Robert and Catherine completed

This week I finalised the draft chapter on Robert Henderson and Catherine Geary. The growing complexity of draft chapters, supporting chapters and research notes forced me to rethink the organisation of my website and this occupied quite a bit of time this week. There is now a page dedicated to each proposed chapter in the family history, with the resources and research notes for that chapter all available from that page.

The page for Robert and Catherine is shown above. The draft chapter is on the right of the page, and you can expand it into a separate window. Go to the page on Robert Henderson and Catherine Geary.

After I spotted a namesake in the family this week (another Bruce Ward), I spent some time updating the information I have on Manasseh and Madeline Ward's youngest son Bruce.

Family legend has it that young Bruce Ward was the best horseman of the Ward family. He had a natural way with horses. He enlisted in the army soon after the outbreak of WWI.

He served on the front line in the middle-east campaign where he was a machine gunner in the 2nd Light Horse. The military records are brief on detail, but it seems he may have been wounded during the unsuccessful attempts to free Gaza in July 1917. The records mention deafness, but later evidence suggests that Bruce had shrapnel scars on his back and leg, so it is likely that he was injured in an explosion, such as from shelling. He was returned to Australia were he was discharged as medically unfit. (Gaza was finally liberated after the legendary Battle of Bersheeba - but Bruce was in hospital).

Bruce next married Esther Rich, an English-born woman who had arrived with her family when she was six. They married in 1924 - Bruce was 28 and Esther just 18! Two children arrived in quick succession. Joyce was born in 1924 and Bruce jnr in 1925.  Unfortunately Esther died in 1929, The cause of death was peritonitis following a self-induced abortion.

The timing at this point becomes unclear. We know from family stories that Bruce left the children with his mother, then forged a cheque on his mother's account and vanished. This was possibly in 1930 or shortly after and Madeline was about 75 and in no state to look after two children. My father, Laurie Ward remembered having Bruce jnr as a playmate and missing him when he was sent away (Dad was two years older than Bruce jnr. and lived almost next door to Madeline's home.)

When it was clear that Bruce snr was not coming back for the children, they went to live with their mother's family., From later records it would seem that they were taken in by Esther's older sister Matilda Jacobs nee Rich. Joyce was known to use the name Joyce Rich.

The Ward family never heard from Bruce again. We now know that he lived out his life in the Petone–Levin area in New Zealand (on the west coast, just north of Wellington) where he worked in his trade as a fitter and mechanic. He died in a War Veteran's home in 1976.

In an interesting twist to the story, I found Bruce jnr's WWII service records. He was a fitter like his father and he served as groundcrew in the RAAF. Among the military records, the next of kin has Bruce Leon Clive Ward listed, with his correct address in New Zealand! This is crossed out and 'Joyce Doreen Rich, Sister' is written above. I conclude from this that his children knew where he was, even if his siblings didn't.

I have written up the Bruce story on my website. It is under 'Sidetracks' for the time being, but eventually will probably move to be with profiles of the rest of Manasseh and Madeline's children.

Am I named after Bruce? I don't think it is as direct as that. Bruce was not an uncommon name for the 1950s, but I don't think my Mum and Dad were following family names when my older siblings and I were born. It was clearly different with my younger sisters who both have family names (from different sides of the family).