Wednesday, 15 April 2015

M is for Maggie (#AtoZChallenge)

M is for Maggie (#AtoZChallenge)

M is for Maggie, no not  Margaret (though there are 81 females named Margaret in my family file) but Maggie. Maggie Eunice McCann was (my great Aunty Meg) born in Lismore, New South Wales on the 25th January 1902, the 5th child of George McCann and Catherine Eunice McLaren. 

Aunty Meg was great fun when I was growing up, she smoked cigarettes and drank beer and whisky much to the regret of her Presbyterian mother, Granny McCann. Aunty Meg also played cards and I believe was a dab hand at poker. I remember Granny McCann telling me that 'cards were the instrument of the devil' - poor Aunty Meg.

Meg married Joseph Johnston, from Belfast, in Brisbane in 1922. They had six children three boys and three girls - very well organised. I didn't know Uncle Joe as they had separated before  I was old enough to realise Aunty Meg had a husband. My mother tells tales of the Johnstone clan holidaying with them at the beach and said Uncle Joe was great fun.

When I was old enough to notice such things, Aunty Meg had a 'friend', Jack Livingstone, who drove a very fancy, I'm talking 1950s here, Cadillac convertible car, painted pink. I believe Jack imported the car from the USA and had it converted. I loved being taken for a drive in that car, quite a treat in 1950s Brisbane.
Car just like Jack had - I especially remember the fins on the back
Don't know what happened to Jack, Aunty Meg died in July 1974 in Surfers Paradise and is buried in Toowong Cemetery.

As I said she was great fun, Rest in Peace Maggie.


This post is part of the 2015 Blogging from A to Z Challenge. My theme is Names: First Names from My Family File. Stay tuned for the rest of the alphabet, and if you'd like to check out the other A to Z participants, simply click here.

3 comments:

  1. Maggie sounds like a wonderfully fun person to know. :)

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  2. Thanks Tyrean - yes Aunty Meg was great fun

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