Anna Margaretha (1830-1875)

Anna Margaretha KLIPPEL 1830-1875

Anna Margaretha was born in Nieder-Weisel on 18th November 1830 to Ambrosius Klippel by his wife Katharina nee Hildebrand. Of the eleven other siblings, Ambrosius and Konrad also migrated to Victoria. Konrad is said to to have been in Rotterdam in February 1855, perhaps on his way to join Anna Margaretha, who had married Johannes Muller in St Martin’s Church Birmingham on 8th December 1853. Some of the emigrants lived for a while in England to earn the money to pay for their fares to Australia (or other countries); perhaps this is how the couple met. Johannes had been a farmhand in the small village of Hochelheim, which is about 10 km north of Nieder-Weisel.

The Mullers and Konrad Klippel sailed for Melbourne from Liverpool on board “Marco Polo” on 5th December 1855. Johannes and his wife were recorded as ‘John Milloon aged 25 labourer’ and ‘Margt. Milloon 25’. Konrad was shown as ‘Conrad Cliple 17 labourer’. Marco Polo reached Port Phillip early on 27th February 1856 after 85 pleasant days at sea. Most of the Nieder-Weisel emigrants aboard, including members of the Hildebrand, Hauser, Haub, Winter and Bill families, headed for the goldfields of Ballarat and beyond.

Records of the early movements of the immigrants are almost non-existent. The Mullers and Klippels, with Ambrosius who arrived early in 1857, made their way to northeast Victoria by the early 1860s, via gold rushes to Beechworth and Stanley. From Stanley, they went on to Allans Flat near Yackandandah, where gold was being won from the rivers with the aid of steam-driven dredges. The Mullers settled permanently here and John later established a farm.

Anna Margaretha did not have children and perhaps to compensate for this became a midwife. She delivered, without qualified medical assistance, the babies of other pioneering women – including no doubt those of her sister-in-law. Anna Margaretha fell victim to a pelvic disorder and died at the relatively early age of 45. She was buried on 16th August 1875 in the cemetery at Yackandandah. Her husband John, though he married a second time and raised a family, was interred with Anna Margaretha on his death. Their resting place is in the Church of England section of the cemetery. An imposing marble headstone marks their gravesite.