Captain Robert Patterson Isbister

16th August 1824 Kirkwall, Orkney Islands - 22 Nov, 1909 Smithfield, South Australia G,G,Grandfather

The historical family narrative was compiled and written by Milton Isbister in 1988 and provided to me by Gary Martin in 2009

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Robert Patterson Isbister was born on 16th August 1824 in Kirkwall, on 13th January 1846 he married his first wife Catherine Nickelson of Caithness, and to this couple a son Robert was born.  The family then moved to South Shields where Robert Snr followed his seafaring occupation.  Eight years after his first marriage, on one of his many voyages to the Baltic Sea ports Robert Patterson Isbister met his second wife, Maria Lavina Buhl, whom he married in Danzig (now Gdansk) Poland in 1854.  Their first child, Lenetta Maria Juliana, was born in 1857 in Shields, England.  In 1858 a son Frederick Edward was born in Danzig but he died in childhood.  Other children of this second marriage who were born in Shields were Frederick William (1860), Thomas (1865), Maria Anne (1866), John (1869), and the last child Edwin was born in Kirkwall Orkney in 1871.

Maritime records show that Robert Patterson received his Mate’s Certificate in l851 at the age of 27, and as First Mate he sailed in the “Catherine” (1857), the “Ampritite” (1857/58), and the “William and Sarah” (1858).  In 1859, at the age of 35, he received his Master Mariner’s Certificate (No. 19863) and is recorded as the Master of the sailing ship “Underwriter” registered at Shields, and also Master of the “Stirling” (Office No. 24458) when she was on the coasting trade.  From the end of 1859 to 1861 he was Master of the “Anemone” (Official No. 26958) when she was on the coasting and Baltic trades.  From 1862 to 1868 he was Master of the “Laura” (Official No. 43747) when she worked the North American, Mediterranean, West Indies and South American trades.  After 1870 his home port is shown as Kirkwall, Orkney.

Having lived in North Shields with his wife and family for 16 years, Robert Patterson returned to his native Orkney and purchased a 50 acre farm known as “Sunnyside” on which stood a stone house with a slate roof overlooking the harbour of Scarpa Flow.  In 1874 when Maria Lavina became ill and was ordered a complete rest by her doctor, who recommended a sea voyage.  Robert Patterson, then Master of a ship, took her on a trip to the Mediterranean.  On nearing Genoa, Italy, her conditioned worsened, necessitating her being taken from the vessel and placed in a Protestant hospital where she died and was buried in the Genoa cemetery.  At this time Edwin was three-and-a-half-years old and Lenetta, now 17, cared for the young family.

Five years later, in 1879, Robert Patterson married Ann Laughton. Of this union there were two children, a son George, and a daughter Esther who died in South Australia in 1893 at the age of 11 years.  They migrated to South Australia in 1884, arriving in 1885.  The ship in which they travelled was powered by both sail and steam and may have been called the “Fair Sea”.  An extensive search of ships’ registers and passenger lists of arrivals in Adelaide has failed to locate a ship named “Fair Sea” or any record of the arrival of the Isbister family.  It is possible that the captain of the ship that brought them here was a friend or that because of his qualifications Captain Isbister may have acted as Second in Command and obtained a free passage in the same manner as a Ship’s Surgeon, and in which case he would have travelled “cabin class” and would not be shown on the passenger list.

He was over 60 years of age when he arrived in this country and regarded his newly-acquired farm as a place of retirement as well as a means of earning a living.  In later years when assisting a sick cow to her feet he caused a severe hernia which hastened his end.  In 1909 he died at the age of 85 and was buried in the cemetery surrounding St John’s Church, Salisbury, South Australia.

THE ISBISTER FAMILY HISTORY

This is a story of seafaring folk, farmers and business people who, like many others, lived through hard times and often had the course of their lives altered by family circumstances and events, but succeeded because of their diligence, hard work and thrift.

The name Isbister is indigenous to the Orkney and Shetland Islands, where it is pronounced “Eyesbister”.  It also forms part of some of the older farm names such as Kirbister and Grimbister, some of which are believed to be over a thousand years old.  The earliest name recorded is of a Robert Isbister, of the Parish of Harray in 1557, and also of an Isbister in Birsay.

The Isbisters of this family, because of their physique, fair complexion, blue eyes and facial features, are undoubtedly descendants of the Vikings or Norsemen who invaded and colonised the islands of the North Sea from the 8th to the 11th Centuries.

A legend handed down by members of the family indicated that the first Isbister on the Orkneys arrived about 700 years ago when a fierce North Sea storm sunk a ship from which there was a sole survivor, who was carried by a huge wave onto a crag.  Afterwards it was known as the Isbister Crag.

It is believed that the earliest inhabitants of the Orkney Islands may have originated in the region of the Mediterranean, later to be invaded by the Picts (tribes from the north of Scotland).

The children of Robert Patterson told of the fun they had playing in old rock shelters and caves along the rugged Orkney coastline which had been lived in by the Picts.  It is believed that the teaching of Christianity was brought to the Orkneys by missionaries during the 7th Century and continued over the next 100 years.   Later the Vikings raided the islands of the North Sea which preceded their colonisation, however history indicates that those who settled in the area did not long remain pagan, and were soon converted to the Christian religion.

To establish a record of the early history of the Isbister family, Jessie and Pamela Smith (daughter and grand-daughter of Edwin Isbister) enlisted the services of the Scots Ancestry Society.

In Scotland prior to 1855 it was not compulsory to record marriages, births and deaths, although the Presbyterian Church did keep an incomplete list of these events.  The earliest official record of this family’s history was the birth in 1797 of Thomas Isbister and Ann Clouston who were married on the 23rd July 1820 in Kirkwall, Orkney.  One of the children, Robert Patterson Isbister, about whom the most information is available, forms the base of this family history.  He was born on 16th August 1824 in Kirkwall, on 13th January 1846 he married his first wife Catherine Nickelson of Caithness, and to this couple a son Robert was born.  Beyond this nothing further is recorded of Catherine Isbister.  However it is known that the family then moved to South Shields where Robert Snr followed his seafaring occupation and Robert Jnr obtained his education.  On leaving school he was apprenticed as a carpenter to a shipwright.  Having qualified in his trade he worked in the shipbuilding yards for some years and in 1874 visited his father (who was now living with his second wife and family on Sunnyside near Kirkwall) to say farewell as he had decided to emigrate to America and was working his passage as a ship’s carpenter.  From this point in time he lost all contact with the family.

Eight years after his first marriage, on one of his many voyages to the Baltic Sea ports Robert Patterson Isbister met his second wife, Maria Lavina Buhl, whom he married in Danzig (now Gdansk) Poland in 1854.  Maria’s well-to-to parents considered that by marrying a ship’s Mate she had married below her social status and thereafter the relationship between the families became somewhat strained.  Their first child, Lenetta Maria Juliana, was born in 1857 in Shields, England.  In 1858 a son Frederick Edward was born in Danzig but he died in childhood.  Other children of this second marriage who were born in Shields were Frederick William (1860), Thomas (1865), Maria Anne (1866), John (1869), and the last child Edwin was born in Kirkwall Orkney in 1871.

Maritime records show that Robert Patterson received his Mate’s Certificate in l851 at the age of 27, and as First Mate he sailed in the “Catherine” (1857), the “Ampritite” (1857/58), and the “William and Sarah” (1858).  In 1859, at the age of 35, he received his Master Mariner’s Certificate (No. 19863) and is recorded as the Master of the sailing ship “Underwriter” registered at Shields, and also Master of the “Stirling” (Office No. 24458) when she was on the coasting trade.  From the end of 1859 to 1861 he was Master of the “Anemone” (Official No. 26958) when she was on the coasting and Baltic trades.  From 1862 to 1868 he was Master of the “Laura” (Official No. 43747) when she worked the North American, Mediterranean, West Indies and South American trades.  After 1870 his home port is shown as Kirkwall, Orkney.

Having lived in North Shields with his wife and family for 16 years, Robert Patterson returned to his native Orkney and purchased a 50 acre farm known as “Sunnyside” on which stood a stone house with a slate roof overlooking the harbour of Scarpa Flow.

The climate in the Orkney’s was very different from that in Northumberland, England.  A cold, windswept, treeless land where practically the only protection was from the stone house and stone buildings in which the animals were housed during the winter.  At this time water in the taps was frozen and icicles reached from the slate roofs to the ground.  A large flat fish, known as “skate”, was often hung for a week and fillets were cut as required.  Almost all of their food was produced on the farm or came from the sea.  Fuel for the fires was peat cut from deposits in the swamps in spring and dried in summer for use in the following winter.  Family members often spoke of playing football in the twilight and of the beauty of Northern lights which appeared at times as shooting stars, frightening some people, who believed it to be a signal for the “end of the world”.

Although a harsh climate, all went well for the family until 1874 when Maria Lavina became ill and was ordered a complete rest by her doctor, who recommended a sea voyage.  Robert Patterson, then Master of a ship, took her on a trip to the Mediterranean.  On nearing Genoa, Italy, her conditioned worsened, necessitating her being taken from the vessel and placed in a Protestant hospital where she died and was buried in the Genoa cemetery.  News of her passing brought great distress not only to her family, but also to her many friends by whom she was respected and loved for her devotion and kindness.  At this time Edwin was three-and-a-half-years old and Lenetta, now 17, cared for the young family.

Five years later, in 1879, Robert Patterson married Ann Laughton. Of this union there were two children, a son George, and a daughter Esther who died in South Australia in 1893 at the age of 11 years.

The lack of opportunities for young people in the Orkney’s caused concern for the family and, with high hopes of a better life in a little-known country; they migrated to South Australia in 1884, arriving in 1885.  The ship in which they travelled was powered by both sail and steam and may have been called the “Fair Sea”.  An extensive search of ships’ registers and passenger lists of arrivals in Adelaide has failed to locate a ship named “Fair Sea” or any record of the arrival of the Isbister family.  It is possible that the captain of the ship that brought them here was a friend or that because of his qualifications Captain Isbister may have acted as Second in Command and obtained a free passage in the same manner as a Ship’s Surgeon, and in which case he would have travelled “cabin class” and would not be shown on the passenger list.

On the voyage to Australia, many of the passengers, unaccustomed to sea travel, became ill and having come from the cool Northern climate were devastated by the humidity and heat when they hove to for provisions in Port Said and later when they sailed into the Red Sea where at times the heat caused the pitch to melt and run from the seams of the decking.

On several occasions in rough weather on the open sea, dozens of flying fish were blown on to the deck and made a welcome change to the usual fare from the ship’s provisions.  Several large sharks were caught on the voyage.

On arrival in Adelaide the first thing that caught the eyes of the younger Isbisters were the ripe tomatoes in the shop windows, having not acquired a taste for the fruit they were unable to eat them.  Robert Patterson acquired farming land at Tea Tree Gully in South Australia but as a result of his seafaring background and the strange seasonal conditions his operations met with only moderate success.  However, it must be kept in mind that he was over 60 years of age when he arrived in this country and regarded his newly-acquired farm as a place of retirement as well as a means of earning a living.  In later years when assisting a sick cow to her feet he caused a severe hernia which hastened his end.  In 1909 he died at the age of 85 and was buried in the cemetery surrounding St John’s Church, Salisbury, South Australia.

Soon after their arrival, the family began to move in various directions as they sought work.  John, on leaving the family home, worked for a farmer named Wright whom it is believed led the rescue party to look for the explorers Burke and Wills when they became overdue.  It was on Wright’s farm that, while chasing a rabbit, he put his foot in a hole and dislocated his ankle, he battled on for three months hoping that it would get better.  Eventually he went to a Dr Schultz who diagnosed his injury and over many weeks of manipulation he reset the joint.  John always had the greatest admiration for the doctor’s care and perseverance.  This injury resulted in his left foot being a little smaller than his right foot, so he always had his boots made by a bootmaker, he never wore shoes, only working boots or dress boots.

Frederick, Thomas, John and Edwin obtained whatever work was available in the area, usually on farms, and as was the routine in those days it meant walking for long hours behind horse-drawn implements.

Later Thomas and John obtained jobs in the Moonta mines where conditions were harsh and unhealthy.  A large number of the miners suffered from the copper in the dust-laden air, often showing as a green stain on their teeth, and consequently many young men died after working there for a period of four to six months.

After several years Thomas and John moved to Broken Hill, joining up with Frederick and Edwin, and all four brothers worked in the mines or in the town.  It was during this period that they met and became friendly with a Daniel Langford, who was a brewer in one of the local breweries.  Many young men who worked on the Broken Hill mines died from lead poisoning.

Grossly exaggerated and exciting reports of rich gold discoveries in Western Australia, particularly in the Coolgardie area, gave rise to thoughts of making a fortune in the West.  Also, their friend Daniel Langford,

who boasted that he could “brew beer in a quart pot” probably contributed to the brothers’ decision to go to Coolgardie and Kalgoorlie with the intention of prospecting for gold or assessing the prospects of establishing a brewery, possibly the latter with the combination of heat and lack of water had the greater attraction.

Frederick, who had been to New Guinea prospecting for minerals and used up all his money, was financed by John and Edwin to go to Western Australia to assess the suitability of establishing a brewery and the availability of loan capital.

Frederick and Daniel Langford went to Kalgoorlie and were later followed by John and Edwin who had arrived at Albany from Adelaide aboard the “Cloncurry” on the 23rd July 1895.  Albany was the main port of entry prior to 1900 owing to the Fremantle harbour not being dredged to accommodate the larger ships. They travelled by train to the rail terminus at Southern Cross, and at that point they put their swags on a horse-drawn wagon and walked beside it to Coolgardie.

In 1895 a syndicate was formed between Frederick and a Mr L. Sens to commence a brewery, with Daniel Langford as the brewer.  John and Edwin were silent partners who provided most of the initial finance.  The company was backed by a loan guaranteed by Charlie de Rose and George Gray.  However they withdrew their guarantee and demanded repayment of the loan before the agreed date, which the syndicate believed was to gain control of the company.  This made trading and paying the staff difficult for a short period until a further loan and guarantee from a Mr Pat Whelan enabled the company to trade out of its difficulties.

Some eighteen months or two years after the successful establishment of the business, the Isbister brothers were made an offer for their share in the company and they decided to sell mainly because of the number of breweries that had started in opposition.  However, The Hannans, the goldfields’ first brewery, after changing ownership a number of times outlasted all its competitors and finally closed in 1982.

John was a member of the first Kalgoorlie Golf Club committee.

After selling their brewery interest the brothers became involved in mining, prospecting, investing in shares, a desalination plant and a timber mill.  In 1897 they formed a partnership with a Mr C E Wiseman to establish a saw mill at Coolgardie and desalination plant at Widgiemooltha (Lake Lefroy) to meet the demand for clean drinking water that was always in short supply before the pipeline was built from Mundaring.  The salmon gum logs were brought to the mill by horse-drawn jinkers and sawn into suitable sizes for the mines.  When used above or on the ground, salmon gum timber is subject to attack by termites, but when used underground it is not attacked and is suitable for props and beams for shoring.  When carting the timber from the saw mill at Coolgardie to Kalgoorlie by wagon they would sleep under the wagons en route.  The machinery was powered by steam engines that were fuelled with the waste wood.  This venture was never very successful as the railway reached Kalgoorlie in that year and could bring timber from the large mills in the south-west at less than the cost of production in these sparsely timbered areas.

In 1902 the Mundaring water scheme was well on its way to the goldfield, so they sold what was saleable of the machinery and decided to go farming.  A steep decline in the price of gold was also a deciding factor and many others left the gold mining areas at this time for the same reason.

In later years the brothers often said that from a business point of view, going on the land was the worst decision they ever made. But they were not afraid of hard work, they loved the outdoor life, the freedom and the environment.

At this time the virgin land in the south of the State, known as the Great Southern, was being surveyed and proclaimed by the Government as having a great farming future. No one would have believed that it would be at least 30 to 40 years before this area realised its potential.

  On arrival in Perth, John and Edwin looked at some business blocks in Hay Street, near Milligan Street, which were available at £45 each.  However, they decided to spend their money in developing a farm and from a litho in the Lands & Surveys Department in Perth they selected a block of 4,200 acres of virgin bush between Williams and Narrogin (700 acres was later sold to Bill Graham).  In company with the surveyor they left Narrogin heading west for twelve miles along a bush track (now the Williams-Narrogin road), at which point they turned south - blazing the bark on the marri and wandoo trees as they went in order to find their way on the return journey.  After three miles they arrived to see a few survey lines, some pegs and a dense forest of trees and almost impenetrable scrub.

Finalising the land purchase they returned to Kalgoorlie and railed a wagon, cart, tools, etc to Narrogin, where Jack James a cartage contractor took part in the movement to the selection - later he was to become a close family friend and carted the furniture to the first house built in 1903/4 for Edwin and his wife, Henrietta.

On the day of their arrival they pitched their tents and that evening they selected a large green tree around which they piled bushes and sticks and set them alight.  That night they had very little sleep because of the dingoes howling, probably disturbed or attracted by the fire.  Next morning they expected to see the tree burnt down, its trunk was blackened but otherwise it was unscarred.  Disappointed, Edwin said that he would at least get one down to mark their arrival, and taking a grubber and axe and after a half-day’s work felled the first tree.  Little did they realise the hard work that lay ahead to clear the land.

The new block they named “Glenorkney” in memory of their island home, however the registrar misspelled it as ‘Glenorchy” and so it remained.

This marked the beginning of more than 30 years of back-breaking work on land that was difficult to clear.  For some years after clearing, suckers came from green tree roots still in the ground, and as these were from large trees the new shoots grew very rapidly and had to be knocked off with an axe.  Poison was a similar problem which, after grubbing, suckered from the roots, or when grass was burnt the hard seed would germinate for up for to 20 years later.  During the first 20 years they carried out almost all improvements with their own hands, clearing, sucker bashing, poison grubbing, well sinking, fencing, and invariably they would arrive home after dark in the evening weary and often wet, to be out again the next morning shortly after sunrise.  The first sheds were built from bush timber and roofed with straw and brushwood, the horses’ mangers were fashioned from hollow wandoo logs.  After a few years they were able to run a small flock of sheep which were often harassed by dingoes.  At night the sheep were yarded and if a wild dog was known to be in the area a watch was kept.  One night John walked home and changed watch with Edwin, and during that short period a dingo entered the yard and mauled several sheep.

The chudichs, or native cats as they were called, attacked the poultry at night and continued to return and kill until they were caught.  One night the dog treed a cat in an old sheoak so Edwin lit a fire underneath and shot it. Torches had not been invented at that time.

During the first few years there were hundreds of small marsupials known as kangaroo rats, (burrowing bettongs) which lived in warrens like rabbits.  After a few years they appeared to contract a disease and disappeared quite suddenly. They now only exist on the off-shore islands of Western Australia.

Early memories of the uncleared land on Glenorchy and of the Government reserve on the South East side of the farm were of the natural unspoiled native bushland, which today would be described by conservationists as in its “pristine glory”.

During the summer, the small creeks were dry except for a few odd pools, but in winter they ran with fresh water in which there were small fish and gilgies.  As the creeks dried up the gilgies burrowed into the sides and remained until the next winter, the fish would reappear with the following winter rains.  As there were no foxes, the black duck and teal nested on the banks in rushes or on other debris although they still had their natural predators, “native cats”, hawks and crows.

In a creek running through the North East of the property there was a large water hole around which were remnants of an old fence about eight feet high. In earlier days it had been used to catch brumbies when they came to water.

When clearing the land for cultivation and pasture, apart from leaving the rough hills uncleared, the Isbister Brothers had left beautiful bands of eucalyptus along the water courses to prevent erosion and provide shelter for livestock.  Many years later, as a result of salt encroachment, most of the trees died and those that survived lost their bloom.  The pools that watered stock in the early summer are no longer suitable for animals to drink.

The native bushland teemed with birdlife and provided shelter and food for kangaroos, brush wallabies, tamars, numbats and possums. In the timbered country the numbats or “ant-eaters” as they were called, could be seen running about or sitting on top of hollow logs into which they would dive at the first sign of danger.

In the Government reserve there was a colony of tamars which lived in a large thicket of dyrandra scrub.  They did not hop over the top of the foliage, but through tunnels under the bushes which they probably had used for countless generations.

Their first implements were a single furrow plough and harrows that were made from a forked tree with spiked pieces of wood driven through holes.  For the first crops, seed and fertiliser were sown from a bag hung from the neck and scattered by hand.  As time went by they acquired horses, a three-furrow mouldboard plough, a twelve-run hoe drill, a fivefoot McKay harvester, a six-foot Deering binder and a chaff-cutter.

In 1916 they purchased a T-model Ford (WL.14) and in 1919 a Wolseley three-stand shearing plant, which was one of the first in the district.

Edwin organised the cropping and machinery maintenance and teamwork, while John concentrated on livestock husbandry and teamwork.

The first cereal crop was grown on an area known as the Well Paddock, so named as it contained the well that they had dug for their first permanent water.  The crop was a complete failure, new land, unsuitable fertiliser (probably basic slag), a very wet winter, kangaroos, bettongs and birds all contributed to its destruction.  It was not until the mid1930s that the benefits of superphosphate and subterranean clover became evident, which increased crop yields from 9 to 15 bushels an acre to 40 to 60 bushels an acre.

As the clearing of the property progressed, paddocks were named after the people who had cleared them, such as Fitz’s Gully, Reid Paddock, Bird Paddock and Clegg Paddock.

Narrogin became their main shopping and business centre as Williams did not have a bank or rail service at that time.  A block of land was held in Narrogin to provide shelter and to feed and water the horses.  Annually one or two wagon loads of wheat made the 16-mile journey to the Great Southern Roller Flour Mill at Narrogin where it was exchanged for flour, bran, pollard and semolina - less a portion of the load to cover the cost of gristing.  Most of the food for the families was produced on the property as each homestead had its own fruit trees and grape vines which provided fresh fruit during the summer months and the surplus was made into preserves, jams and chutneys.  Today almost all the orchards in the district have disappeared or are neglected due to the raids on the fruit by the increased numbers of Port Lincoln and Regent parrots.  During the winter vegetables were grown, but not in summer as no piped water was available.  Due to the lack of green vegetables in summer, it was not uncommon for people to develop sores, known as Barcoo, mostly on the back of the hands.  However, in a patch of damp sand many varieties of pumpkins, water melons and rock melons were grown successfully.

In those very early days life on the farm at Williams was hard - no recreation and very little money.  The soils of Glenorchy were poor, giving low yields, and with uneconomic prices for produce, it meant a struggle to survive, which provided no time for public, sporting or social activities, although Edwin was an active member of the Masonic Lodge and in earlier days John was a member of the Williams Road Board or the Narrogin Road Board. At a tree planting day in the early 1900s, of a number planted, John’s tree near the Horden Hotel was the only one to survive.  He was a lover of nature and planted several avenues on Glenorchy.

About 1922, the first rabbit was found on the property - a dead one.  John Isbister remarked, “they will never live here, there are too many poisonous bushes in the uncleared country.” Ten years afterwards they were in the district in thousands and a few years later the foxes arrived.  This was a disaster for the native wildlife.  Although originally the foxes’ main food source was the rabbit, they also ate the eggs and young of ducks, ground larks, plovers, curlews, quails, bustards (the latter they would catch before they could take off in flight) and as rabbits became scarce they killed and ate joey kangaroos, young brush wallabies, tamars, numbats, possums, lizards, frogs, as well as the farmers lambs and poultry. Many of the rough hills that were left for shelter became devoid of native wildlife except the tree nesting birds.  Feral cats were rarely seen at the time.

The Isbister brothers who worked long hours and seven days a week were very thrifty, never over-spending or borrowing beyond their means, so they were always held in high esteem by financial institutions.

After leaving the goldfields Frederick bought and developed a farm in York which he successfully farmed until 1927 when he sold out at a State record price of £10 an acre. He retired and moved to 3 Birdwood Parade, Nedlands on which he had built their home.  Later he was elevated to Master of the Masonic Lodge.  He often related how at the time of inspecting the block of his Nedlands house the sand tracks were too loose to support his car so he hired a boat and rowed across the river.

He also purchased 6 or 8 other blocks which were being sold for £50 each and sold them in later years as values increased.

The activities of Thomas Isbister were not as closely connected to Frederick, John and Edwin as one would have expected, although they lived in similar areas at much the same time.  Probably because Thomas had married earlier and was caring for a large family.  During the time when he was working at the Moonta copper mines he met his wife (Elizabeth Perry) and they were married in Broken Hill.  In the Great Boulder mine in Kalgoorlie he operated as a tributer, which is a contract to extract a portion of an ore body at a given price.  He was a good horseman and had a natural affinity with animals.  For a time he operated a horse-drawn cab in Perth and later was appointed Manager of Foy and Gibsons stables for their delivery horses.  Often he was called upon to unload Eastern States’ horses from ships at Fremantle, which had become unsettled and distraught in the unnatural conditions.  In 1915 he was appointed Officer in Charge of the Government Quarantine Station at Bicton, which position he held until his retirement 1 5 years later.  In 1934 with his youngest son Tom and some friends he spend some months prospecting at Broad Arrow.  The shipping records of the Albany Custom’s Department show that he arrived at that port on the SS Innamincka on 7th February 1896.

Lenetta Maria Isbister who spent her young life caring for the family after their mother died, trained and qualified as a nurse, however it is not known if part of her training was done in the Orkney’s or all of it in South Australia.  Nevertheless she nursed in Adelaide all of her working life and retired to her home in Prospect, South Australia, where she had an orchard and garden which she loved.

Maria Anne Isbister lived in Prospect with her sister, Lenetta.  She worked as a governess and later conducted a dressmaking and sales business until she retired.  Neither of the sisters married.

George William Isbister, of the third family, came to Australia at the age of five and was educated in South Australia.  Years later he moved to Western Australia and took up farming at Kwolyin.  He died in 1935 at the age of 55 years and was buried at Bruce Rock.  He left a family of two sons and two daughters.

In 1932 Edwin bought out John’s half interest in “Glenorchy” and continued to farm the whole property.  In 1934 John bought “Homewood”, the property of J.A. Roberts at Moora, and moved with his family to that centre.

CONCLUSION

Five main reasons motivated the research and preparation of this family history:

1. To inform the present generation of their ancestral lineage;

2. To establish a history that can be added to in the future;

3. To place on record facts and happenings that are already dim recollections to the older generation;

4. To in some small way recognise the hard work and difficulties experienced by our pioneer forebears;

5. To encourage other families to record their history while it can still be done with reasonable accuracy.

APPRECIATION

Members and descendants of’ the ISBISTER family are deeply grateful to Jessie and Pamela Smith of 64 The Avenue, Nedlands, daughter and grand-daughter respectively of the late Edwin Isbister, for the time, effort and expense incurred in their research in Scotland, England, South Australia and the Battye Library of Western Australia.  Their pride in the family history and untiring efforts over many years have brought together a valuable record spanning 200 years, of which all concerned are justly proud.

The historical narrative was compiled and written by Milton Isbister in 1988, based on the numerous documents, certjficates and information gleaned by Jessie and Pamela to establish this ancestral record.

ADDENDUM 1998.  After 95 years in the family the farming property “Glenorchy” was sold on the 28th November 1997.  The purchasers were Alex and Sandra Anderson.  Sandra is a distant cousin of Maxine Spragg and Pamela Smith.

ADDENDUM 2009 (Alan Blencowe, G. Grandson of Thomas b. 1865)

LAUGHTON Anne - “ISBISTER-On the l8th November at Smithfield Ann, dearly beloved wife of Robert Isbister, aged 65 years.” (The Advertiser Adelaide 19 Nov 1904)

ISBISTER Robert Patterson - “ISBISTER.-On the 22nd November, at the Adelaide Hospital, Robert Patterson Isbister, of Smithfield, aged 83 years.”  (The Advertiser 23 Nov 1909)

ISBISTER George William - Died at Kellerberrin Memorial Hosp., Western Australia, Australia & Buried at Kellerberrin Cemetry.  (Cemetery listing - Pres., sect. 1, plot 49, Kellerberrin, Western Australia) Not at Bruce Rock as stated above.  There are two Isbisters (R & G) on the Bruce Rock Honour Roll for WWII.  It is possible these are sons of George William as Kellerberrin is the larger centre 59km from Kwolyin and Bruce Rock is closer at 41km.

In 1910, George “Selected lot 13 Avondale Estate”, Beverley, Western Australia and in 1914, “Avondale Relinquished due to drought” (SLWA state library records).

Farmed at Kwolyin.

SPRAGG Ted

8.1.17 MRS DIANNE WARREN – FUNERAL SERVICE MR TED SPRAGG

Mrs Warren expresses disappointment with Council for not sending a representative to former Williams Shire Councillor and President Ted Spragg’s funeral service at Waikiki.

Bowden/Earnshaw

That Mrs Warren be advised that Council placed a notice in the newspaper for Mr Spragg and also flew the flag at half mast on the day of the funeral and that attendance at the service was considered an individual decision. Carried 7/1Resolution 196/06 (Williams Shire Council, 15 March 2006)

Milton Lewis Isbister the "Sandplain King", 27th July 1913 - 25th August 2004.  Son of John Isbister and Grandson of Robert Patterson Isbister, he was born at Narrogin, Western Australia.  In 1934, his father John moved from Glenorchy Farm at Williams and purchased Homewood Farm at Moora.  In 1941, Milton purchased Ranfurly Park at Moora and from 1978 to 1980, was president and then life member of the Royal Agricultural Society of Western Australia.  The RAS have honoured him with the naming of the Milton Isbister Pavillion at the Claremont Showgrounds.

Ranfurly Park, still run by the Isbister family is now heritage listed.