circa 1890
The town where an ancestor kept a boarding house. She was the first proprietor and came to manage it after her husband died. A remarkable woman, this ancestor. She married an Irish convict who had been pardoned as many were back in the days. He and his brother had stolen some money and were sentenced to death. The sentence was commuted to life and they were transported to the other side of the world and eventually pardoned. She was 15 at the time of her marriage and he was 41. Not unusual in those days. He and his brother were both farmers and lived in the same district as Martha. Her parents were also convicts who had made good and become farmers. The couple had 15 children together and moved north to buy another farm near the town you see above. The area would have been nothing but scrub and a few huts. When Martha took over the boarding house it was the finest building in the town and when sold to a bank was moved to another street. She died at the age of 98 in a comfortable homestead owned by one of her daughters. This remarkable woman was born during the reign of mad King George and had lived right through the Victorian age from beginning to end. Married young, borne 15 children, lived out in the scrub in nothing more than a bush hut for most of her marriage before taking on the responsibility of a boarding house. A remarkable achievement for a little 15 year old girl whose fate was to marry a 40 year old Irish ex convict.

Anna Aspnes

weathered neutrals paper
skinny lined overlay
ArtPlay Palette Viaggio frame & brad