Son of Aileen Moyle and Eric Giles.

The Lindo Family in South Australia.

Robert Christmas Lindo migrated to South Australia arriving with his wife Jane and 2 children on 11^th 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 15^th century. They fled to Holland. They became merchants and traders and acquired considerable wealth. During the early part of the 17^th century they migrated to England. They were ceded land in Norfolk by Queen Elizabeth 1^st 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 18^th 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 :

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 4^th 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 Moolooloo.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.