Bits 'n Pieces

Junirisland Breast Feeding Cooking, Who Cares? Diary High School - 1969 Preschool Lesson Plans Op Shop 'til you drop Harrop Family History Children's Cute Quotes Diary Grade 6 - 1964 Bits 'n Pieces Photographs - Webster Photographs - Harrop

Something gone wrong with my system so need to shovel these Harrops into Bits 'n Pieces If you recognise your hard work and have a hot poker handy email me and blow on that poker a bit thejuniris@hotmail.com ABANDONED BABY Robert Latrobe found by Police in Latrobe Street, Melbourne 28 Oct 1856 and nursed by Harriet ?Loarden Watchouse, Swanston Street, brought to be baptized at St Mark's Church Collingwood on 7 Feb 1857 by Mrs Field, Wellington St, Collingwood SUSANNAH HARROP Samuel Mills b Oldham, Lancashire abt 1805, widower aged 52 yrs res Collingwood, occ Gardener father John Mills occ cotton spinner m Molly Mills nee Smethurst married St Mark's Collingwood 1857 Susannah Harrop b Claydonhayts, Yorkshire abt 1803, widow aged 54 yrs res Collingwood father John Mortimer occ cattle dealer m Susannah Mortimer nee Budgett Heversham, Westmorland / Westmoreland William Birbeck Harrop b abt 1783 d 1843 m Agnes - Frances Harrop b 1811 d 1820 - James Harrop b 1822 d 1826 - Samuel Harrop b 1820 d 1843 - Fanny Elizabeth Harrop b 1830 d 1851 cf Heversham,Westmorland / Westmoreland Macedon, Victoria, Australia Harrop family tree John Harrop m Mary Dodgshun ?- Alfred Harrop b 1838 d Macedon 1916 - Thomas Harrop b 1837 d Macedon, Victoria 1924 lived "Heversham" Upper Macedon m Ann Slocombe b 1838 d 1916 f George Slocombe m Maria Webber lived Langley Marsh, Wiveliscombe, Somersetshire, England (for the rest of this tree, click on my Harrop Family History) HARROP FAMILY TREE DARESBURY, GREAT BUDWORTH,WARRINGTON George Harrop m Mary -James Harrop b Daresbury 1772 m Great Budworth 1796 Ellin Evans - - James Harrop b Warrington 1798 m Elizabeth Grounds - - - William Harrop b 1822 m Alice Mather - - - - Elizabeth Harrop b 1855 - - - - Eliza Harrop b 1858 - - - - George Harrop b 1864 m 1886 Emma Lee - - - - - William Harrop - - - - - Ellen Harrop - - - - - James Harrop - - - - - Alice Harrop - - - - - Minnie Harrop - - - - - Elizabeth Harrop - - - - - Agnes Harrop - - - - John Harrop b 1866 - - - - Alice Harrop - - - - Peter Harrop m 1889 Isherwood - - - - - William Harrop - - - - - Elizabeth Harrop - - - - - Ellen Harrop - - - - - Gilpha Harrop - - - - - Lily Harrop - - - James Harrop b Warrington 1827 - - - Thomas Harrop b Warrington 1829 Please email me if you have more details / corrections thejuniris@hotmail.com Australian Convict Harrops : Richard Harrop b abt 1765 of Chester transported NSW for 7 yrs 'Scarborough' 2nd fleet 1790 Alfred Harrop b abt 1805 transported NSW ' Royal Admiral' 1830 ?then convicted of stealing at Limestone NSW 1832 James Harrop b abt 1804 transported 'Morley' 1829 Joseph Harrop b abt 1806 transported Tasmania / Van Diemen's Land 'Persia' 1830 ?same as Joseph Harrop b abt 1818 transported 'Earl Grey' 1843 George Harrop b abt 1816 transported Tasmania 'Asia' 1841 ?then escapee to mainland 1849 ?died Tasmania 1891 John Harrop b 1797 transported 'Norfolk' 1835 ?same as John Harrop b abt 1811 transported 'Strathfieldsay' 1836 ?same as John Harrop b abt 1812 transported 'Lloyds' 1837 Elizabeth Harrop b abt 1787 transported 'Mistrel' 1812 ?same as Elizabeth Harrop b abt 1793 transported 'Maria' 1818 ?same as Elizabeth Harrop b 1786 convicted Lancaster 1817 to 7 yrs transported Tasmania m Tasmania 1819 Thomas Prosser Catherine Harrop ?nee Goodier or possibly Yates b abt 1790 m abt 1815 to John Harrop who died bef 1823 transported Tasmania 'Mary' 1823 leaving behind 3 children with ?uncle Thomas Harrop m Hobart, Tasmania 1827 to William Whitehead Mary Ann Harrop dau of John & Catherine Harrop b ?Stockport, Lancashire 1808 transported Australia 'Louisa' 1827 m Maitland NSW 1830 to Thomas Holmes William Harrop b abt 1830 Pankhurst convict to West Australia c 1845 and a few changes to HARROP FAMILY TREE MANCHESTER TO LAUNCESTON,TASMANIA, AUSTRALIA Edward Davy Harrop's grandmother lived Manchester c 1860 and wrote to them in Tasmania Edward Davy Harrop's father was John Harrop b abt 1800 ?m a Miss Davy - Edward Davy Harrop b Manchester 1835 d Tasmania 1891 m 9 Apr 1855 Mary Boothroyd b Scotland 1836 d Launceston, Tasmania 1899 - - Edith Harrop b Launceston 1862 unm in 1899 - - Clara Austin Harrop b Launceston 1866 m 1889 / 1899 to Edward William Ellis lived South Australia - - - Edward Raymond Ellis b Adelaide 1890 - - Eleanor Mary Harrop 'Nellie'b Launceston 1860 m Launceston 1890 to Thomas Cathcart Archer b Woolmers Longford 1862 f Thomas Chalmers Archer m Louisa Kate Cathcart - - - Thomas Edward Cathcart Archer d Longford 1934 - - Marion Harrop b 1858 m Launceston 1879 to Charles Beaumont Barnes Grubb b 1851 lived Strathroy Launceston - - Fredreick Paul Harrop b Launceston 1858 d Launceston 1918 lived Wilmot Tasmania - - Amy Harrop b 1864 d Launceston 1864 - - Edward Austin Harrop b Launceston 1855 d Launceston 1856 - - unnamed male Harrop b Launceston 1856 - - Emily Harrop b Launceston 1864 d 1864 - - Louise Harrop b Launceston 1864 d 1864 OTHER TASMANIAN HARROPS Alfred Harrop b bat 1838 m abt 1863 Amelia Tobin - female unnamed b Westbury 1854 - male unnamed b Westbury 1856 - Charles Frederick Harrap b Launceston 1860 d 1861 - Grace Florence Harrap c 1862 d Launceston 1899 - May Harrop b Launceston 1864 - Frank Percy Harrop b 1865 d Launceston 1866 John Harrop / Harrap b abt 1794 d Launceston 1873 Joseph Harrop b abt 1805 d Hobart 1878 George Harrop b abt 1816 d Tasmania 1891 Fanny Ellen Harrop b Tasmania abt 1863 m Victoria 1888 Richard Coveney Andrews HARROP FAMILY TREE HATTER HOOLEY HILL, AUDENSHAW TO NSW AUSTRALIA Willam Harrop b Hooley Hill, Audenshaw 1796 d 1862 - 1871 occ Hatter m 1820 - 1827 to Mary b Droylesden 1797 lived Denton Lane, Wellbeck Street & Print Street - John Harrop b Audenshaw 1828 occ Hat maker - Elizabeth Harrop b Audenshaw 1830 occ Hat trimmer m 1847 George Rigby Carter - Sarah Harrop b Audenshaw 1833 - Charles Harrop b Hooley Hill, Audenshaw 1836 occ Felt Hatter lived Print Street, Paradise Street Ashton under Lyne m Hyde 1857 Hannah Harrison b Gee Cross occ Hat trimmer - - George Harrop b Hyde 1858 d Canterbury NSW, Australia 1922 occ Carpenter, Labourer, Engineer, Iron Fitter m Manchester abt 1882 Sarah Elizabeth Williams b Moyston, Flint, Wales 1858 d Bankstown NSW 1950 crem Rookwood occ Machinist f Hunphrey Williams m Susannah Davies migrated Australia 1883 'Gladstone' - - - Amy Harrop b Manchester 1882 m Sydney NSW 1907 Albert Sydney Bell - - - - Marie S.H. Bell b Sydney 1907 m Marrickville, NSW John H. Griffiths - - - - - M. Griffiths (female) b abt 1930 lived Gibson Ave Padstow, Bankstown 1950 - - - Marion Harrop b Balmain NSW 1888 - - - Marie Harrop / Mary E. Harrop b Balmain NSW 1888 ?m 1910 George Gibbons - - - Henry Charles Harrop b Balmain NSW 1885 d Turramurra, St Leonards 1965 crem Rookwood occ Postman m Leichhardt, Petersham NSW 1907 Esther Agnes Clarke b Waterloo NSW 1899 d Punchbowl, Canterbury NSW 1938 f Charles Augustus Clarke m Emma Elizabeth Fulham - - - - Amy Harrop b & d Petersham 1911 - - - - George Daniel Harrop b Annandale 1908 d Blacksmiths NSW 1968 m Newton NSW 1926 Edna Dorothy McCarthy b abt 1906 d 1938 - - - - Francis William Harrop / Frank Harrop b Petersham 1912 lived Punchbowl NSW, Turner ACT - - - - John H. Harrop / Jack Harrop b 1922 m 1950 Olga - - Mary Jane Harrop b Hooley Hill 1861 - - William Harrop b Hooley Hill 1866 - - Alice Harrop b Hooley Hill 1868 - - Amy Hannah Harrop b Hooley Hill 1871 - - John H. Harrop b Hooley Hill 1873 - - James R. Harrop b Hooley Hill 1875 - - Emma A. Harrop b Hooley Hill 1878 - - Joseph Harrop b Hooley Hill 1880 also, plonked into Bits and Pieces as I am yet to learn how to create their own special space the Webster and Elliott family trees. Please email me at thejuniris@hotmail.com if you have corrections or more details. The Webster Family tree some from someone else's tree: William Webster m Mary Ann Crupp occ Stonemason - Mary Ellen Webster b Sheffield Eng 1880 unmarried d Woollahra NSW 1946 and John Webster m Mary Bailey occ farmer -John Webster b Sheffield Eng 1861 migrated abt 1885 d Sydney NSW 1903 occ Grocer m 1889 Mary Ann Kerans - - Herbert V Webster b 1890 - - John B Webster b 1893 and John Webster m Mary O'Brien - John Webster b NSW 1833 d 1896 occ Sawyer m Qld to Jessie Hereford and maybe 'our' tree: Alexander Webster m Elizabeth occ Grocer - William Webster b Dundee, Scotland m Victoria Australia 1885 Jessie Ann Grieve - - William Grieve Webster b & d Ballarat East Victoria 1882 - - Elsie Maude Webster b Ballarat 1886 - - William George Webster b Wahgunyah Victoria 1888 Joseph Webster m Mary ?Spalding occ Vine grower - Robert Webster b Scotland 1849 occ Vine grower m South Yarra 1884 Sarah Ann Castle b Rutherglen 1861 - - Mary Webster b Wahgunyah 1884 - - Joseph Ruglen Webster b Wahgunyah 1886 - - Robert James Webster b Wahgunyah 1888 possible cousins of Amos & Betty Webster nee Child of Batley Yorkshire, England possible parents of: James Webster b Yorkshire abt 1785 occupation Shopkeeper m 1809 St Peter Leeds to Sarah Musgrave James & Sarah Webster proud parents of : - James Webster b Bradford Yorkshire 1817 and - John Webster b Yorkshire 21 May 1815 occupation Shopkeeper of Horsforth, Yorkshire died Victoria Australia in Beechworth Lunatic Asylum 1889 from Cancer of face, cirrohsis of liver & kidneys. From about 1870 John Webster suffered Epileptic Mania supposedly caused by alchoholic poisoning, being admitted in 1874 to Kew Lunatic Asylum by his friends who lived in nearby Northcote, Victoria. John was described as short and very stout. His occupation was Aerated / Soda Water Manufacturer of Eldorado near Beechworth. His religion was Methodist, buried in Wesleyan section of Beechworth cemetery, no headstone. The Webster family migrated to Australia about 1854. The Webster family possibly lived in Scotland 1835 - 1849 John Webster married St Peter Leeds 1835 to Mary Stead ?died 1848 2nd m 1849 Hannah Robinson nee Aram b Hudesfield / Huddersfield Yorkshire abt 1820 d Urana NSW aged 65 yrs f Thomas / Robert Aram m Anna Hannah’s children : Eliza Robinson b abt 1846 Thomas Robinson b abt 1848 - - Mary Ann Webster b 24 Apr 1836 - - Sarah Webster b 3 Jan 1842 - - James Scott Webster b ?George/Gaup of Ed Scotland 1838 / 1 Nov 1840 d Benalla, Victoria, Australia 1877 occ Quartz Miner / farmer / cordial maker made his Will a month before he died aged 38 yrs m Victoria 1866 Jane Henderson b ?Howdon Yorkshire 1848 f John Henderson m Hellen / Ellen Scott John Henderson's f William Henderson occ miller m Annie Davidson Jane Webster ?2nd m 1877 to John Rudd - - - John William Webster b Benalla 1868 d Benalla 1964 m abt 1890 Margaret Ann French b 1870 d Benalla 1944 f Henry French m Cath O'Halloran - - - - Alb ?Albert Leslie Webster b Benalla 1891 - - - Hannah Aram Webster b Benalla 1870 d Thoona ?Thurgoona Victoria 1904 aged 34 yrs m Benalla 1893 William Henry Warrington - - - - Bertie Alexander Warrington b Thoo 1893 d Traralgon Victoria 1958 aged 64 yrs - - - - Stuart Henry Warrington b Thoona 1895 d 1943 m Elsie May Stewart - - - - - Jean Warrington d Watta ?Wangaratta 1926 - - - - William Horace Warrington b Thoona 1901 d 1955 - - - James Scott Webster b Rutherglen 1872 - - - Thomas Clarence Webster b Rutherglen 1874 d Benalla 1948 - - - Charles Henry Webster b Rutherglen 1875 ?m Broken Hill NSW 1910 Jessie M Leitch - - John William Webster b Yorkshire 15 Nov 1846 d Bwk ? Brunswick Victoria 1927 aged 81 yrs m Benalla Victoria 1881 Fanny / Frances Leary b NSW 1849 f Dennis Leary m ?Maria Mary Waghorn - - - Evelyn M Webster b Albury NSW 1884 - - - Rupert J Webster b & d Urana NSW 1886 Please email me if you have more details / corrections thejuniris@hotmail.com - - Joseph Webster b Bradford Yorkshire 13 Jul 1844 occ Soda Water Manufacturer of Eldorado, Adelong, Wagga Wagga and Wahgunyah, farmer of ‘Claremont’ Oaklands NSW d Oaklands NSW Australia 1909 from Epithelioma of face Buried Church of England Daysdale NSW Spent 25 years in Victoria and 27 years in NSW making a Total of 52 years in Colony so arr 1857 m Christ Church Beechworth 17 Jan 1872 both signed their names to Clara Balderson b 1844 Hemel, Hampstead, Hertford England d South Yarra, Victoria Australia 1917 Clara Balderson's family tree : Zachariah Balderson b abt 1760 occ Sheep farmer m Lincolnshire abt 1790 Frances Kent - Robert Balderson b Winthorpe, Lincolnshire 1795 d Melbourne Hospital from Strangulated Hernia operation shock 1868 bur Melbourne General Cemetery migrated to Australia about 1853 occ Farmer, Victualler, Water stand pipe operator, Storekeeper, Gentleman lived Chapel Street South Yarra m abt 1823 to Jane Reed b abt 1800 d abt 1835 - - William Henry Balderson b 1824 d Melbourne 1875 aged 51yrs occ Gentleman - - Robert Balderson d infant - - Richard Balderson b 1828 d St Kilda, Victoria 1910 occ Draper lived Victoria Street South Yarra, Hotham Street St.Kilda m Susan Smith b 1825 d 1914 f James Smith m Lydia Leatherdale son of Susan's brother - James Herbert Smith lived St Kilda - - - William Henry Balderson b South Yarra 1854 - - - Walter Richard Balderson b & d South Yarra 1858 bur St.Kilda - - - dau Balderson b South Yarra 1858 - - - Susan Emily Balderson m Joseph Hart lived Oakleigh - - - Sarah Helyer / Helyor Balderson m James Stabback lived East Melbourne - - - Lydia Jane Balderson m Arthur C Lewis lived Middle Park - - - Francis George Balderson b Brunswick 1861 - - - Ernest Edward Balderson b St Kilda 1869 lived Balaklava /Balaclava, Melbourne m Isabella Sharp b abt 1870 d 1904 - - - Alfred Arthur Balderson b Melbourne 1863 - - - Ada Florence Balderson b & d Melbourne 1865 - - - Alice Blanche Balderson b Melbourne 1866 d 1874 - - - Mabel Florence Balderson b St Kilda 1870 d 1874 - - Robert Balderson b 1830 occ Paper maker 1851 aged 38 yrs in 1868 - - Henry Balderson b 1831aged 36 yrs in 1868 - - George Balderson b 1833 Robert Balderson occ farmer 2nd m London 1841 to Ellen Barber b 1813 d South Yarra, Victoria 1887 bur Melbourne General Cemetery - - John Patterson Balderson b 1842 aged 26 yrs in 1868 - - Ellen Balderson b 1843 m Janes Cattlin lived Malvern - - Clara Balderson b Hemel, Hampstead, Hertfordshire 1844 d Cunningham Street, South Yarra 1917 m Beechworth 1872 to Joseph Webster - - Frances Balderson b 1847 d 1932 spinster of Cunningham Street, South Yarra - - Jane Balderson b 1848 d 1927 spinster of Cunningham Street, South Yarra - - Annie Balderson b Prahran, Melbourne 1855 lived Barry Street, Carlton d Richmond, Melbourne 1941 spinster children of Joseph & Clara Webster: - - - Edith Clara Webster b Wagga Wagga NSW 1875 d 1887 - - - Ada Francis Webster b Wahgunyah, Victoria 1876 d 1877 - - - Minnie Isobel Webster b Wahgunyah, Victoria 1877 d 1879 - - - Florence Edith Webster b Wahgunyah 1879 d 1927 m Vic 1906 Walter Thomson b 1871 d McKl Vic 1972 - - - - Clara Frances Thomson b South Melbourne 1906 m Vic 1927 Clarence Leopold Onions b 1900 d McKl Victoria 1972 - - - - Geoffrey Walter Thomson b abt 1908 m Victoria 1941 Vera May Brown - - - - Eric Balderson Thomson b abt 1910 m Vic 1931 Ethel Gerte 'Noni' Henderson - - - - Florence Edith Thomson - - - Ernest Stead Webster b Wahgunyah 1880 d Albury NSW 1962 m Urana 1907 Mary H Nixon b abt 1885 d 1965 - - - - Elizabeth C 'Bessy' Webster b Corowa NSW 1908 m Albury 1929 Leslie T McCall - - - - Mary Thelma Webster m Corowa 1930 Alexander M Cornwell - - - - Mildred Ernestine Webster b abt 1912 m Vic 1932 Harold Charles Delarue - - - - Eileen Barbara Webster m Corowa 1938 Albert James Chapman - - - - Ruth Margaret Webster m Corowa 1938 Bernard Marsden - - - - ?Lindsay / Gordon Webster - - - Amy Balderson Webster b Clear Hills Oaklands 1882 d Sydney 1966 m Urana 1904 George Robert McLellan b Kaarimba 1878 d Tullamore NSW 1936 - - - - Malcolm McLellan b abt 1905 m Jerilderie 1937 Dorothy Frances Pyle - - - - Clarice Olive McLellan b abt 1907 m Condobolin NSW 1927 Clarence W McKenzie - - - - Catherine Amy McLellan b abt 1909 ?m John Menzies - - - - Ronald George McLellan b abt 1911 m Sydney NSW 1946 Winifred Grace Grant - - - - Allan Kenneth McLellan b 1912 d 1956 m Sydney 1939 Mary Wilhelminia 'Bonnie' Downs d 2005 - - - - Ellen Florence 'Nell' McLellan b abt 1915 m Sydney 1939 John Bruce Waugh - - - Reginald Clarence Webster b Oaklands 1883 d Albury 1927 m Corowa 1909 Mildred Jennie Whatley b abt 1885 d 1923 - - - - Clarence Charles Webster b 1910 d Park. Victoria 1965 m Albury 1937 Queenie Bertha Prosser - - - - Amy Regina Webster b abt 1914 m Vic 1938 Edwin Carl Ernest Mueller / Meuler - - - - George Reginald Webster b abt 1916 m Urana 1938 Ethel Beryl Gould ?- - - - Mildred Joyce Webster b abt 1918 m Wildie - - - - Trilma Ernestine Webster b abt 1916 d Condobolin NSW 1936 - - - - Olive Gladys Webster b abt 1920 m Vic 1941 Clifford Ernest Sawrey / Sowrey - - - - Arnold Clive Webster b abt 1922 m Vic 1941 Marjory / Marjorie Millicent Kennerdale ?- - - - Eva Beryl Webster b abt 1924 m Coghlan - - - - Kenneth Raymond Webster b 1922 d 2006 lived Forster NSW m Berry NSW 1950 Lorna Jessie Bull - - - Gordon Musgrove Webster b Oaklands NSW 1885 farmer of ‘Felton Woods’ Oaklands dCondobolin NSW 1967 m 1917 Christine Pennington 2nd m Millthorpe NSW 1929 Lucy N Glasson - - - - Gordon Kingsley Webster b bat 1918 d 2002 lived Lowood NSW M Sydney 1957 Amelia Eunice Carruthers - - - - Russell Joseph Webster b 1921 d Hamlyn Terrace 2005 lived Toukey NSW m North Sydney 1943 Roberta Anne Donald - - - - Lorna Margaret Webster m Condobolin 1956 John Joseph O'Hara ?- - - - Ronald Eric Webster m Margaret Fitzroy - - - Astley Robert Webster b Oaklands 1886 d 1959 m Corowa 1911 Emma Brindley - - - - Sadie Isabel Webster m Lake Cargelligo 1937 Baden Leslie Bowman - - - - Clara Margaret Webster m Lake Cargelligo 1933 Milton W Britcher ?- - - - Robert Astley Webster m Beatrice Dangaard - - - - John Hugh Webster m Wagga Wagga NSW 1949 Amelia Joan McGill - - - - Ellen Betty Webster m Condobolin 1941 Horace 'Harold' Hopkins - - - - Peggy Murchison Webster m Wagga Wagga 1944 Ernest Stephen Wales - - - - Donald Edwin Webster b 1912 d Adelaide SA 2008 lived Hobart m Burwood NSW 1945 Dorothy Goldsmith ?- - - - Florence Marion Webster m Petersham NSW 1952 Colin Frederick Donovan - - - Eileen Clara Webster b Oaklands 1891 d Albury 1981 m 1915 Arthur Archibald Sterling Nixon b Corowa 1886 d Urana 1956 - - - - Samuel Joseph Nixon b bat 1916 m Mayfield NSW 1937 Pearl Ellen Rebecca 'Nell'Gray d Urana 1945 - - - - Jean Eileen Nixon b abt 1918 m Corowa 1938 Stewart Davies / ?Hanmer - - - - Phyllis Amy Nixon b abt 1920 m Vic 1940 John Hilton Hacker - - - - Ivan Arthur Nixon b abt 1922 m Wagga Wagga 1945 Eileen Margery / Marjorie Fox - - - - Reginald Clarence Nixon b abt 1924 m Corowa 1951 Shirley Margaret Aram - - - - Clara Florence Nixon m Albury 1949 George Howard Hill - - - - Beverley Lorina Nixon m Corowa 1951 Donald Alexander Robb and the oldest in the family but listed last: - - - Joseph Webster b Adelong NSW 1873 occ wheat & wool farmer of ‘Ambleside’ Oaklands NSW Boer War farrier d Corowa NSW 1952 m Burraja NSW 1901 Emily Robinson b Burraja 1878 d Corowa NSW 1929 breast cancer f John Roberts / Robinson b Cheltenham, Gloucester, England 1845 f Eleth Roberts b abt 1819 ?Baltersea, Surrey England m 1837 Harriet Dyer John Roberts ‘jumped ship’ on arrival in Australia and changed his surname to Robinson d Burraja NSW 1930 m Corowa NSW 1868 Margaret Brown b County Armagh, Ireland 1841 d Burraja NSW 1923 f William Brown m Alice Kyles Joseph Webster 2nd m 1932 Richmond, Victoria Florence Crang of Gippsland occ housekeeper ELLIOTT FAMILY TREE MIDDLESEX ENGLAND TO RAND, NEW SOUTH WALES AUSTRALIA Please email me at thejuniris@hotmail.com if you have corrections or more details. William Elliott b abt 1796 ?America - James Mason Elliott b Middlesex England 1823 d 1890 Riverton South Australia m Middlesex 1847 Elizabeth Mitchell d 1894 Riverton SA f William Mitchell b Ireland abt 1798 - - James Mason Elliott b Middlesex 1848 d 1868 - - Elizabeth Newman Elliott b Middlesex 1850 d 1853 - - Alfred Watson Elliott b 1853 Middlesex d Largs Bay SA 1911 - - Edwin Newman / Newham / Newnham Elliott b Riverton SA 1858 - - - Coral Gladys Naomi Elliott b & d Riverton SA 1896 - - Esther Mitchell Elliott b Riverton SA 1860 d 1861 - - Edward Mitchell Elliott b Riverton SA 1862 d Nailsworth SA 1922 - - Thomas Spencer Elliott b Riverton SA 1865 d 1929 - - William Watson Elliott b Gawler SA 1855 d Aubrey, Victoria 1908 occ Blacksmith, Farmer m Marrabel SA 1883 Mary Jane McDougall b abt 1859 d 8 Kimber St Richmond / Burnley, Victoria 1928 f John Alexander McDougall m Hannah Eliza Rollings / Rawlings - - - James Alexander Elliott b Riverton SA 1884 aged 24 yrs in 1908 d Romani, Sinai peninsula, Egypt 1916 ww1 - - - Leonard Albert Elliott b Riverton SA 1885 d Ouyen, Vic 1936 - - - Myrtle Ruby Elliott b Riverton SA 1887 m William Griffiths occ Bootmaker, Maldon Victoria, Beulah - - - Ada May Elliott b Riverton SA 1889 m John Henry Grayling lived Ouyen, Rainbow - - - Edgar McDougall Elliott b Riverton SA 1891 d Hopetoun Vic 1960 lived Patchewollock - - - Jane Eliza Elizabeth Elliott b 1893 m Thomas Lewis occ train driver lived 8 Crimea St Burnley - - - Olive Amy Elliott b Aubrey, Victoria 1894 d Prahran / Burnley Melbourne 1975 spinster lived 8 Crimea St Burnley - - - Ivy Gladys Elliott b 1899 d Burnley Melbourne Victoria 1971 in 1928 an inmate of Kew Asylum, spinster - - - Alfred John Elliott b Aubrey, Victoria 1897 shifted from Rainbow, Victoria c 1930 to ‘Romani’ Rand NSW occ wheat and wool farmer d Walbundrie / Albury NSW 1967 m Rainbow 1922 to Evelyn Emily Hope Scott b Warracknabeal 1901 d suddenly after being ill for 6 months Corowa Hospital NSW 20 May 1946 from Embolus (Pulmonary), Fibro Myomata of Uterus Evelyn’s parents Arthur Thomas Scott m Emily Lydia Baker : - Miranda Vera Scott b Warracknabeal 1899 d 1901 - Evelyn Emily Hope Scott b Warracknabeal 1901 - Doris Grace Scott b Rainbow 1903 m 1923 Alexander Ward Porker - Thomas Gordon Scott b Rainbow 1907 occ Laborer d Rainbow 1928 aged 21years from measles Arthur Thomas Scott's family: Isaac Scott b ?Eng abt 1805 ?- Thomas Scott b 1827 m Wallaroo SA 1875 Eliza Jane Gilberd pos bro of - Robert Scott b 1832 d Lake Sunday, Yorketown SA 1883 m Yorke Peninsula 1865 to Emma Elizabeth Francis b 1847 f Henry Francis - - Esther Blanche Scott b Yorkes Peninsula 1865 - - Ruth Sabima Scott b Corney Point, Yorkes Peninsula 1867 - - Robert Ernest Scott b Yorkes Peninsula 1869 - - Rosa Hannah Scott b Lake Sunday, Yorkes Peninsula 1870 - - Florence Mary Scott b Lake Sunday 1872 - - Arthur Thomas Scott b Lake Sunday, Yorketown SA 1874 d Mildura, Vic 1960 - - Albert Scott b Weaners Flat 1876 - - Beatrice Scott b Lake Sunday 1878 - - James Scott b Lake Sunday 1879 - - Isaac Scott b Lake Sunday, Yorketown 1881 d aged 5 days twin - - Rachel Scott b Lake Sunday 1881 Arthur Thomas Scott lived King Street Rainbow, Victoria d Mildura Victoria 1960 m Victoria 1899 to Emily Lydia Baker b Morphett Vale SA 1862 ‘deaf and dumb’ d Receiving House 506 Dana Street Ballarat 1946 from Cardio-Vascular degeneration, cancer of the bladder and terminal broncho-pneumonia Emily Lydia Scott's family : George Baker b Eng abt 1780 m Elizabeth Knight - William Baker b Eng abt 1809 d Warracknabeal Victoria 1896 aged 87 yrs m abt 1845 to Eliza I.Roberts b Eng abt 1818 d Warracknabeal, Victoria 1902 aged 84 yrs lived Bangerang, Victoria arr SA 1849 "Navarino" which dep London via Plymouth children of William & Eliza Baker: - - Frances Elizabeth Baker / Roberts b abt 1847 d Warracknabeal, Victoria 1934 aged 87 yrs - - John Horatio Baker b on board "Navarino" 1849 lived 1903 - 1924 Wimmera, Victoria - - Thomas Sillitoe Baker b 1852 m Nhill, Victoria 1907 to Jane Fraser - - George William Baker b SA 1855 d Warracknabeal 1946 aged 91 yrs unmarried, left estate to neice Margaret Teichelmann - - Emily Lydia Baker b Morphett Vale SA 1862 d Ballarat Victoria 1946 Now for another side of the family tree If you recognise your hard done research here, please email me at thejuniris@hotmail.com BOWLEY FAMILY TREE BRIGHTELMSTONE, BRIGHTON SUSSEX TO CRESWICK, VICTORIA AUSTRALIA John Bowley b abt 1795 d between 1833 - 1841 m abt 1823 to Eleanor Hobden b Charley / Chady Sussex abt 1799 probably died Greenwich, Kent between 1871 -1881 lived 1851 - 1871 with youngest son, John Bowley and his wife Emma Eleanor's mother was Elizabeth Hobden b abt 1764 d aftter 1841 possible maiden name Drinkwater ?- Thomas Bowley b Brighton abt 1828 occ brick maker living with Mowbray family ?- Charles Bowley b Brighton abt 1827 occ Carpenter m abt 1850 to Priscilla - John Bowley b abt 1834 aged 7 yrs in 1841 d abt 1880 / possibly migrated to Australia In a large institution possibly a hospital in 1851 occ Errand Boy, Clerk. Traveller selling bricks lived Bedford, Middlesex and Greenwich, Kent m abt 1860 to Emma Clywick / Glywick / Clynick b Lambeth, Surrey abt 1836 probably no children - Isabella Hobden Bowley b abt 1824 - 1829 m abt 1849 Henry John Izard b abt 1822 occ shoemaker f Thomas Izard m Julia - - Julia Isabella Izard b Brighton abt 1849 m her cousin Edwin Bowley b 1850 - - Eleanor Izard b Brighton abt 1851 - Edwin Alfred Bowley b abt 1830 a very healthy and strictly sober man, died suddenly from heart faiure, reading the paper in his office at the Weighbridge, Cambridge St Creswick, Victoria Australia 1895 aged 66 yrs Inquest m Brighton, Sussex 2 June 1850 occ Porter, Agricultural labourer, Laborer, Splitter, Weighbridge Keeper to Ann Julia Iles b Brighton, Sussex 1829 d Creswick 1896 aged 68 yrs father William Iles b Poynings, Sussex 1806 d Creswick 1879 occ bootmaker m Brighton, Sussex 1826 to Elizabeth Guilford / Gilford / Gelferd occ midwife The Iles family migrated as Assisted Passengers in 1853 on board the 'DerryCastle" which sailed from Liverpool in January and arrived in Melbourne on 22 May. All were Church of England, could read and write and went to 196 Little Lonsdale Street East. children of William & Elizabeth Iles : Eliza Iles b abt 1833 Mary Iles b abt 1835 Sarah Iles b Bighton Sussex abt 1840 m 1857 St Mark's church Collingwood to Robert Veitch b abt 1832 Workington, Cumberland occ Quarryman Jane Iles b abt 1844 William Iles b abt 1838 m St Mark's Collingwood 26 March 1857 to Rebecca Maria Johnson b Brighton Sussex abt 1838 occ miner, shoemaker Edwin Alfred Bowley listed his occupation as Agricultural Labourer who could read and write, religion Church of England, when the family migrated to Melbourne as Assisted Passengers on board the "Tudor" in 1854 with toddlers Edwin and Annie and mother Ann already pregnant with William. They first went to see William Iles (recorded as Mr Mails) at 137 Little Lonsdale Street West, Melbourne on the North side, one door from the corner of King Street where William Iles Bowley was born the following month. The Bowley family lived at 137 Little Lonsdale Street West, Melbourne and King William Street, Collingwood for a few years. Edwin signed a petition before 23 April 1858 to support the creation of Fitz Roy (Fitzroy). He listed his occupation as Labourer living off Hanover Street. He was noted as 'a great politician in his younger days, taking much interest in public affairs.' The Bowley family moved to Creswick after July 1857 and before Frank Bowley was born in August 1859. Children of Edwin Alfred & Ann Bowley: - - Edwin Bowley b Brighton, England 1850 occ miner of Haines Street, Creswick m Julia Isabella Izard f Henry John Izard m Isabella Hobden Bowley - - - William Izard Bowley b 1878 - - - Ada Bowley b 1880 d 1882 - - - Mary Bowley b 1882 - - - Albert Frederick Bowley b 1884 ww1 - - - Elenor Hewitt Bowley b 1887 - - Ann Mary Bowley b England abt 1853 made her Will 1928 d Creswick 1934 of carcinoma of left breast aged 81 yrs. Ann Mary Bowley was 18 years old and lived in North Parade, Creswick with her parents, when her illegitimate son was born at 7 am. - - - Charles Curtis Bowley b Creswick 14 August 1871 d Creswick 1938 of cerebral haemorrhage occ baker father unknown Charles was a baker by the time he was 22 years old aqnd was married by a Bible Christian minister. m 6 Sep 1893 Caroline Symons d Creswick 1918 aged 46 yrs f James Symons m Celia Ann Crocker occ Engineer, Engine Driver lived Red Street, Creswick - - - - Letitia Caroline b 1894 m Charles Pringle Howie - - - - Reuben Bowley b & d 1896 - - - - Rhoda Bowley b 1900 m Edward Heffernan - - - - Raymond Charles Bowley b 1903 d Creswick 1961 aged 57 yrs occ baker m Annie Harrington Pearce b 1905 d 1978 aged 72 yrs religion Methodist all bur 3 / 360 - - - - - Colin Charles Bowley d 6 Dec 1998 aged 73 yrs never married - - - - - Daryl Raymond Bowley d 3 Sep 1964 never married - - - - Eunice Bowley b 1906 m Charles Henry Benjamin - - - - Alan Hobden Bowley b & d 1913 Charles Curtis Bowley 2nd m 1928 in the Methodist Parsonage, Stanhope St Malvern to Mary Jane Paull nee Harris b Creswick 1875 d Creswick 1950 f James Harris m Margaret Dixon occ Engine Driver Mary Jane Harris first married in 1901 to Edward Francis Paull occ book keeper b 1870 d Ballarat East 1923 f Samuel Paull m Mary Hutchens Charles & Mary Jane Bowley had no children.They built a house on Camp Hill, Creswick. - - William Iles Bowley b Melbourne Jan 1855 d Creswick 1914 Inquest - Syncope occ miner of ?Haines Street & Pound Lane, Creswick m 1886 to Elizabeth Ann James b abt 1866 d 1935 f Noah James m Nancy Trembath - - - William James Bowley b 1887 occ baker m Avis Lillian Wilson d 1924 aged 26 yrs from TB 2nd m Ruby Elsie McIntosh - - - Jessie Bowley b 1897 m Francis Patrick Grady - - - Lillian Bowley b 1897 d 1898 - - - Annie Bowley b 1889 m William Robert Clifton - - - Elizabeth Bowley b 1890 m John Thomas Clifton - - - Florence Ada Bowley b 1893 m William Thomas Frederick Riddiford - - - Henry Alfred Bowley b 1895 m Elsie Meryl Bree d Creswick 1994 aged 95 yrs - - - Edwin Victor Bowley b 1901 m Una Vera Terrill - - - Elsie Lillian Bowley b 1903 m Frank Powell Williams - - Robert Hobden Bowley b Collingwood July 1857 d Creswick 1918 made his Will in 1914 Unable to work from 'miner's complaint' weak and shortness of breath, depressed from 3 sons at the war and one recently gassed, talking to himself Inquest - suicide occ miner of King Street, Creswick m 1882 Emma Jane Tyzzer f William Tyzzer m Mary Pollard family lived 5 Caroline Stm Auburn, Melbourne after 1918 - - - Alexander Nicholson 'Scotty' Bowley b 1895 d July 1921 accidental fall from Riversdale Road tram between Wills and King Streets after hat blew off occ worked for Mr J. Burton, baker of Burwood, Melbourne - - - Robert Bowley b 1886 d Oct 1927 accidently killed walking home along railway line at night aged 41 yrs bur Creswick 8 Oct 1927 8th Battalion ww 1 badly gasses during war, slight;y deaf, 'giddy turns' occ typograph operator of Pasco St Creswick, printer at Creswick Advertiser 1927 boarding at North Creswick Hotel - - - Walter James Bowley b abt 1890 ww1 occ butcher of Pasco St Creswick - - - Stanley Bowley b abt 1892 occ butcher of Auburn, Melbourne - - - Jessie Louisa Bowley b 1883 d 29 Jun 1895 - - - Ivy Bowley b abt 1900 - - - Gordon Bowley b abt 1904 - - Frank Bowley b Creswick Aug 1859 d Creswick 1925 occ tailor of ?Fitzgerald Street & Pound Lane m Creswick 1885 to Isabella Caroline Johns f Francis Johns m Martha Huntley - - - Ruby Bowley b 1885 m Ernest Victor Clapp - - - Henry Clifford Bowley b 1887 m Elsie May Groves - - - Myrtle Alice Bowley b 1890 m John Huggins Needs - - - Frank Bowley b 1893 d 1894 - - - Emma Bowley b 1895 m James Harold Innes - - - Ada Jane / Irene Bowley b 1898 d 1941 lived Inglewood - - - Doris Bowley b 1901 m Sydney Howard Treloar - - John Alfred Bowley b Creswick 1862 d Creswick 1921 occ flour miller of Ararat, baker of Creswick, laborer m 1893 Sarah Sophia Chalkley b abt 1859 d 1932 f Thomas Chalkley m Elizabeth Hemming - - - Frederick Bowley b Creswick 1894 occ painter m Emily Evelyn Capauno d 1923 aged 27 yrs from heart failure - - - - Evelyn Joy Bowley d infant from meningitis 2nd m Vera Gladys Hinton - - - Clywick Bowley female b Creswick 1895 d 1938 of TB - - - Ida Bowley b Creswick 1898 d 1967 occ school teacher, never married - - Eleanor Isabella Bowley b Ballarat 1865 d Rupanyup 1956 m Creswick 1887 to Frederick Gee f Edward Gee m Elizabeth Lavars - - - Eleanor Gee b 1889 m Charles Thomas Dowling - - - Frederick Gee b & d 1891 - - - Bertha Gee b 1892 m Vivian Francis O'Sullivan - - - John Gee b 1894 - - - Evelyn Gee b 1896 m Ray Miller - - - Frederick Roy Gee b 1898 m Alma Louisa Kaye - - - Dorothy Linda Gee b 1903 - - Emma Glywick Bowley b Creswick 1867 d South Melbourne 1894 m 1891 Alexander Nicholson - - - baby Nicholson b & d 1892 - - - Catherine Nicholson b 1893 - - Elizabeth Jenner Bowley b Creswick 1870 d Creswick 1954 m 1902 Andrew Thomas Lawrence f Robert Lawrence m Margaret Dykes - - - Leonard Royal Lawrence b 1903 m Kathleen Veronica Coburn - - - Lila Hazel Lawrence b 1905 m George Clarence Dowler - - Henry Bowley b Creswick 1872 d Mont Albert 1937 aged 65 yrs bur Box Hill m Ada Jane ?Surridge ?nee Barton / Bell her daughter Belle Bonnie Surridge lived 34 Churchill Street, Mont Albert occ printer of Albert St Creswick, Printer of Canterbury Road, Canterbury, Journalist and now onto another branch: PEARCE FAMILY TREE SHROPSHIRE ENGLAND TO CRESWICK, VICTORIA AUSTRALIA Here is a kindablog as I started to look at another side of the family yesterday, 31 Jan 2010 I know great uncle Harry Hastings Pearce donated thousands of books and papers to the Canberra Library so first I googled "Harry Hastings Pearce" and saw a catalogue number for a microfilm of his notes on the Pearce and Williams family tree, - which I will ask about at our library later re borrow or buy - then I googled Pearce, Creswick, Williams and found a pdf file of a poem Harry wrote, which also included a bit of family history. From those notes I made up the following basic tree: Pearce family tree from Oswestry, Shropshire to Creswick, Victoria Australia The father of Samuel Pearce d aged over 90 yrs m great grandmother Pearce nee Evans who was so Welsh that she could not speak English Samuel Pearce b Oswestry, Shropshire, England, family was known as ‘Proud Salopians’ d aged 73 yrs m abt 1855 Jane Hastings b Harrington, Cumberland, England said her Hastings family were related to one of the famous families also said the Pearce family was descended from a famous ploughman "Piers the ploughman" died aged 96 yrs Jane’s father was a Ship’s Captain trading to the Levant Samuel and Jane Pearce dep Birkenhead arr Hobson’s Bay Australia 25 June 1853 “Genghis Khan” as assisted Govt immigrants came to “Jim Crow” diggings Daylesford then “Creswick’s Creek” opened a general store - Herbert Hastings Pearce b Bald Hills near Creswick 22 June 1859 d aged 90 yrs m abt 1890 to Harriet A. Williams b Creswick 1867 d aged 82 yrs Harriet’s father Colin Williams b Tavistock, Devonshire arr 1859 m Miss White b Creswick district Herbert and Harriet lived Hollinwood near Creswick - - 3 boys and 3 girls - - (oldest) Harry Hastings Pearce b Creswick 27 Aug 1897 - - Annie Harrington Pearce m Raymond Charles Bowley today, 1 Feb 2010 I went to Ballarat Library and it was still there despite my neglect. Looked up several Pearce bmd for Victoria on computer. a Samuel Pearce d in ?1962 aged 72 yrs, father Samuel mother Annie Evans. For this to be the correct Samuel, it must be a typo could be 1902 There is a Will & Probate listed for a Jane Pearce d 9 Dec 1904 a shopkeeper of Sebastopol Samuel & Jane Pearce nee Hastings - Ernest Samuel Pearce b abt 1869 d Creswick 1923 aged 54 yrs - Henry 'Arthur' Pearce b abt 1858 d Creswick 1936 aged 78 yrs - Herbert Hastings Pearce b Bald Hills 22 June 1859 d Creswick 1951 aged 91 yrs m Harriet Ann Williams b Creswick abt 1867 d Creswick 1951 aged 82 yrs father Colin Williams mother Elizabeth Ann White - - Harry Hastings Pearce b Creswick 27 Aug 1897 d 1985 aged 87 yrs - - Francis Miriam Pearce b Creswick 1899 - - Herbert Victor Pearce b abt 1905 d Creswick 1968 aged 63 yrs - - Annie Harrington Pearce b abt 1903 m abt 1921 Raymond Charles Bowley tonight I will ring oldest relative to confirm above and add any more detail even rumour okydoky rung and notes taken add on - - Lydia Pearce b abt 1901 m John 'Jack' Smith - - Clifton Pearce b abt 1905 the youngest Herbert 'Victor' Pearce never married Francis 'Miriam' Pearce married Albert McMillan and Ernest Samuel Pearce may have had Down's Syndrome someone had a baby on the ship coming out and named her Liner / Lina someone's mother was a Brawn / Braughn Googled : “Francis Miriam Pearce” no matches “Creswick’s creek” Pearce, then General store “Elizabeth Ann White” Creswick “Jane Pearce” storekeeper, All, then Pages from Australia “Colin Williams” Creswick - a Govt Gazette mention in 1863 “Piers the ploughman” in ‘Piers the ploughman’s creed’ a friar is described as wheedling a poor man out of his money ‘Piers the ploughman’ by William Langland was written by a fourteenth century cleric, this spiritual allegory explores man in relation to his ultimate destiny Tues 2 Feb 2010 Copied Creswick Cemetry entries for Pearce from record books transcribed by hard working volunteers in years past and donated to Ballarat Library. Photocopier not working and the other one being used for a big task, so transcribed the list by hand. Samuel Pearce d North Creswick 28 July 1901aged 76 yrs religion Wesleyan, occupation Miner buried grave 3 / 323 his wife Jane Pearce d North Creswick 18 May 1919 aged 95 yrs religion Methodist Buried grave 2 / 323 Across the road at the lights and looked at computer list of 170 Pearce 'Wills & Probate' at the Public Records Office of Victoria, Ballarat but none seemed appropriate. As I now have the correct date of Jane Pearce's death, the Jane Pearce shopkeeper of Sebastopol was not the 'right' one. Looked up Assisted Passenger list at PROV and then printed out the appropriate bit from microfische for the 'Genghis Khan' voyage of 1853 Departed Liverpool 25 March took 97 days to sail to Melbourne arriving 1 July Passengers included Samuel Pearce aged 28 yrs religion Church of England, occ bricklayer from Shropshire going to Collingwood, Melbourne on his own account, with wife Jane aged 30 yrs, daughter Isabella aged between 1 and 7 yrs and - guess what - a female baby born on board! Had lunch then did the maths on the Pearces buried in Creswick cemetery...Year of death take away stated age gives approximate year of birth. Drooled over the delicious www.familysearch.org and was rewarded Pearce family tree now looks like this: Samuel Pearce b abt 1825 Oswestry, Shropshire family was known as ‘Proud Salopians’ d North Creswick, Victoria, Australia on 28 Jul 1901 aged 76 yrs religion Weslyan occ miner buried Creswick Cemetery grave 3 / 323 Samuel m abt 1855 Jane Hastings / Haystings chr 20 Jul 1823 Harrington, Cumberland d North Creswick 18 May 1919 aged 96 yrs religion Methodist buried 2 / 323 father William Haystings aged 26 yrs b abt 1793 married at Harrington, Cumberland on 12 Sep 1819 to Isabella Westray aged 24 yrs b abt 1795, or earlier as an Isabella Westray was christened at Harrington, Cumberland on 28 Aug 1791 Isabell’s father was William Westray, her mother Jane Richardson Isabella’s siblings : Margaret, John, Mary, Philip and Benjamin Westray Jane Pearce said her Hastings family were related to one of the famous families also said the Pearce family was descended from a famous ploughman “Piers the ploughman” Jane’s father was a Ship’s Captain trading to the Levant Samuel and Jane Pearce dep Liverpool 25 Mar 1853 arr Melbourne 1 Jul 1853 “Genghis Khan” 97 day voyage as Assisted Government Immigrants Samuel Pearce aged 28 yrs occ bricklayer from Shropshire to Collingwood, Melbourne on own account, wife Jane Pearce aged 30 yrs both could read and write, with daughter Isabella Pearce aged 1 - 7 yrs and infant daughter born on board! acc to uncle Harry they came to “Jim Crow” diggings Daylesford then “Creswick’s Creek” opened a general store children of Samuel & Jane Pearce: - Isabella Pearce b abt 1851 - Liner / Lina Pearce b on board Mar-July 1853 - Henry Arthur Pearce b abt 1858 d Creswick 10 May 1936 aged 79 yrs m Elizabeth Ann d North Creswick 2 Dec 1951 aged 91 yrs rel Methodist bur 3 / 324 - Ernest Samuel Pearce b abt 1869 when mother aged 46 yrs d Creswick 25 Aug 1923 aged 54 yrs may have had Down’s Syndrome - Herbert Hastings Pearce b Bald Hills near Creswick 22 June 1859 d Creswick 4 Feb 1951 aged 91 yrs both bur 2 / 44 m abt 1890 to Harriet Ann Williams b Creswick 1867 d Creswick 22 Jan 1951 aged 83 yrs Harriet’s father Colin Williams b Tavistock, Devonshire arr 1859 Colin Williams and brother John mentioned re Gold in book 'Early Creswick'by John A. Graham Colin Williams m Elizabeth Ann White b Creswick district Herbert and Harriet Pearce lived Hollinwood near Creswick children of Herbert & Harriet Pearce: - - Harry Hastings Pearce b Creswick 27 Aug 1897 d Gree 1985 aged 87 yrs m Queenie / Corina ?b Tasmania - - Francis ‘Miriam’ Pearce b Creswick 1899 m Albert McMillan - - Lydia Pearce b abt 1901 m John ‘Jack’ Smith - - Herbert ‘Victor’ Pearce b abt 1905 d Creswick 1968 aged 63 yrs never married - - Annie Harrington Pearce b 1 Apr 1905 d 29 Oct 1978 aged 72 yrs m Raymond Charles Bowley b 1903 d 13 Aug 1961 aged 57 yrs - - - Colin Charles Bowley d 6 Dec 1998 aged 73 yrs never married - - - Daryl Raymond Bowley d 3 Sep 1964 never married - - Clifton Burnett Pearce b abt 1909 d 13 Sep 1991 aged 82 yrs m Ellen Googled "Levant" and looked at old atlas The Levant is an area along the coast of Syria next to the top of Africa in the Mediterranean sea, known for coffee from the 16th century and quarantine issues from the 1830s Tomorrow Ring volunteers at Creswick Historical Society re uncle Harry Hastings Pearce's family history microfische PO Box 394 Creswick 3363 ?10 South Street Creswick 53 451 310 Geoff Fiddian 53 458 295 Richard Hutton doing data base Ring Creswick Museum Secretary M. Fullwood, Bridge St Creswick revisit PROV as the following may be brothers or sister in laws of Samuel Pearce from list of Wills & probate at PROV: James Pearce occ miner of Ballarat d 4 May 1889 Joseph Pearce ex farmer of Springhurst d 30 Nov 1920 John Pearce ex mining manager of Ballarat East d 24 Nov 1924 William Pearce farmer of Miners Rest d 22 Oct 1922 Jane Pearce widow shopkeeper of Ballarat d 1 Sep 1902 Jane Pearce storekeeper of Sebastopol d 9 Dec 1904 double check list 'Ghengis Khan' 1853 passenger list for other Pearce, Hastings families and deaths on board Also, ask someone nice to check 1851 census for Samuel Pearce aged 26 yrs occ bricklayer born Oswestry, Shropshire Jane Pearce aged 28 yrs wife born Harrington, Cumberland Isabella Pearce aged 0 - 5 yrs b Shropshire may be living with Hastings, Westray, Richardson, Burnett even Brawn / Braughn and someone even kinder to find William in a haystack : William Hastings / Haystings b abt 1790-1800 occ ship’s captain, master or trader, wife Isabella 1841 aged 40-50yrs 1851 aged 50-60yrs 1861 aged 60-70yrs 1871 aged 70-80yrs 1881 aged 80-90yrs Wed 3 Feb 2009 Too hot and humid to go to PROV and the weather is not much better! Did washing instead. Thurs 4 Feb 2009 checked through Bowley family history notes Fri 5 Feb 2009 Down to library, read through 3 weeks of Ballarat newspaper 1927 on microfilm for Robert Bowley's death / obituary Searched through PROV Pearce family Wills & Probate online c 1920s Rang Creswick Museum, they do have a copy of microfilm with Harry Harry Hastings Pearce's family history, 600 plus pages. Sat 6 Feb 2009 rang oldest relative and found out Old Granny Pearce (Jane nee Hastings) was blind for the last few years of her life.Granny Pearce (Harriet nee Williams her mother nee White) had had a hard life raising her brothers and sisters as her mother died young, then marrying Herbert Hastings Pearce and taking care of Old Granny and Herbert's brother who had Down's Syndrome as well as raising her own children. The house caught on fire from a low lamp onto paper and hessian walls, during the bad drought of 1914 and Herbert was away in Gippsland working. Sun 7 Feb 2009 Had a lie in and a long think about Bowley family tree. Read list of ww1 Bowley soldiers and compared it with a print out of Bowley family history. Realised Isabella Hobden Bowley was a sister of Edwin Alfred Bowley and 2 of their children - ie cousins - married. Realised Emma Glywick Bowley died in 1894, 3 years after marrying Alexander Nicholson. The name Clywick was then re-gifted in 1895 to a daughter of John Alfred Bowley. Also, Emma Glywick & Alexander Nicholson probably had children between 1891 and 1894. An Alexander Nichalson Bowley served in ww1 and listed his next of kin as his father Robert (Hobden) Bowley. Must look up where 18 year old Ann Mary Bowley was living during Nov / Dec 1870 at the time of conception of Charles Curtis Bowley. Also order all certificates connected to Charles Curtis Bowley, as his mother made her Will in 1928 and Charles Curtis Bowley also 2nd married that year. Mon 8 Feb 2010 Library short staffed, couldn't print out stuff. Hand copied list of 13 Bowley Victoria Inquests about half were for illness like peritonitis... Oldest living relative has excellent memory. Tues 9 Feb 2010 Rang oldest relative again Will look at PROV shipping records for Bowley occupation Will get back to Pearce tree... a few days bed rest and a re-read of delightful Bowley family history story of the three Annies written in 1993 by Cecily Storey also re-read a comprehensive Bowley family tree from West Chilington, Shipley and West Grinsted in Sussex England to South Australia compiled by Beris Spencer Tues 16 Feb 2010 Googled "Edwin Alfred Bowley" found him in Government Gazette listed as a petitioner. Looked through 1854 & 1855 directories at PROV on microfilm and realised 'Mr Mails' was actually William Iles of 137 Little Lonsdale Street West, Melbourne, probably the junior aged about 25 yrs, so need to look up his ship arrival about 1853. Went across the road to Library to put in an order for great uncle Harry Hastings Pearce's microfilm, but the office was closed. Looked through well thumbed hard copies of Ballarat & district directories. Fri 19 Feb 2009 Another day of bed rest. I hate you Tony Francis Martin, so so much. I want to skip up to you and punch you on the arm, then run away with my pigtails laughing at you in the sunlight. You and your iron hogging. Sat 20 Feb 2009 Googled other Bowleys in the world. A funeral parlour in Brighton Hove Sussex. Tapped up a list of possible suspects surnamed Curtis living in Creswick area c 1870 Made a 'To Do Next List' May ring St Mark's church Collingwood &/or Latrobe Library to see if early church records have been preserved. May ring Mount Albert cemetery for any details on Henry Bowley. Tues 23 Feb 2010 Quick trip to PROV, Ballarat. Ordered 4 Bowley Inquests to read at North Melbourne. Looked up Iles family on Assisted Passengers. Wed 24 Feb 2010 Another quick trip to PROV, Ballarat looked up details on microfische for Ikes arrival in Melbourne 1853. Home again and lovely envelope arrived in post with 6 bmd Bowley certificates, but unfortunately no name for father of Charles Curtis Bowley.. Tues 2 March 2010 Home again after taking the train to PROV North Melbourne, only to find they have been closed on Mondays since Sep 2009... mmm...so, had a good look in State Library instead.Couldn't see 196 Little Lonsdale St in Directory for 1850s. Didn't spot Bowley or Iles in 1856 Electoral Roll. Found Edwin Alfred Bowley living at 47 King William Stree Collingwood in 1857. The records of St Mark's church Fitzroy / Collingwood are held in Latrobe Library. Wed 3 March 2010 Rang Box Hill cemetery as it is the closest to Mont Albert and Henry Bowley does rest there. Back to PROV Ballarat to book a look at Henry Bowley's will. Over to Library for more squinting at the month of October 1870 in the Creswick Advertiser. A look at Ballarat Courier for 1937 showed no Obituary for Henry Bowley. Thurs 4 March 2010 Back on train to North Melbourne and PROV. A good read of Henry's Will and 4 Inquests. A quick lunch and off to Latrobe Library to read St Mark's church Colingwood's lovely 1850s Baptism & Marriage registers. Found a few surprises - a Balderson baptism and a Harrop marriage. On to bdm in Collins St near station and home on bus as too many passengers for train and now the Bits n Pieces: Videos made to date : All may be available later... Ned Kelly and his gang by grade 4 Brunswick South Primary School 1974 Farm life at Kergunyah South 1974 Mabel's Work 1990 Cappuccino Crawl 2000 Juniris' recent purchases December 2006 Books from Op Shop : A pictorial history of Australian railways 1854 - 1970 by Ron Testro Dinkum Aussie mailboxes by Alan Eager Women in the background by Barry Humphries New books purchased : Lolly Scramble by Tony Martin Teacher man by Frank McCourt The bastard boy by James Wilson Recent CD purchases : Middleborough Rd by Tripod CDs on order : The Silents. Perth's hottest new band Welcome to the in by Eddie Perfect DVDs purchased : Strange Bedfellows by Dean Murphy The Aunty Jack Show ABC Johnny Skidmarks Joe's apartment Awaiting movie release: Boytown with Mick Molloy Awaiting TV: The wind in the tree by Dean Murphy Thank God you're here by Working Dog Mouse Patrol Favorite Xmas presents 2006 : For the kitchen - Big Noter Calendar by Norrish - Reid Services PO Box 1246 Healsville 3777 Victoria, Auatralia $2 Manet calendar for the thinking room Iris hand lotion by Maddigan, Fairfield Victoria Politics Australian style! black and white 1000 piece jigsaw by Spooner Juniris' recent purchases December 2007 Books from Op Shop : Wildcat falling by Mudrooroo Don't take your love to town by Ruby Langford A bastard like me by Charles Perkins New Books : Art and Physics. Parallel visions in Space, Time and Light by Leonard Shlain Recent CD Purchases : Cashgrab by Paperhouse Things to learn by The Silents CDs on order : Welcome to the inn by Eddie Perfect Recent DVD Purchases : Ten Canoes like totally...Dylan Moran Live Born to win & The Swap with Robert de Niro Greetings with Robert de Niro Awaiting DVD release: Boytown Confidential by Tony Martin Awaiting movie : Australia by Baz Luhrmann Awaiting TV Dexter next season Favorite Xmas presents : Big Noter Calendar by Norrish - Reid Services PO Box 1246 Healsville 3777 Victoria, Auatralia Willow Wood Hospice calendar for 2008 with photographs of Ashton under Lyne address : Willow Wood Close, Mellor Road, Ashton under Lyne. OL6 6SL Postcards of Manchester Cathedral, On the Mersey - Warrington, Old Manchester - Deansgate c 1885 Juniris' recent purchases December 2008 Books from Op Shop : Jokes for the John with splashproof easy wipe cover Bring a plate to the Mortdale Scout Hall by Su Cruickshank Blame the octopus by Berna Hansen New Books : Pop Charts. Comedy graphs of your favorite tunes by Paul Copperwaite Recent CD Purchases : unessential listening by Hamish & Andy CDs on order : Welcome to the inn by Eddie Perfect Recent DVD Purchases : Wilfred. You think you're human don't you Thumbsucker Superbad Awaiting movie release : Australian Writer / Director Dean Murphy's "Charlie and Boots" Sep 2009 Awaiting TV show: Chandon Pictures Awaiting Book Release "A nest of occasionals" by Tony Martin October 2009 delivering...delivering...DELIVERED! Pass the cigars, please. Favorite Xmas presents 2008 : Big Noter Calendar by Norrish - Reid Services PO Box 1246 Healsville 3777 Victoria, Auatralia Images of England. Pocket Images - Warrington by Janice Hayes Willow Wood Hospice calendar for 2009 with photographs by the Broadoak Photography Group Balloons by Jon Tremaine (how to make balloon animals) Paperweight. Hand carved in Kenya mother & baby from Oxfam shop 2009 Watching the rise to Fame and Fortune of new Ballarat band "Howl" Awaiting very patiently a truce and reunion between Mick Molloy and Tony Martin Review : "Fabulous Food minus the Boombah" by Jane Kennedy "...not in the same league as 'Cooking! Who Cares?'...but a good stocking stuffer nonetheless" Summer TV viewing : Thank goodness for "Magnum PI" repeats and the discovery of "It's always sunny in Philadelphia" Even had a fantastic COLOUR episode of "F-Troop" when the Cricket was postponed. Will the TV Powerpeople find the recordings and re-air "77 Sunset Strip" "The Mod Squad" or even the deeply buried "Funky Squad" Favorite Xmas presents 2009 : dvd "Withnail and I" book "The Tao of Pooh and the Te of Piglet" by Benjamin Hoff hand lotion Dead Sea Ahava Awaiting 2010 movie "I love you too" Peter Helliar" possible movie by producer John Chase thatsnotablogmum Jan 31 2009 Now, where was I...got up this morning ate vitabrits for breakfast and dressed in a red and white striped play suit no, that was a while ago... Bounced out of bed at 7am to dampen towels and sheets hanging around the house with the water bottle sprayer, in an effort to maintain a reasonable internal temperature. Sprayed self and fell back onto bed. No magpies today - too hot Fluffy still lives, accepted her breakfast as passable, grumbled throughout her daily brushing, reappeared at kitchen door an hour early for her miiilk. Oh Black and White One flopped on black and white tiles ignoring his ping pong ball. Washed up 2 days worth of dishes, as I didn't want to chase breakfast cereal around a dinner plate. Bucketed shower water around back yard. Zucchini plants still surviving in vege patch. Salads all finished, have to think of something else for tea. The box of felafel balls at the back of the freezer is starting to look tempting. News reports the last 3 days of 40-45 degree temperatures a record. I'd wear a wet hanky knotted in each corner on my head all day, but it might start a fashion trend. Opted for triangular white wet face washer around back of neck. Very alluring.Fetching in fact. Feb 10 2009 We have had our own doses of smoke from the lake being on fire twice in the last 2 months. Council has mowed around the edge trying to eradicate the ‘fairy grass’ that grows then blows into the rich people’s gardens. On Sat 7th Feb we had all been warned of the dreadfully dangerous strong, hot northerly winds and extreme temperatures well in advance, so when we spotted blue smoke from our back yard we assumed it was the lake again. We kept watch on the apple and plum trees for embers, going out every 10 mins into the furnace blast, but all was fine in our backyard. Found out the next day there was a garage fire 4 doors away! Nothing of course compared to the tragedies throughout the state, including 2nd cousin old Bob Harrop of Flowerdale. Mar 6 2009 Our family of five reunited and safe, even sang thanks in unison for the refreshing light showers. All gathered to squabble as usual over food portions. Youngest two looked fetching in their matching dappled grey, first born a little scruffy as though he had been through tough times, seniors calmly and proudly checking clean washing on line before depositing graceful blobs and flying up to tv arial to survey other mince options. April 2009 I don’t have to read a catalogue to smell a bargain, just the change of season brings on the last of summer leftovers as well as the promise of winter specials way too undersized for the impatient purchaser. So it was with exhileration this week after a bracing morning coffee and a little too much walnut muffin, I made my way via the $300,000 white vehicle to hunt. First a cautious flick through the bra section. One wrong move and they would all tumble, catching each others multi pronged moulded plastic coat hangers in a tangle to stretch even a mother’s patience. All the good sizes already gone of course. Never mind, should have skulled that coffee a little earlier. Over to knickers. Pink overly bright but only $1:79 easily spotted. Then to dark brown pull on stretch trousers $9:99 with not a skerrick of cotton, made instead from the type of polyester that created permanently creased random folds from being in a packing box under an elephant. Finally a rummage in the shoe bin to eventually locate under the treasure chest the exact pair of size 12 green leather sandals required for daughter. Found a stool to squat on and manoevered sandals onto one of my feet. Of course they were actually a size 9, could tell that from just looking. Ooh said my stomache, all this bending is not going to end well. I rushed my pile of proposed purchases to the checkout, trying to calmly ask the girl to ‘hold them’ for 20 minutes as I had suddenly developed indigestion, instead stammering bulb pen while dabbing away a line of perspiration from my upper lip. I breathed deeply in the autumn air outside, holding onto a solar parking meter for cold comfort. A few steps away, the traffic lights and another cold pole. Across the road Public Toilets beckoned. A tree recieved a hug then I managed to prop open the main ladies door with my multi-purpose shopping bag, just in case sleeping on concrete floor all day until discovered became an accidental activity. Less than 20 minutes later refreshed and definitely empty of any bodily fluids or solids, I returned to dear Dimmey’s to purchase lovely polyester trousers and the remainder of my bargains. They even let me use the change rooms. Golly I love Dimmey’s. May 2009 Married for 36 years and gave each other a cold. Mine a chesty spluttery one, his of course an animalia based, panic attack inducing, near death experience resulting in you’ll have to sleep in the other bed so I can stretch out. Day time required two boxes of tissues, one each side of the reclining telly viewing pretend theatre armchairs. Use of cola cup holders as temporary savers of cough lollies detered. And Why Not I asked as it was his wriggling that dislodged my lemon and honey tea into the reservoirs requiring a clean up rivaling a tanker spill. Fortunately my body had sensed impending doom the previous day and I had trollied to the supermarket and purchased the makings of soup for lunches and had sliced and inserted enough garlic into a half leg of roast lamb to deter zombies or other nasally challenged creatures. Numb from morning tv I presented his lunch time soup after sucessfully wading through a mine field of white scrunchies. Luckily he was still able to operate the remotes from under the folds of blanky and we watched countless nausea inducing fast forwards until finding something pre recorded. Roast would have tasted good except constant cough lollies had forced taste buds to take refuge under a layer of tongue blanky, nose almost functional after sniffing steamy ‘Vicks’ under a towel. A dose of cough mixture promised sleep but didn’t deliver. The need to put bed socks on, sweat profusely so take bedsocks off, start sneezing from sudden influx of cold air into sauna bed, led to a blurry few hours before midnight. A blunder into the kitchen for water, followed by a perilous toilet break incorporating sneezing and bladder control finally settled the body to sleep in a bed where by daybreak some force had tightly rolled the bedding to the right and up. The morning revealed half sucked cough lollies stuck in various spots, a radio oozing out morning news although who knows when it was turned on and an inability to talk without needing to cough out furballs. Only 5 more days of the same and all will be well. June 2009 The first three weeks of June are the hardest. I wander aimlessly clicking my gardening scissors hopefully into every corner of the garden. Each year all that blooms in the crisp air are white daisies with yellow centres okay for the kitchen, purple violets sweet for five minutes in the bathroom and a bunch of recalcitrant red berried cottoniasta as they droop forwards like an embarrassed teenager in the hallway. I have tried the little yellow waxy flowers that cling to the bare sticks of the intensely scented Japanese All Spice, but always surrendered with a headache. There is still no sign of jonquils also victors in the ‘you’ll never pick me alive’ garden competition. There are a few tiny pale white bells on the shrub I bought for our Pearl anniversary, hardly worth ruining the bush. Soon the daphne will scent the front yard and house, until then the gloom of winter adds to my sunless mood and I wander further afield to the service station for a bunch of whateverthey’ve got. Suddenly, with the intake of breath associated with the word, I spy with my tired eyes a few pale delicate flowers in a straggly clump. Growing outside the ugliest and most neglected Public Toilets since the glam of fast food lighting attracted visitors to our city, is a rare species indeed. An iris that blooms in June! A find to lift the spirit and give meaning to an oft spelt name. Hello little Juniris. My maudlin murmer is heard only by myself, as I continue homeward bound, hoping the unfurling mauve and yellow will help another heart. I will be back with my multi-purpose gardening scissors in the summer, to do some neighbourhood gardening. July 2009 As a child I nearly hid behind the back seat of the ‘53 Ford next to my sleeping siblings, when the pirates were invading the Swiss Family Robinson’s ideallic Island home. How would they overcome this terrible invasion of their tree top mansion? Would the family be forced to leave this paradise if they did survive? I managed to peek between the curtain of my fingers, yelling ‘Hoh’ in amazement when the ropes restraining a pile of poles were cut, bouncing them down on top of the baddies. My belief in the reality of the supposed headaches thus produced was considerably decreased by the echoing thunk of papier mache, hence my hoh, usually reserved for winning arguments with said siblings. If I ever had an island the entire foreshore would be rigged with real stringy bark rolley poleies! As a teenager, my fascination with Island living was rekindled with the arrival into our sparse lounge room of ‘Gilligan’s Island’. A lifestyle worth hankering over, even allowing for the ‘Hoh! As if that would wash up just when they needed one’ constant reproach. When the gambling casino in Tasmania opened in the early 70s, with never to be repeated specials, we briefly experienced - 3 nights for $99 - a small land mass surrounded by water, although difficult to see the defining horizons even from the top of the revolving restaurant. Over the last few years in the course of family history research, it has been my pleasure to correspond with an actual Island inhabitant, Elsie. I have learned much about the reality of living girt by sea. The ferry and windy weather has produced some hair raising events. The mud flats at low tide have created more. Livestock don’t always enjoy the prospect of a boat trip. The postman’s bicycle doesn’t always run on time in the sand. The local newspaper comes out 4 times a year. Fresh food deliveries were not always the case. Introducing rabbits as an instant food source quickly created the Saturday afternoon activity, the rabbit drive. Solar batteries have a life of eight years tops but lack of power means a choice between watching telly and vacuuming. Neighbours are also relatives and not always friends. Secrets are not a possibility. An argument may mean missing out on attending church rather than using Sunday as a debating forum. A night out at the movies required more planning than a picnic. Picnics may require a visit by helicopter to hospital in event of snake bite. Dances, weddings and other celebrations were all held in the Hall in the middle of the Island, the flooring being transported years later to a new site rather than ferrying in another. How did Elsie become a castaway? Her parents were part of a group of 200 strong religious types wiiling to forgo the unemployment of the 1890s to set up ‘Village Settlements’ on French Island. As part of the Perserverance Settlement, little Elsie attended Church of Christ Sunday School lessons at the Harrop’s wattle and daub ‘pug’ home near Harrop’s Hill. ‘I know the Harrops were buried on the island. My husband was driving the truck with the casket in it.’ In a brief phone call this month I was astounded almost to Hoh in disbelief. I had been exchanging phone calls and cards with Elsie while she spent a few weeks ‘respite’ holiday on the mainland. After spending her life on French Island off the coast of Victoria, Australia and a few weeks shy of her 95th birthday, Margaret ‘Elsie’ Cox has gone to live with God. August 2009 Tummy aching, varicose vein throbbing back creaking, heat pack working overtime Cooking sherry looking good come half past nine I've got the 'Once every 28 days for 5 to 7 days' blues Where does it all come from as I scrub a red nighty clean Suffer in silence is the reply Why is nature so mean? I've still got the 'Once every 28 days fer 5 to 7 days' blues Just keepin' cotton workers workin' and most of them fail the job Do vampires need so many tea bags? another stain and I start to sob Why have I still got the 'Once every 28 days fer 5 to 7 days' blues Loved all those pregnancies, I'm telling you and all that breastfeedin' such a luxury to have no bleedin' Now I'm 56, lordy will my wish come true? An end to my 'Once every 28 days, fer 5 to 7 days' blues Just got a good dose of those 'Once every 28 days, fer 5 to 7 days' blues I'll come good, don't dry my tears I've just done 42 years, of 'Once every 28 days fer 5 to 7 days' blues I'm telling you September 2009 Deep in the back of any big chain variety store is the Plant Nursery and right in the back of that little sanctuary of fresh but humidly organic air, is the dead and dying section. This is usually a corroded metal stand missing one wheel that lurches out at the shopper with its burden of pitiful plants. Some have one price sticker, but many have layers of prices each strangely ending in 1 cent. So, a plant that may have been originally expected to return the nursery $9.99 would now bring a sigh of relief at $2 and one cent. The ones having a chance of being removed from the orphanage are not at the top, but buried behind vegetable seedlings that would be rejected by a starving baby rabbit. Catching clothing on bits of broken metal work is the added cost of the rescue mission...should you consider yourself an expert in resuscitation. The top layer is expensive. Trays that held something at one stage of the growing process now, for 51 cents, could add 5 tablespoons to your garden bed of rather expensive dirt. Pansies are the prettiest survivors of a swing in a plastic bag from the side of a shopping trolley and the occasional bump on the bus. Although a tasty treat to a curious possum, they are quick to revive from any neglect or unwelcome advances. if protected by a stockade of twigs and soon turn their delicate velvet faces and cheeky tongues to the sun. Poking the plastic name tag adorned with stuttering yellow price stickers in behind the liberated plants, gives on going pleasure, as they are often intriguingly named with combinations of 'Lemon' and 'Berry' with the bonus of 'Ruffles' to cheer up the life guard as well as the flower bed. May the creative naming consultatnt receive their one cent reward. October 2009 Monday morning Oath of Alligiance c 1960 Recited in unison with others, hand on heart, looking up at the flag: "I love God and my Country, I honour our Flag I serve our Queen and cheerfully obey my Parents, Teachers and the Laws" Sunday night Oath of Hope c 2010 Chanted, with family, into the bathroom mirror: "I have faith in my God. I love my land, Australia. I respect myself and all other human beings. I care for the land and all its creatures. I will choose Right over Wrong, Good over Evil and Peace over War, because I am the future." November 2009 There once was a bold, young lad named Brad Briggs. He sometimes made bad choices, but he lived in a Good City. One night, after drinking way too much and meeting a fresh young lady, he decided to accompany her back to her house. The lady, named Courtney, also sometimes made bad choices, so in that aspect, they were an ideal couple. Her daddy may not have agreed, but absent fathers who have half raised daughters - who sometimes make bad choices - often believe it has ‘nothing to do with them.’ Anyway, around midnight, Courtney and Brad giggled through her front door, announcing to the half asleep housemate they were ‘just having a bottle of wine,ok!’ because that is the way you ask permission to do a foolish thing. Sophie, the ever asleep guard lab possibly woofed her disapproval, but then went back to chewing her pull along toy as Labradors do, to ward off hunger pains. Natalie, the unsuspecting house mate, may have been surprised and even annoyed when woken nine hours later by a knocking noise. Was it her knees trembling as she realised a bold, young lad had stayed the night - who may or may not have murder most foul on his mind? Or was the knocking sound the can opener held in wet Sophie jaws with gentle slobber as a Labrador does a dead duck? Possibly it was the front door responding to being beaten by an angry, young man named Nathan. Nathan claimed exclusive Courtney ownership, and as is the strange choice with some young men, decided to declare it is mine, mine, mine with his fists. The shirtless and shoeless, Brad Briggs was suddenly wishing he lived in Ballan, thankful he was well trained from slogging tennis balls to immediately scale the back fence and grateful for his ability to zip up jeans as quickly as he could unzip. Brad Briggs then had another choice to make. Would he continue pronto through the neighbour’s back yard or would he help himself to some extra covering? The white, long sleeved t-shirt hanging on the line looked just right, not too hot not too cold. The blue velcrose runners at the back door were a bit suss but fitted fine and so Brad Briggs covered his torso and feet. He was embarrassed indeed when the owner of the shirt appeared at the back door calling ‘puss, puss.’ Brad Briggs offered payment to the old man, who did not understand why his cat had turned into a young man and why his heart suddenly felt like having an attack. The old man did not want money, as he was unsure what would be expected in return. Brad Briggs wanted refuge inside the old man’s home, from ‘those over there who are trying to bash me.’ That would not do at all thought the old man, who ushered the bashed along the garden path away from the bashers, down the side of the house to the front gate. Along the way the old man secretly admired the young man’s choice in shirts, musing he must still be fashionable as he had recently purchased one just like it. Brad Briggs discovered his jeans still held his holy treasure intact, his mobile phone and thankfully the taxi company was already awake and working. The old man quickly returned inside locking the back door firmly, to report to the old lady who was still doing her share of the snoring. The old lady woke, listened to the garbled story and immediately rang 000. The young female Police Officers arrived moments after Brad Briggs departed in a Multi purpose taxi. The old lady’s first concern was for the welfare of Courtney and Natalie. Her second was for the return of her best gardening runners. The Police Officers checked on the young females and all still had their heads. The old lady was unable to garden in her slippers and waited patiently for weeks for the return of her runners. Even Brad Briggs’ phone number would be useful for a gentle old lady type reminder. After all, Courtney’s post fight support friend Bonnie and collarless snarling dog Kye knew Brad Briggs, so it shouldn’t be too difficult to do the modern thing and text him. Not listed in the book and no relatives listed to vouch for his words ‘I’ll bring them back. I promise.’ Oh Brad Briggs, Bradley Briggs to steal or to borrow? Dec 2009 Only a very foolish man would insist his wife ride on the back of a donkey - the boney ridge of a donkey’s backbone unequaled in the equine kingdom. Yes a foolish man indeed, even if he believed his enormous bellied wife was only 6 months pregnant 7 at the most . A thoughtful man would quietly and efficiently pre-arrange a birthing place and doula, months before the new head crowned. A thoughtful man would have something set aside to bribe an inn-keeper for a decent room, even a promise to be the next night’s hairy pole dancer would suffice. A man with adequate thought patterns would not surround a birthing woman with lowing beasts, especially NOT promise to milk the donkey, sheep or cow just in case the woman’s breasts - unlike her healthy uterus - were not up to the task of nourishing the new born heir. Ah foolish man who boils water and sets fire to damp hay, the smell setting off a new round of howls of abuse. Sit or stand behind your groaning woman dear father to be. It will not be long now. Let her lean back into you, skillfully avoiding the reverse head butt. Support her with your strong arms under her arm pits. Tell her of her magnificence. Repeatedly. Only move to the action end when you can see the new crown. Catch your baby and raise him up to the deflated belly of his life force. Leave the cord and afterbirth alone. It will exit when ready and you can display your knotting ability, folding the red parcel over and under and through, then ease the knot towards your baby’s pink body. Marvel at the oneness created by your baby suckling from the breast of your wife. Be amazed at their bond. Do not fuss and ask if he has had enough. Do not allow another mammal to feed your flesh and blood with foreign milk, this will signal your seed to inflate your wife again giving you another baby every year. Alright for those who ignore the laws of nature, but not advised for your sanity. When all the fuss and adoration has eased, record the goodwill of your wife breastfeeding your newborn peacefully and distribute that image each year to your family and friends. It hasn’t been done as yet, and you may set a trend, dear wise man. TWITTER,TWATTER, TWADDLE, 1:00am : Why does the snorer not hear themselves snore? 7:00am : Is a morning fart nature's alarm clock? 8:00am : Natural vs Created bed hair 9:00am : Cereal and peaches vs Raisin bread and tea. 9:30am : Sensodyne toothpaste is painfully cold. 10am : Is 3 ply toilet paper 3 times better? 10:30am : Have a "Hoh" tick ready when checking email. 11am : When walking, mutter "To the Left." 11:15am On the way to buy meat, whistle up any wandering dogs. 11:30am : "Moo" at anyone who wanders across the road. 11:45am : Give each bit of washing its own set of pegs. 12:30pm : Don't eat a ploughman's lunch unless you've dug a paddock. 1:00pm : Lunch time TV induces indigestion. 2:00pm : Only pat a cat until it drools. 2:15pm : Posties only deliver after you have checked the letterbox. 2:16pm : Once every thousand times, there will be a spider in the letterbox. 2:21pm : A watched for bus is always late. 2:30pm : For the sake of fack, don't swear in Public Spaces. 3:00pm : Cappucino is best when it is the last stamp on your card. 3:30 pm : A bus load of school bags tests everyone's patience. 3:35 pm : Resist the temptation to laugh at the 6 year old who yells out 'Bye Effin' to his mate then winces at the reproach of his young mother, saying 'But that's what you call him!' 4:00pm : A home Roast of Everything is the easiest solution. 4:15pm : An armful of clean magpie poo free washing is a gift from God. 4:30pm : The 4:30pm News is not as gross as the 6pm News. 5:00pm : Why does the 'Mash' theme give me nightmares? 5:30pm : Torment the blowies with gravy smells. 6:00pm : Gravy always dribbles. 6:30pm : Avoid the mush that is 6:30pm telly by washing dishes. 7:00pm : Never miss the '7pm Report.' Hughsey is close.Very close. 7:30pm : Ring old people re family history research. 8:30pm : Guess who did it to the body in the Thames. 10:00pm : Sensodyne toothpaste is viciously cold. 10:30pm : Try out cotton wool earplugs. 12:00pm : Check backyard for noisy werewolf. 5 MINUTE SCRIPTS 5 MINUTE SKETCH COMEDY SCRIPTS 5 MINUTE AUSTRALIAN COMEDY SKITS suitable for film / video or stage production: "Fan forced oven." copyright Juniris Harrop 28 December 2009 thejuniris@hotmail.com Establishing shot : Exterior of a double storied university student share house in Inner city Melbourne. Derelict bike on front verandah, along with a supermarket trolley, rubbish and recycling bins. 'Invisible camera operator' zooms in on a sign in the front window “Primary aged students tutored in English every Tuesday night” 'Invisible camera operator' zooms in on a “Merry Chrissmas” wreath made by a child which is taped with grey packing tape to the front door. 'Invisible camera operator' sneaks camera over to the recycling bin. Shot of inside of Recycling bin shows a bin full of empty beer cans as well as 'green' drinks - Juice Bar containers, orange juice bottles. Interior of Student share house 'Invisible camera operator' takes us down the entrance hall, past a fancy 'double decker' shopping trolley with an empty large cold storage bag. 'Invisible camera operator' lets us peek swiftly into 2 front rooms which have mattresses with sleeping bags on the floor and overnight bags. Interior shot from door into lounge / dining area with kitchen in background. A side exit door leads to the backyard. Table in dining area is up against the wall and is covered with Xmas wrapping paper, pistachio nut shells and chocolate wrappers. The old lounge is covered with new socks, underpants and nighties, labels still attached and several paper receipts lay in a pile. The focus and sound is on the father aged about 47 - 57 years, 2 adult sons and adult daughter all aged between 18 and 30 years relaxing after opening Christmas presents in the dining / lounge area, but the action is with mother. Mother is ‘of menopausal age’ about 45 - 55 year, flushed and a bit ditzy, slaving in kitchen stirring gravy, microwaving peas, noisily swapping ill fitting trays around in the oven, each time being almost knocked over by a blast of hot air from the fan forced oven. A bad Xmas cd is playing,possibly a school concert recording, adult daughter keeps resetting it with remote control to the worst track - the 12 days of Christmas - while lovingly admiring her new ‘Vanessa Amorosi’ cd Father has reluctantly surrendered his laptop computer to Adult Son 1 Adult son 1 explaining the failings of Father’s laptop to all Son 1 “I could probably fix that if you want to leave it with me overnight” Father has an expression of horror as though remembering other fixing attempts. Son 1 “ I can down load a program right now that will allow you more ease of use....” Father has new beer stubby holder with a ‘green’ beer and seems to be listening while absorbed in de-pipping olives with olive pitter. “I see how this works...” Adult son 2 playing with Christmas gifts - putting spare change into a money bottle that counts the amount and reading the instructions on a 'Bonsai Potato' kit. Mother: “Table!” and makes a sweeping motion with left arm as her right hand is struggling to hold a tray of roasted vegetables. Others pause in mid sentence then continue talking. Son 1 “I’m tapping into the upstairs ...wireless network” Son 2 “I took $250 in small change to the bank last year... It filled my backpack and two carry bags” Daughter “I used to play this ... on the clarinet at school” Father “I could get used to this ... ‘green’ beer” Mother’s attention is taken by finding a large mug, then ‘sterilising’ it for the gravy as there is no jug in any cupboard. Mother turns around to see no action has occured. Mother : “Table!” growled through gritted teeth smile. Father : “We may need to clear all this. Now.” Son 2 makes as though he may do the magician’s trick of pulling the table cloth from under everything. Son 1 : “No..." and laughingly indicates his preferred option of wrapping all rubbish into the tablecloth and tucking it behind the couch. Daughter scoops all rubbish into a blue plastic ‘Patient’s Clothing’ carry bag as sons rescue uneaten chocolates and bowl of de-pitted olives, just in time, then she shrugs and stuffs the bag behind the couch. Son 1 continues to hold lap top computer in right hand, while helping Son 2 turn the table around and into position in the centre of room. Chairs are arranged, blocking the side exit doorway, plates and knives & forks are distributed. son 1 continues explanation of computer uses / operational details Son 1 “If this doesn’t work then...Ah! So Close...nah, no go” as he reluctantly abandons computer to the top of the pile of underwear and drains his glass of Coke Zero. Mother strips off apron Mother: “Toilet” as she heads to the blocked door and gives up after futile attempts to squeeze past still talking son 1 Son 1 “ The new programs are 100% better than this crap” Son 2 “Mum. Use the upstairs one” Sound catches the family passing hot trays of vegetables, bowl of peas, balls of stuffing and re heated, pre sliced turkey and ham, using folded old teatowels as oven mitts. Son 2 “Hot. Hot. Hot.” as he neglects to take the mitt. Daughter “Just use the tongs to grab a load. Don’t name each bit” Father “ Will this be enough turkey for everyone?” 'Invisible camera operator' and sound withdraws from dining /kitchen area to follow mother up the first flight of steep stairs then leads her up the remaining few, which she crawls. 'Invisible camera operator' waits outside bathroom to sounds of huffing, sneezing, splashing water and nose blowing. 'Invisible camera operator' follows mother’s cautious grunting descent clutching the banister sound of kitchen conversation takes over Son 1 “Coke Zero?” Son 2 “Orange Juice” Daughter “Proper Coke!” Mother squeezes into her chair, then observing everyone else drinking, looks at her empty glass Mother “Water?” As the computer instruction is still ongoing, mother rises and gets a glass of tap water Son 1 “When this is up and running you’ll be able to watch videos” Father is seated with back to camera. Father raises his stubby as a salute “Good idea having Christmas here. Thank you for inviting us young man. Makes me proud.” Nods to Son 2 “Much easier on Mum.” Mother splutters into glass of water. Daughter “So, how was your operation, Mum?” Mother looking bemused: "Just a wee" Daughter impatiently : "Not just now!" nodding towards upstairs toilet "I meant a couple of weeks ago!" Father interrupts “Picnic compared to mine. Want to see my scar?” Father rises and prepares to down trousers. 'Invisible camera operator' trips over in scurry to catch the money shot Fade to black "Cat Woman meets Dog Man" copyright Juniris Harrop 9 Jan 2010 thejuniris@hotmail.com Part 1 Establishing shot: An old woman aged about 80 yrs is feeding 3 cats at her back door. Interior shot: Same old woman scraping cold ashes from her woodfired stove into a bucket which she then carefully tips into a shoe box, puts on the cardbord lid and places it next to 2 other shoe boxes on her kitchen bench. She then rips up newspaper and shoves it into the firebox, covering it with bits of bark and chips of wood, lights it shakily with a match, then closes the fitrebox door. She fills and slides a kettle into place on the stove. Outdoor shot: Same old woman pushing a trolley along a footpath, a shoebox balanced on top of various bags. A small shovel is visible. In the distance we can see a Cemetery. Outdoor shot: Same old woman patting a shoebox sized mound of dirt at the foot of an old grave site. Indoor shot: Same old woman sitting in a chair in front of her stove enjoying a cup of tea. Part 2 Establishing shot: An old man about 80 yrs old feeding 3 dogs at his back door. Part 3 Establishing shot: A long shot. The front gate of Cemetery The old man and old woman can be seen in the distance approaching the Cemetery from opposite directions. It is another day, different clothes. Part 4 Interior shot old woman’s kitchen The old man and old lady are enjoying a cup of tea. Old Woman “ Well, then she said to me, she said, ‘try burning the kitty litter’ and I thought, I don’t have a litter of kittens” Old Man “ Did you get some?” Old Woman “ A litter of kittens? Yes. I got some all right. That Spring there was a litter of kittens right enough” Old Man “ What are they like?” Old Woman, warming her hands at stove, “ Good. Very good.” Old Man, reflects deeply, then says, “My friend told me dogs are the best. Dogs keep you warm at night.” Part 5 Interior shot of old man's lounge room.Photos of his dogs adorn walls, cushions are dog embroidery, nicknacks are dog themed. Old Woman and Old Man are seated demurely at opposite ends of the couch. A litter of kittens (in a basket) meows playfully between them. Old Man : "I like your pussies." Old Woman as she sidles closer, "Meow" They embrace awkwardly to the sounds of squished/ panicking kittens. Part 6 Interior shot of Old Woman's lounge room. Photos of cats adorn walls, curtains are cat patterned, nicknacks are cat themed. The Old Woman and Old Man are seated close together on the couch. Two pups romp over them. Old Woman "Thank you for the pups. Do you like my puppies?" Old Man "Woof" They begin to remove each others cardigans, covering the pups to muffled dog whimpering sounds. Part 7 Establishing shot, Exterior shot of graveyard. The Old Man and Old Woman are holding hands in front of an old grave embellished with a row of shoebox sized mounds of dirt around the edge. Some alyssum plants are blooming over the grave Old Man "Was very clayey soil." Old Woman "Needed some fertilizer" Part 7 Interior of Old Woman's lounge. A mixture of dog and cat cushions, curtains and nicknacks. Old Woman's daughter has some pamplets and is trying to have a conversation about shifting into a retirement home. Old man is wearing Old Woman's cardigan, unbuttoned. Old Woman is wearing Old Man's cardigan incorrectly buttoned. Old Woman's daughter : "I think you may have dementia" She repeats dementia, pronouncing the word slowly. Old Woman standing up from the couch and fluffing a cushion as if to clear the air " I didn't realise I'd farted" Old Woman turns to re-arrange the cushions, bending over the couch and actually farts loudly Old Man thinking it was himself : "I beg your pardon" Old Woman's daughter gasps for air, gurgling. Old Woman "Don't mention it" pronouncing the words as slowly as her daughter. "Op Shop party" copyright Juniris Harrop 10 Jan 2010 thejuniris@hotmail.com Establishing shot: Big bins overflowing with ‘donations’ outside a supermarket. Establishing shot 2: a kalidescope / slideshow of 3 women in their 50s trying on a multitude of Summer styled green & gold clothes, shoes, scarves, beads, hats in several different change rooms at different Opportunity / Thrift / Secondhand clothingShops Some outfits look good but reveal problems: - a twirl shows the zipper struggling to close - rear view shows the trousers have saggy 'elephant' bum. - trying to walk in high heels makes knees bow. - movement creates static - impregnated perfume smell is overpowering Each woman begins to show the strain of shopping and trying on clothing with hair becoming dishevelled, blisters / limping, constant swigging at water bottles. Establishing shot 3: Exterior of a church run Op Shop, in the Supper Hall / Sunday School, sign on front door lists opening hours. The three women in their 50s each carrying bags full of clothing, approach hastily looking at watches, open door and almost shove each other aside to get in. Interior of Church Op Shop: Church Lady 1 : “Just in the nick of time ladies. Are you looking for anything in particular?” Woman 1 “Green and Gold outfits for an Australia Day party Size 14” Woman 2 subtly correcting Woman 1 “Maybe size 16 or even 18” Woman 3 is already scanningthe clothing racks. Church Lady 1 disappears into back room, whispers to Church Lady 2 who is sitting down with her feet up, holding a cup of tea and balancing 2 chocolate slices on a plate Church Lady : 1 "Where's that horrible gold thing we were going to toss out" Church Lady 2 is too tired - and has a mouthful of slice - to speak, so she nods to a box in the corner marked Tip. Church Lady 1 reappears with a polyester gold dress. Church Lady 1 : “This just came in...$4” Woman 2 “That’s you!” indicating Woman 1 Woman 3 holding up a green pants suit “Look. Mother Nature!” Woman 1 “Try on?” All nod enthusiastically as Church Lady 1 points the way to the toilets which double as a change room. Interior of ‘change room’ which has 2 mirrors, one resting on the floor, the other attached to the wall above it, giving a broken 'clown arcade' reflection. Marg puts the lid down and takes a seat on the toilet, stretching her legs and cooing reassuringly at both outfits. Exterior of same Church Op Shop Church Woman 2 is bringing in the sign as the three women bustle out. Woman 3 “Thanks again. You wouldn’t believe how many beads I’ve tried on, but these are just right.” Others pat their shopping bags contentedly. Woman 2 “And thanks for the cuppa, my tongue was sandpaper” Woman 1 “ You should have stopped admiring that young man at the Salvos a bit sooner” Woman 3 “ Ok All set then? See you at my place 8pm sharp.” Woman 2 checking watch which is only 2pm “Good. Plenty of time for tea and a little nanna nap first” Woman 1 “This Australia Day party will be The Hottest Yet!” Woman 2 flushed with menopause "Thanks Sherlock!" Establishing shot : Night time 10 pm. Exterior of house where a party is in full swing. Shot from across the street. Front door opens and our 3 women exit, carrying shoes and hats, slamming the door behind them. Woman 1 yelling a parting shot over her shoulder : "Well don't be expecting an invite to our party next year!" The 3 women are hobbling along the warm footpath in single file Woman 1 “Bloody bugger bitch bum” Woman 2 “Bitch bitch bitch” Woman 3 : “Why didn't she warn us?" Woman 2 : "Probably getting us back for not inviting her on our last cappuccino crawl." Woman 3 : "Do you think she was wearing her togs?” Woman 1 snorting “Needed ironing” Woman 2 “ All body paint, just body paint” All sigh and shake their heads, blink and squint eyes as though trying to erase an unwanted mental picture. Woman 3 twirling in her lovely green "Mother Nature" pants suit “She probably only spent 5 minutes and $5” “A Westie Warning.” copyright Juniris Harrop 15 Jan 2010 thejuniris@hotmail.com A One Act Play Sign at rear of Stage says ‘Licensed Supermarket’ 5 sets are required The Stage divided in half Stage left doubles as set for Set 1 Baby Feed and Change Room and Set 3 Bottle Shop of Licensed Supermarket Stage Right doubles as Public Lady’s Toilet and Set 4 The 12 items or less checkout of Supermarket To be brought on to Stage front centre - A bus silhouette (the lower half of a passenger bus) with at least 3 windows and a driver’s seat at front. ‘Doors’ at front and towards rear. Set 1 - Baby feed and change room Set 2 - Lady’s toilet Mother in Baby Feed and Change room is preparing to purchase drugs. There is no baby or pram. Mother “Where did I put the friggen thing?” 6 year old boy “What are you looking for, Mummy? I can find it for you” Mother angrily “Not friggen lolly pops, that’s for sure, sticky beak!” 6 year old boy moves quickly to protect his 3 year old brother. Mother’s Girlfriend “Yous two’d be better off having a play next door” and she ushers them out into a dark space between the 2 sets A white curtain descends or two stage hands dressed in black wheel on a white sheet nailed to a frame and the 2 women become dark silhouettes lit from behind. Enter the shadow of a stranger and the 3 engage in a drug purchase. Children cautiously enter Lady’s Toilet from the dark space in between the sets There is no one in the toilet cubicles. 6 year old boy breathing a sigh of relief “My turn first” and he swings around a support pole, then does a ‘sexy giration.’ 3 year old boy stands back respectfully. Old lady enters Lady’s Toilet, nearly colliding with a pair of swinging legs. 3 year old’s eyes widen in surprise and suspicion. Old Woman surveys the scene then says in a No Nonsense Voice “Where is your mother? Does she know you are in here?” Old Woman proceeds to a cubicle without waiting for an answer, as she (sound effect) locks the cubicle, the boys continue to play. The 6 year old is standing on the bench, leaning over the pole and encouraging his little brother. 6 year old “Hold on tight. Now put that hand up higher, now the other hand.” The 3 year old is struggling to haul himself up the pole, doing little bunny hops. A white curtain descends or two stage hands dressed in black wheel on a sheet nailed to a frame and the 2 boys freeze in bunny / funny / childish silhouettes as the action returns to Set 1 Set 1 - Baby feed and change room Mother giggling “Shit that’s fun.” Girlfriend with resignation “May as well wait til we get home.” Then, with inspiration “Let’s go get some cans of Bourbon and Coke.” Girlfriend leaves Baby Feed and Change Room and yells to the 2 boys. Girlfriend “Come with us now” Set 2 - Door of Lady’s Toilet The Old Woman is still in the cubicle (sound effects may include wind-pain noises and two flushes of toilet) The 2 boys quickly stop playing/ giggling when they hear the repeated command "Come with us now" and the 2 boys exit the Lady’s Toilet into the dark space between the two sets. Set 1 - Baby feed and change room The two women leave unwanted rubbish on the floor / seat and exit the Baby Feed and Change room, drag the 2 boys from the dark space with a ‘hurry up’ and point as an explanation towards the Licensed Supermarket. Exit stage right Set 1 is removed from behind the curtain which lifts or two stage hands dressed in black wheel wheel it off, revealing Set 3 Bottle Shop of Licensed Supermarket Set 2 - Door of Lady’s Toilet The Old Lady exits Lady’s Toilet rearranging clothing in a double double-check, looks up at Supermarket sign, checks her watch and scabbles in purse for list and shopping bag then heads off with cloth carry bag ready over arm. Exit stage right. Set 2 is removed from behind the white curtain then lifted or two stage hands dressed in black wheel it off, revealing Set 4 The 12 items or less checkout of Supermarket Set 3 Bottle Shop of Licensed Supermarket The 2 boys are swinging on the security bars, occasionally setting off the ‘bing bong’ alarm. The cash register operator looks at them with a bored expression. The 2 women are perusing the cold cans of Bourbon and Coke at the back of the store. The Girlfriend pays for 6 cans of Boubon & Coke and 6 cans of Coke Zero Cash Register operator “You want a bag with that?” Girlfriend looking for an argument : “Of course I do! Two of them! We’ve got to carry them a long way. Do you expect the kids to carry them?” Cash Register operator puts each 6 pack into a separate plastic bag. The Mother uses the distraction to quietly steal a small bottle of whisky which she tucks into her boot / pocket. As they Exit the ‘bing bong’ alarm goes off Mother yelling angrily “Stop mucking around. That noise is driving me crazy” The cash register operator glances over at the 2 clear plastic bags one held by each woman and decides to serve the next customer. The 2 Women and 2 boys exit stage left Set 4 The 12 items or less checkout of Supermarket Old Woman is chatting with Cash Register Operator while holding open her other shopping to be checked and packing her few purchases into her cloth carry bag. Old Woman : “Lucky me beating the queue. I’ll be in time for the bus as well” Cash Register Operator automatically “Do you want a bag with that” then laughing as she realises she has already been shown the shopping bag “Of Course not, silly me. Sometimes I forget to see (pause ) and hear things.” Old Woman exits stage left. Set 5 Bus at stage front is slid / wheeled on by stage hands dressed in black. (Bus may be lower half only, allowing action to be seen and chairs used as seats.) Driver on seat at front opposite front door (sound effect of door opening / closing) Passengers can be seen through at least 3 large windows. Old Woman (sound effect) as she swipes her card “Not a very long wait, I suppose” Driver : “ Not long” Old Woman sits halfway down the bus. Arranges her shopping on her lap in case others need the seat next to her. A few other passengers get on. A woman pops her head through the bus door and asks the driver “Does this go to the West?” Driver indicates towards the sign on the front of the bus “I hope that’s what it says” The driver checks his watch, (sound effect - closes the doors), checks for traffic, (sound effect -clicks on the indicator) when the 2 boys suddenly appear at the bus door followed by the Mother and Girlfriend both out of breath and banging on the closed door (sound effect) Driver (sound effect opening door) “Lucky” 2 Boys squeeze past the adults and sit in the space reserved for prams. Mother : Rumaging in bag, hoping driver will wave her on. “I’ve got tickets somewhere. I think they may have expired. Here..” swiping a card “That’s still good.” Girlfriend goes to the seat behind the old lady and sits down. Mother : “ I guess I will have to pay for another ticket.” Presents driver with $10 and waits impatiently for the change. Mother “Come on boys up the back” Boys obediently follow mother. 3 year old pauses, wide eyed when he recognises the Old Lady, then sits next to his brother who has swung on the pole and into the seat. Driver (sound effect - closes the doors), checks for traffic, (sound effect -clicks on the indicator and soft sound effects of travel / traffic) Girlfriend : “ Told you” Mother : “Geez I’m looking forward to getting home and getting wasted. I am so having a long shower as soon as I step inside. Stuff Water Restrictions!” (Sound effect) Drink can opening. Mother “Here have one of my cokes. Coke Zero. I was good girl to pick that, eh?”” Girlfriend “Ta” Mother : “Pass me one of those Bourbons will ya?” Girlfriend : "Can’t you wait til we get home?” Mother: (sound effect of can being opened) “Oops. How did that happen” Passenger behind Mother and Girlfriend “Hey! You can’t drink grog on the bus.” Another Passenger, possibly an ‘Old Drunk’ “Nah. Not unless you’ve got enough for everybody.” Old Lady turns to Mother and Girlfriend and speaks in her No Nonsense Voice : “ Are you drinking alcohol on the bus? First I see your 2 boys playing in the Ladies Toilets without an adult in sight and now you’re drinking alcohol on the bus!” Mother “Do you work for freaken Social Security? Well we’ve got our case covered already.” Old Lady “Maybe I do.” Mother continues to drink from can of Boubon. Old Lady “Excuse me, Driver! There is alcohol being consumed on the bus.” Driver pulling into Bus Stop (sound effect of indicator and doors opening) “Get Off!” Mother to Old Lady : “I’d give you what you deserve, but you are Old” Girlfriend “Don’t make a fuss. You know what happened last time!” The 2 boys exit back door of bus followed by Mother who has been quickly ushered off the bus by her Girlfriend. Old Lady as a parting shot “Did YOU teach them pole dancing?” Driver quickly shuts the back door as Mother looses any control over her life that she may have had. Mother screaming “Whatever happens to them now, is down to you!” Mother walks threateningly over to boys then struts back to the bus “I’ve had a good look at you and I’ll be keeping a lookout for you.” pointing at her own eyes then back at the bus load of passengers. New passengers are getting on the bus, partly obscuring the ranting Mother who continues to pace and yell. Another Old Lady who has just got on the bus “Are they friends of yours?” Old Lady shrugging “Bar of Soap. Don’t know them from a Bar of Soap” Another Old Lady : “Could do with a mouth wash that one.” Old Lady “I’ve been warned, that’s for sure, along with several free adjectives!” Bus driver (sound effects ) closes doors, checks traffic, puts on indicator and drives. Curtain closes enough to cover the Bus, revealing the 2 boys swinging around the Bus Stop pole in a spotlight. If you would like to use any portion of the following story "How I watch 'The 7pm Project'" please credit me in some way eg from the webpage junirisland.net or written by Juniris Harrop of Ballarat thejuniris@hotmail.com How I watch 'The 7pm Project.' Done the dishes without being asked or told and no whingeing and it wasn’t even my turn. Hand lotion is too runny. Must buy the original intensive sort, but thank you for trying anyway, lotion company. Elbows done with the excess, sleeves rolled back down. I place cup of tea on the lovingly made little table in the lounge and balance plate out of reach of ‘that looks nice’ range. Bread and butter plate is adorned with a slice of spoils from last visit to Melbourne, a chocolate infused croissant type plaited roll, now hewn into mouth sized bits. I sit. I pull recline button. Feet go up, but aeroplane does not take off. I peel off right leg varicose vein support, a length of trusty tubigrip. I lay it over my leg where it may stay, stay, stay or slide off onto the floor or somehow down the side of the couch. I pick up glasses case, remove tv watching glasses polish them with own especially supplied rag. Put on glasses, transform into old librarian. Nestle head into anti-madagascar hair lotion cover and elbows relax on anti - Vaseline hand lotion covers. Hear Megaphone Charlie announce ‘Starting Now!’ Close eyes for flashing bits in case epilepsy Starts Now aged 56. Look at panalists clothing. My! Doesn’t gayboygeek suit Charlie. That tie looks so cute with the squared checked pattern, much more arty than rectangles. The summery short sleeves looking flirtacious balanced by the butler efficiency of the dark vest. Maybe his clothes inspire the A+ biro twiddling routine. Pity I had to Return Immediately for Cash Back my selection of totally unacceptable don’t ever buy me clothes again Christmas fashion checks. Oh goody Denise is on, an informed point of humour. Doesn’t she keep her grey hair a nice shade of ash blonde. Also, good management of chest scaffolding. Admire prettydoll Carrie, getting a bit too skinny now. Recall all her naughty segments on Rove and wonder who is cuddling her baby. Forget to look at any news, which has been on radio all day any way. Raise leg onto cushion for increased relief. Ad break. Drink a bit of now cooled tea and a mouthful of yum. Furniture ad prompts Old Man to recall “Remember that stupid movie with Barbra Striesand in it. The base was over by the heater and the bauble was way over the other side of the room. Well I saw one like that and it was $800 in silver or white, but we only want a two bulb stand for behind the couch, don’t we? She hit Ryan O’Neil with it. ‘What’s up Doc’ that’s it.” Must remember not to press mute next ads. Log on to our webpage for tickets or to vote on something incredibly unimportant...but I’m watching telly. Don’t make me go back down to that torture box made in 2005 and in need of an axe attack. And back to 7pm Project. Ooh Hughsey is loosing it, the chunky bits that is, such a sexy beast. Wonder who is cuddling his baby? Is he baking another one yet? Will he take a bit of time off to relax with his little family? Doesn’t he know babies don’t keep. Another swig of tea, a swallow and taste of Melbourne. Some ‘wouldn’t you think’ moments commented on efficiently by Hughsey, when the reception starts to click and clack must be going to rain because the screen freezes Hughesy in a bizarre impressionist painting right in the middle of a tongue in cheek smirk. Then with another click and clack motion is restored and some expert is on, being made to look even more educated by a split screen. Last one I saw gave a commanding appearance as a young Lurch with his deep black eyebrows, black hair and black coat. Real people for real viewers. Then another ad break. Finish off tea and sweet stuff. Michael Buble pretending to be sweaty and sporty. Fat people being tortured until they haven’t the breath to say No, stop poking me with a stick! The gruff man speaks menacingly about a flashy movie. The place with a pond and no fence where your kids can drown for free while you sit in a doublestoried box. Then a new 7pm guest. What are they plugging and how come they don’t have to Earn Their Plug? More whip around. The stars of each State barely get to draw breath. Could we see a week where “Holding it til you turn blue” could be an entire segement? That’s all. Over too soon. If I hurry I can still use the hose for half an hour. No I think we’ve changed to drips later on at night. Oh well upsadaisy. Find elusive leg support. Find end of leg. Toes. I can still reach them. Pull on leg support. Push down on foot raiser bit of couch. Oops. Coleslaw. Can I blame that on the squeaky chair? If I shuffle loudly into slippers, maybe I’ll be clear before the zephyr finds a nostril.Til tomorrow dear '7pm Project.' The Marooned Commodore. After settling into bed at 10 pm I mistakenly thought it would be easy to drift off after the tedium which is now ‘The Bill’ However, after trying the usual cotton wool barrier and comfy positions, I removed my old self at midnight from the exhausted snoring of a man who had spent all day sniffing paint fumes, which were not diluted by a light beer or two. In the absence of traffic and singing drunks waltzing by, the quiet of the visitor’s bedroom allowed me to listen to the 1am news then actually fall asleep. At 2am the ‘look at me, look at me’ sound of unnecessarily fast acceleration out of the roundabout, squeal of brakes, and metallic sonic boom of car on parked car ended sleep. Suddenly we are living downtown Brooklyn on the set of ‘The Wire.’ I raised my weary body from the visitor’s bed and called out that I was ringing the police straight away, before bothering to look outside. In the ever alert state of a young mother of three toddlers, the calm Police Officer assesed my garble and promised a drive by. A bleary husband reported ‘nothing to be seen, must be up at the roundabout’ and was about to return to bed, when I took over his venetian blind spot and pondered out loud the significance of a maroon Commodore parked across the road in front of Ed’s, whose car was now nicely positioned in the shadow of the tree on the nature strip. I struggled into my new dressing gown, removed it, removed the price tags, took the the belt tie from the hanging loop and threaded it through the belt loops, pulled it back on, then proceeded outside. Several neighbours had done the same, our confused sleepy voices carrying nicely on the night air, bringing us together in a way we are unable to achieve in the business of daylight. “Ed doesn’t usually park there. Does he?” “He must be away again, surely that noise would have woken him!” “Good grief! That fence is on an angle.” “The air bags have gone off.” “Did you see them run off that way? Was there only two?” The Police arrived, heard the ‘ran that way’ comment and executed a satisfying u-turn to give chase. Thinking the show was over, we all returned to bed. A drink of water and toilet stop later, bright movie lights heralded the arrival of the Police and time for part 2. A divvy van! There’s a divvy van parked in front of our house and across the road there’s another police van! They’ve got ‘em! Wow. Then snatches of ‘The Marooned Commodore’ drift across to us. A young woman without shoes is led out of the divvy van and across the road where two officers are escorting a sturdy but unsteady male. “Is this maroon Commodore the car you were travelling in earlier?” Must have been confirmed by the female, as she is led back to her divvy van and asked the name of her male friend. Something in her alchohol brain advises her to fib, but not convincingly enough. “ I don’t know. Scott or Dan, something like that.” “We’ll get your shoes for you, later.” From across the road we hear “Right Daniel. Is this your vehicle? Were you the passenger or driver?” Daniel’s alchohol and or drugged brain insists on deny, deny, deny. “I haven’t driven that car since ...” pause for brain strength... “last year!” Followed by “Get your hands off me. Oh all right search my pockets then.” “Would these car keys fit that car?” No one bothers to try them. “Daniel! Right now it’s just a traffic accident, no one was hurt. No need for judges and court. Don’t lie to us Daniel. We found your wallet under the front seat.” Daniel is allowed thinking time and rests his frame against Ed’s fence while a calming cigarette does more brain destruction work. The bright lights are turned off and the conversation quietens after another neighbour, also choosing to wear a very new dressing gown, speaks briefly to Police. Vehicles depart. The show is going down town. The Marooned Commodore sits alone in the spotlight. The audience settles to sleep. The movie brief I have hardly bothered to work out the multiple functions of the new remote control, knowing it will soon run out of battery life and so be renewed by another new system. The batteries of course proving impossible to purchase, as has been the case in many ‘on special’ purchases in the past. Dear paint splattered husband inspired my afternoon’s viewing out of the heat of the day, by clicking several butttons to reveal a list of movie briefs overlaid onto our telly screen. The one on chanel 72 revealed an exciting Sunday arvo movie, one neither of us could recall seeing at the drive-in or repeated yearly over summer off ratings periods: “Comedy about an elderly dowager, unaware that she is now penniless and her faithful butler tries to help her. Two rival gangs fight for control of a Mexican border town and the money to be made there in selling contraband whiskey and guns for the Mexicans and Indians” Starring Dick Van Dyke I spent an hour watching Fitzwilly occasionally pretending to be drunk and creating goosing induced almost Marx brothers mayhem at Christmas time in a large department store. The fellow who looks like a trimmer Robert Morley but actually answering to the name of John McIver, was resplendant in an orange and black striped vest and a perfect butler. The appearance of ‘99’ from Get Smart made me realise the movie was made in 1967 with a decided slant towards nice tweed clothes, neat haircuts and correct values. The value of the afternoon being : ‘naughtiness may be fun to dally in, but it definitely doesn’t pay.’ The ‘kookie talk’ of the 1950s reminded me of the desperate nature of many adults in the 1960s as they tried to be groovy by using the ‘square’ or ‘hip’ talk of the decade before. I laughed at the well groomed actor Sam Waterson wondering if he foresaw his current grizzled status in the Criminal Justice System. In the crowd sceens, was one extra who may have had asian parents, one woman whose parents might have been related to an african american and a solitary police officer whose hispanic parentage was in question. Although there was a little champagne sipped fom saucer shaped glasses, right till the closing shots I awaited the arrival of gun toting, whiskey swilling Mexicans and Indians. Sort of put me off watching The first of May. “A young orphan boy mistakenly thinks his foster parents are going to abandon him when his foster mother becomes pregnant. In order to solve a killing, a public defender brings an insane witness into court.”

Juniris Harrop
thejuniris@hotmail.com
Ballarat is the best place to live!