Annie Freia Smith
1 June 1863 – 12 November 1941
Daughter of James Hood Smith and Matilda Eugene Louisa Dean
Sister of William Odin Smith, Arthur Alex Hood Smith, Maud Beatrice Smith, Hamilton Strathern Smith, May Louisa Smith and Flora King Smith
Wife of Charles Cameron McKechnie
Mother of James Hood ‘Hamish’ McKechnie and Cameron McKechnie
Annie Freia Smith was born on Monday, 1 June 1863 in Launceston, Tasmania, Australia.
Annie married Charles Cameron McKechnie on Thursday, 28 February 1889, at her residence 2 Doon Street, Prahan, Colony of Victoria, Australia. The marriage was witnessed by her aunt, Elizabeth Dean, and uncle [Frederick] Claude Dean.
Photos of 2 Doon Street, Prahan taken in the 2010s
Annie gave birth to two children, James Hood McKechnie in 1889 and Cameron McKechnie in 1892.
McKechnie family about 1898: Charles Cameron McKechnie (husband), Cameron McKechnie (son), James Hood ‘Hamish’ McKechnie (son), Annie Freia Smith
This is an extended family picture taken at The Swiss Studios in Melbourne. The Swiss Studios opened in Bourke Street, Melbourne, in September 1900 and remained in business until 1920.
James Hood ‘Hamish’ McKechnie is top row, 2nd from the left. It is assumed his mother, Annie Freia Smith, is bottom row, third from the left with his wife, Gladys Robina Jean Rockwell, far right on the bottom row
According to electoral rolls, Annie and her husband, Charles (until his death in 1911), lived at 61 Barker Street, New Farm, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia from 1903 - 1913. It is now a block of apartments. This is where she performed domestic and home duties. Her home was called Craigielea.
Annie kept an autograph book throughout her life that included guest visits and important occasions. Annie received the book as a birthday present on 1 June 1916 from the Rockwell family.
A poem either written or copied by Annie, ‘The Crowd Who Said No’
Annie and her (future) daughter-in-law, Gladys Robina Jean Rockwell, exchanged many letters. Here are some samples of those letters from 1916.
In 1922 Annie lived with her son Cameron and daughter-in-law Janet Scougall Brand in Saint Osyth Street, Toowong, Brisbane, Queensland and later in Beerwah on the Sunshine Coast of Queensland. By 1925 they were all living together at Warburton Street, North Ward, Townsville, Queensland.
Between 1936-1937 Annie was living in Twickenham Street, Chelmer by the Brisbane River in Queensland, Australia.
After being in Brisbane General Hospital, Annie was an inmate at Dunwich Benevolent Asylum, North Stradbroke Island, Moreton Bay, Queensland in Ward FD from 6 September 1938 until her death. She was admitted due to being unable to care for herself. Her son, Hamish, paid 7 shillings and 6 pence (75 cents) a week for maintenance as she had no money and no property. All records have been destroyed from her time at Dunwich.
Dunwich Benevolent Society 10 June 1937
Annie died on Wednesday, 12 November 1941 at the Dunwich Benevolent Asylum, North Stradbroke Island, Moreton Bay, Queensland. The cause of death was recorded as senility.
Dunwich Benevolent Asylum 1938
Annie was interred at Toowong Cemetery, Corner Frederick Street and Mt Coot-tha Road, Toowong, Queensland, 4066 on 14 November 1941 where she joined her husband, Charles.
Sources:
Libraries Tasmania Names Index, Birth Record ID NAME_INDEXES: 1014298, Resource: RGD33/1/41 no 225
Australia, Electoral Rolls, 1903-1980, Queensland, Division Brisbane, Subdivision Fortitude Valley, 1903 page 84, 1908 page 123, 1913 page 128 & 136
Australia, Electoral Rolls, 1903-1980, Queensland, Division Wide Bay, Subdivision Caboolture, 1922 page 18
Australia, Electoral Rolls, 1903-1980, Queensland, Division Moreton, Subdivision Sherwood, 1936 & 1937 page 81
Births, Marriages and Deaths Victoria, Registration details: 1274/1889
Tasmania, Register Book of Births, True Copy, No. 21680, 29 April 19
Dunwich Benevolent Asylum, Queensland, 1938, John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland https://hdl.handle.net/10462/deriv/24709876
Death Certificate, Register of Deaths, Brisbane, Queensland, A42287
Queensland State Archives photo #2414 View of Benevolent Asylum Dunwich North Stradbroke Island 10 June 1937
Courier-Mail (Brisbane, Qld. : 1933 - 1954), Friday 14 November 1941, page 10
Australian Electoral Rolls, 1903-1980, Queensland, Division Herbert, Subdivision Townsville, 1925 page 14
Australian Electoral Rolls, 1903-1980, Queensland, Division Brisbane, Subdivision Toowong, 1922 page 5
