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Dame Nellie Melba and the Boer War: Duke Bell

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What do Dame Nellie Melba and the Boer War have in common? I would have thought very little until I started researching the story of one of my relatives, Marmaduke Alexander Thomas (Duke) Bell. The name Marmaduke seems very quaint and unusual but as it was passed down for a few generations in my father’s family, it has become quite helpful in doing family research. I commenced researching Duke Bell because I knew he had gone to the Boer War … Continue reading

My house in Morley Street, Toowong

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For a long time I have thought of looking into the history of my house but it was always on my To Do List. At the GSQ annual seminar Top Genealogical Sources, which was held in October of this year,  I heard Annabel Lloyd from the Brisbane City Archives speak about the resources available to carry out research on your house and this motivated me to start the search.  The Brisbane City Council also has an excellent guide which provides … Continue reading

Two great grandfathers in a park

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Have you ever had serendipitous moment while doing your family history? I had decided to write in this blog post about my maternal great grandfather, Harry Weedon Hardwicke, who I briefly mentioned in my previous blog post.   He was born in Tasmania, the thirteenth child of Elizabeth and Charles Browne Hardwicke. I haven’t been able to find his birth or baptism certificate but we know that he moved to Townsville, Queensland where he met his future wife Louise Christina Amy … Continue reading

Eva McGill’s pottery

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‘Delightful float bowl In black and biscuit, bearing a native design’[1] For some reason I often noticed a particular black and biscuit coloured jug on display at my grandmother’s place. Perhaps it was because I was studying ancient Greek pottery at university at the time and it reminded me of the black figure pots which were made around the 6th century BC.  But the figures on this jug were not Greek gods but Australian animals such as the pelican, swan … Continue reading

Bell’s picnic party

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Bell’s Picnic Party was the title of a small piece in The Worker in May 1908. It expressed the newspaper’s view of a trip my great uncle, Joshua Bell, who was Minister for Lands at the time, was taking along the Queensland coast in May 1908 on the Government steamer Lucinda. Mr. Bell, in the fostering atmosphere Ministerial authority, is developing a great gift of conviviality—at the country’s expense…taking with him a few chosen pals and political tuft hunters…[1]    … Continue reading