My Tickell Family

John Hingston Tickell was baptised in St Andrews, Plymouth, Devon, England on February 1, 1824.

John Hingston Tickell married Susannah Jane Vigars in Tavistock, Devon, England on July 3, 1852. Susannah Jane Vigars was baptised at St Peter's Church in Lamerton, Devon, England on July 31, 1831. John lived in Liskeard, Cornwall, England in 1856. Liskeard was just over the border from Devon. It is believed that the family had a small farm near the border. John Tickell worked in the mines in the area, in either copper or tin.

John emigrated to Australia with his family arriving on May 3, 1870. The Crusader left Plymouth, England on February 3, 1870 with 440 passengers on board. On board were John, Susannah and their six children, Mary Ann, William, Fanny, John, Elizabeth and Joseph. The family came to Australia in search of gold.

The family settled at Wandiligong, Victoria, although they were also known to have been in the Harrietville area at some stage. Harrietville was a gold town at the head of the beautiful Ovens River valley in northern Victoria. At the town the river forks into two branches that drain the northern slopes of the Australian Alps, and Harrietville nestles at the foot of tiers of ranges that rise up to the snow country of Mt. Feathertop, The Razorback, Mt. Hotham and Mt. St. Bernard. Between the period of 1870 and 1879 the mining registrar reports included gold production from 74 identified reefs at Harrietville. It is quite likely that John Hingston Tickell worked for a time at one of these mines.

Wandiligong is located in the same region as Harrietville, being approximately 15 kilometres north west of Harrietville, as the crow flies. Wandiligong is in a valley located about ten kilometres miles south of Bright. The area was first licensed to a pastoralist in 1847 being a run on some 28,000 acres. A small settlement was established at Bright in 1853 (formerly called Morses Creek) and shortly after at Wandiligong (formerly Growlers Creek). In 1871 around the time of the arrival of the Tickell family, the population of Morses Creek and Growlers Creek gold workings was 1,153. During the previous ten years the population had been quoted as being as high as 2,500 or 3,000. Although there is little documentary evidence to support those figures, it is conceivable that the population had been to that level and then declined sharply as deposits of alluvial gold were exhausted. By 1891 the population had dropped to 670.

In the late 1800s John held the position of Grandmaster with the MUIOOF. The MUIOOF (Manchester Unity Independent Order of Odd Fellows) was a lodge which had its origins during the industrial revolution in England as a kind of self-help group, the members of which could get help when they were sick or injured at work, or assistance for their families if they died and funeral benefits were needed. John Tickell's name is shown as being a past grandmaster of the MUIOOF on the honour board on display in the Manchester Unity hall in Wandiligong.

Susannah died from cancer of the breast and exhaustion in Wandiligong, Victoria, Australia on October 17, 1881 and was buried on October 18, 1881 in the Bright Cemetery in Bright, Victoria, Australia.

After the death of his wife Susannah, John Hingston Tickell and some members of the family moved from Wandiligong in country Victoria, to Hawthorn, a suburb five miles from the centre of Melbourne. They settled near the area previously known as Melville Paddock, which had been subdivided in 1885.

John died in Hawthorn, Victoria, Australia on January 21, 1888 and was buried on January 23, 1888 at Boroondara General Cemetery in Kew, Victoria, Australia.

John Hingston Tickell and Susannah Jane Vigars had the following children:

• Mary Ann Hingston Tickell was born in Black Down, North Brentor, Lamerton, Devon, England on July 14, 1853. Mary married Frederick James Crofts in the Wesleyan Methodist Church in Growlers Creek (Wandiligong), Victoria, Australia on March 25, 1875. Frederick was born on January 14, 1849 at 1 Court, Pembroke Gardens in Liverpool, Lancashire, England. He was the son of Joseph Crofts and Ann Blower. He was known as Fred. (See Frederick James Crofts for the continuation of this line.)
  
  After she was widowed, Mary lived in Alphington, Victoria, Australia. When her children married and had children, Mary Ann used to be teased by her grandchildren who would call her "Mary Ann inkstand". It used to make her quite mad. Mary died at 35 Pine Street in Hawthorn, Victoria, Australia on August 30, 1935 and was buried on September 2, 1935 in the Boroondara General Cemetery in Kew,Victoria, Australia.

• William Tickell was born in Mary Tavy, Devon, England in 1855. William married Elizabeth Ann Brown in Wandiligong, Victoria, Australia on February 15, 1877. Elizabeth was born in 1860 in Castlemaine, Victoria, Australia.
  
  William Tickell is listed as being one of the past grandmasters of the MUIOOF (Manchester Unity Independent Order of Odd Fellows) on the honour board on display in the Manchester Unity Hall in Wandiligong. The MUIOOF was a lodge which had its origins during the industrial revolution in England as a kind of self-help group, the members of which could get help when they were sick or injured at work, or assistance for their families if they died and funeral benefits were needed.
  
  Around 1882 William Tickell and his family moved from Wandiligong, in country Victoria, to Hawthorn, a suburb five miles from the centre of Melbourne. They settled near the area previously known as Melville Paddock, which had been subdivided in 1885. William lived in Melville Street, Hawthorn.
  
  William Tickell was with Swinburne Technical College for 20 years as caretaker. Swinburne Technical College was established in 1908. As William Tickell died in 1928, he would have been employed there from the College's inception.
  
  William died in Hawthorn, Victoria, Australia on November 2, 1928 and was buried on November 3, 1928 in the Boroondara General Cemetery in Kew, Victoria, Australia. Many of the Tickell's are buried in a double grave at Boroondara General Cemetery, Kew, Victoria. Elizabeth died in Hawthorn, Victoria, Australia on February 1, 1930. Elizabeth Ann Brown was buried on February 3, 1930 in the Boroondara General Cemetery in Kew, Victoria, Australia.

• Fanny Vigars Tickell was born in Cornwall, England in 1857. Fanny married Arthur Mills in Victoria, Australia in 1881. Arthur was born on August 7, 1856 in South Australia, Australia and died in Wandiligong, Victoria, Australia in 1894. Fanny lived in Wandiligong, Victoria, Australia and died in Alphington, Victoria, Australia in 1952.

• John Tickell was born in Devon, England circa 1862. John married Mary Emma Crabb in Victoria, Australia in 1887. Mary was born in 1867.
  
  In 1887 John was a miner at the Diamond Drill Mine in Wandiligong, Victoria, Australia. John died in Hawthorn, Victoria, Australia on October 25, 1915 and was buried on October 28, 1915 in the Boroondara General Cemetery in Kew, Victoria, Australia. Mary died in Hawthorn, Victoria,Australia in 1947.

• Eliza Harriet Tickell was born in Mary Tavy, Devon, England on February 21, 1864 and was known as Harriet. She married Barton John Thomas Foote in Wandiligong, Victoria, Australia on December 25, 1884. Barton was born on January 7, 1864 in Morwellham, Tavistock, Devon, England. He lived at 2 West Street in Brunswick, Victoria, Australia in 1925. Barton was a railway employee. Barton died at Heatherton Sanatorium in Heatherton, Victoria, Australia on June 29, 1925 and was buried in the Fawkner Cemetery in Fawkner, Victoria, Australia. Harriet died at 2 West Street in Brunswick, Victoria, Australia in September 1941 and was buried on September 22, 1941 at the Fawkner Cemetery (Methodist B Section) in Fawkner, Victoria, Australia.

• Joseph Tickell was born in 1867. He died in Wandiligong, Victoria, Australia on September 14, 1881 and was buried on September 14, 1881 in the Bright Cemetery in Bright, Victoria, Australia.

• Fanny Tickell was born before 1870 and died before 1870.

   

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Last revised: April 20, 2003
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