Goodsir Millar Davidson & Rose-Anne Moss ...
Goodsir Millar Davidson was the sixth of Robert and Margaret’s children, and the first to be born in Mt Egerton, arriving in 1871. Upon finishing his schooling in Mt Egerton, he helped run a cyanide plant with his brothers, Robert and Duncan, extracting gold out of the sand.
Goodsir married Rose Ann Moss at the Cathedral Church in 1898, and they went on to have 4 children – Arthur Henry, Herbert Oswald, Goodsir Millar, with the fourth sadly being stillborn and unnamed. Whilst they commenced their family life in Mt. Egerton, over the following years the family moved to the South Gippsland region, before finally making their way up to New South Wales and settling into farming life in Whitton.
Goodsir Millar Davidson & Rose Ann Moss
In 1910, Goodsir and his family moved to Kongwak, in South Gippsland, where he leased a dairy farm called ‘Ida Hill’. A move to Korumburra followed in 1913 where they leased a second dairy farm called ‘Ivy Hill’. Both farms were about 100-150 acres and had around 60 head of Ayrshires which were milked 4 at a time by kerosene petrol-driven milking machines. The process involved the fat being separated from the milk and the skimmed milk was given to the cows and poddy calves. The cream went into cans which were left at the front gate to be collected by horse and cart and taken to the butter factories at Kongwak and Korumburra.
Around 1915, Goodsir travelled up to the Jerilderie region in New South Wales to share farm a wheat crop at the ‘Edgecomb’ farm, owned by an associate by the name of Don Langham. On his arrival at Jerilderie, he bought cultivators and a stripper to work the land.
In early 1916, he visited Leeton in New South Wales to visit his wife’s sister. He obviously took a liking to the area and, in April 1916, applied for a block of land. He placed a deposit on the block before returning back to his dairy farm in Korumburra and selling the cattle and most of their possessions.
Along with his son, Bert, he travelled by train to Whitton and was to become one of the pioneers of the district. On their arrival in May 1916, Goodsir and Bert purchased some general supplies before being taken out to their new home, Farm 892, by a local in a horse and cart. They had brought a tent and blankets with them to provide them with some form of shelter. Goodsir and his son proceeded to set up camp, and once that was done, started to build a horse yard.
After a few weeks, Goodsir left Bert and made his way back to Korumburra to pick up Rose, and their sons Arthur and young Goodie. Upon arrival back in Whitton, the family set themselves up in a tin shed and a couple of tents. They purchased 13 Friesian cows, and built a small dairy shed. The cows were milked by hand and the cream was picked up and transported the 25 kilometres to Leeton. They also had six Clydesdale draught horses.
Around 10 years after their arrival in the district, the family commenced the building of their house on Farm 892 with Goodsir, his brother Duncan, and his 3 sons all helping to build their new home.
The farms grew crops of oranges, peaches, apricots, sultanas and currants. The citrus was taken to Leeton and packed up for transportation to the markets in Sydney. The currants and sultanas were dried and sold. All work was done by horse drawn disc and cultivator. At first, a single furrow was put down each side of the rows of fruit trees by going round and round. Later, a cultivator was purchased with three furrowing-out shovels fitted, making the job a lot quicker and easier.
The spray barrel was drawn by a horse, and had a petrol driven pump on it to which 2 horses were connected. When spraying for scale on the orange trees, they would lay down half a dozen tarpaulins. The dust spray would be pumped in under the tarps and left overnight. This process would continue daily until all the trees had been fumigated.
In 1995, the farms were still in the family, mainly comprising orchards growing citrus fruits and some grapes.
Goodsir and Rose continued to farm in the Leeton district until their retirement around 1938 when they moved to Daylesford where they remained until Goodsir’s death in 1944, at the age of 73. They lived in Duke Street, next door to Goodsir’s sister, Susan Davidson. Upon her husband’s death, Rose remained in Daylesford until she passed away in 1954 at the age of 75, when she was buried with her husband at Mt. Egerton Cemetery.
FUNERAL
DAVIDSON - The funeral of the late Mr Goodsir M. Davidson, of Duke Street, Daylesford, and a former resident of Mt. Egerton, took place on Tuesday afternoon. A service was held at the Church of England, Mt. Egerton, prior to the remains being interred in the Mt. Egerton cemetery. The coffin-bearers were Messrs A. Davidson, Duncan Davidson, Jack Davidson, E. Davidson, Jim Davidson, and Joe Devlin (nephews). A beautiful collection of wreaths and floral tributes was received. Miss A De Cavalho presided at the organ. The Rev. J. Guest conducted the services at the church and graveside. The funeral arrangements were carried out by H. Evans and Son. - Ballarat Courier
FUNERAL
DAVIDSON - The funeral of the late Mrs Rose Ann Davidson, widow of the late Goodshire Millar Davidson, will leave the Church of England, Mt. Egerton on Monday, after a service commencing at 2 p.m. for the Mt. Egerton Cemetery. H. Evans & Sons Phone 563. - Ballarat Courier
Grave of Goodsir Millar Davidson & Rose Ann Moss
Please note: More detailed information on the children and their families of Goodsir and Rose Ann Davidson will be added at a later date.
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Sources:
The Egertonian: Kith and Kin of our Clan Davidson - written by Gail Chambers and Lydia Davidson 1995 (edited by Gail Erwood 2021)