officially licensed in 1849 with the name of The Tambo Inn. In 1854 Duncan McDougall took over the inn. The hotel was renamed the Sir Walter Scott Hotel in the late 1860s. In 1890 a new hotel was built on the western side of the river beside the newly aligned road between Bruthen and Ensay, but kept the "Sir Walter Scott" name. The hotel burnt down on 8 September 1961 and was not rebuilt. The current information board is on the site of the former hotel, with the Great Alpine Road also passing over part of the site."
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King's Arms Hotel, T A Davidson
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King's Arms Hotel
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Arthur & Myra (nee Davidson) Langley
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Lovely photos Andrew :)
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Thanks Ros... Eve & June Langley
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Was there a reason that the girls changed their names so drastically - Ethel Jane to Eve and Lillian M to June? Did Myra change her name in NZ too? Were they trying to escape from Patrick Cullen?
adding : lovely-looking girls :)
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I don't think so... they didn't move to NZ until the girls were adults... I hadn't heard or read of Patrick Cullen until Rootschat... Myra returned to the family Hotel after Arthur died, which was also around the same time that her brother Charles died leaving a widow & 3 kids, one of whom, Clyde Thomas looks to have inherited the hotel. An engagement notice 26 May 1952 lists Charles Clyde Davidson, eldest son of Mr & Mrs Clyde Davidson of the Sir Walter Scott Hotel, Tambo Crossing.
I'd interpreted Myra returning after Arthur's death as because she had no other means of support & there was also inference that the family had disapproved of their marriage, but perhaps she was helping out her brother & sister-in-law as well....or just a tragic coincidence... one of Charles' obituaries described a long & painful illness... Myra seems like she was a kind & thoughtful person
Eve met her aunt at the family hotel years later when Eve was a young woman, she described her as "tall & slender & pale & haunted looking; but a veritable martinet of a loveable sort"
When Myra first managed the hotel Eve & June would've been around 11 & 10, it sounded like they were very much a part of the hotel scene & Eve was very imaginative. After a few years they all moved to Melbourne where the girls attended High School.
In Eve's semi-autobiographical novel, The Pea-Pickers, where Eve changed their names to Steve & Blue, the two girls worked as seasonal agricultural labourers around Gippsland, dressed in overalls; radical behaviour for young ladies of the 1920's & even when published in the 1940's.
Lucy Frost's novel Wilde Eve is an edited collection of Eve's stories of their time in NZ & is a fascinating read.
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Have you seen the wills of some of the Davidson's? https://prov.vic.gov.au/explore-collection/explore-topic/wills-and-probates They take a while to download.
There is a digitised will for Thomas DAVIDSON who died in 1898, occupation grazier, residence Tambo
There is also a digitised will for Charles DAVIDSON who died in 1915, occupation farmer, residence Tambo Crossing
Do you know when Thomas Armour DAVIDSON died? I can't see a likely death for him on Vic BDM or an obit.
adding : You're so lucky to have Eve's books to read about her life. :)
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No I haven’t, that’ll be interesting, thanks.
Yes, Eve’s writing is a fantastic & rare resource ... because she wrote so expressively, copiously & very subjectively, there’s a wealth of everyday detail of the times & personalities revealed
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Hi Andrew,
Thomas Armour DAVIDSON was last seen on trove in 1918 when he was charged with allowing a game of chance (poker) in his hotel but the charge was quashed when judge decided that poker required skill :)
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article65921246 and http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article130647093
And then Thomas Armour transferred licence of hotel to another http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article154468145
His wife Kathleen Sarah DAVIDSON (nee GARDNER) died in 1956 (from vic BDM).
Death 1956 Kathleen Sarah DAVIDSON, father James Alexander GARDNER, mother Mary (POWER) at Boort, age 74
Here are her death notices which name her children and grandchildren http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article84390831 and her funeral notice http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article84390644 (Springvale cemetery)
Ros
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Hi Ros,
Great sleuthing...! So, the photo I posted of the King's Arms Hotel wasn't an early version of the Sir Walter Scott Hotel, but actually Thomas Armour Davidson's Hotel in Neerim South, West Gippsland. It was built in 1902 & he transferred the license in 1918. There's still a hotel operating there & the name changed only recently to the Neerim South Hotel.
I noticed from a map that there is a Crossover Regional Park nearby & Eve referred to the family hotel as the one at Crossover, which I took to be a colloquialism for Tambo Crossing, but now seems likely that this was where Myra brought her girls when Arthur died, not to the original hotel owned by Thomas Davidson Sr. But maybe that's just Eve conflating the two locations to make a better story. The area has more agricultural & cropping use than the grazing land around Tambo too, which fits in with Eve's later stories.
Thomas Davidson Sr's will was written in 1890 & left everything to his 3 sons: Charles, Thomas Armour & James. No mention of his wife, daughters or youngest son William (14 in 1895) at all. Thomas' brother William predeceased him & there's an interesting codicil stipulating James must amalgamate land left to him by William with his brothers' adjacent land in a partnership or be disinherited.
There's no mention of the hotel in the assets, Charles would've been 29 & Thomas' occupation was grazier, so a big ? around the Sir Walter Scott Hotel legacy...
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Do you live in Victoria Andrew ?(you seem to have a much better knowledge of Victorian geography than I do :) ) If so you may find a visit to the Public Records office useful.
Anyway they do have a lot of info online. Here are some digitised publicans licences
http://www.rootschat.com/links/01mot/
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Hey Ros, no, I'm in NZ & haven't actually visited Victoria yet...just read a lot I guess... :)
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And here's a link to an earlier thread on the Australia (Completed) Board
http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=51070.0
JM
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Thanks JM, it was google popping up chrissy's thread which led me to Rootschat a couple of months ago & lots of helpful people & information :)
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Hi all,
I currently own the property where the hotel that Myra run in crossover VIC once was. I have attached pictures of the hotel, that i believe Myra and her daughters are in and the card of when the hotel was de licensed. The pictures that have been put in this thread are of neerim souths hotel not the one in crossover.I have done so much research but would love to know more and I'm happy to retell all that I have discovered. Thanks Katie.
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Hi Katie,
Welcome to rootschat :)
How interesting that you own the property and have done a lot of research on the crossover hotel. I'm sure Andrew and others will be very interested to hear of your research and see the photos.
Andrew hasn't been on the forum for about a year but will receive notification of your post if he still has the same e-mail address.
Ros
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Welcome from me too. RChat is a great place for family history info. At the mo, you have made just 1 post, but If you reply with just a 'Hi' on this thread you will be along the path to sending and receiving private messages.
Andrew999 was online earlier today, but he is not online at the moment.
I wonder if Andrew has sent Katie a Personal message and then logged off. If so, hopefully he will read this post, as Katie needs to make several posts before all the facilities available to Rootschatters are fully functioning.
https://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?action=profile;u=292824
Hi Katie,
Welcome to rootschat :)
How interesting that you own the property and have done a lot of research on the crossover hotel. I'm sure Andrew and others will be very interested to hear of your research and see the photos.
Andrew hasn't been on the forum for about a year but will receive notification of your post if he still has the same e-mail address.
Ros
JM
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Hi Majm and Ros :)
Thank you for the welcome.
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Hi Katie, thanks for joining Rootschat & thanks Rosball & Majm for prompting me ;D
I'm busy today but I'll pm Katie & look forward to chatting
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Hi I am Roger Davidson great great grandson of Thomas Payne Davidson who came from Dunoon to the Victorian Goldfields in 1852 and later for his descendants of the Gippsland Region especially the Tambo Valley- Tambo Crossing, Bruthen and other areas. My grandfather Bill Davidson wrote Tales of the Tambo Valley. I am piecing together a the family archives and am interested in contacting any relatives including the ones who posted on this forum a few years ago.
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I am great great grandson of Thomas Davidson and Jane Flood. I am researching family history and know quite a bit. I am interested in contacting relatives including the Langleys in New Zealand.
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Hi Roger,
I haven’t been on rootschat or re-read this thread for some time but I’m presently in Melbourne & planning a drive to Neerim South on Wednesday 23 August.
I’d be most interested in meeting or correspondence with you, if possible.
Regards
Andrew