Invite to Dinner. #52 ancestors

Henry George COOPER better known as Harry would be my invite to dinner. Harry is my maternal grandfather. He died when I was 9 in 1966.

Harry always had lots of stories to tell about members of the family young and old. He was always happy to share his memories and stories of his grandmothers, Mary IRWIN and Ann WHELAN. Both his grandmothers were Irish immigrants who arrived in South Australia in the 1850’s.

These women are the brick walls, the mystery, the unknown. The names are spelt differently as officials did not understand their accents, the stories have been elaborated and retold in so many ways that there may be a kernel of truth. Others in the family talked to Harry about these women and then recorded some of his thoughts. So we have snippets of memories that don’t always match.

Having Harry to dinner would give me the opportunity to ask all the questions I wanted to about these women. Alas when he was alive they were not the questions I would ask.

#52ancestors52weeks.