Sidney Austin (Wardie) Truscott ³⁵²

  General Notes:

Beale Stitt remembers: Uncle Sid and Aunt Julia visiting Mortdale (Tom Truscott). Sid was heavy smoker and 'smelt the house out' during the visit. Tom Truscott also smoked (a pipe). Thought to be well off by Emmaville standards. Family nick-name of "Wardie" from grandson unable to say 'grandfather'. AGCI lists a death for a Sidney Austin Truscott at Ashgrove (Queensland) 3/7/1943. Storekeeper in Annandale then Texas Queensland 1920s then in Jandowie, Queensland (1926). Later farmer in Jandowie. Bought store in Jandowie 1941 but retired to farm soon after.
Jim Truscott notes:
Information from Allan Truscott, Sidney's eldest son, written in the 1970s Sidney Austin Truscott (Wardie) was born in Blackwater, Cornwall, England on 27 January 1875 and he was baptized in Truro Cathedral. He came to Brisbane with his parents when three years old. The family settled in the tin mining town of Vegetable Creek, now called Emmaville, in New England, NSW. His father, John Charles Truscott, commenced a general store business. Sidney and his two brothers, Jim and Tom, attended public school (State) at Emmaville and had only a primary education. I presume they worked in the business with their old man and like most youth, locked horns with their father and cleared out on bikes, but Sidney, the physically weakest of the three, returned after a few miles. The three boys were very attached to their mother. I am not aware how long the two elder boys remained away. There is gap there that I cannot fill. The next part of the story as far as I know, the three brothers took over the store from their father and it became 'Truscott Bros'. Jim did the buying, Tom the bakery and Sidney did the books. They worked long hours and were successful businessmen relative to the period. See the original hand written agreement between the three brothers dated 24 August 1905, held by Stephen Truscott

He married Julia Gertrude Musgrave (May) who was born 20 May 1880 on 6 July 1902 in John Musgrave's private residence at Kirby Street in Emmaville. Julia's father, John Musgrave had a bakery business in opposition to Truscott Bros. The couple lived in a galvanized house a walkable distance from the town, nicknamed 'Billygoat Flat.' They called their house 'Kiora'. Their first son, Allan Truscott, arrived on the scene on 18 June 1903 when Sidney was 28 years old. The marriage was successful from one angle but like most mixed marriages their religious differences gave each one a philosophy that was incompatible, resulting in much ever present contentions.

With the advent of World War One looming Truscott Bros sold out to Gissing and Rutherwood about 1912 or 1913, I have forgotten. Jim and Tom commenced a motor business, a service to Deepwater (17 miles) and repairs. Sidney shared with two others in a moving picture show. Mercie Truscott was born at Billygoat Flat on 7 October 1908. During her infancy we shifted to a house in Moore Street in the town where Jessie Truscott was born on 10 October 1913 and later on John Charles Truscott (the second) on 11 March 1916.

I went to De la Salle College Armidale in 1915 and 1916 with Bert Truscott who was Charles Thomas's (Tom's) son and born July 1903. Later we both went to Newington College at Stanmore in Sydney. Sidney bought a small mixed business at Johnstone Street in Annandale in Sydney. He was not there long when he purchased a general business in Texas Queensland, 60 miles from Emmaville and he was there for about seven years. Cyril, the youngest son was born on 29 January 1920. Julia went to Emmaville for the birth. Sidney sold out in Texas about 1924 and restarted the old business on his own at Emmaville for about 12 months. He bought a general business in Jandowae in 1926. After about seven years he bought a farm in Jandowae, Queensland about 1932. It was named 'Allandale' after his oldest son, Allan Truscott. He retired to the dairy farm with my brother John about 19391940. In 1941 a Brisbane warehouse firm telephone him about a store in Jandowae owned by a Joe Lyons who went broke. Instead of declining it outright he offered a price well below the stock value and next day they accepted his offer and surprise, surprise he found himself back in business in Jandowae in different premises. I joined him from Sydney in the business and foolishly enlisted in the Army in 1940. The old fellow had a heart attack in 1941 and I got leave from the RAAF and we disposed of the stock and he went back to the farm run by my brother John Truscott, about 12 miles out of town.
During World War Two, Sidney and Julia tripped about but eventually lived with their daughters, Sidney with Jessie, and Julia with Mercie who were now married and both living in Ashgrove West. On 20 March 1944 the casualty figure in the daily press confirmed that Flight Sergeant Cyril (Bill) Truscott, previously missing, was now presumed dead. Cyril's death was a severe blow to both of them and Julia had to be sedated. As the years went by they celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary and about three months later Sidney died in Mt Olivet Hospital on 1 October 1962. Jess and I were present. Sidney was a very heavy smoker of cigarettes and when I was a young boy his recreation was hunting (not betting) with Greyhounds (kangaroo dogs) and we would walk all day chasing in the bush. His only sister Ola Chapman (nee Truscott) and younger brother Percy (a chemist at Muswellbrook in NSW) as well as his elder brother Jim predeceased him. The other older brother Tom, died in 1963 after Sidney. In retrospect, Sidney was a kindly man and he was held in great affection by his family, and he lived on his own means for over 20 years. He never required a pension. He was an excellent father, always helped us financially when we need it. Although a Methodist, he was buried in Toowong Cemetery by Father J Flannery, the Parish Priest at Ashgrove West with the permission of Archbishop James Duhig.

His family nick-name of "Wardie" came from a grandson (Michael Ryan son of Jess Ryan) being unable to say 'grandfather'. He was storekeeper in Annandale then Texas Queensland in the 1920s then in Jandowae, Queensland in 1926. Later he was a farmer in Jandowae. He bought a store in Jandowae in 1941 but he retired to the farm soon after.

  Noted events in his life were:

• Baptism: Truro, Cornwall England. (Methodist)

• connection. ³⁷¹ Jim Truscott's connections to me are as follows:
Jim Truscott (C1940)
His father was Allan Truscott (1903)
His father was Sidney Truscott (1875)
His father was John Truscott (1842) who married Elizabeth Coad (1848)
Her father was John Coad (1824) who married Jane Rogers (1824)
Her father was John Rogers (1796) who married Ann Reed (1795)
Her father was Nicholas Reed (1768)
His father was William Reed (1743)
His father was John Reed (1704)
His father was William Reed (1666)
His father was John Reed the Younger (1632) & he also had Nicholas Reed (1679)
He had William Reed (1729)
He had Nicholas Reed (1755)
He had Nicholas Reed (1788)
He had Nicholas Reed (1818)
He had James Reed (1850) who married Elizabeth Boskano (1852)
Her father was Thomas Boskano who married Susannah Polkinghorne (1817)
Her father was William Polkinghorne (1785)
His father was William Polkinghorne (1759)
His father was Stephen Polkinghorne (1723)
His father was Stephen Polkinghorne (1689)
His father was Alexander Polkinghorne (1664) & he also had William Polkinghorne (1687)
He had Jane Polkinghorne (1716) who married William Jory (1710)
They had William Jory (1734)
He had Edward Jory (1763) who married Jane Landeryou (1763)
Her father was Peter Landeryou (1738)
His father was John Landeryou (1706) & he also had Blanch Landeryou (1741)
She had Robert Landeryou (1768)
He had John Landeryou (1803)
He had Sarah Landeryou (1826) who married Thomas Bray (1821)
They had Arthur Augustus Bray (1869)
He had Albert Alan Bray (1896)
He had Robert Alfred Bray (1920)
He had Robert Arthur (1947) who married me - Robyn Bray (nee Davies) 1950)

Sidney married Julia Gertrude Musgrave, daughter of John Musgrave and Mary Ann Agnes Fogarty, on 6 Jul 1902 in Emmaville, NSW Australia. (Julia Gertrude Musgrave was born on 20 May 1880 in Warwick, Queensland Australia and died on 24 Aug 1972 in Brisbane, Queensland Australia.)