~ Florrie's Journal ~ The image here is of sisters Agnes (Richardson) Burchell and Florence (Richardson) Heming, dated 1938. The photograph was sent to their nephew Ted Richardson by his Aunt Flo. Florence Emily Richardson was born on January 3rd, 1873 in New Cross, England. She married on January 27, 1904 in Forest Hill, London, England and gave birth to two daughters, Violet and Winifred (Winnie) Heming. She emigrated to Canada in 1906 with her husband, Frank Heming, who became a casualty in the final days of World War I. Flo never remarried and died January 1966 in Canada. Agnes (Richardson) Burchell, Florrie's younger sister, was born December 16, 1882 in England. Agnes married Harry Burchell and reared a family of five, all living and well in 1957. At that time she lived at 56 Siddons Road 23, Forest Hill S.E., London, England. Flo and Agnes were daughters of Edward and Emily (Mills) Richardson. Their father was from Hounslow Heath, near London and their mother from Croydon, England. The sisters spent their early childhood in Australia and returned to England as young women. The old English tune is "Lord Franklin", from Barry Taylor at Taylor's Traditional Tunebook. About Florrie’s Journal ~ Tasman and Judy Richardson were visiting Tasman’s Uncle Johnny and Aunt Nellie in 1986 at Toronto, Canada where they were shown Aunt Florrie’s Journal or a copy of it. Tasman made notes from it and following are his exact excerpts. Uncle Johnny was Florrie’s nephew, John Albert William Richardson 1904-1993. I am hoping that somewhere, someone has saved a copy of the original of Florence (Richardson) Heming's journal and that it will someday be found and be made available. ~ Florrie's Journal ~ My parents & family of 5, three boys & two girls, were living at 19 Malham Rd., Forest Hill, London, and from here leaving for Australia, New South Wales, Aug. 8th, 1883, then being ten years of age - by the Dallam Tower - reached Sydney middle of Nov. 500 passengers on board. A French barge was very short of coal and signalled to our captain to stop, which he did, but couldn’t spare any coal. 5 deaths on board and buried at sea. Got a hole in the ship but the sailors pumped out the water, singing all the while. Lost a mast in a storm. The Capt. and first mate did not get on well, and one night the mate steered the ship off course, which caused a panic with the passengers. He was punished at the end of the voyage. The trip took 3 and a half months. Father was offered a job in Sydney for 14 _ per hour, bricklaying, which he turned down thinking he could do better at New Castle. The only job he could get was fencing which was out of his line of work, & I remember my Mother saying to him, "Well, you brought your pigs to a pretty fine market!" A kind Catholic person took us into his house until my Father could get a house for us. Another baby sister was born at Windsor Terrace, Layman St., New Castle, N.S.W., Sept 1885. A bonny curly headed baby three months old but after a short illness, died which hurt us all very much. She was named Alice Gertrude Richardson. Left for Melbourne to get work. We stayed at Sydney for one day. While there we visited some English friends we knew. My brother had a lovely Retriever dog. When we were leaving New Castle, my brother left his dog behind. He had given it to a friend. We were leaving by ship for Melbourne & the dog Gacho got away & followed us down to the pier. Now it took us 20 minutes to cross in a smaller ship to the larger steam ship that was taking us to Melbourne. Gacho leaped into the water and swam all the way to the ship. He was determined to follow us. The Capt. watched and said, "Let such a faithful dog as that come aboard." We lived in 3 places in Melbourne (Abbotsford, Buckingham Place, Richmond & Hawthorne Kew) Left for Hobart, Tasmania in 1892. Moved 3 times there. Work getting scarce, my Father went to South Africa, Johannesburg, arriving there early in April 1896. He had plenty of work and earned good money. But there was plenty of trouble too. My Father had an unhappy time. He had to go on guard for it looked like war was breaking out, caused by Dr. Jamison. Then that passed off and my Father got started at work again. Here, my uncle, my Father’s brother, came from England to work with my Father. Then he fell ill with typhoid fever & was nearly well when he got a relapse again & my eldest brother got the typhoid fever & took some time to get over it. Three brothers were with my Father. One morning at work he met with an accident & only lived 24 hrs, when the end came. During my Father’s stay in S. Africa, my Mother, sister and myself were still in Hobart. Then Mother thought it best to go back to England. We resided in Australia 15 years & 6 months altogether, leaving Tasmania Sept. 20th, 1897 for England. Arrived in Tillbury Docks, London, Oct.20th, 1897. - Got married in Jan. 1904, & my daughter, Violet was born May 20th, 1905. I lived in England 8 years & 10 months. Left for Canada 22nd, Aug., 1906 & landed in Toronto 30th, Aug. My daughter Florance (Whinney) was born July 19th, 1907. —Husband joined up Feb. 1916. When the end came he was killed that day. Also 30 more of his comrades - at a place called Arris. Took a trip to England in July 1925 to Sept. Visited with Mother-in-law and sister-in-law. In June 1936 visited brother Arthur in Baltimore. In June 1938 made another trip to England by Empress of Australia. Visited relatives and Homimane Museum in Forest Hills. —Thoughts of leaving England knowing that war was about to break out. – Summer of 1939 when I ventured by train to Banff, Alberta. - - From July 5th to Sept 2nd & had a great time. -- 1943, stayed a month in Baltimore. 1946, went once more to Baltimore, stayed one month. Sept and Oct. in 1948. My brother paid a visit in Aug. 1949. In Jan. 6th, 1950 went to St. Petersburg, Florida & stayed 3 months. -- 1952 Oct. visited in Baltimore again. Took a trip to Calif. by airplane in 1959. Stayed one month there, Sept, at my nephew’s and niece, living in Carmel Valley. "So ends Auntie’s journal," wrote Tasman Richardson, May 2001. Many thanks to him for preserving and contributing this important piece of family history. ... Read a dairy written on board The Dallam Tower in 1873! ... What was it like to spend months living on the sailing ship, Dallam Tower? One young woman kept a dairy of her adventure travelling from England to New Zealand in 1873, ten years prior to the Richardsons. Her family has lovingly preserved the dairy and, praise be to the World Wide Web, you may read it here: Frances Pople Pheney’s Dairy on board the Dallam Tower, 1873 In honor of Florence Heming and her young husband, Frank Arthur Edward Heming, who gave the supreme sacrifice in the trenches of World War I, here is included a link to the words and midi music of the tragic Australian ballad about that war ~ "The Band Played Waltzing Matilda" TOP  | |  BACK  | |  HOME  | |   NEXT  | |  GUESTBOOK ~~A Neddy Creation~~ ednabarney.com "RICHARDSONs from Hounslow Heath ~ Aunt Florrie's Journal" was created with love by Edna Richardson Barney. ~ Copyright © 2001-2006 Edna Barney, All Rights Reserved ~ The background graphics are courtesy of Ritva's Gallery. This page was last modified on 28 January 2006.