The personal histories of the people who lived at Viewbank homestead are a vital aspect of this study as they allow for the background, aspirations and success of the residents to be examined. This information indicates that the Martin family were typical of the ‘established middle class’: they came from wealthy, middle class backgrounds, brought affluence with them and successfully expanded their wealth and social influence once in the colony.

DR MARTIN: AN ‘IMPETUOUS’ GENTLEMAN

Dr Robert Martin was born in Scotland in 1798, on the Isle of Skye, Inner Hebrides (Billis and Kenyon 1932:95) (Figure 3.1). There are few known facts about Dr Martin’s life before coming to Australia. It is possible that he studied medicine in Scotland: the entry for Dr Martin on the online Australian Medical Pioneers Index (2006) suggests that he was a Licentiate of the Royal College of Surgeons in Edinburgh in 1824. The Edinburgh Royal College of Surgeons provided excellent clinical training, among the best in the world (Mitchell 2009:196). In addition, an account by his grand-daughter suggests that Dr Martin had been in the East India Service at one point and had practiced medicine in the inner London suburb of Islington (Genealogical Society of Victoria 1970:105).

The Isle of Skye suffered from social and economic collapse in the first half of the 19th century (Watson 1984:25), and wealthy farmers and landowners were forced to leave along with the workers. Many immigrated to the British colonies and it is possible that Dr Martin was among those who left for this reason. Dr Martin arrived in Melbourne in 1839 after travelling overland from Sydney (Bride 1969:87). The Martin family lived at Moonee Ponds prior to moving to Viewbank in 1843 (Port Phillip Gazette, 22 May 1843).

Correspondence, business records and official documents reveal something of Dr Martin’s success and character once in Melbourne. He focused his attention on pastoral pursuits and established extensive pastoral properties across Victoria (see Figure 1.1 for locations). The largest was at Mount Sturgeon in the Grampians, Western Victoria, which he took up in 1840. It comprised 112,000 acres with 1,000 cattle and 20,000 sheep, and when he sold it in 1866 it was worth more than £70,000, an enormous amount of money (Kerr’s Melbourne Almanac 1841; Billis and Kenyon 1932:227; Hopton 1950:378; Spreadborough and Anderson 1983:125; Niall 2004:33). Dr Martin owned another property at Acheron near the Cathedral Ranges, 120 km north-east of Melbourne, from 1872, which comprised 24,000 acres and 4,000 sheep (Billis and Kenyon 1932:95, 145; Spreadborough and Anderson 1983:149). An affidavit to Dr Martin’s will records that he also owned property at Nillumbik and Clunes. The Nillumbik property north-east of Melbourne comprised 580 acres and included a three-roomed cottage (PROV, VPRS 7591/P2, Unit 17, File 12-586, 11 February 1875), while the Clunes property north of Ballarat comprised 1,400 acres and three cottages (PROV, VPRS 7591/P2, Unit 17, File 12-586, 11 February 1875). Dr Martin also had New Zealand interests: in 1857 he lent £2,000 to Melbourne Club member Arthur Hogue to establish a sheep run in Otago, and also commissioned Hogue to look for land for himself and son-in-law Dr Youl (Niall 2004:31).

Dr Martin seems to have leased these properties, or employed managers to run them, and lived at Viewbank. Letters from Charles Browning Hall and Edward Bell in 1853 recorded that Dr Martin left Mount Sturgeon under the charge of Mr Knowles (Bride 1969:266, 290). An affidavit to Dr Martin’s 12will records that the Nillumbik property, with its three-room cottage, was let to a Patrick Long, and the three cottages on the Clunes property were let to various tenants (PROV, VPRS 7591/P2, Unit 17, File 12-586, 11 February 1875).

By the standards of the day, Dr Martin was extremely wealthy. At the time of his death in 1874, his total estate was valued at £43,073.6s.3d (PROV, VPRS 7591/P2, Unit 17, File 12-586, 15 July 1874). To contextualise this, on average, business and professional men earned around £1,000 to £3,000 per annum by the 1880s (Serle 1971:91). The average income of a doctor was £250 in the 1850s rising to £800 by the late 1890s, while a well-connected doctor might have earned £3,000 per annum in the 1880s (Davison 1978:232; Pensabene 1980:82).

Dr Martin was also building a position in society and held a number of influential positions and memberships. He was a member of the Melbourne Club from 1840 (De Serville 1980:193) and the District Council of Bourke (The Australian, 26 December 1837), as well as being trustee of St. John’s Church of England in Heidelberg (recorded on a memorial at the church), trustee of the Savings Bank of Port Phillip (Garden 1972:44), chairman of the Heidelberg Road Trust (The Argus, 28 October 1864), President of the Victorian Agricultural Society (The Argus, 6 June 1862), a member of the Board of Agriculture (The Argus, 16 July 1863), and a Justice of the Peace (The Argus, 24 April 1852; Hopton 1950:378). In the 19th century, the status of a gentleman was predominantly based on the exercise of power. This was realised in the public realm: through business ties, employment, politics and membership of social institutions (Russell 1994:1, 14, 18).

Respect in the community for Dr Martin is indicated in an 1862 news clipping that reported the wedding of his daughter Charlotte. It states:

It is difficult to ascertain exactly when and where Dr Martin practised medicine in Australia, if at all. Early editions of Kerr’s Melbourne Almanac and Port Phillip Directory list Dr Martin as a settler, but not under ‘Medical Practitioners’. The Melbourne Commercial Directory has a ‘list of duly qualified Medical Practitioners who have received Certificates from the Medical Board up to Jan. 10 1853’ which does not include Dr Martin.

There is some evidence that Dr Martin practised medicine in Heidelberg later in his life. In 1867 at the age of 69 he is listed in the Sands and McDougall’s Melbourne and Suburban Directory as practicing at Vine Street in Heidelberg. In subsequent years, from 1868 to 1871, this directory lists Dr Robert Martin under ‘Physicians, Surgeons and Medical Practitioners’ and gives his location as Viewbank. This may suggest that he was practising from home at this time. It is possible that Dr Martin returned to medicine after retirement from pastoral activities. Dr Martin clearly maintained an interest in the medical profession: in 1873, just one year before he died, Dr Martin purchased three Collins Street buildings to be used by medical practitioners (MCC 1873).

Dr Martin developed business links and a close friendship with James Graham, a wealthy merchant and influential man (Graham 1998:132). Graham kept a letter book which included correspondence relating to Dr Martin, mostly concerning his business dealings. These letters provide insight into Dr Martin’s character. A gentleman was expected to have manners and education (Mitchell 2009:269), however, Graham described Dr Martin as ‘… difficult to manage, and so impetuous that he will fly off at a tangent if anything puts him out’ (GP 2 March 1866). This is hardly the ideal picture of gentility. Expressing anger was against civilised standards and showed a lack of self-control, but was more tolerable for men than for women (Young 2003:118). However, Graham was 20 years younger than Dr Martin and worked as an agent for him (essentially as an employee). Dr Martin did not need to impress Graham and, as such, may have behaved less cautiously with him.

Dr Martin’s business success and secure income provided the lifestyle that the family enjoyed. This was at the heart of 19th-century masculinity – to support and order his family and household (Davidoff and Hall 2002:114). Dr Martin also invested in the future of his family providing substantial £5,000 dowries for his daughters, property for his son, and £5,000 trust funds for the eldest grandson in each family (Niall 2004:33).

MRS MARTIN: A FIERY WOMAN

Dr Martin married Lucy Gear in London and the Genealogical Society of Victoria gives the date as 6 May 1834. However, this was one year after their first child was born so this date seems unlikely. Lucy was the daughter of Robert Gear Esq. of Lewes, Sussex and Lucy de Guzman who was the daughter of Don Dominicus de Guzman, a relative of the Spanish Marie Eugénie de Guzman y de Porto-Carrero, wife of Emperor Napoleon III of France (Genealogical Society of Victoria 1970:105; De Serville 1980:205). Genealogy, titles and heraldry were highly valued in Melbourne society (De Serville 1991:189–192; Russell 1994:38), and presumably Mrs Martin prized this connection to royalty.

Marriage, domesticity and reproduction were the dominant concepts of womanhood in 19th-century 13Australia (Anderson 1992:229). Historian Penny Russell (1994:2) writes:

The dependence of women was a central concept of 19th-century Christian belief and it was also an expected part of motherhood that a woman would, in turn, provide emotional support for her children (Davidoff and Hall 2002:114, 335). Mrs Martin gave birth to her six children across a period of 13 years. Unusually, no stillbirths or infant deaths were recorded for Mrs Martin. There was a large range of family sizes in the 19th century with the number of children ranging from none to ten or more (Anderson 1985:53; Beer 1989:34, 36).

In spite of her commitment to family, it appears from historical documents that Mrs Martin was not always the demure ideal of genteel femininity. She was seen as fiery by other women in genteel society, always attributed to her being half-Spanish (Niall 2002:33).

THEIR CHILDREN

Viewbank was home to children from infancy to adulthood. Dr and Mrs Martin’s first three children Lucy, Sarah Anne Jane (Annie) and Robert William Kirby (Willy), were born in London (Genealogical Society of Victoria 1970:105; Niall 2002:29). Their fourth child, Charlotte, was born in Victoria, but prior to the family moving to Viewbank. When the Martin family moved to Viewbank in 1843 their oldest daughter Lucy was aged 10, Annie was 6, Robert was 4 and Charlotte was 1. Emma and Edith were born at Viewbank in 1844 and 1846 respectively (Niall 2002:xxii). In the 19th century, for the first time, many children stayed at home into adulthood, partly due to the reduction of apprenticeships for middle-class professions (Flanders 2003:xxii), and this was the case for the Martin children.

The five Martin daughters ensured that the Viewbank homestead was a predominantly feminine environment. There was a 13-year age gap between the eldest, Lucy born in 1833 and youngest, Edith born in 1846. Their lives would have been closely involved with each other and their mother. In the 19th century, mother and daughters spent much time together doing handicrafts in the drawing room, attending and receiving calls, promenading and shopping, and possibly undertaking philanthropic work.

Education for girls focused on their character and behaviour in preparation for life in society. Discipline and deportment were more important than literacy and knowledge (Russell 1994:145–146). However, there are no historical records regarding any formal education of the Martin daughters. It is possible that the girls were educated by a governess, but there is no historical record of this being the case.

The historical documentation regarding the Martin daughters is almost exclusively with regard to their marriages, and reflects the significance of marriage for women in this era. It was a momentous event and shaped a woman’s life completely, as her status and wealth were determined by her husband. All five of the Martin daughters married.

Attending social events was an important part of making a suitable match and would have been a large part of the daughters’ lives while at Viewbank. In 1854, a year before Annie’s marriage, a letter from Edward Graham to half-brother James Graham recorded that:

Unfortunately for Annie, an arranged marriage to the middle-aged Dr Youl, coroner of Melbourne, was forced upon her (Russell 1994:38). Later, Edward expressed his dissatisfaction at not being asked to the wedding party and states that ‘The marriage has been a great source of talk from everyone from Lady Hotham downwards and all pitying poor Annie’ (Graham 1998:79–80).

Emma and Charlotte also made socially successful matches, marrying men of whom their father approved. Emma married Dr Youl’s nephew Harry, son of pastoralist Sir James Arndell Youl, KCMG (Russell 1994). Charlotte married John Fenton Esquire in a celebration ‘… of unwonted gaiety and loveliness’ provided by Dr Martin:

Not all of the Martin daughters married in such grandeur. Lucy eloped when Dr Martin attempted to stop her marriage to Captain John Theodore Boyd, of whom he disapproved on grounds of his lack of fortune and inability to provide a settled home (Niall 142004:31). Lucy and John eloped to be married at Richmond on 4 February 1857 (Genealogical Society of Victoria 1970:105; Graham 1998:184). Boyd was a member of the 11th Regiment of the British Army and was military secretary to the Governor of Victoria (Genealogical Society of Victoria 1970:106).

Similarly, Dr Martin denied Edith an engagement to Mr Bradley, navigating lieutenant of the HMS Galatea, in 1868 because he had ‘nothing at present but his pay’. However, Edith was persistent and after an engagement of two and a half years was allowed to sail to England to marry Mr Bradley in 1872 (Russell 1994:152). Dr Martin’s refusal of these marriages is suggestive of the difficulties of class in Melbourne at this time. While both Boyd and Bradley were middle class, their lack of security beyond their pay clearly set them below the Martin family in Dr Martin’s esteem.

The daughters were aged between 18 and 26 at the times of their marriages. They were probably significantly younger than their husbands: certainly for 18-year-old Annie with her middle-aged husband, and Lucy who was 13 years younger than John Boyd. The fact that marriage was the single most important social aspect of a woman’s life in the 19th century is certainly reflected in the experiences of the Martin daughters.

The historical record reveals Willy’s role in the family. For middle-class sons, education was allimportant and focused on a successful career and future (Russell 1994:147). This was especially important, as a son would support the unmarried women of the family after the father died (Russell 1994:149). Willy was sent to Trinity Hall, Cambridge for his education in law (De Serville 1991:318). In a letter, James Graham, details that ‘I have instructed Donaldson & Lambert [Graham’s agents in London] to pay the education expenses of Dr Martin’s son who is at present in England. They will advise you from time to time of the debits to our account for this purpose’ (Graham 1998:85). The considerable expense involved in sending Willy to be educated in England is evidence of the importance of educating sons.

Willy was called to the English bar in 1860 (Genealogical Society of Victoria 1970:105). Although a solicitor, he, like his father, focused on pastoral pursuits. Willy took his father’s place as president of the Victorian Agricultural Society in 1868 (The Argus, 22 October 1868) and in 1871 he became a co-founder of the Heidelberg Cheese Factory Company (Garden 1972:121).

Men could relax genteel standards to a larger extent than women. Without risking their status, men could mingle with people from other classes (particularly when it came to horse racing and gambling), attend a wider range of social functions or partake of disreputable pleasures (Russell 1994:68, 76–77). Yet Willy appears as the dutiful son. He married James Graham’s daughter Minnie in 1874, a match that must have pleased Dr Martin greatly. James Graham (GP 19 May 1874) recorded in a letter that 97 guests sat down to breakfast to celebrate the wedding. He also reported that ‘Dr Martin in the most liberal manner settled the whole of the property [Banyule] on Minnie’. A man had to be well established financially before he could marry, and therefore most men did not marry until they were in their thirties (Mitchell 2009:156). Willy married at 35. The couple had four daughters, Mary, Edith, Dorothy and Sylvia (Genealogical Society of Victoria 1970:105).

FAMILY ROLES

The gender divide dictated family roles, social behaviour and daily interactions in the 19th century. This began from an early age with girls viewed as pretty and boys as energetic and full of mischief (Russell 1994:142). Tightly tied in with Christian belief, the natural role of a husband was seen to be to command, and the wife, children and servants to obey (Davidoff and Hall 2002:108).

Separate spheres for men and women became part of morality and individual roles (Young 2003). The idea of male/public and female/private spheres for middle-class people is widely discussed in Australia, Britain and America (Saunders and Evans 1992:99; Russell 1994; Wall 1994; Davidoff and Hall 2002:xvi; Young 2003:18). While this pattern was generally common, there was inevitable overlap between the spheres. The private realm of women was on display to the public world, and men had private roles. In their volume on gender relations in Australia, Saunders and Evans (1992:99) state ‘… the private and public spheres are both co-related and interpenetrative’ while also drawing attention to the fact that masculine power dominates both spheres. Davidoff and Hall (2002:13) make the important observation that:

The historical records give us some insight into family roles in the Viewbank household, particularly with regard to the Martins’ interactions with their children in adulthood. In the 19th century, fathers demanded respect from their children and were also expected to provide for them. A father’s authority, especially over his daughters, was not to be disputed (Russell 1994:151).

As marriages were an important and effective way of forming social alliances, Dr Martin had a particular interest in the marriages of his daughters arranging and refusing them in the interest of his family and status. In Melbourne 15society, marriage and kinship were crucial, and an imprudent marriage could taint many (Russell 1994:15). Three of the Martin daughters, Annie, Emma and Charlotte, married men of whom Dr Martin approved. All three men were members of the Melbourne Club; two were doctors and one a pastoralist (Niall 2002:31). However, Dr Martin was not all powerful within the family and his refusal of the marriages of both Lucy and Edith were ultimately overturned (Russell 1994:152; Graham 1998:184). Further, it appears that Mrs Martin did not share her husband’s view on these marriages as she gave her daughter Lucy a Bible inscribed ‘from her affectionate mother’ on the day she returned from her elopement (Niall 2002:33).

Despite their defiance, Dr Martin provided financial support to Lucy and Edith, as well as his other children. It appears that he forgave Lucy, giving her a £5,000 dowry. He also provided advice suggesting that Lucy and her husband take up land in New Zealand, which they followed (Graham 1998:184). He gave Edith £500 to purchase her trousseau and a further £5,000 upon her marriage (Russell 1994:152). A letter from James Graham to Lucy Boyd (neé Martin) in 1862 states that ‘Your father is anxious to raise some money previous to Charlotte’s marriage …’ (Graham 1998:288). Further, Dr Martin states in his will that ‘I Bequeath to each of my daughters, for all of whom I have already provided on their respective marriages, the sum of One hundred pounds … as a token of affection’ (PROV, VPRS 7591/P2, Unit 17, File 12-586, 27 January 1873). In a codicil to his will Dr Martin details that his Collins Street property should be for the use of his daughter Annie and her husband, Dr Youl (PROV, VPRS 7591/P2, Unit 17, File 12-586, 15 July 1874). Also, when son Willy married James Graham’s daughter Minnie, in 1874, Dr Martin settled the Banyule property at Heidelberg on Minnie. Dr Martin had purchased Banyule from Joseph Hawdon in 1867 for £7,500. Minnie continued to live there after the death of her husband in 1878 (GP 19 May 1874). Dr Martin certainly treated his children with financial generosity.

SERVANTS

A housekeeper and a contingent of domestic and general servants also worked, and possibly lived, at Viewbank homestead. Jane Warren loyally served the Martin family as housekeeper for many years. She was left £100 in Dr Martin’s will and continued serving Mrs Martin after the family moved away from Viewbank (PROV, VPRS 7591/P2, Unit 17, File 12-586, 27 January 1873 and PROV, VPRS 7591/P2, Unit 87, File 26/805, 7 August 1882). The probate conducted in 1875 after Dr Martin’s death lists servants’ wages at £90 2s 11d, but does not detail how many or what kind of servants were employed (PROV, VPRS 7591/P2, Unit 17, File 12-586, 11 February 1875).

Although servants were remunerated primarily in board and lodging with a comparatively small amount of wages (Higman 2002:167) they were still a significant expense. A list of the servants’ annual wages at Newington, Parramatta, for 1845 shows that the coachman earned the highest annual wage at £30, followed by the butler at £26, the cook at £25.10s, the gardener at £23.8s, the yardman at £20.16s, the seamstress at £20, the housemaid at £13.7s, the lady’s maid at £12, and the laundress at £10.3s (Dyster 1989:146–147). This adds up to over £170 for the year. In 1849 in Port Phillip, female cooks were paid £16 to £26 per annum, while other domestic servants were paid £12 to £28 annually (Higman 2002:170). By 1872 in Victoria, the wage of a housemaid was 9s a week (or £25 per annum), and around 10s a week (or £26 pounds per annum) for a laundress or cook (Cannon 1975:244). Wages increased dramatically by the 1880s: a governess might have been paid £30 per year in Victoria, but cooks and housemaids would have considered this amount very poor (Serle 1971:84).

The amount for servants’ wages in Dr Martin’s probate was probably outstanding at the time of his death. It is, therefore, difficult to determine how many servants the family had from this amount as it is unknown whether it is outstanding from January or the beginning of the financial year in July. Dr Martin died on 24 September 1874, so if each servant was paid an average of £20 per annum and the amount owing is for the year-to-date then these wages would be sufficient for six servants. Upon Mrs Martin’s death in December 1884 £12.1s was owed to the housekeeper; therefore, it is likely that the amounts in the probate are those outstanding from July. If the amount owing was from July for the Viewbank servants, then the £90 would have been sufficient to pay approximately 18 servants. They certainly had a housekeeper, and the presence of a housekeeper at Viewbank indicates a large contingent of indoor servants (Russell 1994:38). A groom and coachman were probably also employed at Viewbank as the presence of a stable indicates that horses were kept. Also, the extensive gardens probably required the employment of at least one gardener.

MOVING ON

In spite of their wealth and success the Martin family suffered tragedy. Charlotte, her husband John Fenton and their two children were killed in the wreck of the steamship London in the Bay of Biscay on 11 January 1866 (HHS 1866, GP 20 March 1866). In September 1874, Dr Martin died at the age of 76 (PROV, VPRS 7591/P2, Unit 17, File 12-586, 22 October 1874). He was buried in the Church of England section of the Warringal Cemetery in Heidelberg (HHS Viewbank file). Willy had diabetes, and died young on 14 May 1878 at the age of 39 (Genealogical Society of Victoria 1970:105; Russell 1994:38). 16

Willy and his wife had four daughters, and as such the Martin name did not continue on in Victoria. All of the Martin daughters had children, and ironically it was Lucy and John Boyd who founded one of the famous names in Australian history. Their son Arthur Merric Boyd was the first of a group of famous artists directly descended from Lucy and John Boyd.

After Dr Martin’s death in 1874 (PROV, VPRS 7591/P2, Unit 17, File 12-586, 22 October 1874), Mrs Martin moved to South Yarra (PROV, VPRS 460/P, Unit 1102, 1 June 1875). The Martin’s housekeeper, Jane Warren, went with her. Mrs Martin died on 10 December 1883 (PROV, VPRS 7591/P2, Unit 87, File 26/805, 9 January 1884).

The structure of the Martin family and 19th-century expectations of the roles of wives, husbands and children are apparent at Viewbank homestead. Evidence suggests that they were typical of the ‘established middle class’: they came from wealthy middle-class backgrounds, arrived in the earliest years after the establishment of the colony, held vast pastoral properties and were very successful in their new lives in Melbourne. They moved in the appropriate social networks and were an important part of Melbourne society.