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Cuthbert Brown
2nd great-grandfather
Cuthbert Brown (1855-1946)
When Cuthbert Brown was born in August 1855 in Byers Green, Durham, England, his father, Christopher Brown, was 25 and his mother, Anne Halliday, was 28. According to Audacity magazine, (quoted below), he grew up in a poor household and was illiterate. He worked in a mine as a child. It is difficult to locate his immigration records, so it is possible Cuthbert Brown paid his own way to Australia. His name does not seem to appear on easily searchable assisted immigrant passenger lists. He would likely appear on an unassisted passenger list instead. The available records do not pinpoint his arrival year, but he was in Australia by the 1870s and settled in the Newcastle area. At some point, he taught himself to read and became an avid reader.
He married Elizabeth McMullen in 1884 in Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia, in their own home. They were married by Rev. Blankspray. He initially worked as a builder in the Merewether area of Newcastle. They had three children during their marriage. He died in 1946 in Granville, New South Wales, Australia, at the age of 91.
As detailed below, Cuthbert excelled in the political sphere, winning rights for rail union workers and starting a Friendly Society to enable ordinary workers to buy medicines and health necessities. He also started the superannuation scheme. My daughter, Skye, became a union leader (Workshops Divisional President) with State Rail and advocated for workers in arbitration ( The Fair Work Commission). She did not realise that her forbear had also led this union.
According to a cousin (Dave Ironside), his mother had told him that Cuthbert was known as "the pumper" to quote "I think I can remember my Nan saying that people used to call him 'Pumper' Brown because he had a job pumping water into the steam trains that serviced the line out to Granville"
Elizabeth McMullen ( 1859-1944)
Elizabeth was born in 1859 in New South Wales, Australia, the daughter of Margaret and William (Irish). She married Cuthbert Brown in 1884 in Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia. They had three children during their marriage. She died in 1944 in Granville, New South Wales, Australia, at the age of 85.
My father recalls that he remembers her sitting with her feet soaking in a bucket of warm water. That's all he remembers, but it is likely that he knew his entire family quite well because so many were located in Granville.
Left; Cuthbert, Elisabeth and family. (Lilian, Cuthbert, James (my grandfather), Elisabeth, Nellie and the baby at front is Lilian's baby, Isabel May Watson (nee Davis).
Above; Cuthbert's only evidence of birth was his vaccination certificate.
Left; Cuthbert Brown birthday newspaper clipping.
Cuthbert Brown,A Great Australian.(Copied from Audacity magazine Winter 2015)
Cuthbert Brown was born to a work-ing class English family at Durham in 1855. Like John Verran, he received virtually no formal schooling and by the age of 9 was working in a mine. Despite these difficulties, he managed to teach himself to read and write and became an avid reader. He migrated to Australia as a young man and took work with the NSW Railways, where he was engaged as a water pumper at Granville, NSW. After a short period of time, Brown’s ability as an orator and his dedication to the welfare of fellow workers saw him elected to office in the Amalgamated Railway and Tramway Service association – the forerunner of the NSW Railways Union. By 1909 he was President of the union. In this role he tirelessly fought for bet- ter wages and superannuation arrangements for his members. In an episode of media skulduggery that should sound familiar to contemporary read- ers, a speech that Brown gave in Wollongong in 1910 was misquoted by the press of the time in an attempt to discredit him with his fellow unionists –but rather than take it lying down, he wrote to the Herald demanding a retraction and correction of the record. His letter (without a retraction) was published in the Sydney Morning Herald on Friday 28 October 1910 and his Presidency of the union continued. Brown was committed to the welfare of Australian working people and felt that the improvement of their condition would rely on both physical and spiritual renewal. To this end, he was invited to address a gathering alongside the Labour Prime Minister of the day, An- drew Fisher, on the topic of ‘The Church and Labour’ in 1909. He was a lay preacher for the Primitive Methodist church and also a member of the Protestant Alliance Friendly Society (PAFS). In his role with PAFS, he helped establish one of Australia’s earliest Friendly Society pharmacies. In the early 20th century, pharmacies went largely unregulated and the price and quality of medicine varied wildly. Brown saw that by having customers own a pharmacy cooperatively, operating it on true not- for-profit principles, they could take responsibility for the quality and cost of the drugs that they were buying. With his fellow society members, Brown worked to successfully establish a friendly society pharmacy at Granville. Today there are about 130 Friendly Society pharmacies in Australia - a legacy of the hard work and commitment to their nation of folk like Cuthbert Brown. Though separated by time and geography, Brown and Verran shared a number of common features. Though neither was born on Australian soil, both were absolutely committed to the Australian nation and community that had adopted them. Both saw the link between spiritual inspiration and material progress - and neither was afraid to take on the established interests of their time.
I did find a bankruptcy notice for Cuthbert. He is only one of three of my ancestors who appear to have gone bankrupt in the 1890s depression. It must have been terrible.
[Notice under Section 11 of the Bankruptcy Act, 1887*3
In the Supreme Court of New South Wales, (6,424)
IK BANKRUPTCY.
Re Cuthbert Brown, residing at Granville, labourer.
NOTICE Is hereby given that a Sequestration Order has this
day been made against the aboven&med bankrupt, on his own
petition.—Dated at Sydney, this 20th day of April, AJ>. 1893.
F. H. SAI/USBOTY,
Acting Begi»trar in Bankruptcy.
3576 8Bv6d.
New South Wales Government Gazette (Sydney, NSW : 1832 - 1900)
Fri 28 Apr 1893 [Issue No.284] , Page 3419.
Elisabeth McMullen pictured far right, with unknown women. This picture was from the collection of cousin David Ironside. His mother suggested that two of the ladies were Elisabeth's sisters Ellen and Margaret.
Elisabeth McMullen pictured far right, with unknown women. This picture was from the collection of cousin David Ironside. His mother suggested that two of the ladies were Elisabeth's sisters Ellen and Margaret.
I am struck by the similarity between the woman pictured left, in the back row on the left, and the woman pictured above, Fanny Wilson. She was charged with the infamous Carpentaria Downs murder in Queensland. She grew up in Armidale and I can't find any connection!! (1)
I am struck by the similarity between the woman pictured left, in the back row on the left, and the woman pictured above, Fanny Wilson. She was charged with the infamous Carpentaria Downs murder in Queensland. She grew up in Armidale and I can't find any connection!! (1)
(1) The "murder on Carpentaria Downs" refers to the 1908 unsolved murder of Nellie Duffy, a housekeeper and governess at the remote Carpentaria Downs cattle station in Far North Queensland. The case involved accusations against the station manager's wife and an Aboriginal station hand, but a subsequent trial was marred by accusations of cover-ups and incompetence, and the murder was never officially solved. The event is detailed in Stephanie Bennett's book "The Murder of Nellie Duffy", which reconstructs the crime and its surrounding circumstances.
Left: Netta (married James Brown after his first Wife Olive died) Right: Nell, daughter of Elisabeth and Cuthbert.
Left: Netta (married James Brown after his first Wife Olive died) Right: Nell, daughter of Elisabeth and Cuthbert.
*I remember my step great grandmother, Netta, going to the pub every week on the bus to have a nip of alcohol, until she was in a grand old age. My grandmother, Edna, was still very good to her, even though Netta had not passed on any of Edna's mother's belongings as inheritance for her.
Top left: Nell and her husband Jack Ratliff. Bottom left: Cuthbert's ticket for primitive Methodist Church. Above; Wedding of (Isobel, Lillian's daughter?)
Thank you to cousin, Dave Ironside, for sharing these wonderful pictures!
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