Rosina Barbara (Hermann) Leis (1828 - 1910)

Born 10 Feb 1828 in Cleversulzbach, Neckarsulm, Königreich Württemberg, Deutsches Reich

Ancestors

Wife of Franz Carl Leis — married Sep 1851 in Neckarsulm, Baden-Württemberg, Germany

Descendants

Died 26 Sep 1910 at age 82 in Tenterfield, New South Wales, Australia

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Paul Middleton [send private message]

Biography

Rosina Barbara (Hermann) was born on 10 February 1828 in the village of Cleversulzbach, a wine growing area in the present day state of Baden-Wurttemberg in south-west Germany. She was christened at the Lutheran church in the village. Rosina’s parents were Christian Hermann and Catharina Barbara (nee Hessen). She was the eighth of their 13 children, although two older and three younger siblings died in infancy. Four boys and four girls survived to adulthood. Rosina was the sixth of the eight children to survive infancy. On the Hermann Family Register, Rosina’s father was recorded as a farmer.

Little is known of Rosina’s childhood. Like most German children in the 19th century, she probably attended school for eight years. This is very likely, as she was recorded as being able to read and write when she migrated to Australia some years later. Rosina was confirmed in the Lutheran Church at the age of 14 in 1842 by the pastor of the church in Cleversulzbach, a man named Eduard Morike. He would go on to become a famous German poet. His work is little known outside the German speaking world, but well known amongst German speakers. A friend who is a German literature professor couldn’t contain his excitement when he heard about my family connection to Morike.

A few years later, Rosina met and fell in love with a young man named Franz Carl Leis from Neckarsulm, 14 kilometres west of Cleversulzbach. He would have been known as Carl before he left Germany, but was known as Charles after he arrived in Australia in 1855. I will refer to him as Charles in this biography. Theirs was an unlikely partnership, as he was Catholic and she was Lutheran. Sectarian tensions were high in Germany and they probably faced family opposition to their relationship. Marriage across religions was uncommon. An abstract for a 2019 academic article about mixed marriage in Imperial Germany stated:

“Across the German states in the mid-nineteenth century, marriage between members of different religions frequently proved impossible. Until various civil marriage laws were introduced between the 1840s and 1870s, marriage remained within the remit of the church. As a consequence, marrying across confessional lines was rarely permitted. The implications were clear: marriage was seen as the embodiment of one’s culture – defined primarily in confessional (alongside socio-economic) terms, and it was also viewed as a key transmitter of culture by producing new generations of faithful observers of particular denominations.”

Early in 1849, Rosina became pregnant, and on Christmas Eve of that year, Charles and Rosina’s daughter Karoline Helene was born. Charles was 22 and Rosina was 21. Karoline was born in Cleversulzbach. She was recorded in the Hermann Family Register as a child of Rosina, and Charles was only recorded in the family register after he and Rosina married in 1851. It appears Charles and Rosina were not living together when Karoline was born and there may have been pressure for Rosina to end the relationship.

Fortunately for the thousands of descendants of Charles and Rosina, they weathered the likely storm and married in St Dionysius Catholic Church in Neckarsulm in September 1851 (Leis Family Register states 23 September, whereas church marriage records state 24 September). Given they came from different religious traditions and had a child out of wedlock, it is surprising that a Catholic priest agreed to marry them. They were required to certify that all children of the relationship would be brought up Catholic, an agreement they honoured.

On the 18th of February 1853, Charles and Rosina’s second child, a boy named Franz Carl after his father, was born in Neckarsulm. Unlike his father, he was known as Franz or Francis.

In 1854, the young family made the decision to migrate to Australia, applying in May of that year. The religious tensions outlined above may have been one factor in their decision to emigrate. However, economic reasons probably played a bigger part in the decision. In the first half of the 19th century, Germany experienced a population explosion and land was scarce. Disease, including the potato blight that devastated Ireland in the 1840s, also affected German crops. Food shortages drove up the price of food staples and created unrest. Between the 1820s and the 1850s, inflation outstripped wages by 50% and many young Germans started to consider better opportunities elsewhere. Most went to America, but some came to Australia, largely through the promotional efforts of one man, Wilhelm Kirchner.

In his very informative book, Kinder des Vaterlandes (Children of the Fatherland), Albert Grulke has written extensively about Wilhelm Kirchner’s efforts to bring German immigrants to Australia between 1849 and 1856. Much of the information in the next few paragraphs is drawn from Albert Grulke’s book.

Wilhelm Kirchner was a German entrepreneur who visited Sydney in the 1830s and 1840s. He was also a friend of the explorer, Ludwig Leichhardt, and learned from Leichhardt about the severe labour shortages on farms throughout New South Wales. Kirchner began to canvass the idea with the colonial government of filling the void with assisted German immigrants. He met with resistance at first, partly because the colonial government did not want migrants who were not British. However, the government finally relented, probably after pressure was also applied by pastoralists desperate to fill labour shortages. The government set strict conditions regarding non-British assisted immigrants:

• They must have skills not held by an Englishmen;
• They must have no criminal record;
• All migrants must be married couples with or without a young family.

The third condition was the government’s response to the gender imbalance that existed in New South Wales at the time, with the number of men far exceeding the number of women. They did not want to exacerbate this problem by allowing the migration of young single German men.

In 1849, Kirchner organised the migration of 600 emigrants from Germany to work in the fledgeling but ambitious Australian wine industry or as shepherds. Over the next seven years, he convinced around two hundred large and small land owners in New South Wales to sponsor German migrants and more than eight hundred German families or couples to migrate. Charles, Rosina and their two young children were one of these families. The immediate promise of work and the longer term prospect of a better life for their families would have convinced many to sign up.

Kirchner drew up the contracts with potential employers in New South Wales, before travelling to Germany to recruit immigrants. Contracts were for either two, three or five years, with those signing up as vinedressers, like Charles Leis, generally offered a two year contract. Kirchner took an agent’s fee for every contract that was struck. Fares for the voyage were generally paid by the employer, and in some instances paid back over the period of the contract. Migrants under contract were paid between fifteen and twenty pounds per year depending on their skills. Wives usually gained domestic work after the family arrived.

Other employment conditions are outlined in Albert Grulke’s book:

“The German migrant was in all instances provided with a house rent free for the duration of the contract. In addition he was provided with a cow, poultry, pig and in most cases a horse. Firewood was free and he was free to grow in a garden reserve whatsoever vegetables and flowers he chose. The family was also supplied with a weekly stock of flour, sugar, tea and coffee, plus beef and mutton and some other grocery items.

Where it was necessary to build a house, the materials were supplied free of charge.

Where the migrant was employed under hire, his hours were from six am to six pm six days a week with time off for breakfast, morning tea, lunch and afternoon tea.”

Kirchner’s migrants had to work long days, particularly by modern standards, but many wrote home with delight at the freedom they experienced in Australia. Here is a translation of part of a letter back home from a migrant in the Hunter Valley:

"Here are no masters who climb up hay stacks with spy-glasses to see whether the workers take a breather".

As long as they did their work, they were free to live their lives in peace. Many developed friendships with their employers, very different from the relationship they had with their masters in Germany. Many expressed amazement at the abundance of meat available to them and their capacity to acquire possessions and make improvements to their homes within a short time.

The Leis family departed Hamburg on the Undine on 3 November 1854. The ship carried 151 assisted immigrants and 24 crew. Many of the other immigrants were also from Neckarsulm. After briefly stopping in Melbourne, the ship arrived in Sydney on 13 February 1855, a little over three months after departing Hamburg. On their immigration papers, Charles and Rosina stated they had no relatives living in Australia, so their decision to emigrate was very much a leap of faith. Positive reports from those that migrated under the Kirchner Program in the years before them probably influenced their decision. Charles’ parents were listed as Franz, deceased, and Franziska (nee Herold), still alive in Germany. Rosina’s parents were listed as Christian and Katharina Barbara (nee Hessen) Hermann, both still alive in Germany. Rosina’s father actually died while they were on their way to Australia, on 17 January 1855, and her mother died before the year was out, on 2 December 1855. Charles’ mother died 14 years later, on 29 October 1869. The ship’s record stated that Charles and Rosina could both read and write. It also stated the whole family was in good health upon arrival in Australia and that they had no complaints regarding their treatment on the ship. Charles’ occupation was listed as vinedresser and wheelwright.

At the time the family disembarked in Sydney on 13 February 1855, Rosina was more than seven months pregnant with their third child, Clara. From Sydney, they had to make their way north to Sandilands Station near Tabulam in northern New South Wales, where Charles was indentured to work for two years for the owners of the station, the Robertson brothers. The ship was met by one of the Robertson brothers, Thomas, who may have also employed other disembarking immigrants. Thomas Robertson probably escorted his new recruits on the long journey back to Sandilands Station. According to oral family history, the family waited a short time in Sydney before taking another ship up the coast and into the Clarence River and then disembarking at the small settlement of Lawrence. The distance by road today from Sydney to Lawrence is about 650 kilometres and the family would have travelled a similar distance by sea, probably taking several days. From Lawrence, they had to travel overland to Sandilands Station, an arduous journey of well over 100 kilometres. It is not known whether the family waited in Lawrence for Rosina to give birth or pushed on to Sandilands station with Rosina in an advanced state of pregnancy. Clara was born on 1 April 1855, less than seven weeks after the family disembarked in Sydney. No birth record exists for Clara, but her place of birth is recorded as Clarence River on eight of her children’s birth records. Clara was not a family name in either of her parent’s families, so she was probably named after the Clarence River at which she was born. The location could apply equally to Lawrence or Sandilands, because the whole region from the upper Clarence River where Sandilands was located to the mouth of the river was known as Clarence River in those days.

The overland journey to Sandilands Station would have presented many challenges. Another pair of my great great grandparents made a similar overland journey with three small children to Unumgar Station on the Richmond River less than a decade later. Their experience may provide some insight into the Leis family’s overland experiences. My great grandmother, Ellen (Callaghan) Fitzgerald, who was a small child at the time, recalled one of the biggest hazards was straying bullocks at a time when much of the country was unfenced. She said when menaced by bullocks, her mother would crouch in the long grass, pressing her three children under cover until the danger had passed. The household goods were carried by bullock dray and the women rode horseback, carrying as many children as it was possible to hold. Hopefully, the Leis family had access to a wagon to travel in, as most German immigrants had little to no experience with horses, although many developed proficient horsemanship after a short time in Australia.

The Leis family spent the next two years at Sandilands Station. The property was primarily used for dairy cattle by that time. Charles’ skills as a wheelwright would no doubt have been useful, but he probably did whatever was required around the station. He perhaps even employed his vinedressing skills, although there is evidence that some of the migrants brought in under the Kirchner Program as vinedressers never worked in that capacity in Australia. The colonial government had determined that vinedressing was an occupation in demand, so it was easier for landholders to bring in vinedressers than other occupations. Some of these immigrants may have been coached by Wilhelm Kirchner to record their occupation as vinedresser to smooth the immigration process when they were really shepherds or tradesmen, or they may have been genuine vinedressers, but employed in a different occupation when they got to Australia.

Charles and Rosina’s fourth child, Thomas, was born in March 1857, shortly before the family moved to Tenterfield. Five more children were born in Tenterfield between 1858 and 1867. They were Louisa, Rosina (registered at birth as Francisca Rosina), Catherine, Louis and George.

In Tenterfield, Charles established himself as a wheelwright, builder, timber getter, farmer and draught horse breeder. Rosina was probably occupied with domestic duties and looking after her large family. The couple also became successful landholders in the Tenterfield District, including a 400 acre farm. In 1881 they acquired the property at 52 Molesworth St, Tenterfield on which Charles would build the Terminus Hotel. They operated it as a hotel from the early 1880s until 1897. Most of Charles and Rosina’s children had reached adulthood by the time the hotel was established, freeing Rosina up, so although Charles was registered as the licensee, Rosina probably played a significant role in the business. In 1897, Charles passed the license to their son, Thomas. The hotel was initially a single story premises, with a second story added by Thomas in 1906. The old Terminus Hotel building now operates as a Bed and Breakfast, with no connection to the Leis family.

After transferring the hotel license to Thomas in 1897, Charles and Rosina moved to Pelham Street in Tenterfield. Charles Leis died in Tenterfield on 31 March 1905 at the age of 77 from myocarditis and heart failure. He was survived by Rosina and eight of their nine children. Their eldest child, Caroline (married name Krahe) had died aged 45 in 1895, less than five months after the birth of her 13th child.

Rosina died five and a half years after Charles on 26 September 1910, and was survived by eight children. Her cause of death was recorded as acute bronchitis and cardiac syncope. Charles and Rosina had 89 grandchildren. At the time she died, Rosina had around 75 surviving grandchildren, with a few having died in infancy and a few born after she died. She also had a considerable number of great grandchildren. An obituary appeared in The Tenterfield Intercolonial Courier and Fairfield and Wallangarra Advocate. It stated in part:

“It is with great regret that we have to chronicle the death of another of Tenterfield’s oldest residents in the person of Mrs Rosina B. Leis, familiarly known as “Granny” …

The late Mrs Leis, who was highly esteemed for her many good qualities, had reached the ripe age of 82 ½ years.”

This obituary is available here - https://www.wikitree.com/photo/jpg/Hermann-1925-1.

Charles and Rosina were buried in Tenterfield cemetery. Their grave is marked by an impressive gravestone (see https://www.wikitree.com/photo/jpg/Leis-30-2), probably reflecting their relative wealth and status in the community.

Sources

• Hermann Family Register, Lutheran Church, Cleversulzbach, Germany – birth of Rosina Barbara Hermann on 10 February 1828, the birth of her daughter Karoline Helena on 24 December 1849, the marriage of Franz Carl Leis and Rosina Barbara Hermann in September 1851 and the deaths of Rosina's father on 17 January 1855 and mother on 2 December 1855 recorded;
• https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cleversulzbach;
• Baden-Württemberg, Germany Historical Geography • FamilySearch;
• https://countrystudies.us/germany/124.htm#:~:text=For%20much%20of%20the%20nineteenth,were%20administered%20and%20supervised%20separately;
• Assisted Immigrants Index 1839-1896 – migration of Franz Leiss aged 27, Rosina Leiss aged 27, Caroline Leiss aged 5 and Franz Leiss aged 2, arrived in Sydney and/or Newcastle on the Undine, 12 February 1855, New South Wales State Archives;
• https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eduard_M%C3%B6rike;
• The History of the Family, published by Elsevier Science, Article, From faith to race? ‘Mixed marriage’ and the politics of difference in Imperial Germany, Julia Moses, July 2019, 24(3), pp. 466 – 493;
• Leis Family Register, Neckarsulm, Germany – birth of Franz Carl Leis, marriage of Franz Carl Leis and Rosina Barbara Hermann, the births of their first two children and the deaths of Franz Carl's father and mother recorded;
• Catholic Church Register, Württemberg, Rottenburg-Stuttgart Diocese, Germany, 1520-1975 available on FamilySearch database - Marriage in Neckarsulm on 24 Sep 1851 - https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:D34S-B4ZM;
• Wurttemberg, Germany Emigration Index - application number 838480 from Franz Carl Leis of Neckarsulm to migrate to Australia, May 1854;
• https://www.germanaustralia.com/e/why-emi.htm;
• Kinder des Vaterlandes (Children of the Fatherland), Albert Grulke, Warburton, Victoria, 2005;
• http://www.blaxland.com/ozships/events/2/187.htm#11780;
• Queensland death reg. 1926/C/3876 - Clara Emily Day nee Leis. No birth record exists for Clara, but she died aged 71 on 2 August 1926, indicating she was born in 1855. She was born after her parents’ arrival in Australia, and a year before compulsory civil registration of births in New South Wales in 1856. Her father Charles’ Tenterfield Star obituary stated he was buried on 1 April and stated this was the birthday of his second daughter, who was Clara;
• Obituary of Charles Leis, Tenterfield Star, 4 Apr 1905;
• Births, deaths and marriages New South Wales and Births, deaths and marriages Queensland – Clara (Leis) Day’s place of birth recorded as Clarence River on eight of her children’s birth certificates, 1877 to 1896;
• Early Celebrities, an Article about Ellen (Callaghan) Fitzgerald in The Gatton Mail and Lockyer Record, 12 Mar 1948;
• Article about Sandilands Station, Northern Star, Lismore, 27 Jul 1939, p. 6;
• Kyogle Shire Heritage Study, Volume One, Main Report, Prepared for Kyogle Council Area, September 1997 (Amended June 2000) - information on Sandilands Station;
• Tales from the Grave, From genteel drawing room to wild Australian bush - online article about Sandilands Station by Samantha Elley, 28 Apr 2020;
• The History of the Leis Family, compiled by Maree and Bill Stanley, published by Terri Lynch, Bob Johnson and Deann Szagmeister, circa 2000;
• Oral family history;
• Births, deaths and marriages New South Wales – birth registrations for the four youngest Leis children, 1860 to 1867;
• Greville's NSW Post Office Directory, 1872 – records Charles Leis, Wheelwright, Tenterfield;
• Register of Timber Licences, State Records Authority of New South Wales – Hardwood timber license granted to Charles Leis, Tenterfield in 1863, 1869 and 1870;
• New South Wales, Australia, Certificates for Publicans' Licences, 1853-1899, State Records Authority of New South Wales;
• Article “Building Improvements – The Terminus Hotel”, The Tenterfield Star, 1 Dec 1906;
• 1901 New South Wales census - Carl Leis and two females living at Pelham St, Tenterfield;
• New South Wales death reg. 6887/1905 – Francis Charles Leis (parents incorrectly recorded as Joseph Leis and Mary Ann Harold;
• New South Wales death reg. 10395/1895 – death of Caroline H. Krahe nee Leis in Tenterfield on 3 August 1895;
• New South Wales birth reg. 17436/1895 – birth of Kenneth Roy Krahe in Tenterfield, son of Caroline H. Krahe nee Leis and John F. L. Krahe;
• New South Wales death reg. 11351/1910 – death of Rosina Barbara Leis nee Hermann in Tenterfield on 26 Sep 1910;
• Obituary of Rosina Leis, Tenterfield Intercolonial Courier and Fairfield and Wallangarra Advocate, Fri 30 September 1910, page 2 – states she died at home at Pelham St, Tenterfield;
• Middleton family photo collection.