The Case of the Missing Groom – Arthur Baxter and Harriet May Bell

In former blogs, I told the story of my maternal grandparents, Arthur Baxter and Harriet May Bell’s romance, and their long engagement because of Harriet May Bell’s mother’s opposition to the marriage. The couple had to wait until she was twenty-one.

 

Finally, Harriet May Bell turned twenty-one in January 1912, and arrangements were made for a Spring wedding to take place on 27 September at St David’s Church of England, Thirroul.

 

Early in 1912, Arthur Baxter had returned to the north arm of the Tweed River where he was employed helping farmers clear scrubland to plant pastures for dairy farming. By then he had been working for four years and was saving his money to be able to select land for his own farm in the area.

 

However, land in that area was in short supply as most surveyed land had already been selected by 1912. Those blocks which had not been selected were on high rough land without water. All blocks were subject to a ballot system so many hopeful farmers missed their opportunity.

 

Arthur had not been successful in getting a block, but he had his eye on a couple of farms, where the families were talking of selling up and moving to Cooroy in Queensland. He would just have to wait.

 

Meanwhile, Harriet May was busy in Thirroul making wedding plans. Her Aunt Emma was making the bride’s and bridesmaid’s dresses for Harriet May and her sister Olive.

 

Time marched on and the wedding invitations were sent out in August to family and friends.

One of the family treasures I have inherited is an original wedding invitation that had been sent to Aunt Emma. It reads:-

 ” Mr. and Mrs. J Bell, requests the pleasure of Miss E Bell’s company at the Marriage of their daughter Harriet May, to Mr. Arthur Baxter, on 27th September 1912, at 1 pm Church of England, Thirroul. An early reply will oblige. Afterward at ‘Wyuna’, Thirroul.”

It would soon be time for Arthur to pack up and journey south for his wedding. The journey was rather complicated, but he had done it several times before when he returned home for Christmas.

 

Arthur needed to collect a cheque for his wages from his employer; ride his horse more than ten miles over very steep and difficult terrain to Murwillumbah; stable and pay fees at a livery stable for his horse until his return; catch the train to Byron Bay; catch the coastal steamer to Sydney and then catch the train from Sydney to Thirroul.

 

In August all seemed fine as the shipping notices in the newspapers read:-

” Sydney-Byron-Bay-Tweed.

Wollongbar leaves Byron Bay, Saturday 7-30 pm, and Sydney Tuesday 11 pm.

Orara leaves Byron Bay, Tuesday 7-30 pm, and Sydney, Saturday at 9 pm via Newcastle. Calls at Coffs Harbour.

These steamers will make every effort to connect at Byron Bay with Monday’s and Thursday’s trains for Lismore, Casino, Grafton, and Murwillumbah.”

 

However in September just as Arthur was preparing to make his journey south, the following notice appeared in the newspaper.

“The Wollongbar went into dock this week and the Orara took up her running from Sydney on Tuesday, and returns from Byron Bay. The Cavanbar will run two trips in the Orara’s place after which the latter vessel will resume her usual time-table running.”

 

Living in the bush meant that Arthur had no knowledge of this change until he arrived at Byron Bay. There was only one voyage open to him, the Cavanbar on Tuesday, 22 September. The big Spring tides and southerly swell meant the Cavanbar could not come alongside the Byron Bay jetty and use a  gang-plank for the loading of passengers. They had to wait until all the goods were craned aboard and then a large basket was attached to the crane and the passengers were lifted aboard, a few at a time. A slow and difficult process.

When the Cavanbar finally got underway, she called at Coffs Harbour, and then Newcastle, on her way south. This meant their arrival in Sydney was delayed.

Cavanbar at Coffs Harbour loading passengers.

The picture was found at

https://www.flickr.com/photos/anmm_thecommons/8387928033

 

Unfortunately, the groom, Arthur Baxter was not at Thirroul at 1pm on 27th September 1912 to be finally wed to his childhood sweetheart, for whom he had waited for four years. What a terrible disappointment for all concerned.

When he finally arrived in Sydney he sent a telegram to Thirroul. Although everyone was happy to greet him on his arrival in Thirroul, it was not a simple matter of getting in touch with the Church of England minister and having a ‘later’ wedding ceremony. The Rev Phillip Dowe lived in Bulli, a few miles away. His parish included several villages and towns on the South Coast, one being Thirroul.

That very week he was playing host to an important guest in his parish. The Bishop who was conducting Confirmation services throughout the parish. So the Rev Dowe was unable to go back to Thirroul to conduct the wedding a few days later.

The young couple reckoned if there had not been a hitch in the transport arrangements they would have been married on the 27th. They decided to continue life accordingly as husband and wife.

They had a short honeymoon on the South Coast and then went to stay at Arthur’s parents at Clifton, near Picton. His father was not well and wanted to retire from farming. While there Arthur helped his parents purchase a property in Argyle Street, Picton.

The church wedding was rescheduled for Monday 27th January 1913, at St David’s, Thirroul, and finally took place as planned. The Rev Phillip Dowe was the officiating minister. A formal wedding portrait was taken in the church. ( I have inherited the original.)

 

The young couple then took the train to Sydney, where they stayed overnight and boarded the Wollongbar on Tuesday 28th for Byron Bay.

It was the first time Harriet May had been to sea and she was dreadfully seasick. Their cabin remained empty, while she curled up on a deck-chair outside the women’s saloon, with one of the ship’s fire bucket beside her. Arthur sat by his wife’s side.

The voyage was very rough between Newcastle and Byron Bay “on account of meeting a strong wind” and the couple was forced to go inside. The sun rose to a clear Thursday morning, although the ship was over an hour late arriving at Byron Bay.

 

The couple then took the train to Murwillumbah and stayed in a hotel in the main street. Arthur collected his horse and rode to Chillingham to make living arrangements for his new bride. When he returned to the hotel a few days later, all he found was a note addressed to him. Harriet May Baxter was gone.

Now it was the ‘Case of the Missing Bride”. However, THAT is another story.

The Long Engagement- Arthur Baxter and Harriet May Bell

In my last blog, I began the story of my Maternal Grandparents Arthur and Harriet May Baxter’s (nee Bell) romance leading up to their engagement. I also revealed that her parents were not keen on the match and in fact, her mother had refused to give consent or blessings to the marriage.

Perhaps I should give a little background of the Bell family which might account for the mother, Alice Bell’s (nee Sherwood) attitude.

John Bell, born 1856 was the fifth son and sixth child of George and Sarah Bell (nee Sargent) of Picton. At the time of John’s birth, his father was a labourer, mostly working on the roads around Picton.

However, he had purchased several blocks of land in Upper Picton and had built a home there. In 1860 he took up a government contract for building a portion of the Great South Road (from Sydney) which went through Picton.

In 1865 his wife Sarah Bell died leaving him with a young family. He remained at Upper Picton and apprenticed his sons to the blacksmith and wheelwright trades.

In the early 1870s, there was a severe economic slump in Picton and the Bell family split up. George Bell Sr, along with his son James, remained in Upper Picton and carried on the Blacksmith and Wheelwright business. George Jr had a wood-yard and carrying business at Newtown. Thomas, Henry, and John Bell went west to Burrowa where their mother’s brothers, Thomas and George Sargent had taken up land a few years before.

With the many gold rushes in the western districts, Burrowa was a thriving town.

It was there the now twenty-one-year-old John Bell, met and married Alice Sherwood.

Their eldest daughter was born at Burrowa in 1878. Soon afterward the family returned to Picton where John took over an established blacksmith shop in Argyle Street.

John and Alice built a new home in Wild Street, Upper Picton not far from the original Bell family home. Their new home was called ‘Wyuna’.

They had a further seven children, all born at Upper Picton.

Their daughter Harriet May was born in 1891. She grew up in Upper Picton and attended Miss Clarke’s Private School. She was a very popular girl as were her sisters and John Bell was said to be very protective of his six daughters.

Now we move to 1908. What had happened to make Alice Bell so adamant that Arthur and May should not marry.

Firstly, Alice Bell had lost two sisters and other members of her Sherwood family to the ‘chest complaint’ (Consumption).

She had lost her eldest daughter, Emma Frances, in 1899 a few short months before her 21st birthday, also to Consumption.

Her second daughter, Alice, had married Amos Kiss in 1904. They had three daughters. He was said to have a ‘weak chest’ and after suffering for several years died in 1912.

Arthur’s grandmother, Ann Kennedy, struggled to bring up her family when her husband was sent to Parramatta Asylum for the Insane in 1866. Everyone in the district knew of her ‘troubles’. Only two of her eight children made it to adulthood.

Alice and John Bell wanted so much more for their daughters.

Arthur and May just had to wait. Meanwhile, Alice Bell hoped a better match would come along for her daughter.

In 1909, Arthur and his friends went back to Chillingham clearing the Growcock block. They made the long trip home for Christmas again. Arthur still hadn’t earned enough to buy land.

Early in 1910 saw the boys back on the Tweed. William Growcock married in 1910 and built a small house and left Arthur and his friends in the makeshift Timber Cutters Camp.

Having lost their eldest daughter, John and Alice Bell were concerned about the health of their younger daughters. The family moved to Thirroul a small seaside village on the south coast in 1910. John Bell opened a Blacksmith shop there with his son Harry.

                                                    John  Bell’s Blacksmith Shop at Thirroul c 1914 [original held by Nola Mackey]

In 1911, Arthur and his friends returned to Chillingham and continued to clear scrub. He was saving his money and reckoned another few months and he would have the required amount to buy his own block. He made the trip south again for Christmas.

May Bell remained resolute about marrying Arthur Baxter, so after her 21st birthday in early 1912,  her mother gave in and helped her plan a Spring Wedding. The date was set. They were to be married on 27 September 1912 at St David’s Church of England at Thirroul with refreshments afterward at the Bell home, ‘Wyuna’ (Thirroul). One of May’s older sisters had married the year before.

                 St David’s Thirroul 1986, copyright by Nola Mackey

[The original church was built at the corner of Main Road and Raymond Road in 1909. It was later moved to its present site in 1938. When the new St David’s was built next door, it was used as a  church hall. ]

Some old photographs of the church on the original site can be found at

  https://trove.nla.gov.au/version/260935342

   https://trove.nla.gov.au/version/260935330

So it was back to the Tweed in 1912 for Arthur, and he and May continued to correspond.

Arthur Baxter could, at last, inform John Bell, his future father-in-law his intention of soon selecting a block of land and erecting a home. The problem was there were few suitable blocks left in the Chillingham area so he would have to select further into the scrub and getting a suitable home built in the time was going to be a huge challenge.

May’s wedding dress was to be made by her Aunt Emma, her father’s younger sister, who worked as a tailoress in David Jones in Sydney. This was her gift to her niece.

Her wedding ring was a plain wide band, which was reportedly fashioned from a single nugget of gold. It is said to have been found by John Bell’s brother Harry, in the Tumbarumba Ranges in southern New South Wales. Thomas, Harry, and John Bell had been involved in gold mining in that area for many years. This nugget was said to have been a gift to the couple from her Uncle Harry, who had remained a bachelor.

At last, the long engagement of Arthur Baxter and Harriet May Bell was soon to be concluded with a Spring Wedding. That was until Murphy’s Law came into the picture.

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