In 1932 Cyrus started writing his memoirs. By the time he finished he had filled most pages of two large leather-bound volumes, all handwritten with very few crossings out or changes in the text. He also from time to time did drawings, either on separate pages which he then glued into the margin at the appropriate place, or within the flow of text. The contents cover personal and professional events and recollections from throughout his long and action-packed life. Many people are named and places described, sometimes in great detail. His powers of recollection were significant, and the details, when checked against other sources, are almost always correct. Occasionally a name is mis-spelt, but otherwise the text flows smoothly and accurately although not surprisingly sometimes one memory triggers another which leads to yet another, and the continuity is slightly disparate. Generally, though, the Journals are easy to read, and with a variety of events reported upon and a large span of years covered in a lively manner they make a jolly good read.
Several themes become apparent early on - the most striking is Cyrus's fascination with maritime matters from an early age - sailing, boat building, maritime engineering, and of course marine engineering of ports and harbours. Another theme is the huge range of family relationships that Cyrus sustained throughout his life - visits, picnics, holidays, and periods when young living with various members of his extended family. Cyrus was a sociable man, who enjoyed the company of others in all sorts of venues, and he clearly had an eye for the ladies, though he remained married to his teenage sweetheart for 44 years.
Of course there are also a lot of interesting areas of Cyrus's life about which he says nothing. There is no reference to his convict forebears - this would not have been unusual for a person of his age and generation as the social mores of his time would have concealed this information. Nowadays of course it is a matter of pride for many of Australian heritage to have convict forebears.
Cyrus also never mentions his father's second family - there were 10 children and not one of them is ever mentioned. On the other hand, relationships with the extended family of his mother, who died when he was not quite three years old, feature time and again, and the maternal connection was obviously never severed.
Cyrus was an engineer so much of his writing is about technical matters, and even when he is addressing other aspects of his life the same analytical view of the world comes through.
In addition to the Journals Cyrus compiled several volumes of technical information about some of the major engineering work he was involved in. These make an equally fascinating adjunct to the Journals and convey his strong sense of professional and technical integrity and probity.
The handwritten journals were at some stage typed and bound. They were then photocopied and the three copies were bound. One copy of each Journal was then given to his three grandsons - John, David, and Robert.
John's copies were eventually uncovered by his son David, and once it was realised what a treasure trove they were, the contents were captured electronically with a view to preservation for many more years to come, and for ease of access and sharing. The Journals and associated documents have formed the basis of nearly all the family history that has been undertaken in the last decade or so, and they continue to be an invaluable resource. There are many extracts from the Journals in the pages of this website, and maybe one day the whole corpus will be available online.
Barbara Mulligan
March 2014
Several themes become apparent early on - the most striking is Cyrus's fascination with maritime matters from an early age - sailing, boat building, maritime engineering, and of course marine engineering of ports and harbours. Another theme is the huge range of family relationships that Cyrus sustained throughout his life - visits, picnics, holidays, and periods when young living with various members of his extended family. Cyrus was a sociable man, who enjoyed the company of others in all sorts of venues, and he clearly had an eye for the ladies, though he remained married to his teenage sweetheart for 44 years.
Of course there are also a lot of interesting areas of Cyrus's life about which he says nothing. There is no reference to his convict forebears - this would not have been unusual for a person of his age and generation as the social mores of his time would have concealed this information. Nowadays of course it is a matter of pride for many of Australian heritage to have convict forebears.
Cyrus also never mentions his father's second family - there were 10 children and not one of them is ever mentioned. On the other hand, relationships with the extended family of his mother, who died when he was not quite three years old, feature time and again, and the maternal connection was obviously never severed.
Cyrus was an engineer so much of his writing is about technical matters, and even when he is addressing other aspects of his life the same analytical view of the world comes through.
In addition to the Journals Cyrus compiled several volumes of technical information about some of the major engineering work he was involved in. These make an equally fascinating adjunct to the Journals and convey his strong sense of professional and technical integrity and probity.
The handwritten journals were at some stage typed and bound. They were then photocopied and the three copies were bound. One copy of each Journal was then given to his three grandsons - John, David, and Robert.
John's copies were eventually uncovered by his son David, and once it was realised what a treasure trove they were, the contents were captured electronically with a view to preservation for many more years to come, and for ease of access and sharing. The Journals and associated documents have formed the basis of nearly all the family history that has been undertaken in the last decade or so, and they continue to be an invaluable resource. There are many extracts from the Journals in the pages of this website, and maybe one day the whole corpus will be available online.
Barbara Mulligan
March 2014