Smiley Family History
Doris Jean Margaret Smiley 1895-1961
Family line:
Francis Smylie/Smiley 1689 → Hugh Smiley 1723 → William Smiley 1757 → Hugh Smiley 1785 → Shepherd Parkman Smiley 1828 → Thomas Alexander Ward Smiley 1867 → Doris Jean Margaret Smiley 1895-1961.
Doris Smiley
Born: 18 June 1895, St Kilda, Vic
Died: 16 May 1961, Carnegie, Vic, aged 65
Occupation: Bookkeeper & shop assistant, home duties
Married: Henry (Harry) Robert Wilson, 3 September 1919, St Kilda, Vic
Children: —
Doris Jean Margaret Smiley was the first of the eleven children of Thomas Alexander Ward and Marion Harley (Bunn) Smiley. She was born at the family home in St Kilda on 18 June 1895.
As Doris' parents shifted the family often to cater for her father's work as a mining contractor, her childhood saw her living in a variety of locations in Melbourne, country Victoria and Kapunda, South Australia.
As a young adult, she became the cashier and bookkeeper in the family butcher's shop at 338 Inkerman Road, St Kilda.
Before the advent of World War One, Doris met Henry (Harry) Robert Wilson, who was born on 30 June 1893 at Black Flat, Victoria (near present-day Glen Waverley), the son of Robert and Mary Ellen (Begg) Wilson. Harry served overseas and returned to Australia in May 1919 after 1,503 days away from Australia as a soldier with the Australian Imperial Force.
Doris was 24 and Harry 26 when they married at St Kilda on 3 September 1919 [click on wedding photo to see a larger image].
The couple moved from Melbourne to a wheat-growing property about eight kilometres from the Mallee township of Tempy, in northwest Victoria, and they farmed there for a number of years using horse-drawn farm equipment, initially to clear the land and then to grow wheat. The farm was often visited by family members from Melbourne or other parts of the Mallee, with travel either by car over dirt "highways" or by Melbourne-Mildura trains.
After battling drought, sand storms and uncertain markets, they returned to Melbourne in 1947 where Harry again became a chauffeur, working for many years as the driver for a principal of the Herbert Adams bakery company.
Doris and Harry lived at Glenhuntly in their later life - both of Doris' parents joined them in their family home when they were aged. Doris died in Melbourne on 16 May 1961, aged 65. Harry continued to live an active life and died in Melbourne on 20 March 1988, aged 94. The couple had no children.
Further information
- Photographs of Harry and Doris (Smiley) Wilson
- Siblings of Doris Smiley
- World War One experiences of Harry Wilson
