AUS-NSW-Hunter-Valley-L Archives

From: "Janice Doughty" <>
Subject: A Favourit Ancestor - Granny Emery.
Date: Tue, 14 Dec 2004 17:22:22 +1100

Good afternoon Marg and Listers,

Here is a story of another of Alan's ancestors.

It is the story of his great granny Emery, she being the maternal grandmother of Alan's mother Amelia Doughty (nee Kerridge). Alan has a number of very distinct memories of his great granny Emery, however at the time Alan had no idea this little withered old lady, had many secrets hidden in her heart and many stories to tell, however she never told them and took them to her grave. She died when Alan was 10 years of age.

"...Alan's first real memory of granny Emery was in 1942, when he was not quite six years old. His mother took him aside and told him that he would have to give up his favourite back bedroom, in their small two bedroom family home at Young Street in Annandale, as his mother's granny was coming to live with them.

Alan was heartbroken, as his bedroom was his castle, his fortress, where he kept his many exercise books with the swaps he had stuck in, of all types of war planes and naval ships. His bedroom was his escape, where he could go and sit on the carpet and play with his lead soldiers and his other precious toys. Alan would flick through the pages of the wonderful books his grandfather, Alfred Kerridge (he being the grandson of William Kerridge of the Marchinoness of Londonderry), would buy him. His grandparents, the Kerridges only lived two houses up the street. On the shelf he had his bag of favourite marbles in his marble bag his mother had made him, and in the drawer next to his bed was his very precious cigarette pack playing cards and also his Jacks. The Jacks were made from the knuckle of a lamb roast, which the family would enjoy once a month on what was called, Special Sunday. His father had painted each knuckle a different colour, so he could play the fun game of Jack!
s, with himself or his Uncle Ron, who was only three years older than Alan.

Granny Emery had moved into her daughter Florence's home, but was only there a very short time, not even a year, when the friction with her daughter's husband, one day exploded into a serious argument and Granny told him that she would hit him over the head with an axe. Florence's husband, believing that this feisty old lady was capable of carrying out this threat, told his wife to find somewhere else for granny to live. After no one could be found to take the old lady in, Alan's mother Amelia, granny's granddaughter agreed to have granny move in with her family.

Alan's next memory is of him out in their backyard, on a warm summer's afternoon, and granny sitting on a chair and he sitting on her knee and she was feeding him mandarin segments. Granny would first peel off all the pith and then bend the segment back and pop out the pips and she would then pop the segment into his mouth. To this day, this is the only way Alan can eat a mandarin, though he has to do all of the above himself.

Another memory, was in the evenings in the front lounge room, sitting opposite his great granny in a large dark velvet all consuming single lounge chair, which he felt he could disappeared into, watching his great granny crocheting or tatting and the family listening to the serials on the large "His Master's Voice" radio in the corner. Granny was a grey haired lady, her hair pulled tighly back in a bun, she wore glasses perched on her nose and always seemed to Alan to be wearing an apron. She was always kind and gentle and smiled a lot, when she looked at her great grandson. He remembered thinking how dark skinned and old she was. At this time she would have been about 82 years of age.

The funniest memory of an adventure Alan and granny had, was on Tuesday evening on 2nd of June 1842. There was great excitiment in the Doughty family home at Young Street, as the Pacific War had come to Sydney in the form of the Japanses mini submarine attack on allied shipping in Sydney Harbour. Explosions and gunfire could be heard in the distance and the sky was ablaze with search lights in the direction of Sydney Harbour. Air raid sirens signalled an attack was taking place. Alan's father assembled the family in the kitchen and the drill was that Alan's mother, Alan and Granny Emery were to place themselves under the heavy timbered kitchen table for protection.

Once Alan's father made sure the ladies and young Alan were safely under the table, he gathered up his steel helmet, gas mask, torch and other equipment issued to him for his duties as an Air Raid Warden. He then rushed out of the house to take up his duties patrolling the streets of the inner city suburb of Annandale. These duties entailed him making sure all residnece obeyed the black out and to assist anyone who required any help.

The Doughty family home was now in total darkness, the ladies and young Alan were secure under the kitchen table. Eighty two year old Granny was having none of this and was far from happy, that she had to shelter under a table. She protested quite loudly about the situation and gave examples of traumatic events more serious than this, which she had had to cope with in her life and at no time did she ever hide under some silly kitchen table. While Alan's mother was trying to pacify her grandmother, he used the opportunity to bolt up the hall and out the front door. He stood in the middle of the street to view the spectacle, looking up at the search lights cirss-crossing the dark sky, much to his mother's horror. She had run to the front door and was horrifield to see young Alan, standing out in the middle of the street with his arms outstretched to the sky and she demanded that he return to the house immediately. He was very reluctant to comply, as he felt that a lad of!
five years and eight months, should not have to cower under a table with the ladies. This unmanly state of affairs left him most unhappy and he let his mother know too.

However, Alan's protests were short lived as when they returned to the kitchen, they found granny had got out from under the table and was running around the kitchen, refusing her granddaughter's calls to get herself back under the table at once. Granny was yelling out that no Japanese was going to find her hiding under any table and that they could shoot her standing up, thank you very much.

Alan smiles when he has these memories and then there is a great regret he was too young to know anything about this lady of mystery. Who was she? Where did she come from? Why was she so feisty? What traumas had she suffered that could compare with the attack on Sydney Harbour by the Japanese? What was her story? Did she have a story to tell? Oh, yes this lady had a very interesting story to tell, a very interesting story indeed.

Theresa Murray was born circa 1860, in Campbelltown, Windsor or was it on the North Coast? In a Catholic orphanage or on a Catholic Mission Station? Here is her story..............

............to be continued.

Regards,
Janice
Belrose - In Old Sydney Town.

This thread:

• A Favourit Ancestor - Granny Emery. by "Janice Doughty" <>