Stan Phelan's Sailing Adventure

When Dad was aged just 7 months, his own father Stanley would join a group of 'business men' (presumably friends) on a sailing adventure from Melbourne to Sydney. They sailed on the motor launch 'Bona', owned and captained by M Franklin, founder of the Motor Finance Company. Franklin had retired and was making the move to Sydney to take advantage of the greater sailing opportunities there.

Leaving Melbourne on Christmas Day, the Bona was forced to remain inside Port Phillip Bay for several days on account of weather, and when finally leaving the heads on Thursday 30 December they only made it as far as Western Port. The next day they intended to sail as far as Wilsons Promontory but with favourable conditions decided to continue on, sailing through New Year's Eve all the way to Eden off the southern NSW coast, a total of 300 miles and 37 hours at sea.

The party were however in no hurry to get to their destination, and spent Sunday 2 January fishing and relaxing in Eden. Monday saw the crew sail from Eden to Batemans Bay but not without drama: at 2.30 in the afternoon when the Bona was off Baragga Point (just south of Bermagui) and under sail, a sudden southerly sprung up and "blew away the jib and mainsail, breaking the foremast" (Sydney Morning Herald, Thursday 6 Jan 1927, p9). Once the wreckage was stowed away, the cruiser was able to continue on without problem.

On Tuesday the Bona travelled from Batemans Bay to Shoalhaven Heads (near Nowra), and making an early start (4am) on Wednesday January 5, the crew were able to reach the heads of Sydney Harbour by early afternoon. From there the Bona made a leisurely sail into the harbour, stopping at locations such as Vaucluse and Rose Bay, before travelling under the partially-built Sydney Harbour Bridge and finally mooring at 2.30pm at McMahons Point.

Comments

A Sacrifice, By Any Name

Prologue Before launching into today's story, I thought I might give an update on how my research is going. I started this blog back in 2019 as a way of communicating some of the more interesting stories about past family members, as I embarked on a 'redo' of all my original research. Having completed my Family History Diploma the year before, I'd learnt the importance of verifying information, and my family tree had plenty of information with no proven sources. Across the last four years I have completed the 'redo' of seven lines of the family: Phelan, Gasperino, Cowan and Davenport on Dad's side, and Atkin, Collins and Kenny on Mum's. I have also done a lot of work on the remaining maternal line, Lawless. But this line's Australian history goes back an extra generation, and has not just one but five brothers who emigrated here, so it represents by far the largest chunk of work to get through. As of now, I estimate that I've completed about 85%...

A 'Painful Accident'? You're Not Kidding!

Perhaps it stands out when compared with the tendency of today's media to sensationalise, but the understatement of much of the reporting of yesteryear is remarkable. Take the following 'painful injury' to Martin Clohesy, a farming contractor of Leongatha, as reported in the Great Southern Star on Friday 5 February 1915. Martin Clohesy was a cousin of my great-grandfather Nicholas Lawless (as shown in the chart below), who some readers might remember was a hopeless alcoholic and ultimately divorced by my great-grandmother Margaret. You can read about that elsewhere in this blog. Martin was married and had two children at the time of the horrific incident, and had other relatives in the Leongatha district - including the Cantys mentioned in the article - so presumably his family were able to lend plenty of support in his farming work (he was later listed in the electoral roll as an 'onion grower').

The Record-Breaking Adventure of the Utiekah III

Today's post is about one of my distant relatives on Mum's (Atkin) side of the family. My 2x great-grandfather Samuel Atkin came to Australia from Lincolnshire in 1853, and three years later was followed by his older brother Henry with his family. Henry settled near Newstead (not far from Castlemaine), and his daughter Elizabeth married Charles Slee, the Slees being another prominent early Newstead family. Elizabeth and Charles had 14 children (!) and this story is about their grandson Mark Mackie - my third cousin once removed - and what would have been, for the time, a pretty incredible adventure. Mark Mackie was born in Camberwell in 1899, and was educated at Scotch College. He worked as a photo-engraver and had a keen interest in yachting. In 1927 he was one of several ex-public school boys to undertake an 8 month trip in the South Pacific, aboard a yacht named Utiekah III, a 37-ton, 56 ft, auxiliary ketch built in Tasmania two years previously. The Utiekah...

Phelan and Atkin Family History

Search This Blog