A Cerebral Haemorrhage - The Death of William Bewes 1934

On the 28^th of April 1934 William Bewes died in Newcastle Hospital from a “cerebral haemorrhage, the effects of injuries accidently received through being knocked down by a bicycle.”  He was 77 years old.

On the afternoon of April 19^th William was returning home to his house in Bruce Street, where he had lived since the age of two.  As he went to cross the road at the intersection of Porcher (now National Park Street) and Parry streets, he was knocked down by a cyclist.  He was taken to Newcastle Hospital straight away, with a cut above one eye. Nine days later William died.

On April 30 his family buried him alongside his wife, who had predeceased him 29 years before, at Sandgate cemetery.  All of his seven children were there, along with his 18 grandchildren, and extended family.

On May 9^th at the Newcastle Courthouse the District Coroner, Mr. A.G. Chiplin, held an Inquest into the death.  A number of witnesses were called, along with members of William’s family.

Sergeant W.A. Stubbs was the first to give evidence, where he stated that on the afternoon of April 19^th,  Aubrey Bowie had approached him and told him that he (Mr. Bowie) had just knocked a man over in Parry street as he was riding his bicycle home, and that the man had been taking to hospital.

The next to present evidence was Arthur Brown, who had been riding alongside Mr. Bowie when the incident happened.  Mr. Brown stated that they had been riding east along Parry Street and came to a stop at the intersection of Porcher and Parry.  They were on the left hand side of the street and had slowed to allow them to see any traffic coming from Porcher Street.  They had proceeded to cross Porcher when only about 8 feet across Bowie had collided William Bewes. 

Mr. Bowie, who actually lived only three doors up from William Bewes in Bruce Street, told the Coroner that he had not seen Bewes, before he had walked in front of him.  That as soon as he had collided Bewes had fallen to the ground and had hit the roadway.  The traffic that day on Parry street was considered only medium.

The Coroner then heard that while in hospital William Bewes had made no reference to being hit by a bicycle.  Dr. J.L. Leslie, the Government Medical Officer, stated that William Bewes had died from a Cerebral Haemorrhage.

The Coroner took a full day to review the evidence, and the next day he made his judgment.  It was an accident.  William Bewes while crossing Parry Street at the Porcher Street intersection had walked in front of Mr. Bowie, as he was riding.  Mr. Bewes had fallen over and had hit his head above the eye.  This had resulted in the cerebral haemorrhage that took Mr. Bewes’s life 9 days later.

William Bewes 1857 – 1934

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Bessie Bewes 1896 – 1983

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Lorna Bessie Powell 1922 – 2009

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Kevin Reginald Brady 1961 –

References: Newcastle Morning Herald - May 9, 1935 and May 10, 1934

Emma Powell - Dressmaker

Emma Powell was the first child born to John Powell and Susan Bendall.  She was born at Westbury-on-Trym, a small town (now a suburb) to the north of Bristol.  On the 2^nd of April 1815, Emma was christened in the Holy Trinity church.

Holy Trinity Church, Westbury-on-Trym

The family was to grow and move, and over the next 10 years 2 brothers and 3 sisters were born to the family. John Powell was a milkman and moved around Bristol during this time looking for work.

In August 1831 the family started to break up.  Emma’s brother James, was charged with pick pocketing in neighouring Herefordshire, and by the following April he was on a convict transport for Australia.  Emma was never to see him again.

By late 1837, Emma’s father had died and her mother married a John Hember in December of that year.  John Hember had previously been married to a Mary Bendall, possibly an aunt or cousin of Emma’s mother.  Like Emma, his children had been born in Westbury-on-Trym. Emma’s mother and her youngest sister Jane moved back to Westbury to live on Southmead farm where John Hember lived.

Emma and her sister Elizabeth were out working as dressmakers at an early age, and in the 1841 census, they and 18 other young women, were living at Belmont House, in Clifton, just outside of Bristol.  All were describes as dressmakers, working for a local milliner, Miss Kerslake, who advertised in Bristol Mercury, “an Elegant variety of WINTER FASHIONS” for the ladies of Bristol.

Bristol Mercury November 1842

But on the morning of February 22, 1842 there was a fire at Belmont House, and the fire brigade was quickly on the scene.  The local policemen on the beat were commended in the newspaper for their “active and judicious exertions on the occasion.”

By 1851, Emma was back living with her mother and step-father on the Southmead farm at Westbury-on-Trym.  John Hember now employed 12 labourers on the farm, and Emma and her mother, besides caring and feeding the farm workers, also looked after one of John Hember’s grandchildren, 6 year old Louisa.

By this time two of Emma’s sisters had married, Elizabeth to John Watkins in 1845, and Jane to Edwin Jefferies in 1849.  Both had married at the church of St. Paul’s in Portland Square, Bristol, an area where some of Emma’s sibling had been born in the 1820s, and she was to return to many times.

In 1860 Emma’s sister, Jane Jefferies, died on May 19^th from phthisis, a form of pulmonary tuberculosis.  Emma, her mother and step-father, and young Louisa Hember had come to stay with her brother-in-law, and in the 1861 they were still living with Edwin Jefferies at Stokes Croft in Bristol.

In 1856, Emma’s sister Elizabeth’s husband, John Watkins had died in Westbury-on-Trym, leaving her with two small children.  Like Emma, she was a dressmaker, and had to work to support her young family.

In 1871 Emma was running a boarding house 31 Picton Street, Bristol, and Elizabeth and her son Alfred, were living there, along with 3 young male boarders. The house was the same place where Emma’s mother and stepfather had died in 1862.

By 1881 Emma had lost more of her family.  Her sister Elizabeth had died in 1877, as had Elizabeth’s adult children, Alfred at 30, and Emma Jane, 24.  Like Emma’s mother, all were buried back in Westbury-on-Trym.

In that year’s census Emma was back in Westbury-on-Trym looking after a house for two retired brothers, Hugh and Thomas Boone, who had invested in Land and were now living off the benefits.

Sometime in the late 1880s Emma moved again, this time to look after a younger family.  Borwell Wiles, was a Coal agent for the Bedminster Coal Company, and he and his wife had returned from living in Nebraska, U.S.A., to raise their family at 49 St. Michael’s Hill in Bristol, and Emma again had the role of housekeeper.

49 St. Michael’s Hill, Bristol where Emma died

It was here that Emma died aged 75 on the 28^th of September 1890.  She was suffering from scrofulous abscesses. These are usually acquired through drinking un-pasteurized milk and develop on the neck.  Her death certificate describes her as a former dressmaker.

On the 1^st October 1890 Emma’s body was taken back to Holy Trinity Church in Westbury-on-Trym.  Here she is buried amongst most her family who all predeceased her.

JOHN POWELL married SUSAN BENDALL 1779-1862

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ELIZABETH POWELL 1815-1890                        JAMES POWELL 1817-1885

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JOSEPH HENRY POWELL 1849-1927

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       REGINALD JOSEPH POWELL 1894-1977

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LORNA BESSIE POWELL 1922-2009

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KEVIN REGINALD BRADY 1961-

Theo Vetter 1910 – 1925

On the 30^th August, to Mr. and Mrs. T.W. Vetter, “Tangermunde,” Brown-street, Norwood – a son (Theodore William)

The above appeared in the 2^nd of September 1910 edition of the Adelaide Advertiser.  The proud parents were Theodore Wilhelm Vetter and his wife, Albertina McQuat.  Theodore and Albertina had met and married in Freemantle Western Australia at the turn of the century, and already had two daughters, Ivy (born 1903 in Freemantle) and Millie (born 1908 in Norwood), but now the arrival of their son required an announcement.

Theodore and Albertina had arrived in Adelaide in mid 1906, and settled immediately in Norwood.  Theodore had quickly established a builder’s contracting business and had entrenched himself in the German community, even becoming the President of the South Australian Allegemeiner Deutscher Verein from 1909 to 1911.

The family business was becoming bigger and new premises were acquired.  The family home was also changing and Albertina was advertising for various staff to come and help run the home.  The children were growing and Ivy and Millie were attending school, and Theo was soon to join them.

In 1915 there were changes that affected the family and the business.  At the beginning of the year the buildings rented by Theodore burnt down, and he lost the business, as the Insurance Company would not pay out.  At the same time he made a decision to move to the Barossa valley to the small town of Greenock, and here he took on the licensee of the Greenock Arms Hotel.

It appears that Albertina did not accompany Theodore to Greenock but in early 1916 young Theo and his two sisters did.  Here they joined, the housekeeper Mary Brice, who had worked for the family since 1914, and her young baby daughter.

On March 27^th Theo was enrolled at Greenock School, along with Ivy and Millie.  They soon became a part of the school community, and although living in a hotel there was a family life, with now two babies in the hotel, the housekeeper Mary giving birth to a son in October 1916.

World War One had its affect on Greenock and there were many celebrations and fund raising events through the years to raise money and goods for the soldiers.  On the 8^th September 1917 the School held a concert at the local Hall.  The children performed numerous songs and Theo’s performance was one of those mentioned in the local paper when he and Ian Seppelt, represented celestial beings as the rest of the children sang a character song called The Chinaman.

Just after Easter the following year Theo again made the local newspaper.  The Children’s Patriotic Fund held a concert to raise money for the Red Cross.  Theo and a mate, Theodor Kernich, recited “Sunday Dinner” as the poor hen is sacrificed.

At the end of 1919 Theo left Greenock and went to live in Perth where his mother had been since 1917.  Theo’s parents divorced in the September of 1919, and his father married Mary Brice, and the two little children who he had played with at the hotel were now officially his half sister and brother.

In Perth Theo lived at Cottlesloe Beach and soon attended school there.  When he turned 13 he developed Sarcoma of  Scapula, cancer in the shoulder blades, and  this gradually took control of his life.  In late 1924 he now had secondary Sarcoma of the Cranial Bones (Now known as Osteosarcoma) and spent the next 3 and a half months in Perth’s Royal Hospital.

On February 20^th, 1925 Theo died after suffering for over 2 years, and the following day he was buried at Karrakatta Cemetery.

Like the announcement that signaled the start of his life, there was one at it’s ending.

VETTER, - On February 20, 1925, at the Perth Hospital, Theo, loved and only son of Albertina Vetter and loved brother of Ivy and Millie; aged 14 years. At Rest.

Although his life was short family always surrounded Theo, one parent may have been missing at a time but he always had family.

46 years later Theo’s mother joined him in the plot at Karrakatta, and his two sisters also were interred there when they died.

Albertina McOuat (1881 – 1971) | Theodore William Vetter (1910-1925)

Theodore Wilhelm Vetter (1866-1943)

Mary May Brice (1887 – 1937) | Alan Louis Brady (1916-1995) | Kevin Reginald Brady (1961-

Grandma Powell's Childhood

Bessie Bewes (1896-1983)

Growing up for me, my Grandmother was always in the kitchen of her house in San Souci. 

We would arrive there on a Saturday morning, enter via the backdoor, say hello to her as she stood at the sink or bench (I don’t remember kissing her), then straight out the back to play in the yard or down at the shed where my Grandfather would be.

We would be called in for lunch, and again for afternoon tea, before Grandfather drove us home.  Grandma, as we called her, sat in front, and I don’t even remember them getting out of the car at Greenacre.

I don’t remember any hugs, cuddles or kisses, but I do know there was a pic of her holding me as a new born baby and one of her with her arm around me when I was about 10.

She was not what I would call affectionate, and I don’t think she would have been comfortable with children climbing over her.

In 1970 there was the Captain Cook Bi-centennial celebrations, and I remember attending these at Kurnell with my grandparents.  A short while later, perhaps on the next Saturday visit, my mum had bought Bi-centennial spoons for each of us children.  I remember going in to my grandparent’s house to show Grandma my spoon.  She snapped at me.  I can’t remember what she actually said, but it was along the lines of stupid and waste of money.  I was hurt and ran outside.  I mentioned it to my mum later and she just told me to ignore it.

She was not what I would call a happy person.  Once she spoke to me of her childhood, I was married and a father by this time.  She said that after her mother died (this happen when she was 8), that her father, a stern man, had decided that as her older sisters had married and had children, that her and her twin sister Georgina were to be separated and sent off, one to each sister to help look after the new babies. “glorified maids”, she said. 

Fred & Bill

Eliza, Georgina, William Bewes, Bessie, Florence

Walter

1904

She was born on the 2^nd of May 1896 at 92 Bruce Street, Cook’s Hill, in Newcastle.  The younger of twin daughters to William and Georgina (nee Dilling) Bewes.  There was 5 older siblings, Eliza, 16; Florence (known as Fol), 14; Bill, 11; Fred, 6; and Walter 4.  Her mother had not been in good health and during the previous 10 years the family had left Newcastle a number of times to move to the small country town of Murrundi in the hope that country living would help.

On the 19^th of July 1904 Bessie’s mum passed away at the family home.  She was only 45 and had been suffering from Tuberculois Aldomunalis, for over a year.  Two days later Bessie, along with her sisters and brothers, watched as her body was taken from the house to the cemetery at Sandgate.

The following year her oldest sister was married and went to live in Murrundi.  There was now a housekeeper, Mrs Knott, to run the house.  Her brothers were working.  Her other older sister, Fol, was too old to spend time with young girls, so Bessie and George (Georgina’s nic name) were left to themselves.  There were cousins living next door to play with, Ivy and her younger sister Doris, being closest in age.

In July 1909, Bessie’s sister Fol married, and this left only Mrs Knott, the housekeeper, as an adult female in the house.  In June 1910, Fol gave birth to twins, a boy and girl, George and Edna.  Her older sister Eliza, already had two babies, and would have a third later in the year.

Bessie’s father made the decision that his twin daughters needed to be of help to their sisters, or perhaps he thought it would be better for them to live with a female relative?  We will never know his reason for sending the girls away.  Georgina was sent to Murrundi, and Bessie travelled to Sydney, to live at Kogarah with her sister Fol, and her husband, George Goldie.

Bessie spent the next few years helping raise her sister’s babies.  Her brother-in-law was a more harsh man than her father, and did not allow her to go out.  She had no money of her own and was totally reliant on her brother-in-law for all of her needs, like the glorified maid she would later describe to me. 

It was also during this time that Bessie was sent over to Manly, to stay with her grandmother, Mary Ann Dilling, who was blind and in her late 70’s.  Mary Ann lived with her son Walter Dilling and his young family, and whenever they needed a break, Bessie would go over to care for her grandmother.  She had to help her around the house, as well as “pushing her on to the tram” whenever they went out.

By the time she turned 20 in 1916 she wanted to get herself a job.  She wrote a letter to her father back in Newcastle explaining how she felt.  He immediately sent her money so she could attend a secretarial school, and there she learnt to be a typist.   This led to a job in the centre of Sydney at Gowing’s Department store.  Bessie’s life changed now, she was no longer reliant on her brother-in-law, and she was no longer just looking after other members of her family.  She made friends at the local church, one of whom was Reg Powell, who she would marry on the 28^th of January 1922.

I have thought a lot lately of my grandparents, how different they were.  How she seemed too occupied to care about us grandkids but not knowing what she was occupied with.  I have wondered why she seemed so, to me, bitter.  Why she seemed not to like children.

In January 1910 the Sydney Morning Herald reported the 1909 Examination Results for the Sydney College of Music.  The exams had been held all over the state.  Some of the winners would be given opportunities for a career in music.  Among the list of 400 is the following:-

STUDENTS CERTIFICATES – PIANOFORTE

Junior Pass – Bessie Bewes

THEORY OF MUSIC

Initiatory Honours – Bessie Bewes

A few months after this, at the age of 14, Bessie left her childhood home to go look after her sister’s babies.

Losing your mother at 8, being separated from your twin sister at 14, then to have you passion for music taken away from you too, cannot have left fond memories, and perhaps make a person guarded on how they show their love. 

I know my grandmother loved her husband Reg very much.  I know that although a stern mother, she loved and cared for her two daughters, Lorna and Joan, dearly. 

  

To my Grandma I say you raised your daughters to be good mothers, and they were.

My only wish is that I had memories of you playing the piano, who knows they may come to me yet.

Bessie Bewes 1896-1983

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Lorna Bessie Powell 1922-2009

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Kevin Reginald Brady 1961-