Theme: In the News. George Thomas Darchy was my great grand uncle. Born in Melbourne, Australia in 1864, he was the ninth child of pioneering pastoral Thomas Darchy and his wife Susan Byrne, and the only one of fheir children not born ‘at home’ on their outback sheep and cattle station. His early education would… Read more

Theme: Birthdays Almost ten years ago I received an email from an unknown person:“As a collector of Scottish Mauchline ware*, I have today been given a present of a lovely little ‘Birthday book’. This book originally belonged to Mary Learmonth Johnston and it says it was a present from Maggie and Mary, August 23rd 1889.… Read more

Theme: Random I have a distantly related great aunt who died aged 13 “of natural causes” in 1906. She was one of 5 children born to George Johnston and Jessie Yuille of St. Rollox, Glasgow. Only two of them survived to full adulthood. She had an interesting name – at a time when middle names… Read more

Theme: the Great Outdoors. My Grandfather Alex Johnston was a journalist and artist. Born in Tasmania in 1868, as a young man he took off for the wilds of Western Australia, but not before he had explored the scenery around his hometown, as evidenced by some early paintings. Subsequent paintings in a series of sketchbooks… Read more

The topic for this week is ‘SLOW’. Last week I interpreted ‘Fast’ in terms of generations, so this week I’m interpreting ‘Slow’ similarly. Great Grandfather Alexander Johnston was born in 1829. His son my Grandfather Alexander Johnston was born in 1868 when his father was 39. My Father Warwick was born in 1912 when his… Read more

Topic for this week: Fast. ‘Fast’ has many meanings. I chose to interpret it as ‘a Fast Breeder’ (!) My GGF Edwin Hunt 1837-1895 married fellow schoolteacher Margaret Morgan 1838-1920 on 19 July 1862 in Reading, Berkshire. Almost exactly one year later they had the first of their ten children, Fanny Elizabeth Hunt, on 25… Read more