Stephen and Charles Loud Lorden in Australia

(last updated: 10 August 2023)

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1. Stephen Lorden (1834-94) & Emma Kendall Badcock (1843-93)

The LDS Family Search shows that Stephen was baptised at Dymchurch in Kent on 11 Jan 1834. The 1841 census has the seven year-old Stephen living at the home of his maternal grandfather, Henry Pelling, a 50 year-old gardener of West Tarring in Sussex. Also present were a Thomas (18), 'Gainey' (20) and Frances Pelling (20). The 1851 census shows Stephen Lorden (a 16 year-old draper's assistant who was born at Dymchurch) and Charles Lorden (an 18 year-old clerk also born at Dymchurch) living at the residence of Ann Barrett at Chelsea in London.

Sometime between then and 1861 Stephen travelled to Victoria where he married Emma Kendall Badcock, the daughter of John Stephen Badcock, a baker, and Harriet Kendall, at Ballarat on 6 October 1861. Stephen and Emma's marriage certificate states that he was a 26 year-old bachelor from Kent in England and she an 18 year-old spinster from London (LDS Family Search shows that she was born at Hoxton in Middlesex in 1843). Stephen was working as a porter. His father was said to be Stephen Lorden, a publican, and his mother Charlotte Pelling. Emma was married with the written consent of Samuel Elstone her brother-in-law and guardian. The marriage was witnessed by a William Gothy and Susan Prescott. The photo on the right, taken from Anthony O'Connor's 'O'Connor Family Tree' on Ancestry is said to be of Emma Kendall Badcock taken just prior to her sailing to Australia.

The birth places of their children show that Stephen and Emma moved around after their marriage, from Ballarat to Buninyong and then to the Melbourne suburb of Brunswick where their last child, Frederick Lorden died in childbirth in 1878. Sometime after this they moved to Penola in the Coonawarra district of South Australia where their daughter Susan Lordon later Galpin (1869-1953) was married in 1891 - see below - and on 23 September 1893 Emma died from the effects of heart disease in the Mount Gambier Hospital and was buried in the Penola Old Cemetery. As reported in the Narracoorte Herald on 5 June 1894, Stephen 'sold off their house and effects in order to go to the West Australian diggings. He was unwell when he went away, but ultimately reached Fremantle'. Stephen returned to Victoria 'almost immediately' and went to his daughter's residence at Byaduk near Hamilton. There he was admitted into the Hamilton Hospital on 10 May 1894 and died there twelve days later. He is buried in the Hamilton Cemetery.

Stephen and Emma Kendall Lorden had eleven children we know of, four of whom - Marion (1867-9), Charles Loud (1871-71), Henry Edward (1874-6) and Frederick Lorden (1878-78) - died young. As described below a number of their children moved from Victoria to Western Australia to live. Two seem not to have married:

1) Alice Lorden (1865-1918), who was living at 110 Frances Street in North Perth in 1916 and died there two years later. Her death notice published in the West Australian newspaper on 7 January 1918, tells us she was the 'sister of Messes Stephen and Arthur Lorden (Fremantle) and William Lorden (Meekatharra)'. Alice is buried in the Anglican Area of the Fremantle Cemetery (Section MON A6, Gravesite 1343).The photo on the left of a 'Miss Lorden', which was taken at Perth in 1901, may be of Alice although this has still to be confirmed.

2) Alice's younger brother, Arthur Lorden (1876-1940) was living and working as a miner at Edjudina in Western Australia in 1906, at Beria near Mount Margaret in 1916 (the same year he was registered as a gentleman at 37 Frances Street North Perth), at 49 Cantonment Street in East Fremantle in 1925 and 1931, and back at Edjudina in 1936/7 when he was working as a prospector. Arthur died at the Perth suburb of Subiaco on 17 April 1940 and is also buried in the AnglicanArea of the Fremantle Cemetery (Section MON A6, Gravesite 0346).

Added by Judy Harman to the Find a Grave website,
this photo is said to be of Stephen and Emma Kendall Lorden.

We have been able to discover a little more about the remaining members of Stephen and Emma's family as follows:

Stephen Lorden (1863-1922) and Ada Hensley Luckman (1871-1958)

Born at Ballarat in Victoria, Stephen lived at Byong and Buninyong, and worked as a miner before heading to the Western Australian goldfields in 1893. While at Buninyong he was awarded a certificate from the Royal Humane Society of Victoria for saving another boy, George Overall, from drowning in a dam there (The Australian Sketcher, 8 June 1878). Not long after arriving in the West Stephen and a mining colleague, John Banfield, invented a Patent Cradle Dry Blower for use in the Western Australian goldfields. Within two years of its invention, some 300 of the machines, which used bellowed air rather than water to separate gold dust from earth and crushed rock, had been sold to a range of interested parties. Agencies for the sale of the cradle dry blowers had also been opened in most of State's larger mining centers. In 1897 Stephen presented one of his machines to the State Museum in Perth.

According to Ancestry's Index of Australian bdms, Stephen married Ada Hensley Luckman at the Perth suburb of Claremont in 1905. Ada was born in Melbourne in 1871, the daughter of Alfred Luckman and Mary Ann Jane Plummer. The Australian electoral rolls show Ada and Stephen, now described as a manufacturer, living at Fremantle park at the time of the 1910 and 1916 elections. On 25 November 1922, Stephen's body was found in the Fremantle harbour near North Wharf. A subsequent inquest heard that he had been ill for about twelve months before his death and was being treated for a nervous breakdown. The inquest found that he had died from drowning and there was no indication of how he got into the river.

The electoral rolls show that the widowed Ada and her children continued to live at the family home at 24 Quarry Street in Fremantle after Stephen's death. They also indicate that she and Stephen had at least five children: Alice Maie Lorden, who worked as a shop assistant, Gladys Lorden, a stenographer and later Principal of the local Stott's Business College, Phillis Ada Lorden, also a stenographer, Stephen Godfrey Lorden, a motor mechanic and proprietor of Godfrey Lorden Motors at 80 Adelaide Street in Fremantle, and Charles William Loud Lorden, who worked as a shipping clerk. From 1943 to 1954 Ada lived at 15 Quarry Street in Fremantle with her two unmarried daughters Gladys and Phillis Ada Lorden. Ada Hensley Lorden nee Luckman died at Fremantle in 1958.

The 'Reverse' WA Marriage Lookup and other sources show that: 1) Stephen Godfrey Lorden, married a Fremantle girl, Marie Isabel Walsh, in the Perth registration district in 1942. The 1943 and 1949 electoral rolls show them living at 12 Walter Street in East Fremantle. At the time of the 1954 roll, they were living at 542 Canning Highway Melville where Stephen was the proprietor of Godfrey Lorden Motors. 2) Charles William Loud Lorden (1912-65) married Linda Daphne Harris at Nedlands in Perth in 1940. Their wedding announcement contained in the West Australian (28 August 1940) indicated that Linda was younger daughter of Mrs L. Harris and the late Isaac Harris, of East Fremantle. The 1943, 1949 and 1954 electoral rolls show Charles and Linda living at 65 Osborne Road in East Fremantle. Charles died at Fremantle in 1965.

Emma Lorden (1864-1956) and Reuben James Harman (1854-1937)

Born at Byong in Victoria Emma married Reuben James Harman in 1892 (probably at Byaduk although that has still to be confirmed). Ancestry's index of Australian bdms shows that Reuben was the oldest son of James Harman and Susan Reed and that he was born at Belfast (Port Fairy) in Victoria in 1854. According to the Byaduk History website, James was born at Melbourn in Cambridgeshire in England in 1831. He and his wife Susan emigrated to Australia on the DUKE OF RICHMOND which arrived at Portland on 4 March 1853. They settled at Byaduk, naming their property there 'Mount Pleasant', and had ten children between 1854 and 1873. The site adds that 'James was a farmer but also had a carrying business between Port Fairy and Hamilton with his brother Jonathon until around 1874. James was also a lay preacher at the Byaduk Methodist Church'. He and his brother Jonathon Harman are pictured in the photo below of Byaduk's pioneers, taken during a Byaduk & District Pioneer's Day organised by the local Methodist Church in 1907 (they are seventh and eighth from the left in the rear row). Next to them on their left is Thomas Harper who also emigrated from Melbourn in Cambridgeshire. He and his wife Mary Ann had 13 children from 1854 to 1876, all born near Warrnambool or Byaduk.

Byaduk pioneers, 1907

Before marrying Emma Lorden in 1892, Reuben James Harman had earlier married Elizabeth Bishop in 1887 and had at least three children with her (all born at Byaduk in Victoria) - Charles James (1878-1943), Ellen May (1881) and Sarah Elizabeth (1883) - before Elizabeth's death in 1890 (the index of her death shows that her parents were James Bishop and Sarah Hughes). Reuben and Emma had at least five children again all born at Byaduk: Horace Lorden (1891-1972), Reuben Edward (1894-1959), William (1897-1975), Julia Marion (1900) and Susan Alice Harman (1906).

The Australian electoral rolls show that Reuben James, a farmer, and Emma were living at Byaduk in 1903 and 1909 (together with many other Harmans). By the time of the 1914 election they had moved to Lake Gorrie near Macarthur in Victoria. In 1919 they were 'off Coleraine Road' at Hamilton in Victoria (the roll also included a Beatrice Harman, knitting manufacturer, Eliza Maud Harman, home duties, Horace Lordan Harman, labourer, Sarah Harman, knitting manufacturer, and William Loud Harman, labourer, all living on Brown Street in Hamilton).

The 1924 roll shows Reuben, still a farmer, and Emma living on Landsborough Street in Ballarat North together with Julia Marion Harman, a dressmaker. At the time of the 1931 election Reuben and Emma were at 613 Neil Street in Ballarat together with Julia Marion, home duties, and Susan Alice Harman, a weaver. In 1936 Reuben, Emma and Julia were all living at 603 Armstrong Street in Ballarat where Reuben James Harman died the following year. Emma continued to live at Ballarat with her daughter Julia Marion Harman (later Bradley - see below) until her death there in 1956.

What of Reuben and Emma's children? We believe that Horace Lorden Harman (1891-1972) married Maud Eliza Troeth (1894-1961) in 1912 (probably at Hamilton in Victoria although that has still to be confirmed). Ancestry's index of Australian bdms shows that Eliza, the daughter of Joseph Troeth and Eliza Wilson, was born at Heywood in Victoria in 1894. The Australian electoral rolls shows them living on Brown Street in Hamilton in 1914 and 1919 (together with Horace's two step-sisters Beatrice and Elizabeth Harman). They were living on Ballarat Road in Hamilton in 1924 and 16 Railway Avenue in Hamilton in 1931 and 1936/7 (the roll for 1936 included a Marion Emma E. Harman, home duties, and the 1937 roll had an Alice Jean Harman also living at 16 Railway Ave). Only Eliza and Horace were there in 1942 and 1954 whereas the 1949 roll included a June Margaret N. Harman. Both Horace and Eliza died at Hamilton, she in 1961 and he in 1972. As we have seen they had at least three children, all of whom were born and grew up in Hamilton.

His military record in the Australian Archives shows that Sapper Reuben Edward Harman, a labourer of Hamilton in Victoria, enlisted in the First AIF on 18 January 1915. His NOK was his father Reuben James Harman of Eccles near Macarthur in Victoria. Assigned to C Squadron of the 13th Light Horse Regiment, he proceded overseas on the troopship SIMLA, disembarking at Alexandria on 8 January 1916. In June he was sent to France where he joined the 1st Anzac Army Corps Light Horse Regiment on 7 July 1916. His record shows that while on leave in England, Reuben married, at Glasgow in Scotland on 2 August 1918, Elizabeth Evaline Henry a 19 year-old cashier who was then living at 40 Whitevale Street in Glasgow (her father was William Henry, a cabinet maker. We think that her mother may have been Margaret Adams). Reuben, described as a 25 year-old mechanic and soldier, was staying at the Lorne Hotel in Glasgow at the time. Soon after he returned to France where he was wounded in action on 9 August 1918 (a GSW to the side). After a time in hospital at Havre he returned to England on 21 November 1918. In March 1919 he was on the instructional staff of the Educational Unit of No 2 Australian Command Depot at Westham Camp (see the photo below).

On 10 August 1919 he was granted 12 months 'leave for agricultural purposes in America'. His record shows that he proceded there on the SS CELTIC from Liverpool on 25 August 1919 to receive instruction on agriculture and pig raising methods. He returned to Australia from England on the SS MARATHON on 7 November 1919 and was discharged from the Army at Melbourne on 17 May 1920 as medically unfit due to a disability. A letter sent to the State Savings Bank in Melbourne on 28 May 1923 (concerning his application for grant under the War Services Homes Loan Act) indicates that he was then living at 27 Dally Street in Northcote in Melbourne. The Australian electoral rolls and other sources show that Reuben worked as a machinist after the war and that he and his wife Elizabeth Evaline lived most of their married lives in the Melbourne suburb of Preston (at 16 Mount Street). They and other sources indicate that Reuben and Elizabeth had at least two daughters: Ruby Margaret E. Harman, a dressmaker (whose married name was probably King) and Heather Vera Harmon who married Reginald Lindsay Simmons, an RAAF pilot, in around 1941 (Reginald was a trustee officer in 1954 and he and Heather were living at Mentone). Reuben Edward Harman died at Heidelberg in Victoria in 1959. We think that his wife Elizabeth Evaline Harman nee Henry died at Greensborough in 1979 although that has still to be confirmed.

From the Australian War Memorial Archives, this photo of the instruction staff of
2 Australian Command Depot's Educational Unit includes Spr Reuben Edward Harman
(second from the left in the centre row).

Reuben's brother, William Loud Harman (1897-1975) also enlisted in the First AIF (on 29 April 1916). He was then a 19 year-old farmer and was allocated to the 23rd 8th Light Horse Reinforcements. He embarked overseas from Melbourne on the SS ANGLO EGYPTIAN on 31 January 1917 and disembarked at Suez on 3 March the same year. He served in Egypt and the Middle East until 4 March 1919 when he sailed on the PORT SYDNEY for Australia. In 1920 he married Olive Evelyn Buckland (1898-1942), the daughter of William Buckland and Hannah Letitia Oakley. At the time of the 1924 election, he and Olive were living on Mortimer Street in Werribee in Victoria where William was working as a mechanic. In 1930 William, now an aircraft mechanic, and Olive were living on Wallace Street in the Sydney suburb of Blacktown. In 1933 the couple were at 26 Waterview Street in Kogarah and William was again working as a mechanic. They were still at Kogarah in 1936 and may have moved to Yeronga in Queensland the following year. Olive died at Bendigo in 1942, her death notice indicating that she and William had three children: Ronald, Bruce and Joan Harman.

The 1943 electoral roll shows a William Loud Harman, a mechanic, living at 26 Broadway in the Melbourne suburb of Camberwell North. Another William Loud Harman, also a mechanic, and Margaret Kathleen Harman were at 5 Thorseby Grove in Ivanhoe in Melbourne (the 1949 roll shows that William Loud and Kathleen Margaret Harman moved from Merbein near Mildura to Ultima in Victoria. In 1954 William Loud Harman, a carpenter, was registered as living at Robinvale near Mildura along with Margaret Kathleen, Bruce William, also a carpenter, and Rita Margaret Harman). Ancestry's index of Australian bdms shows that William Harman, the son of Reuben Harman and Emma Lorden, died at Heidelberg in Melbourne in Victoria in 1975.

Reuben and Emma's youngest daughter, Julia Marion Harman, was born at Byaduk in 1900 and lived with her parents and widowed mother until her marriage to George Lilford Bradley sometime between 1942 and 1949. Ancestry's index of Australian bdms shows that George Lilford, the son of Thomas Bradley and Clarissa Eliza Beardon, was born at Ballarat East in 1885 and died at Heidelberg in 1955. According to the Burke Family Tree on Ancestry.com, George was previously married to a Rebecca Mary Franklin (1892-1931) who died in Ballarat in 1931. The 1949 and 1954 electoral rolls have Julia and George Lilford living at 708 Doveton Ave in Ballarat (Julia's mother Emma Harman was also registered there in 1954).

Charlotte Lorden (1868-1932) and Albert Brasser (1857-1928)

Born at Buninyong in central Victoria, Charlotte was working as a dressmaker when she married Albert Brasser at Dinyarrack near Serviceton close to the Victoria-South Australia border on 20 August 1890. According to the 'McWilliams, Sproule and Brasser Family Tree' on Ancestry, Albert's parents were Prussian-born Heinrich Wilhelm Michaelis Bresser (1817-67) and Germa-nborn Maria Louise Dorothea Wendt (1815-1902) who were married in Adelaide in 1846 and had twelve children between then and Wilhelm's death in 1867. The birth places of Albert and Charlotte Brasser's eight children show they lived at different places in the Victorian Wimmera region where Albert worked as a hawker. They separated or were divorced in around 1902 and Charlotte re-married twice, first to a Henry Bowman (1874-1910) in 1902 and then to William James Charlton in 1910. Albert Brasser died at Pental Island near Swan Hill and is buried in an unmarked grave in the Lake Boga Cemetery. Charlotte died in North Melbourne in 1932 and is buried in the Church of England Area of Fawkner Memorial Park (Section O Grave 501). She had eight children with Albert and one each with Henry and William and at least 13 grandchildren.

Susan Lorden (1869-1953) and Henry Galpin (1867-1954)

Born at Buninyong in Victoria in 1869, Susan moved with her parents and siblings to Penola in South Australia where as a young girl she often helped her father change the coach horses at nearby Tarpeena. She was working as a nursemaid for the Warner family at Yallum Lodge near Penola when she met her husband to be, Harry Galpin, who was employed as a farm labourer at the nearby Katnook Estate. Born at Allendale East near Mount Gambier in 1867, Harry was the youngest of twelve children of John Galpin (1825-94), a teacher who hailed from Hampshire in England, and a native of Cambridgeshire, Charlotte Eats/Eatts (1832-71), who were married at Willunga in South Australia on 6 December 1849. Around the time of Harry's birth, John was running a school at Allendale East which, according to a report in The South Australian Register, 'had been established for some considerable time . . . [had] 42 children in attendance, and . . . was very much needed at that place'. The report added that an application for the colonial education board to licence both the school and its teacher was being advocated by 'the Venerable Archdeacon Twopeny and the Rev. A. R. Caldwell . . . [as well as] 24 inhabitants of the neighbourhood' (11 September 1867). Karrie Dimit's 'Mallis-Dimit Family Tree' on Ancestry tells us Harry's parents both died at Allendale East, Charlotte on 24 August 1871 and John on 14 July 1894, and are buried in the local cemetery.

Harry and Susan Galpin nee Lorden at the time of their wedding in 1891
and in around the 1940s.

Arthur William Galpin and Clarence John Galpin.

After their narriage in 1891, Harry and Susan lived first in Penola then on land outside the town before, after retiring in the 1930s, back in Penola where they both died, Susan on 6 June 1953 and Harry on 5 June 1954. Karrie Dimit tells us they had seven children all born at Penola: Alice Maud Dowling (1892-1934), Olive Louie Sims (1894-1964), Arthur William (1896-1986), Alfred Stephen (1898-1964), Lawrence Lorden (1901-9), Eric Henry (1907-1957) and Clarence John Galpin (1911-1943). A report of the couple's diamond wedding anniversary, published in The Pennant on 3 January 1952, informs us they then also had 21 grandchildren and 27 great grandchildren. Three of Harry and Susan's sons served in the Australian Army. Arthur William Galpin, who was then working as a labourer, enlisted in the First AIF at Adelaide on 4 December 1917. He embarked for overseas service from Melbourne on the RMS ORMONDE on 7 March 1918 and, after undergoing training in England, served with the 50th Battalion in France from 10 August 1918. He returned to Australia in March 1919, married Dorothy May Bradshaw (1903-87) at Bordertown in South Australia in 1925, and died and is buried at Penola where he had worked as a grazier.

William's two younger brothers, Eric and Clarence (Clarrie) Galpin, were both called up during the Second World War, Clarence at Elliston near Port Lincoln in South Australia on 10 January 1942 and Eric at Penola on 6 February 1942. His military record in the Australian Archives shows Clarence had been married in 1932 (his wife was said to be Gladys Irene Galpin who was then living at Port Lincoln) and was working as a kangaroo and rabbit trapper. Assigned to the Army Service Corps, he was posted to Victoria where on 12 April 1943 he was admitted to the Heidelberg Military Hospital suffering from emphysema. Clarence died there on 26 May 1943 and was buried in the military section of the Springvale Cemetery (Plot 2.T.C.16). Eric Galpin was also married - to Rose Hannah Clough (1910-97) at Penola in 1930 with whom he had five children - and was working as a farmer at Penola at the time of his enlistment. He served as a part time soldier in the 9th Battalion of the VDC from March 1943 until November 1945. Eric died in the Adelaide suburb of West Beach in 1957.

William George Lorden (1872-1947) and Edith Bell (-1922)

Although born in Melbourne, William spent much of his life prospecting for gold in Western Australia where it seems that he was a part owner of the Tambourrah King mine. The Australian electoral rolls show that George was working as a miner at Meekatharra in Western Australia in 1910 and 1916. The WAGS index of Western Australian marriages shows that he married Edith Bell at Claremont in Perth in Western Australia in 1917. One of their descendants, Noelene Newman, tells us that Edith (pictured below) was born at Otago in New Zealand in 1878. Her parents were Archibald Bell (1835-1900) and Jessie Margaret Hay (1841-1912) both of whom had been born in Scotland but were married at Otago in 1864. Archibald and Jessie had eleven children in addition to Edith: Elizabeth Reid, Jane Grant, Jessie Margaret, Jane Grant, Archibald Dargue, Ellen Hay, George Hay, Isabella Thompson, Violetta Florence, Frances Williamina and Agatha Lillian Bell (details of the various family members can be seen on Noelene's 'Oakley Family Tree' on Ancestry.com). Noelene continues that Archibald, who was a naval captain, had been 'asked by C. Y. O'Connor to be Harbour Master at the then to be completed Fremantle Harbour. Unfortunately Archibald died before he could take up the position, but the family stayed here in Western Australia. Edith's sister, Jessie, (my great grandmother) and her husband and younger family members arrived over from New Zealand in 1913. Jessie's husband, Archibald Weir, died here four years later'.

As her death notice published in the West Australian on 30 January 1922 indicated, sadly Edith Lorden nee Bell died only a few years after her marriage: 'LORDEN - On January 24 1922, at St Jean of God Subiaco, passed peacefully away, Edith, the dearly beloved wife of W. G. Lorden of Meekatharra, Western Australia, sixth daughter of the late Captain Archibald and Jessie Margaret Bell, of Dunedin New Zealand'. We don't know if William and Edith had any children. The Australian electoral rolls show that following his wife's death William George continued to work as a miner and prospector around Meekatharra. Ancestry's index of Australian bdms shows that he eventually returned to Perth where he died, at Subiaco, in 1947. The following death notice was published in the West Australian on 22 July 1947: 'LORDEN - On July 21, at Subiaco, William George Lorden of Douro Road South Fremantle formerly of Meekatharra, widower of the late Edith Lorden, loved brother of the late Arthur and Stephen Lorden, loved brother-in-law of Ada, fond uncle of Gladys, Godfrey, Alice, Phillis and Charlie; aged 74 years'.

The photo on the left is of a young Edith Bell. That on the right was taken on the day
of her wedding to William George Lorden at Claremont in Perth in WA in 1917.

2. Charles Loud Lorden (1835-1901) & Sarah Minehan

Charles Loud Lorden was baptised at Dymchurch on 4 November 1832. According to Ancestry's index of Assisted and Unassisted Passenger Lists to Victoria, when he was 25 years old, Charles emigrated to Australia on the KENT which sailed from Gravesend and arrived at Melbourne on 13 August 1858. His obituary, detailed below, tells us he worked for a time at Bathurst and then as an accountant at Orange in central NSW. In 1885 he married Sarah Minehan at nearby Dubbo. He and Sarah had one child, Charlotte Loud Dalton Lorden who was born at Orange in 1887, before Sarah sued Charles for a divorce in the Bathurst District Court on 22 April 1897. The following account of the proceedings was given in the Bathurst Free Press and Mining Journal:

Sarah Lorden...sued for a divorce from her husband, Charles Long [sic] Lorden, on the ground of desertion and drunkeness...There was no appearance of respondent. Sarah Lorden, a dressmaker of Orange, stated that she was married to the respondent in 1885 at Dubbo according to the Roman Catholic rites; she had separated from her husband for about six years on account of his drunken and disagreeable habits; he lost his position at Dalton Bros on account of frequently being drunk; he left home about that time, and when she sought him at ClaytonÕs he refused to see her, and would not support her or her child ... she had made repeated endeavours through others to get him to live with her but all to no purpose ... His Honour found that marriage and desertion had been proved.

Sarah was later granted a decree absolute by the Divorce Court and custody of their child. We think she died in Sydney around the same time although that has still to be confirmed. As described in the following obituary published in the Orange Leader, Charles Loud Lorden died at Orange in September 1901:

Mr Chas. L. Lordon who died in the hospital from a general breaking-up of the system . . . [and was] interred in the Orange cemetery yesterday afternoon was an old and respected resident of the district. He came to the colony some 40 years ago, and some time afterwards occupied a position in the firm of Messrs E. Webb and Co., of Bathurst. Afterwards he filled the position of chief accountant at Messrs Dalton Brothers, of Orange, for over 20 years. For some time past he has been in the employ of various Lucknow firms. His wife died some 6 years ago. He leaves one daughter aged 14 years, who has been adopted by Mr John Fitzgerald, a relative (5 September 1901).

Charlotte Loud Dalton {Nita} Lorden (1887-1972)

Born at Orange in New South Wales in 1887, Charlotte married William Joseph McMahon *1877-1936) at St Charles Catholic Church in the Sydney suburb of Waverley on 1 July 1908. A subsequent report of the wedding in the Orange Leader tells us 'the bride, who was given away by Mr Bede Smith, wore a frock of cream Sicilian, and white felt hat trimmed with silk and plumes. The bridesmaid, Miss Lynch, wore a cream silk frock and heliotrope hat, trimmed with ribbons and feathers. Mr Lynch, cousin of the bridegroom, was best man. After the wedding ceremony, the party breakfasted at the residence of Mrs A. Smith, "Riverton," Waverley, and the newly-married couple left by the 10.15 a.m. train for Katoomba, where they will remain a few days, and then proceed to Forbes' (6 June 1908).

William Joseph McMahon was born at Forbes in 1877, the son of two natives of Bathurst, John Francis McMahon (1835-1923) and Elizabeth Mary Morris (1836-1923), who were married there in 1858. Some five years before their marriage, John had gone from Bathurst to Forbes where he worked as the manager of Tomanbil station before selecting land at Red Bend. In around 1884 he and Elizabeth acquired the 'Sandusky' pastoral property where they spent the remainder of their lives. In addition to his farming pursuits John was a long-time member of the Forbes Jockey Club and the local Pastural, Agricultural and Horticultural Association. He was also an active supporter of Forbes District Hospital where one of his and ElizabethÕs daughters served for a time as Matron. John and Elizabeth both died of influenza during the 1923 floods and are buried together in the old Roman Catholic section of the Forbes cemetery (Portion 2, Row D, Lot 10). Their obituary published in The Catholic Press tells us they were survived by two sons and four daughters: 'Messrs James McMahon, of Browne-street, Forbes, Wm McMahon, of "Woodlands", Forbes . . . Mother Joseph (Vicaress-General of St. Joseph's Mount Convent, Perthville), Sister Antonina (Mudgee Convent), Matron McMahon (Forbes District Hospital), and Mrs Thos. Kelly (Wombat-street, Forbes)' as well as 'an adopted daughter, Mrs Thos. Doyle, also of Wombat-street' (20 September 1923).

The Australian electoral rolls show that Charlotte Dalton and William Joseph McMahon, farmer, were living on Elgin Street in Forbes in 1930. They were both registered at 1A Lamrock Ave in the Sydney suburb of Bondi in 1933 together with a Dorothy Mary MaMahon, a teacher. William Joseph McMahon died at Forbes in 1936. His obituary, published in The Catholic Freeman's Journal on 23 July of that month, tells us he died after a short illness in the Brentwood Private Hospital. It adds: 'Mr McMahon was a farmer, and son of the late Mr John Francis McMahon, of Sanduskey station . . . He had resided on the old Grenfell-road, but some time ago established a home at Bondi. More recently he returned to reside on his old property. He is survived by a widow and two daughters, Dorothy and Margaret'. The Find a Grave website shows that William is buried in the New Roman Catholic portion of the Forbes Cemetery (Section 19, Lot 6). A notice in the Sydney Morning Herald on 6 August 1936, reported that probate would be granted to Charlotte Dalton McMahon the sole executrix in the will of William Joseph McMahon deceased grazier late of 'Woodlands' of Forbes.

The electoral rolls show that Nita continued to live at Bondi after William's death. With her in 1943 were a 'Dorotha' McMahon, a teacher, and Margaret Veronica McMahon, a stenographer. Only Charlotte and 'Dorotha' were there in 1949. The same roll had a Charlotte Dalton and William James Gibb, a union organiser, registered as living at 1A Lamrock Ave Bondi, indicating that Charlotte had remarried. The couple were still registered as living there in 1954 even though the legal notices published in the Sydney Morning Herald on 7 August 1952 indicated William James Gibb died at Bondi in 1952 with probate granted to Charlotte Dalton Gibb the sole executrix. The electoral rolls have Nita living at 76 Adelaide Street Woolahra at the time of the 1963, 1968 and 1972 elections. She died there on 10 August 1972, her death notice in the Sydney Morning Herald telling us she was the 'dearly loved wife of the late William Gibb M.L.C. and loving mother of Dorothy McMahon and Margaret Baker, mother-in-law of Len and grandmother of Paul' (11 August 1972). We believe she and William are both buried in the Roman Catholic section of Sydney's Eastern Suburbs Memorial Park. What of Nita and William Joseph's two daughters?

We think their elder daughter, Dorothy Mary McMahon (1911-83), who was born at Forbes and later worked as a school teacher, lived in Sydney with her mother until the latter's death in 1972. She then moved back to Forbes where she died on 20 January 1983. The Find a Grave website shows she is buried in the Forbes Cemetery (New Roman Catholic Portion, Sec. 205, Lot 19). Their second daughter, Margaret Veronica McMahon (1918-2007), was also born at Forbes but was living in Sydney when she married Paddington-born Leonard John Olsen Baker (1915-2001) there in 1947. A report in the The Forbes Advocate on 24 January 1947 tells us the couple's wedding took place at St. Mary's Cathedral on Tuesday 21st January. It adds Len was 'the elder son of Mr and Mrs Alan Baker of Rose Bay. The ceremony was performed by Rev. Father Carroll, who was only ordained three weeks ago'. Margaret 'was attended by her sister, Miss Dorothy McMahon and Miss Thelma Harris . . . The bridegroom's brother, Mr Kevin Baker, was best man and Mr Colin Wood was groomsman. The Town Clerk of Waverley, Mr J. McKinnon, was Master of Ceremonies at the reception held at 'Merrybyn' in Bellevue Hill. Among the one hundred guests present were friends from Forbes and Orange'. The Australian electoral rolls show Len and Margaret lived for a time at 1A Lamrack Ave Bondi - Len was then working as a printer - before moving to Forbes where they farmed land on Grenville Road (the 1972 and subsequent rolls have a Paul Alan Baker, farmer, also registered there). The Find a Grave website tells us Leonard John Olsen Baker died on 24 Sept 2001 and is buried in the Forbes Cemetery (New Roman Catholic Portion, Sec. 222, Lot 15) along with his wife Margaret Veronica Baker who died on 10 July 2007. As noted they had one son, Paul Alan Baker, who was working on the family farm in 1972 when he married Margaret Lee Wood (1949-2013) the daughter of a local grazier, Robert Athol (Bob) Wood (1921-85) and Mary Veronica Sweeney (1920-2013). The Ryerson index tells us a Margaret Lee Baker, late of Forbes, died on 28 September 2013.

Last updated 25 May 2011

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