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Francis Richard Meagher, a 25 year old medical practitioner at St Vincent’s Hospital, enlisted in the Australian Army Medical Corps on 25 January 1918.
Leo Carden Meagher, a 26 year old solicitor, enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force on 8th November 1915.
Old skeletons are highly sought after in the family historian’s closet. When I picture the closet of my recent ancestors, it is full of men’s suits, white lab coats and leather brogues. But if I think of the dark wooden closets of the Meagher women, there is barely a coat hanger to leave a clue about the women they were or the life they led. Their stories, aspirations and laments are hidden, unacknowledged or neglected, and I’ve spent years scrounging around for any loose thread I can find that might tell me of their histories. This is common for women across the ages and something that Women’s History Month seeks to address. Read more
As a child, I would rummage through my mother’s sewing basket. It was a bright orange plastic box with a removable tray divided into little compartments. I was always curious about the contents collected over time. On one occasion, I asked my mother about a strip of beautiful beading sitting in the tray. She told me it was from her wedding dress, made by her mother. Years later, the memory of the beading was recalled sharply when a saleswoman suggested I could add embellishments to the shoulder straps of a wedding dress I was trying on. Tears stung as I thought of this beautiful, silent nod to my mother, whose absence was going to be keenly felt at my wedding just eight months after she died.
My dear Liffer,
We are in the middle of what promises to be a very severe influenza outbreak…
On 12 February 1919, my grandfather’s sister, Mary Meagher wrote to her brother Frank, a doctor stationed in France, about an influenza outbreak in Melbourne. It was to become known colloquially as the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918-1919, and it was a tragic postscript to the devastation of the First World War.
Last year, I spent Christmas Day in Belgium, reconnecting with my old university friends and celebrating Christmas with their respective families. I enjoyed generous hospitality, food and conversation. It was a fitting conclusion to a superb three-month trip in Europe.
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“Talk to everyone” was my mother-in-law’s parting advice before our trip to Ireland. Her advice was more for the great leads and new historical information that comes from talking to people and less for the fact that I’d rather hide in the archives. When we set off for a day trip from Templemore to cross over into County Clare on the western side of the Lough Derg, we had a whole day ahead of us knocking on strangers’ doors.
Earlier this year I went to the Royal Historical Society of Victoria for a joint event with the Professional Historians Association (Vic & Tas) to hear five emerging historians – doctoral students – talk about their “break through” moment. While I was walking to the train station, I wondered what “break through” moment I would have discussed? Read more
A few years ago, I inherited my late mother’s family history research.
She amassed a rich family archive over thirty years. Letters, photographs, diaries found their way into her collection, spurring on her research and interest. She made fantastic discoveries and built up family trees and started to write family histories. Over the years I was drawn to the allure of research, history and family stories. Soon I was following up loose ends and insisting that the collection was stored properly in archival folders and boxes. We’d go to the State Library together. She would research and I volunteered in the Picture Collection as I started to work towards a career in history and heritage. We’d meet for lunch at Druids café on Swanston Street and discuss the progress of the day. She wanted to give something tangible to the family. A family history in a book. Perhaps several books.
When was the last time you did a jigsaw puzzle? The family archive in my spare room is the ultimate games room to me. Boxes upon boxes of various pieces waiting to be put together to create a new understanding of my family's collective history.
What Will Be looks back at people, places and travel and uncovers stories hidden in diaries, letters, and photos. It pieces together obvious clues and obscure details; reveals the personalities of people we used to know and those we could not have known; and re-tells the stories that have been forgotten or hidden. Tell me your thoughts and put a piece or two in the puzzle while you're at it.