taggerty

7 June 1727 William Forster of Rothbury Parish, Northumberland married Mary Taylor of “Make a dean” – presumably Makendon, a farm on the Coquet River even more remote than Bygate Hall, right up on the Scottish border. These two are the probable parents of Luke Forster born at Harbottle and baptised at Alwinton in 1741.  William Forster also had a son Mark, born at Peels in 1738. Both boys are among the “births of protestant dissenters” in the Alwinton Parish register. Just a year after Luke’s birth, his father William Forster of Harbottle is listed among the burials. I wonder if his widow Mary was the Mary Forster of Harbottle who two years later in 1744 married James Stevenson also of Harbottle? It must have been hard raising children as a widow.

Map showing Rothbury and track up the Coquet River to Bygate Hall from Alwinton, Northumberland – sketched by “Jack” Forster c1960

In 1773 Luke Forster married Mary Stokoe. Both were living at “Bye gate Hall” at the time.

Byegate Hall, Northumberland. Photo by Ian Shiell

Contrary to the romantic family story, they didn’t own Byegate Hall, and it’s obvious from the Alwinton Parish register that many families lived and worked there. They were probably tenants and maybe servants.

At some stage between the birth of their son Mark in 1782 and Luke’s death in 1806, Luke and Mary left Bygate Hall and went to work elsewhere in the Parish. They could have been at Bygate Hall for as little as ten years. Luke Forster “labourer”, died while working at another farm, Sheep Banks, Sharperton, 23 Dec 1806 aged 65 and was buried at Holystone, Northumberland.

The birth of Luke and Mary’s son Mark Forster at Bygate hall in 1872 isn’t in the Alwinton register but that of  “The Scotch Congregation at Harbottle”. His older sister Elizabeth born 1778 was their second child of that name. The first Elizabeth died in 1776, probably at or soon after birth.

Mark Forster went all the way up to Paxton in Scotland to be married to Margaret Wilson in 1801 though she was probably a neighbour. I wonder if that was to do with them being Presbyterians? Their marriage certificate and several other documents of Mark Forster’s are still in the family. After their marriage Mark and Margaret set up a saddlery business in the larger nearby town of Rothbury.  Mark’s sister Elizabeth Forster had married William Wilson (possibly related to Margaret) at Alwinton in 1799. They both died by 1807 leaving their six year old son Thomas Wilson an orphan. He was apprenticed to his Uncle Mark Forster in 1813, and later he also set up as a saddler. Mark Forster and Margaret had eight children between 1802 and 1815. Their son Luke, born 1805 followed his father in the saddlery business in Rothbury, and in 1839 married Anne Blackett from the neighbouring county Durham. The Blackett family website  is well worth a look for this interesting branch of the family.

In 1852 Luke and Anne Forster emigrated to Australia with the eldest three of their four children. They left Liverpool on the ship “Ellen” 12 July 1852 and arrived in Melbourne 18 October 1852. Margaret Anne was 9, Elizabeth Mary 7,  and William Mark 5. Luke and Anne put their own ages back on the ship’s passenger list, his by 10 years. Their youngest child, Henry, was born in Melbourne in 1853.

According to Gwen Taylor (nee Littleton), once arrived in Melbourne, Luke Forster acted as a kind of agent for the Chinese there, and indeed, “Agent” is his occupation on the 1856 Victorian electoral roll.  In about 1867 as a very young man, William Mark went to China with his father on business, bringing back Chinese souvenirs which are still in the family. The ship coming back to Melbourne stopped at Sydney on the way, and two missionaries he had met on board invited him to their home in Sydney. There he met their half-sister, Janey McLean aged 16 or 17. Two years later, both of Luke’s sons were due for university. Being from Northumberland, there was only one university for the Forsters, Edinburgh. Henry was to study medicine there and W.M. was probably destined for the Presbyterian or Unitarian church. However when they went to Sydney to catch the ship to Edinburgh, they met Janey McLean again, and somehow they missed the ship and didn’t get to Edinburgh. Instead, William Mark and Janey were married in 1869. As Henry was 7 years younger than William Mark,  presumably the intention had been to complete his schooling in Edinburgh in preparation for University there under the protection of his older brother. He later graduated in Medicine from Melbourne University instead.

In the early 1870s William Mark and Janey Forster lived some time in Remuera, Auckland, New Zealand where two of their children were born. By 1876 they were back in Melbourne where W.M. joined his father Luke in the old family business of Saddlery. William Mark Forster and family lived for many years in Canterbury Rd. Toorak, at a home they called Rothbury after William Mark’s Northumberland birthplace.

Rothbury, Toorak, probably 16 Aug 1902 for Alice’s wedding. Top row l to r: Harold, Annie, Arthur, Willie. Middle row: Alice, W.M., Stan, M.J., Connie, Mabel. Seated on floor: Hilda, Gordon, Ruby

William Mark is best known for establishing the Try Society, and there’s plenty on the record about that:

This was Gwen’s perspective on it: W. M.  discovered that the little newsboys at the station were “thrown out when they reached a certain age” with no training to support themselves after that. At first he took some of them home, then persuaded others to invest and “took rooms so that after work the boys could have bread and jam and a sing-song”. One of his daughters, Annie May (Gwen’s mother) used to play the piano for them. W.M. persuaded various people from accountants to boot-makers to come and give the boys some training a couple of nights a week. Tom Littleton came to teach them book-keeping, and that was how Gwen’s parents met.

As well as being a well-known Melbourne philanthropist, Gwen said, W.M. was great fun. On one occasion an old woman came to the door of the family home asking for help. The concerned Forsters invited her in and offered her a cup of tea. “Haven’t you got anything stronger than that?” the old woman asked “What about some metho?” before the family twigged that she was actually W.M. in disguise.

With a total of 11 Forster children, by the time Hilda was born her eldest brother was already at university. There will be more about some of them later in the story, but here’s just a bit about each of them from eldest to youngest:

Arthur Edward Blackett Forster, born 1870, studied medicine and later practiced as a surgeon in Clunes, Vic.  HAP said he once saved the life of a child by sucking the diphtheria out of his throat. He was the father of John (Jack) Forster who much later used to visit Enniscrone Thornton around 1960 while researching the Forster family history.

William Cuthbert Durham Forster, born about 1873, later had a softgoods firm (Forster Davey) in Flinders Lane. HAP said he was “tied up with Stanley Bruce the PM”. He married twice and had many children, but his divorce and its aftermath caused a family rift, so the Littleton and Beatty branches of the family didn’t know them very well. Very briefly, after the death of his mother Mary Jane, William C.D. divorced his wife, Florence, who was Janey’s half niece. He married Jessie Henderson Mould the same year.  The scandal so horrified Annie and Connie that they kept it from their own children. Even Gwen didn’t know what had happened.

Alice Eliza, born 1876, married Henry Saxton in 1902. The family photo is probably her wedding day. The Forster and Saxton families probably met in Remuera, New Zealand where Henry was born. Henry had been previously married and already had a son. The Saxton family were timber millers in Sydney, but Henry’s older brother took control of the company. Gwen Littleton admired her Aunt Alice saying “She was very different both to her husband and to her sisters, absolutely practical” In Gwen’s opinion Alice’s husband was a “hopeless businessman” so Alice took charge of their affairs, ensuring that provision was made for her stepson who was later killed riding his bike along a road in 1916 aged 19. Henry and Alice had a farm near Moss Vale “where people came to stay”. Gwen used to enjoy holidays with them. Alice Saxton came to Enniscrone Thornton for my christening in 1949. She had three children of her own. For much more about the Saxtons see:

The Saxtons in Australia : the descendants of Charles Thomas Saxton and Emma Alexander / compiled and illustrated by Barbara Horsley;
Allingham, Qld. : Barbara Horsley 2000; ISBN 0646394207.
Available From 11 Forrest Drive, ALLINGHAM, QLD, 4850

Annie May, born 1878, married Tom Littleton in 1906. Their children were Ruth, Geoff and Gwen. Ruth and Geoff were about the same age as Harold and Peg, and they saw quite a lot of each other so there’s more about them in later chapters..

My Grandmother Constance Mary was born 1879. According to Gwen, while the Forsters were a “good looking lot”, Constance was the stand-out beauty and her father’s favourite, but with several beautiful sisters, the competition was fierce.  The Forster “at home” day was Tuesday and in the evening, anybody who wanted to could pop in and have a cup of tea or coffee and play music, bringing their music with them of course. At these gatherings, May Hall told Gwen, if too much attention was being paid to anyone other than Connie she would gracefully swoon, and everyone would rush to her. Connie married Archibald Beatty and their lives are the focus of many of the following chapters.

Harold Luke, born 1881, was closest to Connie in age and her favourite brother. He left for England “before the mast” in the late 1890’s, joined the British Merchant Marine and rarely returned to Australia, so he wasn’t present for the family portrait above and was added afterwards. He was to navigate for Gustav Hamel in what would have been the first flight across the Atlantic, but (probably luckily for Harold) Hamel’s death put paid to the plan. Harold was appointed a Unit Commander in the British Navy in 1915, and was with the British Fleet in the North Sea during WW1. During WW2 he was involved in the evacuation from Dunkirk. He married Maude in England and they had two boys. HAP said that Geoffrey was his father’s favourite and that Harold F. had lots of plans for him but he died. Michael was at the British consulate in Sarawak during the 1950s and visited Enniscrone Thornton. He suffered from recurrent Malaria and except for HAP, his family, even Peg and Hilda, seemed to disapprove of him.

Mabel Jeannie, born 1883, married Stanley Barker in 1907. They lived in Sydney. Their daughter Kathleen married Geoff Withycombe.

Ruby Margaret, born 1886, married Frederick Mansfield of Philadelphia in 1912 and left the country. She returned in 1917 and lived in Sydney.

Gordon Ewing, born 1888 was later a Carron Vale regular.  In Oct 1914 he embarked as a Driver in Divisional Train Company 1. He was with the First Australian Contingent in Egypt with the Army Service Corps and was at Gallipoli. He was promoted to 2nd Lieutenant in March 1916. He married in 1927 but appears to have had no children.

Hilda McLean, born 1889, lived at Carron Vale for many years. She was one of the first trained childhood education and kindergarten teachers in Australia. There is much more about Hilda later in the story.

Stanley Wiseman, born 1891, was the youngest, and along with Gordon was a Carron Vale regular. They enlisted together in the same company in 1914. Stan returned 23 Oct 1918, presumably with Gordon. In 1926 he married Stella Hender. They had no children.

Sources (roughly!):

1 Alwinton parish register

2. Forster family documents

3 Victoria, Australia, Assisted and Unassisted Passenger Lists, 1839-1923

4 Various bdm and newspaper sources

5 Reminiscences of Gwen Taylor, nee Littleton, daughter of Annie May Forster

6. Reminiscences of Harold Beatty, son of Constance Mary Forster