Trove Tuesday: Flying the Kangaroo route in 1949

Qantas Kangaroo Route Advertisement 1948 retrieved from Pinterest

Most migrants to Australia, including immigrants in my family, came here by sea. My grandfather is an exception. He arrived by air.

Hans Boltz was born on 4 July 1910 in Berlin, where he trained at the State Institute for map drawing as a cartographer. From 1930 to the beginning of World War II he worked for the Prussian Geological State Institute (Geological Survey of Prussia or Preußischen Geologischen Landesanstalt). After the war, when he found his way back to Berlin, he discovered that this building, in Invalidenstraße 44, was situated in the Russian zone. Hans lived in the American zone and, reluctant to travel every day into the Russian-occupied part of the city or move there, he resigned. In 1948 he applied for work with the Australian government, which at the time was recruiting Germans with qualifications and skills in short supply in Australia. He got a job as a cartographer with the Australian Bureau of Mineral Resources.

Invalidenstraße 44 in Berlin-Mitte, the building of the former Geological Survey of Prussia. Image from Wikimedia Commons.

Hans Boltz's file created by the Department of Post War Reconstruction includes the dates of his journey from Berlin to Canberra:

• Wednesday 13 July 1949 left Germany for London
• Sunday 7 August 1949 left London
• Thursday 11 August 1949 arrived Canberra via Sydney
• Friday 12 August 1949 commenced working for the Bureau of Mineral Resources.

NAA: MT105/8, 1/6/4531 Page 2 of 143 (click to enlarge image)

In the late 1980s with the help of my grandfather Hans I spent some time compiling my family tree on my mother's side. I had bought a book in 1978 called The History of our Family, published by Poplar Books of New Jersey. This had a series of templates for recording family history. One of these was for immigration.

Decades afterwards, my grandfather remembered very clearly his trip from Berlin and his arrival, on 11 August 1949.

I summarised my grandfather's recollections as follows:

Hans Fritz Boltz emigrated from Berlin to Canberra 11 . 8 . 1949
Aeroplane - Berlin - Hamburg - London 4 weeks London
museums / concerts ... wandering around sightseeing
London - Cairo - Karachi - Singapore - Darwin - Sydney -
Helopolis Hotel Cairo  Raffles Hotel Singapore  Qantas flight

In London my grandfather was given English lessons. He was not just a tourist.

Qantas Sydney-London Constellation route map retrieved from Pinterest

On Trove I have found an advertisement for the route in August 1949.

AUSTRALIA-ENGLAND CONSTELLATION SERVICE (1949, August 4). Daily Commercial News and Shipping List (Sydney, NSW : 1891 - 1954), p. 4. Retrieved July 4, 2017, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article163836624

A Qantas Empire Airways Constellation airliner, photographed by Frank Hurley retrieved from http://trove.nla.gov.au/version/40487425

In 2007 Qantas celebrated the 60th anniversary of the Kangaroo route. This video includes footage of the journey on the Lockheed Constellation aeroplanes. The first flight on the route had departed 1 December 1947.

The journey took four days, 55 hours of flying time. There were two overnight stops, one in Cairo and the other in Singapore. In Cairo my grandfather stayed at the Heliopolis Palace Hotel. In Singapore at the Raffles. There were 29 passengers and 11 crew.

Poster for the Heliopolis Palace Hotel retrieved from Palace intrigue: Egypt in the Golden Age of Travel

Raffles Hotel in 1932. Image from Wikimedia Commons

The airfare in 1949 was £260 sterling. By way of comparison my grandfather's salary on starting with the Australian Public Service as an experienced cartographer was £222 a year and the average earnings for men in Australia was about £220 a year. The Australian government paid my grandfather's fare.






Sources

• Wikipedia:
• Berlin Blockade. (2017, June 11). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 06:55, July 4, 2017, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Berlin_Blockade&oldid=785025285
• East Berlin. (2017, June 17). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 08:04, July 4, 2017, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=East_Berlin&oldid=786178030
• West Berlin. (2017, June 30). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 08:07, July 4, 2017, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=West_Berlin&oldid=788336909
• Seite „Preußische Geologische Landesanstalt“. In: Wikipedia, Die freie Enzyklopädie. Bearbeitungsstand: 30. April 2017, 21:40 UTC. URL: https://de.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Preu%C3%9Fische_Geologische_Landesanstalt&oldid=165063321 (Abgerufen: 4. Juli 2017, 06:59 UTC )
• Seite „Reichsamt für Bodenforschung“. In: Wikipedia, Die freie Enzyklopädie. Bearbeitungsstand: 8. August 2016, 14:31 UTC. URL: https://de.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Reichsamt_f%C3%BCr_Bodenforschung&oldid=156828824 (Abgerufen: 4. Juli 2017, 07:01 UTC)
• Kangaroo Route. (2017, June 10). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 
  07:37, July 4, 2017, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kangaroo_Route&oldid=784943474
• Fare cost in 1949: FARE "WAR" ALLEGED BY BRITISH AIRLINE (1949, January 5). The Sun (Sydney, NSW : 1910 - 1954), p. 6 (LATE FINAL EXTRA). Retrieved July 4, 2017, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article230238480
• My grandfather's salary: NAA: MT105/8, 1/6/4531 Page 2 of 143
• Average weekly earnings for men in Australia in 1949 was $8.44 which converts to approximately $440 or £220. Table LAB153 Average weekly earnings for males 31 December 1949 from Vamplew, Wray, 1943- Australians, historical statistics. Fairfax, Syme & Weldon Associates, Broadway, N.S.W., Australia, 1987. page 157.

Related posts

• C is for career in Canberra
• Fishing
• Citizenship Day 17 September
• Sepia Saturday: My grandfather's back garden
• Kanu-Club Wannsee
• K is for Kennengelernt
• Australia Day: Climbing our family's gum tree

Trove Tuesday: Kathleen's birthday

Today is the anniversary of the birth of my grandmother Kathleen Cudmore, who was born 27 June 1908, 109 years ago. She died 11 June 2013, aged 104.

An action snapshot of Miss K. Cudmore, who returned a card of 95 at Seaton [Royal Adelaide Golf Club] yesterday in the second round of the club championship.

Women Golfers At Seaton: Low Tide At Millbrook: Picturesque Links: Thrills Of The Speed Track: Shot From A Bunker (1930, June 18). The Register News-Pictorial (Adelaide, SA : 1929 - 1931), p. 12. Retrieved June 27, 2017, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article54236180

Related posts

• Trove Tuesday: S. A. Women's Golf Championship
• Kathleen Cudmore: a Memoir
• Outdoor Christmas in True Australian Style 4 December 1937
• Largs Bay Hotel
• Trove Tuesday: Ready for the ring
• Trove Tuesday: home movies in 1933
• Kathleen Cavenagh Cudmore 27 June 1908 to 11 June 2013

Trove Tuesday: MCG not available for 1956 Olympics

Harry Lawson (1875-1952) was the cousin of my great grandmother Beatrix Champion de Crespigny née Hughes (1884-1943).

Lawson was a politician from Castlemaine, Victoria. He served as premier of Victoria from 1918 to 1924 and later, from 1928 to 1934, a senator in the Federal Parliament.

He was also a trustee of the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

In 1952 the trustees of the Melbourne Cricket Ground refused to make the MCG available for the Olympics. They were concerned that "there was no guarantee that the ground could be reconsolidated afterwards, and this would upset cricket and football"

The trustees and politicians managed to come to an agreement early in 1953 and the MCG was the main stadium for the 1956 Olympics.

Lawson had died in June 1952 so was not party to the resolution of the issue.

Newspaper items 

• "CLOUD-BURST" (1952, February 14). The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957), p. 4. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article23162857 
• M.C.G. Not For Olympics (1952, March 1). The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), p. 4. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article18254344

Trove Tuesday: Nancy de Crespigny at Salt Creek 1936

Trove  is a repository of digitised data managed by the National Library of Australia.

Recently when I was researching Trove's digitised newspapers, I came across a newly-added photograph of my great aunt Nancy de Crespigny.

Miss N. de Crespigny, Salt Creek Image from State Library of South Australia PRG 1218/34/435

Nancy Champion de Crespigny (1910-2003),  the second child of Constantine Trent Champion de Crespigny and his wife Beatrix née Hughes, was the sister of my grandfather Geoff. She was a close lifelong friend of my grandmother Kathleen, Geoff's wife.

Nancy went to Woodlands School in Adelaide and then attended the University of Melbourne, where she graduated in 1933 with a history degree. She studied archeology at the University of London and Newnham College of Cambridge University.

The photograph comes from the State Library of Australia. It was taken 8 March 1936 by Charles Pearcy Mountford (1890-1976) at Salt Creek, also known as also known as Winnininnie Creek, about 330 kilometres north of Adelaide.

The photo of Nancy is in the Mountford-Sheard Collection. In the same collection I found two shots of Nancy's future husband Hallum Movius (1907-1987) taken on the same day.

Hallam Movius, Salt Creek Image from State Library of South Australia PRG 1218/34/433B

Hallam Movius, Salt Creek Image from State Library of South Australia PRG PRG 1218/34/433A 

The Adelaide Advertiser of 11 March 1936 mentions Nancy and Hal's excursion. With them was the Adelaide anthropologist Charles Pearcy Mountford (1890-1907) .

PERSONAL (1936, March 11). The Advertiser (Adelaide, SA : 1931 - 1954), p. 18. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article35415220

A few months later, in June, Hal sailed from Australia. Nancy followed in July. In September the pair married in London.

Life on the Ocean Wave (1936, June 18). Table Talk (Melbourne, Vic. : 1885 - 1939), p. 9. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article152065161

Adelaide Archaeologist (1936, August 1). The Australian Women's Weekly (1933 - 1982), p. 25. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article48212356

DAUGHTER OF ADELAIDE DOCTOR MARRIED (1936, September 28). The Advertiser (Adelaide, SA : 1931 - 1954), p. 13. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article48182227

Lighter Side of London Life Adelaide Girl Weds Young Archaeologist (1936, October 27). News (Adelaide, SA : 1923 - 1954), p. 8. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article132025722

Related posts

• The memoir of my grandmother mentions Nancy several times although only in passing: Kathleen Cudmore: a Memoir
• My great-aunt Nancy owned a small camphorwood box with a silver plaque engraved with a shield and a motto. My father did some research into the coat of arms on that box: A search for the arms of the Dana family

Further reading

• Obituary for Nancy Movius in The Boston Globe of 12 December 2003
• Hallam L. Movius from  Biographical Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences
• Philip Jones, 'Mountford, Charles Pearcy (1890–1976)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/mountford-charles-pearcy-11188/text19941, published first in hardcopy 2000, accessed online 2 May 2017.
• SA Memory: Charles P. Mountford, photographer and ethnographer
• Trove Help ›› Using Trove ›› Getting to know us ›› Trove is...

Trove Tuesday: discreditable conduct in church

When he was sixteen, my great great grandfather , Philip de Crespigny (1850-1927), was accused of having looked at his watch twice during a sermon at Talbot. His offence was reported by several newspapers.

NEWS AND NOTES. (1866, April 10). The Ballarat Star (Vic. : 1865 - 1924), p. 2. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article112868619

The Ballarat Star, The Age and several other newspapers quoted the initial report in the Maryborough and Dunolly Advertiser a week earlier:

THE NEWS OF THE DAY. (1866, April 4). The Age (Melbourne, Vic. : 1854 - 1954), p. 5. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article155047396

The news was reproduced in:

• the Mount Alexander Mail of Castlemaine 
• the Melbourne Leader 
• the New South Welsh Tumut and Adelong Times 

The Maryborough and Dunolly Advertiser has not yet been digitised for that year.

Yesterday my husband and I attended an organ concert in St Michael's and All Angels Anglican Church Talbot. The church we were in dated from 1871, replacing an earlier building erected in 1862. There does not seem to be any sign of the previous church building in Argyle Street, Talbot.  The organist was very talented but even so I confess I glanced at my neighbour's watch at least twice during an Elgar piece, which seemed to go on for a while.

St Michael's Church of England, Talbot built 1870-1871 in January 2017

Today's concert was held at St Paul's church East Ballarat, where my great great grandfather was married.

Related posts

• BRAVE BOY IN SHOOT-OUT WITH BUSHRANGER, LATEST NEWS
• Wedding Wednesday: Philip Champion de Crespigny married Annie Frances Chauncy 25 October 1877
• E is for entertainment in Epsom
• de Crespigny - Beggs 1891 wedding
• The Bank of Victoria in Collins Street

Trove Tuesday: shipwrecked

No title (1987, October 7). The Canberra Times (ACT : 1926 - 1995), p. 14. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article122105700

In 2013 I wrote about the launching of our little boat Titania in 1987.  She was a Sprite dinghy a  class first designed in 1934.

My mother, Greg and I launch our new dinghy.

Not long after the launching, Greg and my father, Rafe, took Titania for a sail on Lake Burley Griffin. The wind came up and they discovered what an unseaworthy little tub she was.

It was blowing a gale. Titania was reluctant to head into an 80 kph wind and, when she was forced to try, the tiller snapped. Rafe and Greg were blown downwind the length of the lake and shipwrecked on Aspen Island.

They were obliged to walk back to the car and trailer several kilometres away. In their absence a Canberra Times photographer took this dramatic picture.

When a neighbour casually mentioned the picture of a boat in the newspaper a few days later, Greg had a look at the image proofs. He remembered furling the sails carefully; in the photograph the sail is 'whipping from side to side'.

The photographer had freed the jib and main to create a more lively and interesting picture.

Ripon War Memorial: remembering Vyvyan Hughes (1888-1916)

Yesterday we visited Beaufort, 50 kilometers west of Ballarat. The daffodils planted around the War Memorial were at their best. On the memorial I noticed the name of my great great uncle Vyvyan Hughes (1888-1916).  I have previously written about his war service and death.

Beaufort war memorial August 2016

BEAUFORT'S FINE RESPONSE. (1916, February 7). The Ballarat Courier (Vic. : 1869 - 1878; 1914 - 1918), p. 4 (DAILY.). Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article74499619

The Hughes family had two sons and a son-in-law serving in World War I. The son-in-law was my great grandfather Constantine Trent Champion de Crespigny.

Vyvyan and Olive Hughes shortly before Vyvyan's departure in April 1916.

No title (1916, May 5). Dunolly and Betbetshire Express and County of Gladstone Advertiser (Vic. : 1915 - 1918), p. 2. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article152662969

In August 1918 an Avenue of Honour of 500 deciduous trees was planted at Beaufort. The war service of both Vyvyan and his brother Cedric was commemorated in this avenue. Each had a tree.

The Beaufort War Memorial was unveiled in 1927 by Brigadier-General Robert Smith, formerly of the 5th Brigade, AIF. Vyvyan Hughes was one of 70 fallen soldiers whose names are recorded on the memorial.

"BACK TO BEAUFORT" CELEBRATIONS. (1927, April 16). The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957), p. 11. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article3849478

In the Victorian Heritage Database the Beaufort memorial is said to be a one-third size replica of  the Salisbury Plains memorial.

In fact the design is based on a monument called the Poultry Cross in the main street of the city of Salisbury. The Poultry Cross is a market cross constructed in the 14th century and modified in the 18th century.

BEAUFORT. (1920, July 27). The Ballarat Star (Vic. : 1865 - 1924), p. 6. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article211913472

 The Poultry Cross in Salisbury photographed by Row17 [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Sources

• RIPONSHIRE SOLDIER'S AVENUE OF HONOR. (1918, August 17). Riponshire Advocate (Vic. : 1914 - 1918), p. 3. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article119575158
• Monuments Australia: Beaufort War Memorial http://monumentaustralia.org.au/themes/conflict/multiple/display/30302-beaufort-war-memorial  
• Victorian Heritage Database Report: Beaufort War Memorial http://vhd.heritagecouncil.vic.gov.au/places/126466/download-report

Related posts

• K is for Kanatte General Cemetery in Colombo

Trove Tuesday: Leslie Leister died at Fromelles 19/20 July 2016

Leslie Leister (1894-1916), the half-brother of my husband's grandfather, was one of the 2,000 soldiers  killed at the battle of Fromelles one hundred years ago on 19 and 20 July 1916 and one of the 250 soldiers who were buried in a mass grave by the Germans after the battle.

I have written before about Leslie at F is for Fromelles and about the delays in his parents finding out about what happened to him at K is for King and Country .

There are now more newspapers digitised and available through Trove.  Among more recently digitised newspapers is the Western Champion from Parkes, New South Wales, Leslie's home place. The Western Champion includes a photograph of Leslie in its article about Leslie's fate. 

The article also explains the creation of the list that Leslie was included on which was compiled by the Germans from the identity discs of the soldiers they buried. It was only in late 1916 that soldiers were issued with two identity discs.  When the Germans buried Leslie and the other soldiers they took the identity discs to compile the list and notify the British that they had done so. Thus there was no disc with the body.

In 2010 Leslie was among the soldiers identified when the mass grave created by the Germans in a hurry during the battle was excavated. A cousin's DNA was used to identify him. He has been reburied in the new cemetery at Fromelles.  The inscription we chose for his grave is the same one used to remember him on his family's grave at Parkes.

FOR KING AND COUNTRY. (1917, March 29). Western Champion (Parkes, NSW : 1898 - 1934), , p. 8. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article113524459

Trove Tuesday: death of Captain W. A. P. Dana

William Augustus Pulteney Dana (1826-1866) was my 4th great uncle, the eighth of the ten children of my 4th great grandparents William Pulteney Dana (1776-1861) and Charlotte Elizabeth Dana née Bailey (1795-1846). He was one of the brothers of my great great great grandmother Charlotte Frances Champion de Crespigny née Dana (1820-1904).

Superintendent William Dana

William, then superintendent of police at Geelong, died suddenly on 5 October 1866.

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6, 1866. (1866, October 6). The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957), , p. 5. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article5775248

CURRENT TOPICS. (1866, October 6). Geelong Advertiser (Vic. : 1859 - 1926), , p. 2. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article148784229

Items of News. (1866, October 10). Hamilton Spectator and Grange District Advertiser (South Melbourne, Vic. : 1860 - 1870), , p. 2. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article194471140

LOCAL INTELLIGENCE. (1866, October 11). Kilmore Free Press and Counties of Bourke and Dalhousie Advertiser (Kilmore, Vic. : 1865 - 1868), , p. 2 (MORNINGS.). Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article70060810

His funeral was reported in the Geelong Advertiser of 8 October 1866. Thousands of people, it was reported, viewed the long cortege. Philip de Crespigny, William Dana's brother-in-law and my great great great grandfather was one of the principal mourners. Also among these principal mourners were his nephews, George and Augustus Dana.

CAPTAIN DANA'S FUNERAL. (1866, October 8). Geelong Advertiser (Vic. : 1859 - 1926), , p. 3. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article148784238

Images of Captain Dana's grave in the Geelong cemetery at Find-A-Grave: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=163742121 These were kindly taken by Find A Grave contributor Ron M following my request to the site.

Trove Tuesday: S. A. Women's Golf Championship

27 June 2016, yesterday at the time of writing this post, was the 108th anniversary of
the birth of my grandmother Kathleen Cudmore (1908-2013).

One of Kathleen's hobbies was golf. In 1934 she won the South Australian Women's Golf Championship.

New Woman Golf Champion (1934, August 9). Chronicle (Adelaide, SA : 1895 - 1954), , p. 35. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article91064101

Ladies Golf Championship of S Australia 1934 won by Kathleen Ch de Crespigny

NEW WOMAN GOLF CHAMPION (1934, August 4). The Advertiser (Adelaide, SA : 1931 - 1954), p. 16. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article35125311 (click on image to enlarge)

This newspaper clipping is from Kathleen's clipping book. The same photo appeared in the Adelaide Advertiser of 4 August 1934 on page 20 with the caption "LOSER PRESENTS CUP. Mrs. E. Britten Jones, as president of the South Australian Ladies' Golf Union, presented the women's championship cup to Mrs. G. de Crespigny, who defeated her in the final round at Kooyonga yesterday, 1 up. The championship ended with a most exciting round."

Chiefly Out of Doors (1934, April 19). Chronicle (Adelaide, SA : 1895 - 1954), , p. 37. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article92355975

"ASSOCIATES from the Kooyonga and Royal Adelaide Golf Clubs held their annual competition for the Cudmore Challenge Cup at Seaton yesterday.Some of the competitors photographed daring the match. Left:—Mrs. G. de Crespigny driving off" from (1934, June 2). The Advertiser (Adelaide, SA : 1931 - 1954), p. 20. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article35110345

The Advertiser TUESDAY. JUNE 19. 1934 (1934, June 19). The Advertiser (Adelaide, SA : 1931 - 1954), p. 16. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article35114240

Front page news: Golf Finalists (1934, August 3). News (Adelaide, SA : 1923 - 1954), , p. 1. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article128840974

The Adelaide Mail of 24 November 1934, page 6, reported on What Women Golfers Do in Summer.

Mrs. Geoffrey de Crespigny, State golf champion, combines a little golf on cooler days with tennis in the summer time. She finds golf quite pleasant when it is not too hot. Although the ground on most links is dry off the fairways, these are kept well watered.