Gunning & District Historical Society

Garry Smith (left) presents Arthur's Photograph to Peter Morgan at the Australian War Memorial In 2009 I had the great honour and excitement to be able to provide a photograph of Arthur Montague Alchin to the Australian War Memorial. 2027 Private A.M. Alchin 35th Australian Infantry Battalion  Arthur’s photograph was discovered among many other family images left by my aunt Daphne Brocklehurst (nee Alchin); she had “inherited” them from her mother Doris Alchin (nee Thompson). Fortunately Daphne was quite a hoarder – she even had her first-ever pay slip from 1948! Such behaviour is a real positive for the family historian. Arthur Montague Alchin (1898-1917) was a faithful son to his parents – Albert Noah Alchin and especially his mother, Louisa Susannah Alchin (nee Borman). He sent a postcard from France to his widowed mother in 1917 with kisses inscribed by his own hand, just months before he was killed at Passchendaele, Belgium on 12 October 1917. Arthur’s uncle...

Participants at the Gunning Library Workshop, Friday 30 September 2016. Photo courtesy of Maree Roche The Gunning and District Historical Society , in conjunction with the Gunning Library , held its second community workshop on Friday 30 September 2016. The topic was "Researching Australian Military Service Records" facilitated by Gunning resident Dr Michael de Percy from the University of Canberra . Information and paraphernalia provided by the National Library of Australia's Trove team and also the Research Centre at the Australian War Memorial were welcomed by the participants, many traveling from as far as Ulladulla, Canberra, Mt Pleasant and Breadalbane to visit the village. Two sessions were held from 10:30am to 12:30pm and from 1:30pm to 3:30pm. Participants enjoyed morning and afternoon tea during the sessions, allowing time for new connections to be made and to share stories and ideas about researching family histories. The workshop covered th...