Scard Family 
William James Scard
[1859-1940]
of N.S.W. Australia
Family Photos - Click on Images to enlarge
William James Scard Spouse1: Emma Hurst Spouse 2: Ivy Sophia Ehlers
[1859-1940] [1863-1910] [1891-1976]
Issue [17] Issue: 13 Issue: 4
Lineage
Grt.Grt.Grt. Grandfather: Thomas Scard [c.1709 - 1770] of Iwerne Minster, North Dorset - Died Testate.
Grt.Grt. Grandfather: James Scard [c.1735-1796] of Iwerne Cortney, North Dorset - Died Testate.
Grt. Grandfather: John Scard [1753-1825] of Fiddleford, North Dorset.
Grandfather: James Scard [1800-1879] of Henstridge, Somerset.
Father: James Scard [1830-1873] of Sydney, Australia, formerly of Henstridge, Somerset.
“With Special Tribute to his son Harold Scard [1902-2004]”
Harold was the twelfth child of William James Scard, born to his first wife Emma nee Hurst.
In 1962 while visiting his daughter Helen and her family who lived in Malaya, Helen encouraged
him to write the story, his parents and his childhood and in general his life.
He completed the task on the 10th June 1987 with amazing detail.
In 2004 Harold was still sprightly at the age of 102, when he had a slight fall while raking the
leaves in the garden, scraping his knee. Although only a minor abrasion, he was sent to hospital for
observation as a precaution against possible shock and bed rest was suggested within hospital.
Deprived of his much loved exercise, walks and independence, he weakened while in hospital
and rapidly deteriorated. Harold passed away in his sleep 6 weeks to the day of his fall.
Much of the information below, expounding his childhood has been extracted from his memoirs.
BIOGRAPHY
Continued from the Biography of his father James Scard
1859-1871: Recap;
William James Scard was born 5th October 1859, baptised 25th December 1859 at Grafton NSW the eldest son
of James Scard and his wife Mary [nee Candy] both of whom had immigrated from England two years prior,
marrying soon after arrival. William had four full blood siblings, Harriet who died in infancy a year before his
birth, later a brother Alfred Henry and a sister Geraldine Theresa.
The family was deserted by their father when he was nine years old, with his siblings six and four, his mother
struggled to survive. William entered into an Indenture on a nearby farm where he was ill treated.
1872 - 1880: A new life;
Four years later, around 1872 his mother Mary formed a relationship with Henry Hillary the son of John &
Ellen Hillary, John a native of Manchester, Lancashire who had immigrated in 1841.
Mary could not yet remarry.
Moving from the small township of Grafton and settling at south at Bellingen NSW where a year later Mary gave
birth to William’s first half brother Stephen Hillary born in 1873.
By this time William was 13 years old, Alfred ten and Geraldine eight.
Three years later Mary gave birth to a daughter Berthenier Hillary on the 25th Oct. 1876, followed the next year
by Isaac Henry Hillary 10th Dec. 1877 and the youngest Ellen Elizabeth Hillary was born four years later
8th Feb. 1881.
During this time William had left his mistreatment at the Farm and was apprenticed to a carpenter. Under the
wing of his new master became a highly skilled tradesman.
1881-1882: Sister Geraldine leaves home;
In 1882 William's sister, Geraldine 'Theresa' now seventeen applied to Sydney Hospital to begin training as a nurse.
Accompanied by her mother and stepfather, arrangements were made for Theresa to board at Sydney Hospital and
begin her training.
Whilst in Sydney, Mary and Henry Hillary were married at William Street Sydney on the 1st March 1882 subsequently
returning to Kempsey.
1882 - 1883: William James Scard marries Emma Hurst;
During the first year since Geraldine had left for Sydney, William now twenty-three and his brother Alfred remained
living with their mother and stepfather Henry, at Kempsey.
It was during this time that William formed a relationship with Emma Hurst.
Emma Hurst was born 30th August 1863 at Newcastle, NSW the daughter Isaiah and Sophia.
Emma had five siblings baptised at the same venue. The Family had been settled in
the Kempsey area for about five years prior.
Emma was the granddaughter of the renown British Landscape Artist Joseph Mallord
William Turner.
Emma's mother, Sophia nee Booth was previously the 2nd mistress of the Famous Artist
before leaving England.
1883: Marrriage;
William Scard and Emma Hurst were married at West Kempsey on the 8th November 1883. Emma’s father Isaiah
and William’s brother Alfred witnessing the marriage.
1884: News of Geraldine Scard's Death;
The Christmas of 1883 passed and nine weeks later in March 1884, word arrived from the Sydney Hospital,
Geraldine had contracted Typhoid Fever and did not recover. During her two-year Term, she was endeared by all
the Staff. Administration informed the family that they would arrange the Headstone for her grave paid by the
Hospital Board. Geraldine Theresa Scard died on the 11th March 1884 and was buried at Rookwood Cemetery,
aged nineteen. The name on her Tombstone is 'Theresa' Scard.
The Inscription reads;
' Theresa Scard'
'From illness contracted during the
performance of her duties in the
Sydney Hospital.
Erected by the Board of Directors.'
1884: Child 1: Lillian Grace Scard; daughter of William and Emma:
Two months later Emma gave birth to a daughter Lillian Grace Scard on the 24th May 1884.
1884: Brother Alfred Scard Marries;
A few weeks later William’s brother Alfred married Amy Eveline Rudder the daughter of Julian John Rudder
and his wife Mary Ann nee Chilcot in 1884 at Kempsey Amy’s family had been resident at Kempsey for many years,
her father was the first to settle in the area and was renown as the founder of the township.
Further information:http://genealogy.wikia.com/wiki/Amy
1885: About 12 months later Emma and Amy were pregnant simultaneously.
Emma’s infant baptised unnamed only survived for a few weeks,
Annie’s baby, a daughter Ruby Leighton Scard died a few months later.
1886-1890: More babies are born;
Over the next five years four more children were born to William and Emma but none survived infancy.
Alfred and Amy had another daughter Sylvia Scard born in 1887 and a son Charles Gerald Scard was born in 1890.
Later moving to Manly in Sydney the couple separated around 1902. The marriage was never reconciled and
neither remarried.
1891: Child 6: Frederick Scard;
For a short while William and Emma moved about 5 miles north to Frederickton a tiny town on the Macleay River
where their sixth child Frederick Scard was born in 1891.
The Family move to Queensland;
It was around this time that William’s mother Mary and his stepfather Henry Hillary decided to move to the
NSW/Queensland border to the small town of Emu Vale near Warwick.
William and Emma with their new baby Frederick and daughter Lillian, now six followed.
William’s brother Alfred had remained at Kempsey with his wife Annie before later moving to Manly in Sydney.
1893: Henry Hillary dies and Mary moves to Yangan;
Two years after their arrival, William’s step-father Henry Hillary died and Mary moved to the township of Yangan
4 miles north of Emu Vale, where she conducted a small mixed business in order to maintain her young family.
William had purchased a farm at Emu Vale and was in constant contact with his siblings, Stephen Hillary now 20,
Berthenier Hillary 17, Isaac Hillary 16 and Ellen Hillary twelve.
Mary writes the epitaph for Henry's Tombstone;
In Loving Memory of Henry Hillary
born at Sydney 27th September 1845
died at Emu Vale 4th November 1893
Sleep on dear husband take your rest
For God has called when He thought best
The loss is great that we sustain
But we hope in Heaven to meet again.
1892-1904 The Farm at Emu Vale;
William and Emma remained at Emu Vale where William purchased a section of land from local resident Mrs. Page,
comprising a hundred acres at Emu Vale. It was here that William built his first house and farmed his own land,
growing wheat and maize.
Working the farm over the next twelve years, during this time, between 1892–1899 five more children were born,
only two, Retea Norine and William James survived;
Child 7: Ruby Emmeline Scard born on the 4th August 1893 at Emu Vale
Died aged three months in the November of 1893.
Child 8: Maud Emmeline Scard born on the 7th October 1894
Died just before her 1st birthday on the 5th October 1895.
Child 9: Retea Norine Scard born on the 10th July 1896.
Retea Survived.
Child 10: Annie Scard was born on the 8th October 1897.
Died soon after birth, her death registered on the same day.
Child 11: William James Scard born on the 27th April 1899.
William survived.
1899: William's mother Mary Scard remarries:
Later that year William’s mother Mary had remarried in 1899 at the age of sixty-one to widower John Williams.
Both Mary and her new husband continued working at Yangan and later moved to nearby Ingleburn where they
purchased a small mixed business in that village.
1899-1903: 'The Great Federation Drought';
It was this year that the ‘Big Drought’ spread throughout the whole East Coast of Australia. South West Queensland
was worst hit during the three years from 1899 – 1903. Cattle dropped from the ten thousands to mere hundreds, the
nearby Killarney’s Falls ceased to flow and the Condamine River went dry, the effect on the farmlands was devastating.
1902: Child 12: Harold Scard;
William struggled to keep the farm going as the drought worsened during which time another child, Harold Agustus Scard
was born on the 2nd April 1902, delivered by the local midwife who was their friend and neighbour Mrs. Page.
William takes on work as a Carpenter - William Scard builds the Emu Vale Hotel;
Meanwhile William continued to see his efforts of the last ten years slowly disappear under the merciless effects of
the drought. To make ends meet he began working as a carpenter on ‘light’house repairs and later employed as a
builder in the township constructing many homes in the area.
During this time he built the Emu Vale Hotel, a weatherboard construction.
By 1902 their eldest child Lillian was now eighteen, Frederick and Retea attended the Emu Vale Public School
while the youngest William [junior] was three years old and Harold an infant.
William's first Camera is Purchased;
William added to his skills an interest in photography. It was around this time that he invested in his first camera,
a Thornton-Pickett whole plate size [this camera was donated to the Power House Museum in Sydney by his son
Harold Scard in 1987]. His interest in photography expanded and he developed the photographs from his own glass
plates.
Another means of income, he conducted a shop taking portraits locally. [Two such plates still survive today]
Intermittently he began working in a Photographic Studio in Brisbane to learn more of the art.
His most treasured photographs were those of his children.
1903 William loses the Farm;
With the rural industry devastated, the very next year in 1903, the Bank of Queensland foreclosed and like many
farmers in the area William lost his 100-acre farm. This was the turning point in William's life.
He loaded all their belongings into their two horse wagonette and a migratory pattern followed that would take this
small vehicle, with his children walking beside back and forth, through dirt and gravel roads, over hills, through rivers
and down steep causeways up and down the NSW North Coast where his children went to endless schools.
This restless pattern spanned well over forty years and 5,000 kilometers over his lifetime.
William would never again put ‘all’ his savings in one bank and he would never again work a farm for more than
twelve months.
1905: Child 13 Vincent Scard: Casino, NSW;
Moving southward, by 1905 they rented a house at Casino in North West NSW and here their last of Emma's thirteen
children, Vincent Scard was born on the 16th April 1905. At this time Emma was forty-two and William forty-five.
All six of their surviving children were still living with them. Lillian, the eldest was twenty-two, was taught
music during her childhood at Emu Vale and was now a music teacher, Frederick was fourteen, Retea nine, William jnr.
six, Harold three and of course baby Vincent. The house at Casino was on a hilltop and their son Harold remembers
in his memoirs;
'My brother Frederick had an old push bike. One day he put my other brother
William aged about seven on it and let it run down the hill. Not far down the
bike collided with a wire fence, down went the bike with Bill between the handle
bars, I was panic-stricken as it looked as though the handle bars had gone right
through him.'
Photos below L-R: Frederick, Retea and William;
William's Invention;
Whilst farming at Casino, William invented a device, which dropped a required amount of grain at intervals into the
furrow and then covered it. He contacted a manufacturer in an effort to sell his idea and was offered five pounds.
Finding the offer totally unsatisfactory, when he left the property some time later, he burnt the device but only the
wooden part was destroyed. Later his idea was developed and marketed by the same manufacturer.
1906: Move to Coffs Harbour, NSW;
In 1906 William packed his family in the cart with a few pots and pans, bedding and a tent and he and Emma journeyed
on the main coastal dirt road southward to Coffs Harbour where he purchased a small residential block of land close
to the Jetty. Harold writes;
'At the back of the house dad had built his studio, the roof partially of glass
to let in the light for his photographic work.'
No longer having a farm to tend, William earnt his living by working as a Carpenter in the township whilst he also ran
a photographic shop from the house.
William builds the Presbyterian Church at Coffs Harbour;
William was commissioned in 1906 by the Presbyterian Church to build a Church on the vacant block of land next door.
A 20-pound contract was agreed and with his team, the construction was erected of weatherboard.
Harold talks of the time they spent at Coffs Harbour when he was about four or five years old;
'We lived about a quarter of a mile from the North Road [now the Pacific Highway]
on the road leading to the jetty town.
Where our house once stood is now built the Manse of the adjacent building the
Presbyterian Church. The Original Church was of weatherboard and was built by my
father and his team in 1906-7.'
Photo dated 1907. The Old Presbyterian Church ,
Coffs Harbour, taken just before completion. The trees cut down to
clear the land are still visible in the front yard. The Church held
there its first Service on the 17th November 1907. William lived
next door where he also ran his Photographic Shop.
Taken from a clipping from 'The Advocate' Newspaper, Coffs Harbour
dated 8th October 1957 when the Church was demolished.
The Historic Article mentions William Scard.
Harold continues;
'At that time there was a very unliked constable in the town, his name was
‘Harper’ he one day retrieved his bicycle from the beach, someone had
thrown it into the sea from the jetty.'
'A short way from the back of our house was a small creek that led to the sea,
father had a flat bottomed boat and on occasions took us on picnics to the
sea, on one trip the water was so clear I thought it to be shallow so decided
to wade ashore, but I was mistaken, father jumped in and hauled me back
into the boat.'
1907: Daughter Lillie Scard was the first to marry;
During this time Lillian now twenty-three married a young German by the name of Bernard Goldman
at Coffs Harbour on the 9th November 1907. Bernard had a General Store in the small township
[on the site where Woolworth’s now stands].
1907: The Return to Emu Vale;
Soon after Lillie’s wedding with the Church now completed, William sold the house next to the church to
Angus McLeod and they again packed up the wagonette and moved northward to Emu Vale Queensland, leaving
Lillie behind to begin life with her new husband.
The long, arduous trek along the old north road took just under a month, camping each night at any
clearing they could find along the way and where water was available for the two horses.
When they reached Brisbane the two younger boys contracted measles and were admitted to the Brisbane Hospital.
After Harold and William recovered and were discharged, the family continued the journey along the westward road
[now Cunningham Highway] and over Cunningham’s Gap. Harold writes;
' ‘The Gap’ was just a gravel road with big stones and very steep. Going uphill
was a matter of all out and push to help the horses, my mother did her share.
Going downhill we walked for safety, the wheels skidded on the rocks and the
horses were unable to hold back the vehicle. They were unhitched and large
branches of trees were cut and roped on so the wagon could be dragged to the
bottom of the hill. We finally reached Warwick, and a few miles out of that
town was the small village of Emu Vale where I was born.'
Arriving just before Christmas whilst there, the family stayed with William’s youngest half sister Nellie
[Ellen-nee Hillary] who had since married Matthew Pettigrew, a Lucerne Farmer in the area.
William’s mother Mary was still living at Yangan working in her mixed business and the usual family visitations
were made.
Harold remembers his grandmother and her shop well. Christmas was spent with all the family, catching up on the
news and local gossip. Once the festivities were over, with prospects at the Vale unpromising, after a short time
William made up his mind to return south just a few weeks after the New Year.
1908: The Return Journey Southward;
In the early hours of the morning before the heat of the summer sun had dawned, the horses were again tacked,
Frederick now 17, Retea 11, William Jnr. 8 and Harold five helped with the loading and little Vincent now two years
old was placed in the front of the wagonette with his mother.
Calling in to see Lillie and her new husband on the way through, they traveled past Coffs Harbour about 30 miles to
the Bellinger River arriving around April 1908. With a yearning for the land re-ignited, William purchased a property
from Mr. Pollock, the local cordial maker about two miles from Fernmount, the farm with house just a short distance
from Repton. Harold writes:
'The front of the old weatherboard house was at ground level. The back was well elevated as
the hill it was built on was steep. At the back of the house was an orchard with Citrons,
limes, oranges and other trees and at the bottom of the hill there was a large swamp area with
many ti-trees, while lower down the hill was the swamp. Dad had built a small flat-bottomed
boat to go duck and ‘red billed’ shooting, the water being fairly deep. My mother did the
washing of clothes in galvanized tubs, the boiling was done in kerosene tins over an open fire,
the soap was home made using tallow and caustic soda.
There was also a large shed close to the road where the wagonette, harness etc. was kept, the
whole front was open and the Indians passing through on foot used to make this their stopover
for the night. I often talked to them [Harold was then 5 years old] and was given a piece of
the ‘johnny cake’ [a thick hard pancake] they cooked over a small fire. At the front of the house
mother had a small shop, the grocery items came by ship from Sydney and were unloaded on to the
Droger [a small shallow draught ship which could get close to the river bank] at Repton.
On these occasions we children would help our mother carry the goods across the paddocks and
up the hill to our house. The road was not graveled and in wet weather was churned up clay by
the horse’s feet. One day a Circus was going through, the horses could not grip the road, so the
circus hands put bags around the trunks of the elephants and they pushed from the back of the wagons.'
Young Frederick now helping his father on the land, Retea and Bill went school at Raleigh Primary a few weeks after
arrival on the 11th May 1908. Harold started there the next year on the 29th January 1909.
Harold writes about the fun they had when walking to the school;
'The Raleigh school was about two miles from our house it was a matter of walking along a cart
track through the bush and in the deep dust, of course we were barefooted but this was no worry
to us. We took no notice of the snake and lizard tracks over the road.
We were fortunate in having our neighbours the ‘Craig’ boys and girls with us, they were much
older, and it was fun to see them chase goannas and belt the whip snakes that were in the small bushes.
At that time 1909, the Bellinger River was crossed by a small hand operated vehicular punt, this was
close to where the present Railway Bridge now stands at Repton.'
1909: The Family moves 50kms North to Woolgoolga;
Lillie’s husband Bernie sold the shop in Coffs Harbour and bought another mixed business at Woolgoolga 27 kms north.
In the early part of 1909 Retea went to stay with her sister and attended Woolgoolga School, by October she had returned
to her parents and the Raleigh School. A few months later the William sold the farm at Repton and moved to Woolgoolga.
Harold writes;
'We shifted to Woolgoolga where we children went to school. This village was small
with just a few shops, quite a lot of the men folk were employed in the timber industry.
The British Australia Timber Company had a narrow gauge railway line which ran into
the mountains bringing back logs onto the jetty where they were loaded onto the cargo
boats destined for Sydney.'
1910: Halley's Comet heralds a move to South Grafton;
Harold writes simply; 'It was here that trouble began.'
Early in 1910, as Halley’s Comet was seen clearly dragging its long tail through the heavens, the horses were hitched
to the wagonette and William moved his family north to his birth place at South Grafton. The children attended the
South Grafton School.
Later in the year they moved to North Grafton in Queens Street almost opposite the Goal. The children then attended
the Bacon Street School. Harold writes;
'Like other houses we relied on tank water and in the dry season the well water was used.
With the lack of sanitary conditions, deep holes were used to dispose of human waste, in
the wet season this contamination would rise to the surface and the water from the well
would become infected.
Frederick was the first to be hospitalized with Typhoid Fever, on discharge Retea followed.
She recovered but Harold was next followed within a short while by Vincent. When both
boys recovered the family moved downstream to Lawrence where they set up camp across
the road from the Presbyterian Cemetery. It was here that Bill contracted the same disease
and was admitted to Maclean Hospital.'
Emma Dies;
By now it was late in the year and while Bill was still in hospital, on the 22nd October Emma was admitted also
strickened with the disease. Of all the family she was the only one not to recover.
The same disease that took William’s nineteen-year old sister Geraldine Theresa’s life twenty-six years before
was also to take the life of his wife Emma.
The children recovered but Emma died three weeks after admission at Macleay Hospital on 12th November 1910
at the age of 47yrs. She was buried at the Presbyterian Cemetery at Maclean.
She was survived by her husband William of twenty-six years marriage and her six surviving children, Fred 18,
Retea 14, Bill 11, Harold 8 and Vincent 5 years old.
Harold's entries recalling his feelings at mother's death are withheld, he later continues;
'And so we went on from Maclean making our way north to the now Warrego Highway and
eventually reached Gatton. On this occasion we camped near the railway bridge spanning
a small stream and after the heavy day's work the horses were hot. My brother took them
into the cool water and during the night one of them died, so father sold the remaining
one and had the wagonette loaded on to a railway truck, the canopy being too high,
the wheels had to be taken off.
We went on by train to Warwick and then on to Inglewood [Inglewood is very close to Emu
Vale in Queensland]. This village is in the center of a wheat producing area and shop owners
rely on the farmers for their livelihood, this was also the position with my Grandmother,
Mary Williams.'
It was at Inglewood that William’s half sister Berthenier had married and her husband Jim Rigby managed a
small timber mill and also grew wheat on his property, William worked there for a while.
While there the children attended school at Inglewood. The circus came during the year and the children were
fascinated. It was not long before William again moved the wagonette south.
Moving to Murwillumbah where William’s eldest daughter Lillian and her husband Bernard Goldman by now
had a barber shop in the front of their large residence, having sold their shop at Woolgoolga some time before.
William and the children stayed here for a while in Lillie’s large house. where the children attended the small
school at Murwillumbah. It would be soon after this that their father would buy a farm a few miles south at
Tygalgah on the Queensland/NSW border on the Tweed River. This event would be followed by the arrival of
their new stepmother. A new era was about to dawn.
1911-1912: Tygalgah:
The property was two miles down the Tweed River from where they were staying with Lillie, at Tygalgah just north of
Murwillumbah where William bought a small 50 acre farm alongside the Tweed River.
Although the house on the property was old and built on high blocks, there was also a large floored barn, which was
sometimes hired out for dancing and the land was fenced off for grazing and crops. William grew corn and at harvest
time all were involved. It was hard work, Harold remembers when he was nine years old;
'I stood on the wagon to reach the corn and break them off the stalk, at night
all hands were in the barn husking and when this was done we turned on the
threshing machine. On occasions we worked until the early hours so as to catch
the coastal boat for Brisbane. The husks were not wasted, we cut the inner soft
leaves to fill the bed mattresses, they were very warm but made a lot of noise
when one turned over in bed. The cores were used for fuel for the stove.'
As well as the husking, when the potato crops were harvested the children would follow the plough, pick up the
potatoes and throw them into a box on the cart. The cows had to be milked in the morning before they went to school
across the river in a small flat-bottomed boat. Somehow William managed to also buy to property across the road
with a riverbank frontage. On the river bank there was a slaughterhouse nearby and sugar cane fields where the
cane would be burnt at harvesting and the snakes were prevalent then."
The old house on the first property was pulled down and rebuilt on the new property about 25 yards from the river
bank and the family lived in the barn in the interim. The children would watch the heavily cane laden steam driven
punts pass by the house. On the way home from school they would call into the general shop and collect the mail
after which Harold would stencil sugar bags and receiving as payment for his work, a small paper bag of raw sugar.
At school they were taught swimming in the river with a rod, rope and belt and they would jump from the bank,
although not wise in the dry season, when sharks would invade the river. Harold writes of this period;
'We were still very poor, our trousers were lined with washed out cotton flour bags
and the school lunch was of damper with butter and golden syrup, by lunch time
this was very hard so I used to exchange mine with another boy who had bread and
home made jam. As children we were never given pocket money.'
1913: The Courtship;
It had been three years since Emma had died, Frederick was now twenty-two, Retea was seventeen, William fourteen,
Harold was eleven and Vincent eight years old. The property on the Tweed River was prospering and leaving the
children in Lillie’s care, just before the house was finished William went to Brisbane for a short trip where he met
twenty-one year old Ivy Sophia Ehlers.
Within a few months of the property was now prepared for the arrival of his anticipated new bride.
Ivy Sophia Ehlers was born in Melbourne Victoria on the 2nd February 1891, the daughter of
Henry Ehlers a German migrant and his wife Susan nee Lucas.
Ivy's maternal lineage dates back to the Historic '1st Fleet' 1788 at Sydney Cove,
she was the great, great granddaughter of Marine Thomas Lucas [per Scarborough] and the
great great grandniece of Melbourne's eminent Founder, Politician and Statesman,
John Pascoe Fawkner. See Link to her parents.
During the early months of 1913 the now fifty-four year old William continued to take trips to Brisbane to see
twenty-two year old Ivy. She had recently come from her birthplace Melbourne to stay for a while at Melbourne
Street South Brisbane with one of her siblings who had married and moved north.
The courtship blossomed William Scard and Ivy Sophia Ehlers were married on the 31st March 1913 at the Anglican
Cathedral at Brisbane. William returned to Tygalah with his new bride.
A few months later William's mother Mary and her husband William traveled down to Tygalgah to meet
her new daughter-in-law.
William's mother Mary [nee Candy[, her 3rd husband John Williams
and Ivy in front of the Tygalgah house.
Other photos of Mary [nee Candy] and Ivy are held by the family.
Mary and John stayed for a very short time but had to return to their business in Yangan.
However the marriage did not flower as expected, Ivy was unhappy.
William’s children resented the marriage and it was difficult for the young bride. The age difference between William
and Ivy was clearly taking it’s toll in that William’s son Frederick was the same age as his new stepmother and
Retea especially, only six years younger did not get on with her new stepmother.
After a short while Ivy left William and fled back to her family in Queensland. William quickly pursued her and
encouraged her to return. When they returned to the farm Retea and Frederick left the house and moved to their
father’s previous stepfather’s family at the Hillary house at Murwillumbah. The younger children Harold, William
and Vincent remained at the farm.
1914: WWI - Child 14 Ronald ‘Ronnie’ Henry Scard;
Ivy fell pregnant in March, the year following their marriage. She was nearly five months pregnant when in distant
Europe “The Great War” (WW1) was declared on the 28th July 1914 and Australian forces were already joining their
allies in Britain. Ivy’s beloved brother Henry enlisted. Within a few short months he was assigned for overseas duty
serving in France and later at Gallipolli in Turkey, he was to return but was never again the same man.
Meanwhile at Tygalgah, just before Christmas on the 16th December 1914 William and Ivy had their first child, a son,
Ronald Henry Scard.
Soon after the both properties were sold and William, Ivy, and the three youngest children Harold, Vincent and baby
Henry together with a few possessions, loaded the wagonette, hitched up the two horses and were bound for Tweed Heads
a short distance from Brisbane. Harold recalls;
'This town was little more than a village and separated from the Queensland
boarder by a fence and gate. Coolangatta was much smaller. Along the bank
of Corrumbin Creek to the Railway Bridge where the crossing was made, we
were almost over the creek when the horses and wagonette were in quicksand
and started to sink. The horses were unhooked and taken to firm land, and a
railway gang working on the bridge saw our plight and with ropes and the horses
pulled the cart out.'
Reaching Brisbane, Ivy and William stayed for a while with William’s half brother Stephen Hillary who lived at
Bulimba. Stephen was married and working as a security officer at the local Meat Works. William then decided
to make his way to Sydney where his brother Alfred was now living. Harold writes;
'Father sold unnecessary goods and we left Brisbane by cargo ship for Sydney.'
On arrival in Sydney William and the family went to stay with his brother Alfred who’s marriage had not endured,
he and Amy had separated 12 years beforehand. Alfred was living with his lady friend at Chatswood.
This arrangement did not work out and William, Ivy and the children went to a house in 8 Francis Street, Wooloomooloo.
With WW1 on there was a shortage of work, William gained a contract in Queanbeyan near Canberra so Ivy and the
children had to cope on their own for a while. Harold writes;
'Vincent and myself went to William Street school, we were there for a while.
Dad had to work at Queanbeyan.'
After William’s contract expired he, Ivy and the children boarded a ship back north to Murwillumbah they traveled
via Byron Bay. Here William bought a house. Vincent attended the primary school there and Harold the High School.
Henry was just over two years old at the time. As always the children would always call their father 'papa', little
Ronald followed tradition.
L-R Harold Scard 13, Ronald Scard 2 [with his father 'papa's' pipe] & Vincent Scard 11yrs.
1915: The Family re-unites at Murwillumbah;
Lillian was still living at Murwillumbah during this time with her husband Bernard and by now had three children;
Cecil, Geoffery and Betty. Retea and Frederick were also living there and the family had been re-united once again
in the one township.
Of all William’s children Ivy seemed to get on better with Lillian who was nine years older than her.
Harold writes;
'Frederick had become friendly with a young girl in the township by the name of Retea Youngbutt.
They were married and shortly afterwards they were blessed with a little girl, Valerie.'
During this time William became restless and they moved from Murwillumbah north west to Lithgow where Ivy’s
half brother John Kay said there was plenty of work in the munitions factory in the town. When they arrived the
Factory was on ‘strike’ and as it persisted William decided that the family should make the journey back to Sydney.
1916: Back to Sydney:
There they stayed in a house at 15 Catherine Street Leichhardt and after a short while to Dargan Street Glebe.
Lillian and Bernard also moved to Sydney and were living in Wigram Road Glebe where Bernard had opened a scrap
metal yard in Bridge Road. Jobs were hard to get through the depression and he gave two of the three boys work.
William junior now twenty-two and Harold nineteen. Vincent, now sixteen found it difficult to find work.
After a short while William and Ivy with the three boys moved back to Lithgow. Bill remained in Lithgow finding work
at the Oakey Park Colliery in the coal industry, he remained there until his retirement forty years later.
By 1916 Harold had completed his High School training at the age of 14 years and had qualified for higher education.
His dreams of a career in Medicine were not financially realistic for the family so Harold left school and worked as a
tailor’s assistant for two shillings and six pence a week. Lilly had been teaching him music over the years and he had
become an accomplished and gifted musician.
1921 CHILD 15: JohnPascoe FawknerScard;
While at Sydney William purchased and sold three investment properties in the inner Western Suburbs it was here
in one of the houses at Glebe that Ivy gave birth to another son, JohnPascoe FawknerScard on the 22nd May 1821.
1923: The move to Penrith;
Two years later on the 16th June 1923, while reading the Sydney Morning Herald William noticed an Auction of
Crown Land was advertised.
Offered were 9 farms at Penrith along the Western Highway with frontages to the Nepean River. The Auction
was held at 3pm 25th June 1923 on the grounds and William was there.
He purchased a property of 20 acres with frontage to the Nepean River, the soil was rich and leaving Sydney he and
Ivy moved to Penrith where he built a house, grew grain crops and planted an Orchard. Vincent went with them
getting a transfer to the Railway Depot at Penrith and Harold returned home but found the arduous trip
to work each day on the train too tedious and cold in winter traveling in the old unheated corridor carriages, he only
stayed three months. Ronald Henry was now ten years old and had transferred to Penrith School, little John was
only two.
1924: CHILD 16 Sylvia Milbah Susan Scard;
It was at the Penrith Property that Ivy gave birth to a daughter Sylvia Milbah Susan Scard in the heat of summer on the
17th December 1924. She was the namesake of Ivy's mother Susan and beloved half sister Milbah.
Her father would call her “Girlie” and this pet name was adopted by all the family. She would be known by this name
for the rest of her short life.
1925: CHILD 17 BettyMaryTheresa Scard;
The last of William's children was born eighteen months later BettyMary Theresa at Penrith on the
20th May 1925. Ivy tells in later life that when Betty was born that she felt she needed rest after the birth. It was
harvest time and all hands were needed for binding hay, William ignored her pleas, it was during this time that Ivy,
when lifting one of the bales so soon after childbirth, suffered a prolapsed womb. At this time there was little that
could be done and her child bearing days were prematurely ended at the age of thirty-four.
The infant Betty would be William's last child.
Ivy Scard and her children
L-R: John Scard, Betty Scard, Ronald Scard [back],
Sylvia Scard [front] & Ivy Scard 35yrs. Dated 2/12/1926
1927-1931:
William sold the Penrith Estate and moved to Sydney where he purchased and resold many properties in the inner city
area of Glebe.
William's mother Mary Williams, formerly 'Hillary', prior 'Scard' nee Candy was admitted to the Newington State
Hospital for aged Women at Lidcombe in Sydney.
Mary died there on the October 1929 at the age of ninety-one. She is buried at Rookwood Cemetery in Sydney and
lays beside her daughter Geraldine Theresa Scard.
1932: William and Ivy's young daughter Sylvia contracted Bright's Disease [of the kidney] and died at the Royal Prince
Alfred Hospital on the 10th April 1932;
Harold writes;
"It was at Marrickville when my step-sister Sylvia became ill, and through ignorance of my father
was not attended to by a doctor, finally one was called in and the little girl was taken to hospital,
but it was too late".
A large Family Grave was purchased at Rookwood Cemetery, Homebush where Sylvia was interred on the
11th April 1932 age 9 years 4 months. The Tombstone is Large and Ornate headed with young Sylvia's pet name
"Girlie". A concrete vase lay at the foot of the grave inscribed "From your loving brother Ron."
1937-1939: William and Ivy then purchased a boarding house at Katoomba when it is believed Ivy's half brother
John Kay was also involved. By this time the aging William was nearly blind.
1940: William James Scard died on the 27th October 1940 at Katoomba of Miocarditis, Cardio Vascular Degeneration.
The informant was J.P.F. Kay [John Pascoe Fawkner Kay] of 182 Bathurst Road, Katoomba.
William's body was transported to Sydney, where he was buried at Rookwood Cemetery, Homebush Sydney.
He was survived by his 2nd wife Ivy of twenty-seven years marriage, his surviving children; Lillian Grace aged 56;
Frederick aged 50; Reta aged 44; William aged 41; Harold aged 38; Vincent aged 35 by his first marriage and
Ronald aged 26; John aged 19; Betty aged 15 by his second marriage. There were numerous grandchildren.
Epilogue
Ivy Scard [nee Ehlers] 2nd wife of William James Scard;
Died 36years later 1976 at Balmain Hospital, Sydney at the age of eighty-five and is buried beside her husband William
and their young daughter Sylvia in the Family Grave at Rookwood Cemetery.
Alfred Henry Scard died at Manly 21st September 1951. Alfred was preceded by his estranged wife Amy who had died fifteen
years prior in 1936. They were survived by their three children and their families.
See Epilogue in the Biography of his father.
Lillian Grace Scard
married Bernard Goldman 9th Nov. 1907 by whom she had issue.
Frederick Wilton Scard
married Rita E. Youngbutt at Murrwillumbah NSW in 1915 by whom he had issue.
Retea Norine Scard
married Matthew Ward on the 9th Oct. 1926 by whom she had issue.
William James Scard [the younger]
married Gladys Hanby 1929 Lithgow, NSW by whom he had issue.
Harold Agustus Scard
married thelma Olive McKay 8th Oct. 1929 Berala NSW by whom he had issue.
Vincent Henry Scard
married Gladys Brewer 8th Feb. 1929 Goulburn NSW by whom he had issue.
Stephen Hillary: Stephen married Margaret Edith Jane Thom in Qld 21st August 1902. To recap [above] 'Stephen Hillary settled
at Bulimba. Stephen was married and working as a security officer at the local Meat Works.' They had issue.
Berthenier Hillary: Berthenier married James Rigby 3rd March 1897 in Qld. To recap [above] 'It was at Inglewood that William's
sister Berthenier Hillary had married and her husband Jim managed a small timber mill and also grew wheat on his property.
They had issue.
Isaac Hillary: Issac married Harriet Williams 27th Sept. 1898 and had issue.
Ellen Hillary; Ellen married Mathew Pettigrew 9th March 1898 in Qld and had issue.