Price Family at Kangaroo Ground

Ann Scott married on 20 September 1853, to William Price, at the house of Charles Edney, a farmer at Heidelberg, under the ceremonies of the Church of Scotland.
The marriage register records that both bride and groom were residents of Kangaroo Ground at the time, Ann’s occupation being described as “servant”.25 William Price was originally from Caversham, in the Reading area of Berkshire in England.26

The Price branch of the family in Australia had its foundation at Kangaroo Ground.
      children of Ann  Scott and William Price
     |===================|===================|====================|=================|=========
     John                Thomas              Mary                 William           Edward
     |                   |                   ann                  (jnr.)            george  *    
     b.1854              b.1856              b.1858               b.1860            b.mar1863
     d.                  d.                  d.                   d.                d.
     |                   |                   |                    |                 |
     m.                  m.                  m.                   m.                m.
     |                   |                   |                    |                 |

William Price Sr was employed as a working overseer on the farm of Andrew Ross at Kangaroo Ground.

Ross notes in 1860:
“This year began by our receiving accessories to our boarders & during the year fully 20 were with us. The work on the farm was pursued with vigour and the boys in house were generally employed before and after school hours. The reaping was extensive & a number of hands employed besides our own men under Price the working overseer. The wheat & oats were either stacked or put into the barn, and by the end of February a travelling thrashing machine was employed & did its work satisfactorily. The barn was nearly quite full of the grain & after cleaning turned out 400 bushels of wheat & the like of oats.”43

By the end of 1861 Ross notes:
“our live stock was increased by an arrival of cows & calves from McIvor district supplied by a Mr Wright in payment for his two sons who were boarders. The farm establishment was now very complete as we had 3 working horses, 2 or 3 ponies, 6 bullocks, 6 cows, calves also & pigs. A phaeton was added to our list of conveyances which included bullock dray, cart & harness, spr cart etc, roller, plough, harrows, winnowing machine etc. The produce besides wheat, oats & potatoes included maize, sorghum, rye grass, cow grass, field peas & beans, lucerne & garden vegetables. The fruit in part was available particularly peaches for sale to the diggings.”44

The sudden death of William Price Snr. at the age of about 39 occurred on 31st October 1862. His death was caused by “inflammation of the lungs”.45 His widow Ann was expecting their fifth child at the time, as a son Edward George arrived in March 1863.46

It could be taken as a tribute to the standing of William Price and the Scott family that their employer, landlord and teacher, Andrew Ross, was involved in organising William’s funeral.
His diary records on 25 October 1862 "Price being very ill – has Bradford to see him"; then on 31 October "Sudden death of Price".
Ross went to Melbourne the next day and noted “See coroner and all right – coffin ordered and things got.” Then on 2 November, “Price’s funeral, attend to Cemetery – Mr Boyd & service”.

Later in his 1862 “progress of events”, Ross noted “The farming operations were impeded by the absence and illness of Mr Price, who died suddenly, Octo 31”.47 William Price was buried at the Kangaroo Ground Cemetery.48 Ann Price (Scott) left Kangaroo Ground about eighteen (18) months after her husband’s death. Ross noted in his diary on 15 April 1864 that “Mrs Price left for good in spr cart per Pickett”.49
,be. Central Goldfields - Victoria It is almost certain that Ann and the Price children reunited with the rest of the Scott family around Wareek. A notice in the Avoca Mail indicates that an Ann Price made an application to obtain land at Wareek in 1866 50.

RIP

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