Emiel Bernhard Hettner. Emiel Bernhard Hettner.
The Hettner family emigrated from Panten, via inland rivers to port the of Hamburg, to board the sailing ship H.G. Wappus [2]. They departed on 21 October 1848 and arrived in Adelaide on 31 March 1849. Emiel’s grandfather then bought a farm and settled at Lobethal in South Australia.
EMIEL BERNHARD HETTNER
The Schilling Family
The son of Johann Gottfried and Louise (Hueppauff) Hettner, Emiel’s early years were spent at Moculta, South Australia, where he also received his schooling. As a young man he worked at various jobs, one being for the Schillings at Yorke Peninsula, where he was sent to work in the piggery however, he did not stay there very long.
He was injured trying to catch some escaped horses as all machinery was pulled by these animals. The resulting injury to his hip was to remain with him for the rest of his life, causing a noticeable limp as he walked. Life at home was hard as the little property could not support nine children, so Emiel decided to go to Western Australia. Before departing, he had made arrangements to work for Maurice Beeck as a chaff cutter.
Emiel, being a rather ambitious fellow, could see no future in working for other people. He was also very intelligent, being blessed like his older sister Bertha, with a photographic memory. Once he had read something, he could remember it immediately for the rest of his life. He also seemed very intuitive as once, as young boys, Jack, Oscar and Emiel were playing near the edge of the dam at the back of the garden. Emiel slipped in and fell down into the water, slipping further into the murky depths as his hat floated on top of the water and bubbles were rising to the surface. Jack ran screaming back to the house, thinking Emiel had drowned. Meanwhile, deep in the middle of the muddy dam, Emiel started crawling like a crab up towards the bank. With the frightened Oscar watching on, and after what seemed like an eternity, he finally reached the bank, covered in clinging mud and gasping for breath. As he couldn’t swim, his innate instinct had ensured his survival. Some forty years later, the little Oscar watching so terrified on the bank, would himself be drowned whilst fishing off the rocks at Bremer Bay on Western Australia’s somewhat treacherous southern coast.
So, in 1906, as a young man of twenty three he made the move to leave his family and start a new life in the west. On the train from the port of Albany to Katanning he met a man who made arrangements for Emiel to takeover a building job there, even though he had already agreed to work for Maurice Beeck. As it happened, he only worked there for a few days as he was keen to start the building job. For building a house with three bedrooms out of mud bats he was paid 100 pounds. He was also a very skilled stonemason and some of the buildings he constructed are still standing to this day. After doing some more building jobs, Emiel was able to take up a virgin bush block 20 miles west of Katanning, at a little place called Cherry Tree Pool. Cherry trees or wild quandongs grew prolifically around this area, hence the name of Cherry Tree Pool, and the small red fruit with large, pitted seeds were made into jams by the early settlers. Continue reading [2]
BETTY HETTNER
Betty & Doreen Hettner
A WA Story … Betty Hettner was the first child of Emiel and Ivy Hettner, born on an isolated farm at Cherry Tree Pool, 20 miles west of Katanning. Wild cherry trees, or quandongs, grew prolifically around this area, hence the name, and the small red fruit with large pitted seeds were made into jam by the early settlers.
When Betty was about nine years old, Reg Paynter came to work as a labourer on Emiel’s farm and she developed a crush on him despite a ten year age gap. While still at school and only 15 years old, Betty fell pregnant. Reg and Betty were married eleven days before baby Alison was born on 30 August 1939.
Reg Paynter (R) with bike he rode from Boddington to Fair Monte, 1934.
Twelve more children were to follow from 1940-1966. Betty and Reg started married life on a block of land at Boddington, and moved several times as their fortunes changed before returning to Emiel and Ivy Hettner’s family home, Fair Monte. From Facebook