I thought it may be interesting to discuss
the backgrounds of OLO posters - just for
something a bit different. It would be interesting
to learn, what kind of heritages - each of us
has. I'll go first.
I've borrowed from the writings of author -
Al Zolynas whose heritage is the same as my own.

He writes in "Lituanus: Lithuanian Quarterly Journal
of Arts and Sciences," V. 49. No. 2, Summer 2003:

"I come from a tribe of nature worshippers, pantheists,
believers in faeries, forest sprites, and wood nymphs.
Who heard devils in their windmills, met them in the
woods, cloven-hooved and dapper gentlemen of the night.

Who named the god of thunder, who praised and glorified
bread, dark rye waving waist-high out of the earth, and
held it sacred, wasting not a crumb.

Who spent afternoons mushrooming in forests of pine, fir,
and birch. Who transferred Jesus from his wooden cross,
transformed him into a wood-carved, worrying peasant,
raised him on a wooden pole above the crossroads where he
sat with infinite patience in rain and snow, wooden legs
apart, wooden elbows on wooden knees, wooden chin in
wooden hand, worrying and sorrowing for the world.

These people who named their sons and daughters after amber,
rue, fir tree, dawn, storm, are the only people I know who
have a diminutive form for God Himself, "Dievulis," -
"God-my-little-buddy."

Any wonder I catch myself speaking to trees, flowers, bushes -
these eucalyptus so far from Northern Europe. Or that I
bend down to the earth, gather pebbles, acorns, leaves, boles,
bring them home, enshrine them on mantlepieces or above porcelain
fixtures in corners, any wonder I grow nervous in rooms and
must step outside and touch a tree, or sink my toes in the
dirt, or watch the birds fly by..."

What tribe do you come from?

Well look at it this way Foxy. Given another generation or so
about every 20 years, just 500 grandmothers ago, all our ancestors
were living in caves etc. (10'000 years)

In genetic terms that is a mere eyeblink!

Agriculture had yet to be invented, hunting and gathering was
the norm. Life was tribal.

Our natural instincts would still carry those genes.

Dear Yabby,

Not everybody lived in caves.

For example, Northern Europe is flat and caves,
if any are very rare. People lived in forests,
and used the timber ro build their homes.

Seriously though, this thread is not about
people - generally speaking, but about our
individual ancestry - and you haven't told
us a thing about where you - and your people
originated from.

How about it?

500 generations in to the future and she’s enjoying an incredibly long lifespan with little to do besides ponder history, her ancestors and her childless present state.

Not one single ancestor made it to any footnote in history, no cave drawings, no encounters with fairy folk, no starting or ending any wars, no invention worth a mention, no poetry or moments of cinematic magic, no incredible discoveries or heroic acts, no amazing abilities, no moments of fate, no tragedies or victories.

Over one thousand generations of women is her only remarkable claim to fame, one reproducing female in every generation going back to the beginning without deviation. The one pure feminine line left.

It is enough in this time of wonders, she is Queen.

And given that it was enough she had her ovaries destroyed in secret long ago. Of the longest and most unremarkable lines in history, she alone will be noted.

My tribe[ the only way to discribe them] came from Scottish, English Irish and lived in the bush outside our own little England.
Bowral.
We worked for cattle owners who spoke of England as home who knows how many generations came after those convict ships and what they did, generations of us.
These refugees too third generation Australians but thought, still do of England as home.
They call the sons after breeds of cattle Angus Brangus you know the stuff daughters seemingly of lessor importance got daisy or such named after the house cow, or is it the other way around?
I am the second generation of my tribe to refuse to tip my hat when passing or hold it over my heart if talking to this lost tribe.
Yes we may as well have chain marks as birth marks few of us wanted so many years ago to come and not one of us would even think of leaving.
The products of my parents , our tribe are wed to people from all over the world.
And can be counted as well over 400 just from mum and dads wedding 73 years ago.

Dear Piper,

Beautifully written - and very moving
- but, more please - much more -
about you...

Dear Belly,

Thank you. My in-laws are stud-farmers in
Quirindi, NSW. When my oldest son was born
they named a prize bull in his honour.
I was thrilled to bits by that. And, I wish
that I'd been given a name like Daisy.
Instead I was given a name that no one was
able to pronounce - and I got teased dreadfully
at school. I hated being different. Mum said
it was "character-building," but I sure as heck
could have done with a lot less "character,"
and more "charm" growing up.

Oh I dunno Foxy, from your contributions here I reckon you exhibit more character and charm than most. 'Difference' is an interesting topic in itself, - indeed, by and large I'm attracted to people who are 'different', rather than 'normal' (and of course if everybody was too normal nothing would ever change....)

As for me, my own ethnic ('tribal') ancestry is archetypically Anglo-Celtic - Welsh/Scots Celts 3 generations back on Dad's side and English on Mum's, to 4 generations. The family is proud that David Livingstone is some kind of remote ancestor/relative - but as an atheist anthropologist I'm a bit more circumspect ;)

My kids, stepkids and grandkids are far more interesting, genealogy-wise. There's African, Aboriginal and Chinese in the chart with them - which makes for much more 'colourful' family gatherings than we had when I was a kid, if nothing else!

Dear CJ,

Thanks for that. And for the lovely compliment -
you know how I feel about you (blush, blush).

My in-laws are of Scottish/English descent -
and my sister-in-law - is the typical "English Rose."
(Peaches and Cream complexion). I must confess I've
always been attracted to Scots myself. Especially
ones sporting a beard - who look good in jeans,
and a 'cowboy hat.' :-)

Cheers Foxy, I have so got to stop daydreaming.

I’m Scots background. The only famous person I knew of and I have forgotten his name is the dude who narked to the British on Robert the Bruce aka the horrible little bugger in “Highlander”. Most relatives are farmers.

My mother does the whole genealogy thing, goes to visit gravestones and old castles on overseas holidays. So Scots, French, Jewish – she rattles off new ones all the time. She’s probably gotten back to Eve by now or one of her seven daughters.

I wish I had ended the line though.

Hey CJ, I love mixed kids, I swear they're the best looking ones.

im a dutch origonal....we dutch resqued our lands from the seas..even standing on dutch land..we are standing on what was water...my people made the biggest stockmarket boom..in the 1600's...when at its height a single rare tulup bulb sold for 35,000 guilders[about equal to what men spent getting to the moon]

anyhow my people live in the low lands[4/5 ths is undersea level]..the joke about a young boy putting his finger in a dyke[sure isnt talking about a dutch dyke...when those suckkers go soggy its head for the hills time

when we got invaded in times past...we simply let the sea reclaim the land...we are a curious race of people..[being chased out of the eastern lands..as too strange by those remaining in germany...and into the swamps and low lands...that saw us create our own lands..that saw us establish on boats to exploit far of lands..into exploration..[for trade]

we found the greaT SOUTH LANDS..thou it wernt lost..and named these lands van-die-mens land[of the peoples land...200 years later cook came and joseph banks declared these lands[of oz]terra nulious[empty land]...banks of course was a eugenisyst...who left small pox behind when he reportedly was collecting specimans..b

ut the native[or alfa/beta-origonals..AB-origonals..didnt touch the stuff he left behind...you see back then resopect meant your father could leave an ax...and you would find it still there..50 years later..this was plundered by later visitors..but kept the natives small pox free[this didnt stop banks loudly proclaiming terra nullious]

anyhow the dutch took my ancestors from melville island..in the 1600's[while they were doing ceremony]i am the oldest living male in the patriarchal line[of the head of the deer...by heraldic right/grant,as well as the horn of the ox..[issiah]...people often tell me to just be me...when its so funny..[what else can i be]..

.swedenberg[who it is clauimed communed with angels reports that the dutch in heaven have covered it over so no one can snoop...i like tro feel the oxie in me has eraduicated such isolationism...yet here i am blogging from my bedroom..virtually under self imposed home detention

I have been, and remain, a member of four tribes.

First, because whilst one may choose one's friends, one cannot choose one's relatives, I am a member of my genetic or ethnic tribe, which I guess could be described with respect to ethnicity as Celto-Celtic on both sides as far back as I can see. I had no choice so far as membership of this tribe was concerned.

Second, I am a member of my tribe of place, the land where I was born and have lived all my life. These days it is known as Orstrailya or Oz, but it has had other names over the years like Terra Psittacorum (Land of Parrots), Java la Grande, Niew Holland, Terra Nullius, Terra Australis, New South Wales, and so forth. There are many other members of this Tribe of Place: canucks, skips, abos, balts, polacks, chinks, wogs, dagoes, poms, frogs, box-heads, tykes, prods, micks, kikes, curry-munchers, slopes, japs, boongs (Indonesian/Malaysian Malays , not Koories), lebs, nogs, (n)iggers, kanakas, kiwis, island pigs, wetbacks, chocolate malts, reffos, yanks, yugos, zorros, and last of all, asylum seekers (also known as illegals or boat people). I hope I haven't left anyone out, but bugger putting them in afferbeck lauder. And by golly all these bastards had better bloody well see things the way I do or there'll be trouble!

Third, I have been a member of my tribe of attitude, one known acronymically as the AMF. This has historically been a Y chromosome based tribe, but is becoming progressively less so these days. Nevertheless, all native born Australian males have a secret tribal number allocated at birth. Despite this, you are not born into this tribe, but are inducted into it, if, after having reached the age of 18, you either raise you right hand and show that you can swear, or your secret tribal number comes up in a ballot and is revealed to you (in which case you are excused from the swearing test).

The tribe I like best, though, is my fourth tribe, the diatribe!

Foxy,

Like you, my parents are from Western Europe - Dad is from Latvia and Mum from Belorus. (Going back further, there is apparently some Swedish blood in the family as well.) They came here in the wave of immigration after WWII after 4 years of internment in a camp in Germany. Their families, like many, wanted to get as far away from Communism as possible. Dad says that he and his family caught the last train out of Latvia before the Communists grabbed the Baltic States for themselves.

There was a story in the family that my great grandfather was a resistance fighter against the Cossacks and was eventually killed by them at the age of 94. He also used to train bears in the village he lived in.

Once in Australia, my family made a conscious effort to not speak Latvian at home, which is unlike many Latvians who, as you'd probably know, are very nationalistic - but I guess they were the diaspora abroad whose moral support helped the native Latvians at home deal with the Russian takeover. Like many Europeans, my parents were brought up to work hard, although in Australian culture today, that seems to be dying a death.

Foxy, i was born on Bunnerong land (Brighton, VIC) and brought up
with the Kerrup-jmara (central VIC) and Gunditjmara (south-western
VIC) clans of the Victorian Aboriginal community.

during my early twenties i was initiated into the Eagle totem of the
Kerrup-jmara clan.

many years later i was caught in a snow storm outside Seattle in the
USA and returned to Sydney with blurring in one eye. at the Sydney
eye hospital i was injected with a flourescent substance which showed
up in my iris as doctors determined whether the blood flow to my eye
had been damaged. during the examination a doctor commented as he
studied my iris that my gaze was as steady as he had seen, similar to
airline pilots and graziers trained to observe objects at extreme
distance ... my eagle eye!

the blurring eventually disappeared without further treatment.

What a mixed bunch.

Mine's a bit more simple.

One side is british gentry, came out as an officer, & a gentleman, guarding the convicts, don't you know.

The other half were being guarded, mostly Irish, but some scottish.

Just goes to show what an undermining effect Oz had on the gentry, when they married into that lot, after just one generation. Would never have happened in the old country, moore's the pity. I wonder what the after dinner conversation was about, at family gatherings.

For some reason, most of them were in the timber industry, not cutting them down, but up. A large chunk of old Sydneys Balmain, Leichhardt area, was built with timber they had sawn into planks & things.

We went to Townsville after WW11, when I was 5, so I never even got to meet most of the hundred or so 4Th generation, let alone the 5Th, & now, even 6Th.

Bread like rabbits they do. Must be the Irish bit.

Foxy,
I'm still recovering from the shock that you're not a goddess ;-)
Old news.
born of Latvian Refos.
Adopted by 1st gen Scots father/mother Aussie three gens back.
Raised in PNG and was was prepared for initiation into the Tolai tribe.
Church Boarding school
Was trialed as a junior patrol officer.. not big, heavy enough.
Returned to Aust.
Culturally "I fall between bar stools" which is both a plus and a minus.
you choose.
I describe my self as a been there done and the tee shirt hides the scars person.

Mea culpa! How could I have done it!? In the listing of my Tribe of Place compatriot ethnics' (to me) sub-tribes, I left out the gooks! Its unbelievable. Why, only the other week I was in Strathfield, and my daughter has also recently purchased a Hyundai car. How could I forget the Irish of Asia? Perhaps I should have listed them in afferbeck lauder after all.

I also found out something about OLO in the process of making that earlier post.

I have known since very early in my posting history that there was a profanity warning feature of the site, not that I have tended to elicit it often. So when I got the red 'remove profanity' warning, I was not utterly taken aback, for I had, for self-evident contextual reasons, used the words 'bugger', 'bastard', and 'bloody' in my post.

So I removed the 'b' from each of these words in the editing pane, and previewed the revision. The red profanity warning was still there! I didn't think I had used profanity anywhere else in the post. All the other names of Tribe of Place sub-tribes were terms of endearment, or colloquial expressions, I thought. After all, this is multi-cultural Australia.

Then I had a flash of inspiration. I would try removing the 'n' word. Sure enough, on previewing the revision, the profanity warning was gone. Just to be sure that the 'n' word was the real igger in the woodpile, I replaced all the 'b's and previewed again. Yes, it was definitely just the 'n' word that was bringing up the profanity warning. So I bracketed the 'n', because I felt sure that many would not be familiar with this Australian sub-tribe, there being so comparatively few (n)iggers in the country, and would consequently need the term made plain. This fooled the profanity censor.

I have half a mind to refer this to the Anti-Discrimination Commission. I reckon Graham should remove the 'n' word as recognised profanity on OLO. Few are likely to be justifiably niggled by it.

I've got Irish settlers from county Kerry on one side, English cattle thieves on the other.

My blue eyes and red beard mean I've got Scandinavian genes by default, but there's too much migration among my ancestors to nail down where they all came from.

My great-great-great grandmother migrated on a ship that sat under quarantine in Sydney harbour for 3 months. Of the 300 or so passengers that embarked, she was one of the dozen that walked off alive.

I owe my hardy immune system to her!

Forrest

<< I reckon Graham should remove the 'n' word as recognised profanity on OLO. Few are likely to be justifiably niggled by it. >>

I wouldn't be so sure.

And besides even if it does only offend a few, that is still good enough reason for it to be kept out of circulation, don't you think?

I don't have an aboriginal or negro background but I still consider the term offensive, as I do many others on your list too BTW dear Forrest. :)

<< and last of all, asylum seekers (also known as illegals or boat people). >>

.. known INCORRECTLY as illegals ..

Brony,
I tried to explain the furor over the stand in Toowoomba I was in trouble simply trying to explain the case which in the law files it is referred to by the 'N'word.
But on reflection the number of times that its use is valid , the connotations of Forrest's usage, the propensity of some on OLO for the extreme. I wonder if it isn't time to simply let the word die in the appalling history it represents. It's removal is hardly a major impediment to Forrest's or anyone on OLO's ability to express themselves adequately. Neither do I accept the tired argument about PC gone mad times have changed and so have our attitudes to some words and what they represent.

Umm… descendants of the Negro tribe like it a lot and use it a lot with no offense intended, my spell checker says it is an acceptable term in historically established phrases.

Users should have all words available to them. For humour, for enhanced expression etc?

If one wants to use it in an offensive fashion then all power to them, like being offensive in a wordier and multi-syllable way is better? Graham can still deal with it either way.

I’m a bit immune to it having hung out with teen Maori’s and Sar’s – they all use it like the American black youth; often and in a friendly way. My daughter still hasn’t dropped the habit. It does sound stupid when a blue eyed blonde walks in and goes “‘sup Niggar home dogz”.

Gawd, am I missing something cultural? Oz culture I mean.

Scots/Irish with a Spanish great-something grandfather on Mum's side, although that side's now 7 generations in Oz thanks to my Uncle Alan's progeny's fecundity. On Dad's side it's northern English and Danish, now 5th-generation Oz, all of which may explain why I have a bad temper...
Oh yeah, grew up in PNG - Moresby then Lae. 'twas a funny place; a sort of time-warp in some ways, especially technologically. No TV, which meant lots of reading. Boarding school was a shock to the system.

I've looked at Lae on google earth recently and I'm stunned. It must be at least the size of Mackay or Rocky. I can't quite grasp the extent of agricultural land that's been cleared to the West, in the Markham and Butibum Valleys.

It helps to explain where a lot of the kwila and surian cedar and other premium PNG timbers are coming from. I imagine the land owners are driving trucks or chainsaws...

It's notable that the celtic tribes prevail in this little survey. The White Australia Policy has left its mark.

I've been reading all of the posts thus far,
and feeling very frustrated because I couldn't
respond to any of them as I'd used up all of my
mine. Finally - here I am.

What an interesting mix we have.

Dear Piper,

Don't ever stop daydreaming. We need to dream;
souring imagination is the glue that keeps our
souls from shattering under the impact of a
stuffy, dull, and unimaginative world.

You're so lucky with your mother's interest in
genealogy. Getting any information out of my
mum is very difficult. (Like pulling teeth).
She's simply not interested in remembering the past.
Whereas I think it's important.

Dear OUG,

I always knew you were an original!

Dear Forrest G,

4 tribes no less. Now I am impressed!
As for having certain words banned - I've gone
through that experience as well on OLO when I called
Houellebecq a "w'nker." Personally, I don't mind
being alerted to certain words - and besides there
are ways to get around things so it's of no real loss.

Dear RobP,

I always suspected we were kindred spirits. And now
I find that we've got very similar backgrounds.
My family is Lithuanian - with Russian on my mother's
side. A shame about not speaking Latvian at home though,
but I can understand. Those were painful times.

Dear Whistler,

What an interesting background you have.

So glad that you kept your "eagle eye."

Dear Hasbeen,

British gentry mixed with Irish and Scots - you
can't get better than that!

Dear Examinator,

I may not be the 'Goddess," you thought I was - but
what about a big-footed pixie? I may never be able to
dance on a dewdrop - being far too tall, but my pixie
ears pair beautifully with my small gossamer wings -
and my smile brightens up even the gloomiest of
sunless days. :-)

Again, your heritage is also a very interesting one -
and by the sound of things - you're in a very
happy place - between several cultures.
Lucky you!

Antiseptic,
When were you in Moresby? I was there from 1954-59. Boroko Coronation 'A'(Australian) public school (segregated of course).
Then went to Rabaul which doesn't really exist now thanks to the volcanoes that surround 'Simpson Harbour' which is a flooded caldera.
The town of Keravat was surrounded by jungle and plantations of teak and camare now it's like a like a bomb hit it just miles of stumps in any direction even the jungle cant come back. With 2 meters of rain or there about per year the hills are eroded moonscapes. the shallow river has almost silted up. I almost cried when I saw it on TV in a expose of Indonesian/Malaysian corruption in logging practices and illegal logging. As for the animals and bird life they're being chased into the Bianings (mountains). So sad.

Dear Sancho,

Blue eyes and a red beard?
What a handsome Viking!

Dear Anti,

You bad-tempered? Never!
Just strong-minded, is all!

I'm really enjoying this thread - and learning about
everyone's different heritages. What an interesting
mix they are!

Dear Big footed Pixie,

You have a lovely ancestory,Celtic music invokes pictures of the mystical nymphs and beautiful woodscenes of which you speak.

My Paternal Grandfather came out here on a ship from England. One of the only things we knew about him is that he hailed from Norfolk. He had an old photo of his brothers and sisters in clothes like they wore in Queen Victoria's day but he would never speak about the old days in England so we never had much information.

On my mother's side there was a strong Swedish connection, and my great grandmother was about a quarter Chinese.

My husband has a well known Irish surname and also some Spanish and French in him. One of my daughters has inherited the thick dark Spanish hair. An aboriginal woman asked her quite seriously one day when she was at work, "What tribe are you from?" We had a good laugh about it because we could see how she might have got that impression.

What a lovely set of posts! My hobby is geneology and I love reading about peoples ancestry and family stories.

My Father's people came out from England in 1840 and landed in W.A.
His great, great Grandmother was 7 years old and waded ashore holding her long petticoats up high!
She wrote a long description about the journey here, and her life living in a 'wattle and daube dwelling' for the first year of their stay!

My Mother's ancestor was sent out from Ireland as a convict. He burnt down a haystack belonging to the resident protestant gentry farmer, and was charged with arson and sentenced to seven years jail 'in the colonies".
I loved finding out how he made something of his life in Australia and eventually worked his own farm and married and had 12 children!
They were obviously pretty tough in the 1800's.

Examinator, I went to moreby as a baby in 63 and we moved to Lae in 68, just before the big guria that half flattened the town (about 7 on the Richter). That was caused by an eruption of KarKar, as I recall. There was a lot of fear that the town would literally "slide off the hill" since the seabed drops almost straight down just offshore, with almost no level land. Periodically, the shallow seabed muck around the town does just that in a sort of underwater land slide.

Went to Bulae school (yep, segregated, but only for the natives - expat kids of all breeds were represented). It wasn't desegregated until self-government in 75, which was the year after I finished there, but it took a while before there were enough natives with a sufficient income to send their kids to "proper" school, rather than the mission schools.

We left in 79, mostly because Dad was in poor health, so I never got to see much of the place post-Independence. i've been offerd a couple of jobs up there at various times, but I prefer to keep my memories of the place in their little time capsule. Just doing the google thing was shock enough, since Lae really didn't change at all betwen 68 and 79.

I've just realised my last post was a bit misleading. I meant to say "no level bedrock", not "no level land". The land surface itself is mostly flat alluvial plain, thanks to the Markham, Butibum and Busu Rivers, but the underlying rock is at a steep angle from the coastal range of hills down into the Gulf

Antiseptic and examinator - interesting to compare your childhood memories of PNG with my more recent experiences of the country and its people. Although I worked mainly in the Southern Highlands (Tari) and Western Highlands (Nebilyer Valley), I travelled quite extensively around the rest of the country for one reason or other during the 1990s.

I've been to Lae several times, but like most urban centres in PNG it's become a quite nasty, dangerous place. A friend of mine was shot and killed by raskols there in 2001. I visited Rabaul not long after the Tavurvur eruption in 1994, and it was eerie - volcanic ash covered most of the Rabaul CBD and I remember thinking that the place looked like photos of Hiroshima.

I stopped going to PNG because of health reasons (I managed to contract typhoid, dengue and malaria at various times) and also because it just became too dangerous to continue working in the Highlands - particularly Tari. I retain a deep affection for the country and its people, but I'm afraid that it's a basket case as far as governance is concerned.

Mum sometimes dumps info on my computer when passing through, I do not understand any of it but here are some of my “tribe”:

JOHN NEWLANDS was born January 16, 1793 in D. 11 March 1834 Botriphnie, Banffshire, Scotland.(At his daughters Annies wedding The parents are recorded as John Newlands Hand loom weaver and C ristian Cruikshanks) He married CHRISTIAN CRUICKSHANK November 11, 1821 in Botriphnie, Banffshire, Scotland, daughter of GEORGE CRUICKSHANK and MARGARET LINDRAM. She was born September 08, 1799 in Botriphnie, Banffshire, Scotland.
She was the granddaughter of Archibald Cruikshank b. 2 Jul 1761 Keith Banffshire and Christian Simpson
Children of JOHN NEWLANDS and CHRISTIAN CRUICKSHANK are:
i. GEORGE NEWLANDS, b. February 17, 1822, Botriphnie, Banffshire, Scotland.
ii. JOHN NEWLANDS, b. April 08, 1823, Botriphnie, Banffshire, Scotland.
iii. MARGARET NEWLANDS, b. August 26, 1824, Botriphnie, Banffshire, Scotland.
iv. JOSEPH NEWLANDS, b. February 16, 1826, Botriphnie, Banffshire, Scotland.
v. JAMES NEWLANDS, b. April 08, 1827, Botriphnie, Banffshire, Scotland.
vi. ANNE NEWLANDS, b. May 30, 1830, Botriphnie, Banffshire, Scotland.

Generation No. 2

GEORGE NEWLANDS was born February 17, 1822 in Botriphnie, Banffshire, Scotland. He married ELEINOR MCBEY December 04, 1846 in Boharm, Moray County, Scotland.

Great Great Great Grandchildren of JOHN NEWLANDS and CHRISTIAN CRUIKSHANK
a. children of GEORGE MCLEOD NEWLANDS and MARY ELIZABETH WALLACE
of Cambridge and Edinburgh and Glasgow

i. STEWART GEORGE NEWLANDS b. 12 Dec 1971 lives in Cambridge
ii. MURRAY ROSS NEWLANDS b. 12 April 1974 lives in London
iii. CRAIG RONALD NEWLANDS b. 22 May 1977 lives in LA

b. children of ALAN ROSS NEWLANDS b. April 1944
m 1 Ann Hogg
i. RICHARD NEWLANDS b 30 March 1969 lives in Isle of Wight
ii CAROL NEWLANDS b. ….. 6 June 1971 lives in Perth
m.3 Pamela Forrest b….. live in Dunblane
iii. KATIE NEWLANDS b. 29 October 1983
iv ALEX NEWLANDS b. 15 March 1987

The Tribe of Place sub-tribe alternative perjorative 'illegals' in my earlier post was just for you, Bronwyn. I am glad to see that it got you in, and that you were so obviously pleased to see it in the context in which I placed it. Your digital shout of recognition brought joy to my heart.

This favourite tribe of mine may equally correctly be called, in Latin, the 'pro testare' tribe: translated, meaning 'to set forth'. As you can see, I have set it fourth in my tribal list. A freer translation might be 'to tell it like it is', and I think I fulfilled that aspect of the alternative tribal name translation in the sentence "And by golly all these bastards had better bloody well see things the way I do or there'll be trouble!", in my first post.

I know you want to be a member of my favourite tribe, Bronwyn, and I truly desire to see you accepted into it, believe me. However, that isn't up to just me. That is why I have to advise you that a post of only 102 words just doesn't cut it, Bronwyn, diatribally speaking. To properly enter into the diatribe, you must almost unfailingly use up your 350 words per post allocation. Now I know you embrace the discipline of this with respect to limitation of the maximum size of posts, for you have said so, but there is also the requirement to not waste it, to use it all up, on almost every occasion. Master that, Bronwyn, and I am sure you will be admitted to the tribe, provided you are prepared to work like an igger.

While we are on the subject of Australian ethnic sub-tribe perjoratives, have you any suggestions of one for 'us', as opposed to ones for 'them'? 'Skips' seems positively tame and inoffensive. 'Jokeln' is a bit arcane. 'Anglo' lets the celts off scot free. 'Swill', which might have filled the bill, has been degraded by our noble Prince having applied it to asylum seekers. I feel positively cheated.

Forrest,
I got sucked in properly ...oh the shame :-(
I have a suspicion I qualify for the status of a tribal member, the crazy one locked in the attic. Let out only to disgrace him self at major festivals....
Very droll.
I'm gonna watch your posts more carefully in the future. :-\

Foxy,
My adopted maternal grand mother when from Bourke Western NSW to a cattle station over the border in QLD in about 1898 by bullock train it took them 6 weeks.

We have some very early photos of that period and the head indiginees some dressed in suits, bowler hats and the women in long dresses and bonnets and of one "king Billy" with his breast plate and all. Real historical pioneering stuff stuff.

We offered them to the Qld library for their 150 yeas display.
They told us they were the only photos of that time from there and in fact was about the only real information except for the name of the property. Despite that they were very ambivalent about us donating them.

Once my 85 yo mum goes that will be the end of the history. She's the only one who knows the details. Sometimes bureaucracies disappoint me.

my kids are 6th generation ozzie...decendant off the femail line from county kerry...thus they are related to a previous poster...lol

can trace my family femail line back to early 1700...in netherlands to hoogen boom[high tree]..that begat a de hoog..[a high]..that made a de bon..[a good]..that created a homer.son...

[lol..bart simplson in my matriarchal assention..lol..?]

..that created..van[of]..lent..that begat van[of] ingen...that begat..a janson/..that begat me..son..of the horns of the head of the stag and the single golden/horn of the ox...bound with blue/yellow braid on shield

anyhow enough family secrets..gotta track down my mob from melville..that joined the son of the hoorn[me]..via the male janson...[beloved of god/son]..whos heraldic..title is an open book...lol..

shame i cant make this stuff up ...lol

Dear Sharky,

Thank you for your kind words. I love Celtic art, jewellery,
music, and mythology. A friend of mine who's an artist
has made some beautiful pieces for me that I treasure and
wear with pride. And, what an interesting backround you've
got. Your daughter must be quite a beauty!

Dear Suze,

I imagine they certainly would have been pretty tough in
the 1800's - but think of the strong genes you've been
lucky enough to inherit.

Dear Piper,

Your mother's an amazing woman - I'm very envious. I only
wish that mine would part with a tiny bit of info. about her
ancestry. Gran was from St. Petersburg in Russia - and how
I'd love to know more about the way she lived.

Dear Forrest G.,

You represent everything I love about this land of ours -
a laconic sense of humour, an irreverance for authority,
a disdain for pretence and snobbery... :-)

Dear Examinator,

I agree with you, bureaucrats can be very frustrating.
I guess that's how they get promoted - they're not a
threat to anyone. What a shame they didn't realize
what a treasure they were being donated by your family.
I'm sure that a local historian would have jumped at
the chance. Your background is awesome - 6 weeks by
bullock train? Latvian reffos - PNG - and so much more.
Now I know where your willingness to pitch in and help
others less fortunate comes from.

Dear OUG,

I love reading your posts - they're quirky - but ever so
informative and fascinating.
Thank You. Please keep them coming...

can anybody else here name the Aboriginal land on which they were born?
in a couple of weeks i'll be back on Bunnerong land
celebrating my old mum's 93rd at the corroboree tree.

Dear Whistler,

My birth place was Daruk land (Sydney). Their territory
extended as far west as Lithgow.

I believe Melbourne was divided between the Bunurong,
who lived along the southern coastal areas, and the
Wurundjeri, whose territory included the Yarra River
Valley.

I wish your mother much joy, good health,
and many more years ahead. Bless her always,
may she shine!

We will be celebrating my mother-in-law's 90th
in November this year.

Darling Whistler, my land lies between glaciers and volcanoes where the dark man could enter in a dream. He never imagined my home outside of slumber and gave no totem for me to call my own.

In his sleep he may have seen me and been comforted in my arms. When he woke he would have remembered a bond filled with love, between lahar and ice.

I wish your Mother comfort and grace, I thank her for her son.

yes exactly ... when i'm in redfern it sounds like bunnerong
when i'm in st.kilda it sounda like bunurong
i got to corroboree. thank you Foxy.
thank you for naming your birth place.

and Foxy, a special celebration to your other mother.

The Pied Piper, which women own the land of your dreams?

The mothers call your dreams.

The place where the tamariki suffer and the mothers take the ache and clutch it tightly until it burns through their hands to do no more harm than cold ash on the ground, scattered by the wind.

This land is not found made of earth

Sorry Whistler, I was waxing on a bit last night while trying to make up another story in my head (I’d like a short story thread [smile]). I ended up not making a lot of sense anywhere. I am landless and without tribe at present.

Murihiku or ‘tail end of the land’ was where I was born but I never identified with Ngai Tahu. I mostly cared for the tamariki of "Te Upoko o Te Ika a Maui" but they were not my tribe. Now I care for the children of the Darkinjung land but the Bundjalung, Wiradjuri, Kamilaroi, Worimi and Dunghutti that are here are not my tribes.

I am waiting for a quiet moment in fostering children through DoCS to approach a local (further north, there is a gap here) aboriginal provider of foster care. If I volunteer with an aboriginal provider I wont be able to do long term care but I will apply to do short term and crisis care of the indigenous children.

This quiet moment could be a long way off with the commitments I have made right now and I didn’t think a white person would be allowed but dwg found some stuff out by talking to his people and I was really happy to discover I would be able to.

Foxy can’t you do the research or are records lost? Mum does most of it on the internet. But I know it is really really time consuming. I can’t keep track, all those same names and dates.

The earliest ancestor I have any knowledge of was the father of my mother’s mother in Eishyshok. Eishyshok is a small town on the Polish-Lithuanian border. He was a Litvak, a Lithuanian Jew, who lived from 1799 to 1906.

Levin saw his boots were wearing out. In the nineteenth century when a person wanted a new pair of shoes or boots he made a pair himself or went to the local shoemaker and had a pair made. Country stores in Eastern Europe didn’t sell ready made footwear. The customer chose an area of hide and asked that the shoes be cut from that. Levin was a particular man who wanted the world made as right as it could be made for him. He scrutinized each hide and ran his hand over it. The shoemaker became impatient. “You’re ninety-nine years old. Why are you so fussy?”

“Who knows how long I’ll last? Very few people die over the age of ninety-nine.”

His daughter, my grandmother, was the kindest, most loving person I have ever met in my long life.

I remember her legs were shapeless and thick with the oedema that afflicts some old people when they retain fluids. As a little boy I asked, “Ma, why are your legs so thick?” I called her ‘Ma.’ Her children did so why shouldn’t I?

She looked at me and held me close. In a dreamy voice she said, “When I was a young and beautiful woman in Eishyshok on a starry night I went swimming in the river. The smell of cedar and the reflections in the water so took me that I was not aware of the nearby water mill until I was drawn into the water wheel. I was so battered that my legs were no longer shapely when I got out. That’s why my legs are like this.”

Of course, I believed my grandmother. She was rigidly honest and would not lie to me. It was only years later that I realised that she did not want me to think of the infirmities of age.
continued

continued
She was also an earthy sceptic doubting anything like miracles or a messiah. She said, “If a man’s desperate enough a board with a hole in it will do.”

My mother’s father grew up in a Hasidic family in Riga, Latvia and was named Velvel Sclaterovitch. In his travels he was walking through Eishyshok and met my grandmother. Marriages had been arranged for both of them. That became as nothing. My grandfather cast off his Hasidism. Grandmother was a Misnagid, an opposing sect. OK. He was now one, too.

He went to England and promised that he would send for her. In England he remained poor so he came to the US. He got a supply of goods in New York City. With those goods he peddled up in the Adirondacks. He took the train from New York City to the Adirondacks. He would walk through the woods with his suitcases which he called ports or telescopes. He visited isolated farmhouses and sold them things. Taken by the beauty of the mountains he loved the Adirondacks. The itinerant pedlar was generally welcome as he was a source of news from the outside world. Quite often he would sleep in the woods.

After accumulating some money he sent for my grandmother. As will happen she became pregnant. Early in her pregnancy they decided the lower east side of New York City was not a proper place to raise children. They moved to Brandon, NY in the Adirondacks, a settlement of about six families, not on any paved road. Brandon no longer exists, but that's where my mother was born on March 6, 1898.

Since everybody except my grandparents were French-Canadians my mother learned French and Yiddish before she learned English.

My grandmother made French-Canadian dishes such as Johnnycake. I assume that the Canuck housewives learned how to make some Jewish dishes. When Jerry the horse got too old to work my grandmother wanted to have him rendered. My tenderhearted grandfather would have none of that. Jerry lived on in retirement until he died of old age.

Forrest

<< I am glad to see that it got you in, and that you were so obviously pleased to see it in the context in which I placed it. >>

You can delight at reeling me in all you want, dear Forrest, but the pleasure in that particular encounter is all yours. I most certainly was NOT pleased to see that term in print, yet again, no matter what its context.

<< I know you want to be a member of my favourite tribe, Bronwyn, and I truly desire to see you accepted into it, believe me. >>

Well, Forrest, I already share membership of your ethnic tribe and your tribe of place. I certainly have no desire to be a member of your Australian Male Fraternity or your Aussie Macho Fockwits or whatever your AMF tribe is meant to be! And I still haven't decided yet whether to feel flattered or mightily insulted that you'd even think I might aspire to qualify for your diatribe! Does it have a membership of one, or are there others who belong to this illustrous little group?

<< While we are on the subject of Australian ethnic sub-tribe perjoratives, have you any suggestions of one for 'us', as opposed to ones for 'them'? >>

No, I don’t. I don’t share your penchant for perjoratives! Interesting to note though, that despite all the derogatory terms we’ve coined for other ethnic groups over the years, the ones given to those of Anglo-Celtic descent tend to be fairly innocuous and almost code-like in meaning. Unless of course I’ve missed out on hearing some of the more potent, which is quite possible. I guess it’s just another manifestation of the power imbalance that's always been there.

DavidF, what an absolutely fascinating family history you have!

I thoroughly enjoyed reading about your' grandparents life in America.
What a wonderful multicultural richness both America and Australia has.
Thanks, Sue

I agree with Suze - what wonderful rich heritages
are coming through in this thread. It's such a
joy reading them...

Dear Whistler,

Thank you for your kind wishes for my mother-in-law's
upcoming 90th.

We shall be having a family celebration at my home
for her - and it will be special.

Dear Piper,

You write so beautifully. I really enjoyed your
latest couple of posts. Sooo descriptive and
moving.

As for my mum's family - records have been lost - I
have the few basics though, and I do intend to further
research her background, when I've got more time.
What I'm currently trying to get from her
is the anecdotal kind of stories that can be passed down
for future generations. She's made a small start - and I'll
keep on encouraging her to continue.

Dear David f,

Your background's so interesting. I hope that you've
written some of it down for the future generations of
your family. The story of Levin's shoes struck a cord
with me. My Russian grandmother's family were 'shoe-makers,'
or rather they made what my mother described as "moccasins,"
or slippers that one wore indoors, out of the finest hides
available. They owned a 'factory' - that produced these
hand-made moccasins.

My grandmother was a superb seamstress - she left me the
most beautiful hand-made doll, with the most exquisite
clothes any child could hope for. I still have her.

I also have her recipes for Borscht, Potato Cakes, Kugel,
Chicken broth with dumplings, Gefilte fish, and much, much, more.

Dear Bronwyn,

How about a few lines about your family background.
Pretty please?

G'DAy All,
Been a bloody good read so I suppose I had better come to the party.
On my fathers side we come from protestant Irish from the Armagh? area of Ireland so Dads line is the orange.
My mothers side is Irish Catholic, the green plus Aussie Aboriginal(My grandmother, mums mother was an elder of the Kamillaroi Nation)
So that makes me the biggest mix up you have ever seen me daddy he was orange & me mummy she was green (with a little bit of brown).
When I was young my mother explained it this way the brown was the earth that grew the green tree that yielded the orange fruit.
The Kamillaroi Nation was the largest indigenious nation in the world until the yanks claimed part of the Yukon area of Canada as part of the Sioux Nation.
I was born in the country town of Narrabri NSW but don't hold that against me
Anyway have a great life from Dave

Dear Dave,

What an interesting heritage you've got!

Thank you.

This is proving to be a most enjoyable thread.

G'day All,
Thanks Foxy this is proving to be a real interesting thread
All the best have a happy life From Dave

<< Dear Bronwyn, How about a few lines about your family background. Pretty please? >>

Well, dear Foxy, there's not much to tell I'm afraid. I only have a fairly vague understanding of my ancestry. Both of my parents' paternal family trees thread back to Ireland and all of my ancestors as far as I know are of Anglo-Celtic origin. The first descendants carrying my maiden name of Kennedy left Ireland for Australia at the time of the potato famine I think.

I remember looking through a huge old family album as a child which had photos going right back to the first descendants to arrive in Australia. I've recently made efforts to try and track that album down and have been given an address of a distant relative in Victoria who possibly has it. I must follow it up.

Your thread and the posters here who seem to know their family history so well have certainly inspired me to find out a little more. Thank you, Foxy, as always.

Hi Foxy, some stories are cool and probably more interesting than reading just dates and names in the genealogy of one’s tribe. It is as bad as my book reading, I forget details far too quickly.

I have read a transcript/story/real life thing written by an Uncle on Crete and the locals who helped him and his Aussie friend escape and hide. My mother wants me to rewrite it as it uses past and present tense and is a little confusing. I have been delaying about 7 years now. Something about rewriting it feels wrong – plus my grammar and English are hardly up to scratch.

Hey my Scots/Kiwi granddad as a hobby (while also fighting in WWII) got the Perspex from plane crashes and made jewelry out of it which I still have some of. My children’s grandfather – other side – was carried out of battle by his mates (English soldiers) who all got a VC while he got a metal plate in his head.

Now a family recipe book I would be really interested in. This is how I ended up with a computer in my kitchen, I wanted to be able to look up many recipes

Dear Dave,

Thanks for your good wishes - I've been very lucky
in life - thus far - I hope it continues.
I was diagnosed with cancer a few years back -
and so far so good. I'm due for a colonoscopy at
the end of October - which I'm not looking forward
to - but it needs to be done.

Dear Bronny,

Thanks for such a quick response dear heart.
Our parish priest in Sydney (and a very close family
friend) was Father Kennedy. I grew up with so many
stories about Ireland. There was such a strong
connection there - same sense of humour, and very
similar mythology. We also celebrated St Patrick's Day!

Dear Piper,

We'll have to start a thread at sometime just on
our favourite foods - and swap recipes. I'm always
collecting new ones. Especially all time favourites.
Everyone has at least one favourite.

You also should start writing down some of the stuff
you've been posting on this thread about your family
background for your family. I find it fascinating -
I'm sure they'd appreciate it as well - years from now.

I find if I don't write things down - they tend to be
forgotten.

dwg,
Interesting spin on the Orange and the Green. I guess you know the song by the Irish Rovers (70's I think) called the Orange and the Green which describes your situation humourously... i.e. fights at family get-to-togethers and remaining neutral by hitting both sides. Yah...fun,fun.

Forrest was in awe of Bronwyn. He was shocked at how badly he was hurt by the fact that his little bit of bait laying had not resulted in her sharing any pleasure from the recent literary sword-crossing. Shocked, too, that she for a moment considered anything other than being flattered by the suggestion that she could qualify for membership of the diatribe. She could sure lay in a mean free kick!

Forrest knew Bronwyn was a member of the Cysterhood of the Coup de Grace, or to be more correct the Cysterhood of the Conventional Order for the Promulgation of True Literacy and Articulate Expression, one forever inaccessible to Forrest. Now, with her demand to not see the 'n' word in print, she was revealing a more authoritarian side to her persona. Perhaps, far from just being a member of the Order, she was its Mother Superior!

It seemed Bronwyn just didn't understand Forrest. A Wiki article refering to the 'real' Forrest Gump (see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nathan_Bedford_Forrest ), if only she would read it, might soften her heart. It says, in part:

"In the 1994 motion picture Forrest Gump, the eponymous Tom Hanks character stated that he was named after his ancestor General Nathan Bedford Forrest. Due to the character's low IQ, he did not know of the [Ku Klux] Klan as a racist group, but rather a "club" that rode horses and "dressed up as ghosts". He then continued to explain he was called that to remind himself that people can do things that "just don't make no sense.""

Bronwyn had nonetheless imparted wisdom to Forrest in saying that, although a herself a member, she had no suggestions for a perjorative name for members of the anglo-celtic sub-tribe: Forrest suddenly realized why that was; the anglo-celts renowned magnanimity was their undoing - they had given out all the really good perjoratives to others, leaving none for themselves. Not that Forrest really had any penchant for perjoratives: he in fact never used them except when baiting his own tribe.

my uncle has researched the family history on my father's side and
apparently my ancestor copped 10 years transportation to Tasmania in
1849 and remained ...

"THE FREEMAN’S JOURNAL, DUBLIN
SATURDAY, MAY 5, 1849
_______________________
RECORDER’S COURT - Yesterday
The Recorder sat yesterday for the trial of prisoners.
A young man named James M’Keon was indicted for having on the
night of the 19 of February th stolen a sum of 41l. odd from Mr Philip
Dowling, baker and seedsman, of 44, North King-street. The Hon.
Mr Plunket, Q.C., prosecuted for the Crown. On the night in
question, being Saturday, the premises of Mr Dowling were locked
up as usual, and the money deposited in a desk. On Sunday morning,
the 11th February, Constable 150 D saw the door of the seed-shop
which is in Church-street, open, and on entering it he saw the
prisoner there, who, in reply to some questions, said he was up for
the purpose of letting in some bakers who were going to work. This
was not considered satisfactory by the constable, who asked to see
Mr Dowling, when the prisoner said he would call him, and he went
to the rear of the premises for that purpose. Shortly after Police constable
55 D came up, and went to look for the prisoner, but he
had got over the wall, and made his escape. He left a pair of boots
in the yard, and these were identified by a person named M’Elroy,
who is in Mr Dowling’s employment, as belonging to the prisoner.
He got away at the time, and was not heard of afterwards until he
was arrested in Chester on the 10th March by Craven, one of the
Dublin detectives, who got the sum of 31l., a watch, and a suit of
clothes with him."

[more ...]

[cont.]

"Mr Philip Dowling, of North King-street, stated that the prisoner
was about his premises for three weeks before the robbery; the
prisoner frequently carried the cash from the bread-room to the
cashier; the premises were broken open on the night of the robbery;
he saw all safe shut up at twelve o’clock, and between three and four
in the morning he was called up and found the place open.
In reply to the prisoner, the witness said he knew nothing about
him except that he had heard from Mr. Burke, who highly
recommended him.

The prisoner called a Mrs Kennedy, but she knew nothing about
him except that he lodged with her for some time, and that he kept
regular hours.

Michael Rourke was examined to the same effect; he never saw
any money with the prisoner.

The prisoner, in accounting for the possession of the money, said
he earned the money on the public works in the country, and if he
had an opportunity he could prove the assertion.

The Recorder then summed up the evidence and the
jury found a verdict of guilty.

The Recorder sentenced him to ten years transportation, as the
crime was an aggravated one.

The prisoner said — I am better pleased at that than any other
sentence, because my character is now gone, and my means also.
The Recorder — There is no one believes you. Mr Dowling has
got a portion of his means of which you deprived him."

Yeah, Examinator, The Irish Rovers(70's) come on all this bragging about memory, what it pick on me poor ole memory(have a laugh, it will be better than what you are doing now, Why? because your reading this post.)
Over from the animal thread, With this heritage thing The Elder that gave me the words of wisdom to take through life from there on said a lot of things that has made me question myself in a lot of ways.
The words where all five of the Elders said in relation to "I don't know who I am, & from where I come" has me questioning things that many of the others have said over the years.
The (dare I say) Older women that I met when I was young & with my Mum before they took me from her, to the ones in between all the way to like I've said Elders.
I have had a life that I would wish on nobody BUT since I have walked that life someone or all should look at what can be said of what is wrong, because when it comes to right I wouldn't know BUT I sure can let someone know what is wrong.
So do the opposite of wrong & one must be getting somewhere near right?
Thanks, have a good life from Dave

Dear Forrest,

Now, you're just stirring!

Stop baiting Bronny.

Dear Whistler,

What an amazing story - Thank you!
The detail of it is brilliant -
and certainly captures that period
so well.

Dear Dave,

As my mum used to say:

"Tough times don't last - tough people do!"

You've survived. That's the main thing!

G'Day All,
Thanks Foxy your mum sounds like a wise woman & thank her from me for those words.
Further I thank all as this forum has helped me to try to get a case together for my son by giving me an outlet to get through & the strenght to at least try again.
All I can say is thanks.
Have a good life from Dave

According to someone I met once, my family name originates from a medieval mercenary knight from somewhere in Europe who travelled to UK and was slain at the battle of Shrewsbury 1403 (between Henry IV and the rebellious Percys).

Anyway before he fell in battle he did some spawning and now, 600 years later we are still around, doubtless mixed and blended with other English folk, of diverse genetic strains and ethnicities from Ancient Brits, Celts, Angles, Saxons, Vikings, Romans, Normans and goodness knows who else.

So my “tribe” were that body of folk commonly known as “English” and my daughters are at least ¼ Celt.

Like my knightly ancestor, my family has travelled and these days I consider myself “English” by birth but “Australian” by choice.

We move on, adopt to and adapt within this new geography, populate and integrate with other people. My future wife is half Spanish and half Philippino. We are too late for procreating but if we did we would be proud parents to an Australian, regardless of our mixed (and combative – remembering the Spanish Armada) ancestral ethnicity or “tribe”.

dwg.
Sorry if I offended (it was unintentional) it was meant as a light hearted giggle. The song amused me as a nonsense song.

The calibre of a person can depend on weight. e.g. If you were hiring a person to be fired from a cannon it would be important to get a person of the right calibre.

Dear Dave,

It's you we need to Thank - for giving us
such a great input, and always staying so
positive.

Dear Col,

I secretly suspected all along that you
knew what a noble deed looked like - and that
there is such a thing as duty and sacrifice.
Now you've confirmed your ancestry - a Medieval
Knight... That's hard to top! (Says she, who's
into faeries, pixies, dragons, Gods and Goddesses,
Princes, and Princesses - sigh!).

Your future wife sounds divine.
Congratulations once again, and Every Possible
Happiness to You Both!

Dear David f,

I think your last post was meant for my thread on
weight issues. However, Thank You!

Examinator,
I can't see where I showed offence or what you need to apologize for.
I actually said to have a laugh.
So I will repeat have a laugh it has got to be better than what you are doing now, Why? Because you are now reading my post.
Thanks have a good life from Dave

Many of us take for granted the cultural mix
that is Australia and that was
my purpose in starting this thread - to find
out a little something of the people who
created this country's diversity.

I remember growing up in the Western suburbs of
Sydney and having friends from overseas stay
with us. I remember being so disheartened when
travelling along Parramatta Road, these visitors
kept telling my parents how trashy it was - so
ugly - they'd never seen anything like it -
fibro houses and car dealers. They thought it
vulgar. Well, perhaps it was then - but I didn't
notice - to me it was home!

Does anyone else have any anecdotal stories,
sad or funny ones, about making a new life in
Australia? I'd like to hear more about providing
a window on the experience of leaving one home
in order to create another.

Foxy,

I don't know how one could think of Parramatta Road in any other way especially on a baking hot day. What I always remember is the sound the tyres make every time they crossed the rubber joins between the concrete blocks on that road.

An utterly uninspiring place. Yuk in multiple dimensions. If you ask me, your visitors were absolutely right.

BTW, the outer northern suburbs I grew up in Melbourne are as dead as a doornail. All I can say is I'm glad I got out.

Australia celebrates a Prime Minister whose ancestor Mary Wade, "an
urchin from the London slums, fronted the Old Bailey in February
1800, charged with luring an eight-year-old girl into a privy, and
stripping her of her dress, cap and petticoats.

"When caught, Mary showed little remorse, telling the court she was in
a "good mind to have chucked the child down the necessary and I wish
I had done it". The judged declared that "the act of stripping her
does seem to me to be equivalent to holding a pistol to the breast of
a grown person" and so Mary, aged 11, was sentenced to hang by the
neck until she was dead.

"Now, there is nothing like a hanging in the family tree but, perhaps
because of Mary's age, the sentence was commuted to transportation to
the colony of NSW, where she would live for another 70 years."

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24110278-5013871,00.html

Dear RobP,

I loved growing up in Parramatta.

And to me Parramatta Road meant going to
the City shopping - which was always
exciting.

I didn't mind the long drive in - or the car
dealerships along the way - I just couldn't
understand how they all managed to stay in
business - there was so many of them.

As I said - to me the area represented home -
and I suppose I saw it through rose-coloured
glasses.

Dear Whistler,

Thanks for Mary's story.

Lucky for her that she was transported - it
saved her life - tough as it must have been.
She at least was given a chance to start anew.

G'Day All,
Foxy & RobP you better fill me in about the time frame we are talking about Parramatta Road before we go any further I could be one of the louts that used that road plus the old "brickies" at Homebush.
That wasn't a bad old stomping ground at all from Haberfield, Auburn, Lidcombe, Granville, Concord, & all through that area.
The Royal Oak at lidcombe wasn't to bad a watering hole back then.
So before I say much more I will have to get the time frame here or I could go dobbing me pore self in.
Same thing here as to Examinator have a laugh it is better than what you are doing now etc.
Have good life from Dave

Dear Dave,

I'm talking about the late sixties ...

Foxy
Big Thanks then I wasn't one of the louts of that era I was early seventies
Yeah it was a fairly bad chapter of my life not saying there weren't some good times & at the time I was probably thinking it was all good times until it came to paying the dues.
That was the launch I suppose of a pretty rough decade that had me tied up with things that I have found hard to out live.
I suppose the real thing that made me look seriously at life was in November 1985 when I thought I could catch 1.2 tonne of steel grid from 3.84 metres.(found out I couldn't)
The circumstances that occurred that day made me accept that something might just BE that which we cannot explain some called it by varied names I use the term GOD (Gentle Old Dave)
Anyway well off track at least you cant blame me for terrorizing you you've got to laugh.
Have a happy & good life as too the rest out there from Dave

Dave,

My time frame was the nineties. But it's not really the people I'm talking about - they adapt as best as they can to the situation. It's about the look, feel and vibe of the place for me.

I'd just like to Thank everyone who contributed
to this thread. I've enjoyed learning about our
heritages and seeing what a truly diverse group
we are on OLO.

All The Best.

RobP
Thanks also, I definitely wasn't one of the louts then I was well out of there by then.
Yeah the area was pretty rough at times but there was a lot of good people that I met.
Parramatta Road was never what you would call an attractive road to drive but you could do some wild driving at the early hours of the morning back when I was there.
Wont go into depth leave that to imagination it was just that a few of the rigs that I drove back then just had to be out of sight in a hurry.
Anyway like Foxy said it has been an interesting thread
Thanks have a healthy happy life all from Dave

Here's an interesting one that I would like to know the full story behind. In the Allen & Grayson book there was a Grayson widow that had a Duke write a letter to a Lord of the Manor to give her the right to have lease upon land back in the mid 1700's.
Apparently the Duke was very adamant that this arrangment go ahead I would be interested in what favour this woman held with the Duke What do you all reckon
Thanks have a healthy & good life from Dave

Parramatta road? well I lived in Granville in the 1960,s bought the family down from the bush, dad said he was sick of one after another going for work.
Still taste the burgers from big chief and smoke from hoons cars, mine too.
Dave know the brickies royal plastos gee every pub for 25 miles around Granville.
Like you this was before I got my halo,
But enjoyed it all country kid in a lolly shop still have contacts down there

Dear Belly,

Did you ever go to the pub opposite Parramatta Station?

Dad used to play snooker there after work (during the 1960s)
- he was rather well known at the pub (for being unbeatable)...

Foxy,
Speaking of the pub at Parramatta opposite the railway station , brings back memories of a snooker & billiard hall that had snooker tables down stairs a the old pinball machines that gave "prizes" for lining up numbers upstairs if I remember right that was at Parra somewhere close to the station but me ole memory is fading a little these days.
There was three blokes that were extremely good there one of which taught me a great deal about the strategy & playing of Pool I was wondering if you can recall this "Hall" it would've been 72-74.
Thanks have a great life from Dave

Dear Dave,

Sorry, I don't recall the Hall.

I was too young.

All I know is of
the pub that my dad used to frequent, opposite
Parramatta Station, on his way home from work.
He was always home late, and mum would be
very cross. But she couldn't stay angry for
very long. Dad worked so very hard in those days,
and playing snooker was one of the things he really
enjoyed, so she couldn't begrduge him that pleasure.

Foxy,
No problem, thanks anyway and have a happy and good life from Dave.

Foxy while I drank at that pub I did not play pool there.
Drank at every pub in town including the old Millers one.
While you would have been too young we hung around the sound lounge a lot.
Pool? we got on the train Friday nights and went to town hall in Sydney, maybe if I played your father I would have been a better player.

Dear Belly,

What I would give to bring back those
'Golden Days!'

"Para-matta-matta-matta - we're out to win,
We are, We Are!"

Thanks for this thread Foxy
I wish you well May you have a good life and I am sorry to hear of your step-dad my thoughts go out to you and the rest of your family
All the rest out there have a good life
Bye from Dave

Dear Dave,

Thanks for your kind words and thoughts.
I read somewhere that no conventional
therapy can release us from a deep and
abiding psychic pain, yet, through prayer
we can find what we can't find elsewhere:
a peace that is not of this world.

It does help.

Foxy,
A bit belated but never the less genuinely felt. I wish you and your family the best and calm acceptance, when the time comes.
The grief WILL pass and in its place will be the knowledge of the worth of the life that was, not the passing.
So long as you remember, his influence and the value of that life will continue.

May your God bless you.
Examinator and Family

PS We have in the last 14 months lost a mum and a Dad and last two weeks a brother-in-law prematurely to illness.

Dear Examinator,

Your words hugged me like a warm winter coat
in the middle of a cold winter's day.

Thank You, and my sympathies to you and your
loved ones for your loss.

I know deep in my heart that what you are saying
is true - we shall eventually have a calm
acceptance. It's just difficult at present.
Especially watching my mum...

This is a most interesting thread and I'd encourage all to go deeper into their ancestry; not only is it a fascinating study but history can come alive when you identify historical ancestors or positively relate some of them to places or events. My discovery of Robert the Bruce as an ancestor is a case in point and to date I have found Irish, Scots, English, Normans, French, Germans, Vikings, Saxons, Italians and others in the family tree. Both George Washington and Teddy Roosevelt are cousins xxxxx times removed.
Which of course doesn't make me any better or worse than I as before making my discoveries (well, maybe I do take a slightly larger hat!).

It is truly said that family trees are like peanut bushes, the best part is under the ground.