Dad was born at Mt Perry Qld on 17 July 1889, the youngest of the family of John and Mary Martens. His father died when he was only 7 yrs old and he remembered the Salvation Army Officer coming to tell his mother of the death. He then escorted her to the hospital on horse back, I think. They lived at a little place called Paradise, a few miles out of Mt Perry at one stage, so maybe it was to this home that the news of his fathers death was brought.

Dad hated his second name -Michael- and never used it, even in official documents. It was not until my teen years that I knew he had a second name. Maybe that is why my brother and I were given only one name each.

My mother was left with the three young boys, Bill, Henry and Theodore, to rear. his older sisters, Kate and Min were already married. I do not know if Elle was still at home but george, the eldest had long since left home and gone droving. As he did not keep in touch with them, his name was never mentioned and so it was a shock to Dad when his big brother returned, some time after his fathers death. he took his place as head ot the family and started to pull the three young ones into line. Dad would never belt my brother when he was young, saying he had had enough of it when he was a lad.

Even if george was stern with them, they had occasion to be thankful for his presence, especially one day when they had annoyed some old chap so much that he was chasing them with some lethal article(axe, perhaps?) threatening to kill them when George appeared and saved their hides.

Dad kept in touch with george and when the latter became a member of Parliament and was traveling home to Bundaberg, through Tenterfield he would send dad a telegram. Dad would take my brother and me to the station to see him and talk for a few minutes the train was at the platform. David and I would wait with baited breath for the moment the whistle blew. Uncle would put his hand in his pocket and give us two shillings each. These were depression days and that was the most money we ever had.

An old Irish Lady known to the family, used to call Dad Tady Fagan and the Tady part remained with him all his life. Mum called him by that name and he was Uncle Tady to all his nieces and nephews.

His Danish relatives, parents, grandparents and aunts were very superstitious. he said that when they visited each other's homes in the evenings, they would talk about ghosts, so he was very nervy and frightened when walking home. He as also very frightened of the Bunyip which was supposed to live in the river. Often, in later life he wondered what the animal was that made the strange sound like crying which was reputed to be the Bunyip. I think the Bunyip was used to frighten them into behaving.

He was frightened of his grandmother, Annie Henricks, who wore long black skirts. In the side of the skirt was a placket in which she kept a cane. I f the children misbehaved she quickly brought it out and gave them a switch round the legs.

When he was older, he went with George on some droving trips. He remembered hearing the Bunyip when they camped by the river. He hurt his foot badly on one trip and was in hospital for several weeks. One day he was whistling The Battle of the Boyne Water. He had no idea of the significance of the tune, but soon stopped when some old gentleman warned him to stop or else.

Dad laughed at how he learned to swim. He was skiting about it even though he could not swim, so his brothers threw him in and said show us. He said he did swim as he knew they would not save him.

He and sister Ellie joined the Salvation Army. His time as an Officer is recorded elsewhere under the heading "Blessings of the Aged". Following his marriage to my Mother on 18 Dec 1918, they had appointments in Sydney and Katoomba where I was born in 1921. A couple of years later they took leave to build a new home in Tenterfield for my Mother's parents. Dad could not get the work done in the time he had allowed, so they resigned from Salvation Army.

He worked at many jobs in Tenterfield but mainly carpentering. he was untrained but loved his hammer and saw. he spent the rest of his life in Tenterfield and thought the town and especially their home on Vineland as close to heaven as he could get on earth. When he was an officer in Tenterfield before his marriage, his rank in the Salvation Army was that of Captain. When he returned to live there he was affectionately known as Cappy, even though people did not know how the name originated.

He and my mother lived their Christian belief, not only in the church they served so faithfully, but in caring for the sick and those in need. During the depression, we often had Swaggies stay for one or two nights before moving on.

Our home was always open to relatives from the cities to come for holidays and so it was that I met many cousins, the children of Kate, Min and Elle.

In his later years, well into his eighties, he was still using his car to transport the elderly or to do errands for them and to visit sick and lonely people. At this great age he was invited to join the senior citizens group in the town, but he declined saying he was too busy!. And he was!

It was failing eyesight made it necessary for him to give up his driver's license when he was eighty seven years old, that he took time to sit back and contemplate life spent in service to God and his fellow man.

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