Known to the family as “Sonny”, when Thomas James Nevin was born in Hobart, 1874, he was named after his father, photographer Thomas J. Nevin.
Above: Thomas James Nevin (1874-1948), first-born son of Thomas and Elizabeth Nevin, known as “Sonny”, pictured here shortly before his death in 1948 in Salvation Army uniform.
Taken by a family member
From © The Eva Morris nee Nevin Estate & Nevin Family Collection 2009 ARR.
Thomas “Sonny” Nevin (1874-1948) married Gertrude Jane Tennyson Bates (1883-1958) at the Wesleyan Church, Hobart, on February 6th, 1907. Her father, Walter Tennyson Bates, had died in 1905. By July 1907, Gertrude’s mother, Elizabeth Jane Bates nee Jones, had left Hobart and arrived in Sydney with six of her seven children – Gertrude remaining in Hobart with husband Thomas “Sonny” Nevin. Her mother and siblings migrated first to Vancouver, and eventually to California in 1910.
Thomas “Sonny” Nevin and Gertrude Nevin nee Tennyson Bates had a son ca. 1911 named Athol Clarence Nevin.
On the 20th November, 1920, Athol Clarence Nevin, student, aged 9, left Sydney on board the SS Ventura bound for California, accompanied by his parents, Thomas James Nevin, furniture carrier, aged 46 yrs, and mother, Gertrude T. Nevin, domestic duties, aged 31 yrs. They arrived at their destination, Oakland, California, on 14th December, 1920. Their friend (USA contact) was R. Brown. The USA Alien Entry documentation listed them as citizens of England, ethnicity as “English”, and Athol’s birthplace as Hobart, Tasmania.
The Electoral Roll for Denison (Southern Tasmania) in 1936 listed Athol Clarence Nevin as a pastry cook and resident of 85 Queen St. Queensborough (now Sandy Bay), together with his mother Gertrude T. Nevin, domestic duties. He was about 25 years old in 1936. His parents may have separated by the late 1930s. His father’s address in 1948, the date of his death, was 23 Newdegate St. North Hobart where three of the five other adult children of Thomas and Elizabeth were resident (May, George, and Albert: William died in 1927). Thomas “Sonny” Nevin wore the uniform of the Salvation Army from the 1930s until his death, shown in this earlier photograph taken in the mid 1930s at Newdegate St. North Hobart:
Mid 1930s: first-born son Thomas James “Sonny” Nevin (1874 – 1948)
The Nevin Family Collection © 2005 -2009. ARR. Watermarked
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