Rowney Family Tree

Dolph's name is given as Henry Adolph ROWNEY on his son Rod's death certificate. There does not appear to be a record of Dolph's birth in South Australia. He is believed to have been born around 1861, based on his age as given at various times during his life. He was probably born in the Darley (SA) area to the east of Adelaide (SA), where his parents were living around that time. Perhaps we should not rule out the possibility that he may have been fostered or adopted. Two of his siblings born around the same time (1858-1866) are also lacking birth certification. All the other siblings had their births correctly registered.

Around 1869, when Dolph was about 8 years old, his family moved to the Unley (SA) area, just a short distance to the south of the Adelaide township. They may have shifted between a number of houses around that time, and appear to have eventually made their home in Adelaide proper. The decade which followed was a tragic one for the ROWNEY family. It began on a happy note, with the birth of a baby brother, Paddy, at Unley in 1870, and the marriage of eldest sister Mary Ann to John LANAGEVIN in Adelaide in 1871. However, Mary Ann died just nine months after her wedding day, at the age of 19. Then another of Dolph's sisters, Clara, also died at the age of just 19 in 1875. Their mother died the following year, in 1876, when she was herself only 42 years of age. Dolph's brother Ted is also thought to have lost a child in 1880, from a shortlived relationship with a girl named Zelpha BUTLER. Ted eventually married another girl, Liz TREVORAH, and they settled around Paradise (SA), in the hills near Darley. It is hardly surprising that around 1880 the remaining ROWNEY family decided to leave Adelaide behind them, and headed north into the countryside, to take up farming around Dalkey (SA).

While in the Adelaide area, the ROWNEYs made the acquaintance of six POULTON siblings, who had originally lived around Bowden (SA), near North Adelaide. Agnes ROWNEY married Charles POULTON in 1874, and they had then moved northwards to farm, taking selections around Dalkey and Mallala (SA). Charles' brothers, John, James, Will, and Ted POULTON also settled with their families around these areas for a time. James POULTON appears to have first made his way to Dalkey in the mid 1870's, with the ROWNEYs and most of his siblings joining him there by the mid 1880's. It seems that when the ROWNEYs left Adelaide around 1880, they travelled north with a couple of the POULTON siblings who were also making their way to Dalkey around that time. This probably included John POULTON and his family, and his sister Elizabeth, who was at that time married to Henry FINNEMORE and who also had a young family. In early 1881, shortly after arriving at Dalkey, Henry FINNEMORE died at just 47 years of age.

About 18 months later, in July 1882, Dolph ROWNEY, at just 22 years of age, married the 39 year old widow, Elizabeth FINNEMORE (nee POULTON). At that time she had four children in her care, her step daughter Polly (aged 17), and her own children, Herbert (aged 12), Ada (aged 7), and Edith (aged 6). Dolph and Elizabeth's marriage ceremony was conducted at the home of Elizabeth's brother, Ted POULTON, who had by that time also arrived at Dalkey. Charles and Agnes POULTON and their family seem to have made their way to the Dalkey area by about 1885.

The ROWNEYs and POULTONs farmed together for some years around Dalkey. Dolph and Elizabeth had three additional children during this time, Mabel, Gertie, and Rod, who were born in 1883, 1884, and 1886, respectively. Mabel died when she was only around 7 months old. A few of the families appear to have given up on their farms and returned to Adelaide within a few years, but most perservered until the end of the decade when it seems that their farms were all but destroyed by severe flooding, which inundated their properties twice in successive years. By this time the newspapers in South Australia were filled with news of new farmland opening up in the north-west of Victoria, and of the successes being had there by hardy ex-South Australian farmers. Dolph's brother, Ted ROWNEY, had moved his family from Paradise across to Victoria around 1888 and had settled in the suburb of Caulfield (Vic), near Melbourne (Vic). The flooding disasters seem to have prompted a number of the other ROWNEY and POULTON families to move on, too.

Dolph's brother, Walter ROWNEY, seems to have made his way to Victoria by 1890, when he was married there to Dolph's step-daughter, Polly FINNEMORE. They settled in the area around Warracknabeal (Vic) and Brim (Vic). It is not clear exactly who else made the journey at this time. The remaining families from Dalkey appear to have packed up in early 1892 and also brought their waggons to the Brim and Galaquil (Vic) region. The group of families which came across in 1892 is thought to have included those of John POULTON, Charles POULTON, Ted POULTON, and Dolph ROWNEY. It also seems likely that Dolph's father, Thomas ROWNEY, also came over to Victoria with them at that time. James and William POULTON had left their farms at Dalkey some years earlier, and had returned to the North Adelaide area, where they had established a successful brickmaking partnership around Brompton (SA).

Walter and Polly ROWNEY appear to have stayed around Warracknabeal and Brim for a few years, and also tried their hand for a time at nearby Beulah (Vic). Walter died in the Warracknabeal Hospital in 1899 when he was only 34 years of age. He left Polly with a young family of four children, all under six years years of age. Polly does not appear to have remarried.

After struggling to get their new farms at Galaquil established - labouring around the district, and carting water to make ends meet - the ROWNEYs and POULTONs were struck another cruel blow when their properties were completely destroyed yet again, burned out this time, by a fire started from a spark from a passing train in 1892. The families packed up again and headed further north, taking up new selections around the Hopetoun (Vic) area. It is understood that they were on good terms with the well known local businessman and landowner E.H. LASCELLES, and that he helped them to obtain work while they went about clearing their land and establishing their own farms in the Cambacanya (Vic) area.

Dolph's step-daughter Ada was married to George SMITH in 1894, his step-daughter Edith married George PUTLAND in 1896, and his step-son Herbert married Maude HARMER in 1897.

The electoral roll for Victoria in 1899 records Henry ROWNEY as a farmer who was then living around Hopetoun. The 1903 and 1912 electoral rolls indicate that Henry and Elizabeth ROWNEY were farming at Cambacanya. It is not clear whether the ROWNEYs actually changed location during this time, or whether the variation simply reflects an administrative change on the electoral roll.

Dolph and Elizabeth's daughter Gertie married John DUTTON in 1907, and their son Rod married Ada HATCHER in 1915.

Dolph died suddenly at his home at Nyah (Vic), a small Murray River town, in 1923, when he was 62 years of age. An inquest held on 28 Apr 1923 (ref: 366/1923) concluded that he died from "natural causes".

Elizabeth stated at the inquest:- "I am the widow of deceased Adolphus Henry ROWNEY who was 62 years of age and I reside at Nyah. He had been suffereing with indigestion and heart troubles and was treated by Doctor COUTTS (who has since left the district) for those complaints. He ate a good meal on the evening of the 26th just before he went to bed and I did not notice anything unusual about him. He got out of bed at about 7:45am on the 27 Apr 1923, dressed and went for a short walk in the orchard, then came inside and sat on a chair in the kitchen. I said to him are you going to have some breakfast. He replied, How can I EAT when I am like this. He appeared to be fainting. I sat on the chair alongside of him and held him. He collapsed and died in my arms in a few seconds."

Dolph was buried in the cemetery at Hopetoun.

Elizabeth died at Hopetoun just a few years later, in 1926, at the age of 83. She was buried with Dolph in the cemetery there.