Family Tales

My ankle fracture story started with an elegant slip that ended in catastrophe. A fractured ankle is painful both physically and emotionally long after the first six weeks of no weight bearing on the affected leg ends. Life is temporarily…

Treating asthma with smoke is not a joke. Before the advent of inhalers and corticosteroid drugs asthma really was treated with smoke. Who would have thought smoke, a chief lung irritant, could successfully relieve an asthma attack?

Henry "Harry" LINDUPP (1827-1905) a poor working-class boy from Shoreham-by-Sea joined the Merchant Navy when he was 17 years old, jumped ship in Sydney, Australia in 1852 and joined thousands of others seeking their fortune during the gold…

Albert Edward KEARNEY (21yo) left for the First World War "fresh" faced, strong and healthy. He returned damaged and scarred for life. He was wounded at Fromelles less than one year after he enlisted. Albert's right hand was blown off…

Edward Johnston KEARNEY (1876-1925), known as 'Ned' has an interesting WW1 War Service record. He was 40 years old when he joined the AIF in July 1915 probably because he was unemployed and had a wife, Susan and young dependent daughters…

My GG Grandmother, Elizabeth CHANDLER was a pioneer of the Healesville district and a well known and respected member of the community. She was one of 43 women in Healesville who signed the Women's Suffrage Petition in 1891. Her kindly…

A story of an Irish couple's emigration and pioneering days in country Victoria, Australia. Records are used where available but mainly their story is told within the social and historical context of the period, First written for a family…