Week Four -Flash Story

NO PLACE LIKE HOME

STANVILLE

What had I done? The Court wanted to auction my beloved Stanville.


I remember the first day I saw that parcel of land. Through the trees I could see the sun shimmering on the waves at Collaroy beach. Patterns of orange and pink danced on the calm tide. The memory of those colours remain with me always.


Things had been going well, with my Carrier business. Surely, with the Depression over, it was time I provided Florence with a home of her own. It would be good for the children to breathe the sea air instead of the stench of the streets of Newtown and play in safety, without fear of being run down by passing vehicles.


It had been a labour of love building our little cottage Stanville. The name just seemed right. Stanley had been such a dear little lad, taken from us too soon, he never saw the carriage approaching.


Now nine years later we could lose it all. My house to be auctioned because of my foolishness and not paying my mortgage. How was I going to find the £336.16s.7d. needed to pay the bank.


No matter what it took, I would work day and night. This was our home, our Stanville, our first and only home.

Week One Flash Story

For my weekly activity in the Writing Family History Unit for my Diploma, I had to write Flash Stories of a limit of 250 words. 

These exercises were aimed at teaching us the art of choosing our words, subject and genre of writing to tell stories that packed a punch, hooked the reader at the beginning, used different techniques of dialogue, description, showing instead of telling, etc.

We had a choice each week of six different topics.  I can see a growth in my writing from my first story to that of my sixth story.


Here is my first foray into Family History story telling.

The Story in History

Louisa was cleaning the bar. She was tired and looking forward to when they could call closing time.

Her life was a busy one, with seven children under the age of thirteen and the baby not yet one. Sleep would elude her tonight, with Alfred snoring beside her and the baby waking constantly with those blessed teeth!

She thought sulkily that Alfred was taking a long time getting that bucket of water from the well. What could be taking that man so long!

Louisa bit her tongue for the umpteenth time that night. He had been drinking with his cronies again leaving all the work in the bar to her as usual. The Sugarloaf Inn wasn’t high class but it was a roof over their heads and good steady work. A far cry from their gold mining days.

Suddenly there was a commotion coming from the backyard. What were those men up to now?

One of the men came running in blabbering incoherently, he was too drunk to make head or tails of what he was saying.

Then she saw the rest of the men. Their faces told the full story. Alfred wasn’t with them.

The next thing she remembered was waking up in her bed by herself. No Alfred, no baby Ethel and a strange women sitting beside the bed.

Then the memory of last night came flooding back. Alfred had fallen down the well to his death. What was she going to do now?

Writing Family History Assignment

For the Writing Family History Unit, we had to write and post each week on a Uni Discussion Board over 6 weeks a 250 word short narrative.  The major assignment was a narrative in one of the genres we had been exploring in the unit. I found my "comfort area" in the Creative Non-Friction genre. The discipline of writing 250 words each week was a valuable one.  It made me choose words carefully and really think about what was important to the telling of the story.

I chose to write my final assignment on my paternal Great Grandmother.

A JUMP THROUGH TIME 1915-2017 

Time travel. It doesn’t exist, does it? 

My head says it can’t be, but looking out of the church windows and doors at dusty roads and historical street facades, tells a different story. The heat is oppressive with the threat of rain on the distant horizon. This is definitely 1915, Gunnedah.

This is really happening, I am not asleep. I am standing in front of a congregation of mourners. Could these people be my ancestors from another century?

I look out on the sea of faces in the congregation and come to the realisation, something is required of me.

They are waiting for me to give the Eulogy. Holy crap!

I am accustomed to winging it in many situations, but can I do this? I suppose I do know a fair bit about Louisa, but it may not be what they want to hear.

The coffin is carried in by six burley men in woolen suits. I notice the sheen of sweat around their beards and moustaches and dripping from their brows. These men are sons from Louisa’s first marriage and her two sons-in-law. Wow! They look different to how I imagined. 

“My name is Marcia Moon. I am the Great Granddaughter, of Louisa Engstrom. I have travelled through time from 2017. I am not sure why I am here or if I am the right person to be doing this, but I will give it a go.”

This announcement is met with a chorus of gasps and looks of disbelief from the family and snickers from the younger generation. Luckily no one is making a move to escort me from the building, to the nearest asylum! 

“ Louisa was born sometime around 1850.[26] If anyone could confirm the names of her parents with any degree of certainty and with references, I would be forever grateful.”

Well that went over like a lead balloon! They are staring blankly back at me. Obviously my attempt at Family History humour has gone over their heads. 

“My story starts with Louisa having her first son with my Great Grandfather, Alfred Louis Brandt in Tasmania in 1870.[27] Alfred was a gold miner. [28] Success in this field saw them moving north to Gulgong, New South Wales, within two years. They eventually settled in Gunnedah, where they became the owners of the Sugarloaf Inn. Over the next ten years another six children joined the family. [29]

“Now here is where my story gets interesting.”

From the looks on the faces in front of me, they are thinking...nothing out of the ordinary here... they moved from Tasmania after the birth of their first born. What is she talking about? 

“Twelve years later after the birth of their seventh child and first daughter in 1882, Alfred and Louisa made a little trip back to Tasmania, in January of the following year.

“Gunnedah to Tasmania? How is that even possible in 1883, with seven children? Did the children stay with neighbours? Can any of the family confirm this?

“Anyway, I digress.

“A second honeymoon you ask? No. Try their marriage!

“Alfred and Louisa were married in 1883, in Launceston, Tasmania.[30] Why go back to Tasmania to get married? Was it to cover up the fact that for over twelve years they had been known as Mr & Mrs, which wasn’t the case at all!”

I have their attention now. If I am going to get any information from this crowd today, I need to keep going. But how much information is too much? 

“After the wedding Alfred and Louisa returned to Gunnedah.

“Life was hard with both of them running the bar and lodging house of the Inn, with a large family in tow. The bulk of the rearing of the family was left to Louisa, who cleaned, cooked and schooled them all. She often wondered why her only girl was born last, at least if she was the eldest she could have helped with the childminding and chores. The older boys all worked around the Inn. The two youngest boys were especially helpful with the baby.

“Tragedy struck within six months of their return. While out the back with his cronies getting water, Alfred slipped and fell down the well to his death.[31]

“You would be forgiven in thinking Louisa went to pieces at this time. Although devastated at the loss of her husband, her thoughts turned to her children and how she would support them. Ever resourceful, Louisa decided to take over the Publican’s Licence and manage the Sugarloaf Inn, on her own.” [32]

I hope this leads to some interesting conversations after this service. 

“But being a single mother in the nineteenth century still had a certain stigma attached to it. When she found love again a couple of years later, she grasped it with both hands. She married August Engstrom and they had one child together, before August died in 1888 leaving her single again.[33]

“She chose to remain single until her death. This time she wasn’t letting the stigma of being on her own, rule her life. She had proven before she could provide for her children. It wasn’t a lonely life, she had eight children after all. She went on to become a successful business woman, running another two pubs and a Lodging house, up until the early 1900’s.”[34] 

Eyes are starting to glaze over in the congregation. I better wrap this up. Thank heavens I have all my research questions I want to ask on my iphone for reference. Maybe an Oral History Interview and recording might be on the cards. 

Will they be able to knock down my brick wall, giving me some information on her early life and how she arrived in Australia? Hopefully not in a row boat as I am prone to moan after another unsuccessful search at midnight. Boy! Have I some questions for them.

“Enough of my ramblings. Let’s get this service underway. I am looking forward to meeting you all over a cuppa.

“Rest in peace Louisa, I am proud to call you Great Grandmother. I just wish you had kept a diary!”



26 NSW Death Registration Transcription, Ref No 1915/15291, Louisa Engstrom,Ref No 879450 Printed 27 September 2016, http://nswtranscriptions.com.au

27 Australia, Birth Index, 1788-1922 Index Reg #44 Alfred L BRANDT [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010, http://www.ancestry.com.au

28 WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 12. (1870, January 13). Launceston Examiner (Tas. : 1842 - 1899), p. 3. Retrieved May 27, 2017, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article39672718,

29 Australia, Birth Index, 1788-1922 Index Reg #135592 Magnus BRANDT, Index Reg #14877 Peter BRANDT; Index Reg #15707 John BRANDT; Index Reg #22850 George BRANDT; Index Reg #25169 William BRANDT; Index Reg #17610 Ethel BRANDT; [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010 accessed 12 August 2015 http://www.ancestry.com.au 

30 Australia, Marriage Index, 1788-1950 Index Reg 685 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Accessed 12 August 2015, http://www.ancestry.com.au

31 Australia, Death Index, 1787-1985, Index Reg#8157 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010, accessed 18 August 2015 , http://www.ancestry.com.au

32 Government Gazette Notices (1884, August 29). New South Wales Government Gazette (Sydney, NSW : 1832 - 1900), p. 5884. Retrieved May 26, 2017, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article225588522

33 NSW Marriage Registration Transcription, Ref No 1886/7445 Louisa Engstrom, Ref No 8938233 Printed 30 January 2017, http://nswtranscriptions.com.au

Australia, Birth Index, 1788-1922, Frances Engstrom (Provo, UT, USA,,Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010), http://www.ancestry.com.au
Australia, Death Index, 1787-1985, August Engstrom, (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010), http://www.ancestry.com.au

34 Advertising (1900, May 26). The Worker (Wagga, NSW : 1892 - 1913), p. 6. Retrieved May 27, 2017, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article145904515



For this Assignment I received a mark of 70% and received the following feedback:
Hi Marcia –

This was an interesting piece. Thank you.

This is clearly a well-researched piece. You’ve really done your homework on your family, and it shows. Louisa sounds like a fascinating character, and you’ve given a clear, concise outline of her life. You have a clear, easy to read writing style, and I enjoyed the creative approach you took.

You have the bones here of a really interesting story, but you’ve fallen into the trap of trying to do too much. There are a lot of stories crammed into this 1000 word piece! I know this is meant to be a eulogy, but for someone not familiar with Louisa, there’s a lot here to keep track of. I’d recommend a tighter focus to keep from overwhelming your reader.

There’s a lot of potential here, so I’m confident that if you work on this, you can make this a very engaging narrative. 

Place, Image and Object Assignment

In the Unit Place, Image and Object, I had 2 major assignments. 

The first was an Annotated Map.  

This was something I had never heard of before!  After all the Unit lectures and much research I settled on my subject, my memories of my childhood home.  After a lot of experimentation and many learning curves I produced a slideshow.  I have reproduced it below as a video.

My mark for this assignment was 70% and the following feedback:
Hi Marcia,
Thank you for your mapped investigation of Boronia st. You used the elements of images of everyday family life, maps and drawings effectively. I don't know if there is any history of Dee Why itself that could be a future inclusion? The house drawing work well in this task due to the plan view of a house being a map of a home and its room.Well done.

I was a little disappointed with this mark, as I had put a lot of work into it.  

FOND MEMORIES OF BRANDT FAMILY HOME

To view the video please click on the link below:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0HqWknyF3jAQXZHaS1EZkdBU1E/view

________________________________________________

The second assignment for Place, Image and Object was a Object Biography.  It could be on anything from our Family that I could research and write a biography about.

I received 70% for this assignment and the following 
feedback:
Hi Marcia,
Thank you for this great object biography, you have explored the photograph through a number of contextual frames including identifying its materials and techniques, its significance to people and its wider historical context - your detective work in finding the similar Kent photo and following up the writing on the trucks provided some really interesting wider context. For future object biographies try to pursue some of those threads a little more - if it wasn't an advertising image, why might it have been taken and perhaps follow up the sort of work Kent or similar photographers did at the time and the role that photographs played in the 1920s, and similarly the ideas that came out of the memories you unearthed could all be pursued - the solid tyres and what this tells us about transport history, the use of trucks to transport gas, the shifts in technology that allowed motor vehicles to take over from horses. Even though you haven't yet discovered the original function of the object, I was really interested by its transition in function to becoming a symbolic object for you - both in terms of the personal link it gives you to your ancestry but also in an aesthetic sense by being displayed for others to see. Well done.


My subject for this was an old photo from my Mother's possessions.

OBJECT BIOGRAPHY

SS BRIGGS CONTRACTOR ROZELLE PHOTOGRAPH 

For my Object Biography I have chosen a photograph that was in my Mother’s possessions and I inherited after her death in 1996. It is a photo of her Father’s( Samuel Stanley Briggs) business.

It shows three English made Thornycroft trucks with the wording SS Briggs Contractor Rozelle on the side. It is mounted in thick cardboard with the Photographer’s information Milton C Kent in the bottom right hand corner. There isn't a date on the photo anywhere.

Figure 1: My Object - Personal Collection -Marcia Moon
SS Briggs Contractor Roselle (Photographer Milton C Kent, Haberfield)  

Milton C Kent was a well know Photographer of the time and specialised in Aerial Photography. Some of his clients were the Federal Government and the City of Sydney.[1] 
With the aim of finding more about my Object photo and my Grandfather I started searching for other photos taken by Milton C Kent. This resulted in me finding another one taken in 1921, which was mounted in the same brown cardboard, with the information stating that it was a gelatine silver photographic print 14.3 x 20.3 cm on a mount 25 x 30.2 cm.[2] These are the exact measurements and mounting style of the photograph in my possession. 

Figure 2: Photograph from Trove -Milton C Kent Photographer Haberfield, c1921. Source: http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/189953821

I then found (again on Trove) an article for the auction of SS Briggs horses and lorries as he had purchased motors. This newspaper article was dated 11 July 1922.[3] 

Figure 3 :Newspaper Article from Trove, Source:http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article16012373

As my Object Photo clearly shows three trucks with SS Briggs on the side, I am estimating that the production of this photo is c1922.

As stated in the photo I used for comparison, the production was done with the Gelatine Silver process. I am basing my assumption of my Object Photo using this process as well. This involved using gelatine which is an animal protein, as the binder and developed silver to make a material image.

This process was the most common used for black and white prints at this time and is still used in some forms today.[4] 

My feelings of my Object Photo is that it has been produced as an advertising tool. But in researching it, I have not as yet been able to find evidence of this photo anywhere else, other than in my possession!

My research has lead me to reminiscing with my eldest sister.[5] She remembers our mother telling her that her father had one of the first motorised trucks in NSW.

I also spoke to my cousin[6] who also remembers being told by his motherI(my aunt) that he was a carrier for gas products, for he thought British Industrial Gases and had the first registered motor lorry in NSW. He also remembers being told it had solid tyres, which can be verified in the Object Photo.(Figure 1) Prior to that he used horse drays, which is also verified by the Newspaper article.(Figure 3) 

When I started looking for information about British Industrial Gases, my search led me to the company BOC(British Oxygen Company) who took over the company CIG(Commonwealth Industrial Gases) in 1935, who also took over Comox (Commonwealth Oxygen Ltd), which was founded in 1911.[7] 

My Object Photo also has the words Comox, clearly printed on the side of the three truck engines.(Figure 1) So this indicates that my Grandfather worked for Comox, so I have uncovered another link of research for information about my Grandfather.

My Object is starting to weave a story for me. As I have very little information about my Grandparents except where they lived and died, this Object holds great significance for me. It is a link to how my Grandfather worked and provided for his family.

I would like to find out more information about my Object and hope that one day it will lead me to other unanswered questions.

I know that my Grandfather died in 1939 at his home in Collaroy. But a newspaper article on 24 December 1937, shows the Bankstown Council in the NSW Supreme Court having my Grandfather’s home being put up for auction in February 1938, to pay for non payment of his mortgage to the Bank. [8] 

What happened between the time of his rise to prosperity and proud owner of Motorised vehicles in 1922 and his death in 1939?

Did the Great Depression claim another victim? If he was still living in his house at the time of his death, did he somehow raise the funds to pay his debts and keep his house?

My Object raises many feelings of sadness at my lack of curiosity of my Ancestors until it was too late. I wish that I had taken time to talk to my Mum more about the past while she was around.

My search has led me to various sites which I have sent emails, with varied responses.

I have contacted the Powerhouse museum in regards to a book which shows photos of Milton C Kent.9 As yet unanswered.

I have also emailed the State Library of NSW in regard to researching Milton C Kent and Business Trade Directories of the 1920s.10 Unfortunately they were unable to give me anymore information that I had not already accessed.

I also emailed the Transport Workers’ Union [11] asking about their archive records for members in 1920s. Although they don't have archival records going back that far, they have been very helpful in offering to send me two books free of charge in regards to History of The Transport Workers and their Union. You never know I may find Samuel listed in these!

In conclusion although I haven't uncovered a lot of my Grandfather’s story, I know there is still more of the story to be found. If it hadn't been for my Object Photo, I would not have started the search down this path.

I plan now to display this photo, for others to see. Not hidden away, un- protected and forgotten in a box. It deserves more respect than what it has been getting for the last 90 years. After all it is another link to My Ancestor!

1 Trove. Kent, Milton (1921). Eight Australian Six cars leaving factory, Sydney, to be shipped to New Zealand. Retrieved July 25, 2016, from http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/189953821.

2 Trove. Kent, Milton (1921). Eight Australian Six cars leaving factory, Sydney, to be shipped to New Zealand. Retrieved July 25, 2016 from http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/189953821.

3 Trove. Advertising (1922, July 11). The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954) p. 4. Retrieved August 6, 2016, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article 16012373

4 Google. Adapted from the list of terms and definitions on the website of the Department of Photography and Film, Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center, The University of Texas at Austin, which was compiled from various sources by David Coleman. Published here with permission. Retrieved August 1, 20126, from http://www.photoeye.com/GALLERY/Definitions.cfm

5 Janyce Boyd. Email message to author. August 1, 2016

6 Ralph Dunn. Email message to author. August 2, 2016.

7 Google. Encyclopaedia of Australian Science 2015. Retrieved August 5, 2016 from http://www.eoas.info/biogs/A000964b.htm

8 Trove. The Council of the Municipality of Bankstown v. Briggs. (1937, December 31). Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales (Sydney, NSW : 1901 - 2001), , p. 5187. Retrieved August 6, 2016, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article225130868

9 Powerhouse Museum. Email message to support staff for information. Sent July 19, 2016 from http://www.powerhousemuseum.com/imageservices/photo-library

10 State Library off NSW. Email message to support staff for information. Sent July 20, 2016 from http://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/research-and-collections/ask-librarian

11 Transport Workers’ Union. Email message to author August 8, 2016

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Ancestry: 
Sands Directories: Sydney and New South Wales, 1858-1933 www.ancestry.com.au

Google:

• Australian Academy of Technical Sciences and Engineering www.austehc.unimelb.edu.au
• The BOC Group, www.en.m.wikipedia.org
• Encyclopaedia of Australian Science, www.ecas.infoPhooey,http://www.photoeye.com/GALLERY/Definitions.cfm
• Thornycroft Gallery, www.thornycroft.org.uk
• The Transport Workers’ Union NSW, www.twunsw.org.au

Powerhouse Museum: Photo Library,

http://www.powerhousemuseum.com/imageservices/photo-library/

State Library of NSW: Research and Collections, http://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/research-and-collections/ask-librarian

Trove: Digitised Newspapers, Advertisements, Family Notices, Photo Collections, http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/189953821