Anne Dunt met adversity with resilience and determination throughout her life.

She was born about 1819 in Leicestershire, England, the daughter of Thomas Moore and Anne Murrell. In 1846 she married John Spencer at Hackney, Middlesex, and in 1854 the couple sailed to Victoria to build a new life during the gold rush years. That future was shattered in 1869 when John died and was buried at Creswick.

Rather than retreat from life, Anne rebuilt it. In 1871 she married barber Adam Dunt and again established herself in Creswick. Six years later disaster struck when Adam’s barber shop was destroyed in a spectacular fire that swept through several businesses in the town. Then, in 1883, Anne was widowed for a second time after Adam died from sunstroke while visiting his brother in Geelong.

Many women of the era would have been left dependent on others, but Anne appears to have been resourceful and highly organised. By the following year she was running a tobacconist business in Creswick, likely continuing the enterprise connected to Adam’s trade. At the same time, she carefully arranged her affairs, preparing a detailed will long before illness overtook her.

Although she never became a mother, Anne was devoted to her niece, Ann Annison Frances Cooper, daughter of her sister Mary Ann. Their bond was clearly a close one. Anne named her niece sole beneficiary and executrix of her estate, which included real estate and personal possessions of considerable value.

After suffering months of failing health, Anne moved to Colac to live with her niece Ann and Ann’s husband, William Cummings, at their home in Pollock Street. There, surrounded by family and care, Anne died in January 1898.

Research by Merrill O’Donnell
Story by Norma Bakker

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