Symons Family

Symons families have lived on Cormwall for many generations, back to the early1600's and probably much earlier. Many worked in mining or in jobs dependent on it, particularly in the area around St Austel.

Cornish tin mining. 

During the late stages of the cooling of the mass of granite that makes up a lot of Cornwall, fissures opened up in the granite when it was still molten, and more hot molten rocks bubbled up through the granite from the earth's interior. These new rocks contained many minerals, and as they crystallized they formed mineral lodes - tin, copper, zinc, lead and iron with some silver. Because the ore bearing rocks formed in this way, rather than being sedimentary rocks like coal (hence coal is laid down in great flat plates), they have to be mined vertically rather than horizontally. Each fissure has to be mined straight down into the earth. Each fissure needed a separate mine. Therefore a great many vertical shafts were needed, rather than the one shaft that was used in coal mining.

St Austell’s prosperity depended on extracting tin from the soil and from under the surface and separating it with water in alluvial sluices. Through history, tin has been smelted with copper to make bronze for weapons, tools and household pots and pans, etc. Later tin was used to plate steel cans for food and other products. 

Tin mining in the St Austell area dates back to the medieval period, with some evidence suggesting Roman-era activity as well. Copper and tin mining increased in the 1600's as gunpowder began to be used used to dig deeply underground.Tin production in St. Austell peaked during the 18th and 19th centuries. It then declined as deposits became harder to mine and tin mines were commenced in other parts of the world. Significant mine closures occurred in the mid to late 1800’s. Some miners switched to mining the high-grade ceramic clay deposits around St Austell, but many others emigrated to countries like Canada and Australia.

Charles Symons (1725-1806) and Grace Teague (1734-1802) were married at Probus, Cornwall on 6th Jan 1766. He was born about 1725, and she was born in 1734, both in Cornwall. Charles was a blacksmith. They and their eight children (Penelope, Charles, Anne, John, William, Stephen, Jennifer and Grace) lived in Cornwall all their lives.

His son, also Charles Symons (1769-1834)  married Julie Lobb (1782-1853) at St Austell Cornwall in 1804, and all their ten children (Martha, Mary, Stephen, Charles, Julia, Jane, William, Joseph, John and James) were born and died in Cornwall, all in the town of St Austell or within a 30-mile radius.

Potato Famine.  The other factor that caused emigration was a drastic food shortage in the winter of 1846/47. As in Ireland, potatoes were the staple diet of many Cornish families. The crop failed due to Potato blight, resulting in political unrest and many families emigrated to places like Australia.

The Symons family were typical of this emigration of Cornish miners. Some went to the Victorian goldfields, some to copper mining in South Australia and others to tin mining in Tasmania, as you will see as you read on.

Stephen, the third child of Charles and Julie Symons, married Maria the fifth child of William and Jenefer Cock in 1828 in St Austell. Cornwall. Both Stephen and Maria lived and died in Cornwall. Of their 12 children, 7 emigrated (6 to Australia, 1 to Canada), 2 lived and died in Cornwall and 3 probably also died in Cornwall. Of those who emigrated to Australia, 3 settled in mining areas of Victoria, 2 in Moonta, S.A. and one died in Sydney. This list shows their scattered settlement patterns.

·         John Cock was born at St Austell in 1824, married Caroline Borlase, in 1851 at St Austell. They emigrated to Victoria with three daughters Elizabeth (17), Ellen (11) and Hetty (8) in June 1868 on the ship Northumbria. John’s occupation was miner, as attested on his Ballarat gravesite.

·         Elizabeth was born at St Austell in 1831. She married John Mellow in Cornwall in 1853. They had one son who migrated to South Australia. Elizabeth died in 1856 in Roche, Cornwall.

·         William Cock was born in 1833 at St Austell, emigrated as a single man, met and married Mary Langdon (born 1847 in Somerset, England) at Clunes, Vic in 1864. They had three children who settled in Victoria. William died at Ballarat, Vic in 1880.

·         Charles was born at St Austell in 1834. There is more about Charles below.

·         Jane was born at St Austell in 1837 and married John Best at St Austell in 1854. They arrived in Adelaide early in 1861 with three very young children, Thomas age 5, Sopinaes Ann age 3 and William age 1. John was a tin miner in Cornwall, and listed as a scholar, stone cutter in a later census. They had two children in Creswick, Vic then about 1865 moved to the mining town of Moonta, South Australia. Jane had four more children, between 1866 and 1878. John died in 1915 and Jane in 1916. Both are buried in the Woodside Methodist Cemetery in the Adelaide Hills.

·         Stephen was born in 1838 at St Austell. He married Jane Grose in 1863 and he died at St Austell in 1906.

·         David was born in 1842 at St Austell, Cornwall.

·         Joseph Cox was born 1842 at St Austell, Cornwall, married Sophia Cock (born 1842 in Cornwall) at St Austell, Cornwall in 1864 and emigrated to Adelaide on the 'Matilda Atheling' in Feb 1865. Joseph was a miner. They settled in the copper mining town of Moonta, on the Yorke Peninsula in South Aust as also did his sister Jane and John Best, at about the same time. Copper had been discovered in 1861 and the two families were part of an influx of Cornish miners, such that still today there is an annual Cornish festival. Joseph and Sophie’s first child, Joseph Stephen was born on Nov 1865 in Moonta and died there seven months later. Two more children were born in Moonta, but after 1872, the family moved north-east and the remaining seven were born in various small towns in South Australia.

·         James Henry was born 1845 at St Austell, Cornwall. He was employed as an Engine Worker. At the 1851 and 1861 census, he lived in Cornwall. He died in 1893.

·         Caleb emigrated to USA, married Ellen Burgraff in 1872 at Lawrence, Ohio, emigrated to Canada in 1879 and died in 1933 at Saskatchewan, Canada.

·         Jabez Cock was born Roche Cornwall in April 1851, arrived in Melbourne age 20, unassisted, Dec 1871 on SS Stonehouse. He died in 1902 at Parramatta, NSW and buried at Ballarat, Vic.

·         John was born 1855 at St Austell, Cornwall. In 1861 he was living in Roche, Cornwall.

Edward was born in Wigton, Cumberland, North East England (near Carlisle) and christened Anglican on 13 Feb 1820. He married Anne Riston in Feb 1840 at Wigton. At the 1841 census, he was employed as a calico printer, living in Wigton with his wife and seven-month-old son, Emmett. They had three more children, Annie (born Wigton 1841), Elizabeth (born Rhode Island, USA in 1845), and Risdon (born Rhode Island in 1850). Anne died in Rhode Island the same year Risdon was born.

In July 1851, Edward then married Mary Ann Broady at Providence Rhode Island, and they had two more children. The whole family emigrated to Victoria, arriving 31 March 1859 aboard the “Shakespeare”, and had six children in Victoria, in the Clunes/Ballarat area, where Edward was a miner. Edward died at Snake Valley, west of Ballarat in Aug 1886 and Mary Ann at Carngham in the same area in 1893

Charles was the fourth child of Stephen and Maria. He was born 10 Oct 1834 at St Austell. He married Mary Jane Sincock (1836-1862) at Bodmin, Cornwall in May 1854. They arrived in South Australia with two daughters, Adelaide Pambla and Ellen on the ship Verulam on 27 Dec 1860. Charles was listed as a miner on the passenger list. Mary bore a son, William in 1862. She died the same year at Wallaroo a copper mining town on the Yorke Peninsula in S.A.

Charles then married a widow Annie Mark (1841-1929) in Ballarat in 1865. Annie was the second child of Edward and Ann Mark, born at Wigton, Cumberland, England. She moved with her family to Rhode Island, U.S.A., then to the Victorian goldfields.

In Sept 1861, at age 20, Annie  had married William Davey at Creswick, Vic. Davey died the same year at (Royal) Melbourne Hospital, Parkville. Annie had a son to him, born at Clunes in Dec 1861. She named him William Thomas.

Charles and Annie married in Ballarat, Vic in May 1865. He already had three daughters and she a son. Charles and Annie had a further eight children between 1866 and 1879, all born at Clunes, a gold mining town north of Ballarat in Victoria. Annie (1866), David (1868), John (1870), Charles Henry (1872), Mabel Ellen (1874), James Robert (1876).

Charles died in 1980 at Broomfield near Creswick, Vic, and Annie moved to Weldborough, Tasmania, a tin mining area where several of her children had previously moved. She died there in Nov 1929.

Alluvial tin was mined in the northeast of Tasmania, around Derby, situated at the confluence of the Cascade and Ringarooma Rivers. Originally established in the 1870s during Tasmania's mining boom, Derby flourished as a hub for tin mining and timber milling. Mining leases were bought and miners worked for the lessees for wages. Mining petered out during the mid-1890’s depression. 

Several Symons family members lived and worked in this area, particularly around Weldborough. Several are buried in Weldborough Cemetery.

In 1890, tin deposits were discovered by George Renison Bell near Zeehan, west coast Tasmania and alluvial mining commenced. With adequate water, tin could be extracted by digging open a creek-side face and sluicing with water hoses. Some underground mining occurred but Tin mining was not really profitable until technological advances in 1936.The Renison Bell mine became the largest tin mine in the world. Miners worked for low wages in most mines, either at the face or sluicing the material to produce tin concentrate, at a rate of about one ton of concentrate per week.

Charles was born at Clunes, the fourth child of Charles and Annie. He married (Elizabeth) Ann at Clunes on 22 April 1897. Ann’s father (George) was born in London, and her mother (Jane Patterson) was born in Stirlingshire, Scotland. They were married in Ballarat in 1869 and settled in Clunes.  Charles and Ann had seven children.

·         Amelia Louisa (Lou) was born in 1899 in Zeehan, Tas. She married Allan Jacobi after 1920, and they had two children, Jean and James. Amelia died at Belmont Geelong in 1980.

·         Herbert Victor was born in 1904 at Zeehan. He enlisted in AIF in 1940, next of kin was his sister Amelia. He was discharged at Royal Park, S.A. in 1940. He died in 1966 in Melbourne.

·         Leslie Tasman was born at St Helens, in a tin mining area on the east coast of Tasmania. His occupation was carpenter. He died in Dec 1978.

·         James Francis was born in 1912 at Daylesford, Vic. He enlisted in AIF in 1940, next of kin was first noted as his mother, Mrs E A Symons of 22 Barden St Tempe NSW, but she was later listed as deceased (23/4/43) and NOK was given as his sister Amelia. He died in 1977 at Heidelberg, Melbourne

·         Frederick was born in 1913 at Daylesford, Vic., married Beryl Read in 1941 at Eugowra, NSW. See below for his war service and later details. Fred died at Carramar in 1977.

·         Charles Henry jnr was born at Geelong in 1915.. He enlisted in AIF at Water Street, Brisbane in Feb 1942, He married Eileen Flugge in July 1943. NOK was initially his mother at Tempe, NSW but was changed to his wife Eileen. He served at Bougainville and was medically discharged with Chronic Schizophrenia, 100% disabled in 1946. He died in 1952 and is buried at Lutwyche Cemetery, Kedron, Queensland.

·         Henry Charles (Harry?) was born in 1897 at Broomfield, near Creswick, a gold mining area in Victoria. He married Annie Elizabeth Winter (1898-1989) and he died in 1989 at Geelong, Vic.

Charles tried his hand at mining at Clunes, moved to Zeehan (Tas) for several years, then to the Weldborough area, near Derby (Tas), where several family members were mining tin. He moved back to Victoria to the Daylesford area and finally to Geelong. His children were born at all stops on the way. He died in June 1934 in Geelong and is buried there.

Ann died in April 1943. Her residence was in Tempe, NSW according to her sons’ war records, but her death and burial locations are unknown.

Fred was born at Daylesford, Vic. 20 Oct 1913, the sixth child of Charles Henry and Elizabeth Ann. He was employed as a rigger. His work included building the rigging for construction of grain silos. He travelled to various country towns including Eugowra in NSW and there he met Beryl Elizabeth Read (1918-1980).

Fred and Beryl were married 21 March 1941 in Eugowra and by 30 Jun 1941, when he enlisted, they were living with Fred’s mother, (Elizabeth) Ann, in Campbell St Traralgon, Vic. By then, Beryl was pregnant with Ronda, who was born at Traralgon on 27 Oct 1941. 

In March 1942 Beryl and Ronda moved back to Eugowra to live with her mother, Lucy Ann Read (nee Ditton), her brother Ron who had a congenital heart condition and her maternal grandmother, Maria Therese Ditton (nee Albert). Maria Therese died at Eugowra 10 May 1942. 

In Dec 1942, when Fred was on 24 days leave from W.A., they moved with Beryl’s mother and brother to Edgeware Road Enmore, Sydney. By 30 April 1942, Fred’s mother, Elizabeth Ann Symons, had moved to Barden St Tempe, Sydney where she died one year later, on 23 April 1943, aged 70. Both these dates are according to notes on her son James Francis’ war attestation form. Despite several searches on family history websites and state BDM databases, nothing else has been found on Elizabeth Ann.

So by 30 April 1942, Beryl’s mother-in-law had also moved to Sydney, and she died a year later. It would be interesting to know why they both moved and whether there was communication while both were in Sydney.

Fred and three other brothers (Charles, Herbert and Francis) enlisted for WW2.

Fred’s War Service:

·         30.6.41, Enlisted in CMF at Traralgon Vic, trade rigger, age 27 yrs 8 months, married, NOK Beryl Symons of Campbell St Traralgon Vic.

·         16.3.42, Stationed at Balcombe, Mornington Peninsula Vic

·         18.4.42, 22nd Company embarked HMT "QE" to 5 MD (West Aust) 

·         2. 11 42, transferred to AIF and allotted number VX111700, at Geraldton, W.A.

·         9.7.43, entrained for Queensland Line of Communication area

·         3.2.45, Embarked at Townsville per "Duntroon", disembarked at Hollandia

·         28.3.45, 2 Aust embarked at Hollandia per "Gorgon" disembarked Morotai a small island n.w. of west Papua, liberated from Japanese in 1944 and became an allied base to help liberate Philippines and the Borneo Campaign in 1945.

·         8.9.45 Embarked Morotai for service at Tarakan.

·         3.12.45, embarked Morotai for Tarakan for HMAS Kanimbla to Sydney

·         23.1 1946, Demobilized from 2nd Field Coy rank Sapper, age 31 years 11 months, and discharged. Sydney. Address, 24 Edgeware Rd Enmore.

·         1404 days active service, comprising 1040 in Aust and 335 overseas.

·         War Badge A233341

While living in Tempe, Fred and Beryl had two more daughters, Leslee Fay, born May 1947 and Judith Lorraine, born Feb 1950. In 1950 they were balloted for a Housing Commission house and moved to Carramar.

Fred worked for several years on construction of the Kurnell Oil Refinery and also contract work in Bell Bay in Tasmania, where he was severely injured when heavy steel fell on his foot which forced his medical retirement. He was a skilled handyman, and loved working in wood in his shed at the back of his home. He died of a heart attack in July 1977 and is buried at Forest Lawn Cemetery Leppington.