A new chapter Down Under

When Shrewsbury woman Annie Waddington-Feather moved to Australia just over two years ago, the last thing she expected was to meet a woman with connections to her home county.

But she has become fascinated by the story of Carmen Watts, whose Shropshire ancestors boarded a ship for Australia more than 120 years ago.

Annie, 41, moved to Australia from Belle Vue after marrying her husband Pete Pfeiler, and now works as a freelance reporter. When she met Carmen, the mother of one of her friends, she discovered to her amazement she had roots in Shropshire – and has now been asked to write Carmen's life story.

Carmen, 60, from Adelaide, has never visited the county of her ancestors, but through a family book she has been able to find out more about her grandfather Frederick Austin Frost . . . and a mysterious whistling mug.

He was born on September 9, 1868 in Wrockwardine Wood, the first child of "iron puddler" Samuel Frost and Mary Ann Austin.

Frederick and his family sailed to Australia on the boat the Dallam Tower. During the voyage, he celebrated his 15th birthday and he was given a whistling mug, made in one of the many Shropshire potteries at the time.

The simple white earthenware mug has a hollow handle formed into a twig, and the handle is decorated with a small bird, which could be made to whistle when the beak was blown into.

But all Carmen has is a picture of the mug in a family book created by one of her cousins. She is not sure about the mug's whereabouts.

"A cousin of mine wrote a family book. It's got our whole history in it. I do not know too much about the mug but my grandfather brought it with him and it was from Shropshire," she says.

"Annie told me a bit about it and it must have had some significance to it. I did try to find out about it from some members of my family but they did not know.

"My grandfather had nine children. His life was quite interesting, to read about it in the book about how he came out here and how hard it was.

"I can only remember him as a gentleman and he sat on the veranda with a big bag of minties. I'm the youngest of 13 children and he died when I was very young so I did not get to know him very well at

all. I do not think we have any family in Shropshire now."

Carmen has asked Annie to write her story, to pass down to her children.

"I have got five children and because I have always lived away from home and am one of 13 children, they want to have something for their children. I'm telling them about my brothers and sisters and how my parents worked hard and how we left home when we got married and came to south Australia, and we have done a lot of things and moved around.

"When I got the family book out to show Annie and she saw Shropshire, she got very excited. It's a small world. It has been a very interesting life really. I just want my children to know that no matter what, you can still hold your head up high and carry on with life."

Carmen's knowledge of her Shropshire grandparents is fairly thin. She knows that Frederick was born in the cottage of his grandparents, the christening was held in Wombridge, and he was educated in Ketley and then Hadley.

He remained at school until he was 12 or 13 and in the British 1881 census was described as a scholar. His letters written later show he could express himself with fluency and accuracy, although he was always a man of few words.

As a boy, Frederick was taught to play the violin and accordion, and he left school in 1882 to take a job at a small iron works in Wellington. At the time of his migration, Frederick was employed as a dolly maker – maker of wooden moulds for metal casting. He was skilled with his hands, and at the time of leaving school he was a strong lad, rather short in stature but otherwise of sturdy build.

During the voyage to Australia – on which three passengers were taken ill and died – he was separated from his parents because of his age and accommodated in the single men's quarters.

But he arrived safely in Sydney, where he hooked up with Joshua Stokes, a boy he'd known in Shropshire. Joshua was the son of John Stokes, a coach builder who had come from Ketley to Bowral some

years before the Frost family had decided to emigrate.

Frederick found work helping build the railway line from Kiama to Berry, and then spent some months working as a farm labourer and fossicking for gold before becoming a baker.

Annie Waddington-Feather, whose sister also lives in Australia, says she was really surprised to discover Carmen's story.

"You don't really expect many Australians to have heard of Shropshire, let alone have a connection with it.

"Having said that, there is a restaurant in the Mclaren Vale, a good wine region nearby, called the Salopian Inn and apparently there was an advert for coffee a few years ago which made a reference

to Shropshire.

"The family have got some records of their grandfather's childhood so, ironically, I've learnt a bit more of Shropshire's local history such as about dolly makers in iron works in Wellington.

"Carmen has led an interesting life and she is a great storyteller – it's been fascinating hearing about growing up in rural Australia in the 1940s and 50s."

l Can you shed any light on the mysterious Shropshire"whistling mug" to help Carmen fill the gaps in her family history? E-mail starfeatures@shropshirestar.co.uk, or write to Features Desk,

Shropshire Star, Ketley, Telford, TF1 5HU.