IDA FAULKNER (1856 - 1935)

Ida Faulkner, the first child of George and Margaret Ann Faulkner ( nee Slaughter) was born at Edwards Town, Adelaide, South Australia on 18 March 1856.

Ida remained their only child until a brother Fredrick William was born in 1859. Then followed Francis Elizabeth in 1862, George Edward in 1864, Alice Rainbow in 1866 (who died at the age of one) and Eleanor Annie in 1868. Thus Ida grew up with two younger brothers and two younger sisters.

When only six weeks old her parents undertook the onerous task of moving to Beechworth in Victoria; their mode of transport being a bullock dray.

At that time Beechworth attracted many fortune hunters for at least fourteen thousand ounces of gold were being escorted fortnightly from the goldfields to Melbourne, but George Faulkner did not intend to seek the golden ore. He was a baker and pursued that trade during all the years of his life.

At the age of nineteen Ida married Henry James Jarvis, who was twenty-seven - a blacksmith with a well established business in Albert Road, Beechworth. The ceremony, celebrated by the minister of the Independent Church, took place in the bride's parental home in Melbourne Road, Newtown, Beechworth. They began their married life in a home in Albert Road adjoining Henry's blacksmith's shop, and resided there for eighteen years.

They had five children:- Ida, Henry Herbert, Alice Gertrude, Frank and Alan Edwin. Their first born, Ida, died soon after birth and their youngest son Alan Edwin, when a Captain in the A.I.F. during the 1914 - 18 War was killed at the age of twenty-eight years at Strezeele, France, on June 5th 1918.

The family lived in Albert Road until 1893, when they moved into "Nithsdale" in Newtown, Beechworth - a delightful large family home which Henry had acquired. Unfortunately sometime between 1908 and 1912 it was totally destroyed by bushfires. They then moved to a smaller weatherboard house in Kars Street, Beechworth. ( This house still stands in 1991, is in excellent order and is now numbered XXXXXXXX in that street.)

Sometime after the sudden death of her Husband in May 1917, Ida moved to a very small house in Finch Street, Beechworth, which was later numbered twenty-two but has since been demolished. She resided there until her death at the Beechworth and District Hospital on 7th April 1935. She was buried beside her beloved "Tappy" (as she always called him) in the Beechworth cemetery.

One of her grand-daughters who knew her only in her widowed days remembers her as a somewhat voluptuous figure, usually dressed in black. Her fine white silken hair - her crowning glory - was drawn tightly up to a 'bun' or 'chignon' on the top of her head. When dressed for company she would pin a small circlet of lace on top of this bun and around her throat she wore a black velvet band to which she pinned a piece of jewelry. Her grand-daughter thought she looked a little like the portraits of Queen Victoria but certainly without the latter's dour expression.

Ida was certainly an intelligent woman with a prodigious memory, being able in her latest years to recite poems she had learnt when a small child attending school. She was a veritable talking history book, recounting details of people and events at Beechworth - encompassing almost her entire life. Sadly none of her memoirs were ever recorded. She read a great deal and was a lover of good literature.

Her husband, Henry, was an extrovert, occupying many public positions, including Mayor of Beechworth Shire and being a trained singer and violinist enjoyed being on the stage. Ida however was very much the opposite, but they had an amicable agreement : - he was free to pursue his public life unhindered provided she was not asked to participate in any way. She was content with her family, her friends and her involvement with the Independent Church which she regularly attended all her life.

Her grand-daughter remembers her as a very outspoken lady, who both spoke and acted without due reflection. Even today, this grand-daughter remembers her despair on seeing the minister's little daughter wearing her favorite pale blue party frock and carrying her favorite toy - a bright woolen parrot. Nana, as she was known, had decided her grand-daughter had more than she needed so without seeking permission, she had taken this action. When Henry was alive he was always excusing her for her outspoken comments and hasty actions, saying she just didn't stop to think but she didn't mean to hurt anyone.

Despite being the daughter of a baker she was a very unimaginative cook and in this area her poor sense of smell caused many problems. Her son Frank would never add milk or cream to his food without smelling it - a habit he had formed of necessity in his youth, with which he persisted all his life.

However Ida Jarvis was a good woman who cared greatly for her family showing it in a practical rather than sentimental way. Sadly she lived the last eighteen years of her life as a widow.

INDEX

Beechworth                    1...

Edwards Town, Adelaide        1

FAULKNER Ida                  1...

FAULKNER George               1

FAULKNER Margaret Ann         1

JARVIS Ida                    1

JARVIS Henry Herbert          1

JARVIS Alice Gertrude         1

JARVIS Frank                  1

JARVIS Alan Edwin             1

JARVIS Henry James            1,2

"Nithsdale"                    1

SLAUGHTER Margaret Ann        1