THE DANCE FAMILY OF THE WYE VALLEY

Monmouth from the Kymin on the edge of the Forest of Dean showing the old bridge over the Wye and Monmouth Grammar School opposite.

Another of Thomas and Catherine's sons was Joseph Dance who was baptised at Ganarew in 1812. He married Margaret Pearce (born 1810) from Bridgend, South Wales at Monmouth in 1838.

They had seven children, Elizabeth 1840, Henry 1842, Joseph 1844, Ann 1846,  William George 1850, John (1852) and Catherine 1853. Tragically Henry only lived for a few months.

The family settled in Monmouth where Joseph was a licenced victualler at Glendower Street in 1851 and a maltster in later years.

His first son Joseph Dance (1844) married Broad Oak, Herefordshire girl Kezia (Annie) Roberts (1840) at Kidderminster in 1864 and remained in the Midlands where his son George was born in 1865 and William in 1866.

They later moved to Leicester where his trade was listed as "wool stapler"

Monnow Bridge, Monmouth.

Another of Joseph's sons, John Dance (1852) married Rosina Hooper from Gloucester at Gloucester in 1886. They settled at Shirehampton near Gloucester and had three children, Margaret (1887), Annie (1893), and Eva (1897).

Glendower Street

Monnow Street

The Green outside Lewstone Farm 

Joseph's  second son William George Dance (1850) married Mary Ann Phillips (1851) from Bristol and later moved to Frome in Somerset where they ran an outfitters shop for more than 20 years and managed to rear 13 children.One of William George's (1850) daughters, Margaret Daisy Dance who was born at Frome in 1889 married Australian soldier James Edward Razzell at Frome in 1919. He was English born. His parents James (1863) and Ann Razzell had migrated to Brisbane on the the SS Orsova in 1912. James (1863) was a self-employed baker whose bakery in England was at the rear of their Surrey home. They had four children, Elsie (1888), Eva (1893), James Edward (1895), and Olive (1900) all born near Farnham

The photo shows the Razzell family in 1912 before sailing to Australia.

The S.S. Orsova left England on the 12th of April 1912 and landed at Pinkenba Wharf, Brisbane Port on the 27th of May. Robyn Moffatt relates that they were on the water the same time as the Titanic and heard of its sinking while still at sea.

The Orsova made the first of what would be seventy voyages to Australia in 1909. During the First World War she was used as a troopship, carrying Australian soldiers to various theatres of war. She survived being torpedoed in the English Channel in 1917, and resumed commercial service to Australia for the Orient Line in 1919. In 1933 Orsova was converted to a tourist class ship, and served briefly as a cruise ship before being scrapped in 1936.

James Edward Razzell enlisted in the AIF (Australian Imperial Force) in October 1915. His civilian occupation was listed as a driver.

He left from Sydney, New South Wales on board HMAT Argyllshire on the 11th  of May 1916 arriving at Portsmouth on the 11th of July.

After some training  at Larkhill, Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire his brigade disembarked at Le Havre, France on the 31st of December 1916.

The long and arduous military campaign eventually ceased in 1918 and after a few months he found himself back in England and again billeted  on Salisbury Plain. After a short period he was on a motor engineer's training course at Maidenhead in Berkshire.  His Army record lists him as a  motor engineer billeted at Maidenhead when he married Daisy on the 7th of August 1919 at her home town of Frome in Somerset.. 

James Edward Razzell

See James Razzell's War

It would be more than a year after the November 11th Armistice before all of the remaining AIF were back home. He returned to Queensland with his  new wife on the  2nd of January 1920 by the troopship RMS Ormonde and was officially discharged  from the Army on the 24th of  February 1920.

Their only child Margaret Razzell was born at Picton, New South Wales in 1921.

James and Daisy went on to farm at Ormiston, Queensland.

He died at Gayndah in 1941 and Daisy in 1943.

Daisy Razzell

  DANCE PICTURE GALLERY

The photo shows a coat-hanger originating from the Frome outfitters shop that is now with the family in Queensland.

Many thanks to Robyn Moffatt, Daisy's grand-daughter, for the family photos and memories.

Frome today © Copyright Phil Williams

Daisy's younger sister Ada Dance also married an Australian soldier.

Station hand John Caughlan enlisted with the 20th Battalion of the AIF at Liverpool, New South Wales in July 1915. Born at Swallow Creek, Carcoar in 1895 he was the son of John and Hannah Caughlan who farmed at Springfield.

His unit embarked at Sydney, New South Wales, on board HMAT Argyllshire  on the 30th of September 1915. He fought in the trenches on the French battlefields and his record shows him enduring a gun-shot wound, gassing, and the dreaded  

trench foot.

He was first put out of action  by a gun-shot wound to his arm on the 6th of May 1916, but returned to duty 11 days later.

In November 1917 he contracted "trench feet". It must have been quite severe as he was sent back to England to the military hospital at

Southall just outside London, for treatment.

Trench foot became a serious problem for the Allies, leading to 75000 casualties in the British Forces and 2000 amongst the  Americans. 

The disease largely attacked the toes; but in many cases, the leg became swollen up to the knee. In severe cases, large blisters, filled with clear, “gangrene smelling” fluid, were present.

Before reaching the trenches, troops often had to march several miles along wet and muddy roads. When they eventually arrived, they had to wade through  mud and water, often at  temperatures only a few degrees above freezing point, and remain motionless at their posts for many hours. 

After leaving hospital he remained in England, attending a Lewis gun course at Tidworth and spent some time with the Training Brigade. He was promoted to Corporal in August 1917 and in October was posted from the Overseas Training Unit at Longbridge Deverill

 back to France and the 20th Battalion. 

After another 10 months in the trenches he was again, in August 1918, back in the UK with the 5th Training Brigade. 

He had recently been the victim of a gas attack and was admitted to Sutton Veny Military Hospital, a few miles  from Frome, suffering from 

an ulcerated cornea.

After 14 days he was released back to Training Brigade but apparently not permanently cured of his eye problems. He did however attend 

another Lewis Gun course at Tidworth where he achieved 'First Class' in the oral and range examinations on the 11th of October 1918.

After returning to Australia, on the 3rd of November 1919 he was discharged as 'medically unfit'.

Later records show he was still disabled in 1923.

No 1 Australian Command Depot and No 1 Australian General Hospital were at Sutton Veny so there would at that time have been thousands of Australians in the two closest towns of Frome and Warminster. 

While serving at Longbridge Deverill in Wiltshire he had met and married shop assistant Ada Gwendoline Dance (born 1890) from the 

nearby town of Frome. They were married at the Registry Office there in February 1919.

John and Ada  returned to Australia on the SS Zealandic arriving at Sydney with their new baby on the 23rd of August 1919.

It is not clear from the record  whether the child was born on the voyage.

Four more children later in 1930, according to the NSW Electoral Register, they were living at Boonderoo, Mandurama where John

 was employed as a stockman. 

I believe the baby was probably John (1920) who is so far listed as born in NSW. John who was a Catholic, possibly waited to baptise him at the Caughlan family's local  Church. It does not look as if Ada ever converted as she was buried in the Methodist section of Orange Cemetery. Tom

Ada  Dance 1890-1949

The SS Zealandic

Ada's grave at Orange Cemetery

Carcoar today