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A bit of information about Edward's early life:
Edward Kelk was born in London in 1842 although his family lived
in the small village of Burgh-le-Marsh in Lincolnshire where three
of his four siblings were born.
Due to his father's ill-health, the family moved to nearby
Boston in 1845 where his father died in 1847. His widowed mother
and her five children had no option but to move into the Boston
workhouse where they remained for some years. Her youngest child
died the same year.
Edward joined his elder brother in Manchester in 1861 where he
worked for J & E Waters but about a year later, the Cotton
famine set in.
About this time, Dr John Dunmore Lang, published his work on
Queensland. In it he stated that Cotton could be profitably grown
there. This led to Edward's decision to emigrate with one of his
co-employees.
The 'Cotton Supply Association of Manchester' was formed in
Manchester with a view to encouraging emigration to overseas parts
of the Empire where cotton might be profitably grown.
Once it was made known that Edward and his companion were going
to Queensland, 14 others decided to accompany them. This company
were supplied with seed, gins etc. to start cotton growing.
On the voyage, disagreements arose, with the result that only
three of the party, Edward Kelk, Charles Milne Foster (who later
married Edward's sister Mary Jane) and a member named Blackburn,
son of a cotton spinner, retained the seed, gins etc., to carry on
cotton production.
Needless to say, the cotton growing plans failed. Edward was
employed by Messrs W & B Brookes Iron & Hardware mongers in
Mary Street.
A brother and sister followed Edward to Brisbane in 1864 and his
mother and elder brother came in 1866 so that all of his family had
immigrated over a five year period.
Edward married Mary Elizabeth Brookes, the daughter of his
employer, in 1869 and he later went into partnership with his
brother-in-law, Charles Foster. They traded as Foster and Kelk
Ironmongers in Queen Street, Brisbane. They obviously had other
interests too, because in 1888 Foster and Kelk in Brisbane had a
'Liberty Room' where ladies could have 'classical' or 'artistic'
costumes made up from imported Liberty designs.
Edward bought land near Hemmant and named the property
Lindum-mere after the Roman name for Lincoln. He built a large
house not far from Pleasantville and also built Kianawah sugar mill
in the 1860s. He pioneered the growing of sugar in the area and was
also instrumental in the establishment of the Methodist Church in
the Hemmant area.
From humble beginnings, Edward's move to Brisbane about 1862,
though not working out as he originally planned, enabled him to
establish himself as one of our noted pioneer
settlers. |