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Dadswell Family

Dadswell/Lewin Family Photograph, 1904 or 1905

A chance meeting in Melbourne has brought to light some early connections of the Dadswell, Lewin and Dalling families.

Gaye (Dadswell) Robinson (1930-2019), second daughter of Henry and Jessie Dadswell, once met up with Isabel (Friend) Jaggs, who at one time lived near Mildura in north west Victoria.

As a descendant of the Dalling family (one of the established families of Mt Cole, the birthplace of Henry Dadswell), Isabel had a lot of contact with the Dadswell and Mitting families then living in the Mildura district.

Although 80-years-old, she could remember well travelling by horse and jinker (a lightly-built two-wheel cart) from Merbein to Red Cliffs, a 20km trip through vineyard country to visit Jessie and Henry Dadswell.
Photograph: Otto and Emma (Lewin) Dadswell
She also had a photograph of a family gathering, thought to have been taken around 1904 or 1905 (it may well have been a gathering at Christmas 1904).

Of particular interest to this branch of the Dadswell family are pictures of Otto and Emma (Lewin) Dadswell (pictured above right), and their children Henry, Stan and Ethel (Ciss) (pictured below, from left to right - Stan Dadswell, Olive Lewin, Ethel Dadswell and Henry Dadswell).
Photograph: Dadswell family children
It must have been a grand occasion - Henry and Stan have smart, matching suits, including short pants and long stockings. Ethel is dressed in what would have had to be "her finest".

So how do the Dadswells/Dallings/Lewins all fit together? The family tree below explains some of the key inter-relationships.

Emma Lewin, was one of eight children born to Francis Henry and Margaret (Johnstone) Lewin.

Emma married Otto Dadswell, and two of Emma's sisters married brothers in the Dalling family.

(There are several instances of family members marrying brothers. In another branch of the Lewin family, two Lewin sisters married brothers in the Waldron family. One of these marriages led to the family of Les and Vera Waldron who many years later lived next door to Henry and Jessie Dadswell at Red Cliffs).

Some more detailed information:

  • Spencer James Lewin b1766 married Elizabeth Capper b1770
    Spencer and Elizabeth had 5 children, including -

    • Robert Spencer Lewin b1798 marr in Suffolk Mary Ann Diana Isaacson
      Robert and Mary had at least 3 children, including -

      • Francis Henry Lewin b1830 (English) marr Margaret Johnstone b ca1830 (Scottish)
        Francis (sawmill owner at Mt Cole) and Margaret had 8 children and married at Ballarat in 1878 -

1. Frederick McAlpine Lewin b 4 April 1860 at Crowlands, d November 1887 at Ararat Hospital of diptheria. His 'doctor' was later found guilty of his manslaughter.

2. Emma Lewin b 7 March 1862 Mt Cole, d 12 June 1918 Mt Cole, marr at Ararat 1894 to Alfred Otto Dadswell (1860-1946). Their first-born child was Henry, who later established a vineyard at Red Cliffs

3. Isabella Mary Lewin b 6 July 1864 d 1 January 1917 marr James Dalling (1861-1928). Isabella is the grandmother of Isabel (Friend) Jaggs.

4. Francis Henry Lewin b&d 1866

5. Francis Forbes Lewin b 5 February 1868 Ararat, d 5 December 1910 at Ararat, marr Elizabeth Adelaide Victoria Thomas (1872-1933). They had 9 children, including Francis who married into the Shalders family, and another, Eileen, who married Walter George Wakefield - later family members lived at Lake Mungo, north of Mildura.

6. Annie Lewin b 6 July 1870 Mt Cole, d February 1931 Finley, marr Henry Elijah Thomas (1868-1931). Henry was the brother of Elizabeth Thomas (see above information).

7. Frances Elizabeth Lewin b 27 October 1872 Warrak, d 20 April 1908 Braybrook, marr Thomas Dalling (1863-1950). Frances was one of 43 killed in the Sunshine railway disaster.

8. Robert Spencer Lewin b 20 June 1875 Warrak, d 2 September 1911 Mt Cole, marr Mary Anne Slattery (1875-1910). Soon after the death of Mary Anne at the age of 35, 'Spence' apparently took his life. Their 2 children were raised by relatives in New Zealand.

The full family picture is also on this website – see Lewin family photograph.

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