Lilian's Tree

Born   1898 to Thomas ABBERTON and his wife Louisa NICHOLS, at Goulburn, NSW. He was their sixth child and fourth son. His three older brothers also served and when he enlisted both his parents were deceased. Enlisted   1 st AIF on 7 March   1917 and gave his age as 19yrs 10mths, with an occupation of Junior Porter. A description shows that he had blue eyes and brown hair and stood 5’6” tall. Leslie embarked from Sydney on the 9 May 1917 and arrived in Suez on 20 June 1919. While in the Middle East he served with the 2 nd Light Horse Machine Gun Squadron.   His records show that he spent time with a Training Regiment before transferring to the Machine Gun Squadron on the 20 August 1917. He was admitted to hospital, with influenza on 9 October 1917 and he re-joined his unit on 16 October 1917. I do not know what battle Leslie was wounded, as the Red Cross records give varying places but on 10 November 1917 he suffered gunshot wounds to his legs. The reading of his Casualty

Names, something we are given at birth, or close to it by our parents and they can be the bane of our lives. Some people change them, as soon as they can. Some have a nick-name and no-one knows their given name. Some take a common name and give it a different spelling. Some change the way it is said.   Who remembers Hyacinth Bucket, from the TV show “Keeping Up Appearances,” always telling people that it was pronounced Bouquet? When doing family tree research, I have discovered that I really needed to think differently about people’s names.   We have all come across Baptismal records, where the priest has written the names in Latin, making us reach for a Latin dictionary. But what of the name Peggy? Is she a Margaret, Marjory or a Margo?   On my tree she is a Norma! I have;   Maryann, who became a May Mary. Andrew Alexander, who was known as Sandy. Elizabeth who was known as Betty, Beth or Tibby. Cecilia, who was known as Sissy or Cecily. Then there are the na

Friday 17th. Good Morning Sunrise! After the rain, overnight I didn't think the morning would be dry, warm and calm. Obscured by clouds, sunrise was pretty, with shafts of light piercing through and again I was the only person around. Breakfast and then a walk south, past the surf club and down the steps to Shelly Beach, ( must be the name to give a small beach, with shells, as I know of at least four). We didn't go right to the bottom as it is the beach for dogs, it looks like rock platforms and a bit of sand. Heading up we decided to walk around the block and back in the top end of Kim's. There are 36 steps from the street to reception/ dining room area. Done in sets with long runs between them. Going up and down give you plenty of exercise.  The view along the steps. Shelly Beach.  The water dragon was perched on a stone temple, in the middle of the fishpond and was very obliging for photos.  Reading and relaxing, while Paul did his

Arriving, yesterday afternoon, we settled into our villa and unpacked. Pre-dinner drinks from 6.30pm in the cocktail lounge, followed by dinner at 7.30pm.  Bed, after a glass of port and chocolate. The sound of the sea, lulled  us to sleep. I was up at 5.15am, so I didn't miss sunrise. Cool but not cold, with no wind,  I stood just off the beach and watched as the sun slowly crept up out of the ocean. Beautiful. It was cloudy on the horizon but there was enough of a gap to see the sun. Back inside, Paul was still asleep, I made a cuppa and relaxed.  Breakfast at 8.30am was a buffet style, like last nights dinner. Plenty of delicious selections to choose from.  After breakfast we strolled to the Toowoon Bay Surf Life Saving Club and discovered that they had a café, something to consider, for lunch. Back in our villa, I settled down to do some research and Paul did his weight lifting exercises. Finding the coffee table to low, I set myself up at the desk, only to discov

Today we explored three new wineries, Thomas Wines, Peter Drayton Wines and Usher Tinkler Wines. Thomas Wines are known for the Semillon and Shiraz, after a small tasting we selected the Semillon, for dinner, and the Shiraz to take home.                                            The view from Thomas Wines, stunning. Peter Drayton is part of the wine family, Drayton. We have purchased Drayton's wines before and like them, so thought we would give Peter's a try. Not disappointed. A liquored Muscat and a liquored Verdelho, were delicious and added to our collection, along with his Moscato. We had been told to try Usher Tinkler, as we were after some Muscat. Well after two tastings we walked out. We were the only ones there and the person, looking after us, poured the first one, explained it, poured the second one, explained it and then disappeared! There was other staff and they ignored us as well, so we left. Thought we would have a look at the Hunter Valley Gar

Today we said 'good bye' to the wine region and made our way to the coast. Stopping to see Jill and Robert Ball, in their new home on the way through was great. They have a wonderful view of Lake Macquarie and it was great to have lunch with them and catch-up. We then drove to Kim's Beachside Resort, Towoon Bay, home until Saturday. We are very close to the beach, in a villa and are planning to do not a lot very slowly. I will blog about our stay but it won't be until we get home. Bye, till Saturday. Lilian.

                                              Today is our wine tour day with Two Fat Blokes. Our driver collected us and two other couples, bringing our bus passengers to nine in total,  one Japanese lady and the rest Aussies and then promptly got lost. This made us 30 minuets late for our first stop. Lucy's Run, is a small winery and to my mind the friendliest of all. A delicious range of wines, served with bread, olive oil, balsamic vinegar and two different spices. Yum. We ordered some wines and spices and asked if they could be sent home, as this is only part one of our holiday. Glandore Estate Wines was next and here we tasted the wines, with chocolates. Different, delicious and interesting to see how the flavours change. On to Hanging Tree Wines, for our next tasting and lunch. This is the hanging tree, not used to hand bushrangers, as we all thought but they would slaughter the cows and hang them from the tree, to drain the blood out. Our little gro

 Today, on our morning stroll, it was the feathered friends that took centre stage. The beautiful, cheeky pink and grey Galahs, were out enjoying what ever they could find in the grass. Last night they hung around in the gum tree, outside our patio door. Then we saw the shy but noisy Little Corella and were dived bombed! Cheeky. They kangaroos were out as well. Today we went to Kevin Sobels Wines for their annual wine club member's lunch. Being taken there in the bus, with others, so we could all enjoy the wine. Moscato and nibbles, on arrival and the chance to meet people. Lunch was served in one of the wine sheds, with empty oak barrels and crates of wine as the décor. A jazz band kept our toes tapping. A delicious three course meal, lots of different wines to taste, lots of laughter and interesting conversations. It was a very, very enjoyable day. Back to our place and we went for a walk. Dinner was cheese and bickies and wine, in front of the T

After leaving Wyong, we headed to Pokolbin and the Wine Region, our home for four nights. Our first stop was Pokolbin Village and the Smelly Deli, for a cheese platter, having already  picked-up a bottle of wine.  Then it was 'lunch', well sort of. Sabor in the Hunter, does desserts and only desserts and they are paired with local wines, ports and liqueurs. Paul had the Belgium  waffles, with melted chocolate, ice-cream and  strawberries, paired with bubbly.     I had the Black Forest cake, paired with a raspberry liqueur. The selection is wonderful, with two different tasting plates, as well. We took one back to the apartment, for after the cheese. Once we had checked in and unpacked, we went for a walk and ran into this lot! they were more concerned about the golfer, trying to find his ball, than us. There were several joeys, close to their mums.                         Cheese, wine and dessert on the patio ended day one of our ad

Before I continue with our Excellent Adventure, I thought that I had better do this disclaimer. I don't get any 'kick backs' from any one or company that these posts mention. My comments, suggestions and thoughts are mine, alone. Most places have a website, so you will be able to find them.. Bye, Lilian.

Having travelled up on Thursday, went spent the night at Wyong.  Friday dawned crisp and sunny and as we didn't have to be anywhere until 10.00am, a walk was in order. Wyong is very hilly, so we stuck to the block, on which the motel was located. Not a small block by any means. Deciding to leave early, to a) get a good parking spot and b) get Paul a coffee, we left about 9.00am.A Gloria Jeans was located and Paul enjoyed a cappuccino. Then it was off to Tuggerah library for an author talk, by Rachael Johns.  Paul settled himself into a comfy chair and turned is book reader on. Rachael Johns is an Australian author of Rural Romance and Women's Literature, with over 20 books published. Her first book Jilted was published in 2012 and her latest The Greatest Gift, published this year and released earlier this month. I have only discovered Rachael's books this year, silly me and I now have 11 of them on my Kindle as well as hard copies. Her Outback series; Outback Blaze,

Some images of the Roll of Honour, Australian War Memorial.                                               Lone Pine, Gallipoli. Gallipoli. At the going down of the sun And in the morning, We Will Remember Them. Lest We Forget.

(very tongue in cheek.) There has been an on going discussion, in the Australian Parliament as to wether several members are really Australian citizens or by descent something else, entirely. This got me thinking; Am I really an Aussie? Could I really be a Pom?!  Let me explain. My Dad, Matthew, was born in The Colony of New South Wales, in October  1896, (yes that is correct). Making him a British Subject. Now  as I was born, pre 1983, I fell into a sort of grey area. This is from Wikipedia and is as confusing as anything, because you have to know which of the Acts, you are covered under. Now I was born AFTER 1948. Australia retained the status of British subject until the Australian Citizenship Amendment Act 1984 removed Part II of the Nationality and Citizenship Act 1948 effective on 1 May 1987. Between 1 January 1983 and 1 May 1987 a British citizen and an Australian citizen were both British subjects under Australian law, but not under United Kingdom law. [ 6] (my hig

Reading my December 2017 copy of Family Tree magazine;   www.family-tree.co.uk   and found an interesting article about British convicts.  Free new website traces British convicts, page 7 and thought that I would have a look and 'play' around on it. www.digitalpanopticon.org The opening paragraph of the article reads;  "A vast, new, free online resource is enabling researchers to trace the lives of transported and imprisoned convicts in Britain and Australia between 1780 and 1925."    I thought that this is great and went and had a look. It is a very well set out site, with clear tabs to take you to other areas. You can read about prison hulks, punishments, what London was like at the time and some of the convicts own stories. I searched for my Simon McKenzie and found that there were 11 records for Simon McKenzie, with around six belonging to my Simon. When you click on the entry, it pops-up another box and give details of what the entry is about and where yo

Am I supposed to write something profound for my 500th post?  Looking back at my posts, I see that I have written on many and varied topics. Why did I choose them? Some were used to try and find 'family'. Some were to show where I'd been. Some  were where I reviewed books or websites. A large number cover different aspects of genealogy. For April 2016, I did the A-Z Challenge and was please with my effort. It was hard coming up with ideas for each letter of the alphabet. I'm going to do it again in 2018. So for my 500th, I'm going to give you photos form my past blogs, enjoy. Fellow Bloggers, RootsTech 2017. Excellent book on Sydney Cemeteries.                                                         My first Congress, 2015. Budapest, 2015.                      Helen Smith, Me, Fran Kitto and Lee-Ann Hamilton, Adelaide 2016.