Alfred Smith and Harriet Hutchings Langbridge
Harriet Hutchings Langbridge was born on 31/1/1828 in Moretonhampstead, Devon, daughter of John Langbridge and Harriet Hutchings. Alfred Smith is believed to have born in 1827 in Wantage, Berkshire; his parents being Robert Smith and Eliza Doe. Alfred and Harriet were married on 9/3/1852 in the parish church of Saint Lukes, Chelsea, and they emigrated to Australia in 1854 on board the Ostrich.
The passenger list of the Ostrich gives Alfred's age as 27 and Harriet's as 25, their previous residence as Middlesex, and Alfred's occupation as carpenter.
Alfred and Harriet had nine children:
- John Allen, b. 24/11/1854 at Logans Flat;
- Alfred James, b. 19/6/1856 at Nairne;
- Selina, b. 2/1/1858 at Nairne;
- Mary Louisa, b. 24/2/1860 at Nairne;
- Frederick William, b. 12/7/1862 at Nairne;
- Agnes Anne, b. 4/1/1865 at Bungaree Run;
- Walter, b. 18/3/1867 at Bungaree Run;
- Robert Carlton, b. 19/9/1869;
- Elsie Maud Smith, b. 23/7/1873 at Bungaree Run.
From the birthplaces of the children it is clear that the family lived at Nairne between 1856 and 1860, and at Bungaree Station (near Clare) from 1864 to 1873. They owned a house in Laura from 1873, but Alfred did not reside there continuously. He was a carpenter and builder, and apparently went where work was available. He was admitted to the Parkside Lunatic Asylum in May 1892, and he died there on 31/7/1896. He is buried in the West Terrace Cemetery.
Harriet died on 15/5/1878. There is an entry in the burial register of the Church of St Michael at Bungaree recording that Harriet was buried there on 16/5/1978. Her age is given as 47 although in fact she would have been 50. The burial record also says that her address was Laura, South Australia. I find it rather surprising that she was buried at Bungaree rather than Laura, since Bungaree is quite a long way from Laura (about 100km). I can only presume that she was visiting Bungaree when she died. Or perhaps she had travelled to Clare for medical treatment.
All the gravestones at St Michael's were clearly legible in 2008, but unfortunately I could not find one for Harriet. There appeared to be three unmarked graves (in the foreground of the photograph) and so I suppose that one of those must be Harriet's.
Three of the children died in infancy and one as a teenager: Alfred James Smith died at Bungaree on 17/8/1875, aged 18; Agnes Anne Smith lived for only 15 days; Walter Smith died at Bungaree on 7/2/1870, aged 2; Elsie Maud Smith died at Laura on 6/2/1875, aged 1.
Mary Louisa Smith married James Campbell: see the William and Annie Campbell page for a little more information. She had no children and died in Rhodes, Sydney, on 5/1/1930.
Selina Smith married William Horne Campbell, brother of James, at Laura on 30/8/1876. For more information see their page.
John Allen Smith married Alice Harriet Wilson (b. 24 /5/1865) at Gladstone on 19/10/1890. The Ipplepen Adams Family website has a page dealing with John Allen; it says that Alice and he had four children, all born at Laura: Sabina Alice Smith (b. 2/7/1892), who married James Nelcabee Robertson and had five children; Harriet Matilda Smith (29 /11/1894–28/5/1895); John Hurtle Smith (11/7/1896–3/7/1965), who married Ena Pearl Tucker and had three children; Isobel May Smith (23/10/1899–8/10/1925), who married Ernest Frank Hoare (b. 4/2/1900, buried June 1978). John Allen died in Adelaide on 10/9/1918; Alice Harriet died at Laura on 14/12/1937.
Frederick William Smith married Elizabeth Anderson (b. 12/12/1863) at Nairne on 14/4/1884. The Ipplepen Adams Family website says that they had six children: Elsie Langbridge Smith (b. Laura 2/11/1884), who married Albert Ernest Moseley and had nine children; Joseph Walter Smith (b. Tarcowie 16/11/1888); Fred Anderson Smith (b. Orroroo 15/2/1891), who married Nanny May Sampson; Eric Wilkin Smith (b. Johnsburg 4/7/1893); Marjorie Adelaide Smith (b. Johnsburg 16/7/1895), who married Neil Alexander Lawson; Maud Doreen Smith (b. 25/7/1899), who married Harry Cliff and had five children. I do not know the date of Frederick William's death. Elizabeth died at Johnsburg on 18/10/1900.
Robert Carlton Smith married Eveline Maud Isobel Tuck (b. 10/1/1877, daughter of Edward John Taylor Tuck) in Perth on 19/4/1898. They had eight children, all born in Perth: Frederick Carlton Smith (22/1/1899–26/3/1985), who married Florence Gertrude Hackford and had one child; Harold Edward Smith (3/11/1901–3/2/1964), who married Elsie May Redfurn and had three children; Evelyn Maud Smith (6/2/1906–19/8/1998), who married Donovan Reid Thyer and had two children; Gwendoline May Smith (11/1/1910–23/1/2004), who did not marry; Myrtle Amy Smith (4/5/1912–5/12/2002), who did not marry; Robert Ernest Smith (18/7/1914–17/4/1981), who married Olga Mary Frances Birch and had three children; Ethel Mary Smith (18/11/1916–9/2/1998), who married George Clarkson and had three children; Horace Raymond Smith (b. 15/7/1919), who married Winifred May Smith (daughter of Owen Smith and Olive Williams), two children.
The photograph above shows in the back row (left to right) Frederick Carlton, Harold Edward and Evelyn Maud, and in the front row (left to right) Gwendoline May, Robert Carlton, Ethel Mary, Eveline Maud Isobel (nee Tuck) Horace Raymond (on lap), Robert Ernest, Edward John Taylor Tuck (Eveline's father) and Myrtle Amy.
Two more photos of Robert Carlton and Eveline Maud Isobel are shown below.
Robert Carlton Smith died on 26/4/1948 and Eveline Maud Isobel Smith died on 10/7/1947.