Genealogy selfie day 2019

February 1st is apparently genealogy selfie day.

That is appropriate considering I am making a concerted effort to get back into my blogging and have done a couple of posts in the last week.

Today I have been working on a post about my grandfather's brother, William Robert Musson and his WW2 war service.

It is still in progress.

Um..  Oh dear .... I don't think the camera on my laptop is very good.

Oh I forgot, today I went to visit the Numurkah cemetery near me to take a photo of a grave for a photo request on BillionGraves.

I had a lovely wander around the cemetery but had to give in and phone the cemetery trust for the grave location as the wander was getting a bit large.

Found the grave and sent the photo.  Feeling of accomplishment.

Rest peacefully Margaret

Today we farewelled my husband's eldest sister Margaret.  

Margaret was the eldest daughter of Gilbert "Allan" and Linda Marjory Taylor (nee Riley).

A couple of photos taken in 2008 of Margaret in the bus we were converting to a motorhome.

Margaret passed away on the 22nd of January after many years of struggling with poor health.

40 years ago when I first met my husband Margaret was working at Yakka Australia in Shepparton and was a friend of my Mum who also worked there.

  

So I had actually met her before I met Graeme.

Rest peacefully now, Margaret.

Len Adams birthday tribute

If he had lived on for another 9 years, Len Adams, my Dad's first cousin, would have celebrated his 100th birthday today.  

L - R Len's wife Rona, Len Adams, Grace Delbridge, Len's sister.

Len Adams was born at Hotham East, Victoria 100 years ago on this day the 25th of January, 1919 to parents John "Jack" Adams (my grandmother's eldest brother) and his wife May Maude McGee.

Len was the youngest brother of Grace Francesca Adams and Morgan John Adams.

We never had the pleasure of meeting Len but recent contact with his nephew Warren has brought him to life for us.  Warren has shared many wonderful memories of a loving uncle.

I love this early one - "Mum, (Grace), used to tell me a story about Len appearing on the front page (?) of one of the Daily Melbourne papers, 'sailing' a billy-cart down Sydney Rd (?) amongst the trams and the traffic.
Apparently, Len copped 'what for' when Jack arrived home with the afternoon paper. "

I've searched Trove for a possible article but no luck as yet, still searching.

For many years Len lived with his parents at 10 Zeal Street, Brunswick West, a suburb of Melbourne.
His occupation was Casemaker.

Len enlisted in WW2.  Service Number - V44347 and served in New Guinea where the photo of him boxing below was taken.

Len first married a lady by the name of Aileen but they didn't stay together.  I haven't found Aileen's maiden name or any information about her apart from that she was also living at 10 Zeal Street with the family in 1963. Len later married his sister's longtime friend Rona and they lived at Frankston, in Victoria's South.

Grace (left) and Len's wife Rona were longtime friends.

Len never had any children of his own. Warren says he was a very kind and loving man to all his family.

Siblings Grace, Morgan John and Len Adams possibly about 1927

Len January 1934

Morgan and Len January 1934

Len with a koala

Wazza (Warren) and Len

 Len passed away at the age of 91 years on the 10th of March 2010.

 Rona joined him not long after on the 21st of June 2010.

I am so grateful to Warren and Geoff Delbridge for sharing the above family photos and information for our future generations.

John Yule FARQUHAR

Today I received a hint from familysearch.org about a possible record for John Yule FARQUHAR.

The record was his obituary from Bucyrus, Ohio, USA in 1935

John was a brother of my great-great-grandmother, Jannet "Jessie" Forsyth nee Farquhar who emigrated to New Zealand with her husband Robert and eldest son Alexander Farquhar Forsyth.

Jessie pre-deceased her brother in 1923.

Their mother, Margaret nee Yule had died in Scotland in 1907.

Scotland, National Probate Index (Calendar of Confirmations and Inventories), 1876-1936

Click on the above images to make them more readable 

Image from "Ohio, Crawford County Obituaries, 1860-2004." Database with images. FamilySearch. http://FamilySearch.org : 25 June 2018. Crawford County Chapter of the Ohio Genealogical Society, Bucyrus.

 A noticeable error in the index is sister Mrs Gene Prett (sic) is actually Mrs Jean PRATT.

Image from Image from "Ohio, Crawford County Obituaries, 1860-2004." Database with images. FamilySearch. http://FamilySearch.org : 25 June 2018. Crawford County Chapter of the Ohio Genealogical Society, Bucyrus.

Transcription
Bucyrus, April 20 - Funeral services will be held at the Wise Funeral Home at 2 o'clock Monday afternoon for John Yule Farquhar, 79, Bucyrus druggist for more than 50 years, who died at his home, 301 South Spring Street Friday.  The Rev. David N. Roller, pastor of First Presbyterian Church, of which the deceased was a member, will conduct the service.  The body will be placed in the Bucyrus mausoleum.

Mr. Farquhar had been ill only two days.  Death was due to a complication of diseases.

Mr. Farquhar was born in Scotland and received his education there.  In 1877, he came to America and in 1883 located in Bucyrus with his wife Emma Shannon Farquhar and established the Farquhar Pharmacy which has remained in business since.  Mr. Farquhar was one of the few remaining members of the "55" year club which was formed 30 years ago by a group of men whose birthdays occurred in 1855.  He was also a member of the Fifty Year Club an organization of Bucyrus men who have been in the same business for 50 years.

Survivors are the widow; two sons, Ivan Farquhar of New Hartford, New York, and Captain Allan Farquhar of Vallejo, Calif.; one brother, William, who was associated with him in the drug store since its founding, and two sisters, Mrs Helen McRobbie of Hastings, New Zealand, and Mrs. Jean Pratt of Aberdeenshire, Scotland.

On going through my files later I found that I had a copy of an obituary for John.

Trancription

John Farquhar, Prominent Bucyrus Druggist, Dies.

John Yule Farquhar, 79, prominent Bucyrus businessman for more than a half century, died at 7 o'clock this morning at his home, 301 South Spring street.

Although he had been in ill health for some time, his illness did not become serious until the first part of this week and he had been bedfast for only about two days.

Mr Farquhar was a native of Scotland and was born in Whitcairn, Lonmay, Scotland, on August 15, 1855.  At the age of nine years, his parents moved to Quarryburn, Aberdour, Scotland where he received his education.

Fired with a desire to get ahead in the world he left his native Scotland in 1874 when but 19 years old and with two older sisters went to New Zealand, where he remained for three years.  In 1877 he came to America and late that year passed through Bucyrus on his way to Turkey City, Pa. He was employed as a drug clerk in Turkey City for three years and in 1880 opened a drug store in Byrom centre, then one of the oil boom cities of Pennsylvania.  Here he was married in 1881, on January 1,  to Miss Emma Shannon, a sister of Mrs William Farquhar.

He disposed of the drug store late in 1881 and removed to Reynoldsville, Pa., where the drug firm of Farquhar Bros., was formed, his partner being his brother William, a resident of Bucyrus.  In 1883 he began casting about for a new location for the firm and Bucyrus was decided on when it was learned that the city had been made a division point for the T. and O. C. railroad and was enjoying a steady growth.

A short time later the store was moved here and it has been one of the substantial business institutions in Bucyrus since that time.

For a short period of three years, from 1912 to 1915, Mr and Mrs Farquhar were in Roanoke, Va., where they were engaged in fruit raising.  However they returned to Bucyrus in 1915 and Mr Farquhar again resumed his connection with the firm.

Mr Farquhar was a member of First Presbyterian Church and served for many years as church treasurer and a member of the board of trustees.  He was one of the few remaining members of the old "55" club which was formed 30 years ago by a group of Bucyrus men who claim 1855 as the year of their birth.  He was also a member of the Fifty Year Club of Bucyrus, composed of a group of men who have been in business here for 50 years.

Surviving are Mrs Farquhar and two sons, Ivan Farquhar of New Hartford, New York and Captain Allan Farquhar of Vallejo, Calif.; his brother William, with whom he was associated in business for so many years; two sisters, Mrs Helen McRobbie of Hastings, New Zealand, and Mrs Jean Pratt of Aberdeenshire, Scotland, and four grandchildren, John and Melville Farquhar, sons of Ivan Farquhar and Ann and Jean, daughters of Captain Farquhar.

Funeral services will be held at the Wise funeral home at 2 o'clock Monday afternoon with Rev. D. N. Roller, pastor of First Presbyterian church conducting the service. The body will be placed in the mausoleum.  Friends may call at the funeral home Sunday evening from 7 to 9 o'clock.

Maurice Harrison 14 Battalion A.l.F.

This post is dedicated to Maurice Harrison.

It comes courtesy of his great grand nephew, Gary Patton and fellow Harrison family researchers.

Thanks Gary for allowing me to share this information. Maurice’s relationship to me is first cousin 3 x removed.

He was born at Euroa, Victoria on the 5th of August 1882 the third son of George Harrison and Ann Ansell, the fifth of their 12 children.

 

Lance Corporal Maurice Richard “Mod” HARRISON – No. 1952 14th Battalion A.I.F. Awarded the Military Medal for conspicuous bravery & devotion to duty.

Birth 5 Aug 1882 in Euroa, Victoria, Australia

Death 22 Oct 1918 in Le Havre, Manche, Basse-Normandie, France

Hopefully, the following will give you an insight into what Maurice and his mates went through.  Remember he received the Military Medal for his actions throughout all this.

The following notation is courtesy of the Australians on the Western Front 1914–1918 An Australian journey across the First World War battlefields of France and Belgium

http://www.ww1westernfront.gov.au/zonnebeke/battle-of-polygon-wood.html

During the night of 25–26 September the men of the assaulting battalions reached taped lines laid across the southwestern third of the blasted tree stumps of Polygon Wood. At this point it was vital not to alert the watching Germans by unusual noise or the lighting of cigarettes which would bring down an enemy artillery barrage. At 5.50 am on 26 September the guns opened up in front of the Australian infantry who immediately moved forward behind its protecting wall of shells. If one had been on the Butte, where the Fifth Division Memorial now stands, the sound of battle would have been overpowering. Captain Alexander Ellis, wrote a vivid description of the scene:

Our artillery opened in a single magnificent crash and thousands of shells screamed through the air and burst in a long, straight line of flame and destruction about 200 yards [180 metres] ahead of the waiting infantry … the 4,000 men of the six attacking battalions dashed forward at a run. Somewhere behind the line of destruction lay their victims, shuddering in their pill–boxes, staggered by the sudden commotion, dazed by the concussion of the shells … then, slowly, very slowly it [the barrage] crept forward. A long line of skirmishers disengaged itself from the dense mass of men and followed the advancing screen of shells … Above their heads thousands of machine gun bullets cut the air as they whistled shrilly past on their destined way, and the strident din of many Vickers guns throbbed through the troubled morning air. But these were but the tinkling wood–wind notes in the hell’s orchestra that played about them. For the deafening crash of the rapid firing 18–pounders, the hoarser roar of the scores of heavy guns behind them and the stupefying concussion of shrapnel and high explosive shells in the barrage in front were by now all mingled in the hideous rhythmical clamour of the perfect drum–fire barrage. Thus, at 5.50 a.m. on the 26 September 1917, was the Division launched into the Battle of Polygon Wood.

Captain Alexander Ellis, The Story of the Fifth Australian Division, London, 1919, pp.244–5

Tribute page for our Servicemen

Gunner Edward FORSYTH

Edward Forsyth was born in 1894 at Tyrie, Aberdeenshire, Scotland.

He was one of nine children and the eldest son of Edward Gerrard Forsyth and Helen Yule Forsyth nee Jamieson.

Edward was a Gunner with the 15th Divisional Ammunition Column of the Royal Field Artillery.

The 15th Divisional Ammunition Column, Royal Field Artillery served with 15th (Scottish) Division.

15th (Scottish) Division was formed in September 1914, as part of Kitchener’s Second New Army. They proceeded to France in the second week of July 1915. They were in action in The Battle of Loos in 1915. In spring 1916, they were involved in the German gas attacks near Hulluch and the defence of the Kink position. They were in action during the Battles of the Somme, including The Battle of Pozieres, The Battle of Flers-Courcelette and the capture of Martinpuich, The Battle of Le Transloy and the attacks on the Butte de Warlencourt. In 1917 they were in action in The First and Second Battle of the Scarpe, including the capture of Guemappe during the Arras Offensive. They then moved north to Flanders and were in action during The Battle of Pilckem and The Battle of Langemark. In 1918 they fought in The First Battle of Bapaume, The First Battle of Arras, The Battle of the Soissonnais and the Ourcq taking part in the attack on Buzancy, and The Final Advance in Artois. – See more HERE 

from Commonwealth War Graves Commission website

Tribute page for our Servicemen

Nicol Thomas Findlater

Nicol Thomas Findlater, a labourer,  enlisted on the 21st  of September 1914.

He was 32 years and 4 months of age, 5 foot 6 inches tall with dark complexion, brown eyes and dark hair.

He was born on the 27th of May 1882 at 3 Falconer’s Lane, Nairn, Nairnshire, Scotland to parents James Nicol Findlater and Margaret nee Bowers.

Next of kin on his attestation paper was his brother, James Findlater of 22 Huon Street, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.

Nicol Findlater was my third cousin three times removed.  His great grandmother, Helen (Forsyth) Nicol was a sister of my 4 x great grandfather Alexander Forsyth

I’m fairly sure from looking at the Infantry records that Nicol was killed at Ypres.

 Veterans Affairs Canada has a Canadian Virtual War Memorial for their soldiers.

From this website, you can order a copy of the page from the Book of Remembrance on which your soldier is listed.

I ordered a copy for Nicol Findlater and it arrived in the mail the other day.

What a wonderful service.

We Will Remember Them.

Tribute page for our Servicemen