When I was Young

Alona from Lonetester HQ blog has posted a "When I was young" geneameme 

Lately, I have suffered terribly from bloggers block so this sounds like fun.

Do you (or your parents) have any memorabilia from when you were a baby? (ie. baby book, lock of hair, first shoes etc.)  

My mum kept my hospital  card and infant health centre book. She also kept the plaits (no longer plaited) that I had cut off at about 11 or 12 years old along with 2 lots of her own childhood hair, in a crushed ice bag.  I have them now.

Do you know if you were named after anyone?

My Dad's name is Kerry and mum was Amelia Joan but known as Joan.  I was named Kerryn Joan.

And do you know of any other names your parents might have named you?

None that I remember hearing about.

What is your earliest memory?

I remember being at a large open grounds with family friends, for some reason car races come to mind.  The grass was dry and I must have got a grass seed in my knickers.  I  complained a lot (probably kicked up a hell of a racket) as I remember being in the back seat of our car while mum was trying to fish it out. I was perhaps around 3 or 4 years old.  Every time I look at the photo below I am reminded of that day so perhaps it was taken then.

Did your parent/s (or older siblings) read, sing or tell stories to you? Do you remember any of these?

I don't remember being read to, but I'm an avid reader now.  My mum sang a lot generally but not to me specifically.  My maternal grandfather often told "tall stories" I can remember being enthralled with them.  I wish I could remember them now.   

When you were young, do you remember what it was that you wanted to grow up to be?

A teacher

Did you have a favourite teacher at school?

Mr Murray in grade 4 at Gowrie Street primary school.

How did you get to school?

In early years, Mum drove us to school along with a number of other neighbourhood children.  I can't remember the make of car, but it had wheel arches in the back seat on which mum laid a plank of wood.  That made a two tier seat for probably eight kids.  No seat belts or fast driving in those days!

Neighbourhood friends that I have caught up with in recent years still remember being driven to school in mums car.  

What games did playtime involve?

Hopscotch, swap cards and elastics are the main ones I remember.

Did you have a cubby house?

Yes Dad made me a cubby house out of two wooden fruit bins (we lived in the Goulburn Valley) one on the ground the right way up and the other turned over and secured on top to create a big box in which he cut a door and a window.  At one stage I also took over the garden shed.

What was something you remember from an early family holiday?

The Currumbin bird sanctuary and all the rainbow lorikeets landing on my brother's head.

What is a memory from one of your childhood birthday’s or Christmas?

I remember the year I got a bike for Christmas and Dad holding the back of the seat running along behind me down the street while I learned to balance.  

Each birthday I would get a new outfit to wear to the annual Shepparton agricultural show which was always on a few days after my birthday.

What childhood injuries do you remember?

A very badly bruised and skinned knee. I landed full leap on the concrete at school during a game of high elastics. Also concussion after being thrown from my horse at 13 years old.  I spent days in the hospital.  I well remember the huge lump on my head.  My helmet must have come off mid-fall.

What was your first pet?

Jigs the dog and Tom the cat.  I used to dress Tom the cat in baby clothes and wheel him around in my pram.  I remember one day visiting the EDGE family over the road with Tom wrapped in a bunny rug and draped over my shoulder just like a baby.  Mrs EDGE was sure he was a real baby! she couldn't get over how he just hung there, such patience. 

me with Jigs

me with Tom who we had for a long long time.

I can't not mention our very amazing Lassie the red Alsation.  She wasn't our first pet but I was always told she was the same age as me.  I think she may have belonged to my paternal grandparents first.  If my little brother tried to get out our side gate, Lassie would round him up and herd him back into the backyard.  Lassie died on my grandfather's farm at thirteen years of age.

Did your grandparents, or older relatives tell you stories of “when I was young ..?”

Not that I can recall, but they were all very close-mouthed.

What was entertainment when you were young?

Playing with the other neighbourhood children.  There were a lot of us around the same age and we always managed to keep occupied. It was a wonderful environment to grow up in.

Do you remember what it was it like when your family got a new fangled invention? (ie. telephone, TV, VCR, microwave, computer?) 

I remember getting a TV and a record player. In those days, you had to have a TV licence and I remember Dad putting a huge aerial on the roof.  On hot nights they TV would be put at the window facing outside and we would all sit on the front lawn on a blanket in the cool to watch. I think some neighbours who didn't yet have TV also joined us.

Did your family have a TV? Was it black and white or colour? And how many channels did you get?

Our first TV was black and white, I don't think we got colour until I was a teenager.  In our area, we only got one channel which was GMV6 (Goulburn-Murray Valley I think) Now Win TV.  GMV 6 was a fun channel for children as they had a GMV6 Juniors club with a clown named Joey.  It was called Joey and the juniors.  Also, a local identity was Nancy Cato who is fondly remembered from her show The Magic Circle Club.

Did your family move house when you were young? Do you remember it?

We moved when I was about one-year-old to another house not far around the corner.  Then again, when I was 12 or 13 Dad bought a farm. When I was 17 my parents separated and Mum and I moved back into town.

Was your family involved in any natural disasters happening during your childhood (ie.fire, flood, cyclone, earthquake etc) 

I can remember two floods, the first in the mid-1960s.  Our street was so flooded that we were riding down it in boats.   Then in 1974 our farm flooded. Mum sent us to our aunties place to stay until the water receded and things were cleaned up.

Is there any particular music that when you hear it, sparks a childhood memory?

Slim Whitman and Jim Reeves.  My mum sang along with their records that she played on our new record player.

What is something that an older family member taught you to do?

My maternal grandmother taught me to knit, crochet and bake scones.

What are brands that you remember from when you were a kid?

Sunny boy ice blocks, Peters Icecreams and Kellogs cornflakes when they had little toys included in the packet.

Did you used to collect anything? (ie. rocks, shells, stickers … etc.)

Swap cards.  I still have some of them.

Share your favourite childhood memory.

Spending holidays at my maternal grandparents house.  They lived in Melbourne a lot of the time and I fondly remember when they were living at the Northern Golf Club at Glenroy where my gramp was a greenskeeper.  

The couple who ran the kitchen had a daughter about my age and we used to use the stage tp put on pretend shows. I can still remember the wonderful smells that came from that kitchen.

52 Ancestors Week 13 - My different Morgan ancestors.

My maternal grandmother's maiden name was MORGAN 

Daisy Marion MORGAN (1908-1998)
She married Archibald William Finlay FLEMING in 1932 at Moyhu, Victoria.
Daisy's parents were William Thomas MORGAN and Ada May HULME.
William (Bill) was the son of Thomas Fitzherbert MORGAN and Mary Ann PIKE.
He was born at Euroa, Victoria in 1872.
His grandparents, John MORGAN and Sarah BLOUNT came to Australia from Wales in 1842.

My paternal great grandmother's maiden name was also MORGAN.

Mary Agnes MORGAN (1864-1933) married John ADAMS 1887 Essendon, Victoria.
She was the daughter of John MORGAN and Margaret Alice KELLY.
John MORGAN came to Australia from Armagh, Northern Ireland in 1855.
He married Margaret Alice Kelly, known as Alice, at St. Francis Church, Melbourne in 1858.
Alice came to Australia from Dualla, Tipperary, Ireland, date unknown.

  52 Ancestors Challenge 
                                         by Amy Johnson Crow at "No Story Too Small"

52 Ancestors Week 12 - Same - surname - ADAMS

I'm a bit late with my week 12 post as I have been busy sorting stuff for a possible move.

The only "same" theme I could come up with was for same surnames in both my paternal and maternal ancestors.  This  "same but different" theme will carry over to next weeks post as well.

The surname ADAMS appears in both my maternal and paternal lines but no connection.

In my sorting today I found an envelope of photos that were sent to me years ago by, Edna Coleman, a distant relative on my maternal side.  Unfortunately, I can't remember our connection and I can't find her name in my database.  This post will double as an extra backup.

They are headstone photos that she took on a visit to Norfolk Island.  I do vaguely remember a fellow family historian mentioning a connection to John Adams of the Bounty mutiny fame, but I can't for the life of me remember where that connection lies either.

My paternal great grandfather was also a John ADAMS whose father was George ADAMS.  No connection though.

The John ADAMS (1884-1959) on my maternal side married  grandfather's first cousin, Ethel Christina FLEMING.

His parents were George ADAMS and Amy KITCHEN.

John's younger brother, Ernest Edward ADAMS (1886-1941), married Florence Eveline FLEMING, sister of Ethel Christina. Are they descendants of the Bounty mutineer, John ADAMS?  Perhaps some of my FLEMING cousins can enlighten me.

The following photos are of the headstones of the descendants of John ADAMS on Norfolk Island.
ADAMS himself is buried on Pitcairn Island.

52 Ancestors week 11 - Luck of the Irish - KELLY brothers

I am unsure if the phrase "Luck of the Irish" means good luck, bad luck or sheer fluke.

I have read that it is a mining term that can mean any of these. - mentalfloss.com

My great great grand Uncles Thomas and William KELLY had turned their hands to mining.

Along with their older brother, John, they arrived in Australia from Dualla, Tipperary, Ireland in 1858 to join their sister, my great great grandmother, Alice KELLY.

Thomas KELLY headed to New Zealand around 1861 and did 

quite well for himself in his mining ventures.

His younger brother, William was mentioned in the will of their eldest brother, Michael KELLY, as a

 "speculator with West Australia mining"   I am fairly certain William was mining at Muttaburra, Queensland when he died of TB in 1899.

Michael may also have been a miner.  He came to Australia in 1898 to be with his sister just before he also died of TB.  His death certificate stated he was a "gentleman" bachelor from Kimberley, South Africa which is, of course, famous for its diamond mining.

In his will, Michael bequeathed quite a sum of money to his sister, brothers, nieces, and nephews.

  52 Ancestors Challenge 
                                         by Amy Johnson Crow at "No Story Too Small"

52 Ancestors Week 10 - Brain Storming - Thank you Allan FLEMING!

The optional theme for week 10 is 'stormy weather' but I couldn't come up with anything to fit that theme so I changed it slightly to 'Brain storming'  to suit a recent article I found on my mum's cousin, Allan FLEMING.  The print is faded and a little hard to read in places so I have transcribed the article below.  
With all the research I have done for my family history using the National Library, to find out that my mum's cousin was amongst those that made it possible is amazing.  I never knew him but I certainly wish I  had.   Thanks Allan!

The Canberra Times (ACT : 1926 - 1995) 12 Jun 1973 

 Librarian to retire - once more

Writing a book might be next

By Gay Davidson

Mr Allan Fleming, National Librarian for the past three years, will be retiring within the next few months from his fifth but, hopefully, not his last career.

At 61 he has worked in journalism, the Army Defence intelligence, Trade and Industry and the Parliamentary and National Libraries.  Now he is thinking of trying his hand at writing.

Mr Fleming began at the Melbourne Argus and went on to the Brisbane Courier Mail.  During World War II he rose from private to lieutenant-colonel, and after the war spent 11 years in Defence, beginning as director of the old Joint Intelligence Bureau and finishing as controller of the Joint Services Organisation.

Then he switched to Trade and Industry, with three years in Paris as trade commissioner, four years in Canberra as a first assistant secretary in international and policy divisions and a further year in London as special commercial adviser.  In 1968 ge became Commonwealth Parliamentary Librarian, and two years later National Librarian.

Does not have monument

Mr. Fleming is not a librarian and he does not have a monument to be remembered by, as the last non-librarian, Sir Harold White, has in the actual building by the lake.

But in the past three years he has achieved a solid organisational structure and has begun the research and the committees to produce a national information policy oriented towards user needs.

When Mr Fleming took up post there was just one level one second-division and five senior third-division positions; now there is an assistant National Librarian (on level two) and two more level ones in the second division, plus 11 principal librarians (class 10) and senior third-division computer and publication staff.

"You can't get anywhere without people in libraries," Mr Fleming said yesterday, "but the more I inquire into the library world, the more it becomes evident that speed is an important characteristic.

'Introduced a computer'

"Information is a national asset and a national resource, consequently there is an increasing international competitiveness about it.  That's where computers come in, in integrating all areas of information and making information quickly available to users everywhere.

"Joint intelligence was an information-processing job.  It required indexing, analysis, librarians, linguists, scientists, engineers and economists to collect, process, assess and control a mass of information - and making sure the stuff was distributed to the right people fast.  So I introduced a computer."

"Now we're looking to computers and telecommunications to do that and much more at the National Library.  We're moving toward fulfilling our national functions of maintaining and developing a national collection of information and making the material quickly available everywhere and we're doing it in modern terms."

The National Library has been doing that job in one specialised area for the past three years with the MEDLARS medical literature and analysis retrieval system service.  Material is gathered in Australia, Europe and the U.S, fed into the National Library of Medicine in the U.S. and is available here through tapes sent from America.

Searching Tapes.

The National Library uses the Department of Health computer for storing and searching the tapes, with its own search analysis converting more than 200 requests each month from Australia and New Zealand into search formulation on subjects ranging from the role of the nurse, in Australia and encephalitis in tigers to heart conditions caused by lightning.

For the past 2 1/2 years an eminent connittee of the library, the Scientific and Technological Information Services Enquiry Committee (STISEC) has been investigating the needs and deficiencies in this area.  Last month it presented its report, concluding that a scientific and technological information service system should not be created in isolation, but, as an integrated part of a total information system.

World authority.

During the investigation a lot of use was make of work already done by the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development; a world authority.  Dr B. Tell, was brought out from Sweden where he helped set up a national information system, the library began a research committee with a research engineer from the Post-Master-General's Department to look into telecommunication feasibility and costs and seminars were held at the library to begin an education process on users and librarians.

"It has been possible to take information for granted in the past, but not now". Mr Fleming said.

"The actual mass of information will double in the next 20 years, but the people who are here now will still be here then.

Past methods of coping will not be adequate so we must be getting ready for it.  Already we are seven or eight years behind most of the developed countries, which means most of us are up to 15 years behind in our thinking.

"The size of the problem is such that it needs co-ordination and rationalisation in the collecting and processing of material, and it needs to be done in one central place to make information services easily available without duplication.

"That sounds like empire building, but there's no suggestion of our taking over other libraries - we'll simply be linked in to provide access to all that's publicly available.  We do have the national responsibility and a lot of people relying on us.  Besides we have to explain frankly why we need more money and more staff.  The National Library vote is around six million dollars, increasing by 10 to 15 per cent each year.  The initial handling of information material has to be done by people but the later manipulation can be done by computer and the transmission by telecommunication.  We already have som computer-services costs - so its simply a matter of upping our percentage increase and making the computer and telecommunication investments that are needed anyway."

Increasing the budget may well be the "simple matter"  that Mr Fleming suggested.  The President of the Senate, Sir Magnus Cormack, in announcing his retirement from the Council of the National Library, spoke last Thursday of it becoming "the centre of a system of knowledge retrieval....... hooked into a world-wide system".

And the Leader of the Government, Senator Murphy, went rather further in saying that the alteration in the concept of the National Library was "probably the most important even in the progress of Australia".

"If one were to select a project on which money should be spent", he said, "I suppose there is no endeavour whatever in Australia ..... which would be more important.  There is no project which is more deserving of support from all Australia than this concept of a national information centre which we hope will be fairly soon realised".

In spite of being immersed the new concept for three years and now beginning to see some public awareness of its importance, Mr Fleming is convinced that he will be able to stop, relax and leave it alone in three or four months.

French village

But just to make sure, he is thinking of taking off to a French village for a couple of years, making trips around Europe and starting his first book.

"I don't know what it will be".  he admitted.  "I haven't had time to think anything else through recently.  I suppose it's a bit late now but I did have a plan to move in fast when Ian Fleming died.

"I even wrote the first sentence:  'The son of James Bond slowed his Maserati down to 160 miles an hour and lit a cigarette' ".

http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article110714168

52 Ancestors Challenge 
by Amy Johnson Crow at "No Story Too Small"

My 52 Ancestors 2015 challenge list

Following is the  list of my posts for the "52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks" Challenge by Amy from "No Story Too Small"

Week 1 - A Fresh Start - My great-great-grandmother, Margaret Alice KELLY, known as Alice, was one of many other Irish people who made a fresh start in Australia.

Week 2 - Edward "King" HULME - My maternal 3rd great grand uncle was known as Edward "King" HULME.  In about 1891 he wrote a very interesting small book called “A sketch of Life - A Settler's 35 years experience in Victoria, Australia".

Week 3 - Tough Woman - I would call my great-grandmother a tough woman after finding many years of newspaper articles telling of her court battles to get my great-grandfather to pay child maintenance for their two youngest children.  One of those children was my grandmother.

Week 4 - Closest to my birthday - My 3 x great grandmother, Isabella BEATON, is the ancestor whose birthday (day and month) is closest to mine.

Week 5 - Ploughing through - Being an Aussie, my spelling is PLOUGH despite spell check. It is not a plough in the photo, but I'm sure these beautiful animals have pulled plenty of them.

Week 6 - So far away - Mary KELLY nee MOLOUGHNEY - My great great great grandmother, Mary KELLY nee MOLOUGNEY is one I consider so far away both in distance and research results.  So I was incredibly excited to receive this photo of her last week.

Week 7 - Forbidden Love - It is not known how or exactly where Jane and Bernard Riley met, but it seems they eloped which no doubt would have caused quite a stir in her family.

Week 8 - Good deeds Joan OSTER. - My subject for "Good Deeds" is my late Mum Joan OSTER, nee FLEMING. (1937 - 2012)

Week 9 - Close to Home - W. F. Fleming - The ancestor who lived closest to where I live now would be my great great grandparents William Findlay FLEMING and his wife Ann Jane, nee KNIGHT

Week 10 - Brain Storming - Thank you Allan FLEMING! - The optional theme for week 10 is 'stormy weather' but I couldn't come up with anything to fit that theme so I changed it slightly to 'Brainstorming'  to suit a recent article I found on my mum's cousin, Allan FLEMING.

Week 11 - Luck of the Irish - KELLY brothers - The Theme "Luck of the Irish" About my Irish Kelly family from Tipperary and their luck in mining.

Week 12 - Same - surname - ADAMS  - The Theme for week 12 "Same"

Week 13 - My different Morgan ancestors. - Theme for week 13 "Different" I chose to write about both my Maternal Welsh Morgan ancestors and my Paternal Irish Morgan ancestors.

Week 14 - Favourite photo - My favourite photo is of my maternal grandmother, Daisy Marion MORGAN and her sister Clarice May MORGAN.

Week 15 - How do you spell that? - Is it spelt Bartsh or Bartsch?  Probably both.

Week 16 - Live Long - If only she had - 3rd Anniversary of my Mum's passing.

Looks like I missed Week 17.

Week 18 - Where There's a Will - Where there's a Will there is usually a dispute as was the case with the Will of my Paternal 2nd great-grandmother, Alice Morgan nee Kelly.

Week 19 - William Cluff HULME's sticky situation - My 3rd great-grandfather's bankruptcy.

Week 20 - Black Sheep - Only a couple of Black sheep in my lot.

Week 21 - Military - Allan Shannon FARQUHAR - The military service of U.S. Rear Admiral Allan S Farquhar of Ohio who was the nephew of my great-great-grandmother, Janet "Jessie" FORSYTH nee FARQUHAR.   

Week 22 - School commencement - My first school photo at Gowrie Street Primary School, Shepparton in 1964.  

Week 23 - Wedding - Daisy Morgan and Archie Fleming 1932 - My maternal grandparents were married on the 8th of October 1932.

Week 24 - Heirloom - I treasure the "fancy dress" my maternal grandmother made. 

Week 25 - The Old Homestead - I wrote about the Hotel owned by my paternal Irish great-great-grandparents, John MORGAN and Alice nee KELLY of the Cross Keys Hotel, Firebrace Street (now Pascoe Vale Road) North Essendon.

Week 26 - Halfway is Robert FORSYTH - My halfway subject was whoever was born halfway between my earliest confirmed direct ancestor (1748) and myself (1958).  This turned out to be my great-great-grandfather, Robert FORSYTH who was born in 1852 in New Aberdour in Aberdeenshire, Scotland.

Week 27 - Independent - The American Declaration of Independence took place on the 4th of July in 1776.  As I have no direct ancestors that I know of in America I wrote about an ancestor who was born in that year. According to the 1841 census my 4th great grandmother, Agnes CUNNINGHAM, was born in 1776 in Largo, Fife, Scotland.  

Week 28 - Road trip - After his arrival in Australia from England in 1855, my 3rd great grand-uncle, Edward HULME, wrote about his epic road trip from Melbourne to the Beechworth goldfields.

Week 29 - Musical interview by Allan FLEMING. - I don't have any musical ancestors but in looking for news articles written by my mum's cousin, journalist Allan FLEMING, I found an amusing interview he had done in 1939 with the famous harmonica player, Larry Adler.

Week 30 - Challenging - some of my more challenging ancestors.

Week 31 - Easy to research? - My maternal great-great-grandfather, William Finlay FLEMING, left us quite a lot of information about himself in his interviews with journalists in the early 1900s.  In that respect, he was easy to research

Week 32 - Mary KELLAM - one of my 32 third great-grandparents.

Week 33 - Alexander FORSYTH - Theme - In 1880, there was a special U.S. census schedule for “Defective, Dependent, and Delinquent Classes” — the blind, deaf, paupers, homeless children, prisoners, insane, and idiotic. Do you have someone in your family tree who would have been classified as such?

Week 34 - Nominal Rolls - As 2015 is the 100th anniversary of WW1 my week 34 post is a tribute to my family's brave soldiers.

Week 35 - School Days - Some family school photos and report cards.

Week 36 - Working for a Living - My farming grandfather.

Week 37 - Large Family - 52 Ancestors - Week 37 - The largest family in my ancestry would have to be my Mum's FLEMING family.

Week 38 - My favourite place to research - My favourite place to research would have to be what is now known as Moonee Valley which is part of the North-Western suburbs of Melbourne.

52 Ancestors week 9 - Close to Home - W. F. FLEMING

The ancestor who lived closest to where I live now would by my great great grandparents William Findlay FLEMING and his wife Ann Jane, nee KNIGHT

The ancestor who lived closest to where I live now would by my great great grandparents William Findlay FLEMING and his wife Ann Jane, nee KNIGHT.

I currently live at Bunbartha, William and Ann Jane FLEMING settled at Kotupna, Victoria in around 1873 where he purchased 185 acres.

Kotupna is 30 kilometres (18 miles) North West of Bunbartha.

In 1900 the Fleming's left Kotupna, Northern Victoria and moved to Edi in the King Valley , North East Victoria.

Ann Jane and William Findlay FLEMING. 

52 Ancestors Challenge 
by Amy Johnson Crow at "No Story Too Small"

My 52 Ancestors challenge list