05 June, 2015

From ship's mate to Hamilton station master

When Harry (Henry) Frank Nesbitt was christened in 1858 at St Pancras Old Church, London, his godfather was Admiral Sir Charles Kelso, of the British Navy.

This association would shape his destiny – his career choice, where he would live, and who he would marry.

Harry’s father, Anthony, who worked as a Clerk in the British Museum, died when the boy was 12. His godfather (and Anthony’s good friend) took him into his care. Little is known about Harry’s mother, Mary Ann Nesbitt, but she may well have found it hard to cope after her husband’s death.


Spelling book, used by Harry Nesbitt when attending school in London, 
annotated ‘born London 1853, died Hamilton 5/7/18 (1918)’[1]


It was natural, then, that Harry would be encouraged to look to the sea for a career. He enlisted as a trainee officer in the British Royal Navy. Later he transferred to the Merchant Navy. Apprenticed to work on deep sea vessels, Harry sailed on ships such as ‘Ranee’, ‘Agnes Edgell’, ‘GG Anjee’, ‘Cowan’, and the ‘Casablanca’. On occasion, Harry was on board ships berthing at Newcastle Harbour, in Australia.

Fate took a hand. Through Captain John William Carpenter, who was living in Denison Street, Hamilton NSW, Harry was introduced to Katherine (Catherine) Moy, Carpenter’s sister-in-law. Harry and Katherine married in 1878, but she accepted him on condition that he left the sea, and found a land job.


A later photograph of Harry Frank and Katherine Nesbitt, 1916


While Harry had gained his 2nd Mate’s Certificate and later his Master’s Certificate, he left the Navy without ever taking command of a ship. His last on-water job was on the Newcastle tug boats. What would he do now?

Harry joined the government railway service, in Newcastle, starting ‘from the bottom’ as a porter in the goods shed at Newcastle Station. During his time there, a son Anthony (1898), and a daughter Mary Ann (1882) were born. Two more sons and a daughter died soon after birth. In all, the couple had 9 surviving children. [2]

When Harry was promoted to Teralba Station as Officer in Charge, the post office was on the platform, and Harry’s job involved operating that too.


Harry Nesbitt (sixth from left) and staff on Teralba Railway Station


Harry and Katharine lived in an unused railway carriage until the station master’s house was built. 


Harry and Katherine Nesbitt with their 8 of their 9 children, in front of the heritage listed 
station master’s cottage at Teralba, n.d.
Their first born, Anthony, had gone to the WA goldfields


During their decade in Teralba, they were able to put down roots, and become involved in the community. Katharine embroidered altar cloths for St David’s Anglican Church and gave generously to miners when they were down on their luck.

Harry Nesbitt went on to serve as Station Master at Quirindi, Murrurundi, and Singleton until in 1909, he was transferred to Hamilton.

The neat Victorian buildings that we see today at Hamilton Station were not actually built until 1898. From the 1860s, the community had agitated, on and off, for a station at Hamilton, with two platforms, and proper access from both Hamilton and Islington. I wrote about some of this early history in my blog post on the Sydney Junction Hotel.

Railway Station Masters had considerable authority, being responsible for their staff, signal operation and the smooth running of the trains through their station.


Harry Nesbitt on Hamilton Station – the arrow identifies him


Harry Nesbitt would have been one of the earliest Station Masters at Hamilton, although not the first.



Dressed smartly for work on the NSW state railways – Harry Nesbitt (left) 
and railway staff at Hamilton Station


The Station Master was usually well respected in the community, and provided with a house near the station.


Hamilton Station Master’s Cottage, Hamilton NSW (n.d.)
The people in this photograph have previously not been identified. 
However, they are believed to be Harry Nesbitt, his wife Katherine, 
and one of their daughters
Photograph by Ralph Snowball, courtesy of Cultural Collections,
 University of Newcastle, Australia


Harry Nesbitt became a member of the Protestant Alliance Friendly Society of Australasia, Perseverance Lodge No. 40, in Hamilton. This Friendly Society provided medical and financial support for members and their families when the breadwinner was unable to work.

A skilled woodworker, Harry built furniture such as desks and stools as well as model ships, and frames for oil paintings done by daughter Mary Ann. His pieces were expertly joined with perfectly formed dovetailed joints. The timber came from Hely Brothers, a large manufacturing business conveniently nearby in Hudson Street, Hamilton. 

He retired from the railways in 1916.


Harry Nesbitt, third from left, with crew of Locomotive  361, Teralba, NSW, 20 March 1895
Photograph by Ralph Snowball, part of the 
Norm Barney Photographic Collection, 
courtesy of Cultural Collections, University of Newcastle, Australia


After Harry retired, the Nesbitt family lived at 39 Beaumont Street, in what was said to be ‘a beautiful house’.[3] Tucked behind a brick frontage that is now a Mexican restaurant, the weatherboard house is still there today.


The Nesbitt family home, 39 Beaumont Street, Hamilton


Frank and Katharine’s son and youngest child George (born 1894) had worked for a time in McIntyre's flour mill, another Hudson Street business.  George enlisted for service in what became the first World War.


Postcard from George Nesbitt to his father, postmarked France, February 24th, 1917
It is signed ‘With fondest love from your loving son, George’


George sustained a severe gunshot wound to his face. He was one of many who received extensive plastic surgery in England at what was then the Queen’s Hospital, Sidcup,

In 1918, while George was undergoing treatment, Harry  Nesbitt died of bronchial pneumonia, aged 65. Two years of retirement would not have been enough for this keen fisherman and wood craftsman.



The grave of Harry Frank Nesbitt, 1853-1918


After Harry  died, Katharine moved to a house in Hudson Street, where she lived until her death in 1935.

A large and loyal staff served the NSW government railways in its hey-day. The bare facts of their employment have been preserved in NSW State Records, along with something of the history of NSW Rail.[4] Yet it is stories like this one, of a young ship’s mate who found himself on the other side of the world, fell in love and married, and had to find a new career that reveal the pain, the pride, and joy in the everyday lives of people just like us – people who became part of railway history.


Hamilton Station, 2015
The station has heritage significance at a state level, as part of the wider 
Hamilton and Woodville Junction railway precinct, 
formerly one of the most important railway junctions in NSW [5]





Acknowledgement

My thanks to Brian Archer, great grandson of Harry Frank Nesbitt, for sharing information and photographs, thus providing a personal insight into the life of one of Hamilton’s earliest Station Masters. All photographs, unless otherwise attributed, are from Brian Archer’s family collection.

Related post

Search for the station master‘s house
http://hiddenhamilton.blogspot.com.au/2015/11/search-for-station-masters-house.html

















[1]  All photographs, unless otherwise attributed, are from the family collection of Brian Archer, great grandson of Harry Frank Nesbitt.
[2] Harry and Katharine’s surviving children were Anthony William, Mary Ann, Harry Frank, Margaret Culmer (Maggie), Edward J., Irene (Renee), Katherine, Edith, and George. Deceased children were Edward, Harry Frank (junior), and Flora.
[3] Personal communication from Brian Archer.
[4] https://www.records.nsw.gov.au/state-archives/research-topics/railway-employee-records
[5]http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/heritageapp/ViewHeritageItemDetails.aspx?ID=4801020

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