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.

Grave Tales – Tingalpa Christ Church

The Tingalpa Christ Church and cemetery is a little piece of history remaining in Brisbane, now surrounded by industry and traffic. The sound of pressurised gas and the smell of fried potatoes waft from the Smiths Factory next door and the rumble of trucks and cars travelling the six lanes of Wynnum Road is ever present.

Within the grounds are the graves of many pioneers of Brisbane’s eastern suburbs. There are single graves and family plots. Towards the back corner is a plot surrounded by an ornate iron fence. The memorial is a tall spire of sandstone. The front facing panel acknowledges the death of Mary, beloved wife of Thomas Daw, died 1 Nov 1892, aged 47 years. Also 9 of their children.

There are no names of children on the memorial so it is easy to walk past this plot without realising the extent of family tragedy enclosed within. The situation becomes more apparent when research reveals all nine of the children were in infancy when they died.

Thomas Daw and Mary Daw nee Ellis were from Devon, England. In 1871 they are living close by in Paignton. Mary is a domestic servant and Thomas an agricultural labourer. They marry on 28 July 1872, Mary is four years older than Thomas. A few months later the newlyweds board the Royal Dane, bound for Moreton Bay.

Thomas Daw gains employment with the Robinson family at Tingalpa then owns his own butchery business on Gympie Road at Lutwyche and later is elected as a councillor of Windsor Shire.

Their first son Robert James Daw is born on 17 July 1873, six months after their arrival. He is the only child of ten to survive into adulthood. Without each death certificate on hand, the cause of the deaths of the children is not known but one online post records two of the children dying from gastro-enteritis.

The children are Mary Elizabeth 1875, two months, Florence Eleanor 1876, two months, William Henry 1877, one month, Albert Edward 1878, four months, Alice Ann 1881, three months, Thomas George 1883, eleven months, Frederick Ernest 1885, five months, Ethel Maud, 1887, one month, Elspeth Rose, 1889, one month.

On Sunday 30 October 1892 Mary Daw attends church at St Andrews Lutwyche but shortly after returning home is struck with severe abdominal pain. Despite help from three doctors she dies in the early hours of Tuesday morning. The funeral takes place in Tingalpa, attended by many of all classes. Mary is laid to rest with her nine children.

Thomas Daw marries Emily Perry ten months later. They have two daughters who live long lives. Thomas dies on 28 June 1914. He is buried with his first wife and chidren at Tingalpa.