Hannagan Family Reunion 1976

The whole kit and caboodle...all those who attended. Brian Hannagan and his family were also involved - in fact I think he organised it.


The Charles and Flora Hannagan descendents. Probably the last time all this group were ever gathered together in one place. Missing are all the Des and Joyce O'Flaherty family.


Three of the Aunts (Charles Hannagan's sisters): Annie, Tess and Rose. I think the fourth lady - on the right - is a relative of Brian's.

The picnic/reunion took place at Chingford Park (not Woodhaugh Gardens, as I said in the original email about this! - Thanks, John Stokes, for keeping me accurate!!)

A Swathe of Hannagans

It's taken me a while to work out how I can get this photo onto here - apart from other interruptions. Daphne sent it as a word document, rather than a jpg, and initially I couldn't work out how to get it into a photo format. However I had to do the same thing at work a couple of times recently and that's helped.

This is a gathering of (Jack and Daphne) Hannagans. Daphne wrote at the time: A Daphne Hannagan family photo, the only ones missing being the Millers. There's actually an addition of 2 mother-in-laws - Bob's mum and Ross' mum. T'was taken on Mothers' Day. I haven't yet seen any of the photos from the combined birthday party. [The combined birthday party was Denise's 50th and Peter's 40th].



Probably best to click on this to view it clearly.

But wait! There's more...

Sorry, found another three...

Dad on the right, and Max Green, the chess player on the left. Note on the back says, 'taken at Bot[anical] Gardens Lake, 30 Dec, '34, by Bobbie. {Another chess player.]


My mother and father on their wedding day. This appears to be the full photo of the one that is in an earlier post. It was taken by Artophot, 276 Lonsdale St, Melbourne. The woman in the background would have been the bridesmaid, most likely. If my memory serves me rightly, her name was Molly, and she and my mother wrote to each other for years.


This is also a wedding day photo. Even though Mum appears to be wearing different clothes - at first glance - she is, in fact, in the same dress and hat as in the previous photo. There's no indication what studio this was taken in.

A couple more...

Last for tonight, a couple more photos.


This is Reg(gie), my uncle, at 8 years of age, but you'll notice someone (possibly Reg himself, at a later point) has put a query as to whether it might actually be his brother, Frank. This was taken by the USA Studios, who had branches all over London, and out in the 'provinces.'


My grandfather again, this time with a fancy hat. This is also on a postcard, and was produced by Hayne, The Broadway Studios (Next to the Bethel, Tooting, SW17). Phone Streatham 3498. (Celia and I lived in Tooting Bec when we were first married.)

Crowl Family Photos (again)

I'm posting these photos in order, partly, to protect them. I feel they're fairly vulnerable to damage, so want to preserve them as best I can.


This photo is either of Reg or Frank (my uncle and father respectively). It was taken at the [J.W.] Gorsuch studio, 48 Junction Rd, Upper Holloway. A note on Flickr.com says: John Willliam Gorsuch was based at 48 Junction Road, Holloway, Islington from 1891 - 1911. He apparently gambled away earnings from studios at horse races around the country.


This is my grandmother, Karolina Brock again - or, as my uncle (or father) has written on the back: Mother (Mrs K.T.Crowl)


Frank and Reg again; probably Frank is the one on the right.



This is Uncle Will, according to the back of the photo. Presumably that means this is the gent with the extravagant name of William Thackeray Brock. The written 'signature' at the bottom says, Wykeham - the studio was The Wykeham Studios Ltd, 165 Victoria Street, SW1, and also at 133 Streatham High Road, SW161, and 67 Balham High Road, SW12. (The link to Wykeham Studios may only be temporary - it goes to a eBay page where someone is selling an old photo also produced by Wykeham.)

Okay, once upon a time I was good looking!

As a one-year old. Note the handwritten 'Artgraf' below the photo, and the fact that this is probably hand-coloured. Certainly, if it is, it's very well done.



As a schoolboy. This photo would have been taken in Dunedin. The firm was Polyphoto.

More Crowl Photos

More Crowl family members - or at least more photos of them...


My father, Frank Crowl, taken in Melbourne. The photo was reproduced on a post card with the stamp: Artophot, 276 Lonsdale St, Melb. C.I. Phone C 4123. It looks as though he's dressed up for something; perhaps his wedding day.


My paternal grandfather, Arthur Crowl and his wife, Karolina (nee Brock) with her parents, Francis William Brock and his wife (whose name I don't know). Karolina, my grandmother, (spelt Karolena on my father's death certificate) was born in Germany in 1873, and died in England in 1962. Occasionally I received letters from her. I don't know anything about her parents, except that two of their boys had interesting names: George Washington Brock and William Thackeray Brock. The two boys are my father and my uncle, but I'm not sure which is which.


This is 'loving sister Milly' according to the back of the photo. She was my great aunt, and the sister of Karolena. She died aged 21, but I don't know anything more about her. On the back of her photo it says: Chaffin & Sons, Photographers, Cheap Street, Sherborne, Dorset.


This photo is a mystery. I don't know who it is, and there's nothing on the back to give any indication. Perhaps it's Milly again. The photographers were Bender & Lewis, 126 George St, Croydon - facing East Croydon Station. The had a 'Day and Electric Light Studio' and were 'Patronized by H.M the King, the King of the Belgians, the King of Portugal, etc, etc.' If there was an English King patronizing them, then this must have been at the beginning of the 20th century, I suspect, since Victoria would have been on the throne before that.

Some more Crowl portraits

My uncle Reg in boy scout uniform - and in the bath.


Reg as a young man with his Grandfather Brock.


My father on a horse? Bet it was just a pose. I've never heard of him riding a horse...
Though when you blow up the picture, he looks perfectly at ease, and even has the trademark cigarette holder in his mouth.



My father as a youngish man.

Translation of the notes - an attempt!

I make no apologies for the following. It's a first attempt to get some sense out of the scrawl on the back of the photo in the last post. The notes began with the centre section in which my father names the various people on the front of the photo. Then he makes notes about those people (and doesn't quite seem to line up his alphabetical system) and then shifts to the top of the page when he runs out of space.

Cecil Purdy was one of his best and closest friends, someone who cared for him in spite of his errant ways and difficult behaviour. Koch is another name familiar to me; it's short for Kochnitsky. He'd won back in Sydney in 1939 and 1933. Purdy senior had won the championship four times, on previous occasions. His son, John, would win it in 1963.

It looks as though the Championships were held in Adelaide that year and Lucius Endzelins won. There's a note about him - (d).
Soviet Ch [champion], 2nd in this, lost to Koch in 1st rd [round]; Soviet Ch. 1954, won this tournament? ..beaten and with two ….?, to Koch and Vier? only; (i) Aust. Ch. ’34, ’36, ’48, ’51, Aust. ref? in …..?? as ??? can’t make it; (j) Aust. Ch. ’32, ’38. = Which explains ?? round ?? neck, Br?? ’51 at every opportunity, Love from Frank

Left to Right:

Extreme back – (a) Stalley ? NSW, Miller, SA
Next row, all heads approx. level –
(b) John Purdy NSW, Crowl NSW, (c) Bacta? NSW
Zeters ? Vic, Hanks Vic, Lafin? Q[ueensland], Genes? Vic, ?? SA;
Next, ?? – (d) Endzelins, SA, (e) Orols? Vic, Sarafin? NZ, Purkalitis SA, (g) Viner NSW;
Next, ?? – (g) Bagirov USSR, (h) Averbakl USSR, (i) Cecil Purdy NSW, Harkin (non-player), SACA Secty, and Tourney Director of Play), Kochnitsky, NSW, Lidmus? (non-player, SACA President & fruitful? financier of tourney), Gondala? SA, MacAuliffe (non-player, SACA treasurer).

Notes by Crowl - ?? ?? Pin Up Boy, Aust Ch, Perth ’54 when aged 19;
© 1960 Vic Cham ?? ?? play off not yet complete – also ?? 1958 ??, when latter’s junior? won ?? for him, Brek? ;
(d) Aust champ 1960, as highest placed resident player – first title holder from a minor state;
(e) Aust Champ 1956, ’60 on ?? and above for state title;
(f) conveyor of Crowl from Griffith to Adelaide and back – only Aust born player to beat ??
(g) 4th in 1960 (above)

I'm sure this is all very obscure stuff, but it would be interesting if someone could sort some of it out!

Update January 2013 - this list has now been updated and clarified, and corrected, thanks to Bob Meadley in Australia. 

Some Crowl relatives

Some Crowl relatives:



Grandfather Brock - my great grandfather on my grandmother's side, about whom I know very little.



My grandfather, Arthur Charles Crowl.



As you can see from the scribble at the bottom, this could be either my Uncle Reg, or my father, Frank.



This photo has my father, Frank, in it. He's up the very back on the left, with glasses and a cigarette holder (his trademark). He's beside the fellow with the big grin. This set of men were amongst the best chess players around, in their day. They were attending the Australian Chess Championships, in 1960; this was five years before his death, so he would have been around 58 at the time. The next picture shows what's on the back of the photo (in my father's virtually illegible handwriting). Unfortunately it's not as clear as I'd like, but there were definitely some Russians amongst this group. If I can get the time, I'll type out what I can make out of it in due course. One person is described as someone's Pin Up Boy

Another twig on the tree (!)

My cousin, Margaret Irvine, wrote this morning:

I have been very remiss in writing information for the blog, but today I have something to write about - a new twig for the tree.
At 3.28 this morning my youngest daughter Rhonda gave birth to a son, Jordan Edward Delao. His father is Damian Delao, an American of Mexican extraction and a super guy. His mum writes the name "De La O" so I think he has simplified it for we Kiwis. I haven't met Jordan yet and will go into the hospital later this morning but I understand he was a bonny babe at 3.89 kg.

And regarding the previous 'twig', Leo Baker - he's doing well, has been at home for at least three weeks, and is coping with his older brother and sister.

Leo Baker sitting up

A slightly more recent photo of Leo Baker, who's doing very well, and is now at home. (Sorry about the quality: it was taken on a cellphone.)

Leo Baker

The latest Crowl family member has arrived.

On 16th July, (four months after his mother's birthday), Leo te Paenga Baker came into the world - a bit early: he was supposed to cook for another six weeks originally. He's doing fine, however, and was hopefully going to be getting out of the incubator today. He was born by caesarian section after nothing would induce him to move...

Libby's waters broke at 32 weeks, but the doctors managed to maintain things for another ten days or so.

His father is Nathan Baker, and his mother is our third daughter, Libby. They live in Auckland these days, so we won't be catching up with him for a few weeks yet.

Sorry about the fuzzy photo - it was taken on a cellphone.

3.6.09 - it now turns out that the spelling of Leo's name should be: te Painga. This is the original spelling of the family name, so it's been corrected.

The emails keep coming

Even though this blog may have had a bit of a hiatus, the emails from people connected to the family keep coming. I received one from Mark Hannagan's daughter, Rebecca, back in February, and one from Adele McKersey in late May.
Adele wrote:
I have been in contact with Colleen O'Rourke who I discovered had a match to my Grandfather Charles John Francis Hannagan. Today I received an impressive lot of certificates from which she kindly sent to me in the UK related to relevant marriages of my family and also the address of your blogspot.

I was looking at the family tree as there is a lot I don't know about my my Mother's family.I noticed you don't have my brother Kevin who is two years younger than me on your tree and also a lot of the next generation. If you are interested I can send you the missing names .. just let me know.

I've written to Adele to say Yes, I'd love to hear some more about this part of the family. Her mother was a Hazel Hannagan, who was the daughter of Charles Hannagan Snr (as opposed to my grandfather, who was also a Charles Hannagan). Her grandfather was Francis Hannagan, who was born in Ireland, in 1825. And he's the son of a William Hannagan, whose birth year we're not sure of, but it must be sometime around the late 1700s and early 1800s.

The family on this side is rather complicated - Francis had two wives, and Charles appears to have had three - with children all over the place from these unions. No wonder there are so many Hannagans!

Getting up and running again

It's been a very long time since I added anything on here - things have been rather busy around here, alongside some health issues - see below.

Last night I went to a family gathering, so I thought it was time to get the emails and the blog up and running again.

The gathering was a double birthday celebration: Peter Hannagan is forty, and his big sister, Denise, is fifty in about three weeks. All the Jack and Daphne Hannagan family were there, along with some of the teenage and older kids, and a bunch of friends. Great meal at the Etrusco (the former Savoy Restaurant, for those who might remember it). Instead of taking individual orders, they did it in the same way that Chinese restaurants do: bringing out platter after platter until everyone was well and truly full.

Peter doesn't at all look like a 40-year-old...mid-twenties, perhaps, but certainly not 40. And neither does Denise look her age. It's a strange world where people don't look old anymore when they should. It's the last week Peter and Rachel and their family will be in Dunedin. They've been back home for some six months, and believe it or not, this is the first time I've managed to catch up with them.

The first months of this year were unusual: I had a prostate op in late February after a very unpleasant time running up to it. Thankfully, I've come through this very well, and am feeling much more like my usual self. Right on top of this, almost, I began doing a paper at Varsity while (almost) simultaneously taking part in a play which, due to its short rehearsal period, required me to be out at least three nights a week and often one afternoon on the weekend. Juggling Varsity and the play proved to be a bit of an exercise, but turned out to be doable!

And, for those who haven't heard, Celia got knocked off her motor scooter about three weeks ago. It was a dark, rainy night; she was riding along fairly slowly because of the conditions, and a car came out of nowhere, it seemed, and apparently turned into her. She was somersaulted off her bike, and slid along the road some way. Thank God there were no broken bones, and she's healing up well (there were lots of bruises, of course, and her right knee is still very sore). She's more niggled that the demolition job she'd started on the kitchen the weekend before has had to be put on slow...

Strangely, I was driving to rehearsal that evening, and passed a police car, ambulance and tow truck. As you do, I wondered what had happened, and who might be the 'victim,' never guessing that it was Celia. It was only when I got further down the hill that I got a cellphone call from my son to say that Celia had had an accident...and of course, it all lined up.

Celia wasn't able to be at the dinner last night: my number three daughter is expecting her number three, and is at 32 weeks. However, the waters broke yesterday, and so she's in hospital while they play a wait and see game. The baby's okay, but obviously they have to be cautious about what happens next. Appreciate your prayers!