The Wells Story
The Wells Story.
Henry Wells born in September 1820, in the Parish of Potterne, Devizes, Wiltshire, England, to Richard Wells and his wife Martha, nee Cadby. Richard Wells (well-known as Dick Wells) was a coach driver. He frequently drove his coach across the
Salisbury Plains in the days when highway men were not uncommon.
Henry Cadby Wells born in September 1820, in the Parish of Potterne, Devizes, Wiltshire, England, to Richard Wells, (who was well-known as Dick Wells in the coaching world as he drove the four-horse coach across Salisbury Plain when highwaymen were not uncommon); and his wife Martha, nee Cadby.
Henry Cadby Wells was a boot-maker, he married Hanna Hill on the 9-9-1839. In December 1839 the young couple boarded the ship 'ADROMACHE' in Plymouth and sailed to Australia. When the ship was just off the Isle of St. Paul, during a raging storm, a daughter was born. The little girl was named Mary, but at the suggestion of captain she was nick-named Polly. Sadly Polly did not live very long and was buried at sea. the ship arrived in Melbourne on the 28-6-1840 after being becalmed off Port Phillip Bay for several days, (source; Bert
Polglase's book)
All ships at that time had to anchor in Hobson's Bay off shore from
Williamstown; the emigrants were taken by boat along the lower Yarra towards
Melbourne. both banks of the river were then still densely covered with tea-tree
and Wattle. At the township immigrants scrambled through mud, or as is recorded,
'grandfather had to carry his wife ashore through water waist-deep' to a landing
bank on the north side, where warehouses, inns and stores were replacing earlier
hovels along the west end of Flinders street. Slightly uphill from this flood
proned area, Collins Street West had already developed into the main retail
location, especially between Queen and King Streets. 'There were good shops with
drugs, groceries, haberdashery, ironmongery; indeed each shop seemed to be quite
an emporium', (wrote J.B.Were)
Henry and Hannah are believed to have made their way down to
Frankston where they stayed for a short time This would require first crossing
the river on a punt or a ferry as no bridge existed until the mid 1840s. They
would then have travelled through virgin bush, either on horse back or perhaps
with a horse and jinker or cart of some sort. They may have had some bullock
tracks to follow, but we can be sure the track was slow and difficult. It
probably took some days for the young couple, camping overnight along the
way. One may wonder how many other travellers they might have met along
the way, or did they only see Kangaroos, Wallabies, Dingoes and other wild life,
as well as bird life and the Aborigines. No doubt there was also a large
population of snakes.
They may have passed some of the 500,000 sheep and 15,000
cattle that were in Victoria by that time, the property of licensed squatters,
(Old Melbourne Town; P. 8)
It is believed that after a short stay in Frankston, Henry
and Hannah made their way down to Sorrento, they known as Point Nepean. They
were blessed with another daughter, Mary Louise Wells, also nick-named 'Polly',
born 7-6-1841 at Sorrento and Baptised in the Church of England, Parish of St.
James on the 10-10-1841. Polly was the eldest of 13 children, having 12 brothers
! ! Polly is believed to have been the first white baby born to permanent
settlers of the Mornington Peninsular.
Most of the following history comes from Robert Cadby Wells, published in the
Frankston Standard, in 1951/52. He states his grandfather, Henry cadby wells
went into partnership with ship mate Robert Rowley in the business of lime
burning, "Robert Rowley and Richard Kenyon began the industry in Sorrento.
the depresion of 1842/43 put most of these pioneers out of business. Gideon
Lang's map of 1842, when he applied for leasehold of much vacant land on the
Peninsular, showed none of the original names. By 1845 business had recovered
and 17 kilns, each employing several men, hard at work burning lime between Rye
and Portsea.
Robert also states his grandfather maintained an interest in
the lime burning industry and travelled between Sorrento and Melbourne, staying
at Frank stone's hotel after whom Frankston was named.
In 1846 the family moved to Melbourne where Henry worked at
his trade of boot-making, he had learnt the art of tanning and dressing leather;
riding boots were in great demand in those days; these were his speciality. He
was there for some years, then sold the business and started a similar one in
St. Kilda. After a few more years Henry was ready for another change, so he sold
out again and had a go at Cray fishing. he bought an up-to-date boat and gear
and with ship mate friend Rowley went down to Western Port Bay to catch
crayfish. From a money point of view this venture exceeded all expectations.
After being there for a few months they decided to go home for a few days, which
they did but extended their stay to seven days. they had made the fatal mistake
of leaving the boat anchored in the bay. the tide in this bay has a rise and
fall of about 8 feet, and consequently when the tide ebbed the boat settled on
the anchor, with the result that a hole was broken through the bottom. He sold
the boat and gear for a few pounds and retired from the fishing business.
During this time the following births
and baptisms are recorded in the Digger Pioneer Index, all sons of Henry and
Hannah Wells; Henry born 1843 in Melbourne; denomination Catholic, Parish of St.
Francis, Melb. died 1844; William Henry born 1845 in Melbourne den. C of E,
Parish St James. Charles born 1846 in Melb. C of E Parish of St. James, Melb.
later owned 121 acres opposite his father's in Robinson Road. John born 1848 in
Collingwood, den. C of E Parish of St. Peters', Melb. drowned 1851 in Plenty
River. Frank Richard born 1850, but not shown in the records, owned 20 acres at
the corner of McMahons & Cranbourne Rds. It adjoined Dean's market
garden.
Henry decided to try his hand at farming at Plenty River
(Near Eltham); they were there on the 6th. February 1851 when the disastrous
'Black Thursday" bush fires raged from near Melbourne to Mt Gambia which
almost wiped out the inland settlements of the colony only proclaimed one week
earlier; taking an enormous toll on wild life, stock and property. Ashes from
the fire fell on ship 80 kilometres out to sea. At least 10 people died as the
temperature in the shade was 47 deg. Celsius at 11 AM. Sadly one of the deaths
was Henry & Hannah's son John (known as jack), He drowned in the river.
Henry managed to save his four remaining children by placing them in the centre
of a potato patch wrapped in wet blankets. In Melb. a public meeting was held to
call for subscriptions to relieve sufferers of the fire. smoke had scarcely
cleared from the scene when exciting news of a different nature reached Melb.
--gold had been discovered at Summerhill Creek near Bathurst N. S. W.
Henry and the family returned to Melb. where the following
children were born, (source Pioneer Records)
Robert, predeceased his mother (source, mother's death
certificate).
Septimus born 1853 in Sandridge (Sth Melb.) den. C of E St.
James Melb. Septimus died 1855.
Octavus born 1856 in St. Kilda -1888/89 postal directory
shows Octavus and Charles as contractors of Frankston.
Benjamin born 1858 in St. Kilda, inherited the 66 acres in
Robinson Road.
In 1859 Henry decided to rent a property at Mt Eliza which was later known as
'Ranelagh' and planted a vineyard, but apparently a lot of difficulties were uncounted
and, so like the Cray fishing business the venture was short lived.
Decimus born 1861 at Frankston (Mt. Eliza)
Richard born 1864 in Frankston (Mt. Eliza) married Margaret
Gallagher in St. Pauls' C of E on the 7-2-1889. this was the first wedding
celebrated in the church, which had been constructed in the late 1888 or early
1889 by Robert Kelly (father of Polly's second husband, David Kelly) Richard and
Margaret lived in Wells Street.
George Robert, pre-deceased his mother (source mother's death
certificate)
Henry C Wells also bought 66 acres on Robinson Road.
Henry also bought 4 or 5 acres of land on the corner of what
is known as Pt Nepean Rd. (then known as Melbourne Rd.) and Wells street, in
about 1860/64 In the same year they built a residence on the property and called
it 'Devizes' after the town of his birth, and lived there for the rest of their
lives. the commonwealth bank is now situated on this site, it has a memorial
plaque on the door.
After settling in to their new home Henry bought 66
acres of land on the corner of Hastings and Robinson Rds. where he carried
on farming pursuits. Cob & Co. wanted to run a stage coach to Hastings and
the shortest route was through a portion of this property, an agreement
was reached and Cobb & Co at their own expense erected a gate across part of
the property with right of way and paid a nominal fee to the owner to permit the
coach to go through.
The 1888/89 postal directory records Henry Wells, boot maker
of Frankston. Hannah died on the 27-10-1896 and Henry on the 12 -12 1908, both
are buried in a family grave just inside the main entrance of the Frankston
Cemetery.
L-R; Charles Wells; Henry Cadby Wells (aged 88)
grandson James Wells with g-grandson
Alec.
Mary Louise (Polly)
Wells, married 22-3-1860
George Laudehr.
After the death of
George, Polly married
David Kelly on the 7-12-1869
Some Descendants of the Wells families:
Charles Wells, 1846 --16-7-1928 married Anne Cozens 1850
---31-3-1937 both buried in Frankston Cemetery.
Charles owned the 121 acres opposite his father's property in
Robinson Road.
he carted, by bullock Wagon, piles for the Frankston pier, from Jane (a place
near Mornington) to Frankston which at the time did a large trade in wood which
was conveyed along the shore by trolley to the craft. when these ships returned
with stores, men from the township, including Frank Wells Snr. & David
Kelly, worked all night to get them away while the weather was fine.
1/ Henry Wells
2/ Nell Wells
3/ William Wells occupation Butcher, buried 1-5-1962 at
Frankston cemetery.
4/ Arthur (South) Wells 1877 -- 22-6-1955 married
1908 Vivian May King died 5-2-1947 both buried at Frankston.
A/ Charles
Arthur Wells 1912 --9-701998 buried at Frankston
B/ Ronald
Joseph Wells 1914 -28-7-1944; died as result of an accident; buried at
Frankston.
C/ Jack Wells
died 24-4-1928 buried at Frankston.
5/ Alfred James Wells married 1904 Vivian Forrest
Cheyne died Oct. 1946 & 26-4-1962 respectively, both buried at Frankston.
A/ Alec James
Wells 1905 Doncaster, Victoria.
B/ Regual
(South) Cheyne Wells 1910--1990 buried with Donald (North) Murray Wells. at
Frankston.
C/ Vivian
Forrest Ellen Wells 1912.
6/ Robert Cadby Wells 1875 --June 1964 married 1903 Florence
Euphemia Petrie died Sept. 1957 both buried at Frankston.
A/ Jessica
Alice Wells 1910 married 1/ J. Wicks, married 2/ Rob Sonnal. rob was a widower
with two sons; Jessie was also a widow.
B/ Henry
Wells died 1905
7/ Annie Wells
8/ Mable Helen Wells 1869 married Mr. Henry in about 1892
they had one son Rupert Henry 1899/1900, he was 10 months old when his father
died. "Rupert grew to be a great credit to his mother, reaching the zenith
of a brilliant career as manager of the British General Insurance Co. Ltd.
,Melbourne, and articles by him published in recognised Australian
publications proved him to be a recognised authority on insurance throughout the
Commonwealth. His untimely death at the age of 37 brought further sorrow to Mrs.
Henry (source; Frankston Standard, Thursday august 2nd 1951, pages
1&2).
Some Descendants of Frank Wells:
Frank Wells 1850 --July 1938 married Sarah Kelly (daughter of
Robert Kelly and Mary Ann Beattie-Rooney) died 1941, both buried at
Frankston.
1/ Mary Ann Wells, abt 1873
2/ Martha Wells abt. 1875 married 1895, Alexander Nicholson.
(Uncertain if this Martha Elizabeth Wells).
3/ Elizabeth Wells.
4/ Hannah Marie Wells married George William Walker, born
abt. 1880
5/ Frank Henry Wells 1877 -1962, married Elizabeth
Henderson, 1881 9-9-1935, both buried at Frankston. Frank was
very active in community and civic affairs, he entered council in 1919 and never
missed a meeting until 1931, when he received leave of absence for a trip to
England. He drove the ambulance in Frankston during the war years. He was a
devout Methodist, a member of the Rechabite Lodge and a member of the
cemetery Trust., one of the founders of the Frankston Community
Hospitable, a prominent Bowler, and a market gardener before his
retirement.
Frank married secondly Olive. At the time of his death Frank
was survived by his second wife, two daughters, Mrs alf Perry and Mrs
Harry Gale, and a son Henry Wells.
Frank lived on three corners of Cranbourne & McMahons Rds. and is
buried in the cemetery of the fourth corner.
Elizabeth and Frank are both buried in grave No. 376, row
L0006, section Presbyterian.
A/ Stella
Christina Elizabeth Wells 1902, married Mr. Gale
B/ William
Leslie Wells 1904
C/ Henry
Robert Wells 1905 --1969
D/ Jessie
Gertrude (Gertie) Wells 1908 --15-10-1976, married 1929 Alfred Albert Perry 1910
A/ Raymond Perry.
B/ Beverly June Perry 20-5-1936, married 1-3-1954 Murray Chadwick Johnson
16-2-1932
1/ Shane David Johnson 18-8-1957, married Amanda Basso they have two
daughters; Rhiannaon Jess born 30-10-1986, and Alexis Amanda born 25-3-1989.
2/ Gary Anthony Johnson born 27-6-1959, married Norma van they have two
children, 1/ Hayley Jade born 12-5-1994, 2/ Taylor born in 1997.
3/ Robert Murray Johnson born 23-7-1962 not married.
4/ Steven Kurt Johnson born 11-9-1972 married Melissa Ward, they have
Emily born 29-12-1999 and Morgan born 2001 and Matilda born October 2004.
5/ Brett Jason Johnson born 18-8-1974, met Ann they have Chloe Samantha born 29
- 9- 1998 and Grace Ann born 22-7- 1998.
This history contributed by Steven Kurt Johnson.
Frank Richard and Sarah Wells, nee Kelly (sister of
David Kelly)
(courtesy of Frankston Standard, 1971)
last updated 1-1-2010
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