Friday 22 April 2022

The Story of Ernest Thomas Stanley Cusack

Documents are the essential resource for anyone researching their family tree.  I spend a lot of time reading through records of all types, then follow this up with hours and hours spent analysing the information, coming to conclusions and entering accurate, worthwhile data on my family tree. Most of the time this process does not elicit an emotional response.  

There are some documents however that really do tug at the heartstrings.  They make you pause and consider the impact certain events have on people you may have never met but feel a very strong connection to, because they're family.  War Service Records belong in this category of documents.  

Every year, as we approach our national day of remembrance known as ANZAC Day (April 25th), I pull out one of these records, spend time reading through it all very thoroughly, then pause to reflect on the contribution made by that family member, and the impact their service must have had on their immediate family at the time.  This year I thought I'd share some of the details from one particular war service record, from World War 1.

What's in an Australian World War 1 service record?

- an attestation paper completed on enlistment.  It includes next-of-kin, employment, marital status, age, place of birth and a physical description

- a service and casualty form which shows movements and transfers between units, promotions and details of injuries and treatment

- military correspondence between the Department of defence and the soldier's next-of-kin notifying of wounds or death, awards and medals, and answering questions on the whereabouts of a service member.

There are no details about that service member's involvement in particular actions and battles, nor any account of their day-to-day life in the service.  Those aspects of their war-time service need to be discovered elsewhere.

This week's post uses one particular war service record to tell the story mostly of my paternal 1st cousin 2x removed, Ernest Thomas Stanley Cusack (1897 - 1919), but I do include a few little details about two of his brothers, who also answered the call to support the British Empire during the dark days of World War 1.

Our Common Ancestors:  my 2x great grandparents, Patrick Cusack and Eliza Exton.


Ernest Thomas Stanley (known as Tom by his close family) was born in July of 1897, the son of James Cusack and Mary Ann Catherine Davies.  He was the 8th of 14 children born to James and Mary Ann.  There were 6 boys and 8 girls in the family.  Ernest was born in the Murwillumbah area of New South Wales, but by the time he was 18, the family were living in Byron Bay.

As Ernest was approaching the end of his teenage years, his world was drastically changed by the outbreak of a world war.  When the U.K. declared war on Germany on the 4th of August 1914, nations in the British Empire, including Australia, followed willingly.  Recruiting offices around Australia opened only 6 days after the war began. 

Around 55,000 young men joined the newly formed AIF (Australian Imperial Force) in the first 4 months of the war.  Nearly 100,000 enlisted between April and October the following year, 1915.



One of Ernest's older brothers, Harold John Charles Cusack was amongst those 100,000. 


He was the first of the Cusack brothers to answer the call.  He joined the armed forces - 15th Battalion, 12th Reinforcement -  in August of 1915, at the age of 20, and embarked for overseas in November, aboard HMAT A23 Suffolk.  










Tel elKabir, Egypt
The Australian Army training camp c. 1916
Photo courtesy of the Australian War Memorial


Harold made it to training camp with the 15th Battalion in Tel elKebir, in Egypt, and was then posted to Zeitoun. 


Unfortunately, or luckily (depends on your point of view), he was admitted to hospital in March of 1916 with acute appendicitis.  


Harold did not proceed with the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force, and did not end up seeing action during the war. 

He returned to Australia in May of 1916 and was discharged, medically unfit, upon arrival back home.


I'm assuming Harold met up with his younger brother Ernest upon his return to Australia, and no doubt had many long conversations about what it was like sailing overseas and landing in Egypt.  Maybe these stories helped convince Ernest that he also needed to serve.

Not long after, on the 15th of June 1916, Ernest himself enlisted with the 5th Machine Gun Battalion.  

First of all, he submitted his application to enlist: 

Application to Enlist

This provides some basic information - Ernest was literate, as he was able to provide a complete signature.  His occupation was that of labourer.  His father, James Cusack, had passed away and his mother, Mary Ann, was the one who gave consent for Ernest to enlist and added her signature to the document.  Ernest was aged 18 years and 11 months.  

On the same day, in the town of Lismore in New South Wales, his attestation papers were completed and signed by Ernest.

Front page of the Attestation Paper

So it was, that on June 15 1916, Ernest signed his life away.

For some unknown reason, of the three Cusack brothers who enlisted in WW1, there are enlistment photos for both of Ernest's older brothers, but none of Ernest.  His attestation papers do however provide a little detail about his physical appearance.


This is why I spend time pouring over documents.  Given this information, I found I was able to visualise Ernest without a photo.  He was quite a tall sturdy young man, 5 ft 8", with brown hair and grey eyes, weighing 9 1/2 stone. 


Another of Ernest's older brothers enlisted just two months later.


James Herbert Cusack enlisted in August of 1916 and his unit embarked from Brisbane on the 27th of October 1916.


James remained overseas, fighting on the Western Front, throughout 1917, 1918 and half of 1919.  He returned to Australia in August of 1919.


He had married in London, in May of 1919, so returned home with a bride.



Sadly, his younger brother Ernest never returned home.  Let's return to Ernest's story:

Just three days before Christmas of 1916, Ernest embarked from Australia on the ship "Persic" and sailed off to join the war effort.  His point of disembarkation was Devonport in England in March of 1917. 

Belton Park Camp, near Grantham during WW1

He was "marched in" to the Machine Gun Corp training camp at Belton Park Camp near Grantham, but it appears he fell ill within a week and was in hospital for 11 days.  


After that he returned to training.  Each man in the Machine Gun Corp (MGC) spend a minimum of five weeks in training before being posted to one of the frontlines.  They were taught the mathematics of the machine gun, firing, map reading and the use of semaphore flags.


It wasn't until June of 1917 that Ernest saw action in France.  All of these details are clearly recorded on the first page of Ernest's Statement of Service Form:

Statement of Service Form


Page 1 of this service form also shows that he was transferred to the 15th Machine Gun Company in late June of 1917.  Shortly after, Ernest was wounded in action, with a "shell wound to the chin", in September of 1917.  Sounds like he was hit by debris from an exploding shell.  

The military correspondence section of Ernest's war service record shows that his mother received this telegram in October of 1917:


Such a brief, stark statement!  Imagine receiving such a telegram!  It would be frightening and I can only imagine the anxiety it must have caused.  Of course, unknown to Ernest's mother, he was already in recovery.  Ernest re-joined his unit just a couple of weeks later.

Ernest's Casualty Form Active Service  (two pages) provides some detail about his whereabouts during his service  

He was at Camiers Camp in France, which was the base depot of the Maching Gun Corps (known today as Etaples Camp).  

He was also at Le Treport, which was an important hospital centre on the coast of northern France, about 50 miles south of Camiers.

As mentioned previously though, there is no mention of particular battles that he was involved in.



You can see on page 2 of this Casualty From that in March of 1918, he was granted leave in the U.K. for two weeks, and then was granted more leave in February of 1919.  

Leave was granted to the majority of men and women who served in the First World War. When the war first begin, there was an expectation that it would be a short war.  Of course, that proved to be far from the reality, so as the conflict dragged on, morale flagged and it became alarmingly clear that the hardship and horror of the front line fighting was taking a toll on soldier's physical and mental health.

Leave provided some respite from the dangers of war, and was deemed necessary in order to reduce the sense of separation which many of the Australian troops would have experienced, being so far from home.  The intervals of leave were not long, but provided much needed moments of rest and recreation.  

Unfortunately, whilst on this second round of leave, the benefits of this time off from war were very short-lived for Ernest.  He contracted influenza and was admitted to Endell Street Military Hospital in London on the 21st of February 1919.  

Endell Street Military Hospital
London


On February 24th there was an entry that read "dang. ill", which obviously meant "dangerously ill"; but that abbreviated word "dang." was crossed out at some point and "ser." was written underneath.  That meant "seriously".  So within 3 days, Ernest's health had deteriorated badly.


He hung on for nine days, but early on the tenth day, on the 3rd of March 1919, the Military Hospital at Endell Street sent a telegram to the Australian Army Headquarters in London, informing the office of the death of Private Cusack.  He was 21 years old.





This is a section from the Report of Death Form completed at Endell Street Military Hospital:


The form lists 'influenza' as the disease Ernest was afflicted with, but there is the word 'pneumonia' scribbled in pencil underneath as well.  It sounds like Ernest was indeed gravely ill.  The form states that he passed away at 6.50 am on March the 3rd.

Ernest's mother, Mary Ann, received this telegram on March 6th indicating that her son, who had been away from home for over two years, was "seriously ill". 


This news would have been devastating for everyone in the family, given they had not seen Ernest for such a long time.  Of course, Ernest had already died by the time this telegram had been sent, so worse was to come for his mother and siblings.

A newspaper article printed in the Tweed Daily newspaper indicates that the news of Ernest's death did not reach home until March the 8th (although there is an error regarding his name).  The article goes on to say that it was the Byron Bay Shire Clerk who received this news first.  He apparently then passed this on to a Reverend M. Gerry, who went to visit Mary Ann to give her the news.

Newspaper item in the Tweed Daily, Tues Mar 11 1919, p2                                               

Amongst the war service records of my relatives who fought and died in the first World War, disease was not listed as a common cause of death.  Of course, war creates perfect conditions for diseases to flourish and before the beginning of the 20th century, disease had indeed claimed many more military lives that combat itself.

Australians volunteering for the first world war were subjected to quite strict medical tests before enlistment and many were rejected.  Australians were also given a range of inoculations when they joined up, including jabs to fight smallpox and typhoid.


Unfortunately, despite all these precautions, many thousands of Australian troops succumbed to disease during the war.  The most common cause was respiratory tract infections, including influenza and pneumonia.  Combined, they claimed around 3,300 Australian lives during the war, and Ernest was one of them.

In Ernest's war service record there is a Burial Report, dated 12th March 1919, that provides some information about his funeral. 


 


Ernest was buried in the Australian Military Burial Ground at Brookwood, in Surrey, England - Plot IV, Row J, Grave No. 7 - and he was "accorded a full military funeral".



The report lists a Private Atherton, from the 4th Machine Gun Battalion, as either a relative or a friend, along with a Miss and a Mrs. Atherton, who all attended the funeral.  I found that particularly interesting as it seems to indicate that Ernest had family or perhaps a close friend over in England and probably spent his leave with them.  I suppose they visited him in hospital as well.  I do hope so.  It would be so comforting to think Ernest was not on his own when he was so gravely ill.

The information from the burial report then became the content of a letter that was sent to Ernest's mother on May 29th, 1919.


I do wonder if Mary Ann ever received a photo of Ernest's headstone.



In August of 1919 yet another telegram was sent to Ernest's mother, Mary Ann, informing her that she would be receiving a parcel of her son's personal effects. 


This is the list of what would have arrived in that parcel.



The following In Memoriam item appeared in the newspaper, The Byron Bay Record, on the 22nd of March 1919.



Roll of Honour item appeared in the newspaper, The Northern Star, on the 21st of March 1919.



A Roll of Honour item appeared again in the newspaper, The Northern Star, on March the 3rd 1922.







Each evening between sunset and sunrise, names from the Australian War Memorial's Roll of Honour are projected onto the facade of the Hall of Memory (the dome) at our Australian War Memorial in Canberra.  


This Roll of Honour lists the 102,000 men and women from Australia's defence forces who have died in the service of our nation and Ernest's name will appear on these dates:


One of these days I would love to be there to see the name of a relative highlighted and acknowledged in this way!

 



Special Note to any family members:  If you have memories to add, photos or information to share, can I graciously ask that you do so.  Please use the comments box below or email me.  It may prove to be invaluable to the story and provide future generations with something to truly treasure.


I'm joining Amy Johnson Crow's 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks 2022 Challenge.


This time I'm catching up with the prompt for Week 17  - ''Document".

You can join by blogging or posting on social media with the tag #52Ancestors.

Check out Amy's FB pages:  Generations Cafe  or  Amy Johnson Crow


Monday 11 April 2022

Sheelagh? Sheedagh? Sheedy? McNamara ... How Do You Spell That?

Brick walls on my family tree primarily involve my Irish ancestors and extended family born before 1800.  Irish civil and parish records can take you back to the second quarter of the 19th century, but before that there are very few records still in existence.  

Civil registrations of births, marriages and deaths did not begin in Ireland until 1864. Prior to that, there were Church records in the form of registers of baptisms, marriages and burials, but you need to know the relevant parish for your ancestors before attempting to access these records.  Even then, not all these registers survived and there can be large gaps in many of the parish registers that did survive.

If you're lucky, you might have oral history that's been passed down through the generations, but I've found that even that is not always based in fact.  Lucky or not, researching ancestors and their families living in Ireland before the 19th century can be a hit-and-miss affair. 

One of the brick walls on my paternal side is the parentage of my 3x great grandmother, Margaret McNamara.  The only clues I've been able to use during my research are the names recorded on Margaret's assisted immigrant record when she emigrated here to Australia in 1840 with her husband James Hickey and seven children.  

Assisted immigrant records, for those who were making the voyage to Australia, were completed before boarding, at the point of departure.  These records provided quite a bit of information about the people who were about to set foot on a particular ship.  For my 3x great grandmother Margaret and her family, these records were completed at the port of Cork in 1840 before they all boarded the ship named Adam Lodge.

New South Wales, Australia, Assisted Immigrant Passenger Lists, 1828-1896
- Passenger:  Margaret Hickey   Arrival date: 14 Feb 1840

There is a section for the recording of the names of the immigrant's parents, as well as their place of origin.  In that section, this is the information recorded at the point of departure for Margaret:


When I enlarged this entry and looked at it very closely, it appeared to say:

"Da of  (daughter of) Sheelagh McNamara and Ellen Hogan, his wife there".  At least, that's my understanding of the handwriting.  

It was interpreted in exactly the same way when transcribed many years later in the state's record office:


To my mind though, there is a problem with Margaret's father's name recorded in this way.  To me, "Sheelagh" is a women's name, and when I've googled it, the results are always the same:  feminine.  Surely "Sheelagh" would not be the first name of Margaret's father!  

This name must have been misspelt by whoever recorded the information at the port in Cork.  Of course we have to remember, it's likely that Margaret was illiterate and didn't know what the registrar was writing down, and perhaps Margaret didn't even speak English very well and the registrar interpreted what she said inaccurately!  


Other members of my extended family who have undertaken lots of research, have hinted that the name was definitely misspelt, and should be something more like "Sheedagh", which sounds more masculine!  Looking closely at the handwriting, that letter after the double 'ee' does not look like the letter 'd' to me though.

I did google the first name 'Sheedagh', but that led to the name of a lake.  There is apparently a Lough Sheedagh near Connemara in County Galway; but I doubt that Margaret's father was named after a lough, or the other way round!



I've checked Margaret's death certificate, hoping there might be clues on that, but the informant (her grandson) did not appear to have any knowledge of his grandmother's parents, as the column for recording parent names has "not known" written there.


In an effort to clarify Margaret's father's first name, I have used websites like Ancestry.com, Find My Past, Family Search and Roots Ireland to search for a baptism record using just the details of Margaret's name - Margaret McNamara - and her mother's name - Ellen Hogan.   


I've searched for a Margaret McNamara who was likely born around 1802 in either County Clare or County Limerick, deduced from dates & places on records like the immigrant passenger list and the death certificate. 


I've also searched for a record of the marriage between Margaret McNamara and James Hickey, to see if that provided any clues.


Sadly, this all led nowhere.  No luck whatsoever!



Other extended family members' research has come up with the train of thought that perhaps Margaret's father's name was recorded as two surnames - the first indicating which particular clan of McNamaras he was descended from.  Let me explain further ...

According to a 4th cousin of mine who travelled to Ireland to research the Hickey line (remember Margaret McNamara married a James Hickey), he ended up having a conversation with a McNamara descendant during that visit.  This descendant told my cousin that the surname was actually "Sheedagh or Sheedy McNamara", and that Sheedagh / Sheedy was not a Christian / first name at all in this case.

According to this source of information, my McNamaras are of the Sheed or Sheedy branch of the McNamara clan.  That set me off searching sites once more for a baptism record for a Margaret Sheedy with Ellen Hogan as her mother.  No luck once again.  

It's been a wholly unsuccessful enterprise and I'm no closer to finding out whether or not my 3x great grandmother Margaret's father is actually Sheelagh, Sheedagh or Sheedy McNamara.  How is it spelt? 

One positive gained after all this effort however, is that I've discovered quite a lot about the history of the McNamara surname.


The surname McNamara is the anglicized version of an ancient Irish surname - Mac Conmara.  The Gaelic Mac Conmara means "son of the hound of the sea" . 

 

The MacNamara clan are descendants of the 10th century chieftain Cú Mhara, of the Dál gCais tribe from County Clare.  His name was derived from "cu" meaning a hound, and "na mara" meaning of the sea.  His son Domhnall  adopted the surname Mac Conmara, or son of Cu Mara, around 1099, becoming the first MacNamara.   

 

The MacNamara family were one of the most powerful families in the Kingdom of Thomond  (roughly Counties Clare, Tipperary, Limerick and Waterford) as Lords of Clancullen.  County Clare was their stronghold. 

 

They held the hereditary position of chief functionary to the only other powerful family line, the O'Briains.  One of the McNamara's most prestigious duties was to preside at Magh Adhair during the inauguration ceremony of the Kings of Thomond.  

 

The MacNamaras built dozens of castles or tower-houses, abbeys and forts in County Clare during the 14th and 15th centuries.  Many are still standing today, including Bunratty Caste (built in 1425), Knappogue Castle (built 1467) and Quin Abbey (built 1433). 

 

The MacNamara clan split into two distinct septs or branches.  There was the MacNamara Fion who held the Chiefdom of Clancullen / Cuiléin West (Barony of Bunratty), and the MacNamara Reagh who ruled the East (Baronies of Upper and Lower Tulla).


MacNamaras ruled their territories until the 17th century when Oliver Cromwell's men overpowered them.  They lost their power and their titles and many fled Ireland at that time, settling in France.  It has been calculated that of 293 families of the name living on their lands in 1654, only 6 were allowed to retain part of their estates.


The Sheedys were descended from the great house of the McNamaras. It's possible that the Sheedy line began with Sioda / Siodha McNamara (apparently the Gaelic Síoda means 'silken', 'soft-spoken' and is pronounced SHEE ugh da) who began the building of  the present structure of Bunratty Castle back in the 1400s.  His son was known as Ã“ Síoda, son of Sioda, and this form became a surname.  This later became anglicized into MacSheedy or Sheedy. 

 

Apparently, the surnames Sheedy and McNamara were used interchangeably or even together as one surname.  In the 1840s there were specific family members who were appointed leaders of the regional clans.  Their first name would be dropped, and they would just be known as Sheedy McNamara.  



It's fascinating stuff, but unfortunately has not led to a clarification of my ancestor's name.  I will however continue my quest, researching all the various spellings, and continue chipping away at this particular brick wall. 






I'm joining Amy Johnson Crow's 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks 2022 Challenge.


This time I'm catching up with the prompt for Week 15  - ''How Do You Spell That?".

You can join by blogging or posting on social media with the tag #52Ancestors.

Check out Amy's FB pages:  Generations Cafe  or  Amy Johnson Crow



Tuesday 5 April 2022

Spotlight on ... Spectacles!

A while back I decided to branch off from just telling the stories of my direct ancestors and use some of my posts to cover other things of interest.  The main motivation for this was my desire to share some of the 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 put together collections of photos that share a common thread.  This week it's spectacles!

My very rudimentary research into the origins of modern spectacles / glasses indicates that it's likely they were first worn in 13th century Italy.  Later on, the Renaissance, the Enlightenment and the demands of industrialisation during the Industrial Age, accelerated the process of making spectacles.  The glasses we see and wear today really only emerged at the beginning of the 18th century and were typically used for vision correction.  

One of the oldest photos in my family tree collection showing a person wearing spectacles, is this one:

Photo shared on Ancestry.com by pchurch1965


Sarah Ann Stevens was the wife of my paternal 1st cousin 5x removed, Samuel Fullagar.  Born in 1813 in Kent, England, Sarah Ann emigrated with her husband and two children to the U.S.A. in 1841.

It's likely this photo was possibly taken around the late 1860s.  Sarah is wearing what look like a pair of thin-rimmed silver spectacles with a saddle bridge and oval glass lenses.  This particular design of spectacles were widely worn through the mid 19th century.  The saddle bridge sat directly on the nose and was responsible for the placement of glasses on the face.  Saddle bridges meant that, in order to be wearable, glasses needed small lenses and they resulted in glasses being worn very close to the face and eyes.


Photo shared on Ancestry.com by Bronte Hutchinson

Ellen McCarthy, the wife of my paternal 2nd great-granduncle Michael Hickey, was born in 1842 in County Donegal in Ireland. She emigrated with her parents and six siblings to Australia in 1854, and then married Michael Hickey in New South Wales in 1862.  She died at the age of 84 in Australia in 1926.

This photo was most likely taken sometime in the late 1880s.  Mary is wearing the same sort of spectacles as Sarah Ann (above), with oval-shaped lenses.  Very often spectacles were handed down and used by several generations after the original owner, and I have often wondered if these particular spectacles are still in the hands of an Aussie descendant. 


Photo taken from the Northern Star newspaper, dated 1932

Eleanor Jones, my paternal 1st cousin 3x removed, was born in New South Wales, Australia, in 1863.  She married Joseph Atkin when she was 19 years old and the photo above was taken on the occasion of their golden wedding anniversary in 1932.  Eleanor was 88 years old and is wearing the same style of spectacles that Ellen (above) was wearing over half a century before.  It seems the style was indeed popular around the world for many, many years.


Photo shared on Ancestry.com by Bernard Muldoon


Annie Francis Bridget Cusack, my paternal 2nd cousin 2x removed, and wife of James Venn pictured further on in this post, is photographed wearing thin-framed spectacles with round lenses and the middle bridge.  Annie was born in New South Wales, Australia, in 1883 and married James Venn when she was 20 years old in 1904.  This photo was likely taken in the late 1920s when Annie was in her 40s.


Photo shared on Ancestry.com by Chris Fredericks

Eliza Jones, my paternal 1st cousin 3x removed, was born in New South Wales, Australia, in 1849.  She was the older sister of Eleanor, pictured above, and in the photo (probably taken in the late 1920s) she is wearing a more fashionable style of rimless glasses.  

Eliza's pair of spectacles has the bridge moved to the top of the lenses and there are nose pads.  Nose pads were not invented until the 1920s, and they radically changed the fit and comfort of spectacles.


Photo shared on Ancestry.com by Sheena Venn

James Venn, the husband of my paternal 2nd cousin 2x removed, Annie Cusack, is wearing a similar pair of spectacles to Eliza, with the top bridge and nose pads, although the lenses are very round.  This photo was taken around 1935.


Photo sourced from U.S. School Yearbooks 1900-99 on Ancestry.com

June Colleene Keichel, the wife of my maternal 2nd cousin once removed, Joseph Daniel O'Donnell, was born in 1922 in Pennsylvania, U.S.A.  She married Joseph O'Donnell in 1944 when she was 22.  They went on to have two children and June lived quite a long life, passing away in 2004, aged 82.

This photo was taken when June was 17 years old.  She was attending Catasauqua High School.  It was 1940, but she was wearing 1930s style glasses - rimless eyeglass frames with a top bridge and nose pads.

The rimless silver glasses were starting to disappear towards the end of the 1920s into the 1930s.  They were not very sturdy and broke quite easily. The trend then became shell frame spectacles, with the frames either made of real tortoiseshells or durable plastic.


Photo shared on Ancestry.com by kirreia

Mary Ellen Connors, my paternal grandaunt, was born in New South Wales, Australia, in 1874.  After she had married at the age of 29 and went on to have four children with husband John George Bates, they moved to Queensland just before the outbreak of WW1, where Mary gave birth to two more children.  She died at the age of 72 in 1947, living long enough to see another world war break out.

The photo above was likely taken in the early 1940s when Mary Ellen was in her late 60s.  This particular set of spectacles has quite large round rimmed lenses, and once again the top bridge with nose pads, and the frame appears to be a shell frame.  It's possibly a plastic tortoiseshell-patterned frame that would have been quite lightweight, but had a heavier look because of the thicker frame.  This was a new design trend for glasses.


Photo shared by Christine Ellis on Ancestry.com


Lilian Elizabeth Fordham, the wife of my paternal 2nd cousin 2x removed, Reginald Smith, is wearing a very similar style of glasses in this photo.  Lilian was born in New South Wales, Australia in 1905 and married Reginald in 1931 when she was 26 years old.  She lived until her 60th year.  This photo was taken sometime in the late 1940s, when Lilian was in her 40s.  Sadly she passed away when she was only 48 years old.


Other wearers of the round shell framed glasses include - 

Photo shared by Michael Linney on Ancestry.com

Andrew Charles Thomas, my paternal 2nd cousin 2x removed;


Photo shared by Alan Menere on Ancestry.com

and Arthur Sydney Goddard, the husband of the stepdaughter of my paternal 1st cousin 3x removed, Sarah Anne Exton.



Harlequin Frames advertisement published
in the May 1943 issue of Glamour magazine.


By the 1940s, spectacle styles were evolving.  They were no longer just for utilitarian purposes, but were becoming synonymous with glamour!   One of the first interesting designs became known as the "cat eye" frame.  

It was originally called the "harlequin" frame and was the patented design of Altina Schinasi.  She designed her first prototypes in the late 1930s, and her original shape designs were replicas from whimsical harlequin masks that were worn to ballroom dances at that time.  

Altina began a move away from uninteresting frames to something a little more eye-catching!  When movie stars began wearing these glasses, it added that touch of glam to the look.




Photo shared by Malcom Harris on Ancestry.com


Joan Aileen Ellen Tyler, my paternal 1st cousin once removed, was wearing an oversized variant of the harlequin glasses in this photo, probably taken around 1945.  Joan was born in New South Wales, Australia, in 1924; married Eric John McDermid in 1950 and moved not long after that to Queensland to raise her family.  Sadly she passed away at the young age of 44 in 1968.


Photo shared by Janelle Ivers on Ancestry.com

Elsie Louisa Fackerell (seen on the right), the wife of my paternal 2nd cousin 2x removed, Robert Bustard / Bostock, is also wearing glasses with the harlequin frame in this photo.  She is standing alongside her younger sister Ethel Francis Fackerell, who is wearing the old-fashioned shell frames.  This photo was likely taken in the late 1950s when the sisters were both in their 60s.


Other wearers of the harlequin / cats eyes frames include:

Photo shared on Ancestry.com by judefricano


Two of the Mooney clan including my maternal 2nd cousin once removed, Katherine Mooney nee Mahoney, and her sister-in-law who are both wearing spectacles with cats eye frames.


Photo shared on Ancestry.com by cruising2010


Ethel May Anderson, wife of my paternal 3rd cousin 2x removed, Joseph John Hutton.  This photo was taken in the mid 1950s, around the time of her husband's passing, and Ethel would have been in her mid 60s.


One of the easily recognised type of glasses worn mostly by men in the 1940s and 1950s were the 'browline' horn-rimmed glasses.  Prominent plastic "brows" were fitted over the tops of metal frames, creating quite a distinctive look and glasses that were much sturdier than those with solid plastic frames.  "Browlines" became hugely popular post-World War 11 with men and made up half of all glasses sales throughout the 1950s.


Photo shared on Ancestry.com by omeb1

Keith Collins, the husband of my paternal 2nd cousin 2x removed, Elizabeth Ann Thomas, wearing a set of "browlines" sometime in the early 1970s.  Keith was born in New South Wales in 1897 and married Elizabeth when he was 23 years old in 1920.  He lived a long life, passing away in 1979.


Photo shared on Ancestry.com by jvdwh

James Warren McKenna, the husband of my maternal 2nd cousin once removed, Mary (Mae) O'Donnell.  James was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1908.  He married Mary when he was 23 in mid 1931.  James passed away in 1965 at the age of 57.  This photo would have been taken in the early 1960s.


Photo shared on Ancestry.com by Robert Dooley

Robert James Dooley, my paternal 2nd cousin 2x removed, was born in New South Wales in 1896.  He lived a long life, passing away in 1974 at the age of 78.  This photo would have been taken in the late 1960s around the time of Robert's 70th birthday.


The remaining photographs of family tree members wearing glasses were taken between mid 1960 and 2010.  Interestingly, all are wearing quite plain framed glasses with oversized lenses.  Perhaps the reason for this could be the fact that they are all pensioners and their choices were limited by a reduced budget.  There are no fancy looking glasses on these ladies. 

Photo shared by Helen Pillidge on Ancestry.com

Francis Amelia Kerr, wife of my paternal 1st cousin 3x removed, Thomas Joseph Hickey.  Photo taken around 1963 when Francis was 66 years old.


Photo shared on Ancestry.com by Mise2a


Eliza Jane Hukins, my paternal 1st cousin 2x removed, born in 1892 in New South Wales, Australia.  She married Charles Guthrey in 1915 when she was 23 years old.  They went on to have three children, although their middle child died when she was a baby.  Eliza lived until her 91st birthday.  This photo was taken on the occasion of her 91st birthday in April 1983.  Eliza died about two months later.


Photo shared on Ancestry.com by Robert Waddell

Constance Jean Reid, my paternal 2nd cousin 2x removed, was born in 1912 in Queensland, Australia.  She lived until her 76th year, passing away in 1989.  This photo was taken the year before her death.


Photo shared on Ancestry.com by jillymac1

Sisters, Heather Mavis McCann and Ethel Vera McCann, the nieces of the husband of my paternal 2nd cousin 2x removed, Alma Florence Barrow.  The photo was taken in the late 1990s.



Photo shared on Ancestry.com by Mise2a

May Guthrey, my paternal 2nd cousin once removed, born in 1916 in New South Wales, Australia.  May was the eldest daughter of Eliza Jane Guthrey nee Hukins, pictured previously in this post. May died in 2010 at the age of 94.  This photo was taken the year before her death.


I'm joining Amy Johnson Crow's 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks 2022 Challenge.


This time I'm catching up with the prompt for Week 14  - ''Check It Out".

You can join by blogging or posting on social media with the tag #52Ancestors.

Check out Amy's FB pages:  Generations Cafe  or  Amy Johnson Crow