The children of George’s two marriages scattered.
Auntie had her few years in Queensland before returning to
Gippsland.
Barbara started off on the Marstin farm before moving to Queensland. Up there she married Mick Mahoney, had three more sons and was widowed again when Walter Jnr. was 12. At one stage she had a Fruit shop, then she ran a boarding house, and from that she moved into hotels. When I first got my Taxi licence in Brisbane I worked for a chap, Alan Lowe, whose father Bill owned taxis in Rockhampton during the 40’s and remembered ‘Old Ma Mahoney’ as he called her.
Jane, my grandmother, lived in Queensland for a while.
As I have already said she went down to Glengarry when Auntie May was born, and
she was back there when her next baby, Andrew, arrived. After that she had
another set of twins, Rene and Arthur, but they were born in Myrtleford.
Auntie and my grandmother had a differing of opinion at some stage so I think
that it must have happened at about this time. Amongst my video tapes is one
about ‘The Angel of Collingwood.’ It is about a Margaret Oats.
Margaret was married to one of my grandmother’s sons from her second marriage.
My grandmother’s family was:- First Uncle Ted and my mother, then Auntie May,
then Uncle Andrew and the last of the Mc Master’s were twins Auntie Rene and
Uncle Arthur. My grandmother then had two more sets of twins all boys.
Johanna was the only one who didn’t go to Queensland.
She went to Adelaide and married Harold Pank the optician. (He invented and
patented the tinting of glasses). She went to America from 1924 to 1927
and studied to be a Chiropractor. On Nov 25 1930 she died. Her death
certificate says heart failure. Auntie told me she had an accident.
Perhaps the accident brought on the heart failure.
The two boys Charlie and Dave both ended up in Queensland
in Gracemere, where they both had farms. Dave did not marry but Charlie
did and I understand that some of his descendants still live in the area.
Sophie also followed the family to Queensland where she eventually settled in Toowoomba. Auntie lost touch with her for many years. But when Uncle Bill Hower retired he travelled to Queensland and looked up nearly all the relations. In 1962 we received a letter from her. In 1963 when Paul and I holidayed in Queensland I was lucky enough to meet her. She was so like Auntie to look at only a shorter (by about 4 or 5 inches) version.
