(last updated: 24 May 2007)
John Saunders, Sarah and their daughter Jane Elizabeth Wright emigrated to Australia in 1852 where John was contracted to work at Philip Russell's sheep run at Carngham in the colony of Victoria. They left London on the CLEC-appointed sailing ship, the SIR ROBERT SALE, on 18 March 1852 and arrived at Point Henry at Geelong on 5 July the same year. The ship was commanded by William Loader with William Bainbridge as Surgeon-Superintendant. It carried 92 male adult passengers, 94 female adults and 113 children (five of whom, including John and Sarah's eldest son Joseph Robert Wright, were born during the outward journey). Fourteen children and one adult died during the 95-day voyage.
The ship's report showed that John was a 25 year-old agricultural labourer and Sarah a 28 year-old housekeeper. The family was said to be of the Episcopalian faith, had paid £4 10 shillings towards their passage, and were the only ones on the ship to come from Huntingdonshire. The report further noted that John and Sarah had been engaged at home, were to be employed by a 'William Russell', had no relatives in the colony, and left the employment depot at Geelong on 17 July 1852.
After journeying overland from Geelong, the family lived initially near Mount Cole (shown above in 1842) which had been named by Major Mitchell on his trek through the district in 1836. Their first home was a rough squatter's hut, made of 'wattle and daub' and located near a creek from which they drew their water. At this time much of the area was covered with virgin forests of Messmate, Blue Gum, Manna Gum, Stringy Bark and Yellow Box, and local aboriginals far outnumbered the few white people living there. Family reminiscences written down in 1970 by one of John and Sarah's granddaughters, Theresa Kerr (nee Krick), provides a flavour of what life was like for the new arrivals:
The aborigines were friendly but curious. They came up to the hut to see the white baby and to gather milk thistles for their sick piccaninies. They were delighted when Sarah put a white bonnet on a piccaniny. John taught the boys to fight like white men. Sarah was terrified when she saw the gins throwing their babies into the creek. However it was only their way of teaching their children how to swim.
Carngham (a derivation of the aboriginal word 'Kurnam') had been named as a site for a new township in March 1852 but remained as an adjunct to Philip Russell's sheep station until around 1857 when gold was discovered near the town. According to Hugh Anderson's A History of Ripon Shire (1985: 64-5), the pre-gold rush (white) population at Carngham comprised just 459 persons, of whom 132 were children or 'scholars'. 'Of the male adults', Anderson continues, 'one third were alluvial miners...there were three squatters and twenty-seven farmers employing respectively ten and twenty-nine labourers'. Other occupations listed by the census were those of shopkeeper (12), butcher (7), carrier (6), and wood-splitter and fencer (5). The discovery of gold resulted in the main street of Carngham becoming 'completely honey-combed with shallow holes' while in the side streets, 'weatherboard stores and shanties were going up rapidly, and a couple of hotels with some pretensions both to neatness and substantiality were being erected' (cited in Anderson, 1985: 52-3). It also brought to an abrupt end the near Arcadian atmosphere of the early settlement by attracting the notorious 'Ararat contingent'. As Hugh Anderson describes:
As December began, reports appeared of the growing number of rowdies and thieves, of tent robberies, and of the desperate characters crowding in from Ararat. The prevalence of drunkenness was also noted, with 'votaries of the bottle lounging about, and money exchanging fast for that wicked commodity'. The police detachment from Ballarat arrived on 10 December, and immediately rumours began to spread of a possible 'collision' over mining on private property (p. 53).
It seems that John Saunders Wright resisted the lure of goldmining and worked for Philip Russell for all of his life, initially as a bullock driver and carrier and then as the overseer of Carngham station (a position his oldest son, Joseph Robert Wright, would later occupy). In the early days, John carted wool from the station to Geelong. Family folklore has it that during one of these trips he and his companions were held up by the bushranger Captain Moonlight. 'John handed over the tucker bag and a small amount of money. The bushranger gave it back, saying "I never rob an honest man"'. Moonlight then asked one of John's companions, Mike Woods, whether he knew who he was. Woods replied that he had never seen him before but later confided to John that he and Captain Moonlight had traveled to Australia on the same ship and that 'he would know him anywhere'. In spite of his convict origins, Woods remained a trusted employee who lived at Carngham station for most of his working life.
Family folklore also claims that John was at Ballarat at the time of the Eureka uprising (indeed his wagon was said to have been used by the miners as part of their stockade). He also is said to have ridden to Ballarat in 1860 to witness the departure of Burke and Wills on their ill-fated inland expedition. The story goes on to say that when he returned to the station John discovered one of the property's prized rams, valued at 4000 guineas, was missing. 'Black trackers were called to help with the search, but the ram was never found'. One of the trackers was 'King Billy' of the Mount Emu tribe, 'a faithful friend who died in 1912, the last of his tribe'.
While at Carngham John and Sarah (pictured in the photo on the left which was taken around 1887) had eleven children of their own and fostered three additional children, Helen Woods, Clem Daniels and Thomas Wilshire. According to Theresa Kerr, in the early days when her babies were due, 'Sarah would walk to Beaufort to be with the white women. Her first white friend, Mrs McKenzie, lived five miles away at Morchip'. Their older children 'were taught their lessons by Miss Douglas who received 1/- a week for her service. Mrs Hamilton, who taught [John and Sarah's youngest daughter] Julia received 1/6d per week'.
In 1865 John and Sarah bought a block of land near Carngham station and the family settled there the same year. Theresa Kerr's memoirs state that John built a house on the land and 'grew elderberry trees from which they made ink and wine. These trees are still standing today' (the block and remains of their house is shown in the photo on the right). He was also said to have built the Carngham Post Office and store for his daughter Sarah Ann. Wherever they lived, John and Sarah 'were well known for their kind hospitality. A meal and a shakedown (a bed in the shed) were always offered to anyone in need. One beggar always asked for [and was given] a pennyworth of bread and a pennyworth of tea. He was also given clothing. When he died he was found to be a wealthy man'.
John Saunders Wright senior died on 25 November 1888 of sanguineous apoplexy and was buried in the Carngham cemetery. The inscription on his tombstone, erected by his wife Sarah, reads:
'A light is from our household gone,
A voice we loved is still
A place is vacant at our hearth
Which never can be filled.'
John bequeathed the whole of his 'real and personal estate' to his 'dear wife Sarah'. His will showed that at the time of his death, he owned two blocks of land: a 1.6-acre block which was surrounded by a post and rail log fence and on which was located a six-room weatherboard cottage and a number of outbuildings, and a similarly fenced 22-acre block on which there were no buildings. The two blocks were together worth a total of £420 and contained personal property that was valued at £220. According to Theresa Kerr when John and Sarah's son, Joseph (pictured on the right with his mother in around 1909), 'was promoted to overseer at the station, he exchanged John's selection for a block of land on the Carngham road. The family home was shifted to this block. Joseph built a cottage for his mother in the valley below the Post Office'.
Sarah Wright nee Bodger died on 25 Jan 1910, aged 81 years. She was buried next to her husband in the Carngham cemetery. The Ripon Shire Advocate published the following notice on 29 Jan 1910:
'The death occurred at Beaufort on Tuesday of Mrs Sarah Wright, aged 81 years, an old and respected resident of Carngham and mother of Mr Charles Wright, Snr and Mrs A. Cheeseman of Beaufort. The cause of the death was senile decay. The deceased's husband ... came out to Australia under engagement of Mr Russell of Carngham estate. He and his wife resided in Carngham for 58 years. She had a family of 11, all of whom are living, and leaves 70 grandchildren and 25 great grandchildren ... The coffin was borne by Messrs Chas Wright, Snr, Wm Wright and Jas Wright (sons of the dec); the pall being carried by Messrs Thomas Wright, F. Cheeseman, Chas Wright, jun, P. Wright, Geo Wright (grandsons) and F. Haggis (g. grandson).'
What of John and Sarah's children? Their eldest daughter, Jane Elizabeth Wright, who was the only one born in England, married Alfred John Cheeseman at Carngham in 1870. After a few years in the Riverina, Jane lived in Carngham and then in Beaufort until her death in 1911. Click here to read an account of Jane and Alfred's family and life and times.
John and Sarah's eldest son, Joseph Robert Wright, (pictured on the right with his wife Julia) was born at sea while his parents were emigrating from England to Australia on the SIR ROBERT SALE. He grew up in Carngham working initially as a labourer and then as the overseer of Philip Russell's Carngham station (pictured below in 1920). In 1877 he married Julia Sophia Nice. Also from Carngham, Julia had been born at Bury St Edmunds in Kent in 1857. Five years later she emigrated to Australia with her parents Robert and Sarah Nice (nee Yates).
After their marriage Joseph and Julia continued to live at Carngham and had three children there: George Robert Wright (1878-1944) who married Frances Jane Cheeseman (1877-1966) in Carngham in 1904; Thomas James Wright (1885-1935) who married Mary Rowe (1884-1972) in 1912; and Philip Leslie Wright (1891-1949) who, in 1919, was the storekeeper at Snake Valley. Julia died at Ballarat on 18 April 1927 and was buried at Carngham two days later. Joseph died four months later and was buried next to his wife. His obituary, published in the Ballarat Courier on 16 August 1927, reads:
Mr Joseph Robert Wright, who for many years was a resident of Carngham and Snake Valley districts, died at his residence, 107 Drummond Street South [Ballarat]. Mr Wright was aged 75 years and had for some months been in ill health. Deceased was born at sea near Sydney, and with his people came to Victoria and settled in the Carngham district following farming pursuits. He leaves three sons. The funeral took place on Sunday to the Carngham cemetery and was largely attended ... The coffin bearers at the home were Thomas, Phillips and George Wright (sons) and Sydney Nice (nephew). The Chief mourners including the above mentioned were Mrs Crick, Mrs Chibnall, Mrs Davies and Mrs N. Woods (sisters), Mrs P. Wright (daughter-in-law) Messrs C. Wright (brother), P. Wright and T. Thomas (nephews), Messrs G. and J. Nice (brothers-in-law) Mrs G. Nice (sister-in-law) Mr and Mrs Beswick (nephew and niece) and R. Wright (grandson).
A younger sister of Jane and Robert, Amy Bridget Wright married William Anthony Chibnall (1859-1936) at Carngham in 1883. They had five children two of whom, William Anthony Chibnall jnr and Cecil Claude Charles Chibnall, died as infants. The Australian War Memorial database shows that their only other son, 1626 Pte Walter Henry Chibnall (pictured on the left), enlisted in the First AIF on 15 March 1916. Walter was born at Carngham in 1885, worked as a miner and labourer, and had married Margaret Marion Dooley in 1910. He embarked on HMAT ASCANIUS with the 1st Reinforcements for the 39th Battalion. On 7 August 1916 he was transferred to the 10th Light Trench Mortar Battery where he was promoted to Corporal on 15 September 1917. He was killed in action at Passchendaele in Belgium on 12 October 1917, when he and a colleague were hit by a shell while taking shelter in a crater. He was then 32 years old and is commemorated on Panel 19 of the Menin Gate Memorial at Ypres in Belgium.
We know from a copy of a letter supplied to us by Helen Bretherton, which was written to Amy by her maternal uncle Frederick Ainsworth Bodger from Chelsea in London on 2 October 1916, that Walter was contacted by his English relatives while he was undergoing training on the Salisbury Plain. Fred told his 'dear cousin' he had written to Walter and 'got a reply, but unfortunately just missed his leave so did not see him, but he promises to call when he can get another holiday'. He added that his younger brother Bert Bodger, who had enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force about the same time as Walter and was training at the same camp, 'has looked him up and had a yarn, the boys seem to feel the change of climate very much and unfortunately we have had a very poor summer so cold and wet'.
Amy Chibnall nee Wright died at Beaufort in 1932. Her death notice, published in the local newspaper read in part that:
... she was a native of Carngham, and was married in that town when 19 years of age, and removed to Beaufort some 23 years ago. Mrs Chibnall had a family of three sons and two daughters; one son Cpl Walter H, Chibnall making the supreme sacrifice in the Great War. She leaves a husband and two daughters (Mrs J. T. Glover, of Beaufort, and Mrs Les Miles, of Rupanyup) ... the remains of the deceased were interred in their last resting place in the Carngham cemetery. The funeral was largely attended by many old friends ... the coffin which was covered by many beautiful floral tributes of sympathy (including a beautiful wreath from the Mothers Guild, of which deceased's daughter, Mrs J. T. Glover, is an active member) ... The chief mourners were ... Mr W. Chibnall (husband), Mesdames J. T. Glover and Les Miles (daughters), Mesdames M. Dames, G. Krick and W. Woods (sisters), Mr C. Wright (brother), Mesdames A. and Alfred Chibnall (sisters-in-law), Mrs M. Chibnall (daughter-in-law), and Mesdames Barrett and E. Malpass (nieces). An impressive service was conducted at the house by the Reverend J. P. McDougall, of Beaufort, whilst the service at the graveside was read by Rev. G. Elliott, of the Presbyterian Church.
Another sister, Frances Mary Bodger Wright married Mitchell Dames at Carngham in 1889. They lived first at Carngham and then at Casterton in western Victoria where four of their five children were born. One of these, John Adams Dames, enlisted in the First AIF on 21 September 1917. He was 25 years old, married, worked for the railways, and had a son Wilton Henry Mitchell Dames. His NOK was his wife Ivy Dames (nee White) who he had married in Beaufort in 1912. John embarked from Melbourne on the HMAT ULYSSES on 22 December 1917 as part of reinforcements for the 29 Infantry Battalion. He served in the 58 Infantry Battalion and returned to Australia on 9 December 1918. Another sister, Julia May Bodger Wright married John George Frederick Krick at Carngham in 1894. As the photo below shows, George and Julia (Helen Bretherton's great grandparents) owned for a time a bakery at Snake Valley although the birth of their nine children indicates they also spent a good portion of their married life at Ballarat. Like most chefs, George was fond of his food and, according to his great granddaughter, grew very large; 'there is a great family story of him getting stuck in a seat at the cinema'. Despite or perhaps because of his size, he was much loved by his family who remember him as being both gentle and jovial. He died at Eltham in Melbourne in Victoria in 1938. His wife Julia died at Ballarat ten years later.
George Krick outside his bakery at Snake Valley.
The woman standing behind George is probably Julia May Krick (nee Wright).
We know little about the remaining members of the Wright family beyond the dates and places of their marriages. James Henry Wright (1854-1919) married Margaret Rosina Coleman (1859-1893) at Lexton in 1875 and, following Margaret's death in 1893, Catherine Cravelli. James and Margaret had six children. Sarah Ann Wright (1856-1826) married William Grove Emmett in 1900 and later Henry Wurlord. Sarh and William had four children and at least seventeen grandchildren. John Saunders Wright Jnr (1858-1931) married Susannah Coulson (1865-1925) from Piggorett in Victoria at Carngham in 1882. They had nine children all born at Snake Valley where John worked as a miner. Charles Bodger Wright (1860-1935) married Mary Ann Sargeant (1856-1930) from Lexton at Carngham in 1879. They had eight children, half of whom were born at Carngham, where Charles farmed, and half in Beaufort where worked as a carter. William Wright (1862-1921) worked as a labourer and married Mary Doyle at Ballarat East in 1891. They had five children. Walter Bodger Wright (1866-1927), a coach driver, married Jessie Bishop Craig (1872-1953) at Carngham in 1801. They had four children, all born at Snake Valley.
Mining at Snake Valley
Image sources:
'First station and huts, Mount Cole & the Pyrenees in the distance: spring, October 1842', watercolour by D. E. Cooper 1813-1904, courtesy of the National Library of Australia.
'Carngham New House 1920s', photograph by John Collins, courtesy of the State Library of Victoria (image jc003411).
'Men's quarters at Carngham Station', 'George Krick's Bakery' and 'Mining at Snake Valley', from Hugh Anderson, The Flowers of the Field: A History of Ripon Shire (Melbourne: Hill of Content Publishing Company, 1969).
Sarah Wright (nee Bodger) and son Joseph Robert Wright c1909, private collection.
Joseph and Julia Wright, courtesy of Jan Taylor (nee Cheeseman).
John Saunders and Sarah Wright nee Bodger and the Wright's block of land, courtesy of Helen Bretherton.