Like any farm, the O’Connor’s farm at Valencia Creek had a variety of animals. In their letters to the ‘Young Folks’ page of the Weekly Times between 1906 and 1914, the O’Connor children mention not only the farm animals but those living in the wild. And they also show the roles the children played in … Continue reading The O’Connors of Valencia Creek – All Creatures Great and Small
Family history
The O’Connors of Valencia Creek – Rain, Flood and Fire
The O’Connor children, like the children of any farmer, were well aware of the weather and the effect it had upon the family farm at Valencia Creek. In their letters to the ‘Young Folks’ page of the Weekly Times, they wrote of rain and dry spells, floods and fires. The two most prolific letter writers … Continue reading The O’Connors of Valencia Creek – Rain, Flood and Fire
The O’Connors of Valencia Creek – School Days
With the passing of The Education Act 1872, the colony of Victoria established a system of education that was free, secular and compulsory.1 Children aged between six and fifteen years who lived within two miles by road of a school were required to attend school for at least four hours a day, sixty days in … Continue reading The O’Connors of Valencia Creek – School Days
The Courage of Everyday Lives – Margaret Horigan (1837-1924)
St Mary's Shandon St Mary's baptismal font Margaret Horgan was born in Cork in 1837 and baptized at St Mary’s Cathedral on 14 May 1837. She was the eldest daughter of Patrick Horgan and Ann Connelly, the second of their six children. Patrick was a ropemaker for the Royal Navy. He and Ann had married … Continue reading The Courage of Everyday Lives – Margaret Horigan (1837-1924)
The O’Connors of Valencia Creek – Life on the Farm
My grandmother Catherine O'Connor c.1905 Aged 16 My grandmother grew up on her father’s farm at Valencia Creek in Gippsland, situated beneath the foothills of the Great Dividing Range and Mount Wellington. Her father, William O’Connor, had been born at Thebarton in South Australia in 1847. His parents, Patrick Connor and Mary White had migrated … Continue reading The O’Connors of Valencia Creek – Life on the Farm
Mothers and Mother Figures – Jean Margaret McGrath (1926 – 2017)
On Mothers Day we celebrate not just our mothers and grandmothers but all those women who take on the role of mothers for us. One such woman was Jean Margaret McGrath, my mother Mary’s younger sister - Aunty Jean to me. Jean and Mary, around 1930/31.Mary hugging the cat. Jean was born just over twelve … Continue reading Mothers and Mother Figures – Jean Margaret McGrath (1926 – 2017)
Cold Blows the Wind – Streets and Lanes of Hobart Town
Hobart Town 1879 At the Australian census of 1881, Tasmania was recorded as having a population of 115,705. Of these, 21,118 people lived in Hobart. Hobart was by this time an established city, the capital of the island state, with elegant sandstone buildings and the same well functioning institutions found in Britain: Parliament, Courts and … Continue reading Cold Blows the Wind – Streets and Lanes of Hobart Town
Putting Words in their Mouths – Writing historical fiction based on real lives
At the Springs, Mount Wellington c.1880 Last month I was invited by the writer, Jean M Roberts to contribute a post about my latest novel to her blog, The Book’s Delight. My post looks at the challenges I faced trying to write accurately and honestly about the characters of my novel and not treat them as … Continue reading Putting Words in their Mouths – Writing historical fiction based on real lives
Cold Blows the Wind – my newest novel
Well here it is, my latest novel—published last Thursday—Yay! Unlike my previous two novels which were set in the Elizabethan period and peopled by fictional characters, Cold Blows the Wind begins in Hobart Town, Tasmania in 1878 and follows a period in the lives of my paternal great-great grandparents Sarah Ellen Thompson and Henry Watkins … Continue reading Cold Blows the Wind – my newest novel
Cold Blows the Wind
Release date: 28 April 2022. Cold Blows the Wind Hobart Town 1878 – a vibrant town drawing people from every corner of the earth where, with confidence and a flair for storytelling, a person can be whoever he or she wants. Almost.Ellen Thompson is young, vivacious and unmarried, with a six-month-old baby. Despite her fierce … Continue reading Cold Blows the Wind
Catherine Meyrick 