Family Member Details

Life in Australia:

George Arthurs and Ann Ward were married by Ann's father, Rev Samuel Ward, according to the Rites of the Baptist Church of Australia at her home in Fitzroy, Melbourne in 1864. George and Ann raised 10 children and lived at Williamstown, celebrating their Golden Wedding Anniversary (50 years) in 1914. George was a fitter/engineer with the Victorian Railways workshops at Newport from 1862 until he retired in 1894. He lived into his 90s and was a Life Deacon of the Baptist Church, 180 Churchill Street, Williamstown (now demolished).

You and Your Family:

My memories of the Arthurs family in particular are of my grandfather "Bebe", Philip Benjamin. He lived with our family in Glenbervie (5 grandchildren, his daughter Gladys (our mother) and son-in-law Jack Nash). He was a very keen gardener and provided vegetables, fruits and nuts for the family table as well as beautiful flowers, shrubs and trees. A tour of the garden, along with all the Latin names for each plant, was a must to every visitor. He gave us a love of nature and gardening which we have carried over into our own lives and that of our grandchildren. He lived to his 90th year and was much loved by his grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Life Before Australia:

The first record of the Arthurs family is of Samuel Arthurs, George's great grandfather, who was born in Old Sodbury, Gloucestershire, England c 1740. Samuel and his wife Sarah had 9 children all born in Old Sodbury. George, their fifth child marrried Mary Ford in 1798. Mary and George had five children and moved to Castle Combe in 1808 prior to Thomas' birth in 1809. Castle Combe, WILTSHIRE, England, was a centre for cloth-weaving in the 17th-Century. Thomas married Ellen Baker in 1832. They had nine children all born in Castle Combe. George Arthurs (born 1839) was their fifth child and lived his early life with his parents Thomas and Ellen and eight siblings at "The Gates", 2 Market Place. The family ran a Grocers shop from their home, which continued within the family until the late 1970s. George emigrated to Melbourne, Australia in 1862 aboard the 'Shalimar'.

The Gates is now a B&B where Norma and Martin Black stayed overnight on their visit to WILTSHIRE in 2000. A little booklet we found in a shop called - "Ghost Stories of Castle Combe" which describes a ghost haunting The Gates - "A ghost of a most peculiar manifestation - he usually appeared as a pair of brown pin striped trousers, no feet, nor anything above the waist seen going upstairs and generally making their way around the little cottage to the consternation of everyone". You could well believe the story as the cottage was very old with a narrow stairway to the upper bedrooms and you felt as if the cottage would collapse at any time.

While we were enjoying an afternoon nap at the Gates, after the long flight from Australia, there was quite a drama from the hotel opposite when the chimney caught fire. The fire brigade came racing down the street with sirens blaring, there was smoke everywhere, it was hard to breathe and there was an overwhelming smell of burning peat. Thankfully, the firemen put the fire out before the whole of the village caught fire. Everyone vacated the cottages, hotels and B&Bs and assembled near the Market Cross (15th-century) until the drama was over. It certainly livened things up and what we thought was a sleepy little village turned out to be quite a lively and friendly place. We imagined that maybe Thomas was making his presence known to his Australian relatives with a little bit of ghostly mischief. Ironically, on 26 February 2003, "The Gates" was badly damaged in a fire. The property was taken over by developers. The cottage has been restored with the original facade and is available for holiday letting as at June 2006, but it will never be the same as the old crooked house.

While at a Genealogy Conference in Bath we discovered that Thomas Arthurs and his first wife Ellen (Baker) are buried in a joint grave at a little cemetery at the now privately owned Baptist Chapel in a village named Grittleton, a few miles from Castle Combe. Also Thomas' sister Mary, her husband Rev Phillip Smith and some of their children are also buried at this cemetery. Rev Smith was the Deacon of the Grittleton (Gospel Standard) Baptist Chapel. We also found that Thomas Arthurs' second wife, Ann (Grainger), is buried at St Andrew's Church in Castle Combe next door to their cottage.

Old Sodbury, Castle Combe and Grittleton will always be places of special significance for the Arthurs family.

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