The Family of Jane BEER of Cairns, Queensland
Jane BEER married Samuel BROWN on 17 June 1893 in Bowen, Queensland. They had two children (William and Selina) before Sam disappeared, never to be heard from again.
(Sam's story is here.) Soon after, Jane joined up with Charles TAYLOR and they had eight children.
This is the story of Jane BEER and her family.
Isaac BEER==========================v==========================Mary COLLINS
1840-1909 1864 1846-1884
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|-----------|---------|--------------|-----------|---------------|
Jane John Matilda Agnes Isaac Albert James
1867-1929 1870 1872 1874 1876 1879
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|---------------------------|
m1:1893 m2:1909
Samuel BROWN Charles TAYLOR
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|---------| |-------|-------|--------|--------|-------|-----------|-------|
William Selina Charles Jessie James Frederick David John Jane George
1894-1918 1895-1973 1897- 1899-1925 1901- 1904- 1906- 1909-1909 1911-1911 1913-
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Jane was born in Cadyton a suburb of Cardiff, Wales in 1867, the first child of Isaac BEER and Mary Collins. Mary was a local girl, born in Cowbridge,
Wales in 1846, whereas Isaac had been born in Yarcombe, Devon and had only recently arrived in Cardiff, presumably looking for work.
1866 birth certificate for Jane BEER |
In the 1871 census Jane was aged 4. The family was living at Hayes Farm, Sully. Isaac was working as an Agricultural Labourer. Sully is a few miles south of Cardiff. The census
enumerator obviously had some problems with Isaac's accent, recording him as BEARD, and born in Yarkem.
1871 census for Issac BEER |
1881 census
However by 1881, when Jane was 14, she was working as a servant nurse for Richard DEACON, mechanical Engineer and his wife at 11 Church Rd, Penarth. Her family were a short distance
away at 32 Dock St.
1881 census for Jane BEER |
11 Church St, Penarth in 2003 |
11 Church St, Penarth. in 2010 |
[When we visited 11 Church St in 2003 the house was due to be demolished and a large set of town houses erected. The neighbours had objected on the grounds that the plan was too large
and out of character with the neighbourhood. Apparently the objectors won as the building has been restored as two town houses.]
1891 census
By 1891 Richard Deacon had moved to Edbaston, Birmingham and Jane BEER had gone to London, working as a parlour maid for Joseph and Ethel HART, Stockbroker. at 53 Marlborough
Hill, Marylebone.
1891 census for Jane BEER |
Migration to Australia
On 29 March 1892 Jane departed from London on the ship JELUNGA bound for Queensland ports. She was contracted to disembark at Bowen, Queensland. She is listed as a Domestic
Servant, aged 25 and single. Jane arrived in Bowen on 20 May 1892.
Ships passenger list for Jane in 1892 |
 The Jelunga |
Marriage to Samuel Brown
About a year before Jane left London, on 26 May 1891 two young men, Samuel and James BROWN, boarded the ship JUMNA in London, bound for Bowen, Queensland. They are shown as
farm labourers, aged 19 and 20. They travelled on the same ticket number (1090) so were almost certainly brothers.
Sam and Jane were married in Bowen on 17 June 1893 at the house of Mrs Townshend by James Gibson, Presbyterian Minister. Sam was aged 21 and Jane was 22. According to the marriage
record, Sam was born in Scotland, but there are no records of his birth in Scotland. Instead the shipping record shows him as Irish and indeed there is a baptism for a Samuel Brown in
County Derry on 9 March 1872. By June 1893 Sam would have been 21. (Sam's story is here.)
Jane and Sam had two children: William on 1 September 1894 and Selina on 4 July 1895:
| Birth | Death |
|---|
| William George |
1 Sept 1894 |
13 April 1918, Amiens |
| Selina |
4 July 1895 |
11 July 1973 |
And then between mid-1894 and the end of 1896 Sam vanished, never to be heard from again (at least as far as the family is aware).
Life with Charles TAYLOR
Soon after Sam left, probably in mid-1896, Jane established a relationship with Charles David TAYLOR. Their first child, Charles, was born on 17 September 1897. Charles (baptised David Charles) was
born in Lincolnshire, England in 1864 to Charles and Frances TAYLOR. He emigrated to Brisbane, Australia on the Bristow Hall in 1885, aged 20.
(Charles' story is here.) Jane and Charles lived together and Jane became known as Jane TAYLOR. This was quite common for the time as divorce was
near-impossible. Jane could not marry while Sam BROWN was still alive. What was unusual in this case was the decision to prosecute Jane and Charles for making a false statement on a
child's birth registration: Jane was chared with the registration of David TAYLOR (born 1 October 1906) whereas Charles was chared with the registration oft he birth of Frederick in 1904.
The Court first heard the evidence on 11 October 1907, allowing the defendents bail of £50 each.
Cairns Morning Post 11 October 1907. The full article is smudged and hard to read. A transcript follows. |
Paternity of Children
ALLEGED FALSE STATEMENTS.
At the Police Court yesterday, before Mr. P. G. Graut, PJL, Jane Drown, of Stannary, Hills, was charged with having given false information concerning the parentage of
a child in connection with the birth registration of such child.
Senior-Sergeant Myer conducted the case, and Mr Hartley appeared for the accused. The latter took a
preliminary point that thc complaint had not been laid within the time limited as provided in section 703 of the Criminal Code. Also that the court had no jurisdiction, the accused being
described in the information as "of Stannary Hills." Subject to those points the accused pleaded not guilty.
First-class Constable Walsh deposed that on 23rd September he saw the
accused at her residence, at Rocky Bluffs, near Stannary Hills. Showed her a document purporting to be a certificate of birth, and drew her attention to the signature ."Jane Taylor"
thereon. In reply to witness, the accused admitted that the signature was hers. She said: "1 signed it on the paper, but it is not my name, as of course you know I told {..unreadable}.
I sent my eldest son William Brown with it to the District Registrar's office. Cairns, for the purpose of having the birth of my child, David, registered. She said the body of the
certificate had been filled up by CharIes Taylor, the father of the child David. She said Taylor had gone to Mareeba to work on the line and had left the certificate with her to
send to the Registrar. She also said as there was no informant's signature on the certificate the Registrar sent it back. She said she then signed her name as Jane Taylor and
sent it again to the Registrar on the 22nd November last year, for registration. She admitted, in reply to a question by witness, that at the time she signed the certificate as
Jane Taylor she knew that was uot her correct name, but added that she had been going under Taylor's name ever since she had been with him for the sake of the children. Witness produced
a certified copy of the registration of the birth of the child David. Mr. Hartley objected to the admission of the document on the ground that it was not evidence. Thc objection was
overruled. Witness continuing: On a previous occasion the accused told witness she was living with Taylor. She was married to Brown, but did not know where her husband was. Witness got
a written statement from the accused to that effect, and now produced it. Iin this statement the woman fully confessed that she had signed her name falsely as Jane Taylor, whereas her
true name was Jane Brown. William Pettigrew Wilson, Assistant C.P.S. at Cairns, also acting as assistant to the Registrar of Births deposed to having received the certificate produced,
the name of the informant, thereon being Jane Taylor.
This was all the evidence called by the police. Mr. Hartley applied for the dismissal of the complaint on the ground that there was no evidence that thc alleged false information
was given to the Registrar, or that Mr. Short was the Registrar of Births. The accused was charged with having made a false statement to Mr. Short, and there was no evidence
to prove that the statement had ever come before Mr. Short. Senior-Sergeant Wyer submitted that the certificate was initiated by Mr. Short as thc Registrar, thus proving that it came
before him. Tho P.M. refused the application. Mr. Hartley took another point, that there was no evidence that the accused "knowingly" made the statement. Thc P.M. said there was the
woman's own written admission to the fact He held that a prima facie case had been made out. The accused, having been formally charged, reserved her defence, and was committed for trial
at the next sittings of the District Court at Cairns. The accused was admitted to bail on her own recognisances in the sum of £50.
Charles Taylor was then charged for having on the 16th March, 1904, made a false statement to me Frank Russell, District Registrar, at Charters Towers, in reference to the birth
of a child, by stating that he was the father and Jane Taylor the mother of the said child, whereas in truth the mother's name was Jane Beer or Brown, to whom thc accusedwas not married
as he alleged in such false statement. Mr. Hartley appeared for the accused. First-class Constable Walsh gave evidence of having spoken to the accused at Rocky Bluffs on various
occasions, and of the accused having admitted that the statements in the certificate of the child, Frederick, that the accused was married to the mother of the child, were false.
The accused admitted that the signature to the certificate was his having been made in thc District Registrar's office at Charters Towers. The accused admitted that he made the
statement in the District Registrar's office at Charters Towers that he was married to a woman named Jane Beer at Bowen in September, 1902, and that such statement was false. He said he
would not have made the statement only "for the sake of the woman and kids." He further said that the woman he was living with was the mother of the child Frederick. Tne witness produced
the certificate referred to, and certified copy of the registration of the child Frederick. Witness also produced a written statement made by the accused in which he admitted that
his statements in the certificate with regard to his alleged marriage were false. No further evidence was called for ihr- prosecution. The accused reserved his defence, and was committed
for trial. Bail allowed as in the previous case.
|
The trial was held on 26 February 1908. The newspapers made another great story out of it, but in the end the charge against Jane was withdrawn ("nolle prosequi").
Charles was convicted and bound over to appear when called upon - he never was.
Cairns Morning Post 26 February 1908. |
Jane and Charles went on to have eight children.
| Birth | Death |
|---|
| Charles |
17 Sept 1897 |
|
| Jessie |
9 Dec 1899 |
12 Apr 1925 |
| James |
1 Nov 1901 |
|
| Frederick |
13 Mar 1904 |
|
| David |
1 Oct 1906 |
|
| John |
20 Mar 1909 |
1909 |
| Jane Alice |
30 Jan 1911 |
25 Nov 1911 |
| George Edward |
12 Mar 1913 |
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Jane's family now looked like this:
| | |
Samuel BROWN==========v=====================Jane BEER================v===========Charles TAYLOR
1872-?1909 m:1893 1867-1929 m:1909 1864-1938
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|--------------| |-------|---------|--------|--------|--------|---------|-------|
William George Selina Charles Jessie James Frederick David John Jane George
1894-1918 1895-1973 1897-? 1899-1925 1901-1901 1904-? 1906-? 1909-1909 1911-1911 1913-?
| | | | | | | | | |
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On 12 May 1909 Jane and Charles drove into Cairns in their horse and buggy and were married at the Presbyterian Church, Sheridan St, Cairns.
Charles is shown as a bachelor and she a widow. (Intrigingly, a second version of the marriage certificate shows her as "spinster".) The older children recall the couple getting dressed
up, driving off and returning home - married. They had waited over 11 years to be able to marry and endured the indignanty of a very public prosection because they were not married.
Apparently Jane had received some information that enabled her to marry - to the satisfaction of the Registrar of Marriages. As divorce was unlikely Sam BROWN must have died and Jane had
been notified. But where and when he died - we have no idea. Samuel BROWN is a common name but none of the deaths in Queensland appear to fit the facts. Did he die overseas?
Marriage Certificate for Jane BEER and Charles TAYLOR. Issued in 1990 - note Jane was a spinster. |
Marriage Certificate for Jane BEER and Charles TAYLOR. Issued in 2003 - note Jane was now a widow. |
Jane died on 30 May 1929 in Cairns. She was buried in the the Cairns Cemetery (Monumental Section plot J1/1955) on 30 May 1929.
Charles David TAYLOR died on 4 June 1938 in Cairns and was buried in the Cairns Cemetery (Monumental Section plot O2/3511) on 4 June 1938.
Death Certificate for Jane BEER/BROWN/TAYLOR. |
Death Certificate for Charles TAYLOR. |
The Children of Jane BEER
William George BROWN/TAYLOR
Will was born in 1894, the oldest child of Jane and Sam BROWN. There is more information about Will here.
Return to the Benton Family Index Page
Last updated: 21 July 2026
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