Leonard Arthur Brown

M, #7261, b. 3 May 1903, d. 1992
Father*Thomas Brown b. 1864, d. 17 Apr 1927
Mother*Matilda Jane Ludlow b. 1860, d. 7 Sep 1934
Birth*3 May 1903 Pakenham, VIC, Australia, #B12768 [par Thomas BROWN & Matilda LUDLOW].1 
Marriage*7 May 1930 Spouse: Margery Bentley. Baptist Church, North Carlton, VIC, Australia, #M5401.2
 
Marriage-Notice*21 Jun 1930 BROWN— BENTLEY.—On the 7th May, at the Baptist Church, North Carlton, by the Rev. T. Trinham, Leonard Arthur, the youngest son of the late Mr. T. Brown and Mrs. T. Brown, Pakenham, to Margery, eldest daughter of Mr. and Mrs. T. Bentley, Hedley. English papers please copy.3 
Divorce*1937Leonard Arthur Brown and Margery Bentley were divorced in 1937 1937/75.4 
Marriage*1938 Spouse: Alma Pauline Muller. VIC, Australia, #M8640.5
 
Land-UBeac*27 May 1954 GEM-D-2 (part) LP13287 (Lot 3). Transfer from Edwin Athol Fairless to Leonard Arthur Brown.6 
WidowerJan 1959He became a widower upon the death of his wife Alma Pauline Muller.7 
Marriage*1960 Spouse: Alma Winifred Lang. VIC, Australia, #M78/1960, Leonard Arthur BROWN & Alma Winifred LANG.8
 
Land-Note*19 Sep 1961 GEM-D-2 (part) LP13287 (Lot 3): Mortgagee: William John Twyford. Discharged 29 Aug 1966. Mortgagor was Leonard Arthur Brown.9 
Widower7 Dec 1961He became a widower upon the death of his wife Alma Winifred Lang.7,10 
Land-UBeac17 Nov 1966 GEM-D-2 (part) LP35840 (Lot 9), 57 Beaconsfield-Emerald Road. Transfer from Albert Reginald Bickham to Leonard Arthur Brown.11 
Death*1992 Traralgon, VIC, Australia, #D7750/1992 (Age 89) (par Thomas BROWN & Matilda LUDLOW) - as Leonard Arthur BROWN. Spouse Margery Ellen Bentley.12 

Electoral Rolls (Australia) and Census (UK/IRL)

DateAddressOccupation and other people at same address
1936Bald Hill Road, Pakenham, VIC, AustraliaOccupation: orchard hand.13
1942Pound Road, Berwick, VIC, AustraliaOccupation: farmer.14
bt 1949 - 1954Kenilworth Avenue, Beaconsfield, VIC, AustraliaOccupation: farmer. With Alma Pauline Brown.15,16
1963Emerald Road, Upper Beaconsfield, VIC, AustraliaOccupation: farmer.17
196836 Bald Hill Road, Pakenham East, VIC, AustraliaOccupation: labourer.18
1972Buys Road, Garfield, VIC, AustraliaOccupation: no occ.19
1977Wanda, Army Road, Pakenham, VIC, AustraliaOccupation: no occ.20

Newspaper-Articles

  • 16 Apr 1937: Leonard Arthur Brown, 33 years, of Murrindindi, station hand, from Margery Brown, 27 years, of Hedley, on the ground of desertion. The parties were married at North Carlton on 17th May, 1930. Margery Bentley21

Citations

  1. [S2] Registry of Births Deaths and Marriages Federation Index Victoria 1889-1901.
  2. [S27] Victorian Government. BDM Index Victoria (Marriages) (online).
  3. [S16] Newspaper - The Age (Melbourne, Vic.), Sat 21 Jun 1930, p11
    https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/203089332
  4. [S34] PROV (Public Record Office Victoria).
  5. [S22] Victorian Government. BDM Index Victoria (online).
  6. [S185] Property Titles ; PROV (Public Record Office Victoria), C/T 6344-732 - Leonard Arthur Brown of Kenilworth Avenue Beaconsfield Farmer.
  7. [S5] Registry of Births Deaths and Marriages Death Index Victoria 1921-1985.
  8. [S27] Victorian Government. BDM Index Victoria (Marriages) (online) "#M78/1960, Leonard Arthur BROWN & Alma Winifred LANG."
  9. [S185] Property Titles ; PROV (Public Record Office Victoria), C/T 6344-732 -William John Twyford. Discharged 29 Aug 1966. Mortgage No B282931.
  10. [S47] Index of burials in the cemetery of Springvale Botanical Cemetery.
    Cremated remains scattered at Springvale 11 Dec 1961.
  11. [S185] Property Titles ; PROV (Public Record Office Victoria), C/T 7228-591 - Leonard Arthur Brown of Emerald Road Upper Beaconsfield - C/T 8652-306 (C641150).
  12. [S28] Victorian Government. BDM Index Victoria (Deaths) (online) "#D7750/1992 (Age 89) (par Thomas BROWN & Matilda LUDLOW) - as Leonard Arthur BROWN, born Toomuc Valley. Death registered at Traralgon, Australia. Spouse Margery Ellen Bentley."
  13. [S136] Electoral Roll for Australia, 1936.
  14. [S142] Electoral Roll for Australia, 1942.
  15. [S149] Electoral Roll for Australia, 1949.
  16. [S154] Electoral Roll for Australia, 1954.
  17. [S163] Electoral Roll for Australia, 1963.
  18. [S168] Electoral Roll for Australia, 1968.
  19. [S172] Electoral Roll for Australia, 1972.
  20. [S177] Electoral Roll for Australia, 1977.
  21. [S16] Newspaper - The Age (Melbourne, Vic.), Fri 16 Apr 1937, p11.
Last Edited24 Dec 2023

Alma Pauline Muller

F, #7262, b. 1908, d. Jan 1959
Married NameBrown. 
Birth*1908 Yea, VIC, Australia, #B8033.1 
Marriage*1938 Spouse: Leonard Arthur Brown. VIC, Australia, #M8640.2
 
Death*Jan 1959 Melbourne, VIC, Australia, #D622 (Age 50) [par Paul Frederick MULLER & Mary Jane DAWSON].3 

Electoral Rolls (Australia) and Census (UK/IRL)

DateAddressOccupation and other people at same address
bt 1949 - 1954Kenilworth Avenue, Beaconsfield, VIC, AustraliaOccupation: home duties. With Leonard Arthur Brown.4,5

Grave

  • Thomas Simmons Lawn, Row AE, Grave 32, Springvale Botanical Cemetery, Springvale, VIC, Australia6

Newspaper-Articles

  • 23 Jan 1959: Sympathy is felt throughout this district for Mr L. Brown, Emerald Road, in the loss of his wife recently in Alfred Hospital.7

Citations

  1. [S2] Registry of Births Deaths and Marriages Federation Index Victoria 1889-1901.
  2. [S22] Victorian Government. BDM Index Victoria (online).
  3. [S5] Registry of Births Deaths and Marriages Death Index Victoria 1921-1985.
  4. [S149] Electoral Roll for Australia, 1949.
  5. [S154] Electoral Roll for Australia, 1954.
  6. [S47] Index of burials in the cemetery of Springvale Botanical Cemetery.
    Service 12 Jan 1959.
  7. [S18] Newspaper - Pakenham Gazette (Vic.), 23 Jan 1959, p8.
Last Edited19 May 2020

Arnold Adam Pringle

M, #7271, b. 1897, d. 16 Oct 1917
Father*Robert Pringle b. 1860, d. 29 Dec 1937
Mother*Frances Barton b. 11 Oct 1870, d. 17 Jun 1958
Birth*1897 Hawthorn, VIC, Australia, #B19740.1 
Death*16 Oct 1917 France died of wounds. Buried Lissenthock Military Cemetery.2 
Death-Notice1 Nov 1917 PRINGLE.—Died of gunshot wounds, 16th October, 1917, at 2nd Canadian Casualty Clearing Station, France, Warrant-Officer Arnold Pringle, dearly beloved second son of Robert (on active service) and Francis Pringle, of George street, Glenferrie; dearly loved brother of Mr. and Mrs. Nathan, Sandringham; Fred, on active service; George, Eric, and Hector, aged 20 years and 4 months, after two years and seven months' service.
Thy will be done.3 

Grave

  • Plot 5-036-B, Berwick Cemetery, Berwick, VIC, Australia, In Memory of Robert Pringle late A.I.F., beloved husband of Frances, passed away 29.12.1937
    John Nathan died 2.6.1943
    also Arnold A.I.F., killed in France 19174

Newspaper-Articles

  • 16 Oct 1918: PRINGLE.—In loving memory of our dear son and brother, Warrant-Officer Arnold, who died of wounds on the 16th October 1917.
    His father and his brother waited for one word from him, but at last the awful news came through. He is dead. He died from gunshot wounds.
    We never knew what pain he bore,
    We did not see him die.
    We only knew he passed away,
    And never said good bye.5

Citations

  1. [S2] Registry of Births Deaths and Marriages Federation Index Victoria 1889-1901.
  2. [S29] Nominal Roll, Australian War Memorial - WWI.
  3. [S11] Newspaper - The Argus (Melbourne, Vic.), Thu 1 Nov 1917, p1
    https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/1659961
  4. [S44] Index of burials in the cemetery of Berwick,
    5-036-B Nathan John M 57 4/06/1943 1120
    5-036-B Pringle Robert M 77 30/12/1937 985.
  5. [S11] Newspaper - The Argus (Melbourne, Vic.), 16 Oct 1918, p1.
Last Edited2 May 2020

Edith Annie Jackson

F, #7276, b. 1882, d. 1973
Father*Joseph Henry Jackson
Mother*Mary Elizabeth Hilliar b. 1856, d. 1935
Birth*1882 Long, VIC, Australia, #B17392.1 
Land-UBeac*24 Mar 1942 GEM-D-1 LP2461 (Lots 7.16. parts 6.8.9.12.13.14.15.17). Transfer from Frances Pringle to Edith Annie Jackson Mary Elizabeth Jackson. 2a 10p.2 
Land-Note*24 Mar 1942 GEM-D-1 LP2461 (Lots 7.16. parts 6.8.9.12.13.14.15.17): Mortgagee: Jean Nathan. Discharged 5 Apr 1943. Mortgagor was Edith Annie Jackson Mary Elizabeth Jackson.3 
Land-UBeac*5 Apr 1943 GEM-D-1 LP2461 (Lots 7.16. parts 6.8.9.12.13.14.15.17). Transfer from Edith Annie Jackson Mary Elizabeth Jackson to Thomas Haley Evelyn Grace Haley. 2a 10p.4 
Death*1973 Camberwell, VIC, Australia, #D23961 (Age 91.)5 

Citations

  1. [S1] Registry of Births Deaths and Marriages Pioneer Index Victoria 1836-1888.
  2. [S185] Property Titles ; PROV (Public Record Office Victoria), C/T 4236-152 (C/T 4496-139) - Edith Annie Jackson and Mary Elizabeth Jackson both of Salisbury Road Upper Beaconsfield Spinsters - C/T 6544-788.
  3. [S185] Property Titles ; PROV (Public Record Office Victoria), C/T 6544-788 - discharged 5 Apr 1943.
  4. [S185] Property Titles ; PROV (Public Record Office Victoria), C/T 6544-788 - Thomas Haley Taxi Proprietor and Evelyn Grace Haley his wife both of 32 Waltham Street Sandringham - joint proprietors.
  5. [S5] Registry of Births Deaths and Marriages Death Index Victoria 1921-1985.
Last Edited20 Apr 2016

Mary Elizabeth Hilliar

F, #7277, b. 1856, d. 1935
Married NameJackson. 
Birth*18561 
Marriage*1877 Spouse: Joseph Henry Jackson. VIC, Australia, #M2402.2
 
Death*1935 Malvern, VIC, Australia, #D6040 (Age 79) [par Henry HILLIAR & Sarah BEATON].1 

Family

 Joseph Henry Jackson
Children 1.Mary Elizabeth Jackson b. 1880, d. 1964
 2.Edith Annie Jackson b. 1882, d. 1973

Citations

  1. [S5] Registry of Births Deaths and Marriages Death Index Victoria 1921-1985.
  2. [S1] Registry of Births Deaths and Marriages Pioneer Index Victoria 1836-1888.
Last Edited18 Apr 2016

Joseph Henry Jackson

M, #7278
Marriage*1877 Spouse: Mary Elizabeth Hilliar. VIC, Australia, #M2402.1
 

Family

 Mary Elizabeth Hilliar b. 1856, d. 1935
Children 1.Mary Elizabeth Jackson b. 1880, d. 1964
 2.Edith Annie Jackson b. 1882, d. 1973

Citations

  1. [S1] Registry of Births Deaths and Marriages Pioneer Index Victoria 1836-1888.
Last Edited16 Dec 2018

Mary Elizabeth Jackson

F, #7279, b. 1880, d. 1964
Father*Joseph Henry Jackson
Mother*Mary Elizabeth Hilliar b. 1856, d. 1935
Birth*1880 Collingwood, VIC, Australia, #B17264.1 
(Transfer to) Land-UBeac24 Mar 1942 GEM-D-1 LP2461 (Lots 7.16. parts 6.8.9.12.13.14.15.17). Transfer from Frances Pringle to Edith Annie Jackson Mary Elizabeth Jackson. 2a 10p.2 
(Mortgagor) Land-Note24 Mar 1942 GEM-D-1 LP2461 (Lots 7.16. parts 6.8.9.12.13.14.15.17): Mortgagee: Jean Nathan. Discharged 5 Apr 1943. Mortgagor was Edith Annie Jackson Mary Elizabeth Jackson.3 
(Transfer from) Land-UBeac5 Apr 1943 GEM-D-1 LP2461 (Lots 7.16. parts 6.8.9.12.13.14.15.17). Transfer from Edith Annie Jackson Mary Elizabeth Jackson to Thomas Haley Evelyn Grace Haley. 2a 10p.4 
Death*1964 Camberwell, VIC, Australia, #D24539 (Age 84.)5 

Citations

  1. [S1] Registry of Births Deaths and Marriages Pioneer Index Victoria 1836-1888.
  2. [S185] Property Titles ; PROV (Public Record Office Victoria), C/T 4236-152 (C/T 4496-139) - Edith Annie Jackson and Mary Elizabeth Jackson both of Salisbury Road Upper Beaconsfield Spinsters - C/T 6544-788.
  3. [S185] Property Titles ; PROV (Public Record Office Victoria), C/T 6544-788 - discharged 5 Apr 1943.
  4. [S185] Property Titles ; PROV (Public Record Office Victoria), C/T 6544-788 - Thomas Haley Taxi Proprietor and Evelyn Grace Haley his wife both of 32 Waltham Street Sandringham - joint proprietors.
  5. [S5] Registry of Births Deaths and Marriages Death Index Victoria 1921-1985.
Last Edited18 Apr 2016

Sarah Thomas

F, #7281, b. 1860, d. 1 Nov 1933
Married NameWatt.1 
Birth*1860 Williamstown, VIC, Australia, #B1795 [par Thomas THOMAS & Elizabeth WALTON].1 
Marriage*1885 Spouse: Thomas Joseph Watt. VIC, Australia, #M1162.1
 
Land-UBeac*18 Mar 1919 GEM-D-1 LP2461 (Lots 19.20). Transfer from Emma Shorthouse to Sarah Watt.2 
Land-UBeac*11 Oct 1927 GEM-D-1 LP2461 (Lots 19.20). Transfer from Sarah Watt to Stephen Robert Durant.3 
Widow15 Jun 1928Sarah Thomas became a widow upon the death of her husband Thomas Joseph Watt.4 
Death*1 Nov 1933 130 Canterbury Road, Canterbury, VIC, Australia, #D9243 (Age 73.)4 
Death-Notice*2 Nov 1933 WATT-On the 1st November, at 130 Canterbury road, Canterbury, Sarah, widow of the late Thomas Joseph, beloved mother of Alice and Arthur, and loving grandmother of Joy and Cleworth late of Williamstown and Belgrave, aged 73 years. -Peace perfect peace.
WATT.-The Friends of the late Mrs. SARAH WATT are respectfully informed that her funeral will leave the residence of her son, 130 Canterbury road, Canterbury, THIS DAY (Thursday, 2nd November) at 2 p.m. and proceed to the Box Hill Cermetery.5
 

Electoral Rolls (Australia) and Census (UK/IRL)

DateAddressOccupation and other people at same address
1914Atherton Road, Oakleigh, VIC, AustraliaOccupation: home duties. With Thomas Joseph Watt. With Elizabeth Alice Watt George Arthur Watt.6
1919Atherton Road, Oakleigh, VIC, AustraliaOccupation: home duties. With Thomas Joseph Watt. With Elizabeth Alice Watt.7
192453 Vincent Street, Malvern East, VIC, AustraliaOccupation: home duteis. With Thomas Joseph Watt. With Elizabeth Alice Watt.8
1931Belway, Sandells Road, Tecoma, VIC, AustraliaOccupation: home duties. With Elizabeth Alice Watt.9

Citations

  1. [S1] Registry of Births Deaths and Marriages Pioneer Index Victoria 1836-1888.
  2. [S185] Property Titles ; PROV (Public Record Office Victoria), C/T 3509-673 - Sarah Watt of Atherton Road Oakleigh Married Woman - C/T 4192-206.
  3. [S185] Property Titles ; PROV (Public Record Office Victoria), C/T 4192-206 - Stephen Robert Durant of 291 Coventry Street South Melbourne Furniture Dealer.
  4. [S5] Registry of Births Deaths and Marriages Death Index Victoria 1921-1985.
  5. [S11] Newspaper - The Argus (Melbourne, Vic.), 2 Nov 1933, p1.
  6. [S114] Electoral Roll for Australia, 1914.
  7. [S119] Electoral Roll for Australia, 1919.
  8. [S124] Electoral Roll for Australia, 1924.
  9. [S131] Electoral Roll for Australia, 1931.
Last Edited16 Apr 2016

Caroline Constance Henderson

F, #7288, b. 1868, d. 17 Dec 1919
Probate (Will)* Caroline C Nissen. Married. Northcote. 17 Dec 1919. 171/646.1 
Married NameNissen.2 
Birth*1868 Echuca, VIC, Australia, #B2405 [par David Laurie HENDERSON & Ellen STRANGE].3 
Marriage*1890 Spouse: Carl Johan Hjalmar Nissen. VIC, Australia, #M6704.4
 
Bill of Sale*1892 Bill of sale: 95207 Caroline Constance Nissen. Edward Brick Tower Hotel Doncaster.
VPRS 8350/P2 unit 204, item 95207.5 
Bill of Sale1893 Bills of Sale Filed. 97524 Caroline Constance Nissen William McDonald Tower Hotel Doncaster
VPRS 8350/P2 unit 220, item 97524.6 
(Passenger) Migration/Travel9 Aug 1913 On 9 Aug 1913 Caroline Constance Nissen travelled to Bremen, Germany, sailing on the Seydlitz, sailed from Melbourne. Age 45.7 
(Migrant) Migration/Travel13 Apr 1914 To Melbourne, VIC, Australia. Ship Scharnhorst, sailed from Southampton to Australia arrived Port Phillip 25 May 1914
Age 46 - Mrs Caroline Nissen.8 
Death*17 Dec 1919 Sandringham, VIC, Australia, #D18929 (Age 51) [par David Laurie HENDERSON & Ellen STRANGE].9 
Death-Notice*18 Dec 1919 NISSEN — On the 17th December, at Sandringham, Caroline Constance, wife of C. J. H. Nissen, Exchange Hotel, William-street, city, beloved daughter of Ellen and the late David Henderson, 75 Bridge-road, Richmond, loving sister of Mrs F. Reeves, Seddon; Mrs. Hynes, Northcote; Lewes (W.A.), Aubrey (Croydon), Jack (Fairfield) and Emily, Nellie and Violet. Private funeral. Peace, perfect peace.
NISSEN. — On the 17th December, at Sandringham, Mrs C. J. H. Nissen (Lal), loved friend of Maroc Neill. A patient sufferer at rest.10 

Electoral Rolls (Australia) and Census (UK/IRL)

DateAddressOccupation and other people at same address
bt 1903 - 190943 William Street, Melbourne, VIC, AustraliaOccupation: home duties. With Carl Johan Hjalmar Nissen.11,12,13,14
bt 1912 - 1915426 Flinders Street, Melbourne, VIC, AustraliaOccupation: hotelkeeper.15,16,17
bt 1916 - 1917Rose of Australia Hotel, Bourke Street, Melbourne, VIC, AustraliaOccupation: hotelkeeper.18,19

Grave

  • Boroondara Cemetery, Kew, VIC, Australia, Henderson Family Burial Site - site 2006, compartment C, Church of England Section, Booroondara Cemetery, Kew, Melbourne. The Headstone lists the names of David Laurie his wife Ellen, eldest son Henry and daughter Caroline Constance Nissen. Also buried there are 3 other daughters, Emily Ellen, Violet Grace and Ellen Mary20,21

Citations

  1. [S35] Probate Records, PROV (Public Record Office Victoria), VPRS 28/P3, unit 1043; VPRS 7591/P2, unit 623.
  2. [S4] Registry of Births Deaths and Marriages Great War Index Victoria 1914-1920.
  3. [S1] Registry of Births Deaths and Marriages Pioneer Index Victoria 1836-1888.
  4. [S2] Registry of Births Deaths and Marriages Federation Index Victoria 1889-1901.
  5. [S34] PROV (Public Record Office Victoria), 95207 Caroline Constance Nissen Edward Brick Tower Hotel Doncaster
    VPRS 8350/P2 unit 204, item 95207.
  6. [S34] PROV (Public Record Office Victoria), Bills of Sale Filed. 97524 Caroline Constance Nissen William McDonald Tower Hotel Doncaster
    VPRS 8350/P2 unit 220, item 97524.
  7. [S36] Inward & outward passenger lists to and from Victoria. Series: (VPRS 14; 7666; 7667; 7786); PROV (Public Record Office Victoria), Outward Passengers.
  8. [S65] Ancestry - various indices, UK and Ireland, Outward Passenger Lists, 1890-1960.
  9. [S22] Victorian Government. BDM Index Victoria (online).
  10. [S16] Newspaper - The Age (Melbourne, Vic.), 18 Dec 1919, p1.
  11. [S103] Electoral Roll for Australia, 1903.
  12. [S105] Electoral Roll for Australia, 1905.
  13. [S106] Electoral Roll for Australia, 1906.
  14. [S109] Electoral Roll for Australia, 1909.
  15. [S112] Electoral Roll for Australia, 1912.
  16. [S114] Electoral Roll for Australia, 1914.
  17. [S115] Electoral Roll for Australia, 1915.
  18. [S116] Electoral Roll for Australia, 1916.
  19. [S117] Electoral Roll for Australia, 1917.
  20. [S46] Index of burials in the cemetery of Boroondara, Kew,.
  21. [S80] Ancestry - Family Tree, lotfam.
Last Edited29 Jun 2020

Sir James Ralph Darling

M, #7289, b. 18 Jun 1899, d. 1 Nov 1995
Sir James Ralph DARLING
(1899-1995)
Note* Appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1953, he was knighted in 1968 (for services to education and broadcasting).1 
Name Variation Sir James Ralph Darling was also known as Dr James Ralph Darling. 
Birth*18 Jun 1899 Tonbridge, Kent, England.2 
Marriage*21 Aug 1935 Spouse: Margaret Dunlop Campbell. Toorak Presbyterian Church, Toorak, VIC, Australia, #M10052.3,4,5
 
Marriage-Notice*28 Aug 1935 DARLING-CAMPBELL.—On the 21st August, 1935, at Toorak Presbyterian Church, by the Rev. Dr. John Mackenzie, Margaret Dunlop Campbell, elder daughter of the late Mr. John D. Campbell and Mrs. J. D. Campbell of Kintyre, Heyington place, Toorak, to James Ralph Darling, of Geelong, elder son of Mr. and Mrs. A. M. Darling, of the Old Rectory, Trinley, Ipswich, England.4 
Land-Note*6 Oct 1950 PAK-224, Kamarooka. Kamarooka was owned in the name of Dr Darling's wife Margaret Darling.6 
Death*1 Nov 1995 Melbourne, VIC, Australia.2 

Newspaper-Articles

  • 15 Nov 1995: OBITUARY: Sir James Darling
    James Ralph Darling, schoolmaster: born Tonbridge, Kent 18 June 1899; Headmaster, Geelong Grammar School 1930-61; OBE 1953; CMG 1958; Chairman, Australian Broadcasting Commission, 1961-67; Kt 1968; married 1935 Margaret Campbell (one son, three daughters); died Melbourne, Australia 1 November 1995.
    James Darling was an Englishman who became a great Australian; and he was doubly a Victorian - he was born in the reign of Queen Victoria and he emigrated in January 1930 to the State of Victoria to begin what became a 32-year headmastership of Geelong Grammar School: one that proved of seminal importance to both that school and his adopted country. In Australia's Bicentennial year, 1988, he was one of 200 men and women formally designated Great Australians from the 200 years since the British settlement of 1788, one of only 22 then living, and the only headmaster among the 200. He has some claim to be called Australia's greatest educator.
    He was also a great Victorian in another sense. Like Shaftesbury, like Gladstone, like his own early mentor William Temple, he carried his Christianity into every area of life, whether public or private. It had not, however, come easily. His natural tendency - evident still in his mid-nineties - was that of an active and questing intellect seeking an intelligible faith rather than a natural faith seeking intellectual justification. His greatest service at Geelong lay in the education of boys to a sense of responsibility for others and to a sensitive awareness of the needs of the world in which many of them were to play leading parts.
    When his long reign at Geelong was coming to a close, there were those who would have liked him to take orders and perhaps become a bishop. In fact, even before it ended, he was appointed Chairman of the Australian Broadcasting Commission (later Corporation); and, though he was somewhat abruptly replaced after six years in that office, during which he had striven for high moral and artistic standards and for necessary independence in the face of inexorable commercial interest and governmental interference, there were still many years ahead in which he went on working and inspiring others in a wide range of fields. But in his heart he never really left the school that he had taken by storm in 1930.
    He inherited what can fairly be called a good school, and he left it a great one. His successors Tommy Garnett (former Master of Marlborough), Charles Fisher (a son of Darling's second headmaster at Repton, like Temple a future Archbishop of Canterbury), and John Lewis (now Head Master at Eton) made important additions - including girls - but on the basis of Darling's heroic work from 1930 to 1961.
    James Darling was the son of Augustine Darling, who ran a preparatory school at Tonbridge, and a Scottish mother of strong character and principle, nee Jane Nimmo. At Repton, as a scholar, he first knew Temple and in the classroom was inspired by Victor Gollancz's passionate and radical idealism and by the historians L.A. Burd and D.C. Somervell. Geoffrey Fisher's legacy was perhaps a delayed one, in the practicalities of administration.
    After war and post-war service as a Second Lieutenant in the Royal Field Artillery in France and occupied Germany in 1918-19, he read (with distinction) the shortened school of Modern History at Oriel College, Oxford, and in 1921 began to teach at Merchant Taylors' School, Liverpool, coming again within the orbit of Temple, now Bishop of Manchester, who became a close friend.
    In 1924 he moved to Charterhouse and the influence of perhaps the most famous headmaster of the day, Frank Fletcher. He became president of the local branch of the Labour Party at Godalming. In 1929 he led a party of English public schoolboys on a tour of New Zealand and Australia, where he was favourably noticed in Melbourne as a compelling speaker and one who could lead young men by a combination of charm, intellect, and idealism. This tour was the immediate background to the Geelong appointment, but the choice of a young bachelor of pink political persuasion over the heads of safer candidates was courageous and far-sighted.
    He took over early in the Depression. Boys were involved in relief work in Geelong, and employment was given to many who would otherwise have been without work in those dark days. Thus through the 1930s some remarkable buildings were achieved, including music and art schools; there were Shakespearean and other drama productions including pageant-plays, involving every boy, such as The Dynasts of Thomas Hardy and dramatisations of the fifth book of the Aeneid and of the Bible. Music, art, and the manual crafts were similarly brought in from the peripheries of the curriculum, and, when three of his early pupils were awarded Rhodes scholarships of whom n 1938 Michael Thwaites won the Newdigate Prize for Poetry at Oxford and James Mann topped England in the Bar finals, even those sceptical of Darling's Renaissance-style approach had to admit that Geelong Grammar was achieving spectacular results in new fields to match the rowing Blues that had hitherto done most to make it famous overseas.
    The Second World War might well have dampened Darling's energies and achievements had he not possessed a resourcefulness in finance and administration to match his creative genius. The spirit of the school was probably never better than under the challenges then imposed. A National Service scheme, begun earlier, continued; the boys did domestic and maintenance work; and whole buildings, including local woolsheds and a church, were rebuilt by them and the staff after destruction by bushfires.
    In the decade after the war the school expanded and by 1953 it was on four sites. In that year Timbertop was founded, probably Darling's most famous innovation (to be attended by the Prince of Wales for most of 1966). It was an outpost of the school in the foothills of the Australian Alps to which the fourth form (later the third) went for a year in which academic work was supplemented by a wide range of pursuits, the more physical of which, such as cross-country runs and long hikes, replaced conventional school sport. The principal aims of Timbertop were to awaken, or reawaken, the spirit of adventure latent in adolescent boys, to develop independence, self- reliance and a sense of community, and to restore something of the ancient harmony between man and nature.
    The boy population of the school grew from 370 to 1,139 in his time, and it was more an empire than a kingdom that Darling handed on to Garnett in August 1961 together with a staff of unusual quality. Those whom Darling had appointed included young men who went on to a wider fame such as Sir William McKie, Organist and Master of the Choristers at Westminster Abbey, and the radical historians of Australia Russel Ward and Manning Clark. At least 27 of Darling's staff became heads of schools or university colleges in five continents, and his words and policies were widely weighed.
    Amongst Darling's alumni may be named Sir John Gorton, Prime Minister of Australia, the painter Russell Drysdale and the novelist Peter Carey; John Landy, who broke Roger Bannister's mile world record, and was one of nine Geelong Grammarians in the 1956 Olympic Games; and the media magnates Rupert Murdoch, James Fairfax and Kerry Packer.
    As a headmaster Darling never ceased to teach, particularly the sixth form with whom he shared the full range of his interests in literature, politics, history, philosophy, theology, and the affairs of the school and the world. He read constantly, and, while claiming no great scholarship for himself, he showed in the range and precision of his intellect the essential qualities of the scholar, and he inspired scholarship in others.
    His publications include four books: The Education of the Civilised Man (1962), a selection of 30 of some 600 speeches and sermons from his Geelong years (he was an eloquent speaker, always candid and convincing); Timbertop (1967), in collaboration with the first Timbertop housemaster, E. H. Montgomery; an autobiography, Richly Rewarding (1978); and Reflections for the Age (1991), a selection of 70 of the "Saturday Reflections" that for 14 years he had written (and continued until his 95th birthday to write) for the Melbourne Age.
    Michael Collins Persse2

Citations

  1. [S50] Miscellaneous Source, http://www.worldtransformation.com/darling-obituary/
  2. [S333] Newspaper (England) - The Independent (London), 15 Nov 1995
    http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/…
  3. [S50] Miscellaneous Source, https://webarchive.nla.gov.au/awa/20081103031806/http://…
  4. [S11] Newspaper - The Argus (Melbourne, Vic.), 28 Aug 1935, p1.
  5. [S6] Registry of Births Deaths and Marriages Marriage Index Victoria 1921-1942.
  6. [S185] Property Titles ; PROV (Public Record Office Victoria), C/T 7413-421 - Margaret Dunlop Darling of Geelong Church of England Grammar School Corio Married Woman.
Last Edited19 Mar 2023
 

NOTE

Some family sections show only the children who were associated with Upper Beaconsfield.

Some individuals may be featured because members of their family were associated with the Upper Beaconsfield area, even though they themselves never lived here.