The Lowe Family

by Dorothy Turner

                   Ralph    Doris            Olive       Mavis
              William  Nellie  Nana Emma  Emma (Pixie)  Bessie   Syd 
 see William and Emma (8)

The Lowe Family Tree

Issue:
1. Ralph 1857-1858
2. Nicholas Harrison 1859-1860
3. John George 1861-1929
4. Nicholas Harrison 1864-1948
5. Ralph 1866-1937
6. Tom 1868-1870
7. Joseph 1870-1937
8. William 1872-1920
9. Ernest Frederick 1875
10. Thomas 1877-1911

3. John George married Christian Elizabeth WARREN 1883
Issue:
1. John George
2. Florence Jane
3. Ralph
4. Joseph Elvy
5. William Henry
6. George
7. Ivy
8. Herbert Hymore
9. Thomas Charles

4. Nicholas Harrison married Grace SMEATON 1887
Issue:
1. Helen Jane
2. George
3. Ernest Ralph Peter

5. Ralph married Angelina BAULCOMBE 1893
Issue:
1. Harold Ernest
2. Olive Jane

7. Joseph married Laura HALLIWELL 1894
Issue:
1. Albert Ernest
2. Alice Vera
3. Joseph Ralph
4. Lily May

8. William married Emma DROUGH 1899 Issue:
1. Mavis Anne
2. Olive Jane
3. Doris May
4. Ralph
5. Sydney Shelford
6. William
7. Nellie Margaret
8. Florence Maude
9. Bessie
10. Emma

9. Ernest Frederick married Elizabeth BARBOUR 1895

The Lowe Family Story

Ralph and Jane Lowe sailed to Australia late 1856 or early 1857 after their marriage at Heathery Cleugh Chapel in the Parish of Stanhope, County Durham, England. Ralph was a miner, living at Burtree Ford and Jane lived at Sedling, where her father farmed 10-15 acres. Maybe it was the thought of a better life in the Colonies that inspired the young couple to leave their homeland. For whatever reason they left the "Old", they certainly made their mark in the new Of the ten children that Jane eventually bore, six married and reared families of their own and so the seeds were planted, the crop matured, was harvested. As the seasons waxed and waned, so new plantings were established all over the Colony of Victoria as well as New Zealand. As can be the case with large families, when they all marry and go their own way, the younger generations do not realise that there are so many family connections or where, perhaps, they live. There is a lot of satisfaction to be gained by putting the pieces of a family jigsaw together. All of Ralph and Jane's children were boys, three of whom died as infants. For a period of twenty years from 1857, the goldfields of Ballarat,Magpie, Clunes, Durham Lead,Sebastopol’and Barry's Reef became the home of our fore- bears, and only the descendants of each son can tell the individual stories. It was at Barry's Reef on December 16, 1877 that Jane died due to acute bronchitis and pressure on the trachea from goitre, ten months after the birth of her youngest child Thomas. Fourteen months later on 27 February 1879, Ralph married at Fitzroy, near Melbourne, Ellen Elizabeth Selleck who bore him four sons and a daughter. Two of the boys were born at Barry's Reef, the other children being born at Creswick. Ralph died at Cobbler's Gully, Creswick, on May 12, 1886, the cause of death being liver disease and exhaustion. The youngest child, James, was four months old. It is interesting to note that Jane was buried by Methodists and Ralph by Salvation Army.

John George Lowe married c1883 Christian Elizabeth Warren, who was the daughter of John and Sarah (nee Irons). John George was mining at Red Streak, Creswick, where their first four children were born. By 1890 the family had moved to Hotham (Melbourne) where five more children arrived. Contact has been made with a few of their descendants who live in Victoria and New Zealand. William Henry joined up with the New Zealand Army in the lst World War and after being discharged and pensioned off, married and settled down at Bluff. He and his wife Margaret had five children. As far as can be established, their names are: Myra (Mrs Plank), Arthur, Ron, Bruce and Ralph. Florence Jane married John Cecil Scott and their children are: William Thomas, John Victor, Eva Florence and Harold, whose families live in Victoria. Ralph married Irene Waldock; George was a missionary in China; Ivy married - Spencer. Thomas Charles also married. John George Lowe died December 1929 and is buried at Carlton Cemetery. Elizabeth died 1935.

Nicholas Harrison Lowe married Grace Smeaton, daughter of Peter and Helen (Stalker). The marriage took place at the home of the bride's parents, Long Point, Creswick. Their first two children were born at Creswick, then one at Ararat. George died when an infant, Ernest Ralph Peter at age 16. Helen Jane married - Stephenson. Nicholas was employed by Victorian Railways asarepairer. He was appointed on January 24, 1899. Grace died April 1937, Nicholas remarried at age 79 and died July 1948. They are buried together in Burwood Cemetery, Melbourne.

Ralph Lowe married August 1892 Angelina (Mary) Baulcombe, daughter of George and Ellen (Atkinson). George was one of the miners who died tragically in the Australasian Mine disaster at Creswick, December 1882. Ralph, Like Nicholas, worked for Victorian Railways, as an engine cleaner/fireman. Two children were born to Ralph and Mary, Harold Ernest at Richmond and Olive Jane at Boort. Contact has been made with these families. Ralph died 14 July 1947 at Boort and his obituary speaks of the high esteem and respect the district had for him. The Diggers referred to him as "Dad" Lowe. Mary died 23 January 1957.

Joseph Lowe married 1894 Laura Halliwell, whose parents were possibly Silvester and Sarah (Dickson). Probate records show Joseph's occupation as that of Boiler Attendant. The four children of Joseph and Laura were born at Allandale near Creswick. Second child, Alice, died in infancy. In later years the family lived at Sunshine and it was there that Joseph and Laura died at their address of 26 Ridley Street, Joseph on December 12 1937, Laura on lst October 1940. They are buried in Footscray Cemetery. Their son Albert Ernest was known to have lived at Woorinen.

William Lowe was born 5 February 1872 at Sebastopol, Victoria.His wife Emma Drough, (daughter of William Sedeen Drough and Anne Kennedy Morris (Morrice)), was born October 1877 at Enfield, Victoria. Both districts are not so very far from Ballarat. William Drough (Droun) was born in Malacca,he was a coppersmith by trade. Anne Morris was a daughter of John and Elizabeth Morris from Scotland. She was born near Melbourne. William and Emma first lived at Clemenston after their marriage at Ballarat on 20 September 1899, It was there at Queen Street that the first of their many children were born. A daughter, Mavis Ann, on July 5 1900. Clemenston is in Creswickshire, County Talbot, as is Allandale which is where the second child was born. Her name was Olive Jane and she was born at Batten Street on 11 April 1902. Perhaps it was the declining gold industry which prompted this young family to turn their eyes over the Tasman Sea, to New Zealand. Maybe the coal mines of the smaller country seemeda better prospect for employment. Whatever the reason for leaving Victoria, it must have been, to some extent, a heart rending decision to make. Not so much for Emma perhaps, as two of her sisters, with husbands and families, plus her mother and brothers Daniel and Sydney, also sailed to a new beginning in a new country. But William, how would he have felt? He left all his brothers and he was not to know that he would not see them again. It is said that Ann (Granny) Drough used to look towards Australia and exclaim "why can't they build a bridge across the water!" There must have been times when she regretted leaving her homeland. A son and a daughter still lived there. William sailed to New Zealand near Melbourne Cup time, so it is told, in 1902. Emma and her daughters followed the next year. They settled in the Buller District of the South Island's West Coast where eventually eight more children were born. Their names were: Doris May married John Joseph Lavery, had one son; Ralph married Vera Moore Mikkelson, had one daughter and two sons; Sydney Shelford married Mary Jack (from Scotland), had one son and two daughters; William married Elsie Whittington, one son; Nellie Margaret married William Henry Parker, had two sons and four daughters; Florence Maude, died infancy; Bessie married Leslie Clarke, had two sons and three daughters; Emma married Leslie John Menzies, had three sons and two daughters. Mavis, the eldest child married William Henry Hateley, had two sons and one daughter. Olive Jane married John Bennett and had eight sons and five daughters. The Lowe family's first home was at Denniston, a mining town up on the plateau above Waimangaroa, but by September 1905, they had moved to Mokihinui, down on the flat land. William had developed sciatica, which plagued him for many years and resulted in him having to give up mining, so eventually the family moved to Millerton where Emma kept a boarding house and William became the local librarian. The ensuing years saw the Lowe family move back down to Mokihinui, then to the Nine Mile Road at Westport, where William leased a farm for a few years and then on to Bradshaw's Terrace. It was there that the last three children were born. Whilst at Bradshaw's, William worked on Harry Lowther's gold claim, the call of the gold stirring in his blood again, even though his health was precarious He was diagnosed as having cancer of the liver and stomach, which precipitated the family move to Westport where Emma again took over a boarding house, this time at 75 Palmerston Street. Here she could earn a living and care for her sick husband at the same time. William died March 24 1920 and it was some time afterwards that Emma bought farming property at Sergeant's Hill, north of the town. She lived there until her death on June 26 1953, Perhaps the most exciting and thrilling time in Emma's life was when she went back to Ballarat, just a couple of years before her death, so that she could visit her sister Margaret Delaland. She flew out of Christchurch airport and landed at Essenden, near Melbourne, where Margaret met her. They spent a number of months catching up on a lifetime of news.

We cannot fully comprehend the many changes and sacrifices that would have taken place in our forebears lives. How can we appreciate the steps to ensure that the following generations would not have to struggle as they had. To have their sons go to war to fight for freedom and not know if they would return home safely, or be buried in foreign soil. The changes in mechanisation and technology that would make the world a smaller place, as far as travel and communication is concerned. For better or for worse. We at least owe them our gratitude and thanks for allowing us to be a part of the on-going of civilisation. What do we leave behind us. Can we make our world a better place?

information for these notes has come from some birth marriage and death certificates, as well as from family members.
Dates relating to Ralph and Jane's children are from Registrars Indexes, Victoria. Not all have been proven.
Cemetery indexes have also been used to gain information.
Researchers have also undertaken to find information in Victoria relating to Lowe family.
Census films for County Durham, available through the Family History Centre, have also been consulted re places of residence.