Fleming brothers marry Mummery sisters

*"George William Finlay Fleming was born at Moyhu and was the 8th child of 11.  His parents were John Knight and Margaret Jane Fleming nee Splatt.  George started school at Edi and had to walk 5 miles each day, when the river was in flood the only way across was by a flying fox.  At about 6 years of age the family moved to a farm near Wangaratta.  They lived on several farms within this area during his school life.  George used to tell of how he would have to milk the cows of a morning before going to school in Wangaratta.  At the age of 19 he went to Melbourne for the show.  A group of them went for the evening and George had no partner so Edith Mummery agreed to blind date.  As she said " Thats how it all began."   We do not know for sure of the reasons, maybe he got tired of making regular trips to Melbourne - but about 2 years later George moved to the city where he got a job in a grain store.  He worked there for a short time until he got a more permanent job with Hoeffman's carting bricks to building sites - he carted the bricks to the memorial Shrine when it was being built.  In April 1936 he and Edith were married.  George became a warder at Pentridge - but he would joke that he always had a key to get out.  From there and his family moved to a farm at Timboon in the early 1950's.  He worked the farm and supplemented the farm work with building.  After leaving Timboon he moved to Kyabram for a short time then to Dandenong where he built flats, then about 1965 he returned to Kyabram.  His interests were fishing  and he was a keen shooter.  Graeme relates to a shooting trip to Queensland on which George hit the mark every time without a miss for 70 consecutive shots - he equalled his age which was a great achievement.  He loved the outdoors and he had an appreciation for nature and enjoyed travelling around Australia.  Towards the later years of George's life he would say we are not going up North this winter then the first frost would hit and George would start packing the caravan and be gone before the second frost arrived.  Alma Edith Mummery was known to most of us as Edie and she was born in Dandenong and was the 4th of 6 children.  She must have been a favourite of a particular Uncle, as he put her through Business College, after finishing Business College she got a job in the Dandenong Shire Office and from this she was teaching as a primary school assistant.  When Edie first met George she is quoted as saying " Thats the man I'm going to marry".  When Edie and George set some sort of record on a motorcycle from Berwick to Dandenong that Ron admits he hasn't been able to equal.  Edie was Secretary and President of the Ladies Guild.  She was always involved with the family and taught the grandchildren card games.  Unfortunately Edie was killed in an accident on Norfolk Island while on a holiday there with her sister Beryl."

I didn't find any engagement or wedding notices for Edith and George, perhaps because of the War.

Family Notices (1940, December 23). The Argus (Melbourne,Vic:1848-1957), p. 6. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article11312053

A.C.F. Notes (1942, February 11). The Dandenong Journal (Vic:1927 - 1954), p.16. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article215707398

*"Gordon Raymond Fleming was the son of John Knight and Margaret Jane Fleming nee Splatt and was the 10th of 11 children, he was born at Edi. After his schooling he worked on the family farm, and at the age of 21 he got a job at H.V. McKay Massey-Harris working on farm machinery and installing milking machines.  Earlier at the age of 20, he attended his brothers wedding as groomsman, there he met Beryl, the brides sister who was also a bridesmaid, five years later, after World War II had begun, they married.  Three months after the wedding Gordon was assigned to England with the Department of Agriculture to help assemble farm machinery and demonstrate the machinery to Land Army women.  He was there for two and a half years, and on his return worked as a mechanic and bus driver for three years.  In 1949 Gordon, Beryl, Joan and John moved to Myrtleford where Gordon worked in Robertson's grocery store for 5 years, he then worked at Price's Garage as a car salesman for eight years before returning to farming at Rosewhite.  Whilst in Myrtleford Gordon took a keen interest in local football and later in lawn bowls, and his interest in bowls lasted many years.  In 1965 the family moved to another dairy farm at Nanneella near Rochester, in 1970 they moved to Katunga.  In 1985 Gordon, Beryl, John and Jill moved into Numurkah township.  Gordon belonged to the Numurkah Masonic Lodge and was actively interested in the Numurkah Golf Club, his other interests were the Bowling Club, fishing and duck shooting expeditions.  He was also a keen gardener, with fresh vegetables all year around and a wonderful array of colourful chrysanthemums especially for mothers day."

*The above notes were compiled by Mrs Jean Sharrad, a great-great granddaughter of William Finlay Fleming and Ann Jane Knight.  Jean has done an amazing amount of research and willingly shared her findings with interested family members.  She interviewed many family members although it isn't noted who supplied the above stories.
We thank you Jean

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