It's a nice day for a white wedding

It seems that I have been on hiatus for a while. But no fear, I have returned!! I can feel the excitement and enthusiasm radiating through your computers right now as you read this (wishful thinking?).

 

The Taylor-Hughes’

Just yesterday my grandparents would have celebrated their 53^rd wedding anniversary. Sadly, my grandfather Lionel passed away in May last year, so he was missed, but remembered by all of his family yesterday. However, he did spend fifty-two married years with my grandmother Judy, plus a few more on top of that ‘courting’.


'Just Married': Lionel & Judy with their wedding party, 1960.

On 27 February 1960 Judith Heather Hughes walked down the aisle of Christ Church in Moorabool Street, Geelong followed by her bridesmaid, Dorothy Barnes. Judy was wearing a magnolia satin gown with a tulip neckline while Miss Barnes was wearing an avocado green satin sheath dress with an interesting back panel and a Dior bow.[1] Waiting at the other end of the aisle was Lionel Taylor accompanied by his best man and brother Arthur Taylor. The men were looking dapper in their black tuxedos and bow ties. After this happy affair and the ‘I do’s’ had been signed, sealed and delived, the couple went on a honeymoon to Sydney. Eventually driving to their final destination, they stopped in at the Savoy in Spencer Street for their first night as a married couple before making their way to New South Wales.

Cutting the cake: Lionel and Judy Taylor.

Once married and returned to reality the couple moved in to their first home in Herne Hill where they started a family and lived for nearly 30 years.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Wilkens-Russells

A few years earlier on 19 October 1957 at St Georges Presbyterian Church, Geelong, Eric Russell walked his only daughter Erica down the aisle to wed Hank Wilkens. Erica wore a gown of magnolia delustred brocade with a cowl neckline and long lily point sleeves. An orange blossom half circlet on the back of her hair held a lovely old Carrick Macross lace veil, which the bride’s mother [Amuri] had worn at her wedding.[2] After the lavish ceremony followed the even more extravagant reception which was held at the brides’ parents home in Barwon Heads in a large marquee adorned with flowers. The guests consisted of friends, family and ‘society’s’ glamorous couples eating and drinking in celebration of Erica and Hank’s marriage.

 

 

 

Above: The new Mr & Mrs Wilkens, 1957.

Left: Hank and Erica signing the registry.

 

However, it wouldn’t be worth talking about if there wasn’t some ‘skeleton’. Not spoken about so freely was the fact that Erica had previously been engaged in somewhat of a ‘society match’ before she met Hank who had emigrated from the Netherlands in the early 1950s. What was also never discussed was the fact that Hank had been married before in his native Netherlands. Ultimately that marriage ended in divorce not long before he left permanently for Australia. Regardless of these previous relationships Hank and Erica were happily married for over thirty years before Hank passed away in the early 1990s.

The next generation

A few decades later on Saturday 19 February 1983 Andrew Wilkens, younger son of Hank and Erica and Amanda Taylor, eldest daughter of Lionel and Judy were married at St Johns’ Church in West Geelong. In all things 80s, especially following the resplendent wedding of Prince Charles and Princess Diana a few years earlier, the Taylor-Wilkens wedding had undertones of the royals. Flanked with four bridesmaids draped in marshmallow pink chiffon and four groomsmen dressed in tuxedos and bow ties. Their wedding photos were posed in the Geelong Botanic Gardens draped on an empty water fountain surrounded by brown crunchy grass. The wedding date had fallen in the middle of an extremely hot summer and a few days after the devastating Ash Wednesday bushfires which engulfed parts of Victoria. Their wedding reception was held at Kirrewur Court in Geelong, the same place that Lionel and Judy celebrated their wedding. Amanda and Andrew left their reception and boarded a plane to the ultra ‘exotic’ Bali for their honeymoon for two weeks.

Above: Amanda & Andrew and wedding party, 1983.

 

 

Weddings are an exciting time and for my forbearers have been the start of a new chapter, the meshing of families and the beginning to new generations.

 

I could go on, and maybe I will make it a two-parter. Stay tuned for the sequel.

---

[1] Geelong Advertiser, 1960.

[2] Ibid., 1957.

Traditions

Looking for inspiration for my next blog post, I got to thinking about traditions. Traditions are events, elements of culture, beliefs and customs which are passed down through generations. Traditions, I suppose can go hand-in-hand with genealogy (or just this genealogist). Learning about the customs which your ancestors shared with other generations; who made the Christmas pudding every year (grandma)? How did that painting come to hang on our wall? Why do we have so many ribbons and photographs of showing sheep at the local show? The latter may not be a question posed by many people, but is definitely prevalent in our family.

It’s not just these shows which feature heavily throughout my ancestry, but livestock and sheep in particular. Both sides of the family tree have strong connections with sheep, and today, it is still a part of my family. Whether it be topping the markets in the wool sales for my Russell ancestors of Barunah Plains or Wurrook, and frequenting the local news of the time, detailing as much; or making a living through the sheep markets, which the Rutherford family would inevitably have done to help to amass their wealth and prominence.

 

 

 

 

 

Above: The Argus (Melbourne), 20 August 1927.

Right: The Argus (Melbourne) 18 November 1932

My maternal great grandfather was a sheep shearer by profession, travelling the country and living on the road going from one sheep shed to the next to make ends meet. Rumour has it that this side of the family was also one of the first to import merinos to Australia (a fact I am yet to verify). My sister and I were propositioned one school holidays to shovel sheep poo for a hefty (at the time) wage. We quickly tired of this and ate our whole days’ food within 2 hours of being left at the wool shed and were ready to retire from our shovelling duties soon after.

However, it was whilst I was moving the (precious/precarious) sheep into the shelter of the shed to prepare them for the upcoming Royal Geelong Show which got me thinking about our years showing sheep. We will be showing the finest of our flock of Ryland Merino’s at the local show, which is where I will be late next week (trusty assistant to my father). Why does he do it? Well, it’s tradition. Once a thing of great prestige, Dad would often frequent the rural shows with his own parents, who both showed and judged throughout the 1960s, 70s and 80s. Now, he is often one of the few showing in the Ryland category, and if he does win the prestige of a trophy and/or ribbon, it is usually adorned with his own name as he provides the prize under the ‘Malung Ryland’ banner.

 

Above: Erica & Hank Wilkens (at right) with their winning sheep at the Royal Melbourne Show 1962.

 

 

 

Left: Andrew Wilkens at the Baccus Marsh Show, circa. 1972.

Below: Erica Wilkens, 1969.

We have copious amounts of black and white photos of grubby men and women, (actually, more often than not dressed in their Sunday-best), holding a robust ram in front of the critical eye of the judges. This year, I will be one of those grubby women (much to the pride of my father), holding the tempestuous rams (I am quite convinced they hate me as they stamp their feet and butt their heads in my direction as I try to coax them into shelter for the night). It’s a tradition, I didn’t realise that was odd, because as traditions go, well, they’re traditional and just something you are used to. However, the more people I tell, the more they look at me with a puzzled look asking why we do it. It’s a tradition; just something that we’ve always done.

 Above: Starting them young. Phoebe & Andrew Wilkens at the Royal Geelong Show 1988.

So, wish us luck for the show next week, and let the tradition continue on.

 

Phoebe.

Wurrook featured in 'Country Style' Magazine in Winter this year. For the article see this link. 

Newspaper articles were sourced from Trove.