"Hi Jenny, I would really like to know more about you. My Grandmother Maggie McGowan and Alfred James were brother and sister, which makes us distant relatives.
But Alfred is the one member of the family I know very little about. …"
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Robyn Mortimer
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Robyn Mortimer's blog post was featuredFIJI 1870’S PT 2: DISCORD ABOARD THE MARIE LOUISE
A QUESTION OF AUTHORSHIPLevukaConsider: If someone you knew had met the man of her dreams in the gold rush days of Australia, and he being a sea faring man had taken off to Tasmania for instance or even to Fiji in pursuit of work...if she had given birth to his love child and determined to reconnect with him at all costs, and…See More
Robyn Mortimer's blog post was featuredGRANDMOTHER'S COUSIN - PT 3
TREASURE AT THE END OF THE RAINBOW For Frank and Lucy Fleming living back in Suva, the years following on from the 2nd World War slipped slowly by.Noel Coward kept in touch, arranging, as promised, a Royal photograph to be forwarded from the Queen. Coward even wrote a story loosely based on the Flemings that he called Mr and Mrs Edgehill, later made into a film starring Judy Dench.My American Grandfather died in Sydney just before the war ended and by 1947 Grandmother Maggie had returned home…See More
Robyn Mortimer posted a blog postGRANDMOTHER'S COUSIN - PT 3
TREASURE AT THE END OF THE RAINBOW For Frank and Lucy Fleming living back in Suva, the years following on from the 2nd World War slipped slowly by.Noel Coward kept in touch, arranging, as promised, a Royal photograph to be forwarded from the Queen. Coward even wrote a story loosely based on the Flemings that he called Mr and Mrs Edgehill, later made into a film starring Judy Dench.My American Grandfather died in Sydney just before the war ended and by 1947 Grandmother Maggie had returned home…See More
Robyn Mortimer's blog post was featuredGRANDMOTHER'S COUSIN - PT 2
FRANK FLEMINGLevuka where it all startedMy numerous forebears, it seems, were predestined to roam far from their birthplace. Great Grandmother Geraldine I always thought was the most adventurous finding her way from Sussex to Fiji by the most indirect route. Her arrival in Levuka is still clouded in mystery. But then I…See More
Robyn Mortimer posted a blog postGRANDMOTHER'S COUSIN - PT 2
FRANK FLEMINGLevuka where it all startedMy numerous forebears, it seems, were predestined to roam far from their birthplace. Great Grandmother Geraldine I always thought was the most adventurous finding her way from Sussex to Fiji by the most indirect route. Her arrival in Levuka is still clouded in mystery. But then I…See More
Robyn Mortimer commented on Robyn Mortimer's blog post MAGGIE MCGOWAN'S COUSIN"Thank you Robert, I did try to post my pix with the blog but found my software wasnt compatible ..I will try again... meanwhile you might want to try my blogs google in Rainbow Robs Travels Fiji and up should pop several stories about my…"
Robert F. Kay commented on Robyn Mortimer's blog post MAGGIE MCGOWAN'S COUSIN"Robyn, thanks for sharing this with us. You have me hooked. Any chance of posting some photos of the characters? Just a thought...vinaka!"
Robyn Mortimer's blog post was featuredMAGGIE MCGOWAN'S COUSIN - Pt 1
GRANDMOTHER’S COUSINChance, serendipity, coincidence... there’s no denying luck does play a big part when you set out to explore your ancestors background. I started with virtually nothing, a few tattered letters and clippings, my grandmother’s maiden name, my grandfather’s alias, two small towns on a world map, Levuka in Fiji and Peru, Indiana and very little else. Then childhood memories kicked in, followed by search engines and the power and scope of the internet. But it was surely ‘lady…See More
Robyn Mortimer posted a blog postMAGGIE MCGOWAN'S COUSIN - Pt 1
GRANDMOTHER’S COUSINChance, serendipity, coincidence... there’s no denying luck does play a big part when you set out to explore your ancestors background. I started with virtually nothing, a few tattered letters and clippings, my grandmother’s maiden name, my grandfather’s alias, two small towns on a world map, Levuka in Fiji and Peru, Indiana and very little else. Then childhood memories kicked in, followed by search engines and the power and scope of the internet. But it was surely ‘lady…See More
Profile Information
- I'm interested in
- Culture, Other
- I've visited/lived in/or would like to learn about
- Viti Levu, Ovalau
- Tell us a bit about yourself, your profession, reason for visiting, etc
- My Grandmother, Maggie McGowan was born in Levuka in 1877. My Grandfather, Charles Brown from Indiana, USA, sailed into Levuka Harbour, met Maggie, married her, and brought her eventually to Australia. I've written several history blogs about their life.
Fiji, therefore, holds a very special place in my heart.
Robyn Mortimer's Blog
THE MARIE LOUISE GOES TO BATTLE
THE MARIE LOUISE – TROOP CARRIER
A war of attrition had started over the murder of one man, Koroi i Latikau, a man from the powerful kingdom of Bau. The murdered man together with Captain Harmon of the schooner Isle of Beauty, have been negotiating in the area for labourers to work on plantations. The labourers were to be…
ContinuePosted on March 20, 2012 at 11:11am
FIJI 1870’S PT 3 – DODGY DEALINGS ABOARD THE MARIE LOUISE
THE MARIE LOUISE-LIFE AFTER DEATH
Fiji has long enjoyed a proud affiliation with the sea. Like all the island nations of the…
Posted on March 20, 2012 at 10:32am
FIJI 1870’S PT 1. MARIE LOUISE HOBART TO FIJI
LIFE & TIMES OF THE MARIE LOUISE
It’s no surprise that the two men most important in Grandmother Maggie’s life arrived in Levuka by ship. After all the first, her father, arrived sometime in the early 1870’s, the other her husband to be from America around 1897. No air travel in those days.…
Posted on March 16, 2012 at 10:30am
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