The Janetzki's in Australia
SETTLEMENT AT HAHNDORF
Johann George Janetzki, his wife Louise Loth (also written as Lode and Lude), their eldest son Johann Gotthilf, born in 1835, and in their eldest daughter, Johanne Louise, emigrated on the ship 'Zebra', arriving at Port Adelaide on 2nd January, 1839. George was one of the founding fathers of Hahndorf. He may have lived in the town area for some years as the earliest record of his transactions is on 8th November. 1852, when he bough 95 acres of land for £170. This was section 4225 in the hundred of Onkaparinga, several kilometers to the north-east of Hahndorf. On 28th August, 1856 he bought a further 41 acres for £250. This was section 3825, across the road from the first block. Records show that he mortgaged section 4225 on 6th June, 1860, for £200, and on 27th June, 1863, he sold section 3825 for £25. George and Louise had other children at Hahndorf, including Anna Dorothea born 10th September, 1840, Eleonore, Friedrich and Anna Lydia. Further history regarding this family has not been traced, but it seems that they eventually went to Victoria.
THE YOUNGER BROTHER ARRIVES
It is not known whether or not George encouraged his younger brother to emigrate to Australia or if any other members of the Janetzki family came to Australia, or even how many others there were in the original family. However, Johann Friedrich Wilhelm Janetzki emigrated also. The South Australian Register records the following: "On Sunday, 17th August, 1856, the ship 'August' arrived at Port Adelaide, having left Hamburg on 7th May, 1856.' In the list of 264 passengers, the names of J. F. Wilhelm, J. Dorothea L. August, Wilhelm, Gottlieb, Ernst and Maria Janetzky appear.
DIFFERENT SPELLING OF NAME
Old records show various ways of spelling the name Janetzki as follows: Janetzke, Janetzki, Jatnetiske, Janetzkice, Janetzky, Janitzker, Janitzky, Janitzki, Jannetzky, with the most. common being Janetzky. Even on copies of early birth certificates there is no uniformity of spelling. Likewise, no one seems to be sure of the meaning of the name, or even if it has a meaning.
J. F. W. JANETZKI AT HAHNDORF
J. F. W. and J. D. L. Janetzki left Muschten, now situated in Poland and called Myszecin, with their five children aged from seven weeks to six years, to make a new life in Australia. They lived firstly at Grunthal, now known as Verdun, about 2 kilometres west of Hahndorf, on section 3816. This section of land was situated on both sides of the old main road to Adelaide. It was about 91 acres in size and was divided into some 25 blocks, many of which were rented out to early settlers.
The South Australian Almanac lists Wm. Janitzker as a farmer living on section 3816 near Grunthal in 1864. Here four more children were born: Louise Bertha Janetzky on 19th December, 1858, died on 13th January, 1859; Hermann Reinhold, born on 9th December, 1860; Johanna Dorothea Louise, born on 21st February, 1862; and Pauline Bertha, born on 17th August, 1863. It appears that they shifted from Grunthal soon after Pauline's birth, for when Johann Gustav Reinhold was born on 10th September, 1865, they were not living there. There is no record of the registration of his birth in the Office of the Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages in Adelaide. However, there is a record of Heinrich Benjamin, born on 12th March, 1867, and the address of J. F. W. lanetzki is then given as near Kanmantoo.
Augusta Elizabeth was also born near Kanmantoo on 16th August, 1868. The South Australian Almanac lists Wm. Janetzke as a farmer living at Bremer from 1868, and each year following to 1872. Then in 1873 he is listed as a farmer at Monarto.
The church records at Hahndorf show that the first four children born in Australia were baptised at Hahndorf by Pastor A. Strempel. The places where the next two children were baptised are not known, but the last child was baptised at Callington by Pastor A. Strempel. The name "Bremer" was used fairly loosely by people from Hahndorf in these early days, and there was probably no town by that name. The area covered by this name included Callington, Hartley, Salem and Kanmantoo. There were mines between Kanmantoo and Callington and many of the members of the Callington Lutheran Church were miners.
A brief sketch of the family's life in South Australia is: Hahndorf 1858 (1856?) to 1864; 1865, 1866, uncertain; 1867-1873 (1874) near Kanmantoo and Bremer near Callington.
THE MOVE TO VICTORIA
At the beginning of the 1870's, land to the east of Dimboola was opened up for settlement. The normal procedure was for a man to sit on a block of land and then apply to have it granted to him. The largest amount of land he could get by application was 320 acres. It is known that August Janetzki, the eldest son, had moved to Dimboola, Victoria, in 1872 as he had selected 320 acres of land in that year. By 1874 Friederich W. Janetzki, the second son, had moved to Dimboola, as on the 13th April, 1874, applications for land east of Dimboola were lodged by August lanetzki for 320 acres (Application No. 1422), Johann Friedrich Wilhelm Janetzki snr. (Application No. 1423) and Friederich Wilhelm Janetzki inr. (Application No. 1424). The land they got was all adjoining. J. F. W. lanetzki jnr. had a block on the corner of the Katyil and Warracknabeal roads and the other two blocks were across the Katyil road, but not adjoining the Warracknabeal road. In the case of August, his first block of 193 acres on the west side of the Katyil Road was augmented by a further 127 acres on East side of the road
On the 29th January, 1883 it is recorded that August Janetzki help allotment 52 of 193 acres 1.15. J. F. W. Janetzki snr. held Allotment 50 of 319 acres 3.14 and Friederich W. Janetzki jnr. held Allotment 47 of 320 acres 1.18.
In the rate book of the Lowan Shire, to which the Dimboola area once belonged, it is recorded that on 3rd May, 1876, J. F. W. paid rates on the land.
On the 6th Sunday after Trinity, in July 1874, the St. Petre's congregation at Kornheim, four miles east of Dimboola, was formed. Among the foundation members of the congregation are listed as signatories, August and Friederich Wilhelm Janetzki jnr.
By 1876 the whole family of Johann FW Janetzki snr. is listed as members of the congregation. In 1876 St. Petre's Church was dedicated.
Johann F. W. Janetzki snr. probably had to finalise his affairs in South Australia and came to Dimboola only late in 1874 or early 1875.
Operations closed at Kornheim in 1922 and the brick church was dedicated on the 6th Apri1,19
It is not known at this time how long Johann Friedrich Wilhelm Janetzki snr. was on the land as his sons and daughters married and some moved to other areas mainly in the Wimmera district. Most of them remaining on the land.
It is recorded that Johann Friedrich Wilhelm Janetzki snr. and his son Heinrich Benjamin Janetksi (who did not marry) purchased land at the Dimboola Village Settlement, J. F. W. Janetzki had allotment 64 of 40 acres, also Allotment 4 of 16 acres. Heinrich had Allotment 3 of 14 acres.
It would appear that they lived before 1899 as it is recorded that on the 6th October, 1899 Johanna (Anna), Johann Friedrich Wilhelm Janetzki’s wife, died (at the age of 72 years, 10 months) at the Village Settlement, and was buried at Wail cemetery.
Little is known of Johann Friedrich Wilhelm Janetzki after this of what happened with his land, but it is known that he lived with his son, Heinrich Benjamin, and a Mrs Schultz cared for them.
On the 1st of August, 1915, J.F.W. Janetzki dies (at the age of 92 years and 4 months) at the Village Settlement and was buried at the Dimboola cemetery, section 656.
Note: East of Dimboola is refered to as Katyil. Kornheim: German korn (corn) and heem (home), formerly called Scabby Riser.
DIMBOOLA VILLAGE SETTLEMENT
Still marked on shire maps, this settlement lay between Dimboola and Wail on both sides of the subsequent railway line.
Bert Dalitz, who grew up on the settlement, recalls blocks of 20 acres sold at £1 an acre to the settlers who began to arrive in 1885. As the blocks were so small and the soil so poor, those who could afford to do so, bought more than one block. Until some kind of boundary fence could be built and farming implements procured, a few cows and some hens provided the means of sustenance. Serviceable homes were built of mud, white-washed inside and with an earthen floor. Small dams were sunk. Later a channel was cut from an old reservoir so that dams could be filled once a year —in very hot dry years, twice — but for those not served by the channel because of an inconvenient hill, water had to be carted in casks on a sled from the Wimmera River. Amongst those who were early neighbours were L. P. Ey (a saddler); J. Johnson; E. L. Abe; D. Starrick; I. E. Gersch; W. Janetzki; E. & H. Pohlner; A. Schmidt; Linke (settlers' blacksmith) ; J. Williams and H. Dalitz (the stonemason who built most of the chimneys in Dimboola at that period.)
A number of settlers came from South Australia, most of them travelling by horse and cart or dray. They worked from daylight WI dark, clearing and planting wheat and oats which had to be harvested with a scythe until one could afford a stripper.
When war came, practically every able-bodied man enlisted. On their return they had to leave the settlement to find work.
They married and lived elsewhere. The older folk stayed on but the smallness of the holdings gave only a limited income and families began to drift away. Today, the families with larger holdings, and engaged in mixed farming, are doing quite well where the former village settlement once existed.
Once known as Nine Creeks because of the various branches of the Wimmera River, Dimboola came into being between two sheep stations. Upper Regions, founded in 1845, was taken up by William Patterson who moved in from Blackheath which was in the hands of Daniel Cameron in 1854. Two years later, William Bell and George Houston were joint lessees of the two runs into which the station had been subdivided — Upper Regions and Lochiel.
Dimboola began to develop in 1859 when Henry de Little held Upper Regions whilst John Carfrae, John Chester Jervis and John Holt had acquired Lochiel. The site by the river was at the junction of tracks from Horsham, Warracknabeal, Lake Hindmarsh and the border. Matthew Joseph Edward Ternan built the Nine Creeks store and wine shanty, the site being that of the present hotel.
William Henry Lloyd had charge of the store, whilst Castles (Ternan's brother-in-law) was the licensee of the shanty. The opening of the shanty was attended by local station hands and itinerant workers. Outside Castle's Hotel, some eight feet from the ground in a large tree, a platform was erected as a rostrum for public meetings. Round this the townsfolk stood in the dust to listen to grievances being aired, petitions proposed and election speeches made. The Rate Book (1862) recorded Lloyd as the owner of a store and hotel in Dimboola. The following year the village's first store-keeper, Matthew Ternan, died suddenly in Horsham. His death, at the age of 37, shocked the Wimmera. In partnership with Frayne, Lloyd built, at the cost of £5,000, the flour mill which the partners leased to James Fry and Co. four years after its construction in 1867. Fire destroyed the mill in 1883 but within twelve months, Lloyd had rebuilt and the management was taken over by his son, William Lloyd and I. D. Scott.
P. P. Fraser, who published an account of his overseas travels, later claimed that he had the first business in the township but he is not even listed in the 1862 Rate Book. He ultimately created a very large store with departments for jewellery, dress-making and millinery, building materials, agricultural implements, patent medicines and groceries; he also was responsible for the post office.
Dimboola grew very slowly until the arrival of the selectors in the seventies as the chief link with the outside world was the mail coach. Its second change of fortune came in 1882 with the railway. As the township remained the western railhead until 1887, it served Gerang, Kiata, Salsbury and places west as well as Antwerp, Tarranyurk and later Jeparit to the north. Two foundries and the railway workshop were in operation.
On the 2nd April, 1885, Dimboola Shire, with an area of 4,500 square miles and a population of 2,500 separated from Lowan Shire. (Although the council has met both at Dimboola and Jeparit, its headquarters are at Jeparit.) From the South Australian Lutherans who had settled at Hochkirk near Hamilton, came men and women to select land in the Wimmera. Possibly the first of this group of predominately German descent reached Green Lake (Drung Drung and Bungalally area) in 1869-70 and here Pastor Schurmann formed the Bethlehem congregation. Pastor Schoknecht established the second Lutheran Church at Natimuk in 1874. Soon many Lutherans were making the arduous overland journey in covered wagons across the South Australia Hundred Mile Desert to Bordertown, thence along the Adelaide Road north of Little Desert. Thrifty, industrious and excellent farmers, they formed settlements with schools and churches in many areas. These included Kirchheim in 1874, Vectis, Kornheim (east of Wail where only the cemetery remains), Katyil and Grunwald (near Dimboola which itself was designated a Lutheran Parish in 1883), Ni Ni (north-east of Nhill a parish in 1888), Winiam, Pella and Sheep Hills.
Lutherans also formed parishes around Horsham, Rainbow, Jeparit and Nhill. At Murtoa in April 1872, Rev. Dr. M. Lohe unveiled a plaque to mark the site of the Concordia College which trained four pastors and thirty two teachers in fourteen years. This Wimmera created institution was transferred to Adelaide in 1905.
The Janetzki's in Prussia
BRIEF HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
This is a brief historical background prior to the birth of our ancestors. In 1793 Prussia gained the areas in western Posen, close to Muschten, in the second partition of Poland. For some years before this, groups of Germans and somewhat larger numbers of persecuted Lutherans had arrived in this area from Roman Catholic Austrian-ruled Silesia, to live under a more tolerant Polish administration. In 1814, after the Napoleonic wars in central Europe, the Congress of Vienna met to reorganise Europe into a form which remained for almost a century, except for some minor variations. The people in the area of Muschten experienced Prussian, French, Polish and then Prussian rule again within a short time. The Hohenzollern King, Friedrich Wilhelm III, ruled from Berlin over this area, known as the province of Brandenburg. Many Prussian settlers and officials, industry and capital entered the area, until over 40% of the population was of Prussian origin. Prussian rule saw the end of serfdom, and the local Polish nobles' legal control over the affairs of the people, and the introduction of land ownership by the peasant farmers. Some Polish people adopted the Lutheran faith, and some the Reformed faith of their Prussian masters, but the majority remained Roman Catholic. It was into this situation that our Janetzki ancestors, who later migrated to Australia, were born. It is not known how many there were in this original Janetzki family, but an elder brother, Johann Georg, came to Australia some 18 years before Johann Friedrich Wilhelm arrived here. We believe there are still Janetzkis living in this area, but contact has not been made with them up to this time.
THE KING'S ORDERS
It is said that King Friedrich Wilhelm III was a pious man, taking a personal interest in the church. In 1817 he issued a famous cabinet order that the Lutheran and Reformed Churches should constitute one church, and be placed under one church government which was to be a department of the State. By a decree of 1823 he nullified the subscriptions to the Lutheran Confessions, and called on all ministers to subscribe only to the confession of the new
Church established by himself. The name of Lutheran was no longer to be used. In 1830 he issued a proclamation in which he commanded all Lutheran and Reformed church members in his domains to unite and use a new State Church Liturgy which he had commissioned. This was part of his plan to further the unity of his diverse Prussian provinces, and particularly concerned those people in the eastern areas where Lutherans, and to a much lesser extent Reformed, made up the majority of the population. Many Lutherans at first agreed to the king's proclamation for the union of the churches, although perhaps rather uneasily. However, the stauncher Lutherans realised that it denied some of the basic beliefs that they held. Some pastors resigned from their parishes and their members followed to worship secretly and face varying degrees of persecution for disobeying the government order.
A more complete description of these events that eventually led to the migration of many Luthe families to Australia and America may be read in the first chapters of the hook, 'Under the Southern Cross,' by Dr. A. Brauer, published by the Lutheran Publishing House, Adelaide.
PLANS FOR EMIGRATION
Lutherans from Posen, Brandenburg and Silesia, under the leadership of Pastor A. L. C. Kavel, former pastor of Klemzig in Brandenburg, decided against emigration to Russia to escape religous persecution from the Prussian Government. However, they earnestly desired to find a place where they could live and worship according to their consciences. In 1836 when Pastor Kavel visited Hamburg, he heard of the establishment of a new British colony in South Australia where freedom of worship was part of its constitution. His Lutheran followers sent him to London, where he obtained the promise of passage to South Australia for himself and his people from Mr. George Fife Angus, Chairman of the South Australian Company, who was a sincere Baptist, believing firmly in the separation of the church and state. Pastor Kavel remained in London while negotiations were made with the Prussian Government for the emigration of his Lutheran followers. However, the Prussian Government refused to let these pp:s. p!e leave for two years, and in the meantime. Pator Kavel studied the English language and acquired worked a h knowledge of English customs while among Germans in the London dock areas. relaxed his
Suddenly, King Friedrich Wilhelm Hamburg relaxed his orders and gave permission for the Lutherans to leave Germany. The first ship, the ‘Prince George’ left Hambug in July, 1838 and arrived at Port Adelaide on 18th November, 1838 with Pastor Kavel and his flock on board.
A second ship, the ‘Zebra’ left Hamburg on 21st August, 1838, and arrived at Port Adelacide on 2nd January, 1839.
Johann George Janetzki was on board this ship, which was under the command of Captain Hahn, who helped his passengers find land on which to settle, and was so highly thought of by them, that they named their settlement in the Adelaide Hills, Hahndorf, after him. Since Johann George Janetzki was on this second ship, there is no doubt that he emigrated for reasons of conscience and the desire for religious liberty in this land.
At Katyil
In 1874, the year before Lowan Shire was formed from the western portion of the Shire of Wimmera, Katyil was settled — chiefly by Australian-born sons of men who came originally from England and Germany but also by several fathers who sought Mallee blocks for their boys.
Pioneer settler, Gus Petschel, tells the story: Selectors' wagons came rolling into Katyil area from Hamilton, Mount Gambier (and other South Australian districts) as well as nearby Dimboola; the Petschels came from Wail.
In the nineties, sons of Katyil selectors selected new lands again, north of Rainbow. Some of the first to obtain their 320 acres of land were P. Tepper, J. G. and Herman Janetzki, M. and W. Schorback, Carl E. and J. C. N. Lange, C. R., G., J. S. G., F. F. and E. Hoffmann, F. and A. G. Lehmann, J. Burger, A. F. Schulz, K. W. E. Miller, W. and P. Koehler, E. and Carl Milich, J. Wiedermann, F. Muller, J. B. Leitch, E. C. A. and L. Mibus, C. H. R. Moll, Carl and Fred Fietz, and P. Mullerz.
Some allotments of the new parish of Katyil could not be taken up. One was occupied by the Arkona Eucalyptus Factory, established by Bosisto, a Melbourne chemist, and subsequently controlled by Felton Grimwade.
Several blocks belonged to the Ebenezer Mission at Antwerp which had been built in 1859 by Wright to the orders of Rev. Hagenhauer, a Moravian missionary.
Hagenhauer had sought an area of land remote from the corruptions of settlement in order to educate many local aborigines in the Christian faith. At one time, in addition to the stone church mission headquarters, farm buildings and servants' quarters, the Ebenezer Mission had 14 houses built for aboriginal members of this remarkable self supporting community.
Blocks at Katyil were also reserved for churches and schools. Two Lutheran churches were built. Trinity Church, a branch of the U.E.L.C.A., was built and dedicated in 1882 and the St. Martin, a branch of the E.L.C.A., in 1883. Both were subsequently reconstructed and enlarged. C. A. Mibus carted the material for the construction of Katyil North State School, which was located about 1 ½ miles south-west of the post office. Head teacher Byers opened the school in 1887. C. A. Mibus and G. Wiedermann were later elected to the district Board of Advice.
The Lutheran Private School was built in 1892, about a quarter of a mile north of the post office. The first post office (1887) was at Carl Ronning's farmhouse but was later transferred to the local blacksmith's residence. Miss A. Krause, who became post-mistress in 1924 or 1926 served faithfully for more than thirty years. The wine shanty, established in the eighties, apparently earned decreasing profits and closed towards the end of the century.
The type of home built at Katyil reflects the changing conditions from the primitive days of the forties. A wall framework of 6in. x 6in. squared posts was filled with upright pine or oak spars then packed firmly with strawmixed pug. The pine or sawn hardwood rafters carried an iron or sometimes shingle roof. Such houses were quite comfortable as they were little affected by climatic conditions. Under the front gable roof were two or three rooms, whilst other rooms at the back had a leanto roof. Some had the additional luxury of a verandah. Most houses had fireplaces in the kitchen and living room. Huge chimney places accommodated logs three to four feet in length. The oven for bread baking was built about one chain from the house in order to avoid endangering the shingle roof with sparks. These ovens were on a platform consisting of wood, pug and a layer of bricks which rested on six wooden blocks a foot or eighteen inches above the ground. Dry earth was packed on the stand; pug, with a limited amount of straw mixed in it, was packed over this mound: a flue at the rear and a fifteen inch square opening left in front. When this coat of pug had thoroughly dried, the earth mound which had supported it was raked out. A flat steel door was fitted across the front opening of the oven thus formed. The baking oven must have been a considerable inconvenience to housewives, especially as during summer heat and winter cold, bread had to be baked twice weekly. Possibly the women's complaints about baking in the rain caused their husbands to build future ovens against the kitchen chimney and with the door opening directly into the kitchen itself.
Galvanised iron tanks provided household water supplies but dams scooped for watering stock often dried out in summer. Bulloak brush over the dams helped minimise the evaporation.
In 1889 channel water from Dimboola reached the newly excavated council dam. During the 1896 drought, with 15 wagons waiting at the pump, water supplies were exhausted in a week. Three years later the channel was extended to the northern boundary of the parish and new dams were built both on the boundary and near the post office.
From this main channel, settlers' channels ran off to larger farm storages and farm supplies were fairly well assured. Surrounded on three sides by Mallee, the land at Katyil varies from clay to sand to chocolate loam, the last being fortunately predominant. In normal seasons a wheat yield of 24 bushels or more could be expected from the "heavy land" but for the lighter Mallee country, ten bushels was a fair average until superphosphate was used. Today such country is almost as productive as first grade land.
OUR JANETZKI FORBEARS
This gives a brief history of Johann Friedrich Wilhelm Janetzki, his wife Johanna Dorothea Louise (nee Loechel) and their descendants. J. F. W. Janetzki was born at Muschten in Kreis Zullichau, a province of Bradenburg, near the border of Posen, Germany, on March 25th, 1823.
Johann's parents were Gottlob Janetzki (B:1781, Muschten) and Johanna Rosina Maetzig (B: 1783, Meseritz). They were married in Posen, Brätz in 1804.
Johann's wife, Johanna Loechel was born on December 19th, 1826 in Posen, Wielkopolskie, Poland. The town of Muschten is now known as Myszecin, and is situated in territory which today is administered by Poland. The Oder and Warta rivers shown at the top of the page flow nearby the town and show the beauty of the surrounding landscape.
Image 1: Szczecin a town on the Oder River.
Image 2: The beautry of the Warta River Valley, photo by Bartłomiej Kończak
Origins
The surname Janetzki is ultimately of Polish patronymic origin, deriving from the
name of the father of the original bearer. In this instance, the surname Janetzki derives
from the personal name Johannes. The personal name Johannes derives from the
Hebrew Jehochanan meaning “God has mercy”. The personal name Johannes and its
Polish form Janetzki was wide spread in the Middle Ages due to devotion to Johannes
der Taeufer (John the Baptist) who was the Precursor of Jesus Christ, born in Judea,
the son of a priest. With the baptism of Jesus, his office as Precursor was
accomplished, and is ministry came to a close soon afterward. John the Baptist was
beheaded about 24 A.D. Another notable bearer was the apostle and evangelist
Johannes (John). He wrote three epistles and the fourth gospel. During this time he was
banned from Rome when he wrote the Apocalypse or Book of Revelations. The name
Johannes was also the name of many popes and saints, emperors and kings. The name
Johannes and its numerous variants forms can be found in many areas of Europe. In
England the name became John, in France it is Jean, in Italy it is Giovanni, in
Denmark it is Jens and in Russia it is Iwan. Research indicates that many names of
Slavic origin, can be found in eastern Germany, as many Slavic tribes moved into that
area over the centuries, parts of eastern Germany was also frequently under Polish rule,
therefore it is not surprising to find Slavic names in that area.
The surname Janetzki and its variant forms of Johannes, Janetske, Janitzker and
Janusch can be found in documents dating back to the 16th century. One Johann Janus
was a resident of Oelsnitz, Vogtland, in the year 1580. A coat of arms was granted to a
family Janitz, which lived in the Pomerania region of Germany.
Coat of Arms
Blazon of Arms: Azure, a lynx passant crowned or.
Crest: Three fleur de lis argent, stemmed and leaved vert.
Symbolism:
Azure - A bright blue color which represents truth and loyalty.
Crown - A symbol of monarchy and power. It represents accomplishment.
Lynx - Once believed to have the power to see through walls, it stands for sharp sight or vision.
Or - The color gold. It denotes the qualities of generosity and elevation of mind.
Dimboola (Nine creeks)
Credit for the following goes to Phyllis Flack. This is a transcription of her work in the creation of the Janetzki Reunion Book published in 1979. Hopefully publishing online allows more people to enjoy the hard work and discover more about the history of the Janetzkis.
Some edits and updates have been added to reflect new findings.
Hermann Reinhold Janetzki married his 2nd wife Francis Elizabeth Richards.