History
of Three Manxmen in the Swan Valley, WA
(Compiled from notes by
JOHN MORRISON CREER in 1978)
In about 1898, John
Sedgman and his wife Clara, along with their two daughters, Annie and Edna,
sailed from England to the Isle of Man so that John Sedgman, a School teacher,
could take up his appointment as headmaster of the Wesleyan School in Peel.
Clara Sedgman was formerly Clara Eaton from Matlock in Derbyshire,
England. After two years with the
Wesleyan School in Peel, I.O.M., John Sedgman spent another four years in charge
of the Wesleyan Day School in Ramsey. After
the death of young Annie, the Sedgman’s had two more children while on the
Isle of Man, Dora and Hugh.
In September 1904 the
family migrated on the White Star liner S.S. Runic from Liverpool to Albany in
Western Australia so that John Sedgman could take up a role in charge of a State
School at Geraldton
Mr Ernest Maltby
Kerruish, a Chartered Accountant living at Groves Cottage, Union Mills, Braddan
who was married to Blanche Eaton (sister to Clara Sedgman) and had three
children, Alice, Charles and Thomas was apparently advised by his doctor to move
to a warmer climate for health reasons. The
family decided to migrate to Western Australia where the Eaton sisters would be
able to keep in relatively close contact even though they would be 12,000 miles
from their homeland.
In February 1905
Ernest and Blanche Kerruish and family, along with Arthur Eaton (the younger
brother of Clara and Blanche) and John Creer (a single 24 year old farmer from
Ballafreer Farm at Marown, I.O.M.), sailed from Liverpool on the S.S. Runic and
arrived at Albany in Western Australia on 23 March 1905.
The connection between these individuals, other than the Eaton
relationship, appears to have been that they all regularly attended the Union
Mills Wesleyan Church. Also
attending this church was Alice Clucas of Tromode who would later marry Arthur
Eaton and Annie Morrison from “Glenshoggle” in Ballaugh who would later
marry John Creer.
On 31 March 1905, Mr
Kerruish acquired 200 acres of land at Bennett Brook in Caversham which he named
“Ballajora” after a farm in the Isle of Man.
The three men commenced clearing an area of bush to build a timber-framed
house and to plant the fruit trees and vegetables which Mr Kerruish so loved to
grow and tend for so carefully as demonstrated throughout his lifetime of 75
years.
By coincidence, it was
later discovered that the stream running through the “Ballajora” property
called Bennett Brook was named in 1829 after Matilda Bennett, a manx-woman who
was the wife of John Septimus Roe. He
was the first Surveyor-General for Western Australia under Sir James Stirling,
the first Governor of the State, then known as the Swan River Colony.
The brook runs into the Swan River at Guildford, the town at which the
Kerruishs, Eatons and Creers did all their shopping and other business for many
years.
Union Mills Wesleyan Church Group, Isle of Man
1904
MAIN CHARACTERS IN
PICTURE
-
Ernest Maltby
Kerruish (1872 – 1947)
-
Blanche
Kerruish (nee Eaton) (1870 – 1926)
-
Alice
Kerruish (1899 – 1914)
-
Charles
Kerruish (1901 – 1975)
-
John Creer (1880 – 1922)
-
Arthur Eaton (1887 – 1920)
After three years at
“Ballajora” Mr Kerruish decided that the soil was not good enough so he
arranged to lease a well-established vineyard named “Roesland” near the
intersection of Benara Road and West Swan Road in Caversham, about 3 kms away.
Congregation in front of Caversham Methodist
Church 1909
-
Ernest Kerruish – third from
right
-
Blanche Kerruish – seated with baby Jessie on lap
-
John Creer – standing in centre of photo in
front of church door
-
Arthur Eaton – standing at John Creer’s left shoulder
-
Alice Kerruish – in front of other church door
-
Thomas Kerruish – to the right of Alice
-
Charles Kerruish – against John Creer’s right arm
The
modern suburb of Ballajura, 12 kilometres north of Perth City, now stands on the
site of the unsuccessful venture at “Ballajora”.
The Ballajura Primary School regularly celebrates their suburbs Manx
heritage and the School’s house system features the houses of Kerruish, Eaton,
Creer and Bennett.
“Roesland” was leased
from John Frederick Roe, who had obvious family connections to John Septimus
Roe, the State’s first Surveyor General.
The new property had a large existing dwelling which was occupied by the
Kerruish family. A new house was
then built for Arthur Eaton on an adjacent property while John Creer was
provided with a smaller existing brick house on “Roesland”.
The new venture prospered and produced many seasons of bounteous grapes
and dried fruits under the guidance of Mr Kerruish who became a well known and
respected member of the Caversham and West Swan district. He took a very keen interest in Church and Local Authority
matters and became a lay preacher and an active member of the Swan Roads Board
for many years. Mr Eaton became a
foundation member and trustee of the committee controlling the Caversham and
District Memorial hall with all its various activities.
Mr Creer became a foundation officer in the Guildford Volunteer Fire
Brigade in 1908.
On 29 October 1909
the S.S. Runic once again sailed into King George Sound at Albany.
This time amongst its passengers were Alice Clucas and Anne Morrison from
the Isle of Man. By arrangement
they had come out to marry and settle down with their husbands-to-be that had
arrived 4 years earlier to prepare accommodation.
On 1 November 1909, in a
double wedding, the two couples were united as Mr & Mrs Eaton and Mr &
Mrs Creer with the Sedgman girls, Edna and Dora, acting as bridesmaids.
This was the first marriage ceremony conducted in the newly built
Caversham Methodist Church (see photo).
Everything went well for
several years. Jessie Kerruish was
born in 1908, William Eaton in 1910, Nancy Kerruish in 1911 and John Morrison
Creer and Molly Eaton in 1912.
Unfortunately on 28 April
1912 four year old Jessie Kerruish was accidentally burnt to death in a
grassfire near “Ballajora” and in April 1914 Alice Kerruish died of
pneumonia at the age of 14. These
tragedies were great shocks to the three families.
In spite of these unexpected adversities, Mr & Mrs Kerruish were
sustained by their strong Christian beliefs and they gradually recovered to
carry on the management of their large vineyard business which by 1915 was
flourishing.
In 1917 John Creer
entered into an agreement with John Frederick Roe, a fruit grower at
‘Sandalford’, Guildford to purchase a 14 acre property on Patricia Street, a
short distance north of the adjacent properties of
the Kerruish’s and Eaton’s on Benara Road.
I am unsure when the Creer family actually occupied a house on this
property.
By 1920 the
children were growing up, going to school, entering into sporting and church
activities and taking a great interest in the orchard and the horses and cows
and pigs and machinery associated with the running of the busy “Roesland”
property which was situated in the centre of the original Caversham district and
which necessitated the employment of many men in addition to the resident lessees,
especially during the seasons of ploughing, pruning, harvesting and marketing.
These were busy days for all concerned.
The World War I was over and life was most enjoyable.
By now the Eaton
family had grown to four children with the addition of Grace and Douglas. The Creer family grew to five children with the addition of
Enid, Myra, Doris and Thomas. The
Kerruish children consisted of Charles, Thomas and Nancy. The three families all lived within close proximity which
made for happy times with the six parents all active in social, church and
charity work in addition to their home duties.
Sadly and suddenly on 29
August 1920 at the early age of 33 years Arthur Eaton collapsed and died of a
heart attack and the whole settlement was thrown into mourning.
John Creer unfortunately developed tuberculosis and after suffering the
illness for almost 2 years he passed away on 29 December 1922.
It is somewhat ironical
that of the three Manxman that left the Isle of Man in 1905 Mr
Kerruish, the older of the three and the one who moved to Australia for health
reasons lived to the age of 75 years while Arthur Eaton passed away at the age
of 33 years and John Creer at the age of 42 years.
Alice Eaton carried
on for nearly 4 years and then in 1924 on the advice of her brothers she sailed
from Fremantle with her four children to return to Tromode, I.O.M.
Her family owned Clucas’ Laundry in Tromode. Alice worked in the family business until she retired in
about 1950 when she paid a brief but happy visit to Perth W.A.
The Creer family
managed to honour the agreement to purchase the Patricia Street property and on
29 August 1929 Annie Creer received the title to the property.
In August 1939 Mrs Creer sold the property and with her family moved to
Tenth Avenue in Inglewood, W.A.
KERRUISH FAMILY
Ernest and Blanche
Kerruish had six children, three of whom survived to adulthood. The resulting offspring are as follows:
Alice Charles
Thomas William
Jessie Nancy
14 yrs
Chell-Marie
8
mths
4 yrs
Pat
Pamela
Robin
June
EATON FAMILY
Arthur and Alice Eaton
had four children:
William
Molly Grace
Douglas
2
children
Douglas
Pam
CREER
FAMILY
John and Annie Creer
had five children:
John Enid Myra Doris Tom
John Ross Garry Robin Ralph
Judith Douglas Laurel
Graeme Neil
Barbara Raymond
Lindsay
Eric
Jan-Marie
John McAllister
Creer 24.7.99 Perth, Western Australia (Updated 10.8.01)
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Creer from the Isle of Man - Family history 