George Gibb Byers and Karoline Pauline Bertha Tillack

This material is a work-in-progress ...

Judith Jones and Jennifer Dean both grand-daughters of George and Paulina write that -

George Gibb Byers, 2nd eldest son of James and Janet (nee Gibb) Byers, was born 1 October 1859 and grew up at Stuartfield, Tunnack. Older family members said that he was one of the first white children to be born in the area. According to elderly relatives he was very well respected and a thorough gentleman. George selected land at Woodsdale in the mid 1880’s and built his home there. This property is now owned by his grandson and his wife. George married Paulina Caroline Bertha Schornstein at the Schornstein Residence, High Peak, Tunnack on 15 November 1888. The witnesses were James Byers and Clara Housego. 1

George and Paulina raised a family of eight children at their property at Woodsdale. He, like his father, was a strong, hardworking man who cleared his land with what was then known as a Forest Devil.

... the Woodsdale district (then unnamed) in the year 1876, when settlement there was yet in its infancy. Though the Tinpot Marsh, a small tract of land situated on the south-eastern outskirts of the district, was inhabited many years previously, and has since affiliated itself with the district, it was virtually in 1875 that settlement first began in Woodsdale proper. In April of that year the late Mr. John Brooks, the first of a hardy band of peerless pioneers, settled in what was then a wilderness, a veritable labyrinth of dense scrub and heavy timber. Further selections soon followed, for in June, two months afterwards, the late Mr. John Rowlands, who died on April 16, 1903, took up his abode about a mile to the eastward, and on October 23 of the same year the late Mr. August Gerlach, whose death occurred on July 22, 1913, selected and took up his residence on a farm adjoining-that of the late Mr. John Brooks. Other settlers, among them the late Messrs. Philip C. Wagner, J.P., Daniel Kenna, William J. Johnson, Jas. Smith, George Byers, John Palmer, and Messrs. George Roberts and Jas. Scott, subsequently assisted in the subjugation of the forest, ...2

He was always interested in local affairs and was a member of the local school picnic committee. Sadly he died from stomach cancer aged 49 after living at Woodsdale for 23 years. His eldest child was 18 and his youngest was aged four when he died. He is buried in the Public Cemetery, Tunnack, Tasmania, Australia.

Paulina Caroline Bertha Schornstein, born 4 August 1866; at the age of four and a half years, together with her mother Louisa Johanna nee Caldoon aged 30, step father Wilhelm Hermann Schornstein aged 49 and his son Hermann aged 17 departed Hamburg, Germany 20 April 1870 and arrived in Hobart Town, Tasmania, Australia on the Barque Victoria on 21 August 1870. 3

The spelling of the surname Schornstein is taken from the Emigration Records and had a number of variants when used in Tasmanian records. In the Brandenburg, Prussia Emigration details on the Internet they left Hamburg, Germany as:-
Wilhelm Robert Hermann Schornstein (49) a Surface Miner
Karoline Pauline Bertha Schornstein/Kaldun/Tillack (30) wife of Wilhelm Schornstein
Friedrich August Hermann Schornstein (17) son of Wilhelm Schornstein
Karoline Pauline Bertha Schornstein/Tillack (4) step-daughter of Wilhelm Schornstein
Place of Origin is stated as Bindow/Crossen, Brandenburg, Prussia. As a result of the war this place is now known as Bedow, Krosvo, Ordanski, Poland.

It appears their names were changed between departure from Hamburg and arrival in Tasmania. The reason for this was probably the English interpretation of the German Language. It is assumed that Paulina Caroline Bertha Byers was the daughter of a Mr Tillack but to date a birth certificate has not been found. Also a marriage of her mother to a Tillack and her mother’s marriage to the Schornstein have not been located.

When George Gibb Byers died, Paulina together with her older children had to work hard to make a living. The team of strong draught horses were sold to obtain ready money. The older girls hoed the ground with flat hoes to sow the green stuff (usually rye) for feeding the milking cows. The crop was mowed with a scythe or cut with a reap-hook. Paulina died with breast cancer 10 April 1929 and is buried in the Public Cemetery, Tunnack, Tasmania, Australia.

George Gibb Byers died on 25 June 1908 in Woodsdale, in the Oatlands district, Tasmania. 4

BYERS. On June 25, 1908, at Woodsdale, George Gibb, the dearly-beloved husband of Pauline Byers, and second son of James and Janet Byers, of Tunnack, in the 49th year of his age. Funeral will leave Woodsdale for Tunnack Cemetery at 12.30 on Saturday. "Entered into rest". 5

WOODSDALE. June 27, One of our most highly respected residents, Mr George Byers s, passed away at his residence on Thursday morning, after a long and painful illness, in his 49th year. He settled in Woodsdale about 23 years ago, and by hard work and industry had built up a comfortable home for himself and family The deceased was a man of sterling qualities upright, honourable and withal a staunch friend and good neighbour and his demise, at a comparatively early age, is deeply regretted. The deepest sympathy is felt for the bereaved wife and family of three sons and five daughters. Mr Byers took an active interest in all local functions, and has for some years a member of the school feast committee, which office he held up to the time of his death. 6

WOODSDALE. June 30. The remains of the late George Byers were interred at Tunnack on Saturday afternoon. The funeral cortege was a large one, fully 150 people assembling at the graveside. The deceased was a native of Tunnack, and was one of the first (if not the first) born in that district, where his parents still reside. 7

WOOOSDALE. A meeting of the committee was held on the 8th inst, to arrange preliminaries in connection with the annual school feast. The hon. secretary (Mrs. J. Cliffe Page) was instructed to send a letter of condolence to the widow and family of the late Mr. George Byers, who was treasurer of the funds for some years, and to place on record their appreciation of his unselfish labors in the cause. 8

Paulina Byers, nee Tillack, the wife of George Gibb Byers, died on 10 April 1929 in Woodsdale, Tasmania. 9

BYERS. On April 10, 1929, at Woodsdale, Pauline, beloved wife of the late George Byers, in the 64th year of her age. Funeral will take place at the Public Cemetery, Tunnack, at 3 p.m. on Friday (This Day). 10

George and Paulina would have eight children that have been traced.