McAlary Family History

Christmas 1900 and New Year 1901 in Australia were expected to be bigger festivities than any year previous. Australia was about to be proclaimed a Commonwealth on 1 January, 1901 and many people from the bush had plans to be 'on holiday' in the city for the summer, in readiness for the 'Federation celebrations' at New Year. However, as in our more recent experiences, the Christmas celebrations of 1900 were put on hold for many of our ancestors in New South Wales, as once again, people faced the perils of the bushfire season. 1900 did not bring the misery of drought and famine, nor the horror of floods devastating homes, livestock and crops. This particular year it was the extremes of high temperatures which led to catastrophic bushfires across many towns in New South Wales that brought a standstill to Christmas festivities. J Hutchings (1907). The Bush Fire, by J Hutchings, 3 June 1907. Held in National Museum of Australia. Many newspapers across the country tried to c...

Olive May Hood was born on November 21 1907, in Perth Western Australia, to Andrew William Percival Hood and Eliza Clace Cummings. 'Ollie' as she was always called, was the youngest child. She had a big  brother and sister, Leslie Raymond (born 1902) and Doris Muriel, 'Dorrie' (born 1904.)  Olive May Hood with her big sister Doris Muriel Hood ca 1919 By day, their father Percy was the chief accountant for Perth Gas and Electricity, but in every spare moment away from work, he spent time nurturing one of his greatest passions - gardening. He had a huge garden where many fruits and vegetables were grown, but his prized plantings were his dahlias which won him numerous state awards over many years. Eliza Clace was a dressmaker by trade and a great cook - the children would gather the freshly grown vegetables from their garden and their Mum Eliza would cook up a feast.   Apart from gardening and cooking, a very important part of the children's lives was music. L-R: Stan...

My oldest photograph is one of my most precious genealogical treasures. It is one that I discovered quite by chance while looking for something else in my mother's sideboard. It took me quite by surprise when I found a little parcel, wrapped in soft cloth, tucked away safely in the back of the sideboard drawer. Immediately, I had the sense that this small parcel must have contained something very precious to my mother.  I unwrapped it carefully to see that it contained a very old, well-worn and somewhat damaged small box, approximately 8cm x 9cm x 1.5cm.  It appeared to be covered in a very fine, deep red leather that was quite scratched and scarred - bearing the hallmarks of its age. On the side I noted two very small gold latches safely securing the contents of the little box. Opening the latches carefully I was surprised to see the darkened image of a man with a rather distinguished, aristocratic face peering at me from a gold frame surrounded with a gold rope-like trim and...

They Went With Songs To The Battle....          They Fell With Their Faces To The Foe... Many of my family on both my maternal and paternal sides made the decision to serve their country in times of war. It is difficult to know what it was that spurred each of them to serve- whether it was from a sense of duty, a desire to see the world, a fear of the threat of the enemy toward their families and way of life or simply that they were not given a choice but were of a certain age and so were drafted into battles unknown. Whatever the reason, there is little doubt that the experience of war would have changed the lives of each of these men and women in ways they may never have expected. For some, they paid the ultimate sacrifice and gave their life so others may have freedom. For many who returned, their lives were likely to be changed forever- for some it was from physical injuries received; for others it was from those injuries that remained invisible, and those...

Interestingly I know very little about my 2x great grandmother Esther Stratton.  For me, her life has been nothing more than a few identifying marks on scarce family records. There are no photos. There are no stories. There are few memories. I know that Esther travelled to Australia with her siblings  departing Liverpool, England on 16 September 1852 aboard the ' John Brown '. Just four and a half months later they arrived in Port Henry, Geelong, Victoria. It was January 5, 1853. Esther was just 14 years of age and described as a domestic servant. Each of her siblings were sent to different places to work as domestic servants or agricultural labourers. Her youngest sister however, just seven years of age, was sent to stay with relatives in Melbourne. Assisted and Unassisted Passenger List, James Brown, Arrived Point Henry, Geelong 5 January 1853. Passenger Esther Farrell, 14, Domestic Servant, Disposed of to Mr George Coveney, Point Henry. One can only imagine the first impres...

  Mary Gertrude O’Donnell was my paternal great grandmother- mother of my father's mother. She was born in Coolac, near Gundagai at the family property 'Mingay', in 1869 to Patrick James 'P. J' O’Donnell and his wife Margaret Mary Hanley. Mary Gertrude was the first daughter in what was to become a large family of ten children-five boys and five girls. ‘Mingay’ where they lived, was a large, productive property of magnificent fertile farming land on the banks of the Murrumbidgee River at Coolac near Gundagai. It was used for grazing cattle, breeding sheep for wool and for producing many fine grain crops including lucerne. The O'Donnell children were very fortunate to be living in such a beautiful, magical place with verdant green fields and azure blue skies.  Mingay Homestead, Part of Family Collection, circa 1999. The river, fields and pasturelands at Mingay, NSW. From McAlary Family collection. PJ O’Donnell took his children’s education very seriously and bo...