The Normans

My ancestors, John Norman, and his wife Elizabeth (both pictured below), and his sister Anna and her husband, together with their children born at the time, arrived in South Australia as early settlers in the Thomas Harrison in 1839. Since John Norman was 5 generations out from me and his mother Sarah was with him in South Australia for some time, this makes me a seventh generation living Australian.

His younger brother Robert and family, and their mother Sarah Norman, arrived later, on the Taglioni, in 1944. On board this vessel was also the legendary Dr Christopher Rawson Penfold, with vine cuttings from the south of France to start the Penfold wine company in South Australia. Robert was to be South Australia's first dentist.

The Normans were descended from Earls of Pembroke. It is possible that Sarah was an illegitimate daughter of the 10th Earl (who had a number of other illegitimate children, but we have never been able to locate birth records). The family name of the Earls was Herbert, and Anna was married to a Septimane Herbert, who was her cousin, presumably from another illegitimate birth. I surmise here that whereas the original colonists of the other states were convicts, South Australia, under the colonial plan devised by Edward Gibbon Wakefield, was probably attractive to illegitimate descendants of the English aristocracy, where they could get a fresh start, plenty of cheap land and no prejudice.

Robert (pictured below) set up in North Terrace, where he lived and practiced in a house still existing at the back of David Jones, but also established a country home at what became Normanville, which was named after him. He had eight children, three of whom were to become dentists, another a doctor, another a surveyor.

Robert's house is still one of the notable ones in the district, on the corner of Norman Avenue and Hastings Street. He built a Hotel and a Church, but neither survived as such. The Royal Hotel, where John later lived and was publican, was built in competition with the still existing ones in Normanville and Yankalilla, and there was at least one other Church nearby. But he was exasperated at their lack of success. 'What manner of men exists here?', he exclaimed. 'They neither serve the Lord nor follow the devil.'

John farmed at Aldinga, and ran a hotel, and as can be seen in the press excerpts, was Chairman of the Aldinga Shire Council for many years. He became bankrupt in 1862 and lived his remaining days, still active, at Normanville, where he assisted Robert. John had one son, who died as an infant, and seven daughters, for whom he became locally famous. I am descended from the second daughter, whose future husband appears in the extracts. The elder daughter married the son of a Myponga farmer Mr Pethick, who appears in the extracts, and the third and fourth daughters married sons of a nearby farmer, Mr Hewett, who also seems a prominent citizen from his appearances in extracts below.

John's most famous feat was the opening in 1859 of the Sellicks Hill road past his hotel, which features in the 1859 extract below, and the fourth daughter Jane, the eldest unmarried daughter at the time, was the one who named the road the Victory Road. The very popular Victory Hotel, at the entrance to Sellicks Hill, which is such a popular lunch spot these days for Adelaide visitors, was in fact named the Norman Victory Hotel after the road opening.

Septimane and Anna (pictured above) farmed at Yankalilla, on a property Wissanger. Septimane was also a Justice of the Peace, and local Magistrate, and as will be seen in one of the extracts, was founder of the Yankalilla Horticultural and Agricultural Society. They had in all 13 children, so there are many descendants of the Normans, including in each of the three branches.

Media Extracts

I have found many relevant references to the Normans in the early South Australian papers, but the following three give a broad taste.

John Norman by 1849 was well established, only less than 13 years into the Colony, as a farmer on the Aldinga Plains. He seems to have been a sportsman, and the popular sport of the time was ploughing, which seemed to draw large crowds and became the centre of large community participation. He hosted in 1848 a ploughing match which drew major attention in the Adelaide papers. It is interesting to read the style of reporting, his status of having seven daughters and the detailed reporting of the speeches and toasts at the dinner at the end of the day. (And the apparent amount of drinking and joviality)

1849 Report on Ploughing Match.

John Norman appears to be singularly credited with the opening of the Sellick's Hill Road in 1859. The following article records the opening of what became known as Victory Road and the celebrations at a dinner afterwards, in a similar vein. Interesting is the openness of the speeches and reporting. Clearly a certain prominent public service is maligned therein. There must have been little libel law protection, although the press was certainly free and I found a rejoinder from the said person via a letter to the editor, which is also given.

1859 Report on opening of the current Sellick's Hill Road..

This one has no reference to John Norman, but is an interesting one featuring his brother in law Septimane Herbert, referred to and photographed above. In 1862 he organised a show of agricultural products in Yankaliila and below may be found a colourful account of the evening dinner for judges and organisers, in which the Allied Armies are referred to decades before World War I and he becomes the Founding President of the Yankalilla Horticultural and Agricultural Society. The formality of the toasts, including the loyal toast, and the reporting thereon in detail I find very interesting indeed.

1861 Report on dinner after inaugural Yankalilla Show..