Robert Stormont

~ carpenter, railway employee, carriage examiner ~

Robert Stormont (1843-1930) and Catherine Hargrave (1856-1921) had ten children,

Pedigree view for the Heritage of the following families: Robert Stormont Family Tree.

Robert Stormont was an infant of 18 months, when he arrived together with his parents, aboard^[i] the barque “Dale Park” on 21 July 1844, Port Phillip Bay, New South Wales (now Williamstown near Melbourne, Victoria). This implies Robert was born between November 1842-January 1843 and his baptism record should be among Protestant or Presbyterean (Congregational) Belfast Parishes.

Roberts father James Lancelot Stormont (1822 – 1903) was recorded in the ship's register as born in Antrim, Northern Ireland and his mother aged 24, was Jemima Boyd (aka. Wade or Bloomfield Boyd) and both parents were Protestant and able to read and write.

Protestant were regarded as nonconformists: "By law and social custom, Nonconformists were restricted from many spheres of public life—not least, from access to public office, civil service careers, or degrees at university—and were referred to as suffering from civil disabilities. In England and Wales in the late 19th century the new terms "free churchman" and "Free Church" started to replace "dissenter" or "Nonconformist".

.^[1]. Refer Wikipedia: nonconformists : https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nonconformist

As train lines were in early development in the beginning limited to the inner city, so travel until about 1900 was primarily by horse, cart and by coach with a team of horses. James Stormont a wheelwright by trade, was employed by 1850 with coach builder company in Geelong. So it is with some interest that we follow the routes and industry of Cobb & Co. and others such companies from the goldfields and to Melbourne, and later into New South Wales and to Queensland. In 1888 Dave Sinclair (Stormont) drove for Cobb & Co. Queensland.

In 1861 James Rutherford, the then owner of Cobb & Co. and from America, "drove the leading coach in the cavalcade of coaches, 40 men, tents and provisions and water in 40 gallon drums. They crosse the Murry at Echuca, and went on through the little towns of Deniliquin and Jerilderie, causing as much stir in the countryside as a travelling circus.

Edit/Extract from "When Cobb & Co. was King" by Will Lawson. Angus and Robertson Ltd. 1936 : 3rd. Edition 1988. p. 174.

Robert Stormont

Their eldest son the young Robert without his mother from 1851, may have worked with his father on the goldfields or else received an informal education in the Geelong domestic community? Later reference on Robert's wedding certificate indicate his mother's surname was "Wade" rather than Boyd, which implies at 30 years of age, he had little memory of his birth mother and also suggests that both Robert and Elizabeth may have been raised in an arrangement with communal foster mothers, such as Elizabeth Boyd (possibly Jemima's relative) and Kathleen Sara Wade Russell. The name "Wade" would not have been known untill 1857 when Robert was 13 years of age and Kathleen was 17 years.

Robert Stormont's schooling and formative early years are not clearly documented and we do not hear of his situation until prior to his marriage, when he advertises in newspapers for the whereabouts of his father James Lancelot and (sister) Elizabeth and (cousin) Sinclair.

Robert married Catherine Hargrove in Echuca, Victoria on 25th. September 1875.

The division between children of James‘ first marriage and subsequent relationships may be illustrated by Robert Stormont's entry in newspapers in 1876. Robert had been in Echuca probably working as a carpenter. James Lancelot meanwhile appears to have established a career other than coach maker, seemingly becoming a surveyor and appears to have also been involved with the Government of both NSW and Victoria in some capacity for the Land Office and dealing with settlement on Government land releases.

• It is probable that Mr. Main is really Mr. Andrew Mayne, the newsagent in Echuca, who allows his address to be used for receiving letters, (Riverine Herald ( Echuca, Vic. : Moama, NSW.) 1869-1954; 1998-1999)

Catherine was born c. 1856, at Muddy Waters, Victoria, the daughter of John Hargrove and Mary Lawless. Her death certificate (see sidebar) indicated her father was a labourer. Catherine died on 17^th December 1921 and was buried at Rookwood cemetery. The Stormont family then resided at 29 Raper Street, Newtown.

Noted: A person named Mary Lawless, a nursemaid aged 16 arrived on 21 November 1849, the vessel "William and Mary". Mary Hargrove nee Lawless, died in Junee, aged 82 in 1915, and this matches the age of the person quoted here.

Robert and Catherine's first child, Mary was born in Echuca the following year (1876). Their second daughter Jemima was born in her mother's home town of Deniliquin, New South Wales, a border town further east of Echuca and Albury, all on the paddle steamer thoroughfare of the Murray River.

Quote of Robert Stormont

Quote from email of Robert Stormont ~ son of Arthur, grandson of Robert (1843)

...What became of Robert is unclear. Did he go with his father to the goldfields? If not, what happened to him when his mother was incarcerated?

The next we hear of Robert is in 1875, when he is working as a carpenter in Echuca, Victoria. Echuca is only just over an hour’s drive in modern terms from Bendigo, and we know his father at one point (1857 - when Robert was 14) was living in the area" ...

Noted: at this time his father (may have) had a new partner, (possibly that was) Katherine Russell.

..."By this age he probably would have been apprenticed, so it is possible that he moved around with his father.

Robert, a bachelor, aged 29 (he was actually 32) married Catherine Hargrove, daughter of John Hargrove, labourer, at the Echuca Anglican Church on 25th September 1875."...

Noted the Certificate of Marriage and the Form of Declaration from the Church records

~ "Robert is shown as having been born in Belfast Ireland and his parents are listed as James and Jemima. His father’s occupation is shown as ‘çoach builder’. Catherine was 20 and was born in Victoria. ~ The presiding minister at the wedding was the Reverend John Garlick. Margaret Hargrove, presumably the sister or mother of Catherine, was one of the witnesses.

Robert and Catherine of course were the parents of ‘the ten’.

Robert Stormont's occupation as recorded in 1892 was "railway employee" and in 1902 was "carriage examiner" with the NSW Railways, so he was probably unaware of his mother's death.

Notes: Bankruptcy Proceedings / voluntary sequestations - The Maitland Mercury & Hunter River General Advertiser .(NSW : 1843-1893) Saturday 30 January 1892. Robert Stormont, of Junee, railway employé. Mr. E. M. Stephen, official assignee. Robert Stormont's occupation was carriage examiner. (1902)

The family moved about along the Murray River in Victoria and New South Wales and can be traced under Birth, Marriages and Death (BDM) records, particular those of their children's birth in the towns of Echuca, Albury, Deniliquin, Wagga Wagga and Narrandera. They later settled in the railway town of Junee , NSW and in later years appear to have moved to inner Sydney suburbs, close to that of family members.

Robert Stormont (1843-1930) and Catherine Hargrave (1856-1921) had ten children:

1. Mary, (1876- ) - Mary, was born at Echuca, on the Murray river and on the route between the towns of Bendigo and Deniliquin; Mary may have married and moved to New Zealand.

2. Jemima, (1877-1957) ~ born in Deniliquin, New South Wales; married Patrick Egan in 1902 in St. Mary's Cathedral, Sydney.

   1. 27 August 1889, an article appeared in the Wagga Wagga Advertiser newspaper, referring to Junee:- "Dr. Kavanaugh, who always has his purse open to further the interests of the town and district, and Mr. A. A. Devlin, who is also equally generous, originated a competition amongst all the schools of the town and district for the best written Copy Book and Exercise Book for girls and boys of different ages, viz., under ten years, ten to twelve, and twelve to fourteen, with the following result :—Copy Books.—Under ten years: Mary Souter and Fred. Knight ; ten to twelve years : Jemima Stormont and William McLean; twelve to fourteen: Lillian Hawkes and Frank Gibbs. (etc.).... Eleven of the twelve prizes of 5s., or the equivalent, going to our local Public School. M. R. Mooney J.P., Editor of the Southern Cross, J. Clark, manager of the Union Bank, and Dr. Kavanaugh, as a substitute for a third gentleman who could not attend, were the judges"

3. Catherine (Kit), (1879-1954)

4. Robert (Bob), (1880-1956) ~ (Mary ?)

5. John Sinclair, (1883-1909 0r 1919)

6. Jane (Jin), (1885-1904)

7. Ernest Arthur (R), (1887-1955)

8. Rupert Thomas (Tom) (1892-1958) ~ one of the twins. married Beatrice Emily Taylor in 1915 at Sydney, New South Wales.

9. Lancelot Ralph (Darby) (1892-1854) ~ one of the twins.

   1. His son Albert Ernest was the father of Robert Stormont, now a retired a school teacher who with the help of his sister Margaret, have been actively researching their family history and have been helpful in my research also.

10. Elsie Lenore Stormont, (1895-1975), birth date: 14 Jul 1895 baptism/christening date: 11 Jan 1896, St Joseph's, Junee, New South Wales, Australia.

Refer: Robert Stormont Family Tree.portrait Image c 1899 : Robert Stormont

Stormont is an electoral ward of Belfast, Northern Ireland.

The Irish Gaelic version of Stormont, Stairmhonaidh meaning 'crossing place of the mountains',