JAMES Goodwin was born at Hinton on the Paterson River in the Hunter region of NSW in 1838. He may have been well travelled as his father, also James, was a sea captain.
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His sister Sarah was born four years later in England, which would indicate that the family made more than one journey to NSW.
It is said that his father disappeared on a trip to England around 1849 and that his ship, carrying a gold shipment, was captured by pirates. There is another account that states that one of his crew killed him and took over the ship.
Whatever exactly happened, his wife Mary Ann was left pregnant and sadly awaiting his return at Stuarts Point.
Young James at the age of 25 married Margaret McDermott at Shoalhaven. They shared the common experience of disappearing fathers as Margaret's father also died young. He had a less illustrious end of drowning while on the way home from a pub with his body not discovered for six weeks.
Margaret too had her own troubled history as she was said to have already had an illegitimate child when introduced to Goodwin by a Catholic priest.
In 1868, with three small children, they travelled by boat to Stuarts Point and journeyed overland to South Arm, Simpsons Ridge, on the Nambucca.
Being early settlers of the area they were busy clearing and farming the land in a hostile environment. Their house was constructed of slab and bark.
They added another eight children to their family over the years to 1890.
Their children raised to greater heights than what you would expect of this isolated upbringing and scant education. Their son Isaac was to become known locally as Australia's strongest man. He could carry railway sleepers on his shoulders and once carried a set of cultivation shears on his back all the way from Bellingen to Kempsey to have the blades sharpened.
Tragically, he was killed in 1914 loading timber at Welsh's wharf. His brother Edward was also a source of pride to his parents when he amassed enough education to become a school teacher.
Another son, Arthur, was a champion woodcutter and axeman.
The family were musical, and between them the children played instruments like violin and a more local innovation of combs and gum leaves.
In the midst of this family the stories of matriarch Margaret are the most remarkable. An early account has her caring for a baby left to her for healing by an Indigenous hunting party. Margaret breast fed the baby herself until a few weeks later the tribe returned to take it back in a healthy state.
They gave Margaret a baby sulphur crested cockatoo in appreciation which became a much loved family pet. If threatened, the bird would run under Margaret's large hooped skirt and sit on her shoe.
Margaret was well known as a respected midwife which meant night duty and lengthy treks. One newspaper account relates: "Margaret was one of the first bush nurses of the Nambucca district, travelling on horseback around the Bowraville, Taylor's Arm and Simpson's Ridge area, delivering the babies of the settlers' wives.
"She would shoot wild pigs and make dampers to feed the Aboriginals when they were passing through the hills. She always knew they were coming as they would send smoke signals so she could have the food ready when they arrived."
Another account tells of her trekking through the darkness with a shielded candle and a wild dingo snapping at her heels.
When she died in 1923, her obituary noted that she "was a household word on the Nambucca as she was ever ready to lend a helping hand, kindly advice and assistance".
While this story has detailed the lives of Margaret and the Goodwin children, there is less to recount of James. His dairy farming, pig raising and produce growing would have kept him busy but his portrait shows a steadfast man who would have been a guiding hand and role model for his children.
Margaret and James are buried together at the Bowraville cemetery.
This article was written from the records of Bowraville Folk Museum and the Nambucca Headland Museum.
