Bottle Oven

and some of the old buildings at the Gladstone Pottery Museum where we spent a very interesting few hours.  Once there were over 2000 ovens in which all the pottery and fine china were fired.  One can only image the pollution when It took 14 ton of coal to fire each oven and coal fires heated homes. as well. Even in an era of high disease and mortality this part of the country had the highest rate of childhood deaths. I can understand my 2 x great grandparents making the brave decision to leave family and try for a better life in New Zealand. Sadly their youngest daughter died of measles (as did another 23 children and 2 adults on the boat)a few weeks after arriving in the country and Harriet herself passed away just twelve months later. 

Back Blip for 3rd JUly