Trove Tuesday – A Lost Kaf

I hope the kaf was reunited with his/her owner

This is True!. (1939, August 17). Albany Advertiser (WA : 1897 – 1950), p. 6. Retrieved March 5, 2013, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article70410510

Trove Tuesday – Accidental Tourists

I was enjoying this story until I reached the last sentence…

FIGHT WITH A KANGAROO. (1922, November 13). Portland Guardian (Vic. : 1876 – 1953), p. 2 Edition: EVENING.. Retrieved February 25, 2013, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article64026993

Trove Tuesday – The Hamilton Ghost

I have previously written about paranormal activities in Hamilton for Trove Tuesday, when residents thought War of the Worlds had come to town.  Now I bring you the story of the Hamilton ghost.  Well, actually four stories but not all of the same ghost and on one occasion the Hamilton apparition drifted out of town to Macarthur.

What I like about these stories is that the ghosts were not the transparent style of apparition, but rather the classic white sheet type made popular by 19th century theatre.  There is a varying amount of tongue in cheek used in the reporting, but on each occasion there were a number of people scared out of their wits.

1941

Hamilton’s Ghost Walks. (1941, July 21). Portland Guardian (Vic. : 1876 – 1953), p. 2 Edition: EVENING. Retrieved February 18, 2013, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article64401002

1922

A “GHOST” SCARE. (1922, June 6). The Horsham Times (Vic. : 1882 – 1954), p. 4. Retrieved February 19, 2013, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article72732250

1898

Established August 1842. (1898, September 14). Portland Guardian (Vic. : 1876 – 1953), p. 2 Edition: EVENING. Retrieved February 19, 2013, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article63674221

1876

THE HAMILTON GHOST. (1876, May 13). Clarence and Richmond Examiner and New England Advertiser (Grafton, NSW : 1859 – 1889), p. 4. Retrieved February 19, 2013, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article61905173

Trove Tuesday – Bush Valentine

It’s two days early but this week’s Trove Tuesday has a Valentine’s Day theme.  From the Illustrated Australian News  of February 21, 1883, comes “Bush Valentine”.  Valentine’s Day was not the postman’s favourite day of the year as his workload increased significantly but whether he came by horse or bicycle, his arrival caused great excitement.

OUR ILLUSTRATIONS. (1883, February 21). Illustrated Australian News (Melbourne, Vic. : 1876 – 1889), p. 17. Retrieved February 10, 2013, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article63186253

Trove Tuesday – Gilding The Lily

This week’s Trove Tuesday article first came to my attention in The Ararat Advertiser.  It was barely legible but luckily the Gippsland Mercury ran the same story on February 24, 1914.

OBITUARY FRILLS. (1914, February 24). Gippsland Mercury (Sale, Vic. : 1914 – 1918), p. 4. Retrieved February 2, 2013, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article88665863

 

Trove Tuesday – Longevity

From the Portland Guardian of January 4, 1951, comes some longevity facts.

One of the families in the article are the Guthridges of Carapook and Charam.  It was the story of the patriarch of this family,  Richard Charles Guthridge, that inspired me to hit the microfiche readers around 20 years ago and begin the search for my family.  The Herald-Sun ran an article about Richard and his long-lived family.  Nana cut it out as it mentioned the married names of the Guthridge girls with Hadden, Nana’s maiden name, one of them.

Of course, we thought we must be related to this great pioneer in some way.  Well we weren’t.  My Haddens were from Scotland and the Hadden boys, James and William, that married into the Guthridge family were from Ireland.  Maybe the Irish Haddens could have been originally Scots, but as I would have to go back to the early 1800s,  I don’t think I’m that desperate to find a distant link.

The article gives the total age of ten members of the Guthridge family as 768 years.  It also mentions the Humphries family of Hamilton with an average age of 60.

 

LONGEVITY IN FAMILIES. (1951, January 4). Portland Guardian (Vic. : 1876 – 1953), p. 3 Edition: MIDDAY.. Retrieved January 28, 2013, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article64427264

There is no doubt that the Guthridge family, with all 10 siblings alive when the youngest was 68 ( Richard lived to 95), was a big effort, but is the Humphries family average remarkable?

When I look at my families, most of them have had siblings that died at a young age and as far we know, all the Humphries were alive in 1951, with the youngest 50.

When I  averaged the ages of  the Harman children that came to Australia, using their age in the year of  brother James Harman’s death, aged 86, I get an average age of 75.  Fantastic, but I cheated because Reuben died in 1883 and I didn’t count his age or the siblings that died before the family left England.  The Harmans have, however, also had an article published about their longevity.

Family’s Longevity. (1929, September 10). Advocate (Burnie, Tas. : 1890 – 1954), p. 5. Retrieved December 19, 2011, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article67674788

The Hadden family is a little more accurate.  If I average the ages in the year the first sibling  passed away, Margaret in 1927, I get an average age of 69.  That’s really good.  The ages were 80, 77, 74, 66, 63, 55.   My gg grandfather William was the 80-year-old and he was still working at Mokanger Station at that time.

Have I sent you scurrying for the calculator?  Let me know your best average age.

Trove Tuesday – Snake Tales

Browsing my Trove tags for this week’s post , the tag “Snake sixteen feet” attracted my attention.  The item was this snippet from The Argus of February 29, 1864 (obviously a leap year).

CRIMINAL SESSIONS. (1864, February 29). The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 – 1956), p. 6. Retrieved January 22, 2013, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article5744916

Since I have seen two snakes this season after going many years without having seen one, the sixteen foot snake seemed like an appropriate Trove Tuesday subject.  I searched Trove for “snake sixteen feet”.  I then narrowed the results down to 1864 but first I noted how many articles came up with the words “snake sixteen feet”.  A lot actually, making me think that just like hailstones are always the “size of golf balls”, snakes were once always sixteen feet long.

I did find more about the snake that was making its presence felt at Mount Fyans Station near Mortlake.

THE GOVERNMENT GAZETTE. (1864, February 23). The Star (Ballarat, Vic. : 1855 – 1864), p. 4. Retrieved January 22, 2013, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article72513798

I wonder if they ever did get to measure the “monster”?

 

 

Trove Tuesday – Aladdin’s Cave

While holidaying at Nelson recently, we went on a guided tour of the nearby Princess Margaret Rose Cave.  It is a fascinating collection of stalactites and stalagmites formed over millions of years from water seepage from the Glenelg River.

The story we heard of the discovery of the caves could have been straight from a Boys Own Annual.  It was found in 1936 by two young men.  One was lowered into a 17 metre dark hole with only a candle, matches and string.  When he returned to the top his comment was something like “I think I have found Aladdin’s cave” .

Because it is such a great story, I though I would search Trove for articles from the time of the cave’s opening to the public in 1941.  I found two worth sharing from the Border Watch of Mt Gambier and the Horsham Times.

New Cave Opened Near Sandy Water Hole. (1941, January 18). Border Watch (Mount Gambier, SA : 1861 – 1954), p. 3. Retrieved January 15, 2013, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article78138417

The story from the Horsham Times, claims Jack and Keith as Horsham men, but that is not indicated at all in the Border Watch article that states Jack Hutchesson had lived all his life at Caroline, near Nelson.   I did check the Electoral Rolls and there were Hutchessons living in Horsham over the years.   The Horsham Times does give a good account of the discovery of the caves.

GLENELG RIVER HAS ATTRACTIVE CAVES. (1941, February 14). The Horsham Times (Vic. : 1882 – 1954), p. 1. Retrieved January 14, 2013, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article72689203

What I did learn from the articles was that Jack and Keith were quite a bit older than the impression given on the guided tour.  We left with a picture of two lads, maybe 15 or 16,  when in fact they had Jack’s sons with them.   Otherwise it was a fun and informative tour and highly recommended.

Trove Tuesday – In the News

The newspaper articles I have shared each week for Trove Tuesday are similar to those I choose for the spasmodic “In the News” posts.  There are now 21 in total (TT is drawing close with 19 posts), so I thought I would share a few of my favourites for this week’s Trove Tuesday.

September 23, 1870 – Fire swept thorough Hamilton’s main street, Gray Street.

The Bushfire series – February 8-13 1901, January 13, 1905, January 19, 1944

December 8, 1909 – The Grampians Bunyip

November 16, 1929 – Less than 12 months after my gg uncle, Charles James Harman flew on the airship R101, it crashed over France.

June 16, 1881 - Ploughing matches from Byaduk and beyond.

Trove Tuesday – Happy New Year

Christmas Day last week, New Year’s Day this week, so keeping to the theme the focus of Trove Tuesday today is the arrival of a New Year, thanks to the  Australian Town and Country Journal of December 29, 1877.

The New Year. (1877, December 29). Australian Town and Country Journal (NSW : 1870 – 1907), p. 17. Retrieved December 28, 2012, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article70611654