The Standen Family.

GEORGE STANDEN born 13-5-1812 Hollington, Sussex. died 29-4-1870 Maitland, N.S.W. married 28-5-1850 Hollington to HANNAH LAMBERT born 4-3-1813 Hollington. died 28-3-1852 Bolwarra, N.S.W.......

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1. OLIVE born 26-1-1837 Hollington. died 16-5-1922 Newtown, N.S.W. married 1856 in Maitland, N.S.W. to ALFRED WILLARD.
2. GEORGE born 14-3-1843 Largs N.S.W. died 4-4-1899 Newtown, N.S.W. married 19-3-1874 Newtown to HARRIET TANDY.
3. ANNE born 15-4-1845 Largs. died 8-5-1846 Bolwarra N.S.W.
4. MARY born 15-2-1847 Largs. died 27-10-1916 Marrickville, N.S.W. married 1876 at St. George N.S.W. to EMANUEL HARBER.
5. ESTHER born 19-5-1850 Largs. buried 20-9-1851 Morpeth, N.S.W.

George & Hannah's first child, Olive was four when they arrived in Sydney on the "Bussorah Merchant" on 5-4-1841. Four more children were born at Largs, the youngest, Esther died in infancy. Hannah died six months later.

GEORGE STANDEN (1812 - 1870) remarried 20-11-1852 in Maitland (Wesleyan church) to HANNAH (nee HUXTABLE) the widow of RICHARD KINGWELL. HANNAH was born 6-3-1830 King's Nympton, Devon. died 13-7-1895 Maitland.

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George & Hannah settled at Largs. The house they first lived in & in which the children were born, is still occupied but has some modification. It is the fourth house on the left hand side of Pitnacree Rd. entering Largs. There is no record of how long they resided there. They then took up farming at a location about half way between Largs & Raworth on the Narrowgut Rd. They grew lucerne for hay, corn, potatoes & other vegetables.

A very big flood occured in the Hunter River in April 1870, with the result that the whole of Phoenix Park, Bolwarra, etc. was covered with flood water. George & Hannah took refuge on the haystack inside the hayshed. George was drowned on t29-4-1870. The Maitland Mercury reported on the inquest thus:-

"We reported in our Saturday's issue, the death by drowning of George Standen, an old resident of Largs, on Thursday last. The particulars then given do not agree exactly with the evidence elicited by the coroner, T.W. Pearce Esq., who held an inquest yesterday at Mr. Murphy's hotel Morpeth, upon view of the body, which had been recovered on the previous evening. From the evidence then given it appeared that Standen posessed a small flat-bottomed dingy, about five feet long, which he had used in the river in the flood of March, but which was better adapted for crossing still water, than the course of a violent current. On Thursday afternoon deceased asked Badcock, a Neighbour, to allow his son, William to assist him in pulling across the river. Badcock objected, and remonstrated with Standen upon the danger of the attempt, but ultimately allowed his son to go. William Badcock can swim, deceased could not. The two got in the dingy, and deceased commenced to row across, but the boat began drifting down the river and so young Badcock took the paddle and he and Standen tried to make headway up the stream. They were unsuccessful, for the boat drifted down the stream again, and deceased stood up in the boat and overbalanced it. Both the occupants fell into the water, and the boat turned bottom upwards. Badcock swam ashore, and tried to get Mr. Bolt's boat to go to the assistance of the deceased, but failed, as he got into a hole. He looked towards the dingy as he went for Mr. Bolt's boat, and saw the deceased clinging to it, but he dropped from it, and was not seen afterwards. It was not the fact that they were picking up pumpkins. Deceased struck his head against the boat as he fell, and that probably stunned him. Search was made about the place where he had sunk, and assistance was speedily afforded by neighbours in boats as soon as young Badcock gave the alarm, but deceased did not re-appear. Search for the body continued for the next four days, Thomas Hall and his crew being particularly active in this work, and on Tuesday afternoon intelligence was brought to the police that a body had been seen floating at Osterley. The verdict was "accidentally drowned"."

Hannah and the children, with the aid of hired labour, carried on the farming and raised the whole family on that farm. Hannah and George are both buried in the Methodist portion of Morpeth Cemetery.

• Rudd Osland, George, James.
• Myra,Lillian, Raymond, Amelia, Stanley.
• Clifford.

JAMES HENRY STANDEN (1854 - 1942) married 3-12-1878 at Maitland to AMELIA JANE TUCKER

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Married in St. Peter's Church of England, East Maitland, by the Reverend Lovick Tyrrell, B.A. They carried on farming at "Dunmore", just downstream from the Dunmore Bridge, growing lucerne for hay, corn, onions, potatoes, etc. They lost almost everything in the big flood of 1893 and then moved with the five elder children to "Stamford Estate" about four miles from Branxton, N.S.W. on the Hunter River, renting from George Thomas. Here they carried on mixed farming, dairying, and growing lucerne, corn, potatoes and other vegetables and broom millet. James was an excellent broom maker and his brooms were in great demand from storekeepers.

At "Corinda" two brothers named McDouall started a factory making condensed milk about 1900. Farmers concentrated on milk production as it was more profitable. The price at first was fourpence farthing per gallon delivered to the factory, but rose slowly to fivepence halfpenny, when the factory was purchased by Bacchus Marsh Condensed Milk Co. fron Victoria and was eventually transferred away. At the time corn was sold for 3/6d. a bushel, lucerne hay three pounds ten shillings per ton, and lucerne and wheaten chaff was 2/6d. a bag.

James and Amelia had a sixth child, Lovick Clifford, at "Stamford" and from there the family grew up, married and settled on the land in the district and their descendants are scattered around in various forms of business undertakings.

James purchased a farm at "Newington", near Singleton, the first that he had owned, but Amelia refused to move there. The farm was sold in a few years for a good profit. This allowed James , who had developed a heart condition to retire and he and Amelia moved to Station St. Branxton in 1914. Amelia died at 12:15 p.m. on Thursday 9-5-1940, aged 86, and James died in Maitland Hospital at 3:00 p.m. on 21-5-1942 aged 87 years. They are both buried in Branxton Cemetery.

Written by Cliff Standen (1896 - 1985). Modified by Gary Standen

RAYMOND GEORGE HENRY (1882 - 1951) Married 12-3-1902 to ETHEL JANE FAIRHALL (1882 - 1965).

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Ray and Et were married at All Saints' Church of England, Singleton, by the Reverend Jeremiah Chaffis Walsh. A farmer's boy from an early age, Ray's day at "Stamford" began about 3:00 a.m. when he yarded the horses and drove a drayload of milk to "Wyndham Estate" for separation. The cream was sold and the skim milk brought back to the farm to feed pigs and calves. He then ran to school at Elderslie or, if the river was up, to Kirkton until about 2:00 p.m. when he had to leave his schooling to do the milk run again. His teachers taught him through his lunch to try to give him help.

As a young man, Ray worked at McDouall's Condensed Milk Factory at "Corinda", where he began the blacksmithing which , in later years, allowed him to make almost any article required on the farm. Ray and his brother, Stan, bought a portion of "Belford Estate", when it was divided and halved it. Ray bought Stan's portion later when Stan bought another portion from Forresters. He bought another farm at Stanhope which became Jim's, Sandy getting the original portion of "Belford" and Bill the half which had been Stan's.

A Patrick's Plains Shire Councillor for nine years up to his death, his main project was the tar sealing of the minor roads in the shire, in the belief that communication was the greatest need of the farmer of his times. "Standen Drive" at Lower Belford is a tribute to his efforts. He was also a director of the Hunter Valley Co-operative Dairy Co. and a delegate to the Primary Producers Union. For many years he held the agency for Dort Motor Cars. His expertise as an amateur photographer can be seen in the few examples which survived the 1955 floods and the breakup of the family home following Et's death. Ray died in Dangar Cottage Hospital, Singleton on 12-5-1951 from a heart condition. Ethel lived with her children until her death on 2-8-1965.

• Peter, Michael Harris, Gary, Pat, Bill Stamp.
• Ben Porter, Leanne Porter, Bill Standen, Bill , Ethel, Anne Marie Standen, Wendy Stamp.

MALCOLM REX (BILL) STANDEN (1915 - 2001) married 10-4-1939 at Broke to ETHEL BAKER

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Bill Standen spent almost all of his life on the family farm at Lower Belford, working for his father until Ray’s death when the farm was divided for him and Sandy. Bill received the portion, which had been owned by his uncle, Stan, and Sandy got the original farm. Under their father’s will Jim, Sandy & Bill had to make cash payments to their sisters and I well remember my father’s worry of debt for the first time in his life, and the effort of repaying the loans. Bill was a clever and conscientious farmer and he and Ethel, who had worked on farms since her teens, ran a small farm, which must have been the envy of many. The only real setback was when the 55 flood covered all but the peak of the house and we lost almost everything in the house as well as the damage to the farm. After a short time working at a service station in Singleton, Peter returned to work on the farm. Gary joined the P.M.G. as a telephone technician and Pat married and moved away. When farm work became too much for him, Bill sold up the farm and moved to Singleton where they lived out their years.

Bill Standen's Eulogy.

GARY JOHN born 29-10-1941 Singleton. married 1-9-1981 Canterbury, Melbourne, Victoria to MARIE ANNETTE TYSON

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1. WILLIAM GARY born 1-4-1983 Kew, Victoria.
2. ANNE MARIE born 18-7-1985 Kew.

I Grew up on the family farm at Lower Belford and was educated at Kirkton Primary and Singleton High Schools, gaining the Intermediate Certificate. I then joined the Post Master General’s Department as a Technician in Training on the 18 th. December 1957. First year training took place in the “Big Smoke” of Sydney, boarding at 35 Junction Rd. Summer Hill with several other TITs from other country areas. Second year brought a return to Singleton, where I spent the next twenty five years as a technician, living at home on the farm after a couple of years boarding in Singleton. I was always a traveller, visiting relatives around the country and taking bus trips to Central Australia, Tasmania, Cairns, etc. usually with my mother or father. In 1975 some friends and I did the overland adventure from Kathmandu to London followed by a car tour of Britain, a camping tour of Scandinavia & Germany and a rail tour of Switzerland. 1978 found me again in Europe on a rail pass tour with a friend from the overland trip.

Next came the event that destroyed my devout bachelorhood. I travelled to China and Hong Kong in 1979 and Marie was on the same trip. Marie and I travelled again the next year to Japan. 1981 was a big year. I transferred my job to Melbourne, married Marie, honeymooned in Germany, Austria and Switzerland and settled in a home in suburban Camberwell.

Children, work and home life kept us busy for some time with holidays and festive breaks taken up with visits to my family in the Hunter Valley as well as our commitments at home and with Marie’s family. I became involved with the children’s schools, serving on school counsels and parents’ associations etc.

We took a break in 1999 and Marie and I took the kids to Germany, Switzerland, Italy (well Venice) and Austria with a stop in Tokyo on the way home.

I lost my parents in 2000 and 2001. This was quite a blow in a happy life but they were both in failing health and the hard work of my brother allowed them to see out their days at home in Singleton.

I retired from Telstra with 43 years service in June 2000 and Marie sold her pharmacy, retiring a year later. Anne Marie scored a school trip to Japan in 2002 and Marie, Bill and I joined her for a couple of weeks, travelling by rail around the country.

Who knows what’s next.

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