Chief justice Samuel Way's mistress and their family a secret during his Adelaide high-society life

Samuel Way and wife Katherine at their Montefiore, North Adelaide, home with their Australian terriers (a breed that Way exhibited at the Adelaide Show) in 1890, and, at right, Way (in top hat) with the governor of South Australia Henry Galway and Lady Galway in the grandstand at Adelaide Oval in 1914. At far right is Whitmore Blake Carr of The Register newspaper.
Images courtesy State Library of South Australia

Samuel Way, South Australia’s chief justice (1876-1916) and staunch Methodist, had a secret life and family. Susannah Gooding was Way’s mistress for two decades and he fathered at least five of her children.

From a convict family background, Gooding was an unmarried mother, with two young children from different fathers, and a domestic servant in a Tasmanian town when she met Way who was on holiday. He maintained a covert relationship with her in Tasmania and later Melbourne. Way helped Gooding set up a millinery business and the family with housing and education expenses.

After Gooding died in 1888, Way kept some contact with the surviving children: Alfred White and Edward White, who became prominent Melbourne physicians, noted for their war service and philanthropy. Alfred was knighted as Sir Rowden White. 

Ten years after Gooding’s death, Way married 44-year-old Katherine, widow of Strathalbyn doctor William Blue, who’d died in 1896. Time and venue of the wedding, of major public interest, were kept secret until well after the event.

Katherine “Kitty” Gordon had come from Scotland to South Australia with her parents in 1855 as an infant. Her father, a former railway worker, became a moderately successful farmer in the Strathalbyn area. Kitty was adopted by her aunty, Catherine Gollan. At 18, she married doctor, Billy Blue, who became the mayor of Strathalbyn.

After 24 years marriage, Blue died and Katherine/Kitty soon married Way.

As Lady Way, Kitty became prominent in Adelaide society and highly regarded for her many community services. She was with Way for 16 years until her death when crowds lined the streets for her funeral. Way and Kitty had no children but she had four children from her first marriage. Her daughter Shylie Rymill became prominent, in sport and then in Adelaide society and was state commissioner of Girl Guides.