Five Sons Serving: A Mother’s Sorrow

5 Star Female Relative Badge

 

“How brave she was letting five sons go off to war!” my cousin Fiona said. And our Nana Barrett was brave but as I discovered, many things were completely beyond her control.

Florence May Barrett A157977
Recipient of Female Relative Badge World War II

We had heard the story from my mother that Dad wanted to enlist when he was 17 but Nana put her foot down and forbade it. “I’ve already got four boys in this war. You’re not going.” But when Dad returned home from work on his 18^th birthday there was the letter waiting for him on the dining room table instructing him to report for duty. It must have broken Nana’s heart. Nana had seven boys and one girl and by December 1942 all the boys over 18 were serving in the armed forces. One had volunteered and four had been conscripted. Two years later it was only the occupation in essential services of her sixth son that saved him from having to enlist. And the seventh son was still only 17. How could a country ask so much from one family?

The Barrett boys serving overseas L to R: Jack b1913,
Gordon b1916,Rowley b1914, Stan b1920 and Dudley b1924

At the outbreak of the war Australia's military forces were seriously depleted. Australia's regular army comprised only 3,000 men.

On 20 October 1939 Prime Minister Robert Menzies announced the reintroduction of compulsory military training with effect from 1 January 1940. The arrangements required unmarried men turning 21 to undertake three months’ training with the Citizen Military Forces (CMF).

 

In November 1939 Menzies announced that the existing reserve force, the CMF (or Militia), would be bolstered by conscription. However the CMF would not be required to fight beyond Australia and its territories, which did include Papua and New Guinea.

 

At the same time, the government raised a new volunteer army for service overseas. This was the Second Australian Imperial Force (AIF).

 

It was the result of a concerted recruitment campaign, though with unemployment being so high the government had little trouble filling the ranks.

Leading Aircraftsman Rowley
David Winsall Barrett VQ25055

Rowley was the first of the Barrett boys to enlist in the armed forces. Like many of the men after the Depression he was unemployed. He had been working for his father as a bookmaker’s clerk and helping his father with training the horses but although he had done well at school he had failed to find a secure job. He had seen the persuasive ads for the Air Force and also wanting to ‘do his duty’ applied to join the Air Force on 30 April 1940.

Rowley served with No. 3 Squadron in the Middle East.

 

Private Stanley Leslie Barrett
QX55575

At the start of World War II in 1939 all unmarried men aged 21 were to be called up for three months' military training and Stan completed two lots of training at camps in Yeppoon in September 1940 and again in March 1941.

 

Stan was then called up for full time duty with the CMF on 17 December 1941.

Volunteers with the AIF initially scorned CMF conscripts as "chocolate soldiers", or "chockos", because they were believed to melt under the conditions of battle. However several CMF Militia units fought under difficult conditions, suffered extremely high casualties in 1942 and distinguished themselves by slowing the Japanese advance on the Kokoda Track in New Guinea. In an effort to bolster the ranks of those able to fight overseas, government policy changed to allow the transfer of many of the CMF conscripts to the AIF.

 

Stan disembarked in Milne Bay on 22 March 1943 and during his time in New Guinea was transferred to the AIF on 9 July 1943. Stan served with the 42^nd Battalion. He served in New Guinea and the Solomon Islands.

Corporal Gordon Vivian Barrett
QX33639

During 1940 Gordon completed his three months compulsory training with the 11 Field Ambulance. He was subsequently called up for full time duty enlisting on 21 January 1941 and transferring to the 10 Fortress Company. He was then transferred from the CMF to the AIF on 30 July 1942.

 

Gordon served as a nursing orderly with the Army Medical Corps on Thursday Island.

Corporal John Edwin Fitzroy Barrett
QX55352

Jack joined the Volunteer Defence Corps (VDC) on 19 May 1941 and was promoted to Sergeant. He was conscripted into the CMF on 23 May 1942 with the rank of Private and embarked for New Guinea with the 57/60 Battalion on 16 May 1943. He was later transferred to the AIF on 6 July 1943 and promoted to Corporal.

When scrub typhus nearly took his life in May 1944 Jack was repatriated back to Australia where he was transferred to the military police.

Private Dudley Alan Barrett
Q267610

By mid-1942 all men aged 18–35 and single men aged 35–45 were required to join the CMF.

Dudley (my Dad) was conscripted on his 18^th birthday and ordered to report for duty. On 18 December 1942 he enlisted in the Australian Military Forces (AMF) and was assigned to the 133 Brigade Workshops.

Dad worked as an armourer and served in New Guinea.

At the end of August 1943 a parcel arrived for Nana from the Queensland Lines of Communication Area Records Office containing a 4 Star Female Relative Badge and a form for my Nana to sign and return for receipt of the badge. This form is attached to Gordon’s war record.

Then in the following year the replacement badge with 5 stars arrived acknowledging the fifth son. This letter (below) is attached to Dudley’s war record.

Letter attached to Dudley Barrett's war record accompanying the 5 Star Badge

When asked how Nana coped with her boys fighting overseas my Uncle Ken describes his mother as a stoic. “She was brave in how she handled it all.” He also told of the close bond that developed over this time between his mother and her daughter Gloria who was her constant support.

Fate smiled on my Nana and all of her five sons returned, at least visibly unscathed, in dribs and drabs from the awful conflict.

Gordon was the first to return in January 1944, a few months before his younger brother Dudley disembarked in Lae to begin his tour of duty overseas. Rowley was discharged in October 1945 and then his brother Jack the month after that. Young single men were the last to be discharged with Stan arriving home in April 1946 and finally Dudley in September of the same year.

Female Relative Badges were issued to the nearest female relative of those on active service overseas during the First and Second World Wars. They were worn by the wives, mothers, or the nearest female relatives of service personnel. The stars represented the number of relatives involved in the war effort.

One of my cousins is the family custodian of our Nana’s 5 Star Badge and has had it framed with photos of Nana and her five boys who went to war. It was seeing this beautifully framed picture recently that gave me the impetus to write this story.

Florence May Barrett with her five sons and her 5 Star Badge.
Photo courtesy of my cousin

Acknowledgements:

A big thankyou to my Uncle Ken Barrett who gave me an understanding of the family logistics, the dynamics of what was happening in the family and the local history of the time.

And to my brother-in-law Peter Allen who is my guiding light on all things military my continuing gratitude.

Thanks also to my cousin for preserving the 5 Star Badge and giving it pride of place for future generations to see.

References:

Female Relative Badge | Australian War Memorial (awm.gov.au)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conscription_in_Australia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_Military_Forces#:~:text=The%20Australian%20Military%20Forces%20(AMF,Citizen%20Military%20Force%20(ACMF) 

Susan McClafferty: A Life Cut Short

Irish immigrants on board ship

Susan McClafferty came to Sydney with her brother Michael on board the ship Nile half-way across the world in 1861 to start a new life in Australia. Her sister Mary was already here having come on an earlier ship the Caribou in 1859. Their brother Edward would soon join them. Having buried their parents Charles and Margaret ‘Peggy’, the four young McClaffertys had left poverty stricken Donegal for a better life in a new land. You can read more about the scheme that brought them to Australia here.

On board the Caribou with Mary McClafferty had been the man Susan would soon marry, John Gorman.

Civil marriage certificate of John Gorman and Susan McClafferty

Susan McClafferty and John Gorman were married in Rockhampton on 1 June 1862 by Father Patrick Duhig who had arrived not long before them to commence pastoral duties for the people of Rockhampton and its surrounds. The witnesses were Myles Sweeney and Ann McAllister so it is unlikely that any of Susan’s family was present at the ceremony.

Church marriage certificate of
John Gorman and Susan McClafferty

The first official Catholic mass in Rockhampton was held in May 1862 when Bishop James Quinn of Brisbane sent two young priests on a pastoral visit. Bishop Quinn had arrived in Brisbane as the first Bishop of the city in May 1861. Father James Scully and Father Patrick Duhig arrived in Rockhampton aboard the Clarence and celebrated the first mass in the local Court House with about 50 attendees.

As there was no Catholic church at the time it was customary to marry in someone else’s premises and Susan and John were married in the ‘house of William James’. Of the three couples on the register preceding John and Susan’s entry, two were married in the ‘house of Rev P Duhig’ and one in the home of the groom. In 1859 Mr William James had built the Golden Fleece Hotel on the corner of Quay and William streets where the Heritage Hotel now stands. John gave his occupation as ‘labourer’ on the civil registration but for the Catholic marriage certificate both John and Susan gave their occupations as ‘servant’. Were they living at the Golden Fleece Hotel? Might they have been working for William James?

What attracted this young couple to Rockhampton? What induced them to travel 1,400kms to an unknown place? And how did they get there?

Ships docked at Quay St wharf Rockhampton 1864

The town of Rockhampton was proclaimed in 1858 with the first land sale held on 17 November of that year. The settlement of the Archers had brought a number of graziers to Central Queensland and runs were taken up in all directions. The squatters had a need for supplies and to get their produce to market, and it was quickly recognised that Rockhampton with it easy access to the back country and situated on a large navigable river was a perfect port.

Fitzroy River bridge Rockhampton 1864

In 1859 the colony of Queensland was proclaimed and from the start the people of Rockhampton were convinced that their town should be the capital given that it was centrally located within the state. 1861 saw a surge in development with the discovery of copper and gold on Peak Downs. The population at this stage was 698 of whom 439 were males and 259 females. In 1862 the Queensland Shipping Company, with its steamer Queensland, went into competition with the Australian Steam Navigation Company. The SS Queensland was the first of their ships to arrive in Rockhampton in that year. This led to fares and freight costs being considerably reduced.

There was a need for labour to support the fast growing community. John and his new bride were clearly pioneers ready to take on the challenge of a new frontier, and the steamers their way of getting there.

Susan and John welcomed their first child, a daughter, on 27 March 1863 and in accordance with the traditional Irish naming convention they named her Margaret after Susan’s mother. Margaret was born in Rockhampton and was delivered by Dr Callaghan who had arrived in the town in 1861. Dr Callaghan immediately built a successful practice and was to remain working in Rockhampton for 41 years until his death.

Birth certificate of Margaret Gorman

Margaret was baptised by Fr Charles Murlay, a young French priest, who had arrived in the same year to take care of the newly formed Rockhampton parish to which over 3,000 Irish immigrants came between 1862-1865. The baptism was conducted in the new church dedicated to St Joseph on the spot that would later become St Joseph’s Cathedral. Fr Murlay was a much loved priest who remained in Rockhampton for many years. Susan’s sister Mary was the godmother so it is likely that Mary was already living there.

A drayman

On the birth certificate John gave his occupation as ‘drayman’, a driver of a large flatbed wagon pulled by horses to transport goods and often used for deliveries of ale and beer. From other articles in the newspaper of the time it is likely that he was in the employ of another as a drayman to transport goods to and from the wharf around town or even to and from the goldfields.

By 1865 Susan’s siblings had joined them in Rockhampton and the year brought many joys. Her sister Mary married Frank Chardon in February of that year. Susan’s brother Michael married Catherine Fox in the October with their brother Edward being a witness. How wonderful it must have been to have all of her family around her.

Birth certificate of Mary Gorman

On 23 November 1865 Susan and John were greeted with the birth of their second child, another daughter, whom they named Mary after John’s mother. Mary was delivered in Rockhampton by the same Dr Callaghan. Susan made her mark ‘X’ on the certificate indicating she was still not able to sign her name. John was now a ‘carter’, a general term for a driver of any horse-drawn vehicle for transporting goods, but perhaps indicating that he had his own horse and cart. At any rate he was still making his living transporting goods around town or further afield.

Four days after Mary Gorman was born, Susan’s sister Mary Chardon nee McClafferty gave birth to her first-born Frank. Fr Murlay performed the baptism and Edward McClafferty and Susan were the godparents.

Life seemed to be full of promise in Rockhampton. The next we know of John and Susan is that they are living in Bowral, New South Wales, some 1500 kilometres south of Rockhampton in 1867. John’s sister Mary was now married and living in the neighbouring town of Berrima. On 11 July 1865 Mary had paid a deposit of £8, £4 as the required proportion to be applied towards the passage and £4 as the required proportion to be applied towards the outfit for the voyage, for her sister Margaret to join them in Australia. Margaret should have arrived some time in 1866. So we can only assume that Susan and John travelled south to spend some time with John’s sisters. And in early 1867 Susan and John were expecting their third child.

But then their world was turned upside down as tragedy struck the little family! On 13 December 1867 Susan died in childbirth after a labour of 22 hours leaving a grieving husband with two little girls of 4 and 2. Fortunately John’s sister Mary stepped in to look after the children. Susan is buried along with their baby in the Lower Mittagong Marist Brothers Catholic Cemetery. Church records indicate Susan’s burial although no grave markings are to be found and there is no information available as to the whereabouts of their grave. It is thought that they are buried near the fence with others of that time.

Lower Mittagong Cemetery

Section where it is thought Susan is buried

By the time she was 25 Susan McClafferty had already achieved so much. From poverty in Donegal Ireland she had braved a voyage of many months risking life on the open seas. She travelled half way across the country to start a life in a fledgling town with her new husband-to-be. She had married and together with her husband had created two little girls. With her family around her she had a happy life ahead of her. But that was not to be. Although Susan McClafferty’s life was cut so cruelly short, her name lived on in the next generation with each of her brothers Michael and Edward naming one of their girls after her.

Postscript:

Susan McClafferty is not my ancestor. I am descended from John Gorman and his second wife but that story is for another day.

This story is dedicated to the memory of Sheila Margaret Gorman 1937-2020. Sheila sent me a note circa 1993 ‘I know Susan McClafferty is not our ancestor but I feel I almost know her! S.’ Thank you Sheila for inspiring me to look into this young woman's story. I know what you mean.

I also wish to acknowledge the fine work of Noeleen Margaret Watt 1927-2010, another distant cousin and descendant of Susan McClafferty and John Gorman. Noeleen's excellent book is called ‘Who’s Who? And What’s Watt?’

The Gheas: Our Eurasian Family

Ghea Family c1930
Standing (left to right): Dick, Tilly, Liza, Maud, Dotsie
Seated: Flo, Emily, Great-Great-Grandma Annie, Minnie, Fanny
In front: Bunny

My Aunty Daph died on the 4^th November 1990. She was my paternal grandmother’s sister. It was only then as a result of a conversation with some in my family soon after her death that I discovered that we were Chinese. That was the catalyst for starting my family history journey.

The Gheas have always fascinated me ... probably because of the Chinese and even the German. I would have expected English, Irish and Scottish ... but German and Chinese? How exotic!

I can still remember how delighted I was when I was first given a copy of this beautiful photo above of the whole Ghea family ... well not quite the whole family. Where was Great-Great-Grandfather Ghea? This photo is one of two taken on the same occasion. The other photo is taken with hats on. The dress would date the photos to the late 1920s or early 1930s and the hats would likely indicate a family wedding. Great-Great-Grandfather Ghea had died in 1918.

Photo taken same day with hats on
(colorized courtesy of My Heritage website)

The head of the Ghea family was William Gee from Canton (Guangdong Province) China. Unlike Europeans the first Chinese weren’t recorded, or even regularly counted, as entering the Australian colonies so we don’t know exactly when he arrived. The first record we have for him is his marriage certificate.

Marriage certificate of William Gee and Anna Elise Wieckhorst

What a surprise I got when I found the marriage! Not only was the spelling of Ghea different but the bride was the wrong person! By this stage I already knew that William had married Anna Elise ‘Annie Elizabeth’ Wieckhorst so was more than a little perplexed to see a different person on the certificate.

William and Annie were married on 28 April 1870 in Maryborough Queensland. William gave his details as being a bachelor from Canton China, his occupation as cook, his age as 28, his current address as Maryborough, his parents’ names as John Wong Sing and Ah Houn, and his father’s occupation as merchant. Annie gave her name as Katie Sharp and her details as being a spinster from Hamburg Germany, her occupation as domestic, her age as 19, her current address as Maryborough, her parents’ names as Peter Sharp (in reality Peter Wieckhorst) and Annie Wickhorst (in reality Annie Reinfahrt), and her father’s occupation as carpenter. Annie could sign her name but William could not sign his name in English. Witnesses were George Ernest Macrae and John Patrick Furey.

Annie was 16 at the time of the marriage and not 19 as she claimed. William’s age varies enormously across the different records that exist so we don't know his exact age. He may well have put his age down at the time of his marriage to appear closer in age to his bride. 

Not only did Annie give her name as Katie Sharp for the marriage but she recorded it for the birth of her first 10 children. It was only for the birth of her 11^th child did she give her correct name. What would make her change her name? And why Katie Sharp?

One of the stories I heard when first beginning my search was that ‘Grandfather Ghea had to buy her (Annie)’. When I asked if that meant a dowry, the reply was that ‘No one wanted to marry a Chinese. They had to buy them (brides).’ I wondered if Annie had changed her name to disassociate herself from her father who had given her away as a 16 year old bride to a much older man.

In recent years another distant cousin revealed that their family story was that William and Annie had eloped. We know that Annie put her age up by 3 years for the marriage. At 16 she was too young to marry without written permission from a parent. This, together with the fact that no family member was a witness at the marriage, would point to the absence of family at the ceremony. The fact that Annie put her age up would indicate her consent to marrying William.  Additionally her mother had died a year prior to the marriage. It’s highly likely that Annie was in the role of housekeeper for her father and her two older brothers as well as the younger children. Was the prospect of running the household for years too much?

And where did the name Katie Sharp come from? I searched the passenger list from the ship that carried the Wieckhorsts to Australia and many other records but could not find any clue.

At any rate it is fair to assume that the marriage was a happy one. They had a large family and the marriage endured.

Children of William Gee and Anna Elise Wieckhorst

Ancestry ethnicity 7% Chinese

Nothing is complete in the world of family history these days until you have proven your DNA link to your forebears. I am happy to report that not only do I have 7% Chinese ethnicity but I have identified DNA matches with descendants of three of the 10 Ghea children as well as with a number of descendants of Annie Ghea nee Wieckhorst's grandparents. I can therefore claim the Gheas as part of my genetic family.

Note: Family history is a never ending story. If you find an error on this page or have anything new to contribute to this topic I would love to hear from you.

Please email me on Kathryn.Barrett02 at gmail.com

Jack Barrett's Will: How the Thackerays got the Barrett money

John Barrett 1849-1923
reproduced with permission
©B Bywater

Growing up we knew a lot about our Nana’s side of the family. We knew her sisters and their families. There were photos. We heard lots of family stories. But when I came to think of it I hadn’t met any of my grandfather’s family. I hadn’t seen any photos, heard any names or any stories. I didn’t even know how many brothers or sisters he had.

Midgee property with cemetery now in the middle of a quarry

The one thing I did remember was Midgee. Whenever we were driving south out of Rockhampton past Midgee Dad would point out the property where his father had grown up. And he would point to the family grave where Grandad’s little sister was buried up on the hill. She had died in a fire.

When I started the family history 30 years ago I asked many questions of the family to try to unravel the story of Midgee and our Barretts.

I heard that Grandad’s father used to whip the boys if the cattle got out and that my grandfather ran away from home as a teenager. I also heard that Grandad’s mother left his father as soon as the children grew up. I heard that Grandad’s father married the housekeeper Nina Thackeray after his wife died. And I heard that the Thackerays ‘got all the money’.

Grandad’s father was John Barrett who had come to Australia from Manchester England as an 14 year old with his parents Benjamin and Mary Ann and his three sisters and two brothers on the ship Hannah More arriving at Keppel Bay in 12 October 1863.

John ‘Jack’ Barrett at 17 years of age married Ellen Scully in 1866 in Rockhampton. Ellen had arrived with her sisters Bridget and Honora on the ship Landsborough also at Keppel Bay in 23 January 1865.

Jack and Ellen had 10 children: Joseph, Mary Ann ‘Polly’, Catherine ‘Kate’, Elizabeth, Edith ‘Eda’, Nora, John ‘Jack’, Ellen or Helen ‘Nell’, Sarah and Margaret. Poor little Margaret was the toddler who was only 15 months old when she died in the fire and was buried in the family graveyard up on the hill at Midgee.

John and Nina Barrett South Rockhampton cemetery

As we all do when we start our family history I looked for the graves. I found the graves in the South Rockhampton cemetery. My great-grandfather was buried with Nina, his second wife, in the Anglican section and my great-grandmother was buried with two of her daughters Elizabeth and Edith who had predeceased her, in the Catholic section, almost as an afterthought it seemed with her inscription on the side of Edith’s headstone.

Ellen Barrett nee Scully
South Rockhampton cemetery

Death certificate of John Barrett 

When I received John Barrett's death certificate the first surprise I got was that my grandfather J. F. Barrett was the informant. Somehow I had formed the impression that he had fled his father never to return. But that clearly wasn’t so. He must have reconnected with his father and Nina at some stage.

So off to Queensland State Archives I went and found the will and probate details.

The will was three pages long, quite detailed and clearly not a simple matter of gifting everything to his second wife Nina.

 

The estate was divided up in the following manner:

·       Nina (wife)
o   “Midgee Cottage” in Kent Street
o   North Street property
o   store on the corner of Archer and West Streets
o   £300
o   War Peace bonds £850
o   life estate over “Fariview” including contents in Cambridge and Talford Street

·       John Stanley Burns (grandson)
o   “Fairview” on the death of Nina
o   “Roundbay” in Cambridge Street

·       Thomas Howard Burns (grandson)
o   Two properties in Oxford Road

·       James Patrick Burns (grandson)
o   £420 owing on West Street property
o   West Street house and land

·       John Fitzroy Barrett (son)
o   “Kensington” in George Street

·       Mary Portus (daughter) 
o   House and land Talford and Archer Streets

·       Sarah Barrett (daughter) £200

Probate application p1

·       John Edwin Fitzroy Barrett, Rowley David Winsall Barrett and Gordon Vivian Barrett (grandsons) £100 each

·       Ellen Pearson (sister) £100

·       Nora Burns (daughter) Approx. £1,100 rest and residue of the estate

The executors of the will were Henry Barrett, son of his brother Benjamin, and Benjamin John Adams, son of his sister Sarah Adams.

The will was signed 10 weeks before his death.

(To put the gifts into some perspective, in 1922 the minimum wage was £4.10.0)

Probate application p2

Jack Barrett's will summary showing all grandchildren alive at the time of the signing of the will

Some of Jack Barrett’s children and grandchildren would have become quite wealthy as a result of this will and some missed out completely.

What was his thinking in drawing up this will? Why was there no provision for two of his daughters? Did he think they were well catered for by their husbands? Had they sided with their mother and cut him out of their lives? Why did he cut out one of his two sons? Why was the provision for most of his grandchildren so disproportionate to what others received?

It would appear that some were in favour and others completely out of favour. On the face of it, it certainly paints a picture of a fractured family.

While it isn’t completely accurate to say that the Thackerays ‘got all the money’ it must have been galling for his children and grandchildren when some 20 years later Nina’s large portion of the Barrett estate passed to unrelated people, particularly when five of the nine children, or their offspring, were disinherited.