February | 2016 | Heneker - a Pioneering family from Kent to South Australia

Monthly Archives: February 2016
- OZLAP – The Smith’s Big Road Trip
  
  Posted at 5:10 pm by heneker52, on February 27, 2016
  
  I haven’t posted for awhile as I just started a new job nursing, after having nearly a year’s break, so I have been very tired. But now I have a day off, and have been wanting to share this wonderful blog. I came across it purely by accident one day, because of this wonderful photograph.
  
                                                      “Windmill at Beltana”
  
  (ozlap.com.au) see more information in the paragraph below.
  
  Beltana being so dear to me, as this is where my great great grandfather and his family spent much of their time living, after emigrating from Kent, England. Of course his children spent more time in the area, as James and Mary Ann Heneker had spent many years moving around to different parts of South Australia, however, as a bullocky driver James operated out of Beltana delivering goods to many remote area’s and for the Overland Telegraph line being built.
  
  This photograph just said so much to me about Beltana, a town which is basically now a ghost town, however some hardy souls have restored a few buildings, and started to try to put some of the town to pieces again. Beltana is 535 km from Adelaide, the capital city of South Australia. This area of the state does not have any large towns, the largest being Port Augusta  which is an easy 308 km drive from Adelaide. Once leaving the main highway sometime after Hawker/Parachilna, you need to drive a long dirt road to reach Beltana, which itself has no paved roads, or any amenities, such as shops, service station, toilets. It truly is a remote township in a very remote area of the State. Beltana was known historically for it’s relationship with the building of the Overland Telegraph from Adelaide to Darwin which was completed in 1872. It was also very well known for it’s camel population and the Afghans who settled there and trained and operated the camels. Also carried out in the area was mining, and the Transcontinental Railway line was part of the township. It would have been a place of hardship, heat and hard work for the first European settlers who lived there, and even today, once out of our air conditioned cars it is a place of hot winds, dust and flies. But truly it is an outback town, without anything to try to make it look more than it ever was. I am always in awe of my ancestors who lived here.
  
  The young Smith family are travellers, taking their 4 children with them, on a road trip of discovery, and are recording their travels in a great blog call OZLAP – The Smith’s Big Road Trip. If you want to read about it, and see amazingly beautiful and interesting photographs from their trip so far, please take a look at their blog at ozlap.com.au.
  
  I would like to thank Amy (from the Smith family) for your kind permission to allow me to post your wonderful photograph of “Windmill at Beltana”. I am in love with this photo. My aim in a few years is to also take a few years road trip to wherever in Australia, however how wonderful to do it with your whole family and what a great experience for them. I hope you are all enjoying your adventure and continuing travels.
  
  Posted in England, Family History, Genealogy, Heneker, James Heneker, Local history, South Australia, Uncategorized | 3 Comments | Tagged Beltana South Australia, OZLAP Blog, Smith Family
- Heneker family picnic at Hawker
  
  Posted at 3:37 pm by heneker52, on February 13, 2016
  
  The photograph below is apparently of the Heneker family having a picnic at Hawker, South Australia. I am not sure where it is, obviously out of the town of Hawker itself. It appears they are sitting in a dry river bed (a no no in the outback, as flash floods are very regular from further up north) however they probably knew better than me what was safe for them. Especially if it had been a long hot dry summer.Enlarging the photograph didn’t help me identify anyone in particular from other photographs of the era. Looking at the clothing styles, especially some of the children, I think it may be taken in the late 1890’s or early 1900’s, however if anyone has any other ideas I would be happy to hear from you.
  
  A close look in the left hand side of the photo shows at least 2 horses under a tree, and in the very far left side of the photo you can see a buggy. Also looking further to the right, between some trees there appears to be another horse, so it suggests the family came by buggy and horses. The area reminds me a lot of Parachilna Gorge, a stunning area that my dad visited often as a child. And then with my father, I went with him, and often my grand father and my brothers to Parachilna Gorge in our summer school holidays to camp. Back then, the cars had no airconditioning, and a canvas bag hanging on the front with water in it, to keep the water cool. (that was our drinking water). Very unlike the large (too large!!!) 4WD vehicles people take up there, with their small refrigerators in the back, and their habit of barging through the bush, making roads that never existed. I noted this on my trip up there in 2015. It upset me greatly as my memories seemed wrecked. My brother on the hand, who owns a 4WD didn’t see a problem. I guess we are all different. My dad’s ashes are scattered at Parachilna Gorge so it was an emotional time for me.I have seen so many black and white photo’s like this on websites of Australian families having these type of picnics. It seems that back in this time, large family get together’s out in the bush (even though they lived in the bush) were the popular thing. I suppose there wasn’t much else they could do anyway, as there were no other ways of getting together unless it was congregating in a town hall. I think these hardy people preferred the outdoors, the sunshine, the heat, the bird and animal life and just a chance to rest for a day.Although I am sure they were all tired by the time they had made their way to their destination and back again
  
  Posted in Uncategorized | 0 Comments | Tagged Family Picnics, Hawker, Horses and buggy
- James Heneker….again which one!!!
  
  Posted at 2:56 am by heneker52, on February 11, 2016
  
  This story taken from an article published in the “Border Watch” the newspaper of the Mount Gambier area in south east South Australia, and published on Wednesday 2 February 1870 (courtesty of trove.nla.gov.au). It is interesting, but again it’s very hard for me to say which James Heneker is involved, unless I can find proof of either father or son living in this area, (they did move here as a family for some time) but as son James would have been 20 years old he may have been working somewhere else.
  
  The story is as follows:
  
  LOCAL COURT, NARACOORTE, Thursday January 27 2870
  
  Before G.B. Scott, Esq., S.M. and Messrs Gunning and Hinckley, J.P.s
  
  Beer v. McKinnon.
  
  Claim 25 pounds, for causing the death of a mare, the property of the Plaintiff.
  
  Mr Cullen for plaintiff, Mr. Waterhouse for defendant.
  
  Plaintiff gave evidence that on 28th May last, defendant told him he had ridden the mare down to Guichen Bay; defendant said she was very dull; said he would fetch the mare back on the following Sunday; did not do so; gave him no authority to take the mare; on sending for the mare heard that she was lame; the man he sent said she had an overflow of milk; had a foal running with her; plaintiff next heard that the mare was dead; examined her, but could give no decided opinion as to the cause of her death. thought it was caused by overheating; saw her three weeks or a month after the defendant rode her to the Bay; she was a good stout mare; had refused 25 pounds for her; kept her for breeding purposes; never gave defendant permission to ride her at all; never gave his wife authority to give defendant permission to ride her.
  
  James Heneker- Defendant told witness he rode the mare to the Bay and fetched her back; said he hammered her a little, but not much; went to seek for the mare afterwards and found that she was lame; didn’t know where she was lame; thought in the off hind leg; she had an overflow of milk; the foal was with her.
  
  Frederick Smith – Heard defendant say he had given the mare a thrashing; never gave defendant authority from Mrs. Beer to take the mare.
  
  George Lannin – Defendant told witness he rode the mare to Guichen Bay to fetch a saddle and crupper for Mrs. Beer, and that he gave her a good thrashing.
  
  Mrs. Beer – Never gave the defendant authority to ride the mare.
  
  This was the plaintiff’s case.
  
  Defendant said Mrs Beer told him she wished him to ride the mare to tame her down; took her down to Guichen Bay and fetched a side saddle and crupper back for Mrs Beer; only rode her six miles; led her the rest of the way there and back at the rate of about four miles an hour, rested frequently put her in the pad dock where he got her from; she was all right then ; the foal was with her all the time.
  
  Joseph Hunt – Saw the mare put in the paddock when the defendant brought her back; she was in good condition was not lame at all.
  
  Two other witnesses said they had seen the mare several times on her way back from the Bay ; defendant was leading her she had nothing on her back but a side saddle.
  
  Mr Waterhouse addressed the bench and said there was no proof that the death of the mare was caused by the act of the defendant. She was found dead three weeks later after he had bought her back. Mr Cullen contended that the presumption was strong that the death of the mare was caused by the defendant’s act.
  
  The bench after twenty minutes consultation returned a verdict for the defendant without costs.
  
  The above is an exact copy from the printed newspaper article. I find it sad that a relative of mine had “thrashed” the horse and was blamed for it’s death. In Australia to “thrash” something can mean (especially in old terms, people would say “I thrashed the kid, or I will thrash you if you do that again!”) In this context I assume to “thrash” the horse meant to ride it as hard as they could. Whatever, as a vegan and animal lover it does upset me, however my understanding of my great great grandfather James Heneker was that he was a kind and caring man who did many good deeds, in fact risking his life to save children from a tent fire. But as a man who worked with bullock teams, I suppose he may have been harsh of animals. And the same could be said for his son James Heneker, who carried out very similar work as his father. Back in those rough days, I assume being gentle to “working” animals was not a consideration. I don’t know, but I still don’t like to think of this poor mare dying (and being treated in that way) especially with a foal in tow.
  
  However that is part of the history I can’t change. As I mentioned I can’t tell if this relates to James Heneker Senior born in 1826, or his son James Heneker born in 1950. It could have been either of them.
  
  Guichen Bay, Robe, South Australia
  
  Photograph copyright by Trevorsbirding.com 2016
  
  Posted in Uncategorized | 7 Comments
- Friday Faces – Which James Heneker is this?
  
  Posted at 2:37 pm by heneker52, on February 5, 2016
  
  My first post for “Friday Faces” is a photograph of, I believe, James Heneker, but which James Heneker, father or son???
  
  This photograph was passed onto me, and someone had written James Heneker on it,(in a digital format) and I believe, they attributed it to James Heneker senior born 1826 – 1917. (Born in Westwell, Kent, UK in 1826, died Beltana, South Australia in 1917)
  
  The black and white photograph above, is scanned from a newspaper obituary for James Heneker Jnr who died in 1926. Although it isn’t terribly clear it may be that someone out there can see any similarities in the top photograph. I believe I can see a likeness, but then again, he may just have looked like his father, and therefore the top photograph could be the original James Heneker.!
  
  I feel it may be James Heneker Jnr born 1850 – 1926. My main reason for thinking this is that there does not appear to be (so far!!!) any photographs of the senior James Heneker or any of his family members taken in earlier years. There are photographs of James senior, and of him with his wife Mary Ann, in their senior years. As they lived most of their lives (and especially in their later years) in the far north of South Australia, in a very remote location, I tend to think the younger James Heneker may have been more likely to have had a photograph taken of him at some stage.
  
  James Heneker Jnr, like his father, had many jobs, from carting supplies to miner, and in later life moved to the city of Adelaide to live. As the years went on, it seems to me there was probably more chance of James Jnr having a chance of being photographed.
  
  The clothing doesn’t really help me, although I could probably find someone who may be able to place the date by the clothing. Not having the original photograph, there is nothing written anywhere that could help me. If anyone has any idea’s I would love to hear them. No matter what, I love this photograph and it would be wonderful if it was James Heneker senior. To see him as a younger man would make my day. James senior was portrayed in later photographs with a beard.
  
  Posted in Uncategorized | 6 Comments | Tagged Family History, Genealogy, James Heneker 1826-1916, James Heneker jnr 1850-1926, Photographs
- The search for James Heneker Jnr grave at West Terrace Cemetery, Adelaide South Australia
  
  Posted at 1:18 pm by heneker52, on February 5, 2016
  
  Today, Friday the 5th February 2016 I drove the 10 minutes into the city (from my house), to try to find the grave of James Heneker Jnr who was interred there on 20 June 1926 at the age of 77 years.
  
  The cemetery (the largest urban (and very historic) cemetery on West Terrace, in the city of Adelaide, South Australia is beautifully kept with wonderful native flora, and as a treat to me, whilst wandering through the graves and lawns, there were numerous Lorikeets the beautiful green, blue red parrots that sit on the lawns pecking away, or making their raucous sounds up in the gum trees. Other birds sat on top of head stones, blissfully unconcerned by my presence. This was especially touching to me, as my father was a lover and breeder of these wonderful birds. It made me think of him, even though his ashes are scattered up in Parachilna Gorge, in the north, however it seemed appropriate that there were ancestors of the Heneker family lying at rest here in this blissful spot.
  
  A fair bit of driving around (as this is a very large cemetery),and with directions from their website I finally found Section: Eyre South, Path Number 7S, E/W : W, site number 6.
  
  Sadly there was no head stone. I think I found site number 6 (although there is no numbering for each individual grave). I took a photograph of the area, which was all I could do. The lovely thing about it was that of all the places it could have been, it was next to the Caroline Clark Memorial Garden. See the photograph below with some information on a plaque.
  
  Photograph taken by Vicki Lovell (nee Heneker) at West Terrace Cemetery, Adelaide, South Australia 05/02/16
  
  The photograph below, is Eyre South, Path Number: 7S, West. I believe the grave (which was site 6) may be one of the unmarked graves on the right between marked graves.
  
  Photograph taken by Vicki Lovell (nee Heneker) at West Terrace Cemetery, Adelaide South Australia, on 05/02/2016
  
  Posted in Uncategorized | 0 Comments | Tagged Adelaide, Family History, Genealogy, Graves, James Heneker Jnr, Lorikeets, South Australia, Thomas Henniker 1799 - 1867, West Terrace Cemetery
- James Heneker Jnr.
  
  Posted at 11:14 pm by heneker52, on February 4, 2016
  The first born child of James and Mary Ann Heneker was James Heneker (Jnr). James was born on the 21 February 1850 at Mount Barker, South Australia. James and Mary Ann were living in the Mount Barker area at this time, well before they later moved to the far North of South Australia. James had arrived in South Australia in 1839 and had married Mary Ann Spencer in 1849.
  
  James Heneker Jnr appears to have followed in his father’s footsteps, being a man who did many jobs in his lifetime, many similar to those of his father, and probably worked alongside his father.
  
  James died on 18 June 1926 in Cumberland, South Australia. The Chronicle newspaper on Saturday 26 June 1926 gave the following Obituary:
  
  “James Heneker, whose death was announced on Saturday, was the eldest son of Mr. James Heneker, of Beltana. He had been in the northern districts for over 60 years. He assisted in erecting he overland telegraph line, as was one of the scouts appointed to prevent the blacks stealing the materials during the building of the Oodnadatta railway. He was known by almost all people north of Hawker, and during his career had been drover, shearer, fencer, teamster, surveyor and miner, both in Queensland and the Territory. he leaves a widow, three children – Mr Robert James Heneker(Cumberland), who was a soldier in the late war, Mrs. Kendle (Kensington), and Mrs Morris (St Peters).
  
  (Above photograph was included in the Obituary printed in the Chronicle)
  
  Chronicle (Adelaide SA : 1895-1954) Saturday 26 June 1926 pg 59
  
  Note: the article mentions that James was a scout appointed to prevent the blacks from stealing materials……..today this of course would be unheard of to be printed, or even mentioned. Having Aboriginal family also makes this quite an embarrassment, however that was the times. My understanding, from discussions with my father many years ago before he passed away, was that he had many Aboriginal friends, as I believe his distant relatives did as well. Many of the people they would be referring to, would have been Aboriginal people living in very remote area’s of South Australia, and may have had little contact with the white settlers. However I am sure they were interested in acquiring anything that may have made their lives easier, and in those early days of colonisation, it would have been seen to the Aboriginal people of the land, that if there was something interesting lying around, it was there to be used. One can’t blame them for that.!!!!
  
  James had a very large family after marrying Christina Graham on 15 November 1888.
  - 1890 – birth of son Robert James Heneker
  - 1893 – birth of son William Heneker
  - 1895 – birth of daughter Jane Heneker at Kensington, South Australia
  - 1899 – birth of daughter Violet Heneker at Walkerville, South Australia
  - 1902-1903 – birth of son Edward William Heneker at Kensington, who sadly died in 1903
  - 1904 – birth of daughter Hilda Grace Heneker
  - 1907 – birth of son Edward William Heneker
  - 1913 – birth of son Harold Keith Heneker.
  It appears that after spending much of his life of his life in the far north of South Australia, James moved to the city of Adelaide in about 1895 where his daughter Jane was born at Kensington, which is a suburb in the Eastern suburbs of Adelaide. Many of the homes in these area’s were and are large stately homes, however I have no knowledge of the type of home the Heneker family lived in and what James was doing once he moved to the city, especially after living such a country life.
  
  James Heneker was buried at the West Terrace Cemetery, Adelaide.
  
  **As James also led a very interesting and full life, I plan to do more research and try to create a timeline that will fill out the information that is available. I do wonder though how James would have felt being laid to rest at a city cemetery, where so many of his family rest in remote cemeteries in the land they obviously loved.
  Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments | Tagged Christina Graham, Cumberland South Australia, Family History, Genealogy, James Heneker jnr 1850-1926
- A weekend trip to Beltana, South Australia : Part 1 Hawker
  
  Posted at 6:05 pm by heneker52, on February 3, 2016
  
  [Family home of Neville Laurence Heneker (dad) who was born here on 19 April 1929. This corrugated iron building at Elder Terrace, Hawker, South Australia, held 6 children and 2 adults. (photographed by Vicki Lovell (nee Heneker) on 12 September 2015. Hawker South Australia]
  
  On the weekend of September 12-13th 2015, I made a trip to the far north of South Australia with my brother from Western Australia and his children. We met up at Port Augusta, me flying up from Adelaide, and they driving over from Coolgardie, Western Australia. We made our way to Hawker, 106 km from Port Augusta, on a good road, in my brothers 4WD. My father, Neville Laurence Heneker was born in Hawker in 1929, so it seemed a good place to start our journey. Although I had been this way in the past, many times with my darling dad whilst he was still alive, it was many years ago. I always remember my dad’s yarns, about his boyhood adventures with mates, many of them young Aboriginal boys. Back then, when you lived in this remote area, there didn’t seem to be a stigma, as there was in the city of being friends with whoever came along. Finding dad’s old house, all shut up, but still looking how I remember was sentimental and amazing at the same time. A long corrugated iron building, with hardly any windows, and with very little viewing opportunity was disappointing. I talked to someone in the local hotel, a few doors down, who said that the people who lived next door were away, and they I believe were the owners. Becoming rather brave, or criminal by trespassing, I opened their gate and knocked on their door. No answer. So I took the opportunity to look through a very old, very dirty paned glass window, into a very dark building. Mainly it seemed filled with bits of wood, a very old wheelchair and other bits and pieces scattered all over. Standing back out on the street, and looking through gaps in the front door, I could just make out the length of the building, with what seemed to be flimsy bits of partition acting as semi-walls. There seemed to be one long corridor running down the right hand side, which was formed by where the partitioning ended. Was the house always like this?? Apparently the building had been used for some years as a “gem” shop. A very old sign could be seen on the side of the house, very faded, announcing it’s use as a gem shop. So it was hard to tell if the interior of the building had been pulled down and reorganised to make it into a shop of sorts. It still seemed unbelievable that a family of 6 children and 2 adults could have lived comfortably in this very hot place. No air conditioning back then! The house was built on a road which faced the main highway that continued on further north to Beltana and beyond. In fact, I wondered if in those early years it may have been the main road. Close by and basically at the end of the town was the old historic railway station. Sadly this has now been made into a resturant, which is a shame as visitors can no longer look further at this building.
  
  [A side view of the house with it’s very dirty window and locked but rickety side door.]
  
  Other side of the house, note the very tiny window up high
  
  [Interesting detail? Ventilation?]
  
  [Below – A back door taken from over a back fence on the Telephone Exchange property. ]
  
  We spent a few hours here, trying to view through the house. I wish I had asked my dad more about how they lived when he was alive. I remember many stories he told me about the things he got up to as a boy, but never much about the house and how they lived. I think from dad’s stories that he spent more time out camping in the bush with his mates, than at home. It was almost certainly cooler outside, even on the hottest day, than inside this place that was really no more than a shed. I remember dad pointing it out to me on our trips further north, in the summer holidays, when we went camping up at Parachilna Gorge, (where we later scattered dad’s ashes).
  
  Hawker is a lovely town. Of course there are now some newer homes, but basically it retains the older stone houses of the times, with many residents planting out large native gardens. It is a quiet a peaceful place, especially away from the service station, which caters mainly to the many tourists who now spend their time driving up through the north, in their very large 4 WD’s. I remember dad driving us up there in an old Vauxhall with a water bag on the front. Now people have their caravans, filled with electric refrigerators, radio’s mobile phones, basically home away from home. I sometimes wonder though how much of the outback experience they really gain. My grandfather when he came with us, would have a rock as a pillow and lay out on the sandy soil, stating it was “too hot” to sleep inside the tent. Even our tent was basic, just a large inverted v shape, with no door to zip us in. Those were the days, especially when pa told of us the stories of the lonely graves where men died after falling off their horses, or being bitten by a brown snake. On this 2015 weekend trip we, on the other hand, spent the night in a pleasant motel, with modern bathroom and comfy beds. However it did have a lovely view from the window of Wilpena Pound, late that day, and early the next morning the pound still gave off the blue misty appearance, which was always to be seen. This comes from the vapour rising from the eucalyptus trees. Next morning, we were on our way again, to Parachilna, Parachilna Gorge and then Beltana. The further north we headed the hotter it became. After a very cold Adelaide winter, with hardly any sun, and with spring starting on the 1st September, we were lucky to have a warm weekend, 29 C in Adelaide, (almost unheard of at that time of the year) and by the time we were heading towards Beltana it was well over 30 C. With dust and wirly winds, reminding us we were heading towards the uninhabited north. How did our Kentish ancestors cope with this weather, after coming from lush green and cold England? Quite well it seems.!!
  
  Link to town map of Hawker Town map of Hawker, South Australia
  
  Posted in Family History, Flinder's Ranges, Neville Heneker, South Australia, Uncategorized | 0 Comments | Tagged Family History, Hawker S.A., Neville Heneker, Port Augusta
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