Anne Marie  Blanpied/Blampied

Anne Marie Blanpied/Blampied[1]

Female 1825 - 1905  (80 years)

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  • Name Anne Marie Blanpied/Blampied 
    Born 24 Mar 1825  Bourthecourt, Burthecourt-aux-Chênes, Murthe-et-Moselle, Lorraine, France Find all individuals with events at this location 
    • Vic-sur-Seille is a commune in the Moselle department in Lorraine in north-eastern France.
      Burthecourt-aux-Chênes is a commune in the Meurthe-et-Moselle department in northeastern France.
      Burthecourt-aux-Chênes est une commune française, située dans le département de Meurthe-et-Moselle et la région Lorraine.
      Burthecourt-aux-Chênes (Nancy, Meurthe-et-Moselle, France)


      Great Western
      By L. L. BANFIELD
      A Story of the French Settlers
      ?In 1852?" wrote Hubert de Castella in "John Bull's Vineyard," two young people, a girl of 20 and a boy I aged 15, members of a large family of Lorraine farmers, had their imagination fired by tales of the discovery of gold in Australia, and formed the adventurous project of going there together.
      Knowing their parents would not agree, they applied secretly to their father?s landlord and induced him to make the necessary arrangements for their passage out on board an English
      ship. The brother and sister never left one another. The sister married a Frenchman among the miners at Bcechworth. and the brothers-in-law, being familiar with wine growing, established themselves at Great Western.
      Many of the smaller vineyards planted at Great Western, midway between Ararat and Stawcll, in the early sixties of last century have been allowed to revert to grass lands and the
      old wine cellars, some excavated out of the ground and some built above it of stone and cement, are disused and falling into decay.
      One of the most interesting of these semi ruins is St. Peter?s, which was built by Trouette and Blampied, the French settlers whose romantic story is told by Hubert de Castella in his second book of Australian sketches.
      Built on the plan of an old French farmhouse, St. Peter?s has a central vestibule or long low hall with doors opening from it to the rooms on every side. Under these wooden buildings
      the granite rock was hollowed out for the wine cellars, portions of the solid mass being left to support the floors of the house.
      Strangers live there now and no one uses the old kitchen, with its stone-flagged floor, or the rusty wine press, standing near the cellar doors, but some essence of the past still clings
      about the old homestead, calling to mind the kindly, industrious people who made their home life an example of the gracious hospitality of the French.

      IT was a fete day, the Queen?s birthday in 1883. when Hubert dc Castella visited Great Western and was welcomed at St Peter?s by the Trouettes and Blampieds.
      ?Mrs Trouette,? he writes, "who 33 years before, had led out her young brother from France to show him the road to independence, was tall and strong-her dress was that of the good
      old time in France; the slow, cadenced accent of her Lorraine dialect, of which she had lost nothing, was in harmony with the kindliness and the dignified simplicity of her looks. She called to us her son and daughter, both speaking French and English.?
      Picture the scene at the old home stead on the day of de Castclla?s visit.
      Long tables, fixtures between the red gum pillars supporting the roof of the vestibule, were covered with white cloths and laden with fat turkeys and fowls, with hams, pies, fruit and flowers. To the English profusion of meat was added the good French cooking of vegetables. The best wine of the vig- noble was abundantly supplied."
      Over 50 guests sat on both sides of the table, and the president of the shire, a Swiss compatriot of de Castclla?s, proposed the health of the Queen. Afterwards the young people
      danced while Mr Trouette, his brothe-in-law, one or two older friends, and Hubert de Castella, seated in a little office, discussed wine-making and watched the dancing through the open door. Now and then Mrs Trouette came in to join the group.
      The early adventure is recalled by contrast with present happiness and gradually the story is told: The secret departure at night from the farm in Lorraine, the farewell message left
      with an uncle as they passed through the town where he lived, the long months at sea, the hard life on the goldfields and the arrival at Great Western in 1861.
      Hosts and guests talked far into the night ?Wine growing was a bond between them. ?An enticing pursuit,? de Castella calls I? "An art, a bond of hospitality, pride to the host and good humor to the friend?.

      Less than three years later, and before Hubert de Castella had published his little book, all these happy times at St. Peter?s were over. The kind host was dead and the son of the house, Nicholas Trouette. had given his life to save a boy who was overcome by fumes of carbon dioxide in cleaning out an underground fermenting tank.
      Descending the tank Nicholas Trouette tied a rope around the unconscious boy?s waist and then collapsed himself. The boy was saved, but another workman who went to rescue the young master died also, and Nicholas? sister, Marie, would have died too had she not been forcibly restrained from going to their assistance.
      Hubert de Castella had this catastrophe in mind when he wrote on the last page of his book, "Perhaps I have been silent as to clouded days and storms. Like Talouette I have only repeated a song of sunny days-the most numerous in Australia-simple
      and cheerful song.
      The Herald, Melbourne, Saturday, 21 November 1936

      Great
      Western
      By L. L.
      BANFIELD
      |A Story of the French Settlers HTN 1852'," wrote Hubert de
      I Castella in "John Bull's
      Vineyard," "two young people, a girl of 20 and a boy aged 15, members of a large family of Lorraine farmers, had
      their imagination fired by tales of the discovery of gold in Australia, and formed the adventurous project of going there together.

      "Knowing their parents would not agree, they applied secretly to their father's landlord and induced him to
      make the necessary arrangements for their passage out on board an English ship. The brother and sister never
      left one another. The sister married a Frenchman among the miners at Bcechworth. and the brothers-in-law, being familiar with wine growing, established themselves at Great Western.

      Many of the smaller vineyards planted at Great Western, midway between Ararat and Stawell, in the early sixties of last century have been allowed to revert to grass lands and the old wine cellars, some excavated out of the ground and some built above it of stone and cement, are disused and
      falling into decay.

      One of the most interesting of these semi ruins is St. Peter's, which was built by Trouette and Blampied, the
      French settlers whose romantic story is told by Hubert de Castella in his second book of Australian sketches.
      Built on the plan of an old French farmhouse, St. Peter's has a central vestibule or long low hall with doors opening from it to the rooms on every side. Under these wooden buildings the granite rock was hollowed out for the wine cellars, portions of the solid mass being left to support the floors of the house.

      Strangers live there now and no one uses the old kitchen, with its stone-flagged floor, or the rusty wine press,
      standing near the cellar doors, but some essence of the past still clings about the old homestead, calling to
      mind the kindly, industrious people who made their home life an example of the gracious hospitality of the French."
      (The Herald, Melbourne, Victoria, Saturday, 21 November 1936 - Page 37)

      The Murton family had with Great Western and the Trouette family
      Grandfather & Grandmother owned the land at Great Western (between Ararat and Stawell in Vic.) during the 1890s, which they sold on the advice of the Union Trustees, Vic, as they were overseas at the time-about 1903-4-5. This land, I was told, is now owned by Seppelts. When we lived in Ararat 1922-27, we were often taken by Dad to visit the family's French governess, Madame or M'selle Truett, who lived in a white cottage on the main highway, on the right going North to Stawell. About one block behind Madame Truett's, & as far as I know can still be seen, the ruins of the family home with the cellars still evident - I last saw them about 1970. When I was born Dad was given 12 bottles of Champagne by Seppelts which were kept for my 21st - As I was in the Middle East in 41, they had to wait later. In recent times there was a ?back to Great Western?, & I saw a copy of an old Race Book in which W.A. Murton Esq was shown as the Official Starter. I think Grandmother died in 1905, and about this time the family moved (I think) to Albert Park, Melbourne?.
      Mac was basing this on his memory. Some of the detail extracted from the old newspapers would suggest that his dates might be a bit off. However, his commentary reflects a close relationship the Murton family had with Great Western and the Trouette family.

    Gender Female 
    Emigration Sep 1853  From France via London to Victoria, Austrlia Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Emile emigrated with his sister Anne Marie. They are listed as Blompied. Emile with the christian names Nicholas Seir an Anne as Annie

    September 10 -Emma Goodwin, barqne, 447 tons, W.E. A. King, from London 15th April, and Plymouth 97th do. Passengers: cab'n-Messrs. Brandon, Aul tram, Byrnes, Goldsack, Gaych, Hartwig, Anderson, and Mullor ; and seventy-one in the steerage.
    Transcribed from The Argus, Melbourne, Victoria, Monday 12 September 1853


    Index to Unassisted Inward Passenger Lists for British, Foreign and New Zealand Ports 1852-1923
    Family Name First Name Age Month Year Ship Port Fiche Page
    BLOMPIED ANNIE 28 SEP 1853 EMMA GOODWIN B 050 001
    BLOMPIED NICHOLAS SIER 18 SEP 1853 EMMA GOODWIN B 050 001

    From the Passenger list for the Emma Goodwin

    Name: Annie Blomfried
    Estimated birth year: abt 1825
    Age: 28
    Arrival Date: 11 Sep 1853
    Arrival Port: Melbourne, Australia
    Departure Port: Plymouth
    Ship: Emma Goodwin
    Nationality: French
    (Victoria, Australia, Assisted and Unassisted Passenger Lists, 1839?1923)

    Blompied? Blampied? Annie, age 28, nationality, French, destination Melbourne
    Blompied? Blampied? Imi? Nicholas, age 18, nationality, French, destination Melbourne
    (Series: VPRS 7666; Series Title: Inward Overseas Passenger Lists (British Ports) [Microfiche Copy of VPRS 947], Victoria, Australia, Assisted and Unassisted Passenger Lists, 1839?1923)

    Name: Sir Nicholas Blomfried
    Estimated birth year: abt 1835
    Age: 18
    Arrival Date: 11 Sep 1853
    Arrival Port: Melbourne, Australia
    Departure Port: Plymouth
    Ship: Emma Goodwin
    Nationality: French
    (Series: VPRS 7666; Series Title: Inward Overseas Passenger Lists (British Ports) [Microfiche Copy of VPRS 947], Victoria, Australia, Assisted and Unassisted Passenger Lists, 1839?1923)
     
    Personal 1876  Vendage of St Peter's Vineyard Find all individuals with events at this location 
    FETE AT GREAT WESTERN
    1876
    In our last issue we mentioned in a brief paragraph, that the annual celebration of the conclusion of the vintage at Messrs Trouette and Blampied's vineyard had been held with considerable éclat. The affair was of so grandiose dimensions that we need not offer any apology to our readers for returning to the subject, and bestowing on it a more lengthened notice. It needs no stretch of the imagination to conceive what an amount of trouble is involved, when an otherwise quiet and unobtrusive suddenly gets ready to entertain the whole district on a most liberal scale. Without giving any publicity to the fact that a treat was to come off, the circumstance was generally known, and as well the hospitable spirit of the proprietors of St Peter's Vineyard known and appreciated, that some four hundred, or may be more, assembled from all points of the compass to do honour to the occasion. That all Great Western should put in an appearance is not to wondered at. It may safely be said that the very existence of Great Western as a township is owing to the early exertions of another vigneron and the gentlemen named above. Had it not been for the example they set by these pioneers, who were the first to recognise the adaptability of the soil and climate for vine-growing the township of would have been a tradition of a rush instead of a reality. These gentlemen having led the way, others soon followed, and anyone passing some at the pretty place, cannot fail to perceive that a solid foundation for a permanent and prosperous settlement has been laid.
    It is gratifying to record that the product of Great Western soil has repeatedly met with ample recognition at competitive exhibitions of wine, and the various cups, medals and other trophies carried off by Great Western vignerons would form a very pretty collection, if brought together. Stawell people have also reason to be grateful to the pioneers of the village, as the road from our town to Great Western is the favourite drive with our residents, as may be seen by the number of vehicles plying along the road on any fine day during the favourable season.
    As Messrs Trouette and Blampied have for years maintained a depot in Stawell, and therefore count among our citizens, numbers of our townspeople visiting St Peter?s Vineyard in order to join the festivities on Tuesday night last.
    Ararat, Armstrongs, Concongella, Moyston, and in fact the whole surroundings contributed guests, till every one present was fairly astonished at the magnitude of the assemblage not that hosts were taken aback by the unexpected influx, nor were the resources of the establishment unequal to the occasion. Everything that cheers the mind and makes the heart merry, was provided in the most profuse abundance, and full justice was done to the many excellent things set before the guests. These began to gather soon after dark, and those from some distance came in a continuous stream of buggies and other vehicles, so that the uninitiated might wonder what could disturb the usual quit of the small township in such a startling fashion. The greatest crowd was gathered from about eleven o'clock till one o'clock in the morning, when some of the more staid or more youthful began to retire.
    The great centre of attention was the ballroom that had been improvised----and posts that had been decorated with young trees and flowers, and a pretty feature was an inscription in white letters on crimson ground:-Welcome to the Vendage of 1876, festooned round with branches of vines. The music was provided Mr. Jenkins' efficient band, and the dancing was superintended by the well-known Stawell M.C., Mr R. M'Clure. The ballroom was as nearly as possible the same size as the floor of the Stawell Town Hall, and a dozen sets could be seen going through their quadrilles at the same time, while all four walls were lined with interested spectators. But as everybody does not dance, provision had been made for other styles of entertainment. A piano in one room afforded opportunities for solo singing. Another room or two had been set aside for those who might wish to have a game at cards , whilst the large kitchen had been turned into a salon a manger, where the hostesses and attendants were kept hard at work providing for the unceasing relays of hungry and thirsty guests. As may be imagined all doors were left open, and every sound from one room could be heard through the whole of the buildings. Let the reader imagine what the total effect would be like. The quadrile band, the shuffling of the dancers' feet, singing, accompanied by the piano, an occasional scream of "left bower", immediately followed (sometimes) by a yell of "right bower" emphasized by a tremendous thumping of the table; all this joined to the hum of conversation of several hundred people, made a scene not easily forgotten.
    And then the quantity of wine, red, of desperhue than blood, or white, that properly speaking should have been yellow! It was wine to the right of you and to the left of you, and everybody welcome to help herself or himself to as much or as little as she or he might choose. It is an undeniable trait of human nature that forbidden fruit is the most enjoyable. Now, on this occasion wine was not forbidden, but sparkled around you on all sides, inviting you to partake. Whether owing to this abundance, combined with unchecked liberty, or what is far more likely, to be the true motive-respect for the house and company, and a consciousness that such unbounded liberality must not be abused-certain it is that not one showed signs of having imbibed to freely; not one loud or disagreeable word was heard, nor did any one in the least degree heated during the whole of the night. Everybody enjoyed the good things and the amusement thoroughly, and the night glided away imperceptibly, till the pale rays of the morning sun warned the crowd then remaining that it was time to knock off. But the fun had been to good, and it took some time even after the sun had shone out with some warmth before the last of the guests left the abode of so much goodwill and kindly feeling. But everything in the world must come to an end, and at last the Vendage of St Peter's Vineyard came to and end, to. But let it not be thought that the trouble of the hospitable entertainers was at---.
    (From an unknown source) 
    Schooling 25 Dec 1876  The Argus, Melbourne, Victoria Find all individuals with events at this location 
    MATRICULATION EXAMINATION - OCTOBER
    TERM 1876.
    Marie Françoise Trouette, Ladies College, Stawell.
    Transcribed from "The Argus, Melbourne, Victoria," Monday 25 December 1876  
    Interests 8 May 1880  The Ballarat Star, Victoria Find all individuals with events at this location 

    THE VENDANGE AT ST. PETER'S VINEYARD.
    P. C. News, 7th May.
    The annual ingathering of the gripe harvest having been completed at St. Peter's Vineyard, Great Western, Messrs Trouette and Blampied on Wednesday night provided another of those enjoyable reunions which are now, becoming considered one of the institutions of the district, and of which the fame, has penetrated to all parts, of the colony.-No suceinct account of the proceedings can very well be given, and properly speaking the fete began soon after midday. At this time a number of guests had put in an appearance and the mayor of the borough, the president of the shire, and
    some of their colleagues "assisted" at a substantial collation, which initiated the the proceedings. By nightfall
    the stream of arrivals had become continuous. They came by so many different modes of conveyance and from so many directions as almost to bewilder those watching the, process by which the countryside made itself represented at the homestead. From silver-plated harness to pedestrianism all modes of locomotion assisted in crowding the establishment, and after the arrival of, each train another contingent came up and merged, itself in the assemblage. Messieurs the proprietors found their time fully occupied in receiving such of the guests as the rush would-allow them to extend the hand of welcome to; and time after time the crowded dance, room absorbed fresh crowds. There were many from
    Ballarat and not a few from Melbourne, but Stawell sent
    by the hundred. The dance room presented a scene to be remembered. Many of our readers are aware that
    the salon da danse at St. Peters consists of the large
    building of which the floor forms the roofing of a portion
    of the cellarage. This year it was made half as large
    again by the fact that a fourth cellar has just been
    completed. This was expected to ease off the crowding,
    but the assemblage was too great. Where there was a
    foot available ground a couple would be found to occupy it, and the mystic evolutions of the Lancers often to be gone through when the eight dancers had a space about equal to the surface of an ordinary kitchen table to perform upon. The round dances wore simplicity itself. The partners grasped one another firmly, and allowed themselves to be washed away with the stream, and carried round the room. Those who could keep time with the music did so. Those who could not, twirled and jumped and travelled round in a state of perspiration that was eminently satisfactory to the wall
    flowers. The true pleasure-seeker cares for no obstacles,
    and there was abundant evidence that all the drawbacks
    arising from the swamping; so to speak, of the establishment, were, the veriest bagatelles to those who meant to enjoy themselves. Toes might be trodden upon,
    dresses torn, "at the gather", and ribs and elbows
    brought into somewhat sudden collision, but no one
    seemed to trouble or care. Even when in the galops half a
    dozen couples would come to sudden grief, and cause a
    temporary embankment to the circling stream, none
    laughed more heartily than the victims themselves. All
    was hilarity and good-fellowship from first to last, and
    the dances of that night Will be remembered by very
    many. Mr R. _M'Clure, in his old position as M.C., did
    much to assist in the securing of general enjoyment, and
    was never idle. The music was good as it could not help
    being when.supplioe by the Messrs Jenkins (peri et fils).
    Chandler, and Knuckey, and these also worked hard.
    A quieter but no less thorough enjoyment was that
    of those who sat and contested the supremacy
    of the card-table. Many wore the games played, and
    hearty was the merriment,which resounded from the rooms set apart for this purpose. Mingling with it at times came the sound of music from the room sacred to vocalists, where the piano resounded to the touch of one after another fair performer, and where male and female voices followed in quick succession in ballads, or blended in duets and joyous choruses. In yet another department the Swiss vinedressers and, their friends sang the songs of their fatherland, by the dozen. Meanwhile and everywhere the staff of waiters were busy with the work of supplying the pure juice of the grape to the guests, there, being abundance everywhere, and of the best. At times one or other of the proprietors would
    collect a few friends for a "quiet glass". This implied
    a visit to a spot near the yawning gap leading to No.1
    cellar, where in the dim twilight wine only to be mentioned with reverence was dispensed. Here was no "quaffing the flowing bowl". The wine discussed in this sanctum had to be used as an eyeglass, chewed, and in a general way subjected to all those processes by which connoisseurs show that they
    are connoisseurs, and not mere bibbers. As the night wore on these "quiet glass" reunions followed in such rapid succession that one of other of the heads, of the firm, was almost continuously employed. Hour after hour passed, without any cessation of the pleasant hum,formed of many mingled sounds of pleasurable token; and when the express train took away quite a crowd of those to whom early hours were absolutely necessary, there was no appreciable difference.in the appearance of the rooms beyond the absence of some familiar faces.
    Before this, however, supper had been served, and vast
    mounds of sandwiches, and coffee by gallons, had been
    disposed of. The attendants wore heavily worked, but
    they wore cheerful and obliging and it is only fair to
    say that to them much of the success of the whole affair,
    is due. Daylight was the only effective disperser of the
    gathering, and when, the dawn broke the sharp frosty
    air sent laugh and chat music far across the sleeping
    township as vehicle after vehicle set off with its load:
    At the pressing request of the hosts- who in place of being glad their night's labours were over, appeared to wish to prolong them indefinitely quite a number assembled, at the breakfast table at about 9 o'clock, where all the luxuries of the country were, added to those, procurable in town,
    and where all gave practical proof of, the truth of the proprietors, assertion that wine was a capital thing to give an appetite. Soon after the long deferred parting had to take place, but prior to this Mr G. F. Sooullar, in one of those neat ittle speeches he is noted for on similar occasions, proposed health and success to Messrs Trouette and Blampied and all their belongings. It was duly responded
    to,and with mutual expressions of a desire to reassemble under similar, circumstances next year, the remaining guests took their leave and the vendage 1880 came to an end.
    The Ballarat Star., Vic., Saturday, 8 May 1880
     
    Interests 25 Mar 1881  Jewish Herald, Victoria Find all individuals with events at this location 
    SELECTED AUSTRALIAN WINES,
    Tronette and Blampied's Chablis, Sauterne, Reisling, Hock, Burgundy, Hermitage, Claret, &c., on sale in bulk or in one dozen cases at vineyard prices, by S. A. TUCKFIELD & Co., No. 35 and 36 Cellars, Now Eastern Market, Melbourne.
    Jewish Herald (Vic. : 1879 - 1920) Friday 25 March 1881 - Page 15  
    Interests 31 May 1890  Leader, Melbourne, Victoria Find all individuals with events at this location 
    AMONGST THE GREAT WESTERN
    VINEYARDS.
    Bt St. Clair.
    Recently the Viticultural Board visited the Great Western district, and made their annual inspection of their principal vineyards there. On arriving at Great Western we found a trap waiting for us at the station, and were driven in the first place to the residence of the proprietors of St. Peter?s vineyard, where we were most hospitably welcomed by Mrs. Trouette, although it proved afterwards that our visit was a complete ?surprise party? Our hostess cordially invited us to make this our headquarters during our stay in Great Western, but as we were expected elsewhere only half of our party could accept the kind invitation, I among the number.

    The others were driven to St. George?s vineyard, about a mile distant, where Mr. and Mrs.
    Skyrme received them with that hospitality for which the Great Western is deservedly
    famous.

    St. Peter's vineyard is the joint property of Madame Trouette and her brother, Mr. Blampied. The homestead consists of several weatherboard buildings, the original structure having been added to as necessity required. The cellarage capacity of St, Peter?s is about 40,000 gallons, and the area under vines and fruit trees is at present 85 acres. The vineyard lies on both sides of Concongolla Creek, which just now is all but dried up portion of it is in flat ground, but the greater acreage is on rising ground on the north side of the creek. The soil throughout is very light, and on the hill is gravelly. Mr. Caughey, the well known vigneron of Ruutherglen, and Mr. F, de Castella, son of the founder of St. Hubert?s vineyard, who were with us, were greatly
    Struck with tho poorness of tho soil here as compured with that of the vineyards of their respective districts, and argued therefrom the absolute necessity for appointing experts who have a practical knowledge of the requirements of the various vine growing districts.

    Mr. Blampied stated that every year he gained experience as to the kind of vines which were suited to the soil, and had he been able to procure export information he would have saved a great deal of time, trouble and expense which his experiments had put him to. The vines on the flat yielded heavier, crops than those planted on the hill, but the quality of the latter was much better.

    After having been taken through the vineyard we were shown the orchard, the trees of which principally consist of apples, pears, cherries and quinces. They all seemed very healthy. Mr. Blampied values his fruit industry greatly, and he showed us an area of cherry trees from which last year he reaped an average of 30s. per tree, and one tree he pointed out yielded £3 10s, worth of fruit. All his fruit was sold locally, too, none of it being sent to Melbourne. We concluded our inspection by examining the cellars, vats, prosses and all the appliances which are necessary for the production of first class wines. In our rambles wo came across a pump Mr. Blampied had purchased in Geelong, and which bore the reputation of having been used in draining the trenches before Sebastapol. Previous to its present owner getting possession of it, it had been used as an adjunct to one of the fire engines at the Pivot, It?s a long jump from Sebaststapol to Geolong !

    The following little sketch of St. Peter?s vineyard is interesting, as it is really the history
    of the genesis of vine growing in Great Western. I am indebted for my information
    to the courtesy of Madame Trouette. Madame Trouette and her husband came to Great Western in 1858 during the days of the gold fever, soon after which the rush proved a failure. Then M. Trouette looked about for sume land to settle on, but had the greatest difficulty in getting any, as it was all in the auriferous area. He conceived the idea of trying vine planting, as the soil resembled that of his native land, where the vine was cultivated with success. Despite every obstacle placed in his way by the jealousy of the miners, he at last succeeded in getting a very small block through the imtrumentality of the then Minister of Mines, who was a local member and said he would ?chance it?" and take the risk of beiug ? hauled over the coals? " by the mining members in Parliament.

    So in 1863 he planted his first vines. They proved a success, and then by degrees he acquired a little more land, whih he laid out in vines in like manner. Year by year he persevered until complete success crowned his efforts, and before he died, a few years ago he had the satisfaction of seeing Great Western the centra of a thriving wine producing district.

    Seeing the success of his neighbour, the late Mr; Joseph Best, who carried on a slaughtering business, established the now celebrated Groat Western vineyard, and his example was followed in turn by his brother, Mr. H. Best, and Mr. G. Skyrms. All these men met with the same difficulty the late M. Trouette encountered in getting land, but like him they surmounted it. It is to men like those that the colony should do honor. How many youug Australians know the true history of their uative land, that land of which they are all so deservedly proud?

    After wo had completed our tour bf inspection, and had regaled ourselves, with choice samples from St. Peter's cellars, we were driven by Mr. Blampied to the Great Western vineyard, where Mr. and Mrs. Irvine welcomed us heartily.
    Leader (Melbourne, Vic. : 1862 - 1918, 1935)Saturday 31 May 1890 - Page 11
     
    Interests 16 Mar 1905  The Ballarat Star, Victoria Find all individuals with events at this location 
    GREAT WESTERN.
    THE VINTAGE.
    The vintage is just about to start at the Great Western vineyard. Everything is in readiness, and considering the very dry season, a fair yield may be expected. St. Peter?s vineyard, the oldest established in this district, has changed hands. Messrs Tiller and Nolan have leased it from Mr W. A. Murton for a term of years. The cottage and 4 acres of cherries, belonging to the estate, were purchased by Mr Jas. Tiller, who was manager for Mr Murton for
    the last 11 years.
    The Ballarat Star (Vic. : 1865 - 1924) Thursday 16 March 1905 - Page 6
     
    Died 30 Dec 1905  Great Western, Victoria, Australia Find all individuals with events at this location 
    • Death Registration
      Surname: TROUETTE: Given Names: Ann Marie: Event: Death: Father BLAMFIELD Pirrie: Mother: Marie Francoise GEARDI: Age 80: Death PLace: Great Western: Year: 1905: Reg No 12768 [Edwardian Death Index Victoria 1902 -1913]
    Death Notice 4 Jan 1906  Great Western, Victoria, Australia Find all individuals with events at this location 
    The Argus, Melbourne, Vic., Thursday 4 January 1906
    TROUETTE.- On the 30th December, at her residence, Great Western, Anne Marie Trouette, relict of the late Jean Pierre Trouette, aged 80 years. R.I.P.
    The Argus, Melbourne, Vic., Thursday 4 January 1906
     
    Death Notice 9 Jan 1906  The Horsham Times, Victoria Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Madame Trouette of Great Western, widow of Monsieur Trouette, who with his partner Monsieur Blampied made Great Western famous for its wines, died on the last day of the year, nearly 80 years of age
    Transcribed from "The Horsham Times, Victoria", Tuesday 9 January 1906
     
    Obituary 10 Jan 1906  Unknown Newspaper Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Madame Anne Marie Trouette died on 30 December 1906.
    Born on 24 Mar 1825, in the town of Burthecourt in the department of Murthe, France, came to Australia in 1853 in the "Emma Goodwin", aged 27 years. Though of a rather retiring disposition, Madame Trouette was dearly loved by those whom she admitted to her friendship. That friendship was staunch and true to the end, for Madame Trouette's was a deep and tender nature. She was a splendid example of good womanhood and her life of simple sweet purity and content could not but have a lasting influence on those brought in contact with it. Regret that this dear loving woman has faded from our lives is felt by all, but her memory will ever remain green with those who knew and loved her.
    (Unknown Newspaper at present)
    The day in January 1906 is approximate. 
    Life Story 1862-1927  Good Country For A Grant, A history of the Stawell Shire Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Frenchman, Jean Pierre Trouette, was one who had great difficulty obtaining a block in Great Western, and it was only after much persistence, that, in about 1862, he was permitted to purchase a small allotment on the Concongella Creek. Trouette was born in 1833, in the town of Estampes, in the south of France, and was one of many Europeans attracted to the Australian gold rushes in the 1850's. Brother and sister, Emile and Marie Blampied, from a farming family, were two others drawn to the antipodes from France during the same period. They made their long journey south in 1852, when Marie was 20, and Emil 15, leaving home without informing their parents. The three Gallic fortune seekers met at Daylesford in 1856, where Jean Pierre married Marie, and formed a mining partnership with Emil. Two years later they joined the rush to Great Western. Trouette from a wine growing area of France, began to believe that the vine could also flourish in the gravelly and sandy, undulating country about the gold field, so, although some locals called them fools, in 1863, he and Blampied began planting vines on their plot beside the creek.

    The two men were actually not the first grape growers in the district. Many of the early squatters planted vines, as well as fruit trees around their homesteads, and in 1861, at Concongella, near Stawell, another Frenchman, Louis Metzger, had also managed to secure a block of land on the Concongella Creek. He began a vineyard the same year, two years before his compatriots ten kilometeres upstream. Being closer to the large population of Stawell, Metzger had an additional difficulty to combat to those faced by Trouette and Blampied; that of the townsfolk who were fond of of grapes crossing over Big Hill to raid his vines. In 1874, the two families were joined, when Emile Blampied married Louisa Metzger, the eldest daughter of Louis.

    After clearing away the piles of gravel and sludge left by the miners around the creek, Trouette and Blampied put in half an acre of vines in their first year of planting. Although their land was not of the higest quality agriculturally, it is not always the richest soil that brings forth the best vintage. As they were later to discover for themselves, vines planted on the hills were lower in yield, than those grown on the flat, but they produced a wine which many people preferred.

    The French vignerons gradually enlarged their operations, and by 1878 they had forty five acres under vine, as well as many fruit trees, of numerous varieties. They employed six workers year round , and thirty more during the making of the vintage. After overcoming some more opposition from the Mining Board, they had been able to expand into a two hundred acre block behind their original holding. In another development in the 1970's, the partners began to sell the fruit of their labours, in a store they opened in Main Street, Stawell.

    The winery that Trouette and Blampied established was called St. Peter's, and an unpretentious weatherboard home was built there, with sections added to it as the need arose. In 1887, the dwelling was described as being built after the old French model-a large dining room in the centre, office on one side, and the dwelling rooms on the other. One room was full of trophies, won by Great Western vignerons for their wines, at exibitions all over the world. Underneath and behind the homestead were the cellars, built with large red gum rafters, which contained thousands of gallons of wine, in bottles, barrels, and huge oaken casks.

    Wine maker and writer, Hubert de Castella, visited St. Peter's in 1886, and was very impressed with the operation, as well as the hospitality of his French hosts. He desribed Marie Trouette as,"Tall and strong though a little bowed by toil; her dress was that of the good old time in France; the slow candenced of her Lorraine dialect, of which she had lost nothing, was in harmony with the kindliness and the dignified simplicity of her looks".

    Not only did the French winemakers at Great Western work hard, and achieve a certain amount of prosperity, but they also appeared to enjoy themselves, something Anglo-Saxons have always seemed to have more difficulty with. The celebratory attitude of the vignerons was most in evidence at La Vendange, the annual festival held at St. Peter's to commemorate the completion of the harvest. In the 1870's this event became an instiution, with the Pleasant Creek News reporting in 1876 that it, "Bought together a whole countryside to pass the evening of social enjoyment, such as does not often fall to the lot of residents in the country."

    One of the main storerooms was converted into a dance hall, where from about eight in the evening until broad daylight the dancing scarcely ever flagged. There was also singing around the piano, while some of the more sedate guests played cards, and upstairs a room was provided for infants. In another area a banquet was laid out, tables with white cloths being laden with fat turkeys and fowell, with hams, pies, fruit and flowers. Throughout the proceedings the wine flowed freely, although people often commented on the absence of drunkenness.

    The Stawell newspaper described the last few hours of the La Vendange of 1876, as the celebration slowly wound down.

    "As the day approached , the rooms began to wear a less crowed appearance, as one vehicle after another drove off with its load of homeward bound guests. Then the Swiss and the Italian vinedressers sang their loudest choruses, and a general gathering of English, Irish, Scotch, Welsh, French, German, Itilian, Swiss, Danish, and possibly half a dozen other nationalities joined in chanting the refrain of Allons a vendange: To the vintage home, song of the master of the revels-the senior partner of the firm.

    In the light of the new day Jean Pierre Trouette and Marie would serve breakfast and coffee to their remaining guests, giving no indication of wanting to end the festivities. It was not surprising they were such a popular couple. At one celebration there was much laughter when Marie Trouette was invited by a guest who had risen and proposed her health. In her slightly uncertian English, the surprised Frenchwoman had thanked those present for their attendance, and said she hoped to see them more seldom.

    The Trouettes had two children, Nicholas and Marie, who, in the 1880's, took up full time duties at the vineyard. Life at St. Peter's continued successfully, and the harvest celebrations remained popular, but there were bad times ahead for the French wine makers. In 1885, twenty-seven years after he had come to Great Western to seek his fortune, Jean Pierre Trouette died of lung desease. He was only fifty-two years old. His son, who had studied and worked in the wine industry in France, then took charge of the vineyard.

    On March 1, 1886, just over three months after the death of the elder Trouette, a St. Peter's workman, named David Simpson, was told to go into a four meteres deep underground tank, and bring up some grape stalks and refuse it contained, which material was used for the making of brandy. Simpson had been down the tank many times the week before, and had felt no ill effects, but the container had been sealed for three days over the weekend, and, in a test done later, when a lighted candle was placed only ten centimetres below the tank entrance, it was extinguished through lack of oxygen.

    Unaware of the danger, Simpson was lowered down on a rope by another workman, John Coby. After he had untied himself, the lack of air took effect, and he fell to the tank floor. Coby shouted for him to grab hold of the rope, which he did, but had only been hauled half way out when failing consciousness caused him to lose his grip, and the worker dropped to the bottom again, insensible, Hearing the shouting, Nicholas Trouette came running out of a nearby cellar, and immediately went down into the vat. He tied a rope around Simpson, and while the workman was being pulled to the surface, where he regained consciousness, Trouette passed out on the tank floor. His mother and sister joined the dismayed gathering of workers at the tank entrance, and in turmoil and confusion the younger Trouette woman, insisted on being lowered to her brother. But she to passed out, and was brought to the surface, where she was revived.

    Then John Coby returned with a ladder he had fetched, which he placed in the tank and climbed down. In a repeat of what had taken place before, the rope was fastened to Trouette, who was brought to the surface, and Colby collapsed. Constable Moony, of Great Western, heard screams coming from St. Peter's, and on arriving at the scene he too tried to climb down the ladder into the fatal vessel. However, realizing the air was too bad, he ascended, and fastened a hook to the end of a rope, which he managed to place around Coby's belt, and so drag him out. But it was to late for Coby, as well as Trouette. Despite attempts to revive them, both men died of asphyxiation.

    Some bad seasons apparently followed the deaths of the male members of the Trouette family, and the winery ran into difficulties. It was sold in 1894 to the Murton family, originally from England, and the Blampieds, who had a one third share in the enterprise, shifted to Nhill. The two Marie Trouettes moved to the smaller Hermitage vineyard, which was in sight of St. Peter's. The mother passed away there in 1906, and her daughter, the last of the family, who never married, died in 1927. All that remains now of St. Peter's are a few straggling trees, and several underground tanks.

    (From Good Country For A Grant, A history of the Stawell Shire, by Robert Kingston, First published, 1989)
     
    In Memorium 28 Jul 1928  The Argus, Melbourne, Victoria Find all individuals with events at this location 
    TROUETTE.-In loving memory of Marie F. Trouette, The Hermitage, Great Western, who died July 29, 1927; also her dear mother, Anne Marie Trouette, who died December 30, 1905, formerly of St Peter's Vineyard, Great Western.
    Requiescat in pace.
    Transcribed from "The Argus, Melbourne, Victoria", Saturday 28 July 1928
     
    Personal 17 Jan 1939  The Argus, Melbourne, Victoria Find all individuals with events at this location 
    "FRIENDSHIPS AND WINE"
    By NORMAN McCANCE
    "Drifted Into Vegetables"
    Some of our grandest wine came from Great Western, planted by two French men Truette and Blampied, Madame Truette was nee Blampied and was a girl of Lorraine then part of France. She heard about gold in Victoria and ran away from home with her brother. I don't know if they ever got gold but they did something better-they drifted into vegetables. And that was in a day when vegetables were not worth their weight in gold like they are to day. That was in the Stawell-Ararat district and from growing vegetables, Mademoiselle became Madame Truette and planted some vine cuttings from Geelong. Just about the same time two Bests Joseph and Henry began growing vines in Madame's district about half a mile away from her.
    Transcribed from The Argus, Melbourne, Victoria, Tuesday 17 January 1939
     
    Life Story 25 Mar 1944  The Age, Melbourne, Victoria Find all individuals with events at this location 
    The Age , Saturday, March 25, 1944
    Pioneers of Great Western
    The Story of St Peter's Vineyard
    By L.L.B
    St. Peter's, St. Ethel's , St Nocholas', St George, small but once prosperous vineyards in the sheltered valley where Great Western lies midway between Ararat and Stawell, are now little more than remembered names and buildings fallen into ruins.
    St George has been absorbed into one of the larger vineyards which has made Great Western wines known throughout Australia, and soon all trace of St. Peter's , which has the most romantic history of , will have vanished from the hillside where, over 80 years ago, the brothers-in-law, Trouette & Blampied, commenced the culture of the vine in a climate which they found similar to that of the south of France.
    The story of the French colony at Great Western began in 1852, when a girl aged 20 and a boy of 15, members of a large family of Lorraine farmers, seceretly left their home after inducing their father or landlord to make the necessary arraingements for their passage to Australia abroad an English ship. News of the gold discoveries had fired the imagination of the pair and induced them to venture across the world. They never separated. The sister married a Frenchman among the miners at Beechworth, and eventually the party reached Great Western and became the pioneers of the wine-growing industry there.
    They were not, however, the first the first French settlers at Great Western. In 1857 Monsiur Durant and another Frenchman established a vegetable garden near the scene, in the later years, of the Shakespeare diggings, finding a good market among the thousands of miners then camped on the Ararat gold fields. In 1858 their garden was purchased by Jean Pierre Trouette, whose old homestead and wine cellars, built on the plan of an old French farmhouse of last century, have been offered for sale, and will soon pass into the wrecker's hands.
    Magnificent Orchard
    Here M. Trouette, with the assistance of his wife's brother, began to cultivate the vine in 1863. They first planted half an acre:in 1864, 4 acres: in 1865, 3 acres: in 1866, 7 acres. In his nursery in 1867 he had 50,000 vines 2,000 fruit trees of many varieties. The road leading to the house was planted on one side with cherries, on the other with plums. Lines of trees marked the boundary fences and divided one plantation from another. On two terraces near the creek cherries and quinces were planted, and along the margin of the creek were weeping willows, bamboos and poplars. Twenty-five acres of rented land was used for the production of root crops and cereals.
    Of all this pleasant cultivation only a few hardy quince trees, by the creek, and two or three old poplars by the gate of the once busy and prosperous homestead now remain, and sheep graze on the slopes where the maturing sun conspired ?to load and bless with fruit and vines.
    An experienced vigneron of the Department of Gers, M. Trouette was soon competing successfully with the older vineyards of the colony. In 1866, three years after his first vines were planted, he made 500 gallons of wine, and was awarded a gold medal for his white wine and a first- class certificate for his red wine at the Intercolonial Exhibition. Friendly with the Trouettes, and noting their success, the late Joseph Best, an uncle of the present Archdeacon of Ballarat, planted vines on the west side of the valley in a vineyard which was afterwards developed into the largest champagne vineyard in Australia.
    Gold was discovered in the vicinity in February, 1858. Diggers brought in their train storekeepers, shanty owners and all the flotsam and jetsom of humanity. By June Great Western could boast "a police camp, post office, dissenting chapel and reading room." Nightly performances were given at a small theatre at the Hotel de Paris, billiard tables, and gambling rooms helped to part the digger from his hard-earned gold: a German band arrived, and the Golden Age Hotel was from Ararat to gladden the hearts of the inhabitants of the west.
    Even the school master followed the rush, and without seeking authority removed the school building from Armstrongs to Great Western, his enterprise resulting in his immediate dismissel. The usual trouble in cases where gold fields adjoined squatting leases occurred, and it was not long before the miners were holding indignation meetings to protest the impounding of their cattle and pigs, and the steps taken by the owner of Alan Vale Station, Mr. Ewbank, to remove their tents from the roadside.
    Short-Lived boom
    The hectic excitement of the gold rush was short-lived. A year later, on April 8, 1859, the reporter observed:- ?Great Western presents a very dejected appearance to the scene of the once-buisy township, being a perfect picture of ruin and desolation, as if an invading army had passed over it.?
    Those who remained had enough faith in the future to send a petition that a township be sold, and the district surveyor marked it out between Wilson?s Bull's Head Hotel and Cook's Half-Way House. The first blocks were sold at a land sale on January 20, 1860. At this time the population was 500 Europeans and 130 Chinise.
    Among old residents there is a tradition that the name suggested by the inhabitants of the new was Great Eastern, after the well known paddle boat of that day which laid the trans Atlantic telegraph cable. The mining Warden, J. G. Taylor immediately replied:-"No, Great Western, for these are the most important westerly diggings in the colony." It is significant that most of the names of the Great Western streets (Nell, Stephenson, Rennie, Locke, Brunel, Cubitt, Paxton) are those of old -time shipping engineers or of men associated in some way with Great Eastern.
    None of the customary signs of a decayed mining centre are evident at Great Western now. The Inner-State highway passes here through an avenue of English trees, and solid brick stores, cottage gardens bright with flowers: two or three well cared-for little churches have a background of vineyards and eucalypt forests. A white gravel road branching easterly leads to the old home of the Trouettes & the Blampieds. The rusty wine press, the kitchen with its stone-flagged floor and large open fireplace fitted with iron hooks are mute reminders of the kindly, industrious French colonists whose hospitality was a feature of Great Western life in the 70's and 80's of last centuary.
    Memorable Feast
    At one of these fate days, held on the Queen's birthday in 1883, Hubert de Castella was present, and he vividly describes the scene in his second book of Australia sketches, "John Bull's Vineyard." "Over fifty guests sat at the tables, which were covered with white cloths, and laden with fat turkeys, fowels, game, pies, fruit and flowers. ?To the English profusion of meat." De Castella says, "to which was added the good French cooking of vegetables: the best wine of the vignoble was abundantly supplied."
    "Mrs. Trouette," de Castella writes, who 38 years before led her young brother to show him the road to independence, was tall and strong, though a little bowed by toil: her dress was that of the good old time in France: the slow candenced accent of her Lorriane dialect, of which she had lost nothing, was in harmony with the kindliness and dignified simplicity of her looks. She called to us her son and daughter, two young people, speaking both French and English. Her brother, a large handsome man of 48, had one of those faces which inspires confidence from the first. He had married the daughter of an Alsatian, his friend at Beechworth, and their numerous little children completed the Patriarchal family.
    Less than three years later these happy times at St. Peter's were but memories. Jean Pierre Trouette died first, and some months afterwards his son, Nicholas, gave his life to save a young employee who was overcome by fumes while cleaning out an underground fermenting tank.
     
    Person ID I5570  Hickey, List, Bundesen, Thomsen, Jensen, Jessen
    Last Modified 21 Feb 2021 

    Father Pierre Nicholas Blanpied,   b. 1 Nov 1791, Donjeux, Murthe-et- Moselle, Lorraine, France Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Mother Marie Francoise Jardin/Geardin,   b. France Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Married Abt 1822  Moselle, Lorraine, France Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Family ID F1799  Group Sheet

    Family Jean Pierre Trouette,   b. Abt 1833, Estampes, Gers, Midi-Pyrénées, France Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 24 Nov 1885, Great Western, Victoria, Australia Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age ~ 52 years) 
    Married 9 Apr 1856  St Monica's Chapel, Heidelberg, Victoria, Australia Find all individuals with events at this location 
    • Marriage Registration
      Surname: TROUETTE: Given Names: Jean Pierre: Event: Marriage: Spouse: BLAMPIED Ann Marie: Year: 1856: Reg No 1495 [Victoria Pioneer Index 1836 -1888]

      Jean Pierre Trouette, age 23, birthplace, Estampes, Gers, France, son of Pierre Trouette and Marie Jeanna Sorbot.

      Ann Marie Blampied, age 31, birthplace, Vic Meurthe, France, daughter of, Pierre Blampied and Marie Francoisa Jardin.

      Married 9 Apr 1856 in St. Monica's, Heidelberg, Victoria, Australia.
    Children 
     1. Nicolai Barthelmy/Bartholomew Trouette,   b. 1859, Ararat, Victoria, Australia Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 3 Mar 1886, St Peter's Vineyard, Great Western, Victoria, Australia Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 27 years)
     2. Marie Françoise Trouette,   b. Abt 1859, St Arnauld, Victoria, Australia Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 29 Jul 1927, The Hermitage, Great Western, Victoria, Australia Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age ~ 68 years)
    Headstones
    Jean Pierre Trouette, Anne Marie, Nicolas & Marie Francoise
    Jean Pierre Trouette, Anne Marie, Nicolas & Marie Francoise
    Jean Pierre Trouette, Anne Marie, Nicolas & Marie Francoise
    Jean Pierre Trouette, Anne Marie, Nicolas & Marie Francoise
    Lower part of headstone
    Trouette historical plot
    Trouette historical plot
    Last Modified 15 Feb 2021 
    Family ID F1800  Group Sheet

  • Headstones
    Pierre Trouette and Family
    Pierre Trouette and Family

  • Sources 
    1. [S66] Mrs Laurina Collins.


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