This page was written by Rita Dorlong (dec) when she researched the Browne family tree in the mid 1990’s.  I have edited some of this and updated a few items. The family of Johns wife (Mary) Jane Browne is listed on the the tree page. Further written history available on request.

JOHN Muston migrated here to Australia as a "ship's cook" and worked in this capacity for some time after his arrival in Australia. He married JANE, (NEE BROWNE) who was 16 years younger, born in 1865, the eldest child of WILLIAM and ELIZA BROWNE. JOHN Muston's birth certificate from Pailton, England (1.1.1849) gives his father, also JOHN, as a labourer, and the signature of his mother MARY (nee Stanton) is done with a cross and the words added "the mark of MARY Muston, mother, Pailton". (This information is not included in any derogatory manner, but to indicate that education was not freely available to all, yet many of the uneducated would have been very intelligent people.)

Later John became a railwayman, and his work took the family to several parts of Victoria. The places of birth of their seven children gives an indication of some of their moves - Shepparton (JESSIE), Tallarook (WALTER), Devenish (ELLEN MARY [NELLIE] and TOM), Benalla (GEORGE),  Shepparton again (ALF), and Heyfield  (ESTHER), where they lived  out the remainder of their lives.  The house where they lived for over 40 years was still there in Heyfield early in1991 but is gone now, replaced on the same site by a new home. However, the name and signpost "MUSTON'S LANE" remains, as do the tall trees on the roadside; some of their younger nephews and nieces can remember them as thin saplings (even to having climbed them and swayed in the breeze!, which caused some concern to their older aunt). Their house was not far in on the right  when entering Muston's Lane from the Glenmaggie Road - many of the grandchildren remember their childhood holidays there in the little town of Heyfield . Distance by horse transport was quite slow, but there was good contact with the Briagolong relations, and Melbourne ones came by train too for visits.

For many years JANE stoically suffered from a painful "weeping" leg ulcer, and after more than two decades of coping with it mainly on her own, a doctor suggested a newer medication  and it cleared up with no further problems - what a relief that must have been!           JANE was a dedicated churchgoer, and attended St. James' Church of England  in Heyfield for many, many years, and presumedly also worshipped equally devotedly, at other places where they'd lived. Current older residents of Heyfield remember her driving to church in the horse and jinker ready for services, whether rain, hail or shine.   She was a great one also for participation in general community activites, and with her friend Mrs. Pearson regularly heated  kerosene tins of milk over the fire to keep the coffee needs of social functions of Heyfield covered on innumerable occasions over many years.

Having raised her own family of  seven, JANE then helped with  the Lay family, friends of youngest daughter ESTHER; Mrs. Lay died in about 1918. The eldest child Myrtle (now Mrs. Ainge of Heyfield) , then 14, left school to look after the family, but JANE was of such an influence and assistance to them, and to Myrtle in particular, because   after doing her own housework JANE would go and assist Myrtle with what was required in that household too, so that the Lay "children" all these years later still speak of her fondly  as "Mum Muston" - a tribute indeed to her contribution to that family's growing up. By then JOHN Muston would have been getting on in years, and the Lay "children" remember him as  more a home-loving person, but JANE was still much more out-going, with the faithful horse and jinker giving long and reliable service for her outings. (The above-mentioned Mrs. Myrtle Ainge was bridesmaid at ESTHER's wedding, and although now in poorer health, still treasures early photos of herself with ESTHER Muston after so many years not just of the wedding, but others too such as, when still dressed up in their Sunday morning church finery, in the afternoon they would go for a walk around the town, feeling quite elegant, and chatting to whoever they met - simple pleasures indeed!)  Most of the family  moved away to work  elsewhere after leaving school, as was the case in so many families.

 JANE had  cared for her mother  in the final stage of ELIZA's life when she came to the MUSTON home at Heyfield, and other family members drove there( mainly horse or train transport) to visit their  then ailing mother. Her eldest brother, HENRY, also lived the final part of  his life with JANE in Heyfield.

The Muston household was well accustomed to visitors, be it family from Briagolong or further afield, or after JANE's and JOHN's own children had married, when they also returned for visits. A  grand-daughter, Phyllis Dickson, has commented on their many childhood Christmases there at the Muston home, and even in JANE's latter years relations would call in if passing through Heyfield.  Hazel, daughter of Jessie, recalls her as being a midwife and aways working for church, and milking cows and selling the milk to the butter factory. Ron Kent, Nellies son by her second marriage, recall how they had turkeys living in the trees in the lane in front of the house, and how when he chased them John threatened him with the stock-whip.

 JESSIE, the eldest child of JANE and JOHN, married Syd Chalmers and they lived in Melbourne where they had two sons and a daughter - JAMES (JIM), GEORGE and HAZEL.  Syd had a transport business.  JIM had three children GRAEME, LENICE and MERILYN;  GEORGE had no family. Only HAZEL survives of JESSIE'S and Sid's children. She has three sons, MICHAEL, JOHN and SCOTT, the latter with his wife Susan having one son JAKE.

 WALTER,  JOHN and JANE's second child, married Ada Marshall from Glenmaggie, and they had 3 sons and one daughter - CHARLES, FRANCES MARY (MAYME), ALF (who was named for his uncle who had died at the 1st World War a few years prior to his birth), and ARTHUR.  Early in the 20th century, when he was 14 years old, WALTER  had left Victoria and gone to Queensland where he worked for quite some time at the Mount Morgan gold mine. Later he returned to Gippsland, and when he and Ada married they farmed for a time, then had the cordial factory in Traralgon, during which time their four children were born. Ten years after marriage they moved to Melbourne where at different times WALTER had a woodyard, ran a cornstore, and worked for the State Electricity Commision. He also for a time drove a char-a-banc for his brother- in-law  Syd Chalmers.                              

Of WALTER's family, CHARLES  who was with the R.A.A.F. in World War 2, served in Singapore and then they were sent to the Malayan border just before  the Japanese came into the war. He survived their attack there, but later was taken as a Prisoner of War . He died in 1943 working on the Burma Railway , though the family didn't know of his fate until after the war ended in 1945. (see Diggers page)  Later his mother had a plaque placed in his memory at Holy  Trinity Anglican church at Hampton. It is in the Vicarage garden on the floodlight which illuminates  the church tower.

MAYME  married Jack Martin and they were very involved with business, sport, community and Municipal affairs in the Sandringham area. They had a daughter KAREN, who with her husband James Beatty,had three daughters, DANIELLE, CLAIRE and KATHERINE;  KAREN later married to David Berry who sadly passed away in April 2004. MAYME and Jack also had a son GARY, who is a keen yachtsman in his spare time. He and his wife Judith have two children JEREMY and CALLIE.  After Jack's death MAYME lived in the Patterson Lakes area, in a lovely Retirement Village part of which is on the site of where she went on Girl Guide camps in her youth. Mayme passed away in 1999 leaving a very organised family history album to her daughter Karen.  Many of the photos on this site are from that album.                 

 ALF, a carpenter, enlisted in World War 2 also, and for part of the time he served in Toowoomba which is when  he met a local lass Edie Orford, whom he married after the war, and they have remained Queenslanders ever since, apart from some interesting adventures as itinerant workers in various parts of our country after ALF had officially retired. This friendly couple have two sons, ROBERT and JOHN, and a daughter GAYLE. ROBERTand his wife Linda have three children JODIE, TANYA and ADAM (the third A.E.MUSTON). GAYLE's children are DEAN, JACQUELYN and THOMAS, and JOHN's step-children are Brian, Errol, and Heide.  So ALF and Edie have nine grandchildren, and  of all these they are even more fond than of the lovely Toowoomba where they live (and that's saying something!)          

 ARTHUR, who married Ellen Thompson has, like MAYME, remained in Melbourne. They have a son RAYMOND and a daughter MARILYN. RAYMOND and his wife Kerry have three children KIM, CHRISTOPHER and  SALLY while MARILYN and her husband Ian have two daughters, LORI and PETA.

 NELLIE (Ellen Mary), the third in JOHN and JANE's family, did domestic work in Melbourne where she married  Angus Lotton, and they had one son, BERNARD. Angus was a travelling shearer who spent  much time away, and died in the Mallee at a relatively young age. The marriage had broken down due to his extended absences, and she had subsequently married Harry Kent who farmed at Moyston, where they had a family of three sons and two daughters - EDNA, RONALD, MAXWELL, NORMAN and ROMA, eighteen grand-children and now there are thirty-one great grand-children. NELLIE lived the latter years of her life in Ararat, and died  in 1971 at 80 years of age. BERNARD, the son of NELLIE's first marriage, and his wife Cavell had one son MAX, who with his wife Enid, and  after their many years of diplomatic and the Public Service, including a stint in England with their then young sons, have retired and now live in Canberra. Their two sons are ANDREW and BRUCE.

 JOHN and JANE's second son TOM married but had no family.

 GEORGE, (my grandfather) the third son, also lived in Melbourne and married an English lass, Nellie Smith. (Incidentally, Nellie's father had migrated from Britain to New Zealand to teach the "hatting" trade there). GEORGE and Nellie had  two sons and two daughters – JOHN (JACK), PHYLLIS, DULCIE and KENNETH. 

 JACK and his wife Rose, who have now long been Shepparton area dwellers, had four sons. KENNETH and Dawn (nee Ponting) have two daughters, JODIE and LISA; ROBERT and Gale (nee Edge) have four boys, TIMOTHY, SHANE, CHRISTOPHER and SCOTT; LINDSAY's and Susan's (nee Brett) family  are BENJAMIN, BREE, and BEAU; while ALAN, and his wife Rosalie (nee Osborne) had three children, SARA, MELANIE, and JOEL the youngest, who was born a few months after his father's sad death in 1980. JACK and Rose in retirement are keen gem-stone fossickers; and their extensive Campervan travels which include the digging tools, usually result in some interesting finds.

 PHYLLIS married Charles Dickson, and they retired to Tura Beach, N.S.W until 2004 when they returned to Rosebud to be nearer their family. They had five daughters and a son - MARGARET, SUSAN, JULIE, JENNIFER, MICHELLE and PAUL. MARGARET and Gregory Blizard (dec) have three children, SACHA, CHRISTOPHER and ANDREW; JENNIFER and Craig have  TOMAS, BENJAMIN and MIA;  MICHELLE and William have MARTIN; while PAUL and Jane have a son JAMES.

 DULCIE married Fred Bennett (now deceased) and lives in Melbourne. They had two children, DIANNE, and GARY (dec).  DIANNE and Wayne (dec) have two children SHANE and KYLIE.

 GEORGE's youngest son, KENNETH died aged seven years.

 ALF, the youngest son of the Heyfield MUSTON family, enlisted and died in France in World War 1.
refer to diggers page.

 ESTHER, the youngest of JOHN and JANE's family, worked as a telephonist at the Heyfield Post Office until her marriage  at Heyfield to Ernest Noble "Bob" Draper, a railwayman.  ESTHER's good friend Myrtle Lay (to whom JANE Muston had been so helpful when Myrtle's mother had died and Myrtle had the responsibility of the household work) was bridesmaid, and ESTHER's brother WALTER was best man. For a time they lived in Horsham, which is where DOROTHY was born; after that they lived in Melbourne.  For a long time "Bob" worked in the Parcels Office at Spencer St. Station, and the Briagolong folk, especially BILL Lotton,  if in Melbourne, would sometimes call there to see him and pass on greetings to cousin ESTHER. Incidentally, when ESTHER gave up her work at the Heyfield telephone exchange to be married, she suggested to BILL Lotton that he apply for the job. However BILL felt that his heart wanted him to be a farmer - which he has been all along, and now at the age of 86 and in not very good health he still has a couple of sheep - he must have made the right decision!

ESTHER and Bob had a family of three sons and  five daughters - DOROTHY, MARIE, PETER, MARJORIE ANN, DIANA, ROBERT, ERNEST, and GLORIA, who died shortly before her father's death in 1971, leaving three young children.

DOROTHY, who has one son MICHAEL and two grandchildren MARYBETH and NEIL, became a Hospital Matron at Heywood and later at Sandringham; MARIE and her late husband Roy, had two children CHRISTOPHER and ANNE; PETER, who lives in Sydney, has two sons KEITH and ALAN; ANN, who lives in Queensland, has two children KATHERINE and ANTHONY; the children of DIANA and her husband David are JOHN and WENDY;  ROBERT and his wife Pam had four children, ANGELA (who saw my request for MUSTON information in a magazine, and to whom I am very grateful for her interest in responding. R.D.), JILL, RUSSELL, and HELEN; ERNEST and his wife  Julie have two sons DEAN and GLENN ; and GLORIA and her husband Jim had three children PETER(whose wife is Frances),  MARK (killed in an accident in1982) and JODIE who were all still quite young at the time of her sad death   in 1971.

 JOHN Muston died in 1936  at the age of 87, JANE Muston died in Heyfield in 1949 when she was 84 years old, . Both were buried in the Heyfield Cemetery. I visited the site in 2000 and was unable to find headstones for either of them.