Hassall Family Reunion – Kenilworth and Brisbane 5-7 July 2024
Over three days in July, Friday 5th to Sunday 7th, approximately 80 family members and friends participated in a program that spanned Kenilworth, Nambour, Gheerulla and Sherwood. The event attracted participants from Western Australia, Victoria, ACT, NSW and Queensland. On Friday 5th the program at the Kenilworth Museum attracted some 50 attendees, most of whom were descendants of James Cusack and Frances Hassall.
After a Welcome to Country by Auntie Melinda Serico and HFHA President Graham Hassall, Neil Sutton gave an account of the lives of James and Frances. After additional sharing of photos, memorabilia, and stories, our host Lenore Meldrum gave a guided tour of Kenilworth Museum before we walked to lunch at the nearby Kenilworth Bowls Club. In the afternoon an intrepid convoy visited Old Nambour cemetery, Nambour Garden cemetery and Gheerulla cemetery to view the cleaned and labelled graves of James and Frances Hassall, many of their 8 children and dozens of descendants.
On Friday evening, 33 relatives gathered back at Kenilworth Museum to watch the first public showing in decades of Queensland’s first major movie The Moth of Moonbi. The movie is of particular interest to the family because it starred Marsden Hassall and Doris Hassall (nee Ashwin), After debuting to public acclaim at Brisbane’s Wintergarden Theatre on 25th January 1926, The Moth of Moonbi, gradually receded from public view and no complete copy remains.
We were fortunate to have the movie introduced and screened on both Friday and Saturday evenings by Andrew Best, who is not only writing a PhD on it, but who is re-creating its missing elements through careful reading of documentation, and re-enactment and filming of missing scenes.
On Saturday 6th July the reunion reconvened at St Matthews Anglican Church, Sherwood, in Brisbane. The morning’s program featured presentations on “Frances Hassall: the Matriarch of Matavai’” by Dr. Ann Webster, and “Hassalls in Queensland – The Black Sheep and the Lost” by Ann Brockhurst. In the afternoon the Triple Wedding Pageant, coordinated by Andew Hassall, was performed on the Church lawn. In the evening Andrew Best once again introduced and screened The Moth of Moonbi.
Sunday’s program commenced at 9am with the Morning Service at St Matthews Anglican Church. During the service Rev Ian Moore welcomed Hassall family members and acknowledged Rev. James Hassall as the church’s first rector. John Hassall played harp during communion.
A mid-morning tour of family graves at the nearby St Matthews Anglican Cemetery was followed by presentations on “The family of Rowland and Elizabeth Hassall” by
Graham Hassall, “Thomas and Anne Hassall” by Alison Shaw, and “James and Catherine Hassall” by Rowland J. Hassall.
The program concluded, after shared pizza lunch, with updates on the Association’s projects, notably Genealogy, presented by Richard Clarke.