Another piece of the puzzle...

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Did you like doing jigsaw puzzles when you were a child?  I did.  I'm such a hoarder that I have even kept my favourites...I have very fond memories of a Mary Poppins jigsaw and I even have one of the Oriana, the ship we went overseas in when I was a baby.  That's the ship's prow you can see next to the passenger terminal at Circular Quay in that piece just above....if you turned the piece anti-clockwise you would see it better....

Well, I found another piece of my family history jigsaw puzzle last night - quite unexpectedly, whilst looking for something else...isn't it always the way?  

You may remember, that this time last year, I was researching my maternal grandfather's working life - Thomas Joseph Benedict McLoughlin.  One of the "bits" that eluded me was what happened between school and his eventual employment at the Commonwealth Aircraft Factory in the 1940s.  Tom did very well at school and I've blogged about that before, finding several newspaper articles which mentioned it.

Last night I punched "T. McLoughlin" into Trove and found two more articles describing what happened to Tom in 1915.  On 2 June 1915 The Leader in Orange published that my grandfather had recently passed his examination for the Commonwealth Public Service and received an appointment to the Home Affairs Office.  He wasn't able to take advantage of it for a few days, owing to ill-health.  

1915 'Personal.', Leader (Orange, NSW : 1912 - 1922), 2 June, p. 4. , viewed 05 Mar 2016, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article119918852


On Friday 25 June, The Leader reports again that Tom, a student of Croagh Patrick Boys' College was appointed to a junior clerkship in the Customs Department.  

1915 'Personal.', Leader (Orange, NSW : 1912 - 1922), 25 June, p. 4. , viewed 05 Mar 2016, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article119920963


Tom would have been 16 at the time - very nearly 17 as he was born in July 1898.

 There seems to be some confusion doesn't there, as to whether he is working for the Home Affairs office or the Customs Department?   Hmmm.  Now of course I have a whole new trail to explore.  

 According to an old book on my shelf called Finding Families - The Guide to the National Archives of Australia for Genealogists published in 1998, the following might be useful.

 Commonwealth of Australia Gazette

 Public Service Board Records

 A6198 - volumes of candidates' result lists for public service examinations 1903-70 (Canberra)

 Department of Trade and Customs

 CP595/1 - officers' history cards 1901-54 (Canberra)

 SP418/1 - salary registers for NSW staff 1895-1930 (Sydney)

 C4343 - some staff history files 1827-1988 (Sydney)

 Department of Home Affairs

 A173 - history cards of departmental personnel 1912-25 (Canberra)


Gotta say this is one happy little Duck.  Wish me luck in my research.


Oh and for those of you who wanted to see the Oriana in all its glory in the 1960s and the Cruise Passenger Terminal, here's the old puzzle - appropriately enough missing a few pieces!



Yep....I know...incredibly daggy....but there you are.....looks a bit like my brain, I'm sure ! :)


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