'Truth is the property of no individual but is the treasure of all men.' Ralph W Emerson, Poet 1803-1882

A treasure
'Trove'
of information -
how newspapers
told me a story
about the life
of an ancestor.

The National Library of Australia has introduced a wonderful website called Trove ( http://trove.nla.gov.au/ ) where it has made available, searches of digitalised newspapers from all around Australia as well as diaries, pictures, journals, magazines and other archived materials. The wealth of valuable information that has been made easily accessible, is not only interesting, but has particular importance for family historians.

Through searches of the newspaper articles which I found on the Trove site, I have been able to tell a detailed story about my 2 times great grandfather, John Morrison. I have been researching my Morrison forebears for some time and had discovered that the family had arrived in Melbourne, Australia in 1878 on the ship 'Kent' from Northumberland in England, with four children. I had found the Australian births of five more children in Newcastle and Sydney, NSW and the death of a son, William John a year after their arrival. I knew that the Morrisons had, for some reason relocated, from NSW to Queensland between 1894 and 1905. (These are the same Morrisons that I spoke of in a recent blog, whose gravestone my husband and I cleaned in Cooroy, Queensland - posted January 25, 2010).

From birth, death and marriage records, I knew that the Morrison family had lived in Newcastle and Sydney,after arriving in Australia and that John was a builder. The Australian Electoral Rolls, showed that the family's Sydney address was Morwick Street, Burwood. I knew that this was the address where the family had remained until sometime after 1894. John and Hannah Morrison and some of their grown children then appeared on the 1905 electoral roll in Ipswich, Queensland, Between the years 1894 and 1905, the Morrison family seemed to disappear until they turned up in South East Queensland. From the Queensland electoral rolls I found that John had later managed the Stewart River Sugar Mill in Queensland and lived in the town of Cooroy. I had to assume that John had found work wherever he could and that this had been the reason for the family's move from Strathfield in Sydney to Ipswich and then Cooroy in Queensland. With no oral family history at all about the Morrison family, I was left with a bare skeleton of a story, and nothing extra-ordinary, until I discovered a wealth of information through the National Library of Australia's Trove website. The value of online, easily accessed information in newspapers became apparent, as I read article after article, as well as advertisements in The Sydney Morning Herald, the Brisbane Courier Mail. Many enlightening newspaper items which I discovered written between the years of 1884 and 1933, enabled me to sew together, colourful threads of information, into a wonderfully informative account of John Morrison' life in Australia.

The first search of Trove for 'John Morrison', resulted in my finding a Tender advertisement in the Sydney Morning Herald, August 7, 1884, which called for the delivery of 120,000 bricks and 100 tons of sand to an un-named building site and which advised the tenderer to 'Contact, John Morrison, Builder, Burwood.' This was a substantial amount of building material, obviously intended for a large project. If this was indeed my great great grandfather, I deduced that he must have been a builder of considerable note. My curiosity intensified as I read other Tender advertisements for things such as a '3 ton jib crane, 60 feet jib, John Morison Contractor, Burwood.' I wasn't certain that this builder was my John Morrison, but I had a certain 'hunch' that urged me to continue to follow this trail. Another Tender requested 900 perch of Stone to be delivered to the site in George Street. I was confident that this building project was significant, and now I had an address for it as well. More importantly, the last Tender gave the address of the Contractor, as John Morrison of Morwick Street, Burwood so I knew without a doubt that the builder was my 2 times great grandfather. With much enthusiasm, I went in search of what it was that he was building, widening my search to 'John Morrison, George Street'. I was quite excited when I found what I was looking for, in an article written in the Sydney Morning Herald, on November, 27, 1885 entitled, 'The Chapter House at St Andrew's Cathedral' which described the new addition to the well known Sydney Cathedral, George Street, Sydney, which was designed by architects Blacket Bros, and built by John Morrison for a price of 7,600 pounds, pictured below and right.

Another tender notice in the same newspaper in August, 1885, which advertised for a large amount of stone and sand to be delivered to Newtown prompted me to search futher until I discovered that John Morrison had also been contracted to build a large Presbyterian church known as St Enoch's in Newtown ( pictured below right), which was completed in 1887. St Enoch's was a beautiful stone building of Gothic design by the same architects Blacket Bros who had designed Chapter house and were the sons of the well known colonial architect, Edmund Blacket. The large church seated over 600 people and housed one of the two largest pipe organs in Australia. Unfortunately it was demolished in the 1960's when many Presbyterian and Methodist churches became redundant with the uniting of these denominations with the Congregational church. Few pictures remain of this significant stone church.

Tender notices and other advertisements in the Sydney Morning Herald between the years of 1884 and 1889 informed me of the many building projects which John Morrison undertook as a contractor. He built a number of churches, mostly in the Gothic style of architecture, including the Presbyterian Church at Burwood, as well as large villas and homes designed by prominent architects, in Manly, Woolwich and other affluent suburbs of Sydney. One particular Tender notice which interested me, invited tenders for plasterers and concretors for 'Municipal Buildings' in Strathfield. Further searching revealed that John Morrison had built the Strathfield Council Chambers ( pictured below, right). This was especially significant as it was where my husband's grandfather had spent much time as a member of parliament and as a mayor. As each building that my great great grandfather had built, became known to me, I visited the sites to take photographs. I am from Queensland and must admit that since marrying, and living in Sydney, have never really felt quite the same 'connection' to this city as I have done to my home town of Brisbane, Queensland. With the discovery of my new heritage, I experienced a considerable sense of new pride, as I realised that important contribution my ancestor had made to the built fabric of of Sydney, NSW.

Next, I read an interesting Tender notice from October, 1887 in which John Morrison invited offers to advertise on a ' large railway frontage at Strathfield Junction'. I assumed that since Morwick Street, Burwood where John lived, bounded the railway line near Strathfield Station, that he was advertising his building contracting business. Further searches revealed that between 1889 and 1890, John Morrison's Tender advertisements for building materials ceased. Then I discovered several articles written in the Sydney Morning Herald between April and June of 1890, which explained the significance of the 1887 'railway frontage' advertisement. Intrigued, I read the following words, from the Sydney Morning Herald, Saturday, April, 19, 1890 'The Railway Commissioners yesterday took delivery of the second chain of railway carriages built by Mr John Morrison of Strathfield ...', and ' railway carriage factory, Strathfield'. I wondered if could this possibly be my John Morrison. My challenge was to discover whether a builder of churches, homes and council chambers could turn his skills to the industry of carriage building. As I searched the advertisements in the Sydney Morning Herald from 1887 to 1890, it became evident that John Morrison , builder, and John Morrison, carriage builder, were one and the same man. Through further searches of the advertising section of the Sydney Morning Herald, I discovered that John had a large tram and rail carriage works adjoining Strathfield Station on the site where the Tafe College now stands. The business began its operations in 1889 and was located directly adjoining his address in Morwick street, on the other side of the rail line. John Morrison would only have had to step out of his home and walk across the railway line to his workshop.

With pride, I read article upon article, which praised the quality of the fine rail carriages built by my 2 times great grandfather, the first of which was in service in 1889 on the suburban railway lines in Sydney. Through these news items I became aware that John Morrison was at one time, one of the six largest providers of rolling stock for the Australian government. My desk overflowed with printouts of news stories, photographs and advertisements for John Morrison's rail and tram carriages from 1889 to 1993. My great great grandfather, was clearly a very wealthy and prominent business man. The question remained as to why he had left Sydney and moved his family to Queensland, when he had built up several successful businesses. A large notice in the Sydney Morning Herald, in March, 1894, under Auction Sales, provided the answer I was seeking.

With dismay as I read, I realised that that due to a cancelled government contract for 180 rail carriages 'J. Morrison Carriage Builder' had lost everything he had worked so hard to achieve. A large advertisement which appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald, in 1894, advertised an auction sale of all of John Morrison's household goods to be held on Friday, July, 9, at 11 am at 'Myella', Brooklyn Street Burwood. The auctioneers announced with regret that, 'the furniture was not displayed to its best advantage due to it having been suited to the Morrisons' previous much larger home', which John had obviously lost due to his unfortunate circumstances.

Part of the advertisement read: 'Favoured with instructions from Mrs John Morrison.... the auctioneers will sell the whole of her exceedingly Handsome, modern and substantial furniture and household effects...Dining, Drawing, Breakfast and bedroom suites... Seven grand carpets, all bordered...Magnificent Overmantel and mirrors, Really splendid water colours by Huddlestone, Fletcher Watson and other artists of great ability....two pianofortes... ' On and on went the list of beautiful things that my 2 times great grandparents were forced to part with. 'Expensive jewelery, designed by well known craftsmen, Ladies riding equipment' As I read, I found myself thinking about the great wealth that John Morrison had obviously built up for his family and the even greater loss this family had sustained. I felt the pain of how devastating this tragedy must have been for them as they sold all of their possessions, ' now for sale owing to the terrible losses sustained by Mr John Morrison and family, owing to the cancellation of Government contracts and consequent closing of the carriage-building shops at Strathfield station.'

From the searches of the Sydney Morning Herald on the Trove site, I learned that John Morrison had remained in Sydney after losing his rail carriage business, until 1907, once again working as a builder, contracting his building services to architects and the contruction of homes. I found the addresses of many of these homes in Mosman, Cremorne and Potts Point through Tender notices. Finding no further information regarding John Morrison in Sydney, I turned my attention to the Queensland newspapers. An article entitled 'Overland Passengers' in the Brisbane Courier Mail, on Saturday January 27, 1900 informed me that Hannah Morrison, wife of John, and several of their daughters had left Sydney bound for Ipswich by rail, the previous day on January, 26.

On Saturday, September, 3 1910, a story appeared in the Brisbane Courier Mail under the heading; 'Carriage and Wagon Shop - XII, by W.B.D', in which John Morrison was mentioned as the carriage works foreman. Finally, I knew why John and his family had relocated to the town of Ipswich in south east Queensland. In the photograph at the top of this page, also from the Brisbane Courier Mail, John is pictured standing fourth from the right in a white suit. This is the only known photograph of my 2 times great grandfather. Pictured below, also from the Brisbane Courier Mail, is the Ipswich Carriage Workshop where John Morrison remained as foreman for some years before moving to Cooroy.

Queensland newspapers told the next chapter in John Morrison's life, after leaving Sydney, until his death in 1927, however, that tale is for another time. I have now personally seen three of the carriages which my great great great grandfather built. They are housed at the State Rail Musuem at Thirlemere. I have visited many of the buildings which he constructed and felt admiration for this man who I never met, but feel that I know through his wonderful craftsmanship. This story would not have been possible but for the enormous project undertaken by the National Library of Australia in digitalising so many of Australia's leading and regional newspapers.

mmm

'If you endeavour to take out...that manly confidence which ought to be cherished in every civilised human being..you begin the work of demoralisation

A Convict in the Family Tree

The above quote is from Lawrence Frayne, a convict on Norfolk island who was my 3 x Great Uncle on my mother's side of my family. The picture is of a tombstone erected on Norfolk Island by Lawrence Frayne in memory of his friend and fellow prisoner, William Storey who died 9 January 1838 aged 29 years, a native of Dublin.
Like many Australians, I grew up with no knowledge of my convict ancestry. As with many families, mine had most probably gone to a great deal of trouble to cover the fact that we had a convicted felon on the family tree . It was not always as fashionable to 'claim' a convict in your past as it is today as we embrace our felonious foundation in Australia. To deny heritage, however, is to deny your identity.
I was quite excited when I discovered, some years ago, that the father of my great great grandmother Sarah Frayne (who married Edward Joseph Weston), was a Lawyer from Dublin. Until then most of my ancestors had been coal miners, bootmakers, farm labourers and even a law clerk but an Irish lawyer was something new to research. His death certificate, obtained from the Queensland State Archives, issued in 1878, stated that Michael Frayne had lived in the colonies for 40 years. This indicated that Michael had arrived in Australia from Ireland in around 1837 or 1838.

As I was researching several other family lines at that time and as I also knew that Irish research was difficult, with less online resources than other parts of the UK, I filed Michael Frayne in the temporarily 'too hard' basket. While I went on to discover my husband David's fascinating Royal connections, something kept bothering me about my 3 x great grandfather, Michael Frayne. If he had indeed left Ireland around 1837, this date would appear to be too early for a free Irish settler to have arrived in the colony of Australia. Daughter Sarah's birth certificate in 1868,  stated that her parents Michael Frayne and Mary Williams were married in Singleton, NSW but I was unable to find a marriage certificate for Michael and Mary in NSW. Similarly, no record of a marriage was located in Queensland where Sarah was born. Although I was thrilled to have an Irish lawyer on my tree, I was left with a niggling suspicion that all was not as it seemed.  I decided to re- examine the information I had.

When I looked again at the birth certificate for Michael's daughter, Sarah (my 2 x great grandmother), I noticed my mistake immediately. Since first 'finding' Michael, I had become much more familiar with old handwriting and poor Michael Frayne fell from grace at once, as I read that he was a 'Sawyer'..... not a Lawyer! In old handwriting, the flourishing style of letter 'S' is often easily mistaken for an 'L'. A disappointing discovery when your husband has many Kings and Queens in his ancestry. The discovery of another record verified that Michael was indeed a 'timber getter' and had nothing to do with the law.... or so I thought! My great great great grandfather was about to fall even further down the social ladder..

I had a hunch - one of those feelings we family historians get where we just 'know' something! The more I thought about Michael Frayne, the more the date of his arrival became significant. I began to suspect that my 'Lawyer turned Sawyer', 3 times grandfather may have arrived in Australia as a convict. I began to research Irish immigration and soon discovered that the first free Irish settlers had arrived in Australia in 1839, when an immigration plan was put in place to bring farmers to this country from Ireland with their families. This discovery made it vital to put a date on Michael's arrival. If Michael Frayne had indeed arrived a year or two earlier than 1839, as I believed, it seemed quite likely that this 3 x great grandfather of mine, might indeed have been connected to the law after all, but as a convict and not as a lawyer as I had first thought.
Growing up as I did, believing that I had no connections to Australia's colonial founding, this discovery was very exciting to say the least.

The next step was for me to search all convict records I could find. The Australian Society of Genealogists, (SAG), based in Sydney, had put some records online on their website. I discovered three Michael Fraynes and two other Fraynes (Peter and Lawrence) who had arrived on different ships as convicted felons. The NSW state Archives also had a considerable number of convict records such as Tickets of Leave, Pardons, Permission to Marry and Convict Bank accounts which I searched. A Michael Frayne had arrived in 1837 on board the convict ship 'St Vincent' and I suspected that I had found my 3 x great grandfather. So began my search for evidence.

My search for Michael Frayne began some years ago, and at the time there were not as many online convict records available as there are now. Now, with online records made available by organisations such as FindmyPast and Ancestry.com, convict records in particular are easier to access. In the early stages of my research, 'Michael' was forced to sit an archive box to wait until I had time to visit the Archives or the State Library to research in person. Then, as I often do, when I 'file' an ancestor away, I climbed out along another branch of the family tree and forgot my convict as I became engrossed in the world of MI5 and 2 x great uncle Rex Morley-Hoyes who it seemed likely had been a World War 2 spy/ traitor/ illegal gun runner/  titled gentleman or all of the above.

Some time later, after a break in researching the family history, I suddenly remembered great great great grandfather Michael Frayne and decided to pursue his possible convict past once more. I discovered to my delight, that many more resources were available to me through Ancestry.com and the Irish Archives and that the Australian Society of Genealogist's website was much improved. On this website, I found the link I needed to prove beyond doubt that my Michael Frayne was indeed the convict who had arrived on the St Vincent in 1837. I found records for the convict, Michael Frayne, which linked him to his wife Mary Williams, daughter Sarah, parents Michael 'Freyne' and Sera Phoenix as well as a step son Richard Brown and a brother Larry Frayne.

I re-examined Michael's death certificate and discovered that the witness present at his death was his step son Richard Brown. I had found the proof I needed to establish beyond doubt that my 3 x great grandfather was a convict. An exciting discovery but as is so often the case in the pursuit of family history, when one mystery is solved, others are unearthed.

Michael's death certificate stated that he had been married in Singleton in 1858. This date made little sense as Michael's wife Mary, born in around 1845, would have been too young to have married in 1858.  Searching  the NSW Births Deaths and Marriages Historical online records, I discovered that Michael had indeed been married in 1858, but to not to my 3 x great grandmother, Mary Williams. Michael's marriage in 1858 was to a Bridget Donelly and had not married in Singleton as stated, but in St Mary's Cathedral in Sydney.  (This was not the large Cathedral which stands today but it was on the same site as the current cathedral occupies. The original cathedral was destroyed in a fire and rebuilt.) So I now had two wives for Michael. Or at least I had one legal wife and a step son whose mother was a mystery. I could find no record of a child named Richard born to either Bridget nor Mary.

The marriage certificate for Michael and Bridget confirmed that Michael was born in Dublin and was aged 34 years at the time of the marriage on the 18 th February, 1858. This meant that in 1837 he was only 13 or 14 years old when he arrived in the Colony as a convict. A quick search of the BDM's showed that Bridget had died on the 29th August 1864 in Singleton aged 26 years. No marriage record has been found for Michael and Mary Williams, whose daughter Sarah was born in Brisbane Qld, 4 years after Bridget Frayne's death. The fact that Michael's death certificate states that he was married in 1858, seems to suggest that he did not marry Mary Williams.

The Irish Archives and a helpful site provided by Peter Mayberry, 'Irish Convicts to NSW 1788-1837', informed me that Michael Frayne was tried for 'burglary,robbery' in Dublin in 1836 aged 14 years. He was described as 'single' and an 'errand boy'. His brother's name was given as Larry Frayne -who arrived about 1827.' Michael's sentence was 'death', later commuted to 'life'.  I discovered that not only did I have a great great great grandfather who was a convict and a Dublin burglar, but it appeared that my 3 x great uncle Larry Frayne also arrived in the colony as a convict. I was thrilled to have several convicts on my tree. With my husband descending from almost every Royal House in Europe, this provided me with some very colourful, and significantly, very Australian colonial history of my own. Little did I know then, however, just how interesting a journey the  felonious Frayne family would transport me on.

I had previously seen a record for a convict named Lawrence Frayne who had arrived on the ship 'Regalia' in 1826, but had not realised his connection to Michael. Now that I knew they were brothers, I began to research both Michael and Lawrence Frayne. According to a record of convicts on Norfolk Island in the NSW State Archives, Lawrence was sentenced in Dublin on the 5th of October, 1825 for 'stealing rope'. He was described as a pantry boy, born in 1809. Lawrence Frayne was just 17 years old when he arrived in NSW as a convicted thief to serve his 7 year sentence.

The next record I searched was the 1838 Convict Muster. There I found Michael Frayne employed by a James Brown at a property called 'Strathallan', NSW. This record showed me that the ship 'St Vincent' had departed Cork, Ireland on the 13 September 1836 and arrived in NSW on the 5 January 1837, a voyage of almost 4 months. Strathallan is near Braidwood where there had been considerable land grants made in the 1830's and convict labour was in demand. The 1872 NSW Post Office Directory describes Braidwood as 'Distance, 186 miles south of Sydney.'

I didn't confine my search to just Michael and Lawrence as I have found it useful to research the people around the lives of ancestors such as neighbours and relatives of a wife. Every clue can be important in the search for vital 'pieces' of an ancestor's life story. A search of the S.A.G (Society of Australian Genealogists) website, revealed information about Michael's first wife, Bridget Donelly. Her parents were James Donnelly and Mary McMahon and the witness to the wedding of Michael and Bridget in 1858 was Margaret McGee. I recorded these details in case they proved useful in tracing Michael Frayne's life in NSW.

My search for convict records in Australia was far from over however I decided to try to find some record of the births of my convict forebears in Ireland. I am a subscribed member of a wonderful website called Emerald Ancestors but this proved of no use as unlike my paternal Irish family who hailed from Counties Tyrone and Londonderry in Northern Ireland, Michael and Lawrence were born in Dublin. No records are available for Dublin on this site.

After a number of investigations, a search of a site called the Online Irish Records System proved successful in providing me with a record of Michael's baptism. Michael Frayne was baptised at St Paul's Arran Quay, Co Dublin on the 4th of June 1821. His parents were recorded as Michael Frayne and Sera.. 'surname not recorded.' Sponsors for the baptism were James Gerety and Margaret Hoey. A surprise discovery was another brother Peter Frayne, baptised at St Pauls Arran Quay Dublin, on the 7th of July, 1822. Sponsors for this baptism were Michael Tierney and Elisa Farrell. A new question arose in my mind. Was the convict, Peter Frayne, I had found earlier in my research, the brother of Michael and Lawrence? Were three brothers tried and convicted of crimes in Dublin Ireland and sentenced to transportation to Australia?

A search of the convict records of a Peter Frayne who served his time in Tasmania have as yet proved no connection and this lead is still a work in progress.

Both the NSW State Archives and Ancestry.com provide an online search facility for convict records. In the 1828 Muster, I found that Lawrence Frayne was sent to Moreton Bay for 3 years to be served in the employment of the Government. He was later granted a Ticket of Leave in Maitland, NSW in 1845. This was reported in the Maitland Mercury and Hunter River Adviser on Saturday 10 May 1845, 19 years after he arrived to serve a 7 year sentence. A further notice in the Maitland Mercury dated August 15, 1845 read that, 'The tickets of leave belonging to the under mentioned prisoners of the crown have been cancelled for the reasons stated opposite their respective names....... Lawrence Frayne absent from district, Maitland bond.'

A Ticket of Leave was a document given to convicts to allow them the freedom to live and to work in a given district before they were pardoned or before their sentence expired. With a TOL, a convict could hire him or herself out for employment but had to remain in the district for a stipulated time. To leave the area, permission was required and 'passports' were issued to allow convicts to move between districts for the purpose of employment. Church attendance was required. How or when Lawrence left the Moreton Bay Penal Colony remained to be discovered.

I knew by now that Lawrence Frayne had been originally sentenced to a 7 year sentence which began in 1826 on his arrival in NSW. It appears that he was first sent to Yass to work and then to Moreton Bay. Lawrence was transported to Norfolk Island in 1830, sentenced by the Supreme Court, Sydney for stealing from a dwelling house. From his ticket of leave I know he was working in the Maitland area in the Hunter Valley NSW in 1845 and the Certificate of Freedom pictured right shows that he obtained his freedom in 1846. Below is a copy of the original documentation for Lawrence Frayne's Pardon in 1846, 20 years after his arrival in NSW to serve a 7 year sentence. I was very interested to learn the reason he had ended up with a 20 year sentence and so planned to do more research on my convict, 3 x great uncle.
The Certificate of Leave for Lawrence Frayne was an especially exciting discovery for me as it described his physical appearance. He was 5 feet 7 1/2 inches tall, had brown hair and hazel eyes. The colour of his eyes was significant as both my mother and sister have hazel eyes but no one else in the family seems to have them. Perhaps they are inherited from the Frayne family. The record states that Lawrence had a scar in the corner of his right eye and another on the bridge of his nose. It is obvious from this description that Lawrence Frayne had endured a rough life. I knew that Michael Frayne had died in Brisbane in 1878, 10 years after the birth of his daughter Sarah in September 1868. From a Courier mail article dated Thursday July 9th, 1868, I discovered that he had been fined 10 shillings in the Central Police Court before Mr G Petrie for 'drunkeness'. A website called Trove which has digitalised quite a few Australian newspapers, provided me with a picture of Michael's life in Australia. Any hope that he had been reformed in this penal settlement was dashed when I read that Michael and wife Bridget were frequently in Court, in Sydney, in 1858and 1859, on charges which included 'stealing shoes and boots', drunkeness, drugging a man named Donald Cameron Dingwall and robbing him in their home and stealing money from a number of people, just to list a few crimes. Michael was taken before the court on Thursday, 20 September, 1860, charged with 'being a prisoner of the crown illegally at large'. He was charged and returned to the service of the Crown. The same year, his wife, Bridget then aged 22, was charged with 'keeping and maintaining a disorderly house for lucre and gain'. I can only imagine what that means!! The address given for the Fraynes was York Street, Sydney. It appears that Michael and Bridget Frayne just could not stay out of trouble as they were again brought before the Police Court, this time in Maitland, 11 August, 1864. Bridget was charged with use of obscene language on Sunday 31st July and find 10 shillings or 24 hours imprisonment in default. Michael, now a Publican, was charged with allowing disorderly conduct in his premises on the same day. The scene described in the Maitland Mercury tells that between 7 and 8 o'clock in the morning on the said Sunday, Bridget was observed from outside the Public House through the open front door an open bedroom door, to be half naked and half in and out of her bed in a 'state of beastly intoxication.' When asked to put a stop to his wife's behavior,Michael told the attending policeman, ' What the ____ has that got to do with me. There is a keg of rum for my wife to drink if she choses to drink it' and that he would do in his own house what he thought proper. Living the life that Michael and Bridget Frayne lived, it is little wonder that Bridget died two weeks later, at the young age of 26 years. I know little of Michael Frayne's life after Bridget died. He was declared insolvent on Thursday 15th of May, 1866 by the Supreme Court of NSW, his address given as 139 King Street Sydney. How or where he met my 3 x great grandmother, Mary Williams is a story waiting to be discovered. Two years later, in 1868, Michael and Mary Frayne were living in Edward Street Brisbane and that is where daughter Sarah was born in the September of that year. I may never know who was the mother of Michael's step son Richard Brown. Richard later changed his name to Frayne and died under that surname in Queensland in 1912. If I had thought the life of my 3 x great grandfather to be interesting, if not sad, nothing prepared me for the journey I was about to go on with his brother Lawrence. Through a Google book search, I discovered that Lawrence Frayne was mentioned in a number of books, including 'The Fatal Shore' by Robert Hughes, which devotes almost an entire chapter to Lawrence and his time on Norfolk Island. Another book written by Carol Baxter, called' Breaking the Bank' also makes mention of the apparently notorious convict Lawrence Frayne. I discovered that there exists a CD of songs by artist Martin Curtis which features, 'The Ballad of Lawrence Frayne' which I am eager to obtain a copy of. it was becoming very apparent that lawrence was something of an interesting character and my curiousity well and truly aroused, I went searching in earnest to discover more about my convict great great great uncle. In a sermon, entitled, 'God with a Human Face', by the Reverend John C Purdy, which I found on the internet, I found the following story,' Lawrence Frayne, irishman, kept a written account of his captivity. He was originally sent to Australia for theft. For attempting to escape, he was sentenced to death. That sentence was commuted and he was sent to Norfolk .(Island) As he lay at night chained to the stone floor of his cell, his back scarred with hundreds of lashes, his mind numbed with months in solitary confinement, he despaired. Because he had been reared a Catholic, suicide was unthinkable. For comfort, he clung to verses of the bile that he had memorised as a youth. Night after night, over and over, he recited the words of Psalm 88. The 14th vrse reads, 'Oh Lord why do you cast me off, Why do you hide your face from me?' From my research I have discovered that Lawrence Frayne was the only convict to leave a written account of his treatment on Norfolk Island. The quote at the beginning of his blog is from that account which is held in the NSW State Library as part of the 'Colonial Papers'. The 'biography' of Lawrence Frayne reflects a well read man. For a period, Norfolk was under the command of Alexander Mcconochie, a man who encouraged the prisoners to read and to educate themselves in orderto become better equipped to live as free men in society. This was an unusual attitude towards convicts at that time but one that obviously benefited Lawrence Frayne. Lawrence included in his writing, a 'point by point denunciation of transportation and a laying out of his own ideas about penal reform. Given Frayne's personal history, it is unlikely that he read Paine, Cobbett and Owen before he came to Norfolk Island and Maconochie is the most likely person to have passed these writers on to him.' One day soon, I hope to spend some time in the NSW State Library. reading the long document, written by my 3 x great uncle, in which Lawrence poignantly wrote of the demoralization of harsh treatment of convicts, saying of it that,' you make him (the convict)regardless of himself, and fearles as to the cosequences of doing wrong to others.' In 1833, Lawrence Frayne was involved in a convict rebellion on Norfolk island. He was granted a Ticket of Leave, according to the Maitland Mercury, on Saturday 10th of May. 1845. On August 15th 1845 his TOL was cancelled, the reason given, that he was absent from the Maitland district. As with all of my family history research, the Frayne family tree is a work in constant progress. I have yet to discover what became of my famous convict great uncle, Lawrence Frayne. His whereabouts, after 1845 are completely unknown to me and there is much more to his life story that I would like to discover. As with all historical research, family, local or world, there are always facts to find and new stories to tell. Hopefully, soon, I will have much more to add to the story of my convict ancestors Michael and Lawrence Frayne.

Non Omnis Moriar. 'I shall not altogether die.' Horace 65-8 BC: Odes

JOHN AND HANNAH MORRISON - Pioneers of Cooroy On a recent holiday on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, my husband David and I drove to Cooroy, a small town inland from Noosa. We went to Cooroy in search of the graves of my great great grandparents, John and Hannah Tait MORRISON who both died in 1927. John and Hannah are official 'Pioneers of Cooroy and as such their descendants are entitled to a Pioneer Certficate once they have proven descent. The photo above, is John and Hannah's headstone after David had carefully removed 80 years of lichen, which had made it almost impossible to read the inscriptions.

Two years ago, I had never heard of John and Hannah Morrison, much less imagined that I would visit their resting place in January, 2010. I had known since 1999, after obtaining the marriage certificate of my maternal grandparents, Hilda Lillian Weston and Ian Cuthbert Reece-Hoyes (married in 1929), that Ian's mother was Florence Morrison, born in Strathfield, Sydney. There were quite a few Florence Morrisons born in Sydney around her estimated birth date, but none born in Strathfield so I had no way of knowing which was 'my' Florence. My research into this side of the family had hit a 'brick wall'. My mother had passed away and because her parents had divorced when she was three years old, I knew nothing of her father's family. So, Florence was forced to 'rest' in an archive box while David celebrated the fact that I had Sydney origins. The discovery that Florence Morrison was a 'Strathfield girl', in his eyes, considerably weakened , my 20 year old argument that I 'belonged' in Queensland and not in Sydney where we live.

Almost two years ago, on Facebook, I found a Reece-Hoyes relative, a first cousin to my mother, Leonard Alwyn (Len). We arranged to meet in Brisbane and thence began our journey into the past together. Pictured below is Len, myself and my sister Reece at our first meeting in Brisbane, Queensland.

Several times, I had tried, unsuccessfully, to find a marriage certificate for Florence Morrison and my great grandfather ( Len's grandfather), Leonard Cuthbert Reece-Hoyes., estimating the date to be prior to the birth of my grandfather, Ian in 1910. Ian's birth certificate, issued in 1910, gave Florence's age as 24 years and this information enabled me to narrow 'my' Florence down to three possible births in Sydney.

My sister Reece and I arranged to meet Len and his wife Jan in Brisbane. What more appropriate place to meet than the Queensland State Archives, where after coffee and an instant rapport, we spent much of the day researching, discovering, and learning how to use the unfamiliar micro-fiche machines (under the stern and watchful eye of the archive attendant who was less than impressed with, what I am certain she thought, were our attempts to destroy her machines!). By the end of our day, after much fun and some frustration, we were amazed at what we had collected. We had begun with the information already known to us, which was, that my grandfather Ian was born in 1910, Len's father, Leonard John, was born in 1917 and a younger brother, Lawrence had been born in 1921. What a surprise to discover three sisters, Yvonne Florence, born in 1913, who lived only a short time, Mabel Lenore who had died in 1920 and Alwynne Jean , born in 1916, who had died of convulsions in 1918. The discovery of this last sister was a special find for Reece and myself as our mother's name was Alwynne Jean and now we knew for whom she had been named. I also discovered the reason I had not found Florence's marriage, as she and Leonard Reece-Hoyes did not marry until 1913, three years after the birth of my grandfather Ian.

Among the Archive records, we found School Admission records for Ian and Len Reece-Hoyes . These were fascinating as they showed the boys, Ian and Leonard living in Cooroy in 1922 and 1924, in the care of a Nurse Morrison at a Private Hospital. In 1917 we discovered Ian attending the Chermside State School in Brisbane. A phone call to Len's father Len senior, revealed that he recalled living in Cooroy with his maternal grandparents as a young boy. His grandmother had been a nurse and he remembered some aunts who were nurses as well. What a blessing that we still had someone to ask questions of. The memories that Len senior, now in his 90's,( pictured above) shared with us filled in many gaps and proved invaluable. The names of Florence's parents, however still remained a mystery.

On my return to Sydney, I searched the Births, Deaths and Marriages online service that is available for NSW. I chose two births, one of which I felt was certain to be my Florence and ordered the birth certificates. I 'sensed' immediately that I had found the right Florence, when on one certificate, I saw the family's address; Morwick Street, Burwood. This street is situated right on the cusp of Burwood and its neighbouring suburb of Strathfield. This Florence Morrison was born on the 10 th of August, 1885. Her parents were, John MORRISON, 38 years, Contractor, born Aberdeen, Scotland and Hannah, formerly GAIR, 38 years, born in Northumberland, England. Meanwhile, Jan Reece-Hoyes, in Queensland, had sent away for the marriage certificate of Florence Morrison to Leonard Reece-Hoyes. The state of Queensland, has yet to introduce an online service for Birth, Death and Marriage records and so we had to wait for the certificate to arrive via 'snail mail.'

The arrival of the much anticipated marriage certificate for Florence Morrison to Leonard Reece-Hoyes caused much jubilation as it proved beyond doubt that we had found Florence's parents. Of course, this certificate also opened up a whole new branch of the family tree with our discovery that Leonard Reece-Hoyes had been born in New Zealand to Elizabeth Morley and James Berry HOYES. We felt as though we had opened Pandora's box with an intriguing mystery (how and why did Hoyes become Reece-Hoyes) as well as new clues tempting to distract us. For the moment, however, we decided to remain on the trail of John and Hannah Morrison. There were questions which needed answering. How did they come to be living in Cooroy after Florence was born in Sydney? When did they come to Australia? On which ship? Did they come together or with their families? The most vital lead that the marriage certificate provided was the link we needed to go back in time: the birth places of John and Hannah. John was born in Aberdeen, Scotland and Hannah, in Northumberland, England.

Before we ventured back to Scotland and England, we decided to gather as much information about the Morrison family here in Australia as we could. It was our hope that we might collect 'clues' that would assist us in our search into the past in the UK. One thing to consider was that names of children are often passed down from one generation to the next and sometimes, an unusual name or a surname used as a middle name provides crucial keys to unlocking the past.

Another search of the NSW BDM's online, resulted in finding the birth of another son to Florence(pictured above) and Leonard Reece-Hoyes. Wallace Dalkeith was born in 1930 in Ballina, NSW and died a few days later. Lawrence Reece-Hoyes, (1921),brother to my grandfather, Ian and to Leonard , also had a son called Wallace and a daughter named Yvonne. Two brothers had named children after siblings they had lost. An even greater surprise awaited us as a further search of the NSW BDM's revealed that John and Hannah Morrison had been blessed with a son also named Wallace Dalkeith in October 1892. The names Wallace and Dalkeith were filed away as possible links to Scotland and the Morrison family. A search of NSW Births, Deaths and Marriages online, found the following children born to John and Hannah Tait Morrison (the middle name of Tait made searching much easier as there were more than one Morrison couple with the names John and Hannah): Colin R-1879, George-1881, Minnie-1883, Florence F-1885 (my g grandmother), and twins John and Jessie born in 1887. As Colin R was born in Newcastle, a timeline began to appear. John and Hannah were living in Newcastle, NSW in 1879 and by 1885 were living in Morwick Street, Burwood, a suburb of Sydney. The death of son George in 1892 aged 9 years showed that John and Hannah were still residing in Sydney at that time.

The time had come to take the search to England and Scotland where the couple had come from. Assuming that the couple had followed tradition and married in Hannah's home parish in Northumberland, I searched the Northumberland parish records through Ancestry.com as well as council websites in Northumberland which had put historical records online. Success! John and Hannah were married in South Shields, Co Durham, Tyne and Wear in the October to December quarter of 1868. Encouraged by my success so far, I sent for a copy of the certificate from the GRO (British Register Office). Not sitting idle, while awaiting the arrival of this document, we thought about the large gap between the marriage of John and Hannah in 1868 and the birth in Australia of their 'first' child, Colin R in 1879. It seemed likely that other children had been born to John and Hannah in England. I searched for possible births of earlier children in the UK and soon found four more children. Through Ancestry.com website, I found that Martha Ann was born in 1870, Alice J in 1872, Elizabeth in 1874 and John William in 1877, Due to the expense of obtaining certificates from the UK I did not send for copies of these but was pleased that I now had a definite timeline for John and Hannah's arrival in Australia. The last child born to John and Hannah in Northumberland, was John William, in 1877 and the first child to be born in Australia was Colin R in 1879. This meant that the Morrison family left the UK sometime between 1877 and 1879. This narrow window of time helped greatly in finding the ship on which they travelled to Australia.

Searches of passenger lists to NSW proved fruitless and it was only when in desperation we broadened our search to the online Victorian Unassisted Passenger Lists that we found John and Hannah. One thing I have learned since I began searching for ancestors is to always look beyond the obvious. John and Hannah Morrison arrived in the port of Melbourne on the ship 'Kent' in the hot month of December, 1878. Martha Ann 7yrs , Alice J 5yrs, Elizabeth 3yrs, and John W 1yr, travelled with their parents to begin a new life in Australia. Whether it was their original intention to travel to Sydney, we will probably never know, but we do know from the birth of Colin R, that the family were living in Newcastle, NSW in 1879, in the year following their arrival in Australia. My husband David suggested that Newcastle may have attracted the Morrisons because of links to the city of Newcastle in Northumberland. It appears that by 1885 when Florence was born, John William had died as the certificate states that one male child was deceased. Another son named John was born to John and Hannah in 1887. The Morrisons lost another son, George in 1892. We can only imagine the grief that John and Hannah felt at the loss of these children.

Using records such as Electoral Rolls and School Admission records, we were able to reconstruct a timeline of John and Hannah Morrison's life in Australia. They arrived in Melbourne, Victoria in 1878, were living in Newcastle, NSW in 1879. By 1903, according to the Queensland Electoral Roll, some members of the family were residing at Harlin Road, Ipswich. Hannah and daughters, Jessie and Minnie were recorded as carrying out domestic duties. Son, John was working as a machinist while his father John was, at that time, a carriage builder. Daughter, Martha Annie was recorded as being a Nurse. In 1908, the family was still living at the same address in Ipswich. The 1913 Queensland Electoral Roll shows John Morrison working as the Mill Manager at the Stuart River Mill, Nanango, Wide bay. With him were Hannah ( home duties), Jessie (home duties) and John, whose occupation was still a machinist. The Stuart River Mill was a sugar mill. Often the occupation of a person provides valuable clues to finding them in a past census, but as John had been a carriage builder in 1903 and was now a Manager of a Sugar Mill in 1913, we suspected that this would be of no help in our search in the UK. It was more likely that he obtained work wherever he could.

We knew that John and Hannah were living in Cooroy in 1922, to 1924, from the School Admission records of their grandsons Ian and Leonard (Len senior) who were living with them. The 1925 Electoral Roll shows the family living in Cooroy with John and Hannah who were both retired by this time. Daughter, Martha Ann, and Elizabeth (assumed to be the wife of son John ) were both Nurses in Cooroy. Len senior has shared with us his memories of a large house in Toowoomba where he spent time with his grandparents. He remembers tennis courts and maids. Exactly, when John and Hannah may have lived in Toowoomba remains a mystery.

The private hospital opened by the Morrisons was in Maple Road Cooroy, backing onto Hospital Lane. Researchers into the history of Cooroy, have produced a book entitled, 'Pioneers of Cooroy', From this work we have learned that John Morrison was a part owner of the Butter factory in Cooroy. This building ( pictured below) remains an important feature in the town and now provides a facility for the arts. The hospital was situated in a building which had previously been a private home. Today there is still a private hospital on the Morrison's hospital site in Maple Road.

There is much more we would like to know about John and Hannah Morrison's life in Australia and our search is by no means complete. We know very little about the lives of John and Hannah's children. Martha Ann was living in Cooroy in 1925. She would have been 55 years old in that year, so presumably she did not marry. Colin R was found on an Electoral Roll, living in Melbourne around the same time. One day, we hope to know more about Florence's other siblings.

When David and I visited the Cooroy Cemetery, we had no idea where the grave of John and Hannah Morrison was located. We had seen a photograph taken by Len Reece-Hoyes and his wife Jan, the previous year when they passed through the town. Len had cleared quite a lot of rubbish from the uncared for, but significantly large grave. We found the grave sitting on the side of a hill in a very pretty location. Sadly the Headstone was covered in 83 years of lichen and dirt which made reading the inscription almost impossible. The words, 'Hannah Tait and 'Morrison' were clear enough to establish that this was the grave we were looking for but it was sad to see the deteriorated condition of the grave.

A visit to the local hardware store armed us with the correct cleaning products and David set to work restoring the headstone. We had no idea of the surprise that awaited us. David had suspected that the headstone was granite but as the lichen came away and the stone began to shine in the sunlight, we saw just how beautiful the engraved stone really was. Gradually the wording became clearer and whiter against the black granite.

After quite a few hours of hard work, we could see clearly that the result was worth the effort.

Below, left, is the headstone, pictured during the early stages of cleaning with the inscription becoming clearer. In the photograph to the right and below, I am standing at the grave of my great great grandparents John and Hannah Morrison in the picturesque Cooroy cemetery. The stone beneath the headstone is a lovely block of sandstone just waiting for someone to come along and clean the lichen and dirt off it. We ran out of time on this recent trip, but perhaps we might find the time to tidy up the rest of the grave on our next holiday? It is so important for graves to be cared for. I did not ever meet John and Hannah, yet I feel, now that I have seen their beautiful grave and headstone, that I 'know' them and that they will not be forgotten.

This is the story of John and Hannah Morison from the time they arrived in Australia, as we know it so far.

Len, Jan and I have also taken a journey back in time and discovered the ancestors of Hannah Tait Morrison (maiden name Gair). We know that Hannah's middle name of Tait was her mother's surname. We have traced Hannah's Gair family in Northumberland to the early 1700's and the Taits, so far, back one generation. This is a work in progress and by no means completed. John's family tree has, as yet, proven somewhat more difficult to trace, but we do not give up easily.

We have traced the families of some of Hannah's siblings in England, forward to today. Her sister Ann mmarried a James Turnbull and we are currently attempting to make contact with this branch of the family. Recently I made contact with the great great granddaughter of Ralph Gair, Hannah's youngest brother. Deborah lives in Newcastle in the UK not far from where John and Hannah lived. Hopefully, together we will all go on a new journey of discovery. Our journey with John and Hannah Morrison has truly taken us to the UK.

In my next blog entry, I will show how we used Census records, Parish Records, Marriage and Death Records and Christening Records to research and to create the story of the lives of our Gair and Tait ancestors.

'The very touch of the letter was as if you had all taken me into your arms.' Anais Nin 1903-77: letter to Henry Miller, 6th August, 1932

What love and comfort, a letter from James MCDADE's mother Elizabeth, pictured left, must have brought him as he bravely endured the horrors of war. I can only imagine the joy and relief a letter from their son would have brought to my great grandparents, John and Elizabeth as they waited for news of him, in their home in Cumbernauld, Scotland. letters are a wealth of information. Throughout the years they have delivered good tidings, sad news, the happy announcement of a birth and news of the death of a parent. They tell of the trials and triumphs of long voyages far from home, send news of safe arrivals, describe the horrors of war and extraordinary tales of comradeship. Letters pass on recipes, exchange knitting patterns, offer heart felt apologies, carry forth declarations of love, reveal secrets; treasured emotions all tucked inside an envelope and sent around the world to loved ones awaiting contact.

Letters, for the family historian are a wonderful portal to the past. They provide the human stories behind names and dates on the family tree. Words, written by hand, and from the heart, are an irreplaceable wealth of information. They tell us where our ancestors lived, who their friends were and how they lived their lives. Letters reveal much about the personality of an ancestor, his or her degree of literacy and sometimes just tell some jolly rollicking yarns. A death certificate is able to provide us with a date and cause of death, but a letter written to a relative provides a window through which we are privileged to view the emotions and reality of deaths, births, marriages, illness and the daily life of our predecessors. The humble letter is a window to the past.

My family members don't appear to have been prolific letter writers. Unlike myself, perhaps they were just not prolific hoarders. Of course, there is the very strong possibility, that in my family, letters were not preserved in order to hide some 'tiny' untruths! If my family had kept letters, I might have discovered earlier, that a very grand old family Welsh Castle does exist, but definitely not in my family! A letter might have saved me from years of searching for the grandfather in the Royal Welsh Fencibles.. who wasn't! These stories were myths, created to carefully guard well kept family secrets. ( I understand the desire for secrecy, and I do admit that the Royal Welsh Fencibles does sound a touch nicer than jail!) I might have discovered that letters were sent to Australia from Northumberland and Nottinghamshire and not from Wales where contrary to family tales, we have no ancestors at all. Not one! Disappointingly, no Fencibles, no Castle, no Welsh ancestors!

I know that letters arrived from America in the 1980's, and that, had they not been destroyed, they would have informed me that my grandfather's youngest brother, Alexander, was not a brother at all, but actually a nephew.  I would have known the reason that the entire family left Scotland and came to live in Australia (family 'scandals' are a popular reason for emigration!) and why a family member emigrated to America having no contact with family for over 40 years. A letter might have told me that my grandfather on my mother's side was not a politician but instead, a bit of a rogue - quite possibly why there are no surviving letters ! How much easier my job would have been if letters had been stored away for me to read.

Documents such as divorce papers and shipping records and even photographs provide some useful information, but the letter remains the family historian's best friend. Letters are rich in detail, they are a part of the real fabric of life in the past and sometimes they are more importantly, proof of identity,and a key to unlocking the past, as in the case of my husband David's great, great grandfather.

David's side of the family, fortunately were both prolific writers and horders. Such a treasure trove for me! There are letters from Bedfordshire, England to the BEARD family, some from South Africa from Polly Brown (nee Beard) to her family in the Gippsland area of Victoria, letters from Kent, England to the DUNSTER family who settled in the Kiama area in NSW and letters from new Zealand to the WHITE family that tell of farming life on the Canterbury Plains.

Mathew MACDONALD, great, great grandfather of David White, was born in about 1812 in Sleat, Isle of Skye, Scotland. There has been no birth record found for him, although this has been well checked. Family lore says that he was born on his grandfather Alexander MacDonald's farm, Gillin Farm on the Isle of Skye. His death certificate states that his father was Charles MacDonald of Ord, David's father, Brian was proud to tell everyone that he was descended from the great Lord John of the Isles through Charles of Ord. There is no marriage record for Mathew to Mary McPherson who travelled with him on the ship 'William Nichol' to Sydney, Australia, in 1837. It is only from a letter to Mathew, when he was almost 90 years old from a half brother in Scotland, that we can verify this ancestry. The author of the letter, Keith Norman MacDonald was a well known musician and writer of Scottish Reels and Spreys, as well as being a medical doctor. He was also the son of Charles MacDonald of Ord House, Ord, on the Isle of Skye, by his wife Anne McLeod who he married in 1828 and therefore a half brother to Mathew. In his letter, Keith referred to Mathew as his brother and informed him that 'their' father, Charles was buried in the churchyard of Kilmore, as were both his mother, Anne and Mathew's mother. So here was proof that Keith and Mathew were half brothers and that Mathew was the son of Charles MacDonald of Ord, whose ancestry is well documented, not only back to John, Lord of the Isles but to the Royal Stewart Kings and the McKenneth Kings. Unfortunately the letter did not tell us who Mathew's mother was. The letter also revealed that Mathew's wife, Mary McPherson, was a nanny to Keith and the other MacDonald children and that Keith still remembered her fondly. It is obvious that Keith's letter was in reply to a letter from Mathew and that this had been Mathew's first contact with his family since leaving Scotland some 60 years earlier. We might deduce from this that Mathew had a falling out with his father, possibly over his relationship with Mary McPherson. Keith Norman's letter describes beautifully, the scenery in Skye that Mathew might have wistfully recalled and offers colourful character sketches of local identities. This letter is a valuable document, without which, David's MacDonald ancestry could not have been traced back to Scottish Royalty. The photograph above, pictures Mathew and Mary (McPherson) MacDonald with their children, at their farm at Crookwell which is still in the MacDonald family today. It is sad to think that Mathew and Mary had no contact with their families for so many years and one wonders whether old age prompted Mathew to write to his half brother. It is a blessing that he did, for without that letter the Royal MacDonald connection would have been lost with the passing of time.

Some years ago, in a clean out, I threw away a bundle of letters from my mother and from friends. Now, I regret that I do not have those precious letters, the contents of which are lost forever.

Letters, for most people are now a thing of the past. I do receive several typed 'news letters' from friends who live overseas or in other parts of the country. Although these are, strictly speaking, letters, they are missing that special touch of a hand written personal letter. They are 'speaking' to many and not just to me. I am fortunate enough not to have to wait long weeks or even months for news of a loved one at war or to learn of the death of a family member. I can contact instantly on Skype, relatives in London and New York and not only speak to them but see them as well. My sister and I correspond by telephone or by email daily. Our emails are a record of our daily lives. They concern our families, the antics of our pets, the swapping of recipes, gossip and news of family and friends. Often our emails are quite silly and sometimes very humorous and they give us great pleasure. Then we press the delete button on our computers and any record of our conversation is lost. No one is going to find old deleted emails nicely tied with ribbon in a drawer one day in the future.

Now, I have to admit, that I am not likely to take up letter writing as I am quite comfortable living in an age of instant communication. I have, however, come to appreciate the value of communications of the past to the preservation of history, whether it be world, local or family history.

In keeping with technology, through my blog entries, I hope that my stories will be written from the heart, for the future. I am trusting that somewhere out there in cyberspace, my good tidings and recipes and family stories and even some secrets will be discovered by someone who will appreciate them and perhaps even discover a family tree through them. These blogs are a record of lives past and present. They are my 'letters'.




'Letters of thanks, letters from banks, Letters of joy from girl and boy, Receipted bills and invitations To inspect new stock or to visit relations, And applications for situations, And timid lovers' declarations, And gossip, gossip from all the nations. W. H. Auden 1907-73: 'Night Mail' 1936

'Mother o' mine, Mother o' mine.' Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936)

Recently, a friend of mine, said to me,'I remember your mother as such a lovely lady. She was always gracious and kind. She was such a 'proper' lady.' Sadly, whilst only in her 40's, my mother developed Alzheimers Disease before her three daughters could learn much about her childhood. I have snippets of memories from anecdotes told to me as a young child and so from my memories and from gathered documents I will try to tell my mother's story. Alwynne Jean Reece-Hoyes was born on the 24th of September, 1931 to parents Ian Cuthbert Reece-Hoyes and Hilda Lillian (Weston)Reece-Hoyes. She was born in Brisbane, Queensland. Alwynne Jean's parents, Ian and Hilda were married at St Andrew's Church of England, in South Brisbane, on the 12th of August , 1929. Ian, a motor mechanic was 18 years of age and Hilda, working as a waitress, was aged 21. At some time before Alwynne was 7 months old, Ian and Hilda left Australia and travelled with their young baby daughter to New Zealand, to make a home there. Ian's father, Leonard Cuthbert Reece-Hoyes had been born in new Zealand and in 1931 all of his father's siblings still lived there. The early 1930's were years of depression so perhaps Alwynne's parents moved to New Zealand in search of work. Ian's paternal grandfather , James Berry Hoyes and his wife Elizabeth (Morley) had settled in Auckland in the 1860's and it is possible that he found employment with a family company. His grandfather, James had died in Auckland in 1910 after being hit by a bicycle as he stepped off a tram, on his way to buy his wife Elizabeth a bonnet for Christmas, but he had been a successful business man involved in gold mining and other enterprises. Nothing is known of Ian's employment in new Zealand but it is certain that Alwynne Jean met her New Zealand family in Rotarua and Auckland as that was one of the few memories she recalled. The photograph above shows the baby Alwynne Jean aged 7 months in Rotarua, New Zealand.

In the photograph on the right, taken in Auckland, Alwynne at 18 months, appears a happy, well loved and very cute toddler. Someone, possibly her maternal grandmother, Lillie Weston who lived in Brisbane had knitted, lovingly the dress she was wearing. My mother still had the little shoes that she is wearing in this photo when I was a child. I remember that they fastened with tiny buttons.

I imagine that it was difficult for Alwynne Jean's maternal family to be separated from their only grandchild and neice however I am certain that photographs such as these taken of her she grew would have been a source of comfort to the families back in Australia.

Hilda and Ian separated when Alwynne Jean was only three years old and Hilda filed for and was granted a divorce in Auckland in 1934. She returned to Australia with her young daughter Alwynne, some time prior to 1936. In this year she appears on the Queensland electoral roll as Hilda Hoyes.

When Alwynne Jean returned to live in Brisbane, she and her mother, Hilda, lived with her maternal grandmother, Lillie Herminnie Weston (Nargar), at 52 Amelia Street, Fortitude Valley. Her grandmother Lillie was to have a very strong, positive and loving influence on young Alwynne's life. Lillie was a very religious woman and very particular about good manners. She took young Alwynne to Church every week at the Baptist Tabernacle in Wickham Terrace in Brisbane. It was Lillie, Alwynne's grandmother as well as her aunt Dorothy May Weston, Hilda's youger sister, who introduced her to to cooking and to sewing and instructed her in the rules of social etiquette

Alwynne Jean possibly never knew that she was named after a sister of her father who had died in 1918 aged 18 months. My mother did not tell me this and I only discovered this fact from the Births, Deaths and Marriage records at the Queensland State Archives in 2008. Alwynne's father, Ian Cuthbert Reece-Hoyes would have been an impressionable 8 year old when his baby sister Alwynne Jean died of convulsions and so named his first child after her. Alwynne was the middle name of Ian's mother Florence Alwynne Reece-Hoyes (Morrison).

In 1936 or 1937, at the Fortitude Valley State School, Alwynne Jean began her education whilst living with her grandmother. At the age of 12 years she attended Brisbane State High School which was a selective girls school. Although her parents had divorced and her mother Hilda worked hard to support her, Alwynne was much loved and supported by both her grandmother and mother. She did not meet her father again until she was 21 years of age when he took her to dinner for her birthday. Alwynne Jean did not see her father again after this meeting, although I have recently discovered that he died in Brisbane in the mid 1980's. Her paternal grandmother, Florence Alwynne Reece-Hoyes also lived in Brisbane until her death in the 1980's however as far as I know, my mother had no contact with her or any other member of the Reece-Hoyes family as she grew up. As an adult my mother contacted her father's brother, Leonard John Reece-Hoyes, who was 7 years Ian's junior. Sadly, too late for Alwynne, my sister, Reece and I have now become firm friends with Leonard's son, also called Leonard Reece-Hoyes and his lovely wife Jan. How proud Alwynne Jean would have been to see the Reece-Hoyes (and Hoyes) family tree that we have discovered together.

Alwynne Jean's grandmother, Lillie, had been a single mother since 1920 when her husband William Joseph Weston had left her for another woman. She ran a busy fruit shop to support her family and although money must have been in short supply, Alwynne was always beautifully dressed, well spoken and well loved. One memory that she shared with me, however, was of having to take bread and dripping to school for her lunch when finances were difficult. She told that story many times when I was a child to encourage me to appreciate the things I had. Lillie was determined to provide her grandaughter, Alwynne with everything she needed. Alwynne Jean learned to play the piano from a young age from the same piano teacher who taught music to my father, Colin John MacDade. My parents first met when they were quite young and amusingly, I do recall my mother relating her early impresions of my father as a child being a 'spoilt little Lord Fauntleroy'. My father was the teacher's favourite student being an extremely talented pianist and as a young child, Alwynne Jean thought him quite 'full of himself'. Obviously, she thought differently in later years as she married him.

Alwynne's grandmother Lillie and Aunt Dorothy taught her to sew. From the age of 13 Alwynne sewed all of her own clothes. She quickly became an exceptionally competent seamstress. Perhaps Lillie or Dorothy sewed the pretty dress worn by the five year old Alwynne Jean in the photograph on the right which was taken in Auckland before her return to Australia.

Alwynne's early life in Brisbane would have been strongly influenced by her grandmother's committment to her church, although her own mother, Hilda was not a religious person. A family friend, Amelia Gertude Hansen, always known as Aunty Gertie, also lived at Amelia Street. She had been helping to care for the family since Hilda's father had left them. Gertie, or Aunty Stewie' as she became known after her married surname became Stewart, was a deeply religious woman. She became the prison chaplin at the Women's Prison in Brisbane and was very much respected and loved by the prisoners and all who knew her. Alwynne Jean remained very close to her all of her life, Much of Alwynne's strong faith had been formed in her early years in her grandmother's home and remained wih her throughout her lfe as she taught Sunday School and regulary attended and was very involved in her local churches.

When Alwynne Jean was 8 or 9 years old, her mother, Hilda remarried. Alwynne's stepfather, David John Schmith, was very fond of his young step-daughter and formally adopted her on the 29th of February. 1940. For Alwynne, Dave, as she called him, became a positive male role model in her life. This marriage entered into at the outset of the Second World War, was not destined to last. Dave enlisted in the army and was sent overseas to fight. The subsequent separation took a toll on the marriage and once again Alwynne's parents divorced. Alwynne Jean did not have happy memories of the war years. As much as her mother, Hilda loved her, she also loved to socialise and Alwynne found herself left on her own much of the time. With noisy and often drunken American soldiers in Brisbane during the war, Alwynne recalled being quite afraid on many occasions whilst alone at night. Although Hilda and Dave divorced, Alwynne remained in contact with Dave for the rest of her life. She cared for him in his later years until he died and then cared for her mother until she could no longer do so because of her own health.

It was during the war years, that Alwynne's aunt, Dorothy, now married to a wealthy Hotelier and property Investor, William Holme Cameron, asked Hilda if she and 'Jock' could adopt Alwynne. She felt that they would be able to offer her neice a more stable lifestyle than that provided for by her Hilda. My great Aunt Dorothy told me this tale. She was unable to have children of her own and loved Alwynne like a daughter. Hilda broke down at this request and cried. She replied,' I know I haven't been the best mother to Alwynne, but she's all I have . I love her. Please don't take her away.'

When Alwynne Jean was about 13 or 14 tragedy struck her mother and herself. Whilst on an afternoon outing to the movie theatre, their home burned down destroying all but one room of the house. Almost all of their possessions were lost and all of Alwynne's childhood photographs were burned. For a short while Hilda attempted to live in the one room of the burnt out house in the Valley, but Alwynne soon found herself back living with her grandmother,Lillie again. This was an incident in my mother's life that she talked about a great deal. She never really recovered from losing her home and everything in it.

As a teenager, Alwynne socialised and played tennis. Lillie had made certain that her grandaughter learned the skills necessary to enable her to socialise correctly, including providing dancing and tennis lessons for her as a child. One of Alwynne's favourite pastimes was to go to the famous Brisbane icon, Cloudland, (sadly now demolished) to dance. She was very popular and very attractive. I am certain that her dance card would have been constantly full. In fact, Alwynne Jean was crowned Miss Cloudland on more than one occasion. In the photo at left, Alwynne is pictured in a dress of her own creation, at her 'coming out' ball. She would have been 18 or 19 years old when this photograph of her as a debutant was taken. Although the child of divorced parents, Alwynne Jean grew up in the company of all the social niceties.

From the age of 13, Alwynne often travelled to Mackay and later Sydney to stay with her aunt Dorothy. Together they would go in to the city to shop or to have their hair done. In later years, Dorothy recalled a story about Alwynne that made us laugh. On one of her visits to Sydney, Alwynne and Dorothy were catching a tram into the city from Randwick where Dorothy then lived. Alwynne had spent a very long time doing her hair and when she stepped outside the wind blew it everywhere. Dorothy could see the tram making its way along the street but 14 year old Alwynne refused to budge. They had to return inside the home so that she could re-do her hair all over again. Aunt Dorothy laughed as she said to me , "I kept telling her that as soon as she stepped outside, the wind would do the same again, but she was very stubborn, your mother.' Of course that was exactly what happened and according to Dorothy, the young Alwynne sulked all the way to the city.

So, how did Alwynne Jean come to court and marry the boy she had once thought a spoilt young pianist? My paternal grandmother related the story to me. She was proud that she had been intrumental in helping to bring Alwynne and her own son Colin together. At the age of 22, Alwynne Jean was engaged to be married to a chap named Mervyn. There were problems in the relationship, however, because Mervyn was Catholic and Alwynne was Baptist. Mervyn's mother very much wanted him to marry a previous girlfriend who was also Catholic. Every time Alwynne and Mervyn attended a function, Mervyn's mother made certain his ex girlfriend was there as well. Alwynne began to rethink her decision.

As it turned out, fate (named Alma and Florence) stepped in and changed Alwynne's plans for her. Over the years, Alwynne's aunt by marriage, Alma Weston, had befriended my father's mother, Florence Jemima Macdade as they frequently travelled by the same tram to the city in Brisbane for shopping expeditions. Alma, also eager to end Alwynne's engagement to the Catholic Mervyn gave Florence a photograph of Alwynne. She asked Florence to place the photograph on her son Colin's pillow that night. Florence happily played along and did as she was bid. That evening after he had returned from work the 22 year old Colin came rushing into the kitchen at his home in Garfield Drive, Paddington Heights, asking, 'Who is the gorgeous girl on my bed?' My father loved to tell that story. Colin was besotted immediately but Alwynne's attentions were not won so easily. Pictured above, are the co- conspiritors Florence MacDade. Alma Weston and also Alwynne Jean's mother Hilda.

While Alwynne was at a dance with her fiance Mervyn, on one Saturday night, Colin John MacDade was quite jealous. He had tried in vain to court the lovely Alwynne Jean. Alma's husband, Mervyn, uncle of Alwynne, who was never one to give up easily, thought up a plan to help young Colin to win the affections of his niece. While the dance was under way Mervyn and Colin let down the tires on the younger Mervyn's car. They then waited outside the dance hall. When Alwynne and Mervyn appeared it quickly became obvious that Mervyn was not gong to be able to ecort Alwynne home (such bad luck to have four flat tyres!) . The gallant Colin, who just 'happened' to be on hand, stepped up and offered his services. Not to help fix the tyres though! He left poor Mervyn with the car and drove Alwynne home himself. Colin charmed his way into her heart and Alwynne was hooked. 'Hook, line and sinker,' to quote Colin (a keen fisherman).

Alwynne Jean Reece-Hoyes ( aka Schmith)married Colin John MacDade in March of 1954, at St Paul's Presbyterian Church, St Pauls Terrace, Spring Hill, Brisbane. Alwyyne was named Bride of the Year and her wedding photo was displayed in the Brisbane Courier mail and a shop window in the city. Alwynne and Colin honeymooned in Lismore during which time there was such a heavy rainfall that Lismore was severely flooded. Alwynne
s new husband kept the hotel guest entertained by playing the piano every evening of their honeymoon. 

Alwynne Jean (Reece-Hoyes) and Colin John MacDade had three daughters of which I am the eldest.

Alwynne Jean MacDade died from Pneumonia as a result of Alzheimers Disease on October 29th, 1996.

Alwynne Jean MacDade

24-9-1931 - 29-10-1996

'I will spend my heaven doing good on earth.' St Terese of Lisieux, 1912

I began my family tree on my mother's side of my family in 1998. To date I have traced the Reece-Hoyes (Hoyes) family back through New Zealand to England and Scotland with the surnames of GAIR, BERRY, BERRIF in Northumberland, England, as far back as the early 1700's; MORRISON in Scotland to the late 1700's: HOYES in Lincolnshire to the early 1800's; MORLEY in Nottinghamshire to the 1700's. I have also added to the tree the surnames of HABERLING, RYSER and many other names in Switzerland as far back as 1520; WESTON and TURNER in Suffolk, England to the 1700's, NERGER (NARGAR) in Prussia to the late 1700's; SIEGLER, SEGLEN in Weuttemburg, Germany to the 1700's and FRAYNE in Ireland (convicts) back to Dublin in the late 1700's. Along the way I have discovered convicts, including one who was on Norflok island and was the only convict to leave a written narrative describing the harsh treatment he received during his incarceration. This 74 page document is held by the NSW State Library (Mitchell) and is an important part of the 'Colonial Papers' in the library's collection. I have found a great Uncle who was a millionaire , who owned and lived in Marwell Hall, a home which belonged to King Henry VIII which he had given to the Boleyn family, owned a huge steam yacht built for the American billionaire Frederick Vanderbuilt, played an integral part in winning the Second World War for Britain, was involved in suspicious 'activities' in Spain and France during the war, Air Advisor to the Nizam of Hyderabad, gun-running in Hyderabad in 1948 after India became independent from Britain, and died as the Vicompte (Viscount) de Borenden just to mention a few fascinating things about him. Along the journey, I have 'met' many extraordinary and ordinary people. People who came to Australia to make a new home for themselves and their families. They came from all over the globe and settled in Maryborough, Queensland, Sydney, NSW, Maitland in the Hunter Valley, The Darling Downs, went to Gympie during the Gold Rushes and were farmers, bootmakers, miners. nurses, sawyers ( that was a disappointment - I read it as Lawyer!), piano tuners, furniture makers and felons. I am here because of them all and their stories are fascinating. They deserve to be told.