My life in shoes

Lacking blogging inspiration you are given THIS today....My life in SHOES!!!




1963,Baby me, all 6lb 20z wore these. How did I get so big???

At some point I learned to walk and I wore shoes like this, mum favoured black or white,shiny shoes, I don't remember any other coloured shoes growing up,or perhaps in the 60's that's all you could buy.

Oh wait, I did have a red pair of these jelly shoes when I was 3, I remember they had a ribbed sort of sole and I was forever getting rocks caught in them and walking on what felt like a huge lump.Mum used to be forever picking small rocks out of them with a matchstick. they were also like walking in a bucket of water on a hot day.

1968 School shoes.Koalas and Clarkes.I remember blisters and bandaids for the first 2 weeks of every year .I had to walk to school about 1km, ouch! Wore these for about 11 years except for summer time in highschool.

In primary the school shoes were teamed with these lovely fold down long socks, that never stayed up and yet we got into trouble off the teachers as they sunk ever downwards. Elastics under the fold helped but were annoying.

In highschool we were allowed to wear the shorter ones,though the uniform notes stated long socks were compulsory.There was much debate and argument from many an 11 yr old girl and their mother over this. Most of us wore the long ones and changed into the short ones 4 houses away from home. We were not walking the gauntlet in those long ones. I wasn't getting my head flushed for wearing the wrong socks! Oh! the endless scary stories about highschool that were bandied about to terrify us on the first day.


In 3rd form onwards in summer we were allowed to wear these Jc's which we all loved, they were so comfy.
when I wasn't in school shoes or "best" shoes for church or grandparents, then I was in thongs. (Or flipflops for the non aussies) .they didn't have lime green back then though,they came in black white or red.the little plug thing that goes through the shoe would wear out slowly and bang one day would pop through and you'd have to go home barefoot.

1979 I was 16 and purchased my first pair of shoes with my own money.Similar to this ,instead of a buckle on the ankle, they had matching rope that tied up around my calf, round and round. it was itchy and annoying, I lived with rope burns, but I loved them.Dad called them my clodhoppers.





79-81 I wore high heels mostly. Hell I used to walk 1.3km to the station every morning and back in the evening in these things, catch trains, buses, walk everywhere. It's a wonder I can stand straight today.

81-95 Nursing shoes, went through a few of these ,mine were navy blue, teamed with those stockings they advertised for the air hosties.

85-91 found me pregnant a few times, so sensible shoes, but nice ones. I went through a lot of slingbacks as well.

1996 I came down with rhuematoid Arthritis and shoes were almost to painful to wear at all, so anything that would fit and not pinch I wore.

Joggers were pretty much it for out of the house.


And I found a pair of boots, that were comfy, wore them everywhere, no heel but at least they were comfy and not joggers.


Luckily today ,thanks to new medication, I can wear nice shoes again. They have to be mid heel and a chunky heel, no stillettos for me, sadly.

And though I'd much rather be able to wear THESE boots, you will probably be more likely to find me in

THESE

roots and branches

I'm descended from convicts!
My earliest ancestor to Australia was Eleanor Davis born in 1769 in Covent Garden England.
I think Eleanor was a bit of a rebel in her day.
She was meant to be childminding for a day for a fee of sixpence but while there stole various items including a man's coat, a waistcoat, 2 pairs satin breeches, a body vest, 1 shirt, 12 plates, a dish, 4 salt shakers, a mustard pot and sundry other things. Total value of 23 shillings and three pence. She went straight to the pawnshop and got 18 pence for them . She also received 7 years transportation when found guilty of the charge.
Silly girl spent her 18pence on grog and a carriage ride and was caught riding up and down the main street intoxicated.The little girl she was minding told her parents exactly where Nelly had got to.I think she had the little girl with her at the pawn shop!!!
She spent some time aboard one of the dreadful prison hulks then was transported to Australia on the 3rd fleet.
In Australia they were waiting anxiously and impatiently for the 3rd fleet as major flooding had drowned the crops and there was famine.
She arrived in port Jackson Sydney in 1791, the journey took 143 days...imagine that! It wasn't an uneventful trip for her as she arrived pregnant!
A few months after she arrived she married a lifer Alexander Seaton, he had stolen cattle.The ship board pregnancy was full term and Mary Anne(the name of the ship) was born, but it is thought that she died as there are no other records of her.She had a daughter Martha with Alex in 1794.
Her marriage to Alexander hit a snag in 1795 and she moved in with Jacob Russell. They had daughter, Elizabeth, a year later.

This photo is Elizabeth. Many moons later.

Alexander moved to Tasmania with his daughter Martha where he remarried even though he was still married to Eleanor. He was shot and killed in a pub brawl by a soldier,in argument over a woman in 1817.

So that left Eleanor free to marry and she promptly married Jacob.

Jacob had been convicted for house burglary and spent 4 YEARS in the hulks before being transported to Australia in the 3rd fleet.He had been assigned to the superintendent of convicts, working on cultivation of crops and only 3 years later he was granted his certificate of freedom(he had to remain in the area).He recieved a 30 acre land grant from the Leut Governor and a further 30 acres granted a few years later. Jacob and Eleanor became respected settlers.

Unfortunately as many women did in the harsh conditions,Eleanor continued to drink heavily and died suddenly in 1824 "srangled in liquor" at 55yrs old.

Elizabeth in the photo married Robert Sherringham when she was 15 years old....he was 30!!!

Robert had been an apprentice cordwainer...this is a shoemaker...I did not know that, so there you go! He stole shoemaking or cordwaining? items from his employer and sentenced to 7 yrs transportation.He was eventually given his certificate of emancipation(like a pardon but had to stay in the area) and 3 land grants.

Elizabeth and Robert had 12 children.

In 1828 he is listed in the muster as having 17 acres of cleared and cultivated land 4 horses,16 cattle and a govt. servant(convict) Andrew Mahon.

In 1834 Andrew received his conditional Pardon, left Robert and took Elizabeth with him!!! By this time Elizabeth was 38 and Andrew 37.There must have been some issue with Robert as at this time her father Jacob went to court and gave her a parcel of land, very unusual in that day and age.

Elizabeth had 5 more children with Andrew! 17 children in total.If I still had my uterus it would be aching in protest.

She died in 1878 age 82 and Andrew died aged 92.

One of their children was Catherine born in 1837 when Elizabeth was 41(she had 2 more after this one).Catherine was married twice. Her 2nd partner was Joseph Shelton ,She already had one child to her first hubby. It appears they split up but he didn't die and they didn't divorce so they had their family of 8 children and then married in 1911, when she was 72!!!Better late than never!

Now we are getting closer to me.

Their daughter Ester Ann was one of 8 children born to them.She was born in 1868 and married Francis Riley Gavin (Garry)in 1889 and that couple are my great grandparents.

Ester had 11 children,she died in 1909 when my grandfather Willim Charles (Charlie) was only 3 yrs old.

She also had a new baby when she died.She was 41.

The eldest of the girls,Elizabeth(Lizzie) promised her mother she would look after the children and she did this her whole life, living 2 doors from Charlie even in her late years. She never married.She was 17 years old when her mother died.A remarkable girl.There were 7 children younger than her to look after, the eldest 15 and the youngest not yet 2.She was very old when I was a child and I liken her to Aunt Clara in Bewitched.

These photos are of Aunt Liz's home and Charlie my grandfathers home,where my mum grew up.It was a slab hut constructrion and I loved going here for visits.

Charlies place is still standing but it now has no walls and is pretty much a car port. Aunt Liz's was pulled down about 20 years ago and Mc Mansion is in it's place.

This is Charlie my grandfather and my grandmother Emily.She died when I was 3 years old so I only have one memory of her. I was helping wipe up the dishes and dropped a cup.Her father was a Scotsman. Most of her grandchildren and great grandchildren have her round face and have trouble with their weight. Thanks grandma!

Emily and Charlie had 7 children the youngest stillborn. There are only 2 still living. My mums not one of them. RIP mum.

This is my mum and dad at their engagement party in about 1960. I came along in 1963.

And there is more... Francis Rileys grandparents were convicts too.......but I will let you off, if you've read this far you deserve mercy .