Rowney Family Tree

Elizabeth was born in 1843 in the small village of Wickwar, in Gloucestershire, England.

Elizabeth emigrated from England to South Australia with her parents and siblings when she was 9 years of age. They arrived aboard the "Omega" on 24 Aug 1852 and settled in the vicinity of Hindmarsh (SA), near Adelaide (SA).

Elizabeth's father died only four years after the family arrived in their new country, leaving their mother, Ann, to raise six young children. Ann, herself, died eleven years later, leaving the fledgling family to fend for themselves. The older members of the family were married in quick succession between 1869 and 1873 around Adelaide, suggesting that the family remained together there for a time.

Elizabeth was herself married in 1871, to a 37 year old widower, named Henry FINNEMORE. They were married at her brother John's home in North Adelaide. Elizabeth was then 28 years old. Henry had a young daughter, Polly, who was about 6 years old at that time. Henry's previous wife, Grace, had died due to childbirth complications just two months before Henry and Elizabeth were married. Henry and Elizabeth had a further three children together, Herbert, Ada, and Dora. Herbert was born in the Hundred of Grace (SA) in 1871, while Ada (b.1875) and Dora (b.1877) were both born at Bowden (SA), near Adelaide.

It is possible that Elizabeth also gave birth to another son, named Harry PLAIER (#5013), in Mitchum (SA), on 29 Oct 1874. The child's father is also named as Harry PLAIER (#5012) in the registration papers. Young Harry only lived for a couple of weeks, dying in Mitcham on 19 Nov 1874. No other record of the father seems to exist, so I wonder whether it might be possible that Harry PLAIER might actually have been Henry FINNEMORE, although the confusion seems implausible. It is more likely that this child was born to another Elizabeth POULTON, although no records of such a person seem to be evident. It is strange that both mother and father seem to disappear from the records, but the child's name is recorded consistently for both the birth and death registrations.

In 1880, Elizabeth's brother, Ted POULTON, was married at Virginia (SA), a town to the north of Adelaide. Around this time the POULTON siblings appear to have established themselves together as farmers at the Hundred of Dalkey (SA), between Balaklava (SA) and Owen (SA), further north from Adelaide. There was a school in the Dalkey district between 1879-1946, but it has since been demolished without trace.

In 1881, at only 47 years of age, Henry FINNEMORE died at Dalkey, leaving Elizabeth with their four young children to care for; Polly (aged 16), Herbert (aged 10), Ada (aged 6), and Edith (aged 4).

Eighteen months later, in 1882, Elizabeth married her second husband, Dolph ROWNEY, at her brother Ted POULTON's home at Dalkey. Elizabeth was then aged 39, while Dolph was only 21 years of age. Elizabeth and Dolph had a further 3 children, Mabel (b.1883), Gertie (b.1884), and Rod (b.1886). They were all born around Dalkey. Mabel died as an infant. Elizabeth and Dolph ROWNEY must have raised quite an eclectic family, with Henry FINNEMORE's daughter Polly, Elizabeth's three children to Henry FINNEMORE, and finally their own two surviving children.

After massive floods wiped out the POULTON's selections in 1889, they decided to leave the area. The History of the Shire of Karkarooc, centred on the town of Hopetoun (Vic), suggests that word of good harvests near Galaquil (Vic) reached South Australia at this time, and drew three of the POULTON brothers, John, Charles, and Edward, to Victoria around 1892. John's son, William, recalled that their family travelled from Blythe (30km north of Owen) to Galaquil overland in waggons, taking about a month to complete the journey. Elizabeth's brothers, William and James, probably returned to Adelaide about the same time, where they ran a brickyard. It is likely that the ROWNEYs moved across to Victoria along with the three POULTON brothers, but this is not certain. The ROWNEYs certainly farmed around Dalkey until at least 1886, however Elizabeth's brother-in-law, Walter ROWNEY, and her step-daughter, Polly FINNEMORE, are known to have been in Victoria as early as 1890, when they were married.

The three POULTON brothers toiled hard developing their selections near Galaquil, they contracted as labourers, carting water, and digging channels and dams, to pay their way. They were dealt another cruel blow in late 1892 when a spark from a passing train started a fire which, once again, totally destroyed their farms. After this they moved further north to Cambacanya (Vic), where they successfully re-established themselves. During this time they worked for, and maintained good relations, with Mr. E. H. LASCELLES, a well known and respected landowner and businessman. They rolled down about 1000 acres of mallee on their land in the first year and cropped it the following year, eventually expanding their holdings to over 4000 acres. We assume that the ROWNEY family's travels somewhat follow the POULTON brothers during this period. Both the POULTONs and ROWNEYs eventually settled comfortably into the Hopetoun region, and they have many descendants in the area to this day. The original Cambacanya land is still owned by the POULTON family.

The history of Pella (Vic) by Ian MAROSKE (p. 6) records that in 1903 the POULTON family from Cambacanya took out a grazing liscence on the Pine Plains Run, centred on the Wirrengren Plains (now in Wyperfield N.P.). A number of previous attempts had been made to make this large property profitable, but the area was arid, and unpredictable. They added the nearby Cow Plains and Sunset Runs to their holdings in the area the following year, but were ultimately unable to make the venture a success. Soon after, they abandoned these holdings, handing over to the O'SULLIVANs, who managed the Wirrengren properties for many years afterwards.

According to her grand-daughter, Annie BURNS (nee ROWNEY), Elizabeth ROWNEY was a bush nurse who cared for the sick and injured in the district and acted as a midwife for many local births. "She always seemed to have a house full of people and was loved by everyone".

Elizabeth died in 1926 at the age of 84.