A Conversation takes place between Alf Kerr and Sidney Strelley somewhere between 4th May 2008 and January 2013 inside the Pearly Gates……

This story was originally written in 2013 in jest after Strelley family brickwalls were broken down- Do you think we get clues from above?

Scene :Pearly Gates

Sometimes I think a discovery is a message from above

Alf Kerr was an affable man- quick to strike up a conversation.  One day he meets a man called Sidney Clayton Strelley …..

" Good Day.  Sidney Strelley” he says holding out his hand.  Alf would have been on the lookout for anyone by that name and Strelley wasn’t really a name like Smith so his ears pricked up. He honed in .

“Strelley – that was my family name. We are from Scotland” remarked Alf.

“No Sir”  “I’m from Derby- but actually the Strelleys originated from Nottingham – long history- Knights, Sirs, Sheriffs of Nottingham. Used to own Strelley Hall until Nicholas gambled it away. Then we moved to Oakerthorpe and stayed around Derby.  “ Sid always resented the loss of the family fortune.

“ Yes” said Alf “ They were the only Strelleys I ever found.  Every time I searched the internet I found something on Strelley Hall.”  Alf was dogged in his lifetime and dying wasn’t going to stop him. Heaven is a genealogists dream. He made more enquiries searching for everyone who made a connection with Strelley name. There was a bunch of them from Glasgow- tangled up with the Mc Hardys too and Strelleys dating back to 1100 – this was a find. 

Alf never organized his information-  he only collected.

One day he met up again with Sid. “Been looking into the Strelleys,  Sidney?”  
Sidney told Alf of the stories of lost fortunes, his missing grandfather, being on the wrong side of money and then he had a thought ” I say is that an Australian accent?  Maybe you are related to the Strelleys who went to Western Australia”.

Alf was in.  “Actually Strelley comes up as a town in Western Australia when you do an internet search for Strelley”.

Sidney had neglected to say that it was really Lucy Harris nee Strelley who went to Australia and that it was a long and complicated story of  conspiracy theories regarding disputed wills and accidental death.  But Alf did like the bit about Houghtons winery being in the family and finding minerals before Gina Rinehart. Perhaps we are related he thought. She’s the richest woman in the world.

As the National Broad band Network  doesn’t operate too well in Pearly Gates  and Ancestry.com hasn’t managed to buy access to the records yet Sidney and Alf hatched a plan.

“I guilted my daughter, Robyn, into working out my tree. She’s just finalized her mother’s side and she’s been putting me off- I still think I can find a connection back to you people in Strelley. Help me out here  and I’ll get her to sort the Western Australia thing out” volunteered Alf.

Sidney replied.  “ OK she looks like she’s been channeling dead people.  Get her to do one more search on Strelleys of Oakerthorpe- Rev Kerry’s family tree of the Strelleys- The Heavenly News mentioned it’s  been digitized. It will set her in motion.  Is she internet savvy?”

“Yes, pretty good” said Alf proudly.

“ OK well, Jill Sparrow’s stories on the Strelleys and the  one called Curses, Cannons and Robin Hoods Bow in Bygone Oakerthorpe should be the shot.  Should be on that Google thing.  Jill will tell Greg and next there’s a connection.” Sidney enthused.

“ Yep I know she’s been trying all ways to make contact- for sure she will get onto Jill and Greg.” Alf replied.

"I guilted my daughter, Robyn, into working out my tree."

“ Greg is the proud custodian of Strelley name and history- an unbroken history of males we have.” said Sidney.  “Robert and Elizabeth recently contrived to have their portraits given to him. For once a Strelley relic landed in the right hands. That business of the obelisk  going off to France- disgraceful.  Hard work fighting all the injustices- lost money.” And I remember the stories of when my granny told ‘em all what for.  Wore a red dress to the funeral you know. Ha ha”

That did the trick and connection was made. Over the months Sid (Aussies like to shorten names)  and Alfie ( and another term of endearment is to add an “ie” to a name) watched in awe as Robyn, Greg, Jill and Richard networked.  Greg feeds Robyn bits and off she goes.

 “She’s a doer your daughter- a bit of a dog at a bone like her old dad but a bit more organized I might say” chuckled  Sidney.

Within weeks she had cracked the case about the Strelley connection to Derby, That rascal of a great great grandfather, William the Doctor was in awe too that she managed to find the army records William Strelley his son and sort through all the poor handwriting of the census documents to find Matilda and the kids- and his bankruptcy case-oops… and the “housekeeper” in Derby. And then she found the missing  Richard Clayton…not in Australia but in NZ and he died several years after they thought. … Sid and his father Frederick were able to stamp that one “case closed”.

Sid during their regular updates had mentioned another case to Alf. It  been bothering  him and Greg. They had discussed it many times- the case of Harold the lunatic. There was something in a Derby newspaper about him murdering someone. “Disgraceful. Why wasn’t he looked after at home”. “ I’ll get Greg to mention that”  But Robyn was already aware of him- a Strelley criminal lunatic in the 1851 census.  With lightning speed, a few pounds changing hands and a couple of photocopies later they all were viewing records written in the 1850s –“Ha Ha” said Sidney “… they said his father and grandfather showed signs of madness. Never- surely not a Strelley trait!”.

Greg was still raging about Emily and her attempt to collect the Strelley Harris fortune in WA. Well she did marry William when he was 79.  They were together long enough to father two children one of which died a horrible death. Greg was disparaging but Robyn was more charitable.  

Finally the Western Australia Story was falling into place. Robyn had just about completed the research and written her story.  One day Alf and Sid met a couple of men who had Strelley and Roby in their  Christian names. They were from WA.  “That’s funny we’ve been looking into Strelley in Western Australia… any relation?”  Well it all panned out. They worked out the connection.  “I’ll get my people to talk to your people” said Alf jovially. 

The rest is history. Robyn made contact with William’s wife’s grandsons by her second husband.  The Anderson’s had been there for our relative- William’s daughter, their step sister was deaf, never married  and needed care. They looked after her until her death. They donated William’s painting to the WA Art Gallery for all to see.

 Strangely the Andersons are looking for the Strelleys and the Harris family of Derbyshire.  Alf and Sid set off to find Lucy and Joseph......

With kind regards

Robyn

The story of the Strelley family  has been documented in the blog previously. The Harris/ Anderson story will come in parts over the next few days or so. 

The Bombing of Darwin 1942

Its 75 years ago since the World War 2 appeared at Australia’s doorstep. On 19/2/1942 at 10am the Battle of Darwin began when the Japanese air force raided hitting infrastructure, fuel supplies, shipping and buildings in town and then the Air Base.  The actual strategy was to hit fuel storage  and disable the (US) military force in Darwin while preparing to invade New Guinea.

Two raids were carried out with 188 aircraft  from the Japanese who had 4 aircraft carriers anchored in the Timor Sea. People  of Darwin possibly only had a few minutes notice of what was happening and fear of what happened previously in Singapore had the civilians in a panic and anxious to leave .

Looting was rife . About half of the population of Darwin including women and children were evacuated or fled south. With the Air force bases targeted, local leadership of the army and the airforce were ill prepared for the aftermath of an attack.

A Report on the Battle of Darwin showed delayed warning and poor leadership Source: Herald 5/10/1945

My father in law Joseph Hudson Ford was with the AIF in a General Transport Company when the attack happened – he never forgot the fear that took over the town.  

We had planned a return trip to Darwin with Joe in 1975 while his son was working there. Sadly Cyclone Tracy in Dec 1974 had better plans. Twice this fine city was levelled.

Today a visit to the city and surrounds greets the tourist with remnants of war and reminders that the “Top End” was to be targeted for attack by the Japanese over 200 times. Bombs were also dropped on Broome, Townsville, Katherine, Port Hedland, Wyndham and Derby.

Reminders of "Top End" defence in Darwin

75 years later we remember the 235 who died  and the hundreds who were injured.  That day thirty aircraft were destroyed.  Nine ships in the harbour  were sunk and two outside also.

Follow more stories on this topic when I travel to New Guinea  to commemorate 75 years since the War in New Guinea.

Do Not Disturb - I'm counting relatives

I like to look over statistics of my family research activities. It's a sign of achievement and I like to check how many are lost in the event of a computer or software package breakdown. Believe me there's been two this year and I think I contained the losses to about 50 people (at the cost of a new software update and a new computer). So as at today I have 6147 people in the tree.

Don't get me wrong I don't just collect names for the sake of collecting. I believe that if you research up-and-down and across a family you find much more and reap the benefits.

·         Breakthroughs eg when you find brother John was staying with widowed sister Sue and her family

·         Insight into family trades, names, movements

·         DNA spinoffs hopefully

So this year has seen me put some 1000 extra people on my tree bringing the total to 6147. I also discovered it was necessary to expand the tree when my husband and I did a DNA test. My fourth cousins or closer matches have grown from 49 to 70 in a few months. I'd like to think some of this has come from my expansion in the tree but I've had very little success there. Indeed it's from the popularity of DNA testing. I suspect, judging from the people saying they have bought testing kits for Christmas on various DNA facebook sites there should be an expanded “number of cousins” in about a month or so. So here's hoping for a decent match.

To continue my statistics -My DNA test showed 58% Great Britain and Scotland, 34% Irish and 8% other the regions including 4% Europe East 2% Iberian Peninsula and 1% Scandinavian.

I suspect that with my high percentage of Irish origins I will have to make researching Irish records my New Years Resolution. Also my Family Tree Maker program records my To Do list –yikes. I've got 83 look up's and tasks and they're only the ones I've written down.

My statistics will not include how many hours spent at my computer. It’s off the Richter scale. However I'm pleased that my blog has hit 60 posts and is had more than 6100 hits.

So as at the end of this month I have a tree spanning back 26 generations with two 22nd times great-grandfathers and one 22nd times great grandmother

.

de Stradlegh, Walter	1100AD	22nd great grandfather
de Somerville, Robert		22nd great grandfather
de Moiz, Isilia	1128 AD	22nd great grandmother

It is on the Strelley side and they're pretty well documented due to land entitlements and inheritances.

I'm also pretty proud of the fact that I've found

·         14/16 second great grandparents

·         27/32 three times great grandparents.

·         38/64 four times great grandparents

·         27/128 five times great-grandparents dating back to early 1700s

·         And all the Great greats up to the 22x mentioned above.

  

Meanwhile it is 207 days until we board the Pacific Aria for a cruise around New Guinea including Milne Bay war sites. Over in New Guinea they happen to be celebrating the 75th anniversary of WWII next year. As well as the anniversary, the cruise also doubles as a genealogy conference with Unlock the Past so we get a holiday, hopefully learn a bit during the sailing days, and see some sites

Steve’s dad saw during his stint in New Guinea.

If you are looking for a worthwhile project you might like to go to the

Imperial War Museum’s Lives of World War One site and remember a loved one or two from England’s WWI. I’ve uploaded several stories and remembering 40.

Happy New Year to all my fellow researchers and readers. Here’s to a great year searching for stories.

Making The Most Of Christmas

It's Christmas time..... a time when we catch up with old relatives, long lost cousins, aunts and in-laws.

It’s the perfect opportunity to seek out those who can contribute to your genealogy bucket list for 2017. Perhaps you will be in contact with the oldest members of the family, those who have incredible memories of things past or the  holders  of the "family valuables" and by that  mean the photos and the memorabilia. This is your annual opportunity to engage people in conversation about visiting family townships, graves etc. Don't be put off by those rolling their eyes and running a mile from you.

I took some photos of my Grandfather when I visited my Aunt and she recounted his death (several times LOL)

Here's a few tips on how to gain interest and information.

• Seek out the oldest relatives.
• Talk about family traditions. How did they come about?
• Ask who was here in the past. 
• Take along a  piece of memorabilia to share/get the conversation started.
• Bring a plate of something grandma used to make or use her old tablecloths, bowls etc. That might get the memories working.
• Engage the cousins, auntie's and uncles. It may jog their memories, remind them of facts, fire up their interest.
• Ask people to update your tree with births, deaths and marriages.
• Make up bonbons with family history facts or questions inside.
• Laminate some placemats with fun questions such as "Who is the practical joker of the family?" "Who got into the most trouble?"
• Pull out the old photo albums.
• Take a pen and paper handy write everything down and check the facts with some others who were on the conversation.

To all my readers- Many thanks for your interest and Merry Christmas. Plenty more family stories, World War One stories and hints to come next year. Feel free to comment or contact me with any special requests.

Enjoy Christmas as a special family time and have a Happy New Year. What are your 2017 family history resolutions?

Robyn xx

Making Sense of World War II – Flying Officer Frank Trevor Kelf 1923-1960

Recently I read A God In Ruins by Kate Atkinson for my book club. It is the story of Teddy and his life pre, during and post WWII. While it flipped backwards and forwards from Teddy’s childhood, through the war, his marriage and children the part of the novel that hit home most with me with was Teddy’s wartime experiences as an RAF bomber pilot. I continually transposed Teddy with my Uncle Frank. 

Frank Trevor Kelf was born on 28 March 1923 and joined the RAAF in 1941 as a Flying Officer When he left for training in Canada on one of the US Army troop carriers Frank carried with him a diary and a small camera. Frank, aged 18 travelled from Sydney to Dunnville, Canada via Cuba, Guantanamo, the USA, Montréal and finally arrived in Dunnville, Ontario where he did his major training in flying and map reading.

Later he went to London and finally was stationed with the RAF in Grangemouth in Scotland in 1943 where he was shot down once, crash landed twice, once after an engine failure at takeoff. By the end of the War he had 510 hours flying and 65 hours operational flying. After his last crash he professed his nervousness during operational flying and was somewhat doubtful of ever wanting to fly again. His Commanding Officer said “he has however at all times been and extremely good officer.”

Initially his diary entertains us with his “Contiki holiday”. Frank was continuously chronicling the minutiae of his tour of duty. The stuff a young backpacker would write in postcards or posts on Facebook to the friends back home.  We heard about most the thrills and spills, girls and pubs. He celebrated his 20th birthday and reminded us he had missed two Christmases at home but was welcomed into the homes of others.

His annotated collections of photos take over from where the diary leaves off and are a mixture of larrikin and perhaps the dawning horror of war.  For example, his squadron photos begin to be a countdown those who are “lost” with “x”s through the men’s pictures.

His artistically composed photos of aircraft are interspersed with smoky lines of a friend’ aircraft after being shot down. Interspersed with graphic photos of dead Germans and injured Japanese planes are shots of the “Boys Own Adventure”, a visit from the King and Churchill, dead Germans, crashed planes and photos taken on missions.

Later in March 1944 when he is posted to India, Libya and Burma he revels in the sights of snake charmers, camel trains, Hindu culture the Taj Mahal and the Himalayan foothills amongst other things.

At the conclusion of the story Frank’s life departs from Teddy’s. (Both are shot down and while Frank moves to India, Teddy is a prisoner of war.) 

A God in Ruins continues to chronicle Teddy’s life through marriage to old age. It is clear both Teddy and Frank suffered from their experiences and memories of that time. No doubt Frank came back a very different person to the beloved son who went away to serve his country. Back in Australia in 1945 he married Betty and later Aileen and fathered three lovely children: Jillian, Airdrie and Chris. He joined the N.S.W. Fire Brigade and went to the airport fire service. Sadly the demons of war haunted this man who charmed people all over the world and his life ended too early in 1960. Frank succumbed to his Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.

Our finest memory of Frank is his portrait in the Australian War Memorial painted by war artist Sir William Dargie. He was attracted Flying Officer Frank Kelf by the kerchief he wore. Overall we have some strong memorabilia, his photographs, his diary, his observations and sense of humour. Teddy’s story was fiction but Frank’s is real.

We are thankful for Frank's legacy of his diary and his annotated photos.

The night my book club met I couldn’t wait to get the discussion of Teddy’s exploits over. I wanted to pass around my “show and tell”- Flying Officer Frank Trevor Kelf’s memorabilia.

 11/11/2016 Lest we Forget

One hundred years ago...10 soldiers died at Thiepval. Frank Buxton 1890-1916

On 2 October 2016, it is 100 years since Private Frank Buxton 4129 lost his life in the Great War. Born 1890, he was the nephew of my husband's grandmother Ethel Hudson and the grandson of Joseph Hudson.

Frank the son of Walter and Emily Buxton nee Hudson was part of 1/5th Cheshire Regiment. Prior to joining in Nov 1915 he lived with his parents and siblings, three brothers and one sister, in Bank Street Cheadle

It was a reserve Battalion converted to a pioneer regiment after the many young men in the area answered the call and rushed in to enlist. Its primary role was construction rather than fighting meaning its role was construction of tunnels and trenches. Franks previous occupation as a gardener was entirely appropriate to the task.

After training in Cheshire he would've made his way over to France. Probably by August 1916 his regiment would've also become fighting replacements for those killed in the heavy losses on the Somme in July.

His battalion moved into forward positions south of the village of Montauban on 30 September. Their role was to dig new assembly trenches in preparation for another attack.

Frank was one of 10 members of that Battalion who died that day. Five died of wounds after being evacuated from the trenches. 4 others besides Frank were killed in action. John Hartley for the Cheadle and Gately War Memorial’s website reported that his Commanding Officer had written to the next of Kin

"it it may be of some consolation to you to know that his death was painless being killed instantly by a bursting shell and he was carefully buried behind the lines by his comrades”. He was aged 26.

The register of soldier’s effects shows that his mother, Emily was his soul legatee.

The 1/5th Cheshire's fought at Ypres, the Somme, Arras, Cambrai, the Canal du Nord and Mons.

 

His Somme grave is located at Thiepval Memorial near the village of Thiepval. Index number MR 21 part VII. Panel reference is Pier and face 3C and 4A.

The Memorial has over 72,000 grave sites- 90% of whom were lost between July and November 1916.

The historical information on the Memorial site states that the offensive had been going since July.

“  Losses were catastrophic and with only minimal advances on the southern flank, the initial attack was a failure. In the following weeks, huge resources of manpower and equipment were deployed in an attempt to exploit the modest successes of the first day. However, the German Army resisted tenaciously and repeated attacks and counter attacks meant a major battle for every village, copse and farmhouse gained. At the end of September, Thiepval was finally captured. The village had been an original objective of 1 July. Attacks north and east continued throughout October and into November in increasingly difficult weather conditions. The Battle of the Somme finally ended on 18 November with the onset of winter.”

RIP Frank Buxton 1890-1916