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Third Generation
3.
He died on 24 May 1894 at the age of 56 in Clermont, Queensland, Australia. He was buried on 26 May 1894 in Clermont, Queensland, Australia]. Thomas immigrated 13 Feb 1863 to Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.[ 'Everton', assisted passage. Occupation : Carpenter and Journeyman. On his arrival in Queensland he settled in Fortitude Valley, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland. The family then started journeying north in search of work and in 1876 settled in Clermont, where Thomas found work as a Carrier. Thomas Butcher RICKETTS and
Mary Ann LEAMAN were married on 27 May 1860 in
Montpeller, Bristol, Gloucestershire, England.
Mary Ann LEAMAN, daughter of Thomas Sherland LEAMAN and Mary Ann AVERY, was born in 1832 in Tiverton, Devonshire, England. She died on 24 Jul 1907 at the age of 75 in Queensland, Australia. She was buried on 26 Jul 1967 in Clermont, Queensland, Australia. Clermont had long experience of damaging floods – such as that of February 1870, when the town was inundated to a depth of 4 to 5 feet (1.2 to 1.5 m) and four persons were drowned (15 in the wider district) – but nothing on the scale of the flood of late December 1916. During the morning of 27 December 1916 a cyclone crossed the coast between Bowen and Mackay bringing torrential rain and high wind. By 4.00am on 28 December it was located about 35 miles (56 km) north-west of Clermont. Heavy rain fell into the small catchments of Sandy and Wolfang creeks. An accurate determination of rainfall was impossible as rain gauges overflowed but it was estimated that up to 30 inches (760 mm) of rain fell in the area during the period of the storm which lasted around 18 hours An eye witness described the "wall of water" that flowed rapidly down the creeks sweeping away the low lying areas of the town of Clermont and inundating the town cemetery beside the river. In the wake of the flood the Adelaide Advertiser (9 January 1917) reported: "The cemetery is merely a mass of holes. The coffins have been washed out and carried downstream, and the headstones have been wrecked, or where they were of wood have been borne long distances." The sexton's house was washed away and the sexton was drowned. It is estimated that the river flats were submerged under 12 to 14 feet (3.7 to 4.3 m) of fast-flowing water. People sought refuge on roofs and in ceilings but the debris-laden flood waters destroyed many houses and lifted others from their stumps to be carried downstream. Other people were drowned in the flood waters while attempting to escape to higher ground. Over 60 people died, with the disaster reported throughout the country and in the London Times. Many flood victims were buried close to where they were found, but at least 36 are known to be buried in the Clermont Cemetery. All except one of these were buried within three days of the disaster. The burials included entire families of up to seven persons, with the age of victims ranging from two to 70 years. Most were interred in a mass grave located to the east of the earlier burials. A meeting of surviving residents soon after the flood resolved to move the town from the flats to higher ground close by. The government enacted special legislation, the Clermont Flood Relief Act 1917, to enable the town to re-establish at the new site. Some buildings were moved to the new location by traction engine]. Thomas Butcher RICKETTS and
Mary Ann LEAMAN had the following children:
He died on 5 Apr 1862 at the age of 1 in Whistones, Worcester, England. [Cause of death : Bronchitis]. married George COOKE, 22 Jun 1882 |