The Descendants of Henry Euan Rumble, and their families
JOHN EUEAN RUMBLE 3. 8.1875
After working in New
Zealand, John and his family visited Kate and Harry Rumble on their way home to
England.
John, the son of Henry
Euean Rumble and Grace Martha Humfrey, was born on 3 August 1875 and died on 26
May 1944. He married Gladys Scott at Bray Co., Wicklow on 29 March 19161.
The London Records Office2 recorded his birth as "John
Enean" in the parish of Eastbourne, England for the quarter:
October-December 1875, reference 2b 56. John and Gladys had two children, John
Faithful Scott ("Jock") and Thomas Euean ("Tim").
Jock and Tim
1 Information supplied by Michael Rumble 16001M
2 Information supplied by Brenda Rohl
17033F in 1989. The name was clearly a misprint
Dorothy Fall3
said that John Euean became an engineer with Vickers Armstrong. In 1924 he
worked in New Zealand until 1928 when he returned to England. His
sister-in-law, Kate Rumble4 recorded his address in her 1926 diary
as:
c/- W.G. Armstrong
Whitworth & Co. Ltd., Aongatate(?), Bay of Plenty, New Zealand.
A later entry states:
23rd November 1928: Letter from John Rumble in Sydney,
that he is returning with his wife and children to England, calling at
Fremantle about 3rd December.
They were in Fremantle on
the third and fourth of December, travelling on the ship "Balranald".
Kate recorded their visit in her diary:
Mon. 3rd. .. Eric rang us at 8 a.m. that the
'Banranald' came in last night, instead of tonight as advertised, so he motored
Horace down at ¼ to 9 to fetch John with his wife & 2 boys up to stay with
us. They all stopt at Horace's house for morning tea... At 12.15 Eric arrived
here with the visitors, who can remain until Tuesday night. After dinner John
& Gladys took Jock and Tim to see Foy's toy fair, & see their Punch
& Judy show. Back here for afternoon tea. Then after 6.30 tea they went to
Town Hall to meet Horace at ¼ to 8 and he took them to the
"Ambassadors" theatre. “Dad and I did not sit up - they returned
11.30 p.m”.
Tues. 4. Got breakfast for our visitors at
8 a.m. Then soon after 9 Eric & Issie arrived in their car, to motor them
to Mundaring Weir, whilst I cooked the dinner, they returned for, at 1 o'clock
- the boys had a rest in the afternoon, but John & Gladys went to Boans to
get biscuits etc. for the boat. Gladys bought me a grass shopping basket I
lined afterwards with green to match, to strengthen it. They returned to
afternoon tea at 3.30 then we all went to Hyde Park till 5 p.m. returning in
time for Eric to fetch them from his office, & motor the 4 of them out to
tea at his place, so we said a final goodbye, as their boat was leaving in the
morning. After tea at Eric's, he fetched Humf. and Muriel up to meet them -
then at 8.30 he motored them to Nedlands, where they remained for supper with
Horace and Vera, seeing his 4 children, & at 10.30 Horace and Eric motored
with them to Fremantle and remained talking on the boat till past midnight.
The entry in the Index of
Wills states:
Photo :Gladys and John at
left
Rumble, John Euean of 24
Queens Road Hereford who died 26 May 1944. Probate Llandudno 1 March to The
Public Trustee. Personal Effects £9,901 17s 3d.
Resealed Singapore 21
January 1947
SCOTT GLADYS MAUD 06-07
(1???)
2 Date supplied by Michael Rumble
16001M
Little is known of Gladys,
the wife of John Euean Rumble. Horace Rumble1 said that Gladys came
from Ireland and that she married John when he, Horace, was in London - This
was 29 March 19162. Once, when she was returning to Ireland, Horace
said that he took her up to Glasgow. They had lunch there and then he put her
on the ship for Ireland. He remarked that she seemed a very "nice
girl".
Back row, John, Vi, Boy, Nettie
Front row, Jock and
Tim. Vi and Nettie were Gladys’
sisters, and Boy was her brother.
Gladys died at Dover on 21
November 1964. The entry in the Index of Wills states:
Rumble, Gladys Maud of 20
East Cliff Dover in the County of Kent who died 21 November 1964 Admin with
will London to John Faithful Scott Rumble Dental Surgeon and Thomas Euean
Rumble Buying manager Personal Effects £2,586.
John
Faithfull Rumble (Jock) 1933.
Jock went to Dover College
School and later qualified as a dental surgeon. John felt unable to send both
boys to private school. Tim went to the Grammar school, was doing well in the
army, but came out and after was a lorry driver. Jock practiced dental surgery
at Sevenoaks in Kent. He developed Hodgkins disease which he battled against
for 10 years before succumbing. Tim developed coronary heart disease in his
later years, and had angina and died of a heart attack. Jock married Judy Rose.
Judy in centre. Left Frances, right George Baynton.
4 This
date is at variance with the year 1878 supplied by Michael Rumble 16001M
Photo
at Hastings, so approx 1933.
Ernest
Ernest Duncan Lambert Rumble, the son of Henry Euean Rumble and Grace Humfrey, was born in 1874 at
Eastbourne, England. He died on 11 August 1952 at Dover. Dorothy Fall1
said that he married Martha, a Belgian Refugee. His sister-in-law Kate2
noted in her diary for 17 July 1918 that she "received a letter from
Ernest in Folkestone telling us he was going to be married." Next day
Harry Rumble3 "sent his nine illustrated books of
celebrated artists by parcel post to Ernest for a wedding
present." Kate, in her 1926 diary gave his address as: Ernest
Rumble, Manager, Westminster Bank Ltd., Ware, England.[1]
The Westminster Bank at
Ware, where the family lived in the mid 1920’s. The house on the left was
missing in 1998, and then a carpark[2].
The house had a river at the back (see foot note, if you put the mouse cursor
over the note number, it will show)
Joe, Sylvia, Jock, Frances,
Tim.
They were in Hastings in
the 30’s.
Ernest and Frances outside
the house in Hastings.
Frances, Joe, Tim, Jock.
Elphinstone Mount,
Hastings.
The London Records office shows
the birth of Ernest as recorded in the parish of Eastbourne for the quarter:
January - March 18744, Reference 2b 63.
Ernest and Martha had two
children, Frances and Joseph5.
Frances
Frances, Martha, Joseph
Joseph
Joseph
Joseph, Frances, friend
Sylvia
Frances, Joseph
When Ernest's sister,
Eueanita Blanche Rumble6, died in 1949, she left him her gold watch
and "the little blue album containing drawings by his brother Joseph[3]
with my love."
The entry in the Index of
Wills states:
Rumble, Ernest Duncan
Lambert of 17 East Cliff Dover in the County of Kent who died 11 August 1952
Probate London to Westminster Bank Ltd. Frances Martha Rumble spinster and
Joseph Duncan Rumble Dental Surgeon Personal Effects £6,656 17s 9d. He left 17
East Cliff to Frances, and 19 East Cliff to Joseph[4].
Frances in a 1990 letter to
John Fall wrote: My father Ernest was a magnificent painter equal to many of
the great Victorians. It was his hobby only - he would never sell any of his
painting - both oil and water colours. When he died my brother and I gave quite
a few away to relatives and friends as I just did not have the room to keep
them.[5]
I lived in a small flat in those days on my own, my mother having died (aged
42) when I was just 19. I wish now that I had been able to keep more of them,
as I would have liked to give them to my nephew and nieces ... but, at the age
of 19, you don't see so far ahead. It is obviously inherited and Grace, Blanche
and Mercy painted quite nicely, and I have some nice drawings done by their brother Joseph who died young from diabetes....
Mercy
and Limber, who had just taken a prize.
Mercy Rumble, youngest daughter of Henry Euean
Rumble. She never married.She showed her dogs at local shows. She lived with
Blanche at Cherry Tree cottage in Penn, Buckinghamshire. Ernest used to visit
at that time; they would walk the dog in the woods at High Wycombe[6] as Ernest has sketched there. Later he lived
for some years on her own at Worthing, where she bred budgerigars She finished
her days at Dover. She had been kept by her elder sister Blanche, also
unmarried, who had worked as a private nurse and had a job looking after the children
of a foreign King.
Martha with Joseph and
Frances
SAELENS MARTHA (21. 5.1896)
Martha, a Belgian refugee,
was born on 21 May 1896, married Ernest Rumble in 1918 and had two children,
Frances & Joseph. Martha was an orphan. When she was about twenty years of
age, she became a nanny to the Mayor of Bruges. In c.1916, during World War I,
she escaped with him and his family to England on the last Mail Steamer to
leave Ostend1.
Martha one more above, on right; and at
above as a young girl. Always happy and jolly, Ernest said he married her “as
much for her humour”, as for her beauty.[7]
She died on 10 January 1939, of a cerebral haemorrhage, she had
had one, seemed to recover, but had a second 10 days later that proved
fatal.
RUMBLE HARRY
HUMFREY 10-16 (21. 6.1866)
1 It is possible that after marriage
they lived at 41 Waylen Street, Reading, Berkshire, since John Fall (16021M)
has an envelope with that address (10 Jan 1889), addressed to Mrs Rumble.
In 1881 Harry & Kate lived in the same street in Eastbourne.
Harry, the son of Henry
Euean Rumble and Grace Humfrey, was born on 21 June 1866 at Eastbourne, Sussex,
England. He trained as an architect and engineer. At the age of twenty-one he
married Kate Rosaline Knight on 30 July 1887 at Greenwich, England. For a time
they lived at Reading1 and their first two children were born there.
Following a family quarrel, he and his wife migrated to Australia, finally
settling in Western Australia. There he worked as an engineer for the Public
Works Department until retirement in 1928. He raised a family of seven
children, and died on 4 July 1948 in Perth, Western Australia. Photo
about 1947.
The 1881 British Census for
Eastbourne shows that Harry then lived with his parents at 27 Hyde Gardens. He
was fourteen years of age and a scholar. Anthony and Letitia Knight lived at 28
Hyde Gardens. The 1881 census shows that of Anthony's children only Mary2,
aged nine, and Churchill3, aged two, were in the house on that
night. Kate may have been away at school. It seems probable that Harry and Kate
met through being neighbours.
Early education
Harry's parents were deeply
religious people, and hoped that Harry would be drawn to the Anglican ministry.
They directed his early schooling to this end, and he gained a profound
knowledge of Scripture, and of the Greek, Latin and Hebrew languages. But his
parents desires were not fulfilled.
Harry studied Civil
Engineering and Architecture and then worked for the London County Council .
4 See the entry for Kate
A family quarrel caused
Harry and Kate to Migrate to Sydney, Australia, eventually moving to Fremantle
Life in Sydney
Harry studied and qualified
both in civil engineering and architecture and worked for a period for the
London County Council. Between 1889 and 1900 he had seven children: Horace,
Eric, Maude, Leslie, Euean Humfrey, Phyllis and Dorothy. While working for the
London County Council there was a family quarrel, the details of which no one
is sure4. Probably as a result, he and Kate left Britain at the end
of 1891 with their young family and, travelling on the "Oonah,"
landed at Sydney at 11.30 p.m. on 12 February 1892. He then took a job in
Sydney.
In 1991, his granddaughter
Jean5 recounted the story that she had been told by her father,
Horace6:
They were very poor when
they arrived in Sydney. Granny didn't know that you had to work to earn money
to live. Having come from a family with private means, she thought that you
just had money, because that was the way she had been brought up. No one in her
family had gone to work from nine to five. Twice her father had taken the
entire family, complete with the servants, to New Zealand while he attended to
business. Kate was born in New Zealand on the first of these trips.
My grandparents had nothing
when they arrived in Sydney. Grandpa didn't have a job. They lived in one little
room in Balmain, which had an open fireplace, over which they hung a curtain.
They used that as a cupboard to store their food. There was a mattress on the
floor on which they slept. There were four of them initially: Harry, Kate,
Horace who was two and a half, and Eric who was one.
Leslie, in his autobiography, states that
he arrived in Western Australia when he was three years old. This is at
variance with the NSW birth of his brother Humfrey in 1896 and the arrival in
WA in 1897.
Three other children,
Leslie, Maude and Humfrey were born in Sydney before they came over to Western
Australia by ship in 1897, landing at the long jetty at Fremantle.
There is some uncertainty
about the number of children. Seven survived, but daughters Phyllis7
and Dorothy8 always maintained that there had been a total of
thirteen. Granddaughters Miriamme9 and Joan10 discussed
this in 1990 and confirmed the number as thirteen. Joan said that one child had
fallen down the stairs and been killed. Another had died on the boat coming out
from England. Some children, on being born, died, and, being so poor, they had
been buried in the garden. John Fall11 remembers his mother talking
of this. Joan said that her mother, Dorothy, was the thirteenth child. Nothing is
known about those that died. It is possible that some were miscarriages, maybe
at an early stage of pregnancy.
On 1 May 1897 Harry
obtained a Government position as a civil engineer in the Public Works
Department, and stayed with them until retirement.
They first lived in a
two-storey house in Henderson Street, Fremantle
In 1989 his eldest son,
Horace, recalled the house in which they had first lived:
I remember that we were in
a two-storey place in Henderson Street, Fremantle, because on the day we sailed
on a yacht to Rottnest at daybreak, when I was ten, we came back with a lot of
fish on board. There was a smart sea breeze and she rolled the whole way home.
They sat me up on the deck with my right arm around the main stay - and I
copped every wave! When I got ashore, the whole place reeled about, and I was
still physically reeling about when I tried to go up the stairs to my bedroom.
So I remember the Henderson Street House. Today there is a parking lot near the
police station. That's where it was. There were four, two-story houses just
there. We lived in the second one from the left.
They moved to Marmion
Street, Plympton. Phyllis & Dorothy were born there.
The Plympton school opened in
1898 and changed its name to the East Fremantle School in 1914.
Horace continued to
reminisce:
When we lived at Henderson
Street I went to Fremantle Boys School, but then, when we moved to Marmion
Street, Plympton, I went to the East Fremantle School, which was just opposite
our house. At about that time I stayed home from school for a whole year. My
mother became ill and my father kept me home to help my mother do all the
domestic work. I was about ten years old at the time; Dorothy and Phyl were both
born at Marmion Street and I used to wheel them about in their prams, and I did
their washing.
Before leaving Fremantle,
Harry worked on the North Mole
Before my father left
Fremantle he built the second half of the North mole. He brought granite down
from Mundaring, or somewhere. The two moles were originally made of sandstone -
not worth a damn - and he opened up a big quarry at Darlington and brought down
these big lumps of granite. He put a railway line up to the quarry - and later
he did the same thing at Bunbury when he put a railway line out to the quarry
at Roelands.
Transferred to Perth he worked in the old barracks
When Harry finished work in
Fremantle he was transferred to Perth and worked in the old Barracks building
at the top of St. George's Terrace. Many years later, when the Mitchell Freeway
was built, the Barracks building was demolished, and only the arch now remains.
Harry became a Catholic in
1902 but changed religion several times.
12 See the comment in the entry for
Leslie 15013M.
Harry became a Catholic in
1902. His wife's diary states that he was received into the Church on 18
January 1902. We do not know what led to this conversion. Kate became a member
of the Church shortly afterwards. His youngest daughter, Dorothy, said that her
father was always interested in religion and that he changed his religion
several times. She recalled that in the early days, being a Victorian father,
every time he changed religion, the whole family had to change with him.
He appears to have left the
Catholic church from 1914 to 1921 but returned to it on 12 October 1921. Kate's
diary shows that during this period, while he was in Bunbury, he belonged to a
Masonic Lodge. All his sons drifted away from the Church except Leslie12,
who became a priest.
The family moves to Colin Street and then to Aberdeen Street.
Around 1903 Harry and his
family moved to 1 Colin Street, West Perth. The small cottage, with its three
dormer windows, was still standing in 1994, surrounded by office blocks. From
Colin Street, the family moved to 102 Aberdeen Street, Perth. Kate in her diary
for 14 March 1912 has an entry: `Daddy came at a quarter to eight and saw our
electric lights on for the first time.' There is no mention of the form of
lighting before this.
From 1912 - 1915 he made many country trips
On 29 June 1912, Kate wrote
in her diary: `Daddy applied today for another billet at £600 a year still
under Government.' She did not record the outcome of this. During this period,
and until 1915, Harry made many short trips into the country, presumably
inspecting and supervising work for the Public Works Department.
Kate's diary records him
visiting such places as Wongan Hills, Kununoppin, Korrelocking, Toodyay,
Bolgart, Yilliminning, Corrigin . . . Whenever he went on these trips he sent a
telegram or card back to Kate on his arrival, and then sent a letter or
postcard to her almost every day.
Once Kate went with him to
a camp at Bolgart
* buggy = a two-wheeled
horse-drawn carriage with or without a hood.
Kate recorded an occasion
when she travelled with Harry to one of his camps:
Thursday 19 February,
1914 Got up at
5.30. dressed, packed and caught the train with Daddy for Toodyay to visit his
camp till Saturday. Riley met us with buggy* & Jack at station, and Dad and
I drove 25 miles to Bolgart, reaching camp just as Mr. Young was making
afternoon tea. Had dinner at 7 - curried tongues, stewed cherries and
blancmange. Sat in tent door for evening.
Friday 20 Camp bed lovely - tea brought at
6.30 - breakfast at 8, eggs & boiled bacon. Sat in tent till 11 a.m. cup of
tea, then dressed and drove 25 miles back to Toodyay hotel. Had tea there and
slept the night.
Saturday 21 Got up at 5.30. Cup of tea at 7 and
caught the 7.30 train to Clackline with Daddy, where he put me into the Albany
express for Perth, and I got to our house at a quarter to one. Sent Dad a wire
at once. He sent me one from Toodyay and another from Bolgart to say back in
camp.
On 24 April 1914 the family
moved again, this time to Mr Curlewis's house at 17 Heytesbury Road, Subiaco.
Curlewis was the Government Astronomer, and known to the family.
In 1915 Harry was appointed
resident engineer at Bunbury
* Newton Moore,
State Premier 1906-1910
13 Now known as
Stirling Street
In 1915 Harry became
resident engineer at Bunbury, and extended the breakwater there. He left Perth
for Bunbury on 10 August 1915, his family following later. Initially the family
stayed at Miss McKay's Boarding house and then, on 9 October 1915, they rented
Newton Moore's* house on the corner of Moore Street and White Road13.
He built a quarry at
Roelands
Part of Harry's work
entailed establishing a quarry at Roelands to provide stone for the breakwater.
Kate recalled the first "big blast" in her diary for 17 May 1917:
Pa motored to Roelands to
meet Chief & Mr Carlin, who brought him down oak framed photo picture of
his "big Blast", 1915.
In 1917, the following
notice appeared in the local paper:
On Sunday morning the second
big blast was carried out successfully at the Roelands Quarry, when over a ton
of explosives was discharged, 68ft. from the crest, and over 50ft. behind the
face. It is estimated that 30,000 to 40,000 tons of stone were blown down on to
the floor. The blast was fired with dynamite fuses about 100ft. long. The
explosive this time was in very fissured ground, though it was cemented in as
before. This will probably provide enough material for the next six months
without further blasting. The Engineer-in-Chief and Mr. Carlin (of the Harbours
and Rivers Department) were present and congratulated Mr.H.Rumble, the engineer
in charge, on the highly successful issue of the work, which exceeded
expectations, as it was feared, owing to the ground being fissured, that much
of the force of the explosion would be lost.
A further comment on his
work appeared in the paper in July 1917:
A severe storm in 1917
damaged his harbour work
When a week ago one of the
severest storms which have ever been known in this portion of the State swept
over Bunbury, it left the superstructure of the new Bunbury mole a perfect
chaos. Railway lines and all the paraphernalia of a great public work were
twisted and dismantled. After the storm the spectacle must have been anything
but pleasing to the eyes of those entrusted with the undertaking. We are glad
to say, however, that the work of making good the damage was tackled with such
good heart that the first truck of stone after the storm was tipped today. Such
expedition does the Engineer-in-Charge, Mr. Rumble, and those associated with
him every credit.
In 1918 he received an
increased salary but stayed in Bunbury
On the 29 and 30 April
1918, Kate recorded in her diary:
Daddy to a conference with
the Minister and Chief at the Council Chambers over the Harbour works . . . Dad
had a meeting with Minister and Chief at his office at 9.30. He is to be kept
on here, have a bonus, also a rise in salary. Girls and myself most
disappointed not to go to Perth.
There was another storm that caused damage. On Sunday 22 June 1919, Kate wrote:
We all went in the launch
to see the damage done to the end of the mole in the late storm, viewed Pa's
extension work, then they dropped me at our jetty and went up to Turkey Point,
returning for dinner.
Family life and
entertainment in Bunbury
When they lived in Bunbury,
the life of the family centred around home entertainment, tennis, swimming,
fishing, crabbing in the estuary, and boating. They established a wide circle
of friends, and Kate held regular "At Home" days. On 26 May 1920 she
wrote in her diary:
Wet and stormy today - We
entertained this evening Captain Pearson and Mr Webster (from the ship
"Huntress"), Mrs Forrest and Doris, Mr and Mrs Johnston of Moore
Street, and Mr. Phillips - so stormy they stayed here till a quarter to two
a.m., when Dad lent the ladies overcoats, boots, hats, etc., and they left
their best gowns here!
Kate gives another example
of their home entertainment in her diary for Saturday 25 September 1920. That
day, Phyllis and Maudie had come down on the train from Perth.
In the evening Captain
Pearson, Mr.Webster, Mrs Telford, Mr.Coles and Doris Bettesworth came for
banjo, piano, recitations and some jazzing to wind up with till 12.30. Bed at
1 a.m.
The S.S. "Huntress"
often came into Bunbury harbour, making trips to and from South Africa, and the
Rumble family became firm friends with the Captain and officers. Webster
eventually became the Captain and, as he played the banjo
"beautifully", became a frequent visitor. Kate referred to him as
"Uncle Webster."
Harry bought a telescope in
1921
Harry had always hankered
after a good telescope. He ordered one from Britain, and it arrived in Bunbury
on the 17 July 1921. The next day the Huntress was leaving Bunbury after one of
its many visits. The family took out the new telescope to watch the ship steam
away.
The family assembled in Bunbury for Easter and Christmas
14 See the "Crocodile"
photo, page 86
15 2/6d = 2 shillings and six pence = 25 cents Family members working
in Perth usually came down to Bunbury for Easter and Christmas. Easter, 1916 is
a good example. Kate recorded:
Friday: Humfrey arrived a quarter to nine
just in time for breakfast. Maudie at dress rehearsal at the "Lyric"
in the afternoon. Dad, Humfrey, Phyl, Dolly, and I rowed to mouth of Preston
River in afternoon.
Saturday: . . . Dad and I rode round the
Ocean Drive at 5 p.m. for the first time on our bikes. At 6 p.m. Horace and the
girls did the same. Horace and Vera went to tennis in the afternoon . . . Pa,
Humfrey and I played "Bobs."
Easter Sunday: Horace hired another rowing boat
and we all went up (in the two) the Preston River to Glen Iris for a picnic.
Dad photoed us all several times14. Dolly lost the rowlock of the
hired boat, so Holl and Humfrey had to tow it back with Pa and I in with Phyl
and Doll, so it was long after dark when we got back.
On the Monday evening The
Rustics - a local amateur group - gave a concert in the Lyric Theatre and
Horace, Humfrey, Vera, Phyl, Dolly, Harry and Kate went along to the 2/6d15
seats with friends Kitty and Frank McAdam. Kate wrote:
Maudie got on wonderfully,
quite one of the stars! We all went to the station afterwards and saw them off
for Perth on the night train.
In 1916 Harry bought a motorcycle
It was also in 1916 that
Harry bought a motorcycle. In her diary for 30 September Kate wrote:
Dad got up at 6 a.m. to see his motorbike, a Triumph, which he wheeled up last
night from the station. Rode four miles today after his alterations had been
made to it by Mr. Clifton.
On 11 November he went out
to Waterloo, on the outskirts of Bunbury, inspected, and then bought a
second-hand sidecar for £3.10.0d16. Next day he went out at 1.15
a.m. for a moonlight ride on the bike, returning a little after 3 a.m. "All
the worse for it", Kate recorded. Kate did not go for a ride in the
sidecar until Saturday 24 March 1917, when they rode to Collie bridge and back.
In April the sidecar broke down, so Harry sold it. In June he bought another
one. Kate recorded:
Saturday 2nd June: Pa and I walked down town in
afternoon and had a peep at my new sidecar, coming home tomorrow . . . Sunday
3rd: Dad took me for a ride in our new sidecar at 11 a.m. and again after 4
p.m. to call on the Johnston's at Leschenault.
Harry was very cautious on
his motorbike. Everyone laughed at him because he refused to drive at more than
five or, at most, eight miles an hour. Once, the local policeman stopped him
for obstructing the traffic. On Saturday 22 June 1918, the following notice
appeared in the "South Western Times":
He and Kate went to Perth
by motorcycle
Mr. and Mrs. H.H. Rumble,
who are to be complimented on their courage, went through to Perth on a sidecar
on Monday and Tuesday. They were incidentally bogged two or three times and had
to lever the machine out, and passed through several vivid thunderstorms, which
were an experience in themselves; but they were out for a holiday and
thoroughly enjoyed the novelty of their experiences.
It all depends on the point
of view.
Kate's diary records that
they set out at 10 am on the Monday travelling 48 miles to Waroona, putting up
at the "Farmers Arms". On Tuesday they reached Armadale and stayed at
the "Olde Narrogin Inn". Kate wrote: Dad Banjo'd in evening, also at
Waroona, greatly appreciated. On Wednesday they pushed through to Perth.
The motorcycle was sold
17 A carriage especially a light, two-wheeled one
The motorcycle was not
without its problems. Kate, on 29 September 1918 wrote in her diary:
Hot sunny day, Dad took me
for a motor to Dardanup . . . broke down, our second in 3,500 miles, walked to
the Johnston's at Leschenault. Worty drove me home in their trap17,
towing Dad behind . . . I went to bed after dinner with a bad head.
Finally on Friday 15
October 1920, Dad sold our motorbike and sidecar . . . this morning for £95
cash down.
In 1919, Harry was elected
a member of the South Western Club, attending his first meeting on 30
August. Kate also records that on 14 November 1919, Pa went to (Masonic) Lodge
Banquet and banjo'd in front of the Governor.
Harry took three months'
leave in 1921, rented a cottage at Darlington and was then transferred back to
Perth. (See the entry for Kate.)
Late in 1921 Harry took
three and a half months' leave, spending part of the time with Kate and some of
the family in a rented cottage at Darlington. He returned to work in Bunbury on
Wednesday 18 January 1922 to find a letter awaiting him, telling him that he
was transferred to Perth. The following Saturday he took the train to Perth,
leaving his family temporarily in Bunbury. So ended his seven-year sojourn in
that town.
Harry and Kate looked
around to buy a house. Kate wrote: 2nd
February, 1922: Wire from Dad for me to come up to Perth this afternoon . .
. Dad met me and we went and had supper, then to 257 Hay street East to sleep.
They buy a house in North
Perth
The whole family helped to
establish the house
3rd February, 1922: After breakfast went to bank, then
tram'd to North Perth to see over Mrs Solomon's house, corner Vincent &
Fitzgerald streets. Ended by buying it off her. Final payment on possession on
30th April next.
This was the first house
that they had owned and not rented. Presumably an inheritance received by Kate
made this possible. The family moved to Perth on 29 April 1922. In the
following months they set about furnishing the house and reestablishing the
garden.
Early in June there was
much activity. Harry planted three Virginia Vechii plants at the side
of the house and started making a trellis for passion fruit. Kate purchased a
new occasional drawing-room chair, while Harry bought a new piano stool and
Maudie made drawing-room blinds. Humfrey came round and helped Harry paint the
chimney. Harry also started painting the tank that held rainwater from the
roof, but then decided to replace it. The new tank arrived on 17 June, and he
painted it red.
In July, Eric came to
dinner and put up the drawing room-bookcase; Humf came and strengthened a form
in the Hallway. He also made Harry a ladder. Harry painted the front verandah
roof, then the main roof and finally "the new roof to the back porch
red, to match the house roof." They also had carpenters make
alterations to some woodwork. This was completed on 18 November 1922.
Harry appealed successfully
against his classification as Assistant Engineer
On his return to Perth,
Harry became dissatisfied with the Public Works Department. He was now to work
on roads and bridges, classified as an Assistant Engineer. He appealed against
this and sought a higher classification, although his Department stated that
the work of roads and bridges was always paid at a lower scale and could not be
compared with that of an engineer constructing a large harbour. A report of the
appeal appeared in the paper:
A.S. Galbraith, City Engineer, gave evidence in support of the appellant's
claim. H.H.Rumble, assistant engineer (first class) sought a classification of
£708 - £804, with a salary of £804, together with the title of supervising
engineer. His present range was £504 - £576, with a salary of £504. He had been
6½ years in sole charge constructing the Bunbury Harbour works, and during the
whole of that time he was officially addressed as resident engineer. He considered
that the title assistant engineer usually referred to a young man who worked
under a senior. During the time he had been at Bunbury they had spent a fifth
of a million of money on the works. He had also to take charge of the Geraldton
harbour works. Calculating on the basis of the salary received by the resident
engineer at Bunbury in 1900, he should be paid £780.
The board adjourned until
10.30 a.m. today.
Kate recorded in her diary
on 30 May 1922 that the appeal finished this morning. A most successful
hearing.
He became in charge of
Geraldton Harbour works and travelled to and from Geraldton
Harry was always a cause of
worry to his wife and family. He once said that he wanted to marry a woman he
met while in Geraldton.
Taking charge of the
Geraldton harbour works meant that he now often travelled to Geraldton. His
first trip was on Monday 26 June 1922, when Kate recorded, Dad left at 5 p.m.
for Geraldton with Mr Carlin, till Thursday.
He was now travelling back
and forth, but kept in constant touch with Kate. Between November 1922 and
April 1923 he made nine trips away from home, most of them to Geraldton. Kate
became worried during April when Harry failed to write. On 19 April she sent
him an urgent, reply-paid telegram. She received the reply:
Quite Well. Cannot leave til Tuesday. Love Father.
On the first of May, the
PWD informed Harry that he had officially been appointed Resident Engineer at
Geraldton. His family remained in their new home at North Perth, and he
continued to make trips to and from Geraldton, sometimes staying up there for
lengthy periods.
On 4 August 1923 he
returned from Geraldton and brought home a new banjo. Early in October, he had
a telephone installed at the North Perth home. The technicians started installing
the wires on the first of October, and completed the work on the fifth. Kate
wrote the telephone number in her diary: "5784".
A small notice appeared in
the Geraldton paper in October:
CATHOLIC CHURCH
St Francis Xavier's Cathedral
A Special Mass will be said at 10 o'clock on Sunday (the 21st inst) for the
prosperous construction of the New Harbour Works.
He retired from the PWD in 1928
18 Public Works Department
Harry was not always
pleased with his working conditions. For example, on 4 May 1926, Kate wrote in
her diary, Pa came home in afternoon very disgusted with the Govt.'s treatment
of him. He retired from the PWD18 on 30 April 1928.
Kate died in 1932, and he
survived until 1948, when he died on the fourth of July. He was brilliant but
eccentric and gave the family many problems through excessive drink
His daughter Dorothy said
that her father was a brilliant but eccentric man. He gave the family many
worries through excessive drink, and ruled the household as a true Victorian
father. Although Kate kept a detailed diary, there are only oblique references
to his drinking problems. For example:
Monday 25th November,
1918: Mr Burns
brought Dad home and put him to bed.
In 1921 Kate wrote:
July 20: Had a bad night with Pa, so I
stayed in bed all day....
July 21: Mr. Burns came up to see us at a
quarter to 11 and again at 2 p.m. to let me and the girls go to town. . .
July 22: Not well so stayed in all day . .
. I moved my bed into the back room, the girls fixed up for me.
July 24: Pa better.
And again:
October 6: Pa due home on 6.20 train. Dolly
had a cup of morning tea ready for him - but no appearance - wire came from
Pinjarra at 10.15 a.m. to say arriving 1.30 . . . Pa did not come home after
the 1.30 train came in.
October 7: No sign of Pa. Maudie rang up a
car at 10 a.m. and we went to see Mr Burns at office - who soon located Pa at
Picton and promised to motor for him this evening . . . Burns arrived with Pa
at 7.15. Maudie sat up with Pa all night. He gave her £1 in the morning.
October 8: Pa got better middle day. I amused
myself making a new Will.
It is not clear that all these, and similar diary entries, related to Harry's
drinking problems. Mr Burns appears to have been a younger man, with a young family,
who worked in Harry's Bunbury office, and obviously helped Kate in times of
trouble.
Harry made Horace his
executor, but changed this when Horace was firm with him over his drinking
problem.
Humfrey becomes Harry's
executor.
Harry appointed his eldest son Horace as his Executor, but eventually became
unhappy with this and asked his youngest son Humfrey to take over his affairs.
Horace's daughter Jean19 recalled how this was due, in part, to her
father's lack of sympathy for Harry's alcoholic binges:
Grandpa got Dad to handle
his affairs, and Horace was his executor. But Grandpa went on these benders
every now and again, and Granny would ring up Dad and ask him to come over to
the North Perth house. Dad wasn't very sympathetic with Grandpa. If Harry was
put in hospital, or if one of the other family members looked after him, they
would wean him off the alcohol by watering it down, bit by bit. Dad didn't do
this. He locked Grandpa in the bathroom, and said "There you are. There's
a tap if you want a drink." He gave him a pillow and said, "You can
come out when you are sober."
Dad would then return home,
leaving him locked up all night. First thing next morning, before Dad went to
work, he would go over to the house and let him out. One time Dad said that
Grandpa was a cunning old devil. During the night he found a nail file and used
it to file the wood around the lock. By the time Dad returned in the morning,
Grandpa had just about got the door open.
Jean did not know how bad
these binges were because it was kept very quiet in the family and the children
were not told. Horace always wanted to keep such matters "Hush-Hush."
Later Horace said to his daughter, "Pa didn't like me anymore. He's
taken his affairs away and given them to Uncle Humf. He's executor now."
His daughter Dorothy
related anecdotal stories about him.
20 15016F
21 16021M
ANECDOTAL STORIES
REVEALING
HARRY'S CHARACTER
Harry's youngest daughter
Dorothy20 told her son John21 that her father was not a person
you could ignore, and recounted several anecdotal stories:
Harry played the banjo and,
with Kate at the piano, they entertained their friends, or gave an item at a
concert. Sometimes he would wake up at two or three in the morning, sit up in
bed beside Kate - who was trying to sleep - and practice his banjo.
Dorothy also said that the
family had a difficult time when Harry bought a violin. Kate recorded this in
her diary for 10 March 1923:
Dad came back from
Geraldton at 10 a.m. He changed his banjo at Flight's for a violin, worth
£17-7-0, this afternoon and bought a tutor to teach himself. I went to bed with
a bilious attack.
He had a strong sense of
humour, and always said what he felt, whatever the company. One afternoon in
Bunbury when Kate was entertaining a group of friends, including Canon Adams,
Harry walked into the room just as the vicar was taking a large bite of sponge
cake. "Ah, Reverend," he said, with a mischievous glint in his eye,
"about your Father's business as usual, I see."
Usually he went to bed at
10 pm and if Kate had friends in for the evening, he would come into the room
precisely at ten, ostentatiously wind up the clock and pronounce, in a loud
voice: "I don't know about you, Mother Darling, but I
am going to bed." All the ladies would scurry home as fast as they could.
Once, when he was due to
return from a bush camp, an amused boy delivered a telegram to Kate: "Hot
Bath. Macaroni Cheese. 8.30pm."
He did not believe that
everything in the newspaper was suitable for his children to read - especially
the girls. So he cut out anything of which he did not approve. Dorothy and the
others received the paper with little pieces missing.
When he studied the bible
carefully, he cut out of it all those passages with which he did not agree.
22 This was to walk
diagonally across a busy
street from one side to the other.
Many years later, in the
early 1940s, long after his retirement, a photo appeared on the front page of
the daily paper. This showed him, arm raised over his head, laying down the law
to a young policeman. At that time a traffic law had been introduced forbidding
people to "J-Walk"22 across the street. The police officer
had caught Harry allegedly doing this in the centre of the city. Harry always
spoke with great certainty and authority. He expostulated with the young
policeman:
"J-Walking? J-Walking? I am
not J-Walking, young man. I am walking along the street."
He was cautioned.
THE POSITIVE SIDE OF
HARRY'S CHARACTER
23 It seems that they permitted Eric
to take a bank loan, lodging the title deeds of their North Perth home with the
bank as security.
In spite of all his
eccentric ways and problems, he did many things for his family, and Kate stuck
by him and defended him always. Her diary reveals a strong positive side to
him, as well as a negative. He and Kate appear to have helped their son Eric
financially when he set himself up in business23. He also helped his
daughter Maude financially when she and her husband Frank were first married,
and bought a house in Goomalling.
Kate's diaries also reveal
how she dealt with some of Harry's problems. For example, a cryptic entry in
1918 about "Whisky Tax" reveals that he had to pay her a tax
of eight shillings every time he brought a bottle into the house!
He invented an ingenious
Quay wall to minimise harbour silting
Dorothy said that, when her
father was in Bunbury, he invented an ingenious quay wall to minimise harbour
silting. Kate stated in her diary on 31 October 1917 that Harry received a wire
calling him to Perth to see the Commonwealth Committee about his invention.
Further diary entries followed:
12 March, 1918: Dad shewed the Harbour Board,
Mayor, Jack Anderson and Mr. Paisley over the mole, also his patent and working
model . . . .
16 March: An account of Dad's mole and quay
wall invention in today's paper.
Unfortunately, Harry was
egocentric and wished to claim total credit - and benefit arising from the
invention - for himself, rather than share with colleagues. As a result he was
thwarted by others, and nothing came of the idea.
Dorothy said that, after
her marriage, whenever she came up to North Perth to stay with Harry and Kate,
she would arrive at the house after a weary trip with small children. Even
before she stepped in the door, Harry greeted her with the words: "When
are you leaving?"
His granddaughter Jean
recalled that sometimes, when she was eight or ten, the grandchildren gathered
at the North Perth home if one of them had a birthday, or was up from the
country:
Before long, Grandpa would
have us all sitting round in a semicircle, cross legged, and he'd get these
wretched peppermints out of his pocket and break them into about a quarter
each, because he said they were very strong. We would have to sit and suck these
peppermints while he played his banjo to us. That could have gone on until I
was about ten, I suppose, from when I was little. We didn't dare speak, and I
don't think we enjoyed it very much.
Jean continued:
I was terrified of Grandpa.
I didn't say a word in front of him. Also, I didn't like it when he wanted to
kiss me, because of his moustache. I remember when he was old my brother Bob
once drove us to the home at which he was staying. I refused to go in because I
thought he would kiss me. Then he came out to the car and kissed me.
Grandson Jim remembered him
as an old man after Kate had died
24 16009M
25 1927 - 1929
In 1989, Jim Rumble24,
Harry Rumble's eldest grandchild, recalled some memories of his grandparents:
I don't remember much of
Harry pre-second world war. He and Katie used to visit us at 419 Rokeby Road,
Subiaco, on a Sunday afternoon. He would leave sixpence or threepence for us.
My mother, Isabel, would provide afternoon tea, then they would catch the tram
back to North Perth. I would have been eight, nine or ten at that time25.
My father told me that he
wondered how Harry kept his job with the PWD - but no-one ever knew, because he
would be on drinking bouts, sometimes for days on end. They would find him
thrown out of an hotel, or wherever it was, and he would be brought home in a
horse and cart. Where they got the horse and cart from, God only knows.
He lived in a succession of
boarding houses whose landladies took advantage of him
After Katie's death in
1932, he must have sold the North Perth residence; I can't remember where he
took up residence then. I remember he visited my father's place at 2 Webb
Street, Cottesloe. He then lived at John street, Cottesloe and got involved
with some landladies - there was a little bit of shade around some of the
landladies who would get hold of his pension. He used to discuss this with me.
He bought one of them a car at one time; I remember my father telling me this.
I went to see him at his
boarding house in John street; this rather fat woman, who was older than I, was
there at this time. She was the one who had been getting at his money. Aunty
Phyl also had said that he bought them a piano. The landladies would get all
sorts of gifts out of him, plus money.
It was at this stage that
this woman wouldn't have drink in the house. Harry used to get me to smuggle it
in. Every Tuesday on my way to Fremantle for Rumbles Limited, as a Rep., I
would call on him at a quarter to nine in the morning, and he would give me six
times one and tuppence - or whatever the beer was in those days. This must have
been postwar, since I would not have been allowed into a pub until I was
twenty-one in those days. He used to get me to purchase this material for him.
I would have my lunch at Fremantle, call back on my way through Cottesloe, and
drop the grog off. Before I left he would pull the tops off the six bottles and
put them in his wardrobe; they used to go flat and warm - he never refrigerated
it.
Jim did his banking and
bought him beer
On occasions, when I would
call there on a Tuesday morning, he would have consumed the lot and have been
without beer for a day or two. At that stage, since the woman wouldn't allow it
in the house, he couldn't get out to buy it for himself. I would always bring
it in a box - she would never know what I had there.
This went on for a few
years. Always he would give me the great sum of two shillings and sixpence for
my labour. I also did his banking: draw his money out of his savings bank: the
Commonwealth Savings Bank in Fremantle. He always kept the passbook. Whether he
strapped it to his waist to keep it out of the woman's sight, I do not know.
He never drank spirits,
only beer. Always Emu Bitter, the other was too sweet for him. I
always saw him each week, and the experience was repetitious. He would grizzle
about his gout and get me to cut his toe nails, because he couldn't reach them.
He wouldn't go to a chiropodist because that would always cost him money.
He had money, but he never
gave anything to me. Except that he said he was going to die one night. I was
called down there in a hurry, and he was convinced he wasn't going to last the
night. I was given his beautiful barometer - which was his retirement present
from the PWD. Then, when he didn't die in the next couple of days, he wanted it
back. But, No Way! I've still got it. This was the only gift I had from him,
other than the two and sixpence.
His only interest was
the bible
He had few interests. His
only real interest was the bible - which he cut to pieces with scissors: pieces
he didn't like he would cut out. After I married - this would be wartime - my
wife Joan sometimes came with me to see him. He would greet her with: "What
are you doing for the war effort?" This put Joan on the defensive
since she said she wasn't doing anything much in those days, apart from working
in the "colour patch" tea rooms and restaurant, where the
proceeds were given to military camp comforts.
He went to stay at the
Esplanade Hotel Fremantle
26 1946 - 1947
Following a difference of
opinion, somebody got him to leave the clutches of this boarding-house woman.
He went to live at the old Esplanade hotel in Fremantle. I called on him there
for years26. He became quite frail 27 To give, or pay for
He was pretty frail at
times. He would walk with a shuffle; always have slippers on. He would never
come down into the street to see me off. I would always say "cheers"
to him in his bedroom. He never shouted27 me a meal: never would I
have had lunch there. There was just this two and sixpence given to me.
Once he got to the hotel I ceased buying him beer. It was supplied by the
hotel, but it was always soft. He always took the tops off.
He was an eccentric. He would lecture me on religion and how he fought with
this priest and with that, and he was swapping from one religion to another
during the latter part of his life. He got back into Catholicism time and time
again." His granddaughter Jean recalled that when he was staying at
Cottesloe and, she thought, almost eighty years of age, he was sued for breach
of promise. She did not know the details, but said:
It's only what I overheard,
and I think it was in the paper. At this time Grandpa was receiving periodic
payments from Granny's estate. Whenever the money arrived, he splashed it
around, and his landlady thought he had plenty of money. One time when he got
on one of his periodic alcoholic benders, she got a proposal out of him. Of
course, when Grandpa sobered up, he wasn't having anything to do with it. The
landlady sued him for breach of promise.
Other members of the family
recalled that it cost Grandpa some money to get out of the difficulty.
Because of his domineering ways
his children were reluctant to have him live with them, although he asked most
of them to do this. He ended his days, a lonely man, in a boarding house in
Rivervale. He died on 4 July 1948.
-PN- GN
-FN- G SURNAME GIVEN NAMES CH.FNs BIRTH DATE
007A 14
004A F KNIGHT KATE ROSALINE 1866 10-16 (15. 3.1866)
R
Kate was born on 15 March
1866 in Christchurch New Zealand when her parents, Anthony Knight & Letitia
Hochee, spent some years there after their marriage.
Kate & Mary run away
from boarding school
1 Oral Source: Kate's
youngest daughter Dorothy
16021AF
When the family returned to
England, Kate and her younger sister Mary were sent to boarding school while
they were very young. Mary became very homesick, so Kate decided that they
would both run away from school and return home. This they did. When they
arrived home, they received no sympathy whatsoever from their mother Letitia
who forthwith packed them off straight back to boarding school1.
Kate married Harry Rumble
in 1887
2 See entry for Harry
Kate married Harry Humfrey
Rumble on 30 July 1887 at Greenwich. Both of them were then twenty-one. In 1881
her parents were living at 28 Hyde Gardens, Eastbourne, while Harry's parents
were at 27 Hyde Gardens2.
The severe family quarrel
3 Oral Source: Joan Dougan
(16020AF) related the
account given to her by her mother, Dorothy (15016AF)
We know very little of a
family quarrel that followed. One account is as follows3:
Kate's parents decided that she should marry Harry Rumble, although at the time
she did not particularly like him. However, Kate and Harry eventually fell in
love. All seemed well until Harry decided to change his religion and become a
member of the Plymouth Brethren. Kate's parents were horrified, and told her to
break off the engagement, forbidding her to marry him. When, at the age of
twenty-one, they married despite her parents' wishes, they threatened to cut
her off from all inheritance, and her father refused to have anything to do
with her.
We do not know whether this is a true account.
Oldest son, Horace (15010AM), said that he did not know the cause of the
quarrel
In 1989 Horace Rumble spoke
about the violent quarrel between Harry and other members of the Rumble family.
He said:
I don't know why my Father left England: It was a mystery. In 1916 I visited a
Great-Uncle of his. Apparently this uncle had found my father a job in the
London County Council. I don't think he was a Rumble but, when I saw him, he
was very old and very funny and he wouldn't have anything to do with any of the
male members of the family.
When he heard that I was the son of Harry Humfrey Rumble - for whom he found a
job - he saw me. You see, Harry Humfrey Rumble left that good job that had been
found for him, without telling anyone. Something funny went on and I have never
been able to find out why he came to Australia. There was some family quarrel.
I could have asked my Granny, Letitia, when I was in England, but I wouldn't. I
thought that if she wanted to tell me she would volunteer it. In the same way I
could have asked my Mother and Father but, if they wanted to tell me, they
would have. So I never found out why they came, but there was some family feud
because I remember my father's brother, Bertie, once saying he was coming out
to shoot my father - so it must have been a severe family feud.
4 Jean Warren (16005AF), daughter of Horace. When Kate broke the silence and wrote to her
parents, she was too proud to say they had lived in poverty
In 1897, Kate's younger brother Henry wrote a letter of Conciliation
Henry St.John Knight = 14015M
At some stage after
settling in Australia Kate broke the silence and wrote home. Granddaughter Jean4
said:
Because Granny came from an affluent home with servants, she was too proud to
tell them of the way in which they had lived in Sydney. She wrote home telling
them she was doing well, and that they had servants of their own. This, of
course, was untrue, as they were living in poverty. Later, when my Dad, Horace,
visited Kate's mother Letitia in 1916, he told her the truth.
On 18 June 1897, after Harry and his family had arrived in Fremantle, Kate
received a letter from her brother Henry St.John Knight. This started as
follows:
I have just heard from Father of your present abode and address and also of the
terrible experiences you encountered on your voyage to Australia presumably, I
suppose, from New Zealand.
You must be anxious I know, as so many years have passed since we heard
anything of you or you of us, to know the news at home. I feel so sorry that
you have kept yourselves outside the family circle for so long but now I have
your address and, as I bear no ill-will to either of you, I cannot but write
and tell you what news I can remember since November 1889 - the last we saw of
you. You must yourselves have had a very trying time but I earnestly hope that
you have sought the Lord's guidance and not passed His love unheeded and that
'ere long we shall rest in the spirit of love.
Family Reconciliation in 1912.
5 Kate kept extensive diaries. In 1990 some were in the possession
of John Fall (16021AM). Others were held by Miriamme Young (16014AF)
6 Anthony Knight(13007M) 7 Mary (14001F) Kate was
reconciled to her family in 1912. Her diary5 records:
Friday 19 January, 1912: Long letter from Daddy6
- wrote a letter of reconciliation to my sister7.
Several lines in the diary following this were erased. Two days later she wrote
a long letter to her mother, Letitia, recording this in her diary, but again
erased a line or two that she had first written. Her father died a few months
later, on 25 May 1912, although she did not hear of this until she received a
letter from her mother on the third of July. Reconciliation with Harry's
brother Bertie may not have been until 1920
8 Herbert (14001M) 9 Blanche (14008F) = Sister to Harry 10
Harry Humfrey Rumble
It appears, however, that
Harry and his brother Bertie8 may not have resolved their quarrel
for some years. On 28 November 1920, Kate wrote in her diary: Letter from
Blanche9 and one to Pa10, that Bertie's affair is settled
amicably at last.
On the 30 July 1912, Kate and Harry celebrated their silver wedding. Horace
placed the following notice in the paper: Silver Wedding Anniversary on 30
July, 1912
RUMBLE - KNIGHT (Silver
Wedding). - On July 30, 1887, at Blackheath, London, S.E., Harry Humfrey,
eldest son of the late Henry Euean Rumble, of Eastbourne, Sussex, to Kate
Rosaline, eldest daughter of the late Anthony Knight, of Vanbrugh Terrace,
Blackheath. Inserted by their children Horace, Eric, Leslie, Maude, Humfrey,
Phyllis and Dorothy, wishing them many happy returns of the day.
Kate wrote in her diary that day: The whole family came to Mass and Communion,
kneeling together at the rails and immediately on our return home Horace
brought me the daily paper, shewing me the advertisement of the Occasion, he
had had inserted by all the children. Then breakfast and I opened all my
presents, during which Doris and Hilda Hedges came in with another present from
next door and stayed to see the fun.
Gifts they received
11 Harry Humfrey Rumble from my Daddy 11 gold
Mizpah ring, satin eider-down quilt, wedding dress, cake, etc., etc, Horace Silver and cut glass salad bowl and helpers.
1 dozen afternoon teaspoons, S.W. notice in paper.
Eric two silver and glass butter dishes
Leslie
silver thimble in case
Maudie a holy card and a lovely seal stole
and pretty petti made by herself trimmed with Valenciennes lace and insertion
Humfrey a silver "golf-stick" hat
pin
Phyllis
a holy card and silver
butter knife
Dorothy a holy card and silver butter
knife. She also received presents from several friends. Her diary entry
continued:
After the presents, the boys went to work, but Maudie got the day off to decorate
up the dining room. The table was partly finished when Les came home at noon
and photoed it, but it was not so good as when finished at 3 o'clock, when Mrs
Hedges came in to inspect and admired Maudie's blue ribbons, twisted with
asparagus fern from the centre electric light to the four corners of the table,
tied with bunch of jonquils and fern. At 5.15 I dressed in all my new bridal
array, wearing one red rose Horace brought, and we sat down to the Wedding
Breakfast an hour later, at which, by the uproar, all enjoyed themselves
immensely.
News that nephew Freddie is going to New South Wales 12 Frederick
(15018M) 13 See entry for Frederick Knight Later that year Kate
received a letter from her mother on 20 November telling her that her nephew
Freddie Knight12 had left Britain for New South Wales on the "Orama."
Some years later, in 1919, she was to receive a letter from Freddie asking for
financial help in setting up a farm13.
Kate's father dies in 1912. Matters concerning the Will 14 15015M
15 14013F When Kate's father, Anthony,
died in 1912, he left his entire estate to his wife Letitia. However, on 11
February 1914, Kate received a letter from her brother Henry St.John14
enclosing an "Indenture" for her to sign, to provide something for
Jennie15 out of her father's Will. Jennie was the wife of her
brother Valentine who had died in 1904. Apparently Kate did not approve of this
as her diary for 16 February records `Posted letter to Henry returning the
'Indenture' with a protest.'
Harry caused the family problems through excessive drink As shown in his own
entry, her husband, Harry, caused many problems for his family through
excessive drink. Kate and her children suffered through this, but she stood by
her husband always, in spite of the difficulties and sufferings that he caused.
Her diary does not record his drinking bouts, but there are several entries
such as `brought Dad home', `Dad did not come home', or references to him being
ill in bed that may be oblique references to his problems. Whenever he was away
on jobs, they corresponded almost daily and they clearly had a close
relationship.
How they spent their
evenings She and Harry played the piano and banjo together. In the evenings
they played cribbage or card games - always for a very small wager, and she
recorded in her diary who won. Once, her diary stated that they had learnt a
new game called "Rummy." When they lived at Bunbury, she
held "At Home" days. In June 1917, the Bunbury paper had the
following notice:
Mrs Rumble and Miss Maudie Rumble, left Bunbury for Perth today, and Mrs Rumble
wishes to intimate to her friends that she will not be "at home" for
a month.
Kate had a wide circle of friends and kept in close contact with all her
children She made a wide circle of friends, and people were always coming in
and out of her house. She was interested in gardening. As the family grew, and
left home, they often returned to visit her. Kate kept in very close contact
with them, either by letter, or by visiting them. Often on the train she sent
packages of "goodies" to her children. Her children, on reflection in
later life, considered her a caring, loving, and almost saintly person.
Horace went to the war. She
and Harry campaigned for conscription.
AIF = Australian Infantry Forces While Horace was serving in the AIF overseas,
she received his pay and banked it for him. In 1916 she and Harry campaigned
for the introduction of conscription. On the thirteenth October Harry bought a
'Union Jack' flag and hung it on their front verandah to show they favoured
conscription. On the sixteenth she attended a meeting on the subject at the
Council chambers. The next day they went to the Lyric theatre in the evening to
hear Sir John Forrest and Frank Wilson speak for conscription. On the evening
of the twenty-sixth they went to an anti-conscription meeting in Bedford Hall.
Next day they were at a meeting in the afternoon about the forthcoming
referendum. That evening they went to a stormy meeting in the Lyric theatre
that was addressed by Mr Thomas, MP and Mr Gardiner. Finally, on Saturday the
twenty-eighth, she bicycled to the polling booth and voted "YES."
In 1920, Major Brearley in his aeroplane made an exciting appearance
Radio Aircraft were seldom seen in Western Australia in the early days, so their
appearance caused much excitement. Kate wrote in her diary:
Saturday 24th April, 1920: We saw Major Brearley flying his aeroplane
over Bunbury for the first time this morning . . .
Sunday 25th: (Dad) motored me to Leschenault fields in the afternoon to
see the aeroplane start and return twice. Great crowds there.
Many technical changes took place between 1920 and 1930. The first radio
station in Australia, 2SB, opened on 23 November 1923, and radio quickly spread
in popularity. On 18 December 1925, Kate wrote in her diary:
Ted came in evening and accompanied Phyl to the Williams' to hear their
`listening in' set.
In 1920 they had a Perth holiday from Bunbury. Harry had a poisoned foot. 16
Daughters
Lysol = Trademark. A clear, brown, oily liquid, a solution of cresols in soap;
used as a disinfectant and antiseptic
In October 1920, Kate and
Harry took the train to Perth for a week's holiday. They travelled on the
afternoon train as far as Pinjarra where they broke their journey, staying
overnight at Jackson's Hotel. Next morning they continued to Perth and booked
in to a boarding house at 257 Hay street East at 30/- for six nights. Harry had
contracted a poisoned foot and wanted to consult a Perth doctor. He also wanted
to buy a new suit. Kate wanted to visit Maudie and Phyl16 who were
working at the Children's hospital.
Harry's foot proved quite
troublesome. Sometimes, after a walk, they returned to their lodgings to boil a
kettle of water. He then bathed his foot in hot water and Lysol.
They often went to the
(motion) pictures
While they were in Perth
they went several times to the pictures. Going to the "Pics" was a
very common outing in Bunbury. They usually went at least once a week.
Sometimes, with a group of friends, they booked an entire row at the Lyric
theatre. After the film, everyone returned to their home until quite late for
supper and entertainment - music, recitations and games.
In 1921 Harry had three months' leave. They rented a cottage at Darlington
17 Eric = Second son, married to Isabel Anderson
Late in 1921 Harry took
over three months' leave. In October they rented a cottage at Darlington for
five weeks at 25/- per week. They took the train to Perth from Bunbury, stayed
the night with Eric17 and Issie and then, next day, Kate wrote:
Saturday 22nd October: The motor came at 7.30 a.m. and we all went to
Subiaco station, catching the early train for Darlington. Jack and Ralph
Pilgrim were on the Subiaco station to see us before leaving for their house we
are renting for 5 weeks. Changed at Midland Junction . . . We were all
delighted with this house in the hills, it's so comfortably furnished . . .
They went for long walks, played rummy in the evening, had visits from family
members on the weekends, and made frequent train trips to and from Perth.
Harry was then transferred to Perth from Bunbury . On their return to Bunbury,
Harry discovered that the PWD had transferred him to Perth. He left almost
immediately. Kate packed some possessions to take with her, while disposing of
other items. She sold her dining table to Mrs Lloyd for £5, and two old iron
beds were taken by Chadd's, who owned the shop next door, for £1. On 29 April
1922, Kate left Bunbury on the 2.30 p.m. train, to live at 317 Fitzgerald
Street, North Perth. Before moving into their new house, they stayed at the
Commonwealth hotel.
The following notice
appeared in the paper:
Mr H. Rumble, accompanied
by Mrs Rumble and his family, arrived in Perth from Bunbury last week. They
will in future reside here. Mr. Rumble had been stationed for many years in
Bunbury, as resident engineer of the Bunbury Harbor works.
In 1920 Kate learns of her
mother's illness and death.
18 Mary Gerard Rawlinson (14014F) wife of
Frederick Knight On the 29
March 1920, Kate received a letter from her sister-in-law Mary Gerard Knight18
telling her that her mother, Letitia, was very ill. She immediately wrote back
to Mary Gerard. On the fourth of May she received a registered letter from
Letitia, enclosing a twenty-first-birthday letter and gold chain with diamond
and pearl pendant for Phyllis. Another letter came from Mary Gerard on the
twenty-eighth of June to say that Letitia was now expected to be a permanent
invalid. On the twelfth of July Kate received a cable from her brother Fred stating
that Letitia had died on the ninth. Kate pasted into her diary the death-notice
she received:
Knight - On July 9th, Letitia Charlotte, widow of Anthony Knight, of
2 Vanbrugh Terrace, Blackheath, aged 85. An old and respected resident in
Blackheath for about 40 years.
Kate received a copy of the local Blackheath paper with an account of her
mother's funeral. Unfortunately the paper was not kept. The House at Vanbrugh
Terrace was sold quickly, and her brother Fred sent her some postcards of the
old family residence. Fred also sent her a power of attorney for her to sign
concerning her mother's affairs and, on 15 November 1920, a small box arrived
from Mary Gerard containing Kate's share of her mother's jewellery.
In 1922 she sent money
towards the maintenance of her parents' grave On 30 March 1922 she sent a
registered letter to her brother Henry St.John containing two guineas towards
the cost of maintaining her parents' grave.
Kate received several legacies.
She received several legacies
19 13062M 20 14063M 21 This was possibly
from Katherine Chapman, nee Knight (13061F)
22 Sydney (13039M)
died in 1922. 23 see entry for
Letitia Hochee (13007F)
She noted in her diary the receipt of a legacy from "Uncle Henry" on
1 July 1915. She received a further £10.14.4d on 6 January 1916. It is presumed
that "Uncle Henry" was Henry Knight19, a brother of her
father, but it could have been Rev. Henry Shortland20, who married
her father's sister, Alice. We do not know the date of death of these
relatives. Kate was in the habit of referring to other people in terms of their
relationship to her children. "Uncle Henry" could even refer
to her brother who might simply be passing a legacy on to her.
She also received a small legacy of £25 on the third of April 1919 from "Aunt
Kate"21.
In his Will, her Uncle Sydney Poole Lowdell22 , who married Henrietta Hochee, left
£2,500 stg. to Letitia. However, Letitia died before Sydney. Under the
provisions of Sydney's Will, the sum was then divided equally between Letitia's
children. Kate received news of this from her brother Henry on 1 June 1922.
Kate received about £500 sterling.
On 29 March 1921, she received a letter from Beaumont's, the family solicitors
in England, regarding her mother's estate, and enclosing a cheque. Letitia left
Kate an inheritance of about £1,70023. She also received another
letter from Beaumont's regarding the estate of her grandfather, John Hochee,
and enclosing another cheque.
Through various legacies
Kate had a considerable estate of her own.
24 The Australasia Bank. Cooper was
probably the manager. Kate thus had some means of her own. From her diaries it
appears that besides some legacies as lump sums, she also received periodic
income from England.
For example, her diary states:
1st. February, 1922: Biked to Cooper's Bank24 at 11, to get
£28 awaiting me there from Beaumont's; 10th March, 1922: Letter from
Beaumont's notifying my January money sent out, and the yearly account of
estate. 25th January, 1923: Letter from London Lawyers, ½ yearly income
sent.
Kate's Will provided her husband and children with income from her estate, but
no share of its capital.
25 Maude had died in 1926
When Kate died, her private
estate became the subject of a complex Will, drawn up, it was said, under the
influence of Harry. Dorothy Fall said that her father did not want the capital
of Kate's estate to go to her children. Under the terms of the Will, dated 14
March 1932, she gave £1,000 to her son Lesley who had become a priest. Half the
annual income from the estate (or £120, whichever was the greater) was to be
paid for life to her husband. Half the remainder of the income was to be shared
between her two daughters25, and the other half between her other
three sons. When any son died, his share went to his wife. When a daughter
died, one half of her share went to her husband, while the other half was to be
shared between all surviving grandchildren. As each child and their partner
died, their share was to be divided between all the grandchildren. Only when
the last child and partner had died was the entire estate to be converted to
cash, distributed between all grandchildren, and the administration of the
estate completed.
Kate's children were
unhappy with this Will. It seemed much more reasonable that, at least on the
death of both Harry and Kate, the estate should be wound up, and the capital
distributed among all the children. In this way, each would receive a
worthwhile sum.
According to the terms of
the will, the entire income was distributed each year. The Will made no
allowance for inflation. As each year went by, the real value of the estate and
its income declined. It was over sixty years before the estate was wound up and
the capital sum, no longer of any real value, was distributed amongst a great
many grandchildren.
She and Harry were received
into the Catholic church in 1902
* From the 14th to 24th of
April
We do not know the
circumstances that led Kate and Harry to become Catholics.
In the back of one of her
diaries she made the entry: Dad and I received into Catholic Church at
St.Patrick's, Fremantle, by Rev.Fr.Cox in 1902. Dad on 18th January,
myself on 1st March.
From that time until April
1914 Kate and Harry went to mass almost daily. The family then moved from 102
Aberdeen street to 17 Heytesbury Road Subiaco, before which there is a ten-day
gap in her diary* and following which there is no further mention of church.
There was no mention of
church in her diaries during the years in Bunbury Through the years 1915 to
1922, when they were at Bunbury, there was no mention of church, but she and
Harry had a social association with the Anglican clergy. It can only be
presumed Harry had changed religion. Seven years later, in 1921, both started
attending mass again. While they were holidaying at Darlington, Kate recorded
that she attempted to go to confession and mass at Midland Junction with Harry,
but finally felt too unwell to make the journey. On 18 December 1921 she wrote
in her diary:
Rose at 6 a.m. and accompanied Pa to Mass and Communion in honour of the Feast
of the Immaculate Conception. My First Mass for seven years.
In 1921 Church again became
a central part of her life She double underlined the last sentence. She and
Harry then went to Mass on an almost daily basis, and the church again became a
central part of her life. Kate noted her attendance at mass and the taking of
Holy Communion in her diary. She established strong relations with St. Brigid's
church and convent at West Perth. She carried on daily devotions. In the diary
for January 1930 she made a marginal note:
Have several times missed saying the Litany of the Sacred Heart since getting
ill health, that I have said regularly since 1922 - so determine from now to
initial each day I say it to help me not miss any more.
Each of the following days
has the initials "L.S.H." in the margin.
Declining health. 26
See entry for Maude (15013F)
Kate died of a heart attack on 31 October 1932
Official papers show Kate's
second name as Rosaline but members of the family often called her Rosalie.
Her oldest grandson, Jim, recalled her death
27 Jim (16009M) = Son of Eric Rumble (15011M)
See also the entries for her children, as these contain extracts from her
diary.
In later years Kate was often
unwell with a heart problem. When her daughter Maude died in October 1926 about
a month after giving birth to her daughter Miriamme, Kate was very upset26.
Kate and Harry looked after Miriamme for a considerable time until she was
adopted by Phyllis after she married Ted Chown. Her diary entry for Sunday 1
December 1928 states: Too ill to get up - only Pa and Ted went to Mass. Phyl
could not leave me and baby. They rang up doctor early and she came along about
11 a.m. and gave me a thoro' overhauling - heart trouble again thro' getting
run down. Also patch on 1 lung accounted for my cough. She ordered anti-flo
across my back and hot water bottles . . . Pa took baby's cot into his room
tonight, and she only disturbed him once, so Phyl and Ted got a decent night's
rest, she needed badly.
Harry kept the baby in his
room for several nights, and on one night had to get up to her four times, and
slowly Kate recovered.
Kate died of a heart attack on 31 October 1932. The following death notice
appeared in the West Australian newspaper:
RUMBLE. - On October 31,
1932, Kate Rosalie, dearly loved mother of Horace, Eric, Leslie, Maudie
(deceased), Humfrey, Phyllis (Mrs.E.J.Chown), and Dorothy (Mrs. V. G. Fall),
and grandmother of Jean, Bob, Peter and Nancy; Jim, Ross and Elsa, Miriamme,
Lesley and Ailsa, Joseph, and Joan and Jack.
In 1989, Jim Rumble27,
Kate's eldest grandchild, recalled: Grandma died in 1932 and I remember this
very well; it stuck in my memory - she was the first dead person I had ever
viewed in my life. I was at Hale school at the time. I remember going in the
morning of the funeral to a service in their lounge room. The priest and
everybody was there, waving the smoke around. Everybody had to view the body
and her face. She was dressed in white in a high collar, as she always had
done: I never saw her in anything else; lying in her open coffin. We
subsequently went to the funeral; there was Eric my father, myself, . . . I
don't remember Ross being there, he was a bit on the young side. I remember
that to this day, because of the shock to me of never seeing a dead person
before.
-PN- GN
-FN- G SURNAME GIVEN NAMES CH.FNs BIRTH DATE
001A 14
005A M RUMBLE HENRY SINGLE (1861?)
1 15016F
Son of Henry Euean Rumble
& Grace Humfrey; his date of birth is not known, but Dorothy Fall1
stated that he lived only one or two months before dying. Dying as an infant,
Henry did not have a will. However an ADMIN (or Administration) appears in the
records for Henry. An ADMIN is not a Will. It is a legal document that allows
someone (usually a relative or direct descendant) to take the property of a
deceased person who had not left a Will. The Admin for Henry states:
RUMBLE Henry of Speen,
Berkshire died 12 September 1863. ADMIN London 6th October to Grace de
Brotherton Wall (Wife of Robert Wall) Effects £99 10s 2d.
The Admin shows Henry Euean
Rumble as his natural and lawful fath The entry in the Index of Wills states:
Rumble, Herbert Montague of
Ackriggs Fremington Devonshire who died 4 April 1942. Probate Llandudno to Mary
Georgina Rumble Widow. Personal effects £164 11s 8d
MARY GEORGINA KNIGHT
(1872?)
3 Will obtained by Brenda Rohl 17033F
in 1990
Mary, the daughter of
Anthony Knight & Letitia Hochee, was probably born in 1872. In 1891 she
married Herbert (Bertie) Rumble and had five children. Her sister Kate1
married Bertie's brother Harry. Mary died at Barnstaple, England on 3 April
1949. Her death, at the age of 77, is recorded in the parish of Barnstaple for the
June 1949 quarter, reference 7a 259. In 1922 she inherited £500 sterling from
her uncle Sydney Poole Lowdell2. Mary's Will3 is dated 27
October 1948. She was then living at "Two-Trees", 12 West Avenue,
Sticklepath, Barnstaple, England. She made small bequests of personal items to
her children, left her house and furniture to her son, Montague4,
while the residue of the estate was divided equally between her five children.
The entry in the Index of
Wills states:
Rumble, Mary Georgina of
Two Trees, 12 West Ave Sticklepath Barnstaple Devonshire Widow who died 3 April
1949 Probate London to Lottie Georgina Williams5 (wife of Herbert
Graham Richard Williams) and Cyril Fortescue Rumble6 Surveyor.
Personal effects £7,989 5s
2d.