Alexander Sylvester Marr, born 12 February 1884, decided to try his luck in Australia. How he chose that country one does not know but there was a family of Ivatts in or near Barton who had relations who owned Glanmire Hall in New South Wales. On arrival in Sydney, Alec went for advice to a man recommended by Mr Ivatt.
At the age of 26, in January 1910, he sailed as an emigrant in the Orontes. Many of the letters written home on the voyage had been preserved and are now with his daughter Betty in Australia. This note is based on my recollection of them and on notes of their lives sent to me by Betty. She also sent me a road map on which she marked the various farms mentioned.
On the 11 January that year, he had just crossed the Bay of Biscay; by the 17th he had reached Naples, where he received a letter from home; on the 21st they were off Port Said; on the 29th nearing Colombo; on the 13th they were nearing Fremantle. With that letter he sent samples of their daily menus for 3rd class passengers (of which he was one), which included steak and onions for breakfast. They left Adelaide on the 14th, were to call at Melbourne, and finally got to Sydney on Friday evening 18th February at 6pm, too late for normal reception arrangements.
On Sunday 20th he wrote from the Central Methodist Union, where he stayed for 2s/6d a day for bed and meals, to say that the previous day he had been to the immigration office, where he signed a receipt for £4 deposit returned to him, with another £2 due in 3 weeks if his employer found him suitable. There had been many vacancies on the books, and a prospective employer was seeking a man who could drive a team of 6 or 8 horses on a gang plough for £1 a week, all found. Alec had a letter of introduction from Mr Ivatt to a Mr Sutton, who had an office nearby. Sutton said he knew of the farmer, and he was ‘alright’, the farm was in a good district and would do for a start. It was up country, “small”, of about 1000 acres, mainly wheat, some 200 miles due east and not far from the railway. He took the job, but could not travel until Tuesday because his laundry had to be done. He left at 8.10pm on Tuesday, got to Monteagle at 7.30am on Wednesday 23rd February and was met by Mr Houliston. His letters should be addressed via Young, NSW which is a town 95 miles SW of Bathurst. Monteagle lies about 6 miles to its north east.
On Sunday 6th March he reported that 600 acres were under cultivation, last year 500 acres of wheat were grown. He was the only employee “so there was no-one to quarrel with”. His job was to plough all this for the next crop. Using 6 horses and discs he covered about 6 feet at each pass, in fallow. He completed the first 50 acres on Friday, which suggest 10 days work at 5 acres per day. He would be working stubbles with a 4 breasted plough and 4 horses on light land. He got up at 5, used a pony to catch horses which were running over 200 acres of stubble and pasture, had breakfast, after cleaning and feeding the horses, at 6.45, ploughed until 11.30, then watered and fed horses, dinner at 12.30, plough until 6pm, by which time it was dark. Horses had to be watered and fed again before supper at 7pm. There was also “lunch” in the field at 4 o’clock.
He commented that “last year” the yield was 22 bushels of wheat per acre for 500 acres, a very good yield, but usually it was no more than 10 bushels.
He was housed in the shack with corrugated iron roofing, with gaping holes under the eaves, but “these can be stuffed with straw for the winter”. The farmer’s wife fed them mutton 3 times a day.
How long he stayed at Monteagle and the circumstances under which he was able to buy his own farm is not known. In December 1912 he was at The Cottage Glanmire, and in April 1915 was at Ilka Farm, Bogan Gate. On 21 January 1914 he married Elizabeth (Bessie) Irving Little, from Bimbernang. The Cottage, Glanmire, was on the Ivatt’s estate (or it may have been owned by Dr Coombs, Mrs Ivatt’s brother, the record is confused). Glanmire is about 6 miles north east of Bathurst. Bessy’s father, David Little, farmed and had a nursery at Bimbernang a few miles further away from Bathurst. The Littles were Australians of Scottish/English stock who had emigrated in 1840s and 50s.
In April 1915 he wrote to tell his parents that Betty had been born at Parkes on 4 April. Bogan Gate lies 25 miles to the west of Parkes, which is itself 95 miles west of Bathurst. All the farms and places mentioned are in the great plain to the west of the Blue Mountains, which lie inland from Sydney.
In the letter quoted above he regretted the poor news of Aunt Raper, whose house in Scarborough had been damaged by shells from the German Fleet, and had to be abandoned. He noted that all letters did not get through. He wondered if Horace had left for the Front yet, and noted that another 500 men were to leave Sydney “next Saturday”.
In July 1917 he notes that Douglas (his brother) has gone at last, and that Horace is home unfit for active service. These dates show the time which elapsed with the exchange of news. Douglas had died in April. In that letter he mentions Oscar, who was I am sure the groom of whom Muriel was so fond, and says that he has to keep his family on £66 per annum. From the same address he comments on zeppelin raids on Yarmouth and hopes that Aunt Agnes was unscathed. (In fact we were there at the time!) Bessie’s brother Harry had been in Egypt, wounded (at Gallipoli?), and invalided to England, where Alec hoped that he would have been able to see his father. He expected “that he would be in France by now”. They “suppose that Muriel is still busy with the poor soldiers”. At about this time he invited his father to visit them, because the climate would be so much better for his bronchitis.
Their second child, Douglas, was born on 20 February 1919. Bessie taught the children at home. The price of wheat collapsed so, like Marrs and Greens in England, they turned to dairying. Betty recalls how, as a child of 7, she had to take cream by a pony drawn gig a mile from the road, where it was collected by van which took it to the train on its way to the factory. She had to drive cows in, on her way home. When the factory burnt down they made butter at home selling it to local grocers and stores. The children churned the cream by hand, one turning, the other sitting on the churn. As they got older, they also helped hand milking. Wheat and wool prices improved so they switched out of dairying before selling up and returning, by sea of course to see Grandma Ada in 1926. Ada was by now quite blind and Betty remembers her face feeling felt by Ada’s fingers to appreciate how pretty she was. While Alec was away searching for another farm, after they returned to Australia, Bessie became very ill with a pregnancy which went wrong, and she died early in 1927. Alec reproached himself for leaving her alone and felt that, had he been at home, timely action might have been taken to save her life.
On their return to Australia the children went to a proper school until they were 16. Betty took correspondence courses in dressmaking, and Douglas went to an Agricultural College for a year. Alec tried several farms in the Bathurst area, then Betty married Walter Harris and they moved about 30 miles away. Douglas and his father worked together until Douglas married Jean Riach. Alec did not seem to get on very well with his daughter-in-law so partnership was dissolved and Alec went to be with Betty and Walter. That didn`t work well either so he lent both children money to buy their own places and he returned to England in 1948, for the last 7 years of his life, to share Muriel`s house.
He had been engaged, twice I think, to Grace Simpson (sister of Dot Marr`s husband) of Pilmoor House, Hunmanby, but it was broken off before he left England. After his return he learnt that his erstwhile fiancée had been widowed, and he sought her out to try once more, and was again unsuccessful. His delight was bowls. He died aged 71 in Cambridge on 15 June 1955. We liked him enormously, with a twinkle and quiet sense of humour.
Betty and Walter had 5 children, Colin 1939, Elsie `40, Lorna `41, Daphne `44 and Bill `46 all married with children. Sadly Daphne died in 1987. Betty and Walter farmed at Filibuster near Armidale and before retiring in 1977 to live in Armidale 150 miles north of Sydney with 3 children nearby. In 1985 Betty still played tennis once a week.
Douglas married Jean Riach and had 3 children, Helen 1943, Rodney`45 and Stuart `51. They farmed at Helensholme, Canowindra until Douglas`s health failed, so that he had to retire, selling the farm to his sons, but he died in 1981, (only the 2nd of my generation to go, to the best of my knowledge, apart from the War casualties: the other was Eric Peters). Stuart decided that farming was not for him so he sold his share to Rodney to start his own Estate business. Rodney still has the farm and sons to carry on, if they wish. All Douglas`s children married and had children including boys, so the Marr name is carried forward in Australia.
