Enid Patricia Cecily Betts, was born in 1898 to Emily’s Sister Miriam Sofia and her husband Henry Samuel Marsden Betts. Enid was their second child and only daughter. Her brother John Ulick, was born three years before her in 1895.
Births.
BETTS.—May 29, at Vale Head, Molong, the wife of H. S.M.Betts, of a daughter.
Miriam was Henry Betts third wife. His previous wives Charlotte and Louisa died young and between them bore him at least eight children, Enid and her brother John Ulick made up his family of ten. Henry Betts was a well respected and from a prominent family in the Parramatta area of New South Wales. He was a Justice for Peace for thirty or more years.
Henry Betts died in 1899, after an unfortunate accident when Enid was only one years old. It appeared that he was getting better from his injuries but his health took a turn for the worst;
KICKED BY A HORSE,
MOLONG, Monday.— Mr. H. S. M. Betts, of Vale Head, was kicked by a horse which he was turning out of his paddock on Saturday afternoon. Mr. Betts’s leg was broken below the knee by the kick. Dr. Lamb set the limb soon after the accident, and the patient is progressing towards recovery.
The above story was carried by The Sydney Morning Herald on February 7th 1899, but less than three weeks later the same paper contained Henry Betts’ death notice;
BETTS.—February 24, at his late residence, Vale Head, Molong, Henry Samuel Marsden Betts, J.P., aged 60, son of John Betts, M.A., Camb., of The Vineyard, Parramatta, and grandson of the Rev. Samuel Marsden, M.A., Senior Chaplain of N.S.W.
Miriam was less than five years married when she lost her husband, which seemed to be a trend in her maternal line. Her grandmother and great grandmother alike lost their husband’s shortly after marriage. Emily shared the same fate.
Betts, Henry Samuel Marsden (1839–1899)
On the 24th ult. word was received at Molong (N.S.W.) of the death of Mr. Henry Samuel Marsden Betts, of Vale Head Station. The deceased gentleman had been kicked by a horse a few weeks previously, and death was the result of the injuries then received. Mr. Betts was one of the oldest residents of the district, was a magistrate for many years, member of the local Land Board and licensing bench, and had been several times mayor of Molong. He took an active interest in church matters, and was a warden and lay reader at St. John’s Anglican Church. The funeral was largely attended by all classes of the community, thus evincing the general respect in which deceased was held.
The deceased gentleman was a grandson of the Rev. Samuel Marsden, a New South Wales chaplain in the days of “the system,” and Vale Head Station was a grant to Mr. Marsden. In the early days of the colony the house at Vale Head, it is stated, was a public-house, kept by a brother of Richard Cobden, the Corn Law reformer.
Sources
“Family Notices.” The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 – 1954) 1 Jun 1898: 1. Web. 29 Oct 2013 <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article14139882>.
“KICKED BY A HORSE.” Evening News (Sydney, NSW : 1869 – 1931) 7 Feb 1899: 3. Web. 29 Oct 2013 <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article113707716>.
“DEATH OF MR. H. S. M. BETTS.” Evening News (Sydney, NSW : 1869 – 1931) 25 Feb 1899: 5. Web. 29 Oct 2013 <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article113700460>.
When Enid was barely fifteen years old her mother fell ill. It was not a serious illness as Miriam Betts lived on into her seventies but her ailment was enough to send her daughter on a the ten thousand mile journey form Australia to Ireland. Enid appeared to have traveled alone, the journey would have taken weeks to arrive at her destination, to a new country and to a new life with an aunt she had never met before.
