Obituaries Australia

Many readers of the Sydney Morning Herald read with interest the article which appeared on November 17, on the well-known Hassall family. It was a strange and sad coincidence, that on the very day the article was published, there passed to her rest, in her home in Austinmer, Mrs. Lucy Mileham Wallace, a direct descendant of the third generation of Samuel Otto Hassall and his wife, Lucy Mileham, who made one of the couples at the ‘Triple Wedding’ at Parramatta, on November 22, 1819.

This dear old lady, who was over 80 years of age, was the eldest of the fourteen children of James Mileham Hassall, and granddaughter of Samuel Otto, son of Rowland Hassall. Samuel died in 1830 and is burled at Cobbitty. His wife, who remarried, lived for another 50 years.

On her mother's side also Mrs. Wallace had distinguished forebears, as she was a descendant of Gabriel Louis de Kerilleau, a French Huguenot, who sought refuge in England and there joined the 102nd Regiment under Captain John Macarthur, and came with him to Australia in 1790. Later, he was tutor to Macarthur’s sons at Elizabeth Farm. He married Louise Le Sare, and took up land in the Campbelltown district. His daughter Elizabeth Ga Huon married Thomas Mitchell, and their daughter, Emma, married Francis Rawdon Hume, a brother of Hamilton Hume, the explorer, and it was their daughter, Anne Isabella Hume, who married James Hassall, and was Mrs. Wallace's mother.

Louis Huon de Kerilleau had a sad ending when, as an old man, he set out from the Shoalhaven, where he had made his home, to visit his sons at Campbelltown, and was never seen again. He was making the long journey on foot, and presumably lost his way in the dense scrub.

The late Mrs. Wallace was the widow of Henry Wallace, of Glen Wallace, Cooma. She had no children. She was a wonderful old lay for her years, and took the greatest interest in the doings of the world around her, a great reader, and enjoyed discussing modern literature as well as that of ‘the good old days.’ She had a fine sense of humour, and it was my privilege, as a near neighbour, to see her almost daily, and many were the delightful chats we had together. She loved her garden, and nothing pleased her more than to give away posies of old-fashioned flowers, but she also knew the modern names of all her beautiful roses.

Though such a great age, she was an early riser, attending to all her household duties, walking daily to the shops and beach. Her life was filled with love and service for others, carrying out her Master's precepts in Christian charity, and she was beloved by everyone in this little town. She will be sadly missed, but her passing was so peaceful, we cannot grieve, but we cherish the memory of this dear old lady, a worthy descendant of a worthy pioneer family. She is burled beside her husband in the quiet little cemetery at Bulli, which lies within sight and sound of the waves of Pacific Ocean.