By 1900 The Hoschke family, descendants of Amandus Hoschke and Mary Ann Drew, were well established in Upper Orara Valley, New South Wales. Amandus’ and Mary’s eldest son George William was aged 29 and their youngest son Arthur Henry Charles aged just 6.

Amandus and his eldest sons were engaged in small-scale farming, timber work, and labouring, typical of settler families in the district. The Orara Valley community relied heavily on subsistence farming, with limited road access and dependence on Coffs Harbour with it’s newly constructed jetty for trade.

Jessie Caroline Hoschke, the eldest daughter of Amandus and Mary had married three years earlier to George Davis and had two sons James Clarence Davis and Allen Frank Davis, although James had tragically passed away as a baby.

1900

1900 bought joy for the Hoschke family when Jessie and George’s third son Herbert Bruce Davis was born on Boxing Day at Upper Orara, Mary delivered her grandson and was the witness on this birth registration. Imagine the excitement of a new babies birth followed a few short days later by the Constitution of Australia coming into force, on 1 January 1901, the colonies collectively became states of the Commonwealth of Australia and our nation was born.

1901

In 1901 at the age of 30 Amandus and Mary’s eldest son George William Hoschke married Ruthetta Maston, known as Ettie – a young English woman who has travelled from Yorkshire as a child. Her father James Maston was another of the early settlers of the Orara Valley and their marriage would have been a joyous union of pioneering families.

Also around this time Amandus and Mary’s young daughter Mary Gertrude Isabell Hoschke suffered terribly from asthma, and was sent to live with her maternal grandmother in Orange, which was a much drier climate. Mary would remain there and never returned to live on the North Coast.

1902

Ada Mary Davis was born in 1902, the first daughter of Jessie and George Davis and the first granddaughter of Amandus and Mary. Once again Mary delivered her grandchild, along with George’s mother Rachel, with no hospital close by, this would have bought great comfort to the young family.

Like many of the families in the Orara Valley, the Hoschke family felt the broader impacts of the Federation Drought (1895–1903), which affected crop yields and livestock across NSW and forced them to continue to rely on extended kinship support, seasonal labour, and mixed farming to manage difficult conditions.

1903

1903 bought both sadness and joy for Amandus and Mary with their second and third son’s marrying into other local families and the sad loss of Mary’s mother Anne.

In March of 1903 Frederick Amandus Hoschke marries Clunie Bain Manson at Upper Orara, NSW. This marks the establishment of a new Hoschke household within the district and the marriage strengthens ties between long-established local families as shown in the photo below.

By August of 1903, Mary’s mother Anne Brown passed away aged 90 in Rockley near Georges Plains and she is buried in the Church of England section of Georges Plains Cemetery.

In the Spring of 1903 August Frank Hoschke married Henrietta Selina Richards, 24, the only daughter of Thomas and Selina Richards. Henrietta was known as Hetta.

1904

1904 was a joyous time with the birth of three more grandchildren, including their first two granddaughters, in the Hoschke family, bringing the total number of grandchildren to seven! The birth of Walter Frank Hoschke, son of Frank and Henrietta in Grafton, NSW, the birth of Elsie Bain Hoschke, daughter of Fred and Clunie in Orara, NSW and also the birth of Nellie Edith Davis, daughter of Jessie and George Davis in Upper Bucca Creek, NSW. Locally, the North Coast railway expansion continued in the region, gradually improving future access to markets and land clearing, fencing, and agricultural work dominated family life.

1905

By 1905 The Hoschke family participates in local community events, including agricultural shows, church gatherings, and informal sporting competitions. Farming in the Orara Valley becomes slightly more productive as drought conditions ease and the children of the extended Hoschke family attend local provisional schools, often walking long distances.

The year was also marked by two tragic losses, firstly Amandus and Mary’s youngest son Arthur Henry Charles Hoschke passed away tragically in January 1905 aged 11. Rheumatic fever, a complication of untreated streptococcal throat infections was indeed a common and often fatal illness in coastal and rural Australian communities like Coffs Harbour around 1905, especially among children and young adults. No antibiotics (penicillin wouldn’t arrive until the 1940s), crowded housing, large families, limited access to doctors, recurrent throat infections in humid coastal climates all led to tragic deaths of children and young adults. Six months later, further tragedy when George’s wife Ruthetta Hoschke passed away aged 28 from acute pericarditis and recurrent attacks of rheumatic fever. This must have been devastating for the family and Ettie and Arthur were buried together in the Coffs Cemetery.  

1906

In 1906, Amandus and Mary’s son August Frank “Frank” Hoschke, who had been farming his own selection at Upper Orara since 1899 and raising a young family, moved with his wife Henrietta to Inverell, family lore says they moved for their children’s health and given the tragic losses of Arthur & Ruthetta the year before their move was understandable.

Coffs Harbour continued to grow as a regional centre, improving access to supplies and services for Orara Valley families. Hoschke men continue working as labourers, farmers, and timber workers, sometimes supplementing income with seasonal or contract work, however in 1906, Amandus and Mary’s son Amandus Ludwig Hoschke, aged 22, was appointed as a teacher at Kororo and Moonee Schools.

1907

1907 bought more joyous times for Amandus and Mary and their now extended family. The births of two more grandsons, Lionel Edgar Hoschke, son of Frank and Henrietta in Grafton and Arthur Charles Hoschke, son of Fred and Clunie in Orara. Much joy was also bought by the marriage of Harold Robert Hoschke to Alice Maud Margaret Morris, daughter of Daniel and Margaret Morris, on 3 September 1907 at Moonee, just north of Coffs Harbour.  

1908

Two more grandchildren were born in 1908, Arthur George Davis, son of Jessie and George Davis in Upper Bucca Creek and Edith May Hoschke, daughter of Harold and Alice in the Orara Valley. Advances in transport and road formation begin to slightly reduce isolation for families in the Upper Orara area. The Hoschke family’s social life continues to centre on family gatherings, church, and local events.

1909

By 1909, the children born earlier in the decade begin contributing to farm work and household duties and the Hoschke family benefitted from improved regional stability and modest economic growth along the North Coast. Two events that demonstrated this prosperity were the marriage of Amandus Ludwig Hoschke to Helen “Nellie” Mary Edith Dammerel in Grafton, NSW. Helen was the daughter of George Dammerel a signalman, and his wife Sarah and she was also a teacher.

The other event that signalled the increased prosperity of the Hoschke family was the fact that Amandus was able to travel to his homeland of Germany, his farewell was a grand affair; On the eve of your departure on a well earned trip to Germany, your many friends in the Orara, Bucca Creek and Coffs Harbour Districts are desirous of showing some slight recognition of the excellent services you have at all times rendered for the progress and welfare of the community generally.