Biographical Notes |
Note: Oscar was named for his father's publican friend Oscar John Lines. Like his brothers nearest in age, Arthur, Christopher Samuel and Osmond, he had the benefit of most of his education at Hahndorf Academy while the older brothers only finished there. None of the brothers who came after Marion (in the middle of the fifteen) took up farming. Oscar did an apprenticeship in the wholesale drapery business and was with G. and R. Wills, Adelaide. In 1872, aged 15 he appeared in the current Directory as "Warehouseman" of Evendale where he would have been boarding. He was one of the family who lived at Edward Street, Norwood, in the late 1870's and into the 1880's with their sister Marion housekeeping. It was Oscar's address from 1879. It is something of a puzzle to know how he met his wife Louisa Williams of Albany and how he came to be in Western Australia. She had been orphaned while still an infant so the Camfields who brought her up were substitute parents. Following the marriage at Albany. Oscar brought his bride and Mrs. Anne Camfield, widowed by then, back to Adelaide and took a house at Opie Street, Evandale, a suburb near Adelaide, where the five Wilson children were born.
Oscar's occupation in Directories continued to be "draper" so it is not known to E.M.S. when he set up in the business of Wilson and Brice, drapers, at 114-116-118 Rundle Street, now Rundle Mall, a near neighbour of the department store of John Martins. The site was later to be occupied by G.J. Coles (no item priced over 2 shillings and 6 pence to start with) and is now composed of smaller stores of various types. Only narrow Charles Street divided the much greater Coles store from Wilson and Brice and such close proximity proved disastrous and by 1905 Oscar's business went into liquidation. The 1906 Directory had only Mrs. O. Wilson of Opie Street, Evandale (which is now part of St. Peters).
The following year Louisa and her three daughters removed to Sydney to join Oscar. Mrs. Camfield had died on 18 Feb 1896, aged 88 years, but Oscar's eldest sister Ellen (Nell) Lines was part of his household and she accompanied them. Guy, the elder son, remained at Adelaide. Harold, the younger, was in the south east of S.A. At Sydney Oscar worked at Farmers, a similar store to his own but very much larger and his residence was at Mosman where he died in 1909 aged 51. Louisa had her sister-in-law until 1932 and no doubt benefited from Nell's comfortable estate. She lived on another ten years and saw all three daughters married.
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