The Tree of Me

I grew up in the small border town of Wallangarra and members of my family lived there from the very early days of settlement. Recently I was alerted to a postcard on eBay of James McCook's Royal Hotel. When I saw the postcard I knew I had to have it. Jas McCook, Royal Hotel, Wallangarra, c. 1914-1915? Reverse of postcard Starting with the reverse of the postcard I wanted to identify the 3 people mentioned. Polly was easy. She was my great-grandmother Mary Moore (McColm) (1885-1939). Mary is readily identified with the McCooks and the Royal Hotel. My grandfather, her second son, was born there in January 1909 and Mary's husband Knox was the nephew of Rosetta McCook, wife of the proprietor. The Moores lived and worked at the hotel. A search on electoral rolls has identified Elizabeth and Christopher Noye living in Warwick with their daughter Alice Elizabeth. Alice was born in 1889, so she, rather than her mother, was probably Polly's friend. ( Ancest...

It seems horses have caused a little bit of trouble in my family. My grandfather Jim had an altercation with a horse when he was 23 years old. Brisbane Courier (Qld. : 1864 - 1933), Thursday 11 August 1932, page 16 WALLANGARRA - Kicked by Horse Mr Jim Moore, eldest son of Mr and Mrs Knox Moore, of Wallangarra, was endeavouring to catch a horse, when the animal kicked him just above the eye, temporarily stunning him. After first aid had been rendered he was conveyed to  Tenterfield and admitted to the Torquay Private Hospital, where an operation was performed. His condition was not considered serious. I wonder what the operation entailed? Did it require time in hospital? If so, how long was my grandmother home with a baby and a toddler?

Apparently today, the 23rd January 2014 is National Handwriting Day. I didn't know such a day existed until it came up in a Facebook post. This got me thinking about a possible blog post. I have original examples of handwriting dating from the early 1800s amongst my personal possessions. I have photocopies of other early writing as well. However, I thought about a dictation. I had hoped to find three examples but could only come up with two. I must have tossed my Spelling book! The first is a copy of a dictation test given to my great, great uncle James Moore when he applied to join the Queensland Police Force in 1909. The results of this test indicated that his writing was "Fair". Queensland State Archives A/40562  AF 3092 The second example comes from his nephew, my grandfather's brother Matthew Moore. It is taken from his Qualifying Examination Tablet dated 10th November 1922. I was very fortunate to find this sample. In 1990 I was at Jenning...

During a recent tidy up of my filing cabinets I discovered 2 school books that had been placed in there for safe keeping many years ago. The first book was My Busy Book from 1965 when I was in Kindergarten at Jennings Public School. Perhaps some of you may remember the salmon coloured books from the 1960s. Fortunately it was a small school. The teacher traced many shapes each afternoon for us to fill in with various patterns the next day. She also wrote dotted words for us to trace the next day. It seems that jelly pads had yet to reach Jennings. Unfortunately the salmon colour didn't scan. The second of these exercise books belonged to my grandfather's brother, Matthew John Moore who attended Jennings Public School. I haven't always been in possession of this book. I attended the Jenning's centenary celebrations in 1990 and was excited to see that this book was part of the display. I asked the organisers who had donated the book for the display but was infor...

Deserted area and dirt road in front of Royal Hotel and other buildings at Wallangarra,  c1909. I love looking at the images on the State Library of Queensland website and those on Picture Australia . The photograph above is one of my favourites as it is of the small country town in Queensland that I grew up in. The dirt road is now the New England Highway which passes through Wallangarra. I grew up just around the corner. However, the main reason I love this image is that my grandfather was born in Wallangarra. So this photograph shows me what Wallangarra looked like in 1909 when he was born. Even better, my grandfather was born at the Royal Hotel. So this photograph shows me exactly where James Malcolm Moore was born. My grandfather always said he was born on the billiard table. I never knew if he was joking or not! Have you looked at Picture Australia to see what images there are for the town you or your ancestors grew up in? You never know what treasures you m...

Years ago I asked my father how his grandfather Knox Moore had lost a finger. Of course, he was astounded that I knew his grandfather was missing a digit and asked how I knew. The photos below show exactly how I made the discovery. It's there in his wedding photo in 1907 but by 1913 he was missing part of the first finger on his left hand. Knox Moore and his wife Mary (Polly) McColm - 1907 Knox and Mary Moore with their children Matthew, Rosetta, Knox (baby) and James (in front) - 1913 My father then said that Knox had lost his finger on a circular saw. Many years later someone asked him how he had done it and as he told them how it happened he did it again. Part of another finger was gone. For years I thought no more of the story. A couple of months ago I was randomly searching the digitised newspapers on Trove . Here was the story verifying that Knox Moore had had 2 accidents involving a circular saw. The Brisbane Courier (Qld.: 1864 - 1993), Friday 18 November 1...