Mr Claude Annesley arrived in Sydney on 3rd July 1903 on board the Oroya. The ship left London and docked in Melbourne on 1st July 1903. The manifest shows his boarding in Colombo. His passage was paid, and he occupied a 3rd class cabin. | Name | Mr C Annesley |
|---|---|
| Port of Departure | London |
| Port of Arrival | Sydney, New South Wales |
| Voyage Arrival Date | 3 Jul 1903 |
| Vessel Name | Oroya |
Name: |
Mr C Annesley |
|---|---|
| Estimated birth year: | abt 1882 |
| Age: | 21 |
| Arrival Date: | 1 Jul 1903 |
| Arrival Port: | Sydney, Australia |
| Departure Port: | Colombo |
| Ship: | Oroya |
| Nationality: | English |
Census records of the days indicate that in 1905 he was a staion hand at Thurrulgoonia Station near Cunnamulla. Artesian waters ensured that sheep survived the dry conditions.
It is not known how they met, but it was most probably on one of the properties around the Jillet holding in Tambo. Katie was living on Wethersdane Station south west of Tambo.
Perhaps Claude had sought employment with the Jillett’s when they were droving flocks of sheep between Victoria and Queensland. Perhaps he worked with her younger brother Reginald.
They were married by the Rev Dobson on 4th May 1910.
They were married by the Rev Dobson on 4th May 1910.
It would appear that after the marriage Claude, Katie and her brother Reginald moved to Bowen.
Their first child was Hazel Dorothea Annesley born 1911. She died shortly afterwards. She is buried in the Bowen Cemetery in grave 449, no headstone, just a marker.
(Unfortunately someone has stuck the marker belonging to another grave at the head of her site).
Their first child was Hazel Dorothea Annesley born 1911. She died shortly afterwards. She is buried in the Bowen Cemetery in grave 449, no headstone, just a marker.
(Unfortunately someone has stuck the marker belonging to another grave at the head of her site).
The story of their early life was told by their only son, Dale Herron.
From Dale Herron "In his own Words"
The backgrounds of both Claude and Katie were very different. Claude was an English Blueblood and Katie was raised in an Australian farming family. Claude was the son of Arthur and Ellen (nee Jennings) Annesley. He forsook a life of English luxury deciding that mustering cattle around the Australian countryside seemed so much more fun.
Katie was the youngest daughter of Alfred Charles and Catherine Isabel (nee Phillips) Jillett.
Alfred was a grazier of "Broadmeadows", in Victoria and Catherine was the granddaughter of Captain Phillips, a respected and famous English ship builder and owner.
They were married in November 1878 in Hobart Town. Several years later Alfred and Catherine decided on a change and moved to Western Queensland.
They took on the pioneering spirit when the call of the north came. Alfred and Catherine selected a property near Tambo which was to become known as "Greendale" station. Because of the Jillets' love of the land, "Greendale" remained in the family for over 100 years before it was sold to a large company. The Jillet family also owned two other outback stations called "Mimidowns" and "Chattam" and Wethersdane.
Claude Harold Annesley and Katie Isabel Jillet were married at Tambo in 1910. It is not known how the parents met, but it was most probably in western Queensland when they were in their late teens.
At the time of their meeting, Claude was working for a grazier, and Katie was living with her parents at Greendale Station. Katie's mother died when she was young and she did not get on with her stepmother. Whether this had an influence on her rebelliousness and rambunctious nature is not known - maybe she was always going to be a rebel.
After their marriage in 1910, Claude and Katie made a misguided attempt at sheep farming on Dunk Island (which they rented for £26 per year). Claude then joined the A.I.F. His health suffered in the bad weather in France and has discharged as medically unfit in 1916.
Claude and Katie selected a soldier settler's farm at Gunnewin between Roma and Injune. The government gave soldier settlers 600 acres (roughly one square mile) and £600 to construct fences, dig a dam and build a hut. Unfortunately, the soldier settler's farms were not very economical. It was generally believed that you needed about three square miles.
Dale says the canny ones put in a bit of fencing, dug a dam and built a rough humpy, then took off for the city with the £600.
Building on Dale's stories.
(Dale’s stories may have been what he had been told by his mother,
as there doesn’t seem to be any evidence of sheep farming on Dunk Island)
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Dunk Island is in North Queensland in the Great Barrier Reef.
Dunk Island Early history
In 1897, suffering from work anxiety and exhaustion, and advised by doctors that he had just six months to live, writer E J Banfield moved to Dunk Island with his wife Bertha - so becoming the island’s first white settlers. Previously a Journalist and Senior Editor with the Townsville Daily Bulletin for fifteen years, Banfield let the tranquility of this unspoilt tropical paradise weave its magic and he lived on Dunk Island for the remaining 26 years of his life.A small hut built with the assistance of an Aborigine called Tom was the Banfield’s first home. Over a period of time they cleared four acres of land for a plantation of fruit and vegetables. Combined with their chickens, cows and goats as well as the abundance of seafood and mangrove vegetation, they lived very self-sufficiently. Fascinated by Dunk Island’s flora and fauna Banfield meticulously recorded his observations and went on to write a series of articles about island life under the pseudonym Rob Krusoe.
He was further inspired to write a full-length book entitled ‘Confessions of a Beachcomber’ which was published in 1908. The book became a celebrated text for romantics and escapists and established Dunk Island’s reputation as an exotic island paradise. In the ensuing years, Banfield wrote several other books about Dunk including ‘My Tropical Isle’ in 1911 and ‘Tropic Days’ in 1918.
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Their life in Bowen, North Queensland.
Claude and Katie did indeed live in Bowen, in North Queensland, and he was a farmer. In fact they lived in several different locations.
He was also heavily involved in the local community, held many different positions and voiced his views.
He was an advocate for coal mining, an industry that flourishes still 100 years later.
From the local newspapers, there are many snippets which provide a story of his life.
Claude and Katie lived at Queens’s Beach, Bowen and around 1912 their rented house burnt to the ground. They lost some of their belongings. Their house was high set, on stumps, built to allow the cooling breezes to flow through to give relief from the heat. They were renting the home.
Her brother Reginald was also recorded in 1912 as residing in Queen's Beach.
The most surprising was that Katie traveled to Melbourne in 1913, and then they both traveled to Sydney in 1916. Who would they be visiting?
Perhaps it was her younger brother Reginald, which would confirm an old family photograph of him which indicated that it was a photo of Reg and Paddy in Sydney in 1913.
Census records confirm that her parents were not living interstate during those years, and Reg usually resided at in Queensland and worked as a labourer.
Katie won riding competitions in 1915, and Claude was a member of the School of Arts Bowen
Bowen
Bowen in the early days was the centre for farming. Sugar cane and tropical crops including many vegetables including tomatoes were grown. Today it is well known for coal exporting and featured in the movie "Australia".
Living in Bowen during the days of World War I could not have been very easy. Many farmers enlisted.
