This blog post is scheduled for 21 September; in 2020 my dad, Charles Joseph Stirland, would have been 99 years old, but sadly he didn’t make it much beyond his 65th birthday, passing away in March 1987. His recorded cause of death was cancer of the stomach, but as a former underground coalminer, he had his share of lung-related health issues. My sister and I, who both live in Australia, made it back to England in time to see him … Continue reading
My late mother in law often spoke fondly of her Grandma Daley who she loved and greatly admired. In researching her life, I soon came to realise that she had faced many challenges, heartache and tragedy during her life. Lilian Tregenza Delve was born 11 May 1879 in St Johns Wood, Middlesex, England to John Hockridge Delve and his second wife Jane Downing Tregenza.1 Joy turned to tragedy when Jane died just 9 days later. Within a year, her father … Continue reading
The shot rang out in the quiet stillness of the farming community of Mt Thabor, just east of Warwick in South East Queensland.[1] The cows in the paddock opposite were mildly disturbed and the native birds squawked off in alarm. Mary knew the sound, as after all, her husband Clement Parkinson was a farmer and such is the necessity of country life. However, this shot on 5 June 1909 was different and more importantly she could smell the gunpowder. The … Continue reading
By Peter Cass. Wos’it like, then, eh? Wos’it really like? Living with a Family Historian (FH), that is. (Dropping poor Michael Caine imitation.) Herewith some reflections and anecdotes, probably somewhat muddled because they include events from Pauleen’s (aka the FH in question) pursuit of her family history, far more sporadic forays into mine, and the involvement of our daughters. For Pauleen, the journey began in the mid-1980s, with an enquiry at the Genealogical Society of Queensland stand in an Historical … Continue reading
By Geraldine Lee. A collection of historic photographs landed in my email months ago. One photo caught my eye – a woman and four small children sitting next to a sign advertising the children for sale. With a bit of digging I learned that the photo was published by an Indiana newspaper 5 August 1948, with a caption suggesting that the woman’s husband was out of work, the family had no money for food or rent and had decided to … Continue reading
