Friday, March 12, 2010
And still they come ...
I have had contact with a person who was able to supply leads to the whereabouts of this generation's descendants of George Robert Townsend/Noel Sinclair Townsend. One appears to be not very far from my place. It seems that some of these descendants have some interesting contemporary documents.
Friday, February 12, 2010
The Missing Portrait Mystery
Readers of the blog will know that the Elink Schuurman family is connected to the Townsends. A certain Tom Elink Schuurman, who appears to be a descendant of a brother of Henri Maximilian Elink Schuurman, husband of Maria Augusta Townsend, was Dutch East Indies Consul General in Australia before World War Two. Nora Heysen won the 1938 (announced January 1939) Archibald Prize for her portrait of Madame Elink Schuurman.
This is the best copy of the portrait that I have been able to find so far, from a newspaper of the day.
In trying to find out more about the portrait, I came across this newspaper report from July 2005. It states, in part:
"But after months of research, Ms Hendriksen has been unable to trace Heysen's most famous work - her portrait of Madame Elink Schuurman, which won the Archibald in 1938.
"Usually you can track paintings of this quality pretty easily," she said. "Either they are bought and sold at auction or there is some trail, some provenance. But, in this case, nothing. It has just disappeared."
The work, Ms Hendriksen said, was "a wonderful portrait, a quintessential early-modernist piece with a classical structure and a treatment of textiles that still maintains a freshness". Or at least, it would if she could find it. She has searched all the major private and public collections in Australia, sought help from the Heysen family and followed countless false leads. But there is no sign of the painting, no clue to its fate - though she has heard unsubstantiated rumours that it ended up in Spain."
Now, photos in the pre-war newspapers include at least one in which the young Elink Schuurman children featured. One of the children was named Henri, like many of his forebears, and his older sister was named Marcel, Marcelle or Marcile. Searching for Henri Elink Schuurman on the internet tells me that one person of that name, an ex-diplomat, lives in Spain.
Is he the son of Tom Elink Schuurman and does he have a valuable and much sought-after portrait of his mother? I wish I was in the position where I could just up stakes and head off to Spain to check it out.
Note: More searching tells me that Madame Elink Schuurman (no forename yet) was the daughter of Dr & Madame P M Lambert of Shanghai and Paris. The Elink Schuurmans married in 1933.
The caption to another photo reveals that Marcel was born in Holland and Henri in Singapore.
This is the best copy of the portrait that I have been able to find so far, from a newspaper of the day.
In trying to find out more about the portrait, I came across this newspaper report from July 2005. It states, in part:
"But after months of research, Ms Hendriksen has been unable to trace Heysen's most famous work - her portrait of Madame Elink Schuurman, which won the Archibald in 1938.
"Usually you can track paintings of this quality pretty easily," she said. "Either they are bought and sold at auction or there is some trail, some provenance. But, in this case, nothing. It has just disappeared."
The work, Ms Hendriksen said, was "a wonderful portrait, a quintessential early-modernist piece with a classical structure and a treatment of textiles that still maintains a freshness". Or at least, it would if she could find it. She has searched all the major private and public collections in Australia, sought help from the Heysen family and followed countless false leads. But there is no sign of the painting, no clue to its fate - though she has heard unsubstantiated rumours that it ended up in Spain."
Now, photos in the pre-war newspapers include at least one in which the young Elink Schuurman children featured. One of the children was named Henri, like many of his forebears, and his older sister was named Marcel, Marcelle or Marcile. Searching for Henri Elink Schuurman on the internet tells me that one person of that name, an ex-diplomat, lives in Spain.
Is he the son of Tom Elink Schuurman and does he have a valuable and much sought-after portrait of his mother? I wish I was in the position where I could just up stakes and head off to Spain to check it out.
Note: More searching tells me that Madame Elink Schuurman (no forename yet) was the daughter of Dr & Madame P M Lambert of Shanghai and Paris. The Elink Schuurmans married in 1933.
The caption to another photo reveals that Marcel was born in Holland and Henri in Singapore.
Monday, February 8, 2010
Keep on Digging
As the search goes on, new sites 'pop up' with the occasional snippet of information that you hadn't heard before. Today, I found http://www.focusonline.nl/stamboom/edward_james_townsend_parenteel.html
which adds the information that Suse Townsend, who appears to have died in Bangkinang interment camp (Riau) just a few days before liberation, was married to Terry Meurs. Her brother, James Edward Townsend, was in the KNIL (Dutch Army in the Netherlands Indies), was taken prisoner, and was lost with over 700 other internees when their ship was torpedoed in Malacca Straits by a British submarine, the HMS Truculent. 26 June 1944. There is also a photograph of their father, Robert James Townsend and their mother, Eugenie Helene Holtzapffel on http://www.focusonline.nl/stamboom/townsend_indie.html .
James Edward Townsend's widow, Mana Pikir, departed Tanjung Priok in the TSS Captain Cook, bound for Holland, in 1958.
So, the more you dig, the more you find.
which adds the information that Suse Townsend, who appears to have died in Bangkinang interment camp (Riau) just a few days before liberation, was married to Terry Meurs. Her brother, James Edward Townsend, was in the KNIL (Dutch Army in the Netherlands Indies), was taken prisoner, and was lost with over 700 other internees when their ship was torpedoed in Malacca Straits by a British submarine, the HMS Truculent. 26 June 1944. There is also a photograph of their father, Robert James Townsend and their mother, Eugenie Helene Holtzapffel on http://www.focusonline.nl/stamboom/townsend_indie.html .
James Edward Townsend's widow, Mana Pikir, departed Tanjung Priok in the TSS Captain Cook, bound for Holland, in 1958.
So, the more you dig, the more you find.
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Photograph of William Townsend
There is a photograph in the Queensland State Library purportedly of Captain William Townsend. I have also seen a scan of the same image, but with the photographer's name and address and a pencilled inscription "B I Co". The photographer was W E Wright, and he was located in Forest Gate, Essex. I am researching this person to try to extend the timeline back from 1882 (W E Wright and Sons) which would be far too late.
Anyway, the "B I Co" is most likely the British India Steam Navigation Company, which started up in 1856 (and eventually became fully absorbed into P&O). The cap badge, as far as I can see, is consistent with the BI Co uniform, and the sleeve lace would indicate Third Officer rank. So, was Captain William one of the early sea-going staff of the BI Co? He was certainly in the right job at the right time and the right place.
The BISN eventually established the Queensland Mail, from UK via Batavia and the Torres Straits, Cooktown, Townsville and Bowen to Brisbane. It was on one of these ships, the Chyebassa, that my great grandfather and his family travelled in 1885.
Anyway, the "B I Co" is most likely the British India Steam Navigation Company, which started up in 1856 (and eventually became fully absorbed into P&O). The cap badge, as far as I can see, is consistent with the BI Co uniform, and the sleeve lace would indicate Third Officer rank. So, was Captain William one of the early sea-going staff of the BI Co? He was certainly in the right job at the right time and the right place.
The BISN eventually established the Queensland Mail, from UK via Batavia and the Torres Straits, Cooktown, Townsville and Bowen to Brisbane. It was on one of these ships, the Chyebassa, that my great grandfather and his family travelled in 1885.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
The Death of William Townsend - Newspaper Clippings
Brisbane Courier, 12 August 1893
Brisbane Courier, 14 August 1893
Note that Adelina is not included in the number of marriages.
Brisbane Courier, 15 August 1893.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
More on Isabella Rachel Townsend - Maclean - Raff
I have spent a large part of today researching the Raff family, and have now updated the post about the descendants of Isabella Rachel Townsend. I still have to look out the burial details, and try to build up a picture of Robert Raff before 1900. It seems he operated in North Queensland, including Cooktown and Thursday Island.
A snippet found cached on the internet, from the reminiscences of a journalist, Reginald Spencer Browne, who specialised in the northern parts of Queensland: "Robert Raff, who died in Brisbane a few years ago, was also a merchant pearler on “The Island”, and, like the others, he got out when the bad times came."
Most of the mentions of Robert Raff in the Brisbane newspapers centre on shipping reports of his trips to and from Cooktown and the delivery of pearl and pearl shell from Torres Strait to Cooktown. It appears that he left Cooktown in 1879-1880, just before marrying Isabella.
A court report of August 1872 places Robert Raff on a property at Morayfields (sic), now Morayfield, near Caboolture. An itinerant artisan had assaulted Raff's housekeeper. It would seem that George Raff, probably father of Robert, had a sugar plantation at Caboolture with South Sea Islander 'indentured workers', three of whom took out a complaint against George as reported in the Brisbane Courier of 19 January 1869. In that report, Robert Raff states that he had been the storekeeper on the plantation for 16 months, and was responsible for supplying rations to the labourers.
There seems to have been regular problems with the Polynesian labourers, as a police court report in August 1871 notes that such a labourer was ordered to return to the service of Robert Raff.
In September 1872, the plans for the Caboolture School and teacher's residence were advertised as being on display at Robert Raff's residence at Morayville (sic).
(It is interesting to note that Captain William Townsend had land near here at the same time).
Advertisements around 1875 and 1876 indicate that Robert Raff was breeding and selling both cattle and blood and draught horses from his Morayfield property.
On 15th August 1887, a report in the Brisbane Courier from Normanton, in the Gulf Country, mentions that "No returning officer for the Burke District has been appointed in place of Mr. Robert Raff, who resigned some six months ago. The electoral lists have not been supervised for six months."
Thomas Dyson took up the position in September 1887.
In May 1890, Robert Raff and two other Raff males are claiming the estate of George Raff, deceased 28 August 1889. The estate comprised considerable land holdings around Caboolture and in Enoggera and North Brisbane.
A snippet found cached on the internet, from the reminiscences of a journalist, Reginald Spencer Browne, who specialised in the northern parts of Queensland: "Robert Raff, who died in Brisbane a few years ago, was also a merchant pearler on “The Island”, and, like the others, he got out when the bad times came."
Most of the mentions of Robert Raff in the Brisbane newspapers centre on shipping reports of his trips to and from Cooktown and the delivery of pearl and pearl shell from Torres Strait to Cooktown. It appears that he left Cooktown in 1879-1880, just before marrying Isabella.
A court report of August 1872 places Robert Raff on a property at Morayfields (sic), now Morayfield, near Caboolture. An itinerant artisan had assaulted Raff's housekeeper. It would seem that George Raff, probably father of Robert, had a sugar plantation at Caboolture with South Sea Islander 'indentured workers', three of whom took out a complaint against George as reported in the Brisbane Courier of 19 January 1869. In that report, Robert Raff states that he had been the storekeeper on the plantation for 16 months, and was responsible for supplying rations to the labourers.
There seems to have been regular problems with the Polynesian labourers, as a police court report in August 1871 notes that such a labourer was ordered to return to the service of Robert Raff.
In September 1872, the plans for the Caboolture School and teacher's residence were advertised as being on display at Robert Raff's residence at Morayville (sic).
(It is interesting to note that Captain William Townsend had land near here at the same time).
Advertisements around 1875 and 1876 indicate that Robert Raff was breeding and selling both cattle and blood and draught horses from his Morayfield property.
On 15th August 1887, a report in the Brisbane Courier from Normanton, in the Gulf Country, mentions that "No returning officer for the Burke District has been appointed in place of Mr. Robert Raff, who resigned some six months ago. The electoral lists have not been supervised for six months."
Thomas Dyson took up the position in September 1887.
In May 1890, Robert Raff and two other Raff males are claiming the estate of George Raff, deceased 28 August 1889. The estate comprised considerable land holdings around Caboolture and in Enoggera and North Brisbane.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Sandgate Museum files on William Townsend
Yesterday, I had a look in our files and we do have some information on the Townsend family. Of great interest are the wills of William Townsend and Elizabeth Salmon (Thomas) Townsend. There are also some death certificates, and past compilations of the man's history, as then known.
Of greatest interest was the statement in William's will that Elizabeth Salmon Thomas was his second cousin, and that he had a "bona fide belief" that his second wife was deceased at the time he married Elizabeth. I suppose that just shows what you could get away with at the time if you were a local community pillar. The very fact that he felt he needed to state this in his will shows that he had doubts as to the veracity of his statement, I feel.
Anyhow, I will sit down with the files and add in missing information (such as dates of marriages and the like). I think a transcription of the wills will be interesting.
Of greatest interest was the statement in William's will that Elizabeth Salmon Thomas was his second cousin, and that he had a "bona fide belief" that his second wife was deceased at the time he married Elizabeth. I suppose that just shows what you could get away with at the time if you were a local community pillar. The very fact that he felt he needed to state this in his will shows that he had doubts as to the veracity of his statement, I feel.
Anyhow, I will sit down with the files and add in missing information (such as dates of marriages and the like). I think a transcription of the wills will be interesting.
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