Topic: Witness to History.

In 1885 Queen Victoria of England and her daughter Princess Beatrice spent some time at Aix-Les-Bains, a thermal spa town on Lake Bourget in the Savoie, eastern France. On April 14 it was Princess Beatrice’s birthday; the town was gaily decorated with flags and the previous evening there was a display of fireworks on the hill.

In the morning, the band of the 4th Regiment of Dragoons played a selection of music and various people presented the Princess with bouquets. Among them were two of my Great Grandfather’s sisters – Miss Susan Darchy (1857-1922) and Miss Rose-Ann Darchy (1866-1930), representing the people of New South Wales, Australia. (The Times, 17 April 1885).

Four days later Susan and her brother Louis Darchy (1860-1910) were again presented to the Queen, according to The Times’ Court Circular of April 18th:

Louis was to have yet another meeting with Queen Victoria (The Penny Illustrated Paper and Illustrated Times, May 09, 1885):

This was reported again at a later date in the Riverine Grazier, a country NSW newspaper, on 12 January 1894, which gives the explanation:

Topic: Favorite Photo.

This photo is of my late mother in law, Joy Hoffmann, and our beloved cat Minou who lived to 19. Take on board our boat in Pittwater, NSW, Australia, about 1975. Although the following story is a sad one, I still love this photo for the peaceful happy time it represents.

Joy was visiting us from England. About 23 years earlier her husband Squadron leader Bill Hoffmann AFC was drowned when aged only 39, while trying to rescue a woman in difficulties. So his widow had every reason to hate the sea and anything to do with it. But her son Geoff, my first husband, wanted to show her his boat ….

Less than 20 years later Geoff himself died from melanoma and eight months later Joy herself died, her friends said of a “broken heart” – certainly it would have contributed. It is a lasting regret that I didn’t get to know her better.

And Minou? In cat years, she outlived everyone. She also outlived at least twice the normal number of cat lives (9 x 2) and had a string of adventures anyone would envy … lived in various houses all over two Australian states, caught a snake, got stuck in a chimney and had to be hauled out by her tail, was resident mouse catcher on a tomato farm, lived on a boat for some years and fell overboard several times, flew in a plane, went on long car trips and almost got lost in the bush, once spent an afternoon in a parrot cage at an airport ….

Theme: Origins. (“Genealogists often get the question, “Where is your family from?” With this week’s theme, you could explore an immigrant ancestor, but you could also think about the origin of other aspects of your family. Who was the first person in your family to settle in a particular town? If you have a long line of people with the same occupation, talent, etc, who was the first person you know who did it?”).

My GGrandfather Frederick Wentworth Wade (1838-1912), born in Dublin, was the first of his family to settle in New Zealand, and the first and as far as is known only person in the family to profess Law.

He was one of the first settlers in the southern NZ town of Invercargill, was on the Committee formed in 1869 to investigate formation of the first Borough Council, and served on the early Invercargill Council to 1878.

One of his obituaries described Frederick as having been associated with most of the enterprises which had made for the advancement of the town from the time it was in its embryo stage. “Not only was he actively associated with social, municipal and parliamentary activities, but in the realm of sport he was at one time a most prominent figure…” The list included turf interests, rowing, coursing, cricket and football. He was also Sergeant-Major in the first Volunteer company formed in Invercargill, ultimately becoming Captain.
Frederick was a founder, office bearer or early member of various prominent Invercargill institutions – the Invercargill Club, Irish Athletics Society, Fire Brigade, Bowls Club, Coursing Club, Turf Club, Southland Racing Club, the Athenaeum, the Hospital Trust, the Chamber of Commerce and the Southland Caledonian Society. He became a Trustee of the Savings Bank in 1872 together with his brother in law James Blacklock (NZ Gazette)
“… and up to his last illness had not missed a meeting…” according to an obituary in the Southland Daily News.

Disappointingly none of these institutions or their successors have a photograph of Frederick.

He was said by his fellow members of the Bar to be endowed with fine intellectual talents and was a particularly strong advocate who took a keen interest and part in public matters, with a genial manner which endeared him to many, and he always conducted his cases in a fair and honourable way. The Supreme Court adjourned for one afternoon to allow members of the profession to attend his funeral.

One obituary said he experienced to the full ups and downs “…such as seldom come to the lot of one man…” and predicted that Wade’s passing would prompt many old identities to let loose a flood of reminiscences “… which perhaps have never been unearthed previously”.