01/09/2026
๐ผ ๐จ๐ฃ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐๐ฉ ๐๐ง๐ค๐ข ๐ค๐ช๐ง ๐ฅ๐๐จ๐ฉ...
In June, as he battened down the hatches for a hard winter, Nutt was granted a further renewal of licence. But Ernest hadnโt been chasing just hares. Heโd also been chasing Agnes Bayley, and on June 18th of 1901 the Reverend Po***ck united Ernest and Agnes in marriage at St. Lukes in Little Akaloa. Perhaps the weight of married life proved too much for Ernest because, in early 1902, he was forced to resign from the coursing club due to ill health.
Meanwhile, second youngest son, Thomas, had turned out to be more of an entertainer. He was a keen member of the Little River Darktown Crew, a blackface gang of wandering troubadours who entertained around the Peninsula. Thomas was renowned for his performance of Tambo in a Tambo and Bones routine. These two characters depicted black slaves, one playing the tambourine, the other the bone castanets. The comedy value came from the naรฏve, gullible, and plainly stupid interaction of these two with a straight man, known as the interlocutor.
On 21st September, Joseph Nutt became father to a daughter, and Samuel a grandfather, and in November Samuel junior bought 104 acres of land in the Willesden Estate (Prices Valley area).
Nuttโs Hotel was the venue for the government veterinary surgeon in early February, where he would inspect horses. Locals had been asked to donate mounts for the Ninth Contingent, as they headed for the South African conflict. Horses from the Peninsula would be part of the more than 8,000 that were sent to South Africa. Of those 8,000 only one would return, the rest either dying in battle, succumbing to the difficult conditions, or being sold off after peace was restored.
โณ๐ฅ๐๐๐: ๐ก๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ด๐! ๐ ๐ง๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ฟ ๐๐๐พ ๐ซ๐๐๐๐
๐พ ๐ฑ๐๐๐พ๐ ๐ง๐๐๐พ๐
, ๐ป๐ ๐ฑ๐๐ป๐๐ ๐ฌ๐ผ๐ฅ๐บ๐๐
๐บ๐๐ฝ
**Images: John Henry Menzies (1839-1919) was the local farmer who was largely responsible for the design, construction, decoration and financing of St Luke's Church. Menzies lived on site during most of the construction period which began in March 1905 and as a result of his efforts the church was completed free of debt and was consecrated on 6 December 1906.
The bell tower of St Luke's commemorates William Menzies' wife Gertrude and the bell commemorates Reverend Canon Frederick Menzies.
C. Shellie Evans
