George BLACKMAN - the third child of John and Charlotte

Left: George BLACKMAN's GRO birth registration in the Dartford Registration District, Kent, UK

George was christened on 12 July 1846 at Wilmington, Kent. Right: A composite image of George BLACKMAN's christening registration at Wilmington

George BLACKMAN and his brother William emigrated, from Howbury Farm, Slades Green two of the 135 passengers aboard the 1003 tons clipper Whirlwind  arriving in Melbourne on 24 August 1863 after the 140 day Australia run.

Above: George Blackman on the Whirlwind's passenger list

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George married Mary Jane COX on 25 December 1868 (Vic BMD 4392/1868) at the United Presbyterian Manse Ballarat. It is believed Mary Jane was born in 1852 in Adelaide perhaps as Cock.

The birthday celebrations highlights George's the extensive family. Right: The Age Wednesday 8th April 1936

George died just a few week later in Stawell (Vic BMD 16145/1936), which records his mother's name as Claxton. He was buried in Stawell Cemetery, Victoria.

Right: Map locating Stawell, the home of George BLACKMAN and Mary Jane COX and many of his family

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Mary Jane had died many years before George in 1908 (Vic BMD 3941/1908) in Stawell. They were married in Victoria on 25 December 1868 (Vic BMD 4392/1868) Her birth is not recorded in the Victoria or South Australian registers.

Emma Jane - third child of George and Mary Jane

Emma jane Blackman
b......1871
d.11nov1964
|
m......1894
|
Alfred henry Moulden
b......1867
d......1906
|                    Children born in Stawell
|============|============|============|=========||
Eva          Ivy          Elsie        Mary
b......1894  b.01jan1898  b......1902  b.07dec1905
d.....+1993  d.30oct1986  d.           d.12nov1995
|              *********               *********
m......1926
|
Charles henry Spurrell
b.
d......1944

Emma Jane was born in 1871 (Vic BMD 22169/1871). In 1894 she married Alfred Henry MOULDEN, (Vic BMD 1324/1894), born 1867 (no obvious Vic BMD record) and died in Stawell in 1906 aged 38 years (Vic BMD 14949/1906). Emma Jane died in Ararat in 1964 aged 93. (Vic BMD 24803/1964).

There is no obvious record of Eva and Charles' death in Victoria but they occur in the NSW Electoral Roll living in Lockhart in 1930 as a farmer. In 1944, Charles Henry died in 1944 in Pleasant Hills, Lockhart, NSW, 80km north of Albury (NSW BMD 6980/1944). In the 1977 Electoral Roll, Ancestry record an Eva and Dorothy Rose SPURRELL, living in Jindalee, Qld, south- west of Brisbane.

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A history of Stawell

Stawell is now a rural city, is on the Western Highway and a 'changing' railway station between Melbourne to Adelaide. It is in central western Victoria, between Ararat and Horsham. To its west is the Grampians National Park, and Stawell is described as the Gateway to the Grampians (a distinction also claimed by Ararat). Stawell arose as a gold mining locality, originally known as Pleasant Creek. Gold was found there in 1853 and intermittently northwards to Deep Lead. In 1856 a substantial find at Forty Foot Hill was the first of several rich quartz reefs to be uncovered. A population of 30,000 people was recorded at the height of the subsequent rush. Originally named Pleasant Creek, after the gold field, the Stawell township was proclaimed in 1858, and named after Sir William Foster Stawell, Chief Justice of Victoria (1857-86). The splendid water supply and beautiful scenery rendered Stawell a healthy and attractive place to live.

Stawell shire was declared on 30 December 1864, and the township was made a separate borough on 12 November 1869. By then Stawell had a population of about 5000 persons, concentrated on gold mining which was undergoing expansion as miners and capital were arriving from Ballarat where gold was less easily won. In 1903, numerous cyanide works extracted the gold, which gave employment to a large number of men. Stawell was an important hub for the loading of grain and wool onto the railway.

In 1876 the railway was extended from Ararat to Stawell. The town became an important freight point for the Wimmera’s grain and livestock, and a railways workshop and engine shed were added during the 1880s. This explains Francis William BLACKMAN's life long employment.

In 1903 the town boasted one of the finest hospitals in the colony; a mechanics institute with 5,875 volumes; seven places of worship two State schools; a grammar school; a school of mines and butter factory. The mines closed in about 1918 and shortly afterwards the railways engine sheds were moved to Ararat. Each was a blow to Stawell’s prosperity, and in 1919 the borough council promoted the formation of a locally financed woollen mill. North Western Woollen Mills Pty Ltd began operations in 1926 accounting for the Blackmans working in the textile industry.

In 1946 Stawell was described as being devoted to pastoral, agricultural and horticultural pursuits, sheep and fat lambs, with extensive wheat and some tobacco. The woollen and knitting mills were still productive. The town’s proximity to the Grampians and Halls Gap were sources of tourist income. The once-a-year tourism from the Stawell Gift, is Australia's richest professional 130 yard (120m) handicap foot race run every year in Central Park at the Easter Athletic Carnival. Walter John Thomas (Tom) BLACKMAN, when he escaped from his Mont Park veterans psychiatric hospital, explained to the police that he was training for the Stawell Gift.

Source: Victorian Places - Stawell (Accessed: 21 June 2023)

This page was created by Richard Crompton and maintained by Chris Glass			Version A3 Updated 14 October 2023