The second child to William Bryce Hope and Eliza Ann (Robertson) was a daughter, Elizabeth (Bessie) Bryce Hope. Bessie was born 28 October 1888 at Apsley, in far western Victoria, and was only 3 years old when her mother died in the June of 1892.

Her Uncle Robert and Aunt Jessie Smith, took Bessie after Annie's death and brought her up at "The Station" at Barcaldine and Isis Downs in outback Queensland. She had a wonderful knowledge of the English language and seemed to know the meaning of the most obscure words.

Bessie, like her father, dabbled in poetry and three of her poems are included in this section. She died in 1961.

Bessie was always physically thin and gaunt looking. with deep set dark eyes. She was a gently and sensitive woman and sang a little. She was untrained but sang with a choral group at Hamilton, Victoria in the nineteen thirties. Her son, Austin remembers her singing at Hamilton Town Hall the song being "Just because the violets...are...in the lane, I dreamt that we were walking there again, sweetheart..."

In 1919, Bessie married Edmund Bernard Bowen Widdows (1890-1979) and they had 4 children. They being (with LINKS):

• Douglas Bernard Widdows
• Austen Bowen Widdows
• Beryl Hope Widdows
• Edmund Ian Widdows

Edmund Bernard Bowen Widdows was the youngest of three children of John Widdows who was born at Lancaster, England (c) 1850 (Austin Widdows in his letter of 21/1/88 states that John was born at Launceston about 1846 or 1947 - double check this again with Austin, quoting the previous source) and died in 1928 and Ellen Rebecca Bowen (1852-1940). They had two other children, Lucy Emily Widdows who later married Fred Bloom and Ellen Rebecca Widdows who died 24 May 1882 aged 16 months.

At the age of 14 years, Edmund left school and worked at Gaunt's Jewellers (Melbourne). Two years later (1906), he cycled up to Nunnamurra Station, near Jerilderie (New South Wales), to visit his father, John Widdows and worked "on the board" as a sweeper during the shearing season. He later returned to Melbourne and worked at several grocery stores to learn the trade, until 1911 when h built his own grocery shop/house in Thornbury, Victoria.

In 1918, Edmund visited America with his mother, Ellen, who was 68 years of age, travelling across the country in a T-model Ford and camping out in a tent with his rifle at the ready. The following year, he married Elizabeth Bryce Hope at St James Church, Melbourne on 20 December 1919 and also started up a hire car service in Melbourne with his new Hupmobile brought back from the States. They were then living at Parpville(???) an inner suburb of Melbourne and later moved to a small form "Wildwood" Diamond Creek. It was quite undeveloped then - a weather board house on a steep hill with rough ground running down to a dam. Rural indeed!!! While at "Wildwood" Elizabeth suffered a great trauma. There was a deep canal not far from the house and one day Bernie disappeared. Naturally Elizabeth thought Bernie had been washed away. After frantic searching he turned up from I've forgotten where. The story was retold for many years thereafter.

In 1920 he commenced as a professional photographer with his first professional photograph being published in the Melbourne Herald. it was of Harry Lauder with entrepreneur Harry Tait, taken at the Melbourne Show grounds.

Edmund, Bessie and their young family moved to Hamilton in western Victoria, where he worked for Don Riley Motors as a salesman of T-fords and Essex cars until they shifted to St. Arnaud, where he was still involved in the motor trade.

After the young Widdows family moved to Shepparton, Edmund worked as a lorry driver for the Shell Company and then became the depot superintendent of Shell Co. (Shepparton). 1929 saw the family stabilise at Hamilton for a few years, where Edmund was the depot superintendent, still for Shell Co.

It was in Hamilton that the Ansett Empire began and members of the family still remember Reg Ansett's first cars, his first buses and later his first aeroplane. Edmund used to take the fuel to the airport to refuel Ansett's planes.

In 1936, Edmund and his family were back within reach of Melbourne. This time at Wonga Park, on the outskirts, where he bought Wonga Park's only shop, it was the general store, post office and coach run to Croydon Railway Station. The "coach" was a huge tourer Fiat, of the 1920's vintage and later they used the 1926 Essex 4, which Edmund had brought from their St. Arnaud days. Austin, Edmund's second son, recalls that the old faithful red Essex took them to many out-of-the-way places over the years as Edmund loved to get-away into the bush. After Wonga Park the family moved to Box Hill (Melbourne) - 1938 where EBW ran a bus service. Later, about 1950 they moved to the seaside. EBW built a small house of cement bricks at Rosebud on the Mornington Peninsular and he and Bessie lived there after he retired in 1950. After she died he later remarried and moved to Boronia, then Buderim, Queensland. Edmund Widdows retired to Buderim, Queensland with his second wife, Audrey Grubb.

In summary, Bessie and family moved about quite a lot- from Parkville to Diamond Creek, St Arnaud, Shepparton, Hamilton, Wonga Park, Box Hill and finally Rosebud.

Austin recalls that his mother was a quiet, gentle and sensitive person, as I have said in a previous letter; fond of reading and poetry - also animals. We always had a dog, Austin recalls - spaniels and mongrels and Australian terriers. The last dog she had was named Demitrius. She lived a fairly "low key" life and so I find it hard to think of anecdotes which would be of interest in the family history, says Austin. She sang, but never really played a musical instrument, as far as I know. Her main entertainment came from listening to the radio. We always had a "wireless" even back in the twenties. My father, says Austin, had studied electricity at the public library (among other things) and at St Arnaud used to make radio sets, in the late twenties, when most people had a crystal set; if they were lucky. I believe he was the first person at St Arnaud to make "real" radios. In view of his interest and knowledge we probably had a better quality radio than most people through the years. We used to listen to the cricket when Bradman was at his best; and the same artists sang the same songs thousands of times. John McCormack, Peter Dawson, Florence austral; etc. - all Australians. (no rock music then - weren't we lucky!!!)

Austin continues: Small episodes come to mind - like the canal episode and the day that my brother Bernie swallowed a bottle of ink; the day she chased away a bull which knocked Bernie down and was gnoring him - and the time at St Arnaud when she chopped up a snake with an axe. She was rather wobbly on her legs at times, in later years, due to impairment of her motor functions, and consequently sometimes injured herself - cuts, bruises and burns - which she endured stoically, and went on with life. Usually she indulged in a bit of whimsical humour at her own expense. She wasn't psychic, but tended to believe in unusual events. She never tried to draw or paint, it seems she must have inherited the HOPE interest in literature and poetry, which was her main talent. Like many people with artistic talent, she was never encouraged, so remained undeveloped artistically. Perhaps she could have produced good poetry.

As mentioned earlier, Austin Bowen Widdows was born in 1922 at Heidelberg (Melbourne) and on 19 August 1950, he married Margaret (Peg) Ethel Tremills, only child of Sidney Leonard Tremills (1888-1974) and Ruby Daphne Tilly (1890-1972). Both Austin and Peg were art students, Peg being a student at the Borovansky Ballet and trained in Art at the National Gallery Art School, Melbourne.

During the war (W.W.II), Austin served with RAAF, Since the war and in particular, since his return from London, he has worked as an Executive Art Director for 7 years. He then opened his own studio from home as a portrait photographer for 10 years. later, he photographed for a (the next few words were deleted by Austin but the following paragraph given in lieu...)

Austin worked as commercial artist after discharged from RAAF in Melbourne and London; after return to Melbourne was Art Director for 7 years - then open photo studio as portrait photographer and later commercial photography. Retired in 1987. Has more time for painting and playing classical guitar.

Peg has recently take up painting full-time.

After I contacted Austin, he too caught the family history bug and as he said, it is fascinating but frustrating. It's very much like being a detective and finding tiny clues now and again - a few words written by a boy in a prayer book, or dates written on the backs of photographs are scribbled on an envelope. Fortunately for Austin, his father didn't like throwing things away and this turned out to be very helpful later on.

Source: Austin Widdows

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William Bryce Hope (father)

Thomas Hope (grandfather)