Samuel A Fiddian

1877 - 1934

• Name	Samuel A Fiddian
  Born	1877	Creswick, Victoria, Australia
  Gender	Male
  Education	Creswick Grammar School, where he matriculated in Nov 1893; then Melbourne University leading to a BA in 1898 then later in 1902 an MA. (In Nov 1894 he passed first year Arts, so it is odd that it appears he took 4 years to gain his first degree).
  Event	Dec 1898	South Yarra, Victoria, Australia
  	He appears to have been teaching at Christ Church Grammar School, conducting the examinations and awarding the senior prizes
  Occupation	Nov 1899	NSW, Australia
  	It appears that like his father he may have been a Wesleyan Lay Preacher and gave sermons at several Wesleyan Churches in NSW.
  Event	1904	Geelong, Victoria, Australia
  	He was Classics Master at Geelong College in Newtown, Victoria.
  Event	25 Jun 1904	Adelaide, SA, Australia
  	Played Australian Rules Football for South Australia against Victoria. They won by 5 goals and 9 behinds to 4 goals and 3 behinds.
  Occupation	1909	Adelaide, SA, Australia
  	Indentor, Manufacturer's Agent. In 1909 he became part owner of James Robin & Co (a wholesale import business) with Messrs Strachan (senior partner) & Rowland Robin.
  Event	1910	Adelaide, SA, Australia
  	Between 1910 and 1912 he regularly raced his Yacht Matangi, and on one occasion was demasted. He quite often came first or second in his races.
  Event	12 Feb 1910	Grenfell Street, Adelaide, SA, Australia
  	The grocery warehouse property of James Robin & Co was severely damaged by fire (£6,000 damage). Being a Saturday all the senior managers was involved in sporting events. Strachan - golf; Fiddian - yachting (on his boat Matangi in the Kintore Cup); departmental manager - stroking a 8-oar crew; chief accountant - cricket. The building and contents were fully insured.
  Occupation	1914	Adelaide
  	Clerk to Max Preston (aka Pollak) an Agent of Weber & Co of Hamburg, Germany. But just before WW1 broke out Max assigned the business over to Sam, leaving himself with no assets. A native of Prague, Max was later interned at Holsworthy.
  Occupation	1919
  	Director of the Creswick Brick, Tile and Potteries Ltd but the business leaked money and by 1924 the business was wound up. There were plants at both Creswick and Preston, with the latter doing better.
  Occupation	1924	Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
  	He was a Director of Hattrick J M Pty Ltd, Manufacturers and General Merchants.
  Event	1925
  	Made headlines 'Is Sam Fiddian such a fool as he says he is?' after a letter he wrote to Max Preston was published in Smith's Weekly. He had naively suggested putting financial pressure on the Nationalist MPs to sway their vote on the import tariff.
  Event	15 Jan 1927	Creswick, Victoria, Australia
  	At 8.30 pm on the Saturday night Marjorie was lighting a petrol hurricane lamp when it suddenly burst into flames, causing the house to catch fire. She hurriedly got out two young children (Ruth and William?) who were in bed at the time. The fire destroyed all the front 5 rooms but the rear of the building was saved by the fire brigade and a brick wall. The property was being used as a summer residence by merchant Samuel Fiddian.
  Died	13 Sep 1934	Surrey Hills, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
  Buried	14 Sep 1934	Surrey Hills, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
  Person ID	I639	Fidgen
  Last Modified	8 Mar 2018

  
  

  Father	Samuel Fiddian, MA Esq,   b. 1842, Castle Donington, Leicestershire ,   d. 5 Jan 1904, Liverpool, Lancashire
  Mother	Charlotte Sophia Robin,   b. 1846, West Derby, Lancashire ,   d. 18 Aug 1924, The Manse, Dunolly, Victoria, Australia
  Married	9 Jan 1872	Adelaide, South Australia
  Family ID	F175	Group Sheet

  
  

  Family 1	Jean Ward
  Married	Type: Not married
  Count of Children	Sowing his wild oats before marrying in 1906!
  Children	1. Raymond Ward,   b. 1905, Creswick, Victoria, Australia ,   d. 16 Mar 1982, Creswick, Victoria, Australia
  Last Modified	25 Jul 2017
  Family ID	F2875	Group Sheet

  
  

  Family 2	Margaret Nellie Robin,   b. 1884, Creswick, Victoria, Australia ,   d. 5 Apr 1970, Canterbury, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
  Engaged	1 Jul 1905	Adelaide, SA, Australia
  	Their engagement was announced in The Observer.
  Spouse	1906
  	Margaret was his cousin, eldest daughter of Henry Nicholas Robin (third son of James Robin).
  Married	21 Mar 1906	Norwood, SA, Australia
  Children	> 1. Ian Paull Fiddian,   b. 17 Aug 1909, Kent Town, Adelaide, South Australia ,   d. 3 May 1986, South Yarra, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia > 2. Hubert de Jersey Fiddian,   b. 10 Apr 1911, Australia ,   d. 11 Mar 1987, Selby, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia > 3. Basil Fiddian,   b. 24 Sep 1912, Australia ,   d. 17 Sep 1988, Mitcham, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia   4. Margaret Shirley Fiddian,   b. 1915, Australia > 5. Geoffrey Lynn Fiddian,   b. 1 Nov 1918, Canterbury, Victoria, Australia ,   d. 7 Nov 1995, Cheltenham, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia   6. Ruth Fiddian > 7. William Robin Fiddian,   b. 12 Oct 1923, Australia ,   d. 26 Jul 2012, South Ballarat, Victoria, Australia
  Last Modified	25 Jul 2017
  Family ID	F179	Group Sheet

  
  

• Documents

  Ode to Antipodean Fiddians A limerick telling the true origin of many of our Australian cousins.