Sepia Saturday No. 263

My first Sepia Saturday post, I hope it works OK.

I chose the theme "horses and carts".

As everyone knows, the good ol' horse and cart was the preferred mode of transport back in the day.  Here are some pictures of the Bunston family from Skipton with their horses and carts, whether they be for traveling or work they were a necessary tool for living life in the isolated small towns of rural Australia.

Allan and Fannie McColl (nee Bunston) in their buggy.  Fannie - the fifth child and eldest daughter of George and Elizabeth Bunston - was born in Skipton, Victoria.  Allan was the eighth child of John and Catherine (nee McInnes) and was born in Mansfield, Victoria.  After their wedding on the Bunston property at Skipton in 1901, Allan and Fannie settled in Mansfield.  The McColl family visited the Bunston's at Skipton many times, and I'm sure this buggy got a good work out in the early 1900's.


George Bunston, father of Fannie (above) was a wool carrier for the Skipton district.  This is a picture of his full wagon at Geelong.  George would make the 200km round trip from Skipton to Geelong and back, carting not only his own wool but that of many other producers in the district.  George's own flock of sheep produced prize winning Merino wool at the local agricultural shows in Skipton and Ballarat.





This picture shows the Bunston family posing for a photo on their property near Skipton.  George Jnr, driving the plow, was the third child of George Bunston (above) and his wife Elizabeth Lyle (nee Thompson).  George Snr and Elizabeth are also in the photo.  Elizabeth is holding baby Georgina (Gean) who was their youngest surviving child.  George Jnr married Mabel Worrall in 1901 and like his sister Fannie, moved to the Mansfield area.  This photo was taken in around 1888.

Another photo taken around 1888 at the Bunston home near Skipton.  This one features nearly the whole family.  L to R: George Jnr; George Snr; Fannie; Phillip; Elizabeth holding Andrew; Jinnie; Mary; Gean and Will.  Missing are the two eldest children James and John. 








Another photo of George Bunston Jnr, this one taken at his property at Tolmie near Mansfield in the early 1900's.  It shows George with a wagon full of hay. 








A photo of George Bunston Snr with his horse taken in 1915 at his property near Skipton.  He died eight years later in 1923 and is buried in the Skipton Cemetery with his wife and son Andrew.  Also buried in the grave are George's grandchildren Thelma Bunston (only daughter of Phillip Bunston) and John Nash (youngest child of Gean) though neither of the grandchildren are mentioned on the headstone.



A later photo taken in 1969.  Gean Nash (nee Bunston) seated in the old family wagon that was kept on the family property behind the old stables.  The wagon was later restored and donated to the Skipton Historical Society.  Gean and her husband Percy Nash took over the Bunston family property after her father George died in 1923.  They named the property "Mayfield".