The story of Chinese immigrants is the story of every Australian, whether the journey was in the 19th or 20th or 21st Century, a voyage of three months or 20 hours by jet – the differences are of degree only. Chinese immigration to Australia was rare before the mid 1800s when gold was discovered in Victoria. Thousands of Chinese responded to the lure of mountains of gold awaiting anyone willing to work long hours panning and digging and living a … Continue reading
Annie Wheeler’s index of Central Queenslanders serving in the Australian Imperial Force (A.I.F.) has enabled Genealogical Society of Queensland (GSQ) volunteers to document the lives of more than 2,700 Australian men and women who fought and died and World War I. Their service records, housed in the National Archives of Australia (NAA), show the diseases from which they suffered – scabies and diarrhoea, trench foot, venereal disease, influenza and tuberculosis – as well as the battle injuries that either killed … Continue reading
One-sixth of Australia’s total pre-World War I population of 5 million was killed in action or wounded in the Middle East battles at Egypt or Gallipoli, in France or Belgium at Messines, Polygon Wood, Passchendaele. Survivors of these battles were discharged, repatriated to Australia, expected to take up their lives after what is today acknowledged as the most brutal war in living memory. Some managed to resume their pre-war lives, despite old wounds, amputations, painful memories of loss and sacrifice; … Continue reading
One hundred years ago the world was engulfed in conflict. Men and women from every nation were conscripted or volunteered to fight when hostilities broke out in Europe in August 1914. Some 416,809 Australian men and women enlisted in the First Australian Imperial Force (AIF), the main expeditionary force of the Australian Army. By the end of the war, over 60,000 Australians had been killed and 156,000 wounded, gassed or taken prisoner. One central Queensland woman who found … Continue reading
Current DNA research suggests that the descendants of plague survivors share certain genetic changes, described as super-genes, that may extend life expectancy by providing protective immunity and resistance to certain cancers and auto-immune diseases. The theory interests me because two of my Italian ancestors may possibly have died of plague, My 8x-great-grandfather Michele and his son Giovanni died on the same day at ages 85 and 54, respectively. Their deaths could be attributable to factors other than plague – an accident of … Continue reading
