IN REMEMBRANCE - Marjorie Frances 'Marj' Mortimore (nee Stringer)

Thirty years ago today my darling Mum passed away - I know time eases the pain a little - but this is still a very raw day for me, I recall every awful minute of that day and all the terrible two years of days before that.  I also remember all the lonely days since.

Mum had breast cancer and even though she had a mastectomy, radiation-therapy and chemotherapy the cancer was stronger and came to the surface and it was simply horrendous for her. 

I am still angry at God for allowing such a wonderful, warm, loving and selfless person like Mum to suffer like that but this is something God and I will have to resolve when / if I get to heaven one day.  

I also vividly remember these days the gorgeous, vibrant, cheeky, happy-go-lucky Mum, the artistic floral art Mum, the wonderful cook Mum, the very crafty Mum (especially her knitting and crochet), the brave Mum who taught me how to drive without Dad even knowing, the brilliant gardener Mum, the loving, playful, giving Nana to her numerous grandchildren and how much they love her, how much we all love her.  

We will always miss you Mum. X

Following are a few photos to show you what a stunning woman she was:

c. 1933 Frm L: Mum, her father Les nursing Joan and Beryl

c. 1939 Mum and Dad beside the Murray River at Red Cliffs, Victoria

c.1938 Dad and Mum by the river at Red Cliffs

c. 1938 Mum sitting on one of the sand-hills at Hattah, Victoria

c.1939 Mum at Block 350, Red Cliffs, Victoria

c.1939 Mum on a beach (I love this photo)

c.1940 Mum near Marysville, Victoria

c.1940 My beautiful Mum

12 Jul 1940 Mum and Dad's Wedding Day

1943 Mum with me, I can't believe I was ever that small

1944 Mum with my brother John

1949 Mum with my sister Janette

c.1956 Family picnic by the river

1969 Mum at the Danish Club, Albert Park, Victoria

c.1973 Mum at our home in East Brighton, Victoria

c.1975 Mum at Seaford Beach

1980 Our last Christmas together (Dad tried to rub marks 

off my face on the photo - almost erased me!)

Mum's grave at Robinvale General Cemetery, Victoria

HAPPY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE

I would like to take this opportunity to wish all of our family 
(old & new), friends & followers a great day 
and that you all  

Love & Best Wishes from Evelyn & Family X

100 YEAR MEMORIAL

Today - 13 October 2010 - is 100 years since my paternal great Grandfather, William Henry Mortomore, passed away in Lilydale, Victoria, Australia.

[Source for Surname spelling is William's Naturalisation Application dated 25 June 1909]

Below is some of the very little information we have about this mystery man:

1. From William's Naturalisation Application: We know that he said he was born on 27 Nov 1833 in America; that he said came to Australia aboard the "Orpheus". [No record of this has been found and the dates don't tally with when the "Orpheus" was in Australian waters].

2. From a book about Lilydale - this excerpt obtained from the Lilydale Historical Society in 2007: "William Henry Mortimer arrived in Melbourne in about 1860 and assisted with the survey of the Lilydale township. He spent his first 10 years in the goldfields before returning to Lilydale where he established his Brickyards in the district at the corner of Slevin Street and Cave Hill Road (then called Cemetery Road) in 1875.

Above: Lilydale c. 1870 - from National Library of Australia

In 1876 colonial artist Elizabeth Parsons visited Lilydale and Painted Mortimer's Brickworks which she titled "Brick Kilns Lilydale 1876". [Photos of painting and sketch below]

Mortimer's Brickyard had a large output and most of the early buildings used his bricks. One documented building was Louis Deschamps Wine Hall at the corner of Cave Hill Road and Albert Hill Road. [Another documented building built with his bricks is the old Baptist Church in Castella Street - now part of Anglicare]

The brickworks operated until 1896. William Mortimer died on October 13, 1910 aged 78 years and is buried at Lilydale Cemetery." [Sadly there is no marker to indicate William & Sarah's graves]

Above: The original of this painting now hangs in the Fine Art Gallery in Ballarat, Victoria.

3. Marriage - Source: Victoria BMD - On 04 May 1863 William married Sarah Leach, widow (m. Jarvis; nee Shaw) at Brushy Creek, North Croydon, Victoria, Australia. ["In 1866, the hamlet of Brushy Creek, on the Maroondah Highway, near the junction of Dorset and Exeter Roads, was surveyed by the Department of Lands and Survey. The majority of the land within its boundaries was then owned by the O’Rourke family.41 This hamlet developed to become Croydon. After the construction of the railway and the subsequent opening of the Croydon railway station, the population of Brushy Creek began to reduce. People moved nearer to the railway line.42 Ringwood was surveyed and proclaimed a township in 1886. It was located around the present Maroondah City Council offices, in the area between Mount Dandenong Road and Maroondah Highway.43 The township had been settled earlier following the discovery of antimony in 1869, and as with Brushy Creek, it began to move after the opening of the railway line, to a location further west on Whitehorse Road, near the station." Reference: - 41 Brushy Creek is believed to have existed in the 1850s, with a hotel, store and blacksmiths. Muriel McGivern, A History of Croydon, vol. 3, p 256. Department of Lands & Survey, map titled ‘Hamlet of Brushy Creek’.]

4. William & Sarah had three children: Robert Charles 'Charles' Mortomore b. 09 Feb 1864, Sarah Ann Mortomore b. 30 Oct 1865 and Martin Mortimore b. 20 Jul 1867. [Martin is my paternal grandfather]

On two of the children's birth certificates where Sarah was the informant it states that William was born in Detroit, Michigan, USA but on the birth certificate of the child where William was the informant it states that he was born in Devonshire. Hence, we have no idea where he was actually born. In 1833 no formal State records for births, marriages or deaths were being kept in America; and in Devonshire, the name Mortimore/Mortomore/Mortimer is a very common one indeed - it even out-numbers the Smiths I think.

From all accounts William was a VERY hard man and his daughter, Sarah Ann, left home to get away from the harshness of her father and went to board with her step-brother Henry Leach who was a Grocery Store proprietor in Main Street, Lilydale.

Above: William & Sarah Mortomore/Mortimore c. 1910

5. From Local Council Rates Records: 1897 - William Mortimore - rented the house from Cathrine Deschamps in Cave Hill Road, Lilydale.

6. On William Henry's Death Certificate it states that he was born in Detroit, County of Michigan, America and that his father was William Henry Mortimore, a brickmaker, and his mother was Eva Mortimore (formerly Talbot) and that he had lived in Victoria for 50 years.

Above: Near Lilydale 1874 by Louis Buvelot

Thoughts For Today

VALE KEN TALBOT & ORS

To my long-time friend's daughter, Amanda and her beautiful children Alexandra, Claudia, Liam & Courtney we send our heartfelt condolences at the devastating loss of your beloved husband and father, Ken Talbot. Our thoughts and prayers are with you all at this time, may God wrap you in His loving arms and bring you comfort.

To the families, friends and colleagues of Ken and of all the others on the plane, we are thinking of you all.

Someone, somewhere, must have

said a little prayer for me.

I know not how it came about,

but quietly, secretly.......

The weight was lifted from my heart.

There came a strange relief -

A sudden relaxation from the tyranny of grief.

The love of life stole in once more like

sunshine after rain.

The future beckoned and I followed,

finding peace again.......

I know not how it happened

It was all a mystery -

But someone, somewhere, must have

said a little prayer for me.

SOME OF THE MORTIMORE SIDE OF OUR FAMILY

William Henry Mortimore b.1833-d.1910 & Sarah Mortimore (nee Shaw) b.1825-d.1903

Martin Mortimore b.1867-d.1942

Ada Christina Mortimore (nee Hansen) b.1876-d.1946

Back Row: Samuel (Snowy), Margaret (Maggie), Alice, Louise (Lou),

Elizabeth (Betty). Front Row: Amy, Harold (Harry)(sitting on Alice's

knee), John (Jack). Photo taken about September 1914.

Harold Ernest Mortimore b.1914-d.2005

Marjorie Frances Mortimore (nee Stringer) b.1919-d.1981

SOME OF THE STRINGER SIDE OF OUR FAMILY

From Left: My Great Grandfather James Frankland Stringer (1855-1917), his parents Maria Stringer (nee Frankland) (1821-1900), Robert Stringer (1828-1899).

My Great Grandfather James Frankland Stringer (1855-1917), his wife Julia Emma Stringer (nee Cook) (1858-1919) and four of their seven children.

Flickr

Please check out more of my photos (just click on my face) on - a fancy photo sharing site.

Through my Flickr Groups you can also link to Picture Australia, where you can see lots of wonderful images of our great country and it's people.

Elijah James Ocean's Baptism Day

We had an amazingly wonderful day today, Elijah was Baptised at St Paul's Anglican Cathedral, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia during the 9.15am service.  He was so well behaved, the only slight glitch being when his Mum, Lisa, had to hold him backwards over the font, he sort of objected to that.  He sang along with the hymns and after all the prayers he said 'Amen'.  He is just the most gorgeous little boy and we all adore him.  I am attaching a few of the photos we & our friends took yesterday, some of them (mine anyway) are a bit grainy as taken with my mobile phone camera, would you believe it I forgot to take my camera to the church - old brain disease!!