Born: 5 June 1830 in Brandenburg, Germany.
Died: 30 May 1917 in Mount Gambier, South Australia
Parents: Carl August BLUME and Johanne Charlotte GERLACH
Siblings: Maria Emilie, Johanne Pauline, Hermann, Gustav, Caroline Wilhelme, Auguste Mathilde
Carl at the age of 14 travelled with his parents and siblings arriving in Port Adelaide on 17 September 1845 per Heerjeebhoy Rustomjee Patel. Carl Senior brought with him £100, and he first purchased land at Lobethal, where Carl Junior helped on the land before he went shepherding.
In 1851 along with some others they made their way via the Coorong which was a very rough, route in those days to Mount Gambier.
They were advised by the Publican Black Bing when they first arrived that the land, they were looking at couldn’t do anything with. There is no port and if you grow anything you can’t sell it. Discouraged by this information they made their way to Portland to have a look at the country there. After examination they found it very inferior and returned to Adelaide via Mount Gambier.
In 1852 with six companions, Carl junior went to the gold diggings at Bendigo and took up a claim with his partners and remained there for one year where he made a few pounds and returned to Adelaide in the summer. They returned to Bendigo for the winter and spent another year there. They then returned to Adelaide overland via Mount Gambier. It was shearing time in Mount Gambier and found that shearers were very scarce.
The owners of the sheep pressed the men to stay and help with the shearing season and they agreed. They were paid 22/6 per 100 sheep shorn. They then returned to Adelaide.
In 1854 Carl took the first upward step of his life by purchasing from the government at £1 per acre, two 80-hectare sections near the infant town of Mount Gambier with the intention of settling on them. The whole country was a forest of great gums and other trees.
After he came here, he brought a third section No 16 Blanche, opposite the present Cemetery. On his first property he grew wheat, oats and barley and as his holdings increased, he grew hay and potatoes as well as grazing sheep. He found the work of pioneer farming especially the grubbing and clearing very hard work. He stated once that he probably wouldn’t attempt it again.
In 1858 when he was 28 years old, Carl August Blume married Friederika Blondina Emilie Krieg from Nekia Haugland, Prussia and they had the following children.
Birth of son Charles Blume 18 Oct 1859, Mt Gambier
Birth of son Edward Goddard Blume, 2 Apr 1861 • Mount Gambier,
Birth of daughter Emily Emma Blume 6 Sep 1862 • Mount Gambier
Birth of son Johannes Leopold Blume 1864, Hochkirch now Tarrington, Victoria, Australia
In 1864 Mr Blume purchased a property at Hamilton, Victoria and went there to work it as a farm. He also brought land at Dunkeld, at Croxton, near Mount Rouse and various farms in the famous agricultural district of Muntham. During this time, he brought the Green Point property at Caroline. When he decided to leave Victoria, he sold some of his Victorian Properties, retaining that known as “Blumesberry” named after himself, near Muntham.
When he returned to Mount Gambier, he took up land at various places, but made the Mount his permanent home. He carried on both agricultural operations and grazing and was remarkably generous in each.
On the 24th of April 1867 in Victoria, he became a naturalised British citizen.
His wife Friederika Blondina Emilie died on 10 May 1867 at Hochkirch (Tarrington) Victoria of consumption, then his son Johannes Leopold Blume died in 1873 Hochkirch (Tarrington) Victoria.
Carl August Blume married Elizabeth McNaughton, from Dunkeld in Victoria in 1882 when he was 52 years old. On 16 April 1884 Elizabeth died in Mount Gambier from lung disease.
Carl then married Emilie Auguste Pauline Galle in Mount Gambier, South Australia, on 26 June 1885 when he was 55 years old. Carl and Emilie had the following children:
Emma BLUME born 25 April 1886 Mount Gambier, South Australia.
‘Minna’ Wilhelmine BLUME born 15 July 1887 Mount Gambier, South Australia.
Christine Blume born 20 November 1888 Mount Gambier, South Australia.
Emilie died on 21 July 1899 near Mount Gambier, South Australia. Carl August Blume was 86 years old when he passed away in 1917.
It was noted in the Observer in 1923 that his sons Edward and Charles have large interests in Queensland. Mr Carl Blume gave £1,000 pounds to the Mount Gambier Institute Building Funds and some of the family have sections of valuable land within the district as noted by Mr E.F. Crouch.
Carl Blume was also an inaugural director of the Potato-growers Union along with James Umpherston, Thomas Williams, William Mitchell, John Powell, David Norman senior and William Hay.
Probate was granted on the 4th of December 1917. His executors were his sons Charles, Edward, and daughter Emma. His assets were valued at £118,635 when probate was granted.
Sources:
South Australian Maritime Museum, Passengers in History – Blume
Border Watch (Mount Gambier, SA : 1861-1954), Saturday 2 June 1917, page 2
Border Watch (Mount Gambier, SA: 1861-1954), Thursday 21 January 1884, page 6
Border Watch (Mount Gambier, SA: 1861-1954), Saturday 18 May 1867, page 2
Observer (Adelaide, SA : 1905-1931) Saturday 22 December 1923, page 18
GenealogySA, on line database search, Blume
City of Mount Gambier Library – Les Hill Collection – Biographies of 1890 Mount Gambier residents
Victoria, Australia, Index to Naturalisation Certificates, 1851-1928 – Certificate 17
Victorian Births Deaths and Marriages – Deaths:
Friederika Blondina Emilie Blume Reg No. 5737/1867
Johannes Leopold Blume Reg. No. 4164/1873
Victorian Births Deaths and Marriages – Marriages:
Carl August Blume married Elizabeth McNaughton Reg. No. 2397/1882
http://www.swvic.org/carapook/names/blume-carl-a.htm
