Sarah Ann Starkey 1844 - 1935
Sarah Ann Starkey born on 7 April 1844 in Kegworth. She was baptised on 23 July 1844. Sarah's mother is purportably Sarah Starkey Mansfield (who is known as Sarah Starkey), however her baptismal statement has some quite confusing information "Sarah Ann Starkey Born Apr 7 1844 Baptised July 23rd Parents William Mansfield & Ann ." with the note under surname "the father Mansfield proving a married man" and the fathers occupation is also "Joiner". This is actually information about Sarah Starkey's parents, leaving us with a couple of options
- Sarah Starkey Mansfield gives birth to an illegitimate child with unnamed father and records the reason for NOT using her baptised name of Mansfield in the childs baptism
- Sarah Starkey Mansfield has an affair with a married man also of the name William Mansfield who is a joiner like her father - when she is aged 17 - and delivers a child of that relationship
- Sarah Starkey Mansfield intentionally uses erroneous information on the baptism - for reasons unknown.
- Sarah Ann Starkey is actually Sarah Starkey Mansfields sister and Sarah and Thomas adopt her and raise her as their own. NB Sarah's Mother Ann would have only been 35 at the time.
Irrespective, Sarah Ann is definately NOT the daughter of Thomas Fullelove - despite the fact that she uses this name throughout her life.
Assuming that Sarah Ann Starkey is in fact the daughter of Sarah Starkey Mansfield, then in 1846 - when she is 2 - her mother marries Thomas Fullelove. The family move regularly throughout her childhood, as Thomas travels looking for work
- 1846 to 1850 - it appears the family was living in the Ratcliffe / Kegworth area
- 1851 Census - the family is living in Cradden Brook, Tintwistle, Mottram, Cheshire - Sarah Ann is record as Sarah Fullelove
- 1853 to 1855 - it appears the family was living in Sheffield, Yorkshire
- 1861 Census - they are living at Dowry St, Accrington, Lancashire - Sarah Ann is recorded as Sarah Starkey
Sarah Ann's step father left the family in 1862 to travel to Australia. On Feb 27 1864 Sarah Ann, her mother, her uncle and her siblings all boarded the Warren Hasting in Southampton to follow him to followed him. According to the arrival report in The Brisbane Courier on 18 Jun 1864 the vessel arrived in the Brisbane River at 4:30pm on 16 Jun 1864. The ship contained "254 government immigrants and had a very pleasant voyage, no sickness or casualties of any kind having occurred". The Health Officer, Dr Hobbs " having found everybody on board in good health passed the ship, and the immigrants will be brought up to town on.." Monday 20 Jun 1864. The Warren Hasting was a 587 ton barque that was 140 ft long and had a 30 ft beam and was captained by Captain Hedley.
After arriving the family moved to Ipswich where they ultimately ended up residing in Blackall St Basin Pocket.
On 16 Aug 1866 Sarah Ann married George William Bashford in Ipswich. George was born in 1840 in Sompting Sussex the eighth child and fourth son of Josias Bashford and Frances Greenyer. Sarah Ann was four months pregnant at the time of the marriage. At the time of the marriage George was working as a gardener, most likely at Bella Vista Market Garden on Whitehill Rd at Newtown.
Sarah Ann and George had ten children
- Sarah Ann 'Cissie' Bashford Born 1867. Died 1889 Married David McKerrow Paterson 1887
- George Thomas Bashford Born 1868 Died 1868
- Thomas Josiah Bashford Born 1869 Died ? Married Mildred May Muriel O'Farrell 1912
- /wiki/spaces/HFHW/pages/2523599 Born 1871 Died 1954 Married James Cairns Bain 1893
- George Fullelove Bashford Born 1873 Died ? Married Matilda Elizabeth Capes 1895
- Phillip Bashford Born 1875 Died 1944 Married Harriet Ellen Murphy
- Eleanor Bashford Born 1877 Died ? Married William Joseph Cook 1898
- Charles Bashford Born 1880 Died 1880
- Henry Bashford Born 1882 Died 1933 Married Claire Margaret Stellmach 1905
- Frances Bashford Born 1885 Died ? Married Walter Scott Johnston 1906
We know from the 1868 Post Office Directory that in 1867 George was working as a green grocer in Ipswich, then around March 1868 the family move to Maryborough where George has purchased a house at Oakey Creek - that contains two sitting-rooms and four bed-rooms, exclusive of those required for the families private use - that he intends to open as Oakey Creek Hotel. Apparently the family spend about a year there and by 1870 they were back in Ipswich.
Between 1870 and 1873 Sarah Ann won numerous prizes at the agricultural shows for the couples vegetables and grains - the family is referenced as being from Newtown at the time.
Some time after 1873 George moved into contracting - most likely at the behest of his father in law Thomas - and the family started to climb the social ladder. By 1875 Sarah Ann is an aldermans wife, and as the wife of a increasingly prosperous railway contractor she found herself hosting function for his employees as well as a number of wedding and church picnics at the families home in Newtown.
In 1880 George purchased Claremont House at 3 - 5 Blackall St in Ipswich - this was the second of two Claremont houses built by Ipswich pioneer John Panton - it has been build in 1865 of stone and slate for the double roofs. The house is still there and was fully restored in 2013 and is considered one of Ipswichs "great houses"
Interesting it is on the same street as the store owned by Sarah Anns mother.
In November 1880 George sells off "All the MATERIALS of COTTAGE situated between the residence of Geo. Bashford, Esq, and the Basin known as "Panton's Garden." Then in April 1881 the house was painted by renowned artist Charles Gordon Sebastian Hirst.
The families financial woes started in the 1886, as a direct result of highly competitive railway construction market where there was significant undercutting. The mid 1880s saw a number of insolvencies and George had written about the issue a number of times. In late 1887 George started selling off assets, and then in December 1887 he went south to Sydney on business, and never came back. His disappearance is widely covered in the media, as was his insolvency in February 1888. By November all of his commercial assets have been sold, and his family had been left destitute.
His family obviously had no idea of his where abouts, and their hardship was further impacted when her eldest daughter Sarah Ann Paterson passed away in November 1889.
It appears that the QUEENSLAND NATIONAL BANK took ownership of Claremont in 1892, initially leasing it in September 1892 to J Atkinson a surveyor.
"TO LET, Unfurnished, the HOUSE, at Limestone, formerly occupied by George Bashford. Apply to the QUEENSLAND NATIONAL BANK LIMITED" .
The bank later sold the property in ???. During WWI it was owned by mine manager W Lawrie
George's dies in Zeehan, Tasmania on 2 July 1893. There were ongoing issues with Georges estate and after a protracted probate period (and will lodgement on 4 separate occasions) including a statement that he died intestation. However there was a will lodged in Tasmania - which made no mention of his QLD family - and it was finally settled in October 1896. It must have been devastating for Sarah Ann that there was no financial benefit to her or her family.
It is about this time that Sarah Ann stopped using Bashford and we see her increasingly referred to as Sarah Ann Starkey Bashford or Sarah Ann (otherwise Sarah Ann Starkey) Bashford.
It appears that the family were left with enough to buy property in the same street as Claremont - Bella Vista. Bella Vista is located at 60 Blackall St and the family are living in there in November 1893. No doubt the name is a hark back to the earlier years of her marriage when she and George were market gardeners at Bella Vista Gardens.
The next few years were busy ones as Sarah Anns children began to marry. They were not without their own challenges. Daughter Mary Emma married James Cairns Bain in 1895. He had a gambling problem and from 1895 onwards borrowed money from both Sarah Ann and her son Phillip - we know this as it is referenced in his insolvency case in 1898.
We know the families financial position improved after her mothers death in 1898 where she was left property
Name of Deceased Proprietor.-Sarah Fullelove aforesaid.
Date of Death.-13th February, 1898.
Name of Claimant.-Sarah Ann Bashford, of Ipswich, wife of George Bashford, of the same place.
Description and Situation of Land.-Sub-division 6 of allotment 62 (near Ipswich) and subdivision 6 of allotment 81, county of Stanley, parish of Ipswich.
Estate Claimed to be Transmitted.-Fee simple.
Particulars of Will or Otherwise.-Will and codicils as aforesaid.
Date within which Caveat may be Lodged.-10th October, 1898. ,
We are not sure what she did with this property, however she did still own it at the time of her death. Despite this other property Sarah Ann continued to live at the Blackall St property through to her death, this is confirmed by Electoral Records and City Directories
- 1908 - She is living by herself (home duties)
- 1912 - Her son Phillip (carpenter) is living with her
- 1913 - Her son Phillip (carpenter) is living with her
- 1915 - She is living by herself (home duties)
- 1917 - Her son Phillip (carpenter) is living with her
- 1919 - Her son Phillip (carpenter) is living with her
- 1925 - She is living by herself (home duties)
- 1928 - She is living by herself (home duties)
- 1934 - She is living by herself (home duties)
In Nov 1914 there is a transfer of titles from Daniel Coogan and Annie Forbes to of subdivision 2 of portion 54 county of Stanly parisho of Woogaroo. This transfer is subsequent to the death of Dolina Coogan
There is a lovely article written about Sarah Ann in 1827 that is published in both the Queensland Times and Maryborough Chronical - which contains the footnote "Mrs Bashford is the mother of Alderman Henry Bashford of Maryborough"
MRS. S. A. BASHFORD.
63 YEARS IN QUEENSLAND.
EARLY DAYS IN IPSWICH.
Almost any day Mrs. Sarah Ann Bashford may be seen in her garden among her beloved plants. Despite the fact that she is 84 years of age, she delights in her garden, her flowers, and her vegetables, of which she is justly proud, finding her chief pleasure in. caring for them and planting successive crops to replace the good harvests she reaps. Sixty-three years in Queensland, most of them spent in Ipswich, have served to make her love an open air life,, and it has been a dull day for her when she has not been able to spend an hour in the well-kept grounds that surround her home at Basin Pocket.
Mrs. Bashford came to Queensland in '64.in the Warren Hastings with her mother, Mrs. Thomas Fullelove. having been born in Leicestershire 21 years previously. In England Mr. Fullelove was employed making reservoirs, and it was while he was engaged on a contract of this description at Accrlngton, in Lancashire, that the family decided to 'come to Queensland. Mr. Fullelove had made the journey to the new land some 18 months previously in the Queen of the Colony, and had started work as a road contractor in the Ipswich district Mrs. Bashford relates that though the voyage was long, the weather was' good. She celebrated her 21st birthday on the boat. On landing in Queensland the captain of the boat and the doctor made her a presentation for her industry and willingness to help her fellow shipmates on the voyage.
The family first lived at Little Ipswich, but shortly afterwards moved to Basin Pocket, where Mrs. Fullelove started a small shop. Mr. Fullelove had a contract for building the Brisbane-road when the new Methodist Church at Bundanba was being built. In the old country the family had at
tended the Wesleyan Church, and in Queensland they continued to take a big part in religious work. The Bundanba Church was the nearest, and Mrs. Bashford relates that it was considered nothing in those days to walk to service at Bundanba after finishing the day's work.
The first years in Queensland were days of hardship. Men could rough it, and forget the trials in the hard work of opening up the new country, but for the womenfolk they were very hard times. Many a time did the gently nurtured girl and her mother regret coming to Queensland. There were no streets in Brisbane or Ipswich, and very few houses. What shops there were, were low, one storey places. "We were the pioneers and we knew it too well," said Mrs. Bashford.
In 1866 Mrs. Bashford married Mr. George Bashford, a name well known in railway construction circles at that time. He was born in Worthing, Sussex, and had arrived in Queensland some time after Mrs.. Bashford. He built three sections of the Great Western Railway, the Sandgate, Harrisville to Dugandan, a section of the Brisbane line in the, vicinity of Dinmore, Cooktown, Mourilyan Harbour, Cairns lines, and was engaged on the construction of the Beenleigh to Southport line when he died. Mr. Bashford's first job in Queensland was to wait on the tables at the function at Bigge's Camp celebrating the opening of the first railway line in Queensland. Mr. John Smith, the pioneer engine driver, popularly known as "Hellfire Jack," on account of the high speed at which he drove his train, often had charge of the ballast trains employed on Mr. Bashford's construction work.
Ever since Mrs. Bashford came to Queensland she has been an enthusiastic Church worker. It was some years after she landed that the Basin Pocket Methodist Church was erected. Previously services were conducted in a little humpy, in which a cement barrel served for a pulpit Services were also held in her mother's home. It is somewhere about 58 years since the first church in Basin Pocket was built. It was known as the Primitive Methodist Church, and for 16 years it was regularly filled at each service by large congregations. Then 42 years ago it was replaced by the present structure, the earlier building having been sold as a work shop. The builder was Mr. John Porter, father of Mrs. W. R. Johnson, who had such a prominent part in the church fete a few weeks ago. Mrs. Bashford's daughter, Mrs. D. Patterson, collected £100 to build this church, and Mr. G. Bashford gave the first organ. It is noteworthy to record that the church was opened free of debt. The Minister at that time was Rev. J. Addison. Some years after wards the building was renovated by Mr. Geo. Wilkinson. In June, 1909, during the ministry of Rev. T. Dews bury, the Women's Church Help Society, which was responsible for the recent successful fete for the provision of a new pulpit and other improvements, was formed, with Mrs. Bashford as its first President, and Mrs. M. E. Bain (Mrs. Bashford's daughter) as the first Secretary. The ante-room at the rear of the church was added in 1923. It was built by voluntary labour, and was opened by Mrs. J. W. Dalton, All her life Mrs. Bashford has been ready to assist the work of any church.
Mrs. Bashford is in excellent health, though she suffers from a little deafness. She has lived a full and busy life. and now lives in contented retirement surrounded by the hosts of friends of a long, successful life.
In 1934 Sarah Ann had a large birth celebration with all her children descendants
Sarah Ann passed away on 3 August 1935 at the ripe old age of 91 (it should have been her 69th wedding anniversary). At the time of her death she was living still living at Bella Vista in Blackall St Basin Pocket, Ipswich. Her burial service was provided by Methodist Minister, Rev A.H. Stoke and witnessed by Mr W. Smith and Mr James Edward Burren.
An obituary was published on 5 August which reused alot of the 1927 article
MRS. S. A. BASHFORD'S DEATH.
Long Ipswich Residence.
"A grand old lady - the Mother of the Pocket," is how citizens used to refer to the late Mrs. Sarah Ann Bashford, who passed away at her residence in Blackall-street, East Ipswlch, on Saturday evening. The late Mrs. Bashford was in her 91st year, and had spent 70 years in Ipswich.
She was born in Leicester, In Leicestershire, in 1844, and came with her family to Queensland at the age of 20. Residence Immediately was taken up in Ipswich, and except for a break of about 10 months the late Mrs. Bashford resided In the city for the rest of her life. Her late father, Mr. George Fullelove, was employed in making reservoirs in England, and he came to Queensland about 18 months before the rest of his family and started work as a road contractor in the Ipswich district. Some evidence of the cheerful help given always by the late Mrs. Bashford is shown in the fact that on landing in Queensland, the captain of the boat (the Warren Hastings), and the doctor aboard, made her -a presentation for her industry and willingness to help her fellow shipmates on the voyage.
The family resided first at Little Ipswich, but shortly afterwards moved to Basin Pocket, where Mrs. Fullelove commenced a small buslness. The family took a keen interest in the Wesleyan Church, and the late Mrs. Bashford and others of her family thought nothing of walking to service at Bundamba. In 1866 the late Mrs. Bashford married Mr. George Bashford, who was born in Worthing, Sussex. Her husband, who died in 1894, was a well-known railway contractor, and built sections of the Great Western railway, the Sandgate section, the Harrisviile to Dugandan section, portion of the Brisbane , line near Dinmore, and the Cooktown, Mourilyan Harbour, and Cairns line. He was engaged in the construction of the Beenlelgh-Southport line at the time of his death.
Throughout a very useful life, the late Mrs. Bashford's principal interests were in her Church and in helping needy people. Because of her ever-ready assistance in the latter regard she was referred to as the '"Mother of the Pocket," and her kindly efforts took her into almost every home in the vicinity. It was some years after she landed that the Basin Pocket Methodist Church was erected. Previously services were conducted in a little humpy and in her mother's home. Some years later the building was replaced by a more elaborate structure, and towards the cost of this, Mrs. Bashford's daughter, Mrs. D. Patterson, collected £100. Mr. G. Bashford gave the first organ. In June, 1909, the Women's Church Help Society was formed with Mrs. Bashford as its President. and Mrs. E. M. Bain (Mrs. Bashford's daughter) as Secretary. The late Mrs. Bashford's activities, however, were not confined to her own Church, as she assisted on many occasions in the work of other denominations..
Her long life had been particularly free from serios illness, and the longest sickness she ever had was that which commenced three weeks prior to her death. Then, she contracted influenza and developments hastened her end. Her life was exemplary; her name was respected among a very wide circle of friends and acquaintances; and those who referred sincerely to her as a grand old lady did so because of their realisation of her worth in the district. She had a kindly word for all and ample evidence of the esteem in which she had heen held is in the fact that yesterday hundreds of sympathisers called to pay their last respects.
The funeral will take place to the Ipswich cemetery this morning. The service at her late residence and at the graveside will be conducted by Rev. W. Shenton. The late Mrs. Bashford was pre deceased by her husband, a daughter Mrs. Patterson, and three sons. Messrs. Henry, Charles, and George Thomas Bashford. The late Mr. Henry Bashford was for a long term a member of the Maryborough City Council, and for a time occupied the Mayoral position in that city. Mrs. Bashford is survived by three daughters, Mesdames . M.E. Bain (East Ipswich). E. Cook (Brisbane), and W. S. Johnslon (North Ipswich): and three sons, Messrs. Thomas J. (Brisbane) George F. (North Ipswich). and Phillip *Wallaville. via Bundaberg). There also are 23 grand children and 17 great grandchildren.
BACKROW : Stan Cook ; Harold Bashford ; Fred Dyer ; Jim Bain ; Ted Bain ; Tom Bashford ; Ray Cook ; ? Johnston ; Alf Andrews ; Paul Munro
SECOND BACKROW: Cissie Johnston ; Doreen Bain ; Evelyn Bashford Lusby ; Elearnor Cook Sparkes ; Rose Johnston Law ; Marlie Andrews (nee Johnston) ; Winifred Cook ; Eva Yates Bain ; Alma Bain Dyer ; Violet Hart Bashford ; Louden Souter Cook ; Enid ? Bashford ; Muriel Bashford Munro
SECOND ROW (SEATED): Wally Johnston ; Frances ("Tot") Bashford Johnston ; Phillip Bashford ; Mary Emma ("Marnie") Bashford Bain ; Sarah Ann Mansfield Fullelove Bashford ; George Bashford ; June Andrews Birsnick (on Knee) ; Eleanor Bashford Cook ; Mildred O'Farrell Bashford ; Clara Stellmach Bashford
FRONT ROW: Margaret Dyer Collie ; Tom Dyer ; "Teddy" Bain ; Baden Cook ; Powell Cook ; Dulcie Dyer ; Mary Bain ; Dulcie Bashford Brown ; Joyce Bashford Wicks
MISSING : Henry Bashford & his 4 children and their Children ; Thomas Josiah Bashford (and his son Thomas) George, Edit, Neville & Betty Cook (Mrs Lewis) Sarah Hilda Bashford
After her death the land left to her by her mother "Subdivisions 1 to 4 and 6 and resubdivion 1 of subdivision 5 of Alotment 62, county of Stanley parish of Ipswich" passes to her son Thomas Josiah Bashford as devisee of trust
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