My Great Grandmother Jessie Melina Wigley nee Boyd died from Spanish Flu on 7 May 1919 in Sydney, New South Wales.  She was only 29 years old and my grandfather Richard Alexander Wigley was 12.

Jessie Melina Boyd

Jessie Melina Wigley nee Boyd

The Spanish Flu

“The flu was said to have infected 500 million people worldwide and killed 50 to 100 million of them, 1 to 3 percent of the world’s population at the time, making it one of the deadliest natural disasters in human history.”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1918_flu_pandemic

The New South Wales Experience of the Spanish Flu Epidemic

ABC Radio www.abc.net.au/local/audio/2009/11/11/2740044.htm

Jeremy McAnulty, the Director of Communicable Diseases, with NSW Health talks to Richard Glover about the impact of the flu on New South Wales.  This is a short interview which I found well worth listening to.  Here are some of the notes I took while listening.

The first wave of the flu in New South Wales was from March to May 1919 this was a weaker strain of the virus however approximately 1800 people still died.  The second wave was from May to August 1919.  The influenza strain had mutated by this time and was stronger.  Approximately 2900 people died in this time.

The Spanish Flu differed from seasonal influenza in that it mostly effected healthy young adults around 30 years of age and not the young, elderly or infirm.  Unfortunately Jessie fell right in this age category.

The Influenza Pandemic – The University of Sydney

Although this article is primarily talking about the staff and students of the University of Sydney it still gives readers an idea of what it was like in Sydney at the time.

Influenza Emergency Worker Badge from the Powerhouse Museum http://from.ph/135446

The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 – 1954), Wednesday 7 May 1919, page 12

Report in the SMH on the day Jessie died.

The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 – 1954), Wednesday 7 May 1919, page 12

Jessie and Charles Wigley

Jessie’s Death Notice In The Sydney Morning Herald

I received this email, via my website, last week;

Hi Kylie, Thank you for your website. I was just wondering if you had come across a brief letter of inquiry written by a Miss May A Scadden of “Riverview” Buffalo, South Gippsland to the AIF about an Arthur Evans who died in France in 1916. This letter can be viewed at http://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/DetailsReports/ItemDetail.aspx?Barcode=1908431 (digital record page 19). Could this be your May Alice Scadden? and is there a story to be told here? (My interest is that Arthur Evans’ brother Horace Sidney Evans married one of my wife’s relations).

This message intrigued me and as I am currently researching the Scadden branch of my tree I followed it up straight away.  May Alice Scadden is my first cousin once removed.  My paternal grandmother was her Aunt.

Why did May write to the AIF on Arthur’s mother’s behalf?

May Alice Scadden’s letter to the AIF

I turned to Trove to help me find out.  I couldn’t find any evidence of May and Arthur being romantically linked however Arthur was living in Buffalo, Victoria, Australia, where May lived, when he enlisted.  

Was it part of her job or simply a helpful and good thing to do?
May and her sisters wrote to soldiers and sent care packages as the following article shows.

May and her sister Janet attended a fancy dress ball where May was dressed as a Red Cross Nurse. I wonder if May was a Red Cross nurse or she desired to be one. Either way it shows a concern for others and, with the letters written to soldiers, an interest in world events.

May and Janet attend a fancy dress ball

Maybe they were involved, maybe they weren’t. I don’t know, however it is sad that Arthur didn’t return from the war, he died at the Battle of the Somme and his grieving mother may or may not have received his personal effects.

May went on to marry a local chap, Malcolm McFarlane, in 1918.

(Unfortunately I had some problems with Trove this morning so I haven’t been able to include links to the two newspaper articles above)

1. Tell us about your favourite social media tool and why you like it.

My favourite social media tool for genealogy is Google Plus because I’m able to separate my interests into ‘circles’ and share specific information with each circle.

2. How do you use social media to further your genealogy career or business?

I try to share as much interesting genealogy stuff as I can find.  I also use it to read and learn from what others are sharing and talking about.

3. What advice would you give the cruiser who said “I must be living
under a rock” and is not sure about coming out from under it? (This came from my Social Media presentation)

My advice is to take a computer course suited to their needs or work one on one with someone who can give them a gentle introduction to social media and how it can help them with their genealogy.

4. What aspect of Social Media makes you grit your teeth?

SPAM

5. How does social media assist with your CGD (continuing genealogical development)?

As I said in number two – learning!!  Keeping up to date with trends, software, websites, societies, tips etc.

6. How do you fit social media time into your busy day?

I try and remember to check social media each morning after I’ve checked my email and throughout the day if I want a break from research.

7. Do you have a story of how social media enabled you to connect with a long lost relation or fellow  researcher?

A cousin in Victoria who isn’t computer literate had a go at searching the Internet and found my blog.  Not having an email account he contacted me by phone, via the group I volunteer with which was listed on my blog.

8. You have a minute to share a piece of advice about genealogy and social media. Go for it.

Join Facebook and Twitter, connect your blog to these accounts so that it automatically posts to them.  On Facebook send friend requests to all the rellies you can find.  I have several younger cousins who read my blog because of this.  Let your family know that you’re on Twitter too.  I also share my blog posts on Google Plus with my genealogy circle as well as with my family and the Google Plus public.

Thanks to my cousin Joanne reading this blog post http://blog.kyliesgenes.com/2013/01/headstones-memorials  I now have photos of James and Mary Chapman’s headstone.   Joanne had found the photos taken before this headstone was removed and the grave site reused.

James and Mary Chapman and family