MELBOURNE BRINDLE, FERRIER, LACCO AND McLEAR SAVE ERNIE RUDDUCK'S LIFE, DROMANA, VIC., AUST.
itellya
It's not often that I base a new journal on just one incident. There are six people mentioned in this story, an Australia-wide hero in 1905, a renowned wooden boat builder, an un-named Greek fisherman, the son of a circa 1871 Dromana pioneer, a boy who saved a life shortly before leaving for America (1918) and achieving fame and the son of one of the PIONEERING NEIGHBOURS NEAR CARRIGG ST,DROMANA.
The funny thing is that I would never have found this story if I had not been contacted by Shah about her ancestors who arrived in Rosebud in about 1938. Her father had not known Bill Chatfield of Rosebud West to be a fisherman and I told her that Bill's fishing operation was taken over by a Swede,but like Vin Burnham in his memoirs of life in early Rosebud,I couldn't remember his name. (I just remembered that it was Axel Vincent!)
In the hope of finding it,I did a search for "Rosebud, fisherman" on trove.
DRIFTING TOWARDS HEADS
MOTOR BOAT IN DIFFICULTIES.
DROMANA, Saturday.
A strong easterly wind, a choppy sea, A motor engine in need of repair, and a lucky escape were the chief features of an unpleasant experience which befell Mr Ernest Rudduck, a well-known grocer of Dromana, on the Bay last evening. Intending to have the engine repaired at Rosebud Mr Rudduck arranged with an elderly Greek fisherman to tow the boat, but he started from the Dromana pier alone shortly before 6 p.m., presumably
through a misunderstanding. The Greek failed to overtake the boat, and as the wind increased in force, Mr Rudduck was soon in difficulties. A return to Dromana was impossible, and to continue to drift meant increasing the danger of his already perilous position.
Observing Mr Rudduck's plight from the pier, Ewart Brindle, a lad of about 12, rode to Rosebud on a bicycle to seek assistance. A few minute after his arrival William Ferrier and Mitchell Lacco, well-known fishermen, John McLear, grocer, and Brindle were facing the gale in a fishing boat, and being drenched to the skin as the waves dashed over the vessel.
When the motor boat was reached it was drifting rapidly in the direction ofthe Heads, and had the rescue been delayed the incident might have been attended by still more unpleasant effects. The fishing boat, however, towed it safely to the Rosebud jetty, where the little group of watchers congratulated Mr Rudduck on his escape, and warmly commended the rescuers on their skilful handling of the boat in the trying circumstances.
Ferrier and Lacco are noted for their fearlessness at sea. Some years ago when the barque La Bella was wrecked offWarrnambool, and when all others considered it suicidal to attempt a rescue, Ferrier rowed to the scene of the disaster in a dinghy saving three of those on board. For his courage the citizens presented him with a purse of sovereigns.
(P.4,The Ballarat Courier, 24-1-1916.)
THE CHARACTERS.
MELBOURNE BRINDLE.
Ewart Brindle was more likely on the pier to sketch vessels sailing past rather than fishing. It hardly seems to have been a day for fishing. Twenty or so years after leaving Dromana,he produced a fabulous map of Dromana that is a history on its own. This map is available from the Dromana Historical Society. With such fabulous recall,his omission of his heroic deed from his recollections of his days as a schoolboy at Dromana, must have been due to modesty. See my journal THE FAMED MELBOURNE BRINDLE.
FREDERICK VINE (VEAN)THE UN-NAMED GREEK FISHERMAN.
Much information about Fred and his stepdaughter Mary B.Stone (a.k.a. Polly Vine)is given in Peter Wilson's ON THE ROAD TO ROSEBUD. Fred was one of the original grantees in the Rosebud Fishing Village but was associated with Dromana from early days,Vine being one of the original names on the Dromana State School roll in 1873,the Rosebud school opening a decade later. Fred later lived in a hut on the Dromana foreshore,roughly opposite Seacombe St. How would I know this? Melbourne Brindle's map,of course! There is a photo of Mary in Peter's book and one of Fred on page 73 of Colin McLear's A DREAMTIME OF DROMANA.
ERNIE RUDDUCK.
Son of Nelson and Jane Sophia Rudduck, Ernie expanded the family business to Rosebud and when the shop was burnt in a bushfire, he soon replaced it. He leased the shop to Rosebud residents. Nelson was the grantee of two Rosebud Fishing Village blocks and donated one of them for the Methodist Church. Three reminders of the Rudduck family in Dromana are the beautiful two-storey Piawola, on the highway just east of Arthur St, Karadoc St on "Karadoc" (as is also the vacant paddock donated by the family for the Dromana Bush Nursing Hospital) and Ruddock Square on the foreshorejust east of the Pier.
WILLIAM FERRIER.
See my journal WILLIAM FERRIER: AUSTRALIA-WIDE HERO IN 1905. William sailed out to the wreck with his disabled arm strapped to the mast. Despite this error,the article does credit to the journalist.
MITCH LACCO.
I've written a journal about the Laccos. Fort Lacco married a King girl whose sister married a Greek fisherman who probably died after their son, Tony, was born. His mother, Emily, later became Mrs Durham and Tony adopted this surname. Emily later owned Fort's Rosebud Fishing Village block on the east side of Durham Place. Tony's grand daughter was Judith Mavis Cock,better known as Judith Durham of The Seekers. The Laccos are revered as builders of wooden boats and the Rosebud Chamber of Commerce has installed a wooden statue of Mitch Lacco on the Murray-Anderson Rd corner, just across that road from thesite of his boat building premises. Mitchell St may have been named after Mitch.
JOHN MCLEAR.
John McLear married Janet Cairns of Boneo and settled just east of the Dromana Hotel. With Harry Copp and Dohn Griffith,he was one of Dromana's professional fishermen. As he was about 70 at the time of this incident,and died in 1918,it was more likely his son, John (Nip), aged 32, who took part in the rescue. I quote from page 104 of A DREAMTIME OF DROMANA.
John (Nip) lived out his life at his father's home.He was Ern Rudduck's right-hand man in the (Dromana) Jetty Store for forty years or more and roved to him in the local football team.... In earlier days he had fished with his father. At one stage he drove Rudduck's grocery cart around the mountain bringing supplies to customers.
As Ernie Rudduck's wife's family seems to have arrived in Dromana not long before W.W.1, the four heroes probably also ensured the lives of Ernie's three children: Rene (Mrs King)who died at Mt Martha in 1988, Grenfell, a very prominent architect honoured by a plaque near Lake Burley Griffin in Canberra, and Jack, who starred in sport and academics at Wesley College and was the school captain before becoming a pioneer of the great Australian outback. Jack was killed in 1956 while accompanying his sick youngest daughter on a Flying Doctor plane; it crashed in a violent storm and all aboard were killed.(A DREAMTIME OF DROMANA.)
by itellya
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Itellya is researching local history on the Mornington Peninsula and is willing to help family historians with information about the area between Somerville and Blairgowrie. He has extensive information about Henry Gomm of Somerville, Joseph Porta (Victoria's first bellows manufacturer) and Captain Adams of Rosebud.
Comments
itellya on 2013-10-06 09:40:39ERNEST RUDDUCK'S WIFE.
In A DREAMTIME OF DROMANA, Colin McLear gave much biological and genealogical information about the Rudduck family, much of it provided by Miss Elvie Love and Grenfell Rudduck. In view of the great detail about the family,and Ernie,it is surprising that so little was written about Ernie's wife. Although there is also much information on trove about Nelson's wife, and descendants and their spouses, there does not seem to be a notice about Ernie's marriage. I'll keep looking,but here's a start.
AFTER 14 clear days application will be made to the Supreme Court that PROBATE of
the WILL, dated 28th November 1929, of MAUD AUSTRALIA EATON, late of Cheltenham Hos
pital for Aged and Infirm, Moorabin road, Cheltenham, spinster, deceased, be granted to Ernest Rudduck. Gentleman, and Theresa Rudduck, married woman, both of Francis street, Dromana, the executor* and executrix respectively appointed by the said will. (P.17, Argus, 28-6-1956.)
*Ernie was also the executor of James Matthews, Dromana carpenter, who married a descendant of SARAH WILSON.
Maud was discussed in detail by Colin McLear. She was a niece of Watson Eaton, Dromana's amateur doctor whose accidental death so affected the community that a marble testimonial (which can be seen at the Dromana Museum) was produced. Colin did not know her gold mining father's name; it was Bernard Eaton and Benjamin Eaton who was the librarian at the Dromana Mechanics' Institute was probably Maud's brother.
It would seem extremely likely that Ernie Rudduck's wife was Theresa. This is what Colin wrote about her on page 66.
Ern Rudduck was complemented in his endeavours by his ever-gracious wife who with her family came to Dromana before World War 1.One of her talents was her flower arrangements each Sunday in the (Dromana) Wesleyan Church. Their three children were: (as given in the journal.)
Ernie Rudduck married Theresa Lang!
LANG. - On July 16, at Dromana, Theresa Charlotte, widow of the late William, loving mother of William, Theresa (Mrs. Rudduck), Gustave, James, Ernest (deceased),Edman, and Vera, in her 92nd year.-Peacefully sleeping.(P.12, Argus,18-7-1955.)
In 1953,Theresa applied to bring the land containing Ernie's Rosebud shop(s?) under the 1928 Transfer of Land Act. (P.12, Argus, 16-6-1953.) Details of the people that ran the shop and later occupants can be found in Peter Wilson's ON THE ROAD TO ROSEBUD.
Colin McLear mentioned Ernest (and Theresa, of course)living at Mounts Bay, for most of his married life. This was Dr Weld's old home at the head of Jetty Rd., and by Bryan's Cutting. This was at the east corner of Boundary Rd and Hillview Quarry Rd at Melway 159 J9. (Dr Weld's property is shown on Melbourne Brindle's map.) They were still there in 1951 but by 1956,they had moved to Francis St in Dromana.
COTHER-RUDDUCK-The marriage of Joyce, only daughter of Mr. and Mrs.E. C. Cother, 47 Ormond road, Ivanhoe, to Jack Rudduck, of Tableland Station, West Kimberley. W.A., younger son of Mr. and Mrs. E. Rudduck, of Mount's Bay, Dromana, will be cele-
brated at the chapel, Wesley College,on Thursday, February 1, at 5.30p.m.
(P.8, Argus,27-1-1951.)
No other genealogical information about Ernest or Theresa has been found on trove,apart from their children's marriages. Ernest was born in 1884 and died in 1972 according to Colin McLear.
itellya on 2013-10-06 10:30:41ERNIE RUDDUCK'S WIFE.
The maiden name of Theresa's mother would appear to be SCHLIPALIUS*. See death notice of brother. (P.1, Argus,11-2-1927.)
(*A member of Sorrento's footy team in 1936 with the above surname kicked four goals in the game against Beachdale, oops, Seaford.)
(P.15, Argus, 8-6-1936.)
The Langs were at Dromana by 1913 but not by 1905.
An experience which might have resulted seriously occurred to Mr Lang on Wednesday last. Whilst stepping into his cart, his horse, which is a very spirited animal,bolted. The driver was thrown down, and the wheel passed over his shoulder. Beyond a few abrasions and a general shaking up,Mr Lang was, fortunately, not hurt.After careering down the street for almost a mile, the animal overturned the cart. Mr E. Rudduck arriving promptly on the scene prevented further damage than a broken splash-board. (P.2, Mornington Standard, 20-12-1913.)
Lang Bros. are busy working away in connection with the extension of the Dromana Mechanics' Institute, and appear to be progressing favourably with the work.
(P.5, Mornington Standard, 18-2-1905.) The work in connection with the extension of the Hall is to be commenced at an early date, the successful tenderers being Lang Bros., of Gatehouse-street, Parkville. (P.5, Mornington Standard,4-2-1905.)
Is it possible that Ernie had become acquainted with the Langs while playing footy with Richmond in the V.F.A.
Lang, the biggest man on the ground, played a good, unselfish game. Hudduck, the Dromana lad, played a dashmg game, his long, dAdging runs helping his side immensely. (P.5, Mornington Standard, 14-10-1905.)
biderloo on 2014-01-30 02:47:29This was interesting to read as I am Ernest
Rudduck's granddaughter.My father Grenfell was his middle child.He wrote his family history before his death in1964.I have this if anyone is interested.
Belinda Loma Prest (Rudduck)
itellya on 2014-01-30 04:22:42Pages 55 to 66 of the late Colin McLear's A DREAMTIME OF DROMANA are devoted to the Rudduck family,including genealogical details back to 1650,the origins of the Rudduck/Karadoc name, corsets,the Dromana hospital, Prahran, Chapman and Rudduck links,
etc.compiled from information collected by Mrs Elsie Love and Grenfell Rudduck, grand-children of Nelson Rudduck and Jane Sophia (nee Chapman.)
Ern (1884-1972)who was the fifth child of Nelson,ran the jetty store at Dromana for most of his life and built a store at Rosebud which was rented by others. As well as following Nelson as a shire councillor,Ernie was an excellent footballer,as was his cousin,Doug Chapman.
Australian Football - Ernest Rudduck - Player Bio
woodvillefc.com/Players/player/Ernest%20Rudduck/2208
Ernie Rudduck. Name, Ernest Rudduck. Born, 1884-03-14. Height, 0 cm. Weight, 0 kg. Jumper, -. V/AFL Clubs, Collingwood. V/AFL Games, 14.
Australian Football - Doug Chapman - Player Bio
australianfootball.com ? Players ? C
Doug Chapman. Name, Douglas Chapman. Born, 1889-05-24. Height, 191 cm. Weight, 86 kg. Jumper, 1. V/AFL Clubs, Richmond, Melbourne. V/AFL Games, 33.
And as for Ernie's son,Grenfell, let's look at the Australian Dictionary of Biography.
Rudduck, Grenfell (1914?1964)
by Ian W. Morison
This article was published in Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 16, (MUP), 2002
Grenfell Rudduck (1914-1964), architect and town planner, was born on 19 September 1914 at Dromana, Victoria, second of three children of Ernest Rudduck, storekeeper, and his wife Theresa, n?e Lang, both Victorian born. His parents, staunch Methodists committed to community service, named him after the missionary (Sir) Wilfred Grenfell. Educated at Wesley College and the University of Melbourne (B.Arch., 1939), 'Gren' was awarded a Blue for Australian Rules football, a half-Blue for rowing and a number of prizes from the Royal Victorian Institute of Architects. He was articled in 1937 to Leighton Irwin and became active in R.V.I.A. affairs. At Queen's College chapel, University of Melbourne, on 2 September 1939 he married Loma Butterworth Amos; her father, a Methodist minister, conducted the service.
In May 1941 Rudduck won the R.V.I.A.'s Haddon travelling scholarship for designing a community health-and-recreation centre which he proposed to construct step by step to enlist public support. Head of architecture at the Working Men's College, Melbourne, from January 1942, he joined (April 1943) the Department of Post-war Reconstruction, Canberra, where he provided theoretical and technical advice on plans for housing. In November 1944 he moved to the regional planning branch. Dr H. C. Coombs, the department's director-general, was impressed by his flair for negotiation.
Backed by Coombs and (Sir) John Crawford, director of research in Coombs's organization, in 1947 Rudduck was granted a research fellowship in social science by the Australian National University to study technical aspects of regional planning. He took leave to attend the 1947-48 session in town planning at University College, London, under Professor William (Baron) Holford, and used his Haddon scholarship to travel to Europe and North America. Back in Australia, he returned to his department (renamed National Development in 1949) and was appointed director of regional development in 1951.
Rudduck helped to organize the inaugural congress of the Australian Planning Institute (held in Canberra in 1951) at which he presented a paper on the growth of Australia's regions. He then toured the country with Holford, believing that he had a stake in the development of the entire continent. His drive and dedication salvaged a faltering project to map Australia's resources. He recruited experienced cartographers from overseas to the team which produced the first Atlas of Australian Resources (1952).
After attending the British Commonwealth Economic Conference in London in 1952, Rudduck became attracted by the idea of planning in an international arena. In 1955 he was seconded for three months to a United Nations' technical assistance mission in Malaya. He was then seconded for two years to advise on housing and settlement in Pakistan, where he established a natural rapport with his clients. His appreciation of their country's history, geography and culture informed both his 'urban biographies' of Karachi, Dacca and Lahore and his common-sense approach to building low-cost housing in rural areas. Rudduck's Towns and Villages of Pakistan (Karachi, 1961) became a local best-seller. The National Planning Commission of Pakistan invited him back for three months in 1964 to advise on a third '5-year plan'.
At home, Rudduck gave advice on regional planning to the Department of the Army before accepting, with some misgivings, an appointment in March 1958 as associate-commissioner to the new National Capital Development Commission. A Canberra resident since 1943, he moved easily between private and official assignments. From 1951 he served as an adviser to the A.N.U.'s building and grounds committee; in 1955 he worked with Professor Denis Winston on a site plan for the university while reporting to government on the infrastructure needed for airlifting beef in the outback.
Never a bureaucrat?despite his years as a public servant?Rudduck was 'always a compassionate rebel', warm hearted and engaging, interested in people and ideas. He stood by his beliefs. His skills as a mediator gained public acceptance for the commission's transformation of the 'bush capital'. He saw Canberra as a garden city of no more than 100,000 people, and maintained this view despite the pressures of population growth. By 1963 this stance put him in fundamental conflict with the commission's larger plans. Sidelined from its mainstream work, he concentrated on building relations between communities and planners, anticipating popular movements of later decades. He promoted urban research, remained an advocate of regional development in Australia (citing Canberra as an example of what could be done) and pressed planners to regard local communities as clients whom they should heed.
Survived by his wife, daughter and three sons, Rudduck died of myocardial infarction on 19 December 1964 in East Melbourne and was buried in Dromana cemetery. A stone wall and plaque near the West Basin ferry terminal on Lake Burley Griffin, Canberra, commemorate him.
Select Bibliography
Architecture in Australian, Mar 1965
Australian Planning Institute Journal, Jan 1965, Apr 1967
Canberra Historical Journal, no 30, Sept 1992
Grenfell Rudduck papers (National Library of Australia).
itellya on 2014-01-30 04:37:23P.S. Despite mentioning only his Collingwood games above,I have found that a 1905 collection of footballer cards has Ernie Ruddock(sic) of Richmond listed at card 45.
(Ernest Ruddock Cards Checklist
www.asccmag.com/players/afl/e/.../Ernest_Ruddock_Cards_Checklist.pdf
Ernest Ruddock Cards Checklist. 45. 1905 W.D. & H.O. Wills - Past & Present Champions Base Set - Ernest Ruddock, Richmond.)
Ernie as pictured as a maggie on this website:
RUDDOCK, Ernest - Mornington Peninsula ... - Fox Sports Pulse
www.foxsportspulse.com/assoc_page.cgi?client=1-6182..
Grenfell was no slouch as a footballer either. (See biography.)
itellya on 2015-10-19 04:44:09DON'T BELIEVE EVERYTHING YOU READ IN NEWSPAPERS.
Strangely the Ballarat Courier was the only newspaper to publish an article about the rescue of Ernie Rudduck in 1916. As the journalist wrote "last evening", he obviously not seen the incident and perhaps a friend living at Rosebud or Dromana had provided him with the world-first scoop. The person who gave him the information had probably only got the story second-hand anyway.
Fred Wild, a member of the Dromana Historical Society, was responsible for making the fame of an ex-Dromana State School student, Ewart Brindle, known. As a result, one of Ewart Brindle's paintings hangs in the Mornington Peninsula Shire offices.
Fred has had much communication with Melbourne Brindle's family in America. Ewart's sister, Vera, wrote about the rescue of Ernie Rudduck and Fred has relayed her information as follows:
Mel Brindle’s sister VERA wrote in her memoirs that Doan was towing Ern’s broken-down motorboat when a ship passed between them breaking the rope and setting Ern adrift. On seeing this, Mel rode a bicycle to Ernie’s mother’s house and alerted her and said he needed help. Apparently Mel wrote to Ern’s family years later explaining the event. Maybe they still have the letter somewhere.
itellya on 2015-10-19 05:01:53Doan was Jonah Griffith, who was the son of Abraham Griffith from Boston, U.S.A., and certainly not Greek.