Christina Catherine Gersbach (23 July 1872 to 20 April 1950)


One hundred and fifty years ago, Christina Catherine Antonietta Gersbach was born at Aldavilla on the banks of the Macleay. She's the youngest of the ten children of Anton and Margaretha Gersbach. While public records show her given names as Christina Catherine, my great-grandfather's family bible records his sister's birth, on 23 July 1872, with the given names of Christina Catherine Antonietta.

Christina's known to the family as "Aunty Chrissy". She's my great-grandaunt but my Dad assured his mother that I wasn't named after her! 


My name was to be Margaret until Mum's close friend got in first. So Mum decided on Christine Margaret. "Grandma Woodie", Essie Woodlands (nee Gersbach), wasn't happy with the change and choice of Christine. When I was younger, I though Grandma didn't like Aunty Chrissy. I now know Grandma's name was Margaret Essie, her mother was Margaret Gersbach (nee Killion) and her grandmother was Margaretha Gersbach (nee Songen). She'd have been happy with her oldest grandchild named Margaret but it wasn't to be! She got over it and was a loving mother-in-law and grandmother.

The photo above was taken about 1902 at Anton and Margaretha's home. It's from the Watts Family collection. They're with their oldest son Phillip, his wife, Sarah, and their eleven children. Another son, John Henry Joseph is on the left. Aunty Chrissy is circled. I can't identify the additional woman in the photo. 

Anton died in 1909 and Margaretha died two years later. The farm at Aldavilla was sold after Anton's death. Phillip moved with his family to Leeton when the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area opened. John and Aunty Chrissy remained with Margaretha until her death. They then moved to Sydney before settling in Leeton as well.

Anton and Margaretha has settled on the Macleay in 1855 after their arrival from the Rhine. Their ten children were born there. Elizabeth and Anton died as infants. Frederick Joseph died in 1883, aged 24. Francis settled in Sydney in 1890 with his family. Henrietta and Margaretha entered the convent in the 1890s. Elizabeth settled in Port Macquarie in about 1905 with her family. After fifty seven years, there were no Gersbach's living on the Macleay.

The 1914 Electoral Roll shows a house full of Gersbach's living at 182 Parramatta Road, Annandale. My great-grandparent, Francis and Margaret, were living there with their three children, Francis, Irene and Essie. Aunty Chrissy and brother John are there as well along with brother Phillip's fifth child, Charles John (known as John). 

Leeton farmland

Aunty Chrissy and brother John moved to Leeton about 1915. Neither married. Their address is shown as "Farm 246 Leeton" while Phillip and his family are on "Farm 330 Leeton".

 Phillip and Sarah celebrated their golden wedding anniversary in 1930. "The celebrations commenced with Mass ... in the house of the jubilarians. At midday, Mr and Mrs Gershach entertained 75 guests at dinner; in the afternoon sports took place on the property, and supper was served in the evening."

Another photo from the Watts family collection shows Phillip and Sarah with ten of their eleven children and a granddaughter who they raised. Also in the row with Phillip and Sarah are John and Aunty Chrissy. She looks like a kind aunt in this photo.




Sarah died three years after the celebrations. John 
died in 1938 and left his farm to Aunty Chrissy. Three years on and Phillip died. 

Aunty Chrissy died on 20 April 1950, aged seventy seven. She was only survived by one sibling, Margaret Agatha "Sister Mary Regis", who died in 1956, one hundred and one years after their parents' arrival in New South Wales.

Aunty Chrissy had moved from the farm to a home in Leeton which she lived in until 1943. She then lived with her niece, Antionette Mahy (Phillip's daughter). She left her home to Antionette. The balance of her estate of £2099 was left to her grandnephew, Thomas Mahy, except for £20 set aside "for masses to be said for my deceased brothers and sisters and myself".

Written by your great-grandniece, Christine.