Mrs. J.A. PAECH The death occurred at Tepko, on October 10, 1924, of Mrs. Maria Elizabeth Paech at the ripe old age of 91 years 7 months.  The deceased lady, who has been living with her son, Mr. J.C. Paech, of Tepko, for the past 24 years, was born in Germany on March 3, 1833, and arrived in South Australia with her parents when seven years of age. The family made their home at Hahndorf for the time being, burt later moved to Friedrichstadt, where she was married to Mr. Johann August Paech, by the Rev. Fritche (sic) of Lobethal, who was the first Lutheran pastor to come to South Australia.  As a young woman the late Mrs. Paech was most energetic.
She performed all sorts of heavy farm work, even to shearing, putting through as many as 50 sheep in a day.  She also used to walk to Adelaide from Hahndorf, carrying the dairy produce with her, and bringing out the necessary groceries.  During  the harvest she also used the sickle for reaping.  Her husband was killed in a trap accident on April 2, 1872, at the age of 43 years.  The family of the late Mr. and Mrs Paech consisted of five boys and four girls, and the surviving members are Messrs. J.F. W. of Monarto, J.C. of Tepko, J.F., Tepko and P.G., of Mount Barker and Mrs. P.G. Mueller, Parkside, Mrs .W. Auricht, Tanunda, and Mrs von Alpen of Queensland.   There are also 116 grand and great-grandchildren.  The late Mrs Paech had been confined to her bed for the past two years, and about a fortnight prior to her death she had a stroke, from the effects of which she never recovered.

Children of Wilhelm PAECH & Johanna PAECH

A College in the Wattles by Reg BUTLER, page 397

1859

PAECH Anna Pauline Caroline 1860's

Born 2 July 1859.  Died 20 August 1942.  Parents Wilhelm Paech Farmer 'Ravenswood' near Hahndorf & Johanna Paech.  Anna's father Wilhelm and grandfather Friedrich Paech were men of great influence.  They both served on the Lutheran S.A. Synod Church Council and owned much property in and around the Hahndorf District.  Friedrich gave his name to Friedrichstadt, one of Hahndorf's principal farming areas.  From Rentschen in Brandenburg, these Paechs came out to S.A. aboard the Zebra and helped to found Hahndorf.

After schooling at Boehm's Academy, Anna married fellow old scholar Ben Jaensch, son of Gottlob Jaensch who as a youth had emigrated with her father's family.  For several years, A Jaensch lived at Nairne and then shifted to Long Island at Murray Bridge where she helped her husband farm for some forty years.  With judicial purchases, Ben became one of the largest landowners in the district and readily adopted radical methods to tend airy cows, grow wheat and raise sheep and cattle.  His lectures at the local Agricultural Bureau were  sometimes reprinted nationally.  B.T.E. Jaensch belonged to the Mobilong Council and did much to assist in swamp assists.

Anna kept a huge garden at "Long Island Farm' and took sincere interest in helping to further her husband's public life.  She belonged to the Murray Bridge Show Committee and was a foundation member of the Christ Church Lutheran Ladies Guild.  The church organist, her sister-in-law Lydia Jaensch, nee Reimann, had been a good school chum at Lehrer Boehm's.

A College in the Wattles by Reg BUTLER, page 401. 

1861

PAECH Johann Friedrich Wilhelm 1860's-1870's

Born 19 July 1861.  Died 15 February 1926.  Parents Wilhelm Paech Farmer 'Ravenswood' Hahndorf & Johanna, nee Paech.  Of a studious bent, W. Paech Jnr received the whole of his education at Boehm's Academy and then completed a Lutheran teacher training course with Pastor Strempel.  During the 1880's, JFW Paech taught at the Sommerfeld Lutheran school and then returned to Hahndorf to act as assistant to Teachers Ey and Brauer at St Michael's school in the 1890's.  After refusing to take on the school full time, Wilhelm became a general agent, accountant and JP.  Extremely well known and popular, JFW Paech earned the universal nickname of 'Lame Bill' from an accident which damaged one of his legs during his youth.

Wilhelm led a remarkably busy public life secretary of the Hahndorf Insittue and Rifle Club, President of the Vigilance Association, lay reader and treasurer for St Michael's Lutheran congregation, trustee of the Hahndorf public cemetery.  For over thirty years, he audited the Echunga DC books.  In 1912, W Paech opened the town's agency for the Savings Bank of SA, which his children Norma and Ulva continued to administer until their deaths in the 1960's.

J.F.W. Paech married his cousin Hulda, daughter of his mother's brother Wilhelm Paech, for many years a farmer and publican at Palmer.  Shortly after the young Wilhelm Paechs married in 1893, HJulda's parents left for a new farming life at Henty in N.S.W.  Wilhelm and Hulda lived first with his bachelor brother Gustav at Balhannah.  Upon Gustav's marriage, the JFW Paechs shifted to a home in Hahndorf's Main Street next to the old scholar Rohrlachs' cottage.  When Wilhelm Jnr died in 1926, former Academy mates Paul Braendler and Bill Minkwitz acted as two of the pall bearers.  Hulda Paech lived until 1961, one of Hahndorf's last pioneer survivors.

A College in the Wattles by Reg BUTLER, page 402

1871

PAECH Louis Alfred 'Caspar' 1885.

Born 2 February 1871.  Died 6 September 1927.  Parents Wilhelm Paech Farmer 'Ravenswood'  near Hahndorf & Johanna, nee Paech.  Wilhelm had come to SA as a boy on the Zebra in 1838 and died in 1887 when his youngest son L.A. Paech was still a teenager.  Louis continued to live in his childhood home with his widowed mother and her other younger children.  Upon his marriage in 1897, the Widow Johanna Paech and her daughter Ottilie went to live in the old scholar Mosel home at Grunthal, near to her married old scholar daughters now Mesdames Albert & Hermann Storch.  

Until his sudden death in 1927, 'Caspar' farmed at 'Ravenswood'.  He had a herd of dairy cows and like his neighbouring old scholar farmers, the Reimanns and Schroeders, grew wheat, peas, onions and potatoes.  L.A. Paech's wife was Mathilde Bom a daughter of Hahndorf's monumental mason Carl Bom.  She joined a notable group of Paech wives who endure a long widowhood - in her case some thirty-three years.     

Caroline Mathilde Bom b11 May 1873 not found on SAGHS

A College in the Wattles by Reg BUTLER, page 398

1852

PAECH Carl August 1860's

Born 12 August 1852.  Died 11 January 1931.  Parents Wilhelm Paech Farmer 'Rvenswood' near Hahndorf & Johanna Paech.  Education finished, August took up mostly uncleared land at Sommerfeld, where he built a house and established a wheat farm.  Sadly, grain sold for little and in the 1890's A. Paech moved to a mixed farm at Woodchester.  He took a keen interest in local sporting bodies and served as an Onaunga (sic) District Councillor. For the last twenty years of his life, C.A. Paech was blind and had to live quietly at home.

August Paech's wife, nee Mathilde Klaebsch, was the daughter of the Bugle Ranges farmer Johann Klaebsch.  A mason from Benita in Silesia, he had migrated to SA in 1854 aboard the Reiherstieg.  Her mother, nee Eleonore Schumann, was a daughter of a foundation Hahndorf settler Gottlob Schumann, whose marriage in May 1839 to Englishwoman Susanna Wretton of Ely, Cambridgeshire, was one of S.A.'s earliest British-German weddings.

A College in the Wattles by Reg BUTLER, page 403

1856

PAECH Maria Louise Emilie 1860's

Born 31 January 1856.  Died 10 December 1939.  Parents Wilhelm Paech Farmer 'Ravenswood' near Hahndorf & Johanna, nee Paech.  Several months before her 22 birthday, Maria married Teacher Friedrich Zimmermann of Sommerfeld.  She lived in the Sommerfeld, Lydnoch and Monarto schoolhouses, until Fred became the first Clerk of the Mobilong DC in 1884.  Between 1896-1900 came the challenge of helping to run hotels at Nuriootpa, Kapunda and Ardrossen.

Probably, it was much more peaceful to keep general stores at Nildottie and Nuriootpa.  During the First World War, a yearly boarder to care for was Hans Heysen.   Fred rowed the artist along the Murray to paint cliff scenes and returned home with a load of reeds for the Zimmermann cows.  Content, Sir Hans caught a paddle steamer for Murray Bridge and a train home.  In retirement at Nuriootpa, Marie had the pleasure of being near her Mattiske nephews who ran the 'Angas Park' fruit packing shed at Angaston.

A College in the Wattles by Reg BUTLER, page 398

1863

PAECH Christoph Hermann Gustav 'Mensch' 1860's-1870's.

Born 2 January 1863.  Died 20 March 1944.  Parents Friedrich Paech Farmer 'Ravenswood' near Hahndof & Johanna Paech.  After a childhood on his parents' fine property, Gustav bought a couple of virgin sections of his own across the recently-erected Adelaide-Nairne railway line, within sight of 'Ravenswood.'  Following the necessary clearing of native timber, G Paech planted wheat, oats and market garden vegetables.  He despatched regular loads of wattle bark to the old scholar Paltridge tannery at Mt Barker and prime furnace wood to John Lawton's coach building factory at Goodwood.  

Until his marriage in 1897, Gustav's schoolteacher brother Wilhelm and family lived with him at 'The Willows'.  In company with several of his brothers and cousins, 'Mensch' Paech was an expert rifle marksman.  He made his own lead bullets and competed in the local Hahndorf Kingship shoot, winning the coveted medal apron trophy in 1903 and 1906.  'The win of Mr G Paech, with 146 points, was very popular, as he has belonged to the local club for a number of years and at each competition has done some very fair shooting.;

Children of August PAECH & Elizabeth PAECH

A College in the Wattles by Reg BUTLER, page 401

1855

PAECH Johann Friedrich Wilhelm, attended the Hahndorf Academy in the 1860's.

Born 24 November 1855.  Died 23 January 1939.  Parents August Paech farmer Friedrichstadt & Elizabeth Paech.  Wilhelm's maternal 'Tepko' Paechs had arrived in SA during 1844 aboard the George Washington and settled first at Hahndorf and then Tepee.  As a young woman, Elisabeth was noted for her prodigious energy - she shore up to fifty sheep a day by hand, harvested grain with a sickle and participated in the walks the Hahndorf woman made to Adelaide with farm produce.  Full of honours after a fifty-two year widowhood, shed died at the great age of ninety-two with one hundred and 16 grandchildren and great-grandchildren scattered in SA and Qld.

Only sixteen when his father had his fatal street accident, JFW Paech had to do most of the Friedrichstadt farm work to help his widowed mother.  In 1878, Wilhelm Paech married fellow Academy scholar Bertha Strempel, eldest daughter of Hahndorf's Pastor Strempel.  The young couple settled on a farm at Monarto, where they lived to celebrate their diamond wedding.  Like his old scholar brother Christoph in neighbouring Tepko, Wilhelm was a JP and served as treasurer, secretary and school elder for the Monarto Lutheran Church.  

A College in the Wattles by Reg BUTLER, page 400

1861

PAECH Johann Friedrich 'Fritz',attended the Hahndorf Academy in the 1860's -1870's.

Born 25 October 1861.  Died 9 April 1930.  Parents August Paech Farmer Friedrichstadt & Elizabeth Paech. Only a few months past his tenth birthday when his father died in Teacher Boehm's Academy.  Fritz remained with his widowed mother on their Friedrichstadt farm until his own marriage in 1882 to Academy chum Maria Rohrlach.  The young couple set up on a farm at Sommerfeld, near to his elder brother Christoph, who had married and settled in that district a year previously.  

Of quiet, retiring nature, JF Paech kept a good mixed farm and regularly served his nearby Lutheran Church.  Greatly hospitable, the Fritz Paech's loved to entertain widely at the weekend and help neighbours in difficulty.  During 1918, F Paech endured a great grief in the sudden death of his old scholar wife, a niece of T.W. Boehm.  His suffering compounded when a sickness rendered him totally blind.  Fortunately, Fritz's kindly unmarried sister in law Lena Rohrlach came to maintain the household and provide gentle care for her motherless nieces.  The oldest, Maria, went as a cook for D.J. Byard at Hahndorf College for some years before her marriage.

Children of Friedrich PAECH & Pauline HOFFMANN 

This Darby Rd PAECH sells 'the Pines' to Georg Hermann PAECH from Paechtown house no 2.
1861

PAECH Friedrich Wilhelm 1860's-1870's.

Born 2 October 1861. Died 29 December 1908.  Parents Friedrich Paech Farmer, Friedrichstadt & Pauline Hoffmann.  Only six years old when his father died, Wilhelm went to live with his uncle and aunt 'The Ravenswood Paech's' between Hahndof and Balhannah, from where he attended the Hahndorf Academy and College.  On reaching his majority, W Paech assumed control of his late grandfather JFW Paech's fine farm at Friedrichstadt. 

F.W. Paech early took up public life.  While he farmed at Friedrichstadt, he entered the Echunga DC, quickly becoming its Chairman.  Premier Cockburn, often in the area with his summer home at Mt Barker, made Wilhelm a JP at a very young ate.  After two unsuccessful attempts, F.W. Paech finally entered in 1899  the S.A. Parliament, to which he belonged until his death in 1908.  Coincidentally, the 1899 parliamentary elections marked the entry of both F.W. Paech and L. von Doussa to colonial politics - apparently the first sons of Hahndorf and its Academy to achieve such a distinction.  

Wilhelm married Marie, daughter of Hope Valley farmer Carl Kolwes, who also ran the Bremer Hotel.  The first husband William Stoneham was a son of W Stoneham sen founder of the nearby Modbury Hotel.  Between 1887-1891, Marie and William had the licence of Hahndorf's 'German Arms'.  Evidently, F.W. Paech emulated his old mate August Pade (who handed the 'German Arms' over to the Stonehams) and became friendly with a widowed lady, for W. Stoneham died suddenly in early 1891.  W. Paech sold his Friedrichstad farm to the neighbouring 'Kaysher' Paechs and old scholar Hermann Paech took over the property.  The F.W. Paechs went in for hotel-keeping too - the 'Royal' at Eudunda.  After Wilhem died, Marie retained the licence until 1914.  In a family fond of nicknames to distinguish its many similarly-named members, F.W. Paech cheerfully answered to 'Parliament' Paech. 

https://www.parliament.sa.gov.au/Search/Member?type=member&id=3868

A College in the Wattles by Reg BUTLER, page 403

1895

PAECH Walter Albert 'Wally' 1908

Born 8 February 1895. Died 25 June 1970.  Parents Wilhelm Paech Farmer and Agent Hahndorf & Hulda, nee Paech.  Wilhelm himself was one of Hahndorf College's best known Old Boys.  Hulda was a scion of the widely scattered 'Tepko' Paechs, who lived in Hahndorf for a time after their emigration to S.A. in the 1840's.

After St Michael's Lutheran Day School and Hahndorf College, Wally joined the Commercial Bank of Australia, eventually rising to become Branch Manager in S.A., Vic and finally Bankstown in N.S.W. from where he retired.

W.A. Paech enlisted with the AIF in France and met his wife, an Australian nurse, while undergoing treatment for severe war wounds in an English military hospital.  The Paech's were keen on theatricals and organised productions wherever Wally was stationed in the bank.  Wally Paech was an active Rotarian and member of the R.S.L., besides enjoying a game of social tennis.

A College in the Wattles by Reg BUTLER, page 403

1896

 PAECH Stanley Harold 'Stan', 1907-1910

Born 6 April 1896.  Died 8 October 1955.   Parents Gustav 'Jimmy' Paech Hotelkeeper Mannum & Alwine Borchers.  Stan's great-grandfather Friedrich Paech was the founder of 'Friedrichstadt' between Hahndorf & Echunga, as well as one of Hahndorf's foundation settlers.  Other members of the Paech family attended the Hahndorf College, as did several of 'Venie' Borchers' younger brothers.  While he attended Hahndorf College, Stan stayed with his Borchers grandparents at 'Daisy Hill Farm', near Balhannah.

Before his marriage, S.H. Paech helped his parents in the hotels and also on their Nairne farm.  For some time after 1912 when the Transcontinental Railway was under construction, Stan laboured on the line with fellow old scholar Harold Easlea.  Then he worked at the Port Pirie BHP Smelters, where another old scholar Don Yates was also employed.

A career with railways again called and S.H. Paech joined SAR maintenance gangs on the Adelaide Hills and Victor Hqrbor lines.  From c1937 he became paymaster for Islington and the Adelaide Hills railway employees, much valued by the authorities for his ability to speak in German with many SAR post-war migrant workers.  He also devised a more efficient railways pay sheet which cut down on the transposition and repetition in calculation.

In his youth S.H. Paech played football for Nairne and joined with his old scholar uncle Dick Borchers in rifle shooting.  He also spent much time with bloodstock horses, particularly on the property of Judge Boucaut near Mt Barker.

A College in the Wattles by Reg BUTLER, page 397

1878

PAECH Bernhard Paul 1890's.

Born 26 January 1878.  Died 31 January 1964.  Parents Christoph Paech Farmer Sommerfeld & Maria Mangelsdorf.  A Moestchen gardener, grandfather Gottlieb Paech brought his family to SA aboard the Patel  in 1845 and settled in Hahndorf.  His two eldest daughters married the 'Renschener' Paech brothers, numbers of whose descendants attended the Hahndorf Academy.  In the early 1860's, the Gottlieb Paechs moved to Sommerfeld, where they generally became known as the 'Tepko' Paechs.  Father Christoph Paech, a four year old boy at the time of the emigration, also farmed at Sommerfeld.  

Grandfather Christian Mangelsdorf brought his family out to SA on board the Steinwaerder in 1854.  First at Grunthal, eventually they settled on a farm at Inverbrackie, near Woodside.  Uncle Gottfried Mangelsdorf married a Wieth, sister to Martha Faehrmann, mother of the Faehrmann old scholars.  

After tuition at the Sommerfeld Lutheran Day School under Lehrer Bucholz, Paul attended Hahndorf College, once the school of his much older local Paech cousins, and then taught briefly on the recently-opened WA goldfields, before returning to SA to instruct for the rest of his career in that state's primary schools beginning in traditional style at Tumby Bay on the West Coast and ending at metropolitan Northfield.  BP Paech loved the soil and organised his school charges to grow magnificent crops for sale to augment school funds.  During World War 1, Paul arranged many concerts to raise money for the national patriotic funds.   

Paul Paech's wife was Minnie, daughter of compositor Walter Dollman of Parkside, who with his brothers worked in various capacities for 'The Advertiser' over many years.  The Paul Paechs early took to cars for daily transport and Paul additionally used his energies for 'Causes' such as helping Kanmantoo grazier Harry Young continue as MP for Murray.  BP Paech loved tennis, bowls and rifle shooting, while quiet evening hours were spent on woodworking projects.