Frances Jessie Baldock

1905–1958

Married first — if only by four days before her twin, Janet — and ended her life a long way from Newtown, at Wagga Wagga, where both she and her husband are buried.

Born: 21 August 1905 · Newtown, baptised St Stephen’s
Died: 10 January 1958 · Wagga Wagga
Married: Henry Albert Elder (d. 1956), a milk vendor — married 7 June 1927, Erskineville
Lived: 52 years

Frances Jessie married first — if only by four days. On 7 June 1927, at Erskineville, she married Henry Albert Elder, a twenty-three-year-old milk vendor of that suburb, son of William Henry Elder, a bootmaker, and Florence Ida (Houston). Frances, twenty-one and working as a machinist, was still living, like her twin, at the family home on Gowrie Street. Witnessing the marriage were Albert Edward Doherty — the very man Janet would marry at St Stephen’s four days later — and, signing simply "J. Baldock," very likely Janet herself. The minister who married them signed the register "E. R. Elder"; whether he was any relation of the groom’s is not established.¹

The young couple set up house among Henry’s own family, on Union Street, Erskineville — his parents, William Henry (a bootmaker) and Florence Ida (a working midwife), lived there too, along with a second Elder couple, William and Mary, all within a few doors of one another. By the 1930 roll, Henry and Frances were at No. 91, Henry recorded as a "bread carter"; by 1933 they had moved a few doors along to No. 200. The following year they crossed back to Gowrie Street itself — the street the Baldocks had called home for thirty years — first to No. 123 and then, by 1936, to No. 130, where they were still living in 1939, Henry now described as a "brick carter." By 1943, with the district redrawn as Cook’s River, only Frances appears on the roll, alone at 198 Union Street, Erskineville; Henry is not listed there — one of the small gaps a wartime roll sometimes leaves unexplained.²

By 1949 the couple had left Sydney for good. That year’s roll finds Frances Jessie and Henry Albert Elder at 20 Mary Street, Wagga Wagga, Henry now a labourer — the same country town where both would eventually die. Henry died on 12 October 1956; Frances Jessie followed him barely fifteen months later, on 10 January 1958. They lie together at Wagga Wagga Monumental Cemetery.³

Church of England baptism register entry No. 223 for Frances Jessie Baldock, baptised 11 October 1905, born 21 August 1905, parents William Stanley and Jessie Baldock of Newtown, father’s profession painter, by Geo. Middleton. — Frances Jessie’s baptism, register No. 223 — the entry immediately following her twin Janet’s, No. 222, on the line above

Marriage register entry No. 512 recording the marriage of Henry Albert Elder, milk vendor of Erskineville, and Frances Jessie Baldock, machinist of Newtown, on 7 June 1927. — Entry 512, 7 June 1927 — married four days before her twin, with Janet’s own fiancé, Albert Doherty, among the witnesses

The Record

Sources & References

1
Baptism of Frances Jessie Baldock, 1905

Church of England baptism register, parish of St Stephen’s, Newtown, register No. 223: Frances Jessie, born 21 August 1905, baptised 11 October 1905, parents William Stanley and Jessie Baldock, of Newtown; father’s occupation painter; by whom baptised, Geo. Middleton — the entry immediately following her twin Janet’s, No. 222, on the same page. Marriage: Register Book for the use of Ministers authorized to celebrate Marriages, District of Newtown, State of New South Wales, entry No. 512: Henry Albert Elder, milk vendor, of Erskineville, bachelor, aged 23, born Sydney, son of William Henry Elder (bootmaker) and Florence Ida (Houston); married Frances Jessie Baldock, machinist, of Newtown, spinster, aged 21, born Newtown, daughter of William Stanley Baldock and Jessie (Brooks); married 7 June 1927 at Erskineville, according to the rites of the Church of England, by E. R. Elder. Witnesses: A. E. Doherty and, apparently, J. Baldock. NSW BDM marriage registration 9166/1927, Newtown district.
2
Electoral rolls, Erskineville and Newtown, 1930–1943

Commonwealth Electoral Roll, Division of Cook, Subdivision of Newtown, 1930, entries for Union Street: Elder, Frances Jessie (home duties) and Elder, Henry Albert (bread carter), both 91 Union Street. Subdivision of Erskineville, 1933: Elder, Frances Jessie (home duties) and Elder, Henry Albert (brick carter), both 200 Union Street; Elder, Florence Ida (midwife) and Elder, William Henry (bootmaker), both 166 Union Street; Elder, Mary and Elder, William (bootmaker), both 186 Union Street. Subdivision of Newtown, 1934: Elder, Frances Jessie and Elder, Henry (bread carter), both 123 Gowrie Street. 1936 and 1939 editions: the same couple at 130 Gowrie Street, Henry’s occupation given as bread carter. Division of Cook’s River, Subdivision of Erskineville, 1943: Elder, Frances Jessie, home duties, 198 Union Street — Henry Albert is not listed on the same page.
3
Electoral roll and deaths, Wagga Wagga

Commonwealth Electoral Roll, Division of Farrer, Subdivision of North Wagga Wagga, 1949: Elder, Frances Jessie (home duties) and Elder, Henry Albert (labourer), both 20 Mary Street. Findagrave/cemetery transcription, Wagga Wagga Monumental Cemetery: Henry Albert Elder, died 12 October 1956; Frances Jessie Elder, née Baldock, born 1905, Newtown, died 10 January 1958, buried Wagga Wagga Monumental Cemetery. NSW BDM birth registration 35957/1905, Newtown district, father William S. Baldock, mother Jessie Baldock.