#52Ancestors - Week 38 - Favourite Place

Week 38 (September 17-23) – Favorite Place: What has been  your favorite place to research? Which ancestor came from there?

There are a few places that have played pivotal roles in my family's history - Sunderland, Glasgow, Stirling, East Preston, Falmouth, Chorley (what you've never heard of that place? I haven't written about that family yet), but today on facebook, my cousin Jeannette posted an article from the Huffington Post that linked to the just released Oral History of Millers Point, Sydney recorded by the City of Sydney local council. One of the Oral History recordings is of my Aunty Janet and my cousin Cathie - talking about their memories of living and working at the "Point".

I can't say I have done any research of Millers Point - it's just always been part of Australia's story and also part of my family's Australian story - it's where my family settled when they first arrived. Until just a few months ago, someone from my family lived there in an unbroken connection of over 60 years.

The settlement of Millers Point began in the early 1800s - and you can find thousands of images of the Point in the collection of the New South Wales State Library - such as this one of the Palisade Hotel:

Why pick this photo over any of the others? It's because of the houses to the left of the "pub"

Here is a more recent image:

And here are some family photos from about 1959/1960 of the same location

Our grandmother Maureen Dobson/Farley walking with her eldest grandchild, Cathie, along the path to the terrace houses beside the Palisade Hotel.

Notice Maureen's shoes - they seem to be what we now know as "ugg boots". Seems our grandmother could have been a fashionista :)

Continuing the walk:
Maureen Dobson with Cathie outside what seems to be the Abraham Mott Hall
Mary Pauline Farley with Cathie with Munn Street Millers Point behind them and High Street down the left side of the photo

Andy Farley and Janet Martin with their daughter Cathie outside the Palisade Hotel 

The view from the other direction

Andy Farley outside the Palisade Hotel

The Palisade Hotel - a famous landmark in Sydney for 100 years, but also a place where my family lived and socialised: