George Train
Contents
Background
George Francis Train was born on 24 March 1829 in Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America.[1]
The letters of George Francis Train, written for American newspapers, provide an insight into life on the Victorian goldfields between 1853 and 1855 Train was a Methodist who abstained form alcohol and tobacco all his life. He started as a clerk in his father’s cousin, Enoch’s, firm of Train and Company. [2]
Train married Wilhelmina Wilkinson Davis on 5 October 1851, emigrating to Australia on the Bavaria in 1853. He had a store at 13 Elizabeth Street, Melbourne where they sold a variety of goods, represented the White Star shipping line and acted as insurance agents. Train, along with Caldwell, became active in matters of commerce and members of the Chamber of Commerce. Train visited the goldfields and Geelong. He claimed that a well-known American participant in the Eureka Affair had sought firearms from him in December 1854. [3]
Wilhelmina Trained returned to Boston in 1854, and George Train returned to the USA in 1855. Train separated from his wife in 1872. He was an enthusiastic, generous and enterprising man who died in New York on 18 January 1904. Throughout his life he supported causes such as Fenians, and women’s suffrage which resulted in several imprisonments.[4]
Goldfields Involvement, 1854
Post 1854 Experiences
See also
Further Reading
Corfield, J.,Wickham, D., & Gervasoni, C. The Eureka Encyclopaedia, Ballarat Heritage Services, 2004.
Train, G.F, A Yankee Merchant in Goldrush Australia,
References
- ↑ Wickham, D., Gervasoni, C. & Phillipson, W., Eureka Research Directory, Ballarat Heritage Services, 1999.
- ↑ Wickham, D., Gervasoni, C. & Phillipson, W., Eureka Research Directory, Ballarat Heritage Services, 1999.
- ↑ Wickham, D., Gervasoni, C. & Phillipson, W., Eureka Research Directory, Ballarat Heritage Services, 1999.
- ↑ Wickham, D., Gervasoni, C. & Phillipson, W., Eureka Research Directory, Ballarat Heritage Services, 1999.
External links
