Charles Weidenhofer (abt. 1880 - abt. 1961)

Born about 2 May 1880 in Woodside, South Australia, Australia [uncertain]

Ancestors

Husband of Myrtle (Teakle) Weidenhofer — married about 23 Jan 1922 in Norwood, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia

Died about 9 Jul 1961 at about age 81 in Mannum, South Australia, Australia [uncertain]

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Biography

Mannum
Mannum is a historic town on the west bank of the Murray River in South Australia, 84 kilometres east of Adelaide. At the 2011 census, Mannum had a population of 2,164. Wikipedia

Charles, the third son of George and Lydia, was born on 2 May 1880 at Woodside, South Australia. As a youth he helped his father on the farm at Woodside and then at Bow Hill on the River Murray.

When the family took up land at Geranium, in the Murray Mallee, west of Lameroo and Pinnaroo, Charles, known as Charlie, was a tireless worker. He was a strong healthy fellow and apart from farm work, he became an enthusiastic member of the community of Geranium.

He was one of the founding members of the Agricultural Bureau and one of the five original trustees of the Geranium Institute. He acted as Master of Ceremonies at the local dances and was an accomplished dancer himself.

By about 1912 the family moved to Payneham, an eastern suburb of Adelaide, as his father’s health was failing.

After George died in 1915, Charlie and two of his brothers, Bert and Fred, enlisted in the A.I.F. and served in the Middle East for almost three years. Charlie, as SX 30716 became an artillery gunner in the Second Division and attained the rank of Bombardier. He returned home and was discharged in July 1919.

After the war, the South Australian Government instigated a scheme in which returned servicemen were able to lease land from the Government in any of a number of designated areas in the State. One such area was named the “Neeta Irrigation Settlement” at Ponde on the River Murray near Mannum.

Charlie took out a lease of 392 acres in this area. His first task was to drain the swampland and prepare the land for dairy farming. The rent, payable annually to the Government was as follows:
No rent for the first year, 12 pounds for the second, 24 pounds for the third, 36 pounds for the fourth and 48 pounds for the fifth and every following year.

One of the stipulations of the scheme reads:
During the first two years of the lease, plant or bring into cultivation, to the satisfaction of the Minister of Agriculture, at least two fifths of the land included in the lease, and an additional one fifth of such land in each of the following three years, until the whole of such land is under planting or cultivation.

In January 1922, Charlie married Myrtle Teakle, whose father, Frank Teakle had established a reputation as an excellent brick maker. Charlie and Myrtle lived at Ponde, as did several other Weidenhofer families – Bert and Sarah, Henry and Hilda, Harriet and her husband Alf Brabham and a cousin, Fred and his wife Hettie. One of the roads in the Ponde settlement was named Weidenhofer Road.

Charlie pumped water from the river to water his fodder crops, mainly lucerne, to feed his dairy cows. The milk was poured into large cans which were transported, sometimes downstream by barge, to Murray Bridge, or by truck to Adelaide.

Charlie, as in his younger days at Geranium, was a tireless worker but always made time for recreation. On his property, he laid down a tennis court which was a great venue on weekends for family and friends to gather for a game. Fishing was a popular pastime as, in those days, there were plenty of fish in the river.

Myrtle and Charlie had two children, Elinor Dorothy and Rex Charles. Early in 1940 Myrtle took out a lease on a block of land at Ponde and about seven months later she inherited a property at Woodville Park, an Adelaide suburb. When Myrtle died in 1944, aged 51, both of these properties were transferred to Charlie.

In 1948 Charlie was devastated when his daughter, Elinor Dorothy was killed in a road accident at the age of 26 years. Charlie continued to live on his property at Ponde, with the help of his son Rex and his wife Mona.

In 1961, Charlie aged 81, died at Ponde and was buried at the Mannum Cemetery.

A History of the Weidenhofer Families in Australia 1846 - 2004. Written by Wyn Allen (née Weidenhofer) 2004 ©.
Reproduced with permission of Stewart Allen, Barry Malcolm and Carlien Melrose.

This is a works in progress and any assistance with information or source details would be very much appreciated.

Sources

• Information taken from the Weidenhofer Database compiled from family input and research for the book “A History of the Weidenhofer Families in Australia 1846 – 2004© ”.
• Reproduced with permission of Stewart Allen, Barry Malcolm and Carlien Melrose.

South Australian Genealogy Index of Birth, Death and Marriage.
Birth
Date: 1880 - Name: WEIDENHOFFER Charles - Father: George WEIDENHOFFER - Mother: Lydia JACOBS - District: Nairne - Registration No.: 240/278.
Marriage
Date: 1922 - Registration No.: 290/179 - Name: WEIDENHOFER Charles - Spouse: TEAKLE Myrtle - District: Norwood.
Death
Date: 1961 - Registration No.: 925/4264 - Name: WEIDENHOFER Charles - Relative: undefined - District: Angaston.
South Australian Cemeteries
Resting Place: Mannum - Name: WEIDENHOFER Charles - Age: 81y - Date: 1961.
Link to Index
South Australian Genealogy Index of Birth, Death and Marriage.
https://www.genealogysa.org.au/resources/online-databases.html

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