Views from Western Australia

Charles St. George Truelove (b. 1850 in Somers Town, London, England – d. 1 September 1909 in Melbourne, Australia) was the son of John Truelove (butcher) and Ann (née Williams).

He was a boy soprano in the St. George’s Chapel choir at Windsor Castle, England. Blessed with an “angelic face and a sweet childish voice”, young Charles was a personal favourite of Queen Victoria who would often request a private audience.

Truelove was subsequently apprenticed to an art furniture dealer in London and around 1879, he was assigned to accompany a consignment of furniture to Australia. The ship sank off the coast of Africa and somehow Truelove managed to journey to Australia minus the load of goods.

He found work with the Musgrove Opera Company in the clothing department. Later he joined the Soldene Comic Opera Company as a designer, until he created a sensation by producing provocatively tight-fitting costumes for the female performers.

Then he returned to his first love and achieved some success as a choirmaster organising groups to mark large occasions. In March 1883, the trustees of the St. Kilda Cemetery appointed a secretary-manager, a position that would allow them to delegate day-to-day managerial decisions. And so, the story goes, “some good friend decided that Charlie would make a good manager for a cemetery”. It may be that his position as choirmaster with All Saints’ (Anglican) Church, Chapel Street, St. Kilda had something to do with his good fortune. It was an unusual decision by the trustees to appoint an incumbent with limited business experience at a time when available space for some denominations was scarce and talk of the impending new Metropolitan Cemetery being established that would affect the future of the St. Kilda Cemetery.

Truelove also trained the original choir for St Paul’s Cathedral. This training started in January 1888 at All Saints St. Kilda. The St Paul’s Cathedral Choir is noted as one of Australia’s foremost choral ensembles. From the day in January 1891 when it proudly sang at the Cathedral’s official opening, it has aspired to lift up the hearts and minds of all who listen. Truelove also trained and led the Masonic Choir in Melbourne and they presented him with a fine baton to acknowledge the contribution to the Choir.

Immediately after Truelove’s appointment, the cemetery funds increased dramatically. From a balance of just £888 in 1881, it reached £6,274 a decade later. This was the era of the ‘land boom’ when the rush to be rich brought about spectacular paper profits. From thereon it reached a high of £7,179 in 1895 before declining as the Trust carried out capital works, the highest amount spent totalling £2,721 in 1896. Truelove achieved this dramatic increase by a combination of branching into grave decoration and maintenance, through the establishment of a plant nursery, double selling rights of burial, the re-use of graves to unsuspecting purchasers and converting floral borders, ornamental areas and paths into gravesites. For example, the three floral roundabouts to the west of the cemetery along Hotham Street were converted to gravesites between 1890 and 1894. Not just was Truelove able to increase the credit balance, he also introduced the sounds of music to the cemetery by enlisting the gravediggers who responded by singing with zest, much to the acclaim of the public. Another of Truelove’s initiatives was the establishment of a nursery within the cemetery in which he held a share. The nursery would provide a new source of income to fund the maintenance of the cemetery when the new Metropolitan Cemetery would force the closure of St. Kilda. This scheme continued for a few years until 1896 when the government ordered it to be closed after the Crown solicitor formed the view the trustees were acting outside of their powers. This did not stop Truelove from using his share to open “The Sunbeam Nursery” opposite the cemetery on Dandenong Road. Around the same time that the Trust decided to establish a cemetery nursery, a decision was made to branch into grave maintenance and decoration in direct competition with monumental masons. The trust contended that “persons who undertook such work gave scant satisfaction.” Besides, they argued, the Cemeteries Act empowered trustees to keep “every grave, vault, monument, cenotaph, wall fence, or other erection” in proper order. And so a works area in the cemetery grounds was established for this purpose.

Not everyone warmed to the Truelove charm and by the mid-1890s things began to unravel. Complaints from aggrieved letter writers would find their way in the daily press. In 1895, one writer ‘Pro Bono Publico’ complained against exorbitant fees which could be reduced if the trustees had not “thrown away money in lavish expenditure”. As another writer asked, “why is all the money spent on the nursery, building hot-houses, fernery, glass houses, wagons, coach houses, and manufacturing all kinds of material?” In 1896, no sooner had “The Sunbeam Nursery” been established than the company directors felt there was sufficient public demand for cemetery kerbing and later, monumental work. The “Adamant Grave Moulding and Maintenance Company Proprietary Limited” was formed and another branch was added to existing services of plant supplies.

By then Truelove had married a widow, Marie Elizabeth Goode nee Broadbent (1865- 1944). She bore two daughters: Kathleen Marie (Kit) (1897 - 1982; married Louis Herry, 1920) and Winifred Ida (1902 - 1980; married Louis Hall, 1929). The daughters were born at home in the lodge just inside the main gate of the Cemetery. Marie Truelove and the extended Broadbent family were placed in charge of the company.

In 1905, the local monument mason Hubert Tope of “Tope & Dear” would provide a written statement to the local member of Albert Park, George Elmslie MLA. In Parliament, Elmslie would allege that the trustees “did pay for a large amount of materials, such as bricks, cement, paint and c., which was used for the secretary’s wife’s firm without their paying for the same…” and the trustees paid the firm “£50 for plants which are still lying at the cemetery, and are not worth 50s”. There was also Truelove’s long time nemesis and Tope’s business partner Nathaniel Dear. As far back as March 1883, Dear ran foul with the trustees. This led to a long running saga of antagonism that culminated in an action of libel. In May 1897, Dear sued Truelove alleging slander. The statement which Truelove admitted was “interpreted by Dear to imply that he [Dear] had obtained money by false pretences and had been guilty of fraudulent and improper practices”. Dear sought £249 in damages, but the Truelove charm continued in the courts and Dear lost the libel. Tope and Dear were behind a number of deputations calling for a board of inquiry into the cemetery when it was found that Truelove had established “The Sunbeam Company” in questionable circumstances. Dear was a prolific letter writer to the local St Kilda Council complaining of overcrowding and unsanitary conditions within the cemetery. Truelove would dismiss these complaints from “unprincipled petty tradesmen…seldom found among educated gentlemen” who gained “cheap advertisements” from the publicity.

When the long-running debate on the location of the new Metropolitan Cemetery at Springvale was finally settled, the sale of new gravesites was discontinued at St. Kilda Cemetery from 1 January 1901, effectively closing the cemetery. But Truelove was able to get around these provisions. One method was “to issue certificates to employees of the cemetery… for which they paid nothing and then persuade them to transfer said graves to…”Adamant Monumental Company“ for £1, the price of the ground to the public being £6 6s”. Another method used was the issuing of some 1,000 blank rights of burial signed by the trustees and back dating these (the trustees later denied signing blank deeds). To legitimise these burials, a special variation of the Discontinuance Order was required in 1906 to cover burials up to 15 December 1905, a few days before Truelove made haste and fled to avoid giving evidence at an inquiry ordered by the trustees (a warrant was issued for his arrest, but he managed to get away due to a police bungle). In 1906, Elmslie said in Parliament that the trustees knew “that there were improper practices going on”, but refused to investigate the allegations. An official board of inquiry held late in 1907 to investigate four specific matters.

Charles Truelove did eventually return to the cemetery, but this time to rest in peace; he died suddenly at Melbourne’s Alfred Hospital from diabetes and heart failure on 1 September 1909 aged 59 and was buried in an unmarked grave that ironically goes under one of the cemetery pathways.

Sources VGG 1899, p. 1326 & 1906, p. 1851. VPD (1905) pp. 2180-81 & (1906) pp. 2556-57. The Argus, 11 Sep 1905, p. 4 & 3 Sep 1909, p. 1. The Argus Week End Magazine 2 August 1947, pp. 2-3. The Age 9 Sept 1938. The Herald, 12 Nov 1895 p. 3, 25 Nov 1895 p. 3, 25 May 1897 p. 2, 26 May 1897 p. 1 & 28 May 1897 p. 4. St. Kilda Chronicle, 17 Mar 1882. DHS file on St. Kilda Cemetery Part I 93/387/121 455. Port Phillip City Archives file on St. Kilda Cemetery (Letters 7 Feb 1898, 16 May 1898 & 3 Dec 1898) Smith, J. Cyclopedia of Melbourne (1904), pp. 208-209. Howes, F.S. History of the Choir of St. Paul’s Cathedral Melbourne (1951) Blaickie, G. Scandals of Australia’s Strange Past (1963) pp. 36-42.

Charles’ daughter Winifred is my grandmother.

Now John Howard has seen the error of his ways over the last 11 years and within the first hundred days of a new government he wants to take the first steps towards acknowledging the Aboriginal people in the preamble to the constitution.  The reactions have been mixed and varied from all Aboriginal leadership around Australia. Rudd of course has done a ‘Rudd" and said we support it and just want to see the detail.  The question remains though, why now?  Some suggest it as the work of a desperate who is trying to get re-elected; but would this deliver him much in an election? I think not.  Maybe, My Johnny Howard has, in fact, been getting more and more uncomfortable with his own position.  He states that he doesn’t like the concepts of ‘guilt’ and ’shame’ and yet he does acknowledge the impact of Australia’s history on the original inhabitants of this land.  It has been likened to a Damascus rd experience, such is the about face Mr Howard has made.  One can only wait and see what he actually means and hopes to deliver.

For all the talk of Kevin Rudd as the leader with a future vision, it is Howard, yesterday’s man apparently, who has actually been bold enough to speak publicly on how in the next few years we might move toward a reconciliation of the divide between Australia’s conquered and conquering peoples. You can be cynical about Howard’s motives, and point to the possibility that if one thing has stood between the black and white Australia and reconciliation for the past decade it has been him … but the point is that he’s come out and put a strand of flesh to the nervous bones of our future. He’s said something concrete and contestable. Something controversial, something real.

This album is the tenth from one of Australia’s highly powered acoustic blues bands. It is also the first without Jim Conway who retired last year (after 18 years with the band). Jim’s harmonica playing very much defined the Backsliders sound and that of the Captain Matchbox Whoopee Band (which he led previously). The album continues the hard-hitting Backsliders style and has a diverse range of songs. Fuck you Shock-Jock and Cowboy in the Whitehouse are pretty clear in their political intent. They have also continued there interest in Vietnam with the tracks Antihero and Vietnam People. They have also continued their established pattern of reworking a couple of early 20th century blues songs. Their drum and slide-guitar combination of Rob Hirst and Dom Turner is joined by two of Australia’s leading harmonica players on most tracks: either Brod Smith (Dingoes, Brod Smith’s Big Combo), or Ian Collard (Collard, Greens and Gravy). The Backsliders have always sought the raw sound of delta blues that is earthed in the Australian continent; this album continues in that tradition. ‘Left Field Holler’ was mixed by Jim Moginie (Midnight Oil, Family Dog) and Brent Clarke (Ghostwriters). Release October 2007

Perth and the footy community is stunned to hear of the death of Eagles wingman Chris Mainwaring. He played with distinction in the early years of the club.

WA has lost a legend too young.  But what is it about the death of celebrity that touches people so deeply.  It might say something about the pedestal we put them on, it might also say something about our own lives.  Many other people die too young and yet one death like this can be devastating to so many people. 

Maybe, it is the fact that life itself is so fragile and deaths like this are a reminder of that.  It certainly makes one reflect on the Omnipotent.

People pondering about the Anglican Diocese of Sydney and its unique character within the Anglican Church may well ask the question  ’Who was Nathaniel Jones?’ and what role did he have in shaping the diocese into what it has become today.  Its clergy are almost exclusively trained at Moore Theological College (MTC) which has clearly had a profound impact on shaping the outlook and approach of its clergy.

I attended that college in 1978/79, when its Principal was ‘Broughton Knox’ and much has been written about Knox and his influence.  I was intriqued by many things of MTC as its ‘Evangelicalism’  seemed so  different to that of Melbourne where my Father had trained a generation earlier (later that contrast with brought into stark definition with their divergent positions on the ordination of women).  Another thing that was unexpected  by me at MTC was the number of ‘Brethren’ people amongst the student body and amongst the teaching staff.  On the latter, my recollection are of at least two lecturers from a Brethren background, Barry Webb and Graeme Cole; interestingly Cole later went on to become Principal of Ridley College in Melbourne.

Broughton Knox was one of a group of Sydney evangelicals produced by the Moore College of Canon Nathaniel Jones,  Bill Lawton who has written on the history of the Sydney Diocese  describes Knox as one of Jones’ "spiritual heirs" (God Who is Rich in Mercy, p.361). but what does this mean?  Currently there is very little available on the net about ‘Jones'’, which is odd when you notice the attention given to other Churchmen such as George King on the ADB website.  The little that can be gleaned is that before being appointed Principal at Moore  he had run a very small theological college in Bendigo.  It also appears he was Brethren.

Jones also had a lot of daughters and during his tenure at MTC they married men who went onto become the movers and shakers of the Sydney Diocese during the middle years of the last century.  Careful observers of the Sydney Diocesan hierarchy will have noticed there are some strong family lines running through the years and they will have noticed the links between those families.  Anecdotally, it has been suggested to me that they have ‘Brethren blood flowing through their veins’ or ‘Brethren genes’.  

You never know how true this might be!