From Hamburg to Hobson's Bay : German emigration to Port Phillip (Australia Felix) 1848-51
Thomas A. Darragh, Robert N. Wuchatsch, Published 1999. PO Box 189 World Trade Centre Victoria 3005 in association with the Wendish Heritage Society AustraliaTrove Link. Google Books Link
Purchase at stonyrisesrun $40
May2020: Pemission granted by authors for publication of extracts from 26 pages.
Making a Start
In l846, the Port Phillip District was rapidly recovering from the depression of the early 1840s. The flocks of sheep that had been boiled down for tallow were now rapidly increasing again and there was a huge unmet demand for labour, not only in rural areas, but also in the towns as prosperity increased and spread. Immigration had declined and there were cries for more labour. (Book p1)
From an Port Phillip Gazette editorial early December 1846:
"..... We believe those persons who emigrate from that country pay their own passage, and commonly bring capital to some extent with them. They generally settle in communities and cultivate the soil, and are adverse to parting company and spreading over the face of the country. Port Phillip possesses many agricultural Districts, which would be eminently fitted to receive these hard-working emigrants..." (Port Phillip Gazette, 9/12/1846, p2)
The Germans "might purchase a section of splendid land, and form a township where they might earn an easy and respectable living free from taxation, and with no person to interfere in their local affairs". (Port Phillip Gazette, 9/12/1846, p2.) (Book p2)
The cost of fares to Australia was nearly double those to North America and were a great disincentive to emigration. It seems remarkable then that Australia attracted any German emigrants at all in the period prior to the gold rushes. (Book p25)
The first Germans to come to Australia in large numbers were the Old Lutherans who came to avoid religious persecution in Prussia. They chose Australia rather than North America because the South Australian Company offered them support. Long after active persecution ceased, Prussian Old Lutherans continued to come to South Australia because of continued dissatisfaction with their religious environment, particularly in Silesia. They also came as a result of chain migration of families, and importantly because of poor economic conditions and prospects in North Germany, especially in Silesia in the late 1840s. (Book p25)
They saw emigration as a means of establishing colonies of like-minded believers in a new country where they could lead a Christian life as they perceived it should be lived, away from corrupting influences. (Book p27)
..... dissatisfaction of many with political circumstances in the German states. This dissatisfaction eventually boiled over into revolution in many German towns. (Book p28)
The attitude of the German authorities to emigration was generally not favourable and was even hostile in the case of the Prussian Provincial Government in Silesia. They placed many obstacles in the way of those intending to emigrate. For instance, they delayed the issuing of exit permits by six to eight weeks and refused to issue exit permits to those who had undertaken military service but were still in the second class of the reserve, that is, over 32 years of age. They also refused to grant permits to those under 20 years of age, that is, those who had not begun their service. In this way, one or two members of a family were prevented from emigrating and thus the whole family remained. The various German governments had relented a little by the early 1850s ...... (Book p28)
Nor were the Germans ethnically one group. While most of the immigrants were ethnic Germans, speaking one or other of the many German dialects, there was a significant ethnic minority among them, the Wends or Sorbs. (Book p31)
The Germans who came to Port Phillip were mostly Lutherans and since they formed and maintained their own churches and schools, their history is well documented. There were a few Catholics arriving in the early period (14 on the first three ships), but since they were members of an already well-established church, they melded into the local Catholic population and little is known of them. (Book p31)
Gottlob Wanke proposed that a Mr Ruprecht be minister of the German Evangelical Lutheran Church in Melbourne, taking as its basis the Augsburg Confession, the symbolic books and Luther's Great and Little Catechisms. Ruprecht had attended the Gymnasium in Breslau for seven years and then another three years at the University of Breslau. ....... Wanke's proposal was seconded by Gottlieb Thiele. (Book p89)
Often privately owned land was purchased before naturalisation and paid off over a period of time, but title to it was not conveyed to the purchaser until the final payment was made. Many of the Germans only became naturalised shortly before the final payment, so they could receive legal title. (Book p115)
Those who signed the notice were J. F. Straube (Wappaus), Helbig, Johann Gottfried Walther (Wappaus), D. G. Rienitz, Oscar Grunert (Emmy), Andreas Kaiser, J. G. Simon, Wilhelm Schulz, Gottlieb Thiele, Gottfried Thiele, Christian Finger Sr, Christian Finger Jr, Wilhelm Finger, Heinrich Finger and Pastor M. Goethe.
On 12 September Goethe wrote to the Surveyor General requesting the sale of land along the eastern boundary of Unwin's Special Survey and was advised a public auction would take place at an early date.
On 2 January 1854, Gottlieb Thiele completed the purchase of 20 acres from Edward Quin, for £180. In May and June 1854, Gottlieb's brother Gottfried, along with D. G. Rienitz, D. G. Simon, W. Schulz and Pastor Goethe, all took title to land purchased some time previously from John Collings. If the sale was similar to others arranged by Thomas Ham, Collings' son-in- law, it probably took place about April 1853 with payment on terms of a quarter in cash, half at six months and the balance in cash, half at six months and the balance in nine months with 8 per cent interest. Goethe did not purchase land for himself but on behalf of other Germans. (Book p133)
Later arrivals to the Doncaster area included the Aumann, Berger, Blobel, Fromhold, Fuhrmann, Gunther, Hanke, Leber, Lenkersdorf, Meyer, Pump, Rieschieck, Rosel, Schuhkraft, Stecher, Tucheband, Winter, Wittig, Zander and Zerbe families. The 1854 Census recorded 34 German born residents in the Lilydale Division, which included Doncaster. By 1861, the figure had risen to 117.
By 1856, a Lutheran congregation had been formed and in 1858 a timber church was erected on an acre of land donated by F. Straube.
A cemetery, long since closed, was also located nearby.
In 1860 a school was established by Max Schramm. By this time the German settlement was known as Waldau and the church, cemetery and school all took this name.
The land along the Ruffey Creek was then covered with thick scrub and the Germans' energies during the first few years were mainly spent clearing their lots. Their first income came from the sale of firewood, then wheat, potatoes and berry fruits, but, by the 1860s fruitgrowing had become the main commercial activity and proved the mainstay of the Waldau Germans.
Frederick and Alfred Thiele were leading authorities on stone fruits and their peach and pear varieties became household names, marketed as Thiele's Fireside Fruits.
By the 1880s, the Doncaster district led Victoria in fruit output and in 1882, Frederick Thiele was one of three Doncaster orchardists who successfully exported the first pears to England by cold storage.
Gottlieb Thiele's home Friedensruh, erected during the mid-1850s, still survives, as do several other later historic homesteads.
The first church, replaced in 1892 by a larger brick building in Victoria (formerly Bismarck) Street, was demolished soon after but Schramm's Cottage (1875), which originally stood on Doncaster Road was relocated to the old church site during the 1970s. This building, in which Schramm both lived and taught school, now serves as a museum. (Book p134)
Map of German Empire Pre 1919; Prussia Pre 1866 & Other German States (Book p6)
Reasons for Emigrating
The Germans emigrated for various reasons, but chiefly on religious or economic grounds. Many also wanted freedom from stifling autocracy and bureaucracy. (Book p25)The cost of fares to Australia was nearly double those to North America and were a great disincentive to emigration. It seems remarkable then that Australia attracted any German emigrants at all in the period prior to the gold rushes. (Book p25)
The first Germans to come to Australia in large numbers were the Old Lutherans who came to avoid religious persecution in Prussia. They chose Australia rather than North America because the South Australian Company offered them support. Long after active persecution ceased, Prussian Old Lutherans continued to come to South Australia because of continued dissatisfaction with their religious environment, particularly in Silesia. They also came as a result of chain migration of families, and importantly because of poor economic conditions and prospects in North Germany, especially in Silesia in the late 1840s. (Book p25)
They saw emigration as a means of establishing colonies of like-minded believers in a new country where they could lead a Christian life as they perceived it should be lived, away from corrupting influences. (Book p27)
..... dissatisfaction of many with political circumstances in the German states. This dissatisfaction eventually boiled over into revolution in many German towns. (Book p28)
The attitude of the German authorities to emigration was generally not favourable and was even hostile in the case of the Prussian Provincial Government in Silesia. They placed many obstacles in the way of those intending to emigrate. For instance, they delayed the issuing of exit permits by six to eight weeks and refused to issue exit permits to those who had undertaken military service but were still in the second class of the reserve, that is, over 32 years of age. They also refused to grant permits to those under 20 years of age, that is, those who had not begun their service. In this way, one or two members of a family were prevented from emigrating and thus the whole family remained. The various German governments had relented a little by the early 1850s ...... (Book p28)
Who were the Germans ?
The German immigrants to Port Phillip were by no means a homogeneous group. Though the colonists called them Germans and the immigrants themselves also used that term, they were not citizens of a country called Germany. Germany as a state was formed only in 1871 from a union of small, medium and large independent states and city states of German-speaking peoples, such as Bremen, Hamburg, Mecklenburg, Saxony, Bavaria and Prussia. (Book p31)Nor were the Germans ethnically one group. While most of the immigrants were ethnic Germans, speaking one or other of the many German dialects, there was a significant ethnic minority among them, the Wends or Sorbs. (Book p31)
The Germans who came to Port Phillip were mostly Lutherans and since they formed and maintained their own churches and schools, their history is well documented. There were a few Catholics arriving in the early period (14 on the first three ships), but since they were members of an already well-established church, they melded into the local Catholic population and little is known of them. (Book p31)
Establishment of Lutheran church services
The first services were informal lay readings held on Sunday afternoons in the Independent Church in Collins Street. The minister of that church, Rev. Alexander Morison (1813-87), had offered the Germans the use of the church for this purpose. The Erbauungstunden or devotional hours as they were called commenced on 25 December 1849. the services were simple. After singing a hymn, one of the congregation read a chapter of the bible and a sermon. Those who took a leading part in this were Gustav Franke, Gottlob Wanke, Traugott Vorwerg and Gottlieb Thiele, though Wanke was the one who led the service most often and offered to take on the office of minister should it generally be wished. (Book p88)
Johann Gottlieb Thiele (1819-93 (E Collyer) (Book p89)
Often privately owned land was purchased before naturalisation and paid off over a period of time, but title to it was not conveyed to the purchaser until the final payment was made. Many of the Germans only became naturalised shortly before the final payment, so they could receive legal title. (Book p115)
Map of nineteenth century German settlements in Victoria which are referred to in this book. (Book p115)
Doncaster
The first Germans at Doncaster settled along Ruffey Creek, in the vicinity of today's Victoria, King and George Streets. In a notice of September 1853, the Germans referred to their newly established settlement as Breslau, reflecting their predominantly Silesian origins.Those who signed the notice were J. F. Straube (Wappaus), Helbig, Johann Gottfried Walther (Wappaus), D. G. Rienitz, Oscar Grunert (Emmy), Andreas Kaiser, J. G. Simon, Wilhelm Schulz, Gottlieb Thiele, Gottfried Thiele, Christian Finger Sr, Christian Finger Jr, Wilhelm Finger, Heinrich Finger and Pastor M. Goethe.
On 12 September Goethe wrote to the Surveyor General requesting the sale of land along the eastern boundary of Unwin's Special Survey and was advised a public auction would take place at an early date.
On 2 January 1854, Gottlieb Thiele completed the purchase of 20 acres from Edward Quin, for £180. In May and June 1854, Gottlieb's brother Gottfried, along with D. G. Rienitz, D. G. Simon, W. Schulz and Pastor Goethe, all took title to land purchased some time previously from John Collings. If the sale was similar to others arranged by Thomas Ham, Collings' son-in- law, it probably took place about April 1853 with payment on terms of a quarter in cash, half at six months and the balance in cash, half at six months and the balance in nine months with 8 per cent interest. Goethe did not purchase land for himself but on behalf of other Germans. (Book p133)
Straube's Farm, Waldau, sketch by Eugen von Guerard, 1859 (Dixson Galleries, State Library ofNew South Wales). (Book p133)
Later arrivals to the Doncaster area included the Aumann, Berger, Blobel, Fromhold, Fuhrmann, Gunther, Hanke, Leber, Lenkersdorf, Meyer, Pump, Rieschieck, Rosel, Schuhkraft, Stecher, Tucheband, Winter, Wittig, Zander and Zerbe families. The 1854 Census recorded 34 German born residents in the Lilydale Division, which included Doncaster. By 1861, the figure had risen to 117.
By 1856, a Lutheran congregation had been formed and in 1858 a timber church was erected on an acre of land donated by F. Straube.
A cemetery, long since closed, was also located nearby.
In 1860 a school was established by Max Schramm. By this time the German settlement was known as Waldau and the church, cemetery and school all took this name.
The land along the Ruffey Creek was then covered with thick scrub and the Germans' energies during the first few years were mainly spent clearing their lots. Their first income came from the sale of firewood, then wheat, potatoes and berry fruits, but, by the 1860s fruitgrowing had become the main commercial activity and proved the mainstay of the Waldau Germans.
Frederick and Alfred Thiele were leading authorities on stone fruits and their peach and pear varieties became household names, marketed as Thiele's Fireside Fruits.
By the 1880s, the Doncaster district led Victoria in fruit output and in 1882, Frederick Thiele was one of three Doncaster orchardists who successfully exported the first pears to England by cold storage.
Gottlieb Thiele's home Friedensruh, erected during the mid-1850s, still survives, as do several other later historic homesteads.
The first church, replaced in 1892 by a larger brick building in Victoria (formerly Bismarck) Street, was demolished soon after but Schramm's Cottage (1875), which originally stood on Doncaster Road was relocated to the old church site during the 1970s. This building, in which Schramm both lived and taught school, now serves as a museum. (Book p134)
Thiele
Johann Gottlieb Thiele (c. 1819-93), born at Sarichen in Silesia, arrived in Melbourne from Hamburg aboard the Wappaus on 6 March 1849 with his wife Phillipine (nee Burckner) and two infant children. A younger unmarried brother Gottfried Thiele, also immigrated on the same ship.
Soon after arrival, Thiele established himself as a tailor at 42 Burke Street West. His customers included Governor Latrobe and many other leading community members. The family is believed to have lived on the premises - a two story bluestone shop.
In 1851, Thiele initiated a bitter wrangle involving the Government, William Westgarth and a number of passengers from the Godeffroy, Wappaus and Dockenhuden, the first three German ships to arrive in Melbourne, in 1849.
On 24 June 1851, Gottlieb and two others, Gustav Koenig and Theodor Borrmann, wrote a letter of complaint to Westgarth, who had been instrumental in encouraging German immigration to Victoria.
Gottlieb Thiele remained disillusioned and bitter about the whole episode, and apparently contemplated returning to Germany, only persuaded to remain by his wife.
Late in 1851, Thiele visited the goldfields for a time, then returned to Melbourne.
In 1852, he made a second visit, possibly the successful one referred to by Hoehne.
On 18 March 1852, Thiele applied to be naturalised as a Victorian citizen, with Westgarth as a referee.
He was naturalised on 25 March 1852, enabling him to legally take possession of a half acre allotment in Bridge Road, Richmond (Lot 42, Portion 25, Parish of Jika Jika) he had purchased on 22 March for £200. This was the land referred to by Hoehne, although he incorrectly gave Gottlieb’s name as August, and spelt the surname Theile.
Later the same year, Gottlieb also purchased an allotment in Collingwood, and 14 others in Fitzroy. He then immediately proceeded to sell them all, disposing of them progressively over the next three years.
Hoehne said Thiele lived at Richmond, although other contemporary sources give his address as Collingwood. A later source stated he had lived for a short time at both Richmond and Fitzroy. Whatever the case, he moved to Doncaster in 1853, and on 2 January 1854 bought 20 acres there for £180.154 Shortly before, on 21 December 1853, Thiele had also purchased Lots 289 and 290 on the Separation Estate near Morang.
Thiele was also actively involved with the establishment of the Trinity Lutheran Church in East Melbourne and he personally donated £105 toward the building fund, of which he was a member.156 He was also a foundation member of the Waldau Lutheran Church at Doncaster, where he performed a similar role, serving as an original trustee and Chairman of the building committee. His brother Gottfried, who moved to Doncaster, was also a Church trustee.
In 1856 Pastor Goethe, the Trinity Lutheran Church minister, formed the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Victoria (ELCV). Thiele was a foundation member of the ELCV synod, a position he held until 1860, when he resigned following a disagreement with Pastor Goethe over union with South Australian Lutherans. Thiele and Hempel favoured union, whereas Goethe and others did not, so they severed their connections with the ELCV and established St John’s Lutheran Church.
Services were held in private homes, including Gottlieb’s Friedensruh at Doncaster, or rented halls until a permanent church building was constructed and dedicated in 1928 in South Melbourne.
Thiele initially grew wheat and vegetables at Doncaster, but later established an orchard, one of the first settlers to do so. In 1882 his son Frederick was one of the first orchardists to successfully export pears to England by cold storage.
Thiele died at Friedensruh on 2 March 1893, aged 73.
Phillipine died on 24 June 1915, aged 91.
Both are buried in the Boroondara Cemetery, Kew.
Of their 11 children, all but two survived infancy. Sir Edmund Oswald Teale (formerly Thiele), the eminent geologist, was a grandson.
Today Friedensruh, the original Thiele home at Doncaster, is protected by inclusion on the Victorian Heritage Register. (p271)
On 24 June 1851, Gottlieb and two others, Gustav Koenig and Theodor Borrmann, wrote a letter of complaint to Westgarth, who had been instrumental in encouraging German immigration to Victoria.
Gottlieb Thiele remained disillusioned and bitter about the whole episode, and apparently contemplated returning to Germany, only persuaded to remain by his wife.
Late in 1851, Thiele visited the goldfields for a time, then returned to Melbourne.
In 1852, he made a second visit, possibly the successful one referred to by Hoehne.
On 18 March 1852, Thiele applied to be naturalised as a Victorian citizen, with Westgarth as a referee.
He was naturalised on 25 March 1852, enabling him to legally take possession of a half acre allotment in Bridge Road, Richmond (Lot 42, Portion 25, Parish of Jika Jika) he had purchased on 22 March for £200. This was the land referred to by Hoehne, although he incorrectly gave Gottlieb’s name as August, and spelt the surname Theile.
Later the same year, Gottlieb also purchased an allotment in Collingwood, and 14 others in Fitzroy. He then immediately proceeded to sell them all, disposing of them progressively over the next three years.
Hoehne said Thiele lived at Richmond, although other contemporary sources give his address as Collingwood. A later source stated he had lived for a short time at both Richmond and Fitzroy. Whatever the case, he moved to Doncaster in 1853, and on 2 January 1854 bought 20 acres there for £180.154 Shortly before, on 21 December 1853, Thiele had also purchased Lots 289 and 290 on the Separation Estate near Morang.
Thiele was also actively involved with the establishment of the Trinity Lutheran Church in East Melbourne and he personally donated £105 toward the building fund, of which he was a member.156 He was also a foundation member of the Waldau Lutheran Church at Doncaster, where he performed a similar role, serving as an original trustee and Chairman of the building committee. His brother Gottfried, who moved to Doncaster, was also a Church trustee.
In 1856 Pastor Goethe, the Trinity Lutheran Church minister, formed the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Victoria (ELCV). Thiele was a foundation member of the ELCV synod, a position he held until 1860, when he resigned following a disagreement with Pastor Goethe over union with South Australian Lutherans. Thiele and Hempel favoured union, whereas Goethe and others did not, so they severed their connections with the ELCV and established St John’s Lutheran Church.
Services were held in private homes, including Gottlieb’s Friedensruh at Doncaster, or rented halls until a permanent church building was constructed and dedicated in 1928 in South Melbourne.
Thiele initially grew wheat and vegetables at Doncaster, but later established an orchard, one of the first settlers to do so. In 1882 his son Frederick was one of the first orchardists to successfully export pears to England by cold storage.
Thiele died at Friedensruh on 2 March 1893, aged 73.
Phillipine died on 24 June 1915, aged 91.
Both are buried in the Boroondara Cemetery, Kew.
Of their 11 children, all but two survived infancy. Sir Edmund Oswald Teale (formerly Thiele), the eminent geologist, was a grandson.
Today Friedensruh, the original Thiele home at Doncaster, is protected by inclusion on the Victorian Heritage Register. (p271)
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