That County Clare look

Is there such a thing as a County Clare look?

One of the women staring back at me from a photo in a book about Inis Meàin (middle island of the Aran Islands, off Galway, Ireland) reminded me of my ancestors from County Clare. Quite a few people from Inis Meàin originally came from County Clare.

Inis Meàin woman:

My great-great grandmother, Mary Fitzpatrick, from County Clare:

My great-grandmother, Margaret Butler, from County Clare:

And her sister, Ellen Butler

My grandmother, Ellen Keneally, born in Sydney:

Me:

So, that's what they looked like?

After searching through the NSW Police Gazette recently 1854–1930, I found quite a few references to some of my ancestors who were listed under the following types of entries

• missing persons/ missing friends
• people who had had items stolen
• criminals who had been apprehended

One of the aspects of the NSW Police Gazettes that is so useful for anyone who ever had ancestors in NSW is that the information is provided about "the lives of people on both sides of the law". In other words, people who had committed crimes as well as people who were victims of crime.

Here are a couple of references I found to my ancestors under the "Missing Friends" section:

24 March 1926:

Missing, since the 13th instant from her home, 7 Connemarra-street, Bexley, - LUCY NORTHCOTE, 50 years of age, 5 feet 7 or 8 inches high, medium complexion, black hair, turning grey, blue eyes; dressed in a striped Fuji de luxe dress, black hat and black shoes and stockings; has been despondent of late. Information to her husband at the above address.

1925:

Missing since 2nd August 1925, from his home, Murralong-avenue, Five Dock, - ALFRED JAMES NORTHCOTT, 50 years of age, 5 feet 6 inches high, medium build, fair complexion, brown hair, and moustache, grey eyes; dressed in dark tweed trousers, double-breasted navy-blue coat, dark nigger-brown boots and  a brown felt hat; a labourer; a bachelor. Informration to his mother, Margaret Northcott, at the above address.

[apologies for the politically incorrect description of Alfred's boots]


The Police Gazettes can be accessed and searched through Ancestry.com.au. If you don't have paid subscription access to Ancestry, you can access it through computers at some libraries, archives offices and family history centres. Or, you can buy them from Gould Genealogy for about AUD$40.

Can my dead people to talk to your dead people?

Well, I suppose they can't really talk to each other! Even so, maybe we can do the talking for them now that they're gone.

I've decided to take the lead of Janelle Collins in her first blog post titled, Just starting out with the ancestor list, so many of them!!, and share some of the names of my ancestors in the hope that you and I may be able to help each other in our family research.

Here is my first attempt to share a bunch of names of some of my long-time-dead and not-so-long-dead ancestors with you, along with a few pics. If you recognise any of them, I'd love to hear from you. Let my ancestors talk to your ancestors, through this blog:)

Below are a list of some of my English ancestors who were living, marrying, working, dying in Winterborne Whitechurch in Dorset. Some some of them went off to live in Holywell, Flintshire in Wales around 1865 and some of these migrated to Australia:

Joseph Kingsbury (born 1789ish, Winterborne  Whitechurch, Dorset - died 1866, Dorset County Hospital Holy Trinity Dorchester)

George Kingsbury (born 1814ish, Winterborne Whitechurch, Dorset)

William Henry Kingsbury (born c.1817,  Winterborne Whitechurch, Dorset - c. 1890)

James Kingsbury (born 1821,  Winterborne Whitechurch, Dorset )

George Kingsbury (born c.1843, Winterborne Whitechurch - died 1910 in Mostyn, Wales, Holywell, Flintshire)

James Walter Kingsbury (born 1867, Ysciefiog, Holywell in the County of Flint in Wales - died 1945, Beverly Hills, Sydney, NSW, Australia)

Bessie Jane Kingsbury (born 1870, Holywell, Flintshire, Wales)

George Kingsbury (born 1873, Holywell, Flintshire, Wales - died 1938 in Flintshire, Wales)

Mary Kingsbury (born 1875, Holywell, Flintshire, Wales)

Louisa Kingsbury (born c. 1875, Holywell, Flintshire, Wales)

Sarah Kingsbury (born 1880, Holywell, Flintshire, Wales - died 1880, Holywell, Flintshire, Wales)

Sarah Kingsbury (born 1881, Holywell, Flintshire, Wales - died 1967 in Blackpool England, as Sarah (Sally) Abbiss)

Essie Kingsbury (born 1891, Sydney, NSW - died 1938, as Essie Weidemier, Sydney, NSW)

Mary Elizabeth KINGSBURY (born 1900, Balmain, Sydney, NSW - died 1943, Auburn, Sydney, NSW, as Mary Brodie )

Lily Ann Kingsbury (born Rozelle, Sydney, NSW 1902 - died 1996, Ryde, Sydney NSW, as Lily Ann Walters)

James Thomas KINGSBURY (born 1905, Balmain, Sydney, NSW - died 1905, Merton St, Balmain, Sydney, NSW)

So, do you think any of your dead ancestors spoke to any of my dead ancestors? Did they cross paths, do you think? Did they share a bus seat, a tram seat or a footpath? I can't help but wonder.

The Merry Month of May Music Meme by Maria

I couldn't resist responding to Pauline's meme challenge for the merry month of May  and following on in the inspirational footsteps of Jill Ball's challenge for the merry month of May ... here is my contribution ...


1. Song(s)/Music from your childhood: Mama Mia, by Abba
2. Song(s)/ Musos from your teenage years: Skyhooks, Beatles, Angels, Bruce Springsteen
3. First live concert you attended: Police at the Sydney showground
4. Songs your parents sang along to: Anything rock and roll and whoever sang "The Green Green Grass of Home"
5. Song(s)/Music your grandparents sang/played: Any "old" songs. Can't remember the details except for the tune of a lovely soft lullaby my old grandfather used to sing to me when I was nodding off to sleep
6. Did your family have sing-a-longs at home or a neighbours: Not that I can remember, apart from hymns at Mass on Sundays
7. Did you have a musical instrument at home: Yes, a piano that I can't remember anyone playing. We also had a few old plastic recorders in drawers and a guitar when I was older that my brother picked up and played by ear (I was very jealous).
8. What instruments do you play (if any): Attempted to play the guitar for a few years with little success.
9. What instruments do you wish you could play: Guitar!
10. Do you/did you play in a band or orchestra: No, never.
11. Do you/did you sing in a choir: I didn't sing in an official choir but have the claim to fame of singing solo at the Opera House in an eisteddfod our class attended when I was in Grade 3. The song I sang (we all sang the same song) was "Once I Saw a Little Bird go Hop Hop Hop".
12. Music you were married to: Ave Maria (Schubert)
13. Romantic music memories: Louis Prima, Free concerts in Victoria Park in Sydney in the late 1970s (Dragon, Angels, Split Enz), Lots of Aussie music at the Three Weeds Hotel (Rose, Shamrock and Thistle) at Rozelle
14. Favourite music genre(s): Mainly 1950s, 1940s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s
15. Favourite classical music: Strauss, Shubert
16. Favourite opera/light opera: Can't think of one right now that I really love
17. Favourite musical: Not that keen on musicals
18. Favourite pop: Abba, always
19. Favourite world/ethnic: Gypsy Kings, Warren Fahey - great Aussie musical icon, Sirocco, Irish folk music and ballads
20. Favourite jazz:  1940s
21. Favourite country or folk: The Seekers, John Denver
22. Favourite movie/show musical: Grease
23. Favourite sounds tracks: Sound track from these movies: High Fidelity and Pirate Radio
24. What music do you like to dance to: 1950s, 1960s, 1970s
25. What dances did you do as a teenager: The Bump, Twist, Barn Dances, Nut Bush City Limits, Disco (sadly)
26. Do you use music for caller ID on your mobile: Yes, theme from the Flight of the Conchords
27. What songs do you use for caller ID: None

28. What songs do your children like or listen to: Don't have any (children, that is)

29. Favourite live music concerts as an adult: Abba impersonators, Aerosmith, Ross Ryan

30. Silly music memories from your family: Dancing around the house to "Fever" being played on a 45 record on an old gramophone
31. Silliest song you can think of: Chicken Dance song
32. Pet hate in music/singing: Vibrato female singers
33. A song that captures family history for you: Family Tree by the group Venice



34. If you could only play 5 albums (assume no iPods or mp3) for the rest of your life, what would they be:

Abba


Songs of the Protest Era



John Lennon, Imagine



Paul Kelly's Greatest Hits


35. Favourite artists (go ahead and list as many as you like): Mary Black, Bruce Springsteen, Killing Heidi, Beatles, Rolling Stones, Dire Straits, Abba, Tom Jones, The Monkees, Hoodoo Gurus, Johnny Cash, The Carpenters, Rod Stewart, Billy Bragg, Audrey Hepburn singing Moon River.

How to conduct a good family history interview

This weekend, I'm going to have an opportunity to interview a few family members about days gone by. Since these family members are my elders, I'm hoping to ask them what life was like in their neck of the woods around the 1940s and 1950s.

Here are a few of the questions, I plan to use.

• What are your memories of this holiday (see photo above)?
• Were there any stories that were passed down through the generations?
• What was your family's favourite food?
• What did you all do on the weekend?
• What did you learn from your grandparents? your parents?
• What did your family do on Christmas Day?
• What is your saddest/ funniest/ earliest/ most exciting memory?
• What was your mother/ father/ grandmother/ grandfather like as a person? How do you think they would like to be remembered? What is it you miss about them the most?
• Are there any treasured family photos that you can tell me about or share with me?
• Did you have any pets? If so, what can you remember about them?
• What made your family laugh?

Does anyone else have any other suggestions for good questions or conversation starters?

Which uniform is that?

This blog is still on a military theme ...

One of my great-grandfather's sisters was Sarah (aka Sally) KINGSBURY. She was born in 1881 in Flintshire, Wales and died in 1967 in Blackpool England.

Her first husband was Samuel BUXTON. They married in Fylde, Lancashire in 1902. At the time of her marriage, Sarah was about 20. I think this photo may have been on her wedding day or soon after. I guess that the man in the chair is Samuel BUXTON. If I knew what uniform he was wearing, I thought that I may be able to work out what war he was in.

At the bottom right corner of the photograph, the photographer's name or the photographic studio is named as Ellis Wolstenholme, Wellington Studio, Blackpool.  On other sites on the internet, the address of this photographic studios is described as “Wellington Studio, Opp Central Pier, Blackpool”. This photographic studio seems to have been in business from 1881 to at least 1939.

I believe that by 1923, Sarah had had at least four children, possibly five, with Samuel BUXTON but they had parted company. By this time she had met William ABBISS with whom she spent the rest of his life, until he died in 1956, one year after they were married. Sarah finally married William the year that her former husband, Samuel BUXTON, died in 1955.

The photo below of Sarah (Sally) in later years, probably with William ABBISS, seems to have been taken when she was about 50 years of age in about 1931.

Does anyone recognise the type of uniform the soldier is wearing in the first photo in this blog? I would be grateful for any ideas.

Thanks to you ... Thomas Patrick Butler (1894-1917)

With Anzac Day just around the corner, I thought it was a good time to honour one of my ancestors who lost his life in the first world war.

Thomas Patrick Butler was born in Sydney in 1894. He was the second son of Thomas Butler (from County Clare, Ireland) and Catherine Heraty (from County Mayo, Ireland) who married in Balmain in Sydney in 1892.

Thomas signed up on 23 December 1915, just before Christmas. He listed his next of kin as his mother, Catherine Butler (nee Heraty). Details from his service record include:

• Service number: 5334
• Rank: Corporal
• Unit: 55th Battalion (Infantry)
• Service: Australian Army
• Conflict: 1914-1918
• Date of death: 10 March 1917
• Cause of death: Died of wounds
• Cemetery or memorial details: Dernancourt Communal Cemetery Extension, France
• War Grave Register notes: BUTLER, Cpl. Thomas Patrick, 5334. 55th Bn. Australian Inf. Died of wounds 10th March, 1917. Age 23. Son of Thomas and Catherine Butler, of Barnsbury Grove, Dulwich Hill, New South Wales. Native of Marrickville, Sydney, New South Wales. VI. C. 37.
• Source: AWM145 Roll of Honour cards, 1914-1918 War, Army

Thomas' signature on his signing up papers:

On 4 March 1917 he was admitted to hospital with wounds to his left side (breast, leg and arm) that he had suffered on 28 February 1917.


He died in France on 10 March 1917 when he was only 23 years of age.

His death is recorded on page 14 of the Sydney Morning Herald on Saturday 14 April 1917. Hi sname is listed under the Roll of Honour.

His death was also recorded in the  Sydney Morning Herald on page 12 on Saturday 9 March 1918, under the Active Service section. There were two notices, one by his mother and father, and one by his brothers and sisters. Note that this notice includes reference to two of his other brothers, John and Jack, who were also on active service.

Although Thomas was buried overseas in the Dernancourt Communal Cemetery Extension, France, there is a memorial plaque to Thomas on the grave of his parents at Rookwood Cemetery in Sydney.

He is honoured on the Roll of Honour on the Australian War Memorial site, under the entry Thomas Patrick Butler.

Thomas was the son of my great-grandmother's brother. I can only imagine what hell he went through for us future descendants.