Mark & Maria at home in the Old CountryMark Hayes was born in 6th April 1819 in Medbourne, Leicestershire in the heart of England and died 12th October in Tooborac, Victoria in 1893. Maria Searcy was born in 1826 in Hallaton, Leicestershire and baptised in Uppingham, Rutland. The date 22nd October 1826 is either her birth or her baptism - yet to be confirmed. They were married on Christmas Day, 25 December 1843 at the St Giles Church of England in Medbourne. Mark was 24 and Maria was 17 years old on their wedding day.
Mark and Maria settled into family life in the village of Medbourne with their first child Mary Ann being born in March 1945. George followed quickly in January 1846. A second son, Thomas was born in June 1849 but he sadly he died at six months (according to the family Bible). |
Mark and Maria set Sail
Why did Mark Anthony and his brother Edward Bryan, the only two children of William and Judith Hayes, travel to the other side of the planet with their wives and children? One explanation could be that Maria received letters full of stories of bountiful harvests from Elizabeth Bodycoat (nee Gibbins). [Elizabeth was a close friend of Maria Searcy from Medbourne and eventually Elizabeth’s daughter Mary married Maria's son William.] Mark and Maria must have known they would never see parents, home or England again. Mark Anthony’s brother Edward (“Teddy”) and Amy Hayes (nee Almond) arrived in Australia 6 months after Mark in August 1851. Their cousin Thomas was here by 1855, according to a letter. The Gold Rush of the 1850’s saw about 98,000 English-born people in Victoria by 1854. Australia cried out for migrant farmers to feed the Gold Rush hordes. So Mark and Maria were already well placed to become part of the society who supported the gold rush invasion.
The immigrating Hayes family members came from the ancient Roman settlement town of Medbourne in Leicestershire at the heart of England. They travelled from Medbourne to Plymouth to board a ship to Australia with their children Mary Ann and George. Did they walk or did they travel in a wagon or in a train as illustrated? They set sail from Plymouth on the "Harry Lorrequer" on the 27th November 1850, with a reported 37 deaths during their 107 day voyage. A hard voyage! Disembarking from the "Harry Lorrequer" on the 14th March 1851 at Port Phillip in Victoria, they found bustling young 16-year-old Melbourne. On arrival in this sun burnt new world, Mark was nearly 32 and Maria 25 years old. Mary Ann celebrated her 6th birthday two days after landing in their new country while George arrived aged five. They quickly left Melbourne behind as they headed inland looking for farming land. |
Finding Work
Needing work, Mark Anthony took on work in charge of the stables at the McIvor Inn just north of Tooborac while Maria worked as the cook. As a changing station for the coaches, Mark would have been well occupied. This Inn was on the busy road to the McIvor gold fields (Heathcote) and Sandhurst (Bendigo), full of coaches, bullock wagons, drays, horses and men on foot. The cook house was slab walls and a bark roof. Sarah sometimes received £5 for a plate of bacon and eggs as the miners were free with their money thinking the gold would last forever.
In the May of 1852 their first Australian born son Mark was born but he died 6 months later at McIvor Inn in the November of 1852. The following month, Mark Anthony moved the family, becoming a shepherd on Compton's Run at Graytown 40 kms north-east of Tooborac. In 1853, Mark Anthony bought 70 acres of the Medland Estate between Woodstock and Wollert and farmed it until 1857. While here, William was born in 1854 and Edward 1856. Edward's birth was registered in Campbellfield. |
Family in a Tent
On the 8 June 1857, Mark purchased at auction the right to select 213 acres in the "Parish of Tooborack" for approximately £1 per acre. This land was at McIvor Creek (between Tooborac and Heathcote).
Here they set up tents that August on a small creek that runs into the McIvor Creek. The area where they camped was on the opposite side of the road to where they went on to build their house. This camping site is now called 'Hayes Reserve' where Charles "Boy" Hayes erected a plaque commemorating Mark and Maria (see the photos). Mark Henry was born 1858 here in the tent followed by James born in 1859. |
Leicester HouseThe house they built on the property was named "Leicester House" but we are not sure when they first moved in. David's niece Violet said David was "born (1861) in the little cottage now still beside the McIvor road on the way to Heathcote." The 'little cottage' was Leicester House, often referred to as "The Stone House". Edward recalls living there when he was about 6 yrs old which would have been about 1862. Mark used the property for sheep farming and went on to purchase more land in the area.
Joseph was born in 1863 in the new house. Tragically Joseph drowned as a toddler three years later in 1866. Alfred, born that year of 1866, never married and must have been health impaired as his father wrote him into his will as requiring care by his siblings. Albert was the third born in the "Stone House" in 1868 and the last of the siblings. At Albert's birth there were nine living siblings: one daughter and eight sons. Mark begins a Sunday SchoolAs Jack Hayes writes, "In order to give his children a Christian foundation for their lives he started a Sunday School in a shillion room of their home." Mark included any other local children in their weekly sessions.
To read more about Mark and descendants local influence in Christian endeavours in and around Tooborac, go to the tab "More ..." and select "Christian Heritage" (or click on the orange words to go straight there). |
Heathcote Agricultural SocietyIn 1880 an Agricultural, Horticultural and Industrial Exhibition to encourage local talent and industry was opened at the Town Hall by the Hon. Duncan Gillies. The promoter of the movement being the Rev. Father Roche. On the 8th March 1882, a meeting of the citizens including delegates from the Shire and Borough Councils took place and thus the Heathcote and McIvor District Agricultural, Pastoral and Horticultural Society was formed. Mark was a founding member and three years into existence he became President in 1985 when he was 66 years old.
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Deaths of our ForebearsMaria died on the 26th January 1889 in Tooborac.
Sadly their son James died after an accident in 1891 before his father's death. Mark died on the 12th October of 1893 in Tooborac. Mark and Maria were buried in the Heathcote Cemetery with James on one side and in 1942 their son Alfred was buried on the other side of them. |
Heather Hayes writes her history ...These pages were written by Heather Vagg (Hayes). Some of the material is different to the material we have written and we are happy to be wrong if the truth can be established. Heather wrote about both her father's and her mother's families. More of her pages can be found elsewhere in this site.
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