Thomas Edwin Griffiths (b. 28 Feb 1902, d. 18 Jan 1989)
Thomas Edwin Griffiths (son of Henry Isaac Griffiths and Esther Parry) was born 28 Feb 1902 in Charlton Victoria67, and died 18 Jan 1989 in Highton Victoria68. He married Mary Kathleen Weddell on 11 Jun 1929 in St Georges Presbyterian Church Geelong Vic.
Notes for Thomas Edwin Griffiths: 1902 Thomas Edwin was the second child and the first born son to H Isaac (42yo) and Esther Grifiths (29yo) , born at Coonooer Bridge on the farm at Yawong - born pre-term at 2 and a half lbs. Angus Parry - Esther's brother, rode in from the farm to get the Doctor and the Doctor delivered Tom at home. (Isaac and Esther had been married at Coonooer Bridge on 12 January 1899.)
1903 H Isaac (43yo) bought a property at 'Chestervale' Meredith.
1903 H Isaac, Esther (30yo), Gwladys (now 3 yo) and Tom (1 yo) moved to 'Chestervale' Meredith, traveling by horse and wagon from Coonooer Bridge to Meredith with a flock of sheep and farm dogs. This must have been a long, dry trip and a brave move for young parents with two very young children.
1904 (Tom 2yo) Brother Ivor H was born at Meredith. Both Tom and Ivor had a bedroom of their own, as did their sister, Gwladys.
1907 Tom (7yo) walked the 3 miles to school across the paddocks and the creek (when not flooded) accompanied by Gwladys and Ivor H who was just starting his first year at the Meredith Primary school. The school still stands on the same site but has been extended. There were 80 students in the composite Grades 1-8.
1907 (Tom 7yo) Another brother, Wilfred was born at Yeungroon, the 4th child for Esther and Isaac.
1910 (Tom 8yo) David Parry was born in Ballarat, 5th child for Isaac (now 50 yo) and Esther.
1912 (Tom 10yo) A little sister Jessie Mary was born in Geelong.
1914 (Tom 12yo) Father Isaac bought a Dodge from proceeds of a wool sale the same day.
1915 (Tom 13yo) Mervyn the last of the children to Isaac (now 55yo) and Esther (42yo) was born in Ballarat. Gwladys (15yo) stayed at home during this year, no doubt being of great assistance to her pregnant mother, Esther, helping with the family chores and the younger children.
1916 (Tom 14yo) Gwladys went to Melbourne to attend PLC as a border, with the family having plans for the other children in their turn to also have a College education.
1918 (Tom 16yo) Tom and Ivor were to start Geelong College, however, a serious flu epidemic was rampant at this time and Tom and Ivor left school to work on the family property, shearing and cropping and share-farming with other local graziers.
1920 Mervyn the youngest child now 5yo started Primary school at Meredith to follow on from the strong sporting influence of his older brothers.
1924 Tom (22yo) cast his first vote at Meredith in the elections, nominating himself as a labourer on the electoral roll. (Legal voting age was 21 at this time)
1924 Jessie, (12yo) Tom's younger sister was admitted to Geelong Hospital with appendicitis and after an operation that went horribly wrong, Jessie did not recover. She was buried at Meredith cemetery.
1926 Gwladys (26yo) in mid August married Hugh McNaughton after a romance lasting some 5 years, but Hugh contracted pneumonia while at a sheep sale and died in the first week of that October - after a marriage lasting only a few short weeks.
Very late in 1926, H Isaac and Esther moved to Geelong West at 61 The Esplanade where Isaac bought a stately two storey home facing Corio Bay. Mervyn moved to Geelong to study a trade at the Gordon Technical School.
1926 - 1929 Tom, brothers Ivor, Wilf and David lived and worked at Chestervale and around the Meredith district with Gwladys taking responsibility for the care of the home duties for the boys.
1929 Tom (27yo) married Mary Kathleen Weddell at St George's Presbyterian Church in Latrobe Terrace Geelong and he took his new bride to live at Chestervale, Meredith. Gwladys moved to the 61 The Esplanade home at this time. One wonders how Mary must have felt not only taking on a new husband and property, but also attending to the needs of his 3 brothers!
1930 Jean Esther was born to Tom (28yo) and Mary in Ballarat.
1931 Tom (29yo) and Mary voted at Meredith in the Federal Elections, Tom still describing himself as a Labourer and Mary as "Home Duties". Ivor (27yo), Wilf (24yo) and David (21yo) were still living here too, working the property - all listed as labourers. In September of this year, Mry became pregnant with their first child and must have struggled through her pregnancy caring for this enlarged family of 4 grown Griffiths men. Isaac and Esther now considered themselves "retired" living at 61 The Esplanade with Gwladys (31yo) and Mervyn (16yo)
1934 Tom (32yo) took responsibility for the milking and dairy management while Ivor H took on driving an 8 ho9rse team wagon from Steiglitz to Meredith, carting oats for local sharefarmers.
1935 Brother Ivor H married Alberta Rowe in Melbourne and at his father Isaac's request, went to live at the Griffiths property at Natte Yallock beside the Avoca River, owned jointly by Uncle John and Uncle Ivor. Mary became pregnant with her second child.
1936 Tom (34yo) is listed on the Electoral Roll - Labourer and Mary - Home Duties, voting at Meredith. Tom and Mary were at last living alone with their small family at Meredith, as Wilf (29yo) was living and working with Ivor and Berta on the Natte Yallock property and David (26yo) had moved to Mirboo North to work on his Uncle Ivor's 3,000 acre dairy farming property where he voted, identifying himself as a Labourer.
1936 Jessie Lynette second daughter to Tom and Mary was born in Ballarat in April and in October of the same year, Dorothy Elaine was born to Ivor and Berta.
1937, On the death of Uncle John (81yo), in St Arnaud, the Yawong 4,000 acre property with 3-4,000 sheep was Willed to John's brothers Ivor (75yo) and Isaac (73yo), causing a re-shuffle of the Griffiths younger boys to manage all of the properties.
Sarah, John's estranged daughter made claim to a portion of the Yawong property and after a lengthy settlement process, Isaac paid Sarah for her 50% of property value and cash and thereby gained complete ownership of the property. Isaac transferred this ownership of Yawong to Tom and Ivor.
1937 At the request of Isaac, his father (or was it a directive?) Ivor, Berta and baby Elaine moved from the Natte Yallock property where they had built a new home to the Yawong property at Coonooer.
1937 August - Wilf (30yo) married Margaret Gordon. The portion of the Yawong property given to Tom was changed to his owning Chestervale Meredith, with Wilf taking over Tom's share of Yawong, moving there with his new wife. He set about building a new home on the site where an old house had stood.
1937 October - David (27yo) was accidentally killed in a shooting accident on Uncle Ivor's property at Mirboo North and yet again, the family was embroiled in a court case, this time an Inquest into the circumstances of David's death. David was buried at Meredith alongside his sister Jessie.
1937 There were huge fires in Victoria during this year.
1939 Uncle Ivor died (75yo) on his way to make his Will in Melbourne, intending to leave the Natte Yallock property to nephew Ivor (and Berta) and unknown plans for the Mirboo North property. Without a Will, both Natte Yallock and Mirboo North properties had to be sold.
1939 The Coonooer property was flooded and all fences destroyed, causing a great deal of work for brother Ivor in particular, but also for brother Wilf and the neighbours.
1943 in June, Tom and Mary's expected baby was stillborn at Ballarat. Hugh McKaey was to have been the son that Tom had longed for, but alas, was not to be.
1944 Youngest brother Mervyn (29yo) married Mavis Pettitt at St Georges Geelong, after returning from active duty with the Australian Army.
1944 - 1948 Four years of drought yet again, impacted on Victoria.
Isaac was now in ill health, requiring bowel surgery and constant nursing care. Tom's sister Gwladys cared for him and ageing Esther at 61 The Esplanade.
1945 Tom gave his 400 acres of the Coonooer/Yawong property to Mervyn on his return from the Army, but Merv chose to sell this to buy a 1,000 acre property at Mt Mercer, not far from Meredith.
1948 H Isaac (88yo) died and was buried at Meredith alongside his two beloved children Jessie and David, leaving a frail Esther to be cared for by Gwladys.
1951 Brother Ivor, his wife and his 4 children, decided to leave Yawong/Coonooer property and move to Geelong, resulting in first the lease and then in 1953, the sale of the property long held by the Griffiths family.
1954 Jean married Daryl Nixon in Geelong and moved to manage a general store in Inglewood which Daryl and his family had owned for some time.
1955 Jessie married Charles Osborne in Geelong and they settled back at the Chestervale property to continue with managing the property.
1956 Susan Lee Nixon was born in Inglewood, Tom and Mary's first grandchild.
1959 January, David Charles Osborne was born in Ballarat, and in June, Mandy Jane Nixon was born in Inglewood.
1961 Denise Lynette Osborne was born at Ballarat, the 4th grandchild for Tom and Mary.
1961 Tom's brother Wilf died in February of this year and was buried in St Arnaud.
1965 Sandra Joy Osborne (Tannie as she was known) was born at Ballarat, the last of the grandchildren for Tom and Mary.
1975 Susan Nixon married Rod Leversha in Bendigo 1978 Sheridan Rae Leversha was born in Inglewood, the first of the great-grandchildren for Tom and Mary. 1980 Benjamin Kenneth Leversha was born in Geelong. 1982 Mandy Nixon married Jospeh Belde 1985 James Peter Belde was born in Melbourne 1986 Anthea Jane Belde was stillborn at Bendigo - no known cause. 1987 Danielle Lee Belde was born in Bendigo
1988 May, Tom's youngest brother Mervyn died of a massive heart attack at his home in Mt Mercer, a few kilometres from Meredith. Mervyn was buried at Ballarat.
1988 November Mary (84yo), Tom's (86yo) beloved wife of 59 years died and was buried at Highton, Geelong.
1989 Tom (87yo) died of Prostate Cancer and was buried beside his wife at Highton Cemetery. The Chestervale property was left to his eldest daughter Jean and following family negotiations, was divided between the two girls, with Jessie and Charles continuing to manage and expand the property holdings.
1890 Anthony Daryl Belde was born at Ballarat - the last of the great grandchildren of Tom and Mary.
1997 June saw the birth of the first great, great grandchild Georgina Osborne, David's daughter, with many more descendants to be born in this line.
1998 Tom's younger brother Ivor (94yo), the last of the "Griffiths boys" of this generation, died and was buried in Geelong West Cemetery alongside his wife Alberta who had died the preceeding year and Gwen his daughter who had died in 1993 of a rare lung cancer.
2000 September Tom's older sister, Gwladys (MsNaughton) the last remaining child of H Isaac and Esther died in her 101st years and was buried in Meredith.
Refer family history charts for details of other descendants.
More About Thomas Edwin Griffiths: Burial: Highton (Geelong) Victoria. Electoral Roll 1: 1931, C'w Corio, State Grant, SubDiv Meredith, Labourer (Ref 238). Electoral Roll 2: 1924, C'w Corio, State Warrenheip, SubDiv Meredith, Labourer (Ref 244). Electoral Roll 3: 1936, Meredith, Corio, Vict. (241) Labourer. Residence 1: 1931, 'Chestervale' Meredith Vic on father's property. Residence 2: 1924, 'Chestervale' Meredith Vic on father's property. Residence 3: 1936, 'Chestervale' Meredith Vic..
More About Thomas Edwin Griffiths and Mary Kathleen Weddell: Marriage: 11 Jun 1929, St Georges Presbyterian Church Geelong Vic.
Children of Thomas Edwin Griffiths and Mary Kathleen Weddell are:
Thomas Edwin Griffiths (b. 28 Feb 1902, d. 18 Jan 1989)
Notes for Thomas Edwin Griffiths: