Don't believe everything that you read

Any family history researcher has visited a lot of monuments in their search for more information.  

My one wish upon death, is to have a headstone that will last centuries so my descendants can read it!  

Winiam Cemetery - where many of those interred are related to me.
Photo taken 2009

Grave of James E Pilgrim (my great grandfather)
Winiam Cemetery
21 Aug 1950

My Great Great Grandparents Grave
Maryborough (Vic) Cemetery

Never believe everything you read.  Mistakes are made often. You will note on the headstone above, that Alexander Walker died 12th June 1930.  This is the date that the majority of family trees have recorded.

As researchers, we are taught to verify information, which is why I like to order certificates (which are often incorrect too!) .  Alexander's death certificate states he died a day earlier, 11th June 1930.

Alexander Walker death extract
Source: www.bdm.vic.gov.au

The date is confirmed elsewhere on the certificate too as the death was also registered on 11th June 1930 and Alexander Walker was buried on the 13th June 1930.

When I started researching I was doing it "on the cheap" and was only interested in free information.  However, I soon found that certificates (especially Australian certificates) provide so much useful information, which is unavailable elsewhere.  Now I have a monthly budget for certificates.  So what does it cost me?  Nothing really.  I just take my lunch to work everyday instead of buying it!

In addition to the date and cause of death, the certificate also provided me with the following details (or confirmed details already held):

• Age on Death and therefore approximate Birth Year
• When and where buried
• Occupation
• Parents names (and mothers maiden name)
• Fathers occupation
• Religion
• Wife and 15 Children's names and ages
• Where Born
• Number of Years in Australia (therefore approximate immigration date)
• Where and When Married
• Son's address
• Place of Death (and residence)

Alexander Walker died at 30 Napier Street, Maryborough, Victoria
(Picture taken 2012)

Click to visit more Sepia Saturday posts.  This weeks prompt relates to statues and monuments.

In the Backyard

The following two photos look to be the same backyard but are silent as to where and when. By looking at other "clues", I am trying to work out where they were taken. 

My Grandfather, Gordon Walker on  the left
From other photos, I recognised Reg Alford in the centre
but the man on the right remains unknown.

My Grandmother, Rita Walker nee Jones

 My grandparents were married at Ararat, Victoria on the 23rd September 1925.  You can see a wedding photo of them here.  They moved to Gippsland soon after.  Two separate newspaper articles indicate that my grandfather arrived in Yallourn in 1925, where he commenced work at the SEC (State Electricity Commission) Yallourn.

It is likely that Granddad had secured this employment prior to getting married and then my grandmother followed after they were married.

I know from the photo below that Reg (pictured in the top photo) worked with my grandfather at the SEC in the 1920s.  Reg was born in the Gippsland area so it is unlikely that the top photo is in the Stawell area.  My grandfather worked at the SEC until 1948, when he commenced a business with Wally Bennie, also pictured below.

I think my grandfather looks slightly older in the photo below but it is hard to tell? What do you think?

1920s SECV Yallourn Workshop Carpenters and Joiners
Gordon Walker is front row, second from left
Reg Alford is beside him, second from right.

In December 1926 my Aunty was born at Yallourn.  In the photo below, I think my grandfather looks about the same age as the top photo?  However the wooden walls look to be different to the top photo.

Gordon Walker with Phyllis Walker
early 1927

I have been through all my photos and  there is only one other picture that could be the same fence as the top two photos;

Gordon's brother, Frank Walker
 & his wife Edna and son Robert.
1928

I know that my grandparents lived in Yallourn (now an open cut) in 1931.

1931 Electoral Roll:  Source www.ancestry.com

So back to the photo above of Nanna.  Is she pregnant?  This would certainly help me date the photo. I zoomed in but cannot tell for sure.  However she is seated and holding her hand on her stomach so could be?  There are no children to be seen in either of the two photos.  

I cannot be certain, but I hypothesise that the first two photos were taken in 1925/1926 at Yallourn.

To finish, I include a photo,  from many years later (also undated but pre Sept 1973),  of my grandparents in a backyard that I do remember.

Gordon & Rita Walker
lived at 89 Lloyd Street, Moe from 1936.

Sepia Saturday is great to prompt research of photos and family that you may not have otherwise.
Click for more Sepia Saturday Posts.

Trove Tuesday - Maps

We all love Trove for the newspaper articles but there is so much more; photos, maps, diaries, books and in future, this blog.

1925 Map of Manya - Lot 33 belonged to my Great Grandfather, William Adam Bisset Scott
Source: digital.slv.vic.gov.au  via www.trove.nla.gov.au

Excerpt from map above

1928 Map of Bealiba - Lot 13 was my 3X Great Grandfather's, Samuel Drayton.  His son was nearby.
Source: digital.slv.vic.gov.au  via www.trove.nla.gov.au

Excerpt from map above

Coincidence or Not?

Two years ago, my mother and I took a detour to visit the Bealiba cemetery.   I pulled over on the side of the road to call a relative (another descendant of Samuel Drayton) and to let her know that we were delayed but still on the way.

After retrieving the above map some time later and googling the area , guess where I had stopped?  Yes out the front of Samuel's property! What are the chances?

Coincidence or Not?  I certainly had goose bumps when I realised.