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MAN,
MUSIC AND MASONRY
FREEMASONRY AND RELIGION
RITUAL IS GOOD FOR YOU!
WILLIAM LITTLE
MANY
FAITHS, ONE BROTHERHOOD
THE LADDER
OF JACOB
WILLIAM LITTLE
CITIZEN AND MASON
1839 - 1916
Presented by
Wor.Bro.Very Rev. Frederick A. Shade PGStdBr
at Yarrowee Lodge No. 10
17th June 2003
Note:
the full version of this document (including footnotes
and appendices) can be downloaded as a Word document
by right clicking here and saving to your computer.
Introduction
This is a very important evening for me. I am the great grandson
of one of the Masters of this lodge, namely Wor.Bro.
William Little, who was Master of Yarrowee Lodge
in 1872 and 1873. This is the first time, to my
knowledge, that a descendant of William has visited
this lodge, apart from his two sons who were Initiated
here.
I am a fourth generation mason in the family and I am very
proud to be here. As you can imagine, when I told
my mother (William's granddaughter) that I would
be visiting the lodge, she was overjoyed!
I wish to thank your Secretary, Wor.Bro. Jeff Taylor and
your Wor. Master Robert Calil, for enabling me to
meet with them last month and also for inviting
me to make a presentation this evening.
William Little is just one of many distinguished masons who
have led this lodge, but for me he is obviously
the most important! Family histories can be very
boring, but I hope my presentation will keep your
interest.
William's Parents
William
was the first child of John Little and Mary
née Grave. William's father was the second of
seven children and was born to James Little and
Frances Anson. John's date of birth is not known
but according to parish records, he was christened
on 11th October, 1812 at the Church of England parish
church of Wetheral, Cumberland, England.
John married
Mary Grave on 23rd September, 1838 at the Anglican
parish church of Torpenhow, Cumberland. John is
shown to be a resident of Blennerhassett and working
as an husbandman. In 1840 he appears on the birth
certificate of a later child as a labourer.
Mary was
a daughter of William Grave, farmer and possibly
quarry owner, and Mary (née Huder), and was born
about 1817 at Baggro, Cumberland (between Aspatria
and Blennerhassett). Her name was listed as Grave
in the documents of 1854 to 1861, but in 1916 was
called Graves. (Variations in the spelling of names
was quite common.)
According
to the "History, Gazetteer - Directory of Cumberland
1847", the following towns are in the Torpenhow
Parish:
"Baggery,
Baggray or Baggraw, is a small village on the river
Ellen, seven miles s.w. of Wigton, opposite to Blennerhassett,
containing a public house, four farmers and a few
tradespeople. Residents include Grave, Wm, Quarry
owner. Blennerhassett village and joint township
with Kirkland, stands on the banks of the river
Ellen, 7 miles s.w. of Wigton."
There is
a family story that the John and Mary were the first
in the family to come to the colony, that he couldn't
read or write (i), that he was the manager of a
quarry and had left England after having an affair
with the boss's daughter. The story goes on to relate
that they married at Gretna Green. (None of this
information is confirmed and the Gretna Green detail
is certainly incorrect.) The tribute paid to him
in the Ballarat newspapers at the time of his death
does refer to John Little's "restless" period before
being converted to the faith at the Wesleyan Church
in Liverpool, England (ii), but how much one can
read into this is difficult to say.
What can
be stated with certainty is that John and Mary Little
migrated to this country in 1851 with at least one
child, William. They arrived at Corio Bay, Geelong
on Christmas Eve. They settled there and John became
a stationer in Malop Street, as mentioned in the
1854 Geelong Commercial Directory (also 1856 and
1859 Electoral Rolls). They moved to Ballarat in
1859 between the deaths of two of their children,
to an address in Main Road, Ballarat. His occupation
in 1861 and 1862 was as storekeeper at Ballarat
East. Their address in 1863 was given as Bridge
Street, Ballarat. It is believed that they had a
total of 14 children, many of whom died young (iii).
John became
a wealthy man, owning a number of properties, which
can only be assumed to have come from finding gold
on the goldfields. He died on 26th February, 1890
at Stone Street, Ballarat, aged 78 years and was
buried at Ballarat Old Cemetery (plot number AN/8/1).
At his death his occupation is described as Gentleman,
and his address as Lyons Street, Ballarat. John
was for many years a class leader, trustee and steward
at the Wesleyan Church in Lydiard Street, and must
have provided his son William with a fine example
of service to others (ii). What can be noticed from
the date is that John died during the period his
son was Mayor, and this must have been quite a blow
to William.
Mary died
a few years earlier than John, on 26th February,
1882 at Stone Street, Ballarat, at the age of 65.
She was also buried at the Ballarat Old Cemetery
in the same grave (AN/8/1).
William's Birth
William
was born on 7th February, 1839 at Blennerhasset
in the Cumberland district, England. He was christened
on 3rd March, 1839 at Wetheral, Cumberland. The
entry in the parish records of Torpenhow includes
the following: "March 3rd, 1839. Baptism of William,
son of John Little, Mary --- of Blennerhassett,
Husbandman." Parish records at that time, and
earlier, do not usually include the date of birth,
as the date of baptism was considered to be the
important one!
Siblings
As already
mentioned, William was the first of 14 children,
most of whom died when very young. The only other
child to reach adulthood was Ada, who was born on
22nd May, 1861. She married a William Hughes (m.
1885) and had six children. He died in 1893 and
Ada married Edward Rowe Hocking (m. 1894). Ada died
in 1936 at the age of 75 years.
Of the
14 children in the Little family, five were named
Mary. This was not unusual as it was the custom
in those days to remember the deceased by the adoption
of their name for a later child. The dates of birth
and death for William's siblings are not complete
in the records but it would appear that all of them
(except Ada) died in infancy or early childhood
and were buried in England, Geelong or Ballarat.
Employment
William
was 12 years old when he arrived in Geelong with
his family in 1851, and his later writings show
that he retained strong memories of his place of
birth. He was employed when 14 years of age at the
Geelong Customs House. He then became a clerk to
Mr. James Oddie in Ballarat and remained in that
position for 21 years. During that period he became
an undergraduate of the University of Melbourne.
In 1880
he set up his own business in Ballarat as an auctioneer,
stockbroker, estate, finance and insurance agent.
His business prospered and his integrity and expertise
were evidently two important ingredients in his
success. The real estate business was located at
54 Lydiard Street South. The building is situated
a few doors from Craig's Hotel and diagonally opposite
the Wesleyan Church which the Little family attended.
The building and business were later sold, due most
likely to the property crash, to a Mr Dunstan. Shortly
thereafter it went to Edgar Bartrop, whose son Bruce
is the current owner and is known to all of us as
a prominent and active Freemason. There is a composite
photo on the wall in the foyer of the office which
includes William Little and his sons, and another
composite display of the Bartrop family. The Bartrops
have retained in their archives documents relating
to the William Little period of the business, including
several large leather folios of newspaper clippings
and business notes which William had collected.
And I wish to express my appreciation for the support
Brother Bruce has given me over the past few years
when I have been researching William Little.
Marriage
William
married Catherine Walford (Kate) Cazaly
on 21st April, 1862. Her family was to come again
into prominence in the next century due to the fame
of footballer Roy Cazaly, her nephew. She was a
concert pianist, organist and teacher of the piano.
Her contributions to the musical life of Ballarat
were significant and provided an example of musical
excellence to her family, all of whom became accomplished
musicians. She was the first organist at the Wesleyan
Church, Lydiard Street, was organist for 42 years
with the Ballarat Philharmonic Society and also
an active worker with the South Street Competition.
Kate was also for more than 20 years the accompanist
for the Ballarat Liedertafel. Their presentation
to her, a solid gold broach in the form of a lyre,
is still worn today by her granddaughter, Beatrice
Shade.
Kate died
on 25th October, 1903 and her passing was reported
in the local press. She is buried at the Ballarat
Old cemetery (AN/8/1). As with other important events
in his life, William wrote a poem in her memory
and published it privately for distribution to family
and friends.
William and Kate had
three children - William Cazaly (Will) born
1873, John Cecil (Cecil) born 1874 and Fannie
Beatrice (Trixie) born 1878 (grandmother of
the writer). William married Elizabeth Dening
Crocker of Ballarat (m. 1897), had three children,
and later moved alone to Melbourne. He died there
in 1959. Cecil married Catherine Elizabeth
Jones (m. 1901) in Daylesford and had three children.
They moved to New Zealand and then to Sydney, and
he died there in 1948. Trixie married Frederick
Joseph Chapple (m. 1910) and moved to Melbourne
where she spent the rest of her life. She had three
children and died in 1960, aged 82 years, in the
home of her granddaughter in Ivanhoe. (I was 16
years old when she passed away in our home.)
Music
As already noted, the
Little family was very musical and played numerous
instruments. (The Shade family has continued this
tradition.) They provided solo and chamber music
in their home for many years as well as at church
and in local halls. A photo from that period shows
the family seated on stage, performing on various
string instruments, with Kate at the piano. There
are also numerous reports in the local papers of
the Little family and their musical contributions
at fundraisings and anniversaries at the Wesleyan
Church in Lydiard Street and elsewhere.
One of the notable Sunday
Soireés at the Little home reported in the local
newspaper was that of the visit and performance
by an international artist. He was Chevalier A.
Ritter von Konstki. It is reported (The Courier,
also The Age 21.7.1896) that he was so pleased
with the performance of the Little family that he
dedicated the scherzo movement from his 10th quartet
for violin, viola, cello and piano, op.412 to the
family. Unfortunately, the autographed manuscript
has been lost. The Chevalier declared that he was
the last surviving pupil of Beethoven.
The Mayor
William filled a number
of civic positions during his very productive life.
He was a Justice of the Peace and became a City
Councillor in 1883, representing the Central Ward
until 1892. He was Mayor for two years (1889 - 1890)
during which period he initiated several civic projects.
For example, on Arbour Day in 1890, he led the citizens
of Ballarat in planting 1250 trees in Victoria Park.
(A tree he planted was dedicated to Queen Victoria,
and she responded to this act of kindness. See Appendix
4.) His Annual Report as Mayor refers to this and
other activities of this kind.
During his time as a
Councillor, the Salvation Army (founded in England
in 1875) was beginning to make its presence felt
in Ballarat and there were a number of residents,
including some councillors, who opposed some of
their activities. It was the usual custom for local
newspapers to report the decisions and discussions
which took place at Council meetings and these make
interesting reading. During this period (1889-91)
the Ballarat papers reported in some detail (together
with editorial comment) on the heated exchanges
between certain councillors regarding the Salvation
Army. They also referred to and praised Councillor
Little's efforts of counselling moderation on all
sides in regard to the Salvation Army "problem".
He had only limited success as the tensions within
the council on this issue continued for some time.
During
this period William was known to bail out Salvation
Army people who were jailed for "disturbing the
peace" with their marching and playing, or preaching
on street corners without permission. It is also
recorded that, during his period as mayor, William
travelled to Melbourne to appeal to the State Governor
to intervene. (The Governor at that time, the Earl
of Hopetoun, became the first Governor-General for
Australia in 1901.)
One of the issues was
that of the Salvation Army Band marching up and
down the street on Sundays and playing their instruments
while church services were in progress. Opinion
among the residents was also divided in regard to
the impending visit to Ballarat of the Army's founder,
General William Booth (1819 - 1912). Councillor
Shoppee, William's successor as mayor, was strongly
opposed to their activities, and the reports of
council meetings and cartoons of the time (e.g.
Melbourne Punch, 10.10.1891) are not very kind to
the Councillor! However, Mayor Shoppee was successful
in obtaining support from the residents of the Ward
concerned and when he became Mayor he instituted
restrictions on the marching of the Army.
It was the established
custom for the Mayor of the day to hold an annual
ball to which the leading citizens of the city were
invited. William Little changed the traditional
activity to a Concert (9th July, 1890) as Methodists
at that time were not in favour of dancing. There
was considerable discussion and positive editorial
comment in the local papers regarding this novel
idea. The clergy of the churches in the city declared
their support for the mayor's idea, and the general
public indicated in their letters to the editors
that they were also supportive of the proposal,
although for a different reason. The local papers
reported that while only about 800 could be accommodated
at the ball, a total of 2,500 could be seated for
a concert in Alfred Hall! The citizens of Ballarat
filled the hall and the concert was an unqualified
success.
The programme featured
the Victorian Orchestra, a full symphony orchestra
of 50-60 players, which was the first of its kind
in Melbourne. It was a precursor to the Victorian
Symphony Orchestra, now known as the Melbourne Symphony
Orchestra, of which William Little's great grandson
(the writer) was a member for nearly 30 years (iv).
In the midst of his
very active professional, civic and church duties,
William found time to be involved in various associations.
He was a member of the Ballarat Lawn Bowls, the
Central Board of Public Health, and Treasurer and
Secretary for many years of the Town Mission. In
1892 William presented the city with one of the
two lion statues located in the foyer of the Ballarat
Town Hall (v).
The
Writer
William found time to
write several historical sketches of the city in
the form of prose and poetry (see Appendix 5). He
also wrote poetry for special occasions (vi), including
200 sonnets. A selection of 50 of these sonnets
was recently published (Sonnets of William Little,
ed. Frederick A. Shade, Oct.1999, ISBN 0.7340.1768.5,
priv. printed). Many of his articles, historical
notes, poems and religious tracts were written under
the nom de plume "Lambda". (Lambda
is Greek for the letter L.) I have also published
a second book of his works entitled William Little
of Ballarat. Some Writings (ed. Frederick Shade,
June 2001, ISBN 0.7340.2140.2, privately printed).
I have brought copies of these two publications
and they will be available for purchase in the South.
The
Mason
He was also an active
Freemason and was the Master of Yarrowee Lodge No.10
for two years (1872 and 1873). He also attained
Grand Lodge Rank. He was also active in the Holy
Royal Arch Degree, and there is a portrait photo
on the wall of one of the masonic halls in Ballarat
(Buninyong) in which William is shown in his regalia
with other senior officers. He was Initiated into
Freemasonry on 6th August 1867 and was a member
for 45 years. His sons Will and Cecil were also
members of the same lodge until they moved from
Ballarat in early adult life.
Let's have a closer
look at his Masonic career. He was Initiated on
6th August 1867. Unfortunately, we don't
know who his Proposers were. He was Master for two
years, in 1872 and 1873, and he received Grand Rank,
presumably from England. He resigned in 1902, at
the age of 63, for what reason we do not know. It
wouldn't surprise me that he was not in a good financial
position, but this is only a guess.
Here are the details
of his sons and their association with the Craft.
William Cazaly (Will) was Initiated in Yarrowee
Lodge on 21st May 1895, Passed 18th
June and Raised on 20th August. He resigned
from the lodge on 17th April 1900, presumably
when he moved to Melbourne. John Cecil (Cecil) was
Initiated in the lodge on 16th July 1895,
Passed 2nd October and Raised on 17th
December. What an exciting year it was for the Little
family! Cecil resigned on 20th March
1900. Interestingly, the records of Grand Lodge
show that he joined Buninyong on 24th
June 1902, and resigned in 1903.
William was also a member
of the Chapter, and the photo which is located in
the Buninyong Temple shows him as 2rd
Principal. With the help of your Wor. Master and
Secretary, I have now established that Yarrowee
Chapter was founded in 1880 (?). The foundation
Principals we C.B. Finlayson (1st Principal),
W. Little (2nd Principal) and H.A. Newitt
(3rd principal). All were members of
Yarrowee Lodge. (According to "Ballarat Freemasonic
Records 1854-1957", by A.A.W. Steane, William
Little is shown in the list of Principals of St.George
Chapter (SC) as follows: 3rd Principal 1878, 2nd
Principal 1879 (which means the photo was taken
in this year) and as 1st Principal 1880
(p.39).)
I have not found any
Masonic references among his publications or family
memorabilia, and so I am unable to establish what
his views were about the Fraternity. The fact that
he was a member for nearly 40 years is sufficient,
I think, to indicate that he was very much committed
to it. I have attached to this paper details of
his and his family's association with the Craft.
(Appendix 1)
Conclusion
William Little died
on 2nd October, 1916 at the Clarendon Street family
home (No. 205), aged 77 years, and was buried at
the Ballarat Old Cemetery (AN/8/1). Tributes to
him in the local press were many and glowing in
their praise. There are also extensive entries on
William Little in historical publications and references,
and they include "Victoria and its Metropolis: Past
and Present. The Ballarat District."; "Ballarat
and Vicinity"; "Cyclopedia of Victoria"; "McCallum's
Ballarat District Citizens and Sports" pub. 1916;
and "Lucky Country" by Weston Bate.
I conclude this biographical
sketch of William Little with an extract from "Ballarat
and Vicinity":
"Mr. Little
stands forth as a bright, cultured, intelligent
man of his times; one who has respect of all who
know him and the good wishes of the community in
general. He may be classed as a thoroughly sincere,
honest and straightforward gentleman in private
and public life alike, and one who deserving fame,
prosperity, and respect, has gained it."
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