Thelma Mangan

“As I begin my story the entire world is struggling to cope with a pandemic Corona Virus, COVID-19. This has turned our lives upside down. “My Dad, Alfred Julius, a member of the fourth generation of the Hards family in Australia was born at Illabarook in Victoria on November 25, 1908. He was the first child for Richard Julius Hards and Frances Annie Hards née Bentick. Richard worked at Woomelang in Central Victoria, away from his wife and five children who were settled in Illabarook. Richard contracted the Spanish Flu, one of the world’s worst pandemics prior to COVID-19. He died in September 1919 and is buried at the Woomelang Cemetery. “My Mum, Gladys Irene Symes was born at Rosebery in Victoria on June 13, 1912, the eldest child of Albert and Beatrice Symes. She was one of eleven children. The ninth child, Auntie Barb, is now the only survivor. She is 89 years young and living alone in Bendigo.