BENDIGO REGIONAL ARCHIVES CENTRE

A search of TROVE for more information on this man revealed a local murder mystery and further investigation showed that from 1895 through to 1977, three generations of the one family were beekeepers (apiarists) at Axedale, namely James Bennett, his son Frederick Tasman Bennett and Frederick’s son Douglas Gordon Bennett. [2]

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Figure 1. Part of 1936 Strathfieldsaye Shire rate book, Axedale Riding

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James Bennett had married Elizabeth Candlin in 1881 in Shropshire.[3] Their first two children appear to be Herbert, born in May 1882 and Frederick in June 1883, both in Launceston, Tasmania.[4] For these births, and the following ones of his sons Harry, Stanley and Harold in Launceston in 1885, 1886 and 1888 respectively, James’ occupation is recorded as pattern maker. Between 1888 and 1890 the family moved to Victoria and between August 1890 and May 1891 James was a bee-keeper at Mount View apiary, Tallarook Victoria.5] He had 50 stocks (lines) of bees in 1889 and in 1891 had 76. His best yield was 280 pounds of honey from a single colony of bees, his total yield being 5,700 pounds comb and 300 pounds extracted, the average yield per colony being 80 pounds. He was keeping Ligurian and Ligurian hybrid bees in ‘Haddon shallow frame, and a few Langstroth’ hives. The market value of his honey was £200 or about £4 per hive. Two more children, Clarence Seymour and Amy Victoria, were born at Seymour to James and Elizabeth in 1892 and 1894 respectively, showing a family trend of naming their children after where they were residing.[6]

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By 1894 the family had moved to the Bendigo district and a report in the Bendigo Advertiser of May that year records that James had been the manager for the Weeroona Apiary.[7] In July 1894 he had also taken up a selection of three acres in the township of Axedale for cultivating bees and had already established 150 hives by May 1894 .[8] This land was occupied under Section 99 of the 1890 Land Act which gave James an annual licence to occupy the land for non-agricultural purposes, including market gardens. James first appears in the Strathfieldsaye rate books in the 1895/96 year as a ‘bee farmer’, occupying a ‘bee farm’ at Axedale.[9] Three more children were born to the couple, namely Edith, Ida and Hilda, all registered at Bendigo in 1897, 1901 and 1903 respectively.[10] From June 1895 Elizabeth also selected a block of land in Axedale (and previously occupied by James Harrison) recorded as being a further three acres for a garden, with both licences being continually renewed through to 1901.[11]

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James Bennett paid rates in 1908 for land at Axedale valued at £5 and a farm at Axe Creek valued at £10, then his son Frederick Bennett appears in the rate books for the first time in 1909.[12] Also a bee keeper Frederick was occupying three acres of land, and James is only recorded as occupying a farm in Axedale that year. In April 1908 both James and Elizabeth were due to face a hearing to determine if their Crown land licences should be forfeited.[13] The outcome does not seem to have been reported in the local newspaper, perhaps indicating they were in arrears with their licence fees, but in March 1909 Elizabeth’s licence expired.[14] When her allotment (Allotment 4 of Section 15 on the corner of Shadforth and Eddington Streets) was offered for sale at a Crown land auction in August 1909, Frederick purchased the land for £12 (Figure 2).[15] Frederick also purchased the three acres adjoining this land (Allotment 5) on 21 May 1910, this being the Crown allotment that James had occupied since 1894.[16]

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Frederick married in 1913 to Claudine Valerie Sarah Manser and a daughter Gladys was born in 1914.[17] At least one more child was born to the couple, being Douglas Gordon Bennett ca 1921 at Bendigo.[18] Frederick enlisted for WWI service at Bendigo on 15 January 1915, described on his enlistment papers as an apiarist of Axedale, aged 31 and six months, height five feet and eight inches, with black hair, brown eyes and dark complexion and married with one child. He was discharged medically unfit in March 1916 due to pre-existing lumbago and sciatica.[19] Frederick’s brothers Stanley and Harold Percy also enlisted.[20] His brother Herbert is described as a gardener and was paying rates for a garden on the McIvor Road in 1915.[21] The timing of Frederick discharge in 1916 coincided with what was hoped to be one of the best honey production seasons in Axedale for a while, ‘judging by the appearance of the buds of the grey box trees’.[22]

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Figure 2 Portion of Axedale Township plan showing Frederick Bennett’s purchased land in Section 14

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In 1916 James was reported to be of nearby Longlea, suggesting this was the location of the farm for which he had been paying rates.[23] James Bennett died in 1932 aged 75 and Elizabeth died in 1939 aged 80, both are buried at Axedale.[24] The location of his Longlea farm was not determined with the time and resources available for this article, however his probate file, located at PROV Melbourne, would probably record the details.[25] There is also evidence that Frederick Bennett occupied other Crown land in the township or parish of Axedale, possibly for bee-keeping purposes.[26]

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Frederick Tasman Bennett died in Castlemaine on Christmas Day in 1963, aged 84, and was buried at Axedale.[27] His wife Claudine died in 1985 aged 95 and is buried with him.[28] Their son Douglas appears in the 1957/58 and 1958/59 rate books as an apiarist, paying rates for a property at Axedale, the third generation of bee-keepers at Axedale.[29] He is still recorded as an Apiarist in the 1977 Strathfieldsaye electoral roll, however he had moved into Bendigo East by 1980.[30]

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The story of this bee-keeping family is similar to many, many more that can be written using similar resources to those shown here. It can be written from an occupation or family perspective depending in the interests of the writer. But adding a bit of mystery and intrigue to a story makes for interesting reading, and such was the case in this story. In November 1933, while walking along Mosquito Creek, which originates at west of Lake Eppalock and feeds into the Campaspe River upstream of Axedale, Frederick Bennett found a body floating in the water.[31] This chance occurrence solved a local murder-suicide mystery.

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On 9 October 1933, Jessie Griffinhagen of Junortoun went to Strathfieldsaye to check on her brother William (aged 23) whom she had not seem for some time, only to discover that the wattle and daub hut in which he lived with his uncle James Pattison (aged 68) had been burnt down. A charred body found in the ruins was initially thought to be Pattison, due to his signet ring being found nearby, and the police began to hunt for William, including looking in old mineshafts.[32] By October 16, after the police sifted through the ashes of the hut, found Griffenhagen’s glasses, realised that the ring found also belonged to him, and that Pattison’s false teeth had not been found, they realised they had mis-identified the body and it was Pattison who was missing, as was a rifle he had purchased on September 30.[33]

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A few days later a young man fitting Griffenhagen’s description reported at the Swan Hill police that he was wanted for murder, and then left the station and jumped off the Murray River bridge.[34] This turned out to be a false lead, determined in part due to the discrepancy in height and build between Griffenhagen and the mystery confessor. It was Bennett’s unlikely, and probably unwanted, find on November 9th which revealed the real fate of Pattison.[35] He had used the shotgun to take his own life while standing on a fallen log across the Mosquito Creek, and pre-weighted himself with a 40-pound bluestone rock on a rope to ensure he then toppled into the creek.[36] Pattison’s body was identified by his missing fingers, and artificial eye he wore.[37] Fitting the pieces together, the subsequent inquest, while giving an open finding into Griffenhagen’s death, heard that it was possible Pattison, who was known to have ‘a violent temper which was ungovernable when he was under the influence of drink’, had killed his nephew, burnt the hut to hide the crime, then attempted to leave the district before finally taking his own life.[38] The whole story, including Frederick Tasman Bennett’s role in solving the crime, was retold by journalist Hugh Buggy as “Murder in the Bush” in the Argus in 1950.

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While short family history stories may have a limited audience they are worthwhile writing and can offer clues and inspiration for others trying to write on their own favourite subject. History is a giant time-consuming jigsaw puzzle, and if everyone has a go at fitting in a few pieces here and there, we can all enjoy the challenge.

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