Henry and Selina Hale

Henry and Selina Hale

Henry Ponting Hale (23) and Selina Gammon (16) were married on 4 April 1860 in Victoria.

Henry's middle name was from his paternal grandmother Mary Ponting (1769-1817) who married John Hale (1765-1853) in 1787 at Berkeley, Gloucestershire.  Henry's elder brother Alfred Hale (1823-1883) had emigrated to the United States in 1851, settling in Little Grant township, Wisconsin.

Henry and Selina's first child, Annis Amelia Hale was born 29 August 1861 at Duneed, Victoria. Sadly their next two children, Emily and Henry, died in infancy and both were buried at the Highton Cemetary, Barrabool Hills.

Three sons were born over the next four years - Charles Henry Hale (1866 at Gnarwarre), Alfred Richard Hale (1868 at Ceres) and William John Hale (1870 at Ceres). They were followed by four daughters born at Ceres - Annie Marie Hale (1872), Mary Martha Hale (1875), Emily Louisa Jane Hale (1878) and Florence Selina Hale (1880).

A year earlier, in 1879, their daughter Annis Amelia Hale (18) married William James Trigg (22).

Henry and Selina's eleventh (and last) child Lottie Margaret Hale was born in 1884 and the following year on 4 April Henry and Selina had been married for 25 years. 

Sadly the following year on 18 April 1886 at home at Barrabool Hills, Selina Hale nee Gammon died, aged just 42 years. Selina was survived by nine of her eleven children from her eldest Annis (aged 25 and married) to her youngest Lottie (aged 2). Selina was buried at Highton Cemetery, Barrabool Hills.

At the Hale family home at Barrabool Hills were Henry and his three elder sons, Charles (20), Alfred (18) and William (16) and five daughters, Annie (14), Mary (11), Emily (8), Florence (6) and Lottie (2).

Now in his early 50s, Henry clearly needed help on the home front and in 1888 he married Margaret Henry (43).

Henry's youngest daughter, Lottie, was just six years old when she died in June 1890 and was buried at Colac Cemetery.

In 1893, a happy occasion would have been celebrated at Bay View Farm, Barrabool Hills when Henry's eldest son, Charles Henry Hale (27) married Rachael Matthews (23). 

Sadly, the following year, Henry Ponting Hale died 15 January 1894, aged 57, and he was buried beside Selina at Highton Cemetery, Barrabool Hills.

Henry was remembered as a caring man as can be seen in the following verse placed in the Geelong Advertiser one year after his passing:

In sad and loving remembrance of my dear husband, Henry Ponting Hale, 

who died at Geelong, January 15th, 1894.

A precious one from us is gone, A voice we loved is still, 

A place is vacant in our home That never can be filled.

I miss him from his home, I miss him from his place; 

A shadow o'er my life is cast, I miss the sunshine of his face.

I miss his kind and willing hand, His fond and earnest care. 

Our home is dark without him, I miss him everywhere.

Inserted by his loving wife.

In 1895, Annie Maria Hale (23) married Samuel John Gugger (24).
In 1896, Mary Martha Hale (21) married Adam James McHarry (23).
On 16 March 1896 at Christ Church, Geelong, Emily Louisa Jane Hale (18) married Francis Phillip Matthews (22). [Phil Matthews was a sibling of Rachael Matthews.]
In 1897, Alfred Richard Hale (31) married Ann Stokes Beck (25).
In 1899, William John Hale (29) married Catherine Ellen Thomas (27).
On 4 April 1900, Florence Selina Hale (19) married Henry Edward Crook (30).

List of 49 grandchildren 
of Henry Ponting Hale (1837-1894) and Selina Gammon (1844-1886):

Edith Amelia Price nee Trigg (1880-1947)
Alfred James Earnest Albert Trigg (1881-1948)
Minnie Florence Ryan nee Trigg (1884-1948)
George William Trigg (1886-1959)
Selina Maud McDonald nee Trigg (1888-1965)
Elsie May Trigg (1889-1890)
Walter Oliver Trigg (1891-1941)
Ruby Hale Victoria Trigg (1893-1917)
William Henry Ernest Hale (1893-1894)
Ivy Olive Kelly Trigg (1895-1967)
Samuel Leonard Ponting Hale (1895-1966)
Alexander Samuel Henry Gugger (1896-1988)
William Henry Leslie Trigg (1897-1976)
Charles Rupert Hale (1897-1958)
Samuel John Gugger (1897-1983)
Mabel Selina McHarry (1897-1924)
Phillip Colcott Matthews (1897-1970)
Laura Alma Wilson nee Hale (1899-1991)
Alick Wilfred Percy Matthews (1899-1961)
Annis Rosina Isabel Mills nee Trigg (1900-1973)
Frederick Leslie Gugger (1900-1984)
Ina Florence May Dease nee Matthews (1900-1981)
Henry Evan Hale (1901-1909)
Ronald James McHarry (1901-1975)
William Hugh Matthews (1901-1960)
Gordon Victor Crook (1901-1959)
Ronald Colcott Hale (1902-1937)
Frances Mary Selina Anderson nee Gugger (1902-2001)
David Henry McHarry (1902-1987)
Cecil Clarence Edward Trigg (1903-1977)
Gladys Selina Langshaw nee Crook (1903-1976)
Herbert Roy Matthews (1904-1977) . . . 
Henry Stanley Roy Crook (1905-1928)
Winnie Weselman nee Hale (1906-1983)
Ernest Matthews (1906-1906)
Reginald James Alfred Hale (1907-1980)
Charles Henry Batrecor Matthews (1907-1980)
Harry William Charles Crook (1907-1930)
Myrtle Selina Hale Ison nee Hale (1908-1996)
Alma Downing nee Matthews (1908-1973)
Mary Margaret McHarry (1909-1909)
Doris Stones nee Matthews (1911-1967)
Mavis Selina Hart Atkinson nee Hale (1912-1997)
Pearl Polmear nee Matthews (1914-1987)
Ernest Lawrence (Jack) Matthews (1916-1967)
Colin Henry Crook (1916-1980)
Mabel Emily Wilkinson nee Matthews (1917-1994)
Hazel Jeanette Francis formerly Reid nee Matthews (b. 1921)
Leslie Wallace (Tom) Matthews (1924-1995)