Tales from the Grave

"This tribute is a reminder that behind every name carved in stone is a life worth knowing." When teacher Clare Dorey got her students to research a veteran each for Year 10 History, it gave her an idea. "When I left that school, I decided to do some research of my own," she said. As part of the 80th anniversary of the end of World War Two, Clare applied for and received a grant through Veterans SA and that is how her book, Stories from Stone: Honouring Mount Barker's WWII Me

The sacrifice of the Watherston family is considered one of the greatest regarding Australia's involvement in the Great War. Their tragic story, however, starts in 1896 where a strong westerly wind is blowing across the waters just off Boston Island, near Port Lincoln, South Australia. In a flat-bottomed boat, heading to a cutter, is married couple James and Isabella Watherston with one of their five sons. James and Isabella Watherston. Courtesy Findagrave. A heavy sea strike

What makes a person so crazed that they would want to harm a family member? This is the question that may have been asked by May Kathleen Lees when she came home from work on the evening of 6th December, 1944. As May stepped into the Enfield home she shared with her mother and elderly aunt, after 6pm on that fateful day, she had no idea of the scene that would greet her. When she entered the laundry or washroom, she discovered her mother, Clara Evelyn Lees (nee Shepherd), 63,

Every family experiences its fair share of tragedy and death. For the Seccombe family, however, a triple portion was heaped on their plate when three children left this life before their time. John and Rebecca Seccombe were early pioneers in the Wollongbar district on the Northern Rivers and had established themselves with their nine children. They had taken up the third selection in the area and were very involved in the dairy industry. It was first in 1903 that tragedy stru