[Index]

George Frederick BELCHER (1823 - 1909)

Mayor of Geelong

Children	Self + Spouses	Parents	Grandparents	Greatgrandparents
Elizabeth Caulfield BELCHER (1856 - ) Alice Josephine BELCHER (1857 - 1889) Joseph William BELCHER (1858 - 1944) Sophia Julia BELCHER (1860 - 1944) George Frederick BELCHER (1862 - 1873) John Henry BELCHER (1865 - 1924) Vere Essex BELCHER (1868 - 1868)	George Frederick BELCHER (1823 - 1909) + Julia Maria PEPPER	Joseph William BELCHER (1784 - 1865)	William BELCHER
			Anna MORRES
		Elizabeth AUSTIN ( - 1861)

b. 10 Jan 1823 at Dublin, Ireland

m. 25 Oct 1853 Julia Maria PEPPER at Co Armagh, Northern Ireland

d. 23 Oct 1909 at Geelong, Victoria, Australia aged 86

Near Relatives of George Frederick BELCHER (1823 - 1909)
Relationship	Person	Born	Birth Place	Died	Death Place	Age
Grandfather	William BELCHER
Grandmother	Anna MORRES
Father	Joseph William BELCHER	30 Nov 1784	Kels, Co Kilkenny, Ireland	14 Dec 1865	Dublin, Ireland	81
Mother	Elizabeth AUSTIN			24 May 1861	Ireland
Self	George Frederick BELCHER	10 Jan 1823	Dublin, Ireland	23 Oct 1909	Geelong, Victoria, Australia	86
Wife	Julia Maria PEPPER
Daughter	Elizabeth Caulfield BELCHER	04 Jun 1856
Daughter	Alice Josephine BELCHER	16 Oct 1857		08 Nov 1889	Melbourne, Victoria, Australia	32
Son	Joseph William BELCHER	04 Nov 1858		1944		86
Daughter	Sophia Julia BELCHER	06 May 1860	Melbourne, Victoria, Australia	1944		84
Son	George Frederick BELCHER	01 Oct 1862	Melbourne, Victoria, Australia	01 May 1873		10
Son	John Henry BELCHER	01 Oct 1865		1924	Kew, Victoria, Australia	59
Daughter	Vere Essex BELCHER	17 Aug 1868	Geelong, Victoria, Australia	04 Nov 1868	Geelong, Victoria, Australia	0
Sister	Elizabeth Josephine BELCHER	28 Oct 1812	Dublin, Ireland	27 Jan 1892	Victoria, Australia	79
Brother	William Redmond BELCHER	23 Oct 1814	Dublin, Ireland	03 Aug 1873	Victoria, Australia	58
Brother	Thomas Leopold BELCHER	abt 1817
Brother	Charles Urmston BELCHER	1819	Dublin, Ireland	abt 1839		20
Brother	Joseph Henry BELCHER	19 Nov 1820	Dublin, Ireland	22 Oct 1864		43
Sister	Anna Theodosia BELCHER	1821	Dublin, Ireland	14 May 1864		43
Sister	Marie Jane BELCHER	04 Aug 1824	Dublin, Ireland	Y	England
Sister	Sophia Louise BELCHER	21 Oct 1825	Dublin, Ireland	25 Nov 1891	Warrenpoint, Co Down, Ireland	66
Sister	Susan Amelia BELCHER	01 May 1827	Dublin, Ireland	1924	Melbourne, Victoria, Australia	97
Sister	Marcella BELCHER	11 Sep 1828	Dublin, Ireland	1922	Rostrevor, Co Down, Ireland	94
Brother	Vere BELCHER	01 Aug 1831	Dublin, Ireland	1834		3
Son in Law	John CAY
Son in Law	Walter F WALKER			1934
Daughter in Law	Mary Jane MCKALL			1934
Granddaughter	Lorna Evelyn CAY	1883	Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Grandson	George Clive CAY	1884	Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Niece	Elizabeth LANGHORNE	22 Sep 1844	Melbourne, Victoria, Australia	20 Feb 1932	Launceston, Tasmania, Australia	87
Nephew	Joseph William Cooke LANGHORNE	10 Oct 1847	Geelong, Victoria, Australia	17 Oct 1914	Mosman, New South Wales, Australia	67
Nephew	William Henry LANGHORNE	1850	Geelong, Victoria, Australia	1850	Geelong, Victoria, Australia	0
Niece	Katherine Thomasina LANGHORNE	04 Oct 1851	Geelong, Victoria, Australia	25 Nov 1942	Launceston, Tasmania, Australia	91
Nephew	George Frederick LANGHORNE	1856	Geelong, Victoria, Australia	18 Jan 1943	Victoria, Australia	87
Nephew	William BELCHER	23 Feb 1844	Australia	07 Aug 1884		40
Nephew	Joseph BELCHER	12 Sep 1845	Australia	04 Jul 1909	Narromine, New South Wales, Australia	63
Nephew	Charles Augustus Von Stieglitz BELCHER	06 Jan 1853	Australia	19 Dec 1872	Australia	19
Niece	Elizabeth Marianna BELCHER	30 Dec 1854	Melbourne, Victoria, Australia	20 Jul 1945	Victoria, Australia	90
Nephew	James Francis BELCHER	10 Sep 1858	Australia	Sep 1932	Australia	74
Nephew	Sydney Grey BELCHER	abt 17 Dec 1860	Australia	28 Dec 1918	Australia	58
Niece	Catherine Anna BELCHER	24 Mar 1852	Geelong, Victoria, Australia
Niece	Elizabeth Austin BELCHER	19 May 1853	Victoria, Australia	30 Aug 1932	Ireland	79
Niece	Anna Sophia BELCHER	03 Apr 1855	Co Armagh, Northern Ireland	22 May 1921	Ireland	66
Nephew	Joseph William BELCHER	03 Sep 1856	Co Cork, Ireland	31 May 1861	Ireland	4
Nephew	Charles WILLIAMS		Victoria, Australia
Nephew	James Herbert WILLIAMS		Melbourne, Victoria, Australia	29 Sep 1913
Nephew	William WILLIAMS	1836	Ireland
Niece	Eliza WILLIAMS	abt 1839	Ireland	abt 1844	Ireland	5
Nephew	Joseph Henry WILLIAMS	1843	Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Niece	Lillian Brooke Vere STEAD	1864	Ireland	06 Sep 1903	Evandale, Tasmania, Australia	39
Niece	Adelaide Mary VON STIEGLITZ	1848	Ireland
Niece	Elizabeth Charlotte VON STIEGLITZ	06 Dec 1855	Co Dublin, Ireland	20 Aug 1915	Norwich, Norflok, England	59
Niece	Florence Marcella VON STIEGLITZ	28 Jun 1861	Ireland	12 Aug 1910	Germany	49
Niece	Augusta Sophia VON STIEGLITZ	29 Aug 1866	Ireland
Brother in Law	William LANGHORNE	23 Jul 1802	Surrey, England	13 Aug 1868	Geelong, Victoria, Australia	66
Sister in Law	Grace POWER	10 Jan 1824		08 Sep 1900		76
Sister in Law	Isabella Irvine ARMSTRONG
Brother in Law	Charles WILLIAMS			1852
Brother in Law	David STEAD			1886	London, Middlesex, England
Brother in Law	Charles Augustus VON STIEGLITZ	1819	Co Armagh, Northern Ireland	26 Jul 1885	Rostrevor, Co Down, Ireland	66
Brother in Law	Francis Grey SMITH			1901
Brother in Law	Robert William VON STIEGLITZ	04 Aug 1816	Cookstown, Co Tyrone, Northern Ireland	18 Mar 1876	Drumindony, Co Down, Ireland	59

Events in George Frederick BELCHER (1823 - 1909)'s life
Date	Age	Event	Place	Notes	Src
10 Jan 1823		George Frederick BELCHER was born	Dublin, Ireland
1839	16	Immigration	Australia
25 Oct 1853	30	Married Julia Maria PEPPER	Co Armagh, Northern Ireland
04 Jun 1856	33	Birth of daughter Elizabeth Caulfield BELCHER
16 Oct 1857	34	Birth of daughter Alice Josephine BELCHER
04 Nov 1858	35	Birth of son Joseph William BELCHER
06 May 1860	37	Birth of daughter Sophia Julia BELCHER	Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
24 May 1861	38	Death of mother Elizabeth AUSTIN	Ireland
01 Oct 1862	39	Birth of son George Frederick BELCHER	Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
01 Oct 1865	42	Birth of son John Henry BELCHER
14 Dec 1865	42	Death of father Joseph William BELCHER (aged 81)	Dublin, Ireland
17 Aug 1868	45	Birth of daughter Vere Essex BELCHER	Geelong, Victoria, Australia
04 Nov 1868	45	Death of daughter Vere Essex BELCHER	Geelong, Victoria, Australia
01 May 1873	50	Death of son George Frederick BELCHER (aged 10)
08 Nov 1889	66	Death of daughter Alice Josephine BELCHER (aged 32)	Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
23 Oct 1909	86	George Frederick BELCHER died	Geelong, Victoria, Australia

Personal Notes:

http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/belcher-george-frederick-2966 George Frederick Belcher (1823-1909), pioneer, was born on 10 January 1823 at 5 Old Dominick Street, Dublin, the sixth son of Joseph William Belcher (1784-1865), an Irish solicitor of English descent, and his equally Protestant wife, Elizabeth Austin (d.1861), of Waterfall, County Cork. He attended Bective House, a local school, and on 20 February 1839 reached Melbourne via Launceston in the barque Louisa Campbell, with his elder sister Anna, following two of their brothers and her husband, Charles Williams, auctioneer. Belcher soon passed through Geelong to visit Nentingbull, the station of J. J. B. Smythe, a returning fellow-passenger, and apparently early in 1840 he accompanied Arthur Boursiquot to his run near Mount Rouse, and thence to Port Fairy. But, beginning as managing agent for Smythe's small rented properties, and living first with his Williams relations, he made Melbourne his headquarters until after the arrival of his parents, his eldest sister Elizabeth, who a year later married William, brother of Edward, George and Alfred Langhorne, four younger sisters, and another brother, in March 1842. Although for a time Belcher worked with his father, who was soon admitted to practice, in 1844 he joined a party under Robert Haverfield which drove 500 head of cattle from Alfred Langhorne's Dandenong station to Adelaide, in time for their dray to carry the boat when Charles Sturt's last expedition set out on 10 August. Belcher then stayed with his maternal cousin, (Sir) Robert Torrens. His sisters were married to brothers of Frederick von Stieglitz: Sophia to Charles in 1844 and Marcella to Robert in 1845; in December 1844 Belcher rode north-west from Robert's Ballan station to find new country for its increasing flocks. The result was the discovery and naming of Nhill, and Belcher's occupation of the 'Coonangamamool' or Lake Hindmarsh holding, near Jeparit. Whether we lay in cave or shed Our sleep fell soft on the hardest bed. Fresh we woke upon the morrow; We had health and we had hope All our thoughts and words had scope. Toil and travel, but no sorrow, Those hardy days flew cheerily And when they now fall drearily, My thoughts, like swallows, skim the main And bear my spirit back again, Over the earth and through the air, A wild bird and a wanderer. These verses, written in 1883, when Belcher also recorded all he could then remember of his youthful composition, 'Fill the Goblet', which he sang at the Weatherboard station for his host, David Fisher, on the 1840 journey, show his appreciation of the primitive background. But in June 1845 he had qualified by examination for an appointment at the Port Phillip sub-Treasury. He lacked squatting capital, and began to find the pastoral life monotonous. Consequently, when his father, just before moving to Geelong and founding the firm to which T. C. Harwood succeeded, secured the next vacancy for him, Belcher left the bush and, on 9 July 1846, became junior clerk in the sub-Treasury, Melbourne, where he made his way undeflected by the gold rush. Belcher was not attracted to the diggings. In December 1852, however, he sailed from Geelong, on leave, with his parents and widowed sister, Anna Williams, who were retiring to Ireland. When he returned to Victoria, in February 1854, he brought a wife, Julia Maria Pepper, sister to one of his former squatting associates. In May 1854 he was made sub-treasurer at Geelong, and in 1855 became land officer there. He lived first in the bluestone sub-treasury, which still stands; then at the south corner of the Aberdeen Street and La Trobe Terrace junction; from 1856 at Adzar, Highton. Resigning from government service in 1869, he moved to Ariel Cottage, Skene Street, and became a financial broker and land agent, having his office at first in the Chamber of Commerce, Moorabool Street, and then in his own neighbouring building. Belcher was appointed vice-consul at Geelong for Norway and Sweden in 1872, and for Denmark in 1881. He was elected mayor of Geelong in 1873, and again in 1875, when he married as his second wife Frederica, eldest daughter of his former Highton neighbour, C. N. Thorne, with whom he lived partly at Merchiston Hall, East Geelong, which he bought from James Cowie in 1872, and partly in Allanvale, Kensington (Leopold), where she died in 1881. Belcher had seven children by his first marriage, and four sons, the eldest Sir Charles Belcher, chief justice and ornithologist, by his second. His third marriage, in 1887, to his sister-in-law, Florence Thorne, who survived him, was childless. He represented South-Western Province in 1875-81 and Wellington Province in 1882-86 in the Legislative Council, and was on the Geelong Grammar School Council from 1884, succeeding Sir Charles Sladen. He was the effective founder of St Matthew's Church, East Geelong, and from 1877 was closely linked with St Mark's Church, Leopold. He died at Merchiston Hall on 23 November 1909. Belcher gave Leopold the site for its public hall, St John's Church, Highton, its ground, and Geelong a fountain which stands near the city's centre. But most of his many benefactions lacked publicity. His shrewd, conscientious, often obstinate wisdom screened quiet generosity and an unusual concern for people as individuals. His Irish humour was sometimes disconcerting, but he was habitually considerate. He appreciated occasions and anniversaries, and led in such causes as the fund for Jane Cooper (Duff), the erection of a Batman monument, and the marking of James Harrison's grave. As 'Old Mortality', and in other disguises, he became an occasional journalist who specialized in relevant reminiscence. He accepted rather than sought municipal and political office. Although he enjoyed his communal responsibilities, his thoughts were increasingly fixed upon his earthly home and the heavenly one beyond it. Sustained by a simple faith through shattering bereavements, he found comfort in the last verse of Newman's 'Lead, kindly Light'. The death of one of his sons produced the best record of Belcher's life and character. This record, not begun until May 1873, became sixteen manuscript volumes in which diary, scrapbook, and recollections compose a valuable social and historical sketch. In 1956 the whole was presented to the State Library of Victoria by Sir Charles Belcher, who added to it his own slightly abridged but more easily read transcript.

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