The Kidd Family A Family History
The Poole Family · William & Frances Poole

Grace M Poole

1881–1964

The fourth daughter — married into one of Coolongolook's oldest farming families, raised six children, and was still there forty years later, settling her husband's estate as his widow.

Born
1881 · Wellingrove registration district
Died
1964 · Taree registration district
Married
Samuel Worth
Lived
~83 years

Grace M. Poole was born in 1881, the fourth of William and Frances Poole's daughters, her birth registered in the Wellingrove district — on the New England side of the ranges, not far from the family's own home at the mining township of Dalmorton.1

She married Samuel Worth at Taree in 1902 — Grace about twenty-one, Samuel a thirty-two-year-old farmer eleven years her senior.2 He was Coolongolook born and bred: born there in 1870, the son of George Worth, and one of a very large, long-established local farming family — the Worths fill entry after entry of the district's electoral rolls for the next half-century, and his own 1943 obituary would eventually name ten brothers and sisters, six of them already dead by then.3 Grace's own name turns up in the Gloucester–Forster district electoral roll for 1903–1904, barely a year after the wedding, already as "Worth, Grace, Coolongolook, home duties" — the first of more than a dozen rolls, spanning 1903 to 1949, that place her at Coolongolook for the whole of her recorded married life.4

The couple had at least six children, all registered in the Taree or Stroud districts between 1904 and 1919: George William (1904), Samuel Leslie Frederick (1907), Thomas Harry (1910), Austin Stanley (1913), Isabel Mary (1914) and Myrtle Grace (1919).5 Samuel farmed at Coolongolook throughout — in June 1906 he took up an annual lease of 640 acres in the parishes of Curreeki and Teleraree, county of Gloucester, his neighbour on an identical 640-acre lease next door being a Mr F. H. Bennett.6 At some point in these same years — the trade directory that records it is undated — Grace herself is listed keeping the Family Hotel at Coolongolook, "Mrs. G. Worth": a rare glimpse of her running something of her own in the small township, alongside the farm.7

Their eldest son, George William Worth, made his own way to Sydney and became a grocer. By 1930 he was keeping a shop at 74 Princes Highway, Arncliffe — the address recorded against his name every year through 1934 — and in 1933 he married Gladys Mackie at Marrickville.10 Only months into the marriage, on or about 29 September 1933, his home was broken into and about £15 worth of goods stolen; when the case reached the Sydney Quarter Sessions the following March, the two men responsible, Allan Douglas Johnston(e) and Clyde Reginald Horwood, were sentenced to nine and twelve months' hard labour.11 By the mid-1930s George and Gladys had moved out to Engadine, in the Sutherland Shire, where George again kept a grocer's shop and also held a Crown nursery-garden lease — first granted in 1928, its term extended in 1939 — over three acres at a property the couple named "Gibba Gunga": the same "off Woronora road, Engadine" address his father's 1943 obituary would later give for him.12 Gladys Worth outlived her husband by decades, dying on 8 February 1988 and buried at Woronora Memorial Park, Sutherland.13

Their second son, Samuel Leslie Frederick Worth, stayed close to home. Born at Coolongolook on 23 October 1907, he married Iris May Macbride at Taree in 1937, and during the Second World War served in the Citizen Military Forces, service no. N459378, enlisting at Nabiac.15 He worked the rest of his life as a labourer at Coolongolook itself — electoral rolls place him and Iris there continuously from the 1930s through to 1980, latterly at Mount Garry.16 Two of the couple's sons died young and are buried together with their father in the one family plot at Coolongolook General Cemetery: Gerald Noel, who died at Gloucester on 31 July 1970 aged twenty-one, and George Samuel, who died on 5 May 1984 aged twenty-seven — the second death coming four years after his own father's.17 Samuel Leslie Frederick Worth himself died on 23 September 1980, aged seventy-two, remembered on his headstone as "a dear husband, father and grandfather."18

Their third son, Thomas Harry Worth — his father's 1943 obituary called him "Thomas Henry," but every electoral roll and his own Find a Grave record agree on "Harry" — was born at Coolongolook on 23 December 1910.19 Like his brother Samuel Leslie Frederick, he stayed on as a Coolongolook labourer for the whole of his working life: electoral rolls place him there continuously from at least 1936 to 1972.20 He died on 3 November 1974, and was buried not at Coolongolook but at Newcastle Memorial Park, Beresfield — the only one of Grace and Samuel's children found buried away from the family's own district.21

Grace and Samuel's fourth son, Austin Stanley Worth, married Dulcie F. Willis at Taree in 1935 — a Coolongolook neighbour's daughter: Dulcie's own mother, Elizabeth Willis, died at Coolongolook survived by her husband James and two daughters, "Mrs Ernest Snowden (Gunnedah)" and "Mrs Austin Worth (Coolongolook)" — Dulcie herself.22 Austin was still working as a Coolongolook labourer in 1936, but by the time of his father's 1943 obituary he and Dulcie had moved to Clouds Creek, near Dorrigo, where electoral rolls confirm them through 1946 and 1949.23 At least two sons are recorded: Robert John, born at Taree on 24 November 1938, and Kevin James, born at Grafton Base Hospital on 14 January 1947. By the time Dulcie died the family had moved again, to 86 Skinner Street, South Grafton, where Robert John — by then an adult — still lived with his parents.24 Kevin James died young, at 14 Federation Street, Grafton, on 29 December 1975, aged twenty-eight; Robert John outlived him by almost two decades, dying at Brisbane in 1993. Austin himself lived on at South Grafton, latterly associated with the Post Office Hotel on Skinner Street as a driver, until his own death on 3 January 1990, aged seventy-six. He and Dulcie — who had died on 17 September 1970, aged fifty-six — are buried together at Clarence Lawn Cemetery, South Grafton.25

Isabel Mary Worth married Stanley George Platts at Taree in 1936. Stanley — born at Coolongolook on 9 November 1909, the son of George Joseph and Alice Selina Platts — had been working there as a labourer as late as 1932; within a year or two of the wedding the couple had moved to Taree Vale, where Stanley became a storekeeper.26 Like his brother-in-law Samuel Leslie Frederick Worth, he served in the Citizen Military Forces during the Second World War, enlisting at Nabiac, service no. N470763, with Isabel named as his next of kin.27 The couple lost an infant son, Eric Stanley Platts, who died aged only five months and was buried at Coolongolook — "in God's care," his small headstone reads — and no other children have been found for them.28 Isabel and Stanley eventually returned to Coolongolook themselves: Stanley George Platts died there on 27 November 1980, aged seventy-one, and Isabel Mary Platts — remembered on her own headstone as "a dear mother and nana" — died on 25 May 1994, aged seventy-nine. Both are buried in the Coolongolook General Cemetery.29

Grace and Samuel's youngest child, Myrtle Grace Worth, married Donald George Morris at Gloucester in 1940. Donald had been born far to the south, at Macksville on the Nambucca River, on 26 May 1915, but by 1936 — four years before the wedding — he was already working as a labourer at Coolongolook itself, alongside his future wife's family.30 The couple eventually settled on the coast at Tuncurry, where Donald became a bus driver; their son, Geoffrey Don, followed him onto the roads as a truck driver, living at his parents' Manning Street address before moving to a home of his own nearby.31 Donald George Morris died on 17 July 1983 — back at Coolongolook, the town he had first been recorded in almost half a century before — and Myrtle Grace Morris outlived him by nearly two decades, dying on 26 December 2002; both are buried at Newcastle Memorial Park, Beresfield.32 Geoffrey Donald Morris, born 17 January 1941, eventually moved to Queensland, where he died in 2015.33

Samuel Worth died at home at Coolongolook on Sunday 4 July 1943, aged seventy-three, after an illness of nine months. Four different newspapers — the Northern Champion, the Dungog Chronicle, the Gloucester Advocate and the Manning River Times — all carried essentially the same obituary that week, remembering a lifelong Coolongolook farmer "whose many fine qualities won for him the esteem and goodwill of all who knew him." It named Grace — married to him, the notice recalled, "about 40 years ago" at Taree — as his survivor, together with all six of their children, by then scattered from Engadine to Cloud's Creek near Grafton, though four were still living at Coolongolook itself; and it set out, too, the size of the family Samuel had come from: two surviving brothers, Edward and Joseph, and a sister remembered in one report as Mrs Maud Arnold and in another as Mrs Emma Louisa Arnold, against six brothers and four sisters already predeceased. He was buried the following Monday afternoon in the private cemetery at Coolongolook, the Rev. R. V. Hanington officiating.8

It was Grace who settled his affairs afterwards. The NSW deceased-estates index records Samuel Worth's estate — a farmer of Coolongolook, valued at £1,226 with a further £259 — granted on 28 September 1943 to an administrator recorded simply as "G. Worth." Grace was by then about sixty-two, and still, on the evidence of the same year's electoral roll, living at Coolongolook — the last direct trace of her found so far.9

Grace M. Worth died in 1964, in her eighty-third year, her death registered in the Taree district — the same district that had recorded her marriage sixty-two years before — and her parents once again given as William and Frances.14 What became of her in the two decades in between, beyond the knowledge that she lived to see her eldest son settled and growing old at Engadine, remains largely unresearched.

He was engaged in farming and throughout life was a hard working man, whose many fine qualities won for him the esteem and goodwill of all who knew him.
Obituary, Mr Samuel Worth — Northern Champion, Dungog Chronicle, Gloucester Advocate and Manning River Times, 7–16 July 1943

The Record

Sources & References

  1. 1

    Birth, 1881

    NSW BDM birth index: Poole, Grace M., reg. district Wellingrove, 1881, reg. no. 15386, father William F. Poole, mother Frances Poole.

  2. 2

    Marriage, 1902

    NSW BDM marriage index: Worth, Samuel and Poole, Grace, reg. district Taree, 1902, reg. no. 2295 (indexed identically from both sides).

  3. 3

    Samuel Worth — birth and the Worth family of Coolongolook

    Find a Grave memorial, Samuel William Worth (1870–1943): born Coolongolook, NSW, buried Coolongolook General Cemetery. His obituaries (reference 8) name his parents as "the late Mr. and Mrs. George Worth," and name ten of his own brothers and sisters — Edward, Joseph, George, John, William, James, Stephen, and Mesdames S. J. Bennett, M. Hayes, A. Avery and E. Willis — among the largest single families recorded in this research.

  4. 4

    Electoral rolls, 1903–1949

    Grace Worth is recorded at Coolongolook, occupation "home duties," in NSW/Commonwealth electoral rolls across almost half a century:

    • Gloucester (Forster Division), 1903–1904: no. 896, "Worth, Grace, Coolongolook, domestic duties."
    • Durham—Gooloongolok Polling-Place, 1913: no. 143, "Worth, Grace, Coolongolook, domestic duties" (Samuel appears two lines below, no. 145, "teamster").
    • Commonwealth Division of Cowper, State Electoral District of Gloucester, 1935, 1937 and 1939: consistently "Worth, Grace, Coolongolook, home duties."
    • Commonwealth Division of Lyne, State Electoral District of Gloucester, 1943 and 1949 (Subdivision of Forster): likewise "Worth, Grace, Coolongolook, home duties."
    • A separate, unrelated "Poole, Grace" — housekeeper at Waukivory, near Gloucester — appears in the 1937 Gloucester Subdivision roll alongside a John David Poole and a Frederick Hamilton Poole; this is a different family and has not been connected to this branch.
  5. 5

    The six children

    NSW BDM birth index, all children of Samuel and Grace Worth:

    • George William, reg. district Taree, 1904, reg. no. 27124.
    • Samuel Leslie Frederick, reg. district Stroud, 1907, reg. no. 40471.
    • Thomas Harry (called "Thomas Henry" in his father's 1943 obituary — see reference 19), reg. district Stroud, 1910, reg. no. 9051.
    • Austin Stanley, reg. district Stroud, 1913, reg. no. 25386.
    • Isabel Mary, reg. district Stroud, 1914, reg. no. 49984.
    • Myrtle Grace, reg. district Stroud, 1919, reg. no. 21931.
  6. 6

    Crown land lease, 1906

    Gloucester Advocate, 16 June 1906, "Local and General — Lease Applications Approved": "Samuel Worth, 640 acres, parishes of Curreeki and Teleraree, county of Gloucester; F. H. Bennett, 640 acres, parish of Teleraree, county of Gloucester."

  7. 7

    The Family Hotel, Coolongolook

    Sands' NSW commercial directory, "Country Alphabetical" section (undated fragment): "Worth, Mrs. G., Family Hotel, Coolongolook." A separate, also undated, page from the same series of directories lists "Worth, Samuel, selector, Coolongolook."

  8. 8

    Samuel Worth's death and obituary, 1943

    NSW deceased-estates index (reference 9) gives his date of death as 4 July 1943; Find a Grave (reference 3) records his burial at Coolongolook General Cemetery, aged 72–73. Four newspapers ran near-identical obituaries the same fortnight:

    • Northern Champion (Taree), 7 July 1943.
    • Manning River Times and Advocate for the Northern Coast Districts of New South Wales (Taree), 7 July 1943.
    • Dungog Chronicle: Durham and Gloucester Advertiser, 9 July 1943.
    • Gloucester Advocate, 16 July 1943 — headed simply "Obituary."
  9. 9

    Probate and administration, 1943

    NSW deceased-estates index card, file no. A56692: "Worth, Samuel," address Coolongolook, occupation farmer, date of death 4 July 1943, date of grant 28 September 1943, estate value £1,226 plus £259, administrator "G. Worth."

  10. 10

    George William Worth — grocer at Arncliffe, and marriage, 1933

    Commonwealth electoral rolls, Division of Barton, State Electorate of Arncliffe, Subdivision of Rockdale, 1930, 1931, 1933 and 1934: "Worth, George William, 74 Prince's Highway, grocer, M." NSW BDM marriage index: Worth, George W. and Mackie, Gladys, reg. district Marrickville, 1933, reg. no. 16668 (indexed identically from both sides).

  11. 11

    The 1933 burglary and 1934 trial

    St George Call (Kogarah), 9 February 1934, "Entering Premises": "Allan Douglas Johnson and Clyde Reginald Horwood were charged with that at Sutherland, about 29th September, 1933, they did break and enter the dwelling house of George William Worth, and stole goods to about £15 in value. Accused were committed for trial at Quarter Sessions on 1st March." NSW Police Gazette, 14 March 1934: report of the Sydney Quarter Sessions, 9 March 1934, "Allan Douglas Johnstone and Clyde Reginald Horwood — Break, enter and steal (four counts) — (1) Thomas Edward Bryson, (2) William Albert Edwards, (3) Clive Brinsmead Burrows, (4) George William Worth. Johnson, nine months' hard labour on each count, concurrent...Horwood, twelve months' hard labour on each count, concurrent, to date from the 11th January, 1934." (The offender's surname appears as both "Johnston" and "Johnson"/"Johnstone" across the two reports.)

  12. 12

    The Crown nursery-garden lease, "Gibba Gunga," Engadine

    NSW Government Gazette, 10 March 1939, "Extension of Terms of Special Leases": Special Lease 1928-44, Metropolitan, "Worth, George William, of 'Gibba Gunga,' Engadine" — parish Heathcote, county Cumberland, portion 679, about 3 acres 1 rood 17 perches, purpose "Nursery garden," term extended from 1 January 1939 to 31 December 1945 at an annual rent of £1 10s. Commonwealth electoral rolls, Division of Werriwa, State Electorate of Bulli, Subdivision of Helensburgh, 1936 and later years: "Worth, George William, off Woronora road, Engadine, grocer, M" and "Worth, Gladys, off Woronora road, Engadine, home duties, F," the same address.

  13. 13

    Gladys Worth's death, 1988

    Woronora Memorial Park burial index: Gladys Worth, died 8 February 1988, buried Woronora Memorial Park, Sutherland, NSW.

  14. 14

    Grace's own death, 1964

    NSW BDM death index: Worth, Grace, reg. district Taree, 1964, reg. no. 8896, father William, mother Frances — matching William F. and Frances Poole exactly.

  15. 15

    Samuel Leslie Frederick Worth — birth, marriage and WWII service

    National Archives of Australia, series B884, service no. N459378: Samuel Leslie Fredrick Worth, born 23 October 1907, Coolongolook, NSW; enlisted (Citizen Military Forces) at Nabiac, NSW, service 1939–1948; next of kin Iris Worth. NSW BDM marriage index: Worth, Samuel L. F. and Macbride, Iris May, reg. district Taree, 1937, reg. no. 9576.

  16. 16

    Electoral rolls, Coolongolook, 1930s–1980

    Commonwealth electoral rolls, Subdivision of Forster, consistently record the couple at Coolongolook across five decades: "Worth, Samuel Leisly Frederick, Coolongolook, labourer, M" (1935, 1937, 1939, 1943, 1949, 1972, 1977 and 1980) and "Worth, Iris May, Mount Garry, Coolongolook, home duties, F" (from at least 1972).

  17. 17

    Gerald Noel and George Samuel Worth

    Find a Grave memorials, Coolongolook General Cemetery, plot Ang: G17: Gerald Noel Worth (1949–1970), died Gloucester, NSW, headstone "In Loving Memory Of Our Dear Son & Our Brother... Died July 31, 1970, Aged 21 Years. Forever In Our Hearts"; George Samuel Worth (1957–1984), headstone "In Loving Memory Of A Dear Son & Brother... Died 5th May 1984, Aged 27 Years." Both listed as children of Samuel Leslie Frederick and Iris May Worth.

  18. 18

    Samuel Leslie Frederick Worth's death, 1980

    Find a Grave memorial: Samuel Leslie Fredrick Worth, died 23 September 1980, buried Coolongolook General Cemetery. Headstone: "In Loving Memory Of A Dear Husband, Father and Grandfather, Samuel Leslie Fredrick Worth, died 23rd Sept. 1980, aged 72 years."

  19. 19

    Thomas Harry Worth — birth, and the "Henry"/"Harry" discrepancy

    NSW BDM birth index: Worth, Thomas H., reg. district Stroud, 1910, reg. no. 9051, father Samuel Worth, mother Grace Worth (the same registration as reference 5). Find a Grave gives his full given names as "Thomas Harry" and his birth date as 23 December 1910; the family's own 1943 obituary (reference 8) instead calls him "Thomas Henry" — every other source found, including five decades of electoral rolls (reference 20), agrees on "Harry."

  20. 20

    Electoral rolls, Coolongolook, 1936–1972

    Commonwealth electoral rolls, Subdivision of Forster: "Worth, Thomas Harry, Coolongolook, labourer, M" recorded in 1936, 1937, 1943, 1963 and 1972.

  21. 21

    Thomas Harry Worth's death, 1974

    Find a Grave memorial: Thomas Worth, born 1910, died 3 November 1974, buried Newcastle Memorial Park, Beresfield, NSW.

  22. 22

    Austin Stanley Worth's marriage, and the Willis family of Coolongolook

    NSW BDM marriage index: Worth, Austin S. and Willis, Dulcie F., reg. district Taree, 1935, reg. no. 10840. Trove newspaper clipping (nla.gov.au/nla.news-article216360298), "Mrs Elizabeth Willis": death at Coolongolook of Elizabeth Willis, aged 67, wife of James Willis, survived by two daughters, "Mrs Ernest Snowden (Gunnedah)" and "Mrs Austin Worth (Coolongolook)" — Dulcie herself. Find a Grave gives Dulcie's birth as 6 October 1913, Scone, and her mother's name as Elizabeth Willis.

  23. 23

    Austin Stanley Worth at Coolongolook, then Clouds Creek, 1936–1949

    Commonwealth electoral roll, Subdivision of Forster, 1936: "Worth, Austin Stanley, Coolongolook, labourer, M." Commonwealth electoral rolls, Subdivision of Dorrigo, 1946 and 1949: "Worth, Austin Stanley, Clouds Creek, labourer, M" and "Worth, Dulcie, Clouds Creek, home duties, F" — matching the "Cloud's Creek, Grafton" address given for him in his father's 1943 obituary (reference 8).

  24. 24

    Robert John and Kevin James Worth

    Family record: Robert John Worth, born 24 November 1938, Taree; died 1993, Brisbane. Kevin James Worth, born 14 January 1947, Grafton Base Hospital; died 29 December 1975, 14 Federation Street, Grafton, aged 28; Find a Grave records his burial at Clarence Lawn Cemetery, South Grafton. Commonwealth electoral roll, Subdivision of Grafton South (undated in this collection, before September 1970): "Worth, Austin Stanley," "Worth, Dulcie" and "Worth, Robert John," all of 86 Skinner Street, South Grafton, labourers/home duties.

  25. 25

    Deaths of Dulcie and Austin Stanley Worth

    Find a Grave memorial: Dulcie Willis Worth, born 6 October 1913, died 1970, buried Clarence Lawn Cemetery, South Grafton. Cemetery plaque: "In Loving Memory Of Dulcie Worth, 6-10-1913 — 17-9-1970 [and] Austen Worth, 4-4-1913 — 3-1-1990. Forever Remembered." Commonwealth electoral rolls, Subdivision of Grafton South, 1977 and 1980: "Worth, Austin Stanley, Post Office Hotel, Skinner Street, South Grafton, driver, M" (Dulcie no longer listed).

  26. 26

    Isabel Mary Worth's marriage, and Stanley George Platts' background

    NSW BDM marriage index: Platts, Stanley G. and Worth, Isobel Mary, reg. district Taree, 1936, reg. no. 3165 (indexed identically from both sides). NSW BDM birth index: Platts, Stanley G., reg. district Stroud, 1909, reg. no. 41984, father George J. Platts, mother Alice S. Platts; his National Archives service record (reference 27) gives his birthplace as Coolongolook and his exact birth date as 9 November 1909. Commonwealth supplemental electoral roll, Subdivision of Forster, made up to 18 May 1932: "Platts, Stanley George, Coolongolook, laborer, M." Commonwealth electoral roll, Subdivision of Tinonee (undated in this collection): "Platts, Isabel Mary, Taree Vale, via Taree, home duties, F" and "Platts, Stanley George, Taree Vale, via Taree, storekeeper, M."

  27. 27

    Stanley George Platts' WWII service

    National Archives of Australia, series B884, service no. N470763: Stanley George Platts, born 9 November 1909, Coolongolook, NSW; enlisted (Citizen Military Forces) at Nabiac, NSW, service 1939–1948; next of kin Isabel Platts.

  28. 28

    Eric Stanley Platts

    Find a Grave memorial and headstone, Coolongolook General Cemetery: "In God's Care, Eric Stanley Platts, 5 mths." Listed as a child of Stanley George and Isabel Mary Platts on both their own Find a Grave memorials, though he did not survive infancy.

  29. 29

    Deaths of Stanley George and Isabel Mary Platts

    Find a Grave memorials, both buried Coolongolook General Cemetery. Headstone: "In Loving Memory Of A Dear Husband and Father, Stanley George Platts, Died Nov 27 1980, Aged 71 Years. Forever In Our Hearts." Headstone: "In Loving Memory Of A Dear Mother and Nana, Isabel Mary Platts, Passed Away 25.5.94, Aged 79 Years. At Rest In God's Care."

  30. 30

    Myrtle Grace Worth's marriage, and Donald George Morris' early years

    NSW BDM marriage index: Worth, Myrtle Grace and Morris, Donald George, reg. district Gloucester, 1940, reg. no. 11352. Find a Grave gives Donald's birth as 26 May 1915, at Macksville, NSW. Commonwealth electoral roll, Subdivision of Forster, 1936: "Morris, Donald George, Coolongolook, labourer, M."

  31. 31

    The Morris family at Tuncurry

    Commonwealth electoral rolls, Subdivision of Forster (three separate, undated editions in this collection, evidently spanning the 1950s–60s): "Morris, Donald George" and "Morris, Myrtle Grace," Manning Street, Tuncurry, bus driver and home duties respectively; a later edition adds "Morris, Geoffrey Don" at the same Manning Street address, truck driver; a further edition finds Geoffrey Don instead at 20 North Street, Tuncurry, still a truck driver, his parents still at Manning Street.

  32. 32

    Deaths of Donald George and Myrtle Grace Morris

    Find a Grave memorials: Donald George Morris, born 26 May 1915, Macksville, died 17 July 1983, Coolongolook; Myrtle Grace Morris, née Worth, born 1919, died 26 December 2002. Both buried Newcastle Memorial Park, Beresfield, NSW.

  33. 33

    Geoffrey Donald Morris

    Family record: Geoffrey Donald Morris, born 17 January 1941, NSW, died 2015, Queensland.