Payne William Gilbert

Fast Facts

Type of person	Individual
Date of birth	1864
Place of birth	England
Principal occupation	Chaff Mill Proprietor
Date of death	1926
Place of death	South Australia

William Gilbert Payne - c1900

Click here for photos of William Gilbert Payne and family.

William Gilbert Payne was born in Aylesbury, England in 1864, son of Edwin Payne and nee Sarah Gilbert. At 17 he migrated to Australia to work for his maternal uncle William Gilbert, who was running “W Gilbert & Co Grain & Forage Merchants”, on North Terrace, opposite the Adelaide Railway Station [see State Library of SA photo].

In 1888, W G married his cousin Florence Amy Bates and they moved into “Mill Cottage”, located next to the newly established “W Gilbert & Co Chaff Mill” at Evanston, so that W G could manage the mill for his uncle. [This site of the cottage is now known as 44 Barnet Road].

Over the next ten years, the couple welcomed six children; dearly beloved first born baby Leonard Gilbert died on Christmas Eve 1889, aged just 9 months, then at about 18 months of age second son ‘Will’ was diagnosed with cancer, he fortunately survived, but had to have his right eye removed (in later photos he can be seen to stand so his right side did not show). The other four children (3 more sons & 1 daughter – see details below), also made it to adulthood but their mother Florence was not to see that, she died of cancer in 1898 (despite the amputation of her breast and arm) - son Will was only eight at the time and baby Bernard not yet one. It must have been a great assistance to W G, that his parents Edwin and Sarah Payne, had recently come to live at Mill Cottage upon Edwin’s retirement as Aylesbury postmaster of 25 years.

Fifteen months after Florence’s death, W G married Hilda Elizabeth Paterson and they began their family (eventually six daughters – see details below). To make room for the expanding and extended family “Mill Cottage” was extended, including a wing on the western Barnet road side where W G’s parents Edwin & Sarah lived independently (except for meals) when in Australia (they made regular trips back to England).

In 1902 Uncle William Gilbert stepped back, leasing the Gilbert & Co Mill and house site to W G Payne and William Henry George, then in 1907 the properties were transferred into W G’s name. Over the years the business thrived and was expanded, with two additional mills at Wasleys.

W G was a passionate gardener, he transformed the site in the time he was there, planting half the large block out as an orange orchard and the rest with ornamentals, including palms and roses – his beautiful home, garden and orangery became known as “Orange Grove” and were locally renowned (photos were even included in Coombe’s (1910) ‘History of Gawler’)(see 44 Barnet Road - for more details about the residence and garden or click here to view an album of photos). In October 1908 W G hosted an open garden and afternoon tea for the Congregational Sunday School and friends; over 200 people attended, Setaro's String Band played on the lawn, and there were swings, see-saws and other attractions for the children. The Bunyip (23 Oct 1908) enthused “The garden is an ideal one. The various rustic arches and arbors covered with glorious roses, the many palms and shrubs also covered in bloom, and paths winding in every direction constitute a great charm.”, the article extended W G’s invitation that anyone may come and visit the garden any day over the next two weeks whilst the flowers were looking their best.

The Payne family were heavily involved with the Gawler Congregational Church (it was where W G and Hilda met); W G was Sunday School Superintendent for nearly 20 years, a Deacon at some point and in 1908 he donated seven cathedral glass windows of the latest design to beautify the church.

It was on Congregational Church business later in 1908 when tragedy struck; Mrs Hilda Payne was driving a buggy down the steep hill on Calton Road - the brake failed to act, she lost control of the horse “and it came down the hill at a terrific pace and dashed into the path in front of Martin & Co.'s office.” Passenger Miss A Wise, a local school teacher, jumped from the vehicle half way down the hill, but her dress caught on the wheel and she died at the scene as a result of head injuries. Mrs Payne and other passenger Miss E Rebbeck were injured but recovered. At the time Hilda was 32 (only a year older than W G’s first wife Florence had been when she died) and she had four young daughters, including baby Hazel not yet 5 months, and 5 step children.

The following year, Hilda’s stepdaughter ‘Gwen’, W G’s eldest daughter, set off to England accompanied by her grandparents to attend Helena High School, Burgess Hill, where W G’s sister Rosa Payne was headmistress. Gwen boarded there for 3 years, returning to Australia in 1913. After this she became a pupil of Adelaide-based artist and art educator Mr James Ashton. She was an accomplished artist and for three works entered in the Royal Drawing Society in London, she was awarded two first class and one second class awards. [There are some examples of Gwen's artwork in the album].

Around the time of Gwen’s return to Australia, the Orange Grove residence was upgraded further, with a Queen Anne style addition to the north eastern corner of the home, including a turret. Younger sister Clethra recalled, Gwen was then able to have her parent’s old rooms and the new room with the turret which “looked quite imposing” was the new lounge room. A “union jack flag always flew from the tall flag post on special days”.

Clethra recalled her childhood at Orange Grove fondly; her “parents and grandparents were all one could wish for”, she loved climbing, playing under the big mulberry tree and tending her small garden, each of the children had one for which they bought tiny packets of seed for a penny. There was help at home; Mr Curnow was manager of the mill and as he lived in one of the cottages his wife did the washing for many years. Hannah and Alice Price “came to my mother as the left school, stayed until they married and we loved them. Also Miss Fox who was a friend of Mother’s, came every Thursday from 9-5 and made all our underclothes and best dresses. Mother spent her evenings doing buttonholes and did them beautifully.” They “all had midday dinner together but were not allowed in the dining room for tea until we were twelve years old.” At five and a half Clethra started school [1909], it was a mile to school, the cart would meet them at the Duck Flat swing bridge take them home for hot dinner and then return them afterwards. From there she spent two years Gawler High School, it was up on Lyndoch Road so she took lunch – “pupils came to the school by train from Wasleys and Smithfield and other places.” (Following Gawler High School, Clethra attended Methodist Ladies College (now Annesley), then trained and worked as a nurse before marrying).

In 1917, the family’s youngest son Bernard Victor Payne, who was working as a fitter at Martin’s Phoenix Foundry, enlisted to serve in WWI, aged just 20 (there is a photo of him taken in uniform in the garden at the family home Orange Grove). Clethra recalled her brother Bern requested no-one went to the city to see him off, but on her way to high school she walked to the Gawler train station with him and felt very proud.

Within the year the family received news he had been “injured”, they had to wait 12 days until the next letter informed them he was “suffering from gunshot wound upper right arm, severe” and another 16 days to hear his “condition improving” (providing an example of how incomplete and slow news was to reach families during the war). Bernard was medically discharged on 21 Jan 1919; he was later able to continue working as an engineer and went on to marry. A postcard of Orange Grove sent to him by his mother’s friend Miss Bessie Maud Fox whilst he was away has survived, she mentions “home sweet home that used to be” and quips that he may soon be “a good left hand writer” (See postcard & message)

Miss Fox’s message refers to the fact that in September 1918, whilst Bern was away, the Payne family sold the mill and Orange Grove and relocated to Henley Beach. As the family had declined a farewell gathering, the members of the Congregational Church threw a surprise farewell after the Sunday service, in which they lamented the loss to the church and presented the family with a silver tea and coffee service. There were also farewells from the Women’s Guild for Mrs Payne and the Public School for Mr Payne, who had been chairman.

The family maintained their connection to Gawler and when they passed away their remains were brought back to the Payne Family Plot in Willaston Cemetery for burial; first W G’s father Edwin Payne in 1922, then W G in 1926 and finally Hilda in 1963.

Ironically despite leaving Gawler as children, two of the family’s daughters Daphne and Enid married brothers from the Cheek family, who whilst born and raised in the Adelaide metro area were grandsons of Gawler’s Philip and Olivia Cheek.

Aylesbury Farm

In addition to the Orange Grove property, the Payne family purchased farmland at Kangaroo Flat near Roseworthy College (allotments 69, 75, 76 & 77 of Mudla Wirra - see map), which they named ‘Aylesbury Farm’ after the English town of W G’s birth. Eldest son Will took on the farm after he finished at Prince Alfred College, assisted by former chaff mill manager Mr Curnow. Will’s brother Ted later joined him on the farm, and sister Gwen joined them to keep house for her brothers. Younger sister Clethra recalled that they used to come into Gawler on Sundays to join the rest of the family for church and midday dinner at Orange Grove (prior to the 1918 move to Henley Beach).

As well as an extensive orange orchard, 13 acres of the farm were planted out with liquorice plants as W G had observed that as there was no local supply, ingredients had to be imported. By 1921, locally made liquorice, marketed as ‘Flora Liquorice’ was appearing on chemist shelves. (For a short while the Dawkins & Co mill buildings on Finniss Street were used in the production of the ‘Flora Licorice’.)

The farm was transferred into Will’s name in 1926, after his father’s death. Siblings Will, Ted and Gwen were still residing there in 1943, none of them ever married. In 1955, when Will was 65, ‘Aylesbury’ was sold to the Krieg family, who produced White Suffolk sheep there.

[Note: Prior to the Payne family owning Allotment 75 (which was purchased in Hilda’s name in 1908), it had been owned by retiring farmer William Towning, who used the money to build investment houses at Gawler South. Johannes Friedrich Wilhelm Zerk & Albert Stott owned it in the interim.]

[Note: in addition to Orange Grove, Aylesbury & the family's Henley Beach Home, W G Payne owned at various times a large number of properties.]

W G’s brother – Frederick Payne

W G’s younger brother Frederick Payne also migrated to Australia and made his life in Gawler; he married his first wife at Mill Cottage in 1895. It seems he was also associated with the mill work, as the Bunyip reported he broke his leg whilst at the Wasley’s chaff mill in 1904.

He and second wife nee Mary Courtis were parents of pharmacist Lawrence Austin Farmborough Payne. Frederick died of throat cancer in 1925, aged just 55, at the time widow Mary was residing in Water Street, Gawler West (now known as Eighth Street, Gawler South).

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Compiled by Nikki Wight - with thanks to William Gilbert Payne' granddaughter Miriam Smith (nee Cheek) for sharing her extensive research, photographs & documents.

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Payne Family Birth, Death & Marriage Information

PAYNE William Gilbert

b. 14 Nov 1864, England, son of Edwin Payne & nee Sarah Gilbert

m. 29 Mar 1888 Florence Amy BATES, North Adelaide, SA (Reg. Adelaide 154/978)(d. 17 Jun 1898, aged 31, Reg. Port Gawler 253/14)

m. 4 Sep 1899 Hilda Elizabeth PATERSON, SA (Reg. Barossa 200/805)

d. 5 Apr 1926, Henley Beach, SA, aged 61 (Reg. Port Adelaide 485/523)

Buried Willaston Cemetery, Willaston (plot 10 B 4 –Payne Family Plot)

BATES Florence Amy (PAYNE)

b. 21 Jul 1866, London, England

d. 17 Jun 1898, aged 31, (Reg. Port Gawler 253/14)

Buried Willaston Cemetery, Willaston (Plot 10 B 4 – Payne Family Plot)

PATERSON Hilda Elizabeth (PAYNE)

b. 2 Jul. 1876, Yacka, SA, daughter of John Paterson & nee Elizabeth Webb (Reg. Clare 168/111)

d. 23 Oct 1963, SA, aged 87, (Reg. Willunga 963/6850)

Buried Willaston Cemetery, Willaston (Plot 10 B 4 – Payne Family Plot)

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Children of William Gilbert Payne and first wife nee Florence Amy Bates

PAYNE Leonard Gilbert Payne

b. 1 Apr 1889, Mill Cottage, Gawler

d. 24 Dec 1889, Mill Cottage, Gawler, aged 9 months

Buried Willaston Cemetery, Willaston (Plot 9 B 4 – Payne Family Plot)

PAYNE William Gilbert ‘Will’

b. 26 May 1890, Gawler, SA (Reg. Port Gawler 460/345)

Never married

d. 13 Feb 1964, SA, aged 73

PAYNE Edwin Reginald Barrett ‘Ted’

b. 1 Mar 1892, Evanston, SA (Reg. Port Gawler 496/480)

Never married

d. 12 Dec 1980, SA, aged 88

PAYNE Frederick Cyril Payne ‘Cyril’

b. 19 Sep 1893, Evanston, SA (Reg. Port Gawler 530/86)(b. 8 Nov 1899, Gawler)

m. 10 Aug 1918 Neva Iolanthe Evelyn MATHER, Congregational Church, Gawler

d. 12 Feb 1972, SA, aged 77 (Reg. Norwood 155A/1032)

PAYNE Rose Gwendoline ‘Gwen’

b. 15 Jun 1895, Evanston, SA (Reg. Port Gawler 566/284)

Never married

d. 12 Feb 1955, North Adelaide, aged 59, of cancer (Reg. SA 822/987)

Buried Willaston Cemetery, Willaston (Plot 10 B 4 - Payne Family Plot)

PAYNE Bernard Victor Payne

b. 30 Jun 1897, Evanston, SA (Reg. Port Gawler 606/442)

Served WWI 14 Jul 1917 - 21 Jan 1919 (discharged medically unfit – severe gunshot wound upper right arm)

m. 1 Apr 1931 Clarice Evelyn Verna RIDLEY, Henley Beach, SA

d. 11 Jun 1975, SA, aged 77

Buried Centennial Park Cemetery, Pasadena, SA

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Children of William Gilbert Payne and second wife nee Hilda Elizabeth Paterson

PAYNE Hester Elvera ‘Vera’ (GROSVENOR)

b. 6 Nov 1901, Gawler South, SA (Reg. Port Gawler 686/122)

d. 10 Oct 1986, SA, aged 84

PAYNE Clethra (SPILSBURY)

b. 22 Jun 1903, Evanston, SA (Reg. Port Gawler 714/360)

d. 19 Aug 1994, Victor Harbor, SA, aged 94

PAYNE Daphne Hilda (CHEEK)

b. 11 Aug 1905, SA (Reg. Port Gawler 752/487)

m. 1929 Alan Carvosso CHEEK (Reg. Adelaide 318/333)

CHEEK Clytie Elizabeth (EITRICH)(1933-2022)

d. 14 May 1994, SA, aged 88

PAYNE Hazel Violette (BAYLY)

b. 25 May 1908, Orange Grove, Evanston, SA

d. 7 Dec 1994, WA, aged 86

PAYNE Enid Phacelia (CHEEK)

b. 29 Jun 1911, Orange Grove, Evanston, SA

m. 27 May 1933, Malcolm Arthur CHEEK, Henley Beach, SA

d. 5 Dec 2003, Christie Downs, SA, aged 92

PAYNE Yvonne Clare (HAYLOCK)

b. 27 Apr 1919, Henley Beach, SA

d. 12 Sep 2001, Noosa, Qld

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Parents of William Gilbert Payne

PAYNE Edwin

b. 13 May 1838, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, England

m. 20 Feb 1862 Sarah GILBERT, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, England

Arrived 26 March 1897, Port Adelaide, SA aboard ship ‘SS BALLARAT’ with wife Sarah

d. 10 Mar 1922, Memorial Hospital, North Adelaide, SA, aged 83 (Reg. Adelaide 452/476)

Buried Willaston Cemetery, Willaston, SA (Plot 9 B 4 – Payne family plot)

GILBERT Sarah (PAYNE)

b. 1 Mar 1839, Bedfordshire, England (sister of William Gilbert)

m. 20 Feb 1862, Edwin PAYNE, Buckinghamshire, England

Arrived 26 March 1897, Port Adelaide, SA aboard ship ‘SS BALLARAT’ with husband Edwin

Visited Australia multiple times

d. 14 Feb 1928, England

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Brother of William Gilbert Payne

William Gilbert Payne had eight siblings, his brother Frederick also came to reside in Gawler.

PAYNE Frederick

b. 21 Mar 1869, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, England

Arrived 19 Jun 1890, SA, aboard ship On 9 May 1890, "Liguria"

m. 8 May 1895 Florence Alice Mary AGUTTER, Orange Grove, Evanston (d. 2 Jan 1900, Mill Cottage, Evanston)

m. 21 Mar 1902 Mary COURTIS, “Mill Cottage, Gawler South”, (Reg. Port Gawler 210/1170)

PAYNE Lawrence Austin Farmborough (24 Aug 1904-6 Sep 1997)

d. 14 Mar 1925, Gawler, aged 55

Buried Willaston Cemetery, Willaston (Plot 19 B 4 – with wife Mary)

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References

PAYNE Family - Orange Grove, Evanston - 1906

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