Frank Richard Carmody born 10 February 1874 was the grandson of Dr Loten, who was a pioneer medical practitioner in the Manning area. Frank was one of four sons born in Armidale to Patrick Carmody and Mary Jane (nee Loten), who were married in 1866. Frank’s father, who was an Irish Catholic, was killed from a fall from a horse when Frank was only three months old. Mary Jane had no alternative then but to move closer to her family on the Manning. She did this by horse and buggy about 1874.
The boys were left in the care of Mary’s father and her two single sisters, while she went to work again as a governess. She remarried but died of TB at the young age of 33 years. When in charge of the Carmody boys their grandfather, Dr Loten had them re-baptised in the Anglican Church and changed the spelling of their name from Carmody to Carmady, thus taking the Irish out of it and making it English.
Frank was out earning his living as a teamster at the age of 12 years. He worked a team of bullocks on Redbank for a time.
At age 14 Ann Sarah Atkins (born 3 September 1882) left school and worked for the Loten family at Lutherie Bay where she met her husband Frank Carmody. She was 16 in 1898 when they married in the Scotts Creek Church which her father and her uncle helped build.
After their marriage Frank and Ann Sarah dairy farmed at Mitchell’s Island for 11 years before they bought a farm at Upper Lansdowne in 1909. The move was made when Ann Sarah had five young children and a six week old baby to cope with. They started dairying and later Frank set up with his own bullock teams, leaving Ann Sarah and the children to do most of the farm work. The family farm was located at the end of Carmady Lane (now owned by Adrian and Stella Drury).
As well as raising her own family of ten children, Ann Sarah also reared Leo Doyle from the time he was three months old.
In 1941 when the timber was starting to give out at Upper Lansdowne they leased the farm for two years and moved to Sawtell with the bullock teams, going by rail and taking their two youngest sons, Athol and Max with them.
Frank died in Coffs Harbour Hospital in 1943 and Ann Sarah moved back to the Manning. Ann lived to the age of 101.
Their ten children were:
Elsie Bertha (1899-1976) was married twice and had 1 daughter
Clarence Harold (1901-1964) m Catherine A Payne (1905-) – 2 children. Clarry was a teamster at Upper Lansdowne and on the Comboyne in his earlier days.
Hilda Mary (1903-1987) m Clarence John Bailey (1899-1977) – 2 children. Clarry was born in Ourimbah. He went north looking for work and found some as a fireman and a saw sharpener in the mill at Lansdowne where he met Hilda.
Reginald Frank (1905-1963) m Hazel E McCormack – 2 children. Reg worked bullock teams with his father Frank and Leo Doyle at Upper Lansdowne and Wauchope. He worked in timber work all his life except for a spell in Sydney.
Kathleen Isabelle (1908-1960) was married 3 times. Her second marriage was to James Chambers who, with his brother Bill, had dairy farms at Lansdowne in his earlier years. They had 2 children.
Thelma Rita (1912- ) m Arthur John Jones (1911-) – 3 children. Jack was a mill hand at Lansdowne, Melinga and Langley Vale. In 1935 he joined the fire brigade. Their life was spent in Sydney and Newcastle.
Dudley Keith (1914-1984) m Kathleen Olive Yarnold – 4 children. Keith went into the transport business and spent a large part of his life driving interstate transports. He later went into real estate in Sydney.
Neville Vincent (1918-) m Barbara Early – 1 daughter. Neville worked on the family farm until he joined the police force in Sydney aged 21. All of his police service was spent in Sydney. Neville became principal of the NSW Police Academy at Bourke St, Sydney.
Athol Neil Ross (1920-1988) m 1. Eileen Barr and 2. Coral Isabel Fahey (nee Atkins). 2 sons to his first marriage. As a youngster Athol helped on the family farm at Upper Lansdowne. He moved to Sawtell with his parents. Athol took over the family farm at Upper Lansdowne and later purchased a timber block adjoining and operated his own bullock team for some years.
Maxwell Darcy (1923-1998) m Dorothy Shirley King – 5 children. Max moved with his parents to Sawtell in 1941. While there he had a team of bullocks with his father. After he married, Max was in shipping or dredging.
Compiled by Gloria Crittenden – August 2024