“Fancy ferns.” That’s what Lucy Usher sought the day she died. Today we remember Lucy Usher. Her story is one of hardship and resilience in the face of incredible loss. It is a story of a bureaucratic battle to secure land in the new state of Victoria.
Lucy Sarah Bell’s story represents many nineteenth-century women. She was a farmer’s wife and mother to several children. Lucy did not lead a public life.
Lucy Bell arrived with her family in the Colony of Victoria on April 20, 1855. The Bell family sailed from Liverpool in England. They were aboard the ship Sir Charles Napier. The journey took five months.
Like many new arrivals, Lucy’s family left the Immigrant’s Depot at Geelong. They headed to the Goldfields. The Bells made their way to a mining area south of Ballarat.
At the age of twenty on October 16, 1863, Lucy married John Singer. He was a Swiss immigrant. Their first child, Charles Leopold, was born in 1865. Lucy Caroline was born in 1866 and Agatha Katherine in 1872. Details of this marriage and their children are in records at the Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages.
Lucy Bell, a dressmaker, married John Singer. He was a 28-year-old sawyer from Switzerland. The wedding was at the Presbyterian Manse in Ballarat.
Lucy gave birth to her first child. Charles Leopold Singer was born on March 8, 1865. He was born at Whim Holes in the District of Buninyong. Lucy Singer is listed as Charles’ mother.
By the time of Agatha’s birth, John Singer and Lucy Bell had applied for land. They had licenses to occupy two allotments of land in the parishes of Yarrowee and Lynchfield. Under the Land Act 1869, he had to fulfill requirements. He had to occupy and cultivate the land.
On June 16, 1873, John Singer died suddenly. He died of strangulated Hernia. Lucy was left a widow with three children. Lucy’s position on the land became complicated. John Singer died without a will.
Lucy sought to administer her deceased husband’s estate. She failed because she neither lived nor cultivated the land. She wrote to the Minister of Lands asking him to reconsider.
Lucy wrote a desperate plea. “Sir, will you please reconsider your decision. I beg of you to remember that I am only a woman. I am not able to clear and fence off the land myself. Nor am I able to employ any other.”
During this time, Lucy remarried. She married Peter Campbell in 1874. He was her sister’s brother-in-law. Lucy and Peter had a son. Henry was born in 1875. He survived only three days. They also had a daughter. Rose Jane was born in 1876.
The Probate Office required her new husband’s agreement. This was needed before it would issue letters of administration. It was for the land she had worked on with her deceased husband. Peter Campbell wrote to the Probate Office. He requested administration rights. This would allow the license of John Singer’s estate to be issued to his wife Lucy.
Lucy Campbell obtained the grant of the Yarrowee land in 1880. This was seven years after John Singer’s death.
Lucy died on the evening of Thursday, January 29, 1885. She was 42 years old. She had gone to a nearby waterhole to collect “fancy” ferns.
Her daughter Agatha went to assist her. She found no trace of her mother except for her hat. Peter Campbell pulled his wife from the water. But she was already dead.
The magisterial inquiry was undertaken by Mr. Frederick Ingle. It was his duty to ensure that nothing suspicious had occurred. Mr. Ingle interviewed Lucy’s family and other witnesses. He found that Lucy Sarah Campbell drowned accidentally.
Agatha Singer was only 12. She saw her mother Lucy pulled from the lake. Peter Campbell stated that they recovered her body. They tried to restore animation without effect.
The police report stated there were no suspicious circumstances. Following Lucy Campbell’s death, her first child Charles Leopold Singer assumed responsibility. He took over the administration of his father’s estate.
Lucy Sarah Campbell’s life reveals the struggles of early settlers.