A Payne Family of the Western Australian Goldfields
Some of the children of John Payne and Mary Dowling of Robe South Australia spent time in Western Australia. This web page and their family tree are presented in the hope that someone will add further evidence to support the suppositions that have been made or to correct them.
John Payne, a farmer of Guichen Bay, Reedy Creek aged 25 married Mary Dowling age 24 on 27 February 1857 at the Robe District Registry Office.
In the SA Birth indexes the following entries can be found:
Henry Payne born 27 March 1858 near Robe Town with parents John Payne and Mary Dowling
John James Payne born 9 October 1859 at Lake Hawdon with parents John Payne & Mary Dowling
William Payne born 9 April 1861 at Reedy Creek with parents John Payne and Mary Dowling
Edward Payne born 3 June 1862 at Reedy Creek parents John Payne & Mary Dowling
Annie Payne born 6 Aug 1863 at Reedy Creek parents John Payne & Mary Dowling
Walter Payne born 27 March 1866 at Reedy Creek parents John Payne & Mary Downer [sic]
James Nicholas Payne born 17 Nov 1867 at Reedy Creek parents John Payne & Mary Dawling [sic]
Peter Payne born 08 March 1872 at Reedy Creek parents John Payne & Mary Dowling
Other references suggest that the couple also had Thomas (born 1864), Charles, Maud Lavina and Clara. Whilst it is possible they had all four of these, there is little evidence to substantiate that Charles, Maud and Clara were in fact their children.
John's wife Mary Payne of Reedy Creek died on 3 June 1872 aged 39 years. This age fits with the marriage and is not long after the birth of Peter who may have been “farmed out” as no other reference to him has been found as yet.
Nothing has been uncovered about Henry Payne’s life.
At age 21, John James Payne married a widow Julia Redman whose age was given as 24. Her father’s name was Robert Gates. The wedding took place at the residence of Mr Adams of Lucindale. He died on 18 November 1901 in the Bunbury Hospital from concussion caused by a falling log.
William Payne died on the 31st of August 1899 in a mine explosion at Fields Find, Yalgoo. Three others, namely Daniel Hogan, Frederick Smith and Edward King were also killed in the same incident. Whilst the cause of the explosion was not established it seems that safety practices at the mine were somewhat lax. Evidence was given at the Coroner’s inquest that the Fields Fine mine was outside the area covered by the Mines Regulation Act. There is a memorial to the four men in the small cemetery at Fields Find.
Memorial at Fields Find
Edward (Ted) Payne (age 32) married a widow by the name of Mary Alice Dillon (age 32) at Christ Church Mt Gambier SA on 31st December 1895. Mary died on the 23 November 1909 and was buried at Karrakatta (Anglican FC 0278). Mabel Margaret Dillon was buried in the same grave in 1925. Edward died in the Geraldton Hospital on 7th April 1912 and he is buried in the old Geraldton Cemetery. His obituary described him as one of the founders of Paynesville, on the Murchison.
The trio of Ted Payne, Harry Anstey and Dick Greaves are said to be the discoverers of the first payable gold in the Eastern Goldfields. Their find in October 1887 in the Yilgarn Ranges not far from the present day town of Southern Cross started the gold rush to the region. Later Greaves and Ted Payne made an even richer find which was named Cordelia. If this trio had not discovered gold in the area somebody else would have and there was a rival claim to their discovery.
The trio's route is shown on the accompanying map.
Annie Payne (age 21) married a 47 year old widower John Boyer Bull (the son of John Wrathall Bull) at the Holy Cross Church in Mt Gambier SA on 9th July 1883. She died on 25 April 1952 in South Australia
Thomas (Tom) Payne married Terressa (also spelt Tessa and Teresa) McGrath in Victoria on 1 June 1907. They had a daughter, Lorna Mary Cas(s)in Payne, born 1 July 1908 at "Oraya" in Rheola Street, West Perth. There is no record of Teresa being buried with her husband at Karrakatta and apart from being mentioned as a student at the time of Tom’s death, no further records of Lorna have been found.
By 1894 Thomas Payne and his brother Walter had a lease at Gullewa. They sold this and soon after Tom Payne had a lease in the Black Range. He received a £90 reward for this discovery. Another find, mid way between Mt Magnet and Black Range led to the establishment of Paynesville (said to be named after Tom Payne). In 1910 after visiting the Mt Gibson region he registered a lease he called Robinson Crusoe. The area around the lease became known as Paynes-Crusoe and subsequently the site of the Golden Harp Leases. The original leases at Payne’s Find were taken out by Tom Payne. A prospector by the name of Timothy Dowd may have discovered the gold at Panes Find first but did not register his leases until after Payne.
Walter was resident in Western Australia and was the trustee of Thomas Payne’s estate.
No additional records have located for James Nicholas Payne.
Note: Payne’s Wayside Inn (shown on the map on Greaves, Payne and Anstey's route to the Eastern Goldfields) was owned by Joseph Charles Payne and later his widow, Pauline, who were members of a different Payne family. It was also known as the Wayside Nuggett Hotel. See Golden Valley – Knutsford for more information on this hotel.
References:
Bray, F.I. (1930) ‘Prospectors’ Rewards’ in The Western Australian Historical Society Journal and Proceedings Vo1 1 Part 3
Coate, Yvonne & Kevin (2000) More Lonely Graves of Western Australia Hesperian Press, Carlisle WA
Cobiac, A.L. (editor and project co-ordinator) (2000) South Australian deaths, index of registrations 1842 to 1915 South Australian Genealogy & Heraldry Society, Adelaide, SA
Cobiac, A.L. (editor and project co-ordinator) (2001) South Australian marriages index of registrations 1842 to 1916 South Australian Genealogy & Heraldry Society, Adelaide, SA
Ericson, Rita (Compiler) (1986) Dictionary of West Australians 1829-1914, Volume 5, The Golden Years UWA Press, Crawley WA
Forrester E.M.(1974) Golden Valley typescript of paper read before the Southern Cross Historical Society
Harris, C.M. (1943) ‘Early History of Eastern Goldfields from the Records of Greaves and Risley Pioneers’ in Early Days - The Western Australian Historical Society Journal and Proceedings Vo1 3 Part 5
Palmer. Alex (1991) Fields Gold: A Story of the Yalgoo Goldfields LAP Industries, North Lake WA
Palmer, Alex (1988) Paynes Find LAP Industries, North Lake WA
Statton, Jill (ed) (1986) Biographical index of South Australians 1836-1885 Volume III South Australian Genealogy and Heraldry Society, SA
Theil, Peter (1978) “Mining Tragedy at Fields Find” reprinted in The Western Ancestor Western Australian Genealogical Society December 1980
Thomas, Jan (editor and project co-ordinator) (1997) South Australian births, index of registrations 1842 to 1906 South Australian Genealogy & Heraldry Society, Adelaide, SA
Williamson, Len (1978) “A Little More about the Lonely Graves at Fields Find” reprinted in The Western Ancestor Western Australian Genealogical Society December 1980
Victoria. Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages (1997) Edwardian index. Victoria 1902-1913: Index to births, deaths and marriages in Victoria
Uren, Malcolm J (1948) Glint of Gold Robertson & Mullens Ltd, Melbourne