Some news since my last update.

I was thrilled to be asked along as the guest speaker for the Byaduk/Byaduk North Progress Association Australia Day ceremony. Those of you who have followed my blog for a long time will know of my family connections to Byaduk going back to the early 1860s.  Given the turnout, my ggg grandfather James Harman and his fellow early settlers would have been proud to see the community is still strong in Byaduk. Thank you to the people of Byaduk for having us and for the delicious breakfast. You were all so welcoming and we had a lovely morning.

BYADUK

There have now been four Broken Memories posts. So far you have seen the broken headstones of Samuel and  Frances Hing, Joseph Lissiman, and Thomas Gorman and his three children.  While it wasn’t planned, Parts 2 and 3 have the Hamilton district Diptheria epidemic of 1879/80 interwoven through the stories.  Likewise, Archdeacon Gustaves Innes, of Hamilton’s Anglican Church during that period also makes an appearance in both posts.  There will be more about Gustaves in future posts and the cat I promised in my last update.  The links to the Broken Memories posts so far are –

Broken Memories – An Introduction

Broken Memories – Hamilton (Old Cemetery) Part 1 – Samuel and Frances Hing – The sudden death of Sam Hing’s wife Frances Hing in 1881, was the first in a string of tragedies for Sam and his family.

Broken Memories – Hamilton (Old Cemetery) Part 2 – Joseph Lissiman – A story of a young man who followed his dream only to have his life cut short. And find out how the death of Dunkeld Lay Preacher Joseph Lissiman sparked some ghostly claims in the newspapers.

Broken Memories – Hamilton (Old Cemetery) Part 3 –  Thomas Gorman and his three children, Ethel, Jane and Thomas Jr.  Hamilton stationmaster and former player of the Carlton and Melbourne Football Clubs, Thomas Gorman and three of his children fell to a deadly Diphtheria epidemic in Hamilton and district in 1880.  Read how the Melbourne football community got behind Thomas’ widow and remaining three children and how life turned out for them after their tragic loss.

There will probably be at least three more Broken Memories from the Hamilton (Old) Cemetery. I will then move on to some other cemeteries. I’ve added some new cemeteries to my photo collection over the last month, Byaduk North, Byaduk Lutheran, Branxholme, and South Hamilton Lutheran Cemetery. I’ve also taken my tally of Hamilton (Old) Cemetery photos up to 1500 but I am a long, long way off having a photo of every headstone given my preference for random wanderings rather than an organised approach.

BYADUK LUTHERAN CEMETERY

BYADUK NORTH CEMETERY

BRANXHOLME CEMETERY

SOUTH HAMILTON LUTHERAN CEMETERY

March and April are always busy months  I write most of my Hamilton’s WW1 biographies then and a few years ago I decided to throw Wonderful Western District Women into the mix to coincide with Women’s History Month in March.  There should be at least one WWD Women post during March.  And there is always a birthday post for Western District Families in April.  This year will be birthday post number 9!

For those of you who enjoy Passing of the Pioneers, it’s on hold for the moment.  I would get a lot more PP posts done if new ideas didn’t distract me.  The latest idea is Take a Photo, a new series looking at stories behind photos.

If you follow the Western District Families Facebook page, you’ll know I share a lot of out of copyright photos from the State Library of Victoria and Museums Victoria.  Often it’s possible to find some sort of a story about the subject or event using clues from the catalogue listing.  With the help of Trove digitised newspapers, I’ve found some great stories to include with the photos on the Facebook page and I thought I should share some of those here.  I have one Take A Photo post finished, three close to finished and another four in the early stages,  I’ll post them over the coming months in between everything else.  The first Take A Photo post will be out later today and is the story of a man and his horse.