Madness Monday

It's Monday - and Mental Health Week started in Australia on Sunday 5th October, so, it must be Madness Monday.

I know of two other members of my family, apart from myself, who have experienced 'madness'. My paternal great grandmother and my father. Both were in asylums at some stage, for long or short stays. Today I will write about my great grandmother, Mary Connor.

Mary was born Mary Cameron in 1835 in Glenmore Ardnamurchan Scotland, the sixth child of Dugald & Christian Cameron. The Cameron family left Scotland on the Blenheim 29th August 1840 and arrived at Port Nicholson (Wellington, New Zealand) on 27th December 1840. There is evidence of  the family arriving in New Zealand but no proof of the family 'crossing the ditch'. However, Ann Cameron. Mary's older sister married Hugh Connor on 20th April 1845 at Williams River, New South Wales. Mary married Hugh Connor's brother, William Connor, on 19th July 1853 at Bartie's Farm near Hinton, New South Wales. Mary was unable to read or write at the time of her marriage.

Marriage of William & Mary 1853 by Robert Blain, Presbyterian Minister

Travel Tuesday

A beautiful day in Brisbane - so I thought I would share some thoughts about my last trip to Scotland in 2008. Unfortunately I had not confirmed the location of my Cameron ancestors, apart from the fact they came from Argyll, when I journeyed there.

Rhododendrons at Rosslyn 

I had attended a conference in Edinburgh and drove south towards the border with a friend to visit Rosslyn Chapel, 8 miles from Edinburgh, (just had to visit) and Melrose Abbey. It was a beautiful summer's day (July) and fortunately there was not a big crowd at Rosslyn. The chapel choir was rehearsing for a ceremony while we visited so we were able to sit for a while and take in the atmosphere of the Chapel. Sitting there it was entirely probable that the Knights Templar had hidden secrets there, as per Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code.

Pillar - with Green Man in centre

Carvings in the Chapel are amazing, how those early stonemasons managed the designs and execution of the patterns. Everywhere we looked there were more intricate and different carvings.

After Rosslyn we drove south to the ruins of Melrose Abbey, 48 miles from Edinburgh, about an hour's drive. The day was still beautiful, blue sky and a gentle breeze. We stopped for lunch at Melrose and sat on an old tombstone in the garden to enjoy the sunshine before exploring the Abbey.