Michael and Hannah Starkey
Michael Starkey and Hannah nee Broadribb
Michael Starkey
A runaway sailor (QWB p66). Storekeeper at Mount Torrens,
Michael Starkey born 1828 London, England. To SA 1848, as a midshipman aboard the ROMAN EMPEROR. After jumping ship, he made for the Adelaide Hills, where he was a storekeeper in the isolated infant settlement of Mt Torrens, and then Mt Pleasant, soon after the township was laid out. Starkey's store stood somewhere on the present Show grounds entrance road, just down from the district's first hotel, the Mount Pleasant Inn. Unfortunately, Michael became bankrupt soon afterwards and he went shepherding for Joseph Gilbert over the ranges at Pewsey Vale. As a young married man, he took up pastoral land at Flaxman Valley, where he did well, but died prematurely in 1875. Between 1867-1872 M Starkey acted as a Councillor for the Flaxman Valley district.
Michael and Hannah marrie 1855 at Gumeracha.
M. Starkey's widow, nee Hannah Broadribb, of Gumeracha, was a remarkable woman. Her parents had arrived with the Randell family aboard the HARTLEY in 1837 and she came into the world soon afterwards - one of the first white children born in the colony. Hannah was christenied at the weatherboard St John's-in-the-wilderness, Halifax St, Adelaide.
After the death of her husband, Hannah brought her considerable family to a farm at Tungkillo, where she earned great respect for sterling duty as a district midwife.
Hannah was widowed in 1875, left with 7 children aged 20 years to 1 year
Purchased Section 7073 Hd Talunga in 1877 from John Burton.
Purchased block 70 Mount Pleasant in 1898, from Walter Purchase.
After the death of Hannah, sons William and Edward took ownership of block 70, finally selling to the South Australian Railway Commission in 1918.
There is little to suggest that Hannah was in charge of farming the property, with her husband listed in Directories until 1888 for Pewsey Vale, however, it would have been that she made a living from the property to support her large family. Her son, Edward, took over the property on Section 7073 Hd Talunga, now known as Hill View, with the transfer of ownership in 1896, and it has been in the hands of the Starkey family until very recently, 2023.
Her descendants married into other local farming families. Son Edward served a brief shoemaking apprenticeship with John Spry of Tungkillo, before founding HILL VIEW Merino stud, the oldest surviving in the Mt Pleasant district. He and his sons became skilled sheep breeders and community workers both at Tungkillo and on the Murray Flats.
Children
1. Louisa Ann m. Duncan McCallum 1879 and moved to Willowie
2. William m. Janet Dick Hood in 1884 and went to the West Coast
3. Elizabeth Jane m. George Harding in 1890 and moved to Black Rock
4. Edward Henry m. Eliza Hooper in 1890 and remained at Mount Pleasant
5. Frank m. Margaret Woodroffe in 1890 and moved to Wilmington
6. Charles m. Mary Wegener in 1899 and lived at Sanderston.
7. Lewis m. Margaret Dolphin in 1906 and moved to Streaky Bay.
The Quiet Waters By : The Mount Pleasant District 1843-1993, by Reg Butler, pp627
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Trove newspapers