Author Archives: Sue Bell

The Sinking of the Sovereign: a family tragedy

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‘Mary, there is no hope for us now; we shall go to heaven together.’ These were the last words Robert Gore spoke to his wife, Mary, before they and their two young children drowned when the Sovereign, the steamer on which they were travelling to Sydney, sank off Stradbroke Island in March 1847.  Robert Gore was my great, great uncle and he and his wife, Mary, and two brothers and his widowed mother arrived in Sydney from Ireland on the … Continue reading

Little Daddy

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How do you engage children in family stories or in fact any stories? I have been contemplating this recently and luckily was able to attend an interesting talk by Kate Simpson, a children’s author during the GSQ Mini Seminar on 4 June, Sharing Family History: telling, writing. In her talk, she spoke about preserving stories for the next generation of your family and the importance of knowing your audience and making sure your story was focused on their age and … Continue reading

The Marmadukes.

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What’s in a name? In my quest to track down ancestors, I have always concentrated on using the last name as a searching term. I never thought the first name would be useful. However, because first names are often passed down through generation after generation, I have discovered that they may provide a clue to finding missing ancestors, particularly if you have come to a dead end. For years I have struggled to find any records of my Bell ancestors … Continue reading

Trying to decipher Jean McGill’s role during World War Two

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As I pressed the button for the lift, I thought of how often my mother would have stood there waiting for the lift to take her up to Floor 4. I was standing in the foyer of what had been the old AMP Building, now MacArthur Chambers, on the corner of Queen and Edward Streets in Brisbane which had been used as the headquarters of the Allied Forces in the south-west Pacific during World War Two.  This building was chosen … Continue reading

Elizabeth Hardwicke’s letter to her daughter Maria

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I have written before that one of the unexpected rewards of contributing stories to GSQ Blogs is that it has helped me solve a number of genealogical mysteries.  For example, it helped me solve the mystery of the identity of my great-great uncle Francis Needham’s wife in India when a distant relative contacted me after seeing my post and, not only told me that she was an Assamese lady called Mary, but also provided me with a photo. However, I … Continue reading