The Laudehr Family:
George Laudehr is believed to have been born in Hanover, Germany, about 1830.
The passenger list of the Danish ship 'Acmel' which arrived in Melbourne from Hamburg on the 6th. January 1855, has a "Fried: Heiner Laudehr', I was told the listing probably translated to; 'Farmer: Heiner Laudehr' age 25, possibly George. Alex Patience suggested the translation may be Fredrick Heiner Laundehr (the print out is not clear).
If it was Fredrick Heiner Laudehr also known as George, this may be a family trait carried on in the next generation as shown below, where
George's two sons are known by names that bear no resemblance to their given names.
George married Mary (Polly) Wells in 1860. On the marriage certificate George names his parents as Jorgen Laudehr and Mary Juzen (Gutzen); (marriage certificate No. 118) George lists his occupation as a gardener, and states he was 27 years old; he may in fact have been 30, putting his age down by 3 years. Polly stated she was 22 years old, although the fact is she was 2 weeks under 19; putting her age up three years.
George and Polly settled down in Frankston where George worked as a
fisherman, and carrier with a bullock team. They had three children:
1/ George Frankston (commonly known as Jack)
2/ Henry Jurgen (Gergon) (commonly known as Bob)
3/ Hannah Martha Matilda.
George was found dead in his fishing boat on Port Phillip Bay on the
14-3-1867; he was buried in the Frankston Cemetery by his father-in-law, Henry
Cadby Wells on the 16-3- 1867 after an inquest held on the 15th.
Jack was just 6 years old, Bob 4 and Hannah 7 months when their father
died.
George Frankston Laudehr. (commonly known as Jack Lauder)
Jack married Mary Styles (4-9-1864----6-8-1948), together they travelled over
seas and visited his father's brother and family in Germany.
In April 1914 Jack and Mary took a trip to Europe aboard the ship
S. S. 'Orama' It proved to be an eventful trip as while visiting his father's
relatives in Germany, they got caught up in the movement of troops of the 1st.
world war. Jack wrote of their experience to his sister-in-law; Mrs P. w.
Pederson of Dennison; it was printed in 'The Gippsland Times' on Monday, 9th
November 1914.
"We left England on our way home on the 20th. July.
By way of Holland, and arrived at Flushing at daylight on the 21st. We went on
to the Hague and stopped there that day --had a look over all the places of
interest including the Royal Palace. The Hague Peace Palace, built at a cost of
over £2,000,000 sterling by the American millionaire, Mr Carnegie. Visited the
picture gallery and the old prison. On the 22nd. we took the morning train to
Amsterdam and arrived at 11 o'clock. this is a very interesting place being
called the Venice of the North. It is intersected by canals and all the traffic
in heavy goods is done by boat. there is also a good system of electric trams.
We stayed there two full days, so on the 23rd.visiting the island of Nardam.
This is a very pretty place, the people are typically Dutch and are dressed in
the costume.
.......Picture, all cottages are neat and clean. We thought at first, that they
were got up for show, but on looking through several----and them all alike---the
very essence of cleanliness.
We left Holland on July 25th. for Berlin. We had a nice trip,
the most part of the way going through splendid country and well cultivated. the
place looked very prosperous and not a vacant paddock, but all under
cultivation. the crops looked really splendid, and the farmers were just
gathering in their harvest. About 50 miles from the city of Berlin, my wife
remarked to that there appeared to be a lot of soldiers. I told her that
Germany was a military nation, and that was an every day occurrence. However, we
found more and more soldiers the nearer we got to Berlin, and a few miles from
the city our carriage was invaded by four soldiers whom we took to be officers
by their smart appearance and dress. they were all smoking cigars and our
carriage being a non-smoking compartment, the guard took them out, but before
many minuets they were back again. I suppose they had tipped the official---and
we had to put up with them until we arrived in Berlin at 5 pm. Not being able to
speak German we had trouble finding a hotel, none of the police or station
officials being able to understand English.
After a little delay, however, we got into a carriage
and showed the driver the name of our hotel, and he took us there all right.
This hotel is just opposite a railway station and all the night there was a
great noise of singing and cheering. We found out afterwards this was to
celebrate the Austrians starting war against Servia. Next day, Sunday 26th. we
had a nice drive through the city, which is really a splendid modern city. We
went in one of Cook's motor cars. these cars take excursionist through the city
every day of the week, and a conductor who speaks English and other languages
accompanies the car...explains all the sights and places of interest.
The best street in Berlin, and in fact, the best streets in
any city we have seen, is the Unter den Linden. this is a very wide and
beautiful street, and has the Kaiser's palace and other beautiful buildings.
Driving through the streets we saw a very large crowd of people who appeared
very excited. there was a crowd of about 30,000 and the police were keeping them
back. We asked the guide 'what was the meaning of this ?' , and he said they
were trying to storm the Russian Embassy. He told us that the Germans were going
to declare was against Russia. when passing the arsenal he said, "This is
the place where we are making pills the Russians will find very hard to
digest." My wife and I appeared to be the only two who were English, the
other tourists being mostly Germans. One sitting next to me said he was Russian,
he could not speak English, so did not understand what the guide had told us.
the people seemed to get more and more excited, and papers were scattered about
free giving the latest news. Of course we could not understand what was going
on. the guide asked us what was England going to do. We told him when we left
England all was quiet and there was no talk of war. He said, "I think
England will not be able to interfere ---she will have her hands full with the
Irish people, in fact, there will be civil war over there." He further
said, "France is afraid of us and Russia is not prepared, so we will soon
walk through Russia."
Our motor driver seemed to be driving anyhow, and nearly
capsized us by running against the kerb stones. Our conductor said he was one of
the first to be called on, so was evidently worried over this and not looking
where he was driving. However we thought we had nothing to fear, and spent all
day Sunday and Monday in having a look around the city, and on Tuesday we left
Berlin at mid-day for Hamburg, arriving there on the evening of the 28th. On the
29th. we had a trip around the city and harbour, and saw one of the largest war
boats, just being finished. The conductor said they were getting ready by the
end of the year, so I suppose they well put a little extra push to get her ready
sooner. there was also large Hamburg -American liner, one of the largest yet
built on the stocks. this is a splendid city full of life and business, and the
harbour full of shipping. We intended to stay on till the 31st. but after a
council of war, we decided to start the next morning the 30th. At 7am and take
the train to Basile on the Switzerland border. We had intended to break our
journey at Frankfurt, but as we proceeded along the railway, we nothing but
military preparation everywhere. Whole train loads of guns, soldiers, horses
etc. We had never seen anything like this before. Even along the country roads
we passed by in the train we saw companies of cavalry travelling in all
directions. At the stations we stopped, soldiers were entraining, and along the
loop lines train loads of soldiers were waiting to be sent away. Nearing the
French border, we saw thousands of soldiers digging entrenchments and mounting
guns. We got through at last to Basle, arriving there at 10.30 pm. We were
thankful to get out of Germany, and were lucky also for the next day31st. the
railways were closed to the public, and used only for military purposes. If we
had stayed, we would not have been able to get away, and would, no doubt have
been kept prisoners there, as we got no word from them how things were going.
The next day, August 1st. they actually invaded France.
Well we thought after the experience we had had, we would be
able to stay a few days in peace in Switzerland. We stayed at Basle on 31st.
& 1st. August, and continued on Lucerne, we were going to stay there a few
days, but the next day, word was sent around to all hotels to inform visitors
that unless they got out of Switzerland that Sunday afternoon, they would
probably not be able to get out before the end of three weeks, as the railways
would be used for mobilising purposes --so we had to leave there in a great
hurry, as if we missed the opportunity we would not be able to get our boat -the
"Otway" at Naples, and all our luggage was aboard her. So we had to
leave at once, and there was a crown of all nations, all bent on getting away,
so we had to cram in any way. We got to Milan at last, then to Genoa, and from
there to Rome. We made up our minds to stay three days, but on the second day,
we learned that England had declared war against Germany, so we thought the best
thing we could do was to get to Naples and await our boat. She was due on the
8th. August, but no boat arrived on that date and all the Orient people could
give us no satisfaction, in fact, they did not think she was going at all. We
were now in a desperate fix--stranded in Naples-- no boat calling, and our
luggage on that boat. There were 33 Australians booked to board her, and 10 of
us met on the Monday morning. The other 23 stayed in Rome and intended to try
and get back to England via France. We learned from the Consul that a boat had
arrived at Naples---an Indian boat called the 'City of Calcutta' and that
the consul had detained her until 1 pm. so that we could get away by her if we
wanted to. You can be sure we did not delay in getting abroad and booking for
Port Said, for we felt that if we could get there, we could get a ship, if not
the "Otway" to take us to Australia.
Back in Australia Jack had a shop as a German name was not appreciated by
the population at large during WW1 he changed the spelling of his surname from
Laudehr to Lauder. Jack bought a property in Chelsea from a Mr. fisher, this
property had a collection of timber frame shacks on it, the family used this as
a holiday house, when they lived in Jolimont. Jack named the house
"Rehsif" (Fisher spelt backwards) Jack's grandson, Bill Davies resided
in the original house until he married, then lived for many years in Aspendale,
before returning to the house at Chelsea to live there again with his wife,
mainly to care for his elderly father. Jack and Mary had the following seven
children; George born 1886; Irene born 1888 died before 1926; Horace born 1890;
John born 1895; Harold Frankston born 1892; Frank Wilton born 1899 and Mary born
1892.
Their 6th. child, Frank Wilton Laudehr/Lauder was born in
1899, married Edith Matilda Darville.
Frank was a Clerk, later becoming an Accountant with Alfred Laurence &
Co. the essence makers. Frank and Edith only had one child, James Wilton (Bill)
Lauder, who did his schooling in Queensland and New Zealand as Frank was
transferred around with Alfred Laurence & Co.
After serving with the Royal New Zealand Navy in WW2, Bill
married an Australian nurse, Gwendaline Eva Maria McNaught, and moved back to
Australia as an employee of the Union Bank, a fore-runner of the A.N.Z. Bank.
Bill also moved around a lot due to his career in the bank, living in
Camberwell, Cobram, Donald, Healesville, Colac, Surrey Hills and Tallangatta in
Victoria, before moving to Queensland in 1966. A daughter, Margaret Anne Edythe
Lauder was born in Melbourne on 20-2-1950, and a son, David Wilton Lauder
was born in Cobram on 25-9-1956. David married Roslyn Mary McCormick, from
Coolamon, NSW, in Brisbane in 1991. Dave and Ros have two children; Jack Wilton
Lauder and Angus Wilton Lauder. David is a Metallurgist and Roslyn is an
Archivist. Before moving to Yungaburra in far north Queensland, David's family
lived in Mt Isa (1991-19930, Papua New Guinea (1994-1997) and Argentina
(1998--2000). (contributed by David Wilton Lauder).
Frank
Wilton Laudehr and Edith Darvell-Laudehr with their son James Wilton Laudehr.
Mary Laudehr married William James Davies, Mary had a college education and is
not known to have worked prior to her marriage; however she must have been a
very resourceful lady as she entertained many friends, including an entire
cricket team, at their home in Chelsea. Her husband was a man of many talents,
he was a general engineer, welder, part-time illegal bookmaker and joker and
trickster. On one occasion, we are told, when the police called at the home
while some illegal bookmaking was in operation, Mary calmly rolled the betting
slips into the dough she was kneading. Bill and Mary had two children.
1/ William (bill) Frankston Davies born in Mordialloc 21-1-1930,
and died 1-11-2003 at his home in Chelsea. He married Alva Gladys Cowen born
29-9-1928, they have 1/ William Martin (Marty) Davies born 6-3-1960 in
Melbourne. He married Alice Mok born 28-81966 in Mantakab, Malaysia. William is
a Postgraduate Learning Skills specialist in the faculty of Economics and
commerce at the University of Melbourne. Previously he worked in Language Centre
at Monash University where he was an Academic Co-ordinator. Prior to that he was
a lecturer in Philosophy at flinders. He has been a visiting Scholar of
Philosophy at the flinders University of south Australia since 1996. His other
interest are musical-classic guitar, bush walking, travel and Australian wine.
bill and Alva have William Jackson (Jack) Davies.
2/ Jennifer Dianne Davies married Sean McCourt, they have two children;
Erin Rachael born 1-12-1999; Cara Jane born 1-5-2002.
Mary Styles--Laudehr
MaryLaudehr-Davies.
Seated William Frankston (Bill) Davies; Alva Cowen- Davies and William
Jackson Davies.
Standing William Martin (Marty) and Alice Davies.
Jack and Bob Laudehr were both good students and went on to an active
business partnership. They had a wood yard in St. Kilda (Vic) and began by
delivering firewood in their arms. From this they began to take on different
contracts. One was to lay cable tram tracks commencing in Acland Street St.
Kilda and running along The Esplanade. Another in 1890, was the water storage
dam in Canterbury Road, Surrey Hills. this is a large concrete structure made
before the introduction of reinforcements. The excavated material was banked
against the sides and pine trees were planted in it to add strength to the
embankment. they earned £ 2,000 for this. In 1891 the Ryan brothers built a
concrete tower nearby. Water is delivered into the dam and from there is pumped
into the tower. to this day the system supplies the district with water at a
good pressure.
The Laudehr brothers of St. Kilda were the contractors for the first blue
stone metal road made in Frankston; it went from Bay Street along Playne Street
and Young Street and then on to the railway station.
Their partnership ended with the 1893 depression.
Bob Laudehr became manager of the St. Kilda baths and then, leaving his wife
behind in Victoria, he sailed across the Bight to land at Albany. From there he
walked to Kalgoorlie/Coolgardie. His aim was to establish a business and build a
home to bring his wife and family to. He achieved both of these aims. As a
starting point, he sold water on the gold fields. there is a contract in the
family's possession where he and a partner supplied camels and other goods to
two prospectors in return for 'half their auriferous finds', that is half their
gold or silver. he went into many ventures and was active in civil and civic
life. Being involved in many organisations he was known as the 'Prince of
Presidents'.
Bob Laudehr's wife was Mary (Minnie) Jane Games. They had
five children.
1/ Gerald, 2/ Henry, 3/ Lawrence, 4/ Annie Lorna, and 5/ Isabelle Minnie.
Lawrence married Lil and they have three children; 1/ Grace 2/ Jean, 3/ Bonnie.
The three boys were born in Victoria
whilst the girls were born in Bunbury, WA Bob died in 1909 and Minnie, the two
girls and Lawrence moved back to Victoria where Minnie's family lived.
Minnie's father had a piquant sauce manufacturing business
behind a shop in Nelson Place, Williamstown. the family also ran a fish and chip
shop at the front. A young Scottish emigrant, who had been a fishermen in
Scotland came to board at the shop. He was Alexander (Alex) Patience. He fell
for the landlord's grand-daughter and married Annie in 1926. Alex and Annie
Patience had three children; Lorna Belle, Donald Gergon and Alexander (Lex)
Laudehr Patience.
Lorna worked in Melbourne during her early years. she
married Bob Moule of Malvern. Eventually they moved with Alex and Annie to a
farm at Jerralang out of Morwell. Donald studied law and rose to very high
position in the crown Law Department before retiring. He also has a Theology doctorate.
Lex managed construction work for some years before teaching at Swinburn
College. He has long been active in art work both as a sculptor and stage set
designer (contributed by Alex (Lex) Patience).
Designer
Alan Barrenger left and Sculptor Alex Patience, make a final examination of the
World Bowls Commemorative Sculpture at Frankston Bowling Club.
To be continued, last updated 31-12-2009
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