Families of Waanyarra
Douthat Family
Researched by Lynne Douthat from family letters, interviews and the Public Records Office, Melbourne, 1988 “William Bowen Douthat was born in Lisbon, Portugal in 1817. In 1848 he married a Spanish girl named Isabel Maria Fieri. Their son, Emanuel William was born in Vigo, a fishing village and port on the Spanish coast, in 1850. … Continue reading
Bofill/Grey
By Estella Evans (nee Bofill) Born at Waanyarra 1900 My grandparents, Martin and Katrina (nee Dromana) originated in Barcelona, Spain. Katrina worked on the cork plantation owned by Martin’s family. Martin and Katrina were married and went to live in London, where they had begun a cork importing business. By the early 1860’s they migrated to … Continue reading
“The Footsteps Echo” by Lynne Douthat
Waanyarra has its legends and myths set around the early gold-rush days of the 1850’s. “The Footsteps Echo” relates many of these stories and records the events of the times, with an abundance of photographs. Over fifty family histories and stories have been contributed to this book, thereby making it a book for future generations … Continue reading
Michael Morton – The Irish Rebel
Early in July 1847, a young Irishman in the County of Tipperary stole a cow. Was he registering a protest against the poverty and oppression he and his family were suffering? Poverty brought on by the failure of yet another of their meagre potato crops due to Potato Blight, and oppression from the harsh treatment … Continue reading
Raven and Williams Families
The Williams Family By: Nell Callister “There were eight of them, Dave, Bill, Jim, Tom, Ted, Jane, Emily and Alice. Along with the Raven kids, they walked two and a half miles to attend the Waanyarra School. The families had no money but they had plenty of fun, and my brother and I were made to … Continue reading
The Gibbs Brothers
By Richard Shiell William was born at Edbury, Oxfordshire UK in 1832. He arrived in Australia on the “Salem” in March 1854 and died at Dunolly (?) on August 18th 1912. He lived at Nuggetty Flat with brothers John Woodman and Richard. None of the brothers married, and all are buried at Tarnagulla. William claimed he was … Continue reading