Son of Aileen Moyle and Eric Giles

Facts relating to the Lindo Family in South Australia.

Compiled from various sources by Colin Lindo Giles.

Robert Christmas Lindo migrated to South Australia arriving with his wife Jane
and 2 children on 11th May 1849 . The vessel on which they arrived was called
Stebonheath. Robert Lindo was the son of John and Sarah Lindo. He was born on
25-12-1812. He left home as a young man and lived in Yorkshire where he married Jane Wilson. John Lindo was a farmer whose property was near the village of Brooke
in Norfolk.

The Lindo family were Jews and presumably Robert was raised in that faith. Jane
Wilson was the daughter of a publican and was of the Christian faith. The Lindo
name identifies the family as being Serphadim or Mediterranean Jews. Lindo in
the Spanish language means Pretty. (Cielito Lindo et al) The family was forced
to leave Spain during the Spanish Inquisition in the 15th century. They fled to Holland. They became
merchants and traders and acquired considerable wealth. During the early part
of the 17th century they migrated to England. They were ceded land in Norfolk by Queen
Elizabeth 1st for services rendered.

Presumably the “services rendered” were in the form of money or some other property given to the
Queen to assist her to pursue the wars against the Spanish etc. The family
apparently prospered as landed gentry. Their loyalty was without question and family
members he commissions in the various regiments of English Yeomanry. A Colonel
Lindo was killed in the Crimean War. A branch of the family migrated to Jamaica during
the 18th century and were planters there. They especially cultivated indigo.
The above facts were passed on to me by various members of the family over a
number of years. I have no reason to doubt their accuracy and I find it
interesting that such information is available. There are very few families who
can trace their history as long as this one has. This is despite the fact that
none of their history can be traced through church parish records which is a
common source of genealogical information.

The children of Robert and Jane Lindo were :

Wilson Lindo born 25th February 1843.

Miriam Lindo born 31st August 1844 ( Always known as Aunt
Sarah ).

Eliza Jane Lindo 3rd September 1849 ( Our great-grandmother).

Emma Lindo 28th February 1851.

John Henry Lindo 26th June 1853.

Anne Elizabeth Lindo 12th July 1854.

Harriet Lindo 12th September 1855.

One scenario which was put to me by either Walter Crocker or
Les Moyle was that when Robert Lindo married outside his faith he was largely
disowned by the family. He was a personal friend of Montefiore who was a big
investor in the South Australian Company. Montefiore is probably another
Serphadim Jewish name. It was suggested that Montefiore urged Robert to
emigrate. This could be supported by the fact that on arrival he first lived and worked at Hay  Valley which is situated near Normanville and was one of the first areas developed by the South
Australian Company.

During the 1850-60’s Robert Lindo was engaged as a cartage  contractor transporting copper ore from the Burra mines to Port Wakefield. The family lived at Mintaro.

In this period too he went to the Victorian goldfields. I am not sure where. This venture only lasted for a short while and on his return to South Australia he became lost in the bush and very nearly perished.

There is a lot of research necessary to reveal some of his
later life. For instance I do not know where or when his wife Jane died. For
many years he lived with our great-grandmother Eliza Jane at Jamestown. He had lost his sight at this
stage and our grandfather Walter Moyle escorted him everywhere including
regular attendances to church. It was said he lost his eyesight after an
accident which occurred during his teamster days. He also spent a lot of time
with Aunt Sarah (Miriam), Mrs. Bowles who lived alone at Yongala. I have a copy
of his death certificate which reveals that he died at Yongala from senile
decay on March 4th 1904 aged 91 years. His rank is recorded as Gentleman.

The family of Robert and Jane have also had a colourful
history. I have not done a lot of research into this subject but I will put
down a few facts as I recall them. Wilson Lindo the eldest son spent much of
his early life on stations in northern South Australia
and western New South Wales.
He was working on the same property as the stockman who found the first
minerals at Broken Hill. He was among the first investors in B.H.P. It is a
pity he did not hold his investment. My mother had an opal ring that had been
made of opal won by Wilson
on the Lightning Ridge opal diggings. It had been given to her by her father-.
I have an opal tie-pin of the same material given to me by Wendy Moyle. In his
later life Wilson had properties of his own in
the northern Flinders Ranges of S.A. Among then was Moolooloo
Station west of Blinman. It was from there that his son John met and married
his wife who I understand was the daughter of a German publican. Cousin Jack as
he was known was a good friend of our grandfather Walter Moyle. He was quite
well-off having owned 2 or 3 other stations as well as inheriting Mbolooloo.I
can only remember him after he had retired to a property ay Gilles Plains which
is now a suburb of Adelaide.
He had no children and his wife died relatively young. He was foundation Senior
Warden of Torrens Valley Lodge. He spent most of his time visiting friends and
relations, visiting the stock exchange and attending cricket matches at
Adelaide Oval. Auntie Rose cared for him at Clare in his later life and he died
there in 1950 aged 76. I do not know any details of others of Wilson’s family. A family farmed land in the
Hawker district in the name of Lindo. I am not sure whether this family was
descended from Wilson or his brother John. The only male heir to that property
was killed in action in New
Guinea during the Second World War.

A Lindo family who I believe are John’s descendants have a
farming property at Bow Hill on the River Murray in S.A.

The eldest daughter Miriam, but more commonly called Auntie
Sarah or Auntie Bowles, married a John Bowles and they lived at Broken Hill.
They did not have any children and Bowles deserted Miriam after a short period.
She must have been a remarkable woman since she managed on her own for many
years and during that time she also cared for many of her sister’s children for
various reasons. Our grandfather lived with her when he and his sister Frances
Jane were sent to her to escape a typhoid epidemic in Jamestown. Grandfather Moyle always spoke of
her with the greatest of respect and love. Another relative who was greatly
influenced by her was Sir Walter Crocker who lived with her for a large part of
his early life. In her later life she lived at Yongala.

Emma Lindo became Mrs. Bray and also lived at Broken Hill.
She had a family and it was one of her descendants who was wounded when the
Turks shot up the Silverton train in 1914. I believe too that this branch of
the family is the one where Walter Crocker belongs. Incidentally he had an
older brother who was killed on a motor bike when a drunken driver rammed the
bike from behind.

Harriet Lindo became Mrs. Gray. I believe that family lived
mainly in the Orroroo district. She had a family.

Anne Lindo became Mrs. Boyd. Les Moyle once introduced me to
a Mrs. Piggot from Riverton. I understand that she was descended from this
family.

This material was intended to be a few recollections of the
Lindo family in South Australia.
We are descended from Eliza Jane Lindo and to go into details of that line
would probably fill a book. I will not continue with that now. Also so many
fascinating details remain unexplored in the history of Robert Christmas Lindo
and his wife Jane. It is very unfortunate that the sources of information are
becoming less with time.