17. The Cant Family in Australia William Cant (1867-1940), Annie Wessler (1869-1895), Sarah Grieve (1870 - 1943) and children

Acknowledgement: Much of the information in this section is the result of research undertaken and published by Brother Tony Butler. Tony is a descendant of William Cant by his first wife, Annie Wessler. 

William and his second wife Sarah's son William Augustine (Bill, aka Pop) and his wife Dorothy née Lutton is dealt with in the next chapter.

William - Great Grandfather - and first wife Annie Wessler 

William Cant as a youth. c/- Tony
Butler from a photo album
belonging to Yvonne Cant

William Cant, was born 14 June, 1867 at Sheet of Bark, Carcoar, the fourth child of Francis Cant and Bridget (nee Horan). He and Annie Wessler were married in the Catholic Church at Goulburn on 7 December 1889. His occupation was given as plumber with the railways and he stayed with the railways for the rest of his working life. The witnesses to the marriage were his brother Martin and his sister Mary.

William Cant as a young man c/- Tony
Butler from a photo album
belonging to Yvonne Cant

William Cant

Annie Cant née ? adopted by Wessler.
Photo c/- Tony Butler who was given
it by his mother, Gladys, who was
Annie's daughter. 

“Of Annie Wessler little is known. She was born about 1869 at Lambing Flat (now called Young); who her parents were remains a mystery, but she was adopted by John Henry Wessler and his wife Annie née Walsh.” (Tony Butler)

It appears that Annie's mother, also named Annie died in Goulburn in 1928. An obituary for the older Annie Wessler appeared in the Goulburn Evening Penny Post on Tuesday 28 April 1928. 

"Mrs Annie Wessler (78) died at Goulburn Hospital on Sunday. Deceased was a native of Ireland, and had resided many years in Goulburn. The cause of death was senile decay and bronchitis. She leaves one son." (Trove, National Library of Australia) 

Up until August 2018, very little was known about Annie Cant née Wessler. Tony Butler wrote: “Searches of microfiche records of birth, letters to the Catholic churches at Young and Goulburn and to The Goulburn Post have all produced nothing. Present Wessler descendants know nothing about her. The one surviving photograph of her shows a striking dark-featured woman with her hair drawn severely back, and dark, piercing eyes. Tony says: I can see my grandmother, her daughter, in her.’ (TB)

“The only personal comment I have about her is that she was “a more refined woman than Nana Cant” [i.e. Sarah Grieve, William Cant’s second wife]. In fact it was only in the last few years of her life that my grandmother [Lillian Gladys Whittaker née Cant] told us her mother had been adopted: prior to that we had taken for granted that she was the daughter of John and Ann Wessler. On William Cant’s death certificate she is simply referred to, under ‘first marriage’, as ‘unknown Welby’, which name was attested to by his son Clarence Cant years later.

“Anne died 1 October 1895 at Morundah near Narrandera, aged twenty six, of puerperal peritonitis, leaving three children: Lilian Gladys aged five, Francis John Henry aged four, and Kathleen Stella aged two. (TB)

In August 2018 Tony engaged in a search of family DNA. Mitochondrial DNA indicates connection through female ancestors, in Tony's case, his mother Honor Whittaker, her mother (Lillian) Gladys Cant, her mother Annie Wessler and her unknown mother and so on.

The DNA results indicate that Annie mother was Aboriginal. Tony explains that The haplogroup (a DNA marker) represents the major Wiradjuri groups who currently live in Condobolin, Peak Jill, Narrandera and Grififth, with significant populations at Wagga Wagga, Leeton and smaller groups at West Wyalng, Parkes, Dubbo, Forbes, Cootamundra, Cowra and Young.

The DNA investigations cannot provide any clue to Annie's father.

Annie and William Cant's children - great aunts and uncles

(Lillian) Gladys, born 9 December 1889 at Lithgow St, Goulburn, died 20 July 1979 at Strathfield.
Her mother was 21, her father 22. They were married two days before Gladys was born.

She married John James Whittaker, who was born in 1878 in Cowra and died in Sydney in 1964.  Lillian had two children, Honor Dolores (1910-1983) and Doug (1912 - 1986). Honor is the mother of Tony Butler.

To read more of Gladys, and grandson Tony's recollections visit Tony's blog.

Gladys (photos from Tony Butler)

Top left: Marriage to John James Whittaker 16 Feb 1910

Top right: With husband John James Whittaker

Bottom left: With grandson Paul 1937Bottom right: With great-grandson Michael 1972

Francis Cant

Francis John Henry (Frank), born 1891 in Goulburn, died 1915 at Auburn.  He was named for his paternal and maternal grandfathers. Tony (and Gwen's) cousin Von said “He must have been much loved. How sad for us that we never knew him.” He was much loved and admired, talked about by all the family, from both marriages. Gladys expressed a wish later in life that she be buried in the same grave: such was her memory of her young brother. 

On 4 January 1910, Frank wrote a postcard from Binalong to his step-mother., Sarah née Grieve It reads: 

“Dear Mother, Just a few lines to let you know you can send my food to Binalong on Thursday as we will be shifting to Frampton on Friday if we a(re) finished at Emu Flat. F. Cant”.  

"His last letter, from Razorback, Gunning, was written March 1915, a month before he died:
“Dear Parents, Just a few lines hoping to find you all well as it leaves me at Present. Enclosed please find postal note for one Pound. Mrs Smith gave it to me and told me to send it to you I am sending the pony today hope you get him alright please write and let me know if you get the money and the horse all right. I am sending a wire also I think I will be going down for Easter I ordered the truck three weeks ago but I could not get it until today We have been doing nothing up here for the last week through having no ammunation [sic] but we made a start again. It is terrible hot and dry up here now. Well as knews [sic] is scarce I will now draw to a close. I remain your affectly. F. Cant. Post Office, Gunning”.

At Granville he fell ill, diagnosed by the family doctor as appendicitis. The family believed it was dengue fever contracted through drinking stagnant water. His death certificate says: Francis John Henry Cant, labourer, died of Typhoid Fever after an illness of ten days.

Frank's grave at Rookwood, 1915

Frank's grave 2018
Photo by Tony Butler

Frank died 18 April, 1915.

His grave at Rookwood was adorned with a fine tombstone inscribed “In loving memory of our dear son Francis J. H. Cant”, and has two little statues of Jesus and Mary.

(Kathleen) Stella, born 21 June 1893 in Mundy St, Goulburn, died 3 May 1973 at Paddington. Stella had a colourful life. She had three children by three fathers: Judy, whose probable father was a friend Gus Brown, John known as "Jack" whose father was Charles Murray, and Jacqueline by her husband Archibald Sivyer. 

Tony Butler writes: 

"She was a strong featured woman. It is obvious from a series of surviving postcards that she loved good clothes, parties and male attention. Postcards to her from an ardent admirer, one Gus Brown, indicate a passionate attachment. Some photos of her as a young woman show one very conscious of her feminine power and attractiveness. One brief encounter with Charles Murray left her with a son, John (Jack) Cant, born 16th December 1909. I believe Stella was shunned for some time afterwards because of the irregular situation. Her sister Gladys’s postcards to her at this time hint nothing of the affair.

It was revealed many years later that Stella had a daughter, Judy, with Gus Brown. The revelation is included in Tony Butler's piece below. 

Stella married a man named Archibald John Sivyer in 1919. They had a daughter, Jacqueline, born in Grenfell on 26 May 1923. 

Tony Butler recounts the story of Stella's children:

"Jack Cant’s story was a troubled one. His aunt Gladys took some care for him when he was growing up and later. He was an occasional visitor to our house in Boundary Street and the response to my insistent question “Who is Uncle Jack?”, was “Oh, he’s your mother’s cousin, dear”, which was true enough and as close as I got to the facts till the story was revealed to me by my uncle’s wife in 1964 when even his step-sister, Jacqueline, still did not know. Jack married and had two daughters, but his wife left him; and for a number of years he was looked after by a good woman I knew only as Aunty Dot. The last I saw of him was at his mother’s funeral in 1973 at which time Jack revealed the truth to Jacqueline. 

"A month or so before Jacqueline died, 8 August 1989, I went to visit her in St Vincent’s Hospital. At the same time she was being visited by Judy Brown, daughter of the above Gus. I was quite taken aback at meeting Judy, for I seemed to be looking my mother in the face! Jacqueline later explained – with a twinkle in her eye – “Judy and I have been sisters for years”, the implication being that Judy was the daughter of Gus Brown and Stella Cant."

Tony continues the story of his great-aunt Stella, and aunt Jacqueline:

"Stella married Archibald John Sivyer, born at Swan Reach, Maitland, 16 February 1884, in Bimbi, 24 May 1919. John Sivyer belonged to the Mounted Police, and made a very handsome figure astride his horse. He was also an avid gambler which was eventually to cost him more than his wages. Very soon after [Jacqueline's birth] the family moved to 12 Glenview Street, Paddington, where Jacqueline lived till she died, having married, raised her children, and seen them married from the same house.

Above: Stella's guest house in
Merriwa St, Katoomba

"When I first knew Stella in the late 1940s, she was running a guest house in Merriwa Street, Katoomba, with the help of Bob McConnell. I spent a number of wonderful holidays at Merriwa House; and though Bob could be difficult with the drink on odd occasions, I was made much of and given lots of freedom, roaming the bush and the local sites, and many privileges. Sometimes my grandmother, Gladys, would accompany me: she was very fond of Stella.

"In the 1950s Stella and Bob moved to Northaven. Jack Sivyer stayed quietly out of all this, living at Glenview Street. He eventually died in Maitland Hospital, 31 May 1957. Bob remained with Stella and eventually changed his name to Sivyer. They moved back to Sydney living in Duxford Street, Paddington, where Stella died quite suddenly and peacefully, sitting in her chair, 3 May 1973. Bob then moved into Glenview Street with Jacqueline till he died.

"Jacqueline says of her upbringing: “I got all the affection”, and I know how my grandmother doted on her; there was no one quite like Jacqueline. In later years the cousins Jacqueline and Honor could discuss this dispassionately, for there had been times when Honor was understandably chagrined that her mother could lavish affection elsewhere so readily, yet hold back the show of affection to her own children. Gladys was nothing less than devoted to many, many people, but Honor, who could acknowledge it as she got older, felt a little overlooked."

Stella, her daughter Jacqueline, and Gladys Cant 

William Cant’s second marriage to Sarah Grieve - great grandmother

Sarah Cant née Grieve

Tony Butler continues the story: 

“On 20 June 1896, in the Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul, Goulburn, William Cant married Sarah Grieve, daughter of John Grieve, a farmer, and Sarah (nee Young) Grieve of Benalla. Sarah Grieve was born 25 May 1870 at Tallarook in Victoria.

“Sarah was not a Catholic. Tony Butler states: “On reflection, I find it surprising that William Cant married anyone so apparently different to Anne Cant, nee Wessler, as Sarah Grieve.”

“William met Sarah Grieve when he was moving around the southern parts of New South Wales with the railways in various capacities, as plumber, fettler and ganger; she was managing an inn or hotel in Jerilderie. Their children were: William Augustine 'Bill' - Grandfather, born in Cootamundra, 29 May 1897; Clarence Clyde Darling, born in Jerilderie, 29 May 1901; and Mildred (Molly) also born in Jerilderie, 14 November 1904.

William ("Bill") is dealt with in a subsequent chapter.

Mildred (Mollie) born 14 November 1904
at Jerilderie. Associate in Music, Australia
AMusA (Australian Music Examinations
Board)

“From her pictures, Sarah Grieve, always referred to in later years as Grannie Cant or Nana Cant, was a formidable woman. Family lore has some interesting views of her, but it depends on who tells the story. Gladys, [Tony's grandmother], leaves the conventional picture of a stepmother: a hard woman with not a lot of warmth for the children of the first marriage. One story from Gladys may serve as an illustration and be judged for what it is worth. Gladys learnt the piano as a youngster and was preparing for public examinations; the fees for the examination were not sent until too late to catch the mail-train, so Gladys was denied the chance which was later given to Molly [Gladys's half-sister] who received the cap and gown for piano studies.

“The general impression of the woman is of toughness and I suspect that much of this impression stems from the stories of those who for one reason or another saw only that side of her; stories from other folk suggest a much warmer, more caring woman, particularly in later years.

“Some vignettes, part of the overall picture: she had some wealthy relatives called Caition [pron. Keyshun], two spinsters who lived with their brother on a cattle station in Dalby, Queensland. When they visited the Granville home of the Cants, the family used the good dining room which was out of bounds to ordinary folk – much like Mrs. Joe Gargery in Great Expectations. There was also the inclusion, “de rigeur”, of Darnley among the family Christian names; though Clarence Clyde Darnley, Sarah’s second son, is the only one I am aware of who received it.

“An unfortunate remark of Sarah’s created an unnecessary rift. She is supposed to have said of William Augustine’s wife, Dorothy (nee Lutton) that ‘she would never get pregnant’, probably because the couple had been married four years before their first child was born. The remark cut and Dorothy would not tell her parents-in-law when the event did occur. Fortunately the story ends happily as the breach was healed in later years.

“A supposed lack of attention to [young] William’s education caused hurt. He himself passed off this neglect by saying his mother had six children to bring up and “didn’t do a bad job”, which is probably as close to the truth as we will ever get. William was christened a Catholic but was never confirmed and though Sarah herself was not a Catholic, there was a strong Catholic atmosphere in the family, and all the children, save William, made Catholic marriages and families. Circumstances of time and place around the turn of the century made it difficult to do everything by the family; and so William went only to third grade, according to his daughter Gwen – though an extant postcard from his sister Gladys to “Will” dated 8 November 1909, when he was about twelve, asks ‘How are you getting on at school?’

“Perhaps the most lasting aggrievements concerned Sarah Cant’s youngest daughter, Molly: they obviously hurt in their time and rankled for years later, but time heals all wounds and all was finally forgiven. More of this in its place.

“Granny Cant must have been a tough woman in the eyes of some people, but that did not stop the home in Granville, where the family moved from Yass, from being a gathering point for the family for many years.

“Just when the move to Granville occurred is forgotten now. Gladys had left home in 1908 and married in 1910, Frank was away from the family soon after; and it was time for Clarence to become an apprentice, which he did at the Railway Engineering Workshops at Clyde after spending six months on a milk run because he was under age for apprenticeship when the family moved to Sydney. So I put the time of their move at the end of 1914. They were certainly there when Frank died at Easter in 1915.

“They moved into a home at 12 Brady Street, Granville. Sarah, as good with money as her husband William was hopeless, bought two houses in the area, one in Daniel Street and one in Elizabeth Street: there is an entry in Sands 1917 Directory for W.Cant, Daniel Street, Granville. The Cant stronghold at Granville remained a family focus for twenty-five years. Later, when they married, Clarence moved into a home in Smythe Street, and Molly into a home in Woodville Road, both in the Granville-Merrylands area.

“Gwen (Cant) Briggs recalls William and Sarah as “loving grandparents” and regrets not seeing more of them. The house was always spotless and the beautiful white sheets and starched pillow-shams are still a strong memory for Gwen forty years later. Von (Cant) Fitt recalls Granny Cant’s devotion to setting up a little home altar every Friday ready for the priest to come and give Grandfather Cant Holy Communion. Doug bicycled out to visit them from Darlinghurst.

“The picture is improving.

“Von’s recollection is that though Granny Cant was not a Catholic she did a good job in bringing up all the children in the faith of their father. Grandfather Cant himself was a pillar of the local church at Granville and belonged to the Hibernian Society in its heyday. In a letter from Dorothy Cant (née Lutton) I was surprised to see a reference to a fragment of photograph of Grandfather Cant with his ‘lodge apron’. I thought ‘Mason’, until Von explained he would ‘wear his green and gold fringed collar’ to the Hibernian Society’s monthly Mass ‘with pride’. It was when he could no longer go to the Church that he received Holy Communion at home.

William Cant in his wheelbarrow at

Granville. Photo c/- Tony Butler

“Grandfather Cant went blind in later life, with glaucoma. Von’s mother, Stella Cant (née Turner) took him to the Sydney Eye Hospital where his condition was diagnosed. Gwen remembers how she and her sister Heather used to lead him around the yard at Brady Street. A second cousin, Rita Neal, remembers on one occasion visiting the Granville home and walking Grandfather Cant from Brady Street to Smythe Street. On approaching the house, the blind man indicated: ‘We’re nearly there; one more house’, or some such. ‘How do you know?’ Rita said. ‘From the dip in the footpath’, he replied. On a similar visit one of Rita’s sisters, Molly, recalls meeting Honor who, somewhat older, gave her a lipstick tube which delighted her. Honor was our [Tony’s] mother.

“Years later the Smythe Street house of Clarence Cant and his family was still an enjoyable visit for my family.

William's brother Martin (with waxed

moustache in Hibernian regalia at

Granville. Photo c/-Tony Butler

“Because William was on the railways in various capacities, the family moved around a great deal. Having been born in Carcoar, he was to marry in Goulburn. There were moves to Jerilderie and Cootamundra, a settling for some time in Yass between 1908 and 1914 and a final move to Granville.

William must have remained close to some of
his brothers and sisters, especially Martin and Mary (who became Mrs. John Hunter) who were witnesses to William’s first marriage. There are a number of postcards from Aunt Mary, a homely woman between the the lines. Martin was often talked about by Gladys and my mother. Gwen says she remembers him when she was a small girl. Von says he would visit them at Smythe Street and her father used to take them to visit him at Ryde. He made Von a wooden puppet which danced. She remembers him as a jovial man with a waxed moustache, somewhat taller than Grandfather Cant and rather better off. Jacqueline remembers being taken to Ryde on the tram by Gladys to visit relatives. Rita Neal says Martin, her grandfather, was no wood-carver and never lived at Ryde. The Ryde people were actually the Hall sons, butchers: William and Martin’s oldest sister, Sarah Ellen, had married James Hall. My own very unclear memories before the age of five are of Ryde and an orchard and Uncle Martin, but there is nothing coherent or reliable about the recollection.

Clarence "Clarry" at

Circular Quay Photo c/- Tony Butler

“Clarence Clyde Darnley Cant was born at Jerilderie 29 May 1901. Clarry was a hard man. He was a staunch, probably stubborn, Catholic, to such an extent that he would not marry Stella Turner until she converted: it is to her credit that she remained faithful to the change. They married in 1929. Stella always looked well scrubbed and Clarry obviously kept a tight rein on the family. He made it hard for his beautiful daughter Yvonne, the Von who has provided much of the reminiscence in this chapter, to blossom in her natural way: ‘Aunty Glad’ even had to encourage her brother to have a twenty-first birthday for the girl. Gladys also got Von her first job at Payne’s in Bathurst House. Nonetheless we always enjoyed our visits to Clarry’s house at Smythe Street, Merrylands, as well as their visits to us in Boundary Street when we had to keep watch for their arrival from the tram so we could rush back home to alert Gran to put the scones in the oven. Gladys always cooked scones, and we delighted in avoiding the two magpies – one of which was vicious, the other being cowardy custard.

Clarence continuing the wheelbarrow
'tradition'. Photo c/- Tony Butler

“Clarence was a foreman at the Clyde Engineering Works, and a tough one. His niece Maureen’s future husband, Frank Ingram, applied to Clarry for a job and was given short shrift; though later they became the best of friends.

“Yvonne was born 22 May 1932 – May was a popular month for Cant births! She was later to marry Wilfred (Bill) Fitt, 23 November 1957. There were two children: Louise, born 6 May 1959; and Rebecca, born 24 May 1964. Von’s life has not been exactly easy. For one so beautiful to have suffered so much is hard to understand, but she has an inner quality which allows her to cope – a strong characteristic of the Cants. In the late ‘eighties Von chose to leave her husband and live with Ian Hore. They moved to Port Macquarie and later to Queensland: she gained a long overdue measure of happiness. The move was made at some cost, in view of her strict beliefs, but her genuine needs won over her rigid belief.

“Clarence junior was born 14 January 1934. He married June Sheehy and there are two children: Jacqueline born 31 November 1963, and Mark born 23 September 1966. June died some years ago of cancer and Clarry has remarried. ‘Boy’, as Clarry was called to distinguish him from his father, was an unassuming man, but a great mimic under that quiet front."

Mildred Mary (Molly) was the last Cant child.  Everyone called her Molly. "She was born at Jerilderie, 14 November 1904. If Molly was the apple of her mother’s eye, then some of the family saw her as a poke in their eyes. There is no doubt that she was the favoured one. Gladys left home three or four years after Molly was born, and while she visited the family from time to time, she was probably not very close them at that stage.

Molly with her niece Honor and nephew 

Doug, children of Gladys. Photo c/- Tony 

Butler

“There were postcards aplenty, and in November 1909 she is saying to Will: ‘Tell Molly and Clarrie to write to me’. But there appears to have occurred a long gap in Gladys’s contact with Molly then or at some later date. In 1960 when our family was driving to the Blue Mountains, Gladys announced unexpectedly as they were passing through Glenbrook: ‘I have a sister who lives here – let’s see if we can find her’. There and then they turned about and searched out Molly, and received a very warm welcome, establishing a contact that was to last until the sisters died years later. Molly’s family was stunned at the revelation of a sister after what must have been years of no contact.

“There was always a touch of asperity in the voices when relatives spoke of Molly, mainly because she seems to have given when others were denied. But it is to the credit of all concerned that the hurts were healed as attitudes mellowed and people got older. Molly was given the best of educations: she was trained as a nurse and as a tailoress, and she gained her cap and gown in piano studies.

“Towards the end of the 1920s she met Bertrand Henry Louis Jordan, Uncle Bert, and here the stories abound. One night on her way home from Granville Station, Molly was stabbed in the arm: general rumour laid the blame at Bert’s jealous door; but whatever the truth, he and she ran away and got married very soon after. The date was 16 November 1929. They must have stayed at the Brady Street house because it is said that the annual Christmas gathering at the Cant household soon stopped, Molly having stated categorically she wasn’t ‘going to cook for all that lot’. Soon afterwards she and Bert moved to Woodville Road.

“Things did not go easily in that marriage. Bert soon contracted tuberculosis and had to spend time at Bodington near Wentworth Falls. He never fully recovered and when he and Molly moved to the Blue Mountains, to Glenbrook, they had to lead separate lives. Molly went to work and Maureen, their daughter, went to boarding school in Goulburn. Von sums it up when she says, ‘I think Aunty Molly had a sad life. The loss of both her children, and Uncle Bert had T.B. for many years. She worked hard for many years at the Goodyear Tyre Co., in Granville – all during the war years, and she had to put Maureen in boarding school. She must have had a lot of tenacity and courage. Aunty Glad was much more generous in her thinking towards her than my parents were, and Aunty Dorrie always kept in touch with her’. In later years, when Molly was going back and forth to the Royal Women’s Hospital at Paddington, she and Jacqueline [Stella's daughter] developed strong ties.

“There were two children: Maureen Annette, born 30 September 1934; and Noel William, born 28 March 1937. Noel died at the age of four at [his uncle] Bill Cant’s house at Kandos either from meningitis or a germ in the bowel. Maureen married Frank Ingram (born 2 August 1926) at Glenbrook, 24 November 1962. Adele was her bridesmaid: the recently healed breach resulted in more frequent visits and a close friendship between the two sisters’ families. Maureen and Frank had two children; Clare Mary, born 2 December 1966; and Anne Eileen, born 4 December 1970. Maureen sadly predeceased her mother, dying of cancer 11 January 1983. Molly died eighteen months later from the same cause, 5 July 1984, eighteen years after her husband, Bert, who died 23 April 1966.

William's death

“William died 11 December 1940 at the age of 74, in St. Joseph’s Hospital, Auburn, having suffered from glaucoma, lobar pneumonia and chronic myocarditis. He was buried at Rookwood by Rev. Father Peter Smith. His son Clarence had his birthplace as Cowra rather than Carcoar. He claimed very strongly that William’s first wife Anne was surnamed Welby. That remains a mystery.

Sarah's death

“Sarah Cant died a couple of years later, 21 June 1942.