A Spear, a Chief and a Bishop

Flying around our suburban backyard in the ‘50s and ‘60s was a wooden spear with plaited hair wound around the top. It was a great hit with the local kids – not literally, thank goodness, but, rather, a curiosity, something foreign. Where had it come from? The spear was given to Dad during the Second READ MORE

100 today…well, she would have been.

Today, Mum, Teresa Bernadette Coghlan née Winter (1917-2010)—known as Berna—would have been 100 years old. Wow. Hard to imagine. To commemorate her ‘centenary’ I’ve put together some research regarding her nursing training in Melbourne (1939-1942) during WW2. The story goes that Mum gained no pleasure from working behind the bar at her aunties’ hotel, the READ MORE

Sitting next door to Alice

Amongst Mum’s repertoire of schoolgirl memories was the oft-repeated story of Alice and her lollies. Mum sat next to Alice in the one and only classroom, consisting of Grades 1 to 8, at St. Joseph’s Convent School, Cora Lynn, West Gippsland. The story went something like this: “Alice’s parents had a shop in Nar Nar READ MORE

Back to the Main Drain – Cora Lynn, Vervale and Iona

My cousin, Howard, and his mum, Muriel WINTER* (nee FALLON) kindly offered to take me on a tour of the old sites of my grandparents: For Mum’s side, the WINTER family—Cora Lynn, Vervale and Iona farms, and, for Dad’s side, the COGHLAN family—Cora Lynn General Store, all situated around the Main Drain on the Koo READ MORE

An Officer and a Gentleman

 Remembrance Day,  11 November 2015 David Thomas LEE was my Dad’s cousin (and for the family’s information Ron Lee’s brother). He was to be the best man at my parents’ wedding in January 1943, but he was unable to attend due to RAAF training commitments in preparation for action in WWII. On the 5th November READ MORE

98 today…..well, she would have been

Mum would have been 98 today. To honour her memory I’ve dedicated my first post, in my first blog, to her, Teresa Bernadette WINTER (1917-2010). The WINTER Family Mum, known as Berna, was born on the 28th October 1917 at 93 Station St., Fairfield, at the back of her father’s butcher’s shop… or so the READ MORE