The Ebbott Family Farm in the Parish of Fryers

The Ebbott Family owned property in the parish of Fryers, Victoria from 1858 to 1867. They were living in nearby Glenluce (sometimes spelt Glenluse) at the time only 3 miles away. Where they lived in Glenuce is not clear, but when John Ebbott purchased his fourth property in 1859 he was still identified as “John Ebbott of Glenuse” in the paperwork.[i]

John Ebbott purchased the first three lots of land from the crown for the sum of £38-26s-3p near Fryerstown.[ii] The three properties highlighted in yellow were purchased in 1858.

Purchasing an adjoining property

In 1859 John advertised the sale of 50 head of cattle.[iii]

Soon after selling 50 head of cattle he purchased his last property in 1859 marked on the above map in orange.[iv]

The Challenges of Developing his property

As the purchaser of Crown land John Ebbott would have secured uncleared land. His first task would have been to clear the land, and fence it before deciding the type of farming he was going to conduct. The struggle to develop the farm must have been great as we see him going into debt possibly buying equipment from McMillan & Padley.

Perhaps it was a case of misunderstanding as a month later he became “one of the trustees of the land reserved for the use of the Wesleyan Church in Chewton”[v]

Farming life was very harsh as alluded to in his biography after his death “a great trial of affliction, when the plague devoured his cattle, and fire consumed his homestead”[vi] It must been heartbreaking to survive the death of his cattle only to have the fires come through in 1865. Not alone he was “among those who were burned out on the “Black Monday” of 1865.[vii] In a letter sent to the Mount Alexander Mail concerning the Black Monday Fires in 1865 the author talks of Mr J Ebbott’s farm, “seven years' hard labor in improving a farm, ..... fences, stockyards, hay-stacks, corn, &c.,”[viii]
Sadly John died two years after the fires. In spite of his hardships John Ebbott was a much revered figure in the community and “has been mentioned before as a class leader and spiritual father, at Chapel Hill” in Frysterown.[ix]

It is difficult to know whether John Ebbott and his family ever lived on this property although once the farm became established after a few years they may have moved from Glenluce onto the property.

After the sale and settlement of the land his widow Sarah "Sally" moved to Eaglehawk and purchased property allotment 116 Section M in California Gully, Eaglehawk.[x]

Links

This story is part of the NFHM Blogging Challenge - Week 4

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[i] Victorian Crown Land Purchases, County of Talbot, 1859/50915, John Ebbott
[ii] Victorian Crown Land Purchases, County of Talbot, 1858/50914, 1858/50908 & 1859/50915, John Ebbott
[iii] Advertising (1859, May 27). Mount Alexander Mail (Vic. : 1854 - 1917), p. 1. Retrieved August 27, 2016, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article199049272
[iv] LAND SALE AT CASTLEMAINE. (1859, July 22).Mount Alexander Mail (Vic. : 1854 - 1917), p. 5. Retrieved August 27, 2016, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article199050151
[v] GOVERNMENT GAZETTE. (1861, October 5).The Age (Melbourne, Vic. : 1854 - 1954), p. 5. Retrieved August 28, 2016, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article154899510
[vi] Biography Mr John Ebbott, (1867) The Wesleyan Chronicle for the Year 1867,: 2^nd Series:Vol. VII. Vol.X. from the commencement. P.unkn
[vii] MONTHLY LETTER (1865, March 24). Mount Alexander Mail (Vic. : 1854 - 1917), p. 2. Retrieved August 28, 2016, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article207001730
[viii] CORRESPONDENCE. (1865, March 28). Mount Alexander Mail (Vic. : 1854 - 1917), p. 2. Retrieved August 28, 2016, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article207000884
[ix] THE GAZETTE. (1861, October 5). The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957), p. 5. Retrieved August 30, 2016, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article5704750
[x] Annette O'Donohue & Bev Hanson, Eaglehawk & District Pioneer Register Volume 2 -D~I (Maiden Gully, Vic. : A.M. O'Donohue, 1995<1998>), Pioneer #2342 p.330. .... Victorian Land Title, Volume 238 Folio 12 Jul 1873.

Bibliography

Advertising (1857, May 20). Mount Alexander Mail (Vic. : 1854 - 1917), p. 3. Retrieved August 30, 2016, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article197085718
Advertising (1859, May 27). Mount Alexander Mail (Vic. : 1854 - 1917), p. 1. Retrieved August 30, 2016, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article199049272
Advertising (1867, July 1). Mount Alexander Mail (Vic. : 1854 - 1917), p. 3. Retrieved August 30, 2016, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article198647987
Annette O'Donohue & Bev Hanson, Eaglehawk & District Pioneer Register Volume 2 -D~I (Maiden Gully, Vic. : A.M. O'Donohue, 1995<1998>), Pioneer #2342 p.330, John Ebbott
Biography Mr John Ebbott, (1867) The Wesleyan Chronicle for the Year 1867,: 2^nd Series:Vol. VII. Vol.X. from the commencement. P.unkn
COUNTY COURT. (1861, September 27). Mount Alexander Mail (Vic. : 1854 - 1917), p. 5. Retrieved August 30, 2016, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article197096893
CORRESPONDENCE. (1865, March 28). Mount Alexander Mail (Vic. : 1854 - 1917), p. 2. Retrieved August 28, 2016, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article207000884
F.E. Hiscocks & Co. 1874, F.E. Hiscocks & Co.'s new Victorian counties atlas, 1874 together with map of Victoria, indicating roads, distances, relative position of counties, &c G. Robertson, Melbourne page 14, viewed 27 August 2016 http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-231008711 (Original Image - Public Domain; cropped & Annotated to highlight Glenluce, Chewton & Fryerstown) (CC BY-SA 4.0)
GOVERNMENT GAZETTE. (1861, October 5).The Age (Melbourne, Vic. : 1854 - 1954), p. 5. Retrieved August 28, 2016, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article154899510
LAND SALE AT CASTLEMAINE. (1859, July 22).Mount Alexander Mail (Vic. : 1854 - 1917), p. 5. Retrieved August 27, 2016, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article199050151
MONTHLY LETTER (1865, March 24). Mount Alexander Mail (Vic. : 1854 - 1917), p. 2. Retrieved August 28, 2016, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article207001730
Parish Map of Fyers, source not known, cropped and annotated
Victorian Crown Land Purchases, County of Talbot, 1858/6166, John Ebbott
Victorian Crown Land Purchases, County of Talbot, 1858/50908, John Ebbott
Victorian Crown Land Purchases, County of Talbot, 1858/50914, John Ebbott
Victorian Crown Land Purchases, County of Talbot, 1859/50915, John Ebbott
Victorian Crown Land Purchases, County of Talbot, 1859/50915, John Ebbott
Victorian Land Title, County of Talbot, Volume 238 Folio 47448, Sarah Ebbott

Photo 4 - the Ebbott gravestone in Chewton, Victoria, Australia

Taken on a field trip with Joy Manners in November 2004

Transcription of the gravestone

“In

Memory

Of

MARGRET EBBOTT

Died 28 Dec1906

A True Wife

Devoted Mother

Also

JOHN EBBOTT

Died 29^th Aug 1920

Aged 80

At Rest

Peace Perfect Peace”

& Further below

“Also JOHN (Sen)

1808 -  1867

Wife SARAH

interred Kew (Vic)

1814 – 1898”

This photo was taken at Chewton Cemetery in 2004, so quite some time ago, a later one was taken in 2010 and it was sad to see the letter deterioration, but it’s not really that surprising given the dry conditions and the extremes in temperature particularly when the sun can be so fierce.    

Australian Country cemeteries are quite different to the ones that I visited in Cornwall.  The cemeteries in the golden triangle in Victoria are dry, in summer the grass is brown and there is usually a lot of dust in the air.

In 2006 I was involved in organizing a small family reunion, as you can imagine there were lots of activities to organize and one of those activities was a cemetery tour of on one of the local cemeteries near Bendigo.  We all gathered, the youngest person was in their 20s the eldest person was over 80.  It was hot and the ground was uneven and it was sometimes hard to hear the local tour guide and ants that crawled across our shoes were disgusting, but of course I wouldn't have missed it for the world. 

But what we hadn't taken into account was how the eldest amongst us were faring.  That was the first reunion since then we have got better at organizing them and people know to put on a hat and sun screen and take a bottle of water.  And John who has since passed away, did recover from his heat stroke, we only wanted to visit the dead not join them!