Dadswell Family History

Generation 8
Emma Elizabeth Dadswell (1861-1955)

On this page:
Ancestors of Emma Elizabeth Dadswell
Emma Elizabeth's story
Key family dates
Further information

Ancestors of Emma Elizabeth Dadswell

Robert Doudeswell 1560 > Robert Doudeswell 1606 > Edward Dodswell 1659 > Alexander Dodswell 1686 > Thomas Dadswell 1732 > James Dadswell 1786 > Thomas William Dadswell 1828 > Emma Elizabeth Dadswell 1861

Emma Elizabeth's story

Emma Elizabeth Dadswell was born on 28 September 1861 at Stawell, and presumably lived with her father, Thomas William, until her teens (she was 12 when her mother Helena died).

Emma worked as a hotel hand in Horsham before meeting Henry (Harry) Fitzroy Bell (1852-1931). He was one of eight children born to John and Violet (Kelly) Bell.

Henry was born in the Portland, Victoria district on 14 October 1852, probably at the family property at Yambuk near Port Fairy. According to family stories, he and Emma were married at Stawell in 1879 but it reality they did not marry until 1931, when Emma was aged 69 and Henry was 79 and near the end of his life.

Henry had worked dragging logs for Emma's father, a sawmill operator, but the couple went to Mt Cole where at the height of the timber industry some 31 mills were operating. At other times, he worked as a drover and a labourer.

The couple lived at Mt Cole for about 17-20 years, possibly in a shanty or humpy on the Mount itself.

Emma had a family of 10 children (eight of whom were fathered by Henry) and she appears to have often raised the family alone in what was a hard existence.

Charles Heslop (1928-1992) recalled that his father Alex Heslop and Emma's brother Charles, on occasions, would pay the woodman on her behalf. Her nephew Thomas Dadswell (1900-1985) said she resorted to taking in washing to help make ends meet.

In 1887, when Emma had five children, Henry is shown in Ararat Shire rate books as buying a house on 2 acres of Crown Land from the estate of the late Mr. Moysey. He was described as a 'teamster', presumably working with bullock teams to drag logs to the mills.

Ethel Nicholson (nee Bell) could recall a story from her father, Henry William Bell (Emma's third child, also known as Harry, 1882-1935), that when he was nine (about 1891), a log rolled onto his foot when he was with his father. Later in life, Harry jnr. still had a twisted or club foot, although he was accepted into the Army during World War One.

Henry snr. is described as a labourer in 1891 rate books, and for several years he was shown as "in arrears" (that is, he had unpaid rates) for his 3/- a year rates.

In the 1897 rate book, there is a note in pencil alongside his entry: "Sold in 1896 - see E. Bell's letter." A pencil note in the 1898/99 and 1900/01 books said "In Western Australia" and in 1901 the accrued rates were abandoned.

It is unclear, but it appears Emma was periodically left to raise the children alone.

The births at Warrak, Victoria, of Thomas William Dadswell (1892) and Herbert Sydney Dadswell (1894) were both registered under Emma's maiden name and with no father's name recorded. Later both these children took on the Bell family name.

In 1900, Henry is shown in Horsham Borough rate books as living at a Burnlea (Green Park) house formerly owned by a Mr Murphy. Over the next decade he is shown as rated for land and dwelling in Stawell Road, owned by the executors of Sexton Estate (1904 to 1905/06); Stawell Road, owned by Clarke (1907/08); O'Callaghan's Parade (1909/10); McPherson Street, owned by T. Hunter (1910).

Until 1916/17, Henry snr. was described as a labourer, but in that year was noted as a drover.

For about 6 years, the family appeared to stay at the Hunter house. In 1918-19, with the war over, their son Thomas William, then about 26, was listed for the same address.

Then, in his late 60s, Henry is again lost sight of, but in 1921/22 he is shown as the occupier of a house at 130 Baillie Street in Horsham, a house owned by his son Harry jnr.

It appears that Harry jnr. bought the property for his parents, as it remained in his name for about 11 years.

Emma and Henry married on 20 July 1931. Later that year, on 19 November, Henry died, aged 79, and was buried at Horsham the next day. In 1933 the house was signed over to Emma, then aged 72. Her son Harry jnr, ill from the effects of gas in the war, moved to the Stawell district where he died in 1935.

In 1938, Emma sold the property for £375 and moved to Stawell to live with her daughter-in-law Jessie (widow of Harry jnr.), who lived opposite Emma's son Otto Bell.

When Emma became ill, she was admitted to a private hospital in Stawel1. Ethel Nicholson (Emma's granddaughter) could recall a nurse from the hospital with Emma, wrapped in a blanket, 'dumping' her at Jessie's place and saying: "Here, you look after her, she is your responsibility." Otto, who was also present at the time, found a bed in an elderly people's nursing home in Hamilton where Emma remained until her death on 26 July 1955 at the age of 93.

Emma was buried at Stawell, in the same grave as her mother, Helena Aurora. Her sister, Charlotte Martha, is buried in the adjacent grave.

Key family dates

Abbreviations: b = born; ca = approximately; d = died; marr = married.

Children -

1. Helena Violet Bell b 1879 - [marr Jack Barnett] - d 1963

2. John (Jack) Thomas Bell b 1881 - d 1951

3. Henry (Harry) William Bell b 1882 - d 9 March 1935

4. Ada Emma Bell b ca 1884 - [marr James Martin] - d April 1931

5. Charles Fitzroy Bell b 1886 - d 10 May 1923

6. Alfred Otto Bell b 1888 - d 24 June 1968

7. Robert Ernest Bell b 1890 - d 1950

8. Thomas William Dadswell Bell b 26 May 1892 - d 20 June 1960

9. Herbert Sydney Dadswell Bell b 9 June 1894 - d 22 June 1976

10. William Amos Bell b 1896 - d 1899

Further information

Information on brothers/sisters of Emma Elizabeth Dadswell
Information on Emma and Henry Bell's family
Information on Henry Bell's parents and siblings
Information on Thomas William Dadswell (generation 7, father of Emma Elizabeth)