Francis Alfred Gillett of Sunnyside, Mornington, the beloved husband of Alice Mary Gillett, aged 56. English papers please copy.” The same paper carried a notice that the funeral would depart from a Port Melbourne address on the following day for the place of interment, the Melbourne General Cemetery. Francis Gillett and Alice, who died in 1909, had four children. Although details of their lives are sketchy, some information is available: Francis Joseph Gillett was born at Sandridge in 1868 and in 1891 he married Florence Marion Jenner, the daughter of Caleb Joshua Jenner, a successful Melbourne businessman who became a member of the lower house. Jenner purchased “Beleura”, one of Mornington’s stately homes, in 1888 and owned it until 1899. Between 1891 and 1910 Francis junior was a grazier at Rosedale in Gippsland but he then moved with Florence to 11 Ackland Street in St. Kilda. The electoral roll lists him as an investor. On 28 September, 1917 Francis did something which seems inexplicable: he travelled to Sydney where he enlisted for military service. He was 49 and 3 months! He was posted to Rabaul where he was engaged by the Department of Survey and Roads. The tropics did not agree with Francis and, before the war had concluded, he was “invalided” back to Australia; he had suffered from malaria and a severe rash which was variously diagnosed as shingles and “herpes zoster.” Between 1919 and 1924 Francis was living back at Ackland Street but in 1924 he and Florence apparently separated for in that year she moved back to Mornington with their daughter, Stella. Forence died in 1944, aged 75, and is the only member of the Gillett family buried in the Mornington cemetery. Francis moved to Cronulla in NSW where he died in 1934. Beatrice Alice Gillett was born at Schnapper Point in 1869 and on 4 February,1892 The Argus carried the following personal notice: “Barrett-Gillett. On 18 ult., at St.Peter’s church, Mornington by the Rev. J.White Ward,second son of William Barrett, London, to Beatrice Alice, eldest daughter of the late F.A.Gillett Esq., Sunnyside, Mornington.” Harry Rowland Gillett was born at Schnapper Point in 1871 and evidently had an interest in shooting for in 1900 he was appointed secretary of the proposed rifle club. Harry married Ermine Louisa Clarke (1876-1949) and they had three daughters:Alice Daintry, Nancy Veline and Beatrice Caroline. He was a grazier at various locations in Victoria, dying at Albury North at the age of 94. Florence Adeline Gillett was also born at Schnapper Point in 1873 and in 1899 she married Lyster Bayley Jackson. An announcement in The Argus recorded : “On 4 October at Christ Church, St. Kilda by the Very Reverend Dean Vance, vicar general,Lyster Bayley, third son of John Jackson, to Florence (“Queenie”), second daughter of the late Francis Gillett of Sunnyside, Mornington.”The role played by the mothers, Mary Ann Jackson and Alice Gillett, was apparently considered of insufficient significance to warrant a mention in the announcement! Lyster Jackson must have pretty much taken over “Sunnyside” for his mother and two sisters appear in many of the photographs. In 1904 the only child, Lyster John Gillett Jackson, was born but within a few years the marriage began to unravel. In the photographs Lyster generally appears as a man-about-town while Florence looks quite demure ; this appears to be a case of appearances being deceptive. On 14 February, 1918 The Argus provided a concise report of divorce proceedings of Jackson v. Jackson. If the interested parties thought that
Top: Anyone for tennis? Lyster and Florence in the back row. Middle: Wedding bells in 1909. Lyster’s sister, Evelyn, marries Reginald Black. Bottom: Picnic by the dam. Lyster and Florence on the left. Lyster’s sisters (Ethel and Evelyn) wearing boater hats. Spring 2015
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