The best laid plans. Isn’t that what “they” say?

 

Family history research has a way of lulling one into a false sense of achievement. I’ve been researching the Allans, Darbys, and Murrays for years and years and years and years. The book I’m working on now focuses on the Allan and Darby families. So certain of the accuracy of my research, the words quickly transferred from my mind to the screen, via the keyboard. NOT SO FAST!!!!

I’ve made some educated guesses in my storytelling that I’ve since discovered through more research, are probably incorrect. So, the chapters around the birth of the first child of James and Mary Allan on the goldfields at Fryers Creek (Jean Witherspoon) are, I fear, in need of a rewrite.

Mary’s name was Mary Hamilton Murray. She and James (Allan) travelled to Port Phillip with her father, stepmother, and her siblings arriving in December 1852 (from Scotland). Two older brothers, Peter and Thomas, were already in Victoria, and settled on a farm at Macedon. Mary’s father and the rest of her family stayed to farm in Macedon while she and James went to the goldfields. BUT, the Murrays didn’t leave Victoria for Rockhampton (Qld) until 1864, so I now have twelve years of Murray history to explore.

I’ll rewrite. ☹

BACKSTORY FEATURE

 A short story I wrote about the death of my 3x great grandfather, James Allan and how it affected his wife, Mary, has been accepted into the tenth edition of BACKSTORY. I am very excited and happy that Mary and James's story will be read by many more.

What is Backstory?

Backstory is a Swinburne University journal open to all writers of history. We are interested in telling stories from the past, and in particular voices that may have been overlooked. We publish fiction, poetry, non-fiction, interviews, reviews, essays and academic articles. Stories do not have to centre around people, they can also be focused on object, time or place. We have aimed to create an online and print-on-demand publication that is modern, diverse and open-minded at the same time as featuring content that is richly rooted in the past. We are a historical journal with an eye on the future.

 

(Photo is Andrew Allan - James's grandfather.)