Family Histories

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WHITE Arthur

Arthur first arrived in Australia with his younger brother Frank Herbert, aboard the Orvieto on August 9, 1910. (Arthur later wrote to Dorothy saying was August 10, but the ship records at the Battye Library show August 9 as the disembarkation date) Arthur was 26 years old and Frank was 24. The ship papers state their occupation as ‘3rd Laborer’.
Many farm workers were required in Western Australia at that time, and Arthur found work almost immediately, most likely through the ‘Temperance League’ or possibly through agents established to locate agricultural workers. The first address the family has for Arthur was ‘Springhurst’ in the Wagin area.
Arthur Arrives in Ngnowangerupp
The exact date that Arthur actually arrived in Gnowangerup is unknown, but it would likely have been late in 1910 or early 1911.
As Arthur had little money, he would most likely be following up on an employment opportunity rather than inspecting the area with a view to purchase land, though that was likely his ultimate goal.
Arthur was employed by Smith's Grocery Store and delivered lunches to the workers on the Railway Dam being built at Formby's and took groceries to Borden, Ongerup and even as far away as Jerramungup. He stayed overnight at the Night Well on his journeys South.

  

ARTHUR  WHITE          #1
 


ADVERT  FOR RICHARDSON & CO's' STORE        #2

 

 ADVERT  FOR SMITH'S STORE        #3

Ngnowangerupp

The local residents of Gnowangerup originally requested it be named Quinton, after James Quinn, the first white resident, or Ashton or Warrington – towns near where he came from in England. This request was denied by the State Government. The original spelling was Ngnowangerupp, but many locals were unhappy with this spelling and was later changed to the one we use today. (Info from Allardyce & Pearl Marshall)
The townsite had been declared on July 13 1908, (Fruit of the Country & Pearl Marshall) and was still being cleared in 1909. The town in 1910 was very small; there was a blacksmith, “Richardson & Co” a store owned by a businessman who also had a store in Katanning, another store and two or three other makeshift buildings.
A brick building for the Agricultural Board was completed in 1910. The main street was a wide dirt road, and there were only a few hundred residents in the area. These were mostly farmers who had been agitating for a railway. Residents still had to make a 25 mile round trip to Broomehill for the many necessities that were still not available in Gnowangerup.

 

GNOWANGERUP YOUGENUP ROAD LOOKING SOUTH          #4

 

The local area was seen to have great agricultural potential, and as a result quickly became quite a bustling place with new settlers steadily arriving. Arthur would have witnessed this rapid rate of growth between 1910 and 1912 when Gnowangerup was dubbed the ‘mushroom town’ for the speed in which it grew.

Arthur was a well-respected and amiable man and established several close long term friendships in the town.
He was affectionately known as ‘Arthur John’. (Perhaps he was the Arthur John referred to by Allardyce in his book “History of Gnowangerup” in the chapter “William H Walsh”)
One of these friendships was with the manager of Richardson's general store, John E. Rowe. Later John (Johnnie) Rowe established a business in his own right.

RAILWAY DAM AT FORMBYS           #5
 

Another lifelong friendship was with Roland Bottrell Davies, known as “R.B.” Although the Rowe family left the district some years later, R.B. was a long-term resident, and in later times Dorothy and her family would continue to enjoy his friendship and support in times of need. Family correspondence suggests that R.B. and Mrs. Davies stayed with Dorothy’s family during the 1960’s whilst visiting England.
In about 1913 Arthur had met up with a fellow Englishman – Albert Freegard - who also had been a farmer in the Swindon area in Wiltshire, the same area from which Arthur came. They were both familiar with farming practices from that area, attended the Swindon markets, and had a lot in common. They soon became friendly and were destined ten years later to both take up lots on the Pallinup Soldier Settlement.

Arthur would have known the very first settlers, business owners and local identities in Gnowangerup family names being:

Quinn, Allardyce, Beard, Herbert, Aylmore, Corbett, Stutley, Hinkley, Richardson, Stewart, Sclater, Treasure, Cockram, Rowe, Davies, Eastwood, Byers, Freegard, Garnett, Bell, Ball, Porteous, Head, Moir, Anderson, Burridge, Searle, McDonald, Walker, Black, Bailey, Davies, Gillespie, Smith, Caldow, Broom, Richards, Gaze, Hesse, Kiddle, Singh,Watts, Parry, Glass, Heron, Austin, Hart, Darcy, Clancy, Formby, Harris, Murray, Varey, Paisley, Wellstead, Pinney, Ackland, Toms, Wheeler, Whyatt, Stone, Armstrong, McGuire, Freak, Wray, Plumpton, Gaylor, Wagstaff, Denham, Farley, Fennell, Gunther, Cuneo, Timms,Lloyd-Woods, Heppell, Wellard, Lloyd, Marshall, McAuliffe, Denny, Johnston, McLean, McLellan, Parnell, McHardy, Lauriston, O’Halloran, Grocock, Parker, Williams, Coles, Parnell, Roach, Dobson, House, Pope, Wilkinson, Atkinson, Schmidt, Hunt, Cramm, Bennetts, Venning, Hams, Bungey, Brown-Eakins, Strong, Wolfe, Wood, Crouch, Hassell, Wickham, Chambers, McWhan, Mawhinney, Grover, Montgomery, Johnson, Reid, Clemesha, Prior, Crisp, Brade, White (Allan), Ring, Jones, Bateman, Pope, Wagstaff, Lundy, Arnott, Collins, Evans, Milne, O’Meehan, Rokos, Visini, Daly, Jenkins, Wise, Hobbs, Walsh, Knox, Moore, Hendry and Taylor. (This is not the entire list!)

 

 

Every endeavour has been made to accurately record the details however if you would like to provide additional images and/or newer information we are pleased to update the details on this site. Please use CONTACT at the top of this page to email us. We appreciate your involvement in recording the history of our area.

 

References:                 Article:      ‘Gnowangerup The Town’, Pearl Marshall and History of the ‘Gnowangerup District’ Allardyce

 

                                  Image:   2,  3       Gnowangerup Star Newspaper

 


Copyright : Gordon Freegard 2024