Index/Contents

1. First generation (1800–1850)

1.1. George Henry Rudge (b 1814)

• I acknowledge that most of the following research on the First Generation relies on the work of Rob Gay, and much of the writing is his. Proper attribution of his written parts will be given at a later stage as my own contribution expands and it becomes easier to distinguish his and my work.

George Henry Rudge was born in 1814 in Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire County, England and was baptised on the 20th November 1814 at Tewkesbury as ‘Henry George Rudge.’¹ He was registered as the ‘illegitimate’ son of Charlotte Rudge, who was living in High St Tewkesbury at the time and aged 25.

At the age of 17 years, George was arrested (along with a 14-year-old accomplice, Frederick Jones of Forthampton) for stealing three rabbits from a fowl house in Forthampton. He was put in the County Gaol in Gloucester on 13 January 1832 and was tried in the Gloucester Lent Assizes Court on 28 March, 1832 for larceny; and sentenced to 7 years transportation to New South Wales.

The trial records detail the following:

• Name: George Henry Rudge
• Age: 17 years
• Abode: Tewkesbury
• Crime: Charged on the oaths of Richard Benwell Messenger of Forthampton and John Scott of Tewkesbury Whitesmith with having on Sunday night last the 8th day of January feloniously stolen three rabbits of the value of 1/6 the property of the said Richard Benwell Messenger from a fowl house in Forthampton in the occupation of the said Richard Benwell Messenger.
• Marks, stature, etc.: Brown hair, grey eyes, fresh complexion, small scar on the forehead, two moles on his right cheek, two moles near his left eye, mole left cheek, mole right side chin, mole on left shoulder, five moles right arm and two moles left arm, scar right shin, two moles left side neck, mole right shoulder, read not write. Labourer. Height. 5’3 ¾.
• Sentence: Transported 7 years

George was transferred to a floating prison hulk called Justitia on 19 April 1832, which was moored at Woolwich on the Thames where he spent some six months on board from the time of his trial to his departure date.

Justitia was originally launched as an East Indiaman named Admiral Rainier. The Admiralty purchased her in 1804 to use as a 50-gun Fourth-rate, and named her HMS Hindostan. She was converted into a 20-gun storeship in 1811. She was renamed again in 1819 as Dolphin, and once more in 1830 as Justitia, when she became a prison hulk. She was finally sold in 1855.

George was transported to Sydney with 200 other male convicts on a 450 ton barque named the Camden. The ship’s Master was George Thomas Clayton and the ship’s Surgeon Superintendent was Joseph Steret, who joined the Camden on 11 September, 1832 at Deptford and kept a medical journal from 11 September, 1832 to 8 March, 1833. On 15 September 1832 the vessel moved down to Woolwich where Steret examined 100 convicts on the various prison hulks — 60 men on the Justitia; 20 men on the Discovery; and 20 on the Ganymede. The prisoners were sent on board the Camden that same day. The Camden then moved down to Sheerness and on 17 September 1832 received on board another 100 prisoners from the Retribution at Sheerness; 30 from the Cumberland; 40 from the Euryalus and 30 boy prisoners from the hulks at Chatham. They departed Sheerness on 22 September 1833 but did not reach Plymouth until the 5 October, having been in considerable danger from a severe gale on the night of 2 October. They departed Plymouth on 13 October 1832. The voyage took 149 days and 2 of the convicts died during the voyage. This was the second voyage for the Camden to New South Wales with a consignment of convicts.

Also on board the Camden in cabin accommodation were Dr Davidson, Major Fairweather and Lieutenant Duff of the 21st Regiment of Fusiliers and John Wilson, his wife and 2 children who were attached to the Church Missionary Society and on their way to New Zealand. In steerage (the lowest class of the ship) were 29 rank and file members of the 21st Regiment of Fusiliers, 5 women and 10 children. Joseph Steret’s report states that there were several cases of scurvy, but no cholera or other highly infectious diseases, several pulmonic complaints and some with dysentery. He also reported that only two men out of 200 expressed any reluctance to go to New South Wales and all ‘were happy at the prospect of quitting England.’

The Camden arrived in Sydney late at night on 17 February 1833 and anchored just off the Sow and Pigs reef at the entrance to Port Jackson, where it remained under quarantine until morning. The convicts were handed over to the Master of a ship at the beginning of the voyage and then formally transferred into the custody of the Governor of the colony who was receiving them. Indents, or Indentures, were the documents used to record the transaction on arrival.

George Henry Rudge’s indent entry reads as follows:

• Sending No. of Convict: 33/416
• Indent No.: 44
• Age: 18
• Education (R=Read, W=Write): R
• Religion: Protestant
• Single, Married or Widowed: Single
• Children: –
• Native Place: Gloucestershire
• Trade or Calling: Farmer’s boy
• Offence: Stealing rabbits
• Tried (Where/When): Glocester / 28 March 1832
• Sentence: 7 years
• Height: 5’ 4½”
• Complexion: Ruddy
• Colour of Hair: Brown
• Colour of Eyes: Dark Grey
• Particular Marks or Scars: Small mole right jaw; R inside lower right arm; blue rings on middle and fourth fingers of right hand; blue ring middle finger of left hand.

Convicts were put to work on arrival in New South Wales, either providing labour for public works such as road making, or through “assignment” to an individual for whom they would work. Both free settlers and emancipists were commonly assigned convicts as servants, farm labourers, etc. Few records of such assignments have survived.

George was assigned to a Captain Eber Bunker to work on his 900-acre ‘Collingwood’ Estate at Liverpool. Ebenezer (Eber) Bunker (1761–1836) was a sea captain and farmer born on 7 March 1761 at Plymouth, Massachusetts, USA. As master of William and Ann — a transport in the Third Fleet — he arrived at Sydney in 1791. After various voyages and whaling expeditions, in 1801 Captain Bunker was given a town lease and a grant of 400 acres, which he named Collingwood (after his wife’s maiden name) on St George’s River immediately south of the future town site of Liverpool. In 1808 he took up a grant of another 500 acres adjoining Collingwood. Bunker built Collingwood House at Liverpool in 1810 and his family moved there the following year.

Bunker contributed significantly to the development of the pastoral industry in NSW. After he was granted permission to send stock and shepherds to the south (to Bargo) and west (to Keepit on the Namoi River), Bunker established a regular supply of fresh meat to the Government Stores. He died at Collingwood on 27 September 1836, aged 74, and was buried in the old Church of England cemetery at Liverpool. Once described by Governor Macquarie as ‘a very able and expert Seaman … and of a Most respectable Character,’ he had been a leading member of the community in New South Wales.² He has been called the ‘father of Australian whaling.’³

Working at Collingwood under the direction and leadership of Eber Bunker no doubt gave young George a new sense of direction, extensive farming knowledge and skills in the handling of cattle and horses. As Austin Lovegrove writes, ‘the Colony needed workers not only to run [the] place as it was, but also to develop it as more and more convicts and free settlers arrived… [and] many of [the] later convicts would have been acquiring a skill for the first time.’ On arrival, convicts were either directed to work for the government or ‘assigned to work or a free settler or emancipist’ and ‘what work a man or woman did was primarily determined by what they had to offer, not the seriousness of the crime which had brought them to the Colony.’⁴

Charles Throsby owned land adjoining Bunker’s property at Liverpool, which no doubt played a role in George moving to the Southern Highlands in 1841 to work on the Throsby Park Estate, after he was made a free man in 1839 (see below). He would be one of only three free men working on the Throsby Park project.

Four years after his arrival on 10 April 1837, George Rudge was issued with a Ticket of Leave (TL No 37/528) on the recommendation of the Liverpool Bench Magistrate. A Ticket of Leave (TL) was a document given to convicts when granting them freedom to work and live within a given district of the colony before their sentence expired or they were pardoned. TL holders were not allowed to own land; and, before 1843, were allowed neither to own personal property nor ask for wages. For convicts, Church attendance was compulsory, as was appearing before a Magistrate when required. Permission was needed before moving to another district and ‘passports’ were issued to those convicts whose work required regular travel between districts.⁵

Convicts applied through their masters to the Bench Magistrates for a TL and needed to have served a stipulated portion of their sentence as follows:

• 7-year terms needed 4 years service with 1 master, or 5 years service with 2 masters;
• 14-year terms needed 6 years with 1 master, 8 years with 2 masters, or 12 years with 3 masters;
• Life terms needed 8 years with 1 master, 10 years with 2 masters, or 12 years with 3 masters

George Rudge’s TL allowed him freedom to live and work in the District of Liverpool, New South Wales. After receiving his Ticket of Leave, George Rudge, at 22 years of age, married a fellow female convict named Mary Ann Keetch, aged 20 years.

1.1.1. Mary Rudge nee Keetch (b 1817)

Mary Keetch was born in London in 1817 (baptised 5 July, 1817 in Marylebone, London), daughter of William Keetch (a Coachman) and Marry Ann Bennett. She was tried at the age of 16 years at the Middlesex Gaol Delivery Sessions on 17 October 1833 for larceny and sentenced to 7 years transportation.

It is likely that Mary Keetch spent time aboard one of the five hulks moored at Portsmouth, as it was some four months from the time of her trial to departure date. Mary Keetch was transported to Australia with 140 other female convicts on a barque named Numa, which departed Portsmouth 29 January, 1834. The ship’s Master was John Baker and the ship’s Surgeon Superintendent was Edward Foord Bromley. Mary Ann Keetch’s indent entry read as follows:

• Sending No of Convict: 75/34
• Indent No: 77
• Age: 17
• Education (R=Read, W=Write): R
• Religion: Protestant
• Single, Married or Widowed: Single
• Children: –
• Native Place: London
• Trade or Calling: Nursegirl
• Offence: Robbing mistress
• Tried (Where/When): Middlesex gaol delivery/17 October 1833
• Sentence: 7 years
• Height: 4’ 10½” [note: Certificate of Freedom states 5’0’’ — so still growing]
• Complexion: Ruddy and a little freckled
• Colour of Hair: Brown
• Colour of Eyes: Dark Hazel
• Particular Marks or Scars: Nose a little inclined to the right side.

The voyage took 135 days and the Numa arrived in Sydney 13 June, 1834 and on arrival had 138 woman and 24 children. Two convicts had died on the voyage. The Sydney Morning Herald of Monday, 16 June 1834 read:

From London, same day, having sailed from thence, the 29th of January, the Barque “Numa” Captain Baker, with 138 female convicts, and 24 children under the Superintendence of Dr. Bromley, R.N. Imports – June 14, Numa – (Ship) 323 tons, Baker, Master, from London, Dawes, Gore and Co. Agents. Female prisoners, 18 tons Gunpowder and other Govt. Stores.

On arrival at Sydney, Mary Keetch was assigned as a domestic servant to Mr Samuel North of Windsor (1791–1864). Samuel North arrived in Australia in 1826 as a lieutenant in the 102nd Regiment. He first entered the civil service in 1827 as superintendent of bonded warehouses. In 1829 he was appointed a police magistrate for Windsor, and performed the duties of that office until 1844, when he was appointed police magistrate for Berrima. Mary would have assisted Samuel and his wife Susan by housekeeping and minding and caring for their seven children.

Marriage for a convict still serving his or her sentence may have resulted in better working or living conditions. Marriage was clearly seen as an indulgence and it was therefore necessary to apply to the Governor for permission to marry.

George’s application to marry Mary was made to the Governor on 21 November, 1837, and permission was granted on 28 November, 1837, and the wedding took place on 17 December, 1837, at St Luke’s Church of England at Liverpool and the chaplain was Samuel Marsden.

The convict muster on 31 December, 1837, showed George Rudge assigned to a Mr George Blackett at Liverpool. Eber Bunker had died 27 October, 1836, and George’s assignment was transferred to Eber’s son-in-law George Blackett who had married Charlotte Bunker in 1827 and had taken over the running of Collingwood on Eber’s death. The muster record showed that Blackett was the master of 14 assigned convicts.

This convict muster in December 1837 also listed 13 convicts assigned to Samuel North at Windsor, but Mary Keetch was not one of them, so it would appear that by that date Keetch was reassigned to someone in the Liverpool district — and hence she was able to enter into her relationship with George.

George’s TL was cancelled on 12 September, 1838 (No 38/823) for breaching the agreement: specifically, leaving the Liverpool District without permission. However, the TL was reinstated 15 April, 1839 (TL No 39/389) and Mary Keetch was issued a TL (No 39/60) on 1 July, 1839, on a recommendation of the Liverpool Bench Magistrate in September 1838. This gave gave both of them freedom to live and work in the District of Liverpool.

George Rudge was finally issued his Certificate of Freedom (No 39/1723) at Liverpool on 3 October, 1839. A Certificate of Freedom (CF) was a document stating that a convict’s sentence had been served and they were free to live a normal life and move around the country without restriction. This arrangement was introduced in 1810 and CFs were usually given to convicts with a 7, 10 or 14-year sentence. Convicts with a life sentence could receive a pardon, but not a CF.

Mary Keetch was also issued with her CF (No 41/457) at Liverpool on 10 April, 1841. The following was noted on the CF: ‘Held a TL 39/60 dated 1 Feb 1839; wife of George Henry Rudge, per ‘Camden’ and free by servitude.’

George was obviously still a growing boy when he was arrested and sent to Australia. From various records it shows his height at various stages:

Date	Age	Record	Height
13/1/1832	17 years	Date of trial in Gloucester	5’ 3¾”
17/2/1833	18 years	Date of arrival in Australia	5’ 4½”
3/10/1839	25 years	Certificate of Freedom	5’ 7”

As they were now free to live a normal life, George and Mary moved to the Berrima District in the Southern Highlands where George was employed to work as a farm labourer on the ‘Throsby Park Estate’ near Moss Vale and Bowral.

Dr Charles Throsby, a native of Leicester, England, born 1771, arrived in Australia on 13th June 1802, as the surgeon in charge on the convict transport ship ‘Coromandel.’ He was granted 500 acres near Liverpool in 1809 by Governor Macquarie, but Dr Throsby is generally credited with being the ‘official discoverer’ of the Southern Highlands area Throsby was granted 1000 acres (Portion 21, Parish of Bong Bong) in 1819 by Governor Macquarie for his services to the colony. Throsby erected a cottage on the estate in 1820, and when Macquarie passed through the property later that year he named it ‘Throsby Park.’ Throsby was plagued with ill health, financial difficulties and depression and died early in 1828, aged 51, in tragic circumstances by committing suicide and being without issue, all his original lands were taken over and expanded by his heir, his lawyer nephew Charles Throsby.

By 1841 Throsby had about 80 convict hands working the Throsby Park Estate but there were only 3 ‘free’ men and our George Henry Rudge was one of them. George was employed operating a bullock dray team, taking wool to Sydney and returning with supplies and building materials for the Wingecaribee district as well as Goulburn and Gundagai. An article in the Bowral Free Press and Berrima District Intelligencer (NSW: 1884 — 1901) on Saturday 13 August 1887 gives an account of George’s accident with his bullock dray at Bargo in 1846.

Many of the interesting tales of hardship, adventure, speculation and of the frequent loss incidental to station life might no doubt be told of the Wingecaribee and Throsby estates, although they would trench upon private rather than upon public grounds. I am at liberty, however, to chronicle a few particulars of an accident, which befell one of the early pioneers of the district.

The reader who is paying me the compliment of accompanying me will remember that at the start we agreed, if we shall fall in with an old identity, human or otherwise, we should ascertain something about it. Well, so far as I have been able to discover up to the present, our respected townsman, Mr George Rudge, who has now arrived at the good old age of seventy-five years, was one of the very first free men to engage in service in this immediate district, he having arrived on Throsby estate in the year 1841, within four years of half a century ago.

No one of the present day has had greater experience of the vicissitudes of travel, and of the old bullock-dray system of locomotion, than our hearty old neighbour. A painful recollection of his will vividly portrays this.

Five years after his arrival in the district the season appears to have been one of those exceptionally wet ones about which the oldest inhabitant invariably perpetuates an exceptional fancy. I am not saying this is the case with Mr Rudge. The season to which I now refer, is that of 1846, was wet enough, and the roads were boggy enough in all conscience.

Had they been otherwise the subject of my preference would have been laid under the sod. He had been “down country” with a load, and was returning with his team laden with about 85 hundredweight. The road through Bargo was scrubby, flat, rotten and dangerous and teams were capsized, and wool was lying about in all directions.

A man named Hawthorn, who was on his way up country to embark in a public house speculation, was bogged in the mud, his team being laden with public house stores, “Give us a pull, mate”, said Hawthorn, and no sooner was the request made than Rudge unhooked some of his team, and with this assistance Hawthorn’s team was got out of the bog.

Rudge again yoked up and made a start to get around a treacherous bog hole close to the old saw pit. He was on a steep sidling, and had scarcely started, when by an accident he fell underneath his dray containing a 85-cwt load, and one of the wheels passed over the full length of his legs, along his body, and over his shoulder.

The team being on a siding, and Rudge having fallen on the uppermost side lie did not get the full weight of the load; and this, together with the ground being so soft that he was pressed into it, alone prevented his being crushed to death.

As it was the injuries were severe. They numbered four broken ribs, one of his legs broken, and a small bone broken in the ankle of the other leg. The sufferer was taken to Rush’s, where he lay for twelve days unable to be moved. Dr Temple, then of Berrima, reduced the fractures, and was in attendance upon our friend for four months.

George Rudge and Mary Keetch did not have children and Mary died at ‘Mereworth’ near Berrima on 20 February, 1858, aged 41 years. She is buried in the Church of England section of the Bong Bong Cemetery.

1.1.2. Mary Pauline Rudge nee Stych (b 20 June 1831)

The following year, George Rudge, at 44 years of age, on 10 August, 1859, married Mary Pauline Stych, aged 28 years, at the Christ Church, Bong Bong, only four months after Mary arrived in Australia. Mary Pauline Stych was born 20 June, 1831 at Bermondsey, London, and was the daughter of Edmund Stych (a Draper) and Jemima Brown. She immigrated to Australia alone at the age of 27 for a fare of 10/- on a barque called the Nimroud, which left Plymouth England 27 December, 1858, and arrived in Sydney 7 April, 1859, with 374 immigrants on board. The Immigration Department’s records for Assisted Immigrants to Australia detail the following:

• Ship: Nimroud arrival 7 April, 1859
• Name: Mary Stych
• Age: 27
• Marital status: Single
• Native place: Rotherhithe, Surrey (London)
• Parents: Edmund and Jemima Stych (both deceased)
• Literacy: Both read and write
• Calling: General house servant
• Relatives in the Colony: Brother-in-Law William Barton – Residence unknown
• Religion: Independent
• Fare paid: 10/-

Mary’s younger sister Louisa had previously immigrated to Australia alone at the age of 22 on the barque Beejapore, which left Southampton on 2 December, 1856, and arrived in Sydney on 14 March, 1857, with 469 immigrants on board. While records cannot be found, it is believed Louisa married a Mr William Barton after arriving in Australia and passed away in April 1859 — before her sister arrived.

George and Mary had six children, all of whom were born at Kinnoul (or, as Gay notes, ‘Kinnoul Vale’) in Glenquarry. Kinnoul appears to be a house in Glenquarry and is currently at 790 Kangaloon Road:

Though not much appears to be known about ‘Kinnoul Vale,’ records show that a ‘Geo. Budge’ (presumably a typographical error) occupied a property by that name in 1885 in Bowral. Kinnoul Vale was 1000 acres, and had 15 horses, 150 cattle and 20 pigs.⁶

Gay notes that Glenquarry was known as Merry Vale or Roberton Park; photographs of the house at Roberton Park (or Roberton House) appear below. It is uncertain, however, whether Kinnoul Vale or Kinnoul is the same house as Roberton House. The house now known as Kinnoul is within walking distance of Roberton House. However, what confuses matters is the following historical note written by the Berrima District Historical & Family History Society regarding the history of Roberton Park, which says that the original land grant was known as Kinnoul:

Roberton Park was built in the 1860s by Richard Hutchinson Roberts. The original land grant of 1000 acres was promised to William Walker in 1821 and signed by Governor Brisbane in 1822. The property was sold to Emanuel and Job Fowler in November 1856 and named ‘Kinnoul.’ Kinnoul was resold to Richard Hutchinson Roberts in May 1858 who named the property Roberton Park. Roberts was MLA for Camden from 1864–1869 and a Member of the Legislative Council from 1882 until his death in 1903. After Robert’s death the property was split up with the Roberts family retaining only the house and 120 acres of land. The house was sold to Professor Sir John and Lady Loewenthal in 1970 and underwent extensive restoration.

It seems likely that Kinnoul was the original house and the Roberton Park house was built later. It also appears that some second-generation Rudges were married at Roberton House but lived in Kinnoul (or Kinnoul Vale). In any event, the house known as Roberton Park House has been photographed often, including by Max Dupain. Three photographs of Roberton House are below:

George and Mary’s six children comprise the first generation of Australian-born Rudges descended from George Henry; however, in this index, I classify them as the second generation of Australian Rudges. That is because I include George Henry as the first generation; after all, I presume he would have become a naturalised Australian upon being freed. They were as follows:

1. William Henry Rudge: b 11 December, 1861 at Kinnoul; d 22 February, 1933, Bowral (72 years); married 10 August, 1881, at Upper Mittagong NSW to Mary Whatman: b 1862 Burrawang NSW; d 7 July, 1911, Bowral NSW (49 years).
2. Charlotte Rudge: b 2 February, 1863 at Kinnoul; d 9 February, 1942, Moorland NSW; married 26 November, 1884, at Glenquarry NSW to Robert Brancombe Theopholus Hatchwell: b July, 1858 Marylebone, Middlesex England; d 7 May, 1916, Moorland NSW.
3. Richard Rudge: b 30 December, 1864 at Kinnoul Glenquarry; d 5 February, 1946, Roma Queensland; married 2 April, 1887, at Berrima NSW to Elizabeth Perkins: b 19 September, 1866 Mittagong NSW; d prior to July, 1937, Roma Queensland.
4. George Rudge: b 27 December, 1866 at Kinnoul; d 10 March, 1907, Collector NSW; married 22 August, 1894, at Sydney NSW to Julia Agnes (Johanna) Madden: b 8 February, 1871 Glenquarry NSW (Roberton Park); d 21 July, 1962, Hurstville NSW.
5. Mary Rudge: b 27 December, 1866 at Kinnoul; d 16 November, 1957, Redfern NSW; married 11 August, 1897, at Surry Hills Sydney NSW to Henry Alfred Kuhn: b 28 June, 1870 Kangaloon NSW; d 15 May, 1904, Redfern NSW.
6. Ada Rudge: b 6 January, 1870 at Kinnoul; d 17 September, 1939, Bowral NSW; married 22 June, 1892, at Berrima NSW to James Patrick Griffiths: b 3 April, 1869 Wollongong; d 26 July, 1946, Bowral NSW.

In 1880, George Henry was awarded a certificate (see below) in class 20 section 1 for his draught mare over 4 years by the Burrawang and West Camden Agricultural Society. That Society had begun in 1878, when local farmers formed the Burrawang Farmers Club, meeting at the Club Hotel on the Thursday night nearest the full moon. In 1879, the Club was renamed the Burrawang and West Camden Agricultural Society and held it held its first agricultural show on April 21 and 22, 1880, on flat land in Dale Street, using the nearby sale yards to hold the stock. This was the first show held in the Southern Highlands. The 1881 show was in Moss Vale and again at Burrawang in 1882, 1883 and 1884, after which Robertson became the permanent home. The club was an active organisation interested in promoting agriculture.⁷

Mary died 23 November, 1899 aged 68 years from cardiac arrest and George died 25 October, 1902 aged 87 years. Both are buried in St Jude’s Church of England cemetery in Bowral. Unfortunately, no headstones can be found and it is possible that are buried in one of the 10 unmarked graves in the cemetery.

According to Gay, when Mary died in 1899, George Henry lived in Hawthorne cottage for about 18 months, which is presumably when the photo featuring George Henry (below) was taken. Gay notes that Hawthorn Cottage was built by William Henry Rudge in circa 1887 and that 8 of the 11 of their children were born there, the first of these being George Henry. The first three children were born at Kinnoul Vale (Glenquarry). Gay notes that George Henry and Mary Rudge nee Stych lived in Bowral from 1886 after they left the property at Kinnoul Vale.

George Henry Rudge’s will was dated 26 November, 1891. Probate was granted to his son William Henry Rudge on 6 December, 1905. A notice in the Sydney Morning Herald and the Bowral Free Press stated as follows:

Application will be made after 14 days from the publication hereof that probate of the late will of George Henry Rudge of Burrawang mentioned deceased may be granted to William Henry Rudge of Burrawang one of the executors named in the said will leave being served to John Griffiths of Glenquarry the executor named in the will to come and prove Mary Pauline Rudge the executrix named in the said will being deceased and all notices may be served at the office of the undersigned. (Henry Molesworth Oxley, Proctor for the Executor, Bong Bong St Bowral).

George Henry Rudge’s real estate and other possessions were to be equally divided between his six children. A valuation of the real estate on 18 November, 1905, stated as follows:

Description: Block of land being Lots 14 and 21 of North Bowral subdivision Gibraltar Estate having a frontage to Mittagong Road and Clarke Street of (1) one chain with a depth of 9 chains or thereabouts. Erected thereon is a brick cottage of five (5) rooms with a short entrance hall iron roof also weatherboard Coach house and Stables. The foundation on the North East corner of the house has settled and caused a crack in the wall of one room which makes against the value of the property. Is within easy distance of the Railway Station and at present is occupied by Mr Condon. We consider the property has not decreased in value to any appreciable extent during the past 3 years. We estimate its cash value to be £260 (Two hundred and sixty pounds).

George Henry Rudge purchased the property from William Thomas Sewell on 19 January, 1886 when he was 71 years and it was probably his retirement property. There was a mortgage over the property of £170 with Charles Waters of Bowral, so the net value of the property on which duty was payable was £90. Using CPI information and back casting to 1905, £260 would be equivalent to $27,500 in today’s money (2018). George and Mary Rudge’s eldest son William Henry Rudge and Mary Whatman had 11 children, with 3 of them dying as infants.

It is thought that William built ‘Hawthorn’ sometime around 1887 and 8 of the 11 children were born there. His son George Henry Rudge only spent six weeks living away from the house, which was at the time he was married. He was born in the house, died in the house and lived there all his life, both as single and married man. It is also thought that at the same time Thomas White built ‘Range Villa’ and the same builder built both houses. He sold to William Mortimer in April 1903.

2. Second Generation (1850–1900)

2.1. William Henry ‘Harry’ Rudge (b 11 Dec 1861)

William Henry ‘Harry’ Rudge was born at ‘Kinnoul Vale’ in Glenquarry, NSW. He was the first child of George Henry and Mary Stych. He died 22 February, 1933, at Bowral at 72 years.

William was married on 10 August, 1881, at Upper Mittagong NSW, to Mary Whatman (b 1862 Burrawang NSW; d 7 July, 1911, Bowral NSW at 49 years).

It appears William Rudge hosted meetings of the the Burrawang Cricket Club at Hawthorn in 1901; a Mr H Mackie played a leading role in the Cricket Club (however, it is unclear whether Mr Mackie has any relation to Anne K Rudge nee Mackie (b 1914, Robertson). One connection, however, appears to exist as between Mary Rudge (b 1866; William’s sister). Mary Rudge married Henry Alfred Kuhn; and then their son, Alfred Henry Kuhn, married Mary E Mackey, who was Anne Mackey’s sister (b 1907 in Kangaloon.)

2.1.1. Mary Whatman (b 1862)

It is not clear whether Mary Whatman is related to Elizabeth Perkins’s mother, Jane Whatman (see below under Elizabeth Perkins).

2.2. Charlotte Rudge (b 2 Feb 1863)

Charlotte was born at at ‘Kinnoul Vale’ in Glenquarry, NSW. She died 9 February, 1942, in Moorland NSW. Charlotte married 26 November, 1884, at Glenquarry NSW to Robert Brancombe Theopholus Hatchwell (born July 1858 Marylebone Middlesex England; and died 7 May, 1916, in Moorland NSW). She shares her name with George Henry I’s mother.

2.2.1. Robert Hatchwell

A very sad story about Charlotte from Rob Gay via Ancestry.com.au is as follows.¹⁰

Charlotte married Robert Hatchwell in 1884 at Glenquarry (or Merry Vale/Roberton Park as it was then known) and lived at Bowral and then Dapto and then moved to Hannam Vale (near Taree) in 1912. Four years later on 7 May, 1916, Robert, Charlotte and 18-year-old son Robert Henry were out shooting wallabies in the bush and Robert Jnr’s gun accidentally went off and shot his dad and he later died in Taree hospital. Can you imagine the burden Robert carried through his life. Then many years later on 23 August, 1939, Robert Henry’s 5-year-old daughter, Ella Mary, was standing in front of the kitchen fire and her nightdress caught fire and she was badly burnt and later died in Taree hospital.

2.3. Richard Rudge (b 30 Dec 1864)

Richard was the third child of George Henry and he was, like his brother and sister before him, born at ‘Kinnoul Vale’ in Glenquarry, NSW. He died on 5 February, 1946, in Roma Queensland. Richard was married on 27 April, 1887, in Berrima NSW to Elizabeth Perkins. Elizabeth was born on 19 September 1866 in Mittagong NSW; she died before July 1937 in Roma, Queensland. There do not appear to be any photographs of Richard or Elizabeth in circulation.

Richard and Elizabeth had 8 children, all of whom were born in Bowral: Irene May (b 1888); Laurence Edward (b 1889); Lucy Mary (b 1891); George Thomas (b 1893); Olive Jessie (b 1894) ; Kathleen Doris (b 1899); Adelaie Elizabeth (b 1904); and Percival Richard Guy (Mick) (b 1907). The Glenquarry Public School Register of Admissions (from 1902, divided into boys and girls) show that many of these children attended there, although they appear to be registered under their middle names (as may have been conventional at the time).

Richard’s son George Thomas enlisted to the First World War on 24 January 1916 as a 22-year-old.¹¹ His enlistment certificate says that George Thomas was located in Bowral, even though his father was located in Queensland; so perhaps George Thomas stayed in Bowral while his father went to Queensland?

It appears that another son of Richard, Percival Richard Guy (‘Mick’) was located in Roma, as his children (Richard’s grandchildren) were born in Roma throughout the 1940s and ’50s. According to Wendy Zimmerman (nee Rudge)¹², Percival RG Rudge (b 19 March 1907 Bowral, N.S.W – 15/5/1953 Roma) was a farmer and general labourer who married Marjory Ellen Rudge nee Gibson (6/4/1915 Dargal Creek via Roma – 18/11/1993 Roma), and the family lived on “Ona Ona” a small sheep property north of the Roma aerodrome. Percival RG Rudge and Marjory had the following children: John Richard Rudge (30/12/1942 Roma – 25/5/1988 Roma), a knife hand at the Roma meatworks; Wendy Elizabeth Marjory Rudge (13/8/1944 Roma), who married Trevor John Zimmerman, a carpenter; Cynthia Lynette Rudge (15/10/1946 Roma – 9/4/1983 Roma), who married Graham John Yarrow, a pipe layer; Percival Benjamin Rudge (12/5/1950 Roma), who married Karole Brown; ‘Percy’ served with the RAAF (more details below under Percy’s entry).

2.3.1. Elizabeth Perkins (b 19 September 1866)

As noted above, there are no known photographs of Elizabeth in circulation. However, there is a photograph and brief record of Elizabeth’s mother, Jane Perkins nee Whatman. The record states that ‘Jane Whatman (1831–1906) was born in Sussex, England, daughter of Henry and Mary Whatman. She arrived in NSW in 1839 with her parents. She was a sister of Emma Ford (nee Whatman) of Glenquarry. Jane married Thomas Perkins in Berrima in 1847 and died in Bowral in 1906.’¹³

2.4. George Rudge II (b 27 Dec 1866)

George and his twin sister Mary were the fourth and fifth children of George Henry and Mary Rudge (nee Stych), and both were born at at Kinnoul Vale in Glenquarry, NSW. George died on 10 March 1907 (only 13 years into his marriage) in Collector NSW in a terrible accident involving his riding two horses (see below). On 22 August, 1894, George had married Julia Agnes (Johanna) Madden (born 8 February 1871 in Glenquarry NSW (Roberton Park); they were married in Sydney NSW. Julia died 21 July, 1962, in Hurstville NSW, many decades after her husband. Since their marriage in 1894, George and Julia had 5 children: Hercules (b 1895); John Roy (b 1897); Clement (b 1899); Catherine (b 1902); and George Vincent (b 1906).

George Rudge is said to have operated a butcher business in both Burrawang and Robertson before moving to Taralga in 1902.¹⁴

George Rudge died in an accident on Sunday 10 March 1907 as a result of injuries he suffered when he fell from a horse when riding home from the Collector Races on Saturday March 9, 1907. As the article below records the events, it appears George was unseated from the horse he was riding when a horse he was leading wandered astray.¹⁵

Again, note that George is Mary’s twin brother (see below).

2.4.1. Julia Agnes (Johanna) Rudge nee Madden (b 8 Feb 1871)

As noted, Julia died 21 July, 1962, in Hurstville, only one year before her son, John Roy, died (in 1963), also at Hurstville (45 Hodge Street, Hurstville). Perhaps Julia and her son John lived together or near one another, in these final years?

Various documents show that George was the licensee of the Commercial Hotel at 18 Macarthur Street, Taralga from 1898. Images of the hotel are below:

Various documents (including the report of George’s death, above) also indicate that George was the licensee of the Kenmore Hotel in the early 1900s (until 1907). The Kenmore Hotel was built in the after 1850. As Rod McInnes notes, Patrick Confoy was the owner, and his widow’s obituary states that she and Patrick were there for 27 years.¹⁶ As Patrick died in 1896, the build date of the hotel can be presumed to be 1879. (Although Confoy’s widow took over the licence at his death, for about a year; if that year is included, then the build date may be 1880).¹⁷

It is also known as The Kenmore Arms Hotel. The owner, Patrick Confoy, commissioned major extensions in 1892. The builder was William Wilkie. The Goulburn Golf Club was formed in 1900 and the Kenmore Hotel became its Club House. These extensions were designed by the renowned English-born Australian architect EC Manfred and carried out that year, as reflected in the number displayed in plaster moulding on the gable. designed by the renowned English-born Australian architect EC Manfred.¹⁸ The Hotel was later known as the Hurrell Hotel when James Hurrell was licensee in the 1930s.¹⁹ As of 2024, the owners are Marie and Matthew Iorfino; and they are seeking to restore the Hotel to its early 1900 state.²⁰

As can be seen in the articles below, George Rudge’s was the licensee of the Kenmore Hotel in the early 1900s and secretary of the Kenmore Racing Club.

After George died in 1907, Julia, then 36 years old, was left with responsibility for the children: approximately, Hercules was 12; John Roy was 10; Clement was 8); Catherine was 5; and George Vincent was only a one-year-old infant.

In 1908, Julia appears to have neglected to send two of her children to school (or neglected to send one of them to school on two occasions) in breach of the Public Instruction Act 1880 (NSW) and she appears to have been fined a total of 10 shillings plus court costs of 13 cents.

As various reported proceedings of the licensing court show, Julia was licensee for various hotels in the years following George’s death. Between 1908 and 1910, Julia appears to have been the licensee of the Binda Hotel, or the Royal Hotel, Binda. (It is uncertain whether this is the same hotel, but it seems to be.) Julia was also a licensee of a ‘booth’ at the Binda Races in this period. This would have been a booth at the famous Binda Picnic Races, which have been held on ‘Funny Hill’ in Binda since 1848.²¹

Although it has been written that the ‘by 1905 the license was withdrawn,’²² this cannot be correct, as Julia was licensee between 1908 and 1911 (see below).

The Binda Hotel, or the Royal Hotel, Binda, may or may not be the same building known as Rose Cottage or as the Flag Hotel. There is some confusion amid the several sources. The Upper Lachlan Shire Community Heritage Study 2007–2008, authored by Jennifer Lambert, confirms the following:

Adjacent to the original Flag Hotel building is Rose Cottage, built as an inn c 1890. This is now a private residence with rooms of substantial proportions featuring pressed metal ceilings and original timber mantle pieces. … A Post Office was established at Binda in 1852 and the original post office became the Flag Hotel. By 1859 there were two mail runs per week between Tuena, Binda and Goulburn, with the mail carried on horseback. This building was erected for the McDonald family c 1870 and subsequently used as a post office and store by various owners. The post office was operated from the room on the right of the verandah and a ladies dress store occupied the large front room.

It appears there are three buildings to consider when discussing the Binda Flag Hotel. The first is the hotel that existed in 1864 into which the bushrangers Ben Hall, John Dunn and John Gilbert ‘bailed up’ the entire town’s population in that year.²³ This event, known as the Binda Ball (and of which a song has been written²⁴), involved these three bushrangers riding into Binda (accompanied by three local girls) and holding up the town store owned by Edward Morriss — a former police Sergeant– and robbing it of over £100. Following the robbery, the bushrangers had all the townspeople gather in the hotel. Obviously, the building involved in this incident in 1864 must have been built before then, and it is likely the original post office established in 1852, mentioned above. In Lambert’s heritage study, an image of a post office is provided; however, the caption says that it operated in this building from 1951 (see below). It may be possible that this is a typographical error and that this is the original post office of 1851 or 1852 (some other sources speak of Binda establishing its police station and post office in 1851); of course, it may also be that the 1951 year is correct.

The second building is the post office building built around 1870 (sometimes said to be 1872). Although this building is now known as the ‘Old Post Office,’ it appears to be the ‘new’ post office: ie, the post office that was used after the original building of the 1850s was no longer used; moreover, it is not the building that became the Flag Hotel (a hotel that is described in Lambert’s heritage study).²⁵

The third building to consider is known as Rose cottage, which — as noted above in the Lambert’s heritage study — was built as an Inn in around 1890. Confusingly, this cottage has been recently renamed the Old Flag Hotel Binda after being on the market in 2019 and sold in 2020.²⁶ It now operates as a bed and breakfast.²⁷ Plenty of photos of Rose Cottage are available online (such as via real estate notices²⁸); however, some photos are below:

My hypothesis is that it was the Rose Cottage, above (now known as the ‘Old Flag Hotel Binda’), that was the Royal Hotel or Binda Hotel for which Julia was licensee. This is supported by a comments of a photographer of the hotel, Dianne Tillotson, who captioned the photos 1 and 2 above (on Flickr) thus: ‘Rose Cottage, formerly the Royal Hotel, in the main street of Binda.’²⁹

https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=wrightville%20cobar

By 1911, Julia was the licensee or ‘proprietress,’ of the Tattersall’s Hotel in Wrightville (see above). An advertisement in the The Cobar Herald of 11 October, 1912, promotes the hotel as a ‘conveniently-situated hostelry, comfortable and up to date in every way for boarders.’ Interestingly, the Tatersall’s Hotel at Wrightville is reported as having been destroyed by fire in 1903, so it is possible that Mrs Rudge’s Wrightville Tattersall’s was a rebuild of the previous hotel.

Various mentions of Julia Rudge appear in the Cobar Herald at the time; and her name even appears in the Sydney Morning Herald as an endorser of an an ointment for treatments of foot corns:

Julie Allen notes that Julia’s sister Honorah, or Nora, was the licensee of a hotel opposite the Tatersall’s in Dapville; however, the name of this hotel is not known to me. A business established in late 2024 to tour the pubs of the Cobar area (and elsewhere), The Pub Route, includes an interesting summary of Wrightville’s hotels.³⁰ Notably, the summary also mentions Julia Rudge and her ‘resoundingly-named son’ Hercules. The authors write as follows:

Wrightville included the village of Dapville but it was difficult to see where it ended and Cobar began. Trade passed between them on a daily basis, while football, cricket and rifle teams visited for competition and often celebrated or commiserated in the pubs.

The Family Hotel was first licensed in 1898 in the name of John Hunter. The hotel was aptly named as the hotel licence passed to Joseph Kelly in 1900 and then between members of the inter-married Kelly and Daley families for almost two decades.

Two of Wrightville’s hotels, the Chesney and the Young Australia, were named for the nearby mines where much of their clientele worked. The Young Australia was the first known hotel in Wrightville, opening in 1896. Jim Martin, proprietor of the Chesney for three years, boasted he owned the first car in Cobar, proudly posing with it outside his pub.

In its 18-year history, Tattersall’s Hotel had ten licensees, three of whom were women. Hotels were one of the few businesses where women could be the acknowledged proprietress. However, this was not a role open to single women, only wives and widows. Helena Coates, the last female licensee of Tatt’s, died at New Year in 1918. Her boarder and odd-jobs man was so distraught at her loss he took his own life. She represented home, income, and all that he had that he could call family.

It was common to swap between pubs — Julia Rudge’s resoundingly-named son, Hercules, was for a time the licensee of the Chesney Hotel, as was John Hunter, who had started the Family Hotel.

All of these hotels relinquished their licences in 1920 when the end of WWI brought devastation to Cobar and its surrounding district. Some were demolished and others dismantled, packed up, and taken away for re-use elsewhere. Helena Coates’ sister, Jane Hutchinson, took apart the Tattersall’s hotel building and transported it to where she put it back together, all but the chimney-piece. She had to get someone to do that bit for her as she didn’t have the skills.

The Great Cobar Museum holds a large collection of beer and spirit bottles from locations around Wrightville. The most numerous are the Compass beer bottles. The extent of this collection of intact glass bottles indicates that there must have been many thousands more such bottles, long lost to history.

Interestingly, it appears Hercules may have been licensee of the Hotel Chesney for a period; and I wonder whether this is the same hotel for which Nora was the licensee? The Chesney is pictured below:

By the 1940s, Julia had moved to Sydney, where she managed the Valhalla apartments at 6 Bradley Street, Randwick, which still stand today (2025).

In 2016, Valerie Gleeson, the granddaughter of Julia Agnes (through her mother, Eileen) recollected her time with Julia in the years 1944 to 1949 as follows:

What do I remember of Julia Rudge? My maternal Gran [whom] I simply adored. Where to start! We called her ‘Mum Rudge.’ School holidays with her at Valhalla flats at Randwick where she was caretaker; tram into the city for lunch; treat at DJs [David Jones]; [and then] Mass at St Mary’s Cathedral. Gran would come to our home on a Sunday [and] help mother (her only daughter [Eileen]) boil up the copper for the big wash, make a huge batch of scones, cook dinner, [and] then play cards in the evening with Dad and others [and] then she would go home to Randwick [on the] 11 pm tram. Mother would play piano some nights and I can still hear Gran say, ‘Play Danny Boy, Eileen!’ Those flats at Randwick are still there in Bradley St, overlooking the race course. Those few memories are from years 1944 to 1949. I have many more memories when she retired and came to live with her sister Norah not far from our home in Marrickville I wrote a poem dedicated to Gran, called it ‘Sad Blue Eyes’ and that’s a lasting memory I have of Julie Rudge.³¹

Evidently, Eileen Rudge, whose full name was Catherine Aileen Whilhemina (‘Eileen’) Rudge, and who was George and Julia’s only daughter, lived in Marrickville in the 1940s.

2.5. Mary Rudge (b 27 Dec 1866)

Mary and her twin brother George were the fourth and fifth children of George Henry and Mary Rudge (nee Stych), and both were born at at ‘Kinnoul Vale’ in Glenquarry, NSW. Mary died in 16 November, 1957, in Redfern NSW. She married on 11 August 1897, in Surry Hills Sydney NSW a man named Henry Alfred Kuhn who was born on 28 June 1870, in Kangaloon NSW but died only eight years later, on 15 May, 1904, in Redfern NSW. It appears Mary remained in Redfern from 1904 until her death in 1957.

One source³² indicates that Mary and Henry Alfred Kuhn had three children (two sons and a daughter), all with surname Kuhn: namely, Karl Harold George (b 1899); Alfred Henry (b 1901 in Waverley, NSW) and Ada Louisa (b 1901 in Waverley, NSW).

Note that Mary is George’s twin sister (see above).

2.6. Ada Rudge (b 6 Jan 1870)

Born at Kinnoul Vale in Glenquarry NSW, Ada died on 17 September, 1939, in Bowral NSW; she married James Patrick Griffiths on 22 June, 1892, in Berrima. James was born on 3 April, 1869, in Wollongong; and he died on 26 July, 1946, at Bowral.

3. Third Generation (1880s–1910s)

Of William Rudge and Mary Whatman nee Rudge

3.1. Amy Adeline Rudge (b 14 Dec 1882)

3.1.1. William E Hayes (b 1875)

3.2. Florence Louisa Rudge (b 10 Sep 1883)

Florence is notable for wearing glasses — no other Rudges at the time seem to do so. She was batised on 7 October 1883.³³ She married Arthur William Morton (b 15 Jun 1879 at Lake George, NSW) at St David’s Church Burrawang on 9 September 1908. Florence and Arthur had 5 children: Irene Sybil Morton (b 23 Apr 1909); Phyllis Dorren (b 12 Mar 1911); Arthur Henry Norman (19 Jan 1914); Gertrude Mary (b 1 Feb 1917); and Bertha Jean Morton (2 Feb 1921).

Florence died 4 May 1951, aged 67 years.

3.3. Lillias Pauline Rudge (b 1 Jan 1886)

Lillias Pauline Rudge was born on 1 January 1886 at Kinnoul Vale. She married Walter Harrison Hayes on 17 May 1905 in Burrawang, New South Wales. They had three children during their marriage. She died on 28 November 1953 in Bowral, New South Wales, at the age of 67, and was buried in Burrawang, New South Wales.

3.3.4. Walter Harrison Hayes (b 9 Apr 1873)

3.4. Minna R Rudge (b 28 Sep 1891)

3.5. Oliver Bertram Rudge (b # Jun 1894)

Oliver appears to have been a police constable. In 1922, he was appointed to act as Assistant Registrar of Births, Deaths, and Marriages for the District of Raleigh, at Bowraville.

In the 1940s, there are many instances of Sergeant Oliver Rudge being quoted or appearing in news articles in Liverpool. In one article he gives evidence in a negligent driving case:

3.6. Frank Leslie Rudge (b 18 Jun 1896; d 19 Jun 1896)

3.7. Mary Eveline Rudge (b 13 Aug 1898; d 7 Dec 1898)

3.8. Kenneth Stych Rudge (b 14 Mar 1900; d 24 Oct 1900)

3.9. Eric James Rudge (b 11 Jul 1903)

3.10. Vera Mildrid Rudge (b 14 Jan 1906)

3.11. George Henry (Harry) Rudge III (b 16 Feb 1888)

Litigation against William Lloyd in 1927 at Moss Vale District Court:

3.11.1. Edith MA Mortimer (b 1891)

A note of 1941 reports that Mrs GH Rudge of Burrawang — presumably Edith MA Rudge nee Mortimer — was sick and receiving treatment in the district hospital:

Of Richard Rudge and Elizabeth Perkins (nee Rudge)

3.12. Irene May Rudge (b 1888)

3.13. Laurence E Rudge (b 7 July 1889)

3.14. Lucy Mary (‘Daisy’) Rudge (b 16 July 1891)

3.15. George Thomas Rudge (b 27 Jun 1893)

3.16. Olive Jessie Rudge (b 1894)

3.17. Kathleen D Rudge (b 29 Apr 1899)

3.18. Adelaie E Rudge (b 14 Nov 1904)

3.19. Percival Richard Guy (‘Mick’) Rudge (b 9 Mar 1911)

https://vwma.org.au/explore/people/751538; Percy Rudge junior photo (his son?) https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=1585528221682309&set=gm.629952847128109;

Of George Rudge and Julia Madden nee Rudge

3.20. Hercules Thomas Harrington Rudge (b 1895)

Town clerk of Wrightville. Died young.

3.20.1. Philomena Devery nee Rudge

At 22 years old, Hercules Rudge married 18-year-old Philomena Devery, who became Philomena Rudge, on 14 September, 1916.

According to Julie Allen (married to Peter Allen, son of Philomena’s daughter, Jean Rudge), Philomena owned the Darlington Hotel with her second husband, a Murdoch Robertson. When she married Murdoch, Philomena became Philomena Robertson.

3.21. John (‘Jack’) Roy Sylvester Rudge (b 1897)

https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=8072460

3.21.1. Anne Kathleen Mackey (b

3.22. Clement Joseph Eric (‘Mick’ or ‘Eric’) Rudge (b 1899)

Mick was a boxer. He was born at Taralga, so while his parents were operating the Commercial Hotel. He married Ruby Violet Rudge (nee Davies) on 15 July, 1918, at the Church of St Paul in Cobar NSW. His family were photographed in Lithgow for Pix Magazine (see below). When Clement Joseph Eric (“Mick) (“Eric”) Rudge was born on 12 September 1899 in Taralga, New South Wales, his father, George, was 32 and his mother, Julia, was 28, and they were operating the Commercial Hotel. Mick and Ruby had 11 children in 24 years. He died on 7 May 1969 in Hurstville, New South Wales, at the age of 69.

Volume 16, issue 15 of Pix Magazine featured a series of stories in a section on Lithgow. One two-page story within the section was titled ‘Coal is the Foundation of Lithgow,’ and it featured a photographs of Mick Rudge’s family. AT the time, Mick worked at the State Coal Mine and the family lived on Macauley Street, Lithgow (as reported in a wedding notice for Dulcie: see below).

The article notes as follows:

Mick Rudge and his wife Ruby have 11 children (“the crying of babies is the miner’s music,”) and live in a cottage which they brought from Cobar after the slump there during the last war. The Rudges have lived in Lithgow since 1919, are well-known and well-liked. Mick, a grandfather at 46, is a steady-living man, a good citizen. He neither drinks, smokes nor gambles, spends his spare time tending his three cows, 20 fowls and the garden.

As the article further notes:

Part of the Rudge family was at home having lunch when PIX called. Mick (nearest camera) is feeding the youngest, Robyn, 23 months. Round the table are: Dulcie, 24, who works at a Main-street store; her husband Bob McLean; Eric, 20, mechanic in a Main-street garage; “Young” Mick, 14, still at high school; Norma, 12, and Pat, 6, who go to public school; Phyllis, 16, who helps at home; and Mrs. Rudge. Missing from the family table were John, 26, who has a son and lives in Sydney; Joyce, 19, who is in Sydney; Nance, 22, theatre usherette; and Joan, 18, trainee nurse.

There are many instances of various members of the Rudge family being said to live in Macauley Street; however, a number is rarely provided. However, the below indicated that the Rudges lived at 24 Macauley Street, Lithgow:

An article titled ‘Proud Tradition comes to an End’ (The Age 1 March 2003)³⁴ reflects on the boxing career of Nathan Croucher, the fourth generation of his family to box in a professional bout. The article charts the history of Nathan’s forebears, including that of Harry Croucher and Dan Croucher. As the author writes,

Harry had three sons who fought for money. The youngest, Dan, was the welterweight champion of the Royal Navy before docking in Sydney in 1920. Dan jumped ship and swam for his new home.

A year later, he fought Mick Rudge of Lithgow over 20 rounds for a purse of 20 pounds. He broke his finger before losing on points. His finger later was amputated and he retired.

3.22.1. Ruby Violet Rudge (nee Davies) (b 1901)

3.23. Catherine Aileen Whilhemina (‘Eileen’) Rudge (b 1902)

Only daughter of George and Mary. Married a Gleeson, and had a daughter Valerie Gleeson. Lived in Marrickville.

3.24. George Vincent Sarto Rudge (b 7 Feb 1908)

4. Fourth Generation (1910s–1940s)

Of Hercules and Philomena Rudge (nee Devery)

4.x. Jean Cavell Rudge (b 1916)

Jean was born in Dapville, NSW, on 14 September 1916.

4.x. Yvonne Kerry Rudge (b 1918)

Yvonne Kerry Rudge was born in Wrightville on 11 November 1918 and lived at 237 Maroubra Road, in Maroubra in 1943 (and worked as a shop assistant).³⁵ married Patrick Joseph Kelly, known as Pat, in Redfern in 1944. This would have made her name Yvonne Kerry Kelly.

According to Eunice Miller (via ancestry.com.au), ‘The Swan Hill Hotel was Pat and Yvonne’s first hotel,’ it being ‘just over the river at Swan Hill in Victoria.’ Miller adds, however, that the hotel burnt down. It appears, however, that there are only a few hotels in Swan Hill, they being the Royal Hotel, the White Swan, and neither of them burnt down.

Note: There is a hotel called the Swan Reach that is said to have burnt down³⁶; however, this does not seem very likely to have been the hotel owned by Pat and Yvonne. (Another candidate is the Tooleybuc Hotel, near Swan Hill, which burnt down in 1928 and again in 1950?³⁷)

According to a source that cites the Gold Coast Bulletin as its original source,

The five people in the photograph are unidentified. The house was built by James Webster; and by 1969, was owned by Mr Pat Kelly who also owned the Miami Hotel. (Information source: Gold Coast Bulletin, 30 July, 1969). … It is believed the house seen to the right was moved into position or built by the army when training on the beaches was done in the Second World War. James (also known as Stanley) Webster is believed to have purchased the property from the South Coast Council for five pounds, which was to cover unpaid rates. By 1969 the house was owned by Mr Pat Kelly who also owned the Miami Hotel. The property was resumed by the Council in 1970.

A link has been recorded for this information but it appears to no longer work and is not functional on internet archive.⁴⁰

In the 1920s and ’30s, Hotel Miami was associated with a local bunyip. The above photograph, for instance, is captioned as follows:

As estate development grew in the North Burleigh area in the 1920s, public curiosity grew in the story of the Miami Bunyip. Miami Hotel was built in 1925 and the opening of the sanitary depot in the swamp area in 1930 led to numerous reports of the triple “boom – boom – boom” which sounded nightly from the swamp, and yet, occasionally was not heard for twelve months, only to return in full voice and vigour. Local aborigines would pull up camp when the booming noises came from the swamp, referring to the ‘Debil Debil.’ Over the years there were numerous reports of the creatures in the swamp and surrounding areas including one of a crocodile. These reports gradually died as the Miami — North Burleigh areas became more densely populated and as land reclamation and drainage schemes changed the face of much of the Miami Swamp.

In the 11 July 2030 edition of the South Coast Bulletin, a reported shared the following:

After a lengthy absence the mysterious bunyip has returned to his old abode, the swamp, opposite the Miami Hotel (Qld). Probably the flooded flats at Merrimac may have hastened the elusive bunyip’s return to his spacious summer quarters. The nightly boom of the monster is causing mild excitement in this centre.⁴¹

Of John Roy Rudge and Anne Rudge (nee Mackey)

4.1. John Damien Rudge (b 1945)

4.1.1. Marian Joyce Rudge nee McLaren (b 1947)

Of Clement Rudge and Ruby Rudge (nee Davies)

4.2. John Roy Rudge (b 1919)

4.3. Dulcie May Rudge (b 1921)

4.4. Nancy Rudge (b 1923)

4.5. Eric George Rudge (b 1924)

4.6. Joyce Agnes Rudge (b 1926)

4.6. Joan Rudge (b 1927)

4.7. Phyllis (‘Doody’) Rudge (b 1927)

4.8. Ronald Hercules (‘Mick’) Rudge (b 1931)

4.9. Norma Rudge (b 1932)

4.10. Patricia Edna Rudge (b 1939)

Attended Lithgow High School.⁴² Records for Patricia and other Rudges are likely available from the Lithgow & District Family History Society Inc. holdings; a post on Facebook of 2024 notes that these records are kept there.⁴³

4.11. Robyn Maude Rudge (b 1943)

Appointed to the NSW Department of Labour and Industry in 1961; retired in 1962.⁴⁴

Of George Henry Rudge III and Edith Rudge (nee Mortimer)

4.x. Esma Beryl Rudge (b 5 Jun 1925)

Esma was born on #### and died 2013. She is the mother of Rob Gay; sister of Ronald Henry Rudge.

Eulogy for Esma Beryl Rudge by Rob Gay delivered in October 2013:

Esma Beryl Rudge was born on 15th June 1925 at Bowral Hospital and grew up here in the village of Burrawang in a bygone era, without all the mod cons that we have today. Beryl, as she was known, was the daughter of George Rudge and Edith Mortimer and the 3rd eldest of six children. Her siblings were Dot, Bert and Ron — all now deceased — and Joy and Beverly who are here today.

The Rudge family were early pioneers in the Burrawang area with Beryl’s Great Grandfather (also George Rudge) settling in the Berrima District sometime in the 1840s after a very tough start in life. At the age of 17, in a tiny village in Gloucestershire England, George was caught stealing 3 rabbits from a fowl house to help put food on the table for his family. For that petty crime, he was transported to Australia for 7 years.

After serving his time, George married but his wife died at an early age. He remarried, had 6 children, amassed property and assets and lived to the ripe old age of 87. George’s tenacity, perseverance and love of family were passed on to future generations and his Great Granddaughter Beryl was no exception.

Mum attended Burrawang School to Qualifying Certificate (as it was known in those days) but was unable to continue further at high school in Bowral, as, at that time, there was no transport to Bowral. She was bright at school and loved it and was also crowned Queen of the Wattle at the age of 15 years.

Beryl married Ian Gay in December 1943 and had two children, Jenny and Rob. Initially they lived in the Gay family homestead at Ocean View, and later moved to a house in the main street of Robertson.

In 1969, after separating from Ian, her life became somewhat fragmented and her security and self-confidence suffered for a few years. Another marriage followed but was short-lived. Then she met Ron who became her rock — they have been a partnership through thick and thin for 35 years.

Ron has been a devoted partner and companion to Mum over their life together and in recent years has been almost a permanent fixture at her nursing home at Dapto.

4.x. Ronald Henry Rudge (b 1930)

Items yet to be sorted

1. Motorcycling

3. Family photo including an Eric and Jean (Rudge?) from 1928.

Lithgow house fire in 1930? This could be a red herring as there is another Rudge family who hail from Lithgow featuring Harry and Elsie Rudge (later of Marrickville), and this could have been Harry’s father?

These Rudges could have lived at 24 Macauley Street, as there is an article giving that address in 1940 in the Lithgow Mercury for a John Lloyd Rudge Mon 14 Oct 1940 p 2
‘DEATH OF STAN. HOY’ https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/220778458. This could be John Roy Rudge but doubtful; however, no John Lloyd Rudges appear in ancestry that I can find?

1. See Rob Gay’s excel spreadsheet (2018?): https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vQeqtCrrhBZq84erX3axsGcm2c1xudwgxeZUpBko2kv7nE8ZC3HUiHez3Sjy1rEuHm5T4XYn-kwLuLK/pubhtml. ↩︎
2. Source TBC. ↩︎
3. Source TBC. ↩︎
4. Austin Lovegrove, Images of Australian Enlightenment: The Story of Lachlan and Elizabeth Macquerie’s Treatment of the Convicts as a History Tale for Today (Unicorn Publishing 2019) 68–69. ↩︎
5. Source TBC; ↩︎
6. See https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/historictabledpapers/files/132699/LCTP%201885%20151-193_001.pdf ↩︎
7. See Chris McCann, https://burrawangvillage.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/BWMCA-new-resident-0818.pdf citing the the Berrima District Historical and Family History Society as the source of this information. ↩︎
8. Story featuring Garry Virtue regarding Avoca Public School dated 2023: https://www.southernhighlandnews.com.au/story/8136491/i-have-nothing-but-fond-memories-avoca-public-school-celebrates-150th-birthday/ ↩︎
9. Mary Ann Fenton’s gravestone record appears to be here: https://austcemindex.com/inscription?id=15492950#images ↩︎
10. See https://www.ancestry.com.au/family-tree/person/tree/75722700/person/182162435786/hints?usePUBJs=true ↩︎
11. https://www.ancestry.com.au/imageviewer/collections/60864/images/8072459_0001?treeid=75722700&personid=182162435783&hintid=1004764474846&usePUB=true&_phsrc=kON157&_phstart=default&usePUBJs=true&showinfopanel=true&pId=60305455 ↩︎
12. See https://www.facebook.com/share/p/12Chb9Wg676/ ↩︎
13. Photograph from circa 1900 inscribed ‘Aunty Jane Whatman.’ Source: Berrima District Historical & Family History Society Inc; Joe Ford Collection; Item 106676, https://berrima.imagegallery.me/. ↩︎
14. According to Rob Gay (emails with Christopher Rudge dated 26 Aug 2020). ↩︎
15. https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/98780354/9595908 ↩︎
16. See https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/98823626?fbclid=IwY2xjawHz_vtleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHTXucmsKSxDeddxnq00rcdNfwPvjUBDLdkegjAKMlmKVl0yyKjAFUHKOBw_aem_LYhVzIA8nz9hLHrttzcBOA ↩︎
17. See facebook posts and discussion here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/418900881871539/search/?q=%20kenmore%20hotel ↩︎
18. See https://goulburn.spydus.com/cgi-bin/spydus.exe/FULL/OPAC/ARCENQ/52039590/2759255,1. ↩︎
19. See https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/102860862?; fbclid=IwY2xjawHz_ndleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHY3MjCHRHllytt_f5OO00wLvkqz_t6TdUL1OahX25gchQLYnoNSspetAZw_aem_959n0x2sYO7xrA0K1uFz9g; also see https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10232242376668921&set=p.10232242376668921&type=3. ↩︎
20. See https://www.facebook.com/groups/418900881871539/user/1091052059/ ↩︎
21. See Jennifer Lambert, Upper Lachlan Shire Community Heritage Study 2007–2008, 47, https://upperlachlan.nsw.gov.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Heritage-Study-1.pdf. ↩︎
22. See https://www.aussietowns.com.au/town/binda-nsw ↩︎
23. See https://aguidetoaustralianbushranging.wpcomstaging.com/tag/flag-hotel/ ↩︎
24. ↩︎
25. See, eg, https://www.eldersrealestate.com.au/residential/sale/103-queen-street-crookwell-nsw-2583-300P164907/ ↩︎
26. For $310,000.00: see https://www.getsoldprice.com.au/sold/view/state/NSW/id/dwsmdqw4/?addr=87+Queen+St%2C+Binda+NSW. ↩︎
27. See https://t.hmwy.io/wdUDKloG7Pb ↩︎
28. See https://www.realestate.com.au/sold/property-house-nsw-binda-104189810; https://www.realestate.com.au/sold/property-house-nsw-binda-132543490; ↩︎
29. See https://www.flickr.com/photos/hipbookfairy/42962237701 ↩︎
30. ↩︎
31. See various comments on facebook post: https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=pfbid0dG7kYn6GwAUQk9M3oGZt6UBGetqLdvjyf7MvN82qgf8bDZtjXCy6CPzm48GQoUeyl&id=360696427434738 ↩︎
32. See https://sites.rootsweb.com/~rvoull/galla001.htm ↩︎
33. https://www.ancestry.com.au/search/collections/61177/records/121991?tid=&pid=&queryId=9bf06c00-88a2-440f-a22d-fb44010781c3&_phsrc=kON587&_phstart=successSource ↩︎
34. See https://www.theage.com.au/sport/proud-tradition-comes-to-an-end-20030301-gdvazx.html ↩︎
35. According the electoral rolls: https://www.ancestry.com.au/imageviewer/collections/1207/images/31242_202511__0005-00271?pId=23448354 ↩︎
36. See https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=9099171020155196&set=gm.3625152397714761&idorvanity=1755971574632862 ↩︎
37. https://www.facebook.com/groups/1529587660512959/posts/3101388163332893/ ↩︎
38. https://www.domain.com.au/news/beach-shacks-and-fibros-the-history-of-mermaid-beach-782852/ ↩︎
39. https://www.historypin.org/en/person/43505/explore/geo/8.391765,-0.827048,8/bounds/6.108689,-2.035544,10.661502,0.381448/paging/1/pin/213587 ↩︎
40. The link is https://link.goldcoast.qld.gov.au/es/resource/pyPmCjSCkmY ↩︎
41. See https://timegents.com/2016/06/05/the-legend-of-the-bunyip/ ↩︎
42. https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/220811325?searchTerm=patricia%20rudge%20lithgow ↩︎
43. https://www.facebook.com/share/p/128YKTsW6Le/ ↩︎
44. https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/220242633?searchTerm=robyn%20rudge; https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/220383373?searchTerm=robyn%20rudge ↩︎