My Almost Forgotten 3G Uncle John Wheeler

The New ‘Kilmore Inn’ Which John Wheeler Had Built.
( George Vinge Was Licensee From 1859 to 1862 )

John Blunt Wheeler’s parents were Captain William Oliver Wheeler, born May 1778, and Mary, daughter of John Helsham of Legget’s Rath. They had nine children, all sons, with five living to adulthood. These were Richard, Edward Oliver, Arthur, Henry Septimus and John Blunt Wheeler. Arthur is the ancestor of the author.

Captain Wheeler was the son of Sir Richard Denny Wheeler Cuffe, Knight, who had assumed the name Cuffe on inheriting the estates of that family, and the younger brother of Sir Jonah Denny Wheeler Cuffe, Baronet. The Wheeler Cuffe’s lived at ‘Lyrath’ near Kilkenny, Ireland, while William and his family lived at ‘The Rocks,’ Maddoxtown, also just outside Kilkenny.

John Blunt Wheeler was born circa January 1821, most likely at the Wheeler family home, ‘The Rocks.’ He was baptised 17 January 1821 in the Parish / District of St. Canice’s, County Kilkenny. His middle name was Blunt after his maternal grandmother, Mary Blunt of Archer’s Grove, Kilkenny.

Richard, as the eldest son, would inherit the family estates, so the younger brothers needed to look to other opportunities. William provided these younger sons with some capital to go out and improve their fortunes. Edward went to Canada, Arthur eventually departed for Australia in December 1850, and Henry and John sailed for Australia in 1840.

Henry and John Wheeler arrived at Port Phillip on 10 July 1840 on board the “Coromandel” as cabin passengers. The “Coromandel”had departed London on 4 January 1840 and Plymouth on 10 January 1840. the journey out was reported as a very rough one, due to severe weather with the “Coromandel” detained six weeks in the Bay of Biscay, and having to call into St. Jago in the Cape Verde Islands for provisions. She was apparently grounded on entering Port Phillip but was fortunately got off almost immediately. It was reported that during her voyage there were six births and four deaths on board. The journey of six months from London to Melbourne, even at that time, was much longer than the usual time of around three to four months.

The early activities of the brothers in the Colony are not known, however John and Henry did farm cattle and occupy the run ‘Vale of Tempe’ as early as 1842. From 1843 to 1844 Henry and John had a pastoral license for the Westernport District. ‘Vale of Tempe’ was sometimes referred to as ‘Tempe Vale,’ and was later renamed ‘Tarcombe.’ This is known because John gave evidence to William Piper, the Disputed Boundary Commissioner, in a dispute between Frederick John Bury and John Hearne Webster in regard to the boundary of the ‘Tarcombe’ run. On 9 April 1850, in his evidence John stated the following:“I was the occupant of ‘Tarcombe’ immediately preceeding Mr. Bury . . .”“I occupied the Surveyor’s Creek with cattle in 1842 . . .”” . . . I was then in partnership with my brother Henry Wheeler . . . ““My brother left the Colony in 1844 . . . “

In February 1844 John and Henry Wheeler are recorded as operating a licensed run in the Murray District, No. 18, of some 40,000 acres, with a carrying capacity of some 6,500 sheep at ‘Tarcombe,’ adjacent to the Tarcombe and Hughes Creek, 9 miles south of Longwood, near Euroa in Victoria.

On 6 February 1844 Henry, along with some other intoxicated young gentlemen, were caught up in an affray with the police in Melbourne, while they were in the process of being arrested for vandalising a bridge at the junction of Collins and Elizabeth Streets. Henry was convicted of assault and after serving several weeks in prison, with declining health, returned to Ireland later that year.

John stayed in Australia, and was left to either continue farming ‘Vale of Tempe’ or look at other options. 

The first hotel erected in Kilmore was the ‘Kilmore Inn,’ which was a timber building originally located on the north-west corner of the junction of Sydney Road and Foote Street, and was opened by the licensee Francis Anderson in September, 1841. John and Henry would no doubt have called at the Inn on their various journeys between Melbourne and their run at ‘Vale of Tempe.’

On 24 May, 1843 in the “Port Phillip Government Notices” the following notice appear:

“THE KILMORE INN 
THE above property, situated forty miles from Melbourne,
on the Sydney Road, to be sold or exchanged for sheep.
Apply to WM. & H. BARNES & CO.
May 19″

In early 1845 John still possessed the Station at ‘Tempe Vale’ in the Port Phillip District (via Licence) and was running cattle, other livestock, and growing wheat. A merchant named Charles Barnes of Melbourne proposed that he exchange his Station, including stock, crops and equipment for the ‘ . . . Public House called the ‘Kilmore Inn’ situate at Kilmore . . . ‘ and stock in trade, and other property connected with the Inn, then belonging to Barnes and a Phillip Holland.

One source indicated that in 1843 John Wheeler obtained the licence to operate the ‘Kilmore Inn’ and in 1845 the licence was transferred to Mr. and Mrs. Henry Morris. It seems more likely, that John obtained the licence and transferred it in May 1845, when he actually swapped the station at ‘Tempe Vale’ for the Inn. Although the Morris’ became Licensees, John Wheeler continued to hold the freehold of the hotel as he undertook the transfer of the business over the road and built the new premises.

On the afternoon of 26 June 1845 John Wheeler ‘ . . . settler on the Goulburn . . . ‘ was taking Ellen Quick (or Quirk), an unmarried woman, to Melbourne for her confinement. She had been employed by John for eleven months as a servant. About 3 pm the horse started acting up so John got out of the cart to grab the horse by the reins, but before he could fully gain control, the horse bolted with the cart carrying Ellen. John gave chase on foot and about a quarter of a mile down the road came across the terrible scene of Ellen injured on the roadside, having been thrown from the cart after it had hit an obstacle and overturned. By the time John got there a couple of other men were already providing some assistance and John asked that one of them, a carpenter named Donald Douglas, get the nearest doctor while Ellen was placed on a matress and taken into the nearby house of James Robertson, a Merri Creek Blacksmith. Unfortunately, Donald called on several medical men before he found one that would come at about 10 pm. By the time Geoffrey James Keatinge (or Keating), surgeon and accoucheur arrived, Ellen was dead, and he was advised that she had died about three hours earlier at 9 pm. John apparently stayed with Ellen and ” . . . renderd her every assistance in his power.” This course of events raises the question, was Ellen John’s lover? Was the child his? Is this why he was taking Ellen to Melbourne for her confinement?

In “The Argus” at page 3, on 14 August 1846 a letter to the editor refers to problems between Catholics and Protestants in Kilmore and states among other things

” . . . I will not, therefore, allude to the burning of Mr. Morris’s stable and haystack, or the breaking down of Mr. Wheeler’s paddock fence, for which rewards have been offered in the columns of the “Herald,” and strong expressions published in the domestic paragraphs of that Journal against the incendiary and the wilful destroyer of property at Kilmore . . . “

On 17 September 1846, John Wheeler purchased two one-acre parcels of land in the Township of Kilmore from John Lamb and William Carr for £20. The land was Allotment 2 of Section 4 and Allotment 2 of Section 5 which both fronted opposite sides of Sydney Street, with one block being next door to the original Inn and the other across the road next to where he built the new two storey stone ‘Kilmore Inn,’ or ‘Kilmore Hotel,’ as it was also referred to.

An article on 10 June 1847 in the “Sydney Morning Herald” headed “KILMORE. (from the “Port Phillip Gazette”‘s Correspondent)” refers to the need for a Magistrate in Kilmore and states ” . . . Mr. Wheeler talks about building.” The article goes on to provide a list of houses in the township including “1 Wheeler, public-house . . . “ This article confirms John Wheeler’s ownership of the ‘Kilmore Inn’ and his intention in 1847 to construct a new building for the hotel. One of the contractors engaged to assist in the construction appears to have been Simon Hickey, Stonemason, of Kilmore.

Unfortunately for John, soon after purchasing the ‘Kilmore Inn,’ an issue arose around its location. Specifically, that the front portion of the Inn was, according to some surveys, built partly on the government land set aside for the main Sydney Road. John took legal action against Charles Barnes and Phillip Holland from whom he had purchased the hotel. Due most likely to poor legal advice, John lost the case and ultimately the appeal in the Supreme Court in December 1848. To make matters worse, he also had to pay costs, which at 7 July 1848 amounted to £28.17.11. It seems from the facts that no fraud was involved, and all parties have agreed that it was indeed a mistake to place the hotel where it was originally located.

In 1849 John Wheeler of Kilmore is listed as an elector for the District of Port Phillip.

On Wednesday, 12 June 1850 the following Death Notice appeared on page 2 of “The Argus:”

“DIED Suddenly on the 8th instant, at Kilmore, John Wheeler, Esq.”

John Wheeler, ‘Publican’ aged 31, died 8 June 1850 in Kilmore and was buried in Kilmore on 9 June 1850. An Inquiry was held at Kilmore on the day of John’s death by Joseph Sutherland J.P. at which Thomas Lumsden Esq. M.D. found ” . . . death has been caused by congestion of the brain from an overdose of some narcotic . . . “ An apparent overdose of laudanum, although not ruled suspicious, but given later events, it may well have been.

Interestingly, while John was the first person listed on the burial registry for Kilmore Cemetery in 1850, the second person listed was Thomas Seale, Publican, aged 32 years, who died 28 August, 1850 and was buried 31 August. Thomas had been landlord of the ‘Royal Oak Inn.’ 1850 was not a good year for relatively young publicans in Kilmore.

John’s cousin, Robert Cooke of the Murray in the District of Port Phillip, claiming to be John’s next of kin, and the only person in the Colony ” . . . entitled in distribution to his personal estate . . . “ applied for, and was granted Administration of John’s Estate in August 1850.

On 31 March 1851 Henry Wheeler returned to Australia aboard the “Anna” with his older brother, Arthur, and their wives, the sisters Cecilia and Catherine Wheeler nee Helsham. Henry and Arthur bought ten half acre blocks in Kilmore in two purchases at auctions on 14 May and 16 September 1851. They paid a total of £260.10.0 for the blocks.

Henry also took successful legal action against his cousin Robert Cooke and Henry Morris to recover the proceeds of John’s estate, which had been illegally claimed and sold by Cooke during Henry’s absence from the Colony. Among other things, in September 1853 Henry Morris had to pay Henry and Arthur £9,000 for property including the new ‘Kilmore Inn.’

John Wheeler was a successful Port Phillip pioneer, and early Kilmore settler who envisaged a thriving future for Kilmore, and unfortunately did not live to see all his dreams fulfilled.

( Contributed by Dean Wheeler – Great-Great-Great-Nephew of John Wheeler – PPPG Member No. 1444 )

( Source of Images: State Library of Victoria – )