The Secret Love Letters. Dolores San Miguel
John Lothian came out from Scotland in 1890 as a publisher’s representative for English and Scottish books. By about 1900 he had set up his own firm, Lothian Book Publishing Co. He purchased the property in 1898 and named the house after St. Abbs Head, on the east coast of Scotland near Edinburgh. In 1924, the original 3.5 acre property came up for sale again, and Thomas Carlyle Lothian, now the director of Lothian Publishers, bought back the family home. Thomas, his wife Effie, his three sons and two daughters, were to live at St Abbs for fifty years. The publishing company still exists today, having been run by John’s son Thomas after his retirement. His great-grandson Peter is now the director of Lothians.
3 Surrey Hills and Mont Albert in Melbourne are both twelve kilometres east of Melbourne’s Central Business District. They are virtually the same suburb, so in the electoral rolls, St Abbs and other properties the San Miguels lived in are either listed as Mont Albert or Surrey Hills.
4 In January of 1908 an advertisement was placed in the Perth Sunday Times: An excellent opportunity to a money-making and established business is now before the public. A goldfields brewery, showing profits averaging £2500 per year is for sale on easy terms. Full particulars from Mr. F.A. Henriques of King St or Mr Harrison of Murray Street. On 15 February 1909, the business was sold to Joseph Duffell of Perth, who for the past four years had controlled the management of Harrison, San Miguel in Perth.
5 Now buried in the San Miguel crypt at Box Hill Cemetery is Antonio and Rebecca (Birdie) San Miguel, Lionel San Miguel, and Jaime San Miguel. I will be buried next to my father when the time comes. Close by in the Church of England section are the graves of James Albon Senior and his daughter Grace Albon. The Surrey Hills Historical Society takes tourists on a tour of the cemetery and one of the highlights is the San Miguel crypt and the nearby graves of the Parer family.
6 In the late 1920s, The Coca-Cola Company was well established in the US. Coca-Cola did not come to Australia until 1937, when a Perth company became the distributor.
During Jaime’s absence, his older brother, Tony, had been setting up a business and asked Jaime to be involved. Tony had married Muriel Hay Robison in 1916 and they already had one child, Richard John, and on 22 August 1922, Elizabeth (Betty) was born. They lived at a home, Riccarton , in York Street, Mont Albert, a few houses down from St Abbs, and eventually moved to a flat at Bluff Mansions in Barkly Street, St.Kilda. It was here on 22 January, just prior to Jaime’s return, that a thief broke in while the family were at lunch, stealing jewellery worth £100.
Although Antonio’s estate had been left to his wife, Birdie, she was generous with money for her family, and gave Tony the funds to begin the business. She had hoped one of her sons would be involved in her late husband’s companies, but they all chose different fields. Antonio had created a dynasty of businesses, which his associates all benefited from. The Ajax Tyre and Denby Truck Agencies suited Jaime from the experience he’d had in America with General Motors. They represented a number of tyre and truck companies, and were involved in the importation of tyres and parts. In 1923 they set up the Melbourne Suburban Bus Company, which ran Denby buses from the city to Middle Brighton. Later that year Tony took his family on a trip to Europe, and visited the Ferrans in Alella. The bus company became a public company and on Monday 14 July 1924, they put a block advertisement in the Argus newspaper, offering 100,000 shares of one pound each, with a nominal capital of £100,000. The secretary was listed as Charles Fitzherbert-Howson, who married their sister, Francisca, at Our Redeemer’s Church in Surrey Hills on 15 August 1922.
Lionel San Miguel designed a two-housed estate, Montalegre , situated on the corner of Mont Albert and Balwyn Roads, Mont Albert, for his mother . St Abbs was sold on 8 August 1922 to Martin George Brown of Studley Avenue, Kew, for £1850. The family, apart from Tony and Francisca, moved into Montalegre shortly afterwards. Lionel had installed a secret panel in the drawing room, where Birdie kept her jewellery, personal papers, cash, and a replica pistol. One morning after hearing a noise she spotted a burglar climbing in through an open window. As he made his way into another room, Birdie closed the window and retrieved the pistol from the panel, and confronted the hapless thief. By this time her housekeeper had appeared and Birdie instructed her to telephone the police, who arrived promptly and arrested the intruder. The house was a beautifully designed Art Deco style, with Spanish-inspired arches, and a glorious large garden with a tennis court. The residence was admired by all who visited.
Many balls and parties were held at the new home in the large ballroom, and Jaime was always a popular figure amongst the pretty, single girls. He had seen Ally only once since his return, and although it was a painful experience, he had moved on with his life when she married Angus. At one of the family garden parties, on a sultry, summer day in 1924, Jaime was introduced to a strikingly beautiful chestnut-haired girl, Alma May Lumsden, known by her nickname of Connie. She had come to the party with a friend of Lionel’s, and when they struck up a conversation, she reminded Jaime that they had met once before. Connie was a friend of Ally’s. For a moment Jaime froze, just hearing Ally’s name still hurt, but Connie’s animated conversation and her exquisite looks soon had him under her spell.
Very soon Jaime and Connie were courting. Nights at the theatre, intimate dinners, and social tennis parties followed. Unlike Jaime, Connie didn’t play tennis — she detested sports, much to his disappointment. He’d already taken an interest in golf and had recently begun lessons. He had hoped Connie would join him on the links, but that was never to be. Still, when they waltzed to the sound of Marion Harris singing, ‘It Had to Be You’, on the Melola phonograph, which Jaime had purchased in 1923, any regrets with her interest in sport just faded away. He was now besotted with the emerald-eyed beauty, who coyly, always had her own way.
On Saturday 29 May 1926, Jaime married Alma May Lumsden at Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church in Kew. He was twenty-seven years old and Connie was twenty-four. Initially, they moved into a residence at 246 Dandenong Road, St. Kilda, and life was very happy for the honeymooners. Jaime had felt quite smug, when he learnt that Ally knew he had married her old friend; despite his love for Connie, Ally still tugged at his heartstrings, and he had never forgiven her for the letter debacle.
Life changed on 5 May 1927 when Connie’s 49-year-old mother died. She was devastated. The favourite daughter of four sisters, Connie was her mother’s pride and joy, and completely spoilt. She fell into a deep depression, spending days in bed. Jaime would arrive home from work, exhausted, to find his wife sobbing and still in bed with nothing prepared for dinner. He was at his wits end as to how he could help her. Eventually, things returned to normal, but Connie’s happy nature had all but disappeared, and their lovemaking was extremely erratic.
The Argus,
Friday, 6 May 1927
LUMSDEN
On the 5th May, Isabelle, dearly loved wife of Alfred George Lumsden, dearly loved mother of Vera (Mrs Marnell), Myra (Mrs Tompkins), Connie (Mrs San Miguel), and Edna, died at her home in Glenferrie. Dearly loved.
In April of 1929, Birdie San Miguel, aged sixty-five years, along with two of her daughters, Ines and Patricia, set sail on the Oronsay headed for Europe. They would spend over seven months abroad, a large number spent in Barcelona and Seville. On 23 May, the ship docked at Southampton and the trio began their holiday. Harrison, San Miguel & Mauri Bros. and Thomson had both continued to gain huge profits, and as Birdie had a large number of shares in the companies, she received a very healthy income, which continued for many years to come.
The Register News-Pictorial (Adelaide, S.A.) Tuesday, 31 December 1929
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