Elias Helyar
| Town/City | Brisbane |
|---|---|
| First name | Elias |
| Last name | Helyar |
| Country of Origin | England |
| Date of Birth | 1/5/1804 |
| Year of Arrival in Australia | 1841 |
| Submitted by | Jennifer Helyar |
Story
A foreman in a glove factory, and with a growing family, Elias decided to emigrate to Australia with his wife and young family. The Assisted Immigrants Book 2 1839-1841 p.299 states he was a farm servant.
Elias, his wife , Martha, had seven children ranging in age from twelve down to twins of 12 months old. They emigrated to Melbourne as Bounty Passengers, imported by John Marshall of London and sailed, with 229 other passengers, from Plymouth on 21/9/1840 on the ship “Ferguson”, 600 tons. On the voyage the women registered an official complaint against the medical superintendent’s harsh and unjustifiable treatment of women on board. Indeed, tragedy struck on the voyage as both mother, Martha and toddler Martha died on board. Mary Amelia, then 6 years old, used to talk to her children of her mother and the baby who died on board and were “wrapped in a tarpaulin and buried at sea”.
The family arrived in the newly established town of Melbourne on 15/1/1841. It must have only been a small settlement at that time as John Batman had arrived in 1835, and Melbourne was only formally established in 1837.
Three months after their arrival, on 27/4/1841, Ellen, the surviving twin died. The family were sitting at a big table eating roast lamb for midday dinner when the little girl choked on a slice of meat. She was 18 months old.
George, the eldest, tried a many jobs. As a lad, he was employed by a Melbourne butcher. He tried shearing with the blades for 10/- per 100 but he never got his hundred, but he knew leather work and passed the knowledge onto his son, Fred.
By the 1850s the family had moved to Ballarat after gold was discovered there. Elias ran a store at Mount Pleasant, assisted by George. They were also gold buyers, carting it from the mines to Melbourne by horse and dray. On one trip, a ford George had to cross was in flood and in midstream the horse had to swim. Realising it could not reach land with the dray, George cut the traces and let the dray fall, while he and the horse swam for safety. No mention is made of what happened to the gold! At some stage, before 1858, they had moved back to Melbourne.
George and his three surviving sisters all married in Victoria. George owned a property at Jan Juc, married Charlotte Hocking, and produced a large family of 15 children whose descendants have since spread all over Australia.
Elias died on 7/9/1870. He had been a resident of the Geelong hospital for some time having terminal cancer and his friends sought to remove him to Melbourne. Accompanied by his daughter, Mrs Eliza Butler, he was driven to the Geelong railway station, but had only sat down for a few minutes on one of the seats when he died of a massive heart attack.