Treasure hunt turns up unexpected gem

A TRIP to her grandparents’ Gordonvale home turned up a piece of treasure Maureen Barrell was never expecting.

A family photo in which her late father, Gordon Brown, is pictured on his mother’s knee was worth more to Maureen than the pot of gold at the end of a rainbow.

“As a child, I had seen that my grandmother had beautiful crockery, so one day I went back out to the farm at Packer’s Camp and asked my Uncle Mick if I could have a look in the room where Granny’s things were.

“I saw that magnificent photo and said ‘I don’t want crockery, I’d just like this’, so he gave it to me.”

The photo – a composite of two photos believed to have been taken in 1916 and 1918 – shows Maureen’s grandfather, Isaac Brown, in uniform, with daughter Anzac on his knee. Also in the photo is Maureen’s great-grandmother and family matriarch, Dauphina.

On the far right are Isaac’s wife, Elizabeth, and youngest child, Gordon.

The other children pictured are Gladys and brothers Ted, Eric and Mick.

“Isaac’s parents were English and settled on Edenvale Station at Georgetown,” Mau- reen says. “Isaac was an only child and they sent him for the best of education, the best of piano tutoring – everything. He was educated at Scots College in Sydney and could play the piano magnificently.”

Maureen said the family moved to a sugar cane farm at Packer’s Camp near Gordonvale after her father was born.

“Isaac met Granny in Georgetown, married her and they had six children. That would have been a shock to them because he was an only child.”

Isaac enlisted for service in WWI in June 1918 and sailed from Sydney on October 14 aboard the SS Wyreema but was recalled to Australia when the war ended the following month.

Maureen said her grandfather was buried in a tomb at Gordonvale Cemetery, where many other family members also lie.

The eldest of his sons, Ted, died after standing on the bone of a dead horse and contracting tetanus. Mick and Gordon went on to work the family farm, while Eric opened a dance studio in Sydney.

Anzac (Dowker) is the only remaining family member from the photo and continues to live in Gordonvale. Born on November 13, 1915, she was named in honour of the soldiers who gave their lives at Gallipoli.

“Her mother pulled her out of school early so she and Gladys could help with the house. Anzac was also a dance partner for Eric,” Maureen said.

Maureen said the photo was one of her most treasured family heirlooms.

“I had it reprinted for nearly every person in the family.”