Summertime Memories

While the temperature has been near record levels in my little corner of the world (in South Australia), recently, it’s made me, and probably everyone else in the state seriously appreciate our air conditioners. I have no idea how ancestors coped with 40C+ days without air conditioners? Serious kudos to them. They did it tough and they survived, and it reminds me of one of my all-time favourite genealogy quotes … But also I’ve been thinking about Summertime and what we did when I was young. How many of these can you relate to? ————— Firstly sprinklers were used to not only water the lawn, but were also a great way to keep kids occupied and cool, as they played in the water. But along with that there was plenty of clover and bees – which of course also resulted in beestings. There was the slip’n’slide, do you remember that? That was cool, at least until too much dirt grit got on it, then grazed you as you slid down. There was the little kiddy pool. That was well used, and when my bother and I got older my family got a bigger above ground pool. Summertime as a kid was pretty much spent in the pool! And who remembers the black innertube rubber tyres? They were the best in the pool. There was none of the fancy plastic blow-up ones that are available these days. Cordial or juice icy poles. You know the ones that were frozen in the tupperware iceblock moulds. If you’ve forgotten when they looked like, you can check them out here. The days were filled with outdoor life. Bike riding to friends houses, playing in nearby creeks, or getting dropped at a friend or...

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...

Australia Day in the Gumeracha District in the Early 1900s...

Australia Day as we know it, is a day to have off work, and spend time with family and friends, often having a picnic or barbecue – just having a lazy day. But it wasn’t always like this. In fact it wasn’t even a public holiday in all states until 1994. To quote from the Australia Day website … The tradition of having Australia Day as a national holiday on 26 January is a recent one. Not until 1935 did all the Australian states and territories use that name to mark that date. Not until 1994 did they begin to celebrate Australia Day consistently as a public holiday on that date. So we find that in 1915 Australia Day was in fact held July 30th. Why that particular day I don’t know, but it was, and it was used not only to have a celebration,  but also commemorate those who went to war, and used as a means for fundraising for the war. The article from South Australia’s ‘Register’ newspaper, dated 2 August 1915 describes what the Gumeracha district (which covers the town of Gumeracaha, as well as the neighbouring towns of Forreston, Kenton Valley and Cudlee Creek) did on this day. Again, we have to thank Trove newspapers for being there when we need it, and for providing information that we otherwise wouldn’t have found. The photographs below are from a collection held by local historian, Alan Phillips. Grouped together in a box titled “Cudlee Creek”, it is believed that the following photographs are taken on Australia Day 1915 (or around then). Sadly not all are captioned, but those that are, have the captions noted...

“War Memorials of the Adelaide Hills” Book...

The Adelaide Hills Council was fortunate to obtain a grant through the South Australian Government’s “Anzac Day Commemoration Fund“. For this they nominated that the funds would be used towards “research and preservation of Honour Board Memorials of Adelaide Hills”, and to “engage with schools and local groups to locate and research honour boards for inclusion in the publication War Memorials of the Adelaide Hills”. To commemorate Anzac 2015, a publication “War Memorials of the Adelaide Hills” was produced which details information about the war memorials throughout the Adelaide Hills in the towns covered by the Council, giving town name with details of the monuments. A second edition of “War Memorials of the Adelaide Hills”, that will also include additional material and corrections that have been made by the community will also be produced, and released in due course. The Council also have a separate project to research, photograph and record details on all the honour boards in the Council area.  While the majority of the honour boards can be found in local RSLs, community halls and schools, others have found their way to more obscure locations. The lack of detail of honour boards made it difficult to provide a comprehensive account of the memorials within the Council area. The aim is for this one to be released as a book as well. The Adelaide Hills Council covers a large area in the Hills region, and includes the towns: Aldgate, Aldgate Valley, Ashton, Balhannah, Basket Range, Birdwood, Bradbury, Bridgewater, Carey Gully, Castambul, Chain of Ponds, Charleston, Cherryville, Crafers, Crafers West, Cudlee Creek, Dorset Vale, Eagle on the Hill, Forest Range, Forreston, Greenhill, Gumeracha, Heathfield, Houghton, Humbug Scrub, Inglewood, Inverbrackie, Ironbank, Kenton Valley, Kersbrook, Lenswood, Lobethal, Longwood, Lower Hermitage, Marble Hill, Millbrook, Montacute,...

The ‘Unique’ Family Reunion...

Family reunions seem to be the talk of the town at present. Well, on social media anyway. And why wouldn’t they be, with A.J. Jacobs’ Global Family Reunion which was held this weekend, proving to be a huge hit. So on the topic of reunions, I wanted to share with you, one of my family’s family reunions. This one was held in December 1938 at “Sulby Glen”(the Kelly family homestead) at the tiny town of Cudlee Creek in the Adelaide Hills. This date marked not only 100 years since the arrival of William Kelly and his second wife Jane (nee Caley) to South Australia, pioneers to South Australia from the Isle of Man, but also 50 years since the death of William. My connection to this family, other than the fact that they settled at Cudlee Creek, which is where I grew up, is that William is my 4x great grandfather. Various newspaper articles tell the story of the Kelly reunion, but I’ve chosen just two to share with you. This first one was before the event … And this second one was afterwards. It is a long article, and what I’ve shown below is only about 1/3rd of it. To see the full article, click on the link in the caption. Relatives came from around Australia to attend this event. The newspaper says that this type of reunion was unique for not only South Australia, but with very few of this kind of reunion held throughout the Commonwealth. Approximately 300 people attended the Kelly family reunion, and we know who at least 277 of them were, thanks to an autograph book which was signed by those who attended this reunion … and has SURVIVED! Below are a few pages from this...

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...

Trove Tuesday: Christmas is the Season for Giving...

‘Tis the night before Christmas, and all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse (or our cats). I’m not going to quote Christmas rhymes here, but I but it is Christmas Eve and all it quiet in our house at the moment. The cats are all sleeping, Mr Lonetester has gone to visit friends, so I’m home. And as there’s nothing decent on TV, I headed over to the Trove newspapers to see what I could find. Now I think most of you would agree with me that commercialism is ruining Christmas. For the past month or two we’ve had to deal with the glitzy TV adverts and the glossy brochures that arrive in the letterbox, each wanting us to buy the latest electric toothbrush, blower vac, or set of $2000 earrings for your loved one. And don’t forget that you must have matching tablecloth and napkins! I mean … really? Anyway while Troving I thought I’d see what is mentioned for Christmas in the tiny Adelaide Hills town of Cudlee Creek. Why there? Well this is the town I first lived in, prior to moving to Gumeracha. It was the town that my Kelly ancestors first settled, and it’s the town my Hannaford reli’s still live in. So my family has a close connection to the area. As always Trove comes up with the most remarkable articles, and I wanted to share one that highlights the generosity some people. Now in case you’re wondering why Mr Redden was donating to the Food for Britain Fund, it seems that at that time Britain was still on rations, and in desperate need of food. You can find a long article about the Food for Britain...

Gorge Road, Cudlee Creek – They Did it the Hard Way...

For anyone who has taken a drive up to the Adelaide Hills there is a good chance that sometime or another you’ve driven along the Gorge Road and ended up either at, or driving through the tiny town of Cudlee Creek. Now you’d know that Gorge Road is long, it’s windy, it is steep, and it has a lot of big rock cliffs. Next time you travel that road, here’s something to keep in mind …. IT WAS MADE BY HAND. That’s right! Not a machine in sight! It is simply the work of lots of men with picks, shovels and trolleys! And below are the pics to prove it. For those that aren’t familiar with the area, the dark line on the map above shows the whole of Gorge Road. And where the ‘Gorge Wildlife Park’ listed, that’s where the tiny town of Cudlee Creek is. There’s a few houses, a few farms, a church, a deli/post office and a wildlife park, so yes it’s a small country town. Now for those of you who DO know the area, don’t you think that next time you travel along the road from Athelstone to Millbrook to Cudlee Creek (or viceversa), you’ll appreciate it just that little bit more thinking of the effort that actually went into making it? I don’t have an exact date as to when these photos were taken, or for when the road was opened, and I have no doubt that various parts of the Gorge Road were built and opened at different times, but from what I have been able to find so far out the Cudlee Creek end of it was likely to have been constructed in the 1920s. If anyone has a more...