Frederick William Ellis Behrens
(22 June 1841 - 12 June 1907)
Frederick William Ellis Behrens, known as William, was born on 22 June 1841 in Schonhausen, Stendal, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. His German name was Friederich Wilhelm Ernst Behrens. He was the third child and only son of land owner and master tailor, August Frederick Otto Behrens (? - 17 Nov 1867) and his first wife Philippine Wilhelmine Emilie Stimminz (? - 24 July 1859). August and Philippine's children were:
- Philippine Wilhelmine Emilie Behrens (dates unknown)
- Friederike Caroline Auguste Behrens (dates unknown) who was known as Auguste
- Friedrich Wilhelm Ernst Behrens (22 June 1841 - 12 June 1907)
Nothing else is known of William's early life in Germany. What we do know is that when he was a teenager, he immigrated to England alone at the insistence of his father who was concerned about his son's future in Germany.
While in England, according to the family story, Red Roses by Ruth Kenward (pen-name of Rae Behrens), William learnt English by reading books. He would often visit the bookshop of Gamaliel Theobalds (23 Oct 1790 - 22 July 1866) to find new material to read. There he became acquainted with Gamaliel's children, and developed a particular friendship with his son, Ellis Joseph Theobalds (Dec 1822 - 12 Nov 1902), and took a shine to his youngest daughter, Charlotte Theobalds (Feb 1833 - 1 Feb 1870) who was a milliner.
One month after William's 18th birthday, his mother, Philippine, died. His father married his second (probably much younger) wife, Emma Vockrath (dates unknown) and they had two sons:
- August Friedrich Otto Behrens (20 May 1862 - ?)
- Emil Adolph Behrens (12 May 1864 - ?)
The 1861 UK Census was taken on 7 April. It shows 22 year old William working as a labourer at the Dock Street Sugar Refinery in Whitechapel, London.
In 1865 William probably attended the wedding of his sister Auguste to Barthold Adolph Schriver (dates unknown), in the town of Sebastopol, near Ballreath, Victoria. Adolph worked as a merchant.
The Red Roses story says that 27 year old William married Charlotte Theobalds on the day of her arrival in Melbourne in 1868, on board the ship she traveled in. This, however, doesn't match with passenger list records and newspaper reports that indicate that the Theobalds family arrived in Australia in 1850, long before William did. Their marriage certificate states that William (27) and Charlotte (34) married on 25 December 1868 at her home at 267 George Street, Fitzroy, Melbourne. They were married by the minister of the George Street Baptist Church. Charlotte's brother, Ellis, was one of the witnesses to the marriage.
Nevertheless,William and Charlotte married and settled in Elgar Road, Doncaster, Melbourne, where William had a market garden/orchard. They had no children, but by all accounts, they had a very happy marriage. Family records indicate that Charlotte was fond of red roses and planted many beautifully scented rose bushes along the fence-line of the property.
Unfortunately, Charlotte contracted cancer, and after suffering with it for many years, succumbed to the disease on 1 February 1880. She was buried at the Waldau Cemetery RG D4, a cemetery that was used by the early Lutheran settles between 1854 and 1888. Her cemetery record says she died aged 49.
The portrait below is the earliest known photograph of William:
 |
| F William Behrens Photographer and date unknown. (Photo courtesy of A & N Holman) |
William (39) and Alice (23) were married in the Powrie family home, 4 Neil Street, Carlton, Melbourne. They had a family of nine children, six sons, then three daughters:
The Behrens family attended the first Seventh-day Adventist Camp meeting in Australia in 1893 which was held in the coastal suburb of Brighton from 29 December 1893 until 15 January 1894. At this camp meeting, the American Adventist pioneer, Ellen Gould White, preached powerfully. It was at this camp that William and Alice's eldest son, Fred, met his future wife, Elizabeth (Lizzie) Green.
William and Alice listened to Ellen White preach about the importance of keeping the Sabbath holy. The Sabbath commandment found in Exodus 20:8-10 (NIV) greatly perplexed William: Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labour and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals...
The command troubled William over some period of time because it stated that animals were not to work on the Sabbath. He wanted to know if using his horse to transport the family to church was considered 'work'. If this was so, William was quite prepared to have his family walk 5 kilometres to the train station, and then catch a connecting tram to the North Fitzroy Church, a journey of around 30 kilometres. When William asked Ellen White, "Is it right to use my horse to take my family to Sabbath meetings?" she responded "That [using the horse for transport] is not doing our work." Thereafter, horses always gave the Behrens family good service going to the church meetings. When they were resting during meetings the horses would munch on dry chaff from a nosebag.
Around 1896, William, who was six feet tall, began suffering from chronic respiratory complications. These issues would bother him for the rest of his life.
William became a naturalized Australian citizen on 28 April 1897 aged 55 years. A photo of his certificate of naturalization is shown below:
- Frederick (Fred) William Behrens (29 Oct 1882 - 5 Nov 1966)
- Ellis Behrens (16 Apr 1884 - 28 Apr 1965)
- Kenward (Ken) Behrens (16 Mar 1886 - 20 July 1934)
- Otto Behrens (29 Apr 1887 - 11 Nov 1963)
- Thomas (Tom) Behrens (25 Sep 1888 - 5 Nov 1970)
- Edmund (Ed) Behrens (20 June 1890 - 21 May 1933)
- Minna Stafford (3 Oct 1893 - 7 July 1973)
- Ruth Behrens (8 July 1895 - 19 Oct 1977)
- Nettie Behrens (8 Nov 1896 - 7 Oct 1937)
William and Alice were baptised members of the Doncaster Church of Christ. (According to the Doncaster Church of Christ website, this congregation was first established in a church member's home in 1863, and then in 1864, they met in a weatherboard chapel on the church's present site at 680 Doncaster Road.) William and Alice regularly attended meetings with their babies, Fred and Ellis, and were respected and active members of their church.
In 1886, William's sister Auguste and her husband Adolph Schriver left Melbourne Australia, for England.
In 1886, William's sister Auguste and her husband Adolph Schriver left Melbourne Australia, for England.
Around 1886, William began reading some literature from the Seventh-day Adventist Church. He became very interested in their teachings especially concerning the imminent return of Jesus Christ. After hearing this message William decided that if Jesus was really coming soon then he would not be needing an income and therefore, he would not replace any of his fruit trees should they die. William also became convicted that Saturday was God's holy Sabbath, and kept the day as his day of worship. Alice, on the other hand, refused to join her husband, and probably felt some humiliation when meeting up with the Church of Christ community. Alice eventually accepted that the Bible Sabbath was Saturday after receiving a vision of the Ten Commandments one evening at the family home. Following that, she became a staunch Seventh-day Adventist.
Around 1886-87, both William and Alice were accepted into membership of the North Fitzroy Seventh-day Adventist Church, the first organised Adventist Church in Australia. At the time, the congregation met on the second floor of the Echo Office (the Adventist publishing company) in Melbourne.
 |
William and Alice with Fred, Ellis, Ken and Otto (in order of age),
and possibly Alice's sister Margaret (known as Maggie).
Photo taken c1887
(Photo courtesy of K J Bland)
|
The Behrens family attended the first Seventh-day Adventist Camp meeting in Australia in 1893 which was held in the coastal suburb of Brighton from 29 December 1893 until 15 January 1894. At this camp meeting, the American Adventist pioneer, Ellen Gould White, preached powerfully. It was at this camp that William and Alice's eldest son, Fred, met his future wife, Elizabeth (Lizzie) Green.
 |
| An early Seventh-day Adventist camp at Brighton, Melbourne. Photographer and date unknown (Photo courtesy of A & N Holman) |
William and Alice listened to Ellen White preach about the importance of keeping the Sabbath holy. The Sabbath commandment found in Exodus 20:8-10 (NIV) greatly perplexed William: Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labour and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals...
The command troubled William over some period of time because it stated that animals were not to work on the Sabbath. He wanted to know if using his horse to transport the family to church was considered 'work'. If this was so, William was quite prepared to have his family walk 5 kilometres to the train station, and then catch a connecting tram to the North Fitzroy Church, a journey of around 30 kilometres. When William asked Ellen White, "Is it right to use my horse to take my family to Sabbath meetings?" she responded "That [using the horse for transport] is not doing our work." Thereafter, horses always gave the Behrens family good service going to the church meetings. When they were resting during meetings the horses would munch on dry chaff from a nosebag.
Around 1896, William, who was six feet tall, began suffering from chronic respiratory complications. These issues would bother him for the rest of his life.
William became a naturalized Australian citizen on 28 April 1897 aged 55 years. A photo of his certificate of naturalization is shown below:
In 1902, William's good friend, Ellis Theobalds (the brother of his first wife), passed away at his home in North Fitzroy.
 |
Behrens family in early 1907 just before William passed away.
Back from left: Tom, Ken, Otto, Edmund
Middle from left: William and Alice
Front, from left: Ruth, Nettie, Minna
Absent: Fred & Ellis
(Photo courtesy of K J Bland)
|
William (65) died on 12 June 1907, ten days short of his 66th birthday, as a result of pneumonia. His coffin was carried to his burial place in Box Hill Cemetery by his six sons. He was buried in the Baptist section, Plot B-40.
William's death notice was published in the Union Conference Record, Vol 11, No 28, Monday 15 July 1907, page 7. It read as follows:
BEHRENS. - Fell asleep in Jesus on
June 12, at his home in Doncaster, Mel-
bourne, William Behrens, in his sixty-
sixth year. Nineteen years ago Brother
Behrens, through reading, accepted
present truth, and at that time united
with the North Fitzroy Church. About
twelve years ago he connected with the
church meeting at Auburn. He was
throughout a faithful and consistent fol-
lower of the Lord, and was true to every
principle of God's great message. For
nearly eight years he was a great sufferer
with bronchitis and asthma. During all
these years he attended to his church
duties, even when his health was much,
impaired. He passed peacefully away at
6.30 on the morning of June 12. A wife,
six sons, and three daughters, are left to
mourn their loss. A large number of
friends from Doncaster, where he lived so
long, and was so well and favorably known,
followed his remains to the Box' Hill
cemetery. The sons, who have grown to
young manhood, were all present, and per-
formed the last act of love by carrying the
coffin from the hearse to the graveside.
We laid him away in the quiet resting-
place, there to await the call of the Arch-
angel and the trump of God.
"Rest for the toiling hand,
Rest. for the throbbing eye '
Through these parched lips of thine
no more
Shall pass the moan or sigh.
Soon shall the trump of God
Give out the welcome sound
That shakes thy silent chamber walls,
And breaks the turf-sealed
ground." J. H. WOODS.
Anonymous. (n.d.). Doncaster Church of Christ. History of Doncaster Church of Christ. Retrieved from https://www.doncasterchurch.org.au/about/history
Anonymous. (n.d.). North Fitzroy Seventh-day Adventist. History. Retrieved from https://northfitzroyadventist.com/history/
Anonymous. (n.d.). Stories for Children. An Angel. Retrieved from http://www.stories-for-children.ca/angel-over-tent.php
Woods, H. D. (1907, July 15). Obituaries. Union Conference Record, 7. Retrieved from http://documents.adventistarchives.org/Periodicals/AAR/AAR19070715-V11-28.pdf
William's death notice was published in the Union Conference Record, Vol 11, No 28, Monday 15 July 1907, page 7. It read as follows:
BEHRENS. - Fell asleep in Jesus on
June 12, at his home in Doncaster, Mel-
bourne, William Behrens, in his sixty-
sixth year. Nineteen years ago Brother
Behrens, through reading, accepted
present truth, and at that time united
with the North Fitzroy Church. About
twelve years ago he connected with the
church meeting at Auburn. He was
throughout a faithful and consistent fol-
lower of the Lord, and was true to every
principle of God's great message. For
nearly eight years he was a great sufferer
with bronchitis and asthma. During all
these years he attended to his church
duties, even when his health was much,
impaired. He passed peacefully away at
6.30 on the morning of June 12. A wife,
six sons, and three daughters, are left to
mourn their loss. A large number of
friends from Doncaster, where he lived so
long, and was so well and favorably known,
followed his remains to the Box' Hill
cemetery. The sons, who have grown to
young manhood, were all present, and per-
formed the last act of love by carrying the
coffin from the hearse to the graveside.
We laid him away in the quiet resting-
place, there to await the call of the Arch-
angel and the trump of God.
"Rest for the toiling hand,
Rest. for the throbbing eye '
Through these parched lips of thine
no more
Shall pass the moan or sigh.
Soon shall the trump of God
Give out the welcome sound
That shakes thy silent chamber walls,
And breaks the turf-sealed
ground." J. H. WOODS.
Bibliography
Anonymous. (n.d.). Doncaster Church of Christ. History of Doncaster Church of Christ. Retrieved from https://www.doncasterchurch.org.au/about/history
Anonymous. (n.d.). North Fitzroy Seventh-day Adventist. History. Retrieved from https://northfitzroyadventist.com/history/
Anonymous. (n.d.). Stories for Children. An Angel. Retrieved from http://www.stories-for-children.ca/angel-over-tent.php
Anonymous. (n.d.). Warburton Adventists since 1906. Retrieved from http://www.warburtonadventists.com/
Holman, A. R. (1993) William Behrens: Doncaster Farmer. Signs.
Kenward, R. (1962, December 11). Red Roses. The Youth's Instructor, 7-8, 15. Retrieved from http://documents.adventistarchives.org/Periodicals/YI/YI19621211-V110-50.pdf
Kenward, R. (1962, December 18). Red Roses. Part 2 - Conclusion. The Youth's Instructor, 8, 18-20. Retrieved from http://documents.adventistarchives.org/Periodicals/YI/YI19621218-V110-51.pdf
Kraus, G. (1990). Australian Dictionary of Biography. White, Ellen Gould (1827 - 1915). Retrieved from http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/white-ellen-gould-9071
Woods, H. D. (1907, July 15). Obituaries. Union Conference Record, 7. Retrieved from http://documents.adventistarchives.org/Periodicals/AAR/AAR19070715-V11-28.pdf
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank K J Bland for supplying family records, and photographs for this project, and also for sharing his recollections about his grandparents.
Many thanks goes to A and N Holman for sharing their years of research, and for allowing me to use many photographs from their family collection.
I would like to thank K J Bland for supplying family records, and photographs for this project, and also for sharing his recollections about his grandparents.
Many thanks goes to A and N Holman for sharing their years of research, and for allowing me to use many photographs from their family collection.
Last updated on 25 June 2020
No comments:
Post a Comment