Bathurst Pioneers

The Seages have played a noteworthy role in the history of the Bathurst district. In May 1989 a plaque was unveiled in the Bathurst Bicentennial Park on the Macquarie River to commemorate the first of the Australian Seages, John S and his wife Johanna.

John S Seage (born 1791 in Curraghbridge, County Limerick, Ireland and then known by the name “Sage”), his second wife Joanna Griffen and their children arrived in Sydney on an immigrant ship aptly named the Sea in July 1849. John S Sage’s first wife was Mary Bryant, whom he had also married in Ireland. John S had seven children with Mary, all of whom died. This was the time of the Irish potato famine so perhaps their deaths, as well as John S’s decision to emigrate, can be traced to the hardships the family was experiencing. After Mary’s death John S re-married in Ireland at age 40, to Johanna Griffen.

The Seage family bible first started by James and Mary Seage in the late 19th century and passed on down through daughter Mary Veronica Bowen (b Seage), and now with great-granddaughter Margaret Maurice (b Robinson)

Emigration of free settlers was of growing importance at the time. A Sydney Morning Herald article on 29 September 1849 about the arrival of the “Sea” describes this emigration as:

"…[a] very desirable system which the mother country and the colonies have in union adopted for the transport of the redundant population of one part of the kingdom to other parts less populated…"

In the 1980s Betty Seage (b Joan Eva Roff), Margaret’s second cousin by marriage, researched the issue of why the Seages chose to leave Ireland. She quoted the work of Dr. Trevor McClaughlin, History Lecturer and noted Irish historian, who concluded that "a substantial proportion of the families who sent migrants to NSW between 1848 and 1853 had seen their land holdings diminish". These immigrants were not necessarily from the "cottier" (peasant) class, rather most were drawn from what by contemporary Irish standards was a "middle" class of small farmers with holdings of between 5 and 15 acres.

Betty Seage also established that a Charles McPhillamy sponsored the Sages to Australia. McPhillamy met them dockside in Sydney and took them to his property called Charlton at Campbells River in the Bathurst Region. Within a few years John S had established his own farms at Black Springs and Evans Plains.

However John S Sage was still working on the McPhillamy property when, in May 1851, his elder daughter, Eliza or Elizabeth, married Martin Bowen (sometimes spelt “Boaen” or "Bohan") at St. Michaels Church, Bathurst.

In a twist of fate half a century later Mary Veronica Seage was to marry one of Martin's grandsons, Thomas James Bowen (1887-1961). Thus the Seage family line was actually present on both sides of Margaret Robinson's maternal side.

It is unclear when the extra 'e' crept into the Sage name. Bride and groom, as well as the witnesses to that 1851 wedding, all signed the marriage document with marks (that is, they could not write their names). Elizabeth's name was recorded at Bathurst Chancery and the Registrar General as “Sage”. Subsequent birth, death and marriage records until the early 1860s are a mixture of “Seage” and “Sage”. On some documents of this time family surnames are even recorded as “Sagem”, yet witnessed by another member of the family signing themselves as “Seage”.

A few years later, in August 1865, John S consented (with a mark) to the marriage of his youngest daughter Bridget. John’s occupation is given as “farmer” in the village of Evans Plains near Bathurst.

It was from this Evans Plains farm that three years later, on 8 March 1868, John S was taken to Bathurst Cemetery to be buried—as a Seage. He left goods to the value of three hundred pounds, a tidy sum for someone who must have come from his native land with very little.

Little is known of Johanna's movements after her husband, John S, died. She seems to have lived out her remaining years at a property called Kelloshiel, at the village of Eglinton just outside Bathurst with son James (born about 1841 in Ireland) and his wife, Mary Maher. Johanna died in 1894 aged 93. A notice of her death appearing in the Bathurst Free Press of 24 June describes her as a "....relic of the late John Seage" and notes that she was survived by three sons, two daughters, 39 grandchildren and 42 great-grandchildren!

Life at Kelloshiel

Kelloshiel, the home of James and Mary Seage, is an important and stately house in the history of Bathurst. It is located at 20 Mill Lane, Elington just outside the city. Kelloshiel was built in the 1820s by another Bathurst pioneer, George Ranken. Among George’s achievements was the establishment of one of Australia’s earliest vineyards, nearby.

An 1890 article in the Bathurst National Advocate about Kelloshiel described James Seage in the following terms:

"[He is] the beau ideal of that practical farmer, imbued with the stubborn industry and perseverance of his race—strong, hardy, self-reliant, more of a worker than a talker."

Kelloshiel has had many occupants before and after the Seages and its uses have varied from family home to a boarding house. At one stage part of the house was set aside as a sorting shed for apples from an orchard on the property.

A tradition of charity dances began in the early 1930s under the Lews (tenants of the then Kelloshiel owners, the Union Company of Australia Limited). It was continued for several more years under Thomas and Ada Peacock, who bought the property in 1936. There are numerous references to the dances in the local newspaper the Bathurst Free Press throughout that decade. It seems that at one stage these dances were held almost monthly. In a poem about Kelloshiel written in the 1930s and dedicated to Ada the poet waxed lyrical that:

"I love the hills surrounding you, The paddocks green with corn, The little creek that runs below, and the freshness of the morn"

Kelloshiel still stands proud today and remains a family home, having been lovingly restored by the current owners, according to a descendant of the Peacocks.

English porcelain vase, one of several family heirlooms passed on from Mary Seage (b Maher) to her daughter, Mary Veronica Bowen (b Seage) , then onto her daughter Patricia Robinson (b Bowen) and now in the possession of Mary Seage’s great grand-daughter Margaret Maurice (b Robinson). This vase certainly once graced the family home at Kellosheil

Pubs and Breweries

John S and Johanna’s other married sons, John and Patrick, lived near to Kelloshiel. John junior owned two pubs in the Bathurst area (the Farmer’s Home Inn and the West End) and later operated successful breweries, first as manager at Walker and Co. and later at the Bathurst Cooperative Brewery. The Bridge Pub at Perthville outside Bathurst was another pub once connected to the Seage family and still operating today.

Another Seage, John Joseph (1864-1940), a grandson of John S Sage, was a significant figure in the brewery and pub business. After entering the local brewery business in Bathurst as manager of Walker and Co. he later moved to Dubbo where he carried on a flourishing brewery business, known as Treacy and Seage. Returning to Bathurst in 1920 he became brewer and managing-director of the local Cooperative brewery and had the distinction of being the last man in rural NSW to hold any brewery operations before these too were absorbed by the Tooheys which went on to create a monopoly in the brewery business in NSW.

The Seage line to the Robinson family

James and Mary Seage had ten children, one of whom was Mary Veronica, Margaret’s grandmother. When James died in August 1894, shortly after his mother, Johanna, The Bathurst Free Press reported on 13 August that the funeral “was one of the largest ever seen in Bathurst” adding that:

"….There were about 120 vehicles and over 100 horsemen, and the cortege reached for about half a mile. All classes of the community were represented, evidencing the fact that the deceased gentleman was highly esteemed."

Not the funeral of James Seage but another funeral in Bathurst about the same time.  James’ funeral cortege would likely have looked like this. — Not the funeral of James Seage but another funeral in Bathurst about the same time. James’ funeral cortege would likely have looked like this.

Two days earlier the same newspaper had given more detail on James’ life and death:

"Mr Seage had been a resident of the district for a number of years, and was generally respected by all who knew him. He first carried on farming operations on the Macquarie Plains, and about 14 years ago he came to Kelloshiel and rented a large farm of over 100 acres from Mr Rankin. By great exertions he transformed a wild plantation of gums and boxwood into one of the best farms in Bathurst. Many of the farmers and residents in the district will miss him because of his readiness to render assistance and advice whenever sought….It is only about seven weeks ago that Mrs [Johanna] Seage, senior, mother of the gentleman to whom this notice refers, died, and this sad occurrence affected him a good deal."

Details of James' estate is available in the probate records held by the NSW Archives. The papers highlight the nature of his personal holdings as well as provide an insight into a grazier's life in the late 19th century.

Gravestone of James Seage, Bathurst.  He is buried together with an infant son, Michael, who had died some years earlier — Gravestone of James Seage, Bathurst. He is buried together with an infant son, Michael, who had died some years earlier

Tragedy Stalks the Seages

As with all families the Seages have suffered their share of tragedies through the years.

James Joseph Seage (born 1868) was a son of Patrick Seage and grandson of John S Sage / Seage. In December 1927 his daughter, Laurene (sometimes shown in the records as "Lawrence"), died at the hands of her husband, Alexander Whittaker. It was a sensational story at the time and widely reported in the newspapers. Alexander first claimed Laurene had hit her head after a fall, but later changed his story admitting the two had had an argument on the evening she died. He was charged with murder and found guilty of manslaughter. Alexander's initial sentence of 12 months jail was increased on appeal by the prosecution to five years.

Tragedy hit the Seage family again when in January 1945 Flight-Lieutenant James Anthony Seage. (born 1919), one of James Seage’s grandsons (and therefore in the same family line as Margaret Robinson), was lost when his Catalina aircraft went missing during a mine laying operation over the Laoet Straits in New Guinea in the last months of the Second World War. Despite extensive searches no trace of James Anthony or his plane was ever discovered and he was subsequently declared dead.

Adding to the tragedy for his wife, “Betty” Joan Eva (born Roff), was that their first child, Anthony John Seage, was born just two weeks after his father’s disappearance. Six years later, in 1951, Betty married James Anthony’s younger brother, Kenneth Francis Seage (1923-2016) with whom she had a further three boys, Neil, Brendan and Martin. In this way Betty remained part of the Seage family as Margaret Robinson grew up. To Margie she was simply “Aunt Betty”.

Betty plays a significant role in understanding the Seage family history. From the 1980s she extensively researched and documented the Sage / Seage journey from Ireland to Australia. In 2014 her sons generously passed those notes onto Margie which will facilitate further exploration of this family's fascinating story.

The Railway Connection

James Joseph (1868-1943), grandson of John S Seage / Seage, was one of many Seages associated with the railways. The Bathurst Free Press in June 1903 describing him as “a prominent local stationmaster”, noting that:

"…during the past five years £101,000 has passed through Mr Seage’s hands for freight and fares…during the same period over a million sheep were trucked, fifteen thousand cattle and ninety-one thousand bales of wool…"

Thomas Michael Seage (1863-1938), another grandson of John S Sage / Seage, was a leading official in the railways trade union. In February 1903 the Sydney Morning Herald reported that Thomas was active in discussions for the establishment of a superannuation system for NSW railway workers.

Finally Thomas’s brother, Patrick Joseph Seage (1869-1915) was a sufficiently important figure in the railways and tramways department that the Minister of Railways attended his funeral in Sydney in 1915.

Seage Socialites

All these events point to the social standing and prominence of the Seage family. They were well-to-do and seemingly prosperous.The marriage of James Seage’s second daughter, Mary Veronica, to Thomas Joseph Bowen, (Margaret’s maternal grandparents) took place in October 1914 at Redfern. It was a grand affair, as reported in a local newspaper, which also noted:

"…The bride….looked radiant in a frock of white organdie embossed muslin, over white charmense [silk], trimmed with old lace."

Several children followed including Patricia Bowen in 1921, the mother of Margaret Robinson. What a contrast this side of Margaret's family to the much more modest background of the Robinson, Sams and Connelly families of Patricia's future husband, William Patrick “Pat” Robinson.

Maurice-Robinson Family

The Sage Seages of Bathurst

1849