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There is much more to the McNeill family story.
I am now working from a book entitled Stories my father told me, which was written by Heather McNeill Gribben.
Heather was the daughter of John — the young boy who went on to the deck of the Norseman and watched as the Northern Atlantic claimed his young brother’s casket.
John was Hector and Jessie’s eldest son and didn’t talk about this event until he was 90 years of age.
The family were originally told they would be sailing on the Pericles; however, this ship hit a rock off the Western Australian coast, and sank.
Fortunately, the Norseman, travelling for six weeks and two days, arrived safely at the Port of Melbourne.
The fares cost the family 78 pounds. There were 1071 people on board, including the crew.
When arriving in Shepparton, the first thing they noticed was a large chimney with ‘Furphy’ written on it.
John said it was the first time he’d seen Murphy spelt with an ‘F’.
It was November and the family had never seen so much blue sky and sunshine.
As I’ve told you previously, Hector called into ‘Annie Davis Department Store’ to inquire about accommodation and Mrs Davis offered them a house she owned in Fryers St, at no charge.
She walked with them to the house, opposite the school, and later sent a cart load of useful items, including kindling and blankets.
They lived in this house until they had purchased land and built their own home.
Are you a Carmichael?
Surely, there has never been such a warm welcome to Shepparton.
Annie Davis was, obviously, a remarkable woman — and all we know about her is that she had a daughter who married into the Carmichael family.
I would love to know if there are descendants still in our city.
I’ve searched my memory and the only Carmichael I’ve ever met was ‘Bert’, who sold rural real estate for Dalgetys.
It was around 1960 and, to me, he was old, with greying hair and a large moustache.
But then, I was very young, and everyone over 30 seemed old to me.
However, if he was 50, he could have been Annie’s grandson; unsurprisingly, I didn’t ask about his ancestors.
I’ve looked up the phone books I’ve accumulated on the bottom shelf of those troublesome bookshelves and found that there are still Carmichaels in Shepp and Congupna.
It’s a long shot but, I tell you, if my great-grandmother’s name was Annie Davis, I’d have a tattoo.
The other notable thing I’ve learned from Heather’s writing is that Shepparton, population 3000 in 1910, was becoming a real community.
With John in tow, Hector met Mr Florence, who took them for a drive to talk to Mr Ford, who recommended Hector talk to Mr Pullar.
He also discussed his situation with an accountant, Mr Matthew Grant (who owned ‘Ambermere’). Mr Grant offered him a part-time job as a gardener and to take care of the horse and buggy, in addition to milking the cow.
Everyone, in addition to Annie Davis, was helpful and interested in assisting the McNeill family to settle in.
Shepparton 1910
Shepparton was a busy little town, according to John, and I quote from the book.
‘There was a post office, A.M.P. building, banks, hotels, Millers Store, fire station, skating rink, a theatre, railway station, churches, rifle range, Mechanics Hall, Municipal Hall, golf club, convent, two newspapers, town band, Agricultural Showgrounds, coach builders, public gardens, telephone exchange, doctors, dentists, hospital, brewery, sale yards, auctioneer, croquet lawns, rowing teams, bowling clubs, shire hall, a cemetery and a public hall.’
This story will be continued, as I’m not halfway through these wonderful pages.
Next week, however, I’ll attempt to respond to one of your requests.
May it be easy, my friends.
Marnie
Email: towntalk@sheppnews.com.au
Phone: Text or call 0409 317 187.
Town Talk