Gunning & District Historical Society

WW1: Alchin Parents Who Farewelled Their Sons by Garry Norman Smith Louisa & Albert Alchin  (Doug Langdon, via Ancestry.com.au) Albert Noah Alchin did not see his son go to The Great War. Albert died in 1913, before war was  declared. His wife Louisa Susannah Alchin was the next-of-kin for their sons, Arthur Montague Alchin, when he enlisted in 1916 at Goulburn. Louisa Susannah Alchin was also the sister of a Great War soldier. Frank Henry Borman shared the same fate as Arthur Montague Alchin; both were killed in action on the Western Front. Arthur left a grieving mother; Frank left a saddened sister. Albert Noah Alchin & Louisa Susannah Alchin nee Borman (Debbie Longhurst) Albert Noah (Bert) Alchin was a teacher for some years. He was born in Araluen in 1870, the eldest son of Charles and Mary Alchin (nee Stear). He attended Chain of Ponds Public School. At the age of 21 years he began a career in teaching. In 1892, while living in Gunning, he was instructed to take...

Tom Alchin: Jerrawa Farmer, Gundaroo Miner by Garry Norman Smith Thomas (Tom) Alchin (1853-1925) Thomas Alchin was born at Jerrawa, on 15 April 1853, the son of William James Alchin and Maria Bayley. Thomas, aka Tom, was baptised on 21 June 1853 at the Methodist Church, Jerrawa by the Reverend Benjamin Hurst of the Goulburn Circuit. At the age of 26 years Tom married 20-year-old Jane Robinson at Gunning in 1879. Jane Robinson, born at Gunning in 1858, was the daughter of John and Sarah Robinson (nee Niblett). Tom lived in Jerrawa and was a farmer like his father and uncles until 1894 when he moved his family to Gundaroo to the south of Gunning. Map showing Jerrawa, Gunning & Gundaroo Tom and Jane’s children at the time of the move to Gundaroo were Annie (1880-1996), Matilda Maria (1882-1962), Thomas (1884-1967), Sarah Jane (1886-1951), Amy Edith (1888-1970), James (Jim) Harold (1890-1963) and Sydney Herbert (1893-1982). Jane gave birth to two more chil...

  Benjamin Pollard  –  Father of 26 By M.D. Friend Catherine Creek - Jerrawa  When Benjamin Pollard died in 1915 at ‘Sunrise View’ near Dalton, New South Wales, he had recorded a remarkable statistic; fathering 26 children. Perhaps even more remarkable is the fact only one of the 26 children died in infancy; even with a serious diphtheria outbreak in the area which claimed many young victims in the early 1860’s. Pollard bounty immigrant shipping slip The family first settled at ‘The Oakes’ near Camden before relocating to Jerrawa by bullock waggon in the search for land of their own. Father William and son Benjamin had both purchased land at Jerrawa by 1856. While living here it is alleged (in the obituary of Williams daughter Ellen Pollard nee Ginn) that father William was held up by bushrangers when traveling to Yass to pay for his Jerrawa land purchase. The story goes that the bushrangers “demanded money, only to receive a ‘not negot...

Alexander John Alchin: Hard Labourer by Garry Norman Smith “Mug Shots” of Alexander John Alchin, 21 August 1900, Goulburn Gaol Alexander John Alchin was born at Dalton on 12 July 1878, the son of John Alchin (Junior (1853-1916) and Sarah Ann Atkins (1855-1883) and grandson of John Alchin (1821-1901) and Martha Matilda Johnson (1837-1922). Nothing is known of Alexander John’s formative years. As a child he was living in the area around Jerrawa and Dalton. His mother died at Dalton in 1883 when he was only five years old. His father remarried in 1888 to Mary Collins; this marriage took place in the Cootamundra district. On 1 October 1906 at the age of twenty-eight years Alexander John Alchin married sixteen-year-old Annie Low Ross (1890-1942) at Cootamundra. Annie was born in Narranderra. Prior to this time Alexander John had already been in trouble with the law. As a labourer, he struggled to find work and to make ends meet. In contrast to his later con...

John Alchin Junior: Jerrawa to Illabo  Article by Garry Smith The Reverend Benjamin Hurst who baptised John Alchin into the Methodist Church in 1853 John Alchin Junior (1853-1916) was born at Jerrawa near Dalton on 15 October 1853. He was baptised by Methodist Minister Benjamin Hurst of the Goulburn District on 30 October 1853. John Alchin was the first-born child of John and Martha (nee Johnson) Alchin. John’s parents lived their married lives in the Dalton area. John Senior was a farmer, recorded on the electoral rolls for Yass Plains and Yass at Oolong Creek, Jerrawa and Dalton from 1859 until his death at Dalton in 1901. John Alchin Junior did not receive a formal education. He grew up in the Dalton area and became a labourer. On 7 February 1876, at the age of twenty-three years, John married Sarah Ann Atkins at Dalton. Sarah Ann Atkins was the daughter of John and Emma (nee Plumb) Atkins and was born at Moreton Bay on 18 August 1855. Emma Plum Atkins marr...