Joseph Bishop's Response to Fanny's Affidavit.

More photos of Fanny Jane Smith Bishop

Above: Two very different photos of Fanny Jane Smith. The first is of a younger, softer Fanny. She is fuller in the face than the older woman who appears in the photo underneath.
The bottom photo is of an older, more polished, confident woman.Both photos were taken in Melbourne in the 1860s.

Fanny Jane Bishop's Affidavit.

Court Procedings-Bishop V Bishop

Above: Joseph Bishop, the respondent in the divorce case Bishop V Bishop.

In late July, 1873, Fanny Jane Bishop presented her affidavit, stating her case and her wish for her marriage to be nullified.Joseph responded to her statements on September 9, and from then on the official documents bounced back and forward from legal side to the other.
The following blog entries contain copies of the original court documents concerning the lead up to the actual Court hearing.

The 1870s-Joseph Bishop's painful last years.

The family story passed down to me concerning the separation of Joseph Bishop and his second wife, Fanny, was told to me by my great Uncle, Gordon Oakley.Joseph Bishop was his great-great Uncle, and Gordon's grandfather, Henry Bishop, lived with the Oakleys until his death in 1918. It was Henry, Joseph's nephew, who told his grandsons the tale of the wicked Fanny Jane Smith,the gold digger who married Joe for his wealth, spent it all quickly and then divorced him because of his impotency.
Great story, but how to prove if it was true? On March 18, 2000, there arrived for me in the mail a thick collection of documents from the Public Record Office of Victoria...so thick, in fact, that it had to be collated into two stapled books rather than just one.It was the divorce file relating to Joseph Bishop and Fanny Jane Smith, "falsely called Bishop", and what I found inside was simply amazing.

Briefly, Fanny was accusing Joe of causing her physical and mental anguish by failing to consummate their marriage, despite frequent attempts over the three years of their marriage prior to her going back to England.
According to Fanny,her husband's impotency had led to the condition mennorrhagia, or hemorrhage from the uterus, and her doctor (who also happened to be her future brother-in-law) had told her that if she didn't leave him her life would be in danger.
Fanny stayed with her parents until, after pleading by Joseph for her to come back to him, she returned to Melbourne on the ship 'Agamemnon' in November of 1869.They lived together from January 1870 until August 14 of the same year. On this date they separated permanently, having Joseph's solicitor Frederick Moule draw up a deed of separation.
For almost three years all seems to have remained quiet...Joseph continued to earn a living as a mining speculator, and Fanny was living comfortably on the earnings of her marriage property settlement.
Then, in July of 1873, Fanny decided that she had a chance at total separation from Joseph. After talking to Frederick Moule about methods by which she could achieve a divorce from Joseph, and having Joseph refuse two offers that she made him, she came up with a risky plan that would either ruin her reputation forever or gain her freedom. She claimed in court that her doctor made her aware of the facts of what constituted the consummation of a marriage in 1872, and until then she was not aware that it was grounds for an annulment.Coincidentally, Frederick Moule had also lent Fanny a well-known text called 'McKean On Divorce', and commented to her at its return that she now knew more on the subject than he did.
On July 23, 1873, the first document by “Fanny Jane Smith falsely called Bishop” was filed in her quest to have her marriage with Joseph Bishop declared null. Fanny’s address at this time was “12 Jolimont Road, Melbourne”.

The Soho Foundry, Ballarat

Top: From the Argus newspaper, Saturday, September 8, 1866.
Middle: Argus, Wednesday, October 3, 1866.
Bottom: Soho Foundry, Ballarat,under its new ownership by William Errington, c. 1867.

The wheels fall off Joe's wagon- 1866.

Above: This advertisement appeared in the Ballarat Directory of 1865-66.

In the 'Argus' of 31 July, 1866 the following item appeared: “We understand that the bills of Messrs Joseph Bishop & Co, iron founders, Ballarat, have been returned dishonoured. A meeting of creditors will be called in a few days."
This was followed on August 2, 1866 with “Messrs Joseph Bishop & Co of Ballarat, whose suspension we noted a few days ago, have called a meeting of their creditors for Friday next. The total liabilities are said not to be in excess of ten thousand pounds."

Four days later, on August 6, 1866: “A meeting of the creditors of Messrs Joseph Bishop and Co, iron founders, Ballarat, resulted in the assignment of the estate to Messrs Jenner and H. Henty, for the general benefit. The statement submitted to the meeting showed liabilities amounting to 9,141 pounds and assets estimated at 8,020 pounds. The contingent liabilities amount to five thousand pounds.”

By September of 1866 the 'Argus' was carrying advertisements for the sale of Soho Foundry, Ballarat-land, machinery, buildings and equipment.In December all claims on the estate of Joseph Bishop & Co were being called for, and it was the end of the road for Joseph Bishop's long career as an ironmonger. The Soho Foundry was taken on by an engineer named William Errington, although in February of 1868 the Sydney Morning Herald reported that "Soho Foundry, Ballarat, is to be turned into a brewery"

The fall of Joseph Bishop's finances corresponded with his Fanny's desire to remain his wife.In March of 1867 she boarded the ship 'Holmsdale' and sailed back to England, where she resided with her parents, Robert and Rebecca Smith, at Chew Magna Somersetshire, for two years.

Married Life- the early years.

Life at first for the newly married couple must have been Rosy...money was plentiful,business was booming and travel was on the cards.
Immediately after the marriage,Joseph took his bride to Geelong for a few days before travelling to nearby Queenscliff on the Bellarine Peninsula for an additional ten days.
In mid-April they boarded the 'City of Hobart' and sailed to New Zealand, where they remained for three months. In July 1864, Joseph and Fanny returned to Victoria and settled into a residence in Caroline Street, South Yarra.
The Bishops relocated to St. Kilda to a house in Lansdown Terrace in 1865, and remained there for about two years. It was during this period that the formerly wealthy Joseph began to see a decline in his business ventures.
In 1865, Joseph Bishop and Co purchased the famous Soho Foundry in Ballarat. A letter written to his nephew Henry Bishop in 1863 talked about the inharmonious relationship between Joseph and his business partner Edward Keep, and their plans for dissolving their partnership in the near future. This must have happened around1865-66, as for the years 1860-1865 the following entries were found in Melbourne Sands Directories:
1860, 1861 & 1862:
Bishop & Keep (Bishop, Jos, Keep Edw), wholesale ironmongers, 37 Elizabeth Street.

1863: Bishop, Joseph (of Bishop & Keep), Wellington Parade, East Melbourne
Bishop & Keep (Bishop Joseph, Keep Edward), wholesale ironmongers, 37 Elizabeth Street.

1864: Bishop, Joseph (of Bishop & Keep), Menzies' Hotel, Latrobe Street
Bishop & Keep (Bishop, Joseph, Keep Edward), wholesale ironmongers, 37 Elizabeth Street.

1865: Bishop, Joseph (of Bishop & Keep), Caroline Street, South Yarra
Bishop & Keep (Bishop Joseph; Keep Edward)wholesale ironmongers, 37 Elizabeth
Street.

The Ballarat & Ballarat East Directory for 1865-66 had the following entry:
Eyre Street: Bishop, Joseph & Co, Soho Works.

The year 1864 saw many references to Joseph Bishop appearing in the Victorian Government Gazette in relation to his mining investments. Examples of such investments are as follows:
Lower Huntly Deep Lead Mining Company: nominal capital 7,200 pounds in 600 shares of 12 pounds each. Joseph Bishop, Caroline Street, South Yarra, 73 shares. December 5, 1864.

Victoria Reef Gold Mining Company, Upper Goulburn: nominal capital 5,000 pounds in 1000 shares of 5 pounds each. Joseph Bishop, Melbourne, 50 shares. November 19, 1864

The Buningyong Gold Mining Company Ltd: nominal capital of 80,000 pounds in 4,000 shares of 20 pounds each. Joseph Bishop, Melbourne, 50 shares. Edward Keep, Melbourne 50 shares. September 19, 1864.(In December of 1863,The Buningyong Gold Mining Company had declared a nominal capital of 50,000 pounds in 400 shares of 125 pounds each. Joseph Bishop 5 shares, Edward Keep 5 shares)
These are but a few examples of Joseph's many investments in mining, and it was to mining speculation that he turned when his ironmonger's business turned sour in 1866.

Marriage certificate of Fanny Jane Smith and Joseph Bishop

The Groom- Joseph Bishop

Above: The groom, Joseph Bishop, aged in his late fifties.

Above: Fanny Jane Smith on her wedding day, March 30, 1864.

Fanny Jane Smith

Fanny Jane Smith, pictured above, was born in the December Quarter of 1838 at Burley, Rutlandshire, the second daughter of farmer Robert Smith and his wife Rebecca Fairchild.She was baptised on 16 December 1838.
Fanny was the third of four children born to her parents...William and Rebecca Elizabeth were three and one years older than her respectively, and a brother Robert George was some five years younger.
Fanny's father, Robert Smith, was considered to be one of the best and most advanced farmers in England in the 19th century.Many references to him and his work can be found in farmers' magazines of the time, discussing his lectures, essays and success in various shows for his prize winning sheep, cattle and horses. He farmed initially at Burley in Rutlandshire, then in the late 1840s moved with his family to Emmett's Grange at Exmoor, Somersetshire.He was apparently instrumental in increasing the productivity of the district by implementing the use of hillside irrigation.
In 1857 a publication described him as "Mr. Robert Smith, who is one of the most intelligent and energetic members of the Council of the Bath and West of England Society". Similar accolades appeared in print over the years: "Mr. Robert Smith, of Emmet's Grange, who subsequently became one of the most noted agriculturists in the West of England"; " 1839: A silver medal to Mr. Robert Smith, of Burley, for a pair of Cart Mares. ... for the best pair of Mares for Agriculture; Mr. R. Smith, Burley"; "1848:ROBERT SMITH, of Burley, Rutlandshire, an eminent sheep-breeder, in an essay on the " Breeding and Management of Sheep," for which he received a prize"; and "Mr. Robert Smith, of Emmett's Grange, also devoted attention to the improvement of the Exmoor breed of horses.


The 1841 census for Burley shows the Smith family as follows:
Robert Smith/ 30/ Farmer/ not born in the county
Rebecca Smith/ 30/ not born in the county
William Smith/ 5/ born in the county
Rebecca Smith/ 3/ born in the county
Fanny Smith/ 2/ born in the county.
Also living with the family was a groom, shepherd and male servant.

Ten years later found the family at Emmett's Grange, Somerset:
Robert Smith/ head/ 41/ Land agent 20,000 acres also farming 676 acres employing 15 labourers and 4 boys/ born in Northamptonshire (indecipherable)
Rebecca Smith/ wife/41/ born Lincolnshire, Deeping.
William Smith/ son/ 14/ born Rutland, Burley
Elizabeth Smith/ daughter/ 13/ born in Burley
Jane Smith/ daughter/ 12/ born in Burley
George Smith/ son/ 7/ born in Burley
Also two female general servants and a groom.
* Note: Daughters Rebecca Elizabeth and Fanny Jane were both recorded under their middle names, as was son Robert George.

In 1861, Fanny was missing from the Census, as she had sailed for Melbourne the previous year. On October 14,1860, the ship 'Lincolnshire' arrived in Melbourne, and 21 year old Fanny Jane Smith was on board.
Fanny had previous family connections with Melbourne, as her maternal uncle, Jesse Fairchild, had been in the settlement since the early 1840s. Jesse was born in Deeping, Lincolnshire, in 1815, one of a very large family born to Joseph Fairchild and Elizabeth Cooke.One of his sisters, Rebecca Fairchild, was the mother of Fanny Jane Smith.
Jesse had been a fellmonger back in Lincolnshire, and he remained in the business in Melbourne, setting up a fellmongery and woolworks on the banks of the Yarra River.In 1849, Jesse hired a woman from Tasmania to be his housekeeper.Born in County Waterford, Ireland, Mary Ann Finley was an ex-convict who had been transported to Hobart for larceny in 1842.She was transported on board the ship 'Hope', arriving in Hobart in August of 1842.On December 3, 1844, Mary Ann made her mark on the birth record of her son,James Robert.On April 10, 1849, Mary Ann and her son arrived in Melbourne on board the 'Raven', and she immediately obtained a job as Jesse Fairchild's housekeeper.
Three months later the couple had married, and Jesse became the adoptive father of four year old Robert James Farrar, who was always known as 'James Robert Fairchild'.
Jesse became very successful and was well-known as a respected and wealthy landowner and businessman in Melbourne. In February 1857, Jesse took Mary and James back to England for a visit, and they did not return until January of 1860.
Fanny Jane Smith, Jesse's niece, followed them to Victoria on July 29,1860, and upon arrival in October lived with her Uncle and Aunt at Yarra House, Simpson's Road, Richmond.Her elder brother, William Smith, also emigrated to Melbourne at some time, as did her sister Rebecca for a period.
At the time of Fanny's arrival in Melbourne, Joseph Bishop was 55 years old and a widower of two years. A letter written to his nephew Henry Bishop in 1862 stated that he did not enjoy the life of a bachelor, and he had adopted a seriously flirty attitude with Henry's future fiance, young Bertha Hughan,in a letter written to her pre-engagement in 1862.
I personally believe that Joseph had Bertha in his sights as a prospective wife for himself before she fell in love with his nephew. As a successful Melbourne businessman in his own right, Joseph would have crossed paths with Jesse Fairchild socially, and it is no surprise that he met Jesse's niece Fanny Smith.
The couple became engaged, but this was never a love match or even pretended to be such...a marriage settlement was drawn up in which Fanny was basically paid to marry, and remain married, to Joseph Bishop for an agreed monetary amount.
As far as I can tell from a newspaper article published in 1875, the marriage settlement was arranged as follows:
In 1864 Joseph Bishop agreed to have a settlement made, in anticipation of marriage, upon his intended wife, Fanny Jane Smith.The amount of settled property was valued at about five thousand pounds, and was conveyed to a trustee, in trust for Joseph until the marriage was solemnised. At this point it was transferred to his wife. Mr Frederick George Moule, solicitor for Joseph's business 'Bishop & Keep', received the rents from the properties involved in the settlement, and the profits were conveyed to Fanny every six months.

The age difference between Joseph and Fanny was substantial...Joseph had been born in 1805, and Fanny in 1838, so the age gap was one of 33 years.

Fanny Jane Smith and Joseph Bishop were married at the Church of St. Peter, Melbourne, on March 30, 1864. Joseph dropped his age by more than ten years, stating that he was 46 when in reality he was in his 59th year. Fanny also bent the truth a little, but a mere one year compared to her husband's 13!!!
Witnesses to the ceremony were Fanny's uncle, Jesse Fairchild, and George Rolfe.

Resuming Joseph's tale....

Over three months have passed since I last wrote in my Bishop blog, due to me gallivanting after other branches of my family tree. The school holidays and all the luxuries that they afford (such as staying up until 4 a.m to research and compile)are nearing an end, so I am turning my attention again to my Bishop family in an attempt to finish putting online as much of my Bishop information as I can.

We have reached the point in this tale where another main character is about to make her entrance into Joseph Bishop's life, so it is necessary for me to present some background information into her life prior to her path crossing with Joseph's. She warrants her own blog entry, so without further ado I introduce you to Miss Fanny Jane Smith, the woman who would end up being the bane of Joseph Bishop's existence!