Summary

The Warmbrunn family at their home, 'Tarilta', in Upper Beaconsfield, during World War I. The house was of wattle and daub construction and was lost in the 1983 Ash Wednesday bushfires.

The Warmbrunn family arrived in South Australia on the "Bengalee" on 16th November 1838 as religious refugees from Silesia. Ernest was born 9th December 1846, and married Catherine Stevens (1857-1946). The coupe became pioneers in the Barossa Valley, South Australia, then following the outbreak of the goldrushes moved to Castlemaine, Victoria in 1853 and then Harkaway (Berwick), Victoria by 1856. Ernest died at Beaconsfield in 1915.

The photograph probably depicts Catherine and Ernest Warmbrunn and their daughters Mary, Catherine and Millicent. It would have been taken before 18 July 1915, when Ernest died. The couple also had two sons, Alfred and Frederick. Alfred enlisted to serve in World War I in March 1916 (service number 2014). He was a 31-year-old gardener, and listed his mother as his next of kin, since his father had died. He returned safely to Australia in 1919. His brother served in the Labour Corps during World War II.

Description of Content

The Warmbrunn family standing in the front garden outside their home 'Tarilta', at Upper Beaconsfield, Victoria, during World War I. The two parents are seated canvas folding deck chairs and there are two older adolescent women standing behind the mother and one younger girl standing beside her with her hand on the chair.

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