Margaret BEDWELL

Information provided by Jan Harrison - janleuwin@gmail.com

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Eliza Lehmkuhl was born Elizabeth Williams, in 1847 in Wales, the eldest child of John Williams and Margaret Davis. The family is listed in the 1851 census at Brittonferry, S Wales. I refer to her as Eliza below, although I think she only assumed this name when she married Bernard, possibly as it was similar to his mother's name.

Sometime between 1851 and 1856, when a daughter was born in Australia, the Williams emigrated to Victoria, presumably for the goldrush. They moved around a fair bit, three children I've found, born at different places, at Maryborough, Muckleford near Castlemaine and at Inglewood, all goldfields in that period.

On 11-06-1862, aged only 15, Eliza/Elizabeth married Richard Moore, aged 30, with her father's permission and they had a daughter, Margaret (Moore) born 29-06-1863 at Inglewood. Margaret Moore (at age 16) married Robert E Bedwell in 1879 at Condobolin, becoming Margaret Bedwell.

Richard Moore, Eliza's first husband was born in Bircher, Herefordshire and i've found him in the 1841 and 1851 census, in 1841 on a small farm with his parents, and in 1851 his parents appear to have died and he is farming jointly with his younger brother George, with sister Elizabeth as housekeeper. According to the census he is aged 26, so the age of 30 on his marriage certificate is not true, he was actually 36, two years older than Eliza's father. In 1861 George is still there farming with a wife and eldest child aged 7, so possibly he wanted to marry and the farm was not big enough for two, so Richard decided to emigrate.

A Richard Moore sailed on the "Cambridge" in October, 1852 (the census was in about March) as an unassisted migrant, apparently alone, as there were no other Moores on board. He embarked at Liverpool, giving his occupation as miner. His age is recorded as 22, so he may have already decided to make himself younger.
v Margaret Bedwell's death certificate has given us information about the family's whereabouts when she was young. When she was 5, 1868, she moved to Queensland. Gold was discovered at Nashville, near modern day Gympie in 1867 and became the 6th largest goldfield in Australia, so this may have been the reason for this move.

Six years later in 1874, she moved to NSW. Eliza's parents had moved to Parkes, in 1972 and her mother died there in Feb, 1974, when her youngest daughters were only 7 and 11 ( the same age as Eliza's daughter Margaret) so perhaps Eliza and Margaret went there and stayed to bring up Eliza's younger sisters. Parkes is quite close to Condobolin where Margaret married.

Richard Moore presumably died at some stage. I found a Richard Moore who died of dysentery on 2 June, 1874, buried at Normanby River, which is inland from Cooktown, on the way to the Palmer River where gold was found in 1872. Not much was known about him except his name and approx age, 45, which is about right.

On their marriage certificate, Margaret Moore/Bedwell is a housemaid and Robert Bedwell is a labourer, both resident at Condobolin, on the Parkes Road. Condobolin in 1879 was pastoral country, with few permanent inhabitants. Condobolin was a stopping place, on the river, for drovers, so perhaps this was a property or a pub.

They subsequently moved to Parramatta, where their daughter, Margaret Elizabeth Ruth Bedwell was born in 1886.

Eliza married Bernard Lehmkuhl in Dec 1891, in Brisbane, apparently on their way to Herberton in far north Qld, as the marriage was registered there. Bernard was born in Victoria, the second child of Friedrich and Elise Lehmkuhl, who migrated from Germany, arriving in 1854 on the "Oscar Vidal". They stayed in Melbourne for a while then moved to Woolshed Creek, a goldfield north of Beechworth, where Bernard was born and their first child, Pauline, died of tetanus. At some stage they moved to Rutherglen, where Friedrich may have resumed his original trade as a cabinet maker, as Bernard in later life is listed as a carpenter on the electoral role.

Friedrich died 26 May, 1882 and Elise not long after on 29 Jan 1883. Bernard was there to register her death, but he may have left Vic earlier and been in Queensland as there is a story from a descendent of Eliza's brother, that Eliza's husband, with her father and brother, ran a saddle pack train between Charters Towers and Herberton.

Eliza's brother, John, known as Charlie, was in Queensland from at least 1881, when he had a son born. Charters Towers was an established town by 1873, due to the discovery of gold there, but Herberton only got going in 1880, when tin was discovered. Transport to the coast was difficult so it's feasible that supplies came overland from Charters Towers, especially after the railroad reached there in 1882.

So it's possible that Bernard went to Charters Towers, perhaps attracted by gold, (he would have been 23 in 1880) met up with Charlie and with his father, and decided to set up the pack train. Then in 1882 he received news of his father's death and returned to his mother.

Somewhere along the way he could have been introduced to Eliza. His father's estate was granted probate in Mar 84, consisting of a house, so he presumably sold that and returned to Eliza. According to various death certificates, they had a son, Walter Francis, born about 1885, in Molong, NSW, but I've been unable to find any record of his birth.

According to Margaret Bedwell's death certificate, she had only been in WA for 9 weeks prior to her death. In the 1898 Coolgardie directory, Eliza Lehmkuhl is listed as a storekeeper and again in1899, when Bernard was also listed, but not in 1900, so presumably Margaret and her daughter travelled with Eliza, Bernard and Walter to WA.

Robert Bedwell is a bit of a mystery. The wording on Margaret's grave suggests he is still alive, or believed to be, yet not present.

Possibilities are that he abandoned them, was in gaol, or a mental hospital. I found a Robert E Bedwell who died in Morisett Hospital in 1931, aged 82, but the middle name is Eldridge not Etheridge and he was supossedly born in the USA

Margaret Bedwell's daughter, Margaret ER was presumably then cared for by Eliza and Bernard, who returned to Herberton, where they are listed in the 1905 electoral role (Bernard as a carpenter). Margaret ER married Roland Packard in Herberton in 1903, with Bernard Lehmkuhl as one of the witnesses.

That's why Margaret Bedwell is listed on her death certificate as the daughter of Richard Moore and Eliza Williams, even though Eliza Lehmkuhl is described as her mother on the gravestone.

© 2008 Lorraine Larment  -