Born Sophia de Montmollin, in Neuchâtel, a French speaking town in Switzerland, Sophie was the eighth of sixteen children. Sophie grew up in an imposing town house and M. Montmollin was active in public affairs as befitted his noble birth, the family having been prominent citizens of Neuchâtel for two hundred years.
Sophie was only 14 when she first met the 23 year old Englishman Charles LaTrobe who was employed as tutor to one of her many cousins. Nothing is known of their courtship and it was to be eleven years before they became engaged. Sophie’s parents took their time to approve of Charles since he was little more than a servant in his position of tutor. He had to prove that he was capable of providing for their daughter in the pursuit of a more appropriately superior position.
The wedding took place in Berne in 1835 and the honeymoon was spent at Jolimont, a property owned by the Portalès family whose son Charles had previously tutored.
Sophie’s first child Agnes was born eighteen months later. At the time Charles was on his way to Jamaica to inspect schools set up for the newly emancipated slaves. His work there was successful and on his return Charles took Sophie and Agnes to London, where he was offered the position of Superintendent of the Port Phillip District of New South Wales.
Sophie was given first-hand information of Australia by the Comte de Portalès who had been at school with William Macarthur, the youngest son of John and Elizabeth. She was reassured that New South Wales was not “wholly uncivilised”, which gave her ‘the courage necessary to start for that distant region.”
The voyage to Sydney took four months and after waiting for a ship to sail to their destination, the LaTrobes had to wait a further three days for the Spring storms to abate and to allow the family to be rowed up the river to Melbourne.
This was 1839 and the settlement of Melbourne was barely four years old, the population was around 3,000 and expanding. The streets were muddy and unmade and only one street was named – Collins Street. The houses were of wattle and daub and society was “in its infancy”.
The LaTrobes had brought with them a prefabricated wooden house, so rather than rent a cottage at the high rates demanded in Melbourne at the time, the house was erected in the Government Paddock about a mile east of the town. This became known as Jolimont after the happy times spent on their honeymoon.
Sophie would later describe her home as “dear Jolimont” and all who visited were impressed, especially after improvements had been made. It effectively became Victoria’s first Government House. Three more children were born (Eleanora, Mary and Charles) and so the house grew to accommodate a nursery and a salon for Sophie where she kept her writing table.
Sophie and Charles preferred a quiet life, despite their eminent position in Victoria. A rumour began that Sophie could only speak French, but this was untrue. It does seem apparent that Sophie may well have had a delicate constitution and she was sensitive to heat and noise and suffered headaches. She was involved in a carriage accident in 1848 and this is when her health appeared to decline. Sophie did not enjoy Charles’ spirit of adventure and so she did not accompany him on his many trips beyond the town which were not always of an official nature, preferring to stay at in the relative comfort and serenity of Jolimont. It is thought that Sophie introduced the European tradition of a decorated Christmas tree to Melbourne.
In 1851, after the separation from New South Wales, Charles was appointed Lieutenant Governor of the new colony of Victoria. At virtually the same point in time the Gold Rush began, giving Sophie several anxieties. It meant her husband’s task of governing was made more onerous and she worried about his health. The mass exodus of able bodied men and women rushed to the diggings leaving a scarcity of servants, and even the sailors left the ships causing delays in the outgoing mail to Switzerland, where Agnes had been sent away to school. Sophie was worried that the tyranny of distance would cause Agnes to forget her parents.
After thirteen years in Australia, Sophie longed to be back in Switzerland in the company of her family, especially Agnes. In 1852 Charles submitted his resignation, but the position of Lieutenant Governor of Victoria proved difficult to fill, so Charles insisted his wife and children return to Neuchâtel without him whilst he waited for Charles Hotham to take his place. It appears that at this time Sophie was experiencing further problems with her own health and it was hoped that the long sea journey to Europe would be recuperative for her. On returning to Switzerland Sophie consulted a doctor but unfortunately he could do little for her. Sophie died at her mother’s house on 30 January 1854, just before her forty-fourth birthday. The result of her death was “chronic inflammation of the liver and apoplexy”.
The news of Sophie’s death reached Charles just eight days before he was due to leave Melbourne to return to Switzerland. He saw her death notice in the London Morning Post which arrived by ship a few days before the one carrying the letters from her family.