Edith Sarah Pickford was born and raised in Clunes, Victoria. She is the only daughter of John Pickford and Betsey (Robbins) Pickford and sister of Henry Pickford, John Pickford, William Harold Pickford, Horace Pickford DCM, Arthur Pickford and Charles Alexander Pickford. [ Research by Edith;s granduaghter Jane Dyer (nee Chatham)] Edith's maternal grandmother was a descendent of Donald Cameron, the first recorded European settler in the Clunes area.The Pickford family's pioneer settler legacy in the Clunes- Glendaruel district is commemorated with a Pickford Road and displays in the Clunes Museum. A collection of Edith's song music was donated to the Clunes Museum by her great grand-daughter in 2023. Edith married a local farmer, Henry Smerdon Holmes from "Sauchieburn" Ascot, Victoria. Henry was a descendant of the family who had inherited their maternal ancestor's, Catherine Coghill (nee Holmes), Ascot - Coghills Creek property. This branch of the Coghill Family descended from the district's pioneer settler, Captain Coghill. Edith and Henry spent all their married life, and raised 4 children Jack [John], Bill [William], [Mary] Elizabeth and David, at Ascot. She was buried in the Coghills Creek Cemetery with her husband, Henry Smerdon Holmes, and their son, David, in 1967. Her children, Bill Holmes and Elizabeth Chatham, and their spouses are buried nearby.Social and historicalMounted black and white photo of a young girl wearing a white dress and ribbon.chatham holmes collection, holmes, pickford

History of the Coghill Family from the 1700s.Typed and handwritten papers relating to the Coghill Family. Part ot the handwritten history "The Coghill Family - 13-9-40 Statement by Mr Henry Holmes of Essendon" includes the following: (Page 1) "The original Captain Coghill owned Glendaruel and Glendonald Stations (the homestead of the latter was Andrew Munro's original home.) He had five sons and two daughters ... William Coghill Jnr, a son of Captain Coghill married Miss Catherine Dorothy Holmes. They had no family and they adopted William and Henry Holmes, their nephews, who were the sons of Edward Carter Holmes, brother of Mrs William Coghill Jnr. (Page 2 - does not run on from page1) "The family, and descendants of Edward Carter Holmes, via the William Holmes lineage, lived at "Sauchiburn" Ascot, Vic. The property, fronting what was to become known as Lesters Road, was sold by the family in the 1980's. The namesake of Lesters Road, Mrs Helen Lester (nee Coghill), had also descended from the original Coghill settlers. During my 1960 - 1970 childhood in the area, the Lesters lived opposite "Sauchieburn" on a property called "Burnside". In 1950 a stone cairn commemorating the original Coghill settlers had been sited on the roadside common between both properties by descendants of the Coghill Holmes family. https://victoriancollections.net.au/items/5b0e196821ea69108c477463. The Lester property was subsequently purchased by another Edward Carter Holmes descendant, Graeme Spittle from "Mount Cavern" Ascot, and David Glenn and Chris Canning https://lambley.com.au/visit/ I believe descendants via my mother's, Elizabeth Chatham (nee Holmes), lineage continue to farm and /or reside in the adjacent Ascot vicinity on the "Launchley", "Gleno" and "Hazeldean" properties. Interestingly, "Hazeldean" had been originally owned by Robert Reid and his wife Adelaide Helen Reid (nee Holmes). Adelaide and Catherine Coghill (nee Holmes) were sisters." [Memory of Jane Dyer (nee Chatham) 2025] coghill, pioneer family, land settlement in victoria, new south wales, captain john coghill, donald john coghill, will of william coghill senior, indenture agreement, david coghill, william baldwin, talbot, elizabeth coghill, margaret coghill, christina coghill, george coghill, helen coghill, john coghill, catherine dorothy holmes

This postcard was sent from France during World War One WW1 to Violet Holmes [mother and aunty of other WW1 soldiers], by the son of a neighbouring Ascot Tourello District Family, the Wrigley Family. Violet inherited "Sauchieburn" an Ascot property on the death of her husband William Holmes in 1914. On her death this property was to be left to their 4 children and administered by a relative till the youngest child turned 27. As young boys, Violet's husband William, and his brother Henry, lived with their Aunt Catherine Coghill and Uncle William Coghill at ‘Sauchieburn’ Ascot. The Coghills had no children of their own. He and his brother Edward started a stock and station business at Clunes. Henry and Violet Holmes subsequently inherited "Sauchieburn" from Catherine (nee Holmes) and William Coghill, direct descendants of the Coghills Creek, Ascot, Tourello pioneer settler Captain William Coghill [Jane Dyer, May 2024] Catherine and her brother Edward Carter Holmes drowned at sea.This is an extract from the Korumburra Times, Wednesday June 6, 1956: The fated travellers wrecked off N.S.W. ‘On May 29th, 1886 in bright moonlight the Ly-e-Moon, the pride of the Australian coastal fleet, broke her back on the treacherous rocks of Green Cape, off the NSW coast. Eighty souls perished within range of the beacon rays of the lighthouse, including representatives of the earliest families ever to settle in Poowong. The passengers. On the main deck, Mr Edward Holmes, a Poowong grazier and former owner of ‘Wombalano’. He had sold this property with the object of going to Queensland and settling there. The proceeds of sale amounting to 1,200 pounds in gold sovereigns were under lock and key in the Purser's Office. Mr Holmes, although advanced in years, had unformed plans to invest his money in some Queensland enterprise. In the meantime he would visit his married daughter and [his] two sons, who had previously settled in Queensland. With him on board was his widowed sister Mrs Coghill who had also accepted an invitation to go north. News of the shipwreck, means of communication being slow, did not reach Korumburra for nearly a week. By then all hope had been abandoned for the missing. Relations and friends thronged the Melbourne shipping office, but the answer was always the same - All passengers unaccounted for were presumed drowned. Black and white postcard of a sugar refinery in The Somme, France. The name of the town has been scrubbed out in purple pencil by a censor during World War One. The back of the card is written on in pencil,Written on back of card: Dear Violet, received photos and letters and thank you for forwarding same. Are we having lovely spell of weather. This morning is quite warm and pleasant. The photo of you all standing in front of your house is a good one and you all look to be getting enough to eat. Mother looks as if she it getting stronger after her severe illness. Your concert party will be broken up through the Vale girls leaving but you should have no difficulty in finding volunteers to fill the ranks. By all of your letters you are all looking forward to the day we return 9as we are). I wouldn't like to bet too much that we would be home by this time next year [ ? ] by the way fritz is fighting lately he would very much like to get [peace?] I think we will give him all he wants this summer. J. Waller was here last night is looking well. With best wished to you all. I am sincerely. [W.Wrigbee? Wrigley]somme, la suererie, chatham family collection, amiens, france, world war 1, postcard, ly-ee-moon, william coghill junior, ascot victoria, pioneers of ascot, shipwreck