HAPPY AUSTRALIA DAY 2013

AUSTRALIA DAY 2013 BLOG CHALLENGE

Thanks to Helen V. Smith for suggesting the Australia Day challenge

http://helenvsmithresearch.blogspot.com.au/2013/01/2013-australia-day-challenge.html

Helen asked us to write about the ancestors who were first to enter Australia, both male and female.... this made it comparatively easy for me, as though they didn't come together, my 5th great grandparents were the first of my known ancestors to arrive in Australia.

They were Robert Hobbs, born in Catherine Wheel Alley, London, in 1763, and Bridget Eslin/Heslin, of Dublin, born in 1766. You'd wonder what an English man and an Irish lady would have in common in that era... Perhaps the most likely commonality was their free passages to Australia. Both were convicted convicts, sentenced for 7 years and life and transported to Australia. in those times, 7 years was life for all intents and purposes as few ever returned to their homes.

The following is an extract of the proceedings at the Old Bailey which saw Robert given a free passage...

To continue... : (Anthony Jefferson)  I am sure he is the man: I saw his face as he passed by me.

CHARLES SILK sworn.

I am the street-keeper of Cornhill; I took custody of the prisoner; the bundle was left at Mr. Bates's, from the Monday till the Wednesday.

THOMAS MARTIN sworn.

(The bundle produced and deposed to.)

I saw the bundle at Guildhall; it was sealed.

Mr. Knapp. You have many pieces of the same quality? - Yes.

Have not you a great many with the same mark? - None, Sir.

You never saw them after you sold them, till you saw them at Guildhall? - No, I did not.

Prisoner. I leave it to my counsel.

GUILTY.

Transported for seven years.

Tried by the London Jury before Mr. RECORDER.

Robert Hobbs Goal sentencing...

Robert Hobbs                          (Names) William Purcell(?) aka Price  London   (? not sure of the next few words) 1790 Life

Robert Hobbs was then transported on the "Active" in 1791.

An extract from the notes shared by my cousin, Robyn McNamara and other researchers...

Nothing much is known of Robert’s early life other than his mother’s name was Mary and his father was Joseph Hobbs, who may possibly have also been a weaver and that his father’s (and Robert’s grandfather’s) name was also Joseph Hobbs from Tottenham, Middlesex, England.

He was baptized on the 17th July 1763 at St. Batolph’s Bishopgate, Middlesex, England.

There is no other record until the following entry (from information given by Marie Tattam):  "Court minutes of the Weavers' Company (Guildhall Library MS 4655/17 pt 2, to 296). 1 June 1778 "Robert Hobbs son of Joseph Hobbs of Petticoat Lane, Whitechapel Cordwainer is bound Apprentice for 7 years to Thomas Christmas, Citizen ; Weaver of London living in New Nichol Street Bethnal Green. No Cons (i.e. no premium was paid)".  Robert would have been 15 years old when or if he finished his apprenticeship, however no record of freedom could be found in the minutes 1785-6.

His first criminal record is found in November 1788, he was indicted along with Solomon Bocherah at the Old Bailey, London for "burglariously breaking and entering the dwelling house of J. Pinkinton about the hour of seven in the night on the x No vember last, and burglariously stealing one piece of velvet containing 39 yards, value 81.4s his property".  The evidence of Robert having taken part in the robbery was too vague and he was found "not guilty", however he was detained as following the robbery, when the prisoner Bocherah was being taken away by constables along the Houndsditch area, in a rescue attempt, an attack was made on the coach with sticks and stones and finally the track was cut so that it was impossible for the coach to proceed.  Bocherah nevertheless was still held in custody, and although one witness claimed Hobbs was part of the rescue team, the evidence must have again been too flimsy as there is no further record of punishment.  Solomon Bocherah was not so fortunate as he was found "guilty" of the robbery and sentenced to death.

On the 8th July 1789 Robert Hobbs was in trouble again when he was indicted on a misdemeanor charge at the Old Bailey again, for having obtained three kits of salmon by false pretences.  This time he was found "guilty" and imprisoned for one month and sentenced also to be whipped.  There is no actual transcription of this trial in the Old Bailey records so who brought the charges and who the witnesses were are not known.

He is before the jury at the Old Bailey for "stealing on the 20th September 1790 thirty eight pieces of calico, containing 760 yards, value ¹60 the property of Thomas Martin".  This trial changed Robert's life forever resulting in his transportation to Australia.

One researcher questioned how Robert could have run with a bundle containing 760 yards of calico that would have weighed about 285 lbs.

On 27 Oct 1790 Robert Hobbs was sentenced in the Old Bailey, London to transportation - 7 years, aboard “The Active”.  The Active departed Portsmouth on the 27th March 1791 carrying 175 convicts of which 21 were lost during the 183-day voyage and arrivedSydney Cove on the 26th September 1791.

The Active was among the ships that comprised the "Third Fleet" and was a Brig of 350 ton with John Mitchinson as the Master.  Captain David Collins who had arrived with the "First Fleet" was the Judge Advocate and faithfully kept a journal of events including a description of the "Active's" arrival.

"Monday 26th September 1791.... the Active from England, and the Queen from Ireland, with convicts of that country, arrived and anchored in the cove.  On board the Active.... were one hundred and fifty four male convicts...

These ships had been unhealthy and had buried several convicts on their passage.  The sick, which they brought in, were landed immediately; and many of those who remained and were not so ill as to require medical assistance, were brought on shore in an emaciated and feeble condition, particularly the convicts from the "Active".  They in general complained of not having received the allowance intended for them; but their emaciated appearance was to be ascribed as much to confinement as to any other cause...

There is no record of what condition Robert Hobbs was in after the journey, however just three & a half months after his arrival on the 9th January 1792, he was tried for stealing a pair of shoes and a hat belonging to Edward Conroy and Thomas Regan.  Having admitted that he was guilty, he begged for mercy but received 150 lashes.  He must have been desperate for shoes as it is well documented that there was a shortage of shoes in the colony and the known temperature in January meant that he was desperate for a hat.

In 1793, Bridget was sentenced to be transported owing to a theft of calico... which had been spread on the drying greens.

196/695  Bridget Eslin, tried Dublin September, 1792;  sentence 7 years; arrived on the 'Sugar Cane' in 1793; time expired September 1799; certificate dated 6th February, 1811.

 "Some history on Bridget HESLIN/ESLIN that was discovered by Barbara Hall while researching for her books on the first five Irish convict ships.....

To start with, it is believed that the Heslin/Eslin name was German in origin. There were a large gathering of Heslins in Derrynacross in the Longford area, Leitrim, and on the borders of Westmeath and Cavan. Many did not do well in the “Rebellion of 1798”, followed by the famine, bog sickness and deportation to the west. There are many, many variations of the name and this has also lead to confusion when researching."

This information was gleaned from the “Freeman Journal” that reported their crimes – all other official records of the trial appear to have been destroyed.  

Robert married Irish born, Bridget Heslin, on 30th October,1815. He was then aged 52. Bridget was 49. they went on to have 9 children.

Robert died 23rd February,1839 and was buried 25th February,1839, in the C of E cemetery, Pitt Town.  His will was dated Feb. 6th,1834. It was appropriated by his daughter, Sarah who died on the 31st July, 1895. It was later discovered by Mrs. Mary A.M. Brown in 1897. It was delivered to J.P.Abbott for registration, but was again lost in 1897-8. It was then found supposedly by Deane& Deane in 1930, but was not registered till after April 1931.

Source... Bev Woodman who purchased Bridget's Certificate of Emancipation ....

Note for all Hobbs/Heslin descendants......some of the grandchildren's surnames are as follows............(source Hobbs group)

BOOTLE,  BOWD,  BROWN, BUCKRIDGE, CELEY, CLARKE, CROSS, DOUGLASS, DOWDEN, GREENTREE, GRONO, HARTLEY, HURST, KILPATRICK, LEET, MAHONY, MITCHELL, MONAHAN, MURRAY, NEAL, ROSE, SIMON, SLANEY, SMITH, STUBBS, SULLIVAN, SWADLING, WALKER, WILBOW

THE FOLLOWING IS COURTESY OF BEV WOODMAN, HOBBS GROUP

" Robert would have spent about five months in prison, on a hulk or onboard the Active waiting to depart Portsmouth so he was probably one of the luckier prisoners in that he didn't spend years waiting his fate.  He did though travel on the Active and on that particular trip that took 183 days, they lost 21 during the trip to the colony.  So Robert probably wasn't in a very fit condition on arrival to start with.  The ship arrived on the 26th September 1791 and then three and a half month s later on the 9th January 1792 he was charged with stealing a hat and shoes and received 150 lashes (although no record has been found of this actually being carried out and he did plead guilty and beg for mercy).  I can only imagine how he felt , he was weak from the long journey on a far from perfect trip, possibly suffering some form of illness with little food to build his resistance up. 

Sometime in 1793 he joined the NSW Corps 102nd Regiment and served ten years, more than likely in the Hawkesbury region.  He would have received a pardon by serving in the military and was allowed to choose land to farm on the Hawkesbury where he is found renting property in 1800 and farming (as well as carrying out his military duties that would have mainly been to keep law and order in the community). He then received his official grant of 60 acres on leaving the Corp in 1803.

Bridget was tried in July 1792 in Dublin Ireland and was then transported to Cork by ship to await transportation aboard the Sugar Cane.  The ship sailed on 13th April 1793 so she would have been in custody for about 9 months waiting to sail.  She was only 18 years old but at least had a friend or relative, Mary Hughes on board with her, along with Joseph Kearns who would have also been known to the family.  Bridget's brother, Patrick, was aboard another ship of that fleet, The Boddingtons, but whether Bridget knew this or not is unknown. Unlike Robert's trip, all aboard the Sugar Cane arrived on the 17th September 1793 in good health with the loss of one life (execution) on the trip.

Never-the-less Bridget was only 18, her father had been executed, her mother and another brother (John) had been transported elsewhere and she and Patrick were now in a new colony just over five years after it had been first settled.  Things would have looked so alien, I can only feel that she felt scared and frightened at what lay ahead of her.  At this stage we can only guess that she was either sent to the Female Factory at Parramatta or to the farms at Toongabbie, however sometime possibly in in late 1795 she met Robert Hobbs and their first of nine children was born (registered Sydney) on the 19th September 1796.  All other children after that were born in the Hawkesbury area, most of them at Pitt Town.

What is known after that is that she lived the rest of her life with Robert, raised nine children, lived and laboured at Pitt Town on their own land and died in on the 25th October, 1843, four and a half years after Robert who died on the 23rd Feb ruary 1839.  They are both buried together in Pitt Town Cemetery although there is no mention of Bridget on Robert's well preserved head stone. We should all feel very proud of what this couple endured and that they fought hard to survive and rais e a family in the harshest of times in a strange land, far from their birth families.

Bev"

In summary: “Known gang members were Patrick Haslin (father), executed, his wife involved but her name not given, their known children were Patrick (transported to NSW per Boddingtons 1793), Bridget (transported to NSW per Sugar Cane 1793), John (involved in the gang also and possibly transported), Joseph Kearns alias Dungan (transported to NSW per Boddingtons), Mary Hughes (transported to NSW per Sugar Cane), Michael Dooley probably executed, Thomas Hughes (fate unknown).

The Muster of 1802 shows Robert Hobbs of the "Active", free, and was shown as having 25 acres, 20 cleared, 6.5 acres under wheat & maize, 1 hog and one person "off: the Government Stores”.

The first formal grant to Robert, and the site of the subsequent home for he and Bridget and their growing family was "Grant No. 1139 of the 20th August 1803" granted by Governor Phillip King – a grant of sixty acres in the district of Mulgrave Place.  Rent 2 shillings per year commencing after 5 years.  It was somewhere near the Hawkesbury Lagoon and (according to the book "Early Days of Windsor" by James Steele) when Governor Macquarie laid out five towns in the Hawkesbury area in 1810 , he had to resume portion of Robert's grant for the Town of Pitt Town.  Robert must have had a lean year in 1804, as a notice in the Sydney Gazette of 20 January, 1805 advises that the Provost Marshall will sell by Public Auction the effects of various persons unless the Claims due from them are settled promptly.  There were 36 settlers listed from Parramatta and along the Hawkesbury, and Robert Hobbs was one of them.

The 1806 Muster shows Robert Hobbs, settler, at the Lagoon on 60 acres.   In this same year Robert Hobbs was among 244 settlers of the Hawkesbury who sent an address to Governor Bligh.

Robert's land is marked with an arrow...you can click on the image to enlarge. 

In January 1807 his signature appears on correspondence to the Rev. Samuel Marsden.  Amongst the crosses of so many other settlers it is noted that Robert can sign his name in a manner of someone who is used to writing.

In June 1809 it is recorded that Robert obtained his wheat seed from HM Stores.  The region suffered a major flood that same year in August where the river rose 48 feet and 8 lives were lost, so Robert probably lost his crop

.

The Muster of 1811 lists Robert Hobbs with Bridget Eslin with Bridget receiving her Certificate of Freedom in September that same year.

In the Muster of 1814 the family is recorded as Robert Hobbs (invalid on Government Stores), Bridget Eslin (wife), Robert Jnr, Elizabeth Hobbs (single) and five other children independent of Government Stores.  There is also a John Randall, convict to Robert Hobbs living with them."

# Acknowledgements to Robyn McNamara, and Bev Woodman... cousins and member and founder of the Hobbs Reunion Group. Thanks also go to all the descendants who have so willingly shared information.

A while back it was discovered that there remained in the care of the Public Trustee's Office, the seals as pictured below which had formed part of Robert's estate. They are now on permanent loan to the Hawkesbury Library and can be viewed by appointment.  The unsolved mysteries refers to the missing Hobbs millions... another post for another time.

(c) seals photos Bev Woodman

Love a good mystery? What did happen to the Hobbs Millions?

Marriage Certificate transcription for Robert Hobbs and Bridget Eslin...

.

Headstone for Robert Hobbs and it is thought that Bridget Eslin rests with him. Pitt Town Cemetery. NSW

Recognition of Robert Hobbs and Bridget Eslin on the Welcome Wall, Sydney, Australia

(c) Welcome Wall photos Robyn McNamara

CHILDHOOD DREAMS

Recently I was tidying up some old cupboards and came across a very tattered, thinly covered pink rabbit. Tears overwhelmed me, and I sat there, cuddling that rabbit from long ago, while memories flooded back. 

That well worn rabbit was my companion for so many years… she knew all my childhood secrets, heard all my frustrations, consoled me when I was sad, rejoiced with me when I was happy. I don’t know who gave me my dear friend, I just know that as a little girl, I loved her so. 

She was so cuddly, with long floppy ears and the cutest little nose. I imagined her running through the paddocks, with me hanging on to her, carrying us to who knows where. I don’t remember her having any other name other than pink bunny, which was a fair enough name for a little pink rabbit. At night, she was my pillow and guided me through my dreams. I had other toys, but none held such a special place in my heart.

For our son, it was his ‘bydie’, a fluffy pink and blue checked blanket bound in satin, which was his constant companion. There was no going anywhere without bydie. It remained part of our family till it was nothing more than a few threads, held together by multiple machining over pieces of paper, then the paper soaked away. To this day, the remnants remain in his baby book. Big Teddy, Georgie Monkey and a number of other soft toys were part of his life, but bydie was the favourite. 

For our daughter, it was a pink elephant, with lovely checked ears. She accompanied her everywhere, even to New Zealand on holiday, but sadly was lost over there. She also had to have a bydie, according to her big brother, so he used to get her pink blanket and bring that with us... two bydies and two children, and all was well with the world. 

I remember my mother talking about a little rag doll, the only doll she ever had… my father recalls playing with jacks made of knuckle bones, also marbles… no manufactured toys otherwise. He and his brothers did make billy carts, with whatever scraps they could find and old wheels scrounged from the local tip, or dump.

My husband, who has always lived in a city, had a favourite plastic car with friction drive which was his special toy for many years. When he ‘outgrew’ playing with that as it was meant to be, he tied it with a rope and dragged it around behind his bike.

All this made me wonder about the toys, if any, that my grandparents had…did they do as my parents mostly did? Make their own, with whatever was available? Life was so different then, and they were both from larger families ... there was little time for play, so little need for toys. I recall my aunt saying that she never had a doll, but she did have a wooden dolly peg, wrapped in cloth, that she used to carry around in her pocket. Not for them the glamorous picture of hula hoops and spinning tops… no china dolls, nor fancy trikes.  As I see the enormous number of toys that my grandchildren have, and yes, I did give them many of them, I cannot help but wonder how they would feel about no electronic toys, no, or very few, soft toys.

Children don’t really change. If their imagination was fostered and nurtured as ours certainly was, I’m sure they would have been very happy playing with my dress up box, which I kept under the tankstand. Scraps of fabric, old clothes, feathers taken from non complaining hens, broken beads… anything and everything that took my eye, became the adornment of princesses; the means to create fairy wings or the clothes of a pirate on the high seas… all of these wonderful items, stirred in with a good dollop of imagination and a small girl could be transported wherever she dreamed.

For my grandchildren, it is my large collection of buttons, all sizes, colours, shapes, made of everything imaginable, that has kept them occupied for years, along with their craft box. This I’ve filled with the usual pencils, paints, crayons, glue, scissors and so on, but also with scraps of fabric, waste paper, old cards and lots of different textured items. Like children gone before, foster the imagination and develop the child.

Crissouli ©

Image from http://www.mycbaby.com/rattle-lf.htm

MUSIC FROM MISERY TO JOY

As we rush through shops piled with all sorts of enticing wonders, spare a thought for this community, making the very most out of what they have...


MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL...

RECYCLED CHRISTMAS

At this time of year, we get overwhelmed with Christmas stories, poems, and themes...  so to save you reading all you have before here, I will just give you the link to return, if you wish, to a number of posts from last year... 

 You can work back via Older Posts if you wish...

http://thatmomentintime-crissouli.blogspot.com.au/2011/12/as-i-rememberchristmas-eve.html

 Thank you for your support over the last year, with all four of my blogs.  Without you, dear reader, there would be no purpose in this.. so, it is you who are responsible. 

Of course, that doesn't mean I won't post new Christmas posts, so, watch this space. 

CRISSOULI'S 2012/2017 CHRISTMAS GENEAMEME

I have taken this directly from my friend, Pauleen's blog ... I am a little past the start of Advent, but here I am... revised and republished..

You can read her answers here...

http://cassmob.wordpress.com/2012/12/09/pauleen-decks-the-halls-my-xmas-geneameme-response/

 To be involved, please copy the questions as below and add your own answers, then follow up by leaving a comment on Pauleen's blog, so she can collate the answers in a short while. It will be great to read of others Christmas traditions, what a beautiful way to unite us all at this time.

Thank you Cassmob (Pauleen).

It's the start of the Advent season today and I thought it would be fun if we shared our different experiences of Christmas and how we celebrate it around the world. By doing this through a geneameme we'll be able to compare our responses and see whether we do things very differently or if there's lots of similarities.

For this meme, it doesn't matter whether you're religiously inclined or not, just tell us how important this season is to your family.

It would be great if you joined in from around the world– the more the merrier (and it's the season to be merry!).  I've tried not to be Australia-centric so please pull me up if any of these are unclear…we should all be able to "have a go".

THE 2012 / 2017 CHRISTMAS GENEAMEME

1. Do you have any special Xmas traditions in your family?
1.We always get together for Christmas lunch rather than a dinner, and follow the way that our family has always done with mainly hot food, no matter what the weather. 

2. Is church attendance an important part of your Christmas celebrations and do you go the evening before or on Xmas Day?

2. We used to when we were small, but not now...

3. Did/do you or your children/grandchildren believe in Santa?

3. Of course, I still do :-) Our children and grandchildren believed, sad to say the grandchildren have decided they don't now, so that has left a great big gap in Santa's life...      but Santa has given me his private email, so I can pass on Christmas wishes

4.  Do you go carolling in your neighbourhood?

4. No, it would spoil everyone's Christmas.

5.   What's your favourite Christmas music?

5. I love all kinds, from traditional to pop. There is something really special to me about Chris Rea's Driving Home For Christmas... I can't help thinking about all who will be making their way home at this time.

6. What's your favourite Christmas carol?

6. Adeste De Fideles

7. Do you have a special Xmas movie/book you like to watch/read? 
7. Not really... I am usually a bit otherwise occupied, but my husband loves "White Christmas" and "Joyeux Noel". I tend to listen while I work.

8.  Does your family do individual gifts, gifts for littlies only, Secret Santa (aka Kris Kringle)?

8. We used to always do individual gifts, but it's now a mixture, always gifts for the children and our own kids and parents, then  Secret Santa for the rest. There are now 16 of us for Christmas lunch, at least... The group is smaller, back to individual gifts

9. Is your main Christmas meal indoors or outdoors, at home or away?

9. We take it in turns around the family, though as we don't have air con, we will be back at our daughter and family's place to make it easier for our elderly parents. It's mainly indoors, though they do have a pool. Our parents are no longer with us, we're the oldies now..my mother in law passed in 2013, my father, in 2014, each aged 91. Still sadly missed.

10.  What do you eat as your main course for the Christmas meal?

10. Roast turkey and vegetables, cold meats and salads...

11. Do you have a special recipe you use for Xmas?

11. Many of them, from gingerbread to kourabiethes (Greek shortbread), the Christmas cake and pudding .. plus. How this has changed, just a pudding this year, unless I get very enthusiastic and find a few extra hours over the next couple of days..

12.  Does Christmas pudding feature on the Xmas menu? Is it your recipe or one you inherited?

12. It certainly does, with my recipe, that I have been using since I was a girl and decided that I would change the way it was done. Not many eat Christmas pudding now, but I still make at least one. There was a time when I'd make at least a dozen, the same with Chrismas cakes... and many batches of kourabiethes and gingerbread men..

13. Do you have any other special Christmas foods? What are they?

13. See answer 11...  the grandchildren always come to bake the gingerbread men, as did their mother and uncle before them, with various cousins in between. That too, has changed, they are in their late to mid teens now..

14.  Do you give home-made food/craft for gifts at Christmas?

14. Yes, often puddings, cakes, etc. sometimes things like passionfruit butter and sauces. I have made everything from Santa Sacks to stockings, from Christmas wreaths to garlands...

15. Do you return to your family for Xmas or vice versa?

15. Always.

16.  Is your Christmas celebrated differently from your childhood ones? If yes, how does it differ?

16.  We don't have as many people these years, and while we have always had decorations, many of them now are electronic, or bought, whereas it used to be all fresh flowers and leaves, Christmas bells made from milk bottle aluminium tops, chinese lanterns from old cards and crepe paper streamers and home made cardboard stars.

17. How do you celebrate Xmas with your friends? Lunch? Pre-Xmas outings? Drop-ins?

17. A mixture, but many live away now, so not as much celebrating these days. We still keep up with various family members and friends when we can, sometime over the Christmas/New Year period.

18. Do you decorate your house with lights? A little or a lot?

18. It varies, not a lot this year as we will be elsewhere, but we are gradually switching to solar so that will make a difference.

19. Is your neighbourhood a "Xmas lights" tour venue?

19. No, not at all, though a few more around this area are putting up lights as young families move back into the neighbourhood.

20. Does your family attend Carols by Candlelight singalongs/concerts? Where?

20. No, not since the children left school.

21. Have any of your Christmases been spent camping (unlikely for our northern-hemisphere friends)?

21. When we were younger and our family returned home for Christmas, we would 'go home' with a caravan and that would become the kitchen for the day. It would be taken out to the local headland, where we would swim or paddle, etc. and often catch extras for Christmas lunch which would be cooked there and then.

22. Is Christmas spent at your home, with family or at a holiday venue?

22. Always with family, but spread around 3 homes in turn. I suspect that will change in future years. Now, mostly between two homes, but always visit others.

23. Do you have snow for Christmas where you live?

23. Not really an option in SE Qld, we have had many storms with hail, that's about as close as we get.

24. Do you have a Christmas tree every year?

24. Always... it has gone from a gum or she oak when we were small to various live pine ones, which used to grow in bushland near by, but now is an artificial one. Over the years, when it was a more crowded house, we have still managed to have some sort of tree, no matter how small.

25. Is your Christmas tree a live tree (potted/harvested) or an imitation?

25. See above... I should have read further on. 

26.  Do you have special Xmas tree decorations?

26. Yes, many are home made by the children, there are small framed photos of family members, some are from our very first married Christmas, others are crocheted by my mother in law, some are the children's choices as they were allowed to pick one decoration a year.

27. Which is more important to your family, Christmas or Thanksgiving?

27. We don't have Thanksgiving in the southern hemisphere, which is a good thing with the seasonal heat. I can't imagine all that so close together.

Feel free to participate in this Christmas Geneameme and share your Christmas experiences!

Don't forget to leave a link to your geneameme response in the comments section or on Google+ or on Twitter using hashtag #xmasgeneameme. Thanks!

A RECENT MOMENT IN TIME

Our lives are made of many moments in time, some we barely notice as they pass on by, just like so many before them.

However, some make you sit up and take notice... they leave an impression that stays with you.

They don't necessarily have to be the momentous moments, such as births, marriages or deaths, just something that means a lot to you, even if not to others...

One such moment came to me recently. I was totally surprised and honoured to be have one of my blogs selected by the National Library Australia to be archived in perpetuity by PANDORA, to be listed among many of the sites I follow.

You can see the lists of archived sites here... http://pandora.nla.gov.au/

The blog is " Irish Graves - they who sleep in foreign lands."

http://irishgraves.blogspot.com.au/

 This site is for those graves outside of Ireland, particularly isolated graves, in the hope that those researching may be able to 'find' their ancestors.

There are a number of pages, listed on the side column... you will notice that there is a Pandora button and a Pandora search box which I am honoured to display.

The opening post is of Norfolk Island...

                                       (c) Jeff O'Keefe
         

Here are just a couple of photos to give you some idea of what to expect.  Details of how you can contribute are also in the side column on the site.



 (c) Jeff O'Keefe

 (c) Jeff O'Keefe 

                                                          

My sincere appreciation goes to all who have kindly contributed to the Irish Graves graves site and all those who have encouraged me. Irish Graves is very much a work in progress, so please return as you can.