FatherThomas Milovitch b. 1830, d. 20 Dec 1910
MotherEliza Meagher b. c 1838, d. 21 Jul 1898
Pedigree

Birth, Death, Marriage

Annie Milovitch was born on 17 November 1865 in Prahran, Victoria.1 
She married Henri Fortin, son of Eugene Fortin and Marie Coluean, in 1892 in Shepparton, Victoria.2,3 
She died on 28 June 1939 in Richmond, Victoria, at age 73.4,5 

Family

Henri Fortin b. 1865, d. 1918
Children
ChartsMilovitch, Thomas, descendant chart

Story

Annie was born in Prahran 'near Melbourne' on 17 November 1865. She was the oldest child of Eliza and Thomas. The birth was registered as Ann Melvouch. She was known as Annie on later documents including marriage, death, obituary and her mother's probate.

Her mother Eliza registered the birth six months later in the Avenel district when the family was living at 'Tabilk Vineyard' where Thomas was working.1
 
The five Milovitch children, Annie, Mary, Peter, Edward 'Paddy' and Korizo, may have gone to school in the Prahran area where they were born (the youngest in 1875), or near Nagambie where they were living by 1890.
 
Death of Brother Peter Nicholas 
Peter Milovitch died in June 1890. He was just 20 years old and was working at Tahbilk at the time. One newspaper reported he died of 'brain fever', but his death certificate says he died of bronchitis.

Within 12 months the family had relocated to Mooroopna.6,7
 
An In Memoriam appeared in The Age three years after his death:
MILOVITCH - In sad and loving remembrance of our dear son, Peter Nicholis Milovitch, who departed this life on 15th June, 1890, at Chateau Tahbllk.
Immaculate heart of Mary,
Your prayers for him extol,
Oh, sacred heart of Jesus,
Have mercy on his soul.
- Inserted by his loving father and mother, brother and sisters.8

 
Family Move to Mooroopna
It is uncertain where the family was between Korizo's 1875 birth in Prahran, and 1891 when they were in Mooroopna. Mooroopna Justice of the Peace, WS Archer, said in an 1891 document that he had known Thomas for seven years. This would seem to imply that Thomas was in the Mooroopna area by about 1884. But the death registration for their son, Peter Nicholas, says he died in 1890 in Tahbilk. And the informant for that information was Peter's sister, Mary Elizabeth, who gave her residence as Tahbilk. This implies that the family, or a significant part of it, was still in Tahbilk in 1890.9,10,11,7
 
By late 1891 the family was living in Finsborough St, Mooroopna (later 24 Main St).

At this time, eldest Annie was 26 and youngest Korizo was 16.

The brick section at the front had a wine shop and two other rooms. The timber section at the back had five rooms with lined partitions of wooden dado (lower part of the wall) and the balance paper and canvas.11,12
 
Marriage and Family
Annie Milovitch and Henri Fortin were married at the Roman Catholic church in Shepparton on 27 January 1892. They had two children between 1893 and 1896.

Witnesses to the marriage were William O'Connell and Annie's sister Mary Milovitch. Annie and Henri married on the fourth Wednesday of the month, and William and Mary married on the fourth Wednesday in January the following year.

At the time of their marriage, Annie lived in Mooroopna. Henri gave his current residence as Mooroopna, but his usual address as Nagambie.3,13
 
The couple had two boys, Eugene Vincent Fortin, known as Vince, and Andre Henri Fortin, later known as Andrew. Both were born in Mooroopna.14,15
 
Park St Property
In August 1896, Henri purchased block 2, lot 19, Park St (later part of 4 Park St). It had a 50 link (10 m) frontage by 475 links (96 m) deep. On the same day, his father-in-law Thomas Milovitch purchased the adjacent (east side) block 1 of the same dimensions.

In April 1906, the property title passed to John Henry Sadler, a baker.

It is not known whether Henri and Annie ever built a house or lived there.16

Title held by Henri Fortin, Mooroopna, Sep 1896
Image: Land Registry Services
Eliza's Elizabeth St Property 
Eliza had purchased lot 12 (later no. 9) Elizabeth St in 1895. Initially a block of land, it was later built on and rented out.

In July 1898 when Eliza died, the property passed to Thomas. In his March 1899 will, Thomas left his interest in this property to daughters Annie and Mary.17,18,19,20
 
In July 1901, an inventory was prepared by Thomas as part of the administration of Eliza's estate. This inventory describes a house on 36.8 perches of land (¼ acre, 0.1 ha), and income from renting the house.

By May 1911, after Thomas died, the property is described as 36.8 perches of land with a four roomed wooden dwelling valued at £80 ($160). This is about the same as the purchase price for the land only sixteen years earlier. Rental income was shown as zero, so family may have been living there at the time.18,19
 
In 1921, when Annie Fortin and her sons left Shepparton, the title for this property passed from Annie to brother-in-law, William Patrick O'Connell.17
 
Family Life 
In 1907, son Andre enrolled at St Brendan's school in Shepparton. And from 1908 the family lived in a wine shop in Wyndham St run by Henri.21,22
 
The family remained in the Wyndhan St wine shop until at least 1915. By 1917, they were in a wine shop in High St.23,24,25
 
Complications Administering Thomas and Eliza's Estate
When his wife Eliza died, Thomas began administering her estate. Unfortunately, the process was incomplete when Thomas died. Because there was property involved, someone had resolve Eliza's estate so that it was clear which property and other items would then form part of Thomas's deceased estate.

Eldest daughter, Annie Fortin took on that role, which required considerable effort. To proceed more quickly and easily, she had the other three children, Edward, Mary and Korizo, officially relinquish any role in the administration of their mother's estate. This required not only legal documents from each of them, but also documents from attesting witnesses to those documents.

Annie then acted alone to prepare documents for Eliza's estate, including a valuation of the Elizabeth St property. Letters of administration for Eliza's estate were granted to Annie Fortin on 28 August 1911.

There may have been some pressure on Annie to take on this role being married to Henri Fortin who had a key role at Trojano Darveniza's Excelsior winery. Thomas Milovitch's wine shop owed Excelsior Vineyard a substantial sum of money at the time of his death. And Thomas's probate could not proceed - and Excelsior would not receive their money - until Eliza's estate was first settled.19,18,12
 
Years Following Henri's Death
Henri died in 1918. The electoral roll for 1919 shows Annie, Vincent and Andre still at High St, but none is shown as running the wine shop.26,27
 
In 1921, all three left the Shepparton area. Annie sold the Elizabeth St, Mooroopna property she had received as part of her mother's estate. Electoral rolls for 1921 and 1922 show Annie, Vincent and Andre living in Owen St, Carlton South.28,29,17
 
By 1924, Vince had left and by 1925 all three were in different places. Annie was in Banole Ave in Prahran and Vince had returned to Shepparton staying at the Court House Hotel. It is uncertain where Andre was, but by 1931 he was living in Barkly St, Fitzroy North.30,31,32,33
 
Annie lived in Williams Rd, Armadale for a couple of years before in 1931, she moved in with Andre.34,35,33,36
 
Andre moved to Canberra and Annie lived for several years in Victoria St, Fitzroy.37,38,39,5
 
Annie Fortin died at Epworth Hospital in Richmond on 28 June 1939, aged 73. She was buried at Mooroopna cemetery on 30 June 1939.5,4
 
Mrs Annie Fortin
A former old Shepparton resident, Mrs Annie Fortin, died in Epworth private hospital, East Melbourne on Wednesday. Deceased who was 73 years of age, was the widow of the late Henri Fortin of Mooroopna, who was for many years manager of the Mooroopna winery and Darvenizas. She leaves two sons Vincent (Shepparton) and Andrew (Canberra).

The funeral will leave the home of Mr Roy Williams, Echuca Road, Mooroopna, today for the Mooroopna Cemetery at 12.30 pm.5

 

Citations

  1. [S344] Ann Melvouch, birth registration no. 5961, 17 November 1865.
  2. [S270] Victorian Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, registry and index, Henri Fortin and Annie Milovitch entry, marriage registration 862, 1892.
  3. [S492] Henri Fortin and Annie Milovitch, marriage registration no. 862, 27 January 1892.
  4. [S270] Victorian Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, registry and index, Annie Fortin entry, death registration no. 5747, 1939.
  5. [S201] 'Obituary: Mrs Annie Fortin', Shepparton Advertiser, 1914-1953, newspaper, Thomas Pettit and William Callender, 30 June 1939, p. 1, viewed 9 September 2017, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article187752683
  6. [S429] 'Tabilk', Weekly Times, 1869-1954, newspaper, 28 June 1890, p. 28, viewed 1 August 2018, https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/221186590
  7. [S349] Peter Nicholas Milovitch, death registration no. 13136, 15 June 1890.
  8. [S171] 'In memoriam: Milovitch', The Age, 1854-, newspaper, 15 June 1893, p. 1, viewed 1 August 2018, https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/193429112
  9. [S341] Korizo Mellivitch, birth registration no. 25087, 5 January 1875.
  10. [S166] 'Thomas Milovitch', A712 Letters received, no. 1891/R11040, naturalisation, 1891.
  11. [S561] LANDATA, online property information, certificate of title, vol. 1119, folio 223687, Mooroopna, 1879-1935.
  12. [S339] 'Thomas Milovitch', VPRS 28 Probate and Administration Files, no. 118/620, probate, 20 February 1911.
  13. [S64] William Patrick O'Connell and Mary Elizabeth Millovitch, marriage registration no. 800, 25 January 1893.
  14. [S145] Federation Index Victoria 1889-1901: Indexes to births deaths and marriages in Victoria, CD-ROM, Macbeth Genealogical Services, 1997, 'Andre Henri' Fortin entry, birth registration no. 5255, 1897.
  15. [S145] Federation Index Victoria 1889-1901: Indexes to births deaths and marriages in Victoria, CD-ROM, Macbeth Genealogical Services, 1997, 'Eugene Vincent' Fortin entry, birth registration no. 6042, 1893.
  16. [S561] LANDATA, online property information, certificate of title, vol. 2619, folio 523686, Mooroopna 1896-1909.
  17. [S561] LANDATA, online property information, certificate of title, vol. 1404, folio 280681, Mooroopna, 1882-1921.
  18. [S345] 'Elizabeth Milovitch', VPRS 28 Probate and Administration Files, no. 69/654, probate, 14 November 1898.
  19. [S347] 'Elizabeth Milovitch', VPRS 28 Probate and Administration Files, no. 121/621, probate, 11 September 1911.
  20. [S338] 'Thomas Milovitch', VPRS 7591 Wills 1853-1992, will, 13 March 1899.
  21. [S165] History of St Brendan's Primary School 1891-1991, St Brendan's Centenary History Committee, 1991, p. 67.
  22. [S392] Australia, Electoral Rolls 1903-1980, online, division of Echuca, subdivision of Shepparton, 1908.
  23. [S392] Australia, Electoral Rolls 1903-1980, online, division of Echuca, subdivision of Shepparton, 1914.
  24. [S392] Australia, Electoral Rolls 1903-1980, online, division of Echuca, subdivision of Shepparton, 1915.
  25. [S392] Australia, Electoral Rolls 1903-1980, online, division of Echuca, subdivision of Shepparton, 1917.
  26. [S270] Victorian Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, registry and index, Henri Fortin entry, death registration no. 14661, 1918.
  27. [S392] Australia, Electoral Rolls 1903-1980, online, division of Echuca, subdivision of Shepparton, 1919.
  28. [S392] Australia, Electoral Rolls 1903-1980, online, division of Melbourne, subdivision of Carlton South, 1921.
  29. [S392] Australia, Electoral Rolls 1903-1980, online, division of Melbourne, subdivision of Carlton South, 1922.
  30. [S392] Australia, Electoral Rolls 1903-1980, online, division of Melbourne, subdivision of Carlton South, 1924.
  31. [S392] Australia, Electoral Rolls 1903-1980, online, division of Echuca, subdivision of Shepparton, 1925.
  32. [S392] Australia, Electoral Rolls 1903-1980, online, division of Fawkner, subdivision of Prahran Gardens, 1925.
  33. [S392] Australia, Electoral Rolls 1903-1980, online, division of Batman, subdivision of Fitzroy North, 1931.
  34. [S392] Australia, Electoral Rolls 1903-1980, online, division of Fawkner, subdivision of Armadale, 1927.
  35. [S392] Australia, Electoral Rolls 1903-1980, online, division of Fawkner, subdivision of Armadale, 1928.
  36. [S392] Australia, Electoral Rolls 1903-1980, online, division of Batman, subdivision of Fitzroy North, 1934.
  37. [S392] Australia, Electoral Rolls 1903-1980, online, division of Yarra, subdivision of Fitzroy South, 1935.
  38. [S392] Australia, Electoral Rolls 1903-1980, online, division of Yarra, subdivision of Fitzroy South, 1936.
  39. [S392] Australia, Electoral Rolls 1903-1980, online, division of Melbourne, subdivision of Fitzroy, 1937.