Timothy Ryan Noble

Timothy Ryan Noble's grave may be sited at Sorrento Cemetery on the far south of the Mornington Peninsula, but his tragic car accident, on 21st November 1998, occurred at Frankston, the northern gateway to the peninsula.

His sister Skye gave a presentation to the Teenagers Road Accident Group.
She explained that in total there were 8 boys in the car, 2 in the front, 4 along the back seat and 2 in the luggage compartment.
It was an accident waiting to happen.
And it did.
3 of the boys were killed, one being her brother.

All boys were in the final stages of Year 11 at The Peninsula School.
The driver was an unlicensed 17 year old.

Details of Skye's presentation are HERE!
Richard Jones, also a passenger in the car, gave another presentation to the Teenagers Road Accident Group - HERE!

The Peninsula School now has a Memorial Scholarship to honour the memory of the students killed.
Details HERE!

Media of the day presented many perspectives of this tragedy.
One article HERE gives an insight into all boys involved - including the driver Gene Thomas.

But perhaps the most poignant story emerged in The Age 12 years later - August 10, 2010.
Finally, the son of The Peninsula School's principal in 1998 gave a little of his story.
David Hille travelled in this same car, but walked away from the wreckage unscathed - at least physically.
About a year after the accident, he was drafted into the Essendon football club.
He became an icon there, using sport as a release from his private tragedies - losing friends in a car accident and losing his mother to depression and eventual suicide.
Sport has always been the undercurrent, the support mechanism, that has kept me going. 

COMMENTS:
I chose today to tell this tragic story of teenagers because now begins a crazy cycle till the end of November.
 Senior students embark on deb balls and formals (our school had one last weekend) and valedictory dinners before the final exams; before that big step into the big wide world.
And in that time frame they seem to get licences.
And in that time, accidents seem to happen.

If just one teenager reads this post, explores the links, looks at lingering consequences of avoidable crazy driving situations, and then makes wise driving decisions, this post has been worthwhile.
I so hope!


May you drive with care
May you remember loved ones
Don't leave them with pain


Linking to:
Taphophile Tragics

Captain James Logan-Bell and Beyond

A simple headstone at Sorrento cemetery on the southern end of the Mornington Peninsula,
but it signifies and leads to so much.

James Bell (founder of the famous Scottish printing house of Bell and Bain in 1831 and one of the oldest printing companies still operating in Scotland) was my father's Grand Father. My father's name is Captain James Logan-Bell , OBE MID, ASC, 1914 to 1922, Royal Horse Artillery, First Cavalry Division, BEF. who emigrated to Australia in 1924 and enroute met and fell in love with my Mother Ethel Lilian Shelley, private secretary the Caterer to the House of Lords, the De Vere Group of Hotels. They married and settled down in Melbourne and surrounding districts. I was born in 1935, an only son. Both now lie buried in the picturesque and historic pioneer cemetery in Sorrento, near where our Prime Minister Harold Holt mysteriously drowned at Cheviot beach on 16 December1967. I live with Merlyn my wife and younger Daughter Christina here at Carnegie, an attractive inner Melbourne suburb. Merlyn's family were pioneer miners, the Trembaths from St Just, Cornwall who originally settled in Bendigo at the time of the Victorian Gold Rush. Her Grand Father grew quite wealthy and established a stock broking business, his Grand Son Robert still practises with a family broking firm. 
Extract from HERE by James Logan-Bell, born in 1935, an only son.
More from him HERE

In 2007, the Liberal Party awarded this James (Jim) Logan-Bell a certificate of appreciation  
In recognition of more than ten years continuous service in an executive position for the Liberal Party in the Federal Electorate of Goldstein
He has been secretary of the Glen Huntly branch of the Liberal Party and Treasurer for the Victorian Snowsports Association.
He is keen on creating programmes representing opportunities for indigenous and low socio-economic communities to enjoy snowsports.
Perhaps the interest in indigenous welfare stemmed from his attendance of Wesley College, South Perth, Western Australia.
During the 1960s, the Methodist church had assumed responsibility for the Mogumber Mission at Moore River and two boys were provided with places as boarders at the school. Dean Collard and Trevor Holmes were the first Aboriginal students at Wesley College, some four decades after the opening.    Ref: HERE
There is a strong indigenous representation now at Wesley and scholarships are available for this group. 
ODD FACTS:
Jim supplied a 1951 sketchbook for the Wesley archives. Is/was he an artist?
Mr Jim Logan-Bell's painting of a view from Prince Charles' Australian school, Timbertop, was presented to Charles and Diana at their wedding. SMH Nov 3, 1985
NOTE:
BEF = British Expeditionary Forces
ASC = Army Service Corps - before 1918; RASC after 1918
MID = Military Intelligence Detachment


Note the 15 years age difference between husband and wife.

Logan-Bell saga
Beacons in two distant worlds
Quiet achievers


Linking to: Taphophile Tragics

Unusual Headstones at Sorrento

Sorrento cemetery, on the southern end of the Mornington Peninsula, seems to be a mecca for unusual headstones/graves.
Here is a glass headstone for Peter Julian Ryan 1937-1999.
Poetic thoughts are inscribed on the glass and details of Peter are on the actual grave.
He is described as "a loving and generous husband and father.
A great visionary with the courage to achieve his ambitions."
Sadly I can't trace any details of his life.
 
Here is a close up of the glass feature.
The words inscribed are a little difficult to read, but here are some:
Those who walk the road together
Knowing there is life hereafter
Give universal care and loving
Believing parents with clear vision
See the light of God's mansion...


Then there is this headstone, with no clearly marked grave.
It reads:
Engla Marice Dobree
"Maria"
1912-1997
Sweet as a rose
Creative hands
now in the hands
of the Creator
Again, I cannot trace any life details.


Finally, there is this oddity.
And there is quite a wealth of information on this lady - Sandra Bardas (5.10.1941-27.12.2007)
The Age printed a glowing tribute HERE to her tireless efforts encouraging indigenous Australians to achieve educational success.
(Sandra was awarded an OAM in 2004)
When Sandra died, her husband David discovered boxes of negatives documenting decades of street art - French, Italian, American and Australian street art captured over 40 years of travelling - another of Sandra's passions. For details see The Melbourne Review.
Sandra herself was an artist and co-founded Appleton Street Studios in inner suburban Melbourne at Richmond.
Some of her art may be seen HERE!
In memory of her work, each year a studio space at Appleton is awarded to a young, emerging artist + $5,000 for art materials.
Further, in 1983, she was a founder of Worawa Aboriginal College at Healesville - in the Yarra Valley north of Melbourne.
The school honours her with the Sandra Bardas Art Galley which showcases students' works and the works of their communities.

Creative spirits
A lingering legacy
A life still living


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Still Messing With Boats

A most unusual grave shaped as a pier.
This grave is at Sorrento Cemetery on the southern end of the Mornington Peninsula, Victoria.
I was not only attracted to the unique style of the grave, but also the less common surname of Sturzaker.
I was sure that I would find some information about this man.
All I found was that the Sturzakers have strong English ancestry.
The surname has Anglo-Saxon connections - not German as the name sounds.
Many also lived in the north of Tasmania - especially Launceston - some lived in northern Victoria - Bright, famous for its parade of Autumn colours - and a couple lived in Darwin in the Northern Territory.
For more details see HERE and HERE!



Where the salt winds blow
Where the seas heave with promise
Let my boat sail on


Believe me my young friend
there is nothing, absolutely nothing
half so much worth doing as simply
messing about in boats
Ian Sturzaker
10.5.1934-22.11.1989
NOTE: This is a quote from Kenneth Grahame's The Wind in the Willows

Some interesting extra notes:
Currently, Geoff Sturzaker is a fisherman in the Portland area of coastal south west Victoria.
He is mentioned in Rex Hunt's 2008 fishing report HERE and the Fishing Monthly HERE
There is a photo of bearded Geoff with a large tuna HERE!
He looks of an age that could make him Ian's younger brother or even Ian's son!



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A Homely Grave

As soon as I saw this grave in Sorrento Cemetery, on the southern end of the Mornington Peninsula, I thought that it looked like the shape of a home.


When I read the inscription, I thought that it was intended to look like a home.


Here is a view of the grave's position in the cemetery.
Right next to the grave is a seat for staying awhile.

But the real surprise came when I checked out Suzanne's death notice with her funeral directors.
There were some words of high praise.
A heroine of our time.
I had a feeling that there was more story to be told.

And in The Age April 15, 2008, I found an article entitled An Active Mind Blooming With Ideas. It was all about Suzanne Hunt.
Hunt practised as a museum curator, archivist, garden historian and writer. Her community activities ranged from involvement in her children's scout group to keep it from folding, to presidency of her local Liberal Party branch.
For her, history was not an academic pursuit but a lively exploration of ordinary people, things and places, and of the tales they could tell.

She sounds like a beautiful person loved by far more than her own family.
And in the midst of all her achievements, she had a 19 year battle with cancer.
See more of this article HERE!

Perhaps the building shape may represent a museum - protecting treasures.

Lively achiever
Challenges inspired her day
Sharing energy


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Fate

One view of Sorrento Cemetery on the southern end of the Mornington Peninsula

Some fates seem cold
Locked in stonework or cement
But souls know there's more


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A Cultural Style

Chinese graves feature in two areas of the Sorrento cemetery, on the southern end of the Mornington Peninsula near Westernport Bay.
One group is gathered at the side of the cemetery near a home fenceline (as above) - the high side of the cemetery terrain.
Others gather on the sharp hillside furthest from the cemetery entrance.
Chinese cemeteries are often found on hillsides. The Chinese believe this affects their feng shui.
(Notice grave ornaments feature at the foot of the grave as does the headstone.)
For some reason, Chinese graves feature more prominently at Sorrento than at any other cemetery on the peninsula.
It is known that the Chinese came to Victoria in the 1850's gold rush days.
But the gold fields were at Ballarat - inland Victoria.

So why there is such a representation of Chinese at Sorrento I don't know.
Are they descendants (many of the graves seem quite modern) associated with the lime-burning trade to Melbourne - a feature of the Mornington Peninsula, especially between Rye and Sorrento - in the 19th century.
Further, Sorrento is not listed HERE as one of the overseas Chinese cemeteries and
HERE is an insight into Chinese burial customs.


Many graves are quite wide and tend to be coloured brown or silver grey but always with gold script..


Some are built well above ground level, but these feature headstones at the back of the grave - quite unlike traditions.


Here is one Chinese? (looks like the Vietnamese style featured below) grave on the high hillside at the far end of the cemetery.
Love the artistic, white etched scenes on this one.
(Click to enlarge + use the magnifier)


And still in the vein of cultural style, here is a grave in Vietnamese style - in the midst of the Chinese graves.


I found this Vietnamese grave also in the midst of the Chinese graves.
The platter of fruit and decorative flowers under glass intrigued me.
They looked so real.

Cultures kept alive
Like an eternal mystique
Everlasting wish


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Zara Bate and Family

Dame Zara Bate's grave is at Sorrento cemetery on the Westernport Bay side of the Mornington Peninsula.

Dame Zara (1909-1989) had a number of surnames.
She was born in Kew, Victoria and her maiden name was Dickens.
She married and became Fell in 1935. James Heywood Fell was a British army officer with the rank of Colonel.
They divorced in 1946.
Later in the same year Zara married Harold Holt - a solicitor and member of the House of Representatives. (She knew him before her marriage to James.)
While Harold spent time in Canberra, Zara opened a boutique called Magg in Toorak village, Victoria. Business was so successful that another Magg boutique was opened in Double Bay, Sydney.
In 1961 a Magg evening dress was voted `Gown of the Year’, and in 1962 Miss Australia, Tania Verstak, wore a Magg gown in the Miss International contest, which she won. Zara Holt also advised on Australian uniforms for events such as Expo ‘67 in Montreal and the Mexico Olympic Games in 1968. Ref: HERE

Harold became the 17th Prime Minister of Australia in January 1966.
When he mysteriously disappeared at Victoria's Cheviot Beach on the Mornington Peninsula, on 17 December 1967, Zara was at the Lodge in Canberra.
In 1968 she was appointed DBE.

In 1969, at Toorak, she married the flamboyant federal politician Henry Jefferson Percival Bate till he died in 1984.

Zara retired to (and died in) Surfers Paradise in Queensland, but she is buried at Sorrento cemetery, the nearest cemetery to Cheviot Beach.
And the faded details of the headstone just read:
Dame Commander of the British Empire.
Rest in Peace


Zara's grave is unpretentious, seemingly squeezed between others.
There is barely an outline of the site apart from the headstone.


And a little mystery.
Zara and James had 3 children - Nicholas (Nick - a lawyer), Sam (now a Melbourne lawyer) and Andrew.
(There is rumour that the twins were actually Harold's - before the marriage.

Harold adopted all children and gave them his surname when he married Zara.))
Quite a distance back from Zara's grave is this headstone.
One of the last born twins?
It lacks detail as does Zara's headstone, simply stating:
Andrew John Hugh Holt
Born 23.5.1939
Died 21.12.1997
Zara's marriage to James broke down soon after the twins were born in 1939.

More family connections:
Sam's son Robert is a corporate lawyer and owns a bookshop in Noosa Heads, Queensland.
Andrew's son is Christopher.
Sophie and Pippa are daughters of Nicholas.
Sophie's home is in Portsea. She is involved in the designer fashion labels just like her grandmother and is renowned for reviving Elle B and Country Road. For more details see HERE!
Pippa Holt is a Contributing Editor for Vogue. Prior to Vogue she worked at The Times as Fashion Editor of the Saturday Times Magazine and before that she was at Australian Vogue. She lives between London and Dublin.


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