Charlotte

Charlotte's Family

As noted earlier Charlotte, known as Lottie, in 1888 married Ernest Edward Boys (son of a farmer and teacher, and of Eliza Norman, in turn daughter of John Norman, who had farmed at Aldinga, was responsible for the Victory Hotel being built, and brother of Robert Norman, South Australia's first dentist, and having Normanville named after him) at Mt Gambier Christ Church and they lived at the top of the town backing on to the Valley Lake. Mr Boys had come from Adelaide, presumably looking for a fresh start. In a Border Watch court report on 2 August 1882 he is listed as a witness to an event in 1881, where he was an assistant at Holtje and Rischbieth's clothing store. When married he was a draper's assistant, then a draper, working most of his life as such at Fidler and Webb. Charlottes landmarks here.

Unusual in the days of large families, they only had two children, both sons. Leslie Norman (Les) was born in 1889 and Edgar Theodore (Theo or `Chummy') in 1891. These two brothers were close friends all their life. The friendship started as children. Their house backed on to the Valley Lake and they would go down to the lake and swim in it. They also played a lot of sport together, sports such as basketball, tennis and Australian football. They were both avid racegoers. Theo in fact went to 62 Melbourne Cups even though he lived in Adelaide. They were also close to their Uncle Julius, and frequently talked about him, and also their cousin Mick and his son Jack. They would eventually see each other a lot when later living in Adelaide.

Les, pictured above in 1914, married Alberta Myrtle Franklin at Mt Gambier Christ Church, apparently the first registered nurse at Mt Gambier hospital, and he was employed as a clerk by Elder Smith. They then moved (probably a promotion) to Jamestown, where Shirley was born in 1920 and Betty in 1922.

On the other hand Theo (known outside the family as "Chummy"), pictured above in 1976 when aged 85, worked for the other great pastoral company, Goldsborough Mort. He had already left Mount Gambier for Adelaide in 1915 when he married Hetwich Leske (known as "Jack", or to some relatives as "Auntie Jack") at Balhannah St Thomas.

Ernest Edward Boys died in 1933, aged 74, in Mount Gambier, and was buried at the Lake Cemetery. Charlotte then left Mount Gambier to Adelaide to be closer to her sons, and died in a private hospital on Fullarton Road in Myrtle Bank in 1935. She is buried in the cemetery of Glen Osmond St Saviour and her gravestone is well marked.

Les' family

In 1934 Les Boys was transferred to Head Office in Adelaide, where he worked until retirement and then a short stint as a clerk at Actil's factory near Woodville (Actil made bed sheets and other cotton products). He passed away in 1963 at the age of 74, and was buried at Centennial Park. He had suffered from emphysema.

Shirley married a teacher, Norman Bone, in Hawthorn St Columba in 1948, and for a long time were to live in Waikerie, in the Riverland, before moving back to Adelaide. They had two sons, Allan, b. 1949, who became a television studio technician and later lived in northern New South Wales and the Middle East, and Malcolm, b. 1953, who was a butcher, and later lived in Perth. Each son has a number of children. Shirley later lived in Perth and died there in 1992.

Betty, pictured above in about 1939, went to Unley High School, and came third in the state in book-keeping. She subsequently worked in the Commonwealth Bank where she met Jim Taylor. They married in Hawthorn St Columba in 1943 while Jim had leave from the army. He served in the 2/9th Armoured Regiment during World War 2 and took part in the 1945 landing at Labuan. When Jim returned Betty was required as a married woman to resign from the bank. They had three children, Peter, b.1947, Susan, b. 1949 and John, b. 1963.

Betty and Jim had first lived after the war in Kilkenny, then Clarence Gardens in a Housing Trust estate, and later Lower Mitcham. In Jim's brief retirement from being teller, branch manager, then Chief Inspector for the Commonwealth Bank in South Australia, they lived in Linden Park. But not for long. At age of 63 in 1984 Jim suffered from a secondary cancer of the cerebellum and passed away within a couple of months of being affected. Betty moved to the Pineview Retirement Village on Greenhill Road for about 20 years, but in mid 80s started suffering dementia and lived her final years in a Myrtle Bank Nursing Home before passing away in 2011 at the age of 88.

Peter completed a PhD in Applied Mathematics at the University of Adelaide and became a Professor of Mathematics at the University of Canberra. He is an Officer (AO) in the Order of Australia and more details of his career can be found in his web site here. He married in 1976 Lois Moore (d. 2012) and they had three children, Gregory, b. 1977, Stephanie, b. 1979, and Benjamin, b. 1981. All have professional careers and are married with children.

Susan completed a MB BS at the University of Adelaide and became a GP at a practice at Southern Clinic, Clovelly Park. She married Tony Newman in 1970 and they had three children, Andrew, b. 1976, Matthew, b. 1978 and Thomas, b. 1981. All have professional careers and are married with children.

John got an Honours degree in mathematics and a Dip Ed at the University of Adelaide and is a teacher at Pulteney Grammar School and was a House Master for 27 years, now still teaching there (2022) as a House Master Emeritus. His four children Sarah, b. 1991, Nicholas, b. 1993, Rachel, b. 1995 and Zoe, b. 1996 all have University degrees.

Theo's family

Theo and Jack lived in Myrtle Bank for their last several decades and both lived to a good age. Theo became an inspector for Goldsborough Mort, one of the most senior positions in the large company, and traveled all over South Australia, knowing many of the most successful farmers in the state. They only had one child, a son, John, born at the Miss Rowe hospital on Wakefield Street in 1929, 14 years into his parents' marriage. In 1956 John, who was a publican, married Judith Tucker, and they had five children. In turn there are a number of grandchildren but none appear to still live in South Australia. Theo was healthy until his last day in 1978, when he went to the city on a bus. But getting off the bus on his way home at Fullarton Road he fell and subsequently died, aged 87. Jack was still playing tennis in her 80s, and survived Theo by a little, and Theo regarded the secret to his good health to them sharing a bottle of Coopers Sparkling Ale each evening at 5 o'clock. John passed away in 2005.