Holdsworth Road by Trishul Creative

Holdsworth Road:

Peter Scriven and Janelle Devereaux

One family’s connections to the creation of a nation

Peter Scriven and Janelle Devereaux

Holdsworth Road:

Peter Scriven and Janelle Devereaux

Holdsworth Road:

The old Queenslander house at 80 Holdsworth Road, North Ipswich has seen better days, yet it is still full of stories of lives lived and loved.

Like most family histories, ours comprises a mixture of facts and stories with more often than not large gaps. Some of these family stories have been retold down through the generations. While many stories have disappeared, some were recorded in letters, documents and newspapers. Many, unfortunately, are only mere, tantalising fragments. Much of our collective stories has been lost to history. This book is an attempt to pull together as many of the still existing stories into one slim volume. Collated through dedicated research, the knowledge of our older generation, a few eulogies and some half-remembered anecdotes this book is a thorough but by no means definitive collection. It contains much of our family’s history, its many branches and our part in the settlement of Australia by Europeans. This book is not just about the Scriven family. Through the various connections, and its diverse branches, the family names read like an A to Z: Abercrombie, Aitkins, Alderman, Allan, Anderson, Arnold, Atkinson, Austin, Balzer, Barbour, Batham, Beale, Bell, Bennett, Besch, Best, Biddle, Bond, Bradley, Brandt, Branfield, Brook, Broomfield, Brown, Buchbach, Burke, Burow, Burrows, Cahill, Cam, Campbell, Clegg, Chalk, Challenor, Chapman, Chateris, Chippenham, Clarke, Clay, Clough,

Collins, Conner, Conte, Cooper, Crisp, Currie, Daly, Dart, Davis, Davre, Dern, Devereaux, Diczibalis, Dove, Downs, Duff, Dwyer, Earley, Edwards, Eichorn, Eleison, Ezzy, Fell, Feron, Ford, Francis, Franks, Friend, Frievaltd, Frost, Gall, Garlick, Geeling, Geisel, Gilchrist, Gilleland, Goebel, Godfrey, Gordon, Graham, Gray, Greasley, Griggs, Gunthorpe, Hall, Hannah, Hanran, Harlow, Harold, Harper, Hassin, Hayden, Hayett, Head, Heeg, Hellyer, Henderson, Hertrick, Hipwell, Hodges, Holliday, Hopkins, Horsfall, Horton, Hossack, Howard, Huet, Huges, Hundtofte, Hurley, Hutchins, Hyatt, Ince, Ingham, Ireland, Ivett, Jackson, Johnston, Johnstone, Jones, Jordan, Kelly, Kempthorne, Kendall, Kennedy, Kidd, Killett, Kirby, Kissick, Klupfel, Knick, Knight, Knowles, Kruger, Lancaster, Langer, Lappage, Lappan, Law, Lawrence, Lawrie, Lighten, Linnet, Little, Livermore, Locaisano, Long, Lovelace, Lovell, Lowis, Malcolm, Manning, Marsaeller, Marsh, Marshke, McCarthy, McDermid, McDonald, McDowall, McGowen, McInnally, McIntyre, McKay, McKean, McLeish, McNamara, Miller, Milton, Moffatt, Moore, Morris, Moucher, Mudd, Mulvihill, Nathan, Nathon, Nichol, Nixon, Nunn, O’Brien, Oberhard, Owbridge, Packer, Palfrey, Paravaccinia, Payne, Pearce, Pearson, Penning, Perkins, Peters, Pick, Pillay, Popp, Powter, Pratten, Price, Quinn, Rattiff, Record, Reed, Robertson, Robinson, Rodger, Rose, Rossiter, Russell, Ryder, Scriven, Secombe, Shanks, Shipley, Shipperley, Sloane, Smith, Spiers, Steley, Stephan, Stephens, Stockbridge, Stokes, Stuart, Sullivan, Summerville, Suthers, Swanson, Tafft, Thompson, Tighe, Tooth, Thomas, Thorne, Turner, van Noolenbroek, Varrie, Voglino, Wah, Walker, Walsh, Walton, Wanstall, Ward, Watkins, Watt, Wheeler, Wilke, Williams, Wilson, Wingfield, Wiseman, Witt, White, Wright, Wolski, Woods, Woolley, Wyatt, Zabel, Zeidler and Zigenbiner. Part of the rationale for the book was to understand why our ancestors chose to uproot their family and set off to the other side of the world. Some were forced, others chose to make Australia home, while others were dispossessed off lands they had inhabited for millennia. Why did they choose? Like many of us it was for something better; a better life, a better job or simply the freedom to live their life on their own terms. From what little we know most of these stories tell only a hint of these peoples’ lives. Some of the lives are recorded as only births, deaths, dates, facts and figures. Only rarely what our ancestors thought, did or dreamed. We will never know the full story but what little we do gives an insight into who they were, and by default who we are and just how far we have all travelled. ii

Acknowledgments:

This book is the combined effort of a number of people without whom it would not exist. Firstly, to Janelle Devereaux (nee McDowall), with gratitude, for a large part of the initial research contained in this book. Secondly to Shirley Stokes, Alan, Dalma and Ken Scriven and especially my father, Bill Scriven, for their research, valuable insights, editing and input. As well as to Gerald Tooth for his mother’s eulogy. As well as my partner Vern Nathan for his forbearance over the past few years this book has taken to bring together. Janelle would like to thank Peter Scriven for the effort of pulling this book together. To have a document of the lives of those you came before us, those of us here now and for those of us who are yet to follow.

Notes: The information in the book has been collected from various sources: documented, recollected and verbal. It is by no means complete, nor faultless. It is however all the information that we’ve been able to put together at this point in time. Throughout the book names in square brackets in the title denotes the [nickname] for that person or by which they were most commonly known. While names in the stories in round brackets are (maiden) names they were called. Names in bold text refer to key people or family connections when first mentioned in a story. They may also appear in other places in this book or be referenced elsewhere. Square brackets in the [text] denote additions by the authors for ease of understanding but do not change the essence or original source. All dates have been based on research through various sources such as Ancestry and Trove. E&OE (errors and omissions are excepted) as part of the process.

iii

Holdsworth Road: One family’s connections to the creation of a nation

Peter Scriven and Janelle Devereaux

Contents: Overview

Acknowledgments iii Contents vii Images

Introduction

Our convict connections: 1754 – John Best

1762 – John Gray

1779 – Elizabeth (Gray) Killett

1816 – Richard Lovell

Our settler connections: 1781 – John Scriven

1827 – William Scriven (senior)

1852 – William Henry (M) Scriven

Our Australian born connections: 1805 – William Gray

1805 – Mary (Gray) Wheeler

1830 – Hannah (Lovell) Gray

1852 – Sarah Ann (Lovell) Scriven

1881 – Caroline Mary (Scriven) Rodger

1883 – Sarah Emily Eva (Scriven) Biddle

1888 – Emma Jennet (Scriven) Dart

1891 – William John Scriven

1895 – Florence Isabella (Scriven) Crisp [Bella]

The Holdsworth Road nexus: 1879 – Charles Richard Scriven [Charlie / Pop]

1888 – Evaline Eva (Rossiter) Scriven [Eva / Ma]

1897 – George Edward Stokes

vii

1905 – Eva May (Scriven) Stokes [May]

1908 – William George Scriven [George / Randa]

1908 – Mary Dorothy (Crisp) Scriven [Doss / Mama]

1912 – Charles Leslie Scriven [Les]

1911 – Mary Emily (Jordan) Scriven [Emily]

1916 – Ivy Maude Scriven

1923 – Mervyn McDowall [Merv]

1930 – Leslie George Stokes [Sonny]

1931 – Mervyn Thomas Hertrick [Merv]

1931 – Shirley Eva (Stokes) Hertrick

1932 – Lorna Jean (Scriven) McDowall [Jean]

1932 – William Charles Scriven [Bill]

1932 – Doreen Margaret Jane (Knight) Scriven

1938 – Alan George Scriven

102

1940 – Dalma Jean (Zeidler) Scriven [Del]

106

1945 – Kenneth Leslie Scriven [Kenny]

110

The Crisp line: 1680 – William John Crisp {John]

viii

142

1707 – Joseph Crisp

142

1735 – Joseph Crisp

143

1765 – Joseph Crisp

143

1780 – John H Crisp

143

1813 – Joseph Crisp

144

1823 – Samuel Crisp

146

1828 – John Crisp

146

1843 – Edmund Edward Edwin Crisp

146

1844 – Jonathan Crisp [Deacon]

150

1852 – George Challenor Crisp

152

1854 – John Henry Crisp

154

1870 – Lawrence Albert Crisp

155

1871 – Fredrick William Brown (senior)

157

1873 – Agnes Smith

157

1889 – Richard Challenor Crisp

157

1892 – Isabella E Crisp

158

1892 – Fredrick William Brown (junior) [Fred]

158

1897 – Ethel May (Crisp) Francis

158

1899 – Gerald Albert Crisp

160

1901 – Evelyn Clara (Crisp) Kennedy [Clara]

160

1904 – Lawrence Herbert Crisp

160

1907 – Thora Agnes (Crisp) Clegg

161

1909 – Edward Gordon Crisp [Ted]

161

1915 – Georgina Maude (Crisp) Rodger [Maud]

162

1917 – Daniel Charles Crisp

162

1919 – Lawrence Francis

163

1920 – Albert William Crisp

163

1921 – Lewis Jack Francis [Jack]

163

1923 – Maude (Francis) Tooth

164

1924 – Florence May Crisp

169

1926 – Walter Francis

169

1927 – Agnes Crisp

171

1927 – Stuart Fredrick Francis

171

1930 – Una Kennedy

175

1932 – Esme Joyce (Kennedy) Cooper

175

1935 – Marjorie (Rodger) Reed [Margie]

175

1935 – Desmond Crisp

176

1936 – Elaine Ellen (Rodger) Manning

176

1937 – Graham Selwyn Clegg

176

1939 – Laurence Charles Crisp

177

1941 – Kenneth Daniel Crisp

177

1942 – Doreen Agnes (Crisp) Dwyer

177

1943 – Lynne (Rodger) Kruger

177

1947 – Mervyn Douglas Crisp

177

1954 – Cheryl (Crisp) Dove

178

The next chapter: 1955 – Steven John McDowall

181

1956 – Lorelle Kay (Hertrick) Steley

182

1957 – Wayne William Scriven

183

1958 – Janelle Gaye (McDowall) Devereaux

191

1958 – Glen Thomas Hertrick

198

1959 – Robyn Joy (Hertrick) Ford

199

1960 – Peter Charles Scriven

199

1961 – Cheryl Ann (Hertrick) Wolski

216

1963 – Suzanne Gaye (Scriven) Friend

216

1964 – Jeffery Alan Hertrick

224

1965 – David Alan Scriven

225

1967 – Michelle Maree Scriven

225

1968 – Paul Anthony Scriven

230

1971 – Rodney Paul Scriven

231

Other pickings off the family tree: 1823 – John Rossiter (junior)

234

1829 – Edward Stokes

235

1832 – Rebecca Jane Gray

235

1833 – Thomas Penning

239

1855 – George Rossiter

240

1856 – Mary Jane (Stokes) Brook

244

1859 – Catherine Emily (Stokes) Robertson [Cattovine]

245

1860 – Charles Henry Scriven

246

1862 – Fredrick Arthur Stokes [Arthur]

250

1866 – Ada (Stokes) Rossiter

251

1868 – James Jordan

252

1870 – William Thomas Stokes

254

1870 – Auguste Willeminia (Frievaldt) Stokes

257

1872 – Euphemia Marie (McLeish) Jordan

259

1879 – William George Rossiter

260

1881 – Phoebe Mary Ann (Rossiter) Jones [Mary]

261

1882 – John Thomas Rossiter

263

1884 – William Arthur Rossiter 1886 – Andrew Rossiter 1890 – Ada (Rossiter) Law 1892 – Daisy May (Rossiter) Swanson 1895 – Gertrude (Rossiter) Watkins [Gertie] 1958 – Sundaramurthy Vernon Nathan [Vern] 1968 – Thierry Balzer [Terry]

263 265 265 266 269 270 273

Appendices The full story – references and articles Family trees – Scriven Crisp Gray > Lovell Stokes Charles Scriven Rossiter Penning Jordan A never-ending story

282 323 325 327 327 328 329 329 330 331

Images:

Listed here are the are some of images that illustrate this book, the balance are captioned on the pages where they appear. All information relating to the title and sources for the images are as found and as accurate as possible. E&OE. Cover image and frontispiece: 80 Holdsworth Road house, taken in 1931. The people on the verandah are [l to r] Doss, George, Eva, Charles, Emily and Les Scriven, May, Shirley, Sonny and George Stokes. Contents and Introduction: Engraving depicting First Fleet arriving at Botany Bay in January 1788, with Indigenous Australians in canoes witnessing the arrival. Bare Island is in the background. From The voyage of Governor Phillip to Botany Bay: with an account of the establishment of the colonies of Port Jackson & Norfolk Island by Arthur Phillip. Original drawing by R. Cleveley, engraving by T. Medland. Our convict connections: The First Fleet sails for Botany Bay Sydney – Chronicle. Convict ship ready to sail from England to Australia. Friends and relations having said farewell, probably for ever, wave from the shore. Early 19th century engraving – World History Archive. Our settler connections: ‘Return of the Dray’. Artist/engraver/cartographer: Unsigned; Drawn by De Berard. ‘All round the world’: An illustrated record of Voyages, Travels, and Adventures in all parts of the Globe; Published by William Collins, Sons & Company, London. Antique wood engraving. Location: Australia. Date: 1870. Our settler connections: Studio portrait of William M Scriven, Sarah Ann Lovell and Charles Richard Scriven around 1880s. The Holdsworth Road nexus: Eva (Rossiter), Charles Richard and a young Sonny Stokes in the shade at the back of 80 Holdsworth Road. The Crisp line: Studio portrait of Crisp children around 1915: [l to r] Ethel, Gerald, Clara, Thora and Ted. The next chapter: Doreen and Bill Scriven with their sons Wayne and Peter outside St Thomas’ Church in North Ipswich, 1964. Other pickings : Studio portrait of Stokes children around 1910. The full story : Steven McDowall, George Stokes, another little boy, with Wayne Scriven, Jean McDowall and Lorelle Hertrick down in front, around 1960.

Introduction:

1783 – Five years before the First fleet landed in Botany Bay In 1783 a young lad, named John Best, was convicted of a petty crime in England. It was thirteen years after Captain James Cook had laid claim, for an English king, to the land that is now Australia. Five years before the First Fleet of 732 convicts landed in Botany Bay, exiled to the other side of the world, much to the confusion, and later anger, of the people from the Eora nation who already called this land home. John Best was of humble origins. We know very little about his life and less about his family. He is just one of the many men and women who helped create this great nation of Australia. He is also only one of our known convict ancestors who made Australia home. Any great endeavour is the result of many individuals’ collective effort, not just one person’s actions alone. I once read an unrelated book (by a scientist studying reincarnation) which explained that barely less than 0.5% of the population is ever noteworthy. Kings, leaders, scientists, writers, explorers and thought changes are in the minority. Throughout history, most people lead ordinary lives. That is not to say the other 99.5% of us are less important than the Cooks or Einsteins of history. For the most part, it is simply that their stories were never recorded. Every one of us has hopes and dreams. Those who came before us wanted to 2

grow, to explore, to prosper, and make a better life for themselves and their family just as we continue to strive to do today. We may not know our ancestors’ inner thoughts, but their lives are no less important than the leaders or explorers written in our history books. This book attempts to document the experiences and stories of some of those generations who came before us. Our ancestors who helped build this great nation we call home. Many of the stories in our family tree have gaps and holes. It’s said the fabric of the past often unravels with time and the lack of care. Who we are now is a reflection of those who came before us.

1| Ipswich in 1860, viewed from Limestone Hill, with Claremont in the foreground. Public Domain.

The past is a foriegn country; they do thing differently there. L P Hartley, writer (1895-1972)

Convicts

Our convict connections:

As a result of the revolution in America and the loss of the Thirteen Colonies, a plan was devised to solve the overcrowding in British prisons. The grand scheme the government created was to send some of Britain’s convicts to Australia. British Whig politician Lord Sydney, as Home Secretary in the Pitt Government, was given responsibility for the settling of convicts at Botany Bay. His choice of Arthur Phillip as Governor was inspired, and Phillip’s leadership was instrumental in ensuring the penal colony survived the early years of struggle and famine. On the 26th January 1788, Phillip named Sydney Cove in honour of Sydney, and the settlement became known as Sydney Town. The First Feet ships carried 775 convicts (582 males and 193 females), of these 43 died during the voyage. The fleet also comprised 728 marines, their wives and children, officers, Royal Navy seamen and merchantmen. The second fleet which arrived two years later carried 717 convicts, 19 marines and 1,190 officers. The youngest convict on the First Fleet was a nine-year-old chimney sweep sentenced to transportation for stealing. The convicts, many of whom were children and teenagers, had more often than not been convicted of stealing. Most stole food and other goods to survive the mind-numbing poverty of Eighteenthcentury England.

Convicts

1754 – John Best One of those teenagers was our ancestor. The first of the convict connections whose story is intertwined with ours was there at the beginning of European settlement in Australia. John Best arrived in 1788 on board the convict ship the ‘Friendship’. It was one of the six convict ships in the fleet of eleven ships that made up the First Fleet. The fleet arrived in Botany Bay on the 19th January 1788 after having departed England on the 13th of May the year before. A few days later the whole fleet moved north to a more suitable anchorage in Camp Cove, Port Jackson (Sydney Harbour). On the 25th January 1788, Governor Philip hoisted the British flag, marking the beginning of the colony of New South Wales and of the later nation of Australia.

A crime fit to be transported Born in England around 1754, John Best was sentenced, along with John Tasker, at the Old Bailey on the 29th October 1783. The pair were sentenced to seven years transportation for theft. The pair had stolen a pair of saddlebags, clothing, shoe buckles and other items from the Cross Keys, Wood Street, London. John Best, along with his partner in crime, was on board the convict transport ‘Mercury’ bound for America. It was taken over by the convicts in a mutiny. John Best was among the many escapees who were recaptured at Torbay, Devon on the 13th April 1784. He was discharged to the ‘Friendship’ on the 11th March 1787. In December, during the voyage, Lieutenant Ralph Clark gave him a glass of rum because he appeared to be very cold. Lieutenant Clark recorded that Best was aged 27, had no formal trade and had been born in Middlesex.

Best’s life in the Colonies On the 6th March 1788, less than two months after establishing the penal colony of New South Wales, Lieutenant Philip Gidley King and 22 settlers (including 9 male and 6 female convicts) landed at what is now Kingston, on Norfolk Island. Although the party would have had difficulty preventing any counter annexation by the French or Dutch, it was no doubt sufficient to establish a presence and possession by the British. All the early Australian settlements in New South Wales and Van Diemen’s Land were chosen for their strategic value and potential as military posts. Rather than for reasons such as future growth or accessibility to 7

farming land.

Convicts Norfolk island’s population increased by 46 with the arrival of the ‘Golden Grove’ in October 1788. More convicts and supplies arrived in the following March, June and December of 1789. In January 1790 a further 23 convicts landed on Norfolk Island although this time without provisions. On 4th March 1790, his seven-year term almost completed, John was sent to Norfolk Island on the ship the ‘Sirius’. The’ Sirius’, the ship on which John Best was sent to Norfolk Island was wrecked on one of the many reefs surrounding the island. After all the people had been put ashore at Norfolk Island at Cascade Bay the weather worsened. When the ship made its way to the other side of the island to unload its supplies, it was wrecked off Slaughter Bay. The sinking of the ‘Sirius’ is a significant event in the history of Norfolk Island. There is now a museum on the island dedicated explicitly to the ship. John Best’s name is listed on the First Fleet wall inside this museum. The view out past the memorial wall is across Slaughter Bay to the final resting place of the Sirius. We do not know whether he played a role in retrieving the valuable supplies from the sinking ship. One can only imagine what it must’ve been like for John Best and the other islanders with their connection to the British colony in Sydney Cove, and the rest of the world, wrecked. Three years later, in 1793, John was elected a member of the Norfolk Island Settlers Society and listed as a ‘clerk’. By the end of 1796, he was employed as a General Government Overseer and victualed as such. In 1801, he leased an additional 18 acres, which meant that he had a total land holding of 147 acres. In the Government Records, it is recorded that on 12th October 1801 he was appointed Superintendent. This position he held until early in 1805, at that time he had 20 acres in cultivation, ten more in waste land and owned 17 swine. In 1805 John Best was recorded as having a wife but no children, his only child Mary Wheeler was born in 1808. During these years on the island he sold grain and meat to the public stores, signing his name for receipt of payment. From this, we can gather that he had some schooling. Even though there was a critical shortage of food and other supplies. Norfolk Island was considered in a better position to provide for itself than the colony of Port Jackson. On the mainland, things were in a poor state, with hope and food supplies diminishing daily. The colonists felt abandoned, having heard nothing since leaving England some thirty-six months earlier. Hope finally rose only when the ‘Lady Juliana’ (of the second fleet) suddenly appeared in Port Jackson in June 1790. It carried 228 female convicts and two years of supplies for the convicts.

Convicts Unlike the First Fleet the Second Fleet did not always sail together. Later that same month the store-ship ‘Justinian’ arrived, and the food crisis was finally averted. The second fleet comprised settlers, convicts and supplies to the colony at Sydney Cove. The fleet comprised six ships, one Royal Navy escort, four convict ships and the supply ship ‘Justinian’. Meanwhile, the settlement at Norfolk Island met with mixed success. The soil was fertile, but clearing the rainforest proved difficult. Plus early crops were attacked by both rats and parrots. Within a few years though the Norfolk settlers were producing large quantities of pork, the lack of an off-island market for their produce (now that Sydney was self-sufficient) depressed prices offered by the Commissary. There was no safe harbour, and the few ships that visited the island were often at risk when loading and unloading cargo. Even the primary resources that had triggered Norfolk Island’s colonisation, Norfolk pine for ship’s masts and flax for rigging, had proved worthless. The cost of maintaining the civil administration, a military presence and providing stores and shipping for the island had become a burden. With no economic advantage, the settlement was doomed. On the 24th June 1803, the first blow fell when Lord Hobart advised Governor King, “.. that a part of the establishment now at Norfolk Island should be removed, together with a proportion of the settlers and convicts, to Port Dalrymple [Tasmania] ..” The population of Norfolk, which was over 1,100, began to reduce from the year 1805 onwards. As the islanders were either withdrawn or forced to emigrate from the Island. On the 9th of November 1807, the ‘Lady Nelson’ with 34 persons sailed from Norfolk Island. It took with it the first group of settlers to be relocated on the Derwent. One of the most devastating events for the Norfolk Islanders was their enforced removal to Van Diemen’s Land. After so many years on a balmy subtropical island, they were thrust into Tasmanian winters with only the most meagre of the shared housing to protect them from the icy winds, rain and frosts. Over the next two years, more than half the Island’s population were evacuated. In the early years of evacuation from Norfolk Island to Van Diemen’s Land, John decided to remain on the Island. Although by 1811 his health had given out, and in January he was certified as incapable of continuing his duties. He was subject to weak sight, one eye had been useless for several years. In April, with Rebecca Chippenham1 his ‘housekeeper’ and his daughter Mary Wheeler he was ordered 9

to Port Jackson for recovery.

Convicts By 1814, Norfolk Island’s settlement was abandoned, and all the buildings were destroyed to discourage unauthorised occupation of the Island. Norfolk Island was to remain uninhabited for the next eleven years, until the second settlement in 1825.

From islander to mainlander In August 1812 John Best was recorded as being resident on Norfolk Island although by 1814 he was registered as a landholder in the Windsor district. He had been granted 470 acres of land at Evan, now present-day Penrith, on the 24th January 1817. John married Rebecca on 16th June 1817 at Castlereagh. Just two years after receiving his grant, on the 1st October 1819, John Best mortgaged his estate of 470 acres including all houses and the deeds to Sir John Jamison. The terms stated that if payment of £1 17s 10d could be met by the 23rd of the following August, John Best would regain his estate. However, Best was unable to repay the loan, and Sir John passed the property for sale. Mr John Tindale purchased the property from Sir John on the 8th January 1828. At the time of sale, the property consisted of 470 acres, including 30 acres of cleared land, three horses and 20 head of cattle. The sale of the estate was advertised in The Sydney Gazette on 23rd November 18272. The ad described the land as containing ‘improvements’ and refers to the estate’s name as both ‘Best’s Farm’ and ‘Hornsey Wood Park’. The houses mentioned were more than likely a basic wood or mud-hut dwellings. It is also conceivable that Sir John’s original loan was used to build the homestead, which has often been attributed to John Tindale. Part of the land that was granted to John Best is now the site of the University of Western Sydney at Penrith. John may have continued to occupy the land until the early 1830s, with Tindale as his landlord. Based on the information, including the 1828 Census from the August of that year, seven months after the sale John Best is still considered the ‘landowner’. The 1828 census records John’s age as 71 years and that he employed two time-expired convicts and a ticket of leave man as labourers. Several years before the census, his wife Rebecca had died on 31st August 1819 at the age of 48, it does not appear that Mary Wheeler was the couple’s child. Although in January 1828, when Mary Wheeler was then married to William Gray, who was 21, she claimed John Best as her father in an unsuccessful petition to Governor Ralph Darling. She pleaded distressed circumstances when her husband was sentenced to transportation to the Moreton Bay penal settlement.

Convicts John Best, she said, was suffering from ‘infirmities and old age’. On 6th March 1839, Best died at Windsor, a pauper, and was buried the next day at St Matthew’s Windsor, his age was given as 82. He seems to have suffered a drastic reduction in circumstances, especially after losing the assistance of his son-in-law William Gray. John’s only child, Mary Wheeler, who married William Gray, named their only son William John Best Gray.

1762 – John Gray John Gray was the second of our known convict ancestors to arrive in Australia. He landed off the convict ship the ‘Barwell’ on the 18th May 1798.

John Gray’s crime Born in England in 1762, John Gray was tried in 1793 at Nottingham, England for receiving stolen goods. Ann Gray, his wife and his friend James Price were charged as his accomplices but were later acquitted. In transcripts of the Report of the Assize held in Nottingham on 14th March 1793, and as reported in the ‘Nottingham Journal’ of Saturday 16th March 1793 3, John Gray was found guilty of feloniously receiving a quantity of goods. The goods were the property of a Mr Samuel Doubleday in the Marketplace, for which John received a sentence of death. His sentence was commuted to life imprisonment, and transportation to the colony of New South Wales. The Assizes also record that many other prisoners were tried and sentenced on the same day. John Gray just happened to be first on the list. Towards the end of the report of the days’ hearings, was this one: Richard Crop, convicted of manslaughter, in killing and flaying John Naylor, of the above city was fined one shilling and discharged. Interesting judicial priorities! With a sentence of ‘transportation for the term of his natural life’, John Grey left his homeland and his wife in 1797, never to see either of them again.

Life in Australia With John and several hundred other convicts on board, the ‘Barwell’ left England in September 1797. She arrived in Australia on 18th May 1798, at the time John 11

was 36 years old.

Convicts While in Sydney John Gray met Elizabeth Killett, a female convict transported on the convict ship the ‘Nile’. The pair must have been well-behaved convicts because they were free to marry in 1803 in St John’s Church Parramatta. Although John still had a wife back in England, previously married convicts were permitted to remarry after seven years’ separation, as long as their spouse was abroad, even if they were still living. The Government encouraged marriage between convicts as it was seen as a means of rehabilitation and more desirable than de-facto relationships. John and Elizabeth had seven children, their first son William was born in 1805. By 1810 John and Elizabeth and their family were living in Windsor, New South Wales where he was working as the Bridge Keeper. In 1812 they were still in Windsor, and he was raising cattle, but by the end of 1812, he was in financial trouble. John hadn’t paid the yearly toll from the toll bridge. By March 1815, they were back living in Sydney with John working as a Constable at the Public Marketplace. Sadly, two years later on the 4th September 1818, John died while on the job, accidentally drowning in a well owned by a Mr Fieldgates.4 John was 56 years old when he died, leaving behind a wife and seven children. He had lived nearly a third of his life, twenty years, in the Colonies. John’s daughter Elizabeth was born on the 7th May 1803. His son William was born on the 24th June 1805 at Windsor. His sons, John Junior was born in 1810 and Richard was born in 1817, both in New South Wales.

1779 – Elizabeth (Gray) Killett Elizabeth was the third of our convict ancestors, and the first female one, to arrive in Australia. She landed in Sydney Cove off the convict ship the ‘Nile’ on the 14th December 1801.

First female convict Born on the 28th April 1779 in Norwich, England, the first record that connects Elizabeth to Australia are the Assize records of Suffolk’s South Eastern Circuit, on the 6th August 1800. Elizabeth was charged with stealing seven Norfolk General banknotes and three £5 notes. She was sentenced to seven years and transportation to Australia.5 12

Convicts When the ‘Nile’ arrived in Sydney in December of 1801 it had 96 female convicts on board, among them were Elizabeth Killett and Margaret Catchpole. Elizabeth and Margaret were both sentenced on the same day, Thursday, 31st July 1800, and shared life both in prison and on the convict ship. Many years later, Margaret Catchpole became famous after her death. The Reverend Richard Cobbold used the letters Margaret had written home to England and her late employers, John and Elizabeth Cobbold. From these letters written to his parents, he wrote a novel very loosely based on Margaret’s life story, called ‘The History of Margaret Catchpole, a Suffolk girl’. Margaret mentioned Elizabeth briefly in these letters home. Margaret’s letters are now held by the New South Wales State Library and can be read online. Frank Clune has written a more accurate version of Margaret’s life. He gives a fascinating but less romanticised version in ‘Rascals, Ruffians and Rebels’, which gives us insight into early convict life in Australia. Elizabeth herself makes it into our history books being mentioned in ‘Australia for Women’ edited by Susan Hawthorne and Renate Klein. On page 24 it reads, “Elizabeth Killett was one of the most successful ex-convict businesswomen. Transported from Suffolk in 1800 (per Nile) at the age of nineteen, she married John Gray two years later. In 1818 Gray, then the Assistant Clerk of the Market in Sydney was accidentally drowned. The following year, his widow was appointed ‘Lessee of Tolls of the Sydney Market’. She also held a spirit licence in her own right and ran The Market House, licensed for the accommodation of settlers and others, and the Macquarie Arms in George Street. She was both Clerk of the Markets and Pound Keeper for Sydney town.” Mary married fellow convict John Gray at St John’s Church, Parramatta on the 26th July 1803 and their first child, Elizabeth was born on the 7th May 1803 and was baptised on the same day. Their second child and first son William, and our direct ancestor, was born on the 24th June 1805. Mary and John had a further five children bringing their family to a total of seven (three boys and four girls). Their daughter Jane was born in 1807 while son John was born in 1810. Their daughters Hannah was born on the 19th November 1813 at Windsor and Ann Louise was born on the 19th January 1815. Their son Richard was born on the 6th November 1817 in New South Wales. On the 1st May 1813 Elizabeth received her Certificate of Freedom (COF). In 1818 at the beginning of September, Elizabeth was left widowed, and at the end of September, her 8-year-old son, John (Junior) was appointed the Local Constable 13

Convicts at the Marketplace in place of his father by his Excellency the Governor. Due to the relatively young age of John at this time, it is imaginable that this was a symbolic gesture to allow for some income for this now fatherless family.

A working woman Widowed and responsible for raising a family of seven children, by 1819 Elizabeth is both a working mother and the Sydney Market lessee. On the 19th February 1820, Elizabeth was granted a spirit and liquor licence for the Macquarie Arms in George Street Sydney. We know that in September 1820 Elizabeth was living at 62 George Street, Sydney from a notice in the Sydney Morning Herald.6 The land was both contiguous to the Marketplace, and the public street. A map search of 62 George Street shows this is in the current Rocks area, not far from the Sydney Harbour Bridge’s southern pylon. In 1820 Elizabeth is also listed as having a licence to sell liquor at the Freemasons Arms. On the 5th April 1821, Elizabeth was given a grant of 50 acres of land at Bathurst. The grant was signed by Governor L[achlan] Macquarie. By November 1822 Elizabeth was back in Windsor and married to the convict Hugh Hossack. They had two daughters, Margaret born in 1823 and Mary born in 1826; unfortunately, both died in infancy. In January of 1823, Elizabeth sold her land to Simon Mould. Elizabeth’s marriage to Hugh Hossack doesn’t seem to have lasted as she is back using the surname Gray by 1830. She used her first married name when she wrote a memorial to Governor Darling pleading clemency for her son William Gray, who had been found guilty of cattle theft. The memorial, which is in the Brisbane archives, includes recommendations from his prosecutor Sir John Jamieson and four others. Hugh Hossack came to Australia on the ‘Dorothy’ in 1820. Hugh was freed from servitude in 1828 after serving a sentence of 28 years. Hugh died at Bathurst in 1858. By 1856, Elizabeth was living in Sydney and saddened by the death of her daughter Hannah. Hannah’s son Richard Jones stated on Hannah’s death certificate that Hannah’s mother Elizabeth was a dealer in Sydney. From 1860 to 1869 Elizabeth wrote some thirty letters giving various pieces of family news. The earlier letters were written from Windsor, while the later ones were written from Egan Street, Newtown, Sydney. In Newtown, Elizabeth settled to live out the latter years of her life with her youngest daughter Ann Louise (Gray) Atkins. 14

Convicts Elizabeth Killett was born on 28 April 1779 in Norwich, Norfolk. Her father, Robert Killett was born in 1747, and her mother, Mary Lighten was born in 1746. Elizabeth’s brother Christmas John died on the 23rd November 1810 in Shipmeadow, Suffolk, when Elizabeth was 31 years old. Elizabeth outlived most of her children. Her daughter Jane passed away on the 2nd February 1830 at the age of 23, while her daughter Elizabeth passed away on the 19th March 1836, she was 32. Her son William passed away on the 4th April 1851 in Ipswich, at the age of 45. Her daughter Hannah passed away on the 2nd July 1856 in West Maitland, New South Wales, at the age of 42. Her daughter Ann Louise passed away, at the age of 59, on the 20th February 1874. Elizabeth Gray died at Myrtle Street, Darlington, Sydney on the 22nd October 1875. Her age was given as 96 years. Cause of death was given as exhaustion.

1816 – Richard Edward Lovell Richard is the fifth convict in our family history to arrive in Australia. He also begins our connection with Ipswich. Early in the nineteenth century, in the East End of London, a young man was born whose life would prove crucial to the development of early Ipswich and the Scriven family. Although details of his parentage are vague, the first we hear of Richard Edward Lovell was his trial at the Middlesex Jury, which had him transported as a convict to the colony of New South Wales.

Transported to the Colonies Born in England in either 1816 or 1818, in what was then the county east of the city of London. To date, there is very little information regarding Richard’s early life. The trial in 1832 where he received his sentence had his birth as 1816 (which would have made him 16 at the time), although other documents have his year of birth as later. The general return of convicts muster in 1837 lists him as aged 19 years making his birth in 1818. Also, his death certificate in March 1859, records him as 40 years old making the year of his birth, if born in the latter half of the year, 1818. Wherever or whenever he was born the first accurate record of Richard is a hearing transcript from the Old Bailey. On the 5th April 1832, before Mr Common Sergeant of the First Middlesex Jury, he was convicted of stealing. On the 28th 15

March Richard and his accomplice, James Everett stole: one live, tame rabbit, two live, domestic fowls, eight eggs and a cap holding the eggs.

Convicts The boys haul; one rabbit (price 7s), the two chooks (price 5s), eight eggs (value 6d) and a cap (value 6d) a total haul of £1 9s. Which is equivalent to A$125.00 in today’s money. They were all the property of one Mr Thomas Chamberlain. Policeman Joseph Lewis gave evidence7 that about two o’clock in the morning, he heard a noise at the back of Mr Thomas Chamberlain’s home, at 8 Providence Place, Bethnal Green. Once over the wall, Lewis found a cap with eight eggs in it and two boys hiding in the privy holding the rabbit and fowls in a bag. He then took all of them to the station, where Mr Chamberlain claimed his goods the next day. In his defence, Lovell said that he was at play, and got over into these premises to sleep. That Richard then went into the privy where he saw the eggs and put them into the cap. Richard and James were both sentenced to seven years transportation. There could be a mix up with dates, so possibly Richard was 14 and James aged 16 years. This would explain why Richard spent two years in jail while James Everett was transported to New South Wales eight months after the trial. Richard meanwhile spent the first two years of his sentence on the prison hulk the ‘Euryalus’ moored at Chatham. It wasn’t until the 22nd May 1834, when he was recorded as one of 233 convicts transported to the colonies on the convict ship the ‘Roslin Castle’. The ship arrived in New South Wales on the 22nd January 1835, almost 47 years after the First Fleet had landed at Sydney Cove. After the trial, it seems the two co-convicted friends were never reunited. James Everett was transported almost immediately after their trial, leaving on the convict ship the ‘Mangles’ on the 8th December 1832, which arrived in New South Wales on the 8th August 1833. James Everett later became an escaped convict and part of the Jew Boy Bushranger Gang. He was one of six members of this gang executed on 18th March 1841 for being implicated in a murder at Scone, New South Wales. Two years after his arrival in New South Wales, Richard Lovell is listed in the General Return of Convicts as aged 19 years and working at Patrick Plains (now known as Singleton) on the Hunter River. The convict master is listed as J Marshall, and the other convicts listed working for him are James Cavan (28), Catherine Costello (25) and Richard Linlott (30). In ‘Convicts to Australia’, an online research guide of convict life, convict Martin Cash described his arrival in 1828. “On the 10th February 1828 we arrived in Sydney, and on landing were drafted to Hyde Park Barracks, which formed the general

Convicts depot at that time for receiving prisoners. The assignment or hiring-out system had then come into operation, and myself, together with eighteen or nineteen of my companions in misery, were forwarded to different masters in Richmond.” It is reasonable to assume that a similar fate met Richard Lovell on his arrival, as we know that by 1837 he is working with other convicts at Patricks Plains. By the mid-1830s only around six percent of the convict population were ‘locked up’, the majority of them were working for free settlers, as well as the authorities, throughout the colony.

Certificate of Freedom The next record we have is when Richard was granted his Certificate of Freedom (COF) on 20th November 1840. His Certificate describes him as 5 feet 8 inches tall with brown hair, grey eyes and a ruddy, pock-pitted complexion. In the general remarks, Richard is described as having: irregular lower front teeth and scars on the bridge of his nose, inside corner of his left eyebrow, another on the right eyebrow and inside middle finger of right hand plus a small wart on the back of his left thumb. William John Best Gray (who later became Richard’s brother-in-law) gives us some more insights into Richard’s movements after gaining his COF. William put pen to paper in his later years and recorded the events of his life. He wrote about Brisbane’s mail coach service to Gatton in the middle of the nineteenth century, “… in the early [eighteen] forties, a mail coach was running from Brisbane to Gatton to the hotel kept by a Mr Walter Smith. A man by the name of Samuel Owens, an overseer of Mr Thomas Bell’s of Belmont, near Richmond, New South Wales, brought Mr Bell’s stock from the Big River and formed a Station on Laidley Creek. Afterwards, Samuel Owens started the coach run. A man named Richard Lovell came over with Owens as a bullock driver and was chosen by Owens to drive the coach.” In the 1800s the Bell family had been given a land grant in Richmond. Governor Lachlan Macquarie toured New South Wales’ settlements in 1810 and on the 1st December Macquarie, and his party travelled to Richmond Hill, the ‘Kurry Jung Brush’ and Richmond Terrace. They visited ‘Belmont’ and recorded in his journal “… rode up the hill to call on Mrs Bell (the wife of Lieutenant Bell of the 102nd Regiment) who resides on her farm on the summit of this beautiful hill, from which there is an excellent commanding prospect of the River Hawkesbury and adjacent 17

country. We found Mrs Bell and her family at home, and after sitting with them for

Convicts about an hour, we again mounted our horses to prosecute our excursion, directing our course for the Kurry Jung Hill.” A few days later on the 6th December 1810, Macquarie named the towns of Windsor, Richmond, Castlereagh, Wilberforce and Pitt Town.

Convict to carrier In his memoirs, William John Best Gray wrote, “… who were the first carriers in what is now the State of Queensland? The first to start the carrying business were Richard Lovell and James Graham. They rented two teams of bullocks from the Leslie Brothers and started as a concern. However, they disagreed [and] soon parted. [Richard] Lovell then married one of my sisters [Hannah], and he and my father joined as partners in the carrying business with some bullocks my father had of his own, and some four or five that Lovell had. They made up one team, and rented two teams more from the Campbell Brothers of Glengallon … and when Lovell and my father started that business, I being scarcely twelve years old … was considered a very good bushman and an expert tracker.” William John Best Gray was born in 1832, so the period he is talking about when his father and Richard Lovell began their business must have been around 1844.

Settling down On 13th September 1845, Richard married Hannah Gray. They were married by Reverend John Gregor, Minister of St John’s Church of England. Richard and Hannah must have been illiterate as a copy of the marriage entry shows both Richard Lovell and Hannah Gray only making their ‘marks’. Witnesses to the marriage were Hannah’s sister, Jane Gray (who signed her name) and Charles Gruss (his mark). Hannah was born in 1830, so she would have only been 15 years old at the time of her marriage. Some information on St John’s Church of England gives further insight into the colony at this time. The influx of free settlers into the colony was steadily increasing; the Moreton Bay area itself was opened to free settlers in 1842. Bishop Broughton appointed to Brisbane the Reverend John Gregor, who had converted from Presbyterianism and was ordained deacon at St James, Sydney, in September 1842. John Gregor was priested in December of the same year. He reached Brisbane with Captain Wickham in 1843, ministering to the township and the outlying settlements until his untimely death in 1848. 18

Convicts At Bishop Broughton’s request, the Reverend John Gregor kept a diary and part of it was later published. From his records, we can obtain a clearer picture of those pioneer days. During the Reverend’s incumbency, the congregation grew beyond the accommodation afforded by a room in the Court House (the prisoner’s old barracks). The congregation then moved to one of the prisoners’ abandoned workshops, the carpenters’ shop, a rough barn-like structure, just north of Queen Street, in William Street, for which the Bishop paid a nominal rental of 1/s per annum. It was dedicated to St John the Divine, and from it, both the old St John’s and the present Cathedral were named. Here Anglican services were held until the new St John’s was ready. The Bishop of Newcastle laid the foundation stone in 1850, since Brisbane lay within his Diocese boundaries, as marked out at its creation in 1847. This building, which was at the corner of Elizabeth and George Streets, where Queen’s Park now is, was completed four years later and the carpenters’ old workshop was then used as St John’s Day School for many years. Still, later on, it was used as a Fire Brigade Headquarters. The building was finally demolished early in the twentieth century.

Move to Ipswich It appears Richard and Hannah Lovell may have been residing at Kangaroo Point before moving to Ipswich. A list of unclaimed letters published in The Moreton Bay Courier on Saturday the 18th of September 1847 lists letters for William Gray (Hannah’s father) and Mrs H[annah] Lovell both of Kangaroo Point. On the 16th of October 1847, Richard and Hannah’s first daughter, Mary Rebecca Lovell was born. Mary was named after Hannah’s mother, Mary and her oldest sister Rebecca. On the 20th November 1847, Richard placed a notice in the Moreton Bay Courier cautioning the public not to give any person trust on his account, without his written authority. It was signed as Richard Lovell, Ipswich. On the 16th December 1848, another notice in the Moreton Bay Courier showed the purchase of land in Ipswich by Richard Lovell of two Lots: Lot 13, 32 perches, No. 2 of section 6, at £12 7s 6d and Lot 14, 32 perches, No. 3 of section 6, at £11 4s 7d. Although Richard had purchased this land in Ipswich, it appears he was still residing at Kangaroo Point over Boxing Day that year. We know from an article that appeared in The Moreton Bay Courier on Saturday the 30th of December 1848, writing about Boxing Day at South Brisbane. “Christmas was merrily kept up in the south part of the town on St Stephen’s Day. Several 19

prizes were subscribed for hack races, and we are informed that ten pounds

Convicts were collected in the course of two hours for this purpose. After the regular races were over a match was got up for £10 a-side, which was won by Richard Lovell of Kangaroo Point. The sports passed off without any accident or unpleasant occurrence of any kind; all present appeared to have enjoyed themselves ‘right heartily’. A complimentary dinner at McCabe’s Hotel had been given to all comers on the previous day, and to judge from appearances on ‘Boxing Day’, the host did not lose by his liberality.” Later the next year, Richard and Hannah’s second daughter, Jane Hannah Lovell, was born on the 1st November. In the electoral list of the 4th May 1850, Richard Lovell is listed as living in a dwelling house in Ipswich. On Saturday the 1st June 1850 it was reported in The Maitland Mercury and Hunter River General Advertiser that William Butler was indicted for stealing a horse from Richard Lovell, at Ipswich, in May 1849. Butler was found guilty and sentenced to five years hard labour on the roads. This was also reported in The Moreton Bay Courier Saturday the 18th May 1850, As the case was heard on the opening day of the first circuit court at Brisbane it was published as follows, “Richard Lovell deposed that in May last year he had lost a chestnut horse. He had turned him out, and he never strayed beyond a quarter of a mile; it was branded MC under mane, and A was under the saddle. In the following November, he recognised the animal at The Gap, in possession of a man named Moss, who stated that he had received it in a swap with a long native. Moss refused to give up the horse but promised to deliver it to the Chief Constable at Warwick. Richard afterwards saw the prisoner at Warwick Bench, where Butler was committed. There was no change in the horse or his brands, saying that his tail’s hair had been cut short previous to the prisoner being apprehended. Witness saw him on a black horse, which he afterwards found out to be the same he had received in exchange for the chestnut horse; he knew it by the description given of it by Moss.” Edward Moss, senior, when examined by the judge stated that in the winter of 1849 he had dealings with the prisoner, whom he had never seen before.8 He exchanged horses with him and was to receive £5 or £3 and a saddle in exchange but never received the difference. The horse he gave the prisoner was black and that he could tell it by its nose. He could not tell brands, as he could not read. The Chief Constable at Warwick took the chestnut horse from him and put Butler in the lock-up. He thought the horse was all right although he did not know Butler. The judge commented on the indiscretion of the witness in dealing with a perfect stranger. Edward Moss’ son corroborated his father’s evidence. The jury, without leaving the box, found the prisoner guilty, who was remanded for sentence.

Convicts Publican for short while On the 15th April 1851, Richard Lovell was granted the Prince of Wales Hotel’s publican licence in East Street, Ipswich noted in The Moreton Bay Courier of Saturday on the 19th April that year. Richard must have had quickly tired of the publican business. Six months later on the 11th November, Richard advertised the Prince of Wales to let.9 It was offered as a thoroughly established first-rate hotel. In consequence of which Richard about to enter into a new line of business, he had no objection to sub-let the hotel for the remaining term of the lease. Richard disposed of the stock-in-trade (which was of a superior description and procured from the best Importing Houses in Sydney) and the furniture, which was but lately purchased was of the best quality. Another ad appeared in The Moreton Bay Courier, in November 1851, showing that Richard was selling up even more of his holdings.10 This time it was an allotment of land at the corner of Brisbane and Ellenborough Streets, upon which was erected a commodious shop and outer offices. On 1st December 1851, Richard and Hannah’s third daughter (our twice greatgrandmother) Sarah Ann Lovell was born. Then on 16th November the next year a fourth daughter was born, Agnes Catherine Lovell. No other records are found for Agnes, so it is assumed she died as an infant. One year later, on 13th November 1854, Richard and Hannah’s only son William Edward Lovell was born at their home in Ellenborough Street. Named after Hannah’s father and taking Richard’s second name as his second name. The birth was announced in The Moreton Bay Courier on Saturday 16th December 1854. The Moreton Bay Courier on 18th November 1854 published the Electoral List for the Borough of Ipswich, New South Wales. Richard Lovell is listed as Freeholder at Ellenborough Street and also noted is John McIntyre, a freeholder at Little Pocket. Richard Lovell and John McIntyre are listed again on the 1856 Electoral List, as living at Ellenborough Street and Little Pocket respectively. John McIntrye is a person of interest as in 1859 he was recorded, together with Richard’s wife Hannah Lovell, as executors of Richard’s estate.

Last will and testament Richard made out a Will, dated the 29th April 1857, bequeathing property to his four children and his nephew William Richard Gray. His friend John Sullivan and 21

wife Hannah Lovell were appointed as executors.

Convicts In The Northern Australian, Ipswich General Advertiser of Tuesday the 9th June 1857, Richard Lovell advertises to sell another block of land, allotment No.1 of Section No. 8, nearly opposite Mr Sullivan’s Hotel,11 of about 16 perches (400m2), having an extensive frontage to Brisbane and Ellenborough Streets. The property consisted of a securely fenced land together with a substantial three-roomed cottage. The Auctioneers, in calling the attention to the sale of this property, highlighted “it is situated in the most central part of town, and its commanding position making it a most profitable investment”. Only eighteen months later, and just two days before his death, Richard made an amendment to his Will revoking his bequest to his nephew William Richard Gray (son of his brother-in-law William John Gray). This amendment also withdrew John Sullivan as executor and appointed John McIntyre in his place. Richard’s Death Certificate shows that he died on the 24th February 1859 from what is listed as ‘disease of the brain’. He was ill for just three days with a Dr Rowlands seeing him immediately before his death.12 He is listed on the certificate as being a Carrier, 40 years old and having been born in England. Mr Lacey Rumsey, Church of England Minister, buried him on 25th February 1859 at Ipswich Cemetery. George Dowden was the undertaker with John Campbell and John Hanran were listed as witnesses at the burial. John Campbell was Hannah’s brother-in-law, he was married at the time to Hannah’s sister Mary. A public notice in The North Australian, Ipswich and General Advertiser of Tuesday 8th March 185913 cautioned the public to not interfere with any bullocks or cattle branded R L.s, the property of Richard Lovell, deceased. And that any person found working any of the above would be prosecuted. The notice listed Hannah Lovell and John McIntyre as joint executors of Richard’s estate.14 This last article is of note as Hannah Lovell passed away the following year in 1860, orphaning four children under the age of 13 years. In 1937 their third daughter Sarah then aged around 86 years, in an interview with The Queensland Times says, “She was born in 1852, and had the misfortune to lose both her parents when still very young. Her grandparents, the late Mr and Mrs John McIntyre, of McAllister’s Crossing, then took charge of her”. So it appears a young Sarah was taken in by John McIntyre (executor of her father’s estate) and raised as his grandchild. In The North Australian, Ipswich and General Advertiser of Tuesday the 19th July 1859, Mr Cockburn was requested to sell some allotments of land totaling sixty-four perches (1,600m2). The property was situated in Ellenborough Street and included two houses. The house on the first lot contained four rooms with a

Convicts detached kitchen in the rear. One of the front rooms was lined with boards, and there was an excellent verandah in the front enclosed with rails. The property was present occupied at a rental of 13s per week. The second house contained two front rooms, both of which were lined, and one neatly finished with paper. The house had a good verandah in the front, enclosed with rails. There was a detached kitchen in the rear with a storeroom and veranda in front, plus a wash-shed at the side. The property also sported a five-stalled stable, a useful piece of garden ground, all secured with close paling fence; a milking-yard, bailing-place as well as a calf-pen, large fowl house and an abundant supply of water from a tank conveniently placed between the main building and the kitchen. This property was also occupied at a rental of 16s per week. One of these properties is now the site of a popular Ipswich cafe named ‘Rafter and Rose’. A week later further stock was advertised consisting of: “three drays, three bullock breechings, three sets of bows, yokes and chains for teams of ten bullocks plus two tarpaulins, a cross-cut saw and other articles. The livestock included three cows and calves and six or more working bullocks.” Hannah Gray married Richard Lovell on the 13th September 1845. They had five children. Mary Rebecca Lovell was born on the 16th October 1847. She married Peter Tighe in 1869. She died on Valentines Day in 1925. The couple had ten children together: James Tighe was born in 1869. Jane Hannah Tighe was born on the 11th May 1870. Jane Hannah married Robert Bell. Edith Maude Tighe was born on the 2nd October 1872. She died less than two years later on the 12th February 1874. Sydney Vincent Tighe was born on the 12th August 1874. Sydney married Honora A Cahill. He died on the 18th July 1908. John Frederick Tighe was born on the 31st May 1877. John married Louisa Ada Spiers. He died on the 13th April 1953. Mary Mabel Tighe was born on the 25th April 1879, she married Charles Hurley. William Richard Tighe was born on the 30th April 1881. Annie Ethel Tighe was born on the 15th April 1883. Annie later married John McDonald. Lucy Violet Tighe was born on the 13th February 1885 and died on the 10th of October 1966. And finally Evyline Tighe was born on the 10th April 1887. Evyline married Cecil George W Connor. She died on the 10th July 1973. Jane Hannah [Annie] Lovell was born on the 1st November 1849. Jane married 23

Charles Augustus Thomas in 1865. She died on the 28th January 1933. The

Convicts couple had nine children. William Edward Thomas was born on the 21st February 1867. William married Catherine Anderson. He died on the 24th July 1950. Abraham Augustus Thomas was born on the 16th May 1869. Abe married Jane Clay. He died on the 24th March 1958. Hannah Elizabeth Thomas was born on the 22nd April 1872. She married Joseph Batham and died on the 7th February 1929. Charles Richard Thomas was born on the 13th December 1874. He died only thirteen days later on Boxing Day the 26th December. Clara Cecilia Thomas was born on the 3rd February 1876. She married Patrick O’Brien and died on the 27th February 1974. Patrick was born on the 16th March 1879 and died on the 13th of August 1955. Sophia Jane Thomas was born on the 8th November 1881 and died on the 12th August 1903. She was only ten years old at the time. Ivy Maude Thomas was born on the 26th June 1884. Ivy married Frederick Geisel. She died on the 14th July 1949. Henry Edwin Thomas was born on the 8th March 1889. Henry married Floraie Oberhard. He died on the 31st July 1974 only a couple of months after his older sister had passed. Sarah Anne Lovell, our twice great grandmother, was born on the 1st December 1851. Sarah married William Scriven in 1874. Sarah died on the 8th July 1942. The couple had a large family of nine children. Jane Ann Scriven who was born on the 15th January 1875. Jane died on the 13th May 1881, she was only six years old. William John Scriven was born in 1877 and died two years later in 1879. Charles Richard Scriven, our great grandfather, was born on the 23rd October 1879. Charles married Eva Rossiter in November 1904. Charles died on the 3rd October 1964, he was 85. Caroline Mary Scriven was born on the 15th July 1881. Caroline married David Roger in March 1910. Caroline died on the 30th July 1965. David had died thirty four years earlier in 1931. James Thomas Scriven was born on the 25th August 1883 he died just over a year later on the 21st November 1884. Sarah Emily Eva Scriven was born on the 11th November 1885. Sarah married Horace William Biddle in July 1907. Sarah died on the 1st March 1963. Emma Jennet Scriven was born on the 13th July 1888. Emma married Herbert Thomas Dart in February 1911. Emma died in March 1959. William John Scriven was born on the 18th February 1891. He died aged 28 on the 2nd November 1921. Florence Isabella Scriven was born on the 20th March 1895. Florence, the youngest child of Sarah and William, married Gerald Albert Crisp, the oldest son of Lawrence and Agnes Crisp in August 1920. Florence died in August 1944. Her husband Gerald had died nearly twenty years earlier in 1926. Agnes Catherine Lovell was born on the 16th October 1853.

Convicts William Edward Lovell was born on the 13th November 1854, William married Alice Stockbridge on the 20th April 1882. Alice was born on the 5th July 1863 in Ellingowan, Queensland. The couple had ten children. Richard Edward Lovell was born on the 22nd July 1882. Richard died 15 years later on the 27th July 1907. Olive Alice Lovell was born on the 22nd March 1884. Olive married Arthur A Austin. She died on the 1st November 1964. Isabella born on the 23rd December 1885. Isabella married George Brown Jones. Isabella died on the 3rd July 1981. Thomas William Lovell was born on the 20th November 1888. Thomas William married Ivy. Thomas died on the 12th September 1941. Arthur Lovell was born on the 17th November 1890. Arthur married Hannah Popp. He died on the 26th June 1968. Ada Elizabeth Lovell was born on the 26th October 1891. Ada Elizabeth married Francis E Wright. She died on the 31st October 1963. Hannah Lovell was born on the 2nd May 1894. Hannah married Wilfred B Dwyer. She died on the 27th April 1979. George Harold Victoria Lovell was born on the 25th May 1896. George died on the 14th July 1934 in Toowoomba. Eliza Agnes Lovell was born on the 15th December 1898. Eliza Agnes married Robert Wright. She died on the 26th August 1970. Sydney James Lovell was born on the 21st January 1903. Sydney married Vera Ezzy. Sydney died on the 10th April 1982. William died on the 25th November 1941 in Leyburn. Alice Lovell died on the 28th May 1939, also in Leyburn, near Toowoomba.

1 2

1| JM Wright, Edward Scriven, Robert Burns - ‘Halloween’. 2| Linus on the Brisbane River: 833449d4

Settlers

Our settler connections:

Although an estimated 162,000 convicts were sent to Australia from 1788 to 1868, most were granted their freedom after serving their time. The final convict ship the ‘Hougoumont’ arrived with the last 269 convicts to Western Australia in 1868. However, most Australians are descendants of the free settlers that followed beginning with the Second Fleet. New South Wales abolished transportation in 1849. Many of these new Australians were seeking a better life; they came for fame, fortune or to escape poverty and persecution in the land of their birth. In the century that followed the establishment of Sydney, the British established other colonies around Australia. At the same time, European explorers ventured far into the continent’s interior marking out new territory. In 1824 the name New Holland was officially changed to Australia, and five years later the settlement of Perth was founded on the southwest coast. England was then able to lay claim to the entire continent of Australia. In 1835 the settlement of Port Phillip was established, later to be called Melbourne. Following the invasion of the colonists, the number of indigenous Australians diminished. They were significantly weakened by introduced diseases and conflict with the colonists during this period. Aboriginal Australians have lived on the continent for at least 50,000 years, and they have the oldest living cultural history in the world. When the British arrived in 1788, as many as 250 different languages were spoken across the nation. Studies have produced maps detailing the diversity of languages used across Australia. Before the British arrival, between 300,000 and 1,000,000 Aboriginal people were living in Australia. 28

Settlers The discovery of gold in Australia (in Bathurst first, then Ballarat in 1851) kickstarted the economy and created the idea of Australia as a desirable location. The year 1854 saw the Eureka Stockade in Ballarat, a rebellion against taxation that some see as an important event in the evolution of Australia’s democracy. The Gold Rush saw the first period of Chinese immigration, with 50,000 Chinese arriving in Australia and the creation of numerous Chinatowns. In 1880 the Australian folk hero Ned Kelly, sometimes called the ‘Australian Robin Hood’, was executed for murder. Three years later, the railroad between Sydney and Melbourne opened. Then in 1890 the famous poem ‘The Man from Snowy River’ is published by Banjo Paterson.

1781 – John Scriven John was born around 1781 in Monmouthshire, Wales. The date of his death is unknown. John married Rachel Stephens. Rachel was born around 1791. She died around 1875. Although the actual number of children in their family is unknown. His daughter Drusilla was born in 1826, one son William Scriven was born in 1827 and Thomas was born on the 11th December 1829. John Scriven and his family lived in Howick, Monmouthshire, at a time when coal mining drew immigrants to the area and transformed the way of life in Wales. The discovery of rich deposits of coal in the Rhondda and Cynon Valleys of southern Wales during the mid-1800s signaled the start of the Britain’s industrialisation. The invention of coal-powered steam engines revolutionised the Welsh economy as world demand for coal skyrocketed. The landscape was changed drastically as the trees of green valleys were cut to support coalmines carved into the Welsh hills. By 1870, coal production in the area had surpassed 13 million tons. Local farming communities grew smaller as families swapped unstable agricultural lives for the steady wages of mining. It was a dangerous trade: the mines averaged a death every 6 hours and a serious injury every 12 minutes. Still, immigrants from Ireland, Scotland, and the English Midlands flooded the valleys to dig in the narrow tunnels. The influx hastened the Welsh language’s demise and fueled the birth of large, industrialised cities.

Settlers Neither the government nor business owners provided benefits for workers, so mining communities created ‘friendly societies’ whose members donated money to support survivors of mining disasters. The Welsh hills welcomed more and more immigrants eager to find work in the coalmines. As a result, mining-rich areas like Monmouthshire, for example, grew from 45,000 in 1801 to a population of ten times that by 1900.

1826 – William Scriven The son of John and Rachel Scriven, William (senior) was born 1826 in Cophill, Monmouthshire, Wales. He died on the 9th January 1868 in Ipswich, Queensland. William is the first Scriven, of our direct ancestors, to freely settle in Australia. William was born in Wales and baptised at Itton on the 22nd October 1826. William married Caroline Stephens on the 25th December 1847 in Chepstow, Wales. In 1865 they sailed to Australia on the ‘Queen of Colonies’ along with their children Mary, William Henry, Thomas, Emma, John Richard, Charles and baby George Scriven. The family arrived in Brisbane on the 7th October 1865, and initially settled in Brisbane. Charles was interviewed by the local paper when he was in his seventies. He recounted that his father (William) had been working as a blacksmith in Brazil. After returning to England, William decided to embark for Australia with his family, hoping to regain his failing health. The family travelled from their home to the wharf at Portsmouth. There the ship they were to sail to the Colonies was berthed. The tall-masted sailing vessel presented an elegant study as she left England on her voyage to far-away Australia. Except for one storm, the journey out was without incident. The ship docked in Sydney in just under three months. After stopping at Sydney, the ship sailed on to Brisbane where the Scriven family disembarked. Soon after leaving the vessel, the family found accommodation in the town. After he had seen they were comfortable, William travelled further on by boat to Ipswich, to take up a position with the railways. Meanwhile, the rest of the family lived in Brisbane for three months before following him up the river. By then William had built a home in Ipswich. The whole family travelled to the new centre of Ipswich by a river steamer, skippered by one Captain West.

Settlers The Brisbane that they saw in those days was a vastly different place from what it is today. When they first arrived, the family lived in Oak Street, South Brisbane, which at that time was a bush track through the dense scrub. There were only four houses in the locality. Most of Brisbane’s streets were barely formed and “were all hills and hollows”. For the most part, what is now the city area consisted of vacant land, scrub, swamps, gullies and water-courses. Where Creek Street now intersects with Queen Street was a small creek, and where Central railway station is today was a large gully. On a corner opposite the station was the Fire Brigade Station, which was a simple wooden building. None of Brisbane’s premises at the time were over two storeys in height, and most were made of wood. At least half of Queen Street consisted of vacant allotments. His daughters Mary Francis [Polly] Scriven was born on the 17th May 1849 in Chepstow and Rachel Scriven was born in 1850 in Wiltshire. His son William Henry Scriven was born in January 1852, while Thomas Scriven was born in 1854. John Richard Scriven was born in January 1859 and Charles Henry Scriven was born in January 1860. His youngest son George Albert Scriven was born in December 1864. His baby son George passed away on the 2nd February 1866 only a few months after the family had arrived in Queensland. George was one year old. William Scriven never fully regained his health. He died just four years after the family had arrived in Queensland.

1852 – William Henry (M) Scriven William Henry (M) was born in Chepstow, Wales. He died in 1906 in Ipswich. William was only 13 years old when he emigrated from Wales to Australia, with his parents William and Caroline. William along with his sisters Mary (15 years), Emma (9 years) and brothers Thomas John [John] (11 years), Charles (5 years) and infant George, left England in early 1865. The ship the ‘Queen of the Colonies’ arrived first in Sydney, then in Brisbane on the 7th October 1865 after just under three months at sea. The young William and his family first settled in Brisbane but soon relocated to Ipswich, where his father was employed in the railways. It was in Ipswich that William later met and married Sarah Ann Lovell on the 12th August 1874. His 31

younger sister Emma was a witness to the marriage ceremony.

Settlers Like his father, William was a blacksmith by trade and was for some years employed in the Ipswich Railway Workshops. He learnt blacksmithing, at the railway yards, under Mr J Suett. Later, William and Sarah moved the family to Sydney (where Sarah had her family) and worked there for a time. The family then moved to Rockhampton, Maryborough and various other places in Queensland, mostly to follow William’s work with the railways. After seven years of moving around, William and his family finally settled back in Ipswich. On his return to Ipswich William worked at the waterworks for a time and afterwards opened his own smithy. He died on the 23rd March 1906 in Ipswich. Twelve months before his death, William had contracted dengue fever from which he never fully recovered. At 10 o’clock in the evening of the 23rd March, William passed, leaving behind a wife, two sons and four daughters. His brothers, Charles and John, were well known in Ipswich and the funeral took place at Charles’ home in North Ipswich two days later. William was 54 when he died. When William Henry Scriven was born in January 1852 in Chepstow, Monmouthshire, his father William and his mother Caroline were both born in 1827 in Monmouthshire, Wales. His mother Caroline passed away on the 8th October 1898 in Queensland at the age of 71. William and Sarah had nine children. His daughter Jane Ann [Hannah] Scriven was born on the 15th January 1875. His son William John Scriven was born in 1877 but sadly passed away two years later. His son Charles Richard Scriven was born on the 23th October 1879 in Ipswich. Then his daughter Jane Ann (Hannah) passed away on the 13th May 1881 at the age of six. Then his daughter Caroline Mary Scriven was born on the 15th July 1881. His son James Thomas Scriven was born on the 25th August 1883, however James passed away just over a year later on the 21st November 1884 in Maryborough. His daughter Sarah Emily Eva Scriven was born on the 11th November 1885 in Toowoomba. His daughter Emma Jennet Scriven was born on the 13th July 1888 in Ipswich. His son William John Scriven was born on the 18th February 1891. His daughter Florence Isabella [Bella] Scriven was born on 20 March 1895 in Queensland.

Australians

Our Australian born connections:

Even though thousands of convicts were sent to Australia, most emigrants to the antipodes were free settlers. From the very beginnings of settlement, male and female convicts were also encouraged to marry. It was seen as was as a means of establishing stability, as well as help populate the vast continent that is Australia. Gold rushes and agricultural industries brought prosperity. The gold era led to a long period of prosperity, sometimes called ‘the long boom’. This expansion period was fueled by British investment and the continued growth of the pastoral and mining industries. In addition to the development of efficient transport by rail, river and sea helped feed the boom. By 1891, the sheep population of Australia was estimated at 100 million. Gold production had declined since the 1850s, but in 1890 it was still worth £5.2 million a year (approximately $500 million today). Eventually, the economic expansion ended; the 1890s were a period of economic depression, felt most strongly in Victoria and Melbourne. Which up to that time had a reputation as the wealthiest city in the world, The late 19th century had seen significant growth in the cities of south-eastern Australia. Australia’s population (not including Aborigines, who were excluded from census calculations) in 1900 was 3.7 million, almost 1 million of whom lived in Melbourne and Sydney. More than two-thirds of the population overall lived in

Australians cities and towns by the close of the century, making Australia one of the most urbanised societies in the western world. By the late 1880s, most of the people living in the Australian colonies were nativeborn, although over 90 per cent were of British and Irish heritage. The bushranger Ned Kelly represented one dimension of the emerging attitudes of the native-born population. A population that identified strongly with the principles of family and mateship. Kelly was opposed to what he regarded as oppression by the police and the powerful squattocracy. Autonomous parliamentary democracies were established throughout the six British colonies from the mid-19th century. As the Australian identity grew, one separate and independent from its initial British origins, the colonies voted by referendum to unite in a federation. In 1901, the modern Commonwealth of Australia came into being. It was agreed that the capital could be in NSW but no closer than 100 kilometres from Sydney. This agreement led to Canberra’s creation, with an interim parliament set up in Melbourne for the first 27 years of Federation. New Zealand and Fiji were both invited to join the new Federation of the states but declined. Edmund Barton served as Australia’s first Prime Minister of Australia and the current Australian national flag was adopted.

1805 – William Gray William Gray is the first of our ancestors from this branch of the tree, to be born in Australia. He was born on the 24th June 1805 in Hawkesbury, New South Wales. The second child of John and Elizabeth Gray he was baptised on the 11th August 1805 at St Johns, Parramatta. After his father, John Gray, died in 1818 William then aged thirteen, was obliged to earn money and help his mother keep the family. In 1822, aged seventeen, William was instrumental in assisting the capture of nine runaway convicts. He had a variety of jobs including being a Market Constable and Pound Keeper in Sydney. William married Mary Wheeler on the 17th May 1827 in Evan (now Penrith), New South Wales. Mary was also a native of the Colony having been born on Norfolk Island in 1808. They had five children together the first two daughters were Rebecca Jane (Wheeler) Gray on the 16th September 1825 and Elizabeth Ann Gray on the 13th May 1828. Rebecca was born out of wedlock so was given her 35

mother’s maiden name.

Australians In August 1824 William writes a memorial to Governor Brisbane saying that his family are on a rented farm in Evan and requesting land to farm to help support his family. William resigned as Constable at Penrith on the 10th August 1827. Three months later on the 30th November of the same year, William was charged and convicted by the judge, Sir James Jamieson, of stealing a bullock. He pleaded not guilty in the Supreme Court of Criminal Justice to the charges. He was first sentenced to death, but this was commuted to seven years of labour in chains at Moreton Bay Penal Colony. Moreton Bay Penal records note William Gray as a native of the colony, 23 years old, five foot five and a half inches tall with fair complexion, light brown hair and grey eyes. Due to his good behaviour and a petition to the Governor by his wife Mary, he was later allowed to have his wife and two daughters join him. On the 5th September 1830, another daughter Hannah Gray (our three time great grandmother) was born. William returned to Sydney after serving four and half years of his seven-year sentence. His only son William John Best Gray was born on the 18th September 1832, and his last daughter Mary Jane Gray was born on the 10th January 1835. He worked as a stockman on several stations; two of these were named ‘Carrol’ and ‘Carrageen’. In the middle of November 1842, William, Mary and their five children left Windsor on a bullock dray and went north to what would become Queensland. The family arrived in Brisbane during the first week of March 1843. Eventually settling in Ipswich where his daughters were all later married. His daughter Rebecca Jane married Richard Henry Kirby, Elizabeth married Charles Sloane, Hannah married Richard Lovell while Mary first married John Campbell and then later William Wanstall, their only son Ernest Kirby married Mary Ann Clay. William’s great-grandson Sir William Gray Wanstall was appointed the 13th Chief Justice of Queensland in 1977. So the Gray family went from convict beginnings to one of their descendants holding the highest justice position in Queensland in only four generations. William and one of his sons-in-law, Richard Lovell, went into the carrying business. They had a team of their own and hired a further two teams from the Campbell brothers of Glengallon Queensland. 36

Australians In February 1851 William was not well, and his mother traveled from Sydney to see him. Sadly, his health did not improve. He died on the 4th April 1851 at the age of 46. He was buried in Ipswich.

1805 – Mary (Wheeler) Gray Born on Norfolk Island in 1805 Mary Wheeler is one of our first female, Australian born ancestors. Mary Wheeler was first reported to have arrived on the mainland of New South Wales from Norfolk Island around 1811 with her father John Best and his housekeeper Rebecca Chippenham. It is not known for sure who was Mary’s mother. Mary married William Gray in May 1827, and her father John Best and William’s sister Jane Gray witnessed the marriage. They had five children together the first two daughters were Rebecca Jane (Wheeler) Gray on the 16th September 1825 and Elizabeth Ann Gray on the 13th May 1828. On the 5th September 1830, another daughter Hannah Gray was born. His only son William John Best Gray was born on the 18th September 1832, and his last daughter Mary Jane Gray was born on the 10th January 1835. As told in William’s story, Mary and William and their family were living in Ipswich when William died in 1851. It appears Mary eventually went to live with her eldest daughter Rebecca who had married Henry Kirby in 1851 and settled at Leyburn near Toowoomba. Mary died at the ripe age of 69 years on 25th January 1877 and was buried at Leyburn, Queensland.

1830 – Hannah (Gray) Lovell) Hannah Gray is the first of our ancestors to be born in Queensland. Although at the time of her birth Queensland didn’t exist. It was still officially part of New South Wales until 1859. Hannah was born on the 5th September 1830. Hannah’s father William Gray was serving time at Moreton Bay Penal Colony the year she was born. Her mother Mary and been granted permission to join her husband William at Moreton Bay. She traveled there, along with Hannah’s two older sisters, from their hometown in Windsor, New South Wales. 37

Australians Hannah was only an infant when the family returned to Windsor. This was after William had served out his sentence. It appears that the family may have liked the warmer weather or saw more opportunities in the north, for when Hannah was twelve, they all left Windsor and travelled north again to Brisbane. Hannah married her father’s business partner Richard Lovell on the 13th September 1845, just eight days after her fifteenth birthday. Richard was 26 years old at the time. Hannah was seventeen when their first child Mary Lovell was born in 1847, nineteen when her second daughter Jane Lovell was born in 1849 and twentyone when their third daughter Sarah Lovell was born in 1851. Another daughter Agnes Lovell was born in 1853, although she appears to have died as a baby. Her last child and only son William Lovell was born in 1854 when Hannah was twenty-four. After this time the only record we have of Hannah was from The Moreton Bay Courier of Saturday the 12th November 1859.14 It is written that Jane Thorpe was charged with stealing a bundle of clothes from James Pascoe. It seems that Hannah Lovell found the bundle of clothes under the bridge leading to the Catholic Chapel. Hannah then took them to Mrs Thorpe’s, where they were examined, and they were afterwards taken and put back again. Some articles had inadvertently been left out and were later found in the house. The case was dismissed. By twenty-eight, Hannah was left widowed with four young children in her care. Her story becomes more tragic as just thirteen months after her husband Richard died, Hannah passed away aged twenty-nine. Her death certificate lists her death from atrophy.

1852 – Sarah Ann (Lovell) Scriven Sarah Ann Lovell is the first of our ancestors to be born in Ipswich. Janelle Devereaux, the granddaughter of Les and Emily Scriven, uncovered a significant amount of the information on Sarah. Before researching our paternal grandfather’s side of the family, she knew very little about his history. Sarah Lovell proved to be the key and Trove proved to be the treasure box that allowed her to discover our convict past. Trove turned up several articles on Sarah. The information on Sarah, leads to her father Richard Lovell then her grandparents, William and Mary Gray. Fortunately, some very comprehensive research had already been compiled on

Australians the history of the Gray family. Janelle was able to contact one of the researchers who sent her a wealth of information. Although, it was mainly through articles in old newspapers reproduced on Trove that she pieced together most of the information regarding the lives of both Sarah and her father, Richard.

Sarah Lovell’s life Being one of the oldest residents of Ipswich at the time, Sarah was interviewed by The Queensland Times (QT) in 192615 then again in 193816. In her interviews, Sarah said that she was born in 1852. She was born was on the site of the old Ipswich brewery, which was built some years after her birth. Even the brewery has passed into history. Records show she was born on the 1st December 1851. She also mentions that she was born in a hotel in Wharf Street where her father Richard Lovell was the licensee. The hotel was a tavern in the typical English type that has now “passed into the limbo of forgotten things”. Her parents, who were both natives of Sydney, had lived in Ipswich for several years before Sarah was born. They left the hotel soon afterwards, and Richard Lovell became a carrier. Records for Richard show he was granted a publican’s licence for the Prince of Wales Hotel in East Street in October 1851. As Wharf Street runs parallel to East Street, it is possible that the hotel was in East Street and the family lived behind the hotel in Wharf Street. Sarah was barely seven years old when her father died suddenly in February 1859. A year later, and Sarah had just turned eight, when her mother Hannah (Lovell) Gray also died, in March of 1860. When she became orphaned, John McIntyre and his wife Mary McIntyre took Sarah in and raised her as their granddaughter. Sarah’s father was Richard Lovell and his parents are unknown, and as Sarah’s mother’s parents were William and Mary Gray the McIntyre’s weren’t Sarah’s biological grandparents. John McIntyre is listed in 1859 as joint executor of Richard’s estate; therefore, we surmise that he was a good friend of Richard, Sarah’s father. A search of old maps of Ipswich held at the Ipswich City Council library show John and Mary McIntyre owning land at McAlister’s Crossing (now called Woodend) at the same time as Richard Lovell owned land and lived in Ellenborough Street. Sarah’s wedding notice in The Queensland Times says she married at “the residence of the bride at Woodend”. It is therefore fairly certain that her father’s friend John McIntyre took on the responsibility of her upbringing. 39

Australians There is an 1860 reference to McAlister’s Crossing. It is believed to have been somewhere along the Bremer River. As Thomas MacAlister had a house called ‘Woodend’ near the river, from which the suburb Woodend takes its name. It is reasonable to assume that McAlister’s Crossing and the suburb of Woodend are one and the same. After their mother died Sarah’s older sister, Mary Rebecca Lovell went to live with her mother’s eldest sister Rebecca Jane (Gray) Kirby. Jane had married Henry Kirby in 1851 and was living at the time in Leyburn, on the Darling Downs south west of Toowoomba. Rebecca often wrote to her grandmother Elizabeth Gray who lived in Windsor and later in Sydney. Her grandmother’s letters back to Rebecca have been kept in the Kirby family and have been transcribed for the ‘All the shades of Gray’ family history website. In letters between 1860 and 1868 Elizabeth often mentions Mary Lovell. In a letter dated the 21st December 1860 (the year Hannah died) Elizabeth talks about Rebecca’s uncle, Richard Gray and says “he and all the family are all well and send their love to your mother and Mary Lovell, they are glad she is with you.” In the many letters that follow throughout the years up until 1868 Elizabeth is still sending her love to “your mother and Mary Lovell and to dear Eliz (Rebecca’s daughter) and Richard (Rebecca’s son) and all the rest of the family.” We are not sure where Sarah’s other sister Jane went to live, although she was aged around fifteen when she married Charles Thomas at Leyburn on the 15th March 1865. Her cousin Elizabeth Kirby (Rebecca’s daughter) is a witness at her wedding and Jane’s usual place of residence is listed as Leyburn. Therefore Jane may have been living in Leyburn before marrying, but with whom we are not entirely sure. As for Sarah’s younger brother William Edward Lovell, we have no idea as to who raised him. His later life was spent in the Leyburn and Darling Downs area, so it seems Sarah was the only one of the siblings to remain in Ipswich after her parents died. On the 12th August 1874, Sarah married William Henry Scriven, at Woodend, Ipswich. The priest was the Reverend T S Gerrard assisted by the Reverend A Midgley of Toowoomba. The wedding was held at the residence of the bride. The witnesses for the marriage were William’s sister Emma Scriven and William McIntyre (son of Sarah’s adoptive grandparents John and Mary McIntyre). Their first child Jane Ann was born on the 15th January 1875 but passed away when the child was only six years old. Sarah and William had eight children together, 40

Australians two girls and six boys. Charles Richard Scriven was their third child and second eldest son. One of the sons died as an infant, aged only one. William Henry Scriven was a blacksmith and was for some years employed in the first railway workshops in Ipswich. Later, Sarah and William went to Sydney, then to Rockhampton and Maryborough, before returning to Ipswich after about seven years. The trip to Sydney was made on the two-deck river steamer ‘Settler’ to Brisbane, and then on by another steamship to Sydney. The riverboats and Cobb and Co coaches were then the only transport services between Ipswich, at the time the capital of Queensland, and Brisbane, its seaport. After William’s death in 1906, Sarah lived with her youngest son, William John Scriven. After her son’s death in 1921, Sarah lived alone in her cottage in Birdwood Lane. However, in the electoral roll records from 1936 Sarah is listed as living at Birdwood Lane with Charles Leslie [Les] and Mary Emily [Emily] Scriven. Les and Emily had married in November 1931, and being young newlyweds, it seems they moved in with Les’ grandmother Sarah. After the 1936 census, Sarah is no longer listed as living at Birdwood Lane. We know from the family that Sarah ended up living with Sarah’s son Charles Richard at 80 Holdsworth Road until her death in July 1942. Up until the year before her death, Sarah would still do housework and light washing. Walking around with her hands behind her back and with a slight stoop. Although in one of the interviews, she said that her memory “was not as good as it used to be”. She was a remarkable old lady in many respects. Somewhat frail, but very wiry, she suggested that she could do most of the housework if required, as well as light washing. Her one regret was that soreness in her back had restricted her activity to some extent. In the interviews in The Queensland Times, Sarah talked about her life growing up in Ipswich. “Where the span linking painted black legs and debbil-debbil dances with foxtrots and Jazz Stockings.” The Ipswich she knew, when she was young had less than two dozen houses and shops. One of the town’s principal buildings, St Paul’s Church of England, was a tiny bush chapel near the present church’s site. On the other side of Nicholas Street, opposite the church, was the Anglican school, a rough slab structure, lowroofed, and small windows. A small wooden shop not far away was the first store of Messrs Cribb and Foote. The youngsters of Limestone, as Ipswich was first 41

called, had an exciting source of entertainment. They watched corroborees as they dangled their legs from a fence that stood beside the grounds on which the

Australians railway workshops was built. The more venturesome of the children would creep closer and look between the trees around the ‘blacks’ corroboree ground. She and her schoolmates watched many weird gatherings of the natives and remembered the eerie summons to corroborees. “Sounds made on queerly carved bull-roarers whirled in the air on strings of bark and native hemp and the rhythmic beating of wooden drums. Often they heard the solemn droning chant of the old men and lubras, squatting in a circle within which the medicine men and the young bloods of the tribe commenced their slow rhythmic antics.” The youngsters’ positions on the fence often became perilous because of the difficulty of balancing and laughing simultaneously, as the movements grew more and more animated. They watched the dancing grow faster and fiercer and saw the warriors ominously brandishing spears and shields. They heard the louder war drum join in the wild music and the lubras’ chanting becoming wilder and less monotonous. At this stage, the timider of the children retired a little, into the bush. The bolder spirits stayed for, the bigger thrills of the frenzied dancing, the shrieking and the blood-curdling antics of the painted warriors, and the fanatical incantations of the medicine men. Despite all their corroboree displays of savagery, the Jagera people of the Ipswich district were a friendly tribe, although fast dying out due to their contact with the increasing numbers of white people. Sarah remembered that “there were hundreds of natives in the district with ‘wurlies’ scattered thickly through the bush where the Ipswich boys Grammar School was built and several other areas around the town. On particularly ‘auspicious occasions’ in the ‘blackfellow world’ large corroborees would be held. The chiefs and warriors of many tribes would join in ‘big fellow corroborees’, weirder and wilder than any of the ceremonies of the single native tribe. In those days, the ‘King’ and the ‘Queen’ of the local blacks carried out their part as host and hostess. On strings around their black necks were hung brass medals, brightly polished, the white men’s recognition of their royalty. The bare black chests on which the ‘Crown Jewels’ were thus displayed were considerably puffed out with pride on such ceremonial occasions.” Sarah also remembered crossing the river in a boat from Woodend Pocket to see the turning of the first sod of Queensland’s first railway, near the site of the Railway Hotel, North Ipswich. The line ran from Ipswich to Bigge’s Camp (now Grandchester). The opening of the railway and the first workshops commenced the town’s growth from a purely farming centre. She also remembered the ferry that served as a river crossing before the building of a bridge.

Australians She also recalled very clearly the chief incident of the year of her marriage to William Scriven. The wedding was held on the 12th August 1874. About three months later, the ‘Porteus Riot’ occurred at the climax of a religious controversy.17 A lecture by Reverend Porteus, a Primitive Methodist preacher, ended in an uproar in which walking sticks, stones, broken furniture, and pocket knives being used to great effect. The Police Magistrate read the Riot Act, and the curiosity aroused by a false fire alarm broke up the crowd. Sarah’s husband, a blacksmith, was for some years employed in the first railway workshops. First in Ipswich then later in Sydney, Rockhampton and Maryborough before the family returned to Ipswich after about seven years away. After his return to Ipswich William Scriven was working at the waterworks for a time, and later opened his own smithy. He died in 1906. For a while Sarah lived with her youngest son and then from 1921, she lived alone in her cottage in Birdwood lane. This property was still in the family for many years. It was handed down to Shirley Stokes and lived in for many years by Ken Scriven, before being sold after Shirley’s death. Sarah Ann Lovell was born on the 1st December 1851. Sarah married William Scriven in 1874. Sarah died on the 8th July 1942. The couple had a large family of nine children. Jane Ann Scriven who was born on the 15th January 1875. Jane died on the 13th May 1881 only six years later. William John Scriven was born in 1877 but sadly died two years later in 1879. Charles Richard Scriven was born on the 23rd October 1879. Charles married Eva Rossiter in November 1904. Charles died on the 3rd October 1964, he was 85. Caroline Mary Scriven was born on the 15th July 1881. Caroline married David Rodger in March 1901. Caroline died on the 30th July 1965. David died in 1931. James Thomas Scriven was born on the 25th August 1883 but he died just over a year later on the 21st November 1884. Sarah Emily Eva Scriven was born on the 11th November 1885. Sarah married Horace William Biddle in July 1907. Sarah died on the 1st March 1963. Emma Jennet Scriven was born on the 13th July 1888. Emma married Herbert Thomas Dart in February 1911. Emma died in March 1959. William John Scriven was born on the 18th February 1891. He died aged 28 on the 2nd November 1921. Florence Isabella [Bella] Scriven was born on the 20th March 1895. Florence, the youngest child of Sarah and William, married Gerald Albert Crisp, the oldest son of Lawrence and Agnes Crisp in 43

August 1920. Florence died in August 1944. Her husband Gerald had died nearly twenty years earlier in 1926.

Australians

1881 – Caroline Mary (Scriven) Rodger Caroline Mary was born on the 15th July 1881, the eldest daughter of William Henry Scriven and Sarah Ann Lovell. Caroline had one older brother Charles Richard, one younger brother William John and three younger sisters, Sarah Emily Eva, Emma Jennet and Florence Isabella [Bella] who survived childhood. An older sister Jane Ann [Hannah] Scriven was born on the 15th January 1875. Hannah died in Queensland on the 13th May 1881 when she was 6 years old. A brother William John Scriven was born in 1877 in Parramatta, New South Wales but died in 1879 in Queensland when he was 2 years old. Another brother James Thomas Scriven was born on the 25th August 1883. He died as a child aged oneyear-old on the 21st November 1884 in Maryborough. Caroline married David Rodger on the 7th March 1910. David was born in Sydney on the 7th March 1878. The couple had several children together: Elsie Rodger was born on the 27th July 1899. She died only one month later on the 4th August. Rita May Rodger was born on the 26th May 1901. Ida Rodger was born on the 15th November 1903, William John Rodger was born on the 27th April 1905. Thelma Rodger was born on the 4th November 1907, David Clauden Rodger was born in 1910, Maud Rodger was born on the 18th June 1916 and Frank Rodger was born on the 13th April 1919. Ida Rodger married Charles John Abercrombie in Brisbane in 1934 when she was 31 years old. Charles was born in 1887, he was 37 at the time. William John Rodger is believed to have married Florence Hundtofte in Queensland in 1924 when he was 19 years old. Thelma Rodger married Vernon Francis Smith in Queensland in 1932 when she was 25 years old. David Clauden Rodger married Georgina Maud Crisp in Queensland in 1934 when he was 24 years old. They had three daughters: Elaine, Lynne and Marjorie who was born in 1935. When David died in 1959, Georgina remarried in 1967 to Thomas George Tafft. Maud Rodger married Thomas James Dwyer in Brisbane, on the 27th April 1935 when she was 19 years old. Thomas Dwyer was born in 1907. Frank Rodger married Doris Evelyn Stephan, they had one son Frank Jnr in 1942.

Australians Caroline’s husband David died on the 30th September 1931 in Brisbane, aged 53 years. Caroline died on the 30th June 1965 when she was 83 years old. She outlived most of her children. Her daughter Maud passed away on the 6th April 1940, then her son David died on the 24th December 1959. Later her daughter Caroline died on the 30th July 1965 and was buried at Ipswich Cemetery. Of her other children; Rita died in 1970, William died in 1976, while Frank died in 1983 and Thelma died on the 1st August 1989 in Beaconsfield, Tasmania, when she was 81 years old.

1883 – Sarah Emily Eva (Scriven) Biddle Sarah Emily Eva was born on the 11th November 1885 in Toowoomba. She was the second daughter of William Henry Scriven and Sarah Ann Lovell. When she was born, both her parents were 33 years old. Sarah had one older brother Charles Richard, one younger brother William John, one older sister Caroline Mary and two younger sisters Emma Jennet and Florence Isabella [Bella] who all survived childhood. Her father William Henry passed away on the 23rd March 1906 at the age of 54. A year later Sarah married Horace William Biddle on the 13th July 1907 in Queensland. They had eight children during their 22 years of marriage. Her daughter Elsie Maud was born on the 7th June 1907 in Ipswich, a month before she married Horace. Sarah was 21 years old when she married. The couple’s second daughter Thelma May was born on the 9th October 1909 while their son William Horace was born on the 13th May 1912. At the time the family were living in Bundamba. Her daughter May was born on the 27th October 1914 but sadly passed away that same day. The couple’s second son Colin Victor George was born on the 6th November 1915. Their son Mervyn was born on the 8th April 1918 while her daughter Doris Alma was born on the 21st October 1920. Her youngest child, Albert George, was born on the 1st February 1922 or 1923. All the children were born in Ipswich. Elsie Maud Biddle married Edward Arnold [Shortey] Little in Queensland on the 14th March 1931 when she was 23 years old. Shortey was born on the 2nd March 1903 in Kilcoy. He died on the 28th February 1973 in Ipswich at the age of 69. Thelma May Biddle married Harold Jack Brown in 1933 in Queensland. Harold Brown was born on the 14th October 1911 in Ipswich, and he died on the 11th 45

January 1987 at the age of 75. The couple had one child during their marriage.

Australians Her son Desmond Colin Brown was born on the 16th February 1934 in Ipswich. William Horace Biddle married Irene Grace Thorne in 1937. They had one son, Keith. William died on the 9th June 1968 at the age of 56. Colin Victor George Biddle married Lorna May Shearer on the 5th December 1936 when he was 21 years old. They had one son together Colin Graham, born on the 9th September 1937. Lorna was born in Ipswich on the 29th May 1916 but died on the 22nd July 1944 when she was only 28 years old. Colin then married Esme Gertrude Ellen Ratliff in 1941 in Glen Innes, New South Wales. Colin died on 29th April 1997 at the age of 81. Mervyn married Dorothy May Milton on the 6th December 1941 in Ipswich. They had three children: Marlene born in 1943, Raymond Mervyn born on the 10th October 1950 and Ross born in 1955. Mervyn served in World War II. He died on the 28th October 1974 in Ipswich, at the age of 56. Dorothy survived him for a further 36 years, she died on the 3rd December 2010 when she was 90 years old. Doris married Gilmore Duff at St. Thomas’ Church of England in Ipswich in March 1945. They had three children: Denise born in 1945, Russell born in 1950 and Suzanne born in 1957. Doris died in 1959 from bowel cancer. Her son, Russell, was having a birthday party when a cousin delivered the news that his mother had died. The cousin’s family had the telephone connected at that time, that’s why the cousin passed on the message that Doris had passed away. Albert married Penny Long. Albert also served in World War II. He died on 9th September 1973 in Ipswich at the age of 50. When Sarah was only 35 years old, her younger brother William John died on the 2nd November 1921. Sarah also outlived her husband Horace passed who passed away on the 16th March 1930 in Ipswich. He was 45 years old, and they had been married for 22 years. Sarah’s younger sisters Bella died on the 31st August 1944, and her Emma died on the 13th March 1959. Sarah Emily Eva was 73 years old when her daughter Doris Alma passed away on the 10th December 1959. Doris was only just 39 years old. Sarah Emily Eva (Scriven) Biddle died on the 2nd March 1963 in Ipswich, Queensland. She was 77 years old.

Australians

1888 – Emma Jennet (Scriven) Dart Emma Jennet was born on the 13 July 1888 in Ipswich. She was the third daughter of William Henry Scriven and Sarah Ann Lovell. Emma had one older brother Charles Richard, one younger brother William John, two older sisters Caroline Mary and Sarah Emily Eva and one younger sister Florence Isabella [Bella] who all survived childhood. She married Herbert Thomas Dart on the 2 February 1911. Herbert was born on the 13 August 1886 in Rosalie, Queensland and the couple had four children during their marriage. Her daughter Agnes Jane was born on the 20 March 1911 in Ipswich. Her son Herbert John was born on the 8 November 1913. Sadly Herbert passed away five months later on the 15 March 1914. Her son Percy Thomas was born on the 3 April 1915 in Ipswich. Her daughter Florence Margaret was born on the 15 May 1917 in Ipswich. Agnes married Sydney Walter Branfield on the 11 January 1936 when she was 24 years old. Sydney was born on 14 September 1909 in Bristol, Gloucestershire. The couple had two children, a girl and a boy. Sydney died on the 22 May 1983, aged 73. Agnes died in Oxley on the 9 August 2000 at the age of 89. Percy had one son and two daughters with Doris Emily May Pratten. Doris was born on the 30 December 1918 in Brisbane. His son William Thomas was born on the 12 February 1942 and died in 2007. William had a twin sister, but she sadly died on the same day she was born. A second daughter Helen Ann was born in March 1961 in Brisbane, but again tragedy struck, and Helen passed away on the 12 October 1961 in Brisbane, Queensland. She was less than a year old. Percy died on the 12 April 1982 in Brisbane, at the age of 67. His wife died on the 4 September 2001 in Brisbane, she was 82 years old. When she was 26, Florence married Zachariah Smith in Brisbane in 1943. Zachariah was born in 1911 in Brisbane Her husband passed away in 1955 in Brisbane, aged 44. They had been married for 12 years. Florence died on the 17 April 1975 in Brisbane when she was 57 years old. Emma’s husband Herbert passed away in 1928 in Brisbane, Queensland, at the age of 42. They had been married for 17 years. In 1942 when Emma was 53, her mother Sarah Ann passed away on the 8 July in Ipswich. Emma’s mother was 90 when she died. In 1958 Emma was living in Darra. She died on the 13 March 1959 47

at the age of 70 and was buried in Brisbane.

Australians

1891 – William John Scriven William John was born on the 13th July 1888 in Ipswich. He was only the second son of William Henry Scriven and Sarah Ann Lovell to survive childhood. William had one older brother Charles Richard, three older sisters Caroline Mary, Emma Jennet and Sarah Emily Eva and one younger sister Florence Isabella [Bella]. When William John Scriven was born on the 18th February 1891, his parents were both 39 years old. William married Gertrude Huges in 1913 but he died on the 2nd November 1921 at the age of 30.

1895 – Florence Isabella (Scriven) Crisp [Bella] Florence Isabella was born on the 20th March 1895. In the twisting and convoluted ways of family trees Florence, the youngest child of Sarah and William Scriven, married Gerald Albert Crisp, the oldest son of Lawrence and Agnes Crisp on the 14th August 1920. Therefore, my grandfather’s aunt married my grandmother’s older brother. Reminds me of that rhyming song about ‘I am my own grandpa’. The couple had three children during their marriage. Their son Albert William Crisp was born on the 20th November 1920 in Ipswich. Their daughter Florence May [Mary] Crisp was born on the 6th May 1924. And their second daughter Agnes Crisp was born in 1927 in Esk. Albert married Marjorie [Margie] Price. Margie was born in 1938 in Sarina, her father, Leo Henry Alexander Price and her mother May Mary Bryan. They had one daughter Judith born on the 7th May 1958. Although there is a list of seven other possible children. Albert served in the Australian military during World War II. He died on the 1st December 2001 in Townsville, at the age of 81. Their daughter Judith passed away on the 22nd May 2013 at the age of 55. Margie died at the age of 76 on the 22nd September 2014 in Townsville. Florence May married John Allan Edwards. John Edwards was born on the 4th January 1921 in Ipswich. The couple had one son, Robert William Edwards born on the 8th October 1968 in Brisbane. Her husband John died on the 10th April 2004 in Brisbane. He was 83 years old. Florence died on the 8th March 2013 in Caboolture, at the age of 88. Their son Robert William Edwards died in 2013 in Burpengary, when he was only 45 years old. 48

Australians Agnes married Thomas James Hutchins. Thomas Hutchins was born on the 4th June 1926 in Ipswich to Alice Maud Russell and John James Hutchins. Thomas also served in the Australian army during World War II. Thomas passed away on the 29th December 1995 at the age of 71. Agnes died in January 2016 at the age of 89. Bella [Florence] Crisp died on the 31st August 1944. While her husband Gerald died young, at the age of 27, on the 9th October 1926 nearly twenty years earlier.

2 1

1| Construction of the train line from Ipswich to Bigges Camp (Granchester) 2| View of Brisbane in 1860 looking south west from Spring Hill towards South Brisbane. 3| View of Brisbane looking up the Toowong reach of the Brisbane River in 1860. The river was called Maiwar in the local indigenous language.

Holdsworth Road

The Holdsworth Road nexus:

At the beginning of the twentieth century, there was optimism surrounding the formation of the Commonwealth. Australian women were granted the right to vote, earlier here than most countries in the world. In 1912 work on the nation’s capital of Canberra began, some claimed to the ruination of a good sheep paddock. Then in 1914, the First World War changed the history of Australia. Australia, as a subservient colony, followed Great Britain into the war to fight alongside its Allies. In April 1915, the Australian and New Zealand Anzac Corps (ANZACs) took part in the Gallipoli Campaign. Despite the defeat, this battle helped define the characteristics of Australians. Almost 39% of Australia’s male population between 18 and 44 enlisted to fight in World War One. Australia fought on Britain’s side in the two world wars and became a long-standing ally of the United States when threatened by Imperial Japan during World War Two. Between the wars, Australia joined the League of Nations, then struggled through the Great Depression. The Australian identity continued to grow with the founding of Qantas airlines in 1920. Three years later the first jar of Vegemite was on the shelves, and construction the Sydney Harbour Bridge was completed in 1939. Into this environment, one branch of our family tree centred around a high set, Queenslander at 80 Holdsworth Road in North Ipswich. A family home it became the launching point for several family branches. The property, one of several owned by Charles Richard became the family home for Scriven’s at the beginning of the 20th century. The house still stands today but has sadly passed out of our family hands; to this day, its ghosts haunt the next few pages.

Holdsworth Road

1879 – Charles Richard Scriven [Charlie / Pop] Born at Lowry Street, North Ipswich in 1879 Charles is one of the few ancestors of whom we still have any clear memories. Janelle Devereaux, who was just six years old when he died, has vague memories of an old man with grey hair, of whom she was slightly scared. Charles Richard Scriven was born on the 23rd October 1879, the eldest son of William Henry Scriven and Sarah Ann Lovell. Charles was named after his father’s brother (Charles Scriven) and his mother’s father (Richard Lovell). Charles had two older siblings who did not survive infancy, Hannah [Jane Anne] Scriven and William John Scriven. His younger siblings were Caroline Mary Scriven born in 1881, James Thomas Scriven who died aged one, Sarah Emily Eva Scriven born in 1885, Emma Jennett Scriven born in 1888, William John Scriven born in 1891 and Florence Isabella [Bella] Scriven born in 1895. Charles married Evaline [Eva] Rossiter in Ipswich on the 18th November 1904. Their first child Eva May [May] Scriven was born on the 15th February 1905 in the little house in Coal Road Tivoli. A further three children followed, William George [George] Scriven on the 31st August 1908, Charles Leslie [Les] Scriven on the 15th January 1912 and Ivy on the 17th March 1916 at Tivoli. Sadly, Ivy died in infancy at six months. Charles spent some of his early working life as a bullock driver. There is a story that Charles drove his first bullock team to Benarkin, in the Blackbutt area, when he was only twelve (or fifteen) years old. To train his dogs not to be run over by the dray, Charles would put the tip of the pup’s tail under the dray’s rolling wheels. Afterwards, the dogs would always stay clear of the heavy wheels. Later Charles worked at the Mount Crosby waterworks at Holts Hill spreading the sand and gravel in the filter beds. According to old electoral roll records, Charles and Eva lived first at the little house in Coal Road, Tivoli, then in Holmes Street and Waterworks Road before settling in the family home at 80 Holdsworth Road, North Ipswich around 1914. Ipswich identity Charlie Summerville was an auctioneer and ran both the Churchill Saleyards plus a weekly mixed-bag auction in Nicholas Street, Ipswich in the early half of the twentieth century. Charlie Summerville was a good friend of Charles Scriven who would often take some animals or produce to the auction to sell. Just 53

as likely Charles would come home with a few chickens or something else entirely different.

Holdsworth Road Charlie Summerville had twin sons Harold and Arthur Summerville, who later took over the cattle sale’s running. Later still the saleyards were sold to a Mr Hayes. Before then, Charlie and another chap had a paddock opposite the Brassall Primary School, where people would take their cattle or livestock for sale. When it was market day or there was enough of a herd, they would be driven along the old stockyard to the saleyards. Charles ran cattle out on the properties at Mount Crosby as well as at Tivoli. When it was time for him to take them to market, they were herded with his sons and grandsons’ help along the old stock route. The route ran from Mount Crosby via Blackwall Road, along Mustering Gully Road to Kholo Road then to Waterworks Road. Another branch from Holdsworth Road went up the street to Holmes Street before joining at the top of Currey Street. The stock route then crossed the old quarry at the top of Currey Street then down to Holts Street, past Brassall Primary School where it ran parallel to Hunter Street. Then the mob was taken across the Harlin Road bridge before turning west and following the river around to Sadliers Crossing. There the route ran under the Wulkuraka railway bridge and up Tiger Street hill and down the other side before turning right and following the old railway line out across Deebing Creek, past the current Sandy Gallop Golf Course and on to the saleyards at Churchill. On weekends Charles would harness the horses to a steel-rimmed dray and head out to Mount Crosby with his grandsons Bill Scriven and Sonny Stokes. The dray was filled with fencing wire and other equipment, and the trio would spend the day repairing fences or any other work that needed doing. In later years while driving cattle to sale along the same stock route Bill Scriven remembers when he passed his later sweetheart’s house in Tiger Street, Bill and Doreen Knight would chat over the fence with Bill sitting on the back of his horse. Charles was a tough, hard-talking, hard-drinking old man with a moustache. Charles’ granddaughter Jean McDowall remembered him as a cranky old bugger and said that her cousins Shirley and Sonny (Stokes) were his favourite grandchildren. Bill Scriven agreed with this statement, remembering him as being rather gruff. He also remembers him taking a dose of Epsom salts (the small end of a teaspoon) every day. With his cup of tea, Charles would pour some tea into his saucer, add the Epsom salts and drink it. He swore that this helped keep him regular. We only have his word for it. Charles had a reputation as being a bit of a tyrant as well as a lady’s man. Mervyn McDowall said he got on well with Charlie, and he told the story that after his

Holdsworth Road wife died, old Charlie used to hang out on Nolan’s Corner in Ipswich (the corner of Brisbane and Nicholas Streets) to chat up women. Nolan’s Corner and the steps outside the old Commonwealth Bank were places where people would meet and talk, especially the older residents of Ipswich. Charles’ best friend was Pop Bauer. The Bauers lived out at Purga, and the pair would meet outside the Commonwealth Bank at Nolan’s Corner every Friday. His grandson thought he was an ‘old bugger’. Once when Janelle was in the city with Charles and his other granddaughters Lorelle and Robyn Hertrick. Charles bought the Hertrick girls an ice-cream but not Janelle. Apparently, Charlie was also partial to a drink. He was known to often come home raging drunk. His favourite watering holes included the Bells Hotel in Downs Street and The Northern Star Hotel in Brisbane Street. The latter was his usual Friday haunt. Nevertheless, the horse drawing the sulky he used could always find its own way home, even with its owner asleep at the reins. Charles lost his wife Eva in 1946 and in his later years at Holdsworth Road was cared for by his daughter May, who lived diagonally opposite. In his later years, Charles had a stroke, and he took turns living with his children. Charles died on the 3rd October 1964 just a few weeks short of his 85th birthday. He was buried in the Ipswich Cemetery.

1888 – Evaline (Eva) Rossiter [Ma] Evaline [Eva] Rossiter was born at Pine Mountain on the 23rd March 1888. She was the daughter of George Rossiter and Phoebe Susannah Penning. She married Charles in 1904 and raised their three surviving children, May, George and Les. Eva was the second daughter of George and Phoebe. Eva came from a large family with six siblings. Her older sister Phoebe Mary Ann Rossiter was born in Pine Mountain on the 26th April 1881. Eva’s oldest brother William George Rossiter was born in 1879 but died two years later on the 25th October 1881. Her brother John Thomas Rossiter was born on the 5th October 1882. Her brother William Arthur Rossiter [Arthur] was born on the 9th July 1884 in Upper Tent Hill, Gatton. Her brother Andrew Rossiter was born on the 14th April 1886. Her sister Ada Rossiter was born on the 18th July 1890. Her sister Daisy May Rossiter was born on the 7th October 1892 in Tivoli. Her sister Gertrude Rossiter was born on the 1st April 1895 in Tivoli. 55

Holdsworth Road Phoebe married John Jones in 1900. Together they had two children, William Jones was born on the 24th August 1900 and Phoebe Mary Ann Jones was born on the 23rd March 1917. Her husband John died on the 28th May 1919, while Phoebe died on the 19th March 1945. John Thomas married Elizabeth Susanna Lancaster on the 29th June 1904. Elizabeth died the next year on the 7th February 1905. Elizabeth who was born on the 29th April 1884 was only 20 years old when she died. John then married Mary MacPherson Currie on the 21 December 1910. Mary was born in Brisbane on the 18th November 1882. Together they had a daughter Mary Templeton Rossiter who was born in 1911. Mary MacPherson Currie was born in 1882, and she died on the 9th June 1935 in Ipswich at the age of 53. John then married Jessie Wallace Wilkie on the 17 June 1939. Jessie who was born on the 19th May 1887 at Murphys Creek in Queensland, died on the 1st December 1962 in Ipswich, aged 75. William Arthur married Margaret Shaw Currie on the 24th of April 1907. Their daughter Margaret Currie Rossiter was born on the 10th of March 1908 in Booval Ipswich, while their son Dugald Rossiter was born on the 9th June 1914. Margaret who was born in 1882 died on the 27th of September 1935, aged 47. Then on the 14th December 1940 William married Charlotte Lowis, who was born in 1893. William died on the 5th July 1949 ,while Charlotte died in 1984. Andrew married Edith Caroline Burrow on the 15th May 1915. Edith was born in 1894. Their son James George Rossiter was born on the 28th December 1915. Their daughter Lilias Grace Rossiter was born on the 28th October 1917. Andrew died on the 6th June 1956 in Redcliffe while Edith died in 1974. Ada married John Marsh Law on the 19th October 1910. John was born in 1888. Their son James George Law was born on the 25th June 1911. Their second son Thomas Henry Law was born on the 30th December 1912. Their daughter Rachel Law was born on the 8th August 1916. Their second daughter Elsie Law was born on the 8th February 1920. All the last three children were born at home in Blackstone. Ada died on the 2nd December 1966 in the Ipswich General Hospital. Her husband John died several years earlier on the 12th October 1951. Daisy May married Victor Swanson on the 9th December 1907. Victor was born in Ipswich on the 18th September 1885. Their son Percy Arthur Swanson was born on the 27th June 1908. Their daughter Doris Irene Swanson was born on the 9th June 1910 but unfortunately died on the 10th October of the same year. Their second daughter Gladys May Swanson was born in 1912, their third

Holdsworth Road daughter Mabel Swanson was born on the 16th April 1916. Their second son Victor Swanson was born on the 3rd May 1918. Their third son George Swanson was born on the 3rd June 1920. Their fourth son Mervyn Swanson was born in 1925. Victor died on the 19th June 1932, while Daisy May died in 1959. Gertrude married Richard Henry Watkins on the 18th December 1913. Richard was born in Ipswich on the 18th September 1876. Their son Colin Herbert Watkins was born on the 4th May 1916. Richard died in 1957, while Gertrude died on the 17th September 1966. Eva was a good housewife looking after the house and all her family. Bill Scriven remembers the regular family dinners around the large, scrubbed pine kitchen table piled high with baked foods. Ma baked delicious Christmas cakes every year, making the mixture in a large beige and white stoneware mixing bowl. Then cooked them in the big, black, wood-burning range stove. Eva was always a large sized woman. Nearly every Friday Eva would go into town to do the shopping. As she regularly did, she walked up the road to the bus stop in Holdsworth Road to catch the bus. One warm Friday a year after World War Two ended, Eva had a massive stroke while walking to the bus. She never recovered and died several days later. Her son Les always regretted not insisting harder on driving his mother into town that day. But like all the Scriven family, she could be stubborn at times. Eva died in Ipswich on the 24th August 1946. When Eva died, Bill remembers her coffin sat in the dining room at Holdsworth Road for several days before her funeral.

1897 – George Edward Stokes Born at Pine Mountain on the 21st August 1897 George Edward Stokes was the son of William Thomas [Thomas] Stokes and Auguste Wilhelmine Frievaltd. Auguste arrived in Australia with her family in 1866. Her father Johan Cesar was 41 years old, his wife Henrietta Cesar was 38, Auguste Cesar was 14, her brothers Carl Cesar and August Cesar were four and one years old respectively. Auguste’s father Johan died on the 31st May 1870. Her mother Henrietta passed away on the 6th April 1912, aged 85 years. 57

Holdsworth Road George had three brothers William Thomas [Bill] Stokes, Norman Stanley Stokes and Percival Stokes and four sisters Emma Louise Stokes, Essie May Stokes, Ada Stokes and Ellen Jane Stokes. When Auguste died in 1905 George’s father, Thomas married Alice Hutchins whom he affectionately called ‘The Missus’. His father Thomas Stokes worked as a fettler on the railways riding a horse out to the railway siding at Wulkuraka, then riding a pump car from there to wherever they needed to work. George’s father Thomas died on the 2nd April 1952 and his mother Auguste on the 28th October 1905, when he was just 8 years old. Thomas and Auguste are both buried in the small, Anglican Cemetery off Russell’s Road, Pine Mountain. All of George’s siblings were born in Pine Mountain. Emma Louise Stokes was born on the 24th May 1894 and died on the 3rd December 1969. Essie May Stokes was born in 1895 and died in 1938. Ada Stokes was born on the 25th May 1896 and died on the 20th August 1974. William Thomas Stokes was on the 9th April 1902 and died in April 1987. Norman Stanley Stokes was born on the 5th May 1904 and died two days later. Percival Stokes was born on the 28th July 1905 and died in 1977. Ellen Jane Stokes was born on the 14th January 1919. George was educated at the Pine Mountain Primary School. After leaving school he worked on the family farm, he subsidised the family income working as a labourer on neighbouring farms. Later he worked on the trench digging and pipe laying for the water supply from the Mount Crosby to Kholo reservoir. This work was all done by hand, with pick and shovel. To work on this project, he rode a horse from Pine Mountain to Mount Crosby each day, a round trip of around 24 miles (38 kilometres). When that project was complete, George and his older brother Bill purchased a truck and started a carrying business. A small, wiry man George first worked as a timber cutter with his brother Bill, who would always drive. They would cut and deliver firewood as well as other goods. The firewood was cut by hand using axes and cross-cut saw. During the depression, bad debts forced them out of the carrying business. Forced onto the Relief Work Program, George then worked in a stone quarry and on road-building for two and a half days a week for very little pay. Unlike today there were no government dole payments; you were forced to work the number of hours equivalent to your family’s size. The larger the family, the more hours you needed to work for an equivalent level of pay. To supplement his income, George tended a large vegetable patch to feed his family and sell the excess.

Holdsworth Road Following the outbreak of World War Two, George obtained work in the Queensland Public Works Department. He worked, for his boss Ralph Wurley, on many significant building projects in the Ipswich district. He became very proficient as a concreter, and he continued to work for the Public Works Department until his retirement in 1962. George was an above-average cricketer and a staunch worker at the Pine Mountain Anglican Church in his youth. Following his retirement, he took a great interest in the Booval Swifts Rugby League Club, and he helped them in many ways. His nephew Bill Scriven, who lived in Payne Street next door to George and May, remembers that whenever George was sitting with his legs crossed and was upset or surprised, his leg would jerk. George married Eva May [May] Scriven on the 3rd December 1927. The ceremony was held in St Thomas Anglican Church in North Ipswich by the Reverend James Robinson Maxwell Hall. Their marriage was witnessed by George’s father William Thomas [Thomas] Stokes and Margaret Currie Rossiter. Until the second half of the twentieth century, George and May would ride out in his bent-shaft sulky to Stokes Road at Pine Mountain every week to visit his parents. George grew vegetables and crops in the yard of his home, on the corner of Holdsworth and Payne Streets, as well in the spare allotment across the road, behind his in-laws’ house. He also grew vegetables and crops down near the little house in Coal Road, Tivoli. Georges parent’s property was passed down through the family for several generations before being sold in the early 1980s. A young couple first bought the property, but it was sold again only six months later to Ken and June Robinson. The small two-room cottage and the slab-sided kitchen behind were in a deplorable state of repair. Originally the Robinsons planned to build a new house on the site but have instead lovingly restored both buildings, extending them with the addition of the old Bryden Church and matching extensions. The original Bryden or Deep Water Un-denominational Church was sold as it sat in the area now inundated by the Wivenhoe dam. George died in Ipswich on the 22nd September 1977 and is buried in Ipswich Cemetery. George died just ten weeks short of what would have been his and May’s Golden (50th) Wedding Anniversary.

Holdsworth Road

1905 – Eva May (Scriven) Stokes [May] Born in the little house in Coal Road, Tivoli on the 24th April 1905. Eva May was the first child of Charles Richard and Eva Scriven, May and her two brothers, George and Les Scriven moved to the Holdsworth Road house when she just nine years old (1914). May was educated at Tivoli Primary School. In her early years, she had strong ties with the local Congregational Church in Downs Street. Her grandmother Sarah Ann Scriven also had strong ties with this church. May often recalled attending the morning service then returning for the evening service accompanied by her grandmother. The pair of them walking there and back every time. The old Congregational Church building is opposite the Ipswich North Primary School, a round trip of five kilometres. After leaving school May obtained work at Bishop and Woodwards Clothing Factory in Ipswich as a machinist (a shirt maker) until she married.18 In the late 1920s May met George Stokes, who at that stage lived in Pine Mountain. They had a Kitchen Tea at the WPO hall in Waterworks Road at Brassall, on Saturday the 26th November 1927.19 Presented by May’s aunts Mrs Watkins, Moore, Rodgers and Swanson. The entertainment, which lasted well past midnight, consisted of dancing competitions and musical presentations as well as the ubiquitous dainty refreshments. The couple married on the 3rd December 1927 at St Thomas Church in North Ipswich, Rev James Hall presided.20 The bridesmaids were May’s cousins: Mary Rossiter (chief), Ida Rogers and Edith Watkins. George’s best man was his brother William, and the grooms men were George and Les Scriven. The wedding breakfast was held at Charles and Eva Scriven’s residence in Waterworks Road. George’s stepmother made the wedding cake. After they married May worked hard looking after the house and her family. She and George had two children: Leslie George [Sonny] Stokes in 1930 and Shirley Eva Stokes in 1931. When they were first married May and George rented the little house diagonally across from May’s parents in Holdsworth Road. Later on, they bought the house and lived there for the rest of their lives. The house was called ‘Lesley’, named after her two children: Les(lie) and (Shir)ley. Except for a period when she became a carer for her father and moved her family across the road to Charles’ house. May had a heart of gold, yet she would be often berated by both her husband and father. Charles would waltz into May’s house, and if she was laying down resting

Holdsworth Road after a hard morning of work, he would say, “Don’t be such a lazy arsed chicken, get up and make me some lunch.” Some of May’s friends in the local area also worked at Bishop and Woodward’s. They all walked to work, which started at 7.30am and finished at 5.00pm, five days a week. In May’s case a distance of a three mile (5 kilometre) walk each way as there was no public transport in the area at this time. May’s daughter Shirley later on also worked at Bishop and Woodward’s (making trousers) along with her cousin Jean Scriven (trousers), Jean’s future husband, Mervyn McDowall (cutter) and her daughter’s future cousin-in-law Doreen Scriven (also trousers). Bishop and Woodwards along with the woollen mills were the primary sources of permanent employment in the district for women. Both May and George were great family people and enjoyed their roles as parents, son and daughter, brother and sister, in-laws, grandparents and May as a greatgrandparent. May died in Ipswich on the 21st December 1985.

1908 – William George Scriven [George / Randa] George was born in the little house in Coal Road, Tivoli on the 31st August 1908. He was the second child of Charles Richard and Eva Scriven. George had an older sister May Scriven and a younger brother Les Scriven. George went to school at Tivoli Primary and was a member of the Tivoli Tigers football team in his youth. When he was a young lad, George accidentally ran barefoot across a patch of recently cut lucerne. A couple of lucerne spears punctured his feet, and the injuries became severely infected with blood poisoning. It was told that Charles had to carry George into the doctor’s surgery on his back. The doctor prescribed a course of treatment that included regularly soaking George’s feet in hot water then wrapping them in fresh cow manure poultices to draw out the poison. The treatment proved successful. After leaving school at 13, George started work in 1921, with the Water and Sewage Board at Mount Crosby. He worked with them for 52 years except for a stint in 1925-1926 when he worked as a blacksmith at P R Barbat Foundry in Lowry Street, Ipswich. During the first few years with the Waterworks George worked on laying the first 18” pipeline to Ipswich, graduating from billy-boy to tool sharpener and then blacksmith. In 1926 the Water Board was taken over by the Brisbane 61

City Council. One of the jobs George had was to regularly walk the waterpipe from Mount Crosby to the Kholo reservoir to check for leaks. In 1936 he started shift

Holdsworth Road work in the control room at the Holt’s Hill Filtration Plant. In 1951 he was transferred to the Low-Level control room and continued to work shifts there until he retired in 1973. At one stage in the 1930’s George’s father Charles, also worked at the Waterworks at Mount Crosby. Pop Scriven would ride his horse down to the Coal Road house, then George and he would ride together out to work along the rough bush tracks. They pastured the horses in a paddock for the day, which today is the site of the Mount Crosby sportsground, then walked across the weir to work. At some point George met Mary Dorothy Crisp [Doss], they married in October 1931. George and Mary lived in the house in Holdsworth Road with his parents for the first few months of their marriage. Shortly afterwards they moved to the little home in Coal Road, Tivoli, owned by Charles and Eva. Seven months later on the 8th May 1932 their first son William Charles [Bill] Scriven was born. The young family moved to the house in Payne Street five years later, 1937. It was here that their second son, Alan George Scriven, was born on the 2nd October 1938. There was a third child, between Bill and Alan but unfortunately, for George and Doss, the baby miscarried. George originally bought the Payne Street house for around £200. Later he purchased the surrounding allotments, the one on the top-side of the house, the lower corner and the one behind and adjoining Conner Street. The Payne Street house was reasonably self-sufficient with George growing his own vegetables and keeping milking cows, horses and chooks. At one stage George was selling their excess eggs to the Egg Board in Brisbane. Each week the family would pack up several dozen eggs into a specially supplied, two-foot square egg box. Each of the eggs was cleaned, weighed (on a specially designed small egg scale) and graded. When the box when full, it was then taken into the railway station in Union Street for consignment to the Egg Board. George was always busy on the land. He enjoyed working with his horses and cattle. The horses were kept in the house allotments in Payne Street. Plus with his father and brother, the family ran cattle on the land out at Mount Crosby and Tivoli. When Charles died the land he owned was split between his two sons. George getting the Bluestone and River paddocks plus the old house in Coal Road and the top half of land at Tivoli, while Les was bequeathed the lower half of the property at Tivoli as well as the family house in Holdsworth Road. May was given the small house in Birdwood Lane. During the drought of 1968, George broke his ankle while riding one of his horses. It seems he was trying to a herd a bull back inside the paddock at Tivoli. His horse

Holdsworth Road went too close to the fence, and George’s foot clipped a fence post. George was then laid up for weeks and had to manage running the farm from crutches. There was not enough feed for the livestock, so they needed regular drops of hay and molasses. As always, the family banded together. With Doss on one end of a hay bale and Dalma Scriven with baby Paul on her hip on the other end, the pair would drag the bale off the back of the truck for the waiting, hungry cattle. During his lifetime George, he was called Randa by his grandchildren, had many stock horses. All of them were used as working horses; herding the cattle, he ran on the properties out at Mount Crosby. As docile as cattle can appear when quietly grazing, they can be a handful at times. At one point George acquired an orphaned bull which was named Bimbo after his son Alan. During one dry period, the bull broke through the fence and was missing for several weeks. It was eventually found in a neighbouring paddock; unfortunately, it had fallen down a gully and broken its leg. George and the boys tried to put it on a truck to take to market for slaughter. Although by this time Bimbo was angry being tired and in pain but even with a broken leg it went for George who had to leap a fence out of harm’s way. In another incident, a large Brahman bull was being taken to market in the crate on the back of the grey dodge truck. The bull must have suspected its fate as it tried to climb out of the crate. Dalma was driving the truck down the road and the bull with its hind feet over the crate’s top front rail. The weight shift had the truck leaning at a precarious angle. Fortunately, the bull was forced back into the crate, and the journey was completed without further dramas. George had for a while a horse named Handbag. It was an ex-racehorse but even during the drought of 1968 ‘it was as fat as mud’. It seems that Handbag had learnt how to forage for itself during the lean months. It would often be seen to swim out into the river, with its head just out of the water, then happily munching on the rafts of hyacinth that plagued the waterways at times. There was a timber railed stockyard at the top of the ridge at the River Paddock under the stand of impressive fig trees. There the cattle could be checked or branded, or herded if being taken to market. However, when the cattle needed to be dipped there were mustered to Powell’s cattle dip at The Junction. Later they were taken to the dip at Kholo. In the 1970s George became interested in the Arab breed. His first purchase was Daphne. Stan Blair owned an Arab mare called Dulcie which was mated with a working Arab stallion called Castaneer – their progeny was Daphne Franeker 63

Holdsworth Road (Daphne), whom George bought. Dulcie was bred again (with Castaneer?) to produce Daphne’s sister, Dot, which he also bought. They were his pride and joy. George treated them like children, and they were jealous whenever separated. The one that was left at home would ‘play-up’ until the other one came back. They were resentful of the attention he would show to one over the other. George was skilled as a farrier, and on one occasion when he was shoeing one of the horses, the other bit him in the middle of the back, merely to get his attention. Both Daphne and Dot were intelligent stock horses and would often know as much about herding cattle as would George. At one time George was on the back of Daphne herding some cattle when one broke away and ran through the trees at Bluestone paddock. Daphne took off with George holding on tight to the reins. The recalcitrant cow ran between two trees with Daphne hot on her trail. Unfortunately, the trees were just wide enough apart to admit the cow and Daphne but not George’s legs. George was thrown backwards off the horse, landing heavily in the dust on his arse. Which would have been fine if it wasn’t for the fact that George had a pair of fencing pliers in his back pocket. Apparently, he had a plier shaped bruise on his buttock for several weeks afterwards. Daphne was mated with My Abbey (owned by Arthur Summerville), the foal she produced in September 1980 was a chestnut colt, that later turned grey with freckles, called Heza Abbey (Mickey). Mickey also had a blaze mark on his nearside hind leg up to the knee. All of Randa’s horses were working animals, and they lived busy, yet pampered lives. After George retired, he and Doss built a modern, low set brick home below the old house in Coal Road. He and Doss lived there with his prized Arab horses until the mid-eighties. George was very active and riding his beloved horses until he suffered a series of debilitating strokes around 1985. He was then confined to St Michael’s Nursing Home in Chermside Road, Eastern Heights for the next couple of years. George died in 1987, on the 20th August, a few days before his 79th birthday.

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1911 – Mary Dorothy (Crisp) Scriven [Doss / Mama] Born in Charters Towers in northern Queensland on the 28th December 1911, Mary Dorothy [Doss] was the seventh child of Lawrence and Agnes Crisp. Doss moved with her family to Esk when she was only a year old. It was said by her older sister that she cried the entire way. The family moved all their possessions first by bullock dray to Townsville, then south by steamer, then by train to Ipswich, then another bullock dray to Esk. They settled in a little house on the main road to Ipswich. The house the family lived in still stands to this day, although somewhat changed. Her father Lawrence Albert Crisp [Laurie] was born in Stepney, London in 1870 and married Agnes Smith in Charters Towers, North Queensland in April 1895. Agnes was a widow who had unfortunately lost her first husband Fredrick William Brown, possibly in a mining accident, in August 1892, only a couple of months after the couple had married. When Agnes married Lawrence, she already had a child, Fredrick William [Fred] Brown who was born in the December of 1892, just four months after his father (Fred senior) had died. Laurie and Agnes had a further nine children together – Ethel May Crisp in 1897, Gerald Albert Crisp in 1899, Evelyn Clara [Clara] Crisp in 1901, Lawrence Herbert Crisp in 1904, Thora Agnes Crisp in 1907, Edmund Gordon [Ted] Crisp in 1909, Mary Dorothy [Doss] Crisp in 1911, Georgina Maud [Maud] Crisp in 1915 and Daniel Charles Crisp in 1917. Gifted in sewing and handiwork, Doss received numerous awards as a child from the Esk Show Association from 1920 to 1926 for copybook, drawing and compositions. Doss was also a member of the local Anglican Church Women’s Association. From the 2nd December 1927, she worked for The Queensland Times newspaper as a shorthand-typist and clerk until 2nd August 1929. In a letter of commendation from her boss, he commented, “that she was conscientious and thorough, with her work always well ordered and impeccable.” After this Doss worked in Brisbane, possibly as a typist and clerk. Doss’ father died in 1927. Her widowed mother moved from Esk and lived in Eastwood Street, Ipswich from the late 1930s onwards. Around this time Doss met George Scriven. The couple married on the 25th October 1931. Doss and George lived in the house in Holdsworth Road with 65

his parents Charles and Eva Scriven for the first few months of their marriage.

Holdsworth Road Shortly afterwards they moved to the little home in Coal Road Tivoli, which was owned by Charles. Just seven months later on the 8th May 1932 their first son William Charles [Bill] Scriven was born. Five years later, around 1937, the young family moved to the house in Payne Street. It was here that their second son, Alan George Scriven, was born on the 2nd October 1938. There was a third child but unfortunately Doss miscarried. The Coal Road house was about a mile (1.6 kilometres) from her in-law’s house in Holdsworth Road. When Bill was only a baby, Doss would on numerous occasions, place the baby into a large wheeled pram then walk across the paddock and up the rough dirt road to visit. As well as being good at needlework, Dorothy was also an excellent cook. In the early years, all of the meals were cooked on a wood-fired stove, every Sunday a roast (beef or chicken) with roast vegies was served for lunch. There was always a milking cow in the yard to supply fresh milk, cream, and butter. The butter was created by the laborious task of beating the excess cream by hand with a wooden spoon. Whereas Pop (Charles Scriven) had a glass, hand-turned butter churn. Excess milk was also shared with a couple of neighbours, including Mrs Buchanan and Mrs Phenny. Bread was delivered day five days a week by horse-drawn cart. Later on, there were occasional trips on a Sunday, in the soft top Dodge, to the Marburg bakery to buy fresh bread. If a loaf had gone stale, Doss would roll the loaf of bread in a shallow plate of milk then reheat it in the wood-fired oven. This created a loaf of bread that tasted just like a fresh one. Doss was known for numerous delicious recipes including steak and kidney pie, pumpkin scones and coconut ice blocks. The later of which us grandkids were rather fond. In the days before electrical appliances, the weekly washing was boiled in the wood-fired, copper boiler and then squeezed by hand. This was one of Bill’s many household chores. In later years the clothes were squeezed through a wrangler before being hung on the long-line, cross-armed clothesline that was supported by clothes props (a forked stick). The white clothes were always rinsed in a tub of Reckitt’s Blue. As the clothesline was in the same yard as the horses, occasionally they were known to knock down the props. This resulted in the rewashing of the clothes with some harsh words from Doss added into the mix. After George died in 1987, Doss lived for some years alone in the new Coal Road house. After suffering from increasing Senile Dementia and unable to cope alone, she lived alternatively, a couple of months at a time, with each of her sons Bill and Alan. After a few years of living like this, and needing more care, Doss moved into

Holdsworth Road The Salvation Army retirement home at Riverview. With her memory fading, but in reasonable health, she quietly passed on the 27th June 1999. Doss and George’s ashes are interned together at the Ipswich Cemetery.

1912 – Charles Leslie Scriven [Les] Born on the 15th February 1912 in Ipswich, Les died seventy two years later on the 10th July 1983 in Ipswich. Charles Leslie Scriven [Les] was the third child and youngest son of Charles and Eva Scriven. Les lived his entire life in Ipswich and never lived far from his older sister Eva May [May] Scriven and older brother William George [George] Scriven. After his father died he inherited the family home at 80 Holdsworth Road, North Ipswich. At the time his older sister May lived diagonally across the road from him, and his brother George lived next door to May in Payne Street. Both brothers shared an interest in horses and cattle raising both on land the family owned at Pine Mountain and Mount Crosby. As a young man, Les played in a number of the local brass bands. He played coronet in the Ipswich Model Band. In 1937 the band competed in the Coronation Bands competition. Les was 19 when he married Mary Emily Jordon [Emily] who was then 20, in November 1931. The young couple first started their married life in a house at the bottom of Paton Road, only a block away from his parents. Their daughter Lorna Jean [Jean], was born a year later on the 28th March 1932. The family lived in Paton Road for around four years. Jean remembers that when she was about four years old going to Sunday School with a neighbour from across the road, Isobel Butchard. Les kept a piebald horse which he washed with OMO (laundry detergent) to keep it white. He also plaited its tail. Les also owned a smart, spring sulky. On many weekends he would harness the horse to the sulky and with Emily by his side they would go visiting around the countryside. Both Les and Emily would be dressed in their Sunday best clothes, Les with his ubiquitous pork pie hat. When Les was tired, he would say he was ‘fair jiggered’. Around this time, the young family moved into the house in Birdwood Lane with 67

Les’ grandmother Sarah (Lovell) Scriven. In the 1936 census, Sarah lived with Les and Emily at Birdwood Lane but later moved to Holdsworth Road with her son.

Holdsworth Road In the Birdwood Lane house, Les and Emily’s son Kenneth Leslie [Ken / Kenny] Scriven was born thirteen years later, on the 2nd May 1945. Les, Emily, Jean and Kenny lived at the house in Birdwood Lane for many years. Charles Scriven owned the property, renting it to Les and Emily for many years until he died in 1964. Around 1953 Les and Emily bought a house around the corner from Birdwood Lane. The house was number 13 Birdwood Street. Jean recalls that her husband, Mervyn McDowall, helped Les with renovations to the property. The house had previously been owned by a Mr Godfrey. After Charles died the house in Holdsworth Road passed to Les, and it was here that Les moved his family. On Charles’ death, the ownership of the Birdwood Lane house passed to May (Scriven) Stokes. When May died in 1985 the deeds of the house passed to May’s daughter, Shirley Hertrick. For many years, Les’ son, Kenny Scriven lived in the Birdwood Lane house, by which time the name of the lane had changed to Cuffes. The Holdsworth Road home was left to Kenny when his father Les passed away in 1983. Unfortunately, it was sold out of the family in 1997 due to Ken’s then financial difficulty. Les’ early working life was at the North Ipswich Woollen Mills, where he met his future wife, Emily Jordan. Later, after being passed over for a higher position. One that he’d applied for and thought he deserved. So Les resigned and went to work for the Railways. He worked in the signal box at Ipswich train station until his retirement and his granddaughter Janelle Devereaux has memories as a child, walking along ‘bottle alley’ in Ipswich and waving to him at work in the signal box. When Les passed away in 1964, he was still keeping a horse in the paddock at the back of Holdsworth Road when he passed away in 1964. He was a regular at the Ipswich Cup, not to bet on the races, he was merely there to check out the horses. In 1983, Les was living in the Holdsworth Road house with his son Ken. In 1981 when Janelle married Laurie Devereaux the Holdsworth Road garden was the venue. Janelle chose the garden at Holdsworth Road for her wedding as her uncle Ken, a keen gardener, had transformed the yard including the spare allotment next door into a garden paradise (and nursery). Two years after this happy event Les passed away.

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1911 – Mary Emily (Jordan) Scriven [Emily] Born on the 19th August 1911, Emily died on the 26th October 1975. She was born, raised and died in Ipswich. Janelle Devereaux’s maternal grandmother was Mary Emily Jordan. She was known by her second name Emily, and was the youngest child of Euphemia and James Jordan. Emily’s mother, Euphemia McLeish was born in Dalkeith, Scotland in 1872. She immigrated as an eleven year old with her parents and three siblings arriving in Brisbane in January 1884. Two more siblings were born in Australia. The family settled in Sydney and this is where Euphemia met and married James Jordan in 1894. James was also born in Scotland in 1885 in a little town not far from Glasgow. As a 17 year old he immigrated to Australia with his parents, arriving in Sydney in February 1868. You can only imagine the shock of leaving a Scottish winter to arrive in the middle of an Australian summer. Together Euphemia and James had nine children including twins who died as babies. By 1901 the family had relocated to Ipswich where James was employed Barbett and Sons, an engineering firm. The family resided in a house next door to the engineering firm in Lowry Street that Euphemia named the house ‘Dalkeith’ in a nod to her Scottish birthplace. Four of Emily’s siblings died between the ages of 16 and 25. Janelle recalls her mother telling her there was kidney disease in her grandmother Emily’s family so this maybe the reason why many of the children passed away at a young age. Only Emily, and her brothers David and Colin Jordan lived into adulthood and married and had their own families. Emily remained close to her two brothers who both also lived in Ipswich. Her eldest brother Dave married Violet [Vi] Perrett who went on to become the first female member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly for the Labor party. The electorate of Jordan was created in the 2017 redistribution is named after her. Emily married Charles Leslie Scriven (who was also known by his second name) in Ipswich on the 20th November 1931. Les and Emily met when they were both working at the North Ipswich Woollen Mills. Emily had just turned 20 and Les still only 19 when they married in 1932. When they were newly married the couple lived in Paton Road for around four years. 69

Holdsworth Road Later the young family moved to the small Birdwood Lane house to live with Les’ grandmother Sarah Scriven who by then would have been around 80 years old. This is based on the three of them being listed on the 1936 Electoral Role as residing at Birdwood Lane. Sarah later moved to Holdsworth Road to live with her son Charles for her remaining years. Emily’s granddaughter Janelle has memories of her grandparents living at Birdwood Lane when she was very young. After the death of her grandmother’s mother (Nan Jordan), Emily was given the house in Lowry Street, North Ipswich. Emily eventually sold this house before Emily and Les bought their own home in Birdwood Street, not far from the Birdwood Lane house. However, they only lived there for a short time. When Les’ father died Charles left the Scriven family home at 80 Holdsworth Road to him in his will. When Les died the house was then passed on to his son Ken. This house at 80 Holdsworth Road, with so much history was sold out of the family in 1997. Emily and Les had two children, Janelle’s mother, Lorna Jean Scriven (again known by her second name) born in 1932 and Kenneth Charles [Kenny] Scriven born in 1945. Janelle was only 17 years old when her grandmother Emily died in 1975 after battling breast cancer. Janelle remembers her loving and gentle nature.

1916 – Ivy Maude Scriven Ivy Maude was born on the 17th March 1916. She was the youngest child of Charles Richards and Eva Scriven. Ivy only survived seven months and died on the 2nd October 1916.

1923 – Mervyn McDowall [Merv] Born on the 12th November 1923, Mervyn was the second son of Walter and Lilian (Kitching) McDowall. He married Jean Scriven on the 18th April 1953. He died on the 1st August 2017, aged 93. Mervyn was born at home in Mining Street, Bundamba. When he was still relatively young, the family moved to Bright Street, Newtown where he grew up with his older brother Gordon McDowall and his younger brother Ronald McDowall. Mervyn’s family lived next door to his cousins, Raymond and Jack McDowall. The McDowall’s ran a tennis club in their backyard. Mervyn was a very active child, which was probably the influence of his father, a renowned sportsman. Mervyn spent his younger years on the court and on the street with his brothers and

Holdsworth Road friends. He played games of tennis, cricket, rugby league and soccer. He also participated in the local scouts where he met a man reputed to be Dan Kelly of the Kelly Gang – this later become one of his regular stories he would tell his children and grandchildren. His childhood was filled with love and sport. His family pressed good moral values on Merv such as honesty and respect for others. These values shaped him into the kind, gentle, respectful, loving man who was admired by all who knew him. Growing up, he would always tell his family the story from his school days about being awarded a medal for going to school for four years straight without having a sick day. When Janelle was older, her father gave her this medal. Years later, when doing her family history researching and pouring over articles in Trove, she found an article published in the Queensland Times in 1935. The article was accompanied by a photo showing 12-year-old Mervyn and his classmates being awarded the medal the family had heard about growing up! Mervyn attended Silkstone Primary School and then on a scholarship to the Ipswich Boys Grammar School until the end of his junior year. At school, Mervyn enjoyed sports and maths. He said he was a poor speller and failed English. This was the only subject he failed. Still, it prevented him from completing his senior year. An article in the Queensland Times on the 17th September 1938 supports his claim that he was an excellent maths scholar ‘The Prize List for Boy’s School Honours’, ‘B’ form honours M J McDowall, second in arithmetic. The McDowall household was full of active boys, and it seems Mervyn followed in his father’s footsteps being successful in a variety of sports. An article in the Queensland Times on the 22nd July 1936 shows Mervyn being selected in the school soccer representative team. Another report on the 26th March 1938 confirms he received an equal second place in the diving competition at the Boy Scouts Swimming Carnival. Unlike his father, he went on to play rugby league rather than football (soccer) and played for Swifts and Moulders. He also played rugby league while in the army where he broke his leg and ended up in hospital in Townsville. After school, Mervyn’s first job was washing bottles at the Dispensary. It wasn’t long before he moved on to employment as a clothes cutter at Bishop and Woodward. He was working there when in 1942 he was conscripted into the Second World War at the age of eighteen and three months. He served in the army 71

in the 24th field company Royal Australian Engineers, an Ipswich based unit. Some of his comrades were once his schoolmates. His entire service was spent in Milne

Holdsworth Road Bay New Guinea. It was in Milne Bay that the Japanese were first defeated on land. Mervyn started as a militia or ‘choco’ sapper but later became an Australian Infantry Forces sapper. He built and fixed roads as well as bridges and formed the second line of defence. Luckily, he was never called on to fulfill the last duty. His job was still hazardous. Dive bombers frequently attacked his base during the night. Mervyn and his comrades had to scramble from their beds and find cover in muddy, slit trenches, usually filled with water. Merv recently told the story of having to run to these trenches once when he was halfway through a haircut! Mervyn described this stage of his life as ‘terrible’. The only bright side was sharing this traumatic experience with his friends. Mates were important, “You relied on each other to stay alive”. Mervyn made many friends for life throughout his service. To celebrate his 21st birthday, 200 men (unfortunately no girls) partied with him during a ’beer night’ at the camp’s mess hall. Mervyn specifically remembered one comrade. He was 6ft tall and looked out for the much shorter Mervyn. They shared an identical tattoo on their forearm, which signaled their friendship. The tattoo combined a ‘V’ for victory, a boomerang, a cockatoo and the word ‘Australia’. His friend was posted to Korea and was later killed. Their friendship was one Merv would recount many times over his lifetime. Mervyn regretted the ‘best years of his life’ were spent in the army. Those years he couldn’t have spent back home with family. He finally returned home in August 1944. He returned to his old job at Bishop and Woodwards. It was here he met and fell in love with the love of his life Jean Scriven. Merv and Jean were married on the 18th April 1953. Jean tells the story when they first starting dating, Merv used to go drinking at the pub with a group of mates each Friday night and one of them told her he wouldn’t give up his Friday nights for her, but he did. And he stayed devoted to her for 70 years. Until recently when they were out and about they would walk together holding hands, and Janelle would joke with her mum that she wasn’t sure if this was because they were still so much in love or if they were holding each other up. She suspects it was a bit of both. When Bishop and Woodwards closed down, Mervyn found himself unemployed. Through his good friend Col Smith, he heard a job going at the local newspaper, The Queensland Times (QT). He completed a four-year apprenticeship at the QT before he was promoted to stereotyping and printing. Merv was a dedicated employee and rarely missed a day’s work. When he retired in 1983, at 60, he had accumulated 12 months of unclaimed sick leave.

Holdsworth Road The marriage of Merv and Jean was a long and happy one. They built their first family home at 9 Nathan Street, East Ipswich next door to his cousin Raymond McDowall and his wife, Betty McDowall. The family lived in the Nathan Street house for 30 years. In the 1974 floods, the house was inundated up to the window sills. Although the place was cleaned and repaired, in wet weather, there was always a slightly, damp, muddy odour in the walls. In 1955 their first child Steven John McDowall arrived, followed by Janelle Gaye McDowall born in 1958. Mervyn ensured both his children received a good education. He believed a solid education was essential to obtain gainful jobs. Mervyn valued his family highly and only wanted the best for them. Later Merv and Jean built a new brick house in Payne Street on an allotment directly behind the house at 80 Holdsworth Road. The allotment was left to Jean in her grandfather Charles Scriven’s Will. Ken got the house and the allotment next door, and Jean got the allotment at the back where they built a new house. It was a large allotment that ran behind several houses and was bordered by the Toowoomba bypass. Mervyn used to mow the yard with a ride on mower and every time Merv and Jean returned from one of their numerous holidays the lawn took a week to mow. After living there for five years, the couple moved to a new home at 3 Gill Court, Bundamba. The new house had a smaller yard and was easier to maintain. Mervyn and Jean lived at Gill Court for over thirty years. Mervyn and Jean’s retirement was a busy one. They travelled in their caravan seeing most of Australia apart from WA. They had holidays to New Zealand as well as Singapore, Bangkok and Hong Kong. Having completed most of their sightseeing, they would take their caravan to the Sunshine or Gold Coasts for regular, several-week-long holidays where they would often meet up with other fellow van lovers year after year. After selling their van, they continued to holiday a couple of times a year. They spent time at Labrador with Mervyn and Shirley Hertrick. Or making many friends at St George’s at Rainbow Bay. With his health starting to fail, Merv was thrilled to be able to spend two weeks at the new Garland in February 2017 – the holiday units that replaced the St Georges. Above all Merv loved his family. He loved and was extremely proud of his four grandchildren Skye, Bree, Jesse and Jordan. Merv passed away peacefully on the 1st August 2017 with his wife Jean and children by his side. He was content 73

to have met his first great-grandchild, Ernest, who was a mere born seven weeks earlier.

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1930 – Leslie George Stokes [Sonny / Les] Born on the 24th March 1930, Sonny was the first child of George and May Stokes. Sonny’s younger sister Shirley Stokes was born a year later in 1931. Sonny died on the 25th July 2012. He was 82. A true son of Ipswich, Sonny was born, raised, lived and died in the small house on the corner of Holdsworth Road and Payne Street.21 At the time of his death he was the oldest living resident of the street. George and May Stokes lived diagonally across Holdsworth Road from May’s parents Charles and Eva Scriven. Sonny never married although one of the greatest loves of his life was his younger sister Shirley who arrived at the little house a year after him. Sonny went to Brassall State School, and he and his sister walked there every day. When he finished Grade 7, he sat for the Queensland Railways exam. He was accepted and started his apprenticeship at the Ipswich Railway Workshops as a trimmer in 1946. He worked there his whole career eventually rising to the position of Workshop Foreman. He retired from the railways in 1992. As a young man, Sonny played in a number of the local brass bands. He played trombone in the Ipswich Marching Band. Sonny did everything in a hurry, it was all ‘rip, tear and bust‘ with him. His cousin Alan Scriven and Sonny would clash when working together with Alan being more considered and through with every job he did. Sonny considered that he knew everything about everything and would often say, “I told you.” When Kenny Scriven was moving out of Holdsworth Road, Sonny came across the road to borrow the tall ladder but never returned it. When Kenny later asked for it, he was told, “.it was in his grandfather’s Will that was for the use of all the family”. As a young man, he had a strong love for the land. He often worked with either of his grandfathers on their properties at Pine Mountain (Stokes), Mount Crosby and Tivoli (Scriven). It was with them he developed the taste of running a few head of cattle. This love and knowledge he passed onto his nephew Jeffrey Hertrick. Early on, Sonny would take Jeffrey riding and mustering cattle at Coal Creek or Warra Mindies, which is out near Lake Manchester. There would be many arguments between the two of them on these trips regarding the right way things should be done. Sonny was never backward in strongly expressing his opinion. Sonny always took a keen interest in his sister and her family. The two of them were always close. When Shirley married and moved out of the little house, he would

Holdsworth Road often go around to her home on Pine Mountain Road for a cuppa and the latest news. Eventually, Shirley and Mervyn Hertrick had four children: Lorelle, Robyn, Cheryl and Jeffrey Hertrick. He adored his nieces and nephew, always taking a keen interest in their doings and growing. When his nieces were old enough themselves to marry, Sonny was eager to meet their latest boyfriends. He was also quick to give his assessment of their potential as future husbands. Besides horses, cattle and his family, Sonny’s other great interests were football, cricket, dogs, chooks and his involvement with the Ipswich and Brisbane Shows. Sonny was heavily involved in all these interests. Sonny played Rugby League for Tivoli in his youth until the club disbanded. With his mates Ken Richards, Clarie Rush and Ken Boettcher he then joined Booval Swifts. Sonny played for this team for many years until an injury forced him to retire. He joined the committee of Swifts and served the club, with distinction, for many years. Sonny represented the club as a delegate on the Ipswich Rugby League in many a heated discussion during their regular Monday night meetings. In 1964 a change of committee saw Sonny become President of the club, with Speed Neuendorf as Secretary and Terry Griffiths as club Treasurer. In his time as President of the club, Sonny helped direct a series of raffles to help make the club financially viable. With the help of the committee, players and their families this happened. The team played in the finals in 1966 and 1970. Then in 1971 won the grand final. In 1965 he was involved in the construction of the canteen at the new oval. His role was to ensure the required building materials were obtained on time. Later he was involved in the early negotiations for the Joyce Street Ground. In 1969 he was made a Life Member of the club. In 1975 Sonny was one of the Swifts members who helped form an Old Boys Association. He was elected this group’s Chairman and served for twelve years. After he eventually stood down from the football committees, he still attended many Swifts and Ipswich Rugby League functions.22 When Sonny was asked, as an administrator, whom he most admired. His response was,“.. the late Ron McAuliffe. QRL meetings were not the same without him. It was almost like a game trying to work out what he was up to. He had a reputation of picking the type of person or player, who would perform. I reckon anyone who couldn’t learn from Ron was a dunce.” 75

Sonny’s involvement with country shows began in the mid-1960s. With his love of the land, Sonny also enjoyed attending the local shows. It was at the Brookfield

Holdsworth Road Show where his involvement with agriculture shows really began. With Morrie Hutchins, Bill Kay and later Doug George Sonny helped that show’s rodeo. He also often acted as a Steward for Tom Lenihan and Warren Cummins when they judged at the numerous country shows. In his role as steward Sonny attended numerous country shows throughout Queensland. Traveling the length and breadth of the state, he made many friends and enjoyed the hospitality, of those who exhibited at the shows. Sonny started at the Ipswich Show as a Steward in the Dairy section before being asked to steward in the centre ring. He was ringmaster at the Ipswich Show for three years, then handed the role to Tom Lenihan so he could play rugby. He was invited to be a steward at the Brisbane Agricultural Show (Ekka) by long-time friend Warren Cummins. Warren later went on to become Ringmaster of the Ekka. Sonny’s stewarding career started at the time of big Charles [Bill] Edwards. In conjunction with Percy Skinner, Bill Edwards revised the Royal National Agricultural and Industrial Association of Queensland’s annual exhibition of thoroughbred horses. Bill was a councillor of the association from 1954 to 1981, and a hands-on ring committee chairman from 1956 to 1980. As ringmaster, he dwarfed the golf-cart in which he darted about the arena. Bill’s son Dr Vivian Edwards OAM later became the President of the Ekka. A neuro physician by profession, Dr Edwards was a councillor from 1987 and President from 2003 to 2010. Sonny’s time with both the Ipswich and Brisbane shows was equally as illustrious. Both Warren Cummins and Tom Lenihan paid tribute to Sonny for the time and dedication he had in planning ring events at both shows. Sonny was honest, humorous and had integrity. He was also known to be opinionated and not shy in expressing that opinion. Sonny was a stickler for the rules and ‘God help anyone who stepped out of line’. Sonny’s health and mind were quite good, almost up until he died. Although he was profoundly deaf. His friends knew not to visit when Sonny was watching the ABC News at 7pm. The volume on his TV was always so loud that anyone standing on the footpath outside could easily hear what was being broadcast. In fact, on different occasions Sonny’s doctor, as well his friend Warren Cummins, had to bang the floor with a hammer to gain Sonny’s attention. His doctor had to call round to Sonny’s house and bang the hammer. The doctor had phoned on an urgent health issue but Sonny had not heard the phone ring.

Holdsworth Road In his later years Sonny developed a few ailments but was still very independent. His family kept an eye on him and did everything they could do to help. He died on the 25th July 2012 after 82 full and active years.25 He was buried on the 1st August 2012 at Warrill View Cemetery.

1931 – Mervyn Thomas Hertrick [Merv] Born on the 17th April 1930, Mervyn was the son of eldest child of Bill and Lillian Hertrick. He had a younger brother Maurice and younger sister Eunice. He married Shirley Stokes on the 21th August 1954. Mervyn passed away on the 20th October 2011.23 Mervyn and his siblings grew up in their parent’s house on Old Toowoomba Road at One Mile. Mervyn and his brother were great mates. The pair would often cause havoc around the One Mile district. In that era, families were close, and the boys grew up with their neighbours, including the Sellars, the Woodfords, Roy Sadler and Col Rossner. Roy and Col became lifelong friends, Mervyn and Col were friends for 75 years. Mervyn and his brother attended West Ipswich Primary School. They walked to school each day, although sometimes they became side-tracked. Often shooting at birds with their shang-eyes. On numerous occasions, they would appear at their own back door saying, “We missed you Mum.” Their mother would then have to escort them to back to school. A couple of years before Mervyn finished school, his baby sister Eunice arrived. Both the brothers acted as role models and loved their sister dearly. Growing up the family would holiday at Kingscliff with the Woodford, Wallace and Mason families. They created friendships that lasted over the years. At the age of 14, Mervyn left school to attend Tech College with the hope of working in the timber industry. While at college, fate intervened as Col Logan, the owner of Logan’s Furniture was looking for a floor boy. Out of all the young men on offer, Col chose Mervyn. He stayed as a floor boy for eighteen months before starting his Cabinet Maker apprenticeship with the firm in Wulkuraka. After seven years he acquired great woodworking skill. He was then approached by Bert Jordan and Sel Scott to join their team at North Ipswich. He took up their offer and was a loyal employee, working for Jordan’s Furniture for 41 years until his retirement in 1994. 77

Holdsworth Road When in his late teens, Mervyn and his friends met on Nolan’s Corner before seeing a movie at the picture theatre or to the local dances. There on that corner, he met young Shirley Stokes. Typically Mervyn preferred going to see movies as he had two left feet. After meeting Shirley, he decided he needed some lessons, which he attended at the Ipswich Trades Hall. After he mastered some fine steps, he would only dance with Shirley. Shirley continued to teach Mervyn how to dance, and they became an inseparable couple. They courted for several years, finally marrying in August 1954 at St Thomas’ Anglican Church in North Ipswich. In 1953, the year before they married Mervyn bought their home in Pine Mountain Road. There they raised their family. Mervyn and Shirley had four children, Lorelle, Robyn, Cheryl and Jeffery. A fifth child Glen Hertrick unfortunately died at less than one week old. Merv was a good provider for his family. He and Shirley always had an annual holiday every Christmas at Tweed Heads, and later on at Labrador, where Mervyn loved to fish. Mervyn’s other loves were cycling, exotic birds, timber collecting, garage sales and food. Merv always had a good appetite. Typical of the housewife of the times, Shirley made home-made meals for all the family. Mervyn was said to have a smorgasbord for breakfast, a little bit of everything. Somehow, all that food never seemed to affect Merv’s figure. He was always lean and fit – it must have been from all the hours of cycling and hard work. After the working day was done, Merv would disappear into his shed for all hours. During the week after dinner until late in the night or all weekend long. He would make all manner of things in timber – wardrobes, beds, squatters chairs, kitchens and woodcarvings. His kids were often called upon to “come and hold this” and “help me with that”. Merv was a great teacher and a perfectionist in whatever he did. He was always keen to offer advice and encouragement. He was always the first person to put his hand up to help someone else out. His grandchildren also helped Grandad in the shed. They always came away with something that they had made together. Merv’s health was good until the late 1990s when he was diagnosed with prostate cancer. The doctors operated and he recovered, returning to his old self. Then in 2009, cancer returned. All his family and friends knew he battled with it yet Mervyn never complained. Whilst at home or in hospital, Merv always had a steady stream of visitors. Be they family, friends, mates from cycling, young or old, he loved reminiscing and being kept up-to-date.

Holdsworth Road As sick and weak as Merv was in the last few months, his love for cycling never wavered. He watched with enjoyment the 2011 Tour de France and Cadel Evans’ historic win. His doctor was shocked when asked whether it was okay to hop on the bike and ‘go for a spin’. It had to be explained that the bike was a stationary one. One of Merv’s long-time friends helped him on with the aid of a step ladder, and stood there, while he slowly pedalled. He was happy just going for a last ride. Shirley lovingly cared for Merv at home and all the way through his illness, right up until the day he was hospitalised for the final time. She was always by his side. Merv spent his last weeks in St Andrew’s Hospital and then in the Ipswich Hospice. He was well cared for and surrounded by close friends and family. In his last days, he surprised the nurses by asking if he could have a beer, with his good mate Merv McDowall.

1931 – Shirley Eva (Stokes) Hertrick Born on the 27th July 1931, Shirley was the second child of George and May Stokes. She was born in the little house in Holdsworth Road, with her parents and older brother Sonny Stokes. Shirley married Mervyn Hertrick on the 21st August 1954. Mervyn was born on the 17th April 1930, and died on the 20th October 2011. Shirley died suddenly of a massive heart attack on the 30th July 2020. Shirley and her cousin Bill Scriven used to walk together to Brassall Primary School, often stopping in the old quarry to catch bees in matchboxes. They were often late for school, only racing in through the gate as the bell rang. Shirley played vigoro and basketball with the All Sports teams in Queens Park. One of her team mates was her cousin Jean Scriven. After graduating from school she work as a machinist at Bishop and Woodwards (B&W). It was here she met Doreen Knight. It was also where her cousins Jean Scriven, Una Kennedy, Marjorie [Margie] Rodgers as well as Merv McDowall all worked. In its heyday, there were around 100 people employed at Bishop and Woodwards. When Shirley married, she resigned from B&W, although she continued making trousers for Grant Parker Tailors. Shirley met Mervyn Hertrick at Nolan’s Corner, a popular hangout for youngsters 79

on their way to or from the ‘pictures’ or dances. Shirley joined several ladies making cakes for the 20 odd passengers who went on fishing trips organised by

Holdsworth Road her father-in-law, William Henry Hertrick, on a rented, 10 metre fishing launch. As private cars or public transport were rare, like most people Shirley would walk from home to work or sports. Shirley even remembers walking over the ‘humpty back bridge’, which was the railway bridge near Burnett and Brisbane Streets at the top of town, on her way to visit Doreen Knight. Shirley married Mervyn in 1954 and her two bridesmaids were her cousin Margie Rodgers and her best friend Doreen Scriven. Eunice Hertrick, Shirley’s sister-inlaw, was her junior bridesmaid. Shirley considered her cousin Jean to be too short for a bridesmaid. The couple eventually had five children Lorelle, Glen, Robyn, Cheryl and Jeffrey Hertrick. Lorelle Kay Hertrick was born on the 18th December 1956, Glen Thomas Hertrick was born on the 7th October 1958, but unfortunately he died two days later on the 9th October 1958, Robyn Joy Hertrick was on the born 6th November 1959, Cheryl Ann Hertrick was born on the 11th June 1961 and Jeffery Alan Hertrick was born on the 6th July 1964. Shirley loved making clothes for the children and especially liked to dress the girls in lovely, identical dresses. This always received compliments from everyone who saw them. Jeffrey didn’t miss out either in his smart outfits. Shirley’s skills weren’t limited to children’s clothing. She made all her daughter’s wedding gowns as well as the bridesmaids’ dresses. The children all grew up, married and had children of their own. Shirley then had a new batch of ‘victims’ for her sewing skills, and she loved them all and later, also the great-grandchildren. They all visited her as often as they could. Shirley and Mervyn were married for 57 years before Mervyn lost his fight with cancer in 2011. In 2012, Sonny passed away unexpectedly, and more recently, Jean lost her fight with cancer. This devastated Shirley, as they spoke on the phone to each other almost daily. Whether it was something important, or just a chat to see if the other was doing okay, they never lost touch. Shirley continued to live in the family home in Pine Mountain Road, North Ipswich. This was possible with Robyn and Jeffrey’s support, who lived in Only a few minutes away. Her cousins Ken and Bill Scriven were also frequent visitors. Ken would buy her fruit and plants for her. Both having a good gossip to keep her up to date with everything.

Holdsworth Road Shirley’s extended family of cousins kept in close contact and supported each other throughout their lives. Mervyn’s brother, Maurice Hertrick and his wife Marina, as well as his sister Eunice and her husband John, all had a great friendship. Some of Shirley’s favourite things were gardening, cooking and watching football. She rarely missed a game on TV. Her daughter Cheryl now lives in Mackay and Shirley enjoyed a couple of trips north on a plane to visit. Her daughter Lorelle lives in Hervey Bay, and Shirley also travelled there frequently to visit her. While she was staying with Lorelle in July 2020 Shirley enjoyed a lovely morning with Lorelle and her friends from tennis. The plan was for her to stay a further few weeks when Shirley fell suddenly ill after lunch. This was on the 29th July, just two days after celebrating her 89th birthday. Lorelle called the ambulance which took her to the hospital in Maryborough. That evening she had a massive heart attack that took her from loved ones. Shirley died the next day on the 30th July 2020. Her funeral was held in St Thomas’ Anglican Church in North Ipswich a few days later. The same church where she and Mervyn had married some 66 years earlier. Shirley’s brother Les [Sonny], always looked out for his little sister and even more so after Mervyn passed away. They probably annoyed each other as well, as they were both strong-willed and stubborn characters. But rarely an argument was heard as there was always a great love between the siblings.

1932 – Lorna Jean (Scriven) McDowall [Jean] Born on the 28th March 1932, Jean was the first child of Les and Emily Scriven. She married Mervyn McDowall on the 18th April 1953. Mervyn was born on the 12th November 1923. Her younger brother Kenny Scriven was born in 1946. Jean died after a short illness on the 12th May 2020, she was aged 88. Lorna Jean McDowall was born on Monday the 28th March 1932 at Oakdale Private Hospital located in Milford Street, Ipswich. Although named Lorna Jean, She was known as Jean to her family and friends. Jeane said her mother wanted to name Jean after her sister, who had died as a young woman; however, she thought Lorna Jean sounded better than Jean Lorna. The first home that Jean remembers was in Paton Road, North Ipswich. It was a high-set, rented house on the left-hand side as you drive down from Holdsworth 81

Road. Theirs was the second house from the end on the eastern side of the street.

Holdsworth Road When Jean was about five years old, the family moved to a house owned by her grandfather in Birdwood Lane, Jean’s great-grandmother Sarah Scriven’s home. As Sarah was getting older and needed more care she moved in with her son Charles Scriven into the house at 80 Holdsworth Road. Jean recalls that just before the family moved in, electricity was connected to the house in Birdwood Lane for the first time. Jean started school in 1936, just before her fifth birthday, at North Ipswich State School. At the time she and her parents were living in the house in Paten Street. Jean wasn’t fond of school and objected to going. Her mother used to take her to the bus stop at the end of their street. On one occasion, Jean was trying to get back off the bus when the bus driver put his arm out to prevent her, and the result was the bus driver’s arm met with Jean’s teeth. This was an early sign that she was strong-willed and didn’t like to do things she wasn’t interested in doing. When older she would walk to school with other friends, who lived nearby. In her later years at primary school, her cousin Bill Scriven joined her at North Ipswich State School. Jean recalls going to several fancy dress balls together, once dressed as a clothesline. Jean’s father kept a couple of horses at the back of the house in Cuffes Land as their primary means of transport at that time was by horse and sulky. When Jean was little, she had a piebald pony named Mo. She’d ride Mo with her father out to paddocks at Tivoli where the Scriven family’s cattle were kept. Jean remembers Mo was with foal and was staying at Tivoli. One day her cousin Bill came to school with the news that Mo’s foal had been born, but foxes had unfortunately attacked it, and the foal died. Jean’s school years coincided with World War Two. At Birdwood Lane, they had a trench dug in the back yard with a bit of tin over it as a makeshift bomb shelter and there was also a bomb shelter at school. When she was about 11 or 12, she remembers a bomb alarm sounded, and her father who worked at the woollen mills at North Ipswich collected her from school and took her home. However, he didn’t inform her teachers. She got into trouble for this as she was unaccounted for when they did their morning drill. In 1945, when Jean was 13 years old, her brother Kenny was born. Suddenly going from being an only child to having a sibling. Asked if she enjoyed having a baby brother surprisingly Jean doesn’t remember being overly excited. She grew

Holdsworth Road up spending time with her cousins; Bill Scriven, who was born the same year as Jean and Shirley Stokes, a year older. Even into their eighties, the three cousins still kept in close contact, either over the phone or visiting. While at school Jean played vigoro with the All Sports Team. She was also very good at gymnastics. Together with her friends, Bryan and Val Whybird, and Margaret Kitching they were trained every Monday night by Les McDougall at his house in Lennon Lane, North Ipswich. Jean finished her scholarship year in 1946. Not liking school, she finished school at the end of year seven at 13, and when she turned 14, she started work at Bishop and Woodward. At the time she would’ve preferred to work at Woolworths, in retrospect, it was an excellent job. It is where Jean learned to sew and met the man she’d marry. She also had two good friends who worked with her at Bishops, Margaret and Val. Jean and Margaret Richards became friends when they teamed up together for the three-legged race at a Labor Day picnic at North Ipswich Reserve. Margaret knew Val Kearton from school at Churchill, and the three ended up working together. This group of three grew to five when Glad and Grace Norman joined the group and remained life long friends, meeting monthly at each other’s homes for what became known as ‘girls day’. The ladies remained firm friends throughout their lives. Work was from Monday to Friday with the bus caught into town at around 7:30 am to start work. Paydays the girls would always treat themselves with a packet of lollies bought from Glad who worked at Penny’s. Glad would often slip a couple of extra lollies into the packet. Working at Bishop and Woodward’s she met and fell in love with Mervyn McDowall. When she was around 16, Jean started dating Mervyn who also worked at Bishop’s. Jean was still living in the little house in Birdwood Lane, and Mervyn was living at Bright Street, Newtown. She remembers he would come to pick her up to go out and would always smell of Johnson’s baby powder, a smell his daughter Janelle associated with her father as he was still using it after his shower until his death at 93 years old. Bishop and Woodward’s was one of the key employers in Ipswich in the early twentieth century. Jean’s cousins Shirley Hertrick, Una Kennedy and Marjorie [Margie] Rodgers also worked there, as did Doreen Knight. Jean, Shirley and 83

Doreen were all Trouser Hands. While Una sewed coats, Jean sewed trousers, and Mervyn was a cutter.

Holdsworth Road Mervyn used to tell stories about dating Jean and taking her to the ‘pictures’. Kenny, who was over a decade younger, would tag along and sit in the middle of them. Jean and Ken were always close despite the age gap. This was in part due to the strong family values passed down through the generations. One of the few social places to go back then was to the dances at the Town Hall. The girls would dance together until the men turned up at 10 pm when the pubs had closed. In an article about Jean’s 21st birthday party from the Queensland Times on Tuesday the 31st March 1953. In the social column called ‘Patricia’s Patter’. This column reported all the social comings and going’s of Ipswich residents in the 1950s. It’s also an exciting insight into celebrations and parties during that time. “Coloured lights, balloons and streamers added gaiety the home of Mr and Mrs Colin Jordan, Jacaranda Street, Booval when about 50 relatives and friends attended the 21st birthday party of Miss Jean Scriven, [of] Birdwood Lane, North Ipswich. The supper tables were decked with pink charm dahlias and antigonon. Mr D Jordan was chairman and Mr George Scriven proposed a toast to the guest of honour, supported by Mrs Vi Jordan and Mr E Cooper. Jean’s father Mr Les Scriven presented her with an engraved key and wished her every happiness in the future. Jean suitably responded, thanking all who had given her the party, also the beautiful gifts. The pink and white birthday cake was made by Mrs O Stokes and iced by Mrs M. Jackman. A toast to the grandparents, Mrs Emily Jordan and Mr Charles Scriven senior, was proposed by Mr C Jordan. Mr Mervyn McDowall moved a vote of thanks to Mr and Mrs C[olin] Jordan for the use of their home, to the caterers and to Mrs S Burgemeister who had arranged the table decorations. Mr E Cooper supervised games and competitions. Mesdames C Jordan and J Berish and Mr D Jordan provided music for community singing.” Jean and Merv married on the 18th April 1953 at the Uniting Church on Limestone Street not long after her 21st birthday. The Congregational Church in Brisbane Road, where they were to marry, was destroyed by fire just weeks before her wedding. The couple had to relocate to the Uniting Church. Jean didn’t mind as this was a bigger church with a bell, and she recalls the church bells ringing when they emerged as a married couple. Their honeymoon was at Hervey Bay however they spent their first night as husband and wife at The People’s Palace in Brisbane. As was the regulations at the time, Jean left full-time work at Bishop and Woodwards when she married. Jean did have a couple of part-time jobs later on working as an Avon Lady in the late 1960s and at a little takeaway shop in Limestone Street

Holdsworth Road in the late 1970s. That said, Jean saw her primary role in life as a wife and mother and devoted her time to raising her two children. After their marriage, Jean and Mervyn built their first family home at 9 Nathan Street, East Ipswich. In 1955 their first child Steven John [Steve] McDowall arrived, followed by Janelle Gaye McDowall born in 1958. The house was inundated in the disastrous 1974 floods. After repairing the house, they later sold it and built a new home on an allotment that had been part of the Holdsworth Road property. The Payne Street allotment had been part of Charlie [Pop] Scriven’s land, and it was left to Jean by her grandfather. They lived in the new brick home for many years next to her brother Kenny Scriven. The allotment backed onto the Toowoomba by-pass and over the years the traffic noise increased. They then moved to another home in Gill Court at Bundamba. Jean felt so lucky to have had such a wonderful partner in her life. Even though Mervyn could be sometimes hard-headed, he could always speak calmly and make Jean see things differently. They had over 70 years together. There were family holidays at the beach each year and the occasional trip interstate to see snow, Canberra and Sydney. Jean and Merv encouraged their children to do well at school. They knew a good education was important while supporting them to play sport. They attended all of Steve’s football games, and it became a family outing attending along with one-eyed grandparents. Jean and Merv welcomed their children’s friends into their home. As the children grew, the friends were in included in the family holidays. The couple loved seeing Australia in their caravan, and in retirement, they spent several weeks each year on the Gold and Sunshine coasts where they met several fellow caravaners who returned at the same time each year. When their caravan days ended, they looked forward to holidays with Shirley and her husband, Mervyn Hertrick at Labrador and their holidays at St George’s at Rainbow Bay. They all loved a chat, and the communal areas of St George’s always provided an opportunity to make new friendships. Jean has always had close family ties with her family, particularly with her cousins Shirley Hertrick and Bill Scriven. On many occasions, Jean and Mervyn McDowall, Shirley and Mervyn Hertrick, Bill and Doreen Scriven enjoyed picnic lunch together at Kholo Gardens. Amid the friendly banter they all caught up with activities of each other’s families. Jean also enjoyed meeting her lifelong friends Margaret, Grace 85

and Val.

Holdsworth Road In 1981, Steve, a teacher, was transferred to Middlemount near Mackay and Jean never stopped missing him being so far away. But a year later in 1982, her first grandchild arrived. Janelle knows now from experience how a grandchild can fill a void. Jean was lucky to have four grandchildren, whom she adored. Family meant everything to Jean. Her son-in-law’s Laurie Devereaux’s family, including his parents Tim and Elva as well as his sister Paula and her husband Nev, became part of the extended family. Jean loved celebrating family milestones together and the family gatherings at Karalee. In May 2018 Jean was diagnosed with bowel cancer. She underwent surgery and was told the surgery had successfully removed the tumour. However the following year, the cancer was found in her liver, and she underwent further surgery. Again she was told the cancer had been removed successfully. And then the cancer was found in her stomach, this time it was inoperable. She decided to undergo a course of chemotherapy, but the treatment was taking too much out of her. Jean decided to end treatment as at this stage, she wanted quality of life, not quantity. She continued to live at home with assistance. Her brother Ken then became even more generous with his support. He took her shopping each week when she could no longer drive and while Janelle was still working full-time. This brought the siblings even closer together, seeing each other at least every week. Ken would also phone his sister daily to have a chat. Jean, the forever worrier, was always trying to tell Ken what to do. Towards the end of her days, she chastised him as she thought he’d been to the shops too frequently. She was also nagging him to ensure he had a flu shot. Both Ken and his niece Janelle know it came from a place of love. As her health deteriorated, her mind remained sharp, and she made the decision she could no longer manage living at home on her own and made the big step of moving into care. She moved into St Mary’s Aged Care at Raceview in October 2019. But it never felt like home to her. She had plenty of visitors as by this time Janelle and her husband Laurie had retired and would call a couple of times a week to see her, Ken would visit as would her cousin Bill Scriven. And weekends would often see her grandchildren visiting with her beloved great-grandsons in tow. But it wasn’t home, and although she wasn’t thrilled being there, it did give her a sense of security knowing there was medical help on hand if she needed it. 86

Holdsworth Road Her health quickly deteriorated, and on the 21st April 2020, she was transferred to St Andrew’s Hospital with fluid on her lungs. She was moved at her request, to Ipswich Hospice for palliative care on the 5th May 2020. Jean passed away with Janelle, Laurie and Steve by her side on the 12th May 2020. Jean knew her end was close, and in the days before she passed away, she was able to see and speak with all those she held dear and loved. All of her cherished grandchildren sat with her, as well as her cousins Bill and Shirley, her goddaughter and Shirley’s daughter Robyn Hertrick, Laurie’s mum and sister who had become like family to Jean, her lifelong friend Margaret and of course her brother Ken. Although she found her last conscious hours a little distressing as she struggled to breathe, she was comforted that her last breath was taken with Janelle holding her hand and with her son Steven and son-in-law Laurie in the room with her. Always strongly family orientated after Janelle and Steven had their children Jean became a devoted and loving grandmother. In 2017 her first great-grandchild Ernie was born, and another layer of love was added to her life. Then Sully arrived in 2018, and she loved them both so much and was always keen to hear stories of their doings. Jean would light up when they came to visit. Steven married Leanne Shanks in Mackay, and their only daughter Jordan was born in 1992. Janelle married Laurie Devereaux in 1981. Janelle and Laurie have three children: Skye born in 1982, Bree born in 1985 and Jesse born in 1990. Skye is married to James Perkins and they have one son, Ernest [Ernie] Perkins who was born in 2017. Bree’s partner is Kieran Jones, their son is Sullivan [Sully] Jones who was born 2018. Jesse’s partner is Hannah Miller.

1932 – William Charles Scriven [Bill] Born on the 8th May 1932, Bill was the first child of George and Doss Scriven. Bill was born and lived his first few years in the little house in Coal Road. Six years later in 1938, Bill’s brother Alan George was born at the house in Payne Street. Bill grew up in the open paddocks and bush around the Coal Road house. The area was pock-marked with coal mine shafts, and there is a story that when Bill was only a couple of years old, he wandered close to the edge of danger. Bill’s father, George, had a bridle that went missing. He found it a couple of days later 87

on the edge of a deep and deadly mine shaft that was only fenced off with barbed

Holdsworth Road wire. Bill vaguely remembers peering down into the black abyss that could have been his demise. If that wasn’t bad enough the four-year-old, who watched what his father did, took it upon himself to help prepare the family meal. With a hatchet, he chopped the head off a chook, just like his father had done. Trouble was that this particular chook was a fluffy legged bantam, that George had hatching a clutch of eggs. Needless to say, his father was none too pleased. Five years after Bill was born, the family moved to the house in Payne Street, just a hundred metres down the hill from his grandparents and the Holdsworth Road house. George had bought the Payne Street house in 1937 and later the surrounding allotments so that they were reasonably self-sufficient. The family grew their own vegetables, as well as keeping milking cows, horses and chooks. When the cattle needed mustering or dipping all the family were called in to lend a hand. When not at school, there were chores around the house - feeding the animals, collecting eggs, working in the garden, chopping wood for the wood-burning stove. Bill mowed the lawn at Payne Street with a push mower. As the grass was the thick, blue couch, Bill had to take a running go at each pass to keep the blades from jamming. The two brothers also rode the horses helping their father with the cattle that were kept out at the Tivoli and Mount Crosby properties. Bill’s horse was a black horse called Tommy. When Bill put his foot on the first stirrup, the horse would take off to try and tip Bill off. While Bill would have to do some quick, trick mounting or be left behind. As a child Bill remembers, after school and his chores, enjoying eating bread and dripping with hot sauce, salt and pepper. As a treat they sometimes we’re given a 1/2p ice cream from the travelling vendor. If he’d been good Doss would buy him a larger 1p version, the scoop on this ice cream was around 3cm in diameter. When he was just under the age of five, Bill started prep school at Brassall Primary School, where he completed Prep 1, 2 and 3. In 1938, Bill contracted Diphtheria and spent six weeks in isolation at Ipswich Hospital. He had his sixth birthday while in isolation and missed nearly two months of school. After coming out of isolation, it was difficult for him to catch up on his missed schooling. So his parents transferred him to North Ipswich Primary School where he completed the rest of his education, starting grade 3 again. It was here that he finished grade 7, his scholarship year in 1945. He then did his junior years, 1946 and 1947, at Ipswich Boys Grammar School.

Holdsworth Road Most of Bill’s school holidays were spent with his cousin Stuart up on his uncle’s farm at Kumbia (Frank and Ethel Francis). He loved the farming life, even though what he lived on in Ipswich was really a hobby farm. Although Bill doubted that Doreen would have enjoyed life as a farmer’s wife, living on the land might have been his calling. From an article on display in the Ipswich Railway Workshops, Museum Bill discussed his working life, “When I finished junior in 1947 the railways were a large source of employment, so I sat [for] the railway exam. Depending on your pass mark you were given a choice of trade. When my turn came, I was offered a carriage building or fitter and turner positions. I wasn’t interested in timber-work, and I liked fixing bikes and things, so I thought there was more scope in fitting”. Bill started work with the Railways on the 28th April 1948, his start being delayed by the 1948 railway strike. The strike lasted for nine weeks, from the 3rd February to the 5th April 1948. The strike was over workers’ wages at railway workshops and locomotive depots throughout Queensland. When Bill started as an apprentice, his pay was £2 7s 6p a fortnight. “During my five-year apprenticeship as a fitter, I spent six months in different shops learning all aspects of the trade of steam locomotive repairs. The sub-foreman in each shop would allocate you to a tradesman who would provide your practical training. Some were excellent tradesmen and teachers. But they were [all] hard task-masters. I had to aim for perfection and keep working until the fit was good enough. In those days most things were hand-fitted to obtain maximum contact, particularly white metal bearings, which were first machined to size. Some other items which were unable to be machined, required hammers and chisels to cut them to size and then rough and smooth files to obtain a clean finish and close fit. It was hard, manual work. Some tradesmen would give the apprentices the most challenging tasks to do and call it good training. I enjoyed my apprenticeship, and it gave me an excellent grounding in the trade”. After years of studying at the Ipswich Technical College at night, Bill earned his Diploma in Mechanical and Electrical Engineering. In 1957 he joined the drawing office as Assistant Draughtsman. After five years he moved up the ranks to Draughtsman. Once qualified as a Draftsman, he progressed through the Engineering Grades, 89

by appointment. After several years he acted in higher grade positions. Starting as a Railway inspector certifying the quality of components being supplied by

Holdsworth Road private contractors. Before being appointed to a permanent position of Assistant Mechanical Engineer Grade 2 (AME II) with the Chief Engineer’s Branch in Brisbane. Then in 1972 Bill was appointed Mechanical Engineer Grade 1 (ME I), which was a new Grade 1, with the CME’s branch at Ipswich. While in this position Bill was appointed to the Chief Mechanical Engineer (CME) at Redbank as a Mechanical Engineer Grade II (ME II). Bill worked at the Redbank Workshops, alternating the day and night shift with Henry McMurtrie. He was working at Redbank during the disastrous, summer floods of 1974 which destroyed much of South East Queensland. When the regular Engineer in Charge (EIC) was away on holidays, Bill was the relieving EIC in Toowoomba Workshops, three times. He also spent time as relieving EIC in Maryborough and Assistant to Rockhampton Workshops Engineer on several occasions. For those extended periods, Doreen and the girls went with him and stayed in a self-contained cabin. Through persistence, he worked his way up the ranks until Bill retired, after 47 and a half years service in 1995, as a Senior Designing Mechanical Engineer. Back in the late 1940s, before his progression up the engineering ladder, Bill met a girl and fell in love. Bill’s cousin Shirley Hertrick had a good friend with whom she worked at Bishop and Woodward’s, Doreen Knight. Both Shirley and Doreen were Trouser Hands. Bishop and Woodward’s was one of the key employers in Ipswich in the early twentieth century. Several relatives also worked there, Una Kennedy (cousin) sewed coats, Jean McDowall (cousin) sewed trousers and Mervyn McDowall (cousin-in-law) was a cutter. Doreen loved to go to the dances and the movies, often walking everywhere with her friends. One Saturday evening Shirley invited Doreen to go with her to a WPO dance. There she introduced Doreen to her cousin Bill, who took an immediate shine to this fun-loving young girl, and she to him. The couple went out together for several years. When they met Doreen was not quite 16 years old. During his courtship bid, Bill used to ride his bicycle back and forth from one side of town to the other. The Scriven family lived in North Ipswich and the Knight family in West Ipswich, virtually opposite sides of the town. Courting in the post-war years included going to dances, the movies and playing social tennis. Bill played in B Grade tennis for a while. There were also special excursions like Miner’s Picnic day trips by train to the beach at Sandgate and with the Knight family to Burleigh Heads for their annual Christmas holidays. Some nights after walking Doreen home, Bill had to race back into town to catch the last (midnight) bus home. He had to hang onto the rail as the bus was usually

Holdsworth Road filled with merrymakers heading home from their various social outings. Finally, after five years, in 1953, Bill proposed and of course Doreen accepted. The couple married on the 24th April 1954 at St Paul’s Anglican Church, Brisbane Street, Ipswich. Doreen Margaret Jane Knight was born on the 21st April 1932, the daughter of Robert William Knight and Veronica Mary Downs. Bill and Doreen were happily married for 59 years before Doreen passed away in 2013. Together they raised four children: Wayne William Scriven was born on the 24th August 1957, Peter Charles Scriven on the 13th February 1960, Suzanne Gaye Scriven on the 24th July 1963 and Michelle Maree Scriven on the 24th November 1967. After Bill and Doreen were first married, they lived in Aunty May’s (Stokes) house in Holdsworth Road for twelve months before moving into the house in at 17 Albert Street, North Ipswich in 1955. The house was a spec home by a local builder, built on what had been the orchard of the older house on the top side, owned at the time by Mrs Heffernen. Initially, Bill had put a down payment on an allotment in Coalfalls to build his family’s home. As it happened, the block he bought was not the one the real estate agent claimed. The actual block was too steep to easily build a house. Bill was able to recover his deposit. He then bought a different allotment in Eastern Heights and even drew up the plans for the home, contrary to what Doreen said later. A little later they came across a builder’s spec house under construction in Albert Street, with the sale of the Eastern Heights allotment and the help of a loan from his parents, Bill had the deposit for the house. At that time a deposit on a house was a minimum of 25% of the purchase price. Bought for £1,800, the original price was reduced slightly with Bill buying some items separately such as the bath and electric clothes boiler. Originally a threebedroom, chamfer board house it has been slowly extended as the family grew. It was here that they raised their family. Doreen always lamented that Bill, a qualified draughtsman, drew up the plans for numerous other people’s home but never one for her. He had drawn up plans for the house on the allotment in Eastern Heights, however, it was never built. That said, Bill, even though he said he wasn’t that good at woodwork earlier on in his career, he was good at metalwork. These principals he used in his carpentry. With his father, brother, in-laws and builders assistance, and later his sons, Bill extended the Albert Street house in stages. First, they replaced the small, 91

unroofed front porch with the large, roofed patio at the front of the house, later

Holdsworth Road this was enclosed and became a favourite sunroom. In the late 1970s, Bill built a major extension to the back of the house, adding the dining room, another bedroom (which was originally meant for one of the girls) became his and Doreen’s master bedroom. There was also a side verandah, back porch and underneath a large rumpus room. The underneath of the house was partly excavated when the extension was added, but most of the sticky wet, clay, sandstone and shale were dug out with picks and shovels. Bill even has the scar on his foot to prove it, a result of a slip with the pick. When the extension was added, it cost the same as the whole house had cost two and a half decades earlier. Besides the extension, later Bill built the garage, paved the driveway and added the pergola. Later still he extended the ramp down the slope to the garage level, which proved invaluable in later years. The original, brown painted corrugated-iron carport, was replaced with a large double garage and carport. Enough space for four cars, it has mostly housed the car, the caravan and the garage part has become dad’s workshop and storage area for Bill and Peter’s stuff. Growing up in the depression and war years, Bill tends to keep a spare of just about everything. Also, recycling and re-purposing is part of his make-up. Always practical long before it became fashionable. Bill’s father George was a member of the Rising Star branch of the GUOOF (Grand United Order of Odd Fellows) Lodge. When Bill turned seventeen he also joined and became a member. Since then he has been an ‘odd fellow’. In 1969 he took over the role of financial secretary for the Rising Star branch of the order. The previous secretary William Williams had moved to Adelaide to be with his partner. Bill had agreed to take on the secretary’s role only on a temporary basis until a permanent secretary could be found. This never happened. Bill has been the longest, and still serving, secretary of the Rising Star branch of the Lodge. As financial secretary, part of his role included; preparing and sending the accounts, collecting the member’s dues, balancing the books, and audits before sending the returns to head office every three months. As the financial secretary of the Rising Star Lodge Bill was an elected delegate to the Ipswich and West Moreton Friendly Societies (UFS) Dispensary general and executive committees. Later, a Government amendment to the Friendly Societies Act meant dispensaries had to be run by a board rather than a committee. This meant that all delegates on the Dispensary Committee were forced to retire. The original member board was formed from the committee members. Later, when one of the Board’s members died creating a casual vacancy, Bill was selected to fill the position. A role he held

Holdsworth Road up until 2008. Bill is still the lodge secretary, a role he has held longer than any other secretary in the over one hundred years of its history. The Odd Fellows are one of the earliest and oldest fraternal societies, but their early history is obscure and largely undocumented. Due to increased trade during the Middle Ages, guilds came to make up a part of the urban culture, grouping people from several trades banded together. The Odd Fellows was first documented in 1730 in London. Some are split-offs from the Masons, and both are not dissimilar in their structures and titles. The GUOOF was one of the so-called ‘friendly societies’ and acted as cooperatives that pre-dated Medicare. The Grand United Friendly Society movement was formed in Queensland on the 3rd June 1863, and two years later the Western Star Lodge was created to cater for Ipswich members. However, because of increasing interest in Lodges, it was decided to form another branch in North Ipswich called Rising Star Lodge. Its function was to provide welfare and security to members in medical, sickness, and funeral benefits and foster good fellowship at social gatherings. The first meeting was held on the 4th September 1882. Throughout its existence, the branch has been served by several long-serving Financial Secretaries. Brother C A H Watson, the Foundation Secretary, served until 1892. Then Brother R J Reilly served until 1898, followed by Brother G F Spresser until 1908, Brother H Leigh until 1936, Brother G Cooper until 1950. Following these gentlemen, Brother W[illiam] G Williams served until October 1969 and then Brother William Charles [Bill] Scriven filling the position up to the present. Over the years, the membership of the Lodge has reduced as its role was taken over by large insurance and healthcare companies. GUOOF is now closely related to the health insurance group Australian Unity. At the same time Bill worked in the drawing office for 38 years. The drawing office was a catch-all phrase referring to the engineering section which maintained or designed all the electrical, mechanical, rollingstock and plant within the workshops. The drawing office was also involved in fixing problems encountered with rollingstock at other centres and depots throughout the state. The men and women of the drawing office were a close-knit group of colleagues. Many of them became firm friends away from the office including Johnny Bietzel, Bob O’Conner, Johnny Mengel, John Graham and Henry McMurtrie. The group formed a social club to which each man paid $1.00 every fortnight from his pay, 93

regardless of the number of children they had. The big social event of the year was

Holdsworth Road the Christmas Picnic. Bill was Treasurer and John Bietzel the Secretary, although closer to the time they seconded in other drawing office members to help out. They were held at local picnic spots like College’s and Hill’s Crossings, Kholo, Swanbank or Atkinson Dam. The events were for all the family, wives and kids mingled in the shade of the trees. All the kids swimming in the river and playing games organised by the dads. There were McMahon’s soft drinks, steakette burgers, watermelon slices and a small tub of ice cream for everybody. Many kids enjoyed dropping pieces of the ‘dry ice’ that the ice cream had been packed in, into the water with bubbles and smoke coming up from the murky water. There was even the obligatory visit by Santa. Played by one of the dads dressed in costume with a sack containing small packets of lollies and presents, one for each of the children. Over the years, Santa arrived by various methods of transport. One year at Atkinson Dam he arrived by speed boat. He stood standing and waving until the boat bumped into the bank. This overturned Santa into the water. A sopping wet Santa then squelched through the picnic area, accompanied by bemused kids and laughing parents. On another occasion at Swanbank Santa was mobbed by all the kids from the other picnics there that day. Santa quickly exhausted his supply of lollies trying to keep all the eager children happy. There is a photo in our family archives of a six-year-old Michelle looking none too pleased with being too close to a gaunt-looking ‘Santa’. The other memory was that more often than not the day culminated in a thunderstorm, in a torrential downpour there was a hurried packing up of the day. Bill’s boss in the Drawing Office was Harry Hall. He was good-natured and enjoyed a joke which is just as well as the wags in the office, whose ringleader was Johnny Bietzel, were always on the lookout for a sting. On one occasion Harry drove his trailer to work and parked it on the other side of the chain wire fence near the office. While he was otherwise busy, the wags moved the chain wire fence, so the trailer ended up on one side of the fence and the car or the other. When Harry went to drive away, he was stuck and had to undo the fence. On another occasion, they unhitched Harry’s car and trailer. Harry was halfway into town before he realised the trailer was not following behind. Once a fortnight on payday, as a treat, Bill would arrive home with a block of Cadbury chocolate, usually the Snack variety. We had to share and so the first round you were generally able to choose the flavour you wanted. The second time around you often had the odd one out nobody liked, like pineapple flavour. With four kids, a mortgage and one salary, money was always tight. Bill and Doreen

Holdsworth Road had to save to buy any ‘big ticket’ items. Often it could be put on lay-by, with them paying off anything, from school books and uniforms to large ticket items such as furniture, piece by piece. Takeaway food was an unusual occurrence in those days. Around once a month the family bought Chinese takeaway from Jimmy Wah’s shop, which was at the bottom of Brisbane Street. Later the Wah’s moved their shop to Downs Street, North Ipswich. Though no longer operating the faded sign still remains from an Ipswich institution. In those days you went to the shop with your own saucepan. The meal was placed in the saucepan, with a waxed paper sheet under the lid to provide a seal. The ubiquitous plastic takeaway containers were still decades in the future. Jimmy and Harry Wah were good friends with the Knight family, especially Doreen’s brothers Dudley, Kenny and Mervyn Knight. The Wahs lived in Leichardt on the other side of the river from the Knights at Sadliers Crossing. Besides their shop, the Wah family also kept a market garden. Bill and Doreen loved their holidays and enjoyed travelling. Every December, following first with the Knight clan, then later in the tent, and then the caravan, they went to either Burleigh Heads or Tallebudgerah Creek for their annual Christmas holiday. Every few years, Bill organised a road trip with mum and kids in tow. The first trip with the family was to Sydney with Bill’s parents, George and Doss. Two Holden cars, Randa’s FJ and Bill’s FE, and a lean-to tent with three kids. This was 1966 a year before Michelle was born. A few memorable moments were captured on Kodachrome slide film, some not. Like the first night at Glenn Innes where it became so cold, Doreen and Doss dragged the carpets off the ground and put them over their bedding trying to keep warm. Us kids were comfortable neatly bedded down inside the car with their condensation covered windows. There was an anxious half-hour in Newcastle when Randa, with the two boys in his car, was able to drive through a traffic intersection whereas Bill was stopped by the red light. He then had to wait for the lights to change. Long before the age of mobile phones, Randa did not realise that Bill was not behind him and drove on far enough for them to lose sight of each other. Eventually, the family reunited much to the relief of an anxious Doreen and Doss. Later there were trips to Far North Queensland and Cairns, the Snowy Mountains and as far afield as Adelaide. After the lean-to, Bill, with his brothers-in-law’s help, converted the 6 x 4, turquoise blue trailer into a convertible camper trailer. Later on, they upgraded to Millie the Caravan who travelled with them for thousands of 95

happy holiday kilometres.

Holdsworth Road Bill retired from the Railways in 1995, after forty-seven and a half years service. While he and Doreen had travelled with the family around Australia when the children were younger when Bill retired, he and Doreen travelled more extensively. They joined bus and train trips as they crisscrossed and circumnavigated Australia. Some of the bus trips were organised with their neighbour Norm Fletcher, with Bill often co-driving the bus. In 1996, with Doreen’s sister June and husband Gary Goebel, the foursome toured America and Canada’s west coast. While still in the railways and in his fifties, Bill took up golf. He played regularly with his work colleagues, and when he retired, he continues to play regularly with his mates. To this day he plays twice a week at the local Sandy Gallop Golf Club – with a good handicap. He and Doreen were always proud of their family. Since Doreen passed away, Bill continues to take an active role as a father, grand and great-grandfather. He takes a keen interest in the lives of his many children, grandchildren and greatgrandchildren. Bill regularly travels around the country to visit them or speaks on the phone. From Rockhampton to Roma and West Australia to Sydney, he makes sure he remains a part of their lives. Wayne married Annette Marie Zabel on the 27th June 1981. Now divorced they have three children: Emma Lee Scriven born on the 8th March 1983, Kirsty Marie Scriven born on the 16th January 1987 and Warwick George Scriven born on the 4th January 1989. Emma married Richard David Brandt in Fiji on the 20th August 2010. They have two children Riley Noel Brandt born on the 26th October 2010 and Taylor Lee Brandt born on the 12th March 2013. The family lives on a property near Condamine. Kirsty’s partner is Ian Besch, they have a son Boyd Charles Besch born on the 24th April 2018 and a daughter Neve Marie Besch born on the 18th September 2020. Kirsty and Ian live on a cattle station at Bajool south of Rockhampton. Warwick married Ann-Maree Nixon on the 23rd March They have two children Wilf John Scriven on the born 10th September 2014 and Clara Mae Scriven born on the 28th October 2016. Warwick and Ann-maree live on property at Munduberra. Wayne married his second wife Vicki Graham on the 19th October 2019 and they now live on their property ‘Hawthorne’ at Dulaca, near Roma. 96

Holdsworth Road After living and working in Queensland, Sweden, Denmark and England, Peter now lives in Sydney with his partner Vernon Nathan. Vern has two children a girl Abirami [Abby] Nathan and a son Dev Vishnu Nathan. Vern was born on the 6th January 1958, Abby on the 28th August 1982 and Dev on the 4th October 1986. Suzanne married David Friend. Later divorced they have two children: Sheldon Paul Friend born on the 27th November 1987 and Mirinda Lee Friend born on the 27th February 1990. Sheldon married Ashley Turner on the 22nd October 2016. They have three children: Hayden Paul Friend born on the 10th September 2015, Indie Rennee Friend born on the 7th August 2017 and Harper Irene Friend born on the 10th September 2018. Mirinda married Francesco [Frank] Voglino in Paris on the 5th November 2016. Both are police officers and they currently live in Western Australia. Michelle married Raymond Bell on the 16th April 19 88. Now divorced they have two children: Jayden John Bradley Bell born on the 3rd August 1992 and Rhiannon Maree Bell born on the 16th August 1995. Michelle married Terry Balzer on the 20th October 2014. They moved to Bribie Island in 2009. Terry Balzer, had a heart transplant in February 2018 but succumbed to an infection and died on the 25th July 2018.

1932 – Doreen Margaret Jane (Knight) Scriven Born on the 21st June 1932, Doreen was the seventh child and first daughter of Robert William and Veronica Mary (Downs) [Vonnie] Knight. She married Bill Scriven on the 24th April 1954. Doreen died of pneumonia at St Andrews Hospital on the 1st November 2013. In the middle of the Depression, Robert and Veronica Knight welcomed their seventh child into the world. After six boys, they were blessed with a baby girl they named Doreen Margaret Jane Knight. Although had he had seven boys in a row, the story goes; Robert would have received a message from the King. Except for a cousin who arrived a few weeks earlier and was named Maureen, this would have been Doreen’s first name. She was also named for each of her grandmothers. Doreen was born at home, in the little house in Sadliers Crossing. As she often retold the story, her elder brother Lenny, who was 15 at the time, boiled the water and even cut her umbilical cord. 97

Holdsworth Road Along with her seven bothers – Leonard Joseph [Lenny] Knight was born on the 29th April 1917, Robert William [Bobby] Knight was born on the 1st July 1919, George Albert [Georgie] was born on the 23rd January 1922, Donald [Donny] Knight was born on the 4th July 1924, Mervyn Lloyd [Mervyn] Knight was born on the 11th October 1926, Ronald Dudley [Dudley] Knight was born on the 18th June 1929 and Kenneth William [Kenny] Knight was born on the 15th February 1938 and her younger sister June Veronica Knight was born on the 25th August 1940. Doreen grew up in what she used to tell us was a boisterous and loving family. Only a small, two bedroom, workers cottage, the house at 23 Tiger Street was packed to the rafters. Doreen slept with her mother and sister, three to a bed. Veronica, who rarely complained, worked hard bringing up her large brood. Her father, a miner and a railway worker was a strict disciplinarian. At one point Robert had a job on the Loop Line on the New South Wales border. For a time his young family stayed with him all of them sleeping rough in a canvas tent. Robert was a hard worker, and like many men of the time would go to the pub on a Friday after work. He would often come home drunk from the pub sessions with his mates. At times like these, he often lashed out at his wife. The story goes that when Lenny was a mere lad of twelve, his father came home one night from a heavy drinking session. He staggered through the front gate at Tiger Street and proceeded to climb the steps to the front door only to be met with a livid Lenny. At this stage, Lenny was almost as tall as his father. Lenny told him that he laid another hand on their mother he would have to face him and his four other brothers who stood behind him ranging up the steps. Apparently, Robert was cowered, and he was never again game enough to lay a hand on his family. Veronica, on the other hand, never had much herself. Things were always tough with a large family and a single income, especially living through the Depression and two World Wars. Although Vonnie was never jealous and was genuinely pleased for her children or grandchildren whenever they achieved anything or bought something new. Like most families of the time, they did it tough and were reasonably self-sufficient. They worked hard to make every penny stretch by raising chooks and growing vegetables in the back garden. Grandma Knight was only allowed a strip of garden in the front yard for flowers, because as her husband said, “You can’t eat flowers”. Doreen’s brothers were good friends with the Wah family who lived on the opposite side of the Bremer River. The Wahs ran a market garden which they watered with

Holdsworth Road two buckets slung from a milkmaid’s yoke. The one doing the watering would walk into a series of strategically placed ponds, filling their buckets before walking out the other side then tip the water over the rows of market vegetables before stepping into the next pond. The Wahs and Youngs were good friends of the family over the years, with Donny’s son Mark Knight eventually marrying into the Wah family. Yet for all this, it was a happy home. The older boys looked after their sisters. The youngsters amused themselves, riding in Billy-carts down the gravel streets or swimming in the Bremer River, which ran behind the house. It was there that she learned to swim, the hard way, as she tells it – she was thrown in. We know from first-hand experience that Doreen and Junes’ brothers loved their sisters deeply, even though at times they weren’t averse to holding Doreen down and tickling her mercilessly. On summer weekends there was the Krait’s Cricket team organised by her father. With seven boys he already had half a team under his roof. The whole family used to pile into an open truck and drive out to spend the entire day at the local matches. Doreen, June and Kenny had to amuse themselves all day long and after that Doreen was never very fond of the game. At other times there were Miner’s Picnic train trips to Sandgate to swim in the sea. Later on for their annual Christmas holidays, the family made the journey down to the Gold Coast. In the beginning, they travelled there by train, by punt, and by truck over rutted, sandy roads. Spending the Christmas holidays in the large green-roofed tent, at Burleigh Heads was a ritual the whole family continued to enjoy long after Doreen’s siblings had grown and had their own families. Doreen, like her sister and brothers, went to Blair Primary School. There she showed her aptitude in mathematics, often showing up the other kids, and her teacher. A lover of music Doreen learned to play the piano and did so for many years. On a couple of occasions, she played the piano on the local radio station. During the Second World War Doreen’s three eldest brothers went off to serve in the army. She spent many Saturdays in the kitchen with her mother and sister baking biscuits and making up canvas wrapped food tins to send to the boys overseas. Like most girls of the time, Doreen left school around 14. To help support her family, she took work as a seamstress at Bishop and Woodwards. There she made friends with Shirley Hertrick, whose cousin was Bill Scriven. Doreen loved 99

to go to the dances and the movies, walking everywhere with her friends. It was

Holdsworth Road at a dance at the WPO Hall that she first met Shirley’s cousin. Doreen took an immediate shine to this handsome young boy, and he to her. Doreen invited Bill to her 16th birthday party, although he wasn’t her only suitor. Three boys vied for Doreen’s attention showering her with gifts; one gave her a necklace, another a bangle and the third - three plastic coat hangers. As history has shown, she chose the boy who believed in practicality and quality over bling – Bill and his coat hangers. All of which have lasted and two of the coat hangers are still in the wardrobe after more than 65 years. Later, as a young apprentice in the railways, and conscious of his pennies, Bill used to meet Doreen inside the local picture theatre and then they’d watch the movies together. Bill lived with his brother Alan and his parents over on the north side of town. Doreen and Bill’s dating quickly fell into a pattern of Bill riding his bicycle backwards and forwards across the town bridge, slowly wearing a groove in the road and steadily boosting his courtship bid. All this without any major incidents except for one truck which came too close on the town bridge and almost pushed Bill over the edge. The two courted for several years, going to bush dances, playing social games of tennis, and on train trips to the seaside to places like Sandgate. It all proved successful, as Doreen later accepted his marriage proposal and they were wed at Saint Paul’s Anglican Church Ipswich in 1954. Doreen’s mum was a devout Catholic, her father Protestant, and because she was marrying an Anglican, her father refused to walk her down the aisle. This honour was taken up by her older brother Bobby. Three years later they started a family of their own with the birth of Wayne William Scriven in 1957, followed by Peter Charles Scriven three years later in 1960, and then their daughters, Suzanne Gaye Scriven in 1963 and Michelle Maree Scriven in 1967. After Bill and Doreen were first married, they lived in Aunty May’s house in Holdsworth Road for twelve months before moving into the house in Albert Street in 1955, and the house was slowly extended as the family continued to grow. This home was the centre of her family’s universe. Doreen was incredibly house-proud. She had her routines with washing on Monday, ironing on Tuesday, floors, and dusting on Friday and baking on Saturday. A pattern that continued up until a few years before her passing. Thursday though was always Doreen’s special day. It was the one day of the week when Doreen, her sister June and their mum all had a girl’s day together. Each

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Holdsworth Road week, they would meet at one of their homes, drink tea, chat, and continue to forge their already strong bond. Doreen’s funeral was held on a Thursday, a fact I did not realise at the time. This was pointed out to me after I’d given her eulogy. It wasn’t just every third Thursday that was a social occasion at Albert Street. We all remember the family gatherings, the barbecues and the slide evenings with the cousins, aunts, uncles and family friends all enjoying one another’s company. Whenever there was a special birthday or anniversary, Bill and Doreen would often host the family gathering. When you counted in Doreen and Bill’s parents, siblings, cousins, friends, and children, it made for a large tribe. It was a golden time, for there never seem to be any disharmony, just fun and laughter, with the kids playing happily in the backyard. Each aunt would bring a plate, all with their own specialty; Neenish tarts, caramel slices, scones and chocolate cake, to name a just few mouth-watering memories. Always alert and aware of everything Doreen was the perfect hostess, continually worrying that her visitors were well fed and warmly welcomed. She loved entertaining, and was always fashionably dressed and never went out without her earrings. Deft at knitting and sewing, and with Mama’s help, they kept the family impeccably well-dressed and warmly clothed on a budget. Her passions through the years varied and included collecting frogs, teaspoons, china teacups and ornamental shoes as well as knitting, sewing and making greenware ceramics. Many examples of which still adorn the family home. Doreen loved to travel, and not just for the annual Christmas holiday pilgrimages down to Burleigh Heads. Every couple of years, Doreen and Bill organised a road trip with us kids in tow. First with a tent, then a camper trailer, which Bill built from a 6 x 4 box trailer with his brother-in-law’s help, then even later with Millie the Caravan. The family travelled as far north as Cairns and south to Sydney, the Snowy Mountains and as far afield as Adelaide. Doreen’s favourite destination though was the Great Ocean Road, which she and Bill visited numerous times. When the children had grown, Bill and Doreen continued to travel with the caravan and later on numerous bus trips, travelling to every part of Australia, then later to New Zealand, Canada and America. With Bill often co-driving the bus, their neighbour, Norm Fletcher, organised many of the bus trips Doreen so loved. She never really liked flying, so for her, Australia was more than big enough a country to explore. What she did love was the fun-loving camaraderie of those trips. 101

Doreen travelled less in later years, although she continued to read caravan magazines and watch travel shows. Even though she never ventured far from

Holdsworth Road home, her circle of interests continued to grow. Proud of her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, she was always interested in their achievements and adventures. A true Gemini, Doreen loved to have at least two of everything. She was quick to decide and equally quick to change her mind. Doreen was also very spiritual in her own way. Baptised and brought up ‘Catholic’, she often said, she converted to ‘Anglican’ to marry Bill. Doreen loved reading her horoscope. Birthdays, anniversaries and special days were important to her and were never forgotten. The 24th was an important date in the household. Three of her children were born on the 24th (August, July and November), and she married the love of her life on the 24th (April). Indeed they were married for nearly 60 years. Towards the end of her life, Doreen had several health issues, including several minor heart attacks, a value replacement and was on Warfarin for may years. A lady with a heart as large as hers eventually wore it out. Doreen became more lucid about her own life as it drew nearer towards its close and I truly believe it was because as the veil of this existence was dropped, she saw that there was more beyond this mere physical existence – that God does indeed exist. In the last few years, Doreen health faded further. Diagnosed as Coeliac, she also had AF (Atrial Fibrillation) and six months before she passed, she fell over and broke her hip. The doctors were loathed to operate as she might not survive the anesthetic. Eventually, the head surgeon at Ipswich Hospital performed the surgery and pinned her hip. Although the operation was successful Doreen never fully recovered, She died peacefully on the 1st November 2013 in St Andrews Hospital, ostensibly from Pneumonia. She is buried at Warrill View cemetery close to the graves of her mother and two of her brothers.

1938 – Alan George Scriven Born on the 2nd October 1938, Alan was the second child of George and Doss Scriven. Alan grew up in the house in Payne Street with his parents and older brother Bill Scriven. Each of George’s sons had horses. Jackie was Alan’s horse and was a quiet and lazy horse. So quiet in fact Jackie had to be prodded to move. Alan was able to do tricks on the horse, including standing up on the horse bareback.

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Holdsworth Road During the drought of 1968, and while Randa was still on crutches a mob of cattle got out of the River paddock and were found foraging down at College’s Crossing. George was called by a local farmer who knew that if the cattle were not moved off of crown land, the Pound Keeper would be called. The family swung into action, with Randa, Mama and Dalma supervising from the hill above Colleges while Alan and Bill on horses tried to herd the cattle back upriver and into the paddock. At one point Alan and his horse took off chasing some breakaways. Running through the rough terrain, his horse tripped into a hollow. Alan went over the head of the horse, with the horse following behind. Alan was ploughed face-first into the ground with the writhing horse on top of him. There were a few tense moments with the horse striking out wildly with deadly hooves flying. Horrified Randa looked on with bated breath, while Mama swore that if Alan was hurt or worse killed, the cattle would be sent to the abattoirs. Dalma with a toddler and a babe on her hip feared for Alan’s life. Fortunately, the horse was able to slide off of Alan and right itself. And other than a coating of dust and a few scratches Alan was unharmed. Alan didn’t finish his schooling as he struggled with his studies, especially Algebra. He left school before taking his sub-junior exam at 14. He started work as a bottle washer at McMahon’s soft drink factory for six weeks before beginning his apprenticeship at Faulkner Motors in Brisbane Street when he was 15, in January 1954. His college training was after hours at the old Technical College in Limestone Street. Alan had an illustrious career playing A Grade football with Booval Swifts Rugby League Club and Ipswich City. He also played for the Railways Club for two years in the Ipswich Bulimba Cup and in 1965 and 1966 for East Brisbane. Alan is a life member of Booval Swifts. Alan also played in the Vice-Regal Band with his cousin Sonny Stokes, his friend Ray Oldmear and his cousin-in-law Dudley Knight. In the late fifties Alan started courting a bright young lass, Dalma Jean Zeidler, after a couple of years Alan proposed. But first, he needed to ask Dalma’s fathers permission. On the day Alan went round to the Ziedlers and spent two hours cleaning the lino in the house working up the nerve to ask Roy Zeidler. The stress was all for naught for Roy was ‘in the know’ on why Alan was there that day. Roy kept ribbing Alan while they cleaned the floor together, which only added to Alan’s stress. In fact, Roy was happy to let the couple wed. Besides being in love with her handsome ‘Bimbo’, Dalma was glad of the opportunity to escape from under 103

her mother’s control.

Holdsworth Road The next week the couple dressed in their Sunday best and headed into Brisbane on the train to buy an engagement ring. The ring was purchased at Wallace Bishops in Adelaide Street. Roy Zeidler worked in the railway Workshops and ran the squeeze hammer. As was typical of the workshops, Roy was able to manufacture the knife which cut the wedding cake from a piece of scrap steel. Alan married Dalma on the 20th April 1963 at St Stephens Presbyterian Church in Limestone Street, Ipswich. Later Alan’s wedding ring short-circuited when he was working on a starter motor. The ring had to be cut off his finger, and for many years he never wore a wedding ring. After they married, the couple went on a holiday south as far as the Victorian border. Although the first night of their honeymoon was spent at a motel on the Gold Coast. After a romantic night, they were awakened by a knock on the door. The newlyweds were greeted by Alan’s parents George and Doss with Ethel Francis, Doss’ sister, who had all decided to take a drive to the coast for the day. The young couple lived with Alan’s parents in Payne Street for the first few months of their marriage until their new house was completed at 37 Holdsworth Road. Their home was yet another house whose plans were ably drawn up by Alan’s brother Bill. The couple had three children: David Alan Scriven born on the 8th August 1965, Paul Anthony Scriven on the 20th February 1968 and Rodney John Scriven on the 19th September 1971. Alan’s nickname was Bimbo. He was given this name when as an apprentice at Faulkner Motors he was walking down Brisbane Street with a hole in the seat of his overalls. He and his mates were singing a popular song at the time, “Bimbo, Bimbo where are you going oh” and the nickname stuck to Alan. In the ways of country towns, Alan worked with Brian O’Sullivan at Faulkner Motors. Brian was good friends with Bryan Woods, as they both lived in O’Sullivan Street in Woodend. Later Bryan married June Knight. After leaving school Alan’s sisterin-law, June Knight worked in the Mines Department then later Pennys in Nicholas Street, which was later taken over by Coles. Bryan Woods later married June Knight but before that his brother married her older sister, Doreen Knight. From his working years, Alan’s best mate was John Stevenson, they met when they were both apprentices at Faulkner motors. They met when Alan was in his firstyear apprenticeship and John in his second. Their birthdays were only a day apart, Alan’s on the 2nd of October, John’s on the 3rd, and for years the pair celebrated their special day together. Alan’s girlfriend at the time organised a blind date with

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Holdsworth Road John and her friend Margaret Turner. The couple clicked, and John later married Margaret. Margaret was the daughter of Tom (TP) Turner who later became Alan’s son David’s first boss. Margaret ran a florist shop next to the UFS Dispensary at Booval and later at Winston Glades. Dalma worked with her for a time in the store and helped with deliveries. In later years John and Margaret moved out to Cunnamulla on a 32,000 acre (13,000 hectares) property that ran 6,000 head of sheep. With fresh rainwater always in short supply, the local creek’s water would be pumped into tanks for drinking. Then Alum was added to settle the mud. John and Margaret retired to Dalby. Alan and Dalma continued to visit every October until John died of a stroke in 2018. As well as working for Faulkners, he also worked at Repco and for a while was the mechanic in the service station workshop at the Amberley RAAF Air Base. Later Alan and Dalma leased a takeaway shop in Raceview Road. Then Alan worked for Weidermier’s Garage until his retirement in September 2003. In his retirement, he and Dalma travelled extensively with their caravan. They saw much of Australia from Cooktown in the north to the Great Ocean Road in Victoria. They especially enjoyed the inland of Australia touring extensively through outback Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria. David married Liza Sharee Peters, although now divorced, they have three children Brianah Jade born on the 17th January 1989, Loren Elizabeth Scriven on 3rd July 1990 and Jackson David Scriven on 20th May 1995. David’s partner is Mechelle Earley. Paul married Kim Davis on the 7th October 2000, later the couple divorced, and his current partner is Lisa Knight. They have one son Leigh Scriven who was born on the 9th May 1999. Rodney married Sharlene Marsh on the 21st January 1992. They had two children Luke Scriven in 1995, Taylor Scriven in 1998. Later the couple divorced. Rodney then married Helen Davies on the 6th May 2000. They are also now divorced and they have two daughters Madalyn Scriven born in 2002 and Alisa Scriven in 2003.

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Holdsworth Road

1940 – Dalma Jean (Zeidler) Scriven [Del] Born on the 25th February 1940, Dalma was the second child of Roy and Euphemia Zeidler. She grew up in Darling Street, Ipswich opposite the railway tracks. A few weeks before Dalma’s 16th birthday, the family moved to a house in McNamara Street, Leichardt. Dalma had one older sister Claire Dorothy Zeidler and a younger brother Graham Roy Maxwell Zeidler. Dalma was educated at Blair School, but as with the times, she left school at 13. After leaving school, she worked at Haley’s bakery for many years, only leaving in 1965, a couple years after she was married and expecting her first child David. As a 14 year old at Haley’s she was sent into the cellar to put Mrs Williams meat in the fridge. As a lark, they shut the door behind her and turned off the lights. They played the same prank numerous times throughout her time working there. Dalma married Alan Scriven at St Stephen’s on the 20th April 1963. Alan was not the first boy she had dated, she went out for a while with another Alan, this one was Alan Ellieson, before deciding on her Alan. As Alan was not long out of his apprenticeship, Dalma was the more significant ‘bread’ winner. When she finished with the bakery in 1963, she was earning £11 2s 6d a week. Dalma’s best friend from when she was 16 was June (Watson) Hallett. They met on the bus, and as both were a pair of wags, they clicked and have remained friends ever since. While an excellent housewife, and handy with sewing, knitting and crochet, she was always well dressed. From the age of 16 up until recently, she never went anywhere without a black leather handbag. As a young girl, Dalma walked from Leichardt to the WPO Hall in North Ipswich to attend the dances. In her youth, Dalma played hockey and basketball, in the position of goalie. However, her greatest passion until recently was tennis. Dalma was a competitive social tennis player. Even though Dalma’s father, Roy, was voted as the 4th best Cricket Umpire in Ipswich’s history Dalma never took to the game. When Alan was working at Repco, Dalma used to walk every day with June (Knight) Woods. Dalma would walk up Holdsworth Road to Currey Street to meet up with June, then the pair would walk through the local streets while catching up on the local news. June and Dalma are the same age having both been born in 1940. 106

Holdsworth Road Vince O’Sullivan, who worked in the Stores in the railways, lived across Holdsworth Road and used to come across and play with Alan and Dalma’s kids when they were younger. This was partly to get away from the chores that his wife kept setting him, including her annual repainting of the house. When the kids were younger, Randa would wait on Nolan’s Corner and amuse the three boys while Dalma raced around doing her shopping. Nolan’s Corner was always the place for folks from the town and country to meet and exchange news and gossip. She was a long-time Junior Treasurer and Convener for the canteen at the Booval Swifts Junior Rugby League Football Club at North Ipswich Reserve, East Ipswich and Joyce Street, Booval. She was also on the Board of Directors for the club. All her three sons played for Swifts. Alan and Dalma were involved for many years with the Booval Swifts football club. During their time they were involved with several committees and coaching teenagers. Their roles included: treasurer, IRL Delegate, managing ‘The Oval’ canteen, as board members and were instrumental with fundraising. Their involvement grew out of Alan’s coaching of the under 15 and 16 teams. Dalma was becoming a football widow, so she joined Swifts’ junior committee and then later the ladies committee. Their three boys grew up at Swifts. They all played in the under-sevens team to the Senior squad for the oldest two (David and Paul) and under 18s for their youngest (Rodney). Both Alan and Dalma have many happy moments associated with fundraising for the club. The events were always treated as a social event, even though they worked very hard. For a fundraiser like the hamburger stall at the Amberley Air Show, the evening before the committee members would spend hours at the Joy Street clubhouse buttering bread rolls, slicing tomatoes and onions, making coleslaw, all until well after midnight. The next morning the committee members had to be at the base early to set up their stall. Even though most of them lacked sleep, some of them nursing a hangover, they all worked hard throughout the day. Even so, all the workers enjoyed the day. Alan remembers even having time to catch a short nap. Though he woke to find his bed was actually a green ant’s nest. Fortunately, even though they weren’t impressed, they condescended not to bite. Dalma was the canteen convener for over 20 years, amongst other duties on the committees. The members who worked in the canteen over the years treated 107

the job as a social and enjoyed the jokes played on them. At the time, the Junior

Holdsworth Road secretary was Ken Nutley he kept shaking his head saying that the workers don’t eat at home they just came to football to eat. There were many funny moments during their time at the canteen. Alan was the short-order cook, and at one stage the ladies were serving mushy peas on the pies. Dalma had the bright idea of warming the large cans of peas on a hotplate of the large commercial gas stove. One time, while Alan was distracted cooking chips and hotdogs, someone asked for more peas. Unfortunately, the can of peas exploded when he inserted the can opener. You cannot imagine the mess one exploded can of mushy peas can make. Ken Nutley poked his head around the corner, with eyes wide open, he wanted to know what happened. It took ages to clean the peas off the ceiling, walls and cupboards. Fortunately, the boiling hot peas missed Dalma, but everybody had a good laugh at her expense. Another time when they had a big crowd, the canteen ladies couldn’t keep up with demand. So Dalma had another bright idea, this time of putting a large pot on the stove and cooking around 5 kg of sausages at once. Guess what? The pot continued to boil, and while Dalma was busy elsewhere, all the wieners split open, and sausage soup was born. As a matter of record, she still holds the record for bursting the most hotdog sausages in one go. Alan and Dalma’s involvement in organising Swifts’ ‘Silver Circle’ fundraiser was probably one of the biggest fundraisers the club ever set out to achieve. This fundraiser led first to the purchase of the ground at Gledson Street, then ultimately to the present Swifts Club’s grounds at Purga. When the Blitz Street’s land was purchased the club needed to continually raise funds coming into to pay for it. The club kept the fundraiser running for a few years. It was a time-consuming operation on top of all their regular duties with the club. The Railway Workshops have always been an integral part of Swifts, with most of their players coming from there. The workshops were also a primary source for fundraising. The club had collectors in every section of the workshop. Alan and Dalma’s involvement amounted to time spent every week going around collecting the donations. The money raised allowed the club to pay off their debts in a few short years. Unfortunately, the ground was not approved for use as a sports field with a Clubhouse for the club. With much sadness, the land had to be sold. The money raised from the sale allowed the club to purchase their present grounds at Purga. 108

Holdsworth Road Then the hard work had to begin, with the committee dedicated to forming the playing fields, installing floodlights, an automatic sprinkler system as well as adding a canteen and bar. Temporary dressing sheds and a toilet block plus machinery and equipment sheds. The continued future of the club is down to the tireless work of the volunteers over many years. Alan and Dalma’s proudest time at the club was when they were both awarded life memberships. Go the mighty Bluebirds. After the children had grown Dalma and Alan leased a takeaway shop in Raceview Street for several years. As well as Dalma assisting her daughter-in-law Lisa, with her florist business. A keen knitter and crocheter she spends much of her spare time creating jumpers and rugs for her grandchildren and the residents in the nursing home down the road. They had three children: David Alan Scriven was born on the 8th August 1965, Paul Anthony Scriven was born on the 20th February 1968 and Rodney John Scriven was born on the 19th September 1971. Dalma’s older sister Claire Dorothy Zeidler was born on the 14th July 1938 and died on the 21st July 2011. She married John Keith [Keith] Suthers. Keith was born on the 18th March 1934 and died on the 13th February 2016. They had six children: Keith James [Junior/Tighe], Catherine Ann, Kay Margaret, Janet Saye, Greg Francis and David John Suthers. Keith Suthers junior was born on the 14th October 1959. He married Dianne Marie Witt on the 13th December 1983. The couple have four children: Alicia Claire Suthers born on the 28th February 1988, Amy Elizabeth Suthers born on the 29th July 1991, Brittany Marie Suthers born on the 5th November 1993 and Jake Keith Suthers born on the 18th May 1997. Catherine Suthers was born on the 11th October 1961. She married Peter Donald Cam on the 18th April 1987. Peter was born on the 6th December 1957. The couple have two children: Sarah Catherine Cam born on the 23rd September 1992 and Erin Claire Cam born on the 27th October 1996. Kay Suthers was born on the 7th of August 1963. She has never married. Janet Suthers was born on the 16th February 1965. She married Christopher Geeling on the 29th June 1992. Christopher was born on the 25th May 1967. The 109

couple have two children: Brooke Elyse Geeling born on the 29th April 1995 and Alexander John Geeling born on the 12th September 1997.

Holdsworth Road Greg Suthers was born on the 18th August 1967. He married Tracy Marie Kissick on the 22nd August 1992. Tracey was born on the 15th September 1971. The couple have three children: Jeremy Roy Suthers born on the 5th April 2002, Abby Maree Suthers born on the 9th September 2000 and Ethan Jared Suthers born on the 15th November 2005. David Suthers was born on the 18th July 1971. He married Leesa Michelle Dern. Leesa was born on the 8th February 1971. The couple have two children: Claudia Lisa Suthers born on the 3rd January 2000 and Ryan Alan Suthers born on the 19th March 2002. Dalma’s younger brother Graham Zeidler was born on the 25th January 1943. He married Yvonne Nathon, and although they later divorced they had two children; Glenn Zeidler born on the 9th January 1970 and Christine Zeidler born on the 9th December 1972. Graham died on the 30th September 1985, he was only 42 years old. Graham died of a massive heart attack while training with his son for a Boy Scouts father and son run. After having been out training, he was only 50 metres from his own front door when he collapsed to the ground outside a neighbours house. The neighbour was a doctor who later said that even he had been on the spot, he would not have been able to save Graham’s life.

1945 – Kenneth Leslie Scriven [Kenny / Ken] Kenny was born on the 2nd May 1945, the second child and only son of Les and Emily Scriven. His sister Jean, who was born in 1932, was thirteen years older. Ken went to school at Ipswich North Primary School, as did his sister Jean although in totally different decades. In a twist of fate, while at Primary School, Kenny lost the tip of one in his fingers when a door blew shut on his hand. And in an even weirder twist of fate, years later Ken’s nephew Steven also lost the tip of his finger. The same finger, same hand but no door just the jaws of Steven’s pet Rottweiler. Most of the Scriven family were members of the Congregational Church. The old Congregational Church was at 62 Downs Street, opposite the North Ipswich Primary School. There used to be Congregational, Methodist and Presbyterian Churches in North Ipswich however after Union to form the Uniting Church in Australia, the Methodist and Congregational church properties were sold. The Presbyterian church property on the corner of Downs Street and Pine Mountain

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Holdsworth Road Road then became the North Ipswich Uniting Church. This has now also been closed. The old Congregational Church building is still standing, and it is here that Kenny went to Sunday school. The Sunday School was run by Joyce (Peterson) McInnally. Joyce, although in her nineties, is very active on the ‘Lost Ipswich’ Facebook site. Ken remembers that as a child his grandmother, Eva (Rossiter) Scriven had several sisters. The Rossiter family had a poultry farm, and Ken remembers them feeding onions to their chooks to stop them from getting worms. Ken’s father, Les, had cousins named Jones who lived up in Benarkin. Mary Jones married Tom Harper and Les and Emily, and the kids often went up and stayed with the Harpers. Ken remembers that there was no electricity in the house. Mary and Tom Harper had no children, but when Mary’s sister May died of a stroke, they took her daughter Val under their wing. His father’s cousin Florie Shipley ran a boarding house in North Ipswich. He remembers the old house with its stained glass front window was opposite the two service stations in Downs Street. Florie’s husband Laurie Shipley died in 1971. Kenny was in New Zealand at the time on a holiday when he heard the news. Florie’s daughter Irene married an American during World War II and moved to the USA. There was bad blood in the house for many years, but the family eventually reconciled. After primary school Ken did his junior schooling at the old high school in Ipswich at the old Technical College from 1958 to 1959. He then left after his scholarship year in 1960. After leaving school, Ken started work at the ANZ bank in 1961. While there he sat the public service exam and joined the Railways at the age of 15. He was a quiet and shy boy who worked as a clerk at the old Ipswich Railway Station in Union Street, from 1961 to 1969. He saw an ad in the Queensland Times for a position as a Clerk with the Police. He was accepted and became the first-ever civilian roster clerk for the police force. Previously you had to be a member of the police forces. He worked at the Ipswich Police Station in East Street for the next fourteen years, from 1970 to 1984. In 1984 he left to the Police to work full-time in his wholesale nursery. Ken’s interest in gardening began when he was a young lad. He used to help his mother in the garden. Jean liked to plant Calendulas (English marigolds). When he was about 14, Ken started planting annuals like Zinnias (daisy) in the 111

summer. His aunt Shirley’s favourite plant were Pepperonias (tropical flowering

Holdsworth Road plants). When his family moved to 80 Holdsworth Road, the garden was mainly a collection of scrawny shrubs. Ken started putting in more plants, some which survived while others didn’t. Then in the mid-1970s, he met Neta Bottcher, whose husband Howard was the local undertaker. The Bottcher’s had bought a house in Cranes Road, opposite where Neta’s mother lived. Both ladies had award-winning gardens. At the 1974 Ipswich Horticultural Show Neta’s mother introduced Ken to Neta. They organised to meet, and she came to see the garden at Holdsworth Road. Neta told Ken to use the correct botanical names for plants and be more judicious with his planting. Neta was on the council committee for beautification projects from the 1960s onwards. She wanted to beautify the streets of Ipswich and suggested putting plants in roundabouts. Neta was instrumental in creating the environmental park on Denmark Hill, behind the Ipswich Hospital. While planting on the project, she had words with a chap who was about to chop down a native tree. It turned out that the chap was Council Alderman Brown. In her younger days, Neta Bottcher looked like a young Grace Kelly. Neta was a music teacher before she married her husband. Howard had two cars, a top of the range Rover and a beat-up Holden Ute and drove either depending on his mood on the day. Ken’s father, Les, was also fussy over his cars. They were always immaculate. When Ken said that his father had bought a new car, his colleague at the police station said did he run over some ‘dog shit’ in the old one. On the other hand, Ken’s car is a work vehicle, and his father often said, “You could grow potatoes in it!” Around this time Ken used to make regular trips to the Australian Plant Centre at Goonanabah near Runaway Bay at the Gold Coast. The centre no longer exists. Initially, Ken used to just plant what he liked and hoped it survived. Neta became a friend and mentor to him and she taught Ken to plant what was suitable and to weed out the rest. The garden at Holdsworth Road became an oasis. Ken frequented the nurseries and became friendly with owners, like Daphne who had a nursery in Telegraph Road, and Keith Oatley one on Fernvale Road at Brassall. They all sold plants, and Ken thought he could do the same. Back then you didn’t need council approval so from 1974 to 1984 he sold plants, first at Holdsworth Road, then later at a wholesale nursery. 112

Holdsworth Road Always the keen gardener, he created a garden paradise at Holdsworth Road. He ran it as a nursery selling plants to the local garden lovers. His knowledge of plants is now encyclopedic, and this came in handy when dealing with his clients. His niece Janelle used the spectacular gardens as the venue for her wedding to Laurie Devereaux in 1981. A few years before his father died, Kenny bought an established wholesale garden nursery at Doolandella in a rundown condition. With hard work and dedication, he built it up into a thriving wholesale plant business. He then bought a retail nursery in the same area. Then in the late 1980s, the financial crisis hit. He could have closed the business, but the bank forced him to trade insolvent. At the time he had about $80,000 in loans on the business and improvements he had made to the house at Holdsworth Road. Ken had completely renovated the interiors of the house. Unfortunately, he was eventually forced to relinquish the business. Truscott, who was the police photographer, bought the house at Holdsworth Road and has since let it run down until it is now in a poor repair state. Ken is still enthusiastic about gardening and is highly regarded by the staff at the various nurseries and markets where he works. Ken has lived in a full circle of houses, his early years were spent in the house in Birdwood Lane with his parents, sister Jean and great-grandmother Sarah Ann Scriven. In 1964 his grandfather Charles [Pop] Scriven died, and the house was left to Ken’s father Les. Initially, Emily didn’t want to move into the house however Les and Ken repainted inside the house, and they moved in 1965. A few weeks later when Ken was 21, they had a BBQ celebration in the backyard at 80 Holdsworth Road. When his father Les Scriven passed away in 1983 the Holdsworth Road home was left to Kenny. Unfortunately, it was later sold when Ken got into some financial difficulty in the 1990s. Then when that house was subsequently sold, he moved into the Birdwood Lane house. By this time the lane’s name had been changed to Cuffes Lane. The house in Cuffes Lane has passed down through the women in the family from Sarah Ann Lovell to May Stokes and then to Shirley Hertrick. Even though there was a thirteen-year age difference between them, Ken was always close to his sister Jean. Throughout their lives and especially after her husband, Merv McDowall died, and even later when Jean fell ill with cancer, Ken 113

became even more generous with his support. He took his sister shopping each week when she could no longer drive. This brought brother and sister even closer.

Holdsworth Road Ken, who often begins most of his statements with, “Whatcha call it…”, would phone his sister daily to have a chat. Plus they’d see each other at least once a week. Jean, the constant worrier, was always telling her little brother how to run his life. She would nag, but it came from a place of love. Ken always had a close relationship with his cousins, especially Shirley, whom he visited regularly at Pine Mountain Road when she was less active. He got on well with her daughters. He like Cheryl because she would call a spade a spade, Robyn because she has always had a mature head on her shoulders and Lorelle because she is the calm one of the family. When Shirley died, the house in Cuffes Lane where he had lived for so many years, was sold. Ken has since moved into another old Queensland cottage only a few blocks away in Hill Street. There he has relocated his collection of antique furniture and hundreds of potted plants. Ken has never married.

1| On the road to Kumbia:[l to r] George and Alan Scriven, Ethel Francis, Doreen Knight, Bill Scriven and Frank Francis, circa 1950.

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1| William George, Eva May and Charles Leslie Scriven, circa 1920s. 2| Shirley, George, Leslie (Sonny) and May Stokes on Shirley’s christening day in 1931.

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1| Wedding portrait of Les and Emily Scriven in November 1931. 2| Ethel and Frank Francis’ wedding day 1918 3| The Scriven family at Holdsworth Road: [lto r] Emily Jordan, Les Scriven, May, George, Shirley and Sonny Stokes, Eva, Charles, Doss and George Scriven, circa 1931. 4| [l to r] Lillian Edith,

Charles, Charles Henry, Victor, Agnes (Hayett), Thomas Gordon Scriven, circa 1910 5| The Scriven family in the 1920s: William 118 George, Charles Leslie, Charles Richard, Evaline Eva (Rossiter) and Eva May. .

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1| A young Shirley and May Stokes with Mrs Weidermier in Brisbane Street, Ipswich around 1940 2| The Francis family: [l tor] Ethel, Walter, Maude, Frank, Stuart and Jack, circa 1940s. 3| Dorothy Crisp and George Scriven’s engagement photo, in the late 1920s.

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1|| Agnes and Lawrence Crisp, circa 1910. 2| Charles (Pop) Scriven hosing in the backyard of 80 Holdsworth Road. 3| Maude Francis, in the 1930s. 4| The Rossiter family circa 1936: [l to r] Back

row: Andrew, Daisy, Gertrude, (insert Phoebe), Arthur. Front row: John, Mary Ann, George, Eva and Ada. 5| Formal studio portrait, possibly of William Scriven and his wife Sarah Ann (Lovell) Scriven.

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1| Dorothy Crisp and George Scriven, circa the late 1920s. 2|| Four generations of Scrivens [l to r] Charles Richard, William George, and William Charles with Wayne William down in front. circa 1960.

3| Agnes Crisp. 4| Fred Brown Junior. 5| Ted Crisp. 6| A studio shoot of Lawrence Crisp (standing) and Cyril Walsh (seated).

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1| On the running board: [l to r] Charles and Sarah Scriven, George Rossiter, Emily Jordan, Daisy and Eva Rossiter, George Scriven at the wheel with Les Scriven hiding at the back. 2| Stokes family with horse:

[l to r] William, Emma, Essie, George and Ada. 3| Family group photo, possibly the Penning family 4| A wedding group photo, possibly Bill, Essie, Ada and George Stokes on the far right.

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1|| Four generations together: Caroline Scriven, Maureen Dwyer, Maud Rodger and Sarah Ann Scriven. 2| Caroline Rodger at her daughter’s 21st Birthday party. 3| On the steps at Birdwood lane: May Stokes,

Sarah Ann Scriven, with Shirley, Jean and Sonny down in front. 4| Ipswich Model Band competition group in 1921with Les Scriven, second row, second from the left.

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1| Fred Brown and his wife Irene in Sydney in the 1950s. 2| Merv and Shirley Hertrick’s wedding day in 1954. 3| Stuart and Betty Francis’ wedding day in 1950. 4| Bill and Doreen Scriven on their wedding

day, 24th April 1954. 5| Bathing group, circa 1940, [l to r] Alan, George, Doss and Les Scriven, May and George Stokes, Emily Scriven and Shirley Stokes, down in front Bill and Jean Scriven with Maggie Jordon.

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1| Jane Grey. 2| Alan and Dalma Scriven with their first child David on his baptisim. 3| Ethel and Maude Francis 1940s. 4| Bill Scriven, Doreen Knight, Shirley Stokes and Mervyn Hertrick. 5| Cunnighams Gap: George, Doreen, Bill, Doss Scriven with Ethel Francis.

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1| On the bridge: Alan Scriven, George Scriven, Shirley Stokes, Doreen Knight and Bill Scriven. 2| Bill and Doreen Scriven’s wedding day with [l to r] Alan Scriven, Vicki Kirkwood, Bill and Doreen, Shirley

134 Stokes, Alan Kirkwood and June Knight, 1954. 3| Four generations of Crisp; [l to r] (possibly) Esme Cooper, Agnes Crispand Clara Kennedy with baby Cooper. 4| Members of the Ipswich Marching Band with Sonny Stokes on the far right.

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1| Birthday dinner for Peter’s eighth birthday, round the table [l to r] Shane Woods, Suzanne, Wayne, Peter and Michelle with Sonia Wood. 2| The Scrivens at the beach 1963 [l to r] Dalma, Alan, Peter, Doreen, Doss, Wayne and George. 3| The family all gather outside St Thomas’ Church. for Shrley

Hertricks’ funeral. 4| All the generations of Scrivens together at the new house in Coal Road [l to r] Back: Wayne, David, Alan, Paul, Mama, Randa, Doreen and Bill. Down in front: Anne, Dalma, Michelle, Rodney and baby Emma.

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1| Ipswich Model Band 1937, Les Scriven second from the left in the second row. 2| Mother and daughters together for her 90th birthday: Grandma Knight with June Woods and Doreen Scriven. 3| George Stokes and May Scriven’s wedding photo in 1927 with bridesmaids Ida Rogers,

Mary Rossiter and Edith Watkins, groomsmen were George and Les Scriven. 4| 2020 Scrivens: [l to r] Peter Scriven, Vern Nathan, Kenny Scriven, Janelle (McDowall) Deveraux, Bill Scriven, Laurie Deveraux and Suzanne (Scriven) Friend.

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Crisps

The Crisp line:

The history of Australia is one of change and fluidity. There were periods when times were good, and others hard. The formation of the Australian identity, grew through years of boom and years of bust, through seasons of droughts and of flooding rains. Over the past two centuries, the sunburnt country saw the introduction of many innovations. Including the increasing ease of travel with the rise of the motor car. It also saw emigration of more families and further branching of our tree. When the Holdsworth Road Scriven’s married into the Crisp, Stokes and Jordan families, it also saw the birth of a whole new set of stories.

1680 – William John Crisp [John] William John [John] Crisp was born in 1680 in Northamptonshire, the son of Katherin and Richard. He was baptised on the 25th December 1681. He married Mary Hipwell on the 25th October 1703 in South Kilworth, Leicestershire. They had three children during their marriage. Their son William was born on the 25th July 1706 in London, son Joseph was born in 1707 in Lilbourne, Northamptonshire and son William was born in 1711.

1707 – Joseph Crisp Joseph Crisp was born in 1707 in Lilbourne, Northamptonshire to Mary Hipwell and William John [John] Crisp. Joseph married Mary Frost in Lilbourne, Northamptonshire, on the 29th June 1731 when he was 24 years old. Mary was born in 1711 in Lilbourne, Northamptonshire, England. Their son Joseph was born in February 1735. Joseph passed away in May 1762 at the age of 55.

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1735 – Joseph Crisp Joseph Crisp was born in February 1735 in Lilbourne, Northamptonshire, to Mary Frost and Joseph Crisp. He married Mary Walton on the 8th May 1759 in his hometown. They had four children over the next 16 years. His son Richard was born in July 1760 but died shortly after. His daughter Sarah was born in July 1763, his son Joseph was born in 1765 and son Thomas was born on the 28th December 1776. Joseph’s wife Mary passed away on the 23rd December 1790 in Lilbourne, at the age of 52. The couple had been married for 31 years. Joseph died in February 1817 in Lilbourne, having lived a long life of 82 years.

1765 – Joseph Crisp Joseph Crisp was born in 1765 in Lilbourne, Northamptonshire to Mary Walton and Joseph Crisp. He married Mary Burbidge on the 15th January 1792. They had two children during their marriage. His son John H was born in 1780 Joseph died in 1809 in Libourne at the age of 44, and was buried there.

1780 – John H Crisp John H Crisp was born in 1780 in Northamptonshire to Mary Burbidge and Joseph Crisp. According to the existing records they were both only 15 years old. John H married Mary Kenyon Smith on the 4th January 1824 in Eglingham, Northumberland. They had eight children over the next 20 years. Joseph, Ann, Hannah, Samuel, Margaret, Jane, John and William Crisp. Their son Joseph was born on the 18 May 1813 in Clay Coton, daughter Ann was born in 1815, daughter Hannah was born in 1818, while son Samuel was born in 1823. Their daughter Margaret was born in 1824 and daughter Jane was born in 1827 in Eglingham. Their youngest sons John and William were born in 1828 in Clay Coton, and in 1830 in Eglingham. John H died in September 1849 in Rugby, Warwickshire, at the age of 69, and was buried in Creaton, Northamptonshire. Mary died in 1862 in Clay Coton, Northamptonshire, having lived to 76 years of age, and was buried in Creaton, as well. 143

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1813 – Joseph Crisp Joseph was born on the 18th May 1813. The eldest son of Mary Kenyon Smith and Joseph Crisp, Joseph had two brothers: Samuel born in 1823 and John in 1828. Joseph married Mary Anne Knick on the 8th March 1841. Mary Anne was born on the 13th July 1822. She died on the 18th October 1841 in Ontario, Canada, and Joseph died on the 16th July 1879. Between them they had seven children Edmund Crisp in 1843 (father of Laurence Albert Crisp), Jonathan [Deacon] Crisp in 1845, Joseph Crisp in 1848, David Crisp in 1851, George Crisp in 1857, Owen Crisp in 1858 and finally Jane Crisp in 1860. Edmund’s siblings all married and spread far and wide, although some of the information is confusing and conflicting. Edmund was the oldest son of Joseph and Mary Anne and our records show that the next child Jonathan was born in Clay Coton on the 23rd July 1845, Joseph (junior), their third son was born in 1848 (possibly in the USA), while the fourth son David was born four years later on the 8th July 1852 in Hagerman, Ontario, Canada, their fifth son George was born on the 18th August 1857 in Clay Coton, England and his twin brother Owen was born the same day, while the couple’s only daughter Jane was born on the 12th September 1860. Most of the children it seems spread away from rural England. Jonathan Crisp married Sarah Ann Linnett in Rugby, UK on the 8th February 1869. Sarah had also been born in Clay Coton on the 12th March 1846. Jonathan emigrated to Canada in 1871. Then when he had established himself he brought his family to Canada. He was married three times and had thirteen sons and ten daughters. Sarah died in Parry Sound, Ontario on the 6th December 1894 at the age of 48. Jonathan died on the 27th February 1936 in Dunchurch, Ontario, Canada, at the age of 91, and was buried there. His story is expanded under his story of 1844. The third son Joseph Crisp (junior) married Elizabeth Jane Holliday in 1880. Elizabeth was born at Kingsthorpe, Northamptonshire in 1865. His son Joseph Alfred G Crisp was born in April 1874, daughter Eliza Mary J Crisp was born in 1877, James H H Crisp was born in February 1878, John Crisp was born in May 1882 and Owen was born in April 1884. All these children were born in England. While the rest were born in Ontario, Canada. David Owen Crisp was born on the 7th April 1885, Charles Edmund Crisp was born in September 1885, their

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Crisps twin daughters Sarah Ann E and Elizabeth Crisp were born in October 1888 while daughter Nellie Crisp was born in May 1891. Joseph died in Toledo, Ohio in America on the 17th November 1926. The fourth son David Crisp married Elizabeth Ann Quinn on the 10th March 1881. Elizabeth was born on the 24th January 1857. Their daughter Annie Elizabeth Crisp was born on the 14th May 1882, daughter Nellie Crisp was born on the 17th September 1883 and daughter Frances Lyla/Lila Crisp was born on the 30th July 1885. Their son Fred Crisp was born on the 3rd February 1887 and daughter Olive Crisp was born on the 26th April 1890. Daughter Jessie Crisp was born on the 29th July 1892, son Earnest was born on the 14th June 1896 while daughter Gertie Crisp was born in 1897. Their son John Herbert Crisp was born in 1899 and son William Harold Crisp was born on the 3rd August 1901. His daughter Frances Lyla/Lila passed away on the 27th May 1919 in Raber, Michigan, USA, at the age of 33. David died five months after his older brother on the 24th July 1936, while Elizabeth died two years later on the 23rd June 1938 in Ontario, Canada. The fifth and sixth sons of Joseph and Mary were twins. George was buried at sea on the 13th August 1871. The surviving twin, son Owen Crisp married Susannah [Susan] Carey in Parry Sound, Ontario, Canada, on the 11th September 1882. Susan was born on the 15th March 1860. Their daughter Mary Jane Crisp was born on the 6th June 1883 and son Joseph Arthur Crisp was born on the 23rd November 1884, both in Muskoka, Ontario. The rest of their children were born in the USA. His son William John Crisp was born on the 30th November 1889 in Raber, Michigan. Samuel Edgar Crisp was born on the 31st March 1892 in Goetzville, Michigan. Daughter Susetta Crisp was born on the 27th February 1894 in Raber, Michigan while son James Louis Crisp was born on the 4th July 1897 in Goetzville as was Anna Luella Crisp who was born on the 11th January 1899. Mildred M Crisp was born on the 19th January 1903 in Raber, Michigan. Both Owen and Susan died in Michigan, in the United States of America. Owen on the 11th February 1937 and Susan five years earlier on the 13th April 1932. Joseph and Mary’s only daughter Jane Crisp married John Moffatt on the 11th February 1878 in Parry Sound, Ontario Canada. John was born on St Valentine’s Day (14th February) 1854. They had a large family. Their daughter Mary Alberta Moffatt was born on the 7th August 1878, Edna F Moffatt was born on the 7th April 1880, Margaret Josephine Moffatt was born on the 17th June 1882, John 145

Alfred Moffatt was born on the 7th February 1884, William Gordon Moffatt was

Crisps born on the 6th July 1885, Louella Maude [Louise/ Lore] Moffatt was born on 28 December 1886, Little Moffatt was born in 1887, Ina Doris Moffatt was born on the 5th June 1890, Dorcis M Moffatt was born in 1890, Gertrude Adeline Moffatt was born on the 16th April 1892, Velma L Moffatt was born on the 17th November 1893, Clinton E Moffatt was born on the 11th April 1896, Bertram James Aubrey Moffatt was born on the 16th June 1899 and Walton Moffatt was born in May 1901. John Moffatt died on the 27th March 1923 in Ontario. He was 69 years old. Jane died on the 29th August 1935 in York, Ontario, at the age of 74 .

1823 – Samuel Crisp Samuel was born 1823 Coton Cambridgeshire England. He was the brother of Joesph Crisp. He married Eliza Anne Challenor. Eliza was born on the 11th September 1823 in Wallcote, Lutterworth, Leicestershire, England. Samuel died in 1906 in Granville, New South Wales and Eliza in 1881 in Parramatta, New South Wales. They had two sons George Challenor and John Henry Crisp.

1828 – John Crisp Joesph Crisp’s older brother John was born in 1828. He married Ann who was born in 1819. The year of John’s death is unknown, while Ann died in 1891

1843 – Edmund Edward Edwin Crisp Edmund was born on the 18th May 1840 in Clay Coton, Northamptonshire, England. Edmund married Sarah Chater(is) on the 4th May 1865. Sarah was born in September 1843. In 1873, Edmund emigrated with his wife and family to Australia. They left England on the barque the ‘Indus’ captained by a Captain Hunt. The Indus left Gravesend on the 8th July 1873 and after a fairly uneventful crossing of 82 days dropped anchor in Moreton Bay on the 5th October. 24 There were in all 430 passengers on board, including Edmond and his family. During the voyage there were eight births and six deaths; five of the deaths being children, the other was one William Lewis who died of disease of the kidneys. On the 5th September, on a dark stormy night, a seaman named Jansen fell from the

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Crisps main topsail yard overboard, striking the main chains in his fall; as there was a very high cross sea running, and the ship going at the rate of 14 or 15 knots an hour, any attempt to recover the body would have been madness. Edmund and his family settled in Toowoomba where he carried on his trade as a bootmaker, with relative success. He was also the city’s bandmaster for several years. Edmund and Sarah had seven children including our great grandfather Lawrence Crisp. Lawrence had seven siblings, he was third in line after Elizabeth Crisp then Charles Crisp. He was followed by Edward, Sarah, William, Alfred and Lily Crisp. Mary Elizabeth Crisp was born in June 1865, in the district of Daventry, in Northamptonshire, England but died in April 1866 at only 10 months old. Elizabeth Jane Crisp was born in Stepney, London in 1866, as was Charles Edmond Crisp in October 1868. Lawrence Albert Crisp was born in December two years later in 1870, Edward Stanley Crisp in the October of the next year (1871) and Sarah Ann Crisp the year after that in 1872. It was after Sarah’s birth that the family emigrated from Middlesex to Australia and landed in Brisbane. The details are sketchy but the next son William Henry Crisp was born on the 2nd July 1875, possibly in Toowoomba. William died in 1948. There were two more children Alfred Joseph Crisp born on the 6th September 1880 and Lily Crisp on the 8th April 1884. Unfortunately Alfred died at only ten months of age and Lily passed away after only six days. Elizabeth Crisp grew up to marry Edward James McGovern on the 12th April 1886. At the time Elizabeth was 20 and Edward was 22 years old. Edward was born on 18th October 1864. The couple were married for twenty years until Elizabeth passed away on the 5th October 1906. Edward married twice before he died on the 2nd April 1930 in Townsville. Their son Charles Edward McGovern was born on the 19th October 1886. He married Eileen Romer. Eileen was born on the 20th June 1901. Charles died on the 1st February 1940. Eileen remarried William Wilson Gilchrist in 1940. Eileen died on the 17th July 1968. Charles Crisp was born on the 3rd February 1868. He married Ellen Eliza Frances in July 1894. Ellen was born in 1873. Charles and Ellen had five sons, Albert Charles Crisp was born in 1892, William Herbert Crisp was born in 1896, George Henry Crisp was born in 1899, Ernest Crisp was born on the 6th December 1909 and Arthur Crisp was born on the 4th May 1914. All were born in London. Ellen 147

Eliza passed away in 1948 at the age of 75. Charles died in Brisbane on the 22nd December 1952.

Crisps Edward Crisp was born in October 1871 in Mile End, London. He married Amy Matilda Record. Amy Record was born on the 24th February 1899 in Greenwich, England. Edward died in Queensland on the 25th July 1921, while Amy died in Townsville on the 1st October 1984. Sarah Crisp was born in May 1873 and was just nineteen when she married a Welshman David Williams. The wedding was held in her father’s house on the 26th March 1891. David was born in 1867 in Merthyr, Glammorgan, Wales. Both the dates when Sarah and David died are unknown, although they both died in Queensland. Their children were Alfred David Williams born in 1893 and Ruby Sarah Williams in 1896, both of whom were born in Queensland. There was another unnamed child who was born and died in 1898 in Leederville Western Australia. Sarah died in 1903. William Crisp was the first child of Edmund and Sarah to be born in Australia on the 2nd July 1875. He grew up to marry Sarah Ann Nolan on the 28th October 1897. Sarah was born in 1897 in Braidwood, New South Wales. William died in Queensland on the 18th September 1948. Sarah died on the 11th January 1960 at 63 years of age. William and Sarah had six children. Their son William James Crisp was born on the 20th September 1897. William married Georgina Secombe in 1922. Georgina was born 1884 and died on the 20th October 1934 in Ingham. William died in Ingham on the 6th April 1947. Their second son Lawrence Albert Crisp was born on the 30th July 1899 and he died on the 4th May 1970 in Zimbabwe, Africa. He married Louisa May Zigenbine. They had two daughters Joan Crisp and Ethel Crisp. The couple divorced in November 1947. Louisa re-married Torlierf Middleton Viestad in 1948. She died in Mount Isa on the 7th May 1952. William and Sarah’s third child Ernest Henry Crisp was born on the 5th October 1902. He married Ellen Josephine Theresa Hannah. Ellen was born in 1905 and died in 1945. Ernest died on the 20th April 1965 Their fourth child Leslie Roy Crisp was born at Toobanna, Ingham on the 4th December 1907. He married Daisy Fern Thompson on 28th June 1924. Their children were Alfred Leslie Crisp born in 1925. William Henry Crisp was born in 1926. Graham John Crisp was born in 1930. Edward Claude Crisp was born in 1934. Gloria May Fern Crisp was born in 1937. Neil John Crisp was born in 1949. Leslie died in Ingham on the 12th May 1978, Daisy in 1983. Graham died in Ingham on the 9th October 1986. William died in Ingham on the 27th September 2001. Edward died in Ingham on the 3rd March 2016.

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Crisps The couple’s fifth child, Leonard Claude Harold Crisp was born on the 30th January 1912 in Queensland and died on the 11th September 1974. William and Sarah’s sixth child Winifred Mary was born on the 4th August 1914. She married Thomas Henry Pearce on the 6th June 1942. Thomas died on the 30th July 1972, while Winifred died in Ingham on the 24th July 1999. Edmund died on the 5th September 1899.25 From an Australian newspaper article republished in the Parry Sound North Star, Canada on the 2nd November 1899, we know the circumstances of Edmund’s accidental death. Edmund’s parents, younger brothers Jonathan, David and Owen as well as sister Jane had emigrated to Canada several years before and lived in Canada and the USA. Edmund emigrated to Australia in 1873. Although a shoemaker by trade, Edmund had since 1881 been employed by the Northern Railway as section-man. A lengths-man Edmund (who was 58 when he died) was examining the road on a tricycle at the 29[3]-mile during the morning. He was crossing a bridge about 20 feet (6 metres) high, which spans Dead Man’s Creek on the Townsville side of Phillip’s Siding, when a down goods train travelling at a fair speed suddenly rounded a curve and swept into the tricycle before the rider could dismount. The light machine was smashed into matchwood, but Edmund survived the fearful impact. He clung on to the buffer and the cowcatcher until the train was brought to a standstill. When the train crew arrived, it was found that he had suffered terrible injuries. Both legs were broken, one being fractured in two places below the knee. One arm was also fractured, the ribs and chest fearfully shattered and the body lacerated in many places. Edmund’s mate, who was working about a half a mile off, was alerted by the engine’s whistling and made all haste to render assistance. What little aid was possible was given, and the unfortunate victim, who never for a moment lost consciousness, was taken to town by the train. Dr Humphrey, who was summoned, had the patient dispatched to the hospital. Edward succumbed to his injuries at 9pm in the evening (5th September 1899). It seems that Edmund had worked that particular length for 15 years, and had been in the railway service for nearly 18 years. The surroundings were such that the engineer or the cyclist couldn’t see each other until they were quite close together; in fact, Edward stated that he did not see the train until it was right on top of him. His courage and vitality were remarked upon. Not only did he cling to the buffer and carried a long distance, but he regained consciousness and never lost hope up to the minute of 149

his death. Edmund left a wife (Sarah) and a grown-up family. He was respected in

Crisps the department and highly popular with his fellow employees. His headstone in Townsville Cemetery reads: In Loving Memory of My dear husband, Edmund Crisp Who died from injuries received in an accident on the Northern Railway 5th September 1899 Aged 58 years “Now the labourer’s task is o’er now the battle day is past now upon the farther shore lands the voyager at last Father, in Thy gracious keeping leave we now thy servant sleeping.” Edmund was earing 7 shillings 6 pence per day with the a Northern Railway, as a Maintenance Branch Lengths-man at the time of his death. Sarah passed away four years later on the 1st May 1903 in Townsville, Queensland.

1844 – Jonathan [Deacon] Crisp Edmund Crisp’s younger brother Jonathan [Deacon] was born on the 23rd July 1844 in Clay Coton, Northamptonshire to Mary Ann Kinch and Joseph Crisp. At the time he was born his father was 31 and his mother was 21 years old. Throughout his lifetime Jonathan was married three times and had thirteen sons and ten daughters. Deacon was baptised on the 8th March 1846 in Clay Coton. Deacon married Sarah Linnett on the 8th February 1869. Jonathan was 24 years old and Sarah was 22. Sarah Linnett was born on the 12th March 1846 in Clay Coton to Emma Chamberlain and William Linnett. Their son Alfred Crisp was born on the 7th December 1869 in Clay Coton. Another son Jonathan Crisp was born on the 19th August 1871 but sadly passed away on the 7th October 1872 in Northamptonshire, when he was only one year old. Jonathan emigrated to Canada from England and landed on the 5th June 1871. In London, Jonathan Crisp was born within the sounds of the ‘Bow Bells’ and travelled to Canada alone and homesteaded at Fairholme. He was granted land located on Lot 41, Con A, Hagerman Township, on the 29th December 1871.26 He also worked for Thompson, a lumberman in McKellar, for nine dollars a month, enough to buy a barrel of flour, some sugar and a pound of tea. When he had enough money saved, he brought his wife and family out from England, and later his parents. His father, Joseph, passed away in July 1879 and his mother Mary in October 1901.

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Crisps His oldest brother Edmond Crisp went to Australia from England in 1873. When he finally bought his family to Canada the couple’s next four children were all born in Parry Sound, Ontario. Parry Sound is on Georgian Bay roughly 240 kilometres north of Toronto. Parry Sound is part of Lake Huron, one of the Great Lakes of North America. Their daughter Mary Emma Crisp was born on the 9th April 1873, son David Crisp was born on the 9th December 1874, daughter Sarah Jane Crisp was born on the 22nd May 1876 and son Joseph William Crisp was born on the 26th June 1878. The next few children were all born in Muskoka, Ontario, which is around 100 kilometres to the south of Parry Sound. Their daughter Elizabeth Crisp was born on the 22nd July 1880 and son George Alfred Crisp was born on the 22nd June 1883. Alfred passed away on the 31st August 1884 in Parry Sound at the age of 14. Their son Walter Crisp was born on the 6th November 1884 and son Frank Crisp was born on the 24th August 1886 in Parry Sound. His daughter Maude Crisp was born on the 10th June 1889 in Fairholme, Ontario, which is around 30 kilometres to the north of Parry Sound. Of Jonathan’s siblings, his brother Joseph Crisp married and moved to Ohio, USA. His brother, Owen Crisp, followed his brother out from England. Owen’s twin brother passed away on board ship and was buried at sea. Owen started to clear land and build a house and barn on Lot 40, which was behind Jonathan’s place. His sister Jane Crisp married John Moffatt and lived in Parry Sound for some time before moving to Toronto. His brother David Crisp married and lived at Port Arthur in British Columbia. Owen was a rover and moved to Michigan. In 1888, Deacon bought Owen’s lot, and Owen moved to the USA. Jonathan was a farmer and used to deliver butter and vegetables to Parry Sound by a team of horses. As the school was on the next lot, the teachers used to board with the Crisp family. They also held Sunday school at the school, and he was a superintendent for many years. He was also superintendent of Sunday School after he moved to Dunchurch. Jonathan made the farm pay by selling butter and meat in Parry Sound, driving down at night to peddle it during the day, then returning home that night. As well, he sold the pine off his lot which brought in some welcome cash. Sarah Linnett died on the 7th December 1894 in Parry Sound, she was 48 years old. His daughter Elizabeth passed away two years later on the 30th July 1896 in 151

Parry Sound, at the age of 16.

Crisps Deacon then married Mary Jane Dickson Moore on the 1st February 1897 when he was 52 years old. Mary was born on the 14 July 1851 in Puslinch, Ontario to Hannah Kirby and John Dickson. Mary had been married before to Joseph Andrew [Texas] Moore and they had five children together. Mary and Texas’ daughter Sarah Catherine [Cassie] Moore was born on the 21st June 1873 in Erin, Ontario. Their daughter Sarah J Moore was born in 1876, son John Dickson [Dixie] Moore was born on the 3rd February 1877 in Parry Sound. Their son Robert Johnston [Texas] Moore was born on the 5th May 1878, son James Edmond Moore was born on the 1st September 1880 in Dunchurch. Mary’s husband Texas Moore passed away on the 30th December 1882 in Parry Sound, Ontario, at the age of 33. They had been married for only 10 years. Her daughter Josephine Mary Moore was born on the 23rd May 1883 in Muskoka. Jonathan’s son George Alfred passed away on the 19th March 1905 in Parry Sound, at the age of 21. About 1906 Jonathan sold his farm to his son David Crisp and moved to Dunchurch. His second wife Mary died on the 31st March 1908 in Fairholme, Ontario, at the age of 56. Jonathan then married Sarah Jane Pick in Wellington, Ontario in 1912 when he was 68 years old. His son David passed away on the 21st April 1928 in Parry Sound, Ontario, at the age of 53. His brother Joseph died on the 17th November 1926 in Toledo, Ohio, USA. His sister Jane died on the 29th August 1935 in York, Ontario. The next year Jonathan’s third wife Sarah passed away in 1936 in Parry Sound, at the age of 88. They had been married for 24 years. Jonathan died on the 27th February 1936 in Dunchurch, Ontario, Canada, at the age of 91, and was buried there.

1852 – George Challenor Crisp George Challenor Crisp was born 1852. The son of Samuel and Eliza Crisp. He married Jane Spencer in 1878 Maclean, New South Wales. Jane was born in 1858 in Maitland, New South Wales. George died on the 2nd January 1889 in Casino. Jane died on the 20th January 1935 in Lismore. George and Jane had seven children they were: Henry Lovelace Crisp was born on 4th June 1880 in New South Wales. He died on the 29th December 1955.

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Crisps Elizabeth Jane Crisp was born on the 21st August 1881 at Richmond, New South Wales. She married Charles Francis Clough on the 4th May 1898. Charles Clough was born in 1873 in Sydney. Elizabeth Jane died on the 1st December 1938 in Atherton, Queensland. Her husband Charles died in Charters Towers on the 10th May 1950. Their daughter, Elizabeth Ellen Clough was born on the 6th June 1899 in Lismore. Charles F Clough was born in 1901 in Lismore and he died a year later in Lismore (1902). Irene Pearl Clough was born on the 15th January 1903 in Lismore, she died on the 23rd July 1952 in Brisbane. Evelyn A Clough was born on the 16th February 1905 in Lismore and died in 1978 at Tewantin. Charles James Clough was born in 1906 in Lismore, he died two years later (1908) in Lismore. Frederick C Clough was born in 1906 in Lismore. Ernest Albert Clough was born on the 13th December 1907 in Queensland, and he died on the 19th November 1971 in Toowoomba. George Edward Clough was born on the 6th November 1910 in Queensland, he died on the 17th November 1971 in Toowoomba. Frances Vivian Clough was born on the 4th September 1914 in Atherton, Queensland. She died on the 23rd November 1983 in Charters Towers. Murial Grace Clough was born on the 16th September 1916 in Queensland, she died on the 12th March 1975 in Cairns. Desdemona Jane Clough was born on the 16th February 1919 in Queensland, she died in Cooktown. Douglas Stanfield Clough was born on the 17th October 1919 in Queensland, he died in 1986. Their second daughter was named Mary G Crisp was born in 1883 at Windsor, New South Wales. She married George Charles Rose in 1900 in Lismore. George Rose was born in 1879 in Woolongong. Mary’s date of death is unknown while George died in 1962 in Lismore. Their children: Henry S Rose was born in 1901 in Lismore, he died 1978 in New South Wales. Lillian C Rose was born in 1902 at Lismore, she died on the 16th March 1993. Ivy M Rose was born on the 5th June 1904 in Lismore, she died on the 14th October 1950 in Lismore. Sarah E Rose was born on the 14th July 1905 in Lismore, she died on the 21st March 1993 in Casino. George C Rose was born in 1907 in Lismore. Mervyn Richard Rose was born in 1909 in Lismore, he died 1952 in Lismore. The third daughter Margaret May Crisp was born in 1884 at Windsor, New South Wales, she married Sydney H D Godfrey in 1904 at Lismore. Details of Sydney Godfrey are unknown, as well as his and Margaret May’s deaths. They had two 153

children Peter Godfrey born in 1903 and Ada Godfrey born in 1905.

Crisps Daughter number four Martha Matilda Crisp was born in 1886 in Casino. She married Cuthbert Melville Richards Wheeler on the 4th October 1909 in Lisborne. Cuthbert Wheeler was born on 30th June 1885 in Camden, New South Wales. Cuthbert died on the 27th January 1959, while Martha died on the 24th December 1975 in Brisbane. Martha and Cuthbert’s children were: Neville Raymond Wheeler who was born on the 11th July 1915 at Byron Bay. Neville died in 1991 in New South Wales. Ada Wheeler was born on the 7th June 1920 in Camden, New South Wales, she died on the 24th May 1990. William Wheeler was born on the 16th May 1921 in New South Wales, he died on the 29th November 1966 in Queensland. Owen Wheeler was born on the 11th October 1922 in Amamoor, Queensland, Owen died on the 14th April 2008 in Noosa. Clarence Eric Wheeler was born on the 4th August 1944 and died on the 24th December 2003.

1854 – John Henry Crisp Samuel and Eliza Crisp’s second son John Henry was born in 1854 in New South Wales. John married Jane Garlick in 1876 at Parramatta. Jane was born in 1858 in New South Wales. George died in 1934 in Parramatta, while Jane died on the 13th November 1944 in Parramatta, New South Wales. John and Jane Crisp had eight children they were: William Challoner Crisp was born in 1876 at Parramatta. He married Beatrice D Hellyer in 1914. Beatrice’s details are unknown. William died on the 18th August 1928 in Auburn, New South Wales. Walter Samuel Crisp was born on the 4th May 1881 in Parramatta New South Wales. He died on the 13th March 1962 at Nambucca Heads. Herbert E G Crisp was born in 1884 in Illinois, USA, he died in 1969 in Louisiana USA. Percy Crisp was born in 1887 in Illinois, USA. He married Emma J Ince in Stroud New South Wales in 1905, he died in 1969 in Georgia, USA. Emma’s details are unknown. They had two children, Gladys M Crisp born in 1916 at Stroud, New South Wales and Mervyn H Crisp in 1911 in New South Wales. No other details of the children are known. Malcolm J E Crisp was born in 1890 in Illinois, USA. He died in 1969 at Ballina, New South Wales.

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Crisps Septimus Stanley Crisp was born on the 21st April 1892 in Belligen, New South Wales. He later married Monica Kendall who was born on the 22nd January 1904 at Leichardt, New South Wales. Septimus died on the 24th December in Macksville New South Wales. Marjorie C D Crisp was born in 1897 in Parramatta, New South Wales. Leslie J F Crisp was born in 1900 also in Parramatta.

1870 – Lawrence Albert Crisp It can be assumed that Lawrence Albert’s parents, Edmund and Sarah moved from Clay Coton to London as he and four of his seven siblings were all recorded as having been born in Stepney, London. His family emigrated to Australia in 1873 as Lawrence’s sister was born in England in 1872 and the next child William Henry Crisp was born in Queensland in 1875. Lawrence Albert would have been around four years old when he and his family sailed to Australia. At the age of 17, Lawrence’s first job was to take a Cornish boiler; from Charters Towers to Georgetown, by bullock wagon. After living in Townsville for some time, Lawrence took up mining pursuits at Charters Towers; under Mr D. Rollston’s management and others. When he was twenty-four, he married a widow, Agnes Smith, on the 16th April 1895 in Charters Towers. He and Agnes were married for thirty-two years until Lawrence died in Esk in 1929. Agnes was born in England and emigrated with her family to Australia. Agnes moved to Charters Towers where she met and married Frederick William Brown. Theirs was an ill-fated marriage, and 1892 was for them an ‘annus horribilus’. Fred was just twenty-one when he and Agnes married in the June of 1892. Unfortunately on the 22nd August that year, Fred died. The couple’s child, Fredrick William (junior), was born in December that same year. Three years later Agnes married again this time to Lawrence. Their marriage, in contrast, was a long and happier one. The couple had nine children together including Mary Dorothy [Doss] Crisp who married George Scriven. Of the couple’s children, Ethel May Crisp was the first born in 1897, then came Gerald Albert Crisp three years later in 1899, then Evelyn 155

Clara [Clara] Crisp in 1901, Lawrence Herbert Crisp in 1904, Thora Agnes Crisp

Crisps in 1907, Edmund Gordon [Ted] Crisp in 1909 and Mary Dorothy [Doss] in 1911, were all born in Charters Towers. Two more children were born after the family moved to Esk. They were Georgiana Maude [Maud] Crisp in 1915 and Daniel Charles Crisp in 1917. After mining for about seventeen years, Lawrence’s health failed, and he decided to go south with his wife and family. Lawrence and Agnes moved from Charters Towers in the north of the state to Esk in the south around 1912. According to Mama and her sisters’ stories, Dorothy was only a baby and cried nearly all the way on the long and arduous journey. The family and their possessions were moved first by bullock dray from Charters Towers to Townsville, there they boarded a steamer which took them south to Brisbane. Everything was then loaded onto a train to Ipswich, then another bullock dray, which took them to their new home in Esk. Lawrence’s first job was repairing a house on the northern side of Esk. While the family settled in their new home just off the road to Ipswich, on the south side of town. He carried on his business as a bootmaker and carpenter, until about 1927 when his health gave away. Lawrence suffered considerably, and for the last six months was confined to his bed. He was an enthusiastic townsman and took an active part in the interests of the town. Lawrence was an active member of the Esk Gordon Rifle Club and a member of the Esk State School Committee for six years. He was a member of the Loyal Star of the North Lodge (IOOF) of Charters Towers and retained his membership of that body until his death.27 After two years of illness Lawrence passed away at his residence in Esk on the 5th March 1929. He was aged 59 years. He was buried at Ipswich Cemetery where two of his sons also rested. He left behind a widow and a family of seven. At the time they were: Mrs Frank Francis (Ethel) of Kumbia, Mrs C (Clara) Kennedy of Ipswich, Miss Thora Crisp of Kumbia, Mr Edmund (Ted) Crisp and Miss (Mary) Dorothy Crisp both in Ipswich, Miss (Georgina) Maud Crisp and Mr. Daniel Crisp of Esk. His two other sons, Gerald and Lawrence had died two and ten years respectively before their father. Lawrence Albert Crisp’s funeral took place at the Ipswich Cemetery on the 6th March. Rev J M Hall, Church of England, North Ipswich conducted the service. Agnes survived Lawrence by another thirty years. She passed away in Ipswich on Christmas Eve in 1960. 156

Crisps

1871 – Fredrick William Brown (senior) Fredrick William was born in Lincolnshire England in 1871. He emigrated to Australia where he met the young Agnes Smith. The couple married on the 22nd June 1892, Agnes was three months pregnant. In August that same year Fred was killed, possibly in a mining accident. His son, who was named after him, was born in the December of that same fateful year. Fredrick William Brown’s father was Fredrick Brown who was born in Lusby, Lincolnshire, England. His father died in Charters Towers on New Year’s Eve 1905. Fredrick’s mother was Mary Motely. Mary was born in 1830 in Martin, Lincolnshire, England. She died in Charters Towers on the 8th November 1913.

1873 – Agnes Smith Born in England on the very last day of October 1873. Agnes emigrated to Australia, arriving eventually in Charters Towers. There she fell in love and married a Lincolnshire born miner named Frederick William Brown. It was an ill-fated marriage. Fred had been born in England in 1871. He was twentyone when he and Agnes married on the 22nd June 1892. On the 22nd August that same year Fred died, possibly in a mining accident. The couple’s only child was born four months later on the 16th December. The child was named after his father, Frederick William. Agnes married again three years later, this time to Lawrence Albert Crisp, on the 6th April 1895 in Charters Towers. Lawrence and Agnes’ marriage was long and happy. They had nine children and moved the family from Charters Towers in the north to Esk in the south of Queensland around 1912. Agnes passed away on Christmas Eve in 1960 in Ipswich.

1889 – Richard Challenor Crisp Richard Challenor was born in 1889 in Casino New South Wales, he married Minnie Ann Ryder on the 16th August 1911 in New South Wales. Minnie was born in 1890 in Berry, New South Wales. Richard died in 1961 in Taree, while Minnie died on the 13th December 1981 in Lismore. 157

They had one son Raymond Milton Crisp who was born in 1910 in Lismore. Raymond died on the 23rd July 1996 in Lismore New South Wales.

Crisps

1892 – Isabella E Crisp Isabella E Crisp was born in Lismore in 1892, she died seven years later in 1899.

1892 – Fredrick William Brown (junior) [Fred] Fredrick William was born in Charters Towers in December 1892. He married Irene Harlow in 1919 and he died in Sydney at the Concord Repatriation Hospital on the 19th August 1952. The couple had five children: Fredrick William Brown born on the 3rd May 1920, John Raymond Brown born on the 25th May 1923, Mary Alia Brown born on the 12th February 1926, Moya Mary Brown born on the 20th August 1929 and Philip Harlow Brown born on the 14th May 1936. Interestingly Fred Brown was not listed in Lawrence’s obituary as one of his children. We currently know little about his life and his relationship with his step family. Although George and Doss, as well as Alan and Bill, visited Fred and Irene on different occasions in Sydney in the mid-twentieth century. Fred was buried at Rookwood Cemetery in Sydney. Irene died on the 7th September 1968 in Ausbury, an inner west suburb of Sydney. Fred (the son) was killed in Thailand during World War Two. He died on the 12th September 1943. While son John died on the 8th August 2008 in Liverpool, Sydney. While their daughter Mary died on the 4th November 1928 at the family home in Ashbury New South Wales, she was only two years old. Moya died in Woolongong on the 19th June 1981 and. Philip died in Castle Hill, Sydney on the 27th April 2015.

1897 – Ethel May (Crisp) Francis Ethel May Crisp was born on the 26th January 1897 in Charters Towers in North Queensland. She was the first child of Lawrence and Agnes Crisp. Her father Lawrence Albert Crisp [Laurie] was born in Stepney, London in 1870 and married Agnes Smith in Charters Towers in April 1895. Agnes was a widow who had unfortunately lost her first husband Fredrick William Brown in a mining accident in August 1892, only a couple of months after the couple had married.

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Crisps When Agnes married Lawrence, she already had a child, Fredrick [Fred] William Brown (junior) who was born in December 1892, just four months after his father (Fredrick senior) had died. Ethel was the oldest of nine children. Together with her siblings were: Gerald Albert Crisp in 1899, Evelyn Clara [Clara] Crisp in 1901, Lawrence Herbert Crisp in 1904, Thora Agnes Crisp in 1907, Edmund Gordon [Ted] Crisp in 1909, Mary Dorothy [Doss] Crisp in 1911, Georgina Maud [Maud] Crisp in 1915 and Daniel Charles Crisp in 1917. She moved with her family to Esk when she was ten years old. All their possessions were moved first by bullock dray to Townsville, then south by steamer to Brisbane, then by train to Ipswich, then another bullock dray to Esk. They settled in a little house on the main road to Ipswich. The house the family lived in still stands to this day. Ethel married Frank Francis on the 27th April 1918 in Ipswich. Frank Francis was born on the 14th September 1893 in Esk Queensland. Frank was one of ten children to James Francis and Elizabeth Young. The couple had five children: Lawrence born in 1919, Lewis Jack in 1921, Maude in 1923, Walter in 1926 and Stuart Fredrick in 1927. The Francis family lived on a mixed crop and stock farm nestled in the foothills of the Bunya Mountains at Alice Creek – that was very aptly called ‘Hillview’. It was a busy life full of hard work and no time or tolerance for idleness.

Both Ethel and Frank, were very active in serving the community. For nearly a quarter of a century Frank was a member of the local shire council and Ethel was the long standing president of the district’s Country Women’s Association (CWA). Frank, apparently, was an early mentor to his young councilor colleague, the future Premier of Queensland, Joh Bjelke-Petersen, sharing cups of tea and advice in their lounge room. Ethel died on the 22nd April 1973 in while Frank died only a few months later on the 12th August, both in Kingaroy.

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1899 – Gerald Albert Crisp Gerald Albert Crisp was born on the 3rd May 1899 in Charters Towers. He was the first son born to Lawrence and Agnes Crisp. Gerald married Florence Isabella [Bella] Scriven on the 14th August 1920 in Queensland. Bella was born on the 20th March 1895. The youngest child of Sarah Ann Lovell and William Henry Scriven. Gerald and Bella had three children May, Albert and Agnes. May married a chap named Edwards. Albert we know little about. Agnes married Jim Hutchins and died on Christmas Eve the 24th December 1960. Gerald died on the 9th October, 1926 while Bella died on the 31st April 1944 in Ipswich.

1901 – Evelyn Clara (Crisp) Kennedy [Clara] Evelyn Clara Crisp was born on the 20th August 1901 in Clermont, North Queensland. She married Charles Bernard Kennedy on the 27th September 1924. Charles Kennedy was born on the 16th January 1906 in Rockhampton to Annie Ireland and Charles Edward Kennedy. Clara and Charles had two children Una Dorothy and Esme Joyce. Una had a number of men in her life. She first married Colin Turner who died on the 14th October 1971, her second partner was Les Smith, her third partner was Les Clark who died on the 29th October 1981 and she later remarried this time to Ralph Burrows. She had one son by her first husband, Neville Turner. Una worked as a seamstress at Bishop & Woodward. In later years she had a dress shop in Brunswick Heads, New South Wales. Esme was born on the 16th May 1932 and married Ted Cooper. Esme died 19th May 1986. Clara died on the 13th September 1990, while her husband Charles died on the 14th August 1960.

1904 – Lawrence Herbert Crisp Lawrence Herbert Crisp was born on the 24th April 1904 in Charters Towers. He drowned on the 22nd May 1919. He was only fifteen years old at the time.

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1907 – Thora Agnes (Crisp) Clegg Thora Agnes Crisp was born on the 11th March 1907 in Charters Towers. She married Selwyn James [Snow] Clegg on the 22nd December 1934. Snow Clegg was born on the 27th September 1913, they had one son Graham Selwyn Clegg born on the 13th August 1937. Graham married Valerie Jocelyn Huet in 1953. Val was born in Nambour on the 14th February 1940. Graham and Val have three children: Bradley Graham Clegg born in 1964, Michelle Valerie Clegg in 1966 and Yvette Judith Clegg in 1969. Snow died on the 1st January 1978, while Thora died on the 3rd January 1993.

1909 – Edward Gordon Crisp [Ted] Edward Gordon Crisp was born on the 6th July 1909 in Charters Towers. He married twice, first to Katerine Matilda [Mary Catherine] Paravaccinia on the 19th May 1934 in Halifax Queensland. Katherine was born on the 15th February 1913 to Maria Domenica Gamboni and Luigi [Louis] Parravicini. Ted then remarried Marie Jean McDermid on the 6th June 1957.28 The relationships produced two children, Desmond born on the 12th November 1935 and Cheryl born on the 27th December 1954. Cheryl married Warwick Dove. Warwick was born on the 23rd February 1957. During his life, Ted was an active member of the Communist Party, and for many years relations between him and his family were strained. It was only in later years that the family reconciled, especially with his sisters Clara, Thora and Doss, as well as his brother-in-law George Scriven. Ted spent his last few years in a nursing home in Brassall Village. It is believed that during the war Marie McDermid (and possibly her sister Essie) worked as a welder manufacturing munitions, perhaps in the Evans Deakin shipyard in Brisbane. During the war years, Walkers Limited built and engined seven corvettes and three frigates for the Australian Navy and mass-producing steam and diesel marine engines. Evans Deakin, who had just completed construction of the Story Bridge, turned to shipbuilding. Slipways and fitting out facilities were established at Kangaroo Point with four building berths constructed. The first vessel was completed and put into service in March 1941, and other ships followed rapidly. In all, over five years of war, nineteen naval vessels of all classes 161

were completed. Landing craft were made by the Ford Motor Company, and other

Crisps craft and engines were made by numerous small boat builders around Brisbane. Katherine died in 1955, Ted died on the 8th July 1985 and Marie died on the 28th May 2017 in Sydney.

1915 – Georgina Maude (Crisp) Rodger [Maude] Georgina Maude Crisp was born on the 23rd April 1915 in Esk. Maude later married David Clauden Rodger on the 10th August 1934. David Rodger was born on the 7th June 1910 in Ipswich to Caroline Mary Scriven and David Rodger. Maude and David had three daughters Marjorie, Elaine and Lynne Rodger. Marjorie was born in 1935 and married James [Jim] Reed. Maude’s husband David died on the 24th December 1959. Then in 1967 Maude married Thomas George Tafft. Thomas was born in 1916 in Rutherglen, Victoria, to Elsie Valentine Catherine Arnold and George Tafft. Maude died on the 4th September 1976 in Maryborough Queensland. Thomas Tafft died on the 24th July 1977 in Maryborough. They were both 61 years old.

1917 – Daniel Charles Crisp Daniel Charles Crisp was born on the 25th May 1917 in Esk. He later married Thelma Doreen Jackson on the 8th December 1938. Thelma was born on the 6th July 1919 in Roma Queensland. They had four children Laurence Charles, Kenneth Daniel, Doreen Agnes and Mervyn Douglas Crisp. Laurence Charles was born on the 6th May 1939 in Roma. He married Lorraine Shearer on the 31st January 1959. Lorraine was born on the 9th January 1939. Kenneth Daniel was born on the 25th May 1941 in Roma. He died in Ipswich on the 16th September 1942, aged one. Doreen Agnes was born on the 6th May 1942 in Roma. She married Noel Dwyer on the 14th September 1960. Later marrying Leonard Wyatt then Dennis Inghram. Mervyn Douglas was born in Roma on the 10th November 1947. He drowned in Ipswich on the 18th November 1956. He was nine years old when he died. Daniel served in the Second World War. He was also Senior Ambulance Officer in charge of the Ambulance Centre in Injune (Roma). Daniel died on the 18th May 1965. Thelma died in Injune in 2000.

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1919 – Lawrence Francis Lawrence Francis was born on the 14th October 1919 in Kingaroy. He died on the 27th November 1920 in Kingaroy. He was one year old.

1920 – Albert William Crisp Albert William was born on the 20th November 1920. He was the first child of Gerald Albert Crisp and Florence Isabella [Bella] Scriven. Albert died in Cloncurry on the 1st December 2001.

1921 – Lewis Jack Francis [Jack] Lewis Jack Francis was born on the 13th March 1921 in Kingaroy Queensland. Jack married Elinor Page Lawrie on the 7th August 1954 in Ipswich. Elinor was born in Ipswich on the 3rd July 1921. The couple had six children Cynthia, Elaine, Heather, Janet, Lindsay and Desley Francis. Cynthia was born on the 30th September 1955 in Kingaroy. She married Kevin John Nichol on the 4th September 1976. Kevin Nichol was born on the 12th March 1954 in Murgon Queensland. They have three children: Jared Lee Nichol born on the 25th October 1982, Caleb John Nichol born on the 27th September 1984, and Jantita Helen Nichol born on the 31st December 1986. Elaine Joy was born on the 15th January 1957 in Kingaroy. She married Alan Morton Bell on the 16th May 1980. Alan Bell was born on the 2nd May 1953 in Brisbane. They have three children: Catlin Elinor Bell born on the 3rd May 1985 in Ipswich, Cameron Morton Bell born on the 9th May 1987 in Ipswich, and Alistair Thomas Bell born on the 18th July 1990 in Darwin. Heather Carolyn was born on the 30th December 1959 in Kingaroy. Heather married Yan Alexander Diczbalis on the 29th August 1981. Yan was born on the 31st August 1956 in Erlanges, Germany. They have two children: Alexander Sigmund Diczbalis who was born on the 23rd April 1987 and Monica Joy Diczbalis born on the 14th February 1989. Both children were born in Darwin. Janet Christina was born on the 2nd March 1962 in Kingaroy. She married Kieran 163

Daniel McKean on the 9th July 1983. Kieran was born on the 15th October 1962

Crisps in Cunnamulla, Queensland. They have four children: Tamara Jane McKean born on the 9th March 1986, sadly she died on the 22nd March 1987, Tiffany Susan McKean was born on the 5th April 1988, Zachary Daniel McKean born on the 17th December 1991 and Madalyn Rose McKean born on the 13th September 1995, all in Nambour. Lindsay Susan was born on the 2nd March 1962 in Kingaroy. Lindsay married Emilli Antonio Conte on the 29th August 1981. Emilli was born on the 3rd December 1962 in Wollongong, New South Wales. They have one daughter, Gabriella Christina Conte born on the 4th May 1994 in Sydney. Desley Jacqueline was born 8th June 1964 in Kingaroy. She married Michael Robert Knowles on the 29th August 1981. Michael was born on the 27th October 1958 in Brisbane. They have three children: Courtney Page Knowles born on the 31st July 1989 married Taula Frank Daure, Megan Elise Knowles born on the 19th October 1991 married Max Eichhorn and Wilson Jack Knowles was born on the 26th September 1993. Jack died 15th November 1979 on Moreton Island while Elinor died on the 14th April 2008 at Peregian Beach Queensland.

1923 – Maude (Francis) Tooth Maude was born on the 7th of May 1923, in Kingaroy.29 The only daughter of Frank and Ethel Francis she grew up in Kumbia with her brothers Jack, Walter and Stuart Francis. Her life spanned so much history of the twentieth century. For example, her first flight in an aeroplane, was as a small child, with one of aviation’s most famous pioneers – Sir Charles Kingsford Smith. He came to Kingaroy barnstorming to raise funds for his next record-breaking venture. Her father sent young Maude and her older brother Jack up for a joy flight. The Francis family lived on a mixed crop and stock farm that was very aptly called ‘Hillview’. It nestled in the Bunya Mountains foothills at Alice Creek. Life on the farm was a busy, full of hard work and no time for idleness. Among the many chores, young Maude had was the job of preserving the family’s perishable food by continually keeping the charcoal of the cold box wet. The charcoal was a preelectric cooling element inside the lining of the cold box that worked through evaporation. This laid down a pattern of meeting responsibility through perpetual motion.

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Crisps Maude grew up travelling to school by horse with her three brothers. She would often recount the story of rainy days when Frank would wait on horseback at Alice Creek for the returning mob of Francis school children to make sure they safely crossed the rising waters. Both her parents, Frank and Ethel, were very active in serving the community. For nearly a quarter of a century, Frank was a member of the local shire council, and Ethel was the long-standing president of the district’s CWA. Frank, a mentor to his younger council colleagues, including Joh Bjelke-Petersen. Her parents laid down a clear pattern of service to others for her to follow. In her later years, Maude was an active volunteer through the church, manning the hospital canteen, street stalls and visiting the elderly, many of whom were younger than herself. She was also a member of the Laurel Club, where as Secretary she wrote a detailed club history. She was first and foremost though dedicated to her family – both immediate and more broadly. With visits to endless numbers of cousins and relatives that were spread from the foothills of the Bunyas and on to Kumbia, Kingaroy – then down the Brisbane River Valley, through Moore, Toogoolawah, Esk to Ipswich and all the way to the railway underpass on Lutwyche Road in Brisbane (Thora and Snow Clegg). One such relative was always grumpy Uncle Charlie (Frank’s brother Charles Francis 1890-1991) who lived on Cressbrook Creek by his citrus orchard at Biarra, the original property of Francis family patriarch James. Because of his arthritic hips Charlie had trained his horse to kneel down so he could still get on and ride. During her school days, Maude was a keen student. She began an early love affair with words at primary school, where from the tiny, one-teacher, one classroom establishment at Alice Creek she won a state-wide poetry writing competition. Her adoration of rhyme and wordplay carried on right through her life. She would often write poems to friends and family members on special occasions. From Alice Creek, Maude went to Glennie Girls School in Toowoomba, where she boarded. She always said these were some of the happiest years of her life. After school Maude became a nurse. She did her hospital training at St Martins next door to St Johns Cathedral in Ann Street in Brisbane. During her nursing years, Maude made many friends. Maude would proudly tell anyone medical she came across that she was a triple certificate nurse. Her final 165

certificate, Midwifery, was earned through an exam in Hobart conducted while the

Crisps snow fell outside and her hands were so cold it was hard to write. She passed and began a lifelong passion that propelled her into her most professionally fulfilling role as a Maternal and Child Welfare nurse. This job took Maude all over Queensland from the far west to the far north, and many points in between – running Baby Clinics – as they were known. Thousands of babies passed through her care. Then Maude had a baby of her own. While working in Mackay in 1963, Maude met a mysterious Greek engineer. His name may have been Paul. She fell pregnant. They fought, and things fell apart. Maude left the country, giving everyone the impression she was going on a grand tour of Europe – as people did in those days. She wrote picturesque postcards to her parents from exotic locations such as Cairo and Athens, never once mentioning her condition. Eventually, she landed in London. There, Maude stayed with a remarkable woman called Hedi Argent, who wrote, “Maude arrived in England seven months pregnant. She knew no one and found her way to us through a helpful agency. We were broke and renting out a room to single women for six weeks at a time until they had their babies and the babies were adopted.” “Maude came to us wearing a hat and white gloves; she had the ‘flu. We put her to bed, little knowing that the six weeks would turn into six months. As the weeks went by, Maude became less and less certain about her plan to have her baby adopted and to return to Australia as if after an extended holiday. By the time she gave birth, she was quite sure that her child was more precious than the good opinion of the whole world.” “We saw Maude and Gerald off when they returned to Australia to face family and friends. We watched from the observation deck as the plane left, and we saw a hand wearing a white glove waving.” Hedi was later awarded an MBE in recognition of her lifelong service to children. And so Maude, in her white gloves, did return to Australia hoping for the best of human nature from her loved ones. Instead, all hell broke loose when she turned up in small-town Queensland in the mid-sixties with a baby without a father. Worse still she refused to even say who the father was despite her brothers’ entreaties. He remains a secret that she has now taken with her to the grave. In 1964 Kingaroy, her good opinion evaporated and Maude was suddenly transformed from golden girl to the Francis family’s black sheep. However, an uneasy truce fell into place as her father Frank stepped in and accepted the

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Crisps new circumstances. He treated baby Gerald as a much-loved grandchild, and he proudly took him everywhere – even the pub where Frank drank shandies in sevens and Gerald had pink lemonades. Perhaps in an effort to restore her respectability she accepted a proposal from a decent man prepared to be the father for her child. It was by any measure a short marriage. Maude married Gilbert Clarence [Bert] Tooth on the 30th July 1966. Bert was born on the 31st April 1903 in Brisbane. Bert passed away nine days after their marriage on the 8th August. Maude never remarried. Maude and Gerald continued to live with Frank and Ethel in First Avenue, Kingaroy and nursed Ethel as she slipped into dementia and failing health. After a time in a nursing home in Toowoomba, Ethel passed away on the 22nd March 1973 in Kingaroy. Frank, bereft, and with his own health problems, followed Ethel to the grave on the 12th August that same year. With her main protector and benefactor gone hostilities within the family broke out in a bitter feud over Frank’s will. The family was split asunder, with the three brothers on one side of the chasm and Maude isolated on the other. It was a rift that never really healed over 40 years. When her brother Jack drowned in a boating accident in 1979, Maude was told not to go to his funeral – and didn’t. She only saw Walter again in his very last days. During their conversation by his hospital bed, nothing of value was said. In recent years, Stuart tried numerous times to reconcile, but mostly came up against a Francis as stubborn as himself. Maude, ever practical, got up and got on with it. In 1974 she retrained as a Maternal and Child Welfare nurse. That involved a temporary shift to Brisbane for six months where, to begin with, Maude and Gerald lived with Helen Nolan – a former teacher at Alice Creek who, as all the teachers did, had boarded with the Francis family at Hillview. Helen was formidable and very scary to a 10-year-old Gerald. Retrained, Maude embarked on a second career in Baby Clinics. She was stationed in Dalby, which required her to drive to Chinchilla, Miles, Wandoan and Taroom every second week. Later she was based in Maryborough and finally in Kingaroy where she stayed until she retired at 65 – having clocked up countless miles and helped thousands of mothers and their babies. One of Maude’s leading drivers in going back to work was to give her son Gerald a good education by sending him to boarding school at Churchie (Grammar School). It was an expense she could not really afford, but as usual, something happened, 167

some good people helped, and she managed to pull it off.

Crisps Retirement for Maude allowed her to do something she had always wanted, and that was to go to university. First, though she had to do senior. Somehow she convinced the local Catholic High School, St Mary’s to enroll her. Maude went and sat in classes with 16 and 17-year-olds and obtained her senior certificate. Then she enrolled in a Bachelor of Arts at the University of Queensland where she majored in Art History and Ancient History. Gerald was studying his Masters in Journalism at this time, and they’d run into each other at the refectory. In the evenings Gerald would help her with assignments that she would write out longhand in that beautiful copperplate script she’d perfected at Alice Creek. She never lost that intellectual drive, the desire to know more and keep her razorsharp mind active. After university, she returned to Kingaroy and became an active member of the community through the church and other volunteer organisations. As always, she expressed her Christian faith in the most Protestant of ways, through good works for others. At this time she also did something to honour her parents, Frank and Ethel. She commissioned the two stained glass windows in the church alcove, which bear their names. In her home, she indulged her passions for art and literature. She was an energetic amateur historian and focused a lot of her time on the stories of English royalty. Maude was a bibliophile – collecting books until the very end (she never did go digital). Her house was a library of gorgeous art books about everyone from Renoir to Brett Whitely, full of books on the ancient history of the Greeks and Romans, books about everything really, and she read most of them. There were two collections in particular that she loved: cookbooks and craft books. A dedicated cook, there was always something interesting going on in Maude’s kitchen, and she passed her love of cooking on to her son. She was also deeply interested in nutrition, which took her down some interesting paths. She ate tofu, well before it became a vegetarian, hippy favourite. She was always into things like the latest liver cleansing diet and the benefits of Vitamin C. For some years, her son Gerald thought she may have actually found a new religion. According to Maude, vitamin C was the world’s saviour, and its powers were omnipotent. When it came to craft Maude had an incredible skill set that included knitting, crochet, embroidery and sewing. She was a founding member of a local craft group who met regularly in each other’s houses.

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Crisps Maude was a proud and devoted grandmother. Her excitement when Gerald’s oldest Carmen was born was enormous, and she always shared a special bond with her – as she did with Ari and Kitty when they came along. Every birthday Maude would turn up with a cake she had elaborately decorated that was front and centre of celebrations. Her grandchildren were always being measured for clothes she would make them, and Maude was always deeply interested in everything they did. Maude Francis died in the Canowindra Nursing Home in September 2015. Her son Gerald Frank Tooth was born on 7th April 1964 in London, England. Gerald married Jane Holt who was born on the 12th July 1964 in Brisbane. They have three children: Carmen Ruby Tooth born on the 17th July 1994, Ari Samuel Tooth born on the 6th December 1996 and Katerina Iris Tooth born on the 30th October 2000.

1924 – Florence May Crisp Florence May was born on the 6th May 1924. She was the second child of Gerald Albert Crisp and Florence Isabella [Bella] Scriven. Florence married John Allan Edwards. John Allan Edwards was born on 1st April 1921 in Ipswich to Jessie Winifred Allan and Hugh Edwards. John Edwards served in the Australian military during World War Two. The couple had one son Robert W Edwards who was born in Brisbane on the 8th October 1968 and died in 2013. John Edwards died in Brisbane on the 9th April 2004, he was 83 years old. Florence died on the 8th March 2013 in Caboolture, when she was 88 years old.

1926 – Walter Francis Walter James Francis was born on the 13th January 1926 in Kingaroy. The son of Frank and Ethel Francis. He grew up in Kumbia with her brothers Jack and Stuart, and his sister Maude. Walter married Joan Alice Barbour on the 30th December 1948. Joan Barbour was born on the 13th April 1926 in Rosewood Queensland. They had nine children, Alan James, Margaret Anne, Robyn Joan, Peter Gerard, Annette Mary, Janice Patricia, David Walter, Brian Thomas and Kathryn Jane Francis. 169

Crisps Their son Alan James was born on the 9th March 1950 in Kingaroy. Alan married Lynne Anne Hayden who was born on the 30th June 1955 in Proserpine. They have four children: David James Francis born on the 25th December 1976, who married Rebecca Francis Farrell on the 21st April 2001. They have four children: Rebecca Francis born on the 17th October 1976, Timothy Walter Francis born on the 2nd February 1979, Steven Alan Francis born on the 30th June 1981 and Glen John Francis born on the 25th October 1989. Alan Francis died in Caboolture on the 23rd December 2019. M argaret Francis was born on the 29th October 1952 in Kingaroy. Margaret married Edwin Gladstone Alderman who was born on the 4th August 1939 in Cracow Queensland. They have four children. Theresa Margaret Alderman who was born on 11th August 1971 in Toowoomba, she married Roy Anthony Schwerin. Roy was born on the 3rd December 1969. Michael William Alderman was born on the 14th July 1972, he married Malanie Mardon who was born on the 8th September 1976. Sonia Marie-Anne Alderman was born on the 9th August 1973, she married Stuart Miller and then Dwayne Michael Sayers. Gregory John Alderman later married Petrina McPartland. Petrina was born on the 23rd January 1971. Robert Edwin Alderman was born on the 25th January 1976, he married Nicole BarkerWallis who was born on the 4th November 1976. Then later Robert married Gina Seiki who was born on the 12th January 1976. Robyn Francis was born on the 26th August 1953. She married Doug William Buchbach in Maleny on the 15 September 1973. Doug was born in 1951. They have three children: Suzanne Joy Buchbach born on the 28th May 1976, Mark Daniel Buchbach born on the 3rd August 1978 and Matthew Thomas Buchbach born on the 15th December 1983. Peter Francis was born on 7th December 1955 in Kingaroy. He married Maree Elva Franks. Maree was born in 1957. They have three children: Christopher Joesph Francis born on the 9th November 1976, Carol Anne Francis born on the 16th February 1980 and Wayne Daniel Francis born on the 16th December 1982. Peter was a watchmaker and lived at Sandstone Point, Queensland. He passed away in 2018. Annette Francis was born on the 24th April 1958. She married Steve Denis Chapman. Steve was born in 1951. They have two children: Zachary Reginald Chapman born on the 7th March 1992 and Nicholas Jack Chapman born on the 30th January 1994. 170

Crisps Janice Francis was born on the 2nd November 1959. She married Stephen Philip Bennett. Stephen was born in 1961. They have three children: Gavin Philip Bennett born on the 24th October 1986, Thomas Leo Bennett born on the 8th August 1988 and Damian Scott Bennett born on the 24th July 1991. Daniel Francis was born on the 6th August 1961. He married a lady named Janice. Then he married Sharon Leigh Burke. Sharon was born in 1965. Daniel and Sharon have two children: Renae Leanne Francis born in 1994 and Jake Thomas Francis born in 1995. Brian Francis was born on the 19th November 1962. Kathryn Francis was born on the 4th September 1963. She married Anthony Woolley in 1985. They had one daughter Nicole Annette Muller (Woolley). The couple divorced in 1992. Kathryn then re-married to David John Muller in Brisbane on the 25th September 1995. David was born in 1958. Kathryn and David have two children: Joshua David Muller born in 1996 and Rachel Jane Muller born in 1997.

1927 – Agnes Crisp Agnes was born in 1927. She was the third child of Gerald Albert Crisp and Florence Isabella [Bella] Scriven. Agnes married Thomas James [Jim] Hutchins. Jim Hutchins was born on the 4th June 1926 in Ipswich to Alice Maud Russell and John James Hutchins. Jim served in the Australian military during World War Two. He died on the 25th November 1995 in Nanango, he was 69 years old. Agnes died in January 2016.

1927 – Stuart Frederick Francis The youngest son of Frank and Ethel Francis, Stuart was born on the 27th August 1927 on the family property at Kumbia called ‘Hillview’. He married Elizabeth [Betty] Ann Wingfield on the 9th August 1950. Betty was born on the 4th February 1930 in Kingaroy. According to Stuart’s close cousin Bill Scriven who knew him well, “Stuart’s parents and mine were very close. Ethel, Stuart’s mum, being my Mum’s older sister, Doss Scriven. Frank and Ethel would stay with us whenever they had 171

business in Ipswich or Brisbane. On many occasions, we visited them on their farm at Kumbia.

Crisps Stuart was the youngest of four children, Walter, Jack and Maude Francis all being much older than him.”30 A story was told that Stuart was such a delicate child when firstborn that he was brought home from the hospital, wrapped in cotton wool and placed inside a shoebox. He is indeed not so ‘delicate’ now, as he grew into a healthy, large man. Stuart grew up on the family property at Kumbia. He went to primary school at the Alice Creek school and rode a horse to the school. During the day he left the horse with those of other students of the school, in an adjacent paddock. Later, a replacement schoolteacher Elinor Laurie boarded with the family. Elinor later married Stuart’s brother Jack. Stuart was given the responsibility of driving the new school teacher to the school in the horse and cart at a young age. One day on the way home, Stuart was going a bit faster than usual when the horse decided to cut the corner turning into home. The cart wheel hit a stump upending Elinor and Stuart. Fortunately, nothing was damaged except Stuart’s pride. Stuart travelled to school in Kingaroy for his scholarship year, then boarded at the Anglican Church Grammar School (Churchie) in East Brisbane for his Junior years. While at Churchie he joined the school’s Aircorp. Bill said, “I spent many of my school holidays on Uncle Frank and Aunty Ethel’s farm with Stuart. On their dairy farm holidaying visitors didn’t get a free ride. Every day there was work to be done and whatever it was everyone gladly pitched in to help.” Stuart was five years older than Bill, so they always teamed up. He was like an older brother to Bill. They had many happy times together, and Stuart was often in a playful mood. They would continuously ‘shit stir’ each other to get a reaction. Bill recalled, “I was reminded of one particular time while we were milking when I sprayed him with milk. Stuart reacted faster than I’d expected. He dropped what he was doing, and we took off out of the milking yard at flat strap. Stuart chased me for about 150 yards (137 metres). We ran down the road, past the pig pens, then took a sharp left hand turn off through the cornfields. I managed to just keep ahead of him. When he finally did catch up, he couldn’t do anything as he was so puffed. Later on, Stuart enacted his revenge.” Bill used to accompany Stuart to the local dances, which was the most common form of entertainment in those days. It was also the place to meet girls. The girl he most fancied was Betty Wingfield. Bill can remember spending what seemed an inordinately long time in the cold car waiting for him to say goodnight. Betty

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Crisps subsequently became Stuart’s wife, and they’ve been happily married for over seventy years. Bill said, “I recall one local dance was held in a grain storage barn. The floor was great for dancing, having been polished over the years with beads of grain.” “Besides the dances, a common form of entertainment was playing cards with neighbours such as Bob Slattery. They lived about three-quarters of a mile away, (1.2km) and we used to ride over bareback. Armed with a bridle each we would first have to catch our dark horses, on a dark night in a not so small paddock.” “Before my commencing work for Queensland Railways, I spent every school holiday of my last three years at school on the farm at Kumbia. They were great, fun times.” Stuart obtained his driving licence in 1947 and then his pilot’s licence in 1948 in a Tiger Moth plane which took 13 hours of training. In those days lessons were £3 per hour for passengers and £2 per hour solo. During the bad drought of 1951, Stuart, with his friend and neighbour Bob Slattery, took up a contract to drive 150 head of cattle belonging to Jack Tuit to the railhead at Yarraman. The cattle were then to be sent to the sale yards at Cannon Hill in Brisbane. The trip took three days during which they were caught in a thunderstorm. The cattle, horses and riders had to ford a swollen creek. On reaching the opposite bank, Stuart’s horse slipped while climbing up the muddy bank. Both the horse and Stuart fell back into the floodwaters. Stuart crawled out totally soaked, losing his good whip in the process. That night he dried his clothes and his expensive riding boots by the fire. In the morning, his boots had shrunk. He could not put them back on his feet, so he had to complete the ride to the railhead and back barefooted. Stuart worked on the family farm for sixteen years till he had to quit farming after developed an allergy to cattle. This meant Stuart and Betty, who were married by this time, had to go wherever work was available, which often meant travelling all over the state. He worked for various councils driving trucks and heavy machinery. Over the years Stuart drove trucks to Julia Creek and Tennant Creek. With the local councils, he worked on roadworks transporting gravel and bore water. Eventually, Stuart bought a 19-ton excavator and worked around the Nanango and Kingaroy area cleaning drains for councils and private companies. At one stage he was digging rock containing gold for one company which he then transported 173

to Killkivan for crushing. For another company in the Gympie area, he carted

Crisps timber which was eventually made into particle board. He later owned large, heavy earthmoving equipment with which he excavated numerous dams and swimming pools in and around the Sunshine Coast area. When Stuart retired at 72, he and Betty settled at Warana on the Sunshine Coast. A few years later they moved to Hervey Bay. A couple of years ago they moved to an Independent Living Centre in Nambour to be closer to their son Gary and their grandchildren. After spending so much of their youth together once Bill started working, he did not see Stuart and Betty, as often. The family were often on the road for many years. After Bill married Doreen, their families always kept in touch and regularly met up on many holidays together. A measure of Stuart’s friendship was that even though he wasn’t in the best of health, he was determined to travel from Hervey Bay to attend Doreen’s funeral in November 2013. Stuart and Betty have three sons Trevor, Colin and Gary Francis. Trevor John was born on the 23rd February 1951 in Kingaroy. Trevor married Catherine Maree Loccisano in Mareeba, North Queensland on the 19th December 1980. Catherine was born on the 11th May 1955 in Mareeba. They have four children. Mitchell James Francis born on the 17th August 1983, Nerida Therese Francis born on the 4th July 1985, Lachlan Robert Francis born on the 29th April 1987 and Anslie Elizabeth Francis born on the 11th February 1991. Colin Graham was born on the 23rd December 1953 in Kingaroy. Colin married Diane Lawrence in Brisbane on the 18th December 1976. Diane was born on the 24th December 1955 in Brisbane. They have two children; Stephanie Jane Francis born on the 7th July 1987 and Kate Elizabeth Francis born on the 28th January 1991. Gary Leslie was born on 19th October 1955 in Kingaroy. Gary married Cheryl Griggs. Cheryl was born on the 23rd July 1955 in Bundaberg. They have two children Kobi Bligh Francis born on the 2nd March 1988 and Mieke Jay Francis born on the 15th September 1995.

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1930 – Una Kennedy Una was born around 1930. She was the first child of Evelyn Clara [Clara] Crisp and Charles Bernard Kennedy. Una first married Colin Turner. Colin died on the 14th October 1971. Her second partner was a chap named Les Smith. When he died, her third partner was Les Clarke. Les died on the 25th October 1981. Una’s second husband was Ralph Burrows. She had one child from her first marriage, Neville Turner.

1932 – Esme Joyce (Kennedy) Cooper Esme Joyce was born on the 16th May 1932. She was the second child of Evelyn Clara [Clara] Crisp and Charles Bernard Kennedy. Esme married Ted Cooper. Ted died on the 19th May 1986.

1935 – Marjorie (Rodger) Reed [Margie] The first daughter of Georgina [Maud] Crisp and David Rodger. Marjorie was born on the 11th February 1935 in Ipswich. Margie recalls her family living with her uncle Ted Crisp in North Ipswich for a period of time. When her father enlisted in the army during World War Two the family relocated to Deacon, a north-eastern suburb of Brisbane. She also clearly recalls the procession of vehicles that transported the returning servicemen to the city. She saw her father gaily waving as they passed their house. Margie, with her sister Elaine, started school at Sandgate Primary School and later with their younger sister Lynne at North Ipswich State School. Margie left school just after grade 6. After leaving school she work as a machinist at Bishop and Woodwards (B&W). She worked there sewing coats and trousers, alongside her cousins Jean Scriven, Una Kennedy, Shirley Stokes and future relatives Doreen Knight and Merv McDowall. In its heyday Bishop and Woodwards employed around 100 people. When Margie married she resigned from B&W, although she continued making trousers part-time with Shirley for Grant Parker Tailors. After the war the family moved to Ferguson Street, North Ipswich as her father had a job working at the nearby Ipswich Railway Workshops. Their home was only one 175

street away from her grandmother Agnes Crisp who lived in Eastwood Street. She

Crisps remembers visiting her grandmother regularly, and often seeing her aunt Doss Scriven and her cousin Bill Scriven. Margie’s uncle, Frank Rodger and her cousins David and Frank (twins) and Noel, lived next door to her grandmother Agnes Crisp in Eastwood Street. Several years later Frank junior owned the mixed business in Downs Street, opposite the North Ipswich School. Margie married James Arthur [Jimmy] Reed on the 11th September 1954. Jimmy Reed was born on the 17th February 1932 in Caboolture. They have five children Lesley Jayne, Bradley James, Tracy Leanne, Kenneth Mitchell and Kylie Peta Reed, as well as eight grandchildren.

1935 – Desmond Crisp Desmond was born on the 12th November 1935. He was the child of Edmond [Ted] Gordon Crisp and Matilda Paravacinna.

1936 – Elaine Ellen (Rodger) Manning The second daughter of Georgina Maud Crisp and David Rodger. Elaine was born on the 26th August 1936. Elaine married four times. Firstly to John William Laidlow, then Keith Gunthorpe, then Robert Henry Stuart then finally to William Manning. Robert Stuart was born on the 11th April 1939. William Manning was born on the 27th August 1941 and died on the 25th October 2004. Elaine died on the 10th December 1991.

1937 – Graham Selwyn Clegg The only son of Thora Agnes Crisp and Selwyn James [Snow] Clegg. Graham was born on the 31st August 1937, he married Valerie Joyce Huet who was born on the 14th February 1940. They have three children Bradley, Michelle and Judith Clegg. Bradley Graham Clegg was born on the 15th March 1964, he married Diana Owbridge on the 29th October 2005. Diana was born on the 14th February 1961. Michelle Valerie Clegg was born on the 4th August 1966, she married Gregory James John Horton on the 1st October 1988. Michelle died in 2021.

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Crisps Yvette Judith Clegg was born on the 7th March 1969 in Brisbane. Judith married Troy Edwin Malcolm McDonald on the 26th August 1995. Troy was born on the 25th November 1969.

1939 – Laurence Charles Crisp Laurence Charles was born on the 6th May 1939 in Roma. Laurence was the first child of Daniel Charles Crisp and Thelma Doreen Jackson. He married Lorraine Shearer on the 31st January 1959. Lorraine was born on the 9th January 1939.

1941 – Kenneth Daniel Crisp Kenneth Daniel was born on the 25th May 1941 in Roma. Ken was the second child of Daniel Charles Crisp and Thelma Doreen Jackson He died in Ipswich on the 16th September 1942, aged one.

1942 – Doreen Agnes (Crisp) Dwyer Doreen Agnes was born on the 6th May 1942 in Roma. Doreen was the third child of Daniel Charles Crisp and Thelma Doreen Jackson She married Noel Dwyer on the 14th September 1960. Later marrying Leonard Wyatt then Dennis Inghram.

1943 – Lynne (Rodger) Kruger Lynne Rodger was born on the 29th August 1943 in Ipswich. She married Ian Mark Kruger. Ian was born on the 2nd October 1941.

1947 – Mervyn Douglas Crisp Mervyn Douglas was born in Roma on the 10th November 1947. He was the fourth child of Daniel Charles Crisp and Thelma Doreen Jackson. Mervyn accidentally drowned in Ipswich on the 18th November 1956. He was nine years old at the time. 177

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1954 – Cheryl (Crisp) Dove Cheryl was born in Brisbane on the 27th December 1954. She was the only child of Edmond [Ted] Gordon Crisp and Marie McDermid. She married Warwick Dove. Warwick was born on the 23rd February 1957. She now lives in Sydney.

1|| All the siblings at Coal Road in 1980s; [l to r] Doss and George Scriven, Clara Kennedy, Ted Crisp and Thora Clegg.

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The next chapter

The next chapter:

The second half of the twentieth century was one of change and fluidity. During the 20th century Australia became an older, more culturally diverse, and more urbanised society. It holds broad religious affiliations, placing great value on homeownership, with more females than males, and with a workforce more concentrated in service-industry based, ‘white-collar’ occupations. Following World War Two, the Chifley Labor government instigated a massive program of European immigration. This change brought large numbers of southern and central Europeans to Australia for the first time, as well as other diverse nations. The Australian economy stood in sharp contrast to war-ravaged Europe. The newly arrived migrants to Australia found employment in a booming manufacturing industry and government-assisted programmes such as the Snowy Mountains Scheme. This endeavour remains the largest engineering project ever undertaken in Australia. It necessitated the employment of over 100,000 people from over 30 countries, and to many, it was the birth of a truly multicultural Australia. Australia enjoyed significant growth in prosperity in the 1950s and 1960s, with increases in living standards and leisure time. Steady Asian migration began in the 1970s, and now people from more than 200 countries call Australia home. At the end of the 20th century, the approaching millennium and the Sydney Olympics created a wave of popularity for Australia to become a republic. Polls showed that around nine in ten Australians supported a republic. This sense of self is reflected in many aspects of the Australian way of life, with Australian society known for its equality and lack of clear class distinctions. Into this optimistic environment, the next generation of Scriven’s grew and extended their family connections.

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1955 – Steven John McDowall [Steve] Steven John McDowall is the only son of Mervyn and Jean McDowall. He was born in Ipswich in 1955. His sister Janelle was born in 1958 Steven married Leanne Shanks, and their only daughter Jordan Maree McDowall was born on the 4th February 1992. The family live in Mackay in North Queensland. Steven grew up in the family home at 9 Nathan Street, East Ipswich and attended school at Ipswich East Primary school and then Bremer State High. Steve was a sporty kid, playing football (soccer), cricket and tennis. But it was football that became his lifetime passion. He started playing club football when he was ten years old for St Helen’s at Ebbw Vale. Entering his teenage years he was selected in various representative teams and travelled to Canberra as part of the Queensland State under 16 team. When Steve finished year 12, he studied primary school teaching at what was then Kelvin Grove Teacher’s College. It was a three-year course, and back in the 1970s, there were no Higher Education Scheme (HECS) fees. You were actually awarded a scholarship to attend college for three years. You were guaranteed a teaching job at graduation but were ‘bonded’ to the Department of Education and had to complete three years ’country’ service. This meant you had to accept the posting you were given (often in remote parts of Queensland). If you didn’t accept your posting and resigned, you would need to pay back part or all the funding you received during your training. Steve was lucky, and his first posting was to Ipswich East State School, his old primary school, just around the corner from his parent’s home. He was then transferred to Amberley State School, again not too far from home. During his time at teacher’s college and his first years of teaching Steve continued playing football. Transferring to Lions at Richlands before returning to Ipswich United. In 1981 Steve received his first country posting to Middlemount State School. Middlemount is a mining town 240km south-west of Mackay that virtually sprang up overnight in the early 1980s. The school opened in 1980 and when Steve arrived there was minimal infrastructure. He lived in the single miner’s accommodation, and there was no nightlife for a young single male. Every weekend, Steve and another single male teacher would drive to Mackay where Steve would play football and enjoy the local nightlife. 181

It was during this time that he met Leanne Shanks, a Mackay local. After two years at Middlemount ,Steve was transferred to St Lawrence, a small coastal town

The next chapter 160km south of Mackay. His weekend trek to Mackay was a little closer. At the end of his year at St Lawrence State School, Steve had completed his mandatory three years of country service and chose to transfer to Mackay to be with Leanne. Steve and Leanne were married in Mackay in 1984. Steve’s love of playing football branched out to coaching football with him coaching at the schoolboy level from early on in his career. With his transfer to Mackay, he became the schoolboy’s coach for the Capricornia schoolboys team that competes in the State titles each year. And on many occasions, he was the State coach who took the Queensland team to the National titles. In 2001 he coached the Queensland schoolboys’ squad which toured Japan as a promotional tour leading into the World Cup played in Japan in 2002. Steve also coached senior club teams in Mackay. He is currently the Magpie Crusaders manager which competes in the National Premier League (NPL). The NPL is a national association football competition in Australia that acts as the second tier of the sport in the country below the A-League, although it is a State-based competition. After completing year 12, Steve and Leanne’s only child Jordan McDowall studied at Bond University on the Gold Coast before returning home to Mackay. She currently works for her mother’s accounting business. Jordan inherited a love of football from her father and a love of horses from her mother. She still plays football with her local team and competes in dressage at various shows and competitions throughout the country. Leanne is also involved in the equestrian community sitting on numerous committees and acting as a judge. Through her involvement with the Brisbane Exhibition, she met Les [Sonny] Stokes and through family members realised Sonny was related to Steve.

1956 – Lorelle Kay (Hertrick) Steley Lorelle Kay was the first child of Shirley and Mervyn Hertrick. She was born in Ipswich on the 18th December 1956. Three years after she was born Lorelle’s younger sister Robyn Hertrick was born in 1959. Later her sister Cheryl Hertrick in 1961 and her younger brother Jeffery Hertrick in 1964. There was a brother Glen Hertrick born a year after Lorelle in 1957 but he was not expected to live. He died three days later. 182

The next chapter Lorelle and her siblings all grew up in the large, family home on Old Pine Mountain Road in North Ipswich. The went to Primary School at North Ipswich and later to the Ipswich High State School. Lorelle married Gary John Steley on the 28th April 1979, however they separated in 2018. They had three children: two sons, Alan James Steley born on the 22nd December 1982 and Daryn John Steley born on the 5th December 1984 and one daughter Kirsten Maree Steley born on the 27nd February 1992. Alan married Ghislaine (Lainey) Kidd, although they later separated. His new partner is Hayley Harmer they have one daughter Isabelle Lily Steley born on the 26th March 2019. Daryn married Arlene Stenton in 2010 and they have one son Nathan George Steley born on the 7th December 2006. Kirsten married Christopher Wright they have a daughter Olivia Valerie Wright born on the 9th July 2017 and a son Byron Vincent Wright born on the 4th August 2018.

1957 – Wayne William Scriven Wayne William was the first child of Bill and Doreen Scriven. He was born in Ipswich on the 24th August 1957, three years after his parent’s marriage. Wayne has a younger brother Peter Scriven born in 1960, and two younger sisters Suzanne Scriven born in 1963 and Michelle Scriven in 1967. As the first grandchild of George and Doss Scriven he was always the favoured one. It also helped that Wayne had a natural fondness for the land, and he spent most weekends and holidays with his grandfather and his horses. Before Peter was born, and when Wayne was aged about two years old, Wayne was called on to assist his mother. Doreen was washing clothes in the laundry adjacent to the kitchen. Doreen was using the Pope washing machine which had a powered ringer above the machine. She was feeding clothes into the rollers when her hand became caught and was pulled into the machine. The washer stalled; however, Doreen was trapped and in great pain. She told Wayne to switch off the power. To do so, he had to pull over a chair and climb up to turn off the switch. His mother then told him to run to the neighbours to get help. He ran across the road to Ivy and Neil Ryan and told them what had happened. They called the 183

ambulance and were able to extract Doreen’s hand from the machine.

The next chapter She was transported to Ipswich hospital where doctors realized the finger was severely broken and only attached by several pieces of skin. The doctors thought her finger needed to be amputated. Doreen forcefully objected as it was her ring finger. The doctor operated and saved the finger, fortunately, her wedding ring, although crushed, had in fact saved all her fingers from being mangled. When Peter was born, Doreen now had two small children to look after. However, Peter was a miserable baby and demanded lots of attention. Every day when Bill arrived home from work, he had to try to pacify Peter while Doreen tried to rest. Wayne’s grandfather was known as Randa because Wayne couldn’t pronounce Grandpa. To allow Doreen to have a break, on sale days, Randa would take Wayne with him to the Churchill cattle sale. Since then Wayne always had an interest in cattle. Wayne’s grandfather George taught him to ride a horse. Wayne’s first lessons were on a grey horse named Jackie. He was small, and the horse wasn’t so to ride him bareback Wayne would first pull the reins over the horse’s neck. Then Jackie would put his head down, so Wayne would crawl up his leg using the reins like a ladder. Jackie was a very quiet horse, in fact, a bit of a plodder, but tended to shy suddenly at times. On one occasion George, saddled two horses at Payne Street for the ride out to Tivoli. With George riding one horse and Wayne riding Jackie. Along the way Jackie obviously saw something strange and bolted up the road. He unseated Wayne whose leg slipped through the stirrup up to his groin. Wayne had to hang on for grim death to the side of the horse. They went hundreds of metres up the road at full gallop before Randa was able to catch up to them. George had taken off at full tilt after the runaway horse and rider with only a moment’s hesitation. After what for Wayne seemed an age, George was able to catch the runaway’s reins and bring Jackie to a halt. With both horses lathering and puffing, the stress started to fall from George’s face, Wayne was able to extricate himself before checking whether his jeans and boyhood were all still intact. When Wayne crawled back into the saddle, the pair walked both horses slowly towards home. The adventure was never spoken about, but Wayne’s first trick riding experience was never forgotten. Wayne attended North Ipswich Primary School. In the early days, he used to walk to school with his father Bill along the old Ipswich to Mount Crosby rail line as far as Whall’s newsagent where they parted company. Wayne went on along Downs Street to the school, while Bill walked down to the Drawing Office at the Railway

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The next chapter Workshops. Later on, they both rode their bikes, Wayne a three coloured dragster, Bill on his classic Bobby Dowse special. The same bike he had since he was a young man. Bill’s bike had taken him to school, then later grammar and his evening engineering classes as well as when he was courting Doreen. Bill and his bike averaged 70 miles a week of travel, that is just over 110 kilometres. After school and on the weekends, Wayne used to ride around the neighbourhood with his friends. He played with his Matchbox toys trucks under the house. He also kept birds and chooks as well as racing pigeons like his uncle Mervyn Knight. The hens required their own pen which was built down in the backyard at Albert Street. The birds all needed food and water daily. But, on many occasions, this was done by his siblings or by his father as Wayne was often elsewhere. Wayne joined Karalee scouts only for a very short period, on which there is no need to elaborate further. On a lighter note, Wayne tells anyone who will listen, and even those who won’t, that his parents once tried to abandon him in Sydney. The truth is he was accidentally left behind. The family, including Mama and Randa, were together in Sydney on holiday and were touring the city on a double-decker bus. When the bus stopped in Elizabeth Street, the family started filing down the rear stairs. Wayne, who was 10 years old at the time, was the first to get off the rear platform followed by Peter. Before anyone else could alight, and without warning, the bus took off again. Peter was grabbed by Bill by the scruff of his neck and dragged back on the bus. While Wayne was not fast enough to get back on and was momentarily left standing in the street. That didn’t stop him, and he took off racing down the footpath following the bus as it trundled through the city. The bus rounded the corner with 10-yearold Wayne in hot pursuit trying to keep the bus in sight. When the bus eventually stopped at the next block a flushed and puffing Wayne greeted them much to everyone’s relief. When the whole family this time disembarked, he was crushed in a hug by his stressed-out mother. He played rugby league for the North Ipswich school team, Peter remembers walking with Wayne to training at the North Ipswich football ground. Wayne’s team won the Parents and Old Boys Association Shield in 1966. The 4st 7lbs to 4st 13lbs A Division won convincingly that year with a score of 121 to 8. He was picked to play in the Ipswich and West Moreton primary schools rugby league team in 1967. Wayne remembers training with the team at Miami and at the Tallebudgera training grounds. Wayne says he gave up football when he was forced to wear 185

boots.

The next chapter Wayne attended Ipswich State High School up until his senior years. Among the subjects he studied were Accounting and Manual Arts, which included Woodwork and Metalwork He would proudly show off his achievements which were of a good standard. At the time, he didn’t know that these skills would prove useful later in his life. Wayne used to ride in gymkhana events with Ipswich and West Morton Pony Club: At these, he used to ride a pony called Beauty. She needed to be carted around to various regular events. Beauty was small enough to stand on a standard 6 by 4-foot trailer. Bill had a lightweight trailer that he modified to create a suitable horse float. Wayne and his father needed to suitably reinforce the trailer to take Beauty’s weight. They reinforced the floor and added stronger springs. They made a removable crate with a built-in ramp for access. Even after these modifications, Beauty’s arse was still wedged up against the back door! Wayne later continued in horse events competing in Camp Draughting at Fernvale and the West Moreton district. Later, when Wayne and his family moved out west to Dulacca, his children followed Wayne’s passion by competing in Camp Draughting competitions in the Western Downs district on their own horses. The family would all sleep in the truck with the horses at these events. Something they carried on when they moved out west to Dulacca. Many enjoyable hours were spent by the whole family watching Wayne successfully compete in several horse events. He still has a bag full of those prize ribbons to show off his success in those events. Some of which were sewed together to make a blanket. During his school years, Wayne continued to help Randa look after his horses and herds of cattle. At the same time, Wayne started to build up his own herd. He was always frustrated that Randa’s properties at Mt Crosby and Tivoli lacked good soil. The grass that grew there was never good enough, which meant his cattle took longer to reach saleable weight. In his words, Wayne often described it was all just ‘shit dirt’. Wayne has always been a keen farmer, and when he was much younger, he decided to try his hand at growing watermelons. His grandparents were going on holidays, and Wayne was to care for his grandfather’s horses. While they were away, it was time to sow the seeds. To speed up the process, Wayne chose to germinate the seeds in the spare double bed, in his grandparents’ house, under an electric blanket. When Doss returned home, she was naturally horrified. However, Wayne’s scheme worked, and he had a bumper crop that year. 186

The next chapter The first job Wayne had was while still at primary school he sold newspapers at the Ipswich Railway Workshops with his friend Malcolm, whose parents owned the local newsagency. It was a daunting job. For when the afternoon whistle blew 3,000 railway employees would empty out through the main gate at pace. Imagine a small boy facing a stampede who just grabbed the papers as they ran dropping the money into the boy’s open hands. Any money that fell on the ground they wisely picked up after the crowd had thinned. After leaving high school, Wayne had several jobs in varied industries, including delivering spare parts for Repco. He also bought a franchise delivering wholesale Orchy fruit juice to numerous shops around the Ipswich West Moreton area. Wayne later sold the business to his friend Jeff Denman. While he was working on the fruit juice run, he met a country girl named Anne Zabel. He also worked for a time as Stockman at the Dinmore abattoirs. In the spring of 1978, Wayne married Annette Marie Zabel, whose family ran a dairy farm at Colana near Minden. The couple had three children together: Emma Scriven in March 1983, Kirsty Scriven in January 1986, and Warwick Scriven in January 1989. Together with Anne, they leased a property between Christmas Creek and Hillview near Beaudesert. They moved there in 1983 when Emma was only six weeks old. During the day Wayne ran cattle and grew crops on the property. To earn extra money he worked with other local farmers, on the afternoon shift, as a cleaner at Tankreds’ abattoir. They would clean the plant, with his shift finishing around 9 pm. He later worked as a stockman next-door to the abattoir in the cattle feedlot owned by Tankreds. He leased a second property in the same area during this period after the original lease had expired. Anne then landed a job in Ipswich, staying with Bill and Doreen during the week and traveling back to Hillview on the weekends. Later Wayne obtained a job at a plaster moulding factory at Gailes. He would then travel down to the property to tend the cattle when required. When the lease on the second property expired, the family returned to Ipswich and moved into the small house on Coal Road. The little house has now seen several generations of Scrivens originally owned by our great grandfather Charles Richard Scriven. The rent was low, but the main benefit was his beloved grandfather, and his horses lived next door. By this time George and Doss had sold their house in Payne Street and moved into a new, low-set, three-bedroom brick home at Tivoli. This was another of the house plans drawn 187

up by Bill Scriven.

The next chapter Wayne and Anne then purchased a butcher shop called First Class Meats in Glebe Road at Newtown. They employed Anne’s cousin, Randal Zieske, as the butcher. While sourcing cattle and carcasses for himself, he contracted as a wholesaler for the local butchers supplying beef, lamb and pigs. When they sold the butcher shop, he continued wholesaling. For a time he worked as a cleaner at the Gatton College piggery. After Randa died, Wayne continued to run cattle at Mount Crosby. Then when Mama went into the nursing home at Riverview, he purchased the River Paddock from her. He then had the bright idea to subdivide the land for housing. His fiveminute idea to make a profit took ten years to come to fruition. To obtain the money for the project he worked for various meat wholesalers at Cannon Hill including Stock Traders and Independent Meat Traders (IMT). After the council finally approved the plans for the subdivision, he was granted approval to commence Stage One of the project. Wayne employed a private contractor to do the roadworks with himself project managing the site’s civil construction. Initially, sales were great, and Wayne was making the real estate sales himself. Stage Two started with Wayne doing the civil works with the help of the family. Part of the sub-division provisions for approval by the local council was that the dirt road from the Scout Ground on Allawah Road to the old bridge had to be bituminised. To keep costs down, Wayne’s family were called on to help. Wayne and Warwick would be spreading the hot bitumen with Emma operating the roller and Anne operating the stop and go sign. Then a real estate slump around the end of the century saw buyers disappear and sales fell. During both stages, and to improve his financial situation ,Wayne worked for R Sullivan Real Estate agency at North Ipswich. When the market returned, he sold off the remainder of the blocks. After Mama died, he bought the small Coal Road house, which he later sold to his cousin Brett Knight. Wayne always aspired to own a large property of his own to increase his herd size. After numerous leases and trials, he eventually convinced his own growing family that investment in their own property was the best way to go. In 2004 he sold up in Ipswich and moved to a larger property called ‘Hawthorne’ at Dulacca. Since that move, all his family have blossomed. They have each struck out on their own paths, each becoming successful in their own right. Wayne is content with raising his own ‘herd’ on much better dirt. He found employment with TEIS feedlot at Condamine and later at Sturrock’s feedlot at Drillham. For a time he worked as a fencing contractor. He then started

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The next chapter working for Ray White as a livestock agent at Roma in cattle sales. He now works for Murray Arthur Agency (MAA) livestock agents at Roma buying and selling cattle from farms as well as through the Roma cattle yards. He also helps the agent taking bids from the platform and completing the necessary paperwork. In recent years Wayne came to a fork in the road for which he was not prepared. After forty years of marriage, and some rough patches, Anne and Wayne separated. They both then went in different directions. Later Wayne met a girl from the Gold Coast, named Vicki Graham, whom he really liked. The question was how she would adapt to country life. Their love blossomed, and Vicki decided that if the relationship was to continue, she needed to move west to Dulacca. Everything was a challenge, yet Vicki was determined to overcome every hurdle. One shock was the use of brown water in the toilet. She came to see the need for using dam water during the long periods of drought. She has happily taken on the multitude of jobs on a farm that requires two people. Vicki traded her career as a pharmacy manager on the Gold Coast to be the face of the NAB in Roma. There she engaged with all the customers– many of whom became good friends. Vicki now works in the dispensing pharmacy at the Roma Hospital. She now does what she was trained for, and in a role in which she excels. Vicki often remarks that country folk are much friendlier in contrast to those on the coast. There everybody always seems to be in a rush. Living between two houses (one in Roma and the other in Dulacca) has proved to be the way of life for Wayne and Vicki. The first official meeting of our family and Vicki was over a Christmas lunch at Bribie Island. Vicki elected to bring the desert and when the Engle was opened disaster had struck. The trifle had spilled and covered everything in the fridge. She was stressed, wanting to make a good impression, but she took it in her stride. We all laughed it off, and what was salvaged of the trifle was delicious. Vicki and her bubbly, upbeat personality have been a breath of fresh air in the family. To many people’s surprise, Vicki convinced Wayne to travel overseas and take time out from farming. Their first holiday was to Greece, cruising the Greek islands. Then the next year they travelled to Italy. Wayne said the best part of both holidays was an bus tour to a small Italian vineyard. Even though the husband and wife, owners of the vineyard, spoke only limited English, Wayne and Vicki only limited Italian. Both Wayne and the husband were able to converse in the international 189

language of farming. They both had similar interests and ‘talked’ for some time while drinking various glasses of wine. Meanwhile, Vicki was given recipes from

The next chapter the wife. The couple now has an open invitation to visit again whenever they are next in Italy. In 2019 Wayne proposed to Vicki and the couple married on the 19th October 2019 on a property at Mount Hope, halfway between Dulacca and Roma. The garden wedding was witnessed by many of their friends and family. Wayne’s son Warwick was his best man and Vicki’s daughter Kelsey was her bridesmaid. Wayne married Annette Marie [Anne] Zabel on the 27th June 1981. Anne was born on 19th May 1959. Now divorced they have three children: Emma Lee born on the 8th March 1983, Kirsty Marie born on the 16th January 1987 and Warwick George born on the 4th January 1989. All their children have embraced country life. Emma married Richard David Brandt in Fiji on the 20th August 2010. They have two children Riley Noel Brandt born on the 26th December 2010 and Taylor Lee Brandt born on the 12th March 2013. The family lives on property near Condamine. Kirsty’s partner is Ian Besch, and they have a son Boyd Charles Besch born on the 24th April 2018 and a daughter Neve Marie Besch born on the 11th September 2020. Kirsty and Ian live at Bajool, south of Rockhampton. Warwick married Ann-Maree Joy Nixon on the 23rd March They have two children Wilf John Scriven born on the 10th September 2014 and Clara Mae Scriven born on the 28th October 2016. Warwick and Ann-maree live on their property at Munduberra. Vicki was born in Ipswich on the 16th October 1962. She married Mark Graham at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church in Toowoomba, on the 18th January 1986. Later divorced, the couple had two children, Matt Steven Graham and Kelsey Kate Graham. Matt was born on the 19th June 1989 at Mater South Brisbane and Kelsey was born on the 3rd August 1991 at the Gold Coast Hospital. Wayne and Vicki married in October 2019. They live on their property, ‘Hawthorne’, north of Dulacca in western Queensland.

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1958 – Janelle Gaye (McDowall) Devereaux Janelle is the only daughter of Mervyn and Jean McDowall. She was born in Ipswich in 1958. Her older brother Steven was born in 1956. Jannelle married Laurie Devereaux in 1995. The couple have three children. As Janelle tells the story, she was born in the early hours of Wednesday morning, on the 16th April 1958. Her Mum remembers looking up at the town clock in Brisbane Street, as her Dad changed gears to round the corner from Limestone Street into East Street. The clock had just struck 9pm, and they were in a hurry, heading for Ipswich General Hospital. Mervyn was driving the family’s little, red Vauxhall. Robert Menzies was then the Australian Prime Minister and Australia was a different place to what it is today. Birthing rooms were a no-go zone for men. Expectant fathers simply dropped their wives off at the door to the maternity ward then went home to await the news of their babies arrival. Mervyn went home to his parent’s place in Bright Street, Newtown. Janelle’s older brother Steven was being looked after by her paternal grandparents Wal and Lilian McDowall. On nearly every birthday, her father would tell the same story. How he went early the next morning down the road to McMurtrie’s shop, to use their telephone to call the hospital. He had to check if his wife Jean, had given birth. He was informed that he was the father of a healthy baby daughter. Lilian McDowall later said that Mervyn’s legs hardly touched the treads as he raced up the front stairs to announce he was the father of a little girl. Janelle’s grandparents were also excited to have a girl in the family. After having three sons of their own, then a much-loved grandson, they now had a little granddaughter to love. And love was what Janelle always received in abundance from those special people. Unlike today where newborns meet their extended family within hours of being born, Jean told how Steven couldn’t even visit his sister in the hospital. Jean was only allowed to wave from the window, while her son stood in the hospital ground’s below with his father. Janelle grew up having a deep connection to her Scottish heritage. Her surname is Scottish. Janelle’s paternal grandfather was born in Scotland. She often visited his sisters, and her great aunts both retained their Scottish accents after many years of living in Australia. Janelle’s grandmother Lilian Kitching was born in Australia although had Scottish born parents. Jean’s grandparents on her mother’s side, Euphemia and James Jordan were also born in Scotland. It was always Janelle’s 191

mother’s Dad’s side of the family, who was a bit of a mystery. Janelle would often

The next chapter ask her mother where their maternal grandfather’s family were from? All she’d say was they might have been from England. It wasn’t until Janelle started to research her family history, and the secrets of the Scriven family’s past began to unravel, did she really feel connected. Now she is connected, not just to a branch of her family tree, but also to this town and our ancestors’ land. Janelle has a friend who is a Goreng Goreng man, who for many years ago spoke to her about Indigenous Australians. He often said, “To understand our present, we must first understand our past”. In some small way, she understands our First Nations people’s a deep connection to this country. Their past travels back many thousands of years, and their culture ties them strongly to this land. After discovering her 5th great grandfather John Best arrived here in 1778, a convict transported as part of the First Fleet, Janelle feels even more connected to this country of our birth. Following his journey from England to Australia to Norfolk Island and back to Australia, Janelle learned more of this country’s early history. She and her husband travelled to Norfolk Island and walked on the land our ancestor was farming after receiving a land grant. They could only dream of what his life must have been like. Janelle’s favourite Ipswich cafe, Rafter & Rose, stands on the land in Ellenborough Street purchased by our 3rd great-grandfather Richard Lovell in 1848 when land in this area was first released for sale. Knowing her ancestors were some of the first to settle in Ipswich, back when it was still considered part of New South Wales. This has given her a stronger connection to the town where she was born. Growing up here, Janelle was always slightly embarrassed, now she’s proud to have been born in Ipswich, the home of our ancestors since 1848. Richard’s life story taught her life wasn’t all bad for the convicts transported to Australia, but it did depend on what one made of it. Richard was only a teenager when he and his friend James Emmett were convicted of stealing Their sentences seven years of transportation. From what records she has found, Richard served his time, mostly working on a farm in the Hunter River district. Once he received his Certificate of Freedom, he made his way north to Moreton Bay and eventually to Ipswich. He started his own carrier business, became a landowner, married and raised a family. 192

The next chapter On the other hand, his accomplice became an escaped convict and joined the bushranger gang named the Jew Boy gang and was executed in 1841. Emmett was implicated in a murder at Scone in New South Wales. How different those two life paths went. It amazed Janelle that her mother, along with her cousins Bill Scriven and Shirley Hertrick all knew the daughter of a convict. Their great grandmother was Sarah (Lovell) Scriven daughter of Richard. Back in their day, any family’s convict heritage was hidden and not talked about. Now it is almost considered Australian royalty to have a convict in the family tree. Thanks to the Scriven line of our tree, we have five. Janell’s immediate family’s connection to Ipswich ends with her. Her and Laurie’s three children were born in Ipswich, though they now all live in Brisbane. Her two grandsons were both born in Brisbane. However, by recording our history, future generations will know their past, where they have come from and maybe understand their present. What if someone asks you what is your earliest memory? Can anyone really pinpoint it? Janelle says she can’t. She thinks her earliest memory isn’t of a person or an event but a place, her Nan Jordan’s house. Janelle was three years old when she died, and she doesn’t have strong memories of her. Her mother Jean told her that each week when Janelle was little they’d catch the bus to town and then cross the town bridge to Lowry Street to where her great grandmother lived. Jean’s mother, Emily Scriven, would meet them there. During Janelle’s conversations with her mother in recalling family history, if at Nan Jordan’s house you walked up a few front stairs and along a hallway and the kitchen was to the right at the back of the house. Janelle remembered being at this house but wasn’t sure if it was something she’d imagined. The layout of her great grandmother’s house was just as she thought. Janelle has no recollections of the house when she was older as it was demolished some years back. Being relatively close to town the block where the house once stood became a commercial site. Janelle’s other great grandparent still living when she was born was Charles Scriven. Janelle was six when he died. She has a memory of him on a family outing to the Brisbane CBD. They were with Jean’s cousin Shirley Hertrick and her two eldest children, Lorelle and Robyn Hertrick. Janelle remembers standing in an ice cream parlour and Charles buying Lorelle and Robyn an ice cream but not her for her. Janelle remembered her mother saying it was okay she’d buy her 193

one. Jean said he was a cranky old bugger and that Shirley and her brother Sonny were his favourite grandchildren. We guess she was correct as Shirley’s children

The next chapter by default, also seemed to be his favourite great-grandchildren. Janelle’s childhood was happy and uncomplicated. Her father, Mervyn McDowall, worked as a stereo typist at the local newspaper, The Queensland Times. This meant he left for work around 9pm and finished whenever the paper was printed in the early hours of the morning. This also meant he was home with Janelle during the day when she was little and there when she got home from school. Before Janelle started school and before the family had their own television, Mervyn would often take his daughter over to his mother’s at lunchtime to watch the midday movie. Well, he’d watch the movie and Janelle would play with her grandmother. Janelle doesn’t know if it was because of this time they spent together when other fathers would be at work or because of the man he was, but unlike many men of that era, he wasn’t afraid to show his children how much they were loved. Her father taught her what unconditional love looked like. She never doubted how much she was he loved nor how proud he was of her. She felt genuinely protected with him. Right up until he died, on parting, he’d always hug his daughter tightly and tell her he loved her. Janelle’s primary school days were spent at Ipswich East State School. She’d walk to and from school as it was only a five minutes from their house. Janelle had no problems fitting in at school. She did well academically and was age champion on sports day and made friends quickly despite being a quiet, shy child. Janelle started school in 1964. There was no pre-school back then, you just started with grade one. As she didn’t go to kindergarten, starting school was her first foray into any type of formal education. The year Janelle began school, there were two classes of each year level. Looking at her class photos from year one to seven, the number of children in the classes ranged from 29 to 37. There were no teacher aides, and parent’s help consisted of mothers working in the tuckshop. On days when your teacher or the other grade teacher was away sick, you didn’t get a relief teacher. The concertina doors between the two classrooms would be opened up, and one teacher would teach the 60 odd children. Yet Janelle doesn’t recall any children misbehaving. In year one and two they wrote on slates, and she remembers going to the water bubblers to wet the sponges they used to clean the slates. The sponges were round and sat snuggly in a small glass bowl to keep them wet. Janelle was a sporty kid and played netball in winter and vigoro in summer. There were always games of backyard football (soccer) and cricket with her older brother and the neighbourhood kids.

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The next chapter The family house in Nathan street had a paddock behind it. The homes on either side were owned by the RAAF and the Army. They housed families of servicemen stationed at the Amberley base. This meant every two years, or so, they’d get new neighbours. Friends would come and go, some remained lifelong friends, others didn’t. Each generation looks back at their childhood nostalgically. For Janelle, they were carefree days filled with summer holidays at the beach each year. Early on at Rainbow Bay in a flat where they’d have their second cousins staying in the area. Old photo slides show family days on the beach with the Hertricks and Scrivens. Then long summer weeks spent in the family caravan camped at Kirra, Main Beach and Tweed. It’s no wonder she became a saltwater soul. Janelle feels happiest walking along a sandy beach or diving under a breaking wave. After finishing year 12 at Bremer State High Janelle wasn’t interested in any further study, she’d had enough of school and first worked in the office of a small earthmoving company in Brisbane before getting her ‘call up’ for the public service. She worked for the Education Department in the Teacher Scholarships section in Brisbane before transferring to the regional office located in Ipswich. Janelle wasn’t joining strangers in the regional office as her second cousin Lorelle Hertrick was already working there. In her final year of school in 1975, Janelle started going out with Laurie Devereaux. They met through mutual friends but knew of each other as Laurie was friends with her brother Steve. They had been at high school and played football together. Laurie and Janelle had also gone to the same Sunday School. She has no memory of Laurie at Sunday School, but she jokes that he must’ve had his eye on her way back then. Laurie can remember the cute little hats Janelle used to wear as part of her ‘Sunday Best’ outfit. Janelle and Laurie married in her grandfather Les Scriven’s garden at 80 Holdsworth Rd on the 21st March 1981. Janelle’s uncle Ken Scriven took holidays from work leading up to the wedding to have the garden looking immaculate. On the 19th October 1982, their first child Skye Nirvana Devereaux was born. Janelle took twelve months of maternity leave from work. Unlike today this leave was all unpaid and had very stringent conditions attached to it. You had to finish work six weeks before your due date and were allowed a maximum of 12 months leave and had to come back to work full time as part-time wasn’t an option. As 195

Skye was born two weeks past her due date, it meant she was only 10 months old when Janelle was scheduled to go back to work. Skye was still breastfeeding, and

The next chapter there was no way to accommodate a breastfeeding mother in the workplace. So, Janelle resigned and became a full-time mum, which she loved. Their second daughter Bree Lindsay Devereaux was born on the 21st November 1985, and their son Jesse Michael Devereaux was born on the 24th January 1990. Janelle was a stay-at-home mum for 16 years and feels privileged to have had the financial security to do so. She loved being at home with her children to see them grow and develop, to help out at their school and attend all the concerts and sporting events. To have play-dates and meet their friends mum’s, some of who became her friends. While her children were at school, Janelle filled her days playing indoor netball, Tuesday morning tennis, going to the gym and joining a patchwork club. In 1998, Janelle ran into an old friend she had worked with in the Education Department. He was now the Area Manager at the Department of Housing in Ipswich. He asked her if she was interested in a couple of days of work a week. From that, her career with the Department of Housing began. Going back to work after a 16-year hiatus was a huge step. When Janelle left work in 1982, there were no computers in the workplace whereas by 1998 everyone used a computer. She loved the work she was doing with Housing. They were responsible for social housing in the West Moreton area, providing housing for some of the most vulnerable in our society. It was more than allocating someone a house. It was about working with the household and other agencies to give them the skills and support to maintain the tenancy. It wasn’t always easy, she was often verbally abused, and not all tenancies could be sustained. Sometimes it all ended up in court asking for an eviction. But, most days you could end your day knowing you’d made a difference in someone’s life. In 1999, after a twenty-four-year break, Janelle decided to go back to formal education and applied to study for a Bachelor of Social Science at the University of Queensland. Work was supportive, and as the degree was relative to the work she was doing, they paid 75% of her HECS fees and allowed her time off to attend lectures and exams. At seventeen Janelle knew she wasn’t ready for university education, but at forty-one Janelle loved it. Her three-year degree took six years as she only studied two subjects per semester as she was still juggling working and three children living at home. Skye commenced her undergraduate degree in Behavioural Studies at the University of Queensland in 2000, and at one point mother and daughter were both enrolled in the same psychology subject. Although Skye attended the day lecture while Janelle attended the night lecture to ensure

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The next chapter their paths didn’t cross! However, the lecturer did find it a little amusing having both a mother and daughter in his course. All three of Janelle’s children studied at the University of Queensland. Skye studied Behavioural Studies and then undertook a post-graduate degree in Early Childhood Education. Skye is now an early childhood educator. Bree studied for a dual degree in Journalism and Arts majoring in History and Political Science and currently works as a Digital Communication Officer for the State Government. Jesse studied for a Bachelor of Health, Sport and Physical Education and teaches high school Physical Education and Science. After graduating with a Bachelor of Social Science, work then sponsored Janelle to complete a Graduate Certificate in Social Science: Housing Policy and Research through Swinburne University. When she retired in June 2018, Janelle had been with the department for 20 years and was the Client Service Manager. Janelle was lucky to have found a job that she loved and one that aligned with her ideology of social justice. Health and fitness have always been a part of her life. In 2008 with Skye, Bree and Jesse old enough to fend for themselves Laurie and Janelle started travelling with some like-minded friends. Their first trekking holiday was to Nepal where they trekked to Ama Dablam base camp in the Himalayas. Janelle still remembers the awe of seeing for the first time Everest, the world’s highest mountain. A few years later the couple ventured to South America and walked the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu. They’ve also trekked in New Zealand and Tasmania and have ridden camels and bikes through India. Janelle and Laurie like to get away bushwalking whenever they can. They have found some beautiful places in their own backyard. Walking in nature, with only the sound of birds, gives you time with your own thoughts and can be good for both your body and your soul. Janelle is yet to visit Scotland, the home of many of her ancestors but hopes to get there one day soon. Although not musical Janelle has always loved music. She can’t sing in tune or play a musical instrument, yet music can lift your mood. It can make you happy or sad or transport you back to a time, a place, a person. Janelle remembers lining up in Charlotte Street, Brisbane for tickets to see Bob Dylan play at Festival Hall in Brisbane in the late 1970s. Bob Dylan’s protest songs spoke to the inner hippie that still lives within her. She loves the music of Van Morrison but doesn’t love the man. She loves Paul Kelly and tries to drag Laurie to see him whenever he’s playing locally. She thinks he’s one of Australia’s great poets and tells some 197

important stories through his music.

The next chapter Her daughter Bree, also a music lover, jokes her first concert was Bruce Springsteen in March 1985. She was still in my womb at the time, she wasn’t born until November of that year. But he must’ve made an early impression as Bree has seen him each time he’s returned to Brisbane, along with the rest of the family. Other memorable concerts at the old Festival Hall have been Bob Marley, Rod Stewart at his prime in the late 1970s, Fleetwood Mac, Rodriguez. And a bit more recently at the Boondall Entertainment Centre, they’ve seen the legendary Rolling Stones and one of her all-time favourites, Yusif/Cat Stevens. Janelle has enjoyed his music since she was a teenager and finally saw him play live in 2017. Janelle remembers listening to ‘Where do the Children Play’ and having quiet tears of joy running down her cheeks. Music can evoke such a variety of emotions. Although Janelle doesn’t have green fingers like her uncle Ken, she does enjoy her garden. Living on two acres at Karalee, there’s always something to do. Retirement has given Janelle and Laurie more to spend in the garden. The garden has been a welcome retreat during the weeks of lockdown during the COVID crisis of 2020. Retirement has also given her time to read. Getting lost in a novel is one of life’s great pastimes. Also, her family history research has been a rewarding distraction. Over the years, she has read hundreds of articles piecing together the lives of those that came before us. Janelle enjoys research and the satisfaction of finding that missing piece of the puzzle. Like all parents before her, she considers her greatest achievement, and her greatest love, to be her children and now, their children. Janelle looks at them and approves of the people they have become. They are compassionate, respectful and empathetic adults who also care about our environment. To see these traits in your adult children makes you content.

1958 – Glen Thomas Hertrick Glen Thomas was the first son of Shirley and Mervyn Hertrick. Glen was born on the 7th October 1958, unfortunately he was not expected to live and died two days later on the 9th October. He was buried at the Ipswich Infant Cemetery.

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1959 – Robyn Joy (Hertrick) Ford Robyn Joy is the third child of Shirley and Mervyn Hertrick. She was born in Ipswich on the 6th November 1959. Robyn’s older sister Lorelle was born in 1956, an older brother, Glen born in 1957 did not survive, her younger sister Cheryl was born in 1961 and her younger brother Jeffery in 1964. Robyn married James Colin Ford on the 1st March 1980. James was born on the 14th October 1953. They have two children: a daughter Alison Claire Ford born on the 16th November 1983 and a son Steven James Ford born on the 26th August 1987. Alison Ford married Adam Roberts on the 10th May 2014. They have one daughter Sienna Rose Roberts born on the 17th February 2016 and a son Blake Michael Roberts born on the 8th November 2019. Steven Ford has one son Bodhi James Ford. Bohdi was born on the 14th February 2016.

1960 – Peter Charles Scriven Peter Charles is the second child of Bill and Doreen Scriven. He was born in Ipswich on the 13th February 1960. Peter has an older brother Wayne born in 1957, and two younger sisters Suzanne born in 1963 and Michelle in 1967. Born on a hot Saturday in February with hair that looked like white duck’s down, he came into the world crying, then cried solidly for the next three months. Only when he was asleep was he quiet. During the day as soon as Bill arrived home from work, Doreen would pass the baby over so she could rest. Grandma Knight said to wait three months, and all would be well. Almost on cue, he stopped crying and has been a mostly, trouble-free son ever since. A sickly child he suffered from bronchitis all through his childhood. With weak lungs, unable to run around and often sick, he was coaxed into swimming. From which he developed a love for the water, especially the sea. If born in another century, he wouldn’t have survived childhood. In the sixties, antibiotics or puffers weren’t commonplace. When his lungs were congested, and on doctor’s advice, his father had Peter sit at the kitchen table over a bowl of 199

inhalant with a towel over his head. If his lungs were heavily congested, the electric frypan was set up in his bedroom filled with water and Eucalyptus Oil. Peter would

The next chapter breathe in the fumes allowing him to sleep peacefully. As the water evaporated, his parents had to take turns throughout the night, topping it up so that the frypan did not boil dry. Typical of the time, Doreen was a stay-at-home housewife. She always there for her children, when they set off for school and when they came home. The household routine included baking on Saturday. Even with two younger sisters, Peter enjoyed helping in the kitchen. Doreen would bake cakes and biscuits to last the week or more. And if there was one of the many regular family parties, extra special treats were made. Peter always made a little too much icing so that he and his sisters could eat the excess. His siblings were always off doing things. His brother with his grandfather and his horses. His sisters having tea parties with their dollies. The odd one out Peter grew up with his own company. He read, often late into the night, and played with his set of Lego blocks. Making ships, trains and planes and the stories to go with them. Peter was a good boy, well behaved and apparently never asked for anything. He was gregarious yet quiet and a good brother who looked out for his little sisters. The Scriven kids were always well dressed, with most of their clothes handmade. Every Sunday Peter had to take his sisters to Sunday School. They used all kinds of excuses to get out of going. It rarely worked, and they attended in their ‘Sunday Best’. Peter was often dressed in his mother’s favourite colour, mauve. On their return, there was a Sunday roast in the oven and the comics to read. At heart, an artistic, intelligent individual growing up in a middle class, parochial country town, Peter didn’t always fit. He often referred to himself as the purple sheep of the family. It must have been those mauve clothes. All the kids had chores. Peter’s included doing the dishes, mowing the lawn, and all making their beds before leaving the house. Every Christmas, Peter made presents for his family and friends. While Doreen taught Peter to sew, she failed to pass on her knitting skills. Peter, however, learnt to crochet from Mama. When he commuted to Brisbane with his first job, he’d sit on the train making crochet squares for a blanket. There was a snippet in a column in the Courier Mail about an intense young man crocheting on the train totally unaware of the stares of the other travellers. It hinted that even though he looked normal, maybe he was ‘gay’. In his late teens, Peter started a series of black and white drawings of old Ipswich houses. For some perverse reason, all the pen work consists of straight, vertical lines. One Christmas he made placemats from six of the drawings. They were

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The next chapter photocopies covered in ContactTM. Although cringe-worthy now he later discovered several people still had them. His mother was always proud of these early artistic endeavours. She preferred them to his later paintings, especially his nudes. At home by the sea, every Christmas the family would holiday at Burleigh Heads or Tallebudgera. There surrounded by several generations of Doreen’s family. Other families made the annual pilgrimage, which is where Peter met his friend Mark Sleath. The routine was up early for a swim with Uncle Dud, often with a gaggle of kids in tow. After breakfast and chores, everybody would meet on the beach, with all their umbrellas huddled together. After a morning of sun, sand and laughter, the kids were allowed an ice cream: Paddle Pops, Have-a hearts or Gaytimes, each had their favourites. Peter loved making sandcastles and did well in the regular sandcastle competitions run by the local radio station. Around noon, it was back for a shower then lunch. Then it would be siesta time with everybody lolling around on their beds under the baking canvas. Peter would read his latest second-hand, Walt Disney comic. Once the heat of the day started to fade, it would be back for another swim or a climb of Big Burleigh. Sometimes in the evening, a walk along the beach to enjoy the lights. Then sleep and repeat. Peter never wanted those holidays to end. In his teens, his cousins tried to teach Peter to surf. He couldn’t balance on the board; so he bought a second-hand, orange surf-ski. Often lugging it around Big Burleigh, to paddle across Tallebudgerah Creek to visit the Sleaths when they camped there. During the year he’d paddle it up and down the river from Colleges Crossing. Every four years or so the family went on a road trip: the first to Sydney, then the Snowy Mountains, Cairns, Adelaide and Melbourne. The family packed into the car, along with the tent, suitcases, bedding, and homework (they were often away longer than the school holidays). Years later, Peter went on a road trip with his parents to Tasmania. They towed the van to Melbourne and took the car on the ferry across the Bass Strait. They stayed in farm stays and B&Bs. It was a fun adventure except that Doreen stressed herself seasick days before boarding the ferry again. It must run in the family as there is a story that Randa (George Scriven) was once seasick on a park bench watching boats bob up and down. Peter read voraciously as a kid: his tastes were broad. The Ipswich library was a favourite haunt, and he’d take home an armful of books on art, architecture, craft, 201

novels and biographies. It was a normal, happy childhood, few dramas and lots of laughs. One event that stands out was the sudden death of Uncle Bryan. Doreen’s

The next chapter younger sister June married Bryan Woods in 1962. Uncle Byran had a waterski boat, and there were numerous skiing picnics. In the early 1970s, Bryan was involved in a car accident. While waiting at the lights near Brassall School, a drunk driver rear-ended Bryan’s car with so much force the car slammed into the power pole on the opposite of the road. Bryan escaped with only minor injuries. Then in 1972 Bryan developed a series of severe headaches which were eventually diagnosed as a brain abscess. The doctors operated; however, he developed a fever. To bring down his temperature, Bryan was packed in ice. He caught pneumonia and died, leaving behind a wife and three small children. Sonia, the youngest, was only a few months old at the time. June collapsed with grief, so Doreen and Bill took the young family in for a few months. With limited space at Albert Street, Peter and Wayne were sent to stay with their grandparents (Mama and Randa). Sleeping on the enclosed veranda in the same beds their father and uncle had slept in when they were their age. The boys were taken to school by Randa in the back of his old, grey Dodge truck. Peter started at North Ipswich Primary School when he was four years old. Back then if you turned five by April, you were able to start early. Peter remembers only a few friends from school. The students practiced Copperplate handwriting in ruled books, painstakingly following the dotted forms with their pencils. You didn’t graduate to biros until at least grade five. For maths, calculations were made using Cuisenaire rods, coloured blocks to work out the sums. During grade three, all the boys in her class had a crush on Miss Green. They used to fight over cleaning the dusters for her. Then she broke their hearts by marrying Mr Brown. Another favourite teacher was Mr Field, who would have a regular gang of kids hanging around him at lunchtime. Peter was a milk monitor, and every school day crates of small bottles of milk would arrive for little lunch. Even though they arrived cold in the morning in summer, the milk was often drunk warm. Lunch was usually tomato and cheese sandwiches or corn meat and pickles, on white bread. Sometimes there were coins to buy a treat at the tuck shop. As kids, Peter and his brother Wayne constantly fought with Peter always on the losing end. Two different personalities their mother referred to them as like chalk and cheese. All the Scriven kids went to Ipswich High School. The mandatory uniform was grey on grey. Still not good at sports but forced into playing Peter was thrown off the soccer team for accidentally breaking another boy’s leg. He didn’t do brilliantly well at school except for art, English and tech drawing. Peter enjoyed

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The next chapter French and was better at speaking than grammar. He did swim at school but never had a competitive drive. He was nerdy before it was a term. His best friends at school were Chris RoySmith and Rita Zeller. Peter was the youngest student in his year, Chris was the oldest and was a science nerd. Rita boarded with her aunt Rita Hayden and Peter used to share his lunch as young Rita never seemed to have enough to eat, only later did he find out she was on a diet. His father Bill was a draughtsman, and Peter wanted to be an architect and was always drawing house plans. When Peter was 14, he entered a local newspaper competition to design a house for the 21st century. His entry was highly praised by the judges, but ultimately his school grades were not good enough for university. The next option after high school was art college. Unfortunately, he just missed out on the next year’s enrollment deadline. As his parents really couldn’t afford to send him to college, Peter went out and got a job. His first full-time job was at a health food store café in Elizabeth Street, Brisbane, across the road from King George Square. As a chef’s assistant (aka general dog’s body) to the chef, he learnt about eating a healthy, vegetarian diet. The customers were mostly businesspeople with a few hippy types. Back in mid-seventies Queensland to be ‘vegetarian’ was living on the fringe. After several months, Peter got a ‘real’ job with Queensland Rail (QR) as a clerk in the Comptroller of Stores. First at Redbank, sorting invoices into their relevant pigeonholes. After a couple of years, Peter was transferred to the Ipswich workshops under Tom Healy. Tom with Russell and Peter made a good team. Moved back to Redbank, Peter became an offsider to the Electrical Section’s Purchasing Officer. At one point, Peter was called into the boss’ office for a drubbing down because he was working too hard. In 1978, while working at the railways, Peter enrolled in a six-year, part-time art degree, majoring in graphics. The Art College in Seven Hills was originally part of the TAFE system, until control of the college later shifted to Griffith University. In the process, the grading changed, and Peter could complete his degree earlier than planned. By attending four nights a week and picking up a day lecture, he completed his degree a year early. The key benefit of working for QR at that time was Flex-leave, whereby if you worked more than your allotted hours, you could have time off in lieu. Most took the afternoon off to relax, Peter meanwhile 203

raced to the other side of Brisbane to join the younger, full-time students. His life

The next chapter consisted of work, travel, study, and on the weekends there were assignments to be completed; he had no social life but was doing what he loved. After five hard years, he graduated with a diploma and a portfolio. Out of the 60 students in his first year, Peter finished his year with only four other students. In February 1984, Peter started as a junior art director with Peter Rodger Advertising. The tough years finally paid off. His parents never understood why he’d leave a secure job in the railways. It was the main reason but in his first year as a junior art director peter earned more money than as a clerk in the Railways. Peter made many good friends at Peter Roger’s, including with Christine Sheldrake and her illustrator husband, Cliff, Raewyn Acker, a heavy drinking Kiwi and Fiona, a budding musical actress. Advertising in those days consisted of working long days, often well into the night, of long Friday lunches, drinking, and late-night partying. It was where being ‘creative’ was mandatory. Peter wore trendy clothes, got his ear pierced and once dyed his hair pink. Around this time Rita Zeller’s cousin Leo had his 21st birthday party in Warwick. There Peter met Leo’s sister’s friends Ralf and Janie Ballschmieter. Leo was given a scuba diving course, and when the time came to attend, Leo asked Peter to join him. Twice before Peter had enrolled on a scuba course and each time it was cancelled. Over two weekends in Maroochydore, Peter and Leo learnt to dive. Leo went back to his medical studies and never dove again. However, Peter was hooked on exploring the underwater world. Over the next three years, under the tutelage of Ralf, Peter worked his way up to Instructor level. Ralf saw Peter as a tool in his visions of a diving empire. Peter enjoyed floating in a magic world, halfway between the surface and the reef below. Nearly every other weekend there were dive trips from Bundaberg out on a series of boats including the Reliance, to the southern Great Barrier Reef (Fairfax and Hoskins reefs, Lady Elliot and Heron Islands). They entailed a five-hour drive on Friday evening to Bundaberg, then a six-hour sail out to the reef. In the morning, you’d wake to a sunrise over an endless ocean. Five dives over two days then sail back on Sunday afternoon to Bundaberg. Then back on the bus to drive back to Brisbane. Most times arriving back in the early hours of Monday morning. No pleasure trips for Peter as he was training to be a divemaster or crewing. Through the dive trips, Peter met Henrik Bork Anderson, Nils Carlson and Betty [Bubsa]. The Divemaster course, involved months of training and the in-water exam took place off Maroochydore during a cyclone. A year later Peter completed his Instructor certification at Airlie Beach. After the course, he stayed for a week on

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The next chapter Orpheus Island, at the University research facility, where the skipper from the Reliance, Charles, and his wife were then managers. Peter also learnt to sail with Ralf on his 28’ yacht the ‘Daydream’ on the wide waters of Morten Bay. At that stage, Peter was still living at home, and most weekends sleeping on Ralf and Janie’s couch. When Janie’s sister Bev Harrop and her son Tom returned home from England. Bev needed a lodger, Janie needed her couch back, and Peter needed somewhere closer to his new life. One thing led to another, and Bev and Tom have been part of his social family ever since. Tom is like a little brother, and Janie’s two girls Rebecca and Emily, nieces of another aunt. Around this time, Peter met Sherrie Zimpel and Kim Fields, who were living in the house next door to Bev’s. Sherrie is a rake thin, new-age waif. A brilliant cook she and Peter had many esoteric conversations over ubiquitous cups of herbal tea. Kim is an intense Virgo who went through various phases over the years. While at Peter Roger’s, Peter worked with Jim Deane, a copywriter. When Jim moved to another agency as Creative Director, he asked Christine and Peter to move as well. The Interaction office was in a grand, old Queenslander in New Farm. Bob Kilah the calm finance guy, with Len Hannah and David who looked after their accounts with very different styles. The creatives worked under the house in a large open-plan room, and the whole team were treated well. The Christmas parties were legendary. After Peter moved to Interaction, he moved out of McConaghy Street into the ‘Garrett’. A small 1960s studio apartment, on the top floor of a block of flats in New Farm. Six flights up the only redeeming feature of the studio were the uninterrupted views through the glass doors past the eerie of a balcony to the Brisbane River and the city beyond. When the Garret was sold, Peter moved across the road to a one-bedroom apartment he named it ‘Nevada’ after the desert. Later, Peter shared a house with Raewyn in Windsor Road, then shared a house in Red Hill with Dennis a tram buff, Morris dancing chap. The pair got on well and later shared a house in Windsor. Around this time, Sherrie moved to Byron. By invitation, Peter made numerous weekend visits. The area is unique. There is a peace on those long, empty beaches and rocky headlands that are swept clean by the deep Pacific. 205

Peter’s holidays also included trekking in Nepal and relaxing on Mo’orea in French Polynesia. On these holidays, Peter learned how positively people responded

The next chapter when you tried speaking to them in their native language. Although Australia’s official language by de facto is English, it is spoken by only three-quarters of the population. Collectively, Australians speak over 200 languages. Of these, over 50 are actively spoken Australian Indigenous languages. And one in five Australians speak a language other than English at home. Australian Indigenous languages are now spoken by less than 1% of the population. More than 250 Aboriginal dialects are thought to have existed at the time of first European contact, of which around only 20 are still in everyday use by all age groups, and around 110 others are spoken only by elders. Peter’s interaction with the locals and their culture was more rewarding when he spoke halting, schoolboy French in Tahiti and a smattering of words to the Nepalese. So armed with dictionaries, language courses and a massive leap of faith he has conversed, to widely varying success, in French, Danish, Swedish, Spanish, Italian, Japanese, German, Arabic, Greek and Tamil. He has also completed a course studying Sanskrit, which, although not commonly spoken, still helps with his yoga. In 1988 World Expo changed the face of Brisbane. Christine and Peter had a season pass and would go every Friday night. Expo 88 opened many people’s eyes to the world outside the confines of Brisbane. At Christmas 1989, after a busy and successful year at Interaction, Peter’s Christmas bonus was a return plane ticket to London. The bosses thought Peter would be away for a couple of weeks; however, he took it as an opportunity to travel. Peter resigned and one year away turned into four. In November 1990 Peter flew to London and stayed a week with Bev’s in-laws. Then onto Copenhagen where Nils met him at the airport, then to Göteborg. The pair had corresponded since Nils had returned to Sweden. Nils had also become a Scuba instructor and worked at a dive resort on the Swedish west coast. During winter, most of the instructors went to a sister resort in Thailand. Peter was able to instruct during that northern winter, diving the cold green waters around the ice-free archipelago that is the Orust archipelago and Bohusläns nature reserve. During the week Nils worked as a nurse in Göteborg’s hospital. On Friday night the pair drove north in Nil’s old Volvo to catch the ferry across to Gullhölmen, a small island on the edge of the North Sea. During the summer the region is a sailing mecca. During the cold winter, it is a quiet and rugged place. Because of Peter’s limited Swedish, Nils gave the lectures while Peter handled the underwater part. Nils was going through family dramas

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The next chapter at the time, and ultimately the arrangement didn’t work out, so Peter left to travel. Earlier in the new year, when things were quiet, Henrik had invited Peter down to Copenhagen for a break. Denmark was a marked contrast to life in Sweden. Swedes, in general, are friendly but reserved people. Henrik’s friends were welcoming and open. Peter became an adopted Dane and was accepted for himself. After the gig in Sweden ended, Henrik invited Peter back to Denmark. Peter stayed with Henrik and Mogens in a house in Holte for several weeks. Just after Peter’s 30th birthday, they went skiing in France. Every year Henrik and his friend Pernille organised a busload of friends on a week skiing holiday. Although he had never skied before the ‘ski gods tour’ was a fun. Peter learnt to ski – the hard way by falling down the mountains. In the process he made friends of Henrik’s sister Astrid Bork Andersen, Elif Altier and Frank Andersen (no relation). That summer Peter travelled to England and worked in Oxfordshire as a builders labourer for Bev’s friends Adrian and Libby. Then back to Denmark in between travelling around Europe on a budget visiting museums and art galleries. Back in Denmark, Peter shared an apartment on Vesterbrogade with Henrik and Astrid, sleeping on a mattress under the dining room table. In total Peter spent four years in Europe, in between short trips back to Australia to see family, and work to save money to return to Denmark. Peter eventually secured an art director’s role at a Danish advertising agency. Back in Australia for the working visa, it took several, torturous months to be finally denied. While working at Kelly Gee FCB advertising in Brisbane, between Danish sojourns, Peter met Tim Bellamy. Tim was on secondment from the FCB Sydney office. Eccentric and funny the pair clicked, and Tim later proved instrumental in Peter’s move to Sydney. A couple of years later, with no visa to work in Denmark, Tim knew someone who wanted to sublet an apartment in Darlinghurst. Peter decided to move to Sydney and shipped his few belongings south. His first job in his new hometown was with Elton Ward in Parramatta. When that six-month contract finished, he joined a small agency in North Sydney. Run by Guy Bicknell and Jane (Tribe) Bonnet, Peter was Mobius’ first employee. And for the next 16 years, his working life was linked to Mobius. Besides Tim, the only other person Peter knew in Sydney was Kim, now called Diashroy. Together with a fellow Sri Chinmoy devotee, Onimesh, Diashroy shared 207

a cramped apartment in Balmain. Jointly the pair organised meditation groups and triathlons. Peter helped them out and joined the mediation group for a while until

The next chapter an edict from above forced him to become a paid-up member or leave. Over the next few weeks, Peter had several serious conversations with Onimesh, over his qualms of joining. In the end, Peter’s photo was sent to New York to be meditated on by Sri Chinmoy to see if Peter was a ‘spiritually suitable’ candidate. Even before the picture left, Peter decided that if Sri Chinmoy was as good as the boys said, then he would understand his doubts. In the end, word came back that Peter could join, so he didn’t. Tim and his girlfriend Samantha introduced Peter to her friend Izzy Kerr. An unknowing pawn in a blind date they eventually became firm friends. They shared a house together at one stage (separate rooms) although there was some pressure for something more. After four years with Mobius, Peter started looking elsewhere. There was a potential job offer in Melbourne, and Peter moved down to take up the role, rented an apartment in St Kilda and then the role didn’t eventuate. Stewart Trent, with whom Peter had shared a house in Sydney, was his only friend in the city. However, Stewart was having marital and work troubles, so they didn’t catch up as often as either would have liked. To survive, Peter ended up working for a homewares wholesaler in their warehouse. He rode his bike to work and lived on a very tight budget. One evening, on the way home along St Kilda Road, a guy opened his car door and knocked Peter off his bike into the middle of the oncoming traffic. Peter thought he’d escaped with just a few bruises so got back on his bike and rode the last few kilometres home. When he looked in the bathroom mirror, Peter noticed his shoulders were no longer symmetrical. He took himself off to the hospital where it transpired his collarbone was broken. Peter continued working at the warehouse while nursing his broken bones. It was a challenging and lonely period. Jane, his old boss from Mobius, called one day as the agency was looking for a replacement to his replacement. After some negotiation, Peter agreed to return to the job he’d left nine months earlier. While working at Mobius Peter met some great people including Shelley Kirkwood, John Young and Ant Reeves. Ant and Peter regularly went on long bike rides together with Ant always in the lead. Over the next couple of Easter weekends, they hiked in the Snowy Mountains. Later Ant met Amy, another copywriter. Ant followed Amy back to America, then a couple of years later, Peter was privileged to be Ant’s best man at their wedding in Detroit. After living in many share houses over the years, in 1999, Peter rented an airy studio apartment in Potts Point. Once again, Tim had paved the way to a better life as the landlords were Tim’s parents Phil and Bev Bellamy. After living there

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The next chapter for a couple of years, Phil decided to sell the apartment as Bev was having ongoing health issues. Peter was able to scrape together the deposit and signed a mortgage. One morning in May 2002, he went to work the tenant and came home that afternoon as the owner. Peter renovated the unit, spending weeks painting, he had the carpets replaced with timber floors and bought a new sofa. Although happier (yet less financially fluid) the studio was now truly home. A couple of years later Peter was asked to crew on a yacht with Janie and her then partner to New Zealand. The yacht was owned by Don Atchison, an old friend of Janie’s. The 53-foot ketch and nine crew sailed out of Brisbane and 16 days later landed, a little battered and wobbly, at Nelson on the South Island. Due to several factors, including the weather, the trip had taken longer than expected. The day after the boat docked, Peter was on a plane back to Sydney. It took just under three hours to fly back across the ocean they’d just sailed. Alongside his career in advertising, Peter developed one as a fine artist. At art college, the students were encouraged to keep a visual journal, which Peter has continued. Over the years he’s recorded his thoughts in sketchbooks and visualised his experiences in countless journals. Some of these have resulted in short stories and poems which he published in a series of self published books. Using a combination of watercolour and pastel, an art workshop stimulated a new phase in his painting producing large pastel works based on the places he’d visited. Working initially plein-air he would go back to his studio, a corner of his apartment, to finish the final piece. After his first solo show, he began a series of plein air watercolours called 16 x 5s. Peter exhibited his work in the seasonal Solstice show, at Outloud (a Mardi-gras event) and other galleries in Sydney and the Blue Mountains. He has entered and been hung at numerous art shows. His work has sold well and is currently hanging in collections around the world. For several years, he drew at a regular Monday night life drawing class. Eventually agreeing with the gallery owner to have his own solo show there in April 2006. From the previous joint exhibitions, he’d received positive comments. So over the Christmas break of 2005, Peter put a large portion of his exhibition material together. Then he took another two weeks off in February to finish a further twelve paintings. During the show, Peter reproduced his poems next to the paintings and displayed several sketchbooks, making it a very professional and successful 209

event.

The next chapter The show was a critical if not a financial success, was also one of the most stressful projects he’d ever done. Fortunately, Peter’s friends helped with hanging the show, although most of the organisation was done alone. During the exhibition, nearly half of the 34 pieces were sold. After ten days the show came down, and Peter flew to Bali for a week, under cloudy skies, to recover. A few years after returning to Mobius, Peter was again disenfranchised. The agency was always understaffed, and although a senior team member Peter was treated poorly. An underlying current of frustration and creative stifling pushed him to move. He made numerous attempts to find another role but was frustrated by his seniority, experience or the simple scarcity of jobs. On the side, Peter started working with Brad Warren on various projects in the UAE. Brad offered Peter a permanent position as Head of Creative for an Ecoutilities company based in Dubai. The job was supposed to start in late 2006, then in January, then April. With his career treading water, Peter was still on ‘Plan A’ when eventually the ‘big gig’ didn’t happen. Around the time Peter’s uncle died, alone – he had never married and passed on after years of gradual decline from diabetes. Doreen began pressuring Peter to find a nice girl and settle down. This forced Peter to come out to his parents, as around the same time that he genuinely fell in love for the first time in his life. Unfortunately, the man to whom Peter opened his heart soundly dumped him via a text message a mere six weeks later. No matter how hard he tried, there was never any explanation of why? As a result, Peter became depressed and couldn’t sleep, often walking by the harbour in the wee hours, mulling over what went wrong. Eventually, he sought professional help as recently his cousin had committed suicide. Another family drama that was never spoken about except in whispers. Ultimately, he realised that only he could fix himself. Although at times he bowed to social pressure and dated women, Peter always knew he was gay. For a few years, Peter was in a relationship with an older man, Andy Bates. After a brief dalliance at the beginning of their friendship, they met again years later, literally by accident. Their relationship lasted for several years until Peter finally called it off. A few people knew they were a couple still Peter feared being disowned by his family. After losing his heart (and almost his mind), he told a few close friends who (mostly) accepted him, saying they’d known all along. However, when he told his parents, they struggled. Just before Doreen died, Peter asked if he’d ever failed her. The

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The next chapter only thing was she’d have preferred if he hadn’t told them. However, his admission was more about being true to himself than anything else. When ‘The aTeam’ (Ant and Amy) married in Detroit in 2011. Peter made a world tour of attending the wedding flying to San Francisco, then onto Detroit for the wedding. Then Montreal and from there by train to New York to spend a few days with the newly wedded couple. From there Peter flew to Copenhagen, to visit Henrik, Astrid and Elif before flying onto Dubai, to see Brad and Dasa Warren, then home. When Peter first moved to Sydney, he would go on little adventures, aiming to swim in every harbour and ocean pool along the coast. There are more than you’d think, some 52 at last count. He hasn’t yet swum in all the pools on his list. Later Peter joined the North Sydney masters swim squad. Three nights a week, year-round and in all-weather, they’d train at the iconic pool beneath the Harbour Bridge. It was a sociable group, but the guys of his age were all out to prove they were still young and fit. The group also swam in several ocean swims including the Cole Classic. At one point, Tim and Peter decided to buy a double sea kayak, they named her the Lulu II after Tim’s first daughter. Every Sunday the pair paddled around Sydney exploring all the harbours, rivers and open ocean, to the north and south. With a flask of tea and snacks, they’d stop somewhere halfway through to have a break. There have been tea drunk in the oddest of places including once on Wedding Cake Island, a mere rock off the coast of Coogee. When Tim’s family started to grow, the time for kayak adventures shrank, eventually the Lulu II was retired to Jervis Bay. When Tim and Peter weren’t kayaking as regularly, Peter found a kayak group that left two mornings a week from under the Boy Charlton Pool. Rain, cold or shine the group would experience dawn over the harbour. On other occasions, he hiked through the numerous National Parks around the city. Sometimes with friends, at other times alone. In 2006 Peter met Vernon Nathan initially through work then later they met again in an online chat group. Peter and Vern messaged each other for several weeks before Peter plucked up the courage to ask Vern out on a date. They met at a city hotel bar where Peter’s friend Bonnie Jensen was playing the piano. Although Peter rarely drinks, he was so nervous that when the waiter asked for the drinks 211

order, Peter said he’d have a gin and tonic. Another followed, and eventually, his

The next chapter nerves settled and the conversation flowed easily. After that other, less nervous, dates followed. While living in Potts Point, Peter joined the local gym, which offered yoga classes. The regular yogis would socialise afterwards, and then while swimming at the Boy Charlton Pool, Peter joined a yoga class run there by Grant Wolf and Waran Karl. An upbeat, gay couple, along with his friends Adrienne Jolly and Christine Karl, formed a regular yoga family. Those days on the mat hold unforgettable memories, and after Peter completed his yoga teacher training, he taught several classes in that glass pavilion overlooking Woolloomooloo Bay. In August 2007 Doreen had her second heart attack and his father a slight stroke. In October, Peter’s mother had her third heart attack. Consequently, she underwent open-heart surgery and gradually recovered. As a result, Peter flew to Queensland many times. In February 2011, Peter took long service from Mobius and went to India for two months to train to be a yoga teacher. Afterwards, Vern joined him for a whirlwind temple tour of Tamil Nadu. On returning to Sydney, Peter decided to make a few changes, including leaving Mobius to become a freelance creative. He then took a role in Brisbane so that he could spend more time with his aging parents. This put a strain on his relationship with Vern. The move north was a conscious choice, but not necessarily for the better. He moved away from many of the people that had become an integral part of his life. One of the reasons to move north was that his mum had been in hospital three times in the previous six months. Even though Doreen improved the stress took its toll on all the family. Peter moved from a frustrating role to a very busy freelance one. He had greater creative freedom as well as the insecurity that goes with no regular income. He worked long days and nights, but the boss loved his work, and he received great praise for his work. Peter worked for those eighteen months with just one client. Slowly the working relationship shifted to the point where he was no longer happy working there. At first, Peter shared a house with Janie, then later rented Bev’s ‘elbow room’, which was a bit like going back in time. To establish a routine, Peter rode to work and jumped back in the local pool to train. He swam in an outdoor Olympic pool on the next hill over from his office. Peter tried out for the local swim squad but soon realised he needed to be more swim fit. He struggled to find a yoga school that suited him and ended up practicing mostly at home. Rediscovering from his bike that Brisbane is surprisingly hilly. As Peter had not ridden regularly, certain body

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The next chapter parts were unused to being in the saddle. Those months in Brisbane were tough but moving closer to his parents meant Peter saw them at least every weekend. He spent time with them that he’ll never regret. Peter had lived in Sydney for years, and even though he regularly visited, being closer was a special time. For those few months, Peter put his life on hold for others. He had no regrets as they were his parents. He tried to be there for them as much as possible. The trouble was they have their own lives to live. Peter realised that whether he was in Ipswich on not, they would always be his parents. His mother became frailer and had several health issues (heart, coeliac) then in the middle of 2013, she fell and broke her leg. The doctors were able to operate, although it was touch and go because of her heart. She survived the operation, but three months later, she contracted pneumonia in November 2013 and passed quietly away. For two months after the funeral, Peter stayed in Queensland. He helped his father transition from being a full-time carer to being alone in the large family home. To earn money, Peter worked with Brad Warren on the Sunshine Coast renovating his house. Peter spent seven weeks painting the entire home both inside and out. He slept on a mattress on the floor in a spare room. It was tough, physically and emotionally living with Brad, his wife and daughter amid a construction zone. Even though Peter kept up his personal yoga practice and swam in the sea, it was an exhausting gig. Then Peter moved back to Sydney to be with Vern. Back in Sydney, after all the dramas around his mother’s death, Peter was struggling with grief, finding work, and his relationship with Vern, which was at breaking point. With effort on both sides, this resolved into a healthier and more supportive relationship. Peter came out years ago, yet Vern has never outrightly told his family they know that he lives with Peter. Growing up in rural Queensland in the 70s and 80s there weren’t any gay role models. Consequently, he tried to fulfill the role that society saw for him. Boy meets girl, they marry, have children and live happily ever after in the suburbs. Peter struggled against this idea for many years. During his 20s, he was celibate for the most part and only later had a few sexual dalliances, with both women and men, most of them left him empty. 1n 2011 Peter established his own freelance design business, Trishul creative. He 213

freelanced at various places, working hard to form positive relationships with his

The next chapter clients. Eventually, he landed a semi-permanent gig working in a small design studio in Rosebery, with a blue-chip client list. After a year or more working there with the boss Steve and another graphic artist Bill Gurney, the owner decided to retire. He offered the business to Bill, Ann Adams (the bookkeeper) and Peter. The group realised there’d be too many cooks in the kitchen, so Peter and Vern eventually agreed to buy the design studio after months of negotiation. Over the next six months, Steve handed over the running of the business, introducing Peter to the clients and suppliers. In the meantime, for exercise and convenience, Peter rode his bike to the office. During a routine service on the bike, a significant stress fracture in the frame was discovered. Peter ordered a new Cervélo road bike, a beautiful brand he had lusted after for years. It was specially built and took several weeks to arrive. At the end of February 2017, on Friday he picked up his new bike. The following Monday on the way to work, he crashed on a slippery corner and shattered his left femur. The next day, Tuesday, was the first of many operations. On Wednesday, the contract to buy the business settled. Over the next four years, there have been three unfortunate accidents, fifteen operations, countless rehab sessions and constant pain. In a split-second, Peter’s world turned, literally, upside down. His regular commute through the back streets of Redfern ended with all his plans scattered across the road. An unfortunate slip on a damp, fig seed strewn bend created ripples that affected everyone around him. Five weeks in the hospital, six operations and three bugs slowed the healing process and in constant pain, the infection continued. After six months, Peter’s surgeon realised that the infection had coated the metal rod that held his femur together. Even the most potent oral antibiotics available were unable to control it. As a result, another two more operations followed to replace all the metalwork and clean out the wound. This reduced the infection load and finally allowed Peter’s still broken leg to mend. A year later, to reduce the chance of the infection returning the metalwork was removed. Only three months later, the bone fractured again. All the minor gains he’d made to that point came to naught. Peter used a wheelchair for six weeks, then a further six on crutches. He had to dig deeper for the will to keep going having been worn down by the past few years. He was not the only one. Vern had shouldered some of the burden and Peter would be in a darker place without Vern’s support.

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The next chapter When everything was finally moving towards the end of the tunnel, COVID hit. The business was forced to move to the house. On one rare occasion when Peter went to the office, his car was written off by a driver who went through a red light. Peter’s left wrist was severely fractured as well as his tibia. 48 hours later, he had two more operations and started ongoing rehabilitation on the wrist. Along with exhaustion and pain, Peter struggled to keep working. Without the commitment of Vern and his colleague Bill, the design studio would have folded. Peter had to work when he should have been resting. Even a year later, the effort to keep the business and his recovery continues to be a challenge. This life is like the analogy of walking in the bush. Now and then you reach a break in the trees or higher ground when you can glimpse your path. The winding path (life) is one of the constant choices. Whether we turn left or right, ultimately, we arrive at our destination. Those choices, and the karmic ripples they create, can impact others. If you look back further to see the generations that have come before, all their hopes and dreams are not dissimilar to our own. That said, having a little understanding of what’s happening doesn’t always bring happiness. Even if you know currently life is a struggle and the path will be easier, even a little bit wilder on the other side, that knowledge still doesn’t take away from the fact that it is exhausting. No matter where your head is, your heart and body could still be struggling. Although bought up in a Christian household, he was baptised and confirmed Anglican, Peter moved away from Christianity in his early 20s. Seeking something deeper be explored Buddhism although over the last 30 he has considered himself a Hindu. Something that developed with his yoga practice and his belief was further strengthened when he met Vern. That fundamental question that I hoped this book would illumine is what our purpose is in life? Most people go through life, and whether they succeed or not, never stop to understand what they should make of this precious gift called life. Ultimately, we all seek happiness. We all travel different paths, and when they cross, there is much we can learn from the meeting. Sometimes family isn’t just our blood relations. Often the people with whom you share the good times and bad become your real family. After living in Queensland, Melbourne, Sweden, Denmark and England, Peter now lives in Sydney with his partner Vernon Nathan. 215

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1961 – Cheryl Ann (Hertrick) Wolski Cheryl Ann was the fourth child of Shirley and Mervyn Hertrick. She was born in Ipswich on the 11th June 1961. Cheryl’s older sisters Lorelle was born in 1956, and Robyn in 1959, an older brother, Glen born in 1957 did not survive, and her younger brother Jeffery was born in 1964. Cheryl had a son, when she was only 19 years old, on the 11th September 1980 whom she gave up for adoption. In 2019 after years of searching they both reconnected. Her son has now become part of the family again. His name is Daniel Joel Ward. Cheryl married Mark Marschke on the 3rd March 1983. They had one son together Joel Benjamin Marschke born on the 14th November 1988. Cheryl and Mark later divorced. Joel married Kesley Hassin. They had one son Corbyn Slater Marschke who was born on the 10th January 2010. Unfortunately, on the 28th January 2012, Corbyn tragically drowned in a backyard swimming pool accident. He had only just turned two. Joel and Kesley are no longer together. The grief over the tragedy of Corbyn death was too much for their relationship to survive. Cheryl had a daughter to David Collins. Their daughter Natahlia Raye Collins was born on the 7th March 1993. Nathalia has three children. She had a daughter with Brad van Noolenbroek, Lailah Rose van Noolenbroek who was born on the 30th April 2011. She has two more children with Scott Henderson, a daughter Chanel Lisa Maree Henderson born on the 10th January 2015 and a son Trae Scott Henderson born on the 13th April 2017. Cheryl married again on the 4th January 2003 to Neville Leslie Wolski. Neville was born on the 9th November 1958. The couple have one daughter Kiarna Ann Louise Wolski who was born on the 4th July 2002.

1963 – Suzanne Gaye (Scriven) Friend Suzanne Gaye is the third child of Bill and Doreen Scriven. She was born in Ipswich on the 24th July 1963. Suzanne has two older brothers: Wayne Scriven born in 1957 and Peter Scriven born in 1960, and one younger sister Michelle Scriven born in 1967. 216

The next chapter Like all the kids in the family, Suzanne was baptised, christened and confirmed in the local Anglican church. Though not an overtly religious or strict household, all the kids grew up with chores around the house. Suzanne did the dusting which earned her 20 cents a week, which was faithfully put in her piggy bank to spend at the Ipswich Show or the Brisbane Exhibition (Ekka). Each year at the Ekka she would buy a Cupie doll on a stick. And every year Bill would break the stick when using it as a switch with the always quarrelling boys. The Scriven kids entertained themselves in the above-ground backyard swimming pool or attempting to walk the entire length of the side fence along Mrs Hefferen’s side. The square, top rail was easy to walk until it took a dip down the hill near the Hill’s Hoist. An added incentive to stay on the rails was Doreen’s rose garden. There was bush to explore around the area and creeks in which to catch tadpoles. All the neighbourhood kids used to roam the streets during the day, the only rule was to be home by sunset. Suzanne’s favourite doll was a Chrissie doll that looked like a small child and hair that grew. She also had a hairdressing head with rollers. The kids played board games like Monopoly, marbles and pegs in a bottle. With a house filled with homemade food, a treat was a milk drink with malted milk, while over at Mama’s it was always chocolate or strawberry flavoured Quick and her ‘world famous’ coconut pink ice blocks. Suzanne remembers with horror visits to Dr Versace, the dentist in Nicholas street. He was know as the ‘butcher’, and all the kids hated visiting him. After one gruelling session with Suzanne holding on for grim death to the chair in the waiting room, Bill took his children to his dentist at Booval, Dr Timms. The visits were not as horrendous, but even then, her brother Peter had to be unknowingly drugged with Valium two days before he visited the dentist. At school Suzanne’s was good at swimming, especially butterfly, she swam for both the Railways and Ipswich High School swimming clubs. Training for the High School club was on Saturday morning. Suzanne and her friend Joanne Berg both tried out for the state titles. They fared well but did not place well enough, however, Suzanne did win the Railway Swimming Club’s Presidential Trophy, a cutlery set. Because of the swimming, she regularly had ear infections and went for weeks at a time with cotton wicks in her ears. Which made it hard to hear her teachers. As a young girl Suzanne contracted pneumonia, as part of her treatment, her father would lay her over the edge of the bed with Bill thumping her back to loosen 217

the phlegm.

The next chapter Suzanne was also a member of the North Ipswich Primary School marching band. She was continually practicing on her recorder, much to her family’s discomfort. The group did go to Emerald by train one year to be part of a local festival parade. In the band, she played recorder and tambourine and took a couple of turns twirling the lead baton. She was Sports Captain of her house team, Kendal, at primary school. Her friends at primary school included Debbie Vaughan, Kerry Rosentreter and Susan Fox. At high school, Suzanne and her friends Joanne Berg, Ingrid Hayden and Julie Knight formed the core of the L Block Girls. The two Rassmussen girls Deborah and Sharon, lived next door on the lower side, were also in the same group at high school. She also was at school with her cousins; Leesa and Shayne Woods and Sheryn Knight. In the music class at high school, she wanted to play either the piano or the guitar. She ended up first with the trumpet, then a violin. Both of which were returned to the school soon after. Suzanne would practice at the bottom of the garden, but even then, the racket she produced was said to set the local dogs to howling. Mrs Thompson was the larger than life music teacher, while Mr Skinner was the popular school principal. Like most teenagers, Suzanne listened to the latest pop music on the radio and the little, tinny record player. She was a fan of the Bay City Rollers and saw them in concert at Festival hall with her cousin Julie. Her uncle Mervyn Knight drove the excited teenagers into Brisbane for the concert. Suzanne was a Girl Guide, and around the age of 12, she joined the Red Cross with her cousin Julie Knight. The pair wore a uniform with a red cape. The girls learnt first aid and on one occasion went as a group to St Andrew’s Hospital, where they made the beds for a group of older patients. Both girls enjoyed the experience, so Julie made it a career and became a nurse. On the other hand, Suzanne wanted to grow up to be an air hostess or a hairdresser. Suzanne did get to go to the Red Cross Ball, with her brother Peter as her partner. The only jarring notes to her gorgeous hand-made ball outfit was her scrapped knees which had been treated by her father with black Friar’s Balsam. Also, her hair had been hacked with a pair of scissors to remove the curlers which had gotten tangled in her blonde locks. After school, Suzanne worked as a sales assistant at Katies in Indooroopilly Shopping Centre. Then when she moved to Noosa, Suzanne had various waitressing jobs including at the Soda Pop shop and a restaurant in Hastings Street as well as at the Lobster Trap in Noosaville.

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The next chapter When she was 16, Suzanne went with her friends for a holiday to the Sunshine Coast. There she met a local surfer named David Friend. Their relationship quickly developed and a few months later, with much drama at home, she moved to Noosa to live with David. David was from a large family of nine kids. The family had grown up on a farm on the North Shore with the beach as their backyard. When David was young, their father died when he dived into a shallow creek and broke his neck. The family lost the farm, and David’s mother moved to a house in Tewantin across the road from ‘The House of Bottles’. All of David’s brothers and sisters got on well with Suzanne. The couple were very happy for a long time. David was a bricklayer and after a few years working on the Sunshine Coast, David and Suzanne with Robbie, a mate of David’s left to travel around Australia on a working holiday. The trio eventually arrived in Normanton, in the Gulf of Carpentaria, where Robbie promptly abandoned the couple and headed back to the Sunshine Coast leaving them without a car. Suzanne and David then had to hitch a ride to Cairns to buy a used 4WD. There was a dearth of good tradespeople in the area and with more work than he was able to take on, David and Suzanne stayed in Normanton for the next 10 years. The first car Suzanne had was a 21st birthday present. It was a battered-up Holden bought from the matron of the Normanton Hospital, the car was nicknamed ‘Rita’. It was a rust bucket. Later, when Suzanne was cleaning the car, after a drive along flooded roads with her friend Annie, she discovered that under the flooring was a truck mud flap. When that was removed, you could see the ground below. Later through a government-sponsored program, a local group of aboriginal youngsters repaired the car. While Suzanne was in Townsville giving birth to Sheldon, the car was detailed by the youth group. Suzanne returned to Normanton to find Rita repaired and repainted a bright sunshine yellow. While David was bricklaying, Suzanne worked at the local supermarket then later at the local primary school as a teacher’s aide and a swimming coach. Suzanne worked for a time in Sellings’ store, a one-stop-shop that sold everything from milk to machinery to manchester. In Normanton prices of goods were higher due to the transport cost to deliver the goods. Most of the time, the locals would make regular trips to Townsville or Cairns to shop. An eight-hour trip one way, then staying the weekend before returning the following day. Most of the bricklaying 219

that David did was with concrete blocks, which were either transported in from the east coast or manufactured on-site. Suzanne also worked as a teacher’s aide

The next chapter at the Normanton State School for several years. Her typical day would include teaching the disability students, then year one students, working in the school library for a couple of hours then teaching Home Economics and Manual Arts. Her disability students included Albert, who had Downs Syndrome and Ernie, who had CP (Cerebral Palsy). Suzanne’s friend Lynda [Lyn] Brannely was also a teacher’s aide for years six and seven. Suzanne made many lifelong friends in Normanton including Jules McMullen, Patty Pritchard, Carol and Jeff Berry. When they first arrived in Normanton, the couple stayed in the local caravan park. Later they shared an allotment with friends. Benny, Lyn and her partner Ian in a glorified tin shed, with Suzanne and David in a garage. Theirs was simple accommodation, with just enough room for a bed, a small kitchen, toilet and bathroom and a small verandah. Fairly basic it was cooled by opening the windows and the assistance of a small electric fan. Later they rented an old Queenslander on stilts that had a big mango tree in the backyard. Suzanne and David bought two blocks of land, one for the princely sum of $600 the other for twice that. On one of the allotments, David and Suzanne built a comfortable, concrete block house with a concrete above-ground swimming pool. The family stayed there until they headed back south. As there were no local real estate agents in the area when it came time to sell, Suzanne wrote to the local council and all the government agencies. The house was sold to the Department of Community Services to be used as the regional manager’s house. In November 1987 their son Sheldon was born in Townsville hospital. A year later in 1988, the couple married in a garden wedding at David’s sister’s property in Townsville. Their young son was one of the key wedding guests. Two years later the couple’s daughter Mirinda was born in February 1990, again in Townsville. Sheldon was named after one of Suzanne’s favourite authors, famous crime writer Sidney Sheldon. Suzanne had two miscarriages and the child after Sheldon was to be called Maranda. On the way to Townsville hospital to have Mirinda, Suzanne, she was assailed by severe stomach cramps. Suzanne pulled the car over to rest at a small railway siding between Home Hill and Ayr called Mirinda. Thus, arose the name for her daughter. In Normanton, there were three pubs, the Purple Pub, the Central and the Albion. The Purple Pub served both white and black Australians, the Central had a partition through the pub with the aboriginals on one side and the whites on the other, while the Albion was a white-only pub.

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The next chapter Opposite the Albion was a large mango tree where the local aboriginals would often congregate to drink. As the sun moved through the day the group kept on shifting into the shade leaving behind their bottles and rubbish. By the end of the day, the mango tree was encircled by litter. On most weekends Suzanne and David, and their friends, would travel around the region exploring the wonders of the Gulf country. They would camp by the river and fish for the prized barramundi. Bill and Doreen travelled to Normanton when Sheldon was still in nappies. They stayed for a couple of weeks before setting off on another around Australia bus tours. While they were in Normanton Suzanne, David, Bill, Doreen, Sheldon and Shala the dog went on a four-wheeldrive camping trip to Gregory River. They went in two cars: the four-wheel-drive and the old red Commodore. After stopping for fuel at the Bourke and Wills Roadhouse they drove to the Gregory River Hotel. The drive off the highway to Gregory River was along red, dusty, dirt roads. After stopping at the pub for a ‘coldie’ they made camp by the river. The first time Suzanne and David had visited the area was in a convoy of 4WDs with friends. On that occasion, the troupe set off with infallible directions. The convoy turned the wrong way at Gregory River and drove in a big circle through Riversleigh, crossing into the Northern Territory, before arriving back at the Gregory pub. Only the next day did they reach Lawnhill Gorge. The emerald waters and lush vegetation of Lawn Hill Gorge is now part of the Boodjamulla National Park. The area has always been a beautiful oasis in the outback, attracting abundant wildlife and offering exceptional views, walks, and cultural sites. This time around, leaving Shala to mind the camp and with Doreen and Bill in the back of the 4WD ute, the group easily reached Lawnhill Gorge. Having driven along red, dusty tracks when they finally stopped at the gorge, Doreen took off her sunglasses and Suzanne went into fits of laughter. Doreen looked like a red panda with big white eyes. After the long trip, Doreen needed to go to the ladies’ room to wash up. The laughter continued as both Suzanne, and her mother soon found that the amenities consisted of four, star pickets supporting a screen of dried palm fronds surrounding a drop toilet. And the only place to wash her face was in the nearby creek. The group had arrived early and enjoyed a pleasant day rowing on the river, but in the afternoon the sky to the north grew dark and threatened heavy rain. 221

The next chapter They did not want to be trapped in the national park where dirt roads could turn in an instant into quagmires. The group decided to leave and made it back to their camp at Gregory River just as the massive storm hit. It bucketed down all night long. Bill and Doreen were sleeping on a mattress in the back of the fourwheel-drive, while Suzanne and David were on a mattress under a tarp strung from the vehicle. Sheldon was sleeping in the crib under the awning. The waters in the creek started to rise, and the mattress Suzanne and David were sleeping on began to float. With the red dust in the area starting to turn to mud and another storm on the way they hastily packed up the next morning. They drove back out to the Bourke and Wills Roadhouse on the main highway. The drive was challenging as the red dust had turned to sticky mud. Suzanne followed David in the 4WD who made tracks for her to follow. With the Commodore slewing side to side, and Doreen holding on for dear life, while Sheldon was sitting in his backseat giggling with delight. On several occasions the Commodore needed to be towed by the ute which made the drive even more interesting. When they arrived back at the main highway, the adventurers stayed overnight to recover and dry out their soaked belongings. Several days prior to the trip Sheldon had badly burned his foot when he walked over an extinguished fire. At the time Sheldon was in cloth nappies, and Suzanne hung them over the smoky, open campfire to dry. They soon turned black from the soot. Later everybody was able to see the funny side of the adventure. Before Sheldon reached school age, and when Mirinda was one year old, the family decided to return to the Sunshine Coast. While Sheldon had been in kindergarten in Normanton, they did not want their children to go to school there. The cost of sending Sheldon to Kindy was 50 cents per day, including a day’s care, the bus trip there and back, and lunch. When Suzanne returned to Noosa, the cost for the daycare alone was $6.00 per day. The couple bought 12 acres of undeveloped land near Lake Cootharaba, north-west of Noosa. After clearing some of the scrub David and Suzanne built a large shed where the family lived for many years, while they saved up to build a house on the land. Bricklaying is heavy work, and after returning to the Sunshine Coast, David hurt his back. He was later diagnosed with Ankylosing Spondylitis. Addicted to his pain killers and unable to work, David’s persona changed. While Suzanne was in Ipswich visiting her mother and father, who were in hospital after the caravan accident, David filed a restraining order against Suzanne. He also lodged a series of false allegations. A very acrimonious divorce followed, involving

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The next chapter several Family Court appearances which eventually concluded with Suzanne receiving sole custody of the children. The divorce also split the Friend family with some of David’s siblings siding with their brother, others seeing the falseness of his claims and siding with Suzanne. Even after the court’s judgement, which David disregarded, the two children were torn between their mother and father. Once they were old enough to choose Sheldon spent most of his time with his father, Mirinda decided to live with Suzanne. After all the dramas, Suzanne needed to rebuild her life and her home situation. By this stage, her grandmother Doss [Mama] Scriven had moved into a retirement home, and in an agreement between Bill and his brother Alan, Suzanne and the kids rented the brick house in Coal Road. This caused friction with Wayne as at the time he, Anne and his three children were living in the smaller, old house on the top side. Suzanne found work as a cleaner at the ACIRL coal testing laboratory, where her brother-in-law Ray Bell worked, along with her sister Michelle. Michelle left a couple of months later when she became pregnant with Jayden. On the day the cleaning job ended the boss of ACIRL offered Suzanne a role in the laboratory. She now works there as a Laboratory Technician and Team Leader for ACIRL testing coal samples. The company was at the time was based at Riverview. It has since moved to Richlands and changed its name to ALS Coal. While living at Tivoli, Sheldon and Mirinda attended Tivoli Primary School with their cousins. When Suzanne moved to her present home, the two kids went to Raceview Primary, then later St Peter Clavier College at Dinmore. Sheldon followed in his uncle Evan’s footsteps and became a qualified cabinet maker. He later spent several years travelling and working around the world. While they were working in Canada, he proposed to his girlfriend, Ashley Turner. The couple married on the Sunshine Coast a few years ago. Sheldon now owns a building company ‘Citibuild’ managing a staff of 50. He and Ashley have three children, Hayden, Indie and Harper Friend. The family lives at Lake Cootharaba. While at school Mirinda was in the Air Force cadets and was School Captain. Always helpful, Mirinda studied Criminal Justice and Criminology at Griffith University. She followed her boyfriend Frank Voglino to Derby in Western Australian when Frank worked there as a prison guard in the refugee camp. Mirinda worked in the administration office and quickly rose to management level. Always interested in joining the police force she graduated in 2015 from the West Australian Police Academy with honours, including the West Australian Police Minister’s and Driving 223

awards. Her husband Frank also later graduated from the academy. They now

The next chapter both work as constables for the West Australian Police. For some years they were based in Kalgoorlie and currently are stationed at Kununurra in the Kimberleys. Suzanne’s best friend from her days in Normanton, Lyn Brannely, now lives in Tewantin. The pair have remained firm friends over the years. They’ve had numerous holidays together in Southeast Asia. Each time spending around ten days at resorts across Bali, Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand and Singapore. They both enjoy the local markets and food, as well as relaxing by the pool with massages and cocktails. Suzanne loves her animals and has had a series of dogs that are treated like children; Shala, Bear, Keely, Gumby and Coco. As well as pet Whistling Kytes called Erore and Comboora and four kangaroos in Normanton. Suzanne married David Friend. Later divorced they have two children: Sheldon Paul Friend was born on the 27th November 1987 and Mirinda Lee Friend was born on the 27th February 1990. Since her divorce Suzanne has had three boyfriends but has never remarried. Sheldon married Ashley Turner on the 22nd October 2016. They have three children: Hayden Paul Friend born on the 10th September 2015, Indie Rennee Friend born on the 7th August 2017 and Harper Irene Friend born on the 10th September 2018. Mirinda married Francesco [Frank] Voglino in Paris on the 5th November 2016. Both are police officers and they currently live in Kununurra, Western Australia.

1964 – Jeffrey Alan Hertrick Jeffery Alan is the second son of Shirley and Mervyn Hertrick. He was born in Ipswich on the 6th July 1964. Jeffery has three older sisters: Lorelle born in 1956, Robyn born in 1959, and Cheryl born in 1961. There was an older brother, Glen born in 1957, but he did at a few days old. From when Jeffery was old enough his uncle Sonny Stokes would take him riding and mustering cattle at Sonny’s properties at Coal Creek or Warra Mindies, which is out near Lake Manchester. On these trips there would be many arguments between the two of them as to the correct way things should be done. Neither Jeffery nor his uncle were ever backward in strongly expressing their opinions. Jeffrey married Rebecca Johnston and they had two children Aminta Hertrick born in 1992 and Jack Hertrick born in 1993. Jeffrey and Rebecca later divorced. He was then in a relationship with Sally Palfrey for a number of years and they had a son Joseph Hertrick born in 2006. Jeffery currently lives on his property at Kholo.

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1965 – David Alan Scriven David Alan is the first son of Alan and Dalma Scriven. He was born in Ipswich on the 8th August 1965. David has two younger brothers Paul born in 1968 and Rodney born in 1971. David left school after grade 11 from Ipswich High School. He then started a bricklaying apprenticeship with TP Turner. Later he worked bricklaying with Nick King. David is a left-handed bricklayer just like his first boss Tom Turner. A few years later TP Turner’s team did the blockwork for the extension to his uncle’s house at Albert Street. He worked for several years in the building industry until issues with his back forced him to change careers. He currently works in a team refurbishing prison facilities. He recently completed a project at the Borallon Correctional Facility (Prison) and is now building a youth centre at Wacol. David played football for Swift’s football club, from the under Seven’s through to the Senior team. David married Liza Sharee Peters, although now divorced, they have three children Brianah Jade Scriven born on the 17th January 1989, Loren Elizabeth Scriven on the 3rd July 1990 and Jackson David Scriven on the 20th May 1995. David’s partner is Mechelle Earley. Loren married Josh Dinnin and David has three grandchildren; Mahalia Aroha Dinnin born on the 22nd October 2014, Arlo Alexander Dinnin born on the14th February 2016 and Hendrix David Dinnin born on the 22nd February 2018.

1967 – Michelle Maree Scriven Michelle Maree is the fourth child of Bill and Doreen Scriven. She was born in Ipswich on the 24th November 1967. Michelle has two older brothers: Wayne born in 1957 and Peter born in 1960, and one older sister Suzanne born in 1963. The baby of the family, Michelle was always dressed like a little princess. Michelle was a small girl but remembers clearly helping out her family on the land. With her grandfather Randa, her father Bill or her older brother Wayne she’d ride out with them from Tivoli to Mt Crosby. They went to check on Randa’s herd of cattle. When not on the horse, she’d drive out with whoever was driving George’s old grey Dodge truck. Out at the River or Bluestone paddocks, with her cousins 225

David, Paul and Rodney, the group would explore and fossick in the paddock. When the cattle’s branding or spraying was done, there’d be a cut lunch of corn

The next chapter meat and pickle sandwiches on crusty white bread. Enjoyed in the shade of the stand of fig trees on the top of the rise. There next to the stockyard, they could watch the lazy river flow silently through the valley below. During the summer holidays at Burleigh heads Michelle and her best friend Kylie Crouch were inseparable. She remembers the family journeys to Melbourne, Cairns, and the Snowy Mountains. Later she travelled with Mama and Randa on another holiday. The kids all had enough homework for the time they were away from school. The touring holidays were fun and informative without too any dramas. However, on the trip to Cairns, Michelle developed anemia. The family had to stay in Cairns for an extra ten days until she was well enough to travel. On the trip up Mount Kosciuszko, she lost one of her favourite red, patent leather shoes and had to be carried back down the mountain on her father’s back. The girls were well dressed in hand made clothes. Michelle’s aunt Pat Knight sewed most of their clothes and Doreen would take the girls to Sadliers Lane for fittings with the parts pinned together for a perfect fit. Food was a big part of growing up with Sunday roasts followed by baked apples with meringue tops. Doreen baking every week and Mama making Lemon Sago Pudding and Lemon Custard. Birthdays were always special with the birthday child being served their favourite meal. This was followed by the lights going out for the ritual of blowing out the candles on the birthday cake with its multi-coloured icing and coconut dusting. Thursdays were always Grandma’s Day, where Doreen, her sister June Woods and their mother would meet alternatively at each other’s houses. All the cousins would be together after school, drinking McMahons Sarsaparilla and eating homemade cakes and biscuits. When at Grandma Knight’s place, they could play down the back by the river, the bigger kids looking out for the smaller ones. Sonya and Michelle each used to be paid 50 cents by their Uncle Dud (Dudley Knight), for plucking out the grey hairs from his chest hair. As the girls grew the number of greys to pluck began to outweigh the dark. Although he never married Uncle Dud was always good to his many nieces and nephews. He would take them for rides in the back of his FJ ute to the shop for lollies and ice creams. Like the rest of her siblings, Michelle went to North Ipswich Primary and then Ipswich High school. At primary school, Michelle was in the recorder band. Like her sister before her, Michelle was in the High School Swimming Club, which trained every Saturday morning. When she was 15, Michelle regularly went rollerskating with her friends at the SkateAway rink in Bundamba. Which is where she first noticed Terry Balzar and tried very hard to catch his eye. The timing wasn’t

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The next chapter right, but he was to play a major role in her life twenty-five years later. After leaving school at 16, she played touch football with a local team for the next two years. Michelle and her sister Suzanne would walk to and from school every day. Both ways, it was up one hill and down the other side. The only change to this routine would be on days when she needed to go to the dentist at Booval. Her parents would pick her up after school and stop off at Joan and Dave Hammil’s house in Eileen Street. Doreen would stay for a cup of tea and a chat while Michelle and Bill would walk down to the dentist in Station Road. Michelle left school at the end of Junior and started her working life. As was typical of the times, most girls did not complete their senior years. After all, they weren’t meant to have a career, they were just expected to find a husband and raise a family. After leaving school, Michelle worked part-time in the chicken shop at the top of Brisbane Street. She then completed a pharmacy introduction course. By the time she was 16, Michelle had saved $1,200 to buy a car. Her first car was a secondhand Mazda Capella which uncle Alan found for her. It had crappy paint, didn’t run and even had a hay bale in the boot, for which she paid the princely sum of $700. Alan had faith he could get it running which he did. The car was refurbished with all new motor, paintwork and carpets. The little Capella lasted many years and was one of the best cars Michelle has ever owned. It would be worth a lot more today as a classic car than what she paid for it. In the summer of 1983, she secured her first full-time pharmacy role at Foote’s Pharmacy in Goodna. She then went on to work in pharmacies in Ipswich, Indooroopilly, Sherwood and in Milton. While working at the Brisbane pharmacies, she would catch the train to work, something she continued to do up until only two weeks before her son Jayden was born. In 2007 she worked in the Ipswich Hospital Pharmacy for the next two years. Over the years she has worked in pharmacies both in Ipswich, Brisbane and on Bribie Island. She completed several courses to improve her skill set. Some of these were run by cosmetic companies to help her to sell their products. Each morning she’d take over an hour at her toilette, only to achieve the same natural beauty that she already had. Michelle dated numerous boyfriends before she met Raymond Bell. The couple wed in April 1988 when Michelle was 21 years old. Ray worked for Telstra as a labourer. He was not the hardest working of chaps, and Michelle was the primary breadwinner in the family. 227

Five years after they married, their son Jayden Bradley John Bell was born in 1992. Then three after that, in 1995, their daughter Rhiannon Maree Bell arrived.

The next chapter The family lived for a time in Flinders View then later they bought a house on acreage at Karalee. When both her children were each six months old, she worked in childcare, before returning to work in a pharmacy. After 16 years, the couple divorced. Michelle was now 38, and a single mum. While working as a Pharmacy Manager in Nicholas Street, she raised her two kids. On her days off she ran a mobile dog washing service in the Karalee area. This helped to pay for her children’s private school fees. Like all her other roles, she helped at her children’s school, assisting with swimming training, excursions, and reading coaching. When she moved to Bribie Island, she worked in the local pharmacy for four years to become a retail manager. She then moved to Walk on Wheels a disability supply store in the role as Store Manager. This role brings together all of her experience and skills. Her personality has shone through making not just sales but many friends of the locals on the island. On the Easter weekend of 2008, Michelle met Terry Balzer at the wombat enclosure. The wombat was one of the animals in the small zoo in Queens Park in Ipswich. Michelle and Terry had both independently gone there by chance, but from that moment, their love grew. Terry was a fun-loving, hard-working, and sentimental bloke who was a plasterer and welder by trade. Michelle and Terry both worked hard during the week, but weekends were always ‘their time’. After their busy working week, Saturday was the day for chores, Sundays were rest days. The family would often take long drives to anywhere the road or the beach lead them. Jayden loved helping Terry with various projects. Together they built a pergola roof over the courtyard at the Karalee house. At the same time, Terry and Michelle painted and renovated the house before selling it. They had decided to start a new life together and moved to Bribie Island in April 2009, and they made their home in Bongaree. They had decided on Bribie as they regularly came to camp on the beach or lay under the stars. Terry had two daughters from his first marriage, Chantel and Zoe. Michelle and Terry both wanted to start a new life as a complete family, with their four children. They tried to make it a home, all one big, happy family. It didn’t quite work out that way. Jayden and Rhiannon were still teenagers, and Terry’s girls were busy doing their own thing. Jayden and Rhiannon then left home when they were still young to live with their respective girl and boyfriends.

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The next chapter Throughout his career, Terry was accidentally electrocuted on at least three separate occasions. As a result of his father’s early death, he had a pathological fear of doctors. Each time he refused to be treated and by sheer will would be back at work the next day. In October 2017, while plastering, Terry missed the last rung of a ladder and jarred his knee. He wouldn’t rest, and his knees swelled, and the swelling spread. Michelle forced Terry to the doctor, who realised something significant was wrong. He was raced to Prince Charles Hospital in an ambulance and almost dying on the way. Triple by-pass surgery followed. When that didn’t resolve the problem, he was then back in surgery being fitted with two VADs (Ventricular Assist Devices) in his heart. They were connected to external controller batteries, that kept his heart pumping. He was able to live life to degrees. He was then put on the heart transplant list. By sheer chance, he was given a new heart in February 2018. Before he went into surgery, he confided in Michelle that he a bad feeling about the transplant. After the operation, he was kept in a coma for 21 days to allow the heart to take up its role. He had his 50th birthday while in a coma. Coming out of the coma-haze, he had to re-learn to walk and talk. Michelle noted that he was never the same after the transplant. He succumbed to an infection and died 25th July 2018. Michelle continues to live on Bribie Island and has rebuilt her life. She returned to her role in managing a disabilities equipment retail business plus has joined the local yoga, dancing, and paddling groups. Through these activities, Michelle has continued to make friends on the island. She continues to enjoy the idyllic island lifestyle. Michelle married Raymond Bell on the 16th April 1988. Now divorced they have two children: Jayden Bradley John Bell born on the 3rd August 1992 and Rhiannon Maree Bell born on the 16th August 1995. Michelle married Terry Balzer on the 20th October 2014. They moved to Bribie Island in 2009. Terry Balzer had a heart transplant in February 2018 but succumbed to an infection and died on the 25th July 2018.

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1968 – Paul Anthony Scriven Paul Anthony is the second son of Alan and Dalma Scriven. He was born in Ipswich on the 8th August 1968. Paul has two brothers David Scriven born in 1965 and Rodney Scriven born in 1971. While pregnant with Paul, and ten days before she gave birth, Dalma fell down the back steps at 37 Holdsworth Road. In pain, she walked down to her mother-inlaw’s house in Payne Street. Then Doss Scriven ran backwards and forwards to the local phone box to call the ambulance, doctor and Alan. Paul was a breech birth and came into the world bum first. Paul hated going to Sunday school and would hide under the house. When his parents finally got him to the church, he would disappear under the hall until it was time to leave. Paul graduated from Ipswich High School. He took up an apprenticeship as a Fitter and Turner with ANI Reuholt at Wulkuraka. He was later offered a job in Borneo, and two days before he left the country, they told him that they had given the assignment to another colleague. The company then have the audacity to ask if the other guy could take Paul’s tools. Paul, of course, said no and resigned on the spot. Paul then started temporary work with Century Batteries at Wacol in the maintenance department as a fitter. When not working at Century Paul had a role as a maintenance fitter work in the mines at Moruya. It was a two weeks on, two weeks off role, and although he enjoyed working at the mines, his partner Lisa, however, was less keen having him away so often. Paul returned to Century Batteries and is now the Maintenance Supervisor. Paul played football for Swift’s football club, from under Seven’s to the Senior team. He has been refurbishing a houseboat on the Brisbane River near the wharves. He and Lisa have rented out their house in Brassall, and they currently live in their houseboat on the Brisbane River. Paul married Kim Davis on the 7th October 2000, later the couple divorced, and his partner is Lisa Knight. They have one son Leigh William Scriven who was born on the 9th March 1999.

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1971 – Rodney John Scriven Rodney John is the third son of Alan and Dalma Scriven. He was born in Ipswich on the 19th September 1971. Rodney has two older brothers David Scriven born in 1965 and Paul Scriven born in 1968. When Rodney was born, his mother caught an infection. She was suffering from a fever which necessitated her to be packed in ice. As a result, Dalma was moved from the Ipswich General Hospital to St Andrew’s. As there was no specific maternity ward at St Andrew’s, Rodney was kept in a crib in the same room with Dalma. This, of course, had the nursing staff coming and going numerous times a day. Like his brothers, Rodney went to Ipswich North Primary School then to Ipswich High School. While at school he was often involved with arts, musicals and plays. During a school production of Grease, Rodney and some of his friends formed a band and performed during the interval. Their rendition of ‘Johnny Be Good’ went over well with the audience, and the applause was still ringing through the Civic Centre when the curtain went up on the second act. Rodney graduated from school and started working at the Rocklea markets. He has progressed from working as a fruit packer to being a major buyer. Rodney played football for Swift’s football club from under Seven’s through to under 18’s team. A keen sportsman he has also played touch football, indoor cricket and plays golf regularly at Walston Park Golf Course. A good golfer he plays on a low handicap in the mid-teens. Rodney married Sharlene Marsh on the 21st January 1992. They had two children Luke Rodney Scriven born on the 9th May 1995, Taylor Jade Scriven born on the 19th December 1998. Later the couple divorced. Rodney then married Helen Davies on the 6th May 2000. They are also divorced and they have two daughters Madalyn Ann Scriven born on the 24th July 2002 and Alisa Maree Scriven born on the 1st April 2003.

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1 2

1| The Hertrick family in April 2010 [l to r] Robyn, Cheryl, Shirley, Jeffery, Mervyn and Lorelle. 2| David, Paul and Rodney Scriven all the brothers together for Paul’s wedding.

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Other pickings off branches of the family tree:

Every family is the joining and branching of other related families and individuals. What follows are some of the other characters that are connected to our family.

1823 – John Rossiter (junior) (Eva Rossiter’s grandfather)

John Rossiter was born about 1823 and christened on the 20th April 1823 in Camerton, Somerset, England. John Rossiter married Mary Ann Packer on the 8th December 1851 in Somerset England. Mary Ann Packer was born on the 16th May 1830 and christened on the 1st April 1830 in Somerset, England. John and Mary Ann emigrated to Australia, arriving on the 6th July 1852 on board the ‘Maria Somes’.31 They had eight children (six girls and two boys) of which George Rossiter was their eldest son. John died on the 15th August 1875 and Mary Ann died on the 18th August 1911. Both John and Mary Ann were buried in the local cemetery at Pine Mountain.

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1829 – Edward Stokes (George Stoke’s grandfather)

Edward Stokes was born on the 20th April 1829 in Coventry, Warwickshire, to Mary Broomfield and Joseph Stokes. He married Mary [Jane] Ireland on the 24th February 1856 in Coventry. They had nine children in 14 years. Their daughter Mary Jane Stokes was born on the 3rd August 1856, daughter Catherine Emily [Cattovine] Stokes on the 26th September 1859, son Frederick Arthur [Arthur] Stokes was born on the 6th April 1862. All these children were born in England. In 1863 the family emigrated to the colony of New South Wales. They arrived in Brisbane onboard the ‘Light Brigade’ on the 13th May 1863. A son John Borfield Stokes was born in Ipswich on the 4th February 1866 but sadly passed away shortly after. Their next three children were all born in Australia. Daughter Eliza Stokes was born on the 19th March 1866 in Churchill, daughter Ada Stokes was born on the 7th December 1866 in Ipswich and their youngest son William Thomas [Bill] Stokes was born on the 13th June 1870. In 1851 Edward Stokes was working in the coal-mining industry in Warwickshire. Then fifteen years later Edward purchased land at Pine Mountain on the 20th November 1865 (8 acres 2 roods 24 perches), for 17 pounds 6 shillings. Stockes Cottage in Stokes Road, the property at Pine Mountain was the Stokes’ family home for many years. It was later sold, but has since been restored and extended. Edward died on the 4th January 1905 in Ipswich, having lived a long life of 75 years. He was buried in the little cemetery in Pine Mountain. Jane Ireland died on the 28th July 1909, she was 79 years old.

1832 – Rebecca Jane Gray The next few pages show the handwritten marriage proposal to Rebecca Jane Gray (our 4th great aunt, sister to our 3rd great-grandmother Hannah Gray). A tangible piece of our shared history. On the following page is a transcript of this proposal.

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Other pickings To: Miss Jane Gray Lately come from Moreton Bay to Ipswich Ipswich 31st May 1849 Most prudent maiden, Daughter of this land Whose modest virtue friendship do command Your simple carriage and unassuming grace Are deeply pictured in your moulded face The downcast look of woman’s bashful eye Is seen in you by all who pass you by No vulgar mirth can stir your heart to roam The virtuous woman is always found at home But you are pensive dull you keep apart As if the lesson had been dearly bought Your bloom of life is running fast this race And you heart sweet love can find no place Oh is it this fair daughter of the soil Where the Bremer flows and Smiths the cattle boil* Is it thus you pass the bloom of life And never once be honoured as a wife I’d like to change the way in which you live And all I have my hand my heart I’d give I have not lost the ardent fire of youth My head not bald I have a spark of truth Nothing more of riches I’ll not boast And as for beauty that is also lost Such as I am I love you as my life My greatest ambition to have you as a wife Then say will you have me faith you might do worse For a single life is nothing but a curse But first you’ll want to know my name Who I am and whence I came You will know it by the bearer In my friendship he is a sharer …

* There was a boiling down works at Stanton Cross, on the Bremer River, near Booval.

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1833 – Thomas Penning (George Rossiter’s father-in-law)

The father of George Rossiter’s wife Phoebe Susannah Penning, Thomas Penning was born on the 21 November 1834 in Lewisham, Kent. His father was William Henry Penning and his mother was Susannah Mulliner Mudd. Thomas married Phoebe Susannah Feron in Lambeth, Surrey on the 27th May 1860. Both he and Phoebe were 25 years old. Phoebe Feron was born in 1835 in England to Amelia and William Feron. Thomas and Phoebe had four children together. Their daughter Sarah Amelia Penning was born on the 7th October 1854 in Southwark, Surrey, son Thomas Henry Penning was born on the 4th August 1856 in London, daughter Phoebe Susannah Penning was born on the 8th February 1859 in Islington and their son William Charles Penning was born in December 1860 in London. Phoebe Penning died on the 28th June 1878 in Queensland when she was 43 years old. Thomas then married Sarah Ann Bond in Roma, Queensland in 1881. When she was 31 years old and Thomas was 47. Thomas and Sarah had three children together. Sarah Bond was born in 1850 in Hoarwithy, Herefordshire to Jane Griffiths and Samuel Bond. The couple’s daughter Susannah Emily Penning was born in 1884 in Tenterfield, New South Wales. Susannah died aged less than one year old. Their daughter Louisa Elizabeth Penning was born in 1885 and son Roland Samuel Penning was born in 1889. Both were born in Tenterfield. Thomas Penning came to Queensland from London in the early 1860s, making the journey first to the city of Brisbane. Being a blacksmith by occupation he engaged in his trade in Brisbane for a few years and later in Ipswich. In 1878 he moved to Armidale, New South Wales where he remained for many years. Finally returning to Ipswich, a few months before his death. There he lived alternatively with his sons, Thomas in Muirlea and William in the York shops. Sarah Penning died in 1892 in Hillgrove, New South Wales. She was 42 years old. Thomas died on the 7th January 1918 in Queensland having lived a long life of 83 years.32

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1855 – George Rossiter (Eva / Ma Rossiter’s father)

George recounted his life in two interviews published in the The Queensland Times. The first in 1936, the second two years later in the Saturday, New Years Day, 1938 edition.33 It is from these articles that most of his life is known. George Rossiter was born on the 31st December 1855 in Queensland to Mary Ann Packer and John Rossiter. George married Phoebe Susannah Penning on the 24th August 1878 in Ipswich. They had nine children together. He died on the 17th March 1938 in Ipswich, at the age of 82, just months after the last article was published. George had various careers; he was a miner, timber worker and driver, shingle cutter, pit sawyer and bullock driver. At the time of the interviews, George was living in Cole Street, Booval. George had a rather interesting story to tell of his experiences in the West Moreton area in the early days. George never travelled outside Queensland yet claimed, “(though he takes no pride in the achievement), that he was also responsible for the introduction of the Noogoora burr (a pestilent weed) into the West Moreton district.” George Rossiter was born in Fortitude Valley, Brisbane on New Years Eve 1855, although he came to Ipswich as a baby. His father, John Rossiter, was employed at the cemetery for some time, then went over to R J Smith’s boiling-down works at Tannymoree (Stanton Cross), on the Bremer River, near Booval. At these works, cattle and sheep were rendered down for their hides and tallow. George was too young for this work, but at the age of seven, he was entrusted with shepherding pigs. Subsequently, the Davis family took over the concern and formed the Meat Preserving Company. One of the company’s rules was that employees must pay 1s a week to send their children to a private school, and for three months, George had a glimpse of education. Unfortunately, however, he could not link up with the education system again because the company closed down. Shortly afterwards the family moved to Pine Mountain, where George was kept busy. At the tender age of ten, he was sent out west with bullock teams taking provisions to the Condamine River stations. He was so small that he had to be lifted on and off the horses. He recounted his first trip to Chinchilla from Ipswich. A distance of 180 miles (290 kilometres). Attached to John Bloom’s outfit, his job was to drive the spare bullocks and horses along with the team. George considered that it was just as well that they were not too fractious. As he would not have been strong enough to hold them in check if they had played up.

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Other pickings Tact with blacks At the time (1861), the Condamine River was in high flood, and the indigenous people had been driven from their natural preserves onto station lands. As many as 3,000 aboriginals were camped on the stations just outside Chinchilla. A couple of bulls had to be killed for fresh meat every day to keep them quiet. “A nasty situation might have arisen if the [natives] had sought to make trouble. They were more or less uncivilised then, and if not handled tactfully, were likely to clean up the whole herd.” Other stations visited in the Dawson Valley with the carriers in those early days were, Kinkillenbah, Arumbah, Bungewoggera and Neeve Downs (when he was 12 years old). They put fourteen bales of wool on each dray at the last station and landed them in Ipswich six months later. The roads back then were, in most cases, rough and ready tracks; consequently, transport costs were high and time consuming. Young George then gave up carrying and about this time cotton was booming in the West Moreton area. He secured a job with a former boss, Mr Perry, ploughing the ground for cotton at the boiling down works. When the seed had been planted, George remained there the whole season until harvesting operations commenced, literally up to his eyes in it. He accepted a job as a cowboy at Pine Mountain on John MacDonald and James Shea’s farm. The next year he worked on another cotton plantation at Pine Mountain owned by Mr Hill. The property later became known as ‘Noogoora’. Here he looked after fifty acres of cotton. The seed that came up was a strange green shoot, which subsequently was identified as the Noogoora burr. Mr Rossiter claims that it was he who introduced the pest to the West Moreton area. George had charge of the ploughing the 50-acre paddock, with six South Sea island boys to do the hoeing. Most of the cottonseed in the early days of the boom came from America, and very often alien seeds crept into the parcels. When the young cotton plants began to rear their heads, George noticed that a few were particularly green-looking, and thought that some rather choice varieties had been included in the seed. He voiced his opinions to the manager, who told him to leave it till he had a chance to see it. When the manager inspected it, he said: “It looks a nice plant; have the boys take good care of it.” It was not until a good while afterwards that they discovered that the ‘choice plant’ was now known as the Noogoora burr. Only about 20 plants were growing then, and it was George’s contention that if they had been destroyed then and there the burr would not have 241

become the pest that it did in later years. The burr’s introduction could be traced

Other pickings definitely to the imported seeds, not to horses from other centres carrying the burrs in their tails. Finished with cotton growing, he tried his hand at timber cutting, fencing, splitting rails, palings and shingle. He had a lot of work cutting fencing in the Hungry Flat (Brassall) area. With Mr A Dredge and his son Ted, at North Ipswich, he split some 60,000 shingles for the first Ipswich showground at Churchill. In Pine Mountain again he was employed at scrub falling and timber cutting for a time. Pine Mountain was once covered with beautiful stands of beautiful straight pine. The trade was extensive. The Brisbane River flows around the mountain’s base, and the river was utilised to the full by the timber men. A good deal of the timber was reasonably inaccessible, and road transport was challenging. So most of it was floated down the river to its destination. George rafted significant quantities of timber and he managed rafts all the way from Lowood to Brisbane. Several times they were overtaken by floods on the way down the river. On these occasions, they were forced to work a team of bullocks along the bank to keep the logs from being washed onshore. The work was hard. It was thrilling and exciting, and he liked the work immensely. At this time, Messrs Worley and Whitehead were building the Ipswich waterworks. The contract for supplying timber for the engine shed of the first Ipswich pumping works on the Brisbane River at Kholo was let to a Mr McCarthy (1878). George and a man named A Stirling secured half this contract, to do the pit sawing. George often taking the lower and more demanding position. The hardwoods for the job were secured from the Kholo district and the pine from John Sherlock’s paddock at Pine Mountain. When they finished this job, George and Stirling went to College’s Crossing and cut the joists and decking for the new bridge over the Brisbane River (1878). Messrs Doyle and Green were the contractors for the bridge. George married Phoebe Susannah Penning on the 24th August 1878 in Ipswich. Phoebe was born in England in March 1859. She was the second daughter of the Phoebe Susannah Feron and Thomas Penning of Pine Mountain. Reverend Strachan married them in the Ipswich Baptist Church. Their next job was at Blenheim (near Laidley). George and his new wife moved to Blenheim while George pit sawed the Blenheim School’s timber for Messrs J Byers and W Pride. From there it was a comparatively short step to Mount Mistake, where three weeks’ work awaited him building skids on which the colossal cedar trees were slid

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Other pickings down the range. Even today Mount Mistake is still heavily timbered and abounds in natural springs and tropical undergrowth. However, in those days, it was a practically virgin country, and timber-getters had their work cut out removing the valuable cedar. When the skids were built, the timber was slid down the range for over a mile. Then they were snigged away to a position from which it was easily transported. A practiced and accomplished axe-man, George was never out of a job. For five months he was sleeper cutting on the Roma line. He was obliged to camp out under all weather conditions. He would have been there for a much more extended period only he was laid up for 14 weeks with fever and ague and had to leave the job. George then went back to a farm at Pine Mountain, but gave up this work after a while, and went mining. He started in the pit of George Ware and John Wright at Tivoli. At the time of the 1893 flood, he was there when seven people, including Tom and George Wright, were drowned in one of the pits. Most of the country was flooded, and it was feared that the mines would also be swamped. The Wrights and some employees endeavoured to rescue some of the tools and other equipment from down below. While they were engaged in this work, the water rushed in, and seven miners were drowned. George considered that fate was kind to him on this occasion. Word was sent over to his house to join the party, but he was not at home at the time. For over twenty years he worked in mines around Ipswich. By the end of his career, he had worked in practically every colliery of any consequence. The last was Mack Heath Colliery. After twelve months at the Blackheath Colliery, he and his family went up to Benarkin. There he was again engaged in sleeper cutting, and for the next fourteen years, he remained in the district. He gave up mining and accepted a contract from the Government cutting timber in the Esk and Blackbutt districts. However, he fell ill and had to retire. George told the interviewer with pride how he cut some squared timber sleepers for the Forestry Department. They were displayed at the Brisbane Exhibition. Subsequently, the sleepers were sent to England for the London Exhibition exhibiting the quality of Queensland and Australian timbers. George retired in 1923. He lived in Cole Street for many years. His wife Phoebe died on the 18th April 1927 at the age of 68. 243

At the time of the interview, George was of the opinion that he was the oldest living member of the GUOOF in Queensland. George said, “I joined up with the

Other pickings old Western Star in 1873, and I don’t think there would be anybody in the lodge as long as 65 years”. George was a financial member of the Rising Star Lodge. He was also a former member of the Queensland Colliery Employees’ Union, and the Wood Choppers’ Union. George suffered ill health intermittently in his later years and was practically an invalid before his death. George made light of his discomforts and ailments as he cheerily discussed treasured reminiscences. His memory was not in the least impaired, while his eyesight and hearing were extraordinarily keen. When able to get up, he was always in his garden. Neat, orderly plots, with a full complement of seasonal flowers, and an abundance of vegetables represented the expression of his chief hobby. At the time of the last interview, he was described as “looking the picture of health”. When the reporter visited, he was sitting on a chair on the front verandah enjoying the sun. The interviewer wrote that “George was a philosophical old gentleman with many interesting observations on modern tendencies, thoughts and actions.” At the time of his death he had five daughters and three sons living, as well as a host of grandchildren and great-grandchildren. His son William George Rossiter was born on the 31st July 1879 but died two years later. His daughter Pheobe Mary Ann Rossiter was born on the 26th April 1881, son John Thomas Rossiter was born on the 5th October 1882, son William Arthur Rossiter was born on the 9th July 1884 in Gatton and son Andrew Rossiter was born on the 14th April 1886. Then his daughters, Evaline Eva Rossiter was born on the 23rd March 1888, Ada Rossiter was born on the 18th July 1890, Daisy May Rossiter was born on the 7th October 1892 and Gertrude Rossiter was born on the 1st April 1895. George Rossiter died in Ipswich on the 17th March 1938. He was 82.

1856 – Mary Jane (Stokes) Brook Mary Jane Stokes was born on the 3rd August 1856 in Coventry, Warwickshire. She was the eldest child of Mary [Jane] Ireland and Edward Stokes. When she was born her mother was 26 and her father 27 years old. Mary’s sister Catherine Emily [Cattovine] Stokes was born three years later on the 26th September 1859 in Coventry. Her brother Frederick Arthur [Arthur] Stokes was born on the 6th April 1862. In 1863 the family emigrated to Australia. In Australia her brother John Borfield Stokes was born on the 4th February 1866 in Ipswich when Mary Jane was 9 years old. John died a few days later. Her

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Other pickings sister Ada Stokes was born in December 1866 in Ipswich and her brother William Thomas Stokes was born in June 1870 at Pine Mountain. Mary Stokes married Wright Brook in Ipswich on the 30th April 1878. She was 21 and Wright was 23 years old. Wright Brook was born on the 13th April 1854 in Lockwood, Yorkshire to Elizabeth Harrison and John William Brook. All of his five other siblings were born in Queensland. Mary and Wright had six children together. Their son Edward John Brook was born on the 9th February 1879. Her daughters Sarah Ann Brook was born on the 15th August 1880, Mary Ada [Ada] Brook on the 5th March 1883 and Emily Naomi Brook on the 23rd November 1885. The couple’s second son Wright Jnr Brook was born on the 2nd October 1887 while their youngest daughter Essie Brook was born on the 4th April 1893. All were born in Blantyre, Queensland Mary’s husband Wright passed away on the 10th January 1926 in Kalbar, at the age of 71. They had been married for 47 years. Mary died on the 19th December 1938 in Kalbar. She was 82 years old.

1859 – Catherine Emily (Stokes) Robertson [Cattovine] Catherine Emily [Cattovine] Stokes was born on the 26th September 1859 in Coventry, Warwickshire. She was the second child of Jane Ireland and Edward Stokes. Catherine’s sister Mary Jane Stokes had been born three years earlier in August 1856. Her brother Frederick Arthur [Arthur] Stokes was born in April 1862. In May 1863 the family arrived in Brisbane having emigrated from England. Her brother John Borfield Stokes was born in February 1866 but died a few days later. Her sister Ada Stokes was born in December 1866 while her brother William Thomas Stokes was born in June 1870. Catherine married Thomas Robertson at St Peter’s Church of England, Pine Mountain on the 31st December 1890. They were both 31 years old. Thomas Robertson was born on the 25th March 1859 in Brighton, Victoria to Elizabeth Midgley and James Robertson Samson. Catherine and Thomas’ daughters were, Elizabeth Jane Robertson born on the 20th September 1893 and Ada Robertson born on the 11th November 1895. Their two sons were Edward Thomas Robertson born on the 4th June 1899 and 245

Percy Robertson was born in 1905.

Other pickings Catherine and Thomas also raised one of the sons of her brother William Thomas and Augusta Wilhelmina (Frievaldt) Stokes. Her husband Thomas passed away on the 25th April 1941 in Ipswich, aged 82. They had been married 50 years. Catherine died only a few days later on the 1st May 1941. She was 81 years old.

1860 – Charles Henry Scriven (William Henry Scriven’s brother)

Born in England in 1860, Charles emigrated with the rest of his family in 1865. He married Agnes Hyatt. Charles died in 1939. In an article in The Queensland Times, of Saturday 23rd April 1938.34 Charles recounted his memories of Ipswich’s early days, with information regarding the family immigrating to Australia and settling in Ipswich. This article also gives some insight into the early days of the Scriven family after they emigrated from England in 1864. “Well over 70 years spent in Queensland have enabled Mr Charles Scriven, of North Ipswich, to keep In close touch with the progress of the State from its beginning”. Charles Scriven was born at Newport, Monmouthshire (England). The fourth son of William Scriven. He remained in England until he had reached the age of four years. Just before that his father had been carrying on work as a blacksmith in Brazil, returned to England, but William and Caroline decided to embark with their family again. This time for Australia to try regain his failing health. With his four brothers (the oldest was William Henry Scriven) and his two sisters, Charles Scriven accompanied his parents from their home to the wharf, where the vessel they were to travel in, the ‘Queen of the Colonies’, was berthed. The tall-masted sailing vessel presented a fine study as she left England on her voyage to far-away Australia in 1864. Except for one storm, the journey out was without incident, and Australia was reached just under three months later. The boat, after stopping at Sydney, came on to Brisbane, and the Scriven family disembarked. Soon after leaving the vessel, the family found accommodation in the town. After he had seen they were comfortable, their father travelled on to Ipswich by boat to take up a railway service position. In the three months that followed, Charles Scriven found much to interest him in Brisbane. William Scriven built a home in Ipswich, and the whole family travelled to the new centre by a river steamer, skippered by Captain West.

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Other pickings Four years after they arrived in Queensland, their father died. The Brisbane that they had seen in those days, of course, was a vastly different place from what it is today. When they first arrived, they lived in Oak Street, South Brisbane, which at that time was a bush track through heavy scrub. There were only four houses in the locality. The whole of Brisbane’s streets were barely formed and “were all hills and hollows”. The most part of what is now the city area consisted of vacant lands, scrub, swamps, gullies, and watercourses. Where Creek Street now intersects with Queen Street was a small creek, and where Central railway station is was a large gully. On a corner opposite the station was the Fire Brigade Station, which was of wooden construction. None of Brisbane’s buildings was over two storeys in height, and most of them were made of wood. Fully half of Queen Street consisted of vacant allotments. After settling in the vicinity of his then residence at North Ipswich (90 metres away in Flint Street) Charles, as a boy, attended the late Mr J Scott’s school. Later, he became a pupil at the Church of England School, which was on the former Bank of Australasia’s present site. A bank no longer the building still stands at 116 Brisbane Street. In 1860 the North Ipswich School was completed, and Charles studied with several other students. One of the first teachers was a Mrs Ewing. When he 14 years old, Charles left school and secured his first job with the cooperative boot shop in Brisbane Street, near where the [old] Commonwealth Bank stood (on the corner of Brisbane and Nicholas Streets). About twelve months later, he left and joined Messrs Cribb and Foote’s department store staff as a parcel boy. Charles did not stay in this position long, however, for his burning ambition was to learn carpentering trade. He left after twelve months service with Cribb and Foote and secured an apprenticeship with Messrs S and A T Hodges, who had carried out much of the building work in the town. One of the first places he assisted to build was the new works for the Ipswich Gas Company. He remained with the firm until his apprenticeship period finished. His next job was with John Lather, at Southport, where they erected a few cottages. Later he went to Brisbane and worked with a man named Hinks. In the oneand-a-half years that followed, Charles helped build houses and other buildings in Brisbane and Ipswich. At different times he spent short periods with Messrs Springall and Frost, and Sam Shillito. Later he joined the staff of Hancock’s sawmill, and in his nine-and-a-half years association with the firm he passed through all the different departments 247

of the mill. In 1896 Charles secured employment in the wagon shop at the North

Other pickings Ipswich Railway Workshops, where he remained for another three and a half years. Nine years later (1929), Charles retired from active employment and lived in quiet retirement at his Flint Street home till his death. During his conversation with the reporter, Charles mentioned, “that he had lived in the same block at North Ipswich practically all his life”. His former home was about 100 yards (90 metres) away. When he was building the house, he specifically chose the spot, as it was known to be above the highest known flood level. However, in the 1893 floods, it wasn’t long before the top of the house was 25 feet (8 metres) underwater. The flood caused him and others, a considerable loss of property. Charles and his family were unable to save anything apart from the clothes they were wearing. The area where he was then living was an aboriginal encampment. “As soon as evening approached all the blacks in Ipswich were driven out by police. [They] made their way to a paddock near the present North Ipswich State School, where they stayed.” Where the school now stands was scrubland, and some of the residents of the suburb secured their firewood from this area. In those days, water was obtained first from springs at ‘the Pump yards,’ where the Memorial Hall is now situated. Later, water was pumped from the river, it was then considerably cleaner than it is now. Water cost the residents of Ipswich 2/6d a cask in the early days. To avoid the extra cost of buying water for washing, many local housewives washed their clothes in the river at a spot between the bridge and the basin. After the clothes had been cleaned. They hung them over the wild orange bushes that grew along the banks to dry. It was a familiar sight at the time to see dozens of white covered bushes on each side. Many of the settlers employed the local native population to chop wood and scrub floors at most of North Ipswich’s homes. Charles kept in close touch with the progress of the State from its beginning. He had arrived just after the State had been separated from New South Wales, and before that, he said, “there had been little progress.” He travelled on the first train to journey from Ipswich to Bigg’s Camp (now Grandchester). Saw the first sod turned prior to the erection of the workshops, a similar ceremony that preceded the construction of the Ipswich to Brisbane railway. As well he had travelled by the first train to run from Brisbane to Sandgate. Before building the railway between Ipswich and Brisbane, Charles frequently made the trip either by boat or by coach. Much of Charles’ interests in his younger days was taken up with politics. A keen supporter of Messrs A J Stephenson and

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Other pickings T B Cribb. He had many interesting and humorous experiences during his work on their behalf. He was also an enthusiastic worker in the temperance movement and an active member of the Hearts of Oak Loyal Orange Lodge. Also, Charles spent seven years as a volunteer in the No. 2 Ipswich Rifles. Among the many exciting stories, Charles told the reporter concerned the introduction of sparrows into the country. He recalled that the first sparrows that came to the colony were freed by some would-be benefactor in Brisbane’s Normal School buildings. Charles was present at the time that the birdcages had just landed off an English boat. They were at the centre of interest for a great crowd of settlers. The importer did not think that by his effort to bring a homeland touch to the new colony, he lay the foundation of what would become one of Queensland’s most troublesome pests. Charles said that “beer in the early days was easier to obtain than water. It was part of the stock-in-trade of all shops, and purchasers of plugs of tobacco and other articles helped themselves from the counter to the liquor.” Charles and Agnes Scriven had five children – three boys and two girls. And at the time of Charles’ death they had seventeen grandchildren and six greatgrandchildren. Charles William Henry Scriven was born on the 12th November 1884 in Ipswich. Charles married Sarah Wyatt in Ipswich on the 13th December 1905. Sarah Wyatt was born on the 30th October 1871 in Ipswich to Dinah Moucher (Motyer) and Henry Wyatt. Charles and Sarah’s daughter Lillian Sarah Scriven was born on the 27th September 1906 in Ipswich, son Cecil Henry Scriven was born on the 5th November 1908 in Ipswich and daughter Francis Amy Scriven was born on the 8th July 1911 in Ipswich. Charles later became the Superintendent of the Laidley Ambulance Centre. Sarah Wyatt died on the 16th December 1924, she was 53 years old. Charles then married Dora Edna Percy Morris on the 1st September 1926 when he was 41 years old. Dora Morris was born in 1899 in New South Wales to Dora Isabel Brown and Frederick George Morris. Charles and Dora’s son Robert Neville Morris was born in 1926 and daughter Isabel Morris was born in July 1927. Both were born in Ipswich. Charles William Henry Scriven died on the 24th April 1953 in Ipswich. He was 68 years old. Caroline Sophia Louisa was born on the 18th February 1887. She died having just turned one year old on the 13 March 1888. 249

Lillian Edith Scriven was born on the 10th May 1889 in Ipswich. Lillian married

Other pickings Richard Ingram Hodges on the 6th November 1912. They had three children together. Their son Eric Richard Hodges was born on the 21st May 1914, daughter Constance Millicent Hodges was born on the 7th October 1915 and son Charles Samuel Hodges was born on the 20th June 1920. All the children were born in Howard. Lillian’s husband Richard Hodges passed away on the 16th December 1965 in Ipswich, at the age of 79. They had been married for 53 years. Lillian died on the 24th June 1970 at the age of 81. Victor Ernest Scriven was born on the 2nd September 1891 in Ipswich. Victor married Gertrude Roselle Powter on the 17th April 1911. Gertrude Roselle Powter was born on the 3rd November 1891 in Ipswich to Kate Rosella Carter and Robert Henry Powter. Victor and Gertrude had four boys over their 18 years of marriage. Their son Victor Robert Mill Scriven was born on the 4th October 1911, son Roy Charles Scriven was born on the 13th February 1914, son Cyril Henry Scriven was born on the 10th March 1917 and son Hedley John Scriven was born in 1929. Victor passed away on the 29th November 1976 in Southport, at the age of 85. They had been married for 65 years. Gertrude died on the 7th March 1977 in Ipswich. She was 85 years old. Thomas Francis Gordon Scriven was born on the 11th May 1899 in Ipswich. He married Adelaide Victoria Marguerite Wiseman on the 15th August 1919. Adelaide Wiseman was born on the 12th July 1899 in Ipswich to Georgina Margaret McKeown and Frederick Conrad Wiseman. They had one child during their marriage. Their son Gordon Frederick Charles Scriven was born on the 10th September 1920 in Ipswich. Thomas died on the 27th September 1949 in Berwick, Victoria, at the age of 50. Son, Gordon Scriven passed away on the 1st March 1980 in Eastwood, New South Wales, at the age of 59.

1862 – Fredrick Arthur Stokes [Arthur] Frederick Arthur [Arthur] Stokes was born on the 6th April 1862 in Coventry, Warwickshire. He was the eldest son of Mary [Jane] Ireland and Edward Stokes. Arthur’s elder sisters, Mary Jane Stokes and Catherine Emily Stokes were born in August 1856 and September 1859, respectively. When Arthur was only one year old the family emigrated to Australia. His brother John Borfield Stokes was born in February 1866 but died a few days later. His younger sister Ada Stokes was born in December 1866 while his younger brother William Thomas Stokes was born in June 1870.

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Other pickings Arthur married Eliza Pearson in Queensland on the 14th September 1887. Their son Frederick Arthur Stokes was born on the 28th July 1888, and their son William Stokes was born on the 14th December 1889 in Waraperta (near Aratula). His son Edward Stokes was born on the 2nd February 1892 in Ipswich, but sadly passed away when he was less than a year old. Their next four children were all born in Munbilla (which is halfway between Peak Crossing and Fassifern). Albert Stokes was born on the 20th July 1893, Ernest Stokes was born on the 24th May 1896, Eliza Valetta Stokes was born on the 11th October 1898 and Jane Violet Stokes was born on the 28 September 1900. Their son Thomas Henry Stokes was born on the 3rd February 1903 in Queensland. Then John Alfred Stokes was born on the 12th January 1907 in Dugandan (just south of Boonah). His youngest son Leslie Arnold Stokes was born on the 13th November 1909. Arthur’s wife Eliza passed away on the 5th January 1940 in Boonah at the age of 73. They had been married for 52 years. Arthur Stokes died on the 28th May 1942 when he was 80 years old. He and Eliza are buried together in Kalbar

1866 – Ada (Stokes) Rossiter Ada Stokes was born on the 7th December 1866 at Pine Mountain. The youngest daughter of Mary [Jane] Ireland and Edward Stokes. Ada’s elder sisters, Mary Jane Stokes and Catherine Emily Stokes were born in August 1856 and September 1859. Her brother Frederick Arthur [Arthur)] Stokes was born in April 1862. The family emigrated to Australia from Coventry, Warwickshire, England in 1863. Her brother John Borfield Stokes was born in February 1866 but died a few days later, while her younger brother William Thomas Stokes was born in June 1870. Ada Stokes married John Rossiter on the 24th February 1892 at Pine Mountain. She was 25 and John was 26 years old. John Rossiter was born on the 7th February 1866 at Stanton Cross, near Ipswich, the son of Mary Ann Packer and John Rossiter. Ada and John had eight children. Their son John Edward Rossiter was born on the 30th July 1892 at Boggo Road near the Junction Hotel, in Queensland. Percy Rossiter was born in 1895 at Opossum Creek, Goodna, while their daughter Elsie May Rossiter was born on the 27th March 1897 in Ipswich. Their son Norman 251

Leonard Rossiter was born on the 5th July 1899 in South Brisbane, while Ernest

Other pickings Rossiter was born on the 14th April 1901. Their daughter Ivy Rossiter was born on the 9th June 1904 and son George Leslie Rossiter was born on the 17th July 1908. Both were born in Ipswich Ada passed away on the 15th June 1919 at the age of 52. She and John had been married for 27 years. Then three years later John Rossiter married Ellen Elizabeth Klupfel on the 20th November 1926. John was 60 and Ellen was 48 years old. Ellen Klupfel was born on the 6th December 1877 in Pine Mountain. John passed away a year later on the 25th July 1928. Ellen Rossiter died on the 22nd March 1942 in Ipswich. She was 64 years old.

1868 – James Jordan (Emily Jordan’s father)

James Jordan was born on the 12th February 1868 in Bridgeton, Glasgow, Lanarkshire, Scotland. He was one of seven children born to Jean Janet [Janet)] Watt and William Jordan. His siblings, all bar one, were born in Glasgow. His sister Jessie Jordan was born in 1870, John Jordan was born on the 11th February 1872, William Campbell Jordan was born on the 16th July 1877, Andrew Jordan was born in 1880 and Thomas Jordan was born in 1884. Their brother Archibald [Archie] Jordan was born in 1885 in Sydney. The family emigrated from Scotland and arrived in Sydney on the 3rd February 1885. James married Euphemia Murrie McLeish in 1894 in Sydney. Euphemia was born on the 13th February 1872 in Dalkeith, Midlothian, Scotland to Margaret Scott and William McLeish. Euphemia’s family arrived in Australia from Scotland on the 15th January 1884. James and Euphemia had nine children. Their daughter Nellie Margaret Jordan was born in 1895 in Redfern Sydney, John William Jordan was born in 1897 in Balmain. Their twins Jane and Alexander were born in 1899 but sadly passed away that same day. The rest of their children were born in Ipswich. Their daughter Margaret Euphemia Doris Jordan was born on the 12th April 1901, son James Leslie Jordan was born in 1903, Colin Archibald Jordan was born on 19 November 1909 and their youngest daughter Mary Emily [Emily] Jordan was born on the 19th August 1911. Twenty years later Emily later married Leslie Charles [Les] Scriven in 1931.

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Other pickings His daughter Nellie Margaret Jordan was born in 1895 in Sydney. His son John William Jordan was born in 1897. His daughter Margaret Euphemia Doris Jordan was born on the 12th April 1901. His son James Leslie Jordan was born in 1903. His son David Jordan was born on the 13th July 1905. David married Ellen Violet [Vi] Perrett in Queensland on the 14th May 1932. Vi Perrett was born on the 29th June 1913 in Ipswich to Ann Jane Brown and James Bertie Norman Perrett. Vi Jordan was a politician and the Labor member for Ipswich West from 196635. James and Euphemia’s daughter Jean Watt Jordan was born on the 5th November 1907. Their daughter Nellie Jordan passed away on the 3rd November 1911 in Ipswich at the age of 16. Four years later her father James Jordan died on the 29th June 1915 at the age of 47. Margaret Jordan died suddenly on the 30th April 1923 in Ipswich, she was 22 just years old. Son James Jordan died on the 10th June 1928 in Ipswich, when he was 25 years old. Daughter Jean Jordan died on the 24th January 1930 in Ipswich, when she was 22 years old. Jame’s wife Euphemia Jordan died nearly fifty years later on the 27th June 1961. And their son David Jordan died in 1968 in Ipswich, when he was 63 years old. Jame’s sister Jessie Jordan married Alfred David Stuart in Sydney in 1888 when she was 18 years old. Alfred David Stuart was born in October 1865 in Stonehouse, Devon to Mary Anne Northmore and David Stuart. His family arrived in Australia on the 27th March 1885. Jessie and Alfred’s daughter Ellen Stuart was born in 1888 in Balmain, New South Wales. Their daughter Augusta Stuart was born on the 11th January 1890 in Sydney and their son Alfred D Stuart was born in 1892 in Leichardt, New South Wales. Jessie’s husband Alfred passed away on the 7th November 1911 at the age of 46. They had been married for 23 years. Her son Alfred passed away on the 7th November 1911 at the age of 19. Jessie Stuart died on the 3rd October 1930 in Sydney. She was 60 years old. Jame’s brother John Jordan married Mary Ann [Latta] McCarthy in Sydney on the 20th July 1897. He was 25 and Mary was 22 years old. Mary was born on the 29th January 1875 in Wicklow, Ireland to Mary Anne Pointer and Eugene Charles McCarthy. John and Mary’s daughter Winifred Healy Jordan was born on the 19th January 1910. John died in Ipswich in 1932. He was 56. Mary died in 1949. Jame Jordon’s brother William Campbell [Bill] Jordan married Lucy Amelia Howard on the 25th November 1903. Lucy Howard was born on the 26th April 1881 in Queensland to Ann Shelton and Charles Alexander Howard. Bill had 253

only been married a year when Lucy passed away on the 7th November 1905 at

Other pickings the age of 24. Bill then married Clara Hey, he was 32 and she was 26 years old. Clara Hey was born on the 29th June 1883 in Queensland to Mary Louisa Needle and William Hey. Bill and Clara had four daughters together. Euphemia Mildred Jordan was born on the 11th November 1910. Jean Jordan was born in 1912 and passed away that same day. Ina Flora Jordan was born on the 13th May 1915 and Olive Alice Jordan was born on the 14th September 1918. Clara passed away on the 3rd July 1923 at the age of 40. They had been married for 13 years. Bill died on the 23rd May 1965 in Mackay. He was 87. Jame’s brother Andrew married Coralie Ida Wilson on the 2nd January 1910 in Saint Mathias, Paddington, New South Wales. Andrew was 30 and Coralie was 27 years old. Coralie Wilson was born on the 24th January 1882 in Newcastle, New South Wales, one of eleven children to Alice Ann Sexton and John Wilson. Andrew died on the 17th December 1951 in Five Dock, New South Wales at the age of 72. Coralie died twenty years later on the 11th January 1971 in Camperdown, New South Wales. She was 88 years old. Jame’s brother Thomas Jordan married Emily M Hopkins in 1916 in Balmain North, Sydney. They had one child during their marriage. Albert Thomas Jordan who was born on the 5th July 1919 in Rozelle, Sydney. Thomas Jordan died on the 17th February 1954 in Sydney at the age of 70. Emily died in 1958 in Chatswood, New South Wales. She was 73 years old. Very little is known about Jame’s brother Archibald [Archie], Jordan the youngest child of Janet Watt and William Jordan. There are some branches of a family tree that have stories as yet untold.

1870 – William Thomas Stokes (George Stoke’s father)

William Thomas Stokes was born in Pine Mountain on the 13th June 1870 in Pine Mountain the youngest son of Mary [Jane] Ireland and Edward Stokes. William married Auguste Wilhelmina Freivaldt in Ipswich on the 9th October 1895 when they were both 25 years old. William had nine children. When Auguste died William then married Alice Hutchins on the 19th March 1913 in Queensland. William and Auguste’s daughter Emma Louisa Stokes was born on the 24th May 1894. Emma Stokes married James Boyd Varrie in 1919 when she was 25 years old. James Varrie was born on the 5th March 1886 in Brisbane to Ellen Jane Boyd and Andrew John Varrie. Both of his parents had emigrated from Scotland. Emma

254

Other pickings and James had four children: Thomas James Varrie born on the 23rd November 1919, Edna May Varrie born on the 22nd June 1921, Dorothy Jean [Jean] Varrie born on the 21st June 1925 and Mervyn William [Merv] Varrie born on the 16th July 1929. James Varrie passed away on the 21st July 1961 at the age of 75. The couple had been married for 42 years. Emma Varrie died on the 2nd December 1969. She was 75 years old. Edna died on the 19th September 1997, Merv died on the 7th May 2004, Jean died on the 25th September 2005 while Thomas Varrie died on the 4th September 2011. Thomas was 91 years old. Their daughter Ada Stokes was born on the 25th May 1896. She had five brothers and four sisters. Ada married Robert Leonard Bruce Gall. Robert Gall was born on the 7th January 1901. Robert passed away on the 5th March 1973 in Queensland at the age of 72. Ada died on the 20 August 1974 in Ipswich at the age of 78. His son George Edward Stokes was born on the 21st August 1897. George Stokes married Eva May Scriven on the 3rd December 1927. Their story is listed in the Holdswoth Nexus chapter. His daughter Essie May Stokes was born on the 4th May 1900 in Pine Mountain. Essie May Stokes married Henry Ormond Chalk in Queensland on the 28th August 1920 when she was 20 years old. Henry Ormond Chalk was born at Ipswich on the 15th April 1899 to Alice Titmarsh and John Chalk. He was the fourth son in a family of six boys and one girl. Henry lived at Milora via Munbilla until on the 26th June 1916 at the age of 18 he enlisted for World War One. Henry was sent to Europe on the 19th September 1916 where he saw heavy fighting and was wounded twice. On the 9th and 10th of August 1918 he was awarded the Military Medal for bravery in fighting near Vauvillers and Lehons. Private Henry Ormond Chalk, No 6731 5th Battalion Regiment, remarkably survived serious injury and returned to Australia on the 2nd February 1919. Essie and Henry had six children Cedric, Mavis, Maurice, twins John and Basil and Alwyn. Their children were: Cedric John Chalk born on the 24th April 1919, Irene Mavis [Mavis] Chalk was born in 1921, Maurice Henry Chalk born on the 2nd May 1925, twins John and Basil Chalk born in 1928. Alwyn Ivan Chalk was born in 1933. Essie Chalk passed away on the 31st October 1938 in Redbank, at the age of 43. There was an inquest into her death and it was decided that she had taken her own life due to continued ill health. After Essie passed away Henry married Grace 255

Wilhelmina [Winkle] Johnstone who had five children of her own. They had two more children Patricia and Henry [Harry] Chalk.

Other pickings Henry Chalk lived and worked around Ipswich all his life. His son Maurice was accidentally killed on the 3rd August 1953, when he was 28. Henry passed away on the 27th October 1973 and was buried at Warrill Park Lawn Cemetery. His son William Thomas [Bill] Stokes was born on the 9th April 1902. Bill Stokes married Mary Elizabeth Kelly on the 24th December 1927 in Ipswich. Mary Kelly was born on the 6th April 1905 in Liverpool, Lancashire to Mary Elizabeth Hall and Patrick Kelly. Her father was born in 1880 in Sligo, Ireland while her mother was born in 1883 in Liverpool, England. They had two children during their marriage. Their twins, daughter Mary Margaret Stokes and son Thomas Laurence Stokes were born on the 30th August 1929. Bill Stokes died in April 1987 at the age of 85. Mary Stokes died in 1989. She was 62. His son Norman Stanley Stokes was born on 5 May 1904. Sadly he passed away on the 7th May 1904 in Ipswich, Norman was only two days old. His youngest son Percival [Percy] Stokes was born on the 28th July 1905. Percy Stokes married Hazel Hillard Livermore in 1927. He was 22 and Hazel was 17 years old. Hazel Livermore was born on the 29th June 1910 in Queensland to Susie Hillard and William Livermore. Percy and Hazel’s son Dudley Percival Stokes was born in 1929. Dudley Stokes passed away on the 10th June 1963, aged 34. Hazel Stokes died on the 15th December 1968, she was 58. Percy Stokes died on the 4th November 1977, he was 72 years old. William Thomas’ wife Auguste Wilhelmina passed away on the 28th October 1905 in Pine Mountain. Auguste was only 35 and had been married for only 10 years. Five years later William’s mother Jane Stokes passed away on the 28th July 1909 at the age of 79. William Stokes then married Alice Hutchins in March 1913. Alice was born on the 17th March 1888 to Ellen Rossiter and Francis Hutchins. When she married she was 25 and William was 43. William and Alice had one daughter together, Ellen Jane Stokes who was born the 20th January 1914 but sadly passed away on the 14th January 1919. Just six days shy of her 5th birthday. Ellen may have died of the Spanish Flu pandemic which decimated the world population at the end of World War One. William died on the 3rd April 1952 at Pine Mountain at the age of 81. Alice died on the 20th September 1978. She was 90 years old. 256

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1870 – Auguste Willeminia (Frievaldt) Stokes (George Stoke’s mother)

Auguste Wilhelmine Frievaldt was born on the 31st May 1870 at Pine Mountain to Henriette Wilhelmine [Harriet] Langer and Johann Friedrich Frievaldt. Five years before she was born, in 1865, her family emigrated from Germany. Her parents and two older brothers Carl and August arrived in Brisbane on the 6th February 1866. Auguste’s father Johann Frievaldt was born on the 15th April 1824 in Rouen, Prussia, Germany. Harriet Langer was born in 1828 in Lübeck, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. Harriet was one of ten children to Henriette Wilhelmine Heeg and Carl Christian. Harriet Langer married Johann Frievaldt in Berlingen, RhinelandPalatinate, Germany, in 1860. She was 32 years old and Johann was 36. Auguste’s sister Bertha Johanna Frievaldt was born on the 8th January 1868 in Ipswich. Her brother Arthur John Frievaldt was born in 1873. Auguste’s brothers Carl Wilhelm Frievaldt was born in 1861 in Berlinchen, Brandenburg, Germany. Carl Frievaldt married Bridget Florence McNamara in Ipswich on the 8th June 1922. He was 61 and she was 19 years old. Bridget Florence McNamara was born on the 6th November 1902 in Toowoomba to Emma Matilda Miles and John Joseph McNamara. Bridget was one of eight children, six of whom survived childhood. Bridget first married a widower Friedrich Wilhelm Carl Litzow who was born on the 30th July 1885 in Brisbane. Freidrich had been married before and had several children with his first wife Maria Friedericke Louise Schroder. Bridget died on the 18 October 1969 in Brisbane, when she was 66 years old. Hermann August [August] Frievaldt was born in 1864 Berlinchen, OstprignitzRuppin, Brandenburg, Prussia. August married Eliza Jane Marstaeller in Queensland on the 10th June 1886. He was 22 and Eliza was 21 years old . Eliza Marstaeller was born on the 6th March 1865 in Ipswich, one of seven children to Mary McGaghran and Johann Georg Christoph [John] Marstaeller. Their daughter Mary May Frievaldt was born on the 1st May 1887 in Ipswich. Eliza died on the 6th August 1933 when she was 68 years old. August died nine years later on the 29th March 1942 in Ipswich. He was 78 years old. Bertha Johanna Frievaldt was born on the 8th January 1868 in Ipswich. She 257

married Edward Thomas Fell on the 6th October 1893 in Ipswich. She was 25

Other pickings and Edward was 26 years old. Edward Fell was born on the 3rd March 1867 in Napton, Warwickshire to Ann French and Clement Fell. Bertha and Edward had a family of eight children. Thomas Arthur Fell was born on the 7th February 1894. Their daughter Emma Ann Fell was born on the 29th January 1896 and Clement Harry [Harry) Fell was born on the 25th January 1899. Their first three children were all born at Pine Mountain. William Peter Fell was born on the 14th June 1901 in Tivoli. Edward John [Teddy) Fell was born on the 6th May 1903 in King Street, Howard. James Leslie [Jim) Fell was born on the 30th July 1905. Their daughter Minnie Elizabeth [May) Fell was born on the 20th September 1907 in Howard. As was Percy Howard Fell who was born on the 3rd May 1912. Teddy died on the 3rd December 1914 in Howard at the age of 11. While Bertha and Edward’s son Harry passed away on the 17th April 1930 in Howard, at the age of 31. Bertha’s husband Edward passed away on the 23th January 1940 in Collinsville, at the age of 72. They had been married for 46 years. Her daughter Emma Ann passed away on the 23rd February 1944 in Collinsville, aged 48. Bertha died on the 21st August 1957 in Collinsville. She was 89 years old. Arthur John Frievaldt was born in Queensland in 1873. Arthur married Sarah Amelia Trower in 1899. He was 26 and Sarah was 24 years old. Their daughter Lucy May Frievaldt was born on the 6th April 1900, but died the same year. Their son John Thomas Frievaldt was born on the 13th October 1901. Arthur Frievaldt died on the 5th January 1946. Sarah Frievaldt died on the 2nd January 1955, she was 79 years old. Their son John died on the 6th January 1989 in Ipswich. He was 87 years old. Auguste’s father Johann passed away on the 30th November 1888 at the age of 63. Auguste married William Thomas Stokes on the 9th October 1895 in Ipswich. She and William were both 25 years old. They had eight children together over the course of 20 years. Their daughter Emma Louisa Stokes was born on the 24th May 1894. Ada Stokes was born on the 25th May 1896. George Edward Stokes was born on the 21st August 1897. Essie May Stokes was born on the 4th May 1900. William Thomas Stokes was born on the 9th April 1902. Norman Stanley Stokes was born on the 5th May 1904 but sadly passed away two days later. Percival [Percy) Stokes was born on the 28th July 1905. Auguste died on the 28th October 1905, at the age of 35.

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1872 – Euphemia Murrie (McLeish) Jordan (Emily Jordan’s mother)

Euphemia Murrie McLeish was born on the 13th February 1872 in Dalkeith, Midlothian, Scotland as the third child of Margaret Scott and William McLeish. Her sister Margaret Fischer McLeish was born on the 9th September 1865, her brother John McLeish was born on the 31st May 1869 and her sister Emily Lenz McLeish in 1879. All were born in Dalkeith, Scotland. Euphemia’s family emigrated from Scotland, arriving in Queensland on the 15th January 1884. Euphemia married James Jordan in 1894 in Sydney, New South Wales. James Jordan was born on the 12th February 1868 in Bridgeton, Glasgow, Lanarkshire, Scotland. He was one of seven children born to Jean Janet [Janet] Watt and William Jordan. James family emigrated from Scotland and arrived in Sydney on the 3rd February 1885. Euphemia and James had nine children. Their daughter Nellie Margaret Jordan was born in 1895 in Redfern, John William Jordan was born in 1897 was born in Balmain. Their twins Jane and Alexander were born in 1899 but sadly passed away the same day. The rest of the children were born in Ipswich, where the family had relocated for father James to take up employment at Barbett & Sons an engineering firm. The family lived in a house next door to this business in Lowry Street and Euphemia named their house ‘Dalkeith’ in a nod to her Scottish birthplace. Their daughter Margaret Euphemia Doris Jordan was born on the 12th April 1901, son James Leslie Jordan was born in 1903, Colin Archibald was born on 19 November 1909 and their youngest daughter Mary Emily [Emily] Jordan was born on the 19th August 1911. Emily later married Leslie Charles [Les) Scriven in 1920. For more information on these two see the Holdsworth Nexus chapter. Euphemia and James’ daughter Nellie Jordan passed away on the 3rd November 1911 in Ipswich at the age of 16. Four years later her husband James Jordan died on the 29th June 1915 at the age of 47. Margaret Jordan passed away on the 30th April 1923 in Ipswich, at the age of 22. James Jordan passed away on the 10th June 1928 in Ipswich. He was 25 years old. Her daughter Jean Jordan passed away on the 24th January 1930 in Ipswich at the age of 22. Her son John William 259

Jordan passed away on the 5th June 1932 in Ipswich at the age of 35. Euphemia Jordan died on the 27th June 1961, she was 89 years old.

Other pickings Once again the story of Euphemia’s sister, Margaret McLeish, is a wee bit of a mystery, there is little information about her life. Again a full life’s story untold. Euphemia’s brother John married Margaret Matilda Lappan on the 20th May 1893 in Sydney. He was 29 and Margaret was 22 years old. Margaret Lappan was born in 1871 in Maitland, New South Wales to Agnes Mulvihill and James Lappan John and Margaret’s son William S McLeish was born in 1894 at Waterloo and their daughter Emily Margaret McLeish born on the 9th January 1896 in Newtown, Sydney. Their sons, John [Jack) McLeish born on the 31st December 1903 and Alexander Scott [Jim) McLeish was born in 1908, were both born in Cowra, New South Wales. Margaret died on the 17th November 1936 in Cowra, she was 65 years old. John died in 1942 in Liverpool, New South Wales, at the age of 73. Euphemia’s sister Emily married Hugh Calderwood Malcolm on the 23rd April 1902 in Marrickville, New South Wales. Hugh Malcolm was born in Milton, Glasgow, Lanarkshire, Scotland on the 14th August 1873 to Jane Atkinson and Hugh Malcolm. Emily and Hugh had one child. Their daughter Margaret Scott Malcolm was born on the 1st February 1903 in Marrickville. Hugh was a plumber by profession and was involved in the accidental death of Olive Dalwood in 1906. Olive died in her bathroom at Railway Street, Chatswood, New South Wales of poisoning from coal gas fumes. The result of a manufacturer change to the fitting of the bathroom gas heater exhaust outlet. Emily died on the 25 October 1951 in Manly at the age of 72. Hugh died on the 4th June 1957 in Balgowlah. He was 83 years old.

1879 – William George Rossiter William George was born on the 31st July 1879 in Queensland. He was the first child of George Rossiter and Phoebe Susannah Penning. He died not long after his first birthday on the 25th October 1881. Yet another child death that was so common in the 19th Century.

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1881 – Phoebe Mary Ann (Rossiter) Jones [Mary] Pheobe Mary Ann Rossiter was born on the 26th April 1881 in Pine Mountain. She was the first daughter of George Rossiter and Phoebe Penning. She had three brothers and four sisters. Her older brother, William, died in October 1881 a couple of months after Phoebe was born. Her brothers were John, Arthur and Andrew. John Thomas Rossiter was born on the 5th October 1882 in Pine Mountain while William Arthur Rossiter was born on the 9th July 1884 in Gatton and her brother Andrew Rossiter was born on the 14th April 1886. Her sisters were Eva, Ada, Daisy and Gertie. Evaline Eva Rossiter was born on the 23rd March 1888, Ada Rossiter was born on the 18th July 1890, Daisy May Rossiter was born on the 7th October 1892 and Gertrude [Gertie) Rossiter was born on the 1st April 1895. Pheobe Rossiter married John Jones in 1900. She was 19 and he was 21 years old. John Jones was born on the 30th December 1879 in Ipswich to Eliza Walker and James Jones. Her sons were William and Arthur and her daughter was Phoebe. William Jones was born on the 24th August 1900, Arthur Jones was born on the 11th May 1904 in Ipswich and her daughter Phoebe Mary Ann Jones was born on the 23rd March 1917. Phoebe and John’s son William Jones married Edith Maud Williams on the 21st July 1920. William was 20 and Edith was 22 years old. Edith was born on the 7th November 1897 in Queensland to Maud Mary Jenvey and Stephen Williams. Edith died on the 11th June 1967 in Brisbane, at the age of 69, and was buried in Blackbutt. Their son Arthur Jones married Ellen May Rodgers in Queensland in 1925. Arthur Jones died on the 9th August 1952 in Blackbutt, when he was 48 years old. The couple had seven children: Kevin, Thelma, William [Bill], Daphne, Valma [Val], Mervyn [Merv] and Lorraine. Kevin Jones was born in 1924 in Toogoolawah and married Hazel Jean [Jean] Bradley. Hazel Bradley was born on the 2nd November 1928. They had five children: Linda Jones who was born on the 10th August 1952 in Eskdale, Victoria. Then a daughter Christine who was a blonde, then two boys and another girl. Linda’s finger was accidentally chopped off with a hatchet when she was young. Kevin died on the 9th August 1981 in Blackbutt, at the age of 56, and was buried there. His wife Jean died on the 10th June 2008 in Blackbutt, Queensland, at the 261

age of 79.

Other pickings Thelma Jones was born around 1926 and married Alan Gileland. Thelma had a dry sense of humour but sadly the couple did not have any children. Thelma was in the same class at school with Neta Bottcher when they were both younger. William [Bill) Jones was born around 1928 and married a lady named Wilma. The marriage didn’t last as Bill was a heavy drinker. Daphne Jones was born in 1932 and later married Arnold [Arnie) Gileland. Arnie was the younger brother of Alan Gileland who had married Daphne’s older sister Thelma. Daphne was a character and had a good sense of humour. They had three children: Raymond, Gary and Sharon Gileland. Sharon died in 2016. Valma [Val] Jones was born in 1934 and married Kelvin Head. They had one son Kerry Head. Kerry was a woodchopper like his father and he still lives in Benarkin. In later years Val moved to Redcliffe and she was a good gardener. He garden would often win the local garden competitions. Val Jones died in 2018. Mervyn Arthur Jones was born in 1936 in Ipswich. He married a lady named Margaret. Mervyn Jones died on the 10th June 1981. Lorraine Jones was born around 1940 and later married Trevor Smith. Lorraine and Trevor had two children a boy and a girl. Lorraine was not someone you would want to cross, as she could ‘spit fire’. The Jones all close to each other in Benarkin. The sisters Daphne and Val lived next door to each other while their mother Mary lived in the house behind. Phoebe and John’s daughter Phoebe Jones married Thomson Andrew Lawrie Mason [Tom] Harper on the 28th May 1938. Tom Harper was born on the 15th May 1915 in Ipswich to Mary Andrew Lawrie Mason and James Harper. The couple had no children but later looked after Val Jones when her mother died. Phoebe had a series of strokes and died on the 13th February 1973 in Kilcoy, at the age of 55, and was buried in Blackbutt. Tom Harper died on the 13th August 1990 in Nanango, when he was 75 years old. John Jones died on the 28th May 1919 in Queensland when he was 39 years old. While Pheobe died on the 19 March 1945 when she was 63 years old.

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1882 – John Thomas Rossiter John Thomas Rossiter was born on the 5th October 1882 in Queensland the son of George Rossiter and Phoebe Susannah Penning. John was married three times, had two daughters and a step-son. John Thomas Rossiter married Elizabeth Susannah Lancaster in Ipswich on the 29th June 1904 when he was 21 years old. Elizabeth Lancaster was born on the 29th April 1884 in Ipswich. Elizabeth was the eldest of five girls to her parents Ellen Sarah Day and James Lancaster. John and Elizabeth’s only child Florence Elizabeth Rossiter was born on the 28th January 1905 in Ayr. Elizabeth died a couple of days later from complications in childbirth. She passed away on the 7th February 1905 and she was only 20 years old. When she was 17 years old, Florence married Robert Shipperley in 1922. Florence died in 1971 at the age of 66. A widower, John Rossiter later met and married Mary Macpherson Currie. They married in Ipswich on the 21st December 1910. John was 28 and Mary only 18 years old. Their daughter Margaret Templeton Rossiter was born in 1911. Mary died on the 9th June 1935 in Ipswich, she was 52 years old. Margaret died in 1957 in Queensland at the age of 46. Twice a widower and 56 years old John married a widow Jessie Wallace Wilkie on the 17th June 1939. Jessie Wilkie was born on the 19th May 1887 in Murphys Creek, Queensland, the only daughter of Jane Ballingall Younger and John Robert Wilkie. Jessie had married Alexander Lofts Ivett in Laidley on 11th July 1914 when she was 27 years old. Their son Robert John Wilkie Ivett was born on the 26th July 1915 in Booval. Jessie’s first husband Alex passed away on the 26th April 1934 in Ipswich, at the age of 47. They had been married for 19 years. John Rossiter died on the 9th September 1950 in Ipswich, at the age of 67. Jessie Rossiter died on the 1st December 1962 in Ipswich, she was 75 years old.

1884 – William Arthur Rossiter [Arthur] William Arthur [Arthur] Rossiter was born on the 9th July 1884 in Gatton, the third son of George Rossiter and Phoebe Susannah Penning. Arthur Rossiter married Margaret Shaw Currie on the 24th April 1907. He was 22 263

and she was 24 years old. Margaret Shaw Currie was born on the 10th December 1882 in South Brisbane.

Other pickings Their daughter Margaret Currie Rossiter was born on the 10th March 1908 in Ipswich. When she was 21 years old, Margaret Rossiter married David Black in Ipswich on the 16th November 1929. One of eleven children David Black was born on the 19th November 1905 in Brisbane. Margaret Black passed away on the 12th September 1982 in Brisbane, at the age of 74. They had been married for 52 years. David Black died a couple of years later on the 27th August 1985 in Brisbane. He was 79 years old. Arthur and Margaret’s son Dugald Rossiter was born on the 9th June 1914 in Ipswich. Dugald later married Edna Agnes McKay on the 27th March 1937. He was 22 and Edna was 18 years old. Edna McKay was born on Christmas Day, the 25th December 1918. Dugald Rossiter served in the Australian military during World War Two. His wife Edna passed away on the 7th April 1968 at the age of 49. They had been married for 31 years. Dugald Rossiter outlived his wife and passed away on the 28th May 1990. He was 75 years old. Arthur Rossiter’s wife Margaret passed away on the 27th September 1934 in Ipswich. Margaret was 51 and the couple had been married for 27 years. Six years later Arthur Rossiter married Charlotte Lowis in Ipswich on the 14th December 1940. Widower William was 56 years old and Charlotte, a widow, was 47 years old. Charlotte Lowis was born on the 13th February 1893 in Ipswich. She was the daughter of Eliza Crofs/Cross and John William Lowis. Charlotte had six brothers and four sisters, but of those four of her siblings did not survive past three months of age and one sister died aged four. Charlotte Lowis first married James Alexander Brown in Brisbane, on the 29th April 1922, when she was 29 years old. James Brown was born on the 22nd September 1889 in Ipswich. Her husband James passed away on the 30th September 1929 in Ipswich, at the age of 40. They had been married for only 7 years. Charlotte and James’ daughter Vivienne Isabel Brown was born on the 19th March 1923 in Ipswich. At the time Charlotte was 30 and James was 33. Vivienne Brown married Frank Lloyd Beale in Brisbane on 6th December 1950. Vivienne was 27 years old and her husband was 29. Frank Beale was born on the 26th May 1925 in Gayndah. Frank died on the 26th July 1982 in Surfers Paradise when he was 57 years old. Arthur Rossiter died on the 5th July 1949 in Ipswich. He was 64 years old.

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1886 – Andrew Rossiter Andrew Rossiter was born on the 14th April 1886, the youngest son of George Rossiter and Phoebe Susannah Penning. A year after he was born Andrew’s younger sister Evaline Eva was born in 1888. Eva would grow up to marry Charles Richard Scriven in 1904 when Andrew was only 17 years old. Andrew Rossiter married Edith Caroline Burrow in Brisbane on the 15th May 1915 He was 29 and she was 21 years old. Edith Burrow was born on the 21st January 1894. Edith was the eldest of six children to Clara Love and Ferdinand Wilhelm Johann Burrow. Andrew and Edith’s son John William Rossiter was born on the 28th December 1915 and their daughter Lilias Grace Rossiter was born two years later, on the 28th October 1917. Ten years later Andrew’s mother Phoebe passed away on the 18th April 1927 in Pine Mountain at the age of 68. His father George passed away when Andrew was 42. His father died on the 17th March 1938 in Ipswich. His father was 82. Andrew’s son John William passed away on the 12th October 1951 in Brisbane at the age of 35. Andrew Rossiter died on the 6th June 1956 in Redcliffe when he was 70 years old. Edith Rossiter died in 1974 in Brisbane. She was 80 years old.

1890 – Ada (Rossiter) Law Ada Rossiter was born on the 18th July 1890, the daughter of George Rossiter and Phoebe Susannah Penning. She married John Marsh Law on the 19th October 1910. They had four children: James, Thomas, Rachel and Elsie. James George Law was born on the 25th June 1911. James married Janet Frances Richards on the 3rd December 1938. He was 27 and Janet was 21 years old. Janet Richards was born on the 27th July 1917 in Ipswich. James passed away on the 17th April 1967 in Brisbane at the age of 55. They had been married for 28 years. Janet Law died on the 30th June 1978 in Ipswich. She was 60 years old. Ada and John’s second son Thomas Henry Law was born on the 30th December 1912. Thomas served in the Australian military during World War Two. It is not 265

know when he died.

Other pickings The couple’s daughter Rachel Law was born on the 8th August 1916. Rachel married Philip Albert William Eleison on the 14th December 1935. She was 19 years old. Philip was born on the 17th June 1912. He was son of Michael Henry Joesph Eleison and Lucy Rosina Shelton. Rachel and Philip’s son William John Eleison was born on the 25th June 1936. Their other son Alan Beresford Eleison was born on the 6th October 1938. Their son William passed away on the 19th November 1982 at the age of 46. Seven years later Rachel’s husband Philip passed away. He died on the on the 20th March 1989 in Brisbane at the age of 76. They had been married for 53 years. Rachel died on the 21st August 1994 in Ipswich. She was 78 years old and was buried at Warrill View Cemetery. Ada and John’s daughter Elsie Law was born on the 9th April 1920. She married Allan Bevley Horsfall on the 29th April 1955 in Brisbane. Elsie died on the 30th October 1987 in Maryborough at the age of 67, and was buried there. Ada’s husband John passed away at the age of 62 on the 12th October 1951. They had been married for 40 years. Ada died on the 2nd December 1966 in Ipswich. She was 76 years old.

1892 – Daisy May (Rossiter) Swanson Daisy May Rossiter was born on the 7th October 1892 , the daughter of George Rossiter and Phoebe Susannah Penning. Daisy May Rossiter married Victor Swanson in Ipswich on the 9th December 1907. She was 15 and Victor was 22 years old. Victor Swanson was born on the 18th September 1885 in Mt Crosby to Ann Emilie Louise Dohring and Wiktor [Victor] Swenson. Daisy and Victor had eight children: Percy, Doris, Gladys, Mabel, Thelma, Victor Jnr, George and Mervyn. Daisy and Victor’s son Percy Arthur Swanson was born on the 27th June 1908. He married Hilda Lappage on the 7th April 1928. Percy was 19 and Hilda was 20 years old. Hilda Lappage was born in October 1907 in Leicester, England to Ellen [Nelly] Foreman and George Lappage. The family emigrated to Australia arriving in Brisbane on the 18th October 1912. Percy and Hilda had one child, Raymond Percy Swanson who was born on the 9th November 1928. Percy died on the 14th April 1966 at the age of 57. Raymond Swanson passed away on the 8th July 1973, aged 44. Hilda Swanson died in 1980 in Oxley when she was 73 years old.

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Other pickings Daisy and Victor’s daughter Doris Irene Swanson was born on the 9th June 1910. Doris passed away five months later on the 10th October 1910. Daisy and Victor’s daughter Gladys May Swanson was born on the 6th September 1911. Gladys married Wilfred George [Wilf] Payne in Esk on the 29th October 1932, when she was 21 years old. Wilf Payne was born on the 10th April 1909 in Oakey to Annie Louisa Elizabeth Mallonn and George Payne. Their son Ivan John Payne was born on the 16th February 1950 in Ipswich. Gladys’ husband Wilf passed away on the 3rd August 1976 in Ipswich at the age of 67. The couple had been married for 43 years. Gladys Payne died on the 9th June 1988 in Ipswich. She was 76 years old. The couple’s second daughter Mabel Swanson was born on the 16th November 1913. She married Colin Alexander Greasley on the 15th September 1934. Colin Greasley was born on the 3rd May 1912 in Ipswich to Isabella McDougall and William Henry Greasley. Colin served in World War Two and was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal. Colin Greasley died on the 19th August 1988, he was 76 years old. Mabel Greasley died on the 19th October 2005 at the age of 91. Daisy and Victor’s third daughter Thelma Phoebe Swanson was born on the 19th April 1916. Thelma married Francis Thomas Frederick Kempthorne. Francis was born on the 25th July 1911 to Emily Louisa Wraight and Thomas Frederick Kempthorne. Francis Kempthorne passed away on the 17th April 1986, aged 74. Daisy and Victor’s son Victor Junior Swanson was born on the 3rd May 1918. Victor also served in the Australian military during World War Two. Their daughter Trudy Mason Swanson was born in 1943 and passed away that same day. Victor Swanson married Mavis Irene Walker on 30 July 1949 when he was 31. Mavis Walker was born on the 3rd October 1920 in Ipswich to Isabella Nunn and William James Walker. Mavis was married in Ipswich on the 7th March 1942 when she was 21 years old. Her first husband possibly died during the war for in 1949 Mavis married Victor on the 30th July 1949. Mavis was 28 years old and Victor was 31. Victor died on the 19th May 1973 at the age of 55. Mavis Swanson died on the 15th October 1986 in Ipswich. She was 66 years old. The couple’s son George Swanson was born at Mount Crosby on the 3rd June 1920. He was the second youngest of seven children, with three brothers and four sisters. George married Marjorie Evon [Evon] Robinson on the 6th June 1942. During his school years, the family lived at Tivoli Hill, and George walked barefoot 267

the three miles (5 kilometres) to school in North Ipswich. He also recollects bringing

Other pickings the cows in before school in the cold - again in his bare feet. He and his school mates were known as the ‘Sewer Rats’ as they loved playing in the sewer pipes. He enjoyed school and in particular enjoyed writing in copperplate and entered local competitions for his handwriting. His father worked at the Mount Crosby Water pumping station; however, Victor died of peritonitis when George was only 10 years old. Times were hard following his father’s death, and the family went onto State Aid. As each child was old enough, they all went to work. When George was 14, he went to work at the London Pharmacy. Around this time he took the Railways exams and started his Coppersmith apprenticeship with the Railway before reaching 15. George spent a total of 49 years in the Railways. The first 22 years at Ipswich and then a further 27 years at the new Redbank Workshops. During World War Two, George served part-time in the Militia in the 7th Lighthorse. He could not join the permanent forces due to his work in the Railway which was a considered reserved occupation. George met Evon Robinson at the Military Ball at the Ipswich Showgrounds. They married on 6th June 1942, when he was 22 and Evon was 20. Geoffrey George Swanson, their only son, was born in 1948. They moved in with Evon’s parents after their marriage and lived at East Ipswich until George retired from the Railway in 1984. The couple then moved to Bribie Island. George’s involvement in sport continued throughout his life. He was a competitive swimmer and played Rugby League at school and also after he left school. His football playing ended when he hurt both knees. He became a member of the Currumbin Surf Lifesavers when he was 17. In 1942 there was no clubhouse, and they used a tent instead. He recalled spending many weeks repairing the club boat only to have it swamped and damaged again the first time they took it out. Hockey was the next sport to take George’s interest, and he played in the left half or centre position. He played representative hockey for Ipswich for 16 years, until he broke his ankle. Golf followed, and George was a Life Member of Sandy Gallop Golf Club. He was active in the club and coached the juniors to play. His best handicap was scratch, and he also experienced three hole-in-ones during his playing years. George Swanson joined United Services Bowls Club in the early 1980s and then continued with the sport when he and Evon moved to Bribie Island. He was a Life Member of Bribie Island Bowls Club and spent 17 years on the club Council, Committees and the Board.

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Other pickings George and Evon had a severe car accident in 2001 when both nearly lost their lives. They had driven to Brisbane to see their first great grandson and were returning to the island when another vehicle pulled out in front of them not far from home. It took some months for them to recover, and it left them both with some health problems. In October 2006, Evon died, five months before her devoted husband George. After more than 64 years of marriage, George adjusted to life without Evon but missed her dearly. When the family were making the arrangements for Evon’s funeral, the words he chose to put on the card with the flowers were “will join you later”.George died on the 16th April 2007 in Bribie, Queensland, at the age of 86. Their youngest son Mervyn Swanson was born in 1925. He lost his father when he was only 7 years old. He was the last of eight children. He had three older brothers and four older sisters. Daisy Swanson’s husband, Victor, passed away on the 19th June 1932 in Ipswich at 46. They had been married for 24 years. Daisy Swanson died in 1959. She was 67 years old.

1895 – Gertrude (Rossiter) Watkins [Gertie] Gertrude Rossiter [Gertie) was born on the 1st April 1895, the youngest daughter of George Rossiter and Phoebe Susannah Penning. Gertie married Richard Henry Watkins on the 18th December 1913. She was 18 and Richard was 37 years old They had one child during their marriage. Richard Watkins was one of eight children to Catherine Kendrick and Enoch Herbert Watkins. Richard was born on the 8th September 1876 in Dalby. Gertie and Richard’s son Colin Herbert Watkins was born on the 3rd May 1916. Colin married Lily Mary Daly. Lily was born on the 8th April 1916 in Ipswich to Annie Dily and a Mr Daly. Colin died in 1991 in Capalaba when he was 75 years old. Lily died on the 24th March 2000 in Brisbane. She was 83 years old. Richard Watkins died on the 8th July 1957, he was 80 years old. Gertie died on the 17th September 1966, she was 71.

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1958 – Sundaramurty Vernon [Vern) Nathan (Peter Scriven’s partner)

Vern was born on the 6th January 1958 in Sungai Petani in the state of Kedah in Malaysia. Kedah is situated across the straight from the island of Penang. Vern shares his birthday with his mother. The second child of Yasodha Govidaraj Pillai and Suriyamurthy Ramasamy Sundaramurthy Pillay, Vern has an older sister Nayagi [Usha) and a younger brother Dr Saravanan [Varnan). Vern’s father was born in Nagapattinam, Tamil Nadu, India. Vern’s mum, Yasodha, was born on the 6th January 1934 in Nagapattinam, India. She was the only daughter of Govindammal and Govindaraj Pillay. In 1930s Vern’s grandfather Govindaraj owned a soap company called ‘Lily soaps’. Vern’s father Sundaramurthy passed away in 1999 in Sungai Petani, Kedah, Malaysia. Vern went to school in Malaysia, India and New Zealand. He completed his senior secondary schooling at Don Bosco Matriculation School in Chennai. This prestigious school is known for its excellence and as the wealthiest private school in India. His father wanted Vern to study in India to understand his Indian cultural heritage, learn to speak the language and understand spirituality. While at school in India Vern lived with his grandmother. She taught him the Indian culture, family roots, and Tamil language and introduced him to his cousins. During his holidays, he visited his family in the village and on the farm. Initially a geographic designation used for the people who lived beyond the Sindh river that flows through present Pakistan. When the British came to India they coined the word ‘Hinduism’ to designate a particular religion encompassing a vast range of practices and beliefs, without any founder or centralised organisation. Hinduism has a history of expressing multiple perspectives on the nature of divinity or ultimate reality: monotheism, polytheism, monism and even henotheism (believing in one God without denying the existence of others). It is a rich and diverse tradition where it is difficult to find one specific set of beliefs or practices applicable to all Hindus. At the same time, these diverse views are seen as complementary rather than contradictory. Hinduism refers to the diverse religious and cultural traditions stemming from the Vedas, India’s ancient Sanskrit writings, with beliefs in universal and everlasting truths. Hinduism has no clearly definable beginning, it has no single founder and no common set of beliefs or practices. Julius Lipner suggests that Hinduism is like a giant banyan tree, which sends out aerial roots that appear to be individual

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Other pickings tree trunks even though they are part of the same tree. In the same way, different contradictory aspects of Hinduism have an underlying unity amidst the diversity. Nevertheless, many philosophical concepts are widely accepted and are usually passed down by spiritual teachers (gurus) appearing in disciplic succession. Practically all Hindus believe in the doctrine of reincarnation, whereby the eternal soul (atman) transmigrates through different species, passing from one body to another. According to a principle of action and reaction, this operates according to ‘the law of karma’. The aim of human life is liberation from the cycle of birth and death through the union with the Supreme (Brahman). It is in dealing with the Supreme that Hinduism demonstrates considerable diversity. Despite the acceptance of many higher beings, most Hindus believe that God is one, an all-pervading world soul. The Supreme, however conceived, can be worshiped in various forms. Puja (worship) regularly takes place at home as well as in the temple. Home-life and family structures are valued, yet a striking feature of Hinduism is its emphasis on celibacy and renunciation, especially in later life. Vern’s very spiritual grandmother, would take Vern with her to visit Hindu temples, Christian churches and monasteries, Sufi muslim mosques and dargahs. They met monks, sadhus, sages, Siddhas, Sufi, swamis and godheads. Vern learnt to meditate when he was just 7 years old. Vern graduated from Don Bosco School in Chennai with first-class honours. He used to paint at school and has won several competitions. He wanted to study art at university, but his father said this wouldn’t lead to a financially viable career. Vern returned to New Zealand to complete his Bachelor of Accounting and Finance with a first-class Honours and a Masters in Business Administration (MBA) at Massey University in Palmerston North. While still studying at university, Vern’s parents arranged his marriage to Jayalakshmi [Jay], the only daughter of Malaysia’s wealthiest spice merchants. Jay has six brothers who were also successful businessmen. Jay was born in Malaysia in 1959. After they were married the couple settled in Wellington, New Zealand. Their daughter Abirami Sunthari [Abby] Nathan was born on the 23rd August 1982, and their son Dev Vishnu Nathan was born on the 4th October 1986. The couple later divorced. 271

Vern worked in various organisations. His first job was as Company Secretary for a Cooperative Society in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. He reported directly to the

Other pickings chairman who was also the Minister of Works. He moved back to New Zealand and worked for the New Zealand Ministry of Energy as Manager of Geothermal Projects. While most of the lands were owned by the Crown, they couldn’t be developed because of Maori land caveats. Vern was trained on the Maori culture and the Maori language and was involved in many Maori land negotiations between the Crown and the Treaty of Waitangi. Vern represented the Crown in many indigenous international meetings. Later, he was headhunted by New Zealand Customs to work as their Manager Sales and Marketing for the Information Technology division. NZ Customs were then leading the world in Electronic Data Technology (EDI). The technology was a multi-million-dollar spend for the government. Vern rewrote the import/export compliance policy and made technology an alternative way of customs goods clearance. He introduced a new user-pay price regime which was very successful. The government recovered all the technology costs. While working with Customs, Vern travelled the world attending various meetings. In 1994, Australian Customs offered him a role in Australia, and he migrated to Sydney. When he arrived in Australia and after spending a year in Canberra, he changed his mind. He decided to work for the NSW Department of Education as the Manager of Business Resources and Sales. He was part of the team which built the commercial arm of NSW TAFE Commission. He later worked for NSW Family and Community Services as Manager Strategic Contracts and Negotiations. Vern was very successful in developing the shared services model and combining the corporate services of the Department of Housing, Department of Disabilities & Homecare and Department of Community Services together. He now works for NSW Transport as Manager Strategic Procurement with Sydney Trains. He continues to work in the areas of contract negotiation, governance, procurement and mediation. As well as his work Vern holds a diploma in Siddha medicine, and is a qualified Siddha Practitioner. Siddha medicine, traditional system of healing that originated in South India and is considered to be one of India’s oldest systems of medicine. The Siddha system is based on a combination of ancient medicinal practices and spiritual disciplines as well as alchemy and mysticism. Siddha has aspects which are similar to Ayurveda, yoga and Chinese medicine. Originally known as Tamil Ayurveda, Siddha’s concepts mirror those in Ayurveda like the three doshas, sapta dhatu, tri malas and pancha mahabhoota (five elements). Vern’s is a descendant of a Vaishnava Yadava family which has an lineage to the Hindu God, Lord Krishna. Vern’s grandparents Amirthvalli and Ramasamy

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Other pickings emigrated from Nagapattinam, Tamil Nadu, India to New Zealand. Then later to Malaysia. Usha was born on the 14th March 1954 and married Mohan Rangan. Many years later Mohan died in 2010 in Varanasi, India. The couple had no children. Vern’s brother Varnan was born in 1972 and is a doctor and a businessman. He currently lives in Malaysia and is married with three children. Yasodha’s mother passed away in 1982, and now Yasodha lives with her daughter in Klang, Malaysia. Vern and his mum Yasodha share the same birthday. The 6th January is also the birthday day of Joan of Arc and the day of the Epiphany. Vern and his mother are both spiritual mediums, clairvoyants and psychics. They both have a strong knowledge and practice of Vedic numerology. Vern met Peter in 2008, and since then the relationship has blossomed and grown. Vern has recently started to paint again. Vern’s daughter Abby is now a lawyer for the NSW government. At the same time, his son Dev graduated as an IT engineer and now works for an International Company as a Senior IT Program Manager. Vern is planning to retire soon and further develop his spiritual practice.

1968 – Thierry Balzer [Terry] (Michelle Scriven’s second husband)

Terry Balzer was the only surviving son of Robert and Ginette Balzer. He was born on the 10th February 1968 in France, in the Moselle region near the German border. He had two sisters Natalie and Angel. He married twice; first in 1978 however the couple later divorced and Terry then married Michelle Scriven on Woorim Beach, Bribie Island on the 20th October 2014. He died in Brisbane on the 25th July 2018. Terry embodied all the positive characteristics of a true Aussie. He was hardworking, honest, warm-hearted and fun. Fond of a joke and very slow to anger. He also had an inquisitive and logical mind. He liked to know how things worked and could fix just about anything. He was a perfectionist and always willing to lend a hand. He couldn’t sit still for long, and the word rest was not in his vocabulary. Although, like all of us, he also had his failings. He had an irrational fear of hospitals and doctors, he was single-focused when working, and unfortunately, very stubborn. He was a true Australian, and like so many Australians, he wasn’t born here. He arrived in Australia with his family from France in the mid-1970s. His parents moved 273

their young family to Australia for a better life. Terry was five years old at the time, his sister Natalie just four. It would be another 10 years before his youngest sister

Other pickings Angel was born. Terry had an older brother, but he died at only a few months of age. French by birth Terry became an Australian citizen in 2013. The first impression the Balzar family had of their new home was not the cultural or language differences but of a city inundated by a giant inland sea. They flew into Brisbane at the height of the 1974 floods, the worst in a century. The Balzer family moved first to Hervey Bay, near Maryborough, where his father worked as a boilermaker. Australia was a world away from Terry’s memories of France - playing in the snow with his Tonka trucks in front of their house. It was in Hervey Bay that Terry spent his formative years. A boisterous primary school kid, he had many little mates. They would ride their bikes, go on adventures to the beach and fish. He loved fishing. His father was a big, robust man who was very disciplined. Nearly every day, after Robert had finished work, the pair of them would go fishing. Whether fishing from the beach or the rocks they’d always come home with a good catch. His father had an old, wrecked Valiant in the backyard which he was restoring. Terry loved playing in it, practicing to drive. His father was always welding and fixing things, Terry ever by his side - watching, learning and helping. His father taught him the art of welding, with precision, because it had to be perfect or you did it again. His father also passed on the value of hard work. The family moved many times following his father’s work. Terry and his sister went to a series of different schools before his parents finally settled in Ipswich when Terry was 13. His father then worked for the next ten years as a boilermaker at the Ipswich Railway Workshops, later moving to the James Hardie company. Terry idolised his dad, who was always fit and active. When Terry was just 20, his father was diagnosed with Lymphatic Cancer and died soon after at the age of 48. Terry took his father’s death very hard. From this time arose his unreasonable fear of doctors and hospitals. Terry finished his schooling, years 9 and 10, at Ipswich State High School in Brassall. Michelle knew of Terry at high school, she remembers him being in the school’s army cadets. He was following in his father’s footsteps as his father was an ex-French army man. Michelle first really took a shine to Terry when he was the Friday night DJ at Bundamba SkateAway. Terry loved loud music. He also worked behind the counter hiring and repairing the skates. He organised skating games like the duck race and Tiggy. A fast skater, Terry was hard to catch. On Halloween evenings he

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Other pickings would dress up as a monster and drop from the ceiling to scare the skaters. A 15-year-old Michelle had a massive crush on him. She requested songs to play as an excuse to talk to him. But at that stage, he was not so interested in girls. Terry didn’t remember any of this when their paths finally crossed over a wombat 25 years later. Before then, each of them would go their separate ways. After leaving school, Terry had several jobs, including fixing old space invader and pinball machines. He obtained an apprenticeship as a plasterer for TP Turner. Terry was extremely good at his job, his qualities of perfectionism coming to the fore. He was very proficient at corbelled, ornate and detailed plasterwork. He worked on numerous buildings in Ipswich, including the Ipswich Hospital, the old Court House and Cottrell House. Many are still adorned with his handiwork. After finishing his apprenticeship, he started working for Zac. Something of a mentor and a father figure to Terry, they were a formidable plastering team. He loved rising early, and the work suited him. He was fit and active, which helped as plastering is very physical. He worked with Zac for nearly 20 years. While in his 20s Terry became skilled in the martial art of Taekwondo. Over time he achieved three black belts in the sport. In the late 1990s, there was a slump in the plastering industry. Terry took up a role with Nationwide repairing shipping containers. His father’s training in welding finally coming to the fore. Sometimes the work needed to be undertaken onboard ships while they were in port. Many of these jobs were deep in the bowels of the vessel. Often in narrow, cramped spaces where only one person could work at a time. The conditions were hot and extremely uncomfortable. The repairs also had to be completed quickly before the ship was scheduled to leave port. The heat generated by the welding equipment in the confined metal spaces was extreme. Terry would often need to make several trips to the upper decks for fresh air and to cool down. Terry really enjoyed the challenge of repairing and modifying containers. From Nationwide he moved to work with Joe at ACU, who had a small hire and repair company. With Terry’s ideas and Joe’s business experience, they grew ACU into a significant business. They won many contracts to build portable campsites for use in remote areas by the gas and mining industry. The units were all constructed from modified shipping containers. It was in this job, as Production Manager, that Terry excelled. Terry was genuinely hands-on throughout the process - producing concept designs and managing construction to create the finished product. 275

He modified containers to deliver practical solutions for a range of portable

Other pickings products, from house power generators, kitchens, dining areas, sleeping quarters, bathrooms, laboratories and even swimming pools. Terry was highly skilled at solving all the logistical as well as structural issues that arose. He trained some apprentices but was very hands-on, and always, enjoyed picking up the tools. When ACU ceased operating, Terry established his own container modification business. As things went, there was not a lot of work around at the time, so Terry returned to plastering. He was a devoted husband, son, brother, father as well as grandfather. Terry was Pa to his grand-children: Breeanna, Brayden-Jay, Tavianah, Mason, Zade and Scarlett. At the age of nineteen, Terry found out he was to be a father. To his surprise, his own father insisted that Terry marry, as he said, “You don’t bring a child into the world out of wedlock.” Terry fathered two beautiful daughters, Zoe-Jayne Violet and Chantel Louise Balzer. Unfortunately, his marriage to their mother didn’t last. Terry did the best job he could to be a father to his girls. He worked day and night, often travelling across the state, to make sure they had everything they needed. A few months before Chantel was born, Terry went to work in Charleville with the flood relief team. He had to contend with mud and malaria but continually sent money home to help support his daughters. From a very early age, the girls were raised by his ex-wife’s parents Gemmy and Pete, who nurtured them into beautiful, young women. Terry visited his daughters whenever he was able. His daughters were two of the greatest joys in his life, he loved them dearly. The other great love of his life was Michelle. Terry had a romantic side, and he always gave Michelle a dozen long-stemmed red roses for her birthday, Valentine’s Day or Mother’s Day. On the Easter long weekend of 2008, Terry and Michelle finally met over that wombat. He was one of the animals in the small zoo in Queens Park in Ipswich. They had independently both gone there by chance, but from that moment on their love blossomed. Terry put Michelle on a pedestal. They were soulmates, and Terry loved Michelle deeply. They had a pet saying with Terry saying, “I love you”. Michelle responding with, “I love you more”. Then Terry retorting with, “I loved you first.” Terry accepted Michelle’s two teenage children, Jayden and Rhiannon Bell, as his own, taking them under his wing. He helped Jayden buy his first car, an old Datsun Ute. The pair of them completely stripped, rebuilt and repainted it to get on the road. Like any dutiful father Terry also attended all the kid’s dances, concerts

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Other pickings and school events. Terry and Michelle both worked hard during the week, but weekends were always ‘their time’. Saturdays were spent making sure the car was spotless, the chores done and the garden tended. Sundays were rest days, often with long drives to anywhere the road or the beach would take them. Picture – picnics, lunches with the family, Terry fishing and Michelle sunbaking - making this the most important day of the week. Jayden loved helping Terry with his projects. Together they built a pergola roof over the courtyard at the Karalee house. While Terry and Michelle painted and renovated the house before selling it. They had decided to start a new life together and moved to Bribie Island in April 2009. They made their home in Bongaree with Michelle’s children. The family had decided to move to Bribie as they regularly came here, to camp on the beach or lay under the stars. Terry and Michelle both wanted to start a new life as a complete family, with their four children. They tried to make a home, all one big, happy family. It didn’t quite work out that way. Jayden and Rhiannon were still teenagers, and Terry tried to see his girls as much he could, but they were busy doing their own thing like all young adults. Jayden and Rhiannon both left home soon after. Terry made many friends throughout his life. One of his best mates was Jayden. Always saying he was surrounded by women, Jayden was the son Terry always wanted. The pair would often disappear into the man cave, another modified shipping container, working on a project together. Terry enjoyed passing on some of the skills, values and advice that he’d been given by his own father. A year after they moved to Bribie, in February 2010, Terry proposed to Michelle. They married four years later in September 2014. That very romantic affair was held beneath a gossamer canopy on the sands of Woorim Beach on Bribie Island. His daughter Chantel was the bridesmaid and his step-son Jayden was best man. An old Valiant even had a role on the day as the bridal car. Their wedding reception was held at the Woorim Surf Club, by the vast, open ocean that Terry loved. His sisters said they had never seen him so happy as on that day. Terry and Michelle promised each other that together they have four children and that they would look after all of them, no matter what happened. 277

Over the years, time spent with any of their children and grand-children was cherished. Chantel had grown closer to Terry over the years. They developed a

Other pickings strong connection. Chantel enjoyed spending time hanging out with Terry and Michelle. She regularly went with them on their Sunday drives. When Chantel married Wayne, Terry said the day he gave her away was one of the proudest moments of his life. Throughout her pregnancy, Chantel and Michelle grew even closer. Over the years, Chantel and Michelle had become best friends. They were there for each other for the magic moments, like when Scarlett was born, and the tough times during Terry’s last days. Terry had other loves in his life included his dogs and his cars. He had various dogs over the years – Lady-boy, Jenny, Phoebe, Tinkerbell, Missy and Cindy. All of them led pampered lives. Michelle had to share their bedroom, and sometimes the bed, with an assortment of furry children. He lovingly maintained his cars - old ones like his treasured 1977 Valiant Regal, his Jeep, his work Ute or his latest pride and joy. All were immaculately maintained. His first car was an HR Holden which he bought with his hard-earned savings. He found it in a paddock somewhere in the country. With his father’s help, they got it back on the road. Terry proudly drove it around with a Garfield toy half hanging out of the boot. Terry wasn’t big on beer as a young man, but he loved copious cups of strong, black, unsweetened coffee. He always left the last inch of coffee in the cup. When asked why, he said, “By the time I drink down to there, it is cold and bitter, so I leave it.” He just couldn’t sit still long enough to finish a coffee while it was hot. Terry had a wonderful sense of humour which stood him in good stead, especially when he became sick. It never really left him. He loved comedy movies, especially English ones – Jerry Lewis and Mr Bean were his heroes. At times he would laugh so hard he would be in tears. Terry only lived a short 50 years, though the last twelve months were the toughest for him and Michelle. Throughout his career, Terry was accidentally electrocuted on at least three separate occasions. He always refused to see a doctor. By sheer will, he was soon back on his feet with a smile. In October 2017, while plastering, Terry missed the last rung of a ladder and jiggered his knee. He wouldn’t rest. His knees swelled, first one, then the other, and the swelling kept spreading. Michelle forced Terry to the doctor. Their GP realised there was an issue and quickly raced him to Prince Charles Hospital in an ambulance. He almost died on the way. It seems his heart was only working at 10% of capacity, and his doctors were amazed that he had been doing what

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Other pickings he had. Triple by-pass surgery followed. When that didn’t resolve the problem, he was then back in surgery being fitted with two VADs (Ventricular Assist Devices) in his heart. They were connected to external controller batteries, that kept his heart pumping. He was able to live life to degrees. He was then put on the heart transplant list. Terry was not one to give up easily. Whatever was asked of him, he gave more than 100%. Throughout his last year, Terry and Michelle were never alone. He had his loving family beside him every step of the way, and the doctors and nurses at Prince Charles were his hospital family. He was given a new heart in February 2018, grateful, but upset that someone had to die to provide him with this gift. Before he went to surgery, he confided in Michelle that he a bad feeling about the transplant. After the operation, he was kept in a coma for 21 days to allow the heart to take up its role. He had his 50th birthday while in a coma. Coming out of the coma-haze, with tubes in his throat and unable to move or communicate, he said later that it was one of the scariest moments of his life. He had to re-learn to walk and talk. Michelle and Chantel both noted that in many ways, they lost him back then, as he was never the same Terry after the transplant. Terry was always up for a challenge. He was a fighter and tried to recover for his family. He cheated death on more than one occasion. In the end, he was worn down by the process, and Terry just didn’t have the strength left to survive the final infection that took his life. It was a journey, where both he and Michelle always felt included. She remembers heading back to ICU after Terry’s by-pass operation, with ten other staff around him. Again, in ICU, with twenty people working on him, Dr Mark Terrthe head of ICU, grabbed Michelle and sat her in a chair beside Terry’s bed. He placed her hand on his chest and said to her, “This is where you need to be.” Watching everything, and trying not to look, as the team worked to keep Terry alive. Michelle said it was hard, but never once did she feel excluded or shut out. It was a journey that they both shared. All the staff at Prince Charles, the transplant team and ICU departments treated Terry with tenderness, compassion, professionalism and love. They became part of the couple’s excellent support network. From the doctors to the nurse and support staff, they all made Terry comfortable and upbeat during those last tough 279

days.

Other pickings Terry’s mother Ginette is now in a nursing home and fortunately has no real connection to the present or the past, nor her son’s last days. Which is in some way was a relative blessing. Terry Balzer, had a heart transplant in February 2018 but succumbed to an infection and died 25th July 2018. His memorial service was held on the 10th August 2008. Most of his ashes were later spread on the vast blue sea that he loved so much.

1| Phoebe Penning and George Rossiter in a studio portrait, couple were married for almost 50 years. Phoebe passed away in 1927 so this photograph was taken sometrime before then.

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The full story

The full story – articles and references:

1 Chippenham, Neptune 1790 2 John Best 3 John Gray Transcript from the Report of the Assize held in Nottingham on14th March 1793, taken from the ‘Nottingham Journal’ of Saturday 16th March 1793, “John Gray found guilty of feloniously receiving a quantity of goods, the property of Mr Samuel Doubleday in the Marketplace, knowing the same to be feloniously stolen was made a Capital Offence for which he received a Sentence of Death. Ann Gray wife of the said John Gray and James Price charged as his accomplices were acquitted.” 4 John Gray – The Sydney Gazette, 4th September 1818 “Yesterday morning the body of John Gray, who was assistant of the Clerk of the Market, was drowned in Mr Fieldgates well. He was much respected as an old inhabitant of the Colony and has left behind a wife and seven children to lament his premature destiny”. lizabeth (Gray) Killett of the Parish of Bradwell in Suffolk England, a single women in the 5 E dwelling of John Crow on the 27th day of April, did steal and take and carry away seven Norfolk General banknotes and three £5 notes. 6 Elizabeth (Gray) Killett – The Sydney Morning Herald, September 1820. “TO BE SOLD by PRIVATE CONTRACT, all that valuable Piece of Ground with the Buildings erected therein, situate and being no 62 George Street, Sydney, the present Residence of Elizabeth Gray. The situation of these premises are well known, being contiguous to the Market Place, and in the Public Street and Possessing the Advantage of a Licence. NB – Should the above Premises not be disposed of by the 6th October next, they will be put up and sold by Public Auction. Application to be made on the premises, or to Mr Freeman, George Street.”

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The full story 7 Richard Lovell Session 1087: Policeman Joseph Lewis gave evidence that, “On the 28th of March, about two o’clock in the morning, I heard a noise at the back of Providence Place, Bethnal Green. I got over a wall at the back of Chamberlain’s house, and found a cap with eight eggs in it. I looked into the privy, and found the two prisoners there with a live tame rabbit and two fowls in a bag; I took them to the station. Chamberlain saw the property next morning, and claimed it.” Mr Thomas Chamberlain, of No. 8, Providence Place stated, “I know nothing of the prisoners. I lost this property from my premises on the 28th of March, and found them at the station-house, with this rabbit and fowls, which are mine – the cap belongs to the premises; the hen was setting on nine eggs.” 8 Richard Lovell Edward Moss, senior, examined. “About this time last year, in winter, he had dealings with prisoner, whom he never saw before. He exchanged horses with him, and was to receive £5, or £3 and a saddle, but had never received the difference. The horse he gave the prisoner was black; he could tell it by its nose; he could not tell brands, as he could not read. The Chief Constable at Warwick took the chestnut horse from him, and put Butler in the lockup. He was nine years in the colony. He thought the horse was all right although he did not know the prisoner. His Honour commented upon the indiscretion of witness dealing with a perfect stranger. Edward Moss, junior, corroborated the evidence of his father, the previous witness. The jury, without leaving the box, found the prisoner guilty, and he was remanded for sentence. 9 Richard Lovell – The Moreton Bay Courier, 15th April 1851

TO LET – The Prince Of Wales Hotel, Ipswich. It is useless to descant upon the merits of the above well-known Hostelry, it being now thoroughly established as a first-rate Hotel, but in consequence of the present Occupant being about to enter into a new line of business, he will have no objection to Sub-let it for the remaining term of the lease, and dispose of the stock-in-trade (which is of a most superior description, and procured from the best importing Houses in Sydney) as also the furniture, which was but lately purchased and is of the best quality. For further particulars apply to the undersigned, on the premises. Richard Lovell, Ipswich 8th October 1851.”

10 Richard Lovell – The Moreton Bay Courier Saturday, 29th November 1851

Sale By Auction. Freehold property in the township of Ipswich. A.E. Campbell has been instructed by the Proprietor, Mr Richard Lovell to dispose by Auction on Monday 8th December, immediately after the Sale of Mr Ensor’s Premises, an allotment of Land adjoining, being situated at the Corner of Brisbane and Ellenborough Streets, upon which is erected a Commodious Shop and Out Offices. The excellent situation of this allotment and its immense frontage constitute it one of the most desirable purchases a speculator can invest in Terms at Sale.”

11 Richard Lovell – The Northern Australian, Ipswich General Advertiser, 9th June 1857

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Richard Lovell advertises to: “SELL BY PUBLIC AUCTION, at the Queens Arms Hotel, On Friday, the 12th June, immediately previous to the meeting of the Stewards; all that Splendid Block of Land, being Allotment No. 1 of Section No. 8, nearly opposite Mr Sullivan’s Hotel, and containing by an admeasurement about 16 Perches, more or less, having a large frontage to Brisbane and Ellenborough Streets, together with the buildings erected thereon, viz., Substantial and snug Cottage, of Three rooms, with back premises, now occupied by Mr, George Dowden, Cabinet Maker, all of which are securely fenced-in. The Auctioneers, in calling the attention of the public to the sale of this property, deem it unnecessary to enter into any lengthened details. Seldom indeed has a more valuable Allotment been submitted

The full story to Capitalists in this Town, situated as it is, in the most central part of the Township, and from its commanding position, renders it a most profitable investment. Intending purchasers are respectfully invited to inspect the property before the day of sale. Title unexceptionable. Terms liberal.” 12 Richard Lovell – The Northern Australian, Ipswich General Advertiser

Tuesday, 1st March 1859 listed: “DEATH. On the 24th ultimo [of last month], Richard Edward Lovell, carrier, of Ellenborough Street, aged 40 years, leaving a widow with four children, deeply regretted by all who knew him.”

13 Richard Lovell A public notice in The North Australian, Ipswich and General Advertiser of Tuesday, 8th March 1859 reads, “The public are hereby cautioned not to interfere with any Bullocks or Cattle branded R L.s the property of Richard Lovell, deceased. Any person found working any of the above; after this notice will be prosecuted. Hannah Lovell and John McIntyre, Executors of the Estate.” 14 Hannah Lovell – The Moreton Bay Courier of Saturday 12th November 1859. “Jane Thorpe was charged with stealing a bundle of clothes from James Pascoe. The evidence taken in this case showed that Hannah Lovell had found a bundle of clothes under the bridge leading to the Catholic Chapel. [Hannah] took them to Mrs Thorpe’s, where they were examined, and they were afterwards taken and put back again. Some articles had inadvertently been left out, and these were afterwards found in the house.” 15 Sarah Ann Scriven – The Queensland Times, Saturday 24th July 1926

Mrs William Scriven. Early Ipswich Memories. Aboriginals’ corroborees. The span linking painted black legs and debbil-debbil dances with fox trots and Jazz Stockings has been bridged in the years covered by the life of Mrs Sarah Ann Scriven, of Birdwood Lane North Ipswich. When Mrs Scriven was still very young both her parents died, and she went to live with her grandparents, Mr and Mrs John McIntyre of McAlister’s Pocket. Ipswich then had only a score or two of houses and shops. St Paul’s Church of England, one of the principal buildings, was a tiny bush township chapel near the site of the present church. On the other side of Nicholas Street, opposite to the church, was the Anglican school, a rough slab structure, low-roofed, and with small windows. A small wooden shop not far away was first store of Messrs Cribb and Foote. The magic lantern had not then become the cinematograph, but the youngsters of Limestone, as Ipswich was at first called, had a far more exciting source of entertainment, and cheaper. They dangled their legs from a fence that stood beside the grounds on which the railway workshops stand, and the more venturesome crept closer and looked between the trees around the blacks’ corroboree ground. Here wild warriors and weird sorcerers enacted for them scenes beyond the imagination of Wild West producers. No red Indian story on the picture screen could be half so thrilling as the make believe warfare of real warriors played in short trousers, or less and grossly painted black skins. Mrs Scriven and her schoolmates watched many weird gatherings of the natives, and remembers today the eerie summons to corroborees, sounded, on queerly carved bull-roarers whirled in the air on strings of bark and native hemp, and the rhythmic beating of wooden drums. Often they heard the solemn droning chant of the old man and lubras, squatting in a circle within which the medicine men and the young bloods of the tribe commenced their slow rhythmic antics. The youngsters’ positions on the fence often became perilous because of the difficulty of balancing and laughing at the same time, as the actors’ movements grew more and more ludicrous. They watched the dancing grow faster

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The full story and fiercer and saw the warriors ominously brandishing spears and shields, and heard the louder war drum join in the wild music, and the lubras’ chanting becoming wilder and lees monotonous. At this stage, the more timid of the children retired a little, into the bush, but the bolder spirits stayed for the bigger thrills of the frenzied dancing, the shrieking and the blood-curdling antics of the painted warriors, and the fanatical incantations of the medicine men. Despite all their corroboree displays of the savagery of earlier days, when white folk were rarer, the blacks of the Ipswich district were then a friendly tribe, fast degenerating and dying out as the result of their contact with the whites and their adoption of’ the evils of the invading civilization. Although the ‘thrills’ were far greater, the youngsters were as safe from bodily harm as in a Charlie Chaplin matinee today. There were hundreds of native blacks in the district then, and Mrs Scriven remembers wurlies scattered thickly through the bush where the Ipswich boys Grammar School has been built, and in several other areas around the town, most of them now densely populated. On particularly ‘auspicious occasions’ in the blackfellow world, big convocations would be held on the corroboree ground, and chiefs and warriors of many tribes would join in ‘big fellow corroborees’, weirder and wilder than any of the ceremonies of the single native tribe. In those days, the ‘King’ and the ‘Queen’ of the local blacks carried out their part of host and hostess right royally. On strings around their black necks were hung brass medals, brightly polished, the white men’s recognition of their royalty. The bare black chests on which the Crown Jewels were thus displayed were greatly puffed out with pride on such ceremonial occasions. Mrs Scriven remembers having crossed the river in a boat from Woodend Pocket to see the turning of the first sod of Queensland’s first railway, near the site of the Railway Hotel, North Ipswich. “The line then ran from Ipswich to Bigge’s Camp (now Grandchester)”. The opening of the railway and the first workshops commenced the growth of the town from a purely farming centre. The ferry that served as a river crossing before the building of a bridge is another object of her reminiscences. She remembers very clearly the chief incident of the year of her marriage to Mr William [Henry] Scriven, 1874. The wedding was on August 12. About three months later, the ‘Porteus Riot’ climax of a religious controversy, occurred. A lecture by Rev. Porteus, a Primitive Methodist preacher, ended in an uproar in which walking sticks, stones, broken furniture, and pocket knives were used with great effect. The Police Magistrate read the Riot Act, and the curiosity aroused by a false firm alarm broke up the crowd. Mr Scriven was a blacksmith and was for some years employed in the first railway workshops. Later, his wife and he went to Sydney, and then to Rockhampton and Maryborough, returning to Ipswich after about seven years. The trip to Sydney was made by the two-decker river steamer ‘Settler’ to Brisbane, and from there by a steamer to Sydney. The riverboats and Cobb and Co’s coaches were then the only transport services between Ipswich, capital of Queensland, and Brisbane, its seaport. After his return to Ipswich Mr Scriven was working at the waterworks for a time, and afterwards opened his own smithy. He died in 1906. From that time Mrs Scriven lived with her youngest son, William. Since his death five years ago, she has lived alone in her cottage in Birdwood lane. [This property is still in the family, having been passed down to Shirley Stokes and lived in by Ken Scriven]. The remaining members of her family are all in or near Ipswich. They are Mesdames G Rogers, H Biddle, H Dart, and G A Crisp. and Mr. Charlie Scriven. Despite her 74 years, Mrs Scriven is remarkably well and active.

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The full story 16 Sarah Ann Scriven – The Queensland Times, Monday 3rd January 1938

Old identities. Mrs S A Scriven. Oldest Ipswich Native. Early memories. I think I am the oldest living native of Ipswich”, Mrs Sarah Ann Scriven, Holdsworth Road, North Ipswich, declared proudly when interviewed recently. She added: “I will be 86 next July, and I can still do housework and light washing.” In the course of her long association with Ipswich and district, Mrs. Scriven has seen some strange sights, and an hour’s conversation with her is an hour well spent. Mrs. Scriven is a descendant of a very old Ipswich family, the Lovells, and her father (the late Mr. Richard Lovell) was the licensee of an hotel In Wharf-street in the early days. This tavern, one of the typical English type has now passed into the limbo of forgotten things, but the name of the proprietor will be perpetuated as long as Mrs. Scriven lives. She was born in 1852, and had the misfortune to lose both her parents when still very young. Her grandparents, the late Mr. and Mrs. John McIntyre, of McAllister’s Crossing, then took charge of her. Unpretentious Hamlet. She recounts that Ipswich, in those days, was just a hamlet, with little more than about 30 shops and houses. Citizens who look with pride on the present handsome edifice of St. Paul’s Church of England would have got a surprise If they had seen it In the days of Mrs. Scriven’s youth, because then it was only a wayside chapel. A small wooden store not far away represented Cribb and Foote’s first enterprise. She suggests that although the children of the fifties and sixties lacked variety in their entertainment they had plenty to excite and interest them. Wild warriors and weird sorcerers were wont to hold their corroborees on the ground now occupied by the railway workshops. They had not reached the degree of civilisation now attained, and often became quite barbarous. Often Mrs. Striven and her childhood companions heard the eerie summons to corroborees sounded on the ancient ‘bull-roarers’ and listened to the chant of the old men and lubras as they watched the medicine man and young bloods commencing their antics. The ‘wurlies’ of the blacks were scattered thickly through the bush where the Ipswich Grammar School now stands and in several other places in the city now thickly populated.

17 Sarah Ann Scriven

The Porteus Riot. One of the most memorable of her experiences was the witnessing of the turning of the first sod of the first railway near the site of the Railway Hotel, North Ipswich. The line then ran from Ipswich to Bigge’s Camp (now Grandchester). In 1874 she was married to Mr. William Scriven. Another incident that will remain fixed in her memory for all time was the ‘Porteus Riot’ A lecture by Rev, Porteus, a Primitive Methodist minister, ended in an uproar, in which walking sticks, stones, broken furniture, and pocket knives were used effectively. The Police Magistrate read the Riot Act, and things looked awkward until the ringing of the fire bell turned the thoughts of the disturbers in other directions. Mr. Scriven, who was a blacksmith, died in 1908. The members of her family who are still alive are Mesdames G. Rogers, H. W. Biddle, H. Dart, G. A. Crisp, and Mr. Charles Scriven. Although her memory is not as good as it used to be, Mrs. Scriven is a remarkable old lady in many respects. Rather frail, but very wiry, she suggested that she could do most of the housework if required, as well as light washing. Her one regret was that soreness in her back had restricted her activity to some extent. “I suppose you mow the lawn and dig the garden?”, the Interviewer suggested facetiously, but she frankly admitted (without the flicker of a grin) that this was now beyond her capacity. When she lets her mind slip back over the last 80 years, Mrs. Scriven cannot possibly fail to find enjoyment in the retrospect, because her life has been full of infinite variety, and custom has never been allowed to ‘stale’. She considers that Ipswich has made great progress in the interim, and says that with decent lighting, water, road, housing, recreational, and transport facilities, people are on a much

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The full story better footing than in the old days. Meanwhile we can echo her good wishes: “A happy new year to you.” 18 Bishop and Woodwards Charter President of the Ipswich Rotary Club was Mr James Gracie Bishop. 1930-31, 1931-32. The first president of the Rotary Club of Ipswich, Mr James Gracie Bishop, was a prominent businessman and interested in many aspects of community activities. Principal of the Men’s Clothing Manufacturing firm, Bishop and Woodward Pty Ltd, he served on numerous public organisations over a long period of time. An Alderman of the city he was also chairman of the Ipswich Hospital Board for some years in the old voluntary days; President of the Chamber of Commerce; a director of the Queensland Woollen Manufacturing Ltd, a committee member of the Technical College Board and a Past President of the Ipswich Bowling Club; and many other local activities. The fact-that he served as president or chairman of most organisations with which he was connected was a tribute to his leadership and enthusiasm. He found much satisfaction in his voluntary work to the community and to the city and the expression of his ideal of community service was crystallised in Rotary – the new club which he so firmly and enthusiastically founded and which owes so much to this exemplary pioneer and missionary minded gentleman of that era. Jim Bishop personalised the motto ‘Service Above Self.’ Bishop & Woodward Pty Limited commenced operations in 1922 and the business ceased operations in March 1959. 19 Eva May Scriven – Queensland Times, Saturday 26th November 1927, page 12

Kitchen Tea A most enjoyable evening was held in the Brassall WPO hall on Saturday with a kitchen tea was presented by Mesdames Watkins, Moore, Rodgers, and Swanson to their niece Miss Eva May Scriven in order of her approaching marriage with Mr George Edwards Stokes. Dancing and competitions were the chief amusements, the latter being won by Rev Hall and Miss D Clegg. A song was nice to rendered by Mr L Trelour, as was also a pianoforte duo by Misses L and E Leigh. Dainty refreshments were served after which Rev James Hall, Rector of St Thomas’, in a humorous speech handed over the presents, and wish this Scriven every happiness. Mr Stokes on behalf of Miss Scriven and himself suitably responded. Dancing was continued until midnight, Mrs S Grieve and Mr W Williams supplied excellent music, and extras were played by Miss M Rossiter. Messieurs P Swanson and S Grieve, carried out the duties of Mc. The presents were costly and numerous.

20 Eva May Scriven – Queensland Times, Saturday 17th December 1927, page 12

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Wedding Stokes – Scriven A very pretty rainbow wedding was solemnised at Thomas’ Church, North Ipswich, on December 3 with Mr George Edward Stokes, eldest son of Mr Thomas Stokes and the late Mrs Stokes, Pine Mountain, were united in the bonds of holy matrimony to Eva May Scriven,daughter of Mr Charles Scriven of Waterworks Road. Rev Hall officiated. The church was beautifully decorated by Miss Elsie Days a friend of the bride. As the bride entered the church the congregation sang ‘The voice that breathed o’er Eden’. Mr W Mayes presiding at the organ. The bride looked lovely in an ivory crêpe-de-Chine bodice trimmed with silver beads and a skirt with Mariette frills finished with silver lace and silver rose to her waist and silver shoes to tone. Her veil of embroidered silk was arranged in a cap design, finished with silver tissue and orange buds. She carried a shower bouquet. She was attended by three bridesmaids, cousins of the bride, Miss M Rossiter (chief) wore a shell pink crêpe-deChine frock, the shoulder posy being of pink, blue and lavender roses, skirt trimmed with Guipure lace, and hat to tone. She carried a bouquet of gerberas tied with pink streamers.

The full story Miss Ida Rogers wore powder blue crêpe-de-Chine, smocked on shoulder and sides, skirt finished with Guipure lace, and hat to tone. She carried a bouquet of lemon shade tied with blue streamers. Miss Edith Watkins wore a frock of lavender crêpe-de-Chine, embroidered with hand-made flowers of pink, blue and lavender, finished at the shoulder and waist with smocking. She carried a bouquet of Shasta Galaies (daisies) tied with lavender streamers and wore a hat to tone. Mr W Stokes (brother of the bridegroom) acted as best man and Messieurs George and Leslie Scriven (brothers of the bride) were groomsmen. Miss A Mieland rendered a solo, ‘Because’, very nicely. After the ceremony the guests, numbering about 50, motored to the residence of the bride’s parents, where a sumptuous breakfast was served, Rev Hall presided, and the usual toasts were honoured. A beautiful two-tier wedding cake (the work and gift of the bridegroom’s stepmother) adorned the table. The bride’s mother was frocked in black crêpe-de-Chine, beautifully beaded in black and gold. The bride groom’s stepmother was frocked in navy blue crêpe-de-Chine, richly embroidered with hat to tone. The bridegroom’s gift to the bride was a gold brooch with diamond centre, and the bride’s gift to the bridegroom was a set of gold cuff links. The bride chose as her travelling dress a deep mastic, heavily embroidered, with hat to tone. The bridesmaids were the recipients of a xylonite brush. 21 Sonny Stokes – Leslie George Stokes (Sonny) Eulogy – 82 Years Born to Eva May Stokes (Scriven) and George Edward Stokes on 24th March 1930 at Ipswich. Father George passed away 22nd September 1977 and his mother May 21st December 1985. Sonny lived in the same street at North Ipswich from birth to the time of his passing and was (the) oldest resident in the street Sonny never married, but had many loves in his life, the first being his sister Shirley and his three nieces – Lorelle, Robyn and Cheryl and his nephew Jeffrey and their families. He doted on them and the feeling was mutual. They loved their Uncle Sonny. Sonny attended the Brassall State School and walked from Holdsworth Road to school every day. He finished his schooling in Grade 7 and sat for a Queensland Railway exam. He began work at the Ipswich railway workshop as a trimmer in 1946 when he did his apprenticeship and stayed there until his retirement in 1992 as workshop foreman. As a young man he would often be with either of his grandfathers on their properties at Pine Mountain, Mount Crosby and Tivoli where he developed the taste of running a few head of cattle. His love and knowledge of all things to do with cattle and horses he passed on to his nephew Jeffrey from a young age and they would often go riding together and mustering cattle at Coal Creek and Warra Mindies which is at Lake Manchester. On these trips there would be many arguments about how things should be done and Sonny would always have his say. With his nieces, Lorelle, Robyn and Cheryl, he was always interested in their careers and their prospective husbands – he would have to meet them and give his opinion and hopefully his blessings and if he did not like them he would soon tell you. He was always close to his sister Shirley and on his frequent visits would always ask, “What’s new?” and he would want updates on what the family was up to. His other loves were football, cricket, the Ekka and Ipswich Show, his dog, cattle, chooks and his horses. Sonny was heavily involved in all these sports and interests and was never one to sit back. He held various positions. Horse’s birthday is the 1st August which is today. Sonny loved attending country shows as it was at Brookfield show where his involvement began helping organize the rodeo with Morrie

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The full story Hutchins and Bill Kay and later Doug George. He also acted as steward for Tom Lenihan and Warren Cummins when they were asked to judge at many country shows. Sonny traveled right throughout Queensland enjoying hospitality of many friends who competed and exhibited at country shows. Sonny’s involvement started in the sixties and it was always a great highlight for him and Davie Rogers to welcome Mrs Basil Jones and her family to the Ipswich Show to present the Supreme Champion Hack each year. Sonny was ringmaster at the Ipswich Show for three years and handed over to Tom Lenihan so Sonny could go to his beloved football. Warren Cummins and Tom Lenihan payed tribute to Sonny for his time and dedicating he put into the planning of the ring program at the Ipswich Show and Ekka. Sonny was a sticker for the rules and God help anyone who stepped out of line. Sonny started at the Ipswich Show as a steward in the Dairy section before being asked to steward in centre ring. He was invited to be a steward at the Ekka by long time friend Warren Cummins who later became ringmaster. Sonny stewarding career started at the time of big Bill Edwards, whose son Dr Vivian Edwards OAM later became President of the Ekka. There are stewards here today who had the pleasure of working closely with Sonny over many years. Next year at Ipswich Show I will certainly miss the friendly rivalry between Sonny and Sally Rodgers. It was his intention to assist this year at the Ekka with his long time friend Graham Jensen in the measuring bay. Tom Lenihan and Warren Cummings both said you never visited Sonny at 7pm when the ABC news was on as due to Sonny’s hearing problem you could sit on the footpath outside his home and listen to the ABC news because the volume was so loud. In fact Warren Cummins had to use a hammer on the floor boards one night to get Sonny’s attention. Speaking with Davie Rodgers Junior yesterday he remembers Sonny for his integrity, honesty and humour. He was a great friend to all. When Sonny was asked as an administrator who do you admire the most? He said “the late Ron McAuliffe, QRL meetings are just not the same. It was almost like a game trying to work out just what he was up to. He had a reputation of being able to pick the type of person, administrator or player, who would perform. I reckon anybody who couldn’t learn from Ron was a dunce”. Sonny played league with Tivoli in his early years until the club finished up. With mates Ken Richards, Clarrie Rush and Ken Boettcher he joined Booval Swifts. After some illness he retired to join the committee of Swifts and served many years with distinction in many aspects of the club. Sonny represented the club as a delegate on the Ipswich Rugby League in many heated discussions at their Monday night’s meetings. In 1964 a changing at the top occurred with Sonny as President, Speed Neunendorf as Secretary and Terry Griffiths as treasurer, In this responsible position Les directed a series of raffles should be held to make the club viable for the future. With the help of players this was done and the club appeared in finals of 1966, 70 and 71 winning the latter one. In 1965 he was involved in the canteen construction at the new oval. His job was to see the required building material was obtained on time. Later on he was involved in the early negotiations for the Joyce Street Ground. In 1969 he was made a life member of Swifts. In 1975 Les was one of the Swifts members who decided to form the Old Boys Association and was elected as Chairman lasting for 12 years.

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Les had a love for horses and cattle and judged at many agricultural and provincial shows in Queensland, he was an honorary Council steward at the Ekka and was a member of the Ipswich Turf Club for some years. After he stood down from all participation in League he still attended many functions of both Swifts and IRL.

The full story Sonny’s mind and health were always quite good, until recently when he developed a few ailments. He was still very independent, but his family kept a close eye on him and did anything they could to help. Sonny led a very fulfilling life and hearing how involved he was, it is no wonder he never found time to marry BUT you could never say his life was boring. Leslie George Stokes you are simply the best. 22 George Leslie Stokes [Sonny] Sonny was a member of an number of sporting organisations including: Member of Booval Swifts RLFC from 1954 Chairman of Booval Swifts RLFC from 1963-1972 Foundation Chairman of Booval Swifts Old Boys 1975-1984 Chairman of QRL Ipswich and West Moreton Division 1985-1991 Chairman of QRL Southern Division 1992-1993 Foundation Chairman Ipswich Jets RLFC 1986-1990 QRL Board of Directors 1985-1993 ARL Alternate Director 1992-1993 Life Member of Booval Swifts 1969 Life Member of Ipswich and West Moreton Division 1979 Life Member of QRL 1993 Australian Co-Manager to New Zealand Tour 1990 Australian Co-Manager Kangaroo Tour to Great Britain and France 1990 Member of Committee IRL Ground Trust In 1987 Sonny accepted the position of IRL President when the Ipswich Jets started. He was a delegate of the Queensland Rugby League (QRL). He attended many meetings with Ross Livermore and John McDonald. 23 Mervyn Thomas Hertrick – Eulogy - Read by: Geoff Smith 24th October 2011. Mervyn Thomas Hertrick was born on the 1th of April 1930 and was the first child to Lillian and Bill Hertrick. They lived in the family home at Old Toowoomba Road, One Mile. In time, he was the eldest of three – brother to Maurice and Eunice. Mervyn became great mates with his brother Maurice, sometimes creating havoc around the One Mile district. Families in that era were very close with neighbours and friends. The Sellars family, the Woodfords, Roy Sadler and Col Rossner all went on to be lifetime friends; Col being a close friend to Merv for 75 years. Mervyn attended West Ipswich Primary School with Maurice. They both walked to school together daily, but, sometimes they got sidetracked, often shooting birds with their shangeyes. Merv’s shang-eye was found recently with the tell tale notches of his keen eye. Their mother often had to escort them back to school after they appeared at the back door together stating “We missed you Mum!” A couple of years before Merv finished school, a baby sister, Eunice, arrived in the family. The brothers became role models and loved their sister dearly. Growing up, the Hertrick and the Woodford families had great holidays at Kingscliff making friends along the way, being the Wallace and Mason families and have all stayed in touch over the years. At the age of 14, Merv left school and attended Tech College with hopes of working in the timber industry. As fate would have it, while there at the College, Col Logan, the owner of Logan’s Furniture, was seeking a floor boy and out of all the young men, Merv was chosen. He stayed in that position for 18 months before he was offered an apprenticeship as a cabinet maker. After 7 years, he acquired great skills and was approached by Bert Jordan and Sel Scott to join their team at North Ipswich. He took the offer and was a loyal employee of Jordans Furniture for 41 years until his retirement at age 63.

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The full story During those years, a young lady named Shirley caught his eye at Nolan’s Corner, which was the known meeting place at the time. Groups of friends would meet there on a Saturday night before going off to the pictures and the dances. Merv usually went to the pictures though as he had two left feet. However, after meeting Shirley, he decided that he had better get some dance lessons at the Trades Hall so he could keep up with her. After he mastered some fine steps, he would only dance with Shirley. They courted for some time before they married in August 1954, in this very church. Merv purchased their home in the year prior to their marriage at Pine Mountain Road, North Ipswich where they raised their family of three daughters and one son – Lorelle, Robyn, Cheryl and Jeffrey and are a very close and loving family. Merv was very proud of their home and was always tending the property, which, to this day is still the family home. Merv was always a good provider and the family never went without. He ensured the family had a great four week holiday at Christmas every year at Tweed Heads and later on at Labrador where he loved to fish. Some of Merv’s other loves were cycling, keeping of exotic birds, timber collecting, garage sales, and of course, food. Merv always had a good appetite. Shirley has always made lovely home-style meals for the family and he loved it. Someone recently said he had a smorgasbord for breakfast, you know, a little bit of everything. Somehow, all that food never seemed to affect Merv’s figure though, he was always lean and fit – it must have been from all his cycling and hard work. After hours of work, Merv would have tea and then he would be out in the shed until all hours of the night and on weekends too. He would make all things timber – wardrobes, beds, squatters chairs, kitchens, woodcarvings, you name it. I think half of Ipswich would have one of Merv’s handiworks in their homes and it was always built rock solid. The kids were often called upon to “come and hold this” and “help me with that”. Merv was a great teacher and whatever he made or did, it had to be perfect. He was always there to give his advice and encouragement and was always the first to put his hand up to help someone out. The grandchildren also have great memories of helping Grandad in the shed. They always came home with something that they had made together, whether it was a simple project or a project that took many weeks like a skateboard ramp. When it was finished, it was a beauty! All of their friends were envious – they wished they had a Grandad that could help them build that. He always kept good health until 13 years ago when he found out he had prostate cancer. They operated and he recovered well, returning to his old self, until three years ago when the cancer returned. As everyone would know him, he battled on and never complained. Whilst at home or in hospital, Merv always had a steady stream of visitors, family, friends and mates from the cycling fraternity, young and old, and he loved reminiscing and being kept up to date with any news. As sick and weak as Merv was in the last few months, his love for cycling never wavered. He watched the Tour de France and Cadel Evans’ historic win. Just recently, his doctor was shocked when he asked whether it was okay to hop on the bike and “go for a spin”. We had to quickly explain that it was a stationary bike, but his long-time friend Merv helped him on with the aid of a step ladder, and stood there, while he slowly pedalled. He was happy, he was going for a last ride. Shirley lovingly cared for Merv at home and all the way through his illness, right up until the day he was hospitalised. She was always by his side.

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Merv spent his last weeks in St Andrew’s Hospital and then in Ipswich Hospice Care where he was cared for very well, surrounded by close friends and family. In his last stages, he surprised the nurses by asking if he could have a beer, a XXXX Gold, with his good mate Merv McDowall, which he really enjoyed.

The full story 24 The Barque ‘ Indus ‘1873 – The Brisbane ‘Courier’ newspaper of Friday, 10th October 1873 The newspaper reported amongst vessels in harbour the Barque Indus, 1400 tons, Captain Hunt, from London. J. and G. Harris, agents. A further entry in the shipping columns was as follows : Captain Hunt reports that the ship Indus left Gravesend in tow on the 8th July, and passed through the Downs, landing her pilot on the 11th. A strong SW wind blowing, the Lizard was not reached until the 15th. Moderate weather was experienced till the NE trade winds were encountered; these were at first rather light, but increased somewhat in strength during their continuance till the calms of Cancer were reached. On the 13th of August the Line was crossed in longitude 26 west. The SE trades, which were left on the 26th in latitude 25S, longitude 36W, were strong and steady throughout. On the 1st September the Cape of Good Hope was rounded in latitude 40S. In running down the easting some very heavy weather was experienced, during which the jib-boom was sprung, the mizen topmast, the maintop-gallant yard, together with a large quantity of canvas was lost. The vessel was off Cape Leeuwin on the 19th, in latitude 45S; on the 27th the ship was off Hobart Town. Fine weather with light winds prevailed during the rest of the passage, Cape Moreton Light was sighted at 7 p.m. on the 5th of October, and the anchor was let go off the Yellow Patch at 5 p.m. on the 6th, thus making the voyage from the Lizard to Cape Moreton in 82 days; at 3 p.m. on the 7th the pilot came on board, and the vessel was got under way, but owing to head winds the anchor was again dropped off the middle banks at 11 a.m. At 4 a.m. on the 8th the anchor was again weighed, and the vessel brought to her moorings off the Sand Bar at 11 a.m. on the same day. There were in all 430 passengers on board, under the superintendence of Dr W.H. Maclean, assisted by Miss Davidson, Matron. During the voyage there were eight births and six deaths; five of the deaths occurred amongst the children, the remaining one was the case of a man named William Lewis, who died of disease of the kidneys. On the 5th September, in latitude 40 degrees S, and longitude 45 degrees E, on a dark stormy night, a seaman named Jansen fell from the maintopsail yard overboard, striking the main chains in his fall; as there was a very high cross sea running, and the ship going at the rate of 14 or 15 knots an hour, any attempt to recover the body would have been madness. The passengers as a whole expressed themselves satisfied with the kind treatment of the captain, surgeon, and the officers of the ship, and presented them with the usual address at the conclusion of the voyage. The ship and passengers were inspected on the 9th by Mr Gray, the Immigration officer. The passengers, with their luggage, &c., were all brought up to the wharf on board the ship intact yesterday, towed by the Kate and Francis Cadell, and landed at the depot. They all appeared to be in excellent health and spirits. The Passengers – The Brisbane ‘Courier’ of Wednesday, 8th October 1873 carried the following report: The passengers per Indus will arrive in Brisbane either today or tomorrow, as streamers were to leave at an early hour this morning for the purpose of bringing them up. Should this fine barque not draw too much water, we believe it is in contemplation to tow her at once up to town. The passengers on board amount to 475 souls, equal to 428.5 adults. Their nationalities are as follows :- English, 328: Scotch, 30: Irish, 116: foreigner, 1. There are 44 full-payers, 98 assisted, 243 free, and 90 remittance passengers. The passengers are classified as follow :- 51 married and 172 single men, 51 married and 125 single women, 36 male and 23 female children between the ages of 1 and 12, and 10 male and 7 female infants; total, 269 males, 206 females. The occupations of the free, assisted, and remittance passengers are as follow :- Female domestic servants, 111; farm labourers, 134; gardeners, 2; painter, 1; miner, 1; bakers, 2; blacksmiths, 4; bricklayer, 1; masons, 2; mechanics, 4; carpenters, 12; wheelright, 1; other, 17. Dr McLean, who has made so many previous voyages to Queensland in a similar capacity, comes out as surgeon- superintendent of the vessel, Miss Davidson being the Matron.

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The full story A search of the records held by Australian Archives shows that one Alfred Nelms age 18 sailed from London aboard the ‘Indus’, arriving Brisbane on 8th October 1873. Also listed as being on board was John Nelms aged 43. Brisbane Port – Friday, 10th October 1873 the Brisbane ‘Courier’: The Splendid Clipper Ship INDUS, double A1 at Lloyds, Capt E. Hunt, will discharge her Inward Cargo along-side the wharf with the utmost despatch in order to receive dead weight for London. Shippers of - Tallow, Hides, Tin (ore and ingot), Copper, Preserved Meats, etc, etc, etc, are invited to make early application for freight to the undersigned. J. and G. Harris, Geo. H. Wilson & Co : agents. In the same edition in the Shipping columns the newspaper reported : The fine barque Indus, with all her passengers on board, was towed up to Brisbane by the steamers Kate and Francis Cadell, yesterday. No greater proof can be given of the increasing importance of this port than the fine fleet of English vessels at present in harbour. The Great Queenslander, Ramsey, and Indus are all double A1 ships at Lloyd’s for twenty years, and are about as fine a class of vessels as could possibly be desired. 25 Edmund Crisp – An article published in the Parry Sound North Star, Canada on 2nd November 1899 (where Edmund Crisp’s brother Jonathan lived): Word has been received of the accidental death of Edmund Crisp, oldest brother of Jonathan Crisp of Fairholme, and Mrs. John Moffatt (Jane) of Parry Sound, Ontario, at Queensland, the later part of September. The deceased gentleman went to Australia in 1873. He was a shoemaker by trade, but for the past 18 years has been in the employ of the Northern Railway as sectionman. Mrs Crisp Sr. is a resident of this town. The following is a report of the accident from an Australian newspaper. “A sensational accident which terminated fatally happened on the Northern Railway yesterday. A lengthsman named Edmund Crisp, aged 58 years, was examining the road on a tricycle at the 29[3]-mile during the morning. He was crossing a bridge about 20’ high, which spans Dead Man’s Creek on the Townsville side of Phillip’s Siding, when was a down goods train traveling at a fair speed suddenly rounded a curve and swept into the tricycle before the rider could dismount. The light machine was of course smashed into matchwood, but Crisp surviving the fearful impact, clung on to the buffer and the cowcatcher until the engine was brought to a standstill. When succor arrived it was found that he had suffered terrible injuries. Both legs were broken, one being fractured in two places below the knee. One arm was also fractured, the ribs and chest fearfully shattered and the body lacerated in many places. Crisp’s mate, who was working about a half a mile off, was alarmed by the whistling of the engine and made all haste to his assistance. What little assistance was possible was rendered, and the unfortunate sufferer, who never for a moment lost consciousness, was taken to town by the train. Dr. Humphrey, who was summoned, had the patient dispatched to the hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries at nine o’clock last night. It seems that Crisp had worked that particular length for 14 or 15 years, and had been in the railway service for nearly 18 years. The surroundings were such that it was not possible for the engineer or the cyclist to see each other until they were quite close together; in fact Crisp stated that he did not see the train until it was right on top of him. The man’s courage and vitality were wonderful. Not only did he cling to the buffer whilst he was carried a long distance but he retained consciousness and hope up to the minute of his death. The deceased leaves a wife and grown up family, one of his daughters is married to Mr. E.J. McGovern, of Townsville. He was respected in the department and highly popular with his fellow employees. The funeral will leave Mr. McGovern’s residence, Walker Street, at 4 o’clock this afternoon.

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His headstone reads: In Loving Memory of My dear husband EDMUND CRISP Who died from injuries received in an accident on the Northern Railway 5th Sep 1899 Aged 58 years “Now the labourer’s task is o’er now the battle day is past now upon the farther shore lands the voyager at last. Father, in Thy gracious keeping leave we now thy servant sleeping.”

The full story REMOVAL from Queensland Railway Employment Records: Edmund Crisp, 5 Sep 1899 Northern Railway, Maintenance Branch Lengthsman 7 shillings 6 pence per day 1900. 26 Jonathan Crisp from Canadian local history publication: 27 Lawrence Albert Crisp – The Queensland Times, Saturday 16th March 1929

The late Mr. L. A. Crisp, Esk, 14th March (obituary) Trove

28 Marie McDermid wife of Edward (Ted) Gordon Crisp

Poem for Marie McDermid from Jill (via Ancestry)

Our Sister Marie Now don’t be concerned, For what we have to say is mainly earned. It was April Fifteenth, Ninety hundred and Twenty, In a place called Monto, a home to plenty. A baby girl named Maire McDermid made her presence known, Little did she know more brothers and sisters would be grown. She would share this home with many a sibling, Who loved dribbling, scribbling, nibbling and quibbling. In the dairy and at home Marie would make sure all was done, Before all the fun begun. She would chase us around and around the kitchen, Until we were a swiftly sweepin. Always thinking of and helping her Dad and Mum, Thoroughness was Marie’s rule of thumb. She taught and prepared us all well, As to how we should dwell. We would play, muck, roll, lay, dance and clown around, Until Mum and Dad frowned. Marie would sit us on her shoulders while she danced, We were all entranced. We always did what Marie instructed, For fear our ears may have been reconstructed. But she loved us all, And was never far away if we should call. Often we would all pile of Dads knee, Much to all our glee. Mum would cook up a storm, And always kept us warm. Our home and family was full to the brim, With kids, family and friends but our home was rarely grim. Three Moon was where we went to school, And none of us became a fool. At the hospital Marie would work, And also at home her duties she would never shirk. Popular with all the town folk, She enjoyed a joke and a smoke. Always fun to be around,

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The full story When you’re with Marie much laughter abounds. To have a sister like you, our family has been blessed, This is true as all the family will attest. Now dear Sister Marie, 90 Years of your life has past, And you as a Sister cannot be unsurpassed. Happy 90th Birthday Marie, Wish we could all still be sitting under the Balah Tree. Thank you for your caring and love through all the years, Now have a few beers, crank up a few gears and here’s cheers. --------------------------Love from Pat, Aileen, Poppy, Ron, Shirley, Valerie, Heather and Malcolm. Wish we could be with you today, but will be thinking of you And all of the good times we have had together. 29 Maude (Francis) Tooth – Maude Francis’ Eulogy, 9th September 2015

Given by her son Gerald Tooth. Thank you all for being here today to farewell my mother Maude, to remember her and give thanks for her life. There are two main themes to Maude’s life. Service to others and faith in others. The two are obviously linked and they took her on a remarkable journey where she made friends easily and then kept them for life. My son Ari has always had the ability to walk into a room and figure out who is the person that can most help him achieve what he wants, and then befriend them, and I mean truly befriend them. It is something he clearly inherited from his grandmother. Just last week, I was told a story by a friend who found Maude in a large store in Kingaroy carrying a newly purchased microwave that had been on sale. She said to Maude, who was by this stage no longer driving, “How were you going to get that home?” Maude replied “I don’t know. I knew something would happen.” And it did, the friend offered her a lift and duly drove her home with her new microwave. (Thank you Lisa) And that is typical of Maude. She was a woman of action, who having taken action, then often needed to rely on fate, and the better qualities of human nature, to deliver what she needed in life. Much was delivered, but there were also some risks in that approach – as you will hear. Maude was a doer … And in 92 years she did a lot … So we may be here for a while as I try and capture what was truly a life well-lived. She and I only get to do this once and there is a lot of ground to cover, so stay with me. Maude was born on the 7th of May 1923, in Kingaroy. Her life spanned so much history, or as I like to think of it she traveled from the era where everything was recorded in black and white to full colour, from analogue to digital … For example back in the black and white era her first flight in an aeroplane, as a small child, was with one of aviation’s most famous pioneers – Sir Charles Kingsford Smith. He came to Kingaroy barnstorming to raise funds for his next record-breaking venture. Her father sent young Maude and her older brother Jack up for a joy flight. Imagine that. At home she was a very grounded farm girl.

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They lived on a mixed crop and stock farm nestled in the foothills of the Bunya Mountains at Alice Creek – that was very aptly called ‘Hillview’. It was a busy life full of hard work and no time or tolerance for idleness. Among many other chores young Maude had the job of preserving the family’s perishable food by constantly keeping the charcoal of the cold box

The full story wet. The charcoal was the pre-electric cooling element inside the lining of the cold box that worked through evaporation. A pattern of meeting responsibility through perpetual motion was laid down. She was a dedicated family member. Her love for her parents Frank and Ethel never dimmed. She was comforted by their memory until her very last days. Maude grew up traveling to school by horse with her three brothers Jack, Walter and Stuart (Stuart, still the youngest at 88, is here today). She would often recount the story of rainy days when Frank would wait on horseback at Alice Creek for the returning mob of Francis schoolchildren to make sure they safely crossed the rising waters. Both her parents were very active in serving the community. For nearly a quarter of a century Frank was a member of the local shire council and Ethel was the long standing president of the district’s Country Women’s Association. Frank, apparently, was an early mentor to his young councilor colleague Joh Bjelke-Petersen sharing cups of tea and advice in our lounge room. Think about that. For Maude, though, her parents laid down a clear pattern of service to others for her to follow. And she did – all through her life until she was no longer able to give any more. In her latter years Maude was an active volunteer through the church, manning the hospital canteen, street stalls and visiting the elderly, many of whom were younger than herself. She was also a member of the Laurel Club, where as Secretary she wrote a detailed club history. She was first and foremost though dedicated to her family – both immediate and more broadly. All my early memories are of visits with her and Frank and Ethel – to the seemingly endless numbers of cousins, uncles, aunts and great uncles and great aunts that were spread from the foothills of the Bunyas and on to Kumbia, Kingaroy – then down the Brisbane River Valley, through Moore, Toogoolawah, Esk to Ipswich and all the way to the railway underpass on Lutwyche Road in Brisbane, just around the corner from where I live now. If family loyalty was measured in miles alone Maude was a gold star performer. My favourite relative was always grumpy Uncle Charlie living on Cressbrook Creek by his citrus orchard at Biarra, the original property of Francis family patriarch James. Charlie had trained his old horse to kneel down so he could still get on and ride despite his arthritic hips. Amazing. During her school days Maude was a keen student. She began an early love affair with words at primary school where from the tiny, oneteacher, one classroom establishment at Alice Creek she won a state-wide poetry writing competition. Her adoration of rhyme and word play carried on right through her life. She would often write poems to friends and family members on special occasions. For my 45th birthday she wrote this: Son, may you always have: Wisdom for your problems, Comfort for your griefs, Faith in your convictions, Strength in your beliefs, Goals that are a challenge, Dreams that take you far, And days like this to celebrate, The man and son you are. From Alice Creek Maude went to Glennie Girls School in Toowoomba, where she boarded. She always said these were some of the happiest years of her life and until very recently she retained an active association with the school. After school Maude became a nurse. She did her hospital training at St Martins at St Johns Cathedral in Ann Street in Brisbane.

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The full story She loved it. Maude had found her vocation. And it loved her back as well. Just this week I found a letter from a lovelorn St Martins patient she had looked after who told her she was beautiful and wrote a poem for her describing her as “the lady of the lamp”. I can’t imagine that. During her nursing years Maude made many friends. Her nearest and dearest though was Betty Clifford – a constant in her life. (Betty’s children Elizabeth, Peter and Barbara are in the congregation). Maude would proudly tell anyone medical she came across that she was a triple certificate nurse. Her final certificate Midwifery, was earned through an exam in Hobart conducted while the snow fell outside and her hands were so cold it was hard to write. She passed and began a lifelong passion that propelled her into her most professionally fulfilling role as a Maternal and Child Welfare nurse. This job took Maude all over Queensland from the far west to the far north, and a number of points in between – running Baby Clinics – as everyone called them. Thousands of babies passed through her care. One of the special cases was Trevor Isa in Cunnamulla in 1957. Trevor was the six-week old son of Ivan and Jean Isa who had been posted to the Western Queensland Town through Ivan’s job with Shell. Trevor came to Maude unwell, failing to thrive, I think was the term. Maude took the then radical step of advising Trevor’s parents to feed him goat’s milk and insisted he be sent to Toowoomba for a lengthy treatment, which was a success. Another lifelong friendship was formed and from then on Maude stayed with the Isa’s when in Cunnamulla. Ivan told me this week he still feels a debt of gratitude to Maude. Then Maude had a baby of her own. While working in Mackay in 1963 Maude met a mysterious Greek engineer. His name may have been Paul. She fell pregnant. They fought and things fell apart. Maude left the country, giving everyone the impression she was going on a grand tour of Europe – as people did in those days. She wrote picaresque post cards to her parents from exotic locations such as Cairo and Athens, never once mentioning her condition. Eventually she landed in London. There, Maude stayed with a remarkable woman called Hedi Argent, who wrote to me this week describing Maude’s time with her in London. Hedi’s words … Maude arrived in England seven months pregnant. She knew no one and found her way to us through a helpful agency. We were broke and renting out a room to single women for six weeks at a time until they had their babies and the babies were adopted. Maude came to us wearing a hat and white gloves; and she had ‘flu. We put her to bed, little knowing that the six weeks would turn into six months and that this would be the foundation of a lasting friendship. As the weeks went by, Maude became less and less certain about her plan to have her baby adopted and to return to Australia as if after an extended holiday. By the time she gave birth, she was quite sure that her child was more precious than the good opinion of the whole world. I watched Gerald being born and I was privileged to watch Maude become a wonderful mother. She stayed with us until Gerald was five months old and when they left, I mourned the older sister I might have had, and my children mourned a baby brother.

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From Maude I learned patience, tolerance and courage – and resourcefulness. When my younger daughter had her fourth birthday, we had no money for presents. Maude covered the crack in a full-length mirror we found in a junk-yard with an exciting collage; she made a white rabbit out of scraps and a ‘princess dress’ out of an old nightie.

The full story We saw Maude and Gerald off when they returned to Australia to face family and friends. We watched from the observation deck as the plane left and we saw a hand wearing a white glove waving. Hedi, not coincidentally, was awarded an MBE last year in recognition of her lifelong service to children. A remarkable woman – still impressed by Maude. And so Maude, in her white gloves, did return to Australia hoping for the best of human nature from her loved ones. Instead, all hell broke loose when she turned up in small-town Queensland in the mid-sixties with a baby without a father. Worse still she refused to even say who the father was despite her brothers’ entreaties. I made many of my own requests of her many years later but it remains a secret she has now taken with her. In 1964 Kingaroy, good opinion evaporated and Maude was suddenly transformed from golden girl to the Francis family’s black sheep. An uneasy truce fell into place however, as her father Frank stepped in and accepted the new circumstances and treated me as a muchloved grandchild who he proudly took with him everywhere – even the pub where he drank shandies in sevens and I had pink lemonades. Perhaps in an effort to restore her respectability she accepted a proposal from a decent man prepared to be a father to her child. It was by any measure a short marriage. Maude married Gilbert (Bert) Tooth on July 30, 1966. Gilbert passed away on August 8 1966. She never remarried. Through all this I remember a happy childhood surrounded by teams of cousins and housefuls of children as neighbours, the Blues and the Howarths. The car was always packed whenever we went anywhere, especially on those regular trips up the Bunya Mountains where we would gallop around the walking tracks and catch tadpoles from the cold, clear streams. On the return trip the car would be weighed down with splashing ice cream containers filled with our catch. I don’t think a single tadpole ever survived to adulthood and I look back and worry about what impact we may have had on the declining tree frog population. All this time Maude continued to live with Frank and Ethel in First Avenue Kingaroy, and nursed Ethel as she slipped into dementia and failing health. After time in a nursing home in Toowoomba Ethel passed away in March 1973. Frank, bereft, and with his own health problems, followed Ethel to the grave in August that same year. With her main protector and benefactor gone hostilities within the family broke out in a bitter feud over Frank’s will. The family was split asunder, with the three brothers on one side of the chasm and Maude isolated on the other. It was a rift that never really healed over 40 years. When her brother Jack drowned in a boating accident in 1979 Maude was told not to go to his funeral – and didn’t. She only saw Walter again in his very last days and witnessing their conversation by his hospital bed I can report nothing of value was said. Stuart in recent years tried numerous times to reconcile, but mostly came up against a Francis as stubborn as himself. Thank you for trying though Stuart, and I am honoured that you are here today to farewell your sister. Maude, ever practical, got up and got on with it. In 1974 she retrained as a Maternal and Child Welfare nurse. That involved a temporary shift to Brisbane for six months where, to begin with, we lived with Helen Nolan – a former teacher at Alice Creek who, as all the teachers did, boarded with the Francis family at Hillview. She was formidable and very scary for a 10-year-old boy. But of course something happened and fate intervened. My, and Maude’s, saviour was the Power family who lived two doors down. They had three kids, a swimming pool and a pool table. They also had a wonderful mother, Rosemary, who hit it off with Maude, and they became the firmest of friends. Rosemary, another remarkable woman, is here today.

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The full story Retrained, Maude embarked on a second career in Baby Clinics. She was stationed in Dalby, which required her to drive to Chinchilla, Miles, Wandoan and Taroom every second week. Later she was based in Maryborough and finally in Kingaroy where she stayed until she retired at 65 – having clocked up countless miles and helped thousands of mothers and their babies. One of Maude’s main drivers in going back to work was to give me a good education by sending me to boarding school at Churchie. It was an expense she could not really afford, but as usual something happened, some good people helped, and she managed to pull it off. And she meant what she always said about the need for a good education. Retirement for Maude gave her the opportunity to do something she had always wanted to and that was to go to university. First though she had to do senior. Somehow she convinced the local Catholic High School, St Mary’s to enroll her and Maude went and sat in class with 16 and 17 year olds and got her senior certificate. Then she enrolled in a Bachelor of Arts at the University of Queensland where she majored in Art History and Ancient History. I was studying my Masters in Journalism at this time and I’d run into her at the refectory where, embarrassingly, she seemed to have more friends than me. In the evenings I would help her with assignments that she would write out longhand in that beautiful copperplate script she’d perfected at Alice Creek. Incredible. She never lost that intellectual drive, the desire to know more and keep her razor-sharp mind active. After university she came back to Kingaroy and, as I described earlier, became an active member of the community through this church and other volunteer organisations. As always she expressed her Christian faith in the most Protestant of ways, through good works for others. At this time she also did something to honour her parents, Frank and Ethel. She commissioned the two stained glass windows in the church alcove, which bear their names. In her home she indulged her passions for art and literature. She was an energetic amateur historian and focused a lot of her time on the stories of English royalty, a quiet obsession. Maude was a Bibliophile – collecting books until the very end (she never did go digital). Her house was a library of gorgeous art books about everyone from Renoir to Brett Whitely, full of books on the ancient history of the Greeks and Romans, books about everything really, and she read most of them. There were two collections in particular … cook books and craft books A dedicated cook, there was always something interesting going on in Maude’s kitchen and she passed her love of cooking on to me. Every time I make an omelette, which my children will tell you is often, I think of her teaching me how to whip egg whites until they stand in stiff peaks. She was also deeply interested in nutrition, which took her down some interesting paths. She was the first person I ever saw eating tofu, well before it became a vegetarian hippy favourite. She was always into things like the latest liver cleansing diet and the benefits of vitamin C. In fact for some years I thought she may have actually found a new religion. According to Maude vitamin C was the world’s saviour and its powers were omnipotent.

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When it came to craft Maude had an incredible skill set that included knitting, crochet, embroidery and sewing. She was a founding member of a local craft group who met regularly in each other’s houses. And I know it gave her great joy. She made me all sorts of things. There was a Daniel Boon outfit that included a real ‘coonskin cap’ that she made out of an old fox fur.

The full story And I had a collection of gorgeous hand knitted jumpers. There is a red jumper that I am wearing in one of my favourite photos of Jane and I clinking massive steins in a beer hall in Munich 30 years ago. Just this week I saw that very same jumper being worn in a music video clip on YouTube by our budding rock star son. She couldn’t have imagined that. She would have been proud though. Maude was a devoted grandmother. Her excitement when our oldest Carmen was born was enormous and she always shared a special bond with her – as she did with Ari and Kitty when they came along. Every birthday Nana would turn up with a cake she had elaborately decorated that was front and centre of celebrations. The grandchildren were always being measured for clothes she would make them and Maude was always deeply interested in everything they did. And Maude you live on through the things you did that touched so many people’s lives and made them better. So Maude, thank-you for that decision you took in London all those years ago. Thank you for having the incredible courage to see it through, despite all the consequences. Thank you for giving me a place in the world that I was truly connected to through the deep roots of my family tree. Thank you for giving me a love of the Bunya Mountains and the simple joy of walking through a rain forest. Thank you for giving me a love of words in all their power and beauty and the ability to make a living out of them. Thank you for showing me that a life lived in the service of others, first as a journalist with our public broadcaster and now as a public servant, is a noble existence and that striving to make things better for other people has infinite rewards. Thank you for being my mother and all the self-sacrifice that involved. Rest in peace Maude, you have certainly earned it. There will be no monument, plaque or gravesite for Maude. In the near future we will take her ashes to the top of the Big Falls at the Bunya Mountains to spread them and let the crystal clear waters carry her back to her home country at Alice Creek. My partner Jane is about to read a poem, but just before she does a couple more thank you’s. Thank you Jane for the tenderness and care with which you treated Maude, especially in her last days. The memory of that will always warm my heart. Thank you to Mandy Blue, who although she couldn’t here today, was also incredibly good to Maude in hospital and who maintained a loving friendship with her over many years. Thank you to the staff at Canowindra who cared for Maude these last years. Poem – Jane Holt – The Gate of the Year by Minnie Louise Hoskins … Found recently in her home written out in Maude’s own hand … quoted by King George the sixth in his Christmas address in 1939 and now engraved on the entrance to his tomb. 30 Stuart Francis – Stuart Francis’ birthday speech, 23rd August 2017 From his cousin Bill Scriven. Stuart, a message from Bill for your 90th Birthday. Firstly, I am sorry that I’m unable to be there to help celebrate your landmark birthday. As you know at the moment I’m still in Sydney to help with my son Peter’s rehabilitation following his recent operation which has delayed me from returning to Queensland when originally planned. Stuart’s parents and mine were very close. Ethel, Stuart’s mum, being my Mum’s older sister. Frank and Ethel would stay with us whenever they had business in Ipswich or Brisbane. On

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The full story many occasions we visited them on their farm at Kumbia. Stuart was the youngest of four children, Walter, Jack and Maude all being much older than him. A story was told that Stuart was such a delicate child when first born that he was brought home from hospital, wrapped in cotton wool and placed inside a shoebox. He certainly not so ‘delicate’ now. I spent many of my school holidays on Uncle Frank and Aunty Ethel’s farm with Stuart. On their dairy farm holidaying visitors didn’t get a free ride. Everyday there was work to be done and whatever it was everyone gladly pitched in to help. Stuart was five years older than myself so we always teamed up. He was like an older brother to me. We had many happy times together and he was often in a playful mood. We would constantly ‘shit stir’ each other to get a reaction. I was reminded of one particular time while we were milking when I sprayed him with milk. He reacted faster than I’d expected. He dropped what he was doing and we took off out of the milking yard at flat strap. He chased me for about 150 yards. We ran down the road, past the pig pens then I took a sharp left hand turn off through the cornfields. I managed to just keep ahead of him and when he did finally ‘catch up’ with me he couldn’t do anything as he was so puffed. Later on he got his revenge. I used to accompany him to the local dances which was the most common form of entertainment in those days. It was also the place to meet girls. The girl he most fancied was Betty Wingfield. I remember spending what seemed a inordinately long time in the cold car waiting for him to say goodnight. Betty subsequently became his wife and they’ve been happily married for almost 67 years. I recall one local dance was held in a grain storage barn. The floor was great for dancing having been polished over the years with beads of grain. Besides the dances a common form of entertainment was playing cards with the neighbours such as Bob Slattery. They lived about ¾ mile away and we used to ride over bare back. Armed with a bridle each we would first have to catch our dark horses, on a dark night in a not so small paddock. Prior to my commencing work in the railways, I spent every school holiday of my last three years at school on the farm at Kumbia. They were great, fun times. Stuart had to quit farming when he developed an allergy to cattle. This meant Stuart and Betty, who were married by this time, had to go wherever work was available which often meant traveling all over the state, before they eventually settled on the Sunshine Coast. I was by then working and they were often on the road so for many years we didn’t see each other as often. After I married Doreen, the love of my life, our families always kept in touch and often met up on many holidays together. A measure of Stuart’s friendship, even though he wasn’t in the best of health, was his determination to travel from Hervey Bay to attend Doreen’s funeral. Stuart I am pleased that we have been friends for so long and look forward to many more years of friendship together. Enjoy your party surrounded by your relatives and friends and I will see you on my return to Queensland. Also I would like to thank Annette Chapman who agreed to deliver this speech on my behalf. [Speech actually given by Suzanne and Michelle Scriven - who took turns reading, laughing and crying]. from your cousin Bill with much love. 31 John Rossiter

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When John married Mary Ann his occupation was as a ‘Farm Labourer’ and this is also noted on the Passenger List of the ship ‘Maria Somes’. They arrived in Australia in the

The full story Moreton Bay Region of Queensland on 6th July 1852 on the Assistant Immigrant Passenger scheme of 1828 - 1896. John’s father, John Rossiter Snr was a ‘Farmer’ on the Marriage Certificate of John jnr and Mary Ann. 32 Thomas Penning – The Queensland Times, Saturday 12th January 1918

Death Of Mr Thomas Penning. There passed away at the Ipswich General Hospital on Monday last, Mr Thomas Penning, who had attained the ripe age of 85 years. He came to Queensland from London in the early [eighteen] sixties, making the journey to the city of Brisbane. Being a blacksmith by occupation he engaged in his trade in Brisbane for a while, and subsequently in Ipswich for some years. He also took up land at Pine Mountain where he resided. In 1878 he proceeded to Armidale, New South Wales where he remained for very many years, returning to Ipswich, a few months ago. Since then he has resided alternatively with his sons, Messrs Thomas Penning of Muirlea, and William Penning, of the York shops. His daughters are Mrs G Rossiter of Benarkin, Mrs H Norris of Armidale, and Mrs Graham of New South Wales.

33 George Rossiter – The Queensland Times, Saturday 16th May 1936

Mr G Rossiter. Eventful Career. Played Many Parts

Plus – The Queensland Times, Saturday 1st January 1938

Old identities, Mr George Rossiter

34 Charles Scriven – The Queensland Times, Saturday 23rd April 1938 Ipswich identities Mr and Mrs Scriven. Progress of Queensland. 35 Ellen Violet (Vi) Jordan (1913-1982), politician Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 17, (MUP), 2007 – by Patricia Fallon Ellen Violet (Vi) Jordan (1913-1982), politician, was born on 29 June 1913 at Ipswich, Queensland, eldest of three children of English-born James Bertie Norman Perrett, a railway fitter, and his Queensland-born wife Ann Jane, née Brown. Educated at Brassall State and Ipswich Girls’ Grammar schools, Vi won, but did not take up, a scholarship to attend the Teachers’ Training College in Brisbane. An accomplished musician, she had become an associate of the London College of Music and of the Trinity College of Music, London. Headstrong and determined, at 18 she married David Jordan, a railway porter, on 14 May 1932 at St Thomas’ Church of England, North Ipswich. A member of one of Ipswich’s brass bands, David shared her love of music. At the beginning of World War II Vi Jordan was fiercely opposed to conscription and Australian support for the British at war. Nevertheless she became secretary of the first aid and air raid precautions committee and president of the Ipswich civilian welfare committee for service women at the Royal Australian Air Force base at Amberley. She also devoted time to a servicewomen’s hostel at Ipswich. When the Soviet Union became a wartime ally, Jordan joined the Australian Friends of the Soviet Union; as a result her knowledge of Marxist philosophy developed. From a family steeped in the trade union movement, Jordan believed that the militant attitude of some communist unions was detrimental to the workers but she remained sympathetic to the philosophy of the Communist Party of Australia. Affected by the communist takeover of Czechoslovakia and Prime Minister (Sir) Robert Menzies’ attempt in 1950-51 to have the Communist Party declared illegal, Jordan burnt all her relevant books and papers and severed her connections with the Friends of the Soviet Union. A member of the Australian Labor Party from the late 1940s, at the time of the split in Queensland Labor in 1957 Jordan remained staunchly loyal to the ALP: she was president (1956-67) of the Labor women’s central organising committee, secretary (1958-65) of the Somerset executive committee and secretary of both the Somerset and Ipswich West ladies’

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The full story branches. At the Labor-in-Politics Convention in Brisbane in 1960, she moved a successful resolution that women be allowed direct representation on the Queensland central executive. She was chosen as that representative and thus became the first woman other than a union delegate on the executive. In 1961 she was the first woman elected to the Ipswich City Council; she held this position until 1967. She was a delegate to conferences of the Local Government Association of Queensland. The ALP chose Jordan as their candidate for the State seat of Ipswich West for the 1966 election. Under the campaign leadership of Bill Hayden, she defeated Jim Finimore, who had been the mayor of Ipswich for seventeen years. Serving for three terms, during which the ALP was in opposition, Jordan engaged in the struggle for the rights of the working class and for political, economic and social equality for women. In 1966 she spoke in parliament in a grievance session advocating equal pay for women. She was re-elected in 1969 and 1972 but defeated in 1974. In the lead-up to the 1977 election Jordan won the ALP plebiscite for Ipswich West but a redistribution changed the boundaries of her electorate and the QCE, deciding to appoint candidates centrally, did not choose her. Jordan was president (1974-76) of the federal women’s executive of the ALP. In 1975 she was made a member of the Council of Queensland Women, set up to advise the State government on the status of women. She was appointed AM in 1976 and next year awarded the Queen’s jubilee medal. A keen lawn-bowler, she served on the committee of the North Ipswich Bowling Club. Predeceased (1967) by her husband and survived by her son, she died of myocardial infarction on 7 May 1982 at Ipswich and was buried in the city’s general cemetery. She was praised for her `ability to always keep Ipswich on the Map’ and will be remembered as the first woman from the ALP, and only the second of any political persuasion, to become a member of the Queensland parliament. 36 The paddlesteamer ‘Emu’, 1865-1909 Iron Paddle steamer of 150 horsepower and 270 gross tons. Lbd: 170’8” x 22’1” x 5’8”. Built by A & J Inglis, Glasgow for the Queensland Steam Navigation Company. Arrived in sections as the cargo of the Platypus and re-assembled at Kangaroo Point, Brisbane. Acquired by ASN Co 1868. Sold January 1877 to Port Jackson Steam Boat Co, Sydney and renamed Brightside. September 1881 owned by Port Jackson Steamship Co. November 1907 owned by Port Jackson and Manly Steamship Co. 1909 broken up at Sydney. As quoted from the newspaper of the era (extract: Courier-Mail 7th August 1865) Launched 5th August 1865 Kangaroo Point for QSN Co River steamer flat b ottomed doubleheaded boat, and will steer from either end. Her length is 170 feet overall and the beam inside the paddle-boxes 22 feet. Outside the sponsons which are continued fore and aft nearly the whole length of the vessel, she measures 41 feet. The depth of hold is 6 feet 6 inches. This may appear overmuch, but if has the advantage of affording space for refreshment saloons beneath the deck houses. There are two of these, one at each end The after one is 27 feet by 20 feet, and that forward 16 feet by 20 feet: They will be lighted by side ports and fitted up in an appropriate manner, after the style of the Clyde river steamers. 37 HMS Sirius (1786) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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Sirius sailed from The Motherbank, Ryde, Isle of Wight on 13 May 1787 as the flagship of the eleven-vessel First Fleet, under the command of Captain Arthur Phillip (Governor-designate of the new colony). Phillip transferred to the Armed Tender HMS Supply at Cape Town,[7] with Second Captain John Hunter] remaining in command of Sirius. Also on board were Royal Marine Major Robert Ross, who would be responsible for colony security and surgeons George Bouchier Worgan and Thomas Jamison. Midshipman Daniel Southwell recorded that Sirius was carrying the Larcum Kendall K1 chronometer used by Captain James Cook on his second and third voyages around the world. She arrived in Botany Bay on 20 January 1788,

The full story two days after Supply, according to the journals of Hunter and First Lieutenant (later Rear Admiral) William Bradley. The 252-day voyage had gone via Rio de Janeiro and the Cape of Good Hope and covered more than 15,000 miles (24,000 km). It was quickly decided that Botany Bay was unsuitable for a penal settlement and an alternative location was sought. While waiting to move, a large gale arose preventing any sailing; during this period the French expeditionary fleet of Jean-François de Galaup, comte de Lapérouse arrived in Botany Bay. The colony was established at Sydney Cove in Port Jackson when Governor Phillip arrived on 26 January aboard Supply. Sirius arrived the following day. The last letter by Lapérouse, which was returned to Europe by HMS Sirius. The British cordially received the French. Sirius’ captains, through their officers, offered assistance and asked if Lapérouse needed supplies. However the French leader and the British commanders never met personally. Lapérouse also took the opportunity to send his journals, some charts and some letters back to Europe with Sirius. After obtaining wood and fresh water, the French left on 10 March for New Caledonia, Santa Cruz, the Solomons, the Louisiades, and the western and southern coasts of Australia. The French fleet and all on board were never seen again. The documents carried by Sirius would be its only testament. Decades later it was discovered that Lapérouse’s expedition had been shipwrecked on the island of Vanikoro. Sirius left Port Jackson under the command of Hunter on 2 October 1788, when she was sent back to the Cape of Good Hope to get flour and other supplies. The complete voyage, which took more than seven months to complete, returned just in time to save the nearstarving colony. In 1789, she was refitted in Mosman Bay, which was originally named Great Sirius Cove after the vessel. The name lives on in the adjacent Sirius Cove (formerly “Little Sirius Cove”). On 19 March 1790, Sirius was wrecked on a reef at Norfolk Island while landing stores. Among those who witnessed the ship’s demise from shore was Thomas Jamison, the surgeon for the penal settlement. Jamison would eventually become Surgeon-General of New South Wales. Sirius’ crew was stranded on Norfolk Island until they were rescued on 21 February 1791. Hunter returned to England aboard Waaksamheid where he faced court martial and was honourably acquitted. He was appointed as Phillip’s successor as Governor of New South Wales in February 1795, though he did not return to the colony until September. One of the sailors on Sirius, Jacob Nagle, wrote a first-hand account of the ship’s last voyage, wreck, and the crew’s stranding. With the settlement in New South Wales still on the brink of starvation, the loss of Sirius left the colonists with only one supply ship. 38 The fate of the paddlesteamer ‘Leonie’ – ‘History out there’, 26th September 2020 Fate intertwined the lives of four very different men, bringing them together to a single event in 1870 centred on the steamer ‘Leonie’ exactly 150 years ago this week. It was an outwardly innocent Saturday afternoon sculling race on the Bremer River at Ipswich in Queensland that erupted into public controversy. The race was between two railway hands Charlie Betts and Jim Charlton. It was from the Leonie which was moored under the railway bridge, to Basin Pocket and back. Betts went first and did it in eighteen minutes. Charlton – after breaking one of his sculls on his first attempt – got to go again and won by one minute and fifteen seconds. The event drew quite a crowd on the bridge and at the starting point. A tempest broke afterwards, however, when it was suggested that Betts and Charlton were paid £5 each. This wasn’t the done thing back in the Victorian age of gentlemanly amateur sport. I was also whispered that there was betting involved. The outrage was stoked with the suggestion that one of the organisers was none other than the builder Harry Evans who happened to be the chairman of the Ipswich Temperance Society.

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The full story Evans denied intentionally being involved, although as it turns out, he accepted the role of official timekeeper and happened to be onboard the steamer Leonie which hosted the betting ring. Evans remained a much-respected member of Ipswich society and lived well into his nineties, passing away in 1927 . Regards the competitors, the runner-up Betts later got in trouble for letting his goat stray and for having a pig at his house on Lennon Street in North Ipswich. His wife was convicted of assault for throwing boiling water over the neighbour who she thought had dobbed them in. The winner of the race Charlton invested his £5 wisely and later bought an orchard in Brassall. When he died in 1898, two of his daughters went to the Queensland Supreme Court to contest £520 in his estate which in today’s money is almost half-a-million dollars based on average weekly earnings. The Leonie’s engineer on the day of the race was probably Alex Angus. He was later captain when the Leonie was steaming timber and sugar between Brisbane and the Logan and Albert district. On one fateful trip in 1884, the Leonie left Yatala and got stranded on the bottom near the mouth of the Logan River at Ageston flats. The following morning, Angus went on deck as usual. But as the crew were readying to get underway, they looked for their captain in his cabin but all they found was his watch and a sovereign, and his coat and hat hanging on the pegs. Angus had suffered a fit, accidentally fallen overboard and drowned. The Leonie herself has vanished into the mists of time. 39 Magnificent Claremont: home to a cotton pioneer, the ‘Father of Ipswich’ and a short-term Premier of Queensland By Liam Barker, website ‘Haunts of Brisbane’ In the mid 1820’s a young man named George Thorn, from a farming family, in the small town of Stockbridge in south-east England, showed a propensity for astuteness and ambition from a young age. Like many other young men at the time, George enlisted at the age of 19 in the hopes of bettering his lot in life, a manoeuvre that would see him placed with the 4th King’s Own (Royal Lancaster) Regiment. Little did he know of the whirlwind of events over the next two decade of his life. Having successfully carried out deployments in Portugal and the British Isles, George’s biggest adventure began in 1831, when orders were received to chaperone Convict Transports to the colony of Australia, half a world away. On arrival in the colony, Thorn was pressed into service as an orderly for the newly-appointed Governor of New South Wales, Richard Bourke, a position that would allow him to witness a number of amazing events in the early history of Australia. 1837 was a major turning point in George’s life, a twelve month period that would consolidate the rest of his days - early in the year, the 4th King’s Own Regiment received orders to head to India. Given the choice of either following his Regiment back overseas or buying his discharge from the military and remaining in Australia, George chose the latter. Entering into service with the Commissary Department, George wasted no time in marrying and fathering the first of many children in Sydney, before heading north to the Moreton Bay Penal Settlement in the dying days of 1838. Within a short time, given his prior military experience, George was offered the position of Superintendent of Stock (horses, cattle and sheep) at the distant convict outpost of Limestone Station. The position would afford him a £60 per annum wage, as well as a thatched-roof residence in the vicinity of the current-day Claremont.

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On Ipswich’s closure as a convict outpost not long after, George took full advantage of his situation - he was one of only a few free men in the area, with considerable money in comparison to others in the Moreton Bay region, in a newly opened town without business

The full story competition - his ambition shining through, George immediately began to purchase parcels of land, and established a business in the Queen’s Arms Hotel. By the late 1840’s, George possessed considerable land holdings throughout the region, and sold his Hotel in order to move his business into the merchant market - a further manoeuvre that would increase his profits markedly over the coming decade. By this time, the township of Ipswich was a rapidly expanding centre west of Brisbane Town, and entrepreneurs were moving into the area in search of business and fortune. Enter John Panton - the son of the Post-Master General of New South Wales, John had earned a reputation in Sydney as a shrewd businessman and innovator, setting up a successful business partnership in Sydney, becoming an elected Member of the New South Wales Legislative Council, earning the enviable position of Magistrate. However by the early 1850’s, Panton began to look for new enterprises, a search which drew him north to the recently opened towns of Brisbane and Ipswich. On making a number of trips to the region, John realised the potential of the area & moved north to take advantage of the situation. With the support of Sydney-based company Messrs Smith, Campbell & Co, John established the Ipswich company of Panton & Co. in 1851, trading from a store front in Brisbane Street and business boomed. In the mid-1850’s, as business expanded, Panton constructed a large warehouse on Limestone Hill, followed by a stately Georgian-style villa built of sandstone quarried at Woogaroo near current Wacol. Panton would name his new residence Claremont, which has endured 154 years of history through until the present day. With the advent of the American Civil War in 1861, the market for cotton was at an alltime high - hoping to corner the market, Panton drew heavily on his assets & established a considerable cotton plantation at Woodend..however, his aspirations would lead to a temporary downfall. In 1863, the financial institutions with which Panton had dealings called in their debts. Panton was left with no other option but to sell off the majority of his assets, including Claremont. Re-enter George Thorn - having been elected to the Legislative Assembly in 1860, on the back of Queensland’s separation from New South Wales the prior year, George happily accepted his position of member for West Moreton. In 1862, he had also become an Ipswich Alderman, & by 1863 he was very keen to move from his lodgings at the Palais Royal Hotel in Brisbane Street to somewhere more befitting his roles & growing family. On Claremont being offered for sale in 1863, Thorn jumped at the opportunity & purchased the property - the stately villa would become the Thorn family home for over forty years. 40 Extract from the Jubilee History of Ipswich: A Record of Municipal, Industrial and Social Progress, 1910 Ipswich is one of the prettiest towns or cities in Queensland. It owes its beauty and its picturesqueness to its hills, and its abundance of foliage. Few finer spots would be desired than the beautiful Queen’s Park, on Limestone Hill. From Denmark Hill there is a magnificent view, embracing the whole of the city on one side, and extending to the blue-coloured peaks of the Main Range on the other side. But let others speak on this point. A visiting Sydney Pressman, writing a few weeks ago, said :“If you want a light and health-giving air, take train or motor to Ipswich, a town which is to Brisbane as Parramatta is to Sydney, having once been the capital of Queensland, but which unlike Parramatta is now very brisk and very wide awake; which is no doubt owing to the presence of large railway workshops. Ipswich has many hills, and you are told that it is called the modern Athens [..] The view from Denmark Hill is worth the necessary and rather steep climb; one or two churches are picturesque; but the chief beauty lies in the hills, mainly of trachyte formation, which surround it like a crown, and in the foliage, which abounds everywhere, for this is a

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The full story most fertile district, with its river flats covered with alluvial soil, which in a volcanic district is especially rich. It is here that you may say every garden has its Jacaranda and planted side by side with it its Grevillea robusta or silky oak, so that the whole town is ablaze with orange and purple, just as the hearts of its citizens, like those of the capital, are burning with a glowing fire of hospitality. 41 Anticipation in Ipswich Written by: David Mews, Curator, The Workshops Rail Museum Ipswich residents had witnessed the turning of the first sod on 1st February 1864 at North Ipswich to mark the beginning of construction of a railway from Ipswich to the Darling Downs. Regular updates on construction progress would appear in the local newspaper, the Queensland Times. There was a significant increase in traffic on the Bremer River as the many paddle steamers busily plied back and forth between Brisbane and Ipswich transporting the material and equipment necessary to build a railway and the hundreds of migrant workers from Ireland and Britain to act as navvies to build the railway. Skilled engineers were also to be found amongst those coming from the Mother Country. A busy industrial complex appeared almost overnight during 1864 as the first railway workshops were built on the north bank of the Bremer River where the Riverlink shopping centre now stands. It would have been a hive of activity with the paddle steamers arriving at the Railway Wharf to unload their cargo of railway material. Buildings were erected while workmen assembled the locomotives and rolling stock needed for the railway. The first of the four locomotives had arrived from England in November 1864 aboard the Black Ball Line ship Queen of the South. This locomotive was first placed in steam on 11 January 1865. The Queensland Times for 17th January 1865 reported on construction progress for a number of bridges including the major bridge over the Bremer River which would create a rail and road link between the Ipswich central business district, North Ipswich, Toowoomba and the Darling Downs. The regular steam whistles of the paddle boats had by now been joined by the whistles of the four small A Class locomotives as they were tested and placed in service to transport track and bridge material from the Railway Wharf at North Ipswich to the head of track construction as well as the many navvies working on the new railway. The anticipation of the Ipswich population must have been building by May 1865 as the time was approaching when the first section of railway in Queensland was expected to be opened. The public must have been disappointed when the Queensland Times on the 29 June 1865 announced that the railway would not be ready for the proposed opening date of 11 July as had been previously announced. The reason given was the rate of progress was slower than expected. Construction continued with the local population keen to be present on the opening day. During those early years of railway construction, the ceaseless journeys of those paddle steamers between Brisbane and Ipswich and the toil of the navvies and early railway engineers live on only in my imagination. The opening of the first railway was to be a major event for Queensland.

307

1 2

1| Warriors in Ambush : series 49 Aboriginal Mystic Bora Ceremony. ca. 1900-1927. Kerry & Co. (SLNSW_75764) 2| The paddle steamer, ‘Emu’, 36docked at the wharves on the Bremer River at Ipswich around 1870. (Picture Queensland, State Library of QLD.). Similar to the the Leonie37.

308

309

1| Lithograph of the wreck of HMS Sirius off Norfolk Island, 19th March 1790 38 (NLA 21511971). 2| View of the capes of Port Jackson (Sydney Harbour) by A St Aulaim (a7225020h). 3| Sydney Cove, Port Jackson 1788, by W Bradbury (a3461012h) 4| Sydney, New South Wales, southerthly view (SLNSW a7225014h).

310

311

1| The Wilsons in front of Claremont, Ipswich c.1912 (State Library of Qld)39 2| S&W Railways bridge over the Bremer River.40 3| Upper Brisbane Street Ipswich looking west, ca.1920. 4| Brisbane Street Ipswich, looking towards Limestone Hill. Ipswich became a city in 1904. It was going through a period of growth with coal mines, railway workshops, foundries, the woollen mill, sawmills and light industries like

Roberts’ Carriage Works. The quiet street belies the importance of Ipswich. The clock tower belongs to the Ipswich Post 312 Office (architect: Thomas Pye); the building to it right, also topped by a small clock tower, is the Old Town Hall. (Queensland Museum image).41

313

1 3

4 6

1| Early map of the town of Ipswich, in County of Stanley. 2| Map of the Morten Bay region). 3| Ipswich looking east. Views of Ipswich, Queensland, circa.1870. 4| Street plan of early Ipswich showing the allotments owned by Richard Lovel. 5| Historic map of the Norfolk Island land grant of

John Best. 6| Ipswich looking North from the roof of the Cribb and Foote building. With the old Ipswich railway station in the mid ground and the Railway Workshops and North Ipswich in the distance. Ipswich Jubilee publication, Queensland, ca.1910.

314

315

1| Brisbane River -near Ipswich. 2| Roseberry Parade Ipswich The Bremer River is on the left and St Mary’s Church and Covent are at the top of the hill on the right. Note the untarred roads, the gaslight and the means of transport for the lonely well-dressed man in the foreground - walking. Early

1900 (QS:P,+1900-00-00T00:00:00Z/9,P4241,Q40719727; Queensland Museum); Albert Edwin Roberts Australian 316 photographer (1878–1964). 3| Ipswich fron Denmark Hill. Views of Ipswich, Queensland, circa.1870 (1 42783) 4| View from Cunningham’s Hill towards Ipswich, Queensland in the 1940s (1 231361).

317

1 2 3

4 5

1| Official opening of the Ipswich to Grandchester line in 1865. 2, 3 & 4| Ipswich Railway Workshops. These photos of the Workshops at North Ipswich were taken around 1905. Some of the buildings may not have been completely finished. The Workshops were developed from 1901 to 1907. Hundreds of

workers were employed at the Workshops until relocating to Redbank in the 1980s. Today The Workshops Rail Museum occupies part of the site, and Queensland Railways also uses some of the workshops to maintain its fleet of steam locomotives. (QS:P,+1900-00-0). 5| Ipswich North State Primary School in the 1950s.

318

319

1| 80 Holdsworth Road in the 1980s. 2| Company photograph taken outside Bishop and Woodward Limited building in 1925. 3| George and May Stokes home, 53 Holdsworth Road, in the 1940s. 4| George and Doss Scriven’s home at 3 Payne Stret, North Ipswich, circa 1940s.

320

321

1 2

1| The little house in Birdwood/ Cuffes Lane, circa the 1980s. 2| Ipswich in 1898, looking across the Bremer River to the Woollen Mills and North Ipswich. Queensland State Archives 2252. 3| Brisbane Street, Ipswich from Nicholas Street the 1860s. .

322

Family trees

SCRIVEN FAMILY TREE

Jane Ann [Hannah] Scriven

John Scriven

Thomas Stephens

b: 1781 m: Rachel Stephens b: 1791 d: 01/1875

b: 1800 m: Anne

Drusilla Scriven

William Scriven I

Thomas Richard Scriven

b: 1826

b: 1827 d: 01/09/1868 m: Caroline Stephens 25/12/1847 b: 1827 d: 08/10/1898

b: 11/12/1829 d: 10/1869

Mary Ann (Polly) Scriven

William Henry Scriven

Thomas Scriven

Emma Elizabeth Scriven

b: 17/05/1849 d: 06/05/1927 m: Samuel Augustus Hodges – 09/11/1870 b:04/02/1845 d: 01/11/1928

b: 01/1852 d: 23/03/1906 m: Sarah Ann Lovell – 12/08/1874 b: 01/12/1851 d: 08/07/1942

b: 1854 d: 27/04/1906 m: Elizabeth Harriet Jordan – 05/08/1881 d: 03/01/1907

b: 1854 d: 05/10/1880 QLD m: William Porritt – 12/06/1877

William John Scriven

Charles Richard Scriven

Caroline Mary Scriven

James Thomas Scriven

b: 18/01/1877 d: 1879

b: 23/10/1879 d: 08/10/1964 m: Evaline (Eva) Rossiter – 18/11/1904 b: 23/03/1888 d: 21/08/1946

b: 15/07/1881 d: 30/06/1965 m: David Roger – 07/03/1901 b: 07/03/1878 d: 30/09/1931

b: 25/08/1883 d: 21/11/1884 QLD

William George [George] Scriven

Charles Leslie [Les] Scriven

Ivy Maude Scriven

b: 15/01/1875 d: 13/05/1881

Eva May [May] Scriven b: 24/04/1905 d: 21/12/1985 m: George Edward Stokes – 03/12/1927 b: 21/08/1897 d: 22/09/1970

William Sutter d: <1880 m1: Elizabeth Sutter - 05/08/1878

b: 15/01/1912 d: 10/07/1983 m: Mary Emily Jordan – 20/11/1931 b: 31/08/1908 d: 20/08/1987 m: Mary Dorothy [Doss] Crisp – 27/09/1931 b: 19/08/1911 d: 26/10/1975 b: 25/12/1911 d: 27/06/1999

Leslie George Stokes

Shirley Eva Stokes

William Charles Scriven

Alan George Scriven

b: 24/03/1930 d: 25/07/2012

b: 27/07/1931 d: 30/07/2020 m: Mervyn Hertrick – 21/08/1954 b: 17/04/1930 d: 07/05/2012

b: 08/05/1932 m: Doreen Margaret Jane Knight – 24/04/1954 b: 24/06/1932 d: 01/11/2013

b: 02/10/1938 m: Dalma Jean Zeidler – 20/04/1963 b: 25/02/1940

Lorelle Hertrick

Wayne William Scriven

David Alan Scriven

b: 18/12/1956 m: Gary Steley – 28/04/1979

b: 24/08/1957 m1: Annette Zabel – 03/10/1987 b: 29/11/1968 m2: Vicki Graham – 19/10/2019

b: 08/08/1965 m: Liza Sharee Peters – 03/10/1987 b: 29/11/1968

Glenn Thomas Hertrick b: 07/10/1958 d: 09/10/1958

Robyn Joy Hertrick b: 06/11/1959 m: James [Jim] Ford – 01/03/1980

Cheryl Ann Hertrick

323

b: 11/06/1961 m1: Mark Marschke – 03/03/1983 m2: Neville Wolski – 04/01/2011

Jeffrey Alan Hertrick b: 06/07/1964 m1: Rebecca Johnstone p2: Sally Palfrey

Peter Charles Scriven b: 13/02/1960 p: Vernon Nathan b: 06/01/1958

Suzanne Gaye Scriven b: 24/07/1963 m: David Friend – 21/01/1992 (ex) b: 10/07/1975

Michelle Maree Scriven b: 24/11/1963 m1: Raymond Bell – 04/1988 (ex) b: 10/07/1965 m2: Terry Balzer – 20/10/2014 b: 21/01/1968 d:25/08/2018

Paul Anthony Scriven b: 20/02/1968 m1: Kim Davis – 07/10/2000 b: 29/04/1968 (ex) p2: Lisa Knight b: 20/10/1972

Rodney John Scriven b: 19/09/1971 m1: Sharlene Marsh – 21/01/1992 (ex) m2: Helen Davies – 06/05/2000 (ex) b: 10/07/1975

b: 17/03/1916 d: 02/10/1916

Family trees

John Richard Scriven

Charles Henry Scriven

George Albert Scriven

b: 01/ 1858 d: 05/07/1932 m: Mary Emily Frawley – 09/06/1881 d: 20/07/1931

b: 01/1860 d: 08/07/1939 m: Agnes Hayett – 26/12/1883 b: 05/06/1859 d: 07/08/1946

b: 12/ 1864 d: 02/02/1866

Sarah Emily Eva Scriven

Emma Jennett Scriven

William John Scriven

Florence Isabella [Bella] Scriven

b: 11/11/1885 d: 02/03/1963 m: Horace William Biddle – 13/07/1907 b: 29/12/1884 d: 16/03/1930

b: 13/07/1888 d: 13/03/1959 m: Herbert Thomas Dart – 02/02/1911 b: 13/08/1886 d: 20-07/1928

b: 18/02/1891 d: 02/11/1921 m: Gertrude Hughes – 1913

b: 20/03/1895 d: 31/08/1944 m: Gerald Albert Crisp – 14/08/1920 b: 03/05/1899 d: 09/10/1926

Lorna Jean [Jean] Scriven b: 28/03/1932 d: 12/05/2020 m: Mervyn McDowall – 18/04/1953 b: 22/11/1923 d: 01/08/2017

Kenneth Leslie [Ken] Scriven b: 02/05/1945

Stephen McDowall b: 1955 m: Leanne Shanks – 1984

Janelle McDowall b: 16/01/1958 m: Laurie Devereaux – 21/03/1981 b: 1958

324

Family trees

CRISP FAMILY TREE

William John [John] Crisp b: 1680 d: 09/1849 m: Mary Hipwell – 25/10/1703

Joseph Crisp

b: 1707 d: 05/1762 m: Mary Frost – 29/06/1731 b: 1711

b: 1735 d: 02/1817 m: Mary Walton – 08/05/1759 d: 23/12/1790

Joseph Crisp b: 1765 d: 1809 m: Mary Burbridge – 15/01/1792

John H Crisp

John Joesph Knick

b: 1780 d: 09/1849 m: Mary Kennon Smith – 04/01/1824 b: 1786

b; 16/09/1810 d: 12/18730 m1: Jane Rodhise b: 1802 m2: Mary Ann Boskin – 28/10/1821 b: 1802 d: 01/1892

Joseph John Crisp

Ann Crisp

Hannah Crisp

Samuel Crisp

Margaret Crisp

b: 18/05/1813 d: 16/07/1879 m: Mary Anne Kinck – 08/03/1841 b: 13/08/18172 d: 18/10/1901

b: 1815

b: 1818

b: 1823 d: 1906 m: Eliza Anne Challenor b: 11/09/1823 d:1881

b: 1824

Edmond Edward Edwin Crisp

Jonathan [Deacon] Crisp

Joseph Crisp

David Crisp

b: 02/01/1843 d: 05/09/1899 m: Sarah Chater(is) – 04/05/1865 b: 09/1843 d: 01/05/1903

b: 23/07/1844 d: 27/02/1936 m1: Sarah Linnett – 8/02/1869 b: 12/03/1846 d: 06/12/1894 m2: Mary Moore – 01//02/1897 m3: Sarah Jane Pick – 1912

b: 12/04/1848 d: 17/11/1926 m: Elizabeth Jane Holliday b: 1855

b: 08/07/1851 d: 24/07/1936 m: Elizabeth Ann Quinn – 10/03/1881 b: 24/01/1857 d: 23/06/1938

Mary Elizabeth Crisp

Elizabeth Jane Crisp

Charles Edmond Crisp

Lawrence Albert Crisp

Edward Stanley Crisp

b: 06/1865 d: 04/1866

b: 1867 d: 08/10/1906 m: Edward James McGovern – 12/04/1886 b: 18/10/1864 d: 02/04/1930

b: 31/04/1868 d: 22/12/1952 m: Ellen Eliza Frances – 1891 b:1873 d: 1948

b: 10/1870 d: 05/03/1929 m: Agnes Smith – 16/04/1895 b: 24/10/1873 d: 22/12/1960

b: 10/1871 d: 25/07/1921 m: Amy Matilda?

Ethel Mary Crisp

Gerald Albert Crisp

Evelyn Clara Crisp

Laurence Herbert Crisp

Thora Agnes Crisp

b: 26/01/1897 d: 22/04/1973 m: Frank Francis – 27/04/1918 b: 14/09/1893 d: 12/08/1973

b: 03/05/1899 d: 09/10/1926 m: Florence Isabella [Bella] Scriven – 14/08/1920 b: 20/03/1895 d: 31/08/1944

b: 20/08/1901 d: 03/09/1990 m: Charles Bernard Kennedy – 27/09/1924 b: 25/06/1906 d: 14/08/1968

b: 24/04/1904 d: 21/05/1919

b: 11/03/1907 d: 03/01/1993 m: Selwyn James [Snow] Clegg – 22/12/1934 b: 27/09/1913 d: 01/01/1978

Lawrence Francis

Albert William Crisp

Una Kennedy

Graham Selwyn Clegg

b: 14/10/1919 d: 27/11/1920

b: 20/11/1920 d: 01/12/2001

Lewis Jack Francis

Florence May Crisp

b: 31/08/1937 m: Valerie Joyce Huet – 01/04/1961 b: 14/02/1940

b: 13/03/1921 d: 15/11/1979 m: Elinor Page Lawrie – 07/08/1954 b: 03/07/1921 d: 14/04/2008

b: 06/05/1924 d: 08/03/2013 m: John Allan Edwards – 04/01/1951 b: 01/04/1921 d:10/04/2004

b: 25/08/1925 d: 27/09/2015 m: 1) Colin Turner d: 14/10/1971 m: 2) Les Smith m: 3) Les Clarke d: 29/10/1981 m: 4) Ralph Burrows

Maude Francis

Agnes Crisp

b: 07/05/1923 d: 09/2015 m: Gerald Gilbert Tooth – 30/08/1966 b: 22/04/1903 d: 07/08/1966

b: 1927 d: 01/2016 m: Thomas James [Jim] Hutchins b: 04/06/1926 d:25/11/1995

Walter James Francis

325

b: 13/01/1926 d: 23/02/2004 m: Joan Alice Barbour – 30/12/1948 b: 13/04/1926 d:22/02/2016

Stuart Fredrick Francis b: 27/08/1927 m: Elizabeth Ann [Betty] Wingfield – 09/09/1950 b: 04/02/1930

Esme Joyce Kennedy b: 16/05/1932 m: Ted Cooper d: 19/05/1986

Family trees

Jane Crisp

John Crisp

William Crisp

b: 18271

b: 1828 m: Ann b: 1819 d: 1891

b: 1830

Frederick Brown b: 24/11/1830 d: 31/12/1905 m: Mary Motley – 07/1853 b: 1830 d: 8/11/1913

George Crisp

Owen Crisp

Jane Crisp

b: 18/08/1857 d: 13/08/1871

b: 18/08/1857 d: 11/02/1937 m: Susan Carey b: 15/03/1860 d: 03/04/1932

b: 04/09/1860 d: 29/09/1935 m: John Moffatt – 11/02/1878 b: 14/02/1854

Frederick William Brown b: 06/1871 d: 30/08/1892 m: Agnes Smith – 22/06/1892 b: 31/10/1873 d: 24/12/1960

Sarah Ann Crisp

William Henry Crisp

Alfred Joseph Crisp

Lilly Crisp

b: 05/1873 d: 1903 m: David Williams – 26/03/1891 b: 1867

b: 02/07/1875 d: 18/09/1948 m: Sarah Ann Nolan – 28/10/1897 b:1875 d: 11/01/1960

b: 06/09/1880 d: 25/08/1881

b: 08/04/1884 d: 14/04/1884

Edmund [Ted] Gordon Crisp

Mary Dorothy [Doss] Crisp

Georgiana Maud Crisp

Daniel Charles Crisp

b: 06/07/1909 d: 08/07/1985 m1:Matilda Paravaccina – 19/05/1934 b: 15/02/1913 m2: Marie Jean McDermid – 06/06/1957 b: 15/04/1920 d: 28/05/2017

b: 28/12/1911 d: 27/06/1999 m: William George Scriven – 25/09/1931 b: 31/08/1908 d: 28/08/1987

b: 23/04/1915 d: 04/09/1976 m1: David Clauden Rodger – 10/08/1934 b: 07/06/1910 d: 24/12/1959 m2: Thomas George Tafft b: 1916 d: 24/07/1977

b: 25/05/1917 d: 18/05/1965 m1: Thelma Doreen Jackson – 08/12/1938 b: 06/07/1919 m2: Leonard Wyatt – 1975 b: 06/06/1912 d: 1995

Frederick William Brown b: 16/12/1892 d: 19/09/1952 m: Irene Harlow – 25/10/1919 b: 23/02/1894 d: 07/08/1968

Frederick William John Brown b: 03/08/1920 b: 12/09/1943 Thailand

Desmond Crisp

William Charles Scriven

Marjorie Rodger

Laurence Charles Crisp

b: 12/11/1935

b: 08/05/1932 m: Doreen Margaret Jane Knight – 24/04/1954 b: 24/06/1932 d: 01/11/2013

b: 11/02/1935 m: James Arthur Reed – 11/09/1954 b: 17/02/1932

b: 06/05/1939 m: Lorraine Shearer – 31/01/1959 b: 09/01/1939

Elaine Ellen Rodger

Kenneth Daniel Crisp

b: 26/08/1936 d:10/12/1991 m: 1) John William Laidlow m: 2) Keith Gunthorpe m: 3) Robert Henry Stuart b: 11/04/1939 m: 4) William Manning b: 27/08/1941 d: 25/10/2004

b: 25/05/1941 d: 16/09/1942

b: 12/02/1926 d: 04/11/1928

Doreen Agnes Crisp

Moya Mary Brown

b: 06/11/1942 m1: Noel Dyer – 14/09/1960 m2: Dennis Inghram

b: 20/08/1929

Mervyn Douglas Crisp

b: 14/05/1936 d: 19/06/1981

Cheryl Crisp b: 27/12/1954 Brisbane, Queensland m: Warwick Dove b: 23/02/1957

Alan George Scriven b: 02/10/1938 m: Dalma Jean Zeidler – 20/04/1963 b: 25/02/1940

Lynne Rodger b: 29/08/1943 d: 30/11/1963 m: Ian Mark Kruger b: 02/10/1941

John Raymond Brown b: 26/05/1923 d: 08/08/2008

Mary Alisa Brown

Philip Harlow Brown

b: 10/11/1947 d: 18/11/1956)

326

Family trees

GRAY > LOVELL FAMILY TREE John Gray

John Best

b: 1762 d: 04/09/1818 m: Elizabeth Killett − 26/07/1803 b: 28/04/1779 d: 22/10/1875 m2: Hugh Hossack − 04/11/1822

b: 1754 d: 16/03/1839 m: Rebecca Chippenham d: 31/08/1819

Elizabeth Gray

William Gray

Jane Gray

John Gray

Hannah Gray

b: 07/05/1803 d: 19/03/1836 m: Henry Seymour Townsend − 14/7/1828

b: 24/01/1805 d: 04/04/1851 m: Mary Wheeler − 17/5/1827 b: 1808 d: 25/01/1877

b: 22/06/1808 d: 16/11/1880 m: Alex Sinclair Manson − 02/02/1830 b: 1802 d:1847

b: 16/06/1810 d: 06/07/1870

b: 19/11/1813 d: 02/07/1856 m: William Jones − 09/03/1829 b: 29/11/1808 d: 29/03/1901

Rebecca Jane Gray

Elizabeth Ann Gray

Hannah Gray

William John Best Gray

Mary Gray

b: 16/09/1825 d: 17/02/1898 m: Henry Kirby − 17/05/1827 b: 1811 d: 28/05/1854

b: 13/05/1828 d: 18/05/1874 m1: Charles Sloane − 1840 b: 1821 d: 18/03/1859 m2: Thomas Langford − 14/06/1860 b: 1820 d: 09/09/1909

b: 05/09/1830 d: 20/03/1860 m: Richard Edward Lovell − 13/09/1845 b: 18/08/1816 d: 24/02/1859

b: 18/10/1832 d: 09/12/1911 m: Mary Ann Clay − 17/11/1854 b: 06/05/1837 13/05/1924

b: 10/01/1835 d: 19/09/1911 m1: John Campbell − 23/10/1852 b: 1831 d: 1903 m2: William Wanstall − 09/04/1874 b: 1832 d: 1900

Mary Rebecca Lovell

Jane Hannah Lovell

Sarah Ann Lovell

Agnes Catherine Lovell

William Edward Lovell

b: 16/10/1847 d: 14/02/1925 m: Peter Tighe − 22/09/1869 b: 1843 25/07/1931

b: 01/11/1849 d: 28/01/1933 m: Charles A Thomas − 15/03/1865 b: 13/12/1840 d:13/07/1917

b: 01/12/1851 d: 08/07/1942 m: William Scriven − 12/08/1874 b: 01/1852 d: 23/03/1906

b: 16/11/1853

b: 13/11/1854 d: 25/11/1941 m: Alice Stockbridge − 20/04/1882 b: 05/07/1863 d: 28/05/1939

Joseph Stokes b: 1794 d: 06/1881 m: Mary Broomfield − 06/03/1819 b: 1795 d: 07/1880

STOKES FAMILY TREE

327

Edward Stokes

Maria Stokes

b: 20/04/1829 d: 04/01/1905 m: Mary [Jane] Ireland − 24/02/1856 b: 27/11/1829 d:28/07/19097

b: 1834

Mary Jane Stokes

Catherine Emily Stokes

Fredrick Arthur Stokes

John Borfield Stokes

Ada Stokes

b: 03/08/1856 d: 19/12/1938 m: Wright Brook − 30/04/1878 b: 13/04/1854 d: 10/01/1926

b: 26/09/1859 d: 01/05/1941 m: Thomas Robertson − 31/12/1890 b: 25/03/1862 d: 25/04/1941

b: 06/04/1862 d: 28/05/1942 m: Eliza Pearson − 1887 b: 19/03/1866 d: 05/01/1940

b: 1865 d: 04/02/1866

b: 07/12/1866 d: 15/06/1919

Emma Louise Stokes

Ada Stokes

George Edward Stokes

Norman Stanley Stokes

Essie May Stokes

b: 24/05/1894 d: 02/12/1969 m: James Varrie − 21/06/1919 b: 05/03/1886 d: 21/07/1961

b: 25/05/1896 d: 20/08/1974

b: 21/08/1897 d: 27/09/1977 m: Eva May Scriven − 03/12/1927 b: 24/04/1905 d: 21/12/1985

b: 121/08/1897 d: 1898

b: 04/05/1900 d:31/10/1938 m: Henry O Chalk − 28/08/1920 b: 15/04/1899 d: 27/10/1973

Family trees

Ann Louise Gray

Richard Gray

b: 19/06/1815 d: 20/02/1874 m: Heyward St Leger Atkins − 1834 b: 1812 d:06/06/1891

b: 06/11/1817 d: 25/07/1896 m: Mary Ann Gould − 12/11/1838 b: 1820 d:17/01/1874

Charles Henry Scriven

CHARLES SCRIVEN FAMILY TREE

b: 1860 d: 8/7/1939 m: Agnes Haryett − 26/12/1883 b: 05/06/1859 d:1945

Charles William Henry Scriven

Lillian Edith Scriven

Victor Ernest Scriven

Thomas Gordon Scriven

b: 10/5/1889 d: 02/06/1970 m: Richard Hodges − 06/11/1912 b: 01/08/1886 d: 16/12/1965

b: 02/09/1891 d: 29/11/1976 m: Gertrude Roselle Powter − 17/04/1911 b: 03/11/1891 d: 07/03/1977

b: 11/05/1899 d: 27/09/1949 m: Adelaide Victoria Margeritte Wiseman − 15/08/1919

Lillian Sarah Scriven

Eric Richard Hodges

b: 37/09/1906 d: 14/03/1987

b: 21/05/1914 d: 22/06/2000

Victor Robert Mill Scriven

Gordon Fredrick Charles Scriven

Cecil Henry Scriven

Constance Millicent Hodges

b: 04/10/1911

b: 01/08/1920 d: 04/07/2013

b: 12/12/1884 d: 24/04/1953 m1: Sarah Wyatt − 13/12/1905 b: 13/10/1887 d: 16/12/1924 m2: Dora E P Morris − 01/09/1926 b: 1899

Caroline Sophia Louisa Scriven b: 18/02/1887 d: 13/03/1888

b: 05/11/1908 d: 27/03/1985

Roy Charles Scriven

Frances Amy Scriven

b: 07/10/1915 d: 27/03/1995

b: 13/02/1914

b: 08/07/1911

Charles Samuel Hodges

Hedley John Scriven

Robert Neville Scriven

b: 20/06/1920 d: 12/02/1998

b: 1929 d: 04/07/2013

b: 1926

Isabel Scriven b: 07/1927

Morris Charles Scriven b: 08/10/1928 d: 26/01/1994

William Thomas Stokes b: 13/06/1870 d: 03/04/1952 m1: Auguste Wilhelmine Frievaldt − 09/10/1895 b: 31/05/1870 d: 28/10/1905 m2: Alice Hutchins − 03/1913 b: 17/03/1888 d: 20/09/1978

William Thomas Stokes

Norman Stanley Stokes

Percival Stokes

Ellen Jane Stokes

b: 09/04/1902 d: 06/05/1987 m: Mary Kelly − 24/12//1927 b: 06/04/1905 d: 30/08/1989

b: 01/11/1849 d: 07/05/1904

b: 28/07/1905 d: 04/11/1977 m: Hazel Livermore − 130/07/1927 b: 29/06/1910 d: 15/12/1968

b: 20/01/1914 d: 14/04/1919

328

Family trees

ROSSITER FAMILY TREE James Rossiter b: 1580

Abraham Rossiter b: 1605 d:1685 m: Joan d: 1685-1697

PENNING FAMILY TREE

John Rossiter b: 16/04/1629 d: 02/1699

Thomas Penning b: 21/11/1834 d: 12/01/1918 m: Phoebe Susannah Feron − 27/5/1860 b:1835 d:28/06/1878

Jonathan Rossiter b: 1655 d: 1712 m: Joanna Huish − 1675 b: 1654 d: 04/1720

Benjamin Rossiter

Sarah Amelia Penning

Thomas Henry Penning

Phoebe Susanah Penning

William Charles Penning

b: 12/1854 d: 05/05/1916 m: H Norris −

b: 04/08/1856 d: 13/05/1923

b: 08/02/1859 d: 18/04/1927 m: George Rossiter − 24/08/1878 b: 13/12/1855 d: 17/03/1938

b: 12/1860 d: 01/08/1929

b: 1680 d: 01/1732 m: Elizabeth Thresher − 1696 b: 1683 d: 1766

William Rossiter

George Rossiter

b: 1712 d: 06/1782 m: Susannah Lawrence − 26/12/1740 b: 1715 d: 11/1782

b: 31/12/1855 d: 17/02/1938 m: Phoebe Susannah Penning − 24/08/1878 b: 03/1859 d: 18/04/1927

John Thomas Rossiter

Stephen Rossiter

William George Rossiter

b: 15/07/1744 d: 05/06/1831 m: Hannah Milsom − 06/07/1772 b: 05/1745 d: 05/06/1831

b: 31/06/1879 d: 25/10/1881

Phoebe Mary Ann Rossiter b: 26/04/1885 d:19/03/1945 m: John Jones − 1900 b: 30/12/1879 d: 28/05/1919

John Rossiter Sen

William Jones

b: 09/10/1785 d: 03/05/1860 m: Elizabeth Ann (Ellen) Drew − 04/06/1809 b: 1783 d: 16/05/1823

b: 24/08/1900 d: 1970 m: Edith Williams − 21/07/1920 b: 07/11/1897 d: 11/06/1967

Arthur Jones b: 11/05/1904 d: 09/08/1952 m: Mary Ellen Rogers − 1925 b: 124/06/1906 d: 23/11/1971

John Rossiter Jr b: 20/04/1823 d: 15/08/1875 m: Mary Ann Parker − 04/06/1809 b: 16/05/1830 d: 18/08/1911

Phoebe Mary Ann Jones

b: 05/10/1882 d: 09/09/1950 m1: Elizabeth S Lancester − 06/1904 b: 29/04/1884 d: 07/02/1905 m2: Mary M Currie − 21/12/1910 b: 18/11/ 1882 d: 09/06/1935 m3: Jessie W Wilkie − 17/06/1939 b: 19/05/1887 d: 01/12/1962

William Arthur Rossiter b: 09/07/1885 d: 05/07/1949 m1: Margaret Shaw Currie − 24/04/1907 b: 10/12/1880 d: 27/09/1935 m2: Charlotte Lewis − 14/12/1940 b:13/02/1893 d: 10/05/1984

Florence Elizabeth Rossiter

Margaret Currie Rossiter

b: 28/01/1905 d:1973

George Rossiter

Margaret Templeton Rossiter b: 1911 d: 31/01/1957 m: Fredrick Raymond Holmes − 16/11/1935 b: 12/06/1909 d: 10/11/1966

b: 10/03/1908 d: 12/09/1982

b: 23/06/1911 d: 24/10/1952

Dugald Rossiter b: 09/06/1914 d: 28/05/1990

William Arthur Rossiter b: 9/08/1917 d: 01/07/2005

b: 23/03/1917 d: 13/02/1973 m: Tom Harper − 28/05/1938 b: 15/05/1915 d: 13/08/1990

Kevin Jones

329

b: 1924 d: 09/08/1880 m: Hazel Bradley − 04/06/1809 b: 02/11/1928 d: 10/06/2008

Thelma Joyce Jones

William (Bill) Jones

b: 1926 m: Allen Gilleland − 15/11/1947 b: 11/09/1916 d: 30/04/1990

b: 1928 m: Wilma

Daphne Jones

Valma Jones

b: 1930 m: Arnold Gilleland b: 10/01//1922 d: 22/04/1985

b: 1930 m: Kevin Head

Mervyn Arthur Jones b: 1936 d:10/06/1981 m: Margaret

Lorraine Jones b: 1938 m: Trevor Smith

Family trees

JORDAN FAMILY TREE JamesJordan

John McLeish

b: 1821 d: 29/03/1899 m: Isabella Johnston − 18/12/1841 b: 1823 d: 06/01/1884

b: 1818 m: Euphemia Murrie − 17/05/1840 b: 10/09/1809 d: 02/12/1879

William Jordan

William McLeish

b: 1846 d: 29/01/1924 m: Jean Janet Watt d: 10/05/1845 d:27/03/1866

b: 14/03/1843 d: 30/04/1914 m: Margaret Scott − 23/06/1865 b: 1847 d: 09/05/1917

James Jordan b: 16/02/1868 d: 29/06/1915 m: Euphemia Murrie McLeish − 1894 d: 13/02/1872 d: 27/06/1961

Nellie Margaret Jordan

John William Jordan

Jane Jordan

Alexander Jordan

b: 1895 d: 03/11/1911

b: 1897 d: 05/06/1932

b: 1899 d: 1899

Margaret Euphemia Doris Jordan b: 12/04/1901 d: 30/04/1923

Mary Emily Jordan

Colin Archibald Jordan

Jean Watt Jordan

David Jordan

James Leslie Jordan

b: 19/08/1911 d: 26/10/1975 m: Charles Leslie Scriven – 20/11/1931 b: 15/01/1912 d: 10/07/1983

b: 19/11/1909 d: 10/06/1964 m: Margaret McInally − 1934 b: 26/07/1914 d: 09/2003

b: 05/11/1907 d: 24/01/1930

b: 13/07/1905 d: 27/12/1967 m: Ellen Vi Perrett − 14/05/1932 b: 29/06/1913 d: 07/05/1982

b: 13/04/1903 d: 10/06/1928

Andrew Rossiter

Evaline (Eva) Rossiter

Ada Rossiter

Daisy May Rossiter

Gertrude Rossiter

b: 17/04/1886 d: 06/06/1956 m: Edith Caroline Burow − 15/05/1915 b: 21/01/1894 d: 1974

b: 23/03/1888 d: 21/08/1946 m: Charles Richard Scriven – 18/11/1904 b: 23/10/1879 d: 08/10/1964

b: 18/06/1890 d: 02/12/1966 m: John Marsh Law – 19/10/1910 b: 18/10/1888 d: 12/10/1951

b: 1892 d: 1959 m: Victor Swanson – 09/12/1907 b: 18/10/1885 d: 19/06/1932

b: 01/04/1895 d: 17/09/1966 m: Richard Henry Watkins – 18/12/1913 b:08/09/1876 d: 08/07/1957

John William Rossiter

Eva May Scriven

James George Law

Percy Arthur Swanson

Colin Herbert Watkins

b: 28/12/1915 d: 12/10/1951

b: 24/04/1905 d: 21/12/1985 m: George Stokes – 03/12/1927 b: 21/08/1897 d: 22/09/1970

b: 29/06/1911 d: 17/04/1967 m: Janet Richards – 03/12/1938 b: 27/07/1917 d: 30/06/1978

b: 27/06/1908 d: 14/04/1966

b: 08/09/1916 d: 08/07/1991 m: Lily Mary Daly – b: 08/04/1916 d: 24/03/2000

William George Scriven

Thomas Henry Law

b: 09/10/1910 d: 10/10/1910

b: 31/08/1908 d: 20/08/1987 m: Doss Crisp – 27/09/1931 b: 25/12/1911 d: 27/06/1999

b: 30/12/1912

Gladys May Swanson

Rachel Law

b: 06/09/1912 d: 09/06/1988

Charles Leslie Scriven

b: 08/08/1916 d: 21/08/1994 m: Philip Eleison – 14/12/1935 b: 17/06/1912 d: 20/03/1989

Mabel Swanson

Lilias Grace Rossiter b: 28/10/1917

b: 15/01/1912 d: 10/07/1983 m: Emily Jordan – 20/11/1931 b: 19/08/1911 d: 26/10/1975

Ivy Maude Scriven b: 17/03/1916 d: 02/10/1916

Elsie Law b: 09/04/1920 d: 1987 m: Allan Horsfall – 29/04/1955 b: 27/04/1918 d: 13/02/1993

Doris Irene Swanson

b: 16/11/1913 d: 19/10/2005

Thelma Phoebe Swanson b: 19/04/1916

Victor Swanson b: 03/05/1918 d: 19/05/1973

George Swanson b: 03/06/1920 d: 16/04/2007

Mervyn Llewellyn Swanson b: 1925

330

The never ending story

We are not defined by where we are born, nor the family we grew up with. We are not bound by any restrictions only those of society and a truth to ourselves. Sydney, December 2020

Holdsworth Road:

Peter Scriven and Janelle Devereaux

One family’s connections to the creation of a nation

Peter Scriven and Janelle Devereaux