| [Index] |
| Susan ELSEY (1814 - 1890) |
| Children | Self + Spouses | Parents | Grandparents | Greatgrandparents |
|
William MONT (1842 - 1914) Louisa LEFEVRE (1847 - ) Susannah LEFEVRE (1849 - ) Alfred Augustus LEFEVRE (1851 - 1868) George Augustus Edward Louis Lewis LEFEVRE (1853 - 1922) James LEFEVRE (1855 - 1918) Sarah LEFEVRE (1858 - 1929) |
Susan ELSEY (1814 - 1890) + Charles Thompson MONT (1803 - ) Louis Augustus Joseph LEFEVRE (1817 - 1894) |
William ELSEY | ||
| Susannah EDWARDS | ||||
| b. Apr 1814 at Norfolk, England |
| m. (1) Jan 1838 Charles Thompson MONT (1803 - ) at London, Middlesex, England |
| m. (2) 1846 Louis Augustus Joseph LEFEVRE (1817 - 1894) at Sydney, New South Wales, Australia |
| d. 28 Apr 1890 at Tumut, New South Wales, Australia aged 76 |
| Parents: |
| William ELSEY |
| Susannah EDWARDS |
| Events in Susan ELSEY (1814 - 1890)'s life | |||||
| Date | Age | Event | Place | Notes | Src |
| Apr 1814 | Susan ELSEY was born | Norfolk, England | 73 | ||
| Jan 1838 | 23 | Married Charles Thompson MONT (aged 35) | London, Middlesex, England | 69 | |
| 01 Jul 1838 | 24 | Immigration | Sydney, New South Wales, Australia | per 'Amelia Thompson' | 69 |
| 10 Sep 1842 | 28 | Birth of son William MONT | Sydney, New South Wales, Australia | 69 | |
| 1846 | 32 | Married Louis Augustus Joseph LEFEVRE (aged 29) | Sydney, New South Wales, Australia | 69 | |
| 1847 | 33 | Birth of daughter Louisa LEFEVRE | Piermont, New South Wales, Australia | ||
| 1849 | 35 | Birth of daughter Susannah LEFEVRE | Blowering, New South Wales, Australia | 69 | |
| 1851 | 37 | Birth of son Alfred Augustus LEFEVRE | Blowering, New South Wales, Australia | 69 | |
| 1853 | 39 | Birth of son George Augustus Edward Louis Lewis LEFEVRE | Tumut, New South Wales, Australia | 73 | |
| 1855 | 41 | Birth of son James LEFEVRE | Tumut, New South Wales, Australia | 69 | |
| 1858 | 44 | Birth of daughter Sarah LEFEVRE | Tumut, New South Wales, Australia | 73 | |
| 1868 | 54 | Death of son Alfred Augustus LEFEVRE (aged 17) | Tumut, New South Wales, Australia | 69 | |
| 28 Apr 1890 | 76 | Susan ELSEY died | Tumut, New South Wales, Australia | 73 | |
| Personal Notes: |
|
SUSAN MOUNT/LEFEVRE nee Elsey
by Pat Sherriff Susan Elsey, the wife of Augustus Lefevre, was a Norfolk girl. She married an Englishman in London, migrated to New South Wales with him and married the Frenchman Lefevre, after her first husband died. Some time after her second marriage, the Frenchman and Susan arrived in Tumut to spend the rest of their lives in the Valley. Behind that brief summary lies quite an interesting story. Yet there are some areas of her life of which her descendants would like to know more. We can only provide answers to our questions by theorising about what probably happened. Susan Elsey was born in April 1814. She was one of nine children, the daughter of William Elsey and Susannah Edwards of Winfarthing, Norfolk, England. There were several Elsey families in Winfarthing. Most of the Elsey men were farm labourers, struggling to raise large families. ln fact during the years of the agricultural depression in the England of the 1830's, some of the Elseys migrated to America and New South Wales, hoping for a better life. Susan's father was Land Steward to one of the big landowners in the area - a more secure job than some of his Elsey relatives had. ln these difficult times all family members were expected to earn their living at a very young age. Some of the daughters were forced to seek employment outside Norfolk. So, Susan Elsey went to London to work as a housemaid - where or for whom we don't know. She may have been working in the house of her husband's parents. Her first husband, Charles Thompson Mount lived with his parents in the rather upper-class London area of St George Hannover Square. Shipping records list Charles's parents as William Thompson (sic), an attorney, and Mary Thompson (sic). Charles was described as a carpenter and joiner in 1837. Susan Elsey and Charles Thompson Mount were married in January 1838 at St Giles Church, London. Charles was 35 years old. Almost immediately they took passage on the Amelia Thompson and arrived in Sydney 1 July 1838. Ship's records state that both Susan and Charles could read and write and that Charles had good references from his employer, Mr Lee of St Martin's Lane, and the curate of that parish. He was described by both as a steady, industrious and good workman. Both were issued a certificate of good health, stating that they had had no attack of ship's fever (typhus). When their only child, William Mount, was born in Sydney, 10 September 1842, he was baptised in the parish of St Andrews. Charles was then described as a Cabinet Maker. Presumably Charles died within the next few years. No record of his death has been found. Susan married her second husband, Louis Joseph Auguste Lef6vre, in Sydney in 1846. Augustuswas a Norman, born in 1817 at Le Havre, the great French port in Normandy, gateway to the western and southern countries of the world. His parents were Pierre Lefevre and Rose Marie D'Orange. The Lefevre men were seamen for some generations, as was Augustus. Not much is known of his life, 'rom the time of his birth until 1839, when he joined the crew of the Cachalot, a French whaler. French whalers regularly made two year voyages to the southern oceans of the world. Augustus deserted ship in Sydney in October 1840. Ten crew members had already deserted at various ports of call - understandable because life on a whaler was primitive and extremely gruelling in those times. There are questions about how and when Augustus met his wife and what happened between 1840 and 25 August 1846 when he married Susan Mount in Sydney in the parish of Petersham. Tumut records state that Augustus arrived in 1844 to work for George Shelley. This is doubtful and one wonders how a French seaman, who would still speak little English, learnt about employment opportunities in Tumut. Tumut records frequently mention Lefevre's excellent carpentry skills with which he used to construct pioneer homes. These were not skills learnt at sea on a whaling ship. It is more likely that, at some stage, Augustus went to work for Charles Mount in his business in Sydney and acquired those skills from Mount. When Mount died, Lefevre married his widow in 1846. Their first child, Louise, was born in January 1847. They were living in Piermont at the time. The Lefevres were located in lueensland in 1848. The French register of his former ship, the Cachalot, contains the statement that; in 1848 Augustus Lefevre was manied and located at Moreton Bay, 400 miles nofth of Sydney, working as a servant. This implies that Susan, 5 year old William Mount and infant daughter Louise Lefevre accompanied Augustus to Queensland, presumably taking passage on one of the ships regularly plying around the coast. One Tumut record states that Augustus Lefevre, carpenter and erstwhile French :rldier, sold out a small shop in Sydney in order to come to Blowering to work for Mr Whitty. lt is more likely that the Lefevres sold what was probably Charles Mount's cabinet making business in Sydney, then owned by Susan, and arrived in Tumut after their Queensland sojourn. lt is also likely that Augustus was probably recruited in Sydney by Captain Whitty to work for him at Blowering. ln setting up a large property as the settlers did, construction tradesmen were in demand to build houses and agricultural buildings for the owner and his work force. The obvious labour supply base would be Sydney. A Shelley descendant has written that, after George Shelley's death in 1852, Whitty sent Lefevre to help out George's widow, Amelia, who was in need of a good construction workman. Augustus and Susan had three sons and two daughters after they arrived in Tumut. Susannah was born at Blowering in 1849; Alfred Augustus, the first son Was born in 1851; George Edward Louis was born in 1853. By 1853 the Lefevres had moved to Tumut Plains where Augustus had steady construction work. Their son James was born in 1855 and the last child, a daughter, Sarah, was born in 1858. By July 1854,40 year old Susan and 38 year old Augustus had saved the sum of £8.5.0 to purchase a block of land in the vicinity of Fitzroy St, Tumut. To legally own land Augustus had to be a naturalized British citizen, which was granted him soon after his application. lt is certain, looking at their families' past history, that Susan was the first Elsey to own land, as was Augustus the first Lefevre to do so. A Tumut record states that the couple took up Crown land at Forest Camp in 1861 and other land, 420 acres, was leased by them in 1874. Fierce bushfires raging in the valley in the summer of 1878, destroyed much of the crops and pastures on the Plains and also seriously affected the Lefevre property. Reading any of the numerous Tumut records of the 19th century, reveals that life was very hard for the women on the land. Day to day existence was more often primitive than comfortable. The family had to be self-supporting and women and children had to turn their hands to any number of jobs on the farms. The Lefevre women were no exception. Photos of Susan show that she was a small slightly built woman. Yet this hardy Norfolk born pioneer raised a family of three daughters and three sons, whose descendants are still found today in Tumut and further afield. From Susan's first marriage, William Mount (who died in 1914), became the progenitor of the Tumut Mounts. His son, Charles William had seven sons and two daughters. The daughters married into the Emery and Nuttall families, the sons married and some of their children have moved away from the Valley. Louise, the eldest Lefevre child, married Richard Sturt. Susannah married Francis Green, 17 year old Alfred Augustus died tragically after a fall from his horse in 1868. George married Elizabeth Crampton and had a large family. James never married and died in 1918, after a heart attack while on the train between Bowral and Exeter. Sarah married her sister-in-law's brother, David Crampton. Therefore from the Lefevre children who married, descendants include the Sturts, the Greens, the Lefevres and the Cramptons. Daughters of these also extended the family lines to the Emerys, the lbbotsons, the Mulvihills, the Montgomerys, the Clouts, the Bartholomews, the Nuttalls, the Dentons, the Oakmans, the Hallorans, and the McAlisters, many descendants of whom are still Tumut citizens today. Susan Lefevre died fouryears before her husband, on the 28 April, 1890, aged 76 years. Her headstone in the Pioneer Cemetery has a simple inscription and the words Native of Norfolk One wonders what she told her family about her early life in England, her life in Sydney with Charles Mount and the early days with her French husband, Louis Joseph Auguste Lefevre. Such a pity that these 19th century pioneer women had no time to record incidents in their lives in a diary because of their constant toil, working by their husbands' sides and rearing a family on the land. |
| Source References: |
| 69. Type: Book, Abbr: Relict of, Title: Relict of … Lives of Pioneering Women of Tumut and District, Auth: Tumut Family History Group, Publ: Tumut Family History Group, Date: 2001 |
| - Reference = 32 (Immigration) |
| - Reference = 32 (Marriage) |
| - Reference = 32 (Marriage) |
| 73. Type: Book, Abbr: Pioneers of Tumut Valley, Title: Pioneers of the Tumult Valley , The History of Early Settlement, Auth: H.E. Snowden, Publ: Tumut & District Historical Society Incorporated, Date: 2004 |
| - Reference = 55 (Birth) |
| - Reference = 55 (Name, Notes) |
| - Reference = 55 (Death) |