Someone's Ancestor Sunday - Susan Ellis (nee Hehir) Photo Album - Part 7

Continuing from last week's Someone's Ancestor Sunday post here is another unidentified photograph taken in Sydney which was found in my Great Great Grandmother's album.

Photograph of an unknown man from Susan Ellis (nee Hehir) Photo Album.
This photograph is a cabinet card, c1880s-1890s. There are no identifying marks on the front or back of the photograph.  The photographic studio's name and address are written at the bottom on the front of the card: 'Carrington./ Galleries:/ 635 George Street, / Haymarket'. 

Haymarket is an inner suburb of Sydney. I did a Google search for the phrase "Carrington Galleries Haymarket" and found an advertisement in an 1886 issue of the Sydney Morning Herald  which referred to the Carrington Galleries, Haymarket. I then searched the Sands Sydney Directory for 1888 to find out more about the 'Carrington Galleries'. Page 479 listed: Carington (sic.) Art Gallery, Channon & Co., photographers, 633 (sic.) George St. There seem to have been several things (halls, sports grounds etc.) named 'Carington' at that time, probably named after governor Charles Robert Carrington. I then searched for 'Channon & Co.'  in the same alphabetical list of the Sands Sydney Directory for 1888. They were listed on page 484 as: Channon & Co. Photographers, 416 George St, and Haymarket Arcade. The Dictionary of Australian Artists Online lists 'Channon & Co. photographers' but confusingly gives their address in 1888 as 613 or 631 George Street! Picture Australia includes this photograph taken by Channon & Co. c1888-1889. The photograph, which is from the collection of the State Library of Victoria has a similar looking photographic studio identification at the bottom of the photograph except that it says 'Channon Co./ Galleries/ 631 George St.' The back of the photograph has a curious handwritten note 'Sydney / Moved to 631 from 416 / in 1888-89 / Then at 633'. Could this be someone's previous research notes about this photographer? The Sydney Morning Herald of 9 May 1889 includes an interesting court case between James Channon, photographer, and George & Eliza Barr from whom Channon was leasing "a certain portion of premises formerly known as the Haymarket Arcade and more recently converted into a music hall". 


Was this photograph by 'Carrington Galleries 365 George St Haymarket' taken by the photographers Channon & Co.  and could it date from the late 1880s?
I will continue next week with several other photographs taken at 'Carrington Galleries' which appear to show brothers or other close relatives of the man in the photograph above.. 

Copyright © 2011 Australian Genealogy Journeys.

Movies - 52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy & History - Week 12

Week 12: Movies. Did (or do you still) see many movies? Describe your favorites. Where did you see these films? Is the theater still there, or is there something else in its place?

I love movies and I have lots of favourites! I have decided to go back into my memory (and do a bit of research on IMDB and Wikipedia) and try to create a chronological list of movies I remember seeing at the cinemas during my primary school years. This should be fun!


Movies I saw at the cinemas during Primary School

Disney Movies  

When I was young we often went to see a movie or two at the cinemas in our two closest regional 'cities' during the school holidays. Both cinemas still exist, though one has moved location. Both have expanded during my lifetime and now included several more cinema screens.I think probably the first movie I remember seeing at the cinemas was Disney's The Little Mermaid, which was released in Australia in 1990. I still love that movie!  The following are others movies I remember seeing (but not necessarily liking) at the cinemas during my primary school years. I have highlighted my favourites.

• The Never Ending Story II (1990, this one was fairly weak if I remember or at least I know other family members said it was!)
• Home Alone (1990)
• White Fang (1991, I remember being at bit scared by that one!)
• The Rescuers Down Under (1991,  I don't remember liking that one much)
• Beauty and the Beast (1992)
• The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)
• Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992)
• Aladdin (1993)
• The Secret Garden (1993)
• Free Willy (1993) 
• Homeward Bound:The Incredible Journey (1993)
• The Silver Brumby (1993, I remember the air conditioning in the cinemas was turned up too high - but it suited a film with snow!) 
• The Lion King (1994)
• Little Women (1994)
• Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book (1994)
• The Flintstones (1994)
• We're back! A Dinosaur's Story (1994, remember finding this one very weak too!)
• Toy Story (1995)
• A Little Princess (1995)
• Free Willy 2 (1995)
• The Never Ending Story III (1995)
• Apollo 13 (1995)
• Casper (1995)
• Babe (1995)
• Pocahontas (1995)
• Sense and Sensibility (1995) I think I saw this at the cinemas, I'm not sure
• The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996)
• Homeward Bound 2: Lost in San Francisco (1996)
• Muppet Treasure Island (1996)
• Twister (1996)
• James and the Giant Peach (1996, I know I saw this one but it must have been forgettable as I don't remember anything about it)
• Matilda (1996)
• 101 Dalmations (1996)
• Emma (1996) 
• The Adventures of Pinocchio (1996)

And I am sure I have possibly missed some!

Movies I remember watching on Video and TV

The six Star Wars movies.
I prefer the older ones, episodes IV, V and VI.

We did not have a VHS player in our house until as late as 1997. Until then, the only movies I saw were either on TV or on someone else's VHS player. I remember watching the first three installments of Star Wars (A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back and The Return of the Jedi) on TV many times. Since then I have seen the 3 prequels, but still prefer the older movies.

Other movies I saw often on TV and enjoyed were The Sound of Music and The Wizard of Oz. 

There was a VHS player at my Grandmother's house. I remember watching and enjoying the following movies on video while visiting her house: Darby O'Gill and the Little People, The Miracle of Our Lady of Fatima, The Land Before Time and Anne of Green Gables.

Movies I like to watch now

I like Disney/Pixar computer animations

I don't go to the cinemas as often as I did when I was younger. I feel that there just isn't anything showing at the cinemas that is really worth watching nowadays. I still enjoy many of the childhood favourites I have already mentioned above. I also enjoy many of the newer computer animated movies by Disney/Pixar. 

While not technically a movie, one of my all-time favourites is the BBC adaptation of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, which screened on television in Australia while I was still in primary school. I have the DVDs now and watch them often. I also like some other Jane Austen movie/TV adaptations too.

Some older movies I like include: Lilies of the Field, It's a Wonderful Life, The Court Jester and Fiddler on the Roof. 

I enjoy the movie adaptations of some of my favourite fantasy novels: The Lord of the Rings and the Chronicles of Narnia. I also like many of the other movies created by Walden Media (who created the Narnia films).

52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy & History by Amy Coffin is a series of weekly blogging prompts that invite genealogists and others to record memories and insights about their own lives for future descendants

Copyright © 2011 Australian Genealogy Journeys. Photographs of movie covers  were taken by me. Copyright for these movie covers belongs to their respective production companies and they are used here only for the purpose of review. 

Someone's Ancestor Sunday - Susan Ellis (nee Hehir) Photo Album - Part 6

Below is another unidentified photograph from my Great Great Grandmother Susan ELLIS' (nee HEHIR) photo album. This is the first of several photographs from Sydney. Many of the subjects of these Sydney photographs appear to be brothers. Two photographs in particular (which I will feature on an upcoming Sunday blog post) show several of the brothers together. Susan's daughter, Susannah COWIN (nee ELLIS), lived in Sydney from the early 1890s. Perhaps she went to Sydney from Heathcote, Victoria, because her mother had some cousins who lived up there? Susannah ELLIS married Isaac COWIN at St David's Church of England in the Sydney suburb of Surrey Hills on 11 February 1892. Susannah's and Isaac's children were as follows: 

• John COWIN b. 9 October 1892, Morehead Street, Redfern, NSW. d. 1892 Redfern.
• Mary A. COWIN b. 1894 Redern, NSW. Married Barff R. TUCKER 1921 Newtown, NSW. Later lived in Parkes.
• William Hampden COWIN b. 1896 Waverley, NSW. Married Marjorie WICKES 1923 Newtown, NSW. d. 1975. 
• Owen Thomas Rawson COWIN b. 1902 Waterloo, NSW. Married Alma WHITE 1934 Redfern NSW. d. 1977. 

Susannah died at the home of her daughter Mary TUCKER (nee COWIN) at Parkes, NSW in 1955. Susannah's death notice in the Sydney Morning Herald stated:

"COWIN, Susan - September 26, 1955, at  her daughter's residence at Parkes, beloved mother of Mary (Mrs. R. Tucker), Vera (Mrs. J. Moore), William, and Tom, aged 90 years."

Who was Vera (Mrs. J. Moore)? I have so far been unable to find any record of her. I would love to contact any descendants of Susannah and Isaac. If you are a descendant of this couple, please send me a note. 

Some preliminary research on the web has shown that there were people named Hehir and O'Hehir living in some of these suburbs of Sydney. I am still trying to work out the different families. Could this unknown man (below) belong to one of these families, or could he be someone else?

Photograph of an unknown man from Susan Ellis (nee Hehir) Photo Album.
This photograph is a Carte de visite, c1890-1897. There are no identifying marks on the front of the photograph. 

There is a photographer's stamp on the back of the photograph:
'W. H. VOSPER / Photographer / 694 George St. / SYDNEY'. 

I did a Google search for "W H Vosper"+Photographer and found the following results:

• A photograph taken by W H Vosper c1890
• He worked in partnership with photographer William Henry Schroeder in 1880. 
• He was described as 'a photographer, of this city' when his daughter Florence Vosper married Henry Chater at St. Paul's, Redfern, in 1887. 

I then did a Google search for "694 George St"+Photographer and and found the following results:

• A photograph taken by W. H. Vosper and another photograph. According to the catalogue entries for these photographs on the catalogue of the State Library of Victoria, William H. Vosper was in business at 694 George Street between 1890 and 1897. 

Copyright © 2011 Australian Genealogy Journeys.

Someone's Ancestor Sunday - Susan Ellis (nee Hehir) Photo Album - Part 5

Here is another unidentified photograph from my Great Great Grandmother Susan Ellis' (nee Hehir) photo album. 

Photograph of an unknown man from Susan Ellis (nee Hehir) Photo Album.
This photograph is a Carte de visite, c1880s/1890s. There are no identifying marks on the front of the photograph. 

There is no photographer's stamp on the back of the photograph. Written in pencil on the back of the photograph is what appears to be: 'Hypo Stains'. Hypo (Hyposulphite of soda - or Sodium thiosulphate) is a chemical fixer used in photographic processing. Perhaps the photographer sold this photo at a cheaper price because of the stains?

I think there are definitely resemblances between these photographs of three unknown men from Susan Ellis' Photo Album.L-R. (1) Young man photographed in Narranderra,  (2) Man photographed in Lismore (3) Man whose photo is featured in this blog post. They all have similar noses. (2) and (3) have similar eyes and ears.

Copyright © 2011 Australian Genealogy Journeys.

Someone's Ancestor Sunday - Susan Ellis (nee Hehir) Photo Album - Part 4

Here is another unidentified photograph from my Great Great Grandmother Susan Ellis' (nee Hehir) photo album. 

Photograph of an unknown man from Susan Ellis (nee Hehir) Photo Album.
This photograph is a Carte de visite, c1880s/1890s. There are no identifying marks on the front of the photograph. 

On the back of the photograph there is a photographer's stamp: "W.S. Read / Photographer."

I searched the web for the phrase "W. S. Read Photographer". One result I found was a post on a message board at Ancestry.com.au which mentioned a photograph taken by W.S. Read who was in business in Lismore, New South Wales from 1882 until 1908. Another web search for "W. S. Read"+Lismore+Photographer led to this web site which linked to The Read Family Story which gives more information about the photographer William Read. 


The man in this photograph does look similar to the young man in the photograph taken at Narrandera I posted last Sunday, similar enough that they could possibly be brothers. But who are they?


I searched the New South Wales Births, Deaths and Marriages Indexes again and found the following record which may or may not be relevant:


James P. O'Haire married Isabella Dobinson, Tweed River District, 1890 (Reg. No. 5118/1890). 


There are also later records for the surname 'Hair' in the Murwillumbah District and Ballina District. I would love to hear from anyone who is researching the name Hehir/O'Haire or variations, or the name McMahon, in that area of northern New South Wales. Thanks. 

Copyright © 2011 Australian Genealogy Journeys.