Hettie German (Bowers) Norman (1907)

Born 20 Aug 1907 in Newtown, New South Wales, Australia

Ancestors

Wife of Ernest Augustus Smith — married 1934 in Hurstville, New South Wales, Australia

Wife of William Alexander Norman — married 1950 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Biography

Hettie was born at Newtown in 1907. She is the daughter of Thomas Bowers and Laura German. ^[1][2]

She married Ernest Augustus Smith in Hurstville in 1934.^[3]

The following article appeared in the Truth (Brisbane) on December 25, 1938:

"BLACK MAN AND WHITE WOMAN His Color Ruined The Marriage (From 'Truth's' Sydney Office.) ALL men, black, brown, yellow or white are born the same, even if under the exigencies of life and the standards of the races, they are not equal. Each has the same heart, brain, and human form — pigmentation and conditions of existence through the ages have made them different. Among their own kind, they work, marry and are happy. You see, east is east and west is west and the colors seldom mix successfully. It might be fate, or whatever you like to call it, that makes it so. And it certainly was fate that took a hand in the affairs of Ernest Augustus Smith, colored, obviously an American negro, and took him away from those of his own color and placed him among the whites. In the States Smith might have married a negress. and settled down to happiness. But brought here when he was three years old in 1903, he was forced to live his life from those of his own kin with his chances of happy marriage greatly and tragically lessened. As a matter of fact it was only his color that ruined the marriage that he did contract with Hettie German Bowers in March, 1934. Well spoken, palpably a sincere and honest man, he told Mr. Justice Boyce in the Divorce Court the other day how it came about — how it ended— and caused him to charge desertion and plead for freedom. The first and only home they had had together was with her mother in Dunmore-street, Bexley. He was there five and a half months. 'I left there because no one would speak to me,' said Smith for whom Mr. Stonham (Hobbs and Stonham) appeared. Smith asked his wife why, but she said that she knew nothing about it. The trouble was the color of his skin, It seemed. 'But I heard It remarked that everyone was talking about her being married to a blackfellow,' he said. 'And then she would not talk to me or do anything.' Indeed, by what he had to say, the situation became intolerable. He said that he even had to make his own bed. THEN HE LEFT. Only for two months did they occupy the same bed. After she had had a spell in Kogarah Hospital and following her return, she went to sleep with her mother, and has been away from him ever since, despite his requests otherwise. In October, 1934, Smith left that place and made a home in Macklestreet, Surry Hills, but she wouldn't go there, said she wanted a place in the country. Next, he went to Mt. Druitt, arranged a little place there, but that did no good either. She would not join him, and he was left to go his way alone. The judge gave Smith a decree, and he went his way perhaps pondering how better things might have been had he not been brought to a white country way back at the beginning of the century".^[4][5]

Their divorce was reported in the Sydney Morning Herald on July 28, 1939.

"IN DIVORCE. (Before the Judge in Divorce, Mr. Justice Boyce.)

Decrees Absolute ... Ernest Augustus Smith v Hettie German Smith,"^[6]

Following her divorce, Hettie remarried. She married William Alexander Norman at Sydney in 1950.^[7]

Research Notes

• When and where did she pass away?
• Did she have any children from either marriage?

Sources

1. ↑ https://familyhistory.bdm.nsw.gov.au/ NSW Birth Certificate Registration No. 27162/1907. Father's given names - Thomas S. Mother's given names - Laura C. District - Newtown
2. ↑ "Family Tree," database, FamilySearch (http://familysearch.org : modified 11 October 2020, 00:27), entry for Hettie German Bowers (PID https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/4:1:LY57-CDZ ); contributed by various users.
3. ↑ https://familyhistory.bdm.nsw.gov.au/ NSW Marriage Certificate Registration No. 2357/1934. Ernest A Smith married Hettie G Bowers. District - Hurstville.
4. ↑ Truth (Brisbane, Queensland, Australia) 25 December 1938: page 8. https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/203909521
5. ↑ Family Search Genealogy Website - record for Hettie German Bowers. https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/sources/LY57-CDZ. Retrieved on 08 Aug 2022 by Nigel Clark.
6. ↑ The Sydney Morning Herald (Sydney, New South Wales, Australia) 28 July 1939: page 6. https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/17597809.
7. ↑ Marriage Index (NSW Registry of Births Deaths & Marriages : accessed by Nigel Clark 08 Aug 2022), Index entry for WILLIAM ALEXANDER NORMAN and HETTIE GERMAN SMITH; District: SYDNEY; Registration Number: 23346/1950 

Acknowledgements

The initial profile of Hettie German Bowers was created by Nigel Clark on 07 Sep 2021.

Please feel free to add/change any relevant information and sources to improve this biography.