James Oddie (1824 - 1911)

Contents 1 Biography 1.1 Birth and siblings 1.2 Marriage 1.3 Emigration to the Colony 1.4 Second marriage 1.5 Death & burial 2 EUREKA STOCKADE 3 Sources

Biography

Birth and siblings

James Oddie (1824-1911), Ballarat pioneer, was born on 31 Mar 1824 in Clitheroe, Lancashire, England. He was baptized in the Church of England, Clitheroe, St. Mary Magdalene parish church on 23 May 1824. His parents were James Oddie and Margaret, née Hargreaves, Oddie. His father's profession was recorded in the parish Register as Shopkeeper^[1]

It is conjectured that James had at least three siblings: Alice (born 23 Apr 1826, baptized St Mary Magdalene church Clitheroe 28 May 1826), Jane (born 24 Sep 1827, baptized St Mary Magdalene church Clitheroe 2 Nov 1827) and Thomas Ralph (baptized 28 Mar 1830, St John, Preston). In all instances the parents were recorded as James and Margaret Oddie. In the case of the first two siblings, the parents were recorded as residing at Green Bank, Grindleton in Clitheroe parish. James' occupation is recorded as farmer. Green Bank was a farm on rising ground just west of Grindleton which was 2½ miles north-east of Clitheroe. In the record for Thomas Ralph, James is recorded as a butcher and the family was residing in Church Street, Preston.

Marriage

James married, firstly, Rachel Riding in 1847 in the Preston registration district, the marriage was registered in the Dec qtr of 1847 ^[2]

James and Rachel had one child born in late 1848. Her birth was registered in the Sep qtr of 1848 in Chippemham, Wiltshire^[3]. She died in mid 1849 on the Larpent while emigrating with her parents to Port Phillip, Australia.

Emigration to the Colony

James, Rachel and their infant daughter, Alice were passengers on the Larpent which was one of three ships chartered by Lang for the the Port Phillip and Clarence River Colonization Company ^[4] to bring selected emigrants to Port Phillip (the others being the Travancore, and the Clifton).

"The " Larpent" left Gravesend on the 26th March, and the Downs on the 28th, but she brings intelligence to the former date only. She has 200 emigrants on board, selected and forwarded by the Rev. Dr. Lang; more than a fourth are children. There were ten deaths on board, principally children, 5 births, 3 christenings, and 1 marriage. The Rev. W. Higgins, (of Trinity Chapel, London) officiated as chaplain".^[5]

The Larpent arrived in the Port of Geelong on 29 Jun 1849, after having been put up off the port for "about a fortnight" with unfavourable winds. She bought the "first batch of emigrants selected by Dr. Lang"^[6]. James escaped the outbreak of disease, presumed to be typhoid, which broke out on board, however, his wife, Rachel, aged 29 years, and daughter, Alice both died while on board. Their deaths were registered in Geelong district upon their arrival^[7][8]. Ten passengers died including these two members of the Oddie family^[9]. The

The Oddies (and Mary McCormick) are not listed in the Nominal list of immigrants per ship Larpent brought out by John Dunmore Lang (which lists only 81 passengers presumed to have been sponsored by Rev Lang)^[10]. It is conjectured that they were not part of the Lang emigration scheme.

Second marriage

James, aged 25 years, secondly, married Mary McCormick, aged 32 years in early 1850, possibly in Melbourne^[11], they did not have any children together. Mary is conjectured to have emigrated to Port Geelong on the Larpent in 1849 (Stewart-39100 06:19, 12 September 2023 (UTC) to be confirmed from primary source/s). The moved to Ballarat in 1850, and in September 1852 returned to Geelong and made their home there for a short time. The following year they returned to Ballarat and made their home there until Mary's death in November 1884.

Death & burial

James, aged 86 years, died on 3 Mar 1911 at his residence "St Columb" in Ballarat shortly after having a paralytic seizure^[12][13]. He died with a small estate, having lost much of his financial wealth in the mercantile collapse and depression in the 1890s, nevertheless he made bequests to his family and to institutions in both Ballarat and the new Australian capital^[14]

James was interred in the New Cemetery in Ballarat on 5 Mar 1911^{[15] [16]}

EUREKA STOCKADE

In 1854 he moved his store near the Eureka stockade, attended many protest meetings and witnessed what he described as 'the massacre of innocent diggers'. A friend and admirer of Peter Lalor, he later erected his statue at the cost of £2200 in the main street of Ballarat.

His will included “It is provided that a sum of £100 be set aside and invested and the income used to keep in order in the old cemetery the graves of the diggers who fell at the Eureka Stockade.”^[17]

Sources

1. ↑ Lancashire Archives. Church of England parish records Reference PR 1864
   Church of England parish records. Clitheroe, St. Mary Magdalene. Register of baptisms 1813-1829, citing James Oddie, 23 May 1824, available in "Lancashire, England, Church of England Births and Baptisms, 1813-1911," database with images, Ancestry Sharing Link - (Ancestry au Record 2575 #11548398 : accessed 9 September 2023), James Oddie baptism on 23 May 1824 (born 31 Mar 1824), child of James Oddie & Margaret Oddie, in Clitheroe, Lancashire, England
2. ↑ "England & Wales, Civil Registration Marriage Index, 1837-1915," database with images, Ancestry Sharing Link - (Ancestry au Record 8913 #21294953 : accessed 11 September 2023), James Oddie marriage registered Oct-Nov-Dec 1847 in Preston; citing Original data England and Wales Civil Registration Indexes. London, England General Register Office, Volume 21, Page 462.
3. ↑ England & Wales General Register Office, GRO Online Index – Birth
   (https://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/ : accessed 2 Sep 2023), database entry for ODDIE, ALICE,
   (Mother's maiden surname: RIDING), GRO Reference: 1848 Sep Quarter in CHIPPENHAM, Volume 08 Page 287
4. ↑ "THE PORT PHILLIP AND CLARENCE RIVER COLONIZATION COMPANY" The Argus (Melbourne, Vic.) 3 Jul 1849, Page 2, col. 5 available online at Trove NLA (accessed 15 Aug 2023)
5. ↑ Geelong Advertiser 29 Jun 1849, Page 1, Col. 1 available online at Trove NLA (accessed 15 Aug 2023)
6. ↑ Geelong Advertiser 30 Jun 1849, Page 2 available online in Trove NLA (accessed 16 Aug 2023)
7. ↑ Births Deaths and Marriages Victoria – Deaths database,
   (https://my.rio.bdm.vic.gov.au/efamily-history/: accessed 2 Sep 2023),
   ODDIE, Rachel, Mother: Unknown, Father: Unknown, Place of death: GEELONG, Spouse at death: Unknown, Age at death: 29, Reg. year: 1849, citing Reg. no. 2704/1849
8. ↑ Births Deaths and Marriages Victoria – Deaths database,
   (https://my.rio.bdm.vic.gov.au/efamily-history/: accessed 2 Sep 2023),
   ODDIE, Alice, Mother: Unknown, Father: Unknown, Place of death: GEELONG, Spouse at death: Unknown, Age at death: 1, Reg. year: 1849, citing Reg. no. 2703/1849
9. ↑ Ballarat Reform League. Eurekapedia, citing "Larpent" (webpage) https://eurekapedia.org/Larpent (accessed 2 Sep 2023)
10. ↑ Nominal list of immigrants per ship Larpent brought out by John Dunmore Lang. Salt Lake City, Utah: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1987. (microfilm of original in Fairfield Family History Centre, Northcote, Victoria) Film 1492476, Item 3; available as digital image in Image Group Number (DGS) 8066302 (accessed 15 Sep 2023)
11. ↑ Births Deaths and Marriages Victoria – Marriages,
    (https://my.rio.bdm.vic.gov.au/efamily-history/: accessed 2 Sep2023),
    ODDIE, James, Spouse name: MCCORMICK, Mary, Reg. year: 1850, citing Reg. no. 28/1850
12. ↑ "DEATH OF MR JAMES ODDIE" Geelong Advertiser 4 Mar 1911, Page 3, Col. 6
    available online in Trove NLA (accessed 12 Sep 2023)
13. ↑ "DEATH OF MR. JAMES ODDIE". (1911, March 4). The Ballarat Star (Vic. : 1865 - 1924), p. 1. Retrieved May 25, 2021, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article216628336
14. ↑ "THE LATE JAMES ODDIE" Leader (Melbourne, Vic.) 11 Mar 1911, Page 38, Col. 1 available online in Trove NLA (accessed 12 Sep 2023)
15. ↑ "THE LATE MR. JAMES ODDIE" The Ballarat Star 6 Mar 1911, Page 2, Col. 9 available online in Trove NLA (accessed 12 Sep 2023)
16. ↑ Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/199951586/james-oddie : accessed 12 Sep 2023),
    memorial page for James Oddie (1824-1911), Find A Grave: Memorial #199951586,
    citing Ballarat New Cemetery and Crematorium, Ballarat, Victoria, Australia, PLOT Private D, Section 09, Grave 25-26; Maintained by Find A Grave
17. ↑ THE LATE JAMES ODDIE. (1911, March 11). Leader (Melbourne, Vic. : 1862 - 1918, 1935), p. 38. Retrieved May 25, 2021, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article198156576

https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/MQL9-LDS

• G. A. Oddie, 'Oddie, James (1824–1911)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/oddie-james-4318/text7005, published first in hardcopy 1974.