Thomas Hawkless

This story describes the life of Thomas, first child of John and Sara Hawkless and was sent by Patricia and Allan Hawkless. 

Photographs on this page were provided by Patricia and Allan Hawkless and Anne and Tony Hawkless - (Allan and Tony are grandsons of Thomas - see Contacts page).

Thomas was born on 3 March, 1862, the eldest son of John and Sara (nee Dyson) Hawkless' 11 children. He had an interesting and quite colourful life.  In his early years, Thomas drove a bullock team hauling timber in the Albury district. He married Frieda Louisa Humphreys in 1886 in Benalla Victoria and they had one daughter (Frieda Lucy May Alice) before Frieda died in 1904. 

Thomas married Alice Emily Davis on 9th November 1905 and from this union, four sons were born; the two eldest were twins born on 30th September 1906 - Edwin Davis Ridley (Ned) and Herbert William Latimer (Herb). Clement George Thomas was born in 1908 and Claude Elwood Thomas in 1912.

During his marriage to Frieda, Thomas worked on the construction of Casey's Weir. The construction took place during the 1800s on the Broken River just outside the town of Benalla where the water catchment supplied water to the town and also to the surrounding farmlands. Its construction was still underway when Thomas married Alice. When the weir was completed, Thomas was offered the caretaker’s job which involved opening and closing the valves as necessary.  Because the township was prone to flooding, the caretaking role was vital and the weir controlled and directed water to better use. Ned and Herb, the two eldest sons, chiselled their names in the cement on each side of the spillway and these names remain legible to the present day. The caretaker’s position was not a well-paid one so Thomas supplemented his income by delivering mail on horseback throughout the district.

Thomas’ family lived in the house built for the caretaker on the weir site. From their home, Alice sold refreshments to visitors to the weir as it was a popular picnic and leisure area with the locals.  Because Thomas had lived in the area for many years he was familiar with the Kelly family (of Ned Kelly fame) and signed the petition against Ned's hanging.

When Thomas retired in about 1927, he and Alice went to live in Prahran where he became known as Tom the sock maker. He manufactured socks for football teams and the army and his achievements in this field were featured in magazines in both Australia and overseas. He died on 22nd January, 1948 after a very full life.