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George Butler and Maria Checkley © George Butler, the son of William Butler (Buttler), Ribbon Weaver and Mary (nee Johnson), was baptized on the 28th June, 1818, in the Parish Church, Bedworth, Warwickshire, England1. Originally a small market town with Saxon origin, Bedworth is situated 5 miles north east of Coventry, in the northern part of Warwickshire7, with a reference to it being found in the Open Domesday Book of 1086. Bedworth also sits on the eastern edge of the North Warwickshire coalfield where the coal outcrops at the surface, and for many centuries the town was mainly a coal mining community. However, in addition to the mineworkers, Bedworth had a thriving silk ribbon industry. First brought to the town by the French Protestant families, the Huguenots, in the 18th century, the craftsmen set up hand-looms in their own homes and continued the highly skilled industry in Bedworth. Subsequently they taught their craft to the local people, and soon the industry became prosperous, and continued so for over a hundred years. Unfortunately, the ribbon weaving industry collapsed in the mid-1800s, when the Cobden treaty with France removed the duty on French silks entering England. As a result of this many Bedworth families lost their opportunity to earn a living, and as a result sought new homes and better lives in the Colonies, sailing away to places such as Canada, Australia or New Zealand. Some of the weavers who stayed in Bedworth managed to earn a living carrying out the popular Victorian bead work, or even turning to the mines for work3. Appearing on the 1841 Census3, George, a 20year old Ribbon Weaver, is living at Randles End, in the Parish of Bedworth, in the house of Mary Johnson age 70. Mary is believed to be George's maternal grandmother. Also in the house is a Samuel Butler a 35year old Ribbon Weaver. It is thought Samuel was Mary Johnson’s son, sister to George’s mother Mary. Just next door is the family of 40year old Coal Miner William Johnson, thought to be another son of Mary Johnson and uncle to George. On the 20th February, 18424 George Butler (Butter) married Maria Checkley in the Parish Church at Foleshill, Warwickshire. George, a Batchelor, gives his age as 23, occupation as Weaver, and his father as William, also a Weaver. Maria, a Spinster, gives her age as 21, occupation also a Weaver, and her father James, a Labourer. Witnesses were David Perkes and Mary Hannah Checkley, possibly Maria's sister. George and Maria both give their residence as Little Heath. Little Heath is situated just north-west of Foleshill and south-south-east of Bedworth. The daughter of James Checkley and his wife Martha (nee Hartell) of Longford, Maria was baptized at the Parish Church Foleshill on the 3rd September, 18201 & 5. Longford is approximately 3.5km south of Foleshill. Maria, age 20, appears on the 1841 Census3 at Little Heath, Foleshill, Warwickshire. She is living in the house of 60year old Elizabeth Arch, also in the house is Eliza Arch 20, and Amelia Harban, all four are recorded as Ribbon Weavers, all born in Warwickshire. The relationship of Maria to Elizabeth is unknown, but she is living just a few streets away from her father James at Little Heath. Maria’s mother had died in 1822 and her father had re-married and had 2 younger children. The ancient village of Foleshill, lies 5km north-north-east of Coventry, and was recorded in Domesday Book6 as ‘Fulkeshill’, and later as ‘Folkshull’. The village has little recorded history, but its name is said to signify ‘the hill of the people or folk’. At the time of the conquest it was a small wooded hamlet, consisting of approximately 1050acres with 30 villagers and 6 small holdings, with an annual value to the lord, Nicholas the Bowman, of £12. The area was one of heathland with open fields and scattered hamlets, and the names Broad Heath, Great Heath, Little Heath and The Parting of the Heaths, reflect the original geography of the district. Parish Records and Ancestry Family Trees imply George and Maria had at least ten children: James William c1842; George c1844-1849; Martha c1845, baptized in Exhall; Thomas 1848, he married Elizabeth Buckby 1880, in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia; Mary 1850; Maria 1852-1858; George 1854; Esther Ann 1856; David 1858 and Margaret 1861-1861, baptized in Bedworth. According to the Baptisms of their first three children, George’s occupation was a Miner. He is also listed as a 32year old Coal Miner on the 1851 Census3 living at Exhall. Listed with George are his wife Maria, age 30, a Ribbon Weaver, and children: James age 8; Martha age 5; Thomas age 2; and Mary age 8months. The census record confirms the birthplaces of George & Maria as Bedworth and Foleshill respectively, with James & Martha born in Foleshill and Thomas & Mary born in Exhall. Historically, the chief occupation in the areas around Bedworth and Foleshill was agriculture, but from the second half of the 16th Century scattered coal mines were developed, particularly in the north of the district, making Coal Mining a substantial occupation. By the 17th Century, Weaving was also firmly established as a cottage industry throughout the district. Although George is listed as a Ribbon Weaver in 1841, this change of occupation can be explained by historical records which indicate Ribbon Weaving was declining, and with a new wife and young family George was possibly encouraged to seek work in the local Bedworth Charity Colliery by his Uncle William. The first shafts of the Bedworth Charity were sunk in 1776 and these were referred to as Charity Nr. 1 Colliery, and the location of these was at Coalpit Fields in Bedworth. Another set of shafts were sunk in 1830 and this was called Charity Nr. 2 Colliery also in Coalpit Fields. The second colliery Charity Nr. 2, which was also in Coalpit Fields, was to provide employment for ribbon weavers who were being put out of work because of a depression in the silk ribbon trade. It would appear there were several members of his extended family in the mining industry at the time3. The 1861 Census3 shows George and his family are back in Bedworth, where he is recorded as a 32year old Ribbon Weaver. Wife Maria, age 40, and children James age 18, and Martha age 14 are also recorded as Ribbon Weavers, their other children: Thomas age 12; Mary age 10; and George age 6, are listed as scholars, with Catherine (Esther Ann) age 4; and David age 2. It is not known just when or why George went back to his original occupation, but from 1858 on, his children’s baptisms give his occupation as Weaver. However, trouble was to soon visit the family. Due to the Cobden Treaty with France, which removed the duty on French silks entering England in 1860, the value of the ribbon weaving industry was collapsing2. Many Bedworth families found themselves unemployed or with vastly reduced income. Their livelihood destroyed, many ribbon weavers and their families looked to new ventures, with many choosing to seek new homes in the Colonies, sailing away in emigrant ships, some to Canada and others to Australia. An article in the Coventry Herald and Observer in February, 18637, highlighted several resolutions of the local Relief Committee that followed a Report of the Emigration Committee which had been presented and passed in December of the previous year. This report indicated that the Relief Committee, in order to relieve the destitution resulting from the decline of the clothing trade, would meet the cost of 100 passages to Queensland, Australia. It is clear that like many others in his situation, George must have thought a new life in a new country afforded much more opportunity for him and his family. Speculation is that George heard about the Emigration Scheme, applied for and was granted passage to the colonies in that scheme or an associated arrangement. However, there were also many reports in the newspapers of the time outlining the massive gold finds in Australia, so maybe the lure of great riches persuaded George to make the move. Whatever the reason, we soon find George 44, his wife Maria 43, and children: James 20; Martha 16; Thomas 14; Mary 12; Esther 6; David 4; and George 2, on a shipping index heading for Moreton Bay, Queensland, Australia. Leaving England aboard the Golden Empire on the 4th April, 1863, the ship arrived in Moreton Bay on the 21st July, 18638. It would appear that George and his family first settled in Stratton, a suburb of Fortitude Valley. In the early 1850s, the Valley was outside the zone of industrial and commercial activities of the ‘Settlement’, as Brisbane was then called. In 1849, the ship ‘Fortitude’, the first of three vessels which had been chartered to bring immigrants to Moreton Bay, arrived with 250 passengers. Despite arrangements having been made for these immigrants, due to miscommunication, they were met with hostility and no provisions of any kind were provided. Moving from the main settlement, they set about creating a new settlement, which they called ‘Fortitude Valley’. Over the next decade or so the early passengers were joined by other immigrants and the boundaries of their little village began to expand, and the new incoming settlers looked further afield for a place to settle and find work9. At the time George and his family arrived the area around Stratton had 500,000 acres reserved for agricultural settlement by 1862 it comprised a large settlement and population. It is presumed George took his family to the area in search of work. Unfortunately we do know that Maria died just four years after their arrival, on the 19th January, 1867, in Fortitude Valley, Brisbane10. The cause of death is given as Abscesses in the Stomach. The witness was her husband George, of Stratton, Fortitude Valley. Maria was laid to rest, in the Old Paddington Cemetery, on 20th December. Located in a low lying area, and with Brisbane growing and expanding around the burial grounds, public health concerns became an issue and in 1875 Paddington Cemetery was officially closed. Some years later, part of the site was set aside for a sports field and many graves and remains were removed and re-located. The remaining area remained disused until 1911, when it was decided to convert the whole site into a recreation area. Many more remains and monuments were removed to other cemeteries in the area, and the greater part of the site eventually became Lang Park, known today as Suncorp Stadium11. However, records of this old cemetery and the identification of those removed are incomplete, and no record can be found as to if, or where, Maria’s body may have been re-buried. It would seem that sometime after Maria died, George moved his family to Gympie, 150km north-north-east of Brisbane. Gympie's name derives from the Kabi word ‘gimpi-gimpi’, which means ‘stinging tree’. Kabi is the language of a tribe of Indigenous Australians that historically lived in the region. The reason for the move to Gympie is unknown, and we have little evidence of George and his family's movements over the next few years, but records indicate he resided on the gold fields at some stage and that he was also a shop-keeper12. On the 27th November, 1869, George remarried, to a Mary Macomson Walker13, and they had four children: Elizabeth 1870-1871; Selina 1872; Charles 1877; and Joseph Edwin 1882. George died at the age of 67, in Henry Street, Gympie, on the 17th April, 188510. The cause of death George’s death was given as Heart Disease, his father as William. The record gives his place of birth was given as Bedworth Warwickshire, stated he had been in Queensland for 22 years, and his occupation as Storekeeper. The informant was his son David, who registered the death on the 20th April. A small report in the Gympie Times and Mary River Mining Gazette on Saturday, 18th April, 1885, gives a description of George’s demise. Apparently unwell, George had obtained a ’ticket’ to enable him to get some medicine from the Hospital Dispensary. On receiving the medication, George was advised to remain at the hospital, but he declined and left, only getting a short way from the hospital, he collapsed and died. George was buried in the General Cemetery at Gympie on the 18th April, 188510, the Undertaker was W. G. Ambrose and the Minister/Witnesses were R. L. Pring and S. J. Hillman. It is not known if George’s final resting place is, or ever was, identified by a headstone.
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