Fearless Females - March 6 - heirlooms

The blogging prompt for March 6 - describe an heirloom you may have inherited. There are a few pieces of jewellery that I have inherited from my family.

My daughter-in-law in 1993

Of greatest importance is one I haven't inherited as yet, my 91-year old mother still has this in her possession. It's an oval gold locket with an Irish harp on both sides. Joseph Antoney gave this gift  to my great-great grandmother, Elizabeth Hannah Young when they married in Bowen, Queensland in 1867. Elizabeth was from Dublin, and Joseph apparently bought the locket with the Irish harp on it as a reminder of her Irish heritage. This locket has been passed down through the female generations, via the eldest daughter, ever since and worn on their wedding days as 'something old' or 'something borrowed'. My great-grandmother & her sister wore the locket as did my grandmother & her two sisters, my mother & her sister, myself and my daughter-in-law. Christine is wearing the locket in 1993, and you can just see it above her brooch. I hope my three granddaughters will carry on the tradition.

Another piece of jewellery is a Mizpah brooch my great-grandmother left me. Granny had received the brooch from her second husband before he left for WWI in 1914. It was a common gift for loved ones in the early 20th century. I sometimes wear the brooch when I am feeling sentimental. See the meaning of Mizpah here.

Another heirloom, from another great-grandmother, is a pendant and gold chain. It seed pearls and a blue stone, perhaps a small sapphire and was passed on to my great-grandmother from her mother. I sometimes wear this.

I think that it is wonderful to have pieces handed down from previous generations. I know my mother has more pieces of jewellery in her possession. I hope to pass these heirlooms down to my three granddaughters in due course.

Fearless Females - March 5 - Nan & Doug

The blogging prompt for March 5 - How did they meet?

Continuing from yesterday and my maternal grandparent's marriage that is the question - how did they meet? I know this story well, my grandmother often told me how they met.

Nurses at BGH - 1920

Dorothy May

Dorothy May Thomas was nursing at the Brisbane General Hospital and looked after George Douglas McCann, who was in the hospital for a leg injury. Interestingly Dorothy was friends with Pat McCann, Doug's sister, who was a little ahead of her at the hospital.

As Dorothy was from Mackay and had no family in Brisbane, her friend Pat invited her to stay with the McCann family on her day off from the hospital, and romance blossomed between Dorothy May and Doug.  In the picture to the right, taken at the Outpatients Department in 1920, Dorothy is seen on the far right.
So that's the story of how my maternal grandparents met.

Fearless Females - March 4 - Mrs George Douglas McCann

The blogging prompt for March 4 - marriage records for your grandparents.

My maternal grandparents George Douglas McCann and Dorothy May Thomas (Nan) were married on the 23rd January 1924 by the Rev James Cosh, Presbyterian Minister, at his residence on Old Sandgate Road,  Albion, Brisbane. 

I have the Certificate of Marriage handed to my grandparents after the marriage. it is noted 518/1924. The certificate was in a tattered envelope addressed as follows:

Mrs George Douglas McCann

23 January 1924

May your happiness be as deep as the sea,
 and your sorrows as light as the flying foam.

It was a private ceremony before John Thomas (Jack) Rice and Catherine Olive Ann McCann, my grandfather's sister. Nan told me she had a posy of white daisies from the garden as a bouquet tied with ribbon, perhaps like this one. Nan always liked daisies, she thought they were happy flowers. Perhaps it was because they reminded her of her wedding day.

Fearless Females - March 3 - Hephzibah

The blogging prompt for March 3 - list the unique or unusual first name you've come across in your family tree.

Well, apart from all the Mary and Elizabeth first names I have Hephzibah or Hipsea for short. This has been a most useful name when I have been searching as the surname has been Thomas, Cable or Hill so Hephzibah has been helpful. My first is my 4th great-grandmother Hepzibah Cable, then Hephzibah Thomas my 2nd great-great aunt, next Hephzibah Mary Elizabeth Hill my 1st cousin 3 times removed and finally Hephzibah Mary Thomas my second cousin twice removed  - and there you have it.

Where does Hephzibah originate? Hephzibah means "my delight is in her" in Hebrew. She is a queen and the mother of Manasseh in the Old Testament. (Behind the name) 

Interestingly Hephzibah is also a city in Richmond County, Georgia, USA. As I don't have a picture of my Hephzibah ancestors I thought I would give you an image of the whereabouts of Hephzibah, Georgia in relation to the Eastern United States.

Fearless Females - March 2 - Dorothy May Thomas

The blogging prompt for March 2 - post a photo of one of your female ancestors.

I have chosen this photo of my maternal grandmother Dorothy May Thomas, taken by the St Austell Studio in Mackay, Queensland. The image was taken at the photographer's studio with Dorothy May  dressed in a Welsh girl's costume for a fancy-dress ball.  She was about six, so the date was approximately 1904.

I chose this for two reasons; my grandmother loved this photo and often showed it to me telling me that the Thomas family was from Wales. How interesting to find that they were from Somerset, England and not from Wales. Well, of course, they could have originally been from Wales but imagine trying to find the correct James Thomas in Wales!

Fearless Females - March 1

Well, here I go with another challenge I must have too much spare time. Thanks to Liza Alzo for bringing this exciting challenge to mind. The theme for National Women's History Month (NWHM) is "Weaving the Stories of Women's Lives" so the combination of Lisa's challenge and NWHM is serendipitous.

The prompt fo March 1 is - Do you have a favorite female ancestor? One you are drawn to or want to learn more about? Where do I start? Who will I choose?

It's quite easy really; I have a 4th great-grandmother Mary Elizabeth Sarsfield Donovan who was born in St Phillip, Barbados in 1768. My Barbados ancestors fascinate me, and I can't get enough of them. 

I want to find out more about the Sarsfield name. Mary Elizabeth named her second daughter, my 3rd great-grandmother, Martha Sarsfield Donovan so the name must have had a significance to Mary Elizabeth & her parents.

What to do next? Search the British settlers' in Barbados database for any connection to the Proverbs or Bracey families. Search Carribean marriages, etc. for a connection. Does anybody have any ideas?