NFHW post 2

Week 2 - “Careful he might hear you” - Sumner Locke Elliott wrote this haunting tale about PS and his aunts, custody battles, secrets. PS lives with working-class Aunt Lila and Uncle George on week-ends, where he is happy playing with children, running about, speaking up. While at posh Aunt Vanessa's on week-days, it is a regimen of private school, piano and riding lessons, and lonely indoor play with fancy toys. He's miserable and when he objects, Aunt Vanessa sues for complete custody. Will anyone listen to him? And will he take on Vanessa's challenges to find out who he is and to love someone?

The well-known 1983 movie of the book (Wendy Hughes & Robin Nevin played the aunts) was shot in the salubrious Sydney suburbs of Darling Point and Neutral Bay (at the other end of the spectrum to last week's "Poor man's orange"). 

The local family history connection is - Darling Point. 

Sir Thomas Mitchell built his home ‘Carthona’ on the headland at Darling Point in 1841. Built in the Gothic Revival style, it is still there today.

Sir Thomas Livingstone Mitchell was born in 1792 in Scotland. His family was not wealthy but he joined the military and was proficient in drawing up plans of battlefields. In 1818 he married 18 year old Mary Thomson Blunt. In 1827 the couple sailed to Sydney and Thomas became Assistant Surveyor General of New South Wales and 2 years later Surveyor General for the colony. During the 1830s Mitchell conducted three major expeditions into the interior of Australia. 
It was his 1836 ‘Australia Felix’ expedition through this region, that lead to its settlement, as settlers followed his wagon tracks north. In 1837 Mitchell returned to England and published the books of his explorations and obtained his knighthood. 

'Carthona' &' Lindesay' on the right (William Stanley Jevons, Wikimedia Commons)

Returning to Sydney in 1841, he purchased ‘Lindesay’ another mansion in Darling Point, and while at Lindesay, he planned ‘Carthona’. The Mitchell family moved into Carthona in 1845, and Mitchell sold Lindesay to his friend Sir Charles Nicholson. 

Soon after Mitchell moved into 'Carthona' he set out on his 4th expedition in search of an overland route to the ill-fated outpost ‘Victoria’ at Port Essington in the Northern Territory. In 1847 Mitchell again went to England and listed ‘Carthona’ for sale along with the rest of his property. 
'Carthona' was described as "the very splendid family mansion with spacious stabling and two acres of ground at Mrs Darling's Point, the present residence of Sir Thomas Mitchell, Surveryor-General.”

'Carthona' today

 Mitchell died of pneumonia at 'Carthona' in October 1855. He left 'Carthona' to his daughter Alice, but as he also left a considerable debt, the family moved out to Woolloomooloo and rented out the property.

NFHW post 1

Week 1 of the National Family History Month Blogging Challenge.

The first author and book is "Poor man's orange" it is Ruth Park's novel published in 1949. "Poor Man's Orange" is the third and final novel of the Darcy Family Trilogy. Together with the first book "Missus" and "Harp in the South", the trilogy traces the saga of the Darcy family over thirty years. An unforgettable family and a cast of unforgettable characters enliven a story that is sometimes tragic but often humourous in a time of poverty and destitution, hope and promise. 
The novels were set in the slums of the inner city suburb of Surry Hills in Sydney and centred on an Irish Catholic family. The Darcys are broken people after Roie their oldest daughter dies giving birth to a baby boy. Roie's husband Charlie takes to the drink to forget his loss, remembering only Roie and forgetting about his children. As they fight for the strength to keep the family together in this hard-bitten Irish-emigrate community, the Darcy's find that what they need most to survive is one another.

Ruth Park was born in Auckland, New Zealand in 1917, and spent most of her adult life in Australia. She was widely read and well-loved for her books which were as equally successful for adults as for children (she wrote the Muddle-headed wombat series). Ruth moved to Sydney and married fellow Australian author D’Arcy Niland in 1942. For a time they lived in the slums of Surry Hills. Ruth was catapulted into fame when she won the inaugural Sydney Morning Herald Literary Competition in 1946, with ‘The Harp in the South’. This book has never been out of print. ‘Poor man’s orange’ was the follow-up in 1949. Her literary reputation grew as she honed her craft, writing fiction and non-fiction, her output of work spanned nearly seven decades. Ruth Park died in Mosman, Sydney in December 2010.

Ruth Park’s "Poor man’s orange" is available as a real book, eBook, DVD or audio book.
 

My take on the theme is ‘Now & Then’ images of the inner Sydney slums, utilising NSW State Records Authority's Flickr images.

This is Cumberland Place in The Rocks, Sydney, at the corner of Ferry Lane and Pottinger Street. Showing the old worn original steps alongside the newer concrete ones.The "then" photo was taken 1901 and is from the NSW State Records Authority's "Moments in Time". It was taken at the time when the area was part of the gazetted Darling Harbour Wharves Resumption Act 1900.

'Rear of No.2 Walton Place, Sydney' Dated: c.17/07/1900 is from a series of images showing the areas in Sydney affected by the outbreak of Bubonic Plague in 1900. Taken by Mr. John Degotardi Jr., a photographer from the Department of Public Works, the images depict the state of the houses and 'slum' buildings at the time of the outbreak and the cleansing and disinfecting operations which followed. Walton Place was typical of many homes with the outside toilet and open air washhouse, and the style of backyard the Darcys would have lived in.

'View from The Rocks looking south towards Sydney' dated: 1904, it shows a general view of inner Sydney. The landmark (and one of few still present) feature is the Post Office clock tower in the upper left.

< The ghosted image of 'George Street' was taken near the corner of Hunter Street, looking towards Martin Place. There have been many changes to the street and buildings, so I lined up the most recognisable element - the 1880 George Street Post Office clock.
The original clock tower (as mentioned in the 1904 photo) atop the building was removed in 1942 to remove its visibility in case of air raids, and was restored in 1963. 
The "Then" photo is from Ian Collis' "Sydney : from settlement to the bridge" and was taken in 1890, just before the wonderful ornate Romasnesque Societe General House insurance building was erected in the middle of the photo. Below are the 'then and now' images side by side.