Millar Buzzard

6.0
Life Back in Melbourne

Millar returned to Victoria from England via Colombo, Ceylon and on 6th March 1902 berthed at Fremantle, on the “Oronta”, bound for Melbourne.

Millar Arrives on the “Oronta” at Fremantle [74]

He was enrolled at Caulfield Grammar School, Victoria in Form IV A, late in term 1, 1902 at the age of 15 years. His student number was 851. The contact person, on his registration, was E. W. Buzzard (Edwin Raymond Wilfred), his uncle. Millar stayed at the school until 1904.

Appendix 4.0 details Millar Buzzard’s Education at Caulfield Grammar School, including all reports as they give some insight to how Millar fared at school and what he found interesting.

Whilst Millar was at Caulfield Grammar, Thomas Meredith, Millar’s grandfather, died at 4:30pm on 5th April 1903 at his home in Auburn Road, Hawthorn, Melbourne. An inquest was held into his death on 6th April. A police report stated he fell down some stairs, leading to the cellar. A doctor was called but he died soon after of shock exacerbated by heart disease.

Thomas Meredith died of unnatural causes, according to an inquest held into his death on 6th April 1903. [75]

He left £7,489 13s 9d in his will to his widow and children.

After the wedding of Emily Alice in 1898, the family moved around England and Europe, and the three Buzzard girls spent 3 years at a Swiss finishing school before moving back to Adelaide. No evidence can be found of them attending a school in Switzerland; however the photographs below suggest they may have.

Photographs taken around 1903 show the Vincent children with a Swiss nanny. The location of the photographs is unknown, but one photograph suggests a rugby pitch, so maybe England.

William, Barbara & Joan Vincent & Swiss Bonne c. 1903 [76]

Barbara, Joan & William Vincent & Swiss Bonne c. 1903 [77]

Barbara & William Vincent & Swiss Bonne c. 1903 [78]

The family headed back to Australia on the ship “Commonwealth”, from London on 27th February and landed in Sydney on 12th April 1906. By this time the Buzzard girls, from Emily Alice’s first marriage, had begun using the last name of Vincent, as is shown on the passenger manifest. Obviously, an error occurred on the passenger manifest, as 2-year-old Miss Joan Vincent is recorded as being Mast. Joan Vincent.

Vincent Family on the “Commonwealth” London to Sydney [76]

In 1907, the Vincent family bought Beaumont House, in outer Adelaide. Apparently, Millar never lived at Beaumont House.

Beaumont House 631 Gynburn Road, Beaumont, South Australia [79]

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[73] General Registry Office 1901 Census Returns March 31, 1901
[74] Register (Adelaide, SA : 1901 - 1929), Friday 7 March 1902, page 4
[75] Victorian Public Records Office 24/P0000, 1903/412
[76] Burnside Branch – National Trust of S.A.
[77] Burnside Branch – National Trust of S.A.
[78] Burnside Branch – National Trust of S.A.
[79] Burnside Branch – National Trust of S.A.