Chapter 6. South Australia and family life in changing Perth (1865 to 1912)

 

The Town Hall under construction looking east in Hay Street.  It was officially opened on 1 June 1870 – Foundation Day. Isidro's Lot 16 is opposite centre left (RWAHS P1999.2626)

Outline:

The recession: Isidro and family decide leave for Adelaide to find work on Sea Ripple in 1865 

Isidro find the situation in Adelaide is no better than Perth  and the family return with new baby Joseph (born 1866) in 1867 on the Emily Smith 

Life in Perth in 1870s - Governor Hampton, New Town Hall and Loan Exhibition & Isidro success as a furniture maker. 

1870 election and Spanish voters. 

Isidro becomes as a property holder and successful colonist 

Isidro 's character. His work as a messenger for Salvado and with other ex- Brothers

Family life and friendships 

Isidro's  death and funeral

(c) H. Natt 2024

Bound for South Australia

 In February 1865, Isidro prepared to leave WA. He ‘cashed up’ advertising a property for sale, consisting of three lots he owned ‘opposite St. George’s Cathedral' (37). 

Two months later, on 18 April, 1965, he applied for naturalisation, necessary to own property, and conferred at that time by a special act of parliament.  His application in English was sent to the Colonial Secretary accompanied by his cheque for £5. (38)  His request was accepted and partly enacted in the Government Gazette, 7 July 1865 (39). However it was not until 1874  that it was formally enacted. 

 Isidro was unhappy in Perth but, dismissing his brother Francisco's suggestion that he join him in Rio de Janeiro, he made the less dramatic decision to try his luck in the eastern States

Isidro may have chosen Adelaide because other ex-Brothers had recently moved there, including his friend stonemason Joseph Ascione who had worked with him on the presbytery in Fremantle in 1856 (40). In 1860 Fr. Martin Griver became Administrator of the Perth Diocese when Bishop Serra returned to  Spain, and his first action was to plan a new Cathedral on the land the Catholic Church had acquired at the top of Victoria Avenue. Joseph Ascione was appointed in charge as the 'only architect and director’(41) and  Isidro was also involved, making pews for the new Cathedral. 

The second St Mary's Cathedral, 1865 to 1905.

 In January 1865, the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception completed, Joseph Ascione left the Benedictines and went to Adelaide to marry Mary Anne Doyle on 8 June, 1865, and to work for the Bishop of Adelaide, Christopher Reynolds, enlarging a chapel.  Three years of work was promised if satisfactory and  it is possible Oriol went to join him on a similar contract (42) Harris suggests Ascione and Oriol may have gone together into the building trade however there is no evidence of this (43).

The family – Isidro, Mary and 3 year old Daniel– left Fremantle on 12 May 1965 on the Sea Ripple a coastal trader owned by M.J. Bateman bound for Adelaide. (43)

The Sea Ripple a coastal trader owned by M.J. Bateman c.1865

However, although according to Dorothy Erickson Isidro had some commissions for bespoke furniture, there is no formal record of him working there (42). He was not impressed by Adelaide and seems to have found prospects there no better than Perth. 'While they were there they saw some ticket of leave men, former convicts from Perth, who crossed to the other side of the road when they saw grandfather and didn’t look at him so they would not be recognised.’ (44) 

In 1866 Mary gave birth to another son Joseph, although there is no record of his birth in S.A. or W.A. The following year the family returned to Fremantle on the Emily Smith, arriving on 7 April 1867.  According to granddaughter Doreen O'Hara: ‘It was very rough on a small boat and Mary and the two children [Daniel five and baby Joseph] were so sick they couldn’t do anything for themselves and their father had to dress them’ (44). She also commented that her grandparents and parents were always very careful not to identify their friends' convict ancestors, considering it uncharitable.

Back in Perth 1867 -1870s 

In the two years the Oriol family had been away, Governor Hampton with his passion for building had made many changes to the city, and they arrived just in time to witness another: on 23 May 1867, the city celebrated the Queen’s birthday with the laying of the foundation stone for the new Town Hall, to be built on the corner of Barrack and Howick Streets (45). This was considered by Isidro and Mary to be an especially good omen because of its proximity to their property. 

The Town Hall under construction looking east in Hay Street.  It was officially opened on 1 June 1870 – Foundation Day. Isidro's Lot 16 is opposite centre left. (RWAHS P1999.2626)

Isidro continued working as a carpenter and joiner as well as a cabinet maker. He is listed in the WA Almanac as a carpenter and Joiner between 1863 and 1874, and from 1873 to 1881 as a cabinet maker in the Herald Almanac and from 1875 to 1877 in the WA Almanac (46).  

He made furniture for the Benedictines too. On 26 June, 1867,  Father Martelli at Fremantle writes to the Reverend Garrido in Perth and after some general chat including a request for snuff from New Norcia, he adds ‘PS Oriol has not sent his wardrobe yet.’  Two days later in another letter to Reverend Garrido, now in New Norcia, he ‘hopes Oriol can send his work down soon’ surely a lock should not be so hard to find.’ (47)  Isidro provided other supplies too.

This receipt  dated September 25 1870 lists items purchased from Isidro by New Norcia including one gallon of naptha, upholstery springs, glue, gum resin, one half gill of polish, a coffin and 8 chairs, which Harris identified at New Norcia in 2009 (48) 

He also made furniture, including the pulpit,  for St Mary’s Anglican Church in West Perth (now demolished) (49).  

The first Exhibition of works of Art and Industry.

In  September, 1870, the Town Hall was the venue for the first Exhibition of works of Art and Industry in the ‘annals of the colony’, described in detail in the Perth Gazette. Among the Exhibits was Isidro Oriol’s impressive display of ‘a cheffonier , [a small chest of drawers with two doors] and two sofa couches, and a fancy chair’, along with a splendid plank of Jarrah that was polished to ‘show the beautiful and peculiar grain of the wood’.

A 'fancy chair' from the Oriol family Collection (Photo Hiiaire Natt)

Among the extensive loans from the art collections of leading citizens were natural history exhibits including Captain John Septimus Roe’s large collection of colonial insects and snake skins. The writer went on to propose it was time to consider the benefits of a proper museum for the colony – finally established in 1897 in the Old Perth Gaol (50). 

The Town Hall and its chiming clock became an important landmark and significant time piece for the city – Isidro’s daughter Mary recalls ‘telling the time by the Town Hall clock’ (51). The platform at the top of  the tower was also a popular location for photos recording the growth of Perth, including  Isidro's cottage in Goderich Street.  

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Looking north from the Town Hall:  Isidro’s house in Goderich Street is on the far right  c.1870. SLWA 

Isidro was also active in the Community, and joined other Spanish ex-Brothers Ignacio Boladeras and Jerome Rodoreda in signing a petition to the Legislative Council, on 22 July 1868,  requesting improvements to the harbour, roads, buildings etc. (52).  As a landholder he was also on the Perth Electoral list, in September 1870, one of only 150 citizens eligible  to vote in the first elections to be held in the colony (53).  The list also included lawyer George Frederick Stone who did Isidro’s legal work and John Septimus Roe, to both of whom Isidro had mortgaged Lot Q16  (54).

The Oriol Family in the 1870s 

 The Oriol boys were growing up.  Daniel and Joseph attended the Catholic Boys Assisted School in Perth. In December 1872 Daniel (10) and Joseph (6) were awarded prizes at the Annual Examinations. Both boys received prizes for Reading – Joseph in 1st Class, 2nd division and Daniel in 1st Class, 1st Division. It was a proud moment for Isidro and Mary. (55) 

After school the boys enjoyed catching gilgies in the tank stream (today Forrest Place), or fishing down at the river. They saw the convicts working on the roads and heard the curfew at night; learned to tell the time by the Town Hall clock and may have helped their father in his workshop, or the vegie garden. (56) 

In 1874 Mary, now 44, was pregnant again when Joseph became ill and died aged 8 on 29th of April. The cause of death is unknown, possibly a common childhood  diseases such as diphtheria or measles, or even dysentery, so often fatal for children at the time.  He was buried in the cemetery in East Perth and later transferred to Karrakatta with his parents in the Oriol family grave (57). 

Three months later, on July 27, Mary gave birth to a daughter at Casa Oriol. She was baptised and christened two weeks later as Mary Catherina on 9 August by Isidro’s friend Bishop Martin Griver. However she was always known by the family as Mary Margaret (58).

 

Her father doted on their only daughter and she was a welcome distraction to her parents in their grief at the death of Joseph.  In spite of the 12 year age difference Mary and Dan were always good friends. 

 Mary  and Daniel grow up 

At Casa Oriol, Mary and Daniel continued to live in a growing city. Roads were  gradually being paved with tar, street lighting was introduced (first gas then electricity). Cattle were still  driven to market along Murray Street but Hansom cabs were becoming  a familiar sight (59).

From 1880 to 1888 Mary Oriol attended the Sisters of Mercy’s Young Ladies School in Victoria Square, a short walk from Casa Oriol.  She was accompanied by her friends the Misses Boladeras who lived across the road in Goderich Street. where their father ex-Brother Ignacio Boladeras operated a large general store. They enjoyed many social events together including helping Mrs Boladeras run a stall a spectacular 'fancy fair' at the Town Hall to raise funds for the Catholic Church (60).

After leaving school, Daniel worked with his father, and in the WA Almanacs of 1886 and 1887 (aged 20 and 21), Daniel is listed as a cabinet maker. From 1879 to 1882 Isidro is listed in the same document as a ‘house proprietor’; so Daniel may have taken over the furniture business while Isidro concentrated on managing his property holdings. 

Perth was still a collection of small shops and cottages but it was growing as the Gold rush transformed the city.  Over the next few decades Isidro bought and sold various properties as well as developing the cottages on Lot 16. The Perth Rate books and Wise Post Office directories from 1893 to 1912  list the tenants –often tradesmen and widows – for the two shops and the five cottages in Oriol Lane on Lot Q16  (61).  Among the shops was Peter Gugeri's Wine Agency. 

Isidro and the Benedictines  

Isidro continued to be on good terms with Bishop Salvado and monks in the Benedictine community. According to family oral history, New Norcia monks visiting Perth would often stay overnight, sleeping on the veranda of Casa Oriol in Goderich Street.  

New Norcia Correspondence records how he would help ex-Brothers in other ways too, such as finding accommodation, minding their savings and helping them adjust to the outside world.  One such friend was Daniel Rotaheche, mentioned by Isidro in his correspondence with Salvado and whose widow Ellen lived in  Oriol Cottages. Her funeral left from there on 11th July, 1892 (62).

He also acted as a messenger between Bishop Salvado and ex-Brothers in Perth, delivering letters and passing on messages.  Below is an extract of a letter from Isidro  to Salvado, dated 5 December 1890,  re the whereabouts of the baker Juan Sands (63).

(TRANSLATION) Today or tomorrow I will write to you with any news that I have of your baker. May health and peace be with you Fathers and Brothers and the grace of God be with all of us.  Your servant, Y. Oriol

Isidro regularly visited his old friend Father Martin Griver, later Bishop Griver, at the Bishop’s Palace in Victoria Square . Like Isidro he came from the province of Girona, in Catalonia and they had much in common – including their language,. A deeply spiritual man Griver, gave Isidro this Spanish crucifix (below) now at New Norcia where this photo was taken (64) .

When Griver became frail and ill in the 1880s, Isidro often sat with him, 'talking in their own language' (probably Catalan) until the nuns came (64).  Griver was described by O’Brien (p. 230) as ‘a caring missionary priest who never lost his Spanishness’.  Bishop  Griver’s passing in 1888 was, O’Brien suggests, the end of an era of Spanish influence for the Catholic Church in WA (65).

 

Changes in Western Australia

The WA gold discoveries in the 1880s and 1890s were a great boost to the economy of the city of Perth. In 1888, English entrepreneur Edward T. Hope moved his general and drapery store Bon Marche next door to Isidro’s property in Howick (Hay) Street. Then, when Hope died suddenly in 1895, the store was sold to Adelaide lawyer and businessman George Cargeeg, who with his partner Elias Dimant renovated the store with an up-market and lavish launch in 1895 that caused a sensation – Perth had seen nothing like it before! ( 66.)

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Bon Marche in 1897 decorated for Queen Victoria's Silver Jubilee. Winner of £20 prize for best decorations. (Courtesy State Library of WA.)

In 1907 Bon Marche was rebuilt after a damaging fire. Designed by architect J. Talbot Hobbs, the impressive two and three storey building extended from Hay Street through to Murray Street and included all Isidro's land (66a).  

In 1898, in keeping with their changing circumstances, Isidro and his family left the city and moved from Casa Oriol to a lavish new two-storey town house he had built in Forrest Avenue, East Perth, on the corner of Plain Street overlooking Queen’s Gardens. 

Hillcrest, 64 Forrest Avenue East Perth, shortly after completion.(Photo Oriol Collection)

The house was finished just in time for his daughter (and our grandmother) Mary’s marriage to Victorian Joseph John O’Hara, who, like many t’othersiders, had moved to Perth from Melbourne because of the gold rushes. Coincidentally, while travelling to Perth on the S.S. Adelaide, Joe met and befriended Mary’s brother Daniel Oriol (67) and through him met his sister Mary.

Mary Oriol marries Joseph John O'Hara

Joe was manager of the English-owned West Australian Goldmining Company Limited (based in Coolgardie), from 1897 – 1898 and was a handsome man, reputed to have a fine singing voice (68). He must have charmed 22 year-old Mary, who seems to have been leading a busy social life, going to the races and attending balls (69).

Mary (24) and Joe (33) were married at St Mary’s Cathedral on 6 September 1898, by Fr. Bourke followed by a ‘sumptuous breakfast at the residence of the bride’s parents, during which many happy speeches were made and endless good wishes expressed’. There were no photos but the event was described in exuberant detail in the Social Notes of the West Australian (70). 

Mary and Joe lived in Perth for many decades, and for much of this time they lived very near Isidro and Mary. The latter bought three houses in Hill Street in 1901, including one with a workshop, where Isidro and Mary lived for the rest of their lives. Joe and Mary O’Hara, and their growing family of five children, were accommodated comfortably next door in Hill Street, while the home in Forrest Avenue was leased. Later it became the O'Hara family home.

Meanwhile, Isidro and Mary’s son Daniel was moving with the times. An early motor car owner, Daniel drove his friend Harry Dyer’s Humberette in the first car rally from Perth to Armadale in 1903 (72.) Apparently Daniel’s own car, an early de Dion Bouton, was less suited for rally driving. He was also a power boat enthusiast and a foundation member of the Perth Flying Squadron and won the prestigious Ruddell Cup for ocean racing in 1905 (73). However, Daniel was no playboy. He was a skilled cabinet maker and made his own business opportunities, including selling petrol. He also helped to manage his father’s businesses, particularly in Isidro’s later years. Dan did not marry but was a fond uncle to Mary and Joe’s children  (74).

Isidro's later years

Isidro was kind and generous and a dedicated family man who 'looked after the girls' and allowed friends in need to use Oriol cottages. Among them was Mary Leahy, widow of his wife's immigrant brother school teacher Thomas Leahy, who arrived from Ireland with his family in 1892, sponsored by Mary Oriol (75). 

When his daughter Mary married Joe O’Hara in 1898, the house and property were part of a Marriage Settlement which Isidro prepared for Mary to ensure it remained in her family for the next 100 years. However this was not legally binding and did not eventuate (76). 

In his last years when he became frail, he continued living with his wife Mary in their home  in Hill Street while his affairs were managed by son Dan,  lawyer friend Walter Dwyer, and his grandson Isidro Charles O'Hara. 

Portrait of Isidro in his 80s (Oriol Collection)

Isidro died aged 87 on 9 August 1912, and was buried in the family grave at East Perth Cemetery with his son Joseph (77).  The West Australian’s obituary mentions his Spanish origins and success as an old colonist, who was born in Barcelona, Spain, and ‘arrived in this State with the late Bishop Salvado  62 years ago. After spending five years at New Norcia he came to Perth and started in business, from which he retired 30 years ago’.

The pall bearers, reflecting Isidro’s life-long friendships and his contribution to the Spanish and Irish Catholic communities in Perth, were: former Lord Mayor of Perth and builder of His Majesty’s Theatre, Mr. T.G.A. (Tom) Molloy, Walter Dwyer M.L.A., J. J. Corbett (the son-in-law of Ignacio Boladeras), and E.J. Rodoreda (the son of his old friend Jeronimo Rodoreda)  (78). The chief mourners were son Dan Oriol, Mr J. J. O’Hara and young grandsons Masters Isidro, Leo and Leonard O’Hara. 

Isidro’s wife Mary, who spent her last years living with daughter Mary Margaret, died 2/8/1918 and was buried with Isidro and Joseph at the East Perth Cemetery (79). Their grave is now at Karrakatta,

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The Spanish settlers in WA were few in number but they made an important contribution to the development of the colony and their story remains an important part of early West Australian history.

FOOTNOTES TO CHAPTER 6 (Chapter 5 continued) 

37.  Lot 1 consisted of ‘new built premises with shop and five rooms. No 2 Lot, a 6-roomed Cottage and a small Cottage in garden, No 3 Lot, half-grant facing Murray Street, a small Cottage on it and 11,000 bricks with frames for a four-roomed Cottage. The whole is well fenced off.’ The Perth Gazette and West Australian Times, February 3, 1865 p.4

38.  SROWA Correspondence with Colonial Secretary Perth 10 April 1865   No 15269 (CSR vol 3057260)

39. Application by Isidro Oriol for British citizenship 18  April  Ordinance to Naturalize Isidro Oriol 7 July 1865. Legislative Council Records, 29 Victoriae No 6.    

40. Harris p. 71 , and NN Archive correspondence on Isidro Oriol

41. O'Brien p. 143,   Stibi, Sr Frances, PBVM, ‘Cathedral Construction: Building the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary’, New Norcia Studies, No 14, 2006, pp.1-13.

 42. D Erickson, Inspired by Light & Land: Designers and Makers in Western Australia 1829-1969, Perth, UWA Press (2019) p.65

43. Shipping records and Harris p.72

44. DDS Interviews 1992. Notes in Oriol Papers. 

45  CT Stannage The People of Perth: A Social History of Western Australia’s Capital City. Western Australia, Perth City Council,1979. p.14

46. He is listed in WA Almanac as a Carpenter and Joiner between 1863 and 1874, and from 1873 to 1881 as a Cabinet Maker in the Herald Almanac and from 1875 to 1877 in the WA Almanac

47. NNA Oriol correspondence (date?) or Harris p.72

48. Harris p.73 and  New Norcia archives)

49. DDS interviews Ibid.

50.  Loan Exhibition, Perth Gazette and West Australian Times , 16 September 1870 p.2

51. Interview P. Daly Smith, granddaughter, memories of Mary O'Hara, June 2015. Notes in Oriol Papers. 

52 Source of petition of 1868 (I.O. newspaper extracts file)

53. Perth Electoral List The Perth Gazette and West Australian Times, 23 September, 1870). p2,

54. Memorial Book 6 No 1159, SROWA

55. Roman Catholic boys' School Annual Examinations: Perth Gazette and West Australian Times (WA) (1864-1874), Friday 27 December 1872, page 3)

56. Mary O’Hara conversations in Oriol family Oral History.

57. Correspondence with East Perth Cemetery volunteer re Oriol burials in East Perth.

58. Certificate of Baptism, St Mary's Cathedral, diocese of Perth, 2/7/2009 and H Natt correspondence with Sr. Francis Stibi, Diocesan archivist.

59, Stannage passim.

60. Jean Boladeras interview with Hilaire Natt and FANCY FAIR IN THE TOWN HALL. (1893, January 3). The West Australian (Perth, WA : 1879 - 1954), p. 2.

61. Western Australian Almanacs 1863 to 1887.  From 1879 to 1882  Isidro is listed in the WA Almanac as a House Proprietor and his interest is evidenced in the Perth Rate books and Wise Post Office directories from 1893 to 1896 which list the tenants in Oriol Cottages.  Also Stannage Passim.

62. Advertising (1902, August 2). The West Australian (Perth, WA : 1879 - 1954), p. 5.

63. Correspondence summaries, New Norcia Archives, and H. Natt's correspondence with archivist Peter Hocking.  Translation by Judith McGuinness.

64.   Doreen Daly Smith interviews with Hilaire Natt 1992

65. O'Brien Ibid p.230

66. 'News and Notes', West Australian, 23 February 1895, p.5

66a. . Bon Marche remained in the Oriol / O'Hara family until 1957 when it was purchased by David Jones.  It was later demolished and replaced by Cinema City theatres then a block of impressive apartments. 

67. Shipping: SS Adelaide Daily News, 9 October 1892 , p.2

68. JJ O'Hara was employed by the West Australian Gold Mining Company Limited in Coolgardie in 1896 and was manager of the company in 1897 until his marriage in 1898 when he was replaced by an English Mining Engineer . Ref. Biography of JJ O'Hara by Hilaire Natt 2018, unpub.

69. 'Dress at the Rowing Club Ball', West Australian 30 September 1897 p,3; 'Dresses at the Races',  Western Mail 28 May 1897 p.9; Mayoral Reception: West Australian 28 January 1898 p.3.

70.  'Social Notes', West Australian, 9 September 1898, p.6

71. Oriol papers including valuation documents, Isidro's will and probate documents , Supreme Court,  30 September 12 1912. Accessed from SRO on 13 May 2017.

72. Photo record of  Dan Oriol driving Humberette at Armadale Rally 1903. Oriol photo collection

73,  The Rudder Cup (valued at three  Guineas which now becomes the absolute property of Mr Oriol, Western Mail ,4 June 1910, p. 9; Perth Flying Squadron Annual Meeting, West Australian, Friday 2 September 1910, p.9. 

74. Oriol Family Oral History

 

75.  Leahy Correspondence and Oriol Cottage Rate Notices , City of Perth

76.  Metropolitan Cemeteries Board.  Isidro Oriol was buried in the East Perth Cemetery on 19 August 1912.

77. Funerals, West Australian, 23 August 1912 p.12

78. Correspondence with East Perth Cemetery volunteer Sandra Hayward, re records of Oriol burials in East Perth. Mary's Death Certificate, Perth Register No 728

THE END