2. Kathleen Sara Wade Russell + JLS

George Frederick Stormont (1872-1872) #2945

Birth Certificate:

Note we have information of a marriage forJames Lancelot Stormont and Kathleen Sara on this above Birth Certificate: #1872 - 2945

Kathleen Sara Stormont (1839-1924)

Kathleen's death certificate shows her as 67 years in Australia by 1924 and thereby may have arrived by 1857. This is confirmed on the birth certificate of her son George Frederick in 1872 ~ refer certificate (above) which shows Kathleen married James L Stormont in Belfast (1857) when aged 17.

Record of their voyage to Australia in 1857 have not been found. The couple have four children, two of whom die as infants, one on the goldfields and another in the city of Melbourne. The family moved from Central Victorian goldfield to rental properties around Hawthorn and Prahran in the city of Melbourne and Kathleen (or Katharine) advertises sale or lease of property in these area.

James L Stormont

James appears to obtain work in a variety of professional capacities, despite possessing no clear qualification. It shows that in an environment which lacks skills, those who are capable of and willing to do this work in this fledgling colony, can be accepted by some people as an authority, and assume a professional title. Similarly, expedience as a mining assessor, civil and mining engineer and surveyor, enables his employ with Gippsland Councils. How this applies in 1857 when he convinces a registrar officer and makes the written statement that he was a Surgeon ⁽⁶⁾ signing for the death of his daughter Bessie.

Quotation ^(6.1):- "Unfortunately it was not always easy to find out if a doctor was qualified or not. Many people lost their lives to impostors and quacks.

We must consider whether this liberal attitude also applied, when James claimed to have committed to the formalities of a Presbyterean/Protestant marriage to both Jemima and Kathleen, given there was no divorce available in Victoria until a later date (1861) and Scottish tradition permitted the formalities of a marriage be recognised, without a church service, when a couple formed a committed relationship and made it known in public.

The records of James' activities are found in Government gazettes and Victorian newspapers. There are difficult times in the governance of Victoria goldfields and infrastructure demands professional services. James remains within the professional ambit of the day, whilst seemingly, at the same time, speculating in mining ventures. Surveying and land sales take him from Moama, NSW to Gippsland where he labours for about 15 years, before moving into a new capacity as landholder and Commissioner, for the purpose of collecting tariffs for stock movement on the Victorian border with New South Wales.

Are these changes due to business ventures failing or has a speculative mining temperament transformed his social aspirations and expectations? Was "Jas Lance Stormont" in a financial stressfull situations and/or could it be, he had major health concerns, as did his first wife Jemima. In the 1880s presumably the same James L. Stormont actually marries a third young wife, this time in Australia, whilst to date, no record of divorce has been found with Kathleen.

James Lancelot may have been one of the James Stormonts who died in Victoria in either 1873 or 1893 or 1903. Kathleen retains the name Stormont and continues on to lives a long life of 80 years and in later life lodges with her son Herbert, on property in Prahran and later in Springvale, Victoria.

James L Stormont / 2nd. agent: Government employ

(aka. Laws, Lancelot, Lancelott, Lanct.).

William McLachlan discovered alluvial gold at Pleasant Creek in May 1853, but the yield was not in sufficient volumes to attract much interest, as the Ballarat and Bendigo fields were known to be giving better results, and had already established the infrastructure to support the miners.

James L. Stormont referenced by C.E. after his name, is shown on family BDM certificates to represent a civil engineer by profession (1856). He is also referred to, on his son's death certificate, born in Hardwar, India and a Surgeon (1872).

• Note on the Victorian goldfields: "Unfortunately it was not always easy to find out if a doctor was qualified or not. Many people lost their lives to impostors and quacks. Medical practitioners were not required to be registered in Victoria until 1862" source: goldfield Medicine - sovereign hill.

Doctor - FIBIwiki: A doctor may also be known as a Surgeon or (prior to 1873) an Assistant Surgeon. The term Medical Officer is also used.

• The Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) received its royal charter in 1784. The college motto is " Consilio Manqué" i.e. "Scholarship and Dexterity"

• For the use of the practitioner term "Surgeon" - refer Australian Medical Pioneers Index

Between 1851-1872, James appears to be following mining speculation opportunities in and about the Whipstick goldfields and Ballarat (Ballaarat). From 1857, he appears together with a Mrs. Stormont (Kathleen Sara Russell).

One James Lancelot Stormont also appears by 1876 in Moama, New South Wales (across the Murry river at Echuca, Victoria), where he is an agent selling to "selectors" and a surveyor supporting the release of Crown Land. Refer:

1. Advertisement. Leader (Melbourne Vic 1862-1918) 12 & Sat. 19 & 26 August 1876. - Riverina, New South Wales - Free selection and conditional purchasers of Land Agency. Address for all information J.Lancelot Stormont, CE. Agent and Surveyor, Moama, NSW.

Wikipedia: Haridwar: "One of the two major dams on the river Ganges, the Bhimgoda, is situated here. Built in the 1840s, it diverts the waters of the Ganges to the Upper Ganges Canal, which irrigated the surrounding lands. Though this caused severe deterioration to the Ganges water flow, and is a major cause for the decay of the Ganges as an inland waterway, which till the 18th century was used heavily by the ships of the East India Company, and a town as high up as Tehri, was considered a port city The headworks of the Ganges Canal system are located in Haridwar. The Upper Ganges Canal was opened in 1854 after the work began in April 1842,^[26] prompted by the famine of 1837–38. The unique feature of the canal is the half-kilometre-long aqueduct over Solani river at Roorkee, which raises the canal 25 metres above the original river."

The newspaper reports did not provided a name for the "wife" (referenced) at the inquest into the death of Charlotte Quinn in about 1855. It is probably not Kathleen Sara Russell as her age at the time was 16 years and her stated marriage did not occur in Belfast until January 1857.

1855 - Bendigo / Whipstick

1855 - A James L Stormont and companion (probably, either Elizabeth Selina Boyd and/or Catherine / Kathleen Russell) appear at Whipstick diggings (near Bendigo).

1855 - Under an article in the Law Reports of the “Geelong Advertiser and Intelligencer (Vic. : 1851 - 1856), Thursday 13 December 1855, page 3” - reports that on the 16th. October 1855, at Mount Egerton Hotel, hearing of John Lemetre and Henry Dalles v. Henry Caughey & Co. - Held before arbitrators Messrs. (reads) James Launet Stormont, (signed Jas Lanct. Stormont) & William M. Harrison; umpire: W.M.French etc. (Guided by Mr. Lane the resident magistrate). See Comment for Decision:[b]

1856 - Court transcript makes it evident that by 1856 - James Lancelot Stormont - had moved from Ballarat to Bendigo and established a reputation as a CE (civil and mining engineer).

1856: Law Reports for the Supreme Court “Stevens vs King” James Lancelot Stormont, of Sandhurst, a civil and mining engineer, had sworn by affidavit, in the hearing of a case regarding copyright to the stamping machine.

1858 - Bessie Stormont born of James Lancelot and Catherine Russell at Whipstick. Reg. # 19659.

In 1858 diggers opened the Great Western goldfield which was worked by some 9,000 prospectors. The prospecting spread to nearby Deep Lead, about 6 kilometres to northwest, and it was reported that at the height of the rush there were over 25,000 people in the area. At the same time, shafts were being sunk around Big Hill, becoming known as the Quartz Reefs. Much alluvial gold was found in the area but the 'fossicking' petered out by 1859.

1860 - James Lancelot Stormont acts as an assessor and authority in matters dealing with quartz crushers and mining as early as 1855 and again in 1860. I find probability favours that this was the same James L Stormont's with Kathleen who would also care for his three wards the children of Jemima.

Where is the goldfield census data to show this. How well did respected authorities, speculative miners and assessors live.

Although the names are the same, it is possible another James Stormont was at Whipstick diggings, one and not related to Jemima Boyd. The signature on an official document would suffice to confirm whether this is so. Some researchers believe he was in Ballarat at the time.

• 1862 - The Argus Friday 31st January 1862 - Inquest into the death of Mrs. Charlotte Quinn (QUAIN) nee Martin at Lake Lonsdale, Victoria in the neighbourhood of the Silver Shilling and Deep Lead Diggings. A statement was made in this regard by both James Lancelot Stormont and his wife named only as Mrs. Stormont in newspaper reports.

Melbourne

• A James (L) Stormont of 78 Commercial Rd., Prahran appears to have died in 1873, aged 58, which implies he was born about 1815 and records show born in Forfarshire, Scotland. He may be the same James STORMONT who was hospitalised in Maryborough and Amherst, Victoria. Was he related to Kate Russell or related to her husband? The address in Commercial Road continued in the name of James L Stormont. James had seemingly neither married nor divorced Kathleen Rusell in Australia, so it is possible he had not formally married her and formed a common law relationship with

Gippsland

• In 1866-67 a James Lancelot Stormont runs a Survey practice in Sale, Victoria, and acts as a consultant to/or a public servant for Bainsdale. One of the same name used the initials C.E. After their name in Prahran rates book, which maybe "civil enterprise" a term used in the Blue Book of 1878 and this person also appears under C.S. civil service. It is unlikely it refers to "civil engineer" which is more contempory understanding.

• A birth recorded in 1872 in the Eastern suburbs of Melbourne refers to a child of James L Stormont and Kathleen Russell, although they each appear with variation in their names.

  • 1. Bessie Stormont died an infant (1857-1857)

    2. Bessie Stormont (1858-1940)

    3. Herbert Murray Stormont (1863-1935)

    4. George Frederick Stormont, son of of James Laws (Stormont) and Kathleen Ford Russell died, aged 4 months registered HAWTHORNE in 1872. Reg # 4227.

• In 1876 a James Lancelot Stormont runs a survey practice in Moama NSW across the Murray river from Echuca, Victoria. Had James moved back to be near his son Robert who was recently married; although Robert does not seem to know he is there and advertises for him to make contact in Echuca, Victoria which is only across the river border. Kathleen is buying and selling land -

• • refer:-

• 1876, July - Echuca - Newspapers: Browse - Riverine Herald (Echuca, Vic. : Moama, NSW : 1869 - 1954) - 6 Jul 1876 - Page 3 - SALE OF CROWN LANDS.

References:-

1. Birth 2nd. Feb. 1872 - The Argus Tuesday, 6th February 1872 - Births. "Stormont - On the 2nd inst., at Hawthorn, the wife of J. Lancelot Stormont, CoE. Of a son."

2. The Victorian Rates books for 1870s, show a James Lancelot Stormont renting property in Prahran and Hawthorn. In 1870-71 JLS appears in rate books as renting premises in Hawthorn, Victoria and may be a different person to one renting in Prahran during 1876-79 Prahran.

   1. Victoria Australia Death Records: 1836 - 1985

   2. INQUEST ON THE BODY OF MRS. QUAIN. - Empire (Sydney, NSW : 1850 - 1875), Friday 7 February 1862, page 3 (From the Ararat Advertiser.).

3. Quote Sharon Morgan - "Land Settlement in Early Tasmania. Creating an antipodal England. p.50. Refering to the 1820-30s in Tasmania -Published: Cambridge, England ; Melbourne : Cambridge University Press, 1992. - "The assistant surveyors are generally sent to the colonies to the ministers; and as there are little or no inducements held out to them, from promotions or otherwise, it is not expected they should be very zealous in the performanceof their respective tasks.

4. Surgeon: When in 1857, James assumes the title "surgeon" we may think he is attending to the cutting of limbs and removal of contusions and fluids from his patients. He may have on occasions "sat up all night, and successfully assisted a woman under influence of the primitive curse, for which his sole remuneration was a roasted potato and a draught of buttermilk...and like the Scottish doctor in the novel "The Sugeon's Daughter" ..."his was not the heart which grudged the labour that relieved human misery....and so you will often find ...under an unpromising and blunt exterior, professional skill and enthusiasm, intelligence, humanity, courage, and science".

   1. Medical practitioners were not required to be registered in Victoria until 1862." source: goldfield Medicine - sovereign hill. For the use of the practitioner term "Surgeon" - refer Australian Medical Pioneers Index.

   2. From 1813, medical (surgeon) students were apprenticed in Sydney and Hobart and then travelled to Britain to obtain corporate qualifications. refer Australian Medical Pioneers Index " Medical registration began in NSW in 1838, and was extended to the Port Phillip district in 1844. The medical register was an official list of legally qualified medical practitioners (although army and navy surgeons, who were not always qualified, could also register). Initially registration was voluntary, but the legislation was steadily tightened up, until unregistered medical practice was effectively illegal. This does not mean that every doctor was registered. The exceptions were:

      1. those who had given up the practice of their profession due to illness or infirmity, or to the acquisition of a large inheritance or another career;

      2. those who were unqualified;

      3. those who had a qualification which did not count for the purposes of registration;

      4. those who were too lazy or too proud to register; and

      5. lastly, those who were in prison, or in the army or the navy."

   3. Refer Australian Medical Pioneers Index: The authority of the ship surgeon-superintendent seems to have exceeding that of the ship's captain in some circumstances, not only in medical matters, but also in decisions about disciplinary measures among convicts and emigrants, and for any aspect of ship-board life which affected their health and general well-being, including the cleanliness of the ship. The principal threat to life on the long, cramped voyage to Australia was the spread of infectious diseases such as typhus and smallpox, and it was against this threat that the surgeon-superintendent directed his efforts. In addition, however, he was often employed in providing a programme of education and religious instruction for those under his care. (For further information see The Convict Ships, by Charles Bateson, 2nd ed. Glasgow : Brown, Son and Ferguson, 1969:38-58).

   4. "Illness in Colonial Australia. F.B.Smith. 2011. Australian Scholarly Publishing. North Melbourne. - p.180 Irregular Practices - Howitt calculated that drugs cost 12 times their price in England. An "illness of any length is....ruin to....a poor digger" (Howlitt. Land, Labour and Gold. Vol. ii. p.282).

   5. The Butchering Art: Joseph Lister’s Quest to Transform the Grisly World of Victorian Medicine. By Lindsey Fitzharris. 2018. Penguin Books. Quotes: Extract - Prologue: The Age of Agony. 17th Century: “ surgeons came from a long tradition of being trained through apprenticeships, the value of which depended heavily on the master’s capabilities. Theirs was a practical trade, one to be taught by precept and example. Many surgeons in the first decades of the nineteenth century didn’t attend university. Some were even illiterate. ”

   6. Ch. 1: Through the Lens “The surgeon was very much viewed as a manual laborer who used his hands to make his living, much like a key cutter or plumber today. Nothing better demonstrated the inferiority of surgeons than their relative poverty.“

5. The Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) has a main campus on St. Stephen's Green in Dublin, having received its royal charter in 1784. The college motto is " Consilio Manqué" i.e. "Scholarship and Dexterity"

   1. For the use of the practitioner term "Surgeon" - refer Australian Medical Pioneers Index.

6. Victoria: Melbourne - 1872 -

7. Unlikely relationship to James Russell (1790–1861), a Scottish barrister, best known as a law reporter in the English courts. Russell married in April 1839, his wife Maria, eldest daughter of the Rev.Robert Cholmeley, rector of Wainfleet, Lincolnshire, with whom he had three sons and five daughters.[1]