Irishman John McDonagh and his wife Martha, nee Mathews, arrived at Port Phillip on the ship 'Oliver Lang' in August 1855. They brought with them their first three children: Martha, Jane and Robert, and also two of John McDonagh's nieces: Jane and Isabella McDonagh, whose parents had died in Ireland. The McDonaghs had five more children in Australia. They lived at Linton from the mid-1860s. In the Ballarat Star [newspaper] in 1867, John McDonagh was described as a "sheep and cattle dealer". He was a member of the Woady Yaloak Roads Board, and later a member of the Council of the Shire of Grenville. John McDonagh died at Linton in 1871. An inquest into his sudden and unexpected death (copy in McDonagh file) concluded he died of apoplexy (= stroke). Part of Old Lintonian Collection ; No. 13.Sepia photograph."John McDonagh"john mcdonagh, old lintonian collection

Isobel Antoinette McDonagh (her first name also spelled Isabel, Isabell, Isabella) was born in Jamaica in 1847, a daughter of Robert & Antoinette McDonagh. In 1851, in Ireland, Isobel and her sister Jane were orphaned after both their parents died within a few months of each other. In 1855 Isobel and her sister came to Australia with their uncle John McDonagh and his wife Martha (née Mathews). Following the death in childbirth of her sister Jane in 1878, Isobel married her brother-in-law Frederick William Mitchell in 1881. She was the mother of Frederick William Mitchell, Robert Harold Mitchell, Albert Earnest Mitchell, Ida Olive Mitchell and Lillian (or Lily) Isabell Mitchell.Painted/modified black and white photograph which has been printed on glass, depicts a young lady with hair drawn back from face and worn in a bun or chignon at the back, wearing a dark coloured dress with a high neck and some trimming on bodice and sleeves. A narrow frill of white lace(?) is visible above the collar. Afterwards Mrs. Frederick Mitchell Several pages from a book have been pasted onto the back of the glass on which the photograph is printed. There is some writing in pencil (arithmetic calculation?) across these pages.isobel antoinette mcdonagh, isobel antoinette mitchell

Knitting socks for soldiers in the trenches in France was a common women's activity during WW1. Often white wool was knitted up and Condy's crystals were used to dye the socks a khaki colour. Jane Cook married William Slessar (land agent / farmer) in 1887. They had a family comprised of at least: Arthur, Frederick Alan, Gladys Isabella, William Cook, William Kenneth, Robert Harold. They lived at 17 Albert Crescent, Surrey Hills. William died in 1921; Jane in 1952 aged 90. They are buried in Box Hill Cemetery B-0086. Their son Arthur is buried with them. Their son William Cook Slessar was Killed in Action on 24 June 1916 in Belgium.Black and white photo of 2 women standing in a garden knitting. One is identified as Mrs Jane Slessor; the other is a younger woman. Between them is a cane table and a small palm. In the background is the side of the adjacent property - a timber Victorian home.knitting, red cross, world war, 1914-1918, albert crescent, box hill cemetery, jane slessar