CollinsPlus
E-news
Edition 1. February 2005
Editor: Barbara Collins 
You can send news at any time to The Editor.
A reminder email will be sent out a little while before each edition is due. So
please keep the newsletter in mind whenever anything happens in your family
that you would like to tell everyone about!
Index
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All about ……. (Zachary Gough) |
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Website
News
Have you had a look around in the
CollinsPlus website recently? The address is www.collinsplus.com.
The Family Tree has been updated as of January 2005. See Collins
Family Tree.
Whose bios are new on the website this month? None – but the Editor lives in eternal hope. So if you have a picture on the website it would be just fantastic if you could provide a biography. In 2005, I’m hoping to fill in all the missing bio links. Email me if you would like a prompt sheet to help you with your bio. No need to send pictures in the first instance – and don’t forget your pets.
Family Tree contacts
Joan Collins
Con and Barb met with Joan Collins very early this
year. Joan has provided a vast amount of knowledge about the Collins
side of the family and the direct line back to our earliest known ancestor,
Daniel van Köhlen who born in Holland. He was a ship’s captain, with the Dutch
East India Company and he married a quarter or half caste Balinese, or more
likely Javanese, woman, Cornelia Blaghurst, in the early 1800s. We only know
about one of their children, the first Cornelius Charles. His surname was changed
from van Köhlen to Cullens and in the next generation, it became Collins and
that name has stayed with us until today.
Margaret Martin
Margaret has provided family tree knowledge on
Bridget’s side of the family. Margaret’s Mum, Ellen (or Aunty Helen as we
always knew her), and Bridget were sisters. Before their marriages they were
the Lennon girls together with Molly (Peter Deacon’s Mum) and Nancy (who I hope
we can catch up with one day). Bridget’s history spans back into the Lennon and
O’Brien Families from this branch of the tree. Margaret has provided some great
photos which should be up on the web by the time the next newsletter comes out.
Kevin McManus
Kevin is Margaret’s brother and Barb is
hoping to catch up with him and his family in the not too distant future.
Leo Squires
Barb has been in email contact with Leo who is a second
cousin to Con Collins. Leo has supplied a huge amount of detail on the family
tree – his main area of interest is Con’s mother’s relatives – the Coffeys
(Dad’s mum was a Coffey before her marriage into the Collins Clan) - and Leo’s
immediate tree fans out from there into the Noonans, Squires and Hogans. There
will be a bit more on this branch of our family in the next newsletter. It’s a
classic story of our early settler roots. Barb hopes to meet up with Leo and
Jan later in the year.
Go to Collins Family in CollinsPlus
Website
Social
Events
Next Family Lunch
Sunday 20th March at Con’s
place. Arrive 1.00pm to 1.30pm for a 2.00pm BBQ. This is a
special Family Lunch. Why? Because it’s also Judy’s 50th birthday on
21st March and Renato’s birthday on 22nd March. Judy and
Renato are supplying the BBQ and wine, beer and soft drink. But you will have
to RSVP for this one if you haven’t already as catering is involved. Please let
Barb know if you are coming by 11th March.
Christmas Day
On Christmas Day 2004, the Collins Family lunched
with extended family members and all came together as usual in the evening.
Judy, Renato and Dad had Christmas lunch at Gregory Lodge with Bridget.
This year we met at Con’s place in the evening to share
Christmas wishes, presents and food. The tradition of taking a whole family
photo, introduced and strictly policed by Joelle, continues.
Graham’s photo is to the left.
Front row front: Graham Collins!
Second row from left: Mary Gough, Zac Gough, Jessica Zoch, Brenton Collins, Con Collins,
Cathy Zoch, Max Gough, Carly Collins, Alannah (Rick’s daughter).
Back row from left: Alexandra Gough, Darcy Collins, Rick Watkins (friend of Mary),
Barbara Collins, Paul Teres, Wade Collins, John Zoch, Elise Zoch, Tyson
Collins, Renato Cabrera and Bear, Judy Cabrera
A minute’s silence was observed in memory of
Joelle and Judy lead a “Silent Night “ carol to remind us of the true spirit of
Christmas. The grandchildren were left practically speechless by their very
generous present from Grandpa Con.
Con Collins
Con says
“Congratulations to Dane, son of
Neil Taylor, for winning the annual golf day at Ivanhoe.
Jessica
had her first taste of battle and vowed her name would be on the trophy one
day.” One minute silence was observed in memory of past member, Mr Zoch.
Con has
resumed bowls after the Christmas break and is playing at least 4 times a
week.
Con, Barb, Paul, Judy and Renato went to
see the Phantom of the Opera. Con hasn’t been to the pictures for a few years.
Although he loved the stage production of the Phantom of the Opera, he was a
little disappointed by the film. However, he is enjoying a smorgasbord of
Cricket, Golf and Tennis on TV.
Barb and Con went to visit Joan Collins who
is a first cousin of Con. She lives in a retirement village in Grovedale just
outside Geelong. She has been working on the family tree for many years and is
a wealth of information on both recorded and anecdotal history. We will catch
up again during the year.
Bridget Collins
Bridget (nee Lennon) is wife of Con Collins.
Bridget’s
nursing home had Carols by Candlelight before Christmas. On arrival, Con, Judi,
Renato, Barb and Paul found Bridget had been put to bed and was fast asleep. So
she missed the carols. Click
here for pictures of Con, Judy and Renato, the pianist and the choristers
at the Carols.
Bridget’s
dementia medication has been reduced to a minimum and the family is looking
forward to her move to a new room with a garden/courtyard outlook soon.
Barbara Collins
Paul Teres
is partner to Barbara Collins, firstborn daughter of Con Collins. Go to Teres
Family in CollinsPlus Website.
Barbara is working on the family tree and
the CollinsPlus website and looking forward to a cruise early in February –
pictures next newsletter!
Carly Collins
(Carly is the only
daughter of Graham Collins who is first born son of Con Collins)
On January the 15th, Carly
entered a bikini competition at the nightclub "Isle of Wight" on
Phillip Island. She entered for a bit of fun because she knows some of the
locals up there - but to her surprise she actually won! Her prize was $200,
drink cards, and she went to Phillip Island on the next Saturday for the final.
Unfortunately she lost out to a local girl but sounds like Carly had, as usual,
a lot of fun.
In Carly’s bio, she mentions wanting to
audition for the next series of Big Brother. Carly says “ Well, I did it! I
turned up to the Sidney Myer Music Bowl at 3am Sunday morning, straight after
the bikini competition at Phillip Island. The auditions didn't start till 9am
that morning but the line was already so long! I managed to find a spot with some
nice guys only about 100 people from the front, so I was pretty lucky. With no
sleep, I went into the audition quite tired, but knew I had to be enthusiastic.
First round was a series of psychological tests and games to show personality
and leadership skills. Didn't think I had a chance, as everybody was just as
enthusiastic as each other. But out of a group of about 40 people, I was chosen
with four others to go through to the next stage of auditions!! I couldn't
believe my luck! The second stage was an interview like process, but out of our
group of five, only one went through to stage three, and they chose amiddle
aged guy, married and with a kid. It was a fun process though, and I look
forward to auditioning for many more reality TV shows!!!”
Wade Collins
(Wade is the third son of
Graham Collins who is first son of Con Collins)
Wade got his first
choice at university. He will be doing a Batchelor of Commerce, majoring in
Sports Management at Deakin. His entrance ranking of 95.15 also got him into
the 'Deans Scholar Programme', which amongst other things provides $2000 per
year towards his studies. Well Done Wade!!!.
Tyson Collins
(Tyson is the second son of Graham Collins who is first son of Con
Collins)
Tyson
is hunting for an investment property and obviously on his way to being a
millionaire as discussed in Interesting Links further on in this newsletter.
He
has started football training for the year. He will be training three times a
week now for the rest of the year and loving it! He is really enjoying his new
club (Mitcham Football Club – The Tigers) and the company of his team mates
each night.
Brenton Collins
(Brenton is the first son of
Graham Collins who is first son of Con Collins)
When asked for news, Brenton said: “After Graham, Carly
(twice) and Wade all received speeding fines in January, I've had to run them
through my safe driving program on weekends. I think all concerned are finding
it most beneficial. Wade was heard saying ‘Gee Brenton is a good driver’. Carly
asks ‘Where did you learn to drive so safely? What's your secret?’ And Graham
has reiterated that I'm still his favourite child (every family needs a
benchmark!!).
A story that has
dominated the headlines all month here is: Brenton Says Goodbye to Pool.
After several years of competition pool, I've decided to put the cue back in
the rack. There was a bit too much of the politics around the club. A wise man
once said to me ‘when it's no longer fun, walk away’. I might come back twice as
good in 2006!!
Stay tuned for more
exaggeration and massaging of truths throughout the year!!!”
Ed. Note: Believe me
Brenton, we will.
The Bill Collins
Family
Bill Collins was the only brother of Con Collins. Kath is Bill’s wife. Go to Bill Collins page for more information on this family.
Aunty
Kath has caught
us up on the news from the Bill Collins family:
“Rebecca,
daughter of Paul & Michaela passed VCE, turned 18 on 19th December, and got
her car license the next day. She received that which she wanted, Arts at
Monash. However, she has deferred and is working at a clothing venue.
The outlet caters for all the school uniforms from all private
schools. Hence Rebecca has had to learn which goes with what school. Bill
often did shopping as they had real wool jumpers and good quality shirts,
etc.
Paul purchased a house at Sorrento and
the family was there from 2nd January until 19th. I was
with them for four full days and since Michaela, who is a beautiful
artist, was due back in Melbourne on the 7th January for an Art
Show, I came back with her. It is good to have a little break, but
lovely to come home to 'the castle!'
School
started for the children on Monday 31st, although Daniel and Luke
began on 27th. Daniel (son of Michael and Marg) is
continuing to shine in the area of electronics. He won the science prize
again in 2004. He is truly gifted in this and we can see him in the
future as an electronic engineer.
Little Antoinette
starts 4-year-old kinder, so I will miss her on shopping days. We have
had this little routine of shopping at Blackburn Square. Michaela requires
so much more shopping than I do, so Antoinette and I sit down for a chat and
then go and purchase chips or some other little treat. She will
still come on Mondays so I will still have that precious time with her.”
The Zoch Family
Catherine Zoch is the 4th girl in the Con and Bridget
Collins Family. She is married to John Zoch. Go to Zoch Family
page.
The Zoch Family had a two week holiday in
Bright. Cathy said “There
is so much to tell about Bright, here is
a bit of what we did. We had perfect weather 36-37 degrees every day. We
spent most of our days at different swimming holes along the Ovens River. We
went 4 wheel driving, passing through Beechworth for lunch, which gave us a
chance to show the girls where Pa (Con) grew up as a boy. After Beechworth we
went through Yackandandah back to Bright, that was a fun day. Also, the wine
festival at Bright was a great day too. We all purchased a wine glass for $7.00
and that entitled us to as many wine tastings as we liked. There was also
different gourmet food to be eaten as well as a band that played thru till
11.00pm.
Also, on one of the days we went
for a bike ride to Porepunkah and back. On one of the days we went trout fishing
at the trout farm and John put the trouts in his smoker that night and we all
had smoked trout for tea. It was the best fish I have ever tasted. Yummy. The
girls also went blueberry picking with the others we camped with and brought
back a kilo of berries. When we got home Jess cooked up blueberry muffins and
they were delicious. Oh, and one more thing we did, we went for a drive up to
Mt Hotham, that was a beautiful drive.
I would highly recommend Bright
for a holiday, as you can see there is lots to do.”
The Cabrera Family
Judith
(nee Collins) is married to Renato Cabrera. Go to Cabrera
Family page.
We spent
our Christmas Eve in the traditional Chilean way, where you eat, drink and be
merry leading up to midnight. At midnight, you wish Merry Christmas (Feliz
Navidad) to everyone and then open up the presents, then you continue on with
celebrations into the wee hours of the morning.
Christmas
Day was a lovely day. Rene, Dad and Judy had Christmas lunch with mum at
Gregory Lodge. Tables were all decorated for Christmas Cheer and the mood
was festive, it was a joyous occasion and after our lunch we all went for a
nice long walk. Christmas night, as you in the family all know, was a
great arvo/evening -it was a happy occasion to have everyone together.
It wasn't
long enough for Judi to get over the Christmas bash and then came New Year's
Eve (Chilean Style again!) This year we had it at a reception place. A glitzy
affair, with endless food, drink and non stop Latino band and a DJ in
the breaks - so we ate and drank to our hearts content until 3am ish.
But you
guessed it! New Years Day is the big one for Chileans - so we slept at Renato's
sister's place for about 5 hours and partied on through New Years Day again,
with food drink and music.
While it
has taken most of my time to recover since then, things have been quiet.
We've been out to dinner and off to the movies a couple of times. One of the
movies was the Phantom of the Opera with Barb, Paul and Dad.
Now we
look forward to celebrating our 5th Wedding Anniversary on 26 February and our
holiday to South Australia (Glenelg Beach Front Apartment) late February to
early March.”
The Deacon Family
Peter Deacon is son of Bridget’s sister, Molly. Mark is his son. Go to Deacon Family page.
Mark and
Peter had a wonderful trip to China and Hong Kong. They really discovered
a brave new world, especially in some of the booming
industrial areas of Southern China where 5 million people is
considered a relatively small town. He will be putting together a short article
and a few photos for the next newsletter.
Peter has
accepted an IT position with the University of the Sunshine Coast. This means a
relocation from their home in Brisbane to their new house in Buderim on
the Sunshine Coast. Peter says their home at New Farm has been
turned upside down as they frantically decide what is worth keeping from
the layers of miscellaneous junk they have managed to collect over
the past few years. As they will be leasing out the townhouse in New Farm,
Peter is doing copious amounts of painting and cleaning to make the
place look presentable - all those odd jobs he’s been putting off for so
long and probably would have never done otherwise.
Peter is
thrilled about getting this job because Mark will be living with Judy and Peter
and attending a private school just down the road from the University.
The McManus Family
Ellen (Helen) McManus nee Lennon was Bridget’s eldest sister. Margaret
Martin and Kevin McManus are children of Ellen and Pat McManus. Go to McManus
Family Page.
Margaret
Martin (nee McManus)
Barbara
and Paul had a delightful lunch with Margaret Martin (nee McManus) and her
husband Terry. Margaret has been researching the Lennon and O’Brien family
trees for a number of years and has much valuable information to share.
Kevin McManus
During
lunch with Margaret and Terri, it was discovered that Kevin is in the process
of applying for an Irish passport and on contact with Kevin – here’s the story:
“You may remember
when I returned from working in Ireland in 1970 how enthusiastic I was about
the country. At 21 years it was a great experience. I maintain contact with a
lot of the Irish in Melbourne and have carried out work on the Celtic Club.
A lot of
friends have applied for dual citizenship and have recommended it to me. Some years back Gabrielle was at
University in Germany and wished to extend her period of stay. She based her
application on her mothers birthplace within Germany. Germans are not offered dual
citizenship with Australia. Dual Citizenship came about due to a high English population in
Australia and the Australian Government granted them dual citizenship to
encourage them to be permanent citizens in Australia. They extended the same to
the Irish, Greeks and Italians and others I may not know of.
Technically,
one must be the grandchild or child of an Irish born person. Ireland is one of
the few countries in the world to offer this privilege to grandchildren. The benefits are unrestricted travel
(no fees between countries) and residence in any part of the ECC perhaps
picking up the pension if residing in Ireland in your old age.
At the
moment I am only applying for citizenship (not a passport). I have made an
application for Nanny's (Lennon) original birth certificate in November via the
Register's office in Dublin - I was told it takes time.”
(Kevin
and Beate have three children. Anthony is the eldest boy (b.1977) and Gabrielle
the only girl (b.1980))
The Teres Family
Paul Teres is
partner to Barbara Collins, daughter of Con Collins. Go to Teres Family
page.
Paul’s
Mum, Pauline, who is 87, fell while shopping and fractured her knee in early
December. She told Paul on the phone from Queensland that it was “a bit sore”
but after a visit to the doctor she was put into hospital. She was there for
about 10 days until Paul could get up from Melbourne and he stayed with her
until early February as she undertook rehabilitation. He worked with local
services to make sure she could manage after his return to Melbourne. Even with
a splint on her leg, naughty Pauline insisted the doctors ‘don’t know
everything’ and continued to do her gardening and other difficult chores
regardless of the splint. Hopefully she will be completely recovered in time to
attend her grandson’s, (Andrew), wedding in Melbourne in March.
Paul is
turning 60 this month.
The Mayer Family
Josie
Koury, sister of Joelle Collins (nee Koury) who was married to Graham Collins,
only son of Con Collins, is married to Fred Mayer. Go to Koury
webpage
Fred has sent some news in on the Mayer
family. Lyndon has been accepted into Swinburne for Multimedia, Tash is doing
her Year 12 VCE, Rochelle is in Year 10 and Simone is doing Year 6. Fred says
they are all “happy little vegemites.”
Josie is doing final year at university for
her upgrade for the Bachelor of Education. Fred is still keeping creditors at
bay and the family had a fantastic two week holiday at Broadbeach (and is
wondering why we are living here!)
Extended Extended Family News
Wendy and Gary
Edwards. Friends of the Graham Collins
Family.
Each newsletter, there is a featured family
member. This month, the featured CollinsPlus member is Zachary (Zac) Gough. He
is the son of Mary Gough (nee Collins) who is the 3rd daughter of
Con Collins.
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Happy birthday to: Barbara Collins and Paul
Teres
Click here for
your a birthday card - 
Brain teasers to
make you groan from Graham
Cute
Animal Pictures from Pics of the Year
So
you thought cops don’t have a sense of humour…?
Thoughts for the day - the older you are, the more you will
appreciate these thoughts from Con
All websites featured in this newsletter are archived on the Links Page of the CollinsPlus site for future reference.
Who wants to be a millionaire? Well – we all should – and could!!! How?
Don’t want to scare you (well I do really)
but I came across the ASFA report below in last week’s Herald Sun’s Money
pages. It said that if you were to retire today, this is how much you would
need to live – maybe for 20 to 40 years:
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Basic |
Comfortable |
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To get this amount per year - |
You will need this amount saved |
To get this amount per year- |
You will need this amount saved |
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Couple |
$24,020 |
$800,000 |
$44,850 |
$1,500,000 |
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Single |
$17,090 |
$600,000 |
$33,415 |
$1,100,000 |
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(Herald Sun
figures slightly different than those in actual report) |
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(All links
associated with this report are no loonger operational and have been removed.
Dec 09)
THIS IS REALLY REALLY
IMPORTANT! Start saving now. The earlier you start,
the more you will have when you are 60. Big amounts of money like this might look
scarey but it really isn’t that hard if you just START NOW.
For the gardeners:
I found this article in the Saturday Herald
Sun 21/1/05. Home supplement page 41. I got excited when I heard about the free
plants but as this is a USA site, they can’t send plants here – but he might
send a free gardening video if you are chosen. It is a great little website for
information – even if you are not wanting to sell your plants: This is what the
reviewer said:
“Mike McGroarty is passionate about
propagation, taking parts of one plant to create a whole new plant.
He’s created his own business selling
plants that cost him little or nothing to create and grow, and his website is
dedicated to telling others how to do the same thing.
Many people in Mike’s native USA have
started their own small cottage industries, selling plants at markets after
putting into practice the techniques they have learned from his website and
other publications.
You can join Mike’s mailing list for his
free gardening newsletter and, several times a year, he picks names at random
from this list for his free gardening newsletter and sends the winners free plants
(or for countries who do not allow importation of plants, a free gardening
video).
The website has a wealth of information for
those wanting to create or improve their garden.”
Congratulations
this month to ….
üPaul
Teres on turning 60
üPeter
Deacon on his new IT position with the University of the Sunshine Coast
üWade
Collins on his entrance score of 95.15
üDane
Taylor on winning the Con Collins Perpetual Trophy for the next year
üBrenton Collins on being so amusing and wise(????)
üDaniel
Collins on winning the science prize again in 2004
üWendy and Gary on becoming
grandparents for the second time
üRebecca
Collins on passing her VCE
Passing on
this newsletter
Pass this newsletter on to people in your family who have not seen it yet. They
might like to become involved as well. All they need to do is email the editor and say they would like
to be on the site, and they will be sent information. If you want to send this
newsletter to an extended family member, this is how you can do it.
- Go to File in the Toolbar
- Go to Send to
- Go to Send – link by email (or similar wording)
An email will come up with the link in it and you just have to put in the email
address of the person you want to send it to!