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| Andrew Rodrom Memorial Card |
According to my husband, the story of his great-grandfather Andrew Rodrom is this: he was a Norwegian ship’s carpenter from Oslo who jumped ship in Sydney Harbour and changed his name to the name of a ship anchored there. Full stop, end of story.
It is not the end of the story, but just the beginning.
Andrew died in August 1911 taking the secret of his true name to the grave.
Goulburn Evening Penny Post – Saturday 2 September 1911
"DEATH AT GUNNING"
Gunning, Thursday.—Mr. Andrew Rodram, a resident of Gunning for over 50 years, died in the Yass Hospital yesterday, aged 78 years. Deceased was a native of Norway. The funeral took place to-day”
He was buried in the Church of England portion of the Gunning cemetery – his grave and headstone have been lost to the ravages of time.
So, who was the real Andrew? Did he change his name simply because it was too hard to pronounce or was he hiding from something or someone? Did he leave another family in Norway and who were his parents? Did he have brothers and sisters?
In 1906, Andrew applied to become a naturalised Australian and some “secrets” were revealed and some questions were raised. Andrew was born in Trondheim, Norway in 1834. Andrew stated that he first came to Australia in June 1866, arriving in Melbourne aboard the Bastian Port. Lots of research revealed that there was no ship by that name but there was a Dutch barque, a cargo ship called the Bastiaan Pot, which made a number of trips to Australia carrying timber and other goods. It did not come in 1866, but it did come in June 1867, also 1865 and 1864. The Naturalisation papers also revealed that Andrew had lived in Greymouth, New Zealand for two years and Orange, NSW for 18 months. Around the 1860’s there was a large contingent of Norwegian miners working around Greymouth, so did Andrew dabble in mining? In 1896 he was elected by the people of Gunning to represent them at the Miners Conference in Sydney, hardly a nomination for someone unexperienced in mining.
Andrew Rodrom first made his appearance in the Goulburn Herald and Chronicle in 1875, accused of horse stealing, a charge that he was later acquitted of. Andrew stated that he was a resident of Goulburn and was working as a carrier and claimed he had made a swap with a Mr Fuller’s son for a horse, but Mr Fuller alleged that Andrew stole the horse. In the court report Andrew was described as being a foreigner who spoke broken English. Apparently, at the time there was a carriers strike, but Andrew continued to operate much to the annoyance of the other carriers.
Andrew married Martha McConville, a widow in 1876 at St Edmunds Church of England, Gunning. Andrew said he was a resident of Bowning. Martha was the daughter of John Venables, a convict assigned to Mr Broughton of Broughtonsworth, Lang’s Creek and Martha Eliza Hutchinson. According to one family legend Andrew met Martha around the Ballarat or Bendigo area and fell in love. Andrew had to leave to settle his affairs, promising to return, but in his absence Martha was persuaded to marry Thomas McConville. Thomas (sometimes referred to as Thomas Bean) was knocked down at the Mutbilly races on Boxing Day 1873. He was taken to the Frankfield Inn, which was owned by his stepfather Joseph Bean. He remained unconscious until he died on New Year’s Day 1874 from head injuries. Martha was left widowed with three young boys and another on the way.
Andrew and Martha had six children – Mary who died as a child, Esther, Elizabeth, Joseph, George and Annie and they lived on a block of land fronting Biala, Grovenor and Bond Streets in a house that he built.
Over the years Andrew made numerous appearances in the Goulburn Penny Post or the Goulburn Chronicle, sometimes for being on the wrong side of the law. Sometimes it was for winning tenders for additions or alterations to government buildings. The family stories are that he worked as a carpenter on one of the Gundagai and Wagga bridges. A newspaper report from December 1887 states:
“ACCIDENT: I am sorry to say that one of our townsmen, Mr. Rodrom, whilst at work on a bridge near Cooma met with serious accident through some gearing giving way, causing Rodrom and a fellow workman to be thrown with violence depth of 20 feet or more. Rodrom sustained a fracture of two or three ribs besides other injuries. He is under the care of Dr. English, who hopes to set him all right soon”
He also worked as a mail contractor, first on horseback and later with a sulky and one horse. He was still delivering mail at 77 years of age, as this report from March 1911 attests.
“ACCIDENT: On Saturday afternoon an accident befell Mr. A. Rodram, mail contractor. He was returning from Collector, and when about eight miles from here the horse he was driving a young animal became unmanageable and bolted with him. A sulky some short distance ahead was driven by Master J. Muller. Mr. Rodram could not draw his horse off the track, and before anyone was aware, there was a collision, Rodram's buggy striking the rear of the sulky and smashing it. Both vehicles were overturned and the occupants thrown out Muller jumped clear, and a boy in the baggy escaped, but Rodram was discovered lying unconscious. Muller got the horses and vehicles righted with the help of his brother, who came along. Rodram was badly cut about and shaken, and Muller sustained injury to one of his legs, also a shock to Mr. Rodram, who is an old man, has only just left hospital”.
Article by Nerida Rodrom
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