Born: Kiama NSW on 30 January 1888.

Parents: William Joseph Laurence and Mary Jane Kersley.

Married: Edward A. William Clarke (1889-1966) at Albury on 19 February 1920.

Children:

• Kathleen Mary Thornton (1921-68)
• Alfred William Clarke (1923-92)

Died: Ryde RD of Sydney in 1954.

Click here for other photos of Emily Laurence and her family.

Emily Laurence was the third child of William Joseph and Mary Jane Laurence (nee Kersley). She was born at Kiama in New South Wales on 31 January 1888 and was baptised, together with her sister Alice Maud, at the Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church in Kiama on 1 September 1890. Her sponsor was Annie Burns (presumably Mary Jane's sister, Lucy). Emily lived in Kiama until around 1894 when she moved with her family to their newly acquired bush block at South Yalgolgrin on the old Barallen run. In 1910 she worked for a time at the homestead on the Bynya station near Barellan. Emily loved her time there and later wrote a poem about it in which she said:

Well I remember those days,
Fond memories linger still,
Of the picnics, parties, tennis & dancing,
And climbing the old Bynya hill....
Bynya will live on forever
They cannot take the old name away
Those old walls may crumble & fall
But the name on the hilltop will stay.
Bynya my Bynya forever.

Emily married Edward Clarke at the St Patrick's Catholic Church at Albury on 19 February 1920. According to her granddaughter, Sandra Denham (nee Thorton), Edward had grown up on his grandparents' property at Adaminaby and worked as a drover and blacksmith. He met Emily - 'the most beautiful girl he had ever seen' - at a dance at Albury 'that all the lads had decided to attend' and to which he had travelled on horseback for two days. Sandra's 'Kearns Family Tree' on Ancestry tells us that Edward was born at Adaminiby in the Snowy Mountains in 1889. His parents were Edward George Clarke (1858-1947) and Kate Elizabeth Kearns (1865-1912) who were married at Cooma in New South Wales in 1886 and had eight children in addition to Edward: Florence Elizabeth (born in 1887), Albert Francis (1893), Evril Banna (1893), Lila kathleen (1895), Raymond James (1898), Stella Isabella (1899), Alma (1902) and Eva Clarke (1905).

Emily and Edward lived at Henty in New South Wales after their marriage where Edward carted wood and helped one of his brothers construct farm sheds (the Australian electoral rolls show them living on Kierath Street). Their life there was very hard and took its toll on Emily in particular. In a letter written in 1940, she informed her sister Kit that times were difficult and they had to supplement their income from the farm by chopping and carting wood - 'a lot of hard work for a few shillings'. She added she wished that they could 'sell out here and try elsewhere', and expressed concern that her son, Bill, who had just turned 17 was keen to enlist in the RAAF. On a happier note, she reported she had now written nine poems, the latest one about 'our gallant air men'.

Emily died in Sydney in 1954. The Australian electoral rolls show that, after Emily's death, Edward continued to live at Kierath Street in Henty until sometime after 1963 when he moved to Merrylands in Sydney to live with his daughter Kathleen and her family (see below). The Ryerson Index shows that an Edward William Clarke, 79 and 'late of Merrylands', died there on 28 November 1966.

Edward and Emily Clarke nee Laurence had two children, both born at Henty:

1. Kathleen Mary Clarke (1921-68).

Her eldest daughter, Sandra Denham, tells us that 'Kathleen moved to Sydney when she was in her teens and set up a dressmaking shop there. Kath served as part of the land army as many that stayed at home did. She was stationed in Lithgow and was forewoman of her section. After the war she met my father, Charles Thornton, and they were married in Ryde in 1948'. Sandra's 'Denham Family Tree' on Ancestry tells us that Charles William Herbert Thornton (1927-93) was born at Hunter's Hill in Sydney, the son of Herbert Claude Thornton (1899-1948) and Margaret Florence Pilkington (1905-68). The Department of Veterans Affairs' nominal roll of World War II servicemen includes NX156839 Gunner Charles William Herbert Thornton who was born at Hunters Hill in Sydney on 15 February 1924, enlisted at West Ryde on 16 March 1943 (NOK H. Thornton), and was serving in the 2/3 Tank Attack Regiment when he was discharged from the Army on 1 July 1946.

The 1949 electoral roll has Kathleen and Charles Thornton, a customs officer, living at 52 View Street in Woollahra in Sydney. The 1958 and 1963 rolls have Charles, labourer, and Kathleen at 14 Chelsea Street in Merrylands in Sydney. The Ryerson index shows that Kathleen Mary Thornton, late of Merrylands, died at the Calvary Hospital there on 19 May 1968. The 1980 roll has Charles William Herbert and Ethel Elma Thornton living at 10 Rawson Street in the Helensburgh electorate of Hughes in New South Wales. We believe Charles died at Bulli in New South Wales in December 1993.

Sandra tells us that Kathleen and Charles had four children: 1) Sandra Ann Thornton who married Kevin Thomas Denham at Hunter's Hill in Sydney in 1966 and had three children; 2) Charles Richard Thornton; 3) Barbara Amelia Thornton (1953-81) who was living at home with her parents and working as a bank clerk in 1980 and later moved to Canberra where she worked for the YWCA (sadly she died in the Royal Canberra Hospital in 1981); and 4) Roger Francis Thornton (1956-94).

2. Alfred William Clarke (1923-92)

The Department of Veterans Affairs' Nominal WWII Service Roll shows that VX111746 Gunner Alfred William Clarke, born at Henty in NSW on 23 March 1923 enlisted at Warragul in Victoria on 8 October 1942. He was then living at Henty and gave his NOK as Veronica Clarke. He served in the 2 Medium Artillery Regiment until his discharge on 7 August 1945. His wife was Veronica Gwendolyn Grimes (1921-89) who, Sandra Denham's 'Kearns Family Tree' on Ancestry tells us, was born at Clifton in Queensland, the daughter of Isaac Atkins Grimes (1894-1965) and Veronica Cecilia Saunders (1898-1932) who were married in Queensland on 24 September 1919.

The Australian electoral rolls have Alfred William, a carrier, and Veronica Gwendolyn Clarke registered as living on Corner Street in Henty from the end of the war until at least the mid-1960s. By the time of the 1980 election Veronica Gwendolyn (but not Alfred William) was registered as living at 15 Gough Avenue in Guildford in Sydney. The Ryerson Index shows Veronica Gwendolyn Clarke died on 4 June 1989 and was buried five days later. We believe that Bill died at Guldford in 1992.

The Australian electoral roll shows Bill and Gwendolyn's only son, Graeme Terrence Clarke (1948-2000), a boilermaker by trade, and a Marilyn Ann Clarke living at 22 Gurney Road in Guildford. The Ryerson Index shows that Graeme, 51 and 'late of Chester Hill' died on 24 January 2000. Sandra's 'Kearns Family Tree' on Ancestry tells us he and Marilyn had at least one child: Scott Joseph ('Jacko') Clarke who was born in the Sydney suburb of Auburn in 1973 and died at Wyong in NSW in 2008.

Kathleen Mary ('Kath') and Alfred William ('Bill') Clarke

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