My Close Family

 When I began researching my family tree about ten years ago, I literally had just a handful of photos of my parents and grandparents.  I think there were about six or seven of my mother, taken quite a long time ago, as she had died when I was quite young. Similarly, the photos I had of my maternal grandparents, aunt and uncles were were from the 1940s / 1950s, and I could count them on one hand!

As for my paternal side, I had two photos of Dad when he was in his early 20s, and the rest of the collection dated from the his wedding day onwards until his death in 2016, but nothing from his childhood.  Additionally, I had only one photo of my paternal grandmother and none at all of my paternal grandfather.  

Now, as a result of reaching out and renewing contact with close relatives, along with around a decade of research, I have a much larger collection of precious photos of my close family.  I've put these together to make a brief family movie that I can pass on to the next generation.

Unfortunately, the movie was too big to upload as a whole, so I've had to split it into two parts:

Part 1:  The Connors side  (paternal)

                (hover over screen and click on the box in the bottom right-hand corner to go full screen)

Part 2:  The O'Donnell side  (maternal)

Music:   Arvo Pärt- Spiegel im Spiegel

School Days

This post is a move away from telling the stories of my ancestors and other relatives and telling a little of my own story, focusing on my years in primary school.

 

The field of education, particularly early childhood education, has played an enormous part in my life.  I loved school as a child, and those experiences shaped the career I chose as an adult.  After finishing secondary school, I pursued a degree in education, specialising in early childhood teaching.  For many years, I taught primary school classes across both the State and Catholic systems, before moving on to roles in learning difficulties and disabilities.  You could say I've been "at school" for most of my life!

Early Days at St. Mary's Catholic School

My primary school life began in the early 1960s in the small beachside town of Bowen.   

My first - and only - primary school was St Mary's Catholic School.  Founded by the Sisters of St. Joseph in 1873, it was the first Catholic School in the Diocese of Townsville.  

At the time I started school, St. Mary's was still a relatively small school, with a small group of teachers - a few Sisters of Mercy, alongside a couple of 'lay' teachers.  There was just one class per grade level, so all pupils (as we were known back then) moved up to the next grade level together.

There were only two primary schools in town: the state school and my Catholic school.  We had playful name-calling on the bus:  state school kids calling us "cattle ticks", and we called them "press-buttons."  Mostly, it was all in good fun because we lived in a very small town where we were all neighbours, living our lives side-by-side, sometimes on the same street.

📝 Memory Box:

"The classrooms at St. Mary's were wooden and old, but the school was alive with learning.  We didn't have much in the way of resources, but the dedication of the teaching team made up for any lack of modern facilities."

The Infant School: Sancta Barbara

                                          Grades 1 & 2 at St. Mary's in 1966.  I'm in the third row, fifth from the left

When I started in 1965, my classrooms were in the old wooden double-storey building across from the Catholic Church.  It was known as the Infant School or Sancta Barbara.

       The Infants School, St Mary's, Bowen -  photo was probably taken in the 1950s 

📝 Memory Box:

"The outside staircase led up to three large classrooms for Years 1, 2, and 3.  Year 4 was below.  Underneath the building there was also a large concrete area where we sat for assembly and lunches - 'little lunch' mid-morning, and 'big lunch' around midday."

"Small bottles of milk with foil tops were delivered daily to the cement slab very early in the morning, and there they would sit in their crates until little lunch, without refrigeration! 

The milk was often warm, especially in tropical summers, and smelled of cream gone off, but we drank it anyway - it was our daily calcium dose!"

In the 1960s, the school year was broken into three terms, with terms lasting between 13 and 15 weeks.  School holidays occurred in April, August and the the long school break was over December and January.  (It wasn't until 1981 that the school year changed from three terms to four terms / two semesters.)

📝 Memory Box: 

"I would head off to school every day carrying my 'port', as my school bag was known as back then.  

Basically it was a cardboard box with a handle, and it would develop rather a peculiar smell which was a combination of mustiness and the aroma of vegemite sandwiches!"

 

There were two different versions of the school port.  The one pictured here on the right, with a handle and two fasteners, was carried in your hand ....

... or there was the one you could sling across your back as it had straps to go around your shoulders.

I only ever remember having the one that had to be carried by hand."

 

The school port carried the staple lunch item for any Australian growing up in the 1960s - vegemite sandwiches wrapped in baking paper.

No juice boxes, no plastic packaging.  Water was the drink of choice, alongside the mandatory does of school milk."

📝 Memory Box:

"There was very little rubbish around our school yard, as there was an iron drum fire pit where we would dump our lunch paper wrappings.  No kid every got burnt.  We knew not to get too close - it was just part of our daily routine.  Can you imagine that happening today?"

The 4Rs

 

Early learning at our Catholic School revolved around the 4Rs:  Reading, wRiting, aRithmetic ... and Religion!

Slates were used in the early years for writing, wiped with rag that had a truly memorable (and awful) smell. 

Exercise books only arrived in Grade 3, marking a sense of growth arousing feelings of great pride.

Reading was mastered by learning from the Happy Venture Readers, which were full of the really boring adventures of Dick and Jane, Dora (Jane's doll) and Nip (Dick's dog).

Comprehension skills were taught in Grades 4, 5 and 6, using the slightly more exciting 'Wide Range Readers'.

The stories never did fire my imagination and some of them were downright nonsensical! 

Maths lessons featured bits of coloured wood called Cuisenaire rods.

Religious education was central to our learning, with daily lessons from the catechism 'My Way To God'.  

I still have a few of them in my possession and occasionally go through them just to remind myself of the moral guidance we received from an early age.

📝 Memory Box:

"Our Grade 1 and 2 teacher was a Sister of Mercy (but I can't remember her name).  She wore her full habit every day, even in the extraordinarily high summer temps experienced in northern tropical Queensland.  I distinctly remember the sound of her habit swishing across the classroom as she occasionally moved from her desk at the front of the classroom to check on our reading and writing. Being at the front of the room, behind the desk, was the usual position of teachers back then, away from the kids, and in the position of power."

Religious Milestones

 Communion Day (1966 Grade 2)

Catholicism shaped many of my primary school experiences.  Nuns and priests were part of our daily lives at school, and most school events were tied up with significant rites of passage for young Catholics:

First Confession (Grade 2): Terrifying! Choosing sins to confess was hard.  There was basically a choice of four - lying, disobeying your parents, fighting with your friends or siblings, and not saying your prayers before bedtime.

First Communion (Grade 2): White dresses and veils for girls; white shirts with ties for boys. The Host was tricky to manage!  It would often get stuck to the roof of my mouth and took forever to pry loose.

Confirmation (Grade 5): The Bishop visited town, which made it a very special day.  We got to choose another name for ourselves, but it had to be the name of a patron saint who we wished to model ourselves after.  I took the name of Cecilia, after Saint Cecilia, the patron saint of music.  It didn't really help with my musical talents!

 

📝 Memory Box:

"I remember receiving special medals on these important days and prayer books with a holy picture inside."

Prayer was part of our everyday school life.  We would start the day with a prayer, recite the Angelus at 12 o'clock every day, and end the day with a prayer.

We learnt traditional Catholic prayers by heart, almost from day one of our schooling.  The Lord's Prayer, Hail Mary, The Act of Contrition, The Nicene Creed, The Sign Of The Cross, Glory Be To The Father, the Mysteries Of The Rosary, were etched into our very souls.

Around Grade 3, the Guardian Angel Prayer took on special significance for the girls in the class.  That was the year we became so-called "Guardian Angels".  We wore a red cloak over our Sunday clothes once a month and we joined the entrance procession with the Priest and the altar boys.  As they walked up to the altar, the "Guardian Angels' would sit in the reserved front pews at the very front of the Church.  

After Mass, there were cakes and cordial as a treat outside the front of the Church.  Back then you often spent time with your class mates on a Sunday, after Mass, and there were usually treats for the kids and cups of tea for the adults.  I can't recall the purpose or role of a "Guardian Angel", but it was a momentous occasion when you became one!

Around the time we made our confirmation (Grade 5), all girls who had been "Guardian Angels" graduated to become a "Child of Mary".  We wore blue cloaks instead of red, and a scapular to signify our devotion to Mary and our commitment to her son Jesus.

I'm not sure any young Catholic today would know what a scapular is, or have any notion of how a Novena sounded or have attended the Stations of the Cross at Church.  Some would possibly know what rosary beads are, but may not have experienced the hours of prayer we participated in when saying the rosary at school and at Church.

The scapular pictured here is the one I remember wearing as a primary school aged child.  It was made of two square pieces of cloth with images sewn onto them, and these were attached to material strings.

There were rules to remember when wearing the scapula.  You wore it like a necklace but you had to make sure one segment rested on your chest (near your heart) and the other on your back.  You couldn't wear it all akimbo or there would be retribution of some horrible type.

Scapulars could not be worn until they were blessed by the priest and then you were expected to wear it all the time so that you would benefit from its associated blessing.  If you took it off, then you weren't afforded that privilege any more.  For those of us who wore them most of the time, I can attest to the fact that they would become quite smelly as a result of running around in the tropics and working up a sweat during summertime!

Influential  Teachers

Mrs. West  (Grades 3 - 4)

This is my Grade 3 photo, taken in 1967, and that teacher standing beside her class is the reason I went on to become a teacher myself.  I have vivid memories of Mrs. West and her devotion to her class and her commitment to ensuring every child felt success in their learning.  I always felt as if she truly cared for all of us and really knew us as individuals.  She was what was referred to as a 'lay' teacher - not a member of any religious order - and she was to be our teacher for Grades 3 and 4.

During the years in Mrs. West's class, there were some other more interesting things added to our week's learning.  She introduced art lessons, mostly drawing with craypas.

 

 

I loved craypas!  I distinctly remember the thrill of opening my first box and creating a colourful picture.  We didn't have fancy art lessons, but when it was time to get out our box of craypas, our hearts soared .. well mine did, at least!

We also learnt how to draw the country of Australia free hand.  Yes, I remember we were tested on this at the end of the year and we were expected to create something that looked exactly the same as the chart that hung on the wall.

It was an exercise that required endless practice but brought a sens of accomplishment when achieved.

Samplers was another of our learning experiences.  Well, it was for the girls at least, but I can't remember the boys ever having to do it.   

We were taught how to sew selected types of stitching ... things like blanket stitch and cross stitch.  I was pretty good at it, but I can't remember what ever happened to my samplers, so I obviously wasn't all that proud of my work.

In 1969 I was in Grade 5, and by that time we had moved from the Infant School to the other school building, known as St Mary's School, which was on the other side of our Church. 

 

It was a more modern building, just one storey with a covered hall section at one end and three classrooms at the other end for Year 5, Year 6 and Year 7.  In those days, unlike the present day, primary school ended at Year 7.  (Today Year 7 is the first year of high school!) 

Sister Bernadette (Grade 5)

My Grade 5 teacher was a nun named Sister Bernadette (to whom I felt a certain fondness given that we had the same name).  She was a kind-hearted nun who opened the world of music to us.  We spent quite a bit of time in the covered hall rehearsing songs for various concerts held throughout the year, and I fondly remember learning the words for "The Happy Wanderer".  

Who could forget the chorus of that?  "Val-de-re, val-de-ra.  Val-de-re, val-de- rah, ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha. Val-de-re, val-de-ra. My knapsack on my back!"  Really meaningful stuff.

Of course there was one event that will forever be etched in my memory.  A television was wheeled into our classroom one day in July.  For most of the class this was our first real TV experience.  Having a television in family homes wasn't an ordinary part of family life back then in my hometown.

    

📝 Memory Box:

"Up until that point, my experiences with watching television were very limited.  My family, like so many, would go into town on a Saturday night to listen to the Civic Band or just to wander up and down the main street.  Part of the night's entertainment involved stopping and standing in front of the window of the electrical appliance shop.  They had a television in the front window and it would be turned on so people could watch for a while.  Of course, you couldn't actually hear anything, but watching was enough.

So when a television on a trolley was wheeled into my Grade 5 classroom, I knew something momentous was about to happen.  Thinking back now, it was one of those awesome moments of wonder and awe that make us question everything we know about ourselves and our world.  I remember distinctly thinking that life might actually extend far beyond my small hometown."

What was my first real television experience (sight with sound) about?  Armstrong's first step onto the lunar surface!

Mrs. McKenna  (Grades 6-7)

Grades 6 and 7 were spent with another very influential teacher, Mrs. McKenna.  I remember her as being quite strict and proper, but she opened a whole new world of knowledge for us.  Up until that point, we could tell you a lot about Australia ... its convict and Federation history, its states and their primary industries as well as geographical features; but Mrs. McKenna taught us about interesting places elsewhere ... like Europe and South-East Asia, places I'd never really heard about before.  My world up until that point had been very small indeed!

Reflections on Primary School

Looking back on my experience of primary school, I was fortunate enough to be one of those students who loved school and thrived academically.
 

My childhood experiences - immersed in Catholic education, under dedicated teachers, with fun, simple and meaningful routines - shaped my career and life.

I went on to become a teacher myself and had a career in education for over 40 years.  

Spotlight on ... Labour!

I've decided to branch off for a while and share things other than just the stories of my direct ancestors.  The main motivation for this is my desire to share some of the many wonderful photos I've found of my extended family (not too many degrees of separation from my direct ancestors).  

These photos deserve to be in the spotlight, so I thought long and hard about an interesting way to do this.  Hence the decision to put together collections of photos that all share a common thread.  

For the eleventh collection post, the spotlight is on ...  Labour of love! 

Motherhood is such a life-long labour of love and the mothers of previous generations in my family tree overcame many challenges and faced difficult struggles raising their families.  In this post I'm sharing some truly lovely photos of these mothers with their children.

The mother seated in this photo is Annie Clark / Thompson nee Exton, my paternal 3rd great aunt.  

Born in Lincolnshire, England in 1839, she emigrated with her parents and three siblings to Australia in 1844 when she was 4 years old.

At the age of 14 she married William Clark, ten years older than her.  This was not an uncommon event in the colonies in the 1800s.

Annie went on to have eight children with William, before he died when she was aged 32.

Annie was a widower, raising her young family, for five years before marrying again at the age of 37.

This photo shows Annie with her eldest son Thomas around 1860.  Thomas has the look of a strong-willed child, and I wonder if he was a bit of a handful!  Annie looks weary in this photo, and I think her life would have been tough!  Annie died in 1919 at the age of 80 survived by six of her sons, one of her daughters, 40 grandchildren and 38 great-grandchildren.

Common Ancestors with Annie:  my 3rd great grandparents James Exton and Susannah Lancaster  (Annie's parents).

This photo shows mother Alice Brown nee Maguire, the wife of my paternal 2nd great uncle.

Alice was born in 1875 and married Robert Frederick Bayley Brown in 1892 when she was 17 years old.

Alice and Robert went on to have four children, all girls.

This photo shows Alice with three of her daughters Winifred Grace, Marietta Madge (known as Madge) and Vivian Hopetoun.  

Sadly, Alice died a mere three years after this photo was taken, shortly after giving birth to her third daughter.  She was only 28 years old.  These little girls lost their mother so early in their lives and according to family history, they did not see their father again after the death of their mother.  My heart just breaks when I think about this.

 

Common Ancestors with Alice's husband Robert and their daughters:  my 2x great grandparents Henry Johnson Brown and Caroline Penelope Browning (Robert's parents).

The young mother gazing so lovingly at her son in this photo is Mabel Cusack nee Hicks, the wife of my paternal 1st cousin 3x removed.

Mabel married William Hugh Fay Cusack when she was 20 years old.  They went on to have six children.

The young boy in this photo is Mabel's first born son Walter who came along in 1910.  Don't you just adore that boater on his head and that fabulous suit he's wearing.

I also adore Mabel's dress and that delicate bracelet she's wearing.  The fan, well I think it's a fan, in Mabel's hand is an extraordinary looking thing.  It's a fascinating photo!

Mabel died in June of 1933, aged just 46.  Her husband William died just over a month later.  They were survived by their five children.

Common Ancestors with Mabel's husband William and their children: my 2x great grandparents Patrick Cusack and Eliza Exton.

This mother is Elsie Louisa Bostock nee Fackerell, the wife of my paternal 2nd cousin 2x removed.

Elsie was born in 1888, married Robert Bostock in July of 1908 when she was 20 years old, and gave birth to the baby in this photo in October of 1908.

Baby Robert Neville was the first of eleven children born to Elsie and husband Robert.  

Elsie's last child was born in 1930 when she was 42 years old.  Elsie lived until the ripe old age of 99, dying just two months before her 100th birthday in 1988.  She was obviously a rather resilient woman.

Common Ancestors with Elsie's husband Robert and their children:  my paternal 3x great grandparents William Browning and Anne (Nancy) Littlejohns.

The mother in this photo is Jane Atherton nee Bardsley. 

Jane had married Thomas Arthur Atherton in 1895 when she was 18 years old.  They went on to have a family of five sons and two daughters.

This photo, taken in 1913, shows Jane with her two daughters.  Leila, aged 11, is standing beside her mother whose gaze is focused on baby Betty.

Here is another photo of mother Jane with her eldest daughter Leila, taken in the late 1930s.

Leila married my maternal 1st cousin 2x removed, Frank Warren Shaw.

Common Ancestors with Leila's husband Frank:  my 2x great grandparents Michael Farrell and Susan Muldowney (Downey)

This photo, taken around 1916, shows Margaret Magdalen Neylon nee Hickey (seated), my paternal 1st cousin 3x removed, with her daughter Julia Alice Neylon.

Margaret was born in 1858.  When she was 23 she married Thomas Neylon and they went on to have eleven children, although six of them did not survive their childhood years.  Julia Alice was the eldest, born in 1882.

According to family stories, this photo was an old style postcard probably sent off to Margaret's son Michael who was fighting in France during WW1.  Margaret would have been about 58 years old and daughter Julia would have been 34.

Sadly Michael never returned home, but the photo did when his belongings found their way back to Australia. Margaret only lived another eight years after the death of her son Michael.  She died in 1926 at the of 68.

Common Ancestors with Margaret:  my 3x great grandparents James Hickey and Margaret McNamara.

This mother is Mary Jane Reid nee Dooley, my paternal 1st cousin 3x removed, born in 1887.  She married the father of her daughters, Alexander Reid, in 1915 just before he shipped off to fight in WW1.

This photo was likely taken in 1916 and sent off to Alexander as a reminder of what he had left behind.  Sadly he was killed in action in 1917.

The two young girls in the photo were Constance Jean, standing beside her mother, and Emma Eileen May.

Mary Jane gave birth to a son in 1918, re-married in 1924 and then had two more daughters.  She died in 1955 at the age of 68.

Here is a photo of Mary Jane with her only son Cyril James Reid, taken many years later in 1939 before Cyril went to serve in WW11.

At the time Mary Jane would have been 52 years old.  Thankfully Mary Jane was able to welcome her son back home safely at the end of the war.

When Mary Jane died in 1955, she was survived by all her children, but not by her second husband George Coldwell.  He had died in 1951.

Common Ancestors with Mary Jane:  my 3x great grandparents James Exton and Susannah Lancaster.

The mother looking upon her daughter in this photo is Frances Elizabeth Maude Dillon nee Kilfoyle, my paternal 1st cousin 2x removed.

Born in 1885 in Gunnedah, New South Wales, Frances married John Edwin Dillon in 1906 when she was 21.

They went on to have nine children.  The youngest Shirley Maude Dillon, seen in this photo, was born in 1929 when Frances was 44 years old.

Frances lived until her 63rd year, dying in 1948 and survived by her husband John and all their children.

Common Ancestors with Frances:  my 2x great grandparents Henry Johnson Brown and Caroline Penelope Browning.

This mother's name is Catherine Dwyer nee O'Donnell, my maternal 2nd great aunt, known as Kate to her family.  

Catherine (Kate) emigrated to the U.S.A. from Ireland sometime around 1900.  She married Richard B. Dwyer in 1902 and went on to have four children.  Anastacia was their first born, and Catherine came along four years later.

In this photo Catherine (Kate) is sitting on the front porch of her home with daughter Anastacia, on the right, and Catherine, on the left.

Common Ancestors with Catherine:  my 2x great grandparents John O'Donnell and Catherine Joy.

This is a photo of Sarah Muckian nee McCann, my maternal 2x great grandmother, and her son Edward Muckian.

I have not yet been able to find out many details about Sarah.  At this point in time I only know that she was born in 1821 in northern Ireland, she married Patrick Muckian when she was 32 (which, for the times, seems rather late in life to be married for the first time) and they went on to have five children.

Edward was Sarah's eldest son, born the year after her marriage when she was 33 years old.  

This photo was taken on the day of Edward's wedding in 1892.  Edward was 37 (again, that seems rather late in life) and Sarah, the proud mother, was 71 years old.

Common Ancestors with Sarah:  sadly I have not yet been able to discover the names of Sarah's parents.

This rather poised, serene looking mother is Elizabeth Shaw nee Farrell, my maternal 2nd great aunt.

Elizabeth was born in Durham, north-eastern England.  She migrated to Australia with her parents and siblings when she was 14.

In 1897 Elizabeth married Frank Shaw when she was 24 years old, and they went on to have five children.

In this photo Elizabeth is surrounded by her five children.  Her two boys are her eldest Frank standing to her right and her youngest Edwin standing on the chair beside her.  Her daughters are Mary and Margaret on the right and Dorothy is the little one cuddling up to her mother.

Common Ancestors with Elizabeth:  my 2nd great grandparents Michael Farrell and Susan Muldowney/Downey.

The mother in this photo is my maternal great grandmother Margaret McCane nee Farrell (the sister of Elizabeth in the previous photo).

Margaret was born in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, Durhamshire, north-eastern England.  She emigrated to Australia in 1886 when she was 20 years old, with a younger sister.

This happened a year before her sister Elizabeth (pictured above), her other siblings and her parents came to Australia.

Margaret worked as a domestic servant for many years before marrying Owen Muckian (McCane) in 1892 when she was 26.

On a side note, Owen Muckian (whose name was anglicized upon arrival in Australia to McCane) was another son of Sarah Muckian nee McCann who was pictured earlier in the wedding day photo of Edward, her eldest son.

Margaret and her husband Owen went on to have a family of seven children.  Their eldest son Edward William died tragically when he was only 8 years old.  This photo, taken sometime around 1911 shows Margaret surrounded by her surviving boys Thomas (Tom), John (known as Jack), James (Jim) and her youngest Edward Joseph.  The two eldest daughters, Susan and Sarah, were not included in the sitting for this portrait.

This photo shows my elderly great grandmother Margaret McCane nee Farrell (the same lady from the photo above) with her daughter Sarah Mary Josephine McCane, my grandmother.

Common ancestors with Margaret:  my 2x great grandparents Michael Farrell and Susan Muldowney (Downey), Margaret's parents.

Finally, this last photo shows my mother, Margaret Brigid Connors nee O'Donnell, with myself and my brother.  

Sadly I don't have many photos of Mum with us both, so this is a little treasure.  

Margaret Brigid (known as Mina) O'Donnell was born in 1923, the daughter of Sarah Mary Josephine O'Donnell nee McCane (pictured above) and James O'Donnell.  Margaret was the second eldest of seven children.

She married Bede William Connors in 1959 when she was 35 years old.  Tragically their marriage only lasted nine years, as Margaret died in 1968.

This photo was taken around 1965 when Mum was 42, but was succumbing to the condition that had plagued her for many years.  Despite that, she put everything she had into being the best mother she could be, and that will always be a lasting and truly valued memory.