2. SCHRODER in Queensland: 1865–1960

by Alan Craig         Download the PDF for this page  (95.4 MB)

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N.B. — Throughout this text, all of Robyn’s direct ancestors are marked in purple. All blue text [inside brackets] represents additional information or corrections, and did not form part of the original documents. Copies of the original birth, death, marriage and census records are held by me and stored in the Cloud, and can be made available to interested parties.

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The story so far: The Schrödter and Kumm families lived in the rural and farming districts close by the town of Prenzlau, which today is in the historical region of Uckermark in what was then West Prussia. These families mostly lived in the villages of Lützlow, Bietikow, and Seehausen, but began to emigrate to Queensland from 1865, with the last of them arriving in 1878. That story can be read in the previous article. In the period 1861 to 1886, five other branches of Robyn’s ancestors also arrived in Queensland, and those stories can be read at these links: Ferguson-McKerrow (1861, Cedar Creek); Hardman-Frankland (1863, Brisbane); Edwards-Shorter (1873, Rockhampton); and Galt–Barr-McColl (1883 & 1886, Brisbane). The Edwards-Shorter family eventually merged with the Schroder family in 1900 to form Robyn’s paternal line.

Wararba Creek, Caboolture

As described in the previous chapter, Robyn’s paternal 2g-grandparents were Carl Schrödter and Christine Kluth. This couple had five children, but Carl, a carpenter, is known to have died before his oldest son, Wilhelm, married in 1862. However, in May 1865, Wilhelm and his wife, Wilhelmine Behm, along with his unmarried brother August, departed Bietikow, and sailed for Queensland aboard the “Susanne Godeffroy”.  The brothers disembarked at Brisbane in September, and for a while lived at Kedron Brook, and nearby the German settlement at Nundah. By 1871, Wilhelm had taken up a land selection: ‘Portion 83’, in the Parish of Canning, which lies just to the west of the town of Caboolture — about 50 km (30 miles) north of Brisbane central.

Their property was 119 acres (48 ha), and ran south off Wararba Creek, which itself ran into the Caboolture River. Wilhelm and Wilhelmine eventually received their Deed of Grant in August 1877, as he had been certified to have cleared and cultivated 18 acres of land, built a four-roomed slab and shingle house, a barn, stockyards, and was growing maize. And by this time, other family members were starting to leave Germany to make the long trip to Queensland.

Next to arrive was Robyn’s great-grandparents, Carl and Caroline, with two children: Wilhelm (2) and Marie (6 months). Their ship, the S.V. “Lammershagen”, first called in at Port Curtis, near Gladstone, but then arrived at Keppel Bay, Rockhampton, on 7 September 1871. It was just at this time his older brother had taken up the selection at Wararba Creek, and Carl’s imminent arrival might have been the catalyst for the family to start a farm. 

Nothing is known of those months after their arrival, but Caroline gave birth to their third child, August (always known as Alfred John or “A.J.”) at Wararba Creek on 17 December 1872 — however, this happy event came just two weeks after a tragic accident at the farm:

“August Schrödter … met with an accident and drowned while crossing flooded Wararba Creek. He had visited his brother-in-law Ferdinand Loweke on his farm at Wararba Creek with two horses and a foal. He then attempted to cross the creek with one of the horses. There was some doubt as to the advisability in him doing so, as he was asked by Ferdinand if he had checked if he could cross. He answered to the affirmative, but he himself asked if there were logs in the water. Ferdinand accompanied him to the creek leading one of the horses. After August mounted one of the horses and struck out for the opposite bank, the horse turned and August fell off and sank and didn’t reappear. His body wasn’t found until the morning of the 5th December, and was identified by his brother Wilhelm.” ¹An extract from the book “The Passage of Time: The 1865 Voyage of the Susanne Godeffroy”, by Noel & Delwyn Bergman, 2016; p.219.

Ferdinand Loweke (Löwe), had come from Dreesch, Prussia, which was just a short distance north if Bietikow. He had only selected ‘Portion 74’ (coloured green in the map above) earlier that year, and August Schrödter was only just three months married to Ferdinand’s sister, Ernestine — and she was already pregnant. The child, August Ferdinand Schrödter was born fatherless in May 1873, and would one day run the property his uncle had owned.

In November 1875, back in Germany, Ferdinand, the 24-year-old baby of the family, tied the knot with Ernestine Rovert, though we haven’t found their marriage certificate. Then, in January 1876, the 27-year-old Wilhelmine tied the knot with Wilhelm Lüdke (later spelt Lindke) a horse groom, at Seelübbe — a small hamlet just a few hundred metres west of Bietikow. In April 1877, Ferdinand and Ernestine boarded the S.V. “Charles Dickens”  and sailed to Brisbane. While at sea, their first child, Ernst, was born and, after arriving, headed to Wararba Creek. Finally, as we saw in the previous chapter, Wilhelmine and her widowed mother, Christine Kluth-Schrödter sailed out of Hamburg in May 1878 aboard the S.V. “Herschel” to Maryborough — and they also joined the rest of the family at Wararba Creek.

1883 Colony of QUEENSLAND DEATHS: District of Caboolture ²Source: SCHRODTER, Christina [Kluth]; 1883 Colony of Queensland Deaths; Nº 329; Caboolture.

Christina Schrodter   age: 72 years  [76]
died: 24th February 1883     at: Caboolture  [Wararba Creek]
cause: Senile Decay; Cramps in stomach (4 months)   doctor: None
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father: Christian Kluth    mother: Christina Wendt
informant: Wilhelm Schrodter   of: Caboolture
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buried: 25th February 1883; Caboolture Cemetery
acting undertaker: Wilhelm Schrodter
witnesses: Johann Zaravid; Carl Pinke
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born: Lutzlow, Germany [Lützlow, Prussia]; 4 years in colony
spouse: [Carl] Wilhelm Schrodter  
married at: Lutzlow, Germany    at age: 24 [28] years
issue: Wilhelm, 40 [47]; Carl, 36 [38]; Minna, 33 [35]; Ferdinand, 30 [31]
issue deceased: [Not recorded, but: August (32) ]

So, by 1878, Christine Kluth and her five children had all migrated out of Germany, and come to the Caboolture region. One son, August, had died in 1872 (see above), but the rest were to survive and thrive in their new home, with most of her grandchildren born at Wararba Creek. However, nearly four-and-a-half years after arriving in Queensland, Christine died from stomach ailments and old age; she had been a widow for over 30 years (see left).

Our story will soon follow Robyn’s great-grandparents, Carl Schrodter and Caroline Kumm — but before we do, here’s a summary of the children of Christine Kluth:

August Carl “Wilhelm” Schrödter (1836–1909) — was born in Meichow in Prussia. He married Wilhelmine Behm at Prenzlau in 1862, and their first child, also Wilhelm, was born there six weeks later. This family migrated to Queensland in 1865 aboard the “Susanne Godeffroy”. Wilhelm and Wilhelmine had a female child in February 1868, but the child only survived for three hours. At the time, Wilhelm was a labourer and living in Kedron Brook, Brisbane. In 1871, he took up a selection at ‘portion 83’, Wararba Creek (see map above), and this was given its Deed of Grant in 1877. Wilhelm had been a Lutheran lay preacher to the German community from about 1876 in the Wararba District, but when he died of  “senile decay” just after Christmas in 1909, he was buried by a Methodist minister. His only son, Wilhelm, died at the farm aged 56 in November 1918, and his wife, “Minna” four months later of  “natural decay”, aged 80 years. Both were also buried in the Methodist faith at Caboolture Cemetery. Wilhelm Jnr and his children eventually owned ‘portion 8’, and built a road to Wamuran, which to this day is called Schrodter Road.

Carl Heinrich “August” Schrödter (c.1840–1872) — seems to have been born in Bietikow, where the family lived before progressively heading for Queensland. August emigrated with his older brother and his family aboard the “Susanne Godeffroy”.  By 1871, he was helping his brother run the dairy farm at Wararba Creek, and in August the following year married their neighbour’s sister, Ernestine Löwe (or Loweke). Four months later, with Ernestine expecting their first child, August fell of his horse in the flooded Wararba Creek and drowned; he was only 32 (see above). Ernestine married twice more: (i) Martin Wehrmann in 1873; and (ii) Peter Fredrikson in 1878. Nothing much is known of her life, but she died in Kilcoy in December 1916.

Eduard Friedrich “Carl” Schrödter (c.1845–1921) — was Robyn’s great-grandfather. As we saw in the previous article, he married Caroline Kumm as Seehausen, Prussia, in 1870. Their first two children were born in Prussia, and three more at Wararba Creek after they had emigrated on the S.V. “Lammershagen” in 1871. We will tell more of this family below.

Wilhelmine Justine Louise Schrödter (1848–1924) — was the only daughter to Carl and Christine. She had been born in Bietikow and, around 1870, had an illegitimate daughter: Maria Auguste Wilhelmine (father unknown). Then, in 1876, she married Christian Friedrich “Wilhelm” Lüdke (sometimes spelled Lindke). This couple had a daughter at Bietikow in 1877, Louise Auguste Wilhelmine. However, by this time, all her brothers had emigrated to Queensland. So, Wilhelmine, with her husband and two daughters, along with her mother, Christine Kluth, sailed from Hamburg aboard the S.V. “Herschel”, arriving at Maryborough in September 1878. These were the last of her family to arrive in Queensland, and they joined her older brother at Wararba Creek. In 1879, Wilhelmine and Wilhelm had one last child: Bertha Wilhelmine Lindke. Wilhelm Lindke was only 42 when he died from “months of suffering” from the effects of dropsy. Wilhelmine, though, lived on for another 30 years, dying at Moodlu (on Wararba Creek) in 1924 of “Carcinoma of gallbladder; cardiac asthenia, and syncope”. She was only a couple of months short of her 76th birthday.

“Ferdinand” Heinrich August Schrödter (c.1852–1921) — was the baby of the family, born in Bietikow, though we have never found his birth certificate. We also know he married “Ernestine” Friedrike Louise Rovert sometime in 1876, at Bietikow, but his marriage certificate hasn’t come to light either. Ferdinand and Ernestine were actually the third wave of the family to head Downunder, and sailed out of Hamburg aboard the S.V. “Charles Dickens” on 3 April 1877, arriving at the Port of Brisbane on 4 September. Their first child (Ernst) was born just 26 days after sailing and, like his brothers before him, Ferdinand headed to Wararba Creek on arrival. Ferdinand and Ernestine were eventually to settle on a property (Portion 73) on the north side of the creek, opposite his older brother’s dairy farm at ‘Portion 83’. This property was called “Moodlu”.  They had seven children in all, but three of them died young: Ernst (1877–1879); Auguste Wilhelmine (1879-1964); Bertha Auguste (1883–1884); Ferdinand Carl (1886-1967); Ida Alvina (1888–1965); and Carl August (1894–1895). All but the first were born at Moodlu.

Many of the children of these families married into other ‘German’ families in the district (Behrens, Dellit, Schultz, etc.) and took up additional properties over the generations. A road was extended west from ‘Portion 8’ (see map) to allow the Schrodter family access to the town of Wamuran for their milk deliveries, and this road still exists and is called Schrodter Road. The families also built bridges across Wararba Creek to allow access to the Moodlu property, and descendants remained in the area right up to the present. Land acquisitions for roads, rail and power lines has greatly reduced the family holdings in the district, but the ‘Schrodter’ family will always be a part of the history of Wararba Creek and Caboolture.

Carl Schrödter and Caroline Kumm

While Carl’s siblings and their children generally stayed around Wararba Creek, our branch of the Schrodter family gradually moved on, and only one of them was to end up farming, but nowhere near Caboolture. Carl and Caroline are recorded as still being at the farm in the Australian Electoral Rolls until at least 1908, but in 1913 we have them logged at Edward Street, Dutton Park, in Brisbane. This street is now called ‘Grantham Street’, and today fronts the Brisbane South State Secondary College (see the maps towards the end). By this time, Carl was 68, and probably retired.

However, some of their children were already in Brisbane, and we know that the two youngest daughters lived at Grey Street, South Brisbane before they married. Bertha (19) married Michael Berghofer, a butcher, in 1895, and lived the rest of her life in Dutton Park, Brisbane.  Minna (also 19) married William Griffiths in 1897, and thereafter lived in the Annerley district, not far from where her parents were in 1913.

The next marriages for Carl and Caroline’s brood were both in 1900. In May of that year, Marie, who was 28, tied the knot with John Creighton, a schoolteacher, in Toowoomba. What took her there is unknown, but we will tell more of her life in the summary. The one that concerns our line most was when their oldest son married in October, and this happened in Charters Towers, and again, we don’t know what had brought him there. 

1900 Colony of QUEENSLAND MARRIAGES: District of Kennedy ³Source: SCHRODER, William Frederick & EDWARDS, May; 1900 Queensland Marriages; A 47125; Kennedy.

married: 24th October, 1900
at: St George’s Church, Queenton, Charters Towers
According to the rites of the English Church
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William Frederick Schroder, Miner (Bachelor)    age: 26  [31]
born: Brisbane, Queensland   [Seehausen, Angermünde, Prussia]
abode: Charters Towers
father: Charles Schroder, Farmer  mother:  Caroline Comon [Kumm]
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May Edwards (Spinster)    age: 26
abode: Charters Towers
father: Thomas Edwards (Deceased)    mother:  Susanna Shorter
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minister: Albert E. Attkins, Clerk in Holy Orders
witnesses: Susanna McCartney; Alfred Edwards; Catherine Ellen Stannell

With this marriage, we’ve finally brought together the two main branches of Robyn’s paternal ancestors. You can read about May Edwards’ ancestors (from Suffolk and Essex), starting here. William had shaved off five years from his age, and gave his birthplace as Brisbane, when we know it was Seehausen in Prussia. Significantly, he has Anglicised his name to ‘William Frederick’, and we now get the ‘Schroder’ spelling used thereafter in Robyn’s family. The marriage was witnessed by his new mother-in-law (now widowed for the second time), and his brother-in-law, Alfred.

Also of interest is that he had married in the Church of England, but that affiliation would change again — however, none of his siblings were married or dispatched in the Lutheran Church, despite their parents maintaining that faith until they died. The last of Carl and Caroline’s children to marry was August, now calling himself “Alfred John”. He married Elizabeth Carsten in December 1907 at Emerald in central Queensland, and we will give more details of them in the summary below.

By the time Alfred married, William and May had already had two children: Olive Louisa (1901); and Clarice May (1903). Both of these were born in Charters Towers, the first in Aland Street, and the second in Phillipson Road. Olive and Clarice were Robyn’s much-loved paternal aunts, and well known to our family until they passed away (Olive in 1985; Clarice in 1998). However, their younger brother was to become Robyn’s father, and he wasn’t born until 1909, coming into this world at Kellys Road in Queenton, Charters Towers, in December 1909. 

When his only son was born, William was actually 40, so was still telling porkies about his age, and maintaining he was born in Queensland. However, William and May were soon to head south.

1909 QUEENSLAND BIRTHS: District of Kennedy ⁴Source:SCHRODER, Charles Frederick; 1909 Queensland Births; B 33733; Kennedy, Queensland.

Charles Frederick Schroder
born: 14 December 1909   at: Kellys Road, Charters Towers
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father: William Frederick Schroder, Laborer     age: 35 [40] years
born; near Brisbane, Queensland [Seehausen, Angermünde]
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mother: May formerly Edwards age: 35 years
born: Rockhampton, Queensland
issue: Olive Louisa (8); Clarice May (6)
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informant: May Edwards, Mother  of: Kellys Road, Charters Towers
doctor: Dr Woodburn Stevens    nurse: Mrs Twites

Family records show that Charles (my father-in-law) was baptised by Roderick Gillespie, Rector at St Paul the Evangelist Church, Brandon, on 3 March 1912. Brandon is just west of the town of Ayr, and William and May are registered there in the Electoral Roll for 1912. Just what the family was doing there is unknown but, by August that year they had moved to Brisbane, and the 1913 Electoral Roll has them living at ‘James Street, Annerley’. James Street was later renamed ‘Lochaber Street’, and runs north off Gladstone Road not far from its intersection with Annerley Road. This was close by where Carl and Caroline were living at Edward Street (now called Grantham Street) with their daughter Bertha and her butcher husband, Michael Berghofer. Carl and Caroline lived on at Dutton Park until after World War One, and they died about four years apart. Their son Alfred, from Emerald, was the informant on his father’s death, and the daughter Minna Griffiths for her mother. After more than half a century in Queensland, Carl and Caroline were laid to rest together at the Dutton Park Cemetery, and had predeceased all of their children — but as we’ll see soon, that was a close run thing!

1921 QUEENSLAND DEATHS: District of Brisbane ⁵Source: SCHRÖDTER, Edward Carl; 1921 Queensland Deaths; Nº A 39491; Brisbane.

Edward Carl Schrödter, Retired Farmer      age: 76 years
died: 26 June 1921     at: Victoria Private Hospital  [Grey Street]
cause: Haemorrhage of bladder; Uraemia 
doctor: A.C. Ward     last attended: 26 June 1921
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born: Bitkow, Prenzlau, Germany  [Bietikow]
          about 50 years in Queensland
parents: — Schrödter — [Carl Schödter & Christine Kluth]
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married: Caroline Charlotte Kumm   at age:26
place: Seihausen, Hungermude, Germany [Seehausen]
issue: William (52); Mary (50); August (48);
           Bertha (45); Minna Augusta (42)
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informant: A.J. Schrödter, Son   of: Emerald
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buried: 27 June 1921; South Brisbane Cemetery
certified: P.M. Gow     minister: L. Krause, Lutheran
witnesses: R. Shipp; C.J. Myles

1925 QUEENSLAND DEATHS: District of Brisbane ⁶Source: SCHRODTER (Kumm), Caroline; 1925 Queensland Deaths; Nº 46126; Brisbane.

Carolina Schrodter, Widow    age: 79 years
died: 5 July 1925    at: Gladstone Road,  Dutton Park
cause: Cerebral Haemorrhage, Heart failure
doctor: A.C. Ward     last attended: 5 July 1925
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born: Seihausen, Hungermude, Germany [Seehausen]
          about 55 years in Queensland
parents: — Kumm — [Ferdinand Kumm & Wilhelmine Metzker]
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married: Carl Schrodter     at age: 24
place: Seihausen, Hungermude, Germany [Seehausen]
issue: William (52); Mary (55); August (52);
           Bertha (49); Minna Augusta (46)
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informant: W. Griffiths, Daughter, [47] Young Street, Annerley
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buried: 6 July 1925; South Brisbane Cemetery  
certified: R.G. Wise      minister: L. Krause, Lutheran
witnesses: C.J. Myles;  R. Sonset

Children of Carl Schrödter & Caroline Kumm

Only 15 months after his mother died, Robyn’s grandfather broke his neck in an accident and died. William had been the first child of Carl and Caroline, and he was the first to die of all his siblings. In all, this couple had five children between 1869 and 1879 — the following is a summary of their lives:

1926 QUEENSLAND DEATHS: District of Brisbane ⁷Source: SCHRODER, William Fredrick ; 1926 Queensland Deaths; A 39485; Brisbane.

William Frederick Schroder, Labourer    age: 57 years
died: 26 October 1926    at: Gladstone Road, Dutton Park
cause: Fracture dislocation Sixth cervical vertebra;
            Respiratory paralysis; Cardiac failure 
doctor: B.R.V. Forbes    last attended: 26 October 1926
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born: Brisbane, Queensland since birth [Seehausen, Angermünde]
             [55 years in Queensland]
parents: Carl Schroder, farmer & Caroline Khomm [Kumm]
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married: May Edwards     at age: about 31 
place: Charters Towers, Queensland
issue: Olive Louisa (25); Clarice May (23); Charles Frederick (16)
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informant: W. Griffiths, Sister    of: [47] Young Street, Annerley
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buried: 27 October 1926; South Brisbane Cemetery
certified: P.M. Gow      minister: James Walker, Presbyterian
witnesses: C.J. Myles; R. Shipp

“Wilhelm” August Ferdinand Schrödter (1869–1926) — was Robyn’s grandfather, and he was born ‘illegitimate’ in Seehausen, Angermünde, in February 1869. His parents married 11 months later and his birth certificate was amended to make him ‘legitimate’. He migrated with his parents and sister Marie to Queensland aboard the S.V. “Lammershagen” in 1871, and spent his early life on the family dairy farm at Wararba Creek, Caboolture. Sometime before 1900, he made his way to Charters Towers in North Queensland where he worked as a miner. Having Anglicised his name to ‘William Schroder’, he married a two-months pregnant May Edwards in 1900 (read about the Edwards family here). William and May had three children in all: Olive Louisa (1901); Clarice May (1903); and Charles Frederick (1909). 

This family had moved to Brisbane by August 1912, and the Australian Electoral Rolls have them living at James Street (now Lochaber Street), Dutton Park, in the years up to around 1918. The following year they were living at the corner of Russell (now Alford) and Welsby Streets, New Farm. After this, May seems to have possibly separated from William, as she is thereafter recorded as living at ‘Ithaca Street’, Kelvin Grove, while he is registered at 47 Spring Street (now Baxter Street) in Fortitude Valley.  William died of a broken neck in 1926, and was possibly living with his sister at the time given the address on his death certificate. One odd thing to note, however, was that the Brisbane Telegraph placed this notice of his death in the ‘Statutory Notice to Creditors’ section: “William Fredrick Schroder, otherwise known as William Fredrick Patterson, late of Valley, Brisbane, licensed collector of second-hand wares, died October 26, 1926, at Brisbane.”  We have no idea what to make of this (unless there was, freakishly, a second William Frederick Schroder who died on the same day!). He was buried in the Dutton Park Cemetery near his parents. May didn’t die until 1960, and is interred in the same grave as William, but without an inscription.

Marie “Mary” Amelia Schrödter (1870–1941) — was also born in Seehausen, Angermünde, but no birth certificate for her has been found. She, too, emigrated with her parents on the S.V. “Lammershagen”, and spent her youth at Wararba Creek. Sometime before 1900, Mary made her way to Toowoomba, and there she married ‘station employee’ John Trevor Creighton in May 1900, six months before the birth of their son Vivian Rogers. The Australian Electoral Rolls shows that between 1905 and 1926, John was the manager of the station at “Halliford” on the West Darling Downs. In 1920, while still at Halliford, John and Mary seem to have ‘adopted’ a baby girl, Margaret Isabel (always known as “Joyce” ), but descendants have suggested to me that she was really the illegitimate child of their son Vivian. Indeed, no birth certificate for her has been registered in Queensland. 

Mary and John were then, in 1923, to officially adopt an eight-year-old orphan girl, Evelyn Imogene, and we have her adoption record. By 1928, after 25 years at “Halliford”, this family had taken up their own station at “Yandara”, Ducklo, 24 km (15 miles) south-west of the town of Dalby. John, thereafter, was described as a “grazier”.  However, this family was to experience a great tragedy when, in May 1934, 19-year-old Evelyn was burned to death in a fire that destroyed the property, despite heroic efforts by John to save her (see ‘Addendum 1’ below).

Mary Amelia died in 1941, aged 71, from an “acute intestinal obstruction”, and was buried at South Brisbane Cemetery in a grave that would later be shared by her younger sister, Bertha. Her son Vivian became an army Major in WW2, and later a senior public servant on the Lands Administration Board, and received an O.B.E. Her husband John died in 1954 in Toowoomba; interestingly “Joyce” is not listed as a surviving child on his death certificate.

August “Alfred John” Schrödter (1872–1938) — was the first of Carl and Caroline’s children to be born in Queensland, and was always known a “A.J.”  By 1905, Alfred had become a shearer and worked out west on the Maranoa at places like Albibah and Isisford. In 1907, he was living in Emerald, where he married a nearly four-months pregnant Elizabeth Carstens, who had come from Clermont (to the north-west of Emerald). Between 1908 and 1925, Alfred and Elizabeth had seven children, all in Emerald. Tragically, Elizabeth’s mother, two of her sisters and some in-laws were drowned in December 1916 in the famous Clermont floods (see ‘Addendum 2’ below).

    By 1928, they had moved to 237 Murray Street, Rockhampton, and Alfred had now put aside his shears and become a ‘railway employee’. By 1935, they were nearby at 182 Denham Street, and Alfred now a “train inspector”. He was retired at this address when, in August 1938, he had a heart attack. He was rushed to Brisbane Hospital, but didn’t recover; he was 65. Alfred was returned to Rockhampton for burial, and his widow lived on at Denham Street for the remainder of her life. Elizabeth died at Biloela Hospital, in September 1966, aged 82.

“Bertha” Augusta Schrödter (1876–1962) — was also born at Wararba Creek, and was the first of her siblings to marry. In August 1895, while seven months pregnant, she took wedding vows with Michael Berghofer, a local butcher, who had emigrated from Germany in 1878. Bertha was only 19 at the time, and living at Grey Street, South Brisbane, with her younger sister, Minna. Her father gave consent to the marriage (shotgun?), but the ceremony was conducted by the Salvation Army, so a departure from her upbringing as a Lutheran. Bertha and Michael were to have six children between 1895 and 1913, and a picture of the family can be found in the gallery below. 

    In 1903 and 1906, Bertha and Michael were living, respectively, at Hope and Brook Streets, South Brisbane. However, three years later they had moved further up the hill to the ‘Deighton Estate’, which was in the triangle between Annerley and Gladstone Roads. They lived in that area for several decades, early on sharing addresses with Bertha’s parents and brother William at both Edward and James Streets (now Grantham and Lochaber Streets). They later resided for many years at 258 Gladstone Road, which today is the site of the Brisbane South State Secondary College, and directly across the road from the cemetery where Bertha and many of her family are buried. Michael died there from gall bladder issues in 1947, aged 76. Bertha lived on for another 15 years, but was living with her son Charles at Clayfield in 1962 when she died of heart and kidney disease — she was 86, and had outlived three of her children and all of her siblings. Bertha was buried with her older sister, Marie Creighton, in the Dutton Park Cemetery officiated by a Salvation Army minister.  The following maps show that area as it was in the 1890s.

Wilhelmine “Minna” Augusta Schrödter (1879–1961) — was also born at Wararba Creek, the last child for Carl and Caroline. By 1895, she was living with her sister Bertha at Grey Street, South Brisbane, and was the second of her siblings to marry. In 1897, aged 18, she married William Samuel Griffiths of Redbank Plains and, like her older sister, was pregnant with her first child. Again, her father gave his consent to the marriage, which was held in the Wesleyan parsonage at Wickham Terrace, Spring Hill. In 1903-05, Minna and William are registered as living at Lang Street, Annerley. Later rail lines split this street into four, but it is likely they were living in the bit now called ‘Tamar Street’, as that is less than a kilometre south of where her sister and parents were living at the time.

    By 1914, this couple had their first three children: Olive (1898); Irene (1899); and Allan (1907), and were now at their long-term address of 17 Young Street, Annerley. Their house was named “Lyndhurst”, which was also the middle name of their son Allan. This house was of quite a unique design, and still stands (see the picture in the gallery below). World War One came, and William enlisted in the army and served overseas, being wounded twice. Sadly, just four months before he was discharged and returned to Australia in 1919, his daughter Irene died. From then, William was always registered in the Electoral Rolls as a “waterside worker” (a ‘wharfie’). Their last child, Joyce, was born in 1921. When William died of a ’coronary thrombosis’ in 1951, he was a pensioner living at the War Veterans’ Home in Caboolture; he was 79. Their son Allan died in 1956 (aged 49), and Minna was 82 when she died at the Princess Alexandra Hospital in 1961 of a “ruptured aortic aneurysm, and atherosclerosis”.

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So, to round this chapter off, we have two more events to record. In 1940, Robyn’s father and mother tied the knot (see below left), and this brings us to the Galt and Ferguson stories told in other chapters. This couple had four children: Kenneth Gordon (1943); Margaret McKerrow (1947–2013); Robyn Elizabeth (1952); and Lesley Dianne (1955). There was also a stillborn child in 1945. Margaret was born with cerebral palsy,  but led a very full and interesting life, and we will tell something of her life on another page. These children never new their paternal grandfather, but May Schroder (née Edwards) lived until 1960, and spent her last years living with her daughter Olive at Whatmore Street, Carina.  She died aged 86, and had outlived all of her siblings:

1940 QUEENSLAND MARRIAGES: Fortitude Valley, Brisbane⁸Source: SCHRODER, Charles F. & GALT, Agnes McK.; 1940 Queensland Marriages – from original certificate.

married: 7th December 1940
at: Fortitude Valley Presbyterian Church, Brisbane
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Charles Frederick Schroder, Bachelor
Public Servant       age: 27
born: 14th December 1909    at: Charters Towers
abode: 22 Ithaca Street, Normanby, Q
father: William Frederick Schroder, Miner (deceased) [1926]
mother:  May Edwards
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Agnes McKerrow Galt, Spinster
Accounting Machine Operator      age: 24
abode: Brookes Street, Bowen Hills, Q
father: Thomas Barr Galt, Foreman Fitter
mother: Margaret McKerrow Ferguson [deceased 1934]
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minister: Samuel Summers, Presbyterian Minister
witnesses: Reginald Malcolm Rowland; Thomas Barr Galt

1960 QUEENSLAND DEATHS: District of Brisbane ⁹Source:SCHRODER (Edwards), May; 1960 Queensland Deaths; Nº 39435; Brisbane.

May Schroder  [widow of 34 years]    age: 86 years
died: 26 July 1960    at: Princess Alexandra Hospital, South Brisbane
cause: Cerebral thrombosis (3 months);  Arteriosclerosis (years)
doctor: Keith E. Hirschfeld     last attended: 26 July 1960
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born: Rockhampton, Queensland — Native
parents: Thomas Edwards & Susanna Shorter
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married: William Frederick Schroder     at age: about 26 years
place: Charters Towers, Queensland
issue: Olive Louisa (59); Clarice May (57); Charles Frederick (50)
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informant: C.F. Schroder, Son   of: 42 Almond Street, Northgate
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buried: 28 July 1960; South Brisbane Cemetery
certified: G.L. Ferris       minister: S.Summers, Presbyterian
witnesses: C.J. Myles; R. Shipp

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Addendum 1

As mentioned above in the summary of Marie Schrödter and her husband John Creighton, their adopted daughter, Imogene, died in a tragic fire in 1934 at their property near Ducklo, Queensland. Following is the report from the Coroner’ Enquiry into that event, held at Ducklo, on January 26th, 1934:

Constable R. G. Kinnane gave evidence that about 7 p.m. on January 26th, Sergeant McGreevy received a telephone message from Mrs. Bell, Ducklo, to the effect that Mr. J. T. Creighton’s house was on fire, and that Evelyn Creighton was severely burned in the fire. Acting on instructions received, he immediately left with Ambulance-bearer Larsen for Mr. Creighton’s residence at Ducklo. On arrival he saw the dead body of the girl, wrapped in a blanket. All her clothes had been burned off, and she was severely burned all over. There were no marks of violence on the body, or anything to indicate that foul play had taken place. He examined the debris of the fire and failed to find any suspicious circumstances surrounding its origin. The body was brought to the morgue at the Dalby Hospital, and the following morning Dr. Randall, Government Medical Officer, examined of the body, and issued a certificate as to the cause of death. He had interviewed Mr. Creighton, who was unable to give any information as to the origin of the fire.
Witness related conversations he had had with Mr. and Mrs. Creighton. The house and contents were completely destroyed, also a quantity of furniture belonging to Edith Mary Porter. The house and contents belonged to Mr. Creighton, and were insured with the Atlas Insurance Co. for £1200. Miss Porter’s was insured with the Commercial Union Insurance Co. for £65. She valued her loss at £20, and the company were going to pay that amount. Witness failed to find any suspicious circumstances surrounding the origin of the fire and the girl’s death. He was satisfied that the girl met her death by burning.
Mrs. M. A. Creighton said that on January 26th she and her adopted daughter Evelyn, were washing some dresses in the laundry with petrol. These were then hung on the dining room verandah to dry. Some petrol was left in a dish, and there was also some in a tub. About 4 p.m., she and Evelyn started to clean the laundry, which was infested with mice. On the shelf was a bottle of methylated, spirits, a bottle of benzine, a packet of sulphur, and about a kerosene tin full of fat, which was intended for soap-making. Rubbish from the laundry was placed outside. About dusk they ceased doing this work and witness left the laundry, but the girl remained at a box outside the laundry with a cat catching mice.
Witness walked to the front gate of the house, and on returning within ten minutes, noticed smoke and flames coming out of the door of the laundry. She called out to her husband who was lying sick on the front verandah, and he came out while witness ran for a bucket of water. Her husband told her to ring for the Ambulance, and then he dived into the burning laundry, and she saw him carry Evelyn out. He got a blanket and wrapped her in it. She then went to the telephone and rang the Ducklo exchange, requesting them to ring the Ambulance, and some of the neighbours, and when she returned her husband said Evelyn had passed away. Some local residents were soon on the scene, and the Ambulance and police arrived later.
The building, witness continued, was a wooden structure of eight rooms, with kitchen, pantry, bath room, laundry, and nine feet verandahs. The laundry was about a foot away from the kitchen, and in a few minutes the whole building was a mass of flames. It and the furniture were totally destroyed by flames. There was a 44 gallon drum of petrol under a pepper tree, about 20 feet from the building, which exploded after the roof of the house had fallen in. There was no fire in or near the laundry when witness left for the front gate. Evelyn had no matches or any light when witness left the laundry. Witness had no idea how the fire originated, and could not say how the girl was burnt in the fire.
Witness had adopted deceased when she was eight years of age, and had had the girl under her care ever since. Witness lost in the fire a number of parrots. canaries, and chickens, and also £20 in notes and silver. She had no idea how the fire originated, but she was satisfied it was an accident, and that no one was to blame.
John Trevor Creighton, grazier, residing at Yandara, Ducklo, corroborated the evidence of his wife regarding the fire and the girl’s death. He said the house was fully furnished, the furniture including a piano and a gramophone. He valued the house at £900 and the furniture and his personal belongings at £500. They were insured under the one policy for £1200. There was no fire in the laundry, and no matches were kept there. He could not account how the fire originated, or how his daughter got trapped and burned to death. His adopted daughter’s life was not insured. He was of the opinion that the fire was purely accidental.

Addendum 2

In the summary of August Schrödter and his wife Elizabeth Carsten, it was mentioned that her mother and some other family members were drowned in the Clermont flood of 28 December, 1916. These were the worst floods in Queensland‘s history, and claimed the lives of more than 60 people, and many bodies were never recovered. These floods led to the relocation of those parts of the town around Clermont Lagoon. The following is a report from The Morning Bulletin, Rockhampton (Tuesday, 9 January, 1917):

Mr. Harry Carsten, whose mother, two sisters, wife, and infant boy fourteen months old were drowned, tells a thrilling story of his escape. Mr. Carsten is in the Hospital suffering from shock and exposure. He also has a severe cut on his left arm. How this was caused he does not know. On the morning of the flood, when the water was running down Wolfang-street, he started for Drummond-street in order to make some purchases. After going some distance he found that he was unable to cross owing to the strength of the current and returned and went into Mr. Simon Carroll‘s place. Mr. Carroll was Mr. Carsten’s brother-in-law.

He found Mr. Carroll placing the children on the bed. He went into his own place and had just got inside when he heard the crash of Mr. Carroll’s residence. The kitchen struck the back portion of Mr. Carsten’s house and carried away the three back rooms. By this time there was a good deal of water in his place. He saved his wife and child. He then heard a groan, and, on investigating, found little Arthur Carroll, who had floated into the room. Immediately after Mrs. Carroll came into the room. He placed the women and children on the roof, Mrs. Carrol remarking “I think it is only prolonging our misery”. The words were scarcely spoken when the house went with a crash, and, inside of fifty yards, fell to pieces. 

Mr. Carsten caught up his child and swam to Mr. Barraclough’s blacksmith’s shop, on the roof of which he threw the child. He failed to get hold himself, and swam to Mr. Druery’s. After he had been there a short time the house cracked in an ominous fashion and he left it and reached another house, which simply collapsed like a pack of cards. Mr. Carsten tried to reach another house, but failed. He was swept into the show grounds, and, when almost done, heard a voice directing him to a tree. He missed the tree, but the swirl of the current caught him and turned him against a branch, which he held. There he remained, with another man, until half-past three o’clock the following morning. There was another man in the same tree, and a short distance away was Mr. Lawrence Healy, who was on Mr. Druery’s house when it went downstream.

A list of the dead included: Elizabeth Carsten’s mother, Kate Flanagan; her sisters Eva and Greta; her brother Harry’s wife, Maud, and their son, Simon. So, her mother, two sisters, a sister-in-law and a nephew were all drowned on that fateful day.