William Rummer

William Rummer (1821/2–1884) was a private in the 96th Regiment, arriving February 1847 via Java from Hobart. After discharge, he acquired five acres in the Avon District, Lot 199. He married Susan Trayhorn/e 1852. His step-brother James Rummer Greenacre arrived via Tartar in 1863. William's mother married Greenacre after his illegitimate birth.

He was the licensee of the Highland Laddie, Toodyay, 1852, the Two Sisters, Guildford, 1856-58, the Freemasons Hotel Fremantle 1859-65, and the Stirling Arms, Guildford, 1865-70. Erickson writes that Rummer was on an 1853 committee set up to organise the provision of a district schoolhouse in Toodyay. (Erickson 1974: 127) Tuckfield (100) writes that he was licensee of the Guildford Hotel and does not mention the Two Sisters, probably because it went by that name for only short time, about two years, before reverting to the 'Guildford' name. It was on the site where the Woodbridge Hotel now stands.

Rummer placed an advertisement on 23 Dec 1858 to indicate his move to Freemasons Hotel and introduce his successor at the Two Sisters in Guildford (Perth Gazette, 31 Dec 1858). It ran for many weeks into the new year 1859. On 12 Jan 1859 an advertisement appeared for the auction of his Two Sisters stock (Perth Gazette, 9 Jan 1859 ([below]). On 12 Jan 1859 the outgoing publican of the Freemasons introduced Rummer to the public (Inquirer, 18 Feb 1859).

[[img/rummerwilliam.jpg|]]

Perth Gazette:
MR T. SMITH,
Has received instructions from Mr W. A. Rummer, to sell by auction, at the TWO SISTERS Hotel, Guildford, on Thursday, 12th January, 1859—
THE whole of his Stock-in-Trade, household furniture, &c, consisting of a choice selection of wines, spirits, beers, bar furniture, spring cart, horse, harness, tables, chairs, sofas, beds, bedding, drawers, boxes, glass, china, pictures, cutlery, Barrel organ, cooking utensils, &c, &c.
Also, unless previously disposed of—
A Stack of wheat Hay.
Sale to commence at 10 o'clock.
Terms at Time of Sale.

Erickson 1987:
RUMMER, William Alexander, d. 31.5.1884. son of Mary Ann (Rummer) Greenacre, & brother of James Rummer Greenacre, arr. 22.2.1847 per Java, m. (Perth C/E) 22.7.1852 Susan TRAYHORN(E) ?dtr. of Richard. Chd. ?Emma b. 1853, Mary Ann (twin) bp. 1855, Katherine (twin) bp. 1855 d. 1874, Edward Alexander b.1857 d.1888 murdered in Kimberleys, Susan (?Susannah) b. 1859, Rose Hannah b. 1861, Richard George b. 1863, James Mechanic bp. 1865, John George bp. 1868, Caroline Esther bp. 1871, Alice Eugenie bp. 1876. Amy. Pte. 96th Regt. stationed at Perth 1847, he was discharged in WA & employed as a barman by Henry Cole. Bt. 5 acres Avon district 1857 while publican at Toodyay. In 1856-8 advt. Guildford Hotel "Two Sisters" & in 1861-6 "Freemasons" Fremantle: Guildford "Stirling Arms" 1866-70. He was Lt. in Militia at Fremantle: Employed 13 T/L men on occasions 1865-1872. Qualified as Juror 1860; £150 personal estate. Was granted 1/- per day to buy soups etc. Died of cancer of throat.

The family plot in Fremantle Cemetery. Susan's (as Susannah) stone (d. 1910) is on the left. William's may not be there, as he would have been buried in the older cemetery, Skinner Street, as this one opened only in 1898.

References and Links

Andrewartha, John 2021, WikiTree page for W.A. Rummer.

Erickson, Rica 1974, Old Toodyay and Newcastle, Toodyay Shire Council.

Erickson, Rica ed. 1987, 1988, Bicentennial Dictionary of Western Australians, UWAP. Available online.

Oldman, Diane 2022, Page for William Rummer on Redcoat Settlers WA, which has far more information than found above. It is now the standard reference for Rummer.

Tuckfield, Trevor 1971, 1975, 'Early colonial inns and taverns', Early Days: Journal and proceeedings of the Royal Western Australian Historical Society, Part 1, 7, 3: 65-82; Part 2, 7, 7: 98-106.

Welcome Walls, Maritime Museum, Fremantle.

Thanks to Diane Oldman for the Trove research reported in the third paragraph.

Freotopia

This page incorporates material from Garry Gillard's Freotopia website, that he started in 2014 and the contents of which he donated to Wikimedia Australia in 2024. The content was originally created on 19 July, 2022 and hosted at freotopia.org/people/rummerwilliam.html (it was last updated on 15 March, 2024), and has been edited since it was imported here (see page history). The donated data is also preserved in the Internet Archive's collection.