Today - 13 October 2010 - is 100 years since my paternal great Grandfather, William Henry Mortomore, passed away in Lilydale, Victoria, Australia.
[Source for Surname spelling is William's Naturalisation Application dated 25 June 1909]
Below is some of the very little information we have about this mystery man:
1. From William's Naturalisation Application: We know that he said he was born on 27 Nov 1833 in America; that he said came to Australia aboard the "Orpheus". [No record of this has been found and the dates don't tally with when the "Orpheus" was in Australian waters].
2. From a book about Lilydale - this excerpt obtained from the Lilydale Historical Society in 2007: "William Henry Mortimer arrived in Melbourne in about 1860 and assisted with the survey of the Lilydale township. He spent his first 10 years in the goldfields before returning to Lilydale where he established his Brickyards in the district at the corner of Slevin Street and Cave Hill Road (then called Cemetery Road) in 1875.
Above: Lilydale c. 1870 - from National Library of Australia
In 1876 colonial artist Elizabeth Parsons visited Lilydale and Painted Mortimer's Brickworks which she titled "Brick Kilns Lilydale 1876". [Photos of painting and sketch below]
Mortimer's Brickyard had a large output and most of the early buildings used his bricks. One documented building was Louis Deschamps Wine Hall at the corner of Cave Hill Road and Albert Hill Road. [Another documented building built with his bricks is the old Baptist Church in Castella Street - now part of Anglicare]
The brickworks operated until 1896. William Mortimer died on October 13, 1910 aged 78 years and is buried at Lilydale Cemetery." [Sadly there is no marker to indicate William & Sarah's graves]
Above: The original of this painting now hangs in the Fine Art Gallery in Ballarat, Victoria.
3. Marriage - Source: Victoria BMD - On 04 May 1863 William married Sarah Leach, widow (m. Jarvis; nee Shaw) at Brushy Creek, North Croydon, Victoria, Australia. ["In 1866, the hamlet of Brushy Creek, on the Maroondah Highway, near the junction of Dorset and Exeter Roads, was surveyed by the Department of Lands and Survey. The majority of the land within its boundaries was then owned by the O’Rourke family.41 This hamlet developed to become Croydon. After the construction of the railway and the subsequent opening of the Croydon railway station, the population of Brushy Creek began to reduce. People moved nearer to the railway line.42 Ringwood was surveyed and proclaimed a township in 1886. It was located around the present Maroondah City Council offices, in the area between Mount Dandenong Road and Maroondah Highway.43 The township had been settled earlier following the discovery of antimony in 1869, and as with Brushy Creek, it began to move after the opening of the railway line, to a location further west on Whitehorse Road, near the station." Reference: - 41 Brushy Creek is believed to have existed in the 1850s, with a hotel, store and blacksmiths. Muriel McGivern, A History of Croydon, vol. 3, p 256. Department of Lands & Survey, map titled ‘Hamlet of Brushy Creek’.]
4. William & Sarah had three children: Robert Charles 'Charles' Mortomore b. 09 Feb 1864, Sarah Ann Mortomore b. 30 Oct 1865 and Martin Mortimore b. 20 Jul 1867. [Martin is my paternal grandfather]
On two of the children's birth certificates where Sarah was the informant it states that William was born in Detroit, Michigan, USA but on the birth certificate of the child where William was the informant it states that he was born in Devonshire. Hence, we have no idea where he was actually born. In 1833 no formal State records for births, marriages or deaths were being kept in America; and in Devonshire, the name Mortimore/Mortomore/Mortimer is a very common one indeed - it even out-numbers the Smiths I think.
From all accounts William was a VERY hard man and his daughter, Sarah Ann, left home to get away from the harshness of her father and went to board with her step-brother Henry Leach who was a Grocery Store proprietor in Main Street, Lilydale.
Above: William & Sarah Mortomore/Mortimore c. 1910
5. From Local Council Rates Records: 1897 - William Mortimore - rented the house from Cathrine Deschamps in Cave Hill Road, Lilydale.
6. On William Henry's Death Certificate it states that he was born in Detroit, County of Michigan, America and that his father was William Henry Mortimore, a brickmaker, and his mother was Eva Mortimore (formerly Talbot) and that he had lived in Victoria for 50 years.
Above: Near Lilydale 1874 by Louis Buvelot
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