Sarah Ann(e) Punch (b 1857)
parents John Joseph Punch & Maria Wright


born 1857, Bendigo, Victoria, Australia[1]
died July 1933, Long Gully, Victoria, Australia
buried 1 August 1933, Bendigo Cemetery, Bendigo, Victoria, Australia[2]


Sarah Ann(e) Punch was born in 1857 in Bendigo[1].  On 18 May 1875, Sarah married Thomas Henry Lethlean, a Cornishman.  They we both living at Golden Square at the time[5].  

Thomas Henry Lethlean was baptised on 28 May 1854 in Crowan, Cornwall, England, surname Lathlean.  His parents were James William Lathlean and Martha James[6,7].  He died on 12 September 1923 and was buried on 14 September 1923 at the Bendigo Cemetery, Monumental Section O5, Grave 25998[2,3].  Sarah died in July 1933 and was buried on 1 August 1933 at the Bendigo Cemetery in the same grave as Thomas[1,2].

In 1861, the Lethlean family lived in Crowan, Cornwall.  James worked as a Miner.  Thomas Henry aged 7 years was a Scholar[9].


from 1861 England Census


In 1871, the family was recorded  living at 43 Woodfield Street, Morriston, just 5 km north of Swansea, Wales.


from 1871 Wales Census

Thomas' father, James Wiliam Lathlean was born on 4 August 1822 in Crowan, Cornwall, England and worked as a Miner.  James, died on 20 March 1869, near Swansea (Morriston?) possibly because of a mining accident[11,12].  Thomas' mother, Martha thought it time to start over again and packed up the family, headed to London and caught a boat to Australia!    Martha died on 26 October 1894 in Bendigo and was buried on 27 October 1894 at the Kangaroo Flat Cemetery, Wesleyan Section, Grave 2270.  She was probably born in Cornwall, England[2,7].

Arrival In Victoria
Thomas Henry arrived in Victoria in July 1872 aged 18 years.  He came with his mother and 8 siblings on board the Somersetshire which departed from London, England on 21 May 1872 and arrived at Cape Otway on 23 July 1872 and in Melbourne on 24 Jul.[7,8].  The family found its way to the Victorian mining town of Bendigo (then Sandhurst).

Thomas Henry worked as a Miner and he and Sarah were living in Havalin Street, Bendigo during their later years[4].  Thomas' Probate was granted to both Sarah and his daughter, Mary Roberts, both of Havalin Street, Bendigo who were nominated as his Executors.  Thomas' Will, dated 3 February 1922 specifies that all his estate should go to Sarah and only divided with his children in the event of Sarah's death or re-marriage.



Thomas left an estate comprising a weatherboard cottage of 5 rooms on land of 81 feet by 163 feet located on Havalin Street valued at £250, furniture valued at £40 and cash and personal effects valued at £65 and a bank account holding £303.  All in all, quite a tidy sum.



Children:-

Sarah Ann and Thomas had (at least) 13 children:-

1.  James Lethlean born ca 1876 in Bendigo.  He died on 15 May 1920 in Long Gully aged 44 years[1,12].  He was buried on 15 May 1920 in the Bendigo Cemetery, Monumental Section O4, Grave 22516[1,2].  James married Mary Ellen Kean (Nelly) in 1907[1].  Nelly was born in Bendigo in 1884 and her parents were William Kean and Isabella Fife[1].

James and Nelly had (at least) 5 children all born in the Bendigo area:-

1.1  James Frederick born 1908
1.2  Richard Lethlean born 1910, died 1985 in Bendigo
1.3  Reginald Lethlean born 1912, died aged 2 years in 1914 in Bendigo
1.4  Frank Lethlean born 1914
1.5  Ruby Leathlean born 1916

2.  Bessie (or Bessey) Lethlean.  She was born ca 1877 but died very young and was buried on 22 April 1878 in the Bendigo Cemetery, Grave 1328[2].

3.  Bessie Lethlean.  Bessie #2 was born in 1878 but also died very young in 1880[7]

4.  Ethel Lethlean was born in 1880 in Bendigo.  In 1904, she married Edgar Partridge Fuller[1].  Edgar was born in Bendigo, Victoria in 1879 and his parents were John Fuller and Sarah Ann Partridge[1].  Ethel died in Malvern, Victoria in 1949[1].  Edgar died in 1941, also in Malvern[1].

Ethel and Edgar had 3 children, all born in Long Gully, Victoria:-

4.1  Harry Fuller born 1905 and died in the same year
4.2  Edgar Lionel Fuller born 1906
4.3  Myrtle Fuller born born 1907

5.  Martha Lethlean was born 1882 in Bendigo[1].  She married Ernest Bowden Rogers in 1903[1,3].  Ernest Bowden Rogers was born in Bendigo in 1880 and his parents were Alfred Rogers and Sarah Sutton[1].  He was always known as Bowden and died in Long Gully in 1939 and was buried on 1 December at the Bendigo Cemetery[1,2].

Martha and Ernest had 8 children, all born in Long Gully, Victoria:-

5.1  Alfred Bowden Rogers born 1904, died 1958, Bendigo
5.2  Ivy May Rogers born 1905, died 1982, Prahran, Victoria
5.3  Francis William Rogers born 1906, died 27 December 1967, Bendigo
5.4  Clifford Bernard Rogers born 1908
5.5  Clarence George Rogers born 1911, died 1974, Ormond, Victoria
5.6  Mary Elizabeth Rogers born 1912, died 1998
5.7  Dorothy Joyce Rogers born 1918, died 1995
5.8  James Kenneth Rogers born 1921, died 1922.

Sometime later, ca 1945, Martha married for a second time with Edward Davis (Ted) Oldham.  Ted's first wife, Emma Harris, died in Bendigo in September 1936.  Martha died in August 1962 and was buried on 27 August.

Norm Lindrea remembers Ted as follows:-  Ted (or Grandpa as I knew him – he was the only maternal grandfather that I knew) was a “saddler” and a pastor in the Apostolic Church.  He never made any attempt to push his church or beliefs an me or anybody else in the family, and my grandmother never attended his church, she was a Methodist, but it was an unbroken habit in their household to say grace before each meal and to kneel by their bed and say prayers every night.  His children and grandchildren (I considered them to be pseudo uncles, aunts and cousins to me) were extremely “straight laced” people whose habits were not far removed from Quakers or Amish[7].

Interestingly, Martha is buried with her first husband, Bowden  (Bendigo Cemetery, MON O4, grave 25377) and Ted is buried with Emma (Bendigo Cemetery, MON N4, grave 30665).  These graves are less than 100 metres apart[2,7].

6.  Thomas Henry Lethlean was born in Bendigo in 1884[1].  Thomas Henry died on 12 November 1966 and was buried at the Bendigo Cemetery on 15 November, Monumental Section H2, Grave 41455[3].  Thomas married Charlotte Kirby in 1910 in Victoria[1].  We don't know where Charlotte was born but she died on 12 November 1968 in Bendigo[1,12].

Thomas and Charlotte had (at least) 3 children, all born in the Bendigo area:-

5.1  Thomas Henry Lethlean born 12 July 1910 in Long Gully, Vic and died 19 September 1994 in Seymour, Vic[12].  Thomas married Mavis Theres Marshall in 1931 in Victoria[1].
5.2  Edna Irene Lethlean born 1912.
5.3  George Victor Lethlean born 27 December 1914, Long Gully, Vic and died in 2011 in Tongala, Vic[12].  George married Florence Annie (or Rebecca) Fisk in 1937 in Victoria[1].  Florence was born on 2 Feb 1918 in Apollo Bay, Vic and died in October 2004 in Tongala[12].

7.  Bessie Lethlean was born in Bendigo in 1886[1].  She married George Henry Dines in 1907[1,3].  They had (at least) one child:- Clifford George Dines born 1907 in Long Gully[1].

8.  William James Lethlean was born in 1888 at Yallock, Victoria and died on 5 February 1958 in Kyabram, Victoria.  He was buried on 7 February at Bendigo Cemetery, MON N5, grave 38364[1,2].  William was always known as Billy[7].  He married Ruby May Kronk in 1910 in Victoria. Ruby May was born in 1890 in Bendigo.  Her parents were Edward George Kronk and Mary Brown.  Ruby died in October 1972 at Tongala, Victoria and was buried on 24 October at Bendigo Cemetery in the same grave as Billy[1,2,7].

Billy and Ruby are known to have had 2 children:-

8.1  Elvina Lethlean born 1910 in Long Gully[1].
8.2  William Lethlean born 1912 in Long Gully.  William died in December 1942 in Kyabram, Victoria and buried on 30 December at Bendigo Cemetery, MON N5, grave 29358[1,2].

9.  Richard Lethlean was born in Bendigo in 1890.  He died in East Melbourne oin 28 November 1942 and buried at Bendigo Cemetery on 30 November, MON G3, grave 32913[1,2,7].  He married Ivy Pearl Mary Kronk in 1916[1].  Ivy was a sister of Ruby May.  Ivy died in September 1950 and was buried at Bendigo Cemetery in the same grave as Richard[1,2].

Richard and Ivy had t least, 1 child:-

9.1  Maxwell John Lethlean born 1917 at Long Gully.

10.  Elvina Lethlean was born in Yallook, Victoria in 1892 but died aged only 14 months in 1893 in Bendigo[1].

11.  Mary Lethlean was born in Yallock in 1894[1].  Mary married Harry Roberts in 1915[1,3].

12.  Ruby May Lethlean was born in Yallock in 1895[1].  She died in 1972 in Preston, Victoria.  Ruby was cremated at Fawkner Cemetery, Garden of Remembrance 1 on 13 September.[7,13].  She married Thomas Veal in 1919[1,].  Thomas was born in 1896 in Long Gully and died in 1949 in South Melbourne.  His parents were John Veal and Mary Ann Hocking..  Thomas died and was cremated on 5 November 1949 at Fawkner Cemetery.  He ies alongside Ruby[13].

Ruby and Thomas had a son, Harry, born 1926.  He died and was cremated at Fawkner Cemetery on 10 July 1970 and his ashes lie in the 4th Avenue Wall Niches (South Side)[13].

13.  Frank Leathlean was born in 1901 in Long Gully (near Bendigo) but died very young in 1901[1].



References
  1. Victorian Birth, Marriage and Death registers
  2. Bendigo Cemetery Trust records
  3. Thomas Henry Lethlean Probate
  4. Victorian Electoral Rolls
  5. Bendigo Advertiser, Personal Notices
  6. Family Search, www.familysearch.org
  7. Personal correspondence Norm Lindrea March 2016
  8. The Age newspaper, 24 July 1872, The Ballarat Star newspaper, 25 July 1872
  9. 1861 England & Wales Census, RG 9, 1575, folio 32, page 9
  10. 1871 Wales Census, RG 10, 5446, folio 8, page 9
  11. England & Wales FreeBMD Index, 1837-1915
  12. Lethlean Family Tree by Sean Lethlean, Ancestry, http://trees.ancestry.com.au/tree/13980847/family
  13. Fawkner Cemetery records