Cuppa@Sues

  This photograph was taken in 1917 in Mildura and shows William Matthews (Goode), Mary Elizabeth Matthews (my grandmother), and her grandmother, Clara Marsh. It is battered and folded and has had a hard life, much like the people it depicts. William Matthews enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) and had this photo taken with his mother and niece before leaving for the Western Front in France. He carried it with him, a small piece of home amidst the horrors of war. Tragically, he was shot but survived, and the photograph was lost on the battlefield. The stain above Clara’s head is supposed to be his blood. In a remarkable twist of fate, Les Pope, a fellow soldier from Mildura who recognised the faces, picked up the photo from the mud and returned it to the family. What are the chances of that? This photo was in my great-aunt Rose's collection, and she told me this story: William came home, married, and lived in Melbourne after the war.

  Clara Marsh's life is a testament to resilience and strength. Born in June 1858 in Nottingham, England, to George Marsh, a labourer at the gas works, and Julia Wombell, Clara faced challenges from the outset. She could not read or write, so she never worked outside her parental home. She navigated a life of trials, leaving a lasting legacy through her four daughters. Early Life and Marriage Clara's early years were spent looking after her siblings at home. She married Joseph Maskrey in Sheffield in January 1875, aged 23. The couple welcomed two daughters, Clara Maskrey, born on May 12, 1877, and Gertrude Maskrey, born in April 1880. However, life changed again when Joseph left Clara and the young girls with her family and migrated to Australia. His sister and her husband were already in Orange. Journey to Australia In July 1881, Clara made the arduous journey to Australia with her daughters to reunite with Joseph, who had taken the license of the Commercial Hotel in O...

My first job after finishing school, while waiting to be old enough to start nursing training, involved receiving telegrams via telephone and typing them for dispatch at the PMG office in the heart of Melbourne. This bustling workplace had a workforce of around 50 individuals, predominantly women, who operated the telephones. You paid by the word sent, so they were usually brief. Today, the memory of receiving telegrams has primarily faded from people's minds. In fact, my last encounter with a telegram was during my first wedding in 1973.                       Grace Sandra perished last nights tragedy, heartfelt sympathy broken hearted writing love Stan This telegram my grandmother kept in her box of keepsakes for 40 years; the day it arrived, she went into shock, and her hair went white overnight.  Grace Rebeca Spooner, my mother's eldest sister, married a dashing young airman from Perth who arrived in Mildura to undergo ...

In the early 90s, my mum's cousin Bob Spooner told me when he was a little boy, an important Spooner relative came to visit the family in Mildura, and he wore a dark blue jacket with shiny brass buttons and was called Captain. Couldn't remember when it was or his name. But he just loved the shiny buttons.  Poor Bob now has Alzheimer's disease. Three Spooner boys came to Australia from London in about 1885, but I have never found their immigration records. William Mason Spooner was the eldest, a boiler maker; Richard Mason Spooner, a sailor and my great grandfather Edward Mason Spooner, a box maker and carpenter. I first assumed Richard had progressed to wearing a uniform, and it was him! But no, he left Melbourne in a rush after an argument and went to the USA, where he was a steward on boats that travelled up and down the east coast. He died in San Francisco unmarried. Bob was born in 1940, so the visit would have been the mid to late 40s. You have to love Trove! Although ...

Minnie Burnim 1893 Ballyboley My great-grandmother Mary Ann Burnim, Minnie, lived for 25 years in Tenth Street Mildura in a house built for her by her elder sons. Her younger son Mathew Henry Hamilton lived in it with his family after she died in 1947. An old tin left in the back shed contained two small photo albums and a few loose photos with no names or dates written on them. A cousin pulled them out of the albums (sadly) and thought they were useless as no one recognised the people. Thus began a 20-year journey of searching and learning. Today my 2nd cousin Kaye and I can confidently name the people in most photos and have learnt skills in dating photographs, the history of fashions and hairstyles and about photographers. This photo, taken in the early 1860s, is of James Hamilton and his son William John with his wife, Margaret Ann Gilbert. They married in 1851 at the 2nd Ballyeaston Presbyterian Church. William was a farmer and stone mason, and they had a typical Ulster farm a...

  This is a deep story made on the My Heritage site using a photo of Joyce Ferguson. You choose the voice (although her accent is not Ulster Irish, it is the best they have at the moment). Writing the script and coordinating the other photos is reasonably straightforward.