ANOTHER DETOUR

 

After months of procrastination and struggling to get into the heads of my Allan, Darby, and Murray ancestors, and hence not getting much written, it dawned on me quite suddenly, that I should write a creative non-fiction, not an historical fiction. Since that decision, I’ve been rattling along quite nicely. Until the other day.

Looking through a folder for information, I rediscovered two letters written to me from my great uncle Roland Werrett, who met a young French woman during the First World War and eventually settled in France. He came home to Australia in 1966 for a much heralded visit, and we corresponded after that. He helped me with the French I was learning at school. I remember the French teacher at Waverley High School, Mrs Papazy, she hated me. It’s hard to imagine these days how awful she must have been for me, at thirteen, to know she had it in for me. It rattled her cage terribly when she was forced to give me an “A” for French at the end of the year. Thanks to Uncle Rolie’s help.

Back to the two letters: one was written in 1969, and the other in 1971. He had a beautiful hand, and the text was easy to read, so I transcribed his words and emailed a copy off to his granddaughter, my second cousin Catherine, in France.

That should have been the end of it, but of course it wasn’t.

Retracing earlier steps of that family tree I reignited the coals that had been smouldering on one of the branches. My 2x great grandmother, Mary Jane Williams who married Richard Werrett in Gloucestershire in England and emigrated with him to Melbourne in 1858, threw up a curve ball. Her mother’s name was Mary Werrett. Another maze to navigate: how were Richard and Mary related apart from marriage?

The picture of the church is relevant – it’s St Barnabas in Balwyn – Richard Werrett was one of the founders of the church and Uncle Rolie wanted to get back to Australia in 1972 for the 100 year anniversary of the first service. That wasn’t possible for him.