Grave tales – Alstonville

Alstonville is a lovely town on the way to Lismore from Ballina on the northern rivers area of New South Wales. As with most towns along the north coast, the settlers were attracted by the plentiful supply of red cedar, a sought after timber for the colony and the export industry.

Land was selected in 1865 and the town grew due to the needs of the expanding population. The cemetery was opened around 1890 and it is on a hill across the current highway from the turnoff to the town. It is a quiet, peaceful setting of well cared for gardens and tropical plants and is still used for burials today.

A large black marble monument stands in the Roman Catholic section as a tribute to the O’Connell family. It no longer has the ironwork fence but the marble is in good condition and a tribute to Michael O’Connell, his wife Mary and their son Thomas. Michael and Mary were natives of County Meath, Ireland.

Michael and Mary made the journey to Australia as unassisted immigrants, paying for the full cost of their passage. They departed Plymouth, England aboard the ship ‘Hotspur’, arriving in Sydney on 5 Dec 1863 with 440 other passengers. They first settled at Jamberoo on the south coast of New South Wales where Michael was a farmer. Their first four children were born there.


In about 1870, the family sailed to Ballina and relocated to Duck Mountain, the name given to the area now known as Alstonville. Here they had a further six children. Along with other settlers, the O’Connell family engaged in the dairy industry on the fertile rolling hills. Michael also planted sugar cane. Many small mills operated in the district before larger steam mills were constructed in 1882. By 1896 the Rous Mill boasted a light rail line to transport cane to Alstonville.

Three years prior to the death of Michael in 1908 at age 67, their eldest son Thomas died from consumption, also known as tuberculosis, at age 39. He left a wife and five children, the youngest six months old. It is said in his obituary that Michael never recovered from his son’s death. His funeral was conducted in the Roman Catholic chapel in Alstonville, officiated by the Rev. Father Williams. His coffin was then taken to the cemetery with a very large procession of friends and family following. Father Williams read the funeral service at his graveside and spoke of his impressive life and character and how he, and his sons, had assisted in clearing the land for the church in Alstonville.

Michael was buried alongside his son Thomas. His wife Mary passed away on 26 September 1925 and was buried with her husband and son.

Love letters from the front

Yesterday the Australian War Memorial announced a request for volunteers to assist them to transcribe thousands of love letters written between soldiers and their loved ones at home during the major conflicts.

I signed up to the website and started to transcribe a letter from Dorothy Williams to her love Malcolm ‘Mac’ Keshan. The letter was addressed to Malcolm at Stalag 383, a prisoner of war camp in Germany which housed 8,000 British and Allied soldiers during World War II. It was written in March 1944. The letter spoke of her work and social life, attending theatre with friends and going to the pictures with her mum. She also reflected on the fun times she had with Malcolm before he enlisted and went to War.

Dorothy, known as Dot, and Mac met at the Grace Building in Sydney where he was working as a lift driver. On 26 March 1940, Mac volunteered to join the Australian Imperial Force and left for overseas service.

Mac was sent to the Middle East and tasked with training men. He was transferred to the 2/4th Infantry Battalion and served in North Africa in Tobruk, Derna and Benghazi before being sent with his battalion to defend Greece. While there he was taken prisoner by the Germans. It was early 1941. He was sent to various prison camps and made two unsuccessful attempts at escape. The letter I transcribed was in October 1944 when Mac was interred at Stalag 383.

In April 1945 Mac again attempted escape from the prison camp with two other prisoners. They were successful and lucky for them ran into the advancing US army at Neustadt. They were returned to England and there for the celebrations for V Day on 8 May 1945.

Mac returned to Australia in June 1945 where he worked in dry cleaning and eventually purchased his own dry cleaning business. Mac and Dot were married on 5 October 1946. They lived in Bexley, a suburb of Sydney and had three sons. Malcolm William Keshan died on 10 May 2014 at age 94.

Mac and Dot’s letters are now in the War Memorial’s collection and are an intimate insight into the relationship and how they remained positive during the wartime. These letters were so important to the Australians fighting overseas, away from their loved ones for years, often under high stress and unsure of the outcomes. Now they will be preserved and available for future generations to appreciate their important part in history.

A Christmas Grave Tale – Young Cemetery

Young cemetery in south-west New South Wales contains one grave that made me look twice and a third time.

It is the grave of Noel “Christmas” Carroll born on Christmas day 1937, to Hugh and Lucy. What else would you call your son born on Christmas day when your last name is Carroll? And what other nickname would an Australian be given with the name Noel Carroll, than ‘Christmas’. A nickname he obviously embraced as evident from it being included on the plaque on his grave.

Merry Christmas Mr Carroll and to everyone else.