Harding family of South Petherton, Somerset
The Harding family history spans generations, detailing life in England before their migration to Australia.
The England part of this Harding history is partly drawn from research conducted by another arm of the Harding family who were also descendants of our direct immigrant ancestor Robert White Harding.
Harding families lived in the village of South Petherton in the English county of Somerset for centuries. South Petherton is located near Taunton.
In 1849, shepherd Robert White Harding and his wife Susan nee Davies set sail from the Port of Plymouth to establish their branch of the Harding family in Australia.
Roberts’ ancestors from the 17th century, insofar as can be established, are as follows:
Thomas Harding married Elizabeth England. They had the following children:
Thomas Harding born 1686, buried 22.10.1738 aged 52. Married Ann. They had the following children:
John Harding, agricultural labourer, born 1731 buried 7 Dec 1794 aged 63. Married Elizabeth Hutchins on 13 Oct 1757 at Bridgewater, Somerset. They had the following children:
Elias Harding, baker, baptised 25 Mar 1759, buried 18 Feb 1820 aged 61. Married Mary Naish, born about 1757, on 22 Nov 1780 at South Petherton. They had 13 children of whom only 3 or 4 survived into adulthood, including the next descendant Elias:
Elias Harding, farmer, baptised 3 Dec 1797, Parish Church of St Peter and St Paul, South Petherton. Buried on 24 Oct 1873 aged 74. Married Hannah Ostler, born about 1803, on 8 Sept 1820 when he was 33 and she 17. Hannah died in 1833 aged 31.
They had four children as follows:
Elias remarried 6 months later on 26.11.1833 to Phoebe Wines. They had a further 6 children. The 4 youngest males emigrated to South Australia:
Robert White Harding born 1828, agricultural labourer/shepherd, married Susan Davies born 1827 at Summershead, South Petherton, on Christmas Day 1848 when he was 19 years of age and Susan was 20.
Robert & Susan set sail from the Port of Plymouth, England, on 6 March 1849 on the ship Hope, arriving at Melbourne on 21 July 1849. A female infant was born during the voyage (noted on the ships manifest.) They had 11 children as follows:
According to family, Robert had initially settled in the Connewarre area near Geelong working on his cousin Elias’ farm. The first four or five of their Australian born children were born at Connewarre. By 1857 the family had moved to East Bellarine where, as at 1863, rate books show him leasing two separate 80 acre lots in Scotchmans Road. He next moved to Dunkeld between 1863 & 1865 to work on Silas Harding’s farm. (Silas was not related and hailed from Devon.) At some point Robert moved to Bendigo following the gold rush and later engaged in the family Cider making business. Robert’s wife Susan died in 1895 at Bendigo aged 68. He remarried in 1903 at Bendigo when he was in his mid 70s to Alice Bailey aged 21 years. He moved back to East Bellarine after a 40 year absence sometime between 1903 & 1909 where, while living with his son William Davies Harding, he died in 1909 aged 81 years. According to family legend William sent Alice on her way as she was a bit of a ‘ratbag!’ Alice moved back to live with her parents in Skipton. She died there 3 years later in 1912 aged 30.
Robert’s wife Susan died in 1895 at Bendigo aged 68. He remarried in 1903 at Bendigo when he was in his mid 70s to Alice Bailey aged 21 years. He moved back to East Bellarine after a 40 year absence sometime between 1903 & 1909 where, while living with his son William Davies Harding, he died in 1909 aged 81 years. According to family legend William sent Alice on her way as she was a bit of a ‘ratbag!’ Alice moved back to live with her parents in Skipton. She died there 3 years later in 1912 aged 30.
Robert left his estate consisting of a property at Dunkeld valued for probate purposes at £160 and a 9 acre property at Bellarine with a 30 year old 10 room weatherboard house, valued at £325, to Alice! This property was described as part of Portion 5 Parish of Bellarine which is on the Portarlington Road opposite Spray Farm. This is the same locale as George Baker’s 9 acre plot known as Lightwood Farm and appears to have been one and the same – see Baker family history for further. It was the only 9 acre plot in the larger Portion 5. It appears that he had only bought that property within the previous 2 years as his will mentions conveyance in 1907. If so he has effectively bought the property from his son William’s father-in- law, George Baker. George had retired to Portarlington around this time. Some years later this property became part of a larger property owned by Don Gray. Don’s mother was Susan Ethel Gray nee Parsons who was the sister of Myrtle Elizabeth Ibbotson nee Parsons – see their family histories for further.
No provision was made in Robert’s will for his sons or daughters.
William Davies Harding was born on 10 September 1861 at East Bellarine shortly before his parents moved the family to Dunkeld to work on Silas Harding’s ‘Devon Park’ farm. (Silas was not related to our Hardings – he was from Devon. His history is well documented.)
William returned to East Bellarine around 1884 with one of his sisters, working on various farms in the area. His spinster sister Edith worked as a cook at Charles Ibbotson’s Spray Farm. Some accounts have him working on and/or share farming on Spray Farm while living on nearby ‘Sutton’ farm in Scotchmans Road. In 1897, a newspaper article reported on the upcoming auction of William’s 10 acre property at Lot 30 in Scotchmans Road. This property (land only) was next door to ‘Sutton’ on what was known as ‘White’s’ farm. William had acquired that land in 1890. It appears to have been the only property owned by William until he retired and bought 64 Stevens Street, Portarlington in 1928.
William married Ada Louise Baker born 8 September 1875 of ‘Lightwood’ farm East Bellarine, at Wesley Church, Geelong on 7 Nov 1893 when William was 32 and Ada was 18. Ada was a daughter of George Baker. They had five children as follows:
Cyril Hope Harding was born at Sutton Farm, East Bellarine. He enlisted in the AIF on 12 July 1915 aged 22 at Geelong and was attached to the 11th reinforcements, 37th Battalion. On 9 November 1915 he embarked from Sydney to France on the ‘Beltana.’
Between January 1916 & August 1916, Cyril was in and out of hospital with conjunctivitis & jaundice. On 17 August 1916 he was reported wounded in action near Ypres, France. It was later established at a Field Court Martial, where he was charged with “neglect to the prejudice of good order and military discipline”, that the wound, a gunshot to his left hand, was ‘self inflicted.’ He was sentenced to 21 days “Field Imprisonment.” This usually meant being placed in fetters & handcuffs but still capable of being marched. Cyril was later repatriated to England and hospitalised for a further month, he remained in England until Jan 1918 when he was shipped back to the Western Front, France where in August he was wounded again. In September 1918 he was back at the Front. After the end of the war 2 months later, he returned to England where he was attached to the Australian Mechanical Transport Service, Chelsea, as a driver. On 22 September 1919 he married hospital nurse Julia Rose Elizabeth Varndell at Bagshot, England. On 16 April 1920 he embarked for Melbourne on the ‘Hororata’ arriving on 10 June 1920. Julia was on the ship with him but as it was a troop ship they were billeted separately. Julia was pregnant at the time and gave birth at Geelong on 19 August to Jean Kathleen Harding. Cyril was discharged from the Army in March 1921 as “Medically unfit due to the gunshot wound to his hand.” In January 1923, apparently after a return visit to England, Julia and two year old Jean returned to Australia traveling 3rd Class on the ‘Jervis Bay.’ They lived in the Moonee Ponds area, with Cyril recorded as a Police Constable. They had another child, Donald Claude Harding born in 1924.
Cyril died in 1926 at Ascot Vale, Melbourne aged 32 years. Julia and the two children returned to England soon after. Julia is next recorded in 1929 with her family in Surrey, England. Julia died in Surrey in 1978 aged 84 years. Jean died in Surrey aged 77 years having never married. Don married nurse Jeannie Whip in Surrey in 1947 before emigrating to Melbourne on the migrant ship Asturius in 1949. Jeannie died in 1979 aged 59 years. Donald died in 1990 aged 66 years following a car accident in New South Wales. Both are buried at Fawkner Cemetery.
Alma Louisa Harding was born at East Bellarine. She married Harry Clive Lyon 1894-1970 at Portarlington in 1922. Alma was living at ‘Sutton’ farm at the time. Harry had enlisted in WW1 on 15 July 1915 serving with the 4th Light Horse in Egypt. He returned in July 1919 relatively unscathed and was discharged in September 1919. Harry & Alma moved around Victoria, mostly Gippsland where Harry worked variously as a clerk and later, Shire Secretary. Harry died at Bairnsdale in 1970 aged 76. Alma died at Bairnsdale in 1980 aged 84.
Frank Harding was born at East Bellarine in 1899. He died as an infant and is buried at Drysdale in an unmarked grave.
Jack Baker Harding was born at East Bellarine in 1905. He died in 1922 aged 17 years. According to his death certificate he suffered from an internal haemorrhage.
William & Ada retired to 64 Stevens Street, Portarlington in 1928.
William died at Portarlington on 10 November 1936 aged 76 years. Ada died at Portarlington on 22 March 1951 aged 76 years. Both are buried at Portarlington cemetery.
Robert George Harding married Ella Doris Day born 20 Sept 1903, on 5 May 1923.
Robert was born at East Bellarine on 27 August 1902 at ‘Sutton’ Farm. He went to the Bellarine State School (since demolished) for 9 years missing only one day. Left school at 14 years of age and worked on various farms in the area until moving in 1925 to Geelong West working as a fireman at Victorian Railways. The family lived in Wellington Street, Geelong West at the time. Robert was laid off in 1930 due to the depression. Robert enlisted in WW2 in 1939 serving in Egypt & Greece. On discharge in April 1944, he went fishing at Portarlington and then worked at the Bellarine Shire until retiring aged 64. During those years he was part-time grave digger at Portarlington cemetery. He was initially paid £1 per grave but was able to put the price up to £2 after no one else wanted the job. His name appears on many local death certificates as registrar. He remained as Secretary of the Portarlington Cemetery until 1981 after 37 years in the role. Robert died on 18 February 1991 aged 88 years. He is buried with Ella at Portarlington Cemetery in a plot that he had set aside for himself many years earlier.
Ella became a school teacher at Portarlington State School from 1919 to 1923. During WW2 while Robert was away she lived in the old Portarlington Library which had been partly converted into a house. Her mother in law Ada, was the librarian at the time.
In the meantime, Robert’s father William had retired from farming and in 1928 bought the house at 64 Stevens Street, Portarlington. The house had been built in 1872. Robert & Ella inherited the house after Ada died in 1951.
Robert & Ella had 5 children as follows:
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