by Valerie Volk
But you have returned; you live again in my words. Perhaps now your wandering spirit can rest.
About this Book
Fact or fiction?
It’s sometimes impossible to draw a line between them. When you have a fascinating, almost unbelievable, story you begin to wonder how blurred that line might be.
Many of the events that form the basis of In Search of Anna really did occur in 1889, and much of the picture of those years is based on my research—details of daily life and historical events in nineteenth century Germany, shipping of the time, emigration experiences, and life both in the ‘Marvellous Melbourne’ of the period and in the small German enclaves in southern New South Wales.
Fact is also there in the old family story that is the focus of the book: that in 1889 my great-grandmother, an ordinary peasant woman in Silesia, now part of Poland, made her way north to the shipyards of Hamburg, and took ship for Australia, in search of the son who had gone missing two years earlier. A remarkable enterprise for a middle-aged woman, who knew only that her boy had deserted his work as ship’s engineer, intending to set off from Melbourne and head north.
Fact: there are records of the actual ships that carried first him in 1887 and then her in 1889, and the problems of her journey, especially, are recorded in contemporary shipping accounts, as mechanical disasters on a much-publicised new steamship lengthened an already long journey.
Fact: on reaching Melbourne, she advertised in newspapers of the time in an effort to find where he might be. Reading those advertisements, week after week of them, is a poignant reminder of what a foolish enterprise this must have seemed.
Fact: the Melbourne address she gave in those advertisements is still there, today an excellent French restaurant in Richmond, and the owner allowed me to climb the narrow stairs to the upper rooms where she lodged during that time of waiting. Again, a moving moment.
Fact: her efforts were rewarded and, in a family legend that seems beyond credibility, her missing son was located in a small town outside Albury, in the Riverina, and they were re-united. Here she stayed for a number of years, then returned to Germany. But I don’t want to pre-empt more of her story.
Bare bones of a remarkable tale, but only bones. This is where fiction takes over. Her character, her background, her family relationships, her connections with people during this saga—for all of these I have exercised the writer’s prerogative and used my imagination. I now say a diffident apology to your ghost, Anna, and to all the others whose lives I have created—forgive me, and rest in peace.
Valerie Volk
Acknowledgements
I am deeply grateful to the many people and organisations who have contributed to the writing of this book.
Among the institutions who have provided valuable resource material are Burnley & Richmond Historical Society, City of Richmond Library, German Club of Melbourne: Deutscher Turnverein Tivoli, Lutheran Church Archives, Port Adelaide Maritime Museum, South Australian Migration Museum, State Library of South Australia, State Library of Victoria, Trinity Lutheran Church East Melbourne.
Certain individuals have provided special assistance, in some cases through the listed institutions, in other cases privately. They are included, with my thanks, in the alphabetical listing that follows: Claire Bell, Barbara Börste, David Briese, Pastor Christoff Dielmann, Jennifer Hand, Renata Jürgens, David Langton, Janette Lange, Hans Müller, Hans Roleff, Renate Shanahan, Greg Slattery, Siegfried Stehle, Roger Volk, Mark Worthing, Margaret Young, Lois Zweck.
I am grateful also to Michael Bollen and the wonderful staff at Wakefield Press for their support, especially to Julia Beaven for her meticulous and thoughtful editing, and her valuable personal encouragement.
Particular thanks are given to individuals who have been of special importance:
Elizabeth Newton and Keith Welzel, whose stories of my family background were the inspiration behind this book, and who provided information and resource materials;
my daughter, Felicity Volk, a brilliant writer whose editing skills and perceptive comments were invaluable;
two people whose enthusiasm and interest kept me writing, Anne Jantzen and Nicholas Volk—their frequent ‘Please send me the next chapter!’ was the stimulus that spurred me on;
finally, David Harris, who has accompanied me at every stage of my ‘search for Anna’ with love and support.
Valerie Volk
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