Joe Berriman

 

b. 2 May 1923; d. 7 February 2003

Mary Lothian

Also available from Amazon.com

Dedicated to Joe in loving and happy memory

---

The following profile of Joseph Albert (Joe) BERRIMAN was written by prominent racing journalist Helen Coughlan. It appeared in the September 1987 edition of the Australian Bloodhorse Review and is reproduced with kind permission.

The time that Joe Berriman spent as senior lecturer at the University of Queensland School of Veterinary Science is known by students as "The Years of the Horse".

There is no doubt that Joe Berriman BVSc; MACVSc has devoted a large proportion of his years to the horse. As a veterinary surgeon he has been involved professionally in the thoroughbred and trotting industries. As a lecturer he has imparted his knowledge to hundreds of students; as a studmaster together with his wife Eva he has bred, reared and prepared thoroughbreds, arabs and standardbreds, and as an owner contributed greatly to racing, culminating in the breeding and racing of Courier Mail Classic winner Mirraben, one of Queensland's best three year olds.

As a friend of the racing industry, Joe has given his time and expertise freely to organisations associated with the horse. He was deputy chairman and hon. treasurer, as well as hon. consulting vet for the Toowoomba Turf Club, was a member of the founding committee of the Albion Park Trotting Club, assisted in the establishing of a trotting industry in the near Hong Kong island of Macao, is a committeeman and past secretary of the Queensland division of the Bloodhorse Breeders Association of Australia and was a committeeman of the Downs and Southwest District Racing Association.

One of seven children from a tiny community on the New South Wales far south coast, Joe gives great credit to his mother's determination that the children should have as much education as possible.

In a family of academic achievers, Joe did not let the side down. He won a scholarship to attend Hurlstone Agricultural High School in Sydney and from there was awarded a Public Exhibition (awarded only to the top 25 students in the State) to attend Sydney University where he studied veterinary science.

Joe recalls those years of study as very difficult for all students, being during the war. He names Professor Doug Blood, who was to become Dean of the Faculty of Veterinary Science at Melbourne University, as one who greatly influenced his career in Sydney.

"Professor Blood was the first man in the world to organise vet science into a modern discipline," Joe stated. "He was the person that most Australian graduates of my vintage were influenced by I would say. When I went through Sydney University it was the only school, and when I graduated I think there were only 12 graduated for the whole of Australia and New Zealand".

Joe considered that he did not have the experience to go straight into private practice after graduation, so worked for the New South Wales Department of Agriculture as a goverment veterinary officer with the Pastures Protection Board at Scone.

Joe was working mainly with dairy cattle and large animals, but in this very strong thoroughbred area he became firm friends with many thoroughbred breeders, including Bert Riddle who ran the famous Kia Ora stud.

"I had the honour of signing the certificate to send Ajax to America," Joe recalled. "Being the government vet I had to go out and have a look at him - and a nasty bit of work he was, too," he said with a laugh.

Despite his growing association and interest in horses, Joe still thought of himself as a dairy cattle man. So when the decision was made to branch out into private practice, he chose to move to the dairying district of Rochester in Victoria.

"I built up a very big practice," Joe said, "so much so that it just about got me down in the end. On quite a few occasions I worked 24 hours without going to bed.

"I got to the stage that if, when I arrived at a farm, and they didn't have the cow in the yard, I'd say well, you go and get ready and wake me when you come back." I could sleep anywhere - on the ground, on a concrete floor .... It didn't do me any good I know," he said, ruefully contemplating the bouts of arthritis he now suffers.

In 1959 tragedy struck the family. Joe's first wife became seriously ill and Joe, his wife and three children moved to Brisbane where Joe took a job as lecturer in diseases of dairy cattle and obstetrics at the University Vet School. His wife died in 1961.

With the interest in the horse still close to the surface, Dr Berriman joined the Saturday staff of the Queensland Turf Club as the course vet. This was not part of his university work but a further development of the interest that was to become a professional dedication as time went on. Joe worked initially at Eagle Farm only, but later extended the contact to encompass Doomben and a number of country meetings.

Joe Berriman has always had a strong interest in the trotting horse, an enthusiasm which had begun in 1944 in his Syney University days. He and a fellow student trained a trotter on the University oval. Named Western Lady, she proved to be a very good mare, winning five races straight at Harold Park. She later became the dam of Lucky Western, which won one of the Interdominion consolation races.

This knowledge of standardbreds came in handy when in the late 60s he was asked to assist with the formation of a program to introduce trotting to Brisbane's Albion Park. Joe, who had been a foundation member of the Trotting League, was invited to join the committee of the Albion Park Trotting Club and served as a foundation committee member on what has become a highly professional and successful enterprise.

The experience with pacing administration was to prove useful when, some years later, Joe was asked to assist with the establishment of trotting and pacing in Macao. He was appointed the official vet to the Macao Trotting Company and for a period of about six months travelled all over Australia and New Zealand selecting trotters to go to the island. He also supervised the shipping of 250 horses from Melbourne to Hong Kong, and along with his wife Eva, advised the company officials on the accommodation and nutrition needs of the 600 horses on Macao.

Joe had married his second wife Eva, also a vet, in 1967 and in 1968 they established a small stud at their home at Samford, a picturesque valley about half an hour's drive from the University of Queensland at St Lucia in Brisbane, where Joe was senior lecturer in veterinary medicine.

They stood the Queensland champion Arabian stallion Mildom initially, and later leased the brilliant Edmundo horse Montezuma from Mr and Mrs Ian Hedley.

"He did get quite a few winners," Joe commented. "And Montezuma has been a very good broodmare sire - Keep Safe and Tingo Tango are from Montezuma mares."

As Joe explains, the stud was a sideline to his work at the university, but his interest in horse breeding, particularly infertility problems in mares, built to such an extent that he began to lecture solely in that field. So began the famous "Years of the Horse".

"I had always had a deep interest in horses," Joe explained. "But I never felt I'd had enough experience to specialise. But as my experience was gained, so I devoted more and more of my professional time to the horse."

"Eva and I have learned an enormous amount from having run studs at the hands-on, practical level. You can learn a great deal from books, but it is only when you have the practical experience that you realise what can and can't be done."

"That was one of the good things about having Professor Don Wheat at Queensland University when I was there," Joe went on. "He was from Davis in California and spent a year here. He taught the students well, but he also taught me a great deal."

The appeal of working full time with horses caused Joe Berriman to resign from the university in 1974, and he and Eva purchased a 500 acre property at Ramsay, not far from Toowoomba on the Darling Downs. This was Laudervale and they established their thoroughbred stud with 14 mares and the beautifully bred Lysander II horse El Twice.

El Twice had been a top two-year-old and he was moderately successful at stud, but the great days of Laudervale were to come with the stallion Steel Blade.

Ironically Steel Blade and Joe and Eva Berriman had left Laudervale when the great potential of the stallion was realised with gallopers like Analysis Lad, Handsome Pal and Mirraben. But it was just reward that of all the very good Queensland-bred gallopers sired by Steel Blade, the Berrimans bred and presently race the very best.

"I am very proud of how we came to keep Mirraben," Joe told me. "I have a lot of time for his mother Nymphal. She is a very nice type of mare and was a good galloper. I can still remember going up the paddock very early one frosty morning at Laudervale to check on her. She had foaled and was practically dead - almost gone, with this great big foal lying beside her.

"Luckily," Joe continued, "I had a drug in the car which you used in these cases to restore the blood volume back into the body. I don't think she would have lasted if I'd had to go back to the house for the drug. Anyway, I whacked some of it into her and the response was dramatic - within a minute she looked much brighter and within 20 minutes was up and walking about."

Joe recalls his impressions when the Steel Blade colt gained his feet for the first time. "I thought to myself, 'That's the best looking foal I have ever seen in my life!' He stood right up and he didn't wobble around like most foals. He was ready to get going within half an hour of being born - and he was such a big bloke, which is why he had knocked his mother about so much."

Joe and Eva decided this was one Steel Blade colt they would not offer for sale. The rest is history. The colt now races as Mirraben. He is trained in Brisbane by Roy Dawson, has won seven races from 15 starts and in excess of $70,000 in stakes. His name, suggested by Joe's school teacher brother Wilfred, is an anagram of Berriman.

The thoroughbreds raised by Joe and Eva Berriman at Laudervale have proved themselves very capable racehorses, and this is no doubt due in no small way to the dedication and expertise of these two veterinarians. Joe commented that this is a big advantage particularly in the treatment of infertility as they were able to examine mares twice daily if they wished, whereas a visiting vet must rely on relayed information and may see mares only once or twice a week.

Nutrition plays a huge part in the development of the young horse, and in this field Eva Berriman is a recognised expert. She is currently teaching in this and related fields associated with the veterinary nursing course offered by TAFE Queensland.

The Berrimans have now returned to the tranquil Samford valley, having sold Laudervale to Gavin and Lesley Gordon and dispersed the majority of their mares. Steel Blade is at stud in New South Wales, though Joe and Eva retain shares in the stallion.

Thoroughbred breeding and racing remain Joe's major interest, but the rich soil of the Samford valley affords him the opportunity to follow one of his favourite hobbies - growing prize-winning roses.

As a man totally committed to the welfare of the racing and breeding industries he spends a great deal of time observing and considering the trends that are evident in Australian racing. As a man who has been involved in so many aspects of the industry, his views are well worth considering.

He is strongly against the use of steroids in racehorses.

"I think that is something that should just be forgotten," he said firmly. "I have no doubt that it is the wrong thing to be doing with horses. It is of no advantage to give horses steroids. It might improve the look of them, but it does not improve their performance."

Dr Berriman went on to discuss what he would regard as an ideal situation for the racing industry, qualifying his remarks with the acknowledgement that some of the ideals would not be possible.

"First of all I wouldn't have any two-year-old racing because of the wastage factor, but of course I know that this cannot be done. It is just too long, and people won't wait the extra year for horses to mature properly for racing," he said.

The Berrimans have raced a lot of horses and Mirraben is the only one that raced as a two-year-old, with many of the horses being three and even four before beginning to compete. Mirraben was restricted to only two starts as a two-year-old.

"He won the first start then chipped a bone in his knee in the second," Joe commented meaningfully.

"I know we can't eliminate two-year-old racing, but the ideal would be for them to start later when they had matured somewhat. This is all tied up with breeding side," Joe went on, "Everyone tells you that you should have an August foal. I firmly believe that it's much better to have foals born in October. People are now trying artificial means to get mares cycling earlier - exposure to lights and that sort of thing. That works, but we have had good results and high fertility, particularly in problem breeders, when we didn't start mating them until October.

"So the foals were mostly born in late September, early October, and it is important to realise that the horse's natural breeding season in Australia is October to February."

Joe went on to discuss the climatic conditions that prevail particularly on the Darling Downs in August, citing the heavy frosts and freezing conditions that many new born foals must contend with at this time.

He is particularly interested in following the lead of an overseas researcher who made a comparison with late and early foals as to their subsequent racing performance.

"The result of this study was that the later foals were very much superior to the early foals," Dr Berriman explained. "The reason for this I believe is related to the last trimester, that is the three months before the foal is born."

"In that time," he explained, "The foal doubles its weight, so that the mare must be on good feed and in prime condition to give that fast developing foal all it needs.

"If she is producing an August foal she is forced to go through the most demanding time of her pregnancy in the coldest, hardest months of the year."

Once again pointing to the ideal, Dr Berriman stated that in these conditions, if an early foal is desired, the mares should be handfed and kept in a sheltered environment, and of course on many studs this is economically and logistically impossible. Thus the assistance of Mother Nature should be sought, and working in harmony with the natural scheme of things, foals should be born later.

Veterinary science has made great strides with each passing year and the advance which has impressed Dr Berriman most is that of equine surgery. He describes the advances as amazing.

When I graduated we hardly had penicillin," he said. "Lots of treatments were based on faith and hope - lots of faith and not much hope!"

Joe Berriman is one of the most likeable and popular personalities on the Queensland racing scene. His racing friends and a good yarn about horses are very important in his life, as is the pleasure he and Eva have had in rearing and racing Mirraben, whom Joe describes as "the best horse we have ever had or are ever likely to have."

And what is the single most important strength Joe has acquired and would wish for all those involved in the dominion of the thoroughbred horse?

A sense of humour - it has kept me going! It is what we all need in the horse business."

GENEALOGY of Joseph Albert BERRIMAN, son of Alfred Joseph BERRIMAN and Phyllis Elsie RAVAILLION, descendants of Job BERRIMAN and Georg RAVAILLION respectively.

Descendants of Job BERRIMAN 

Generation 1.

Job¹ BERRIMAN b.20 Nov 1796 Troon Farm d.1867 Camborne, Cornwall. Married in Uny Lelant, Cornwall 1819 to Jane/Jenefer UREN b.1797 Uny Lelant, d.1880 Camborne.
Their children were -
Eliza b.1820 d.1823
Elizabeth Uren b.1822 at Troon Farm d. ? Australia. Married Alexander STEVENS 1852 in Guilford, Cornwall. They went to Australia with brothers Andrew, John and Joseph in 1855.
John Joseph b.1824 Troon Farm d.? Australia. Married Mary HOCKEY 1857 Australia.
Andrew² b.20 Nov 1825 Troon Farm d.18 May 1904 Moruya, NSW, Australia. Married Martha Ann Encel KELSEY 1861 Sydney.
Edward b.1827 Troon Farm d.? America.
Vincent b.1830 Troon Farm d.1906 in Phillack, Cornwall. He was a well known blacksmith in Phillack.
Eliza b.1832 Troon Farm d.1900 Redruth. Married Richard Paull LETCHER and had a son Richard Paull.
Joseph b.1834 Troon Farm d.1889 in Ballarat, Vic, Australia. Married Elizabeth WOOLFORD 1856 in Sydney.
Job b.1836 Troon Farm d.1914 Virden, Illinois, USA. Married (1) Harriet WHISTON 1859 Phillack; (2) Catherine ANTHONY 1872 New Jersey USA. Their daughter Elizabeth (Bessie) was the grandmother of Mary GRAHAM.
Jane b.1837 d.1896 Redruth. Married John LETCHER, had children Richard (1860), Cath/Kate (1866), Mark (1868).

NOTES for Job BERRIMAN:

He was born in 1796 at Troon Farm, Cornwall. However Nick Berryman (same family despite the spelling change) has traced the male line back to a William Beryman who died 1601, birth year unknown, though it was probably in the 1520s because his oldest son Nicholas Berryman was born in 1545. It seems this branch of the family lived in Zennor Parish, Cornwall for many generations and some descendants are still in the area. "William Beryman's will, and that of his son Nicholas, show that the family at that time were farmers, but many Cornish wills were destroyed in bombing raids during the last war, so the occupations of later generations remain largely unknown. It is likely that many were farmers or fishermen. However, with more than 20 tin and copper mines within the parish of Towednack alone, many, such as James Berriman (b.1759), would have been 'tinners'".

Generation 2.

Andrew² BERRIMAN (Job¹) b.1825 Phillack, Cornwall d.1904 Moruya NSW. Married Martha Ann Encel KELSEY 1861 Sydney.

Their children were -
William b.1862 Sydney d.1937 Moruya
Emma Jane b.1864 Broulee d.1892 Mogo
Charles Henry³ b.1866 Broulee d.1937 Randwick
Jane Berriman
NOTES for Andrew BERRIMAN:
Arrived 1855 Sydney on the Gloriana as an assisted migrant along with his brothers John and Joseph, sister Elizabeth and her husband Alexander Stevens. They originally went to the goldfields at Ballarat, Victoria. Andrew returned to Sydney, took rooms in Kent Street and married Martha Ann Encel Kelsey. They travelled by ship to Broulee and settled in Mogo, a town that was born during the heady gold rush days of 1851. Andrew and his brother John were clay miners and built the main tunnel at the Moruya silver mine.
NOTES for Martha Ann Encel KELSEY:
Martha was born 1828 in Greenwich, England, and died 1910 in Mogo. Her parents were William Kelsey and Emma Campbell. She became known as the midwife of Mogo, she helped many miners’ families.
 

Generation 3.

Charles Henry³ BERRIMAN (Andrew², Job¹) b.1866 d.1937 Moruya. He married Sarah Anne GOODIN 1887 in Glenduart.

Their children were -
Thomas Henry b.1888 Moruya d.1956 East Bankstown. Married Emily BLUNDELL in 1923 Araluen
James Andrew b.1889 d.1965. Married Esther RAVAILLION 1930
Charles Hamilton b.1891 d.1951 Concord. Married Thelma Eva WORELL 1933 Tamworth
William Arthur b.1892 d.1961. Married Grace FLICK 1920
Alfred Joseph⁴ b.1893 Moruya d.?. Married Phyllis Elsie RAVAILLION 1917 Bodalla
Emma Elizabeth b.1895 d.?. Married Richard GREEN 1938
Edith Henrietta b.1897 d.?. Married Alfred JENKINS
Carmelo b.1898 d.1966. Married Elsa TIEDEMAN 1928
Martha Fredericka b.1900 d.?. Married John COUCH 1924
Muriel Charlotte b.1903 d.1985. Married Les SLY 1929
NOTES for Charles Henry BERRIMAN:
Charles, who was a timber worker, found gold in Mogo Creek, bought a bullock team and moved to Turlinjah where he opened a general store and a sawmill and built a cottage. He bought land on the Tuross Lakes and in 1908 built a home. Timber was taken by bullock team to Potato Point on the coast and shipped to Sydney. Charles died 01 June 1937 and brother William a fortnight later. Charles' sons Alfred⁴ and James bought Congo Farm at Bergalia. Alfred later sold his share to his brother James and, or so family lore has it, used the money in an unsuccessful bid to enter politics.
NOTES for Sarah GOODIN:
Sarah was born 1863 Bulli NSW and died 1932 Turlinjah. Her parents were George Henry Goodin (b.1828 Leicestershire, England) and Charlotte Holden (b.1840 Dungog NSW)

Generation 4.

Alfred Joseph⁴ BERRIMAN (Charles Henry³, Andrew², Job¹) b.1893 Moruya d.?. Married Phyllis Elsie RAVAILLION 1917 Bodalla.
Their children were -
James Henry b.1917 d.1990 Moruya
Enid Phyllis b.1919 d.2003 Melbourne
Joseph Albert⁵ b.2 May 1923 Moruya d. 7 Feb 2003 St Vincents Hospital Toowoomba
Leslie Raymond b.1925

Wilfred Edward b.1929
Reginald b.1931

Nella Margaret b.1937

Generation 5.

Joseph Albert⁵ BERRIMAN (Alfred Joseph⁴, Charles Henry³, Andrew², Job¹) b.1923 Moruya d.2003 Toowoomba. Married (1) Claire Phillippa CARTWRIGHT 1945 Sydney; (2) Eva Mary KEAY 1967 Clayfield, Brisbane.
Children of marriage (1) were -
Rodney Philip b. 8 Oct 1949. Electrical engineer. Married Patricia MOYLEN. Ch. Lottie.
Judith Rosalind b. 26 Apr 1952. Occupational therapist. Married Charles Nicholas WILLEY. Ch. Ben, Matthew, Michael.
Andrew John b. 13 Jan 1956.

Descendants of Georg RAVAILLION

(A commonly seen alternate spelling for Ravaillion is Ravallion, also occasionally Ravillon, Ravillion or Ravaillon. However, the spelling is clearly shown as "Ravaillion" on Johann (John) Ravaillion's death certificate and he was the original immigrant ancestor in Australia. Phillip, a son from John's first marriage, witnessed the death certificate and again his name is clearly spelled "Ravaillion".)

Generation 1

Georg¹ RAVAILLION married Anna Maria in Frauenstein, Nassau, Germany.

Their children included –

Konrad² b.1799 Frauenstein.

NOTES for Georg RAVAILLION:

Georg RAVAILLION married and had his children in Germany. However, RAVAILLION is a French name and descendants in Australia believe the family originally came from Alsace in France. There is evidence that Georg Ravaillion was a French soldier under General Custine who took Mainz and Frankfurt in 1792 in the French Revolutionary Wars. Custine lost Mainz to the Prussians the following year and was guillotined for it. It is known that many of the captured French soldiers stayed in the Frauenstein/Mainz region and married local girls.

Generation 2

Konrad² RAVAILLION (Georg¹) b.1799 Frauenstein, Nassau, Germany. Married 1825 Katherina FELD b.1797 Frauenstein, parents Joseph FELD and Katherina. Konrad was a gamekeeper.

Their children were –

Katherina b.1820 Frauenstein. Married 1839 Philip HEID b.1816, parents Johannes HEID and Elisabeth SCHNEIDER. They had a child Anna Maria b.1840 Frauenstein.

Johann³ b.1822 Frauenstein

Anna Maria b.1827 Frauenstein. Married Jacob SCHNEIDER and immigrated to Australia 1855 aboard the Catteaux Wattel.

Generation 3

Johann³ RAVAILLION (Georg¹, Konrad²) b.1822 Frauenstein, Nassau, Germany; d.1871 Narellan, Australia.

Married (1) Anna Maria RUBENACH (b.1830 Ransel) 1847 Frauenstein. Children of this marriage were Philip, Anna Maria, Catherine.

Married (2) Elizabeth BOYD (b.1836 Picton; d.1911 Camden) in 1859 Campelltown NSW.

Their children were –

William b.1860 d.1938 Queanbeyan
Henry⁴ b.1861 Camden; d.1953
Mary Ann b.1863
Edward b.1866 Camden
John b.1868 Camden
Elizabeth b.1870 Camden; d.1872 Camden

NOTES for Johann (John) RAVAILLION:

John's death certificate states he was 49 years and 9 months when he died 10 June 1871 and that he is buried in a Roman Catholic cemetery near Camden. The DC states he was a laborer, other sources say he was a road/construction worker in his native Germany and his immigration to Australia aboard the Caesar was sponsored by the Cowpers who, like the Macarthurs, had extensive properties in the Camden area, including Wivenhoe. There was an outbreak of cholera on board ship during the voyage out and Johann lost his wife Anna Marie and youngest son Peter to the disease. Anna Marie was just 24 years of age, her oldest son Phillip was eight and their two daughters six and four. If the dates and ages have been correctly recorded, it means Phillip was born when his mother was just 16. She and Johann were married a year later in 1847.

John was working for the Macarthurs in 1855 and would have met his second wife Elizabeth Boyd there. He was naturalised in 1862. After this date, he and his cousins Jacob Schneider and Ludwig Feld were road contractors working on the roads between Camden and Narellan. It may be that John and Elizabeth owned or leased a small farm (40 acres) at Narellan.  John's health started to deteriorate in 1864, some years before he died at the still fairly young age of not quite 50.

NOTES for Elizabeth (Betsy) BOYD:

Had an illegitimate child Emily (father John Pardrick) and was married twice. Had 6 children to Johann (John) RAVAILLION and another 3 to James WATSON, whom she married in 1874 - Alfred WATSON 31 July 1874, George WATSON 23 Sept 1875, Sarah Jane WATSON 9 Nov 1877. She also reared 3 step children and three of her grandchildren due to death/illness of their mothers. In all she reared 16 children.

Elizabeth's parents were Richard BOYD (b.1800 Glasgow; d.1859) and Sarah HIGGINS (1800-1870). Richard’s parents were William BOYD b.1778 and Mary b.1780. In Camden by Alan Atkinson, Richard Boyd is described as a likeable ex-convict groom who was in service to the Macarthurs at Camden Park, as at various times were many of his children and other relations. His wife Sarah and at least two of his daughters [including Elizabeth] were servants at the big house. Several of his sons became grooms or horse breakers at Camden Park and other Macarthur properties.

Generation 4
Henry⁴ RAVAILLION (Georg¹, Konrad², Johann³) b.1861 Camden; d.1953. Married 1892 Dora Sophia PETERS b.1866 Braidwood d.1927 Waverley.

Their children were -
William Charles (Bill) b.1892 Redfern, died of war wounds as a POW in France 20 April 1918. He is honoured amongst the fallen on the Australian War Memorial in Canberra.
Raymond Adolph b.1894 Moruya
Phyllis Elsie⁵ b.1896 Moruya; d.1967
Doris Edith b.1898 Moruya
Esther Amy b.1901 Moruya d.1937
Evelyn Mary b.1903 Moruya
Grace Elizabeth b.1908 Moruya

NOTES for Henry RAVAILLION (from From Tartan to Wattle)

After John died, his wife Elizabeth was not able to maintain her children on her own. The eldest boys Henry and William were fostered out by the Catholic Church. Henry was placed with a Paddy Martin, a rough Irishman, on the Oaks farm near Wollondilly. It was not an easy life and it is believed Henry ran away once he was old enough to find work.

NOTES for Dora Sophia PETERS:

Her parents were Adolph J PETERS (b.1831 Rostock, Mecklenburg-West Pomerania, Germany; d.1904 Bodalla NSW) and Mary Phillipina ROOM (b.1845 Sydney; d.1885 Moruya). Her parents were John ROOM (or ROHM) and Mary MURRAY.

Adolph PETERS and Mary/Phillipina ROOM married 1864 Braidwood. Their children were Adolph J, Dora Sophia, Peter, Mary Phillipina, Eveline and Emily Adeline all born Braidwood; Elinea Ellen, Florence Matilda and Philip Edward all born Broulee; Caroline Amelia and Elsie M born Moruya.

William Charles Ravaillion 1892-1918.

Lest we Forget.

First arrivals

Parents of Joseph Albert (Joe) BERRIMAN
Alfred Joseph BERRIMAN b.1893 Moruya, NSW
Phyllis Elsie RAVAILLION b.1896 Moruya, NSW

Grandparents
Charles Henry BERRIMAN b.1866 Brulee, NSW. He married -
Sarah GOODIN b.1863 Bulli, NSW
Henry RAVAILLION b.1861 Camden, NSW. He married -
Dora Sophia PETERS b.1866 Braidwood, NSW.

Great grandparents
Andrew BERRIMAN b.1825 Phillack, Cornwall. Arrived in Australia 1855 on the “Gloriana”. He married -
Martha Ann Encel KELSEY b.1828 Greenwich, England
George Henry GOODIN b.1828 Leicestershire, England. He married -
Charlotte HOLDEN b.1840 Dungog, NSW
Johann (John) RAVAILLION b.1822 Frauenstein, Germany. He married -
Elizabeth BOYD b.1836 Camden, NSW
Adolph J PETERS b. about 1831 Rostock, Germany. He married -
Phillipina ROOM b.1845 Sydney, NSW.
SUMMARY
Of Joe’s eight great grandparents, three were born in England, two were born in Germany, the remaining three were born in NSW. These three were Charlotte Holden, Elizabeth Boyd and Phillipina Room.
Charlotte Holden’s parents were James Holden and Martha Akhurst, married 1826 in Hellingly, East Sussex, England.
Elizabeth Boyd’s parents were Richard Boyd and Sarah Higgins, married 1824 in Campbelltown, NSW.
Phillipina Room’s parents were John Room and Mary Murray, married ?.
James HOLDEN b.1804 Hellingly, East Sussex, England; d.1892 Glenduart, Moruya, NSW. He married Martha AKHURST b.1804 Hellingly, East Sussex, England; d.1854 Bulli, NSW.
Richard BOYD b.1800 Glasgow, Scotland. Arrived in Australia as a convict in 1817 aboard “Lord Eldon”. He married Sarah HIGGINS b.1801 Camden.
John ROOM b. ? He married Mary MURRAY b. ?
NOTES
Robert HIGGINS, the father of Sarah Higgins, was a corporal in the NSW Corps and came to Australia aboard "The Queen” in 1791. "The Queen" was the only ship of the The Third Fleet that sailed from Ireland. Army records from the time of the Rum Rebellion in 1808 state that Robert was born in the Parish of Alton in Wiltshire, England in 1762. From about 1792, Robert lived with a convict woman Lydia FARRELL (nee BLAIR?) with whom he had four children before finally marrying her in Sydney in 1810. Lydia was born about 1757 in Staffordshire, England and may have had a child of a first marriage which died. Lydia had been imprisoned for stealing muslin and sentenced to death but was later reprieved and transported as a convict to the Colony of New South Wales. 
SUMMARY
At the great great great grandparent level (32 ancestors in total) Joe had 20 ancestors from the British Isles, 8 from Germany and four unknown at this stage - the parents of John Room and Mary Murray. The English Room (Roome, Roomes) can be proven by DNA testing to be of Norse/Viking origin, perhaps derived from Roehm. Other variations like Rohm may indicate a German origin.

Additional notes

Some information on this page came from From Tartan to Wattle: the descendants of Richard and Sarah Boyd by Val Garner and Jeanette Robertson.

For additional information and updates on the RAVAILLION family, please visit Amanda Taylor's website

A special thanks to Mary GRAHAM of San Francisco for additional information on Job and Jane (Uren) BERRIMAN and their daughters Eliza and Jane who stayed behind in Cornwall and married LETCHER brothers.

BACK