The Tree of Me

Like thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of people around the work, I have been playing with the new addition at MyHeritage  - My Heritage in Color. I want to share one of the photos I uploaded. It came from my mother-in-law's collection and I believe from her father's German side of the family. I feel that this photo was not taken in Australia but am prepared to be proved incorrect. Unknown gentleman from my image collection Some of the points of interest: the timber house has no eaves 2 bicycles beside the house wooden barrel on the left hand side of the path the brick? house in the background, appears to have some sort of carving on the second story above the door his cap may be an identifying feature he is smoking a pipe The building in the background makes me think this is not from the Armidale area. Who are you?

I have just discovered when my great uncle William Vesey Dawson first went into business as a saddler. Casino and Kyogle Courier and North Coast Advertiser (NSW : 1904 - 1932) ,                  Wednesday 11 February 1914, page 3 He only had his business open for 8 months before he enlisted in World War I. Upon returning to Australia, Bill continued his work as a saddler in several locations on the north coast of NSW until his death in Coffs Harbour, NSW in February 1974.

My great, great grandmother Mary Ryan's (Halloran) sister Margaret was married to John O'Sullivan. He worked for Swallow and Ariell in Sydney until his death in December 1908 aged 59 years. This article is one that I have found about him in Freeman's Journal. Freeman's Journal 13th June 1885 St Joseph's Church Balmain West is now known as St Joseph's Rozelle. There is an interior photo of the three altars on this site - St Joseph's Rozelle . I wonder if these altars are still standing and if there is an acknowledgment of John O'Sullivan?  A visit to this church will be on my list of things to do next time I'm in Sydney.

Since purchasing Ernie Dawson's war medals, I have been trying to find out more about his war experiences. A search at the National Archives last night for All Records, not just WW1 turned up a digitised 244 page document of post war information. I will discuss this in more detail in a later post. This post, however, is dedicated to a family story that has not previously been documented. My second cousin Fay asked me earlier this year if I had heard about Bridget's (our great grandmother's) twins - her first born children. Her aunt had told her about them. This was news to me! I only had 16 children born to Bridget Mylan and her husband Harry Dawson. A thorough search of NSW BDMs failed to find the birth or death of twins. A search in Victoria also proved fruitless. However, while going through the document last night I discovered evidence that the twins existed. Ernie had applied for benefits under the Repatriation Act and had to give details of his family's me...

It certainly pays to blog. I was very fortunate that I checked my email on my phone a few weeks ago, while I was travelling home from a weekend away (My husband was driving!) The message simply stated to have a look at a listing on Trademe New Zealand. Key words in the link included medals, antiques and collectables. My interest was piqued! The link showed medals which originally belonged to my great uncle Ernest Lee Dawson (1885-1968). I responded to the email as to why she sent me this message and the reply was that she had read an article of mine after seeing the medals online and conducting a little research. Thanks Kate! I had previously bid online for a postcard written by my great grandmother and the experience was positive. So, although this was going to cost significantly more, I knew I had to bid for the items. 1914-1915 Star British War Medal Victory Medal Gallipoli Medal Gallipoli Medal Lapel Badge 1915-1914 Star, British War Medal, Victory M...

200 years ago today (16th September 1819) at 2:30 a.m., my great, great grandfather William Lee Dawson was born in County Dublin to Robert Dawson and his wife Eleanor Giles. Happy birthday William Lee. Document detailing the births of the Dawson children. William Lee was later baptised at St Michan's Parish in Dublin. Last year, I was fortunate to visit St Michan's Church. I just missed the tour of the church and underground crypt and the church had just been closed. After pleading my case we were let into the church and I took several photos. It was a special moment to walk through the church. Stained glass, St Michan's Dublin St Michan's Dublin There were two baptismal fonts, one of which appeared much older than the other. This was probably the baptismal font used when William Lee was baptised. Baptismal font Baptismal font I have previously blogged about William Lee here: 1. Australia Day Challenge 2. Family Treasures - Cylin...

Recently, I was in Canberra for a meeting and a conference so I took the opportunity to visit Cooma in an attempt to locate the burial place of my ggg grandparents James and Ellen Agnew. James died on 14 th July 1864 at Countegany and his death certificate states he was buried at  Cooma.   Ellen died on 13 th May 1891 and was buried in the Roman Catholic Cemetery Cooma. Unlike his brother Henry who died in 1884 and has a headstone at Mittagang Cemetery, there is no headstone for James or Ellen there. The only real clue I had came from Monumental Inscriptions Monaro.   1. Christ Church is an Anglican Church just out of Cooma on Church Road and was an early burial place for the Cooma district. Christ Church Maneroo 1845   Christ Church Although Anglican, early Catholic burials took place there. Thanks to transcribers in 1977 I had two clues. Graves 106 and 107 were for a Patrick Agnew and James Agnew. The remainder of the h...