My First Hannaford Family in Australia...

For Australia Day this year I decided to write about the Hannafords, who are one of my immigrating families. Or more specifically I should say, about  Susannah Hannaford (nee Elliott), who is truly the matriarch of the family, and her children. I admit I am in awe of Susannah,  in some ways anyway. She was a widow by age 48, not an easy thing for anyone, but then to pack up all of your belongings and move to the other side of the world, to a colony that had only been founded a few years before, with her six children, leaving her family, friends and whole life behind, to start again from scratch. I can’t even begin to think of what that would be like or how she managed it.  But she survived. So did her children, and now her descendants number the thousands. But let’s go back a little bit first. Back in Devon … Susannah Elliott was born in 1790 in the market town of Totnes, in Devon, England. Meanwhile the Hannaford family (the ones I’m writing about anyway), grew up just four miles away in the little town of Rattery. I mention that as the Hannaford name in Devon is much like Smith or Brown everywhere else. Hannafords are everywhere! When Susannah was 30 years old, she married William Hannaford (one from the neighbouring parish in Rattery), and who was actually a few years younger than her. Sadly William died at age 42, leaving Susannah with six children ranging in age from 17  down to 6. Devon at that time (actually probably England at that time) had limited employment opportunities, and with high taxes (land tax and window tax for instance), it would seem that emigrating...

Happy 100th Birthday to my Grandma...

Evelyn Phebe Randell was born on 24 June 1916 in “Caringa Private Hospital”, the first hospital in the small town of Gumeracha in the Adelaide Hills. She was born in the town, grew up living in the town, went to the local school, and married at Salem Baptist Church in Gumeracha too, and is buried there too. Known as Ev to some, Lyn to others, Evelyn was my grandma. Although she is no longer with us, having died a few years ago, I am remembering her on this day that would have been her 100th birthday. When I was young, the apple orchards, and her place at Cudlee Creek were my second home. So I have a lot of memories from that era. The daily morning and afternoon teas with Sao biscuits, the picnics on the side of the road, rock buns and jelly cakes, roast dinners, the old oven, the pantry, the outdoor loo, the small knife that was permanently in her bag to cut up a burger from McDonalds in half, the birds, the washhouse, her aprons, how she used a cup and saucer (rather than a mug), and the garden … oh she so loved her garden!! She would elbow my grandpa to wake him up during church, she would comment on what people wore, and the way she and my grandpa would sit in the car in their driveway on a Sunday afternoon, if it was cold but sunny. I remember how she got hooked on watching both Home and Away, and Punky Brewster, and was quite upset when it was taken off, even writing to the TV station. When she wasn’t cooking, cleaning or in her garden, she was crafting – taking up knitting,...

Looking Back: Photos of My Grandmas...

I’ve been good recently and have been scanning a few more old family photos. Scanning isn’t the funest job in the universe. In fact it’s rather a drag. But still it is nice to have a few more done. And they are nice high res ones, named, and filed appropriately, ready for when I need to access them again in the future. But while I was scanning some photos of one of my grandmas, I thought I’d like to share them so came up with an idea to do a mostly pictorial blog post of both of my grandma’s (maternal and paternal), and in another one I’ll show you my four great grandma’s. So let me introduce you firstly to Evelyn Hannaford (nee Randell) my maternal grandma (1916-2006) And that brings me to Valda Phillips (nee Winter), my paternal grandma...

The Women Who Made Me, Me! International Womens Day...

Today, March the 8th, is International Women’s Day. It is a day to celebrate and honour women both past and present. For my contribution to International Women’s Day, I want to share with you some photos the women who have helped make me, me! Obviously throughout everyone’s life there are many, many people who influence us. For this post I’m am sticking to the ancestral lines. Concentrating on those whose genes I have inherited at least some of. The ones who taught me things when you were young, and who embedded their values and ideals into me, and no doubt some of whose trait I have picked up. HERE’S ME …   MY MUM …   MY 2 GRANDMA’S …   MY 4 GREAT GRANDMA’S … MY 8 GREAT GREAT GRANDMA’S …  Although I do have photos for 6 of my 8 great great grandma’s I have opted to simply list them, to save this becoming so ridiculously long. Kezia Howard (Cecelia) ‘Sis’ BEECKEN (1867-1939) m. Samuel Thomas PHILLIPS Mary Ellen LUCAS (c.1856-1944) m. Denis John COSGROVE Hedvik (Karolina) VINBLAD (1856-1934) m. Otto Edvard WINTER Margaret Florence HAYHURST (1855-1935) m. John DALEY Martha Rosa KELLY (1864-1901) m. William John HANNAFORD Eva RICHARDSON (1860-1925) m. Robert McCULLOUGH Phebe ROBBINS (1838-1932) m. William Beavis RANDELL Lydia Amelia BAYS m. Ebenezer SINKINSON In case you were wondering who was who in the top picture … Top row L-R: Phebe Robbins, Alona Phillips, Dorothy McCullough, Evelyn Randell, Martha Rosa Kelly, Evelyn Randell & Cec Hannaford’s wedding. Bottom row L-R: Valda Winter, Winifred Lena Cosgrove, Anthea Phillips (nee Hannaford), Valda Winter’s wedding, Irene Daley. Every one of these women (and their husbands too), played a part in making me who I am. Some were...

Honouring My Ancestors with a Touch of Bling...

Let’s start off by saying I LOOOOOOOVE jewellery. Apart from genealogy and chocolate, jewellery is a passion of mine. It all started when I was about 10 or so when an auntie gave me a beautiful silver necklace, which I wore day in and day out. This one necklace has since been replaced by a whole stash of necklaces, rings, and bracelets. And when I travel rather than buy souvenirs from the places I visit, I tend to buy jewellery. At least its small enough to bring home easily enough. Anyway I found a site that combines my love of genealogy and jewellery. So naturally I helped the economy by doing some online shopping. And now I want to share with  you what I bought …. The www.mynamenecklace.com.au website  is one of those places that you can order jewellery from and get it customised to have your kids names on it. Well I ordered a bracelet, but rather than get my furkids names put on it, I chose to put my ancestors surnames instead. Well, my four grandparents lines anyway – Hannaford, Randell, Winter, Phillips, and to top it off it has the Tree of Life in the centre. I’m so thrilled with my new bracelet that I have already ordered another one as well as a necklace. On those I’m getting the words Genealogy. Past. Present. Future. put on them, which should be cool. Anyway when they arrive, I’ll have pics on my Facebook page. They’re my Christmas presents from me to me (we all have those don’t we)? I don’t normally write about companies, but I chose to do so in case any of you also have a love of jewellery and wanted to do something customised...

Memories of Cecil Gould Hannaford (1914-2000)...

One hundred years ago today, my grandpa, Cecil Gould Hannaford was born. As he’s no longer with us to celebrate this milestone, I’ve decided to write down some of the memories I have of him. ‘Cec’ was the oldest of three children born to Ralph and Dorothy Hannaford (nee McCullough), and while he was born at Naracoorte, the family spent most of their life at Cudlee Creek in the Adelaide Hills. I was a regular visitor to my grandparents place at Cudlee Creek, and probably spent at least half of my early childhood racing around their house, playing in the orchard, riding on the tractor, and generally just getting muddy,  which by the way, I did totally master (see the pic at the bottom)!!! Anyway this isn’t really about me, but about my grandpa. So I’ve gone through the family photo albums, have found a bunch photos, and have decided to put them here together with some random memories that I have about him. – He LOVED nature documentaries, and I think he owned every video (and later DVD) that the ABC and Time put out in this genre. – There was always five meals a day. Everyday he was up early, breakfasted then out the door to do some farm/orchard work. Then he’d be back at the house by 10am for morning tea, then back out until lunchtime. In again midafternoon for afternoon tea, then back at 5.00pm for tea. – Grandpa taught me to skateboard. Ok, well not quite. But I did find a skateboard in his shed, a small wooden one (the first I’d ever seen), so if it wasn’t for it being there, I probably never would have skateboarded in my life. – He was...

A Wedding in the Midst of War...

Both my maternal and paternal grandparents were married during World War Two. That was nothing unusual, in fact probably every family has ancestors that were married during that era. They married before the man was sent off overseas or elsewhere for training, or they married when he came home on leave. This post is about my maternal grandparents Cecil Hannaford and Evelyn Randell. Both grew up in the Adelaide Hills, Cec (as he was known) was an orchardist at Cudlee Creek, and Evelyn grew up at Gumeracha on the family farm, so no doubt knew each other through being in neighbouring towns. While my grandma, Evelyn was a brilliant diary keeper, sadly 1941, the year she got married, is one year that doesn’t seem to have survived. So without her words to tell me what her wedding was like, we simply have to rely on other sources. For that I turn to Trove for the newspaper notices, and any wedding photos. Fortunately my family were into putting notices in the newspaper, so I found an Approaching Marriage notice in The Advertiser. And I am fortunate that my family has wedding photos of my grandparents wedding too. Now I hadn’t thought of this before, but they were married at the Salem Baptist Church at Gumeracha in the Adelaide Hills, and the photos were taken by a photographer in Adelaide, which means sometime after their wedding they got redressed up in their wedding gear, headed to Adelaide, and had them done. I don’t know when this was done, as the photos aren’t dated. But Cec was on leave from the Army to get married, and was back with his battalion only 4 days later, so maybe it was at that time...

Trove Tuesday: Grandpa Won a Competition...

My mum’s dad, my maternal grandpa, Grandpa Cecil Hannaford was someone that I knew. But I feel I never ‘really’ knew him if you know what I mean. I knew that he always had 6 meals a day (breakfast, morning tea, lunch, afternoon tea, tea, and supper). I knew that he usually wore his hat to church, and quite often fell asleep during the service, which resulted in an elbow to the ribs from my grandma to wake him up. He loved nature which is shown by the collection of slides of birds and flowers he took, as well as the many documentary type DVDs he had … these together with a whole heap of other anecdotal memories are my grandpa to me. But he was far more than that! Grandpa was farmer and orchardist, and was born and bred into the life from his forebears who were in the same business. His father bought the farm at Cudlee Creek when grandpa was in high school, and he lived and breathed farm life, and ultimately in 2000 died doing what he loved, working on the farm. While browsing around on Trove (which is commonly becoming known as “Troving”) I came across two articles relating to Grandpa Cec Hannaford that really got my attention. For two years in a row, Cecil Hannaford won the under 15s Apple Packing Competion. Now this is a period of his life that I really didn’t know anything about, so it is very cool to add in a little more detail to his life. And having a picture showing him is simply ‘icing on the cake’....

History Under Your Feet

North Terrace is a major road right in the heart of Adelaide, South Australia, yet I’m amazed at the number of people who don’t even know that the plaques are there. These represent the many men and women who helped make South Australia as it is, and they are right there on the footpath under your feet. Heading over to Wikipedia they explain the plaques as … The Jubilee 150 Walkway, also variously known as the Jubilee 150 Commemorative Walk is a series of (initially) 150 bronze plaques set into the pavement of North Terrace, Adelaide. It was officially opened on 21 December 1986. It was commissioned as part of the celebrations commemorating the 150th anniversary of the founding of the state of South Australia. The plaques contain the names and deeds of (initially) 170 people who made major contributions to the founding and development of South Australia. Since 1986, the Adelaide City Council has added four plaques. The plaques are arranged in alphabetic order, and stretch from King William Street to Pulteney Street along the north side of North Terrace. Anyway on a recent trip into the city I took the opportunity to photograph the plaques of my reli’s. So here’s the story of my reli’s on the North Terrace plaques: =========================================================== ALFRED HANNAFORD (1890-1969) Alfred Hannaford’s claim to fame was that he was an inventor of farm machinery. It was in 1914, when Alfred was only 24 years old he attended a farmers’ conference, saw a machine for the treatment of seed wheat against the parasitic fungal diseases, and he decided he could make a better one. So, he did. He devised the first mechanical wet pickling machine. In 1915 production of the machines began, and they proved incredibly...

Family History Through the Alphabet Challenge: M is for … Memories, Memoirs and a Headstone...

The letter M has proved to be harder than I thought, simply because there are too many choices. Firstly I decided to write about marriages, then that changed to military records, followed by writing about grandpa’s Magarey Medals, and then monumental inscriptions. So as you can see my head has been swarming with M words for the past few weeks. So after starting and then restarting this post several times, and before I change my mind again, I’m going to write about … M is for MEMORIES and MEMOIRS I felt that I couldn’t write about memories without also writing about memoirs along with it, so I’ve combined them for this post. Memories are something that is personal, they are YOURS, and no-one can take your memories away from you. Remembering a memory can bring back so much feeling and emotion of a time, a place, a moment, a special occasion and more. While no-one can take away your memories, sadly LIFE can. As we get older and fill our head with useless things like the picking up some milk on the way home, your PIN number or your passwords for websites (ok, no they’re not useless, but you know they’re just day-to-day stuff), some memories get pushed to the back – sometimes to never to return, while others may with something that sparks a trip back to that time. Earlier this week I spent an afternoon with my 92 year old grandma. I primarily went over to scan a sketch her brother drew of a scene in WWII (but that’s a story for another day), but while I was there out came the photos, and piles of them. But along with the photos, came the stories. It was...