Obituaries (aka obits) are fabulous if you can find them. While browsing around on Trove (aka Troving) recently I came across this obit for Private Charles Spurgeon McCullough. This gent is one of my great grandma’s (Dorothy McCullough) brothers – so that makes him my great grand uncle.
It’s not a long one in comparison to some – but you really have the be in awe of the detail that this obit includes.
While this is a great read for anyone (family or not), for this post I have decided to extract each detail one-by-one to highlight just how valuable an obituary really can be. And while newspapers may not be 100% accurate, they can be used as a guide.
Australians in Action, Roll of Honour
PRIVATE C. S. McCULLOUGH, 14 August 1915 Chronicle, p. 42.
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article89149212
So let’s start …
So you see just how much information can be gleaned from just one obituary. And based on this info, there’s a lot here that can be followed up on – military records, ministry records, school records, and employment records for numerous family members. Possibly even land records and local history for the area the family lived and/or worked.
Here’s hoping for more family obits!!
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 …
Ella Sinkinson (1876-1943). The lady in the bottom corner is her oldest daughter, Anne.
Married John Beavis “J.B.” Randell.
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 emigrants, some were pioneering women, many were hardworking country folk. And I’m sure some of their traits have come through the generations.
www.internationalwomensday.com
I recently read Kenneth Marks’ 30 Reasons Why Searching for Obituaries is Like Finding Gold post, and I have to agree. If you are lucky enough to find an obit for your reli, they usually contain a whole host of information.
Just check out this one that is on my great great grandpa Robert McCullough. When I saw “accident” written on his death certificate you could feel that there was a story to it. So off to Trove I went, and I found his obituary in The Advertiser, on 13 October 1931.
This 19 line obituary, though short in comparison to many, still contains a wealth of information:
The fact that my family has always been hoarders (well, my mum’s side of the family anyway), is a good thing, as it means there are so many documents, artifacts, photographs and other memorabilia that has been preserved, so I’ve started documenting these over on my other blog at Memorabilia House. But this post isn’t here to tell you all about that … well not exactly. It’s about the “hidden gems” that I have been finding as I’ve been documenting the items. And in this case I’m referring to what been finding in old bibles.
Our family has a LOT of old bibles around the place. But since my reli’s were a religious bunch, as some were ministers, and others founded churches, and donated land for churches I guess it’s not really surprising.