The Tree of Me

My husband's family are very fortunate as his great grandfather travelled back to Germany from Armidale, NSW from May to September 1885. While visiting family he sent many letters back to Australia and kept a diary of his time overseas. I'll post his letters on the day they were written. These letters can be seen at the University of New England (UNE) Archive in Armidale, NSW, Australia.   Biographical Entry John Elder Port Said the 22 June 1885 Dear Wife As I thought to get this letter away yesterday and so concluded it I was disappointed as we only left Ismalia about 2 o’clock on Sunday and we were the sixth vessel in going so we did not get very far when the vessel in front of us ran on sand and so we had to stop till it got off again which was more than 1 hour consequently we did only go about 10 miles on Sunday today we will be in Port Said if we have luck as we can only go very slowly about 4 miles an hour We haven’t seen and passed the spot where the accident was whic...

My husband's family are very fortunate as his great grandfather travelled back to Germany from Armidale, NSW from May to September 1885. While visiting family he sent many letters back to Australia and kept a diary of his time overseas. I'll post his letters on the day they were written. These letters can be seen at the University of New England (UNE) Archive in Armidale, NSW, Australia.   Biographical Entry Ismalie  John Elder the 20 June 1885 My Dear Wife and Children I am going to let you know how we are going on since I wrote first I must tell you that Aden is in Arabia and a more desolate country you can have no idea of nothing but high precipitous hills with not a vestige of vegetation neither trees grass or bushes could be seen anywhere only either bare rocky hills sand or black burnt soil it is impossible to describe it on paper it has to be seen to know what it is after we left we thought it would become better but it remained the same right through to Suez Suez yo...

Yesterday I went with my husband and his mother to the Armidale City Public School Sesquicentenary. They are both former pupils. Of course, the part I enjoyed most were the displays in the library. There were a number of folders with photos supplied by previous students. We were disappointed to find that none of the ones we submitted were there. I wonder where they ended up? One was a year 6 class in 1940. There were a number of original documents on display including school inspection notes, staff meeting minutes, punishment books and admission registers. I was surprised that we were able to look at these and physically touch them. My husband saw several of his friends mentioned in the punishment book. If he was in the book, he didn't show me! Not every admission register was on display but my husband found his entry in one book. However, our best find of the day was the admission register giving details of my husband's uncle Victor Robert Scheef. As you can see, Victo...

While scanning photos at my mother-in-laws this weekend I came across this photo of Jimmy Semmens. He had sent the photo to his uncle Tom Smith husband of Margaret Waters of Armidale, NSW. When Margaret Smith died she left everything to her niece Julia Scheef. I think this is how the photo eventually came to my mother-in-law, Julia's daughter. Jimmy Semmens - Australian Bantamweight Boxing Champion 1921 - 1925 So who was Jimmy Semmens? Some quick research this evening has revealed that he was an Australian Bantamweight Boxing Champion. His first fight for the title against Billy Tingle in front of a crowd of 8000 people at the West Melbourne Stadium on 1st October 1921 ended in a knockout when Tingle went down after 14 of the scheduled 20 rounds. Semmens was described in The Argus  as being "a clean build, fast and resourceful boxer, with a remarkable left-hand punch, which he uses as a rapier to keep an opponent at safe distance." Jimmy retained the title ov...

My husband's family are very fortunate as his great grandfather travelled back to Germany from Armidale, NSW from May to September 1885. While visiting family he sent many letters back to Australia and kept a diary of his time overseas. I'll post his letters on the day they were written. These letters can be seen at the University of New England (UNE) Archive in Armidale, NSW, Australia.   Biographical Entry John Elder    Aden the 8 June 1885 My Dear Wife and Children I am having the chance now to let you know how I am getting on since I left Adelaide where I sent my last letter from. First my health and appetite is very good and in general I am well placed with the eating on the ship board as we have always fresh meat and potatoes the bread is even new and of first class quality Now I am going to let you now about the progress we made and the sights we have seen. Adelaide is a very nice Town but a good deal smaller then Melbourne it has a splendid Botanical Garden ...

I was able to attend the second day of the Unlock the Past Expo in Coffs Harbour. It was a busy day as I moved quickly between various presentations. What did I learn today? National Library of Australia - Jenny Higgins Even though I am a teacher librarian and knew this I have never ordered microfilms to view at my local library. You can guess what I'll be doing in my next holidays - viewing microfilms of Cooma newspapers! I already have a library card from the NLA so my other task from this presentation is to take a more detailed look at the eResources available with particular reference to the Illustrated London News, Irish Newspaper Archive and the Freeman's Journal. Finding the Address Isn't Enough - Dr Carol Liston I have heard Carol speak in the past but can't remember where or when. She spoke on things are are close to my heart. There is no point just collecting names and dates. You need to fill in the story. People, place and time are intimately linke...