~by Helen Dennis, July 2026~ My new favourite ancestor is my Irish 2x-great grandmother, Mary Ann Ryan. Not because she did anything spectacular, but rather because it took me so long to figure out who she was. Until recently, the only information I had about Mary Ann had come from two sources: her marriage certificate,Continue reading “Unravelling the Mystery of Mary Ann Ryan”
Author Archives: unravelled
Round the World in a Cutter
Walter Frederick Rayner’s attempt to circumnavigate the globe ~ by Helen Dennis, March 2025 ~ In 1932, three years into both the Great Depression and his first marriage, my grandmother’s brother Walter built a little boat and attempted to sail around the world. According to Sydney’s Labor Daily newspaper, Walter was the first Australian toContinue reading “Round the World in a Cutter”
Unravelling the Boarding School Myth
Penelope, Tony and Victor Jenkins’ early schooling in Sydney ~ by Helen Dennis ~ December 2024 ~ One of the most memorable stories my aunt Penelope recounted about her childhood was that when she was very little, her mother had enrolled her as ‘the only boarder’ at a private girls’ school in Sydney. The legendContinue reading “Unravelling the Boarding School Myth”
Penelope’s Hospital Float
~ by Helen Dennis, 6 October 2024 ~ This weekend is a long weekend in New South Wales. Many people travel; others simply enjoy an extra day off work. Once upon a time, however – as the discovery of a cache of my aunt Penelope’s photos led me to discover – demonstrations, processions and sportsContinue reading “Penelope’s Hospital Float”
Jock McDonald (the man who named ‘Oban’)
~ Addendum to ‘Andrew Coventry & Margaret Harvey: The Oban Originals’ ~ “Jock McDonald came to Marouan and established a cattle run there for Col Dumaresq. In the very early days, the late Mr Andrew Coventry managed Saumarez Station for the Dumaresqs. Jock McDonald discovered Oban, and he and Mr Andrew Coventry established a cattleContinue reading “Jock McDonald (the man who named ‘Oban’)”
Thomas Ross Maclean: Dishonourable Scoundrel
by Helen Dennis, November 2022 ~ Roughly mown grass covers the ground surrounding a few timeworn graves in a quiet section of Rookwood Cemetery in Sydney. Weeds poke through gravel on the grave of Thomas Maclean’s neighbour. There is no marked grave for Thomas; no headstone. He lies forgotten beneath unruly tufts of kikuyu. UntilContinue reading “Thomas Ross Maclean: Dishonourable Scoundrel”
The Double Life of Edwin Tyrrell Sayers
by Helen Dennis, July 2024 ~ I have numerous documents confirming key events in the seemingly ordinary life of my great-great-grandfather Edwin Tyrrell Sayers. He was born in 1843 in Melbourne. His mother, Anna Tyrrell, died at the tender age of 28, just a few months after Edwin was born. In 1861, at the ageContinue reading “The Double Life of Edwin Tyrrell Sayers”
Andrew & Margaret Coventry
by Helen Dennis, November 2023. Andrew & Margaret Coventry: The original settlers of ‘Oban’ Run ~ Andrew Coventry was a relatively young, but nevertheless experienced, distiller when he established the first Scotch Whiskey distillery in Camlachie in Scotland in 1834. He had a wife and a growing brood of children to support but within twoContinue reading “Andrew & Margaret Coventry”
The Migration Journey of Donald & Jessie McLean
by Helen Dennis, June 2022 ~ Donald and Jessie McLean were both in their early twenties when they married on Christmas Eve 1852 in the picturesque village of Cawdor in the Scottish Highlands very close to the historic town of Inverness. Cawdor occasionally received a light dusting of snow at Christmas, but the aesthetic qualitiesContinue reading “The Migration Journey of Donald & Jessie McLean”
Evelyn & Victor Jenkins: “He gave her everything”
by Helen Dennis, January 2022. The story of Victor, Eve, Richard and ‘Glenbrook’ ~ By the time my grandmother turned 30 she’d already been married, had three children, left her first husband, and was awaiting confirmation of her divorce so that she could marry her ex-husband’s brother. The housewives of conservative rural Australia would’ve relishedContinue reading “Evelyn & Victor Jenkins: “He gave her everything””
Unravelled 