Julius

Julius' Family

The name Boehm in German means Bohemian. Bohemia is a Slavic area of the Czech Republic (south of Breslau where his father Emil was born). And this probably explains the small dose of Slavic and East European to be found in the DNA of Boehm descendants. But Julius was a Bohemian also in more the modern definition, as it seems.

In this sense the Macquarie dictionary defines bohemian as a person with artistic or intellectual tendencies or pretensions who lives and acts without regard for conventional rules of behaviour. Probably saying this is quite unfair as Julius, pictured above with his dog was a kind, helpful, law-abiding person. He did appear to live in different places around Mount Gambier and also Millicent. He was very popular with his nephews and one of the reasons why we were able to establish the link between the families of Christine and JAL Hein is that he appeared in family records of JAL Hein such as witness, godfather, etc. His profession is as a painter and decorator.

There is a really sad part of his personal life, and very interesting outcomes afterwards. In 1897 Julius married Mary Nitschke at her parents' home in Millicent. In 1898 she gave birth to a boy, Julius Carl. He was generally known as "Mick" and we do so also here to avoid confusion with his father and others by the same name. A few days after the birth, however, Mary died of puerperal fever, aged just 18 years and was buried in Millicent the same day.

Rather than being raised by his father, Mick, pictured above around 1939, was raised by his Nitschke grandparents. When World War 1 had started Mick wanted to fight for the Australian Army against the Germans, and due to young age, permission was required from his ethnically German grandparents. Despite this background and Mick being the precious only child, permission was granted, and Mick served the second part of the war in the 9th Light Horse, mainly in Palestine, fighting Turks rather than Germans.

Mick's unit was not involved in the famous cavalry charge at Beersheba, but at the time they were nearby, successfully capturing Gaza, and went on to capture Damascus.

In 1922 at Millicent St Michael Mick married Daisy Belinger, and they went on to have four children, Jack, b. 1923, Marie, b. 1924, Carlien, b. 1931 and Ronald, b. 1935.

Julius had moved back to Mount Gambier and in 1943 he died there, aged 76. He was buried at the Lake Cemetery with his parents.

In 1940, weeks before his 17th birthday, Jack, pictured above in 2010, enlisted in the 2nd AIF and served in the 2/9th Australian Division Cavalry Regiment (Palestine) and 2/48th Battalion (New Guinea and Borneo). The 2/48th Battalion, raised in South Australia, was the most decorated of any Australian Regiment in either war, winning four Victoria Crosses. Jack held no rank in either unit and operated in each as a signaller.

After the war Mick moved to Adelaide where he worked as a woodwork teacher, first at Rose Park School and later at Black Forest School. Remarkably, Peter Taylor went to Edwardstown School, which had no woodwork facilities, so in year 7 boys cycled up the very busy (even in those days and without helmets) South Road to Black Forest School once a week for woodwork lessons. So in 1958 Peter found his grandfather's cousin to be his woodwork teacher, which made Peter and Mick (and other relatives) happy. Mick was to die in 1964 aged 65, and was buried at Centennial Park.

When Jack came back from the war he married in 1948 Claire Clayden, and they had five children. Jack studied law and had a highly distinguished legal career, becoming Master of the South Australian Supreme Court. Claire died in 1993 and in 1996 Jack married Peggy Lego, which meant he spent more time in Perth, where he died in 2016 aged 93. The four sons and 1 daughter had various professions, including science, chef, PR consultant, nurse and cleaning business. All married and had children.

Marie married Ronald Scott in 1951 at St Marys St Mary on South Road and they lived in Balaclava. They had 3 sons and 2 daughters, most of whom married and had children. Marie kept in touch with cousin Betty Taylor through frequent telephone calls mainly and she is thought to be still living in 2017.

Carlien and Ronald both married and had children. Carlien had 3 daughters and 2 sons and moved to Sydney, dying in 1991, aged 60. Ronald had at least one known daughter but had moved to Queensland, where he died in 1992, aged 57.