Mary Agnes (Ryan) Smith (1864 - 1969)

Born 10 Dec 1864 in Uralla, New South Wales,Australia

Ancestors

Wife of John Francis Smith — married 19 Jan 1887 in Uralla, New South Wales, Australia

Descendants

Died 4 Aug 1969 at age 104 in Scone, New South Wales, Australia

Problems/Questions Profile managers: Peter Jones [send private message] and Jacinta Luck [send private message]

Biography

Mary (Ryan) Smith was a centenarian, living to age 104.

Early Years in Uralla

Mary (known to the family as 'Ma' up to her death) recalled in her very late years the arrivals of the Cobb and Co. Coaches in Uralla: the bell-ringer in uniform and the coach rumbling into town with Children (herself included) running behind, propelling their hoops with sticks. She also recalled "the Indians" coming to the house in those early years, asking for flour, sugar, etc.

At school Mary was not very well liked by her teacher, a Mrs. Booth.^[1] Her daughter Gert has recalled this episode:

“Ma was eating a quince in class. Mrs. Booth asked her to give up the fruit and Ma refused. Mrs. Booth sent her to Mr. Booth for punishment by cane. Mr Booth did not cane Ma but told her to return to Class but not to tell Mrs. Booth that the cane had not been used.”

Gert, also recalled an occasion that Ma shared with her:

“Ma wanted to go to a dance but not have an escort. Apparently, she saw some young man she knew and asked if he was going and could he be her escort. He obliged and off they went to the dance.”

Courting & Marriage

John Francis is known to have ridden by horse to do his courting of Mary Agnes; that is, from Scone to Uralla!

After their marriage^[2] John and Mary lived at ‘Somerton’, near Muswellbrook. They also lived at the gates house on the northern side of Muswellbrook with Michael Meehan (abt.1838-1906) and Mary (Colgan) Meehan (1835-1890). Then, they rented a little house on the other side of railway line. They then bought a selection, three miles [4.8 kilometres] out, on the way to McCullys Gap.

The family then went six miles [9.6 kilometres] out to a rented place and then eight miles [12.8 kilometres] out to another rented place, ‘Happy Valley’. But Joseph Tripp (abt.1865-1927)^[3] bought ‘Happy Valley’ so they had to move out.

'May Farm'

On 17 May 1902, they moved to the farm, ‘May Farm’. This property had been re-possessed from the former owners by the Campbells Company. John and Mary purchased the property of 80 acres [32 hectares] for three pounds per acre. This was ridge land, 1 mile [1.6 kilometres] south of the Pages River and 1½ miles [2.4 kilometres] north of the Hunter River. Unfortunately, they were caught by the 1902 drought which brought with it great hardship.

Later, during the 1920s or early 1930s, they purchased a further parcel of land, ‘Glencoe’ (approximately 200 acres [81 hectares]), which fronted the Hunter River. This parcel was resumed in the 1950s and now lies submerged beneath Glenbawn Dam.

According to Gert:

“Da hated the land. Ma liked it and always wanted a place of her own. So she started a dairy at ‘Happy Valley’ and began to save a little money towards that end. Joseph David Stafford was the manager of Campbells. Ma went to see him about buying a place and he took them out to ‘May Farm’. I always wished to be a boy – if only – so I could work the place. Da, he only worked the farm because of Ma.

“During the 1902 drought Ma's cows were in need of water. They had to be driven to the Pages River twice a day. We lost nine out of eleven of our good milking cows.

“All over ‘May Farm’ there were prickly pear. Before cactoblastis (the cochineal insect) [Cactoblastis cactorum (the cactus moth)] was introduced we used to have to hoe it out and burn it. The pear would grow to about 4 feel [1.2 metres] , and it covered the hill at the back and Brushy Hill as well. It drove out a lot of farmers. You could buy land covered in pears very cheap, for five shillings an acre [0.4 of a hectare].

Gert also recalled an occasion when she was around 4 years of age [around 1897/98] and the family was living near Sandy Creek:

“I remember walking into the water of Sandy Creek, and it was over my head. I was four at the time and would’ve drowned if the other kids hadn’t pulled me out. Some of them called out to Ma that I was drowning. Ma came out and said that she couldn’t have helped because she’d been busy with Ethel who was very sick. Ma said she didn’t know what had made Ethel so sick. I said, ‘I told Ethel she shouldn’t eat those green grapes."

However, life on May Farm, particularly after her husband passed, cannot have been easy for Mary. In 1946 she found herself in court because of rabbits:^[4]

Scone Police Court

Mr. A. E. Hodgson, P.M., occupied the Bench at the Scone Police Court on Wednesday last.

[Upper Hunter P.P. Board] v. Mary Agnes Smith, for failure to destroy rabbits on her property near Gundy.

Mr. G. M. Westgarth appeared and entered a plea of guilty for defendant.

Inspector Gleeson said he was over the place, an area of about 250 acres, on 29th August. For its size, he said, the place was a disgrace to any landholder. He found the river frontage riddled with burrows and warrens, and had counted twenty kittens at the mouth of one burrow. The back portion of the property was also bad. Saw no sign of any work of a permanent, nature. The surrounding country was not clean.

To Mr. Westgarth: Did not know defendant, nor her age. Made one inspection only. Did not see any burrows filled in.

Mr. Halliday: The facts adduced speak for themselves

Mr. Westgarth: Defendant is an old Iady over 75 years of age. She admitted the presence of rabbits, but informed him she had relied on her two sons-in-law to take combative measures. He asked for a light penalty in view of the fact that the Court was not dealing with an able-bodied man

The P.M., who observed that defendant had her responsibilities as an owner, imposed a fine of £5, with £2/3/6 costs.

Turning 100

Mary and her seven daughters

In 1964 Ma turned 100 years of age. The following excerpt from The Scone Advocate records the occasion:^[5]

Mrs. Mary Smith, of Scone, will celebrate her 100th birthday on Thursday. Mrs. Smith has 107 direct descendants.

Mrs. Smith lived at “May Farm”, a dairy property on the road between the Pages River and the Hunter River, near Gundy, from 1902 until just recently, when she moved to Scone to live near her daughters so that medical assistance would be handy if needed.

She has seven daughters, all of whom will be present at a small dinner party on Thursday to celebrate her 100th birthday.

“I kept presenting my husband with one daughter after another until we had seven, but I found that girls were just as good as boys on a dairy farm,” Mrs. Smith told our representative on Sunday.

She has 19 grandchildren, 54 great grandchildren, and a total of 107 direct descendants. But none of them are Smith, as she had no sons.

Coach horn ‘music’

Mrs. Smith was born at Uralla. One of the first things she can remember is the Cobb and Co. coach coming to Uralla each day.

“There was very little music in our lives in those days, but the guard on the coach had a horn, like a trumpet, which he blew a long note on when the coach arrived in town,” Mrs. Smith said.

“We children used to run out when we heard it and then wait around the stage depot until it departed, as the guard gave another blast before the coach departed. We thought that horn blast was beautiful music,” she added.

Mrs. Smith recalled the arrival of the railway at Uralla. She said it was about 1887.^[6]

With a bright, clear voice and a cheerful aside, “You’ll break that camera on me,” to our photographer, she recalled the celebrations which marked the opening of the railway line as far as Uralla.

“They roasted a whole bullock – it was the first time I had ever seen a whole bullock cooked,” Mrs. Smith said.

“There was plenty to drink, too, and the navies who were working on the railway construction made the most of the treat. After a while and a few drinks they couldn’t wait to be served with the beef and I clearly remember them cutting off pieces of the bullock themselves, only half cooked, and enjoying it.”

Uralla school…

Mrs. Smith attended the Uralla Public School. She said it had about 100 pupils in one large room. The little ones were up a couple of steps in a part called “the gallery”. The school only went to sixth class in those days, she added.

Mrs. Smith is a daughter of the late Mr. and Mrs. William Ryan of “Rose Hill”, Gostwyck Road, Uralla. She was a member of a family of nine children and is the only survivor.

Overlooks lake…

She said she helped with the milking at their farm, “May Farm”, which is nine miles from Scone and overlooks a vast expanse of water in Lake Glenbawn. “I milked the cows until I was 80, despite the protests of the family,” Mrs. Smith said.

Married at Uralla on January 19, 1886, she came with her husband to Muswellbrook after their marriage and stayed there for 16 years until taking up “May farm” in 1902, where they built the home which stands and is occupied by one of Mrs. Smith’s sons-in-law and daughter (Mr. and Mrs. V. Miller).

Mrs. Smith said there have been many changes during her lifetime. One of the most exciting was watching the waters rise in Glenbawn Dam after it had been completed. Part of “May Farm” was included in the lake area.

Mrs. Smith’s seven daughters are Mrs. H. Jones (Scone), Mrs. P Shanahan (Uralla), Mrs. R. F. Tuckey (Gundy), rs. H. C. Batterham (Attunga), Mrs. W. F. Iliffe (Manilla), Mrs. D. Noonan (Scone) and Mrs V. Miller (“May Farm”, Scone).

“May Farm” is in the area which was served by the Pages River Public School and Mrs. Smith’s daughters walked the two miles to and from the school eah day. Nothing remains of the school now except a couple of fences.

There were half a dozen families in the “May Farm” area until a few years ago: now there is only one.

A special 100th birthday message and blessing from the Pope is expected to arrive from Rome on Thursday.

Congratulations from the Queen will not arrive from London until next week. Because of an error, Mrs. Smith’s date of birth is registered as December 16, 1864.

Sources

1. ↑ It is evident that the Booths moved to Sydney in the early 1880’s. Refer URALLA & DISTRICT. (1883, May 4). The Armidale Express and New England General Advertiser (NSW : 1856 - 1861; 1863 - 1889; 1891 - 1954), p. 4. Retrieved January 22, 2022, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article192716436
2. ↑ NSW BDM marriage 6683/1887
3. ↑ Happy Valley. (1905, October 17). The Scone Advocate (NSW : 1887 - 1954), p. 2. Retrieved February 27, 2022, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article156333873
4. ↑ SCONE POLICE COURT (1946, October 29). The Scone Advocate (NSW : 1887 - 1954), p. 1. Retrieved February 27, 2022, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article161162392
5. ↑ The Scone Advocate, December 1964
6. ↑ Actually, this was in 1882. Refer to The Opening of the Great Northern Railway Extension. (1882, August 4). The Armidale Express and New England General Advertiser (NSW : 1856 - 1861; 1863 - 1889; 1891 - 1954), p. 4. Retrieved January 22, 2022, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article192856323

• Family records
• NSW BDM birth 4828/1865 to father William and mother Anastatia registered at Armidale
• NSW BDM death 33814/1969
• Find A Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 23 March 2019), memorial page for Mary Agnes “Ma” Ryan Smith (10 Dec 1864–4 Aug 1969), Find A Grave Memorial no. 197746627, citing Scone Catholic Cemetery, Scone, Upper Hunter Shire, New South Wales, Australia ; Maintained by Peter Jones (contributor 49245532). Find A Grave: Memorial #197746627