While researching for the Almost Forgotten, pre 1900 burials project, which spans from approximately 1850 to 1899, we came across many houses and properties identified by a name only, not necessarily the location. The names seem to have been chosen from a place that was important to the original owners, or reflect the aspect or features of the location and were often retained by successive owners of the property.

For example Thomas Dyson, a shopkeeper in the late 1800s, named his homes in Beeac and later Colac, Manono, which is in the Navigator Islands and where his missionary parents were working when he was born.

Mary Widlake immigrated to Australia in 1888 at the age of 38. It is possible that she came to Colac after caring for her own parents to help look after her aging, childless relatives, William and Mary Priscott. Charles Roscoe was on the same ship and the couple were later married. Their house, situated in Colac East, was named Braunton, the same name as Mary’s home town in Devon.

The Ludlow family of Barongarook lived at a property called Gezireh, also the name of a royal palace in Egypt. At first glance it could be assumed that it was a reference to their home being their palace, but further examination revealed that the Gezireh Palace, which had been converted to a hotel, was used as No.2 Australian General Hospital in WW1 to cope with casualties from the Battle of Gallipoli. The death notice that appeared some years later in the Colac Herald seemed to support that theory.

On the other hand, names like Ivy Bank, Lake View, Lightwood Flat, Hilltop seem to indicate the location or geographical features of the property. And the origin of some names might only be known to the original owners. Whatever the origins, property names can be another valuable tool in the kit to help overcome some of those brick walls, or to put “meat on the bones” of our family history research.

Capturing and recording the names of local houses and properties began as a side issue to the Almost Forgotten project until our Librarian, Robyn, offered to administer it. Since that time the database has more than quadrupled, with Robyn actively seeking the information instead of just recording what is stumbled on. And this is where you can help.

Do you, or anyone in your family, live in a home that has a name, or had a name when you bought it? Do you know where it originated from – or who would have named it? You can contact Robyn to have your house name added to the register... or to find out if it is already listed. We also welcome your photographs or stories about houses and properties. E: research@colacfamilyhistory.org.au

Whilst most of the new settlers to the Colac district from the mid 1800s had an Anglo Celtic background, they weren’t the only group to choose to settle here.

Photograph: Some members of the local Testa, Zaia and Loricco families.

The Almost Forgotten project has identified people of many different nationalities, arriving from all points of the globe. It has been one of the aspirations of the group to investigate and record these histories and Lynette Genua has volunteered to start the process with the Italian families in Colac and the surrounding district.

Some of our records are proving to be very valuable to this project, including school pupil registers, the detailed cemetery database, obituaries and the large collection of funeral booklets. Lynette has prepared an extensive database of names of Italian families who lived in the district and is now endeavouring to make contact and conduct interviews, although the recent spread of the Coronavirus has limited those opportunities.

If you know anyone who might be able to contribute information, stories and photographs to this project, please contact us.

In the last newsletter Lyn Heppner contributed a story about the Colac Federal Coffee Palace. Since that was published, some photographs have emerged of the building and the dining area inside, which prompted these recollections.

“I remember the dining room clearly and how my aunts insisted, however busy they may have been, on having flowers and leaves on the tables. My grandmother had a mangle in the wash house. The tablecloths, sheets etc. used to be boiled separately in a huge copper, then when dry, she would fold them and roll them through the mangle. We all loved winding the mangle”.

More than 950 people have been researched for the “Almost Forgotten” project and many of their stories have been published in our newsletters and on the dedicated facebook page: www.facebook.com/almostforgotten1900. This latest story is about publicans George and Anne Ball and was written by Mary Day from research done by Raye Loughnan. Click on the link below to read George and Mary’s story.

Copyright (C) 2021 Colac & District Family History Group Inc. All rights reserved.

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