Eileen Tilghman Rayward

[valley ranch]

THE GRANDDAUGHTER of Byron Bay's first European settler has died just shy of her 100th birthday.

Eileen Rayward has passed away at age 99 years, 11 months. She was born in Byron Shire and lived there all her life.

A mother of six, housewife, dairy farmer and plant nursery owner, she saw Byron grow from horse and buggy to traffic jams. She saw the rise and demise of the Norco Butter Factory, Anderson Meat Works, whaling, the abattoir, and Rutile sand mining

Eileen was born to Eileen Doris Tilghman (nee Wareham) on May 7, 1915 at Mullumbimby. Sadly her mother passed away seven days after giving birth to her, aged 23.

Her father, Douglas Campbell Tilghman, was not in a position to look after her and so she was taken to the family home, Koreelah, on Skinners Shoot Road, Byron Bay, by her grandparents Frederick and Ada Wareham.

Frederick had arrived in Byron Bay in September 1883 and cleared dense tropical and hardwood trees to create dairy farm on 400 acres.

He also planted a large orchard which included the first bananas, mangoes and grapes to be introduced into the district. To work the orchard, he brought to Australia 20 Indian Sikhs (ex Indian Army ) from the Punjab.

Frederick also played a significant role in the early development of Byron Bay. He helped establish the Norco Dairy Co-op and the Steamship Company.

Until she was 11, Eileen was taught at home by her aunt and then attended boarding school at St Catherine's Anglican Girls School in Stanthorpe.

She hated the strict discipline meted out by the nuns and twice she ran away from school, hiding among the many vineyards in the area until she was tracked down by men with bloodhounds.

Eileen was one of the first women in Byron Bay to get her driver's licence. In 1937, she attended the prestigious NSW Conservatorium of Music, Sydney for six months where she continued studies in piano and voice production.

The Byron Bay of Eileen's youth.Contributed
Eileen married Ray Rayward of Billinudgel in 1938. At her wedding, she wore the historically important family shawl of the United States Tilghman family, handed down to her as a direct descendant of Colonel Tench Tilghman, aide-de-comp to George Washington during the War of Independence.

Eileen and Ray had six children including their son, Peter, who was born in 1946. At age four he was struck down during the polio epidemic, lived for many months in an Iron Lung, but died in 1951.

Ada Wareham helped Eileen to care for the children until she died at age 88 in 1948.

For cooking, the wood stove had to be lit; for bathing, the chip heater had to be lit for hot water; and for washing, the copper lit, the clothes washed by hand and the wooden clothes wringer turned by hand. No refrigeration, just a Coolgardie Safe hanging on the verandah, the food kept cool by the wind blowing through a wet hessian bag.

Eileen Rayward wearing her historically important wedding shawl.

Eileen Rayward

The citation read in part: by the time the Byron Bay Red Cross was forced to close due to a lack of members, Eileen had given 82 years continuous service to the organisation, over 50 as president, probably a record for Australian Red Cross.

The Red Cross prepared a special Service Award to recognize her long service. It would have been presented to her on her 100th birthday. She also gave 25 years' service to St Vincent de Paul.

Eileen finally sold Koreelah to Anthony Pangallo and James Dawson in 2004. They readily accepted Eileen's wish that they restore the homestead to its former glory and it is now a six star rural resort.

Her family (some 80 descendants) will gather at Koreelah in Byron Bay today to remember her.

God Love Grandmother~ we love her~ you would have as well```

 

[valley ranch]

Tench Tilghman (/ˈtɪlmən/, December 25, 1744 – April 18, 1786) was an officer in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. He served as an aide-de-camp to General George Washington, achieving the rank of lieutenant colonel.

Tilghman rose to become a trusted member of Washington's staff. The historic events of the time sparked his transformation from a privileged family member of Loyalists to a dedicated Patriot. He paid a high price, facing tragedies including a split with Loyalist members of his family, and illness and an early death from disease contracted during the American Revolutionary War.

At the start of the Revolution, Tilghman ran a saddle-making business, which suffered when the Non-Importation Resolution made it impossible to import British goods.[4] Because Tench supported the resolution, Tories burnt down his shop.[5]

Tilghman enlisted in the Maryland Militia, but was soon assigned to the Continental Army. On August 8, 1776, he received a commission as Washington's aide-de-camp. He served Washington as confidential secretary for an additional three years.[6]During the Battle of Monmouth in 1778 and afterwards, Tilghman distinguished himself as one of a handful on Washington's staff fluent in French, which enabled him to interpret written and verbal communications between Washington, Lafayette, Von Steuben, and commanders of the Continental Army's French allies.

Tilghman's Patriot loyalties split his family. He became the first among his eleven siblings to join the Revolutionary cause.[7]Most of the Tilghman family served the King, as did many other rich families at that time. His brothers Richard and Philemon served in the British military. Another brother, William Tilghman, wanted to follow in their father's path and study law in England, which created a professional conflict for Tench Tilghman, who refused him passage to England on June 12, 1781.[8]

I am placed in as delicate a situation as it is possible for a man to be. I am, from my station, a master of the most valuable secrets of the Cabinet, and the master of the field and it might give cause of umbrage and suspicion at this critical moment to interest myself in procuring the passage of a brother to England.[7]
The Siege of Yorktown in October 1781 culminated in a Patriot victory and an honor for Tilghman, whom Washington picked to carry the surrender papers to the Continental Congress in Philadelphia.[9][10][11][12] Poets Dr. Oliver Huchel and Howard Pyle each considered Tilghman a hero for that ride.[13][14] Tilghman's own journal entry was terse:

In the morning Lord Cornwallis put out a letter requesting 24 hours must be granted to the commissioners to settle terms of capitulation of the posts of York and Gloster. The General answered that only two hours would be allowed for him to send out his terms. He accordingly sent them out generally as follows, that the Garrisons should be prisoners of war, the German and British soldiers to be sent to England and Germany. The General answered on the 18th that the terms of sending the troops to England and Germany were inadmissible. Lord Cornwallis closed with all the terms except the same honors granted at Charlestown.[15]
In a letter to Tilghman the following year, Washington’s humor and admiration is apparent:

“Till your letter of the 28th arrived which is the first from you and the only direct account of you since we departed at Philadelphia, we have various conjectures about you. Some thought you were dead—others that you were married—and all that you have forgot us. Your letter is not a more evident contradiction of the first and last of these suppositions than it is a tacit conformation of the second and as more can wish you greater success in the prosecution of the plan you are upon than I do...you have no friend who wishes more to see you than I do.”[16]

Letter from Tench Tilghman to George Washington, circa 1776–1781