The Tree of Me

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...

This morning I was listening to the radio and a woman was being interviewed about and was playing a button accordion. It made me think of the accordion in my cupboard. Accordion belonging to either Knox or John Moore, Wallangarra Internet research leads me to believe that it is a Vienna model Hohner diatonic accordion made in Germany. The melody is played on the row of buttons on the right. There are two buttons on the left for bass and chord accompaniment. Only one of the three draw stops at the top remains. One day when I was probably about 10, my uncle Matthew Moore (1907-1981) gave me the accordion which had belonged to someone in the family. Now of course I can't remember who owned it. It was either his father Knox Moore or his grandfather John. Did it come with the family when they emigrated from Ireland or did they have it when they lived and worked in the sugar mills in Greenock, Scotland? Perhaps it was purchased after they came to live in Australia. I may hav...

My 5g grandparents John Milroy and his wife Jane McCarlie are buried in Stoneykirk, Wigtownshire, Scotland. I had seen a photograph of their headstone but I just had to see it myself. The short drive from Stranraer was along narrow county lanes. Unfortunately it began to rain but I was not to be deterred. Almost at Stoneykirk Stoneykirk My previous research on Google maps had shown that St Stephen's Church and graveyard was tucked away behind two houses in Stoneykirk. St Stephen's, Stoneykirk, Stranraer Unfortunately it began to rain and became quite miserable so we were forced to abandon the search for John and Jane. If I had been able to access the image I had of the headstone it would have given me a clue to its specific location. My plan (unbeknown to my husband) was that I would return early the following morning before we caught the ferry to Belfast. The headstone was easy to locate the following morning. It had been on my husband...

Last year, I travelled overseas to a wedding in Paris. Afterwards I simply had to continue with my genealogy research, but where to go? As Ireland was going to be one of the stops and the ferry from Scotland to Northern Ireland leaves from Portpatrick, the nearby towns of Stranraer and Newton Stewart had to figure in the itinerary as my father's Scottish ancestors lived in this area. As soon as we arrived in Stranraer, I immediately went to the local museum and purchased a copy of Memorial Transcriptions in Stranraer, 2 Sheuchan Cemetery. The Sheuchan Cemetery is located in Leswalt High Road, Stranraer alongside the High Kirk. High Kirk, Leswalt High Road, Stranraer The index revealed names from my Fleming family so I was delighted to discover that my great, great, great grandmother Jane Milroy and her husband James Fleming were buried there. The visible gravestone map in the booklet showed exactly where I would find the headstone. Fleming family headstone, Sheuch...