Setting out to write this blog post Sunday, I thought I would check out Facebook first; my following has been less than avid for some time, and I came across a post about the arrival of a new boy in the Jones-Sexton family. I had intended to write about an aunt in the Muir-Buirchell family who passed away in September. Then, moments later, my Mum called to tell me that my Uncle Kerry had died yesterday. I suppose this is the stuff of family history – the cycle of life, endings and new beginnings and carrying forward the legacy and memories of those who became before.

If you have read my October post, then you will know that the Chinese Museum and the Conference Northern Gateways: Chinese History and Heritage dominated the year. The Genealogical Society of the Northern Territory also kept me busy. Unfortunately, that was with administration, not research. First, there was a hunt to find a new treasurer, then accounts had to be resurrected, and then a new auditor was to be engaged. Fortunately, my sister-in-law stepped up to take on that role. In September, I was elected as the Secretary of the Chinese Australian Historical Society. The Management Committee members, I have been on the committee for a couple of years now, come from New South Wales, Queensland, Western Australia, and the Northern Territory, so we are well on the way to being a truly national body. The Annual General Meeting was held in Darwin in September during the Conference. In addition to the Zoom participants, 16 members were physically present. One of the Society’s achievements during the year was its collaboration with the Society of Genealogists in establishing the Chinese Australian Research Interest Group. While I am on the Australian Museum and Galleries Association (NT Branch) committee, this does not produce any significant workload, and the monthly Breakfast Network meetings are enjoyable. These get-togethers of locals from the Territory museum, gallery and keeping place world hear a guest speaker from a specific area and are always interesting – even if I did miss a few this year. I won’t go into the NT Chinese Museum – suffice to say, the “1006 project” list continues to grow.

As I said in the introduction, an aunt of mine died in September: Marjorie Ann Muir – born 1 March 1931; died 8 September 2024; age 93; mother of Meryl (1953-), John (1955-) and Gay (1962-).

Marj has been quite ill for many years, and in recent times, she has been almost totally dependent on her partner, Peter Black. In her younger years, she was a boisterous personality and loved a drink and a fag. In my family history research, I found many articles about her being the ‘star turn’ as a singer at the dances around the Kojonup district. She was initially married to Ray Cochrane, and they had a small farm near Darkan. Initially, I think it was a ‘soldier-settlement’ block and was still largely bush. I had a holiday out there when I was about 9-10 and had a great time. The house, a small timber cottage, was built by Ray. I remember being full of admiration for Ray, watching him seed an oat crop by hand. I had fun trapping parrots, and Marj cooked parrot pie. This is also where I first ate emu – roasted in the oven.

When I was at Senior High School in Albany from 1966 to 1968, Marj moved there and worked for a while as a barmaid in a pub on York Street—the Premier or the Albany? Sometimes, when walking home from school, I would call in to say hello. On the odd occasion, she would slip me a shandy! It was Marj’s daughter, Gay, as I recall, who found Duncan Muir’s oral history in Augusta or Busselton that was pivotal to my solving the long-running riddle: “She was a Solly but raised as Flavell”. This refers to my maternal great-grandmother, Edith Margaret Solly (1877-1959). However, later genealogical research, backed up by DNA research, demonstrates that Edith’s father was a different man altogether. Marj might have known something about this because once, she made a caustic remark about the Solly family at a family gathering and then clammed up.

So, 97 years after Norman Muir (1904-1984) and Mary Ann Buirchell (1909-1987) married in 1927, their surviving children are the second oldest, my mother, June (1927) and the youngest, Beryl (1938).

Back in 2021, in the post Learning to be a Family Historian (15 September), I referred to my research into Frederick Walter Sexton OBE (1895-1963), my first cousin 2 x removed. At the time, I said that posts and papers about Fred “are to follow”. Yeah, well – I will get there! Anyway, I had an interesting online encounter about Fred Sexton. I was contacted by Kathryn Shapland, who, with her husband John, operates the Recollections of War Museum at Halcyon Park, Albany. Kathryn has purchased two of Fred’s photograph albums and various ephemera on the antiquities market through eBay, including his Christian Brothers College pockets for cricket and football. We plan to be in Western Australia in March 2025 and will visit Kathryn’s museum.

Oliver Andrew Jones, the son of my first cousin x 1 removed Cyle, arrived on 18 December 2024. Congratulations, Cyle and Ilana, and welcome to the clan, Oliver. As mentioned in the introduction, my uncle, Kerry William Jones, passed last Saturday. This is still too raw to discuss; Kerry was only four years older than me, and we were more like brothers. Kerry is the last of the generation born to William John Jones 1899-1963) and Lulu Josephine Sexton (1906-1987).