Photograph and Frame - Mrs J Liddelow

Photograph of Mrs J Liddelow b. 1844. Photograph taken in 1870 and printed on glass.
Jane Byers Wood was born in Perth to Isaac Wood and Jane Byers in 1844. Isaac worked as an Importer, General Dealer and Commission Agent and was the Chief Bank Clerk in Hay Street until his untimely death in 1861.
"On the 17th inst, at his residence in Hay Street, Mr ISAAC WOOD; aged 51. Deeply regretted by a numerous circle of friends and acquaintances, and leaving a Widow and 8 children to mourn his loss. Mr Wood had been for a period of 16 years, Chief Clerk in the Western Australian Bank, in which capacity, by assiduity and attention to business, he secured the confidence and esteem of his employers, and the respect of his fellow Citizens". (Perth Gazette, 26 July 1861, p 2)

Isaac's estate was worth £1,500 which was a very large sum in Perth at that time. The store was carried on by his eldest daughter Jane who was aged 16 at the time of her father’s death: "Miss Jane Wood used her father's building as a drapery shop". (Western Mail, 16 June 1921, p 25)

A short six years later, Jane’s mother died: "WOOD - At Perth, on the 9th inst., JANE, relict of the late Mr Isaac Wood; aged 49". (Perth Gazette, 13 September 1867, p 2) It seems likely that Jane (then aged 24) became responsible for raising her younger siblings, Susanna, Ann, Julia, Isaac, Sarah, William and Clara.

In 1870, Jane married John Augustus Liddelow (1826 – 1893). John was known as "the Squire of Kenwick Park" and was a racehorse owner and ran a successful butchery on the corner of Murray and Barrack Streets, Perth and a bakery and confectionery in Hay Street. He employed 18 ticket of leave men on his farm. He was born in England and sailed to Western Australia with two of his brothers aboard the Sophia in 1850.

“After an illness lasting but a few days Mr. John Liddelow, of Kenwick Park, Canning, died at the residence of his brother, Mr. Albert Liddelow, Stirling-street, at a late hour last night. Mr. Liddelow came to this colony in the early fifties, and shortly after entered upon the butchering business in connection with Messrs Cole and Padbury. Subsequently he traded on his own account and amassed a considerable competence. After a visit to the Old Country, some ten years ago, Mr Liddelow retired to his estate on the Canning, leaving the conduct of his business to his son (Frederick), who, however, died just about a twelve month ago. The deceased interested himself in the promotion of many local matters of public interest, and enjoyed the reputation of being an upright and straightforward man wherever he was known in the colony.” (Daily News, 11 July 1893, page 2)

Jane died in Guildford in 1930 aged 86 years and ownership of her Guildford property was transferred to her sister Sarah Ellen Read.

Sources:
https://trove.nla.gov.au
https://ancestry.com
The Bicentennial Dictionary of Western Australians, https://www.friendsofbattyelibrary.org.au/, Accessed 8 December 2023
Passenger Ships Arriving in Western Australia, https://www.perthdps.com/shipping/sophia.htm, accessed 10 December 2023
Midland Society, https://www.facebook.com/midlandsociety, Accessed 10 December 2023