Theodore’s Arrival in Australia – December 23, 1886

In 1941 at the age of 74 Theodore decided to become a Naturalized Australian. In his application he states that he arrived in mid December 1886 on the “Preussen”.  The Victorian State Archives show a Y. Vetter aged 36 years on board the Preussen.  Whether this is Theodore or not we will never know, but the “Y” could just be someone’s handwriting of a “T”, and in 1886 all German males were required to do a number of years in the Imperial Army.  If you were going to leave Germany, you would have to lie about your age.  Theodore was 20 in 1886 – did he say he was 36 as he boarded the Preussen?

The Norddeutscher-Lloyd steamer “Preussen” was on it maiden voyage when she left Bremen on the 3^rd of November 1886.  She called in at Antwerp and Southampton before heading down the English Channel on 8^th, but she hit strong gale winds and the vessel rocked severely, causing the passengers to feel the first effects of seasickness.  Those in the Steerage section of the “Preussen”, as no doubt Theodore would have been, were bruised and batter from the tossing of the vessel until they near Gibralter on the 11^th.

The food on board, or at least the preparation of the food, did not sit very well, and a number of the British passengers in Steerage sent a petition to the Captain asking for improvement in the standard but alas through the voyage the food continued to sit uneasily on their stomachs.

As the vessel sailed through the Mediterranean Sea the passengers started to relax more and during the evenings dances were held on the Forecastle.  Some of the passengers even attempted to fish over the side of the vessel, hoping that if they caught something, that it would provide a better meal than what they were currently receiving.

On the 18^th the vessel arrived at Port Said, here she needed to re-coal, and wait for the German mails.  A number of the passengers took the opportunity to venture ashore, but despite them being only Steerage passengers, the locals saw them as wealthy Passengers, and beggars constantly approached them.  The crew also went ashore, but they returned late at night intoxicated and waking the passengers with their carousing.

On the 22^nd the vessel entered the Suez Canal, and proceeded south for Aden.  Fresh water was limited on the vessel, and the passengers were left to have salt-water baths.  When they approached the Captain he stated, “he did not see necessity of washing every day as he simply had a salt water bath and never washed since he started.”[i]  The British passengers particularly had a different view.

Aden was reached on the 27^th of November, and more coal and provisions were taken on board, and the vessel was covered in coal dust.  Most of it was stored on the Steerage deck, so the Steerage passengers were allowed to use part of the 2^nd class deck space.   As the vessel headed now for Australia, Whales were spotted along side, and this caused great excitement amongst the passengers, most who having lived in rural parts of Germany had never seen the sea before let alone been out on it.

For the next few days, there was a mixture of storms and perfect seas, and the passengers experienced the effects, but on the morning of the 8^th of December they learnt that a passenger had died during the night and had been hastily buried at sea.  The following day rumours started to spread as the passengers were requested to be vaccinated for Smallpox.

The vessel continued to sail toward Western Australia, still rolling, but now most of the passengers had become accustomed to this.  Sporting carnivals were held on board with the younger passengers having running races around the deck.  On the afternoon of the 14^th of December they sited Australia for the first time, and the next day the Pilot came out from Albany.

Unfortunately the 1^st thing the Captain told him was that there was Smallpox on board, and the Pilot immediately told him to raise the Yellow Flag at the masthead, this being the International warning for Smallpox on vessels.  More Coal was sent out to the vessel and some of the German Steerage passengers moved the coal on board, receiving 1/- per hour for their work.

The vessel sailed on to Port Adelaide, but  the news of Smallpox had proceeded them, and when they arrived on the 20^th the Captain had to inform the Harbour Doctor that another passenger had died.  They were immediately order back out 10 miles to sea to bury the deceased passenger.  27 Passengers disembarked but they were being sent to a Quarantine Station.  The Melbourne passengers started to worry and wonder what would happen when they arrived there.

On the 23^rd of December , 1886 the “Preussen” arrived at Hobson’s Bay in Victoria.  At 3 p.m.  the 240 passengers were allowed to disembark but it was to the Quarantine Station and not to the Port of Melbourne.  But although the passengers were dishearten that they were quarantined, there was a good Australian meat tea awaiting them, which they all thoroughly enjoyed, “Tea in cups, clean plates, &c,&c, was something to be remembered after 6 weeks of stuffy dirty semi starvation.” [ii]

For the next 4 weeks the passengers lived at the Quarantine Station, enjoying the clean living, good food and fresh air, but at the same time, watching the number of passengers affected by small pox gradually increase.  On Christmas Day a full Christmas fare was provided, and a dance in the evening was held, but the next day isolation of a number of people started to take place.  By the 4^th of January 1887 there were 25 admissions to the Isolation area.

On the 11^th the authorities stopped any one from sending letters outside the Quarantine Station, as they were worried they this might spread the contagion to the colony.  To pass the time Cricket matches were held on the grounds, but whether the German passengers (including Theodore) took part I do not know.

On the 28^th of January the passengers who had not been affected were allowed to leave and head in to Melbourne, to commence their new lives in Australia.

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[i] Diary on the N.G.L. Ship Preussen, November 1886-January 1887, by Thomas Platt

[ii] Diary on the N.G.L. Ship Preussen, November 1886-January 1887, by Thomas Platt

Knowing Theodore - Part 2

On finding the Statuary Declaration made by my father changing his name, I spoke with my mother one day, telling her that I had come across it. Her initial reaction was “you just can’t help yourself!” She then went on to say that I was not to speak with my father about it, or tell my brother & sister. She said that Dad was very much ashamed of being born illegitimate and that he had run away from home at an early age because his stepfather had beaten him.

In 1984 I decided to write to my Dad’s sister Mary, and try and get information from her on my grandparents. In all honesty at this stage I was only thinking of my dad’s mother, Mary May Brice, as at least I knew her name.

Aunty Mary told me that her mother had died in 1937 from cancer and a nervous breakdown after finding out that the cancer was incurable. She also said that her mother had married Theodore Wilhelm Vetter, who she had met in Greenock (in the Barossa Valley) in about 1914.

In the same letter she also said “Don’t worry too much about your ancestors, I don’t, build up a good life for yourself, wife and young ones, that really is all that counts. I envy your youth, so you be grateful too & make the future good for you & yours, compared with my youth you are very lucky.”

I now went in search of more certificates and found both my paternal grandparents death certificates, though my grandmother’s was registered under Netter and Theodore’s under Vetters.

Life was changing for me now, and the research into the family started to drop off. I separated from my wife & moved back to Sydney in 1991, and work took me travelling around Australia. For the year 1995 I was based in Adelaide but I never tried to look up anything about my father’s family.

It was during this year that my father started to get seriously ill, and he did start to talk about his youth. He mentioned the street where he lived at Brighton in Adelaide, in the early 1920s, that they had money, and a big German car, the only one of it’s kind in Adelaide. I asked Dad why he had changed his name, and he told me that his step-father had beaten him, and he had run away. They had sent the police after him, who had also beaten him and put him in a boy’s home. He decided to run away again, but change his name so they could not find him. I asked how he decided on the name, and he said he had picked it out of a newspaper.

One weekend while working in Adelaide I visited Brighton. I found the house where Dad lived and I wanted to take a photo of it to show my father. I knocked on the door and asked the owner if they would mind me taking a photo from the front yard so I could show my dad. They were very kind and invited me in to the house to show me the rooms. They also showed me the original certificate of title, with my grandmother’s name on it. They promised to photo-copy the certificate and post it on to me.

When I got the photo of the house in Brighton printed, Dad was so excited. He got out of bed (the first time in weeks) and rang his sister to tell her I had been in the home. This was early December 1995, and Dad passed away on the 18^th of that month.

Once again my research stopped.

It was not till October 2009 when a friend who was tracing his family history told me that there was a new website that allowed you to search Australian newspapers. I decided to have a look and found that they had the Adelaide Advertiser online. I quickly typed in Theodore Vetter and up came a vast number of entries for him, but one jumped out at me.

September 5, 1919 – MORE DIVORCE CASES – A Wife’s Petition.

Here was an article outlining the divorce proceedings of Theodore Vetter and his first wife. The article also mentioned that he had committed adultery with a Mary May Brice (my grandmother) but more importantly for me was a statement by Theodore that he “was the father of two children by Miss Brice”.

After 32 years of researching, 25 years from 1^st seeing his name, here was finally proof that Theodore Wilhelm Vetter was my grandfather!