West family roots run deep in Parkes

More than 80 people from different branches of the West family came to Parkes on 8 August this year for the West Family Reunion at the Parkes Services Club. Cousins Pam Moore from Kurrajong and Cheryl Mellan from Newcastle organised the reunion. The next reunion is planned for 2028 in Corowa. This is their story: Our West family originated in Northamptonshire and Cheshire England, and unlike many families who migrated to Australia in the 1800s, this family did that but en masse via three generations at the same time. Simeon Levi West, a gamekeeper and wife Mary Ann Paine, raised 13 children between 1826 and 1857. They all mostly married in England and had children long before making the move from the old country. Of those 13 children, nine would migrate to either the US, NZ or Australia. And four chose to remain in England. But in time even some of the second generation of the four who remained in England chose to make the move to Australia as well. Vincent Paine West was the first of the 13 siblings to leave, he worked the gold mines of Australia and NZ. He was followed by his younger siblings and the families of William, Matilda and Edmund. The Matilda side of the West family - Peter Howarth, Doreen Squires, Donna Hill, Jennifer Bott, Anne Rouge, Elvira West and Daryl West. Brother Thomas Walter and family went straight to NZ and eventually his sister Florence and her family joined him there after spending time in Australia first. Elizabeth Paine West and her family took a longer route. After the death of her husband in the UK, Elizabeth and a number of her sons first went to the US, but after a few years Elizabeth and her youngest son, Vincent Paine Shallcross, decided to come to Australia. Elizabeth ended up in Parkes where she died in 1912. Frank Costin from Tasmania is a descendant from Edmund West. The last group to leave England was Simeon Levi junior with his young wife and child. With them travelled the youngest sibling Julia Ann as well as the aged parents, father Simeon Levi senior and mother Mary Ann. Most of the siblings made their homes in the Corowa area in southern NSW where they mostly farmed. William developed a 600-acre horse farm at Daysdale called Hooten Stud and bred many successful racehorses; he also purchased some breeding horses from the stud farms of Queen Victoria’s stud, as well as from Lord Sefton. ‘Padlock’ was a most celebrated racehorse of that era. Descendants of William of Hooten Stud Farm at Daysdale in the southern Riverina of NSW. A number of descendants then headed into central NSW, settling around the Parkes area. Simeon Levi junior bought ‘Botfields’ in Bogan Gate. He also owned a number of properties in the area, including the Bogan Gate Hotel and Hall, and later built West’s Hall in Browne Street, Parkes which he gave to the community. He owned and renovated the Commercial Hotel that still stands in Clarinda Street, Parkes today. Like his older brother William, Simeon Levi junior was a horse breeder, and these won many races around NSW, Queensland and Victoria, including second place in the 1888 Melbourne Cup with “Tradition”. Descendants of Simeon Levi West of Bogan Gate. December 2025 marked the 200th wedding anniversary of Simeon Levi West and Mary Ann Paine. They left a legacy in the form of 88 grandchildren and 330 great grandchildren, and a total of 2485 people have descended from this one couple. Today our family exists in the UK, the US, NZ and the Australian states of Tasmania, Western Australia, Queensland, NSW and Victoria. Anyone wanting more information on the West family can contact Cheryl Mellan on 0415 117 498.