Vera and Enid - their life in Sydney

Carlo and Catherine had three daughters Elvira May, known as Vera, (born May 31, 1888); Eugenia Anastasia (born August 13, 1895) and Enid Marguerite (born November 3,  1899). I have looked at their school days and Eugenie's untimely death on August 1, 1915 at the age of only 19, here. This post looks at the life of Vera and Enid after they left school. Neither of the sisters went to University, Vera would have finished school around 1904 and Enid around 1915.

I feel as if neither woman reached their full potential - they had to cope with the death of Eugenie; a year later their brother Enrico was Killed in Action and two years later their father died. They must have been reeling while trying to cope with all that sadness and grief. Then perhaps things settled down until 1924 when their brother Ettore is committed to the Sunbury Hospital for the Insane and a year later their mother, Catherine died. No wonder the sisters sold up in Victoria and moved to Sydney, trying to leave all that misery and heartbreak behind. I hope they found some happiness there.

This is a timeline of Vera and Enid's life after they left school.

1909 - the first year Vera appears in the Electoral Rolls (ERs) (1). She is living with her parents at 4 Elm Grove at Armadale. Her occupation is Home Duties, that all purpose occupation assigned to most females in those days. Of course, Enid was living at home as well but she was too young to appear in the Electoral Rolls.  Glenluce, 4 Elm Grove was removed to make way for the duplication of the railway line between South Yarra and Caulfield in May 1912, read about this here.

1913 - Vera and the family are listed in the ERs at Orrong Road in Elsternwick. This must have been a short-term rental because in another 1913 Roll they are at Wyndham, Blessington Street in St Kilda.

1915 August 1 - Eugenie dies.

1916  July 29 - Enrico Killed in Action at Pozieres.

1918  July 20 - Carlo dies.

1924 - Enid appears in the ERs for the first time.  Also listed are her mother and sister and brother Ettore, who was listed on the Rolls from 1915 until 1925. Ettore is a Clerk and Enid's occupation is of course, home duties. The life of Ettore will be the subject of another post.

1924  December 26  - Ettore became of unsound mind and was committed to the Sunbury Hospital for the Insane (2).

1925 August 6 - Catherine dies.

1926 September 18 - The family home, Wyndham, is auctioned. Vera and Enid are at the address until 1927 (3).

1926 October 14 - The Catani property of six  acres on Mt Donna Buang Road at Warburton is auctioned (4).

1930  -  Vera and Enid are living at 45 Carrabella Street, Kirribilli, Sydney. Vera's occupation is Home Duties and Enid is a  Stenographer. The New South Wales ERs are on Ancestry from 1930, so I cannot say for sure where they were between 1927 and 1930.  There are two 1930 ERs on Ancestry and the sisters are also listed at 3 Wycombe Road, Neutral Bay.  Vera's occupation is listed as a Saleswoman and Enid's occupation is listed as aTypiste.

1932 and 1933 - Enid is living at Hotel Braeburn, Waruda Street, Kirribilli. She is a Stenographer.

Braeburn Hotel, Enid's home

The Sydney Morning Herald, January 2 1931  http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article16742851

1932 July -  Table Talk announced the engagement of Enid to Keith Kenneth McKenzie of Richmond. The marriage did not take place (5).

1932 August 22 - Enid attends the unveiling of the Memorial Clock Tower in St Kilda, erected in honour of Carlo. Read more here.

1933 July 1 - Enid becomes joint proprietor of Special Press Photos.

Newspaper News January 2, 1933

State Library of Victoria Manuscript archives. Image: Isaac Hermann.

The article reads - Miss E.M. Loudon - Relinquishes interest in Special Press: Succeeded by Miss E. Catani. After having been associated with the representation of Special Press in Australia for 15 years, Miss E.M Loudon has relinquished her interest in that business in favour of Miss Enid Catani, who has acted in the capacity of secretary for nearly seven years. In addition to Special Press, Miss Loudon  has represented World Wide Photos, Keystone View Co. Inc., International Syndicate, Fox Photos, Blake Fashions and other syndicates. She is now devoting all her time to her advertising agency, which she has carried on for over 20 years. Miss Catani is the daughter of the late Carlo Catani, a former chief engineer of the Public Works Department, Melbourne.

Enid becomes joint proprietor of Special Press Photos

Dun's Gazette for New South Wales Vol. 50 No. 9 (August 28, 1933)

1934 -  Elvira is living at 1 Manns Avenue, Neutral Bay, her occupation is 'Home Duties.' I don't know where she was between 1930 and 1934, as she is not listed in the ERs.

Advertisement for a flat at 1 Manns Avenue, Neutral Bay, where Vera lived in 1934.

Sydney Morning Herald, September 26, 1934 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article17120388

1934  to 1937-  Enid is living at The Oriental, Milson Road, Cremorne, according to the ER's. Her occupation is listed as  'no occupation'. There are no ER's on-line between 1937 and 1943.

1935  July 20 - Enid inserts an In Memoriam notice in The Argus for Carlo.

Enid's In Memoriam notice for her father

The Argus July 20, 1935 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/11750011

1937 November 17 - Enid charged with stealing a darning set from David Jones.  I find this incredibly sad (not that I am condoning stealing).  Like all single women she had to support herself and with two thirds of her wage going on board, Enid  was in a fairly precarious position if anything unexpected cropped up.

Enid charged with theft

The Sun November 17, 1937  http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article232015215

1937 November 29 - Enid retires from Special Press Photos. I wonder was this retirement linked to the Court case?

Enid retires from Special Press Photos

Dun's Gazette for New South Wales Vol. 58 No. 25 (December 20, 1937)

1943 -  Vera is living at 67 Macleay Street, Potts Point. Her occupation is a waitress. She was at this address when she passed away in 1947.

This is the Hotel Braeburn, formerly Astoria and originally Beulah, where Enid lived in Sydney. The building was erected in 1908 and was one of the first high-rises on the Sydney Harbour foreshore. Read more here on the Old Estates for Sale website.

National Museum Image 1986.0117.3763

1943 - 1949  Enid  is back at the Hotel Braeburn, Waruda Street, Kirribilli. Her occupation is still a Stenographer.

1947  April 16 - Vera dies at the Crown Street Womens Hospital in Sydney. She is buried at the Waverley Cemetery (7).

Vera's death notice

The Sydney Morning Herald, April 19, 1947 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article18022242

1950  October 21 - Enid dies at the Lanchester Private Hosital in Neutral Bay. She is buried at the Waverley Cemetery in the same grave as Vera (8).

Enid's death notice

Sydney Morning Herald October 23, 1950  http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article18180355

Braeburn Hotel, where Vera lived. I wonder if she had a good view of the Harbour? Braeburn Hotel is the building on the foreshore on the left.

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Acknowledgment - The basis of this timeline was developed by my research colleague, Isaac Hermann. I have added some more facts, descriptions and opinions.

Footnotes

(1) The Electoral Rolls are available on Ancestry.com.

(2) The date of Ettore's admission to the Sunbury Asylum comes from an affidavit signed by Vera and Enid in Carlo Catani's Probate papers at the Public Records Office of Victoria.

(3) The sale of Wyndham was advertised in The Argus of August 21, 1926, see here.

(4) The sale of the Warburton property was advertised in the Lilydale Express of October 1, 1926, see here.

(5) The engagement announcement in Table Talk on July 28, 1932 can be seen here.

(6) & (7) Information from the Central Coast Family History Society; Collection Title: Index to the Charles Kinsela Funeral Directors Registers; Reference: Waverley Church of England on Ancestry.com.

Where did Elvira, Eugenia and Enid attend school?

We know that Carlo's sons attended Melbourne Grammar, but I wondered where his daughters went? Carlo and Catherine had three daughters - Elvira May, known as Vera, (born May 31, 1888); Eugenia Anastasia (born August 13, 1895) and Enid Marguerite (born November 3,  1899). I did some research on Trove and fortunately schools in the past often published reports of examinations and speech days, so I have found a few references.

Elvira attended the Strathclyde Ladies College. In December 1900, there was a report of  a Speech Day at the Strathclyde Ladies College and Elvira received a B for Conversational French. In October 1901, Elvira passed a French examination at the  Alliance Francaise of Victoria. The only other report I could find of Elvira's school days was in January 1902 when the examination results for the Strathclyde school were listed in The Australasian, and Elvira obtained  a D for French. In the 'Extra subjects' Elvira received a prize  for Drawing, a  prize for Conversational French and an Alliance Francaise Certificate. (The Australasian January 18, 1902)

The City of Stonnington has a history of  education in their area and it has this very short history of the Strathclyde Ladies College. In the 1880s, Daniel and Martha Connelly opened Cornelia College for Ladies in Horsburgh Grove, Armadale, which later moved to Albany Road.  The School was taken over by the Misses Rudd in the 1890s and renamed Strathclyde. You can read it, here.

Eugenie attended the Harborough Girls' School, which was a 61 Rose Street in Armadale. The fourth annual prize distribution of the Harborough Girls' School and Kindergarten took place on December 17 1903 and Eugenie, who was in Kindergarten,  received a First Class prize for writing. If this was the 'fourth annual' prize night, I presume the school only started in 1900. This is supported by a report of a function held at the school on December 10, 1914 to farewell the Misses Knights, who, are a period of fifteen years are retiring from the school. (The Argus, December 21, 1914) It was co-ed school and possibly just a primary school.

In 1910,  both Eugenie and Enid were at Lauriston Girls School - Enid was listed as receiving an Honour Certificate and Eugenie received an Honour certificate and the Scripture prize. (The Argus, December 19, 1910)  According to their website, Lauriston Girls' School was established in 1901 by Margaret and Lilian Irving, daughters of the eminent Victorian educator Professor Martin Howy Irving. 

In 1913, we find a report that both Eugenie and Enid were at the Melbourne Church of England Girls' Grammar School.  Enid was in Form IV and was awarded the '2nd standard prize' and also received a prize in the Intermediate Division of the Diocescan Divinity Examination. Eugenie received a hockey stick as a Games Trophy. (The Argus, December 20, 1913)  In their Speech Day report held December 15, 1915, they had the following, lovely tribute to Eugenie, who had been school captain,  after her tragic early death at the age of 19, on August 1, 1915. How brilliant she must have been  and how tragic it is that she died so young.

Melbourne Church of England Girls' Grammar School Speech Day report, December 1915
The Age, December 18 1915

http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article154921390

I have created a short list of articles that refer to the school days of  Elvira, Eugenia and Enid Catani, you can see it here, on Trove.

Carlo and the 'popular culture' magazine 'Table Talk'

We all know about Trove - one of my favourite things of all time - it has (amongst other things) digitised Australian newspapers from 1803  and was designed by Librarians at the National Library of Australia (and I'm a Librarian, so that makes my heart sing). Anyway, one of the more interesting (to me)  newspapers on Trove  is Table Talk: a journal for men and women - in reality, it's not much more than a gossip magazine, it's light entertainment - it had extensive social columns and covers all the Society weddings or fashionable weddings as they call it, a  fashion column and the comings and goings of society folk, theatre and bit of political gossip.   So I wondered did Carlo ever feature in Table Talk?  As it turns out, not very often, but he doesn't sound like the type of person to chase the limelight just for the sake of  it. 

Here's a nice account of  Carlo from February 15, 1912  - a cheery son of Italy, an eye for landscape garden effects and a model of urbanity and discretion and Ministers like him so well that they will be induced to father his road beautification schemes, even when they scarcely know where the money is to come from.

 Table Talk  February 15, 1912

http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article146573700

Carlo has found for himself a  legitimate war time activity  - that of providing lanoline to the Italians, where there was a shortage according to his  brother, Lieutenant Colonel Catani. I wonder if anyone used his skills as a  intelligent interlocutor to export their lanoline to Italy? We do also find out that he is practical and creative and add that to the urbane and discrete characteristics from the previous article and we are building up quite a nice picture of Carlo and his personality.

Table Talk November 11, 1915
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/146640912

This is a report of his retirement  - this is a  great description of him (and a less flattering one of his colleagues) - Catani is about the only man who ever galvanised the Victorian Works Department into anything in the form of aesthetic life. Probably he was able to do so much with the slow moving civil servants around him because he was blessed with unusual vigor himself and could paint a rosy scheme in treble languages. He was about the best story teller the Department ever had, so that in addition to losing an able engineer, the service is parting with a pleasant social light. 

 Table Talk May 3 1917

http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article146475536

This is an interesting article called Beautiful Victoria: Notes on our Tourists' Resorts and it  talks about Carlo's visionary planned 'motor road' from Melbourne to Sorrento. The article has some neat descriptions of the towns around the Bay, most of which are now suburbs.

Table Talk October 27, 1921

http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article146318090

What else does Table Talk have to say about the Catani family? It had a lot to say about Carlo's brother, the artist Ugo (or Signor Catani as they refer to him) but that will be a future blog post. I could only find about 15 mentions of the Carlo family - here are some of them - In September 1912, Miss Vera Catani was a bridesmaid at the wedding of Sydney Cullis-Hill and Grace Court. She wore a  pretty pale blue crepe-de chine frock, trimmed with plaited frill and a pearl Juliet cap. There were a few other mentions of Vera at social events, including  one from July 1913 when she attended the St Kilda Dinghy Club Ball - the bright and enjoyable dance was held at the St Kilda Town Hall - Miss Catani wore a white satin frock with geranium red tunic.  You can read a bit about the Dinghy Club here on the St Kilda News website. In January 1918, Mr Catani and the Misses Catani were guests at Erskine House in Lorne. In July 1932, Table Talk announced the engagement of Enid to Keith Kenneth McKenzie of Richmond. In 1932 she was around 33 years of age, fairly old for getting engaged in those days, given the average age of marriage at the time was early 20s (not judging, just stating a fact) She didn't end up marrying the alliteratively named Keith Kenneth McKenzie (or anyone for that matter) There is a Keith Kenneth McKenzie in the Electoral  Roll at 48 Docker Street, Richmond from 1928 to 1937 - occupation Railway employee - and also at the address is a Kenneth McKenzie (occupation Engine driver) - so is this Him? Possibly - but by 1930 Enid and Vera were living in Sydney, so how did they meet? Why was the engagement called off? Don't know and Table Talk does not tell me.

Table Talk July 28, 1932

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/147288448