Descendants of Michael Simon

       Michael and Margaretha Simon and their five surviving children arrived from Hamburg in Germany at Sydney in New South Wales in Australia on 18th Sept. 1855 on the Wilhelmsburg ¹¹ as bounty immigrants in a group of twenty-five married couples of whom only four were unaccompanied by children. Also arriving at Sydney on the ship with the bounty group were slightly over one hundred other German immigrants who did not emigrate under the same bounty scheme and for whom as the shipping agents list has not survived there is no written arrival record. Almost all the male family heads in the bounty group were listed as from the Duchy of Nassau with their birth places mostly villages in the Rheingau such as Ostrich, Hallgarten, Erbach, Eltville, Winkel and Budenheim located within a few kilometers of Hattenheim where Michael and seven of the family heads were born and resided before departure. In the bounty group 39 adults and children were from Hattenheim. Their family surnames were:- Ettingshausen, Harbig, Klaus, Korn, Simon, Stassen, Weber and Wolf. Only the Klaus family of eight exceeded in number the Simon family's seven. The recorded occupations of the eight family heads from Hattenheim were all in the wine industry - three were listed as coopers (barrel makers) and the rest as vinedressers. Apart from tourism and as place for retirement away from the city bustle, Hattenheim remained in 2009 essentially as it was then, a small traditional German wine town located about 50 kilometers south west of Frankfurt on the north bank of the Rhine river with a population approximating 2300 compared with 1000 given in a 1852 published travel book that gave the then population of nearly Eltville (also the name of the district in which Hattenheim was located) as 2000 ¹².
        The Wilhelmsburg left Germany from the port of Hamburg on 10 May 1855 with 478 emigrants accommodated in steerage class. It was usual in the 1850s for a voyage from Hamburg to Sydney to take about four months. After rounding the Cape of Good Hope and, riding the Roaring Forties trade winds down to Australia and around Tasmania, the ship arrived on 26 Aug 1855 after a 107 day passage at Hobart where more than half the emigrants disembarked. At that time Tasmania had in place an immigration scheme under which the government paid all except £5 of the fare resulting in 858 German immigrants arriving there that calendar year of which about a quarter came on the Wilhelmsburg. Whilst the ship was in Hobart there were conflicting rumors in respect state of health of the immigrants and their manner of care during the voyage and the immigration agent did not permit the transfer of the sick to the hospital until after they had been seen by the agent's nominated doctor on the day following arrival ¹³. Thirteen days later on 8 September the ship departed on the final leg to Sydney with all 39 adults and children from Hattenheim still aboard where it arrived on the 18th. In respect of deaths during the voyage one newspaper gave the number as seven men and eight children and reported on the approach to Hobart the ship met with violent gales causing the loss of a new suit of sails. Another stated on the final leg from Hobart to Sydney there was one death.
        Seventeen years before the eight families from Hattenheim arrived on the Wilhelmsburg the first organised group of immigrants from the European continent to an Australian colony were six vinedressers from the Hattenheim area who arrived in Sydney from England on 23 Apr 1838 on the Kinnear. Three were from Hattenheim and the other three from the nearby villages of Erbach and Mittelheim. To address the unavailability from England of skilled vine-dressers the Macarthur brothers of Camden had sought and received permission to source them from the continent and Major Edward Macarthur personally signed the six up at Hattenheim on 9 Oct 1837 to a written five-year contact to work on improving the "Camden Park" vineyards first planted in 1820 with vines brought from France in 1817 by their late father John Macarthur. The upshot was that in 1841 awards were won for Macarthur wines and brandy exhibited in London ¹⁴. By 1849 the "Camden Park" vineyards covered 10 hectares and were producing annually over 72,000 liters of red and white table wines and brandies and vine cuttings were being distributed throughout the colony and the Barossa Valley. Thus these six vinedressers from Hattenheim and nearby villages, termed the "Original Six" by their descendants, played a historic role in the birth of the Australian wine industry. In respect of the Macarthur's of Camden, two vinedresser couples from Budenheim located about 8 km east of Hattenheim who arrived with the Simon family in Sydney in the bounty group were listed to be indentured to the Macarthur brothers at Camden evidencing their continued interest in sourcing vinedessers from this particular wine producing district of Germany.
        In respect of the history of wine grape growing in the Rheingau a 1841 published encyclopedia described Rhenish wines as the finest in Germany, with the Rhine river vines first planted in the third century under the emperor Probus, and according to a still existing tradition the first in the Rheingau being transplanted there from Orleans by Charlemayne. The said to be about five leagues long (28 kilometers) Rheingau wine growing district, (gau is a German word signifying district), was described as being "the true country of the Rhenish wines" that produced some Germany's choicest among which the best were those of Assmannshausen, Rüdesheim, Rottländer, Hinterhäusser, Geissenheim, with Johannisberg the best of all that in ordinary seasons on the spot for a bottle of the first quality cost from four to five florins (a florin or gulden in 1841 was equal to 1s. 8d. in English currency) and Hattenheim (called Markebrunner) ⁵².
        When the Wilhelmsburg left Hamburg the passenger departure list gave Michael's age as 42, Margaretha's as 41, Jacob's as 10, and Joseph's as 4 - all a year less than given in the Australian immigration record upon arrival in Sydney ¹⁵. The immigration record stated Michael, Margaretha, and son Jacob could read and write which was to be expected as compulsory school attendance was introduced in the Duchy of Nassau in 1817 ¹⁶. Upon arrival Michael at 43 and Margaretha at 42 were not the oldest couple on board the Wilhelmsburg. Under the foreign workers bounty immigration scheme 50 years was the eligibility age limit for payment of the bounty to employers. Two family heads were aged 49 and two 47, and the oldest wives were 47, 48 and 49. The oldest couple were vinedresser and shoemaker Valentin Kemp(e)nich and wife Maria, both aged 49 years who were accompanied by six children. They were from Hallgarten located about 2.5 km NW of Hattenheim and upon arrival Valentin and another aboard were indentured to employment with Henry Flett at Taree on the Manning River. The bounty group also included Eltville born Anton Gersback and wife Margaretta who later settled on a small farm (portion 10 parish of Yarravel) at Macleay River he named "Aldavilla" giving rise to the naming of the up-river from Kempsey locality of Aldavilla - Alda Villa being the original Roman (Latin) name for Eltville.

Sister already in Australia

       Michael and Margaretha's Sydney immigration arrival record stated Margaretta (sic), whose name was spelt "Margaretha" in the church register when baptised and same in the Hamburg passenger departure lists and on the West Kempsey cemetery headstone and death registrations of her Australian born sons William and Michael Jr., had - "a sister Mrs. Anton Senz living at Parramatta". She was eight years younger Anna Maria who when aged thirty with husband Anton M. Senz departed Hamburg on 8 Dec 1851 as bounty emigrants on the San Francisco and arrived in Sydney on 31 Mar 1852. Anton was indentured to Rev. Dr. Thomas Hassall of "Denbigh" Camden. Their immigration record listed the names of Anton's parents as Conrad and Elizabeth and that Anton was a vinedresser born in the village of Eltville. Likewise to Margaretha Anna Maria's surname was spelt in the record as Gross and her birhplace as Heidesheim. It was not uncommon for German immigrants after arrival in Australia to anglicise their given names. Anton changed his to Andrew and Anna Maria to Mary Ann and they had one child named Mary Ann (1853-1913) born in Sydney who in 1872 married St Ives orchardist Edwin Smith (c.1847-1915) at St Leonards and seemingly had at least twelve children born between 1873 and 1899 ¹⁸.
      In Feb 1854 when daughter Mary Ann was baptised they were residing at Kissing Point located about 10 kilometres up the Lane Cove River from Lane Cove. Anton died in 1863 and his death was registered under his adopted given name of Andrew with parent names recorded as Conrad and Elizabeth. In the year following his death his widow Mary Ann married James Rideal (sic). He may have been the James Riddel who was listed in the 1849-50 electoral roll as residing in Castlereagh Street in Sydney and in the 1851-52 roll in Elizabeth Street. He would have been the James Rideal listed in the 1872 Greville's P. O. Directory as a farmer at Rosedale, Lane Cove and the James Issac Rideal whose death at Lane Cove is indexed as 1874 with neither age or parent names given in the registration and for whom there is no indexed probate or administration grant. Mary Ann's 1883 (reg. #4844) death at age 63 with no parent names given by the informant was registered at St Leonards under the surname spelling of Riddel as having occurred at Gordon. Anna Maria (Mary Ann) and second husband James are buried in South Chatswood Cemetery where their memorial has been transcribed as reading: - "Riddel, James, d. 21 Apr 1874, age 61 yrs, Riddel, Mary Ann, d. 6 May 1883, age 63 yrs, Mother of Mary Ann Smith" ¹⁹.
      Six months after Anton and Anna Maria Senz arrived Anton's then twenty-five year old brother Moritz arrived at Sydney on 25 Oct 1852 from Hamburg on the Peter Godffroy. Likewise to Anton the names of his parents were recorded in the immigration records as Conrad and Elizabeth and that he was a vinedresser born in the village of Eltville. Coincidentally with Anton's wife, his wife was also an Anna Maria aged 30 at arrival with a father named Valentine but with the difference that her mother was an Elizabeth. Their first indexed child birth was Joseph born in 1853. His baptism was recorded under the phonetic surname variant of SENS, as were some later official birth registrations of other children where the mother's name was recorded as Mary and Mary A., evidencing that like Margaretha's sister Moritz's wife Anna Maria also changed her given names from Anna Maria to Mary Ann although her will was probated under the given names of Anna Maria. When Moritz was naturalized in Feb 1873 it was recorded under the phonetic variants of "Morits Sens" and he was residing at Dundee about 27 kms north of Glen Innes ²⁰. The couple subsequently settled in Glen Innes where Moritz was a boot maker and they lived out their lives. According to the NSW Probate Index Anna Maria died on 24 June 1896 at an indicated age of 74 years and Moritz in 1910 aged 82.

Why emigrate?

      Those intending to emigrate from the Duchy of Nassau were legally required to advertise in the local newspaper Herzoglich Nassauisches allgemeines Intelligenzblatt their intent so that creditors could pursue claims before the emigrant left. With married couples the person advertising was usually the male bread-winner. Research of the advertisements established in the Duchy of Nassau between 1806 and 1866 of a total 10,928 12.9% (1416) advertised an intent to go to Australia ²¹. Between the years 1849 and 1866 of those who advertised 73% were in the years 1854 and 1855 and of those over four fifths came from the three Rheingau (pronounced Rine-gow) wine-growing districts of Wiesbaden, Eltville and Rudesheim ²². In the Duchy as whole there were more Protestants than Catholics, 52% compared to 46%, and the ruling family of Duke Adolph of Nassau was Protestant. It is said of those who emigrated to Australia 4 out of 5 were Catholics ^{9, 23}. As the majority who emigrated to Australia were from the Rheingau it suggests the villages in that region had a much higher Catholic population than elsewhere in the Duchy.
      Why the Simon family left such a comparatively culturally advanced and well-ordered area for the then colony of NSW can only be speculated. Good reports of conditions in the colony from former residents of Hattenheim and nearby villages who emigrated earlier and, in particular presumably from Margaretha's sister Anna Maria Senz who arrived in Sydney in March 1852 and according to the Simons' immigration arrival record was at Parramatta when last heard from before Michael and Margaretha departed Germany, would likely have been influential in their decision. That both Michael and Margaretha's parents were deceased would have made the decision to forever abandon their culture and lifelong people associations easier.
     In respect of the similar sized Rheingau village of Frauenstein situated about 11 kilometers from Hattenheim, based on letters and diaries written by some from the village who emigrated and others who did not and on other writings, the author of a 2009 published book short titled The Frauenstein Letters contended that an migration fever would have struck that village and stimulated those with an migration-prone personality to make the momentous decision. That thirty-nine from the village of Hattenheim were aboard the Wilhelmsburg suggests likewise was the case there. The author concluded those who emigrated from the Rheingau to Australia and their relatives who remained behind were evidently not paupers so that poverty was not likely a factor of significance in the decision to emigrate. In respect of adjacent to the Rhine river villages such as Hattenheim the humidity from the river provided excellent growing conditions and as a whole the Duchy of Nassua was a comparatively wealthy region of Germany with a surplus of food and agricultural produce in good seasons that included grain, flax, hemp, fruit and wine. It also had a wealth of mineral deposits that included silver, lead, copper, iron, coal, slate and shale and as 42% of the Duchy was heavily timbered from the time of early trade on the Rhine timber had been a saleable commodity ²³.
     Unquestionably the major inducement would have been the availability of the indentured labour bounty scheme under which married couples through an agent in Germany could emigrate to New South Wales with their passage paid for by the colonial government and an intended employer in the colony. A general labour shortage was being experienced in Australia in April 1847 when an immigration regulation, that with changes continued to operate to 1856, was introduced allowing for payment of a bounty to employers of specified categories of foreign immigrants. The regulation was specifically directed at bringing from the continent of Europe workers for employment by settlers in areas of agriculture and related production such the growing of wine grapes, production of the raw material for silk, and production of edible oil, where those with the necessary skills were not available from England. The 1851-52 gold discoveries in NSW and Victoria and, the consequent abandonment by many of their employment to seek their fortune on the goldfields, only exacerbated the existing general shortage of rural labourers.
     As an experienced wine grape grower (vinedresser) Michael Simon fell into the category of those to whom the bounty scheme applied. From 1847 free passage was made available through immigration agents to those qualifying and able to obtain authority to leave Germany in consideration of which by pre-arrangement upon arrival their labour was contracted to a particular employer. Upon the engagement of the immigrant in the colony the employer thereby gained an entitlement to a government paid bounty of £36 per couple and £18 for each of their children aged over 14 years. Those for whom the government bounty was payable were contracted (indentured) to work for the employer for two years under pre-agreed conditions such as remuneration, housing, and the supply of rations. By October 1853 the immigration scheme had been had been extended to also provide a bounty of £9 payable for each male and female child aged from 1 to 14 years. The employer was obliged to pay the government £13 towards the cost of the passage for those aged 14 and over for whom a bounty was payable with the immigrant then required to repay the employer that amount out of the renumeration receiveable over the indenture period. Thus in the perception of emigrants with families and no English the scheme removed significant risk factors. As evidenced by the presence aboard the Wilhelmsburg as bounty immigrants of eight families from Hattenheim and, most of the other seventeen from the surrounding towns and villages, at the time there clearly was an enticing recruiting campaign in the Rheingau area by a NSW/German immigration agent. Upon arrival the Sydney newspapers reported almost all those who came on the Wilhelmsburg were brought out by Kirchner & Co. so presumably that company was the agent who recruited the eight families from Hattenheim ²⁴. Company principal Frankfurt born Wilhelm "William" Kirchner was appointed NSW agent for German immigration in 1848 and spent from 1854 to 1858 in Germany personally directing emigrant recruitment campaigns. To assist in the recruitment he published a book in 1848 titled in its 1850 second edition Australia and its Advantages for Emigrants (English translation). It contained ecstatic accounts from earlier migrants of the conditions they had experienced.
     Writers on the subject of the reasons for the emigration from the Rheingau region during the years from 1852 to 1855 when the main emigration occurred suggest political instability was not likely a significant factor. In the years after the Napoleonic period ended in 1815 the major political event in the Duchy suggesting any significant instability was during the revolution that swept through Europe in 1848 resulting in the rulers of some states in the German Confederation abdicating. When news of the Paris rising in February 1848 reached other cities in Europe it inspired copy-cat rebellions. In March the Duchy was the first German state to be swept by revolution. Thirty-thousand peasants marched on the seat of the Duchy at Wiesbaden thirty miles (48 Kilometers) west of Frankfurt. For sometime peasants had been upset about others elsewhere being freed from serfdom but not them and they forced the ruling head of the Duchy Duke Adolf to abolish serfdom.
     It has been said citing as the source for the reasoning correspondence with a University of NSW academic that because it was quote "a fact that there was no compulsory military service in the Duchy of Nassau during the 1850s" it can be established one of the reasons for the Simon family's decision to emigrate in 1855 "could not have been to avoid future compulsory military service by the young sons ²⁵. However the assertion there was no compulsory service in the Duchy in the 1850s, so by implication to avoid such could not have been a factor in the decision to emigrate, does not accord with contemporary records that establish beyond question when the Simons' emigrated in 1855 and in the preceding years and later years there definitely was a military service obligation in the Duchy. The author of the afore mentioned 2009 published The Frauenstein Letters book on the subject of emigration from the Duchy of Nassau to Australia in the 1850s, and particularly from the village of Frauenstein located about 11 kilometers by road from Hattenheim where the Simons' lived that had a similar to Frauenstein population of 974 at the 1852 census, wrote that for those who lived there conscription was an accepted fact of life and the rules requiring military service varied at different times. Regulations were devised in February 1816 permitting men to emigrate provided they were older than 23 years and had completed their military service obligation, and by October 1816 if a son had been granted permission to emigrate that permission abolished the military service obligation for all other sons living with their parents. The local newspaper Herzoglich Nassauisches allgemeines Intelligenzblatt published lists of people who had evaded conscription. A list for May to October 1852 listed 130 men who had emigrated without completing their military service. The book's author suggested as this number for the whole of the Duchy was low it indicated most who had emigrated had prior to completed their military service.
       One of the letters published in the book, written in 1856 by a sister living in the village of Frauenstein from which between 1852 and 1854 a total of 142 emigrated to Australia, to a married sister in NSW who with her husband departed that village for NSW in November 1854, mentioned her boyfriend was "conscripted" shortly after the married sister left in 1854, and that one of their brothers an 18 year-old shoemaker who emigrated in October that year on the Caesar had by emigrating avoided military service with the upshot that recently another brother had been called up and at the 29 Nov 1856 date of the letter was serving in the army. The letter stated the army commander had told the family if they had prevented the other brother from emigrating the brother who remained in Fraudenstein would not have had to undertake military service. The letter also mentioned on 24 Nov 1856 friends of the brother who emigrated were quote - "drawn in the ballot and must go into the army" ²⁶. A surviving file for Eltville (the name of the district covering Hattenheim and same name village located 4 klms east of Hattenheim) for the month of September 1852 had that of 72 emigrating 65% had stated on their form they had completed their military service, in respect of which the author commented the percentage actually would have been higher as some of the 72 would not have been called up ²⁷.
       Many years before he emigrated Michael Simon likely had completed his own military service obligation. However whilst eldest son Jacob was still a decade away from being eligible to be drafted, having three young sons the possibility of one being drafted and what that might lead to if the army was involved in hostilities and the reserves were called up for active service, cannot be excluded as one of several considerations in the decision to emigrate.

Employment after arrival

        Michael Simon's immigration arrival record had his occupation as a "vinedresser" and the Hamburg departure lists as a "weinbauer" (a wine grape grower). Whether he was a wine grape grower on land he owned or a tenant farmer is not known. Many who emigrated to Australia from the Rheingau in the period the main emigration occurred owned land and sold it before emigrating ²⁹. His children's baptism records indicate by February 1847 when the fourth born child Catherine was baptised his occupational status had changed from farm labourer to farmer. The records for the first three children had it as tagelöner (a farm day labourer) and the other three as a hofmann (a farmer who cultivates land). As Michael's father died in April 1848 aged 69 as an only son by the time of Catherine's 1847 baptism it is possible Michael was working land his father owned and after his death maybe he owned or part owned ? ³⁰.
       The Sydney, New South Wales, immigration arrival record had Alexander Berry of Shoalhaven as his intended employer in the colony. Before they left Germany, through an immigration agent, presumably Kirchner & Co., Michael's labour would have been contracted (indentured) to Berry for a period of 2 years after arrival. Based on the conditions applicable to another from the same area of the Rheingau, who was indentured to Berry and in the mid-1850s and worked on his Coolangatta estate at Shoalhaven, in addition to shelter the agreement would have required the employer to pay an annual wage of £20 and supply a weekly ration consisting of 10 lb meat, 10 lb flour, 2 lb sugar, ¼ lb tea or ½ coffee. However advice is that the records of the Alexander Berry Coolangatta estate at Shoalhaven held by the Mitchell Library in Sydney do not record as employees either Michael or Frederick Korn, also from Hattenheim who with his wife and two children aged under 10 years arrived on the Wilhelmsburg with the Simons' and was also listed as to be employed by Berry ³¹.
       In respect of the Simon family a notation in the immigration record read - This family is ineligible in the sum of the number of young children. The infant 12 months sick sometimes ³¹. It meant the Simons' intended employer Alexander Berry was not eligible to receive the bounties payable by the government in respect of their importation and employment because the number of their young children (i.e. those aged less than 14 years) exceeded the number approved by the governmment when Berry had applied to the Colonial Secretary in 1854 or early 1855 and was granted permission to import a family with a specific maximum number children aged less than 14 years pursuant to the then in force foreign immigration regulation of 17 October 1853.
       When first introduced in 1847 the foreign workers immigration bounty regulation placed no limitation on the number of children allowed per couple for employer bounty eligibility. There was no bounty payable in respect of children aged less than 14 years and the reference in the regulation to a requirement that immigrants be "in good bodily heath" was clearly only in respect of those for whom a bounty was payable. It was clearly directed at requiring accuracy only in the documentation of immigrants for whom a bounty was payable and made no reference to children aged less than 14. The 17 October 1853 foreign immigration regulation in force in 1855 when the approval for the Simon family immigration was obtained still had no restriction on the number of children and similar wording to the 1847 regulation requiring a settler desiring to avail himself of the government bounties to before arranging to import persons first submit an application for approval to the Colonial Secretary that included a list specifying quote - "the number, condition, and calling of the persons" proposed to be brought out by the applicant.
       The relevant difference between the 1847 and 1853 regulations is that in 1847 no bounty was payable for children aged under 14 years but under the October 1853 regulation a bounty of £9 (half the 14 years + rate) was payable for all children aged under 14 years. It seems in order to restrict the government's expenditure on the bounty scheme as much as possible, if the number of children arriving in a family exceeded the maximum number pre-approved, the clause in the 1853 reg stating - "the whole of the conditions thereby imposed will be strictly construed" was invoked thus explaining the Simons' ineligibility on the ground of an excessive number of children. One can understand the governmemnt's position - if say a settler applied and received approval to import a couple with a maximum of three children aged under 14 years and, the couple turned up with five under that age, why should the government pay £18 for the additional two whose importation it had not approved and it may not have been policy to approve? If it paid the bounty for the three it had approved then which three of the five would be indented to the employer for 2 years after arrival? The fault obviously lay with the Kirchner's agent in Germany who signed up the Simons' as indented to Berry in that the agent failed to ensure the number of their young children was in accord with the actual approval obtained by Berry. The Simons' were not the only family listed in the Wilhelmsburg immigration records with such a notation. George Reitz from Budenheim was one of two listed to be employed by J & W Macarthur at Camden. Likewise to the Simons' he had 5 children of whom 4 were under 10 years of age and his notation similarly read: - This family is ineligible in the sum of the number of small children. Employer Berry's application may be held in the Colonial Secretary's In-Letters for 1854 or early 1855. Whilst application was to Colonial Secretary it was the Government Immigration Agent who made the recommendation to the CS to approve an employer's application. No doubt whatever the reason upon arrival Michael Simon did not get the expected employment one can appreciate the bewilderment and disappointment he and Margaretha must have felt in that circumstance let alone having to additionally cope with the difficulties imposed by the language barrier.
       Following the decision by the immigration office that the contracted employer Alexander Berry was not eligible for receipt of bounties it is possible his North Shore office deemed the Simon family unacceptable for the contracted employment on similar grounds - presumably because the 5 children exceeded the number for whom Berry had contracted to provide rations and accommodation as specified in the contract when it was entered into in Germany - i.e. the agreement was deemed by Berry to be void and accordingly he avoided the obligation to personally employ Michael.
       An alternative to declaring the agreement void and, assuming Shoalhaven and not Berry's North Shore estate was where the intended employment was to be located, what is a possible explanation for the non-employment of the two at Shoalhaven? Perhaps with the bounty ineligibity he decided to sell (assign) the Simon's indenture contract to another party. The evidence is Berry's Coolangatta estate experienced a drastic loss of farm labourers to the goldfields in the immediate years following the 1851 strikes in NSW and Victoria and such caused him to alter his employment policy from the direct employment of farm workers to leasing of farms and the changed policy was the reason for a jump in the population of his Shoalhaven estate from 367 in 1850 to 1470 in 1856 ³². It may be that in Sept. 1855 when Michael arrived there was no two-room cottage available in proximity to house the family as all had been leased out with the farms. So no accommodation meant no ability to employ Michael and Korn. Whatever the reason for Berry apparently not employing Michael such is fully consistent with the family folklore that he did not find the employment he came for. That the folklore in this regard is confirmed by the records raises the question of what other elements of the folklore might also be correct? ⁴²

Fact and Folklore

       As there is only family folklore and speculation nothing is known for certain of the identity of Michael Simon's after arrival employer or even how the family came to be at the locality of Dondingalong when in April 1857 it was recorded as the birth place of the first Australian born child Michael Jr. After arrival Michael Sr. could have found an employer through one of the Sydney employment agencies. Authorised German immigration agent and merchant Kirchner & Co was at 1, Wynard-street in Sydney and in the same street, with an office and warehouse, was merchant Augustus Dreutler who advertised in The Sydney Morning Herald of 5 Nov 1855 that during an upcoming stay in Europe, in conjunction with authorised immigration agents, he was willing to attend to the selection of labourers of a description most wanted in the colonies. Only two weeks after the "Wilhelmsburg" arrived, in the same newspaper on 2 Oct. 1855, Dreutler advertised he was seeking an employer for a vinedresser as follows:- "GERMAN Gardener and wine-dresser is desirous to meet with a situation. Mr. A. Dreutler, Wynyard-street, will give further information." Was Dreutler seeking an employer for Michael Simon or Frederick Korn or both?
       One family story is that after Michael failed to get the employment he came for the family traveled via the Great North Road to Newcastle and then on to Gloucester, Nowendoc, Walcha, Yarrowitch and from there to Rolland's Plains and across the range to Macleay River via Mt. Kipparra. This story traces to a granddaughter born after her grandparents were deceased ⁴². The problem with there having been an after arrival epic overland bullock drawn dray journey to the Macleay Valley, though the untamed Australian bush ever vigilant for an attack by rouge natives and unwelcome attention from bushrangers, and along what beyond Maitland would have been very rough and unformed roads that were no more than tracks, is that such seems more romantic than realistic.
       The family came from a small ordered town of antiquity located beside the river Rhine where the surrounding land had been cleared and under the cultivation for wine grape vines for centuries. Whilst Michael's financial status is unknown, after arrival their only possessions would have consisted of the restricted amount of luggage they would have brought with them in steerage, so one asks why would they need a dray cart and bullocks to haul it to transport their possessions anywhere in the colony? Likely their only English would have been words learnt on the ship during the 107 day passage from Hamburg. Eldest son Jacob was only eleven when they arrived in Sydney and, even if Michael likely had prior military service so some firearms experience and the money to purchase tents, a dray, a firearm and livestock etc. he would not have had any animal husbandry or bullock driving skill and experience. Also the purported final stage to the Macleay from Rolland's Plains via Mt. Kipparra would not have been possible then except on foot or horseback as there was no dray cart trafficable road over the range from the Wilson River to Macleay River until at the earliest 1859-1860 - just a mailman's track for travel on horseback over the Marlo Merrican range and then down to Dungay Creek. The route further west from the north bank of the Wilson River from what today is Upper Rollands Plains to Mt. Kipparra went by way of Geary's Flat and followed the bank of Kullatine Brook to Mt Kipparra. It was traveled by the very early Macleay settlers with their livestock - not with vehicles such as drays. Except for the route on foot via the ocean beaches taken by the aboriginals the only other route from Port Macquarie to the Macleay River was partly by boat up the Hastings River to its junction with the Maria River and thence up the Maria to Mariaville (aka Boat Harbour) and from there via an early road of about 7 miles in length to East Kempsey. A compiler researched history of roads from Sydney and Maitland to the Wilson and Macleay rivers appears on the linked web page.
       Apparently the source from which the story of an epic bullock dray journey from Sydney was handed down in the Michael Jr. line believed incorrectly that despite the cemetery headstone stating Margaretha was born in Heidesheim, Germany the Simon family would have had origins in France because the name "Margaretha" had sounded to her as being French (7% of all females on the Wilhelmsburg were actually named Margaretha!). Thus one has to wonder if the story of an after arrival bullock drawn dray trek from Sydney to Kempsey was not just a case, based on stories of how other relatives or early settlers such as how Catherine's husband Walter Grace reached Macleay River, of a knowledge vacuum being filled by an assumption! Perhaps by about the mid-1860s, after tenant farming for several years at "Clarefield" and having acquired livestock, farm implements and equipment, furniture etc. and, after a dray trafficable road over the Marlo Merrican range to Dungay Creek came into existence, it was just the final short stage to settle permanently at Macleay River that was actually accomplished by horse or bullock drawn dray and the original journey north from Sydney to Kempsey (or Port Macquarie) was actually made via the ocean in a coaster as such would logically be the expected mode of transport for a family newly arrived in the colony without significant encumbrances and little if no command of English?
       Another handed down family story is that Michael's initial mid-north coast employer was Major Archibald Clunes Innes (1800-1857) of Port Macquarie who at one time was one of the leading pastoralists in the colony ³³. Major Innes did have two Port Macquarie vineyards and distilleries and employed vinedressers. He brought out six vinedressers from Germany in 1852 under the 1847 bounty regulations indentured to him to work in his vineyards for which in May 1852 he received the government bounty of £216. The six would have arrived in Sydney on 31 Mar 1852 on the San Francisco on which Margaretha's sister Anna Marrie Senz and her husband also arrived. By the time Michael arrived in Sept. 1855 some of the six, after over a year previously having completed the two year term of indentured employment with the Major may have moved elsewhere. So it is possible the Major employed Michael for a period as a vinedresser. It is understood his son-in-law to be Patrick Mackay, who was then resident in Port Macquarie at Lake Road, did employ William Rosenbaum and his wife Marie Louise who arrived in Sydney with the Simons'. They are recorded as being at Port Macquarie six weeks after the ship arrived in Sydney implying they would have journeyed there by coaster ³⁴.
       During the major's absences in Newcastle Patrick Mackay likely had overall management of his Port Macquarie district affairs. Annabella Boswell's Journal mentioned in 1847 Patrick had charge of the keys to the Lake Innes homestead cellars when Mrs. Innes was absent and in 1859 in Port Macquarie he married the eldest Innes daughter Eliza. If Michael was employed by Innes the most likely places of employment would have been at the Major's 2560 acre homestead Lake Innes grant where from 1844 he established a 30-acre vineyard (by 1852 reduced in area to two vineyards of 9 and 5 acres), licensed distilling facilities to produce brandy to fortify his wines, a winery and wine cellars, or at his 1947 purchased or leased from William Stokes 10-acre "Clifton" vineyard situated about 1½ miles from the town of Port Macquarie. Michael could also have been employed at the Major's 22-roomed Lake Innes homestead where there was an extensive garden and dedicated accommodation for a gardener. However it is also possible, as is so often the case with handed down family history, that a garbling occurred in the handed down history in son Joseph's line by way of a mixing up of Michael Sr. with the father of Joseph's wife Arthur Bannerman. From a diary record it is known upon arrival in Sydney from Scotland on the Lady McNaughton on 28 Jan 1839 Arthur Bannerman was engaged by Major Innes and the presumption is he remained working for Innes on his Port Macquarie district farming and grazing properties until not long before he became the licensee of the "Bush Inn" at East Kempsey in Apr. 1853. At the link is a compiler researched article on aspects of the 1850s history of  Major Archibald Innes  with reasons why the story he was Michael's initial mid-north coast employer may have been factual.
       Still another possibility is a variation in the family folklore that has it only Michael came north for employment and the rest of family remained in Parramatta residing with Margaretha's sister Anna Maria (Mary Ann) Senz and her husband Anton (Andrew) who the Simon family immigration arrival record listed as her Parramatta residing relative. It would certainly have been easier for Michael to find employment unencumbered by a wife and five young children of whom according to the immigration record the one year old was "sometimes sick". The 18 month time elapse from arrival to the birth of son William also suggests there may have been an initial period of separation. So the story they remained behind at Parramatta and only later joined Michael at Macleay River has some attraction. However a family researcher has advised upon arrival in 1853 Anton and Anna Senz were indentured to employment with the Rev. Thomas Hassall whose church parish and home property "Denbigh" was at Camden. The likely house in Parramatta where Anton and Anna were employed was an old one built originally by the Rev. Thomas Hassall's father Rowland that was located in George Street opposite "Harrisford" the initial site of 'The Kings School' when it began in Feb. 1832 and at which the Rev. Hassall's son James was a first term boarder. This house did have an orchard to which the school boys sometimes helped themselves. For the Rev. Hassall to have been able in 1853 to qualify for the bounty for employing vinedresser Anton Senz the orchard likely was in part a vineyard. However the same researcher has advised the Rev. Hassall's employment records held by the Mitchell Library in the relevant time frame do not disclose that anyone else resided at Parramatta with the Senz's. However it may be such only implies Margaretha and the children did not actually reside in the same cottage or quarters in the grounds as the Senz's but nearby in the town. Given the usual assumption and garbling found in handed down family stories it is possible Margaretha and the children remained in Parramatta for a period ²⁴.

Most Favoured Scenario

       In addition to the above family folklore versions of Michael's after arrival employment history there is a scenario postulated by long-time Simon family researcher Dick Adams that has attraction. It is based on the recorded birth places in April 1857 and August 1859 of Australian born children William and Michael Jr. as respectively at Dondingalong and Rollands Plains, The latter is more exactly identified in Michael Jr's obituary as having been on the "Clarefield" farm in what was then the locality of Owen's Plains - today (2010) known as Upper Rollands Plains. At the time of the births farms at both places were owned by Horatio Tozer, a merchant, coastal shipping operator, landowner, and a store owner at Port Macquarie, and from at least the first quarter of 1857 also a store owner at East Kempsey. It is said the records show when the Simons' arrived in 1855 Tozer owned portion 11 of 302 acres in the Parish of Wittitrin, in the County of Vernon and from 1861 onwards in the County of Dudley, bearing his name on the surviving Parish maps. It was originally the homestead section of Magnus McLeod's licensed and later leased 2,560 acre squatting run named "Dondingalong" from which the locality took its name. McLeod, who was one of the first Macleay River settlers, sold the run to John Ainsworth lessee of the adjoining "Adelaide Plains" run that extended on the south to the County of Macquarie boundary on the dividing range. Ainsworth then sold the lease of the run to Tozer who subsequently purchased portion 11 from the crown. Presumably like other absentee owned farms in nearby Yarravel and Kalateenee parishes, Tozer's portion 11 was informally sub-divided into smaller areas or farmlets he either leased out to others on straight or clearing leases or perhaps farmed himself in charge of a Superintendent with employed farm workers. Thus the first April 1857 born Australian child William was born either on this Tozer owned portion or elsewhere on his Dondingalong run.
       In respect of next and last born child Michael Jr's August 1859 birth place Horatio Tozer apparently then owned or leased the original 1920 acre "Clarefield" farm at what is today Upper Rollands Plains. In May 1852, some three years before the 1855 Simon family arrival in Sydney, when reporting on a flood in the district a Sydney newspaper stated -   "A family on Mr Tozer's farm, at Clarefield, finding the waters rising rapidly, made for his house, at eleven o'clock at night, and at three nothing was to be seen but one wide expanse of waters over nearly all this fine estate" ³⁵.
       According to the Shipping Intelligence section of The Sydney Morning Herald in Sep. 1855 Tozer had the old 1831 Clarencetown built light draft steamer "William IV" operating on the Port Macquarie to Sydney route. However an 11 Oct 1855 advertisement in the same newspaper advised it had been taken off the run and replaced with his schooner "William". The postulated scenario is at that time, through one of the employment agencies in Sydney or in some other way, Michael found employment with Tozer and the family made the journey to Port Macquarie or Kempsey on the steamer "William IV" or his schooner "William" from where they located initially to Tozer's farm at Dondinalong where Michael was a tenant farmer or an employee for a period that covered the April 1857 birth of William, and from where by the time of Michael Jr's August 1859 birth at the also Tozer owned "Clarefield" at Owen's Plains he had relocated to either still work for Tozer or where he was leasing a farmlet from him.
       In regard to the latter possibility that at the 1920 acre "Clarefield" farm he was not actually employed by Tozer but leased a farmlet there from him, in 1849 when still under the ownership of Amelia née Hayley widow of the original grantee William Skottowe Parker and, leased by her brother Frederick Hayley, a Sydney newspaper reporting on an action brought by her brother against the local Police Magistrate stated the property then had "several small tenants". Such is thought likely to have still been the case under the Horation Tozer ownership ²⁵.

Conclusion

       That Horatio Tozer had owned or leased both the "Dondinalong" and "Clarefield" properties at the relevant times does not in itself preclude an initial period of employment with Major Innes. Because there is no documentation the facts re the family's early years in Australia will never be known for certain. It is possible all the handed down stories contain within them an element of fact slightly altered during passage from generation to generation. The exact year of the first arrival of the Simon family at Macleay River, or their final settlement there sometime after Michael Jr's birth at Upper Rolland's Plains, is not known. Michael Jr's obituary stated only that the family resided at "Clarefield" for a number of years. Thus all that can be said is the final settlement at the Macleay was apparently between 1860 and April 1868 when daughter Catherine married Walter Grace at East Kempsey. The advice is there is no record of Michael Sr. selecting or owning land at Macleay River during his lifetime and the evidence is he was always a tenant farmer ²⁰.
       The 1872 Greville's Post Office Directory listed Michael as a farmer at Dondingalong. Of the three sons who arrived from Germany with their parents in 1855 the NSW to 1903 and subsequent Commonwealth indexes disclose only Jacob was naturalised. The presence of the names of the other two born in Germany sons on Commonwealth electoral rolls implies a naturalisation unless as seems probable the citizenship requirement for enrollment was not strictly enforced. Arguably the still standing as initially erected memorial in West Kempsey Cemetery, proclaiming Margaretha's birth place as Heidesheim in Germany, is the finest in that section of the cemetery and as such bears mute testimony to the love of the children for their parents.
      In addition to twin daughters born in Hattenheim in 1843, of whom one was stillborn and unnamed and the other lived only five days and was baptised Anna Maria, Michael and Margaretha had the below listed seven children and thirty-five grandchildren.

Children of Michael Simon and Margaretha Gross were:
+  1.    Jacob Philip Simon
+  2.    Catherine Simon
    3.    Thomas Francis Simon
+  4.    Joseph Henry Simon
+  5.    Margaretta Simon
+  6.    William Simon
+  7.    Michael Devon Simon

SECOND GENERATION

      Margaret's newspaper obituary stated her parents drowned in the Macleay River when she was six and she was raised by Thomas Bowen and his wife of Warneton. He would have been the Thomas Bowen listed in the 1872 Greville's P. O. Directory under Warneton as a farmer at the Sherwood locality of Callatina. Margaret's obituary had her father's name as David. Her death registration had no mother's name and gave her father's name as Daniel. However prima facie her parents would have been Patrick Fogarty, a shoe maker, and Mary McCarthy who are named as parents of Margaret and her sister Catherine in a 15 May 1845 baptism record. That record had Margaret's birth date as 4 Apr 1845 and is at variance with the 23 Feb 1844 given in her 1938 obituary from which it follows she was actually 93 when she died and must have erroneously believed she was born over a year earlier than was the case. In 1847 Patrick and Mary Fogarty also had a third child named Ellen baptised and the advice is that in all there were five daughters who were each raised by a different family after they lost their mother ⁴⁰.
       The index to the Register of NSW Coroner's Inquests held 1834-1901 confirms Margaret was aged six when she lost her mother Mary Ann. The inquest date was 4 Feb 1852 and death date 13 Jan 1852 and the finding was she had "accidentally drowned". The Coroner was John Warne J. P. after whom the early up-river shipping center of Warneton was named. It is said Margaret's same day baptised sister Catherine "Kate" went to live with John Warne and his family and that she married when aged 15 in 1857 with John Warne's formal consent suggesting he may have also acted in the capacity of the Macleay River Guardian of Minors ⁷. Margaret's father Patrick Fogarty has not been further traced. The absence of a same time as Mary Ann inquest into his death indicates he did not drown at that time. In April 1851 the Australian gold rushes began with the discovery of payable gold at the Ophir NW of Bathurst so perhaps the absence of an inquest is because there was a more prosaic explanation than drowning for his disappearance from Margaret's life?

Children of Jacob Philip Simon and Margaret Fogarty were:
+  8.    i.     Catherine M Simon
+  9.   ii.     Mary McLeay Simon
+ 10.  iii.    Violet Margaret Simon
   11.  iv.    Ernest Glenrock J Simon
+ 12.   v.    William Glendenning Simon
   13.  vi.    Horace Hastings Simon
+ 14.  vii.   Albert Edward A Simon

a family occasion - likely late 1920s to early 1930s
Sitting: Catherine (center) & brother-in-law Frank Grace (left) ³⁹.

3.   Thomas Francis Simon, b. 2 Jan 1849 ¹, Hattenheim, Duchy of Nassau (now in Hessen state), Germany; d. Aug. 1912 (#10961) Kempsey; m. 1892 (#4389) Kempsey, NSW, Lucy Smith. Lucy re-married Edward Quirk at Kempsey in 1913 (#11927) - perhaps the Lucy M Quirk who died 1919 (#16829) reg. Burwood, NSW, a daughter of Thomas and Ellen Quirk.

West Kempsey Catholic Cemetery

       He was baptised "Danian Franz" at St Vincenz in Hattenheim on 7 Jan 1849 (sup>1. In the Hamburg departure passenger the given names he later used of Thomas Francis appeared as "Domian Franz". Upon arrival in Sydney in 1855 the immigration record listed him just as Franz. Thus he subsequently anglicised Franz to Francis and adopted Thomas, which were the names given for him in his mother's 1884 death registration for which his older brother Jacob was informant. In both his 1892 marriage and 1912 death registrations he was listed just as Thomas.
       Consecutive registration numbers indicate his 1892 marriage was a double ceremony with the other couple being 10 years younger brother brother Michael and Annie McCarthy. There are no NSW indexed children birth registrations. The 1909 and 1913 Commonwealth electoral roll for Cowper listed Thomas and Lucy at Moonabah, Kempsey with Thomas' occupation given as farmer. His listing on the electoral rolls suggests he was naturalised, however that was seemingly not the case as there is no entry in the NSW naturalisation indexes to 1903 or following federation in the Commonwealth indexes.

4.   Joseph Simon,  b. 4 Jun 1851 ¹ in Hattenheim, Duchy of Nassau (post WW II in Hessen state), Germany; d. 27 Aug 1926 ⁴ (#15428) Kempsey, NSW, Australia; m. 1883 (#5441) Kempsey, NSW, Annie Bannerman, b. 1857 (#7774) at Macleay River, NSW; d. 1937 (#11448) Kempsey, NSW, daughter of Arthur Bannerman (1813-1889) and Anne O'Meara née McGiff (1814-1915).

       The Hamburg departure passenger listed Joseph's given names as "Georg Joseph" which were the names under which he was baptised. Upon arrival in the colony the immigration record had just Joseph. Unexplained is why when his mother died in 1884 as informant for her death registration his brother Jacob gave Joseph's given names as "George Issac". He was listed in the 1915 Cowper Commonwealth electoral roll at Dondingalong with the occupation of farmer and, as citizenship was a requirement for voting, such suggests he had been naturalised. However neither his name or that of elder brother Thomas Francis appear in either the to 1903 NSW, or post federation Commonwealth naturalisation indexes so presumably when first enroled the requirement for non British born to have been naturalised was not strictly enforced.
       According to his obituary Joseph lived for almost 70 of his 75 years at Dondingalong. The advice is his farm there comprised the physically undivided portions numbered 12, 13, & 20 in the parish of Kullatine on both sides of Gowings Hill Road with frontages to the Macleay River and to Dungay Creek  ⁴² The Museum at South Kempsey has a pamphlet on the history of an on site furnished "Settlers Cottage" that is one of the major attractions to visitors. It states after purchase in 1977 by the Macleay River Historical Society in 1977 the cottage was moved to the present site in 1985 and over the years had been rebuilt a number of times in different places in varying configurations such as the layout, number of rooms, and kitchen etc. The pamphlet indicates it was first erected for Ephraim and Budelia Morris at Dondingalong about 1910 with three bedrooms and a dining room built in a box shape with a center hall and detached kitchen connected to the main house by a walkway with a verandah all round. A reference in the pamphlet to Joseph Simon having sawn timber for its original construction indicates indicates an involvement in either the timber supply or carpentry for the original building.
       Wife Annie's father Arthur Bannerman arrived in Sydney from Sutherland in Scotland on the Lady McNaughton on 28 Jan 1839 and her mother came from Peacetown, Westmeath, Ireland. From March 1839 until about 1853 the family resided in the Port Macquarie / Hastings district where her father was employed by Major Innes on his farms. In April 1853 her father was granted a publican's license for the "Bush Inn" at East Kempsey. In October 1856 he purchased for £1 per acre from the crown 117 acres in the parish of Kullatine fronting the Macleay River located just north east of land reserved for the proposed village of Kullatine that never eventuated. He named the property "Gordon Bush" and subsequently purchased the adjoining on the west portion #1 of 49 acres resulting in an almost trebling of his river frontage. He also acquired other lands in the Sherwood locality. The original "Gordon Bush" portion #2 and adjoining portion #1 were part of an offering by the crown at an auction held on 1 Nov. 1855 at the Macleay Police Office of 7 country lots ranging from 49 to 135 acres in size. They were the first crown lands offered for sale in Kullatine parish which was then in the County of Vernon before in 1861 being relocated to Dudley. In the 1872 Greville's Directory Arthur Bannerman's address was given as "Gordon Bush", Warneton. Warneton was several miles down river on the opposite side of the river and was given as his address because that was where the post office was established in 1864. In 1992, 136 years after being granted, it is understood the original "Gordon Bush" grant remained in Bannerman family ownership making it arguably the then longest in terms of years, or at least one of the longest, original Macleay River grants to have remained in one family ownership.
       In recognition of Annie being the first mother in the district to lose a son on active service in WW I she was given the honour of flagging down the first train to run on the new North Coast railway line upon its arrival at Kempsey station on 28 Nov 1917. A small plaque marking the event was erected at the station ⁵.

Children of Joseph Simon and Ann Bannerman were:
    26.  i.    Joseph Henry Simon
+  27.  ii.   Adelaide Irene Simon
    28.  iii.  Arthur Michael Simon
    29.  iv.  William Henry Simon
    30.  v.   Angus Christopher Simon
    31.  vi.   female Simon
    32.  vii.  Ruben L Simon  

5.   Margaretha Simon "Margaret", b. 1 Nov 1853 ¹ Hattenheim, Duchy of Nassau (after WW II in Hessen state), Germany; d. 1934 (#4270) Kempsey. She was listed as an infant in the Hamburg passenger departure list under the same single given name of Margaretha as her mother and as aged one upon arrival in Sydney on 18 Sep 1855. She had one child and did not marry.

Child of Margaretha (Margaret) Simon was:
+  33.    Mary Simon

6.   William Simon, b. 5 Apr. 1857 (#7776) Dondingalong, NSW, Australia ¹; d. 1937 (#25733) Kempsey; m. 1886 (#5824) Kempsey, Honora Daniher, d. 1943 (#19355), daughter of Denis Daniher and Catherine.

     William's birth was registered at Macleay River under the phonetic surname variant of Siemon  ²⁰. His name appeared on Kalateenee parish maps as the selector in 1874 of portion 42 of 61 acres at Dondinalong located just east of where Dungay Creek joins the south side of the Macleay River near Belgrave Falls. However it is understood his dairy farm was on portion 20 located about half a kilometer away in Kullatine parish on the western side of Dungay Creek adjoining portion 13 that was owned by his bother Michael ⁴².
     His name on portion 42 is the only instance of the Simon name on the parish maps covering the Dondingalong area, suggesting that after settlement at the Macleay the family would have been either employees, share-farmers, or leased land at Dondingalong until portions 20,13 & 12, originally purchased at auction or selected in the 1860s by a John Thomas Gleeson, were purchased by the brothers William, Michael & Joseph. There was a William Simon from NSW who served in the Boer War as a gunner in the Royal Aust. Artillery but not likely this William as by then William was approaching his mid-fourties.
       Hanora's name is found in the records rendered with various spellings such as Nora, Norah, Hanorah, and Hannah. In the 1909 and 1913 commonwealth electoral rolls for Cowper the couple were listed at Dondingalong, with William's occupation given as farmer, and in the 1938 roll the family residence was listed in River Street, West Kempsey.

Children of William Simon and Honora Daniher were:
    34.   i.    Mary Josephine Simon
+  35.   ii.   Catherine M Simon
    36.   iii.  Irene Simon
    37.   iv.  Agnes W Simon
    38.   v.   Violet E Simon

7.   Michael Devon Simon,  b. 1 Aug. 1859 (#11678), Rollands Plains, NSW, Australia ¹; d. Oct 1950 (#28120) Kempsey; m. 1892 (#4388) Kempsey, Annie McCarthy, d. 19 Nov 1938 ⁴ (#24365) West Kempsey, daughter of John McCarthy and Mary Holden.

West Kempsey Catholic Cemetery

       His 1959 birth registration at Port Macquarie was recorded under the name Michael Semon ²⁰. Consecutive registration numbers indicate his marriage was a double ceremony with the other party being brother Thomas Francis to Lucy Smith. In the 1909 and 1913 Commonwealth electoral rolls for Cowper he and Annie were listed at Dungay Creek, Sherwood and Michael's occupation was given as farmer. In the 1915 roll his address given as Dungay Creek, Dondingalong, would have been the same place. In the 1925 roll Michael was at Wide Street in West Kempsey with his occupation given as retired farmer, and in the 1935 roll he resided in River Street in West Kempsey at what would have been #166 where he remained until his death.
       It is said his dairy farm at Dondingalong was on portions 54 & 55 in the parish of Kullatine lying between Gowings Hill Road and the Macleay River, and that upon his death it passed to his children and was purchased from the others by eldest son Michael Joseph who farmed it from 1952 until 1961 when it was sold to the Gowings who owned the adjoining portions once owned by his uncle Joseph Simon ⁴².
       Michael was a cricketer of some renown and was once selected for the Australian XI but declined to take up the position in the team. His and wife Annie's obituaries appeared in the The Macleay Chronicle. It is understood the Macleay Historical Society holds a a photograph of Michael.
       A great grandson has advised that the two stones from the Rhine river pictured above in the Emigration to Australia section were brought to Australia in 1855 by Michael's mother Margaretha and handed down in the family from Michael and Annie's unmarried daughter Beatrice.   ⁴².

Children of Michael Devon Simon and Annie McCarthy were:
+  39.   i.    Michael Joseph Simon
    40.   ii.   Beatrice Mary Simon
    41.   iii.  John Raymond Simon
+  42.   iv.  Mary Margaret Simon