Seven days in Papua New Guinea (PNG), seven days home in Australia. A short enough time you would think, but somehow our world has shifted ever so slightly on its axis. It seems that we have been reinfected with the PNG virus. Our normal life seems vaguely strange as we try to reacclimatise to all … More Return to Milne Bay
As you know we’ve just returned from Papua New Guinea, and in particular Milne Bay where we spent most of our time. We had lived there for a couple of years after our marriage but Mr Cassmob had also spent his teenage years in the district, when home from boarding school, and he regards it … More Lest We Forget: the Battle of Milne Bay
In case you’ve been wondering why my responses to comments have been a bit slow lately it’s because we’ve been having a great adventure: our first return to Papua New Guinea since we left in August 1978. We had an absolutely fantastic time and met lots of people including some who knew Mr Cassmob’s parents … More Home again
Lately my mind has been turning to Papua New Guinea again as we plan an upcoming trip back to Alotau after a mere 41 years. As it does in these circumstances, one thought leads to another and before long I’m off on a tangent. No surprise then that I picked up my copy of The … More Thoughts on The Last Blue Sea
Okay enough of the frivolous business of Paris and Provence – back to some hard core family history. Over the past few weeks I’ve been studying the coursework from another Pharos course, this one on One Place Studies (OPS). I was so tempted to focus on one of my easy ancestral places in England or … More One Place Study -Broadford, Co Clare, Ireland
In the summer of 1887, 125 years ago, a grassroots agrarian revolution was taking place in the otherwise quiet parish of Bodyke, County Clare. Colonel O’Callaghan , one of the local landowners, had significant rental arrears on his tenancies and planned to take action against those in default, evicting them with force. There is a … More The Bodyke Evictions and the Garvey family
Regular readers of this blog know of my families’ long association with the railways in Queensland. Today is the Labour Day public holiday in my home state, Queensland, and I’ve been reflecting on this topic since Labour Day itself on 1 May. My father Norman Kunkel worked for the railway from when he was a … More Labour Day: the workaday life of a Queensland Rail numbertaker
Some weeks ago, Lorine from Olive Tree Genealogy posed this topic as part of the Sharing Memories series: People I wish I’d known better. Of course the first thought is all those family members who I know only from documents and deductions, and if I’m lucky the odd photograph. However I guessed that wasn’t the … More Miss Daisy Frances King: I wish I’d known you better
I am participating in the A to Z 2012 blog challenge throughout April. My theme is a genealogical travelogue or a travel genealogue (I’m not sure which). W is for West Drayton (Nottinghamshire, England) My husband’s Cass ancestors were in West Drayton in the early 19th century where his 3x great grandfather, John Cass, was … More W wanders around the world
I am participating in the A to Z 2012 blog challenge throughout April. My theme is a genealogical travelogue or a travel genealogue (I’m not sure which), but sometimes like today it involves a simple travelogue as well. U is for Urana (New South Wales, Australia) My 2xgreat-grandmother Mary O’Brien from County Clare, and her … More U is for Urana and Ubud
Family history across the seas 