Ancestor - March 2018

The Course and Talks
Society of 
Genealogical
Victoria Inc






W r i t in g F a mi ly Hi s t ory
Writing Family History




Presenter: Margaret Vines



Three sessions: Thursday 5, 12, 19 April 10.30am – 12.30pm


Contents of the course will include:

• Writing process - getting started, especially drafting and editing

• Basic writing skills
• Historical skills, including documenting your writing

Participants will be expected to be writing both in class and between classes

Bookings essential and can be made online, in person, by email or by telephone (Mon–Fri 9.00am–4.00pm)
Members $90.00 – AIGS/RHSV/CAV $135.00 – Non-members $180.00
Maximum 10 people





Comin g in Ju ly f o r R a re Boo k Wee
Coming in July for Rare Book Weekk




Preservation of Photographs, Books and Paper-based Items
by Debra Parry
Tuesday 3 July 12.00am-1.00pm


Guests of the Unspeakable: The Letters and Diary of Warrant Officer 1,
William Scott Heywood, POW Thai Burma Railway and Japan

by Douglas Heywood
Thursday 5 July 12.00am-1.00pm
The talk will cover :-
• The Prelude: his letters to his girlfriend/wife before his departure to Singapore

• The Journey: his letters while stationed at Malacca prior to the fall of Singapore
• A Prisoner: his diary as a POW in Burma from July 1942 – March 1944
• At home: correspondence to his wife from the Defence Force and friends




Both events Free for Rare Book Week

Tower Bridge by Barbara Beaumont












When I was a child living in a London suburb, my great aunts used to
take my sister, my cousin and me on an annual trip to central London.
This often involved a boat trip on the Thames. On one occasion, as we
passed under the shadow of Tower Bridge, one of these aunts casually
remarked, ‘Our grandfather helped build that bridge.’ The remark stuck
in my mind, and when I researched my family history, I discovered that
their grandfather, John Davey, was a bricklayer. A bricklayer? But surely
Tower Bridge is made of stone? Actually the stone is just cladding,
intended to harmonise with the nearby Tower of London. Behind the
cladding the basic structure is of steel girders and brick. The bridge is
reputed to contain 31,000,000 bricks.

The bridge was first mooted in the later part of the nineteenth century
as traffic on London Bridge had become so chaotic that another river
crossing to the east was deemed necessary. An Act of Parliament
authorised the building, which began in 1886 to a design by Horace
Jones. It was opened in 1894 by the Prince of Wales, who pressed
a lever to raise the bascules, after which a flotilla of boats passed
beneath sounding their horns and whistles while a band played God
Save the Queen.
When the bascules are open to allow large ships to pass under,
traffic has to come to a standstill. Every London school child of my
generation knew the story of the London bus that had to jump the gap
as the bridge began to open when it was already part way across.








Images: Tower Bridge from street level,
and (right) with the bascules opening.
Images from the author's collection