Bringing the dates to life

Creating a family tree starts with the date of a birth, death or a marriage but delving deeper into details of a life can uncover secrets and experiences not even a close member of the family may know about. Stories can be pieced together from records from genealogy sites but searching beyond these sites both online and offline

My great-grandfather, James Whirisky died in 1955, well before I was born. When I was older my mum and her sister’s stories of him were of a distant, cranky man who resorted often to alcohol. There were no happy memories or cheerful stories of trips to the pictures or days at the beach. I carried this perception of him into my adult life until the tools became available to fill in the blanks through research.

James Whirisky was born in Dumbarton, Scotland on 9 February 1880 to John and Jane Whirisky, nee Haggerty. John Whirisky was an Ironstone miner of Irish descent. They had a daughter, Jane, in 1881 and then no further children. James and Jane’s mother died in 1884 when James was four years old, and it is unknown who looked after James and Jane after her death. In 1901 John Whirisky appeared on the Scottish census as a labourer and boarder, his children no longer with him.

By 1907 James Whirisky emigrated to Australia to live in Sydney, his sister Jane followed with her husband and two children a few years later. On 25 September 1907, James Whirisky was appointed as a probationary constable with the New South Wales police force, a career he stayed with his entire working life. A year after his appointment, on 21 October 1908, James marrieds Annie Hanson, daughter of a Norwegian waterman and Irish mother, who were both deceased. Annie was living in Paddington and James at Central Police Barracks. She was 24 and James, 28. During her life she had experienced poverty and hardship on the streets of Sydney, living amongst the Irish Catholic population.

Soon after his marriage to Annie, James received a black eye whilst on duty. Richard Long was drunk and disorderly and fighting another man on Liverpool Road, Ashfield. A crowd of over 50 people gathered to witness the brawl and James moved in to arrest him and march him towards the police station. The crowd followed and incited Long to resist arrest. Long fought back and the result was a punch to James’ left eye.

In 1922, then a Constable first class, James was assigned to the historic town of Windsor. The family had grown to five. Phyllis was 13, Hilton, 11 and Edna, 10. Windsor was not quiet country life for James. In his first two months on the job, he attended a robbery of railway tickets at Mulgrave Station and a suicide in the river. James pulled out the body of a stranger to the town. Despite an inquest and witnesses seeing him alive days before, the man’s identity remains unknown. In February 1924, the river again claimed a victim, James assisted to recover the body of 13-year-old Madge Farrell, who losts her life during a day swimming with friends.

Ten months later the family move back to Sydney, living in a house in Carlingford. James was posted to Darlinghurst Station. His visits to see friends in Windsor are reported in the local newspaper. An article in 1931, talks of his ‘kind and gentle disposition’ and his popularity amongst the locals. The same article also mentions his daughter Edna was to be married the following week.

On 11 July 1931, Edna Whirisky married Thomas Nolan at St Georges Church, Hurstville . She was 19, he was a 21-year-old police officer. Their marriage was tumultuous, marred with violence and abuse. By 1936, Edna had left her husband and was living with her parents at their home in Daisy Avenue, Hurstville. She found work as a typist.

On 16 December 1935, James was the victim of an accident not related to his work. He was knocked down by a push bike as he walked home from work. He was taken to hospital, suffering from a fracture of the skull, a broken right forearm, and cuts to the face.

During the early years of World War II, Edna told her family she was leaving to work in Victoria. When she returned to Sydney in 1943, her mental health declined to where she was hospitalised. James, now retired, and Annie take her to Sawtell in the hope the sea air and simple life improved her health. In December 1947, Edna returned to Sydney, booking a room at the People’s Palace in Pitt Street. When she was not seen for several days, the door was forced open. She was found dead, lying on the bed. Beside her is a glass containing the remains of a powder and a handwritten note. She was 36. Fifty years later a woman contacted Phyllis, Edna’s sister, and tells her she is the daughter of Edna Whirisky.

In her later years, James’ wife, Annie lived with her daughter Phyllis in a Sydney unit. She spent her days in a chair by the lounge window, dressed in a housecoat, holding a small transistor radio. Close by is the form guide. I don’t remember her saying a word to me or my sister when we visited, but we had to approach her and kiss her cold, sagging cheek. She died, aged 97, in 1981, taking her family’s secrets with her.

As a couple and a family, James and Annie experienced trauma and stress no family should bear. When I look at the photo I have of them they seem stoic, bravely putting on a veneer of strength, despite what life dealt them. The records can help unearth the experiences a person may not tell anyone in their life and help develop an understanding of who they were as a person, not just a list of dates.

Grave Tales – Lutwyche cemetery

Corporal Audrey Agnes Eastick of the Australian Women’s Army Services was stationed in Brisbane and working as a clerk at Australian Headquarters during World War 2. She grew up in Victoria in Horsham and at the time of her enlistment was 29 and married to Vivian Eastick, who was stationed with the Air Force in Townsville.

On the night of 3 October 1943, Audrey attends a function for the opening of the sergeant’s mess at Kedron and after it finishes at 10pm, climbs into the passenger seat of an army truck driven by Stanley Eyles to get a ride back to the city. Her friend and another officer sit in the back on the truck floor.

As the truck drives down Roblane Street towards the intersection of Lutwyche Road and Constitution Road, a tram is seen approaching the tram stop. A woman stands near the kerb ready to board. The truck loses control, passing between the woman and the tram. It swings to the right, mounts a footpath and crashes through two fences before ending on its side. The tram driver estimates the truck to be travelling at 70 to 80kms/hour.

Audrey receives fractures to her skull and dies from her injuries the next day. Stanley is interviewed by police and charged with manslaughter but was acquitted at trial in March the next year. He testifies Audrey grabs the wheel, causing the truck to lose control. He tells the court he has only had five glasses of beer and did not see the woman approaching to board the tram.

Her parents receive a letter from her the day before hearing the news of her death. They travel to Brisbane a few days later to attend the funeral in the Anzac section of Lutwyche cemetery.

The war graves section of Lutwyche Cemetery is now adorned with white marble headstones and surrounded by a green manicured hedge. A gap in the hedge near the Anzac Day Commemoration area allows access to the graves. On each side of the gap is a seat in a low sandstone wall. The lawn is neat and manicured and beside each grave is a rose, blooming bunches of pink or red flowers. Their petals scatter on the grass leaving a carpet of colour. Beyond, rising from a lawn, the Cross of sacrifice faces the graves.

Beside Audrey’s grave is a red rose, it’s scent floats across the air. On her stone it reads ‘Not just today, but every day, in silence we remember.’

There is no ordinary life

It’s National Family History Month and what better month than to start your family history. This year the theme is ‘Secrets and Lies’ and many of us have discovered just that in our research, things we didn’t know about our family and things kept secret or told in a way that covered the truth.

On the other hand, many people have the misconception, and even a fear, that their family is ordinary and nothing interesting will be uncovered. After researching family trees for over ten years I know this is not true. Everyone has a unique experience that makes up the story of their life and once two generations have passed the stories are lost forever so it is important to start with your living relatives and ask them everything they know.

Recently I was chatting to a young man wandering a cemetery searching for his grandfather’s grave. He told me the story of his grandfather’s experience during the Vietnam war, his career and the values he passed to his grandchildren. I suggested he write down everything he knew about his grandfather and the stories he told. He wasn’t sure anyone would want to know these details but the next generations will appreciate the effort. Imagine having written stories from ancestors discovered detailing their life and outlining the person they were.

I can understand some relatives may not want to discuss aspects of their life with family. Last week I purchased a book called Fighting Bandsman’s Last Stand, about the life of Don Tweedie. I chatted to his son and author Terry about his writing. Don was a prisoner of war during World War II. Terry compiled the book and tells the story of Don’s life before and after the war. His father was happy to give those details but it was his war experience that he had difficulty telling direct to his son. Instead of doing a direct interview, Don went away and, over three months, wrote 165 pages which Terry edited and included in the book. The book has become not only a story about Don but a story that has helped others who had relatives in the same prison camp.

If you are unsure how to approach the interview or have a family member who is a bit reluctant, we can help guide, construct and write the stories for you. We can do the family interviews

Start small. You don’t need to write a book. Even small snippets that you have heard or been told are worth writing down. Genealogists can re-construct where and when life happens but they can’t include the why and how and the feelings associated with each event.

So get to it this month. Uncover your family story.