David Missingham was born in 1855 in Kiama New South Wales. He was a mining Engineer and Mayor of Charters Towers in 1893. In 1897 he traveled to Western Australia, arriving before his family. He sent many letters back to his wife Annie and their eight children. One of his children, Hal Missingham, was to become a well known Australian artist and was the director of the Art Gallery of New South Wales from 1945 -1971. Each week I will be posting a transcribed letter which gives an amazing account of day to day life in the early Coolgardie/Kalgoorlie Goldfields. It tells of the struggle of everyday life and the difficulties of separated families. David has a wry sense of humour and tells his story to Alice in a way to cheer his wife so far away. The letters start from Brisbane Queensland on route to Western Australia.
The original letters are held by the J S Batty Library of Western Australia. The letters are preserved under the ‘Save Our Century Fund’ Transcription by Dr Criena Fitzgerald.
Text is in ‘Red’ has been added to assist the reader or to explain an event which is mentioned.
Mosman Street, Charters Towers Queensland
Brisbane Queensland
5 November 1896 6 p.m.
My Dearest Annie
I hurriedly scribbled you a letter yesterday from here just after my arrival and since then I have seen and interviewed ‘Mr Lissner’ and find that I will not start until tomorrow night’s steamer and perhaps not even then. I am to meet the directors of two mines tomorrow to arrange matters with their relative to the management thereof and the amount of screw (money) that they can afford to pay. This delay has also given me the opportunity of seeing Edith and I got here to send you an urgent wire today saying that I had gone south. I sent it that way because my dear I know you must be thinking me very forgetful and also that you will be worrying more than you should. Also, because it will be sure to leak out in the telegraph office (at least I suspect that it will) and further mislead my gentle friends that do not like parting with me.
Edith seems quite right a little thinner perhaps but not much, she is lodging with Mrs Wells in May Street South Brisbane not with a Mrs May in Jane Street as Lily led me to suppose. The boy looks well & the baby seems a good tempered youngster.
The eldest however does not seem to be under much control in fact does mush as he likes, Vivian that is his awful name, they might as well have called him Zedekiah or Bartholomew, does not think much of me because I threatened to cut his legs off etc. Edith would like to go to Perth to her husband but as yet he is not doing much and things are very dear over there especially the cost of living besides the discomforts of a new place, flies, water & rather the want of it. Tinned beef, no vegetables except tinned stuff and the heat is very bad.
My destination at first is Coolgardie then on to Kalgoorlie in the first to report & give opinions and in the second to manage for a Brisbane firm other arrangements will be probably arranged as I go south. I am very lonely without you and Davie, Madge, Zilla and Jack and miss you continuously. I expect you are just putting them together for tea under the usual difficulties. Tell Davie that I expect him to be the boss now and look after everything and help you all that he can of course Madge will do so without telling and mind dear Ann that the more contented you are the sooner it will be our meeting again. I am not sure yet of getting out of the Colony without having that writ served on me somehow everyone knows me in fact today I met Dawson Macdonald, Lissner, a Towers miner whose name I don’t know & several others. I came down part of the way with Brand of Townsville and met O’ Driscoll on the Gympie platform. I have also seen lots of others who I knew years gone by who have forgotten me & whose acquaintance I did not seek to renew. My future movements here will be guided by circumstances and I hope that I will get through.
I can’t see why that fool Beattie wishes to worry me as the only chance for his Bank to get paid is to allow or even assist me to earn the amount necessary. If my dear you want any advice re any matters AH Pritchard will be able to advise you keep up your condition little sweetheart and all’s well. I believe by the way that I am improving in condition already in fact getting fat now with very best love to you & Davie, Madge, Zilla and Jack I am Dearest yours ever. D Missingham.
Moya Sharp
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Very interesting reading, as you say it would be interesting to read his wife’s letters also. It seems to me he is in debt and maybe a bit of a con man. I would like to read the whole story of this family.
Hi Colleen Yes the return letters would be very interesting, we have quite a few of his letters to come. There indeed does seem to be some sort of ‘financial cloud’ when he left Charters Towers but I haven’t been able to find out exactly what. With the next letter I will post a pic of Annie and the children.
hi moya sharp arn weirmaniam related to the missinghams good work keep going my grat gart gart grandfather was one off the fonders off charters towers qld groege jelf he was a butchers my trade but he got in owening big lost off land and gold mines
hi again moya arn weirman again the missingham family married in to the nobles thy are from new south wales some off the family moved up to qld then to western australia there were lost off my family on my dad and mum side in charters towers and western australia thanks again its good reading theam regards arn weirman