Tabla de contenidos para Edition 2 en Traces

Hello again! Here we are with Volume 2 of Traces. Producing Volume 1 was a bit of a baptism of fire, but an enjoyable one, as I received such a warm welcome from you, our readers. For that, I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks! So many of you took the time to provide feedback and fantastic suggestions for future editions – many of which have been incorporated into this new volume. For the first time, our resident expert Shauna Hicks answers a reader question about researching the history of mental health facilities (page 14), and we bring you all the important updates to online family history records (page 10). We feature a little-known murder story by Sandy Guy (page 16), plus an exploration of messages found in bottles…

WARNING: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are warned that the following article contains the names and images of people who are now deceased. In the second half of the 19th century, Europeans quickly realised the value of Broome's natural resources, and by the turn of the 20th century around 80 per cent of the world’s finest pearls were coming from Broome. Today, millions of dollars worth of pearls are still harvested there each year. The existence of Broome’s Indigenous pearl divers is little-known on the eastern side of the country, so we asked Pigram, Yu and Shioji to start with a brief overview of this history. Bart Pigram, Sarah Yu and Maya Shioji (BP, SY and MS): Aboriginal people from the Saltwater Country of the west Kimberley have been…

The World War I experience of my great-great-uncle is like the story of so many others: thousands of young Australians were killed, wounded or taken prisoner between 19 and 20 July 1916, in the disastrous first Battle of Fromelles. Percy George Bontoft, a carpenter born in Leeds, Yorkshire, was the son of George and Lucy Bontoft (my grandmother’s grandparents). He enlisted in the 32nd Battalion, at Clarence Park in South Australia, in 1915. These are simple facts, and it would be easy to say that Percy is just a relative I never met, but it doesn’t feel like that when I read a letter from Violet Bontoft – ‘Aunty Vi’ – a ‘living’ connection and a generous aunt remembered from my childhood. I begin to uncover Percy’s story through fragments…

Maud had an independent spirit from the beginning. As a bright-eyed, fresh-faced girl just short of her 16th birthday, she left her coalminer father’s home in Kurri Kurri in the Hunter, and made her way down to Sydney. The year was 1915. The war was entering its second year, and calls were going out across Australia for men to enlist to fight. ‘I had a terrible desire to help in some way,’ Maud explained later, ‘but I was only a girl.’ Like other keen young women of the time, Maud’s original idea was to become a Red Cross volunteer nurse. But when she applied at the Red Cross depot and at the Victoria Barracks, Maud was turned away: ‘on account of my want of experience’, they had told her. ‘I…

Winner: Ancestry DNA kit, Volume 1. Tell us, in 25 words or less, which article from Volume 1 you liked most, and why. Answer: ‘The convict and the “scarlet woman”’. It reminded me of my great-great-grandmother, a convict who, after her arrival, continued to find herself in court or jail for most of her life. Judith Nolan Love the new magazine and all the articles. My favourite was ‘A taste for history’. I love reading old recipes and was reminded of my favourite recipe book in my collection, Vacuum Oil Cook Book. My father had worked for Vacuum Oil and mum had this book. The chocolate cake recipe was made for my birthday every year. I have been making the cake since acquiring the book. Kerin Wanstall I have just…

WARNING: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are warned that the following article contains the names and images of people who are now deceased. Those fortunate enough to be in the know about this beautiful corner of Bass Coast, 142 kilometres south-east of Melbourne, appreciate the fact that Harmers Haven remains virtually untouched – its craggy coastline, pristine beach and profusion of rock pools remain as they have been since time immemorial. There is little else at this peaceful coastal hideaway, aside from a few streets of houses – no shops, no traffic lights and very few people. The Bunurong/Boon Wurrung people lived along this coast for thousands of years; cooking middens have been discovered containing charcoal and shellfish, marking the location of their camp sites. It was near this…

In the 19th century, Australia likely had the world’s most heavily tattooed English-speaking population. Convicts arrived in the penal colonies with tattoos that were recorded in great detail by the authorities. Between 1788 and 1868, approximately 166,000 convicts were transported to Australia, where they comprised a large proportion of the British community in the early days of colonisation; in 1820, convicts constituted 90 per cent of the white population, and about 50 per cent by 1840. The majority were men from the working classes of England, Scotland and Ireland, typically charged with theft and sentenced to seven- or 14-year terms. Upon arrival in the Australian penal colonies, at least 37 per cent of male convicts and 15 per cent of female convicts bore tattoo s. The colonial authorities recorded convicts’…

• National Service Records, National Archives of Australia: explore service records from the Australian Defence Force from Federation in 1901. (www.naa.gov.au) • Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour: access records searchable by name, service number, unit name and date of death. (www.awm.gov.au) • Discovering ANZACS (National Archive of Australia): explore a diverse selection of government records about Australians and New Zealanders in World War I and the Boer War. (discoveringanzacs.naa.gov.au) • The Great War Forum: helpful enthusiasts and researchers come together to solve research conundrums and answer questions. (1914-1918.invisionzone.com)…

The Southern Metropolitan Cemeteries Trust of Melbourne recently published a booklet, Victorian War Heritage, with funding from the Veterans Council of the Victorian Department of Premier and Cabinet. Traces has several copies of Victorian War Heritage to give away! To win a copy, tell us in 100 words or less your favourite war story from an ancestor. The best 10 entries will receive a copy of Victorian War Heritage, and the best five stories will also be published in Traces Volume 3. Send your entries to traces@executivemedia.com.au before 30 April 2018. ‘It was a fascinating process researching and writing about the rich war heritage of two significant burial grounds: Springvale War Cemetery and Springvale Botanical Cemetery. The “walking tour” publication shows you how to find the graves of those who…

I first found Sugar Kate in old police records at the Public Record Office of Victoria. On the cover of a 1907 file was a confused statement from the Chief Commissioner of Police, who’d been visited by a woman wishing to make a claim on £30 that she’d left with police 10 years earlier. The woman was none other than Australia’s best pickpocket; Catherine Carruthers, alias McWilliams, alias Bessie Hamilton, best known as ‘Sugar Kate’. In 1897, Sugar had been found with £30 after having robbed a man of the same amount. The man had left Victoria before the case came to trial, so the money was sent to the Treasury and Sugar Kate was set free. Sugar was born Catherine Crothers, in a working-class pocket of Sydney’s Waterloo, then…

Philip Walter Groves was a born in Henley Beach, South Australia, in 1892. He was a 22-year-old piano tuner when he enlisted in the 10th Battalion of the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) on 29 August 1916. Groves served in World War I from 7 September 1916, embarking on H.M.A.T. Afric from Adelaide on 7 November 1916, bound for Plymouth, United Kingdom. Groves was wounded in action in Boulogne-sur-Mer, France, on 6 May 1917, and he died on 18 May 1917 from gunshot wounds to the back and thigh, aged 25. He was buried at Boulogne Eastern Cemetery. This piece of ‘trench art’ (pictured right) was made by Groves’s comrades to commemorate him. It is made from rolled-out brass shell casing, measures approximately nine centimetres by 14 centimetres and bears the…

Beleura has been home to several distinguished Australians since it was built in 1863 by Scottish immigrant James Butchart. Once described as the finest mansion in the colony, Beleura was home to Butchart for only six years before his death in 1869, but it remains today as a legacy of this accomplished immigrant who, according to journalist and author John Hetherington, wore ‘the air of one destined for worldly success when he was hardly past boyhood’. Hetherington describes Butchart as a short man, ‘but the lift of his head, the set of his mouth, the vigilance of his eyes, and the adroitness of his broad, strong-fingered hands were things that marked him out as one who would prosper in the Australian colonies’. Apparently, Butchart had found himself quite at home…

Findmypast adds women’s names to research indexes In a move that’s set to make researching family ancestors easier for genealogists, Findmypast has recently begun cross-checking its birth indexes with General Register Offices to include women’s maiden names, where available, to records dated prior to 1911. The initiative is designed to alleviate difficulties frequently encountered by researchers seeking traces of female ancestors in state archives. In the past, women’s limited status and rights often prevented their names from appearing in official records. Compounding this was the practice of women taking their husband’s name after marriage, leaving women almost invisible in the historical record. Visit www.findmypast.com.au to learn more. 200-year-old homestead receives $5.3 million to preserve future Private and government funding is set to improve the future one of Australia’s best-preserved heritage…

When researching family history, the first documents sought out are often births, deaths and marriages records; but documents generated by schools are an excellent little-known resource to get a glimpse of your ancestors in their early lives. In addition to the names of students and their parents, their addresses, occupations and birth dates, these documents can also reveal personal details about your ancestors, such as whether they were high-achieving athletes, consummate musicians, the dux of the school or persistent troublemakers. In Australia, the earliest schools in the colony were established to provide literacy skills, religious education and domestic or industrial training for impoverished children. In Sydney, Governor King founded the Female Orphan School in 1801, and under Governor Macquarie, the Male Orphan School was established in 1819. Australia’s oldest school…

Australia’s heritage is about our future as well as our past. It is part of an ongoing story that tells us how we have shaped our landscapes, our cities and towns, and that tells the world who we are. Some of our most precious heritage is in private hands and it needs our support to ensure a viable future. The Historic Houses Association of Australia (HHA) was formed to raise awareness and support for these important local and national properties. It began in Sydney in 1988, alongside the formation of the New South Wales Government’s Historic Houses Trust. It brought together the ‘friends’ of some of Sydney’s most important buildings, such as Elizabeth Bay House and Vaucluse House. In 2014, the association became national and fully independent of government. It…