Unexpected Developments....

Those of you who read the comments left by

others on this blog may have noticed

that after my last post the lovely Vicki

(an expat Aussie now happily living in Iceland)

left some surprising information for me

regarding little Elsie May Baills.

Vicki very kindly used her investigative skills 

and genealogical knowledge 

to do a little research on Elsie May 

and uncovered quite a bit of information about her

and her extended family.

I am so grateful to Vicki for following this up

and I now look forward to further

updates regarding the forgotten photos I have in my possession.

Who knows,  maybe we'll be able to find a

loving descendant to return the photos to one day,

all because of the investigative skills of a lovely lady from Iceland.

For those of you who haven't read the comments,

this is what Vicki told me:

Elsie May's parents were Thomas George Baills and Martha Jenner

who married in 1902.  She also had 3 brothers, Allan, Percy and Norman. 

 Her father died in 1940 and her mother in 1952.

Vicki has also sent me a follow up email with more information and 

copies of newspaper articles.

I'm hoping I'll be able to use these in the book I intend to make about the family.

I am secretly hoping we might find an ancestor interested enough

to come along to the exhibition.  Wouldn't that be exciting!

Unknown Identities

The first book I intend to make for

the Personal Histories exhibition is linked to a 

box of photographs which have fascinated me ever since they were
discovered in the ceiling of a house my brother bought a number of years back.

The century old sepia photographs are of people long gone,
with not many clues to their identity.

They apparently came from the Toowoomba/Ipswich region

of Southern Queensland (Australia) according to the addresses of

the photographers labels.

The only other identification is from a tribute card

for one of the children, Elsie May Bailis (above, top),

a blonde, curly haired moppet who died very young

at the tender age of 10yrs 10 mths on 23rd April 1914.

Do you have any intriguing stories like this to add to the exhibition?

Tall Tales and True

Family Holiday, Amity Point circa January 1972

We all have tales to tell.

Interesting snippets of personal history

that reveal a little about ourselves and the times

we have experienced.  Tales which can be fascinating

not only to ourselves but to others as well.

At the beginning of 2012 I held an

exhibition of altered book art at

Redland Museum Cleveland.

Since then, the Museum has

doubled in size and now boasts

2 large gallery spaces perfect for

sharing artists works with the community.

I thought it would be a wonderful opportunity

to coordinate an exhibition of artist books

and works on paper and to make the exhibition

relevant to the venue by setting a theme of personal histories.

Something everyone has but no one shares.

I have succeeded in procuring space for the exhibition at the Museum

and am currently in negotiations with the Exhibitions Officer

to set a date.  We have earmarked late 2014 in order to

give artists time to work on their submissions.

There won't be any fees to participate in this event

however artists will be responsible for the cost of shipping

for any works submitted.

Artists will also be able to sell their works if they choose.

(commission for the Museum for any works sold will be applicable).

I hope you will consider participating in this event,

whether you are local to the area or from somewhere far away,

we would love to include your artist book or work on paper

to share something of your personal history.

More details to come............