Person:James Dower (2)

CONNECTIONS:James Dower is Louis Lehmann's great-great- grand-uncle

James Dowar abt 1832 Crowan, Cornwall, England Son-in-law Jane Dowar abt 1801 Wendron, Cornwall, England Head John Dowar abt 1839 Crowan, Cornwall, England Son-in-law Phillipa Dowar abt 1837 Crowan, Cornwall, England Son-in-law Samson Dowar abt 1835 Crowan, Cornwall, England Son-in-law --------------------------------- EMIGRATION:

    From:" Dower Family Tree" (bigpond)  James  "travelled to USA with Sampson. Returned to Australia aboard "Venice" in 1854"

From: New York Passenger Lists (Ancestry.com) "J Dower .....Arrival date: 27 Sep 1852 .........Estimated Birth Year: abt 1831......Age: 21 ....Gender: Male Port of Departure: Liverpool, England Destination: United States of America Place of Origin: England Ship Name: Guy Mannering Port of Arrival: New York Line: 9 Microfilm Serial: M237 Microfilm Roll: 120 List Number: 1376 Port Arrival State: New York Port Arrival Country: United States

This family information was last updated by KATHLEEN EVA MARSHALL on the 25 June, 1999.

First Family Member Details Surname: DOWER Given Name(s): JAMES

Occupation(s): MINE MANAGER, FARMER

Birth Details Birth Town: CROWAN Birth County, Region, Province: CORNWALL Birth Country: ENGLAND Birth Date: 1832

Death Details Death Town: LAURISTON Death State/Territory: VICTORIA Death Country: AUSTRALIA Death Date: 1906

Immigration Details Air/Port Landed: MELBOURNE Ship/Plane: VENICE Year Arrived: 1854 Surname: BASTIAN Given Name(s): MARY JANE

Birth Details Birth Town: CROWAN Birth County, Region, Province: CORNWALL Birth Country: ENGLAND Birth Date: 1837

Death Details Death Town: GLEN WAVERLEY Death State/Territory: VICTORIA Death Country: AUSTRALIA Death Date: 1930

Immigration Details Air/Port Landed: ADELAIDE Ship/Plane: ASCENDANT Year Arrived: 1851

Family Stories

Life in Australia:

James Dower and Mary Jane Bastian both came from the village of Crowan in Cornwall but did not migrate together as Mary came first with her parents and James arrived some years later. I cannot say if the families knew each other in Cornwall but it would seem likely. Mary was born 16/2/1837 and was 13 when she boarded the "Ascendant" with her parents Henry Bastian and Jane (nee Jenkyn) and brothers and sisters. The "Ascendant" sailed from Plymouth on 2/10/1850 and arrived at Adelaide on 15/1/1851. Mary's father was a miner and he took his family to Willunga South where his brother owned slate quarries and he worked there for the next 4 years. Around early 1855 Mary's family moved to the Victoria Goldfields. It was at Chewton or Castlemaine that Mary met James Dower and by 1857 they were on the Fryers Creek goldfields and were married in the schoolhouse on 25/2/1857.

James Dower was born at Crowan 10/6/1832 and around 1848 while living at home with his widowed stepmother, and brothers and sisters, he got into an argument with his stepmother. In these circumstances, his father's will permitted his stepmother to give him a shilling and send him on his way. James and a brother then went to the U.S.A. and the Californian goldfields. After some time James decided to follow the gold rush to Australia and boarded the ship "Venice" in New York and arrived in Melbourne on 27/3/1854. James went to the mines at Creswick, then to Avoca and Chewton where he probably met up with the Bastian family and later at Fryers Creek married his wife Mary Jane Bastian. They moved around the goldfields and eventually settled at Lauriston. James became a mine manager and his obituaries say he made and spent fortunes in mining. James and Mary had 10 children one of whom married the son of Mary's sister Elizabeth George (nee Bastian) and these were the writer's grandparents. James Dower died at his home in Lauriston on 19/3/1906 aged 73. Mary Dower lived on to the age of 93 and died at Glen Waverley Melbourne on 13/10/1930.

Descendants

Children DOWER, MARY JANE 1 DOWER, JOSEPH BASTIAN 10 DOWER, JAMES 2

DOWER, WILLIAM HENRY 3 DOWER, ELIZABETH ANN 4 DOWER, PHILLIPA 5

DOWER, MARTHA 6 DOWER, ADA 7 DOWER, MILLICENT ELLEN 8

DOWER, SAMUEL 9

Grandchildren

GEORGE, CHARLES 4 GEORGE, CYRIL GLADSTONE 4 GEORGE, FRANCIS 4

GEORGE, HILDA 4 GEORGE, JAMES 4 GEORGE, LESLIE THOMAS 4

GEORGE, RUTH 4

Great Grandchildren

NEAL, BRUCE HARLEY 4 NEAL, HOWARD ALLEN 4 NEAL, JOHN ALFRED 4

Great Great Grandchildren

NEAL, GEOFFREY PHILIP 4 NEAL, PETER JOHN 4

Great Great Great Grandchildren

NEAL, JEREMY JOHN 4 NEAL, MAIA MAHALA 4 NEAL, ZANE ELIJA 4

NEAL-OGILVIE, ADRIEL PETER 4 NEAL-OGILVIE, CLEA NANDALI 4 NEAL-OGILVIE, ROANNA EMMA 4

    Sometime between 1840 and 1844 Philippa died and William married again on 17?10?1844 at  Crowan to Jane Moyle.   William died at Crowan 2?2?1848 and left a will of which I have a photostat copy.   In essence he gave the use of his estate, and income from it, to his second wife until she died, provided she did not misbehave or act irresponsibly or remarry.   His children were permitted to remain on the farm and were to be provided for, but if any one of them was to obstruct her in any way without good cause, they were to be given a shilling and sent on their way.   After the wife's  death or remarriage etc etc, the estate was to pass to his children.   After William died in 1848, our ancestor James and at least one of his brothers quarrelled with their stepmother and, as a consequence, they packed their belongings and migrated to the Californian goldfields in the U.S.A.   Presumably they received their shilling and were sent on their way.

   James Dower was born at Crowan Cornwall and baptised there on 10-6-1832.   His parents were William Dower (a miner and farmer) and Philippa Waters (or Walters) who did not migrate to Australia.   Philippa's surname over several generations was variously Walters, Waters, Watters, Waltars and Walter.   Her sons James' and William's death certificates both give her maiden name as Waters but scribes as far back as 1721 and 1724 recorded two alternative names Walters or Waters at the one event. After James' father died in 1848, James and at least one brother quarrelled with their stepmother and consequently packed their belongings and migrated to the U.S.A. where they went to the California goldfields.   I don't know for sure which brother or brothers went with James but it would be Joseph and probably Samuel who later migrated to Australia or maybe Sampson.   One brother, probably Joseph, stayed and became a U.S.A. citizen and settled eventually at Minnesota.   However James decided to follow the rush to the Australian goldfields and travelled to New York where he boarded the ship "Venice" which was bound for Australia and he arrived in Melbourne on 29-3-1854.   James went first to the goldmines at Creswick but after a time followed the rush to the new fields  at Avoca.   After Avoca he went next to Chewton where he and some mates opened up a quartz reef.   By 1857 he had moved to Fryers Creek near Castlemaine and while there married Mary Jane Bastian.   James and Mary both signed the register but Mary's father Henry Bastian, whose consent was required, signed with his mark.    After their marriage James and Mary moved to the Bendigo fields, (actually Bendigo, White Hills, and Huntly) where their first four children were born in 1857, 1859, 1861 and 1863.   Whilst in Bendigo the position of mine manager for the Wellington mine at Lauriston was advertised and, although there were a large number of applicants, James was appointed on the recommendation of the well known mining entrepreneur Mr George Lansell.   The  Wellington mine was very successful under his management. They next moved to Tooborack (64 km from Bendigo on the road to Melbourne) where James held a similar position as mine manager but his stay here was short and by 1865 they  were at Inglewood where their next child was born.   Mary's father Henry Bastian was probably a miner at Inglewood at this time as Mary's mother Jane had died at Inglewood in 1862. Shortly after the birth of this child they moved back to Lauriston here James opened the well-known and rich "Energetic" mine which he managed, and at the same time held a large interest in the "North Star" mine on the same line of reef.   Both these mines were particularly rich in gold and paid large dividends to shareholders.  James' next five children were born at Kyneton and Lauriston between 1867 and 1875. After some time as manager of the "Energetic" mine James became manager of the "Napier" mine in Mr Young's paddock at Lauriston and was again fortunate in putting the company on to rich gold. At some stage James had also been the manager of the "United Kingdom" mine at Taradale and was also the first to take up the lease of the "Egyptian" mine at Drummond.   Drummond is close to Lauriston on the way to Daylesford and Taradale is between Castlemaine and Kyneton. Lauriston is on the Coliban River between Malmsbury and Lauriston reservoirs and about 7 km west of Kyneton.   In its heyday Lauriston was a large town with permanent buildings for emporiums and hotels etc but today there is virtually nothing left except for a few farmhouses and recent weekend fishing shacks along the river.  James and Mary's house is one of the few still surviving and I have photographs of it with myself standing on the verandah.   It has been restored by two maiden lady farmers who have added a brick extension and who invited Thelma and I in to have a look around. James eventually retired from mining and ran a couple of hotels in Lauriston but found this life not to his liking and became a farmer.   After a time his natural love for mining got the better of him and he returned to prospecting.   James' obituaries in the Kyneton Observer of 22-3-1906 and the Argus in Melbourne of 27-3-1906 say he made and spent fortunes in mining.   Copies of these two obituaries are attached as Appendix 7. A grandson of James, whom I won't name, told me the story of how James suffered from gout late in life and he would send a couple of his grandsons with a billy to the local Lauriston pubs to buy beer for him and the young devils would drink some of the beer and then restore the level by urinating into the billy.   He says James never woke up and always swore that Lauriston beer was the best in the world . ----------------------------------

1. ↑ Parish Records of Crowan, Cornwall, England. (FHL film 0246799).