History Notes - Myles Hagan family
History Notes
I am pleased to report that the Go-Co luncheon was most successful. Those who were unable to attend missed a relaxed two or three hours chatting under the tree and the shade. The cooks produced a great assortment of salads and the two husbands did a great job with the barbeque. We had a lucky door prize which was won by June Russell.
Family history has been quiet this week but no doubt there will be questions asked as the weather cools down and more people are inside reading and researching.
Many years ago, I heard about Mrs Hagan being flooded out of her hut at Glen Riddle in the 1864 flood. I assumed that she was living around the junction with Ironbark Creek or perhaps down the Manilla River a bit – but a piece of newspaper dated Tuesday 10th March, 1914, has shown that the hut was probably down river towards Upper Manilla.
The last part of this article concerns a family living some miles up the Manilla River from Manilla. Myles Hagan, an Irishman, and his wife, Jessie, who was Scottish were raising their family in a hut somewhere near the river in February, 1864, when Myles went upstream to the Glen Riddle head station. He had not returned by dark and so the children were put to bed and their mother was also asleep when something disturbed her and caused her to throw her arms outwards, to her surprise she found she was surrounded by water.
She carried her children through teeming rain out onto high ground, and then went back to the hut and secured a bag of flour and whatever coverings she could put her hands on in the dark. Half an hour later the whole house and its contents were washed away.
Myles returned the next morning on the opposite bank but could not see anything except signs of where the home had been – he tore his hair in distress fearing that his wife and six children had all drowned. Imagine his relief when he heard the old native signal – cooee. It was then that he saw his wife and family standing on high ground in teeming rain. They had built a fire and made a shelter out of old blankets and remained there for a week.
The six children James, Robert, Barnard, Catherine, Margaret and baby Andrew all survived the ordeal and the parents went on to have ten more children including a set of twins.