Grandparents Abraham and Sarah

Mystery and legend surrounds Bertha's maternal grandparents Abraham Freeman and 'Sarah' Jane Beckingham.

They met at an agricultural station in Armidale, New South Wales in the 1880s and as Bertha understands it, Sarah was from a wealthy family which owned the property where Abraham was the head stockman.

Bertha and her siblings were told Sarah married 'beneath her station'.

This story paints a much different picture to their marriage certificate, which lists Sarah as a servant. Sarah was 23 years old at the time and although Abraham indicated his age was 29, other official documents indicate he may have been as old as 44 or 46. 

Records also indicate Sarah was pregnant before the wedding. She gave birth to a stillborn baby boy (James) less than three months later.

Bertha believes Sarah and Abraham had ten children and only three survived. Official records show the couple had at least eight children, only four of whom survived beyond infancy and no living relatives were aware of the son, John.

Folklore aside, Bertha loved her grandmother very much.

"She was so gentle, she wasn't a bit like old grandfather," says Bertha.

"But he thought the world of her.

"They made a little agreement when they got married they were going to call each other 'King' and 'Queen'.

"She called him King, I think, 'til the day she died, but he used to call her a lot of funny things besides Queen 'cause he started drinking."

As Abraham entered old age he became senile and was moved to a home in Toowoomba.In 1939 he was transferred to the Dunwich Benevolent Asylum and died a couple of weeks later.

Sarah lived on her own for several years until she also went into a home.