Part 3: William's Later Life and Second FamilyThe Real William Froggatt Story from all of the ArchivesWilliam's Second MarriageOn Thursday 12 May 1910 William married Eliza Agnes GOLDSWORTHY at the MacNeil Memorial Church, Waverley, Sydney. He was then living around the corner from the Church at 35 Lawson St. The Goldsworthy family had also lived in Gisborne, New Zealand and William may well have met them there. A photograph of the wedding party survives. The dresses are extravagant, but almost certainly hired for the day.
The Star AgencyBy mid-1910 William was again married and his wife (and her family) could now look after his three young children (Alice, Sarah and Frank). He needed to settle down with a steady income. On 24 November 1910 William went into the Register of Companies in Sydney and formed The Star Agency, operating at 44 Castlereigh St. The entry in the Registrar's book does not give many details, but the nature of the business was "Business and Estate Agency".
To find out more about The Star Agency we can turn to the contemporary newspapers. Here we find numerous advertisements offering for the sale or lease of a wide range of businesses in Sydney. The first advertisement was on 30 November 1910 just a wekk after William registered the business. Why he decided to try his hand as a commission agent is not known, but I wonder if his father-in-law George GOLDSWORTHY may have been involved. George had run a second-hand shop in Gisborne New Zealand, until he went bust. The Star Agency extended to employment, including station hands. William noted he had over 20 years of experience in Australian outback stations, so could pick a good worker. Here we find the truth behind the rumours about "Owning" theatres and businesses but then losing them - he did not own them but was merely the selling agent.
Business may have gone well for William, at least initially. His advertising increased and he had many busiess opportunities on his books. But, the advertisement on 29 January 1912 tells a different story. Here we see that The Star Agency is now "under new management" - William had sold the business. Then on 20 March 1912 the new owner is seeking a young lady for the office, presumably as there was not enough enquiries to keep the owner busy. And that is the last we see of the Star Agency in the papers. Birth of a child - Ivy Lillian FROGGATTIvy Lillian, William and Eliza's first child was born on 18 October 1911 in Sydney. A few months later William had sold The Star Agency and was probably out of work. We do not know what he did next but he soon fell back onto his previous experience and took work as a station hadn on an outback station. His new wife Eliza, woefully unprepared for housekeeping and motherhood was now left to look after her new baby as well as William's three children - Alice aged 15 years, Sarah (Sadie) 9 years and Frank 6 years. Eliza was unable to cope and she, assisted by her Goldsdworthy family, placed Sadie and Frank in foster care. `Sarah in Foster CareThe next piece of information comes from the foster records for Sarah Louise FROGGATT. I searched the card indexes in the Sydney Archives (when they were at the Rocks, Sydney) and then the microfiche copies of the Foster Books in which the name of the child, the foster families and financial contributions are recorded. Today the books have been scanned and can be searched online at the State Archives. The foster record tells us Sadie was taken into care on 5 July 1912. William was on a sheep station at the time and her step-family (Eliza and the Goldsworth family) had departed for New Zealand in early December 1911. We do not know who was caring for her from December 1911 to July 1912.
Sadie was put into foster care on 5 July 1912. Her parents are listed as "Mother: deceased, Father: William Froggatt, Moonbie Station, Jerilderie". No trace of a Moonbie Station can be found, but there is a Moonbria Station a few kilometres north of Jerilderie. The origin of the name Moonbria cannot be located and there are no known locations elsewhere in the world with this name. It appears to be unique to the station at Jerilderie. Moonbria is a street name in Victoria, and in Queensland. A horse of that name (New Zealand bred) came third in the 1915 Melbourne Cup. In another note - "1909 R S Falkiner of Moonbria sheep station in NSW demonstrates first electric sheep-shears." The foster record tells us a lot of information. Firsts there is pencilled top-right "Police" rather than a file number. This undoubtedly refers to how she came into care, through the assistance of Inspector LITTLEJOHN whom we will meet later in this story. She was aged 8 years and 8 months and her birthday was "taken as 1 Nov 03 (in fact it was 10 Dec 1903). She was boarded with "F ERICKSON" from 15 August 1912 through to early 1918, possibly 6 February 1918, nearly 6 years. On discharge Sadie was 17 years and 3 months old. She was "disposed of" to her sister Mrs W.H. CLOSE of White Lodge, Young. Her siser Alice had married Walter Herbert YOUNG on 29 August 1917 and then went looking for Sadie. Alice, being niow over 18 years old and married, was an approved guardian. Sadie lived with her sister until she married Arthur SHEPHARD in 1925. Losing Frank and the role of Inspector LittlejohnWhile the family knew what happened to Alice and Sarah, they had no information about Frank. They were led to believe he had been informally fostered in Sydney, but the sisters lost contact with Frank as they too moved around. The care of all three children was overseen through the efforts of Eliza's (Goldsworthy) uncle Police Inspector Alfred Littlejohn. He checked the families that Alice worked for and the families that fostered Sarah and Frank. When Alice married she was then able to provide care for Sarah and Frank so sought them out. Littlejohn is believed to have facilitiated the reunion of Alice and Sadie, but he claimed that he did not know where Frank was - that Frank had got into a little trouble and had left Sydney to make a new life in Queensland. Thus Frank vanished. The older sisters are reported to have spent a long time searching for him and Littlejohn claimed not to know his whereabouts. Frank was now lost forever to his sisters and to his father William. But as we shall find out, Littlejohn knew all along exactly where they all lived - and visited Alice, Sadie and Frank on many occasions after they were all married and living near each other in Young.
Frank FROGGATT in foster careAlthough I found Sadie in the card index of foster care I could not find Frank. As it turned out, Frank was there, only a few cards further on in the box, listed under "HUME, or Froggett" (sic). If only... As we now know, Frank was also fostered out, but not until 18 December 1914, when he would have been almost 9 years old (born 14 Jan 1906, not the 5 May 1905 on the foster record). Where had Frank been living before being taken into care? His step-family departed for New Zealand in December 1911 and his father William followed them in October 1912. By December 1914 he had adopted the name of Frank HUME, so presumably he had been living with the Hume family, who would have been regarded as his guardians. The family story tells that at this time Alice was working as a house maid in Sydney and Frank was living with another family.
His record also makes interesting reading. Whence came was "C.C. Metrop" which I take to be metropolitan Police - i.e. Inspector LITTLEJOHN. His record notes "Uncontrollable (running away from guardian gdn?)". He was held at "Shelter, FHU and Depôt" from 18 December 1914 to 6 August 1915, when he was boarded with G. BEARDS at Cowan Rd, St Ives. Frank was now 9 years old. He remained with the BEARDS until 2 May 1919, at which time he was considered to be 18 years old (note the 5 May 1905 birthday on the record) but was in fact only 17 years old. He was then placed with Mrs MUSCIO at Kingswood, Orchard Hills, Penrith until his final discharge on 5 May 1923. The Froggatt and Goldsworthy Families Return to New Zealand (Again!)We will never know why William was persuaded to leave his three children behind when he returned to New Zealand: Alice aged 15 or 16, Sarah aged 10 and Frank aged 6. We will never know why William and family, accompanied by his extended Goldsworthy in-laws left Sydney and moved to New Plymouth, New Zealand. As far as we can ascertain, neither William nor the Goldsworthys had lived in New Plymouth during their previous time in NZ. The family story has it that some time after the birth of their first child Ivy (18 Oct 1911), after Sarah had been put into care (5 July 1912) and before the birth of the second child (Gordon - 29 Oct 1913) the extended family of Froggatt and Goldsworthy (perhaps 10 people) moved across the Tasman Sea to New Plymouth (NZ) where they settled. The family believed that William and the Goldsworthys came first and Eliza with Ivy came later when Ivy was old enough to travel. But the shipping records tell a slightly different story. George, his wife Eliza Agnes (HUTCHISON), 3 children (Ivy, Leslie and Douglas Roy) plus Mrs Goldsworthy (senior) arrived in Wellington from Sydney on 13 December 1911 onboard RMS Moana. Also on the voyage was Mrs Froggatt and infant under 1 year old. They were not accompanied by William. He did not arrive in Wellington until 30 October 1912, onboard the TSS Maunganui, almost a year after his wife and young daughter, confirming the story that he stayed in Australia until his children were cared for.
New Family in New PlymouthOnce settled in New Plymouth, William and Eliza had 7 more children, one of whom died in infancy. These children cannot recall William's early life ever being spoken of. The only evidence they saw of William's life in Australia were two large emu eggs that adorned the mantelpiece (lost about 1944); William's stories of living in the Outback, and his ability to recite long passages from AB (Banjo) Patterson's poems. A few rare photos have survived.
After settling in New Plymouth, WIlliam worked as a labourer, finding work where he could. He spent time repairing the tram lines, as a wool classer and as an oil refinery worker. He worked as a labourer for the New Plymouth Council for some time, but his wages were minimal. He suffered several family health issues and in 1925 found himself without the means to pay off his debts. He then filed for bankruptcy.
As the Depression of the 1930's worsened and William turned 60 he found it even more difficult to find work. His youngest child (James) was born in 1931 and this entitled him to a small Social Security income. The family moved from house to house, but a search of the Land Title Deeds office showed that Eliza took out a mortgage in 1922 on the lease of a house in Cutfield Rd, New Plymouth. Apparently she was unable to keep up the payments and the lease and mortgage were terminated a year later. She rented out a room in the house but the tenant did not pay the rent.
William died in New Plymouth Hospital on 7 May 1946 and was buried at Te Henui Cemetery. Eliza Agnes remarried in 1948 to William Ireland and died in 1954. She is buried in her own plot in Te Henui.
The End of William's Story - or is it?In his life, William married twice, had 14 children, the first when he was 28 and the last when he was 62 years old. He died in 1946 aged 77. Despite his education, he never worked at one job or in one place for more than a few years, never owned any possessions of note and the family inheritance was a book and some debts. This might have been the end of the story - but what about Frank??????? Frank remained an enigma, a veritable brick wall. We knew he was born, that he returned to Australia in 1907 (remember the shipping record); and he was present at William's second marriage (see the photograph). He was fostered (to a HUME family as we now know), then taken into State care until 1919. After that he vanished. The Family History was not complete without finding Frank. I was determined to succeed. But where to look? Read on to Part 4...... Part 1 or Part 2 or Continue to Part 4 Last updated: 14 January 2026 |
