Henrietta Connelly

Henrietta was the third daughter born to John Turner and his wife Elizabeth (nee Craddock) in Sandhurst, Victoria in 1869. Henrietta married Theodore George Connelly, a coach driver, in Palmerston on 25 October 1888. Theodore, more commonly known as George, became a publican in Pine Creek, holding first the licence for the Playford Club Hotel in Pine Creek, followed by the Union Hotel in Palmerston in 1894. There is also newspaper evidence of his racing horses. A son, Vaiben Langdon Patrick, was born in Pine Creek in 1890; Gladys was born in 1891. In the 1891 census of the Northern Territory, Henrietta was listed as a married woman of 22 whose birthplace was in Victoria. William James was born on 27 August 1892 also in Pine Creek, followed by Charles Palmerston born in Palmerston on 5 November 1894. In 1895 when Henrietta was 26, she was one of the 82 women who enrolled to vote after the franchise was granted to South Australian and Territory women in 1894. Henrietta registered at the Palmerston polling place. Her occupation was listed as "married woman". In the 1896 revision of the Electoral Roll, Henrietta and her husband George were removed, as they had left the district. The Northern Territory Times of 8 November 1895 reported that the family was leaving Palmerston for the west, but another son, Lawrence Clive, was born in Melbourne in 1897."Notes of the Week" in the Northern Territory Times reported in 1899 that the couple was operating a hotel and store business at Maindample in Victoria. Their hotel was destroyed in a suspicious fire in December of 1904. By 1915, evidence in the Service Record for Charles shows that Henrietta was living at Eurack near Colac in Victoria. George and his sons were living in Melbourne by the outbreak of war. Vaiben was 27 when he registered to go to war in 1917, listing his address as Moonee Ponds in Melbourne. William James registered for war in 1918 also listing his age as 27 and home address as Melbourne. Charles Palmerston became a saddler and enlisted at 19 in 1914. His next of kin was his father and his home address was Murphy's Livery Stables in Cheltenham, Melbourne. It is unclear if Gladys remained with her mother. Their youngest, Lawrence Clive, born in Melbourne in 1897, enlisted at 18 in 1915. In 1917, Henrietta wrote to the military authorities from her address c/- the Burwood Post Office in New South Wales. She was requesting the separation payment paid to mothers of sons gone to the war and appeared to be in a poor financial situation. No traces of Henrietta can be found after that date.Publica