The Hadwen Family of Lancashire

Article from newspaper, Thursday, April 11th, 1929.

THE LATE W. T. BOWES

Interesting History of Local Identity
By an Old Friend

It was in the year 1856 - seventy-three years ago - that the late William T. Bowes, of Baulkham Hills, first saw the light. That was in the North of England, close to the Windermere Lakes, in Lancashire. He started to earn his own living at the tender age of nine, and though of late years he was able to ‘sit back and take a rest,’ he could not do it, because he hadn’t a lazy bone in his body, even if some of them were affected by rheumatism. If he were not driving about the country in his motor car, he could be seen almost any day hoeing his garden, laying concrete paths, or tackling some strenuous job or other.

It was at his cousin’s place at Wicham, Co. Cumberland, that he took the first step on the long road of labor. He didn’t like school; he reckoned the teachers were too cruel. He’d rather go to work. When he had put in twelve months on his first job his family desired him to come home and take up school again; but young Bill wasn’t having any! He worked another twelve months, but the ‘no wages’ principle didn’t continue to appeal to him. The ‘found’ part of it was all right; but young Bill wanted some pocket money. So he struck out for another job - and got it.

In his new sphere he was ‘kept’, and received 10 pounds as well. That was on a ____ Castle farm and he put in two and a half years there. He was nearly 14 then, and, of course, thought he was worth more money. He was a willing lad; but he failed to strike much of a rise in a couple of subsequent jobs. At length, when about 16, he went to work for a more generous farmer, who gave him 30 pounds a year and keep.

When William had reached the age of ____ years, he became seized with the fact that he had thrown away a good opportunity at the beginning, when he refused to go to school; so he went to the village of Gleeson, and began studies; but after a few months (during which he had to pay 15/- a week for board, and 2/- a week school fees) he found his funds running low.

So he stuck out of work again. He got it, this time as a porter, and received 19/- per week in return for very hard work - ten hours a day, too!

However, the call of the farm was too insistent, and this class of work claimed his energies until he reached the age of 20, when he was married to Miss Margaret Brocklebank, of Pennington, Lancashire - a lass with whom he had practically been reared.

William then went into business for himself, as a carrier and coal merchant. Unfortunately for him, there was a period of great depression at the time, and a large quantity of coal was delivered from his yards to customers who could not pay. Realising that such a state of affairs could not continue, and that he could not find it in his heart to refuse appeals for coal - it was a particularly cold winter - Mr. Bowes decided to close up his business, and emigrate to Australia. With that object in view he sought the services of a parson to fill in his papers. The rev gentleman failed to grasp the fact that William was essentially a farmer, and would only agree to describe him in the papers as a carrier. This did not suffer the man; so he took the papers away unsigned, destroyed them and paid his own passage out.

Bad luck attended him at the outset o the voyage as he had ---sovereigns - all the money in his possession stolen from him on the first day. H had left what other money he had with his wife and intended to send for her as soon as he settled down in the young land south of the line.

On the voyage out, he acted as barber; but the profession was not very lucrative, and his finances when he landed in Melbourne amounted to 8/6 in cash. He walked the town for three days, but could get no work. On the fourth day he set out along the Footscray Road, determined to get clear of Melbourne. He had one little coin left - a sixpence, and had no idea what was going to happen when that was gone. Some distance out of town he overtook a “Geordie” pursuing the same route. The two got into conversation; and the new friend, learning William’s predicament, inviting him to “coom w’ him” and share his humble room. William didn’t think it was fair to his friend to accept the invitation, in view of the fact that he had but sixpence in his pocket; and told him so.

“What matters it, man! I’ve got a pund - and when that’s gone we’ll get more, somewhere!” Persuasion won in end.

The Geordies brother was foreman at the chemical factory at Footscray, and the two friends had hopes of getting employment there. The foreman said two men were wanted at the candle factory - wages 5/- per day, of ten hours; and they were welcome to the job. But he advised them if they could get anything better to take it.

That afternoon William interviewed the boss of the mud punts working in the Yarra, and, being a hefty young fellow, somewhere about 16 stone, he was engaged. The work was, as William says, pretty solid, as he was soft, after so many weeks on the boat, doing nothing. In three days he was so sore that he could scarcely turn in his bed so he told the boss - who, by the way, was a very observant man, and another and somewhat lighter job was found for William, lasting about three weeks. In that time his muscles had become harder, and he began to feel in great fettle; so that when he went back to the hard-“yakka”, he could more than hold his own against the rest.

William’s next experience was on the railway construction work from Tamworth to Uralla, NSW. At the conclusion of his work in this place, he went to Sydney, met his wife and two children, and a happy little home was established once again.

For a further 3 ½ years, Mr Bowes continued to follow railway construction work, and later put in a long period on a big church at summer Hill, and buildings in other places.

Having been able to save a nice little sum during these years, Mr and Mrs Bowes decided to return to their native land, with the object of settling there again. But conditions when they arrived were so harsh that they wasted no time in packing up and setting out once more for the sunny land of the south.

This time the landed at Brisbane; but it was not long ere they went further south, and arriving in Sydney, Mr Bowes secured work at cockatoo Island dry dock. The call of farm life, however, cold not be resisted; and in 1887 the family took up land at Model Farm, where they spent 14 years, with varying success. At the end of this period, Mr Bowes bought the land (at present known as Windermere Estate); and here a lot of hard work was put in, not only by the head of the family, but by all the members. Theirs was splendid help, and just when the family’s fortunes were assuming roseate hues, the home sustained a severe and sad blow, by the death of Mrs Bowes. That was in 1907 - 22 years ago.

The family’s prospects gradually brightened, and the only sorrow in the success achieved was that the fond mother was not there to share it with the rest.

After making a fair competence from his work on the land, Mr Bowes discontinued farming, and cut up the estate for sale. He had the satisfaction of seeing quiet a number of modern and valuable residences in existence where once orange and lemon groves and pea and strawberry cultivation paddocks thrived.

Mr Bowes was for a term a councillor in the Baulkham Hills Shire. He continued to take a keen interest in all local movements having as their ..ive the public good; and he deemed it a great pleasure to be able to do a good turn for any of his neighbors.

His family of five living children (one son and four daughters) are all married. The eldest is Mrs Shephard, of Junction Road, Baulkham Hills; and her married daughter’s eldest child is ten years of age. The old patriarch, though a great-grandfather, was able to do a day’s work along side many a man 20 years his junior.

A few months ago, _____________ conditions existing in Australia today with those of 50 years ago, Mr Bowes reckoned the present generation was ‘on velvet’. The opportunities and advantages of the present day, he said, were wonderful. And he was a man who should know!

The district will be poorer with his passing.