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Sydney Walter
Jessop (1887 - 1973)
Sydney Walter
Jessop was born on 14 December 1887 in the Burragorang Valley, near
Camden in NSW, and was christened early in 1888 at Granville near
Parramatta. He was the fourth child and third son of John
Crofton Jessop and Hannah Shoobridge.
Sydney - who
was known as Jack from almost immediately after his birth - whilst
being born in the Burragorang Valley moved to Parramatta with his
family not long after his birth. The when he was about 8 when his
parents separated and he moved to Granville where his mother lived
with his uncles.
He attended
Pitt Row Public School, most likely until the end of the 6th grade
- a standard level of education for the time. In 1904 his brother
Arthur had travelled to the Tweed Valley with his uncles. He had
identified land for selection and then in 1906, John with his mother
and 4 siblings - Ray, Florence, Caroline and Alf - travelled to
the NSW far north coast.
They sailed
in the ship "Cavanbah" - the aboriginal name for Byron
Bay - from Sydney to Byron Bay, then travelled by train to Murwillumbah.
They walked most of the way to Numinbah. Their furniture and goods
were delivered to the end of only road in and out of the area -
a small side horse track - and then transported by hand up the bullock
tracks to the house.
They lived for
a while in a small house built on his uncle property, and then in
1907 Sydney (Jack) selected 92 acres at Lot 83 on Couchy Creek,
and there they build a small slab house with no windows or doors
and a dirt floor. They cooked in an outside galley.
| Couchy
Creek had alot of couch grass growing in the area, but was
very heavily wooded, and it was only with the aid of South
Sea Islander labour that the land was cleared. This timber
clearing provided a nice income with the area providing excellent
quality cedar. Once the farm was cleared, Jack took up dairy
farming.
In 1911,
Jack was a contributor in the construction of the Chillingham
Hall, giving 6/-. The hall would become the focus of activity
in the community and an annual "Ball" was held there.
In 1914
Jack married Emily Louisa McDermott at Byron Bay, NSW.
Emily was born on 25 Jan 1897 in Richmond, NSW, the 8th child
and fourth daughter of Patrick
McDermott and Louisa Jane Davis. |
Emily at a BBQ at the Lever's (3rd from left
in back) |
Jack and Emily
had seven children (4 sons and 3 daughters) between 1914 and 1928:
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Ina
Merle Jessop Born . Married Michael J Aboud in 1834. |
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Esmond
Earl Jessop Born 15 Oct 1916 Married Mary Agnes Darrough
in 1909. Died 30 Jun 2001 |
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Thelma
Rita Jessop Born . Married Waverley Moffat Lowman
in 1936, then Norman Bloomer |
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Edwin
Patrick Jessop Born . Married Jenette Elizabeth Chilcott
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John Kevin Jessop Born 4 Dec 1925. Married Colleen
Mills |
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Josephine Una Jessop Born 1923. Married Patrick Aboud
in 1941. Died Apr 2002 |
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Alfred
Noel Jessop - Born . Married Flora McDonald |
When Jack was
30 he got the news that his younger brother Alfred had been killed
in Belguim. The two were obviously close, as Alfred left John all
his possessions, including a couple of dogs which Jack gave to his
son Esmond. He also gave to Esmond, Alfred's pocket watch, and a
number of other invaluable memories he had of his brother.
| In
1921 Jack made a decision to relocated the family up to North
Queensland to grow bananas. He sold the Numinbah farm to his
brother Arthur and the family travelled by train and boat
to Cairns. In Cairns Jack worked in the cane fields for about
12 months, but he had no luck finding the right farm, and
bought the family back to Sandgate where they stayed with
their cousin's the Saunders for a year.
They returned
from Sandgate, the family moved back to Numinbah living on
Arthur's property, and the three youngest children were born.
By now it was the late 1920's and the family was for all intents
prospering, though never what you would consider wealthy.
They were active members of the small Numinbah community,
the family frequently barbeques and dances in the local area,
and by 1936 |
BBQ at Dixons
(from left: Vera Jessop, Doris Jessop, Glad Jessop, Merle
Jessop, Thelma Jessop, Laurel Shoobridge, Joyce Shoobridge) |
their two eldest
daughters had married to sons of other members of the small community.
In 1937, the family built a cricket pitch on their property, and weekend
cricket became a regular event at the family property.
Cricket match at Jessop farm 1937 |
In
June 1940, their eldest son Esmond - known as Curly - request
his parents permission to join the army. He was only 23 at
the time, and Jack and Em were both concerned about his going
- Jack especially given the death of his younger brother in
WWI - but in the end gave permission. It must have been a
major sacrifice, because that left only 3 younger sons - all
under 18 - left to work the family property through out the
war. Most of the men in the area were restricted from active
duty due to the essential nature of the dairy industry.
After
the war, the dairy industry went into decline, and despite
that fact that they were making a reasonable income from bananas,
the farm got |
harder and harder
to manage - especially when you consider that in 1945 Jack was 57
and it did not appear that any of his sons wanted to stay on the land.
So the family sold the farm - in 1980 it was owned by Jack and Rose
Fogarty - and moved to Murwillumbah around this time Jack - who had
always been a relatively quite man - took to fossicking, and would
often disappear for days and weeks at a time into the back country.
In his journeys, he collected many small sapphires and opals, but
his increasing emotional distance and increasing 'depression' alienated
his wife and children, and eventually Jack left Emily and retreated
to a life as a hermit.
He passed away
on 11 December 1973 at the age of 85.
Emily had meanwhile
moved to Kingscliff where she lived in a small beach house with
her partner Mick Craney until increasing debilitation forced her
children to make the decision to put her in a Nursing Home.
| Initially
she lived in a retirement hostel in Tweed Head until her condition
deteriorated to such a point that she had to be moved to a
full care facility in Murwillumbah, and it was here that she
died on 17 December 1993, at the ripe old age of 96, and was
buried at Tweed Heads on 20 December 1993.
Emily
had lived in two centuries, and saw the federation of a nation,
the first motor car, two wars, the great depression, the onset
of decimal currency, and man walking on the moon. But even
more importantly, she was lucky enough to enjoy not only her
children and grand children, but also her great grandchildren
and great great grandchildren. A rare woman indeed. In fact
family folklore has it that she owes her long life to her
maori heritage and the glass of rum she insisted partaking
of each day right up to her death. |
Emily Christmas 1991 with her son Curly, his
wife Mary, her grand-daughter Lorraine, great grand-daughter
Liz and great great grandson Lewis |
Associated
Documents
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