Hermann Adolph Dohle
| Town/City | Hamilton |
|---|---|
| First name | Hermann Adolph |
| Last name | Dohle |
| Country of Origin | Germany |
| Date of Birth | 9/22/1839 |
| Year of Arrival in Australia | 1861 |
| Submitted by | Lorraine Rye |
Story
Hermann Adolph Dohle was born in Bremen, Germany, on 22/9/1839, the 3rd child and 2nd son of Hermann & Fredericke Dorothie Louise Dohle nee Siebenmeier, his birth registered 4 days later in Bremen. Hermann and Friederike had 5 sons & 3 daughters.
His father Hermann was a prosperous merchant in Bremen and at the age of 9, Hermann Adolph along with other members of the family were taken on a tour to North America. Their journey was cut short after an outbreak of yellow fever, returning via London to their native country. Back in Germany, Hermann Adolph finished his education and then took a course of agricultural study. It is believed he & his brothers left Germany because of religious persecution, as they were of the Lutheran faith. Johannas and Hermann never returned to Germany to visit their family, which must have been a hard blow for their parents.
On 25/5/1861, Hermann sailed from Hamburg for Australia on the SS Iserbrook, after being granted a Reise-Pass (free pass) landing at Port Adelaide on 6th September 1861, then going to Macdonnell Bay and then on to Mt Gambier for a stay of 6 weeks, then on to Tahara Victoria, to join his brother Johannas, who had arrived in Australia in 1858. A 3rd brother Heinrich also came to Australia, leaving from Hamburg, arriving in Victoria in 1869. Heinrich was naturalized on 23/2/1893, his occupation was a draper in West Melbourne. The Australian branch of the family lost contact with him after his marriage to Mary Francis Cleary in 1893.
Hermann settled in the Wannon Valley, Tahara and acquired approx 235 acres of land, adjoining the Wannon River, naming the property Wannon Vale, at the end of Dohle\’s Road. He was naturalized on 27/10/1868, certificate no. 256. On the 7/5/1871 at Mt. Gambier, Hermann married Ernestine Sawert who was born on 13/5/1848 at Klemzig, South Australia. Ernestine was confirmed at Klemzig South Australia on 15/4/1860 as a member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. Ernestine and her twin sister Wilhemine had 2 brothers and 4 sisters.
Hermann & Ernestine had 2 daughters and 5 sons, Hermiene born 7/2/1872, Alma 13/9/1875, Henry 30/4/1878, Franklyn 1/7/1882, Edmund 22/2/1885, Alfred 7/9/1887, George 23/8/1890.
Hermann was a very active man and rode a horse around his property. One day he did not return and his daughter Alma became very concerned, she searched the property and finally found him with his foot caught in the stirrup. His horse had bolted and dragged him for some distance, she released him from the stirrup, but he was unable to walk. Alma returned to the house and found a wheelbarrow and returned to where he lay, somehow managing to get him in the wheelbarrow, taking him back to the house. Hermann never walked again.
Hermann died on 14th May1928. Ernestine stayed on the property and was cared for by her daughter Alma, and youngest son George, who continued to run the property.
Hermiene married Friedrick Wilhelm Sawert and they had 5 children. Henry married Daisy Adelaide Kerr and they had 1 son, who died at 5 days old. Franklyn married Mary Ethel Knapp and they had 2 daughters. Edmund & Alfred enlisted in WW1. Edmund was killed in action on 4/10/1917, at Passchendaele Ridge, Belgium and is buried at Tyne Cot British cemetery, Passchendaele, Belgium. Alfred died at 6.20pm on 30/7/1916 in France, of broncho pneumonia and is buried at Hazelbrouck cemetery, France. Alma never married and George married Hazel Ella Baxter and had 1 daughter. Ernestine died on 9/5/1938. Both Ernestine and Hermann are buried at Merino Cemetery, Victoria. There is no grave stone to mark the burial site.
The only living grand child of Hermann and Ernestine in 2009 is Lorraine Georgina Rye, daughter of George and Hazel Dohle.
In 2008 the families of Johannas and Hermann launched a book of the history of the ‘Dohle\’s of Australia. The following passage has been written by Corinne Smith, great grand daughter and Lorraine Rye grand daughter of Hermann and Ernestine.
‘Hermann possessed the courage, foresight and fortitude to leave his homeland, to start the new life he had dreamed of. He succeeded. We the descendants of Hermann Adolph and Ernestine are grateful for the sacrifices they made. We thank them and hope we have realized their dreams and made them proud.\’