Riches Family

1870s - 1920s

James and Amelia Jetter Riches (nee Sims) were married in 1853 and living in the small town of Winchester, Victoria when they started their family. Daughter Elizabeth Amelia arrived in 1855, followed by Edmund Ambrose in 1867, twins Amelia Lydia and Laura Amanda in 1868, Seaman Sydney in 1971 and Laura Lydia in 1875. At least two of their sons moved to Melbourne and settled in Northcote.

Edmund Ambrose purchased property on the rise in Bayview Street which became known as “The Alpines” and was eventually sold to the Church of England to build the Church of the Epiphany in the mid-1920s. Ambrose then moved down to Brighton on the other side of Port Phillip Bay.

Sydney married Alice Mary Weeding in 1900. He was a clerk and they lived in a number of houses around Northcote and Preston. In 1903 they were in Mansfield Street, Northcote. At the start of WWI they had moved to 72 Tyler Street, Preston to an Italianate double-bay villa called “Lochnorries”. By the end of the war they were in High Street, Northcote at number 158 and 8 Merri Creek Street in 1924. During the Depression years of the early1930s they were at 62 James Street, Northcote. By that stage their family was largely grown up. All of the Riches children were born and raised in Northcote.

Grace Alexandra was born in 1902 followed by Seaman Roy in 1904, Keith Rayment in 1906 and Sydney James in 1909. Seaman Roy was known as Roy. He became the driving force behind the Epiphany Choir and Entertainers Society at the church built on his uncle’s former land. Although Roy was the artist in the family and the one, keen to lead and star in the comedies and dramas performed by the company, he was successful in recruiting his two brothers to help with stage construction and lighting. It was here that their respective trades of carpenter and radio engineer were put to best use although Keith also performed on stage with the company.

In June 1927 Roy was farewelled from the Epiphany Entertainers, presented with a travelling rug, a pen and a prayer book by the Reverend Thomas Cole of the Church of the Epiphany. His work on behalf of various church agencies was recognised at the close of the second performance of “Charlie’s Wife” at Panton Hill. Roy had been a vestry man, a chorister, a lay reader and a Sunday school teacher for the church.