We Will Remember Them: Albert Arthur Reader M.M. Part 2

This post continues from We Will Remember Them: Albert Arthur Reader M.M. Part 1 France The HMT Corsican arrived in Marseille on 5 Apr 1916. After a short march from the wharves, they boarded a train, the troops cheering as it left the station. They travelled through picturesque countryside with olive groves, vineyards and blossoming fruit … Continue reading We Will Remember Them: Albert Arthur Reader M.M. Part 2

We Will Remember Them: Albert Arthur Reader M.M. Part 1

Albert Arthur Reader was born on 16 June 1888 at Plenty, a rural locality on the River Plenty, about five miles north-west of New Norfolk, Tasmania. His birth was registered by his mother, Hannah Woodhouse just over a month later. Hannah, born in Tasmania in July 1855, was the only child of two transported convicts, … Continue reading We Will Remember Them: Albert Arthur Reader M.M. Part 1

Hannah Miles ~ Life in Van Diemen’s Land

This post continues from Hannah Miles ~ A journey to Van Diemen’s Land which traces Hannah ‘Annie’ Miles life from her birth in Clifton Campville, Staffordshire, to her journey on the Cadet as a woman under sentenced of seven years transportation. After 115 days at sea, the Cadet arrived in Hobart on 12 April 1849. On … Continue reading Hannah Miles ~ Life in Van Diemen’s Land

Hannah Miles ~ A journey to Van Diemen’s Land

Often, when people talk of their ancestors, they speak of their achievements, their involvement in the great events of their times, the ways they made good. But for some their achievement is that they survived, and that they managed to raise their children to adulthood. This is the case with many ordinary women of the … Continue reading Hannah Miles ~ A journey to Van Diemen’s Land

A Soliloquy by Lance Corporal William O’Brien (1882-1936)

William O’BrienThe Queenslander 3 Oct 1914 p.28 A bluish haze in the far asternAnd galloping seas between,The last-long look at one’s native land,Where boyhood days we’ve seen.For our bows are dipped in smothering spray,Our course to the setting sun.We’re bound for the front, with foot and horse,And a-clanking steel and gun. The transport reels in … Continue reading A Soliloquy by Lance Corporal William O’Brien (1882-1936)

Commemoration of the Fallen – 1916

Australia’s first major engagement1 of the Great War was on the Gallipoli Peninsula alongside troops from New Zealand, Britain, France and India. They had spent up to four and a half months training in Egypt before they embarked for Gallipoli. The aim was to assist the British Navy in forcing the Dardanelles Strait and then … Continue reading Commemoration of the Fallen – 1916

Book Review – No Ordinary Convict: a Welshman called Rebecca by Janine Marshall Wood

Blurb There he was – John Hughes – a handsome young man with face blackened, clad in a white nightdress and bonnet adorned with feathers. Leading hundreds of other young farmers similarly disguised, he was on a mission. After midnight under moonlight, amid a cacophony of drums, horns, gunfire and general caterwauling, they announced their … Continue reading Book Review – No Ordinary Convict: a Welshman called Rebecca by Janine Marshall Wood

Faces in the Street – Where have I seen you before?

One thing that has struck me as I have trawled through hundreds of photographs over the past few years is the way some people look to be people of their time and others, despite the period clothing and arrangement of the hair, have thoroughly modern faces. The members of this family certainly look to be … Continue reading Faces in the Street – Where have I seen you before?