Laslett family history

George and Ellen Laslett of Moorak

George Laslett was born at Allendale East on 29 March 1870. He was the eldest son of George Laslett, a Farmer of Allendale East, and his wife Eliza Laslett née Langford (page 95).

In 1893 he married Ellen Tall (born 23 January 1869) of Melbourne and they had a family of three sons and three daughters, two of whom died in infancy.

They rented a house at Allendale East from a Mrs. Tibbles. Their son George describes it:

It was a typical house of its time of four rooms: two rooms at the front and two lean-tos to the rear, which meant a front room - which was rarely used and kept for special guests and occasions such as the parson, etc. - a front bedroom and a rear bedroom and kitchen. In those days cooking was mainly done with an oven with hobs on either side and bars across on which saucepans and fry pan could be used. The fuel was of course wood. Meat and vegetables were cooked in it; also cakes and bread. The bread was a very important item and all country housewives made their own and of course any failures were mostly due to the poor quality wood provided by the man of the house; failing that, the yeast was no good.

In 1895 George and Ellen moved to another property, a house of three rooms with about ten acres of land about a quarter of a mile north of George and Eliza Laslett's house in Allendale East. The property belonged to George Holland who had married Eliza's sister Elizabeth Langford. The house was roofed with hardwood shingles and one particular feature was the door into the back bedroom which was lower than usual, the doorway having been built to fit the door. Evidently the door had been salvaged from a wrecked ship and that accounted for its lack of height.

To return to George's account:

The holdings in Allendale East were mostly small, but everyone...was sheltered by tall pines, boxthorn hedges or flint stone walls and everyone had their own orchard of various sizes. In my home at the turn of the century we had apples, cherries, plums, damson, quinces, gooseberries, etc. These were made into jams, pickles, etc., and visiting wives used to exchange various items . . .

George lived and worked about Allendale until 1906 when he went to Glencoe East to work on a farm owned by William Charlick. He worked about the Glencoe district for about six years, engaging in share farming and other rural pursuits.

The Moorak Station was cut up for closer settlement in 1912 as a result of its owner being lost at sea in the ill-fated ship the Waratah. George applied for and was allotted a 30 acre block. On this block he built a comfortable stone house, engaging in dairying and potato growing. Everything on the farm was done with painstaking thoroughness and 'near enough' was not good enough for him. He was a pioneer settler of a venture in the better soils of the South East and by hard work and careful management achieved success in an intensive farming area.

In 1939 he retired to live at Port MacDonnell, returning to the scene of earlier labours at the wool-scouring plant at the nearby Woolwash. All of the Laslett boys worked there at some stage.

He died on 21 June 1949 and is buried in Mt Gambier. His son, George, is the oldest living descendant of George and Eliza Laslett (1972). Much of the success of the Family Gathering of 1972 could be attributed to Len, the other son. The name of George Laslett is perpetuated in the succeeding generations.

Family of George and Ellen Laslett

Sons

GEORGE SAMSON - born 28 September 1893 at Allendale East. Died 3 February 1987. Married Elsie May Earl (born 7 October 1893) on 9 March 1920 at Allendale East.

See chapter George and Elsie Laslett of O.B. Flat on page 153.

LEONARD JOHN - born 25 October 1895. Died 3 June 1980. Married Alice Evelyn Earl (born 19 February 1901) Alice died 10 July 1985.

See chapter Leonard and Alice Laslett of Mount Gambier on page 158.

ALFRED ERNEST - Died in Infancy.

Daughters

JESSIE - born 18 February 1902. Married Alan Peters of Mt. Gambier.
Children:
2 sons, 1 daughter.
NELLIE ELIZA - born 16 May 1904. Married George A. Sturges, a farmer and later stone quarry owner, of Mt. Gambier.
Children:
3 sons, 1 daughter.
EMILY BERTHA - Died in Infancy.