Frances Penhalluriack

Background

Born Frances Magill, she married William Penhalluriack in 1857.

In the News

Seventy years ago Mrs. Penhalluriack was born in a bark hut at a spot then part of a sheep run, and now a portion of the thriving town of Ballarat East. Gold was not discovered till 12 years later, and her parents were among the few white people in a district thickly populated with black fellows. At 70 years of age Mrs. Penhalluriack is in fairly good health. She has reared a family of 12 children. Her husband was one of the earliest truancy officers of the State, and the shock of his death some years ago left her afflicted with deafness. Mrs. Penhalluriack, when seen by a Melbourne Herald representative at her residence at Otway street, Ballarat East, said that her parents, who came to Victoria from Great Britain in 1839, told her when she was a little girl that the blackfellows had joined in the festivities on the occasion of her birth. The first white child born in the district was an object of great interest to the blacks, and she and her brother and sisters who followed her into the world, and of whom only one sister survives, had for some years no play fellows but the piccaninnies. Her parents were in the employ of the late Messrs. William and Archibald Yuille, owners of the Ballarat sheen run. Yuille Swamp is now beautiful Lake Wendouree. Three years of Mrs. Penhaluriack's childhood was spent in Geelong, where her father was the first bootmaker. Afterwards the family returned to Ballarat. Mr. Frank Penhalluriack, a son of the old lady, is a member of the Town Council of Ballarat East. Mrs. Penhalluriack is grandmother to over 40 persons, and five children know her as their great-grandmother. eventy years ago Mrs. Penhalluriack was born in a bark hut at a spot then part of a sheep run, and now a portion of the thriving town of Ballarat East. Gold was not discovered till 12 years later, and her parents were among the few white people in a district thickly populated with blackfellows. At 70 vears of age Mrs. Penhalluriack is in fairly good health. She has reared a family of 12 children. Her husband was one of the earliest truancy officers of the State, and the shock of his death some years ago left her afflicted with deafness. Mrs. Penhalluriack, when seen by a Melbourne Herald representative at her residence at Otway street, Ballarat East, said that her parents, who came to Victoria from Great Britain in 1839, told her when she was a little girl that the blackfellows had joined in the festivities on the occasion of her birth. The first white child born in the district was an object of great interest to the blacks, and she and her brother and sisters who followed her into the world, and of whom only one sister survives, had for some years no play fellows but the piccaninnies. Her parents were in the employ of the late Messrs. William and Archibald Yuille, owners of the Ballarat sheen run. Yuille Swamp is now beautiful Lake Wendouree. Three years of Mrs. Penhaluriack's childhood was spent in Geelong, where her father was the first bootmaker. Afterwards the family re turned to Ballarat. Mr. Frank Penhalluriack, a son of the old lady, is a member of the Town Council of Ballarat East. Mrs. Penhalluriack is grandmother to over 40 persons, and five children know her as their great-grandmother.

See also

William Penhalluriack

Further Reading

Corfield, J.,Wickham, D., & Gervasoni, C. The Eureka Encyclopaedia, Ballarat Heritage Services, 2004.

External links

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Caption, Reference.