45 - CSI Challenge

CSI means colour, stories and inspiration.  A place to try new colour combos, be encouraged to journal and be inspired by other talented artists. It's a fun and friendly place to play.  The earthy colours this week inspired me to scrap a heritage photo.

Because of the topic, I wanted the page to be stark and bare; in keeping with the living conditions my ancestors endured, both in Europe and when they first arrived in the colony.  I had an idea in my mind about how the page would look and could not get it to emerge on the page.  Eventually I ripped every thing to pieces and started again. The little Barque at the bottom is a picture of the ship they travelled on.

and a close up

EVIDENCE

Wood grain patterned paper

Buttons

Silver metal accent

Textured paper behind the photo

TESTIMONY

I used the words, comfort, family and home to inspire my journalling and wrote it like a tale.

THE JOURNALLING READS

My Father’s ancestors emigrated to Australia from Pudewitz, Posen Province, Prussia during a terrible and turbulent time of religious persecution and civil war in Europe.

The majority of Prussians belonged to the Lutheran Church whilst the Royal Family belonged to the Reformed Church which had different doctrines.  King Friedrich Wilhelm the Third decreed the two should become one and began sanctions against Lutheran Pastors and their congregations.  Because they did not comply with the King’s edict, ordinary people had their food rationed, lost their jobs and their children were expelled from school. 

My Great Grandparents were labelled dissenters, rebels and traitors.   They decided to leave, but could not head toward Russia because of a Polish uprising on the border.  

Instead they travelled by bullock cart to the Crossen area where they boarded river barges along the canals to Hamburg.  During the voyage they had rotten fruit and pig swill thrown at them as people berated them for deserting.  In Hamburg they waited in tents for several weeks before boarding the Barque “Sophie” bound for South Australia.  After a perilous three and a half months at sea, they landed at Port Adelaide on 25 October 1866.

My Great Grandfather, Johann Gottlieb Neumann aged 29, his wife Ernastine Amalie Hausknecht aged 19 and their daughter Auguste Emilie, aged 3, travelled to Rosenthal in the Barossa Valley, where Johann secured work at his trade as a carpenter.

We think Great Grandfather built a cottage at Rosenthal where he scrimped and saved money to invest in land.  During this time, his wife Amalie had another eight children.

Twelve years later, in 1878, they had saved enough for a deposit and bought 484 acres of land at Halbury, on credit. This is the home Great Grandfather built on that land.  It was mainly timber framed and plastered with mud mixed with straw; a pug and pine dwelling.

It had a stone fireplace in the main living room and the kitchen at the rear had a stone hearth and bake oven.  The roof was thatched with straw and sported the latest in architectural trends, a corrugated, galvanized iron verandah on the front.   

When I learned of the abject poverty and persecution they endured in Europe and their refusal to be dictated to by the King, I began to understand why they were so fiercely independent, so stubborn and so passionate about their religious convictions.

The Australian branch of the Neumann family began when they had the courage to set out in search of freedom in a strange land.               Journalling 8th October 2012

Thanks so much for looking and for any comments you may care to leave.

PRODUCTS USED

Bazzil cardstock

Kaisercraft patterned paper - Pickled pear collection

Kaisercraft - Collectables - Pickled pear

Delish - patterned paper, Dulwich collection

Tim Holtz - Metal key hole

Tim Holts - Film strip

Prima - Alphas

The Crafters Workshop - Mini Chicken Wire

Pan Pastels - Raw Umber

Chip board leaves - Wow

Tim Holtz - Brickwork embossing folder

Tim Holtz - Tattered Florals die

Ranger ink - Sandal

Color box ink - Olive Pastel

EK punch - Binding edge

Tattered Angels glimmermist - Creme de Chocolate

Image of the Barque Sophie from Neumann family history