Seven Stories You Missed

 

In a fun session at the Heritage Centre, seven people shared some gems from their family history collections.

Here's a brief summary of what you missed.

The Missing Brother

Bev told the story of how she found a grandfather's brother and his wives and children in the days before Internet databases. She ended with a lovely photo of her Mum and her mother's newly found first cousin.

The Pearly Ones

Richard told us about the Pearly Kings and Queens of London. He elaborated on their past roles as arbiters of the peace in their domain down to today as charitable workers. He shared some stunning photos of their outfits too. Read about and view some of their wonderful outfits on the Museum of London site.

The Wrong Party and the Gold Envelope

Tiny gold envelope approx. 10mm x 6mm

Joan brought along this tiny gold envelope that belonged to her grandmother. It also has a little letter inside. She told the story of how her grandfather accidentally went to the wrong party in town and that was where he met her grandmother. From age 14 until he was 65 he worked his way up in the post office with placements across country Queensland. Eventually he became a Postmaster. During WWII he was also stationed in NSW.

The Iron Hoop

Robyn shared the story of the iron hoop in the Noosa Museum and read us the story of the little French boy who was adopted by Australian soldiers in WWI. She retold the story of how they smuggled him first to Britain and then to Australia. Read more of that story here and here.

A Family History Project and a confusion of Names

Jo, a new member shared the story of how her son in Year 8 worked on his family history project. She then shared a copy of her grandmother's family history book where all the names had been changed to protect their privacy. Oh, what a mess to sort through! Her 93 yr old mother is helping to identify the persons in this book.

The book with the "mystery" names

The Scrapbook

Cathy had a fascinating story of a scrapbook which had previously been the business letters book of her German Gt.Gt. grandfather. He had a business in Point Pass, South Australia in the late 19th and early 20th century. The book contained the copies of the letters he had written throughout his years in business. 

Cathy read out one letter where he wrote to a lady in nearby Robertstown saying he had visited 11 warehouses but could not find a frock that she had ordered! Imagine someone going to that effort for a customer. Some of the pages are in English and some in German, all in his copperplate handwriting.

Siblings in Line Ups

Carmel showed photos of her 6 siblings as children when their mother lined them up in age order throughout the years from 1944 until 1954. In two of the photos the children were on old converted wagon wheels, one a seesaw and one a hurdy gurdy. Nothing was wasted on that farm.
What treasures to have all those photos!

The see-saw

Keep an eye on the calendar for the next Share, Show or Tell session and come along to enjoy.