Charles Anstey & Eliza Cererher Port Elliot Pioneers

A ship-wreck and an escape from the Great Famine of Ireland are the starting points for the story of Charles Anstey and Eliza Cererher in South Australia. Told against the backdrop of the Encounter Bay region’s unsuccessful attempt to become the sea terminal for the River Murray trade, this history uses nineteenth century newspapers and other records to describe key events in the lives of these two pioneers of the Port Elliot region. First cousins Peter Anstey and Joan Apps (nee Anstey) are grand-children of Charles John Anstey, the youngest child of Charles John Anstey and Eliza Cererher. They have long shared an interest in family history. Their research has come together in this book which explores and answers many questions about their great-grandparents’ lives. In the process they discovered that life in a small country town was not necessarily idyllic, that ancestors had human frailties, and that caring for the family cow could cause problems.

ISBN 978-1-9224528-7-0
PAPERBACK

Kalgoorie to Glenelg

Charles Anstey & Fanny Smith: A Family History

In this companion volume to Charles Anstey & Eliza Cererher: Port Elliot pioneers, first cousins Peter Anstey and Joan Apps (nee Anstey) continue the story of the Anstey family in Australia, focusing on the lives and family of their grandparents Charles John Anstey and Fanny Louisa Smith.

Set against a background of economic depression and a gold rush, the first part of the book outlines Charles and Fanny’s years in the Western Australian gold mining towns of Coolgardie and Kalgoorlie, their return to South Australia and their family and working life in the districts of Glenelg and Sturt (Marion).

The second part of the book describes the lives of Charles and Fanny’s children, including the shadow cast on them by the Second World War. The third part is devoted to Fanny’s family and includes a brief history of the Smith (Godden) and Killery families.

The authors observe that during much of this period, the lives of their grandparents and parents revolved around their church and local community – fetes, bazaars, card games, dances and balls – a world where speechmaking and poetry recitation were still considered worthy pursuits.

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