What sez ogrady

My much-loved Dad Brown  with his granddaughter Linda Dale. He gave her away at her marriage to John Ryan in 1988, his last role as that in a long list of roles from daughters to granddaughters before he died in 1989

    

Dad Brown when he was William Davis
in the New Zealand Army in 1939

I very seldom put my thoughts and feelings on this blog, but rather insert family, my work, historical events and my Church stuff. Today is very cold, sunny with a strong east wind, rather an unsettling day as they can only be with east winds howling around the eaves. I am unsettled in myself and ditressed at the stuff I read in the news at times. Our Federal budget does absolutely zilch for anyone in Australia and we all long for another election. I had family all day yesterday, my brother and his wife. We spent most of the day going through all my files related to various members of our family, with them opting out to get a copy of this or that photo. In return, I will get some necessary articles that were my step-dad's, to help put the record straight of who he really is. You see, blog readers, he was born in Auckland, New Zealand, as William Davis and joined the new Zealand Army under that name. On the way to Cairo in late 1939 the ship berthed at Fremantle and Dad went off to a party out at Armadale, but there were no trains running that night for him to get back to the ship before 5am, consequently he missed it and was listed AWOL. With the help of family down south, he changed identity to that of Leonard Brown and later served in the Western Australian Army, under that name. He ended up with Mum and they had six children, with him taking the responsibility of two that were Mum's to another. Worried over the death certificate just being Leonard Brown when he died, I went to the registrar here in Perth and if I could get something that showed Dad lived as Lenoard Brown in perth in the year he died, the registrar could organise the certificate to include he was William Davis, and brother Ricky can help me with that. Then I can send a copy to the New Zealand registrar and put that side of Dad's life in order. So why am I worried? Or unsettled? As an old lady I sometimes feel that nobody really cares for me, they only care for themselves. I have been blessed to have had this man for a father all my life and he really did care for me and my brother Chris. For me it means I need to get control of myself and pray, and if I can't change minds of some family, then pray for them, leave them in Heavenly Father's hands, and get on with what i do in my own life - write. Dad's Story is completed and brother John has read half so far. The final half will be emailed to him on Monday. then a copy to Helen Weller to try my luck there. I'm halfway through the poems for the disabled artists, such wonderful people with horrific disabilities that have learnt to paint. I've almost completed my poem, a large one, on the colonial lads Charles Harper, Maitland Brown and Andrew Dempster who had such a big impact on the early history and politics of Western Australia. Dad's (O'Grady) book is out by Text publishers and the insertion of the

£10  bet that led to the writing of this book, and written by Jacinta Tynana is  wonderful, a lovely epitah to Dad and her grandfather Frank, Dad's brother. At the same time as the copy of Dad's book arrived in the mail yesterday, the paper tole I had been after for some months, of Snugglepot and Cuddlepiefor little Hayley, arrived . Will add that to my paper tole I am currently doing of the Perth Australia Temple. So stop moping Colleen.