Indignity/dignity

[Old Koreelah]

One thing about money is that we can't take it with us. When these family things finally sort out, there's often a bit of irony in it all.

I'm not so sure about the saying that time heals all wounds, but eventually some do heal. Three years on from my experience with all that, I'm really glad that my relationship with two older siblings is well on the road to recovery. As for the other, as Meatloaf said, two out of three ain't bad.

 

The thing I miss is the continuity of history. My dad lived in the house he was born in 93 years ago. My Great Grandfather built it in 1896 and it hardly changed over all those years. It was like a museum of family history. Generations of family were born, lived, and died in that house. It was a typical Queensland colonial era farmhouse, verandahs on three sides, bay windows, four bedroom with the standard hallway and lots of brick chimneys.

 

With every past generation, furnishings, paintings on the wall, paperwork and documents in the office all stayed there. My Great Uncle served in the 5th.Lighthorse Regiment in WW1, and as a lifelong bachelor, lived all his life there with his father, then with his brother and sister in law. When I left three years ago, all his WW1 gear was still there including medals, kitbag, Turkish souvenirs of war and over 400 photographs he brought back, half of them he took himself. Peter, correct me if I'm wrong, but I think I sent you a copy of them and also to Geoff C. (Siznaudin) as well, with the intention of their preservation and continuity.

 

The author, Arthur Hoey Davis (Steele Rudd) who wrote the Dad and Dave series of books, lived not far away and was a regular visitor in the old days. A couple of chapters in his books were based on events that happened many years ago at my dad's place. It was one of those places where time stood still. When I visited over the years, I would drive up the driveway knowing nothing had changed. There'd be the smoke wisping out of the chimney, the big old Moreton Bay fig tree spreading over most of the roof. It was a giant of a tree. In the very early 1900's, my grandmother drove the sulky down the road to visit her family and on leaving broke a branch off their fig tree to use to coax the horse with a whack the on the backside on the return trip ( sorry R.S.P.C.A.). They planted that branch and today it has a girth of at least 15 or 20 feet.

 

That's the thing I miss - the history. I'll never go there again as I really want to preserve those valued memories. Today, the place is being seriously depleted of that history and converted into a modern style house to let out as a farmstay. A great plan, rip out the cedar double hung windows, throw them in the dump and install really nice aluminium ones. Anything old, chuck it in the dump. The rest of the extended family will be eventually allowed back there if they place a booking.

 

When someone said relatives are compulsory friends, maybe there's some truth in it.

 

The saving grace is that it's only stuff, and our memories, pride, and hopefully integrity, is what's important. For others having similar experiences, I hope it all works out in the end. It gets a lot easier after a couple of years.

You have some priceless family memories, Willedoo. Never say never. Your story is similar to ours.

 

A couple of years ago my siblings and I gathered in the old farmhouse our mum was born in- 100 years before.

 

I believe we were the first family to set foot in the place in many decades, amid the recriminations and angst after the family farm was sold off by the widow of my mum's youngest brother. That broke a link with a farm carved out the hard way by my grandfather.

 

Luckily the new owner not only values the old place, she is restoring it, and was happy for us to camp there.

 

Other branches of the family heard about our reunion and are also starting to visit the old place.

 

 

[willedoo]

Thanks very much Peter, a lot of painstaking work goes into the restoration of a photo that badly damaged.

 

Here's one I did using the clone tool, of Rifle Range Camp at Enoggera, Brisbane, 1915. It was a recruit training and holding camp. My grandmother's brother who was killed in France sent the photo home.

 

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This photo is a closer shot of the barracks at Rifle Range Camp. It's of my great uncle and his section.

 

He's the one seated at the rear, just to the viewer's right of the two men standing, with what looks like a cricket hat on. He went to France with the 52nd. Battalion and was killed by a shell in his first battle in 1916 at Mouquet Farm. He was found and identified in 1927 and finally put to rest in the war cemetery over there. He was 28 and a bachelor when he joined up.

 

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[willedoo]

You have some priceless family memories, Willedoo. Never say never. Your story is similar to ours.

A couple of years ago my siblings and I gathered in the old farmhouse our mum was born in- 100 years before.

 

I believe we were the first family to set foot in the place in many decades, amid the recriminations and angst after the family farm was sold off by the widow of my mum's youngest brother. That broke a link with a farm carved out the hard way by my grandfather.

 

Luckily the new owner not only values the old place, she is restoring it, and was happy for us to camp there.

 

Other branches of the family heard about our reunion and are also starting to visit the old place.

Thanks Old Koreelah, your story reminds me of some thoughts I've had that our old family farm might one day belong to people who value it for what it is and possibly breathe a lot of family life back into the old place. There's usually some good comes out of these things.

 

Cheers, Willie.

 

 

[gareth lacey]

No worries here , love the old pics ,they were so young ,they(all the servicemen and women ) are the real heroes,not the pretend types put up as heroes

 

please sharev the stories .One day I will share my fathers WW11 stories ,he was a hero to me,17 years old when he was in the army 1941

 

cheers gareth

 

 

[willedoo]

You have some priceless family memories, Willedoo. Never say never. Your story is similar to ours.

A couple of years ago my siblings and I gathered in the old farmhouse our mum was born in- 100 years before.

 

I believe we were the first family to set foot in the place in many decades, amid the recriminations and angst after the family farm was sold off by the widow of my mum's youngest brother. That broke a link with a farm carved out the hard way by my grandfather.

 

Luckily the new owner not only values the old place, she is restoring it, and was happy for us to camp there.

 

Other branches of the family heard about our reunion and are also starting to visit the old place.

Old Koreelah, there was another story with our old farmhouse. The last Christmas there with my dad was in 2015. On Boxing Day, there was a knock on the door from a gentleman looking for a property by that name. He was looking for the property his great grandfather used to own. I told him it couldn't be that one, as my great grandfather owned it. When he told me the name of his great grandfather, I realised it was the original owner who sold it to my great grandfather in 1896.

 

His great grandfather had been the original selector in 1871 when the selections act came in to break up some of the larger holdings. The visitor came back a couple of months later with his 91 year old father who was really pleased to be able to see where his mother grew up. We got in the ute and did a tour of the property. It was a really memorable experience.

 

Cheers, Willie.

 

 

[willedoo]

No worries here , love the old pics ,they were so young ,they(all the servicemen and women ) are the real heroes,not the pretend types put up as heroesplease sharev the stories .One day I will share my fathers WW11 stories ,he was a hero to me,17 years old when he was in the army 1941

 

cheers gareth

I'll look forward to hearing those stories one day Gareth. I guess most people our age have relatives who fought in the wars. I had two great uncles who served in WW1, one in the Light Horse who survived, and the other in the Infantry who didn't. In WW2, my dad fought up in the islands, my auntie was in the nursing corps and my grandfather was in the dad's army reserve at home. My auntie's brother in law was lost in a Lancaster over the English Channel. A chap who used to work on the family farm before the war didn't come back. He was lost at Milne Bay in the 2/9th. Battalion. It was the same battalion my dad fought in. A lot of stories there.

 

Cheers, Willie.

 

 

[willedoo]

Love the horses droppings in the foreground.

Peter, I've never taken any notice of what that was. I think your right; can't think what else it would be.

 

 

[Old Koreelah]

... the ongoing dispute who was responsible for the other driver running into the back of her - he claims she backed into him...

That's a pretty rare type of accident, Red. A claim often heard from tailgaters and the impatient.

 

My wife had a similar accident yonks ago. A ute driver moved forward as soon as the light changed, but she didn't, so he hit the back of our little car. Instead of admitting his error, the lowlife abused her and drove off. She was already in a very delicate state, recovering from losing another baby. He did more damage to her than the car.

 

That was in the bad old days when big tough blokes could bully a vulnable female. Something which should have been eradicated.

 

 

[old man emu]

I would encourage anyone with a collection of photos relating to any of our military history to forward copies to the Australian War Memorial. They are part of our Nation's history. These photos bring the dry facts in history books closer to home for our future generations. I'd love to have a photo of my grandfather from when he first joined up, to show his great-great grandson.

 

The "souvenir" photos of how things were are priceless. Any subject of these photos that can be identified, such as the one with the group identified, is more than priceless, both for the Nation's history, and for those of use who are trying to chase down our family's ancestry.

 

As well as storing these photos on CDs, I suggest that you get a Cloud account and upload them to the Cloud.