Hi everyone, back late this afternoon from Adelaide - a flying visit to honour and celebrate the life of my Aunt Yvonne who died last month. As sad as it was the reason for our coming together as family united in our grief at her passing, twas bizarre mending 'broken bridges' and healing 'old wounds' and remembering 'old times' as children growing up and such wonderful times shared.
At a family gathering at lunch today I was given a true gift from my Great Aunt and Uncle - a book of our family history dating back to 1852 when my ancestors made the journey from Plymouth in England, on the ship "Gloucester" to Port Adelaide in South Australia (my mother is a 'crow eater' he he...)- a journey that took some 105 days, and that saw the death of 22 children (all under three years and predominantly btw 10-18 months) from measles and a few from scarlet fever. Five women also gave birth on the epic journey across the seas. It was interesting to read in the ship surgeon's log the distress Re: the deaths of so many children in his care - it was particularly interesting in his notes that he wrote where he acknowledged the following of which the word 'weaned' was underlined.... "......The measles nearly caused the destruction of every child in the ship..in May we had 43 cases of measles..in June 9 cases. The children were weakened by the illness - they nearly had all been WEANED." My Great Great Great Grandparents were passengers on this morbid trek across the ocean nearly some 150 years ago. What pioneering spirit and endurance against such great adversity and oppression these people faced but never the less successfully overcame. My Great ..G.. G..Grandmother (Mary Ellen Lloyde) gave birth to her first child a daughter (Mary Ellen Lloyde) just one year after their arrival in Australia, and went on to have twelve more children (three still born). They moved to a small settlement, Mintaro, where my families roots (maternal) are deeply embedded and a place I spent many years as child growing up visiting my great grandmother and grandmother. My Grandmother Dot was one of nine home born children all in Mintaro - I've even slept in the bed where they were conceived and birthed, the first some 85 years ago - BIZZARE!!!! Most of this precious story I new, but today I learned of something new from my Uncle (my grandmothers brother) on his seeing my "midwives hold the future T-Shirt" that I was proudly wearing today - that their grandmother, Mary Ellen Lloyde - who came out on that ship from Plymouth - was a wait for it - A MIDWIFE !!! He proudly flicked through the book to the page that states, "Mary was mid-wife to many mothers in the Mintaro/Clare district and it is stated that she never lost a patient". Mary Ellen Lloyd, woman, wife, mother of 13, and midwife, went on to live a full and rich life dying at the wondrous age of 96 years. My Uncle was chuffed to think that I, four generations on was aspiring to be 'with woman' in birth as was our 'founding mother' all those many years ago. This discovery today enriches my sense of being 'with woman' and this brief history to my 'being' marks a passing of time and signifies that we 'should honour the past... make the most of the present... and plan well for the future.....and to reflect on how much we owe to those who paved the way.' Yours in birth Tina Pettigrew Descendant of Mary Ellen Lloyde Midwife. -- This mailing list is sponsored by ACE Graphics. Visit <http://www.acegraphics.com.au> to subscribe or unsubscribe.
