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Sophie Elizabeth Earle Collins

Sophie Elizabeth Earle Collins

Female 1849 - 1929  (79 years)  

Personal Information    |    Notes    |    Sources    |    Event Map    |    All    |    PDF

  • Name Sophie Elizabeth Earle Collins  [1, 2
    Alt. Birth 22 Oct 1846 
    Birth 22 Oct 1849  Queensland, Australia Find all individuals with events at this location  [1, 2
    • Telemon, Upper Logan
    Gender Female 
    Name Sophia Elizabeth Earle Collins 
    Death 19 Sep 1929  Greycliffe, Banana, Queensland, Australia Find all individuals with events at this location  [1, 2
    Headstones Submit Headstone Photo Submit Headstone Photo 
    Person ID I31853  The Williams Family Tree
    Last Modified 10 Feb 2017 

    Father Captain Thomas Collins
              b. 18 Oct 1790, Road, Somerset, England Find all individuals with events at this location
              d. 6 Aug 1866, Nindooinbah, Albert River, Queensland Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 75 years) 
    Mother Sophia Pamela Danvers
              b. 16 Oct 1808, Richmond upon Thames, Surrey, England Find all individuals with events at this location
              d. 1863, Telemon, Queensland, Australia Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 54 years) 
    Marriage 9 Aug 1826  St Mary Magdalen, Richmond, Surrey, England Find all individuals with events at this location  [1, 2
    Family ID F9246  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Family William Nott
              b. Abt 1843, Narellen, NSW Find all individuals with events at this location
              d. 1903, Greycliffe, Banana, Queensland, Australia Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 60 years) 
    Marriage 1871  Bundaberg, Queensland, Australia Find all individuals with events at this location  [1, 2
    • Thornhill Station
    Children 
     1. Charles William Carden Nott
              b. Abt 1872  
              d. 1872 (Age 0 years)
     2. Alice Mary Violet Nott
              b. Abt 1874  
              d. 1874 (Age 0 years)
     3. Helen Brenda Nott
              b. 11 Nov 1875, Greycliffe, Banana, Queensland, Australia Find all individuals with events at this location
              d. 17 Jun 1950, North Tambourine, Queensland Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 74 years)
     4. Alfred David Nott
              b. 21 Feb 1877, Greycliffe, Banana, Queensland, Australia Find all individuals with events at this location
              d. Abt 1891, Greycliffe, Banana, Queensland, Australia Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 13 years)
     5. Kate Elizabeth Nott
              b. 12 Sep 1878, Greycliffe, Banana, Queensland, Australia Find all individuals with events at this location
              d. Abt 1902, Rockhampton, Queensland, Australia Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 23 years)
     6. Emma Susan Nott
              b. 28 Feb 1880, Greycliffe, Banana, Queensland, Australia Find all individuals with events at this location
              d. 1971, Greycliffe, Banana, Queensland, Australia Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 90 years)
     7. Jessie Mabel Nott
              b. 4 Aug 1881, Greycliffe, Banana, Queensland, Australia Find all individuals with events at this location
              d. 1966, Rockhampton, Queensland, Australia Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 84 years)
     8. William Inglis Nott
              b. 28 Nov 1882, Greycliffe, Banana, Queensland, Australia Find all individuals with events at this location
              d. 22 Jan 1965, Rockhampton, Queensland, Australia Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 82 years)
     9. Frank Nott
              b. Bef 1888  
              d. Abt 1888 (Age 0 years)
     10. Frederick Graeme Norton Nott
              b. 21 Feb 1892, Greycliffe, Banana, Queensland, Australia Find all individuals with events at this location
              d. Dec 1974 (Age 82 years)
    Family ID F9550  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
    Last Modified 8 Feb 2017 

  • Event Map
    Link to Google MapsBirth - 22 Oct 1849 - Queensland, Australia Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsMarriage - 1871 - Bundaberg, Queensland, Australia Link to Google Earth
     = Link to Google Earth 

  • Notes 
    • The book 'Rockhampton: A History of City and District' records on p 53:-
      'An unoccupied homestead which has housed several generations of the one family has an air of bereavement about it. Since Emma Knott died in 1972 old Greycliffe has stood empty and silent. Her father, William Knott, took up the lease in 1879 and within a few years his shorthorn cattle were grazing over a vast area , but long before he became known for the quality of his cattle hehad achieved local fame by capturing a notorious bushranger known as "the wild Scotchman" in 1866. The influence of William Knott's wife, formerly Sophia Elizabeth Earl Collins who was a sister of Carden Collins, is evident in the design of Greycliffe homestead, for in her English childhood she had been accustomed to the stately homes of her mother's people. [Interesting - she never had a childhood in England, being born at Telemon after her parents emigrated for the last time!] The Queensland bush must have seemed like another planet to her. The homestead's most notable feature is its huge central living room opening to verandahs on two sides, and within the room the open fireplace framed by an emu apple mantlepiece is the focus of attention. Even though built of indigenous bush timber slabs shaped by adze, it must have been a very gracious home compared with the cramped interiors of many pioneer homes.

      William and Sophia Nott brought up their seven children at Greycliffe and suffered the tragic loss of a son and a daughter because in one case Doctor Voss from Rockhampton arrived too late, and in the other because in 1908 an agonising dash to reach medical help was in vain.

      Brenda Knott married John Archer of Torsdale, a nephew of the founders of Gracemere. Bill, (who managed the station after his father's death in 1902) and Fred and Emma (a nursing sister) all served overseas in the First World War while the remaining sister, Jessie, helped run Greycliffe during their absence. Darling Plains and Cooper Downs were later added to the property and in 1924 Bill Knott and his wife, formerly Doris Margaret Conley of Sydney, moved to Cooper Downs but Greycliffe remained in the family until the late 1970s.

      The Banana Historical Society planned in 1979 to relocate the old homestead in Biloela, 23 miles away. This was done and it now forms the district museum.

      William Knott's sister married an Alfred Collins, but he was no relation to Sophia.

      The very good book Across the Vanished Years says "William Ingles Nott was the sixth child of seven to survive early infancy". This book was written by Sophia's granddaughter Sophia Judith Stevenson, and contains a very fine record of the family and its activities up until 1980.

      Sophia was a very capable horsewoman, and, since domestic help was readily available, she was constantly out working with her husband.

      She was often alone at home at a time when there were lots of swagmen about - some more mysterious than others. One such day she heard snoring from under the house. She crept out and carefully peered around. The snoring was from a big leghorn rooster having a midday snooze in the cool.


      **19/12/99 Information from a Eugene Cheb, who I hope to be in touch with before too long, gives 1846 as the birth year for Sophia.

      Both Sophia and William were buried at Greycliffe. Son William [Bill] prepared his mother's grave, and his wife lined the home-made coffin with silk.


      Judy also says that SOPHIE, not Sophia, is actually not buried under her headstone, but under the bearby stockyards!

      See further notes under James Carden Collins.

      From Peter Bates, June 2001.
      Is the Sophia Elizabeth Earle Collins the daughter of Thomas Collins and
      Sophia Pamela Danvers.??
      If so I had her birth date as being July 23, 1848 and
      her date of death as Sept 19, 1929. [2]

  • Sources 
    1. [S309] Meriel and Ian Haynes, (Much of the Barmouth connection, and a lot more, are courtesy of Meriel and Ian Haynes. Thank you), Meriel & Ian Haynes (Reliability: 3).
      Meriel & Ian Haynes have pased on a wealth of information about the Collins and associated families.

    2. [S3155] Dave Collins.