Delaney’s Corner

150 years ago John and Bridget Delaney and six of their children landed at Port Fairy. They were followed a decade later by Bridget’s brother Edmund Dunne and his family. What did they leave in Ireland? Why did they come to Australia? What did they find here? How did they respond? What happened to their descendants? This book strives to answer these questions. As the story unfolds illegal whiskey distilling was pursued skilfully by some of the clan near Delaney’s Corner but dairy farming became the primary occupation.

The companion volume Delaney Family Tree contains details of the eight generations of descendants in Australia.

The Immortality of Goodness

“Once we have a clear statement of morality based on human rationality, morality can be taught in schools … If we ignore the need to teach our children how to live peacefully together respecting each other, we are doing this at the very time the need to do so is the greatest it has ever been.”

In this book John Siddons has made a bold and helpful contribution to the conversation which lies at the core of what it means to be human … This text is helpful because it advances and outlines the approach of his friend and compatriot, a pre-eminent and influential moral philosopher of the twentieth century, Alan Donagan. It also reflects in its interpretations the wisdom of an elder, the author himself, who has road-tested moral convictions, choices and judgments in the ethically challenging domains of commerce and politics. (Dr Noel Preston, Ethicist, in his Foreword)

Author John Siddons was head of Siddons Ramset Ltd from 1962 to 1999, and Australian Democrats Senator from 1980 to 1988. He says: “This book attempts to draw the reader’s attention in simple language to Professor Alan Donagan’s important ideas about morality. At the same time it also covers my own reflections on what Professor Donagan said and the conclusions I was led to as a result of reading his book.”

The Kirk Family – 200 years in Australia … so far

For a long time I was keen to find out who was the first KIRK to arrive in Australia and from where. After lengthy research and with the help of others I was very excited when I discovered that the first Kirk was actually a part of Australian history, when he became one of the first boat load of settlers to arrive and live in Van Diemen’s Land.

In detailing his research of the first of his forebears to come to Australia, Brian Kirk reveals many of the classic dilemmas facing genealogists—

Finding the right person:

… The first KIRK to arrive in Australia was Mathew, however which Mathew is the problem—there were two people of the same name …

Finding the right name:

… Mathew is sometimes spelt with two T’s and Kirk is sometimes spelt Kerk. As he didn’t know how to spell he couldn’t check to see what anyone wrote …

Finding the right records:

… On reading these original records whilst I was in London it showed a note at the bottom of his details as missing from that date and all efforts to locate him had failed …

In spite of these difficulties he was able to identify a man who had had a part to play in the early history of white settlement—and from whom he is descended. This book traces the lines linking this man with himself and his own children and grandchildren.

sleepgrains

Joachim Matschoss was born in Germany in 1953 and has lived in Melbourne since 1992. His poetry has been widely published in Europe, Australia and the USA. He has a growing list of plays to his name, while continuing to write poetry—sleepgrains contains all new material.

“These new poems are daring and inventive, intelligently balanced. They are dark, playful, moving, tender and intimate. Sleepgrains offers us fragile meditations on universal themes.” (Paul Norton)

“The poetry of Joachim Matschoss is so surprising, intelligent and seductive that very soon you find you do not want to miss a word of it. Matschoss has taken Craig Raine’s advice to heart, that we must become aliens if we are to see ourselves afresh in all our strangeness. His poetry takes up its lines and images from the everyday and suspends us in a strange, amused and horrified state of observation. Like jazz, it must be experienced, because it cannot really be described.” (Kevin Brophy)

A Tough Old Bird and other stories

The Express Lane, winner of the 2001 Judah Waten Writing in Manningham Prize, like the title story, deals with the author’s experience of cancer, warranting this commendation from the competition judge, Hazel Edwards:

“Effective writing stays with the reader … The very readable and matter-of-fact tone of The Express Lane refers to the side of the mouth where food can still be taken. But the contrast between expectations and reality is well drawn … Understated, the story sounds credible, but the subtext hints at more subtle disappointments underneath.”

Margaret Blair Croker has brought together in this collection a varied and interesting set of stories that are written with honesty, flair and good humour.

One Moonlit Night

One Moonlit Night is ninety two year old author Bob Nichol’s fifth book, another collection of his favourite works from a lifetime of writing following The Green Hills of Home published in 2002.

In this collection he brings to life many of the struggles and challenges in the lives of his characters.

Holy Cross Parish Caulfield South

It appears that the Glenhuntly Road site of Holy Cross Church was destined from the beginning to be hallowed ground. Holy Cross Church was not the first church in the Caulfield area—several other Catholic churches and even some of other denominations pre-dated it. However, Holy Cross does have a significant claim to fame. In its present location, it stands on the very site where Caulfield’s people held their first religious services.

Holy Cross Parish Caulfield South is the story of the church that has served this area since 1926.

Joseph Flude 1825–1892 and other Flude families of Australasia

Flude, Flood, Fludd, Floyd, Lloyd or Llwyd …

Anyone who has one of these names in their family tree will find this book of interest. Each family historian can learn a little from the research of others, and in Joseph Flude 1825–1892 and the Other Flude Families of Australasia, Tony Flude has explained the complex web of interrelationships that bind the Flude families of Australia and New Zealand and traces their origins back to the United Kingdom.

He has painstakingly researched original documents and texts from each Australian State and from New Zealand to write a book that records, for the first time, the history of each of the early Flude families that migrated from England in the early days of European settlement. The influx of post-World War Two immigrants to Australia and New Zealand included more families that are also covered.

The book touches on those aspects of family life and history that will appeal to every reader; the book is both interesting and factually accurate.

Blood Is Thicker

Not all killers leave a signature. But when they do, police know they are up against a monster. So cool, calculating and confident in their own ability, they are prepared to leave a calling card, saying “More to come …”

In the bayside suburb of St Kilda a teenage girl is murdered. It is no ordinary murder; the method was violent, but the pretty face and body remain composed, almost serene in death.

Battling conflicting evidence, no suspects, and a crime scene as cold as a Melbourne winter, the Homicide Squad is furthered hampered by political obstruction.

When the second and third signature murders are committed, Inspector Ryan McAbbey assigns a taskforce and a manhunt begins.

Combining hi-tech scientific techniques and old-fashioned detective know-how, the Homicide Squad pursue a ruthless killer with an agenda that will leave society reeling from the consequences.

A crime thriller to keep you guessing to the end, Blood Is Thicker is a murder investigation at the forefront of DNA forensics.

Holly and the Pussycat

Holly the puppy is new to the family and receives an aggressive welcome from Anastasia the cat, until she intervenes to help Anastasia in a fight with a stray.

Also included is a full colouring book version to provide an activity book for young readers.

Lilbourne Village, Northhamptonshire

Not for public distribution.

In Lilbourne Village, Northhamptonshire Tony Satchell brings together in an accessible form the fruits of his extensive research of the village where his family line arose in 1712. It is a specialised volume which would be of considerable interest to anyone whose genealogical research leads them to this same location.

Somewhere Out There

The 1950s was no time to be a young unmarried mother. When Lyn Flipse had her child, it soon became apparent that she was expected to give him up for adoption.

In Somewhere Out There she tells of this agonising loss and its repercussions through her life until she was finally able, thirty years later, to find her son and share the last ten years of his life.

“Within a short time I believed I had no future, and Barry neither, with my mother saying “adopt, adopt”, and my father not speaking, and my sister hating me …”

“[Gary] was living with us and he said, ‘Let’s find Barry …”

“‘Hello Mum, it’s Barry.’ I almost fell over—after thirty years he spoke to me just like it was yesterday …”

“Then one day in April, Barry came over. He said, ‘I have something to tell you—

Thos

Not for public distribution.

Tom ‘Thos’ Boyd’s life was rich and varied, and included quite a few surprises. In his retirement he decided to set it down in writing for the benefit of his family and friends.

Simpson, SO–in–C

Leon Stubbings is well qualified to write a biography of the man known as the “Father of Australian Signals”. His other works include a history of the Red Cross in Australia, as well as other biographical and historical works.

In Simpson SO-in-C he does much more than reveal Simpson, the man and the officer, with detail and clarity. He also depicts the centrality of communication, right down the line from the front all the way to base, to the effective operation of a defence force. In particular, the vital role Signals played at all levels of Australia’s war effort during World War II is highlighted. The vital part played in this effort by the Australian Women’s Army Service is also detailed.

And the final section of the book would serve well as a guide to the museum displays, especially the Signals Museum, at Simpson Barracks, Watsonia.

The Green Hills of Home

Ninety-one last birthday, Bob Nichol has been writing stories and poems for most of his life. The title poem, The Green Hills of Home, first appeared in the April 1944 issue of Wings, official magazine of the RAAF in which Bob served during World War Two.

This book brings together some of his favourite and best stories in a single volume for the first time.

Bob Sartain … as I Recall It

Not for public distribution.

This personal memoir was commenced by Bob Sartain in 1993 to give some insight into his experience to his children and grandchildren. The task was completed by his children and published by them to mark his 80th birthday.

Just a walk through the door

From musing on the people one meets along life’s way …

To exploring the ways words sometimes collide and bounce off each other…

To reaching into the emotions to try to make sense of experience…

… Just a walk through the door is Bruce Ilsley’s own selection from his lifetime of poetic exploration of himself and his world.

The Brownes of Coolcower

“The conversation was pleasant but inconsequential—until it turned to Irish family history. A wistfulness entered her voice as she spoke of her maternal grandfather who had come to Victoria as a young gentleman from a wealthy Anglo-Irish estate in county Cork. Unable to discover the location of Coolcower estate (something she had long yearned to know, along with other questions relating to her grandfather’s ancestral home) she was resigned to the mystery remaining unsolved. My interest was immediately kindled—the chase was on. Coolcower was unearthed in an Irish index of townlands and one happy discovery led to another.”

Thus were the seeds sown for this book. Elsa Hepburn’s research on behalf of her friend’s family expanded to include other strands of this family, “the conversational, sociable Irish and the reticent English” which “became linked when members of the first Australian-born generation, one from each side, married—providing for their descendants a vividly contrasting heritage.”

The Brownes of Coolcower is an intruiging and very readable family history, vital to anyone from the particular families it concerns yet engagingly interesting to the general reader.

The Twenty Three Children of Henry Atkins

Not for public distribution.

The story of Henry Atkins starts in a small village in Woodnesborough, Kent, England with his birth in 1826. After his arrival in Australia, probably in 1847, he met and married Rosannah Baylis in 1849. The couple lived in Pentridge (now Coburg) as well as on the goldfields at Bendigo, Dunolly and Ballarat; they had 15 children, 3 of whom were stillborn and 5 of whom died in infancy, before Rosannah herself died aged 44.

After Rosannah’s death, Henry met Phoebe Richardson in Ballarat and the couple had 8 children. Henry died in 1912 aged 86 while Phoebe lived to 96, dying in 1950.

The Twenty Three Children of Henry Atkins is Dawn Friend’s second book, the results of her research into her father’s family. The book includes a comprehensive listing of the numerous descendants of Henry Atkins as well as the stories of each branch of the family.

From Bow Bells to Bet Bet and Beyond

From Bow Bells to Bet Bet and Beyond traces 150 years of the Freemantle family from origins in London to first settlement at Bet Bet, Victoria in the 1840s, to the present day spread right across Australia. It is a very large family—the original couple who came to Australia had 10 children—and hence a lengthy book. Lindsay Freeemantle’s research has been extensive and detailed and his book is an invaluable resource for anyone with connections to the family.