Marong to the Ninnes Grave
So ends the history of a good clean carefull affectionate wife
Our mission is successful. Accompanied by a couple of additional Friends – Garry and Lindsay – we embark on the last part of our journey which is a short 10km ride along bush trails to the Ninnes gravesite.
We have an arrival party!
There are more Friends (thanks Di, Col and others), Greg’s wife Glenda, some of Greg’s neighbours, and Moira – from the Cornish Society – who has come from Melbourne with a friend to meet us There is a morning tea spread thanks to Glenda and neighbours, and Moira has managed to get the area mowed (thanks Moira and COGB).
We have a lovely time catching up with people, and talking with Moira about the Ninnes family, their journey and their subsequent stories.
Thomas’ story is not as joyful as ours. This deserves to be reproduced here and given the solemnity it deserves.
13 April We pitched our tents on Bullock Creek about 8 miles from the Long Gully We pitched to work in the Long Gully John Thomas and John [Ninnes] Wm Henry [Thomas] full share James 2/3 of share brother Joseph and self We had two good holes in Long Gully.
1852 Monday the 11th May We moved our tents from the Bullock Creek to the head of the Moinses? Flat and creek It came onto fearfull heavy rain Maria gote whet She soon gote worse and palpitations of the harte came on
1852 Monday 18th May I fetched Dr Smitch a German Dr from Burra he attended her for inflammation of the lungs I paid him for 5 visits £10.0.0 No better
29 May Fetched Dr Oakley He attended her to 29 June. Paid 7 visits £7.0.0 Medison £5.0.0
29 May 1852 Little girl died at 9 o’clock at night from direah Little Jane died at 12 o’clock same night for want of brest nursing We took sum boards from the Burra with us which turned to make cofins. I made a nice cofin for the 2 children My wife requested me to make a cofin for her also. It was a severe trial to me but I managed to make it Bound it with white cloth It appeared very nice
Buried by a large tree near Long Gully.
29 June I got Dr Moile a nipphew of our old family Doctor of Penzance to see her Dr Moile declared her case incurable He said there was water in the chamber of the harte & common dropsy There was no hope what ever of her recovery Paid him £1.0.0
5 July Maria wished to see Dr Smitch She was in a sad state Could not live nor die No sleep Being a Sunday morning I hunted him up Gote to our tent in the afternoon I went with him for medison Got back about 8 o’clock at night Commenced giving the medison It had a fearful efect on her she became delerious with deathlike appearance in her face We stoped giving the medison She becam conscious The next day she said she would soon be gone She gave up everythin for at that moment praying to the Lord She died at 3.30 same day 7 of July Doctoring and medical comforts cost a little over £30.0.0. She lived 3 months and 7 days after her confinement
John Thomas and sons dug the graves Nicholas Trahair read the burial service So ends the history of a good clean carefull affectionate wife Myself with Mary and Martha was left to mourn our loss
What a horrific time for the family! To lose two children in one night, and to have a dying wife and mother, who requested Thomas make her a coffin while he was at it … defies thinking.
Maria Ninnes was only 34 when she died. She had survived a journey from Cornwall to Victoria, then to Burra, then this arduous journey back to Victoria. She had given birth to eight babies in her short life, but only two survived. Moira, who met us at the end of the ride is the great great granddaughter of Thomas and Maria.
As for Thomas, he stayed around the diggings for some time, and appeared to be moderately successful. He built a wall around the grave and carved his wife and children’s names into a tree. He returned to Burra and sold all the possessions he’d left behind, then went on to Melbourne, where he remarried, to a Mrs Wallis, who had two sons. Thomas and his new wife, his daughters and her sons then moved to South Australia, where they settled on a property in Clare. Thomas died in 1984 and is buried, with his second wife Charlotte, in a now-disused cemetery next to where the Spring Farm Wesleyan Chapel once stood. Maria is also mentioned on the headstone.
Stats for today:
- Distance: 10.66km
- Climb: 119m
- Average speed: 13.1km/h
- Average temperature: 14C
- Moving time: 48:43
- See our ride on Strava
The beer picture
At the end of a day’s ride, our tradition is to enjoy a beer, and to photograph it for posterity. It was a little early for a beer today, given we finished the ride around 10am, but we did enjoy a lovely morning tea, courtesy of Greg’s wife Glenda, and some neighbours. Instead of a beer this evening, Neil and I remisce on our trip with a wine from a region we passed through, back in South Australia on the day I got the log in my eye.
Along the way today:
