Category Archives: family secrets

Grandma’s Secrets.

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By Geraldine Lee. My grandmother bet on the horses. The evidence was discovered when her failing health and memory dictated a move into full-time care and family members were shocked to find not sheets and towels in the linen cupboard but thousands of betting slips. This sensible good-natured woman gambled? How to explain it? Mid-life crisis? How did anyone not know? I can explain my ignorance, having never opened her linen cupboard. Mamie – the nickname she preferred – was … Continue reading

Edith Matilda and her sisters

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I remember my great grandmother, Edith Caller (rhymes with “valour”), as a happy, snowy-white haired lady who seemed to chuckle a lot; I’d say she was jolly. To me, she was “Nanny Caller” who lived in an old timber house set on a large block in Putney, on the Parramatta River. There was an extensive vegetable garden, an array of fruit trees and still plenty of room for ballgames and chasings during family gatherings. We always felt very safe and … Continue reading

Finally finding a black sheep!

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I have several ancestors in my family who could be considered troublemakers or ne’er-do wells; the problem is deciding who would be the one to write about for this blog post. It must be William Nelson McCann, aka William McCann Neilson, he is fascinating, but I need to sort through the pile of newspaper clippings I have on William to write coherently. William Nelson McCann (my 2nd great-granduncle) was born on 27 September 1837 in Launceston, Tasmania, the son of … Continue reading

Correcting family myths: Great Uncle Ossie and Lulu

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I remember when I was young my father would often joke with my friend’s mother about some scandal that had involved both our families long ago (although as I was to find out it was not so long ago!).  I remembered these conversations when I noticed a small piece in a 2002 edition of the Runcorn Record, a now defunct publication put out by the Queensland State Archives. Unfortunately, my father had died by then, so as usual I was … Continue reading

Family secret #5

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I decided to share another of my poems this month. One of the things I love about writing my family history in poetry is that I’m not necessarily restricted to just the facts, which, let’s face it, are sometimes few and far between. But every single one of us likes to speculate about what those facts mean, or their effects on our ancestors. Poetry lets me do this. Family secret #5 He stole butter, sugar, a carton of eggs and … Continue reading