Birth of a Dynasty

By Don Rumbelow

October of 1854 saw the arrival of Malen Rumbelow, his wife and their 8 children in Adelaide, South Australia. The journey on the Pestonjee Bomanjee took 112 days from Southampton. An unimaginable journey to all of us by today's standards and we can only surmise the heartache and treacherous nature of such a trip. 

Upon reaching Adelaide and proceeding to organise the trip to Victor Harbor the family arrived at Victor Harbor on January 5th 1855. The family consisted of 6 girls and 3 boys. 

GODFREY : Died soon after reaching Victor 

ALICE : Married Cain Jelliff and later Edward Bolger 

SAMUEL : Died in England aged 5 months. 

SOPHIA : Married William Robinson and later Alexander Bacchus 

MAHALIA : Married Henry Weymouth and later Edward Bolger 

CAROLINE : Married John Cakebread 

MALEN 2nd : Manied Mary Glassenbury 

EMMA : Married Thomas Watson and later Edward Bolger 

SARAH : Married William Watson

A further two children were born to the couple in Victor Harbor : 

DAVID : Born March 1855, died July 1859 

HANNAH : Born Feb. 1858, died March 1862.

Tragically Malen's sons Godfrey, Samuel (and later) David would all die at a young age, leaving Malen 2nd the only male descendant. He would carry the family name and became a pioneer in the fishing industry in South Australia, helping to create a dynasty that has been well known and respected ever since. 

Before the start of the involvement in fishing,  Alice and her husband Cain Jelliff along with Caroline and her husband, John Cakebread, travelled to Bendigo and worked in the goldfields for a while. It was after Alice decided the harsh conditions were not a good place for her younger sister to be, that they all returned to Victor. 

It was in 1863 that Malen 2nd married Mary Glastonbury, a South Australian girl from Hope Valley. It is unclear why however Mary had been at Yilki for some time before the couple married. 

In 1864 Malen 2nd commenced fishing with Cain Jelliff and the early beginnings of an outstanding career were evident. For many years the pair continued fishing the waters of Encounter Bay and surrounds as far as the Murray Mouth and Kangaroo Island. 

Alice played an important part in this business by hawking fish and taking fish to market. During this time Malen 2nd and Cain were involved in organising the first New Years Day sailing regatta and water sports event in 1869. An event that continued for many years and was still occurring into the 1940's.

In March of 1877 Cain Jelliff drowned before returning to Goolwa from the Murray Mouth during a storm.  After Cain Jellif's death, Malen 2nd continued with fishing, trading now as Rumbelow and Sons and involving the whole family in the workings of the business.

WILLIAM HENRY: married Mary Pearce 

DAVID MALEN 3rd: Susan May Pearsons  

GODFREY 2nd: married Ada Heading

ALICE: never married 

ROSE : married John Strawbridge

CAIN : married Susannah Bailey

Maria JANE: married Joshua Tugwell

SAMUEL: died Dec 1886 aged 5 

GRACE: married David Buck

Malen 2nd was one of the pioneers of the rock lobster industry in South Australia and his sons Henry, Malen 3rd. Godfrey and Cain all played significant parts in the catching and sale of fish and crays. Henry, Malen 3rd and Cain all excelled as fishermen and developed great sailing and boating skills. They were all regarded as great sailors and won many races in their fishing cutters. 

As would be expected there were many stories told of their feats and their reputations grew. During a state election they were contracted to collect ballot boxes from Kangaroo Island and deliver them to Port Adelaide for counting. An unusual contract by today's standard and normally it should have been a simple task. 

However as luck would have it, there was a storm and Henry had to walk miles through the rain to collect the boxes and on his return to his dinghy, the storm had intensified. Rowing out to the cutter there was a real danger the dinghy would be bashed against the Rambler or overturned in the rough sea. Providence took a hand and as Henry neared the Rambler a large swell picked the dinghy up and Malen seizing the moment, grabbed the bow of the dinghy, and dragged boat, Henry and ballot boxes on to the deck of the Rambler in one almighty heave. The three brothers then continued on to battle the storm and deliver the ballot boxes on time. There was no doubt that Malen was indeed a man of huge stature and strength. 

Tales of huge hauls of mullet in the vicinity of 250 to 300 dozen were not uncommon and battles with big sharks were also a seemingly common occurrence. On one occasion when Henry and Godfrey were trying to land a huge haul of mullet, Godfrey was standing on a rock in shallow water when he noticed a large shark heading straight for him. Hearing his brothers calls Henry positioned their flatty between the shark and Godfrey with strength and agility, enabling Godfrey to lunge into the boat narrowly missing the jaws of the big shark. 

This story, although related from many years ago, is still relevant today, with a very similar occurrence happening to myself and younger brother Malcolm. After a heavy squall had damaged my catamaran during a yacht race off Victor, Malcolm and I were swimming about, lashing pieces of boat together, when Malcolm was almost taken by a large shark as he climbed into a small power boat skippered by our dad, Graham. 

 Actually, we have found while doing research for this reunion, it is amazing just how many dates and occurrences seem to pop up as the generations go forward. 

The third generation Rumbelow's were largely responsible for the beginnings of the tourist trade in the Victor Harbor area. The Rumbelow men were well known for taking visitors fishing and shooting in the area and were regarded as having the ability to make even the most nervous of passengers feel at ease on board any of their fishing boats. The Rumbelow women also played a big part, running boarding houses that were often filled, especially during the summer months and holiday times. Growing numbers of Rumbelows and the high profile of the family led to the area being known as Rumbelowtown and mail coming to the Yilki post office with that address. 

CHARLES :married Ruby Theisenger 

SUSAN : never married 

IVY : married Johannes Fredrich Bartel 

DAVID : married Mabel Morgan 

WILLIAM ERNEST: died at 15 yrs old 

ERIC : maried Gwendoline Chalmers 

LIONEL : married Ivy Chilton 

STANLEY Malen (4th) Ween : married Gwenneth Hughes

After the death of Malen 3rd, Henry and Cain continued fishing, though it was not long before Henry left Encounter Bay to take up farming at Narrung. June of 1907 saw the business of M. Rumbelow and Sons dissolved. Cain kept fishing on the "Swallow" and later was joined by his son Hubert (or Hube as he was known). The Swallow was renowned as a very fast sailing vessel and was known to have made the trip from the Bluff outer Harbor in the almost unbelievable time of 7 hours and 10 minutes. On this trip, Cain and Hube were accompanied by Mr. J. Theissenger and it was said they hardly dared to move from the cockpit, for fear of being washed over. This was a trip that used to take dad, under power, about 11 hrs in the Taperoo.

After Walters drowning in 1932, Walter's son Lester headed down and continued to fish the Coorong for the rest of his life.

Lionel and Ween continued fishing, with Lionel fishing in larger cutters and Ween working the in shore waters of the bay. 

In another incident Lionel avoided drowning while snooking at West Is. Fishing on his own in the Ivy he was knocked over the side when the boom unexpectedly gybed. Watching his boat sail away from him must have been an eerie feeling, and yet seeing her round up into the wind and sail back toward him in a large arc, to pass close enough to grab hold of a rope hanging from her stern is as close to a miracle as you could get. He managed to pull himself back on deck and sail home. Lionel eventually sold the Ivy to Bill Shannon of The venard and in an uncanny turn of circumstance the exact same thing happened to Bill. The Ivy however didn't fare so well and broke up under the The venard jetty in a blow. A fate she certainly didn't deserve after rescuing 2 of her owners.

Lionel's son Graham was next in line and he too joined his father in the business of fishing. However before dad was allowed to become a full time fisherman Grandpa had told him he must have a trade, so dad went on to become a carpenter. It was these skills that enabled him to become a very good boat builder. He built many boats with the "Mae Don" being built for Lionel and himself to work together. Graham went on to build the 40-foot "Gralin" in his backyard on Bay Rd. and to form a partnership with his cousin Lin Shannon. A successful union that lasted for many years. Graham finally left to buy a bigger boat, the Taperoo, to enable me to join him in the fishing business. Lin also continued fishing with his son Mike joining him after returning from the army. Lin's brother Murray also fished the waters of the bay on his return to Yilki after his retirement from the ETSA. Roger Tugwell also fished in the bay, being the last of the professionals to keep netting in the waters of Encounter Bay. 

Poor health saw Graham have to retire from full time fishing and this paved the way for Kevin to become skipper on the Taperoo. Kevin had been fishing previously with Lionel Puckridge and also Carl Scabissi, but had always wanted to be a skipper. Kevin fished on the Taperoo for about 7 years before purchasing his own boat, the Galini which ultimately resulted in him being drowned also. 

Graham, Lin, Murray and Kevin were all 5th generation as is Roger. Mike Shannon, myself and John Rumbelow, who also worked on the Taperoo with Dad and myself are all 6th generation. 

There is still a tie with fishing at present with the 7th generation, Ben Shannon, a charter boat operator and fisherman and my son Brad, also a charter boat operator. Both these young men are 

The family's love of the sea has also created a very strong respect and over the years many have been involved with rescues and attempts to rescue others at sea. In one summer alone Ween was credited with saving 13 people from the waters between the Bluff and wrights Island.

While visiting friends on Kangaroo Island in April of 1972 Graham received quite a shock. On the morning of April 1st, Graham called to see Dulcie Smith who operated a fisherman's radio base in Kingscote to be informed " it was alright for him to be on holiday while his boat was still working"

Dad laughed and said he knew it was April Fools Day and wasn't getting caught ! To his surprise he heard the Taperoo calling in on the radio. He had no idea who was even on board. A few quick questions established what was going on. Graham had asked Malcom and John Rumbelow to look after and check the Taperoo while he was away for a couple of days. What could go wrong? 

Malcolm was 17 and Johnny was 16 at the time and they had been doing just as he had asked when they were approached by the Victor yacht club who were responding to a distress call. They were asked if they could go out and tow the stricken vessel home. Both boys were sure they could do that and so they set off with the help of one of the yacht club crewmen. 

Graham couldn't believe what he was hearing and after a series of questions about how, which tow rope, how long etc. etc. he knew he could do little more than wait. The boys steamed straight out to Isabella which was about 10 miles south of the Bluff and towed her home without incident. It wasn't till the Taperoo was safely back on her own moorings that dad was able to relax. It proved the value of teaching the boys the right way of doing things and he was proud of their achievement: although it  seemed like a nightmare at the time. 

The tradition of this type of rescue work still exists today with members of the 6th and 7th generation being active members of the Victor Harbor and Goolwa Sea Rescue Squadron. 

The Rumbelow family have owned and operated many fishing cutters and boats over the year and through our research we have been able to verify all the following ; 

• Rambler

• Stranger

• Spray

• Brigand

• Rover,

• Ferrett 1 and Ferrett 2 

• Swallow, 

• Keith, 

• Ivy, 

• Rocket, 

• Mae-Don, 

• Gralin, 

• Taperoo, 

• Galini

• Azalea. 

The other boat of significance is a 40 foot steel River boat, Rums Rambler that Graham also built in his back yard on Waitpinga Road.

The members of the Rumbelow family have been involved with sports also and have produced some pretty reasonable participants in many sports. There are not too many football teams that can boast of having 6 members of the same family playing in the same team on one day. 

• Malen Rumbelow 5th

• Charlie Rumbelow

• Jim Rumbelow

• Malcolm Rumbelow

• John Rumbelow

• Brain Swain

It is also a fine statement to the family to realise that is has 10 Life Members of the Encounter Bay Football Club. League footballers.

The playing fleld has also been supported with efforts to give back to the areas where many of us have gained so much enjoyment and participation at committee and administration levels are something that seems to come naturally to so many.