This story was first published by OhmyNewsInternational. To read their version, with interesting illustrations and live links, please cut and paste this address: http://tinyurl.com/c4t4mv
I was in awe of my grandmother, Becky, a white woman from Paddington in London who had, sometime in 1901-1902 while on holiday in Kingston, fallen in love and against all social convention of the time married a black Jamaican.
So writes Marie Campbell, in an intriguing account of her own journey almost a century later, in the footsteps of her adventurous grandmother. Marie traveled from London, England, to Jamaica, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamaica to meet cousins and other relatives, who helped her discover her origin.
"I discovered a story of cruelty, revenge and jealousy inflicted on an innocent young woman and how she demonstrated huge moral courage, dignity, resilience and, in particular, love," says Marie.
Her first discovery was about her mother, who in England was known as Carmen Browne . Her real name was Olga Browney, born and raised in Kingston, Jamaica. She was one of 11 children from a close-knit, colored Catholic family. A kind, naïve and gentle girl, her mother had arrived in London in April 1939 and lived with "a malevolent, alcoholic aunt," intending to stay for only six months. However, the outbreak of World War II, personal tragedy and malicious intent had prevented her from returning home to Kingston.
"I learnt what a remarkable woman my mother was," Marie wrote. "Because of circumstances, she made a choice which resulted in her losing contact with her beloved family in Jamaica until nearly half a century later when her past caught up with her.
"When I visited my family in Jamaica in 1996 only six of Mum’s siblings were still alive: Boysie, Birdie, Pearl, Chickie (christened Kathleen), Ruby and Dolly. Boysie was living in Canada and I never got to meet him, although Mum spoke to him on the phone.
"It was wonderful to finally meet some of Mum’s family - my extended family, the family that as a child I’d always longed for but which, in the main, Mum didn’t like to talk about. She’d say, 'it makes me sad'. But ironically, when she was sad, that was when she’d open up a bit and I gleaned little bits of information about her family. I knew that as small children Mum, Ruby and Dolly had been very close and it was interesting, as well as being a bit unnerving, to see just how much Ruby and Dolly looked like Mum."
Two years ago, Marie migrated from England to join her son in Sydney, Australia. She has published her story as a book, http://www.lulu.com/mariecampbell which she is now posting, chapter by chapter, in the splendidly entertaining British daily online literary journal Open Writing http://www.openwriting.com/archives/olgas_daughter/ In addition, she maintains a lively blog www.olgasdaughter.wordpress.com
Marie greatly admires her adventurous grandmother's flouting of the color bar. She says:
It wasn’t just white and coloured Jamaicans who would have shown and demonstrated contempt for Becky, but the blacks as well. A white woman marrying a black man was unheard of at that time – in fact there was a time when it was illegal!
I think that’s one of the things I found most surprising during my research about my family; how, even after Emancipation, Jamaica had continued to practice Great Britain’s colour and social prejudices – whites looking down on coloureds, coloureds looking down on blacks, and black accepting they were the lowest class in Jamaican society. My grandmother’s social standing would have been on a par with the blacks or maybe even lower, if that’s possible.
I wish I had known her. I thought how brave she was and what courage she had. Saying goodbye on the dockside at Avonmouth before she boarded the S.S. Port Morant, expecting only to be away from England for a few weeks, was to be the last time she saw or spoke to her parents. My grandmother never returned to England but she did keep the telegram her father sent her when he heard about her plans to marry Henry Brown from my Great Aunt Martha:
Telegram from Samuel Ross, Droop Street, London, to
Becky Ross c/o "Mon Repos", St Andrews, Jamaica
MARTHA HAS TOLD US OF YOUR PLANS TO MARRY. PLEASE RECONSIDER. CANNOT AGREE WITH THIS MARRIAGE. IF YOU PROCEED YOU WILL CEASE TO BE OUR DAUGHTER AND DO NOT WISH TO SEE YOU OR SPEAK TO EVER AGAIN. WE BEG YOU TO RECONSIDER.
Stand by for a Hollywood blockbuster based on Marie's book!
END
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Chanel (20) is NOT the World's Oldest Pooch
This story was first published by OhmyNewsInternational. To read their version, with interesting illustrations and live links, please cut and paste this address:
http://tinyurl.com/cpvx7n
Australian cattle dog Bluey lived 29 years 5 months and 7 days!
The 100th birthday of Bluey, a famous Australian cattle dog born on Jun 7, 1910, will be celebrated next year by people living in Rochester, a country town 130 miles (209km) north of Melbourne, Victoria, not far from last month's disastrous bushfires.
Bluey worked among sheep and cattle for 20 years, and survived until November 14, 1939, when he was put down. He had lived for 29 years, five months and seven days, on a diet of kangaroos and emus. He was the world's oldest dog, a record that has never been beaten.
John Harley, top dog of the Rochester Historical and Pioneer Society, told OhmyNews "We know about Bluey, in fact the daughter of the man who owned it is still with us and a regular attender of the Anglican church. No doubt there will be some sort of celebration for the oldest dog's centenary."
He said that William Hall, of Rochester, was Bluey's first owner. When William Hall died, his son Les looked after the dog. On the other hand, Wikipedia says Bluey's owner was named Esma Hall, who lived to be 103. It's not known whether she too ate kangaroo and emu meat.
While Rochester prepares for Bluey's centenary, a 20-year-old wire-haired dachshund called Chanel, living in Port Jefferson Station, a hamlet in Suffolk County, New York, has mistakenly been hailed as the world's oldest living dog. She has set the canine world barking mad... and, despite the error, is rapidly becoming a world-famous bitch.
Incidentally,when Marilyn Monroe was asked what she wore in bed, she famously replied, "Why, Chanel No. 5, of course."
Two British national newspapers, The Daily Telegraph and The Sun, and America's
NBC radio and TV network fell for the story, but their readers, listeners and viewers promptly named many other dogs who are (or were) older than Chanel.
"This dog's age is no big deal," JT Cro growled on The Sun website. "My grandparents had a dog before they passed away, 33 years old in human years and in remarkably good health. I am certain he could of gone another 10 maybe 15 years before he would of died, however he was put down once my grandparents died. They loved their dogs very much, most of the dogs they had lasted 25-30 years."
Chanel's bid for fame began on Dec 17, 2008, with a story in her local newspaper, the Times Beacon Record, http://www.northshoreoflongisland.com/Articles-i-2008-12-18-77396.112114_Is_this_dachshund_the_oldest_dog_in_the_world.html published on the North Shore of Long Island, New York. "Is this dachshund the oldest dog in the world?" Lee Lutz asked, adding:
Slow forward to February 23, when Rupert Murdoch's British tabloid giant The Sun (circulation 3 million+) published a sensational story under screaming headlines: Oldest dog is Chanel No 20: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article2264244.ece
The Daily Telegraph published the story with a more restrained headline: World's oldest dog needs jumper and goggles. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/4785996/Worlds-oldest-dog-needs-jumper-and-goggles.html
Next day, Chanel skipped back to America, where media outlets gleefully seized on the London furphy [false report], without checking the facts. "World's oldest dog is 20, needs glasses," http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/weird/Worlds-Oldest-Dog-is-20-Needs-Glasses.html NBC outlets reported in California, Pennsylvania, and elsewhere..
The story prompted The Daily Doxie ("your source for free daily dachshund photos, past dachshund pictures, dachshund resources, and more") to publish this article:
Guinness requires a dog's age to be documented, which bars many animals older than Chanel from the record book. At 20, Chanel is only as old as a 93-year-old human. Forget that old wive's tale of a dog's age beine one seventh of a human's. It's not always true. See How old is your dog? http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/age.htm
In recent years, dozens of venerable pooches have been nominated for the proud title of The World's Oldest Dog. Here are just a few:
Bramble, in Bridgewater, Somerset, http://www.ourdogs.co.uk/News/2002/October2002/News111002/ripeold.htm celebrated her 27th birthday in 2002, making her Britain's oldest living dog and a contender for the oldest dog in the world. Her owner, Anne Heritage, 43, is a vegan and has brought up her pet on the same diet regime she herself follows. "She has a big bowl of rice, lentils and organic vegetables every evening," says Ms. Heritage.
Jerry. A 26-year-old mongrel living with an Aboriginal family in Australia's Outback has the potential to become the world's oldest living dog, a newspaper reported Sunday. Jerry, an Australian cattle dog-bull terrier cross, will next month turn 27 - the equivalent of 189 years for a human - said Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals veterinarian Honey Nelson...
Jerry's owner, Waddie Harris - an Aboriginal tribal leader in New South Wales state's Wilcannia town, put Jerry's longevity down to his high-protein diet of Outback wildlife. "Jerry has grown up on kangaroo, rabbit and emu as well as scraps off the table," the newspaper quoted Harris as saying. - Associated Press, Jul 11, 2004 http://www.australianfauna.com/news/outbackmongrel.php
Jip celebrated his 25th birthday -- his age in human terms is 175 --last Thursday and incredulous owners Marilyn and John Regan, of West Lane, think he could be the world's oldest living dog.
Mrs Regan, 64, said: "He's already outlived two of our other dogs and a cat. He's going to outlive us all at this rate." ...The Regans acquired Jip through Airedale Vets after his owner abandoned him at the age of six. In his younger days he was treated to leisurely walks around the Clough, but now he much prefers to be ferried around like his royal counterparts at Buckingham Palace. Mrs Regan said: "He loves riding around in the car with John. Whenever he grabs the keys you can see his ears prick up." - Bradford (UK) Telegraph and Argus http://archive.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/2005/9/23/180804.html Sep 23, 2005.
Titch. The tiny terrier has already clocked up 19 years and turns 20 in September, making him a whopping 140 years old if he was human. - Coventry (UK) Telegraph, Feb.26, 2009.
http://www.coventrytelegraph.net/news/coventry-news/2009/02/26/is-titch-the-oldest-dog-in-town-92746-23016416
Derek the Mongrel, at the age of 19, the equivalent of 133 in dog years - is still going strong, according to a report ... The dog is the much-loved pet of Jill Molnar, from Scunthorpe, who adopted him after he kept chasing her daughter's young sons. While he could be the oldest dog in the area, a Papillon named Fred made it to 29... - Scunthorpe Evening Telegraph, (UK), April 16, 2008.
Tip, the 29-year-old collie is the world's oldest dog, claims Ann Elliott, of Canterbury, who found him as a pup on a rubbish dump. - London Daily Mirror, Jan 17, 2004.
Bella. A dog believed to be the oldest in the world has died, aged 29 years. Bella, a Labrador cross, was bought by David Richardson from the RSPCA, 26 years ago when she was three years old. She had lived with Mr Richardson, 76, and his partner Daisy, 81, since 1982 in Clay Cross, Derbyshire. But she was put down on Saturday following a heart attack while on holiday with the couple. - London Daily Telegraph, Sep 8, 2008.
Skye, our border collie, will be 20 years old on March 1. Do you think she could be the oldest dog in Scotland? James Logan, Prestonpans, East Lothian. - Daily Record (Glasgow), Feb 1, 2007.
Cindy. Britain's oldest dog is a 24-year-old Jack Russell called Cindy. The secret to its long life is tea and walking eight miles a day. - Daily Mirror (London); July 26, 2002
Butch. 'His name is Butch. He's a beagle. His title is etched in official Guinness World Records certification and he earned it by living for 27 years...189 in human years... His eyes, however, are bright and his tail still wags. He still begs for petting, and as with all beagles, food is a major holiday to celebrate often. On regular occasions he lets loose and does a bit of running about the house...' -Charlottesville, Virginia Daily Progress, Nov 4, 2002. [Butch died in 2003, aged 28].
Beagle. I have a Beagle and he is 17 years old now. I kiss him many times every day and tell him "Mommy loves you. Stay with Mommy, Okay?". He gets fresh carrots for snack for many years. My husband told me that is why he still hears good and sees good. - Lilianne, in a Buzzle.com http://www.buzzle.com/comments/56493-1.html forum message.
FOOTNOTE Then there's Hercules, said to be the world's heaaviest dog. "The Hercules English Mastiff is a real dog, but most of the images you see of him are not," says Kelly Roper. But that's another story. http://dogs.lovetoknow.com/wiki/Hercules_English_Mastiff
END
http://tinyurl.com/cpvx7n
Australian cattle dog Bluey lived 29 years 5 months and 7 days!
The 100th birthday of Bluey, a famous Australian cattle dog born on Jun 7, 1910, will be celebrated next year by people living in Rochester, a country town 130 miles (209km) north of Melbourne, Victoria, not far from last month's disastrous bushfires.
Bluey worked among sheep and cattle for 20 years, and survived until November 14, 1939, when he was put down. He had lived for 29 years, five months and seven days, on a diet of kangaroos and emus. He was the world's oldest dog, a record that has never been beaten.
John Harley, top dog of the Rochester Historical and Pioneer Society, told OhmyNews "We know about Bluey, in fact the daughter of the man who owned it is still with us and a regular attender of the Anglican church. No doubt there will be some sort of celebration for the oldest dog's centenary."
He said that William Hall, of Rochester, was Bluey's first owner. When William Hall died, his son Les looked after the dog. On the other hand, Wikipedia says Bluey's owner was named Esma Hall, who lived to be 103. It's not known whether she too ate kangaroo and emu meat.
While Rochester prepares for Bluey's centenary, a 20-year-old wire-haired dachshund called Chanel, living in Port Jefferson Station, a hamlet in Suffolk County, New York, has mistakenly been hailed as the world's oldest living dog. She has set the canine world barking mad... and, despite the error, is rapidly becoming a world-famous bitch.
Incidentally,when Marilyn Monroe was asked what she wore in bed, she famously replied, "Why, Chanel No. 5, of course."
Two British national newspapers, The Daily Telegraph and The Sun, and America's
NBC radio and TV network fell for the story, but their readers, listeners and viewers promptly named many other dogs who are (or were) older than Chanel.
"This dog's age is no big deal," JT Cro growled on The Sun website. "My grandparents had a dog before they passed away, 33 years old in human years and in remarkably good health. I am certain he could of gone another 10 maybe 15 years before he would of died, however he was put down once my grandparents died. They loved their dogs very much, most of the dogs they had lasted 25-30 years."
Chanel's bid for fame began on Dec 17, 2008, with a story in her local newspaper, the Times Beacon Record, http://www.northshoreoflongisland.com/Articles-i-2008-12-18-77396.112114_Is_this_dachshund_the_oldest_dog_in_the_world.html published on the North Shore of Long Island, New York. "Is this dachshund the oldest dog in the world?" Lee Lutz asked, adding:
Chanel, a blond, wire-haired dachshund who calls Port Jefferson Station home, is famous — or soon will be if her owners' expectation becomes reality in 2009. The Shaughnessy family has been told by the publisher of "Guinness World Records" that Chanel will be listed in next year's edition as the oldest known dog in the world.
Born on May 8, 1988, Chanel is over 20 years old and going strong, according to Denice Shaughnessy, a retired Army veteran who now works in the principal's office of the Rocky Point Middle School.
"She's pretty healthy," said Shaughnessy, "cataracts, a little, but OK." The Shaughnessys adopted Chanel in Virginia at 6 weeks old, and the German-breed dachshund spent almost six years in the country of its origin when the family was stationed in Europe in the early 1990s.
Slow forward to February 23, when Rupert Murdoch's British tabloid giant The Sun (circulation 3 million+) published a sensational story under screaming headlines: Oldest dog is Chanel No 20: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article2264244.ece
The Daily Telegraph published the story with a more restrained headline: World's oldest dog needs jumper and goggles. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/4785996/Worlds-oldest-dog-needs-jumper-and-goggles.html
Next day, Chanel skipped back to America, where media outlets gleefully seized on the London furphy [false report], without checking the facts. "World's oldest dog is 20, needs glasses," http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/weird/Worlds-Oldest-Dog-is-20-Needs-Glasses.html NBC outlets reported in California, Pennsylvania, and elsewhere..
The story prompted The Daily Doxie ("your source for free daily dachshund photos, past dachshund pictures, dachshund resources, and more") to publish this article:
Breaking: The strange story of the Dachshund who would be the world's oldest dog
Last time this story was in the headlines the competition noted that there appeared to be something fishy going on. First of all, in the past, the holders of the world's oldest dog title have all been in their late twenties. What's more, there are plenty of comments here at the Daily Doxie from people who have 18- and 19- year-old wiener dogs, so they don't appear that unusual.
Is it really possible, then, that there are no dogs between the ages of 20 and 29 who could claim the crown? And how come there's no official announcement from Guinness World Records?
Guinness requires a dog's age to be documented, which bars many animals older than Chanel from the record book. At 20, Chanel is only as old as a 93-year-old human. Forget that old wive's tale of a dog's age beine one seventh of a human's. It's not always true. See How old is your dog? http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/age.htm
In recent years, dozens of venerable pooches have been nominated for the proud title of The World's Oldest Dog. Here are just a few:
Bramble, in Bridgewater, Somerset, http://www.ourdogs.co.uk/News/2002/October2002/News111002/ripeold.htm celebrated her 27th birthday in 2002, making her Britain's oldest living dog and a contender for the oldest dog in the world. Her owner, Anne Heritage, 43, is a vegan and has brought up her pet on the same diet regime she herself follows. "She has a big bowl of rice, lentils and organic vegetables every evening," says Ms. Heritage.
Jerry. A 26-year-old mongrel living with an Aboriginal family in Australia's Outback has the potential to become the world's oldest living dog, a newspaper reported Sunday. Jerry, an Australian cattle dog-bull terrier cross, will next month turn 27 - the equivalent of 189 years for a human - said Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals veterinarian Honey Nelson...
Jerry's owner, Waddie Harris - an Aboriginal tribal leader in New South Wales state's Wilcannia town, put Jerry's longevity down to his high-protein diet of Outback wildlife. "Jerry has grown up on kangaroo, rabbit and emu as well as scraps off the table," the newspaper quoted Harris as saying. - Associated Press, Jul 11, 2004 http://www.australianfauna.com/news/outbackmongrel.php
Jip celebrated his 25th birthday -- his age in human terms is 175 --last Thursday and incredulous owners Marilyn and John Regan, of West Lane, think he could be the world's oldest living dog.
Mrs Regan, 64, said: "He's already outlived two of our other dogs and a cat. He's going to outlive us all at this rate." ...The Regans acquired Jip through Airedale Vets after his owner abandoned him at the age of six. In his younger days he was treated to leisurely walks around the Clough, but now he much prefers to be ferried around like his royal counterparts at Buckingham Palace. Mrs Regan said: "He loves riding around in the car with John. Whenever he grabs the keys you can see his ears prick up." - Bradford (UK) Telegraph and Argus http://archive.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/2005/9/23/180804.html Sep 23, 2005.
Titch. The tiny terrier has already clocked up 19 years and turns 20 in September, making him a whopping 140 years old if he was human. - Coventry (UK) Telegraph, Feb.26, 2009.
http://www.coventrytelegraph.net/news/coventry-news/2009/02/26/is-titch-the-oldest-dog-in-town-92746-23016416
Derek the Mongrel, at the age of 19, the equivalent of 133 in dog years - is still going strong, according to a report ... The dog is the much-loved pet of Jill Molnar, from Scunthorpe, who adopted him after he kept chasing her daughter's young sons. While he could be the oldest dog in the area, a Papillon named Fred made it to 29... - Scunthorpe Evening Telegraph, (UK), April 16, 2008.
Tip, the 29-year-old collie is the world's oldest dog, claims Ann Elliott, of Canterbury, who found him as a pup on a rubbish dump. - London Daily Mirror, Jan 17, 2004.
Bella. A dog believed to be the oldest in the world has died, aged 29 years. Bella, a Labrador cross, was bought by David Richardson from the RSPCA, 26 years ago when she was three years old. She had lived with Mr Richardson, 76, and his partner Daisy, 81, since 1982 in Clay Cross, Derbyshire. But she was put down on Saturday following a heart attack while on holiday with the couple. - London Daily Telegraph, Sep 8, 2008.
Skye, our border collie, will be 20 years old on March 1. Do you think she could be the oldest dog in Scotland? James Logan, Prestonpans, East Lothian. - Daily Record (Glasgow), Feb 1, 2007.
Cindy. Britain's oldest dog is a 24-year-old Jack Russell called Cindy. The secret to its long life is tea and walking eight miles a day. - Daily Mirror (London); July 26, 2002
Butch. 'His name is Butch. He's a beagle. His title is etched in official Guinness World Records certification and he earned it by living for 27 years...189 in human years... His eyes, however, are bright and his tail still wags. He still begs for petting, and as with all beagles, food is a major holiday to celebrate often. On regular occasions he lets loose and does a bit of running about the house...' -Charlottesville, Virginia Daily Progress, Nov 4, 2002. [Butch died in 2003, aged 28].
Beagle. I have a Beagle and he is 17 years old now. I kiss him many times every day and tell him "Mommy loves you. Stay with Mommy, Okay?". He gets fresh carrots for snack for many years. My husband told me that is why he still hears good and sees good. - Lilianne, in a Buzzle.com http://www.buzzle.com/comments/56493-1.html forum message.
FOOTNOTE Then there's Hercules, said to be the world's heaaviest dog. "The Hercules English Mastiff is a real dog, but most of the images you see of him are not," says Kelly Roper. But that's another story. http://dogs.lovetoknow.com/wiki/Hercules_English_Mastiff
END
Monday, February 16, 2009
Former Pin-up Girl Now 102, World's Oldest Columnist
This story was first published by OhmyNewsInternational. To read their version, with interesting illustrations and live links, please cut and paste this address: http://tinyurl.com/ak2re3
"I have packed more into my lifetime than most."
Margaret Caldwell, 1940s pin-up girl and friend of famous film stars, now 102 years old, is the world's oldest newspaper columnist. She lives in Nevada, but never visits Vegas.
"I think the slogan 'What happens in Las Vegas stays in Las Vegas' is totally wrong," she told OhmyNews. "It denotes the wrong kind of reputation for Las Vegas. What happens in Las Vegas should be in the public domain as far as I am concerned."
Margaret writes a weekly column for the Desert Valley Times in Mesquite, Nevada, owned by Gannett Co., Inc. which publishes 85 daily newspapers, including the national newspaper USA TODAY (circulation 2,284,219), and nearly 900 non-daily publications.
David Bly, http://davidbly.net/aboutme.php editor and general manager of the Desert Valley Times, says "I interviewed Margaret as a centenarian, and was so taken with her wit and sharpness I asked her to write a weekly column, which she has been doing faithfully ever since under the title, 'Memoirs of a Crone,' which was her choice of titles.
"She simply writes about her life, and our readers are very fond of her... She still has a way with words."
OhmyNews interviewed Margaret by email. Here are the Q and A:
Q. When and where was your first writing published?
A. My first writing was published in 1980 by Warner Books, a novel called "Born To The Sun". I have written another book which is a sequal called "I Married A Genius", which I am presently attempting to sell.
Q. Which newspapers or magazines have published your work?
A. I wrote for the Chicago Tribune during World War II as Administrator for Women's Actuvities Civil Defense and now here in Mesquite for the Desert Valley Times.
Q. How many children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren do you have, and where do they live?
A. I only have one child, a daughter, who lives with me here in Mesquite. [Her 76-year-old daughter, Patrisha, posts Margaret's columns for her.]
Q. When and why did you move to Nevada?
A. I moved to Nevada to be with my daughter and son-in-law, now deceased, in 1997. They lived in Las Vegas and I lived with them for several years.
Q. Do you ever visit Las Vegas and play the slots? Have you written about gambling?
A. I do not visit Las Vegas. I don't care for gambling and am not a gambler. However, if I do want to throw away some money, there are three casinos in Mesquite where I can go. I do, sometimes, like to go to the casino for a buffet, but that is all.
Q. Do you agree with the slogan "What happens in Las Vegas stays in Las Vegas"?
A. I think the slogan is totally wrong. It denotes the wrong kind of reputation for Las Vegas. What happens in Las Vegas should be in the public domain as far as I am concerned.
Q. What are your favorite subjects in your columns?
A. The only things I write about in my columns are my life experiences and my thoughts on what is going on right now. I have had a long life and met a lot of people, famous or not, and have had a lot of experiences.
Q. Do you receive much feeedback?
A. I have received some postcards and letters but not many. However, my daughter and I are constantly getting verbal feedback from people in this town whenever we go out.
One of those people is Barb King,
http://www.mesquitelocalnews.com/viewnews.php?newsid=1804&id=6&mode=archive
who praised Margaret's and daughter Patrisha's performances in a New Year's Eve stage show a few weeks ago.
"In this play she [Margaret] was Miss Patience, and what a wonderful job she did re-creating a sweet, prim and proper school marm who had once been engaged to the sheriff.," Barb wrote. "Margaret continues to amaze everyone who meets her, with her wonderful humor and fabulous abilities with story-telling."
Margaret's columns cover a wide variety of subjects, ranging from My First Kiss
to her latest column, Hard times again — when will we ever learn? http://www.thespectrum.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=200990212025
She wrote My First Kiss last year, when she was only 101.. Here's a copy:
You can see five photos of Margaret at different stages of life posted on MySpace http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewPicture&friendID=237656927&albumId=271577
And here's an edited copy of this remarkable woman's autobiography:
"I have packed more into my lifetime than most."
Margaret Caldwell, 1940s pin-up girl and friend of famous film stars, now 102 years old, is the world's oldest newspaper columnist. She lives in Nevada, but never visits Vegas.
"I think the slogan 'What happens in Las Vegas stays in Las Vegas' is totally wrong," she told OhmyNews. "It denotes the wrong kind of reputation for Las Vegas. What happens in Las Vegas should be in the public domain as far as I am concerned."
Margaret writes a weekly column for the Desert Valley Times in Mesquite, Nevada, owned by Gannett Co., Inc. which publishes 85 daily newspapers, including the national newspaper USA TODAY (circulation 2,284,219), and nearly 900 non-daily publications.
David Bly, http://davidbly.net/aboutme.php editor and general manager of the Desert Valley Times, says "I interviewed Margaret as a centenarian, and was so taken with her wit and sharpness I asked her to write a weekly column, which she has been doing faithfully ever since under the title, 'Memoirs of a Crone,' which was her choice of titles.
"She simply writes about her life, and our readers are very fond of her... She still has a way with words."
OhmyNews interviewed Margaret by email. Here are the Q and A:
Q. When and where was your first writing published?
A. My first writing was published in 1980 by Warner Books, a novel called "Born To The Sun". I have written another book which is a sequal called "I Married A Genius", which I am presently attempting to sell.
Q. Which newspapers or magazines have published your work?
A. I wrote for the Chicago Tribune during World War II as Administrator for Women's Actuvities Civil Defense and now here in Mesquite for the Desert Valley Times.
Q. How many children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren do you have, and where do they live?
A. I only have one child, a daughter, who lives with me here in Mesquite. [Her 76-year-old daughter, Patrisha, posts Margaret's columns for her.]
Q. When and why did you move to Nevada?
A. I moved to Nevada to be with my daughter and son-in-law, now deceased, in 1997. They lived in Las Vegas and I lived with them for several years.
Q. Do you ever visit Las Vegas and play the slots? Have you written about gambling?
A. I do not visit Las Vegas. I don't care for gambling and am not a gambler. However, if I do want to throw away some money, there are three casinos in Mesquite where I can go. I do, sometimes, like to go to the casino for a buffet, but that is all.
Q. Do you agree with the slogan "What happens in Las Vegas stays in Las Vegas"?
A. I think the slogan is totally wrong. It denotes the wrong kind of reputation for Las Vegas. What happens in Las Vegas should be in the public domain as far as I am concerned.
Q. What are your favorite subjects in your columns?
A. The only things I write about in my columns are my life experiences and my thoughts on what is going on right now. I have had a long life and met a lot of people, famous or not, and have had a lot of experiences.
Q. Do you receive much feeedback?
A. I have received some postcards and letters but not many. However, my daughter and I are constantly getting verbal feedback from people in this town whenever we go out.
One of those people is Barb King,
http://www.mesquitelocalnews.com/viewnews.php?newsid=1804&id=6&mode=archive
who praised Margaret's and daughter Patrisha's performances in a New Year's Eve stage show a few weeks ago.
"In this play she [Margaret] was Miss Patience, and what a wonderful job she did re-creating a sweet, prim and proper school marm who had once been engaged to the sheriff.," Barb wrote. "Margaret continues to amaze everyone who meets her, with her wonderful humor and fabulous abilities with story-telling."
Margaret's columns cover a wide variety of subjects, ranging from My First Kiss
to her latest column, Hard times again — when will we ever learn? http://www.thespectrum.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=200990212025
She wrote My First Kiss last year, when she was only 101.. Here's a copy:
When I was young, about nine years old, there was a preacher who came to our country schoolhouse to preach.
Mama, who was very religious, always went to hear him and took me along. He almost always brought his granddaughter who was my age. On one occasion Mama gave me permission to return with them to Ackley, a small town about 15 miles away.
I couldn’t believe my eyes when we were served dinner by the wife. The preacher got a serving of a very savory roast, the rest of us half of a boiled potato, no butter, just salt, and no dessert, while he had apple pie.
I was hungry when I went to bed with his granddaughter and hungrier after being served a small bowl of gummy oatmeal for breakfast. It was at that time I began to make decisions. I took my paper bag of possessions and, after telling the minister’s wife where I was going, I left.
I went to Grandma Johnson, who was raising my dead sister’s little boy, my nephew Lyle, who is, at this time, 80 some years old and living in Yuma, Arizona. Grandma Johnson opened her arms. The rest of the week was pure joy. We went to a dance at the little town hall. Grandpa took me to the dance and then said, “You know the way home. See you later,” and left.
One of the neighbors had a boy of about 11 who danced with me and later walked me back to Grandma Johnson’s house. He was so polite. He opened the gate in the back yard fence and walked me up to the house.
I was thrilled and tongue-tied. We stood at the door staring at each other, when he suddenly grabbed and kissed me, turned and ran like the hounds of hell were after him.
I forgot to worry about getting back home; the preacher would have to take me. Gee whiz, he really kissed me! What was his name again? I couldn’t remember. The kiss on my cheek still tingled.
You can see five photos of Margaret at different stages of life posted on MySpace http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewPicture&friendID=237656927&albumId=271577
And here's an edited copy of this remarkable woman's autobiography:
I was born on February 1, 1907, in the backwoods of Minnesota on a homestead, 25 miles from Backus, which now has a population of 2,500 people, the year before Henry Ford came out with his first Model T Ford.
I have seen the history of the 20th Century; watched the boys leave for war -- World War I, that is, as well as World War II, The Korean Conflict, Vietnam, Desert Storm and Iraq. I remember the 1918-1919 flu epidemic.
Any 100 year old has done a lot of living. I think I have packed more into my lifetime than most.
I have:
o lived all over the country, from California to New York City to Richmond, Virginia,
o seen the first rocket go off at White Sands, New Mexico,
o visited Yellowstone, the Grand Canyon, Carlsbad Caverns, among other places,
o counted movie stars such as Lillian Roth, Marie Dressler, Peggy Ann Garner, Elizabeth Taylor and Wallace Beery as friends,
o started the Virginia Cerebral Palsy Association and spoken at the Virginia Health Conference on Crippled Children,
o worked as Authorization Manager for Lord and Taylor in New York City,
o made a commercial for McDonald's,
o met Grant Woods, Albert Einstein, Bill Pachner, Gustav Rehberger, Leonard Goldenson, founder of ABC, among others,
o published a successful novel and written another for the Eldred (my maiden name) family.
I am presently completing another novel about a marriage made in heaven or hell, as the case may be.
Presently I write a weekly column for a local newspaper, based on my insights and understandings of the past and present.
I'm currently putting together my own website called MemoirsOfACentenarianCrone.com
I welcome anyone who wishes to e-mail me and will answer as many as possible.
Margaret Caldwell's email address is thelivelyartsATyahoo.com (replace AT with @ and put "Margaret" in the subject line).
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Feb 12: A Date to Remember
Charles Darwin's and Abe Lincoln's 200th Birthday
This story was first published by OhmyNewsInternational. To read their version, with interesting illustrations and live links, please cut and paste this address: http://tinyurl.com/bsszkb
The 200th birthday of two great thinkers, English naturalist Charles Darwin http://www.lucidcafe.com/library/96feb/darwin.html and U.S. president Abraham Lincoln, http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/abrahamlincoln/ both of whom have inspired millions, will be celebrated worldwide on February 12.
The two men, born in different countries on the same day, never met, and probably never heard of one another. Yet, thanks to modern communication, more people read about them now than in their entire lifetimes.
Two other famous men, French inventor Louis Braille http://www.kidcyber.com.au/topics/Braille.htm and German composer Felix Mendelssohn, http://www.felixmendelssohn.com/ were also born in 1809.
Under the heading Who Was More Important: Lincoln or Darwin? in Newsweek http://www.newsweek.com/id/143742 seven months ago, Malcolm Jones wrote:
It is a measure of their accomplishments, of how much they changed the world, that the era into which Lincoln and Darwin was born seems so strange to us now. On their birth date, Thomas Jefferson had three weeks left in his second term as president. George III still sat on the throne of England. The Enlightenment was giving way to Romanticism.
At the center of what people then believed, the tent poles of their reality were that God created the world and that man was the crown of creation... the institution of slavery was still acceptable on both sides of the Mason-Dixon line—it would not be abolished in New York state, for example, until 1827, and while it had been illegal in England since 1772, it would not be abolished in English colonies until 1833.
A new book on Charles Darwin, Darwin's Sacred Cause says a passionate hatred of slavery was fundamental to his theory of evolution, which challenged the assumption held by many at the time that blacks and whites were separate species.
Hundreds of plans to celebrate Darwin's birthday in countries ranging alphabetically from Australia to Yugoslavia are listed on a Darwin Day website http://www.darwinday.org/events/listing.php
And the Lincoln Bicentenary Commission in Illinois displays a long list of coast-to-coast US events planned for this month. http://www.abrahamlincoln200.org/calendar/default.aspx
Louis Braille, son of a French saddlemaker, was blinded in an accident at the age of three. He later developed the system of raised dots that enables the blind and visually impaired to read and write, which bears his name.
"Over the centuries Braille has had an enormous effect on the lives of millions of people across 120 countries worldwide," says Britain's National Braille Week http://www.nationalbrailleweek.org/ website.
" It is not a language but a code by which all languages may be written and read. The ability to read and write in Braille opens the door to literacy, intellectual freedom, equal opportunity, and personal security. It is an extremely important gateway to opportunity for the UK's blind or partially sighted people, enabling them to be more independent."
German composer Felix Mendelssohn was famous in Europe, and visited the UK many times. Now his works are enjoyed by music lovers everywhere. "We must rejoice in celebrating the bicentenary of one of the great geniuses of the art" Akrita Reyar wrote recently in India's SpiceZee. http://www.spicezee.com/articles/story22349.htm
"A child prodigy, he revived works of some of the old greats while setting new benchmarks for musicians, whereas for us, ordinary music lovers, he left behind a treasure trove of compositions. Alas, he died young; he was only 38 (Feb1809-Nov 1847). But brilliance is never measured by age, for it is the legacy that a man leaves behind that counts for all times to cherish."
On Jan 23 Martin Steinberg wrote in an AP story, "The world is getting a musical present for Felix Mendelssohn's 200th birthday — the first performances of 13 long-lost works of the German composer.
"The compositions were among 270 Mendelssohn pieces hidden in libraries or in private collections around the world, according to Stephen Somary, a conductor and musical sleuth who spent more than a decade hunting the composer's forgotten works.
"The 13 compositions — for voice, string quartet, piano and violin — are being performed at New York's Museum of Jewish Heritage."
It's obvious that 1809 was truly a vintage year for people who have left their footprints in the sands of time. http://members.cox.net/stegcraj/time.html
END
This story was first published by OhmyNewsInternational. To read their version, with interesting illustrations and live links, please cut and paste this address: http://tinyurl.com/bsszkb
The 200th birthday of two great thinkers, English naturalist Charles Darwin http://www.lucidcafe.com/library/96feb/darwin.html and U.S. president Abraham Lincoln, http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/abrahamlincoln/ both of whom have inspired millions, will be celebrated worldwide on February 12.
The two men, born in different countries on the same day, never met, and probably never heard of one another. Yet, thanks to modern communication, more people read about them now than in their entire lifetimes.
Two other famous men, French inventor Louis Braille http://www.kidcyber.com.au/topics/Braille.htm and German composer Felix Mendelssohn, http://www.felixmendelssohn.com/ were also born in 1809.
Under the heading Who Was More Important: Lincoln or Darwin? in Newsweek http://www.newsweek.com/id/143742 seven months ago, Malcolm Jones wrote:
It is a measure of their accomplishments, of how much they changed the world, that the era into which Lincoln and Darwin was born seems so strange to us now. On their birth date, Thomas Jefferson had three weeks left in his second term as president. George III still sat on the throne of England. The Enlightenment was giving way to Romanticism.
At the center of what people then believed, the tent poles of their reality were that God created the world and that man was the crown of creation... the institution of slavery was still acceptable on both sides of the Mason-Dixon line—it would not be abolished in New York state, for example, until 1827, and while it had been illegal in England since 1772, it would not be abolished in English colonies until 1833.
A new book on Charles Darwin, Darwin's Sacred Cause says a passionate hatred of slavery was fundamental to his theory of evolution, which challenged the assumption held by many at the time that blacks and whites were separate species.
Hundreds of plans to celebrate Darwin's birthday in countries ranging alphabetically from Australia to Yugoslavia are listed on a Darwin Day website http://www.darwinday.org/events/listing.php
And the Lincoln Bicentenary Commission in Illinois displays a long list of coast-to-coast US events planned for this month. http://www.abrahamlincoln200.org/calendar/default.aspx
Louis Braille, son of a French saddlemaker, was blinded in an accident at the age of three. He later developed the system of raised dots that enables the blind and visually impaired to read and write, which bears his name.
"Over the centuries Braille has had an enormous effect on the lives of millions of people across 120 countries worldwide," says Britain's National Braille Week http://www.nationalbrailleweek.org/ website.
" It is not a language but a code by which all languages may be written and read. The ability to read and write in Braille opens the door to literacy, intellectual freedom, equal opportunity, and personal security. It is an extremely important gateway to opportunity for the UK's blind or partially sighted people, enabling them to be more independent."
German composer Felix Mendelssohn was famous in Europe, and visited the UK many times. Now his works are enjoyed by music lovers everywhere. "We must rejoice in celebrating the bicentenary of one of the great geniuses of the art" Akrita Reyar wrote recently in India's SpiceZee. http://www.spicezee.com/articles/story22349.htm
"A child prodigy, he revived works of some of the old greats while setting new benchmarks for musicians, whereas for us, ordinary music lovers, he left behind a treasure trove of compositions. Alas, he died young; he was only 38 (Feb1809-Nov 1847). But brilliance is never measured by age, for it is the legacy that a man leaves behind that counts for all times to cherish."
On Jan 23 Martin Steinberg wrote in an AP story, "The world is getting a musical present for Felix Mendelssohn's 200th birthday — the first performances of 13 long-lost works of the German composer.
"The compositions were among 270 Mendelssohn pieces hidden in libraries or in private collections around the world, according to Stephen Somary, a conductor and musical sleuth who spent more than a decade hunting the composer's forgotten works.
"The 13 compositions — for voice, string quartet, piano and violin — are being performed at New York's Museum of Jewish Heritage."
It's obvious that 1809 was truly a vintage year for people who have left their footprints in the sands of time. http://members.cox.net/stegcraj/time.html
END
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Rabbie Burns: A Woman's Man For A' That
This story was first published by OhmyNewsInternational. To read their version, with interesting illustrations and live links, please cut and paste this address:
http://tinyurl.com/764mnq
Thousands of folk with Scottish blood in their veins are planning to attend "Burns dinners"around the world on January 25, to mark poet Rabbie Burns' 250th birthday. US president Barack Obama, who is said to have Scottish ancestry, has been invited to attend a "glitzy" Burns dinner in Washington. http://news.scotsman.com/robertburns/Salmond-uses-Burns-in-Obama.4887809.jp
People attending those dinners, at which haggis and Scotch whisky are served, will be honoring one of the world's finest poets, who is often called Scotland's favorite son. But he has also been labelled "a racist, sexist drunk?"
There's no doubt Burns lived an immoral life, judged by today's standards. But life was vastly different in 18th-century Scotland.
"Robert Burns had a total of twelve children by four women, including nine by his wife," says Toronto, Canada descendant and genealogist John Burness http://www.burness.ca/ld2.htm (The poet sometimes spelled his name that way). He says:
Seven of his children were illegitimate, including the first four by Jean Armour before they were married in 1788, although under Scottish law they were considered legitimate after their parents' marriage. Of Jean's children, six died young and another.. had no children.
All living descendants of Robert Burns and Jean Armour descend from either their grandaughter, Sarah Elizabeth Maitland Tombs Burns (1821-1909), daughter of their fourth son James Glencairn Burns (1794-1865), or their grand-daughter Anne Elizabeth Burns (c1820-1889), illegitimate daughter of their eldest son Robert Burns (1786-1857).
Most of Robert Burns descendants today are from his two illegitimate daughters:
1. Elizabeth "Bess" Burns (1785-1816), daughter of Elizabeth "Betsey" Paton, who married John Bishop in 1807.
2. Elizabeth "Betty" Burns (1791-1873), daughter of Ann Park, who married John Thomson in 1808.
Robert Burns also had an illegitimate son, Robert Burns by Janet "Jennie" Clow. He was born in Edinburgh in 1788 and later became a merchant in London...
The Edinburgh newspaper The Scotsman
http://news.scotsman.com/latestnews/Robert--Burns-A-racist.4842303.jp
this week quoted historian Michael Fry as having said, , "Burns was a drunk, misogynistic, racist philanderer. Perhaps he was not untypical of Scots, but we have to wonder whether this is the right image for the modern Scotland. By all means, let us celebrate the poetry according to its merits. But, in the same critical spirit, let us deal honestly with the man who wrote that poetry."
More than 200 readers commented on that article. Shamus from Glasgow, wrote:
Rabbie Burns was a Great SCOTSMAN. Hunners of thoosands turned oot when he died. NEVER A WORD OF VIOLENCE FROM HIM. OK HE LIKED THE WUMMIN BUT WHO DISNAE. Well he never condemned anybuddie that didnae fancy wummin...
Britain Express http://www.britainexpress.com/History/bio/burns.htm has posted an interesting biography. "Burns spread his affections freely," it says.
Special sets of stamps and coins have been issued in Britain to mark the 250th anniversary. Burns is the first person apart from members of the Royal Family to have been celebrated with three collections of stamps. Britain's wartime Prime Minister Winston Churchill scored two special editions; William Shakespeare and Charles Dickens only one each.
END
http://tinyurl.com/764mnq
Thousands of folk with Scottish blood in their veins are planning to attend "Burns dinners"around the world on January 25, to mark poet Rabbie Burns' 250th birthday. US president Barack Obama, who is said to have Scottish ancestry, has been invited to attend a "glitzy" Burns dinner in Washington. http://news.scotsman.com/robertburns/Salmond-uses-Burns-in-Obama.4887809.jp
People attending those dinners, at which haggis and Scotch whisky are served, will be honoring one of the world's finest poets, who is often called Scotland's favorite son. But he has also been labelled "a racist, sexist drunk?"
There's no doubt Burns lived an immoral life, judged by today's standards. But life was vastly different in 18th-century Scotland.
"Robert Burns had a total of twelve children by four women, including nine by his wife," says Toronto, Canada descendant and genealogist John Burness http://www.burness.ca/ld2.htm (The poet sometimes spelled his name that way). He says:
Seven of his children were illegitimate, including the first four by Jean Armour before they were married in 1788, although under Scottish law they were considered legitimate after their parents' marriage. Of Jean's children, six died young and another.. had no children.
All living descendants of Robert Burns and Jean Armour descend from either their grandaughter, Sarah Elizabeth Maitland Tombs Burns (1821-1909), daughter of their fourth son James Glencairn Burns (1794-1865), or their grand-daughter Anne Elizabeth Burns (c1820-1889), illegitimate daughter of their eldest son Robert Burns (1786-1857).
Most of Robert Burns descendants today are from his two illegitimate daughters:
1. Elizabeth "Bess" Burns (1785-1816), daughter of Elizabeth "Betsey" Paton, who married John Bishop in 1807.
2. Elizabeth "Betty" Burns (1791-1873), daughter of Ann Park, who married John Thomson in 1808.
Robert Burns also had an illegitimate son, Robert Burns by Janet "Jennie" Clow. He was born in Edinburgh in 1788 and later became a merchant in London...
The Edinburgh newspaper The Scotsman
http://news.scotsman.com/latestnews/Robert--Burns-A-racist.4842303.jp
this week quoted historian Michael Fry as having said, , "Burns was a drunk, misogynistic, racist philanderer. Perhaps he was not untypical of Scots, but we have to wonder whether this is the right image for the modern Scotland. By all means, let us celebrate the poetry according to its merits. But, in the same critical spirit, let us deal honestly with the man who wrote that poetry."
More than 200 readers commented on that article. Shamus from Glasgow, wrote:
Rabbie Burns was a Great SCOTSMAN. Hunners of thoosands turned oot when he died. NEVER A WORD OF VIOLENCE FROM HIM. OK HE LIKED THE WUMMIN BUT WHO DISNAE. Well he never condemned anybuddie that didnae fancy wummin...
Britain Express http://www.britainexpress.com/History/bio/burns.htm has posted an interesting biography. "Burns spread his affections freely," it says.
Special sets of stamps and coins have been issued in Britain to mark the 250th anniversary. Burns is the first person apart from members of the Royal Family to have been celebrated with three collections of stamps. Britain's wartime Prime Minister Winston Churchill scored two special editions; William Shakespeare and Charles Dickens only one each.
END
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Tough Times in The Floating Brothel
This story was first published by OhmyNewsInternational. To read their version, with interesting illustrations and live links, please cut and paste this address:
http://english.ohmynews.com/articleview/article_view.asp?no=384621&rel_no=1
Mary Wade was only 11 years old, but on January 14, 1789 an English judge sentenced her to death for assaulting an eight-year-old girl and stealing her clothes, which she pawned for 18 pence . Two months later the sentence was commuted to seven years' jail and transportation to Britain's new colony of New South Wales, in far-off Australia.
The First Fleet http://home.vicnet.net.au/~firstff/story.htm of six transport ships and three store ships, carrying about 1530 people - officials, families, soldiers, marines and male convicts - had left England on May 13, 1787. Of these, about 1483 had safely reached Sydney Cove on January 26, 1788.
The settlers were already facing disaster. They were short of food, knew little about farming, and nearly all the men lacked female companions.
So the British government took prompt action, sending a Second Fleet http://members.pcug.org.au/~pdownes/dps/2ndflt.htm with urgently needed supplies.
"About 225 female thieves, prostitutes and con artists were rounded up from prisons in London and the British countryside to the failing Sydney Cove colony aboard the Lady Juliana," wrote one historian. "The females were to serve two purposes - to prevent the starving and isolated male colonists from engaging in 'gross irregularities', and to act as a breeding stock for the troubled settlement."
The Lady Juliana's action-packed 10-month voyage from Plymouth to Sydney has been recorded in a lively novel by a British author, Sian Rees. Her book,
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/secrets/courtesans-voyage/sian-rees
published in 2001, is titled The Floating Brothel: The Extraordinary True Story Of An Eighteenth-Century Ship And Its Cargo Of Female Convicts.
“It just caught my imagination,” Rees said in an interview. “The idea of this enclosed world of 230 women and a few chaps bouncing around across the ocean for a year."
The Lady Juliana's steward John Nicol's memoirs, The Life and Adventures of John Nicol, Mariner, first published in 1822 and recently reprinted in Australia, recalled the ship's journey:
Nicol describes life onboard the ship and the ways in which the women were pressured to use sex to improve their situation and status. He details the difficult conditions the women were forced to endure during the long journey and the extreme seasickness that overtook the female passengers as they left England's shores.
But Nicol also notes that some luxuries were afforded to the women, even if they were primarily little more than efforts to safeguard the ship's human cargo. The women were provided with clothes, the services of a doctor, and guaranteed food and drink.
Nicol also writes of how many sailors and officers took a "wife" on the journey and records the birth of seven babies aboard the Lady Juliana, including one to him and his own "wife," Sarah Whitelam.
A story about the Lady Juliana on a PBS website http://www.pbs.org/wnet/secrets/courtesans-voyage/the-lady-juliana-and-the-new-world says:
Some women, like Elizabeth Barnsley — a wealthy and successful shoplifter convicted of theft — used their money and influence to procure better lodging and even to create business opportunities on the ship. Prostitution was not unusual in Georgian England or within the shipping industry, and the Lady Juliana soon became something of a “floating brothel.” Crew members and, possibly, some of the ship’s female cargo profited from the sex trade in various ports of call, and money earned from prostitution could in turn be used to gain influence on the ship or upon arrival at Sydney Cove.
After ten months at sea, the Lady Juliana arrived at the desperate, starving Sydney Cove colony. They did not receive a warm reception. The colonists had expected food and supplies — not a cargo of over 200 women and as many as seven newborn infants — and they made their disappointment clear to the women of the Lady Juliana. However, the colonists’ ire eased after the supply ships Justinian, Surprize, Neptune, and Scarborough arrived in Sydney Cove just three weeks after the Lady Juliana.
For their part, many of the women convicts experienced a newfound sense of freedom at Sydney Cove. Freed from the strictures of traditional society and class, these women saw their new home as a chance to create a new life for themselves — a life filled with unprecedented opportunities.
Mary Wade spent the rest of her life Down Under, first in the brutal penal colony of Norfolk Island, and later on the NSW South Coast. According to a well researched biography http://www.perryfamilyhistory.net/wade/biography.shtml she had two children on Norfolk Island - Sarah in 1793 (when Mary was 15) and William in 1795 (believed to be Jonathan Brooker's son).
When they came back to Australia, Mary lived with Teague Harrigan and they had a son, Edward, in their tent on the banks of the Tank Stream in Sydney in 1803. Teague left to go on a whaling expedition in 1806 and never returned.
Mary later lived with Jonathan Brooker, having more children. They were given their Certificates of Emancipation in 1811 and 1812 and eventually settled in Airds with their family. Life on the land was difficult and their property and crops were lost in 1823 in a bushfire.
The family became destitute and pleaded to Governor Brisbane for aid. They eventually resettled in the Corrimal area of Illawarra. Jonathan died in 1833. Mary lived in the Illawarra area for another 26 years.
When she died at 87, at the home of one of her sons, the Illawarra Mercury reported that she had one of the largest families in the world. Her children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren numbered more than 300. Today her descendants number many thousands, and include Australia's Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd: http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/with-family-like-this-some-rudds-going-to-stick/2008/01/19/1200620280779.htmlMany present-day Australians first learned of this little-known chapter of their country's colonial heritage when they watched a soul-stirring 54-minute dramatized documentary film http://www.abc.net.au/abccontentsales/s1580197.htm on ABC national television last week. A detailed synopsis is available on the internet: http://209.85.175.132/search?q=cache:YISg8ed1-v8J:www.filmaust.com.au/programs/teachers_notes/8857floatingbrothnotes.pdf+lady+juliana+film+synopsis&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1
Photos from the film http://www.filmaust.com.au/programs/teachers_notes/8857floatingbrothnotes.pdf
Writer-director Mark Lewis, 40, "an Englishman who specialises in historical documentaries in a semi-dramatised form", found this subject particularly satisfying.
"I've always been interested in good storytelling, and I've found that the best way to communicate a bigger story to an audience is to find the personal tales and the emotional stories that people can genuinely engage with," he says.
"In this film we had even more of an opportunity to do that. Not only did we have incredible personal stories of the convict women and little girls who end up becoming great matriarchs, prostitutes who end up as pub owners and landowners in Hobart - but we also had the opportunity to match them up with descendants who could effectively empathise with them from a much more heartfelt position as family members."
END
http://english.ohmynews.com/articleview/article_view.asp?no=384621&rel_no=1
Mary Wade was only 11 years old, but on January 14, 1789 an English judge sentenced her to death for assaulting an eight-year-old girl and stealing her clothes, which she pawned for 18 pence . Two months later the sentence was commuted to seven years' jail and transportation to Britain's new colony of New South Wales, in far-off Australia.
The First Fleet http://home.vicnet.net.au/~firstff/story.htm of six transport ships and three store ships, carrying about 1530 people - officials, families, soldiers, marines and male convicts - had left England on May 13, 1787. Of these, about 1483 had safely reached Sydney Cove on January 26, 1788.
The settlers were already facing disaster. They were short of food, knew little about farming, and nearly all the men lacked female companions.
So the British government took prompt action, sending a Second Fleet http://members.pcug.org.au/~pdownes/dps/2ndflt.htm with urgently needed supplies.
"About 225 female thieves, prostitutes and con artists were rounded up from prisons in London and the British countryside to the failing Sydney Cove colony aboard the Lady Juliana," wrote one historian. "The females were to serve two purposes - to prevent the starving and isolated male colonists from engaging in 'gross irregularities', and to act as a breeding stock for the troubled settlement."
The Lady Juliana's action-packed 10-month voyage from Plymouth to Sydney has been recorded in a lively novel by a British author, Sian Rees. Her book,
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/secrets/courtesans-voyage/sian-rees
published in 2001, is titled The Floating Brothel: The Extraordinary True Story Of An Eighteenth-Century Ship And Its Cargo Of Female Convicts.
“It just caught my imagination,” Rees said in an interview. “The idea of this enclosed world of 230 women and a few chaps bouncing around across the ocean for a year."
The Lady Juliana's steward John Nicol's memoirs, The Life and Adventures of John Nicol, Mariner, first published in 1822 and recently reprinted in Australia, recalled the ship's journey:
Nicol describes life onboard the ship and the ways in which the women were pressured to use sex to improve their situation and status. He details the difficult conditions the women were forced to endure during the long journey and the extreme seasickness that overtook the female passengers as they left England's shores.
But Nicol also notes that some luxuries were afforded to the women, even if they were primarily little more than efforts to safeguard the ship's human cargo. The women were provided with clothes, the services of a doctor, and guaranteed food and drink.
Nicol also writes of how many sailors and officers took a "wife" on the journey and records the birth of seven babies aboard the Lady Juliana, including one to him and his own "wife," Sarah Whitelam.
A story about the Lady Juliana on a PBS website http://www.pbs.org/wnet/secrets/courtesans-voyage/the-lady-juliana-and-the-new-world says:
Some women, like Elizabeth Barnsley — a wealthy and successful shoplifter convicted of theft — used their money and influence to procure better lodging and even to create business opportunities on the ship. Prostitution was not unusual in Georgian England or within the shipping industry, and the Lady Juliana soon became something of a “floating brothel.” Crew members and, possibly, some of the ship’s female cargo profited from the sex trade in various ports of call, and money earned from prostitution could in turn be used to gain influence on the ship or upon arrival at Sydney Cove.
After ten months at sea, the Lady Juliana arrived at the desperate, starving Sydney Cove colony. They did not receive a warm reception. The colonists had expected food and supplies — not a cargo of over 200 women and as many as seven newborn infants — and they made their disappointment clear to the women of the Lady Juliana. However, the colonists’ ire eased after the supply ships Justinian, Surprize, Neptune, and Scarborough arrived in Sydney Cove just three weeks after the Lady Juliana.
For their part, many of the women convicts experienced a newfound sense of freedom at Sydney Cove. Freed from the strictures of traditional society and class, these women saw their new home as a chance to create a new life for themselves — a life filled with unprecedented opportunities.
Mary Wade spent the rest of her life Down Under, first in the brutal penal colony of Norfolk Island, and later on the NSW South Coast. According to a well researched biography http://www.perryfamilyhistory.net/wade/biography.shtml she had two children on Norfolk Island - Sarah in 1793 (when Mary was 15) and William in 1795 (believed to be Jonathan Brooker's son).
When they came back to Australia, Mary lived with Teague Harrigan and they had a son, Edward, in their tent on the banks of the Tank Stream in Sydney in 1803. Teague left to go on a whaling expedition in 1806 and never returned.
Mary later lived with Jonathan Brooker, having more children. They were given their Certificates of Emancipation in 1811 and 1812 and eventually settled in Airds with their family. Life on the land was difficult and their property and crops were lost in 1823 in a bushfire.
The family became destitute and pleaded to Governor Brisbane for aid. They eventually resettled in the Corrimal area of Illawarra. Jonathan died in 1833. Mary lived in the Illawarra area for another 26 years.
When she died at 87, at the home of one of her sons, the Illawarra Mercury reported that she had one of the largest families in the world. Her children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren numbered more than 300. Today her descendants number many thousands, and include Australia's Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd: http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/with-family-like-this-some-rudds-going-to-stick/2008/01/19/1200620280779.htmlMany present-day Australians first learned of this little-known chapter of their country's colonial heritage when they watched a soul-stirring 54-minute dramatized documentary film http://www.abc.net.au/abccontentsales/s1580197.htm on ABC national television last week. A detailed synopsis is available on the internet: http://209.85.175.132/search?q=cache:YISg8ed1-v8J:www.filmaust.com.au/programs/teachers_notes/8857floatingbrothnotes.pdf+lady+juliana+film+synopsis&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1
Photos from the film http://www.filmaust.com.au/programs/teachers_notes/8857floatingbrothnotes.pdf
Writer-director Mark Lewis, 40, "an Englishman who specialises in historical documentaries in a semi-dramatised form", found this subject particularly satisfying.
"I've always been interested in good storytelling, and I've found that the best way to communicate a bigger story to an audience is to find the personal tales and the emotional stories that people can genuinely engage with," he says.
"In this film we had even more of an opportunity to do that. Not only did we have incredible personal stories of the convict women and little girls who end up becoming great matriarchs, prostitutes who end up as pub owners and landowners in Hobart - but we also had the opportunity to match them up with descendants who could effectively empathise with them from a much more heartfelt position as family members."
END
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Blog recalls WWII tank battles
Internet huzzah for retired hussar
This story was first published by OhmyNewsInternational. To read their version, with interesting illustrations and live links, please cut and paste this address: http://english.ohmynews.com/articleview/article_view.asp?no=384478&rel_no=1
You can't blame Doug Mayman and his fellow crew members of a British Cruiser tank for wanting to keep out of the way of enemy German Tiger tanks in World War II.
A shot from a Tiger’s 88mm gun could penetrate the front armor of a Cruiser 2,000 metres away, but a Cruiser’s 57mm gun couldn't penetrate the front armor of a Tiger one metre away. (This fact has been revealed only recently. Was it known in 1944?).
Mayman, a member of the tank regiment, the 15th /19th King’s Royal Hussars, kept secret wartime diaries recounting his Army life from November 5, 1943 until his return home from Germany on leave on April 21, 1945.
The diaries, already published as a book, Led Soldiers, are now being posted day by day as a blog on the internet, http://www.ledsoldiersdiary.blogspot.com/ to the delight of exservicemen - not all of them Brits - and military historians around the world.
These diaries provide a living account of Mayman’s conscription, induction and training, leading up to his experiences under fire as his regiment fought its way through France, Belgium, Holland and into Germany.
The diaries are being posted 65 years after the events they describe, just as Harry Lamin's letters http://english.ohmynews.com/articleview/article_view.asp?menu=c10400&no=382600&rel_no=1 from the Western Front in the first World War have thrilled a worldwide audience 90 years after they were written.
Mayman, now 85, unearthed his forgotten diaries two years ago, while rummaging in the loft of his home in Aughton, West Lancashire, UK. He thought no-one would be interested in them but gave them to his two daughters, Merron Mitchell and Joy Murphy, to look at.
“As soon as I started to read them, I was enthralled," Joy told Gemma Jaleel, a feature writer of a local newspaper, the Ormskirk Advertiser http://www.ormskirkmemories.merseyblogs.co.uk/2007/12/diary_of_world_war_ii_hero_dou.html.
"My dad was only 19 when he started to keep a diary of his war experiences. Every day he would make an entry, however difficult it was. Sometimes he would be writing under a tank after days fighting, always with a fountain pen* and whenever he could with illustrations.
“Given the high mortality rate of his regiment, I think it was a way of trying to leave something behind in case of his death. Fortunately he survived, as did the diaries."
Mayman left school at the age of 15, and began work as a wages clerk for Rycroft and Hartley Ltd, a local textiles company. He then found a better-paying job in a Royal Ordnance Factory which manufactured aircraft shells in nearby Steeton.
He met his future wife Dorothy at the Methodist Youth Club when they were both 17. Two years later, on September 3, 1942, he was conscripted into the Army.
Doug and Dorothy married on April 23, 1945. They have four grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.
These days, at 85, Doug describes himself http://books.google.com.au/books?id=QjxdqTfi5usC&pg=PA239&lpg=PA239&dq=%22doug+mayman%22&source=bl&ots=ERkKDMrUu3&sig=ex-2YJWxgZogkl3wRNgK8tDp5Rw&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=10&ct=result
as "a retired finance director - very much EX financial consultant. All jobs too big. Available for social occasions."
Harking back to the first World War: at least one soldier celebrated Christmas 1917 in the trenches in style. Here's an extract from a blog posted by Dumdad, http://wwwtheothersideofparis.blogspot.com/2008/12/somme-moments-of-madness.html an English journalist living in Paris:
Private William Jackman was a servant to Captain Morrison who was a multi-millionaire. Morrison arranged for hampers of food from Fortnum and Mason’s to be delivered to the trenches regularly and for a bottle of 1900 port from Berry’s to be sent out every three days plus cases of whisky and brandy. These were in boxes marked Red Cross.
By the time Jackman’s Battalion went to the Somme, Captain Morrison had left but he never cancelled the order and the stuff kept on coming. Private William wrote in his diary: “It used to arrive in batches and sometimes we’d have as many as a dozen boxes arriving from Fortnum and Mason’s at the same time. There were boxes of tinned stuff, mostly, like galantine of chicken, soups, puddings, tins of fruit, tins of grouse and pheasant, ham – everything you could think of for the Officers’ Mess.”
Imagine, sitting in a trench with fetid water lapping at your boots and rats scurrying hither and thither and thousands of lice crawling all over your body and shells exploding above your head yet dining out on a tin of grouse washed down with fine port.
What a crazy world!
* Doug Mayman wrote all his diaries with an ink-filled fountain pen. Ballpoint pens were unknown until after the war ended.
... on an October morning in 1945 when a crowd of over 5,000 people jammed the entrance of New York’s Gimbels Department Store. The day before, Gimbels had taken out a full-page ad in the New York Times promoting the first sale of ballpoints in the United States. The ad described the new pen as a "fantastic... miraculous fountain pen ... guaranteed to write for two years without refilling!" On that first day of sales, Gimbels sold out its entire stock of 10,000 pens-at $12.50 each! - From TheIdeaFinder.com http://www.ideafinder.com/history/inventions/ballpen.htm
Anyone wanting a copy of Doug Mayman's book should email book.sales@authorsonline.co.uk OR amazon.co.uk OR telephone (UK) 01633 676629.
Harry Lamin's book, based on his blog, is complete and has been sent to the publishers, Michael O'Mara Books Ltd. It will go on sale on April 2, 2009 and major booksellers are accepting pre-orders at a discount.
You can see letters and a Christmas card Harry sent home in 1917 in this story in the London Daily Mail. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-506027/Thousands-hooked-drama-trenches-First-World-War-soldiers-letters-blog.html
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