Ludwig MULLER 1837-?
Ludwig, born 22nd September 1837, was an illegitimate son of Margaretha Schimpf; he was legitimated when Konrad Muller made an admission of parenthood during his marriage to Margaretha on 12th November 1837; this was written into the marriage protocol.
Eight other children were born into this marriage over the next eighteen years but only one other son was to survive the many perils of childhood – Philipp born 1843. On the other hand, all four daughters lived.
Konrad was a nail-smith, as his father and grandfather had been before him; his sons in turn were taught this craft. Normally, this would have been a reasonable insurance for the future but Konrad, following the death of his wife from tuberculosis in 1856, decided to leave the village. He married a widow, Elisabetha nee Broek, and in August 1857 left with the two boys and three of their sisters for England; the five year old sister Juliana was left with foster parents.
By arrangement, the family met up with Ludwig, an older brother of Konrad, and his wife Elisabetha, then living in England. The group left Liverpool on “Queen of the East” on 16th November; members of the Hildebrand, Krausgrill, Maas, Hauser, Bill and Haub families comprised with them the last large group of villagers to leave for Victoria. Though he was 20 when they sailed, Ludwig was described on the manifest as a child (under 12); two of his sisters were listed as children of his uncle. By this subterfuge all five children were enabled to travel with the four adults in the family section of the ship. They reached Melbourne on 16th February 1858 and went, via Ballarat, to the goldfields around Creswick. Ludwig worked with his father – perhaps with reasonable success as Konrad was able to buy a farming property outside Daylesford within four or five years. Ludwig found employment in one of the many deep lead mining companies in the area.
On 4th May 1871, Ludwig married Margaret Templeton, the 20 year old daughter of a neighbouring farmer who had migrated from Paisley in Scotland. Ludwig used the English version of his name, Louis, when he signed the register in the Wesleyan Methodist Church in Daylesford, after the ceremony.
The couple made their home at Smiths Creek on the southern outskirts of Daylesford where several of Ludwig’s married sisters lived. A son, Conrad William, born on 2nd February 1872, was the first of their eleven children. Then followed Louis Alfred in 1873, and Christina in 1875. Another son, James, was given the family name of Margaret’s mother, Heard, as a second name. After the birth of Isabella in 1879 and Philipp in 1881 Ludwig took up a selection in Mitiamo, near Echuca, and went farming. Margaret gave birth to three sons, John William in 1884, Robert Raymond 1887, Richard Frederick 1889, and finally a third daughter, Ada Ethel, in 1890.
In the mid-1890s Ludwig retired to live at Darley near Bacchus Marsh. His son Philipp worked for a local farmer, but was killed whilst digging out rabbit burrows, when a fall of earth buried him. Soon after this, Ludwig and Margaret went to live in Toowoomba. Their three daughters were married during the next few years; their other sons were also married. Margaret died at the home of her daughter Ada at 20 John Street, Toowoomba on 21st January 1934. Ludwig predeceased her.
View Ludwig's Family Chart
