Robert Lachlan McInnes
M, #111, b. 10 January 1917, d. 31 January 2009
Robert Lachlan McInnes
| Father | Charles McInnes b. 30 Aug 1884, d. 24 Dec 1979 |
| Mother | Margaret Anderson b. 18 Jun 1888, d. 15 Jul 1980 |
| Relationships | 2nd great-grandson of Philip Collett 3rd great-grandson of Angus McInnes |
Other Details
| Label | Date | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Photo | 1932 | Robert Lachlan McInnes was in the photograph taken 1932 at East Maitland High School, Maitland, NSW, AustraliaG. |
| Photo | 1933 | He was in the photograph taken 1933 at Maitland, NSWG. |
| Photo | 1934 | He was in the photograph taken 1934 at St Andrews College, Sydney, NSW, AustraliaG. |
| Photo | 5 November 1937 | He was in the photograph taken 5 November 1937. |
| Occupation | He was a Presbyterian Minister. |
| Charts | Descendant Chart - William Collett Descendant Chart - Edward Eglintine Descendant Chart - John Jackson Descendant Chart - Angus McInnes Descendant Chart - John Wilson |
| Last Edited | 16 Apr 2009 |
PLEASE NOTE: While I do my best to validate data included on this web page I offer no guarantee as to its accuracy.
Barbara Wilson Jackson
F, #112, b. 10 September 1916, d. 2 September 2006
Barbara Wilson McInnes (née Jackson)
| Father | Jonas Jackson b. 9 May 1888, d. 28 Jul 1972 |
| Mother | Jane Stevenson Mathieson b. 2 Nov 1889, d. 19 Aug 1973 |
| Relationship | 6th great-granddaughter of John Jackson |
| Charts | Descendant Chart - William Collett Descendant Chart - Edward Eglintine Descendant Chart - John Jackson Descendant Chart - Angus McInnes Descendant Chart - John Wilson |
| Last Edited | 18 Sep 2006 |
PLEASE NOTE: While I do my best to validate data included on this web page I offer no guarantee as to its accuracy.
Charles McInnes
M, #113, b. 30 August 1884, d. 24 December 1979
| Father | Lachlan McAlister McInnes b. 30 Aug 1857, d. 31 Jan 1902 |
| Mother | Mary Maud Harvey b. 15 Mar 1863, d. 16 Aug 1949 |
| Relationships | Great-grandson of Philip Collett 2nd great-grandson of Angus McInnes |
Life Span
| EVENT | DATE | DETAILS |
|---|---|---|
| Birth | 30 August 1884 | Charles McInnes was born on Saturday, 30 August 1884 at Picton, NSW, AustraliaG. |
| He was the son of Lachlan McAlister McInnes and Mary Maud Harvey. | ||
| Marriage | 21 December 1912 | Charles was married to Margaret Anderson, daughter of Robert Anderson and Elizabeth Malpas, on Saturday, 21 December 1912 at Guildford, NSW, AustraliaG. |
| Death | 24 December 1979 | Charles McInnes died on Monday, 24 December 1979 at Newcastle, NSW, AustraliaG, at age 95. |
Other Details
| Label | Date | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Anecdote | A LIFE TOGETHER., CHARLES McINNES AND MARGARET ANDERSON. Charles McInnes, 1884 to 1979. Margaret Anderson, 1888 to 1980. Charles McInnes and Margaret Anderson were married on the 21st. December, 1912, within the McCredie Memorial Presbyterian Church, Guildford, by the Revd.Hugh Wilson. According to their marriage lines, Charles was a "Pattern Maker, of 74 The Trongate, Granville, Bachelor." Margaret was a "Milliner, of Berwick Street, Guildford, Spinster." Guildford was a rural area at this time with only a few houses. The wedding reception was held in Lynwood Hall, Guildford, home of the McCredie family. They travelled to Blackheath by train for their honeymoon, taken over the Christmas holiday period. Charles was 28 and Margaret was 24. They had known each other for a long time. When about 1974 or 75, after dad had suffered a stroke and he was in a nursing home in Ashfield, I took them both for a drive into the Dame Edith Walker Convalescent Hospital at Concord. It is a beautiful place with grounds stretching down to the Parramatta River where an ornate wharf and shelter still stands. It was there that mother told me something of their romance. She was but 15 years of age and Charles was 19 when he first approached her father with the request that Margaret be allowed to accompany him on an outing. He assured her father that she would never come to any harm in his company. Permission was granted, no doubt with Margaret's consent also, and they took a train to Sydney and then a ferry trip up the river to Concord, landing at Edith Walker's gardens. There they picnicked and enjoyed a lovely day together. It was the first of their outings and mother recalled it very fondly. I was able to take them there several times prior to our leaving Sydney for Newcastle in 1977, and it was there that, ultimately, I committed their ashes, feeling that it was a place sacred to them and their love. There was another association with the place that my mother told me at the time. It concerned her father, Robert Anderson. It appeared that, after he was widowed the second time, his family sought to have him marry Edith Walker, a most eligible and wealthy spinster who was "on the shelf." Robert had no desire to take her off the shelf and married young Elizabeth Malpas who had collected neither dust nor much wealth. I laughed at the story, but wondered whether mother, who delighted in family status, was somewhat perplexed about it and wondered what would have happened if Edith Walker had been her mother! As mentioned in their marriage certificate, Charles was a Pattern Maker and Margaret a Milliner. After leaving school, she had trained in millinery in Sydney, her father paying for the privilege of her making hats while she learnt. She then worked in Parramatta for some time, and then at home , producing the richly ornamented adornments of the time. This was something that she continued to do on an honorary basis even after her marriage. Charles' work as a pattern maker was the result of many years training. Following the death of his father in 1902, he had taken the responsibility for his mother and sisters, though he was just 17 and a half at the time. Principal of the Granville Technical College at the time was J.B.Brown. He was also the Superintendent of the Sunday School at Knox Church, Granville, to which Charles was attached. He encouraged Charles to do as many technical courses as possible, even to iron foundry and plumbing. The result was that he became a first class tradesman, meticulous and careful in his work Everything had to be exact, regardless of the time taken. I remember helping my uncle, Roy McCredie, to build a fowl house at his home in White St., Strathfield when I was spending a Saturday with him and Aunt Flo back in 1934. We surveyed our handiwork and considered it to be rough but satisfactory, the result of an hour or so work. "Would that satisfy your father?" Roy asked. I had to admit that it wasn't up to his standard, but, as Roy remarked, he would have been working at it for the next month! Charles, following his apprenticeship, at Clyde Engineering Co., went looking for work and a holiday in Queensland. He took his bicycle on a train up north and then rode it to Brisbane. He returned home after a short time and began work at Clyde, becoming foreman pattern maker, responsible for the whole pattern shop , including the employment of men. He was there when he married and mother told me how, as a young bride at Granville, she "entertained" a man who came to see "Charles" . Mother was alone but felt that she had to do her best for any friend of her husband. She got out her best silver and gave him afternoon tea with all the trimmings. Charles came home and it appeared that the fellow was quite unknown, a man seeking a job. It was a lesson she did not forget. Father once told me of his method of selecting men to work for him. He first looked at their boots. If they were clean and polished, then would look at the man's credentials. If they were not, then the man was not considered. It was a lesson that I had to learn, for dad, in his kindly way, expected the same standard in his son. Clean shoes were obligatory. They were the sign of a clean and tidy mind as well as a disciplined attitude to life. When war broke out in 1914, Charles' work was deemed to be more important and he was not allowed to enlist in the ambulance corp as he offered. He continued his work at Clyde and designed and built some kind of stamping machine that was an improvement on existing methods. He considered that to be part of his war effort and refused to accept payment from the firm. After the war he became foreman pattern maker at the Meadowbank Manufacturing Company. As I write this, the clock that was presented to him when he left, is ticking away in the room. It is inscribed "Presented to C. McInnes by Factory Staff, Foremen and Sub-foremen at Meadowbank Mfc. Coy. 30-6-22." Following their marriage in 1912, they built their home at 63 The Trongate, Granville, across the road from the McInnes family home at 74. While the house was being erected, they lived with Charles' mother, Mary Maud McInnes, but it could not have been a very happy association and it was a relief for all when the house was completed. There was some resentment on the part of Mary Maud, my grandmother, that Charles would no longer be the main provider in the home, though he kept up his assistance to his mother and sisters. The enforced frugality of Grandmother McInnes was hard for Margaret after the liberality of the Anderson home where she had been her father's favourite and had lived a somewhat sheltered life. Also, Margaret was not a robust woman. Unfortunately, she had been born with defective eustachian tubes connecting the middle ears and nasal cavity. There had been burned through by some primitive procedure and she was becoming increasingly deaf. She also had some gynaecological problems that necessitated an operation and it seemed that she would never have children - a disappointment that grandma McInnes found hard to accept. When Margaret did become pregnant, she felt that it was an answer to prayer, a vindication of her womanhood and an answer to her mother-in-law! I have often wondered whether she saw herself in the role of Hanna, but whether she did or not, should not have been more proud, having produced a son, nor more devoted to him. A little time later she had to undergo major surgery at the Auburn Hospital and this almost proved fatal. She recalled how the nurses rallied her after the operation, slapping her and telling her to remember that her baby needed her. I think that it was about that time she began taking fainting turns which, in retrospect, were very much like epileptic attacks. These could have been the result of her medical experiences. I learnt in early childhood how to cope with mother's fainting turns, to remove all furniture away from her and, in the early days, to run across the road to get help from grandmother. These turns continued for some years until the late 1920's. In the midst of all this, Charles and Margaret were intimately connected with Knox Presbyterian Church, Granville, being devout members and interested in the affairs of the young people an interest that was to change my father's occupation and whole life. J.B.Brown, Principal of the Granville Tech and superintendent of the Sunday School at Knox, had grown old and Charles took over the Sunday School for him. At the same time he and Margaret formed a young people's group that was involved in social activities as well as study. Accused of leading the young people astray by conducting dances for them, they never the less continued, linking into the group members of the Granville Highland Pipe Band. I well remember picnics with the group, going to several locations. One was to Neilson Park, Another to Cabarita Park where I jumped down the river bank to retrieve a ball and landed on a broken bottle hidden in the muck. I carry the scar of it to this day. We had gone on the tram from Burwood station and the tram was the only method of getting medical attention for a bleeding wound. The tram driver made his fastest time to Burwood Road and a doctor's surgery. I remember watching the doctor stitch up the gash right across the heel and then saw that my father was flat on the floor in a faint! Another memorable outing was on the Georges River from Cabramatta. In those days it was all bush interspersed with market gardens. We travelled along the river in a motor launch, some 40 of us, going up Prospect Creek as far as the Lansdowne Bridge, with the pipers playing. A farmer rushed to the river bank to greet us and danced a reel! Close contact with many of the young people was maintained over the years long after we left Granville. The home at 63 the Trongate was also the venue for the wedding of one of the group, a girl who was without a family of her own. Mother had our dining room decked out with all sorts of finery and I was told to make myself scarce while she prepared sumptuous cakes for the occasion. It was the first marriage ceremony that I had ever witnessed and it seemed so grand with the couple appearing in a decorated lattice framework to be married by the Rev. Mr. McLennan of Knox Church. In 1917, at the age of 33, dad not only became a father, he also became an elder of the Kirk. He felt the responsibility very much. Yet there was no narrow minded bigotry, nor any narrow view of bible or theology. For him the real fundamentals of his faith were in the sincerity of his worship, his personal integrity and his sense of social responsibility. When as a young high school boy I told my father that I could no longer believe the biblical stories of creation and had to accept the theory of evolution, I expected some opposition. Instead, my father took my hand and congratulated me. He said he had come to the same conclusion years before and felt that I was now growing up. It was a relief to have that response, also an encouragement to examine and to grow further in the faith. When I left home he gave me his copy of Harry Emerson Fosdick's book, "The Manhood of the Master." It led me to know the work of Fosdick, a modern thinker and preacher whose books were to help me in a difficult period and to lead the way to a mature faith. His practical experience with youth work led to father's appointment by the N.S.W. Assembly to a place on the Welfare of Youth Committee , a position which he held until the time of his move to Maitland. Further, his interest in young people led him into the teaching profession. He was teaching evening classes at the Sydney Technical College and felt that his vocation was in that field. However, the appointment to a full time position in a trade course appeared remote and he answered a call for men to train as teachers in manual work in Junior Technical Schools which existed for post primary boys not going to High Schools. These schools went to third year, Intermediate Certificate level. He was accepted and left the Meadowbank Manufacturing Company to attend lectures at the Teachers Training College. It was the same year in which I began school in kindergarten at Granville Primary. No sooner had he began training than the position he most desired became available quite unexpectedly at the Sydney Tech.. He applied, but was defeated for the position on a legal point - the position was for a man who was actively involved in the trade which he had left! However, there were no regrets. He completed his training to be posted to the Technical School at Leichhardt, Sydney. He had found his true vocation. Having taught at a couple of the inner city Technical schools, Charles was required to do country service. He resisted as long as possible but the ultimatum came and he had to accept a transfer to West Maitland Junior Tech. It was a wrench to leave Granville, all his family and friends, plus the involvement he had with Knox Church. It had to be. He commenced teaching in West Maitland in September, 1926, and we moved to Maitland shortly after. West Maitland did not appeal as a suitable place to live, and a house, owned by Mr.Robert Porter, in Lawes St., East Maitland , was offered for renting. Bob Porter and his wife became firm friends of the family. The house was on a double block next door to the Free Presbyterian Church on the corner of William Street. It was a rambling weatherboard house with a kitchen and maids room separated from the main building by a verandah. Fuel stove only, something that mother found to be extremely hot in the summer. None the less, it was home and we had much fun and laughter there. My parents used to tease each other immensely. Many evenings, dad picked up mum, put her over his shoulder and raced around. Then there was the unforgettable time when she responded to his teasing as she was serving the dinner. Dad copped a spoonful of potato in the face, and then the chase was on as mum raced off with dad after her until she could race no more and they both collapsed laughing in each other's arms Maybe that instigated my own action. Dad was bending over, digging the garden and presented a lovely target for a fellow with a daisy air gun. Dad received a bullet of a grain of wheat and sprung up running. So was I and I was up to the top of the pepper corn tree before he got to the bottom! Well, he did pelt me with some clods of earth before he laughed and I was forgiven. Bob Porter had a farm out on the Hunter River flats at Bullwarra and he lived in a home with a large block of land on the Raymond Terrace Road. He drove past our home each evening after work in a spring cart, often calling in. During the summer he would leave immense watermelons, the best of his crop, with the request that we save the seeds for next year's planting. Needless to say, we were more than happy to separate the melon from the seeds and mother, particularly, developed a great liking for watermelon, becoming water-logged in the process! Dad soon became involved with the young people around East Maitland, particularly those associated with St. Stephen's Presbyterian Church and the lads who were boarding in the area while attending Maitland Boy's High School. Some of these were in the school hostel, others were in private homes. All were at a loose end particularly over the weekends. Dad hit upon the idea of forming a Boys' Club, using the newly opened Church Hall in George St.. Approval was given by the church and soon there was a flourishing club with quite a fair membership, meeting each Saturday evening. Dad made some tennis tops, got some boxing gloves, quoits and other games. Some of the older people living nearby were not very pleased because of the noise, though it was nothing like the volume of modern bands. Others were critical of the fact that it was purely a social club and the lads were not being indoctrinated with religion, forgetful of the fact that true Christian religion was being shown in the care given to the lads. Saturday morning in the summer frequently saw us up early enough to go for a pre-breakfast swim in the river. It meant a couple of mile walk out on the Pitnacree Road to the swimming hole by the bridge, but we enjoyed it. It was there that dad gave me my first lessons in swimming. After spending a couple of years in the house belonging to Bob Porter, the time came for dad to buy his own home. The depression had arrived, money was in short supply and the tenant in the home in Granville did a "moonlight flit," owing a considerable sum in rent. Sewerage also was being connected in Granville at considerable expense to property owners. So the Granville house at 63 Trongate St., was sold. With the proceeds, Dad was able to procure a house up the hill from where we lived, at 158 Lawes St., East Maitland. Only two bedrooms, but it did have a garage that dad could use as a workshop. The back verandah was closed in and the end of it made into a bedroom for me. Also it was time for me to commence high school. Nan and Pa Anderson were frequent residents with us in both homes as they spent half the year with Flo and Roy and the other half with us. Pa became well known around the area, especially at the bowling club. A considerable circle of friends was formed and activity with the young people of the church and school increased. The girls in the neighbourhood wanted to know why they were not included in the club, and so a Girls' Club was formed. When the Revd. Alex Smith retired and the Revd. Donald Finlayson became the minister of St. Stephen's, the clubs were absorbed into the "Order of the Burning Bush" for the boys and the "Order of the Covenant" for the girls. These were groups patterned on lodge principles, the "in" thing at the time. Also, dances were held for the young people, a dreadful innovation at the time. The Masonic Hall in George Street was hired once a month as dancing on church property would have caused too much disruption. Dad became an elder in St. Stephens's Church quite early in the time at Maitland. He had been an elder at Knox Church, Granville. Bob Porter was Session Clerk. Dad also was given the task of superintendent of the Sunday School from another school teacher, Allan Bailey in whose class I had been at East Maitland Primary in 1927. Allan Bailey was transferred to Inverell the following year and responsibility for children and youth was in my father's hands. He came to share the responsibility with Mr. Bill Brown, a mining inspector , a widower with a young family. Bob Brown, the eldest son, was in my class at high school and he went on to serve as the secretary of the Maitland Hospital for many years. Church, school and community involvements became even greater than they had been in Granville. The depression years did not produce unemployment in our home as in many others Dad's job was secure, though, like all public servants, he suffered what was politely called "the Lang cut." Premier Jack Lang and his government reduced all salaries and dad celebrated the occasion by drastically pruning the willow tree at the side of our house. However, we were fortunate in having a steady income and my parents did not forget the needs of those who were camped on the reserve and those who were struggling in their own homes. From one of the campers there came the gift of a pup, jet black of indeterminate breed, most likely a cross between a Pomeranian with a Scottish terrier. Jock became the household pet though, officially, he was my dog. That meant that I had the pleasant job of looking after him. Jock became very well known around Lawes St., and, when my parents left Maitland, Jock had a considerable number of dogs that closely resembled him! Jock accompanied us as much as he could wherever we went. He particularly liked to come to church and enjoyed the singing. As I have said, mother could never sing a note in tune - and Jock was the same! Both tried, but Jock was the more noticeable. He would find his way to church, come in and go to sleep under our pew - until the singing started. Then he would come into the aisle and make "a joyful noise." Much as we tried to keep him at home, he would slip his collar and turn up, even though he was locked in the house. He even broke though a fly screen window and came in, wagging his tail as much as to say "you tried, but you couldn't stop me coming." Dad never drove a car. Later on when, at Wollongong, he had retired though still working, he suggested to me that he might get a car. But he then was blind in one eye, the result of an injury caused by a rifle butt. In his early days he had been in the school cadets and had a medal for rifle shooting. I advised against it. Transport for dad was always a bicycle. When the house at 158 Lawes St. Was purchased, transport was more of a problem. At first when we went to Maitland the steam tram passed our door, going from Victoria Street East Maitland over to West Maitland, but that was stopped in 1927. Dad purchased a bicycle Ostensibly it was for me to ride to school at Maitland Boys High, but dad rode it to school at West Maitland. His first trip on it was to the opening of the Rutherford Church one Sunday morning. The bike was second hand reconditioned, and the tyres, unfortunately, were perished. It was a very tired man who came home pushing a bike with two flat tyres, having spent hours on the side of the road mending punctures. During this time, dad was still studying for his full teacher's certificate, studying Shakespeare and other subjects at home after doing his preparation work for next day's school lessons. It was no easy period for him, but it was rewarding. Mother, at this time became extremely deaf. The first of a series of hearing aids was purchased - a set with a pair of large carbon microphones and an ear piece of considerable size. It served her as well as could be expected, but she missed much. I remember her once, as we returned from a gathering, asking me what had been the conversation at one particular stage. I was able to tell her. It was of no particular significance, but she then confessed that she felt that they were talking about her. I felt sorry for her and remembered it as I too became deaf, determining not to become sensitive or introverted. Then, in 1938, after 12 good years in Maitland, he was again transferred by the Education Department, this time to Wollongong. I had left home at the beginning of 1934, and was not involved in the move, and it was a disappointment to both my parents to leave the many friends and the involvement they had in Maitland, with the prospect of starting all over again in a new area. At the time dad was helping to prepare plans for the erection of the new St. Stephen's Church in George St., and he very much wanted to see the project completed. Wollongong became their final home, and, as time went by, their involvement became just as great. They rented a cottage until the home at Maitland was sold, and then they bought the house at 11 View St., on Smith Hill, Wollongong. Dad continued teaching in several of the local technical school and then high schools. He and mother were responsible for the formation of the Fellowship Association for young people at St. Andrew's Church. Once again, dad became an elder and took over the superintendent work of the Sunday School with mother still taking the senior class of girls. Jock, the dog, also became well known in the area around View St. But I do not know if he started another family there. One afternoon he followed dad on his bike half way down to the town - and did not return home. What happened to him was never discovered though every effort was made to find him. He was greatly missed as he had become her ears, telling her when people were coming to the house. Through the years, dad rode his bike around Wollongong, the same one he had bought in the early years in Maitland. Then, as he became blind in one eye, it was best for him to leave the bike at home. It remained in the back shed/garage to quietly ruse away and dream of its past journeys. Dad was well known to the pupils he taught, and especially known for his pointed moustache which he kept well waxed. It was a distinctive feature which he grew shortly after his marriage. Maybe mother thought it appropriate though there was a continual joke that we were going to snip the ends off while he slept. "Rose Pomade," the moustache wax, came in little tubes and such was my customary birthday gift to him when I was a child. During the war years it became unavailable and it was not until the very late '60's that it was again imported from France. It became available, and, with Barbara's help, I was able to procure a large tube for him. In the meantime he had used soap. In 1949, retirement came. Dad was 65. Notice of his retirement came and the same afternoon a visitor from one of the Catholic schools in the area. Offering him a position on their staff. It appeared that the inspector of schools was a member of the Catholic Church. However, dad did not accept and applied for the position of a casual teacher which he knew was available. There was a shortage of teachers at the time. The result was that he did not stop teaching for another ten years, until he was 75, tapering off in the last couple of years, doing just a day a week in the end. It was the conclusion of a long career in which he was well liked and respected by the youngsters who passed through his classes. He never used a cane and I do not suppose that he ever shouted at a lad. And he told me he never had any real trouble. He said he would get the one misbehaving to stay behind after class for a talk that usually ended in an apology from the boy and often with the bully in tears. Life did not end with retirement. There were still friends around about and in the church. However, when he retired, mother said that she retired too and dad was responsible for the laundry! Also for the garden. Vegetables had to be grown before they could be given away - and mother had to have something from the garden to give to her visitors. However, as the years went on, they showed the effect of age and became a concern to their neighbours and to us. At the end of 1962 they had their golden wedding anniversary. They came to Goulburn for the Christmas holidays and we took them to Canberra to celebrate their anniversary in what was then the new Travel Lodge Motel. All the family joined in the event, Robert and Ian both residing in Canberra by then and Jean a young school girl at home with us. Then, in 1972, came their Diamond Wedding. It was celebrated at their home. Many visitors and greetings from many friends, a telegram from the Queen, the Prime Minister, the Moderator, etc., etc...And Dad made his speech, containing the memorable line: "If anyone claims to have been married for so long and never to have had an argument, then he is telling either an awful liar or else he has led a very tame existence. Of course we have had some disagreements and arguments, but we have never gone to bed without much love." He quoted the verse, "Let not the sun go down on your wrath." About this time I purchased a small tape recorder and managed to get dad to sit down and talk about the family history. It was on the side verandah of 11 View St., and we had a wonderful time together. He reminisced about his childhood, how he grew up in Picton and then in Granville and told me about his parents' families. All the time I thought I was recording the conversation for future reference, but no! When, back home, I tried to play back the tape, I found that there was nothing on it. There was never, unfortunately, another opportunity. When, on the 30th. August, 1973, dad celebrated his 89th. birthday, we felt that he was far from being alert, and, just a little later the call came. Something had happened to him and Barbara and I rushed down from Burwood. It was night and he had gone to bed, and now he was unconscious. I sat with him during the night restraining him as necessary and it was obvious that he had suffered a major stroke. In the morning he was admitted to Wollongong Hospital in a coma. It seemed that the end had come, he was to remain in an unconscious state for some weeks and I asked that he be allowed to die with dignity and was assured by the staff that everything would be done to make him comfortable, and nature would be allowed to take its course. They did, however, consider it necessary to give him nourishment and to put a tube down his throat so that he would not choke. So he remained for some few weeks. Barbara stayed with mother at 11 View St.. Then came an awakening. Though able to sit up, then to walk and talk, the stroke had seriously affected his thinking ability and he became our child, one who needed constant care and supervision. The Wollongong Hospital could do no more and I arranged for him to go to a nursing home in Ashfield. After a few weeks there we were able to have him admitted to the David Gillies Nursing Home in Charlotte St., belonging to the church. Mother came to live with us in Burwood until she too was beyond our care. She was then admitted to the Pitt Wood Nursing Home across the road from David Gillies and part of the Church's complex so that she could spend much of her time with dad. One thing that he enjoyed was playing dominos. While on a trip to Singapore, I found a box of dominos that went up to nine. He was delighted to receive them and each afternoon gathered whoever he could to play with him. It was not long before mother became extremely bored with the game but he would get other patients and visitors to play with him. I also got him an electric razor which he diligently used and then cleaned, taking it to pieces, every morning. Nature was kind in a way; he did not realise how child-like he had become. There were times when, dealing with his business, I had to have him sign a document. He would never sign anything without reading even the fine print, but he never comprehended what he read. A rather tedious thing when the matter was urgent and I was working a busy parish. Then came the need for the move from Burwood. In May, 1977, with Church Union, I left Burwood to take up work in New Lambton, Newcastle. Arrangements were made for both my parents to come to Newcastle also - to the C.A. Brown Nursing Home at Booragul, Lake Macquarie. I had visited several places in Newcastle and felt that this was by far the best, and, after a couple of months, the C.A. Brown people admitted them both. It was just 10 to 15 minutes from my manse at Kotara and I managed to see them almost every day, even if only for a short visit. They settled in quite happily and were able to remain together. Unfortunately, dad fell out of bed one night and broke a leg, necessitating a stay in the Mater Hospital at Waratah. The leg was put into traction but it soon became obvious that he was not happy there. C.A. Brown agreed to have him back, but the staff did not know much about traction. The sisters at the Mater showed me how to do it and agreed for me to hire the equipment. We soon had him back by Lake Macquarie, lying on a sheep-skin. He was contented, and so was mother. At the end of ten weeks the leg was sufficiently healed for him to sit up, and then, after a short time, to use a walking frame. The frame then became his companion which he carried around the nursing home. The end came quietly in December, 1979, when, on Christmas eve, he passed away without any fuss. We gathered at the Crematorium at Beresfield as a family to commend him to the Father's keeping, the service being conducted by the Revd. Graeme Dark, minister of the Toronto parish who had been one of the student ministers in Wollongong that they had known. I took the committal, feeling that this was my last filial service that I could make and something that he would have appreciated. Mother lived on for another seven months, feeling tired of living and saying "we have lived too long." She died on the 15th. July, 1980 and once again we gathered at the Beresfield crematorium with Graeme Dark. Once again I took the committal a last act of respect and love. They had lived long and well. They left a precious influence that they had exerted on the lives of many people, particularly the young, over several generations. Their memory remains fragrant and their living memorial is in the lives they influenced. The question remained as to where their ashes, their earthly remains should be placed. I did not see them going to the grave in Rookwood where the McInnes family was buried. Mother would not have wanted that, I knew. Nor could I see them wanting a pigeon hole in some columbarium The place of their first outing together was by the Parramatta River at the Edith Walker home, a place that was dear in their memory. Barbara and I felt that there was no better final resting place for them both, that they should be together again there. So I committed them to the love and mercy of God whom they had served and left their mortal remains together by the river. Robert Lachlan McInnes. | |
| Anecdote | His son Lach recalls the following about his father: Charles was a good shot with a rifle in his younger days. Later on, however, he was blind in his left eye. His son recalls him saying "walk on my right side, son, so I can see you and won't bump into you. Charles's wife Margaret used to say that his blindness was caused from the rifle butt hitting him in the eye, but no one is quite sure what happened. Charles never did drive a car but his son remembers him saying one day that he thought he might buy a car and learn to drive. He was then 70 years old. When Charles finished his apprenticeship he took a few months off and rode his push bike up to Alstonville. From there he rode it up and around Brisbane. Charles was a woodwork teacher. He had to retire when he was 65. The Catholic School offered him a job but he declined as he could see what was going on at his old job. He was offered a temporary part-time position back in his old job which was to continue foe another ten years; Charles finally retiring at 75. When living at Maitland, Charles one day came home with a push bike he had bought from a shop. It had been in the shop for quite some time. Charles thought that he and Lach could share it. The first time he used it one morning, he rode about a mile from home. When he had still not returned at 5pm Lach went looking and found him at the side of the road repairing a puncture. Evidently the tyres were perished and Charles had to repair so many punctures that he had run out of patches. Lach recalls the same bike he rode one day and when coming home he was getting quite a bit of speed up as he lived at the top of a hill. Another boy had taken a friend's really old bike for a ride around the block and was going flat out. On coming to the corner where Lach was, the other boy couldn't turn properly. Their wheels hit on dead centre and Lach's wheel was pushed back in and buckled. The frame was also bent and the two boys hit heads over the handle bars. The other boy's bike was not at all damaged and he jumped on and rode off. Lach had to carry his home up the hill to tell his father. Charles made Lach a miniature train engine, when he was little, for him to sit in. Charles is remembered as a true gentleman. One lady remembers when she was a schoolgirl in Wollongong, she and her friends would walk up the hill to school when Mr McInnes was walking down. He would always tip his hat to them and say "Good morning ladies". It gave the young girls a thrill and they would always giggle about it. Charles sported a moustache that was twirled stiff on the ends with wax or soap. Very dashing. He had a few nicknames at the school where he taught, like wax wiskers and chisel whiskers. |
Family with | Margaret Anderson b. 18 Jun 1888, d. 15 Jul 1980 |
| Child |
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| Charts | Descendant Chart - William Collett Descendant Chart - Angus McInnes |
| Last Edited | 3 Jan 2022 |
PLEASE NOTE: While I do my best to validate data included on this web page I offer no guarantee as to its accuracy.
Jonas Jackson
M, #114, b. 9 May 1888, d. 28 July 1972
| Father | Jonas Jackson b. c Sep 1859, d. 25 Mar 1901 |
| Mother | Mary Jane Wilson b. 12 Aug 1863, d. 15 May 1888 |
| Relationship | 5th great-grandson of John Jackson |
Family with | Jane Stevenson Mathieson b. 2 Nov 1889, d. 19 Aug 1973 |
| Children |
|
| Charts | Descendant Chart - Edward Eglintine Descendant Chart - John Jackson Descendant Chart - John Wilson |
| Last Edited | 3 Oct 2004 |
Citations
- [S473] Brian Keith Wilson, "John Wilson Descendants," e-mail to Janice Mote, August 2004, obtained from his birth certificate.
PLEASE NOTE: While I do my best to validate data included on this web page I offer no guarantee as to its accuracy.
Jane Stevenson Mathieson
F, #115, b. 2 November 1889, d. 19 August 1973
| Father | William Mathieson b. 12 Jan 1868, d. 30 Oct 1947 |
| Mother | Elizabeth Wilson b. 26 Mar 1871, d. 19 Apr 1951 |
Family with | Jonas Jackson b. 9 May 1888, d. 28 Jul 1972 |
| Children |
|
| Charts | Descendant Chart - Edward Eglintine Descendant Chart - John Jackson Descendant Chart - John Wilson |
| Last Edited | 21 Aug 2005 |
PLEASE NOTE: While I do my best to validate data included on this web page I offer no guarantee as to its accuracy.
Percy Poole Aspland
M, #116, b. 13 August 1877, d. 12 March 1968
Percy Poole Aspland
| Father | William Middleton Aspland b. 29 Mar 1852, d. 11 Jul 1908 |
| Mother | Elizabeth Clarissa Teresa Martin b. 19 Dec 1853, d. 26 Jun 1946 |
| Relationships | Granduncle of Robert Mote 6th great-grandson of Thomas Aspland 9th great-grandson of Nicholas Farndaile |
Life Span
| EVENT | DATE | DETAILS |
|---|---|---|
| Birth | 13 August 1877 | Percy Poole Aspland was born on Monday, 13 August 1877 at Camperdown, VIC, AustraliaG. |
| He was the son of William Middleton Aspland and Elizabeth Clarissa Teresa Martin. | ||
| Marriage | 30 September 1897 | Percy Poole Aspland witnessed the marriage of William John Matthew Martin and Irene Erlandson on 30 September 1897 at Colac, VIC, AustraliaG; by Rev. Robert Brown.1 |
| Marriage | 26 March 1925 | Percy Poole was married to Mary Ann Anson, daughter of James Anson and Christina McQuarrie, on Thursday, 26 March 1925 at Camperdown, VICG. |
| Death | 12 March 1968 | Percy Poole Aspland died on Tuesday, 12 March 1968 at Camperdown, VICG, at age 90.2 |
Family with | Mary Ann Anson b. 1 Jun 1890, d. 9 Jul 1962 |
| Children |
|
| Charts | Descendant Chart - Thomas Aspland Descendant Chart - Nicholas Farndaile Descendant Chart - Thomas Martin |
| Last Edited | 12 Sep 1999 |
Citations
- [S320] The Martin/Bird Families, online Web address nolonger valid --http://www.birdsinthetree.com
- [S41] Index of Deaths in Victoria, Vic Deaths 1921-85, Registration Number: 7005.
- [S41] Index of Deaths in Victoria, Vic Deaths 1921-85, Registration Number: 13812.
PLEASE NOTE: While I do my best to validate data included on this web page I offer no guarantee as to its accuracy.
Ethel Marion Aspland
F, #117, b. 5 July 1878, d. 5 July 1955
Ethel Marion Aspland
| Father | William Middleton Aspland b. 29 Mar 1852, d. 11 Jul 1908 |
| Mother | Elizabeth Clarissa Teresa Martin b. 19 Dec 1853, d. 26 Jun 1946 |
| Relationships | Grandaunt of Robert Mote 6th great-granddaughter of Thomas Aspland 9th great-granddaughter of Nicholas Farndaile |
Family with | Maurice McMahon b. 13 Jan 1876, d. 18 Aug 1968 |
| Children |
|
| Charts | Descendant Chart - Thomas Aspland Descendant Chart - Nicholas Farndaile Descendant Chart - Thomas Martin |
| Last Edited | 9 Feb 2002 |
Citations
- [S41] Index of Deaths in Victoria, Vic Deaths 1921-85, Reg. No. 20766.
PLEASE NOTE: While I do my best to validate data included on this web page I offer no guarantee as to its accuracy.
Nellie Eliza Aspland
F, #118, b. 18 January 1880, d. 5 May 1974
Nellie Eliza Aspland
| Father | William Middleton Aspland b. 29 Mar 1852, d. 11 Jul 1908 |
| Mother | Elizabeth Clarissa Teresa Martin b. 19 Dec 1853, d. 26 Jun 1946 |
| Relationships | Grandaunt of Robert Mote 6th great-granddaughter of Thomas Aspland 9th great-granddaughter of Nicholas Farndaile |
Family with | Walter Oakley b. 3 Jun 1879, d. 20 Jul 1974 |
| Children |
|
| Charts | Descendant Chart - Thomas Aspland Descendant Chart - Nicholas Farndaile Descendant Chart - Thomas Martin |
| Last Edited | 18 Aug 2005 |
PLEASE NOTE: While I do my best to validate data included on this web page I offer no guarantee as to its accuracy.
Hilda Mary Aspland
F, #119, b. 30 August 1881, d. 4 March 1970
Hilda Mary Aspland
| Father | William Middleton Aspland b. 29 Mar 1852, d. 11 Jul 1908 |
| Mother | Elizabeth Clarissa Teresa Martin b. 19 Dec 1853, d. 26 Jun 1946 |
| Relationships | Grandaunt of Robert Mote 6th great-granddaughter of Thomas Aspland 9th great-granddaughter of Nicholas Farndaile |
Family with | Francis Lloyd Holmes b. 6 Oct 1884, d. 10 Mar 1962 |
| Children |
|
| Charts | Descendant Chart - Thomas Aspland Descendant Chart - Nicholas Farndaile Descendant Chart - Thomas Martin |
| Last Edited | 21 May 2016 |
PLEASE NOTE: While I do my best to validate data included on this web page I offer no guarantee as to its accuracy.
Alfred Herbert Aspland
M, #120, b. 30 January 1885, d. 6 September 1983
Alfred Herbert Aspland
| Father | William Middleton Aspland b. 29 Mar 1852, d. 11 Jul 1908 |
| Mother | Elizabeth Clarissa Teresa Martin b. 19 Dec 1853, d. 26 Jun 1946 |
| Relationships | Granduncle of Robert Mote 6th great-grandson of Thomas Aspland 9th great-grandson of Nicholas Farndaile |
Life Span
| EVENT | DATE | DETAILS |
|---|---|---|
| Birth | 30 January 1885 | Alfred Herbert Aspland was born on Friday, 30 January 1885 at Camperdown, VIC, AustraliaG. |
| He was the son of William Middleton Aspland and Elizabeth Clarissa Teresa Martin. | ||
| Marriage | 30 September 1897 | Alfred Herbert Aspland witnessed the marriage of William John Matthew Martin and Irene Erlandson on 30 September 1897 at Colac, VIC, AustraliaG; by Rev. Robert Brown.1 |
| Marriage | 19 August 1914 | Alfred Herbert was married to Mary Adeline (Minnie) Knight on Wednesday, 19 August 1914 at Narrandera, NSW, AustraliaG. |
| Death | 6 September 1983 | Alfred Herbert Aspland died on Tuesday, 6 September 1983 at NSW, AustraliaG, at age 98. |
| Cremation | September 1983 | He was cremated in September 1983 at Canowindra Crematorium, Orange, NSW, AustraliaG. |
Family with | Mary Adeline (Minnie) Knight b. 1885, d. 8 May 1969 |
| Child |
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| Charts | Descendant Chart - Thomas Aspland Descendant Chart - Nicholas Farndaile Descendant Chart - Thomas Martin |
| Last Edited | 8 Dec 2007 |
Citations
- [S320] The Martin/Bird Families, online Web address nolonger valid --http://www.birdsinthetree.com
PLEASE NOTE: While I do my best to validate data included on this web page I offer no guarantee as to its accuracy.