Because of the topic, I wanted the page to be stark and bare; in keeping with the living conditions my ancestors endured, both in Europe and when they first arrived in the colony. I had an idea in my mind about how the page would look and could not get it to emerge on the page. Eventually I ripped every thing to pieces and started again. The little Barque at the bottom is a picture of the ship they travelled on.
and a close up
EVIDENCE
Wood grain patterned paper
Buttons
Silver metal accent
Textured paper behind the photo
TESTIMONY
I used the words, comfort, family and home to inspire my journalling and wrote it like a tale.
THE JOURNALLING READS
My Father’s ancestors emigrated to Australia from Pudewitz, Posen Province, Prussia during a terrible and turbulent time of religious persecution and civil war in Europe.
The majority of Prussians belonged to the Lutheran Church whilst the Royal Family belonged to the Reformed Church which had different doctrines. King Friedrich Wilhelm the Third decreed the two should become one and began sanctions against Lutheran Pastors and their congregations. Because they did not comply with the King’s edict, ordinary people had their food rationed, lost their jobs and their children were expelled from school.
My Great Grandparents were labelled dissenters, rebels and traitors. They decided to leave, but could not head toward Russia because of a Polish uprising on the border.
Instead they travelled by bullock cart to the Crossen area where they boarded river barges along the canals to Hamburg. During the voyage they had rotten fruit and pig swill thrown at them as people berated them for deserting. In Hamburg they waited in tents for several weeks before boarding the Barque “Sophie” bound for South Australia. After a perilous three and a half months at sea, they landed at Port Adelaide on 25 October 1866.
My Great Grandfather, Johann Gottlieb Neumann aged 29, his wife Ernastine Amalie Hausknecht aged 19 and their daughter Auguste Emilie, aged 3, travelled to Rosenthal in the Barossa Valley, where Johann secured work at his trade as a carpenter.
We think Great Grandfather built a cottage at Rosenthal where he scrimped and saved money to invest in land. During this time, his wife Amalie had another eight children.
Twelve years later, in 1878, they had saved enough for a deposit and bought 484 acres of land at Halbury, on credit. This is the home Great Grandfather built on that land. It was mainly timber framed and plastered with mud mixed with straw; a pug and pine dwelling.
It had a stone fireplace in the main living room and the kitchen at the rear had a stone hearth and bake oven. The roof was thatched with straw and sported the latest in architectural trends, a corrugated, galvanized iron verandah on the front.
When I learned of the abject poverty and persecution they endured in Europe and their refusal to be dictated to by the King, I began to understand why they were so fiercely independent, so stubborn and so passionate about their religious convictions.
The Australian branch of the Neumann family began when they had the courage to set out in search of freedom in a strange land. Journalling 8th October 2012
Thanks so much for looking and for any comments you may care to leave.
Thanks so much for looking and for any comments you may care to leave.
PRODUCTS USED
Bazzil cardstock
Kaisercraft patterned paper - Pickled pear collection
Kaisercraft - Collectables - Pickled pear
Delish - patterned paper, Dulwich collection
Tim Holtz - Metal key hole
Tim Holts - Film strip
Prima - Alphas
The Crafters Workshop - Mini Chicken Wire
Pan Pastels - Raw Umber
Chip board leaves - Wow
Tim Holtz - Brickwork embossing folder
Tim Holtz - Tattered Florals die
Ranger ink - Sandal
Color box ink - Olive Pastel
EK punch - Binding edge
Tattered Angels glimmermist - Creme de Chocolate
Image of the Barque Sophie from Neumann family history
