Family of:

Elsa Ruby GOODGAME

Childhood

If I am correct, Elsa Ruby GOODGAME was born Ruby May GOODGAME [18] on 19 November, 1899¹ in Mount Gambier, South Australia. Her parents were listed as Andrew COCK [12704] and Lydia Margaret GOODGAME [12705]. Andrew was a labourer in Moorak which is near Mount Gambier. Lydia was the informant and stated that her residence was at Compton which is also near Mount Gambier.

Elsa must have had a difficult childhood. To my knowledge, her mother already had a child born to a different father who did not acknowledge responsibility. This occurred over the border in Warracknabeal, Victoria. Her mother’s relationship with Andrew COCK must have been a short one because Lydia also gave birth to another child in 1902 to a Mr SULLIVAN in Compton. Then on 5 April 1904, Lydia gave birth to another child in Compton. The father’s name is also not known. Unfortunately, 11 days after the birth of this child on the 16th April 1904, Elsa’s mother died in Mount Gambier, South Australia.

In order to confirm that this is the same person that gave birth to my grandmother in 1923, I need to track Elsa’s movements between 1904 and 1923. My current theory is that after the death of her mother in 1904, Elsa was looked after by one of her Aunts or Uncles. This is likely because many of her Aunts and Uncles also appear to have migrated to Victoria.

Adult Life

In 1923 at the Womens Hospital in Carlton, Victoria, Australia, Elsa gives birth to my Grandmother Doreen May GOODGAME [15]². No father is named.

On the 14th January 1925³, Elsa Ruby GOODGAME married Alexander MATHIE [3184]. The marriage ceremony was at the Office of the Registrar for Marriages, 128 Hoddle Street, Abbotsford, Victoria. Alexander stated that he was born about 1887 in Dunedin, New Zealand. Alexander was living at 565 Bridge Road, Richmond at the time, and Elsa was living at 70 Palmer Street, Fitzroy. On the marriage certificate, Elsa acknowledges the birth of an earlier child (my grandmother), and also two others that had died. Whether it is the truth, or a little lie for the sake of the registrar, Elsa also stated that she was a widower, that her husband had died on 25 November 1924, and that her previous surname was WARD. She also gives her parents as William GOODGAME (Carter) and Mary Ann Googame (nee DITSDALE). This again is either a lie, or Elsa did not know her her parents were and is actually listing her guardians. Or perhaps I am wrong about her mother being Lydia Margaret GOODGAME.

In 1929, Alexander and Elsa had a baby girl called Ruby May MATHIE [3185].

In the 1931 Victorian Electoral Roll, Alexander and Elsa are listed as living at 13 Gough Place, Cremorne, Victoria, Australia⁴.

Five years later in the 1936 Victorian Election Roll, Alexander and Elsa are living at Hutton Avenue, Ferntree Gully, Victoria, Australia⁵.

The latter years

Alexander MATHIE died of a kidney failure on 22 August 1967 at Mount Evelyn, Victoria, Australia⁶. His occupation was given as “Drainer” and his usual place of residence as North Avenue, Mount Evelyn. Elsa was the informant. He was buried at Box Hill Cemetery on the 25th August 1967.

Elsa Ruby MATHIE died at Box Hill, Victoria, Australia on the 24 October 1980⁷. Her daughter Ruby May RESSOM was the informant and was living with Elsa at the time at 66 Clarke Street, Lilydale, Victoria, Australia. She died of a stroke and heart disease, and was buried at Box Hill Cemetery on the 28 October.

Sources:

Research to do: