While I was transcribing the 1919-20 rates for the Hindhope Estate, A nice lady, Peggy Waldron, asked if I'd mind if she used the next microfiche reader. We struck up a conversation and she asked me if I'd heard of the Waldrons at Mornington. I hadn't and she told me that her husband's ancestor had helped to build the Mornington pier. When she told me that Thomas Waldron had land on Craigie Rd that had been Balcombe's, it didn't make sense so I grabbed the tattered Moorooduc parish map that the Mornington Peninsula Library should be ashamed of.

There it was, lots 2, 3, 4 and 23 of section 24, parish of Moorooduc. The western boundary of crown allotments 4, 3 and 2, of roughly 23,22 and 17 acres, was Dunns Rd to its present end and a bend to the south east for another 220 metres where it met Harraps Creek at the corner of the wildlife reserve in Melway 145 E 11. The eastern boundary was Harraps Creek whose course cut through the "Proposed Anglican School" and followed the north west boundary of the wildlife reserve. Crown allotment 23,of 62 acres 2 roods and 20 perches, was east of Harraps Creek, having frontages of 618 acres to Craigie Rd and 446 metres to the west side of Racecourse Rd. Its south east corner would be where Racecourse Rd and Ker-Bur-Rer Walk would intersect.


NEW INSOLVENTS. Thomas Waldron, builder, Schnapper Point.Causes of insolvency-Losses, depression in business,
and fear of arrest. Liabilities, ?839 10s 7?d; assets,?760; deficiency, ?79 10s 7d. Mr Moore, official
assignee. (The Star (Ballarat, Vic. : 1855 - 1864) Saturday 9 January 1864 p 3 Article.)



THIS DAY.Schnapper Point.
Sale of 125 Acres Freehold Land (10 of which are fenced in and under cultivation), together with Weatherboard House and Outbuildings, subject to Mortgage and Interest of ?410.In the Insolvent Estate of Thomas Waldron.
By Order of James Moore, Esq., Official Assignee.
ALFRED BLISS has received instructions from James Moore, Esq., Official Assignee, to SELL by PUBLIC AUCTION, at tho new mart, 81 Collins street west, on Wednesday, 20th, at two o'clock, The Official Assignee's right, title, and interest inand to all that freehold land known as Mr.Waldron's Farm, situate at Schnapper Point,
containing 125 acres (16 of which are under cultivation and securely fenced), upon which is erected a four-roomed weatherboard cottage and out-buildings.
To be sold subject to tho mortgage and interest of ?410. Title perfect. Terms at Sale.
(The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957) Wednesday 20 January 1864 p 2 Advertising.)

SECOND MEETINGS.
Second meetings were held and closed in the estates of the following insolvents;-Thomas Waldron, of Schnapper Point, publican; John Paxton, of Sandhurst, publican ; and Abraham Myers, of Melbourne, dealer. Two
small debts were proved in Waldron's estate ;in the other estates no person appeared. The third meeting in each was appointed for the 22nd March. ((P.7, Argus, 18-2-1864.)


INSOLVENT COURT.WEDNESDAY, MARCH 23.
(Before W, B. Noel Esq., Chief Commissioner of Insolvent Estates.) THIRD MEETINGS,
IN RE THOMAS WALDRON.
Insolvent had been a butcher at Schnapper Point. He was present, but no creditor appeared, and the meeting closed. The official assignee reported that the principal asset, viz.125 acres at Schnapper Point, was mortgaged up to its full value. The other assets were only ?10 for furniture, and ?16 3s. for building materials. (The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957) Saturday 26 March 1864 p 7 Article.)

THIRD MEETINGS.
Third meetings were held and closed in the estates of the following Insolvents :?Thomas Waldron, of Fitzroy, builder; John Paxton, of Sandhurst, publican ; Abraham Lazarus,of Melbourne, warehouseman ; George Holthaus, of Beechworth, storekeeper: David Gillespie, of Melbourne, engineer ; Cornelius O'Hara, of North Melbourne, bootmaker and Allan A. Stewart, of Spring-hill, Creswick, farmer. Some few debts were admitted
in three estates. ( The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957) Thursday 31 March 1864 p 6 Article.)

LAW NOTICES-(This Day). SUPREME COURT.
Ninnis v. Ada Waldron, Ninnis v. Thomas Waldron,(P.5, Argus, 7-3-1876.)

???CHERRY. - On the 27th May, at Lockington,Yorkshire, England, John Robinson, beloved brother of Mrs Waldron, Elsternwick, Mrs. M'Cann, Meta, Francis, Peter, Arthur, and Maria Cherry, in his 68th year. (By Cable).(P.1,Argus, 30-5-1898.) ???

WALDRON.-On the 31st January, at Hotham- grove, Elsternwick, Ada, wife of Thomas Waldron, builder, late of Schnapper Point, aged 78 years.
(The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957) Saturday 4 February 1905 p 9 Family Notices.)

?????????The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957) Wednesday 7 February 1900 p 1 Family Notices????
WALDRON.-In loving remembrance of our be- loved brother, Thomas ...


www.thewomenshistory.org.au/biogs/e000098b.htm‎
biographies
Main Content
Cherry, Margaretta (Meta) (1822 - 1907)
Born
1822
Lockington, Yorkshire, England
Died
1907
Elsternwick, Victoria, Australia
Occupation
Nurse
Summary
? Biography by Madonna Grehan PhD, 2011.

English born Margaretta (Meta) Cherry spent twenty two years on the nursing staff of the Melbourne Lying-in Hospital and Infirmary for Diseases Peculiar to Women and Children, where she was affectionately described as 'the baby nurse' and was sufficiently respected to 'have the care of the keys' in the Matron's absence.
Details
Margaretta Cherry worked as member of the nursing staff at the Melbourne Lying-in Hospital and Infirmary for Diseases Peculiar to Women and Children from 1867 until 1889.
Called 'Meta' by her family, Margaretta was born in Lockington, County of Yorkshire, England, to Francis Cherry and Frances Robinson. Margaretta arrived in the Colony of Victoria in June 1856, having sailed with one of her brothers and a sister aboard "Arthur the Great". These siblings joined other Cherry family members, including a married sister, Ada Waldron (n?e Cherry), who settled in Melbourne in 1849.
Few details of Margaretta Cherry's service at the Lying-in Hospital exist, as the records from this era are sparse, but copies of family correspondence written by Ada Waldron to her parents in Yorkshire shed some light on Nurse Cherry's role. An extract from one letter, dated April 1878, reads:
"Meta [Margaretta] has been at the Lying-in Hospital for eleven years now. I think her office there is more humble than that of Matron who is the daughter of a Doctor and was a governess; in her absence Meta has the care of the keys etc & and is looked up to. I am sorry to say that her health is not satisfactory. She suffers from palpitation and the Dr says there is valvular disease - but she has not had an attack lately, but she has aged very much the last 2 or 3 years."[1]
At the time that this letter was written, the Lying-in Hospital's Matron was Miss Emily Harvey who occupied the position of Matron from the early 1860s until mid-1882.[2] Nurse Cherry served under two other matrons during her employment: Mrs J D Cossins (1882-1885), formerly employed at "The Retreat" in Adelaide,[3] and Miss Charlotte Elizabeth Findlay from 1885.[4] The Matron's position was one of considerable responsibility and status. She was in charge of all of the Hospital's employees and was required to live at the Hospital with only a few hours away from the Hospital permitted each week.[5] Nurse Cherry must have been a trusted employee to be charged with the matron's duties.
Nurse Cherry was affectionately described as 'the baby nurse'. This nomenclature is recorded in correspondence written by Miss Margaret Howlett. Margaret Howlett's mother, Mary, undertook pupil nurse training at the Melbourne Lying-in Hospital in the year 1887, and after training, Mary worked around Wycliffe and Lake Bolac in Central Victoria. She was a respected midwife and nurse.
In the mid-1960s Margaret Howlett corresponded about her mother's work with Dr Frank Forster, a Melbourne obstetrician who had an interest in medical history. Subsequently, some of Mary Howlett's belongings: her certificate of training, white linen apron, and a family medicine chest, came to be housed in the collection of the Australian College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. Included in the collection are Margaret Howlett's letters to Frank Forster.
In a 1965 letter to Dr Forster, Margaret Howlett recalled how, as a little girl, she visited the Lying-in Hospital where her mother was a pupil nurse. Of her visit, Margaret Howlett wrote:
"In mother's time there was a nurse Cherry at the hospital who was the "baby nurse", she used to take me round the ward and show me all the babies whose mothers were in good order for visitors. Of course I was not allowed to touch any but I liked to see them."[6]
The precise nature of Nurse Cherry's day-to-day work with the babies in the years 1867-1889 is not known because few Hospital records from this era have survived. In most cases, mothers who were well and healthy breast-fed, keeping their infant in bed with them. But if mothers were too ill to care for their infants, it was the work of the midwifery nurses to attend to them. These babies were fed by hand with a spoon or eye dropper, or sometimes a "wet nurse" was engaged to breast-feed them.[7] Consequently feeding was time-consuming work. Midwifery nurses sewed clothing for the infants under their care too.[8]
Babies whose mothers died during, or after, the birth were cared for at the Lying-in Hospital by the midwifery nurses until a suitable home could be found for them. When no-one in the family was available to take them, these infants were sent to the city's Industrial Schools and orphanages or, in some cases, private citizens made applications to the Hospital to adopt a baby.[9]
Nurse Cherry, the baby nurse, had served at the Lying-in Hospital for 20 years when, in early 1888, she was recommended to receive ?5 per annum in addition to her existing salary.[10] Nurses and other staff were permitted to apply for an increase of salary at the end of each year's service, according to hospital regulations, but a raise was contingent on the Ladies Committee of Management (LCOM) approval. The nurses at that time received a salary between that of the Hospital Cook (?60) and a House Maid (?45).[11] Nurse Cherry's application for an increase of salary at the end of 1888 was not granted.[12] Despite this rebuff, Margaretta remained at The Women's for another year until late November 1889 when it appears she resigned and was 'allowed a testimonial' by the LCOM,[13] by which time she was aged 67.
Nurse Cherry maintained an association with The Women's Hospital. In 1893 the Hospital's Honorary Treasurer, Mrs Don, acknowledged Nurse Cherry's donation of 10 shillings to the charity.[14] Until she died in 1907, Margaretta Cherry lived with her extended family, at Elsternwick in Melbourne's south-east.

References
1 Ada Waldron, Letter Book. 15 April 1878, held by Margaret Royston. Ada copied her correspondence home into an exercise book.
2 Women's Hospital Ladies Committee of Management (WH LCOM) Minutes. 21 April 1882, RWHA 1991/7/45.
3 WH LCOM Minutes. 20 June 1882, RWHA 1991/7/45.
4 Miss Findlay resigned in 1899 when the LCOM elected to appoint a trained nurse as Lady Superintendent.
5 See
6 Correspondence from Margaret Howlett to Dr Frank Forster. 4 January 1965, Collection of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, Melbourne.
7 Melbourne Lying-in Hospital and Infirmary for Diseases Peculiar to Women and Children Annual Report for 1881.
8 Madonna Grehan 2009. Professional Aspirations and Consumer Expectations: Nurses, Midwives and Women's Health, Unpublished PhD Thesis, The University of Melbourne, p.141.
9 WH LCOM Minutes. 2 June, 10 November 1882, RWHA 1991/7/45; 7 December 1888, RWHA 1991/6/12.
10 WH LCOM Minutes. 13 January 1888, RWHA 1991/6/11.
11 WH LCOM Minutes. 28 September 1888, RWHA 1991/6/11.
12 WH LCOM Minutes. 7, 21 December 1888, RWHA 1991/6/12.
13 WH LCOM Minutes. 22 November 1889, RWHA 1991/6/12.
14 Argus. 24 June 1893, p.12.
? Madonna Grehan PhD, 2011.
The author gratefully acknowledges the assistance of Margaret Royston and Anne Brick in the production of this biography.
Created: 6 October 2011, Last modified: 24 April 2012


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