home

Maud Meier separated from her husband in the mid-1930s and settled at Pakenham where her brothers lived. Her brothers 'adored her' and called her Bridget.

About Me

Resume
References
History
Grange & Gilgin
Kilpatrick
McIver
McPherson
Meier
Melville
Pollock
Smeaton

Writing

Information Science
Web Development
Indonesia
Demography

Meier Family

Heinrich Meier (1814-98) and Helene Leschen (1830-1901)

Heinrich Ludwig Meier (sometimes spelt Meyer)

According to his gravestone my great great grandfather Heinrich Ludwig Meier was born 27th January 1814 in Goldtau, Hanover, Germany. However Goldtau may be a mis-spelling as I have been unable to locate it - perhaps he originated from the then Hanoverian town of Soltau, situated halfway between the cities of Hanover and Hamburg.

It is thought that Heinrich Meier came to Australia in about 1845. [Note: A Heinrich Meyer arrived in South Australia on the "Heerjeebhoy Rustomjee Patel" on 18 Sep 1845. However he came with wife and three children. His profession is listed as shoemaker.] A Heinrich Ludwig Meyer of Port Gawler, South Australia, and a native of Hanover, was naturalised in 1852. He had been living in the colonies for seven years. His occupation was lacemaker.

On 21st August 1855 he married Helena Johanna Amalia Leschen (baptised as Helene Johanna Amalie) at the Lutheran chapel, Klemzig. The Adelaide suburb of Klemzig was the site of the initial German settlement in South Australia. Their ages were given as 41 and 25 years.

Helene Joanna Amalie Leschen

Helene Johanna Amalie Leschen was born 14 June 1830 in Rendsburg, Schleswig-Holstein,and baptised on 13 August the same year. I have her handwritten (in German) birth/baptism certificate (no. C21676) which lists her parents as being:

• Christian Heinrich Leschen, goldsmith, and
• Maria Magdalena (nee Porath).

The production of the certificate may have been part of her preparations for emigration to Australia - which one assumes occured between 1851 and 1855.

Her father, Christian Heinrich Leschen, goldsmith of Rendsburg (1 Mar 1792, Rendsburg-15 Mar 1867, Moculta, S.A.); emigrated to Australia later than Helene - arriving in South Australia with four children on the Peter Godeffroy in 1857. He is buried at the Moculta Gnadenberg Zion Lutheran Cemetery.

• Christian Leschen, born cir 1820
• Therese Leschen, born cir 1820
• Frederick Leschen born cir 1833
.
• [Heinrich] Adolph Leschen born 1837, died 1916

One of Helene's siblings was Heinrich Adolph Leschen, who became 'the father of gymnastics in South Australia' - See his Australian Dictionary of Biography entry. Other siblings who arrived with him were Christian, Therese & Friedrich.

During WW1 Adolf Leschen claimed Polish ancestry and Danish links. Rendsburg was long a contested area between Germans and Danes. However the anti-German mood may have influenced these claims. More on the Leschen's is available at this Leschen family history website created by Don Collett.

A letter from my great-uncle Harry Meier, reproduced below, indicates that Heinrich was blinded by a gunshot blast. He died aged 85 at Mt. Gambier on the 12th November 1898. His occupation was listed as labourer. Helena Meier (Leschen) died at Mt. Gambier on 25th January 1901.

Image and inscription of their grave.

The primary interest of this website is in the family of the son of Heinrich Meier and Helene Leschen - Louis Henry Meier. However his siblings are also of interest.

Child 1 - Charlotte Aston (nee Meier) (c.1855-?)

According to the Digger South Australian marriages CD-Rom, Charlotte Meier, daughter of Henry Meier, and aged 23, married William Aston at Christ Church Mount Gambier on 13 November 1878. William's father was John Aston.

No anecdotal evidence has come to light on her life.

Child 2 - May Theresa Frederika Cossons (nee Meier) (c.1859-?)

According to the Digger South Australian marriages CD-Rom, May Theresa Frederika Meier, daughter of Henry Ludwig Meier, and aged 22, married Joe Cossons at the residence of Mr. Meier at Mount Gambier on 26 December 1881. Joe's father was William Cossons.

No anecdotal evidence has come to light on her life.

Child 3 - Louis Henry Meier (c.1863-1934)

My great grandfather Lou Meier was born at Bundaleer Springs sometime between 1863 and 1866. The locality of Bundaleer Springs is situated about six kilometers SSW of Jamestown on the Road to Spalding. There is no township but a school existed there from 1895-1946. He left South Australia for Victoria in about 1883. At the time of his marriage in 1890 his current address was given as Middle Creek near Buangor. However his usual address was given as Natimuk. Natimuk was a predominantly German town in the Wimmera near the South Australian border.

Louis Henry Meier married Alice Maud Mary Grange (born 1866) [see Grange file] at Ararat on 21st January 1890 under Church of England rites. He is listed then as a coachbuilder. At the birth of his daughter in Adelaide in 1892 he is listed as a storeman.

It appears that after their marriage they moved back to Adelaide (Norwood) and then to Mt.Gambier. One suspects this may have been related to looking after his ageing parents.

Their children were

• Helena Ellen May, born 4 April 1891 at Norwood and died there aged 17 months on 28 Sep 1892,
• Maude or Maud, born 7 September 1892 at Vernon St., Norwood.
• Nellie, died aged 5 days at Mt Gambier 15 Sep 1894
• Henry Richard Louis (Harry), born 5 June 1897 at Mt. Gambier,
• Albert John (Dick), born 1900, also on 5 June, in Naracoorte, South Australia, and
• Roy Frederick, born 1912 at Ararat.

In 1908 the family was living at Buangor, near Ararat in Victoria, and Lou Meier is listed as a farmer. From at least 1912-1919 they were living at Challicum, a large property near Buangor, where Lou was on the electoral roll as a wheelwright.

By 1924 they had moved to Melbourne. He was listed as a farmer of Boisdale Street, Surrey Hills. By 1931 they had moved to Gembrook Road, Packenham.

Lou Meier died at Battersby's Store, Pakenham on the 5 January 1934. He was then a retired carpenter. Alice Meier (nee Grange) remained at Gembrook Rd, Packenha and died 29 September 1954 aged 88. Picture of Alice in early 1950s. Her grand-daughter, Heather Pollock, remembers Grandma Meier as being a big women who was very religious. She could be heard saying her prays nightly. Lou and Alice are both buried in Melbourne's Burwood cemetery.

Maud Meier (1892-1950)

My grandmother Maud Charlotte Meier has born at 2? (twenty something) Vernon Street, Norwood, Adelaide on 7 September 1892. She married James McPherson at Ballarat in 1912 [see McPherson file]. It was apparently a big wedding, with Maud being the only daughter, amongst the four surviving children of Lou and Alice. Maud and James lived at various places in Victoria - Swan Hill, Lilydale and Buangor, before moving to West Wyalong in the northern Riverina in the early 1920s. However, Maud separated from her husband in the mid-1930s and settled at Pakenham where her brothers lived. According to her eldest daughter, my late Auntie Adeline, her brothers 'adored her' and called her Bridget. She lived there until her death in 1950. A picture of her in the 1940s. She is buried at Pakenham close two of her children, Norman and Jean. Their is also a plaque commemorating Adeline on Maud's grave.

Henry Richard Louis (Harry) Meier (1897-1973)

Sometimes also listed as Louis Richard Henry

He worked at Challicum for some time. He first married Ruby Clarice Matthews in 1917 (Reg 6298). A daughter Evelyn Lorraine was born at Ballarat in 1918 (Reg 16451). Ruby was living at 715 Skipton St Ballarat in 1919, while Harry was a labourer at Buangor. Ruby ran off with another man after the Great War and they divorced in 1924. It was a great scandal at the time apparently. See the following newspaper article from 1924.

Harry soon after married Muriel Ina Peart and they lived at Surrey Hills, Melbourne for many years, he worked in the valve room at the Gas and Fuel in Melbourne. Their address was 9 Glendale St, Surrey Hills from at least 1931 to 1936. Harry served in World War II. They moved to Pakenham after he retired, and lived next to the Wyatt's farm on Gembrook Road. Harry and Muriel's children were Bonny, Bill, Sidney, Dicky and Elise. They also adopted a daughter Christine, who was born about 1950.

Harry died in 1973 aged 75 (Reg 17744). I believe Muriel died in 1961 aged 63 (Reg 6409).

Of their children:

• Bonny Elizabeth - born Carlton 1926 (Reg 724) and died the same year. She is buried with Harry and Muriel at Burwood Cemetery.
• Dicky (christened Richard Henry) married Mary Jarvis in 1948 at Liverpool, Sydney.
• Bill (Myers) was a farrier (blacksmith) living in Yarra Glen.
• Sid (born about 1932) was a steward on ANL ships and lives at Hopper's Crossing.
• Elise married Freddy Taylor. They lived in Pakenham where they had a son, Peter. Elise died in the early 1960s (one account) or about 1973 (another). Peter Lives in Packenham. Later Freddy Taylor married Beryl

Albert John (Dick) Meier (1900-1974)

He, like Harry worked at Challicum. He married Ivy Louisa Kleinert in 1922 (Vic cert 12961). Ivy who was also of German background. She was born in 1898 to William. Kleinert and Emily Radford.

According tocensuses they lived at: 257 Union St Surrey Hills in 1924; in 1931 they were listed twice, at "Kingswood" Broughton Rd Surrey Hills & Boundary Rd (Camberwell?); in 1936 they were at 14 Verdun St, Surrey Hills.

Dick was for a time a policeman, but apparently was dismissed when the Victorian force went on strike. Children included Gwen(neth) who married a Mr. Rossiter, and John, a baker, who married but had no children. Dick was 'later a bachelor' and died while fishing at Eildon Weir - aged 74 in 1974 (Reg 6301). Ivy died in 1952 (Reg 18624).

Roy Frederick Meier (1912-1969)

Thought to be originally a cabinet maker, Roy also had a farm along the Gembrook Road at Packenham. Roy died aged 56 in 1969 (Reg 6021). His son "Young" Roy was killed aged 21 in a car accident (1971). They are both buried at Packenham Cemetery. Daughter Jane is married and lives in Packenham. Sarah is the other daughter.

Child 4 - Adolph Theodore Herman Meier (c.1864-1942)

Born "around 1860s" at Bundaleer Springs, South Australia, he later called himself John rather than Adolph. He married Alice Edgecombe (born 1877) at Norwood Salvation Army Barracks on 14 Sep 1893, when he was aged 29. Their children included two daughters: Jessie (3 August 1895); Milward Merle (known as Merle) (4 November 1896); and John Keith Meier "who was approximately 14 years younger than Merle".

In the early 1900s, before the birth of son John Keith, the family went mining to Ravensthorpe in Western Australia. Their are two geological features in the area throught to be named after Adolph Meier - Mt. Meier near Southern Cross and Meier's Find.

At the time of his marriage he was a bootmaker. He was also a drover in the outback of northern and central Australia and later had a grocery shop. Harry Meier's letter gives other, only partially substantiated information about Adolph Meier. According to their grand-daughter Allison White, Adolph and Alice Meier lived in Verdun Street Kensington, only a few streets from the Norwood Street where his parents lived.

Their daughter Jessie Meier married Harrold Brooks in Adelaide. Their children were Dudley, Linda Merle (known as Merle) and Carmen.

Mr and Mrs Meier came from Germany about year 1845 and landed at Adelaide, later taking up land at [left blank in document]. There they carried out sheep farming.

Dingos being bad, sheep had to be yarded each night and a close watch kept over night. Grandad Meier going around the sheep yards saw some dingoes. He fired a shot from his old muzzle loading rifle which exploded and the bullet struck him above his eyes, blinding him for life. They later settled in Mount Gambier - Gran or Mother Meier nursing in Mount Gambier Hospital - Grandfather pottering around as best he could in his garden. They spent the rest of their life at Mount Gambier and both are resting in the local cemetery.

There were four children, Louis Meier, Adolph Meier, Mary and Sofia. I cannot say what became of the girls, but my Dad Louis learned his trade as a coach builder and Adolph a bootmaker.

Father (Louis) carried on his work and Adolph after learning his trade went cattle droving up North and in the Territory. Coming home after many years away he told many stories of crossing rivers infested with crocodiles and many fights with the blacks, who, at the time were hostile. After he was home awhile he moved to Western Australia. There he carried on his trade and had two sons who had camel trains out back in the West. When the first world war broke out both went to France and were killed. Finis? Adolph Meier.

My father Louis came to Victoria and married my mother Maud Grange at Ararat. Mother's people came to Victoria in the 1840s and went to Ballarat Gold Fields. Grandma Grange's name was O'Shea and came from County Clare, Ireland.

Grandfather Grange came from England and was educated at Cambridge. They met and married at Ballarat and for some time lived at Ballarat, leaving after the Eureka Stockade. Grandma's two brothers took part in that fight, and after, left Victoria for California USA. After leaving Ballarat, Grandfather Grange settled on some land at Middle Creek, raising a family of seven - 5 girls and 2 boys; girls - Sofia, Elizabeth, Maud, Mary and Ada; boys - Albert and William. Albert a blacksmith and later a wheat farmer in W.A. William a police inspector at Russell Street Melbourne. Sofia went to W.A. and married, making a fortune out of water, as it was the only well for miles in the desert. Elizabeth, Mary and Ada all married and lived in Melbourne.

Maud, as I said, married my dad Louis Meier. After marrying at Ararat they went back to Mount Gambier and he worked at his trade. I and my sister Maud were born at Mount Gambier. Leaving Mount Gambier Dad moved to Naracoorte. There he bought a small farm on the Bordertown Road and carried on his trade in Naracoorte.

There my brother Albert was born. Grandma Meier arrived from Mount Gambier to nurse mother. Later Father sold out and came to Victoria buying a lot of bush land at Buangor. This land was largely timbered and bushy and he lost his money on it. (Today with the coming of bulldozers and super amd pasture seed it is in beautiful pastures, feeding sheep and cattle). Leaving there he worked on Challicum sheep and cattle station for many years as blacksmith and coach builder.

When I was 15 and Albert was 12 we share farmed for 5 years, giving it up as it did not pay. Wheat at that time was 2/6 a bushel 1913 to 1918. We then came to Melbourne buying land and house at Wattle Park about 1914.

Maud my sister married a James McPherson and went to NSW rearing a family of 6; 3 boys and 3 girls. Norman one of her sons is married and living in Pakenham, His wife's maiden name was Gladys Cornwell. They have three girls. Norman's sister Jean married Reg Wyatt of Pakenham and has a family of two girls - Janine and Susan; and 5 boys - Frank, Doug, Jonathan, Winston & Dallas.

Maud's other two daughters live in NSW. Heather married Edward Pollock a wheat and sheep farmer, and Adeline married a police inspector at Bourke. Heather has two sons, the oldest is farming and the youngest Neil in Sydney. Adeline had two daughters, one is school teaching on the McKenzie River in Canada. The youngest a nurse often travelling around the world, married a German Engineer and is settled at Port Kembla NSW.

After coming to Melbourne. I joined the Metro. Gas Co, after to become the Gas & Fuel Corp, and worked for them for 46 years. I met and married Muriel Peart having a family of 4; 3 boys Louis [Bill], Richard & Sydney. Daughter Elice. Louis is a farrier at Healesville. Richard a farrier at Boronia. Sydney went to sea and is a steward for Australian National Line. Elise married Frederick Taylor of North Nar Nar Goon and is settled on a farm in Moore Rd North Nar Nar Goon. Fred her husband is also a foreman driller for Albion Reids Quarrying Co. Elice/Fred have three children, Peter attending Packenham High, Joanne at Consolidated School Packenham and Carrol at Kinder Nar Nar Goon.

Harry L Meier

Note: this letter. probably written in the 1970s, was prepared for Peter, the son of Elise Taylor (nee Meier). The transcript is a faithful one with the exception that mis-spellings have been corrected and some punctuation altered to improve readability. The are statements in the document that are unverified and thus the letter should not necessarily be read as an accurate historical account

Thanks: to my late Auntie Ad, Jon Wyatt, Sid Meier, Jane Griffiths, Allison White, Norah Kendall and Penny Day.