Next to Last – Esther Ann

# 52 ancestors 52 weeks Week 48

Born on the 19 November 1876 Esther Ann NOSWORTHY was the next to last child of George Drew NOSWORTHY and Grace DUFTY [1]. At the time of her birth the family was living around Strathablyn. Esther’s younger brother Francis Edmund was born in 1879 [2].

In the late 1880’s Esther moved with her family to Conmurra region of South Australia. Esther established herself as a teacher during this time working as an unpaid monitor at Ashville [3] and then as a provisional teacher at Wangolina [4]. By 1901 Esther had resigned her post as a teacher at Wangolina [5]. One wonders if at this stage her eyes had started to deteriorate for she would eventually be declared legally blind.

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In 1913 Esther married Edmund GOULD [7]. They settled at Conmurra and were both heavily involved in the Methodist church as well as maintaining their property. After Edmund died Esther moved into the township of Lucindale to live. Over time both her sight and her hearing deteriorated and as a child I thought of her as being both deaf and blind. While in reality she would have been hard of hearing and certainty used her hearing aids well. For a short period of time she lived with us when there was no one else to care for her. Her love of the radio was evident during this time. She would insist that my sisters and I should listen to Children’s Hour on the radio, personally I could think of nothing worse. Often we would come home from school and she would have the radio up close to her hearing aid and be listening to cricket.

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Esther passed away in 1976, just short of her hundred years. She was buried in the Lucindale cemetery alongside her husband [9]

[1] Genealogy SA Birth Index Database. NOSWORTHY Esther Ann. Encounter Bay 175/270

[2] Genealogy SA Birth Index Database. NOSWORTHY Frances Edmund  Encounter Bay 223/16

[3] 1896 ‘THE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT.’, The Express and Telegraph (Adelaide, SA : 1867 – 1922), 20 March, p. 3. (SECOND EDITION), viewed 11 Dec 2018, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article209060491

[4] 1898 ‘THE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT.’, South Australian Register (Adelaide, SA : 1839 – 1900), 21 July, p. 6. , viewed 11 Dec 2018, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article54406151

[5] “EDUCATION INTELLIGENCE.” The Advertiser (Adelaide, SA : 1889 – 1931) 16 May 1901: 8. Web. 11 Dec 2018 <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article4839158&gt;.

[6] State Library SA Woman and children outside a building at Wangolina [B 55133] circa 1905 accessed online at https://collections.slsa.sa.gov.au/resource/B+55133

[7] GOULD—NOSWORTHY. (1913, April 1). The Narracoorte Herald (SA : 1875 – 1954), p. 3. Retrieved December 11, 2018, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article147023447

[8] State Library SA. Hotel, Lucindale [B 6339] accessed online at https://collections.slsa.sa.gov.au/resource/B+6339

[9] Burial Records GOULD, Esther Ann accessed at http://www.naracoortelucindale.sa.gov.au/page.aspx?c=46265