Obituaries Australia

Thomasina Carter, n.d.

photo supplied by Ian Carter

Our obituary notice to-day contains the news of the death of a very old colonist, and the first white woman who ever came to the Wimmera. Mrs. Thomasina Matthews Carter, at the patriarchal age of 91 years, passed peacefully away to a well-earned rest on Sunday. She died at Rosebrook homestead attended by all her four surviving children. viz: Mrs. Robertson, of Skene, Mrs. Elliott, of Brim Springs, Mr. Samuel Carter, of Walmer, and Mr. William Carter, from Tarrington, Hamilton. The deceased lady with her husband and family arrived in the Horsham district from Tasmania on August 10th, 1843, to settle at North Brighton, and endured, to the full extent all the hardships, privations and dangers incidental to the settler's life in the midst of the blacks in those early days. She was accustomed, when the men were away engaged further afield in the bush, to hold the homestead — a log hut loopholed for Musketry fire, and with always a plentiful supply of boiling water for the inimical blacks — sometimes with one of her sons, but frequently without any male protector, and very often she has donned masculine attire and laden herself with provision to take up to the men-folk away at work on the ranges. Her husband — Mr Charles Carter died in 1875. Ailing, with scarcely any other defined disease but extreme old age, she was found to be failing on Friday and Dr. Cross who was then called in to attend her, announced that the end was near and her children were promptly summoned. Up to the last she seemed to understand what was said or read to her, and her last words assured her people who were gathered round her that she was in "no pain." The funeral will leave Walmer (where the remains were to brought this morning) at 2.3o p.m. to-day and will pass through Horsham on the way to the cemetery about 3.15 o'clock this afternoon.