A.I.F Heritage Tree
Mission
The mission was to restore the photo and see if the soldier could be identified. If he was identified, we would do a A.I.F. Heritage Tree Tree to learn about the soldier’s life before enlistment.
Background
The purchase of this framed portrait of an unidentified WWI soldier was inspired by the poem “ANZAC on the Wall “written by Jim Brown. The owner of the antique shop in country Queensland was unable to provide any information as to the identity of the soldier nor where he had acquired it from. A close inspection of the back showed there was a label with some faint lettering on it.
Through a painstaking process, we were able to bring up the words “CAPTAINS MT. MILLMERRAN” and a couple of letters from the surname. We then went to the Millmerran cenotaph to see what names were on it and then began researching each of those soldiers to see if any of them had come from Captains Mountain. We were successful. Once our soldier was identified the journey began to take on a life of its own.
We have been able to complete a four-generation chart for Michael Walter FLYNN and we are proud to present this A.I.F. Heritage Tree in his honour. We will remember him.
Process
My Family History Australia services used in the process to achieve the outcome
- Field trip to Photograph cenotaph and headstones
- Professional restoration of the original photo, glass and timber frame
- WWI record searches
- Old newspaper searches
- Online searches
- 4 Generation Wall Chart
- Research for four generations
- Transcriptions of census records, passenger lists and birth, death and marriage records.
Outcome
We learned that the photo was an original and the frame was over 100 years old.
We have identified the soldier as Queensland born Michael Walter FLYNN who died in France in 1917. He was 23 years old. Four generations of research has been completed to learn about Michael’s family life. Prior to Michael enlisting he was part of a dynamic farming family with a genuine pioneer heritage on the Darling Downs dating back to 1855.
Second youngest of ten children, he was one of two sons that enlisted in 1916. Michael’s older brother William returned to Australia in 1919. William built a house in Millmerran that still stands today and called it Passchendale.
Michael’s mother, Mary Ann Flynn had purchased “Greyleigh” in 1902 and a family home was built on it the following year. In 1964 the house was relocated into the township of Millmerran and also still stands today. We have been able to contact the FLYNN family and share the story.
We have given the family copies of the restored photo. The family now has transcriptions of census records from England, passenger lists showing the arrival of each family to Australia and several birth, death and marriage records.
The Inspiration behind our A.I.F. Heritage Trees
Many years ago, I had read the poem ‘ANZAC on the Wall’ by Jim Brown and loved it. It told the story of a mother who waited for her son to come home from WWI and of the strong connections to home the soldier carried with him.
Once the research was well on the way for our first A.I.F. Heritage Tree, I took the time to track down poet Jim Brown, as I felt he would be interested in the story.
Jim mentioned that many people get in touch with him about his “ANZAC on the Wall” but no-one has ever had the success that I have. We had a perfect outcome. He was delighted to hear from me and
I look forward to meeting him next time he is in Queensland.
I sincerely hope that antique shop owners continue to offer these photos for sale. I also hope that Australians continue to buy them or save them from wherever they find them. My Family History Australia is dedicated to assisting you with seeking the identity of your “ANZAC on the Wall”.
My Family History Australia is happy to add your Australian Imperial Force soldier photo to our online collection with the aim of reaching a larger audience and ever hopeful that you too one day will know the identity of your “ANZAC on the Wall”. Please get in touch and let’s work together to learn what we can.