Family Christmas Past and Present

I have just finished reading, Judy's blog Our family Christmas Now and Then,  which gives an Australian perspective on Christmas Traditions Down Under.  This blog has come about as a response to Pauleen's invitation,  'Family History Across the Seas', to take part in the 2012 Christmas GeneaMeme by describing how we celebrate Christmas in our part of the world.  What a great way to share the customs of Christmas.  I recently posted  on "Family Recipe Friday - Family Christmas Cake", one of my favorite Christmas Customs.  At the time I thought it would be good to share some other family christmas traditions, so this gives me a great opportunity to share some of our other traditions. 

I think our traditions change over time, some old ones get forgotten but often new ones come along.


THE 2012 CHRISTMAS GENEAMEME

Do you have any special Xmas traditions in your family?
 We have a "new tradition" that started about 5 years ago.  Following a family trip to the Zoo with my son, his wife, her parents and my nephew and his family I made up a Christmas Calendar for everyone for Christmas.  This has now become a annual family event in late November, which we plan about 6 months ahead, picking a fun venue, who ever is available comes along for a family day together. I get to take lots of photos (which I love doing) and I put them in to our annual Calendar to be given as gifts on Christmas Day. (sorts part of my Christmas shopping as well).  This year we went to Luna Park on Sydney Harbour, great day was had by all, big kids and little kids.

Is church attendance an important part of your Christmas celebrations and do you go the evening before or on Xmas Day?
 Church was a big part of our christmas celebrations when I was a child, however it does not play such an important part nowdays.

Did/do you or your children/grandchildren believe in Santa?
 Of course!!!  Isn't he real??

Do you go carolling in your neighbourhood?
 It is not general that groups go carolling in Australia however, in the town that my son lives in the local Fire Engine truck drives around with Christmas Carols over the loud speaker and they throw lollies to the children as they drive by. 

What’s your favourite Christmas music?
 I like all Christmas music, love the music from "Love Actually".

What’s your favourite Christmas carol?
 I have a few but "Away in a Manger" does bring back memories of going to church on Christmas Eve with my Nanna.

Do you have a special Xmas movie/book you like to watch/read?
 Love Actually!!

Does your family do individual gifts, gifts for littlies only, Secret Santa (aka Kris Kringle)?
 We generally do individual gifts. Sometimes we will all put in to buy something special for my Mum.



Our Christmas Table a couple of years ago

 Is your main Christmas meal indoors or outdoors, at home or away?
This depends on where we are for Christmas.  When we lived in Port MacQuarie (on the coast) we did have a couple of Christmas Lunches at the beach.  This year we having indoors.

What do you eat as your main course for the Christmas meal?
 Usually the main meal is a late lunch that carries through until the evening :)

Do you have a special recipe you use for Xmas?
Yes, the Christmas cake.

Does Christmas pudding feature on the Xmas menu? Is it your recipe or one you inherited?
 What is Christmas without a pudding!!! Often when it is time to have the pudding we are all to full and it is put aside to have later in the evening. 

Do you have any other special Christmas foods? What are they?
 Seafood is an important part of our meal, with the usual Ham, Turkey or Chicken.

Do you give home-made food/craft for gifts at Christmas?
 Yes, I used to make biscuits  as gifts, however these days I don't seem to have time. 

Do you return to your family for Xmas or vice versa?
We try to find a venue that suits the majority of the family.

Is your Christmas celebrated differently from your childhood ones? If yes, how does it differ?  
Not a lot of difference, though I think today there are more presents.

How do you celebrate Xmas with your friends? Lunch? Pre-Xmas outings? Drop-ins? 
There are generally a number of pre-christmas parties, barbeque's etc.

Do you decorate your house with lights? A little or a lot?
We have  a single strand of solar powered lights on our balcony (which has actually stayed there for the whole year).  Nothing like being prepared.

Is your neighbourhood a “Xmas lights” tour venue?
 Not in our area, but there are some suburbs in Sydney that go "all out" with the lights.

Does your family attend Carols by Candlelight singalongs/concerts? Where?
 When I was little we used to have singalongs around my Nanna's piano, but this doesn't happen now.

Christmas Tree- when camping

Have any of your Christmases been spent camping (unlikely for our northern-hemisphere friends)? We have spent a couple of Christmas's in Caravan Parks, fun now and then but not my favorite venue.

Is Christmas spent at your home, with family or at a holiday venue?
Usually at our home or a family member's home.

Do you have snow for Christmas where you live?
Not likely to happen in Australia.

Do you have a Christmas tree every year?  Yes.

Is your Christmas tree a live tree (potted/harvested) or an imitation?  Imitation.

Do you have special Xmas tree decorations? Yes I do have some special ones that have been given to me, and some others that represent special Christmas in the past.  I also started a tradition when my first grand child was born.  Each year around the first weekend in December I send my two grandchildren a Christmas tree decoration for their tree.

Which is more important to your family, Christmas or Thanksgiving? We do not celebrate Thanksgiving in Australia.

Taking on the ‘Family History Through the Alphabet’ Challenge!!

Over the past couple of months as I have been flicking from one genealogy blog to another, reading the wonderful stories and viewing the beautiful old pictures than the many genealogy bloggers share with us I have noticed the number of bloggers who were taking the Family History Through the Alphabet Challenge.

Now from the abundance of bloggers who have already taken on this challenge I am guessing that I am a little behind the "8 Ball" but not to worry better late than never.  I haven't given this a lot of thought as yet but think I will make Friday my Alphabet Challenge Day.  So stay tuned for my Friday's Family History Through the Alphabet stories!!!   ouch that is a mouthful!

A is for???? what will I write about?   Asylums, Ancestry, Archives, Adoption??  As I google "A"  I have found a number of great blogs which include:  A is for Assembly: "The Angels were singing", A is for Archives, and Ancestry.  Well I have a week to come up with something interesting.  Stay tuned. 

Family Recipe Friday - Family Christmas Cake

December is upon us, and it is time to start preparing for the festive season.  I don’t know about you but the traditions and family culture that surrounds Christmas fascinates me.  Every family has their own set of traditions that evolve over time, within the traditions and culture of their country, religion and ethnic backgrounds.    An important part of this evolution is the food and drink that is cooked, shared and given as gifts to family and friends.  

 

One of the traditions that has been passed down in our family has been the baking of the Christmas cake and Christmas pudding. 

I have fond memories of sharing in these baking activities.  The mixing, baking and hanging of the Christmas pudding was one of the highlights of Christmas with my paternal grandmother Christina Carriage (Shepherd, nee Lee)  and I have written about this in my blog on the women in my family tree. 

However, the family tradition that comes to mind today is closer to home and was passed on to me by my mother.  That is the baking of the traditional Christmas cake.  I am not sure of customs in other countries, but in Australia around Christmas time, when I was a child,  when someone dropped  in for a cup of tea, you would always have to have a plate piled high with slices of rich moist Christmas cake to go with it.   There are so many versions of this recipe, but here is the one that my mother used as the base for her cakes. 

She would often deviate from the recipe, adding what ever was in the pantry, for example some marmalade jam, extra nuts, glace cherries, ginger pieces etc.  As you can see from the picture taken from her recipe book, the page is well worn, with a collection of food stains, which I am sure if you analysed would be made up of spices, sugar, flour, butter and brandy or sherry. I now carry on this tradition and continue to bake this cake around the beginning of December each year. I do hope this family tradition will pass on to the next generation.

Rich Boiled Fruit Cake

 8 cups (2 ½ lb) mixed fruit

2 tablespoons golden syrup

3 tablespoons rum, sherry or brandy

¾ cups water

8 oz butter

1 ½ cups (8 oz) brown sugar

5 eggs

2 ½ cups (10 oz) plain flour

¼ teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons mixed spice

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

¼ teaspoons ground nutmeg

2 oz split blanched almonds

Place the mixed fruit, golden syrup, rum, sherry or brandy and the water in a saucepan.  Bring to the boil, stirring occasionally and simmer for 2 minutes.  Pour into a bowl, cover and allow to stand overnight.  Set oven temperature at slow.  Cream butter and brown sugar together well.  Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.  Sift dry ingredients together, then sift half over the boiled fruit mixture.  Mix lightly and stir into the creamed mixture.  Add remainder of sieved dry ingredients and fold into mixture.  Place in a 9-inch round cake tin, previously lined with greaseproof paper and three thicknesses of brown paper and greased.  Arrange the split blanched almonds in a pattern on the top.  Bake in a slow oven for 3 ½ -4 hours.  Remove cake from tin, leaving paper on and leave on wire cooling tray until cool.

Those Places Thursday - Burra Model School, South Australia



Burra State School



http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-page4741004

Who would think such an impressive building would have been build in a small mining community in the colonial outpost of South Australia.

This school was completed in 1877 which,  coincidentally was the year that the Burra Copper Mine was closed down.  The land on which the school was build was donated by the South Australian Mining Association.  When the School opened in 1878,  300 students were enrolled.  Among these students were my grandfather Roy Herbert (1909-1959) along with his brothers and sisters (Alice, William, Annie, Essel , Jack and Lillian). 

 It was his half-sister Annie Whitehorn (nee Herbert) who gave me the attached picture of the School about twenty five years ago.  She remembered her school days with fondness and recalled that this building was something that the whole Burra community took great pride in. She did tell me that my grandfather was not so fond of school life and  liked to skip school.  She would be sent out to find him and inevitably he would be found swimming in the local swimming spot.

The school was built to accommodate 800-1000 students and it wasn’t until 1913 when the High School was opened in the western wing that its class rooms were filled.  It certainly was an impressive building for a small colonial town in the late 1870’s. 

http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/printArticlePdf/36145695/3?print=n

Burra, was a mining town in South Australia about 160 km north of Adelaide. The town was founded in 1845 and was one of the world’s largest copper mines.  The income from this mine was one of the major contributors in the economic survival of the young colony of South Australia. 

The mine was closed in 1877 and the town continued to thrive as growing rural community and served as a transport centre for the north east of South Australia and through to Western New South Wales and Queensland.  Today, Burra is still an important rural centre for farming wheat and breeding sheep.

Due to its rich and colourful history it has become a popular destination for tourists who are visiting South Australia.

Wisdom Wednesday - My discovery for this week - Pinterest

Well I am not sure if this fits under Wisdom Wednesday, but I do think it has the potential to fit in this category.  Lately, I had noticed a lot of references to Pinterest and this sparked my interest, however, as usual time limitations had meant I hadn't checked it out.  However, yesterday I was reading through the blog list on Geabloggers and saw a blog by Jana, "Tuesday's Tip - Three Awesome Websites for Genealogy ... Found on Pinterest!   The light bulb started flashing!!! Time to check this out!.

Hitting Google search I googled (so to speak) and found what a was looking for, Amazing!! and sooo pretty :)  I quickly set up an account and started to play.  Oh I could really get hooked on this!!

What is Pinterest?  Basically it is a tool that anyone can use to collect and share things that you find on the web.  You pin these items to your sit or board and there is the option to create a board for any particular topic that you are interested in, for example you can use it to plan a party or wedding, or collecting recipes or travel information. 

The most exciting thing is that you can browse pinboards created by others, making it a fun way to discover new things and get inspiration from others who share similar interest.  Also I must point out, that if you are working on a project that you do not want to share you can make your "board" private or just share with a selection of friends.  (great for team work).

I can see great potential for family tree and genealogy research.  You could have separate boards for different branches or surnames in your family tree, boards to collect information about the area they lived in, maps, photos etc.  I am sure there are many researchers who are already using this resource, but I must admit I am quite excited about setting up some "boards" to support my research and share it with others.

I believe the Pinterest Mission says it all

Our goal is to connect everyone in the world through the 'things' they find interesting. We think that a favorite book, toy, or recipe can reveal a common link between two people. With millions of new pins added every week, Pinterest is connecting people all over the world based on shared tastes and interests.

Sympathy Saturday - Ronald Alfred Smith

Ronald Alfred Smith

Today I would like to share a sad story from our family tree.  Ronald Alfred Smith was my husbands uncle and he was born 25 November 1921, the first son of Alfred Smith and Jessie Taylor.  His father was a returned soldier who had fought at Gallipoli and the family lived in a modest home in the Marrickville and Tempe areas of Sydney. 

Sadly at the young age of 13 Ronnie as he was called met with a devastating accident.  He was in his first year of high school attending Tempe Junior Technical School and was playing football in his lunch break when he was hit in the head by a stone thrown from somewhere in the playground.  He finished the afternoon at school and when he returned home that afternoon fell ill, and was rushed to Marrickville Hospital.

 The doctors realising that he was suffering from a depressed fracture of the scull raced him to the Children's Hospital for surgery, but unfortunately he did not survive.

His family were devastated and his mother Jessie did not get over his sudden death.  He was always in her thoughts and she spoke of him all the time.  I remember chatting to her in her later years and she always went back to the story of the son she had lost.

His story has lived on through three generations of the family and has been used to reinforce the dangers of throwing stones to each generation of children. 

Follow Friday - An accumulation of my weekly research - 6

Friday is here again! What a week.  I really got a start yesterday when someone informed me that it is only 6 weeks to Christmas.  This week I would like to share some sites that are a little off the track from the normal family tree research but fit in with my interest in knowing more about the times and customs that our ancestors lived in. 

This research was triggered by an old recipe book, Cassell's New Universal Cookery Book  that was given to me by an  Aunt when I was a teenager.  I shared a short story on this book in one of my earlier blogs "Family Recipe Friday - Recipes from the Past".   The book contains a fascinating collection of old recipies and details about the running of a home at the end of the 19th Century and sparked my interest to find out what other online resources there are about the food, recipies and kitchen customs of our ancestors.  Here is a brief summary of some of the sites I have found.  If you know of others please share them as I would like to delve into this more.

Blogs

Old Recipe Blog: http://oldrecipeblog.com/

The Old Foodie: http://www.theoldfoodie.com/

18thC Cuisine: http://18thccuisine.blogspot.com.au/

The History Chef: http://lincolnslunch.blogspot.com.au/

The Shiksa Blog: Exploring the Fascinating History of Food : http://theshiksa.com/

My Grandmas' Recipies: http://mygrandmasrecipes.wordpress.com/

Cookit, Victorian Food Facts and History: http://cookit.e2bn.org/historycookbook/23-116-victorians-Food-facts.html

Food History Jottings:  http://foodhistorjottings.blogspot.com.au/

Getting Started in Food History: http://www.rachellaudan.com/culinary-history/getting-started-in-food-history

Food Tracks: http://foodtracks.net/tag/food-history-2/

Other Sites of Interest

The Food Time Line: http://www.foodtimeline.org/

Online Culinary History Network: http://culinaryhistory.org/

English Cuisine History and information about English Cooking, Food and Recipies:  http://www.recipes4us.co.uk/Cooking%20by%20Country/England%20Recipes%20Culinary%20History%20and%20Information.htm

FoodWise: Australian Food History: http://foodwise.com.au/did-you-know/australian-food-history.aspx

Baking History: the Joy of baking:  http://www.joyofbaking.com/printpages/Historyprint.html

German Cooking through the Hands of my Ancestors: http://salinehistory.org/index.php?section=history&content=german_cooking

 The Dictionery of Victorian London: http://www.victorianlondon.org/lee/website.htm