The Tree of Me

My husband's family are very fortunate as his great grandfather, Jacob Scheef travelled on holiday to Germany from Armidale, NSW from May to September 1885. While visiting remaining members of his family he sent many letters back to Australia and kept a diary of his time away from home. Jacob Scheef - personal collection John Elder    Adelaide the 17 May 1885 My dear wife and children I wrote to you from Melbourne and also I received a letter from you of the same same content as the one I got in Sydney when I wrote last I was  not yet in the city so could tell you nothing of it since I have  seen a good deal of it Directly we were on the wharf I went and  posted my letter and had one or two hours in the city the Sydney is a fine city but is not a patch to Melbourne because the  street are all two chains wide and are all straight the next  day I went again and seen the Exhibition Building as well  as the aquarium with all the fishes also the Museum...

My husband's family are very fortunate as his great grandfather, Jacob Scheef travelled on holiday to Germany from Armidale, NSW from May to September 1885. While visiting remaining members of his family he sent many letters back to Australia and kept a diary of his time away from home. Jacob Scheef John Elder Melbourne the 14 May 1885 Dear Wife and Children! I am in receipt of your letter which I received in  Sydney just half an hour before we started from  which I see that you are all well except David and  I trust you will take good care of him with his cold  and am glad that you had some rain the white  bullock you can either kill or sell him if you can get  £5 - 10s for him and break the Strawberry or roan bullock  in with Glover. We left Sydney on the 12 this month at 1 1/2 clock and the  Sydney Harbour I can give you no idea for his beauty  and grandeur every half hour of steaming it presents a fresh panorama after coming outside on th...

In 2020 I wrote a post about my tree completeness with the results below. Since then I have made some progress and unfortunately some regress in my more distant ancestors. Sharon's tree completeness April 2020 Sharon's tree completeness April 2021 Sharon's tree completeness May 2023 4G grandparents I now know the names of 39 out of 64 of my 4g grandparents which is 2 less that 2020. Obviously I had research which has not proved to be incorrect. 5G grandparents From 37 of 128 to 44 of 128 6G grandparents From 27 of 256 to 37 of 256 7G grandparents 9 of 512 to 30 of 512 8G grandparents 7 of 1024 to 14 of 1024 9G grandparents 3 of 2048 to 5 of 2048 10G grandparents None in 2020 to 2 of 4096 I wonder when I will reach saturation? I'm forever grateful to those who transcribe records and their subsequent availability online.  

My husband's family are very fortunate as his great grandfather, Jacob Scheef travelled on holiday to Germany from Armidale, NSW from May to September 1885. While visiting remaining members of his family he sent many letters back to Australia and kept a diary of his time away from home. Jacob Scheef, date unknown, personal collection  I have previously posted Jacob Scheef's letters. However, this time I intend to add a copy of the original letter and more information about what he has written.  (1) European Hotel 90 Castlereagh Street Sydney the 7 May 1885 My Dear Wife and Children I am glad that I feel in good health and believe far better than in New England. My knees do not trouble me at all since I left home and neither do I feel anything in my inside since I left but my new boots give me a good deal of trouble so I bought a pair of shoes as well as my other clothes. My passage I paid for yesterday and have seen the vessel I am going in it is a grand ship when I was in it ...

 I've always known the story about my parents getting a loan for their first home in Wallangarra, Queensland. Dad had an appointment at the Commonwealth Bank in Stanthorpe. Everything went smoothly until the bank manager asked him where he intended to build his house. The answer - Wallangarra - was not the right one. Apparently the only correct answer was Stanthorpe. My father's response was to go to the teller and withdraw all his money and take it across the road to the National Bank. When he was telling the builder that the Commonwealth Bank wouldn't lend him the money, Mr Pierpoint replied that he would build the house and my parents could pay him back. He said that our families were related. Pierpoint's uncle Samuel had married my father's great great aunt, Emma Hooton in 1881, almost 80 years previously. And this is what happened. Mr Pierpoint would come to Wallangarra every month to collect the repayments.  69 Rayleigh Street, Wallangarra, 1957 69 Rayleigh St...

 I remember asking my father once about the scar on his knee. His response was that he fell off his motorbike. From memory I think he said he was at Ardlethan in New South Wales, 1000 kilometres from his home in Wallangarra. Tonight while searching the Tenterfield Star (not available on Trove but via the Tenterfield Library website ) I discovered a little about his motorbike, a 1951 Matchless Motor Cycle.  I wonder was his fall the catalyst for selling the bike early in 1953.  Tenterfield Star 5 March 1953, p. 7 I wonder did it look like this 1951 Matchless G80 ?

 I have a rather large collection of invoices and receipts that belong to my husband's Scheef family. Albert Gustave Scheef and his family owned a property, Spring View at Long Point, Hillgrove. Together they give a detailed insight into the life of the family from the stock details, vehicles owned, medical appointments and purchases from suppliers. Over the next couple of months I hope to scan them all. The invoices are dated from the mid 1940s to the early 1950s. Albert died in October 1953, so perhaps later invoices were not placed on a metal spike as the earlier ones were. The Scheef family had dealings with a large number of businesses in Armidale. Medical Dr R. B Austin, Armidale Dr J.K. Harbison, Armidale The Armidale & New England Hospital Leo E. McConvill, Dental Surgeon, 107 Faukner Street, Armidale Mr W.H. McBean, Braemar, 171 Beardy Street, Armidale D.D.H. Fayle, The Armidale Dispensary Mallam's Pharmacy, Chemists, Armidale Legal Weaver, Gentle & Harrison, P...