We recently went to Burra, South Australia. It is about 2 hours from my home in Adelaide, South Australia. Burra is renowned for its copper deposits and the Cornish people who came to South Australia to mine it. https://www.clarevalley.com.au/directory/burra-mine-site

My Cornish Scadden ancestors did things a bit differently from others who came to South Australia. They were miners but they came later than the main influx of immigrants and chose occupations other than mining when they got here.

My Wigley ancestors from Nottinghamshire came to Burra to work in the mines however when gold was discovered in Victoria, Australia they moved there and settled in Bendigo. Here is my blog post about our visit to Bendigo.

Catherine Daglish nee Plunkett (my 2x great Aunt) was born in Ireland and came to South Australia with her family when she was very young. In 1880 records show that she was sent to Redruth Gaol for idle and disorderly conduct. She was sentenced to fourteen days hard labour. There is a lot more to Catherine’s story which I may cover in another blog post.

I didn’t go into details about why Catherine was in gaol but my oldest grandson Mr 8 understood that it was an awful place to be, even for a short time.

On a recent trip to Bendigo we visited the Central Deborah Mine and Museum to show my grandchildren a little bit about what mining was like there. We were unable to go underground but explored the above ground exhibits and parts of the old mine buildings above ground thoroughly.

My Wigley ancestors went from Nottinghamshire, England to Burra, South Australia and then to Bendigo, Victoria, Australia. In Bendigo they worked at many different mines and in different jobs.

The kids were fascinated by all the mine equipment.

As well as visiting places of family significance the grand kids like looking at our family tree too because they can see where they fit into the family. They also like the photos of the family members they know and the older photos of the ones they don’t know. I try and keep the family stories I tell them short and to the point.

I found this post in my drafts which I didn’t finish last year. At the time I didn’t have the words to say what Lorna meant to me growing up and I really wanted to do her justice but reflecting on someone’s life and their passing a year later gives a lot more perspective. I don’t have to write the best blog post ever, I just need to write it.

Lorna was my Sunday School teacher, guide and mentor. Her mentorship wasn’t a formal role it happened naturally over the years and I’m sure I’m not the only one who wanted to emulate Lorna to some degree. She reminded me of my maternal grandmother in her deportment. I wonder if it’s because they both studied elocution.

It seemed to me growing up that Lorna was everywhere in the community of Flaxley, South Australia. She was a pillar of the local Uniting Church and Ladies Auxiliary at the Flaxley Memorial Hall, the CWA, the tennis club and I’m sure there was more.

Here are some of the results from my brief research into her early life. If there were digital copies of more recent newspapers I’m sure there would be a lot more newspaper clippings but as the digitised newspapers stop at 1954 there aren’t.

Lorna Muriel Chennell, born 17 Jul 1929, married Leonard John Downing 7 Jul 1951, died 25 Jan 2020

Warning – historical content 1940 to 1980, racist dog name and cruelty to animals – greyhound coursing with live animals.

Nine years ago I adopted a retired racing greyhound named Squizzy. Her racing name is Tears and Rain. She’s thirteen years old now and finished racing when she was four. She loves her retirement, sleeping on my bed or the couch or maybe even her own bed. She also has a staffy best friend named Tess.

Squizzy has some good greyhounds in her lineage but that didn’t translate to success on the race track for her. Her paternal grandfather Brett Lee is one such greyhound.

Both my Dad and his brother, Bill, bred and raced greyhounds. Several years ago I got a large stash of family photos which included a photo of my Nan (paternal grandmother) Daphne Willison with two greyhounds – Favorite Chris and Lightning Larry.

In February and March 1948 Lightning Larry and Favorite Chris made it into the newspapers for their wins in coursing. Coursing is not something I agree with however this is part of my family history.

There isn’t a pedigree for Lightning Larry anywhere online that I could find, he may not have been a purebred or perhaps was only involved in coursing. Someone with more knowledge of the sport and the times may be able to tell me why this is so.

Other greyhounds they owned were:

• Beau Cavalry 1948 – Favorite Chris dam, Cossack Cavalry sire – D.B. Willison
• Nina Cavalry 1948 – Favorite Chris dam, Cossack Cavalry sire – W.H. Willison
• Rotisserie circa 1968 – 1970 – dam and sire unknown D.B. Willison

Rotisserie was a racer and as far as I know wasn’t competing in coursing. I haven’t been able to find a pedigree for Rotisserie so I don’t know what his lineage was like. Dad always joked about him, saying he was “always getting slowly done” (as in beaten). Rotisserie’s pet name was Nigger. Again, this (using a racist name) is not something I endorse now.