A life of serendipity - and a beautiful beach!
Today's blog honours a man
whose name was given to a beautiful beach on the South Coast of NSW. This beach
has fine white sand made from ground pure quartz and arguably the whitest sand
in Australia. It lies south of Vincentia and north of Jervis Bay village and is
known as Hyams Beach.
MICHAEL HYAM and his family
Michael was born in London England in 1799, the third child of Thomas Peynter Hyam and his wife Sarah.
He became a shoemaker and
arrived on these shores as a free settler via the "George Canning" in
1828. Michael arrived with a consignment of goods for Walter Jacob Levi, to be
paid for upon receipt. Mr. Levi had unfortunately died and his widow was
unaware of the goods being delivered. As such Michael was given the goods which
he subsequently auctioned, set up a shoemaker's shop in Sydney and made an application
for land.
Michael Hyam - image courtesy of Wikitree
Michael had his sights set
on an area far from the city limits; a place that lies south of Shell Harbour
and north of Kiama which came with a pristine sandy beach; Minnamurra.
His request was denied by
Governor Ralph Darling who was reluctant to hand out land to a newly arrived
Jew who had been lucky to basically “inherit” money. After a successful Land Board Challenge, Michael was
granted land, not the area of Minnamurra he wanted but 1280 acres of property
inland of Kiama, at the time considered a consolation prize.
The area he was granted is
where Jamberoo lies today. Michael arrived in the area in the 1830's when the
cedar industry in the area was in its infancy. In 1835 he married Catherine
Mary Broughton who converted to Judaism, taking on the name of Charlotte Rebecca,
and together they went on to have six children. In 1841 Michael laid out the
private village with the main south coast road forming the northern boundary of
Jamberoo and gave various “lots” for protestant churches. He built an inn and
store, set up a tannery and brought civility to the area. Education was
provided by the Church of England on the site of the original grant of land
from him. Michael built a property in an area he named Sarah's Valley in honour
of his mother and set down roots.
In 1847 he sold the property
at Jamberoo and moved to an area closer to Nowra, purchasing a property there
in 1865. After Charlotte died in 1849, he married Deborah Moses in 1853 and they
went on to have three more children, one dying in infancy. Deborah also
predeceased him passing away in March 1865.
Michael Hyams died in his
home in Nowra on 3rd September 1878 and his body was brought back to Rookwood
for burial where his two wives and some of his children lie.
Michael and Charlotte
Rebecca’s second son was born in 1837 in Sarah’s Valley and after being
educated at home, left for Melbourne and undertook commercial training when he
turned 19. In Sydney he became a commission agent but in 1860 after suffering
huge losses from floods in the Shoalhaven area, was declared insolvent. After
he was discharged in October 1861 he married Sarah Priestly, the daughter of a
produce merchant, later joining his father-in-law’s business and recommenced as
a commission agent in 1866.
Solomon was successful as a
wholesale produce merchant and was elected an alderman of Balmain in 1874 and
Mayor in 1876-1879. In 1875 he became a Magistrate and regularly attended the
Water and Central Police Courts. In 1879 he retired from Balmain Council but in
1885-1887 he represented Balmain in the Legislative Assembly. In 1886-1887 he
sat on the Royal Commission on the excessive use of intoxicating drink. His
public life continued for many years.
Solomon’s business expanded
and he was a director of the Citizens’ Life Assurance Company. During the
1880’s he bred pure Jersey cattle in partnership with his brother near
Shoalhaven winning many prizes in agricultural shows. Hyam was a yachtsman and
his four boats won many races. He built a house at Katoomba and beside being
President of Balmain Rowing Club and the Katoomba Cricket Club, he was also a
trustee of the Australian Museum. Solomon was not interested in Jewish
community affairs and was not a member of the Great Synagogue when he died in
November 1901 at Katoomba. He was survived by his wife, three sons and three
daughters. He is buried in the old Anglican section in Rookwood.
Solomon’s eldest brother,
David, remained in the Shoalhaven area and was a farmer from 1855, then a
hotelkeeper and later built a hotel at Terara. He was the brother that Solomon
raised jersey cows with, exhibiting them with great success. David was an
alderman for 47 years and many times acted as Mayor of both Nowra and Central
Shoalhaven councils. He died in 1923 aged 87 and was buried in the Jewish
portion of Nowra General Cemetery.
I can’t help but think that
Michael Hyam had a life of serendipity with many highs and as many lows. He
arrived on these shores to find the purchaser of his goods had died, a disaster
for some but for Michael proved fortuitous as he was able to retain the goods
and sell at a greater profit. He realised that to be successful in the colony a
person needed land. He was able to purchase a portion but was subjected to
bigotry and granted land in an area that was considered secondary. Fortuitously
the land was ripe for development, and he created the village of Jamberoo
leaving a great legacy as well as sons and daughters to be proud of. I wonder what he would make of the area now that is more known for the water theme park than it's cedar industry? His name lives on in the beautiful beach named after him.
I was made aware of Michael
Hyam during a new tour of the Jewish area of Rookwood recently conducted and
led by Carolyn. I knew of many of the Jewish people showcased but I will be
sharing more tales of people from my personal archives and this tour in the
coming months.
I have utilised Ancestry.com,
Wikipedia, many Google searches and Trove newspaper articles as my main
references for the blog.
If you have any comments about the contents of this blog please add them here or at the group Facebook page which can be found under
rookwoodcemeterydiscoveries
Or send me a personal
message at
lorainepunch@gmail.com
Until next week
My grandfather's home used to back onto Hyams Beach. I vaguely remember walking through the sand there as a toddler. However, I was not aware of the man for whom it was named until now. Thanks for the information.
ReplyDeleteNow you know about the man for who the beach was named after, you can tell people about it. He is no longer forgotten
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