Who is the Woman Wearing a Golden Coronet?

Family historians, especially Australian family historians, are often heard to exclaim, “Trove! It’s research gold.” Today, I literally found gold in Trove, and it helped me unravel the mystery of this old photo.

wHAT DO I DO WITH ALL THESE OLD PHOTOGRAPHS?

A cousin, and fellow family historian, gifted me with a pile of old photographs when she moved overseas. It was late. We’d had a few drinks. She was about to step onto a plane. I really don’t remember who she said these people are, just that they’re from our Jones family. Yep. Jones. The silver medal winner to that commonest of Australian names, Smith.

These poor photos have been hanging around the house for a while now. They lived on the scanner for a time, until my husband “cleaned up” and moved them from his study to my study. They perched precariously on the edge of my desk for a few more months. But today, I announced to no one in particular, “Carpe diem!” On a freshly cleared desk and in good light I examined the evidence.

Who is in this photo?

There are two copies of the same wedding portrait. The woman is seated, her lace veil artfully draped over the arm of the chair. Her dress reaches just below the knees, exposing thick white stockings and white shoes. She is holding a large, beribboned bouquet. Her husband stands. His suit is single-breasted with a curved hem. He wears a flower on his lapel. His bow tie is white and he holds white gloves in his left hand. His right hand rests on the back of her chair. The photo is taken in front of a stained glass window. Given the clothing, it looks 1920s-1930s.

One copy of this wedding portrait is in pretty poor condition - stained and mildewed - but my first clue is written on the back.

Uncle, Auntie & Bob. From Olive & Ken.

I turned to an old, hand-written copy of the Jones family tree. In one of her rare moods when she was happy to talk family trees, my Grandma had fired off name after name of her aunts, uncles, and cousins, and I had scribbled them down on any paper I could get my hands on in her sewing room. I must have been hauling around these scraps of paper for over 20 years. Slowly but surely I have proved the branches of the tree she outlined for me and added sources to my Jones family tree.

I’ve found only one Olive - Olive Cavanagh, daughter of Charlotte Jones and Patrick Cavanagh. Charlotte died young. Grandma had told me this and I’d put a cross next to her name on that old family tree sketch. Olive was only one when her mother died in 1908. Her oldest brother Allen was five and her other brother, Ernest, was just three. Ernest was sent to live with his grandparents on ‘Eastview’ near Canberra.

So, did Olive marry a Ken? Yes she did. Olive and Ken were married in St Stephen’s Memorial Church, Lidcombe, in July 1928. They honeymooned in Queensland, perhaps visiting Olive’s father and brother Allen. They had remained in Queensland after Charlotte’s death.

Strictly speaking Olive’s husband was Charles Kensington George Gore, but on his headstone, Olive had had inscribed, “My Ken”. Her Ken died young and tragically.

GORE - CAVANAGH Wedding

The bride made a charming picture in her gown of white mariette, trimmed with silk lace. Her tulle veil was held in place by orange blossom posies…On leaving for the honeymoon, which will be spent in Queensland, the bride wore brick red crepe de chine and a close fitting hat to tone.

‘Lidcombe Wedding’, The Cumberland Argus and Fruitgrowers Advocate, 17 July 1928, p. 3.

Jas C. Cruden, Wedding portrait of Olive Cavanagh and Charles Kensington George Gore, 1928, black and white photograph 140mm x 190mm, personal collection.

Tragedy Strikes

Olive and Ken lived in a little weatherboard house in Bridge Street, Hornsby. It had a large garden. Ken had worked for the railways for 8 years, so it was convenient to live a stone’s throw from Hornsby Station. Ken was a train guard. Olive kept house.

On 31 August 1933, he was the guard on the Hornsby to Central train. As the train passed Lindfield station, he waved the “right of way” signal to the porter. When the train arrived at Roseville Station, Ken was missing. Another railway employee saw the accident.

“While walking along the railway line between Lindfield and Roseville on August 31, Richard Bateup, a railway fettler, saw clouds of dust issue from under a passing train, and then the body of Charles Kensington George Gore somersaulting along the permanent way in the wake of the train. Gore, who was 29 years of age, was the guard on the train.”

'GUARD'S DEATH', The Sun, 11 September 1933, p. 11

The newspapers speculated whether Ken’s death was an accident, but the coroner did state that he didn’t think it was suicide. Ken had a happy disposition and had had no worries. The coroner’s finding was that “death was probably accidentally caused by falling from the train and then being run over”. He was just 29 years old.

What happened to Olive?

Poor Olive. A widow at 27. With no nearby family, she had to go to work to support herself. She worked as a shop assistant.

Did she marry again? Yes. Five years later Olive married Douglas Michell of Artarmon. It was “a pretty evening wedding” on 21 June 1938, at St Basil’s Church of England, Artarmon. The Yass Tribune-Courier carried an extensive description of the wedding and the young couple’s prospects. There was even a glowing review of the couple’s future home, “being remarkable for its brightly lacquered floors and orange shaded sunroom”.

The wedding was reported as crowded with friends and family. Olive’s brother Ernest had come up from Canberra. Her cousin Bob Jordan was also there. That’s the same Bob who was named on Olive’s first wedding portrait. (Bob is also the chubby baby in the photo collage at the top of this post.) I wish I knew whether my grandmother went to the wedding. She would have been 13.

solving the Mystery

Most importantly there was a description of what the bride wore. A golden coronet. There it was. The clue I needed, to discover the identity of the woman in the photo. The frock colour could be described as rust. I wish I could see the front of the dress to see the rhinestone-studded bodice.

Here’s a research tip.

Read wedding notices carefully.

In Olive’s two wedding notices, as well as the descriptions of dress, which helped me identify her photographs, many names were mentioned. I was able to identify family connections and the places people lived at the time. Inferences could be made too about people who were not mentioned, like Olive’s father. He did not walk her down the aisle. The descriptions of the parties and gifts can tell a lot about the socio-economic status of the couple and their families.

Olive Michell

Her frock of pale rust embossed was cut on princess lines with a small train. The bodice was beautifully studded with rhinestones and the charming effect completed by the wearing of a golden coronet.

'WEDDING', Yass Tribune-Courier, 28 July 1938, p. 2.

Du Barry Studios Sydney, Wedding portrait of Olive Michell, 1938, colour-tinted photograph 195mm x 245mm, personal collection.

Family Connections

Olive and her brothers were my grandmother Nola Gwenneth Jones’s first cousins, making them my first cousins twice removed.

Bob Jordan was also my grandmother’s cousin, son of Nellie Jones, one of Charlotte’s sisters. Charlotte and Nellie were just two of Robert Leslie Jones’ 10 children.

Olive’s brother, Ernest (1904-1993) was a grazier most of his life. He was a chairman of the ACT Bush Fire Council with which he served 55 years. He was awarded an MBE in 1968 for community service. If you go to the Canberra suburb of Gungahlin you will find a street named after him, Ernest Cavanagh Street.

If you’re a Jones descendant too, please leave a comment below, or contact me.