Wood, Fell and Thomson families further papers, 1837-1934

MLMSS 8056

fonds

1837-1934

Textual Records, Graphic Materials, Ephemera, Photographs, Clippings

153309

0.51 metres of textual material (3 boxes)

Rev. Dr. Adam Thomson (1779-1861) was minister of a Presbyterian Church in Coldstream, Scotland. He was responsible for breaking the monopoly of Bible-printing in Scotland and making it possible for the poor to purchase Bibles. His second son, Rev. Adam Thomson (1813-1874) was born in Coldstream and in 1824, he matriculated at the University of Edinburgh. He became a licensed preacher at the age of 18 and began his ministry at Hawick, Scotland, which was to last for 27 years. In Hawick, he met and married Helen Ritchie Wilson (1819-1853) and they had a son (Adam) and three daughters (Mary, Isabella and Helen). While at Hawick, Rev. Adam Thomson took an active part in social and political movements. He met his second wife, Margaret Smellie (1830-1906), while travelling abroad in 1857. A son, James, was born to them in 1858. Due to health problems, Rev. Adam Thomson was advised to move to a milder climate and in 1860 he accepted a call to Phillip Street United Presbyterian Church in Sydney. His son Adam was studying Medicine at the University of Edinburgh at that time. A daughter, Annie, was born in Sydney in 1863. In 1865, Rev. Adam Thomson was appointed the first Moderator of the Presbyterian Church of New South Wales. He was an active force in the establishment of St. Andrew's College at the University of Sydney, and became its first principal in 1873.

John Wilson Fell was a ship broker in Glasgow with the company J.W. Fell & Son. James Walter Fell (1847-1882), first son of John Wilson Fell and Mary Fraser, became an engineer with the Australian Gas Light Company. In ca.1870, he married Helen ('Nell') Wilson Thomson (1849-1935), daughter of Rev. Adam Thomson and Helen Ritchie Thomson (nee Wilson). In 1875 he conceived the idea of introducing gas to the North Shore of Sydney. The project was completed in 1877 and led to the formation of the North Shore Gas Company Ltd. He planned the shale oil works at Joadja, N.S.W. in 1877 for the Australian Kerosene Oil and Shale Company and remained a consulting engineer for the Company until 1881. John ('Jack') Walter Fell (1872-1891), only son of James Walter Fell and Helen Wilson Fell, attended the Cooerwull Academy (boarding school) at Bowenfels, N.S.W. James and Helen Fell also had two daughters, Helen ('May') Mary Old and Catherine ('Katie' or 'Kit') Isabella Wood.

Rev. Fred W. Wood (1872-1947) worked in the legal profession before entering full-time ministry for the Presbyterian Church. In 1907, he married Catherine ('Katie' or 'Kit') Isabella Fell (1877-1951), an active member of the YWCA of New South Wales. They had two children, John Fell Dalrymple Wood (born 1909) and Catherine ('Casheen') Helen Dalrymple Wood (born 1912). In 1918, Rev. Fred Wood was appointed to the church at Collarenebri, NSW. In 1921, he and his wife served as missionaries in Sholinghur, India for one year. During that year, the children lived with their grandmother, Helen Wilson Fell ('Da'), at her home in North Sydney called 'Branxholme'. Rev. and Mrs Wood returned to Collarenebri and worked there for many years, while the children remained in Sydney to finish their education.

Reference:
Compiled from the collection

BOX 1.
Item 1: Helen Wilson Fell - diary in linen pouch including eye witness account of the shooting of the Prince of Wales at Clontarf on 12 March 1868. Mentions constant visitors at her fathers house: Sir George Reid, Sir Edmund Barton, Robert Richardson. Dated Jan. 1868 - March 1869
Item 2: Helen Wilson Fell - Album of typed diary transcripts and other letters, including photographs. Dated 1882 - 1887
Item 3: Helen Wilson Fell - Album of typed diary transcripts with letters of Adam Thomson (her brother) including photographs. Dated 1875 - 1908
Item 4: Helen Wilson Fell - Album of typed diary transcripts and other letters, including letters of Helen Richie Thomson and typed letters from the Weir family of Gibraltar. Dated 1837 - 1880
Item 5: Manuscript ledger book of the Fell and Wood family recording cash accounts. dated 1888 - 1892 and 1947 - 1960

BOX 2.
Item 1: John Wilson Fell - Album of typed diary transcripts, letters, clippings and photographs including correspondence related to shale oil investment and the Fell and Fraser genealogy. Dated 1847 - 1869
Item 2: Helen Wilson Fell - Album of typed diary transcripts and other family letters, including photographs and diaries of Mary Selby Wilson. Dated between 1900 and1916
Item 3: Helen Wilson Fell - Album of typed diary transcripts and other letters, including photographs. Dated 1917 - 1932
Item 4: Helen Wilson Fell - Album of manuscript letters from Helen W. Fell mainly to her daughter Catherine Isabella Wood and also to her grand children John and Casheen. Dated 1899 - 1920
Item 5: Helen Wilson Fell - 4 folders of correspondence received from various family members, including her mother Helen Richie Thomson, the Weir family, relatives in Scotland, friends and benificiaries dated 1853 - 1934. Also includes administrative documents related to her house 'Branxholme' in North Sydney.

BOX 3.
Item 1: Album of typed transcripts of letters to and from and concerning Catherine Isabella Wood (Katie Fell) and Federick William Wood. Dated 1902-1903
Item 2: Album of typed transcripts of letters to and from and concerning Catherine Isabella Wood (Katie Fell) and Federick William Wood. Dated 1904-1906
Item 3: Album of typed transcripts of letters to and from and concerning Catherine Isabella Wood (Katie Fell) and Federick William Wood. Dated 1907-1917
Item 4: Album of typed transcripts of letters to and from and concerning Catherine Isabella Wood (Katie Fell) and Federick William Wood. Dated 1918-1920
Item 5: Album of typed transcripts of letters to and from and concerning Catherine Isabella Wood (Katie Fell) and Federick William Wood. Dated 1918-1932
Item 6: Album of typed transcripts of letters to and from and concerning Catherine Isabella Wood (Katie Fell) and Federick William Wood. Dated 1921-1934
Item 7: Album of miscellaneous photographs, ephemera, newpaper clippings related to the Wood family. Dated 1837-1908
Item 8: Rev. Dr. Adam Thomson - Five small notebooks in a linen bag dated 1857-1858

Copyright status:: In copyright - This collection has multiple rights owners
Research & study copies allowed: Applies only to material in which the author has been deceased for more than 50 years

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Thomson family - papers, 1824-ca.1970
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