Bertha (Sweeny) Nickless (bef. 1843 - 1927)

Born before 22 Dec 1843 in Worthing, Sussex, England

Ancestors

Died 18 Nov 1927 after age 83 in Sydney, NSW, Australia

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Biography

Bertha (Sweeny) Nickless was born in England.

The Sweeny Years

Bertha was born to parents, Alfred Sweeny and Anne Keates at Worthing, Sussex in 1843.^[1]

Bertha was no stranger to adventures and long sea voyages. In 1860, she accompanied her parents and many siblings to New Zealand on what was a failed immigration mission, only to return to England a few months later. Alfred and Anne Sweeny knew the highs and lows of British society, surviving the good and the very, very bad but ensuring along the way, several of their daughters made it out of a bleak and industrialised future in England.^[2]

At age 19, Bertha worked as a governess for a family in Usk, Monmouthshire in 1861. Her employer, Henry Roberts, was an Attorney and the Usk County Court Registrar. The family had two children, Edith 7 and Henry 3, and lived at Priory.^[3] I remember hearing that my Great Grandmother Maggie, Bertha's niece, was an accomplished pianist: music lessons must have been part of the Sweeny household at Worthing but only before the baillifs confiscated the family's furniture that is! Bertha was one of sixteen children and when financial and legal matters imploded for the Sweenys in the late 1850s, their lives changed dramatically. With so many young women in the Sweeny household, sending the older daughters to Australia to work probably seemed like a good idea at the time.

Miss Rye's Assisted Immigration Scheme

On 4 Jul 1867, Bertha arrived at Hobson's Bay, Melbourne, Australia, from London via Plymouth, as part of Miss Rye's Selection of Assisted Women Immigrants^[4] aboard the Atalanta.^[5] Chief Officer of the Atalanta, Mr G.M. Mitchell must have made quite an impression on his grateful passengers. He received two glowing testimonials in The Argus newspaper the following day, signed by both the independent immigrants on board and the young women who travelled under the supervision of Mrs Mary Ann Mackenzie.^[6]

Bertha's Australian arrival record^[5] tells us a great deal about her prospects in Victoria. At £30, her annual salary as a Governess was higher than most of her fellow passengers would enjoy. She was contracted to her employer for one year. The entry read; "Sweeney Bertha [age] 23, GV Humffray JP Brick-St off Punt Road Richmond". Her employer was a Government employee and a Justice of the Peace. He was also a well known politician, the Democrat John Basson Humffray. His son, Howard Rowlands Humffray aged 8 years, was Bertha's charge.

Humffray, a Welshman, was known for his activism and leadership in support of Victorian Miners, then as a politician, a Member of the Legislative Assembly, a Minister for Mines, and Chairman of the1863 Royal Commission on Mining. He won and lost several times in the polls and most significantly, for Bertha's future, in 1868 he was returned to Parliament as the Member for Ballarat East.^[7] Did she move from Willow Cottage^[8] in Brick Street to Ballarat East with the Humffray family? The record does not confirm whether she travelled with the Humffrays, nor that she actually took up her position with them in Melbourne in the first place. The Humffray family appeared to be in an unstable financial situation themselves.

Bertha Sweeny was not alone in Australia, two of her sisters, Geraldine and Adeline, had arrived from England aboard the Red Jacket in 1866 and were working west of Melbourne in the goldfield areas surrounding Ballarat. While there is no evidence that the young women had established contact with him, their uncle Harry Keates - a gold miner - was also living and working near Ballarat.

Piecing together the records, Bertha was most certainly resident in Ballarat in 1869, and perhaps as early as 1867. It was a heartbreaking few years though; she had given birth to a daughter Edith Sweeny who died aged 8 months on 6 Feb 1869, in Ballarat East.^[9] While there is no birth certificate for Edith, the child's death certificate provides information that pieces together something of Bertha's early experience after arriving in Australia.

Her child was born in Ballarat West about mid-year, 1868, and so would have been conceived about August or September in 1867, just a few months after Bertha's arrival in Australia. She didn't officially name Edith's father - perhaps she didn't know his name, and perhaps she fell pregnant earlier and went straight to her sisters. Maud (Adeline Maud), was the informant on Edith's death certificate. The child had contracted an illness and after a week, died and was buried at the Ballarat cemetery. There was no Minister, and of the two witnesses present, Robert Rattray was the Sexton of the Cemetery at the time and an elder at St Andrew's Presbyterian Church,^[10] and John Lee had the Government contract to supply coffins for young children.^[11] Given the reality that Bertha fell pregnant so early in her Australian journey, it's difficult to imagine the circumstances in which this happened. If she was working as a Governess, she would also have been boarding with the family. She may have been assaulted. There are no documents that confirm whether or not she took up her negotiated employment with the Humffray family in Melbourne, or that she moved to Ballarat East with them. Her employer was certainly a feature in Ballarat, and had been a Representative there in the past. With his next political opportunity in the region, he worked as a J.P. at the regional court in Ballarat, and for the Police.

Bertha's sisters were to have similar experiences; both Geraldine and Adeline Maud, known as Maud or Adelaide, gave birth to sons in 1870, and while Maud named the father of her child, there was no indication the two actually lived together.

Marriage and the Family move to NSW

By 1870, Bertha's future changed direction and she met and married^[12] Walter Robert Nickless who, that same year on 17 Oct, had dissolved his partnership in the Hamilton, Victoria, general store called "Nickless and Wells" and moved to town.^[13] Bertha also named this child Edith, Edith May, who was born in Melbourne in 1872.^[14] The couple had a second child, a son they named Osmond Uther, who was born in Grafton in 1874. They moved to the Northern Rivers region in far north NSW which must have been as dramatic a geographical change of scenery and climate as New Zealand had appered for Bertha all those years earlier.^[15]

Northern Rivers

In December 1875, Walter worked in retail and was a spokesperson for the Grafton Half-Holiday Association.^[16] He was mentioned working for The Clarence River Store as early as March of 1874,^[17] and in 1875, was vocal in relation to the activities of The Loyal Star of the East Lodge Odd Fellows.^[18] He was a well spoken and outspoken man.

Sydney and Insolvencies

The first evidence that Bertha's family has moved to Sydney comes from numerous Insolvency court cases at Glebe. Walter Some years later, in 1894, the family has returned to the city, to Sydney, in particular, and Walter managed the Guardian Accident and Guarantee Insurance Co., operating out of 76 Pitt Street in the heart of Sydney's CBC. The family's private residence was listed as # 2 Liberty Street, Stanmore.^[19]

Death and Burial

Walter died on 30 Dec 1898,^[20] and Bertha died almost three decades later on 18 Nov 1927. She was buried alongside him at Rookwood Cemetery, Sydney.^[21] The short inscription on her part of the gravestone simply read, "wife of above".

Sources

• Digitised Historical Map: University Library, University of Melbourne, Digitised Collections, "New plan of Melbourne & suburbs : corrected to date expressly for Sands & McDougall's Melbourne & suburban directory". (1872), http://hdl.handle.net/11343/216258 . (Accessed 11 Feb 2022).

1. ↑ "England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NB2G-3GS : 10 February 2018, Bertha Sweeny, 22 Dec 1843); citing item 3 p 77, index based upon data collected by the Genealogical Society of Utah, Salt Lake City; FHL microfilm 1,068,959.
2. ↑ Mortimer, Robyn. 2022. "Looking Back On The Sweeny Brood". Blog. Around The World In 50 Years - Rainbow Rob's Travels. (Accessed February 11). https://rainbowrobstravels.blogspot.com/2011/07/so-what-did-happen-to-all-those-sweeny.html .
3. ↑ * 1861 Census: "1861 Wales Census"
   Class: RG9; Piece: 4012; Folio: 18; Page: 38; GSU roll: 543221
   Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry au Record 8768 #13478239 (accessed 17 February 2022)
   Bertha Swaney (19) governess in household of Henry Roberts (34) in Pontypool registration district. Born in Worthing, Sussex, England.
4. ↑ "Women's Migration And Overseas Appointment Society - Organisation - The Australian Women's Register". 2022. Womenaustralia.Info. https://www.womenaustralia.info/biogs/AWE0702b.htm.
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1} : "Victoria, Australia, Assisted and Unassisted Passenger Lists, 1839-1923"
   Public Record Office Victoria; North Melbourne, Victoria; Register of Assisted Immigrants from the United Kindom (refer to microform copy, VPRS 3502); Series: VPRS 14
   Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry au Record 1635 #3815014 (accessed 15 February 2022)
   Name: Bertha Sweeney; Arrival Age: 23; Birth Date: abt 1844; Departure Place: London Via Plymouth; Arrival Date: 4 Jul 1867; Arrival Place: Hobsons Bay, Australia; Ship: Atalanta.
6. ↑ Advertising (1867, August 7). The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957), p. 1. Retrieved February 11, 2022, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article5774440
7. ↑ Diane Langmore, 'Humffray, John Basson (1824–1891)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/humffray-john-basson-3818/text6055, published first in hardcopy 1972, accessed online 15 February 2022.
8. ↑ Advertising (1867, April 26). The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957), p. 3. Retrieved February 15, 2022, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article5765253
9. ↑ Births Deaths and Marriages Victoria, (Family History Search), https://my.rio.bdm.vic.gov.au/efamily-history/5e0be0655dd90523336d6de8/results?q=efamily , Family name: SWEENEY, Given name(s): Edith, Event: Death, Mother's name / Bertha, Mother's family name at birth: Sweeney, Father's name: --, Age at death: 8 months, Place of birth: Ball[arat], Place of death: -- , Reg. year: 1869, Reg. number: 264/1869.”
10. ↑ THIS LATE ROBERT RATTRAY. (1894, September 28). The Ballarat Star (Vic. : 1865 - 1924), p. 4. Retrieved February 16, 2022, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article209219663
11. ↑ GOVERNMENT CONTRACTS. (1862, January 8). The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957), p. 6. Retrieved February 16, 2022, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article5708105
12. ↑ Births Deaths and Marriages Victoria, (Family History Search), https://my.rio.bdm.vic.gov.au/efamily-history/5dd65d5da162e52308a1c6d0/results?q=efamily ,"Family name: NICKLESS, Given name(s): Walter Robert, Event: Marriage, Spouse's name: SWEENY, Bertha, Reg. year: 1870, Reg. number: 4493/1870."
13. ↑ Advertising (1870, October 18). The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957), p. 7. Retrieved February 11, 2022, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article5836348
14. ↑ Births Deaths and Marriages Victoria, (Family History Search), https://my.rio.bdm.vic.gov.au/efamily-history/5e0be0655dd90523336d6de8/results?q=efamily , "Family name: Nickless, Given name(s): Edith May, Event: Birth, Mother's name / Bertha, Mother's family name at birth: Sweeney, Father's name: -- Walter, Place of birth: Melb, Reg. year: 1872, Reg. number: 17935/1872."
15. ↑ NSW Justice, Registry of Births Deaths & Marriages (Family History Search), https://familyhistory.bdm.nsw.gov.au/lifelink/familyhistory/search/result?3 , NICKLESS, OSMOND UTHER, Parents: WALTER ROBERT and BERTHA, Event: BIRTH, Reg. year: 1874, Reg. number: 11550/1874, District: Grafton.
16. ↑ HALF HOLIDAY ASSOCIATION. (1875, December 21). Clarence and Richmond Examiner and New England Advertiser (Grafton, NSW : 1859 - 1889), p. 2. Retrieved February 11, 2022, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article61903728
17. ↑ GRAFTON POLICE COURT. (1874, March 31). Clarence and Richmond Examiner and New England Advertiser (Grafton, NSW : 1859 - 1889), p. 4. Retrieved February 11, 2022, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article61898541
18. ↑ GRAFTON BOROUGH COUNCIL. (1875, February 26). The Grafton Argus and Clarence River General Advertiser (NSW : 1874 - 1875; 1879 - 1882; 1888; 1892; 1899 - 1922), p. 2. Retrieved February 11, 2022, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article235148932
19. ↑ * "Sands Directories: Sydney and New South Wales, Australia, 1858-1933"
    Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry au Record 1164 #28351458 (accessed 11 February 2022)
    Name/Business Name: Walter R Nickless; Year: 1894; District: Stanmore; Page No: 798.
20. ↑ * Burial: "Sydney, Australia, Cemetery Headstone Transcriptions, 1837-2003"
    Ancestry au Record 61153 #97623 (accessed 11 February 2022)
    Walter Robert Nickless burial (died on 30 Dec 1898 at age 48) in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
21. ↑ Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/189301456/bertha-nickless : accessed 11 February 2022), memorial page for Bertha Nickless (unknown–19 Nov 1927), Find a Grave Memorial ID 189301456, citing Rookwood General Cemetery, Rookwood, Cumberland Council, New South Wales, Australia ; Maintained by alisonc1109 ♣ (contributor 48349597) .