I have seen at least one photograph of the "Wonnangatta Gift", which was an informal foot race of hikers and cattlemen, probably at Wonnangatta over a Christmas, in the 1930s. I think it was during one of the Skyline Tours. Whether there was any prize or not would depend on whether they passed the hat around, although it may have been purely for the honour. It may have been a one-year wonder, as the Skyline Tours did not go to Wonnangatta every year. I am away from the right book at the minute, but am sure I have a photograph in one of the Skyline albums. The Skyline Tours were operated in the 1930s to early 1940s by the Victorian Government Tourist Bureau, and at the end led exclusively by Bill Gillio from Briagolong, who provided the local knowledge and horses. Earlier versions were the Escorted Mountain Hikes, and the Fitzgeralds from beyond Omeo were involved in them in the late 1920s. At other times in the earlier 1920s the Guy family of Wonnangatta were also involved as guide Regards Linda At 08:25 PM 30/03/2008 +1100, you wrote: >Can anyone please tell me whether there is a foot race called the >'Wonnangatta Gift' ? Apparently my father Hughie Morrison's cousin >Lennie Campbell from Lindenow won this event some years ago. <snip>

Looking for any related families of JOINER that lived in Orbost. Father Daniel and mother Clara nee Hines/ Hynes Thanks Elaine in Melbourne -- This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous content by MailScanner, and is believed to be clean.

----- Original Message ----- From: "Maureen Upston" <mupston@bigpond.com> To: <AUS-VIC-GIPPSLAND@rootsweb.com> Sent: Sunday, March 30, 2008 8:25 PM Subject: [AVG] Wonnangatta Gift - foot race > Can anyone please tell me whether there is a foot race called the > 'Wonnangatta Gift' ? Try contacting the Victorian Athletic League Victorian Athletic League PO Box 2194 Richmond South VIC 3121 (03) 9428-7077 info@val.org.au Barry Graham Melbourne, Australia

The photos of four 'unknown' World War II service personnel, two men and two women, were printed on page 25 of the June 1995 issue of the Gippsland Heritage Journal No. 18. The caption under the four photos states 'service personnel from World War II who remain unknown'. Can you please advise me whether the four 'unknown' people have now been identified? I am seeking clarification on behalf of a relative who feels the woman on the top left may be her Auntie Marjorie Campbell, formerly of Lindenow. Any advice welcome. Thanks, Maureen

Can anyone please tell me whether there is a foot race called the 'Wonnangatta Gift' ? Apparently my father Hughie Morrison's cousin Lennie Campbell from Lindenow won this event some years ago. Could anyone confirm this, including any dates please so I can pass this on to his niece? Apparently Lennie Campbell was a good runner who also played football for Lindenow. His nick-name was 'Kelly' Campbell. Len was a cattleman and fencer in the High Country. In fact, any information, stories or photos of his parents or family, Mary (nee Anton) and Thomas Campbell would be welcome. Mary and Tom's other children were - Ellen, Allan, Marjorie & Hazel. Thanks, Maureen

Hi All, Thought some members of this list may be interested in the following: On April 9 2008 at 11.00a.m. the Ripplebrook Recreation and Reserve Committee are dedicating a new Memorial at the Cemetery as a Tribute to the early pioneering Families who settled in this district and now rest in eternal peace. Ripplebrook is just out of Drouin and is a farming community these days. My Great Great Grandfather, Francis Joseph MAPLESON and his wife Susannah ( nee Carley) were buried there. He, one of the first in 1880 and Susannah in 1885. Many of their descendants still live in the surrounding Districts. Some other surnames are: George, Gray, Simmonds. If anyone is interested please email me and I will give you details. There is a BBQ after the ceremony, so if you are intending to come could you let me know , so the committee have some idea of numbers. Thanks Linda for allowing me to publicize this event Helene Hayes-- Helene J Hayes Pakenham, Vic mungungo@nex.net.au Scanned by Active Virus Shield

Hi, I have found a note indicating that William Harrison Lee purchased the W D Thrower? photography business including stock and negatives in 1906. It made me think of the possibility there may be, still in existence somewhere, some negatives or photo's or background to some of the work William Harrison Lee may have done during his life & times in and around Walhalla. I had family there and a couple of very old photo's with his name on them and am interested in whether there could be more, that I could purchase or access in some way. If anyone has any information that may help point me somewhere it would be greatly appreciated. Diane Carpenter dianecarpenter@bigpond.com

Hi There, I also found that, if the first woman on the "sheet" wrote just "Williamstown" without a street address, that the next (maybe only one or two) put ditto marks e.g. " . Then the rest of the women just wrote their names with no street or town! THEY knew they were signing the Williamstown sheet, and I guess they expected all Williamstown sheets would stay together...... but they didn't. They were joined RANDOMLY, sometimes hundreds of sheets apart. However, by careful examination, you can see the pasted joins, so you can then check all the signatures on that sheet which have no address. This might not work for country disparate areas, though, where only one or two signed. But the sheet will give a clue on how the signatures were collected. I did find that some seemingly disconnected signatures show that the women signed at a district meeting.. for me that was in Melbourne, one appeared to be perhaps a WCTU gathering, with the wife of a local Presbyterian minister signing, another seemed to be lady victuallers, but with both of these they all gave their suburb or town with their signature. The congregation of that Presbyterian church were obviously enthused, and gathered many neighbours. Hope that gives a few clues on searching, even for country areas. I see a few distance strays have been found for you already. Happy hunting! Regards Ada Ackerly Beryl O'Gorman wrote: > Hi All > Another thing to look out for is that many saw that the person above them > had written the town, so they just wrote the street. I didn't find many > among the Portland lot that I'm doing, but I know that Ada found quite a few > in her Williamstown research, so tedious as it may be, I ploughed through > the whole list with a Portland street directory beside me and then accepted > or eliminated the possibilities. > Cheers > Beryl > >

> Oops! sorry for the slopping editing! Blame the old brain. Cheers Shirley

Hi All Another thing to look out for is that many saw that the person above them had written the town, so they just wrote the street. I didn't find many among the Portland lot that I'm doing, but I know that Ada found quite a few in her Williamstown research, so tedious as it may be, I ploughed through the whole list with a Portland street directory beside me and then accepted or eliminated the possibilities. Cheers Beryl Beryl O'Gorman Greensborough Victoria Australia ----- Original Message ----- From: "Shirley Westaway" <westaway@dcsi.net.au> To: <aus-vic-gippsland@rootsweb.com> Sent: Thursday, March 20, 2008 12:28 PM Subject: Re: [AVG] Gippsland women on the Suffrage Petition > > Obviously we've struck a rich lode of speculation as we ponder the > reasons > why women did not sign the petition. > > But anyone who has done time in a polling booth on election day will > probably

Obviously we've struck a rich lode of speculation as we ponder the reasons why women did not sign the petition. But anyone who has done time in a polling booth on election day will probably have met them all. One woman, apparently intelligent, respectable and old enough to know better, who registered her name with name and took the voting papers I gave her, promptly tore them up saying, 'I've never voted in my life and I'm not going to start now' and dumped the lot in the bin! Interesting topic. Cheers Shirley

Hi Walter, I can't help thinking it more likely that the reason would be that the petitions were'lost' or never reached the communities for whatever reason. Whilst I agree that many women would bide by their husbands wishes, there were still widows and single women, plus some married women who could speak up for themselves and were prepared to do so. Some might even had husbands who agreed that women deserved to be heard!! Best wishes, Sandra Hargreaves > Shirley, > > Another reason for non-signing could be dissuasion by a husband or another > individual or group opposed to the cause. > One can only speculate as to why over 100 Warragul women signed - in > contrast to a combined total of one for Sale, Maffra & Stratford. > Perhaps the Warragul Guardian was considerably more sympathetic to the > cause > than the Gippsland Times.

Shirley, Another reason for non-signing could be dissuasion by a husband or another individual or group opposed to the cause. One can only speculate as to why over 100 Warragul women signed - in contrast to a combined total of one for Sale, Maffra & Stratford. Perhaps the Warragul Guardian was considerably more sympathetic to the cause than the Gippsland Times. I show below revised details relating to four signatories - 1 - "Alice M. Sloan, Narracan" = Alice Margaret Sloan, born 1851, wife of Robert Sloan of Trafalgar. Robert was away from home for several months in 1891 during which time Alice went to stay with her sister Mrs Anne Savige at Narracan (my grandmother). Alice might have left her children in Anne's care, travelled to Moe by train in order to sign the petition and returned on the same day. 2 - "E.R. Savige, Morwell" = Emma Savige (nee Russell, born 1835, wife of John Savige of Moe. Emma may have gone to Morwell to visit her son Samuel and hs wife Ann (nee Walmsley) who resided in Tarwin Street. 3 - "Emma Savige, Moe" = Emma Eliza Savige born 1869, daughter of John and Emma Savige of Moe, single in 1891, married Charles Coleman in 1893. 4 - "Norah Walmsley, Tarwin Street, Morwell" = Honora (aka Norah) Walmsley, nee Shea, born 1834 Ireland, (arrived Australia 1849 as one of a group of orphan girls), wife of George Walmsley of Yandoit and later Korumburra. In 1891 Norah may have been visiting her daughter Ann Nora Savige (nee Walmsley) and her husband Samuel Savige at their home in Tarwin Street, Morwell. Walter ----- Original Message ----- From: "Shirley Westaway" <westaway@dcsi.net.au> To: <aus-vic-gippsland@rootsweb.com> Sent: Tuesday, March 18, 2008 10:56 PM Subject: Re: [AVG] Gippsland women on the Suffrage Petition > For those who expected to see more signatures on the petition, > bear in mind that these women would probably need to travel > to do this. > > No telephones, radio or tv and probably in many cases only occasional > newspaper > to provide information it's not hard to see why they didn't sign. > > When you look at the terrain and the fact that they probably had > children at home, endless chores, a horse for transport over rough > and mostly muddy tracks through the bush ... > > I leave it to your imagination. > > Cheers > > Shirley

Hi all, >From what I can gather, ladies actually went house to house to obtain signatures. They were probably members of the Women's Christian Temperance Union. I have three family members that have signed it but not in the Gippsland area and it looks like every house in the street must have been visited for signatures. My Great Grandmother must have been visiting her mother at Lancefield at the time as she gave this address on the petition. She was actually living in Drouin at the time and a member of the Temperance Union. Sandra

For those who expected to see more signatures on the petition, bear in mind that these women would probably need to travel to do this. No telephones, radio or tv and probably in many cases only occasional newspaper to provide information it's not hard to see why they didn't sign. When you look at the terrain and the fact that they probably had children at home, endless chores, a horse for transport over rough and mostly muddy tracks through the bush ... I leave it to your imagination. Cheers Shirley Apologies if I've repeated myself but the Mail has been having a hissy fit.

Gday Debbie, Sorry I missed you on the ABC recently as I am also interested in the women who signed this petition. A couple of others here in the Corner Inlet district have also expressed their interest and we are trying to put their stories together. The women from Foster who signed the petition are Harriett Williamson, Elizabeth Goy, Mary Ann Crawford, Ann Amelia Lindau, HM Furze and Mary Gordon; Eunice Oswin and Katharine Hackwill came from Welshpool, and Bridget Dillon, Edith A McInnes, Annie Sedunary and Caroline Roach lived at Binginwarie(y). The Foster Museum has a small garden memorial to the pioneer women of the district which is probably overlooked by the many who pass by each day, and while the local histories note the achievements of their husbands and sons, not too many women rate a mention. We'd like to remedy that if we can. Any help from listers who may be descendants of these families would be very welcome. Shirley Westaway Foster & District Historical Society Inc. Toora & District Family History Group Inc. Hi Listers, Some of you may have heard me recently on our local ABC talking about the Gippsland content of the 1891 Women's Suffrage Petition. I am currently trying to collate biographic details of these women plus, if I can find them, images of them also. I have already found some abnomolities and other tit bit's of info - for instance - where one sister has been living / visiting another and signed the petition at the sister's address. Also some names that have been mistranscribed. Anyone with any info about these women or about the process of how the signing of the petition actually happened would be appreciated. Debbie Squires For listers who don't know what this is about - here is the link to the site http://www.parliament.vic.gov.au/WomensPetition/ ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to AUS-VIC-GIPPSLAND-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message Get the name you always wanted with the new y7mail email address. www.yahoo7.com.au/y7mail ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to AUS-VIC-GIPPSLAND-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

Just adding my 2c worth on the 1891Women's Suffrage Petition, too! p 652 Binginwarri addresses indexed as Bingenwarri, just in case anyone's trying to find them. There are two from Welshpool on this page, too, but heading east after that, there's no one signing. It's the same all over Victoria. (North-East included :) )Some areas had a lot of volunteers collecting signatures, and some just didn't. I've read articles in the Melbourne papers at the time that have seemed quite tolerant, even supportive. eg The Herald, Monday November 24 1890, p1, available on Paper of Record, (indexed as Port Phillip Herald). And searching for "Suffragettes", in my experience, won't find anything to do with the Victorian suffrage petition/movement, I think I read somewhere that the WCTU avoided that term. Use "suffrage" when searching. Hope this helps, Regards, Wendy Di Tirro

Hello Just adding my 2c worth. The signatures were gathered by a group of ladies with something to do with a church group (I have forgotten who) but they did not get to every place in Vic. As far as I know not up to the North East at all. Perhaps there were members in the places like Walhalla but not in Sale? There is a Hayfield, in the Merton/Mansfield area. regards Loretta EUROA Farmers Arms Hotel MUSEUM 25 Kirkland avenue / PO B ox 299 Euroa 3666 Australia http://mc2.vicnet.net.au/home/retmcp/web/euroamuseum.html At 10:24 PM 17/03/2008 +1100, Debbie wrote: >* The rational and actual physical process of who and how the >petition was signed is of great interest. One of the things that I >find most interesting is that areas of a remote and isolated nature >(like Omeo, Walhalla and Orbost) have a high percentage of >signatures - while other areas with denser settlement patterns and >population and an easier terrain - like Sale - have no signatures. It really is a bit weird. There is one Sale signature - she was visiting Brunswick at the time. There are NONE for Maffra, Stratford, Heyfield (see below), Briagolong, Yarram etc. You get a few for Foster, none for Leongatha. You get a few for Rosedale (probably an appropriate number for the town), and then Traralgon, Morwell etc are big and Warragul is appropriate. Bairnsdale has a lot. So what happened in Central Gippsland. Did someone lose the signatures? Did the newspapers in some areas campaign against it? (I would have thought that would be counter-productive). I wonder did the churches play a role? Or the Temperance movement. Or, more likely, did some leaders in each community take it on. And where they did, signatures were collected. And no-one put their hand up in Central Gippsland? Still seems a bit strange. Women in the Shire of Avon (and presumably elsewhere) had the vote in local government elections from the 1860s. So they must have known suggestions that "we'd all be ruined" if women were given the vote, were wrong. (The Heyfield ones seem to suggest there was a similar locality name around Buxton / Merton - although not far enough north to be the one still known around Myrtleford.) And speaking of women and the vote - Stratford Historical Society hopes to have the 1860s and 1888 shire voting rolls (including the women) out by May. Regards Linda ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to AUS-VIC-GIPPSLAND-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

I found Linda's comments very interesting. I had one very fiesty and independent lady living in Briagolong and would certainly have expected her to sign it!! I doubt that every woman from the areas mentioned would have refrained from signing it, so I too wonder what happened. Sandra Hargreaves > >>* The rational and actual physical process of who and how the >>petition was signed is of great interest. One of the things that I >>find most interesting is that areas of a remote and isolated nature >>(like Omeo, Walhalla and Orbost) have a high percentage of >>signatures - while other areas with denser settlement patterns and >>population and an easier terrain - like Sale - have no signatures. > > It really is a bit weird. There is one Sale signature - she was > visiting Brunswick at the time. > > There are NONE for Maffra, Stratford, Heyfield (see below), > Briagolong, Yarram etc. > > You get a few for Foster, none for Leongatha. > > You get a few for Rosedale (probably an appropriate number for the > town), and then Traralgon, Morwell etc are big and Warragul is > appropriate. Bairnsdale has a lot. > > So what happened in Central Gippsland. Did someone lose the > signatures? Did the newspapers in some areas campaign against it? (I > would have thought that would be counter-productive). I wonder did > the churches play a role? Or the Temperance movement. > > Or, more likely, did some leaders in each community take it on. And > where they did, signatures were collected. And no-one put their hand > up in Central Gippsland? > > Still seems a bit strange. Women in the Shire of Avon (and presumably > elsewhere) had the vote in local government elections from the 1860s. > So they must have known suggestions that "we'd all be ruined" if > women were given the vote, were wrong. > > (The Heyfield ones seem to suggest there was a similar locality name > around Buxton / Merton - although not far enough north to be the one > still known around Myrtleford.) > > And speaking of women and the vote - Stratford Historical Society > hopes to have the 1860s and 1888 shire voting rolls (including the > women) out by May. > > Regards > > Linda

We have some Johnsonville relatives who also signed the petition. Frances.A.Wills and her sisters. E.A Smith. and Alice M Burt. These ladies were daughters of John and Jane Latham who lived at Johnsonville. Lorene