Frederick Ziems and Johanna Cassel

Frederick (Fritz) Ziems was only 16 years old when he arrived in Melbourne on the James Carson in 1854. He travelled with his brother Charles (Carl), sister Caroline and a number of other German musicians. More information on this group of musicians is here.

Two of the Ziems brothers, Henry and Julius, stayed in Melbourne until about 1871 but Frederick and Charles were in New South Wales by the early 1860s. On the 4 October 1862 Frederick, describing himself as a professor of Music at Liverpool, purchased lot 31 of the Bellambi Estate from William Tucker esquire of St Leonards. The purchase price for the 28 acres of land was £290. Using current maps the area was bounded by Pioneer Road on the west, Towradgi Road on the south, Moray Road on the east and Towradgi Creek on the north.

Towradgi Creek, at the northern boundary of ‘Gustavia’

Frederick married Johanna Cassel on 24 March 1863 in Sydney and they settled on their Towradgi farm which was named Gustavia. Between 1865 and 1877 Frederick and Johanna had seven children:

Caroline ‘Lena’ 1865-1952
Amelia ‘Emma’ 1867-1932
Henrietta 1869-1885
Augustus Sarah 1871-1944
Alice Fredericka 1872-1877
Fritz 1875-1955
Henry 1877-1963

Five of the children married and lived long lives but tragedy struck in 1877 when Alice Fredericka, not quite five years old, drowned in a well on the family farm. Then in 1885 Henrietta died aged just 16 years.

On their fiftieth wedding anniversary Frederick and Johanna family gathered for a celebration at ‘Gustavia’ which was reported in the South Coast Times: