FHACT May Monthly Meeting

Family History ACT Monthly Meeting: Tuesday 6 May 2025 at 7pm.  (In person at the FHACT Education Room, Cook Community Hub, Templeton Street, Cook, or online via Zoom). 

Join members of Family History ACT to hear Terry Fewtrell as he talks about his book George, Elise and a mandarin – Identity in early Australia’.

All welcome. Members and guests interested in attending should register for this event here.

George, Elise and a Mandarin – Identity in early Australia tells the story of two emigrants to Queensland in the 1870s. Like most emigrants at the time, theirs were journeys into the unknown, from different lands but prompted by a common desire for a better life. Each was to endure great sadness and Elise faced multiple tragedies, but prevailed.  Her story is heroic. 

Both place and the times shaped their fortunes as their different backgrounds influenced their experiences and identity. A compelling story of Australian lives, told in the context of their times. Archetypes of Australia’s British and multi-cultural identities. Ordinary lives – extraordinary social history. 

Terry Fewtrell’s book was published in 2017, then short-listed and Highly Commended in the 2018 ACT Writing and Publishing awards.

Terry's presentation will focus on the challenges involved in deciding how to tell a story working from family fragments and mysteries.  The answer to this dilemma was to see their lives in the context of their times and use that history to give context and meaning to their stories and ultimately to bring them to life in ways not previously contemplated.

“…one of the best family histories I have read” – Noeline Kyle, family story specialist and author of How to write and publish your family story in 10 easy steps.

“Fewtrell has succeeded in making his own family’s history universal”  - Mark McKenna Historian

Terry Fewtrell is a Canberra resident of 48 years and spent 30+ years in the Australian Public Service and then a decade working as a consultant.  He had the good fortune of working on the new Parliament House project, in roles that involved explaining the building’s unique architectural expression of national identity and its design functionality. Terry has since had a passionate interest in national identity, with long involvement in the Australian Republican Movement and the Wattle Day Association. That interest is also a theme in the story of George and Elise, his great grandparents. Terry is an author who writes on several topics of public interest. He has been married to Christine Lancaster for 53 years and they have two children and five grandchildren.