Trelawny is a gracious heritage house located at 804 Havelock Street, Black Hill, a suburb of the Victorian gold rush city of Ballarat, Victoria, Australia (although the property is sometimes mistakenly thought to be located in neighboring Soldiers Hill). Havelock Street, the street where Trelawny is located, was named in recognition of Major General Sir Henry Havelock, a British general who is particularly associated with India and the Indian Mutiny of 1857.
History
Samuel Figgis – Rehoboth The land that Trelawny was later to stand on was purchased from the Crown in August 1862 by Samuel Figgis (1812–1879), a Dublin-born Irishman, who moved to London, England, where he married Englishwoman, Sarah Smith (c. 1819 – 1893),Pioneer Index Victoria death registration number 6968 in 1843.England & Wales, Civil Registration Marriage Index, 1837–1915 Volume 2 Page 65 Samuel and Sarah Figgis emigrated to the southern Australian state of Victoria on the ship Severn, arriving November 1852,PROV Assisted and Unassisted Passenger Lists, 1839–1923 with their sons Benjamin Johnston, William Harold, Charles Douglas and daughter Clara Elizabeth. Two additional children were born in Australia; Samuel Ernest and Maria Emily.
The Victorian gold rush started with the "official" discovery of gold in 1851 and attracted fortune hunters from all over the world. However, Samuel came to Melbourne looking for work as an accountant, and unlike so many others who headed for the Victorian goldfields, he didn't go there in search of gold.Libby Crocker-Jones, Figgis relative & family historian In fact, it was the offer of a job with the Ballarat Gas Company that took the family to the goldfields where in 1860 Samuel was appointed as company secretary.
Samuel Figgis soon became manager of the Ballarat Gas Company, which was set up in 1858 to supply town gas to the city of Ballarat,. and served in that role from 1861 until his death in 1879., He was also secretary of the Ballarat Permanent Investment Society and Building Society, for a lengthy period. And, in the year prior to his death had been appointed as a magistrate for Ballarat.
The original property which Figgis purchased consisted of two adjoining oblong allotments, combining to 2.1 acres, with a lengthy frontage along Havelock Street of 560 feet approx. stretching from Howitt to Gregory Street, Black Hill, which at the time was still referred to as Soldiers Hill.Township Plan Ballarat North, Allotments 5 & 6, Section 2, Parish of Ballarat, County of Grenville Figgis purchased the land through a sale of Crown land in August 1862 and paid a total of £86 for the two allotments.
William Harold (1846-1932), also an accountant, followed his father as Secretary Manager of the Ballarat Gas Company until his retirement in 1913. The youngest of the four Figgis boys, Samuel Ernest Figgis (c. 1855–1922),PROV birth registration number 1227PROV death registration number 4143 became managing engineer of The Ballarat Gas Company and then general manager from 1913 to 1915. The brothers were outstanding cricketers and both played for Ballarat vs. Australians at the Eastern Oval, Ballarat in March 1878. W.H. Figgis had played for Ballarat's XXII against W.G.Grace's XI at the same ground in 1874. W.H. caught W.G. to end his first innings of 161. Benjamin Johnstone Figgis and Charles Douglas Figgis also played for the Ballarat XXII against W.G. Grace's X!.
Samuel Ernest was probably the best cricketer of the brothers.
The Figgis residence is referred to as Rehoboth, which supposedly translates from Latin Vulgate as "latitude" or "room". According to the translation by Rev. Dr. Roseby, Pastor of the Dawson street Congregational Church, Ballarat Rehoboth is referred to in the marriage notice of Clara Elizabeth Figgis, the elder daughter of Samuel & Sarah Figgis, to William Reid in 1875,; again, as the residence of Clara and William Reid on the birth of their daughter in 1876; and as Samuel Figgis' address in his obituary. It would seem most likely that the name of their residence was from the Bible, Genesis 26:22 He moved on from there and dug another well, and no one quarreled over it. He named it Rehoboth,[a] saying, “Now the Lord has given us room and we will flourish in the land.”New International Version (NIV) Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Sarah Figgis (Smith) Samuel Figgis died in Ballarat in September 1879 of pneumonia,Australian Death Index Registration Number 6968 he bequeathed all his real and personal estate to his wife Sarah Figgis. The estate was valued at £2,452-17-6, including real estate valued at £600.Victoria, Australia, Wills and Probate Records, 1841–2009 Wills 019/88 – 019/739 At the time of Samuel's death, the Figgis were living in Gregory Street, Soldiers Hill, although this may have been just been an alternative address that was used for Rehoboth, which did have one of its frontages on Gregory Street. In an advertisement in The Ballarat Star in 1878, for a nearby property in Howitt Street, reference is made to the "adjoining" residence of Mr. S. Figgis, which would suggest that a number of its street frontages were used to describe the property.
As the property was owned by Samuel Figgis in November 1878, it would seem likely that Rehoboth is the real estate that was left in his will and valued at £600 in September 1879.
As part of the community involvement of the Figgis family, Sarah had been the Honorary Secretary of the Ladies Benevolent Clothing Society in 1880, under the venerable James Oddie.
She died in Geelong, Victoria in September 1893 and was buried with her husband, Samuel, at the Ballarat New Cemetery. She left an estate of £6,256, which didn't include any real estate.,PROV Wills & Probate VPRS 7591/P0002 unit 209 as she had sold the property to Robert Ford Bryant in 1887.
Robert Ford Bryant – Trelawny The property was purchased by Robert Ford "R.F." Bryant (1841–1908) in May 1887 for £1,150.Memorial of Conveyance No. 822 Book 375 Both "R.F." and his wife Mary Venning (1843–1921) were born in Cornwall and emigrated to Australia in 1864 on the Winifred. The last entry in his family bible reads: "Left London for Victoria in the ship Winifred on 1 January 1864, amidst the prayers and tears of our parents".The Ballarat Star 2 November 1908 Mary gave birth to their son, Robert Ford Bryant (1864–1945), at sea during the voyage.
Bryant, who sat as a Justice of the Peace on the Ballarat Police and City Court benches, was a miner, manager, a Government expert, and a director in the Kangaroo G.M., Australasian and various other mining companies. He also was very involved in the Ballarat Cricket Club, Ballarat Football Club, and keen on raising and showing poultry. During the time he was manager of the Midas Company mine at Clunes, he brought the "Lady Loch" gold nugget (617 ozs.) in to Ballarat for display to the public on 24 August 1897 in the window of Stoddart & Binnie's, stockbrokers.
It is likely that the house was named Trelawny by R.F. Bryant after a farm of that name in Cornwall, England, which the family had some connection with, but apparently did not own.Heather Campbell, a grand-daughter of R.F. Bryant Fond memories of the Cornish ballad, Trelawny: The Song Of The Western MenWritten in 1825 by Robert Stephen Hawker may also have had an effect on the expatriate Cornishman, too.
He embarked on a major renovation of the house and gardens from 1896 to 1900,Rosemary Campbell, a grand-daughter of R.F. Bryant adding considerably to the house with a new styled verandahs with tessellated tiling, large windows, a grand entrance with stained glass windows, decorated cornices, and increased room sizes. Progressively, he added to what was known as the original "cottage" that was at the back of the house.
His brother, Joseph "Joe" Bryant, had built a gracious home in the area in 1901 to 1905. Esleta, which was to become named Balmoral and then Eyres House, is still standing at 810 Ligar Street, Soldiers Hill, the next street west, parallel to Havelock Street.
Mary Bryant (Venning) R.F. Bryant died in 1908 and left his estate to his wife Mary, where her address was referred to as "Trelawny, Peel Street, Ballarat". In a 1902 newspaper notice of the pending marriage of Miss Edith Bryant, daughter of Mr. & Mrs. R.F. Bryant similarly gave the address as Trelawny House, Peel Street North, Ballarat. This seems strange, as Peel Street North does not form any part of the boundaries of the property and only intersects perpendicularly with Gregory Street which is the boundary at the rear of the property.
His estate amounted to "...real estate not exceeding the amount of £700 ..." and personal estate of £160.PROV Probate & Administration Files Series number: VPRS 28 Consignment number: P0000 Unit number: 1411 In the probate documents, Bryant is specifically referred to as "Robert Fourd Bryant (generally known as Robert Ford Bryant)". This seems strange as his mother was Anna Ford (1818–1902)PROV Death registration 12380 and Bryant named his son, Robert Ford Bryant (1864–1945). Where the spelling "Fourd" came from is not currently known.
Winifred Philippa White (Bryant) Trelawny had been put up for auction on 10 February 1909 on the direction of the Executor of R.F. Bryant's estate. The property for sale was described as being 2 1/4 acres freehold land with a "Commodius Family Residence" consisting of a dining room, drawing room, hall, four bedrooms, breakfast room, bathroom, pantry, kitchen, with hot and cold water sources, large underground tank, cellar, three detached rooms, two stall stables, feed room, loft, ranch house, and outbuildings.
In 1909 Winifred Philippa White (Bryant) (1882–1963), Married Woman, bought the property from her mother, Mary Bryant.
R.T. and Mary Bryant had 13 children; John Venning Bryant (1862–1940) born in England, Robert Ford Bryant (junior) (1864–1945) born at sea, and her other 11 children being born in Ballarat or Clunes, Victoria. Eight of the Bryant children were alive when their mother, Mary, died in 1921, yet it was only her third youngest child, Winifred, who was interested in buying the family home.
Winifred owned the property from 1909 until she transferred both Allotments 5 & 6 to her younger sister, Elsie Caroline Lemin (Bryant), Married Woman, in 1916.Certificate of Title, being Crown Allotments 5 & 6, Section 2 at Ballaarat North, City & Parish of Ballaarat, County of Brenville, Volume 3329, Folio 665687
Winifred and her husband, William White (1874–1931), moved from Ballarat to Finley in New South Wales to farm. William committed suicide in 1931 and Winifred remained in Finley, dying there 35 years later, in 1963. These were particularly hard years for farmers, with almost continual drought, and mouse plagues. The Whites, like many others, had to stand the legs of their tables in buckets of water to prevent the mice from getting up on to where they were eating.
Elsie Caroline Lemin (Bryant) Elsie Caroline Bryant (1883–1950), the second youngest child of Robert Ford and Mary Bryant, married Ernest William Lemin (pronounced Le-min) (1882–1945) Stock & Station Agent, in March 1910 at Ballarat, Victoria. 1910/511 They lived at Trelawny and brought up their family there. Ernest was a founder of Midlands Golf Club, originally known as Ballaarat North Golf Club. His son William and daughter Beth were champion golfers and gained local fame by holding the men's and ladies club champion trophies at the same time.Per a grand daughter, Robin Nicholls (Campbell)