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Showing posts from July, 2022

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').