Jean White Blackwood: My 2x Great-Grandfather’s Second Wife
Welcome to Part Two of Jean’s story. A quick recap of Part One: a chance message on Ancestry.com led me deep into the life of Jean White, second wife of my 2x great-grandfather, Henry Blackwood.
Through graveside sleuthing, old maps, photos, divorce papers, and Jean’s own heartbreaking letters, I was able to piece together a part of the hidden story of Jean, her family, her struggles with alcoholism, the turmoil of an impending divorce, and a brewing downfall in early 1900s Sydney.
I found another fantastic photo of Jean in my Pop’s collection. AI has cleaned it up, and it is remarkably clear.
Figure 1: Courtesy of the Blackwood Family Archives
So let me pick up right where we left off in Part One: 13 October 1916, Horace John “Jack” Blackwood, Henry’s son and Jean’s stepson, had just arrived at Plymouth, England, and disembarked from the SS Wiltshire, ready to start fighting on the Western Front. It was a seven-week journey, with potentially no word from Jack.
I shared that I couldn’t be sure when he made contact with them, as I have no surviving letters from Jack to either Jean or Henry. However, I do know he made contact.
And how I know is all thanks to another extraordinary letter from Jean, this time buried in Jack’s war service record, held at the National Archives of Australia.
Figure 2: Courtesy of the National Archives of Australia.
AI assisted with the transcription.
Figure 3: Courtesy of the National Archives of Australia.
Jean shares that Jack had written to her and let her know that he would be on furlough roughly two weeks before she penned this letter to Base Records. Oh, to find that letter—what a piece of family history that would be. Unfortunately, it is one of the many that are lost to us now.
This is why Jean’s letter is such a fantastic find: because of the scarcity of letters like it, it is also one of those pieces of evidence I mentioned in Part One that, I believe, shows just how close Jean and Jack were.
Perhaps I’m reading too much into it, but I think there is a real confidence in the way she refers to Jack as “…my son.” She could have stated that she was writing on her husband’s behalf, but she didn’t; in fact, there is no mention of Henry at all.
Jean writes this letter about 13 months after Jack arrives in Europe. Note the circular stamp on the upper right from Base Records confirming receipt on 25 October 1917. The bottom left stamp shows when the letter was formally registered into the tracking system, two days later on 27 October.
I found the wounded notice from 23 October on Trove, which Jean referenced.
Figure 4: Courtesy of Trove, National Library of Australia.
It took three days for the response from Base Records to Jean to be generated; a letter went out to her dated 30th October.
Figure 5: Courtesy of the National Archives of Australia.
Realizing the error would cause Jean and Henry undue alarm, a telegram was also sent on the same day.
Figure 6: Courtesy of the National Archives of Australia.
Thanks to Google I do know that this was a telegram that went out to Jean. The code WM/EFM. 19/5302 is the clue.
First off, the 5302 is Jack’s service No., and the 19 is probably referring to a specific internal log volume or batch number. The WM is the designation for War Message, and the EFM is referring to an Expeditionary Force Message. These were low-cost standardized cablegrams/telegrams used to send or receive status updates regarding sick, wounded, or missing soldiers. https://atlantic-cable.com/CableCos/Services/index.htm
Still, the letter provides little additional detail beyond confirming an administrative error and noting that the clerk responsible had been dealt with appropriately. I’m sure the clerk likely felt considerable remorse upon learning of the mistake.
The file did have a copy of the original notice that should have gone out.
Figure 7: Courtesy of the National Archives of Australia.
I found the details of this wounding event in Jack’s war service record. The letter above, was to inform Jean and Henry that Jack had been wounded in an incident nineteen days earlier. (But of course they wouldn’t have been told any of these details, even though we know it is exactly what Jean would have been hoping for.)
Figure 8: Courtesy of the National Archives of Australia.
Incredibly Jack’s record goes on to list the details of the wounding and how it was managed.
Figure 9: Courtesy of the National Archives of Australia.
Jack sustained a gunshot wound (shrapnel fragment) to his left thigh. The date he received his wound is incredibly significant in Australian military history. The 20th of September 1917 was the opening day of the Battle of Menin Road Ridge. This battle was part of the Third Battle of Ypres/Passchendaele campaign in Belgium. https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/E84331
The official war diaries of the 19th Battalion AIF and related brigade records reveal that during the Battle of Menin Road Ridge (September 20–25, 1917), the 19th Battalion played a crucial tactical role as part of the 5th Australian Infantry Brigade (2nd Division). https://vwma.org.au/explore/campaigns/26
The opening assault on the 20th was a massive Allied artillery barrage that commenced at 5.45 a.m.; at that time, the 1st and 2nd Australian Divisions attacked side by side. Their objective was the heavily fortified German pillboxes in Hannebeek Wood (north-east of Westhoek). https://vwma.org.au/explore/campaigns/26
The 20th Battalion, the 19th’s sister battalion, spearheaded the initial push from Westhoek Ridge toward the pillboxes. The 19th, with Jack, moved up into immediate supporting positions. Jack’s primary task on day one was to remain close behind the advancing waves to carry ammunition, water, and rations up through blistering enemy retaliatory shellfire, ensuring that the front-line troops of the 20th did not run out of supplies while digging in. https://vwma.org.au/explore/campaigns/26
I can only try to imagine the terror Jack must have felt, braving the constant heavy shelling from the Germans while running up and down those supply lines. I wonder how long he had to endure those conditions before he was wounded.
This photograph below is a phenomenal find. I know they all are according to me, but this one really is.
Figure 10: Courtesy of Wikimedia
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Durham_Light_Infantry_Battle_of_Menin_Road_20-09-1917_IWM_Q_5966.jpg
This photograph shows the Durham Light Infantry, who fought alongside Jack’s 19th Battalion at Menin Road Ridge on 20 September 1917. It captures the exact location and time-frame of Jack’s experience—a remarkable historical coincidence.
This photograph, taken seven days later on 27 September, shows Hellfire Corner on Menin Road.
Figure 11: Courtesy of the Australian War Memorial
https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/E01889
This might have been what Jack was looking at when he was wounded or not far from it. The 19th Battalion started their advance on the morning of the 20th September to the left of the Menin Road and were spread out for 1-2 km. https://anzacportal.dva.gov.au/wars-and-missions/ww1/where-australians-served/western-front/third-battle-of-ypres#0
This map below confirms these details above perfectly. You will notice Hellfire Corner on the Menin Road and there are the Anzac Corps indicated on the left.
Map 1: Courtesy of Department of Veteran’s Affairs, ANAZC Portal
https://anzacportal.dva.gov.au/wars-and-missions/ww1/where-australians-served/western-front/third-battle-of-ypres#0
As I write this on 18 September 2026, it is two days before the 110th anniversary of the battle and the day Jack received his wound.
Jack’s file shows he was rescued from the battlefield and evacuated to the 10th Casualty Clearing Station, a critical field hospital hub located behind the lines at Lijssenthoek (just west of Ypres, near the Belgian/French border). He was stabilized here before being transferred by ambulance train to the 16th General Hospital in Le Tréport.
I managed to find a photo of the interior of one of the Ambulance Trains.
Figure 12: Courtesy of the Imperial War Museum
https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205249852
Jack spent the next four days in hospital and was then discharged to the Base Depot and moved to the 2nd Australian Divisional Base Depot at Le Havre on the French coast to recuperate for a month. On the 26th of October, he was discharged and marched out to rejoin the 19th Battalion on the 27th, where he found himself back in combat during the final weeks of the Passchendaele campaign. https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C1339177
It’s deeply ironic that, on the very day Jean’s letter reaches the War Department and is marked for reply, Jack had already endured everything that Menin Road threw at him and had emerged on the other side, while Jean and Henry still had no idea what had happened to their son.
Things are very quiet on the home front for the remainder of 1917—that is, in terms of finding any information on Jean and Henry. They do not appear in any newspaper listings or articles from this time, and there are no references in the Ancestry.com.au resources for them.
I found one advertisement for Skinner’s (that is the book store Henry was running in Sydney) and a directory listing showing the book arcade was still operating.
Figure 13: Courtesy of Trove, National Library of Australia.
Figure 14: Courtesy of Trove, National Library of Australia.
The next event to put more stress on Jean, Henry and the family is of course the death and funeral of Henry’s mother Margaretha in December 1917, mentioned earlier in Part One.
1918 is much like the end of 1917 for Jean and Henry, the barest of mentions of the book shop and nothing of a personal note.
Figure 15: Courtesy of Trove, National Library of Australia.
Figure 16: Courtesy of Trove, National Library of Australia.
The only person for whom I can find information during this period is Jack, and it is all thanks to his war service record.
I wonder if he sent a letter to Jean and Henry informing them that he did indeed get his furlough into London. It was three months late but it happened in January of 1918.
Figure 17: Courtesy of National Archives of Australia.
Now, I have just gone on and written a large section on what happens to Jack next, but there is so much detail to share that I have decided to save it for a separate post on Jack’s time in England in 1918. So here is the condensed version.
One day after rejoining the 19th Battalion from his trip to London, Jack is rushed to hospital and spends the next 31 days admitted to the 39th General Hospital in Le Havre in France.
Figure 18: Courtesy of National Archives of Australia.
Jack contracted a severe case of gonorrhea, which was common among soldiers returning from leave in major cities like London.
He was discharged on 22 February to the Australian Infantry Base Depot, where he spent nine weeks recovering.
Figure 19: Courtesy of National Archives of Australia.
Jack rejoins the battalion and spends the next three months straight (May, June and July 1918) in active, heavy combat operations on the Somme. Then on August the 8th this happens.
Figure 20: Courtesy of National Archives of Australia.
Jack was wounded in action a second time but remained at duty. Jean and Henry would have received a telegram with details of Jack’s second wounding. Here is the follow up letter of that information from Jack’s record.
Figure 21: Courtesy of National Archives of Australia.
Four weeks after this Jack’s name appears, back home, in a published Casualty List for the second time.
Figure 22: Courtesy of Trove, National Library of Australia.
Then just twenty-one days after this Jack is wounded for a third time while serving on the Western Front. This time it is serious, he receives a gunshot wound through the upper left arm and his nose.
Figure 23: Courtesy of National Archives of Australia.
The first Jean, Henry and the rest of the family would have learned of Jack’s wounding would have been the telegram notification like the one they received on his second wounding. Unfortunately there is no copy of this telegram in Jack’s war service record either.
It did however have a copy of the letter informing them of the details of his wounding and his admission into the 1st Southern General Hospital in Birmingham.
Figure 24: Courtesy of National Archives of Australia.
Another eleven days passed before the notice of Jack’s third wounding was published in the Sydney Morning Herald Casualty List.
Figure 25: Courtesy of Trove, National Library of Australia.
There is no record of Jean and Henry’s reaction to the news, but it must have been devastating. They would have known only that Jack had been severely wounded in the face and arm.
Jack spends the next nine weeks recovering at the hospital in Birmingham. He is then discharged on the 19th Oct, given two weeks medical furlough and ordered to report to the No. 2 Command Depot at Weymouth.
Figure 26: Courtesy of National Archives of Australia.
Note the entry above: Jack had to stop at AIF Headquarters London before reporting to Weymouth to receive his travel papers—indicating he was beginning his long journey home.
Weymouth was famously nicknamed the “Gateway to Australia.” It was specifically designed for thousands of broken ANZAC soldiers awaiting space on repatriation transport ships.
Figure 27: Courtesy of National Archives of Australia.
Jack was indeed broken at this stage. Two days after reporting to the No. 2 Command Depot, he was sent to the base hospital. This was almost certainly when his pulmonary tuberculosis was formally recognized or became severely debilitating. (As noted in Part One, this was the cause of death on Jack’s death certificate.)
Jack spends nearly a full month confined to a hospital bed before being stable enough to be discharged back to the No. 2 Command Depot on December 3, 1918.
Then finally, a month later on January 2nd, 1919 Jack embarks on the HMAT Berrima.
Figure 28: Courtesy of National Archives of Australia.
Gsw. R. arm was explicitly written directly onto his repatriation log to ensure his medical files and ongoing nursing care requirements were properly flagged for the ship’s medical crew during the voyage.
I can only imagine that Jean and Henry would have received a telegram informing them of Jack’s return home via the Berrima. There isn’t a copy in Jack’s service record but it would have looked like this.
Figure 29: Courtesy of National Archives of Australia.
It took a month for the details of Jack’s return to make it into the local press and lucky for us Jack’s name was listed.
Figure 30: Courtesy of Trove, National Library of Australia.
The Berrima arrived late Friday the 21st February 1919, it had to wait at anchor for the night just off Garden Island and then began disembarking the troops first thing next morning, Saturday 22nd February.
Figure 31: Courtesy of Trove, National Library of Australia.
The article even had a photo of one of the ferries bringing a group of servicemen to the wharf at Woolloomooloo. The chances of Jack being in this photo are minuscule I know but this shows the exact morning he returned and possibly the ferry he travelled on and also people he might have known. What a window into his past.
Figure 32: Courtesy of Trove, National Library of Australia.
The arrival of course was announced in the local press.
Figure 33: Courtesy of Trove, National Library of Australia.
I can’t imagine that Jack’s guests wouldn’t have been Jean and Henry. The buffet was limited to only two members of the serviceman’s family. The National Library had a copy of one of the tickets, not Jack’s but a Capt. W. Taylor. I’m sure this is what Jean and Henry would have had for Jack’s return.
Figure 34: Courtesy of Trove, National Library of Australia.
And here are some incredibly rare photos of the actual building in the Domain where the Buffet was held and where Jack, Jean and Henry would have reunited after two and a half years apart.
Figure 35: Courtesy of the Australian War Memorial
https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C319002
https://www.facebook.com/groups/312684935495543/posts/2260908077339876/
The next mention of any of the family is the article from the Social Gossip page of The Sun newspaper mentioning the welcome home dinner that Jean and Henry held for Jack at the Louisa Road property. This was just a week after Jack disembarked the Berrima.
I shared this article in Part One. Unfortunately, no other information about the welcome home appears online. In fact, searches for Blackwood yield no results for the family for the rest of 1919—a really frustrating gap in the record.
What I did find however, was another photo hiding in the family archives of the house at Longnose Point where the dinner was held.
circa. late 1910s early 1920s
Figure 38: Courtesy of the Blackwood Family Archives
I’m guessing here but that might be Bobby reading the newspaper, his two sisters at his feet Jeannie and Nellie and perhaps Sid, Jeannie’s husband laying next to them pointing up. The older man standing up I can’t place but I’m pretty sure he is the older man on the right in this next photo.
Figure 39: Courtesy of the Blackwood Family Archives
A complication arises here. I initially believed the young man seated second from the left was Jack, and his older appearance suggested the photo was taken after February 1919. Here are two photographs I have of Jack for comparison.
Figure 40: Courtesy of the Nicoll Family Archives
Figure 41: Courtesy of the Nicoll Family Archives
The issue is the car. While not an expert, I noted it appeared to be a later model than the late 1910s–early 1920s, so I consulted Google Gemini.
I followed this up with this next question.
While AI can be incorrect, research confirmed that the Model T, which preceded the Model A, featured thin wooden artillery wheels or delicate wire wheels typical of 1919 vehicles. Wheels our car above definitely didn’t have.
And here is a fantastic photo of Sir Hudson Fysh, founder of QANTAS and the Model T he used in late 1919 to survey landing strips between Longreach and Darwin showing those wheels.
Figure 44: Courtesy of Kiddle
https://kids.kiddle.co/Hudson_Fysh
I know that it isn’t Jack’s brother, Bobby in (Figure 39) as here is the evidence from the same day. Bobby in the same position as our mystery man.
Figure 45: Courtesy of the Blackwood Family Archives
These photographs may be from Henry’s funeral in 1929, which would explain why he is absent and Jack and Jean are no longer present.
This raises the question: have I misidentified Jack, or is this another relative? If only my Pop had labeled the family members in these photographs.
But he didn’t so I’m just going to go with my gut and say the man standing behind Jean in (Figure 42) is Jack and that this man (Figure 39) is another relative that looks similar. Perhaps a Blackwood cousin, sitting on the running board of the car with the rest of the family.
Now, even though my searches for the Blackwoods online at this stage were fruitless, they did uncover some phenomenal background information on Jean and her family. Some of the information can only be described as disturbing and what I would think would have been contributing factors to Jean’s struggles later in life.
First off, I managed to find the family on an incoming passenger list, all thanks to a Melbourne Gaol registration for Jean’s father, Simpson. (That is coming up soon.)
That is Jean’s parents, Simpson and Sarah and her siblings, Sarah, Elizabeth, Mary , Joseph and Martha. They immigrated to Australia on the Aberdeen White Star Line ship, “Colonial Empire”. They departed Plymouth on the 27th June, 1870.
And here is the Colonial Empire the ship Jean’s family boarded that Tuesday morning.
Figure 46a: Courtesy of the State Library South Australia
https://collections.slsa.sa.gov.au/resource/PRG+1373/3/29
It is also, tragically the place that Sarah and Simpson, Jean’s parents, lost their new born son. The handwritten notation on the right side of Sarah’s entry records the tragic event during the trip: “Confined, male ch. on 21st Sept. died same day“
This means: Sarah went into childbirth labor (“confined”) on September 21, 1870. She gave birth to a baby boy (“male ch.” short for male child), but tragically he passed away on that very same day.
Then, just a week after Sarah and Simpson lost their baby boy, the Colonial Empire sailed into Melbourne on 27 September 1870 after a 92-day journey across the world.
The ship was quarantined immediately as a number of passengers had developed scarlet fever on the journey. This next article confirms these details and also Sarah and Simpson’s loss.
It took another two days until they could disembark and begin their journey into Melbourne itself.
Figure 49: Courtesy of Facebook Page,
“Old Time Photos of Yesteryear” Admin: Ormond Butler
https://www.facebook.com/groups/672164369508943/posts/26736897895942234/
Map 2: Courtesy of Vintage Maps
https://vintagemaps.com.au/collections/williamstown-victoria-vintage-maps/products/port-melbourne-victoria-australia-vintage-map-6-1915
This map is from 1915, 45 years after the family arrived but it gives you the idea of the journey they made. The train would have delivered them straight into Spencer Street Station.
Map 3: Courtesy of Vintage Maps
https://vintagemaps.com.au/collections/williamstown-victoria-vintage-maps/products/port-melbourne-victoria-australia-vintage-map-6-1915
These next photographs show the Melbourne that Sarah, Simpson and their five children stepped out into.
Figure 50: Courtesy of the State Library Victoria
https://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/252295
Looking towards Collins Street and the Yarra River
Figure 51: Courtesy of Facebook Page, Old Time Photos of Yesteryear
https://www.facebook.com/groups/672164369508943/posts/8055322251193081/
Here is the exact same view in 2025.
Looking towards Collins Street and the Yarra River
Figure 52: Courtesy of Google Maps
As government-assisted immigrants it was a highly structured system they stepped into too. As there is no record on their passenger list ledger of the column noted as “Disposal” or “How Disposed Of” which would have recorded if they left the ship on their own account, or the name of a specific employer that Simpson was hired by, they would have been transferred to the nearby Immigration Depots. https://prov.vic.gov.au/explore-collection/explore-topic/passenger-records-and-immigration/assisted-passenger-lists
This amazing map shows where they most likely ended up: The Immigrants Aid Society’s Depot.
Map 4: Courtesy of the Public Record Office Victoria
https://prov.vic.gov.au/archive/EC65C2FE-F843-11E9-AE98-D9AD1A60F6C3/content?image=1
These depots were large, barracks-style brick and timber compounds managed by the colonial government. They were designed to provide, temporary shelter, up to a couple of weeks, till immigrants found their footing and also to act as a hiring Bazaar. https://prov.vic.gov.au/explore-collection/explore-topic/passenger-records-and-immigration/assisted-passenger-lists
And here below is another phenomenal photo of the Immigrants Depot and Home marked on the map above.
Looking North across the Yarra, with the Princes Bridge on the left, Clock of Town Hall, Spires of Scots Church and the Independent Church.
In the foreground: Immigrants Aid Society Depot on left, Immigrants Home on right.
Figure 53: Courtesy of State Library Victoria
https://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/69689
Notice of the ship’s arrival and the trades available on board (such as Simpson’s skills as a cooper) would be published in local newspapers. Employers and contractors would physically come down to the depot’s hiring yard to interview and contract the new arrivals. https://prov.vic.gov.au/explore-collection/explore-topic/passenger-records-and-immigration/assisted-passenger-lists
I managed to find one of these ship’s arrival notices relating to the Colonial Empire and it’s list of single females.
I’m not sure where Sarah and Simpson moved to initially once their time at the Depot had expired but I managed to pick up their trail just the year after their arrival in 1871 in Collingwood, about 5km to the north of the Depot.
Map 5: Courtesy of Public Record Office of Victoria
https://prov.vic.gov.au/archive/EC65C2FE-F843-11E9-AE98-D9AD1A60F6C3/content?image=1
This time the trail led me to the birth of another member of the family, Jean’s older sister, Virginia Gash.
https://my.rio.bdm.vic.gov.au/efamily-history/6ad70c8b7bddb4a940eca71c?q=efamily
Sarah’s maiden name here presents a puzzle. Jean’s marriage registration lists her mother’s maiden name as Robinson. Once I obtain a copy of Virginia’s birth registration, it should confirm whether this is indeed our Sarah.
Multiple details support this identification. Simpson’s name appears as the father on Virginia’s registration, and no other Simpson Gash appears in online records.
The names of Simpson and Sarah’s other children also match records online, including the passenger list above and the 1861 Census record below, which confirms the children’s names and links Sarah to her known maiden name, Robinson.
Figure 56: Courtesy of Ancestry.com.au
That is Simpson, Sarah, and their children living with her father Joseph Robinson a retired Clog Maker. They were actually living on the Front Street in the village of Brampton, Cumberland, England.
I managed to find an historic map of the village from 1862 showing where they were living.
Ordnance Survey Map Cumberland XVIII.5 & XVIII.8
Map 6: Courtesy of the National Library of Scotland
https://maps.nls.uk/view/121140533 https://maps.nls.uk/view/121140413
You will note Townfoot at the left being highlighted as well. This is where Jean’s mother and grandfather were living ten years earlier, confirmed in the 1851 Census record below.
Figure 57: Courtesy of Ancestry.com.au
And I even managed to find 14 year old Simpson, Jean’s father, living with his mother, father and siblings in the town of Wigton, Cumberland in 1851.
Figure 58: Courtesy of Ancestry.com.au
Wigton, according to Google Maps, is just 20 miles to the south-east of Brampton where Sarah was living with her father.
Map 7: Courtesy of seejaybitsnbobs, E bay Seller
https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/oZ4AAeSw0Plp-dWK/s-l1600.jpg
According to Google Gemini the most likely way that Simpson and Sarah met was probably through market fairs at Carlisle. Both Wigton and Brampton were market towns but Carlisle acted as the central hub between the two for commerce, meeting potential employers and not to mention the chance to met members of the opposite sex. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brampton_Railway
So you can see with so many points matching up I’m pretty sure that the Heatherington name on Virginia’s birth registration will be an anomaly. (Well, hoping.)
With Jean’s family history now established and their settlement in Australia by late 1870 confirmed, a significant question emerges: Why did Jean state on her marriage registration to Henry that she was born in England in 1875? (I shared this detail in Part One.)
Figure 61: Courtesy of the Blackwood Family Archives
There is absolutely no way that Jean could have been born there at that time as Sarah, Simpson and the family were already in Australia. (Unless there really was another Simpson Gash who married another Sarah Robinson.)
I did find what I believe to be Jean’s birth registration here in Australia in 1875.
I know—the Heatherington name again, and Jane not Jean. But as we know from the marriage registration above, Jean was known as Jane as well.
Perhaps Jean experienced intense shame about her family’s history, which may have prompted this decision to state she was born in England. This shame became evident in subsequent discoveries.
Jean was eight years old at the time, with younger siblings Margaret (six) and William (four), and older sister Virginia (twelve), all living in the house.
The daughters who corroborated Sarah’s story could have been Sarah Anne who was 24 years old, Elizabeth, who was 21 or Mary who was 15. I can’t imagine the court would have listened to Jean or her sisters.
The household must have been terrifying for the children, and Sarah showed remarkable strength in moving them out and taking Simpson to court.
Unfortunately, I cannot confirm which daughter was left a widow with a young child. Another sister, Martha, had died the previous year in June 1882.
This article allowed me to find the family in the Sands Suburban Directory at this Freeman Street address as early as 1880.
Figure 64a: Courtesy of State Library Victoria
https://find.slv.vic.gov.au/permalink/61SLV_INST/55a19m/alma9939659136107636
This listing then enabled me to find this exact section of Freeman Street on the Melbourne Metropolitan Sewerage Board maps.
Map 8: Courtesy of the State Library Victoria
https://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/120613
This map above from 1901 shows the south side of Curtain Street, between Drummond Street on the right and Rathdowne Street on the left. Even though this is 21 years later than Sarah and Simpson’s time you can see there has only been one other home built in the area when you compare it with the names listed in the directory. Here is this south side today.
Figure 64b: Courtesy of Google Maps
If you count Mr Elliot and Mr Muschiallia from Drummond Street, as listed in the 1880 directory above, that means Simpson, Sarah and the family were living in either No. 71 or No. 69. Which matches perfectly with the four terraced houses on the left above.
Figure 64c: Courtesy of Google Maps
How incredible is that? This is where Jean’s family were living 146 years ago and it is still standing. It might also be the house that Jean was born in. Just have to wait for her birth certificate to come in.
Back to Jean’s older sister the one that had been left a widow with a baby. Perhaps it could have been Elizabeth, and my reasoning for this follows a very circuitous route, hang on while I explain.
When I went searching for details on Martha’s passing, that is Jean and Elizabeth’s other sister, I found that she had been buried at Melbourne General Cemetery.
https://www.smct.org.au/deceased-search?locationid=cffe40fc-cc5a-ef11-bfe2-000d3acac804
Funny thing is, she too is not alone in Compartment Z, grave 588.
https://www.smct.org.au/deceased-search?locationid=cffe40fc-cc5a-ef11-bfe2-000d3acac804
First was Reginald John Dunn who is Martha’s nephew and Sarah’s grandson being the son of Mary Gash and Richard Dunn. Next was Martha herself and then her mother, Sarah.
Then there is a, Russell King-Hall. I’d never heard or seen this name before so I went looking for Russell in all the usual places. His death notice, although interesting didn’t provide any link.
So with these details, I searched for him on Ancestry.com.au and found this very curious listing.
Elizabeth Gash! This could be coincidental, but it is an exciting potential link. Unfortunately, Leslie Evans, who owns this tree, lists a different Elizabeth Gash.
Leslie has a woman from a family of Gashes from South Australia. But the question is, why would that woman’s husband be buried with our Elizabeth’s family unless she has the incorrect Elizabeth. Oh it is so tantalising.
I believe this is our Elizabeth, married to Russell. His death in July 1883 aligns with the timeline of Sarah and Simpson having a daughter mentioned as a widow in August 1883. (Article 1)
The obstacle is that no marriage record for Elizabeth and Russell, nor any birth record for a potential child, appears online.
Perhaps the newspapers erred, and the daughter was actually deceased, with Sarah raising Martha’s baby alongside the other five children. However, this remains pure speculation without supporting evidence.
Back to Jean’s parents, Sarah and Simpson, they appeared again in the news in May 1885, when it looked as though Jean’s father, Simpson, was trying to disappear to avoid paying maintenance.
I learnt of these details from a warrant that was put out for his arrest.
Wow, the house that Jean was living in when her father was charged with deserting Sarah and the family is also still standing.
https://www.belleproperty.com/listings/47-drummond-street-carlton-vic-3053-0g4VyoZ7?utm_source=fb_ad&utm_medium=Interests+%7C+Image&utm_campaign=Belle+Property+Melbourne+Inner+North+%7C+Traffic&utm_content=Ad&campaign_id=120250949941510600&utm_id=120250949941510600&utm_term=120250949942020600
This is likely the house where Sarah moved Simpson’s furniture, including his teapot, from Curtain/Freeman Street. According to Real Estate.com, the property last sold in 2013 for $2,903,000. As of October 2026, it sold for $5,200,000—a sum Sarah could scarcely have imagined.
The description of Simpson in the arrest warrant is fascinating, and locating that photograph would be remarkable. The police it seems had no problem locating Simpson.
Two days later he is appearing in the City Court in Melbourne, which amazingly for us was written up in The Age.
It is notable that Simpson, at 53, is described as elderly. The article also reveals that Jean had lived in a turbulent household from childhood, with Sarah having held a magisterial maintenance order against Simpson for years.
Remarkably, I located Simpson’s Melbourne Gaol registration for this episode. (This is the document that revealed the family’s journey to Australia on the Colonial Empire.)
https://prov.vic.gov.au/archive/1C8E2178-F3A9-11E9-AE98-070F66E6075E?image=420
With assistance from Google’s AI agent, I developed a transcript of this registration document to clarify its meaning.
The left column and most rows on the right are self-explanatory. The notation in Sentence required clarification.
Sentence: “Imp in d.ft. D B” translation, (Imprisonment in Default of a Distress Bond) I imagine this is the bond Simpson would have signed when the original maintenance order was placed against him. The Distress Bond would have been signed by Simpson to prevent his home from being immediately cleaned out of his assets by bailiffs. But it was also a legal guarantee that he promised he would either pay the maintenance or safely produce personal assets at a given date to be auctioned off to recover some of the unpaid maintenance. https://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/vic/hist_act/ja1915119.pdf
As he didn’t pay he was in default of that bond and being imprisoned. As to how long he was imprisoned, I’m unsure. At the time though the statutory limit for a single distress bond default was only 3 months maximum. https://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/vic/hist_act/ja1915119.pdf
This aligns with his next court appearance on 28 August 1885, when he apparently secured the £50 surety.
Richard was married to Simpson’s youngest sister, also named Sarah.
I can find no follow up article on what the outcome was for Simpson or Richard. I’m assuming Richard had to pay Simpson’s assurance as that was it for Simpson. He disappears from the records entirely. There is no further mention of him anywhere online.
According to Google Gemini, men deserting their families commonly disappeared from records during this period. Simpson may have reached San Francisco, but tracing him through US records proved too difficult and expensive.
You will note from the final line on Simpson’s Goal record above that the Police kept his record open till July 1886 and noted that they were discharging the warrants by the 27th. Presumably because Simpson was gone.
Jean was 11 years of age when her father disappeared. It must have been devastating. I know the effect that has on you. My dad left when I was 15, and I’m still dealing with the fallout from his decision at 57 years of age.
This concludes Part Two of Jean’s story. While I initially expected two parts would be enough, the amazing family history I was able to uncover—spanning Jean’s parents, siblings, and grandparents—means we get a Part Three.
I hope you will be able to join me for that next installment of Jean’s life when we will be following it right through to its sad conclusion.