Cornwall
Smugglers
with
Coast Guard / Revenue
/ Salt Officers
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The Sad Tale of William Toll
Dedicated to the memory of
Betty Eggleton.
By George Pritchard
When
carrying out the research for this web page I came across an
article in the Journal of the royal Cornwall Institute entitled
"A CORNISH MINER EMIGRATES TO AUSTRALIA". It was written in 1952
by a Charles S Edwards and was based on his fathers diary plus
reminiscences told to him by his father.
In the article he told how
in the year 1852, the startling discovery of
gold in the Antipodes had become a matter of worldwide interest
and his father, John Roach Edwards, a miners son, of Trevarrack,
Lelant began a voyage to Australia in the sailing ship Kalmia, a
vessel of 600 tons burden.
To this
youth of 21 there came the thrill and urge to seek his fortune
in this comparatively little known land. Arrangements were made
at Penzance to travel by coaster to the port of embarkation,
Liverpool. The boat arrived at nighttime when hundreds of lights
from the shore were a sight, which the Cornish emigrant thought
uncommonly impressive. Next day an official of the Liverpool and
Australian Navigation Co. informed him that he would berth on
the Kalmia next to another Cornishman named William Toll, a
reformed smuggler, from the neighbourhood of Porthleven. It was
with some apprehension that John Roach Edwards encountered one
who, for many years, had lived a devil-may-care existence along
the Cornish coasts but ere long the two struck up a happy
friendship.
William
Toll was a much older man of some 50 years. He told William that
he was married and that his wife Charlotte had stayed behind to
run the The Dolphin pub in Germoe Churchtown. If he was
successful at the diggings and liked Australia then she planned
to join him with their three children Charlotte aged 18, Honor
16 and James aged 14.
During
the voyage, William and John would join some St. Ives men on the
fostle in the evening where they sang old Cornish Mining songs.
On Friday September 24th John recorded in his diary, "The moon
shining very beautifully on the little company. I thought about
the many evenings I had spent in this way when at home, but
instead of a building to look at, there was the beautiful
luminous water before us.
One day
John asked William how he had got such a bad injury to his left
hand which meant that his fingers were never opened. William
told him it was the result of a contest with coastguards during
his smuggling days. He told him that one night he and his
confederates were surprised by a body of coastguards eager to
arrest them whilst engaged in their nefarious business. William
and the other smugglers managed to get the better of their
attackers but, in endeavoring to parry a coastguards stick,
William was out- witted, his challenger whisking out sword from
stick, and cutting the leaders of Tolls left hand. There was a
risk in going to a doctor for treatment as, undoubtedly,
officers of the law had been warned to watch near local
surgeries for the advent of a patient with a badly cut hand, so
Toll allowed his wound to heal as best it could. And that was
when he decided to give up the smuggling game.
During
the course of the voyage, the two men agreed that when they
reached Australia they would become partners at the diggings.
And they knew that the long voyage had all but been completed
when on the on the 20th of December a pilot came on board at10
a.m. and at noon the Kalmia dropped anchor in Port Philip
harbour.
At 7
a.m. the next morning they took ship to Melbourne arriving 4
hours later, 119 days after leaving Liverpool. John wrote "We
intended to stay in Melbourne, but lodgings being so expensive,
we were obliged to camp S.E. of the town where already 4,000
were camping. Soon we heard of gold discovery at Ovens, 200
miles north of Melbourne, to which place we decided to trek.
Setting out on December 28th we arrived January 11th, 1853,
after a most tedious journey. The weather being very hot and the
water impure, dysentery made its appearance. I had it for 4 days
but alas! William Toll succumbed to it.
This
tragic loss caused grief to the party, to John most of all, for
he had got to like him during the journey out and found him a
good companion. The diary adds that with some difficulty they
secured a coffin and buried his body in the bush3 miles from
the little township of Wangratta. A small wooden cross was
raised over his grave bearing a simple inscription to a departed
comrade. The gold watch and chain, a wallet, an unusual kind of
knife, which, if it could speak, would tell of many smuggling
episodes, a silver snuff box and other personal belongings were
entrusted to John's care so that when he should return to
Cornwall, he might seek out William's widow and place such
mementoes in her hands.
Postscript:
When I closed the book I
was left wondering what happened. And being a member of the
Cornish L-list a notice board for those doing research into
Cornish family history I posted the following e-mail:
Hi. Listers,
Is their anyone on the list researching the name of Toll. If
so please
get in touch as I have a document which may be of interest.
George P.
To which I received
the following reply:
Hello George
I am researching Tolls in the St Keverne/Breage/Germoe area.
This west Cornwall family has a separate origin to other
Tolls in east Cornwall. Let me know if your find relates to
the west Cornwall Tolls.
Regards,
Edward Martin
Dear Edward
I
should think this is definitely one of yours. Let me know if
it is.
Kind regards
George P.
Dear George,
HOW ABSOLUTELY AMAZING !!
William Toll is my great-great-grandfather. As you will see
from the details
below of his life, there can be no doubt as to the
identification. Family
memory does indeed record that his fate in Australia was
unknown for several
years until one day a man came to his widow's inn and told
her that he had
died in the outback. Somehow I have never seen the article
in the JRIC, even
though I am a member and have a run of the journal going
back to the 1960s.
Many thanks for taking the trouble to post the message and
to send me the
file.
Edward Martin
Edward also sent me the birth marriage and death details of
William and Charlotte his wife and also the details of a
gravestone in Germoe Churchyard. The gravestone is almost
unreadable now.
William Toll,
Aged 50
Died 1853 in Australia,
Also Charlotte wife of the above.
A twist to the tale was
when Corinne Thompson another member of the Cornish L-list who
lives in Australia put Edward Martin in touch with Betty
Eggleton. Betty was a descendent of John Roach Edwards
who had the original diary. Unfortunately Betty died just before
Christmas but Jack her husband has kindly sent Martin a Copy
March 14th 2003.
Further information on the
travels of William Toll came to light in the following letter
from Margo Palmer.
"My mother has this
poem and a letter to Charlotte Toll, as passed down to
her from her mother (William Toll's niece, Emily Eleen Hebbard
Jago). If you
are interested in the contents of the letter I can transcribe it
for you. My
mother has wondered for years what became of William Toll, and I
was
thrilled to provide the information to her from your site!!!
Thank you for posting it.
Margo Palmer
Lower
California & its Inhabitants
Of all the roughs of life
That ever I have passed,
Thereıs none that's neer as rough as that
Since entering in La Paz
The roads are rough and rugged,
The landscape, far from good,
And to travel by the stage,
Will almost, chill oneıs blood,
The trees are small and scrubbed,
and the grass, not very good.
The hills are rather rugged,
And the cattle, little food.
The houses are made of timber.
Each fixed on its end.
Some are six inches separate,
And others, half a span.
Though some are daubed with mortar,
Which keep out little rain,
The inside is not enticing
Because they are not clean.
The men, they smoke tobacco,
And the women do so too,
And most of them do gamble,
Thatıs so. I know it's true,
But they are independent people
And do not care to work,
And if you think to drive them,
you'll labour off the mark.
Their clothes are very little
And those are very thin
And in the night they take their rest
On a bullocks skin.
They are very good to travel
For their frame is rather light,
But being superstitious
They are timid, when at night.
Their complexion is very sallow,
While some are very dark,
And to spend some time among them
One need be very smart,
I think most of them treacherous,
On them cannot depend.
I never trust any of them,
Neither women nor the men.
The Childrens dress is very rude,
Which make them look forlorn
And I often see them run about
as naked as when born.
Their laugh and cry seem natural,
But their talk is very strange
And if ever I could learn it,
It would take me all my days.
The thoughts of that I cannot bear,
No, not ever for one day,
And could I get ten times as much
Always I would not stay.
Old Englandıs shores and scenery
To me, surpass by far
The sights of Lower California
Or any place, I know.
Written by William Toll - around 1849
Somewhere in Baja California
I then received the
following from Jocelyn Palmer, Margo's mother.
To : Mr. & Mrs. George
Pritchard
From: Jocelyn (Jago) Palmer
I enclose a copy of William Tollıs letter to his wife,
Charlotte. The original letter is very fragile (being 150 years
old ). The Tolls were on my motherıs side of our family. Her
maiden name was Hebbard, her dad being James Arther Hebbard;
and her Motherıs maiden name was Pope. Iım quite sure that
Charlotte Toll was the one of the ancestors on the Pope side. It
was my grandmother's understanding that this was the last letter
"Dear Charlotte" received from Wm Toll. Let's hope he got home
to see her before he left for Australia!
The town of Cobrey still exists in northeastern Nevada...very
mountainous country. There is a town named Cornish nearby as
well - I would imagine it was inhabited by many Cornish during
the '49 gold rush days. This is really very interesting. I
have an old whist table that was originally Charlotte's
and was left to my grandmother, Emily (Pope) Hebbard.
Cobrey September 15th 1849
Deer wife and children I now answer your letter June 28th hoping
this will find you and the children in good helth as it leaves
mee.
At present thanck God for it Joseph is left for old england the
10th instant hee have the pour of an atterney and will with you
recive the money and settel with him and leave mee know what I
am in det and how I do stand. I should lick to pay every one
beefore com Home. I have sent the money to you as I goat it. I
intend to send L20 (Pounds) moor as beefore then. I should
like to keep a littel for to com home. As to the land if you
can tack it worth the money leave it Cpt Will and Mr. Harvy the
value must be greatly redused since I left so if you can tack it
worth the money tacke it and I will com home as son as I can.
Cobrey -2-
Dear wife and children I hope you are satisfied as to my going
away if I had a stayed at home what should wee have a don by
this time. I know I left without your consent. Give my kind
lov to Mr. Treloar and tell him that Wm Toll would lick to liv
in England and will Com home as soon as posabel if hee will let
the land that I can liss my Deer Charlotte. It is not all
pleasure in this country my Worck is not hard but I have a great
deal to Mind and every one is very kind to mee except the
Spanyards wich I have a great deal to do with. Richard Nichols
is very well at presant and so is Stephen Williams. I have now
seen them both.
My Deer Charlot I must concllude and hope you will give my lov
to all enquiring friends.
I remain forever your loving husband,
William Toll
Dear George
The last contact turned out to be my cousin Margo Palmer and we
have been corresponding ever since, catching up on family
stories. My family and hers were last in regular contact in the
the early 1950s (I found that we had a photo of Margo's parents'
wedding in 1951) though we kept up a sporadic contact until
about the time my father died, some fifteen years or so ago. So
it was good to re-establish a link.
I enjoyed visiting your web site and reading the stories - well
done for producing such an interesting site. One small
correction however - the last letter from William Toll was sent
from the El Cobre mine in Cuba, not Cobrey in Nevada. This is
confirmed by the franking mark on the letter, which reads
'Santiago de Cuba'. The California poem is a bit of a mystery
as, as far as I know, William Toll never went there. However his
grandson William Toll Pope was in Mexico for a time and then
went to California - allegedly he had to be smuggled out of
Mexico in a coffin to avoid assassination (which suggests that
he had inherited something of his grandfather's character,
though he was later a very respectable mine manager in South
Africa). I am awaiting a photocopy of the poem from Margo, so
hopefully we will be able to sort this one out.
with best wishes
Edward
Another little piece of the jigsaw that makes up the life of
William Toll appeared in the West Brition on April 27th 1838.
Public House to Let
To be LET, with possession at Midsummer next, all that Inn or
PUBLIC HOUSE, situate in
GERMOE Church-town, known by the sign of THE CORNISH MOUNT,
Together with
Stabling, and about 2 Acres of rick land adjoining, now in the
occupation of Mr. Wm. TOLL.
Apply, (if by letter post-paid), to Mr. ELLIS, Spirit Merchant,
who has, for SALE, prime
South-ham Cider. Helston, April 24, 1838
? is this William's Marriage record? if so then we have two
separate Williams,
Germoe, William TOLL of Germoe too Charlotte MATHEWS of
Sithney, 31-Jan. 1830
William and his family are shown as follows on the 1841 Census:
Trethewy, in Germoe.
William Toll,35,,Farmer,In county ,
Charlotte Toll,,35,,In county ,,
Charlotte Toll,,7,,In county ,,
Honner Toll,,5,,In county ,
William and his family are shown as follows on the 1851 Census:
Church Town, Germoe, Cornwall
William Toll,Head,M,47,,Licensed Victuallor,Germoe Cornwall
Charlotte Toll,Wife,M,,47,,Madron Cornwall
Charlotte Toll,Dau,U,,16,At Home,Germoe Cornwall
Honor Toll,Dau,,,14,Scholar,Germoe Cornwall
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