John Joseph Fradd 1839

John Joseph Fradd was born about December 1839 in Lanvean Downs, Tregurrian, in the parish of Mawgan In Pyder, Cornwall, England.  He was the youngest of 5 children to John and Jane Fradd [nee Williams]. According to the West Briton Newspaper, John Joseph nearly drowned whilst fishing at the age of 16.

Melancholy Occurrence

 On Monday evening last, Mr. Samuel Gilbert, of Mawgan, accompanied by Mr. John Fradd, jun., Mr. William White, Mr. Thomas Osborne and two of his sons, were at Mawgan Bay fishing with a net for salmon, when, by some circumstance they were carried beyond their depth, and Thomas Osborne, of Newquay, a carpenter, who has for some time been working at the parsonage house now building at that place, was unfortunately drowned. He was considered to be a very expert swimmer. Mr. Samuel Gilbert, at the risk of his own life, with great courage and presence of mind, succeeded in taking John Fradd and his own son, Samuel, out of the water. They were at first apparently lifeless, but after unremitting attention, with the valuable assistance of Mr. W. Mountsteven, surgeon, of Mawgan, they were restored. West Briton Newspaper 13 July 1855

John left his homeland for South Australia 2 years later on a ship called ‘The Monsoon’, a vessel of 1034 tons, leaving Liverpool on 16^th of December 1856.
His calling was listed as an Agricultural Labourer.
This was the third ship from England to South Australia with government passengers for 1857 and it included 8 births and 4 deaths during its journey arriving in Port Adelaide on the 17^th March 1857.
John settled in Burra, South Australia.

John married Ellen Grace on the 10^th of May 1859 in Burra; where they went on to have 9 children.

Ellen died in 1874, 6 weeks after James' birth, the last sibling. 

 John remarried on the 11^th of August 1875 to Marian Hare, formerly Marian McDougall born in Scotland about 1831.  She was the widow of the owner of the Sod Hut Inn (Thomas Hare). 

 

John ran the Inn until 1883 when it closed as the copper mine in Burra had closed and there were no longer bullock wagons carting ore to stage their loads at Sod Hut; or teamsters drinking fiery rum.

 Sod Hut was not a town, but was the site of a hotel called the Sod Hut Inn on section 21 Hundred of Kooringa. There was also a chapel.  The site was leased by Daniel O’Leary from G.S. Kingston in the 1840s and he purchased the freehold in 1852.  Though it may have started out as a descriptive name, the hotel was eventually quite a substantial stone building and was still roofed standing, though unoccupied, in the first decade of the twentieth century. 

The proprietors of the inn were:

Daniel O’Leary              1850-1865
T. Hare                          1866-1875
John Joseph Fradd       1876-1883

There was no place around  Burra in the early days better known than the Sod Hut Hotel, for it was necessary for all teams laden with copper en route to Adelaide to pass that place.

The origin of its name has been many times questioned, and various theories have been advanced, but perhaps this one is as near the mark as any.

When copper carting was commenced, of course, everything was booming; there was plenty of money in circulation; there was also joy amongst the teamsters at times, and drink was consumed as one of the main factors to bring about this state of affairs.

The old Burra Hotel (converted into a hospital) was the last place of call, consequently a large cargo was taken aboard; from there during the 8 miles to Sod Hut navigation was often a difficult performance, but with them all the old hotel was reached, though it is recorded that many a time teamsters had to act as part of the copper load until they went through a course of sleep, and then they took charge again.

The lucky speculator who built the Sod Hut Hotel in 1890 hit upon a happy thought; he worked out the effects of drink and the strength of man, and come to the conclusion that in those balmy days a fellow could only manage to travel 8 miles without a refresher, so the building went up, and the teamster went down; he had one drink, then another before he became very wet inside, then he got soddened, so that Sod Hut derived its name from this.

To glance at the old place now no one would think that in the early days it was one of the most important places to call between here and Adelaide. It is in ruins. There is one thing, however, still remaining, and that is the lamp post, and the frame of the lamp itself, with its hanging door, rusty and rotten. Nearly all the windows in the place are broken, the exception being a few panes in the front window.  The floors and ceilings are gone, but the roof is intact and keeps the interior of the building dry, which is a great inconvenience for travellers who are in need of a rest from the weather.

There are several good flags of the verandah floor, and half the verandah itself is yet standing, though it is in extremely shattered condition. The bridle post that has held many score of horses is still in position with its ring to hold the bridle. The front doors, resembling those of a large barn, are closed. The size and make of them gives one the impression that those who patronized the hotel needed to go in and out. Many of the doors inside the building are gone altogether, and the rooms have been turned into something different to that which they were used in olden times. As the visitor approaches the hotel he is struck with the altered conditions of now a long ago. Not a soul to be seen about the place but a few sheep may be seen peacefully grazing in the surrounding paddocks. Burra Record (SA : 1878 - 1954) Wednesday 21 June 1905

There were no children of this marriage to Marian.
Marian died in 1894 and is buried at Burra. John lived out his life in the village of Copperhouse and died on the 28^th January 1922 aged 83 and is buried at Burra with his brother William Phillip.