Defending The Eye Of The Needle

When the shadows of war became a reality in September 1939 Australia was forced to look to its own resources for its defence. Initially a number of World War 1 Naval lookouts, known as War Signal Stations, were reopened at key points around its coast. These quickly proved ineffective—in 1940 the German Navy easily evaded the War Signal Stations at both Wilsons Promontory and Cape Otway to lay 110 mines in Bass Strait. Those mines claimed two ships before they could be cleared. This prompted plans to deploy top secret radar stations at Cape Otway and other key points.

Before the radars could be commissioned, a Japanese aircraft was launched from a submarine in Bass Strait to make a reconnaissance flight over Melbourne. It was sighted, but before action could be taken it had flown back to the submarine which quickly left the area.

In both of these enemy intrusions radar would have provided timely warning so that defences could have reacted successfully.

The Cape Otway radar station was duly brought into operation; this book details its activities—told by the men who served there, as well as drawing on German and Japanese records to detail the enemy actions noted above.

Come On! Come On!

John Mavor served the Methodist and Uniting Churches as a Minister of the Word for over 50 years—commencing as a Methodist probationary minister in 1954, mostly in administrative and leadership positions within various church departments, or in mission postings in Papua New Guinea and the Pacific. He further served the Uniting Church as Moderator of the Queensland Synod in 1988–89 and as the eighth President of the Assembly from 1997 to 2000.

Come On! Come On! is a comprehensive and detailed account of his journey through those years—the wide range of experiences and issues encountered, and the numerous colleagues with whom he worked. It is an important addition to the history of the life and work, and the people, of these two churches in Australia.

Murphy’s Lore and Other Stories

When the growing school on a tiny pocket of land in Moonee Ponds threatened to burst at the seams, one Br P.B. Murphy came to the rescue.

The purpose of publishing this book was to put into print some of the remembered history of St Bernard’s College, as told by those who were part of its first seventy years. It is woven through with contributions from students, Brothers, teachers, parents, volunteers and others associated in some way with the college, at both Moonee Ponds and West Essendon. To paraphrase playwright Bertolt Brecht, we particularly wanted to hear the voices of the previously unheard: the student whose name never appeared in gold-leaf on an honour board; the quiet-achieving Brother; the mother who found time to serve in the tuck shop while raising other children; the worker who mowed the grounds and repaired the buildings year in, year out; the father whose proudest moment was when a son followed in his footsteps and became a St Bernard’s boy.

Through the pages of Murphy’s Lore and Other Stories former students will relive their St Bernard’s schooldays with all their joys, sorrows, humour, escapades and pranks; readers who did not attend the school will join with them to discover the absorbing story of a college that found its own promised land.

BrownJudy

An ‘Irish-born, London-bred’ ex-con from the notorious island convict colony of Van Diemen’s Land is hired at the 1839 new year convict muster in Geelong to be shepherd on a station at the frontier of white settlement expansion into what was then known as the Portland Bay District. He soon learns that the rules agreed among the self-appointed British laird settlers include giving guns to their assignees to clear away the Australians.

On station are squatter and wife, an overseer and his manservant, three other shepherds on an outstation run, all of whom have also crossed over Bass Strait. Wife has a black housemaid who speaks English; she is the most prized hand on station, BrownJudy, a London-flash name given her by the ex-con. In conversations in his hut after dinner she tells about the creeds and customs of the people he is being paid to murder …

It All Began With A Horse

In her first book, Just Give the Bottom Cupboards to the Mice, Joan Freemantle told the story of her life as the wife of a country school teacher, moving frequently and raising a family of six children in a wide range of houses.

In similar lively and entertaining style It All Began With A Horse tells of her life up to her marriage in 1951 … with a brief look at her earliest forebears in Australia, the Hollaways and the McCures, beginning with the convict William Sidebottom who was transported to Van Dieman’s Land in 1825.

Citizenship of the World in the 21st Century

“If this book succeeds in encouraging you to develop the habit of meditating for half an hour a day I shall die a happy man.”

John Siddons challenges his readers to replace some of the activity of life with meditation and contemplation, seeing as he does a need for us “to change our attitude as well as our actions if we are to solve the crisis the world is facing”.

From Butter and Bacon to Federal Parliament

From Butter and Bacon to Federal Parliament is the story of a most interesting man. He was a businessman, philanthropist, innovator, activist and politician. In 1889 he began in business with a grocery store in Melbourne, moving to Fremantle in 1895 where he established Watson's Supply Store. The business grew to include very successful Luncheon Rooms for a few years until World War One led to their closure, then diversified into manufacture and wholesale of smallgoods. The business prospered under his leadership and that of his son Harold, developing its own Watsonia brand; it is now part of George Weston Foods Pty Ltd.

In 1922 he entered Federal politics as the independent Member for Fremantle in the House of Representatives. He was elected in each election in which he stood serving, in all, three terms—1922–25, 1925–28, and 1931–34—twice defeating John Curtin for the seat. He was a fiercely independent parliamentarian with strong views on the negative side of the party system.

Making extensive use of parliamentary records and his own personal correspondence, From Butter and Bacon to Federal Parliament gives fascinating insights into Australia's social and political history during the first thirty years of Federation.

A brief biography can be found in the Australian Dictionary of Biography Online Edition at http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A120453b.htm.

Warrandyte: the community with a heart of gold

•  Where was the nearest gold discovery to Melbourne?

•  Where was the State battery opened in 1909?

•  Where was gold found years before the first official discovery in Victoria?

•  Where was the ‘Pink Line’?

•  Where are Anderson’s Creek and Whipstick Gully?

•  Where was the Yarra River diverted through a tunnel?

The answer? Warrandyte.

Murray Houghton brings together his metallurgist’s knowledge of how gold was discovered, mined and refined with his passion for the community in which he grew up, in this comprehensive and detailed history of a little known corner of Victoria’s rich goldfields and the strong community that developed there.

Annually, during the late 1930s on the third Friday in November, pupils of Warrandyte School No. 12 would gather at the Louis Michel Gold Memorial Cairn in Anderson’s Creek to celebrate Pioneer’s Day, and listen attentively while Michel’s son-in-law Charles R. Long explained the significance of the district’s golden heritage. It was then that the very young Murray Houghton’s interest in Warrandyte’s gold mining history was initially aroused …

Down The Track

Down the Track tells the story of five families—Bertalli, Gregg, Morrison, Thomas and Settle—which came together on the goldfields of Victoria at Ballarat, Castlemaine and Yandoit in the Central Highlands, before settling into rural life in the Mallee at Underbool and Wycheproof, South Gippsland at Hoddle Range, and the Western District at Timboon. It is an account, like so many Australian family histories, of simple folk doing their best to create a new life in a strange land, and doing so with honest endeavour and diligence.

Dobbin

Isabell and Len Bloomfield shared sixty three years of life together, raising a family of four children in suburban Melbourne in the recovery years following World War II. In Dobbin, Isabell traces her life from her childhood and early working years in rural Victoria, her marriage to Len, the years raising their family together, the joy of seeing the family expand into two more generations. Belle wrote in old age until her eyesight was so poor she could write no more. Her eldest daughter, Janet, completes the story with her own account of the final days of each of her parents.

“In writing my story I look back on a very interesting lifetime and would like this to be read or heard by many who would choose to follow along the passage of time with lots of ups and downs.”

From Belfast to Belsen and Beyond

from Belfast to Belsen and Beyond is the extraordinary story of a young woman who was catapulted from a protected, quiet existence in pre war Belfast into a lifetime answering the needs of refugees and displaced people whose lives had been turned upside down by the tumultuous events precipitated by the rise of National Socialism in Europe in the 1930s.

away with me

Joachim Matschoss is a playwright and poet born in Germany, now living in Australia. The literary journal away with me is no ordinary account of the author’s travels. It is a physical journey around Europe, but also a cultural, creative and emotional journey. Poetry and snippets of prose stand next to short stories of the everyday moments, the little idiosyncrasies, the people you meet on the road. Matschoss writes with the meditative attention that is needed when visiting places that once were home and in a way still are, and yet are now foreign.

The Finchers In History

A chronological English historical framework provides the structure for this account of selected Fincher individuals and families. They include outstanding C17 men such as John Fincher of Shell Manor and Major Richard Fincher, Quartermaster-General of Horse in Fairfax’s New Model Army during the Civil War, religious nonconformists, the clothier families of Worcester City, and various successful Midland farmers. The changing lifestyles following the Agricultural and Industrial Revolutions are reflected in the Fincher families, including some inter-county and later, overseas, migration.

The research began with Isaac Fincher who arrived in Australia in 1873, but when it became evident that those with the Fincher surname might share a common origin it was decided to explore the ancestry of all Finchers living in England before C20. The earliest records we have are from late C15 in Worcestershire, north east of Worcester, and likely precursors of the name have been found in that area in C13 and C14 court rolls. Although not yet confirmed it seems that the Fincher family who appeared in Buckinghamshire about 1540 had come from Worcestershire, and that all subsequent English (and worldwide) Finchers descend from these two families.

Preserving the Past and the Present for the Future

Although family historians have long recognised the importance of preserving historical records, they sometimes overlook the equally important task of documenting their own lives and recording contemporary events for future generations.

The theme of the Sixth Victorian Family History State Conference: ‘Preserving the Past and Present For The Future’, highlights the importance of not only preserving our rich heritage but also creating valuable resources for our descendants.

This volume contains 15 of the 18 papers presented to that conference will provide inspiration and valuable assistance to family historians with their own research and documentation.

David George Lindsay of Mentone

This report on the LINDSAY family was prepared for the grandchildren of David George LINDSAY of Mentone. Consequently, David and his direct line is the focus of this document. There are three parts to this publication –

1. Introduction including background to the LINDSAY name

2. Family Charts and Stories—chronologically from the earliest known generation to today

3. Descendants of William LINDSAY Senior—a chart of all known descendants of the earliest identifiable LINDSAY ancestor. This chart is indexed separately from the Family Charts section.

Grettaland

Grettaland is a fantasy based on the life experiences and hopes of Ned Kelly, in which his dream of establishing an independent republic in north east Victoria is fulfilled in an atmosphere, not of hostility and violence, but of fun and good humour.

Ronald Rainy Macdonald OBE

After a childhood in rural South Australia and western New South Wales, Ronald Rainy Macdonald was educated at Scotch College and the University of Melbourne where he graduated as a Doctor of Medicine in 1938. He then worked as a resident at Brisbane Hospital before serving as a medical officer in the RAAF during World War Two, rising to the rank of Wing Commander and receiving an OBE for his outstanding work.

Following the war he took up private practice in Grafton, NSW before moving to Coffs Harbour in 1950 where he served as a GP for the remainder of his working life and was involved in many aspects of community life. His service to the community was recognised in 1993 when he was named as Citizen of the Year.

He wrote these memoirs in his final years of life, despite failing health, and they have been compiled and edited in this published volume by his daughter.

History and Memories of 14 Radar Station Wilsons Promontory

Shrouded in secrecy and with the passage of time, this story was on the verge of oblivion. This history of 14 radar station transforms a few curios—an old section of walking track, a piece of asbestos pipe, a rusty old piece of steel or a concrete slab—and the memories of those who were there at the time, into an important record of the Proms’ and the nation’s history. Ian McKellar's tenacity and thirst for accurate detail has provided a looking-glass into a period that shaped much of what we see at the Prom today and the park can only be the richer for it.

This edition includes additional previously unpublished material brought to light since the previous editions. The former was entirely sourced from men who had trained in radar. Now we can present some memories from their colleagues who were also in the teams—a medical orderly, a fitter, a clerk, a naval signaller, as well as men and women who served in the Air Defence HQ at the Preston Town Hall.

Flight of Fantasy

Flight of Fantasy is an illustrated story which begins with a walk in rainforest, then develops into a fantastic journey of the mind when gnomes are encountered.

However, the real story is the author's own journey from a troubled and painful school experience to learning as an adult that he suffered from dyslexia and learning to read, write, spell and paint—skills which he now uses to help dyslexic children and adults to avoid the negative experiences he had himself. In a sense, then, Flight of Fantasy is an allegory of his own life experience.

Flight of Fantasy (limited edition)

Limited Edition of 1,000—each book is hand numbered, and signed by the author.

Flight of Fantasy is an illustrated story which begins with a walk in rainforest, then develops into a fantastic journey of the mind when gnomes are encountered.

However, the real story is the author's own journey from a troubled and painful school experience to learning as an adult that he suffered from dyslexia and learning to read, write, spell and paint—skills which he now uses to help dyslexic children and adults to avoid the negative experiences he had himself. In a sense, then, Flight of Fantasy is an allegory of his own life experience.