The cameo image of a young George Francis Smith appears amongst thirty-one images of employees in a portrait collage for the Ferguson & Urie stained glass company[1] dinner in 1887.
George Francis Smith (1870-1927)
The historic collage of photos was commissioned by the employees as a gift to the founders of the company, James Ferguson[2] and James Urie[3]. It was presented at the company dinner held at the Mechanics Institute within the North Melbourne Town Hall on the 22nd of June 1887.[4] A large copy was on display in the foyer on the night and many smaller copies about 8×10 size were created and given to each employee, as well as a reporter from the North Melbourne Advertiser who had been invited to chronicle the evening’s proceedings.
Ferguson & Urie employees 22 June 1887
It can only be surmised that George was apprenticed to Ferguson & Urie as a glass-cutter around the time he turned fourteen in 1884. His father had died at Castlemain in 1882 and his mother and younger siblings moved to North Melbourne in close proximity to his elder siblings. His mother’s house, in Errol Street North Melbourne, was within walking distance to the Ferguson & Urie workshop in Curzon Street.
Other than George’s image in the poster collage, not much is known of his time with Ferguson & Urie but it turns out that he was not very lucky in life.
George Francis Smith was the son of David Samuel Smith and Alicia Carey. He was born in 1870 in the tiny town of Vaughan, fifteen kilometers south of Castlemaine in Victoria.
In 1894 George married Elizabeth Jane Bence in North Melbourne. George and Elizabeth took up residence in a tiny cottage at 49 Percy-street in West Brunswick. The following year Elizabeth became seriously ill and died of enteric pneumonia fever at the Melbourne Hospital on the 27th of December 1895. She was only twenty-two years old and they had no children. Elizabeth was buried at the Melbourne General Cemetery on the 29th of December.
At the end of 1899, the Ferguson & Urie stained glass company closed its doors and the employees were scattered to the winds. Many sought employment at other glazing, stained glass, plumbing, and masonry firms. George had spent sixteen years with Ferguson and Urie and he had now been a widower for the last five years.
In 1907 George married thirty-seven-year-old Emma Valice Deacon at Prahran, and there were no children from this marriage either. By 1912 George & Emma were residing at 46 Nicholson Street in South Yarra. The electoral roll of the time still recorded George’s profession as a glass cutter.
Outside of his employment as a glass-cutter at Ferguson & Urie, he was a member of the Stanhope I.O.O.F. at Malvern and the Captain of their lawn bowls team.
By 1917 George and Emma were living at “Albert Villa” on Balaclava Road, Caufield East. Emma died there on the 16th of March 1917. She was fifty-three years old.
George was now a widower for the second time. He never married again. His last run of bad luck would be his own demise a decade later when he attempted to board a moving train at Flinders street station in Melbourne on the 24th of October 1927.
“FATAL DASH FOR TRAIN. Body Badly Mutilated
MELBOURNE, Nov. 7. In making an attempt to board a moving train on October 24, George Francis Smith, 56, glazier, residing at Caulfield, missed his footing and fell between the train and the platform. He was dragged some yards before the train was stopped. The accident proved fatal. At the inquest to-day Albert Francis Brown, railway porter, said he saw deceased dart across the platform and attempt to board the train, which was travelling at about 15 miles per hour. The deceased missed his footing and fell under the train, which was then stopped. His body was badly mutilated. The Coroner, Mr. Berriman, found death to be due to being crushed by a train.” [5]
Melbourne General Cemetery, CofE, T-757
George was buried with his wives Elizabeth and Emma at the Melbourne General Cemetery on the 29th October 1927 – Melbourne General Cemetery, CofE, T-757. His probate was granted on 2nd December 1927.
Footnotes:
[1] Ferguson & Urie: Colonial Victoria’s Historic Stained Glass Craftsmen 1853-1899.
[2] Biography: James Ferguson (1818-1894)
[3] Biography: James Urie (1828-1890)
[4] North Melbourne Advertiser, Saturday 25th June 1887, Page 3.
[5] Geelong Advertiser, Vic, Tuesday 8th November 1927, page 5.
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