Albert Clarke Smith 1867 to 1930

Albert Clarke Smith was born on 31 May 1867 in Walpole, Suffolk, England.  His birth certificate had no father listed and his mother was shown as Sarah Smith.  It indicated that Albert was illegitimate.  His mother, Sarah Smith married Albert Clarke on 15 July 1867 in Walpole, Suffolk about six weeks after her son, Albert was born. Because of the name she gave to her son, it seems likely that Sarah was naming the father of him so that the village she lived in would have been aware of who should take responsibility.  Perhaps she was shaming Albert Clarke into marrying her.  This is still to be resolved with the use of DNA.

Albert Smith birth certificate 31 May 1867 at Walpole, Suffolk

England census records for 1871 confirm Albert Clarke jnr was living with his parents and one sibling, George in Halesworth, Suffolk where his father was a wheelwright.  By the time the 1881 census was recorded, Albert and Sarah Clarke were living in Westhall, Suffolk and Albert snr. was a carpenter. In both census records Albert jnr was shown as Albert Clarke.  Perhaps work as a wheelwright was becoming scarce and carpentry more profitable.  Albert jnr. was 10 years old and his siblings were shown as George, Frederic, Sarah, Rosa and Agnes.  By 1891 the census records were showing three more siblings, Thomas, William and Ethel however Albert jnr had already moved to Australia.  I expect that when Albert jnr. made the decision to immigrate to Australia, he would have been aware that the family could no longer support and feed him.  As Albert jnr. worked as an agricultural labourer in Suffolk, England perhaps he was drawn to Australia where he thought he could do better for himself than staying where he was born.  He possibly gained farming work at Limestone Creek, Dalma about 40 kilometers west of Rockhampton which is where he might have met Eda Voelkel whose family had a small farm.  In future years Albert went on to purchase land at Limestone Creek, Dalma which was adjoining Eda's parents holding and where he ran dairy cattle.

Photo 1 to be inserted

Albert Clarke wheelwright age 27, Sarah Clarke age 23, Albert Clarke age 3, George Clarke 11 mths

1871 at Halesworth, Suffolk

Photo 2 to be inserted

Albert Clarke 38 carpenter, Sarah 33 , Albert 13, George, Frederic, Sarah, Rosa, Agnes

1881 at Westhall, Suffolk

Albert's next stage of life

Albert Clarke Smith arrived as a free passenger on the RMS Quetta in Brisbane on 5 February 1890 having left London on 12 December 1889.  He was listed as 21 years old and shown as a farm labourer.  At the time, Queensland would have been encouraging immigrants from England who had knowledge of working the land in order to open up pastoral land in the state.

RMS Quetta

Little did he know how lucky he was when he arrived on Australian soil, because on 28 February 1890, RMS Quetta, on its return journey to London and destined for Thursday Island, the ship turned into the Adolphus Channel to round Cape York but at 9.15pm it struck an uncharted rock in middle of the channel near Albany Island and sank within five minutes taking with it 292 persons on board of which 134 died. The rock had ripped open a hole through the plates from the bow to the engine room amidships, 4 to 12 feet wide.  Captain A Sanders was well and truly experienced at his job and was one of the lucky ones to have survived the sinking.  It is one of Queensland's worst maritime disasters.  This was a Royal Mail Ship which was launched in 1881.  Over five and a half years, it completed eleven round trips between London and Brisbane with the twelfth being her final.

Albert Clarke Smith married Eda Martha Voelkel in Rockhampton, Queensland on 26 November 1894 in the St Andrews Manse a Presbyterian church.  Witnesses to the marriage were Hermann Voelkel and Alvene E Voelkel.  Upon his marriage, Albert stated that he was 24 but he was actually 27 and he was a farmer.  Eda was 19 which was correct.  Interestingly, on the marriage certificate, Albert listed his parents as Charles Smith, carpenter and Sarah Clarke, both believed to be incorrect, although Albert Clarke was a carpenter.  It seems that Albert covered up the fact that he was illegitimate by giving his parent's names incorrectly.  The ancestral line of Sarah Smith whose parents were William Smith 1818 - 1892 and Sarah Hall 1817-1897 has been confirmed with the use of DNA, however the same is yet to be confirmed of Albert Clarke using DNA.

Marriage certificate for Albert Clarke Smith and Eda Martha Voelkel
26 November 1894 at Rockhampton, Queensland

Ida Voelkel had immigrated with her parents, Reinhold age 42 and Christina Voelkel age 41 along with her siblings, Hermann and Alwin on the Fritz Reuter which departed Hamburg 15 June 1877 and arrived Rockhampton on 4 October 1877 after 109 days.   When Ida arrived she was only 2 years old.  Hermann was 11 and Alwin was 3 years old.  Ida Martha Voelkel was born in 1875 in Langenbielau, Silesia, Germany.  Little is know about the family except that Reinhold Voelkel had been in the Prussian army.  He had bought his sword with him from Germany and that had been, in more recent times, in the possession of a great grandson.  After World War 2, borders changed in Germany and Silesia became part of Poland and the town was renamed to Bielawa.

Children born to Albert and Ida Smith (nee Voelkel) were Charlotte Elvina 1895, Agnes Martha 1897, Albert 1899, Roseanna 1901, George 1904, Joseph 1906 and Frederick William 1908.  My grandmother was Agnes Martha Smith.  It seems that Albert had been quite fond of his own siblings naming some of his own children after them.

Albert would not have been expecting the early death of his mother, Sarah Clarke (nee Smith) but on 29 January 1897 at age 48 she died suddenly.  Sarah Clarke (nee Smith) died seven years after his departure from England and Sarah Clarke died 4 months almost to the day before her own mother, Sarah Smith (nee Hall) as per gravestone below.  I have not found a headstone for Sarah Clarke.  An inquest was held into Sarah Clarke's death which read:

AND meanwhile, back in England - how long did it take for Albert to find out about his mother and grandmother's deaths?

"WESTHALL - Sudden Death - An inquest was held by Mr. Coroner Vulliamy, at the Racehorse Inn, on Monday, as to the death of Mrs Clarke, wife of Alfred Clarke, journeyman carpenter.  Mrs Clarke, who was 48 years of age, went to bed on Friday evening in her usual health.  At eleven her husband woke, hearing a rattling noise in his wife's throat, and on striking a light found she was dead.  She had suffered for years from shortness of breath and pain in the left side, and was subject to fainting fits, but had not had medical attendance.  Mr P de Nyssen, Halesworth, attributed death to heart disease, and the Jury returned a verdict to that effect."  Suffolk Chronicle 6 February 1897 Page 8 Inquest

Sarah Smith (nee Hall), who was the grandmother of Albert Clarke Smith, died 29 May 1897.  She is buried in the graveyard of St Mary's Church in Walpole, Suffolk.

Quote on Sarah Smith's (nee Hall) gravestone

"There is a link death cannot sever, love and remembrance live forever"

A very touching quote indeed.

William Smith, husband of Sarah Hall died on 13 March 1892 of heart disease at the Union House at Bulcamp, Suffolk at the age of 74.

Back in Australia

At some stage between around 1915 - 1916, Albert and Eda Voelkel went their separate ways.  A family story was told that Eda's last child, Frederick William b 1908 was not the son of Albert Clarke Smith.  It is not known if this was correct however looking at the family photo, he certainly did not look like the other family members (Willy shown is the youngest child sitting in the front).  Unfortunately for Frederick aka Willy, he apparently drowned somewhere in Queensland either in his teens or early twenties.  I have not been able to find his death certificate. Perhaps the doubt over his parentage contributed to the family breakdown. Up until 1911 Albert was still buying land according to the newspapers of the day.  By 1916 Albert had decided to sell the whole of his freehold property and in 1917 Eda was going to court to obtain support for her youngest child.  The family had fractured.

Trove: Morning Bulletin, Rockhampton Monday 18 Sept, 1916 Page 11 Advertising

Trove: Morning Bulletin, Rockhampton, Sat 8 Sept, 1917 Page 4 Police Court

Albert & Eda Smith and family - from back to front and left to right

Agnes Martha Smith (my grandmother), Charlotte Elvina Smith, Roseanna Smith, Albert Smith (on chair on left), Albert Clarke Smith, Eda Martha Voelkel, George Smith (on chair on right), Joseph Smith (center left front sitting) and Frederick William Smith aka Willy (center right front sitting)

As Albert had arrived in Rockhampton having travelled as a free passenger coming with nothing, he had obviously strived to do well for himself and his family, buying land and building a dairy farm.  Towards the end of his life, his marriage and family fractured and his farming interest all sold, he was found on the Commonwealth Electoral roll in 1922 working as a station hand at Croydon Station at St. Lawrence.

Albert Clarke Smith died on 30 August 1930 of cardiac failure, intestate having been living at Lotus Creek Station via Clermont and known as a scalper.

Albert Clarke Smith died 1930 age 64

Albert was buried at Mackay cemetery on 31 August 1930 having led a life that went full circle with perhaps a disappointing end.

Eda Smith (nee Voelkel) died on 24 October 1941 and is buried at Rockhampton.

This Smith line has been confirmed by DNA.

Never give up on a Smith surname if you have it in your tree.  Finding this information has been very rewarding.