GROSSMAN FAMILY – Bellbrae Pioneers
The Grossman Family were early pioneers of the Bellbrae area around 1865 when Albert Frederick and wife Anna Louise (Louisa) Grossman (nee Einsporn) migrated to Australia with thirteen children. They joined many German and Prussian families who settled in Bellbrae, Freshwater Creek and Grovedale.
Albert Grossman died in 1902 and his wife Louisa in 1940. They are buried in Freshwater Creek Cemetery.
Conrad Grossman (1902-1992) was the youngest child of Albert and Louisa. He attended the Bellbrae (then called Jan Juc) Primary school from 1908 to 1914.
Conrad first married Pearl Dryburgh—a local girl who also attended Bellbrae Primary School. Pearl was the granddaughter of George Hunter, another early pioneer of the district. Conrad and Pearl had 2 children, Jean and Keith. Conrad’s second wife was Rita Gwendoline who died in 1985 aged 74.
The Grossman family first lived at a property on Spring Creek which they called Kithbrook. They also lived for a short while on Tara on the Jan Juc Creek, before returning to their property at Bellbrae. Conrad purchased land previously owned by the Ashmore family on what is now called Grossmans Road in Bellbrae. The Grossman family was engaged in share-farming, wood cutting, wood carting and chaff cutting.
In addition, they supplied milk to Torquay and surrounding areas from their Bellbrae farm. In 1948 Conrad Grossman built and operated the dairy on the corner of Pearl Street and Boston Road Torquay, and son Keith delivered milk to the towns people of Torquay.
Although the dairy was sold in 1952, Keith Grossman continued to deliver the town’s milk for the new owners. He also went on to farm land on Grossmans Road. Conrad’s daughter, Jean, married into another German pioneering family, becoming Jean Seiffert.
