Mavis Lily Oaten

     NOTE: The information on this page is my research to date and is subject to change as I become better informed. I very much welcome any corrections or additional info you might have - my email address is at the bottom of this page. Whilst historical facts are not copyright, my writing about these facts are. If you wish to use any text from this site on Ancestry or on any other website, please ask me first - Tim Hill.


Mavis was born at 15 Coleman street on Thursday, 1 May 1913 at the Melbourne suburb of North Fitzroy.^1,2 She was the daughter of Albert Edward Oaten and Violet Barbara Cheyne. She apparently was called 'Mave' by her mother, and in turn called her mother 'Moggie.³'

She was scheduled to have a first set of vaccinations in the late morning of Saturday, 17 May 1913 at Brunswick Street North, in North Fitzroy,^4,5with a further vaccination when she was 3 months old.⁴ A picture was taken of Mavis January 1916 when she was 2 years and 6 months old.

Her father died 2 May 1919 at the age of 31 at the approximate age of 31. Mavis was aged 6 when this happened. He died of influenza during the epidemic. She had turned six the day before.

For the next 5 years, Violet and her children moved addresses a number of times. In 1924 she was living at 162 Queens Parade in North Fitzroy, then seven years later was at 3 Groom Street.^6,7 'Boy' Nicholson and Mavis 'Micky' Oaten met when Mavis and Hubert's sister Jeanne both worked at the Coles Department Store in Glenferrie Road. Jeanne invited Mavis home to their house in Coppin Grove, and it started there. Hubert's teenage brother Bon was also attracted to Mavis, but it was the older Hubert who won out.⁸ At this time her occupation was given as a shop assistant at Myer's department store in her early years. Mavis Lily Oaten was a designer in February 1934.⁹

She married Hubert Nicholson, a radio engineer, son of Charles Leigh Clare Nicholson and Louise Augusta Fookes, in a Church of England ceremony at All Saints on Saturday, 17 February 1934 at the Melbourne suburb of Kooyong. She was 20 and her husband Hubert was 24. Mavis married with the consent of her mother.. Others who are likely to have attended the wedding include Violet Barbara Cheyne as mother of the bride and Louise Augusta Fookes as mother of the groom as both their fathers had died. Brothers and sisters who may have attended include Violet Agnette Oaten, Charles Henry Oaten, Jeanne Marie Louise Augusta Nicholson and Brandon Murray Scott Nicholson. Aunts, uncles and grandparents who may have attended include Charles Henry Oaten, Albert Henry Fooks, Winifred Amelia Oaten, Alice Eleanor Mary Oaten, Margaret Mary Oaten, Henry William Oaten, Charles Henry Oaten, Lydia Amelia Oaten, Lily Hawthorne Cheyne and Daisy Agnnete Cheyne. They went on to have some eight children together, only two of whom reached adulthood.^9,10

Mavis and Hubert Nicholson became the parents of Leigh Donald Nicholson in 1934 at Victoria.¹¹ Mavis and Hubert lived in 1936 at at 97 Illawarra Road in the Melbourne suburb of Auburn. They were to stay there for about the next two years.¹²

After their marriage, Hubert and Mavis moved in with his mother in at 2 Coppin Grove in the Melbourne suburb of Hawthorn.⁸ Mavis's health was so poor in the years after the birth of Barbara that Barbara went to live with her Aunt Vi in Hawthorn, only returning to her parents when her brother Graham was born five years after her.¹³

She may have attended the wedding of her sister Violet when she married Harold John Neill at St. John's Church of England on Saturday, 20 January 1940 at the Melbourne suburb of Camberwell. The marriage was featured on the 'Weddings and Engagements' page of The Age and included a photo. Harold and Violet went on to have two children together.^14,15 Mavis and Hubert had a number of other children between 1935 and 1941 but all of them except Barbara died young. There is some speculation that this is because they had congenital birth defects due to their parent's incompatible blood types that resulted in clotted blood (Margaret), being born with half a bowel and septisemia.⁸ Mavis and Hubert lived in 1942 at Hawthorn. They stayed there until they went overseas; on their return at the end of the decade they went back to Coppin Grove.^16,17

She may have attended the wedding of her brother in the marriage of Charles Henry Oaten and Margaret Alice Hume in a Church of England ceremony at All Saints on Saturday, 28 August 1943 at Kooyong. Margaret and Charles went on to have just one known children together.

Christmas for the extended family would take place at a different house each year, with each family bringing meals to contribute to the affair. There would be sing-a-longs of Christmas Carols and a big traditional roast of ham and turkey.¹⁸

In 1947 Hubert's work took him to England, and the family spent three years there.¹³ Mavis and Hubert lived circa 1948 at Great Bookham, Surrey. They remained there for three years in the late 1940's.⁸ Mavis (and presumably her spouse Hubert) lived in 1948 at The Lodge Sole Farm House Church Road, in Great Bookham, Surrey.¹⁹

Mavis Lily Oaten was apparently hospitalised for a while but was out again by Christmas 1949.²⁰ She and Hubert Nicholson departed from England on 5 January 1950 on the Strathnaver They were returning home from Hubert's posting to England. Travelling with them were their children, Barbara and Graham. They reached Australia on 1st February 1950.^21,22 Mavis Lily Oaten and Hubert Nicholson arrived in Fremantle, Western Australia, on 1 February 1950 with their children Barbara and Graham.²³ Mavis and Hubert lived in July 1959 at at 20 Bluff street in the Melbourne suburb of Hawthorn East.²⁴

Her mother died September 1962 at the age of 73. Mavis was aged 49 when this happened.



Her husband Hubert died 9 March 1968 at the age of 58, leaving her a widow at age 54. Mavis provided information on the death of Hubert Nicholson, on 9 March 1968, at at 20 Bluff Street in the Melbourne suburb of Hawthorn East at age 54.²⁵

Mavis died on 21 October 1990 at Melbourne at age 77.²⁶ Her body was interred at Springvale Botanical Crematorium at the Melbourne suburb of Springvale.²⁶

Mavis's will was probated on 20 September 1991. And her estate was valued at $1,748.65, made up predominantly of shares and some minor items of jewellery.²⁷