This article reveals my research about the Simpson and Connor families and the property Silveracre at Woodville on what was formerly known as Main Road now Woodville Road, where The Queen Elizabeth Hospital now stands.
Written by Robyn Johnston (OAM, B Nurs, FCNA), CALHN Health Museum Volunteer
History
My research started when I had thought to donate a set of gates to TQEH. In 2002 I had written to the then CEO with a wish to donate a pair of gates for incorporation in a proposed redevelopment. Unfortunately this did not eventuate and I retained the gates. In more recent years I decided to try again to donate the pair of gates to be yet again part of a redevelopment of The Queen Elizabeth Hospital but there has been no further action.
The gates have been in my possession for at least 50 years and in my family over 70 years. I thought that a brief history of the gates and the Connor family would make an interesting addition to the history of The Queen Elizabeth Hospital.
Our family tale is that these gates are the original gates of Silveracre
The gates are described as early Victorian and made in an Adelaide foundry. Ships from the United Kingdom had lead as ballast on trip to Australia and this ballast was made into gates.
My grandfather, Sydney Edward Jarrett Crossman acquired these gates, I assume after the home was demolished to enable the building of TQEH. Naively, I thought that finding a history of the gates, the property and family would be easy! Well how wrong I was – now over many years later I have much information about the Connor family but initially no information about the gates which were probably at a rear access road.
More ornate gates are pictured in Susan Marsden’s book A History of the City of Woodville), if they were at all associated with Silveracre.
Captain Henry Simpson
Captain Henry Simpson is central to the history of Silveracre. He was regarded one of our earliest colonists, arriving on Kangaroo Island on 16 August 1836, at the age of 21, as second officer of the “John Pirie”, of which vessel he subsequently became Master. From the time of his first connection with the colony, up until the day of his death, he was well known as one of the most enterprising shipowners. Not long after his arrival he saw possibilities and began a coastal shipping service between Port Adelaide and King George Sound, Albany and Fremantle in Western Australia. Like others at the time, he became caught up in the mad rush for gold in the 1850’s and went to the rich Victorian goldfields. He managed to gain a sizeable sum in his six months at the gold fields and on his return used the money to invest in more ships. (Loyau, G.E., 1885, ‘Notable South Australians; Or, Colonists, Past and Present’)
Captain Simpson eventually established the Black Diamond Shipping Line of sailing coal ships, in about 1860 with Thomas Elder and Robert Barr Smith and by 1866 had a fleet of 14 colliers. The colliers carried coal from Newcastle to Port Adelaide and Wallaroo. He also leased the Queen’s wharf and store, and the No. 4 bond store at Port Adelaide and traded there as a general merchant.
He procured the steamer ‘Birksgate’ in 1881 and then another steamer ‘Tenterden’ was built for him in 1883.
The shipping line became a `household word` at Port Adelaide, which for so many years was the scene of his labours and successes. After his death, on April 26th 1884 his obituary read: “The greater part of his life was spent in South Australia. Few men have done more to advance the interests of this colony than he; few of his contemporary pioneers have accomplished so much in a long and useful lifetime.” (Frearson’s Monthly Illustrated Adelaide News (SA : 1880 – 1884) Thu 1 May 1884 Page 3)
Anne Liddon
Henry Simpson married Anne Liddon in about 1840 in South Australia. I have been unable to find any details of this marriage. Anne arrived at Kangaroo Island in April 1837 on board the South Australian from Plymouth.
In September 1836, the South Australian Company bought the vessel from the Royal Navy and rerigged it as a barque and renamed it South Australian. Its hull was adapted to suit carry colonists to Australia, although the company’s intended to use the vessel for whaling in the province. The vessel departed Plymouth with a “hearty sendoff” on December 22, 1836, under the command of Captain Alexander Allen, with emigrants including “five fishermen, four shipwrights, a smith and farrier, to farming labourers, two German vine dressers, and three German agricultural labourers”. It also carried two bulls and heifers of pure Devon breed and 20 pigs.
The South Australian arrived at Nepean Bay (later Kingscote), Kangaroo Island, on April 22, 1837, and discharged its passengers and cargo. The South Australian completed three more voyages between Kangaroo Island and Rosetta Harbor, Encounter Bay. In May 1837, South Australian returned to Rosetta Harbor (now Encounter Bay) and was refitted as an offshore whale-processing platform or “cutting-in” vessel.
The South Australian was South Australia’s first shipwreck in December 1837 at Encounter Bay.
Henry Simpson was one of the first trustees of St Margaret’s Church of England, Port Rd in 1855 when it was built by John Bristow Hughes (of Bundaleer sheep station), who also purchased St Clair in 1854.
When the tower of the church was restored in 1933 it was in memory of Henry Simpson, merchant, Anne his wife and their eight children of Tenterden House. Another memorial to Captain Simpson is a stained glass window.
A memorial window to Captain Henry Simpson in the porch of St. Margaret’s Church Woodville was blessed by the Bishop of Adelaide (Right Rev. Dr. A. Nutter Thomas) and unveiled by Miss E M. McLaren, a granddaughter of Captain Simpson, yesterday. Captain Simpson landed at Kangaroo Island 100 years ago yesterday. The window depicts a merchant directing his men in the unloading of a ship, and bears a quotation from the Psalms- “They that go down to the sea in ships and occupy their business In great waters.” The inscription beneath the window reads:- To commemorate Henry Simpson, a former worshipper in this church, who, arriving in the John Pirie. August 16, 1836. was one of the founders of the South Australian merchant marine (Advertiser (Adelaide, SA : 1931 – 1954), Monday 17 August 1936, page 16)
From the State Archives – Tenterdon Estate comprised of Section 409 – 134 acres and was originally purchased in 1835 by Nathaniel Morphett – the father of Sir John Morphett a noted South Australian politician.
It was subdivided in 1840 and Henry Simpson was able to purchase part of this estate. He built a two storey stone house in the English style between 1840 and 1853 which he called Tenterden House. It was described as being a 10 roomed house built in the English style.
When James Simpson married, his father gave him the house and its 17 acres of land and then Captain Simpson moved to Ridge Park, Glen Osmond. From 1857 to 1884, James and his growing family lived in the house. The balconies were added later by his son James Liddon Simpson.
After his father, Captain Henry Simpson, died in 1884, James put the house up for rent and Mr R Dixson JP became the tenant. However, by 1894, the Simpsons had returned to occupy the house.
Tenterden House remained in the family until 1905 when it was sold to a quick succession of owners. The house had a variety of rooms including a drawing room, smoking room, breakfast room, dining room, kitchen, scullery, storerooms, bathrooms, and 8 bedrooms. The exterior was just as impressive with a coach-house, stables with 3 stalls, a man’s room, a chaff house, a washhouse, and gardens.
Tenterden House was eventually bought by Dr L J Dunstone in about 1920.
In 1942 it was sold to the Commonwealth of Australia and eventually Tenterden House was demolished in 1996.
All of the Grave stones are at North Road Cemetery in Simpson Family Plot and photos taken by Robyn Johnston. Simpson Family Area at North Road Cemetery, Nailsworth, South Australia
Henry Simpson and Anne Liddon’s nine children were:
Mary Anne Margaret Simpson born 8 Apr 1839 Tasmania died 11 Apr 1846 South Australia (no further information)
Henry Sieveright Simpson 22 Oct 1842 – 5 August 1877. He was born and died in South Australia and the only other information I have found was that he was a mariner and involved in his father’s steamship company.
James Liddon Simpson 13 May 1844 – 28 December 1899. Also born and died in South Australia and managed the Black Diamond Shipping Line after his father’s death. James had 3 sons and one daughter. As a result of research and with the assistance of the Kangaroo Island Pioneers Association I have been able contact a great, great grandson, Christopher Simpson who lives in the United Kingdom.
Emma Sophia Simpson 29 Aug 1850 – 8 September 1914. She was born in South Australia and on 17 March 1870 at Glen Osmond married William Milne (1842-1905). She lived at Byethorne, Stirling in the Adelaide Hills. Sir William Milne, her father in law, was an entrepreneur and politician serving in the South Australian Legislative Council.
Alice Mary Simpson 1852 – 27 Feb 1923. Was born in South Australia and married Joseph Sylvester O’Halloran CMG (1842-1920) on 17 August 1886 at the parish church, Cheltenham, Gloucester, England. She died in England and had no children.
Lilias Anne Simpson 29 March 1856 – 2 Apr 1910. Born in Woodville South Australia and married Leslie McLaren (1854-1901) on 22 August 1878 in St Pauls Anglican Church, Adelaide. She had one daughter and travelled to the United Kingdom with her husband and daughter in 1898 where she lived until her death.
Eva May Simpson 1859 – 31 Jul 1878. She was born at Tenterden, Woodville and died at Ridge Park, South Australia.
Central to the story of Silveracre are Jessie Hall Simpson and George Alexander Connor
Jessie Hall Simpson was born in 1845, the third child of the eight children of Henry Simpson and Anne Liddon. I have been unable to find any writings of her early life.
George Alexander Connor was born on 11 October 1842 in England , Battersea to Dr William Connor and Alicia Marie Todd, the seventh child of twelve. He had five sisters and six brothers. Of his brothers, one was medical and others were ecclesiastical and also in business.
A Brief History of the extended Connor Family
His brother Charles Hawkes Todd Connor arrived in 1853 and was the business manager and cofounder of the Adelaide Milling and Mercantile Company at Port Adelaide with his uncle Captain John Hart, a Premier of South Australia three times from 1865 to 1871. Charles Connor married Sarah Jane Dashwood in 1866, daughter of George Dashwood, politician and police chief. Charles and Sarah had seven children.
Another brother, James Henthorn Todd Connor was a surgeon and Member of the Royal College of Surgeons of England and Licensed Society of Apothecaries 1802.
It was his son Arthur Bentley Connor, nephew of George Alexander Connor, a portrait painter, who painted The King in Khaki, King George V in 1915, a copy of which was presented to TQEH by the Connor family in April 1958.
I would like to thank the granddaughter of Arthur Connor for the photos of the original painting and print of the ‘King in Khaki’. Recent research has found that the original ‘King in Khaki’ was given to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in the 1960’s by the daughter of Arthur Bentley Connor and is in Buckingham Palace.
Searches of TQEH has failed to find the photo of the family presenting the portrait and the print of portrait itself. I remember both were both hanging in the entrance foyer of the old tower block in the mid 1970’s. Yet another mystery to solve!!
George Connor also had medical connections on his maternal side, with Charles Hawkes Todd, his maternal grandfather, a Professor of Surgery and Anatomy at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland and in 1821 the President of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland.
When in Ireland in 2018 my partner and I had the privilege of visiting the Royal College in Dublin and met with the Archivist who gave us a guided tour of the buildings. The bust of Charles Hawkes Todd is in the Royal College and Charles and his wife were honoured by their children (and he by his medical students), with both a marble monument and a stained glass window in the South Choir Aisle of Dublin’s St. Patrick’s Anglican Cathedral.
Robert Bentley Todd , an uncle of George Connor, was a resident pupil of Robert Graves in Dublin and subsequently in 1844 became elected a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons. He took a prominent part in establishing Kings College Hospital. He is remembered also for the ‘Hot Toddy’ prescribed hot whisky to enable his patients to sleep.
Margaret Hart, a cousin of George Connor founded St Margaret’s Convalescent Hospital at Semaphore in 1874.
George Connor and Jessie Simpson
George Connor arrived in South Australia in October 1860 on the barque Irene. With the exception of 13 days spent in the head office of the bank as accountant, and two and a half years at Newcastle, NSW, he was the manager of the Bank of Adelaide branch in Lipson House at Port Adelaide until his retirement on reaching the age limit in June, 1906.
Jessie Simpson and George Connor married on 26 July 1865 in St Margaret’s Church of England, Woodville with the reception at Glanville Hall, owned by an uncle of George Connor, John Harriott Hart – a Premier of South Australia. The wedding was described as a ‘lavish affair, with the length of Woodville Road festooned with flags’.
In Marsden’s ‘A History of the City of Woodville’ she states that Jessie was gifted 30 acres of land and a house on Reedbeds Road, Woodville by her father as a wedding present. After the marriage the couple lived at Silveracre which has been described as a ten roomed house, a stable block and a detached laundry. The Connor family were intimately involved with St Margaret’s Anglican Church, and held many social gatherings on the tennis courts at Silveracre, as reported in the press of the time.
In the book ‘The Queen Elizabeth Hospital 1954-1984’ Silveracre is described as a ‘roughly triangular estate of nearly 15 acres’. This was the remainder of the thirty acres that Captain Henry Simpson had given as a wedding present to his daughter Jessie Hall Simpson. I have to date been unable to find who built the house at Silveracre but will keep pursuing Memorial Books, State Records and Lands Titles.
Jessie Hall Simpson and George Alexander Connor had the following children:
- Ethel Gertrude 25 June 1866 – 17 Oct 1943 never married
- Henry William 3 May 1868 – 1 April 1884 died from a fall from the rigging on the ship Collingrove
- Lilian Maud 11 Jan 1870 – 9 Dec 1891 never married
- Stanley 8 Jul 1873 – 21 April 1959 – Western Australia
- Clive Henthorne 9 June 1875 – 15 August 1968 never married
- Ina Liddon 22 Nov 1877 – 28 May 1971 never married
- Bentley Sieveright 2 Oct 1880 – 2 June 1957 – NSW
- Alicia Anne 21 June 1882 – 7 August 1968 – never married
- Dorothy Liddon 1 March 1885 – 9 Dec 1973
- Eden Dennis17 Aug 1887 – 19 July 1916
Stanley went to Western Australia in 1903 to manage the Great Southern Flour Mills. He had 2 sons and a daughter. His granddaughter describes him as being a short man.
Bentley Sieveright Connor was ADC to the Governor of South Australia – Sir Henry Galway 1914 to 1920 and an Officer in the Australian Light Horse 1912 -1918 although he didn’t go overseas. He moved to New South Wales in 1930. He had 6 sons all of whom went to St Peters College, Hackney.
Eden Dennis Connor died in 1916 at the Battle of Fromelles. He is described on his military enlistment as a ‘short man 5 ft 2 inches tall’. He had one daughter, Holly who died in 1985.
Four of the Connor children, Enid, Clive, Ina and Alicia are described by people who remember the family as tiny even to a five or six year old. Enid lived to 92, Clive to 93, Ina 93 and Alicia to 86 years. They were all buried in the Cheltenham Cemetery but no grave stones remain.
I have learned from contemporaries of the family that all but Ina shunned the outside world and they lived privately. Clive had chickens and maintained a large vegetable and fruit garden. Clive was described as being the tallest at about 4 feet 3 inches, Enid just under 4 feet and Alicia about 3 feet with long unkempt red hair to her knees. Ina used to go to the shops for essentials and attend St Margaret’s Church of England on the corner of Port and Woodville Roads. The only mention I have found of these children is at their sister Dorothy’s wedding – the “Misses Ina, Ena and Alice all wore white frocks and hats.”
George Alexander Connor died on 3 Oct 1925 at his residence Silveracre. He was buried in Cheltenham Cemetery and after searching I cannot find any gravestone or marker.
Jessie Hall Connor died on 24 Sept 1932 and was buried in the Cheltenham Cemetery but once again no gravestone remains. At the Simpson family plot at the North Road Cemetery is this memorial.
The remaining children Clive, Ina, Enid and Alicia were living at Silveracre after both their parents had died. Clive is listed in the Electoral Roll of 1943 as a farmer and in addition to his 3 sisters also living there are Holly Connor, a niece and Terrence Liddon Connor, a nephew, who had a ‘war neurosis’.
From research and information provided by people who remember visiting the home in the 1940’s, it was described as a big red brick place with wide green painted verandahs and Italian tiles. There were signs of an opulent past, huge velvet curtains, with period furniture and photographs in silver frames, a big library with stacks of National Geographic magazines dating from many years prior and the most amazing collection of Aboriginal artefacts mounted on the walls (all these may have gone to the South Australian Museum), but the carpets were threadbare. The whole place was falling into disrepair. The parents being affluent set up an annuity to support the family group but as the years went on inflation eroded its value and in their considerable old age they were living in penury.
‘On 7 Jan 1944 £9,000 was offered for the property, and the sale concluded by the beginning of the following June. Members of the Connor family continued to live there until the hospital was built.’
The family then moved to a home on the corner of Cedar Avenue and Woodville Road – I have been unable to find a photo of this and then lived in Norman St, Woodville. Enid had died in 1964 and Clive and Alicia both died in August 1968. After her brother died, Ina was paid and income from his estate. Ina died on 28 May 1971- the last member of the Connor family of Silveracre.
The Connor family name was associated with TQEH in November 1957 when Sir Lyell McEwin announced the RMO’s accommodation was to be named Connor Building. This was demolished, along with the original hospital and Nurses’ Home in 2001 to enable expansion and updating of inpatient wards.
The gates in Marsden’s History of Woodville are more likely to have been the main entrance gates rather than those in my possession.
Those of you who have undertaken any family history research I am sure have realised that sometimes family stories have an element of truth but not always complete. The ancestors of the extended Connor family have many connections within medical and ecclesiastical circles in the United Kingdom and in Ireland and has made interesting research. I have had a lot of positive feedback and information from this extended family for which I am very grateful.
I have traced descendants of the Connor family of Silveracre to Western Australia and New South Wales but initially they were unable to provide any historical information about the family. In 2024 a great grandson of George Connor contacted me and when cleaning out his late Uncle’s possessions he found this photo which proves that my grandfather was correct.
I have also traced a direct descendent of James Liddon Simpson, as mentioned earlier, who lives in the United Kingdom but unfortunately he has been unable to provide any information about the Simpson family.
In conclusion, I have presented a very brief history of the Simpson family of the Black Diamond Shipping Line and Tenterden and the Connor family of Silveracre at Woodville, South Australia, their lives, and descendants.
That so little information is available about this family as they were related to, or in business with families of ‘Old Adelaide’ such as Milne, O’Halloran, Hart, McLaren, Elder, Barr-Smith has been frustrating.
It has been an interesting journey searching for the provenance of the gates and fortunately there is now a conclusion.
Written by Robyn Johnston (OAM, B Nurs, FCNA), CALHN Health Museum Volunteer