1 Heraman St.
Victor Harbor 5211
Date: approx. 1974

Dear (name withheld),

In answer to your letter, I will try to give you some details of what you would like to know about my parents, but being only 10 yrs & 11 months old when my father was killed, and was then the oldest of six children, so naturally my mother often mentioned hers and my fathers relatives over the next few years, some have gone out of my mind. She really had the struggle to support us kids & I was fortunate enough to be able to leave school by passing all subjects at the age of 14 1/2, although clerking for auctioneers before during my school days on Saturdays and then carry on the job and help out, so always my mother confided in me, and she did work such as cleaning banks and dressmaking and crocheting all hours of the night for 5 years till 1902, when married James Freak who was 25 years of age & she was 35, and we had a very happy life together but unfortunately she died at the age of 61, having suffered from diabe which I think was brought on through worry.

My father Frederick Charles McMillan was born on the 7th June 1860 I can't say where but he had 2 brothers Lawrence and William John, and 1/2 sisters Mary Ann and Rachel. Dad's father, Charles McMillan, died and his mother, Ann Tullock, married later to a man named Marr and had one son that I remember. Herbert Marr had in them days 14 delivery services around Modbury, Teatree Gully districts with foodstuffs and wearing materials. I knew them as a lad quite well, as I went to school for a little time, after father's death at Salisbury staying with an Uncle and Aunt, we having left Angaston just after father was killed accidentally 26th April 1896 age 36.

Father drove the Mail coach from Angaston to Freeling for several years and I often sat alongside him high up over looking 4 horses through Nuriootpa, Greenock and (Doreton). He also managed a cattle station for Angas's at Waterside out from Gawler a few miles, afterwards we lived at Kapunda for a while and that to Collinswood 4 miles from Angaston on the big station where several families worked for the Angas's who owned miles and miles of the country and Charlie Angas owned Angas Park between Collinswood and Angaston, and as a kid I have walked helping to push a pram 4 miles on the way and calling at Angas Park and seeing Mrs. and Mr. Earl who were living there, and do some shopping for clothes and then walk back 4 miles home. All foodstuffs were supplied on the station.

The Angas's, Sir James & Charles Angas, used to call around and see any babies born on the station on the Sabbath in their high top hats and walking sticks with their wives and leave a little something and the church was built by Sir John Fife Angus and I can remember as a kid singing in the choir. They had great shearing sheds nearly opposite and a lot of shearers and as a kid I played draughts and they would give me a shilling if I won which I did quite often. We shifted to Angaston although we had only 1 lady teacher for about 25 children at Collinswood to do the higher classes.

Father worked for Mr. Charles home carting all kinds of fruit, wine and goods to Freeling the nearest railway then 16 miles then sometimes to Adelaide 50 miles, and he has sometimes stopped at the Sandy Creek Hotel and I can remember the lady there bringing me in a drink of Sarsaparilla in bed and sometimes we'd stop at Salisbury at an Uncle's who was the engine driver at the flour mill and they had a big building and for those early days they had hydraulic power driven electric lights. The trip to Adelaide and back would take about 3 days and nights.

On the 26th of April 1896 Father had 7 tons of timber on an English wagon, pulled by 6 horses returning from Adelaide and as a rule traveling about 4 miles an hour, and on the way after Nuriootpa was walking about midnight to keep warm, and a man sang out to him and later he must have got on the front and dozed off to sleep and when the load got to the Salters Creek about 2 miles from home there is a short hill down to the creek which was rocky and no break put on the load got too fast for the horses and when it got to the bend of the creek the jolting broke the cross piece hobling, the weight of the timber which was over the horses in the shafts and Father who was lying underneath was killed. And the horses of course continued and brought the load back to the yard. It was then about half past 12 midnight on an election night, and a neighbour opposite thought he must have got off through the street to see the numbers they used to put up election time and when he didn't make any move went over and found him dead. I used to stay up with Mother till we heard the team and as we heard it go up from our house, she said you can go to bed now, and it wasn't long before I was asleep and she woke me to say something has happened and we could hear voices, and she said I'm leaving the lamp lit and going to see what's going on and in a short time there was several people in the house.

The shop in the town closed on the afternoon when the funeral was on and there were 65 horse drawn vehicles to the cemetery. Two of Father's uncles were at the funeral from Adelaide, at that time owned all the building in Grenfell St. in Adelaide opposite Harris Scarfes from and between two streets running parallel to Gawler Place. They gave Mother (pounds)300 for myself and Bill my next brother and we never made contact with either of them again, having shortly left the town and lived at Gawler for several years. One brother of my father had a farm out in the Modbury district name Lawrie, which is your Father's second name really and the other had a cattle station in the north of S.A. and was never married and my mother used to say how he would be sure to remember me in his will, he died in the hospital at North Adelaide and I was the last one to see him before he died, but I was glad that my Mother shared with others of her family sisters and brothers.

My mother's maiden name was Louisa Jane Dew born in England 27th October 1864, and at the age of 5 was brought out to Australia by boat with the family, and they lived at Salisbury. Her father ran a fruit and vegetable business, and he was a strict Baptist and preached in the church and the family wasn’t allowed to cook meals on Sundays. Mother had 3 sisters, Emily, Rose and Annie. Emily's married name was Patterson living at Willaston.

Rose married Bill Harvey at Gawler, and had 1 daughter Hilda, who married Jimmy Mould a baker's son, and lived at Gawler, and only 1 son George who went to the first war and married a girl in England. When they returned here we gave them a welcome but after a few weeks she got home sick and George took her back to England and they never returned here.

The sister Annie married Albert Dew who was mother's brother and Annie my father's sister, so we became perhaps more acquainted with the family who lived a short distance from us for a few years, after which the whole family of 12 shifted to Western Australia and took up farming. George, their eldest son served in the first war and a big fellow weighing 17 stone went down to 6 stone when released at the end of the war. The family lived in different parts of Western Australia on the land and married and had families, and for 20 years traveling on my job doing the state, I saw some of them at different towns each year but have lost contact during the last few years.

There were 5 brothers to my mother. Albert already mentioned, also Uncle Frank at Salisbury, the flour mill engine driver, and Uncle Jim who for several years was manager of the Electric Tramway in Perth S.A. and during a trip overseas by boat, met an English lady and later they married, but since has died. Uncle Job was a guard in the S.A. Railways for years, retired and died; Eli was also a guard and lived at Goodwood. He had 1 son who went into the Salvation Army as an Officer, and a daughter Olive and another, Charlotte who married a gent named McKinna who was manager of a large timber business on Norwood Parade, and used to preach in the Clayton Church. They had 2 sons and one Jack was an Officer during the 2nd war and afterwards you probably knew of him as J.B. McKinna, Commissioner of Police until last year.

Sir Walter Young who was S.A. Agent in General was a cousin of my Father. The S.A. Member of Parliament who lived at St. Peters during the 2nd was Minister for Transport was F. McMillan 2nd cousin to me on my Father's side.

I do hope you will be able to put something together of what I have tried to put down, but it is difficult to remember some names and details of long ago at the age of 88, but if you went to the Public Library, North Terrace and enquired about searching for the names in Archives, they would direct and help in looking up the dates in the records kept there. I hope you will have success.

Of course I daresay you will probably know of your uncle's and aunt's Father's family.

Frederick L. McMillan, born 9th May 1885
William John McMillan born 9th Nov 1886
Myrtle Rachael McMillan born 12th May 1889
Harold Howard McMillan born 2nd Dec 1895
Elsie Amy McMillan born 29th Oct 1891

I note that in signing your name, that when living at Angaston opposite the Public school, there was people of the same name (name withheld) living for years on the hill a bit further up at the back of our house.

With best wishes to yourself, husband and family

F.L. McMillan

P.s. Your Uncle Roy was in the 4th Light horse World War 1 from 1914 right through. Married Jenny, oldest of 9 girls in Glasgow. Her father wanted Roy to stay there and work in the shipbuilding he was controlling but they came back immediately after and I daresay you know had a family of 16 and he died a couple of years ago.