Rumbelows gather for family reunion 

• Victor Harbour Times  

• Wed 4 Jun 1986 

Members of the Rumbelow family gathered at Yilki on Sunday to celebrate Mr and Mrs Ken and Reta Rumbleow's golden wedding and to get together as a family.

More than 100 people attended the afternoon to reminisce over old times and mix with other family members.

Mr Peter Rumbelow welcomed the family and said it was organised to celebrate his parents 50 years of marriage as well as to gather as many Rumbelows together as they could. His brother, Dennis Rumbelow, read excerpts from the diary of settler Mr Malen Rumbelow, written from June to October in 1854 on his voyage to Australia, which included many interesting observations of the day.

Mr and Mrs Rumbelow then cut their anniversary cake, which was made and iced by Carleen Oliver, while the family sang 'For They Are Jolly Good Fellows' .

A display board was mounted showing a family tree and various photos and information about the Rumbelow family, and a visitors book was also available for family signatures.

Golden wedding marked at reunion

• Victor Harbour Times 

• Wednesday 4 June 1986

A family reunion on Sunday marked the golden wedding anniversary of Ken and Reta Rumbelow, of Victor Harbor. The couple were wed on May 30, 1936, at the Newland Memorial Church by the Rev C. Denis Ryan, and have lived all their married life at Victor Harbor.

Ken Rumbelow, the oldest surviving member of one of the south 's best known families, was born in Victor Harbor, while Reta was born at Freeling and moved to the South Coast at the age of nine.

Between them, they have been associated with a host of community organisations.  Mrs Rumbelows involvements have included Red Cross, Meals on Wheels, and Newland Guild. 

Mr Rumbelow 's involvements have included being chairman of the Victor Harbor Primary School Committee, Newland church secretary, a member of the high school council, vice-president of the high school parents and friends association, vice-president of the youth club, president of the scouts committee, and president and secretary of Encounter Bay Football Club.

Rumbelow Family to Gather at Yilki

• Victor Harbor Times

• Fri 30 May 1986

One of the best known families of the south, the Rumbelows, their traditions, and history will be to the fore as descendants of the original Malen Rumbelow gather at Yilki on Sunday afternoon for a reunion.

A copy of the diary of the journey of Malen Rumbelow, who arrived in this district in 1855, will be on display at the event organised by Peter and Gen Rumbelow. And organisers say it will be an informal occasion of mixing and reminiscing.

The oldest living Rumelow at Sunday's reunion will be Mr Ken Rumbelow, great grandson of the original Malen Rumbelow. He and his wife Reta are celebrating their golden wedding anniversary on May 30.

Their sons, Peter, who is the general manager of administration of the State Bank, Denis, lecturer at Underdale College of Advanced Education, and Bill, deputy principal of Marden High School, will also be among those attending the reunion with their families.

In January, 1955, the family marked its centenary with a reunion attended by nearly 300 descendants of the family, well known for its fishing traditions.

Rumbelows from all over the State, New South Wales, Victoria, and Tasmania, representing six generations, gathered for that occasion, including Mrs Ada Rumbelow who went on to celebrate her 100th birthday in 1970 and Miss Alice Rumbelow, at that time the oldest living Rumbelow.

The original Malen Rumbelow, his wife, and nine children left their home near Middenhall, Suffolkshire, England, in 1854 and arrived in Port Adelaide on October 7 of that year.

In early January, 1855, one of their daughters Alice, married a sailor, Cain Jelliff, and the whole party set out, per bullock dray, for the whaling settlement of Encounter Bay, a journey that was to take them a fortnight.

Malin Rumbelow senior found employment for a time in the store shed of the Whaling Company, and helped in the cutting up of the last of these monsters from the deep caught by this company at Encounter Bay.

His son Malen Jnr. joined Cain Jelliff in a fishing partnership at Encounter Bay in the early 1860s, beginning a fishing tradition within the family that was to continue for more than a century until recent years.

Subsequently, the business became M. Rumbelow and Sons and this continued until 1907. Members of the Rumbelow family had become popular with visitors and tourists and been largely responsible for the beginning of the tourist trade that now flourishes.

As a family, they have had their triumphs over the sea. . . but there were also tragedies.

In the 1920s, Sam Rumbelow was drowned while attempting to save a visitor in difficulty; in 1932 two sons of the original partners, Walter and David Rumbelow, were drowned when their craft was wrecked while on a fishing trip; and in the last 12 years two other members of the family — Geoff and Kevin — were drowned.