Trove Tuesday – Flaxley South Australia

February 15, 2016kira0030

We moved to Flaxley in 1973. The front room of our house was the Flaxley Post Office and Mum was the Post Mistress. I had a look on Trove to see when the earliest mention of the Post Office was. These two occurrences are quite familiar to me.

1929 is the earliest mention I could find

I remember the cars being packed and ready to leave our house in 1980. Mum had woolen clothing soaking in the bath tub in case we needed it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1980_Ash_Wednesday_bushfires
In 1983 my sister and I were at high school in Mt Barker and couldn’t get home to Flaxley. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ash_Wednesday_bushfires

I remember in the late 70s when lightning struck the stobie pole (power and telephone pole) out the front of the house and the live power line hung precariously over the road. My brother, sister and I were enlisted, with torches, to flag down passing traffic so that no one hit it.

Trove Tuesday – Paddy Guerin/Gearin

February 2, 2016kira0030

There are two Paddy Guerin/Gearins in the family I am currently researching, an Uncle and his Nephew. I haven’t yet found out which story refers to which gentleman however I wanted to share these stories on Trove Tuesday. The Guerin family lived near Braidwood in New South Wales, Australia.

“She was a good ‘un once, like Paddy Gearin – never known to baulk”

“A ‘Good’ Excuse”

Had A Few Bears Across His Chest

“Had a few beers across his chest” I had never heard this saying before until I came across it here. I realise it means he was drunk however I’ve been unable to find any references to its origin online. Has anyone else ever heard of it?

Saving Trove Articles

July 28, 2015February 9, 2022kira0030

When I have found a result in the Trove digitised newspapers which I need to keep this is what I do:

Zoom in on the section of the newspaper that I want to keep. In this case it is a notice about Heinrich Rubeni my 3x great grandfather.

Position the text under the name of the newspaper and the date it was published, as in above picture.
Take a screenshot of the page. You can use the Print Screen key on the keyboard, a snipping tool or a graphics editing program. Edit the screenshot in a graphics program and select just the newspaper text you require, the name of the newspaper and the date it was published. Crop the picture to the selection.

Before uploading the picture to my Ancestry.com.au family tree I copy the Harvard/Australian citation from Trove so that I have the correct source for the information and I can find it on Trove again if I need to.

and paste it into the event description box.

What Did Hazor Bodger Say? – Trove Tuesday

May 25, 2015May 25, 2015kira0030

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.

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

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