genealogy

What Did Hazor Bodger Say? – Trove Tuesday

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What did Hazor Humphrey Bodger, my 3x great uncle, say to the judges at the Strathalbyn Show on March 4 1869?  Hazor was a farmer in McHarg’s Creek, South Australia, and from newspaper advertisements and articles I can see that he was breeding and showing draught horses in South Australia for a number of years.

HazorBodgerStrathalbynShow1869

A description of the show and underneath Hazor’s prize win.

1869 ‘THE STRATHALBYN SHOW.’, Adelaide Observer (SA : 1843 – 1904), 6 March, p. 6, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article158936062

On March 4 one of Hazor’s horses came second to that of Mr. W. Rankine.  Now the Rankine name is very well known in Strathalbyn as the town was founded by two Rankine brothers William and John.  I have been unable to ascertain if this is William Rankine the said co-founder or another Rankine however, I feel sure the Mr. W. Rankine listed here if not the man himself is a member of said family.  Did Hazor suspect favoritism or was it simply that he could have charged a higher price for his stallion’s services had he won the competition.

Apology Requested

Apology Requested

1869 ‘THE WEEK’S NEWS.’, Adelaide Observer (SA : 1843 – 1904), 20 March, p. 5,  http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article158936290

I don’t know what Hazor said but the Secretary of the Strathalbyn Agricultural Society was requested to write to him.  He was informed that unless he apologised to the Committee for his conduct towards the Judges at the last show, he would not be allowed to exhibit there again.  I’m guessing he used some fairly strong language.

There are no further newspaper articles showing Hazor entering horses in the Strathalbyn Show again, that I have found, so I don’t know if he gave the apology or not. He later moved to Victoria and entered horses in shows in Victoria and south eastern South Australia and unfortunately died when he was thrown from a horse at only 52 years of age in 1879.

HazorBodgerObituary1879

1879 ‘ITEMS BY CABLE.’, The Narracoorte Herald (SA : 1875 – 1954), 11 November, p. 2, viewed 25 May, 2015, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article146442946

Trove Tuesday – Finding Photos

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I decided to search Trove for newspaper articles with pictures.  My surname Willison (my maiden name) isn’t very common so I did a search for Willison, then narrowed it down to South Australia and Illustrated as in the picture below.

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I got 37 results from this search 21 of these were for my family.  Here are some of the pictures I found.

Gilbert Gordon Willison

Gilbert Gordon Willison

DonWillison8Mar1952

Don Willison

 

EdithWillisonArborDay14Aug1930

Edith Willison crouching, planting the tree.

DonWillison2Dec1952

Don Willison On the Second Motor Bike

 

BruceWillison20Sep1954

 

DonWillison5Nov1954

 

Congress 2015

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I’m having a great time at Congress it’s Saturday night so we’re half way through, there are still two days to go.  The talks I have been to have been of a very high standard and have given me much food for thought and new avenues for research.

In the main auditorium

In the main auditorium

From Helen Smith’s talk on Friendly Societies I learnt about their role in society, what some of the acronyms stand for IOR -Independant Order of Rechabites and the OFG – Order of Free Gardeners and where I may be able to find records.

Carol Baxter’s talk on surnames has me thinking of names more in the way they sound rather than how they’re spelt.  Carol told us that to an illiterate person their surname has no spelling.

Following The Gold by Carole Riley had special significance for me because so many of my ancestors were miners and I now know more about the gold mining process and the areas where Australia’s gold mines were located.

Richard Reid spoke eloquently and touchingly in Stories of the Western Front relating stories of Diggers who lost their lives as well as ones who returned.  He also told us about records we could access other than the National Archives’ attestation papers such as the Red Cross records.

Another talk focusing on WWI was by Jennie Norberry.  Jennie covered a lot of ground in her talk from defence force records to personal record collections.  She told me that to find out more about my grandfather’s WWI service I should contact the National War Memorial for help with finding Unit Diaries for the Anzac Mounted Division Signal Squadron.

Speaker’s profiles

In the exhibition hall are the stands and tables for lunch

In the exhibition hall are the stands and tables for lunch

Family Photos

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I recently got a big bag of family photos from my cousin Glenda, here are just a few.

 

Dad, Nan and Uncle Bill

Dad, Nan and Uncle Bill circa 1950

 

Nan with Favorite Chris and Lightning Larry

Nan with Favorite Chris and Lightning Larry

I knew that my Uncle Bill trained greyhounds as did my Dad but I didn’t know how early he started.  This photo is from 1948.  I found Favorite Chris’ pedigree online but not Lightning Larry’s.

 

Great Grandma Elizabeth Willison nee Reid

Great Grandma Elizabeth Willison nee Reid

Elizabeth and William (photo below) came to South Australia from Scotland on board the Loch Fyne in 1879.

Great Grandpa William Willison

Great Grandpa William Willison

William had a farm at Para Hills (South Australia) for many years.

Nan Daphne Willison nee Scadden

My Nan, Daphne Willison nee Scadden

I’m not sure where Nan worked as a nurse.

Saving Graves South Australia

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It’s been an exciting and busy time with Saving Graves this week.  As we prepared and researched for a newspaper article we had no idea the media storm it would raise!  I’m lucky to be part of a great team who have taken up the cause with gusto and stepped up when needed. Kirrily Burton has been our spokesperson this week and is carrying on her Mum’s, Catherine Crout-Habel’s, legacy as it was Catherine who started the group. Kirrily didn’t feel that she could handle the interviews but she did a wonderful job! Maybe she was channeling Catherine just a bit.

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Kirrily being interview by Channel Nine News at Centennial Park, Adelaide.

Here are links to the articles and interviews.

The Advertiser story by Miles Kemp
Kirrily Burton’s interview with Chris Smith from 2GB Sydney
Mornings on Channel 9
Sunrise on Channel 7
Channel 9 News this is another news story they did for us, I haven’t got a copy of the interview with Kirrily yet.

We have a petition up on Change.org which we are asking everyone to sign!  http://chn.ge/1CM4blQ

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Leases are expiring on our Diggers’ graves and those graves will be reused if families don’t know about their expiry and/or cannot afford to renew leases. We need urgent action to prevent the graves from being reused. This affects soldiers who survived the war and returned home and later died from injuries unrelated to their military service, all others are protected by the Office of Australian War Graves. All South Australians whose grave or niche has an expired lease which has not been renewed after two years can have their site reused. This involves the ‘lift and deepen’ process whereby the human remains are excavated, placed in an ossuary, reburied deeper in the grave and a new burial is placed on top leaving no record of the earlier burial.

We need the support of as many people as possible to show the Government that we don’t want graves being reused in South Australia. Saving graves in South Australia is saving our heritage, culture and history. Cemeteries are sacred places where families can go to mourn and remember their loved ones as well as researching local and family history. What heritage are we leaving for future generations?