RKH - BIRTH OF VIOLET GASH / KING-HALL / LUKER / ATWELL
The following note summarises the information that is available to establish the date of birth of Violet Gash \ King-Hall.
The following documents give information relating to the date of birth of Violet.
a. Death Certificate of her father Russell King-Hall.
b. Marriage certificate of wedding to her first husband William Luker
c. Marriage Certificate of wedding to her second husband Ernest Atwell.
d. Birth Certificate of her son Russell Atwell
e. Violet’s own Death Certificate. (I have never seen this one).
f. Diary of GKH.
a. The Death Certificate Russell King-Hall is dated 7th July 1883 and states that he had a daughter, Violet, aged 6 months, Giving date of birth of Jan 1883
b. Violet married William Luker on 11 Aug 1904, gives her age as 21.
Giving date of birth between. 12 Aug 1882 - 11 Aug 1883
c. Violet married Ernest Atwell on 19 October 1914, gives her age as 30.
Giving date of birth between. 20 Oct 1883 - 19 Oct 1884
d. Russell Atwell was born on 19 July 1915. Age of his mother was given as 31.
Giving date of birth between. 20 July 1883 - 19 July 1884
e. Violet Atwell died on 6th Nov 1947 at the age of 65.
Giving date of birth between 7th Nov 1881 - 6th Nov 1882
f. Entry for 30th Oct 1913 in GKH diaries gives Violet’s date of birth as Jan 1883.
Inspection of the dates given above shows that one or more of the sources of information must be inaccurate. For instance the date brackets of b. and c. do not overlap and both c. and d. cover a period after the death of Russell K-H. It therefore seems certain that the age of Violet given in c. and d. are incorrect and are one year too low, and if one accepts that the information in a. and f. e.g . Jan 1883 is accurate, then the age in e. is also one year too low. Presumably Ernest Atwell was responsible for the certificates in c, d and e. and I suppose it is possible that he went through life thinking that his wife Violet was one year younger than she was.
If one accepts that Ernest Atwell made this mistake then the date of birth given in a. and f , and supported by b. shows that Violet was born in Jan 1883. If on the other hand we think it unlikely that Ernest Atwell did not know his wife’s age for nearly 30 years, then from her Death Certificate (e.) Violet could not have been born later than 6th Nov 1882 . This is just acceptable as a birthday in early Nov 1882 would have made Violet 8 months old when her father died. Two months (eight instead of six months) might not be an unreasonable inaccuracy in the circumstances.
On balance I am inclined to believe that Violet was born in Jan 1883. The information supporting this date comes from Sarah Gash, sister of the mother, and therefore likely to be accurate. It is just possible that “six months” was used loosely and that the age in f. is correct and that Violet was born in Oct/Nov 1882.
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN RUSSELL K-H AND BUTTERCUP GASH
TIMING
If, as seems almost certain, Violet was born between Nov 1882 and Jan 1883, and most likely in Jan 1883, Russell must have met Buttercup by early 1882 by which time he was the editor of the Ballarat Star. In fact Buttercup’s pregnancy would have largely coincided with the publication of the weekly instalments of A Land of Sorrow, the last instalment of which was published on 11 November 1882.
NATURE OF RELATIONSHIP
Russell and Buttercup (Elizabeth) came from very different backgrounds. Russell was the son of British Admiral, and although sent out to Australia in disgrace, was on close terms with Andrew Chirnside, a member of one of the richest families in Victoria. The Gashs, on the other hand came from a more humble background. The family had left England in the 1850s, coming from working class stock. After their arrival in Australia the husband appears to have deserted his wife and family. Mrs Gash was obviously a remarkable woman as she successfully brought up her large family, but is not likely to have been able to have been able to give them many social advantages. Given the respective social backgrounds of Russell and Buttercup it is tempting to assume that their relationship was of a casual nature. However this seems unlikely. Russell in his final illness was nursed by Sarah, a sister of Buttercup and even more significantly Russell was buried in a Gash grave, an act which surely shows that Russell was on close terms with other members of the Gash family apart from Buttercup.
It is still not certain whether Russell and Buttercup were ever married. Russell’s Death Certificate states that they were married at a small town (name difficult to read but thought to be Jerrawa in New South Wales), on the other hand no record of this marriage (or Birth Certificate for Violet) has been found and Buttercup, when she married Arthur Youl in April 1885 at Adelaide gave the name of Gash for her Marriage Certificate. For what it is worth Violet obviously considered herself a King-Hall as she used this name at her first marriage to William Luker. Further evidence comes from the diaries of George King-Hall (elder brother to Russell). When he was Commander-in-Chief, Australian Station he met Andrew Chirnside on two occasions in Aug 1913. The latter told him about their African adventures and said that Russell and Buttercup were never married. He also added that Buttercup had been unfaithful to Russell. This entry (10 Aug 1913) suggests that Andrew knew Buttercup and even followed her career after Russell died.
From the information we have it is very difficult to work out the nature of the relationship between Russell and Buttercup. On one hand we have their different social back grounds. On the other hand we have the closeness between other members of the Gash family and Russell before and after his death. Finally how did the town of Jerrawa fit into the story. It surely must have had some significance even if the couple were not married there.