Sepia Saturday: How does a country kid get to school?

This is the theme photo for this week's Sepia Saturday. Lots of choices - bicycles, boys wearing caps, bare feet, advertising signs. I think my photo from a family album fits the bill nicely.

It's maybe 1930, you live in or near a small country town in Victoria, you need to get to school every day. So, does mum get the 4-wheel drive out of the garage? Do you join a 'walking bus' group? Do you use public transport? None of the above. You walk, or ride your bike or saddle up your pony. The children look pretty happy. And look at that show-off in the very front!

School kids and their means of  transport, 1943. Bayunga, Victoria.

That's young master Johnston in front with his big bike, with a bag wrapped around the crossbar for him to sit on because he couldn't reach the seat. After school the teacher, Lena Alford, would sit him on the bike and give him a push to start him off and there would be someone waiting at home to help him stop and get off!

Trove Tuesday: In which Uncle William's house burns down

I know, it's Wednesday not Tuesday, but here's my entry for Trove Tuesday because I've solved a mystery using Trove.

William Thomas Wyllie

William Wyllie was a brother of my great-grandfather Robert. Both were wheat farmers near Minyip in the Wimmera district of Victoria, both had selected blocks of land when the government opened up the area for selection and both were married with young children. But in the 1890s Robert stayed and William left with his family to live and work in Melbourne. I never knew why.

But then I found these reports on Trove. They've lost their house in a fire and they weren't insured. So with a family of four young daughters and a wife to support I'm guessing William didn't have many choices. I still don't know exactly when they moved but I'm sure the fire would have been a contributing factor.

The Argus, 30 Dec 1895

Horsham Times, 10 Jan 1896

William Thomas WYLLIE, son of William WYLLIE and Ann Megget CRANSTON was born on 20 Aug 1861 in McLaren Vale, South Australia, Australia. He died on 08 Oct 1935 in Mentone, Victoria, Australia. He married Naomi MILGATE, daughter of James MILGATE and Emily MOORE on 09 Nov 1885 in Dunmunkle, Victoria, Australia (Primitive Methodist). She was born on 21 Feb 1862 in Jacobs Creek, Lyndoch, South Australia, Australia. She died on 10 Dec 1945 in Mentone, Victoria, Australia. 

Sepia Saturday: Outside the country store

The theme photo for this week's Sepia Saturday is a shopfront and I found a photo to match the theme in our family's album.

A small country town in the early part of the 20th century needed a good general store because the nearest big town was Bendigo and getting there and back took all day. Not exactly convenient, especially in the days when horse-drawn vehicles were more common than cars. In Mitiamo the store was run by Charles W Sims and then his son-in-law Roy Phelan. As well as food and haberdashery they provided everything from petrol to insurance and delivered around the local farms every fortnight. There was a train station in Mitiamo so they were able to bring their goods to town on the rail system. It was a very busy place.

During WW2 the shop and the adjoining residence burnt down but I'll save that story for another day.

Outside Sims store, Mitiamo

Charles William SIMS, son of Samuel SIMS and Elizabeth CARTER was born on 21 May 1869 (Coliban, Victoria, Australia). He died on 20 Apr 1942 in Mitiamo, Victoria, Australia. He married Euphemia YEAMAN, daughter of Charles YEAMAN and Sarah PAYNTER on 16 Jun 1892 in Pine Grove, Victoria, Australia. She was born on 12 Aug 1866 in Cobaw, Victoria, Australia. She died on 01 Sep 1941 in Mitiamo, Victoria, Australia. 

Trove Tuesday: In which I use Lists

Thank goodness for lists. The older I get the more I rely on my lists of things to do, things to buy. And as a field naturalist I'm always compiling lists of birds or plants or fungi or insects I've seen for my small contribution to citizen science.

But one of the best use for lists is the section of Trove at the National Library of Australia. I can explore other peoples lists of interesting newspaper items they've found pertaining to particular families, towns or subjects. It can save you a lot of time and effort because someone else has already done the search.

For instance, I'm interested in the family of Joseph and Ann Stone of Hobart and Bagdad in Tasmania because they're direct ancestors of my husband. They were among the first teachers in Hobart. 'Kizzie56' has created a list of 23 items that pertain to the family so I'll be able to check out each of those myself. Thanks Kizzie. This is one of the items on her list.

Hobart Town Gazette and Van Diemen’s Land Advertiser (Tas. : 1821-1825), Saturday 21 September 1822

And I can also make my own lists. I've created a few for families I'm researching and add items to them each time I log on. Mostly I save the items as a file to my hard drive as well but it's very useful having the list on the Trove website because I can check what I've done in the past so easily. I can also email the link to other family members.

If you do a general search on the Trove website the results appear in all of the categories on the tabs (books, newspapers, music, archived websites, pictures and photos, diaries, people and organisations ... and lists) and the list category usually appears at the very bottom of the page and can be easily overlooked. I'm suggesting that you try searching the lists only and see what happens. Or better still, create your own lists.

Thomas STONE, son of Thomas STONE and Lucy CAINS was born on 28 Jan 1796 in Horfield, Bristol, GLS, England. He died on 27 Nov 1862 in Green Ponds, Tasmania, Australia. He married Ann WITHERS, daughter of John WITHERS and Susannah COOK on 13 Jul 1817 in St John, Bedminster, Somerset, England. She was born on 30 Aug 1798 in Bristol, England. She died on 24 Apr 1856 in Bagdad, Tasmania, Australia.