EMMA ARCHER
| Town/City | Newcastle |
|---|---|
| First name | EMMA |
| Last name | ARCHER |
| Country of Origin | ENGLAND |
| Date of Birth | 10/24/1842 |
| Year of Arrival in Australia | 1856 |
| Submitted by | MARY BODDY |
Story
Reason for leaving homeland – In 1856, 14 year old Emma Archer was brought to Australia during the Victorian gold rushes, by her widower father Samuel, a former soldier. For the previous 12 years, the family had been stationed with Samuel’s regiment in Mauritius, where her mother (presumably) died. The move to Australia enabled Samuel, Emma and Samuel’s two young sons to make a fresh start.
About the Journey – The family were the sole passengers on the vessel Marchioness, sailing from Mauritius to Melbourne.
Impressions on Arrival – After the family’s arrival in the Colony, they joined the huge throngs heading for the Victorian goldfields. For some time, the family’s home was a tent, as Samuel became a shepherd on Strathfillan station near St. Arnaud. Strathfillan was also the scene of a minor gold rush, at Peter’s Diggings.
In 1858 Emma, then 16 years old, married an Austrian gold digger, Felice Pobar who is thought to have arrived on the goldfields in the early 1850s, and according to his grandson, was present at the Eureka uprising in 1854.
The young couple, plus Emma’s father Samuel, and her brothers Frederick & Arthur, eventually made their way to Queensland’s Darling Downs. There, the family established the first of a chain of butcher’s shops, Pobars, which traded in Toowoomba for nearly 100 years.