Mary Ann SMITH

GEDCOM Note

Mary was the 3rd child (of 5) to George and Ann Smith who operated Tollington Nursery in Islington, London. Mary and Alfred courted over more than 3 years [see letter in stories] before marrying in 1871 in Islington. Alfred married Mary at St. Mary's Parish Church, Islington. As the family grew they lived in various areas of London - Holloway, Haymarket, Peckham and Chelsea, but the elder children were still christened at the Wesleyan Chapel in Hornsey Road. When Alfred lost his job in 1879 he was actively enquiring about leaving England - America (with James Townsend), Manitoba, NZ, but the family emigrated to Australia in 1886 - on the Routenburn to Melbourne and the Koonoowarra to Sydney - a trip of almost 100 days (arriving on 16 July 1886) at a cost of £75. After a year or so renting near the city, the family settled in High Street, Carlton and were members of the Carlton Baptist Church - the younger children and Mary Ann were baptized there. Alfred tried many lines of employment in the early days (such as storeman on a road work site at Waterfall for 7/- a day, with one day off a fortnight), but in 1897 he was with Oldfield Brothers in Hermidale [near Nyngan] and had just become overseer, meaning he was away from home for some time. George [Alfred G.S.] married about this time and the other boys were working by the turn of the century. Jack [William T.] died in 1903 (which was quite a shock to Alfred and Mary) and young Mary married a year later and with Sid away as a labourer/carpenter, Alfred and Mary opened a Guest House - "Fernside" - at Katoomba with Nell and Daisy. Sid and Nell married in 1909, leaving Daisy to care for the parents in their older age. When Sid went to war in 1916 as a widower, Alfred, Mary and Daisy left "Fernside" and moved into Sid's house in Westmead to care for his two sons, David and Ernie. With Sid's death in 1918, this became a permanent arrangement - Daisy being "mother". As the years passed, the remaining family - 4 children, 16 grand children and 3 great grandchildren - were central to their life, along with the garden at Westmead. Alfred lost Mary to a stroke in 1927 (aged 83), but had Daisy took care for him until a heart attack at age 88 meant he joined Mary and Jack in Rookwood Cemetery.