fbsflindellFreotopia > people > Francis Bassett Shenston Flindell and family

Francis B.S. Flindell, James G. Flindell

Francis Bassett Shenstone Flindell > (1810-1886, m. Joanna Northam) arrived on the Nile in 1858 with his son James George Flindell (b. 1834 near Edgbaston). They had both served in the 'Turkish Contingent' in the Crimean War. James apparently purchased the Pier Hotel from his brother-in-law George Thompson.

JGF had a son named George Shenstone Flindell who was born in Toodyay in 1872. GSF in his turn had a son by Clara Sophy nee Owen, named James George, who died in the year of his birth, 1898. Clara is shown in a photo available from the FHS with her next child, George Owen Flindell, b. 1899, in the pram, 1901. This George was married in 1928. Clara lived to the age of 91, dying in the 1960s. There was another Francis Bassett Shenstone Flindell (1879-1920 or 1922, d. aged 41), a grandson of the first one, the son of H.C. Flindell and his wife Ellen. His widow was Sophia, and children Basil, Vera, Grace, Les, Walter, and Greta.

Hitchcock:

Campaigning for a Railway

The name of an old Fremantle resident, the late F. B. S. Flindell, must ever be honourably associated with the building of that railway, for had it not been for his efforts, the undertaking might not have been entered upon until many years later, as vested interests in the river traffic strongly opposed it and they were backed by the conservative element in the community who urged that the time was not then ripe. To combat those objections Flindell spent months on the roads between Fremantle and the eastern districts collecting data of the traffic that passed over them. That he did at his own expense and without any hope of personal benefit, as he was then 70 years of age. In the end his untiring advocacy had the desired result, and he lived to see his cherished object brought to fruition by the extension of the line from Guildford to York. This pioneer may rightly claim to be the founder of the Royal Agricultural Society, which claim can be substantiated by records in the possession of his son, Mr. H. Flindell, of Fremantle. Hitchcock: 64-65.

References and Links

Hitchcock, J.K. 1929, The History of Fremantle, The Front Gate of Australia, 1829-1929, Fremantle City Council.

Diane Oldman, 'Turkish Contingent', Crimean War Veterans in Western Australia.
Most of the data above very kindly provided by Diane Oldman from searches of the following databases: DOTAG, Family Search, Ancestry.
Obituaries also kindly supplied by her; the one above is from The West Australian 27 November 1886; the first below for J.G. Flindell is from the Western Mail, 16 Jul 1892; the second from the Inquirer & Commercial News, 13 July 1892 - all sourced from the invaluable Trove, which God preserve.

jg flindell obit 2 jg flindell obit 1

Garry Gillard | New: 2 May, 2017 | Now: 30 May, 2021