If Only ...

Grandfather's Writing Desk, to left,
and Grandmother Johnson, 1950s.

I removed the last screw and eased off the moulding so as to tease-out the hidden treasure. A small, and slightly bulging, brown envelope now rested in my hand. Its dusty and spotted appearance easily gave away its age. A name from the past, “Mrs Johnson”, my grandmother, was handwritten in ink on the front.


The “Mrs Johnson” Envelope

With wide-eyes I excitedly lifted the unsealed flap to reveal a small bundle of neatly folded papers tucked away inside. My grandparents died in the 1970’s so this envelope hasn’t seen the light of day for thirty, maybe even fifty years, or more.


My Grandparents -
Dick "Darda" Johnson
Eva "Marma" Johnson

This experience was that sort of unique moment I had long anticipated: the chance discovery of important family papers, hitherto, unseen for donkey’s years. It was a moment to be shared so I took the envelope with its secret contents to my wife so we could savour the moment together. Ahhh! I sighed, this will be something!

"If only you had some personal family papers," responded the present owner of "Newtown". I had just expressed to her my frustration in being so removed from the past, so detached from appreciating with any sense of an intimate understanding, the events of its early pioneering period. I have been researching “Newtown”, a rural property once belonging to my Taylor ancestors from 1839 to 1904.


"Newtown" Homestead, c.1900.
Built at Vacy, NSW, in the 1840s.

Are there any old papers? I have been able to find the usual, like statutory records concerning property titles and conveyances. There are some excellent Maitland Mercury references, but otherwise only two photos from about 1900 and a land survey of 1901. So, that is it, so far. If only I had more. If only some one had kept some papers. If only my third great-grandfather James Taylor had kept a journal. If only… If only…

Three years ago I decided to keep a journal and am now into my ninth volume representing well over 1000 personalised pages. They include many curious and incidental events of ‘life as me’ (I can be such a pain to live with), including the highs and lows of my spiritual life. There are also life’s highlights involving the immediate and extended family and friends.

These hard-covered books are a loosely organised, eclectic compendium of the when-s, what-s and why-fors, of the who, whom, whose, witches (oops, none of those) which-s and that-s. Therein, I have also placed recent letters from around the world, transcriptions of other letters from the 1940s, being those written by my great-grandmother in London while she was getting bombed by the Germans.


Great Grandmother Zerada Taylor's
Recipe: "Brown Pudding" (pre 1950)

There are also drawings, diagrams, sketches, handmade gift-cards, old and new photographs, biographies, genealogies, even a fragment from great-grandmother Zerada (Patfield) Taylor’s recipe collection: “Brown Pudding”. All up, in one form or another, information spans eight generations. While it is fun to do, and a great aid to improving my handwriting, my hope is it will give an understanding of my times, and more.

And what of that crusty old envelope? I took it into my wife and nervously woke her up (which she wasn’t so excited about) and we extracted the contents together. And there they were, after decades of being lost in a gap between the shelving and the body of my grandfather’s writing desk, six smaller and empty envelopes with “J3” written on the front. If only! If only! If only!

Anyway, I will keep up my hand-written journal ‘for posterity’, and also this blog. Perhaps you may do or be doing the same, in your own way. If so, then I would love to hear about your journaling experiences and paper treasures.

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Note: My research on “Newtown”, to date, will be presented in the evening of 3rd February at the monthly meeting of Paterson Historical Society, at the Paterson Courthouse Museum
For a detailed commentary on my practice of journaling, see Do you keep a Hand-written Journal?

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“Brown Pudding”
A recipe of Paterson resident
Zerada Mary Taylor (1870 - 1956)

1 Cup Sugar,
1 Tablespoon Dripping
3 Teaspoonfuls Jam
2 Eggs
½ Cup of Milk
1 ½ Cup Flour
1 Teaspoon Soda.

Steam Two Hours.

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