Les Bonney comes home from the war

Welcome home, Brunswick. Courtesy Museums Victoria. MM110913.

Although this story isn't about a Coburg soldier, this is such an evocative photograph of the times that I wanted to include it here. 

There must have been many welcome homes like this one, all around the country, but this particular welcome is for Leslie Bonney. He was born in Brunswick but raised in care, and his aunt and uncle Thomas and Mary Jane Taylor hosted the event at their home at 63 (later renumbered to 31) Glenlyon Road, Brunswick.

Leslie Bonney was born to unmarried mother Cordelia Bonney in Brunswick in 1896. His mother died when he was only five and he grew up in care, most probably in Methodist homes. We do know that he was at the Tallyho Boys Home in Burwood East (run by the Methodist Church) in 1911 when as a 16 year old he became the victim of what we might call today 'fake news'.

Argus, 25 August 1911

Argus, 26 August 1911

So, it was Rev G.H. Cole, superintendent of Tallyho who was Leslie's legal guardian and gave his consent for the 19 year to enlist in July 1915.

(National Archives of Australia - Leslie Bonney's dossier)

When 3247 Pte Leslie Bonney enlisted in July 1915 and joined the 11th Reinforcements of the 7th Battalion, he was a farm labourer working at Jung, near Horsham, in Victoria's Wimmera. His guardian, as we know, was Rev G.H. Cole of Tally-Ho, the Methodist Central Mission's Boys Training Farm. However, his next of kin was his mother's sister Mrs Mary Jane Taylor, who lived at 63 Glenlyon Road, Brunswick.

Leslie must have shown promise as a soldier, because after serving in France and suffering a shoulder wound, he was selected to go to Officer Cadet School in Oxford and by August 1918 he returned to France as a Lieutenant. 

Back in Australia by July 1919, he returned to the land and lived variously at Minyip, Poomah via Nyah (NSW) and finally Swan Hill. He married Mary Eleanor Pearce in 1925. She died at Swan Hill in 1954 and he died there in 1971.

His aunt and uncle remained in their Glenlyon Road home until their deaths. Thomas Taylor died in 1922 aged 55. Mary Jane Taylor (nee Bonney) died in 1933 aged 62. They are buried in the Presbyterian section of Fawkner Cemetery with their unmarried daughter Catherine who died in 1985.

Ephraim Henry (Harry) Moss of Coburg and Fawkner enlists

Ephraim (Harry) Moss's name is listed on the Coburg Town Hall Honour Board.

Ephraim (Harry) Moss in later life, wearing his war medals, 

Sydney. (courtesy Ancestry family tree)

3107 Pte Ephraim Henry Moss, proprietor of King's Theatre, Fawkner, enlisted at Melbourne, on 6 February 1917 in the 7 Reinforcements, 39th Battalion. He claimed to be 39 years old, but was actually forty-four. He embarked on 19 February 1917 on HMAT Ballarat, the same ship as John Wilson McEwan, Alfred Akam, Albert Ridgeway from the Brunswick/Coburg area), a ship that was torpedoed and sunk on Anzac Day 1917. He did not see any active service and returned to Australia, disembarking in Melbourne on 30 December 1918 on account of his age and suffering from debility. 

At that stage his wife Sadie and their children Cyril and Dorothy were living at 11 Rodda Street, Coburg. He returned to the family home briefly, but by April 1919 he had relocated to Sydney.

From this point, I have not been able to track the stories of Sadie Moss and her children, but Ephraim Henry (Harry) continued his colourful life.

The first sign of his new life in Sydney comes on 5 April 1919 when Smith's Weekly reported on the 'Case of Sergeant Moss Clubbed and Gaoled'. He'd been picked up by Military Police at the Randwick Spring Meeting (in 1918, so while the war was still going) for wearing an unauthorised uniform. He argued that he was working for the State Recruiting Committee and was entitled to wear it, but he was taken to Darlinghurst Gaol under protest. Eventually he was freed, and it is still unclear whether he was really working for the Recruiting Committee. 

In 1920 he married Daisy Welch at Balmain, so it seems that he and Sadie divorced, although I've found no evidence of this. At this time he was described in various newspaper reports as a fruiterer. Two daughters were born - one in 1921, the other in 1922. 

Moss appeared in the press again in 1923 when he was charged by Redfern police with being the keeper of a gaming house. 

Fast forward to November 1934 and Moss stood for the council elections at Erskinville and received 33 votes. (The next lowest was 238.) It would be interesting to know his motivation as it is quite clear from the voting numbers that he did not have community support.

His second wife Daisy died in 1940 and he married his third wife Pearl Byrom the following year and added three step-daughters to his family.

Moss appeared in the press again in March 1946 when the Truth published an article on 73 year old Ephraim Moss who had been beaten up and robbed in the street when he was returning home from a two-up school. He was described as frail and deaf and wore 'a returned soldier's badge from the last war.'

Truth, 3 March 1946. Also reported in The Sun, 26 February 1946

Moss's third wife Pearl died in 1947. He died on 15 May 1953 and was buried at Rookwood Cemetery. 

Note the words 'Lest We Forget' at the top and the letters 'AIF' before his death date.

And so, although this saga began in 1915 with the assault on Sadie Moss at Fawkner, it ends in 1953 in Sydney with the death of her husband Ephraim.

If anyone reading this can tell me more about Sadie Moss and her children Dorothy and Cyril, please get in touch (gcheryl52@gmail.com).

A note on the Moss siblings:

Moss was a member of a large Jewish family of 16 children (11 boys and 5 girls), all but one boy living to adulthood. The family, whose name was originally Moses, lived variously in Bungendore, NSW, Melbourne, Sydney and Perth. Their parents Ephraim Moss (a Liverpudlian) and Amelia (Millie) Solomons (an East Ender) married in London and came to Australia in 1855 as newlyweds.

Ephraim Henry was the youngest of six brothers who enlisted:

Louis Charles Moss (born 1871) enlisted in the 13th Battalion in Sydney on 22 September 1914 aged 43. He suffered dangerous gunshot wounds to his lungs and head while serving on the Gallipoli Peninsula and returned to Australia in November 1915. He died in September 1941.

Edward Elias Moss (born about 1869) enlisted in Sydney on 15 December 1914 aged 44 and sailed with the 4th Battalion (3rd Reinforcements). He received serious abdominal injuries at Lone Pine and died at sea on 8 August 1915.

Alexander Isaac Moss (born 1861) enlisted at Bendigo in the 3rd Pioneers on 17 April 1916. At the time he was living at the Village Settlement, Echuca. He said he was a 43 year old farmer (in fact he was 55), and returned to Australia after severe injuries to his fingers while serving in France. The Brunswick and Coburg Leader of 30 June 1916 lists him as having left with the Campbellfield Pioneers, although I have yet to verify this.

Nathaniel Zodick Moss (born 1857) said he was 49 when he enlisted in Western Australia on 23 April 1917. He had first claimed to be 44 and said that previously he'd been rejected for being under height (he was 5' 1"). He was actually 60 years old. He did not serve overseas. In fact he got no further than camps at Seymour and Bendigo where he was considered 'too old and frail' and was suffering from fatigue. He developed pneumonia, was removed to the Isolation Camp at Ascot Vale and finally, despite his 'keen' attitude, after 207 days in camp (and hospital) was discharged for being overage.

Alfred Michael Moss (born 1870) enlisted in the Army Medical Corps in Sydney on 22 April 1918 when he claimed to be 44 (he was 48). He'd been rejected before on account of a hernia but served on the staff of the hospital ship Karoola, leaving Australia on 18 September 1918.

This ends the saga of the Moss family's involvement with the Fawkner community and World War One. I hope you have found the journey I've been on while doing this research interesting.

Moss family in Fawkner and their World War One connection

By 1914 the Moss family were living in Sydney Road, Fawkner. Sadie Moss's mother, Elizabeth Douglas, ran the local store - known as Douglas's Store. 

Ephraim, now calling himself a grocer and working at the store along with Sadie, threw himself into the life of the community. He hosted the first meeting of the new Fawkner Football Club at the store in May 1914 and presided over a number of meetings, styling himself the promoter of the club until August 1914 when the local paper reported that 'owing to the way Mr E. Moss … has been treated, he has severed his connection with the club.’ (Brunswick and Coburg Leader, 14 August 1914)

He also promoted the construction of a new public hall that was to be financed by Mr Robert King of Carlton. (Brunswick and Coburg Leader, 24 July 1914). What the newspapers did not say was that Robert King was Elizabeth Douglas's son by her first marriage and Sadie Moss's brother, so it was a family concern. 

In October 1914, King's Theatre, Fawkner opened in Queen's Parade (just opposite the Boundary Hotel) with a patriotic and military concert and dance, masterminded by Ephraim Moss, who was in his element. Soon dances were held every Saturday night and Sadie and Ephraim were holding ballroom dancing classes, offering 'perfect tuition' for just 10 shillings and 6 pence. King's Theatre offered the latest in racy dances - 'Ragtime and Tango dances are indulged in', said the Brunswick and Coburg Leader of 12 February 1915. Ephraim played in the orchestra, Sadie was its conductor and Ephraim often acted as MC.

But life was never simple for Ephraim Moss. In February 1915 he was declared bankrupt and the stock at the Fawkner Store was put up for sale.

 Argus, 2 March 1915

The Moss family remained in Fawkner where it seems they concentrated their efforts on the newly opened King's Theatre. By their own account, they were a great success. For example, in July 1916, Ephraim Moss threw a 30th birthday party for his wife at the Theatre. There were 200 guests and they danced and celebrated until 5am. 

The King's Theatre enterprise appeared to thrive and hosted a number of presentations to returned soldiers in the area. They continued to do so for several years. 

Brunswick and Coburg Star, 17 December 1915

Most of the people mentioned in the above article were also considered Coburgites (Coburgers?). Corporal James Workman, wounded at the Dardanelles, was the son of Alexander Workman of Sydney Rd., North Coburg. Mrs Groves' son Robert was an old boy of Coburg State School as were the brothers of the Misses McAskil. Coburg and Fawkner (sometimes referred to as Coburg North) were closely connected.

Brunswick and Coburg Star, 17 November 1916

The Moss family featured in the local pages occasionally over the next two years - an illegal lottery in November 1916 in which Ephraim featured as its promoter; a novelty night and dance at King's Theatre featuring 'fancy dancing' by 12 year old Dorothy Moss; an accident that saw Cyril (son of the 'popular E. Moss of Coburg') hospitalised with a broken leg; another vehicle accident involving Sadie's mother Elizabeth Douglas. 

During the 1916 conscription debate, King's Theatre hosted a conscription meeting. The audience consisted of about 500 men 'mostly of military age', but was invaded by anti-conscriptionists who arrived by cab and disrupted the meeting by throwing rotten eggs and missiles.

Age, 25 October 1916

(I have written previously on the anti-conscription movement. You can read about it here, here and here.) 

Then in January 1917, Ephraim Moss decided to join up and King's Theatre was put up for sale. 

Age, 20 January 1917

Argus, 3 February 1917

Yet it appears that the theatre was withdrawn from sale, or failed to sell, because it was still functioning in the 1920s, long after Ephraim Moss had left the district. The last mention of the theatre that I've located is in the Herald, 19 April 1938. R.H. King of Queen's Parade, Fawkner was still the proprietor. 

If you are interested in reading more about Fawkner in those early times, a good local resource is 'Fawkner Memories as told by Leo Bernard Dowling, 26/1/2003' which is available as a pdf download from the Moreland Libraries Local History catalogue. Although Dowling was born in Fawkner in 1921, some of the material goes back further in time and there are other Dowling documents available, too.

And if you are interested in knowing more about Ephraim Moss and his World War One experience, that will be covered in the next blog entry.

Note: This story has been pieced together from reports in newspapers and electoral rolls. Unfortunately, I have been unable to locate images of Fawkner at the time.

Sadie and Harry Moss of Fawkner

(Henry Ephraim) Harry Moss and (Sarah Jane) Sadie (King) were a colourful couple with an unusual background - they were 'theatricals'. When they married in 1903, he was touring Victorian country towns as a palmist under the name Prince Cerio and 17 year old Sadie was described in the press as a 'fair singer', so presumably she sang in the same shows he organised.  They almost immediately found themselves in the newspapers. 

Age, 13 Nov 1903

Bendigo Independent, 14 Nov 1903

Benalla Standard, 17 Nov 1903

Already my interest was piqued, so I looked into their backgrounds further.

Their first child Dorothy was born at Wodonga in 1904. Then came son Cyril, born in Fitzroy North in 1906, the same year in which Harry (under the name Henry Ephraim) was charged with 'using a place for betting purposes by post.' Described variously as Prince Cerio, a phrenologist, a turf commission agent and one-time hairdresser, he was fined £50.

The headline makers had fun: 'A turf swindler', one cried. The Sydney Sportsman declared ‘Mountebank Moss. Bounder and Blackguard..’ The sub-heading reads ‘Comprehensive Commonwealth Capers – Prince Cerio Pinched – Those lying advertisements – how the green ones bit – blackguardly letter to a Bendigo man.’ (It turns out the Sportsman had used the Melbourne Truth as its source!)

The Sydney Sportsman had more to say:

‘There was a time when this Moss, who has just been apprehended in Fitzroy, was quite a notability in our local world. He then ran a fifth-rate phrenologist joint in the Arcade, between Pall Mall and Hargreaves-street.’ … ‘for a while the impudent imposter did remarkably well. He had then not developed any tendency to that bookmaking on a big scale that has landed him into his present bother.’ When Bendigo proved ‘altogether too warm for Mossy ‘Prince Cerio’ he migrated in haste.’

The paper goes on to refer to him as an ‘arch-imposter’ and used racial and religious slurs to describe this man they called a 'blackguard and bounder’. The vitriol was repeated in other newspapers.

Yes, you guessed it - Ephraim Henry (Harry) Moss was Jewish - another strike against him as far as the Sportsman was concerned.

(Mount Alexander Mail, 25 Oct 1906, Bendigo Advertiser, 25 Oct 1906, Sydney Sportsman, 7 November 1906, North Eastern Ensign, 9 November 1906, Sydney Sportsman, 14 November 1906)

Move forward two years. It's 1908 and their third child, a daughter Sadie Ruth is born. It appears that Harry is still moving from place to place and is still drawing the attention of the police. In May 1912 he's found guilty in Sydney (where his family (ie the Moss family) lives) of obtaining fruit etc 'by means of false pretence') and he's sentenced to 12 months' hard labour. By now his occupation is fruiterer.

A year later, his 5 year old daughter Sadie was knocked down by a taxi-cab while playing in the road in Elgin Street, Carlton and died in the Children's Hospital of a fractured skull. The inquest brought in the verdict 'death by misadventure'.

At the time of the accident, Sadie had been living with her maternal grandmother Elizabeth Douglas for the previous twelve months. So where was her mother? We know her father was in prison in New South Wales, so perhaps the children had been left with their grandmother and Sadie, the mother, had gone to live near her husband. Or maybe she took work somewhere else to support herself and the children.

Then came more extraordinary headlines in the press - Harry was back in Melbourne and he wanted compensation for the loss of his daughter - or more properly he wanted to be compensated for the loss of earnings that her death brought with it. Apparently this little girl had earned money giving diving exhibitions with her brother [ie Cyril] off the beach at Balmoral, Sydney, and he wanted compensation:

Kalgoorlie Miner, 21 Feb 1914

(Sources: Ballarat Star, 15 May 1913, Argus, 15 May 1913, The Telegraph, 15 May 1913, The Sun, 23 May 1913, Kalgoorlie Miner, 21 Feb 1914)

It's at about this time that the Moss family moved to Fawner where they threw themselves into the life of this fledgling community. 

In my next post I'll follow up on the Fawkner connection and reveal the next link to World War One.

Corporal Archibald McArthur and indecent assault on Sadie Moss, storekeeper of Sydney Rd., Fawkner

This story (perhaps I should say saga) began with the short article you see below. 

Age, 27 May 1915 

I thought the research and the story would be straight forward, but nothing could be further from the truth. It took me in many unexpected directions, both forward and backward in time and also geographically.

So over the next few blog entries I'll share the story with you. Prepare to be amazed! (I was.)

To begin with, this 'Extraordinary case at Coburg'.

Corporal Archibald McArthur of the military camp at Broadmeadows was charged in Coburg Court on 25 May 1915 with having indecently assaulted Mrs S. Moss, storekeeper, Sydney Rd., Fawkner on 15 May. And as you can see here, Pte Archibald Vincent McArthur (from Mornington) of 14th Battalion lets it be known that he is NOT the same person.  .

The solider in question is 42 Pte Archibald George McArthur, A Coy, 22 Battalion. He was an 18 year old clerk from St Kilda and had only signed up a fortnight before the assault. At his court appearance he was fined £2 for common assault and his army papers were cancelled. The case even made it into Hansard.

(Images courtesy National Archives of Australia)

The press reported the case widely. The Brunswick and Coburg Leader gave an account of the assault under the headline 'Unlawful and indecent assault'. Other papers followed. It seems that a group of young soldiers came into Douglas's Store in Sydney Road, Fawkner at about 9pm on the 15 May and began to harass Mrs Sadie Moss who was serving them. McArthur and his friends 'had refreshments' and 'used filthy language' then McArthur 'behaved as if he wanted to ravish her', we are told. Mrs Moss said that when she told them to go, he tried to kiss her. She also said that he'd lifted up her clothes and undone his own clothes. This he denied.

At first the magistrates at the Coburg Court dismissed the case and discharged McArthur. Ephraim Moss, the defendant's husband, was outraged, wanted McArthur charged with attempted rape and caused such a stir that he was ordered to leave the court. Moss was supported by Cr Cash JP and also by the Sub-Inspector of Police who thought it was a 'scandalous, outrageous decision.' 

The case stirred enough moral outrage that a public meeting was called for 19 July 1915 at Coburg Town Hall to protest the current spate of sexual crimes, such as the one outlined here. Mrs Singleton was to preside at that meeting and the speakers were to be Vida Goldstein and Cecilia John. 

But there the trail runs out. Was the meeting ever held? I couldn't find any reference to it in the newspapers.

Finally, was this case a beat up? Making an example of a soldier at a time of moral panic? (Broadmeadows Camp had not been open very long and was constantly in the news.) We'll never know.

(Sources: Age, 26 May 1917, Argus, 26 May 1915, Age, 27 May 1915, Brunswick and Coburg Leader, 28 May 1915, Woman Voter, 10 June 1915, Woman Voter, 15 July 1915)

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And if you're wondering what happened to Archibald McArthur:

On 29 April 1916 he re-enlisted as 2224 Pte Archibald George McArthur. He said he'd never served before or been discharged before. He said he’d never been convicted by a civil power. And this was accepted.

He embarked on 1 August 1916 with the 4th Reinforcements, 59 Battalion but failed to re-embark in Fremantle on 15 May 1916 (along with three other soldiers). He left on another ship and arrived in France in December 1916. He had 56 days treatment for VD in late 1917. He went to Officer Training at Aldershot in January and February 1918 (as Batman to an officer attending the Senior Officer School at Aldershot). He was awarded the MM in June 1918. He remained in England for most of 1919. He transferred to the Australian Corps School in January 1919, broke his left ankle and was hospitalised until the end of April 1919. He finally returned to Australia in November 1919 and was discharged in Melbourne in early February 1920. There’s a note in his dossier saying he died on 30 September 1951.

In the next installment of this saga, I'll fill in some of the backstory relating to Sadie and Ephraim Moss of Fawkner.

Bill Lavelle of Coburg visits Ireland while on leave

Bill Lavelle of Harriet Street, Coburg in Killarney, Ireland, 18 February 1918. (Image courtesy Leonie Lloyd)

I'd love to know the story behind this photo, but unfortunately, all I can say is that it includes Bill Lavelle of Coburg. If by chance anyone looking at this has any more information about the people in the photo or the occasion, I'd love to hear from you.

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3149 Pte William Francis (Bill) Lavelle served in the 22nd Infantry Battalion. A member of a staunchly Roman Catholic family from a remote corner of County Mayo, Ireland, like other family members he was a parishioner of St Paul's, Sydney Road, Coburg, the church in which he was baptised in January 1894. 

He left Australia on 26 November 1915, received a severe shell wound to his head and neck and face in November 1916 and was wounded again in February 1917, but he survived the war, returned to Australia, married Gertrude (Gert) Morrissey in 1926 and lived at 3 Harriet Street, Coburg for many years (in the area of the car parks between Sydney Road and the railway line).

By the 1950s, he and Gert had moved to Elsternwick where he worked as a driver for the PMG. (Remember the PMG? Postmaster-General's Department, predecessor of Telecom (now Telstra) and Australia Post)

Bill Lavelle in later years. Image courtesy Leonie Lloyd.

Remembered by members of his extended family as a 'good bloke', he died in 1982 aged 88 and is buried at Fawkner Cemetery with his wife Gert, who died in 1967 aged 68.

Ted Egan's tribute to the ANZACs

Published in 2014, this volume is dedicated to Ted Egan's mother Grace and to her brothers Martin, Bob and Jack Brennan who fought in WW1. They'd grown up on a Wimmera farm, fit and healthy and with the bush skills that should have stood them in good stead. Jack died of wounds received on Gallipoli. His brothers returned, although not unscathed - Bob was gassed three times and Martin suffered from shell-shock.

Edward Joseph (Ted) Egan was born in Coburg in 1932 but left when he was 16 and has been identified for many years with Australia's 'Top End'. He has written and sung about Australia and this book includes a CD of songs (with words and music in the text itself). There is so much more that could be said about his contribution, but for now I'll concentrate on this book.

This is an interesting read, not the least because it includes New Zealand ANZACs as well as Australian.

Egan, who is anti-war, poses some questions for us to think about:
Why, to the present day, are ex-soldiers so reluctant to talk about the war? and Why don't we stop it before it starts?

He also believes that women are the ones we should ask about the war, in particular the nurses who served and refers glowingly to Peter Rees' book The other Anzacs: The Extraordinary Story of our World War 1 Nurses. I haven't read it yet, but it's definitely on my reading list.

Edward Joseph Kernan of 'Merai', Pascoe Vale

Portrait of Corporal Edward Joseph Kernan, 5th Battalion of Pascoe Vale, Victoria. He enlisted in July 1915 and spent time as a musketry instructor before eventually embarking with the 24th Reinforcements and the rank of 2nd Lieutenant (2nd Lt) on HMAT Ballarat, departing Melbourne on 19 February 1917. He died of wounds on 20 September 1917, aged 25 years. He, along with all others aboard, survived the sinking of the Ballarat when it was torpedoed in the English Channel on 25 April 1917. Image courtesy AWM. Image DASEY1953.

2^nd Lieutenant Edward Joseph Kernan, 5^th Infantry Battalion was the son of John and Nora Kernan of 'Merai', Pascoe Vale and the brother of Mamie and Jack Kernan. His grandfather, John Kernan, bought some of the land (between Gaffney Street and Devon Road) that had been part of John Pascoe Fawkner's original Crown Portion. When the Crown Portion was first subdivided, this land was bought by Henry Ashurst (in 1842) and a few years later leased to Joseph Burns who built a house, garden and outbuildings, planted 40 acres of oats and ran a dairy herd as well as grazing cattle. He called the farm 'Merai'. After Burns left in 1856, John Kernan took over the lease, kept the name and the family remained there for many years. (Moreland Thematic History)

'Merai' was originally listed as being in Moonee Ponds. By the 1880s, the second John Kernan (son of the original) was living in 'Merai', Pascoe Vale, so right on the borderland between the two and in those times it's likely that Edward Kernan (later to die on the Somme) identified as a Moonee Ponds/Essendon man, rather that what was then a fairly far-off Coburg.

Edward Kernan died in France of wounds received on 20 September 1917 and his parents placed the following notice in the Argus newspaper on 13 October 1917:

KELLY-KERNAN. Lieut W.A. (Archie) Kelly, 6^th Btn, KIA Sep 21; Lieut E.J. Kernan, 5^th Btn, died of wounds on Sep 30. Enlisted together in July 1915, always together in camp, and in England and France. Comrades in arms till death. (Inserted by Mr and Mrs John Kernan, as a loving tribute to their dear son’s friend William Archibald Kelly, 2^nd Lt, 6 Btn, parents in Qld.)

Archie Kelly was a Moonee Ponds/Essendon man and you can read more about his war service on the Empire Called and I Answered website here. 

The eye witness accounts noted in the Red Cross Wounded and Missing Files, available online through the Australian War Memorial website, not only fill in details about Edward Kernan's wounding and death, but give the reader more than 100 years later a little of the measure of the man:

 They also give you an idea of the lengths to which Vera Deakin and her team went to to bring comfort to the families at home:

And just occasionally, the files include a letter from a family member, such as this one written by Edward's sister Mary Josephine (Mamie), reminding the 21st century reader of the poignancy and heartbreak that was the lot of so many of our own families, too. I experienced, too, a sense of the bitter-sweet as I read this letter by the articulate Mamie, because I know that my own family members of this generation were barely literate and did not have the confidence or the networks to seek out the information that would have meant so much to them after two of my grandmother's brothers died in France.

(The Joe in the letter is 11136 Cpl Joseph Albert Cormick, 9th Field Ambulance. Cormick was born in Coburg.) 

Mamie Kernan did not marry and died at Essendon in 1963 aged 80. Her father John died at 'Merai' in January 1930 and her mother Nora died there in January 1933. Notices were placed in the Argus in Edward's memory until September 1936. He is also remembered on the family grave in the Roman Catholic section of Melbourne General Cemetery.

Note that there is a Kernan Avenue in Pascoe Vale, built in the 1920s. There was once a Merai Street, too, but it no longer exists. It was absorbed by the Tullamarine Freeway. (Street names of Coburg) Both streets are located in the vicinity of the Kernan property 'Merai'.